questions, to reporters, andrew taylor with the associated press and roxana tiron with bloomberg news. to remind youed but it may be useful to remind people viewing that laster's appropriations process was a bit of a mess. if you saw it ahead of the time. a time. i gave you at least uncertainty for what you use for last year's major omnibus bill and for the upcoming round of appropriations bills. yesterday you can rdc some landmines with them attract new -- you could already see some landmines with republicans. you going to avoid a situation in which you get to move the popular bills like the veterans bill or the homeland security bill but then you have

these leftover bills that are going to be a real problem? what is your strategy for avoiding a mess in october? all of this goes to show you the need for a common budget number for the house and senate. we have not had that in recent years. consequently, appropriations bills in the house would pass the house perhaps. the scent with past bears. that would be -- the senate would pass theirs. that would be agreed upon. it is common to the house in senate. it is vital for appropriations. we are showing if you give us a number that the house and senate agree on, we will pass appropriations bills within those numbers. to emphasize the importance of the house and senate passing budget resolutions early on.

year, since the ryan/murray budget deal gave us did we solve the fiscal 14 problem with the january, but now making great progress on the 2015 bills. this is the earliest time since 1974 that we have has to appropriations bills on the house floor. we are getting off to a really good start. and i are inski general agreement on the procedure of how we're going to try to make this work. we want to pass 12 individual bills through the house and senate and congress in the old-fashioned way. that is our common goal.

we are seeing the same bills early on so that we can get into the process of doing conferences, house and senate. most members of the house have never seen such a thing. we have not done this in years. it is the right way to do it. number we are marking to the house and senate is almost identical to fiscal 2014. along tryingp us to reach final agreement with the senate on numbers with each bill. an early start. we got a common goal. the past 12 bills were on time. determinationthis to get the appropriations train back on track, get back to regular order. i think we will make it.

you know, there will be bumps along the way. that is the process. going to have unanimity on hardly anything. that is the way this place is. hadou have always difficulty in getting some of the more junior, very conservative republicans to vote for anything. you had to look to democrat. are you confident that when they get to the troublesome difficult funds like the bill that of the implementation of the affordable care act, that you will be able to get that same balance of getting enough democrats to get it passed or can he do it republicans? >> that remained to be seen. we will do as best we can at the comes toen the time see if we can pass all of the bills. the november elections are going to have an impact on what we do this year.

we will have to see how that begins to look in september. >> you strike a very positive and optimistic tone. if you were to look a little bit into the future, do you think you would have to resort to a continued resolution to fund the government? are you confident that both the house and the senate in the election year would be able to pass? hope we can pass each bill andarately an individuall -- individually. as i have said before, the election this upcoming election this november will probably influence how things play out with appropriations. i do not think that will become apparent until at least september. >> can you give us a percentage of your confidence level?

that you will not have to pass a continuing resolution? >> is too hard to predict. control of the senate is what we are talking about. i do not know how the different parties over there will see their role in appropriations bills this year. knowr one, i do not anything about the senatorial elections. i have no idea what goes through minds.'sm is i cannot predict anything. >> don't you think if the republicans were to take back the senate you have a choice? and tenure the pat the bar on now and wrapped everything up this year or pump it into next her and get yourself the prospect of an early five --

the and get yourself prospect of an early fight with the president. you know the president usually does pretty well in the fights. what is your view in that situation? would you like to wrap things up vision much or what? >> absolutely. the fact that we're dealing with the same number in the house and that they are almost identical from fiscal 14, that is a leg up. anddifferences between 14 15 on each bill is going to be fairly small. that i think will give us a little bit of an edge. i just do not know what the positions of the democrats senators and republican senators and caucuses will do. fiscal 2016,ead to you will no longer have the

budget agreement in place. are you working with house leaders are chairman brian to perhaps strike another agreement between the house and senate to ease the process after 2015? 2016 is a long way off. we have more immediate problems. the importance of having that early budget resolution in the house and senate agree upon is critical. pray that thend budget committee chairs on both sides will work together to give us that number. ofwill have a new chairman the budget committee on the house side. we just do not know at this point in time what the attitude is going to be. is moreet committee than a messaging committee as is

normally thought of. it is also critical to the functioning of the congress, particularly appropriations. the budgete committees will understand the importance of what they do in setting a common number. i hope and trust that what we're doing this year, working the tocess will encourage them know that we can make things happen if they will just give us a number. issue that a huge needs more than a couple of months, the sequester. the big issue with the sequester is a defense. the question is how can congress and the house do away with it? it has to do very drastic measures.

everybody is complaining about it. nothing has been done so far. how do you see that resolved? you with your committee make sure that the defense department does not have to resort to those very adjusted measures? that is a very critical question in 2016. i would hope and trust the aja committees, -- that the budget committees will recommend to the a way to the congress deal with sequestration, at the same time a giving us a number to appropriate to. >> are you seeing any efforts being done so far to try and figure something out? but no general talk great action or plan at this point. >> i was wondering if you might

open up a little bit about your relationship with chairwoman the kolsky. chairwoman mikulski. she's a social worker. are from kentucky. you were together to get the on of this going. it seems, although i'm not in the room, they have a pretty good relationship. can you talk about that? >> yes. it is a great relationship. . knew her from her house days when she became chairwoman of the senate side, i went over there. we had a good heart to heart talk and found out that we have the same goals. we're going to disagree on a lot of issues because we are a different political faiths. theshe is determined to get

train back on track with appropriations, as am i. she understands the process. she is a grown up. learned what she has to have and what i have had to have in these bills. she understands the house because she has been there. she is a great working partner. we enjoy each other's company. we revel in getting things done. of getting the appropriations train back on track is the overriding feature of our friendship and collaboration. grown up. she is a who is not being a grown-up or what sort of behavior is not grown up in this process? >> we will leave that for another time.

she understands what has to be done to make the government work. that is to pass these appropriations bills. to do that yet to understand the perspectives and needs politically to get the bill passed on the floors of both bodies. i would hope to think that i have that same trait, although not quite as great a quantity does she -- as does she. she's a great working partner. >> you got some bad news from the cbo recently, $4 billion basically just disappeared because of the arcane scorekeeping disagreements involving the fha. comes out ofoney the domestic side of the ledger. 1% percentage

point cut. , how much moret difficult has that made it to do your job? >> it is $4 billion worth of cuts that we have to find a way to accommodate. house disagreete from the score moneys housing authority. we are having to allocate that $4 billion of cuts in various bills. it is tough. we are pretty close as it is. we will make it one way or another. >> what about air marks? -- earmarks? senator durbin is trying to get

old to read and visit ban on earmarks that speakers engineer and. senator mcconnell is skilled at using earmarks to help your districts and do some innovative things. do you ever think you'll see them return? ban on the house side. is there ithat ban will enforce it. there is a lot unmerited to the idea that members of congress know their districts better than a bureaucrat in the white house. we ought to be able to have the u.s. congress with the power of the purse to remedy problems that exist in our districts that

are being taken care of by the regular process. air marks that simply redirect moneys that otherwise bureaucrats would spend makes some sense. as long as it is done in the open air. it should have to originate only in the subcommittee and not be dropped along the way. maybe it should he limited to to local orted state governments. those are some of the reforms as i think would cure most of the problems that existed -- that i think would cure most of the problems that existed when earmarks got out of hand. >> do you think the ban has hurt appropriations because there's no more incentive? >> i do. earmarks, when a

member request some spending problem in his district we include that in the bill. that person has an immediate ownership of the bill. it is helpful. no doubt about that. >> you keep talking about regular order and wanting to get the trains back on track. why does that give you the better -- a better project in the end? if you hadrgue them done 12 individual bills they may not look that much different than the omni this. -- omnibus. the opportunity for some members bombsrow political palm

like what happened with immigration or the environment or other top budget items. why does that process can you better result in the end? >> i am a firm believer in an open rule on the floor where everyone has a chance to say their piece and in in the event -- and amend the bill as they would like to try. open process.n getting the train back on track means passing bills or subcommittee, full committee, full conference with the senate and the like in an open fashion. everyone has a chance to become an owner of the bill. it is more process than substance. i think the congress is a place where every member should have a to foster a bill to his or her liking. the standard

procedure that is always taken place in the house and senate were these individual bills are debated openly and amend it if completely, ifed we followed that tried-and-true practice it will also not good in the end. if i could ask you about a back-and-forth you had with secretary lew. you are talking about the states that legalized marijuana. under treasury guidelines they can pay taxes, etc. do you see that as a problem? said, secretary lew congress is to establish some kind of policy. >> we are to have. marijuana is illegal under federal law. it is an illegal substance. it is regulated by the government. federal government. yet the attorney general and the

administration is turning their backs on enforcing that law and allowing state like colorado and to legalizetate marijuana even though it is federally a criminal matter. have great concern. the administration is selectively enforcing the law. >> can you put it in the appropriations process, some kind of language to a dress it? >> it remains to be seen. >> it sounds like you might. >> it remains to be seen. >> do you see an upside with more revenue from taxing these businesses? thatthink the expenditures legalization of marijuana will greatly outweigh whatever

tax benefits may come from it. whattary lew and treasury, i really was asking him about was approving banking regulations that would allow a federal banks to do business with drug dealers. when the federal law is plain and simple. mess.t is a it is selective enforcement of the law. if we're going to legalize marijuana, you are going to have to undo the federal law that prohibits it, plain and simple. or two moreone questions. another controversial issue, will your committee fund [indiscernible]

the implementation of the health care law? of that funding is mandatory spending. tois not in our purview raise or increase or do whatever with it. it is mandated by law until the law has changed. it will continue. >> when he first came to you first cameen to congress, you had a district need is a lot of economic development. you have turned a lot of attention to prescription drug abuse which is pretty rampant in your area. you do not see that coming 30 years ago. >> no. it is a scourge. it is national. it is not just us here at my district was ground zero -- just us. my district was ground zero of the ox he talks in -- oxycontin

abuse. also we change the law cannot be shot up in abuse, it was killing our young people every day. with that change and oxycontin's formulation, that helped a lot. i did not foresee this. i do not think anyone did. .t has been absolute scourge it is affecting the whole country. in fact, prescription pill abuse is killing more people than car wrecks in the u.s. most people do not realize that. it is that bad. i was greatly chagrined a few weeks ago now when the fda approved a new drug on the which is five times more powerful than vicodin. it is a pure hydrocodone.

abuse of thisany hair and features. you can crash it. you can shoot it up. i am afraid people will not realize -- crush it. you can to do that. not afraid people will realize how strong it is. i am afraid we will have another wave of abuse. it is a puzzle. the advisory committee to the fda voted 11-2 against releasing that jug. yet it was released by the fda. that is puzzling. >> are you going to do something about it? >> we're going to try. i have had long conversations with the fda about it. the country is alarmed over it. zar and, the drugs c

so on along with attorney generals and social workers and the like. movement orming fear in that group was this a new drug. that you would reconsider the decision and reconvene the advisory committee. these are the experts that nowkw drugs. i hope should reconvene to reconsider this drug now. especially since the company that makes it now says it will not take into long to perfect a pill that is abuse deterrent, that cannot be crushed. ould at least wait until that time comes. chairman rogers, thank you

very much for being with us on "newsmakers." andrew, let me begin with you. they are working on this 12 spending bills to fund the federal government. it sounds like positive. sounding a lot of positive things. you do not really respond when push themna tried to into areas where he might have some roadblocks. i thought it was interesting that he said election will have a lot to do with this. they will not get everything done on this timetable. he wantedresting that it over this year. >> politics aside. >> yes. i do not think he wants to sit on his hands for a few more months waiting for the dynamic to take over these bills. >> we talked about his

relationship with his counterpart in the senate, mikulski. th is it true she is not playing politics? >> she tries not to. there are really good intentions. there's a hope for the regular process. inre are machine standing front of them, the politics and the midterm elections are something that cannot be discounted in this process at all. have, since last a regularded for process for funding the government properly. they were in the minority. chairman rogers [indiscernible] >> you look at the election. you look at what senate

democrats, you pointed to the senate democrats. do you foresee fights on equal pay, minimum wage? presidenthere at the and democrats talking about? >> i do not. i think senator mikulski goes way back with harry reid ma being intimidated him a little. she can be scary. forhas a guarantee of some time. she wants to do it the old-fashioned way, have amendments. the type of amendments he talked about are not germane under senate rule. it is a matter of having the chair ruled them out of order. fore will be a 10 tatian some of the bomb throwers, particularly on the republican side of the aisle to take it vantage of the opportunity to amend the bills.

-- advantage of the opportunity to a mamend the bill. there's this discontent because they shut down the house and there's this filibuster. he gives them the opportunity to let the system work. who knows how it will turn out. >> on the republican side, it you asked about the funding of the affordable care act. do the fights come up again? that.ould probably expect yes. do not discount the fact that his home state senator mitch mcconnell is up for reelection this year. the minority leader. that plays a lot into how the dynamic of this will work. >> in the end, how do you see this going down? >> what is probably going to happen is you will get some number of bills that are throughly bipartisan and you will have others that are left behind, like the one that funds obamacare.

you takeion is how do that situation and to get it across the finish line? in the past, the it had something that is very popular -- they had a something that is very popular be part of the train that pulls the troublesome railcars along. said she is a guarantee of four weeks. when is that taking place? >> i think she'll get a couple weeks in june and july. >> we wait and see what happens there. andrew taylor, thank you both. we appreciate it. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] on this mother's day, some consumer c-span video library. the day after