qaeda has demonstrated an ability to regenerate. it happened in iraq and it certainly would be possible in afghanistan and pakistan. host: >> set jones is the associate international do it y that's going to today on "the washington journal." a.m.,ere tomorrow at 7:00 eastern, 4:00 pacific.

>> the senate is expected to that test vote on a bill will extend jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed for months.three voters need 60 votes to advance the white house-backed bill. susan collins of maine says she'll vote to advance it in opes that her fellow republicans will offer changes to offset the costs. follow that vote on c-span 2. at 10:45, senate democrats will the jobless ng on benefitsish issue. for you here on c-span. president obama will comment on unemployment te on benefits. john boehner said house republicans won't take up the unless the additional cost is offset. we'll have the president's comments live at 11:40. as comments after that well. army chief of staff genere at the national

press club talking about the future of the army. efore taking his current position, he was commanding general for the u.s. campaign in iraq. comments ge of his begin at 1:00 eastern. 2:30 eastern, we bring you live judiciarys the senate subcommittee looks into the plight of syrian refugees according to the u.n. high on refugees. this is the worst refugee crisis genocide in ndan 1994. that's live at 2:30 p.m. eastern. woman be adequately prepared for the duties of first lady? >> yes. i think you can. a governor ore of the vice the wife of president or if your mother-in-law is first lady and you watched her for four years. yes, i think you can. and i think it's a golden something -- ido think lady bird is the one who said, you know, it's an do something

good. nd if by chance it helps your husband, all the better. >> the world health organization more than 1.6 million people worldwide are breast cancer each year. many live in countries where the carries stigma and shame. that we g the lessons learned, americans can empower ore women to detect breast cancer early, which today is the closest thing we have to a cure. >> as you all know, chicago is truly a city of neighborhoods parks and y boulevards. a's a city where walking just few blocks can put you into an entirely different world of experiences. a park and you go from english to spanish, black puerto rican to polish. cross a few streets and you go homes and ic

manicured lawns to abandoned uildings and dark street corners. so the opportunity is available one child growing up in neighborhood in this city might be vastly different than the hild growing up just five blocks away. nd that difference can shape their lives and their life prospects from the moment they're born. monday, our original series, first ladies, influence and image, returns with the five recent first ladies, from nancy reagan through michelle bama, monday night at 9:00 eastern live on c-span and c-span 3. lso on c-span radio and c-span.org. meets today tose begin the second session of the th congress. no legislative work but members will meet at 2:00 eastern for a session. then again at 6:30 eastern to establish a quorum for the start session.

live coverage of court of course here on c-span. a discussion now on the for ities in congress social conservatives. >> we're joined now by frank cannon for a conversation about conservative agenda for 2014. the advanced guard of a planned effort by the religious right to push back on establishment efforts to issues like sive abortion rights and gay marriage. is that how you would define group? >> no. that -- that wouldn't be my self-definition. there are two aspects to what we do. defend the inclusion of social issues within politics. we think it's both right for the and a political winner. but we also handle economic

issues. forry to push for economics families, working people. and large corporations on wall street. group and es your social conservatives right now party?o the republican a different political article about your group noted that social conservatives have been relegated to the idelines as the business wing of the gop establishment, wages a bitter and expensive struggle the st the tea party for soul of the republican party. >> well, let's start with the par the i is tea not totally distinct from social conservatives. a large portion of the tea or so, are what you conservatives -- economic conservatives and social conservatives.

social the idea that issues can be pushed aside in is suicidalan party suicidal thinking because the rank and file he workers within the party are from the social conservative party. the it represents a large portion of he coalition that has been the conservative governing coalition going back -- going back to reagan. what are the key issues that you're going be alking about going to the 2014 election? what you social conservatives run on this year? well, i think that, for example, on the abortion issue, lot of -- there are a lot of ways in which the abandoned party has ts legal and rare stance and has become very extreme on the issue. common ground

provisions like the 20-week bill passed by the house of representatives and been senator graham in the senate that goes to where are. 65% of americans and that is saying that a baby in the fifth month of pregnancy, sixth month of pregnancy when a not can feel pain is omething that the bulk of americans support. one gislateively, that's area. abortions, on government funding of abortions, they're all areas which a great american people believe that the conservative -- is al conservative position the right decision. >> are you concerned about republicans who say that some of too divisive to run on, that they should -- that should stick more to

fiscal issues rather than some issues?onservative >> its's an interesting selection because the idea that win on the ans something sues is that is been allowed by the data coming in out of the elections. that is, the republicans are losing on the economic issues. the very sing with groups that they -- that they need to reach out to. young people, with women, with the bulk of the is with hat they have he idea that the american public think that the republicans are out of step with working people. and -- and their greatest area.em is in the economic not in the social issue area. in fact, the groups that they want to reach out to

end to be more conservative on social issues than -- than the american public as a whole. we're talking to frank cannon. he's the president of the project.principles he's here to take your questions we talk about social conservatives and their agenda in the 2014 election and 2016 as well. phone lines are open. 202-585-3880. call republican, 202-585-3881. 202-585-3882. outside of the u.s., 202-585-3883. to talk to you. want to get your reaction to the supreme court stepping in and blocking gay marriages in utah? i think that it's mportant that the issue be

decided democratically. the places where gay states, go in various it's been the courts that by in have made it that they require gay marriage. about social change, electorate to to boast its opinion. >> as we show our viewers a map in ame-sex marriage status states and the darker states there where same-sex marriage is allowed and same-sex ates where marriage is banned. frank cannon, how is this issue going to play in the 2014 elections?

>> well, i don't think that the one that the americans large want to take on. party sulting class is a party. voter class is a don't want to engage in a discussion about gay marriage. republican k of the grassroots is for traditional marriage by overwhelming numbers. and the country is divided 50-50 on -- on the issue. and so there are states that will play out in republican it aries, for example, as cheney yoming with liz anochi.ator

where the -- the republican rank and file of the conservative party wants to see traditional marriage upheld. in areas l play out that -- in areas like that. ut as a need for republican arties, you essentially have a one-sided trutha which is on the issue of marriage. > is this what the group like the american principles project is going do in the next couple of months in terms of making topic of those primaries? and if so, how many members, members, does your group target for some of those issues? get ll, we -- when you involved in the first race that we were involved in, which was wyoming race, we ran an arly flight of commercials locating liz cheney on the issue of gay marriage. 15 it moved the needle about

points against her because the not wantom wyoming did to send a republican senator -- to washington who was out of step with their views on marriage. how many states this will play ut in depends on who the candidates are and what their -- what their positions are. ut it certainly would be involved in races in which there on clear cut difference social issues between the -- between the candidates. inyou said you were involved that ad in wyoming. how much money is your group -- to to put into republican primaries this year? >> well, we don't have the number.ve despite the great compliment we are a ico that vanguard, i think that's another start up aying we're that's out there, we're looking to -- >> the article also said your one to watch is

in the 2014 races. >> we're hopeful we'll be able have a potential amount to put in to the races. near the $250 million alleged you'll get out $400 oss roads or the million from the coke operation. we're in the single digits to double digits. >> and millions of dollars. >> that's what we're looking to election cycle. >> talking to frank cannon, the president of the american here to s project answer your questions. p first from bloomington, indiana on our line for independence. morning. od >> good morning to you. i was surprised with mr. in the opening statement. kind of reminded me of franklin roosevelt, you know? being against corporatism, especially spread tear that lism and fascism

seems to be rampant in today's government. just going to keep an open mind on his group and be interested to what they have to say. think that the republicans would be making a not being as in mean and against so many things and inclusive to as many people as possible. we ink it's a tragedy that lost a great senator like dick you and it's time to, know, get these tea billies out of office. and i'll let it go from there. so much for letting me speak. >> mr. cannon? that one of the points that the caller was was that there is a frustration in the country with that the republicans to, or eem to be talking conservators, don't seem to be talking to working americans. a campaign and up

creator" comes up more often in your commercials american, you know you have a slight problem in who speaking to. d i think that we've lost sight of the fact that when when who built the country, it's not only the the workingss, it's class that can make america the great country that it is. help to build the nstitution's economic and political to make it unique. >> the caller brings up former dick luger. would your group supported him in the primary? that we could

have jumped in on against luger.r but i think that senator kirk is a great senator and and keen on the democratic side. line for republicans. thanks for getting up with us on the washington journal this morning. >> oh, yes. thank you for having many topic on. african-american gay male conservative. nd i want to say to the american public that it is a gay n agenda in the community. i think the fact that the issue is not gay rights. you know say stay out of my bedroom, yet they're knocking on asking for your permission to grant something hey know is something that is religious in nature. the bulk of my peers -- my gay

want to attack the institution of marriage and is primarily because they're not a religious and they religious ack the institution. now, they ask for rights -- the and ask t they require for can be easily attained civil unions and other methods without actually the institution of marriage. and i last want to say that when issue with my eterosexual family members, they feel like they're pressured to feel like they're me and myting against kind even though religiously they don't agree with it. rush to progressivism, trampling over them.

>> there's a good point there. he balance point between the gay l rights and community and the impact on the religious community. at the federal court decision from california in the prop 8 case, it's amazing if you the decision, there's an animus by the judge towards religious belief. he looks at the beliefs of various religions and the value decision. by the judge red to be in essence discriminatory. so that people were behaving off f those beliefs, they're behaving -- been animus against gay people in a discriminatory fashion. becomes really difficult if anyone wants to

espouse the political belief may basis for that on a voting looked at it as something be reasonably ld considered. >> on this issue of gay marriage, back at the end of december, "the washington post" ave social conservatives the weekly worst week in washington award. talking about what happened in utah. but also some of the other actions around the country that you -- the decision in utah, the notes, came on the same day that the federal judge in ohio ruled that same-sex arriage performed outside of the state would be recognized hortly after new mexico's supreme court legalized such unions. and it notes that for those three scores, that's states with huge legal rulings n favor of rulings in a few

days not to mention the fact hat hawaii and illinois legalized the unions last month. how would you say about the worst week in washington award? >> it was deserved. i think as justice scalia point based offthe dissent, of the supreme court rulings in he prop 8 case and in the arizona case that it was likely would not be rts to regularly uphold marriage because the same that there was no real rational basis for discriminating in the court's view. of meant that the -- each the state supreme courts would little room to -- a -- to maneuver in finding

just basis for what the court decision, what hat has been solely prejudice against gay marriage. so the rash of decisions and the the states has been from and it's been imposed without. you're changing something that having been by judges is a wrong-handed course. >> in favor of a social federal rule top down. >> talking about the right to life, i think that's a federal issue. about you're talking a -- a ability of a person to be the community to with

rights and the 14th amendment makes it incumbent laws to ress to pass defend basic civil rights. would think that it would issue.deral the marriage issue has traditionally been a state issue. the problem is that because it's contract that goes across state lines, its's very ifficult to have a decision within one state the -- the quarantine there. rights of state rights the to have independent views of marriage which exactly was the doma and there this is a a federal

ederal view -- the movement towards as a basic civil right rather than a state regulation contract.titution or a >> here's ben's take on it from morning.e-mail this the government does have a role in promoting public good. issue is y marriage about protecting the rights of the church against a government marriage which is a religious sacrament to be couple d on a same sex which a given church given the bible. you're on with frank cannon. good morning, very interesting conversation. much involved in

social -- 40-year career owner.nce agency so i'm in very close contact folks and rieties of ideas and your previous caller the pot on as far as subject. there's a great misunderstanding separates believers and nonbelievers and that caller, i has it right. and as far as if constitution seems to me that it should be -- i realize we had section of states where people actually move. a firm believer that we ave a constitution where the states do not surrender pattern to a central government. i'll wait for the comments. >> mr. cannon? >> well, i believe in -- i in states rights in -- the states of

regulating all issues that aven't been delegated specifically to the federal government. abortionwould say that s not an issue in which one state can allow it and another state -- now i think it's a right.civil nd i think that -- that the federal government has a role in protecting civil rights under the 14th amendment. the politics of this and how it plays out in the american s principles project take on the ob that speaker john boehner has done and the republican leadership since they've taken control of the house? -- they're in a divided government. so it's very difficult for them an agenda separately. i think that they've done a very good job in ointing out the excesses of

obama care and trying to way in which basic freedoms are being usurped by the central government. my one recommendation to across the board is hat when they make a case against government intrusion, and the growth of government, it really need to connect to the lives of working americans. is, they often talk in erms of what the burden we're passing along to our children. he reality is, that americans are suffering stagnant wages and increasing prices. increasing of prices come largely from government printing money in order to feed an ever increasing role for a government. and what that means is that losing people are

ground, facing the shrinking dollar, because of the appetite of government. and i think it would serve them connect all of the rguments about sequester and get -- get raising the debt imit to the actual plight that people are feeling in the cities around the country. >> so who are the republicans are going to be targeting in the primary season? leadership body in that you would support a primary candidate against? > again, we haven't made a decision in what races to get into. what e looking at in idates are lining up which -- in which states. we're going toat o is have candidates who are going to find a conservative message.

you identify the liberals who them without -- without somebody coming to their issues out outside of the economic issues. was $7 ple, there million poured into the virginia gubernatorial race on ads that theme. the war on women there were 5600 commercials that ere run that talked about abortion. the single biggest opportunity hat was missed was for some of hese outside groups to get engaged and attack terry cauliffe, now governor mcauliffe -- governor-elect mcauliffe for his extreme issues.s on these our thing is not just to defeat -- defeat bad candidates republican party. ut also to show that these

issues are winning issues in the general election and that the the issues that social issues should be engaged republicans he engaging in the true strategy. in bighamtonim now in new york on our line for independents. with frank cannon with the american principles project. jim, you there? caller: yes, i'm here. >> you're on the air, go ahead. caller: all right, good morning, brothers. first of all, i would like to person. i'm a pro life i'm 56-year-old -- years old. i was brought up by christian conservative parents. i just like to say that there's few months back that the thereut out a report that are 18,000 children that die of world ion around the

every day. every day all of this d so it's obviously not because there's not enough food for the children to eat. because the parents don't have any currency. is called re using the capitalistic free market monetary system that is used to these children every day. out of the s it's way. >> jim in bighamton, new york. ohio waiting in batavia, on the independent line.

cannon, good k morning to you. >> good morning, how are you? >> good. maybe nt to -- i want to ask a question addressing an overall issue, especially to republican-based parties. i'm not necessarily a democrat. owever, i don't think republicans have accurately supported any real conservative views. their views are so antiquated hat it's actually put off many -- i'm not a 20-something, i'm not a 0s and so young guy. but it's put off many members of my generation and the younger is that our -- they hold conservative values such as abortion. when you have -- when you -- the formulated by mostly priests and men and not that who this is an issue directly affects them, you see how -- i'm hard pressed to see republicans can't see

how put off that is. that's marriage, another issue where, yes, it is -- it is a religious and to gal issue and we have separate the two. he legal basis is we're -- you know, we're not asking the -- community is not asking for catholics, per se -- the catholic church, per se to do marriages, to be forced to do marriages to go against values, but there are legal principles for taxation, benefits, for employment benefits that we recognize that marriage the same else, because that is their belief. that's what we have to separate the legal s is that issue is it's breaking up on these constitutional rights of the right giving them to marry. >> all right, tom, a lot there. oing to let frank cannon jump in. > well, when you -- when --

when people say that religion is ot implicated or religious institutions aren't implicated by gay marriage, the question becomes agay marriage legal standard, and a tax exempt organization -- a religious organization that's tax exempt it cannot for religious reasons perform that marriage, religious freedoms be upheld. there's much debate about where drawn among legal scholars. e're seeing with conscious rights of individuals in obama in civil e're seeing suits against the photographers -- do not for religious for example,to do, photograph a -- a gay wedding. people are coming under civil attack and are being sued. where that line is is not --

not completely clear. and i don't buy the premise catholic church or any other religious -- itution won't come under on't come under fire for espousing the view that -- that -- if it were -- espousing the view that is anti-gay or seen as anti-gay by the -- by the community. tom's earlier points in what he was saying bout who can be turned off by social conservative views. i want to get your response to this headline. is from charlie cook, well-respected race analyst and race nonpartisan. his column recently is to millennials, the gop must dial back the social

conservatism, placating the cultural and deeply religious republican hin the arty risks alien ating the electorate of the future. i want to get your response to that. most ber one, this is the pro life generation that we've had -- that we've had. seen an uptick in pro-life sentiment among young people. the -- the social sole problem of the republican party in bringing millennials aboard is just not facts.ed by the that people have a they're 18, 19, and 20 and don't change that view as

older and have also en and is -- is something that is being blind by the experience of abortion. the trend owed numbers, an abortion became legal, the prediction was that could not be defended r pro-life could not be defended in the outgoing years had se a whole generation rejected the idea that abortion was anything but a woman's right. yet, here we are 40 years later still engaged in that because the same people change their view as they went in life. went on so with all due respect to harlie cook, i also think that you have to look at who else the issues bring in. muchact that hispanics are more likely to be social economic ves than conservatives. the target group.

i think that the balance of this ou have to look at who you might be losing and who you might be gaining. >> the idea of picking and which social conservative issues to run on ere and to promote in an election, the subject of the reports of the republican national committee after the election, they're sort of looked back and reflection on the election, in that growth and opportunity report, they wrote that when it comes to social in fact beparty must inclusive and welcoming. if we are not, we will limit our attract young people and others including many women who agree with us, but not on issues. your response to the rnc report? >> if they replaced the word social issues" with economic issues, they would be closer to that problem. lost youngomen, they people. hey lost hispanics, primarily

from economic issues. and to single out the social issues when it is, in fact, a part of what is the base s to kind of blind yourself to -- to the overall problem. now, nobody has to believe in 100% of the issues to be a member of the party. they is suggesting that do. but the republican party has pro-life party since the era of ronald reagan. a winning it's been issue that nets more votes than in elections and for -- somebody to say that -- republicans follow the truth strategy on the issues. issues and h on the they go silent. what happens is they lose their base. are on e the people who

the other side of the issue. and people in the middle see hem as a, yes, i'm guilty, i'm not answering an attack. here's no evidence in the report that's given the demonstrates that if those solutions were taken out the republicans the 2012 -- win election. in fact, it would be impossible to do that given where they were economic issues. >> talking with frank cannon, the president of the american principles project. 30 years in the republican policy arena for several different organizations the national organization for marriage, susan b. anthony list among others. questionsto take your and comments. tom is waiting in ridgeway, pennsylvania on our line for democrats. tom, good morning. >> hey, good morning. >> go ahead. washington he journal." caller: nice to be with you. you.od to have caller: to remind francis about affordable bout the

care act by our president, barack obama, that was discussed, that was the big election and ast they lost. it's not about who to go after, the majority of people don't of these ideas, the republican parties are putting forward. marine a 67-year-old veteran of vietnam and i was a republican. seemst no more because it like all of their -- they keep alking about the economy and all that. all they want to put forward is abortion and gay rights and, hey, i'm happily married. i don't care what someone else does in the bedroom. i don't think the federal any business here at all. a big thing -- they didn't want to sign a paper with something to do with it. on't take the money from us taxpayers as a church. and how about, you know, nobody of orced to do any kind contraceptives. nobody ever told me what to use or what not to use.

it's a nonstarter. concentrate on the economy for a change. >> number one, it's not the republican party gay rights isn't an issue that the republican party pushed into the court system and states.sed on impetus on social ssues comes from -- comes from the left, primarily, number one. point two, he has a good about, again, economic issues. i think that the problem is that veteran, -year-old it's not clear to him what the epublican party offers to him in the economic area. years on the social issue

argument. but doesn't have a clear idea of what it is that the republican him as -- as an economic solution to whatever has.lems that he i think that's an area that the republican party needs to -- needs to move in. >> let's go to dave in crockett, exas on our line for independence. dave, good morning. >> good morning. > go ahead, you're on "the washington journal". >> yes. caller: i find it pretty interesting about how the -- he -- the democratic party and the republican party seem to be they're te sides when both actually seems like working same corporations. nd it's -- it's -- this gay issue thing is that there's something years ago you never about, you know? more or less kept in the closet nd it seems like now that

they're trying to force this own the american public's throat to accept it. and to me, i'm not a religious church.i go to but i do have beliefs like the commandments and things like that. is unbelievable that just such a big thing that should be something that shouldn't be accepted, you know? do le do have rights to whatever they want. but they don't have the right to force it on other people. i've been a democrat in the past, switched to republican. independent. and i really have no faith in the american government because i believe they go out there to serve and not their people that put them in there. just conservatives to me republican party

is, is to make the corporations and the poorer poorer. >> i'll give you the last minute we have in this segment. >> well, i think you had in the caller somebody who has instinctive social conservative views. real problem with the republican party is that he feels like it represents not people like him. i think there is a wide swath of people in america who believe party e republican doesn't represent people like them. nd they -- again, believe as the caller did that it represents business interests and corporations. the republican party is strongest when it economic the current needs of people, but also ncludes those who have traditional moral beliefs and social issues have always been a party. issue for the

they continue to be as long as the republican party is willing to fight on those issues. >> frank cannon, the president of the american principles project. that's americanprinciplesproject.org. thank you for having me. >> mr. hogan. >> a live look at the senate floor. they begin preliminary consideration to a bill extending unemployment benefits expired on january 28 by three months through march. that legislation being offered senators jack reed of rhode island, a democrat and senator republican of nevada, senator reed on the far side of the screen on the democratic side. they're voting now. this is a procedural vote on whether to move forward on the the bill. you can follow live coverage of 2.t on c-span we expect to bring you reaction from senators reed and others the the vote sometime in upcoming half hour or so. we'll have that live for you. president who's

expected to speak at 11:40 eastern about unemployment benefits. we'll have that live for you as well. while we wait to hear from we bring you ts, back to our conversation from this morning's "washington focus on this time a the president's climate change policies. desk now oined at the by dan weiss who serves as the director of climate strategy at progress. of american the hot topic of conversation in a ironmental circles was 60-minutes report from sunday that seemed to conclude that the federal government has little to show in the heavy investment in green technology projects in recent years. why the outrage from this story? >> well, it's both -- not it is great disappointment. the "60 minutes" was famed for top-notched investigative reporting. they did a very shoddy job.

leslie staul said nothing she read has indicated many jobs created. you just have to go to the department of energy website to see that the loan guarantee created 55,000 jobs. somehow bs and that escaped her attention. the g.o.e. loan program has a success rate and she was criticizing. only 3% of the investments went bad. 97% had been blossoming. in fact, that's a far bert rate capital.venture on the show itself, several people said when venture capital firms invest in companies they have a 9 out of 10 failure rate. a 97% success rate. again, that was never mentioned on the show. >> for the viewers who haven't segment from "60 minutes," show you now leslie stahl's opening from that piece and come back and talk with dan

weiss about it. >> about a decade ago, the smart people who funded the internet to the heir attention energy sector, rallying tech ways to get invent us all fossil fuels, devise panels, clean cars, and futuristic batteries. name -- got a catchy clean tech. silicone valley got washington excited. president bush was an early supporters. strings truly se loosened under president obama. hoping to create innovation and committed north of $100 billion in loans, grant, and tax breaks to clean tech. but instead of breakthroughs, the sector suffered a string of tax-funded flops. suddenly, clean tech was a dirty word. center eiss is with the of american progress. in that report, you talk about the success rate of government but what leslie

stahl wrong to point out some of profile failures in green technology? solindra, the or solar panel company. fisker $500 million for automotive, abound energy, a-123. power, the green energy companies that have been making headlines in the last couple of years. it wasn't wrong in the sense that those companies have failed even though they received guarantees. but it was completely out of context to not note the 97% rate.ss those companies oh pleasant the rate.ilure let me give you a good example, in the solar industry, for five utility irst scale solar plants were built ith the help of loan guarantees. then the next 10 have been built the private sector on their own. it's that kind of investment that has fostered growth and innovation.

and they've completely missed that. another thing that they missed, in 2012, a newat electricity generation that came on-line, nearly half of it was rated by wind electricity. we've brought down the cost of sorry, advanced batteries for cars, the cost of them has been cut in half thanks the investments, and it's going to be cut by 2/3 by the end of next year. of here's been a lot progress that was never mentioned in that story. know, facts you are stubborn things. you can pull out a couple of things anywhere. make an elephant seem smaller than a mouse if you so inclined. >> this morning, some praise the house energy and commerce committee. republican vice chairwoman of tennessee rn put out a statement yesterday amid some of the concern that came up in environmental circles with this report. she said this report underscores he massive failure of the administration's green energy programs, the obama

ofinistration spent billions taxpayer money propping up the green energy agenda under the guise of job creation. of jobs, this investment has yielded failed rather than the late the federal jobs, loan program has been a massive -- has proven to be a stimulus for l chinese investors. that's congresswoman marsha statement n a yesterday. what is your response to that? little there's very intersection between representative blackburn's statements and the facts. tennessee, her home state, the nissan factory there n smyrna, georgia, got a loan guarantee that has helped them build advanced batteries that used in nissan all electric vehicles. $6 ford motor company got billion in loan guarantees to help them retool their factories make more fuel efficient cars that created 3,000 jobs. havementioned earlier, you

to go to the doe website to see that there's been a 97% success loan guarantees and they've created 55,000 jobs. while representative blackburn's rhetoric reflects the interests of big oil coal ies and big companies, it doesn't reflect the facts. dan weiss of the center of american progress here to talk about clean energy the federal y government. and other climate issues in his ork as the director of climate strategy. our phone lines are open. democrats.80 for 202-585-3881 for republicans. 202-585-3882 for independents. f you're outside of the u.s., 202-585-3883. dan weiss, before you leave, the "60 minutes" report on sunday, " note in the report

they didn't comment. do you think the obama administration is doing enough to talk about the successes that pointed out here this morning? >> you can always talk more about successes. know, what's news is scandal and failure, not success. news the fact that the media, particularly "60 minutes" what they on perceived to be failure when, in fact, they ignored all of the success.of now, it would note that the department of energy did issue a statement yesterday that of the facts that we've been talking about here today. i can't tell you why they didn't advance. do that in >> do you think this is something that the president is going to talk about in his state of the union address? if not this particular report, what do you think the say on green s to energy and climate change issues? >> well, the president has investments in clean energy being critical to educing the carbon pollution responsible for climate change, helping with

competitiveness against china other countries. ermany gets one-quarter of its electricity from wind and solar power. do more. why we can't president talked to me about this yet. them.d urge him to use the clean electricity generated under his watch doubled in the years of his administration. 55,000 jobs under the loan guarantee program. wind power is powering electricity for 15 million homes. wind was half of the electricity in 2012. story to tell about how these smart investments are paying off and jobsing new industries and here in this country. >> several folks waiting to talk to dan weiss of the center for progress. climate the director of

strategy there. anthony waiting on the line for democrats this morning, anthony, morning. caller: good morning, how are you? >> good morning. las r: i'm calling from vegas, nevada. i'm actually an electrician that on one of these clean energy projects. i had been unemployed for a year and a half when this job came up. i'm a member of the union. this was a god send because i as going to run out of employment. thank god the job came up in the state of california. i was able to work on the job. the green technology is a good thing. about 150 of oh, my union brothers have been out of work for a very, very long time. we were know what going to do. the job came up, we went and worked on the job. saved our lives. and this green technology is a good thing. country needs to do

ore investment in green technology. california has a surplus right now. to the green due technology, because when you fossil fuelsoff of and you start relying on green technology, it actually does a lot for your economy. you worked on the idaho plant in the nevada boarder? lost him, but go ahead. >> there's a giant utility solar ready to come on-line. it's on the california side on california-nevada border which is where i'm guessing he's working at. jobs.creating a lot of it's going to produce clean hundreds of or thousands -- not hundreds of thousands, thousands of homes in california and in nevada. that is happening all over the country. >> let's go to our republican line. bay, is waiting in palm

florida. keith, good morning. >> good morning. morning, mr. weiss. >> good morning, keith. >> i appreciate all of the work you do. what't agree with a lot of you say, but i appreciate all of the work that you put in. i have two questions. one on the wind, you said 90% of the new electric generation wind? in was from >> excuse me, i said 43% in 2012 of new generation was from wind. >> 43%. question was how much from solar was brought in? second question is, is 97% billion which you said were successful. and you $97 billion said there was only 55,000 jobs made from that that was listed the internet where you said she didn't read it. and you said ford got $6 billion for new batteries and created

33,000 jobs. it doesn't add up. >> we're spewing a lot of statistics here. the loan guarantee program, which i think was about things like making it buildings more energy-efficient. that's part of the $100 billion also, not heart of the $30 billion program. the $6 billion in loans to ford was a different program. that was the advanced technological vehicle manufacturing program, which was created under president bush. that loaned $6 billion to foe -- to ford motor company for the retooling the factory to make more fuel-efficient cars. that created 33,000 jobs. is the question was where these billions of dollars worth for the jobs created?

exactly. under president obama's program, she said they spent $100 billion for it. but you said it was on the internet that you -- are you saying $100 billion only turned out to be $55,000? the $100 billion, part of that was a program to give loans to companies that cannot otherwise get them. this program started in 2009 after the 2000 eight financial crash and credit markets had frozen. these companies could get loan guarantees to get capital to start the projects. money spent on that program, which i believe was somewhere between $20 billion to $30 billion, that created 55,000 jobs. $70 billion toer $80 billion invested in other things that we do not have data on. things like investing in making

federal build -- federal buildings waste less energy which will save taxpayers money. what about concerns that republican members have pointed out whether this is the right ande to be spending tens $100 billion when the government has so much debt and such a large deficit, whether this is the right place to try to create jobs? >> absolutely. jobs are a part of the benefit. another part of the benefit is clean electricity that we do not have to import, dig up or burn. that will reduce our carbon dioxide for climate change. another part of the benefit is economic competitiveness. he for this program, we were only building less than half of all wind turbines in this country. building 75% of the wind turbines we use in the united states. only valueot the

that has been achieved by this. in addition, many of these are loan guarantees were the loans have been paid back. tesla, the electric vehicle company, paid back its $465 million loan nine years ahead of schedule. we got that money back and we are going to get other money back from other loans. if you look at the whole picture and not just focus on these three or four companies that didn't make it, then you see a much more robust investment that is paying off in terms of cleaner electricity, cleaner transportation, jobs and economic competitiveness. let's go to check in nashville tennessee. he's on the independent line. >> good morning and thank you for taking my call. i have a question regarding some of the statements and around marsha 'sackburn from tennessee

letter. we were talking about nissan and i live right here with the nissan plant. loantated the $1.6 billion that came as a guaranteed loan from the government went to create jobs for nissan and that they are retooling -- >> i said they are making the advanced batteries that would go in the leaf. they are making the batteries at the plant? i don't know where they are building the other components of the car. only 15% of the components of that car are being made in the united states and canada. over 80% are being made in japan. you need to be aware of that great second, you made a comment about ford. i'm not aware of any ford manufacturing plant in the state of tennessee. guest: i did not say it was in

tennessee. god$6 billion in loans ford help them retool 13 different factory so they could rebuild which more fuel-efficient cars like the ford focus, the expedition, the ford fusion and even the f1 50 trucks are all being made at these factories and are being made much more fuel-efficient which will save those drivers thousands of dollars as well as create 33,000 jobs. about where the money is being spent, what is being done to ensure these tens of billions of dollars stay in the united states that do not fund jobs overseas? it is important to note the american recovery and reinvestment act had a buy to makeclause in it, sure as much as possible was built in the u.s.

let me give you an example from the wind industry. a cornerears ago, only of the components for a wind turbine were made in u.s.. thanks to the investments under the recovery act, three quarters of the components in turbines are made in the u.s. just last month, the siemens company, which is a foreign company, announced it had the largest order ever to build wind turbines, and almost $2 billion order to build wind turbines at their plant in fort mason, iowa. that will create about a thousand jobs. sorry, fort madison, iowa. example of where you jumpstart the industry in 2009 when the credit markets were absolutely frozen after the horrible financial crash of 2008 3 it provided capital to loans and loan guarantees and tax breaks. companies were able to keep investing, people were able to get jobs, now they are creating

these facilities. another good example is the first five utility scale to serve thousands of homes, solar power plants were built with loan guarantees. the next 10 under construction are solely with private money. we were able to jumpstart the industry where we had none. we were able to jumpstart manufacturing where there was little before. this has been a win/win for the economy which is why some republicans don't like it. ,ver republican in the house including mrs. blackburn, voted against providing these resources are it no wonder they don't want to talk about their successes. guest: among those who don't like it on twitter -- let's go to rogers waiting in south carolina on the line for democrats. good morning. >> good morning.

i have two things i would like to talk about. is solar energy. congress passed a road to deregulate imports of solar panels. that is one of the reasons solyndra failed. the other thing i would like to talk about is nuclear. we have nuclear loan guarantees. they're building two plants in georgia and two in south carolina and two in tennessee. these were loan guarantees by hassame program and no one mentioned these things here. can you talk a little about that. let me talk about the first thing first. one of the reasons solyndra failed is that it's is this model did not anticipate very cheap solar panels being dumped

in the united states i china. means when a country will come in and underprice a good to kill its domestic competitor in and take over the market. in fact, the commerce department and u.s. trade is working with china to try to alleviate that. nonetheless, solyndra was the exception that proves the rule area cylinder and a couple of other companies failed, 97% of the investments have paid off. remember, in the "60 minutes" show, and private investment capital, have about a 10% success rate. under president, we started the first new nuclear reactors in about 30 years through loan guarantees that happened as part of the recovery package. sense, president obama

is pursuing and all of the above energy strategy. frankly, wall street investors are going crazy over solar energy. there was a story about that friday. there's not a lot about investing in nuclear energy because of the cost concerns, cost overruns, concerns about what you do at the spent waste and since the fukushima meltdown in japan, there's great concern about nuclear safety. it is wall street that is investing in solar and not really investing in nuclear right now. is in chicago, illinois on our win for republicans. i hope you are staying warm in a very cold chicago this morning. no thanks to solar or wind. that was my question. what percentage of all of our , both for heat and electricity, is provided by wind or solar?

lesley stall made it sound really bad. this guy makes it sound overly good. but giving you the facts, sos got that same color now, that it sounds much better than it is. i would note that the 60 minutes report included very few actual facts. lesley stahl said she had not read any of these things that these programs that created jobs, but all she had to do was go to the department of energy website to see that the very loan guarantee program she was criticizing had created 50 5000 jobs. you can go to the website and there's a list of each project they funded and how many jobs are there. when it comes to total overall electricity generation from clean energy, that would be i believe 12% or so.

the amount that has been generated from wind, solar and geothermal has doubled in the past four years and will continue to increase. another big change in electricity generation has been the decline in the use of coal electricity to around 40% and the rise of natural gas from 22% to the low 30%. that has been a big change that has occurred in the last four years. host: john smith's question on twitter -- if you invest a billion dollars in the wind or solar, you will create three times as many jobs as if you invested that money into oil creation. that's because oil production is very capital intensive while

clean energy is very labor- intensive, whether it is putting panels on a roof or building wind turbines, it's much more labor intensive. all, the problem with coal is that it is very expensive. the costs are not paid for by the people who mine the coal or use the cold, it's paid by society at large. the national academy of sciences , are most imminent body, estimates using coal for $60tricity causes at least billion a year in health care costs, premature deaths, more asthma attacks, more hospitalization and lost productivity. not has a huge cost to it factored into your electricity bill. what we need to do is internalize the costs people using coal are actually paying the full cost of the damage from coal, which includes health

problem's. coal power plants are a big part of the climate action announceddent obama last summer. for folks watching that plan and how it's being implemented, what is on tap for 2014? that's a great question. last june, president obama gave a speech about comprehensive plan that had three parts. carbonas to reduce pollution responsible for climate change from power plants. the single largest source of pollution in the u.s.. part of it would be to invest in clean, affordable alternatives like solar energy. it can make our communities much more resilient from the extreme weather linked to climate change like that drought we have had in the southwest or the horrible andding, hurricane sandy

whatnot. help communities will themselves up so they are more resistant to extreme weather. then work with other nations to reduce their pollution as well. on the first part, the president opposed to limit carbon pollution from newly built coal power plants. coal-fired our plants that will be built in the future have to be as clean as natural gas lance. they are also working on a rule that would be proposed this june that would limit carbon pollution from existing power plants. the epa had a dozen meetings around the country to talk to citizens about this. they are drafting the rules that will make the proposal in june. undoubtedly they will have another series of hearings around the country about whether it's the most cost-effective way to reduce pollution. then they are due to finalize that in 2014. to dale in new

jersey on our line for democrats. onler: thank you for coming very this is a very tough crowd. i've been listening to all the questions and i'm happy you are sticking with us and giving us the real facts on this stuff. green energy, solar guide to big advocate of green energy. i went solar with a 7.25 system on my roof about three years ago and i'm telling you, ivan south it has been an amazing difference for our electricity bills. the other thing i wanted to ask businesses't more like malls and big shopping centers having hundreds of house and the panels on their roofs? they're just sitting there baking in the sun every single day. the other question is what do you think about hydrogen fuel cells? is that considered a green energy support for you?

there is a company called plug power doing small fuel cell poweringt are different things. i haven't heard that from you and i wonder if you consider --t clean energy. caller: you.: thank the conversion to solar has been slow. in 2008, there was the huge financial crash that froze up the credit market. wanted to invest in solar panels had a difficult time raising capital necessary to do it. that's where the loan guarantee programs came in and that has helped. in addition, there are new innovative companies like sun theand what is the name of company? bright source? that's not it.

you can look in the "new york times" paper from january 3 that has a different model where you don't have to as the owner of the home, you don't have to invest in the hardware to generate solar energy. hardware,y's own the you just pay them for the electricity and you pay a rate that is lower than what you would be paying for conventional electricity. solar city is the other one i was thinking of. it comes to fuel cells, i'm not familiar with the technology. it is a green energy source, depending on how you produce the hydrogen. if you do it using electricity from a clean source, yes. but if you use a lot of coal- fired electricity to produce the is a closeren it call. i think the fuel source technology is not really ready for commercialization yet as i understand it. this is not my area of

expertise. i don't want to speak any more about it. >> we are talking about the department of energy's loan guarantee program, the one that funded solyndra and other programs. mail --tes in an e- three percent of the loans have been defaulted on. the tesla loan, which is under a different loan guarantee program for advanced automobiles, they to $500 million and a paid it back nine years ahead of time. let's go to brian in shreveport, louisiana on the republicans line. can you hear me?

look, i don't much care about people putting solar panels on their houses, but i used to work offshore and i don't have a job anymore but we can't live in the united states without coal or gas. all this green energy he can you can't live in the united states without oil and gas grade i would like to drive his airplane on electric batteries and windmills. you cannot do that. i lost my job because of what went offshore and everything, but decides all that, y'all can do what you want but i wouldn't have an electric car. you can keep it if you want to. we had to pull off the road and stop for 24 hours.

it took a day and have to half to get to dallas by electric car. all of this is bogus. -- thes climate change american people and people like you just come up with all this garbage about all kinds of this, that, i don't see no climate change out there mr. whoever you are. for -- guest: first, i'm sorry you are out of work and i hope congress will follow president obama's for unemployment insurance for people in your circumstances. we are producing more domestic oil than we have in the last 20 years. we are importing less than in the last 20 years. when president bush left office, we were importing

almost 60% of our oil. now we are importing only 40%. we have made a lot of progress there. second of all, we are producing about 12% of our electricity from renewable energy sources right now. talking about electric cars, this is a technology that is just starting out. one of the most important things you need to do is extend the range vehicles can travel. tofact, people are starting get more interested the -- interested in this. in the first half of last year, more people bought plug-in hybrid vehicles then the year before. they can run 30 or 40 miles using lean and it you don't recharge, it switches over to gasoline. those people are saving thousands of dollars a year in lower gas purchases. >> we are going to leave this now and take you live to the

senate gallery as we hear from democratic leaders and the first step in the unemployment insurance bill passing the senate. this is live coverage here on c- span. >> in assisting 1.3 million americans who lost their extended unemployment benefits on december 28. and also, the millions more that will lose it throughout the course of this year. there are still a great deal of work to be done, but we have literally changed this debate. there wereweeks ago, colleagues talking about unemployment insurance as a disservice to the american worker. today, we are talking about the vital nature of this program and the need to extend it. about shouldalking it be paid for in the long term? are there other changes that could be made? 2012de several changes in

and we are moving forward. we have to collaborate. we have to be constructive, but aday, i think we have given bit of hope to millions of americans who are struggling in a difficult economy to find jobs , who are struggling to provide sustenance to their families, to pay the heat bill, put some gas in the car, and to keep looking for work. this is juststand providing the immediate assistance people need. the longer term is to create the jobs, to build the economy where these programs are not as necessary as they are today. efforts a work of great that was collaborative and i'm pleased to be with my colleagues today who played such a critical role.

around,shaheen, senator senator schumer -- without them, this would not have happened. thank you and thank you for your leadership on this. you and senator heller made this a bipartisan vote. it was good news to see the 60 votes to go ahead and move forward to the bill. the 1.3od not just for million families who will benefit, but it's also going to be good for the economy of the united states. officegressional budget and numerous economists have indicated this is one of the helpthings we can do to keep money in the economy, keep it stimulated. it is a good way to spend public dollars to encourage private sector response. this is good for families but it's also going to be good for our economy as we know people who get unemployment insurance will spend those dollars and not

put them in the bank. as senator reed said, as we think about how to create jobs, this is one of the challenges we have. making sure people can still go on and look for work and that those dollars can be used to buy gasoline, to pay for groceries, to pay people's rent area it is important because it keeps a lot of other people working in the economy. nows very good news area serious negotiations have to start to figure out how to get this bill passed. >> before i introduce senator brown, have to arsenal he thanked senator heller of nevada. up, responding to his constituents and to what he was seeing in his home state, but across the country. he provided great leadership and he did it with thoughtful, persistent advocacy and we are here today in large part because of his efforts and my colleagues, my democratic colleagues, but also on my

republican colleagues who stepped forward and said let's put the rhetoric aside for a moment and try to help people and do it in a constructive, collaborative way. >> it is eight degrees below zero in cleveland today. seems like it's almost that cold here. vote, thanks to senator reid and senator heller, this a partisan vote will help jobs,people who have lost it will help them fix their car with the local car mechanic so that they can drive and look for work. all about social insurance. people pay into this when they are working and when they have lost their jobs. it is important they get those benefits and no one gets these benefits without looking for

jobs day after day after day. --t is why this important that is why this is important. we got a strong bipartisan vote out of the senate great acting that's good news for a memo wage increase down the road. the last time we did memo wage, it was 2007. a strong bipartisan vote in both houses signed by president bush, we hope to replicate that kind of effort in 2014. it is also good news on all kinds of manufacturing job growth issues we are working on. we just came from a meeting with the manufacturing caucus, a group of members of the senate from both parties who care about job creation and manufacturing. the last point i would like to make is senator shaheen mentioned how this is good for the economy. 100 years ago this week, henry ford announced he would pay his workers five dollars a day. that was the person sweeping the

floor, the person building the model t. what henry ford understood is what 60 members of the senate understood today. when you put money in people's pockets, they spend it and it grows the economy. maybe to buy a model t in his day, but today it means they spend the money locally in grocery stores, the car mechanic, the hardware store, buying clothes for their kids, keeping them alive. what it means for the 52,000 people in ohio who saw their unemployment expire at the end of last year and what it means to our economy as a whole. 28, 18,000ber families in oregon got a lump of wel in their stocking when failed to reauthorize the emergency unemployment program. this coming year, we are going to see another 58,000 oregon families affected. then we have the broader economy .n oregon

this action would eliminate about 4000 jobs. i can tell you the citizens in createwant to see us jobs, not destroy jobs. in this case, we have a win/win for the families themselves, a stronger foundation, a stronger bridge to the next job in areas of high unemployment. that is something that is helping the water economy at the same time. this was a bipartisan program developed under president bush prayed this morning, we had a bipartisan vote to debate the bill. we have to make sure we have a bipartisan support to actually reauthorize this program and takes his lumps of coal out of the stockings. townweekend, i was doing halls in oregon. four of them were in rural areas. there's higher unemployment in rural areas. the average unemployment is about 7.3%.

, it's almostties 12%. the time it takes to get another job is much longer. that's true in high unemployment states and that's true across the country. huge logic and huge impact on families, but let's understand there is a fundamental viewpoint here. down, are theyre going to get a helping hand in the bridge to the next job? are they going to get kicked while they are down? the bipartisan helping hand is what we have to develop and get reauthorized with due speed. >> i want to thank my colleagues , senator reid and senator heller for their leadership and my colleagues senator shaheen, brown and murphy for working hard on this issue. today brought us a glimmer of

hope. that's good news in two ways. first is it doesn't close the door on actually getting this bill passed. it allows us to sit down and negotiate. but the second is it shows the big tectonic plates in our politics are moving. the issues that dominated the first five years of the president term, the deficit above all and obamacare, are becoming less important than helping the average american family gets i as job growth isn't as robust as we would like it and as middle-class incomes this decade have declined for the first time in american history. our republican colleagues realize that. that's why they didn't shut the door on things because they saw as this chart shows, the kind of unemployment we face. much higher now. if our colleagues -- second

is a good- hope this faith negotiation. the offer senator mcconnell made to the senate is a nonstarter. we hope, some of us fear, our republican colleagues while later the power of this issue do not want to pass it and will put some obstacles in the way that will prevent the bill from passing. clearly the amendment proposed by senator mcconnell is not going to pass. we do not want a mexican standoff where we put in our pay for and they put in their pay for. i could think of a pay for that makes a lot more sense than senator mcconnell's. take away the tax break for companies that ship jobs overseas. that would reduce unemployment and lower the cost of unemployment insurance. i think we would have every democrat vote for that but i suppose that would be a nonstarter for our republican colleagues in the senate and house. the fundamental question is are

they going through a charade to show they really, really want a come to anhey can't agreement and there are two different versions or can we have serious negotiations and get something done? we hope it is the latter. if our republican colleagues continue to play games with this, they will show how far out of the mainstream they are. the original flame -- the original framework euros passed by george bush, a conservative republican president, when unemployment was 5.6% grade have republicans moved so far out of the mainstream that they reject even that? even unemployment benefits for 10, 20,ho have worked 30 years, at one job, then lost their job and spending every day going online or knocking on

doors trying to find a job and they can't? certainly we didn't hear the theory of the hard right or what rand paul said, that unemployment benefits are a disservice to our workers. this idea that people don't want to work is fundamentally misreading the american character. americans do want to work. and there is a satisfaction in the job well done for ceos and people who make sure the floors are spotlessly clean late at night in a hospital. hope the vote today indicates our republican colleagues will negotiate in good faith. we are open to such negotiations. of myeve it i think most colleagues believe it would be better to pass unpaid for if we can't come to an agreement or even if we could because it stimulates the economy. bill passed.t this it is too important for the average american family not to.

>> are you accepting the notion negotiations are going to be aimed at offsetting [inaudible] pass this prefer to 90 day extension so we can assure millions of americans they are going to get their benefits without disruption. senator schumer said the same thing the cousin want to grow jobs as well as take care of the unemployed. typically this is emergency spending which is not offset. last year, at the beginning of 2013, we passed with overwhelming republican support a one-year extension of unemployment benefits that were not paid for. this notion of selectively saying it must be paid for is not the case. most times we have not paid for

these benefits. our preference is clearly weak want to get these things done, this 90 day extension. , ifa year-long extension you have thoughtful ways to deal with it and senator schumer suggested one, there are many others and we are certainly going to listen. we have to have another bipartisan effort to get this measure finally passed. strictly from the economic sense, strictly from the history, the last number of times we've done this, most recently in 2013, these benefits were not paid for. best choice, pass it no strings attached, get done and get it done quickly. second best choice is finding a reasonable pay for that can work

on both sides of the aisle. that is a lot easier said than done. we may be being somewhat walked into a cul-de- sac by our colleagues that don't have an intention of doing that. choice is you just have competing pay for is that no one can pay for and we don't get this done. it hurts our economy and hurts workers. you say what would be a reasonable pay for? >> senator schumer suggested some of these tax revisions that deprive the government of revenue but also help employee jobs overseas when we need jobs here.

there are whole lists of not only tax loopholes but other things we could consider. i don't want to foreclose escutcheons. at this point, having secured a very partisan -- very bipartisan vote getting us on to the measure, we want to go forward include,aith and not exclude, etc., but simply say we are willing to listen. cautioned, weumer have to have something that makes sense for the economy, make sense for the people, and something we can generally support. i hope my republican colleagues will approach it the same way. anyone else? >> were you surprised by the vote today? >> it was in the balance until the very last moment. i was hopeful but i guess eating irish, i'm always expecting the

worst. i was surprised, but that would be more cultural than political. >> i'm not being irish. i think we are all a bit francisd but pope exhorted his parish priests to go out and smell like the flock. thinkote like this, i members of the senate are increasingly hearing from constituents. a number of our colleagues did events during the holidays and if they were out in public, they were hearing from people whose unemployment benefits expired. -- it was thousands everywhere in this country and not only is that it news for unemployment insurance, but it's good news for minimum wage, good news for manufacturing, for really focusing on job growth

and more and more, my colleagues are hearing that. much.nk you very [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> senate democrats after the 6237 to advance the unemployment insurance bill, the uninsured -- unemployment insurance benefits lab and this would extend them another three months through march and the cloture vote to advance the legislation, 6237, all democrats voting yes and six republicans among including dean heller,

sponsor of the underlying legislation, senator collins, senator portman and senator coats of indiana voted in favor. in just a moment, we will take you live to the white house where we are waiting to hear from president obama. this is the east room and the president is expected to talk about the extension of unemployment benefit insurance and the republican leadership in the senate is eyeing the end of the week for some sort of final passage vote on that. debate liveow the in the senate on c-span two. in just a minute or two, we'll hear from president obama and we will also hear from you and open up the phones and read some of your tweets and comments about the senate toss action in advancing the legislation. you can also post your comments on facebook and while we wait for the president, we will bring you the comments from senator dean heller from nevada, yesterday on the senate floor.

here is what he had to say. president, >> a senator from nevada. but thank you, madam president. i rise to discuss an issue that has been on the forefront of many americans minds during the new year, and that is extending the benefits for the unemployed. important of course for a lot of americans. i want to thank my colleague and friend from rhode island, senator jack reed for his effort as we work together to get this proposal to move forward for today's vote. i hope my friends and colleagues here in the senate enjoyed the holidays and everyone returned refreshed and ready to tackle some of the tough issues we have had here in 2014. unfortunately, while congress approximately 17,000 nevadans greeted the new year not with the optimistic expectations of a fresh tart,

but with the anxiety about how they are going to feed their families or even pay their utility bills. when congress left washington dc in december, a lot of important matters were left undone and expired. as a result, millions of americans were left with no idea whether or not their employment benefits were going to be fixed retroactively, something they have -- something that has become all too common for this congress to do. helping those in need should not be a partisan issue. social thatlimited is one of the responsibilities of the federal government. unfortunately, instead of planning ahead, figuring out the best way to do that, we are forced to decide whether or not to reinstate these benefits after they have expired. some relief tode the millions of americans left hanging when congress went home in december and temporarily

extend unemployment benefits through the next three months. it is the right thing to do. that will help these families whose benefits expired abruptly while congress works out a longer-term solution to provide americans with some certainty and is fiscally responsible. i understand my colleagues concerns about the cost and their desires to pay for this extension. i too want to see our federal debt wrought under control and i think my voting record is proof of that concern. i too believe congress should be more focused on passing laws that help create jobs. should ber economy the primary focus and concern of this body. as a senator of the state that leads the nation in unemployment, believe me, i understand the importance of refocusing on jobs. hereld rather be down discussing innovative ways of creating jobs instead of the need to extend unemployment

benefits yet again. , madam president, because of this administration and even some of the choices of this body, unfortunately, our economy is not growing quickly enough and many americans are still hurting, including a lot of nevadans. on thisepeated often floor that nevada consistently tops the charts in unemployment, bankruptcies, and foreclosures. the statistics are surely revealing. more startling is the obvious increase in impoverished nevadans i meet when i go home and i would like to share an example, madam president. every thanksgiving, one or two of my children join me in serving thanksgiving dinner to folks in reno who are in need and cannot cook a thanksgiving meal for themselves. daughter in her freshman year

in college join me in this experience. every year, that dinner sees more and more attendees. every year, the number of individuals and families who need help increases. venue was the absolutely packed. when my daughter and i arrived, the line was four blocks long outside the venue. it is such an obvious example of how so many nevadans are unable to provide for their basic needs and this cannot be ignored. i know many economists point to a national employment rate that is improving, but at home, we don't feel it. the unemployment rate in nevada consistently exceeded the national average. the silver state has led the nation for the past three years in unemployment and the results are people in nevada are really hurting. it is difficult to stand here in the nation's capital, an area

that has felt little impact of the recession and describe just how tough times are for so many of my constituents. at these inks giving anders, hear about choices individuals ,r foist -- are forced to make to pay for heat in the frigid nevada weather or buy school supplies for their children or save for the future. these are hard-working individuals who rely on benefits. they are trying to find a job. they want to provide for their children. but for these benefits to simply vanish without giving family the time to plan or figure out alternatives to help them get by to me is just not right. the cost ofand these benefits. i would prefer to see them paid for in a manner that does not burden our nation with more dead. i have introduced legislation previously that would do just

that. legislation that would extend unemployment benefits while still paying for them. introduced an alternative to a more costly bill because i think it is important to bring the nations debt down. i'm willing to work with my colleagues to introduce similar legislation again this year. i propose meantime, we passed the short extension now and allow congress the opportunity to spend the next three months debating how to pay for these benefits in the future or perhaps how much longer they should be extended area those are important questions worthy of more debate. in the meantime, congress must provide temporary relief to those who are unemployed. paying for these benefits would be the best approach. congress could have taken the harder road to figure out a way to do that before departing for the holiday break and leaving millions of americans hanging,

so let'sdidn't area pass this short term extension and focus on a more fiscally responsive solution. >> republican senator dean heller yesterday on the senate floor. one of the cosponsors of the unemployment benefits. the senate a short while ago agreed to move forward with that legislation which would extend unemployment benefits another three months. those benefits lapsed at the end of december. here on c-span, we are live in the east room of the white house am a waiting to hear from president obama. we expect that to get underway shortly. follow your reaction by

phone, by tweet, and facebook. the #we are using is c-span chat. extendings unemployment in a fit is the things the -- is the thing to do , companies can complain the economy they built caused it. sheila says this is a ruse to get you not to talk about obamacare. are you going to stand for this? live coverage, waiting for president obama, here on c-span. while we wait for president obama, some of the comments this morning from the republican leader on the senate floor as the senate dabbled into session. >> a number of stories about how democrats plan to spend the year gearing up for november elections by making an issue out

of economic hardships faced by americans. instead of working on reforms that would actually help people overcome the challenges so many of them face in this economy, democrats plan to exploit those folks for political gain. is really amazing when you think about it. we are now in the sixth year of the obama administration. hasll know the stock market been doing great, so the richest among us are doing just fine. but what about the poor? what about working-class folks? folks who work in industries liberals don't approve of like cold? how many of these americans have been doing well during the obama economy? arerd numbers of them having a perfectly terrible time. one indicator is the growth of the food stamp row graham.

consider this -- since the president took office, the number of americans who signed up for food stamps has literally skyrocketed. [applause] >> thank you. good morning. my name is catherine hackett and i'm from connecticut. i'm very grateful that president obama invited me here today in response to a letter i wrote to him about the discontinuation of federal unemployment insurance. i am unemployed and i will be significantly affected by the decision. and i'm is devastating working very hard every day to look for a position.

the interim, unemployment benefits have been absolutely essential to cover my bare necessities. i have cut expenses everywhere possible and i'm not just sitting home enjoying the good my cuts include heating my health to 58 degrees, wearing a hat and a coat to stay warm because oil is expensive, i have lost weight is food is expensive. as a single mother, i have worked many different jobs and never asked for a handout while i raise two wonderful boys. both of my sons are serving in the u.s. military. letas very hard for me to one of my boys serve a year in afghanistan, but i did and he was route to serve his country. washingtonleaders in can find a solution to help families like mine. at this time, it is my great

honor to introduce the president of the united states, president barack obama. [applause] >> everybody, have a seat. happy new year, everybody. i hope you are keeping warm. said 2014s ago, i could be a breakthrough year for america. think about it. five years ago, this month, our economy was shedding 800,000 jobs in one month. as americans buckled down and sacrificed, we began to come back. -- our businesses

have created 8 million new jobs. our auto industry has gone from bust to boom, the stock markets are restoring retirement accounts. the promise of energy independence is in sight. health care costs eat up less of our economy. costs have grown at the slowest rate on record. cut our deficits by more than half since i took office. america is getting stronger and we have made progress trade the economy is growing and we have to do more to make sure all americans share in that. we have to help as this is create more jobs and make sure those jobs offer the wages and benefits that let families rebuild a little security. in other words, we had to make sure this recovery leaves nobody behind. we have a lot of work to do on that front. the good news is i am optimistic

we can do it if we do it together. before the holidays, both parties compromised on a budget that lists some of the drags that have been on the -- that lifted some of the dragon the economy from these indiscriminate cuts we call sequester. stability when it comes to economic growth. saying we arein all grateful in the new year that we won't have another artist and shutdown hopefully going forward. [applause] that was a good sign. we should build on that progress with what i said should be the first order of business in 2014. that was extending uninsured -- extending insurance for the unemployed. [applause]

is ominous this morning, the senate took a very important step in the right direction. millions like them who were laid off in the recession through no unemploymentr own, insurance has been a vital economic lifeline. people, the support while they look for a new job, these are not nooks who are not just sitting back waiting for things to happen, they are out there at the lee looking for work. they desperately want work. although the economy has been growing and we have been adding new jobs, the truth of the matter is the financial crisis was so devastating that there is still a lot of people who are struggling.

if we don't provide unemployment insurance, it makes it harder to find a job. catherine's story. she's far more eloquent than i could ever be. she wrote me last month to say think i'm those who sitting at home enjoying being unemployed knows i would much rather be working and i had a chance to talk to catherine and i think it's pretty clear that is the case. catherine went on to say i have lied to everything for which i am possibly qualified to no avail. i work hard all my life, paid ines, voted, engaged political discussion, and made the ultimate sacrifice -- my two sons serve in the u.s. military. job loss is devastating and if i could fix it myself, i would. i challenge any lawmaker to live without an income. that's what she says. [applause]

it's hard. so, when we've got the mom of two of our troops who is working is having toe but wear a coat inside the house, we have a problem. and it's one that can be fixed. katherine's not alope. devlin smith, watching from california, wrote me about her hunt for a new job. since she was laid off 13 months ago, she sent out hundreds of resumes, she's volunteered, seasonal work. she doesn't want to be sitting around the house. she's taking online courses to learn new skills. without unemployment insurance, she won't be able to pay for her car or self-phone, which makes the job hunt that much harder.