mission in iraq, and trade policy with congresswoman vicky hartzler. a discussion of the strategy against isis, and student loan debt with congressman joe courtney. host: did morning it's thursday june 18th, 2015. the military effort in iraq and syria was the focus of debate as the house voted down a resolution that would have withdrawn u.s. forces from that engagement unless congress used military force against isis. the trade debate will be front and center in the house as president oh bema'am and congressional leaders again try to move a bill. we'll get to those stories but we begin this morning on the "washington journal" by opening

up our phones and hear your reaction of the shooting at a black church that left nine people dead. there is still much to learn about what happened, the victims and the shooter. our phones are open if you want to share your reaction to that church shooting this morning. we split our lines up regionally. if you're in the eastern or central 202-7,408,000. you can also catch up with us on social media on twitter or facebook or e-mail us at journal.c-span.org. we're beginning that shooting that happened late last night in charleston, south carolina. here's what we know. a gunman opened fire at the

emanuel african episs copal church. nine people died. the pastor and state senator was killed. the police described the attacker as a clean shaven white man who was 21 years old. the gunman fled and the police are still searching for him. and the police chief called it a hate crime. the latest from the "new york times". we'll keep you posted. but we're opening our phones this morning to get your reaction if you want to talk about it. this morning on the "washington journal". the mayor of charleston joseph riley spoke to reporters. here's the clip of the mayor from cnn >> this is the most unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy.

the mother church of the a me churches. people were in prayier on a wednesday evening, a ritual coming together praying and worshipping god to have an awful person come in and shoot them is inexplicable the only reason someone could walk into church and shoot people praying is because of hate. the most dastardly act that someone could imagine and we'll bring that person to justice as soon as possible. >> lawmakers getting the reaction overnight.

here's a few of the tweets and comments and statements that were out. one reporter putting out the statement from the governor saying that the governor and her family are praying for the victims and families touched by tonight's senseless tragedy. we do not know yet all the details. we do know that we'll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another. please join us in lifting up the victims and families with their love and prayers. that's the statement from the governor. hillary clinton putting out a statement. heat breaking news from charleston. my thoughts and prayers. a tweet from jeb bush as well. our thoughts and prayers are with us families from the tragic event that happened in charleston. congressman from south carolina praying for the victims' families and another member of

congress lacey clay democrat from missouri, tears and loves and prayers for the nine innocent souls taken in madness. that's a few tweets. we want to hear from our viewers if you want to share your action. tyrone is up first from north carolina. caller: good morning, josh. i would like to say this this stuff wouldn't have gone on if republicans would have had gun restrictions. i blame them on c-span on this because they let people come on and say whatever they want. we should be able to go in the

house of prayer without being shot. we need to come together as a nation and do what's right. host: tom's up next. tom, good morning. caller: good morning. first of all, i would like to say that there's no defense for anyone doing what they did in that church last night. but i blame the press for soaking hatred between whites and blacks and the way they cover the things that blacks feel like they're being done wrong but the way they cover it does nothing but stoke hatred between whites and blacks. when the press says they cover both size and they try to be right in the way they do t-how stupid do you think the viewers

are. they chase down people who advocate violence and there is no -- when a policeman can go to court, but if a black person needs to be defended anyone can say anything they want. look at the poor woman who came out against the people who created that problem in texas. she the thing that there's some kind of balance communication in the press between whites and blacks is crazy. host: what would you want to see from the press in a way to bring people together more? how do you have less divisiveness? caller: well, they can give more voice to people who are against

violence who look down upon this rioting and starting fires and everything. give more voice to those people for heaven's sakes. and express an opinion. if it's kill cops it's like, well, we'll just record the cops. but if it's talking to people about killing cops, anyone can say whatever they want. host: a few tweets this morning already. if you're following along at c-spanwj. john x wrote in -- >> and jeffrey john smith says -- some on twitter and one of our callers already bringing up the issue of guns in this country. here's the latest research

numbers on support for gun control in this country. for most of the 1990s and the subsequent decade they believed that it was more important to protect gun ownership. but in december 2014 for the first time more americans say that protecting gun rights is more important than controlling gun ownership. 52% to 46%. those are the latest stats from the research center. mare marry is up next. good morning. caller: good morning. i live in colombia, south carolina and the issue of racism needs to be addressed here in south carolina. it's very bad. i'm not from south carolina, but

it's absolutely disgusting that race is a problem in 2015. it needs to be addressed and it need to be addressed properly. the issue -- host: how do you address it properly? what would be your recommendation? caller: i think education. i think south carolina is backward and one of the things you hear people say in the south, we are backward. they wear it like it's a badge of honor. they need education. they need classes and more culture interaction. it's very bad and getting worse. and it's all through the society. it's in the school system. it's in the church system.

it's in the business system. it's back. host: the emanuel a me church has a long history in this country and wrong connection from the civil rights community. one tweet picture that the "washington post" showed along with that article is a picture

from the king center of the reverend dr. martin luther king at the emmanuel a.m.e. church. he's talking about the history of that church this morning. we're taking your calls and shooting that took place overnight at that church. matt is inannapolis maryland. good morning. caller: yes. good morning. god is our heavenly father and jesus christ is son of god and we're all brothers and sisters in christ. and it's a travesty. red, yellow, black, white doesn't matter. we're all precious and i can't believe something like this would happen. hatred is a learned behavior and passed on from generation to generation and got to stop. all it takes is one generation of a family to change and think for themselves and stop the hatred. the hatred is all over the

place, black and white, white on black and needs to stop. it's a travesty and our hearts and prayers are with the people in south carolina. host: what's the conversation you think should be happening today in america? caller: hatred gets you nowhere. why hate someone? i mean, it creates so much stress and just so much difficulty in your life. love in anything is all you need to grow. you give something care and you give something what it needs, it will grow. i mean, just stop the hatred. host: matt in annapolis, this morning. here's the front page of the "denver post", nine in prayer killed. suspect was at large after the hate crime after emmanuel a.m.e.. a state senator was said to be inside the building and further reports about the state senator clemente pick 90 that he died in

that shooting. a high flying state senator to campaigned for police to wear body cameras was killed. he was 41 years old and won election in election pingckney

it's just -- i don't even know how to describe the monday strosty of someone going into a wednesday night bible study and murdering people. so anyway, i hope they find this young man. i'm going to actually be in the area and i'll be looking for that car and for him and i'm sure all my neighbors will be looking out for him too. he needs to be brought to justice. host: this shooting took place in a historic black church. is anywhere safe if a shooting can happen in a church? caller: no no. not at all. the church that i was saved at in atlanta was actually almost

like a home that had converted into a church. any church can be a target. unfortunately so many states have this law that you can carry weapons into church. i know georgia has that law. i'm not sure about south carolina. nowhere is safe. but they're with the lord now for sure and that's the only consolation that i have in all of this. i pray for that church and i'm hoping to attend a service sunday morning there. so thank you for taking my call. host: a producer in the news was talking about this issue of churches not being safe on his page. the myth was shattered was in

1963 when the church in birmingham was bombed. plenty of reaction on twitter this morning. we're getting your reaction. karen, good morning. caller: hi good morning. i'd also like to say i'm saddened on what happened with the church down in south carolina but i do have to say that i agree with the previous caller that talks about the impact of the media and i'll tell you this, i went out to visit family out in europe this past may and my family told me that the media and -- the american media covers a lot of the baltimore riots and covered a lot of everything but really does make the african-american culture look very bad abroad.

i think you have people with young people who are very -- they absorb everything. you got social media. they look at this news channel and everything. when you focus on one single topic or focus on the divide between both races, they look at that as an opportunity to take action and it's unfortunate. i do believe that a lot of the influence on a lot of these young people comes from what they see on t.v. and hear in the media. i ask c-span to be the leader. we spent a lot of time on the baltimore riots but minimum time on waco people look at that and see the difference of the we have to take a responsibility. but to the media if you're forget to put it out there it has to be balanced because people are watching you and are

listening to you and i think that that's the most important take away here. everything that we air and everything that we put out there, somebody is taking it and twisting it in a different way of the that's my only comment. host: randy's up next. chicago heights, illinois. good morning. caller: good morning. can you hear me? >> yes, sir. caller: i think the mayor and the police department are jumping way too much to the conclusion. i like to say that they're saying it's a hate crime. a hate crime is not very good to say right now. they don't even have the man in custody. this man could be on drugs. he could be mentally ill. he could be a terrorist and then when they find him they realize maybe what might have happened. but when they say hate crime, that's not a good thing to say because that brings the whites

and the blacks that it's no good to say that. because now the black people are going to say white people are picking on the blacks again. host: it was the police chief greg mullin who said i believe this is a hate crime. went to the fbi's website to get a definition of hate crime. they use the congressional definition. a criminal offense against property or person. caller: let's just wait until they catch him first and see what's wrong with the gentleman first. they always find something wrong with them after they catch him. maybe he was just delusional or on heroin or something.

host: that's randy in chicago heights. we're getting your reaction to that shooting that happened late last night. less than 12 hours ago reporters sending out updates of what's happened since. here's chad of fox news. he's here on capitol hill. he said that -- jeb bush has cancelled his come pain events scheduled for south carolina due to the church shooting. houston texas is up next. ruth, good morning.

caller: good morning. i was born in washington, d.c. in a mission. my dad was the minister and we had the bible and prayer every night growing up and it really worked for us. we did not grow up hating anybody especially our fellow americans, people who we cherish who fight our wars and build our structures and now even in the white house. we are taught to love and cherish our good american roots and i think this young man probably was led astray through a home which did not make god center. he was taught to hate. i'm very very sad this morning.

thank you so much. host: floyd is up next. jonesville virginia. you're on "washington journal". caller: good morning. my sympathies go out to these people. i'm sure there are very sad families and we're praying for them. this are a couple of things i think that is causing all this. you see a lot of things going on all over the world. but one thing i think our pastors need to teach the truth. one third of people who followed satan and they are here now. that's about 12 billion people, maybe a little bit more. you take a third of those ask and that's a lot of people. there are evil people in this world. we need to be teaching.

that they talk about doing away with weapons. peter whenever he was in jesus in the garden he took off the sword and he whacked off the ear of that soldier and he stopped him. but they carried those swords for the region. the church i go to had security. they had it for many years and that's what we need is security. they say you shouldn't carry a gun and stuff like that, but they need a gun to protect themselves. you takal sharpton and jesse jackson, they've turned -- if you hear them preach and teach, they've turned black into a religion. it's nothing to do with jesus and god but black is a religion. host: you think that every church needs security now? you think that's what it's come down to? caller: absolutely. peter was a protectioner in the

garden and they need security, sure they do. host: that's floyd in jonesville virginia. more tweets that have come in over the course of the show. bar gary, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i just like to lift up the families and the victims to the lord and say that what we are experiencing in american society and our globe as a whole is what

is deemed right from our fore fathers foundation of our nation and the building of our country was based on the bible. was based on nobility and integrity and what was good and right. but we as a society, our politicians and our whole society has deemed right is wrong and what is wrong is right. i'll give a prime example. in god's word it says that he has an abomination to immoral sexual behavior. homosexuality. we as a sites are promoting it advocating and impaouting laws and saying in the garden of eve it was adam and steve and eve and arlene and god is viewing

our nation as that. and that in south carolina is a microcosm of what is happening in a whole i lift up the family and the victims and their families. host: that's gary. we'll step away from this topic for just a second. but you can continue to call in on it. and we'll get back to your phone calls. but want to turn to peter sullivan staff writer for the hill newspaper joining us by the phone this morning. want to get an update on republican leaders who yesterday were briefed on republican -- what the republican response could be in a potential king v.about your well decisionburwell

decision >> ait could be today and so in the house members got it hear the outlines of a plan and it involves giving blocked grants to states, basically giving a chunk of money that the states could decide how to spend to cover people and provide health insurance in that state that lasts for two years. so that all of obamacare would go away after two years and the idea is that then a republican president would provide alternatives to the law. host: peter sullivan, who is in

charge of crafting the response? who do we expect to be the first to sort of come out from republican leadership on capitol hill if and when that decision comes down perhaps today but more likely later in the month at one of the later decision days? >> well there are different leaders in the house and senate. they say that they're talking to each other but that's one of the questions is how closely they'll be able to combine the house and senate plans. but in the house it's mainly paul ryan who is the chairman of the ways and means committee. he's leading an effort with two

other committee chair the senate says they're trying to combine the different plans from the different republican senators that they've had over there. host: here's the front page story from the "new york times". but peter sullivan before you go, what's the update from the white house. is there any fallback plan about what the white house will do if the president ends up losing on this serious bodily injury subsidies decision. lately they've opened up a little bit. burrell says they can do whatever they can but that's not

much. and also interesting that the white house is on track to veto whatever the republican plan is the requirement that everybody buys health insurance. we could be headed for a standoff here if the white house is going to veto what the republicans have and the republicans are not interested in just restoring the sub sid i dids. >> obviously kind a big set back for the height house when they voted down the trade agreement agreement -- host: we're losing you a little

bit there. but appreciate all your help. we'll be getting into that trade vote that's happening today here's the latest update from the associated press. karlston police chief said that the suspect in the shooting that killed nine people at that historic black church attended a meeting and stayed for almost an hour before gun fire erupted. the police chief gave the details at a news conference. he didn't elaborate at the news conference and identified the victims of the wednesday night church shooting as six females and three males. the names will be released until the families are notified the

suspect is early twenties. he had no reason to think the suspect has left the charleston area but administering information about him and the vehicle's round the country. if you want to call in our phone lines are open. frank is waiting in louisiana. you're on the "washington journal". caller: this is more like a terrorist attack. this is not a hate crime. and nobody is saying that. host: what's the importance of labelling it a terrorist attack. >> recently we had what was considered a terrorist attack this is what it is. oh obama got in office and we've

been having these problems. katy, good morning. caller: good morning. host: you got to speak up, katy. we'll try to get back to you. michael is in tucson arizona. did morning. caller: good morning. how you doing this morning? host: good michael. caller: these types of attacks have been going before the creation of the television, tv and radio. the whole thing about this situation is that boy was lying in wait. he was sitting in the church. he knew what he was in there to do. he was in there for an hour before gun fire broke out. what's interesting about this barack obama, this was happening before barack obama.

this was hpg in los angeles in texas and louisiana. and everywhere else you know it comes a time when you can only take so much of this backlash. they don't talk about waco and how those bikers shot up a restaurant with a bunch of innocent civilians and they don't say too much about timothy mcveigh in oklahoma city. but when it happens in a church the world sets on fire. this has been going on in this country for years and it's got to stop. i heard a white caller, he calls in talking about it's about homosexuality. this has nothing to do religion and everything to do with individual characterization. a person is responsible and has nothing to do with this. jesus plays no role in this. this is decisions made by people who don't give a damn about

human life. thank you very much. host: good morning. caller: didgood morning to you. this is a sad day for everybody all of us. in a country where everybody has a right to pwraeur gun. we cannot put security guards in front of church. we cannot do that. this is going to be the norm. we this is part of who we are. therefore we have to accept and deal with it. obama should come up and say it loud and clear. what is the strategy. he has no strategy in iraq and

how to fight domestic violence. he's our african-american leader and all this happens under his name. people are saying we hate him and we become a target. obama, i don't want him to hide. come up in the church in charleston and say one very important thing for his legacy, how could we overcome this. maybe this young man is a dropout from school, i don't know. but he did what he did. and we are all becoming victims for this senseless act. i'm sorry as a christian and i'm praying for these victims. thank you very much. >> talking about this incident potentially impacting the gun debate in this country. a little more from that research center that we showed you earlier for the percent that say

firearm laws should be made more strict. among those who say crime increased 80% said that firearms control should be more strict in 2014. it was just 45% among those who say crime decreased last year back in 1990 those who said that firearm laws should be made more strict with 71% last year it was 53%. you can see more numbers if you want to check that out. don is up next union, new jersey. you're on the "washington journal". caller: thank you for taking my call. this is a very sad and terrible incident but a gun issue and i think nothing will happen and i personally say to me it seems don't care when i say people

have extreme reactions and they say of course they care. if nothing happened after columbine and virginia tech and especially sandy hook, i don't see that any incident will make any difference as far as guns and i do agree basically this is similar to the attacker incident where you can't secure every church and every public space. just arresting everyone isn't going to do too much. i doubt hillary clinton will say anything too much about this pause she knows it's a losing battle if she starts fighting gun control. that could derail her. host: do you feel safe in union, new jersey? caller: yes, i feel complete will he safe. although my husband has a gun but i think it's more dangerous to have a gun in your home than not. host: do you think the fact that this happened in a church during

a prayer meeting is going to change the way this incident in particular is thought about in this country? caller: no. sandy hook with all those kindergartners, i just -- i don't see how -- i think i believe 0-- i agree with that previous caller that this country guns are just so big. we're not going to do away with guns and we have to accept that. especially inner city crime and suicides are so huge with guns but i guess it just doesn't touch most people. my in-laws are big gun enthusiasts, and i have other family that are hunters. and people don't seem to be able to say i can give up my sports, this one supporting thing do i

so that other people are safe. i want to update you on what's happening on capitol hill. they rejected a pros poll on wednesday according to the stars and stripes that would have pulled all troops out of iraq and syria unless congress passed a new war powers authorization. but opponents of the legislation blasted the potential pullout as a dangerous risk to the united states. the final vote tally was 139 to 288 with one member abstaining. if you want to watch the debate that occurred yesterday you can of course watch that in our archives at c-span.org. and this headline also the trade

issue today and happening on the they'll try to resurrect the trade deal this story on the front page of the washington times today. we'll be talking about some about those two legislative issues. i wab to get as many of your calls before we leave this topic on the shooting last night in south carolina. patricia has been waiting. good morning. caller: good morning. glad you took my call. i was upset about all these shootings going on. it is a hate crime with people now a ways with the guns. the religious people who call in, have they met jesus in

person that they know so much about him. i grew up for 12 years and went through catholic schools and you'll always have the hate crime but never solve the issue. it's not the guns who kill people but the people who kill people. that's all i have to say. host: knoxville, tennessee. tom, good morning. caller: good morning, sir. can you hear me? host: yes, tom. caller: thank you for c-span. and my heart goes out to the families. i am a christian. i'm a democrat as well. and i'm not against gay rights. earlier you had a caller that called in and seemed to say that this was a response. god's judgment on the land et cetera, that sort of thing about

our society's increasing acceptance of gay folks. my wife and i have a happy marriage and we're straight but we have gay members in our family. i don't see love and acceptance of gay people as being incompatible with their relationship with christ. this had nothing to do with god. this god had free will. i imagine it probably was a hate crime since the folks were mostly black. as a christian i think of these folks who were just praying trying to worship the lord. the man who called in trying to make this -- trying to scapegoat gay people sir, it just amazes me that he drew that conclusion. incidentally most black christians are conservative on social issues and tend not to be

very accepting of gays as far as gay marriage from what i read. tennessee in 1977 they took out of the constitution a thing against interracial marriage. people use to the say that interracial marriage was against god's design. you seem like a nice young man but i wish you hadn't let that man scapegoat gays because if he had said this was god's judgment against interracial marriage i think you would have cut him off. thing you for listening to my comment. host: a few more tweets this morning.

brian, good morning. caller: good morning, sir. you know the truth of the matter is in the last year the media and the politicians have done nothing but fuel racial tension in this country. every day all day long the police are discriminating against the black people. this one is discriminating against that and the blacks are having this done to him and the media and the politicians today have blood on their hands. all you're doing is building up this racial tension. if you continue to build it up and sooner or later it's going to blow and that's what you're starting to sew. this is your work that you've been doing for the last year for you to sit here and look surprised this morning that something is happened along racial lines is absolutely hypocrisy. you got to admit to yourself daily every day all you talk about is race. you on this channel and all your

listeners that's all you ever talk b you continue to throw gas on the fire and then you look shocked when bodies are laying in the street. host: we cover a lot of topics here and we'll be covering a lot of topics in our next two segments of the "washington journal". i want to give people a chance to talk about the shooting that happened last night. good morning. caller: good morning. yeah, i was calling i wanted to first off say that i do -- i give my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this shooting and i'm just really saddened by what happened. but i'm really not surprised. i'm not shocked because this country as other callers has mentioned this country has been enveloped in bigotry and hatred

and the racial tension is off the charts from all the things that is happening from ohio and baltimore and then the anti-muslim climate and the things going on in texas. overall there seems to be a climate of hatred and such bigotry. it's coming from all sides. the social media you see it there and you see it -- you tune in to news stations you and see people it's race all the time. like the previous caller said. but he just think we all need to take a step back and just remember we're all americans. remember that all the things that make this country great, and you know the people that are fuelling this racial tension religious tension or whatever, i

think that those voices, the people who are doing that need to be called out. the people fuelling the hate need to be called out. >> that's our last caller in the "washington journal". but we'll be right back with congresswoman vicki hartzler and joe courtney of connecticut a democrat we'll continue our discussion on congress's role in the military fight against isis. we'll be right back. here's some of our featured programs in weekend.

on contract. span saturday night supreme court justice on national issues like gay rights and race relations in america and the production of a new movie about her life and career and sunday night at 6:35 a profile interview with presidential candidate texas senator ted cruz. on book tv on c-span two saturday morning at 10:00 eastern we're live for the roosevelt reading festival. authors include vis topher o'sullivan and harry pop keupbz and shelia collins and her book and how books help the morale of our military in world war ii. on sunday night at 9:00 on afterwards on the need of a sexual revolution in the middle east. and this weekend on american history t.v. on c-span3. we're live from the gettysburg college annual summer conference

on the end and aftermath. beginning at 8:30 eastern with the university california los angeles history professor and at 11 with harold holtser on abraham lincoln and the press and sunday morning we continue at 8:30 with city college of new york history professor gregory downs on the consequences of the civil war war. a discussion about treason and loyalty with penn state united states professor william blair. get our complete schedule at c-span.org. "washington journal" continues. host: joining us at our table is missouri congresswoman vicki hartzler. congresswoman, you joined about 288 of your colleagues yesterday in voting down a bill that would have withdrawn u.s. forces from the conflict against isis unless

a new war powers resolution was. why? >> i think it would be unwise to arbitrarily unilaterally withdraw our troops without any contingency plan. i think it is worthy of having the discussion on whether we need to authorize a new a umf. we have troops there in harm's way and we have all kinds of barbaric actions being taken by this new enemy. it's important that we do this wisely and i think it's prudent we take on this rising evil in the world and we need to have a strategy for it. host: autsdzization use of military force, when does that need to happen? when does that debate need to take place and when does a vote need to happen? >> any time we could and should probably do. that but at this time the president is continuing to work under the 2001 amf and we have

like i said military committed in harm's way trying to address this concern. this is something that should be done very thoughtfully and not just suddenly by one vote immediately withdraw all our troops. host: would you put any time frame on it? we're coming up in an office since military action first took place the bombings against kai sys isis. does a vote need to happen within a year? >> i support doing that but i mainly need to focus on what we need to do to address this rising threat. it's been a year since mosul fell and we have seen a level that we haven't seen. the killing of christians and destruction of religious

heritage sites and taking over of huge amounts of territory. this is a very huge threat to our world right now. we need to see a strategy and kheutment from him and conviction this is something that will be addressed and we'll not let stand and we need to work with our allies to develop a winning strategy to stop it. host: as you said military action against isis going on for over ten months now. is the u.s. military ready for another long term commitment? >> we hope we don't have to. obviously it would be nice if our allies in the area step up. jordan is involved. i think saudi arabia and many others need to take on this fight because it is first and foremost a threat to their region of the world. but we also support our allies in this and we support israel and we don't support the barbaric actions of this group and we need to be strong and

have a plan. the president said he hasn't had a strategy. host: as we said that resolution voted down yesterday that would withdraw u.s. troops unless a new amuf was put forward. >> what is it going to take to get the leadership of that house to say we are going to schedule an amf and debate and vote on it? we've been involved in this latest war for over ten months. our resolution would give them another six months to come up with an amuf and if they didn't then we bring our troops home. the resolution before us i admit is a bit of a blunt instrument. but if congress lived up to its responsibilities we wouldn't need to be so blunt. congress needs a clear deadline for iraq and syria.

that deadline is the withdrawal of our troops by the end of this year. it gives this house and this republican leadership six entire months to get an aumf and this he'dership six more months in which simply to do their job. a vote for this resolution is an vote to pullout as some asserted. it's a vote to give leadership a deadline that they cannot ignore. to force them to do their duty as leaders of this house by finally bringing an aumf to the floor for a vote. host: congressman jim mcgovren his resolution voting down. >> what i would like to see is the president call for one. representative mcgovern is a democrat and president obama has

not asked for a new aumf yet. host: there are some restrictions put in place. >> well, i need to talk to the republican leadership to see what the plan is. i commend him to bringing forth a discussion but i think we need to have a strategy from the president on what he needs to do to defeat isil and we have did not see it. he does not have a strategy he admit it and that starts at the top. we need to hear from him and members from congress will feel more comfortable passing an aumf once we see the plan. host: vicki hartzler is our guest. we'll start with bruce waiting in florida on our line or

democrats. bruce good morning. caller: the first thing i would like to say is about the isis. if they want to fight isis, they need to declare war. and on the trade deal, the republicans have the minority in the house. they do not need one democrat to vote for this trade deal. they want the democrats to pass it because they know the american people will turn against the democrats. this is a political trap for democrats. so for all the democrats in the house, do not vote for this trade deal. it is a political trap. thank you. host: congresswoman? >> we have voted for the trade promotion authority in the house and passed that back to the senate. but there's parts of the bill the t. a. a. that has not passed

yet so there will be some changes and i think we'll vote very soon on just a clean trade promotion authority bill and the senate will vote on a version of the trade adjustment assistance bill and we'll see if we can get this across the finish line. i think trade is good for americans. we hope to increase jobs and high paying jobs here and make sure that america is on a level playing field because right now we are competing with people from all over the world and we need to make sure we lay it down stkpropbg fair rules for trade in this region of the world which is huge part of the economy. and has a lot of potential for growth. so we'll get this worked out, but i think overall it's going to be very positive for our country and for all americans. host: don, good morning.

you're on with congresswoman hartzler. caller: good morning ms. hartzler. i have a few questions to ask you here. first of all, isis al-qaida, khorasan muslims. however, they are not islamic terrorists. get that straight. the only person labeling them as terrorists are rush limbaugh and all republicans. they are the only ones. they are not following the law of islam. they are killers, they are rate this. if you rape, -- [indiscernible] if you are kidnapped they punish you tremendously. they have their own agenda. they are bandits rapists, that

is all they are. guest: they are bad people, i would concur with that. that is why we need to stop them. host: and if you want to talk about the importance of the language used to talk -- describe these groups. guest: well, i think they are islamic extremists, but we could have difference of opinions. but the main thing is we need to stop them, no matter what the motivation is. i think we could all concur their actions are unacceptable in a civil world. we cannot allow this to spread. and, unfortunately, it is. we have to have a plan to address it and that is why i am hoping the commander in chief will come forth and deal with it so that we can meet this head on and stop the threat across the world. host: you talk about military preparedness. can you talk about how you would address that in the budget debate? you are a member of the finance committee, as well. guest: no, i am a member of the

armed services committee, budget, and agriculture committees. we have been cutting our defense disproportionately. it makes up only 18% of the budget, yet it has incurred 50% of the cost. we are now at a state where our readiness is below what we need to keep our nation safe. and so that is why we work to get more money put in the defense budget this year, just to get it to the level where the chairman of joint chiefs of staff martin dempsey said it is the lower ragged edge of readiness. and it is imperative that we get this bill passed. this week, the senate is debating the national defense authorization act. and then they are going to take up the defense appropriation act. and i call on them to not filibuster this or use our military as a political pawn, but to pass this bill to make

sure that our men and women in uniform have what they need and to make sure that we will be able to address the threats in the world, whether it is from isis or china or russia or north korea or iran. so it is imperative that we find our national -- fund our national defense. host: you are chair of the oversight investigation subcommittee at the armed services committee, the committee charged with accountability at the dod. other places within the pentagon budget where you see waste and abuse, where programs could be ended and money used for what you are talking about? guest: specifically, our committee so far has been looking into the investigation of the five caliban terrace for sergeant bergdahl -- five caliban terrace -- five caliban -- five taliban terrorists for

sergeant bergdahl. we have a section of that bill that has acquisition reform and also we call for a reduction in some of the personal at the top of the pentagon. so we are taking steps to try and push the department of defense to spend money that they do have more wisely, more effectively, and at the same time we are advocating for more money overall for a defensive that we can just have the bare minimums that we need to have the readiness to give our country safe. host: valley grove, west virginia is next. jim is on our line for independents. caller: i was just wondering how do you feel about an amendment being put in -- or the requirement for people to be in any kind of public office that they have to serve honorably in the military in some shape or

form to be able to take office? because with these nonmilitary people that are in there, they keep putting deadlines when we got a pull -- gotta pull troops out. that just shows weakness on behalf of the united states and the military personnel and it is kind of discouraging. being of that myself, i don't appreciate this. i just lost another program that said they gave us six months to collect troops out. -- two pull our troops out. guest: first of all, thank you for your service jim. thank you to all the vets watching today. i think it is all important that we serve our country in different ways. i'm not sure about putting in the oath that they have to serve military service because there are lots of people who serve in other ways that make good elected officials.

but my colleagues here who have served, i have the utmost respect for them and they bring a very, very wide perspective to our discussion. i think you are right, it is not wise to convey to our enemies are plans and that we are going to with draw troops at a certain date. that has happened and i would agree with your comments that it hasn't turned out well. points well taken. host: colorado springs, colorado. julie is on a line for republicans. caller: hi, how are you this morning? guest: i'm good. caller: listen, i wanted to ask the congress lady -- i want to ask her one thing, why is it that you guys keep sending our jobs overseas? guest: well, we certainly aren't sending jobs overseas purposely but i would agree with you, julie, that some of the things that have been passed in the last two years have incentivized our companies to move overseas. and that is why i and many of my

colleagues ran for office and why we are here fighting to reverse those trends. we have the highest corporate tax rate in the world, so that is, first of all, a disincentive. we have this new health-care law, which is increasing costs tremendously for our health care, our businesses. we have high regulations here that i discouraging businesses to do business here. -- that are discouraging businesses to do business is here. we need to check a lot of our laws. that is certainly what i am fighting for. it is something we want to see keep our jobs here. and that is one reason we are voting on this trade bill and why i supported because we want to increase our exports around the world, increase the amount of trade and jobs that are created due to that. host: we have had a lot of callers in recent weeks as the

straight discussion has happened, fearful that the transpacific partnership, when it is eventually settled on, if it is, will send a lot of u.s. jobs overseas. what is your reading of the bill? guest: well, we will have to see exactly when that trade deal is finalized what it says, what it entails, and we will make a judgment at that point. but from everything that i have heard so far, i think it will be positive for us because i believe american workers can compete with anybody around the world, but they need a level playing field. what we are going to do is try to break down those barriers so we can sell our goods in other countries without that trade barrier. and that will increase the amount of goods and services sold from our country, the amount of jobs, and i think it will be good overall. host: georgia is up next. carol is on a line for democrats. caller: good morning. good morning, john. good morning, representative.

guest: hi, carol. caller: john, the caller that called in and said that when you are all on the air, you don't hold a person accountable because the representative -- a lot of times she didn't answer the question. really, she went over, you know, she talked over what you asked her and you didn't hold her accountable when you ask her why they haven't authorized -- haven't signed the law to authorize the war to take place. they haven't even voted on it and she knows it. host: carol, this is your time. what is your question? caller: the question is is that everything that the president sense to this house, you all drag your legs, but you blame everything on him. even though -- the economy. when everybody can see that it is doing ok, the caller said that when you let people speak

hate and everything the representative has said has been downplaying president obama. everything. it is showing in your face. i'm telling you. all the hate. and that is why it is like it is today because when the announcer, john, don't hold your accountable, what you are really doing in-house and what you say you are doing. host: i will give you a chance to respond. guest: there is a disagreement on policies and how we should move ford, but certainly i think we all have here the same goal, and that is to help grow the american economy. and we just disagree about the way to do it. host: pennsylvania is up next on online for republicans, bill is waiting. caller: good morning, john. good morning, representative. guest: hi. caller: i have been a republican my whole life, and the reason i'm calling in this morning is

you are on the armed services committee. i know we have no audit capabilities for our whole military. they never do any type of audit to see where our money is going. you know, my question is, why don't we do that? and my follow-up is, since we spend so much money on the military compared to every other country, what are you so afraid of? you have to be ready. you have to be ready this. -- readiness. guest: well bill, first of all we are working very hard to make sure our nation is -- is safe. and you raise a good point about the audit. it is something we have been very concerned about as republicans and democrats pushing the pentagon to get that to a place where it is auditable. the marine corps budget is able

to be audited at this time, and the goal is by next year, the rest of the dod will be. we have been pushing them very hard on this and they say they will be ready by next year. but that is a very valid concern and we are working on that. as far as -- host: what are they hang ups that keep an audit from happening today? guest: i am not sure of all the details, but you have to realize the size and scope of the budget. there is just a lot of -- of paperwork and details, i guess. i'm not sure. but it needs to be fixed. but his other point about the threats in the world, you know, i sit in on briefings that i cannot go into details on, but i can tell you -- as henry kissinger said a few months ago -- that we are now facing, in this country, more threats than we ever have since world war ii. we have seen a rise in china

their technology improvements are tremendous. that is -- we have cyber concerns from many can choose -- many countries, as we have seen recently, the hacking into and the stealing of not only our intellectual secret from various countries, but even into the federal government. we have russia and putin who are moving forward it to ukraine , unchallenged. more or less. who knows what his aspirations are. we have north korea, who has nuclear capability. we have iran marching towards nuclear capability and who have said they want to threaten both israel and america. and then, of course, we have the various terrorists groups. lone wolves, you name it, we

have many many threats facing us now in this country. and that is why we have to keep our military at a level where they can respond to threats and they can meet them and beats them if called on. -- beat them if called on. i think it is the most important thing that we are supposed to do here, provide for the common defense. host: a few minutes left with congresswoman vicki hartzler in her third term in congress representing the fourth district of missouri. on the armed services committee, agriculture committee, and budget committee. david is in florida. the line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. yes, congresswoman -- guest: hi, david. caller: why do you republicans think that you can use our military as cannon fodder? you send them to war, no one has

been ever held accountable. 4500 men were murdered in iraq, and nobody is held accountable. you deliberately wrote this so that 90% of us would have to drive -- who have to drive more than 40 miles to have to drive because when you crossed it out of the bill, it was $50 billion if we all applied for it. you said no. we were only worth $5 billion. you waste $24 billion on a shutdown and we are not even with that much. shame on you, madam. and shame and all you republicans on the senate and in the house. you all knew what you are doing and you wrote the bill deliberately to exclude us from being able to get local care. host: congresswoman. guest: that is very concerning and i'm sorry that you feel that

way because everyone here, republicans and democrats, is trying as hard as we can to make sure the veterans have the services and the care that they need and that you deserve. we passed the bill closer to home, and i'm sorry if it is not working for you. if we need to go back and fix it, then we will address that. but it's very important that our veterans get the care that they need, and i have a veterans hospital in my district. i go there regularly to make sure that -- that the patients, the veterans, can get in and get an appointment when they need it and that they are getting the highest level care. and the veterans that i talked to at home overall are very pleased with the service that they are receiving. but that is a high-priority and we will continue to make sure it is a priority. host: cincinnati, ohio. walter is on our line for independents. caller: yes, representative i have just about three questions

i would like to address with you. you have the authorization to pass a deal for the president on the war situation. and you -- i remember that the department -- and you guys keep insisting that the president hasn't passed a bill down to authorize permission to, you know, a plan. he doesn't have to do that. we know that for a fact. you've got control of the house and the senate. my second thing is -- how do you feel about the minimum wage? do you authorize an increase on minimum wage? and my third one, you know the health care bill is working. you can see the results, you can see the statistics on how it is brought down the cost of health insurance. and you just sit there and insist on saying that that is the burden to the deals around the congress.

this stuff is not true. be honest about your representations and congress and speak straight. host: congresswoman, a lot of questions there. guest: sure. well, health care is increasing. and certainly, the people in my district tell me so almost every, come home. i hear stories from them how their premiums have increased so they cannot even afford it. many have had their deductibles raised to $6,000 or more. i had a friend from high school tell me the other day, what are we going to do? we don't have $6,000 for a to dr. both. so there is some problems there. there may be some positive things, but for most people i talk to, it has made it unaffordable and that is why we need to go back and repeal and replace it. to make sure that americans have access to affordable health

care. i think people need to have opportunities in this country to get as much as he as they can, based on their experience, their education and performance. and the minimum wage jobs are wonderful entry level opportunity -- my concern is if we raise that arbitrarily as a government and force and mandate businesses to pay a certain wage, it is going to hurt the people that it was intended help. it is going to hurt and prevent jobs for those beginning workers. i have many parents and teenagers at home say their teenagers cannot find a job anymore. they are going away because of this. we want to make sure that people get as high a wages possible, and on the aumf, i think it is

something that we should bring up and talk about. so we will continue that discussion as we move forward. host: a topic we have not touched on yet, some callers have brought this up recently. mandatory country of origin's label. you support efforts to pull back that mandatory labeling. can you explain why jack of -- why? guest: because it is not helping. i think it is a good idea. i shop for my family at the grocery store and the idea was to put on the label where the meat came from, where was raised. to promote american grown livestock and meat. the problem is a lot of consumers don't use it. it hasn't been helpful to them. and now, it is -- has been rolled to create an artificial trade barrier such that our number one and never to trading partners, canada and mexico, can retaliate against us now. if they do that, that is going to end up being billions of

dollars of costs to american consumers. it will hurt our exports. so there is no reason to continue this program that really isn't providing any benefits. host: let's try to get in zach who has been waiting in philadelphia, pennsylvania. caller: good morning, john. i good morning, representative hartzler. man, i'm a veteran -- ma'am, i am a veteran. i thought in iraq. i may major in the rangers. don't think the -- thank me for my service because i don't want to hear those kind of platitudes. i want to hear specifically from you why is it that we should send more troops into iraq or even send advisers when the sunnis and the she has can't get their act together to join in a civil war against isis and so

on? i want specifics from you, not platitudes because you gave will the -- bill the veteran from florida, platitudes. we deserve the $50 billion. veterans are not have to travel 40 miles. normal people don't travel 40 miles. and you and your colleagues cut us off at the knees well you think is for your service -- our service. first, let me know why specifically americans should go back to iraq when the iraqis cannot get their acts together. host: just a minute or two left. guest: first of all, i didn't say we should send more people to iraq. i think we need a plan on how to deal with it, and whether that is to bring in our allies, i don't know. but i would like to see that plan. it is a very serious situation and you are right. we need to have a commitment

from the iraqi government themselves. there is a problem between the sunnis and the shiaa -- shias. and when we pulled out of iraq, the government did not fill its responsibility. that has led to part of the problem we have here today. you are right, first and foremost, the people of iraq need to have a plan. they need to come together and they need to oppose this evil rise of isis. but also, we, as a freedom loving country that has very important interests there and who had in -- an american beheaded there it also have a plan on how we are going to address this. that is what we really haven't seen yet. the president says he hasn't seen a strategy or doesn't have a strategy, and i think we need to come up with that. host: congresswoman vicki hartzler, republican of missouri, appreciate your time.

guest: thank you, john. host: up next, will be joined by congressman joe courtney of connecticut, a democrat. he continues our discussion on the congress's role. we will be right back. >> this weekend the c-span cities tour is set to learn about the history and literary life of key west, florida. >> -- they found this house for sale and polly actually converted this hayloft into his first formal writing studio. here, he fell in love with fishing, he fell in love with the clarity of his writing.

in fact, henoch that the first rough draft of "a farewell to arms" within two weeks of arriving to key west. >> for a true writer, each book should be a new beginning for something that is beyond. he should always tougher something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. >> key west is also where president harry truman sought refuge from washington. >> president truman regarded the big white house as the great white jail. he thought he was constantly under everyone's i, so by coming -- eye, so by coming to qs, he could come with his closest that, let down his hair. -- to key west, he could, down with his closest staff, let down his hair. and they could have a glass of bourbon and visit back and forth

without any scrutiny from the press. a sportswear company sent a case of hawaiian shirts to the president with the thought that if the president is wearing our should, we will sell a lot of shirts -- shirts, we will sell a lot of shirts. the president organize what is called the loud shirt contest and that was the official uniform of key west. >> watch all of our events from key west saturday at 5:00 p.m. eastern and sunday afternoon at 2:00 on "american history tv" on c-span3. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are joined now by congressman joe courtney, democrat of connecticut. he is joining us amid a busy seven days on the issue of trade on capitol hill. there is another vote today on tpa legislation.

how do you plan on voting? guest: i will stay where i was a week ago, i am going to vote to know on this. i do so as somebody -- and my office has actually organized trade missions over the last eight and a half years. i think exports are a really healthy way to grow our economy. but these trade -- first of all the trade authority is a six year grant of authority to this president and his successor, whoever that is, to basically allow a process in congress where up or down votes are only permitted, no amendments. and that is just too much, in my opinion, of a concession of constitutional authority, given the high stakes that trade deals encompass. you know, you have heard it, i'm sure, for weeks now about the fallout from past trade deals. the country of origin labeling

in my opinion, got undercut because of nafta. and that is why congress has to be very, very careful when they allow that kind of power to be shifted to the executive branch. host: why is the president and house democrats so far apart on this? you are one of the 144 republicans -- democrats who voted no. guest: democrats. i understand. so, my experience of being overseas with connecticut companies is that the issue of currency manipulation, which is not just from labor, but also the ceo of ford motor company articulated it the other day that if you do not have real enforceable rules on countries that intentionally intervene in currency markets as a way of greeting a competitive advantage, then frankly it is kind of a full zaret to think that you are getting -- fool's

arrant to think you are getting -- errand to think you are getting any sort of business overseas. again, there are some side language in a couple of the other statutes that are sort of swirling around here right now in terms of votes, but it is not included in the trade provisions itself, as we saw with country of origin labeling. these federal laws can be struck down by international tribunals. to me, it is almost malpractice not to address this issue, which despite all the efforts to create labor standards environmental standards, food safety standards, if you don't have a protection to our economy in terms of other countries that engage in these practices then you really are not helping both businesses and workers of their to have a fair treat -- free-trade environment.

host: your colleagues -- how did this play out -- does this play out in the next couple of days and weeks? is there a mechanism now that this vote has been split and come back to the house that folks like yourself will use to try and slow this down? guest: last night, we learned that the rules committee is sending over a new effort. it appears there is going to be a vote on just a fast-track authority attests to another senate bill. that by itself doesn't send the bill to the president for a signature, it sends it back to the senate. clearly, a lot of the senate democrats who voted for the fast-track bill earlier made it crystal clear that they won't do it unless the job retreading component is included or part of a package. host: the so-called taa -- guest: -- which is a wonderful program. but it is just very and clear how they are going to make that

happen. at this point, we are in sort of the parliamentary chess game in terms of the various pieces. the votes last week showed that there probably are enough votes in the house for today's effort to go forward with more than 218, again, the next shoe to drop is just really what the senate does after it is sent back after a part of the package the senate democrats said they would support. host: if you want to join the conversation this morning, the phone lines are open. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 745-8002 for independents. we will start with karen on online for republicans calling in from new york. caller: good morning. i have basically statements to make. although i am a republican, i don't vote party.

i do vote issues. and i am dead set against this trade propaganda that we are hearing. too much of it concerns corporations, and i believe -- and i want to thank you, sir for voting against the trade bill. there is nothing in this bill that helps the american people. it is all about people, sir. and i thank you again because my party doesn't seems to understand that. they think to be cornering themselves with corporations. and the idea that it hurts that any -- not voting for the trade bill will hurt our standing with mexico. and they be angry at us because we want a country of origin on a labeling, that is imperative. i know when i shop, i shot the country of origin. i trust and i want to continue to trust what i purchase on the shelves. i want to continue to know that my country is -- is looking out

for the betterment of me, my family, and fellow citizens. i don't care what other countries think about whether it is going to hurt us. it is hurting the people. then the country doesn't seem to understand that. our politicians don't you understand that the people want -- seem to understand that the people want free trade, but we don't want to taken up -- take in their garbage and send out are good stuff. now, we take one caret and sell it to our dogs because petco will not sell anything from china. our country doesn't seem to care about the people. guest: so, -- again, it was incorporated into the law at that time. it was for the purpose of allowing consumers to be able to

understand and know where their beef fish, you name it was coming from. and to me, that is about as bare minimum a level of transparency for consumers who are buying food to allow for. and the fact that that law which is part of the farm bill a federal statute, was struck down by a world trade court to me actually kind of highlights what is at stake here with these trade agreements, which is that there is a huge concession of power to tribunals that frankly exist outside of our constitutional judicial structure. when you allow provisions in a trade agreement that basically trumps federal statutes and laws , which again, i agree with the caller, you know, allowing people to understand people where their food comes from i think, by the way, also helps local agriculture in the u.s. obviously, there is a huge movement of buy local.

farmers markets are exploding all over the place. and that shows that the consumer really is looking for other choices than food that is grown in large industrial sort of systems with questionable protections, in terms of food safety. so, it is one of the many concerns that i think members of congress should take into account when they, again vote to concede this level of authority to not just this president, but the next president. host: congressman joe courtney is in his fifth term. he is on the armed services committee, where he is the ranking many -- member on the subcommittee. he also serves on the education and workforce committee. our guest until the house comes in at 9:00 to -- -- not :00. -- 9:00. john, good morning. caller: good morning.

i have a question and a comment. right quick when was the last time you bought something in america? guest: i -- i bought a ford taurus, which is an outstanding car. and, you know, built by united auto worker's right here in the u.s. and that is a pretty big purchase. caller: -- [indiscernible] as far as the wars and the troops and all that, you should pass a law that says, if we are going to commit our troops to any war anywhere, everything that troops use have to be 100% made in america. guest: yes, that is a great

question. there is actually a law on the books named after marion barry a congressman from arkansas, which basically requires that all the uniforms of our men and women in service have to be made in america. there is a small plant in my district that makes all the buttons for the navy, army, it is a wonderful place. and i have a navy base in my district, a submarine base. there is an example of at least where one component of our military equipment is us-made. we also have electric boat in my district, which is an amazing shipyard. the american content in those vessels -- and right now we are putting the finishes -- finishing touches on the uss illinois. the colorado is on deck. about 98% u.s. content and it is because of the incredible sensitivity of a nuclear power says it -- summary is that you

want -- submarine is that you want to make sure that everything comes from u.s. vendors. there are other aspects of the military, in terms of aerospace. there frankly is more foreign supply chain parts that are there. there is language in the law that requires a preference in contracting by the department of defense to favor u.s. suppliers but again, there are times when they wave that if there really is a critical -- waive that if there really is a critical shortage of piping, widgets whatever. i think the caller is on target in terms of our ability as a country to go to war or to defend our nation, you really want to make sure that the -- that we are not relying on other parts of the world that may be unable to supply because of problems overseas or because they are on the other side of the conflict. but again, i think our examples

in the law that really do kind of try and achieve the goal that the caller mentioned. host: backup to new york, kent is waiting. good morning. caller: hi, good morning. the ford taurus, by the way made and assembled here, but the parts come from all over the world. my question has to do with the trade agreement should be considered -- i want to know, why is this not considered a corporate deal when fasttrack circumvents our legislative process and the investor dispute settlement, which has been referred to here regarding country of origin labeling under nafta and also the labeling that had -- was forced because of our laws?

with this legislation, one third of our government circumvents it, and another third has nullified these corporations above our laws. can we not, as american citizens, sue our legislature for treason for literally nullifying our judiciary? guest: again john, a viewer -- as we said on the earlier segment, i voted against this for some of the reasons you cited. again, i think the country of origin labeling sort of episode that took place a few weeks ago really does highlight, as i said earlier, the stakes that are at play here with these agreements because they do sort of concede authority to these tribunals that can strike down well-established laws, my

country of origin labeling. you know, what i would just say is that people are upset, and certainly i have heard from them. that is what elections are about. elections matter. if you have a member of congress or a senator who is voting in a way that you are not happy with, john then let them know and we have an election right around the corner in 2016. and these issues can be sort of held account. for me, as well, by the way. host: you mentioned the vote happening today. we want to talk about the book that happened yesterday, the house rejecting a bill that would have withdrawn u.s. troops from iraq and syria unless congress authorized a new war powers resolution within the next month. you voted no why? guest: first of all, if you read the language, it doesn't have the unless part that you said. basically, this measure yesterday called for withdrawal of troops within 30 days.

there was not unless congress acts otherwise. and that is really what i struggled with. when looking at this book. i do agree we need an authorization use of force. i do think the president has shown his bona fide on this by sending language over that sets out a scope of authority for our military drop rate in iraq and afghanistan, but the vote yesterday was not an authorization, it was to be based on the war powers act which basically says that we have two completely, unilaterally withdraw our ground troops. not a air force, by the way. again, i have the highest respect for the proponents of that measure and a understand what they were trying to do. my problem is that i have no confidence in this congress, in terms of its ability to take up this measure even with the threat of a unilateral withdrawal. host: so you think their vehicle that kind is when mcgovern used

yesterday was the wrong vehicle to try and force a will -- new vote echo guest: i do. when he introduced that come it was in committee and the leadership of the house, the republican leadership of the house, kind of pull that ford and demanded a vote. there is no regular process in terms of trying to tweak or massage the language. so it was just an up or down withdrawal vote, basically. it was not what i think we need come in terms of a serious debate. we absolutely need it. having our operations being conducted under the authority of the 2001 authorization, which was really what the administration is citing as the authority for operations over there right now is completely an acceptable. the members of congress reported back in 2001 isil didn't exist back then.

we need to have that true, real debate starting at the committee on foreign relations, which is where authorization votes take place, and allowing that normal process to pick -- take place for a real authorization. host: virginia is up next. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. with the 1.2 billion muslims in the world, i think isis makes less than 0.1% of the muslims in the world. i hear people, especially republicans, using the word islamists extremism. i really don't know what it is, and if you can congressman, if you can, please, tell me the literal meaning of islamic extremism. and i think it is wrong to use

words like that. it is classifying all the muslims as sympathizers of isis, which i think is not true. guest: i think it is -- and i -- you have to ask the people who use those terms what they mean by that. what i would say is that yesterday we had secretary carter, department of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs, martin dempsey, testify before committee to set of talk about what is going on over in that part of the world. there is definitely a real question about the, you know, way that -- ways that isil is messaging, in terms of trying to create, in my opinion, a false narrative about the heroism or value of what they are doing. and i think this is an issue

certainly that our country is charges with a figure out a strategy to counter, but frankly, i think also the nations in that part of the world have to come up with strategies in terms of how particularly with young people, to make them, you know, to get across the message that, as the caller just said, isil -- you cannot equate isil with islam. there really is a huge total distinction between the two. and what isil represents is really a dead-end path to either a failed state or just, you know, decades of more conflict. you know, in my opinion, misery and that part of the world. host: not freedom, new jersey is next. virginia is waiting on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. host: virginia, turned on your tv and just go ahead with your comments. caller: yes, good morning.

yes, good morning. i wanted to speak on -- of you speaking about the call for america. i wanted to know why did they wait so long to want to start buying american? you know, buying everything from america now. host: -- virginia? caller: excuse me? host: who is they? caller: he was speaking about it, you know, when the person asked him. why is everybody so concerned about buying from america now? guest: well, first of all, i bought a ford taurus because my ford 500, my last car, had about 190,000 miles. and i love to that car, i have to tell you. i shouldn't be here talking ford

motor company right now, but the fact is, i just have no real difficulties -- had no real difficulties. it was time. i had that for six or seven years. i have had chevys in the past. you know, the american auto industry, i think, is one of the bright spots right now, in terms of economic -- the economic picture out there for the u.s. i hope i can at least give you my bona fide that i really have looked at made in america. host: louisiana gene is waiting on a line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. am i speaking to the congressman? guest: yes you are sir. caller: during the vietnam war, there was a draft going on. ok. i was drafted also. and a soldier a while back asked

the congressman if the draft starts up again, will your kids have to go to war, will they be drafted? the congressman said, no. so, why are your kids exempt from the draft and an average guy like me is forced to go to war for the united states? they sent me a letter and my house that i was going to a physical for the draft. if i didn't show up, they were going to come and get me in handcuffs. and bring me to take my physical. so why is it, congressmen and senators and politicians are exempt from the draft and guys like us have to go? guest: first of all, i don't know who that person was that responded to you. the second service system, which runs the draft, still is in place. and every person, you know, who

hits that age has to at least register with it. and there is no exemption for my kids or anybody else's kids. if you remember, the last version of the draft at the end of the vietnam war, they actually eliminated the exemptions for young people going to college. they used to be a color's deferment at the earlier stages of the vietnam war, and there was such a human cry that that can a credit almost a de facto inequality because kids who came from homes that could afford to send their kids to college avoided at least at age 18 entry into the military. they eliminated that and replaced it with a lottery which, again, was basically a you know, a lottery where they pulled out your date of birth for 365 days starting at day one all the way to 365, and there were no exemptions. so if we ever go back to a situation where a draft is

reinstated, i mean, my belief is that it would be that same kind of across-the-board by lottery provision which, again, does not distinguish between any member of congress and their kids. i don't know who answered it that way, but both in terms of the history of the draft and also the present system that is in place, there is no congressional exemption for children. host: can you imagine a situation in which the all volunteer army wouldn't be enough? guest: this question comes up pretty frequently, and what i would tell you is that the leadership of the military is actually pretty adamant that they really are not looking to go back to a draft system. they really think that the all volunteer sues -- service has graded a level of professionalism, high training and capability. -- created a level of professionalism, high

training, and capability. if we were in some all-out conflict where large numbers of ground forces or, you know, other branches was required, obviously that is why i think the selective service still exist. it is there as an option and it will a case of, you know, just some conflict that involves that kind of a need. but right now, i don't think you can find anyone in the leadership of the military -- maybe a couple here or there -- but by and large, the vast consensus is that they think the system actually produces an incredible level of capability and quality of people wearing the uniform. host: a few minutes left before the house comes in today. we expect a high-profile vote on trade legislation again today in the house. try to get as many calls as we can with congressman joe courtney before the house comes in. chris is in illinois, the line for democrats. caller: good morning. my cressman -- question is, with

the kinds been be willing to trade for fast-track the highway spending bill like nancy pelosi has stated? guest: yeah, that sort of was just, i guess, a question-and-answer from a reporter. the obviously are pretty far apart and desperate. we really need an infrastructure bill in this country. it is embarrassing just how, you know, deficient roads, bridges that horrendous accident in philadelphia which was completely avoidable if we had the equipment installed and amtrak's account has been starved for years and that never should've happened. as i said, the trade deals though, they have such profound long-term consequences, it is almost like an authorization to go to war in the sense that it creates an open-ended, you know, as i said, concession of power. it really has to be canceled

with care and i, frankly, feel that the questions we discussed earlier in the show, whether it is currency, food safety, obviously labor and environmental standards, those really, for me personally, need to be addressed before i'm prepared to embrace a fast-track bill. host: let's go to state college, pennsylvania. good morning. host: are you with us? i don't think we have her. speaking of state college, the home of penn state. i want to give you a chance to talk about some of your efforts on student loan debt. the class of 2015 expected to have graduated with about $70 billion in combined student loan debt. the total debt approaching $1.2 trillion. you think i way to help this situation is to refinance it. guest: obviously, in my opinion

this is the issue that touches on most every family in the country. as you have correctly pointed out, there is this huge overhang of debt that is larger than credit cards and almost even home mortgages that pew research center did a study, it is inhibiting people from starting families, businesses. it is really an incredible out of trust around the u.s. economy. one rather simple way to address it, and senator elizabeth warren has introduced a companion bill with my bow, which is now in the house -- my bill, which is now in the house. basically to take it -- advantage of the low interest rate we are in now. the stafford student loan program, which is sort of the workforce of student borrowing in this country, about 15 million students a year use the stafford loan program, a lot of folks are still carrying height stafford loans out there.

anywhere from 6% to 8%, 9%. our bill would allow people holding that public debt to write down the interest rates to roughly about 3%. in addition, it also allows people with private student loan debt, which again is also at that much higher range, two writes down to about 3% interest. so that doesn't solve the problem, but it does what i think everybody who owns a house have been doing over the last few years or so in this low interest rate environment, which is going out in refinancing your home. the incredible thing -- and people don't believe me when i say this -- you can't by law right down your interest on a stafford student loan. as a result, the government is borrowing at roughly 2.5% when they sell 10 year treasuries. but they are turning around and lending or collecting loans from the past at a much higher rate. so this is not a train on the

taxpayers, in terms of what senator warren and i are proposing because the government makes money off the stafford student loan program. we have to do a lot more than that, but this one should be really a layup shot. host: let's see if we can get in georgia. john is waiting. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks, c-span. congressman, you -- you just said something that hit on exactly what i was going to talk about. they came out with a report that they were over $18 trillion or more in debt. when obama came to office, we were at 10. we now spend $3.3 billion a day on the debt, and we keep foreign money from china and other countries around the world. at some point in time, they said it 10 years whether the

american public has any idea, and those who do are very concerned, but the rest of the country either doesn't know or don't care. and my question is to the democrats and two the obama and the republicans, you all had do something about this bill. -- debt. it is going to drive this country where we are going to be , like, a third world country. and we have to get out of this mentality that we are not a welfare state anymore. we cannot continue to allow people to come across the border and then pay for their insurance. the government is going to bail out -- we bail out everybody in the country. my question is to you, congressman, and your democrat colleagues, you all need to get on board with this thing and drive down debt. obama has you on board because

he has incurred $7.8 billion and we can't continue on like this. thanks. guest: well, i mean, it is a huge challenge and question. i think it is important to remember what the trajectory is right now. there is no question that in 2009 when the president was sworn in and the u.s. economy was in a complete freefall -- that the finances of our government was also in a freefall. and, you know, that created a high borrowing situation. if you look at the reports which i think are important for every american to read and i tip my hat to you that you are following it, the ratio of deficits to the country's gdp was about 10% to less than 3%. so the trajectory is exley quite

good, but moving out into the future, we have challenges. we have an aging population, which is going to require more investment in things like medicare and social security. i am not for butchering those entitlements, but the question is still -- we have to balance a lot of these priorities and that is really the question of the day. by the way, our tax host: we have to end there. the house is coming in. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] r, we give you thanks for giving us another day. bless the members of the people's house as they gather at the end of another week in the capital. endow each with the graces needed to attend to the issues of the day with wisdom, that the results of their efforts might benefit the citizens of our nation and the world. we also ask your blessing leading into this weekend upon