she's not going to win. we need examples and role models and her way of conducting politics, stressing building bridges and not bunkers is a model we can use for the future. >> i think she's very important as katherine says for bringing those models but also for bringing women into the political mix at a very early time period. and her conciliation or her abilities to bring people together. wouldn't it be nice if we had her back in washington now. >> we only skimmed the surface in 90 minutes of 81 entering years of life. if you want to learn more. i thank the white house historical association for their help in this series.

>> next monday night first lady elizabeth monroe was more private than dolley madison. she refused to continue the tradition of making social calls around the city. she spoke french inside the

white house and gained a reputation of being queenly by her critics. and louisa katherine adams was the only first lady born outside the u.s. next monday live at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span and c-span 3, also on c-span radio and cspan.org. >> and our website has more about the first ladies including a welcome to the white house. the association is offing the book first ladies of the united states of america. and thoughts from michelle obama on the role of first ladies throughout history now available for the discounted

price of $ 12.95 plus shipping at cspan.org slash products. >> now the american public transportation association discusses it's priorities and spending cuts. we'll hear from the railroad administration and the trance it administration. this is an hour and ten minutes. >> i agree, please wake up. good morning everyone. how are we doing? what a great day to be in d.c. it's great to have our administrators here, peter

rogoff and szabo joseph. >> thank you for sitting through the boring part with me. >> welcome to the conference here in washington, d.c. it is a thrill and honor to have you here today. only could you have a sequestration, a snow quest tration and a filibuster all in one week. the secretary of railroad hood it's been great to work with him. he's been a tireless outstanding champion for public transportation, we're thrilled to have him with us later this afternoon and the administrators with us this morning. with that said, let's talk about what a record breaking time we are having here in public transportation. why is it record breaking? because of the hard work that

you all have done out there. have you had record ridership on your transit systems. if you looked out your door and picked up u.s. a today public transportation hits 520 billion trips in 2012. this is the second highest ridership number since 1957. we beat last year's number and we beat it despite the fact that superstorm sandy and the hurricane that followed wiped out 74 million trips that would have occurred. you all are doing a phenomenal job. and that ridership increased. these load of people you see on platforms and trains all over the country, it's been

incredible. we've seen ridership all over the country in every mode as well which heavy rail is up 1.4%. light rail up 4.5%. commuter rail up 4.5%. bus up 1.%. you can see from this map we saw ridership increases all over the country. cities large and small ridership was occurring in record all over the country. there was a sea change going on lanche, people are clam moring to ride public transportation. when we look at the results of that,, it's not just the people getting on the trains and buses showing up in record numbers, it's the ladies and gentlemen of the jury of our country going to polls.

nearly 80% passage rate. it's time we can't raise taxes, people won't support increases in investment in infrastructure. will you vote for public transportation they said yes. that is outstanding. give that some applause. >> that 80% passage rate is the highest rate we've seen since they started tracking these numbers back in 2,000. people trust you and believe in what you are doing. they know when they invest their dollars in public transportation you will do the right things and make their communities a better place to live. it is truly outstanding. it is the hard work you are doing each and every day. as we talk about what is going on here in d.c., these are the messages you have to share

which have you to talk about what is making our industry so great. and talk about the fact that the federal dollars can't meet the expectations and need for our riders. we have to don't invest in our systems. we've got to invest in the public transportation that our community needs for the future. we've got to tell them for every $1 that's invested in public transportation $4 are returned in economic benefits. for the federal dollars that come into public transportation that we return 76% of that right out of the private sector creating buses and trains and equipment that goes through our systems. this chart shows what is happening with sequestration, we're seeing cuts in fda administration, in new starts, in general fund transfers which we are seeing cuts hurting our system at the time people want

more public transportation. at a time we're taking 60 months of bills and doing it at a time when they've got serious constraints on their budgets. we appreciate all the hard work that our federal partners are doing to make our services better and get the service out on the street in hard times. share that with congress. tell them how important it is we invest in public transportation systems. now that we see record ridership, now is not the time to cut, now is the time to invest in public transportation. it's the key component in a balanced transportation network. it's not just about transit or road or water way. it's about a system. we have to tell that story together. whether you're using a share ride bike, a bus, a car, a train. all those things work together and makes our cities better.

it makes our cities more competitive on a national and global basis. so as we go around and talk to members of congress, mem map 21's expiration is just around the corner. invite them to come to your property and let them drive a bus on your parking lot get the people out of the way of course. let them ride a train. sequestration happened march 1. doth the funding runs out at the end of this month, at the end of march. passenger rail policy runs out in 206 days. the surface transportation policy runs out in 574 days. it's only 605 days until the next major election. so it's so important we work with our members of congress and tell them about our stories. bring them to the property, meet an operator, meet the

people in our customer call centers. show them your services. let them feel it, let them touch it. let them touch transit. because when you think about the first day you stepped on to your transit property, did you understand what the role of federal agency was in your first day there? >> i didn't. how do you expect them to understand what the federal role is? it's different than showing them on a report. they are used to seeing those reports which they get reports like this every day. in 15 minutes they get get another report on water, health care and police and all kind of things. bring them to your property and help them understand what the federal role is in your property so they have a reason to care. so they get it and they can be

better champions for all of us as we move forward telling our story of public transportation. that's why we're here this week. to have the story spread forth across capitol hill. when you tell the story of how you added night service oh so people can get to jobs on the third shift. when you talk about how transit gave your communities and the citizens within it the ability to get to work because you gave them the path to work. that's the good stories you're going to tell on an individual basis up here on capitol hill. >> before i close i want to recognize some people in this room today that are so important to us. first of all, if there are veterans would you please rise.

give them all a big hand. [applause] >> thank you for the service to our country you've done for so very long. we appreciate your efforts. >> for members of my executive committee. thank you for your dedication. executive committee board of directors please rise. we appreciate all that you do. lastly, conferences like this don't come together without a great staff. let's give the staff a round of applause for all the hard work thafe done. enjoy the sessions here. have a wonderful time learning from the leaders and the experts in our industry. but most importantly get up on the hill and tell our story. thank you for being here in washington, d.c. it's my pleasure to bring on

stage kastio. >> thank you for that great ridership news and your assessment of our challenges. you certainly made some fast tracks in your 16 months on board at afta so congratulationses to you too. as michael mentioned, we have a unique opportunity to influence the nation's investment in public transportation. map 21 was a step in the right direction but we have more to do before it expires in september 2014. we need to ramp up now. i applaud the hard work and stewardship of the authorization tax force which is twopping recommendations for our industry. my thanks go to jeff nelson,

general manager of metro link and chair of afa -- afta's legislative committee and the fine members that are teaming up with him. please lend your voice to this effort because it matters. it matters, as michael say. so please see either rob or brian to share your thoughts and get involved. tomorrow please lend your voice to another critical effort that is speaking directly to members of congress about the people of public transportation. the people that the industry directly employs. the 400,000 and growing men and women across our country who

are working in factories, manufacturing plants, in the front offices as operators, engineers and planners. the people plode in the 1.9 million jobs we indirectly support in every district, every legislative district in this country. the people who take the 10.5 billion, yes that's billion with a capital b buses trains as michael shared with us. there is strength in these numbers because there are people behind these numbers. every individual in this room has a compelling message about the value of public transit to the people in your communities.

it is time to make public transportation come alive in the eyes for congress. by talking about the lives, the lives, ladies and gentlemen that we change each and every day. the lives of a mother in north philadelphia who takes two buses to get to her job at the customer call center. the life of the elderly couple who moved to charlotte to take advantage of transit oriented development to keep their independence when they can no longer drive. a daughter in west texas with a mental disability who relies on transit to get to and from her job when she would otherwise be house bound. that nurse in cleveland who takes the cleveland line to get

to her job at the hospital. that veteran in denver who found a new career in public transportation as a make nick. there is no question the public transit enrich's lives. for proof, look no further than the devastating impact of superstorm sandy on the northeast, my community. those cities came to a halt when public transportation was forced to shut down. but now ladies and gentlemen, we're back, we're back and so is the northeast. and i am proud to say that afta was with us every single step of the way with resources that are second to none. but please, don't take my word for it. just look at the company that

afta keeps. afta was named one of the most influential brands in washington by the national journal. policy makers, the media, our association partners listen, they listen when we talk. they trust what we say. they respect our research. they act on our policies. and they often seek our input. so you should all be very proud of that. i know i take pride in it. now it is my pleasure and my honor to sbruse to you two trusted voices in washington. first szabo joseph an administrator of the fda which

national rail policy in programs. aws a board member of new jersey transit we appreciate joe's direct interest in the northeast corridor commission and of the nec future effort. the northeast corridor ack dates eight rail transit operators and the future of the nec is critical to each of them. his entire career, joe has been centered on advocacy and helping communities and joe, ladies and gentlemen, is also a fifth generation railroader. >> please help me welcome szabo joseph. >> thank you and good morning afta. >> on plaff of president obama and secretary lahood it's an honor to join you once again

this morning along with peter rogoff. i think you're going to hear me stay on the same theme that we've already established this morning. mike did a bit of talking about the importance of systems in talking about the record ridership growth that transit is seeing. there is a simple fact that world class economies do not develop by accident. and they are certainly not sustained by resting on our laurels. world class committees require world class transportation. and it requires continuous improvement. so in order to remain the leading global economy, it's absolute we must continue to advance our transportation system. and the key words are transportation system. it's about each mode working in

unison with the others to move people and good. four years ago president obama laid out a bold vision for rail in america. during these fours years the effects of record level private and federal investment in the rail network has been nothing short of game changing. 2012 was one of the greatest years for rail in generations. let's start with safety. it was the safest year in railroad history. amtrak achieved record on time performance and record ridership growth. rail continued to be the fastest growing mode of public transit. we saw freight surge above 1 million unit which is close to a record. the stage is set now for world class, 220 mile per hour passenger rail service which is ready to break ground this summer. in in the midwest 110 mile per

hour service. the service was introduced on both the chicago st. louis routes and chicago detroit routes and both of those lines will be running at those sustained speeds with improved reliability cuttings the trips to close to an hour. it's going to include equipment certified to go 125 miles per hour manufactured here in america. in order to bring world class service to one of the most densely populated rail markets, the northeast corridor, we launched the first comprehensive planning in rail since the carter administration and we obligated 100% of our fram funding well in advance of her september 30th statutory deadline. of the 11 projects completed

last year, the main rail project extension alone, in addition to generating millions of dollars in new commercial and residential development around the bruns wick train station, it created and sustained jobs at 53 companies in 20 states. so that was last year. and all of this is just simply a warmup. the $19 billion this administration has invested in rail since 2009 is building, improving or creating 6,000 corridor miles, 40 stations, 75 planning studies and 30 state rail plans or service development plans. with our high speed and inner city passenger rail program we've been able to partner with 32 states and invest in 152 projects. but the next two years will be

our busiest yet. we're at $3.6 billion in fuppeding are complete, under construction or set to begin. in the pacific northwest 21 projects are moving forward that will increase round trips and cut trip times in a growing rail market connecting portland and organize. north carolina is moving forward with a series of construction projects along the charlotte to rally cordar that will improve safety, reliability and frequency for both passer and freight trains. it will connect in to the northeast corridor. by tend of this year north carolina and virginia will finish a planning effort to cut 90 minutes off today's trip time between rally and dc. then you take a look around the country in states like georgia

and tech texas. coming back to the northeast corridor. our planning there called the nec future is one of the largest projects ever undertaken in the united states. the end result will be a clear vision for how to optimize the northeast corridor in a 30 year rail investment plan to guide future investments. in addition to planning, this administration has invested more than $3 billion, more than any previous administration in northeast cordar development projects. these are devoted to track upgrades, modernizing systems, replacing infrastructure, buying new equipment and improvements to speed, frequency and reliability. these improvements are allowing for faster train speeds between philadelphia and new york. and for the unhang ling of

delay causing bottlenecks in convenience and delaware and rhode island. stations are being enhanced in boston, washington, d.c., bwi airport and in new york where pen station will be expanded. >> major engineering projects are moving forward including baltimore mother's tunnel. we've made investments in routes including two project that is have already come in on time and on budget. now the benefits of all these projects could stand alone. they are already advancing american transportation. but like the u.s. chamber of commerce, the u.s. conference of marries, the american road and transportation builders and the american society of civil engineers, just to name a few,

just like them, the president recognizes this isn't enough. and as the president said in his stated of the union, i quote, ask any c.e.o. where they'd rather locate and hire a country with deteriorating bridges or one with high speed rail. >> the president has two programs the rebuild america partnership and putting americans to work improving infrastructure and building new infrastructure. and while this will create even more high quality construction and manufacturing jobs, most importantly it will help tackle pivotal growth and mobility challenges. the rebuild america partnership calls for leveraging partnership to create infrastructure most critical to our businesses including transportation. while fix it first targets our

most urge nt transportation repairs. additionally the president calls for a bipartisan instruct bank for long term development including long term rail funding. now sensible steps are going to have to be take on the tackle our budget challenges. a modern transportation network including rail is not a luxury but it's an absolute necessity. today we are looking at the challenge of how to move 100 million more people and 4 billion more tons of freight over the next four decades. all while our highways and airports are stretched close to their limits and the overreliance on them continues to grow. last month texas transportation institute reports highway congestion alone cost our economy $20 billion a year.

close to 3 billion gallons of fuel, enough to fill the new orleans super dome is wasted annually. they measured travel reliability. increasing amounts of time have to be set aside to ensure on- time arrivals for high priority freeway trips. our reports are struggling to keep up with modern demand. about 20% of all flights are delayed. as a way of confronting high fuel prices and changing demand, airlines are making significant cutbacks to shorten flights to small and medium-sized cities. with service levels targeted to

the marketplace, real could be the cost -- the most cost- effective and most environmentally friendly mode to move both people and freight. two road trucks can carry as many travelers in is our -- in an hour as 16 lanes of highway. by the cost of building rail favors -- compares favorably with roads, italy consumes one- third of the land required by roadways. -- its only consumes one-third of the land acquired by roadways. americans' travel habits are evolving. michael touched on it today. this old comment message that america has too much of a car culture. according to a recent study over the last eight years, americans have driven less while using passenger rail and public transit in record numbers.

amtrak's ridership last year, the record was its ninth in its last 10 years and part of a close to 50% growth in ridership since the year 2000. from 1995 until 2008, ridership on a commuter rail shot of 72%. in 2011, americans tipton 0.4 billion trips on public transportation -- took 10.4 billion trips on public transportation. ridership was even higher. these travel habits are changing fastest among young people. the study also noted that in an eight-year period starting in 2001, young people reduced their vehicle miles traveled by 23% while increasing their use of rail and public transit by a

whopping 40%. it is not just about the next generation. aarp have made it clear that more and more seniors are seeking communities that make it easier to lob places and use public transportation rather than driving. allowing them to remain active and independent as they age. compared to the decade prior in 2009, seniors make 328 million more trips by rail and transit. this is the future and that we will have to prepare for. that is why we have to do better. with railroads safety, our goal is to ensure continuous improvements to save lives, fortified the industry for its growing role in moving people and freight. we will continue to work with the railroads to implement

positive train control and will also continue supplementing technology with our traditional enforcement model with initiatives like a risk reduction and systems safety programs, which encourage the industry to take a hard look at the risk factors that are precursors to accidents. with all of our passenger rail investments, we will continue to focus on three key priorities. managing and executing high- quality projects. bringing them in on time and on budget. land the foundation for sustainable long-term passenger rail improvements by helping states and communities, regions do good planning and forge ahead with incremental improvements. insuring service improvements are tailored to the distinct needs of each market. four years ago, we learn that a modern rail network is not just a priority for this administration, it is a priority to the american people. of the $10.1 billion in high-

speed intercity passenger rail funding that was available, we received more than 500 applications from around the country requesting more than seven times of the amount available. just like the early stages of the interstate highway system, we are in the initial phases of what is a multi generational effort. the interstate started with eight lonely miles in the middle of rural kansas. it took 10 administrations, 28 sessions of congress to complete, the year by year, we got it down. like the transcontinental railroad, a century earlier, the interstate system propelled our economy forward and advance the ability -- mobility means. now we have to answer the call to tackle the transportation challenges of the new century

dealing with congesting, fuel utilization, air quality, and global warming. as i said at the opening, world leading economies do not develop accident nor did they evolve by resting on one's laurels. the case is clear, america cannot afford to sit on the sidelines and not develop a comprehensive passenger rail system offering high-speed and higher performing passenger rail and a more robust freight rail network. the next generation is counting on us and the time for action is now. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you for those insightful comments. next, my pleasure to introduce peter.

peter lead the transition from -- to map 21. in fiscal year 2011, they signed more capital construction agreements and then in any two- year period in the agency's history. i want to thank peter for their active role in helping agencies devastated by superstores sandy get the funding needed -- super storm outstanding get the funding they needed to recover. peter and his staff began a hands-on involvement in making sure the impacted agencies received the assistance they needed during the crisis. they provided the guidance and continuing support in the aftermath needed to get our system is back in service so that people -- for the people of our region. new jersey transit applauded

peters leadership and we thank you once again. please tell me welcome peter to the stage. [applause] >> good morning. i will let go -- echo and welcome to washington on behalf of the president and secretary ray lahood. we've had opportunities to discuss the role of transit and our economy and our future economic potential. this conference is a legislative conference. this is the moment where we gather to focus on whether the actions in washington are enabling transit to move forward or move backward. we focus on whether today's

national policies are enabling you to provide quality service to more americans or fewer americans. whether we are enabling you to reduce our consumption of foreign oil or continue the progress by which we are highly dependent on the unstable regimes that provide oil to us all over the world. we are focused on whether a national policies are enabling you to transport more americans to work or leave more american sitting at the bus stop. we're focusing especially in the wake of hurricane sandy on whether our national policies are enabling you to respond and recover from national disasters. seven weeks ago, my son and i stood on the west front of the capital and heard president obama's second inaugural address. in that address, he said the following. no single person can build the

roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. now more than ever we must do these things together as one nation and one people. the key phrase for me in this passage is the word "together." this administration cannot achieve these goals without the help of congress. we cannot achieve these goals without you and your advocacy. last year, many of you remember at the time of the legislative conference, public transit was in a battle for its life. the house of representatives was moving forward with plans to strip public transit out of the highway trust fund entirely and instead make funding for public transit dependent on some of the most controversial legislative proposals put forward, led trilling in the arctic national wildlife refuge. it was politically cynical and

prompted my boss to say that it was the worst piece of legislation he had seen in over 30 years of public service. i could not agree with him because i had only done it 24 years in public service. [laughter] together, at the administration working with you, beat back that proposal. today, we need your intervention again. recent congressional actions are threatening to send us backwards. we have made great progress under the president's leadership and making transit a priority, but that progress is facing a real and present threats by congress. i do not need to remind you that president obama has strengthened public transit and put it high on his agenda. we have built more than 350 miles of new rail and bus rapid transit. the fta has signed more grant

agreements to build new extensions. in 2011-2012, more than in any two-year period in history. our new starts and small start program has kept people working. we created 88,000 local jobs with the new start program. we kept people working for what was the greatest recession since the great depression. we have divided -- we have devised their ways of moving those projects forward in a streamlined fashion. we have cut red tape and we have been investing in opportunities to create jobs when we need them on projects that really improves the quality of life for generations. in the sun rail project that we

are partners in florida, in orlando, we have it under people working which generated 250 million in related developments, and medical developments, office buildings, retail, housing. houston metro, they're building new light rail. we have 700 construction jobs right now out and about 25 million in related housing developments along the corridor. we've had cities that have lost jobs and revenue in a desperate fashion and they are seeing a resurgence for public transit investment. places like allentown, pennsylvania. kent, ohio, an investment by secretary of hud is resulting in $125 million return on investment on a new hotel and

conference center and other development in the area. through these tough economic times, transit has been a real engine, both in getting people to work, people do use transit for the first time when they had to get rid of a car payment. they are discovering the transit works for them and they're keeping more of their money in their wallets rather than handing it over to the gas pump. map21 was the culmination of many of the administration's highest transit priorities. safety was the most important, it is always the most important at the u.s. department of transportation. pilaus the land prohibited the fta from issuing the most basic common sense safety standards since 1964.

the administration proposed that it be reversed in 2009. by adding value to the safety of operations without adding a great deal of cost. there were other wins that bore out the administration's policies. when the administration first proposed the budget that fta had its own emergency relief program, we could never have anticipated the worst transit disaster in history of the united states. thank heaven map21 put that program on the books because it enabled prague -- congress to provide us with $10.9 billion rapidly and we have awarded 400 million of that amount to age --

to aid the busiest transit agencies in the united states in response to the greatest transit disaster in the history of the united states. we made progress on state a good repair. we have always said that we can not let our transit agency's deteriorate at a time when demand is rising. we will lose ridership, we will lose our ability to reduce our dependence on foreign oil if the service we provide cannot be reliable and desirable. the administration proposed sizable funding increases for new state of good repair program. did we get those increases? i am afraid not. we did get the new program in place. the president is part of this fix it first initially in its dividend and yet -- union address is proposing to put real investment, real game changing increases in funding, to not only maintain, but advance the

condition of our public transit access -- assets across the country. i do want to say map21 did not have the right funding levels. separate from the issue of funding, once it got past that a bitter fight over transit role in the trust fund, there was remarkable unanimity between the house and the senate and the obama administration on what the priority should be. that is why we got a new state of good repair program. that is why we got -- we had been moving forward in implementing a much of the agenda and i will tell you some of the critics of the head and we are encountering have been frustrating. the number one headwind is available resources. we did everything that congress

has asked us to do. we are still doing its. we have worked with our partners of the federal highway administration in putting out new categorical exclusion is to streamline the environmental process by which transit projects could be advanced. i know it has been a frustration for many of you that investments that were inherently environmentally beneficial because they are transit investments must still go through a very lengthy environmental approval process. working with our partners of the federal highway administration, with their partners on the council on economic quality, we are streamlining that progress. we will be able to but more projects on the streets sooner. the president has what is called the white house dash board where we have projects that require us to work side-by-side with other federal agencies to get them through the environmental

progress -- process. there are a number of transit project -- projects, like the red line in baltimore, like the columbia river crossing between oregon and washington. these projects are moving that much more quickly to a streamlined progress as a result of the present leadership. -- president's leadership. that has to do with the core issue of resources. we only got a two-year transportation bill rather than the multi-year funding levels the president proposed. those two years of funding was largely flat. coming on top of this, we have faced a sequester. that the question has taken $656 million -- that the question has taken six and a $56 million out

of the federal transit administration. what has been the impact? a 5% cut, which pushes the budget back to where we were in 2009 before we had all the added requirements of implementing map21. it means that the furloughs are very real possibility in the future, which breaks my heart i cannot even express. my employers to be facing furloughs of the very time they should be putting out map21 policy guidance to help you do your job. our new starts and small start program has also been caught. rather than -- looks like the final funding level could be as much as 17% below the levels sots in the president's budget for this year.

we have signed a record number of current agreements. we have done what congress asked us to do. when the secretary was first nominated to be transportation secretary, he passed along to us that the most common thing he heard about transit going for the confirmation process was that development process for new start projects took too long. it was the number one issue i heard about. it was the number one transit issue hereabout through his confirmation process. we have done a lot to streamline the process. able toult, we've been advance these projects more quickly. we've been able to get them to the funding pipeline. we've been able to sign grant agreement and put people to work. what are we facing now? we're facing a funding level some 17% below what the president asked for. the funding level not allow us to honor the commitments we

made in each of these grant agreements for 2013. it is sure it likely will have to have across-the-board cuts against every one of the new start projects currently in construction. what that will mean is higher borrowing costs, make these things more expensive to the taxpayer. it also means that new full funding grant agreements that could be on the horizon could be in danger. it is not clear if this were to continue, year after year, that we would be able to advance projects. we've been encouraging people to move forward, we have streamlined the process, just as congress asked us to do. it is -- at this career resource level, at the window is rapidly closing. that will undermine our ability to lower our dependence on

foreign oil. it will undermine their ability to serve all of those young people taking transit in increasing numbers but it will undermine their ability to limit, if not minimize congestion in a great many cities. we have new battles upon us and we need your advocacy. we need to to speak to your representatives. is the legislative congress -- conference and you come here to washington not just to hear speeches like this one, but to make the case to members of congress. let me politely suggest this. if at the end of this trip folks calculate their hours and realize they spent more time sitting in a so tell listening to speeches than they have making the case on capitol hill, i think they demonstrated the wrong priority. this message needs to be delivered to our partners on the

hill. they need to know what these funding decisions mean for our ability to advance a pro-transit agenda. president obama's observation in the state of the union about ceos want to locate close to infrastructure developments. the ceo brought hundreds of new jobs to north carolina set a free upgrade the infrastructure, they will bring even more jobs. my parallel example was in orlando, florida. i was down there recently providing a $78 million grant as part of their new start project to advance the sun rail commuter rail line. i was joined by ceo of a florida hospital corporation. he pointed out that because of our locating a commuter rail

stop at the heart of his new health village, he will be bringing thousands of new jobs as part of the florida hospital corporation. it will have a dramatic impact, not only on the economic development of downtown orlando, it will have very meaningful impacts on congested on interstate 4. he knows that he can locate those people at that campus because they will have immediate commuter rail access to the campus and not have to put up with interstate 4. the inevitability about what we're dealing with public transit, the only issue is whether federal policies will follow a more seamless and helpful course to deal with are inevitable future or not. what of the things we learned in the last census is that our population will grow by 100 million people by 2015. that population growth is not

plan to be spread evenly across the country. it will be concentrated in many of the areas where the population is concentrated now. we can either have policies in place at the federal level that will help us address and plan for that. or we can let that population growth to overwhelm us. the president has put forward a plan for fixing at first and advancing public transit that is fully paid for. he emphasized that in his state of the union. it is fully paid for. for those of you when you deliver this message to congress on the importance of moving forward with a pro-transit investment agenda, at the present has a plan to do that and is fully paid for. we can only do that with our partners. we need to do this together. we need to do it in a partnership between fta and all of our partners in congress.

please deliver that message. please spend more time on capitol then you do in this hotel. that will make this a successful visit. thank you for having me. [applause] >> we want to open it up to questions from the audience. there are microphones on both sides of the aisle. i think these two gentlemen are ready for any questions you have for them. >> hello. i am wondering what we can do to help the reauthorization, restore the 57% cuts in programs. >> [inaudible]

the numbers you are using, all little bit of an apple to orange comparison. what map21 did was somewhat in line with what the administration proposed, but other ways three out of line. we did propose the discretionary bus program, an annual grant competition that many of you participated, the substituted for a formula program for the state of good repair of our systems. what you also heard me say earlier is that the funding levels for that state of good repair program was hundreds of millions of dollars less than what the administration proposed. we proposed to do the consolidation and programs that the congress did, however congress and as the funding level far below what we proposed

and as a result, people are not seen -- our agenda was to provide them a dependable funding source they could count on the other than be subject to the vagaries of grant competition where they worked very hard. some years the win, some years they do not. we want people to have a dependable funding source that they could plan on. we got the steady stream of funding, but we got it at an overly inadequate level. and partly, and what can we do with congress to advance that? the president has a fix it first agenda that will involve dramatically increased investments in that state of good repair program. in his state of the union message, he talked about the unfinished parts of the american jobs act.

he asked the adopt the rest. one of the things that was left on the cutting room floor was a sizable confusion of dollars, part of a $50 billion initiative a great deal for our bus operators across the country. >> first, let me say that both your presentations were very strong and i think the audience appreciates that. peter, i just have one quick question. the issue that has plagued us as we have gotten together over the last couple of days and months and years has been the financial piece. you teased us when you said that the president's plan going forward is fully paid for. when we go up on the hill, folks from going to get us on the details of that. give us the best answer you can because we would like to make sure that it is fully paid for and we want a credible response.

>> sure. >> see that that one works. >> does this work? >> good. we'll just hand this one back and forth. the president's proposal as it was during his budget last year has been to capture a portion of the savings from the drawdowns in iraq and afghanistan. it is using savings in the general fund and reinvesting a portion of that general fund savings in deficit reduction and also investing it in investments right here at home, investments to rebuild our infrastructure here at home including the funding that he put into the american jobs act. this was not the way that congress wanted to go, at least last year. but the compelling need for these investments has not gone away and the compelling need for the jobs that we create both in the construction jobs but also

in the secondary jobs that we get from investments of this kind has not gone away. i think that is the best -- most direct explanation that we can give. >> i'm not here to ask you about p.t.c. peter, i wanted to share with you that for the first time in my career, our legislative -- that we shared with joe yesterday in the meeting and we appreciate and know that you have shown up on vacation to come to our meetings. it included the fact that we wanted to make sure that the funding for both the federal transit administration and the railroad administration would remain solid and be increased. because one of the subtle way s of making sure that funding doesn't go out, last time you challenged us that we were under the threat to lose the funding, we realize if we lose the

funding it hampers the efforts to get that funding out there through loans or grants. i want you to know that we thank you for what you do and we will ask that the funding comes from the agencies that provide oversight and also provide the funding that helps us to get through. thank you. >> well, thank you, joe. i'll speak for joe here to my left as well. >> we'll see. [laughter] >> all right, joe. we have been -- the staff very hard to advance a streamlined agenda and to make the programs more easily accessible in order to put the investment dollars to work for quickly. i think that is true of f.r.a. and f.t.a.. it is very disheartening at a time when you are continuing to push folks to do more with less. to then have furloughs come across the potential scenarios

for the future. it really, as you might imagine, you know, we are very blessed. i think this is probably true for both of our agencies. i'll speak for the f.t.a. thank heavens we have staff that are motivated by the transit mission. they don't necessarily come to work every day just because they are palling paycheck but they believe in what we're doing. we have not treated those employees well when we have to talk about furloughs at a time when we're pushing them so hard to advance the agenda. >> i will just make one addition to that, maybe two additions to that. echoing peter's comments, i think one of the most pleasant surprises i've had since i came to f.r.a. four years ago was the quality and dedication of the workforce and these people are absolutely to have shelf and they work hard. they truly do believe in our mission.

and then just going back to a thing that peter carried so well in his speech. you know, it is so important that you continue to make your priorities known to the hill as you are here in town. i thought the most aimportant takeaway that i heard in peter os talk is that calculationor time. if more of it is spent in a hotel than on the hill communicating with your elected leaders, that would be a failure. the interstate highway in kansas were part of a clear, well-defined national plan to develop a highway system. one of the things, there isn't really a similar kind of plan. where are we on developing a national rail plan? >> i think -- maybe i didn't emphasize it strongly enough in my comments, but i talkt about

the need to strengthen planning by states and by regions. we continue to check off the list all of those components that are part of our national rail planning process. i think there is a mistake or misunderstanding that people think some single magical document is going to come out and that is not the case. but what we do have is a checklist of the components that are necessary for strong rail planning on a national basis. for the most part, it is really about giving the tools that states and regions need to better assess what their transportation needs are and then understand how rail, whether we're talking freight rail, intercity passenger rail or even transit fit in to meeting those transportation needs. so we continue to provide our deliverables and will continue checking off that list.

>> question for you. could you give us a brief update on the status of your metro safety standards initiative? >> well, let me talk more generally about our overall effort on the new transit safety authority that we have been given. the most important thing that we are seeking to do, as i've said, is to develop some common sense standards that enable transit operators in a scaleable fashion and i think this is important. we have said throughout that our safety initiative is not going to be a one size fits all approach. that we need recognize that the safety challenges faced by a small and mid sized bus operator is different than a heavy rail operator or a light rail operator. if we use the safety management system approach that we have been talking about for years

now, we will be able to scale the right safety focus for each individual agency, even two identical agency also have different safety vulnerabilities. two different operators who are both operating light rail on the same mileage and same size metropolitan area, one's principle safety vulnerability may be the training challenges of their operators. another might be the signal system. another might be the condition of track. another one might be, if you're talking about light rail running through the community, the knowledge of the people in the community on how to drive cars around light rail. and each individual system needs to know what their unique vulnerability is and make sure they resource and focus on it. like i said, our focus is going to be on trying to add value without adding a great deal of

cost. and the federal rules will ensure that because our safety rules are going to have to pass cost-benefit analysis to get through the process and we welcome is that. i think importantly, one of our nearest term focuses as we still will be working through the state safety organizations to apply and inforce these new federal standards and we -- enforce these new federal standards and we need to do a great deal to strengthen those state sift organizations. they are as a rule with few exceptions woefully understaffed without the expertise that is needed and the enforcement authority given to them by their state legislatures to have a meaningful impact. so one of the things that we did very early, congress did something different than we requested. we wanted to put out federal funds directly at 100% federal funding for the state safety organizations to bring them up

to where they need to be. congress imposed an 80/20 cost match on that which means each of the governors will have to come up with the 20% cost match with the grants that i give you. secretary lahood sent out a letter to all of the governors saying please be planning for this. i can't give you $4 unless you give me $1 to help advance this cause. he hope it will be sufficient. we will get those dollars out and hope that the governors are ready to partner with us. >> i have one last question. those eight miles are still there. i drive them. >> part of a full system. >> all the time. thank god for president eisenhower from kansas. my question is the administrator. you have a new starts guidance out. that guidance according to our

folks probably cuts the new starts out of the picture. are we misreading that or would that be the intention based on the criteria which would affect things like the project in kansas city, kansas, johnson county, which are underway and in the future those types of things for small communities like ours, we have no rail in kansas, might not qualify? >> i think you misreating it. in fact, i've had a number of advocates for projects like v.r.t. read the guidance very differently, but importantly, this is not something that needs to be left to confusion. it is a very comprehensive document and what i would really encourage you to do is coming in and meet with our planning and environment people and discuss it. right now, the biggest threat that i see to the availability of funding for new starts, large or small, is not our guidance

obviously. it is the funding constraints. if we were going to receive funding upwards of close to 20% below what we requested, the president asked for increased funding for the new starts program, not just because of the agenda to reduce congestion and provide more transit to more people but because we needed the increased funding for the pipeline that we see out there and that we ared a vabsing more quickly. at congressmen's request and there are requests. when we actually don't increase our funding but, in fact, go south, as a result of the sequester, that really spells a troubling picture for new starts, large or small, going forward. but if you have concerns specifically about the guidance, let's put together a meeting with the planning and environment staff because i want to fully understand what you may see as disadvantaging bus

transit. we are big vadvockets because you can get a lot through when it is done correctly. especially with little money. that was the result of our guidance. we don't think it is. if you see something in there that has that impact, we want to know about it. >> well, thank you, joe, and peter, for not only your partnership, your ongoing partnership and your stewardship and your leadership on behalf of our industry. ladies and gentlemen, please help me in thanking joe and peter again. [applause] this concludes our session and we'll see you back. >> thank you.

>> coming up, harry reid on the retirement of senate armed services committee chairman, carl levin. coming up at the top of the hour, part three in our series first ladies:influence and image, dolley madison. a look at women in politics from southern methodist university. budget committee chairman paul ryan will wheel out to republican budget plan for 2014. he was at the white house to discuss budget cuts and the budget process we'll have coverage at 10:30 eastern on c-span. on c-span 3, the director of national intelligence, c.i.a.

director john brennan and f.b.i. director robert mueller will talk about global threats. 10:00 a.m. eastern. >> when it comes to the secretary of state and the people around here, i think what what i found striking is her ability to stay focused. at all times as much as possible on what is happening. she doesn't get distracted by the details, if they are not important or if the details often matter but she has an ability to stay focused on the big picture. how is what's happening in afghanistan impacting what they might be doing in the middle east? how is what's happening in the middle east impact what they are trying to do in asia? i think she has a good sense of what is the big picture and the strategy here? of course she is surrounded by people who are helping her. i have to carry my own suitcase. she has staff and that allows

her, i talk about that a little bit. that allows her to stay focused on what really matter. she doesn't have to worry about whether lunch is served or not. it will arrive while she is thinking about the bigger picture. >> she looks at hillary clinton's tenure as secretary, part of book tv this weekend on c-span 2. >> senator carl levin announced last week he will not seek re-election. harry reid spoke about the michigan democrat who chairs the senate armed sferses committee. -- services committee. >> some public servants, the political -- by their first trip to washington or by moving a memorable -- being moved by a memorable party convention speech. for others, history of military service leads to a career of public service. for still others, a proposed

freeway through a community propels them into politics. car levin serving michigan familys is something of a family business. his father served on the michigan corrections commission. his uncle was chief judge for the district court in the eastern district of michigan for many, many years. i was elected to congress in 1982, the same year that senator levin's brother was elected to house of representatives. he has been a ranking member of the house ways and means committee and a distinguished member of the house of representatives having served that body for 31 years. plp, the first time i met carl levin was over here. going to run for the senate. we met in his office. the first thing i said as i came to washington a few years ago,

your brother and i were elected in the same class. he said yes, he is my brother but also my best friend. how about that? that is something i never would have forgotten. these two brothers have done much for the state of michigan. carl levin is truly an outstanding senator and a better man. the longest serving senator in its state's history. he dedicated his lifelong before he was elected to the senate. he served as general council to the michigan commission and as assistant attorney general for the state of michigan. he served two terms in the detroit city council. one of them as president of the city council. as a senator, senator levin has advocated for michigan families, supporting the auto industry, holding credits card companies accountable.

as chairman of the armed services committee, carl levin is the nation's most respected voice on national security and the most powerful advocate for men and women in the united states armed forces. and as chairman of the committee on investigations, he stouth truth on behalf of american -- south the truggete on behalf of american families time and time again. basic credit practices. and abusive credit card practices and a long, extensive, extremely enlightening bit of work on the enron collapse. they have three daughters and six grandchildren. i'm confident carl is looking to spending more time with these grandchildren, taking long walks through his, his and sandy's tree farm.

it's a wonderful place they go. they don't harvest anything. it's just a bunch of trees. and they love that tree farm. i so admire senator levin. clearly when he retires in two years, the united states senate will lose his powerful voice for military families and investigating things that need to be investigated by this body. michigan is a much better place because of carl levin. our country, the united states, s a much >> on our next "washington journal" we'll get an update on the kigse creation of health care exchanges in states as part of the affordable care act. then we're joined by former fema director and the former head of the transportation security administration. the co-chair for protecting america. an organization focusing on national disaster preparedness.

later, richard dieter will discuss attempts to abolish the death penalty on a state level. "washington journal" each morning at 7:00 eastern on c-span. >> i think what i found striking is her ability to stay focused. at all times as much as possible on what is happening. she doesn't get distracted by the details, if they are not important. she has an ability to stay focused on the big picture. how is what's happening in afghanistan impacting what they might be doing in the middle east? how is what's happening in the middle east impacting what they are trying to do in asia? i think she had a good sense of what is the big picture? what is the strategy here? of course she is >> rounded by people who are

helping her. i have to carry my own suitcase. she has staff. that allows her -- i talk about that a little bit. that allows her to stay focused on what really matters. she doesn't have to worry about whether sluverage going to be served or not. it will just arrive. when it arrives she will visit while she is thinking about the big picture. >> kim gattis looks at hillary clinton's tenure as secretary. >> watch our first lady series with dolley madison coming up at the top of the hour. the american association of retired american persons is holding -- retired persons is holding a conference in washington this week. one of the topics were social security cuts and living adjustments. you can watch this event at c span.org.

>> you know it is difficult looking at the way we look at how our country cares for its veterans and trying stomach this. most people don't understand that the fight for care and services in this country is ongoing. it has been ongoing since world war i and hasn't stopped but it is still nowhere need where we need it to be. the unemployment rate is typically two points higher. most people don't know that. the suicide rate in the military is astronomically higher. we lost more than we did to combat. most people don't know that. in the time that we have sat here talking about this, one veteran has committed suicide. every 65 minutes in this country. most of them are actually elderly veterans getting these benefits that we're talking about cutting. the v.a. has a backlog for these benefits that is unbelievable. i don't know if anybody saw it today, but in the daily beast,

aaron from the center of investigative reporting put out an investigative report on the state of the v.a. backlog. it is much worse than we thought it was. we say that veterans are waiting 3300 days on average for -- 300 day on average for the benefits we are talking about cut. it is closer to 600. we are nowhere near where we need to be to care for the men and women who have sacrificed over the last 10-12 years. i can't believe this is even on the table. i cannot believe that we are even talking about this. what we are seeing is that -- what veterans are seeing is that the government is failing them every single day. every single day the care and services for our veterans -- we're failing. to come to them and say you know what? times are tough. we all have to sacrifice a little bit. now we're going to cut your benefits. it is a punch in the face and it

is not acceptable. tell me about it, times are tough. tell it to the guy who has done three tours in afghanistan who can't get a mental health appointment at the v.a. within 50 days. tell that to the family members have lost veterans to suicide. you can't keep pulling the water out of the same well. otherwise you're just going to have people stop serving in the military. you're going to have a national outrage. this is something that we cannot accept. this is what we're really talking about. you cut through all the math. we're talking about betraying the faith that we keep with our men and women who defend our country. and that's really all that needs to be said about it. so thank you for your time and attention. i thank aarp for bringing us here today. i hope you go back to your bosses and you talk about this in as simple terms as possible

and that this is just something that we cannot accept. as a country. thank you. >> watch our first lady series with dolley madison coming up at the top of the hour. at midnight eastern time. and watch all of our programs in our video library at c-span.org. now an update on north korea from the white house. >> carried through with its threat to -- this seems to go beyond the typical -- from north korea. is the president alarmed by this development? >> well, we are certainly concerned by north korea's rhetoric and the threats they have been making follow a pattern designed to raise tension and intimidate others. the dprk will achieve nothing by threats or provocations which

will further isolate north korea. we continue the urge the north korean leadership to heed to president obama's call and choose the path of peace and come into compliance with its international ob obligations. we have worked in a concerted way with our international partners to put pressure on and isolate north korea because of its failure to live up to its obligation. as you know, the security council passed a resolution with unanimous support just last week in reaction to actions by north korea. and we will conth that effort. >> a reminder -- continue that effort. >> you can watch our first lady series with dolley madison coming up at the top of the hour and you can see all of our programs in our video library at c-span.org. the former president of the czech republic is in washington this week talking about the european debt crisis.

vac vac cavlay klaus spoke at the cato institute last week. here are some of his remarks. >> a small, open economy. need to have the -- help the economy grow -- its main trading partners. this is not the case these days. by the way this morning, the -- office announced the figure for the g.d.p. growth in the last quarter of 2012 expected figure minus 0.2. again, we can't escape from the -- of the whole continent. the present economic situation in europe is not an accident.

it is not accidental. it is a consequence of at least two things. it is a consequence of the deliberately chosen and regularly infered european economic social system on the one hand and it is a consequence of the more and more central isk and bureaucratically intrusive institutional arrangements. they both form a fundamental obstacle to any further positive development. an obstacle which cannot be removed by marginal corrections or eventually more rational short-term economic policies. the programs are -- >> c-span, created by america's cable companies in 1979, brought

to you as a public service by your television provider. >> coming up in a moment on c-span's first ladies serious, dolley madison, wife of president james madison and then a discussion on women and politics.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> dolley was socially adept and politically savvy. >> she was his best friend. she compensated. >> james madison wishes to meet her. >> she carved out a space for women where they can wield a great deal of political power. >> dolley madison would sit at the head of the table and erect the conversation. >> she got these people to the white house and entertained them. got them together and got them talking. >> this was important to her to make everyone feel welcome. >> it was considered her classic look. people noticed it. >> it was a perfect setting for james and dolley madison >> she sat side by side with james madison helping him. >> she moved back to washington d.c. in her elder years and became very much behind the scenes in a political field

again. >> as henry clay famously said, everybody loves mrs. madison. her equally famous response "that's because mrs. madison loves everybody." >> dolley madison came to her service as first lady with experience during thomas jefferson's two terms. the president often called on her to assist him. this sense of the usefulness of diplomacy allowed dolley to hit the ball running. she assumed the role in 1809 as her husband james madison became the president. welcome. we will learn about the intriguing dolley madison. we have two guests at our table. let me introduce you to them. catherine allgor, an author and biographer of dolley madison. and a historian. one of her books is called "a perfect union." thank you for being here.

edith mayo was the creator of the first lady's exhibit at the smithsonian. so many smithsonian visitors have seen this throughout the years. thank you for being here tonight. >> it is a pleasure. >> any 21st century woman who starts to read about dolley madison can see parallels to their own lives. in the way she seemed to approach her role in washington. was she, in fact, ahead of her time? a sort of modern person in the early 1800's, or not? >> that is the paradox. she was raised in a certain culture. when she became first lady, she started adopting a path that paved the way for modernity. she also creates the first lady role that we have come to know. so every first lady, everyone from her all the way up, looked

to her. so she opened the door for a lot of women. >> we are trying to show the parallels among them, how they handle things. what are some of the things that dolley madison contributed to the role? >> i think in our first segment about martha washington, you saw martha as the person who protected the aspect of the role, which was the social partner to the president, and hostess for the nation. then when you get to abigail, she becomes a political partner with her husband and pioneers that role. dolley is the one that brings the two of them together. she becomes the social and political partner for her husband. i think that sets all kinds of precedents for the future first lady. she is kind of, still, held up as a standard by which people measure themselves today.

>> we will spend the first 35 minutes on those important white house years. it was such an interesting time for the country and we want to make sure you understand the history of it. later on we will go back in time and learn about her biography, how this young quaker woman became an internationally known first lady and we will end up with her legacy. that's what tonight looks like. we welcome your participation. throughout the program, we will have phone lines open. you can send us a tweet and use #firstladies. and we have a c-span page on facebook. so lots of ways to add your voice to our discussion tonight. now, i have been getting e-mails from people wanting to know more about martha jefferson. they are saying, what happened? we skipped the third presidency? we talked about dolley madison's role. what happened to martha jefferson? >> she was not in the white house because she died very early on.

she and jefferson were married for 10 years. then she died in childbirth. so he was a widower when he moved into the white house. and he needed someone to oversee these parties when both sexes were prent. -- present. it was thought to be unseemly to entertain in mixed company if you did not have a partner present. so he would sometimes ask dolley madison. >> he did not entertain very much. >> he entertained in a private way. he did not have large entertainments like washington or adams or the madison spirit. >> the capital was getting used to that. >> i think there was criticism not because he was not as sovel -- social, but because

he did not invite the women as often as he did the men. he preferred to have a lot of male company and conduct actual political conversations. he also did away with all kinds of rank and protocol. which was very criticized at that time. but he wanted everyone to be treated as equals. he thought that's what the nation was all about. >> how important was the relationship between thomas jefferson and the madisons? >> they were very important. james madison and thomas jefferson were very close political allies. it is natural when jefferson is elected. i want to say something about jefferson's social program. it is not an accident. he was not interested in power sharing. he was interested in securing his own political power. he had dinner parties with men

of one party or the other. so he would sit with the republicans, as they were called, and he would rally his supporters. then there would be a dinner party with the opposition, the federalists, and that was all about keeping an eye on the enemy. the idea brought up about the lack of women, which was why her role in the jefferson administration is not the big story of that time, he had seen women, and women at social events. he was horrified and shocked, especially about their political power, because it fell outside the official power. he cut off all the events and the white house was open only fourth of july and new year's day. that was partly because he wanted to curtail the power of women. there was something else going on at the white house, and that was dolley madison setting

up the connection of networked she would bring to the white house. during the first year, the center of social and political life was not the white house, but the house on f street. >> here are a few bullet points about the country in 1810. when thomas jefferson took office. you remember last week, it was a 35% growth. so this country is booming. bursting at the seams. even though the seams were smaller in those days. of those, 16% were slaves. the largest cities were new york city, philadelphia, baltimore, and bosnia. what should we know about the most important political events of the madison administration? what was the timelinelike and how important was dolley in

helping navigate those times for her husband? >> the first story of two was the union. i think you are getting a sense of the early republic, it was a time of great anxiety. no one was sure this union was going to hold. people at the time would refer to the united states in the plural. they would say, the united states of america are. which signaled that it was not dwight quite holding together. there was a fear it was holding a part. they called it regionalism, and later they call is sectionalism as they head to the civil war. so we know that nation is going to be a strong nation state, it is a democracy, and a two-party

system and a strong president. that was none of the things the founders had intended. we look back and see that time as a time of growing pains. and we see dolley madison not knowing how this would end, was the perfect person to ease into the country and twa it was going to be. >> serving as the chief executive of the nation, he brought the real concept of how he wanted the role to be carried out. how did he approach it and how did she help him? >> well, you said "concept," and i think that's perfect, because he was the idea guy. he was very theoretical. he and other members of the founding generation understood as a concept "unit." it was their number one job. how do you do it? how do you bring forth unity? what dolley madison did is take

that concept and translate them into action. so she was enacting unit on the national stage. >> how? >> the first thing somebody alluded to in the beginning, she brought people together. every wednesday night, it does matter if the vice president has died, there will be a drawing room. she put people in the room together. that sounds nice. this is about more than just nice. the early republic is a time of survival. the feeling of this union is exacerbated in washington because the all the regionalisms come together with, i would say, the most fractious congress we have ever had. these are people who did not just disagree with each other, but they dueled and fought each other industries and on the floors of congress. that is why bringing people twoth and treating each other as humans is not just lovely but crucial.

>> this concept is exactly the kinds of things martha washington and abigail adams used. >> it is very different from what they had done. theirs is extremely formal. dolley's was much more open. you have everybody in dolley's drawing room able to have access to the chief executive and his lady. that is very important for forging a unity in the united states. also, dolley creates, she starts out as the wife of the secretary of state. what she is doing is forging a social network on which politics and diplomacy could be conducted in a civilized manner through the ceremonial forms of dinners, receptions, parties, and so forth. some of these tensions and animosities that played themselves out in the halls of congress had a way of being resolved at parties. in an amicable way.

she is really forging new networks that will work for both politics and society. >> this concept you write about in several books, the subtitle is, the creation of the american nation. you write about the fact that the women of this class understood their power and their ability to be able to use social skills to build the nation. >> the founders understood the american revolution was more than a political revolution they were going to build the world anew. that meant everything was under consideration. they were going to score and eliminate everything of the old world. they came from kings and

monarchies and courts. they turn to the women, and this is a political theory. it says that, in a culture, laws can come and go. what they call manners stay. manners are the way people treat each other and how they regard each other and how they behave. this is very appealing to the new americans. for one thing, they are inventing a whole bunch of laws they are not sure people will buy, and they need people to behave. the phrase they used was republican virtue. and that is republican with a small "r." that meant people would put the interests of the country before themselves. how do you get people to do that? they looked to the women of the class to start enforcing national matters. these white women of the cities were very conscious of that. >> here are the phone lines. if you live in the eastern or central time zones, our number is 202-585-3880.

mountain time 202-585-3881. please dial carefully. we will take calls and another 10 minutes. this is a facebook question. i will turn to you has a long time curator of first ladies. the early first ladies for excellent writers, writing hundreds of notes in their lifetimes. in what condition are these early letters? we saw thousands of letters last week. but what about dolley madison? what did she preserved? did she have a sense of her legacy? >> i think she did have a sense of her legacy. i think is he is writing to her sister as the british were coming to burn the white house. she is telling her sister what she is doing and what she is saving so there will be something to put in the history books. she wants it known she is saving the documents, the important pieces of silver, the portrait

of george washington for which she is so famous, but she is writing as everything is being packed to be carted off to virginia for safety. so she is very aware of what she is doing, and she writes a number of letters to her family members. >> i want to weigh in. we know as historians, this is the heart of what we do. these are the primary sources. for a long while, to find dolley's actual letters was really hard to do. but in the 1990's holly shulman at the university of virginia and another person began collecting her papers and published them in a lovely book. but there is now a web master of dolley madison, so these are the papers that are really crucial. we also have writing from her

niece. mary writes about her aunt. a lot of those stories, which must have come from dolley herself, which tells us that later in her life, she is getting a sense of her legacy. she cannot intrude upon the public notice as a man would, but she gave her these memoirs, which have now been published for the first time. people can read those. >> we have a video to show you throughout the night of places that were important to dolley madison. if you go on tour at the white house, you see a room called the red room. it was important to dolley madison. let's watch. >> the portrait of dolley madison hangs in the red room. she sits in a red chair. red fabrics complemented the fabric in her chair. she is an inspiration for that room. the red room was, in fact, wrell

yellow under dolley madison. the red color was introduced in 1820's and 1830's. the furniture of the period 'twas was from the american empire. it would have been that style in her lifetime. two of the most interesting in the room are the bust of martin van buren, and the portrait of his daughter in law. angelica, that has the white marble bust painted into the back ground. and the fact that dolley madison is connected to that store years later. when president van buren was inaugurated, president madison had died the year before and she had moved back to washington. she was the most important woman in washington. president van buren was a widower. dolley madison basically introduced angelica to her husband to be, the president's eldest son. she became the hostess for the white house.

in the chain of first ladies, she is strictly a wife largely as a result of dolley madison doing matchmaking. >> what condition was the white house? and washington, d.c. as a new capital city? >> well, washington, d.c. was a very muddy place. abigail had written home it was the very dirties hall of a place that she had ever been in her life. the rooms were rutted, the houses were separated, far apart. it is not like we think of it today at all. it is very rudimentary. so i think part of what she is doing is building a social network among the women so that a lot of this is overlooked for politics and diplomacy and fashion, can carry people over

the fact that we are not living in some fantastic cc.ital of the world. >> question on twitter, did dolley know abgail adams? >> yes. she was there. this is one of the stories her niece said when james madison was courting dolley, martha washington confronted her and asked if it was true what they say. she said, i think it is wonderful. even if he is much older than you. what is interesting about abigail is there is one letter i think 1816, so quite far into abigail's life, and she writes awashining for a favor of dolley madison and now though we have not had the

opportunity to meet, so you know they did not actually meet. but she was writing to give a job to a relative. sometimes you stun, women's history. it is a huge patronage network. men will not accept patronage, it is too royal, too rupt. here we have wives and daughters playing on patronage the whole time. we have one moment where we have a former first lan, and president's wife asking another for patronage. >> that was part of what was thoughere of as a first lady's role at the time. >> who were some of her biggest congressional allies of the time? >> henry is the famous one.

the reason we know about him, it gives you a glimpse of behind the curtain and how politics works. leading up to the war of 1812, james madison was not sure he wanted to go to work. -- war. he was so secretgive about it, scholars disoryree. some thought he did want to go to work, and some thoughere he d not. he had to walk a fine line. he needed allies. he had dolley do it. he had famous stories. we have to look at these things as a form of political analysis. he shared about the snuff box. you have to look -- the people at the time weren't just saying, look at dolly sn- dolley madiso and henry clay. they were trying to read the energ. so she courted people on both sides of the aisle. that was a good thing about her. people knew there was something up in the air. ng a> our c-span web site is rerobust on the first ladies.

there will be a special feature each week you can see only on the web. if you go there tonighere, you n see how dolley madison's snuffbox. how important was sys. h to her? >> she was addicten he i'm afra. >> this is one of the modern concrkts. the women patriohis knew how to use their own power for the sake of our young country. wives wishing to please their husbands. >> perha. i a lities,e of each. i think these women were very away of their place in history. particularly if you are a first lady. even early on, you know you are centrally positioned to inflc.i. >e aspects of pligs politics. i think they probably would never have used the term feminism or feminist, but i think theyhis new exacies,y what they were doing. and they enjoyed wielding the din

>> the first question comes from scotty in tennessee. are you there? >> i am calling in the show for the first time. >> welcome. >> thank you. did she know anything about the affair he had with hemmings? >> the big story for her is not

helping thomas jefferson as a hostess. we do not know anything much about dolley madison. there is a story i read about paul jennings, james madison's body servant. the first person to write a white house memoirs. he was a slave. there was a story that dolley madison asked henry, name one of her sons after james madison. in this rendition of the story, she does not get the gift. >> in a related question from twitter, what was dolley madison's opinion of thomas jefferson and did the madisons ever visit monticello? >> i think they visited back and forth. they were good friends and knew each other for many years. maybe you have more information on that. what is the distance between their home and monticello? >> is a little ways. when we talk about retirement years, the few times james madison leaves his beloved is to visit thomas jefferson. i would say we do not know the true opinion of a lot of people

of dolley madison because she was very cautious. thomas jefferson seemed to love her, even though she is conducting a social circle under his nose and nobody hated like thomas ever since. the fact that he adored dolley speaks volumes about her. >> catherine is up next. >> thank you for taking my call. my question is, i know that dolley madison was raised a quaker and her first husband was a quaker. and was a member of the friends church, and then she left it and married james madison. i read stories about her father freed slaves and testimony to abolition of slavery. i was wondering, how do you think her quaker upbringing

influenced her as a first lady. >> i will cut to the chase. we do not know enough about her childhood. my theory on this is one of the central tenets of quakerism is to record people as god. dolley goes on to become -- that is why they do not use titles. dolley became famous for being empathetic and warm. she would talk to people as if they were the only person in the room, and i think that came from her quakerness. >> and i believe the reason she was able to take on this role so well is because she believed men and women were equal. so you don't get any sense from her of being lesser than. she fits right in and built her name. i think that comes from her quaker background as well.

>> the first white house allocated a salary. was it still that much at the time? >> i do not know. >> most presume it was. it was about $1.10 million today. that is a lot. similar to what we pay presidents today. who paid for all these social functions? did they have to pay out of their own salaries for all the events we are talking about? >> yes. this was the time that was part of the deal going into public service. this is why rich white men were supposed to take on the burden of public serve because it came out of the public pocket. the madisons were not the first presidential couple to leave much poorer than when they came in. there was quite a hefty amount given to her to redo the mansion, which she did very well and spend the money very well. >> a furnishing budget. the previous occupants had brought their own furniture in many instances.

then when they left the presidency, they took it home with them. jefferson was one of those who did that. washington when he was in new york and philadelphia. but this was the thing that dolley wanted to do because she thought that it needed a stately, elegant look for the new nation. so they took the decorating very, very seriously and wanted to make it look as if it could be on what equal terms with the powers of europe so that they could conduct diplomatic negotiations in a proper setting. >> it sounds to me, there is a constant push and pull between wanting to be seen as equal. but at the same time -- >> a real dichotomy. >> it is one of the reasons we

look at women, as well. it gets resolved with women. you have the revolution and the fight against everything it stands for, but now you have the nation. how are you going to speak with legitimacy and authority? the only power they have is royalty. we have strange moments and they go back and forth. john adams is arguing for titles of the presidency. the women of these families took it on. mr. washington is mr. president. martha washington is lady washington. james madison is mr. president. dolley is queen dolley. the men have to travel this very strict line, but the women get to have an aristocratic title. that is one of the messages she is sending out the women at that time, and it was understood a

lot at the beginning of that is predicated on loyalty. >> a lot of people called her president. >> who called her queen dolley? >> a lot of people. >> she dressed a queen. she looked every inch a queen. sometimes they say she looked libling a -- like a bride and a queen. so her elegance of dress, she bought a lot of her material in paris. so she is very elegantly dressed, and she looks to american eyes as a queen. and that's fine, because she is not the head of state. she is walking a very fine line where she expresses the finer things to which the nation aspires. she is not royalty. she is always walking a very fine line down the middle.

>> you provided a wonderful segue to our next video. >> oh, did i? >> it is at mont pilliar which is the restored home of the madisons and open for tours. put it on your list if you ever get to virginia. they have a display that talks about dolley madison's dresses. we will show you that now. >> most of the dresses we have at the visitor's center are based on descriptions we have of the way she dressed. one dress we own is a recreation of something that we still have. this is typical of the style of the day. classical lines. it was much more simple and elegant than the fashion before or after. this is the style she would have worn while she was first lady. it is the regency style.

many of the dresses were more elegant. this represents what she wore at her inaugural. this was james madison's first inaugural. at the ball she wore what was described as a simple bust velvet. she wore pearls. that was something more classically elegant but less ostentatious than the diamonds you would normally find in the courts of europe. dolley was setting a style that was unique to american fashion. a lot of people think she set the fashion of the turban. that is not quite true. it began in persia and moved to france and england. but dolley popularized the style, and that was considered her classic look. she would wear some extravagant turban often topped with feathers on her head.

people notice it. sometimes, they thought her fashion was a little too regal. there was one instance where she some -- in her turban. people said this was overstepping things. she looked to wriggle into queenly. they were afraid queen dolley was setting the wrong tone. toward the end of her life, she wore many of the fashions she wore in her earlier day. some of this may have been to evoke that american founding. she was the last living matriarch of the generation. some of it was because of the growing tenury in her life. she did not have the money to where the latest fashions. she had to where many of her old clothes and repurpose them. she had several paintings made of her final days. she is often wearing the same thing.

>> one other thing we should mention is for her time, she was quite tall. >> she was. i think she was 5' 7" and a half, and maybe taller than her husband. >> i have an image of the two of them standing next to each other. dolley in her turbans and james madison in the style of the revolution. it does not work. >> and it became politicized, so a lot of the criticism toward the madisons focused on james madison being so tiny and pygmie-like. this was a time where political authority was male. thomas jefferson, big and tall. washington was described as a

hunk. and then this little tiny guy. he probably had his press secretary coming out, saying he is 5' 6," and he is not. size mattered. her heights and good health led to rumors of her sexuality. that she was overtly sexual, and that she was, in their words, too taut, and the reason the -- reason they never had children was because she was -- he was burning up his energies. you realize things were quite serious. >> she was also during the campaign accused of having an affair with jefferson because she had been his hostess on various occasions. they extrapolated into a personal affair. >> were able to put that to rest? >> i think they were. he would not have been re-elected if people had actually thought that that

accusation was the truth. >> there were questions about dolley madisons approach to her image and the way she dressed. was this a conscious decision to stand apart as opposed to personal taste or vanity? she was creating a brand, in other words? >> yes. you have to look at the context. this is a new nation. we know it is very fragile. there is not a lot of bureaucracy or structure. that was delivered. there was not a lot of structure. people at the time focused on the personalities and on the figure of the person. we have all the descriptions of george washington. they talk about his grandeur and all this stuff. it seems like george washington is posing for statues. in the republic, it becomes dolley and descriptions of her

are on the move. it does not sound as much like "fashion police" but a form of political analysis. she deliberately created this. she is not wearing what an actual queen would wear, but would wear an adaptation. what she would imagine america would consider a queen, and she put that on her turban to make her even taller. >> how would americans react to this? the newspapers had reports with descriptions of what she was wearing? >> and how it was. >> were they proud? >> i think they were mostly proud. the federalists were a little put off by this. they thought it was a little too regal and court like. but there was a lot of talk about creating a republican court with a small "r."

that is a group of people who headed up government but with the idea of having a republic instead of a monarchy. that is part of what she was doing. one of the things that is ingenious about dolley is she takes european influences and filters them through a democratic lands. -- and she filters them through a democratic lens. so they give you something to aspire to as a new nation and how elegant and how wonderful it can be, but you don't offend people who dislike the courts and the royalty of europe. >> i told you i wanted to get this in. she also had a parrot? >> it was a mccaw, actually. i don't want to get a lot of angry letters from parrot lovers. >> yes. apparently it was a terror and would attack people. she played her own part in this last moment when everybody throughout the white house,

there is a white french servant, and he takes the bird over to the house where she lived long enough to make it to mount pilliar where someone forecaught to bring her in one night, and she was the victim of a nighthawk. >> oh, dear. >> maybe some people in washington secretly cheered. [laughter] >> it is time to talk about the important decision to go to war with great britain. and the eventual seizure of the capital city, which happened in 1814. there is a dramatic story about dolley madison being in the white house alone and the approaching british troops. we will start with you about telling us that story. and would you fill it in. >> the background of all of this is they had been gone for a couple of years. there were rumors around the city that the capital was a target.

the washington city had an inferiority complex. the man in charge would say, they are never coming to washington. baltimore is the place. some of the british did march on washington city. washington is not prepared. she is alone in the white house. she refers to, on the day before what was going to be the last day of the white house, august 14, 1814, i hope i have that day right, and she is waiting for her husband to come home while she is preparing for the worst. she is writing this letter for her sister and running up to the roof looking for a husband. she is observing how badly the battle is going. she is also packing things, she is packing silver and what she considers the people's possessions, and she sends them away in carts. and finally, the word comes and it is time to go. >> the british were coming.

>> how endangered was she? >> if she waited any longer, she might have been captured. that would have been a huge prize of war. she knew she had to leave. she wanted to wait for her husband to come home, but she knew she had to leave. and then they reunited a couple days later. apparently she had the table set for dinner, and the british came in and thought that was wonderful. but she did save the pour trait of washington which was one of the things that endeared her to the entire nation. she knew exactly what she was doing. writing about it, she knew what her place in history was going to be. >> are you worried about the fact that even this is symbolic, because it was a copy of the painting, but she understood the british do not be seen burning a picture -- >> yes, exactly.

>> a historian is trying to decide whether she was symbolic as they say. so admiral coburn sent all his threats toward dolley mads son. he was going to come and dine at madison's table. he was going to parade her to the streets. he was not attacking james madison with rhetoric, but her. when he got to the white house and she was not there, he took things of hers because he said he wished to warmly recall mrs. madison's seat. the dinner party was interesting, too. it seems odd to have a dinner party one washington was an exodus. she was trying to hold the capital together even as it was falling apart. she intended to have a dinner party that day. >> here is some of the text she pened to her sister as she was leaving the white house. "now, dear sister, i must leave this house or the retreating

army will make me a prir in it by filling up the road i am directed to take. when i shall again write you or where i will be tomorrow, i cannot tell!" >> there was a great deal of conversation about should the capital still remain in washington, which was now destroyed? or should they move the capital back to philadelphia? so james and dolley leave the octagon house was only a few blocks away, and immediately began to entertain in a grand style. this really sent a signal to diplomats in washington and congress and the people, that they were not going to turn tail and run, but stay in the capital. >> next, we will visit that house by video. >> this building is very important to dolley madison in her career as first lady.

the octagon is two blocks from the white house. it was a natural fit for james and dolley madison as they tried to resume government as quickly as possible. the majestic, elegant, spacious house was the perfect setting for the events that dolley needed to orchestrate and manage in the life of the president. this is the entry foyer. this is why the house is known as the octagon. it was a round room very popular in those days. this was an important room to welcome guests. as you can see, it is a round room. when you are in this room, no matter where you stand, you are equal. this was very important for dolley to make everybody feel welcome, be they enemies oralize. the room is a good example of why this house was so good for dolley. she was known for her wednesday drawing room event. they had 200 to 300 people before the war coming, and

during the war, up to 500 people were coming. this room, of course, could only fit about 50 to 100 people, but it still served that very important purpose for dolley. the nation was still at war when the medicines were here. dolley was playing an important role. she often had different people here, and poured members of congress would be seated at the table. many discussions took place in this room while she was the hostess. it was important to maintain a sense of decorum for the president and first lady. the business was going to go on and the united states would survive and continue. >> and we have a question on facebook about whether or not it was true that she thought democracy was important to mix people of various social classes at these events. >> that was part of what +

to just about anyone who was maybe not well dressed, but properly dressed. ain other words, you do not have to be elegant or rich. if you are properly dressed, you could have access to the family. >> there was discussion about boots. for some people, she is way too regal and too much. for other people, they look at

this democratic reaching out and they are suspicious of it. they expressed their reservations around the issue of boots. a gentleman would never come on a carpet with boots on. >> washington was a different place at the time. >> she welcome congressman from different areas. they pointed to that as a sign of her dangerous tendencies. >> this is a specific question of local history. is it true she escaped the war on what is now madison boulevard? >> i do not know. he goes to bellevue, now the house you can go and visit. then they do go across the room and she spends the time at the plantation. she does end at that house which is still standing now, which is valona. i think the road probably reflects that. >> was she safe when she crossed the river? >> she was. i was lucky enough to go there. she said when she was standing

on the hill that she could see washington burn. >> barbara is up next in new york city. >> could either of your guests speak to a story i read about dolley madison that she stopped at a store in baltimore owned by a black woman and that it was there that she first tasted ice cream and she loved it and she served it very frequently at her social gatherings after that. do either of your guests know anything about that? >> ice cream and dolley madison became synonymous later on in 20th-century america. >> i do not know the accuracy of that particular story. i think jefferson was the one who was credited with actually bringing ice-cream back from france.

dolley certainly served it in the white house. but where she found it, i don't know. >> i have to think this story sounds frivolous, but it actually has a serious import. the story is probably not true, because i think washington served it, as a matter of fact. it is the association people tell me, she invented ice cream. she did not. what happens is, almost immediately after her death, she became closely associated as a symbol of american womanhood. her name and image get coopted by everything to ice cream hairpins, a sexy brand of cigars. she becomes a brand so quickly that the association becomes one of those things that people think she invented it. it goes to how important she was and how large she moved in the american imagination. >> and how people wanted to attach whatever their product was to her name and that would recommend it.

she foreshadows what francis cleveland does in the late 19th century, where francis's face and name are plastered on all kinds of products for sale. >> today, how has the white house approached that? >> well, i think they try to skirt it as much as possible. >> louie in washington, d.c., welcome. >> thank you. this is a fascinating program. i have enjoyed being on with you myself, susan. no question she was extraordinarily courageous. here she is, not just worried about getting out herself, but do we know, did she walk? did she ride when she took those valuables and the painting? one of the drawings shows her and walking. how did she personally get away?

and where did she cross the potomac in order to get into virginia? do we know that? >> why do i get the geography questions? >> i will say this, she said all these papers, including james madison's notes, she takes them and sends them away in these carts. at the last minute, she decided on a painting. there is some evidence it might even be a copy. but it didn't matter, she understood the psychological impo. she got her servant to wrestle it off the wall and she gave it to two gentlemen from york who put it in a car and took it away. something would survive and she herself is taken away by carriage. i do not know where she crossed. >> john is in new york. >> thank you for taking my call

i understand dolley madison died in poverty. i was wondering if that is true and if so, how that happened. and i know eliza hamilton lived around the corner from dolley madison in their old age, and i was curious what interaction they had given that they problem -- probably had so much to talk about. i was wondering if they had ever happened. thank you very much. >> how far into american history was it? >> a while. what they had was what they lived on when they retired. the supposition was, if you were wealthy enough to get into politics in the first place, you would be able to support yourself after wards. but dolley had a 'ner-do-well son from her first marriage. he ran through their estate.

he ran up enormous debts and ended up in prison twice. each time james and dolley would bail him out. she unwisely put him in charge of mount pilliar, and that was a disaster. she ended up losing mount pilliar and dying in poverty. >> was she not a good judge of character? >> one of the great political guess she brought to a very contentious time in politics, it was a refusal to contend. she did not fight. she kind of squelched sisssention around her. it is great. but it is not great when you have a son that is being spoiled and needs to be stopped. this was her blind spot. all of that would not work with him. i want to answer the question about elisa hamilton. they did know each other. in 1848, when they laid the cornerstone for the washington

monument, the sponsors decided to bring the relics of the republic. widows were called relics. they invited by dolley madison louisa captain john adams and eliza hamilton, because it was understood that these women were representatives of the time. >> we have about 35 minutes left in our portrait of dolley madison. we visited the house where she grew up and was a quaker. it is time to answer the question, who was this woman who became internationally famous and what we're roots? we visited her house in philadelphia where she lived as a quaker. we will show you that now. >> this is her house in philadelphia. here, she becomes wife, mother, and a widow. this room was a kitchen of the house. you would probably find her with her two sisters. she would often have her younger sister living here with her.

as quakers, they did not believe in slavery. her husband gave free legal advice to the abolitionists society here. this is a dining room. in the todd house. this room was a multiuse room. not only did their family dine here, but they also used it for educational purposes. the quakers believed that both men and women should be educated. so as you can see, on the table there are books here and a place for educating her sisters and later her son. in august of 1793, a french ship arrived in philadelphia it was carrying passengers suffering from yellow fever. anyone who had money sent their family outside the city and the -- and todd who had a successful lawyer did that. he will die of yellow fever on october 24, 1793. the same day john dies of yellow

fever, dolley's baby will die, as well. not only has she lost her husband, her protector, but also she has the quaker community watching her. within six months she has gentleman who are interested. even as she walked down the the street, her friends would tees her that all the men were stopping to stare at her. the quakers watched her closely. her friends warned her she needs to be aware they are watching her and she needs to be right by her son. this property is partly his property, too, even though he's only two -- 2 years old at the time. dolley has to contend with the scrutiny of the community and have to go to court to petition the court to be guardian of her own son because that was the situation in those days for women in terms of rights.

also, even though dolley's husband had mate her the executor of his will, her brother-in-law has kept the property so she has to hire a lawyer to protect her interests from her own brother-in-law. this is on the second floor of the house. this is where you would entertain your friends. one of the men interested in meeting her was james madison. he was a congressman here in capital city. philadelphia was the contemporary capital of the united states at the time. was an exciting place to be. and james madison was friends with aaron burr. aaron burr had been living in his mother's boarding house. it is aaron burr who let's her know that james madison wishes to meet her.