fail, you have to start with fannie and freddie. there is no one who is bigger than these two institutions. >> in 2008, one of my colleagues thought, you have two insolvent companies, we have to get rid of them. how hard can -- how hard can that be? and here we are five years later and still hasn't happened. >> what do you think that tells us about the administration's real position on house regular form and what should we expect oming out of it? >> i'm supposed to be meeting with my former colleague soon, looking to my trusty staff, i hink he's reached out. i have a lot of respect for mel

watt, we have not seen eye to eye on many issues, i'm hoping that perhaps from a different perspective in the top row on the democratic side of the house financial services committee maybe there'll be an epiphany about issues, i don't know that to be true. i will comment less on my former colleague and perhaps comment more on his predecessor and that is, rarely will you find a more astute, finer public servant than ed demarco, who did incredible work and so without saying anything about mel watt, i think it speaks volumes about the administration and -- in replacing ed demarco, who was realy -- and a lot of the path act, frankly is codifying into

law a lot of ground breaking work that he's done as head of the shfa. so that will be the polite and avote way i avoid your question. >> why don't we take another estion, but i want to -- add to that, ed demarco is a public servant who does deserve a lot of applause. >> over here on the right. >> mr. chairman, thank you very much. you've done a great job of standing in the flood insurance reform debate for something other than political expediency. i want to ask, can you talk a little bit about the interplay between the housing requirements and the flood insurance program and maybe if you learned anything from that debate about how to get the path act over the finish line? >> i think johnny manziel will o high in the nfl draft.

flood. clearly a number of my colleagues have legitimate concerns about the pace of reform, sticker shock for a number of their constituents. here's what i believe. i will not be part of any that m, policy, act hastens the bankruptcy of a program that is already under water, unintended. i will not be part of an action to accelerate the bankruptcy of our public. i will not be part of an action that fundamentally undermines what i viewed at the time as very modest reforms of the

national flood insurance program. i'm on the record as saying that in this congress, the house financial services committee will take up legislation to ultimately transition us to a private market. i do not believe that there is fundamental market failure. i think we should allow the market to work. now, it's going to be a transition. that bill is not going to be written today. i'm attempting to work with my colleagues to see if there is a way that we can address their concerns and many of these concerns are legitimate but ultimately, hardworking american taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize other people's flood insurance program -- flood insurance premiums. this is particularly true for those who have vacation homes and if you have a vacation home,

you ought to be able to afford the flood insurance and if you can't, maybe you can't afford the vacation home. and repetitive loss properties, why the guy who work at the pepsi bottling plant in mesquite, texas, in my district, has to be subsidizing some rich trial attorney's florida beech condo is beyond me. it is patently unfair. patently unfair. so what have i learned about path that's going to make it easier to deal with flood? eats the heck out of me. >> a quick comment, the biggert-waters flood insurance bill was only able to be passed because the act itself was up for re-authorization. the lesson should be, whatever piece of legislation you're ever writing, including -- include a sunset. that's the only way to make it

go away at some point. ultimately the solution, i have a lot of sympathy for those who are forced to be in flood insurance, the solution is not to continue to give them subsidized flood insurance, the solution is to let them get out and buy flood insurance on the market for a cheaper rate or bear that risk themselves. >> one more question, maybe the laity in red in the back? i'm a fan of mr. watts because of his advocacy on the judiciary for the 2d art, one of - one of the first to give a shoutout for photographers. opening conversation is the market, how people are now merging. just a suggestion from left field. i quipped several

times,s the libertarian in me, apologies to my conservative friends, i often wonder what a better deal it would have been if barney frank chaired judiciary instead of financial. i think the s.e.c. has dragged etc. feet on implementing the jobs act. i think we have an opportunity here to really grow investments from the bottom up. that's something i think is a direction we need to go. i'll also say, i'm not as there's a silver lining with mr. watt. i think some of the concern is that he goes back to either funding the trust fund or forcing affordable housing goals. i look at it this way. we've seen so much of the talk about the possibility of fannie and freddie to delay the debate, if he takes actions that makes

them less profitable and they lose money, we'll have a better chance at reform. >> the eternal optimist. >> in d.c. we have an area called brookline which is housing for the arts so there is a way to open the door with mr. watts in a less combative, more hello how are you and then take the conversation broader. >> thank you for that. chairman thank you for being here. we put on this event today because we wanted to highlight big, bold leaders work big, bold ideas and i can't think of anybody in the house right now, certainly anybody with with a committee assignment like you have, so we're grateful for you being here and thank you all for listening. >> on c-span, we're taking you live to cambridge, maryland, democratic leaders concluding, there's the head of the democratic caucus brief regular porters on their upcoming two-day retreat. >> we just had a great welcome

from the governor of the great state of maryland, martin o'malley. we had a wonderful presentation by a couple of economists who talked to us about building an economy that works for all americans. that's what we're here to to do for the next two and a half days, talk about how we reward work, how we provide economic security to all americans, how we make sure that the economy of tomorrow works for everyone. not just some, but for everyone. how we return to those days when we really could say to our children, the american dream is before you. quite honestly, these last few days have been good days for americans. yesterday we maintained the full faith and credit of the united states of america and did not cause american families' mortgages to -- mortgage interest rates to go way up. we made sure people can still borrow at a decent rate. today, hundreds of thousands of americans woke up hearing the president tell them you're getting a raise to $10.10 if

you're working at minimum wage. i think we're ready to work. and we want to get out there and do the things that show americans that we're ready to take action, that we're ready to work on their behalf. this should be a year of action. there's no reason why 2014 should be a year of shutdown politics or why don't we just pack up and put it away and say there's no more we can do we can do things like raise the minimum wage, not just for workers, for federal contractors, but for all americans. we can guarantee equal pay for equal work. we can renew emergency unemployment insurance for 1.7 million americans and we can finally fix a badly broken immigration system. we know on the him gration -- immigration reform front that we have the votes to pass that bill and we believe we have the votes today to pass all those initiatives we just negligenced. that's why we think this should be a year of work, a year of action. that's why we're here, assembled

in maryland to talk about how we as democrats will work with the president for this year of action on behalf of the american public. with that, let me turn to the leader, nancy pelosi. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, to you and mr. crowley, thank you for providing the auspices for which we can come together to work for an economy that works for all americans. we heard from some experts on -- some economists today, we are in a lively exchange of ideas. and one of the ideas that emerges in all that we hear is that what women -- when women succeed, america succeeds. the reinforcement of the -- of that principle is one that, again, the president reinforced by raising to -- guaranteeing a minimum wage to all people who work for contractors with the federal government. but on our agenda of when women

succeed, america succeeds, and men do too, it's about pay equity and raising the minimum wage, it's about paid sick leave, it's about children learning, parents earning, with quality affordable child care. and also we come a day after the house of representatives passed the debt ceiling. can you imagine -- let me read from the constitution. the 14th amendment declares that the validity of the public debt of the united states of america authorized by law shall not be questioned. the action that we took yesterday reinforces that, honors that statement in the constitution. it's really stunning that 199 republicans voted to default on the full faith and credit of the united states of america. that is not in furtherance of an economy that works for all

americans. in fact, it doesn't work for america at all, whether it's our global standing or whether it is what is happening at kitchen tables across the country. as mr. becerra said, what interest people will pay on their car loans, mortgage payments, college loans, business -- small business loans, should they be small business people. what it means to people's 401k's, the impact of a default on the full faith and credit of the united states of america. to putting all of this, it was a oneness. with a oneness of confidence. confidence in our economy that -- it wants to share prosperity for all americans. confidence in the economy again that works for all americans. we're very excited about the enthusiasm of members. we're hopeful that with the cooperation between democrats and republicans yesterday on the floor, grateful to the speaker for bringing up the legislation, he knows the consequence of a

default. but yet 199 of his colleagues did not share that concern. stunning. and i think no senator voted -- no republican senator -- thank you. no republican senator voted to lift the debt ceiling. every one of them voted to default on the full faith and credit of the united states. it's really important that the public understand what is at stake in these debates. today is president lincoln's birthday, february 2, is when we used to always celebrate it. now it's a whole weekend and a week and the rest. february 12. president lincoln said, public sentiment is everything. the public has to know how they are affected by public policy in washington, d.c. they want america to have a raise. america deserves a raise. the work eth exis alive and well

in our country, we're hearing from economists how the creativity thrives across america and that is what creates jobs for an economy that works for all americans. so we're very excited that a year of action, working with the president, hopefully working in a bipartisan way and in that spirit, i'm pleased to yield to the distinguished democratic whip of the house, the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer. mr. hoyer: thank you, madam leader. chris van hollen and i are verying very pleased to have all of you here. all of our colleagues here. to maryland. and we were very proud of our governor this evening as we spoke to our caucus. and he focused on the issues that the president focused on and he focused on it first in an optimistic way. our president just a few weeks ago said he was optimist exthat we had done better, but we were not where we needed to be.

we still needed to invest in growing our economy and getting opportunity to our people. he said that he wanted to work together for the congress of the united states and i would suggest to you that every time that we have had a bipartisan vote, america has been advantaged. whether it was paying our bills, as we did yesterday, unfortunately, not on a bipartisan way in the united states senate, not a great bipartisan vote but a bipartisan vote. when we funded goth, when we passed the omnibus appropriations bill. d replaced the devastatingly negative sequestration around the leadership of chris van hollen. so acting in a bipartisan fashion is a good thing for the country. but the president said we need to act. action.

the american public did not send us to the congress of the united states not to do the public's business. not to invest in growing their economy. not to vote to make sure they get paid a wage that they can live on. not to allow them to fall through the cracks because we don't increase the unemployment insurance rate. not to not help the economy by passing comprehensive immigration reform, that i know others will speak about. while i'm optimistic that when we act together, america will succeed, women will do better, all of us will do better and we will, the phrase i've used so often, make it in america. that's what americans want to do. that's what young people want to do. they want to have a sense that they can make it in america. that's why people kim to -- came to america, to make it, to seize the opportunity that is the american dream. while i'm optimistic, i'm concerned when mr. huelskamp

says, quote, that's what our leadership said. if we get past this one, referring to the extension of the debt limit, so america would ay its bills, we're done until the election. let's hope that's not true. let's hope that the republicans want to work with the president and with us to make sure that we can make it in america. that women do better and america will do better, that we invest in our people and grow our economy so that everybody can make it in america. now let me yield to my dear colleague and friend, the assistant leader, mr. jim clyburn. >> thank you very much, mr. hoyer, madam leader, colleagues. i think that all of us have been bowied -- buoyed today by the

actions of the president, establishing a minimum wage for frl contractors. that executived offer, i think, is something that extends in areas that we have not touched on, in one instance, for about 20 years. it's been 20 years since we have for the ed a floor people who earned basalries from tips. that was established at $.13. -- $2.1320 years ago. nd $2.13 20 years ago and this raises it to $4.90 and covers concessions and service contract as well. which means that these concession stands we see, where

have people blind and disabled who do certain services for the state government under contract with the federal government, that service is covered as well. i believe it's time for us as a congress to pass that bill. 4.6 uld immediately lift million americans above the poverty level. that's what that regulation would do. i think it's high time that we do that. because as is often said, over 60% of the people who are -- will benefit from the minimum wage are women. have children. so -- i think it's important for

us to look at one other thing. we hear all this talk about minimum wage as it relates to young workers. the fact of the matter is, the average age of minimum wage employees is 35 years old. and they have at least one child. this is all about lifting households, lifting women, lifting children above the poverty level and i would hope that the congress, our republican friends, would join us in passing the bill to raise the minimum wage over the next two years. with that, i would like to yield to the vice chair of our caucus, congressman joe crowley. >> thank you, chairman. an economy that works for everyone. that's what we all strive for. that's what our democratic caucus is striving for as well.

we're pleased by the actions the president took today in terms of increasing the minimum wage for federal contract workers. we're also pleased that the congress has acted as well as it pertains to the debt limit. there are things we should be happy about and we are happy about them. we also hope that this is a watershed moment, that more will come from this. i'm not holding my breath. ere are 1.7 plus million americans today who find themselves economically stran dad -- stranded. they're in an island surrounded by economic debt. desperately searching for a job and have now been denied an extension of unemployment insurance. what that means to these individuals is that as they continue to look for work, provide for their families, their education, their food,

their medicine, their rent, their mortgage, their government is not there because republican caucus refuses to extend unemployment insurance for these individuals and their families. i have a gentleman from new york who has contacted me, asking is there any way we could see forward a bill this week before we broke for our district work period? and i had to tell him, i didn't think it was likely after the senate was unable to pass it. very difficult to tell someone who is so desperate, in fact, looking at the prospects of losing his home and what that means to a family, how devastating that is to a family. my republican colleagues often talk about how pro-family they are. here's an opportunity to send a message to 1.8 million americans , not democrats, not

republicans, not red, plu -- blue, green, whatever color. just americans who are desperately trying to make ends meet. send a message. give these people hope that their country believes in them as much as they believe in this country. give them hope and give them the opportunity to take kear of their families. a modest amount, not everything, but just something to help make ends meet and pass unploifment insurance extension. with that, i would like to turn it over to our point person on the budget committee, and a marylander as well, chris van hollen. >> thank you, joe. i want to join with steny hoyer and all my colleagues in welcoming you to maryland. as leaders and others have said, we've gotten off to a great start. we're focused on what specific actions we can take to make sure the economy works for all americans. that was the subject of the discussion we just had, with a number of economists. and certainly if we want the

economy to work for everybody, we've got to reform our broken tax code because right now we have a tax code that in too many places is rigged to help very powerful special interests and folks at the very high end of the income scale at the expense of the rest of the country. a case in point are the provisions in the tax code that actually encourage big corporations to ship american jobs overseas. we want to ship american products overseas, not american jobs overseas. another provision in the tax code that encourages big corporations to move their process to tax shelters overseas, rather than having those funds invested here in america, in american jobs. so we're going to continue to push as the president outlined in his state of the union address for a tax code that works for everybody. not just for powerful special interests. that make sure we encourage

investment here in the united states in all sorts of innovation and modernize our infrastructure because that will help put more americans back to work in good paying jobs. we hope our republican colleagues will join us in that effort. and now i want to turn it over to steve israel a good friend who is focused every day on trying to make sure that we build an economy that works for everybody. steve israel. >> thank you, chris. what you've heard from my pay agues, rising wages, equity for women, a fair tax code, immigration reform, these are not just topics, these are the fundamental differences in the united states congress right now between democrats and republicans. this is about whose side are you on? and on every one of those issues, rising wages, pay equity, immigration reform, a

fair tax code, we're on the side of the american people. we're going to continue to focus on this dominant theme, whose side are you on? at this conference, over the next nine months, as we focused on this in the past. in california today, i will add, one of our colleagues, gary g. miller, the most vulnerable republican in congress, decided he was on the wrong side and jumped ship because he himself knows that you cannot continue to defend the indefensible, you can nont continue to defend the wrong priority. and the wrong values in front of the american people. thank you very much. >> there was a statement today with a summary of your remarks to labor that shows you're opposed to president obama's latest trade initiative. what do you oppose and what do

you expect to hear from him on friday? >> i don't know -- i think the characterization that you're saying of the statement -- we weren't talking about president obama's trade initiative. we were talking about camp that camp i said then because cus -- camp-baucus in its present form is unacceptable to me. i have worked with many of our colleagues to try to find some common ground but in its present form it is unacceptable. that is not, as you suggested a rejection of the president's trade agenda. it's a rejection of the current camp-baucus. we're the party of john f. kennedy, we're the party of free trade, fair trade, and we believe the global economy is here to stay and we're part of it. as mr. van hollen said, we want to export pruckses overseas, not transport jobs overseas.

we have a tax code right now that rewards businesses that send jobs overseas that has to be reversed to reward businesses that create jobs in the united states. an all very much a part of economy that works for all americans. i just want to add to something that my colleagues were saying. what the -- when mr. israel was talking about the difference between democrats and republicans, we see, and what the president said in his speech, we he talked about an opportunity agenda. we have long seen an opportunity gap in our country. we have to do what we can to close that gap. and the difference, one of the differences in our approach is that we understand that the american people are not fully participating in the prosperity that some are enjoying in our country. not any part of it.

we understand the republicans are indifferent. indifferent to those who need a raise in the minimum wage. indifferent to those who need an extension of the unemployment benefits and the list goes on. would any of my colleagues leek to say anything about trade? >> you've been known to give us a likelihood or prediction of things happening in elections. what do you think the likelihood of democrats taking back the house is? >> that's not what we're here to do. we're here this weekend to talk policy. we're here to hopefully find common ground to focus on the economy, to create good-paying jobs, to do so in a bipartisan -- in as bipartisan a way as possible. if the republicans would support an increase in the minimum wage, we'd be thrilled. we'd rather have that legislative success than an issue in the campaign. so that's not what we're about today. thank you. >> the obamacare signups, it was just anouned 3.3 million people

have signed up. it's not quite where it's been projected but it's accelerated clearly. what's your reaction to this? what do you think will happen in march? march will clearly be the pivotal month. >> i'm going to yield to the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer but are you referencing the affordable care act. >> yes. > thank you. >> the affordable care act, we worked very hard to enact, i've talked to a lot of you who said what do you think about the affordable care act, i said, it's going to get better every month. by the time we get to the summer, people will say, this is really helping me, my family, my brother, my sister, my neighbors. i think we have evidence of that in the figures. you mentioned the 3.3 million people. 1.1 million in january alone. young people. this is something that all of you have talked about, we know

is very important, young people enrolled at an increased rate, last18 to 34 rose 65% over month. so we think that what is happening is what we thought would happen. the american people are seing the benefits of the affordable care act, of a marketplace where there's competition, where they get good benefits and lower prices and better access. that was the purpose of the affordable care act. we think that's happening. we think it's going to be a great benefit to the american people and they will see that in the coming months. >> 3.4 million out of over 12.5 million. >> exchange, yes. > any other questions? >> is it safe to say most of what you're talking about, the minimum wage, unemployment insurance, there's about zero

appetite for those things to come up under the republican controlled house you said you want to put pressure, pressure, pressure, in the mold of the vawa bill. but how -- is there a specific strategy for doing that? do you want obama to do more to pressure them? polls are on your side but boehner has -- >> the american people, as you indicate, the polls are on our side. everything that we're talking about is in the 70%. over 70% of the people think we should have an increase in the minimum wage. over 70% of the people think we should have comprehensive immigration reform. the list gos on. the to the use the vawa example, the too hot to handle approach. february 12, public sentiment is everything. the more the american people know about what can be done here the better off we'll be. however, yesterday, we said over and over again, we're not going to support an increase in the debt ceiling unless it is clean.

we are not negotiating the full faith and credit of the united states of america. it took months but yesterday they finally conceded that at least the speaker recognized the harm that would happen to our economy if we didn't proceed and this is clean -- so -- -- we're not going away on these shrns. we think -- we passed a minimum wage in the first 100 hours when we had the majority in 2007. president bush signed the bill. so this is not a partisan issue. extending unemployment benefits has been a bipartisan initiative all along system of what we are suggesting are not partisan issues, they're areas where we have had bipartisanship in the past and again, we believe that the fair thing to do for the american people, understanding their challenges, the minimum

wage is not just for minimum wage earners. it lifts the floor for everyone. so that's why people -- those way -- those making much more than the minimum wage understand that it's good for them. not only does it lift the floor, it injects demand into the economy and then creates jobs in that way as well. so it's a stimulus. my colleagues, anyone want to add anything? >> i want to add, surely we're not done. it's the middle of february. >> six weeks -- we have been in session five weeks. and we're done? >> the notion that because the debt ceiling was lifted, all work is done for the rest of the year, i don't think the american people buy that. they can't. there's too much that needs to be done. too many americans are suffering right now. i mentioned 1.8 million who are looking for work and can't find it. they need help and relief. we talked about people who are earning not enough to -- even a

fast food chain store to really take care of their families, they're looking for an increase in the minimum wage. the president addressed that to some degree but the congress needs to do more. the president asked us today, he asked the republicans and "the democrat"s, to pass a minimum wage increase for the american worker. so there are things we do need to do. there's an agenda and a vision we have to move things forward. we want to work with our republican colleagues to make that happen. they have to meet us a little more than halfway to make that happen here in the house of representatives. >> let me also add if i may, i don't think anything that we've discussed here doesn't have a majority in the house of representatives. we're not talking about putting up bills that don't have a chance in heaven to get passed. we're talking about measures that not only have the vast majority of americans supporting these policies, the majority of members in the house of

representatives would vote for these. so what we're simply asking for is a chance to have a vote on these measures. and i think most americans probably would be astonished to know that it's not that congress can't get its work done, it's that there is a concerted effort on the part of the majority, our republican colleagues, to prevent us from putting up obstacles from letting us vote on these measures. we're not insisting that our republican colleagues join us in doing what americans want to us -- want us to do in increasing the minimum wage or providing unemployment insurance for americans who lost their job through no fault of their own on providing equal pay for equal work for women in this country, we're saying, let us vote on it. if the majority exists, excellent. but don't blockade progress in the house of representatives. the house of representatives is the people's house, where we get things done. it should not be the graveyard for good ideas. >> just to emphasize this, we're not having a theoretical conversation in our caucus meeting. we're talking about very

specific actions that congress can take now. so i think we want to emphasize two things. number one, these are ideas and pieces of legislation that are ready to go. they could be acted on today, as javier said if we had a vote and could start changing people's lives for the better tomorrow. we have a minimum wage bill, it's been introduced to increase the wage to $10.10. we have a bipartisan senate immigration will. -- bill. we have legislation introduced to make sure that women get equal pay for equal work. we have legislation introduced to make sure that you can earn sick leave so you can take care of family who is in trouble, family members in trouble, and not have to lose your pay. these are concrete actions that could be taken immediately if the speaker of the house would let us have a vote. that's our preference. he doesn't let us have a vote,

we'll make it clear that within a hundred thundershowers of a new congress where we had a majority, we will do these smesk things, that will have immediate impact in people's lives. i think that's important that the public recognize that these are concrete, practical steps that can be taken, not just some theoretical, partisan dispute. >> last question. mr. hoyer, yesterday you said you shared some concerns expressed by the congressional black caucus on the lack of diversity of judicial appointments coming from the white house. i was wondering if you could expand on that and let us know what kind of appointments you'd like to see moving forward. >> what i said was that i had -- that i was in agreement with the congressional black caucus who said we need diversity on our bench and that the problem in the united states senate was with defering to each senator in each state if they did not support diversity, we wouldn't get diversity and they wanted

that addressed. i said agry -- i agreed with them on that issue. i had an opportunity to talk briefly with senator reid's chief of staff who asked me about my sentiment and i said that. let me defer, however, to jim clyburn of the congressional black caucus who is assistant leader, because he's been involved in those discussions and have him comment. >> yes, i have been involved in those discussions. i think that what our concerns are, if you were to look at the judges, who le have not been acted on, about 13 f them are african-american. and we believe that these are people who come with sterling credentials, but because of this

rocess, blue slip process that we have, too many senators that are from various states are refusing to return the blue slip and therefore these people are just hanging out in limbo. nd so we have asked that these senators take into account the fact that these people, some of them have been out there for two years, waiting on some action and because they were not -- they will not allow their names to move forward, we cannot get them voted on. they would get, as you said, by legislation, these people would be approved if they were allowed to have a vote. it's blatantly unfair for us to have a process that will not allow the full senate to vote on these nominations. and i thank everybody who

expressed concerns about this because this is something we think is very, very important to go over the structure of america. >> is there a list? enators who haven't returned it? >> not right now. >> did somebody just say there are a lot of people out in the cold, literally and figuratively because of the unemployment insurance and raising the minimum wage. we don't want the republicans to be indifferent to them. so far that looks the way they are. let's hope they prove us wrong. but i want to thank all of you for coming out in the cold to be with us here and we hope we can stay in close touch in the next 48 hours or so so you can see how excited we are about our coming together. thank again, mr. chairman. thank you.

>> house democratic leaders briefing reporters at the hyatt cheese peek bay at the start of their two-day retreat thursday and friday with house democratic members hearing from the likes of vice president biden and president obama, they'll be talking about a number of shrns including immigration and the minimum wage. vice president biden due to address the group tomorrow. we'll have live coverage here on c-span and the house democrats meeting after passing earlier this week the house passes the debt ceiling extension bill and it passed in the senate today by a vote of 55-43. it now goes to the president's desk for his signature. for more details on that vote and debate in the house and senate, we spoke to a capitol hill reporter.

>> caitlin huey-burns is joining us. there was a clean bill to lift the debt ceiling for a year is now on president obama desk. what made it dra mat snick >> what made it dramatic, we knew it would probably pass but in the senate there are procedural hurdles requiring a 60-vote threshold to move to final passage. sometimes they can work out a deal where it just requires a majority vote but ted cruz, a republican in the senate, voiced against using that threshold, moving for 60 votes to move on the bill. that would require at least five republican senators to put their necks out on the line on a bill that's politically hurtful to them. so it was dramatic in a way that we didn't know how many and which senators on the republican

side would vote to move forward with this bill. and what was most surprising to us was that minority leader mitch mcconnel who is in a re-election fight, facing a primary challenge, was one of those who voted to proceed with this bill. he, of course, is the leader of the republicans in the senate and john boehner, the house speaker, earlier this week, did the same thing. >> what did g.o.p. leadership do to get the votes needed to pass? >> they talked about it during their conference meeting earlier today on the senate side and basically mcconnell and a couple of other republican leaders and republican senators decided to voice support for moving forward with the bill which gave the -- er the of-vote -- over the

60-vote majority they needed. the vote on the closure motion was 6 votes tissue 60 votes. the final passage was on party lines, democrats voting to support raising the debt ceil, republicans voting against it. >> you sent a tweet out saying that standing next to mcconnell on the floor were senators who , tch thared vote to yes providing cover for the g.o.p. leader. what reaction has there been to senator mcconnell's yes vote? >> it was a surprise but this is something that leadership does and typically should do, the politics, though, of a mid term election year, especially for mitch mcconnell and especially since control of the senate is at stake, republicans have a chance, to take control of the

senate. this move was surprising as it is kind of politically -- can be politically harmful. so it was remarkable to watch a handful of other republican senators join with the leader to provide him some cover as well. i would just, you know, point out though for clarification that this was a motion to proceed with the bill. all of these senates ended up voting against final passage. but that procedural vote is really key in getting this over the finish line. >> with the house passing the debt ceiling bill first and now the senate, what does this mean for the influence of conservatives in both of those chambers? >> conservative outside groups are very vocal in their opposition to this bill. they've been vocal in the past and have been pushing boehner to attempt something to the debt ceiling that addresses the debt. but the house speaker exhausted

all different kinds of options, policy additions to this bill and decided that going with a clean bill would be the best for the party considering that they took a big hit during the government shutdown and in previous battles over the debt ceiling to kind of get this issue behind them and focus on items that unite the party, namely, jobs and the economy and opposition to the health care reform bill. the conservative outside groups will continue to voice opposition, criticize the speaker for this move, but within the chamber itself, there doesn't seem to be wide opposition to, you know, the way things panned out from conservatives. in other words, we're not seeing conservatives rise up and revolt against the speaker or against the minority leader as we have seen in -- during debates in the past. >> caitlin huey-burns is the congressional reporter with

realclear politics -- realclearpolitics.com. thank you. >> thank you. >> taking a look at our lineup, starting at 8:00, president obama's remarks at the white house as he sign and executive order raising the minimum wage for all future goth contracts. on c-span2, a hearing on the solvency of the highway trust fund, expected to run out of money in august. on c-span3, another senate hearing from today on state preparations for extreme weather as a snowstorm makes its way up the east coast this evening. that's all tonight on the c-span networks at 8:00 p.m. eastern. on the next "washington journal" the economic impact of the keystone xl pipeline with brigham mccown. also the co-he's of msnbc's "the cycle" talks about what to expect in president's -- president obama's sec term. and john wellen hoff will discuss the security of the u.s. electric grid.

washington journal is live every day at 7:00 a.m. on c-span. >> i think every first lady brings their unique perspective to this job. if you didn't, you couldn't hi through it. to the extent that this feels natural to me, and i never would have thought that being first lady and living in the white house could feel natural, it's because i make it me. i try to bring a little bit of michelle obama into it. but at the same time respecting and valuing the tradition that is america's. >> watch our program on first lady michelle obama at our website, c-span.org/firstladies or see it on saturday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. and live on monday, we conclude our series with a two-hour program looking at all the first ladies from martha washington to michelle obama. >> the new c-span.org website

gives you access to an incredible library of political events with more added each day through c-span's nonstop coverage of national politics, history, and nonfiction books. find c-span's daily coverage of official washington or access more than 200,000 hours of archived c-span video. everything c-span has covered since 19 7. and our video is all searchable and viewable on your desktop computer, tablet, or smart phone. just look they are prominent search bar at the top of each page. the new c-span.org makes it easy to watch what's happening today in washington and find people and events from the past 25 years. it's the most comprehensive video library in politics. >> the president's commission on election administration released a report last month highlighting recommendations for improving the voting process, including expanding the number of polling

places and limiting the wait time to vote on election day. the co-chairs of the commission testified on capitol hill for the first time since the release of the report. this is just over an hour. >> the rules committee will call to order. our hearing today is on the presidential commission on election administration. the report and recommendations on best practices in election administration. at the core of our national identity as americans is a pride that we live in a democracy and of course have the right to vote. the beautiful thing to me this on november nights in new york, cold november nights, citizens, tired, coming home from work, want to get home and put dinner on the table for the kids, just get home because they've had a hard day at work, put their feet up on the table and -- on the coffee table and watch their tv

show but in quiet dignity they line up, go into the pling -- polling place, do their duty and the next morning we all abide by the decision. it's an amazing thing that doesn't happen in most countries still to this day and hasn't happened in any country for as long as it has happened in ours. it's a beautiful thing. in the 225-year journey since the first presidential election, many things have changed. to people are eligible vote. s i look around the room here, only half of us would have been able to vote then. more people are eligible to vote, african-americans, 18 to 20-year-olds, today's expanded electorate is much more reflective of our nation as a whole.

as recent examples have shown, there are still problems with our lechesmark of which can be addressed by improve thelling way we administer. election administration is a difficult, often thankless task. before i go further, i'd like to thank our election officials for all the election day that was gone right over the years. it's not an easy job because it's so important to our democracy, we have to aspire to perfection. in reality, most americans don't even think about running of an election until something goes wrong. we all remember florida in 2000, minnesota's 2008, where elections were under a microscope. as recently as 2012, many polling places around the country had unacceptably long lines. this wasn't the first election with the problem but we'd like it to be the last. in his victory speech, president obama referenced the long linesing saying, quote, we need to fix that, unquote.

that's hard to do because elections are run at the state and local level. with the patchwork system sometimes creating challenges, former supreme court justice louie bran dice famously called the states, quote, laboratories of democracy. they sometimes provide us with examples of innovation that can be shared throughout the country. soon after the last election, the president acted and created a bipartisan commission to study election administration and best practices for improving voting in america. the president insisted this not be a partisan exercise. the commission was supposed to seek out the best ideas for making voting easier and better no matter where they came from. that's what the commission did. the presidential election -- commission on election administration was made up of 10 members, included current and former election officials, executives from successful customer service oriented businesses and two chairs, both

well known, one republican, one a democrat, but each with a long, storied history in this area. and so, mr. bauer and mr. ginsburg, you've been on opposing sides in political campaigns, in the courtroom, you both have top-notch credentials as advocates an champions of your respect i parties. you're uniquely qualified to identify caresa -- areas where we should move forward. i'd like to thank you for serving on the commission and finding places where we can move beyond partisanship and focus on the nuts and bolts of making running elections easier and better for voters and administrators alike. your commission's report in my judgment is an outstanding piece of work, a valuable road map for improving election administration in this country. while the commission's charge did not include recommendations for federal legislation, the report makes it leer there are areas of existing law and its enforcement must be improved and our committee will study your report and testimony today

carefully. i hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in using this report to help improve our election system and strengthen our democracy. so we thank you for your work, we look forward to hearing your testimony and with that, let me turn it over to senator roberts. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i look forward to hearing the presentation of our witnesses. i want to thank you for your service. they are to be commended for giving their time on this project, lending their, appearance and expertise which is considerable. i know there are a number of other well-qualified commissioners who are not with us today but i thank hem as -- them as well for their efforts. the committee was charged with making best practice recommendations rather than legislative recommendations and that's what the report has done. it recognizes that elections are carried out at the state and local level and that's where we must focus our attention. for elections to function properly, we need all parties --

the election officials, pollworkers and the voters themselves, to do their part. this requires proper planning and effective administration many. -- administration. i hope the wok of the commission and its recommendations will help advance the effective administration of our elections and improve the voter experience. i look forward to the testimony of our witnesses. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank, senator roberts. i welcome opening statements by the other members of the panel. >> thank you very much, senator schumer. i want to, again, as a member of the judiciary committee, i have looked at issues from that perspective, i want to thank our witnesses today for their good work and while you did mention minnesota with the recount, ok, and the fact that as we all remember, someone did vote for someone namedly sard person in that particular election when we painfully looked at every single ballot in the state, our state has a proud tradition of high voter turnout.

we were the -- we're always consistently in the top few states of voter turnout and a lot of that has to do with having same day registration. of the top six states for voter turnout, they're not necessarily democrat or republican states, iowa is usually one of the top ones, maine is one of the top states, but they tend to have something in common, most of them have same-day registration. i know that isn't necessarily part of what you looked at in terms of legislation but i think that it would go a long way and i have a bill with senator tester to look at rolling that out on a national level. thank you, mr. chairman. >> minnesota has one of the best election systems and really tries to do it fairly and in a nonpartisan way, as does maine, actually. senator king. >> i don't have a statement, mr. chairman, except to, since minnesota an maine have been brought up, jesse ventura and i always thought it was states with independent yoverpbors who

had high voter turnout. >> i will point out, senator king did not wear a feather bowa at his inaugural party. >> well, you don't know that. o, i have -- >> i reserve my comments and look forward to hearing from the witnesses. >> we thank our witnesses. serving as as in co-chair, he is a partner in a law firm. he is germ counsel to the democratic national committee in the 2008 and 2012 election cycles. was general counsel to obama for president. his credentials are strong. mr. ben ginsburg. as serving as co-chairman, he is a partner a law firm. in 2012 and