ephen trainor. later, ray ♪ the: after a late start, cherry blossoms are now in full bloom in the nation's capital. the house is in session today. the senate is taking up the gun debate as lawmakers return to washington. the senate and vice-president biden are putting pressure on congress to have an up or down vote on gun legislation this week. the senate is holding another round of confirmation hearings today. tomorrow, but the way, the white house will release its budget recommendations in washington, -- butritain,

recommendations. in washington, great britain, remembering margaret thatcher and around the world. our attention this morning is of the naval academy, the training ground for many of the officers that serve in the navy and marine corps. located 35 miles from our nation's capital in annapolis, maryland. ofwill examine the rigors this military school and the cost of operating one of our country's four leading academies. all of it coming up on "washington journal." we want to focus on congress returning this week. a busy week ahead, as the agenda intensifies for lawmakers and the president. a story from "the national journal," what the president will be taking into account as he puts forth his budget

recommendations. hegel is back on capitol hill for the first time in his official capacity. and a floor bill to freeze the work of the national labor relations board. a lot on the agenda in washington this week. the president, beginning the debate on guns once again in connecticut. hadpoke in hartford, conn., lightness' morning from "the new york post," pushing gun laws in connecticut, meeting with the mother of one of those victims. by the way, many of these family members flying back on air force one last night are here in washington today to lobby members of congress. the story points out --

host: you can also join us online to social media, send us an e-mail, journal@c-span.org, or on facebook, or send us a tweets at twitter.com/c-spanwj. here's the president last night in hartford. [video clip] >> i have to tell you, i have had tough days in the presidency. i have said that before. was the toughest day of my presidency. i have to tell you, if we do not respond to this, that will be a tough day for me as well.

because we have to expect more from ourselves. we have to expect more from congress. believe, youo know, every once in a while we set politics aside and just do what is right. [applause] we have got to believe that. host: the president in hartford, conn., again, members of the new town family coming back to washington to lobby the senate, where the bill now begins. we heard yesterday from harry reid, who put the bill on the floor, and is putting pressure on republicans, including 13 senators who have announced that they will oppose the legislation. this is done -- this is from " the new york daily news," "give us a vote." for republicans, 202-585-3881. for democrats, 202-585-3880. for independents, 202-585-3882.

we welcome our audience on c- span radio, heard coast-to-coast on xm radio. what is on your mind this morning? tyrone? go ahead. caller to a good morning. host: good morning. caller: republicans are coming back to work and did not do anything to help this president. it should not be this way. we are all god's people. host: is it racism or partisan politics? ander: is partisan politics racism. host: jack, what is on your mind? caller: i wanted to comment on the gun ban. i believe the constitution is the most important thing in this country at this point in time.

i am very sorry about the people that were killed. but i still believe that we need to keep the constitution in -- constitution intact. the call.k you for the front page this morning of "the washington post," baucus looking for bipartisan tax reform. laurie montgomery points out --

host: again, the story this morning looking at tax legislation that will be coming up in the months ahead. james is joining us from carmel, indiana. republican line, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. host: certainly. caller: we had a shooting in our neighborhood a few weeks ago, a young man jealous of his girlfriend's new boyfriend. police on the shooting and three times. the cost of it, there were like a dozen squad cars here, we had to pay to put this boy in the hospital for how many months, we are prosecuting him and putting him in jail, the cost of an illegal gun to taxpayers is tremendous and i have never heard anyone talk but that. your opinion? someones opinion on what it costs taxpayers to have illegal

guns on the street? host: what is your opinion? what do you think? caller coat it -- i think -- caller: i think it costs a fortune. they should have insurance on guns, like cars. they say that people kill people, not guns. people drive cars and killed people and they have insurance. i think that gun manufacturers should take this cost. i think that people that sell guns and buy guns should take this cost, not me. immigration, the budget, the three big items in washington this week. reporting that some republicans and conservatives are sending a warning to senator marco rubio. conservatives in south carolina and iowa say that the senators on the verge of stepping into an immigration trap.

"one south carolina republican saying it remained a divisive issue among folks who support us." ath an early look at 2016, lot of attention on hillary clinton, covered last friday in new york by "the daily beast." early line for 2016, joe biden is not the favorite. a picture of secretary of state clinton as she spoke to the gathering. tracy, lacrosse, wisconsin, open phones on this tuesday morning. go ahead, please. caller: you have to ask yourself about -- of 90% of the voters are so -- are for some kind of

background check, why would the gop not simply to allow a vote? why? themselves that question. for the call.u larry, covington, georgia, good morning. caller: i feel sorry for the parents of their that had kids that were killed. withare making a pact progresses. they did not go through anything. those are hot potatoes. it would be history. something like this for years. i bet you the boys are tapping. all that they can do is hop on the phone and call their buddies. now we can get some gun-control. a new one on the table, a mess of abortion. these kids, if they looked to

them they would abort those children at school. host: thank you for the call. this comment on lady thatcher, margaret thatcher, a firm believer in freedom and free markets. the president believes in and either and we suffer. if you on margaret thatcher, who passed away yesterday. a look at the headlines this morning. front page of "the wall street journal." as british prime minister from 1979 to 1990. this morning, from "the financial times," "thatcher, the great transformer." from "thelly," washington post." this editorial, "she change her country's direction and its standing in the world." not since catherine the great

has there been a woman of such consequence." "the guardian," reporting this morning the prior to her death she said she did not want a full state funeral, because she new parliament would have to vote on that. instead it will be a ceremonial funeral taking place at st. paul's cathedral in london. in 1995 she came to our c-span studios for one of two interviews. we also interviewed her in 1993. the second part of that was her path to power, when she talked about life growing up outside london, daughter of a grocer, the influence her parents had on her early childhood. [video clip] >> i said to my father one sunday evening that my friends are going for a walk and i would like to go with them.

do you do me -- things just because other people do them? that is a very bad thing to do. do not just be one of a crowd. very tough advice. i did not go out for that walk. be bewitched by public opinion polls. they changed very quickly. you believe and why. and how you're going to implement your ideas. then my father would say something else. if you set your head to a task, you must complete it. is easy enough to get a job. harder to see it through. i think in those terms. host: barbara thatcher, her

book, "path to power," came out in 1985. we have more than 100 events with margaret thatcher in our c- span video library, available .nline at c-span.org you can see those events and the time. meanwhile, this photograph from outside her home in london, people began to pay tribute with flowers outside the gated home to remember the former british prime minister, who was in power from the late 1970's until early 1990. we will have more details on the funeral services as they become available. the british house of commons is back tomorrow as members of parliament are allowed to pay tribute. they were on break, but the prime minister who was in europe came back yesterday and announced that parliament is being recalled for tributes to lady thatcher. redwood falls, minn., open

phones this morning. go ahead, please. caller: i wanted to comment on the gun laws. i do not think that we need to get a bunch of new laws passed in congress that do not work. there is nothing wrong with what we have. what would be wrong with beefing up our school security? could bes coming back the security on the front lines. to me that makes more sense, putting people back to work and protecting children. host: thank you for the call. this point on our twitter page -- host: mcconnell is joining a senate gun filibuster, this story from politico.com. he announced yesterday that he would join a group of republicans threatening a

filibuster. "yesterday harry reid promised to move a gunboat to the floor, but it is unclear which one. it depends on if democrats can strike a deal on background checks, otherwise there is a less strict bill that includes some type of background checks and increased penalties for gun trafficking with increased sick -- increased school security. the senator has said he would require a 60 vote margin for the bill." this headline, "a new gop voice in the gun talks," pat to me from pennsylvania, "who spent most of his last few years focusing on fiscal issues, but is now in discussions on fiscal issues and expanding background checks on gun purchases just as

."her talks appear to fizzle more details on that inside "the wall street journal." susan, good morning. caller: how are you doing? host: fine, thank you. caller: we are barely out of iraq, ramping up in north korea. at this time it is time for new taxes. they need to be based on wealth. this will allow us to drop the taxes on corporations. host: ok. caller: thank you. host: thank you for the call. joe, highland park, new york. independent line. caller: i would like to correct two of subjects. you had a guest a couple of night -- a couple of days ago talking about jobs and the economy. i wanted to make the point of cause and effect. this did not happen by accident. this was not a natural

disaster, this was orchestrated. it was intended to happen. wantedreet decided they cheap labor and more profits. they were not satisfied being millionaires, they wanted to be billionaires'. let's send those jobs overseas. we look around and wonder why there is no jobs. but they did not stop there. they decided to bring in an illegal immigrants. now people wonder where the jobs went? i think there is a connection to what is going on with this gun law. they have taken everything away from the american people, the great middle-class of america is now extinct. people lost their homes, their savings, 401 k and retirement. there were thousands of murders in new york city. a lot of them were kids, a lot

of them were shot dead. i never heard any outcry. i never heard -- we have to remove guns from criminals. not a word. i am not advocating violence, i want to say, but i think they are getting a little nervous that the american people one day are going to wake up and realize what was done to them. how our economy was devastated by these economic moves. host: joe, thank you for the call. this editorial from "the new york post," "practical visionary, margin -- margaret thatcher -- margaret thatcher." cnn is reporting this morning that funeral services will take place next week on april 17 in london. meanwhile there is a new way to follow "the washington journal." check it out at c-span.org

/journal. it is easier to follow our programming, live and archived. you can search the guests and topics on the website. much easier, follow us on twitter or facebook. check it out, c-span.org /journal. next up, greg, south carolina, good morning. caller: good morning to you, sir. i would like to talk about the gun problems that we have got here in this country. it is not so much that the gun is the problem, it is a certain percentage of the people that we have here in our society that need to be dealt with. somethingevery time happens, they are using these problems, trying to get away from what is really important. and what needs to be done in this country, such as the

economy, ok? let's get back to the important issues. it is not that the kids being killed is not important. the amendments for years and they have worked fine. let's not get away from the issues that are important. let's deal with what we need to be dealing with. host: thank you for the call. again, a lot going on this we, which is why we are opening of phone lines to a number of different topic, looking ahead to the budget debate and immigration. at the bottom of the hour we will take you live to the u.s. naval academy, focusing on life inside the academy and the role of the navy now and in the future. john has this point on another topic, immigration on our twitter page --

host: this from "roll-call," on the nuclear option, you can read it at rollcall.com. democrats appear to be setting the stage for a major battle over the president's judicial nomination, a fight the threatens to reignite partisan emotions over filibuster and the nuclear option. facing what were called unwarranted delays, they looted last week to the possibility that they would move to prevent republicans from blocking judicial nominations. bubbledes have yet to this to the surface on the senate floor, but that may be coming. chuck schumer of new york, saying last month that an emerging strategy was to filibuster more republicans this

year. this story from " near times," on sunday, talking about the delay of judicial nominees by obama. compared to 30a days for george w. bush. -- 100 days for obama compared to 30 days for george w. bush. what is on your mind? caller how it is funny that you would mention federal judges not being employed. i recently did 18 months as a federal grand juror. it is just amazing how slow things run because of the lack of judges. but that was not my point. for people who think that guns are either for criminals or or whomever the stereotypical gun violators are, let me tell you something haoma

you are wrong. -- something, you are wrong. our police are totally outnumbered. it was such an eye opening experience to sit as a grand juror. we need to break our representatives with a or f. background checks, they get an a, if they vote against it, they get an f. it is more widespread than i ever dreamed. common sense would do so much to help some many of these problems. the human and physical toll is just unbelievable. i never would have believed it if i had not seen it firsthand. wake up. one other comment on a personal

note, i find it so easy for a white male to call in and invoke the u.s. constitution, which was the void of women voting and, of course, slavery. times have changed. our constitution changed. we need to change. we need background checks. thanks, everyone, have a good day. host: a couple of comments on the topics we're focusing on. john, twitter page, north carolina. host: from "the washington post," this morning, you may have missed it yesterday, the senate quietly confirmed the president's choice to head up the securities and exchange commission, mary jo white. she could be behind her desk in the agency as early as today. she was approved by unanimous consent, receiving strong bipartisan support. an official vote count was not

necessary, it happened today. spent the last 10 years in new york, but before that was a former federal prosecutor. journal,"- "national focusing on the gun debate and gays in this country. gay marriage is getting political traction and the gun debate is not -- "why gay marriage is getting political traction and the gun debate is not." ise diverging trajectory bewildering. there are no bandwagons for gun safety laws, no senators rushing to the cause on a daily basis, only a slog against long odds. support for same-sex marriage, one of the conclusions is that it is a generational thing, with younger generations supporting gay marriage, but there is no

support at any age for gun legislation." bill, new hampshire, independent line, good morning. caller: first off, i would like to say that i do not know where they come up with 90% of people on gun-control, that is definitely wrong. believe in background checks but if i wanted rifle for my son a his birthday, i should not have to get a background check on my son, because i know him. what happened in new town is a disaster. but if they look at the facts, the kid's mother, you know, she trained him, ignoring that he

had problems. you know, that was disastrous. she should not have done that. she should have gone to get help for her son. he was deranged. the assault weapons, what they are calling assault weapons, is not true. it military assault weapons, well military weapons are fully automatic. according to the assault weapon tong, they would go back 22's, which have been around for hundreds of years. host: thank you for the call. we appreciate it. a lot of focus on the bush presidential library. there is a story this morning inside "usa today." a news story on funding

presidential libraries, members of congress, including john duncan, putting forth legislation that would require future presidential foundations and libraries to disclose all the names of any donor that gives more than $200 on a quarterly basis. president bush will be dedicating his library museum later this month. all the former president's through to his father and the current president will be on hand expected in dallas. john, arlington, virginia. caller: it is interesting, with maggie thatcher's death, a lot of the old crowd who criticized her social reform in britain came out. more interesting is what happened afterward. new labor came to power with a bigger majority than she got