that they do that. they have a responsibility to do it. they owe about $600 million to us, our folks, and we are working on a way to deal with their -- >> thank you. i appreciate that. i hope the state department can continue to be more forceful with that. >> bradley snyder of illinois. >> thank you. mr. secretary, thank you for being here. as you said in your opening prepared remarks, what we do in the world matters, and what you and the people on your staff and team do here and around the world are crucial. we're here talking about the fiscal year '15 budget, however, global affairs don't necessarily follow a fiscal year calendar. there are three deadlines looming in the coming months that i think are incredibly important. first, in the spring the current round of negotiations between the is rallies and palestinians. june 30th is the deadline for the removal of chemical weapons from syria. july 20th we then see the

conclusion of the six months on the joint plan of action with iran. at the same time around that region we have a series of very concerning trends with egypt and its government, the chaos in sinai, the pressures on jordan because of syria, what's happening in turkey, even what's happening in subsahara and africa leading to refugees in the region. so my questions in a very brief amount of time is all of these deadlines, whether they are successful or unsuccessful, and the assumptions are 50-50 in many cases, are going to have serious implications and financial demands, fiscal demands on the united states and the world. do you believe that the budget as proposed here for fiscal 2015 provides the resources and flexibility for the state department for to you do what's necessary for a successful outcome? >> congressman, that is a terrific question, well thought through in terms of noticing the

confluence of all of those dates. you're absolutely correct. big things are potentially going to happen all in short order one way or the other, and the answer is profoundly, no, i don't believe we are adequately resourced, but, you know, this is the best budget we can get under the circumstances of the budget deal that was cut here. it is not the budget that we need. >> thank you. >> and i'll just say to you, if we're successful, if we can move forward on the middle east, that is going to require some real thoughtfulness here about how we're prepared to support the middle east peace process. >> let me extend on that as we do move forward. i hope and i know i'm joined by my colleagues here, that with the negotiations of the palestinians, paramount. the security of israel as the nation's state of the jewish people, that the joint plan of action is an interim deal that

does not become a permanent deal and that we as a country in the united states remains fully committed to ensuring that iran does not achieve its goal of a nuclear weapons country and that all options remain on the table in that respect and that the status of chemical weapons in syria by june 30th is dealt with and dealt which directly. finally if i can my last second echoing some of the other things that have been said, follow up on the status of visas for young israelis of student age. i yield back. >> we'll go to mr. kissinger of illinois. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, thank you for being here. you keep up a very intense schedule and it's going to continue today and so i want to thank you both for your service in past in uniform and your long service as a civilian. i want to say that. i want to make a couple of points with a question. the first point i want to make is remind everybody that to an extent in the situation the ukraine was created by the russians a long time ago.

now when they claim that they have these interests of people in eastern ukraine, that was a situation created by them. i was shocked to hear a colleague earlier actually seemingly defend the actions of russia and actually my jaw kind of hit the floor. one comment on afghanistan. karzai's gone soon. probably a good development for the region i hope and i want to say i hope the united states is committed to the bilateral security agreement. i think we are. hopefully the new president signs that and we can move forward. i want to talk about iraq. i obviously have been very critical of the pullout of iraq but without revisiting that, we are where we r today. i want to ask you, mr. secretary, how you see the situation in iraq with i.s.i.s. specifically from your department's perspective, i know there's still a robust state presence in iraq. what are the challenges the state faces there, what are some of the needs? and as members of congress, what

can we be aware of to ensure that we can resist iraq going in a place that we don't want it to go? >> congressman, thank you very much. thank you for your service which i really respect enormously. and i'm grateful to you for the question. iraq is in a fragile place but iraq would have been in a fragile place no matter what because it was -- you know turned topsy-turvy through the war where you had a suny minority that for centuries, i mean really for centuries had governed at the expense of the shia majority, vast majority, and suddenly that was reversed. you not only had that reversal but you had an iranian nexus that was accented in this connection which raised the

suspicions of the rest of the suny world, a lot of other nations in the region and it exacerbated a divide in terms of this competition for influence in iran and its influence and now with syria that's been more complicated because it's pulling people out of iraq and you have a certain amount of iraqis in syria as part of this sectarian conflict. and, so, it's fragile, and that's what's happened in fallujah and ramadi and so forth is this resurgence of the sectarianism in its most violent form. now there is -- that's complicated by the way in which, unfortunately, the government has chosen to govern without an

inclusivity that's necessary, without resolving some of the age old issues of the constitution and the oil and so forth, the oil revenues. then, of course, you have the kerds cutting their own deals on the side with turkey or elsewhere, and there's just a lot of tensions pulling at each other. so it's very fragile right now. it's a fragile moment. you have flights coming out of iran which we continually talk to the prime minister about. the need that should be stopped. they're not. there's an occasional inspection, which is a phony inspection in which people are tipped off and it doesn't really do anything. so we're pushing very hard. we have an outstanding ambassador. ambassador beacroft on the ground. we have an outstanding secretary who is constantly out there working very, very hard at this personally. vice president biden is on the phone. i'm on the phone. we're deeply involved in trying

to push these issues into a place where they can be resolved and where we pull the government along to reach out and govern more effectively and resolve some of these kinds of issues. i am convinced personally every one of these issues would be on the table no matter whether there were a few troops there, 1,000, 10,000, whatever. the troops aren't the difference. iraq has to resolve iraq's future. the iraqis have to do that. i think ultimately that's what will have to happen in afghanistan. >> we now go to joe kennedy in massachusetts. >> mr. secretary, good to see you again. thank you for your extraordinary service to our country in many forms as my colleague just indicated. i wanted to ask you as follow-up on comments from three colleagues. first and foremost, we've heard some very troubling press reports even just this week, washington post had a very troubling article, i believe it was on monday, indicating thousands that were ordered

arrested, thousands held without charge. it was happening i think, a direct quote there, just putting people in jail and it was happening all at once. obviously, mr. secretary, this is an issue that strikes us here at home. congressman smith referenced your former constituent when you were a senator in massachusetts, now my constituent, colin bower and how that's affecting u.s. interests. if you can give us a little bit of a forecast on what's going on and how we can be more effective going forward. two, building off mr. kinzinger's question about afghanistan and the bsa, how those negotiations are going or if they're going at all at this point. three, this committee had a hearing about eight months ago or so after the conflict in mali. i was struck by you are probably well aware the median age in mali is 15. throughout northern africa it's in the late teens, early 20s.

as you move eastward including the area along the mediterranean, you are getting close to 200,000 people with that as the median age. what can we do so we don't hear about these problems and make sure there's a long term strategy and long term development for not just this region but the world. >> congressman, that last question is the big question that all of us need to be dealing with and coping with. president obama is analyzing that now and has asked us to look at it very, very closely and help to design the agenda. i'm pushing my people to do that. we are really intensely focused on this question. huge populations in these volatile areas under the age of 30. you said the median age is 15, but huge. 68% under the age of 30.

50% under the age of 21, so forth. and we're less -- or more, excuse me. now if they don't have jobs and they don't have opportunity and they are disenfranchised and the only thing a val label to them is radical extreme islam, religious extreme, whatever, we have a long road ahead of us, all of us. and, therefore, we have to think carefully about how much it is in our security interest as well as in our long-term economic interests to be trying to get ahead of this and deal with it in ways now which we have done effectively in various places historically and we're not doing it there. just very quickly on egypt. on the bsa, there's an article today somewhere, you know, president karzai's basically attached conditions to the signing of it. it's not at issue. the bsa has negotiated. he's not trying tow change a word in it. he's simply refusing to sign it unless x, y, z is happening.

the things he's chose zwroen happen are not going to happen easily if at all. they're out of our control. so each of the candidates running for president have said they support the bsa, they will sign it and i expect it will be signed at some point in timing, if not by karzai, by one of them. egypt is very, very challenging right now. it is vital that the interim government take measures in order to permit young people to be able to demonstrate people to be able to take part in the political system. we cannot be arresting activists. we cannot see journalists arrested, those things need to change. i hope they will. we would like to see them be successful. it is vital to all of us that egypt be successful, and we need 1/4 of the arab world to find its footing now and get a government in place, move to the democratic process, stabilize, hopefully, and begin to develop,

but there are very troubling issues that need to be resolved in terms of people's rights and protections in egyptian society. >> we have enough time for mr. holding. if you take two minutes to ask your questions and then mr. lowenthal to ask your question, we'll allow the secretary to respond and then we know he has his appointment. george? >> yes, sir. usually by the time it gets to me, mr. secretary, all the important topics have been covered at least twice, but conspicuously we haven't talked about the world's largest democracy today. as you know, within a month or so almost 800 million people are going to go to the polls and choose a new government in india. wall street journal recently said that the congress party will suffer more than likely overwhelming defeat and more than likely the bjt party will form a government with naromundy mody at the head of

it. what are you doing to put us at a good place in our relations with india, with the bjt government, and how much do you think we will have as a setback the issue with mody's visa status and us denying a visa to him? where do you see that we sit with that right now? >> well, i'm not going to -- i'm not going to comment on that part of it if you don't mind simply because it's before the election and i don't want anything i say here to have any -- to play into the election in any way that it should or shouldn't. we respect that democracy, respect india. we have worked hard to get over the hiccup that we had recently with respect to a diplomat in new york. our assistant secretary has just returned from a trip to india. we are very, very anxious. it's a very important relationship. very, very vital country in terms of the region and

globally, and we need to -- we have big issues to work on together. >> if i could ask you one quick question in the last 16 seconds. do you disagree with israel's assessment that the weapons recently intercepted were coming from iran? >> no, i don't based on the superficial evidence, but we want to pin things down in terms of legal. but, no, i don't. >> mr. lowenthal? >> thank you, mr. secretary, for joining us and for spending so much time. i'll shorten my questions. we sometimes provide assistance to countries with startling human rights records. we've talked much about that today. for example, i'm most interested in the government of vietnam has been ranked as one of the ten worst countries for press freedom. in addition, vietnam has undertaken authoritarian assault on internet, restricted usage of the internet. how do we balance, mr. secretary, our goals of

stability and prosperity for developing countries with our duty to protect the human rights of all people? so, for example, what are we doing to leverage what was in this budget, the increased economic development -- developmental assistance to vietnam with our goal that they should begin to end human rights violations? is there a balance? and the second question has to do with overseas security for employee engagement. post benghazi we had a hearing here. the department of state made a number of efforts to improve the physical security of our foreign service employees overseas. however, over the years our diplomatic presence as we've heard has become more difficult, more employees have become less -- find it that they are less accessible and employees are working out of facilities and are finding it more difficult to actually engage in the contacts with their locals. what is the department doing to ensure that employees can continue to engage and do the work that they really have been sent overseas to do?

how can they raise and even challenge what they feel sometimes to be overly onerous security requirements? >> well, congressman, that's a really good question, and it takes a little longer to answer than i have so i'm going to submit much of it in writing, but i will say to you we are constantly working this issue. we are deeply concerned about it ourselves. there is a tradeoff and a balance between -- >> that's right. >> -- security and the ability to get out and do the job so we're providing more security. and we -- i can't tell you, we have a number of embassies where people are working in very difficult circumstances, and we've been sort of receded in compounds rather than people living out in the community and so forth. these are the risks that we live with today. so we have increased marine guard protection, we have increased -- we have tighter rules about movement, we have certain restrictions in certain places. it's very difficult.

something the committee ought to be -- you know, might look at in detail at some point in time. it costs more, and that's part of the budget challenge here, to keep that presence out there and keep people being out there, we have higher costs for security, higher costs for the physical structures, higher costs for the deployments. some of them are now hardship deployments where the families don't follow. you know, it's unaccompanied tour. those are difficult. so all of this is, you know, more expensive and more complicated, headaches and we need to talk through how we're going to manage it. on vietnam, we are deepening our relationship and working hard. i just was there not so long ago and working on a number of initiatives together. president obama and president sang announced a comprehensive . we are very clear about it. every meeting we have we talk

about the need to move forward. vietnam still has authorities who are excessively restrictive of political rights excessively restraighting on freedom of expression and on the internet and so forth. there was some improvement in 2013 including the release of the legal activist and vietnam signed the convention against torture and there was an increase in protestant church. i went to mass and it was a normal kind of event. so, we think we can make more progress they have more to do. to their consider, they are

listening. they are working at it. they say slow progress. mr. chairman -- >> we understand mr. speecretar we thank you for your time today we wish you luck on your trip. the record remains open for members to submit questions. again, we thank the members for

>> it is time to create new jobs, to build and rebuild industry. to give america room to do what they do best. i can only be done with a tax program which provides incentive to workers. our proposal is for a 10% across-the-board cut every year for three years in the tax rates for all individual tax income payers. this three-year reduction will also apply to the tax on unearned income leading toward an eventual elimination of the

differential between the tax on earned and unearned income. i would hope that we could be retroactive with this, what as it stands, the effective starting date for these reductions will call for as of july 1 of this year. while thisnd you reduction will leave the taxpayers with $500 billion more in their pockets over the next five years, is actually only a reduction in the tax increase already built into the system. quote taxe past -- more highlights from our 35 years of coverage on our facebook page. today as a public service by your television provider.

>> coming up on c-span, kaptur. ative marcy remarks by attorney general eric holder on reducing prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. on the next "washington a discussion of a plan to eliminate freddie mae and fannie mac and replace them with the new federal regulator. rob woodall.essman "washington journal" is live every morning at 7:00 eastern on c-span.

you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. tom vill sack is on the hill on friday. the budget calls for $22.2 billion in funding. you can see this hearing live starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span three. what are the unique challenges in defining the war in cyberspace? >> clearly, from a policy perspective, we're still trying to work our way through those issues. whatever we do within the cyber arena, international law will pertain. if we find ourselves getting to a point where we believe that cyber is taking us down an armed conflict scenario, the rules and

law of armed conflict will pertain as much in this domain as it does in any other. i don't think cyber is inherently different in that regard. i think those sets of procedures and policies and law as a nation have stood us in good stead. they represent a good point of departure. services takes up intelligence nominations. tv, hillary clinton's political career. 15 --ay night at eight: t 8:15 p.m.

>> from "washington journal," this is 45 minutes. >> she is the founder and cochair of the ukrainian caucus. i want to begin with your personal ties to ukraine. goal? guest: first of all, i'm a founding member of the caucus. congressman sander levin of michigan and former congressman bob schaffer, now congressman jim gerlach, we all worked to create a presence inside our congress to relate to the newly elected parliament of ukraine after 1991. i have a very long history with ukraine. i am of polish-american heritage, but our grandmother and grandfather came from there,

fled from there before world war i -- host: fled from ukraine? guest: it was a czarist territory then, but the bolsheviks were taking over. our grandmother came here at 17. because their one cow was taken away. when that was done by the bolsheviks, they couldn't feed themselves, so they came here with nothing. and now i, two generations later, am a member of the congress of the united states. this is such a great country, and only because of the liberty that we have a mileage of stress my opinion on behalf of the people ever present, and also u.s. a member of the free press. this is so precious. this cannot happen in russia. cannot happen still. we hope for a. historians who have written about what president putin has done have been fired from their jobs in russia. our nation is the

standard-bearer for liberty globally and let's never forget that. host: how do you view vladimir putin? guest: unfortunately -- [laughter] as someone who is caught in a time warp in the past. we have to keep our hand extended to the president in russia, because russian is a european country. her alphabet is cyrillic, as is the alphabetic ukraine. so it pulls south, pulls to greece and turkey. but it has never known the liberty. there isn't a mindset for liberty inside the country, among its leadership. some is developing, but after the thaw that came after the fall of the soviet union, you don't learn the behavior of liberty in one generation. you hope for it, but you realize

the mindset of those who want complete power and control is still there. it is all she has ever known. and so it is important for us to listen to the demonstrators in maidan, in ukraine, led by the young people, the new generation. it was students that led those demonstrations. ukrainian soldiers who fought in afghanistan joined. and just ordinary people who know there can be a better way of life. i traveled to ukraine -- not at government expense, at my own -- more than any other country in the world. my mother drove there in 1973 to find the remnants of our family. oh my, what we learned. i feel an obligation to inform. i don't think most americans know, because stalin was our

ally during world war ii, that no place in the world suffered more deaths than ukraine and belarus. in that region we are talking about, 14 million people in the 20th century, civilian people were starved to death. they were killed by stalin, the secret police. that continues today. that infiltration across the region -- the poles understand it well. their country was dismantled. we have to be mindful that the russian bear has always wanted to expand, and we have to make sure that the borders of nations are respected, and that they just can't plunder them. host: what is the extent of the united states obligation, in your opinion? guest: first of all, diplomatically, and i commend

president obama for everything he is doing -- we have to be a constructive force for democracy globally, and we have to play a leading role among the nations of the world. one of our complexities of the situation is that at the united nations, where the united states and russia and france and china are permanent members of the security council, russia can veto anything we try to do. the president in one sense is blocked because the u.n. can't fully act. but i do believe that the nations that belong to the united nations, that have large numbers of people who have fled or survived the carnage inside ukraine, need to gather. argentina, italy, portugal, australia, canada, certainly the united states, poland, kazakhstan, these countries have people in them, hundreds of thousands of people who understand what happened inside ukraine, and there are more ukrainians living outside ukraine today then inside because of the terror that the people faced there.

morally, the world owes this region of the world. host: what about the 1994 political agreement? ukraine gave up its weapons in a change for sovereignty and that recognition from the united states, russia, and britain. guest: yes, the budapest accord, when our country was part of an agreement, as you stated, to remove thousands of nuclear weapons from ukraine. it left ukraine defenseless. i can guarantee you, the people of ukraine know how to fight, they know how to survive. as one of my relations said to me last july, and it was so sad as i left him in the village of our grandparents, and he held his grandchild and he looked at me and said, "marcy, all we do is survive." we need to make sure our voices are heard by citizens like that.

his grandson can lead a better life than he is meeting today. in the ukrainian countryside under this government that is just and deposed officially, they were charging farmers, that corrupt government charges farmers a 19% interest rate. the friends of the deposed president, 4%. the ordinary farmer cannot survive. their spirit is being crushed. the west has to see that, and we can do that diplomatically as our first approach and then with

sanctions and militarily, we have to maintain our edge through nato to make sure that poland and lithuania, i'm so proud of them, they are standing up. that was remarkable. liberty is on the march and we have to help her. host: "washington post" on ukrainians fleeing the country. is the united states accepting ukrainians that are trying to get out? guest: i think that knowing some of those borders, they can escape in many directions. how sad, but ukraine has had a hemorrhage, as has russia, of her young people. they don't want to live there. everybody wants to come to the united states because of this great, great country. but they are afraid. they know their history. the sad thing is, the poor, the old women i see begging in the streets when i go there, eking out a living, feeding the country, the older women are

feeding the country. nobody sees them. it is so sad. but the united states would be one country that would grant political asylum, i'm sure. canada, the countries that i have mentioned that understand. it is important for ukraine to fight for their country. the new generation to fight. but how are they going to fight? they were left to defenseless, largely. there is a military, but it can't compare to russia's. host: what was your grandparents' native tongue? did they speak it to you? guest: they spoke polish. polish catholics, there were many jews in those immunities, -- in those communities, ukrainians, they got along. ordinary people got along. but the government was horrendous. and they killed, and the soviet poles -- i would have been dead, and the church our grandmother was married in, 168 poles were killed by stalin's forces in that church.

i first went into that church in 1975, and it is remodeled, but there is a long history to what is happened there. host: derek is the first, baltimore. democratic caller. caller: good morning to you, representative kaptur. you know what, what really aggravates me is republicans -- they're just perennial backseat drivers. ronald reagan left a $6 trillion debt. bill clinton came in and paid down the debt. george bush came in, $7 trillion. let me tell you something, i'm retired from northrop grumman. i know defense. putin just got finished signing a bill that would allow the military for russia to spend $779 billion in the next 10

years in defense. the united states spends over $600 billion a year in defense, and military, we have 12 aircraft carriers all around the world. host: derek, i'm going to jump and ask you to get your point. caller: my point is that she is exactly right. they keep talking about how the united states is strong. guest: as a member of the defense committee, i can guarantee you that this nation is the strongest military power in the world, and we guard our liberty with huge sacrifices by the american people and those who serve us and the weapon systems and the defense that we have built over the history of our country.

today before a subcommittee, secretary hagel is going to testify on the budget for 2015 and many of the difficult choices that we have to make in order to bring down our deficit but maintain the strongest defense of the world, because america does have enemies. you should know, having worked for northrop grumman, you know them well. we have to be prepared. we have to be eternally vigilant in order to preserve the liberties that have been so hard won. some of the veterans calling it today, but over many generations, your relatives, my

relatives, have given to this great country. host: on the energy issue -- guest: well, i'll tell you what, from the state of ohio, we have had a huge gas boom in the utica shale, pennsylvania and so forth, we have excess gas. there are huge discoveries in north dakota. first of all, we need to protect our homeland and make sure that competitive pricing remains in this country. and i'm a member of the energy subcommittee. if our executive branch can find ways to ease the pressure on europe through natural gas exports, and it is good business for us, then i say absolutely. host: tim in reseda, california, republican. caller: thanks for taking my copy i have a son in the military, and i've got to educate the congress woman. i'm a republican but i'm about ready to leave the party. it is too neocon for me. i'm going to register independent. i would like to educate your congresswoman there. does she know about the project for the new american century and

how victoria nuland, who is in obama's state department, was working for dick cheney, the godfather of neoconservatives, and she was meddling in ukraine for these neoconservatives who have had the agenda in russia forever? i heard the website mentioned, ushijacked.com -- host: so you think this is an effort by so-called neocons to go to war with russia? caller: of course it is! host: then let's have the congresswoman respond. guest: i have been working with the state department and assistant secretary nuland to try to find diplomatic means to mobilize the nations of the world. i found her very responsive. and on that front, secretary kerry is working overtime on that very effort. i think that war with russia would not be in russia's interest, nor in the interest of our country. we have to be judicious, we have to be wise, and we have to be

strong. and we have to be progressive in what we do. the world community is shocked at what the president of russia has done. we need to isolate him globally. nations are catching up to that. at the u.n., in their own spheres of influence and so forth, russia is showing herself at this moment to be living in the past. i understand president putin's concerned about unstable states, but russia has a terrible history of the elimination of minorities. one of my concerns in the current invasion of russia into ukraine is how the tatars will be treated in crimea. they say -- the president of russia says he is going to have an election, he has mandated an election this sunday in crimea. how would you vote if you had a gun at your head? who can say that is a free election?

observers on the ground, monitors on the ground, they are not allowed in. it is a closed iron door. they cannot get in. it is important for the world community diplomatically, economically, to make themselves felt. it is going to take a while to wind up, but remember, we engaged in the cold war for over half a century and we ultimately won. host: i misspoke earlier -- i said it was the ukrainians fleeing, but it was the tatars in the crimean region fleeing, according to "the washington post." what do you make of that? guest: well, they know their own history. joseph stalin slaughtered them. he relocated them. many of them are muslims. and again, minorities are persecuted. some of the bravest moments at the maidan in kiev when you saw the people just coming up to

demonstrate in ukraine, that took such courage. i'm not sure the american people fully understand when the priests from the orthodox church, the jewish leaders, the catholic church, the baptists, when they stood there on the square, for them to do that, they were fully prepared to be shot. and then you saw later, a few days later, you saw over 100 people shot. where did the bullets come from? where were the snipers? you are dealing with a situation that is unfree. it looks free on the surface a little bit, but the deeper you get into it you see how

controlled environment remains. and the president who fled, president yanukovych, they called ukraine a kleptocracy. he not only took people's liberty, he took the money. one of our jobs is to track down where the money is and get it back. host: a new pew research poll shows that 56% says to not get too involved in the situation in ukraine and here is a tweet that echoes that sentiment. guest: i completely agree about nation building in the united states. that is why i first ran for congress. that is why we now see the automotive industry recovering and we see america becoming more energy independent and home. we have a thriving agricultural system. that does not happen by accident. we are hoping in the energy

sector that new jobs in states like my own will help to advance our economy and make it stronger. i think every member of congress, republican and democrat -- i am a democrat but i work on a bipartisan basis as much as i can -- has a focus on the economy. everybody is trying to make it better here at home. in terms of meeting our obligations to nato, however, we do have within the regular budget our commitment to liberty lovers around the world, and america can't just stand by and not meet those commitments. i think our first pushes -- our first push is diplomatic, and we're not finished with that yet. economic sanctions that we approve this week, as those begin to lock in with our allies around the world, it won't happen overnight, but over time, we will make ourselves felt, and russia will note that what she has done is not in her own best interest. we have to keep a door open to russia. if i could say word about ukraine, ukraine is a great borderland nation. she will pull west because that is part of her heritage, but she will also pull south and east. she is a great crossroads for

europe and for asia, and we need to see her that way. we need to understand, her potential has been capped all these years. she is the bread basket for europe. she is that important a country. this is her century. she will rise, she will. host: go ahead, james. he is in wisconsin. caller: go on the internet and google "ukraine neo-nazi," and there is many, many articles about the neo-nazis that have taken over the government and taken over -- they had a guy they have taken over -- they had a guy become the head of the military, another neo-nazi head of the justice department. these are neo-nazis that have the swastikas and hitler salutes and everything. it looks just horrible. i can't understand why the media hasn't been reporting this and the congress people aren't really explaining this.

guest: first of all, please understand that there is a great deal of russian propaganda that is paid for. the russian government does skew stories. i have actually, as i've spoken out for ukraine, i have watched sometimes how they have skewed my words. there is a downdraft of propaganda. that is all part of the struggle that the situation involves. there is a party that is called the svovoda party -- that is in ukraine, and some of the individuals who have been associated with it you could say are right of center in the sense that they are intolerant of other people's religions, other people's points of view, and some have been banished from the country, actually. that party has been made part of the governing coalition that the parliament of the ukraine is trying to hold the country

together right now. trying to conduct free and fair elections in may, which the world community must monitor. many of the nations i talk about should take a leadership role in that, not just the united states, but countries across the world, so that there can be free and fair elections inside ukraine. there are bad apples in every barrel, but i think to call the situation in ukraine neo-nazi -- i mean, that country suffered so much under the nazis. if you go to ukraine and you talk to the people, the nazis turned our grandmother's church into a stable after they invaded. if you go to ukraine and you go

to the dniepr river and look at the monument in central kiev to the soldiers in ukraine who fought against the nazis, it is one of the most powerful, most elegant sculptures that i've ever seen. i don't believe that that type of political movement can be successful in ukraine because of what she suffered under the nazis. so that is propaganda, and think about it, from the russian point of view, if you can twist something to talk about nazis and make nazis the enemy, the ukrainian people would fight against it because they severed -- because they suffered at the hands of the nazis. so it is a clever political ploy, propaganda, but i reckon eyes there are some who have there are some who have some points of view inside the country, but overall, that is not what the ukrainian people are made of. host: do you still have family in ukraine? guest: many, many have died. some were starved to death under stalin. some were killed. the ones who are closest, one was a great uncle of ours who we discovered in 1973 as we drove into ukraine -- we were the only car on the road, from poland to a town on the western side.

he had to secretly go from the county that he lived in to meet us there, and we had written letters and everything. he had been imprisoned by stalin for 20 years in the gulag. his brother died in one of those camps at the hands of the soviets. there is a book by timothy snyder, a great american scholar at yale university, called "bloodlands." i recommend it to everyone.

it is just encyclopedic. it is a great book. host: why did your great uncle have to go into secrecy in 1973? guest: he had been held by stalin in the gulags for 20 years and so he was viewed an enemy of the state. they made him carry a card. if you travel by train from -- if he traveled by train from where he lived to try to find us -- we did not know if anybody was left. through relatives in poland he finally found us. he was in a hotel that was monitored. through a fortune teller who came to the hotel, she kept looking for us. they were told by the people at the desk that nobody is here. they lied for three days. my mother heard him talking one morning and she said, wait a minute, they're talking about

us. that hotel is now called the lviv. eorge hotel in we went into this tiny kitchen and there stood this man. to even tell you. it is unbelievable. of history came together in one moment. he had hands like our grandmother. unbelievable. to have a government tear families apart, to create such a moment for is liberty that the free world has ,o see, first diplomatically then economically. no family -- and i am a survivor, right?

-- how fortunate. there are people there who look like me and want to be free. this is their moment. >> i have two nephews serving in the military. one of them e-mailed me about the republicans calling the president of the united states .eek on national tv they are disgracing america. can you tell me, are they trying to send us to war? you know there are some people who always pick war is the first option. the american people are not the kind of people. i think we will be patient, i think we will be strong.

we will work with our allies around the world. don't forget, we are not alone on this earth. when the president of russia invades another country, you think the other countries don't notice? what about greece, what about turkey, which shares the black see with russia and other countries in that region? .he world is paying attention the united states and president obama, i think he has handled this with such aplomb. he has so much on his plate, by the way. like stumpsit there back in september, in contrast to many countries around the world. we passed a resolution that people who were standing up for their liberty in kiev and across the country. we did that in our country. we stood up for liberty here. this week, we passed a

resolution that would allow us to place additional sanctions on many of those individuals who violated the interest of their own country in stealing from it, in moving that money to safe havens. usually in the west, by the way, you can track those dollars. the united states will be on the hunt with our allies for those who rob from their own people, to restore those dollars back, to help ukraine build her own country. it will take us time, but we will get the job done. richard klein tweets in. to the ukraine people feel safe now? oh, no. vr feels -- they are fearful for their families. those who practice a minority religion i am sure are praying very hard right now, because

they simply don't know what will happen. weakest wouldhe not be able to leave. sure they are with trepidation, knowing the history of their own country. americans, i say to what can you do? you can get on the internet, you can try to send e-mail messages. you can read and tweets. through your churches, you can read two other churches that are trying to help the synagogues. whether the denomination is baptist, whether it is ukrainian, orthodox, whether it is roman catholic or greek, all of these faiths are very predominant in ukraine. one of the ideas i had, because easter and passover is such a huge celebration, both the

and the celebration of the resurrection for those who are christian. it is a huge moment in the ukraine. i hope the world religious community will have the most giant procession in world history and invite the world community to come to ukraine. come to ukraine this year at easter time and stand with the with theere, pro-fast people, regardless of your denomination. give them spirit. right now they need spirit to withstand their fears and to realize their hopes. are you going back anytime soon? i decided i did not want to go with eight male senators. but i am very proud of senator

mccain. we have an opportunity -- i am trying to get the word out that i think the religious leaders of with the bravery they have demonstrated, should invite the world community to ray in ukraine at this easter season. what a challenge that the world could meet. that's come across all borders. , let hungryelp help, let greece help. -- letthink that lithuania and estonia and latvia help. people would go on their own accord. host: but in tallahassee, florida. i was in strategic air command for over 20 years

starting in 1950. mottoassure you that the of peace is our profession is correct. we have the strongest nuclear force in the world and it was effective. the only thing i have to disagree is that i think obama is a weak leader. he is not focusing on the key issues. i think he has his plate full on a lot of minor, insignificant things. but we have to focus on the main thing. right now it is russia. think the lady is doing a fine job. we are lucky to have her on the committee. she knows what she is talking about. i represent an f-16 facility in my own district. work that our military does, the discipline, the patriotism,

the self-sacrifice of the individuals and military and their entire family. i have a cousin who is in the marine. -- was in the marines. he has been deployed several times. we are so proud of you. ho about the use of soft i just want to talk about the use of soft pow tpwher the -- soft power in the united states. seems like we use soft power in afghanistan where we walked in overpb nations and overdrew their governments and now we're turning to the soft power thing where we cause unrest in countries and the sorch leader

-- sovereign leaders are overdrone and we don't wall it a coup and the new leaders will take over, support them with our might. the question i have is the congresswoman aware of the recent f.c.c. filing against he company archer daniel midland? and then i have a question if i could just hear her response. guest: i'm afraid i'm not aware of it. but i'll be happy to look into it. why don't you explain it to us. >> well, there was a lawsuit with the f.c.c., that's from the united states, the f.c.c. where they were meddling in paying off leaders in the ukraine and venezuela. in the ukraine they were adding money on to a tax that supplied all the people -- you had mentioned that the people who

were supplied their -- so the f.c.c. filed the lawsuit against them. in the e being paid off crew crane and the venezuela. and they settled out of court. like $140 million. this just happened in december of 2013. d then we've heard all the calers talking about the state department. she actually in a phone conversation -- you know, to the e.u. in that same conversation she's pointing out the preferred new leader of the ukraine who happens to be in power now who we give the title of prime minister when indeed it was a forceful takeover. host: the f.c.c. has this on

their website from december 2013. the f.c.c. today charged global food processer archer-daniels-midland for -- failing to pay . ukraine has been called a kleptocracsy where it was not an apparent form of doing business. i mentioned how much funds were being charged by the economic system inside of crew crane, 19% interest rate. they were being forced to sell their land as a result. and that land was being amassed by certain people in the country. it's a very messy situation mechanicically there and there was a lot of forces to control

ukrainian farmland because it was globally press teen. farmers don't have the equipment like we have here. they don't have the best seed and there were forces that work to control again this global asset that is so precious as world popular increases. ukraine is the third largest porter of grain despite that horrendous economic situation. under the constitution of that country, their parliament by vast majority vote supported the new government of ukraine. they actually voted and the party of region which is the party that the corrupt president yanokoc fled. i don't know where they are.

inside that country and this is where the world community, you talk about soft power, very important point. the world community has to be there the organization for security and corporation of europe has to be there to help monitor those elections and the united nations frankly i think should be sending delegates. although if russia blocks it, they haven't been open society in the sense of wanting free elections. we need to guarantee to those elections are free and clear

and the world community can help do that. host: hi james. caller: morning. just a couple of points. one thing the ukrainians need to fight for the ukraine, not just americans. . d also for the congresswoman finance reform, someone from another state should not be giving money to another congressman in another state that's representing people. like in ohio where you're at, there shouldn't be someone from texas sending money to feed you when you're not representing people in texas. motus s has been our aperendus. it seems like we're a divided country than we have been in the country.

guest: you hit the nail of the head. that's exactly what is wrong in congress. become two political parties rather than a congress. we need to do what canada does. we need to do what england does. we need to get the big money out. in my last election there was money from texas that was put against me. and i said why those people? they don't even know me? they've never met me. it's frightening and so you feel like a duck in a shooting gallery. if that big money comes against you and you can't afford to buy the ads an so forth, a lot of americans wouldn't want this job because of what you have to put up with in terms of those dollars. we are capable of reforming this system but none of those bills to do campaign finance reform has been even allowed to be voted on in the congress of the united states. and the ones that came up years ago that were supposed to be reformed look what happened, even more money poured?

. i'm all for disclosure but we need to control the amounts of money that are coming into the political process. it's wrongful. we can do better in the country. host: want to get your take on the g.m. story. the latest headline is that g.m. says the problem arose in 2001. documents revealed show that g.m. acknowledged that they first heard in 2001 that it might have a problem with the ignition switches now linked to 12 deaths. guest: i think that the industry whether it's domestic or global auto industry has been trying to meet new standards, reduce the way of the cars and there's been a lot more new technology that's been added and it's all in the engineering. and with the electronic systems

be installed in sensors so a level we need had back in the last century. there have been serious problems with acceleration, for example. sudden and rapid acceleration that you can't stop in the car or this particular problem. it's not just in u.s.-made vehicles. this is happening in other places because of fuel standards and so forth. so i think that what we really need and we haven't been able to pass this yet, is we need to have a place in our country where we work with the industry backup ail safe mechanism in those electronic systems on vehicles. and we don't really have that right now. there are singular chips that control different, for instance on the accelerator, if you really get into the elect troings of it. they're not fail safe. and i think we need to move to

that and help the industry transition. i can't speak to g.m.'s similar situation but overall the amount of electronics, automatic door openers and automatic locks, every single one of those can have fault. and we have to figure out how to get backup systems within each vehicle and do it in a cost effective manner. host: i appreciate your time this morning. guest: it's great to live in a country where people can call in and where someone in the press can speak freely and throw questions at us. this was achieved at a very great price an we love this country. let's make it stronger. host: thank you. >> congressman michael capuano discuss as plan to eliminate fannie mae and freddie mac and replace them with a new federal regulator that would include them in the public mart.

. d repive rob woodall >> you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. >> what a unique challenge in defining the -- you know, war in cyberspace, what war is, what milliontary action is. clearly we're still trying to work our way through those issues. the tenants i think that are applicable here is that whatever we do in the cyber arena, international law will pertain, that if we find ourselves getting to a point where we believe that cyber is taking us down an armed conflict scenario that the rules and the law of our conflict will pertain every bit as much in this domain as it does in any other.

i don't think cyber is inherently different in that regard. i think those sets of procedures, those sets of policies in law as a nation represent a good point of departure. >> this weekend on c-span, senate armed services takes up intelligence and military nominations. saturday morning at 10:00 eastern. and n book tv, amy parents jonathan allen look at hillary clinton since her defeat. saturday on c-span2. and it's american history tv from march 1964. poet and novelist interviews martin luther king jr. sat at 7:00 and 11:00. >> president obama signs a new executive over with new overtime pay rules. after that eric holder on

reducing sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. the house foreign affairs committee holds a hearing friday on the 1979 u.s.-taiwan relations act. live coverage starts at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span2. agriculture secretary tom vilsack will discuss the budget. the budget calls for $22.2 billion in funding. you can see the series live starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span 3. >> it's time to create new jobs, to build and rebuild industry, to give the american people room to do what they do

best. and that can only be done with a tax program which provides incentive to increase productivity for both workers and industry. our proposal is for a 10% across the board cut every year for three years and the tax rates are all individual income taxpayers making a total cut in tax rates of 30%. this three-year reduction will apply on the tax toward unearned income leading to a differential wean the tax, earned and unearned income. now, i would have hoped that we could be retroactive with this. but the effective starting date for these 10% personal income tax rate reduction will call for as of july 1st of this year. again, let me remind you that while this 30% reduction will leave the taxpayers with $500 billion more in their pockets over the next five years, it's actually only a reduction in

the tax increase already built into the system. unlike some past "tax reforms" this is not merely a shift of wealth between different sets of tax payers. find more coverage on our face book page. c-span brought to you today as a public service by your television provider. >> president obama through an executive order thursday expands overtime pay. the order drebs the labor department to recommend yorled governing overtime pay. this action will take more than a year to take effect. his remarks are 10 minutes. >> ladies and gentlemen, the . esident of the united states [applause]

>> thank you, everybody. thank you. thank you so much. thank you. guys. please have a seat. thank you very much. well, welcome to the white house. before i get started, i just want to acknowledge somebody who is working so hard on behalf of america's works each and every day. our outstanding secretary of labor juan perez. cheers and applause] tom must have brought some of his family with him. yeah, we've got, you know, a lot of honored guests here. we've got middle-class workers who rely on overtime pay. we've got business owners who believe in treating their employees right both because it's the right thing to do but

also because it's good business. and thanks to the hard work and resilience of americans like the one who are here today. our economy's been growing for a number of years now. our businesses have created more than eight and a half million new jobs over the past few years. the unemployment rate has been at its lowest in five years. be in many ways the trends that have really battered middle-class families for decades have gotten worse not better. those at the top doing better than ever. but for the average family wages have barely budged. and too many americans are working harder and harder just to get by. so we've got to reverse those trends. we've got to build an economy that works for everybody, not just for a few. and we've got to restore the basic notion of opportunity that is at the heart of the

american experience. opportunity for everyone, the belief that here in america it doesn't matter where you started, if you are willing to work hard and act responsibly you've got a chance to get ahead. so at my state of the union at the beginning of the year, i laid out an opportunity agenda to give americans more chance to succeed. number one more good jobs that pay good wages. number two, making sure that we train more americans that are need to fill those jobs. number three every child in america gets a world class education. and number four, which is what i'm going to be focusing on today, making sure that our economy rewards the hard work of every american. now making work pay means making sure women earn equal pay for equal work. [applause]

it means giving women the chance to have a baby without sacrificing jobs or a day off to care for a sick child or a parent not worrying about making ends meet. it means making sure every american has access to quality, affordable health care that's there when you need it. if there's somebody throughout that doesn't have health insurance make sure to go on healthcare.government before march 31st. that's a priority. [applause] and it means wages and paychecks that help to take family. i've asked business owners to do what they can to give their employee a raise.

i saw some of you the day before yesterday in manhattan. fortunately mali, and sasha like the sweaters i bought them. but what i wanted to highlight was the fact that, on its own, e gap decided to give raises to 64,000 employees in the country. i've called on congress to raise the minimum wage to 10.10 an hour. and this year of action while congress decides what it's going to do whether it's going to do anything about this issue and i hope that it does and i know democrats are pushing hard to get minimum wage legislation passed, i'm going to do what i can on my own to raise wages for more hard working americans some of a few weeks ago i signed an executive order for federal employees to pay their

employees at least $10.10. today i'm going to use my pen for americans to earn the overtime pay that they deserve. overtime is a pretty simple idea. more, you to work should get paid more. nancy minor works at an oil refinery in pennsylvania. nancy, raise your hand there. you go. give nancy a big round of applause. [applause] so for the last 16 years nancy has been a single mom raising and educating four kids on her own. and that is not easy as you might imagine. she's been able to do it though, thanks in part to her overtime pay. for more than 75 years, the 40-hour workweek and the overtime that comes with it has

helped countless workers like nancy get ahead. and it means that when she's asked to make significant sacrifices on behalf of her company which is she's happy to do, they're also looking out for her recognizing that that puts a strain on her family and having to get a babysitter and all kinds of things adjustments that she has to make. it's just fair. it's just the right thing to do. unfortunately today millions of americans aren't getting the extra pay they deserve. and that's because an exception that was originally meant for gh paid white collar 23,660.s wins if you're making 23,,000 you're not high in management, right? if your salary is even a dollar above the current threshold you

may not be guaranteed overtime it doesn't matter what you do is mostly physical work like stocking shelves. your employer doesn't have to pay you a single extra dime and i think that's wrong. it doesn't make sense that in some case this is rule actually makes it possible for salaried workers to be paid less than the minimum wage. it's not right when business owner who is treat their employers fairly can be under cut by competitors who aren't treating their employees right. if you're working hard, you're barely making ends meet, you should be paid overtime, period. because working americans have struggled through stagnant wages for too long. every day i get letters from folks who just feel like they're treading water. they're working harder and harder just to get buy bi-but it's always at the end of the month real tight.

workers like the ones with me here today, they want to work hard. they don't expect a free lunch. they don't expect to be fabulously wealthy. they just want a chance to get ahead. so today i'm taking action to help give more workers that chance. i'm directing tom perez my secretary of labor to restore the common sense principle of overtime if you go far and behind your employer then you should share a little bit in that success. and this is going to make a real difference in the lives of millions of americans from managers to fast food to retail. and we're going to do this the right way. we're going to con swultworks -- we're going to consult and work with businesses. with any kind of change like this, not everybody's going to be happy. but americans have spent too

long working more and getting less in return. so wherever and whenever i can make sure that our economy rewards hard work and responsibility that it makes sure that it's treated fairly the worker who are out there building this economy every day. that's what i'm going to do. whatever american wants is a paycheck to let them support their families, experience a little bit of economic security, pass down some hope and optimism for their kids. that's what we're going to be fighting for. that's what i'm going to be fighting for as long as i'm president of the united states and with that, i'm going to sign this mem oh and i want to thank everybody for being here especially the folks standing me.nd [applause]

>> i've got to make sure i use every pen. there you go. [applause] [laughter] >> thank you so much. >> thank you. appreciate it, mr. president. all right. everybody. [applause] journal" gton

representative michael cap wana discusses a plan to replace fannie mae and freddy mack with an opener tor that would work more with the private market. and an investigation of the i.r.s. of political groups and the determination of thed a minute trations budget. "washington journal" is live every morning at 7:00 eastern on c span. you can join in the conversation on facebook and twitter. what are a unique challenge in defining the -- you know, the ar in cyber space what war is. clearly from a policy's perspective we are trying to work our ways through those issues. the tenants that are applicable is the fact that whatever we do within the cyber arena, international law will pertain. that if we find ourselves

getting to a point where we believe that cyber is taking us down an armed conflict scenario that the rules and the law of our conflict will pertain every bit in this domain as it does in any other. i don't think cyber is inherently different in that regard. i think those sets of procedures, those sets of policy and law as a nation have stood us in good step. i think they represent a good point of departure. >> this weekend on span, senate arm services take up military operations. saturday morning at 10:00 eastern. jonathan allen d amie parents look at hillary clinton. and american history tv from march 1964. robert penn warren interviews martin luther king jr., sat morning at 7:00 and 11:00.

>> attorney general eric holder has endorsed a proposal to reduce sentences from nonviolent drug o defenders. -- o fenters. this is about 10 minutes. >> thank you so much chief judge saras and members of the commission. good morning and thank you for the invitation to appear before you to discuss our shared goals and to provide the justice department's views on proposed changes to the federal sentencing guidelines related to certain drug and trafficking crimes in particular, i appreciate the opportunity to speak in support of the amendments that are under consideration today. the department strongly supports the commission's proposed change to the drug quantity table. if adopted, this amendment would lower by two levels, the base offense level associated

with various drug quantities involved in drug trafficking crimes this would have the effect of modestly reducing guideline penalties for drug trafficking defenses while keeping the guidelines consistent with current atutory minute mums and -- minimums and those who use weapon when committing drug crimes. now this straightforward adjustment to sentencing ranges while measured in scope would nonetheless send a strong ms. sadge about the fairness of our criminal justice system. it would focus limbed resources on the most serious threats to public safety. now, let me be clear, my primary obligation as attorney general of the united states is to insure the safety of the american people. the changes that i have implemented over the past year are designed to do exactly that while making our system more fair and more efficient at the

same time this proposed amendment is consistent with that i announced last august. it would deepen the department's work to make the federal criminal justice system both more effective and moreer fish when battling crime and the conditions and the behaviors that bread it. as it stands and as this commission has recognized certain type of cases wrult too many americans gose going to prison for too long. although the united states come prices just five person of the world's population. we incarcerate for most of the world's prisoners. 1-28 children currently has a parent behind bars, state and federal governments spend a combine 80 during 2010 alone.

you know of more than the 216,000 of inhating. only half. this focus are lines on incarceration is not just financially unsustainable. it comes with human that are impossible to calculate and that's why in recent years under the relationship of president obama and a long side members of this commission as well as prosecutors and with the expertise of those advocated, law enforcement virbles on both sides of the aisle. we are taken significant steps to improve criminal justice policies an implement targed reforms. i'm particularly proud of the work that we did together.

>> just over a year ago in an effort to take our collective work to the next level, i launched a target in the justice department review of the federal criminal justice system to identify improvement and to make it more effective and more closely alarmed with her highest ideals while not sacrificing our duty to promote public safe. i announced the new smart one crime initiative base tond results of this review. it is allowing the justice department to make critical improvements to improve resources and outcomes and to disrupt the destructive cycle of poverty, incarceration and crimes and that we can hire communities. among the key changes that i mandated this part is a

modification of the charming spoils to make sure that people can look at a certain low-level, federal job. these sentences are appropriate rather than stringent mandatory minimums that will be replied to and the gipedlines would help to futter advice this work. controlling the federal business population and insuring just and po portion nal sentences. i am glad to know that there were a number of leaders including patrick lahey along with representative bobbi scott and raul labrador have introduced legislation but would give judges more discretion for those convicted of certain crimes. by reserving the most se career penalties were dangerous and violent drug traffickers.

we can better promote safety while building you strengthen communities. we look to refine and pass the legislation, we are simultaneously moving forward with the range in our reforce. we had drug treatment initiatives that concern as alternatives in incarceration. we are working reduce a necessary unlateral consequences for individuals seeking to improve their communities. -- re

like supervision and drug treatment that are proven to reduce resip vism while improving public safety. rather than increasing cost, a new report projects that these states will actually say $4.6 billion over a 10-year period. many have already seen drops in recidivism rate as well as overall crime rate. even as their poplages have declined. the full impact of our justice reinvestment policies and other forms remains to be seen. it is clear that these efforts are bearing fruit and showing significant promise across the country. i think we can be encouraged by this ongoing work which has enabled us to work better safety and determination while making our expenditures smarter and more productive. yet each of us are here because we reck nide that we cannot get

satisfied and a great deal of work remains to be son. the federal sentencing guylines this commission can allow cops to make common sense and law enforcement leaders with the 21st century solutions that they need to address 21st century challenges and to build on the progress that we've already seen in constructing a criminal justice department that deters and punishes crime. keeps us safe and insures that those who have paid their debts have become productive citizens again. as the commission and we hear testimony from a diverse panel over the course of today's hearing, i urge you to seize this opportunity to make our criminal justice system more fair and to keep the american people more safe. i look forward to continuing to work closely with each of you and with leaders in control and

to forge the most just set that nerch this country deserve. i want to thank you for the opportunity to appear before you each day. i would be happy to take in a few questions that time. >> the house swore in representative david jolly to

representative the 13th congressional district. he takes over the seat of del young who passed away in october. he spoke briefly on the house floor. the speaker: for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida rise. ms. ros-lehtinen: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from florida, the honorable david jolly, be permitted to take the oath of office today. his certificate of election has not arrived, but there is no contest and no question has been raised with regard to his he election. the speaker: without objection. will representative jolly and the entire florida delegation come to the well of the house and face me. all members will rise. and will representative-elect jolly please raise his right hand. do you solemnly swear you will

support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, so help me god. mr. jolly: i do. he speaker: congratulations.

without objection, the gentlelady from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, is recognized for one minute. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. as dean of the florida delegation, it is my pleasure to welcome the newest member of this proud body, congressman david jolly. today is a significant progression for david from staffer to elected representative. a progression beginning from his many years working for his community as a staffer for our esteemed late colleague, congressman bill young. i'm confident that david has returned to these halls to ensure that bill's legacy is carried on. one of extraordinary constituent service as well as his unwavering respect and civility for all of us in this chamber. i also know that david will, in his own words, bring his own deep desire and drive to get things done for this country. david is a fifth generation floridian and is joined in the gallery today by his rightfully proud parents and family to mark

this momentous occasion. i'm certain that he'll work hard to maintain that sentiment with each of them as well as with his constituents in he is a welcome edition to our florida delegation, a fresh and strong voice for our sunshine state and great nation. and before i yield to my distinguished colleague, corrine brown, let me also say that just like you, david, i, too, won a special election to fill the seat of a legend of this institution. so believe me when i say that having big shoes to fill should be seen as both an exceptional honor as well as an exceptional

opportunity. congratulations and welcome from all of us. the speaker: the gentlelady from florida may resume. ms. brown: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to welcome our newest member to congress and to the florida delegation. as i'm sure he already knows, congressman jolly has big shoes to fill. bill young was a true statesman who put the needs of his district and our home state playoff politics, and florida is a better place to live because of it. i have always said to whom god is given much, much is expected. when you're born you're going to get a birth certificate, when you die you get a death certificate. and that little dash in between is what you have conto -- done to make this weighter place. i look forward to working with the congressman to make florida the best it can be and the united states. i also want to say that the st.

petersburg mayor is here, would you stand. thank you. welcome. welcome to this united states house of representatives. the speaker: the gentleman from florida may resume the time. mr. jolly: mr. speaker, thank you to my new colleagues. thank you, ms. ros-lehtinen, thank you very much. and to the people of florida's 13th congressional district, i want to say thank you today for giving me a remarkable life opportunity. the opportunity to serve. for my new colleagues, i simply want you to know two things about this new member. first, i believe in this institution. the people's house. i believe in all that is good and right about this institution, the opportunity that this institution has to make our nation better. to direct our nation down the right path. to solve problems for all of us and secure for every american

for all of us the sacred blessings of liberty. the second thing i'd like you to know about this new congressman is i believe in civility. i have the wonderful opportunity to work for a man with whom you each served and left an indelible legacy in this house, one of civility. we are all elected to fight for our communities, to fight our our constituents. we are elected to fight our our convictions forks the causes we believe in, but it is a fight for the future of our country. it is not a fight against each other. and i know that. we have had a nationally watched race. that race is now over. and now it is time for my -- for me as a member of congress of this body to join with each of you to follow in the footsteps that you have made in serving your community as i begin to serve mine. you have my commitment today to

work with each and every one of you. i look forward to it. mr. speaker, i thank you for this moment. i look forward to working with each and every one of you and i want to say thank you one more time to my friends and my neighbors and those in my community in florida's 13th congressional district that have given me this honor today. thank you very much. god bless each and every one of you. mr. speaker, i suppose i yield back my time. the speaker: the gentleman ields back his time. under clause 5-d of rule 20, the chair announces to the house that in light of the administration of the oath of the gentleman from florida, the >> it's time to create new jobs, to build and rebuild industry, to give the american

people room what they do best and that can only be done with a tax program to increase productivity for both workers in industry. our proposal is for a 10% across the board cut every year for three years and the tax rates for all individual income taxpayers making a total in tax rate of 30%. this three year reduction will apply to unearned income er lame to an eventual nation of earned and unearned income. i would hope that we could be retroactive with this. but as it stands the effective starting date for the 10% reduction we'll call for as of july 1st of this year. again, let me remind you that while this 30% reduction will leave the taxpayers with $500 billion more in their pockets

over the next five year, it's only an increase already built into the system. unlike some past "tax reforms" this is not merely a shift of wealth between different sets of taxpayers. >> find more highlights from 35 years of house floor coverage on our facebook page. c-span created by america's cable companies, 35 years ago. and brought to you today by your public service by your television provider. >> coming up on c-span2, representative vicky hartzler on the defense budget cuts.

the repive rob woodall is here to discuss the oversight committee. you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. the house foreign affairs committee hold as hearing friday on the 1979 u.s.-taiwan relations act. the governor's diplomacy and trade. coverage starts at :30 eastern on c-span2. >> "washington journal"

continues. republican hartzler from missouri, welcome back. thank you for being host: republican from missouri, . in your opinion, what is the best approach? guest: i think we have to be decisive, firm, and fast with our response and come down hard on the economic sanctions that have been put forward are the president. we need to freeze the assets of russian citizens. we need to withhold their visas. we need to certainly not participate in the g-8 summit. we need to try to remove russia as a member of the g-8. them know need to let there will be consequences on the international stage, and they will not have the same platform or standing they currently have now. host: we have read in the papers our military is preparing, moving assets over to the region , additional assets over to the region. should our strategy include the option of a military response?

if so, what type of response? guest: i think we have to keep all options on the table and project we are serious about this. but i don't think at this time we need to advocate for any particular military operation, certainly, we would hope putin would see it is not in his best interest and is long-term trade interest, is long-term economic interest, or his standing on international world stage to continue in the same path. that is where i think we should stand right now. host: are we obligated to respond to protect ukraine after 1994, the ukrainian president that ukraineay agreed to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for the guarantee from the u.s., russia, and britain, that it sovereignty would be protected? guest: it was a political agreement. it was not an official agreement such as like nato that was

approved, so there is a little bit of a difference there. we don't have legally the same obligations that we would to a fellow nato country, but certainly, it was an agreement they made in good faith. we should stand by them as much as we can, and look strong like we're doing, and change our relationship as russia -- with russia as a result of their actions. host: do you agree with the actions the president has taken so far? guest: yes. host: what else should we see him do? guest: we need to take steps to remove russia from the g-8 group and certainly stop any further negotiations with them as far as trade agreements. i think that makes sense. host: what will be the impact on the u.s., do you think, if we go ahead with economic sanctions? will we feel it here in the u.s.? guest: i don't think so as perhaps as much as russia would

feel it from us. and certainly of the european union joined with this, they have more trade agreements and we do in some ways, some direct implications there. but that is where i think we need to expand our sales of exports of natural gas and other resources to help ukraine as well as the countries in europe to have another source for their energy. host: i want to show you what rand paul had to say yesterday. here's his argument. [video clip] oni support the sanctions the russians. i support the military and technical assistance. but i have trouble with the loan is since -- assistance in the sense that i believe it will be a gift and a benefit to russia. billionns owe about $20 to $30 billion to the russians.

bailing out russian indemnity to the ukraine, i don't think is a way to punish the ukraine. or the way to punish russia. i think it sends the wrong signal. there are other questions you might ask if you're going to loan money to ukraine. i would ask for a show of hands of those who would personally i ukrainian debt. triple c debt is rated minus. not one person in this room would buy it. there is no expectation they can pay it back. ukraine is rated as one of the least transparent nations in the world and one of the most corrupt nations. what senator mccain has pointed out with corruption is precisely why the imf quit sending money to the ukraine. i think while we are in a big rush to send russia a signal, i think sending russia or sending ukraine loan money that will go to russia's not a great signal. has a lot of good points, but i think would be up to ukraine and whether they

would choose to use it to pay russia or to i more energy from us. it behooves them to give them some financial tools that they could use to give them some flexibility during this very critical time. host: the house approved a $1 billion loan guarantee recently. did you go yes on that? guest: i did. just to clarify, that is not new money. it was simply add ukraine to the countries that the state department has where they can give assistance to nations. that pot of money is already there. ukraine wasn't among the nations listed that could receive help from our state department. now it is. to phone calls. oxford, connecticut, republican caller. toler: the biggest threat our national security is america's collective fear of facing difficult realities and the inability of congress to a knowledge the sudden, straight of instruction of the third power of 9/11 is impossible

unless primitive explosives are used. -- preemptive explosives are used. would you meet with building experts in finding out what really brought down holding seven? host: he is part of a group that calls in the this program were skeptical of investigation that was done by congress. you are fairly new to congress, but do you support -- have you looked into it? guest: i've not heard that. i am a member of the armed services committee and agricultural committee and budget committee. if he wants to send information to us, we will look into that. but i would disagree. i think one of our main concerns andave as far as a country there being threats, a lot of it is our national debt, as was stated by admiral mike mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff several years ago. that is why we have to stand strong for reducing spending smartly to make government more

efficient and effective. our prioritiesng right. i have a lot of concerns about the defense cuts that have been proposed and believe we need to get our priorities back as a thetry, and provide for common defense according to the constitution. that is where i think we need to focus our priorities here in congress. host: on the defense budget, the cuts that were proposed, what impact would that have on your district? installationsary there. what would be the economic impact? guest: it has a lot because we have in air force base in their proposing to divest a fleet of aircraft that is housed partly at whiteman. we also -- they want to move the apache helicopter, take it away from the national guard units to active duty. that would also impact the air force base. in drawing on the troops will have an impact.

we have a lot of army personnel there. overall, it will have a very real and significant impact. host: "the washington times" headline -- what have you heard from your constituents? guest: they're just starting to her about this. we're just starting to get feedback. obviously, it is concerning. it is an all volunteer force. we have to keep that in mind. people don't have to sign up and put their life on the line and served his country. when they do and you start drawing back benefits, it jeopardizes, i think, the future of and all volunteer force. host: here is a tweet -- absolutely. you have other countries that have aircraft and we have to be able to meet those challenges.

in "the new york times" there is a piece, democrat from california, let the military run drone warfare. he says the cia should work on gathering intelligence, not operating drone warfare. where do you come down on this issue? guest: i haven't really thought about that particular thing, but certainly, the military does it well. that is their specialty. that makes sense to allow the military to take the lead on running aircraft or any other military piece of equipment. host: rachel, california, independent caller. back a caller to that called in in the first segment. this is true. this is a project for the new american standard agenda sinus for israel.

we will not support a war in syria. what that is all about, they want to push the war in syria because they want us to get as into a war with iran. this is going to be very dangerous. we should stay out of it. i am a syrian-american. i am also a russian. good leader.ry let him do with russia when he wants to do with russia. george washington warned us to stay out of foreign entanglement and we are playing a dangerous game if we get into world war iii. ushijacked.com. >host: rachel, is that where you're getting the information? caller: i'm getting it from there and also "the guardian" and also rt and also al jazeera. host: rachel in california. any response to what she had to say? guest: not really. i think there's a lot of