computer matching system. the burden falls on the taxpayer to send in all the documentation and then they don't hear anything for a while. you can call and say that you talked to me on c-span and we can get this in front of someone who can make the right judgment. we have written a lot about these tyra rollovers because some people think it is good fit for work but the paperwork is not processed by day are re administered properly. made proposals about having risen one cost so that people do not give him these counties and they can turn defect when they really done everything they can. we have been moderately successful but there is a lot of room for improvement there. host: two last tweets.

guest: they do, and if we delay that for a certain period of time, you get interest. we try to a certain interest rate, and it is want percentage point less than the interest rate we charge you. host: nina olson, thank you so much for joining us. she is the taxpayer advocate for the united states. >> and the filing deadline for income taxes is tomorrow. today at 1:00 eastern, americans for tax reform president grover norquist will be holding a news conference calling for lower taxes. he will be joined by dave camp and representatives from the heritage foundation, freedom works, and the national taxpayers union.

that will be live on c-span to at 1:00 eastern. starting in a couple of moments, live coverage of a news conference, as victims of gun violence, family members of people killed by guns, hosted by the brady center. there has been a delay in the start of the spirit it was expected to get underway at noon eastern. until then, your phone calls from today's washington journal. host: voters are confident their financial situation will improve this year, even as 39% say they're less confident economy is improving. just over half of respondents, 52%, said they expect their finances to improve either a little or a lot next year, while 44% say they anticipated a downside. this was expressed even as just

32% of likely voters said they were more confident about the overall economy now than they were at the start of the year. 28% reported they felt about the same amount of confidence. the poll was conducted on thursday and came less than a week after the labor firm reported the economy added only 120,000 jobs in march, the softest economic report for the current year. host: go ahead, scott. caller: i will not be making much money this year because i have not been working. but my financial situation is pretty good. host: you are calling in an hour

under $50,000 line. >> i have never made more than that in my life. host: when you look at how much money you makers of the overall economy, who are you -- what are you optimistic about? with the country's economic situation be better off with your personal economic situation? call, not at all. host: rob in washington, d.c. caller: i am and an insulated. because the government is a big industry in this area, and the service economy is doing better. there are people that get paid by the taxpayer. i am one of them, a federal employee. host: what income level brac are you in? caller: in the upper $100,000- plus salary a year.

the bottom line, in this country, everybody feels poorer because job security is not out there. we are told the economy is underperforming. what is the industry in this country that treats the mine that pays for the service jobs? it is tough. there is not an output outside of the service economy which is only open to a small knot of people with advanced educations that lets somebody have a living wage outside of performing services for people. i understand why people feel less optimistic about the prospects for the future. host: edward in duluth, georgia. he is calling on the line for people making between $50,000 and $100,000. caller: i went to the store the

other day to buy a pint of ice cream for my wife and it was almost $5. obama is not doing much for me. i never want to see him in office again, thank you. host: let's look at some comments coming in from facebook. we are talking about a poll that "the film did" about how optimistic or pessimistic americans about their personal finances, and how that compares to the overall economy. deborah is calling on our under $50,000 line. caller: you do not have a category for me. i am on social security. i do not even file an income

tax. i do not have the ability to take advantage of any kind of tax losaws. when i bought a new refrigerator, i could not apply for the energy credit. i cannot pay any of the interest -- >> we are going to leave "washington journal" to go live to the news conference about victims from gun violence. hosted by the very center to prevent gun violence. -- brady center to prevent gun violence. >> one moment. who is missing? >> all right. ok. >> there is a group right there.

>> good afternoon. i am dan gross, and i am not just president of the brady campaign, but today, my brother matthew gross and i are proud to be part of this 32. i want to welcome all of you here today. it is a beautiful day. it is an exciting day, but it is a somber day. five years ago today, 32 people were killed at virginia tech in the worst mass shooting in u.s. history. but this is not just a somber day because of the tragic anniversary that it represents. it is a summer day because, today, 32 more will be murdered by guns in our nation. another virginia tech will happen today, like it happens every day. and that is why we are here, to say enough is enough, and to hold the people who do their

work in that building behind us accountable, to put an end to this madness. we are here with the 32 victims and survivors from across our nation to represent the 32 that were lost five years ago at virginia tech, and to represent the 32 that are murdered by guns in our nation every day. wayne lapierre at the nra convention in his attempt to deflect the ball deserved blame for putting the gun into george the merman's hand has the gall to complain about the media attention on the trayvon martin tragedy. he asked, what about the tragedies that occur every day in our nation? well, wayne, here they are. 32 of them, and they blame you and the politicians to do your bidding every bit as much as the media does. the fact is, not just the trayvon martin tragedy, but most of the gun violence in our nation could be prevented if congress would take several

actions to stop farming dangerous people. right now, the sobering reality is that too many of the people that work in that building, too many of the people that have been elected to represent all of you, all of us, are putting the agenda of the gun lobby ahead of the very lives of the people they have been elected to represent. as a result, they are putting the guns and hands of people like george zimmerman, a man with an arrest record and a history of violence, and the people of the perpetrators of the 32 tragedy's you will hear about today. farming dangerous people supports the law that sells guns. it is shameful, immoral, almost criminal. if that is why we are here in d.c. this week, to make it abundantly clear to congress whose vision they support. the nra's dark, paranoid vision of guns in everyone's hands, or our vision of an america like ours where the tragedy that we

felt, and others will today, will never happen. we're here to demand two things from congress. number one, to tell the senate to reject what we call the george zimmerman armed vigilante act. this bill introduced only days after the trayvon martin tragedy pretty much sums up the gun lobby's starke vision for our nation. it would force every state to honor the concealed carry permit of every other state. in other words, if your state has sensible gun laws that may prevent someone like george zimmerman, a man with an arrest record and a history of violence, from carrying a loaded gun on your streets, tough luck. someone can apply on-line from florida and carry a gun on your streets, and there is nothing you or your local law enforcement can do about it. the second thing we are here to do today is to the man everyone in congress signed the statement of principle against army dangerous people. here is what it says.

i believe these people should not be eligible to buy, own, or carry a gun anywhere in our nation. convicted felons, convicted domestic abusers, terrorists, and people found to be dangerously or mentally ill. that is it. either you are against putting the guns and hands of these people, people directly responsible for thousands of gun deaths in our nation every year, or you are in favor of arming them, plain and simple. any congressperson who does not find the statement can only be considered to be found harming dangerous people are another agenda putting it ahead of the lives of the people they have been elected to represent. the gun lobby and the politician that do their bidding would like to think this is a complicated issue, but it is not. here you subscribe to the gun lobby's deraa vision of selling more guns with no concern who you sell them to or what they will do with them, or you subscribe to a vision of an

american free from gun tragedies like ours. the 32 is here today to represent not only ourselves and our loved ones, but every american that has had enough of gun violence in our nation, to demand a nation free from the terror that the gun lobby hold our capitol hill to demand a nation free of gun violence. now it is my pleasure to introduce a man who has been a great leader and supporter of sensible gun laws, a man who has put the agenda of the people he represents ahead of the agenda of the gun lobby. the honorable congressman jim moran from the eighth district of virginia. [applause] >> thank you. i want to thank all of you for joining us to mark this solemn occasion. the fifth anniversary of the horrific violence that occurred on the campus of virginia tech,

taking the lives of 32 wholly innocent people and wounding another 17. it is an honor to share this remembered with the brady campaign, with victims like colin goddard and his family, others you will hear from. they have taken this tragedy in their lives and have responded by fighting for responsible gun laws. in doing so, we tried to show respect towards those whose lives were lost that day, and this may give their memories and during purpose. no we are gathered on the anniversary of -- the fifth anniversary of the virginia tech shooting. the fact is, we could be observing a remember it's and

anniversary nearly every day of every year of victims of gun violence. since that day in 2007, 12 more mass shootings of a similar nature have occurred, claiming the lives of 92 people. it has not stopped. it continues and will continue, unless we have sensible, responsible legislation. weeks ago, a gunman opened fire at a small religious university near oakland, calif., killing seven and wounding three. americans need to ask, where is the outrage? each year, over 100,000 people are shot with a firearm. 20,000 of whom are children. more than 30,000 americans die each year in gun-related incidents, including 12,000 who are murdered.

it should be shocking to all americans that they gone homicide rate in the united states is 20 times higher than it is in all other comparable, suppose of the civilized, industrialized countries. so you have to ask, why are gun crimes so much more prevalent in the u.s. than the rest of the world? of course, a good place to start is the fact that we now have nearly as many guns in the united states for every man, woman, and child who lives here. guns permeate our culture. despite the overwhelming number of guns in the united states and the correspondingly large number of gun deaths, the national rifle association and other gun groups believes the answer to that gun violence, that those guns generate, is even more

guns. they want to expand and have been successful in this conference and -- in the kerry and conceal laws, and in fact, for tax those that use their guns irresponsibly. here in congress, and in far too many statehouses across the country, their side is, in fact, winning, loosening already porous gun laws and blocking the passage of any sensible gun control measures. in fact, i understand as many as 30 states now have vigilante laws comparable to florida's, thanks to the national rifle association and the american legislative exchange council, who work and and and with them. try to get this legislation through, even though it did not

come from any grass-roots effort on the part of citizens. it came from the top, from the nra. working with the legislatures. with threats of political repercussions if they do not comply, and of course, rewards, political and financial, when they do. invariably, they have been. there are too many elected officials who are aware of the damage that gun violence does to our society, who understand that this is not an affront to our -- this is an affront to our most basic values, the right to life, the right to be able to walk safely on your streets, the right to happiness that has been destroyed by the senseless want and violence, the happiness of thousands of loved ones who have

lost people in their lives in ways that virtually nothing could have been done to stop it. the sadness to run our society for these inexplicable losses. now, some believe the erroneous idea that any strengthening of gun laws is an affront to the second amendment. others are afraid of political consequences to do what they know is the right thing. either way, it is a failure of leadership. but that is the role of the brady campaign, and each of you here today, to make your voice is heard on this issue and to let the members of congress know what every poll has demonstrated over the last several years.

the american public supports common sense laws that protect communities from gun violence. so as be paid tribute to the memories of those precious lives that were lost five years ago at virginia tech, let us commit ourselves to doing what we can today to do all we can to enact senseful loss that can prevent this tragedy from occurring time and again. we owe a debt -- we at least zero that -- owe that -- to the lost lives and give us occasion to be here today. thank you all. [applause] >> thank you, congressman moran. the congressman talked about how it is the role of the brady and the folks here to start holding our congress accountable. i would build on that by saying it is the role of the american

public to start doing that, and not just based on the magnitude of this problem, which you are right, congressman, should be shocking to everybody, but because of the shockingly simple solutions that exist. we are here to ask on behalf of the american public very simple questions, like, senator vitter, do you think or do not think that george zimmerman, a man with a history of violence, should be permitted to carry a loaded gun on the streets of any state in the country? we're here to ask questions of representative cantor. do you think a convicted felon should be able to walk into any place in our country and buy a gun without a background check? these are the simple questions around which our leaders are failing us. we are going to put a laser focus on this and start to hold

the people that have been elected to represent us accountable for the decisions they're making, the decision that resulted in many of the tragedy's you will hear about today and the decision that cost thousands of lives a year. now it is my honor to introduce colin goddard, who was there at virginia tech that day five years ago, and will share his story with you. >> good morning. i would like to begin by saying i spend the first year of my life in mogadishu, somalia, and then my family moved to bangladesh. then my family moved to jakarta, indonesia before the events in east timor began to erupt. then my family moved to cairo, egypt during the attacks on 9/11 and the ensuing wars in iraq and afghanistan. all the while, my extended family living in the states was petrified for my safety, could not wait for me to come back to

america where it was safe to live. finally, once i enrolled at university at virginia tech in a small south west virginia town, i can put in the most dangerous situation in my entire life coming here in america. it was that day that started me on this path, but it was seeing what happened to me happen to other families that ultimately brought me here today, which is high -- why i wanted to invite a symbolic group of 32, for the 32 people killed at virginia tech five years ago today, and for the 32 american we lose every single day. some people here were associated with shootings you have heard about, that were on the front page of the newspaper. and others, shootings that you have not heard about. we wanted to take this day that everyone acknowledges as the worst mass shooting in our country's history, to the knowledge the greatest tragedy that happens every single day

that goes unnoticed. further, we are up here because of what i heard said from the elected leaders after the virginia tech shooting, after the shooting in tucson, after the shootings that happen every single day, that now is not the time to talk about gun violence. now is not appropriate to talk about solutions. so my question to speaker john boehner air, my question to majority leader eric cantor, to every member that works appear, -- up here, on this anniversary of the worst shooting of our country, when is the time? is it going to be tomorrow? which day is the time? which day would it be inappropriate for you to talk about this issue and to talk about what we can do? it is beyond time for us, which

is why we are here. to make you talk about this. to bring this in front of you and demand that you support some common-sense solutions that the vast majority of your people support. i am honored to be here with the 32 families. at this point, i would like to turn it over to them. thank you very much. [applause] >> i now want to introduce my brother matthew, who will say a couple of words about his tragedy. >> hello, i was shot at the empire state building from a guy who got a gun in florida. he was from another country. he shot me in the head. as you can see, i did not die. but he also killed by guitarist and my friend. what can i say. i would like to challenge

everyone to stand up to congress and outlawed guns. thanks. >> now we are going to hear from the rest of the 32, one by one, in alphabetical order. ginnie bishop. >> this is my younger sister nancy bishop langert and her has been richard. nancy was 25 years old and three months pregnant when an intruder broke into their home and shot them to death in cold blood, completely senseless. she was three months pregnant with what would have been my first these are nephew and my parents first grandchild. he had been diagnosed as a sociopath when he tried to kill his own family by poisoning their milk. i am here to ask congress to make sure that does not get into the hands of dangerous people, like the ones that it killed my family members. [applause]

>> pamela bosley. >> i am here to introduce you to my son that was murdered in chicago. this is my son terrell. my son was 18 and was murdered on april 4, 2006. he helped his friends bring in drums into a church. someone took his life. he was also a son of his family. he was in his first year of college and a gospel bass player, who had the opportunity to play with so many artists. one of his dreams was to become a bass player and travel around the world, but this ended when someone shot him and had 45 -- had an illegal 45 caliber gun. the death devastated my family. every day my son's pray that nobody gets shot. not one day goes by that i do not think about my son terrell. even though it has been six years, the pain remains the

same. no mother should ever have to bury their son. i demand congress get the guns out of that answer from the people that should not have them and bring justice for my son terrell. [applause] >> sherialyn byrdsong. >> this is my husband ricky byrdsong, who for 19 years was a division 1 basketball coach. his last place at coaching was at northwestern university. we met when we were 16 years old, and, for 27 years, we experience the american dream. then on july 2, 1999, our american dream became the american nightmare. ricky was gunned down in cold blood while he was jogging with our two youngest children, ages

8 and 10, in our quiet neighborhood in skokie, illinois. i lost my husband and best friend, my three children lost a great father. ricky had been the head basketball coach at northwestern and had written a book about coaching your kids to be winners in the game of life. after coaching, he committed his life to developing communities. he was devoted to his family and his faith. the world and my family lost a great man that day. all because of a dangerous man who never should have had a gun. ricky's killer was a neo-nazi with a violent past. he did not just kill rikki. he went on a shooting spree throughout illinois and indiana that weekend, shooting at 29 people, wounding nine, and killing two. jews, asians, african-

americans, anyone who's race was different than his. how could this happen? this neo-not see was not allowed to have a gun because he was subjected to a domestic violence restraining order. he went into a gun store and was turned down because he failed a background check, but he found an unlicensed gun seller in the classifieds @, and that is how he got his gun. because the seller was unlicensed, he was not required to do a background check. no father anywhere on this planet, much less in america, should be gone down in front of his children. it is inhumane. why won't congress close this loophole? i learned as a child that the love of money is the root of all evil. it is a sin and a shame that greed and the money drives our

laws instead of consciousness and common sense. i am here today to call on congress to act now, to pack -- pass common sense gun laws, to keep guns away from dangerous people. [applause] >> we are going to ask congress, should the man who shot ricky byrdsong be able to buy a gun anywhere in our country legally? david carrion's. >> i am here to honor the memory of angela denise bayless, the mother of our oldest grandchild, who was shot and killed in the first school shooting here in virginia, the appellation school of law on january 16, 2002, when people were gunned down and three were murdered. unfortunately, in the state of virginia -- and i will be

addressing virginia, because we have an enormous problem -- we continue to live under the shadows of bipartisan defeat in richmond. many politicians in richmond have fallen prey to their political agendas and fear of the national rifle association, and they have willingly opted to confuse and to cover of these tragedies. the governor's review panel report on the shooting at virginia tech is an example of this cover up, and i have documentation with me, if any of you would like it. the state of virginia paid to the victim's $100,000 for their dead children, spouses, and they paid over three-quarters of a million dollars to a firm that does business with the state of virginia to write a report that covers it up. that is a conflict of interest by anybody's definition. the report was written to

prevent anyone from being held accountable for his or her actions or inactions. we will come here every day, if it will help to wake of politicians to their responsibilities to keep guns out of the hands of those who are violent and are a danger to themselves and others. we are here to honor not only the people we have lost, but all of the victims of school shootings, those who have been wounded, and those who are psychologically scarred by these tragedies. [applause] >> lisa delity. she is not here. sorry. mindy finkelstein. >> good afternoon.

almost 13 years ago, i was a camp counselor at the north valley jewish community center with a convicted felon and mentally ill man who was a member of the arian nation try to kill me. i was 16 at the time, but i was lucky because he felt that they feared for the last 13 years, i have tried to lend my voice to this cause, telling members of congress how there is no reason he should have begun. for 13 years, i have been brushed aside. no one seems to think this conversation is worth having. but you cannot ignore us today. look me in the eye and say there was nothing any of us could do to prevent a convicted felon and criminally insane man to walk into the jewish community center and gunned down innocent children. you are wrong. you are dead wrong. then this past year my friend brian kaplan was shot and killed in his friend's garage in the same neighborhood what i was -- where i was shot 13 years ago. he was 32 years old, he had a

two-year old, and his wife was pregnant with twins. the pain that i had was taken away. i promised myself that i cannot and will not let any more of my friends be killed because congress is not willing to listen to us. that's why not just because of what happened to me 13 years ago, but i speak on behalf of brian's three children who will grow up without their father. for them, myself, and for all those here today, please help us make sure that nobody has to suffer tragedy's like any of us have had to suffer. thank you very much. [applause] >> andrew goddard. >> good afternoon. you have already heard from my son. i am just looking at my watch. i know what i wasn't doing five years ago today at this exact moment. i was on the telephone with a surgeon discussing my son's injuries, try to keep it

together for the rest of my family. nine months after i suffered the injury to our family, i went to the virginia general assembly to see what was going to be done to change things in virginia. imagine my surprise when everyone seemed to tell me, now is not the time to talk about such a thing. nine months after 32 people were killed in virginia, it was not time to talk about it. imagine my discussed when i realized it was the time to talk about a bill that would return gun rights to people with mental illness and had said they have now recovered pyrrole you cannot do anything to stop someone who is mentally in problems, having difficulties with his life, you cannot stop him from getting a gun, but we should be concentrating on a lot of people who have gone past that point to get guns again. i have been back there every year. every year is not the time. is not the time to talk about

strengthening gun laws, but miraculously, it is the time to talk about weakening them. now after this many years, enough is enough. we are going to do something about strengthening gun laws. thank you. [applause] >> lori hass. >> good afternoon. my name is lori hass. my daughter and family was shot twice in the back cover had five years ago today, and as difficult as it is for me to stand here today, i can only think of the pain and horror and sadness and the utter devastation to those 32 families that morning, and 32 families everyday, because dangerous people have access, easy access, wherever they want, whenever they want, to weapons. but i am here to challenge and suggest we can fix this problem. a background check is a matter

of moments. we have the technology, the means, the matter, and the determination. we are going to see fit at our representatives and our legislators hear our voice and understand that we need to do what it takes to do a background check on every firearm purchasers, and we need to do what it takes to get the record that this qualifiers and those records into the background check system, so that cho, because his background check was not in the system, can no longer buy a firearm. i suspect today somewhere in one of your home towns, one of your neighborhood, your friend, colleague, your child, your uncle, your honor, is being murdered and gunned down by somebody who had easy access to a gun because they did not undergo a background check and because they -- there does qualifier, whether a felony conviction, mental of

conviction, and drug abuse, or the other 60 qualifiers -- those records were not in the system. we can fix it. i am determined to do that. thank you. [applause] >> lori invited me to come up with her. i am a 33rd family member, victim of gun violence. my daughter mary was also shot in the french class at virginia tech in 2007. unfortunately, she did not survive. we have 32 students and faculty members and brothers and sisters, fathers, mothers who are not with us today. several of us spent this past weekend in blacksburg, it at virginia tech, moralizing their lives and their enormous contributions, and it hardens us that survivors are able to move

forward in their lives. it hardens us to know that we are represented on the campus by scholarships, memorial funds, and any number of great remembrances, but the fact remains, and all of our families, there are holes shaped like our loved one that will never be filled, and that is true of every person here and every single family of the 32 people, who every day as you have heard, are shot to death in this country. this should not happen. as you have also heard repeatedly today, the question is, if not us, who? if not now, when? the courts have repeatedly deferred to the congress and state legislatures to do the right thing and proper regulations of public safety to include issues related to gun violence. but in far too many cases our state legislatures, state executive, and the congress have

avoided making those hard choices. here in virginia, -- i should say, right across river in virginia -- our own governor, governor macdonald heard our pleas not to allow the repeal of our one gun a month law, which is common-sense legislation that existed for almost 20 years in the commonwealth, and then allow the bill to become law. in spite of our please. in our case, this piece of legislation slowed the shooter's plans, it did not stop them, but had they worked as part of the seamless web of common sense of gun legislation to include incorporating the background checks for those in adjudicated mentally ill, it would have probably succeeded in preventing the shooter from getting the fire arms he used. now, i am proud to say that

virginia now leads the nation in inserting mental health records into the national instant check system, but there is so much further to go. so in the name of mary, in the name of rema, and in the name of families who are here representing those whose lives were snuffed out by gun violence, i agree with our members of congress, and do the right thing. do not support legislation that increases the availability of firearms to people who should not have them, and do what is in your power to make sure that those firearms do not get into the hands of the people that should not have them. thank you. [applause] >> christine cologne? no? christine? there you are. >> hi, my name is christina

cologne. i am here with my husband. the retired milwaukee police officer. on april 11, 2009, his career ended as a milwaukee police officer when he with -- nearly lost his life in the line of duty from a 9 millimeter pharma at the hands of a nine-time felons parolee who had only been out of prison for six months. a firearm was purchased at a gas station out of the trunk of a car by his girlfriend. a dispatch calls for a subject with a gun resulted in a foot pursuit. that quickly turned into a gun battle. after the criminal despite his farm and began firing at fidel less than 7 feet away. after the bell was shot, he returned fire until he stop the criminal. videl was shot three times and only one bullet exited. a nine-time felons early with a

fire arm nearly took his life. vice-president biden and attorney general holder awarded videl the medal of valor, the highest honor given to public safety officers for exhibiting exceptional courage in saving and protecting others who 0 to actions were above and beyond the call of duty. videl and i are here on behalf of law enforced officers shot and killed in the line of duty, their families and their loved ones, to demand that our elected representatives do all they can to keep dangerous people from obtaining guns. to all those lost or injured officers who were shot in the line of duty, you will never be forgotten. thank you. [applause] our leadersllenge to distribute metals of valor

for heroism, and to be heroic themselves and stand up to the gun lobby. signed a statement of principle against harming dangerous people. reject the george zimmerman armed vigilante act. is question here? -- christian here? i did not see him before. caitlin hinckley. >> five years ago, my mother and sister went to buy my siblings and myself valentine's cards at a mall in salt lake city, utah. they were gunned down by a severely mentally ill 18-year- old who should not have had the gun he purchased. my sweet baby's sister kristin was killed and my mother will for ever suffer from the multiple gunshot wounds she inflected. when it all happened, it was all over the news. our pain and grieving was broadcast and everyone in the community was hurting.

they felt the pain, the fear, and the traumatic loss, and wanted to know what was happening? when they felt like they were a part of it. everyone can tell you where they were when it happened. but when the time came to move on, they were able to turn off their tvs, put down the newspapers, and go back to their daily lives, knowing that their children were tucked safely in their beds. but our families cannot. we live this nightmare every day. we live with the pain and loss of our children, siblings, close friends, and family members. we live with the fear that unless our loss change, dangerous people will be able to get a hold of a legal fire arm and put other innocent people through this intolerable pain of forever wondering who are lost loved ones would be today. for the last five years, i have constantly wondered who my sister kingston would be today.

i wonder what she would look like, what she would be doing, and what of her many ambitious goals she would have been able to achieve have her life that ended at 15 at that hands of someone who should never have been able to obtain a weapon that ended her life. kingston has meant so much, she should have been here. most recently, her high-school graduation and my wedding. i watched as my mother deteriorated before my eyes, knowing there is nothing i can do for her. she will never get better, she will never heal. i live in fear for her and her future, and for the future of my kids that i hope to one day have. it is far too easy for these dangerous fire arms to get into the hands of the wrong people. gun dealers are not being held

accountable. congress is now being held accountable for these weapons that are being sold. we all stand before you today asking you to remember what we can never forget, to say enough is enough, and to demand a change so this does not continue to happen. [applause] >> so far, as i understand, and john boehner will not meet with us. is that right? i asked, after you hear that, is it time now to start talking about this issue? is it time to start talking about what we can do to keep the guns out of the hands of people who are responsible for tragic is like these your hearing about? nor dean jeffries. -- nardyne jefferies. >> good afternoon. nardyne jefferies. my daughter michelle jones was

one of the three young people murdered on south capitol street in 2010. nine people were shot with multiple weapons. i am not going to dwell too much on the case because we are still in the trial proceedings right now, but the point is, i am here to support, and will be here to support any and every time that i am needed to support. guns in the wrong hands is not a pretty sight. my daughter was shot in the head with an 8 k-47 -- ak-47. her head was blown wide open. it is hard to talk about. hearing the stories, knowing when you are going through, i can communicate -- i can relate. my father just died for bladder cancer but he had no chance

after brishell was killed. he was diagnosed with cancer. he did not have the will to live any longer. elected officials, politicians, activists, all of us as a human society, we need to be a more conscious society. i think it is very selfish of the gun shops, gun manufacturers to take the attitude that we are only making guns for -- whatever the purpose they are claiming to make them for. it is not my fault that innocent people have been gunned down with the guns i have manufactured and have put into my shops. it is your responsibility to be more responsible. you cannot think that manufacturing deadly weapons, you have no responsibility there. you do. i just want to say to be elected officials, you need to stop

thinking in the selfish manner. i guess it has not happened to do -- to you, so you feel oblivious to it, you are so distant from it, but you are not. anyone can get a weapon. you can get a gun as easily as purchasing a candy bar. you can buy a gun from craigslist, on the internet, from some wal-mart stores, a trunk of a car, anywhere. for you to have the attitude that, well, i live in a certain neighborhood -- you are not safe. the bottom line is you are not safe. my only child is now gone. i do not know what it will be like to be a grandmother because i will never have any grandchildren. i will not know what it is like to visit my daughter in college because she was killed that summer. her friends have now gone off to college and are moving along the best they can, but people that

take lives, innocent people, they do not realize the devastation they leave behind. it is not just the victims of the lies you have taken and the families who you have forever changed, but you have to think about, in my case, and a lot of the cases -- the pediatricians. it is hard for all of those relationships that have been established those victims, people have now lost. that void will never be filled again. i am definitely here to go along with the rest of the families to see these centers and let them know that enough has been enough many years ago. i am not going to sit back and tolerates any more mothers, parents, siblings, young people, middle-aged people, being gunned down. it makes no sense. this is supposed to be a civilized nation. let's start acting like it. representatives, let's get on

board. let's not be so quick to make the almighty dollar. money will always be there. you cannot replace lives. i cannot by another daughter, no more can anyone else by another daughter, father, whatever relationship you had with that loved one. do not be so selfish. be more respectful. we are going to get in the faces of these politicians and we are going to let them know, guns in the wrong hands is very deadly. and it makes absolutely no sense. and we are not going away once the cameras leave. we are not going away when their offices closed. we will keep coming back, just as we have been doing for years, and for many years to come, and we will keep coming back, and we will have more people. unfortunately, until they get it, we are going to have more casualties. [applause] >> william kellibrew.

>> july 2, 1984, i helplessly watched at the age of 10 as my mother jacqueline kellibrew, and my 12 year old brother anthony cephas, were shot point-blank in their faces, right in front of me. he then came to me and put the gun to my head, and he had me beg for my life. as i put my hands together and begged him, please do not kill me, i will do anything, it did not go anywhere. after i pleaded to god, please do not let him kill me, marshall brent williams, who had served 11 and a half years for second- degree murder on the marine base in quantico, va., stood up and walked around the room. he let me go that day, but

without my leader, my protector, without the person that i would have grown up with to lead me and guide me through this life. at the age of 13, i wanted to take my own life because it was unbearable. but i came from that room, to this hill, to let congress know, guns and hands of people like marshall brent williams, guns in the hands of people like george zimmerman, do not belong. please. i am coming from that room to please, to bed with you, and to demand, and to ask you, please reject the george zimmerman vigilante act, and please sign the statement of principle. stand with us 32 here today and the 32 victims that have lost their lives at virginia tech years ago, stand with us today to make a difference, and all communities across america,

stand with us. it is senseless violence. with this kind of model legislation, it is unspeakable come and it is deadly. we have got to do something about it. today, we plan to do something about it. thank you very much. [applause] >> day neckline -- dana klein. >> good afternoon. i am here today to honor my friend pamela, a very blessed memory, who died in the shooting that permanently disabled me after i took a bullet in the arm to try to protect my then-17- week-long pregnancy on july 28, 2006 in seattle, washington. i feel it is my obligation to not let the world forget pam, her beauty, her grace, and her commitment to making our

country and our world a safer place. in that same spirit, i have made the choice to give voice to not only pam's story and mine, but to the thousands of other people in our country whose lives have been lost and permanently changed due to the horror of gun violence. i am honored to stand here today other survivors like me who want to be sure the decision makers in our nation's capital have bases, names, and real people to think about when they consider senseless gun control legislation, like the george zimmerman armed vigilante act. my now 5-year-old son and i call the state of maine home now and i look forward to speaking with retiring senator olympia snowe, who has one last chance in her seat in the senate to make the right decision and stand behind

sensible, honest, real conversations about the state of our country and the state of the abundance of fire arms and loss of life that happens every day in our nation. i hope they will remember us, and the other legislatures -- legislators, senator snowe, accenture collins, and the other members of our congressional and senatorial delegations, and join the legacy that pam leaves, and that all of us hoped to leave, that we americans can create a safer world for the rest of the members of our nation. thank you very much. [applause] >> mary kay mace. >> my name is mary kay mace.

my daughter ryanne was the youngest of the students killed in the rampaging at northern illinois univ. on valentine's day 2008. ryanne was only 19 when she was taken from my husband and me. she was our only child and the light of our lives. as more information became available about the shooter, i have trouble understanding why someone with such an extensively documented history of mental illness was able to purchase firearms legally. i naively assumed there were laws in place to prevent that sort of thing in the interest of public safety. through extensively researching gun-control laws and nics, i found out that the good laws that we do have do not go far enough and are somewhat on forcible given the background check system is missing more than 1 million records of people who are supposed to be prohibited purchasers. the public assumes all crimes are committed by hardened criminals with illegally-

obtained firearms, and while that may be true in many cases, there are enough instances, such as the massacres at virginia tech ,niu, and tucson, where the gunmen were all mentally ill and used illegal guns. legislators should now be more along that these incidents continue to happen anywhere and to anyone, prodding them to act on the problem. a good to websites for those running for reelection and see that most of them shy away from taking a position on the issue of common sense gun-control. it is not even listed on their issues. i'm here to tell you that gun violence can no longer be viewed as a non-issue in our country. [applause] >> who is going to take a stance against this? tom.

>> thank you. you know, i think there are three particular things that most of us have in common here. we never expected this would happen to us. two, we wondered how in the hell is that shooter got that gun. three, we do not want this to happen to you. my name is thomas. i am the father of a boy killed at columbine in 1999. of two weeks before that he asked me at the dinner table innocently, did you know that there are loopholes in the brady bill? then he bush shot in the gun - by a gun purchased through one of those loopholes. i led the fight in colorado to close that loophole. when the legislature failed to close it, we took it to a vote of the people and we closed it

with a vote of 70% to 30%. [applause] the people clearly spoke up. now i am speaking up again. on may 1st, i will be releasing a book called, "walking in daniel's shoes named because during those days when i was abdicating, i wore these shoes. these are the shoes my son war. he was wearing them on april 20th, 1999. i do it to honor him just as these people are honoring their children. there is no reason we should have to ask our leaders to do

common sense things when you can pass it with a vote of 70% in a conservative state. we should not have to go to the ballot each time. we are asking for the people here, our leaders, to listen to what they are asking for. thank you. [applause] >> brian miller. >> hello. i'm brian. this is my niece. she lost her father. i lost my brother in a massacre that occurred just on the other side of the hill here, the district building in 1994 when a man came into d.c. police headquarters, to the place i would say you were intent on mayhem that you would avoid. he went into the second floor,

opened a door, and started firing. when it was done, he was dead, fbi special agent mike miller and two of is colleagues. since that day, we have been involved as much as we can to make sure the same thing does not happen to other people. mike was killed with a gun illegally sold in kentucky and illegally trafficked to washington d.c. this sort of thing happens every day, in every state, in every city. it is something that makes no sense yet this congress protect the gun industry from top to bottom but allows it to happen. i lived in new jersey. both states have strong at gun laws. neither state allows people to get guns and carry them loaded and concealed the way that

george zimmerman did. why should the people of our state to be able to make that choice rather than this congress trying to make the choice for them? it is unconscionable and it should not happen. we're here to do what we can to make sure it does not. everyone in this country can help keep that from happening if you pay attention to where you're legislate for stand on this issue, research it, and when it comes time for an election, a maker voices heard. if they vote the wrong way, vote them out. thank you. [applause] >> in terms of what the american public can do to hold their leaders accountable, they can go online to our site, bradycampaign.org that allows them to sign a statement of principle. if they do not sign a statement of principle stating they do not

think convicted felons should be able to buy a gun anywhere in in our country than vote them the heck out of office. annette. >> my name is annette. my name -- my life was forever changed in 2007. my only child was murdered when he boarded a bus in chicago's south side. it was loaded with other writers. a teenager boarded the bus and started shooting. he was trying to oppose -- shoot and opposing a gang member. the surviving five teenagers have a violent reminders. i am left without my beloved son. but me tell you a little bit about who blair was. he was a typical 16-year-old who

was very intelligent, handsome, gifted. his teachers loved him. they wished they had more like him. he wanted to be successful in life and he made plans to succeed. his father and i did our best to instill in him values and we tried our best to protect him. our best efforts could not save him from the bullets that took his life. he was in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. along comes a teenager with an illegal guns on the streets of chicago. how could a teenager get his hands on such a dangerous weapon baxter has to be a way to keep this from happening to other families. there are countless victims to have suffered the same fate because no one has figured out how to stop illegal guns in our community. if only there were laws, my son would be getting ready to

graduate college now, but i guess i will never get to see that. i would just up the legislators would look at all of us here today. we cannot protect our trial from the streets of chicago. he was raised the right way. do something to make it different. it can happen to you. believe me. [applause] >> genet richardson. -- jeanette. >> good afternoon. my name is jeanette and i am here because of of a college student getting shot at right in front of my home, murdered on new year's eve by a high-school dropout with an illegal weapon. when we ask what you is going to get for the stolen weapons

charge, we were quietly told that there would be no illegal weapons charge because of the loophole in the ease that we have of getting guns. any kid can get a gun, they say. i just finished working with at risk models coolers for americorps and that is what they tell me. -- at risk middle schoolers with americorps. he was a high-school dropout. he was at the school of art and design as a freshman, just visiting home. i think that was the first time in the entire time he was gone that i was glad he was not there to see it. i am a virginian and i want this to end. we have to get some serious

regular laws. we are not taking guns from people who want them. we are talking about the people who do not deserve them, the felons, the abusers. that is what we are here to do. that is all. thank you. [applause] >> geraldine rodriguez. >> my son's murder was never charged. 15 years ago in tampa, fla., on december 19th, 1996, a few days before the christmas holidays, my 70-year-old unarmed son -- 17-year-old son was murdered by

someone carrying a concealed handgun. he was never charged. my son, michael, approached an unmarked car and was shot by a delivery driver.o he had a gun in his car that he purchased at a pawnshop in tampa. he had the gun in his car against domino's policy. jordan was also behind the wheel of a running vehicle. he chose to shoot instead of driving off. my suon was unarmed. all you wanted was directions. clifford fired and killed him

after 5 seconds. my son, once again, was 17, unarmed, sober, and had no criminal record. it was the same kind of fear and hate filled tragedy that we see in the trayvon martin murder in sanford, florida. if clifford had not had a gunm, my son could not have been killed. the so-called "self defense charge" prevailed. 15 years after my 17-year-old son's murder, i continue to fight this travesty of justice.

the tampa police department even the jordan's story testimony clearly revealed that jordan shot immediately and placed his own gun in it are dead -- our dead son's hand to convince by standards that he was armed. in the police report, my son was described as "a cuban fog from new york -- thug from new york." my husband and i were born and raised in tampa. we travel to tampa regularly to visit our relatives. michael was born and raised in

princeton, new jersey. after our son's funeral, we visited teheran cox of the florida state attorney's office to request a reopening of the investigation. we wanted the truth to come out for many reasons. the haste and russia in which a self-defense excuse had been accepted by the tampa police. the lies and inconsistencies in his testimony. and the evidence had been brought forth. karen cox flatly denied our plea. clifford jordan was never charged. even the domino's pizza corp. that claims to have regulations prohibiting its drivers from

carrying firearms washed its hands of the killings saying they could not control the actions of their franchises. this seems to indicate to us that they do not enforce or take their own rules regarding firearms seriously. for 15 years, the pain of losing our son to a senseless murder has not been resolved. from a legal standpoint, we have done all we can to seek justice in this terrible tragedy. my heartfelt sympathy goes out to the family of trayvon martin. i respect their courage. like my son, michael, trayvon was an innocent victim of ethnic profiling, the blacks and

dangerous for the mindset that fosters easy and available guns -- the lax and dangerous mindset, and a license to kill. to our administration and legislate tors -- i say, never again. [applause] >> omar. >> thank you for being here today. my sister was a member of the contemporary dance ensemble and active in many clubs and activities. like all those killed on april 16th, she was so full of promise and had a bright future. then she sat in cheapest the profile of someone who would be murdered by an illegal gun it? the truth is there is no

standard profile. gun violence affects all americans from all walks of life. 32 americans are murdered every day with guns. over the past five years, i have been working to prevent gun violence. i have had the opportunity to travel from city to city, town to town meeting with law enforcement, mayors, doctors, even nra members about gun violence and are broken background check system in particular. in pennsylvania, a medic in his 18 month old child was killed as their father build up the gas tank. one mother in chicago had honor student child never come home because he shielded a friend on the bus. i have met people for every walk of life. there's no one immune to gun violence in america.

the girl from minneapolis who lost her childhood friend said it best when she said it is not about good kids, bad kids, race or class. this is a real problem. gun violence is not an urban issue. it is a nationwide issue. i went undercover to a gun show in richmond to see just how easy it is to buy a gun without a background check. i bought 10 in under an hour, no questions asked, no id shown. it was as easy as going to convenience store and buying a candy bar. we are allowing anyone to do that. felons, domestic users, those adjudicated mentally ill and potential terrorists. i have seen overwhelming support from everyday citizens to enact reasonable measures and enforce existing laws that would help prevent gun violence. to fix our national database and

require background checks, their simple steps, but they will help save lives. seven out of 10 and are rain -- nra members and 9 out of 10 americans support this. i'm doing this so others will not have to go through the same pain, loss, and suffering that my family and some others have experienced. 32 families go through what we have gone through and still go through each and every day. when i was in iowa city, i met an administrator who was there during the shootings in 1991 nearly 20 years ago and she shared a "with me. it was as if the tragedy had just occurred. "it is like dropping an enormous need your into a lake. it creates ways that ripple for a long time and changes the shape of the shore. eventually the surface is smooth again, but underneath, everything is changed forever

and people swamped by the waves are never the same." for the past five years, many of us effected on april 16th have worked tirelessly to prevent this from occurring to others. we have implored the help of congress only to be shut out and ignored as 32 or more americans are murdered with guns every day and and mass shootings have become "normal." i have been saddened and shocked to see an apathetic congress it idly by even as gun violence stroke one of their own in tucson. today, we are calling on our congressional members to join us. the voice of moderation, asking for the enforcement of existing laws, laws that respect the second amendment rights and help keep us safer from gun violence. please join us now on the fifth anniversary of april 16th to

help us put an end to the tragic old gun violence has on our country. please sign the statement of principle. thank you. [applause] >> for those who have not spoken yet, i think we will need to keep it a little short just because we have some very important meetings to get to, but we do what everyone to be able to share their stories. kim. that i pronounced it right? >> no. this is my friend, patrick. i wear a necklace that has his fingerprint on it. on july 24th, 2010, my 23-year- old son was shot point-blank in the left eye with a 22 caliber pistol. at 6:58 p.m., he was declared brain dead. the person that murdered my son was a convicted child sex

offender who should have never had a gun. he had already shown that he had no regard for the loss he had already violated and was sent back to prison for parole violation. i have never been a proponent of the guns, but i always respected people's rights to own a gun waffling and completing a handgun licensing course. prior to patrick's murder, i was not aware of the various ways a convicted felon could get a gun. now, unfortunately, i am more knowledgeable and have the desire to close the loopholes so another mom does not have to bury her only son. as part of me died that day, july 24th, 2010. [applause] >> thank you. josh. >> on august 10th, 1999, a neo- nazi walked into the north

valley jewish community center in a suburb of los angeles. i was only a few feet away from him when he unleashed 70 rounds shooting me and four other people come at terrorizing dozens of small children. i was in six years old. i got hit twice, one breaking my leg, the other narrowly missing my spine. many people remember the gripping images of innocent preschoolers. walked across the street with armed swat officers. a short time later, the gunman who shot me traveled and shot a filipino american mailman. he was a hate-filled white supremacist intent on killing jews. he had a history of mental illness and of violent behavior. yet, he had an arsenal of weapons and weapons purchased without a background check. so many lives were altered that

day because of our inadequate regulation. a comprehensive background check system could have prevented a dangerous person like him from obtaining lethally dangerous weapons. almost 300 people were killed and injured by guns of a single day, more than 1 million people in the 10 years that i have been shot. nothing has been done about this issue and i am here to call on our nation's leaders to help us move toward a safer community. thank you very much. [applause] >> carolyn. >> hello. my name is carolyn. five years ago, my family's life was shattered. a teenager walk into a salt lake city gun shop and purchased a gun, walked out, and the gun that he never should have owned, he was too young to legally buy

a gun but the pawn shop sold it to him anyway. used it to open fire in a crowded salt lake city mall. he shot me three times with a pistol grip shotgun and killed by people including my vibrant 15-year-old daughter. it has been five years, yet for me every day is filled with the pain i have from that terrible moment. i suffer from chronic severe pain and sickness from the permanent lead poisoning from the hundreds of lead pellets in my kidney, lung lining, and stomach. before i was shot, i was a cyclist and road 20-50 miles per day. we hike, bike, and iran regularly. i was a fantastic konk cook for all the teenagers that would congregate at my house. we were a very close family, always out and active.

now, a struggle every day just to get out of bed from the lead poisoning and sickness. i do not cook anymore because of the non ship. i think about my bike every day, but i rarely summon enough energy to write it. my kids have all moved away. kristen was our glue, the baby of the family whom everyone loved, everyone everywhere that she met. she was sunshine and happiness. she had a laugh that envelop to into laughing with her. not a day goes by that she is not with me and i do not think about her constantly. she has missed some a milestones of her own, but the gun shop that sold the gun, they got to keep the profits, and are still selling guns. is it worth the few dollars a

profit? white our gun laws so weak that dangerous people can so easily obtain them? i'm here because i do not want another mom to lose a try to gunfire. i'm here today because nobody should have to separate the emotional daly pain and memory of five years ago today that left lead shrapnel in my body. and your to call on congress to pass a common sense the gun laws to keep guns away from dangerous people. [applause] >> sergeant yvonne vann. >> thank you. you will remember me because i still serve and protect in san antonio, texas. my husband was shot and killed

in an ambush-style shooting while stopped at a red light while responding to a non- emergency call on may 28th, 2011. remember that day. a car pulled up next to his patrol car and on the passenger side, immediately opened fire and with no warning. my husband was struck numerous and multiple times with an assault rifle. his patrol car rolled through the intersection and was stopped by crash barriers. he was dead instantly. my husband was a u.s. marine corps gulf veterans and had served with the bare county sheriff's office over 24 years. we had always been service oriented, whether with our country or community.

just like those of you that hold offices, you were hoping to serve your communities and your country. service is our common bond, the thread and a foundation that has made this country and its citizens what we are today. you, i, we, the people here, are all here today to request that you serve the citizens of this country in your communities by not allowing convicted felons, convicted domestic abusers come and and noon or suspected terrorists, and people found to be dangerously or mentally ill to buy, own, or carry a gun anywhere in our great nation. do your country and its citizens a great service. help us in law enforcement keep these streets safe. there was an act to not allow

assault rifles to be purchased by the public but it was only good for 10 years. we want that re-enacted. the general public does not need assault rifles. keep them in the hands of the people who do come a military and law-enforcement. keep our streets safe. we lost a good one that day. may 28th, 2011. i will be back up here in washington, d.c., for national police week and i challenge those here on capitol hill to face me based face and tell me there was nothing you could have done to have stopped my husband's death. thank you. [applause] >> suzanne. the want to talk about it? >> i'm good. >> next.

>> good afternoon. i live in austin, texas. my sister carol lived in austin, texas. on july 25th, 1994, she was in her own home asleep. around 3:45 a.m., a young man by the name of timothy francs was 19-years old. he walked up on her porch and made just enough noise for her to get up and go to this door. when she headed towards the door, he opened fire. she never even opened the door. she took two bullets and died on the other side. i'm honored to be here today with the 32 to go to congress and the man that they change this law. those of you at home, if you go to bradycampaign,org, see what

you can do to help us. it has not happened to the people in congress and they do not feel what we feel which is why they are not willing to change the law. thank you. [applause] >> anybody that we missed? yes? >> my name is suzanne and i am from santa monica, calif., and i am here in the memory of my brother. he was 18 and i was 15 when he was murdered. none of us should be here today. this is unacceptable. [applause] >> i just want to make it clear and then we will take the minutes of questions because we do have to run to a meeting. there will be 32 people here taking their voice to congress to speak on behalf of the loved ones they lost. it is not just 32 people that are represented in congress that day.

it is not just the victims. it is the voice of the american people. the brady organization is the citizens of becoming the voice of the american public on gun violence. it is not just a bunch of activists or victims, but the american public that is going to start holding our leaders accountable for the decisions they make that are costing lives. they put the gun in george zimmerman's hands, many of the hands that caused these tragedies we heard of today and we will hold them accountable. [applause] any questions? >> to have wage your battle. now you have trayvon martin. the think any of that will change a thing is in view of his issue moving forward? >> we are very hopeful that the tragedy of trayvon martin will be different.

it is not just an example of the american public temporarily being concerned about one tragedy of gun violence. the trayvon martin tragedy points directly to the culpability of the gun lobby and the legislatures that do their bidding in terms of putting guns in the hands of dangerous people. we blame george zimmerman for shooting trayvon martin, but we blame the gun lobby of the florida politicians to do their bidding for putting the gun in his hands that he was carrying that night, an armed man with a violent past and an arrest record, illegally carrying a loaded hidden gun that he had used to take that life. we intend to take this and hang it around the neck of the politicians that have passed these laws of the gun lobby advocating these laws across the country and demonstrating their culpability.

this ad, "i am the nra," and trying to portray that as the agenda of the gun lobby. george zimmerman is the nra. is the creation of a politician to have done their bedding and we need to take the hot rage focused around this tragedy and hold their leaders accountable. i do believe that this one is different. anything else? do we want everyone to sign these now? what we're going to do now is to get all the 32 here to start by signing this statement of principle. to remind you, this is the very

simple statement that we will be asking our elected officials to sign. do you or do you not believe that the people listed on this list should be able to buy a carry ary, o-- buy or gun anywhere in our country? thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> has this news conference wraps up, the house and senate will be returning in about 15 minutes from spring break. both bodies will gavel back in at 2:00 p.m. eastern. extensionwill iexamine bills. mass-transit legislation and bills for small businesses. you can see the house shortly on c-span. the senate will begin today with the so-called buffett rule. the procedural vote on whether to move forward with the proposal is set for 5:30 p.m. you can see the senate live on c-span2. this morning, we had a preview

of the congressional agenda for the coming week and its impact on the presidential election. host: biggest thing on the agenda? guest: which you will really see are these two dueling tax plans, one from the senate and one from the house. they will be voting on the buffet rule, the 30% tax on americans making more than $1 million. you'll see the president stopping across the country and the democrats really pushing a during recess with a variety of press calls. they are focused on driving this message close to tax day. later this week, he will be seeing the house republicans bring their small business tax bill to the floor. this is championed by eric

cantor. both parties will use this to try to differentiate themselves and coordinate with the candidates. this will be an interesting week in terms of how congress is able to use that message and translated. this is an election year. everyone from here on out is towards the election and not necessarily policy making. guest: i agree taxes will be the big issue and really for the next 100 days before the election. a couple of other issues that could move messaging on is the pending highway bill. there are various cyber security bills pending in congress. taxes will be both the main talking point now and in november. host: if you'd like to hear more talk about the congress. for republicans --

for democrats -- the numbers are on your screen. bob, and we entered the run-up ball to the elections? -- the run up period to the election?ar are we in th zone where nothing gets done? guest: earlier this year we had the stock act to ban insider trading. we have had a few rare signing ceremonies with both republicans and democrats there. eric cantor has had a strained relationship with president obama. that was then it, and this is now. from a tax day onward, it is all about positioning the battle for the house, the senate come and the white house. host: let's look at the details

of the buffett rule. it is a minimum 30% tax rate the household earning more than $2 million per year. a lower rate for it comes earning between $1 million and $2 million. it would create $47 billion in tax revenue over a decade. meredith, you mentioned this would be a big talking point right now in the senate and for president obama. are we looking at an agenda for congress based on a going out on the campaign trail saying, "we tried?" guest: labeling this "the buffett rule" is new. the have tried to use a millionaire surtax all the time to try to get things through. this is something that they really believe is a winning

issue. the interesting thing about it is that chuck schumer actually said there was a distinction between the $1 million, above that, and below that. there really been focusing around $750,000. putting the word "millionaire" resonates more with people. they have been using it for some time. host: tammy is runing on the buffett rule. she has found one she can really hold onto. is the house champion of the legislation. it remains to be seen how well it will play in wisconsin. this demonstrates her savvy about washington politics. guest: usually you see leaders signing bills to people in cycle because they think it could be an issue to work on them -- for

them on the trail. i asked a bunch of leadership whether this was something they asked her to do or she can up with it on her own. they said she approached them a. -- them about it. it demonstrates savvy, because this is something they are obviously using. senator schumer, the third democrate, and senator durbin is the number 2 democrat, so she's getting out there. at the minimum, it could be good for her fund-raising.

caller: i question about the tax issue in congress. one side wants a fair tax and the other side wants to impose higher taxes on the rich. how can you impose more taxes on the rich and then [unintelligible] guest: -- host: really the issue of taxing the rich and how we the get taxation moving forward. it is almost time to turn in your personal income taxes. can you reflect on his question in the balance of taxing the wealthy and making sure they need to perform well in the stock market to have that kind of income? guest: democrats will talk a lot about wall street reform and the law that they passed, that some of them want to repeal. it is a matter of fairness. that is a word you hear from the

white house repeatedly. republicans will counter the buffett rule only raises about $5 billion per year. that was recently noticed by the editorial board. president colleges it does not raise a lot of money, but at least it is a start. this is a bit of a small ball, but democrats have been frustrated that they have not been able to crack republican front of the group norquist rule of not raising taxes -- on the grover norquist world. it has to be used to cut taxes in another area. polls show that a majority of republicans do agree on taxing military -- millionaires. host: caller, good morning. caller: democrats have not made a budget.

what they could do is constrain spending. democrats like to spend more. it for the economy to grow, prices need to come down. i need to correct this misinformation. the president and his administration wants us to use less wheel. -- less oil and transition to green energy, and when you make the price high the economy slows down. when the economy slows down, people cannot afford to buy green vehicles. host: we will talk about green energy in a second, but let's look at your first point, the democrats not passing a budget in a long time. guest: this is something the

democrats will struggle with because the republicans have finally honed in and used against them. for the past two years, paul ryan has put forth a very sweeping broad plan that the democrats do not like other republicans shrugged their arms and saying, "we have passed a budget. where's yours?" the budget control act is one of the most firm things we have ever done because it actually sets levels for proofreaders and makes a huge cuts in spending. -- for appropriators and makes a huge cuts. budget chairman kent conrad is retiring and believes strongly in long-term fiscal responsibility, entitlement reform, and wants to go forward with his own budget. that is against the will of democratic leaders. they did not want to have to deal with this.

there had been a lot of really politically challenged democrats struggling in the election cycle. you're going to make them vulnerable. what happens with a budget resolution is that it has different rules on the floor. with 51% you can open the debate and have any number of amendments. host: what kind of position does this put harry reid in? guest: this climate has been sent between house and senate. who has the leverage? the democratic senate or the republican house? on transportation, they have had trouble passing a highway bill. on the budget, house republicans, passing the a right and budget was not easy. they were able to pass it and that is why republicans will be repeating that they have passed a budget and the democrats have

not. host: our last caller also brought up oil and gas. will we see that play out? guest: rising gas prices will be a huge issue. some speculated could hit $5 per gallon, especially if there is an israel strike on iran. it could go to $6 or possibly $7 per gallon. democrats will go after big oil and oil speculators. republicans will be talking about drilling and drilling. host: albuquerque, a democrat, go ahead. caller: lifelong democrat. i worked with some people in the obama campaign in 2008. we have left the progressive

policies in the water. we're still in the war in afghanistan. there is about half of the campaign promises that are just tired. there's a lot of class division in our party leaders. there are a lot of people not happy with either party. i'm going to go vote for gary johnson to see if i can support his campaign also. i have seen less and less difference between the two parties and more and more rhetoric. i'm not seeing anything progress about of our president. i'm very upset, especially on the afghanistan war which is where this is going to cause the recession. as far as my question to you, how would you guys feel about the next two supreme court nominations being handled by a libertarian, gary johnson, rather than a democrat or a

republican? i'm really looking at going libertarian even though i am a registered democrat. host: aggressive, very concerned about the democratic president. guest: there is a lot of stuff in that call. in the primary, we have seen it romney playing more to the right flank and the president played to the middle. the politician mitt romney has a reputation of being very moderate. what are the difference is going to be between romney and obama? how will they differentiate themselves? will romney play of social issues? earlier this year in congress, they were trying to play social issues like the amendment on contraception. use of the renewed arguments about religious rights, women's rights. it kind of backfired. democrats were able to take advantage of it. it in a tough economic times,

gas prices are an issue that comes up every four years. it always pops up in the mainstream consciousness. i think you're going to see a lot of diligent work to try to win back those people that saw him as a promising help and change can did it. his message is that he had to be pragmatic, but it's better than the alternative. host: your story today about gop lawmakers and a delegate to. -- tango. host: -- guest: ron johnson was tapped dot to come up with a

unified policy document from romney and republicans in congress. certainly, romney won the endorsement battle on capitol hill and now has more than 100. there have been a fair amount of republicans who opted not to endorse romney. some of them are from very conservative red states. this will be a tough, tough problem. they need to unify the party, and at the same time not appear too extreme. that is a word you hear a lot from senator chuck schumer. it is a very difficult thing for romney to do and one that could decide the election. host: i wanted to mention this article you filed recently that senator johnson is looking to purge his staff. is this unusual? guest: this is a bit unusual. but you always see turnover in

congressional offices, but something really interesting that i was talking about earlier before we got on set with you the that you look at his fec disclosures and is public record of congressional staffers, he only retained five from his 43 at the campaign and all the more based in wisconsin. it talks about a larger issue about republicans who came into washington without a lot of political experience and thinking they could totally change the system. it's very frustrating. there are ways, processes, leaders that have been here forever. it is a struggle and there is frustration that they really have not been able to do exactly what they wanted because there is a divided government. you have a group of people who came to washington not wanting to be a part of washington, but then realizing quickly in order to the effect of that you have to be. it is this weird to exist at a crisis for these people.

once you get to washington, you are a part of washington, said how'd you do without after it happens? that is the undercurrent of what that story was trying to say. it is a struggle to adjust the matter what party you're in. >> see reairs on c-span.org. live to the u.s. house, members are turning. today they will vote on three congressional gold medals. and a commemorative coin for mark twain. live coverage of the the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. april 16, 2012, i hereby appoint the honorable andy harris to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy.

father conroy: let us pray. dear lord, we give you thanks for iffing us another day. at the beginning of a new workweek, we use this moment to be reminded of your presence and to tap the resources needed by the members of this people's house to do their work as well as it can be done. we ask that you send your holy spirit upon them, giving them the gifts of patience and diligence. with all the pressures for action that cry out each day and with all the concern and worry that accompanies any responsibility, we play that they might know your peace which surpasses all human understanding. may your voice speak to them in the depths of their hearts, illuminating their minds and spirits, thus enabling them to view the tasks of this day with confidence and hope. all this day and through the

week may they do their best to find solutions to the pressing issues facing our nation. may all that is done this day be for your greater honor and glory, amen. the speaker pro tempore: the -- 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 will be led by the gentleman from illinois, mr. kinzinger. mr. kinzinger: please join me. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i ask

unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman has one minute. mr. wilson: as i travel across the sec congressional district of south carolina, over the last constituent workweek, i became increasingly aware of a growing relationship between the savannah river national laboratory and one of their regional research universities, the university of south carolina. these two entities are working together to address key national energy needs in nuclear, hydrogen, few cells, environmental science, advance sensors, and alternative energy in addition to other areas of great national interest. the two institutions anticipate the future formation of a joint technology commercialization initiative involving the darla moore school of business at the university of south carolina to build new technology based upon businesses and create jobs. i look forward to these joint

collaborations between the savannah river national laboratory and i am confident their success will be of great benefit to south korea and our nation. in conclusion god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. rest in peace, medal of honor resipent, army master sergeant john f. baker jr. of columbia, south carolina, and rock island, illinois, for his heroic service in vietnam who was buried at arlington national cemetery today. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut rise? >> mr. speaker, i request permission to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> unless 24 congress acts in 75 days, the interest rate for the stafford student loan program will explode for eight million college students, the rate will jump from 3.4% to 6.8%. at a time when student loan

debt now exceeds credit card debt, added interest cots for a student using stafford will increase between $5,000 and $10,000. mr. courtney: it is unconscionable the republican leadership will not bring up a bill i introduced with 119 co-sponsors to lock in the lower rate. the chair of the subcommittee for higher education spoke last week in north carolina and said, i have very little talrens for people who tell me they dwrad wait with $200,000 of debt or even $800,000 of debt. really? it's a sad statement when today's republican party turns its back on a program that helps millions of americans to fill their dreams and named after a republican senator, robert stafford of vermont, top the rate height. keep the american dream alive for millions of college students. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. kinzinger: thank you. last week the north korean

regime sent a clear message of defiance to the world community. rather than work towards a peaceful agreement, north korea would prefer its people starve in order to pursue its nuclear ambitions. the failure of the long-range missile tests undermines the credibility of the north's new leadership and requires the united states to stand firm in support of stronger penalties. north korea has one ally in the region that has the power to force them to negotiate in good faith. it's time china stepped up and realized that its economic success is dependent on peace in the region and around the world. with china's rise comes responsibility. i encourage china to use this opportunity to force the north korean regime to abandon its nuclear missile program and support the welfare of its people. i encourage the united states to continue a strong posture, peace through strength, in the hopes that someday strength makes war obsolete. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the

gentleman from california rise? >> thank you very much, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i long aspired to a relationship at the u.s.-mexican border like the one that the united states of america has with canada. i know that raises some red flags but the fact of the matter is three things need to be done. we need to have economies of scale, end to illegal immigration, and end to narcotrafficking. one of the things that is essential is economic growth in mexico. many people have constantly talked about the fact that we have nothing but rich and poor. while that disparate still exists, there is a very important study, you just got this book from the great mexican ambassador to the united states, entitled mexico, a middle class society. poor no more, developed not yet. by two academics, luis and lube west rubio. they talk about the fact, i

commend it to my colleagues, i suspect it's been sent to a number of them. they talk about the fact that we have seen the middle class in mexico emerge dramatically within the last half century. to the point where there are people who -- the study points to the fact that in 1960 a majority of mexicans lived in one room homes. today a majority of mexicans live in homes with three rooms or larger. if you look at the other tremendous indications, the fact that there is a burgeoning middle class in mexico is a positive sign towards dealing with the challenges that we have. again, mr. speaker, i commend this document to my colleagues. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, today's so-called main street media is not mainstream. mr. smith: the modern

encyclopedia, wikipedia, says the term mainstream media is generally reflective of the prevailing currents of thought, influence, or activity. but the opinions expressed by the media are neither widespread nor accepted by the majority of americans. for example, journalists have very different views regarding illegal immigration. according to a pew research center poll, less than one in five journalists said they thought reducing illegal immigration was a top priority. yet over half the american people rated illegal immigration reduction as a top priority. the national media should not be considered mainstream until the majority of americans and journalists are on the same page. the bias of the national media's journalist has caused them to not only be on the different page but entirely different publication than the typical american. to call today's national media

mainstream is inaccurate. the national media is better described as the liberal national media. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until approximately 4: >> the house of representatives is back in session today at 4:00 eastern. live coverage when members return here on c-span. new york democratic congressman has had a change of heart. after 15 terms, he is retiring. the 77-year-old democrats was the chairman of the house oversight committee. he is the 15th house democrat to announce his retirement.

defense secretary leon panetta and joint chiefs of staff are in today. that closed door meeting is coming as a -- coming up at 5:00 eastern. they're holding a news briefing that started about two minutes ago. this is live on c-span. as we monitor the provocative and ultimately unsuccessful north korean government to conduct a missile launch, we will continue to be fully prepared for any future provocations should they occur. we hope that will not be the case. we continued to be prepared in the event that happens. on a nato, i am leaving tomorrow morning for a joint meeting with secretary clinton. the last high-level meeting that will take place before the chicago summit in may. we are at a pivotal point before

the alliance as we build on the gains that have been made in afghanistan and try to chart the course for the future in that area. we will also be working to ensure that nato itself has the right military capabilities that will be needed for the future in order for nato to assume responsibilities that it must as we proceed. even as we deal with these global security challenges, we have another great challenge here at home, which is working with the congress to implement our new defense strategy. let me just give you a quick update on where i think things stand at this point. since the president's own budget request was released on february 13, the budget and a strategy that we have developed have been subject to intense scrutiny on capitol hill. german 10 -- chairman dan cynne

i went to the five times to testify, as many of you know. -- chairman dempsey and i went up to the hill five times to testify, as many of you know. a lot of tough questions were asked, but i believe that both our strategy and our budget proposals have held up very well under this very intense scrutiny. as a result, we continue to strongly believe that this is the right strategy and the right budget to meet our responsibilities to a strong national security and to cut fiscal requirements. military and civilian leaders here at the department also found a unified -- all stand unified. we have created that strategy and budget as a team. one of the key elements of

strategy may be familiar to all of you, but let me summarize all those points. will be smaller and leaner, but it must be agile, flexible, deployable, and a technologically advanced. we will rebalance our global posture, emphasizing the asia- pacific and middle east. fourth, we will ensure our military can confront aggression and defeat any opponent, anytime, anywhere. lastly, we will protect investments in new technologies such as isr, space, cyberspace, global strike, special ops, and the capacity to quickly mobilize. of course, in the end, it is up to congress. in the coming weeks to begin considering the defense authorization and appropriations bill.

our hope is that congress will carefully consider the new strategy in their budget decisions that resulted from that strategy. the key is that this is a zero sum game. because of the budget control act, any change in any area of the budget will inevitably require offsetting changes elsewhere. that carries the real risk that if this is not done right, the result could be hollow, and balance, or a weaker force. our hope is that our strategy will not be picked apart piece by piece. if, for example, we are prevented from carrying out all of the six major weapons terminations that we have proposed, the result will be a need to find as much as $9.6 billion in savings from other areas over five years. that could mean less money to

buy high priority ships or acquire the next generation of aircraft. if congress rejects the modest changes we have suggested, almost a $13 billion in savings over the next five years, it will have to be found in other areas such as readiness, or we could be forced to further reduce our troops strength. the message we wanted to send congress today is that there is very little margin for error with this package. that is the reality that all of us are living with. the strategy that we developed will maintain, we believe, the strongest military in the world by every measure. that is essential because of the nature of the security challenges that we are facing. i believe we are at a critical point in our nation's history.

we need to rise to meet the challenges that are facing us in this uncertain world. we cannot afford to have congress result to bitter partisanship at this time. we owe it to the american people to ensure the right decisions are made to protect our nation and our national security from the full scope of modern threats, including the threat of our debt and our deficits. above all, we owe it to the american people to find a way to avoid sequestered. it has been 121 days since the super committee failed and congress has yet to find a way to avoid some question. i still remain optimistic that we can't find a way to avoid this disaster. it is going to take congress and all of us working together do find consensus and provide strong, bipartisan leadership to

protect our economy, our quality of life, and our national security. that is what the american people expect of their leaders. it is what week, at the department of defense, have made in the effort to do this with the defense strategy that we put in place for the future. let me just close by noting that in the spirit of that partnership between dod and congress, and general dempsey and i will be meeting tonight with members of congress. the caucus on women in the military and the military sexual assault prevention caucus to discuss the next series of steps the department will be taking with regard to sexual assaults. as i said before, sexual assault is -- has no place in the military. we have made it a top priority to combat this crime. we will continue to develop our strategies. we will continue to devote our

energy to in forcing our department's zero tolerance policy on sexual assaults. my goal is to do everything possible. i think our goal has been to do everything possible to open up the military to everyone who wants to serve this country. to do that, we must effectively deal with this. >> thank you, mr. secretary. >> good afternoon. the last several weeks have been pretty remarkable, actually. these last seven days remind us that we live in an extraordinarily complex and increasingly competitive world. in fact, today we face a security paradox. a time that may appear to be less dangerous, but underneath the surface is more dangerous.

levels of violence, by some accounts, are at a low point. as a consequence, there are simply more actors with more potential to do us harm. this is not a time for comfort or complacency, which is why our nation's senior and civilian leaders came together to develop a new strategy. the strategy of firms are solid duty to protect our country and its citizens. it is informed by a security environment that is changing in unprecedented ways. it provides the lessons of a decade of war. it is determined to defeat any threat. as i mentioned before, the fiscal year 13 budget is an essential first step. our strategy in the budget has a carefully balanced set of

choices. the decisions we made are not about doing more with less and certainly not less with less. they're about making sure we have the right talent and the right tools to keep america immune from coercion. put another way, we adopted our strategy to meet the nation's security needs. nothing more as nothing less than that. i am confident this approach honors our commitment to the american family. thank you and we look forward to your questions. >> mr. secretary, i would like to ask both of you about the attacks in afghanistan yesterday. is it your assessment, at this point, that these attacks were organized? if so, what does that say about the severity of the threat and the inability of the pakistan government to crack down? >> the intelligence indicates that they were behind the attacks that took place.

we have received a great deal of intelligence indicating that they were planning these kinds of attacks. obviously, we were always concern about the attacks that take place. that taliban is resilient. yet, we are confident the afghans can deal with this attack. there were no games here. the have not regained any territory. bonds -- there were no gains here.

it confirms that the afghan army and police did a great job of reacting to these attacks. they quickly restored order. the quickly restore security in those areas. it gave us an indication that they really are improving in terms of their capability to provide security. having said all of that, this is clearly the beginning of a spring offensive that the taliban engages in. we are fully confident that we can confront that threat. >> though the evidence leads us to believe that that network was involved with this, that doesn't lead back to pakistan at this time. the threat of this network exists on both sides of the borders. we're not prepared to suggest there is any of that in pakistan. we're not there yet.

secondly, you ask what does it mean? it means we are still in a fight. i do not think any of us suggested there were not be fighting that still needed to be done. in fact, we have talked quite openly about the fact that we have three more fighting seasons to diminish the capability of the taliban. thirdly, as the secretary said, we did have intel. we were not trying to protect a discreet moment. remember, the security was remarkable. there is not a single incident that occurred around a that. -- occurred around that. it is a vague about timing. you have to keep your guard up. the last thing is, and i worked, as you know, with both the iraqi

security forces and the afghan security forces. the afghan security forces perform their duties admirably when attacked, even though it was on short notice of the last 48 hours. >> i want to follow but what you said about the afghan ministers here last week. the interior minister told us that he received assurances from new about trading assistants and -- assistance. what will the role look like after 2014? >> will be discussing that in chicago. obviously, we will want to work closely. clearly, any future presence will focus on areas like counter-terrorism and training

assistance and republican to you to provide it in the future. >> are there a hundreds of thousands of u.s. soldiers still on the ground? >> i do not think we will, then we are assuming at this point. mainly, because we really want to engage in serious consultation with our partners as to what that presents ought to look like. >> i wanted to follow up with comments from the weekend. these kinds of attacks amount to something like a guerrilla warfare. be an't that, in itself, effective enough to undermine the confidence of the afghan people? to undermine the effort to stabilize afghanistan in the long run and for the afghan security forces to be able to deal with these attacks?

even every few months you have an attack like this in a major population area. >> well. look. as general dempsey pointed out, we are in a war. we're going to confront this enemy in these kinds of attacks. but i do not think any of this detracts from the fundamental conclusion that 2011 was, i think, a clear turning point. we did it seriously weaken the taliban. they have not been able, since that time, to put together any organized attack to regain any torrent -- any territory that was lost. the afghan people themselves,

particularly in these areas that were mutt -- once dominated by the taliban are now rejecting the taliban. that is a very good point. the afghan army are becoming much more capable at providing security. we have successfully transitioned areas to afghan governments and security. we're in the process of completing the second tranche of various. that will represent 15% of the afghan people who will be under afghan security and government. but when we complete the third tranche this year, we will have 75% of the afghan people under governments -- afghan government and afghan security. so, significant progress is being made here. at the same time, as we have gone through that, we continue to experience periodic attacks

by viet tell them -- by the taliban. we'll continue to efforts by them to try to undermine confidence in afghanistan. it has not worked in the past. i do not think it will work in the presence, mainly because it is clear that we're headed in the right direction right now. i think the afghan people believe that. >> it has never been our goal to drive a tax to zero and then hand over responsibility to the afghan national security forces. the idea here has been to continue to assist them in becoming increasingly more and more capable in taking over the fight. i think, how you saw them react to that, with very little help from us, i think is an indicator that that strategy is sound. >> air power at the end.

>> and not much. we provided a couple of helicopters, the french provided a couple of helicopters. this was very much an afghan show. >> when you have failed rocket launches from korea, do expect them to do something provocative to save the face? as this it would come are you expecting in nuclear test in the weeks ahead? >> you know, whether launch was a success or failure, the bottom line is that it was provocative. this should not have taken that step because it violates the un resolution. it was clearly something they had been urged not to do by the international community. they went ahead. did it. it failed. our hope is that there will not engage in any further provocation. we have taken all the steps necessary to deal with any contingency, but, again, our

hope this will not engage in provocation. that they will go back to the negotiating table and try to resolve these issues, as they should come on a diplomatic basis. >> did you say nuclear test? all we drive for the same rumors you have. i have not seen anything specifically. >> we ask you about sequestration. you said you needed to educate the hill to avoid the doomsday mechanism. eight months later, it does not seem to have a lot of movement here. when does your optimism turn to hard-eyed, a specific on the work, we need to pay for it. yet talk much about that. >> i think the shadow of

sequestration is there. i do not think we're kidding anybody by saying that, somehow, it is not having some impact. but clearly, in the industrial community, they're concerned about the potential of its impact. it continues to be a concern that we have as far as the possibility that that could happen. but, you know, i continue to urge the congress. there's not any member i have talked to that does not think that sequestration is a disaster. there is no member who said, you know, it will be great. all of you -- all of them understand. i does have to hope that ultimately they will find the courage and leadership to be able to address that issue,

detrigger sequester. deal with the challenges that are out there. try to deal as soon as possible. the longer this drags on, the more impact it has in terms of the planning process and the budget process. and, frankly, even though we're not planning for it to take place because it is such a date -- disastrous step that still occurs, it still has an impact for planning purposes. >> if it is prologue, i would anticipate that we would have to begin doing some planning in mid to late summer if we had a chance of reacting and all. >> and do you agree with that,

secretary panetta? >> i assume that there would have to indicate and we would have to do some preliminary planning. even though i think all of us believe that, ultimately, this will not happen. we still have to take the precaution. >> how embarrassed should the u.s. military general be that members of the military or potentially involved in but never went on in columbia surrounding the president's visit. how concerned are you with that? and a quick follow, even a very compassionate speech many times but the budget and spending. with respect, are you thinking about adjusting your own travel schedule out to california since

you have assumed a tab of about close to $1 million in taxpayer money, understanding you require security. nonetheless, the question being about the cost. >> and we are embarrassed. how embarrasses the military? i can speak for myself and my fellow chiefs who were embarrassed by what occurred in columbia, though we are not sure exactly what it is. what we do know is that we distracted several -- several of our members distracted the issue from what was a very important regional engagement for our president. we let them down because nobody is talking about what went wrong in columbia other than this incident. to that extent, we let him down. the investigation is ongoing. it will chart a path for us. if it turns out that they violated orders, there will be

held accountable. >> let me just that -- let me just come on that, say that any forces in colombia or in any country we expect them to abide by high standard of behavior. that is a requirement. for that reason we are conducting a full investation into this matter. hopefully we will determine here.tly what took place about with regard to the other question, as you know, with the 40 years i have been in this town, and because frankly, i

think it is healthy to get out of washington periodically just to get your mind straight and your perspectives straight. but, clearly, in this job, and normally i have a phone home commercially. i am obligated to be in touch with communications. i have to fly on a secure plane. i regret that it does add costs that the taxpayer has to pick up. the taxpayer will have to pick that up with any secretary of defense. having said that, i am trying to look at what the alternatives here that i could look at that might possibly be able to save the funds and at the same time be able to fulfil my responsibilities, not only to my job but to my family. >> if i could not get a hold of

him, we would have a very different relationship. there's a legitimate reason -- and by the way, he does not get much rest in california this a number of times i know i am in contact with him. the other thing is, i notice he consistently finds, it is not just from here to california. he will visit army, air force, navy, coast guard, marines, all in and around the united states. it is not to stand in -- and out and back. it is not as in using their plan to go to the west coast every week. >> secretary panetta, why have you decided to make sexual assault a top priority at this time and can you comment on the size of the problem and prevention strategies? also, you mentioned a zero tolerance culture. is there a culture of tolerance and now? what do you think is responsible for that? >> i have been very concerned about the sexual assault issue

because the reports we have indicate -- i think we just in issued -- issued a report of about 3000 reported incidents of sexual assault. the fact is that there are a larger number of unreported incidents. i am not kidding myself or anybody else. these are tough issues. tough to prove. but the reality is that when they take place and nothing happens, it really is the kind of indication that, somehow, we're not going to take the steps that we have to take when these criminal violations take place. and for that reason, i think there is a series of steps that we will discuss with congress that we can take in order to make it clear that we will got to that violation. as i said, we are trying to open up the military. it should be available to all of

those who want to serve this country. if sexual assault is one of those areas that is not being aggressively gone after and it dealt with, then it sends a terrible signal to those who want to serve. that is the reason i think that general dempsey and i want to move as aggressively as we feel necessary. >> you mentioned you had intelligence about the attack yesterday. can you be more specific about that? did it indicate multiple attacks around the country? were their attacks and kabul? the president has criticized it for failure to act on intelligence. can you respond? >> sure. there was intelligence that suggested that as winter became the spring and the fighting season reopen, about the 21st of march, the beginning of the new year in some societies, that

the taliban wanted to make a statement that they were back. that was kind of one thread. the other thread was that a sign of attacks across the country would, in of their view, what accent that. but there was no specificity regarding location or timing. that is as much as i can say about the intelligence. >> admiral mullins said last year that they were the virtual armed. is that still the case? >> well, you know, there is no question that the economy's have a base impact in pakistan. they also moved across the border and operated.

but there is a concern that they continue to find a safe haven back in pakistan. that is the situation that has concerned us and that we've made very clear to the pakistan is that is not our larval -- that is not tolerable. >> as you may know, before your meeting, saudi arabia had both expressed their intentions to arme syrian governments. and one more thing, if president assad keeps his -- what is next in syria? >> i think it is something that

general dempsey and i testified on the hill and will testify on thursday with regards to syria as well. i think our view has been that first of all, with the thousands of lives that have been lost there, that the government of syria has lost its legitimacy and assad must step down. we continue to take that position. at the same time, we believe that we have to continue to work with the international community to keep putting pressure on assad. we do everything to resolve the terrible situation. the pressure is continuing. other countries are applying pressure as well. i think that is the clear course we ought to continue on. we continue to plan for alternatives. we continue to be prepared to respond to the -- when the

president doesn't pass to take additional steps. at the present time, this is a diplomatic issue and an international issue. that is where should be. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> later today, secretary panetta and general dempsey had to capitol hill. they will discuss sexual assault in the military. that closed door meeting is at 5:00 p.m. eastern. on thursday, their back on the hill to testify before the armed services committee about the situation in syria. that hearing will be live at 10:00 a.m. eastern. >> it is the nearly 10 years since the release of the years since lyndon johnson. in a few weeks, the fourth volume will be published.

it folies 1982's the path to power. here he is on "q&a" how it is taking shape. >> it is not just about lyndon johnson, but about robert kennedy and jack kennedy and their personalities, particularly robert. it is a very complicated story. there are two very complicated people. robert kennedy and lyndon johnson. i had to really go into that to try to explain it because it is part of the story all the way through the end of johnson's presidency. chronologically, at the moment, if he is passing the 1965 of voting rights act. that is where i am up to now. >> watch the rest of this interview and other appearances

on line at the c-span video library. and watch for our upcoming q&a interview on sunday, may 6. >> this year's student camp competition -- studentcam competition aston's what is important to them in the constitution and why. >> songs are being downloaded illegally. these are businesses that are set up for the purpose of providing copyright infringement. >> when the constitutional convention was solved, i doubt the founding fathers were concerned about the future of music because the first and the three plan was not invented for over 200 years. whether they knew it not, it would set the foundation for the legality of music as we know it. >> you're looking at the early

idea of the patent office. i have this innovation, i want to take this. i want to take it into an office. this is a patent, i own it. this is my benefit -- my invention, i own it. >> the copyright clause states that congress shall have the power by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive rights to their respective writings and discoveries. this is in the clause the congress has eased recently when passing certain acts hollywood debut digital media. >> if your sons are not caught years in, they can be taken by anybody. get to of a copyright on a city can get it on itunes. back in the 1980's is essentially because the vcr. when it came out, studios were very worried that people are not going to go to the movies

anymore. i take it home, a record or copy my copy of star wars. and that i have two copies. the net impact of this, the supreme court and other courts ruled that if you purchase its, you have a right to make a copy of your own purchase. but there are laws in place. if you have something, digital media it, in this case, you have a right to make a copy just in case it is damaged benita back up. it made sense. the supreme court ruled that you could make those copies. >> 20 years later, home video is the biggest source of revenue for videos -- for studios. the realization that people will want to watch movies in their home and they should embrace the technology. >> the supreme court case of

sony corp. of america obverses universal studios dealt specifically with music. in 2005 in the case of mgm studios versus nappes sir, they discover that there were in violation of copyright. >> with these programs do, as if by magic, is to allow any two individuals to transmit information from one end to the other by means of the internet. >> they were targeted because they were the avenues by which people were able to access internet, access to these sites, and allow them to transfer digital copies over the internet. once in a while ♪

>> i am him guilty of illegal file sharing. i'm sure many others are. the people are trying to make money off of it. in that respect, i think that if you can buy a cd, you should buy a cd. it is the state title by which it all goes through. being a tunnel in the internet is not illegal, but what is passing through is ultimately illegal. and a number of them later, those sites have been shut down because of violation of copyrights. >> you can be like, hey, here is their whole cd. i cannot see that big a difference between file sharing

and things like youtube. if we make a profit off of what they do, then you're stifling the creative force. once you discover, once you do it, you have the rights to it. so why would he do it for economic sense? to be truthful, bands to not really make that much money off of their cds. even on itunes, the only get so much. two or three years ago, where you had put out an album. -- radiohead put out an album. they said, pay us whenever you want. we're going to put it out for free. it is interesting. it turns out, it was an interesting lost leader concept.

two interesting things happened after that. one was, people actually paid for it. the second thing was they had a concert tour. they sold tickets to the concert for $70 or $80. they made a ton of money. >> although grokster and other file sharing companies were shut down by the supreme court, it still remains in effect today. >> distributing music is not that much of a problem. i do not think file sharing is that much of a problem because it is just sharing music. it has to be something you spend money on. >> go to studentcam.org to watch all the videos. >> frankly, we owe it to our first responders to give them a modern communications network.

that is exactly what this legislation does. they indicated that $7 billion from auction revenues would be available and to go ahead and design and construct this network. >> tonight, lawrence struggling on policy and other issues at 8:00 eastern on "the communicators" on c-span2. >> congress is back in session this week. houseboats are expected at 6:30. that is live, as always, on c- span. and a bill called the small business tax cut act. on the other side of the capital, senators today take up the so-called a buffett rule. to require people who owe -- who make $1 million a year to pay at least 30% in income taxes.

it is named after warren buffett who has called for higher taxes on the rich. alec baldwin spoke of the national press club today. some republicans have proposed a zeroing out federal arts funding. the actor and activist spoke and took questions for one hour. >> good afternoon and welcome to the national press club. i'm the 100 1/5 president of the national press club. we are the world's leading -- 105th president of the national press club.

for more information about the national press club, please visit our website at www. press.org. to donate to our programs offered to the public furor national press club journal institute, please visit www.press.org/instutute. i would like to welcome our speaker and those of you attending today's event. if you hear a plot from our audience, please note that members of the general public are attending. it is not necessarily a lack of journalistic objectivity. i would also like to welcome our c-span audience and our public radio audiences. half hour lunches are also featured on our member-produced ipopodcasts. you can follow the action on

twitter. after our guest speaker concludes, we will have a question and answer segment. i'll ask as many questions as time permits. it is time to introduce our had guessed. i would ask you to stand up as your name is announced. from the right, take michael's, -- kay michaels, mary, reuters, eldorado pictures, americans for the arts, alison to stickd, i'm going our speaker for just a moment, hardin communications, and members organize this luncheon, american for the arts, mark, nicky, bob, msnbc.

[laughter] -- [applause] our guest today is an award winning actor, producer, director, and author. if he has to run the big screen, on television, and on broadway. alec baldwin has won two emmy awards and a number of screen actors guild awards for play the self-absorption jack donague. he has hosted saturday that live there record of 16 times and is a frequent flyer and american airlines fan. [laughter] a native of long island, he began his career in soap operas in the early 1980's before moving on to broadway. his nose -- his most notable films include "the hunt for red

october," "pearl harbor," and "the aviator." he is in washington this week, working with the committee. he is also a board member of the people for the american way and a strong supporter of the animal rights group, peta. he lives in new york city, has one daughter, and was recently engaged. he can now at national press club luncheon speaker to that list of accomplishments. mr. baldwin is a well-known political activist. perhaps that accounts for spending some of his college years right here at george washington university. he is been mentioned as a candidate for public office. this might be the right place to make that announcement. mr. baldwin. [applause] >> thank you very much and to

everyone at the national press club and to all of you for having me here as your desk -- as your guest. i am here, once again, as their guest for the arts advocacy day work that is being done on capitol hill. tonight is the lecture. and the dinner to follow. before we get to that, actually, let's talk about words with friends. i know that is precisely what you want to talk about. it is not lost on me that while i was being admonish for using my phone while we were parked at the gate, i think some dear friend of mine, some colleague of yours from fox news, went deeply and boundless the admiring, mentioned i was using my phone while we were on the

runway about to take off and had to taxi back, which is not true. while i was at the plan and we're part of the day, i was using my phone and then i was asked to leave the plane. i just wanted to say that it was an amazing moment because it seemed like a scene from a really smart movie, like michael mann movie where you expect smart writing and great acting. writing and great acting. not like some crazy, hyped up tv show. [laughter] it was a crazy moment where i had registered allow complaint about this woman who i thought had singled me out and a very young asian-american woman, breathtakingly beautiful, very serene, i was sitting on the plane and she walked up to me and said -- mr. baldwin, gather your things and come with me please. it had this narcotic effect on me. she just spoke require lee, very calmly, and they threw me off

the plane. [applause] -- [laughter] mr. waldman, kindly collector things and come with me, please. there were seven or other eight people sending twitter messages about it at the time this was happening. [laughter] i want to thank everyone out there who made note of the fact that so many people were on twitter at the moment i was being kicked off. not my day. bad luck for me, that day, but that is ok. i am here as a guest of americans for the arts. i have been coming down here since 1990. the origin of this work for me was with the creative coalition that was formed by the former head of hbo, michael fukes. he wanted to bring together a bunch of entertainment industry

professionals to kind of focus their work and advocacy and public policy, comping the space, he hit them office space and a budget, a modest budget of staff from hbo. they went out and raise money. the name of the game back then was for us to learn more about how to effectively advocate our issue, be it in albany or here in washington. this that when i look at the photograph of ron silver, this is a photograph of us together in one of our earlier trips, steve collins and i, with susan sarandon, half the people in the photograph oregon.

but silver was someone who was a great mentor for me. he came down on the train and spoke with me it succinctly and effectively about what i was going to say, for they were going to say, but the battery of answers would be, substantially what we want to do. issues like gun control, reproductive rights, federal funding for the arts, and so forth. they would come down here. i have come down here intermittently since then to speak to members of congress, first to thank supporters in the house and the senate who have worked to gain federal funding for the arts, and not admonish, but not to shame, but more it is to encourage and cajole some of our opponents who still do not

believe that there is a role for the federal government in funding the arts. i do not mean that in terms of individual grants. as many of you know, the neh is out of the individual grants business -- any a -- nea is out of the individual grants business. when i started doing this work, it was the day of karen finley and mapplethorpe jumping up and down, screaming during the early clinton years. be well up getting an appropriation in 1994, when nuking rich and the crowd took over. ms. roberts helped us to term what they called the corn for porn swap. some deal was made with conservative republicans in the house to get some kind of an agricultural subsidy, which allowed them to back off in

support of federal funding of the arts at a certain price. that back room deal between nea between and agriculture subsidy became known as the corn for porn swap, in the days of mapplethorpe. since then, a tremendous amount has changed. on a variety of levels. the government is out of the individual grant present -- business. the money dropped precipitously for a while. however, the numbers are still problematic, as far as i am concerned. you have an appropriation now $147 million. when i first started coming down here, the statistics i have available online were for 1992, which was $175 million. the internet, which never ceases to amaze me, took me quickly to a website where you could take

the index to adjust for inflation. i programmed in $175 million, which said they would be $238 million. if that is what it would be today and we are at $147 million, we are around $90 million less. make no mistake, we are less in actual federal subsidies for the arts in a country that has grown to 320 million people. at least the ones that we can count, these days. at least the ones we bother counting in this country, these days. i am someone who is set on the record as saying that the parts are beyond essential. everywhere that i go, and i just got back from rome, i see that dichotomy. i see that strange dissonance between some european economies -- go to greece, of course, and

the italians are very uncomfortable about their economy right now. you see what we have the they do not have. the american economy is still a very strong economy. the american economy is still a great and strong economy. when we falter is when we do not get it right in terms of balancing budgets and priorities, which is a different conversation. when you go to italy and they have a weak economy, but they have an artistic heritage that puts us to shame. go to paris, go to london. even when you are in new york -- and this city as well, and when i give these remarks i talked about the artistic heritage of this country as embodied by this city. i can conclude by saying that nothing makes you love this country more than when you come to washington. it has nothing to do with the

rhetoric of any of the people on the hill today. none of them, republican or democrats. the rhetoric of political leadership is irrelevant in terms of creating real love for this country. it only creates discussed, the stain, disappointment, and heartbreak. but if you walk around washington, d.c., you see the great artistic heritage of our country. our country is embodied in this town and in this great, great city where i went to college for three years. it is so funny that i lived in new york and years ago i used to live in washington and i would go to new york. i took a course on politics, culture. the great line of kennedy, a southern efficiency and northern hospitality. [laughter]

and i remember that i lived in the old washington, d.c.. when they were burning the shah of iran in effigy in lafayette park. now if you lit a match there, you would get shot. the shut down pennsylvania avenue. i remember that it was thought to be in union station. i remember going to school here and i did not have the money to fly. they used to have a train the give-and-take, the last one out of union station was a local at 9:30. it stopped in delaware, new jersey -- you would swear to job -- swear to god it stopped in st. louis, it was so long. it was the slowest train you have ever been done in your lifetime. [laughter] it was like $36 roundtrip. you would leave union station. sometimes i would get a ride there. if i missed the train, i was

dead. he would sit in union station and go on from there to new york, sophisticated, glamorous, wealthy, cosmic -- cosmopolitan new york and go to that godforsaken sinkhole, penn station. [laughter] you go from one of the great train stations in this country to probably the worst train station in this country. the worst. it was erected on the grounds of what had once been a great train station, as many people here know. the old mckinn, meade, and white structure, torn down, a controversy around the world. from all corners of the world, which gives birth to the historical preservation law in

new york. but in new york there is a lot of great architecture. not let washington -- not like washington. much of the art in new york is done in public spaces behind a door that you have to pay a fee to access. great art in london, spain, all over europe, singular to me. it is hard to leave rome, the city itself is a work of art. being inside the work of art that is the expense of an entire city. in this country -- when you are over there you -- i only have to live words for you today, but they have the art thing down. they spend a lot of money over there and they get a lot of tourists. because they have preserved that heritage and they have made our account. they have raised their children to believe that our counts. when you come over here we have

what they do not have. the potential. typically, we have a great humming, hissing, steaming 12 cylinder economy and we do not get the art thing right all the time. i think we send the wrong signal. that art is not important enough for government to spend money on. i would spend $1 billion each on the nea and neh. i would spend a lot of money on government -- government money on art and so forth. my host here this year said that he would settle for $1 per u.s. citizen. just ask them to rack their brains around one but -- $1. it would still be more than double the appropriation now. i could go on and on. i want to finish by saying that we have heroes, friends, comrades, whenever you want to call them, here in the house and

senate. i and our seemingly never-ending journey in keeping america focused on the arts and arts education, i would like to take a moment to thank louise slaughter, from new york and the rochester buffalo area. and congressman norman dix. both of them are stalwarts on the democratic side of the house. on the republican side, equally as stalwart, i was here when kevin spacey was the speaker and i came to testify with him before the congress. the testimony was canceled and we did not wind of doing it, but representative richard hannah, who has been a good friend to the arts and our movement, a republican from the utica area of new york. representative chris gibson, also from central new york, the

saratoga springs area. those are two, we would call, freshman moderates. yes, hannah from utica, gibson from saratoga springs. those are two moderate freshmen who are with us. the stalwarts that we have in the house are mike simpson, who i met with last year, probably the boise area of idaho, and rep shock, from peoria, ill.. they have both been longtime friends of ours. people who are not, as we say in new york, meshpuken, in the group here, the republican study group, which i think you had

mentioned to me -- who was the founder? philip crane, the former member, who wanted all federal funding taken out. congressman paul byrd, from michigan, hoping somehow -- hopefully i will be able to get a game of words going with tim wallboard. we will try to get him on our side. on the senate side, we have senator tom udall, from new mexico, who has always been good with us on this issue. a first term senator who has been spearheading efforts to get other senators to support funding increases for the nea. tom harkin was chairman of the health committee on labour and pension. he has been placing a spotlight on the decline in arts education

programs in gate -- grades k-12. republicans who are our heroes and friends, tom cochran, whom i met with last year, he has been great with us in the arts, as well as susan collins, from maine. tom coburn is the one we run going to mention today as being not as wonderful as we would like to be on the issue of the arts. and i wanted to mention that we have a couple of -- is this the one right here? we have a list -- it is all oklahoma. in the state of oklahoma, in march of 2001 the oklahoma visual arts coalition received a grant of $15,000. that was in march of 2001. may of 2001 in oklahoma city,

all five of these grantees are in oklahoma city, but the way. 2011. the oklahoma visual arts coalition was march of 2011. in may was a different theater in oklahoma. the oklahoma council of the arts, which is more of an umbrella organization in the community, gave $773,000 for the national endowment for the arts in oklahoma. july 2011, the oklahoma visual arts again got $25,000. the oklahoma historical society in july got $20,000. i wanted to mention that we always find it -- not enjoyable, but necessary to point out to these folks that these are participants in their own districts, or statewide, in the senate, the nba is bringing some wonderful, wonderful arts

related programming and events. shows, what have you, and educational opportunities, what have you, under the umbrella of the national endowment for the arts. i wanted to go on by saying that i, in my own life, my path with art, sometimes people think that when you do what i do for a living, that you live in the art lounge. that you are behind a velvet rope with art people. that is not necessarily true. i work in a business where the longer i am in the business the purely artistic aspects of my business and treat me much more than the glamour and what is very often the purview of the stars and actors. design, directing, cinematography, editing, musical composition -- everything that

comes into play in great filmmaking is far more interesting to me now, drawing more attention now. but the artistic experience of my life comes to me the same way that it comes to you. i go out my door and i try to identify some experience, artistically, that is attractive to me, then i have to go buy a ticket for a. i can afford to buy a ticket for it. i can go see what ever want, whenever i want. i have been very blessed by that. but a lot of people cannot. i have been working with my foundation that i set up a few years ago to funnel some tributaries of my own income to the arts and funding. right now i made this agreement with capital one bank. i have this agreement with them. becoming a spokesperson with a bank at the time of a banking collapse. [laughter]

the agenda since moment of the occupy wall street moment was not -- the genesis moment of the occupy wall street moment was not a goal i had in mind with my career. i assure you. [laughter] we were talking about on-camera promotional opportunities and i decided to avail myself for two reasons. one, i was on a television show every week. i figured now was the time. when i am off tv, i will be off tv for a while. once it went into syndication it became clear that audiences are probably sick of me now, so they cannot get any sicker of me -- i might be wrong about that, by the way. so, figured i would do this campaign for them. i follow all of those proceeds towards and arts foundation. we earned a specific amount of money from them over 18 months. we are doing another round with

them now. [applause] i only mention that because it must have been the smartest move in my life they have been great partners for me. they have helped me to shape content and they have been wonderful, wonderful partners for me to have helped me to publicize the money being given to arts related organizations. i say this because what i have discovered as i have gotten older, because i am older now, having just turned 54, there are things that i did that satisfied me and came more into focus. a few other things that i could have done that i would have been very happy doing that are not at all what i am doing now. i have a great opportunity to be the on-air announcers for the new york philharmonic and i have been doing that for the last three seasons with them. when you all -- when you are

with them, you are in the dark lounge. alan gilbert, and a bunch of people who -- [unintelligible] at the philadelphia symphony, they are calling him charlie. you are in there with a pretty heavy crowd. when i am around these people in the art world, the classically trained music group of opera and so forth, it has been so thrilling for me. you just do not know how amazing it has been for me. i will close with this. arts administration. retiring as the executive director, his wife carmen and i have become dear friends. daniel is taking over for him. he came up from australia.

i realize that to raise the money for the staff of the philharmonic, when that group of men and women perform that music and that building with off the ground for that hour and a half, that two hours, you feel that life is really worth living when those people are playing this beautiful music. tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of hours are put into mastering those instruments and studying the classical repertoire and they give you this beautiful art form. there are a lot of people on the other side of the building that make that happen. raise that money, sell those tickets, coordinate those schedules. arts administration, i would like to see more programs in arts administration. what is it, 1% of everyone who picks up a violin gets into a esteemed orchestra. the other 99% teach or play

something that is not for the boston or the cleveland, the big five, if you will, in san francisco, utah, or dallas. they do not get there. for many people, just as i have realized that there are ancillary jobs and other parts of my own field i might have worked in and been just as happy, i realize that that is true in the classical music world as well, as one example. there are other things i could have done. there are times when i would think would trade places with them for a year any day. knowing what he knows, doing what he does, existing how he exists with these great artists is very thrilling. i think that that dream much encapsulates my mission today. my mission is to try to remind people that art is many, many

things. we all have our own opinions of what we define as art. the one i would hope that we could all agree on, or maybe one day we could convince each other to agree on is that art is essential for us to continue to be a great country. we have to make art essential by and our own lives and the lives of our children. thank you. [applause] >> is there one area of the arts that is most affected by lack of funding? >> i would like to say half-hour comedy on nbc on thursday. [laughter] that is a very threatened, so they tell me.

i would say -- that is a tough question for me to answer, because i have never done or even read about a survey of what the x-ray of the art world is or what the cat scans of the art world will tell us right now, but i think they are all suffering equally. i have friends of mine who -- monica works with my company, people that work with me in my life, what i do, they see the same thing. whenever i leave the job and do these exit interviews, they ask what the job was like and they say that working for you is more like working for a congressman that an actor. there is so little glamour is more like raising money for people. the request for me to raise money for people in the arts and their organizations is equal across the board. if it is not this museum or this

gallery, it is this poetry reading or something across the board. i think that of all of them, the not-for-profit theater, the public, the roundabout, new york, all these great institutions are struggling very hard. when times are strong, what do they want to do? they want the money for their reserve. they want to get another $50 million in debt reserve, because they will dip into it on a rainy day. i will cross a line here to include literature in terms of art. my friends who are complaining the loudest, who have seen the most despondent, the most genuinely despondent are people in the world of publishing. books are just all going online and the whole book world seems to be kind of melting down.

>> do you think that lawmakers would be more generous if the money were designated for a vacation and not organizations or projects? >> i do not know. they got rid of the individual grants, which i think was a mistake. to me that spoke to freedom of expression. they set up a mechanism for a while where if you were given a grant and it was proven to be obscene, you were taken to court in your local jurisdiction and obscenity laws were jet -- violated, you have to pay the money back. i thought that that struck me as odd. i mean, i do not want the government to fund obscene art, but the number of things proven to be obscene that were found n i cannot think of, any. where it was applied was a

minuscule amount. this idea that the government wants to fund certain aspects of the government with a type of work, but preemptively hamstring that in some way where they say to the artist we will give you some money to do a project, but make sure that when you do it, that you give us a general idea and if it is obscene, you have to give us the money back and pay us back the money. i thought, would be do that in all aspects of government? with these opponents go to the justice department? if you do not get a content -- a conviction, we will get your salary back. we could get insane with this kind of preemptive safeguarding. these are freedom of expression issues. i do not like the word, a culture war, because it is a hot-button word, but we have allowed people to really cave on

the issue of freedom of expression in the arts. we have allowed people to get so intimidated about what it means and what it can lead to that a lot of people have backed off defending that concept. >> how do you defend the need for funding the arts alongside the need for funding jobs and local education? >> i am so brad -- so glad you brought that up. as most people who are advocates no, arts spending is a stimulus for economic development in the areas where that money flows. where you are in a place this well-heeled, like manhattan, with rich people giving millions and millions of dollars to the lincoln center's of the world, the metropolitan museums of art and so forth, all kinds of parts performing arts and visual arts institutions, that private giving is enormous and incalculable.

but those institutions get federal money as well. they qualify for federal money because tourists are coming to those city -- cities and spending a lot of moaning on parking and hotels. arts spending stimulates economic activity. i went down at the request of the dallas performing arts center. they asked me to come down hit there and do one of these conversations with programs. i was down there and they were telling me how -- if i understood the woman correctly, she said to me that they had feared -- i do not mean to be cute about this, but american had -- american airlines, headquarters in chicago, the people in dallas believe that one of the reasons that lost out on the consideration of having a major corporate hub there like that was because they did not have a concentrated arts

center. a distinctive, monolithic arts center, like you have in lincoln center. they're doing something about that now. where the opera house school is, where they named their famous graduates, they told me they were going to close down some enormous section of in a lane freeway and rip it up and build a garden and unify this structure into their own lincoln center. billions of dollars being spent over the next couple of decades. certainly, they have the money down there, i would imagine. it was interesting to me how the arts as business, where federal funding for the arts goes is an improvement. and incontrovertible trigger for economic activity in the area where the funds are sent.

>> how has twitter change your life as a celebrity? this personal fan interaction have real value? >> let me answer the question on twitter, if i may. [laughter] i have a note -- an interview with the woman -- is she here? from "newsweek"? there she is. what is your name, again? [inaudible] >> sandra, my spoke with, and i think there was rough with her today. i told her the good thing about twitter was that it enabled me to bypass people like you. [laughter] what could be better than that? i can speak to my fans directly and instantaneously. granted, the primary issue is that i am not a good writer, but twitter for me is a work in progress. i do like that it allows you to communicate on a limited number

of fields with your friends. using it for promotion, to create a hub for your colleagues and fellows in a certain area. kicking and elbow into opponents, politically, what have you. it is childish and i am guilty of that as well. but i do enjoy getting to be able to speak to people directly and bypass all of you in this room. [laughter] >> you said if every entertainment show went off the air tomorrow, what difference would it make? media in the u.s. is dull. -- ." what would you like to see on television? >> i think we will start seeing is pure pay-per-view packaging a television. a lot of people in the world are saying i am paying for a cable package that i do not want.

you are making me pay $69, $125 per month to have a triple package bundle of my internet, phone, and cable, and i mean i suppose if you have that more economic resources to do not read the bill as carefully as you might, but more and more those people are saying -- what am i paying for? 500 channels and there's nothing on. it is not that there's nothing on, but it is what you want. we are getting much closer now to the age of all car television. -- ala carte television. that will really come a profoundly changed television. >> you were upset with "today,"

for camping and outside your door. would you really have given them an interview if you had called? -- if you had -- if they had called? >> i remember watching morning programming before i became purely a radio person in the morning. i would watch shows in the morning, like "good morning america," "the today show," i would watch the shows and i remembered for the end of her tenure, it was a special halloween episode, katie couric came down dressed in a kind of marilyn monroe get up. a kind of revealing dress, blond wig. she and the staff, they did a musical rendition of diamonds are a girl's best friend. katie couric came down a

staircase with jules verne. she was lip-synching that diamonds are a girl's best friend. that was the day i turned it off and never watched it again. [applause] i just did not need to see people doing lip-synching to diamonds are a girl's best friend at 7:30 in the morning. [applause] those shows to struggle in having to battle with each other for audience. from my standpoint, and i do not want to belabor this, but that obsession and interest of people in the personal lives of my business is strange. it is odd, some people.

benchmarks in their life. when i realized was what has happened is many years ago, and forgive me if i have already said this, but we met recently, and you had treat -- people trying to get scoops on the stars. they wanted to know who was pregnant, who is sick, dying, a closet homosexual. studios had an obligation and a vested interest in managing the flow of that information until one day they said -- why are we killing ourselves and a level cynicism that the studio heads had. we said let's go the of the way

completely and way hamas -- it is a very new world that we live in. i signed a contract with a major studio and had to go to work. on that contract there is a writer that is very lengthy. it is a contractual and it is a mockery. and i think the term, for me, >>

you not think that something aurora villa action on their behalf was newsworthy? the woman who was stalking the is one to go to court in may. i spoke to the district attorney and ask them to not talk about doing in and i have been fortunate enough that i will say that i have a tsunami of food -- channels who is a friend of a friend of mine.

someone from my met in the two years since them in >> is frightened. >> i know, in the sense of the show, we all signed for it for six years. i signed an extension and we got all these prizes and awards. the ratings have never been

great. but deal -- online ratings have very high for us. in season five really did not feel great. it felt pretty crappy. it felt like and i said no. i was like -- i want the media or to hit this building right now and put us out of our misery, because i cannot do this another day. and they are the greatest sin, supporters of television.

and was just want not -- one monolithic joke coming out one after the other? it works. they are printing money out there. and we all agree that they would do it for a couple more years. i would have done it next year and the year after that, but the truth is that nbc is in a stricken and needs to start over and. and they do not want nbc to stay in this predicament. i mentioned this to someone else.

working for nbc and he did not interact with her on the full. that got that going. the silver lining was to work for nbc, which had think is the greatest of the three networks in the long term there are olympics coverage of their parishes and an end in this tough place now, like everyone that works there, we would like to see them get out of the

predicament they are in. unfortunately, to do so it means they will probably have to cancel most of the current shows >> do you feel -- still hot -- do you still fly american airlines? >> no. [laughter] next question. [laughter] >> i will look for the tweet on the one. you all were a student at george washington university and ran for student association president. what did you learn in that situation? >> graphic design and chief electoral politics. and i was on the hill for

jerry, and with eight hours per week, while hours per week, most of these in terms of a worked with were all mythical alcoholics in training. every day they would have these parties that were in all the house and head senate ellis buildings what are you all going to do after work? they had a list of corporate shampoo. >> and vanessa -- the national association of q-tip readers. christ the the guys that i worked with understood the

dynamic between food and and say hello to the q-tip people for me. [laughter] we did a bit of that. i also had someone say to me -- do you want to work on a project over than opening constituent mail? he said he had a project for me -- no greater love, the organization honoring returning vietnam veterans. thank you. and that the non-veterans.

calling the other priests and community leaders, asking them for suggestions. i do that and i have my report. the man who was a young staffer says, come on, we will meet with the congressman. i figure it will be hello, goodbye twice. he asked me what i came up with. i said that i was coving, the subject of "born on the fourth of july." egos -- are you out of your mind? he shut down my whole program.

he said i was off the case and i would get someone else to take care of it. but i loved washington. i work for the fcc and all this stuff. i was given the opportunity to audition for and was given in to the acting program. i started working right away and never looked back. >> is it true that when you turn 40 you can stop wearing jeans and of this event had been held after 6:00, would you have worn a tuxedo? >> i might have. i do not see anything wrong with that. someone asked me if you become more like her character and i said -- yes, and you do a show, that is one thing. you are in washington with this kind of crowd and in new york it is this kind of crowd. i used to spend a lot more time in los angeles, which is not this kind of crowd. i play someone in a suit and tie

every day. i do walk around with this kind of thurston howell suit. are you nodding? thank you for remembering that reference. i will see my roommate from college and said you cannot wear brown shoes with a gray shirt. the rigidity has worn off monday. your other question was about genes. i do not wear jeans. i do not want to say why i do not, because that would be to offend all the men in this room that wear them when you are over 40. [laughter] >> what percent -- part of history which most like to portray? >> i do not know if i want to portray him because i do not

think about it that way, but i would like to see this person for trade, and i do not know how you could dramatize -- sometimes these things are the purview of literature for a reason and they do not make great films, but as we live in the world today that i think is increasingly shape -- i do not want to say recklessly, but i should say the word is -- i am struggling, writers, help me out here. our world is being shaped kind of surreptitiously, if you will, by the current supreme court, i would like to see something that would bring to a new generation of people, a biography about the life of william douglas. >> do you plan to run for public office? >> i have a very important announcement that i would like to make to all of you today. i am glad you are all here.

[laughter] today with great humility and a sense of pride and a great love of country that i announce i am running for the east hampton library historical society treasurer's position. and i would hope that all of you would write -- read my literature. i will have it on a table outside. >> we are almost out of time, but before i get to the last question, i would like to remind you of upcoming speakers. april 24, secretary ken salazar. may -- may 4, the general manager of the washington national. may 9, billie jean king. next, i would like to present our guest with a traditional coffee mug. [applause] my last question for you, what is in your wallet?

>> i will give you an insight. when i made the deal with capital one, they insisted that i had to destroy my other credit cards and carry their credit card. so, i do have those. my daughter, when she was a child she made me herself, she made as both licensed veterinarians in the state of california. so i have a drawing that she made by hand my license as a veterinarian. >> do you practice? >> yes. [laughter] >> how about a round of applause for our speaker today? thank you for coming. [applause] i would also like to thank the national press club staff, including the journalism institute broadcast center for -- for organizing this event. you can find more information about the national press club on

our website. if you'd like to get a copy of the program today, check out our website. thank you all for coming. we are adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> congress is going to gavel in in about five minutes. live, as always, here on c-span. later in the week the house is expected to pick up highway and mass transit legislation. and then the bill called the small business tax cut back. on the other side, senators take up the so-called buffett rule, requiring people that earned $1

million per year to pay 30% of federal income taxes. it is named after warren buffett. the senate is voting on whether to move forward with the warren buffett measure. >> this year we were asking students to create a video telling them which part of the constitution is most important to them and why. today we will take you to oklahoma, where the third prize winner is a junior. what is the copyright clause? >> basically, it gives congress the power to protect copyright. >> why did you select this as your topic? >> i am interested in things like music and film and i had always heard how copyright affects music and film, but i never understood why. >> what is the appropriate copyright protection? >> basically allows an artist or

inventor to keep their work from being stolen from someone else and from someone else claiming it as their own work. >> new technologies have had impacts on copyright. what have been some of the negative consequences? >> file sharing, known as peer to peer sharing, which allows for an individual to take a digital file and distributed to other individuals, even though those others may not have purchased it themselves. basically, it is like stealing, but in the digital world. >> how has this impacted artists? >> basically, it takes money away from artists. the money they would have gained from individuals buying their material, they lose it because others are sharing it all over the internet. >> what are the benefits that the motion picture and health care -- and music industry have

seen from this? >> access. you can upload something almost instantly and anyone in the world can see it if they have access to the internet. it allows them to get their name out there very quickly. >> what are the most recent copyright protection cases? >> the most recent was with a file sharing website called mega upload. the creators and founders were also arrested. but it has decreased file sharing activity. >> what have entertainers done to adapt to the landscape? >> in reality, the landscape has been adapting to their needs. the biggest adaptation that they needed to do was make their work better quality. because now anyone can get their work out there. there is a lot more competition. everyone needs to make better quality material for them to

survive in the entertainment industry. >> what to teenagers think about copyright laws? >> most teenagers despise it. i think the biggest reason for this is because a lot of people think that you should not make art for the purpose -- for financial purposes. you should make it to express yourself and other things like that. there should not be any need to claim your own word if you do not need to make money off of it. >> what is the future of copyright in the digital age? >> copyright will always exist. it will lot die. but it might become transparent. like i said earlier, there is a lot of competition. not just competition of quality, but also competition financially. an artist can be like -- i created this and you can listen

to it for free, and even though it is not as good, you can listen to mine for free. eventually we will reach a point where artists will not be really making money off of their music, or off of the files, they will make money off of things like live shows. >> they do, michael, and congratulations. >> thank you. >> here is a brief portion of michael's documentary. >> the u.s. supreme court case from the 1980's, where they legalized the vcr. people were very worried that people would not go to the movies anymore. >> with two vcr's, i could make a copy of star wars and i could sell the mall -- sell them all. the impact of this was interesting. the supreme court ruled that if

you purchased it, you had a right to make a copy of your own purchase. it was in the form of a vcr update.

rule 20. recorded votes on postponed questions will be taken after 6:30 p.m. today. for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass house resolution 3001. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman call up h.r. 3001? >> yes. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3001, a bill to award a congressional gold medal to raoul wallenberg in recognition of his achievements and heroic actions during the holocaust. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the

gentleman from missouri, mr. luetkemeyer, and javement the gentleman, mr. meeks, will each control 20 minutes. mr. luetkemeyer: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to add extraneous material to the bill. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. luetkemeyer: mr. speaker, i yield as much time to myself as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. luetkemeyer: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of house resolution 3001, the raoul wallenberg centennial celebration act introduced by my colleague, the gentleman from new york, mr. meeks. this legislation co-sponsored by 301 of our colleagues including myself seeks to authorize the striking and awarding of a congressional gold medal honoring raoul wallenberg. in recognition of his heroism in saving tens of thousands of lives in not nat did i-occupied budepift in 2000. he truly personified the

definition of a humanitarian, a hero and the defender of individuals facing persecution and near certain death at the hands of a truly inhumane nazi regime. born to a swedish family of diplomats and bankers, raoul wallenberg developed a keen interest in foreign cultures and languages at an early age. he became fluent in english, french, german and russian. after graduating from high school and attending the university of michigan to study architectture. in 1936, a year after graduation, he accepted a job at the central european trading company. an export-import company with operations in stockholm and eastern europe. he quickly became joint owner and international director of the firm and traveled throughout europe to assist his boss, a hungarian jew. during this period, mr.wall immersed himself in the culture and witnessed the nazi's increasing strangle hold on europe. while hungary was not only an axis power, it sought a secret pact with the allies. when that was discovered, adolf

hitler invaded hungary in march of 1944. under the nazi occupation, hungarian jews faced immediate deportation to auschwitz-birkenau concentration camp in southern poland. jews living in budapest desperately sought help from the embassies of neutral countries which provided short-term identity passes to he is capet nazis. the swedish delegation was successful in allowing the bearers to be treat as swedish citizens, providing a great deal of protection. in 1944, the united states created the war refugee board for the purposes of rescuing european jews from nazi persecution. the board worked closely with the swedish delegation to locate a swedish national to spearhead the rescue operation for jews facing deportation. raoul wallenberg, then a 32-year-old prominent businessman who had a keen familiarity with hungary, was given the daunting task. in july, 1944, when he was arrived in budapest as a first secretary of the swedish delegation, more than 400,000 jewish citizens already had

been deported by s.s. officer. only 230,000 were left. wallenberg succeeded in designating or excuse me in designing a swedish passport to be issued to jews trapped in budapest. they were authentic enough to pass the inspection of local officials and wallenberg employed several hundred workers, all of jewish descent, to produce an issue of more than 10,000. he also constructed more than 30 buildings that allowed more than 15,000 jews to find shelter under the banner of swedish delegation. a swedish flag hung in every front door and residents in every building were granted diplomatic immunity. in 1944, ikeman began a campaign of death marches, forcing large numbers of the remaining hungarian jews to march out of jempleny on foot. wallenberg marched along with them. he provided food, water and medicine and bribed nazi guards to free those with passes, willing the full authority of the swedish government.

for the persecuted who were deported by train, wallenberg issued provisional passes on the train tracks, on the roofs an even in the train cars themselves. in one of his most important accomplishments, he prevented ikeman's attempted massacre in budapest's largest ghetto in january of 1945. at the risk of his own life, wallenberg used his diplomat influences to secure a note from a prominent government official calling off the massacre. then at the end of the war he was taken by the soviet army, allegedly for spying, and was never heard from again. he is said to have died in the k.g.b.'s prison in 1947. mr. speaker, we remember raoul wallenberg in his unwavering courage in saving the lives of many as 100,000 innocent men, women and children. awarding a congressional gold medal to mr. wallenberg is the very least we can do to honor a man who imperiled himself for a cause so worthy. we can now examine with gratitude a uniquely bright flame of valuer in a terribly

dark period of world history. individuals such as raoul wallenberg were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice of life and livelihood to serve the greater good of human kind. it is my hope that with his efforts and sacrifices, they will serve as an example for all of us and future generations. mr. speaker, i urge immediate passage and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. meeks: thank you, mr. chairman. and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. meeks: i rise today in favor of h.r. 3001, the raoul wallenberg centennial celebration act. this bill will bestow the congressional gold medal on a hero who was credited with saving thousands of lives during the nazi occupation in hungary in world war ii. raoul wallenberg is one of the truly inspiring figures of the 0th century. many prominent americans owe their lives to mr. wallenberg.

and his heroic actions. including my friend and late colleague, tom lantos, and his lovely wife, annette. through the passage of this legislation, congress can honor a true humanitarian for the sake of his family and thousands of survivors who owe their life to him. raoul wallenberg, as my colleague has just said, was a swedish special envoy to budapest on a diplomatic mission established in collaboration with the american war refugee board and the american jewish joint distribution committee to initiate a rescue operation for jews and nazi-occupied hungary. over 150,000 hungarian jews had already been deported to nazi death camps by the time wallenberg arrived in budapest. but through his ingenuity, through his even at times

bribing others through the issuance of fake swedish protective passes and sheltering an official swedish diplomatic houses, wallenberg unrelentingly sought to save jews from germans and their accomplices, risking his own life numerous times in the process. while there were others who were involved, who gave their life in the process. and during the soviet siege of budapest, wallenberg was detained by soviet authorities on suspicion of espionage and was never heard from again. wallenberg's ultimate fate is unknown and awarding the congressional gold medal during his centennial celebration of his birth is the best opportunity i believe we have to resolving the mystery about raoul wallenberg's ultimate fate. when we have a true hero, one

who inspires us to be the very best that we can, one who says that we're going to rise above those who mean individuals no good. one who said that they will put their own lives at stake so that others may live. those are the individuals that we need to honor, those are the individuals we need to let so that every child, every human being knows of those great heroic feats, because indeed, mr. chairman, it is individuals like raoul wallenberg who will take us to centuries yet to come. and bring us together as a human family. and so i'm honored here today to put forth this bill. and i'd like to thank the over

300 colleagues here on the house floor who have co-sponsored this bill. and especially with my colleague from new york, nan hayworth has been absolutely a delight to work with. as we pursued this bill and working together on the floor, getting signatures and talking to our colleagues, i really enjoyed immensely working with congresswoman hayworth and bringing this bill to the floor. i would also want to thank the raoul wallenberg centennial celebration commission, headed by ezra freelander and the american jewish committee, the jewish federations of north america, the lantos foundation, the university of michigan and the hungarian and swedish ambassadors for all of their hard work on this legislation. to honor wallenberg's memory

and to celebrate the individuals who live today because their relatives were saved through his efforts. i ask my colleagues to vote in favor of h.r. 3001 and award raoul wallenberg the congressional gold medal. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. luetkemeyer: mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield as much time as she would consume to the gentlelady from new york, ms. hayworth, as the gentleman from new york indicated, who's worked tirelyly on this issue is -- tirelessly on this issue, ms. hayworth. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. hayworth: and i thank our distinguished colleague from missouri. thank you, sir, and of course i reciprocate the sentiments that congressman meeks has expressed. we share a state, we share a

common vision that elevates all of us. as individuals and as a nation. and indeed as citizens of a world that so much needs the acts of courage and moral integrity that raoul wallenberg brought to bear, that he represents for all of us today. it is such a privilege to work together with all of those who owe their lives to raoul wallenberg's action, including a member of our own body, congressman tom lantos, now of course no longer with us in this body, but he and his wife annette were spared as a result of raoul wallenberg's actions. and indeed although mr. wallenberg lived in the 20th century, his life illuminates us in the 21st century today. and his legacy is represented in the lives of a million descendents around the world,

including of course here in the united states, of those whom raoul wallenberg saved. it is an absolute privilege to have brought this bill to the attention of our colleagues and to have the enthusiastic support of so many who were very happy to co-sponsor this bill with congressman meeks and with me. so i am delighted to think that it will indeed bring us one step closer to bestowing one of our highest civilian honors on a man who has done so much for humanity and so much for america in so many ways. raoul wallenberg. and i yield back. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. meeks: i yield a minute to the gentleman from florida, mr. hastings. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: i thank my good friend and colleague for yielding and i thank -- i thank he and ms. hayworth for their extraordinary work in causing us to recognize raoul wallenberg. i came in contact with the name

raoul wallenberg and with the official portrait of that -- of the lantos foundation and others put together and i just stand to say to you all that i vigorously support and was a co-sponsor of this measure. but more important, i know that tom would be looking down today and thanking all of us and later i'm sure, with mrs. lantos, those that gather will assuredly recognize the extraordinary work that you did in bringing this -- this to the body and as gregory said, raoul wallenberg's fate may be unknown, but his fate today is known and that is that he saved a lot of people and he is rightly recognized by us for that. and i yield back. .

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri is recognized. >> thank you. i'd like to yield to the gentleman from indiana, mr. burton, as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. burton: thank you. i want to thank nan and my good friend, greg meeks, for introducing this bill. greg and i were in budapest and we were there at the celebration at the staff ue of raoul wallenberg and it'sing in i'll never forget. it was a good time. very important time. you know, what do you say about somebody like raoul wallenberg or schindler? these people risked their lives to save people who are going to be killed, going to be put in gays chambers never to be heard from again. and six million people died because there weren't more people like raoul wallenberg and schindler. so i just want to say i've heard from my colleagues today the things that i would like to have said and they said it very well.

but i just say in closing, thank god there are people who are willing to risk their lives to help their fellow man. they're just aren't enough of them. when i look around the world and see the horrible tragedies that are taking place in africa and elsewhere, it makes you wonder if we're ever going to see people like that again but thank goodness we have people like raoul wallenberg. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana yields back his time. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. meeks: i'd like to thank the chairman of the european subcommittee for recalling that great day we did have in budapest at the statue of raoul wallenberg. it was a great moment and a solemn moment and when you think about raoul wallenberg and you think about over 300 members of this body that's co-sponsoring it that yesterday -- that yet today raoul wallenberg is bringing us together. raoul wallenberg represents even he in the house as we look and work unanimously on this bill is bringing people together from all parts of the

world, from all kinds of backgrounds saying that we are standing together for what is right and for a better tomorrow. and with that, mr. chairman, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. luetkemeyer: mr. speaker, i have no further requests for time at this point and yield back the balance of my time. however, mr. speaker, i'd like to ask that an exchange of letters between the committee on financial services and the committee on ways and means regarding this bill be included in the congressional record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. luetkemeyer: mr. speaker, with that being the case i have no further requests for our time and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3001. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. luetkemeyer: mr. speaker, i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays

will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri seek recognition? mr. luetkemeyer: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and the bill house resolution 1815. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk will report the title of h.r. 1815. the clerk: h.r. 1815, a bill to posthumously award a congressional gold medal to lena horne in recognition of her achievements and contributions to american culture and the civil rights movement. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from missouri, mr. luetkemeyer, and the gentleman from new york, mr. meeks, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri. mr. luetkemeyer: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five

legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and add extraneous material to this bill. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. luetkemeyer: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of house resolution 1815, the lena horne recognition act, introduced by the gentleman from florida, mr. hastings. this legislation co-sponsored by 308 members seeks to authorize the striking and awarding of a congressional gold medal in recognition of an overwhelming voice of the great singer lena horne. few singers have captured the imagination, the ear and the spirit of the country as did lena horne in her magnificent career. fewer still did what while waging a tireless battle for civil rights through the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's. ms. horne was perhaps the top nightclub singer of that era but still found time to come here for dr. martin luther king's march on washington and she was also at an ncaap rally

for medgar evers. her performances rivetted audiences. she won a handful of grammy awards, tony awards and was nominated for a large number of personal achievement and civil rights awards. lena horne appeared multiple times on all the big television variety shows of the 1950's and 1960's and of course late in her career hosted her long-one-woman show on broadway. she was in "stormy weather" in which she performed what many thought to be her signature song of the same name. sadly, despite her ability and beauty she never handed -- never landed a starring role. mr. speaker, lena horne's magnificent voice and steadfast fight for civil rights make her a worthy recipient of the congressional gold medal. i salute her and congratulate the gentleman from florida for his effort on this legislation. i urge the immediate passage

and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. meeks: yes, mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. meeks: mr. speaker, today i rise to speak in favor of h.r. 1815, the lena horne recognition act, introduced by my good friend and colleague from the great state of florida, congressman alcee hastings, to honor and posthumously award the congressional gold medal to one of our nation's highest civilian awards to the great lena horne. lena horne is known to many as a uniquely talented performer who dazzled audiences on stage and on the silver screen. she was a symbol of elegance and grace and she entertained people of all walks of life for over 60 years and broke barriers for future generations, winning numerous awards and accolades as a trail

blazing african-american female performer. when i think of today -- just yesterday, major league baseball during the era honored jackie robinson, a pioneer and professional baseball player, a breakthrough. but during that same period of time, lena horne was on the entertainment stage with such grace, during a time when it was difficult for her as an african-american to travel, places to stay, places to eat, but yet always was that elegance, was that grace, with her beauty she would perform and entertain but stay true to herself understanding that she was going to have a better tomorrow for those who followed her in her path. she was a trailblazer, making

it easier for people to follow and if you think about the times that we had during that period you have to be extra special. that's who she was. i can recall even as my mother sat, she had to smile because soon as you said the name, my father would smile because of the beauty and the glory of lena horne. anytime you heard lena horne on the radio, he would stop to listen to her voice and when she was on television later, everything else in the house had to halt so that we could watch the elegant lena horne. so when we think about the prejudice and discrimination that she had throughout her life but how she persevered and ultimately used her talent and fame to become a powerful voice for the civil rights movement

and equality, it is those reasons why i congratulate my friend, alcee hastings, for bringing this bill forward. i also think that once lena horne lived in new york. in fact, a good friend of mine, a good personal friend of mine lives in her old home now that's been landmarked and designated at slade park, queens, which is the heart of my district. so, mr. speaker, today i call on my colleagues to join me in voting in favor of h.r. 1815, to award the elegant, the beautiful lena horne the congressional medal of honor for her outstanding accomplishments and her contributions to american culture and society. i reserve the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. luetkemeyer: we have no further speakers at this time but i'll continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. meeks: i yield to the gentleman from florida as much time as he may consume, alcee hastings. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. hastings: i thank my good friend for yielding the time. he and mr. luetkemeyer for bringing the measure forward, and i especially want to acknowledge chairman spencer bachus and ranking member barney frank, as well as their respective staffs for helping us in this matter and a special shoutout to tim scott, like ms. hayworth helped you with raoul wallenberg and jennifer decasper from his office helped me to gain the number of signatures as well as to acknowledge my young staffer, erin moffett, who learned an

awful lot about lena horne along the way. mr. speaker, obviously i am in strong support of h.r. 1815, the lena horne recognition act, a bill to posthumously honor lena horne with the congressional gold medal in recognition of her many achievements and contributions to american culture and the civil rights movement. i personally felt i could not allow time to pass without honoring the life and legacy of ms. horne who passed away on may 9, 2010, at the age of 92. throughout her lifetime, ms. horne used her talent and fame to become a powerful voice for civil rights and equality. it was quite a journey to get this legislation to the floor given the requirement at least 290 members of the house must co-sponsor the bill. introduced this bill on may 10,

2011, with the support from 23 other members, and i'm proud to say today there are now 308 bipartisan co-sponsors and the measure is also offered in the united states senate. while asking my colleagues to support this legislation to award lena horne with the congressional gold medal, i was in some respect a little disappointed to see that too many people, both members and staff, were not aware of who this remarkable woman was. i hope that we can pass 1815 today and that the senate will then subsequent pass this legislation and the president will sign this bill into law so that lena horne's legacy will finally be given the recognition that rightly deserves by posthumously awarding her with the congressional gold medal, and i know her daughter and members of the family, her daughter, gail buckley, i promised i

would call when it passes and i shall, lena horne was the recipient of the kennedy center honor for her lifetime contribution to the arts in 1984, and in 1989 she received the lifetime achievement grammy award. she has two stars on the hollywood walk of fame for her work in both motion pictures and recording. additionally, she has a footprint on the international civil rights walk of fame at the martin luther king national historic site. although these and other monumental awards and honors were bestowed upon her, horne's life was not a story of smooth sailing. her life was too often plagued by stormy weather, which eye roncally was the title of her signature song and one of the major films she starred in. footnote there, i was in the third grade in jersey city, new

jersey, and my mother let me stay out of school to see my first motion picture. i have a memory of it today that stayed with me throughout that time. born on june 30, 1917, in brooklyn, not in queens, gregory, lena mary calhoun horne broke racial barriers for 60 years. ms. horne got her start at the age of 16 when she was hired as a chorus dancer at harlem's famous cotton club. then at 19 she made her broadway debut dancing a feature role in "dance with your gods." her path to stardom then led her to charlie barnet's jazz band in the early 1940's when she became one of the first black women to tour with an all-white band. . a few years later, after starting her career as a singer and dancer, ms. horne was

discovered by a talent scout and moved to hollywood to be an actress. becoming the first black artist to sign a long-term contract with a major studio. even given her extraordinary beauty and elegance and talent, she was also limited to minor acting roles because of her race. among many lost opportunities was the role of julie in the film adaptation of "show boat." ms. horne had previously played this role in an adaptation of act one of "show boat" that was featured in the 1946 film. but due to the motion picture production code not allowing the depiction of interracial relationships in film, the famous eva gardner was cast in this role instead of lena horne. her film and fame -- her fame in films was also limited due

to the fact that during that time many films were shot so that zpheens which black performers were featured could be easily edited out for southern audiences. even facing such discrimination, ms. horne's perseverance allowed her to overcome such obstacles and led her who to dazzle audiences and critics in a number of major films. her lead roles included those in the musical "cabin in the sky" and the box office hit "stormy weather." where ms. horne's remarkable performance of the title song became one of her most notable songs throughout her career. in her last tour i saw her in fort lauderdale and she sang three iterations of that song and the this last one indeed she said walz the most powerful. -- said was the most powerful. this sealed her legacy in the music and film industry. the struggle for equal and fair

treatment became an inseparable and increasingly political part of ms. horne's life, even outside of the film industry. she told extensively with the united service organizations in support of u.s. troops during world war ii, where she was a major critic of the unfair treatment of black soldiers. outspoken on the issue, ms. horne refused to sing for segregated audiences or to groups in which german prisoners of war were seated in front of the black u.s. service men. due to her civil rights activism on issues such as these, as well as her friendship with paul robeson, ms. horne found herself blacklisted during the period of mccarthyism. while she continued to face discrimination in the film industry, in the 1950's, her career flourished in television and on night club stages across the country. during this time she returned to her roots as a vocalist and established herself as a major

recording artist. in 1957 she recorded lena horne at the waldorf he iser toia which became the best -- he iser toia which became the best selling album by a female singer in that history. ms. horne used the talent and fame she achieved through such acclaims to become a powerful voice for civil rights and equality. in 1963 she participated in the historic march on washington for jobs and freedom of which dr. martin luther king delivered his immortal "i have a dream" speech. she also performed at rallies throughout the country for the national council for negro women and wormed -- worked with the national association fosh the advancement of colors people, the naacp, which she was the cover girl for their monthly bulletin at age 2. following her blacklisting from film in the 1950's and disillusionenment with the industry, ms. horne only returned to the screen three more times following the mccarthyism era, one of which

was the film adaptation of "the wiz" in which she was cast as gleppeda, the good witch. then in 1981, she finally received the big break she had waited for her whole life. a one-woman broadway show. lena horne, the lady and her music was a culmination of her triumphant struggles. it endured a 14-month run before going on tour and earned her a special tony award for distinguished achievement in theater and two grammys. at the age of 80, ms. horne made the following statement which i believe appropriately captures her legacy. she stated that my identity is very clear to me now. i am a black woman. i am free. i no longer have to be of credit, i don't have to be a symbol to anybody, i don't have

to be a first to anybody. i don't have to be an imitation of a white woman that hollywood sort of hoped i'd become. i'm me. and i'm like nobody else. mr. speaker, lena horne was an extraordinary woman who refused to give up her dreams because of the color of her skin. and used her beauty, talent, elegance and intelligence to fight racial discrimination. her perseverance and accomplishments are truly inspirational. having taught us all how to weather the stormy periods of our lives. i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of h.r. 1815, the lena horne recognition act, so that we may honor the life and legacy of ms. lena horne with the congressional gold medal and through this recognition inspire others with her story. someone wrote today, what do lena horne and jack nicklaus and raoul wallenberg have in common? it's my hope that what they have will have in common today is each will be recognized for their distinguished achievements and heroic acts on

behalf of our society. i thank you and i yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. luetkemeyer: mr. speaker, we don't have any speakers but i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york voiced. mr. meeks: i have no further speakers and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. mr. luetkemeyer: i yield back the balance of my time however i would like to ask an exchange of letters between the committee on financial services and the committee on ways and means regarding this bill be included in the correctional -- congressional record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. luetkemeyer: with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1815. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative -- the gentleman from missouri. mr. meeks: mr. speaker, i'd ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays

will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri seek recognition? mr. luetkemeyer: thank you, mr. speaker. i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4040. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4040, a bill to provide for the award of a gold medal on behalf of congress to jack nicklaus in recognition of his service to the nation in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship in golf. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from missouri, mr. luetkemeyer, and the gentleman from california, mr. baca, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri. mr. luetkemeyer: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and add extraneous material on this bill. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. luetkemeyer: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of h.r. 4040, awarding congressional gold medal to jack nicklaus.

it's an honor and privilege to be speaking on this bill brought to the floor by the efforts of my friend and colleague from california, mr. baca, and co-sponsored by 342 members. i commend the gentleman for his work on this bill. mr. speaker, we all know jack nicklaus is one of the best golfers of all time but he's also been so much more than that. jack nicklaus is a successful businessman, a spokesman, a devoted father and grandfather and one of the warmest, kindest public figures in history. jack nicklaus the golfer has been the recipient of countless athletic awards an honors. he's the only man to win each major championship at least three times and the only player to win the grand slam on the regular and senior tours. a five-time p and g player of the year, -- pga player of the year, he won the vince lombardi trophy for excellence and has been inducted into the world golf hall of fame, just to name a few of his achievements. jack nicklaus is also a humanitarian. he has built an impressive

record of giving to the world, establishing, managing and serving as a face of charities, golf tournaments and campaigns that raise funds to help people in need all over the world. he established a pro-am golf tournament called the jake in honor of his young grandson who died in 2005. it serves as a primary fundraiser for the nicklaus children's health care foundation. is he an honorary chairman of a golf course designed for the rehabilitation of wounded and disabled veterans. he's a spokesperson and trustee for the first tee program that brings golf to children who would not otherwise be exposed to it. jack nicklaus the entrepreneur has been involved in the design of more than 275 golf courses and has been the recipient of the award in golf course design. which is the highest award given by the golf course superintendents. he's been given the donald wast award by the american society of golf course architects and an award by the gold course builders association of america.

jack nicklaus was given the presidential medal of freedom by president george w. bush in 2005. highest presidential hobber to any u.s. civilian. but approvinging this legislation, congress will move forward to award the highest congressional civilian honor. mr. speaker, this legislation celebrates the accomplishments of man who is honored by many for the achievements in a life very well lived. i ask all members to support it and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. baca: mr. speaker, i yield as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. baca: first i would like to thank financial service committee spencer bachus and ranking member barney frank for their effort to move this bill forward. also i want to thank my colleagues who helped me get 342 signatures. i want to thank tom rooney and duncan hunter and of course dan burpten in trying to help us get the 342 co-sponsors. i also want to thank luetkemeyer for his support of

this legislation and all of my colleagues who became co-sponsors of this legislation. today i rise in strong support and i say in strong support of h.r. 4040, to honor jack nicklaus with a congressional gold medal. the golden bear. jack nicklaus' golf record is one history will forever remember. i state, one that history will remember forever. he was born in january 21, 1940, in columbus, ohio, attended ohio state university and turned professional in 1961, which happens to be from the same state that the speaker, john boehner, is from. as a family man, he remains committed to the core values and i state to the core values of providing for his family, respecting the game and serving as a true inspiration for others. upon marries his wife, barbara, in july of 1960 and the birth of their first son, jack jr., in 1961, he decided the best

way to provide for his family was to become a professional golfer. his drive and his passion for the game is an example of sportsmanship of the highest caliber like most of us amateurs who love the game of golf. however, i ask that jack nicklaus be awarded, and i ask that he be awarded the congressional gold medal for his leadership as an american and as a positive role model, i state, as an american and a positive role model. yes, jack nicklaus won 118 national and international championships. yes, jack nicklaus, six masters, i state six masters, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986. and three british opens, 1966,

1970, 1979. four u.s. opens, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1980. and five pga championships, 1963, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1980. like most of us golfers, we'll probably never be able to accomplish his feat of what he has just done right now, the others that are trying and who knows what will happen. jack nicklaus is the only player, i state, the only player in the history to have won each of the games major at least three times and is the only player to have completed the career grand slam on the regular and senior tour and that's quite an accomplishment, that's very difficult. most of us that play golf, it's hard to win one tournament versus the next tournament. one to have accomplished that, it's quite an accomplishment. jack nicklaus also represented the u.s. in the ryder cup

masters as a player six times and served as a captain twice. he also served as the u.s. captain four times for the president's cup -- presidents cup. he's written several instructional books called "golf my way" which i have and watched religiously every time i'm in trouble. the auto biography which describes the golf course design methods and philanthropy. and -- philosophy. an many others such as "play better golf," "short cuts to lower scores," "jack nicklaus lessons tee," "the golden lesson," "lower your scores," "enjoy golf" and much, much more and yet he's a businessman. jack nicklaus also produced several other instructal videos showing fans to you who play the game from his point of views. but i ask that we honor jack nicklaus and i state, but i ask that we honor jack nicklaus with a congressional gold medal because of the way he lived his

life, because of the way he lived his life. jack nicklaus' way of living his life is a perfect example of what americans should give. he's a devoted husband, father, grandfather who cared for his family, who helped many others and i state, who helped many other families during the time of hardship and struggle. helping other families during a time of struggle. jack nicklaus worked in philanthropy, it's evidenced of the dedication in helping others. . he has a sense of kindness and used the game of golf as a mean of sharing and helping others. his productivity has helped thousands of children and families everywhere by serving as chairman of the nicklaus children health care foundation, he was able to provide valuable programs to serve more than 4,000 hospitalized children and their families free of charge,

services free of charge. that is giving. that is caring. that is someone who cares about people and cares about children. this foundation is able to reach such values of patients through the child life program and the patriotic support team that supports patriotic intervention for children with chronic acute conditions during hospitalization. he also partnered with the children's hospital nicklaus care center in miami which offers option for the palm beach area area for children who need specialty care. and the foundation also has a safe kid program aimed at keeping children injury-free and offers safety education in an effort to decrease accident injury to children. jack nicklaus helped raise over $12 million within five years of this cause. much of the funding come from

the prime golf tournaments he had in -- on behalf of his grandson can i is called jake, also the name of the foundation. he serves as honorary chair of lake veterans, and i say veterans golf course in topeka, washington, a course designed for rehad a bill -- rehabilitation. our wounded warriors in providing help and knowing there is somewhere they can go, jack nicklaus was instrumental in helping others. a lot of us don't know of his history and what he's given and has given back. we look at him as a professional golf player, but he's given so much back to our community that when we find out, this samantha cared about making our country a lot better and giving what he could. he's donated and designed the services for the improvement of the course. he also raised contribution for additional nine new holes and

construction rehabilitation learning center, the upgraded maintenance during the two-day event called the nicklaus nine. he managed the memorial tournament which proceeds benefit programs that serve nationwide children's hospital in his own state of ohio and has raised more than $5.7 million. jack nicklaus has worked with the national children's hospital since 1976 and ensures the contributions generated through the support of over 2,600 volunteers and distributed each year to the hospital's unrestricted giving fund. he also serves as a trustee and is spokesperson for the first tee, a program which is dedicated to bringing the game of golf to children otherwise who would not be exposed to it. these are many children that can't afford to play golf but first tee allows a diversity of different individuals, black, brown, white, asians, american indians, hispanics and others

who can't play the game to learn to play the game, expose to the game and teach the other skills. other organizations jack nicklaus has successfully partnershipped with is the four hope, james cancer, hospital, wolf association, central junior golf association, the shriners, the lions club and many more. we thank jack nicklaus and his wife barbara and their five children. jack ii, steve, nancy, gary and michael and his 22 grandchildren for making america a better place. jack nicklaus is one of the most humble athletes to play the game and is considered by many to be golf's royalty. he's a royalty in the eyes and hearts of those that he has helped and overall a great human being. we thank jack nicklaus. we thank you for your life's work. you are a true america and you have touched the lives of many individuals. and -- an american deserving

the congressional medal and the pga award, just to name a few accolades he's received over the years. jack nicklaus, known as the golden bear, deserves to be honored with a congressional gold medal. for this reason i urge us to support the passage of h.r. 4040 and i reserve the balance of my time. whatever i have. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. luetkemeyer: thank you, mr. speaker. with that i would recognize the distinguished gentleman from indiana, one of our senior members and most distinguished members, mr. burton. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. burton: you can leave that senior off. first off, let me say to joe, joe and i have been friends for a long time and play golf together and he's one of the best sficks around. i have never heard a more thorough conversation about a person since i've been in

congress. you must have spent weeks doing this. but you said everything i was going to say, so i'll just talk about jack nicklaus from what i know of him. i've been playing golf along with you, joe, for a long, long time, and one of the things i always wanted to do was to meet the big three. remember the big three? nicklaus, player and -- who's that other one -- palmer? you did him not too long ago. and then lee trevino. and you know, i had the opportunity to meet all of them but nicklaus and i said, before i die i want to meet jack nicklaus. and this year, believe it or not, i was at an airport with my wife and i had an opportunity to run into him and he was one of the nicest guys that i ever met. he stopped and took the time to talk to people that were with us and took pictures with us and he's just a very good friendly guy. he -- there's no errors about him. he's down to earth. it's like talking to your next

door neighbor. very nice guy. but the thing that really appealed to me was the things that you talked about, joe. he really cares about his fellow man. and people on the tour, all respect him. there are some members that you have a problem with that. with him he's at the very top. and in addition to winning 18 majors, to win all the tournaments that you talked about, just boggles my mind. so i just like to say, if jack nicklaus might be watching today, i had an opportunity, i think you have too, joe, to play with president george w. bush, and i'd say to jack nicklaus if he were here, you really need to tell -- teach him how to putt. he's one of the worst putters i've ever seen. mr. president, i hope you'll forgive me for that. in fact, i want to tell you a little story we were playing on the 18th hole out at andrews and the president had putted so poorly he had a 10 footer left on the last hole and we gave it to him. so, mr. president, forgive me. but let me just say, it's a

real honor to be included with those who are honoring jack nicklaus tonight. he's one of the finest people in sports. he's a credit to humanity and he's somebody that every one of us can look up to. so, mr. nicklaus, i'm proud to be part of recognizing you tonight and i'm glad you are going to get this gold medal. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair reminds the house that comments need to be addressed to the chair. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. baca: i have no further speakers at this time but i'd like to just state that jack nicklaus was not a tall man and he's like me, like many others, but he can hit the ball a hell of a long ways. and it's quite an accomplishment when you see someone like him that has the rhythm, tempo and timing that can hit the ball and it's an inspiration for many of us who aren't six foot and above and

are six foot and below and can play golf because golf is opened to everyone. jack along with tiger woods and lee trevino have opened it for many others. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. luetkemeyer: thank you, mr. speaker. i have one more gentleman to speak, he's the distinguished gentleman from florida, one of our younger members of the conference, mr. rooney. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. rooney: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of the jack nicklaus congressional gold medal act, officially recognizing the significant role jack nicklaus has played in promoting athletic excellence and good sportsmanship in the game of golf. as well as his signature charitable contributions and activities in our community. growing up in northern palm beach county i had the pleasure of attending high school with mr. nicklaus' children. like many good parents, he was very involved in all school

activities, especially sporting events. i can't recall a game across the state of florida that our school was involved in where he wasn't there. he was always up there in the stands cheering us on. it's no secret that jack nicklaus is widely regarded as the most accomplished professional golfer to ever play the game. but to us we just saw him as a devoted husband to barbara and an excellent father of jackie, steve, nan, gary and mike and now lots of grandchildren. he's also a philanthropist, as has been stated. he's worked tirelessly to help underserve children and their families in palm beach county and across the state of florida. through his charitable foundation, mr. nicklaus' raised more than $12 million for children's health services. he's also done a lot for returning war fighters returning home from war. i'm proud to co-sponsor this legislation, to honor jack

nicklaus, a truly great american, and for his many charitable efforts and for his contry butions to the state of florida and to american society and culture. i consider myself blessed to personally know him and his family. and i want to say thank you to congressman baca from california of your leadership and getting co-sponsors for this bill. you worked very, very hard. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. luetkemeyer: thank you, mr. speaker. again, thank the sponsor of the bill, mr. baca, for his hard work and with that i yield back the balance of my time and i would like to ask that an exchange of letters between the conditional on financial services and the committee on ways and means regarding this bill be included in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4040. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair,

2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the gentleman from missouri. mr. luetkemeyer: mr. speaker, i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri seek recognition? mr. luetkemeyer: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 2453 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2453, a bill to require the secretary of the treasury to mint coins in commemoration of mark twain. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from missouri, mr. luetkemeyer, and the gentleman from california, mr. baca, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri. mr. luetkemeyer: mr. speaker, i

ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to add extraneous material on this bill. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. luetkemeyer: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to urge members to support h.r. 2453, the mark twain commemorative coin act. this legislation will allow the united states treasury to mint $1 and $5 commemorative coin in 2016 in recognition of the important legacy of mark twain. surcharges on the sale of the coins will benefit four institutions that either bear mark twain's name or focus on his study of work. the mark twain house in harford, connecticut, the university of california berkley, elmeira college in new york and in my congressional district, the mark twain boyhood museum in missouri. it will cover all real and costs for marketing production that the -- it will be no cost to the taxpayers. i'd like to thank my colleague,