to impeach the commissioner and also the topic you can talk morning. ryan in houston, texas, up ocrat, we will put you first, .ryan, go ahead caller: good morning. states, something is wrong with them. people voting for trump, something is wrong with them. good morning. you can talk about public politics as well.

caller: good morning. i wanted to talk about getting in on the parties. not.utely what i've read and what i've going to be suffering in the united states on our national security of what or gave way as far as snowden, so he's got to stay where he's at. they did a comparison to clinton, yeah, clinton screwed up, but i don't think there's a comparison there. he did was a lot worse. you esser of two evils, if say, he is the better of two evils. let me read from the washington post about this story. activist, e is an should get aying he a pardon. moscow by aking from video leak to a news conference said he would return to the u.s.

would receive a fair trial does said the espionage not have a whistle blower defense. tevla, good morning. go ahead. caller: good morning. my question is about mrs. health.'s i'm not a doctor but i've been ollowing mrs. clinton for the seen her bodyi've change from time to time and i am talking to my friends, and mrs. clinton s -- is she y physically,

capable of doing things under stress? the big question for me. her,e who want to vote for they should do that. woman should be in good condition to do the demanding job. issue, whether we like it or not should be a big factor election neral coming and what clinton's people did in the last couple of weeks is not helping. today, she might be coming out o compain again, well, i'm afraid. she -- there's doubt. i don't know what is behind that. maybe we know it or maybe we don't know it, but i should feel we need a president when has physical strength. this job demands stress. happened to obama.

host: let me ask you, do you have that same standard for trump. caller: yes, exactly the same. he looks muchg is younger than he is. acts es on the stage and like a person 10 years younger than he is. say that donald trump has much stronger stamina than clinton. layman can without seeing and most people this physical moment. host: but how do you know that? this morning,note he has not released as much as t his medical history clinton. so how do you know that without and g his medical records how he's functioning? i don'tlet me tell you, know what kind of drug he or she akes but for a person like me,

you see a person physically, this guy looks strong or she looks strong. do them -- usually we look physically at people. not going to be driven by medical record, how or cholesterol she has whatever unless they are taking a dangerous drug which drives craziness, but physically wise, without being a tell you layman, i can this man looks much younger, 10 years younger than herself, for reason. i don't know. let me ask you one question. evenyou seen both of them, during a few months of biking a bike for a few months. see that. so they are not physically strong. this job requires not mental strength. be fit ly, you have to with this. you have to accomplish something. working for president, not vice president anyway.

host: okay. that hillary clinton is getting back out on the campaign trail. he is today and she will be heading to north carolina, a battleground state. we will have coverage at 2:00 greensboro n time on 3.c-span if you're not near the screen, you can get to the c-span radio app and listen to what she has to say after taking five days' the campaign trail. about her rticles medical records. usa today has it on their front page. clinton has mild bacterial infection. of hereceiving a ct scan chest friday, clinton was iagnosed with a small right middle lobe pneumonia. clinton is being treated with levoquinn for 10 days. inside another newspaper, the say that post, they other doctors noted that while

levoquin, which is what she's being treated with, this an appropriate treatment for pneumonia, one of headaches fects is and dizziness. rosen, an internist at the leveland clinic noted that clinton who turned 69 in october ould be the second oldest president who entered the presidency, donald trump would be the oldest at 70. any known medical problems. larry is on the phone, good morning, go ahead. caller: good morning. economy isg that the doing a lot better under the resident and the republicans won't give no credit. it doesn't matter what the facts are. their own facts and their own trueing truth when it

comes to the president. he saved the automobile industry in the country. f the republicans would have had their way, we wouldn't have no automobile industry, and it's real well setting all kinds of records. it's amazing how it's president won't give no credit no matter what. a nice day, ma'am. host: you may be interested in johnson, the ibertarian candidate had to say. he talked about the auto at the when he was detroit economic club. here's a little bit of what he say.to >> free trade. it's about letting the market rule. not have bailed out the auto industry or wall street. myron is my economics advisor. staff at chappen university.

would have at staff believed there would have been a atastrophic economic failure where we would not have bailed out wall street. choices and was rewarded by making those awful bankrupt. going we do have a mechanism for restructuring. then't think that michigan, auto industry would have died at ll, but i think the government interjecting itself in business does in fact pick winners and losers. gary johnson in detroit yesterday. c-span.org.ch it on white our road to the house coverage. on every ballot for the first in 20 years, mr. johnson said he will be on the ballot in states, marking the first time in two decades that a third has appeared on

appeared on a presidential ballot. perot were on every ballot. out a full-page ad in the new york times that the presidential debates to allow him access to the stage. vote andneed 15 of the five polls to qualify. he is more than five points shy of meet ing that a recent according to calculation by politco. felicity ohio, a republican, hi, scott. good morning. air.re on the we're in open phones. aller: oh, yeah, well, my our ion is, how can government, with millions and billions of dollars in wore torn to rebuild them when cities and own states in poverty, people not

that this could be turned around. i did not give a vote to say it okay to give my tack money to these foreign companies. i think the government has had over people and not given them the right to have doing e of what they're with the money that our country akes and builds to make our country better. host: so scott, listen up, because i want to tell you about foreign relations committee on capitol hill today. they're holding a hearing about afghanistan policy. to come up is this financial rt and times has the headline, afghan after u.s. aid effort. this is according to the watch dog who we've had on the show times. according to his report, a huge assistance reign since 2001, poor oversight and

to work with been an characters have existential threat to the country. to find outspan.org more information about when that hearing will air. and also this, senate arm militarycommittee, the budget will be talked about this morning at 9:30 a.m. eastern time. go to c-span 3, c-span.org and the c-span radio app if you want to watch or listen to that hearing. the u.s. have signed an unprecedented military aid the military aid, with promise of fighter jets, missile defense ystems and cutting edge technology. the signing did not take place against president obama, the their inister or secretaries but occurred on the top floor of the state

department and neither of the was a signed the pact household name. ron in california, a democrat. mind this our morning? just want to i know, do people realize, are they vote, if donald trump becomes president are they afterwards when he's not president that we have to pay for secret service for life, all the traveling he does and all that. i wonder how much money he's right now on security service as secret private security. host: ron, what about all the traveling bill clinton has done hillary, the travel she would do with the clinton foundation and giving speeches, et cetera, that travel? caller: who are we talking

clinton? ll host: yeah, you said taxpayers should be concerned about paying for that. is sort of -- what's he word i'm looking for, for humanity. trump will be just for business. he's just strictly for business, for donald trump. save a lot you, you of money right now because he wire, you know, security versus secret service nd, again, for the rest of his life, and he'll have security confidence of the taxpayers. so i hope they'll think about that when voting from you. right, ron. let's hear from tad next in rhode island, independent, hi, tad. morning, greta. taking my call. host: you bet. caller: i'd like to briefly talk about mr. snowden. theink that mr. snowden did united states a favor by taking exposing all that nonsense that

on.going the fourth amendment says that privacy, he right to and both political parties are this, invading everyone's privacy. not only do i think he should be pardoned. that he should get the freedom.ial medal of host: all right, tad in rhode island there. ryan is a republican in indiana. you're on the air, ryan. hello, greta, how are you. host: good morning. fine.: i'm to say, donald trump, if he is not successful november, there's a lot of people that will probably feel successful, e not and if donald trump is defeated,

defeated, every one of us. host: why do you say that, ryan? say that?u know why i rebuild our t to inner cities. want to create jobs, create borders. i want to create foreign trade. military to be what in the reagan days. we didn't get messed with. chased by puny countries.d we have to think about the united states. we have to -- the planet and the africa, and north europe's being infiltrated, we need to stop all of this. ryan, any concern about . w much that will cost

we just cut the waste -- i never heard of a $500 hammer. hammer cost now, a store. the hardware host: ryan, do you think there's really enough waste, fraud and cover everything that, you know, donald trump says that's how he'll pay for child care as well. said he would pay for a lot of his initiatives. but do you really believe that much in the government? caller: he does more than enough. i believe there's more than enough of waste, fraud and abuse that's going on, more than a manager. need we need a businessman. it's that business, with a back bone. host: all right. so you might be interested in this story. washington times, donald trump, programshow to pay for and say donald trump dreams of big spending when it comes to plans, he's tougher to and own, to waste, fraud

abu abuse. the only program budget analysts ay is that while waste exists, getting it is not as easy as mr. trump says. here's certainly waste, fraud and abuse in the budget. campaign.s of the mostly in the republican primary. that are budget problems that if we just rooted said l the fraud, macguineas. camp did not comment. is scheduled to deliver a address on the economy. we will cover that as part of the road to the white house. e will be in new york and governor pence, his running mate well.be with him as let's hear from rob in fort independent. k, an caller: good morning, greta, and thank you, c-span.

to talk all, i want about edward snowden. i believe a couple of callers i agree he should get the congressional medal of freedom. spies on ment everybody and as far as our military goes, we're spending $650 billion this year on military. it doesn't need to be rebell. biggest ady the military in the world by far and bases over 800 military in the world. i'm voting for jill stein and -- talk about recognize. trump is host: and the financial times on story, president obama plans to end curbs on myanmar. giving businesses an incentive to invest in the country. had towhat the president say when he sat down from our prisoner, asam suti . res. obama: over the last

several years, it is a a nsition to elections, representative legislature that has significant constraints from the previous military government but is and ng voice to the hopes dreams of a new generation of burm burmese people, and as a onsequence, now, as state counselor and foreign minister her a position with a ernment to begin shaping remarkable social and political economic tion and transformation there, in part progress that he last several t

months. consulting after with dasu that the united states prepared to lift sanctions that we have imposed some time. quite it is the right thing to do to ensure that the people of burma rewards from a new way of doing business and a new government. host: that was yesterday in washington from the president, alking about lifting sanctioning on myanmar, referring to the country as burma there. go to our web site and watch what's happening on our on c-span.org. we're in open phones this morning. olin powell's e-mails were hacked yesterday, and he called mr. trump a national disgrace in

e-mails.cked he added criticism of other people, democrats, including his fellow ton and colleagues from the bush administration as well. the reports also yesterday that it was hacked. congressman confirms -- that's up the all who chairs homeland security committee that the rnc e-mail server hacked by russians. and the spokesman says not true and also says et contrary to reports, and there's breach. known congressman chairman mccall points out i misspoke asserting rnc was hacked. in addition y that to the dnc, republican political operatives have been hacked. good republican, hi, morning. caller: hey, good morning, greta. haven't gotten through in a

while. how you doing. host: doing well. sugar 16 days until the beat harvest up here, and i came and the sugar , eat harvest like a lot of illegal are done by aliens. people coming up, american indians, the tribes, working with them. get ve it or not, we do some things done without lae illegals. and forth of back across the country. i go back and forth to pennsylvania. a disconnect. you open up the papers and every letter says donald trump is everything from the antichrist to evil to disgrace go up to upper bucks county and you look at hundreds and not one s hillary signs. that's what i noticed when i route 80.up to

i see trump signs everywhere and i personally predict it's going landslide for trump and i wanted to say the so-called hear about trump. what is this hate about? the calling for two things, securing of the southern border. million illegal aliens. if you want a first world life, you can't have a third world migration. and the other thing is he calls a temporary moratorium from regional migration from areas that are on fire. million times when i call to get through to some of you idiot white liberals. we've done it before with many groups. we halted migration from norway wisconsin because those people weren't assimilating. i'm a german american. we halted migration because ermany was on fire with

militarism. you didn't bring them over. ellis island was closed during greta.ar ii, even though the vast majority of eople would have loved to escape romania or germany to because you couldn't take that chance. he is a unifier and standing up the globalist. host: okay. james are you still there? are you a farmer? caller: no, i just told steve one time i'm a blue live migrant worker. host: all right. james in north dakota, a republican. front page of the wall street journal this morning has stories.eresting a farmsanto deal creates giant after months of haggling in a $57 billion deal. regulators approve the deal which was unveiled wednesday,

pharmaceutical and conglomerate seized on high-tech crops that sustain a growing population. a story about genetically modified crops and to u.s.en, introduction arms 20 years ago, genetically engineered seeds have become like mobile phones. crops repel d insects, survive on less oils with less saturated fat in turn farmers' amateur chemistry. acres wereof soybean plant wide bio tech varieties 92% of corn acres. it ers are finding unjustified on the high and for modifiedprices

seed given the measly economy. house members seek ules changing on ousting speak ers and moments of silence. rules committee hears ideas as for the ers changes next congress. frustrated by events such as efforts to oust boehner, ker john wednesday's discussion that should be amended for the next country follows an april hearing proposed changes to the process. staggers ittee steve said he may hold another hearing plans to inimum he continue discussions with his colleagues. discussion that one change would be to punish against bers who go house rules. one example would be what democrats did this summer with

sit-in and protesting gunville. hat did not come up against members for disregarding house rules. that did not come up in that meeting. on c-span.it you can find it on our web site there. joe, we're in open phones, who's in virginia, an independent. good morning. go ahead. caller: hello. hi, there. good morning. you're on the air. caller: good morning. to comment on a couple of callers ago about the government spending. the guy is 100% right. this year we'll spend 654 dollars on our military and russia is going to spend 142 billion. so i don't -- how can we justify spending almost seven times as wants to donald trump increase that rate? i mean, it's not like our us money.s making we're just throwing money away. there's no point to it. woodrow wilson after world war one cut the military 51% to

hoover dam and that our economy. i think that needs to happen again. ur military spending is outrageous. it's just not worth it. that's joe in virginia. we're going to take a break and back, we're going to focus on energy. energy w, there's legislation in conference committee. at one of the ok committees that deals with it. we'll talk to four of its members on capitol hill this morning. but first, in washington yesterday, history was made as hayden was sworn in as the and ever female african-american librarian of the congress. she will serve a 10-year term, sworn in by supreme court justice john roberts with hand on abraham lincoln's bible. it's part of the library's mr. ction and was used by

obama at his inauguration. the budget for the library of 162 million -- excuse and she has on, plans to digitize the precious library of the congress. it's 162 million items. here's a little bit of ms. in yesterday. ng >> i must have admit that it is imagine the o little eight-year-old girl with a bookls who checked out called "bright april" over and until the er again, fines came in, that she is today, and it feels like yesterday when i a store frontr at branch of the chicago public zucker and watched judy on the floor leading story time

or children with autism, watching her interact with the children and, in turn, seeing reactions demonstrated the power and potential of the librarian's work. and 40 years later, it is an onor to be nominated by president obama and confirmed by the united states senate, to greatest f the institutions of our nation. humbled y grateful and by this selection. now, some people have noted that i am making history as the first woman and the first african-american african-american. [cheering and applause] that is true. melville dewy r ften encouraged women to enter

the profession because they can, quote, bear pain. laughter] and could, quote, perform tests without boredom. [laughter] but also, and most poignantly, my race were once punished with lashes and worse read.arning to and as a descendant of people who were denied the right to to now have the opportunity to serve and leave that is the on national symbol of knowledge is moment.ric [applause] >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are back this morning. turning our attention to energy issues. we will be talking to four members of the national

resources committee from capitol and will beginng with congresswoman debbie dingle, democrat from michigan on this committee and who is also on the conference ommittee for energy legislation. congresswoman, remind viewers of this bill would do and congress has how much time to done.is congresswoman: this is one of he biggest pieces of legislation you've seen go into congress. up from both the house and the senate side. i'm from the natural resources committee, it has provisions from the land and forr conservation act of it three years. markowski, who's actually chairing this conference, has are energy proposals and dealing with energy, of gas, oil

that are , things almost -- there's something in this bill that impacts almost country.te in the it's one of the biggest conferences that you have seen some times. they've met formally to have the opening speeches. there's a lot of work going on behind the scenes. t will not get done before we recess for the election. probably, god willing, by the week, but there are still strong possiblies that something could come and a could be reached before we adjourn for this year, conference to actually accomplish something actually would have to be completed sometime in ourn december. host: what are the sticking points in. many stickings so points you can't even begin o -- you know, for people who go -- understand what a conference is. a conference is when you bring house and the senate together. the senate bill has a lot of

that the house bill doesn't even have. you get into some pretty issues when you start talking about oil issues and gas issues and the offshore, t of land, drilling, protection for the waters. frankly, i think it's been far too controversial to a n -- i wish we could do permanent extension of the land and water conservation act. which there's only a three-year extension of it, and which does -- almost every every single county across this ountry, and believe it or not, that can be controversial at times. i'm going to do everything i can to fight to make sure that there.in but so this is going to be -- this is a very complicated conference just because the umbers of issues contained in it. some of them are very specific issues. host: congresswoman, we're to call in iewers during this conversation with you and your colleagues about

changes they would make to u.s. energy policy. land and waterhe conservation fund. the a priority for you. how does it work? congresswoman: the land and water conservation act takes that we ees, royalties are getting from oil and gas and it's put into a fund. on the premise that if you take out from something natural resources, you should be replacing them and it's ctually created a fund that almost every county in the country has used to invest in in parks or r something in the outdoors that people can enjoy. own district in my most recently, the funds were restore the last mile of the detroit river -- coast line. it's not coast in the midwest. there's so much coast it's the go to. the detroit river is something that we share between canada and

the united states, and we were to restore that borderline are se these funds available but almost every county -- not city or state -- but county in the able to restore having estore something to do with the natural resources or create a park because of these dollars. for you, a priority is the great lakes restoration act. tell bus that. congresswoman: the great lakes estoration act is in a bipartisan way with my colleague candace miller. and those dollars would help protect the great lakes. e are very lake that in michigan, we're surrounded by four out of the five great lakes. have most of lakes he natural water in the world, it is contained in these great lakes. it is interesting to note that

which, you ter act know, nobody watching this show right now would think that the had any er act controversy associated with it. but my husband actually was the riginal author of this in the '60s when no one knew what environmental legislation was, focus on wanted to it. and when he retired two years books i had scrap never seen. and in the '60s, people were screaming about claiming that it cost money to clean up our rivers and our lakes. this great lakes restoration act ensure that we continue to clean up the great lakes and some of e dealing with the pollution going into it off being from fertilizers used and the agriculture in the areas, other things, the occurring from plants located on the waters, and to protect the species that great lakes, and o keep species that are coming into the great lakes, like the predatorsel, that are

on the natural species in the great lakes. working nd i are together with many of the business private groups, many environmental groups are supporting these efforts to protect the great lakes. talking with 're dingell.woman debbie husband, john er dingell, who served in the house years and congress ongresswoman dingell was elected in 2015. the other conversation i want to ave with our viewers, and they can begin dialing in on the energy policy is the flint water situation. so congresswoman, has there been enough congressional action? has happened? congresswoman: no. i'm just going to say that. has come to stop these sound bytes and for us to do

something. karen weaver from the city of flint shared with a number of talking om michigan with democrats and republicans about the need for action. hopeful, the senate passed a bill yesterday that has a that would there give money to invest in trying flint. this problem in congress really hasn't appropriated any dollars yet for the problem there. a problem we need to work on at the federal, state and local level. of flint, thisle isn't a political sound byte. football. political everybody failed. government at every level failed state and federal, local level, and our job now is to come together and fix the permanently and quite frankly, make sure it never happens in any other municipality again. and that means we need to pass the epa, ensure that if they find a problem, they

immediately make it public and people, they had a responsibility, and we need to start investing in infrastructure. we have infrastructure across our krocountry. flint could in happen in many other cities. we're starting to hear the testing water le in elementary schools and finding lead. quite frankly where i'm sitting pipeshere was lead in the of this building. we've got to start to invest in an aging infrastructure across so we aren't poisoning people. it's not political football. zeika and a y, like other industries. we've got to come together as americans, not republicans and ot democrats and invest and making sure we're not hurting americans. ost: the congresswoman was referring to the water resources development act. congress is moving forward on that. includes 220 million in funds for flint michigan and other cities with water infrastructure troubles. let's get to jamar in jacksonville, florida,

independent. first for the congresswoman. good morning. caller: good morning. hi. show, by the way. congresswoman, i was calling micro plastics. i did some study and research summer at the national preserve in jacksonville, florida and i learned about how plastics saved even our ways and nd water affected us in the smaller sense. saying, and the study chimed in on the effects micro plastics. is there something going to be nside this bill also congresswoman: i had a very difficult time understanding question. host: he was talking about plastics. i'm not sure what he was referring to. do you know bio plastics or are you familiar with -- congresswoman: i do know. i apologize. i couldn't hear the question

because of the way it was coming on this. but i do know about plastics. for instance, we have -- we dealt with some things. i'm very much my own person so i'm going to say to you as i'm this from you all, i really did not view that i was descending so many of the bills this year that my or picking up the legacy that he did. microbead bill a that cosmetics or some of the thatics put into the water he was talking about. and actually one of the things, he started it, introduced it several years ago. sometimes it takes a while to get legislation through that we really want to see. ut this year, congress has started to deal with that and an active legislation in a way dealing with these plastics put into the water and creating standards so

we are not polluting the water. i'm not sure if that's what he was asking but it's similar to you with these plastics just said. does.yes it republican from north carolina, you're next. i really disagree with the way our country is not tilizing the energy available to us and the current dministration has done everything it could to basically which in oal industry essence raises my electric bill electric ody else's bill. if you listen to both sides, the global warming argument is the -- and i really think that's a bunch of bologna, because they theorys based on projected models, which once they've els come true, always been wrong. the global warming thing is a and we are ogna, suffering, and i think there's a

situation. the democrats use a lot of that power the epa has to just the working man's electric bill. and not just the working guy, the retired people. everybody has to pay electric bills. take advantageto of technology that the fracking south dakota, north dakota, all those places in west not using what this country has available to citizens. host: i'm going to leave it there so the congresswoman can ive us her thoughts on global warming and the coal industry. congresswoman: first of all, let me say, i agree with you that we need to use our nation's available resources. resources renewable becomes so important as we're looking at a source of energy are looking to have coal in this country. but i'm going to have to espectfully disagree with our caller, because i think many people -- and i'll start with says that o himself

global warming is real. ut many scientists have really established that global climate change is a very real problem. warmer.rs are getting we've seen the increase in rain, devastating storms, a lot of hings happening in this country. we need to create the technology that helps us use clean coal. we also have to be aware of is what happens to a ple when coal is used in way that pollutes our air. so what we want to do is to use current technology, to develop and use current technology and continue to technology that would let us use coal as a resource in that's way and i think very critical that we do that and i think we want to use -- i'm not against fracking. but i think that we need to make sure we're doing it in safe ways doesn't hurt our current environment. so have you seen the studies fracking, for

they're using in oklahoma is causing earthquakes and what are the impacts of earthquakes? we have to study issues. how do we use resources that are ensure that we to deliver resources at the lowest price possible to the consumer endangering them, our climate, their personal health. the delicate balance that we as legislators have to hard. look at host: let's go to looild, new york. liz, an independent. change u.s. energy policy, liz? long island. first of all, the congresswoman there talks about studies. studies, studies, to death.dies things we have more studies than we have action. that are calling in don't understand that doesn't obama have -- he is a republican

republican congress. and they're not going to get anything through either side. the democrats aren't going to through, thing to go and he's not going to sign it. are people calling it things,fferent voting on when for flint, michigan, get done going to until the new president comes in. congresswoman: i do think we over study everything. i think american people are ired of the bipartisan bickering in this country and i think we need to work together again. tell you something i'm proud of. candace miller, i woke up at an a.m. and there was article in our detroit paper telling us that they were going pipe line -year-old underneath the sinclair river which is a river i grew up on,

down the river every ummer in the inner tube, to oil.sport there was a rule in the state department not using this pipeline. her.ailed i grew up -- my home town was initially in her district. yes.aid i said let's work on this together. the staff learned we had done it later. wrote al letter, sent it to the said can rtment and you reopen this notice of rule making so people can comment on does.he impact the state department d within 30 had enough comments and the pipeline announced they weren't going to use that pipeline. you work together and try not to create controversy but you want to try done, you can.g i think american people need to send a message to legislators across this country. election, we need to come back and work on america's

stop this partisan bickering. joe in e more comment, fort washington, maryland, democrat. caller: good morning. how are you. morning, congresswoman. congresswoman: good morning. caller: good to hear your voice, to see you. i wanted to call in, congresswoman, you're doing a great job. know why? because you're giving up your time and talent to serve the country. callers a lot of calling and complaining and bickering but i notice about hose type callers, they're the ones from an era that when things look like everything is all well and good for them -- but let me tell you, the congresswoman said a key when we are one country. what worked in the '50s, '60s, they don't work now and president obama has been trying to work and so have the republicans. bickering so much and so much divisiveness that it all extends from that. and if we would take some of

and turn it into positive images. give a little, take a little. i'll leave joe's comments there. congresswoman can i have you respond to a headline in the morning.on post this president obama to declare first ully protected area in the atlantic. the president will declare the first fully protected area in atlantic, 4,913 square miles new marine national monument. the previous declarations have some of the most remote waters under the u.s. urisdiction including last month's expansion of the protective area in hawaii. it is more accessible lying 130 miles off the southeast coast of cape cod. make of this effort? ongresswoman: i think the timing probably coincides with the two-day ocean conference at the being hosted state department the next two days. this is the 100th anniversary of

parks.tional we have such incredible natural resources across this country legacy for our children and generations to come. think that protecting our oceans and declared this area is our legacy as to a country, and we need people young people our to get outdoors. they need to stop texting so get outside and understand what our natural resources are, how lucky we are need to try and we preserve and protect these natural resources and what he that day is a part of effort. host: all right. congresswoman debbie dingell natural the house resources committee, has jurisdiction over mineral fisheries, wild life, public lands, irrigation reclaimation and we thank you for kicking off this conversation this morning from capitol hill. of e going to talk to more the congresswoman's colleagues coming up here on the

"washington journal." continue with your phone calls as we do this, about how energy d change u.s. policy in this country. springs national park, a republican. hi, dean, morning. go ahead. caller: yes, my comments to the congresswoman is what is break s going to do to the monopoly that the oil companies have? when the oil companies came up against congress, the ceos flat out look, you don't pay for our pay check. the representatives that we what we're doing, so they can control all the prices on the oils and the technology. example, world war ii, the synthetic fuel to do their war effort. there's a lot of technology out here, but every time it comes up, the oil companies snatch it. so what is the congresswoman break updo to stop and this monopoly so that technology flourish. p and

host: that's dean. mary in florida, democrat. mary, good morning to you. energy you think about policy in this country. caller: good morning. love you guys. opinion, s is just my and i do it all the time. maid.er is man change the weather all the time. the white house never has the story about weather or the pyramids in egypt. nature will mother say let's discriminate and don't touch some places? know, so i change the weather all the time. when i want the sun, i get the sun. rain, i want the rain. and we all can do it. so just remember that. mary.okay, ore on this ocean, our ocean conference that the congresswoman talked about happening today at the state department. he president will formally announce the designation. we talked about addressing our russian conference. global gathering addressed this two years ago. sea administration official

said that the goal was to meet the critical conservation needs that science establishes in this minimizing the impact on sea administration official . reporting this from the washington post and reports that the united states controls more ocean than any other nation. its exclusive economic zone 55% of total u.s. waters are combined locally. only 2.3% of the sea is strongly protected. the bama has increased amount of federal waters under strong protection from waters 6 25.5 percent. in bowie, maryland, a democrat, morning. caller: good morning, how are you. host: doing well. caller: good. a year and-a-half ago, i had my own business and was doing well and people were org my business at this event and basically, one of my sponsors, was so impressed with

product and what sioux city so i ing and the product joined the company. i ically what i found out, call it gods, because i'm a hristian, because of all the co2 emissions, we're saving people money because the houses as it their power houses, goes from the sun's rays to photons, goes into the house of energy, and we take people out who put it all together. and this we've done all around world. so the push-back is that given store technology to try the fact is you are dealing with dinosaur technology to try to stay afloat, and the future technology which is not even the future, but the present, and we can actually put a dent in all the co2 emissions, all the water used.

it takes clean water to produce dirty energy. hehink that -- i think god helped me -- -- you are breaking up quite a bit, we will let you go on that point and go back up to capitol hill, congressman brits westermann, a member of the house natural resources committee, joining us, also a member from the budget committee. we started out talking to your colleague about this energy conference, and her priorities. what are your priorities for the two sides, -- the major issue i am focused on has to do with wildfire and funding for fighting wildfire and how we improve the health of our forests.

we have a tremendous resource in our natural forest, but unfortunately because of the lack of management over several decades, we are seeing a lot of that temporal and go up in flames -- timberland go up in flames. it is destroying wildlife healthy, and also forests mean clean air, clean water and everybody wins. i am focused on the forestry side of a bill of the m -- energy conference and i looked over to working on that. host: that makes sense given you are the only professional forester in congress. first, explain what you would like language to say in this energy bill to address this issue. issue, a have a major phenomenon we call fire borrowing, because we have such catastrophic wildfires, the cost of fires have gone up from 1/6

of the budget about 20 years ago, up to over half of the budget, 54% of the forest center budget goes to fighting fires. when that happens, and that is being spent out west, that takes money away from forest in arkansas and the east and it pulls money away from good management practices. it perpetuates the problem when we are spending all of the funding to fight fires and we are not doing good management practices to make the forest more healthy and resilient. one provision we have is to put catastrophic wildfires under fema so they can be declared an emergency and we can get fema funding when we have those events. we really need to be spending more money doing corrective management. need take make our forests healthy so we don't get the insect infestations which leads to dead timber, which leads to

more fuel on the ground and a lightning strike or somebody lets a campfire out and we see these catastrophic events. host: by the way, i want to show our viewers where there are federal forests in the country. take a look at this map and you can see where federal forests exist. i'm sure you are familiar with this map. what does it mean as viewers are looking at this, as they are seeing that a roll forests, primarily in the west, but along the south as well? guest: in my district, we have over 2 million acres of federal forests in my district and that is small in comparison to some of the larger forests outside -- out west. i believe a nonstate congressional district, my district actually contains more federal forest land than any other district in the country.

we are seeing more arid conditions out west, we stopped cutting timber a couple of decades ago. the timber continues to grow. you get competitions as the trees get weekend, they are subject to insect and disease infestation, and nature's way of correcting that is to burn it down and start over. we have these assets, people living in these communities, and we can't just let these fires burn and we see such intensity in some of the fires that it actually damages the soil. when you lose vegetation, you get rain and the runoff causes erosion to get in our water. buffers onon't have them, they burned down to the edge of the stream. as will see trout streams

the temperature increases and it does damage to the fish populations. it is really a big issue. if you look at the amount of energy that went up in the 10 million acres that burned last year, it would be the equivalent to 25 billion gallons of gasoline. it is a huge issue. it happens more so out west, but we may not get the fires back in west,as like they do out but when the forest is not healthy, it is still subject to disease and insect in the station. host: let's get to some calls. we are asking our viewers what changes they would make to the u.s. energy policy. glenn in maryland, independent. caller: hello. host: go ahead with the congressman. caller: hello. host: good morning. caller: good morning.

host: you have to get ready to go, we will go to don, in california, republican. caller: hello. congressman, it does seem like you are dealing with the symptoms, but not the reality of what is going on. it is more or less after the fact, i would say. one question, do you believe that global warming is actually happening, and as a disclaimer, do you have any sponsorship with the fossil industry? warming orhe global climate change issue, the climate is changing, whether that is man-made or not, but we do know that healthy forests

sequester carbon and the better trees grow and the faster they grow, more carbon they sequester and we use -- when we use wood as a building material, we are storing carbon in the building materials and when we reforest areas, you are removing carbon from the atmosphere. regardless of how you feel about climate change, healthy forests are part of the solution to that. we use our forests, the faster they will grow. growth curvegical that happens with all living organisms where the younger they are, the faster they grow. we have to do a better job of making sure we reforest these areas whether they are damaged by fire or insects or disease. the forestry language in the energy bill says that we have to get 75% reforestation after five years, which is still not great.

i would like to see that number get higher. 3% to 5%ly getting reforestation after these catastrophic wildfires. host: let's go to jean in maryland, democrat. caller: good morning. considerope you would supporting the open field standard act for three reasons. methanol a gallon of than a gallongen of gasoline or a gallon of ethanol. it is inherently more efficient to make use of that energy. second, m.i.t. has developed two engines, one that outperforms diesel for trucks and is less polluting and less costly in fuel and the second one is for automobiles and does the same thing. atoutperforms at 100 octane

less price than regular gas. the final reason is a procedure for producing methanol from coal, they will ride johns hopkins has not been developed by the department of energy into a commercial scale plant in tennessee that produces methanol at acold without emissions cost of about $.50 a gallon wholesale. methanol is not asking for subsidies or mandate, just for a chance to compete at the pump. guest: you bring out some really good points in your question. we need to look at all of our opportunities with energy, and research is extremely important. i have a graduate degree in forestry, but my undergrad is in engineering. i like to talk about energy issues, and we need to have an all of the above energy strategy.

you brought up a great point about how we need energy that does not need subsidies and with technology, we will better -- the able to better harness energy that occurs naturally coalwoody biomass and energy. we need to invest more money into research. there are cuts on the horizon. a product that was made from wood back around world war ii. a lot of that process has gotten away from wood, but there are some very smart chemical engineers in the world and we need to be looking at all these energy resources and figure out ways to make them all economically competitive. in this situation right now where traditional fuels are lower cost and we need to be investing more in our future price ofthat when the

our traditional fuels goes up, we can make future fuels more competitive. host: our next caller is republican. on the forestry issue, i was a firefighter on the forestry service and when i worked to work -- went to work in montana and colorado, the lands up there were sold off by the large timber companies to real estate developers because when the gas -- in the 70's, they could not afford to all the timber because the trees were too small. you have literally hundreds of thousands and millions of acres that were sold off to real estate developers, people building houses up in the forest , and then we get these wildfires and like you see in california and colorado, people are losing their lives. duty to address the fact that county agencies are actually rezoning these properties from

forestry to residential. the energy question i had for you that concerns me is that -- , andm lived up in kentucky under federal law, you will not have 50 energy companies coming in and building fire poles and fire plans to protect -- to produce electricity. her monthly bill was $35. reagan came in, republicans came in and it was like the banking industry, a deregulated everything. lge got sold off to a british itm and a german firm, and is no different than duke power coming into eastern kentucky or georgia power company down into florida and buying out florida power companies. all of a sudden you see your bills go through the roof. host: thank you. guest: let's address the issue

on buildings and structures in and around federal land. the reality is this has happened. we have homes in the wild lands, adjacent to federal timberlands and areas where we get these catastrophic wildfires. we have a program called fire wise you can try to make your home and your property as resistant to wildfires as possible. part of that has to do with construction materials, clearing out underbrush, creating a buffer zone around your home. we need to do more of those programs. wilson also need to get our federal forest more resilient so we are not getting the big wildfires. forestry is relatively new in the united states. it has been around for just over 100 years. lot, buteen learning a we know the science. it has been practiced in europe

for a long time. we need to protect them from wildfires and disease, and those are the kinds of issues that we have to include in this energy bill, so that we are not just throwing more money at the firefighting issue, but actually addressing the problems. energy, and about the different types of energy that are out there, there needs to be in all of the above strategy. there are pros and cons of deregulation, that allows us to produce energy in one part of the country and use it in another part. i am more concerned about us putting too many restrictions on certain types of energy, picking winners and losers. those kinds of strategies will hurt -- hurt my constituents, back home. it not only hurts our electric

bills, but when manufacturers rely heavily on electricity or other forms of energy and the cost of the energy goes up, it drives jobs away. a lot of these regulations are put out there to target traditional fuels are there in the name of making the environment cleaner, but if we are driving jobs away into countries who don't have nearly as good of air quality regulations that we have, we are not only losing jobs, we are also making the environment less clean. host: congress mistress westermann, a forrester for 22 term serving in his first in congress and a member of the house natural resources committee. thank you. guest: thank you. host: this kind -- conversation rolls on in capitol hill. coming up, we talked to the top democrat on the natural resources committee. more of your calls on energy policy while we wait.

patricia in new york, a democrat. caller: hello. i know that the representative was just speaking and we are going to a democrat. urges is i like when the two groups get together and i am urging democrats to consider mr. westermann's proposal to actually consider sending some of those charges when the big fire comes to fema. andink that is a great idea where it is below -- where it belongs because it is an emergency. the second thing i would like to say is, i think that the forestry industry should look closely -- work closely with our have system, because we many of our water resources being very pure because of the forest and swamps.

what is basically happening is because we have development so close to our national forests, our waters are starting to become polluted. i think that somehow, the forestry industry should come together and they should work more cooperatively. host: thank you for your phone call. coming up, we talk to the chairman of the house natural resources committee, a republican from utah, rob bishop, then we will talk to the ranking democrat of that committee, who is from arizona. we will be talking about that, coming up. let's go to ross in texas, independent. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. them,d like to see one of if they could introduce member isn where if a

taking funds from one of the industries that is going to impact that legislation, if they could be barred from voting or if -- i forget the word. host: having to recuse themselves. caller: yes, exactly. if they could recuse themselves from voting on that issue, if they are accepting funds from an industry that is going to be impacted either positively or negatively from the legislation. members whou get are actually working toward a , and areoutcome actually looking for solutions. host: the house natural resources committee considers legislation about energy

production, mineral lands and mining, fisheries, native americans, irrigation and reclamation. the committee has 44 legislators, 26 republicans and 18 democrats. joining us from capitol hill is the chairman of that committee, republican rob bishop from utah. that is a lot of jurisdiction for your committee. guest: surprising isn't it? host: tell us what your priorities are. guest: there are a whole bunch we are hoping to get through before we end the year. you heard from mr. westermann talking about forestry, that is one of the significant issues. before we get into the next wildfire season. you can't solve the problem i throwing money at it, you have to reform the management position. the bill that he has proposed would actually give things of

the forest service could use on the first day the thing assigned to expedite procedures and minimize the amount of frivolous awsuits that stopped forrester -- forest service from doing what they have to do. native american energy proposals to try to emphasize resources being developed by native americans so they can benefit from the resources they have on their lands. we have a california drought bill which has been talked about for years and needs to be solved. this bill would also help with the entire west as far as drought. the basic idea being, you can't stop the drought, so collect the water when you have it to you don't just waste it. we have a sportsman's package to try to minimize regulation so people can enjoy the outdoors. we are looking at the abuse of the antiquities act. there may be another announcement from another maritime monument in an area in

which the democrat senators and representatives asked the president to please get input because you -- before you do anything, that the locals have an alternative which is not being considered. those -- that is just the top of the issues, there are a whole bunch more. we have a bicentennial act to help the park service get rid of the $19 billion backlog with a creative way of finding a new funding source. those are things that we are still pushing and hope to get done before the end of the year. host: you've referenced president obama today at the our oceans conference at the state department or he will be making a designation of a maritime monument. will congress try or can you stop him? guest: you can't stop him from doing it because the way the president has abused his power he has, there has to be a gotcha moment. you can't involve anyone else. congress does have the power to move those back.

any new president who comes in can also reverse any of those designations. do when president can using an quit -- antiquities power is this needed -- designate land already owned by the federal land and change its status. it is temporary and can be undone by congress or a future president. host: let's hear from carol who is our first caller in minnesota, independent. we are asking viewers to let us know what they think about energy policy. caller: thank you for allowing me to talk. thent to take you back when founding fathers first came here. they built communities and when they built them, they had dams. farmers had windmills to produce energy and overtime, all of this was taken away for these big energy companies. if they would allow us to go

back to what it used to be, that would help. they need tostry, get people off their like the american -- native americans used to do and clear out that whatbrush, because that is is igniting these are rendered as fires. they need a great deal of money to take care of these problems. thank you very much. host: chairman bishop, your thoughts. guest: the caller hit several things on the money. that is the forest minute -- management that westermann was talking about. you have to make sure you can in out the forest and get rid of the underbrush. dams, thatwith the is part of the drought language built in, is a way you can increase storage capacity and catch the water when you have it , because you will not have it when the drought time comes. also is we are trying to minimize the number of frivolous lawsuits. if you look at what the forest

service spends, the biggest expense is fighting wildfires and the second is trying to defend the -- defend themselves from silly and useless lawsuits. if you can try to prevent that and make sure people have to have some kind of skin in the game before they can to the government, then you can put the resources into managing the land and doing a good job. that is what we are trying to do. she realizes, especially when talking about dams producing power. one of the problems we have is whatever kind of power source you want, whether it is fossil tools or alternative, it is produced over here, but the people live over here, and you have to transmit it. part of our package is to try to encourage and allow transmission lines and power -- pipelines so that you can get energy to the people. otherwise, you can produce it all day and it will do any good.

that is part of the energy package as well, but hopefully when we get an entry compromise bill coming out of the conference committee, that can be put in. host: you mentioned native americans as part of your jurisdiction. what are your thoughts on this headline from the los angeles times about the dakota access the $3.7 billion pipeline that became a rallying cry for tribes across america, and will you hold hearings on this? guest: i don't know what we will hold hearings or if we have time. i do know that the army corps of engineers went through their study, they approved the process saying they had mitigated against both kinds of concerns in july6. it was upheld by a court. this administration decided to step in and stop that process which puts to like this idea that we should every cap romance of idea of you -- reviewing these situations and then

permitting these present situations -- for the administration to come in at the last minute and saying stop it because we don't like you doing it even though you did it all the right way, i am not proud of that. it is a violation of the rule of law and simply says the administration one agree with it if they decide to change their mind. host: what rights do native americans have in this situation? guest: the rights they always had, but they were the same rights when the army corps of engineers was doing their process. they have the same rights to complain and demand mitigation and that was done in july. for this president to simply say will do it again, that is not a good way of running government. host: let's go to scott in massachusetts, independent. caller: good morning. the changes i would make to u.s. energy policy would be to give

tax incentives for nuclear power plants. i am worried about climate change and i have a very low opinion of coal. host: what do you think? guest: there is some legitimacy to that. the way congress operates, there are two committees that have bits and pieces in the energy act. what he is talking about comes from a different committee and i don't get to have a say in that particular point. minor the ones i ticke -- mine are the ones i ticked off for you. we should have a wise policy of using every option available to us. host: stacy in georgia, republican. caller: good morning. one of the things that i wanted to say was, one of the problems with the energy policies in the united states is, they don't allow local constituents to be more involved.

thanks and gotten so convoluted with dealing with washington, that it is really difficult for you to get things done. for example, here in athens, when they have city meetings, you can go and talk for five minutes. you can't address things when you allow people not to actually be able to talk about a subject. the u.s. energy policies i have seen here, typically i feel like washington has just made things so difficult for us. the congressman here can only do so much, we cannot do his job because it is just so convoluted with politics and when i say politics, i'm talking about companies that have special interest i get access that the common people don't get. georgia a dam here in about 45 minutes away. it is a beautiful park, but i

have seen no advertisements or literature that explains how this stuff is put together. the local constituents have no say. host: we will leave it at that point. senator, you are smiling. guest: you hit on the very foundation of our problem and the solution, which is federalism, empowering local people to have greater say in their own lives. that's what the founders envisioned and when we came up with this ministry of state to let experts make the decisions and executive branch agencies, what we think they did is take the power from the people. that is one of the reasons why speaker ryan as part of his article one effort to move that decision-making from rules and regulations by the executive branch agencies and put it back in congress, because that is where people have the ability of accessing them. anduld go one step further

taken away from congress and put it back in state and local governments. what he is talking about is the exact problem we are having. if you look at the history of land policy, it always changes every 70 years or so, but after -- eachl war, when the of those acts failed and they failed because people in washington are trying to a minister lands thousands of miles away from them. that is the same problem we have today. the federal government is not malevolent, they just own a third of all the land in america and that is too much land to manage effectively. lve that down devlo so that local people and governments -- state governments could make those decisions, we would have better management practices. the guy hit it square on the head. that is the solution we have. host: is that part of your public lands initiative? guest: that is part of my public lands initiative dealing with eastern utah.

that was the goal, trying to empower people to make those decisions, people who live and know the area -- live in and know the area who have a deeper concern for the land from someone who is a four hour plane ride away. host: it was a headline from the standoff in oregon, bundy brothers accused of dangerous invasion. in the opening arguments, prosecutors say they will outline how a peaceful protest became an illegal armed up -- occupation of government land. do you agree with that last part? guest: violence is never a solution. violent confrontation is something which should be avoided at all times. i do not condone what to lace. however, i understand that if the land agency has spent more time listening to people and caring about people on the local level, this situation would not have escalated. fore is blame to go around

causing this situation. violent confrontation is not the solution and should never be done. host: suzanne in massachusetts, independent. caller: good morning, chairman bishop. i am calling from america's oldest fishing port. by 2016, we are not allowed to even think as a small business based fishing glade. -- how we can look in our children in the eye and say i am not earning any more than i need to, i am not upsetting the natural balances. how can we have federal agencies -- this may be the last energy -- high carbon lifestyle? we cannot get a research vessel in the water because regulation

simply will not even discuss this, seriously. conference,forum, there were not even expert staffers in silver spring maryland who would understand what a modern fishing boat would look like. that has to change. guest: i appreciate that comment and you gave the reason on why a maritime national monument off the coast of kit, or new bedford or massachusetts is the wrong thing to do. you are talking about trying to get local inputs of people understand. when i was in new bedford, the local industry there had an alternative that could create an area that would expand and create a national monument that would not impose a harm on the industry. the administration is not listening, they're not even considering those concepts. the issues you brought up are exactly what should be discussed and that is why the antiquities act is that. if the president actually deals with issues by listening to a process triggers

which is why the president does not want to do that, because it is time-consuming. what you are talking about are real concerns that would be a problem in any designation. those should be discussed ahead of time before a monument is designated. host: the designation that the chairman is talking about is this area on your screen. the washington post with this maps of the president will declare the first fully protected area in the u.s. atlantic ocean, dissipating or thousand square miles off the new england coastline as a new marine national monument. don, in burke, virginia, democrat. when i was a captain of the gulf of mexico, i worked for 20 years and we used to drill next to mountains.

theink we can find oil in united states next a mountains. also under san diego. guest: you are asking me a technical issue that i don't know. there are people who know that industry and know how to find oil and know where it is. you could be right, i don't know how to deal with that position. if you can find it, do it. host: lauren in jeffersonville indiana, good morning. caller: i would like to see changes that represent those of us who think that emissions should be regulated or even done away with. i would like to see more green energy. bring on the fans, bring on smaller,low people in

and large companies to produce and sell more of those kinds of energy. host: let me ask the chairman, there is this piece of energy legislation in conference committee being called a major energy bill. what does it do and what language is in their that addresses alternative energy sources? guest: what the caller is talking about could be done and there are provisions in the other committee's jurisdiction that could address and expand alternative energy. i remind you, if you will do solar power, you will not do it here in virginia, you will do it out in the west. but to get the power back here to virginia, you have to have transmission lines and they run across federal lands and the have to be able to maintain them. if you want to develop that fine, but yous have to give us the ability to

maintain and transfer where it is developed. that is why our language is so essential. there are restrictions and problems like we have one transmission company that has wanted to cut down a tree but it was in the forest service property and so they said you cannot cut down that tree. over, took the line, the line started a fire and in the forest service wanted to sue the company for starting a fire. these are the problems we have to solve, and they can be solved in this energy bill if you take our beginning steps to make sure that the transmission lines are going to be protected as well as the gas lines. pipelines would be protected so you can take the energy from where it is produced to where people needed. to me, that is common sense. i hope we can get it through. host: another area of andsdiction is puerto rico, the debt situation it faces. explain why that fell under your committee, but also give us an

update because bloomberg is reporting yesterday, puerto rico rescue lost to face first court test from predators. guest: i did not know about the court test. i'm comfortable what we did will survive. for the sake of puerto rico, it has to have this is a creative approach that solves the problem without putting american taxpayers at risk of having to bail out anybody. reasonue at hand is the we are doing that is because my committee deals with any territory. estate,o rico were other committees would have the opportunity to craft this bill. and wasot an easy task strange for someone in utah becoming involved imported rico. we have jurisdiction over every territory, and so that is part of our committee process. we tried to find a creative solution that establishes a

process which has been tested and worked and it will go forward and already, the board has been appointed. they are not rep and running yet, but they are moving quickly. i am looking forward to this having seen the fruits of this effort coming into play. host: bloomberg reports that u.s. district judge has -- on whether investors should be temporarily blocked from suing over the puerto rico debt and a protection congress extended. that federal law has given puerto rico time to solve the crisis brought on by $1 billion in debt. what do you make of this protection you extended and do you think it will pass the test? guest: protection is standard procedure in any kind of restructuring that you do. i hope it will stand the test and this is ongoing litigation, so i am not supposed to comment on it.

i hope the judge does the right thing because i think we did the right in with the legislation. host: we will go to california, phil, independent. caller: good morning. first-time caller, longtime watcher. i appreciate what you guys have given -- are doing. is -- a caller asked how much money your last guest was receiving from the gas industry and a critical google search shows that the past few callers have almost $200,000 in donations. -- i wondering how they feel like it influences people's decisions or at least the appearance of influencing decisions. guest: if you are up this early in california, there is something wrong, but i am happy

that you are up this early. i don't know how much money i have accepted from any of these groups. all i know is that i do not enjoy raising money. fundraiser, that it is one of those things that you simply go through. underlying is the assumption that if you take money in some way, you are bought and paid for. i will take money from any group, but it is not -- it does not mean it will change how i will vote. not all of us are dominated by money, and money does not necessarily by access and it certainly does not buy votes. i think you need to take those issues with a grain of salt. looking for the donations are coming from, but as -- i am able to separate my public persona with what i am raising in money and i have to admit, i hate

raising money. it is a terrible process. host: that seems to be a sentiment shared by many of your colleagues. guest: nobody actually likes -- if some of the actually liked raising money, there is something very wrong. host: chairman rob bishop from utah, thank you for joining us. we will keep up with your phone calls this morning on energy policy. waiting next to talk with me, ranking democrat on this committee, from arizona. first, ron in medicine, republican. caller: hello. i am a tanker truck driver, i deliver gasoline and diesel fuel. the regulations that democrats are putting on the industry are absolutely ridiculous. i went for my physical the other day and they are trying to tell me that i can't drive a truck because my neck is too big and dynamic -- too big in diameter.

regulationsdiculous on the trucking industry. i is to be a professional hockey player in my neck was 16 inches because we exercised and we did our skating drills to build our muscle mass up a little bit. staying in good physical condition, i have been driving a truck longer than this woman measuring my neck size has been alive. found trump was the first person to hit on this. we have to get these ridiculous regulations out of the energy area so we can drive our trucks. another thing is -- host: i will leave it there to get another voice. dan in idaho, immigrant. what would you change about energy policy? caller: i was talking about the representative you just had. he says he does not like obama

interfering in that indian affair, and then the next sentence, he says it should be up to the people to do their thing. which way is he going to have it? is he mad at obama for helping the people speak their mind in their states? they guarantee that the oil line will not leak, but it has leaked before and they are depending on their water. that is their whole thing. theresee obama going over and trying to regulate things for the people. i will leave it there because we go back up to capitol hill where the ranking democrat of the house natural resources committee is joining us. not sure if you heard that last call, but he was talking about the dakota access pipe line, and the native

americans, this being a rallying cry -- rallying cry for them. chairman, whothe says he does not know if he will hold hearings on this, some and you asked him to do -- something you asked him to do. guest: i have the good fortune to visit and be there with the chairman and the 4000 to 5000 people that are there, camped out. ramifications across the country. it has huge ramifications in indian country. issues of sovereignty, issues of real consultation with tribes are also part of this issue. the pipeline using eminent domain goes through army corps land, federal land, minimal

consultation with the tribes and leadership and i think obama did causing this process of the department of justice can do a review. asked the armyr corps not to expedite this process so there would be opportunity to study the effects on groundwater and the rivers and the water that the standing rock tribe depends on. i think there has been so much in the disease that so many indignities -- so many indignities and a lack of attention on the part of government, being exploited in terms of their natural resources. standing rock has become it behooves our committee as having jurisdiction over native american affairs in

general, not only to hold a hearing, but do it in such a way that we are looking for how we would result the lack of consultation and how do we, as a congress that has a constitutional responsibility, protect the sovereignty and ability of tribes in their own decision-making to determine their future. at standing things rock. host: they congress -- the chairman said the resident is guilty of giving lack of input with regard to a maritime monument he will declare today, nearly 5000 miles along the maketic coast, and people this as part of our oceans conference. chairman bishop said he did not consult with the people that live there. guest: i think what the president did is correct. why?

quite frankly, the resources committee and i'm glad for you bringing members of that committee to talk with you and to the public, because it is understood and does not have the profile that other committees having congress that it should. our jurisdiction is vast. what the president did was absent any real action by the resources committee to protect oceans and waters and enhance public lands. no action whatsoever in those areas. a refreshment of trying to take away the ability to do those. the president jumps into that gap of no activity, no action or decision making on the part of the majority on this committee. by doing so, he is actually doing our jobs. host: let's get to phone calls. brian in virginia, independent. caller: i'm sorry i missed the

congressman, earlier. he made a comment about solar energy may not be a commonsense alternative because you have to put the solar panels in deserts and then make a power line through neighborhoods and areas that need it. that is not true because you could put solar panels on every roof anywhere, where the sunshine. batteryd have lithium -- lithium battery storage on the property, and solar panels, the power companies can convert and sell them just like they do coal.d nuclear energy and host: brian, you have with us the top democrat on the house natural resources committee. what are your thoughts about solar power? guest: alternative and renewable

energy. that portfolio has to increase for this country. the issues that the john brings up have to do with greater availability. getting power to people from renewable and alternative energy is possible, but the dependencies we have on this country -- in this country on fossil fuel is waning. the reason we have a decline in coal use is because the market is not utilizing coal as the primary engine to produce energy. it is a market issue, not a regulatory issue. climate change, people's sensibilities have changed, lifestyles have changed. people are looking for efficiency and clean energy. this whole conference that we are having on can we come

together on energy bill? i think we should, and it should be about availability, efficiency, fixing waterways and infrastructure that is falling apart and get away from the political things that the republicans in the house put on to our energy bill which effectively were poison pills. the senate bill is cleaner, it is bipartisan and it could go further. point- it is a starting to working on a bipartisan way and encourage the use of alternative and renewable energy in this country. that is the way the american people are going. it is high time with this legislation and others for congress to catch up where the american people want to be. host: you and the other members we talked to on the house natural resources committee are part of this conference committee. house and senate lawmakers getting together to try to pass

what has been called major energy rick -- major energy legislation. what could be in this major energy bill? guest: my colleague that was on the show talked about wildfires and the need to deal with that. i absolutely agree. , and seeingrizona the catastrophes those wildfires have caused in my state, in california and other states along the west, there has to be a response to that. one of the responses is resources. a big portion of the forest services budget is now being used for fire suppression. it comes directly out of their budget. it is time we had a line item like with any emergency in this country, that responds. it would free the forest service to do the kinds of things that people are asking them to do, deal with interfaces between urban and forest areas, deal

with prevention, deal with scientifically analyzed and i think that this energy bill has that opportunity. the energy bill has an opportunity to permanently fund the land and water conservation fund, which is a great resource to all communities in order for them to enhance their parks and public places. there are some things we can do, but we have to take away the poison pills that are there for messaging, that are there primarily as knowing full well that those items -- if those items were to ever reach the president's desk, he would veto it. host: what are the poison pills? guest: one is to undo bedrock environmental laws that we have,

which allows the public to have input into decision-making. ,ndangered species act wilderness act, clean water act, all those are bedrock protections never put 50 years ago, signed by both republican and democratic presidents. to trying torying get rid of those laws that have been there and have served the country well and continue to serve america well. do those laws need to be updated ? yes, but they do not need to be thrown out and those items being part of energy bill only provoke frankly, allite but six democrats voted against this bill came up for a vote. host: when do you think this could get passed? guest: if you narrow to an efficient passage, the emergency and urgent issues,

infrastructure, the promotion of alternative and renewable energy, the permanent authorization of the land and water conservation fund, if we narrow it down to those things that the public really needs, there is some urgencies to those, that i think there is a possibility. we bring in extraneous, political points, it will be very difficult. host: richard, florida, independent. caller: good morning. i'm sorry i missed the last representative. how in god's name can we go into a reservation and bold those sacred native american sites over oil? this is insane. haven't we taken enough from the native americans in this country, that we want to bulldoze their sacred lands? i said earlier, that this

issue going up in setting rock -- going on in setting rock has ramifications that are historic, and the unity by indian country on this issue and a lot of think is going to create a change in the way that only we deal with the native people and nations, but cause a change in how we evaluate the need for pipelines, the safety the fullnes and transparency and disclosure of how that is coming about. host: mike in florida, republican. caller: good morning. i'm kind of concerned about the natural gas that they are burning off up in north dakota. i am originally from that area. truckdriver, ie was retired.

onom pickens has a thing out changing diesel engines into natural gas burning engines and they will work. i know ups trucks have them. why aren't the democrats, if they are worried about clean energy, why are they getting on the bandwagon with trying to get the big rigs switched over to natural gas? when i spoke about enhancing the use of alternative energy, obviously natural gas is one of those alternatives. i think the questions that we have raised overall, is about the extraction of natural gas, not only public lands, but privatized. the process is going on in oklahoma and other communities are beginning to bear real , with moratorium's

place on how those extractions occur, particularly with the process that goes into fracking, and the consequences have. -- questions are not so much the reservations are not about the use of natural gas, it has been about the extraction and how do we do that in such a way so that it does not endanger communities, and it does not endanger people. host: we have less than two minutes before the house gavels in, early. benll try to get been in -- in. caller: good morning. i was going to ask you about making some kind of law, getting with the republicans, to release or declassified the u.s. patent office. host: do you have any thoughts on that? guest: actually, no.

that i reallying don't have an answer for, and i apologize for the gentleman. ask you, what are you hearing about continuing resolutions and funding the government. what is going to happen today in the closing weeks? guest: next week, and leading up to the next 10 days, that's it. 30th of this month is the deadline for closure of the government if congress does not do something. it is becoming more apparent that it will be a continuing resolution. the debate is going to be over the length of time. does it extend beyond the lame-duck session or does it come back during the lame-duck session so that there was a longer one? i think that will be the debate. host: we will have to watch and see.

thank you very much for joining us, this morning. we appreciate the conversation. like i said, the houses gaveling in, early on this thursday morning. we go up to capitol hill with live coverage. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]