monday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span and c-span 3. also on c-span radio and c- span.org. followed by some the debate from the u.s. senate session as the shuts down continues. the discussion with two former members of congress who served on the 1995 government shutdown. >> as we move beyond the debt assuming issue and budget debate we want to focus on foreign policy. a senior writer for foreign .olicy egypt --to ask you by

about egypt. we saw a democratically elected president overturn in july. he has been held at an undisclosed location. we heard he will be put on trial in november. given the fact this was almost any other country in the world we would have cut off all of our aid, what are you opposed to what the president decided to do? i know you expressed concerns. can you tell us why. >> you have to look about the total picture. egypt has been a strategically important country to the united states for 30 or 40 years. a lot of the fulcrum of the policy stance with having a good relationship military to military with egypt's military and our military. i think that when a government or a country with which you are allied does something that you do not like, i think there are different ways of reacting than simply saying we're going to punish you or cut this off or that off. we have very close military to military ties. let's use it.

i think you have to look at the biggest picture. when mr. morsi was in power with the muslim brotherhood, we had no assurances that the alliance between our two countries would continue. we had no assurances that the peace treaty with israel would continue. we had some assurances but it was lukewarm and half-baked. we saw lots of tunnels for instance going from egypt into gaza to the hamas terrorist carry out. that was not done under the previous administration. i think you have to temper it. i think it was a mistake. i think it should not have been

done. i look at things in a family. there were times it you have disagreements with your spouse or your children or parents or what ever. you try to look at the big picture. you do not adjust/break ties. i know we did not break ties but i think particularly with egypt, we had to be very careful. we have to get it right in egypt. i would prefer to engage the military rather than punch them, which i think makes it harder to engage them. >> do you think the military is really responding to any of our jesters, -- gestures? they seem to be operating without much u.s. influence. what leverage do we have? >> i mentioned the tunnels from egypt to gaza have closed about 57 or 58 of them.

there are all kinds of things behind the scenes where they are cooperating with us. they are doing some things i dislike. i think we need to keep pushing them. my point is where can you have more influence on them? can you have more influence if you are working closely with them and you have access behind the scenes, trying to nudge them in a certain direction or you have more influence if you say we do not like what we're doing you are doing and we are not going to send you all the things we told you you're going to send you? i think it is the former purity you stay engaged. you try to gently nudge them. i want to see a civilian return rule in egypt. the bottom line for me is this. we have two choices in egypt. the egyptian people have two choices. we don't. there are two choices.

it is the muslim brotherhood or it is the military. we are not going to have a western-style democracy anytime soon in egypt. given those two choices and given how mr. morsi and the muslim brotherhood ran egypt, it is much more important and better to engage of the military than with the muslim brotherhood. >> the white house has been reluctant to say a coup took place. what happened? was it a coup? >> you could say it was a cu or you could give excuses and say he tried to derail egyptian democracy. >> what would you call it? >> i think it is a semantical question. i think what the administration is trying to do is trying to walk the middle path. they didn't want to call it a coup and they do not want to condone it.

i think what they did this week was to go down the middle path. i just disagree with what a middle path is. i think it is better to keep egypt engage. if you call it a coup and you cut off aid, that is cutting off your nose and despite your face. i think it will come off to fight us in the end. you cannot do these things in a vacuum. you have to look at how it affects what you attempt to do, what you want to do, what the greater policy should be. that is why i am against anything precipitous. >> as you know, for a long time we were charged with having backed a military autocrat. part of the narrative was that they were replaced by a democracy no matter how murky and how muddled. israel is more comfortable with

the military government. do you think we should be too? >> i do. i think we need to, right now the military took over. we need to nudge them and push them to civilian and control as soon as possible. i think right now it is what it is. we spend billions of dollars every year in aid to egypt. now is the time to use the ties. we do it with what is practical. we do it with the rainy day. will they do things we do not like? sure.

i go to the premise that you are better off in the same room with them talking with them, being their ally. you can have more influence over what you do than saying we're going to turn our backs. we turn our back. we had both sides with us. if i have to choose from an american perspective dealing with the egyptian military with whom we have had ties for many years or the muslim brotherhood, i will take the military. i think that is what american policy should be. not to condone some of the excesses. it is helping to change it. you're better off doing it from inside the room then from outside. >> you said there was a dichotomy. if there was a restoration of civilian rule or a vote, is there a possibility the muslim brotherhood or a group similar would win again?

if that happens, what do we do then? >> i think they would not win again. there are a lot of egyptians who voted for the muslim brotherhood who expected a different type of rule went the muslim brotherhood took over. i think they sell that when morsi took over he was a dictator. he was autocratic. he was squelching democracy into of enhancing democracy. i think there are a lot of egyptian voters who would not vote that way. let's remember that the uprising started the arab spring started with all good intentions. it is a lot of by groups who do not believe in democracy or in the values that the initial people who revolted believe in. we have seen it actually in syria as well.

it started out as people who are just fed up with the autocracy of the government in syria, assad and his people, the free syrian army. we really wanted to bring democracy to that country. now you have had it co-opted by all these jihadist groups. we saw that with the 1979 iranian revolution. the people rose up against the shaw who they thought was autocratic. i do not think they thought they were going to get a theocracy. i am confident the egyptian people would not vote for the same kind of government. they saw what the muslim brotherhood did. it was not good for egypt. >> the israelis have signaled their discomfort with the obama administration's decision on egypt. they also are nervous about the recent charm offensive the new

iranian president has conducted with the u.s. and when the president bag down on his intention to strike in syria, that reverberated. is the administration hurting its credibility with the israelis? does that heighten the chance the israelis might do something on their own when it comes to iran? >> the relationship is strong as it has always been and will remain. regardless of who the president are or the prime minister, members of congress come and go, the u.s./israel relationship has a bedrock of u.s. foreign policy for many years. the information that the united states and israel shares is almost like no other relationship in the world. i do not think there is a problem with the relationship at all.

there are differences opinions. on things that are important, i think israel and the united states are marching as one. i think both of our country see the iranian nuclear threats. i think there were similar feelings in syria. israel has been the recipient of u.s. aid. the iron dome system preventing missiles from killing civilians. president obama is a champion of that. it has been focused on diff. from time to time there were disagreements. i go back to the family and analogy. you understand from time to time you may disagree. your goals and aims are the same. i think that history with the united states and israel. >> if the thread dissipates with

iran, would you support lifting economic sanctions? >> yes. the devil is in the details. it is not as simple as lifting economic sanctions if the irani and talk with us. first of all, we do not have a lot a time to stay and decide whether or not this is serious or not. they have played this game in the past. they are masters that find time and nothing happened. very quickly we have to assess is this offensive for real. there are people that say rouhani is a moderate. in my view he is no moderate. no moderates were allowed to run for president of iran. they were all thrown off the ballot by the supreme leader, a man who remained in the person who calls the shots. it is not even clear that if rouhani wanted things he has the power to do so.

i think we have to be very careful and concerned about that. again, i think we will see. we will see very quickly if they are playing us for time. there have to be some real tangible changes. >> if i could shift to another country and this happy part of the world, do you trust that bashar al-assad can be trusted to carry out the destruction of this chemical weapons stockpile? >> i do not trust assad. i do not trust them in. -- putin. how are we making a deal with both of them? we have an international monetary number. any deal that gets these weapons of mass destruction and into

national hands or they will be destroyed is a very positive development. -- where they will be destroyed is a positive development. i have long been a critic of assad. i wrote the syria accountability act. in 1979, the state department promulgated a list of countries that supported terrorism. syria was on it. 25 years later, it was the only one. i got this legislation passed. they were supporting terrorism for doing all kinds of things. we have to watch very carefully. i was a supporter of aiding the rebels. i still am a supporter.

what has happened in syria is that it has gotten murky, jihadist rushing in from all over the middle east. if we can destiny -- clandestinely or not use it, we need to make sure they do not get into the wrong hands. that makes it a problem. >> a quick follow up. you have heard from some of the syrian rebel leaders, this feeling they have been hung out to dry. is that right? have they been betrayed on some level? >> it depends on what you want to see. the president was going to have limited strikes on syria which the rebels wanted to see. the parliament in the u.k. turned it down participation. the president decided to go

before congress to give the authority. i was in the middle of that. that was a very rough going. it was very questionable whether the president would have been able to get the majority to vote for strike on syria. they would try. they were working very diligently. what we got instead was in agreement to get rid of the weapons of mass distraction. i do not think it was a sellout at all. i think we got something very tangible. i would also say it was the credible threat of american force that helped broker that deal. assad and the russians knew we were prepared to strike. i think that helped do that. that is also true in iran. iranians have to know that when president obama says that all

options are on the detail that he means it. i hope it never comes to a military option but it has to be there. otherwise the syrians are not going to bargain in good faith. >> as it stands now, it seems assad has started working with the opcw that is helping dismantle some of these chemical weapons in syria. but if at some point he stopped doing that and there are signs he is trying to game the system, do you think the president could come back to congress or is that completely moot? >> i do not think it is moot at all. i think circumstances change and the president would come back to the congress and say we chided -- tried the other way and it did not work.

if you decided at that time that he would need some authorization, i think people would give him a fair hearing. part of what the president ran into was the american people are tired of conflict. it has been a long time in iraq and afghanistan. this country is war weary and rightfully so. no one wants to see the united states dragged into another thing where we cannot control it. i think the president was right when he pointed out very clearly that this is not going to be put -- boots on the ground. this is not going to be, you know, with iraq there was a question about whether saddam hussein had weapons of mass destruction. there is no question that syria does. it is a very different situation. i think we have to be careful. the united states is still a world leader in the world power and everybody wants us to be on their side. i think we have a responsibility not only to the world but to our families. we have interests.

we have to make sure the interests are there. the president was right when he said that using gas to kill your own people is one of the worst things anybody could do. >> let me follow up. over 100,000 people killed inside syria. at least 1.5 million and probably higher refugees in jordan and turkey and libya. some have said that this is another rwanda. is it? >> yes, i think so. bill clinton has said that his major regret was not doing more to save slaughtering or wanda -- slaughtering of rwanda. i remember going on shows like this and save the world has to intervene. -- and the world has to intervene in places like rwanda. it was a terrible massacre.

there are times when the international community needs to come together. frankly, in many cases we are the only ones with the power to do it. >> was it a mistake not to get involved sooner in syria? >> i felt we should have been sending arms to the free syria army a year before we finally did it. you know, hindsight is always 2020. it is always like you cannot prove it. i believe that if we had done it perhaps it would be less jihadist fighting and the opposition would be more of the

democratic freedom fighters and the free syrian army. >> do you think realistically it is too late for there to be missile strikes, anything that would be a direct military involvement that might prevent further genocide or slaughter? >> i think as long as the syrians and russians are cooperating in terms of the gas, i do not think it is a necessity to strike. i believe ultimately the civil war in syria is going to be decided politically. i do nothing either side is going to win it militarily. another ominous thing is that hezbollah has entered into the war in syria, fighting on the side of assad. that shows you the hand of iran. hezbollah is iran's proxy.

they are a terrorist organization obviously. assad has virtually become iran's proxy in his own country. we do not want to get involved militarily. as long as they destroy these poison gases, i do not think we have to. >> i wanted to switch to another subject. the fact that the latest gridlock in washington kept the president from going to asia last week. i was curious what you are hearing from foreign leaders with concern about what is happening in washington, how it is hurting our image abroad. if we cannot lead within our own country, what that means for our leadership overseas. >> what is happening in washington is disgraceful. it is putting americans out of work. the stock market is going crazy.

i am just appalled at how cavalier some of my republican colleagues are with this thing that the debt ceiling does not really matter and playing with fire. the american people are blaming the republicans. rightfully so. they are the ones that shut down the government and are now playing with the debt ceiling. when they played with it a few years ago, we saw that our ratings were downgraded by standard & poor's. this is not something that should happen. it almost makes us a laughing stock. it is very dangerous. it ought to be stopped. we should have a clean resolution to both raising the debt ceiling and also to open the government. i think the president was absolutely right to stay in washington. some criticized him. they would've criticized him if he left washington for a foreign summit. they would have said he belongs

in washington. the secretary of state was there. secretary kerry know how to handle things. i think he handles it well. i think people understand that the president had business in washington. it was not of his doing. he does not like it. he would rather not have this crisis. i think he did what he needed to do. >> when we get there all these these issues,of does congress have an appetite to get into this issue or will it be pushed off in 2015 after the midterm election? >> i hope not. i think immigration reform is something whose time has come. it is something most people understand needs to be done. i hope that will not be a casualty. i know on the democratic side we feel strong about it. the senate passed their version. some of them signed onto nancy pelosi's version. i think it is important.

i think there are some people in the republican party, it is a small faction, who understand even they are better off politically to get this issue behind them. the most important thing is for the american people. we need to tackle immigration reform. it is the right thing to do. we should do it as quickly as possible. >> one final question. >> one area where there seems to be agreement is outrage about military families who lost someone and are not receiving death benefit. they're asking chuck hagel to resign. do you feel like someone -- some people in the pentagon should be fired? >> i do not think so. i do not think chuck hagel should be resign -- should resign. we have this crisis now. it is a self-inflicted wound. congress passed the bill. the president signed it. we're going from crisis to crisis unless the debt ceiling

is raised and people are put back to work. we have all of the self- inflicted wounds which are the result because one small party faction is controlling the republican party. i do not think it is anybody's fault except the tea party republicans are holding the entire washington establishment hostage. >> eliot engel, thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you. >> we continue the conversation with our reporters representing foreign policy and cq roll call. let me get my asking about syria. a story that was so front and

august has turned to the back of newspapers. >> it is really quite striking. it shows you the short attention span of the political elite and possibly the rest of america has on syria. this reflects too how little the american people really wanted to get involved in syria in the first place. it is something ultimately republicans and democrats have backed off of. it reinforces a lot of that apathy that there was out in the country. >> what did you learn with congressman engel? >> even he did not have much enthusiasm. he was not interested in increasing the amount of weaponry. this is a man who had called for them in the past. he is not so worried about islamist groups being at the forefront in that a man who wanted to fund money to a weaponry to searing rep were -- syrian rebels, you could hear it.

>> what is the relationship like between the u.s. and israel and specifically between the president and prime minister? >> he was putting the nicest possible gloss on that. it is an open secret that they do not get along well on a personal level. there's not a lot of trust and israel right now because of the syria deal. they have begun this privately and publicly. if syria was a red line that was so quickly erased, what happens with iran? this is a country that is exhausted and does not want to be in another war. you look at this administration say you said it was a red line. it was not. >> we began talking about egypt. did he make news? >> what he reflected is something a lot of politicians

won't to say. they really are more comfortable with the military government even though it may not be terribly democratic than they were with the muslim brotherhood. >> he was pretty candid about it. >> more candid than almost any what i have heard. that is going to continue to play out. any further aid that the obama administration wants to restart a reprogram, they have to get congressional approval. there will be an interesting debate on how we continue to sort of a recalibrate the administration -- if the administration keeps saving the administration. >> we will conclude on that note. thank you for joining us. >> of the next washington journal, stephen bell discusses the options of the treasury department for meaning of applications on the debt limit.

julie appleby looks at the number of people signed up on openedhanges since they on october 1. and the differences between the state and federally run exchanges. trent president talks about talks-- amtrak president about the ridership. washington journal life on c- span. >> tonight, part two of our conversation with josh bolten. saw with theat you press, the media. how did you view them? >> usually with hostility which is just the natural state of affairs between the white house and the press corps because that is just the nature of what the press and needs to do. they need to try to catch the white house on what ever is

going on. >> more with josh bolten tonight at 8:00 on cumin date. -- q and eight. >> the senate was in session for more debate on the government shutdown and raising the debt limit. here is a portion of the debate with democratic senator mary landrieu and tennessee republican bob corker. about one hour. >> senator from louisiana. >> thank you. i want to follow-up on the worst of my distinguished colleague from hawaii and also comment on the view points that the senator from wyoming made in this important debate that is happening in washington today and is having all over our country.

i want to associate myself with by senatorunderway collins from maine and from minnesota and arkansas and others on both sides of the aisle that have been working throughout the evening, the night, early morning hours, talking and trying to find a way forward. effort in trying to find a way forward because as a center from hawaii said this is a very -- senator from hawaii said this a very dangerous situation. there are members on the other side of the capital in the republican party not in the continuec party that to doubt that there will be any ramifications from default, i hate to say it, they are going to be sorry they uttered those words.

this is a very, very serious situation. the u.s. treasury bond is the safest investment in the world today. let me repeat. the safest investment in the world today. think about it. if you had a little bit of money, would you invest in china, saudi arabia, where you invest? the government of united states is not perfect but relatively speaking in all aspects of the world, what is that isst, most surest likely to pay their debts and that would be the united states. that has been the way for over 20 at 25 years. the republicans and the house have decided to put that on the line. that on the line because they do not like the affordable care act.

or they put all of that on the line because they do not like the way the budget process is working. they then doubled down and said not only are we going to put the full faith and credit of the united states at risk, we are going to shut the government while we do that until we get our way on a specific piece of legislation. know there are principles underlying the afford will care at that are worth debating. how big the size of government should be how much they should spend, how much local governments should spend, and who should put up those revenues ? those are important things to decide. we try to make the decisions every day. but for a group of 80 republicans and three of whom

are in my own state, sorry to say, signed a letter saying if we do not get exactly what we want on the affordable care act which by the way past the ed the congresss and is being implemented in a number states, we are going to put up will credit of the assets at risk. and the ramifications are two massive -- too massive. days, maybe i few would say a few days, we are really feeling the result of this hostage taking by a few republicans in the house of representatives. i am praying and hoping that my colleagues in the senate will live up to the great hope of the

senate which at times like this is to walk by from the ledge, reason together and find a way forward. i see my good friend from tennessee here and i think if there's anyone who could help us do that he would be one that could along with senator mccain and senator graham and others who have been there and been elected officials for a long time and understand how you can get wound up and is really up important toreally figure out. i will yield in a minute to the senator. i do want to say because my argument is not with him. when senators come to the floor and say democrats have not wanted to go along with the regular process among i want to again because i came to the floor as appropriate or and i want to say the appropriations process is to get a budget.

amazinglye democrats were able to get a budget. we have had for four years. we have a budget. the republicans got a budget. two different approaches to show how the government should be funded and what should be spent and how much money should be raised. two different approaches. it is to different parts. we have a democratic party controlling here at a republican controlling their. budgetsirst step, to that are different. we need to go to congress. have askedts here our republican colleagues that sit right across the aisle, please let us go 21 times. i'm going to put this in the record. we start on april 23. senator reid. i will not read them all. let's fast-forward to may 14. senator warner and asked for consent.

into june, june 4. senator murray asked for consent. senator rubio blocked. then july 17. senator murray asked again. senator mike lee blocked. they blocked going to budget because the tea party here in this party, the small group of republicans, said we will go to budget, but you cannot talk about a raising any revenues and budget. thel go to try to solve problem of united states but you democrats can cannot talk about raising revenue. the only thing we want to talk about is cutting, cutting, cutting. they will cut anything. head start, education, epa. i do not like ebay very much but it will cut it -- epa bury much but they will cut it. you cannot solve ends with a

one-sided equation. there has to be a balance. we have to start paying down our long-term debt. that is one thing i want to say. i do not want anyone and his government or world or my state or the nation to think democrats are not concerned about the debt. we are concerned about the debt. we do not like the debt being this high. ways.t to try to find we have reduce with a republic colleagues spending trillions of dollars in the senator from tennessee to its credit because i have not been in those negotiations and i was not a part of the group. i was not on the simpsons bowl but he is-bowles tried to, with a grand bargain. that strengthens our economy and is not pulled the road from underneath it.

not pull the rug from underneath the. because the senator from texas, senator cruz, senator leahy from utah said no, we cannot go to budget because unless you democrats agree before you get to the negotiation table we cannot raise revenue. we never went to budget. we do not go to the budget conference, then you cannot start negotiating and the individual bills. is toponsibility negotiate homeland. i am proud of my colleagues. he and i were given a number by our leadership and we have completely put our bill together with virtually no disagreement on a lower number and then we had last you. we had to cut a lot of things and i might say, we're asked by sevenepublicans to add a

-- $700 million project that i had to absorb into my project because something the republicans asked for in the president supported. i was not a big fan of it. the president and the republicans wanted it. i wanted to compromise and put in my bill without additional money. that is what we do around here. to dos what we used around here. we are not doing it much right now. for anyone to come to the floor and try to say to democrats thomas you are the ones that one to go to regular order. patty murray, the senator from washington, could not be working any harder. she is one the most respected members in this whole body and i am not just saying that. smart -- sheble,

is very humble, smart and willing to negotiate. is the senator from maryland probably one of the most popular senators that is ever served in the senate. everybody likes her. she is not difficult to work with. she is tough. 2 have got really extraordinary people trying to work through this. -- with a not so much being blocked by our side even though they have blocked 21 sides, they are being run by a group of extreme, radical hardy members on their side that have gotten the repugnant party in complete disarray. that is not good for them. party members on their site they have gotten the party in complete disarray. we have to figure a way forward. i have run out of my 10 times.

i am happy to wrap this up. -- mike 10 minutes. i'm willing to be part of the common ground to find a solution. i would not allow as long as i am on this floor and i will be for a couple hours if anybody wants to suggest that democrats have been holding up the process. women trying to get to committee for six months and negotiate -- we have been trying to get to committee for six months and negotiate. will not be held hostage nor federal employee sees -- federal employees or businesses or may years because republicans -- or mayors because republicans do not because they cannot get 100% of their way or until we default on our debt. thosenot negotiate under terms. we can under terms over the hostages are freed and we sit down like grown-ups. i am hoping we can do that.

i yield the floor and i thank the senator for his patients. >> senator from tennessee. >> i want to thank the senator from louisiana to seek a solution and i appreciate the many ways women able to work together on so many issues oh stop -- we have been able to work together on so many issues. eithert want to blame side. i have said from day one that effort that has taken place in the house regarding the health care bear was not -- bill would not lead to a conclusion. it was an overreach. theow that, you know that, country knows that. we have ended up where we are. in fairness, what has happened over the last couple of days -- the other side of the i/o -- of the aisle, we had a group of folks who had an idea and i thought it was a good start

with six republicans and the six democrats. an idea to move beyond this. we know what happens around here. the white house weighed in. leadership of the democrat side pulls back and ask the 12 votes not to have a press conference and announced what their efforts were. let me say this. i am perfectly happy with the two leaders negotiating and i want to support the leaders. at the end of the day, what has happened is we have a little bit of a pullback where house republicans overreached. no question. what has also happened is there has been a push to undo what happened with the budget control act back in 2011 when budget caps were put in place.

the president signed it. components of it. it passed the senate. it is just as much of a health care law. this also is law. and so went with had over the last few days with a little bit of a pullback. i hope it is temporary. i was a look at this moment in time and we have had a bit of a problem on both sides of the isle. i think that the opportunity over the next 24 hours or that's to be worked out. what i would do is i would i would encourage the leadership to continue on this page. it takes four days. ceiling is the debt this thursday. what i hope is going to have it is a both sides will admit, there's a little bit of an issue here on both sides.

i think there is a strong desire by the vast majority to do pragmatic,hat is a good government step. at the end of the day, look these steps of always be used when there are worries about financial situation. hopefully negotiate reform. been on theave wrong page for so long with i just admitted to, we have not been in the right a book, we have been on the right -- the wrong page. we are not only on the right page finally where we are focused on fiscal issues, debt ceiling and relative to a continuing resolution. we are on fiscal solutions. not only are we on the right page, we are in the right

paragraph. we are focusing on discussing mandatory reforms. we are on the right subject. we have the two leaders that are now talking to each other. by the way, i think the 12 that came together have helped that effort. i again, there was a bit of a pullback. i do and the white house encouraged -- i think the white house encourage there's a way to bust the sequester. i am sure that happened. the senators and the chamber, pretty sure that happened. there's been concerns by some appropriators. i understand that. and so what i hope will happen is we will end up with an agreement and the time is so short. we will not bend to do anything substantial on mandatory issues. i hope we end up with an agreement at that at lease sets the framework for us to move ahead and put this behind us as

we should. but sets the framework up to really move into dealing with the mandatory issues in such a way that they need to be dealt with. i think it is unreasonable to ask people on our side of the to have a tree and dollar debt ceiling -- to have a trillion dollar debt ceiling increase and not look at the mandatory issues that we know are driving our country into the ground the way they are. there should be some framework 60, 90 days. the house has looked at six weeks. something but said that is too short. doing something for the short term to get government up and the threat of the deck saloon behind us, doing something over the -- the threat of the debt ceiling behind us, doing -- what theer the

senator from louisiana was alluding to. the fact is we have not. a big part of it we have been on the wrong subject for a long time. finally on the right one. let's come to a place where we can now focus on the things we should have been focusing on all along. i think and i do not inc. anybody has been doing this, the less we can do -- this is a needt where we really do to resolve this issue. shotsnot a moment to take at each other. there's a moment where we all know where we stand in the past and we have been bound. it has been in the wrong direct ship. -- in the wrong direction. let's let the leaders work it out and i hope they will. say this iss settled law, the health-care

care bill, the affordable care act. i hope democrats will also say , the budgetans control act is settled law. we've agreed to some cap. ways are more intelligent to get into the caps. or probably 70 people who agree -- there are probably 70 people in the chamber who agree. we could do discretionary cuts as still and up at the same level of spending that is in the bill and will be more intelligent for the nation and make our nation a much stronger. there's a lot of desire to talk about those kind of things, done in the right way. they are not the same. , whoenator from alabama just came in the chamber, made a note of that. they're all kinds of mandatory

changes and they are not equal. we need to look at them. we need to honor the trust will stop i think we finally have gotten to a pretty good place. i really do. sides are a little bit at fault. people might discern a of more than another. it is time for all of us to focus on the right page, paragraph to get this done. as long as people -- which gets a bigger win, a political win. lasttle bit of that of the 24 hours will dissipate. some think that is good for our nation. that is what we all came here to do.

i think it is going to happen. i will say i have been a little bit concerned because the last 24 hours that has not been what these conversations have been about. hopefully, we will get back to the page we're on 36 hours ago. and really focus on doing something that is a bipartisan and will stand the time -- test of time to go to the house and such waiver that has a tremendous amount of support. side triesething one to peel off and we end up and that is not going to stand the test of time. that would not take us to a place to solve this problem in time to get the kind of wings that the senator from we cannot mention a might happen. >> senator from louisiana.

>> let me respond. thank you. i will have to take the chair and relieve you. and thank you for your consideration. let me say how much again i respect the senator from tennessee. nobody on his side except perhaps the senator from alabama and more time on budget issues. that is the senator from alabama to job. the senator from tennessee has taken it to be a leader. we are on the right page, the right chapter in the right book to talk about the fiscal issues. i do not agree that the strategy was the right strategy. we are here, no sense in pointing fingers. needs toe the senate try to find our way forward because the senator from tennessee is correct. where we are, there are no winners and losers. it's about doing what is right. i want to do it for this state

of louisiana and he was doing for the state of tennessee. we have lots of people that are counting on us to find a way forward. secondly, i agree with him that whenever what ever we, with has to be broadly supported on both sides or at least core support on both sides because it is going to have to be something with the brand to the house and say this the best we can do and we cannot go over this cliff. thirdly, i want to make a point. on the budget troll at that is law. -- budget control act that is law. the affordable care act has been passed but is not settled law. it is several. it passed. the budget control act as well. this the point i would like to make.

the house is willing to take the sequester which is the lower number, the lowest number. what they do which is very disingenuous and what the democrats will not it's taking a basically the lower number overall but keeping defense at a very high number and therefore cutting the heck out of everybody else. ,o agriculture money, education no nothing. they wanted to keep defense. that is what the house is trying to do. i realize that does not with my colleagues here want to do. that is our problem. numbert taking the lower but how that number is going to be allocated across appropriations. that is how the defense appropriations bill was put together. it absorbed all of the money and leave all the budgets starving. i know that this is important. i am a democrat that supports

strong defense. number and a lower say we will take the lower number but given all to defense and then you cannot find anything in health and education and social services that are so important. that is not right either. one more point. one more point is this. the senator from tennessee has been very brave because there are not that many brave people around. need toaid, we may raise revenues here and there and we cannot solve all the problems by cutting. in the last deal we did, we were able to figure out how to raise the revenue and also make cuts so with that have a good way of bouncing our budget and not pull the rug out from this promising economy. louisiana.ment and

i am not by states that does not have jobs. we have so many that we need people to fill them. it breaks my heart we about to pull the rug. we are close. i know how much my people are counting on is getting get done. i want to thank you senator. i hope he stands up for the other voices that say we can solve this problem by cutting, cutting. and just cut mandatory programs and cut entitlements and that is all we have to worry about. he knows that is not correct. i yield the floor. >> i want to take 30 seconds and say for the record, i do not think thedy that i strategy undertaken was the right strategy. if i was misunderstood, i've been really clear eyed and not think -- i've been really clear that i think it is not taken us to the place. let's stay there.

and senate house will gavel back in on monday. that was scheduled to be working back in their districts. since there is no agreement on funding the government and with the deadline on the debt ceiling , they will be in session. the house returns and new eastern. the first votes are expected after 6:30 p.m. and the senate at 2:00 eastern and it would take up to judicial nominations. span. live coverage on c- c- can watch online at span.org. upload from your mobile device. see what others are