widespread use of heroin in the u.s., especially in the suburbs. as always, we will take your calls and you can join the conversation at facebook and twitter. "washington journal" is next. ♪ >> the house and senate have finished their work for the week. the president is in saudi arabia . this morning on the "washington journal" were going to talk about heroin use in the u.s.. as we go through the newspapers with this topic, this is the front page of the new york times, college athletes aim to put price on priceless.

. we want to hear from you on this topic. if you live in the east and central time zone and have an opinion on whether or not college athletes should unionize. you can also contact us via social media. should college athletes be able to unionize? joining us now on the phone is dave jamison of the huffington post. how did this issue get started? the way this got started

was they said they wanted a union election. the national labor relations oversees jobs in the private sector in the u.s.. they had a hearing. it was to determine whether or not these players were actually employees and whether they would be eligible to have a union vote. this is basically standard procedure for any officer factor in the u.s.. it is very unusual, because these are college football players, but the regional director at the hearing and issued his determination. he believes that the layers are employees of the university. host: how is it that a regional director of the nlrb can make that decision? that is how it all works in this agency. it starts in the regional level, in this case in chicago. deal,sly, this is a huge

but really this is only the first hurdle. the school are going to appeal this right away. this is going to head to the nlrb in washington, a five-member board. it is like the equivalent of the judicialourt up to the system. that board is going to hear this case and even then, even if the board determines that these players are employees, that is not the end of the road. the school could then take it to the federal court system. that is why this case is going to go on for years. host: what could be the result of this ruling by the regional direct your stance? guest: i think when it comes to the labor board, these players stand a good chance of winning their case. the reason for that is the

disposition of this current board. it is a liberal majority. there are three democrats and two republicans, all nominated by barack obama. a liberal majority tends to have a more expansive view of who should be considered an employee. if their case stands up before the board and if it survives in would pavert, this the way for union election at northwestern. it apparently overwhelmingly supports the idea of a union. the steel workers were backing them said they had an overwhelming majority of the players sign cards. if northwestern unionize is, we will see this occur in other schools. this pertains only to private sector schools like northwestern , because it is a different animal when you get into public employees in public schools.

layers would be considered public employees. a couple of ex athletes from ucla started this whole thing, didn't they echo guest: going yeah, this is been on for about nine years now. the steelworkers themselves have been involved for a long time. people generally associate steelworkers with pittsburgh and obviously steal, but this is a union that is involved in of areasg and a lot that you would not suspect. they represent a lot of nurses, for instance. they have been working closely with the players over the years. i think they felt the timing was right. going back to what i said

earlier about the disposition of the current labor board, i think there was some very smart timing here. and the players have made some shrewd moves so far. son, thankamie you. harry reid says of course ncaa athletes should have the right to unionize.

the comments on our facebook page.

those are couple of our comments on our facebook page. "the wall street journal" this morning opined on this issue. the fact that the steelworkers union is working with players on this.

bill in canton, illinois, what do you think of all this? i'm totally against it. i will tell you why. a lot of your mail sports subsidize the female sports because they don't generate the ticket sales at the mail sports do. because to offset that, then they will probably have to raise tuition on the students. the other part of it is they are given a free education, housing,

free food and a lot of other perks. they get free medical care, the best medical care in the world, and then they are given a platform that they normally would not have, to go into the pros. bowl came up rose in a popular player did something that the school did not like and they suspended him, and the players went on strike. think of what it would cost the university in lost revenue. i am just totally against it. it is insane, because you are like to have universities the new york yankees and say the -- the bigger the school the more they can pay their players and you're just going to force out all the smaller schools that haven't any competition because the good players are going to go where the money is.

it is common sense. host: that is bill in canton, illinois. where is that? caller: is southwest up your you. host: are you at all a south -- a northwestern fan? fan.r: i'm not a i am more into the university of illinois where i laid baseball in western illinois. you played baseball at the u of i. did you get a scholarship? caller: i was a walk-on scholarship after i came back from vietnam. and they rotator cuff canceled my scholarship, but i had the g.i. bill. the u of i needed a left-handed pitcher so they offered me a scholarship. they signed a minor-league baseball contract with the aaa cardinals out of springfield, but i was also working a caterpillar and i had an

amputation of a couple fingers on the pitching hand. it was ironic when i walked in the door with my splint on, they gave me a signed picture of the team, a new glove, and they said we don't employ gimps, limps or cripples. [laughter] host: they said that out loud to you? caller: yes. it was devastating. its all a dream throughout my whole life. host: back in that time, this was in the early 70's, i take it? in 1976.es, it was host: does all the baseball players have scholarships? did any have to pay tuition? caller: they were all on scholarships. and theythe g.i. bill had open tryouts. i was the only one that got .ffered a scholarship

they call it a walk-on scholarship, it was not a formal invitation. sharing yourfor story little bit with us, bill. calvin, perryville, maryland. caller: i'm so glad that bill

was the caller prior to me. i have two points to make. i spent 20 years in the united states air force. timer people say all the i'm so lucky that i give free medical care. i don't get free medical care. i serve my country. i pay for that care with the time i surf. athletes it is the same. they're paying for that. they're contributing and doing something for that. -- ielieve they unionize do believe they should unionize. one of the premier commercials on cbs sports is for enterprise rent a car. tool to get athletes who to the big time. the main these -- the money these athletes get this a much

above what they would make in salary and commissions as a sales rep for enterprise, it is ridiculous to say free free free. have contracts and schedules. they have to do certain things. all that said, do you think college athletes should be paid by the schools are should be able to unionize? caller: i actually do, because they do contribute. ever's no way they could recoup what they gave to that university. host: thank you, sir, for calling her this morning.

richard in brooklyn, new york. what do you think of all this? slightly have a different aspect of this. i think there is no problem with college athletes unionizing because they certainly do work for the institution to a degree. i think the problem could be , ated for simply by saying the same time, we're potentially preparing you for the pros. therefore, if you do get a pro contract, then you now deserve to pay us, along with the right perhaps 10% of your salary for the first five years while you work in the pros. this would be a simple balance

going both ways. there would be an obligation on both sides to deal with the problem. , itever your opinion is stand by to listen. host: thank you sir. here's the front page of the "houston chronicle." showing off some of his skills. there is another picture here. you can see who else attended his pro day. there is barbara bush and former president bush sitting right there in the golf cart watching johnny manziel throwing some passes. john in new jersey. good morning. caller: this sounds like reverse economics to me. these people generate millions and millions of dollars to pay for sports that don't generate

any money. if there were billionaires giving their money away, people would be mad. why should these people have to work more than 40 hours a week to pay for sports that generate nothing? host: that is john in new jersey. joe is in las cruces, new mexico. go ahead. caller: i think they should be able to unionize host:. host: host: why is that? caller: they should be able to be equal with the other people who unionize. host: thank you for calling in. if you get through on the phone lines, make sure to turn down the volume on your tv. "the new york times editorializes. playing college football is a job.

tom in hilo, hawaii. caller: i was wondering at what point will the scholarships be considered income and therefore the text by the irs? if there's is someone out there that can maybe answer the question, i will disconnect and listened hopefully for an answer. host: do you think they should be considered income? caller: i haven't given it much thought, however, if a college /athlete is an employee and is receiving the scholarship as a benefit of employment of being a student/athlete, then maybe it should be considered income. host: thank you, tom. some more tweets we have received.

in "usa today" there is an article we want to show you. this is jason gay writing in "the wall street journal" this morning.

andrew, brookville, pennsylvania. caller: i believe they should be able to unionize, but i also think that with the unionization learnhould be allowed to the importance of the ability to get that education is primary. if they're going to have the education -- the education is important part of the whole deal. they should stress importance of that education and make sure that they keep grade point average up and be able to keep that grade point average up. because if they don't keep that up, they must be taken off the

academic scholarships. thank you, sir. were you an athlete in college? yes, i played football. host: did you get a full freeride? do you think you are worth at full ride? where did you play, by the way? caller: cal state. host: do you think you are worth a full ride to cal state? caller: yes. the big point is that if they are able to keep that ability to keep the program up, the program must be able to keep the program running so that they are able to fund and be able to keep the for theograms funded academic programs and the scholarships for the other sports programs that were funded in school. thank you andrew.

a recent poll in "the washington post in weatherford, texas. caller: i think they should be unionized. in football make a lot of money, what they should do is take the money and put in a fund. it is contingent on the athlete completing their four years. if they finished at four years, they get a percentage of that money, which also should be taxed. i don't think they should be unionized or pay player salaries. but to keep them in school for four years to get their education is contingent.

after they get the four years in, they get a percentage of the money that they made to put in that fund. andre, you're calling from texas. who do you follow down there? caller: i'm a texas fan. mac round is gone. -- mac brown is anziel.ut i like johnny m host: a profit offiggest of football except for johnny football. caller: i agree. there for fourbe years. we are going to invest four ands of the college funds -- you have to understand how much money the college makes, especially off ticket sales and

concession stands. johnnie should have to stay for four years. after four years if you decide to go pro, the money does put in a trust fund, you get a percentage of it. he can't play one player more than another because he is a higher echelon player. everyone gets the same thing, because you're getting a four-year scholarship. her $25,000 or more for a four-year scholarship, if we're paying for years fevers cooled again in education, you should stay that for years, give the school of four years they have if ther, and that way pros want you, they will want you when you are a senior. thank you, sir. we appreciate the call.

if you want to continue this conversation, you can go to facebook.com/c-span. here's a another big headline. report requested by governor clears him. you have probably heard about this already. " leadew york times editorial this morning says it is a whitewash for governor christie. lawyers hired by governor christie of new jersey at public expense issued their findings thursday on the traffic jams at the george washington bridge in september. it was apparently engineered as a bizarre form of political revenge. to no one's surprise, "the new york times" opines. lawyers found his hands clean. this cost the taxpayers of new jersey more than $1 million in legal fees.

that is the new york times take this morning on the governor christie situation. henry is coming in from burke, virginia. they, you are on "washington journal. code should student athletes be able to unionize? caller: effect continues, yes. and ncaa will have asked for this. i speak from the vantage point of a parent of a very good athlete who is being actively recruited in college. what we're finding is the college program us to determine what she will study. essentially, they want to make sure she is studying physical education or something that keeps her in the gym and allows her to do those 40-60 hours a week that she needs to compete

at the b-1 level. her interest in going to colleges for the education. show us to get a masters and a doctorate in a science. that is not aligned with what the college is expecting of athletes. if they want to come to college athlete/students, then they should be able to negotiate for their benefits. i think the colleges and ncaa have completely walked off the track and may have gotten away from what this is all supposed to be about, which is education and preparation for the rest of your life. most people don't go on to become pro athletes. the colleges are treating them as if everyone will. that simply is not going to be the case. callerenry, we had a earlier you said that some of the male sports subsidize the female sports. caller: well, it is called title ix, which is to make sure there'll is equality in sports programs purge of colleges out there that are offering 40

scholarships and the football program or in the basketball program and the fact of the matter is the courts and the laws coming to say that there has to be equality in these things. i have no doubt that some of the mail programs make more money than the others. the fact is to maintain polity in education and opportunity of education. those will have to continue. i agree with that. oddly enough as a father to daughters attend to see it that way. , theact of the matter is provide an there to education to prepare our young people for their adult careers. iel,ou are not johnny manz your career is not playing football, it is being a jolly just. colleges are now have it wrong. they think these athletes' careers is going to be physical education instructor and they will be in the gym pumping

weights to make sure you can lift the ball over the fence. has not what it is about. it is about being in the classroom with athletics being secondary. this article in the "national journal" this morning. here's a little bit of video from the house floor yesterday. pursuant to clause eight of rule 20, the unfinished business is a question on suspending the 4302, whichssing hr will be reported by title. >> hr 4302 to extend medicare payments to physicians and other provisions of the medicare and medicaid programs and for other purposes. >> the question is, will the house suspend the rules and suspend bill. of the chair, two thirds being in the affirmative, the rule has passed.

emotional -- the motion to --host: what happened yesterday? that seemed like a pretty routine house procedure. but that was was a voice vote in which you clearly heard but in fact was judged from the podium to be medicare doc fix, a one-year extension of the payments to doctors who serve ients that was to expire monday. the house leadership found himself in a situation thursday morning, yesterday, in which the measure would appear to be headed for defeat unless they somehow got around the corner they painted themselves in.

a voice vote without many of the members on the floor understanding what was going on, was held. the measure was deemed past. it now goes to the senate for action on monday because a program they're trying to loses its funding on monday. unless it falls through, and they are expected -- and they to expecting payment rates increase by 34%. they're trying to avoid a 24% cut to doctors. host: in reading your article, there was some anger by some members after this vote here and why were they angry and who is angry? guest: there was anger on both sides of the aisle. paul ryan, the budget chairman, walked off the floor. he really -- he didn't realize what happened.

others were outright upset at the process. it to someun of degree likening it to a house of cards situation. that is from the netflix series. said he simply did not know what happened and he was upset about it. at the same time, you did not really see a lot of rest releases from these members expressing outrage afterwards. hand they got the thing out of the way. some of them were allowed to they hadhe concerns that this would expire and they didn't have to leave it fingerprint on it. was this a house, case of not wanting to lead fingerprints or to the leadership not have enough votes for this? we will never know. it certainly appear that under the process house gop leaders had set up for the vote in texas

-- next move added vote. they felt they did not have enough votes. earlier thursday parade on the floor saying they would not vote for it. at least 50 of them likely would've been needed for passage. with somea conundrum republicans, including a caucus of doctors, who want a permanent fix, not another one-year fix to this measure, saying they would vote against it. house leaders found themselves in a bind, a deadline coming monday, to address this problem, or there would be a 24% cut to doctors payments. or somehow ram this thing through. that is where it gets murky. the republican side says that minority leader pelosi and house democratic leaders agreed to go along with this quietly.

we won't know that until they admit it, i guess. host: here is billy house's article in the "national journal. in "thes a headline hill" newspaper. we've got a few minutes left in our segment talking about whether or not college athletes should be allowed to unionize. we are taking your calls on that as well. pennsylvania.lis, caller: i'm calling because i think some of the people that are against players unionizing are not aware of the total picture. what i'm saying is that the college has the option of not renewing the athletic

.cholarship the athletic scholarship is actually year-by-year. the athletes in football cannot go on to pro ranks until they are there for three years. in addition to that, the amount of money that a nonrevenue athletes can get varies. my daughter play soccer at a.d. one institution. she only receives a thousand dollars. numerous signatures when she wanted to transfer. as a result, people were assuming that it is an even playing field. in reality, the cards are stacked in favor of the institution against the athlete. that is one of the reasons why athletes are interested in unionizing. one final thing that nobody yought up today is that if happen to play baseball, minor

league baseball, you can actually get paid for the team and still play college football. leon is calling from marquette, michigan. leon, please go ahead. caller: i would probably forgo the unions, but what i think we should do is pay them. every college student athlete should be paid double the themum wage and maybe give 2, 3 or four credit hours for each sport therein. that would be my simple explanation. host: why? them all ayou give constant wage, it levels the playing field for all the universities. they won't draw better athletes to certain schools. it gives the student athlete also a little pocket money. host: all right, thanks for calling in.

the "washington times" this morning. int -- this is an article

." this isngton post in this mornings paper. gsa official fired over las vegas conferences reinstated.

i want to finish up with a few more comments on twitter and facebook regarding whether or not college athletes should be allowed to unionize.

coming up in a minute, we will have a roundtable discussion on the topic of religious liberty and politics. us, onele are joining from the southern baptist leadership group. barry lynn is also coming on. it is based in part on the hobby lobby case, and as well on the fact that the president is visiting with the pope or visited with the pope yesterday. after that, we will talk with storyina who has a cover this week or this month in the christian science monitor on the heroin use epidemic in the united states. that is what is coming up on the "washington journal."

artist program which airs sundays at 10:00 a.m. is representative steve scalise. here's little bit from that newsmakers interview. ,> i would give them an a because we have started bringing bills to the floor to address the problems that are holding our economy back. the problem is, yet the president and harry reid in the atate, you have to give an f best, frankly, because you can't tell what the plan is. they're going to bring any of these bills that passed the house to the senate floor for a vote. the president seems to be mia when it comes to jobs plan. we know the president's final four brackets. he is never missed a deadline and submitting his final four bracket, we don't want the president's jobs plan is. frankly, to rebuild an america that works again. that is what the american people want us to focus on. i think you have seen some really good bills move through the house.

leadership is broad number of these bills to the floor. he went to continue to sharpen the focus. he also want to put pressure on the president and the senate to finally start addressing the problems that are holding our economy back. inif you keep the majority 2015, do think speaker boehner should serve again as a speaker of the house? >> i think anybody that is worried about what they will look for at the end of this year and into next congress is missing side of the fact that we have a lot of big challenges still to address. there's a whole election cycle. anybody that starts trying to figure out what the curtains will be like in their offices, that is when they run into problems and lose sight of what the main objective is. our main objective is to continue to fight for the american people and solve the problems and bring solutions forward to these big problems our country is facing. send them over to the senate.

of the senate is likely to address his problems, the voters will address it in november. we can't lose sight of what are agenda is. that is working every single day to get our economy back on track, to help get jobs and solve problems. >> washington journal continues. joining us from nashville is russell more, president of the southern baptist convention at six and religious liberty commission. did i get all that right, dr. moore? withll more, let's talk you in nashville. when he heard the term religious liberty, what does that mean to you? how do you define it? i defined it as the ability to live out one's religious convictions without

pressure or coercion from the state. host: how would you say the state of religious liberty is in the united states today? i am very concerned. for also is of reasons. we have one court case or another dealing with very basic questions of religious liberty, as well as a cultural climate that concerns me. when religious liberty is presented in headlines in scare quotes as though this were a lyrical invention of recent times rather than what it really is, one of the bedrock so this country, and natural right that the founders of this country believe was given to the people, not by the government, but by god. ,t essentially important something all americans should be concerned about, regardless of whether they are religious or not. this bill?

battlesome of the early at that time were efforts by the then powerful and still come in many ways powerful roman catholic church to get funding .or its own school system they wanted to stop contraceptives being available to american women. even at that time, there were efforts in the new york offyards not to take films of boats if those films offended their catholic hierarchy. many roman catholics at the time thought this particular film was laughing was -- was blasphemous. i think everyone has a right to believe in the right to put into practice or believes until and unless they crash right into a legitimate right of some third-party. then, we have to balance what

happens. we don't just assume that the religious claim tramps over whatever somebody else believes. barry lynn, do you consider yourself a christian? guest: absolutely. i could forgive you now and see in the afternoon if i wanted to. don't worry, that is not going to happen. more, just listen to it very lynn had to say here, it sounds like you two would be in agreement, is that fair? guest: no, i don't think we would be agreement. be agreement in terms of the definition of what religious liberty and separation of church and state would be, but i think we have very different ways of seeing how that works itself out in the public square. i am concerned about a government restricting the free exercise of religion. i think we see that happening

all over the place. i don't think the problem we're facing right now is a roman catholic church with enormous political power repressing people. instead, i see the exact opposite, a large and intrusive state often harassing people of faith, including roman catholics, little sisters of the seeking tohers, for live out their religious convictions. case,in the hobby lobby is that government imposing on up person's religious beliefs? caller: yes, it is. the green family simply asking to be able to live out their religious convictions without this burdensome and unnecessary government mandate coming from the hhs contraceptive mandate. the green family says we don't object to contraception, but we do object to contraceptive technologies or devices that we have ancan possibly

abortion effect, we don't want to be forced to participate in something that we believe could arguably be taking a human life. that is the question, whether or that we have are simply at the level of what we believe in our hearts and what we are saying from our habits, or whether that liberty is the freedom to be able to live out one's life according to one's religious convictions. linda, shouldn't a company be able to run themselves we want? cannot allow the boss who has one particular viewpoint to set up a corporation, as in the case of hobby lobby or conestoga wood, there've decided that the corporate interests of the head of the company override the religious convictions of the women employees who might choose to obtain contraceptive coverage , which agreed family says should not be available under their plan.

corporations have been considered persons in some regard since the 1900s. it did not shy with their famous or infamous case of citizens united, however, a corporation is not a production for every a person for not every purpose. it does not have that kind of corporate right. i don't believe that the free exercise of religion can be practiced by for-profit company that is in the business of craft.a do-it-yourself their purpose is not to practice religion. that is what you do a few former self as a religious charity or a church or other place of worship . it company like this, or company that makes wood cabinets does not and cannot seriously claim a free exercise of religion right,

protected by federal law that was issued in the supreme court on tuesday called a religious freedom restoration act. can muslim firefighters grow a beard, that is something that does not have an adverse effect on the third-party. it agreed family has a serious negative impact on female employees. should the catholic church or other religious dumb and out -- two nominations be allowed to have exceptions in the affordable care act? well, the churches do have an exception that the president put into the regulations on the affordable care act. the groups in the middle, like a religious hospital or religious university, all they have to do in order to avoid paying this directly themselves, is to read and sign a document that has 737 words. we refuse to cover contraception's because it

violates our religious convictions where you mail it in , a judge in a case we just want against notre dame, says it takes five minutes to do this. then the government is responsible for coming up with another insurance company willing to have contraceptive coverage. there's no connection between what those middle range institutions, like notre dame, there is no connection between them and an independent decision by student or faculty member to obtain contraception. -- do not cause abortion on this issue which slid through the oral argument in the day. i think russell is dead wrong on the science, there. it is not really up to they lynn to play up to consciences of other people. this could cause the want to be -- the womb to become ble. i also think

that the constitution and the bill of rights, these do not mandate that we give up guest: two theta because people are incorporated together and working in the marketplace, this means that there are placed in a blind trust, not as a serious distortion. have a great american principal. the green family has been for years seeking to put into practice their religious convictions. that is the reason they do not open on sunday. it is the reason they pay their employees at a higher rate than some competitors. they try to do everything they can. anyone who has ever been in hobby lobby can recognize that the religious faith and convictions of the family are all over the place. not think we can simply say

that because someone is in the marketplace, this means that free exercises gone. guest: the problem with this is that it dates too much. if you go into a hobby lobby, you will hear christmas carols in december. in some stores, you would not. there are these accoutrements of religion. are does not mean they exercising religion. there in the business of selling crafts and kits. decide to become a for-profit company. the goal is to make money. there is nothing wrong with that , but they cannot also later claim they are independent actors who can make religious decisions. sell said something completely wrong. you can have a sincerely held belief about anything. bigfoot -- all of the sesame street animals

will move into your neighborhood. you can have all kinds of beliefs. you cannot put them into practice that they claim to be scientific and are inconsistent. notwithstanding that they may have idiosyncratic views of what happens -- the most recent, these are not terribly difficult to read. the most recent review says not what russell just said. the use of these medications prevents an egg from being released. it is never fertilized. therefore, it is impossible for you to call it an abortion. we have to make public policy based on sound science, not on someone's religious views with this overlay of pseudoscience. the idea that an iud can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the womb is not the equivalent of believing that

sesame street is in one's neighborhood. this is a serious argument between people. the oral arguments that were never argued. they argue that these drugs are not classified in that way. host: we're going to go to calls now. is with thee southern baptist convention. is executive director of americans united for separation of church and state. bonnie is calling in from middletown, new jersey. guest: good morning. the facts are the facts. your beliefs are your beliefs. when you put garbage and propaganda in, you get that out. the iud stops undulation. it does not kill a fertilized egg. let's start from the premise. let's go with another odd premise.

that corporations are people. they are legal entities, with corporate rights given to them -- granted by our laws. not people. affordede certainly their religious freedoms. that.is no problem with you can believe what you want to play. how about you coming to work for me? i am jewish. if i tell you what to eat, what to wear, how to live your life -- how would you feel? when you are a for-profit business. host: all right. your response? corporations are groups of people banded together. the religious freedom restoration act does not exclude people in corporate form from being able to carry out religious convictions. bonnie is wrong about that.

nobody is arguing that employers can dig take the lives of their employees. we are saying that the government should not be able to to make people participate in something they believe to be wrong. they believe this to be wrong. it is unnecessary. it is unlawful and unnecessary. willis: from albany, oregon. caller: good morning. thank you for the opportunity to speak today. native americans have never been about religious freedom. i goes without saying. whetherquestion is religious liberty includes freedom from religoion. we have the constitution signed in the year of our lord. that established christianity as our religion. even though the constitution

calls -- article one, section nine, proviso 1 says no title of nobility shall be granted by the united states. in the year of our lord, when they ratified it -- lord, we know who that is. that is the title of nobility. how is the united states a legitimate nation? it seems to me the religious freedom is nonexistent unless you are a christian. host: all right. that is will. guest: we have a dizzying level of religious freedom, contrary to what russell was saying. we have 25 million nonbelievers. we also have about 2000 identify up over religious groups, all practicing. the christian majority in this country has plenty of freedom. they get to make lots of rules.

sometimes they even use religious beliefs to formulate rules. that is something congress should not do, but sometimes does. the problem for people is that if you're in a small, insular minority, you may get your rights trampled upon by people claiming to be in the majority and claiming to have a religious belief that trumps your beliefs. a woman just called from new jersey. i was in camden last night and someone reminded me that in the early 1960's, there were preachers on radio stations in the self arguing against integrating schools and businesses, claiming and quoting from the book of genesis. god separated the light from the darkness. if you go down the road saying companies and individuals can impose religious views on anything and anybody == and trump all of the other laws of the state, you have something

that in a slightly different context, even justice scalia called close to anarchy. that is not the way we run this country. your rights abut against a claim by somebody else, trying to make a moral decision, and economic decision about when to have or whether to have families. they have a right to make those moral decisions in light of their conscience, without the win saying -- law saying i because my corporation practices a different religion. it does not practice religion at all. host: gallup poll has shown that people are consistent. how important would you say religion is in your own life? it was 58% in 1992. today, 56%.

religious affiliation, christianity in the united states -- in 2012, about 73%. people considered themselves to beat hitchens. that is down five percent over the years. unaffiliated is a growing category. nearly 20% of folks consider themselves to be unaffiliated. when it comes to religion in the the upswing, on downswing, study? give us your take. that: we are saying nominal cultural forms of christianity are falling away. many people now are calling themselves unaffiliated or none or no denomination are people who would have referred to themselves as baptist or catholic or episcopalian. in a nominal sense. they have a cultural identity,

but are not a part of those churches. host: sandy beach tweets into you -- the first amendment says what it says. if you do not like what it says, then go through the process of changing it. guest: perhaps she thinks i misinterpreted the united states constitution and that the first amendment -- what i am articulating is what it means. it did not say and neither does this law that has been issued -- it also reflects the values of the first amendment. it does not say that any time a religion is burdened, they get to void the law. that is not what the first amendment says. the constitution says you do the free exercise of religion and it prohibits the establishment of religion.

that is in a very broad and sweeping 16 words. it says that every claim of religion simply does not trump everyone else's right to also be a moral actor. practice religion in their own way. in this case, companies do not get to dictate to their employees how they may conduct themselves. if russell is right -- if you connect good contraception from insurance coverage or carriers, then why can't you say -- of compensation, including your paycheck, you cannot go out and buy contraception. i do not think there is any way down. corporations are not allowed to dictate religious values of the men and women who work for them. there is no way to stop sliding on an icy slope. host: leonard is calling in from dayton, ohio.

guest: -- moore, your bible, i have good news and bad news. lack people are mentioned from the beginning of time. white people are not mentioned at all. the supreme court has never answered -- how did you find out, constitutionally, that that woman had an abortion? southerner,eing a your religion teaches that america was made for white people. lack people were subservient. how is your religion -- how will it bring black people in to your god? host: anything you would like to respond to? guest: my religion does not teach that at all. all people are made in the image of god.

we all are coming from the same place in adam. everyone is equal in the eyes of god. jesus shed his blood for the entire human race. every person has dignity. everyone has the quality. it is not what my religion teaches. religion was a driving force of both the abolition movement and the civil rights movement. arguing those very things, that we need to live up to what we claim. not only us churches, but also as a country. i would also like to return to some that mr. lynn was saying. it was completely untrue. nobody was arguing that a claim of a sincerely held religious belief trumps everything. what the actin tails is to say that the government must have a compelling interest in overriding religious reactor

size. you must been the least restrictive means to do that. just because someone held a belief, that does not mean the argument is over. that has to be weighed and balanced. we're arguing that this is not necessary to achieve these goals and is not consistent with what we have agreed to do. guest: how can you believe that it is not an government interest to have them attempt --whether you like or hate the affordable care act, it is an effort to have comprehensive systems to make sure that americans are cared for. it believes, the whole history is that certain preventive services, are essential to making sure that the system works. how can you say it is not a compelling interest? those students at notre dame that you represent --

female employees of hobby lobby, heard before the united did supreme court. they do not have an independent right to make their own moral judgments. the head of the corporation believes they ought to. guest: i do think they have an independent right. guest: they are barred from obtaining something that has an enormous effect on their ability to finish school. their ability to choose how to plan a family. 50% of pregnancies in this country -- are unintended. 42% of those lead to abortion. there has got to be a good reason, no matter what you think, to try to reduce that. if you're going to try to take a contraception, you take away that right. guest: no one is taking away contraceptive ability. we do not have the sort of situation in this country where the only way that anyone has

access to contraception is if we force hobby lobby and little sisters of the poor to pay for it. host: moving on to rod in florida. go ahead. caller: good morning. so far, this discussion has gotten down to the weeds. a lot of hypothetical what ifs. i would like to look at some principles in the big picture. the first amendment protects our right to exercise religion. it recognizes that god-given right. article 1, congress is making lots. -- laws. then we have the supremacy clause. civilians issued a regu lation. we have no idea who issued that regulation. i say that that regulation is not a law. it violates the first amendment.

congress never passed that regu lation. it is not a law. therefore, the issue should not be between civilians -- it ought to be hobby lobby and the religious freedom restoration act. the regulation violates law. law trumps regulation. it is clear that congress did not pass this regulation. there is no compunction to obey. if congress wanted to impose on private business, it could have. host: we have the point. barry lynn? guest: there is not a single example. i have to tell you, i was there,

working for three years on this bill. orrin hatch and 10 kennedy -- if anybody during the three years of deliberating said it also means that a for profit company can decide not to provide contraception spy a third-party, that coalition would have exploded like a watermelon being hit by a shotgun blast. it would never have been passed. you are fundamentally wrong about regulations. not obeying other regulations == see if you can make the argument they do not count. congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion. it applies to the states. i know you wanted only to apply to the federal government. they made sure that the bill of rights did apply to the states. that is the way the court has

been moving. fundamentally, you are unwilling to recognize what the force of law is. meansxercise of religion you can freely exercise. you violate the third-party. i do not think russell can come up with a single example used in all of the three years of debate. said companiesor that make word houses have a right to tell their employees how to act. host: russell moore? guest: every exercise involves a third-party. that is why we need courts to balance these things. i think the caller has a very good point. congress, in debating the affordable care act, these issues are very deeply divided issues. what the administration promised

consistently to pro-life democrats -- they are a key coalition. at one point, they seem to prevent the bill from a past. that is to say that this is not going to engage the country in these deeply held divisions over abortion and human life. we're going to have an executive order that will prevent that from happening. what do we see? ever since the affordable care act is implemented, we have this continual issue of the andnistration regulating trying to force the sexual revolution onto people, families, and companies. guest: do you think that notre dame ought to be able to refuse to sign a paper? sign-up up paper that says we will not cover this? we are exercising our conscience. you are to have to find another way to do it.

the obama administration is willing to do it. they provide them with what they want and need. refusing toa paper, cover something, violating religious freedom? guest: that is not the regulation does. this is not a statement that we are refusing to do this. it is involving notre dame. it involves other organizations in providing us. the issue is not how long it takes to sign the paper. the issue is not how little the finance. these were the same conversations that we had in the founding era of this country. we are saying to baptist preachers, all you have to do is pay this amount of honey in order to be licensed to preach. the issue is not the amount of time it takes to send the paper. who can demand the? attemptedstration

these word games that do not actually solve the problem. that will not deal with it. host: sean tweets into you -- both churches not having to pay taxes is what is troubling me. should religious institutions have to pay taxes? guest: i don't think they should. our founding fathers recognized and history demonstrates that the power of the tax is the power to destroy. able not want them being to regulate churches and synagogues and mosques through the power of the purse. i do not want the government taxing the churches and synagogues and mosques. i also don't want them funding them. guest: it turns out to be a very come to get a question. if you wanted a property tax on inner-city churches -- many have valuable property, but very few members.

in order to finally clear a way to do it, it is not simply to say that they have to pay the taxes. i do think that we need to have serious constraints that the tax code does have on the conduct of these churches. benefite obtained a 501 and tax exemption because they are organized as a church. one of the things that you have to do is just not endorsed or oppose candidates using resources. many say that violates my constitutional rights. we demand the right to come up to the pulpit or pass out leaflets in favor of this candidate. i want to make sure that we regulate churches only as much as necessary. there is no constitutional right for a church to get a tax exemption. courts have said that if you have a large number of exemptions, the birdwatching society --

then churches can be included in such a range of charitable endeavors. you do not have an independent right to get a tax exemption. host: this tweet from brian. hobby lobby claims to be for the first amendment. yet, it uses its power to trample on the first amendment rights of employees. guest: i don't think they do. they are not seeking to be involved in their employee's lives. they are seeking to not be involved. it is the government forcing them to be involved in these decisions. they are asking them to pay for it and include these things as benefits. hobby lobby says we do not want to be involved. the whole idea that they are seeking to be a box involved in the lives of their employees -- that is not true. they are trying to say we do not

want to be in those decisions. host: allen is: from tacoma, washington. caller: i appreciate you taking my call. i have a quick comment. when the state of texas executes a corporation, then i will even corporate personhood. my comment is -- recently, the bishops have said that distracting from the wealth disparity, the rich are inflicting on the poor -- not all in this country, but the world. there are social issues, whether gay marriage or the issue at hand. i am not belittling. i agree that it is important. as the host's graph illustrates, this is a longtime sale problem. i find the timing of these social issues to be very suspicious.

the rich people in this country are poised to literally got the middle class. any comments on that, i would appreciate. guest: it is certainly true that many times when big issues are arising, there tends to be here in washing 10 efforts to go to the social issues. a few years ago, congress reestablished that in god we trust was our national motto. this was under serious attack. they spent a whole day debating this topic. distracts us from understanding that this congress has not done a great deal. notwithstanding the praise every morning. they have not been able to achieve much on the real issues that matter to real people. whether immigration issues, economic issues. some of the things that the president talked to pope francis about yesterday. divers and is a very clever tactic. using language like we don't want somebody to be forced to use an abortion pill or pay for

it, even though it is not an abortion pill. language matters. phony language or distorted language leads to bad public policy. lobbyill happen if hobby prevails over its employees. guest: this is a conspiracy theory to divert attention. it is a vast conspiracy, indeed. andincludes president obama kathleen sebelius and the entire apparatus of the administration. that is where this came from. say we wantdid not to suddenly start talking about contraception issues, and neither did any group of churches. this was a mandate handed down by the administration. it is not an issue of incidental concern. religious liberty and freedom of conscience, these are important for the common good of all people. if the government is able to run

over the conscience of people of faith, they are able to do anything in this country. these are important and significant issues. the pope has spoken to this. as have the catholic bishops. they have been speaking to this nonstop. they are not concerned about other issues. they understand that if we do not have our first freedom, we do not have any at all. guest: they get is also fair to say that the contents has spent a vast amount of money and time hacking about certain social issues, including opposition to marriage equality. there are coverages for even contraception's. they did when on the abortion question. we do not pay for abortion. the death penalty is also a traditional part of their doctrine. they taken shoes. they're picking to focus on this.

they claim it is about religious freedom, but it is about corporate power. host: laurie goodman in the new york times has this article. charity backtracks on the, world vision u.s., one'sr set off enough for --set off an uproar when they said they would hire gays. charity ine largest washington state, where same-sex marriage is legal. then they reversed their decision. should you be allowed to hire whomever they want? or should they be required to hire same-sex marriage partners? charityf they were a that never received government funds, they can hire anybody. i know a lot of people don't like that, but that is what the law is. world vision does several things.

now what will not hire same-sex couple members. they did reversed themselves after an enormous amount of pressure from the family research council. world vision also will not put into positions of permanent employment -- india is a prominently hindu country. they will not hire people for employment. they require you to sign a paper that says i am a christian and i believe in god the father. i do not wish to give money during a campaign -- candidate obama said he did not believe in this either. she had to change this one iota. if you change a government contract, you get money from all of the people. you should not be able to hire on the basis of religious preference. you should not be able to act in a bigoted fashion towards other

people. world vision tens of millions of tax dollars. they still discriminate and they will continue to. they are very overt about it against same-sex couples. they made a huge, correct decision early in the week. by yesterday, they reversed it and made matters worse. host: russell moore? guest: they are a christian ministry. they were founded by you and all goals. -- evangelicals. they believe that the christian church has taught and what the bible teaches. sexuality is expressed only within the union a marriage, a marriage defined biblically and believed to include one man and one woman. that hardly surprising world vision would say we want to hold to a biblical vision of sexuality. what was surprising was that

they would even entertain changing that. saidthey did, evangelicals this is not an image -- evangelical move. they reconsidered and back down. guest: you said you do not want the church to be interfered with. you also do not want them to fund the church. this is a christian ministry. when they decide to take a huge amount of money -- tens of millions of dollars, then they can still discriminate on the basis of religion? i would prefer that that not happen. if you want to be consistent about not funding christian churches or ministries, we ought to stop. maybe we could sign a joint letter. you should not be able to obtain government funds. guest: i do not agree with you on that. christian ministry should not take government money. i do not trust the government long-term.

what is happening here is my variation of the co nstitution. they are achieving goals that we want to see achieved. their help in poverty and hungry kids. we wish to empower that. i do not think that is unconstitutional. i do not want the government funding any ministry i am a part of. moore, southern baptist convention -- do you take any government money? guest: no, we do not. there are employment restrictions in any organization. certainly any religious i nstitution, your beliefs must carry out our mission. host: barry lynn, what about at your company? guest: we never see government contracts. this is an entirely voluntary set of gifts given by our members.

ussell, if he thinks it is not a good thing for religious ministries or missions to accept government money -- maybe the letter we could write is that we both agree. maybe world vision to stop taking the money. it's a good principle to adopt. host: lewis: from illinois. you are on the washington journal with barry lynn and russell moore. caller: i have two questions. what are the medical reasons why craig nancy should be aborted -- pregnancy should be aborted? i would like to ask both members. and what evidence is there that there is a god? thank you. host: russell moore? guest: i am not sure what the first question is. that is a question he is asking

of those who are demanding contraceptive mandates. question, the best evidence that there is a god is that the universe around us -- the conscience with dennis. human dignity. there is something unique. christian,eve, as a that jesus christ was raised from the dead. there was something that happened in the first century that transformed a group of 12 people -- then an entire movement of people. jesus of nazareth was raised from the dead and is the rightful lord of the universe. guest: i think the medical question is really one of going beyond what could have happened. it is dangerous for some women to become pregnant and carry those fetuses to term. there are independent reasons as well. many people, on a basis of moral and religious judgment, choose family-planning.

this is not some kind of alien concept. it is seen as a highly moral issue. they ought to be able to exercise their free exercise of religion. i'm not here to give a sermon about my beliefs. i believe in a purposeful universe. i believe in historical existence of jesus. that is the basis of what a christian optimally. i speak to groups -- whether the american atheist convention or the united church of christ in california, i believe that what we need to do is not disagree and spend time disagreeing about the question of is there a god. we have to protect the constitution as it was intended to be protected, so it covers all of us. all of us nonbelievers and believers. it works for everybody or does not work for anybody could guest: i agree with you, but

that religious freedom does not shut down this conversation. it empowers these conversations. host: rob, dover, new hampshire. i appreciate your comments. i have focused on mutual respect. we had neighbors from different face in different types all across the board. i grew up in d.c. --if a jewish neighbor did not eat pork, we had a next or grill. we cooked our mail on another. we focus too much on the argument than the solution. people can get along in this country. that is what makes america so great. it is now white and black print it is this is how i am, let me live. let's see if we can let you live that way.

we had reasonable people making reasonable judgment that one time in this country. nobody is saying that contraception -- supporting it is the same as wanting to give a blood transfusion. we have gone too far in the argument rather than solutions. we have to work together to figure out why americans liked each other in the beginning. as far as -- let's just get along, how about that? guest: very good concept. the problem is that sometimes, when you get powerful forces, even powerful religious forces -- they decided that since they know everything, they literally believe they are getting a direct pipeline to god. they are getting the perfect christian answer. that should be implemented by the government. it is really hard to fight that if you are in the religious minority. if you are a nonbeliever and everyone else assumes that there

is a god and we should pray to the cut every day. at the city council meeting, we ought to assume everyone is a christian and pray. --ould love to see i lived in new hampshire for two years and you are right. there is a tendency to get along, to work hard at accommodating. what government needs to do is to make sure that everyone's right to individual free exercise of moral judgment is permitted. the boss of the biggest company in town should not choose for you what you can do and what interventions you can choose. host: both guests are ordained ministers. lynn has a theology degree from boston university. russell moore, undergrad, university of southern mississippi, divinity from the new orleans baptist

theological seminary. barry lynn, would you be comfortable attending the southern baptist theological seminary? have beenhough i invited by pat robertson on several occasions to speak at regent university -- we disagree on virtually everything. we have very respectful conversations. lawyer and i just had a debate at the university of pennsylvania on this very issue earlier this week. i think respectful conversations about these issues -- the legal implications and cultural ones, are terribly important. i would be happy to go into the seminary and have a dialogue. i do not think i have been invited specifically there. i am open to the invitation. we should talk about these issues. ultimately, you have to make a decision. who is right on the constitution which guides all of us?

host: to go to the christianity issue, you are both christians. yet, barry lynn said he just disagreed with pat robertson on everything. guest: i think that most christians are in agreement. the reverend said that he believed that -- he believes in god and the historical existence of jesus. i would say that the gospel of jesus christ is much more than that and essential for what it means to be a christian. he and i would probably have a different about that. it goes all the way back to what has been called the fundamentalist modernist controversy, about what christianity is. i also think that robin lynn is wrong when he frames this issue as one of powerful religious interest. that is not where this controversy happened.

that is not the origin. the controversy happened because the government is seeking to impose its mandate on people of faith, who say that we cannot participate in this. one of the most chilling aspect of the oral argument -- on the government side and the hobby lobby case, was when the government attorney was asked, could the government impose abortion requirements on businesses? the answer was yes. i do not think that is the sort of country that we live in or that we should live in. that itish eyes tweets has asserted itself in government, politics, public life -- it is time there exceptions were removed. eric in pennsylvania -- pensacola, florida. caller: reference, i have a hard time saying reverend. you have given me two pages of stuff.

i have been able to get it down to a couple things. people who live their everyday lives as christians -- what ever religious group they follow. they don't even have to be groups. if the individual has the right to practice their religion -- living life as christ taught means everyday life means your spiritual life. you cannot distinguish the two and walk out the door and drop your bible. routinely, you mentioned something about the rights of people to contraception or abortion. i do not know where you get that. natural rights, life, liberty, property, have to overrule. one thing you keep saying is that contraceptives -- you are being less than truthful. the presumption that if government does not do

something, it will not get done. someone is forced to pay for someone's abortion. you think that they pay for abortion and contraception's? the person can go something else --somewhere else. i would like to it. -- to wait. host: i have to hang up on you. say anything else quickly. god -: you say that man's - god of man. guest: a lot to respond to their. i do not think it is fair to say that you can live in a country -- whenerstand what you say your spiritual 24/7. hobby lobby sells craft products. all the things i mentioned at the beginning of the program. their focus is not on promoting religion. it just happens that the ceo and many members of the family are

having a christian worldview. they are not practicing religion all the time. they do not come up and say can i help you? do you want to know what i'll the model airplanes are in? and do you want to be saved today? that is not the way they conduct themselves. they are a for-profit company. they do not have the right to exercise freedom of religion. they never have and i think they never well. i am sorry you disagree. i know that if i do not answer this, though, people will write questions on my facebook page. what do i agree with pat robertson about? after the debate between bill nye the science guy and ken and, he criticized ken hamm said he made christians look ridiculous by claiming the earth was only 6000 years old. i applauded him for saying that.

host: russell moore? guest: the idea that when one is in commerce, the person is not able to exercise religion, is religious. -- ridiculous. we expect people to act according to conscience. we hold people accountable in the marketplace in terms of conscience. and they're right. religious conviction is not simply about the things that we have in our heart. it is not about the opinions. it has to do with how we live our lives. exercise religion, but only to the point where it begins to inhibit the religious or other fundamental human rights that americans have been given under the constitution. i think you skewed this in the favor of the corporate religious conscience headed north he conscience of women. as it was mentioned in the oral argument, the effect on women is really important.

i hope that is the centerpiece of the decision. host: that has to be the last word. tweets only, three religious liberty. monte says religion is a business and should be taxed accordingly. says reverenddedi lynn seems to have had a misfortune of being born in a country found him on the belief that our rights come from god. and smiley says the religious right do not understand the constitution. a lot of conversation on the twitter feed. thankl moore, barry lynn, you for being on the show today. coming up, we have a segment on this cover story in the christian science monitor. heroin's long reach. it is about heroin growing in

the united states. lindborg will be joining us from boston. >> probably when you look at the threats we face, when you look at things like improvised nuclear devices, we know that no one jurisdiction will have the capability to respond. we will have to bring resources for mike ross the nation. in looking at the various threats, some of which are based, webates -- start adding up the numbers. casualties, injuries, search and rescue -- we begin tot that, identify critical capabilities and caps on that. part of this was to address the funding, not only hoping tourist

action by diction that i will end up. driving some of the bigger threats as a national response. how do you build that capability and direct that funding? heard of this remains. grant funding based on division by the state. the other is competitive, so we can see other areas that maybe sponsorship could provide resources to the area. versus jurisdiction. i know there are a lot of concerns about debt distribution of funds. i know there is about my jurisdiction getting what we need. there's not a lot of trust out there. that concerns me because in these large-scale event, if we cannot agree on our response abilities -- how does that work when a real disaster exceeds capabilities and requires all new abilities -- capabilities?

multiple jurisdictions responding to these events. >> this weekend on c-span, fema administrator craig fugate on his budget request. saturday at 10:00. and on book tv, from arizona, the tucson festival of books. alan weisman on saving the planet. and panels on the u.s. and mexico border. that is saturday starting at noon. theon american history tv, origins of the cell phone with the motorola researcher who led the team that invented the first cell phone in 1973. >> "washington journal" continues. >> here is the cover story from christian science monitor weekly. heroin's long reach. suburbs confront the scourge. kristina lindborg is the author

and joins us now from boston. when did you get interested and why did you get interested in the story? about, it wascame last november. i was covering a panel discussion. this was another news organization that has a lot of local newspapers. i was covering a panel discussion. called with all sorts of town officials. the chief of police -- different people who were using community services. they were talking about what has come to her attention. there is this problem of heroin. needles in finding uncommon places, like on beaches or playgrounds. in a neighboring town, a woman was found unconscious --

she was experiencing an overdose in a public restroom. this was coming out in a town or city that has never experienced anything like this. it is a very affluent seaside community. a lot of tourists go there. rich maritime history. i went to this meeting and i was surprised. i live in a neighboring town. i had never heard anything like this. i went back to my editor and i said, i think this is a bigger story than covering one of event. anduld like to pursue this talk to other neighboring towns. so did. it was amazing how consistently i heard the same stories, especially from on for spent. the same stories every time about the number of overdoses that they had to respond to. the coupling of the

heroine with the painkillers. there was never an isolation. that was the beginning of what became -- for that organization, a three-part series. christian science monitor asked me to do something very -- i was very grateful to do it. to give me an expanded view beyond my region. to take in a more national feel. host: you have a chart here in urkel. heroin use in the u.s. -- showing that it is going up at least 35%. in the past 10 years -- s or those iny user the last month. why this increase? why now? guest: that is an interesting question.

i do not think you can point to anyone resend. there are some mitigating factors that seem to be undeniable. that is where the painkiller abuse comes in. as the -- let me go back here. if there is that experimentation following prescription with painkillers, these are really powerful opiods. there is a very strong one goesd that once down that road, the addiction is given. if the pills are not available ,nd they become higher priced then it gets harder and harder -- the cheaper route is to go to the heroine. that is what i have tried to bring out. ares not that people

actively seeking out heroine. whencomes the easier route the pills are not available. there's a dependency. host: and you point out that the heroine of today is a lot more pure. it is accessible and cheap. guest: exactly. that has been waiting to a lot of -- many would say, problems of overdose. years ago, police officers said that they would -- the kind of heroine that they ould find in their arrests would be two percent or three percent. now it is 80%. there is a new audience now that is finding it. hereto for, they would have had to injected to get high. now they can snort it and get the same high. they get addicted and then they

start injecting. high because of that concentration, a lot of people who have gone through detox have gotten off of it. they have a relapse, they take it -- it is too powerful, it leads to an overdose. this article just appeared this morning. the state of massachusetts has declared heroin addiction a health emergency. the governor declared a health emergency over the rise of heroin addiction in his state, saying that 140 people have died of heroin overdoses recently. guest: right. i am sure that is not just -- a singular event for massachusetts. many states are experiencing this. it is laudable that governor patrick has made that statement. that we can talk

about more in the course of the program. there are things that are being done. there are things that communities can do. there is now a growing awareness. that is the beginning of doing something about it. it is pointless for people to stand around clucking and feeling helpless. there are a lot of things that communities can do and are doing. we know that we cannot legislate these things away. there has to be a concerted effort among people who are willing to take response ability. not just in addressing the problem of the addiction. preventing it for the future. , thiskristina lindborg tweet from kiki. she says, people are using heroine to replace pain pills. some people have legitimate problems. the u.s. makes it impossible to get help.

is there a shorter treatment facility? guest: you know, that was not the only line of my inquiry. the people that i did talk to -- i did not get that feeling. sensa --nce, the governmental agency. if you go to their website, they have a lot of different links that can pose new -- point you to agencies that can help out. even google how to get help with addiction. it will come up with tons of things. looking at what we have available in massachusetts, a lot of the people i spoke with, including recovering addict in various stages -- they have gone that route. i think if you want to find help, you can. i do think that that is one place where communities can pull

together more and do something about it. make this more apparent for people who need help. there is an awful lot of stigma that people are burdened with. both families of -- who have loved ones who are addicted. they are ashamed. they do not want to talk. they are also shocked by friends. and startet over that an honest dialogue, this is everybody's problem. this is not some alleles of town are some real skids. this is our problem. we have to work on it together. that is the most positive thing that i was able to find when i -- when i spoke with people at different levels trying to start coalitions in their towns. trying to get different towns together. it does not stop. it does not have a border or a boundary line. what goes on in your city or town --

left right, it is bound to be there to. that is important point to remember. host: we will put the phone numbers up on the screen. if you would dial in and speak with kristina lindborg, christian science monitor you can see a divided by region. you can also send a tweet. estimated number of u.s. heroin 669,000er a year, up to in 2012. from twitter, christina lindberg, where does most of the heroin come from? >> the drug enforcement agent that i spoke with said they mostly look to mexico and

colombia. again, i really wanted to look at the people most directly affected. there is a great story there to follow the trail, but that is not what i wanted to pursue with this. i wanted to talk to the people who are most affected. is one of the people you talk to -- who is anna? guest: i spoke with several kids at a recovery high school, and they are very forthcoming. they are willing to share their experiences, not so much with adults. the kids that i spoke with, i was reviewing my notes earlier, and i was remembering, it was astounding to me, most of them started something when they were

12. most studies safe -- say freshman year of high school is when experimentation starts. they all have the same story, starting with drinking or smoking marijuana, that led to the payrolls, and for most of to thehat was the trail heroin every single time. i think that it also begs the question then, too, because one person that i spoke with who works at a youth center said we have a huge problem now with legalizing marijuana for medical use because we are telling kids do not do this, it is bad and could lead to other things, and now there is a sense that it is medicine. that is what i heard from a lot of doctors, too, in terms of --

i will not say a lot of doctors -- but one specific doctor who spoke out about the need for better education for doctors to have in terms of opioid prescribing. have -- sorry, i cannot remember where i was going with this. there has to be that sense of what it is they are taking. it is not a medicine that is, you know, taken lightly. i think that is the most important thing. you: kristina lindborg, report in your article that more than 12 million americans reported using prescription painkillers in 2010 without a prescription or just for the high that they cause. nearly three out of 10 drug overdose deaths are caused by prescription painkillers, and in 2008 14,800 deaths were , moreuted to them pills

than cocaine and heroin combined. guest: that is right. what does that say? the most interesting question -- i will throw that back to you, what does that say about us as a society? i do not know. that is certainly not a question i could answer as a reporter. it and find the right people that gave it thought, but the numbers speak for themselves. --t: american hero tweets what is the treatment for heroin addiction? guest: i think it is a multi--stage thing. i would urge who wanted to find out more to do that research.

my inquiry was talking more to people who were on the road to recovery. , kind a lot of them had of, gone back and forth. it is definitely not easy. you need a lot of support from family, loved ones, you know, the community. important thatis whoever is trying to make that road to recovery does not feel shunned, isolated, were made to feel shame. we all make unfortunate choices , and everybody needs to be supported to help the community and the nation overcome this. host: two things you talk about in your article -- one family spent $80,000 they were going to use to remodel their kitchen for their daughter's addiction, and

you talked about narcan. narcan is a measure, when people respond to an overdose call, that is administered to bring the overdose victim out of it. it does not last. within 40 minutes they have to get the overdose victim to the hospital. that is not a cure. that is just saving somebody from dying right at the time of. what was the other part of the question? familyou talk about one that spent $80,000 on their daughter's rehab that they were going to use to remodel their kitchen. guest: yes. they felt that is what they would take -- that it would

when she was at the rehab that they had found out she had been doing heroin all along. they had been assuming that it and smoking marijuana. they were floored. they had no idea. she came out of that, and if i remember correctly, there were still some ups and downs. it was not necessarily a fix, as it were. there has to be that understanding it might take several times, it might not. more noteworthy is the man that i spoke with in the article, who started his own organization because he had gone through the whole, you know, ups and downs. he had been homeless and living because of heroin addiction and he did not want his family to have to there that, you know, that urban. thatyer that, you know,

burden. it is not easy to do alone, and there are people willing to help. if everybody is doing their part -- i feel i am doing my part somewhat by writing the story, and you are doing your part by having me on the show -- the people willing to talk to me were doing their part because they feel it is important to try to help other people going through this. host: jim from illinois. please go ahead with your question or comment. caller: thank you for taking my comment. youth-oriented business is located in rockford, illinois, right where the needle exchange used to be, in a year after the needle exchange was shut down, my retail dropped i 70%.

i am involved in a lot of activities that take my venting to music events, and i do not think parents quite understand that there are other drugs out there, research chemicals that are being mixed with heroin because it is so cheap. that aread od's heroin-related and music events around the country, let's see they were taking ecstasy, or ly.t is called mol what is happening on the front is people are dying from other things mixed in with heroin. it is long as a heroin debt, but what it really was was an inside amine mixed with a depressant, you can imagine what that would do to someone's heart. what is tested as a drug test only comes back as opioid.

we have a huge problem in this country with a culture where people will use these drugs, and a profit incentive for people selling the drugs to get people addicted to heroin when they do not even know they are being addicted to heroin, if you follow what i mean. guest: absolutely, and in fact, the drug enforcement agent that i spoke with reiterated that. the people selling, they do not care about the family, the community. they are just out to make a profit, and unfortunately, they do. the other thing that is in terms of add is just marijuana, it is no longer straightforward marijuana. it is often mixed with something as well, and that increases the likelihood of leading to other things. that is a good point.

host: you quote anthony pettigrew as saying the perception used to be that heroin was mostly an urban problem, then now there are no geographic areas immune from heroin, and this tweet from news lindborg,g why is heroin addiction so high in the rural and suburban areas? >> -- guest: i do not know the why. from talking to police chiefs, they all say the same thing. there was a time when you could almost identify a heroin user, but that is not the case. it could be a wealthy high school kid. housewifee a suburban . it does not matter. a lot of that goes back to -- because of the prescription painkiller addiction.

one of the police chiefs said there is a high number of functioning addicts because they can't afford to maintain it, so they are out there, and -- and afford to maintain it, so they are out there, and you can be heroin addict and not know it. it is no longer identified as an inner-city problem. it is everybody problem. in order to have a solution, bob, it will be everybody's part two see what they can do -- solution, it will be everybody's solution.e the host: gavin. ohio. -- caller: this is the most important subject you have had on your show. i want to say to parents, if you

something, do not lie to yourself. kids poisoned themselves. , at: kristina lindborg response? guest: thank you. that is true. it begs the other question, if we were to talk about prevention and education, where does that start and when? you cannot just start in high school. by that time it is too late. they have made decisions about what they are going to do. in these kinds of conversations have to start before middle school. the kids i talked to started doing things when they were 12. it has to come from different sources. the people that i talk to in youth services say the same thing. it cannot come from one place. it has to be schools. it has to be the community.

it has to be at home. whether it is a church, a synagogue, a mosque, whatever, it has to come from different sources, not just the drugs are bad, in my opinion, but giving a positive sense of the value of what an individual has to offer to society. as kids start getting that sooner, when they have the temptations later on, they will probably look at that differently. the other thing that the agent andrew pettigrew said it is you have to talk about the kids about having answers in place because every kid will have somebody say to them, and it will be a friend, not a stranger, ask them if they want , andoke pot or take pills they should have their answer, whether it is my parents would

not like it, or i have to get up early -- whatever it is, have your answer in place so that you can bypass the moment where you feel you will cave in because of peer pressure or whatever. 40 says it isn easier to steal opiates from their parents bathroom then tracked on a drug killer for heroin. in your "christian science monitor" article you write what happened in 1996, kristina lindborg? when perdueis released the oxycontin opiate. been prescribed for anything other than end-of-life situations.

was touted as something and something --sicians could prescribe touted as something physicians could prescribe for moderate pain. they were ill advised and it was totally a marketing campaign. during that time, a lot of things did get out. i do not think that explains why thee is such a glut on market as there seems to be, but more importantly, the initial question or comment -- yes, that is where kids get their pills. if you do not know what is in your medicine cabinet, you might want to check it out. cities are doing now in terms of forming coalitions to address the problem, is making sure there is a dropbox, 24/seven at the police station, no questions asked. if you have old pills hanging

around, something you prescribed years ago, do not leave them there. not necessarily your kids, but your kids friends, people coming into the house. i have heard of stories of when people have open houses, trying to sell their houses, addicts will go in, or maybe those that want to sell will go through medicine cabinet and take things. do not leave things like that hanging around the house. get rid of them. take them to the police station, a drop-off spot. that is another small way that individuals can do their part. host: deborah, chicago, good morning. caller: good morning. here i am a 53-year-old got here fromnd i where she is talking about with my heroin and the children.

what happened to me was my came up, you know, under a much more better society where opportunities were there. there were social programs to ,elp my children after school then,ce those were cut, you know, with the help from daycare my children got up into years, 14, 13 years old, and they had summer jobs where my children could work, and they could look forward to taking their money and buying school supplies. all of that, by -- myme i children children got to be 16 years old

addicted to heroin, but in my community we call it crack. they started with smoking marijuana, and then they would put in bombing fluid -- embalming fluid to give you a more potent high. for theborah, thank you background. in your view, what is the current status of the situation? guest: the situation -- caller: the situation is they have to get back to putting children in more afterschool programs, they have to get their children -- with the housing market crashing and their lifestyle be enough time -- upside down, the

children have to find some kind of way where they could say ok, that is because the house is falling down. .ost: kristina lindborg guest: absolutely. there has to be more support for kids in all kinds of ways. something that somebody brought up about cutting back -- and this is in a prosperous community, two, cutting back on , in high school you could take art, but not do athletics. that is insane. at a time when kids really want to test their limits in all sorts of positive ways, why can't those things back and force them into -- why can't those things back and force them into a more negative mode of experimentation. it seems crazy.

afterschool programs are very important. another study said kids are far less likely to do a lot of experimenting if they have a lot of conversations with adults that they can trust about things like drugs, or whatever. there has to be a dialogue. it is parent. there are a lot of parents that have to work in several jobs. if they cannot be there to do that, there should be some sort of backup so that the kids feel .hey are being taking care of that is a very important point that she made. host: "christian science monitor weekly" here is the cover -- "heroin's long reach." in boston isborg the author and has joined us for the last 40 minutes.

thank you, ma'am. guest: thank you. host: we have about 40 minutes left. we will open up the phones. we put public policy issues on the table. if you would like to talk about a public policy topic, call in. you can also send a tweet [captioning performed by national captioning institute] @c-spanwj as we continue on "washington journal." congress, we attend an art school in phoenix, arizona. throughout the year we have encountered a handful of friends

with mental illness, and throughout the years we have seen how a lack of support for treatment can result in devastating events and emotional distress for those individuals and their families. >> when i look back on the incident that took place in tucson, the tragedy where i was shot, congresswoman gibbons was shot, the young man who did those shootings had been displaying symptoms of mental illness for at least two years. >> we have announced the winners of this year's studentcam competition on what is the most important issue ever should address. see all the winning documentaries online at studentcam.org. >> one thing that did not become 1980's,til the late

when a leading fbi scholar found it through some files that he applied for through the freedom of information act, and that was something that had taken place when the fbi,966, for that time, had a formal relationship with the american members, hundred thousand 880 members of the asrican legion acted informers for the fbi in their communities and regularly filed reports with the fbi. americans have no idea that that kind of informing was taking place and they were untrained informers. groupmarch 8, 1971, a looking to an fbi office and stole every document in the building.

the story sunday night at eight on c-span "christian science "q&a." -- c-span's >> "washington journal" continues. the phone lines are open if you want to call in about public policy issues. can make a comment on our twitter feed. here is more of what is going on . post"the washington catholic leaders hope churches actions can revive immigration reform. leaders are hoping president obama's meeting with pope franct the vatican --

postis in "the washington ." this is in "the washington journal" this morning -- gop wrestles with its stance on gay marriage.

there is a chart here in "the can seeeet journal. you democrats support for gay marriage is at the top -- 69% of all democrats. 54% of all americans overall. 39% of republicans, and you can see the growth rate in all three lines going up. here, when you look at the age differences, the democrats in for these age groups, basically under 49, and the republicans, the majority of young republicans are also in support of gay marriage, while up at the top, only 22% of 65 and older republican support gay marriage. "usa today" health-care enrollment hits $6 million mark.

is calling in from morganton, north carolina. caller: good morning. i wanted to make a comment that was not touched with the last guest. the topic. i am glad you added on. there are a lot of folks that really do have chronic pain and suffer from chronic pain that are really negatively affected because of what took lacey in florida with the drug dispensaries and stuff like that -- took place in florida with the drug dispensaries and stuff like that. it is hard for people who suffer from physical afflictions to get medication, and there are a lot of people being denied and getting caught

off because there is a witchhunt on doctors who prescribed medicine to folks who need some help with pain. it really definitely needs to be a line shown -- it is a blanket problem, but there are a lot of people that are being negatively impacted. host: are you in the medical system, are you taking painkillers? caller: idea with incredible pain daily. medication, ive cannot function and make it through the day. stem what does the pain from? caller: i was in a farm accident and crushed numerous bones. host: do you take oxycontin? caller: i do not. i was for a third, -- for a period, and my body reacted

badly to it. i never exceed the dose. host: is it addicting? caller: it was some form of an opiate. host: is addicting? myler: i only take it when pain is great, but i'm sure it could be addictive. there are a lot of people that are having trouble getting medications because doctors are leery of prescribing it because of what is happening in florida with the state that blew the cap off of the bottle. host: that is paul in north carolina. later in amsterdam, new york. interesting to listen to that guy that just called in because it opens a point to this addiction question and who becomes addicted and who does not. i have been in recovery from alcohol addiction for about 30

years, and when i go to the doctor, and i recently went for henchitis, i said when prescribing medication do not give me anything addictive, and he offered me cough medicine that was loaded with alcohol, and and i said i would not take understand, did not but he gave me something else, and i pick up my prescription .nd it is hydrocodone what a lot of doctors do not understand is for somebody who has this addiction in their brain, however it works, and i really do not understand it myself, but all i know is when i .rink i do not drink one i said, you cannot prescribe these mood-alt substances to somebody that has an addiction problem. i am only prescribing for a limited period, and i said you

do not understand, it is not the tale, itg or the fifth is the first one. at aancée's sun is prestigious medical school, he is in his seventh year and i asked him how much education he gets on addiction, and in seven years he got about three hours. given some of the issues going on in the country with medical marijuana, legalization, your personal situation, what you think about the legalization? caller: a couple of things were pointed out by your guest. number one, marijuana is not what it used to be. but myever a pod-smoker, understanding is it could easily be a gateway drug. i think it is dangerous to willy-nilly have it legal when

it intensity -- the agent that gets you high is considerably higher than it was years ago. the same is true with heroin and what is going on with the additional stuff they are putting into heroin. an addiction counselor for a number of years and retired. then i got involved with an addiction agency that works with people strictly over 50 years old. i am 73. it is interesting, because although the main addiction is alcohol at that age, we are seeing more older people that are getting addicted on restriction medication, and in some cases it goes from there to heroin. host: are you still working in addiction services? caller: i work volunteer two days a week at this agency that is unique and they are hoping to

spread the concept because sometimes when you have a person who has some age going to an outpatient clinic going to people that are in their 20's and 30's, it is hard for them to relate to younger people, so hopefully this will be a new concept where people who have an addiction problem over the age of 50 -- our average client is 69 years old -- that means a lot of people are in their 70's and 80's there. host: larry, thank you for sharing a bit of your story. matt smith, a couple of tweets addictionheroine problem due to prescription drugs? just one more reason to legalize medical marijuana. his second -- chronic pain is a big problem in this nation due to our reliance on prescription

drugs. medical marijuana could be a big help. here is "the washington post" obituary of james/in german with -- ofure of mr./injure james/injure. he was a republican who came into the administration under president nixon. canned by ford and switched allegiances to reagan and then supported jimmy carter and became the first secretary of energy. daniel from belleview, florida. caller: i wanted to call when ms. kristina lindborg was on the program, and i want to disabuse her of this notion that somehow overdosed is a permanent

condition. told-tagged.ing i think this heroin issue is being addressed by people that are profoundly ignorant of the history of heroin. heroin is a brand name implemented by mayor ayermaceuticals -- b pharmaceuticals, prior to them establishing themselves in the united states. harewood came about as a treatment for morphine addiction. heroin is sulfated morphine. it is a simple chemical process. , what is of that said your conclusion? is,er: well, my conclusion

as radical as it sounds, virtually all drugs should be legalized, other than it would cost a worldwide economic collapse. the whole world's economy is dependent on drugs being illegitimate. host: that is daniel in belleview, florida. but, springfield, missouri. caller: how are you doing? on oxycontin for over three years, and i know the effect. spasms,hronic emphysema, and the list goes on. i accident from a sem many years ago, and during that time i have gotten diabetes. some of the medications have on, butthe conditions one week and i messed up on

medications and i did not get my morphine in time, and i have news for you -- i went through withdrawals, and finally monday morning i got my prescription wife was closey to taking a baseball bat and beat the tar out of me. host: would you say you are addicted to the pain killers? caller: without a doubt they have an addictive attitude toward them. host: do you think there is another solution? caller: there has to be. as smart as we are in this country, surely to god there is another way. i do not know if marijuana is the answer, but, you know what, even if it is not, it could possibly be, a look at the millions of tax dollars being lost on the attitude toward marijuana. maybe we could give it a try, then the federal government could gain by the use of giving

it a try. , i think we have the point. thank you for calling and heard -- calling in. we have some tweets from earlier segments. we began by talking about the ncaa and potential unionization and the national labor relations board, and john in north carolina says with unionization, say goodbye to title ix. from james who says are those women shackled from -- to hobby lobby jobs. i was on our segment on religion. here is limo driver -- no one should impose their views on anyone. morningl" this

the proposal would have phone companies hold onto telephone metadata and give the nsa the authority to look at information on a specific phone number with an order from the foreign intelligence surveillance court. the white house's rapoza contains an exemption that would allow the government to get phone records without a court order in emergency situations. what precisely that would mean would need to be developed with congress, a senior administration official said, but could require a signed order from a high-level government official certifying there was not enough time to get a court order along with a judicial review after-the-fact. congress is also working on a similar-type bill on the nsa. report". news world says tough questions linger.

bear in support of the president is doing, and they conclude by saying he is off to a good start and needs to carry through to a finish. otis. new jersey. hello, everybody. i live in ocean county new jersey, a small county. last year we had 120 young people die from heroin overdose. host: in your little town, or -- caller: the county. it is about 10 towns. it is pretty small compared to other counties in new york, pennsylvania. we are a small state. the reason why we have so many fatalities here is because heroin is going for about five dollars a dose and it is about 90% pure. pretty much all of the people that died, they are teenagers or

in their lower-20's, and they are pretty much caucasian. we know where this heroin comes from and who distributes it, but it is still here. nobody is doing anything about it. host: otis, what you do in toms river, new jersey? that is an affluent community, is it not? caller: it is ok. you have to go to mom's county to be more affluent. closer to new york. we have a lot of retirement communities here. seaside is here. we are part of new jersey. host: would you do in ocean county? caller: i, myself, i am in sales. . work for a big company i do not want to mention them. host: all right.

arnold is calling in from tennessee. caller: yes, good morning. how are you doing? host: fine, how are you sir? saw that you were on about chronic pain, and i would like to share a story about pain that was severe, and how the power of prayer helped it. i woke up one night, sleeping on my back, and i went to roll over on my side and i must've have done something to my left leg because the pain was so severe i could not move. right, iot roll to my could not roll over to my left. i could not sit up. i was trapped in that position. i usually do not start praying when i have a nor anything, but this was so severe, the fact i startedld not move,

praying quickly, and i started praying something like "hey, god, can you help me, heal me, stop this pain. i need some help. i cannot move the air, i kept praying that over, and -- move." i kept praying that over and over. 3, 4,falling back asleep 5 times, the last time i was praying, i noticed i was about to go back to sleep, i decided end ofsomething to the the prayer, and i said "i know you can do this, and i believe you will." almost instantly, the pain started to subside and i was able to move. i have a website. godislove.org and you can

download a book that i wrote for free. i woulding statement, like to say what would/could it abouteveryone's attitude everything to see evidence of proof of god within the structure of the text of my book? thank you very much. host: that was arnold in tennessee talking about his book and his website. he also mentioned he had a book. c-span2 isnd on booktv, 48 hours of nonfiction authors and books beginning at 8:00 a.m. eastern time on saturday morning and it runs through 8:00 a.m. monday morning, every single darn weekend of the year. this weekend, booktv will feature coverage from the tucson festival of books that was held last weekend or so. two weekends ago.

coveragee featuring from tucson, but you can see the whole schedule their among booktv.org. , everyhave c-span3 weekend on c-span3 is "american oftory tv," 48 hours american history. there is their website. one of the new features they have on "american history tv" is called real america -- reel america, old films made by the government for training purposes . a week or two back they had one narrated by paul newman talking about heroin in the united states back in the 1970's. planning one for nato for a nuclear strike.

it is a fascinating archive of these old films. you can watch all of this on "american history tv" c-span 3 every weekend. that is the end of the commercial. scott. allentown, pennsylvania. caller: i am calling on the bit. the heroine -- heroin my son was on it. the one thing about heroin, if you do not know how people react to the drug themselves, you do not know what they are doing. was on it, he was giving me a lot of attitude, and i finally owned out -- found out what he was on, and between me him, and, we worked on got him into rehabilitation and he got off of it. he has been off of it for 3.5 or four years.

host: will you do me a favor and turn down the volume on your tv. cost you to put him into rehab? caller: nothing. he did it himself. turned him on it. host: it cost you nothing? caller: they took care of it. we force them to do it. host: what did it cost? caller: it cost him quite a bit. it was not a stay-in rehab. they would give him little bottles of this pink juice that would counteract the effect of wanting to do the heroine, and theid not shoot it. he had

snorted.at he >> what kind of research did you find the state of pennsylvania had available for someone in your situation. not find anything. i was working a lot at the time. i was a truck driver working a lot of hours. i did not have a lot of time to check on anything. what i mainly did is when i would come home i would mainly check on him to make sure he was doing the right thing to get off of that drug. host: thank you for sharing your experience. chris from madison, alabama. good morning. caller: good morning. host: chris, i will put you on hold until you get the volume turned down on your tv. you will hear everything through the phone.

otherwise we get a lot of feedback and a delay and it could be confusing. stephen, grand rapids, michigan. caller: good morning. i am calling in reference to the i amn conversation, and the owner of a wellness health clinic, and one of our physicians made aware to us that even though the health board turned it down, the fda approved -- ug called host: i am not sure where he went. he disappeared. the front page of "the washington post."

costa will use to write for "the national review," now writing for "the washington post." a couple of articles on the situation in the ukraine -- and also in "the new york times," is this article about the former prime minister. she has announced her candidacy. she is the one that was let out of jail the day when ukraine had its resolution. she is going to run for president of ukraine.

and, from the front page of "the articlel times" this all right. , alabama.adison are you with us? caller: yes, i am. good morning.

host: all right, go ahead. we are listening. all right, we cannot find chris. sorry about that. i do not know if we are having an issue here. i am punching the numbers. illegal. jim, jacksonville -- here we go. jim, jacksonville, florida. how're you doing? i love your show. i have been listening to your show on drug addiction and chronic pain. i am a disabled veteran. host: ok. i think we are having an issue with the phones, and they keep going away. i am not touching it. sometimes i am guilty of punching that, but not today, i promise. newspaper --l"

she took on the growing number of libertarians in her party, warning that the u.s. cannot hold back on engaging the world, and our values and interests acquired defense. as ronald reagan famously said, peace only comes through strength. what are we doing when we are talking about a defense budget that is so small that our military starts to tell us that we may not in fact be able to carry out the requirement put upon it, she said at a dinner according to an audio recording. rice, one of the architects of former president george w. bush's interventionist foreign policy said the government and the gop could not scared his responsibilities because of war weariness, and rice has been advocating for comprehensive

immigration reform. she also took aim at those that oppose reform. house republicans have been slow to act, and she called on members of the lower chamber, many of whom were in the audience, to embrace immigration. that is from "the hill" newspaper. the final article we have is from "the wall street journal." amazon casts a tv network.

changes in the world of television, cable, broadband, and all of those things. so, unfortunately, we are having phone problems. themnately we did not have until the last 10 minutes of the show. we will have to sign off in just a second. here are a couple of last tweets. toin tweets in -- i am going refill my prescription, and if i do not, i cannot work and go on disability. what is your preference? william says trying to tie cannabis to heroin is utter bull. nobody adds anything other than cannabis resins, stop telling lies about cannabis. that is the end of our friday show. we will be back here tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. on c-span, be booktv, and on

c-span3 isd, -- "american history tv." enjoy your weekend. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] ♪ speaker, my colleagues, i rise today are of concern for you, all of us, and out of concern for this indebted states house of presented. as one who has been involved in the reform movement for the years that i have been here in congress, those of us interested in true reform are interested in just that reform. we do not want to -- this institution nor our colleagues,

but all of you have been home, you have talk to your constituents, i have talked to mind. they are outraged. congress stands at the lowest it's been in the history of polling in this country and why? because the american people look at us as an effective and unaccountable, and if we are sincerely going to do something about real reform in this congress, those are the issues we have to address -- accountability and effectiveness area on the effectiveness issue, we all know the problems of committees and the proliferation of subcommittees, and the rules under which we operate. it is broke. one only has to look at what happened last year during the consideration of banking reform legislation. we never could get our arms around it. but the problem with health care. we cannot get our arms around that issue. we need real reform, and that is why many are supporting the hamilton solution to set up the select committee. when it comes to accountability, mr. speaker, my colleagues, we

really fall down. congress is not willing to live under the same laws that we expect all of americans to live under. congress will be the first body to call for an investigation in the executive ranch of government, the first body to want to hold everyone in the private sector accountable for every action, every word, every dollar we give them, yet we say to the american people, do not hold us to the same standards. today, we have the october surprise, another issue that will diminish our accountability and credibility with constituents. today, ladies and gentlemen -- >> the time of the gentleman has expired. >> i yielded in him and 30 additional seconds. >> the gentleman is recognized. >> today we have the opportunity to set up an independent body to put this house on the right step, take the first step toward real reform, which is going to increase the credibility with the american people, which will once again start the process of

building some state and confidence in our constituents so that one day our constituents can have respect for this institution, the greatest institution in this democracy. from theore highlights five years of house for coverage on our facebook page. c-span, created by america's cable companies 35 years ago, and brought to today as a public service by your local cable or satellite guest>> when you look at the ths we face, when you look at things like improvised nuclear devices, we know that no one jurisdiction would ever have the capability to respond to that. we will have to bring resources from across the nation. in looking at various threats, several which are terrorist-based and some are natural hazards, we start adding up the numbers. casualties, fatalities, injuries, search and rescue