mitch mcconnell got together with joe biden and it was passed. we're coming up on the sequester and people are wondering what's going to happen with that. people are talking about working together. the president's talking about working with republicans on immigration. republicans and democrats are talking about gun legislation. that could not have occurred a year ago. but they have discussions now in a bipartisan way. people meeting together, talking together. i think people have come to realize, the only way big things, significant things, big problems get involved in washington is when people talk to one another and work with one another and ultimately compromise. >> are they talking now? >> a lot of people are talking now. they're talking about gun legislation. they're talking about immigration, sequester, talking about how we fix our financial problems and i think you're going see some big -- some big issues get resolved here in a bipartisan way. >> i want to ask you about president obama in a moment.

but putting him aside you've worked with every president since ronald reagan as a staff or a member of congress. explain your interaction with these presidents over the years. who do you remember the most? >> as a staffer, obviously, i was a staffer for bob michaels during the reagan years. and then vice president bush, herbert walker bush was elected president. so we obviously worked closely for four years where that administration. then president clinton and so for me, i think the closeness the presidency was really .ore apparent but once i got elected, you know, in 1994, you know, obviously president clinton was president then. and we got to know president clinton very well.

but for me the closeness was president bush. i was on the intelligence committee. i heard all the information about weapons of mass in ruction and i was here 9/11. i think there was a kinsship and a closeness with president bush who i admire and think was a very good president. but mostly because i was in the position being on the congress, being on the intelligence committee being here when we had that huge 9/11 attack and really working with president bush. but then when president obama got elected to the united states senate from illinois, he friends and i'm probably proudly closest now to president obama. >> for any senate to work with the president, what are the rules of the road that any chief executive needs to know

when they come to this town? >> mutual respect, respecting the congress, respecting that these 535 were each individually effected by thousands of people in their districts or in their states. and that means something. an election means something. and so that mutual respect that members of congress were elected by the people. and even though you're president and you were elected by the all the people there has to be that mutual respect, a mutual understanding that in order to really get the people's business accomplished, we have to talk to one another and work with one another and compromise with one another. and i think that's really happening since president obama was re-elected. >> you decided in 2008 to retire from the house. why? >> well, for my first 12 years i was the majority speart and

it's a lot more fun being in the majority. for the last two years i was in the minority party. i didn't like it much. and i felt i had done everything that i could possibly do. i knew i wasn't going to be in leadership. could y thought that i be more effective doing something else even though i didn't thought what i was going to be. >> you thought you would have been president of bradley university. >> i thought they were going to pick me. >> still interested? >> the only one would be my alma mater. i woundn't be interested in any other university. >> so president obama was elected in 2008. how did you become transportation secretary? five days after he was -- well, a few days before he was elected president ram called me and said i'm going to be chief of staff do you think there has

to been an election before you can be chief of staff. but five days after he called me for chief of staff. he said you know, we're going to be looking for some republicans. i tell this story because this is a signal about president obama. this idea that he's bipartisan and that he reaches across the aisle, i'm a classic example of it. obama to president before he was elected president. he knew i was going to retire. he said if this works out for me, i'm going to be looking for some republicans. and this idea of bipartisan is in the president's d.n.a. he believes in it. five days after he was elected to the united states senate from ill-, he called me in peoria. i was a congressman. he said i want to come and meet with you and figure out how we can work together. he believes in bipartisan.

he believes that's the way we get things done. i am a great example of it. when i was a congressman. we had a 40-minute interview and few days said will you take transportation? >> why this position and why did you say yes? >> well, i wanted to work for what i believe was the most historic, maybe the most historic administration in the history of our country, an african-american from illinois and i just felt it was as somebody who loves public service it was a great opportunity to serve to work toric transformational president. we felt it was an stunt we couldn't pass up. >> -- we felt it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up. >> explain this photograph.

>> oh, that's one of the meetings where the president was going to the republican conference in baltimore. the republicans were having a retreat. and they invited the president to come. on the elevator going up to the lahood get in front of me and block as we see all these republicans. and i did that. and we walk into the room and all the leadership were there and they got a kick out o it. >> you're in the cabinet. how does he run the meeting? >> it's all prescribed. for four years almost all of the cabinet meetings were about the economy. we'd hear from geithner or other people on the economic team. we would have some kind of a foreign policy report from hillary or bob gates who had been the secretary of defense. and so almost every cabinet meeting was about the economy

and how we were going to really manage what we were doing and sometimes we'd hear from janet napolitano or jack from o.m.b. when he was there. but mostly all of it was aren't the economic issues. because look the last four years were a real struggle when it comes to the united states. at d.o.t., i think we contributed a lot to putting people to work. almost all of the focus of the cabinet meetings were around the economy. >> what is the job of the transportation secretary? what is a day like for you? what are your responsibilities? >> well, we manage 55,000 people. 38,000 are f.a.a. employees located at a different location. many of them are in airports around the country. really just sending -- our agenda really has been about safety and making travel safe but also for the first two

years taking our economic stimulus money $48 billion that we got, spending it within two year, putting people to work. we put 65,000 people to work and 15,000 projects in two years. very proud of that we really contributed to getting -- getting at least the infrastructure and transportation economy moving. but i would say safety and i would say carrying out the president's agenda as it relates to high speed rail and then making sure that our economic stimulus mown was spent correctly. ass a transportation bill an f.a.a. bill. we were able to do some legislative, work with congress, work with our stakeholder, the governors and mayors of the country and really take the president's trance or -- transportation agenda on the road. i just finished in montana. that was my 50th state a few days ago.

18 countries, 250 cities. so we really tried to touch the people in america who really are involved with infrastructure and safety and those kind of issues. >> what have you learned ray lahood in the job? >> i think really just having a focus and working hard, you can really make a difference. i served in congress for 14 years. there's a lot of satisfaction, but in this job you can really make a difference because you can get things done. you can really have an impact. and what i told our other cabinet colleagues when we first met for years ago. pick two or three things that you want to get done so when you walk out the door, you can remember two or three things that you accomplished. and a lot of them we just had a dinner together before the last state of the union and i lot of them remember that advice. these are big agencies.

they're full of career people. if you can walk out the door and say you accomplished two or three important things for the president and for the american people, that's a big accomplishment in these jobs. and i'm proud that we can say that and i think a lot of my cabinet colleagues would say the same thing. >> so what's next for you? >> you know, i don't really know, steve. i'm going to walk out the door and see if the phone rings. i have 10 grandchildren, five in peoria. five in indianapolis, one here. we'll do grandbaby and grandchildren business more often. but we'll see where it takes us. worried about ly what's around the next corner and i don't think i'll have to worry about it when i walk out the door here. >> any thoughts about writing a book? >> yes, i'm actually in collaboration with the head of the dixon congressional center in illinois. frank mcaman who is phenomenal.

we've written somewhat i call essays on my career in congress talking about bipartisan with retreats that i co-sponsors, the impeachment and all that was involved in those few days and a few things like that. so i'm going to write something. i don't know if anybody will be interested in it. but frank is going to help me with that. >> secretary ray lahood, thank you very much for your time. >> thank you. >> congress returns from spring ree says this tweak a full schedule of hearings on the budget and testimony from some of the president's nominees for cabinet and other key positions. on the house and senate floor, the senate's back tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. eastern. on the agenda, a judicial nomination and couple of nonlevel cabinet members nominations. and harry reid said he would take on gun legislation. debate is possible by weeks end but the exact timing is

unclear. the house returns on tuesday. on wednesday they'll take up a bill strog do with smue hydro projects. and a bill to legit the actions of the national labor relation board. live coverage starts at 2:00 .m. eastern. also this week, a senate con for mation hearing for ernest moniz. our live coverage begins tuesday at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span 3. next president obama unvails his initiative to study the human brain with $100 million this the president's 201314 budget. this would aim new ways to revent, cure epilepsy, and

traumatic brain injuries. this is about 15 minutes. [applause] >> good morning. thank you all for being here today. i'm francis collins director of the national institutes of health, n.i.h. and i am proud to have the honor of welcoming you here to the east room of the white house for a very special scientific announcement by the president. investing in bio medical research is one of the wisest choices we can make as a nation. the united states has long been at the forefront of one medical breakthrough after another helping to save lives, improve

people's health, and grow the economy. moving forward, we as a country are extraordinarily fortunate to have a leader who places such a high value on science to unlock the mysteries of disease and discover new ways of overcoming them. but now we stand at the edge of another frontier in bio medicine and bio logical research which the president will describe in a moment. some may ask, how we can afford in investing in bold new research during difficult budgetary times. but the reality is we can't afford not to. the worst thing we could do in challenging economic times is to stifle innovative thinking and asking people in this room to delay innovation would be like asking the cherry trees in washington to delay blooming. it's exactly that innovation that holds immense potential, not just for the families whose

lives it will change but for also spurring new jobs and business opportunities. the president understands this implicitly. he knows the importance of connect scientific advances with solid science policy and he knows the power of partnership. and that's why he has brought us all together here today, science agencies within the government as well as fill anthropic foundations and leaders in the private sectors to marshall or talents and to take on this next big challenge. so without further ado it is a high honor to introduce our scientist in chief the president of the united states barack obama. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you so much. thank you. everybody. please have a seat.

well, first of all, let me thank dr. collins, not just for the introduction but for his incredible leadership at n.i.h. those of you who know francis also knows that he's quite a gifted singer and musician. i was asking whether he was going o be willing to sing the introduction and he declined. but his has been extraordinary. and i'm glad i've been promoted to scientist in chief. given my grades in physics, i'm not sure it's deserving. but i -- i hold science in proper esteem so maybe that gives me a little credit. today i've invited some of the smartest people in the country, some of the most imaginative and effective researchers in the country. some very smart people to talk about the challenge that i

issued in my state of the union address, to grow our economy, to create new jobs, to reignite a rising, thriving middle-class by in facting in one of our core strength -- by investing in one of our core strengths and that's american innovation. ideas are what power our economy. it's what sets us apart. it's what america has been all about. we've been a nation of dreamers and risk-takers, people who see what nobody else sees sooner than anybody else sees it. we do innovation better than anybody else. and that makes our economy stronger. when we invest in the best ideas before anybody else does, our businesses and our workers can make the best products and deliver the best services before anybody else. and because of that incredible

dine mism we don't just attract he best scientists or the best entrepreneurs we support labs an universities to help them learn and explore and we fund grants to help them turn a dream into a reality. and we have a patent system to protect ours inventions. and we offer loans to help turn those inventions into successful business. and those investments don't always pay off but when they do, they change our lives in ways we could never have imaged. commuter chips, g.p.s. technology, the internet. all these things grew out of government investment and basic research and sometimes, in fact, some of the best products and services spin off completely from unintended research that nobody expected o have certain applications.

businesses then use that technology to create countless new jobs. the founders of google got their early support from the national science foundation. the apollo project that put a man on the moon also gave us eventually cat scans and every dollar weapon spend to map the human genome has returned $140 to our economy. $1 in investment, $140 in return. so dr. collins helped lead that genome effort and that's why we thought it was appropriate to have him here to announce the next great american project and that's what we're calling the brain initiative. you know, as humans we can identify galaxies light years away. we can study particles smaller than an atom but we haven't unlocked the mystery of the three pounds of matter that sits between our ears.

and today scientists possess the capability to study individual neurons and figure time-out main functions of certain areas of the brain but the human brain contains 100 billion neurons making trillions of connections. so dr. collins said it's like listening to the string section and trying to figure out what the whole orchestra sounds like. so as a result, we're still unable to cure diseases like alzheimer's or autism or fully reverse the effects of a stroke. and the most powerful commuter in the world isn't nearly as intuitive as the one we're born with. there is this enormous mystery waiting to be unlocked. and the brain initiative will change that by giving scientists the tools they need to get a dial unanimousic picture of the brain in action and better understand how we think and how we learn and how we remember.

and that knowledge could be -- will be trance more active. -- transformative. in the budget,ly propose a significant investment by the national institutes of help, darpa and the national science foundation to help get this project off the ground. i'm directing my bio ethics commission to make sure all of the research is being done in a responsible way. and we're also partnering with the private sector including leading economies and foundations and research institutions to tap the nation's brightest minds to help us reach our goal. and of course, none of this will be easy. if it was, we'd already know everything there was about how the brain works and presumably my life would be simpler here. [laughter] it could explain all kinds of

things that go on in washington and -- [laughter] e could prescribe something. so it won't be easy. but think about what we could do once we do crack this code. imagine if no family had the feel helpless watching a loved one disappear behind the mask of parkinsons or struggle in the grip of epilepsy. imagine if we could research vtsd, ic brain injury or imagine if someone with a prosthetic limb can play piano or throw a baseball because the wiring from the brain to that prosthetic is direct and triggered by what's already ppening in the patient's

mind. what if commuters could respond to our thoughts or our language barriers could come tumbling down or if millions of americans were suddenly finding new jobs in these fields? jobs weapon haven't even dreamt of yet because we chose to invest in this project. that's the future we're imagining. that's what we're hoping for. that's why the brain initiative is to important. and that's why it's so important that we think about basic research generally as a drive of growth. . and that we replace the across the board budget cuts that are threatening to set us back before we even get started. you know, a few weeks ago, the directors of some of our national laboratories said that arbitrary r, these across the board cuts that have gone in place are so severe, so

poorly designed that they'll hold a generation of young scientists. but our leading thinkers wonder if it still makes since for young people to get involved in science in the first place because they're not sure if the research and the funding will be there to cultivate a whole new generation of scientists. that's something we should worry about. we can't afford to miss these opportunities while the rest of the world goes ahead. don't want the next jobs investmenting to happen in china or in europe. i want them to happen here in america. and that's what this brain initiative is about. solar why we're making energy or electric vehicles as effective as the ones that run on gas. we're encouraging companies to get involved and help us make progress. we have a chance to improve the

lives of not just millions but billions of people in this planet through the research that's done in this brain initiative alone. but it's going to require a serious effort, a sustained efrlt and it's going to require and a country to imbody embrace that spirit of discovery that made america america. an american company came out with a mini computer when i was born. it didn't require its own air-conditioning system. that was a big deal. it took only one person to operate. but each commuter was eight feet tall, weighed 1,200 and cost more than $1,000,000. and today most of the people in this room including the person who's cell phone just rang have

a far more powerful computer in their pocket. computers have become so small, to universal, so ubiquitous, most of us can't imagine life without them. certainly my kids can't. and as a consequence millions of americans work in fields that didn't exist before their parents were born. watson, the computerer is now being used across the country to diagnose cancer. that's how much progress has been made in my lifetime and in many of yours. that's how fast we can move when we make the investments. know, an't predict you what the next big thing will be. we don't know what life will be like 20 years from now or 50 years or 100 years down the road. what we do know is that if we keep investing in the most

prominent slews to our toughest problems, then things will get better. i don't want our children or grandchildren to look back on this day and wish we had done more to keep america at the cutting edge. i want them to look back to be proud that we took some risks, that we seized this opportunity. that's what the american story is about. that's who we are. that's why this brain initiative is so important. and if we keep taking bold steps to learn about the brain, then i'm confident that america will continue to lead us in the next frontier of human development. so i'm very excited about the project. francis, let's get to work. god bless you. and god bless the united states. thank you. [applause]

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> tonight on c-span, q&a with tom korologos, former assistant of