resources, and things like that. i want to get your thoughts and the last 20 seconds. guest: there is a lot on what the federal government is making. at the lower levels low- high skilled workers in make more. do we ask contractors to make ?he same sacrifice tax > >> qe1 to take you live to the holocaust memorial where they are marking two decades honoring the memory of the holocaust and honoring leaders to a tribute to the holocaust survivors in washington, d.c.

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>> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome today's honored , and the director of the holocaust museum. tom bernstein, a chair of the holocaust museum. foranddaughter of holocaust survivors. veteran scottie. chairman of the united states holocaust memorial museum. [applause] clinton, ant bill

founder of the clinton foundation and 42nd president of the united states. please rise for the army flags. ♪ infantry division

airborne division. the fourth infantry division and. the eighth infantry division and 14th armored division. 26th infantry division and 12th armored division, when a

. and29th infantry division 11th armored division. the 30th infantry division and 10th armored division. the 36th infantry division and ninth armored division. the 42nd infantry division and eighth armored division.

the 45th infantry division and sixth armored division. the 63rd infantry division and fourth armored division. the 65th infantry division and third armored division. the 69th infantry division and 104th infantry division.

the 71st infantry division and 103rd infantry division. division andntry 19 ninth infantry division. -- and 99th infantry division. the 83rd infantry division and 95th infantry division. the 84th infantry division and 19th infantry division.

the 86 infantry division and 89th infantry division. cost >> please remain standing for

the presentation of the national colors. ♪

♪ >> antonio 1 now leave as in singing the me national anthem. you seey can by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming who is a broad stripes and bright stars

through the perilous fight ore the ramparts we watch streamingallantly and the rockets' red glare the bombs bursting in air --e peru through the night gave proof through the night that our flag was still there spangledes that star banner yet wave ore the land of the free and the home of t he brave ♪

♪ ♪

>> please be seated. please welcome tom bernstein, chairman of the united states holocaust memorial museum. >> good morning and thank you so much for joining us. i have seen these flags many times. the never fail to move me. on this day at this moment in time they are particularly meaningful. they remind is what the museum stands for and what many of you know firsthand, the fragility of freedom and the courage and

sacrifice in necessary to preserve it. flags also remind us that we are at a turning point. our best teachers are here today. we know they're not here forever. fortunately, at this museum is here forever. [applause] i am so pleased to announce that 130 world war ii veterans with us. we will pay special tribute to

them later. now i want to recognize a few other extraordinary gas. as some of you know, last night wieselented the eli award. not here today but with us in. of a marked an sharp who left her children and went to europe as representative of the american unitarian association to establish networks to help jews trying to flee. they secured safe passage for hundreds. next -- [applause]

next we have a young man in polenta made a possible for several jewish women to hide in a small village, even consuming their identity from his own parents. concealing their identity from his own parents. finally, mark, who with his father worked in southern france not only providing false identification cards, food, and money that helping hundreds of ewsut helping hundreds of escape. escape.

remarkable individuals and all the other 24,000 rescuers will forever be an inspiration to all of us. having all of these eyewitnesses reminds us of the many more who are not here today. please stand for a moment of silence in their memory. thank you. be seated, please. havee also delighted to with us today many institutional partners from all over the u.s. and europe including three senior officials who will be

part of a presentation later this morning on holocaust education in their countries. the german defense minister. polish minister of culture and national heritage. and french ambassador at large s r human-rights, francoi zimerlay. to recognizesure three individuals who were here 20 years ago at our opening, bloomfield.ah

founding chairman and our guy hink -- our guiding spirit, e wiesel and our guest president, bill clinton. we will hear from them shortly. into this crowd, i feel inspired and hopeful. i am inspired by the many young faces. some are descendants of survivors or veterans. many are not. they are here not because of a family connection but because they recognize the importance of future and for the their role in it. the museum's model is "what you

what you do " matters." we know from the holocaust that it is the actions of young people who are the change agents in any society that will shape the future. some of my most powerful memories are breaking my three teenage children through the museum and being part of that transformative experience with them. kids, like technology. did they realize technological progress much never be confused with moral progress. here they confront profound truths about human nature from .he awful to inspirational here they are prepared along with millions of other young people for their moral responsibilities in an increasingly uncertain future.

ouruide the future of museum, i am pleased to introduce my dear friends .irector sarah bloomfield for being here, especially president clinton. we welcome you back. as we mark this milestone and celebrate the in during continuity of our cause, we are joined again by our divisional -- visionary leader elie wiesel who is with us on the dedication to decades ago. i'll never forget what he said. standing before thousands, he not and the museum is answer.

it is a question. with those words, he told the world that the purpose of the museum is not only to reveal the past but to serve as a constant provocation for the future. ever since, at this place has challenged leaders and citizens, students and teachers from here and everywhere to look inside themselves, to look beyond themselves and to wrestle with some of the most essential issues of human behavior in modern society. to that overwhelming question, does memory have the power to change the world 20 years on? our answer is a resounding "yes." demand a neworld questions. what will our museum be in the 21st century? how will the holocaust speak

across generations? how powerfully will that voice be heard? we believe it history must shape the history yet to be lived. theust never cease to ask hardest question of all, "how was the holocaust allowed to happen?" there are many answers. a shameful event took place 70 years ago at the height of the holocaust when representatives of the american and british government met in bermuda to find a solution to the growing refugee problem. of aprilda conference 1943 was not the result of outrage against evil or determination to do good or deep concern deepjews. -- for jews.

it was a show that yields and nothing but an optimistic press release and a dreary bureaucratic report released a month later. an american official wrote to the secretary of state "the bermuda conference was an effective. we knew it would be." one headline read "scant hope seen for victims >" ." for those victims a death sentence had been written. thehe same time, far from bright sunshine of that empty spectacle, some of the victims were desperately trying against all odds. the day it opened was the very

day the uprising flared across the warsaw ghetto. he jews kept the germans at bay for over a month. the allies received news that the above jews has sent a radio message to the west. it ended with two simple words, "save us." that is why this museum sits in the most powerful city in the world. that is why it sits just blocks from the white house and the state department, from the very institutions that failed to save them. this may stem reaches the sense in all 50 states whose assistance -- this is why it reaches citizens in all 50

states. the holocaust is a story of power. the figure of power held by the allies. the unwillingness of too many people everywhere to speak to take a stand, it to use their own power as individuals. the abuse of power is just one of the great questions that elie and our other founders envisioned. the museum makes sure that the millions we reach each year will not only look back at the holocaust and ask "what would i aheadone?" bill will look and askrs unimaginable themselves "what will i do?" we welcome to young women who answered that with impressive in his zeal.

-- with impressive is deal. zeal. >> it is my honor to be here today. my great-grandfather died trying to save his community during the holocaust. being deported, and he led a group of 97 people into the forests of poland hoping they might have a better chance to survive. of these 97 people with their entire lives ahead of them, generations of talent, only three survived. one was my grandfather. when he survived, it was the american army who nursed him back to health in a displaced

persons camp in germany. isthis day the american flag the largest one in their entire neighborhoods. poland will never tell this story. it will never remember the rich and vibrant lives of these individuals. in our country, we built a place of memory. we built in not just for them up for ourselves, for the sake of humanity. when i walked into the holocaust memorial is usmuseum and i look at the thousands of photographs we have any million pages of of ofes and testimony artifacts thearcti

rescue, i hear the voice of my family speaking to me as if they are right there next to me. i hear the voices of all of the other families who did not make it saying "you must bear witness and tell our stories." i feel a deep sense of commitment and obligation to carry these into the future. on behalf of those who were not here with us to do it themselves. to the survivors who are here today, i promise you this, your lives will always be remembered and honored by us. you or theer forget beautiful families from which you came. [applause]

the very center of democracy of freedom in the world, you have a permanent home in our museum. we will continue to make your voice is heard by future generations as we have with the 35 million visitors who have walked through our doors in the last 20 years. to the veterans who are here, i stand before you with the utmost humility and respect. specifically the granddaughter as thehwitz aq1797 number states on my grandmother's arm, i thank you for your bravery and service and

not just to this country but to an even higher moral cause, to humanity in general. to ensure these stories like my family is live on. it will take many passionate voices. mine will be one. there'll be others. the legacy is an inherited one for me, for rebekah it is a chosen one. she was actively involved in one of the museum programs for high school students and then as a high school english teacher herself she taught the holocaust to her students. today she's a member of the museum staff, bringing holocaust education to young people throughout the country and world. .lease welcome rebecca

>> i like to share a poem i wrote for this location. i am not the likely voice of a holocaust survivor. there are more likely torchbearers in the room. one might assume a black woman may not relate to this history. wrong is wrong. in justice speaks values the matter what side of the line you are on. i remember as a student we learned about the holocaust and what appeared to be one day. i was unable to walk away. i saw how little my textbook had to say. for 12 years i resolve to speak out against the evils of this

world. in speaking for one i can speak for all. i learned that the evils of this world never sleep. i am righprovide a martin luther king's dream. i committed to this history with my own students. i make sure they get more than just one day. i give them the lesson of a lifetime. this story is mine. there is no such thing as a likely voice. i must bear witness that silence can never be my choice. thank you. [applause]

>> thank you. live thei are here to lessons of resilience and compassion that we learned from holocaust survivors that are here today. not be here today if it wasn't for the bravery and sacrifice of world war ii veterans who fought so valiantly to liberate europe and a defeat fascism around the world. i invite all of you to join rebeca antony in pledging that we will carry their stories into the future. as a symbol, the museum has created this for you. did the significance of these pins is not only to embellish what these individuals have been wered, it is also about what

reached and must do for you and our future. will now bill clinton have the honor of presenting our tost 20 the anniversary pin world war two veteran scottie, a member of the 84th infantry division that liberated hanover, holland. [applause] rebecca will present elie wiesel with his pin.

[applause] >> earlier today all of our survivors, veterans, and rescuers received their pins from washington area students.

will the survivors with us in the audience please stand to be recognized? thank you. please be seated. now all of the veterans please stand. [applause]

thank you. please be seated. on behalf of all of us here today, we pledged to never forget and that we will carry your stories into the future. thankyou up hearing it -- you. wiesel, welcome elie founding chairman of the united states holocaust memorial museum.

>> president clinton, my fellow survivors, and all of you who insurers having witnessed the solidarity of people who went through the worst of human imagination we have heard voices that are appeals to help in generosity in our lives. that is the message. important. we believe it. indictment. a terrible indictment of leadership in those years. it is very hard for me to name

you inbut i must tell all sincerity that in my little town somewhere in the was betterthis name known than the names of our own heroes. why? that he was aced father figure, a carrier of noble ideals to galvanize generations for democracy. and its might to war against evil. after the war, researching history sources to realize that even roosevelt had some

shortcomings when it came to face, jews. we must say that. here we are committed to the painful truth. he was a great man. for america things in the world. but when it came to saving jewish lives he could have done it earlier. are worthy.nds he cannot not say what is in our heart. there is a certain measure of sadness. what are we learning here?

to humanedicated rights and human dignity. it is written in stone. here but donterest not enter displays of desire. museum, which is a monument to human suffering and courage to overcome suffering, to not enter this place without enter this place with out fear pure. fear of failing for such a long time to save those who are threatened by common enemies. later thesetime,

very nations and leaders did stand-up to the moral obligations to fight evil with all the weapons at our disposal. between these two temptations is what humanity is a when it tries to overcome all the disappointments in life and only claim to be best, the andest of the human spirit dedication to memories and truth. [applause] what do we say to young people? you are our witnesses. you will go beyond our lives. .ou are our hope

whatever we do now is not only for the sake of the past but also for the sake of the future. you are our future. we believe there for that witnesses are trying to say, it the best and saddest, you're the flag bearers. it is your memory that inherits hours. armey believes in yours. remember that. have not only an idea but an ideal a saving whatever the past has to offer for the future. what have we learned? --n we planted this museum

museum, weis mean up thought to will remember, only the jews? not all victims were jews but were victims. we came with all ideas of what to do with our memory, but not to separate people. it would be false if we told our story to separate people from people or religion from religion. we believe opening up of the gate of our memory we are bringing people closer and showing what an individual can do. those to save the lives, all

these christians to saved lives while risking their own, everyone of them is a hero. [applause] onceo remember it that [inaudible] they organized a group for the liberators. we brought liberators from all over the world. i spoke to them. you are now the first to have seen us. the first free men and women who have seen us. you be our witnesses. one to another.

tell me what gave you the courage to resist? what gave you the courage to become a hero? all of them answer me, we, heroes? if my neighbor was in danger, how could i not offer him a attic?n my cellar for myself, in those times it was enough to be human to become a hero. we are tryings, heroes butt to make to make the visitor a messenger. 20 years agonton

here in this place, it was raining. he was soaked. our shoes were in water. i saw them, yours and mine. i remember then that i came to speak. we had worked on my speech the entire night, literally. folder, if ever i was close to a heart attack it was then, it was soaked. i couldn't decipher the words. id i tried to remember what said it would have been a disaster. so i had to improvise a new one. that is when i turned it to

you, mr. president, and i spoke to you about yugoslavia. i had just come back from there. what we must do in the name of our memory, what we must do to help those people from becoming victims of one another. promised america will do and then you're kind tough to send me an emissary yugoslavia. that will not be forgotten by my wife or myself or my friends. at that moment, you and i became friends. french shipto me, to me is a religion. it is one of the most noble -- french it to me is a religion. it is with the less noble

without any danger. to have you here now 20 years later is more than a privilege. it is a gift. [applause] it is a gift which any open palm is a gift. "great poet said it, sometimes an open hand is a poem." it becomes a task. it becomes a mission. it is also a gift. tragic, but so filled toh grandeur that i want you

know, young people, that what ever you will do what only elevates you. it should give you a new meaning to your years. i wish she many years of true toy and of being a the calling and worthy of moment we are just living. thank you.

>> please welcome president bill clinton. >> thank you pirie i. first i would like to thank sara for her 20 pfaeffle jeras stewardship to the museum. thank you. -- for her 20 years of stewardship to the museum. thank you. i would like to say special word of thanks to the two young women who spoke. they did two things. this mes med us that has the power to inspire,

motivate -- museum has the power to inspire, motivate, and in power the next generation. they have now said everything that needs to be said. they were terrific. as give them another hand. -- let us give them another hand. i want to thank our world war ii veteran. i think it is impressive he can still fit in his uniform. [applause] to all the survivors who are here, veterans and those who helped, i thank you very much. so much for the french if you have given to hillary and me over the last 20 -- friendship you have given to

hillary any of the last 20 years. friendship was shown what happened 20 years ago. he looked at me and said that i needed to get off my rear end and do something about bosnia. sooner was better than later. [applause] thought it was interesting that the world and that the enough note, drive with in america and also within europe to stop the slaughter of in bosnia and to later to prevent a genocide inco's a vote was a drive led by jews to save the lives of

european muslims. that is very important. two profound are missions for the holocaust museum and all those who do its work and preach its message on this 20th anniversary. make sure that as direct memories fade away, that the records and pictures and the stories never die, to we will always be able to come here to remind us that no matter how smart a

people are, if you have a head with out a heart you are not human. to remind us of what happened was so we can be vigilant about stopping it from happening again. we have all of these wonderful monuments. the lincoln memorial. jefferson memorial when he said, when he thought of slavery he trembled to think if that god was just. the roosevelt memorial reminding of his personal courage in the face of adversity. the world war ii memorial, and on and on. the washington monument is a metaphor for the strength of washington in are beginning.

all give something to our country and to visitors around the world to come here, but the holocaust memorial will be our conscience. it will be here as our now, forever. [applause] there's one other thing that i think is very important. arguably, the most important scientific development in the last 20 years, since we were last year, those of us who were was theyears ago, it sequencing of the human genome in 2000. to unbelievable , andopments, saving lives

we have only scratched the surface. that, with some humility, it was the most important thing because we have had a lot of exciting things happen. telescope just identified two more planets outside of our solar system billions of miles away. it seemed to be enough like us that it could support life. out some if we found time between now and the end of the ceremony that we are not in the universal won't, i would have to revise my assessment. but these two things, the exploration of outer space and the exploration of the innermost minute part of our own physical existence have taught us lessons that reinforce the importance of what has happened here for 20 years and must

continue to happen here. about ourarned a lot bodies. we now know, for young women, the two genetic variants that put them most at risk for breast cancer, so if that is identified you can have a dramatic increase in your survival rate. at the hospital in memphis, they've found a genetic variant between children who superficially had the exact same kind of breast cancer -- i mean, brain cancer, so that the medicine that cured one, when cut in half, would save them, too. today, theus here most important finding of the human genome research is a simple one. non-age related

difference you can see in this room and across the globe, every in oneone, is contained half of 1% of our genetic makeup. same, men andhe women, black, white, brown, tall and short, european, asian. [applause] now, in that 0.5% are things i really matter. somewhere there, albert einstein got the greatest brain we have ever made. it changed the world. 0.5%, a deafthat beethoven became a great composer. somewhere in that 0.5%, great athletic achievements were

created, but everyone of us spends too much time on that 0.5%. 99.5% of ourend time thinking about what makes us different and that makes as vulnerable to the fever, the sickness that the nazis gave the germans. that anything you do to identify those who are the other is acceptable in pursuit of power. that sickness is very alive all across the world today. pick a target, as long as it's not you, and it's ok.

that's what led that beautiful pakistan a girl to get shot, just because she wanted to go to school, because they threaten a group whose power rested in no small measure on its ability to control women's lives. got's how that little girl raped and murdered in delhi. no one wanted to do anything about it. that's why a young woman in afghanistan the other day jumped off her father's house, because her arranged marriage to a man meant that he was going to force her to drop out of school when she wanted to become a doctor. they thought she would be harmed by the outside influences and she never went to school, she never had to leave the house.

taking this virus different forms, still a over the world. it's alive and well today. led people for centuries to slaughter jews, drive jews out of their homeland, it was all rooted in the idea that the only thing that matters is our differences and jews were handy target. people resent them for their industriousness, their family, their faith. there were never so many of them as there were someone else. we all like to beat up on people when we know the outcome uncertain. today, on the 20th anniversary, i ask you to recommit, to replace the direct memories of those who are still with us, thank god. to get these

stories and these lessons and i asked you to think about how the slaughter and the suffering of the holocaust reflects a human disease that takes different forms. differencest our are more important than our common humanity. it is still the major cost of hot break -- heartbreak around the world as we saw at the boston marathon, and it is still the biggest threat to our children and grandchildren reaping the full promise of an interdependent world. you know the truth. you have enshrined it here. you must continue to worked to give it to all humankind. thank you. god bless you.

[applause] >> please remain standing for the processional. ♪

[applause] >> this concludes our program.

please remain in your seats until our speakers leave the stage. [applause] >> we will have more live coverage coming up later today marking the 20th anniversary of the holocaust memorial museum.

starting at noon, a series of panels focusing on the holocaust than genocide prevention. tunneyhe speakers, lincoln. paying tribute to the 6 million jews and others systematically killed by the nazis during world war ii. live coverage on our companion network on c-span2. heritagee live at the foundation for discussion of religion and politics. we will discuss how religious liberty and political freedom or the main forces in the founding of the united states. the conflicts between religious and secular, and the way to bridge the divide between the two philosophies. all the new joint press conference with the japanese defense minister after their bilateral meeting at the pentagon today starting at 1:55

eastern right here on c-span. of 16 andd at the age helps teach her husband to be better reader and writer. during the civil war, speaking in the unionists but she is in poor health and secludes herself to a second-floor room in the white house. as we continue our series on the first lady's with your comments by phone, facebook, and when our live at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c- span, c-span3, c-span radio, and c-span.org. a discussion now on the salaries of top executive contractors from today's "washington journal." sunday, we take a look at how your money is being sent -- spent in a different sector of the government. today, milliken private sector companies to depend on federal

contracts for most, if not all of their work. we are jned now by "washington times" correspondent luke rosiak. on executive's salary? what did you find? guest: government procurements has grown fast. what you look at every component of reducing the deficit, when it comes to in house activity, there is some of the bill to italy. in the case of publicly traded companies, there is sometimes a very hefty salary for these private businessmen. we talk about reining in the work force and personnel issues

there. you cannot make unlimited salaries, but there are many people who are essentially federal employees in that their source of revenue is entirely it taxpayer funded. host: the headline of the story from the april 23rd edition executive pay starts to balloon for federal contractors. what are the kind of companies to look at in this investigation? guest: there are service providers and specifically procurements. sometimes the value-added in the procurement firms is really debatable because they're purchasing goods from other companies. we have one company who was selling the government apple computers for nearly $5,000 when anyone can go there and buy one for $2,500. it almost seems like a pass through contrasting.

they helped cut through that by being the middleman, but it's unclear what exactly the value they are adding. the money just seems a little too high. if you have a background in construction, and at the many people would say, why is it costing that much? that sold the apple computers, is that the red river company mentioned? guest: the agency had an incentive to route it through a business. host: the annual salary of the $5,053,000.loyees, the number of employees in that company, 68. guest: right. these are small companies. as no surprise to see them

making that much money, but it is a tiny firm. is many times 100 times the revenue and that is contracts. there are limits to how much the government can be billed for each of the top five executives. that is built in to the contract price. there's no limit on how much an executive can make when they're full time government contractors. the limit is to major-league traded public companies which was done in the 1990's. as it rose in the last few fordes, the threshold contractors and the limit on contractor paid got way out of whack. a lot of these are ways smaller than the publicly traded companies. host: talking with luke rosiak

from "the washington times." if you want to call in with a question or comment on this issue, the phone numbers are on your screen. i want to stay on the roles of federal contractors salary. you talked about the law allowing for the reimbursement of executive salaries and a $763,000 salary cap. there are folks calling for the lowering of the cap. guest: the senate voted to reduce it to $400,000. the house agreed we were unable to work out. -- disagreed and were unable. they are overdue for putting out a 2013 cap. it is one to be well over $800,000. host: phone lines are open for you.

give us a call in. are on your screen. i want to show you a letter that came out march 6, 2013. this is from the united states senate offices of barbara mikulski. and richard shelby, a democrat and a republican. how did these contractors justify these salaries they are making? guest: the argument here is

that they need pay high salaries in order to attract talent. they are essentially public employees and the republicans are often arguing that public employees are overpaid. there is an anti -- there is an inconsistency there. if the government can get employees that are confident the contract should be able to two big. -- able to too. the threshold is set at what employees of big publicly traded employees get. the government can turn around and bill them and pay more in profits on top of that. host: one of those contractor groups talking about this proposal that shelby and mikulski was trying to lower the salary-cap.

he is the president and ceo of that group that deals with federal contractors. he says -- he also says much of the rhetoric on contractor conversation is intentionally misleading and reflects the stark reality of today's contracting environment. we are taking your calls on this issue a federal contractor pay. veryxecutive salary is a big issue for federal contractors. the investigative reporter from "the washington times closed what looked at this in a recent edition. we go to steven from beechwood, ohio on our democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. watching this and listening to it is confirming my worst fears

about government inefficiency. it is just making me very angry. i want to know what we can do to put a stop to it. guest: the president is trying to reduce the rate at which they can reimburse for executives to two hundred thousand dollars. after the house bill moved in last year he ducked down. host: from the 700 some it is now down to -- guest: last year he was tried to give it down to 400. now he was tried to take it down -- at no one should make more than the vice president himself. that is just the top five ranking employees. he wants to expand -- he wants to expand that to all employees. that is what people are really concerned about. to a certain extent they acknowledged that the at least understand the fear that people feel when they read about going to tax payers and millions of dollars.

they are really concerned about not being able to build over $250,000 for specialized workers. they say we will not be able to attract top talent in computer science with salaries those high. host: 8 tweet that came in -- guest: i think you see the same level of inefficiencies in local contracting. we found many of the same things in the district of columbia. basically a low return ont he dollar. host: what is it pastor contract? guest: the company gets a contract by using a reference point, it could be a veteran or the location. they willg et the contract because of the preference points.

data very blatant int eh analysis work where you see pairs of companies. there was a company that got over a dozen stimulus' context. they subtracted about 90 sect -- about 90% of the work to accompany two blocks away, which was not a disabled veteran. it is companies going to companies. it is more or less fraud. it cannot be taking place but it happened pretty frequently. that is what a pass through is. it acts -- it adds an extra layer of overhead. there are several reasons why

contracts seem more expensive than they need to be. is of the reasons is there overhead at to many different stages. it is going through three or four different countries -- three or four different companies. host: let us go to iowa on our independent line. john, you are on with luke rosiak. caller: the much for taking my call. guestwondering if your could comment on the amount of money spent annually on military contractors. i think what people would be surprised to know that we have more private contractors that we do actual u.s. forces. and what kind of a grip the industrial military complex has on this center of our government? host: that acquisition is huge and growing. the dot acknowledges the

contract is out of hand. part of the reason they have contacted at some much is that they do not even have the institutional knowledge without the contractors. basically they rely on them. the contractor should be disbarred. we continue doing business with them because we would be lost without them. you see cases where even the cutting offices themselves are contractors. you have contractors overseeing contractors. it is really getting out of hand and i think the dod acknowledges that. finding out how to do with that is not so easy. obviously some of the largest contractors there. there is a tremendous amount of

profit in those companies. dod is going to take a big budget hit in the mice to trim that bad. you look at -- we're probably going to need for the thousands of people on the same day they announced as early as they also announced to give the ceos 8 $2 million raise. they're still a huge money in defense contractor. when you see the profit level the do have a navigation for the stockholm. i think it is still be viable business with less confidence. viewer writes in -- is that something you have looked into? guest: i have not. host: another story in "the washington times close " to date --

something we see a lot of? guest: clearly these contracts are having an inordinate amount of political influence. there's no doubt people are reluctant to take these guys on, even when in the stock about spending. it is not to much to ask to be consistent and say that we need to be looking at every component of the budget and make

all of these cut he and there and everyone. one proponents of that this contract in. we're seeing lawmakers willing to take on contractors. maybe your can see schism in the republican party with the libertarian-leaning republicans and the t type who are all about small government are going to take on the life of america. host: from annapolis, maryland on our democratic line. good morning. caller: i am just following along. tell me about halliburton's contacting the takes everything -- that takes care of everything from security -- how was the halliburton case with bp out?g spill in the gulf. host: something you have looked into? guest: i have not.

their newest incarnation. certainly the government is relying on contractors for services that net one time -- that has net at one time carried out by public employees. government employees are overpaid -- you're probably paying more for services and halliburton many would be put 40 ipads. they are making some areas more than any other type of government or employee. there is a level of profit that is built in. host: you talked about red river computer company. give us another example. lake shore services, only eight employees but an annual a of -- a $60 million in revenues. what did they do? guest: they really cannot do anything at all.

they turn around and give it to a company that does ncc construction. the reason the company gets all of these contracts is because they are a minority contractor. 23% of contracts have been roped off. host: built into the system? guest: the agencies have to choose which cut that they are on the set aside so in the end they can meet these goals. basically this company that is out of detroit, they're politically connected. the hired a good friend of former detroit mayor who is in jail right now. that is what these guys do. get a contract, handed off to someone else and profit. host: to many contracts, is it cheaper if the government provided some services?

guest: i think it could be but the government would have to beef up their -- they would to go on a hiring spree and that nothing that is callable right now. beo not know of that would the best thing over all. certainly we talk about a bloated public workforce we're seeing the same thing in the private-sector work people are getting very wealthy off of taxpayer funds. they are a private company but they are not really because the money is coming from taxpayers. a is entirely separate from company that is operating primarily out of the private sector. host: for federal employees

receiving a period of pay freezes. guest: exactly. host: jessicas next from arlington, virginia. -- jeff from arlington. caller: and in the federal market in the dc area. it is the most highly regulated industry in america out of the nuclear industry. there are plenty of rules and laws that apply to this. the idea that more laws are going to fix what private companies do with their resources and the profits is sort of folly. host: can use to the type of contract work that you do? caller: procurement advice and consulting. host: defense and nondefense? caller: non-defense. host: can you talk about the roles these guys have to work under? guest: that is correct and looking at executive pay and profit is one fact built into these contracts.

it is probably not the most important. one of the main reasons was to the contract's cost more than they should for whatever is being done is because of all the rules and ready people have to jump through. i think that is something hard to address. there have been some reforms streamlining the acquisition process. you should be able to adjust to the work the way you would in the private sector. that is not the case at all right now. part of the reason is because the authorities will tell you what to do it how did do it. most private firms will help you meet your end goal. do not tell them what steps you need to do because you are not letting them do what they do best. >> does your company find its of spending to comply with

regulations, rather than spending money on the work product itself? host: there's a large step he mentioned, simple compliance, make sure you understand everything as you sign for a contract. companies understand what it means to engage in business with the federal open mitt because it is such a complex step. there are so many elements to an rp. political solicitation would have 700 pages. if you are a business owner you want to see which page aside up to. there is a direct cause -- a direct cost of a distending the system and the process and how to bid for this contract. host: on twitter -- guest: some contracts are federally bid. there are a varitey of mechanisms. one of the ones we see a lot of

abuse is with the number of bidders is restricted to a certain type of contract. a lot of contractors, in spite of the theory that it publicly advertised a huge portion -- one bidder when more would be eligible. host: does your company is one bad contracts? -- one-bid contracts? caller: it is not generally open for broader competition. he mentioned the service is better known there is the element of large government- wide acquisition contracts. andcategories of contract then at reducing the open market. they go to a select number of pre-qualified companies. it is part of the problem. it is part of the inefficiency that happens when something is so-called repeated in the open market. >> thank you.

guest: i think the regulations keep smaller and nimble firms into the market. if you look at tech startups that are doing these iredibl things in silicon valley and such. you compare them to the guys that are doing business with, before the federal government, were behemoths'. companies that aren't the nimble that have reached their pledges are higher. why can the small guys get in there when the issue the under tweet -- when they show you the ability to get under there. it is not layers that are added in for the past few contracts. bid is not as players added into compensate people in the form of a creek as profits -- of the egregious profits. it is people getting paid to do a job. it keeps the smaller guys out.

host: he is an investigative reporter for "the washington times." he covered local news for -- " the washington post." this feature from last week, the ongoing series of reports you're doing. what are some of the other sources. host: the first to do with contacting and the level -- it is very easy to show pass routes that are a legal. there is a company in the u.s. park service that hooked up to a building in california. a very simple job. only a couple hundred thousand dollars. they put in a bid and the f a company -- they got the contract. how are they going to do some

small work in california? that is something. they said the key is for jobs there, they had compliance, ministry, and accounting. none of those people had anything to do with actual getting in that building and passing on the siding. required people were to do the work. they all came from recent contract. if you look at this from's history and to the sinking every time, the contracts based on the racial status and have somebody else to of the work. we see all kinds of companies doing that. the taxpayers get no return for that. agencies get to choose when their point set aside a contract. the opening goal is to be that 23%. getting cisco computer hardware, they say they are on

to reserve the contract for small business. cisco is one of the biggest anies in the country. why are you want to get a contractor from a small business to buy cisco hardware? but host: last week's store was on executive ks for contractors. what do you have planned down the road? guest: this storybook that executive pay in part because of what private companies. we do not know how much these companies are making. i only looked at a small sliver of defense for contractors. they are big publicly traded companies. those are going to close separate those are disclosed separately. they do not have a report to the agency's lack the privately held guys to. we've got 77 privately how community settings.

it is a lot because of how small is guys are. publiclys to of a traded companies. the profit that these companies are making -- they had the most profitable quarter last quarter. the even though times are supposed to be tight, these companies are making billions of dollars per year. net in the series is going to be over all profits for this massive industry of defense contracting. they are not even paying small business any revenue. host: read is up next from union, washington. good morning. caller: i am a software developer. i have been doing it for 22 years. i have heard people call washington journal and say they fought in korea, vietnam, this storm one, and iraq. i am somebody to pick somebody who works in the industry.

just five days ago i quit working on a contract for the department of defense. i will say i was in on a team of seven developers, me being the only american. an h1b visa. was the particular whips it was being revamped to security with some new features i myself can do in four months. there were seven developers late is to do it for a year and the product manager. i also worked on another project for the same contractor where i was barely in on it, listening to if you e-mail's. this was right before i quit. you can hear the same amount of fat. what do have is a general contractor chewing on the fat of the american taxpayer charging five to 10 times the amount of money contract to take. we as american people need a stronger presence in the equation. i am going to use this sector i

work in and talk to the boots the ground and ask them to give me -- how long should this take it how much it cost? compare that to what the product is sold at. we have a level of auditors that can keep this an honest. maybe products like this are completely different. projects like software development is something that small business can do. you have the auditors and then have one government representatives that it represents the aggregate of the project and mixture is on time and done right. there is no general contractors. that's my comment. host: i'm glad you mentioned i.t..

guest: i have a computer programming background. i have a sense of what things would cost. isputer programming inexpensive. you just need a guy with a laptop. time and time again you see them pay inordinate amounts to make a website. i could do it for a couple hundred thousand dollars. maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration because it is a big project. there are teams, millions of dollars allocated for i.t. procurement for tasks that one guy can do in a couple of months. it is blows my mind. the top people in other fields and they do the same thing. part of the reason i think government has very little expertise in house -- if i have got a problem with my car i

have to take it to a mechanic and trust what he says and what ever he tells me it is going to i have to trust because i did not know anything about cars. he did not have a single person in government who can provide that. they don't have a simple mechanic internally who can say "here is what you have to look at. here is a new form of bricks -- of brakes." they do not know how much it should cost. when a contractor comes along and asked if you want and iphone application that is when the cost to a million dollars. the government has access to a trivial iphone application for $1 million. to a certain extent you need a little bit of expertise in house. sofar as why these bids are high, and the previous caller mentioned, part of it is restrictions that have to do --

that tell you how to do the contact. in terms of i.t. spending dc government using outdated languages, like -- i.t. spending you see government using outdated languages. and're working in asp.net it's not a preferred language or the best in any way. the government is telling you how to do the job and you have to work around them. the other reason is like the set, a lot of companies view the government as a sucker. everyone kind of knows the lay of the land. you can kind of highball government and they are not going to aggressively barking you down. -- bargain you down. host: on twitter -- guest: contractor's point out that they do have to submit the tell paperwork. -- detailed paperwork. the government is aware of the different line items in whatever plan this government

subcontractors have. what did they have the expertise to value that is another question. if you are not an i.t. guy can be an auditor and be very good at financial accountability. if you do not have the main expertise are you want to evaluate whether when you're doing is good for naught. host: joanna's on our republican line. caller: al was wondering if your guest had any opinion or any comment on the previous caller about defense contracts. the revolving door that a lot of former government employees after their demo much time in the the government -- after their minimum time in the government, it seems the military is the same to me. it is just one big open system. i know your guest used the word "coalition be " oftentimes i get the impression it is just to boys' network there.

host: something for a feature story? guest: it is very accurate. it is a good old boys network. in terms of the previous caller mentioning the way that the small businesses can come in and undercut the big times -- the big guys, the problem is we do not have enough contacting officials. we have to do bundling rather than give five separate contracts to buy small businesses we will commit to one big guy and it is an ongoing contract. that is a barrier to small businesses. they're good at playing the bay -- the plane became but that doing it officially. -- but back at doing it efficiently. there are more people that are reviewing bids to find the best

ones and overseeing them. we have so meeting -- we have so many contractors but so few people overseeing them. to way we may deal streamline that is use of the acquisition force. host: let us go to john and from iowa on our republican line. caller: you had a lady in from the gao and she was mentioning that a lot of these programs with the h1v1 visas are 6 times to 7 times redundant. it seems to me that the government can run on one 20th of the mountain expense. since we have been printing about a third the government spends, it is printed money.

the government has gained so much power and the disturbing -- in disbursing these massive amounts of money. host: any thoughts on his comments? guest: everyone is looking for ways to trim the federal deficit. the of your mitt is one that hasn't gotten as much attention. host: market is up next from baltimore, maryland on our democratic line. caller: i have a question. thatf the comments stated saudi contractors are passing through 90 percent of the work. it is my understanding that the firm itself have to perform at 51% of the work. i was wondering if you were looking into that and how much information. host: there are rules to

prevent against pastor is. guest: they are pretty lenient for some contracts. they have to be supported by the actual contract. for most contracts, for example construction, is between 15 and 25%. i can give you any number of examples where the amount performed ws more like 10%. it is hard to prove definitively. there are certain exemptions to that. they will exclude the cost ofm aterials. the government itself does not detract of that. when i tracked down to sit positively that these contractors are violating the

law they were saying this is not their department. they referred me to someone else who referred me to the original. these rules seem to be a bureaucratic knot. nobody has an eye on this. you see differences in the amount that subcontracted outside the preference. when you set aside a contract suddenly you see may mark -- dc way more subcontracting. 75% of the work. 70% of minority contractors filled out most of the work. disabled veterans tend to do relatively better. you see less of what really looks like captive contracting. 40% of the work. you see a lot less of what looks like fraud with the programs.

compare that to one in 10, the worst 10% of small businesses only show up 6%. where minority contractors filing out 70% of the work? the government has not done enough to make some efforts. they have not taken enough action as they should. host: 1 of the callers brought up the revenant federal program show we did here on "washington journal." you can go to our c-span video library to check up that segment. our guest was the cold clovers. -- guest was nicole clovers. we have more luke rosiak, an investigative reporter for "washington times." up next from baltimore, maryland, on our independent line. caller: can you hear me? i have a follow-on, like the speaker pointed out the

government -- and it is like to point out that it seems as though we are faulting the contractor where really it is the fault of both not having enough oversight. also the contract itself may be doing something that is not appropriate. host: we will go to paul from dental virginia on our independent line. you're on with luke rosiak. caller: how're you doing? i have been in the military from 1972 to 1975 -- to 1995. we had our active-duty military to jobs in personnel departments like checking id cars and things like that.

they have a billion contractors in there, we're getting paid three or four times more money than they were. when i was at one of the other bases my wife has glasses that she took for bookkeeping, human-resources, and things like that. host: i want to get your thoughts and the last 20 seconds. guest: there is a lot on what the federal government is making. at the lower levels low-skilled level -- low-skilled government workers make less. high skilled workers make sacrifices. host: thank you so much for joining us. >> a live shot from the heritage

foundation. next, a discussion on religion and politics live chaplain black. on c-t noon, it will be span. until then, in the economic insecurity's involvement in the boston bombing investigation. -- a look at homeland security's involvement.

and again, live from the heritage foundation and we will bring in a discussion on religion and politics with chaplain reverend barry black set to start in a few minutes talking about how religious liberty and political freedom were behind the founding of the u.s. also on secular views and how to bridge the divide. this will be starting a few minutes from now live starting on c-span.

14 mesh -- law-enforcement officials continue looking at this. we are joined by a former white and fromcial director the homeland security policy institute to discuss these issues. lots of discussion on the sunday shows yesterday on whether the u.s. information systems failed. fromnt to play a clip yesterday on "face the nation." "washington journ[video clip] >> when he is back to russia, dhs does not share the information with the fbi or the cia. when he comes back in 2012, he creates a youtube channel of his

own making where he has radical extremist videos where he is andhing and interacting we're going back to the pre-9/11 fighting. host: your thoughts, talking about stovepipe. and a failure of information sharing. among the federal agencies themselves. it's early to point to far into what was and was not shared. a watchbig database, list of sorts. as to whether or not the information was fully tapped and utilized and extrapolated is the real question. i think six months traveling overseas in russia, that is where you are going to find a lot of information and a lot of

clues hopefully that can put together the entire mosaic of the investigation. host: the senator's comments about stove piping. i want to talk about this issue. here we are 11 and a half years after september 11. is there concern about stove pipes coming back in? your guy who helped build up the homeland security apparatus after the attacks. guest: there is the same prior to 9/11 we had the mantra of need to know and after 9/11 there was the mantra of need to share. the question is, are we sharing the right information. databases themselves are relatively classified or highly classified. so, not sure precisely -- we're hearing in the media the russians provided information and i think they are probably in a a position to share additional information. theyes, i think information sharing envirnt