the country and the path best calculated to produce jobs, for the next generations. thisll be gridlocked until is resolved by a majority. host: john from maryland. good morning. and i havenam vet seen a lot of changes in this country. is stople have to do blaming. there is enough blame to go around. they need to sit down and compromise. we just complicate problems. america will never be lily white again. they can forget about all of that.

everybody needs to sit down and work together. we just complicate things. thank you. from one vietnam era veteran to another. let me thank you for your comments. i agree completely about the need to sit down. --guest: a national grassroots organization of democrats, republicans, and independents dedicated to the proposition of stopping to fight each other and starting to fix the country. if you're interested in finding out more, you can go to nolabels .org. the onlyhe venue for serious bipartisan discussion

going on in washington during the entire. --the government shutdown period of the government shutdown. there are going to have to be a lot more people doing that. host: how do you see that playing out in the house-senate budget conference? in most religions, despair is a sin. therefore, i am commanded to be hopeful for the budget conference. [applause] [laughter] if the goals are defined modestly that an agreement can be achieved -- if we are still reaching for the grand bargain, i doubt very much that december 13, 2013 represents an achievable date for that grand bargain. you put together president obama's budget proposal and

chairman paul ryan's counterproposal in his wall -- withinrnal op-ed the four corners defined by those two proposals in the senate budget proposal, i think there is room for a serious discussion. mr. ryan is not going to press for some of the more fundamental changes that he had in mind in past years. i think president obama thomas obama, assed, -- witnessed, is willing to compromise. here is the problem. both the white house and senator murray have taken the position that without it -- substantial revenues, there is no compromise. and the republicans will not compromise on new revenues. the republicans are convinced that president obama got his new

revenues at the beginning of the year. they did that under duress and they will not yield any more ground. it remains to be seen whether progress can be made subject to those constraints. host: will those constraints jacksoniana party, way of getting things done and roadblocks? do know there are substantial factions in both political parties that object to the terms of a possible compromise. liberal democrats put the administration on notice that they do not regard the proposals in the president's 2014 budget submission as being negotiable. they want those off the table. republicans want taxes off the table. host: massachusetts, democrats line.

yes, i wanted to make a about the tea party and jacksonians and etc. he is so right about this country. the republicans really need to wake up and smell the coffee. this is no longer like a white america. they don't want to, with these foreigners, with black males and what happens to them in this -- and all these prisons that all these private people -- we areoney in

tired of that. we are tired of our grandchildren looking forward to a future like that. he is so right. they need to wake up am a come together, and sit down with the president and work all this out. this is a different america now. guest: all i can do is repeat what you just said. i think it is god's honest truth. this is a different america now. what are we going to do with this different america? how are we going to make it work for all of us? that is the fundamental question. i don't have all the answers. the brookings institution does not have all the answers. no political party has all the answers. it is the fundamental question. i agree with you. america has always looked forward.

nostalgia is a part of our experience, but it has never been the great driver of change in america. it is hoped rather than nostalgia -- hope rather than nostalgia. that american spirit of looking forward is alive and well. country during open immigration from 1880 to 1920. we made a new country work. 21st- build a great century america with that new country. but it is not going away. on the next "washington journal" we will be joined by representative joe barton to discuss the affordable care act and the health insurance exchanges. we will also look at the nation's intelligence gathering agencies and the use of grounds

with representative adam schiff. " washington journal" is live on c-span every day at 7:00 eastern. >> the house energy and commerce willttee in on thursday look at the implementation of the affordable care act and its health insurance exchanges. love coverage at 9:00 a.m. eastern -- live coverage at 9:00 a.m. eastern. >> , sos nasa's future goes does the health of america. they will see it written large on the paper. there will be calls to engineers .

we are going to dig through the soils of mars and look for ice. look at the nasa portfolio today. it has biology, chemistry, physics. aerospace engineers, mechanical engineers. all of this stem fields. a healthy nasa pumps that. a healthy nasa is a flywheel that society caps on ovations. -- innovations. tv, every weekend on c- span two. economic form on issues affecting women. maryland congresswoman donna edwards held a forum on women's economic agenda in her district at the first baptist church today in maryland. house democratic leader nancy pelosi and maryland senator

barbara mikulski. >> i am really delighted to see this packed house. some of the most fabulous woman that you find anywhere. so thank you very much for joining us today. i have the privilege of representing this congressional district and representing a state that the center for american progress has said is the number one state for women in the country. [applause] now, of course, we take great pride in that but we still know we have a lot of work to do.

i'm really honored to be here today with our senior senator, our mentor, our friend, our senator barbara mikulski. and most delighted to welcome somebody who is not a stranger either to prince george's county or to maryland or to the fourth district, our democratic leader, nancy pelosi. [applause] i want to take a special moment to thank even in his absence pastor john jenkins sr. and the community here -- i almost said my church, at first baptist church of glen arden. and the shabat consistian academy. we did a tour of the academy and saw some of the amazing

learning that is going on at the earliest age here at the academy. and so it's our delight to be able to be here and to share that with first baptist of glen arden. and to know that you're such a truly great partner in our community on a whole range of things. at this church you don't view just what you do inside the walls, but you say that your service is outside the walls of the church and it really shows in the academy and the faces and the energy of those young people. i also want to acknowledge, and i see them, so many of our elected officials from the region, and i want to take a minute to acknowledge them and to know that we're just really delighted that you also could join us because whether you're mayors or you're in our county, representing our county, or you're statewide, you understand the importance of the work that we're engaged in together. so i want to recognize our

states attorney, angela alsobrooks. [applause] i probably should have said first my good friend, dear friend, carmen walker brown, who is representing lieutenant governor anthony brown here today. welcome, carmen. [applause] delegate aisha brayfoy who represents a district in the maryland house of delegates and is the chair of the legislative black caucus. [applause] the clerk of the circuit court here. thank you, marlin, for joining us. [applause] let's see. and we have -- i keep -- i'm going down the list but i should just actually look at you. delegate araianna kelly. thank you for joining us. delegate aruna miller. also from montgomery county.

my friend, sister and soulmate and childhood friend, valerie irvin, a member of the montgomery county council. mayor of a tremendous city, a lot of energy, of forest heights here in maryland, jacklin goodall. and i don't think that i've missed anyone. because i'm looking around. but thank you all very much for joining us. you know, when leader pelosi got together with the democratic women's working group, i chaired the democratic women's working group, and that is the women members of the house of representatives and we talked with each other and among us and also with a lot of our allies out in the community and running grassroots organizations, about what was needed in this next step, to really fulfill its true economic agenda for women.

and we decided, and we knew that if we could formulate that agenda, we know that when women succeed, america succeeds. and at the core of that success there's things that many of us have worked on and different pieces over the years, but we wanted to put them together. and so visiting these 4-year-olds and 3-year-olds here today and seeing their energy reminded all of us of the importance of investing in early learning, investing in quality, affordble and accessible child care. there's probably not one of us in this room who doesn't have an experience that we can recount about child care. my own, you know, personally, when my son was -- he's now 25, but sometimes when you recount these stories it feels like yesterday. yesterday of paying late fees when you show up late because you're rushing through rush hour traffic, to pick up your child. and seeing the look on his face, but also the people who

work at the child care facility. having maybe even made a bad choice like i did once about child care, because it was all that i could afford and it turned out that it was a place that really wasn't safe for him. he ended up with meningitis and i almost lost him. and so all of us struggle in different ways around this issue and so we want an agenda that says that if we invest in early learning and we invest in quality, affordable, accessible child care, that it expands opportunities for women, opportunities for them to succeed in business, in their professions, to succeed at home. we also know that it's important for us to have equal pay for equal work. [applause] now, leader pelosi and i know that in the house of representatives that we get paid the same as our male counterparts. but we also know that our sisters and friends and women around the country don't have that same experience.

and the importance -- can you imagine what a family loses when they lose 25% of their income because one family member is not paid equal to their counterparts at work? and then of course a significant part of this agenda is that when we struggle as care givers, whether it's caring for ourselves or for our family members, for our children, and we may need to take a day off, if we're not paid for that day off, can you imagine the decision that you have to make? i know i had to make it as a young mother, to just either go to work sick or take my kid to work with me sick, curl him up in a corner, i've done this before, of a room, while i have a meeting, because i can't afford to take off and i couldn't afford to stay home with him. and these are the struggles that mothers face, families face all across this country. so i'm glad that you've been able to join us today because we know that if we make an investment in this agenda and

that's an investment that's going to require the grassroots support of leaders like yourselves all through all of our communities so we can make it a reality for women and families. so i want to thank you again for being here because this is about improving the lives of women and families and the health of our nation's economy. because when you do invest in women in this kind of way, then we invest in the economic success and health of our country. and so, i'd like to have you join me in welcoming some folks who are representatives frankly of a lot of stories that can be told really throughout our communities. and i want to welcome to the microphone a good friend of ours and a real leader, who is in montgomery county. she's originally from egypt. but she's been a resident of

montgomery county for over 40 years. she owns and operates three child care centers. and what an amazing progressive woman. she provides paid sick leave for her employees and i'd like to -- to you welcome her. [applause] so that she can tell us why and what it means. mimi. >> good morning. oh, yes, ok. [laughter] yeah. that's better. hey, listen. oh, thank you very much, donna. thank you for. i'm all about empowered woman. so let's get all empowered. get our wings and fly. yes. my name is mimi and i do own three child care and i have a story to share with you. it is an investment. you are absolutely right.

and affordable child care could happen. ok? i have in my child care, i offer my staff sick paid leave. the reason i do that is because instead, if that teacher who comes to my child care, and she is sick, she's going to get the kids sick. so it's going to cost me money. if you think about business, it's going to cost me more money if i don't give her the sick day leave. so i offer sick day leave for all my staff. also what really breaks my heart, and i have seen it on a daily basis, ok, we have a policy. a child has to be free 24 hours of fever. it breaks my heart when i see children coming into the school in the morning and coming and telling me, ms. mimi, can you please take care of me because my mom have to go to work? and i'm sick. you know what this parent does?

they get their child tylenol, four hours, just four hours so they can go to work, report that they have gone to work, and then they get a call from me, hi, your child is sick, you need to come and pick him up. well, what happened at this time? the child is contagious. so the germs spread. so the diseases infect. you hear about child care or school sometimes, they close. why? because the child is sick. and they go to school -- they go to school. so i'm here all to tell you, it could be done. i'm in business to make money and nobody gets in business to lose money, right? so, even though i am paying sick day leave, i'm still making money. so it could be done. it could happen. so i wish that we can work out together, also when it comes to subsidized money. i have parents who cannot afford to pay the co-pay, ok, because they cannot match.

so what i do is i offer them a scholarship. well, maybe i'm an exception, ok? maybe i just have a good heart. but how can i have -- how can i get my message to every child care business, to all the state governments, to everybody who is involved in this, to help this industry, to help those parents? we have all women that work and remember, we're going -- [inaudible] i am here to tell you, please help us. everybody, it is an investment and you need to invest money to get the result. thank you very much. i look forward to seeing you. [applause] >> thank you. i don't need the stool so i'm going to stand back a little bit. [laughter] senator, i heard that. [laughter] i want to take a moment to introduce our next guest.

maureen evans arthur graduated in may from the university of maryland in baltimore county. was a b.a. in gender and women's study and political science. she was a first generation college student who went back to school after being a stay-at-home mom for two years. when she was looking to go back to school, she had to engage in some important financial considerations. pay the tuition or pay the daycare? and so i'd like to welcome to the stage maureen evans arthur. [applause] >> good morning, everybody. >> good morning. >> so, yes, as congresswoman edwards said, my name is maureen evans arthers and in may i began the first person in my family to

attend college. [applause] thank you. but it wasn't necessarily easy and it almost didn't happen. because of the extremely high cost of child care. so today i stand before you not only as a mcnair research fellow, but also as a mother of a 7-year-old boy named noah. and i was a stay-at-home mom and i loved it. when i decided it was time to go back to school, i did the normal things, supplied recommendation letters, and essentially just kind of went through that same process that we all remember. but then i had to look at child care and so i went to not one and not two but to eight daycare providers where i lived in howard county and the average cost was $1,100 per month. and with the math, that ends up being over $13,000 a year. and so i was really torn. my husband and i. i felt lucky that we only had one child when tons of my friends had multiples. and i was also lucky that he was 24 months old and he was considered a toddler and not an

infant because infant care, as many of you might know, is $300 to $400 more expensive than the $1,100 that they quoted me. so i found myself asking, do i even go to school or do i continue to be a stay-at-home mom until he's school-aged, which for him, because he had a late october birthday, would not be until he was 6 instead of 5. so it was very difficult and we just said, you know, we can't afford child care on our own. and as a nontraditional student, i received a combination of merit-based loans so i should not have had -- i essentially got free tuition and books. so i shouldn't have graduated with any student loans whatsoever. but i ended up having to take out almost $30,000 in student loans in order to subsidize child care costs and what my husband and i could not afford. however, i also feel like i'm lucky. i've been out of school for six months and i've been starting to apply for graduate school, but in that process, my husband and i will have to factor in my

loan repayments into our already packed family budget just because affordable child care and safe child care aren't synonymous and as congresswoman edwards touched on, we originally enrolled my son in -- i guess would you call it a subpar child care agency, that was about $600 less a month, and within three weeks he had pneumonia. he was rushed to the hospital with a 105-degree feesker and -- fever and instantly i said, you know what, we have to pay the costs. it's not worth my son's life and the stress. and at that point i thought, i'm just done. i'm not going to do school, it wasn't meant to be. then my husband really pushed me to do it and we ended up taking out student loans. and i actually feel like i lucked out, with only $30,000 of student loan debt. 3/4 of which was because of child care. but i was lucky that i only had to pay it for 2 1/2 years as opposed to four years. my son was old enough to eventually attend a preschool that aligned with my school schedule.

so i was able to pick him up and go to class when he didn't have to be in child care. and so honestly, if my son had been younger and we had to pay those infant prices, i probably wouldn't have gone back to school. and so understanding the cost associated with child care actually remains one of the reasons why my husband and i will not be expanding our family. which is unfortunate. and too many smart and extremely motivated women end up having to forego and education or a leave of fulfilling a career in order to make sacrifices for their children. and so that's why i and millions of other families like mine really need the women's economic agenda to make sure that these difficult choices become a thing of the past. so, thank you so much for having me. [applause] >> thank you very much. you can see that when you hear stories like that, we just say, we have to do it, we really do have to do it differently.

and next to the stage i want to welcome danelle buckman. she's a 37-year resident of clarksford, maryland, who was fired after a pregnancy-related incident by a small employer. she was not covered by the federal family and medical leave act. a new labor department study actually shows that neither of the 40% of work force -- neither are the 40% of the u.s. work force. [applause] >> thank you. it's a true honor to be here. i live in howard county, maryland. i'm here today because in june, 2010, i almost died during child birth. no, it's not the 19th century. the truth is that danger surrounding pregnancy and child birth still exist.

thanks to expert medical care my daughter and i survived. the completely unexpected and truly dramatic time for my family -- it started when avery arrived early. in order to save my life and avery's life i had to have a c- section and a hysterectomy. a painful. of recovery. came a painful period of recovery. the added and unexpected thisnser early delivery -- but a burden on our family.

amid all this chaos and the , i lost theacing us part-time job that i loved. fmla is designed to help families in emergencies like circumstances like mine. the fmla was an historic law that took place 20 years ago and i'm thankful that many fought so hard for its passage because it meant that tens of millions of families to keep their jobs when health crises rise -- arise. but it's been two decades and like i was, a significant portion of the work force is not protected. that's why i'm so excited that the congressional leaders here today are working with others in congress a new proposal designed to support families when they're out of work for pregnancy, childbirth or to take care of ill family members. having to take that time off without pay causes huge financial strains from

families. the time i spent out of work for recovery and job searching resulted in a very rough couple years financially for my family. we were very fortunate to have family and friends support but many people are not so lucky and that's why i ultimately decided to speak up and share my story, to be a voice for women who may not have one or to hopefully inspire others to get involved. no woman or man should have to worry about his or her financial security when serious medical issues or complications arrive for themselves or a member of their family who need their care. it's long past time for leave for this country. -- paid family and medical leave for this country. thanks so much. [applause] >> thank you very much. you know, i sat here and sometimes you can skip lines but i wanted to make sure we wanted to make sure we hear from guests and sharing their stories which are repeated across this country.

while there's not been a greater fighter, not just in maryland, but all across the country for women. we get to call her our own, senator barbara mikulski was elected to the united states senate in 1986. she was the first democratic woman elected on her own right and in her own right. [applause] we had the great privilege of being able to celebrate senator mikulski as the longest serving woman elected in her own right in the united states senate. [applause] these days we like to say that she is the chair of the powerful senate appropriations committee. we like to say that in maryland.

she is a champion of women, she is the dean of the women in the senate, she's a mentor for women in the senate, a mentor for women in the house. she truly does nurture us. you can tell that senator mikulski, when i first met her, the first thing she shared with me was not all that other stuff. she shared with me that she was a social worker. i think that is so fundamental to the way that she thinks about the needs of women and families and all of our communities all across the country and that's the kind of leadership that she brings in the senate. she will tell you and i'll do it too, that when the lilly ledbetter fair pay act was signed into law, signed by newly sworn president barack obama, it was senator mikulski who led the fight in the senate, our leader who led the fight in the house. [applause] and so please join me in

welcoming our great favorite senator, senator barb. [applause] >> good morning, everybody. i'm just delighted to be here at this forum, making sure that america's children are taken care of in the best childcare program that the world can offer. and shouldn't a great country be able to do that? and you know what, for me it's just a delight to get through the last 17 days that we have been through of slamdown, shutdown politics. and to be here with this wonderful turbo team of donna edwards and speaker pelosi working with real issues that the american families have, that we can come up with real solutions.

and this is what i am so delighted -- why i am so delighted to be here. during the last several days, there's been a lot of focus on obamacare. well, obama does care, and that's what we're going to talk about here today. [applause] and then it's going to be, well, what can we afford? well, dear friends, somehow or another, we can somehow afford war. now it's time we start taking care of the needs of the american people and begin to build our country again. [applause] and i am so pleased to be the dean and honored to be the dean of the women in the united states senate. that means i am the longest serving. friends, it's not how long you serve but it's how well you serve that makes the difference. and now with 20 of us, 16 democratic women and four

republicans, we're working with real issues and we want to extend our hand and our friendship and our clout and know-how at every assignment and every committee assignment to move an agenda forward, to really help american families. now, we the women of the senate, joining with our colleagues, we work on the macroissues. yes, big budget, big foreign policy, big stuff, but you know what, we work on the macaroni and cheese issues. what we bring to the table is what's happening at the kitchen table, what are families talking about, what are they trying to sort out? the kinds of conversations these three wonderful women had, to go to school or not to go to school, the stresses on the family with danelle. she worked for me. she worked with me many years ago.

i was taller, she was shorter. [laughter] now here she is, the executive director of a hospice program and look at what she's been through. we've got to focus on the macaroni and cheese issues and that's how we'll impact the macro issues of our country. we need to focus on our families. and that's why i'm so proud with this turbo team in the house -- what the turbo team in the house has done. led by congresswoman donna edwards, the democratic congresswoman's caucus, speaker pelosi at her back encouraging her and helping her in every way possible to come up with this agenda. and we know what the agenda is because we talk with you, we've met with you, we've listened to you and we know that for the american women and american families, first of all, the most important thing in

addition to love, you need an income. you need an income that is reliable, that is predictable and means you can have a living wage and this comes to why we need to raise the minimum wage in this country. [applause] and we have to make sure that equal pay for equal work. as many of you might say, senator barb, don't we take care of that with lilly ledbetter? well, lilly ledbetter overturned a supreme court decision that had time limits on when you could bring the suits, but we are for something called paycheck fairness which means when you bring a suit you're not going to be harassed and that you have a right to know what the person standing next to you is paid. most women don't know who -- what the guys are making. and it's not that they don't want to tell you.

they'll be fired if they want to be a pal and partner with you. so we want to finish the job we began with lilly ledbetter and we want to make sure we pass paycheck fairness so we truly have equal pay for equal work and you can pursue that agenda in your workplace. that's number one. number two, we believe when you work you should also have the confidence that you're going to have health care. and this is why we supported the affordable care act. we believe in the affordable care act because all of us know as we work, as we were out there in the communities listening to you, particularly listening to the stories, like danelle and maureen and mimi, that the fact is that for just being a woman was a pre-existing condition and they looked for every excuse that they could find to take your health care away from you. and we said, hell, no.

our mammograms won't go, our health care won't go and being a woman in america will no longer be counted as a pre-existing condition. did you -- [applause] so in some states, if you had a cesarean, they dropped your insurance. in eight states, if you were a victim of domestic violence, they counted it as a pre-existing condition. so when that guy whose name -- i will not mention in the house, that's trying to huff and puff and blow it away, he says he wants to repeal it and he wants to replace it. i say we will never turn back that being a woman in the united states of america will no longer be regarded as a pre-existing condition. and if you got your health care, you get to keep it. [applause] and then there's the third

issue which is education. and education is not only k-12 which we see the wonderful academy we have here and our public schools and our great public school teachers, but education begins from hour one, from day one, from week one, and that's where we come to childcare that's available, affordable, safe and is also educational. we're not talking about warehousing our children. we're talking about taking care of our children. it's called childcare. child education. and that's why we want to really focus on expanding the opportunities to make childcare more available, more affordable, definitely safe and have quality standards where those children have the opportunity to be able to learn and to be regular school ready. that's what we're working on. and in the senate i'm taking the lead on childcare.

one of the very first things we want to do is make sure in debate we keep the childcare tax credit. we need to keep the childcare tax credit where you can take up to $3,000 a year as a tax break on -- for childcare. now, if we can give tax breaks to send jobs overseas, we can give tax breaks to american families for able to afford childcare. let's keep that childcare tax credit. [applause] and then for those women who are looking to move ahead in life, that when we look there we also want to re-authorize the community development childcare block grant. that's where i've taken the lead in the senate and forged bipartisan coalitions and we want to pick it up in the house. the childcare development block grant is the primary federal grant program to provide childcare assistance for working families.

it was last re-authorized in 1996, and in fact every major program, helping families and children was done under the clinton administration. nothing has happened since then, and now it's the barack obama generation with the new generation of women leadership to make sure we move this forward. nothing new has been done since 1996. no more. in maryland, there are 14,700 families that are served by that program. in the whole country, a million and a half children received that help. so we're putting together to refresh, to reform and to renew the childcare development block grant. that is what was on the agenda in the senate.

we've already moved it through the health education committee. i've had the support of two republicans. there are, you should know, real republicans who are compassionate conservatives. you remember that phase? and there are those -- [laughter] i find them -- seek and you shall find. [laughter] and so our agenda in the senate is to join with our sisters in the house to work in common cause with their agenda, the agenda they put together and to be able to move this forward. so we want to be sure that in if all of the debate that when all was said and done, more gets said than gets done, but now it's time to do the job. and you know when you have an easy job, you know who to give it to. when you have a tough job, give it to the women and we'll get it done. may the force be with us. [applause]

>> thank you very much, senator mikulski. that's right. when you have a tough job, give it to somebody who can get it done. you know, as you can hear, i mean, the ideas of an economic agenda for women that really envisions quality, affordable and accessible childcare, that envisions equal pay for equal work, raising the minimum wage, expanding opportunities for women, the idea of providing family and medical leave so women have the flexibility that they need to make sure that they and their families succeed. and there has been no greater champion of this economic agenda when women succeed, america skeds, than there is our leader, 25 years-plus in the house, just inducted into the women's hall of fame. say congratulations, our leader, former speaker, going to be speaker again, nancy pelosi. [applause]

>> good morning, everyone. i hasten to add, when i was inducted into the women's hall of fame last weekend, i was following in the footsteps of the longest woman in congress, senator barbara mikulski, who preceded me. i was so honored, barbara, you know how thrilling it was, that you would be joined by 19 house democratic women members and people were thrilled when the women came to the stage, all of those women joining us in seneca falls. so much has been said already about when women succeed, america succeeds, an economic agenda for women and families. i want to put it in historical perspective and talk about where we go from here. much of that has been said as well. i want to thank mimi and danelle and maureen about the testimony we need. the personal stories are the strongest.

the strongest testimonies we can have and the evidence upon which we want to base our policy. to do so with all of you here under the auspices of congresswoman donna edwards is an honor indeed and to be joined by so many women of so many official families of the region as well, thank you for honoring with us with your presence and blessing the community with your leadership and service. and to be here with senator barb, as she and i went to the same high school some years ago, and i've been following her career and then a big fan and admirer of hers and she's a champion on all of these issues and she and i and donna predicate our priorities on the experience of the american people. as has been said. i want to join others. thank reverend jenkins for inviting us here today, providing this auspices and to go to the academy was something quite remarkable, to

see the children and the attention, the quality, affordable attention that they are receiving was quite remarkable. just extraordinary. so here's the thing, at the beginning of this congress, we now had passed the affordable care act, we started to work on the implementation on it. i'm going back to last january. we said, what is it that we can do to change the environment for women so it's no longer a matter of incrementalism, doing a little bit better, it's about doing something very different to unleash the full power of women? when we first won the house in 2006 and the senate then, we were thinking about survival, because as congresswoman barb said, so much had been done for a number of years. so it's about survival. when president obama became president, it was

about success, about taking people to a higher level. then we were on the mission to have -- not only survival, success, but to be about transformation, to take people to another height, that anything, maureen, that you decided to do, mimi, the people that you see, danelle, anything is possible. i hearken back to our founders and our forbearers, so we decided, what would these particular issues be. so we had a series of meetings around the country, east coast, west coast, and everything in between to hear what would it be. we had done the affordable care act, as senator barb said. no longer being a woman is a pre-existing condition. remarkable. remarkable. then the violence against women act was accomplished in a bipartisan way eventually and finally. and that was important. but we were just focusing on the workplace.

just specifically, many items on the agenda, we wanted to prioritize, what could transform the respect for work of women in the workplace? and we listened to women across the country and we developed and worked with associations like the fair pay coalition, aauw, ywca. they had been working on these issues for a while and came one these three things that had been emphasized. pay, raise the minimum wage. 62% that get the minimum wage are women. we must increase the minimum wage. we did it the first 100 hours when we had the majority in the house and senate in 2007. we raised the minimum wage. but it's time to raise it again and it's long overdue. raise the minimum wage. as senator mikulski has been the lead on, the paycheck fairness act. it's about paycheck fargese.

-- fairness. imagine we make -- in many parts of the country, women make 77% of what men make for the same job, same time worked. that's like saying, you're going to work from january, february, march, for free compared to what your male counterparts would do in the same job. that's just not right. it's just not right and we have to pass the paycheck fairness. now, that's one point. to go back to what has been said, to re-emphasize to go forward, this is about -- we pass lilly ledbetter, first bill the president signed. we had been working on it for a long time. we had the president to sign it so that was a beautiful an accomplishment and he wanted that to be a signature issue for him. and that was great. but as the senator said, that's about what recourse you have. it's not about establishing that you should by law have the pay. and then so we have -- paycheck fairness in the house and senate. congresswoman rosa delauro has been the leader on this subject and many of the subjects, as senator mikulski, has been said, not only sponsor but champion.

then we talk about paid lead. family medical leave was a great thing. 20 years ago. that, remember, senator barb, was -- one of the first bills that president clinton signed. we had been working on it for a while. we now had a president to sign it. took great pride. that was 20 years ago. as has been said, 40% of women in the workplace do not qualify because -- they don't qualify -- businesses are not large enough to cover. but nonetheless, it's unpaid by and large. it's unpaid. you have to have paid leave. maybe not the full length of the time of family medical leave but some paid leave, and we have that legislation, healthy families act. so these are all possible. we have the bills. it's just a decision. it's about our maneuvering inside but it's about the outside mobilization and that's why we're so glad to see so many leaders on this issues -- these issues.

and third is childcare. this is the most transformative. we talked about seneca falls and being inducted in the hall of fame and all the rest, and that time 165 years ago these women, imagine the courage they had to declare that all men and women are created equal and as such we demand to have equal station to which we are entitled, they said. standing on their shoulders, we're standing on their shoulders. the right to vote came decades later. when it came women given the right to vote. women demanded for it, fought for it, marched for it and the rest. [applause] so that's going to take for this. you had that and you had women in the workplace leaving home. that was revolutionary during world war ii. women paying their share of the war effort, putting in their fair share.

then you had now women in the workplace and higher education of women, women in the professions. women just having the choice to stay home or be in the workplace at whatever level. but the missing link throughout the whole time was affordable, quality childcare to really enable women to make -- to unleash their power for themselves, for their families, for our economy. as mimi said, this is about making our economy grow. if we unleash the full power in the economy, two to three points, our g.d.p. will increase two to three points. it just will. it's really important. now, senator mikulski, on this subject and the senator talked about the block grant and the tax credit and that's all important, but we also have to go -- use that as a basis and go further. lilly ledbetter, we have to go further. family medical leave, we have to go further. child block grants, tax credit, has to go further. it was on president nixon's desk and he vetoed it for social or cultural reasons.

some guys probably said that. whatever it was. but nonetheless -- that's a long time ago. this is our mission. we must have -- this is the most transformative thing we can do for not only women and their families, for men and their families as for our economy. now, just to say a couple things. first of all, we've been listening to stories across the country. you heard some eloquent ones today. what mimi said about kids going to school sick, we hear it all over the country. one woman that we invited in new haven at rosa delauro's home. she got up there. she was telling her story, how she went from a single mom, this, this, got a job. her own success story. she said, let me tell you what i see in my job. i'm a bus driver, school bus driver.

and i see kids -- i pull up to the stop -- i know exactly what's going to happen. there will be a mom with tears in her eyes putting a child on the bus that she knows is sick but she has no alternative. she has no -- if she calls in sick -- not go to work, she'll be docked a day of pay which she can't afford. if you do that a couple times, you won't have a job. can't be counted on. different view. nonetheless, if she were to hire, can't afford the childcare, she has no paid sick leave, she has no alternative, child gets sick, throws up, talk about colds, all the rest -- you can just -- you know the story. you know the story. and then you hear stories of a mom, a woman, young woman pregnant, she's working. she has to do heavy lifting. pulls a muscle, whatever, the doctor -- goes to the doctor. ask your boss if you can do some other work for the next few months because you shouldn't be lifting things.

the boss says, you don't have to lift anything any more because you don't have a job any more. and this happens. it's happening here and now in the greatest country that ever existed. but you know what, we're going to change that. we're going to change that because we're going to mobilize and bond across the country, focus on a few things. we are going to stipulate some facts that senator mikulski referenced. when you educate children, you're doing so much. this is the key to everything for our country. and so head start, our motto in san francisco and head start, parents -- children learning, parents earning. so when you cut head start in order to reduce the deficit, you -- the children are losing, the teachers of the children are losing. so many can't work. i tell you this, nothing brings more money to the treasury than the education of the american people.

whether it's early childhood, k-12, higher education, postgrad, lifetime learning for our workers, nothing -- so when somebody says, i'm cutting head start to reduce the deficit, that's one of the dumbest, with stiff competition, mind you, one of the dumbest suggestions they can make. ok. [applause] so we'll talk some more about some of these things as we go along. but understanding that these are not -- these are increasing the deficit, increasing the deficit. i'll just close by saying this one story that i heard a couple weeks ago in new york when we had the -- a gathering such as this. a mom -- just going to tell you this one story, barbara. and then i have to go. this woman, a young woman gets up there. she has five kids. hispanic woman. english second language. every challenge -- beautiful resource. some would call it a challenge.

we call it resource. she tells the story, got the job. supervisor of the region. she was coming to give testimony at the hearing as we heard from mimi, maureen and danelle. i'm so confident now but i wasn't confident before this audience and making this speech. i practiced it on my children last night. and the 4-year-old, after it was over, 4-year-old who was in head start, making the pitch for head start, she said after i gave my speech, i said to the children, what do you think? do you have any questions? and my 4-year-old, who was in head start, i just have one question, mom, who gave you permission to use my name in your speech? [laughter] you go, girl. it's about self-esteem. it's about children learning. it's about being ready for the future. it's about the children, as senator mikulski began her remarks. thank you all very much. [applause]

>> senator mikulski, i know she >> senator mikulski, i know she has to leave. before you do, i want to say a very special thank you for your leadership and for being here today. thank you. [applause] and just as senator mikulski makes her way out of the room, i didn't know if there were any questions. what i want to hear from everybody is that you're ready to work on this. are we ready to work on this? [applause] and leader pelosi couldn't be more perfect timing because on saturday, here in prince

george's county, the women's commission -- i know there are representatives here, we are going to have how many, 500 women? 700 women who are going to be at our women's commission meeting talking about these issues on saturday, and so the women who are here in this room get to take this message out to them. and so thank you already very much. i'm looking right here because i know that's going to happen, right? excellent. and so -- maybe we have a chance for a couple of questions. yes, ma'am. >> hi. >> why don't you use the microphone right over here? thanks. >> good afternoon. my name is simone gregs and i'm the president and founder of all the love, which seeks to raise awareness about autism and the importance of early detection. in the african-american and

hispanic communities, african- american children and hispanic children have the highest number of autism-related cases reported in the united states. so as you move forward in your agenda, i hope and pray that you don't forget about the mom who has a child with special needs, because most of the time -- all issues are important, but the mother who has the child with autism or disability is left out. they're discriminated against because the daycares can't accommodate. i'm sorry. they can't accommodate the children who have the disability. so i don't know what can be done. and i'm determined it not give up the fight. i don't mean to hog up the time but i just want to say that i had an opportunity to travel to new york this past weekend to go

and support that mom who is missing the nonverbal autistic child, vanessa fontaine. so i can't in good conscience say i am not about all the love and i am not helping a person or a woman in need. so please keep that family in your prayers and please let me know if there's anything that i can do, because i'm committed to helping women and empowering women. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much for sharing that. i mean, i think that part of what you hear as well is the importance of having, you know, when we say quality and affordable and accessible childcare, that has to mean for all children. and i think all of us here in this room have to embrace that notion so that we understand what it is we're fighting for. and in -- you know, in one case it may be the autistic child,

but in another case it may be a child with other kinds of needs. it doesn't mean that those children, you know, can't learn and that that parent can't be supported, but we have to make sure that when we understand what we mean about affordable, accessible childcare that that's what it is. >> my daughter, her passion in life, she's a teacher of children with special needs. she lives in houston, texas. my son-in-law, married to another daughter, lives in arizona, he's a teacher for children of special needs. it amazes me they never burn out. it's a blessing. it really is. so our conversations, whether it's at the dinner table when we're together, on the phone when we're not, it's all about what are you doing with children. of course, the autism issue has expanded, the number of children. we always want to put them in the forefront because they fall into a couple categories. of course, childcare. but also affordable care act.

and so no longer will these children, their pre-existing condition medical condition, be a barrier from receiving the health care they need. we have to have the race sensitivity, the special needs they have, and we have to respect them for who they are and what they can do, not judge them for what they cannot. and this is the spirit that we bring to that and thank you for your sharing your passion, your love on this subject. it's really important to our country. there are tens of millions of families that are affected this way. most of them feel that it's a blessing from god and this is their challenge in life. but it's to our country as well. our judgment on us will be how we meet that challenge. so thank you. [applause] >> we probably have time for maybe one or two more questions. yes, ma'am.

>> thank you, again, congresswoman donna edwards and our leader, ms. pelosi. we know that our wonderful president had a global, if you will, town hall meeting where people logged in and it was an effort that allowed many groups, such as this, organized event to log in and have a discussion which included states across our wonderful united states. i was wondering if in terms of trying to move this forward and to allow others who may not have been present here today, obviously, to engage in this and allow this movement to grow across our wonderful united states. if we can look to see how we can put together a forum of events that would take place and include everyone throughout the

united states, log in and we can all engage and we can move in a very powerful way forward. >> well, originally, we had a children's summit a few years ago and then tried to address some of the issues that sprang from that. hundreds of people coming to d.c. who had constituencies. in other words, they headed up an organization or this or that. then we talked affordable care act. some of the things that sprang from that. we were -- now after having around 20 of these around the country and more on the schedule, i just had one in sacramento on friday. i went home for a day to california to do that. we're talking about putting something together in d.c., but to do it, as you described, globally. now, because of the visibility of what we're doing, i don't mean to take credit for this, i'm sure they were thinking about it anyway, but the white house is going to be putting something together springing

from some of this. if they take the lead, of course, that will be even better. it's a higher platform, a bigger soapbox than the rest. but we intend to be moving in a forward direction so that one of the reasons to do this is we want to change policy. but the other thing is to give people hope. most women out there struggling making the minimum wage have no idea that people are fighting for them in washington, d.c. they think no one is paying attention. they are trying to do two or three jobs. they're not reading the policy pages. when they do, they are not hearing people talk a whole lot this is central, core to the strength of our country. that's another reason to have it to be highly visible. we wanted to hear from people. it wasn't something we conceived, but it was something that came from the conversation. so that's why these first meetings have been so valuable to us about women making --

we really had not even heard about people taking out student loans to pay for their childcare. there was a whole different take on that for us. so that's important. you listen, you learn. we plan to do that. we'd like for the white house to do it and maybe we do both. we'll see how -- what the timing is on it. but thank you for that suggestion. but understand the role that congresswoman donna edwards plays in all of this. and i thank you for sending her to the congress. she's been pivotal on it. you know what, she hears an idea, she acts upon it. she -- [applause] you know she comes with great values, concerned about everyone in our community. you know that she has a vision about a fairer america which is really where people have opportunity, and that has been part of her life's work. you also know that she's smart. she knows these issues and she

listens either confirm or -- not deny but enhance, whatever it is, and she has planned to get things done. i hesitate to even speak in front of her because i know pretty soon we'll have a list and a timetable and all the rest of what we're going to do about it. you know what, that's the leader, people are drawn to her. and they know donna has a plan, it's going to work, it's going to make a difference, it's going to make progress and that's, as i say, leadership. i want you to know the confidence -- i know you all respect her and hold her in high esteem here. i want you to know that esteem is shared in the congress of the united states, on both sides of the aisle. [applause] >> thank you, leader pelosi. you are just reminding me, as we close up and we'll take one more

question, early on when we began to launch, we were using some of our allied organizations to begin to get the work out. we did google chats. we've done, you know, twitter conversations. things like that. and i think that what you shared with us, though, is an idea of even in our community here how we can take it more broadly and so i think, leader, you're right. even as you were talking, i'm ticking off ways in which we can actually act on the suggestion because i think it's a really good one. and that now that we have this room gathered here, each one of you knows another 20 people. we have thousands out there. and so in is a message that really can be spread, you know, broadly so we can't just talk about it but we actually get something done. >> and work with -- >> state and local officials to be able to do that. we'll be able to take one last question. >> thank you so much. speaker of the house, i guess i'm getting ahead of myself. thank you so much for the great work that you're doing

congresswoman pelosi and congresswoman edwards. this coming saturday we are going to be -- the prince george's county commission for women along with prince george's community college will be hosting a forum to deal with all of the issues that you highlighted today. and we're excited about it. the goal of the forum, again, is to engage women in the legislative process and just connect with issues on education, safety and health. it's called women engaged, empowered, and educated. so we're excited about it. there are fliers out there on the table. please join us this coming saturday as we really do bring awareness to the issues that you guys have discussed. thank you so much. >> that is so wonderful. the combination of that interaction that you will have there and that we're talking about technologically, i was on the phone just a couple --

you'll know when it is when i tell you -- a week ago right before we took the vote and i was on with the a.f.g., and we had 26,000 people on the phone. so thank them for what they were doing to try to end the shutdown but that was our only east coast call. then we had the west coast call. tens of thousands of more people. the technology of today will enable us to get this mission accomplished when we talk about affordable, quality childcare. children learning, parents earning, these kids being ready and donna talks all the time about how different it is when they have a head start with preschool and going on. i mean, this is -- this is -- get back to mimi's point. this goes back to the competitiveness of the united states economy, the investment in education. investing reduces the deficit, grows our economy. so although we're doing it because it's the right thing to do for individual aspirations, it has an impact on our economy.

when it's women -- the focus is women even more so. since we're in church, i am going to close by saying i was visiting my daughter in texas, in houston, she's a teacher of children of special needs. she was -- we were in church. houston is a conservative place. big, full packed house, catholic church, sunday morning, and the priest gave a beautiful sermon. he said what i want you to take from today, it's just not necessary for you to come here. it's not all right for you to come here and pray on sunday and leave here and prey on other people during the week. i said wow, come to our debates on food stamps, where they cut $40 million, and the rest of that, so there is a debate going on that we want fully engaged on

to bring their threct and public service -- people trying to raise their families or reach their own aspirations. it goes back again, it goes back to the founders, life -- this is about the affordable care act, too. life, a healthy life, liberty, pursue your happiness in a way that is good for you. it's good for america. when women succeed, america succeeds. [applause] >> thank you very much. i'll just say, let's give our leader, nancy pelosi, a big round of applause. thank you very much, mimi, maureen, danelle, for being with us today, in her absence, senator mikulski, all of it is appreciated because it will take

all of us together doing this. thank you so much. i'll put the microphone down. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013]

>> on the next "washington journal," we will be joined by representative joe barton of texas. we will also look at the nation 'sse and -- the nation intelligence gathering with representative adam schiff, a california democrat and a member of the intelligence committee. "washington journal" is lifeless easy -- is live on c-span everyday at 7:00 a.m. eastern.

>> several live events to tell you about. a house energy and commerce subcommittee hold a hearing on how wired the medication network suspect sommers and businesses. that is on c-span2 at 10:30 a.m. eastern. also on c-span two at 2:00 p.m. eastern, eight hearing on young people and foster care who become involved in self -- and sex trafficing. the american3, enterprise inns is due to hold a four ohm on whether or not the new health-care exchanges promotes competition among insurers. that is at noon eastern. >> c-span -- we bring public affairs events from washington directly to you putting you in the room on congressional hearings, white house events, briefing, and confidence -- and compresses, and renew complete

gavel-to-gavel coverage of the house. we are c-span, created by the cable tv industry 34 years ago and funded by your local cable or satellite provider. now, you can watch us in hd. housesday evening, the think of a bill naming the v8 medical center in florida for representative ouyang who died on friday. tributes came from both democrats and -- representative bill young, who died on friday. tributes came from both democrat and republican. this is about 40 minutes. >> the house has heard of the death of honorable bill c. committee of the

speakers of the house together with such members of the senate as maybe joint the appointed to .ttend the funeral resolved that the sergeant at arms of the house be authorized and directed to take such steps as may be necessary for carrying out the provisions of these resolutions -- resolutions and be paid out of applicable accounts of the house. resolved that the clerk communicate these resolutions to the senate and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. resolved that when the house returns today that it were adjourns as a mark of respect to the deceased. >> without objection, the resolution is agreed to an motion to reconsider is laid on the table. does thepurpose gentleman of new york seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent that they may be considered to be the bill sponsor of hr 2248, a

and reduce by marquis of matches markee of- by massachusetts. >> about objection, so ordered. pursuant to clause eight of role to suspend the rules on what they recorded vote or the eea's and a's are ordered. all on which the boat anchors objection under clause six of role 20. any record vote on the postponed notion will be taken later. >> to name the medical center in florida as the c.w. bill young

department of veteran affairs medical center. a bill to name the department affairs medical center in florida at the c.w. bill young department of veterans affairs medical center. >> pursuant to the rule, the gentlemen from florida, esther miller, and the gentlewoman from florida, ms. brown, each will controlled way minutes. the germanecognizes from florida. >> messieurs fear, i ask unanimous consent that all five remarks and include any extraneous material that they have on hr 3302. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. >> the gentleman is recognized. >> the way very much, mr. speaker. today is bittersweet as we mark both the passing of a chairmanonal stalwart,

young and name the main pints medical center in his honor. mr. speaker, while the rock numbers themselves may seek volumes for his dedication to america, it is his personal that i admired the most. when i came to congress in 2001, bill young was one of the first members that welcomed me here, it was on this floor in this chamber that bill young introduced me to the members of this house the night i was thrown in -- sworn in. since then, i came to regard him not only as a mentor, not as a colleague, but a friend, a personal friend. the 13thyoung served district of florida and the people of the united states for over 42 years. he was the senior member of the

florida original delegation and was the senior republican in both the house and in the senate. counting his ears and the florida legislature, bill young served over 50 years in public service and worked with eight presidents. remembered forst his devotion to america's defense and especially to the men and the women in the armed forces. having served in uniform for 15 years at the number of the national guard and reserves, bill was the go to guy on defense issues here in the house. he dedicated his legislative and personal energies to improve the quality of life or the men and the women who serve, and as a result, those who wear the uniform and face our foes have improved housing today, better care, increase pay,

and the best equipment. members know bill best for his work as chairman of the house appropriations committee from , and he continued to serve as chairman of the subcommittee of defense until this time of his passing. but bill young was much more than a defense expert. been a leading advocate for increased medical research. bill worked to double medical research funding and funding to increase immunization rates for preschoolers, to improve public health programs, and to find cures for parkinson's and alzheimer's disease. just one example -- the c. w. bill young marrow donor recruitment and research program registry lists more than 9 million volunteer donors for patients with leukemia and other life-threatening diseases. that simple lists has provided

the gift of life to more than 50,000 individuals. to completely describe the contributions of a man who served in this body for over 42 so withuld take hours, that, mr. speaker, on behalf of the entire florida delegation and all those who knew and served with him in this house and in the other body, i offer our most sincere condolences to his wife, beverly, and his sons rob, billy, and patrick. he was your husband, and he was your father. to us, bill was a friend. we will miss him dearly. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. >> the gentlelady from florida is recognized her >> thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself as much time as i may consume.

songs is letorite the work i've done speak for me. i rise today to pay tribute to chairman bill young, whose passing we mourn and whose dedication american serviceman is well known to floridians as well as to all who served in the house of representatives. taking care of our nation men and women in uniform was his passion. he often called them kids because he care for them as deeply as they were his family. chairman young was an officer and a gentleman. he served for nine years in the american national guard. during his decade in congress, he and his wife, beverly, regularly visited the combat troops in florida and here in bethesda. they have arrange travel for military family members of those who are having trouble. here in the house at the

appropriations committee in any other way he could find, he was tireless in his work on behalf of serviceman, veterans, and their families. i worked with him when we were having to finish a new courthouse. this was just after the oklahoma city bombing, and all of the new security requirements that was added to protect the building and the people in them. the project was $9 million over came tobut the chairman the longest town hall meeting ever held here on the capitol. everyone had to say the chairman was a gentleman as always and wanted what was best for the people of florida regardless of party. this was the case also when it came to funding for research. chairman young knew how important i cutting-edge research was and making it a

pro-ready to find the funding to help future generations of americans. every year, bill young was a keynote speaker at the memorial day program in bay pines he and theith gerald ford appropriations committee in 1976 to replace their original hospital building. at one point, he was a far as to personally show the president where the building was and how badly it was leaking. he was very proud of the new 1983.al, which opened in he was thrilled when they named the road encircling at the bill young wroad. the va medical center at they pines has bay services to complete, but in addition their service work character worse, dental service, extension care, and service for seniors along with programs that help homeless vets. in addition, the women's veterans health care program at

bay pines focuses on wellness, education, preventative health care, disease management, and care for the emotional well- being of women veterans. today, we will go one step further and honor the man who center ata medical bay pines a reality. today, we take a step of naming the whole facility after bill young. it is a most appropriate tribute to name the center whose mission it is to coordinate the care for ed or men and wound women who serve their life. mr. speaker, as we say goodbye to our friend and colleague, chairman bill young, with this bill, we could honor his service in the way and he would appreciate most deeply. have his name associated daily and dreck late the highest level of care for our military veterans. committeethank

chairman miller for bringing this forward, and i urge all of our parties to join me in supporting it. mr. speaker, [no audio] -- mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. >> they gentleman from florida is recognized her >> i would like to yield one minute to ms. ross leyden. >> thank you so much, and i'm so pleased of the gentleman from florida, chairman miller, has given me some time, and i'm so pleased to support his bill that he has gotten the entire florida delegation working in a bipartisan manner to honor this good man and warm friend, congressman bill young. bill was a true patriot and a tenacious public servant, dedicating his life to his constituents. as you heard from some of our previous speakers, his accomplishments are so varied and many, creating a national bone marrow registry of

improving the quality of life for active duty personnel, our national guard, our reserves, veterans. dissecting thousands of jobs in mcgill airreserving force base, improving florida's environment. these are just some of bill consciousness. he was always willing to lend a helping hand to members of our entire state delegation with projects that were him portman in our local community. for example, he helps me to find the funds to dredge the miami river. an additionallady 30 seconds. >> thank you. to help the air force base after he was devastated by hurricane andrew, but more importantly, he was the consummate gentleman. he was principled, honest, maintaining civility with his colleagues, a trait that we no longer honor as we should. bill was an example for all of

us here in congress. it was my privilege and my high honor to serve with him. what a great privilege. i think the gentleman for yielding me be time. >> time is expired. the gentleman from florida reserves. the gentlelady from florida is wrecking my spare >> to i feared i would like to yield three minutes to the gentleman from maryland, the with mr. oho yer. >> the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. >> thank you for yielding. bill young was my friend. bill young was a gentle man in every sense of the world. example for usan all. i will have the privilege of speaking on thursday at his request at his funeral.

the bill and i served on the appropriations committee for 23 years together. i left when i became majority leader. young was, as i said, a gentle man, who cared about each and every individual in this house. more than that, he cared for each and every person who served in uniform in our armed forces. that, beverly displayed as congressman miller has said, on a weekly, daily basis. i am a democrat, bill was a republican. it is not make any difference. anwas an american, i was american, and we serve our country together. no one served a better than no young. -- than bill young.

differencessee our as slight, and our common purpose as great. he always chose civility over partisanship. he was a skilled legislator on florida, the people of on behalf of his country. on behalf of the members of the armed forces, and the defense of this country. champion of veterans and their families, all of whom, where everybody lives, he viewed as his constituents. this bill to rename the va hospital in bay pines florida, which i am proud to cosponsor, is a fitting tribute to his devotion to our veterans and our troops. longerhe represented than any member of the house in

this industry, he was originally from a coal mining town in pennsylvania. it was there he learned many lessons of the hardships of family and to learn that what they need would be in their reach. he never forgot that. he was a great member of this body. a very powerful member of this body. an extraordinary influential american. but to all of us, he was built. to all those he came in contact, he was dealt -- he was bill. he was a person who understood the needs, fears, aspirations, hopes of his people and the people of our country. ,y thoughts are with beverly was bill young's family, the people of florida's 13th district. this house has lost a great member. i yield back the balance of my

time. >> the gentleman from florida is recognized. thank you, mr. speaker. i like to yield one minute to mr. mica. >> it is absolutely fitting that we take this step and name our veterans hospital and the west coast of florida after a great american, a patriot, a hero for our reverence, bill young. veterans, bill young. probably more than anyone in the house of representatives of congress, i have known bill young, i think longer. aides to the both first republic and congressman since the civil war, bill kremer. he was an aide before i was, but we met together and work together more than 40 years ago. only as ato nine not colleague but as a personal friend and political ally of a

great human being, someone with -- who put his heart and soul into this position, who loved our servicemen and women, and his great legacy will be all he has done to honor their memory, and tonight we honor his memory with renaming bay pines veteran hospital for bill young, my friend. [no audio] i reserve the balance of my time. gentleman from florida is recognized. >> to record at this time, i would like to yield three minutes of the gentleman from georgia, mr. bishop. >> the gentleman is recognized -- is recognized. >> i rise to rename the bay pines veterans affairs metal center in florida -- medical center in florida to the c. w. bill young department veterans affairs medical center.

i am honored to join over 200 of my hot -- house colleagues as an original cosponsor of this bipartisan legislation, a great tribute to one of our dearest colleagues. indeed, bill young will be forever known as one of the strongest supporters of our military and vellore and -- and veterans in the history of this congress. his unyielding support of our military and veterans is legendary. likewise, he was a true champion for his district and a fountain of knowledge about the chronicles of the u.s. house of representatives. bill young will be missed in washington as well as in florida. congressmanh late jack murtha, were not only great friends and mentors to me but their wives, beverly and joyce, were also friends of my wife, vivian. chairman murtha and chairman young were neither democrat nor republican when it came to our national defense. regardless of which was the chairman or ranking member of

the subcommittee, the men and women of america's military would be taken care of. i am proud to have served as a member of the house appropriations subcommittee on defense under both of these great leaders. nationung's death, the has truly lost one of the few remaining statesman. our thoughts and prayers are with beverly and the entire family. congress and our nation have lost one of its greatest statesman. i have lost a dear friend and a mentor. inle we could use every word every language spoken by mankind, we will not have enough words combined to adequately think bill young for his service. but i am pleased to join my colleagues in passing this resolution to rename the bay pines medical center in florida the c. w. bill young department of veterans affairs medical center. it has been said that you make your living by what you get. you make your life by what you give.

bill young gave so much to so many for so long. he will be greatly missed. i reserve the balance of my time. >> the gentleman yields back. the german from florida is recognized. >> i would announce tonight that we had 379 original cosponsors of this piece of legislation. i would like to now recognize the vice-chairman of the veterans affairs committee, the gentleman from florida whose young, forove mr. one minute. >> to why so much. -- thank you so much. 379 cosponsors. what a testament to her and what a wonderful man. mr. speaker, i rise today to support this legislation. over the past five decades, chairman young selflessly serve florida and the tampa bay area,

leading many initiatives to promote economic growth, create jobs, of which his contributions to the military and veterans in particular are immeasurable. in the 1970's, the chairman played a significant role in theing critical funding for bay pines medical center, which allows the facilities to support almost 100,000, mr. speaker, 100,000 of our heroes in our area today. with this funding come up bay pines was able to increase the size of its campus, replace the hospital, and now offers a wiper varietyrvices -- a wide of services to these veterans in their backyard because of chairman young. chairman young has left behind a rich legacy in support of our heroes, especially those in the tampa bay area. by renaming this important facility in his honor, we will provide a lasting monument to her member a great friend. chairman bill young.

thank you, and i yield back. >> i reserve the balance of our time. >> the judgment from florida reserves. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. >> i would like to yield three what minutes to the gentlewoman from florida whose district went up to bill young's district. >> the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. the gentlewoman for you later time. i rise in strong support of designating bb pines be a medical center in -- the bay pines va medical center in pinellas the c. w. bill young medical center. i would like to thank congresswoman brown and all of our colleagues for honoring bill young with such a designation. i have been fortunate to serve alongside of bill young for the seven years that i have been

here, seven out of the 43 years that mr. young served in the congress. we represented st. petersburg and the tampa bay area together. i know i speak for my predecessors jim davis and sam gibbons, who also passed last year, when i say that' congressman bill young was an outstanding partner for the state of florida. it is very appropriate that we honor bill young by naming the vaer finds va -- bay pines medical center after him. he was a fixture at the ceremonies every year, but more importantly, he was a fixture when there was no ceremony, when he would visit wounded soldiers in the hospital or at their homes, when there was no fanfare and he just determined that it was just his desire to ensure that the servicemembers and their families receive the care that they deserve and that they had earned.

the air forces at base in tampa are state of the artist due to mr. young's extra attention, and i very little to the healthy right to me when the soldiers and civilians who work there were any. for example, in the past year, macas at our efforts, and dill means mobility when it comes to attention at the base. when it was not assisting former servicemembers and their families who qualify for medicare health services, he helped cut through the red tape. many also would point to his expensive air max -- earmarks in a variety of ways. our drinking water reservoir reservoir. young medical research at the university of south florida, programs that st. petersburg college, programs that eckerd college, and we are so proud that mr. young initiated the national bone marrow donor heogram at peace -- t

children's hospital in st. petersburg. it was through mr. young's leadership that the bay pines va medical center was great. it is now the fourth-largest in the country. it serves veterans all across west central florida and employees of many talented caregivers. so it is a fitting tribute to this remarkable american to name medical centera in his honor, and i'm proud to cosponsor the resolution. modelssman young was a statesman. his kindness, sincerity, and dogged at for our nation's many women in uniform and veterans will be missed. the gentlelady's time is expired. >> i'm proud to yield one minute to the gentleman from florida. >> the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. you know, we literally could be here days speaking about the

many accomplishments of chairman young, and those days would not suffice. i got a chance to work with him on the appropriations committee, and i will tell you that so many times i went to him for advice, for help. leon was one of those people you always went to -- bill young was one of those people you always went to when you needed help. he was such a wise man. as i said a little while ago, since we would never have enough time to talk about all his great compliments. and you have heard not only but his accomplices with the fact that he was an incredibly honorable, caring, wise, and statesman is a word that comes to mind. since my time is limited, i just want to echo something that i heard -- i am not quite sure who said it, but i read it to be a great man, you first have to be a good man. that thats anybody

phrase reminds us of, it is bill young. i yield back. >> the gentleman's time is expired. the gentleman continues to reserve. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized or twice i would like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, ms. jackson lee. >> the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. >> i would like to thank the gentlelady from florida, the ranking member of the subcommittee of veterans, ms. brown, and i would like to thank chairman miller. we were together, and thank you summary much. i wanted knowledge as well the ranking member of the appropriations committee, ms. lowing, thank you for allowing me to share this evening. the comments and the appreciation and respect i have for bill young.

first of all, i would like to say what everybody else has had -- what a great american, what a great patriot. what a great public servant. and bill, may you rest in peace. bill is on the floor, congressman young, chairman young, was on the floor of the house just a few weeks before he passed, and i think that is important to note that he was working every single day to make america better. he loved soldiers and veterans, he loved their families, and it is highly appropriate for him to namedis name so honored, as a veterans hospital. i want to say that it is particularly important to note that congressman young was able to speak to kings and queens and generals and people of high places, but he was best when he was talking to everyday people, to the soldier said he loved. he came from humble beginnings starting with his single parent, his mother, losing his home early in life, living in a hunting camp.

you would think that he would not be the generous person he he is really what america's all about -- the american dream. i've are member his commitment to our soldiers and his easy ability to work across the aisle. as someone who advocated for soldier suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder, i want to let his family know how dedicated he was to resigning extra resources to the thousands upon thousands of soldiers who returned from iraq and afghanistan who needed extra help with posttraumatic stress disorder. he was very kind to those of us who are concerned about breast cancer and women in the u.s. military who may have experienced breast cancer. me at session,h in fact, the last two sections, to provide -- >> digitally. >> -- gentlelady. >> and he worked with them in last two sections -- two

sessions, mr. speaker, and providing extra funding for ptsd, a center that is in houston, texas, but also dealing with additional research for triple negative breast cancer that might have an impact not only in the military population of women but also with women around the nation. bill is like that. , alwaysxtending sharing. he have a social place in my heart because my mother is from st. petersburg florida, but i was that he should have a special place in the hearts of all americans because if you ever want to see exemplified a grant and stately gentleman who had nothing in his heart but the love and respect and admiration for this nation, it was our dear friends, the honorable bill young. to his family, i say to them -- we love him, and we extend our deepest sympathies. youk you, my dear friend, have served well, and i hope that you will rest well. may god bless him and god bless

his family. i yield back. quite the gentleman from florida is recognized or >> i now yield one minute to the gentleman from arkansas, mr. womack. >> the gentleman from arkansas is recognized. >> the gentleman's time is expired. --thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to join the chorus of people remembering our friend and the chairman of the defense subcommittee of appropriations, bill young. chairman young come as you know, spend five decades of his life in this chamber fighting for a better america for both his constituents and our country. as the dean of the republican conference, he was a leader and a counsel to colleagues young or old, republican or democrat. mr. speaker, i am the newest member of the defense subcommittee of appropriations. i was fortunate to receive his mentor ship. i learned from his fearless, unparalleled support of our troops and our veterans, and i admired his outspoken and unwavering commitment to what was in their best interest.

mr. speaker, the a veteran myself of over 30 years, i was also a beneficiary of his incredible support of those who wear the uniform. while his presence will be youngr missed, the bill department of veterans affairs medical center will serve as a small and fitting reminder that this institution of our men and women in uniform, and america are undoubtedly better off because of bill young, and i'm proud to support it. i yield back. the gentleman's time is expired. >> city toledo time we have no? -- can you tell me how much time we have now? >> the gentlelady has 4.5 minutes, the gentleman has 10.5 minutes your >> thank you. i would like to yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. louis. >> the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. today ineaker, i rise

support of this bill. for more than 40 years, bill young served his district in this institution with integrity and honor after having served our country in the army national guard for nearly a decade. as chairman of the appropriations committee, his leadership, advocacy for our men and women in uniform and our veterans was unsurpassed. in a time when political culture too often devolves into hostility, and compromise is a dirty word, bill young was always a gentleman who consistently reached across the aisle. he would share with me his visits with his dear wife, toerly, to wounded warriors

bring them comfort. how happy those visits made him . it was such a pleasure to serve with him. he will be truly missed. renaming this va facility in his memory is a tribute to his legacy. will be missed. rest in peace. god bless you, and god bless america. lady yelled back. the gentleman from florida is recognized. >> we have no more speakers requesting time and we are prepared to close its ms. brown is prepared. >> the gentlelady is recognized her >> thank you, mr. speaker. first of all, let me thank chairman miller for organizing this tribute to chairman young. in closing, you know, i often say when you are born, you get a birth certificate, and when you die, you are going to get a

death certificate. that little dash in between is what you have done to make this a better place. i don't know anyone that has done more than chairman bill young. it has been my honor having the opportunity to serve with him, his leadership for the florida delegation. i mean, we have gone for some tough times, but i can tell you he has always been a gentleman. said onerst began, i let thevorite songs is work i've done speak for me. clearly he has done his work, and he has fought a good fight, and he has done his job. it is left up to us to continue his great work, and i yield back the balance of my time. >> the gentlelady yields back. is gentleman from florida

recognized. >> mr. speaker, i want to thank all the members on both sides of the aisle for their kind words that they've set for our friend, bill young. i sincerely hope that the words give beverly, rob, bill young some measure of consolation. while we know a log or have bill's personal and wise counsel to go to, that beautiful veterans medical center will bear his name, and it will give witness to his many years of service to america and her defenders. i want to thank my good friend, ms. brown, for her help in bringing this bill to the floor and the over 375 cosponsors that we have brought on this piece of legislation. i respectfully ask all members to join us in supporting this piece of legislation, hr 3302,

and i yield back the balance of my time. >> the gentleman yield back the balance of this time. the questions -- will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill hr 330? -- 3302? in the opinion of the chair, two thirds being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is pastored without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. >> several lives of ants to tell you about coming up today. the house energy and commerce subcommittee holding hearing on networks communication affect consumers and businesses. that is on c-span2 at 10:30 a.m. eastern. also on c-span2 at 2:00 p.m. eastern, a hearing on young people in foster care who have become involved in sex trafficking. witnesses include several members of congress who have introduced anti-sex trafficking legislation. and on c-span3, the american

enterprise institute hold a forum on whether or not the new health-care exchanges promote competition among insurers. that is at noon eastern. >> in a few moments, today's headlines, plus your calls live on "washington journal." speeches in the house are scheduled for to walk eastern with legislative business at noon. today's agenda includes the water resources bill. and in 45 minutes, we are joined by republican representative joe barton of texas, a member of the energy and commerce committee, to discuss the committee's views on the affordable care act and the implementation with health insurance exchanges. and just after 8:30, we will look at the nation's intelligence gathering agencies, domestic and international surveillance, and the use of drones with representative adam schiff, a california democrat

and member of the intelligence committee. host: house and senate lawmakers are back in washington this week, moving on from the government shutdown and debt ceiling debate for now, but the political fallout is rerelinquish rating with new polls showing republicans getting the brunt of the blame and democratic outraising their g.o.p. colleagues in fundraising. good morning, everyone. wednesday, october 23, 2013. we'll focus on the politics of the government shutdown this morning. will it impact your vote in 2014? republicans, 202-585-3881. democrats, 202-385-3880. independents, all others, 202-585-3882. accepted us a tweet,