california to discuss immigration. she is the ranking member of the judiciary subcommittee on immigration and border security. "washington journal" is next, and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. immigration, ukraine, the situation in the middle east, iraq -- these are just some of the issues we will be joining -- discussing on this morning's "washington journal," and if you would like to comment, the numbers are on the screen. if you can't get through on the phone lines, you can get through social media through our twitter handle, facebook and e-mail.

here is the lead story this morning in the "washington times," they lead with immigration issues. and "the washington post" this morning leads with the issue in gaza, 16 killed in strike on you in school in gaza.

times" and "new york they also have the u.n. school story, but their main lead, the u.s. considering refugee status for hondurans.

bit from the "new york times" story this morning. and finally, the "wall street journal," here is their lead.

some of the public policy issues that are out there. the numbers are up on the screen. we want to hear from you now. what is on your mind? dave in albuquerque, new mexico, what is the public policy issue you would like to discuss? caller: there is a bill going through congress this morning -- called the cable tv clause. i want to add a friendly amendment by and it goes like this. all cable networks must carry 1, 2, and three in consecutive order. host: i can tell you right now it will never happen and we are not going to support that. why is that an important bill to you? he is gone already. we don't get to hear from them. catherine in northampton. caller: i had a comment. the beginning of civilization, there has been war

after war after war, and often multi-wars at one time. the question human need last himself -- the question human need to ask themselves, how is war working for them? it's time that adults grew up. president obama has the right foreign policy. there needs to be other solutions to conflicts and instance,reds, for sanctions, negotiations, nonviolent protests, dictators droned out. be great ifld america is no longer sold weapons to any other country. host: that is catherine in north conway, new hampshire. what do you do up there? enjoy. it is beautiful appear. i encourage everyone to come to the white non-valley. it is just gorgeous. host: thank you for calling in. she is calling in on our independent line from the "washington times" this morning.

paul ryan proposes changes to america's safety net will stop -- safety net.

patrick is calling in on our republican line from florida. high, patrick. caller: good morning. personally, i think c-span should show a lot more honesty with the people they bring out. one, you never talk about prescription narcotics overwhelming our system. it's not marijuana that you love to say is the first teenage drug. it's the prescription narcotic that they generally steal from their parents. no one keeps an eye on that. secondly, it's beyond me the way c-span will trot out some typically southeastern state that whines about the big federal government when they

send in one dollar to the fed $1.50,s one dollar 50 -- two dollars, three dollars back for their state budget in federal subsidies. who was that guy whining about that voter fraud, voter fraud? did he go down there and talk about voter fraud? did you bring him down there to talk about voter fraud? of course you did. host: anything else, patrick? caller: i think c-span should show a lot more honesty instead of this constant left-right crap that you've done for 30 years. it's kind of sick mean, actually. host: why do you watch? caller: to keep an eye on the enemy of the state. as far as i'm concerned, my land is just a fifth column. just ruined the executive and legislative ranch come and now

you want to put cameras in the judicial branch. host: weaver wind? caller: --host: we have ruined? think you want to bring out -- grover norquist, it's always taxes, taxes. you never want to talk about subsidies. it's the thing about corporate tax rates. o, just go to ireland. let ireland send in the two battle groups over to the persian gulf to settle things now. or send the irish troops over to your claim there is a tsunami in thailand. let ireland send all the food and personnel and everything else. time,patrick, one more you thing brian lamb is what? caller: a fifth columnist. the guys during the mccarthy

years to try and ruin american society. host: patrick, thank you for calling in. thank you for watching. i look forward to hearing from you in about 30 days. the next headline -- the dell in harrisburg, pennsylvania on our democrat line. what is the public policy issue you want to discuss this morning? nadelle? caller: yes. i have a problem with the united states. about foreign countries instead of those who helped create it. obama and all of them seem to worry about all of these different children in all of

these other countries. why don't they worry about the united states? the united states into mind their own business. if those other countries don't care about them or themselves, that is their problem. what they are doing to us, the foreign people come here and they take our tax money. they get more money than we are. they can come here and be put into brand-new homes, which people work all of their life here. and they cannot even get a home. they get our social security. if you go to pennsylvania, you will -- if you go to social security in pennsylvania, you will see more foreign people eligible for it. that is not right. i'm sorry, and this is wrong. everybody has equal rights, but take care of home first. charity begins at home and spreads abroad. it is wrong, what you are doing to the people of the united states. it is just really weird. you have black people, white people that is here.

do people realize that the white house was built by blacks? do they realize that, and that they had to pay five dollars a week and they would take it back to their slave owners. and yet, you would bring those foreign people year and give them more rights than you do us. that is not right. host: thank you. mississippi on the republican line. what is on your mind? caller: i agree with everything that lady just said, but i would also like to make a suggestion just out of curiosity, and not trying to be ugly or anything. i would just like to know, the people that call in, i would like you to ask them a question. do they pay federal income tax theyor do they not -- do pay federal income tax, or do they not? and just take a tally of the , of what they are for.

i've been -- i can guarantee you that it makes a big difference whether you pay federal tax. the american people, the middle-class that are paying federal tax for all of these other services, the millions of dollars the government gives away without even thinking about it, i can guarantee you it is very hard for the middle-class to either make ends meet now -- to even make ends meet now. pay taxes. to and it is constantly in the news how our taxes are going all over the world and we can barely make it. i agree with that lady, it is not right for stop it is not fair. the wealthy can do it will sub they have plenty of money. the low income people can do it because they get plenty of money. at the middle-class people are the ones that our backs are breaking and we are fed up. host: how much do you pay in federal taxes? about $12,000 to

$14,000 a year. my husband and myself, we are getting on up in age and it is very hard for us to go to work every day. matter how weno feel, and it is so aggravating. we are all angry out here. it is not because we don't care about people in the world, but we feel like it is all on our backs and we are fed up. and the democrats and all of just wrong. -- it's nobody cares about the united states of america as a whole. they care about themselves. they are all self-centered. nobody cares about the country anymore. the democrats don't care. they care more about themselves than they do our country come and we are like a sinking lifeboat. thank you very much. host: here are some of the local papers. here is the "arizona republic" talking about public execution.

the director of the arizona department of corrections said thursday that the two hour-long execution recently was not botched. assistant attorney general was talking to ryan when he was an drifted by a call from the u.s. district court. he told u.s. district court that there was no point in stopping the execution, that wood had been given a second dose of drugs and that the doctor conducting the execution had already told brian that he was already brain-dead. gaspingd his reported

and struggling for breath and involuntary reaction. that is from the arizona republic. "detroit free press" this morning. and the help "houston chronicle," -- a little bit from the houston -- "houston chronicle" this morning. up next is russ from windsor, connecticut this morning. what is on your mind? caller: yesterday, you had a

guest from the house, from the military commission or something like that. and he was talking about how america is no longer such a great power, how we need to increase our military. i just want to call and say i think this is ridiculous. how many times over the years america spendsat more money on its military than the rest of the world combined? how can we possibly have a second rate military if that is what we are doing? we have seen the limits of our military power. and i want to talk about the two wars in iraq that we've had, the first one by bush the greater. the we got together with whole world and bomb them back to the stone age, if you remember -- that is what we used to say. and then by bush, the idiot. when we attacked them for no reason at all. they have not done anything.

and we started talking about shock and awe. and we bombed them and we defeated them and everything, and guess what, they are still there. we have learnt the limits of our military power. money -- id more don't know if we still do it, but i know over the years we have spent more money than the rest of the world put together. and we have used our military might come and we have not defeated anybody. these wars go on and on and on. host: russ from connecticut. conaway, ake republican from texas that was on yesterday. jill ester is calling in from harlem, georgia. did i say your name correctly echo caller: -- did i say your name correctly? caller: correctly, that's it. host: please go ahead, sir. from thei'm calling

state of georgia. i'm a democrat. our presented in georgia always talks about confusion, confusion. people need jobs and the minimum wage needs to be increased. knuckleheads always want to talk about this and that and that, food stamps or , weighinglike that down president obama. it is wrong. republicans need to wake up and vote their interests. thank you. host: thank you. debbie in troy, ohio, independent line. caller: good morning, c-span. that the u.n. and the american taxpayers, all of the scholars talk about their money and how they are taking it -- you know, our taxes. we are supporting hamas.

we help the palestinians and the terrorist organization, you know money andith taxpayer the u.n. help them. they knew what they were doing, running around with the terrorists and everything. we better stand with israel. i know everybody is tired of wars. if you don't stand up and defend yourself, you are going to get your head cut off by hamas. john kerry should be ashamed of himself. it's all the iranians. they are supporting the terrorist organization hamas. andpe israel blows them up, iran, and everybody better be on the right side, because god is going to judge america with obama's leadership, and john kerry. kerry speak.

he sticks out his tongue like a devil, because that is what they are. we better stop sending money to hamas. all right, debbie in troy, ohio. here is another headline. here is his picture. of the president ceremonial post in iraq. baltimore, fleetwood, a democrat who stop caller: good

morning. i think sometimes republicans vote against their own interests , like the gentleman caller who spoke ahead. is trying to put into a lot of policies that would help a lot of people. governors from some state won't accept the help, but they're going to pay for it anyway. they will pay for obamacare i not even see the benefits. how can you do things like that where you vote against your own interests? paul ryan, to me, he always has these benefits and is mentioning welfare. black people pay taxes just as well as republicans. and i think it's a shame that he uses those kinds of things to separate us and we can never get together unless he stops. host: what do you mean by code red? caller: this is what i feel.

i feel like they say middle-class is a separation. a lot of people feel that they are middle-class and they are struggling just like every body else. believe it or not, i believe that middle-class is a separation of whites and black. i do believe that. host: you think the term middle-class means white? caller: yes, i do. yes, i do. i know that it is not only white feather in the middle class, but i think that it does -- whites only that are in the middle class, but i think that it does. host: thank you. tim in maine, you're on the air. morning.good thank you for c-span and showing the good debate and stuff. i just want to comment on ukraine. i think that president putin is advancing in ukraine and i think the very dangerous thing. i think he is looking probably at central europe, and like

hitler, he took countries and nobody really did anything. i think he is going to advance until somebody confronts him with a military that will fight him. we need to get in there and stop him from advancing into central europe. that is my comment. host: thank you, and in fact, "time" magazine this week has their cover story over whether or not cold war to is starting -- cold war ii is starting, and when scott rigell comes out in a little while, we will talk about that. gary, you are on the "washington journal." caller: good morning. i would like to make a comment about the bills pending in the house of representatives, what they're doing with the countries

administration. it seems that from the coverage you been providing that i've watched in the last couple of months that the republicans do not seem to want to improve the v.a., but dismantle it. they will use it as an example of failed government health care , and then compare it to the affordable health care act and try to dismantle that also. that is my first point. the second point is, they want to send the veterans -- and i am a veteran -- out into the private sector. you look at our private sector and it is really in bad shape as well. as compared to 11 other developed countries, we pay the most for health care and have the worst outcomes. and my third point, and as i

mentioned, i'm a veteran, i don't appreciate being used as a while veterans health care is being compromised. those are my three points. host: that is gary in memphis. this is willard tweeting in. and this is john in north carolina. and another headline.

in your,call is anne pennsylvania, calling on a democrat line. caller: i was calling about the border situation. a couple of years ago, -- i see the capital in the background. i made a wrong turn a couple of locks from the capital and i was in a third world country. and this is in the capital of our country. weple keep saying how rich are. we do not feel rich in places like york. our manufacturing has been sent overseas. young people do not have jobs. and when president obama, who i worked very hard to elect here for the two times that he ran, when he gave the dreamers 800,000 right to stay in the united states, that was an

absolute magnitude central america and mexico to come in here. million legal immigrants a year and half of them are hispanic. we are being overwhelmed by other cultures and the loss of manufacturing. i'm so disappointed in president obama. and luis geter is representative from chicago, -- luis guitterez, the representative from chicago, what is he saying echo that illegal immigrants who can vote will want anyone of hispanic heritage to come into united states because they harnessed -- they are hispanic echo i don't think that is true. host: from the "washington times," obama urges congress to tighten up tax loopholes.

lydia, conroe, texas, republican. you are on the "washington journal." caller: thank you for c-span. i want to say that lately, c-span has been so negative with that i have tos

stop watching. i can't go to work when i hear something like that in the morning and be a good person at work. i just want to remind everybody that our representatives are getting ready to go on their vacation, their summer vacation. and that built to support our veterans has still gone nowhere. our veterans still don't have dental care. if you think your representative is doing what he needs to be doing, then you are wrong. that is the most important thing. bernie sanders has been trying to get that through since february or march. call your representatives, because that is not good. of course, i thank you for c-span. , and i don't know -- does it make any difference anymore? host: where is conroe, texas, lidia? caller: we are in a very hot place right outside of houston, texas. host: and what kind of work do

you do? caller: i work with children. i'm a retired teacher. you see the effects of illegal immigration in conroe, texas? caller: oak am a my. we have a facility that houses a very small amount of these children. we have worked before to try to pass a law that no one can rent .o any legal -- an illegal this facility, they want a closed or run out of town. let's think about this. these children, all of these people ought to be here. somebody has to take care of them, and this facility, they are being paid for by the government. our economy needs jobs and we need money. its the practical and not put our hate before our pocketbooks. -- lets be practical and not put our hate before our pocketbooks.

maybe i'm the one that is out of whack. i don't know. host: thank you, ma'am. built -- bill in illinois. my comment is recently, president obama requested 3.7 billion dollars for the children that have come across the border from these latin american countries. it has been estimated by both c-span -- not c-span. cnn, wall street journal, and --x news that each child across america, for each child, $67,000 a year for a minimum of no less than four years, because it takes four years to appear before a deportation board. we are paying for their legal representation. we are paying for their food, clothing, housing, education. we have one out of four children going to sleep that night hungry in america. children, oneen

out of four are going to bed hungry at night. my solution to the problem is this. should contact these america -- these latin american countries and say, we are going to send them back to you, but you're going to take care of them, protect them, and house them. if you do not, we will cut off all of your foreign aid. it is that simple. they weretries, if given this, they would stop the flow of their children on their own. 18% black teenager unemployment. 15% black male years old and0 younger. anybody that works out there that is middle class below, how would you like to get $67,000 a year for four years for your children? i'm sorry, but you know, we have

immigration laws that are not being enforced. be should anybody in america in favor of an immigration program when this administration refuses to enforce the immigration laws that are on the books? host: that was bill in canton, illinois. this is john in fairfax, virginia, democrat. caller: good morning, peter. i also think c-span leans too much to the right. i believe that you need to bring hartmann.kin -- thom do you know tom hartman? yes, he is someone we are going to be working on. hopefully, he will come and join us for our in-depth booktv discussions in the future. caller: thank you very much. host: that is it? you just wanted to tell us we were right wing and move on? all right.

caller: well, no, i think that you need to have balance. host: you don't think that we present lots of points of view? caller: yes, you do, but you spend many, many hours with people who do not answer the bloviate, who just instead of answering the questions. you need to have somebody on to balance them as much as possible. when you have one right wing guest, you need to have one left-wing, sensible person to balance them out the same time. thanksohn in fairfax, for calling in. kenny is in florida, republican line. caller: thank you. we are $17 trillion in debt and we are spending money on these foreign countries? all of these embassies around in these foreign countries. what are we thinking of? when are we going to think about ourselves? , just fores every day

buying groceries. we pay taxes to support all these countries. what are we thinking about? when are we going to start doing something about it? this is ridiculous. host: kenny, are you a retired person? caller: yes. host: from what are you retired? caller: from what, from working. echo --at kind of work of work? caller: i was an electrician and i have been retired for some 30 something years. host: how old are you? 91 and i'm paying taxes for all of these foreign countries. i don't believe that is right. why do we have to support these foreign countries? host: thank you, sir, for calling in. sam in centreville, virginia. caller: good morning and thank you for c-span.

my comment this morning is -- i have a question. how and where did the palestinians ever heard the united states government come our any americans in any way? since 1947 and the creation of israel, israel has killed more americans than the palestinians did. for example, the ship liberty in 1967. hundreds ofover americans there. no one ever asked me questions about that. 1947, israel has cost the american taxpayers 120 billion dollars. and this week, congress approved $350 million to go to israel again. where is the evenhanded policy in the middle east? thank you so much. host: where are you from originally? caller: i am a palestinian. i have been american for over 40 years. host: where were you born?

caller: i was born in ramallah. host: what do you do for a living here in america? caller: i am a developer. a real estate developer. i am a builder. i build things. them and sell them. i develop things, houses and things. host: and you don't believe the u.s. has had an evenhanded the middle east? caller: no, i don't think so. host: what if the u.s. stepped out of the middle east completely? let them step out. that is the best thing they could ever do. because then the people of there will resolve the problem. palestinians -- before 1947, the palestinians and the jews lived in peace and harmony. the only one that created the problem was the west. england, for example, sold the

land of palestine to the rothschild family in 1917 with the balfour declaration. sold palestine, a land that does not belong to england, they give it to the jews. the arabs are the only people in the world that took care of the jews throughout the centuries, even when they were persecuted by the italians, by the spaniards, by the french. in europe, they were persecuted by everybody, by the christians. the arabs and the palestinians are the only ones that ever took care of the jews in the world. host: sam, what do you think of the fact that egypt proposed a cease-fire in the current situation and it's real -- israel agree to it and hamas did not? caller: the status quo does not equate here, because data cease-fire in 2012, in 28 -- in 2008, and things became much

worse for the palestinians. the palestinians stop fighting and nothing happens. it gets worse. it is one big open prison for the palestinians. they have no rights whatsoever. even in the west bank. if you live in ramallah, you cannot go to jerusalem, which is only five minutes away. you cannot go anywhere. it is one big prison. this is unfair. where is the morality with the american? i thought americans always stood for the underdogs. host: that is sam in centreville, virginia. thank you for participating in the conversation this morning. i want to read this op-ed by james conway, who retired in 2010 at the 34th commandant of the u.s. marine corps.

general conway goes on to write --

just a little bit from general james conway's op-ed this morning in the "wall street ournal." michael in pittsburgh, democrat, you're on the air. caller: how are you doing? host: how are you, michael? caller: i am hanging in there. i am calling to complain about the congress. they are not passing laws. the senate is supposed to be democrat, but the house has kept the president from passing any the poor. my suggestion is for the poor people to get out and start voting for the congress and , for the congress and senate democrats instead of

complaining. get out and vote. that is michael in pittsburgh. are you done, michael, or do you have one more thing to say? caller: yes, i do. hasa, the president suggested that we start cooperating once we do all these things to pass for the poor. daythe congress said from one, i'm going to vote against everything he wants. votingple need to start to the congress, not the president. in odin, texas, independent line. good morning and thank you. all this stuff on the border is just a way to keep attention away from what we really need to be thinking about. we welcome people from the middle east for decades.

2001, over 16 or 20 of them got together and killed off 3000 of us. there was a man speaking in congress, in the house the other .ay we had almost a new begotten a man out of a rack, i think -- of a rock, i think, no, afghanistan, because he had theed the military -- american military and his life was in danger. we need to get him out. and we want oteri in there to get killed. thank you. -- and we want military in there to get killed. thank you. host: cara in georgia. caller: the collar that called --and said that you all was that the show was not balance, you know, i have said that once before when i called in, too. because even when you ask

questions, your questions are almost geared at the negative side, the right-leaning side. want to ask a question, you don't say, well, what has the president done that is good? tell me something that the president done good. hasn't he done something? because you all don't talk about that. when he came into office -- be honest. people are looking at you. questions, your have to be -- because people are listening to you -- you have to ask the question balance, too. and when you say, what do you think about what the president is doing, you asked that negatively. because you know for yourself that if it had not been for some of the policies that this president has implemented --

even though i know everybody follows short, and we have fallen short, but that is not reason for the hate from the republican party. host: what do you think the president has put in place that is positive? caller: when he saved the banks and kept everything from sinking, that was not anything he didn't do? georgia. i live where they don't even allow the health care to come to so many people that need help. .ou got to tell me now is it ok for the same republicans to have obamacare, to deny from people who cannot even afford it? and the wages, you cannot just sit there and act like this president has not tried to do something.

republicans and whites than blacks. when you ask a question, you have to be balanced. it is almost like c-span is not really balanced. that is why i listen to c-span, because you know, you can hear all points of view. you can hear how people think when a call in. republicans hear and some independents, it is hate in their voice. john boehner and the house of representatives, they came in 2010. and the fact of the matter is, we don't get out and vote. we complain, blacks, we complain, but the truth of the matter is, i don't want to blame them. the democrats, too. everybody, when you see all of the laws that these republicans

have implanted since they've been in office, eight any of it good for the poor. it's got to -- ain't any of it good for the poor. it's got to be just as many republicans as it is black. you have got to be fair when you asked the question. what has he done good for america? it, like this man has not done anything, but take a step back and take a look at where it would have been. you have to have somebody when the republicans don't answer the question -- and they never do -- why don't you asked them, well, isn't it true that he did something? what did he do good? make you a deal. we have scott rigell coming out here in just a moment, a republican congressman from regina. we will ask him that direct question. caller: thank you. host: coming up in just a minute is scott rigell, republican for -- from rick virginia. and the zoe lofgren later today.

♪ >> michele flournoy is our guest on this week's q&a. sitting in government, you're dealing with the daily tierney of the inbox. you are on the crisis of the day. responsible these as undersecretary of defense was representing the secretary of defense to the deputies committee, which is the senior level group working through the issues, developing options for the principles and the president , a lot of crisis management focus. when you are in a think tank, you're brilliant utility is not trying to second-guess the policymaker on the issues of the utility is notl trying to second-guess the policymaker on the issues of the day, but to look over the youzon and see the issues

will confront five years, 10 years from now, and how to think about america's role in the world more strategically. >> michele flournoy on the as, its mission, and current defense policy issues. sunday night at 8 p.m. eastern and pacific on c-span's q&a. >> next month on booktv's in-depth, former republican congressman from texas and presidential candidate ron paul. he has written more than a dozen books on politics and history, with his latest "the school revolution" on america's education system. your calls and tweet live for three hours sunday, august 3 at noon eastern. and mary frances berry discussing court -- and joan biss cubic discussing court sessions. and in december, american enterprises institute resident

and noted the addition, arthur brooks. in-depth, television for serious readers. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us now, scott rigell, a member of the armed services committee and member of the budget committee. we will talk about those issues in just a moment. here is a local issue for you. this is your district, isn't it? guest: it is, peter. we had a tragedy yesterday and a storm came through and hit the campground, cherry stone campground. i have camped there with my children. three a loss of life of confirmed and many more injured. i know governor mcauliffe is going there today. i'm going straight from this interview to see what we can do as well.

i'm going straight there. we offer our condolences and thoughts to our families. and also, our thanks to the first responders. they did a great job. host: what is your view of the role of government when a local disaster happens? guest: our role will come in after the first responders. they are equipped to do what they do best. and in the state comes in both .p it is a tiered level and depending on the devastation, there could, perhaps be federal assistance. there is a sequential order to it and the governor has to request this. as of this time, we have not received that request, and i don't know that we will. it just depends on the level of devastation there. host: let's put on your armed services hat for just a minute. i want to start with the cover of this weeks "time" magazine. you can see vladimir putin on there. " is what they have.

are we entering another time of cold war? guest: i think we have seen the character of mr. pruden, a kgb agent who has risen up through the ranks. andhis autocratic determined style that is, i think, increasingly isolating russia from the rest of the world, really. there is no question there is a connection between russia and the separatists. it's both direct and implied. and implicit support of the rebels has contributed to the destabilization of the region. and russia's linkage to the 17ning of malaysian flight is unknown at this time, but it is clear that both his direct and indirect support of the rebels am i believe -- of the rebels, i believe, there is a linkage there. at least in the sense that the

rebels have been emboldened by mr. putin and his words. host: is there a role to be played in ukraine in your view? guest: there is a role for the united states, and that is, to provide moral clarity here, and to make clear to mr. putin that this is not the kind of behavior and the type of international direction that will be rewarded by the united states. to the contrary, what is going to happen is, we've got to increase the pressure through every diplomatic means, financial means, basically -- they should be paying a heavy price now for their renegade -- infants -- for their renegade actions. this is an increasingly dangerous world now. and it is becoming in many ways increasingly complex. and we need leaders and free people to speak with clarity here. mr. putin is taking russia in the wrong direction, and in

doing so, taking the world in the wrong direction. militarysent some advisers to iraq. do you support the continued role in iraq? not at present. i have been very clear about this. i checked it to the operation -- i objected to the operation went president obama when in. when he took military action in libya, i led an effort to get the administration to slow down in syria. not one of the provisions of the -- of the act was in place at the time. there has been a tremendous loss of life, and importantly, the amount of investment that we have placed in iraq. themselveseople must be willing to fight for that which they believe. and i have not seen that level of evidence, that the iraqi people themselves are fighting for a democratic government.

and this is, i think, essential that they have to demonstrate this. host: the numbers are on the screen if you want to participate in our conversation with representative scott rigell. you represent the virginia beach area. , a lot ofilitary military retirees. i want to get your comments on what the veterans affairs committee chairmen in the senate had to say yesterday about the v.a. bill currently going through congress. bernie sanders. [video clip] havesentially, if you heard from all of us and you know from veterans organizations, the v.a. today provides good quality health care for those people who get into the system. and i can tell you, go to vermont and i suspect in many parts of the country, people will tell you -- this was on television in vermont. the v.a. save my life. there is that story all over the united states.

the problem we are having is absolutely outrageous wait times in various parts of the country. and the reason you have those wait times is we do not have the medical personnel and the space to treat veterans. that is one of the issues we have to deal with. and of course, we have to deal with how to best pay for that. you cannot talk about negotiation. you cannot talk about a conference committee when someone says, i'm asking you to join me in convening the conference committee for a formal vote on this proposal. who thinks that is the way congress is supposed to work? host: congressman joe? -- congressman rigell? guest: new mention the district where i work. we have the highest concentration of men and women in uniform to my active-duty and retired, and any other congressional district. and i'm mindful of this everyday. my father is a 91-year-old iwo jima veteran. he is probably watching his

show, knowing him. he embedded in me a deep sense that we take care of our veterans. i trust and hope that my colleagues are prepared, house and senate, and both parties, to do what must be done to my to give our veterans the care they have earned and deserve. two things are required there. the safety relief valve, if you will, of allowing servicemembers under certain conditions to go outside the v.a. system to get their care. i think this is clear. this is needed. the second thing we need to do is we need to stay here in session until we passed the legislation that is needed to provide for that. i cannot reconcile when this beautiful dome that i'm looking out here to my left, when we are going to shut down here perhaps withoutnd of the month having passed this legislation. i think we need to stay in session. and this is both house and senate. until we get the job done.

just by the leadership saying that, that we are not leaving until we get this job done, i'm confident that his pressure enough on members of congress to do what needs to be done. and that is, to pass meaningful legislation. host: is that going to happen? guest: this place does not think like i think. i'm a businessman and a seasoned server in a public service. you just rearrange her calendar to address the challenges in the organization. in this case, the organization is this incredible country that we are privileged to be a part of. peter, a direct answer is, no, i don't think that's going to happen. we've got time in september. we will have a couple of weeks there. but i have made it clear since i severalted, my first months of pure was talking to leadership about how it is possible that we would go into recess we haven't, for example, passed all of our appropriations

bills. it is an reconcilable, really, in my mind with the american work ethic. strong advocate for regular order. and on top of that, these crises -- and this truly is one -- come before our country, you have to put in the overtime and do what you need to do to get the job done. host: host: pat from texas, you're on the line. please go ahead. caller: hi, well, i just want to make a comment since you're on the budget committee about the crisis at the border sort of thing. i think the way people in other countries like that, the ones that are coming over legitimately and not for terrorists, they look at the government as the someone that got them. they know more about how to get the freebies than americans do, so why don't we just set up a foundation or something to let people donate money so that the people will realize that it comes from the people and not the government?

because it's only the people out here helping people. churches are queuing up and helping the hungry people in america, but, you know, i don't know if they actually require i.d. to help them or something. it's getting kind of strange out here. host: let's get a comment from the congressman. guest: thank you, pat. the american people are the most generous people in the world. that's just not a feeling i have that, that's empirically can be prune, that we are a generous people, both in our local communities and also around the world. there's no nation that does more around the world in support of creating a better way of life for so many across the land. now, with respect to the border, the idea of creating a foundation and allowing people to give directly, to be very candid with you, pat, i don't see that that could be -- that we could all rally around one organization, how the money will be given out and all of

that, i know individual americans can give, as my wife and i do, to organizations that help children, particularly in countries that are struggling. about the border, what do we do about the other crisis, and that is the one unfolding on the border, if peter wants notice get into that, i will, but it's an important one. die have views on this matter, and they are different than the president is taking us in. host: let's go to a tweet, should the national guard be deployed at the boreder? guest: i've been clear on this, and in a responseful way, the national guard should be part of the solution set, and that is not to be on the border. they don't have the authority, nor should they be on the border actually literally stopping people. that's not the purpose of the national guard. but they are well equipped, trained, and fully capable of helping on the humanitarian

side, and in doing so, would free up the border patrol, agents, and their as pets to focus on stopping the migration, which i think is important. it's morally important, because the children who are being subjected to this torturous journey, the coyotes, which i think is too benign a term, they're human smugglers, and i have no sympathy for them. they're doing this for a profit. they're collaborating with gangs to get these children over, and we have a moral obligation, i believe, to slow down and ideally stop the human smuggling that's taking place. host: nancy is calling from georgia, democrat. hi, nancy. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. caller: i wanted to get back to what he was saying about having moral clarity with mr. putin, because i'm a grandmother and i try to be a democrat. i lived through ronald reagan and worked on the nuclear

freeze, and i wondered if he remembers republicans like john warner who kept us free and safe all those years. mr. obama needs to have a summit with mr. putin, because mr. putin has enough weapons to blow this planet up 10 times over, as does india. if we don't get that right, nothing matters. we should send the world a bill for keeping the world free. guest: nancy, we're in agreement. the idea of the president having a summit, a meeting with mr. putin i think is a good idea. when things are going sideways, when things are escalating as they are, not only with russia, but in other regions, i think it's important to communicate nd not just go to the podium and try to conduct foreign policy that way. so i support what you're saying. i hope the president pursues that, along with other measures

that would make clear to mr. putin that he's on the wrong path and he's going pay a price for it. host: jim, bay city, michigan. scott rigell of virginia is our guest. caller: good morning, gentlemen. guest: good morning, jim. caller: i wonder -- you've got probably thousands of troops stationed in germany, japan, and all over the -- all over europe, probably. i don't think we're going to go to war with germany or japan sometime. why can't you take those troops over here and put them on the border, protect the border? you know, the troops are having a vacation over there, and that's about it. so bring them home and put them on the border. what do you think of that one? guest: well, jim, i do believe, and this is speaking as a member of the house armed services, just a fellow american who believes in a strong national defense, i do believe that we're in too many countries. and i am for and have advocated

for consolidating our bases in a very rational and thoughtful way. now, putting our troops on the border is not something that i support. it's not the purpose of the united states military. it is the purpose to have the national guard pitch in and provide assistance right now hile we're facing this crisis. again, it's to free up our border patrol so they can do the proper intervention and prevent more illegal migration over the border. it is remarkable, isn't it, and very troubling that thousands, thousands of children can simply walk across our border. it leads me to this irrefutable conclusion, those who make the claim that our boreder is security, including senator reid, who said it last week, i believe, who said our border is secure, it's really laughable. i can't reconcile the reality

of what's happening on the border with the statement that our border is secure. i can't process that. i can't agree with it. that is not common ground. i'm always looking for common ground, but there's none right there. host: so potential for a comprehensive immigration reform, is it as dead as it's been reported, and what would you like to see, if any? guest: thank you, peter, for the question. it's an important one. i do believe that reform, that word itself probably has more meanings right now in the american lexicon than any other word. who's not for reform? virtually everybody in the house, certainly the president, and the senate as well is for reform. it gets down to what you mean by that. now, to me, the guiding principle is this -- it should be easier for someone to come here legally. we are a wonderful mosaic of americans because of our embracing those who look differently than us, who might speak differently than us, and

this is a wonderful part of our heritage that i celebrate. but we are also a nation of laws, and we need clearly right now to do a better job of making it more difficult for someone to come here illegally. there are a number of steps that we can take. i do believe that using e-verify, turning off the spigot, that is the incentive for the employers to hire folks who are not here legally, i think we need to ratchet up, we need to turn off the incentives for people to come here, and some of that burden can be placed on an employer, and i am still an employer, and i think this is a reasonable expectation, and it's a number of things that we can do, and we'll always be challenged in this area because this land is so special, and our country is so special that it is not the

fault, i don't really think, of the people who are seeking to come here. i have empathy for they want i understand why they want to get here. but we have to route them through the proper channels and not have people just come across our border. host: i promised carol in georgia that i would ask you, what has the president done that you agree with that you think is positive? guest: oh, gosh, i look for these things. the first thing on a local level, he made fort moanrope a national monument. now, it may not sound like a big deal to someone from another state, but it sure is in our district. there's so much history there. the first folks who kind of were protected in the civil war, african-americans were protected by general butler there, and he described them as contra band as a legal theory to hold and protect those who had been run from the south. and this american history needed to be preserved, and i appreciate that.

i think that the president's tent with respect to setting our country on a better fiscal path is genuine. i had the opportunity to speak to him directly about this for about 10 or 15 minutes, but i shared with him at that time that i'm convinced that his assessment of the risk that we're taking on as a country is different than mine. i hope he's right, but i see this as an extremist situation. we've got to make meaningful, wise reforms so that they can be there for the next generation. i don't see the leadership needed in that area. i think his intent is good, but the wisdom and the courage to tell the american people the truth is not there. and people, i really believe

this, from my own experience, that the american people are ready to hear the truth. they want men and women who serve up they're put their country first, and they can handle that. i found that to be true in my own district. it's beyond partisanship. it's beyond party. it's for us as fellow americans. host: richard, i understand pen line. good morning to you. caller: good morning. i'm not going to claim that i'm what the government goals should be or is. but so much information it can't be provided or information i don't actually have. but one thing represented i would like to know, if there was somebody that i should read that reflects your global perspective in america, i would like to know what that book or who that person is that you look at that helps inform.

and then other thing i would like to know, america's global ideal of democracy, and i heard you mention it, it comes with a different meaning, i noticed that around the world, people are confusing democracy and they're taking it, and they're utilizing it, and it may be a conflict there, their choice of democracy, maybe it's a conflict with america's view of how the individuals that are elected, the individuals that have put in place. i'm trying to get, what is your view of democracy that represents the movement of people, especially in this country? host: richard, very quickly, give us yours. caller: well, as i said, it seems to me, and i'm going use they as an example, , cted a democratic person

in then it was -- i believe the american press, someone that the american government in general felt, and that was because of the brotherhood, that should be representing it from there everything started to escalate on where it doesn't. i'm just going to use that one example, and i think there's are s, where organizations put in place. and america's view is different. host: all right. we're going to leave it there. congressman rigell? guest: richard, thanks for the call. it's an interesting line of questioning. i don't believe in my seeking off and in serving over these last five years have been asked that question. i've been wrestling with the answer to the first one since you asked it, and that is who you might be directed to that would best reflect any world view as it relates to democracy

and that general topic. after this meant or so wrestling it, i still come back to one answer. i would appoint you to our website. it's not a little promotion here, but it's the only way i know how to answer the question . my views reflect a blending of so many things. zpir foremost, i believe the founding fathers and mothers of our country set us on the right path. they were imperfect from the beginning. there's some deep flaws embeded in our constitution that we're all aware of and was wrestled with in the civil war and then beyond in the civil rights struggle that led us in a better direction. but the core elements of that reflect what i think is the best form of governance for man, and i have overall what i uld say is a restrained view on the use of force. it is not an unwillingness to

use force, but i believe we as a country, particularly in the last few decades, have been -- we've had a bias toward engagement, and i believe simple willing to use force. this is a difficult topic, but i think we've been too quick to engage ourselves in countries, and we've had profound difficulty in extricating ourselves from that. so i think that's why weather i point to you now. let's look at europe. great britain, for example, a far different form of government. i'm good with other countries certainly having their own form of government, as they do in western europe, but they are elevating the values that i think are universally regarded and should be. freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the things that those attributes that i think america elevates so well, and any nation that's going to elevate those, and that includes israel, to me is a

nation that i look to as being on the right track. host: congressman, you said you're still an employer. what's the business? guest: i'm an automobile dealer. peter, if you would have told me five years ago that i'd be here with you today, i could not have believed it. it was not on the bucket list of life, but here i am, and what a privilege it is to serve in this very challenging time. host: you're in your second term. guest: i am, 3 1/2 years of service. host: what sparked an interest? what kind of cars do you sell? guest: ford and voluntarily vofmente i've had other brands through the years. it's a wonderful opportunity to be a part of your local community. and peter, i have to say, i was asked to serve, and i was asked to serve, let's see, it was january of 2009. now, if we roll back the tape, the economy was imploding, and we were losing so much money in our dealerships. i remember talking to my wife at our kitchen counter, and i said if this keeps up for

another 12 months, we're out of business. it was a time of great stress in our country and for the men and women who are here, president bush and then, following, president obama, it was a very difficult time. i said no originally, and then i heard somebody speak three moss later, and they said are you unhappy with where your country is going? are you unhappy about where your own party is, my own party being the republican party, and i said to myself i am. and then the gentleman said, our country is worth fighting for. and peter, i just felt this wave of conviction, really, that three months earlier i said no because it would be inconvenient and things would be said about our family or whatever, all the things that come along with running for office, and i thought about my dad. i thought about the sacrifices he made for us to have the privilege to live in freedom. you know, as tough as things are across the street, we are and ettling things here,

this is an amazing blessing that we have at americans. i treasure it. i know my democratic friends do. but we've got to find a way to make some better decisions. we are bifurcating as a country. we're demonizing the other side. we're not engaging in thoughtful, respectful debate. and that's one reason. i mean. this i like to come on this show. we have 45 minutes to talk to the american people and really work through some things. and deconstructed to the best of my ability how we got on this path, and just as importantly, how we can get on a better path. we need to come up with that today or some other time. host: bonnie, new jersey, go ahead. caller: good morning, gentlemen. good morning, congressman. congressman, what made our country exceptional and great was that our country as a people opened our shores and

our borders whenever there was a humanitarian crisis to people seeking asylum. i appreciate that most of all because i'm a first-generation american. so these your honor are not illegals or aliens. they're victims seeking asylum, and that's the way we should reat this situation. but the point i wanted to get to, your solution, and it seems your party's solution to problems, especially concerning situations where there are social programs is to do the thing you do best, blow things up real good. your solution for the v.a. is the same for social security -- we'll privatize it. that's not the solution. host: hang on, bonnie. just hang on. let's see if congressman rigell agrees with that interpretation. guest: bonnie, you've got

strongly held views, and i respect your views. i do hold ones that are really the reciprocal of what you shared. let me just say, the notion that certainly my response or that of my party, but i can speak with authority on my view for sure, and that is the response to blow things up. my view is the antithesis of that. i led the effort to stop the president's assault on libya, and look what we have now. i'm not clairvoyant. i didn't know what would 457, but i knew that not one of the provisions was met, and it was a democratic president that led us to libya, and over the objection of my efforts, and i was working with dennis kucinich at the time, who was in congress, i voted for his bill, he voted for mine. so this was a bipartisan effort to slow the president down, and i think our office and others, barbara lee, who i respect and appreciate, a democratic

colleague, we work together to slow the president down on syria. i can't tell you we stopped the war, i've never said that, but i do know the president took notice of this. the notion that the default position is to blow things up is just the opposite. host: what about the privatization? guest: well, what i'm saying here, bonnie, is, look, i'm perfectly fine with the v.a. continuing to be through the formal v.a. system to provide the care for our veterans, but this is managerially, logistically not possible for the v.a. to pivot as quickly as they need to pivot. so this is a venting system, if you will, to help with the demand that is very real. i know it because of the district that we're in. we have a wonderful staff member who is dedicated exclusivelyly to trying to be a liaison with members of the v.a. there are so many men and women

who have served honorably who need help and aren't getting it. to me, it's not a partisan issue to say let's allow our veterans, at least on a short-term basis, to go outside the v.a. system to get the care and allow the new v.a. to gait handle on that oorgs. it is a large one, it's complex, it's got lots of problems that are well known, and i think this would be a great relief to the current leadership of the v.a. host: bonnie, quick response? caller: yeah, i think you're issing the point here. the way the post office dealt with was paying for pensions so that you would destroy it. the solution for social security with president bush was to privatize it. do you have any idea of what the very large baby boomers would be living with if that had happened after the biggest bank heist that this world's

ever seen? guest: well, i don't want to be argumentative, but to provide the counter argument, if you look at what the president has offered, his solution set, as i describe it, as it relates to medicare, look, he doesn't have one that leads to the program being sustainable. i am a person who's been working with numbers all of my life, and i go where the facts lead me. and occasionally, bonnie, this requires me to confront my own party and say no, what we're saying is not true, and i've done so. you can look at this with my position on the americans for tax reform pledge and grover nor quist's organization. this has not been good for america, and it's not my position. but those who go to the floor every day and say no changes should be made to medicare, medicaid and social security, t's either out of naivete or worse, that is, they know what must be said and are unwilling

to say it to the american people. i've been very forthright with these wonderful constituents, really my friends and neighbors i have that the privilege to serve in virginia's second congressional district. i've been completely forthright. that is, put the facts before them. and they're difficult facts, but we can get through our fiscal situation. we just have to make wise decisions and find our ability to discern the difference between a compromise in principle, which has gotten us in this mess and a principal compromise, which is essential for us to get out of it. host: as always, we appreciate you coming over and working with our viewers. guest: always. that went quick. host: zoe lofgren is next, democrat from california.

>> 40 years ago, the watergate scandal led to the only resignation of an american president. american history tv revisits 1974 and the final weeks of the nixon administration. this weerked the house judicial air committee as it considers impeachment of the president and the charge of abuse of power. >> what you have here are questions about sort of what the framers had in mind, questions about whether the activities that had been found out by the committee and by the senate watergate committee were indeed impeachable, and thirdly, can we prove that richard nixon knew about them and even authorized them? >> watergate, 40 years later, sunday night at 8:00 eastern on merican history tv on c-span3. for over 35 years, c-span brings public affairs events from washington directly to you, putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white

house events, briefings and conferences, and offering complete gavel-to-gavel coverage of the u.s. house all as a service of private industry. we're c-span, created by the cable tv industry 35 years ago and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. watch us in h.d., like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter. this weekend on book tv's "after words" -- >> i thought it would be compelling to tell the story of a white family and a black family with the same name who come from the same place and follow them from slavery through the civil war, reconstruction, jim crow, the civil rights movement, up until today, and compare and contrast. >> chris tomlinson on his family's slave-owning history in tomlinson, texas, and how the legacy of slavery still affects american society. he talked with the brother of

former nfl running back ladainian tomlinson about their family's lineage as former slaves from the hill. it's saturday night at 10:00 eastern on c-span2's "after words." "washington journal" continues. host: zoe lofgren, congress woman, you just returned from the border, did you not? guest: a couple of weeks ago, yes. host: what was your experience? where did you go? guest: we went to brownsville. the chairman of the committee had arrange the, you know, briefings. we arranged some additional meetings and invited the republicans to come, although they were not able to do most of it. startling was a experience in some ways. the department of health and human services really didn't have the capacity to comply with the law, which requires

that young children alone be moved out of border patrol custody within 72 hours, and they just didn't have the space. that has since been corrected, and what i thought at the time were, you know, primarily very young children, including toddlers in jail cells, 8, 9-year-old kids by themselves, and it was very disturbing, and i'm glad that the administration has gotten ahead of that, and the secretary of homeland security has -- they called me to say the back log has been moved out and the law is being complemented, which is good news. we also visited with the baptists are running one of the temporary transit centers for these kids, and they were doing a terrific job, i must say. it was primarily little boys, 8, 9, 10-year-olds, and they were very orderly.

they were really nice little kids. the staff was pretty positive on these youngsters. and we also went to the rio grande, you know, and observed the border patrol in action. one of the things i think people don't understand is how effective the technology is along the border. we had the chance in brownsville to observe the 24/7 command center where, you know, there's sensors buried all up and down the border, when they're triggered, alarms go off, cameras are swinging into view and you can see whether it's a cow or a person. if it's a person and it's an incursion, then, you know, border patrol is dispatched for an intervention. you know, they've got mobile towers, the infrared cameras. i mean, it's pretty organized

and pretty impressive. .

guest: it is a complicated area of the law. some people say is illegal often times is not if you take a look at the law for example, these young people coming to the united states, it is within the immigration law to apply for asylum. that is provided in the law and has since after world war ii. there's a case by case review, you might meet the standards in which case you'll get asylum.

we need to go through these issues and stand up for american values. host: represent lofgren in the "new york times," u.s. considering refugee status. guest: i think it's a reasonable thing to look at. we know that the initial asylum claims for these kids more than half are being found valid. it's a terrible journey for people to make across -- from central america all the way to the united states. it's pretty clear that these young kids, especially the girls, are being subject to abuse along the way. no one thinks that's right. the idea that you could sort through what is a valid claim or not, without youngster making that terrible fight, i think has

some value. it's been done in the past. it's worth pointing out that when we had a melt down in haiti and people were fleeing, determination was made let's go to haiti and see if people have a valid claim or not. i represent san jose, california and we have the largest number of vietnamese americans in the united states. it's a wonderful community. most of the vietnamese american who came to the u.s. came in on humanitarian parole. there's history behind this. i think it will solve problems. host: quickly before we go to calls. this is a tweet sent out by speaker boehner. strong public support for fixing

the blank check. flawed law generates big business for child smugglers. guest: i think there's been a lot of misunderstanding. it wasn't the 2008 law, it was the 2002 law. that provided for the case by case review. in 2008, children from contiguous countries were removed from the due process protections. that has caused review of that matter. one of the interesting things, the u.n. high commissioner for refugee went in to critique how the 2008 exception for the children from contiguous countries is working. what they found was that we are sending human trafficking victims back to their

traffickers. got to remember, we're talking about it was an anti-slavery bill. this is not to be tampered with lightly. i think it's interesting that got a letter just earlier this week from a broad coalition of religious people. the southern baptist, the national association of evangelicals, the world vision. these are evangelical churches that are more on the conservative side. they were part of the broad coalition that brought the trafficking bill to a successful conclusion. they object strongly to removing a protections for human trafficking victims. i don't think it's appropriate to mix a spending bill with such a profound and negative change for protection against human

trafficking. host: zoe lofgren represents san jose area of california. stanford grad, law grad from the university of santa clara school of law. democrats line how are you? caller: i wanted to get get two questions in. my first question was basically with the political climate being so partisan right now, do you think there's a possibility to get an immigration reform, comprehensive immigration reform done at least before the election? second off, the president proposed giving them refugee status. i think that's a good thing. guest: those are good questions. first on the refugee issue.

i don't think a decision has been made. it would not be a grant of refugee status to these children. it will be processing on a case by case basis whether a particular individual had a valid claim for that status. it's not all clear that most people would necessarily meet that standard. but they have an opportunity to make their case in honduras instead of in texas. the second question on comprehensive immigration reform, we have worked on this so long as you may know, we had a bipartisan group in the house that we actually met for 4.5 years to see if we could reach an agreement. the good news is we actually did write a bill. it's not everything i would have wanted but it's a workable bill. unfortunately, that effort and the bipartisan effort in the senate have run into a brick

wall in the form of the speaker of the house. he told the president a few weeks ago, we were not going to do immigration reform. i think that is really a shame. the country by large margins, wants to clean up the mess that we've made of this law and allow people to get right with the law and move on. i know that if we put the immigration bill up for a vote, it would pass. i think it's just really unfortunate that the speaker made the decision he did. now, the president has brought authority under existing law. the concept of using that authority to the maximum amount of benefit for america is something i have urged and others have urged. i don't know what the president is going to do but i really think that republicans have

given him no choice. they won't legislate so got to examine the authority he has under law and see if he can fix some of this mess that we've created. host: roy is coming from ashville, north carolina. caller: i want to know why it is the borders also letting them across and talk about the kids and the gaza strip, israel. syria and stuff like that, if you going to bring them in, i don't get this. on top of that, i want to know how many he's supporting. i mean, the kids that were born and raised here, have got to have a chance too. that's the bottom line.

guest: thank you roy. the issue of refugees from othr countries is an important one. i cochair the refugee council in the house. we do admit refugees from syria, people who can make their claim. obviously we don't take every person who's been persecuted in the world into the united states. there's limits on what we can do. but we are part of an international coalition to play our part in providing a beacon of hope for people who are oppressed around the world. the issue of our own children here in america, you're absolutely right. we need to make sure that the young people in our country have the best chance possible for a great future.

i don't think those two things are inconsistent. in my own home community in san jose, we have people stepping forward who are raising their own children but also they can adopt one of these young victims of violence. we're a great country. we're the best country in the world. i think that we have the capacity to move forward with hearts full of love and hope, not of despair. host: zoe lofgren not only taught law -- has it changed? guest: every time congress touches it, we make it more complicated. in some cases make it dysfunctional. here's one way we really made a

mistake. how unsatisfactory of the words i told you to. you were eligible for legal permanent residency, you're an american, you marry somebody from another country, you don't have to move to france. your wife can live in the united states with you. you file a petition and your wife can become a permanent resident. we changed that so that if you were out of status, if your visa was improper, you couldn't get that visa. even though you weren't married to an american unless you left for 10 years. the proponents of this said this will fix illegal immigration. obviously it didn't. if you could imagine, you're married to someone from france, you have a couple of kids, if you leave for 10 years by the time you get back, your kids will be grown.

you're not going to leave. what happened the spouses of americans in many cases have stayed here in an undocumented status. that's dumb. we should fix it but we created that problem ourselves. we have about two million migrant farm workers in the united states. you to any grower, they'll tell you agriculture in america could not survive without those migrant farm workers. 80% of them probably are undocumented. how many visas a year do we have for employment based residents not based on a college diploma? 5000. two million farm workers, 5000 visas. who set this situation up? we did. we need to fix this so it works for the united states and works for american business and american workers. we need a law that's

enforceable. host: those are some of the issues that jeb bush talked about yesterday. here's the tweet, the border crisis requires strong leadership now and reforms to prevent influx in the future. glyn in lancaster, california you're on with representative zoe lofgren. caller: please let me comment after she answers my questions from bonnie. are we fingerprinting them first so we can track them down? are we fingerprinting the people we're releasing these children to? host: glenn, do you think that's a good idea? caller: , i do. i get fingerprinted if i get picked up for anything. they check my fingerprints and my i.d.

host: have you seen an effect from illegal or undocumented immigrants in your area? caller: yes. everything hospitals, our schools, the welfare offices. everywhere. host: all right. let's get a response from representative lofgren. number one is fingerprinting. guest: thank you glenn for that question. the children are not fingerprinted but their pictures are taken. certainly they are identified. the law provides this. if there's a child who's here by themselves, unaccompanied, they are to be transferred from the border patrol to the temporary custody the office of refugee assessment. then that office is supposed to find the safest least restrictive placement that's in

the best interest of the child only until their immigration hearing is held. it's not understood i think by some that every single child who comes in this category is placed in deportation proceedings. they will go before an immigration judge and they will have an opportunity to either make their case if they have visa available under the law. they don't, they will be removed and deported back to the country that they're from. the adults that children are placed with varies. often times it's a relative or family friend. it's a parent who's here, people think it's only the undocumented. that's true in some cases. we're remembering, that a lot of people from honduras and from el salvador provided something called temporary protective status in 2001 and 1999.

they're here lawfully but they can't legally petition for their children. you might have a parent in that situation. you might have an older sibling, an aunt, uncle or cousin. if no,it's -- if it's not the parent they're fingerprinting and a background check, you want to make sure you're place -- you need to make sure this is a safe situation. i just would point out that if you are here without legal status, you're not eligible for any welfare benefits. if you find someone who is getting public assistance and they're undocumented, that's not in accordance with the law. host: tom, pittsburgh very quickly. go ahead. caller: i have grandsons that

are -- i'm 84. look at the unemployments in the black population. anywhere from 15 to 20 percent. what about them? what about george bush the elder was president, first thing he said was, now we're going to help the new world order. this president he is fulfilling that. in other words, maybe in 20 or 30 years, it will be one to have peace and prosperity partnership. all south americans, canada and the united states. host: we will leave it there tom. any comments from that caller? guest: i don't think we need to

fear the 8-year-old. 8-year-old is not going to come and steal someone's job. i will say this that communities across the board, african-american leaders, asian-american leaders as well as the southern baptist and others have stepped forward to say that we should follow our religious beliefs and treat these young children with charity as our religion require us to do. some of these children will be returned because they don't fall into the legal category. some will not. while they're here, the best tradition of america is to show charity and kindness to young children who are by themselves. host: laura tweets in, any immigration reform should not encourage parents to abandon these kids to traffickers or

send them alone to the border. as always we appreciate you coming over and talking with our viewers. she has to run unfortunately. our segment is a little shorter than we planned on. we're going it let her go and we will continue here in a minute with open phones and talk about some of the public policy issues that we've discussed this morning on the "washington journal." house is coming in at 10:00 a.m. originally scheduled for 9:00 a.m. the house gop conference is meeting at 9:00 a.m. and they're going to be discussing the border bill. we will be going to the house at 10:00 a.m. of course as we always do. but in the meantime, we will continue in just a minute with open phones. >> michelle is our guest on this week's "q&a." >> if you're in government, you're dealing with the daily

tyranny of the inbox. you are focused on the crisis of the day. part of my responsibility was representing the secretary of defense on so called deputies committee which is sort of the senior level group that's developing options for the principles and the president. a lot of crisis management focus. when you're in a think tank, your utility is not trying to second guess the policymaker on the issues of the day. but help to do some work to raise their day. help them look over the horizon to see what issues i will confront and how do i think more strategically about america's role in the world. >> former secretary of defense, michelle flournoy. sunday night at 8:00 eastern and

pacific on c-span's "q&a." >> next month on book tv, former republican congressman from texas and presidential candidate ron paul, he written more than a dozen boos on politics. sunday august 3rd at noon eastern. tune in next month for mary francis berry. joan discusses court sessions both past and present. michael cordon is our guest in november. endepth on c-span 2's book tv. television for series readers. >> "washington journal" continues. >> all right, public policy issues on your mind. you can dial in at the numbers on the screen, 202-585-3880 for

democrats, 202-585-3881 for republicans and 202-585-3882 for independents. we like to hear your participation. there are the numbers. here a couple of other news articles. national guard in texas could get arrest power. this is the "new york times" fernandez writing when governor rick perry of texas announced plans to deploy a thousand national guard troops to help with the border crisis that came with the power unexpected by some by deploying them himself rather than through washington. he has the power to make arrests. immigrant rights, advocates archbishop others including former federal officials involved in previous national guard mobilization said the troops would lack both training

and federal oversight creating a risk of civil rights violations and deadly encounters with immigrants. national guard troops will work side by side with state police officers of the department of public safety. they will not be able to enforce federal immigration laws but may be able to enforce state law. a 19th century federal law that makes a crime for military personnel to perform civilian law enforcement activities does not apply to state d.o.t. troop -- duty troops. from politico this morning, clinton sweeps gop in florida. hillary clinton is leading and challengers. new poll says, according to a quinnipiac university poll, the former secretary of state holds at least seven percentage point leads in match ups against potential gop challengers. jeb bush provides the closest

head to head match up with clinton with the democrat leading bush 49-42 percent. that's in politico as is this article. barack obama locks out the press again. president barack obama went to the west coast to meet donors from two top democratic super pacs. but the press wasn't invited. tuesday reporters and photographers traveling with the president an air force one were left on the gravel path not even within sight of former costco ceo. where obama sat for a senate majority packed fundraiser with a $25,000 entrance fee. wednesday morning when we met with big donors in downtown san francisco, they weren't even told what room or floor he was in. asked why the fortunate couldn't

provide more coverage, white house press secretary quote, nt this time. president obama has attended three super pac events in the past week. one in new york last thursday and the two on the west coast. how many people obama met with was a secret. how much they paid to get in was a secret. finding out who the people were, forget it. even a general account what the president said to them, not from this white house. the white house correspondence association has asked the white house to reconsider its position regarding access. it has not filed a formal complaint. that's in politico this morning. mike, houston, texas, democrats line hi. caller: people are saying my

son should learn english. learn english and use the english. if you are doing so, there will be no for you must be bilingual to do this job. learn english and use it. no more bilingual. host: mike, where are you from? caller: africa. host: did you grow up speaking any english? caller: yes. host: what other language do you speak? caller: [indiscernible] host: why are you living livin houston? i like the weather. host: let me rephrase that.

how did you get to the states? legally? caller: legally, yes, sir. host: okay. through what system? what was the process? caller: i got my visa and i came down here and i guess -- i been here for a long time. host: that's mike in houston. this is debby in denison, ohio, republican. caller: thank you very much to c-span. i just had a few comments. i know that i'm not going to kick the answers today. there are things i don't understand about exactly what's going on with immigration and the border. i don't understand why they don't -- why some of them don't

fall into the legal category. i don't have the statistics of the child support payments that are in our country as of now. how is it that we can justify even bringing in other children, children of other parents to care for them when they're unaccompanied by a parent. when there are parents in other countries are not themselves providing for the care and taking care of the children? i worked in the health system over 30 years. i happen to work in a huge inner city clinic. i can tell you that our country in the majority do not understand that immense amount of cost, medical costs that come with these immigrants.

i'm not being discriminate. i love being able to help them. they have nowhere to turn. this clinic i work at also had six other clinics that were dispersed out of the area. some of them were outside of the country. i was fortunate to be able to travel to all of these clinics and work and get a pretty good idea of what's going on. but the phenomenal cost, you just don't understand. most of the united states does it. it's really sad. i can tell you how much it cost for a person who has insurance to have a child. these immigrants can come in the day before because they all know where the clinics and places are before they get here. they