congressman tim murphy of pennsylvania, a longtime mental health advocate will join us to talk about recently passed legislation that aims to improve mental hett services in the eyes. later on, democratic congressman matt cartwright also of pennsylvania, will be here to talk about the democratic party's agenda and renewed evidents to reach rural voters. but first thibs week's c-span "newsmakers" interviewed house judiciary committee chair on the committee about police community relations. they're examining friction and violence between police and citizens. >> this is not a simple problem that passing a bill and signing a law is going to take care of. 'm hopeful that with the new administration, we can find ways

to continue to work on this policing strat jiss conference. i start off with an open mind. i start off with an attitude that is cooperative. and we continue and set a good example for our colleagues on both sides of the aisle about an issue that is as emotional and as touchy as this one of police relations. and i think it had to be said things many places where occur, it's in poverty-stricken communities, of places that are more desolate, places in which there's already a problem of high crime rate. >> what's going to be the reaction of the new administration to the work that you're doing? what do you think the new

administration's going to -- is going to have its own ideas? >> well it is so new that we don't have but a few names of people who will be in positions that could be very important in this regard. and i look forward to having discussions with those. because i think this is something that the american people really long for and that the administration could provide some real leadership in helping to rebuild the kind of trust that we need in communities between law enforcement and the people that they are sworn to serve and protect, some of whom don't understand that and we need to promote that. i also want to say that this is something that really, i think, is something that the congress and both the house and the senate should get behind because we can lead the way in terms of showing what kind of things can

be done based upon what we've learned. >> "washington journal" continues. host: and joining us now is congressman tim murphy of pennsylvania, a republican from the pennsylvania's 18th district. he is here to discuss the mental health legislation that is moving through congress and the state of mental health care funding and services in the united states. congressman, thank you so much for joining us. guest: great to be with you. host: tell us a little bit about the 21st century cures act that is moving through congress at this moment and where it stands. guest: it is a bill that is led by fred upton of michigan, which basically is a reform system for the f.d.a. for moving research through n.i.h., to make sure that positive research taken place with drugs and medical devices and not get bogged down in bureaucracy. he's worked in that for a couple

of years. passed the house before and now renegotiated some things and moving it forward. as parts of that package, we also included my bill to helping families in mental healthy crisis act. it passed 22-2. but they have a whole different amendment process over there the senate which bogged down the bills. so there was a number of things that took place. the content of the bills and now, we've passed it this week including the cancer moonshoot funding that the president wanted as well. we hope to make major reforms to mental health and health care in america. host: there over 100 federal programs in mental health including more than 25 homelessness programs alone. how might this legislation change that or does this legislation change that?

guest: when the general county office did a study, we were surprised by a couple of things. they were surprised by saying the federal sends about $130 billion and most of that is for disability payment and not for treatment. and g.a.o. said that there's over $112 million -- they're not sure how many more. but the point is they don't work together. why do we need 26 homeless programs? because the homeless problem is growing. the death rate from suicide is growing and other disease groups like cancer, diabetes, infectious disease and h.i.v., stroke, have all gone down. suicide rates have gone up. drug overdose have gone up. so the issue is that this bill will create a new head, the assistant secretary of mental health and substance abuse. we want that person to get these organizations together and say we're going to start to work together.

they were supposed to be doing that. but they haven't met since 2009. while our mental health system continues to deteriorate, there was no leadership. and this is going to put someone at the helm who is going to have that clout and the expertise and the authority to work with those agencies and programs and we want to know as a commerce. what's working and what's not? what needs to be motivated and eliminated? and merge them together to make sure it's more effective. what good is it to have an agency if they're not getting care to people? host: we're talking to republican congressman tim urphy of pennsylvania. republicans can call 202-748-8001. democrats can call 202-748-8000 nd independents can call 202-748-8002. now let's talk a little bit

about the federal mental health parity law. what -- why has the spending parity been hard to achieve? guest: parity is supposed to mean that you're going to deal with mental health treatment an equal footing with other physical health treatment and it hasn't been that way. so we worked together a couple of years ago led by patrick kennedy, been a congressman to really build that parity up. so insurance companies will have that equal footing and it hasn't worked out. our bill is going to demand more review, more study and what is occurring there. this is extremely important for health care overall and quite frankly, as you look at health care reform and here's why. for a while, i've been practicing psychology myself for years. i remember when you call up an insurance company, they will say we will give you two visits. this is a serious problem. well that's it. see if you can fix them. we find ourselves negotiating

with some bureaucrats. and that's not the way mental health health care needs to be. one thing you have to have equal footing. when a person has a serious mental illness. four million of them are not in treatment. their risk for chronic illness is high. 75% for someone with schizophrenia, 35% have another chronic illness. 50% have at least two. you've got to start ramping this up to integrate the care between behavioral and physical health. similarly, when you have a person who is a chronic medical condition diagnosis, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, because of pain and what it does to lifestyle and what it does to their system, depression risks double sun and treated depression doubles costs. these things have really merged together. and it is a matter of keeping the insurance companies -- first

of all, it's best for the patients and it makes more sense financially when you passage together, it cust cuts costs in half. host: now another member of the committee family of massachusetts, democratic congressman joe kennedy spoke about the cures act on the house floor on wednesday. let's see what he said. when we first passed me election, it was a part of a strong bipartisan compromise and sacrifice. it wasn't easy but the legislative process is not intended to be. i'm disappointed that the funding levels for n.i.h. were cut even futter and -- further and the investment is no longer mandatory. i take the republican colleague at their word that they will be appropriated in the years ahead. i'm also pleased that this legislation includes it removes coverage for children covered by medicaid.

mental health proposals don't go nearly far enough. parity is already the law thanks to addiction equity lact and the affordable care ack. but each study we read, mr. speaker, each story that we hear prove that insurance companies are skirting those rules. instead of further guidance or meetings or studies carried out years down the road, we need enforcement and transparency today. we need random awe ditz before there had been violation, not after. we need insurers to disclose the rates and reasons for denials in a way that patients and their families can understand. not in a way that mental health advocates can't even obtain. we need to increase medicaid reimbursements. and we need to appreciate the difference that the a.c.a. has made for mental health patients especially for the most vulnerable among us. until we do, we cannot consider these proposals comprehensive and we certainly cannot pretend that they're nearly enough. host: what's your reaction to

congressman kennedy? guest: we have a great deal in the bill that deals with compliance, with parity, reporting back. we want to strengthen that. there's a lot in here. and i thank him for his passion in this. i am equally, if not more passionate about this. this is what i do. i'm a current lay navy psychologist. i see these folks and i understand what happens when somebody is discharged from the military or the v.a. or back in their communities. we had contact with millions of people on this issue. so i know this. and we're going to hold their feet to the fire. and we need someone who has a clout who are close to the new secretary of h.h.s. but listen to what i'm saying because this is important for americans to hear this. when i talk about an integrated care model, you can't really have full health care unless you're dealing with behavioral and physical medicine together. so if you have someone with a chronic illness and they're frequently going in and out of erms or you're overutilizing the

systems, massive cost out there. what physicians are realizing now and insurance companies are beginning to realize when you are also managing this psychological aspect of that and early treatment of depression and anxiety and the worries as well as serious mental health, you are lowering costs. so part of what we have to do is educate members of congress and the public and insurance companies and say this is the model that works much better when you're treating the whole person. host: leonard is calling in from ohio on our democratic line. leonard, you're on with congressman murphy. caller: good morning, everyone. thank you for c-span. c-span here, what you do. you run the -- president reagan, defunded mental health saying the private sector could do it better. and what this man is sitting up here talking now is going against what president reagan defunded mental health for. now c-span, would you while he's talking, can you run that signing and see that the private

sector could do it better? thank you very much, sir, and we become ax dodger to president. host: let's keep this on mental health discussion and i'll let you respond. guest: sure. looking at the facts on this is mt. kennedy signed a bill to say let's start moving away from institutional care towards mental health care. part of that movement grew from the left and the right. too ig asylums are costing much. and well, if you ended up somewhat of a disaster. yet we needed to close these old asylums. the classic cuckoo's nest or snake pit and replace with community-based health care. but what happened is states across the spectrum didn't fully take care of these. democrats and republicans

governors and others alike. a person with serious mental illness is 15 times more hike throw be violent than a person who this treatment. and we've replaced those asylums with jail cells, with emergency room gurneys, homeless shelters and with the county morgue because of the high death rate, the high arrest rate, about 60% to 80% of people in city jails may have a mental health problem . that's what we did. we dumped them there because when a judge has someone before them with a crime and said this person has to go to jail, the state has to provide for them. and someone has a mental health illness, no one has to do a thing. we need to get away from this idea of who's at fault? the blame is plenty to go around. what i've done here is to make some change. we need to look forward. we understand mental health

definitely. it's a brain disease. if you get people treatment, they can get better. and that's what this bill is designed to do and it will. host: and does the bill provide a new money for mental health and where does that money come from? guest: there's a lot of money in here for training more providers. it's about 50 million. we have an incredible number of psychologists. summoning people have people to not -- that are not treating them. it is harder to find people for hispanics and african-americans. likely if times more you have a serious mental illness to be in jail than a hospital. these are painful statistics. so, we have a surge of money there. is it as much as we want? no, there needs to be more.

however, we are going to see over time that there is a greater push, because we are going to find that providing this care early on is far cheaper than jail. we are talking with republican congressman tim murphy of pennsylvania about mental health care reform bill moving through congress. republicans can call 202-748-8001. democrats 202-748-8000. independents 202-748-8002. we do have a line for people that have had extra and in the mental health care system. we encourage you to call 202-748-8003. tony is calling in from texas on the independents line. caller: thank you very much. this is a great and wonderful country that is not hard at all to run unless you throw the corruption in on it. that is the problem with you congressman and all you corrupt people. you are trying to get all the

corrupt money in your pocket and not do your job. all we want you to do is your job. that is why you cannot be in this course along that you are amassing all this corrupt money in your pocket. we wonder how you -- host: -- guest: thank you. i love being reduced to a stereotype. is -- let's just focus on mental health care and move on. host: you said one of the driving forces for you to focus on this issue was an attack in connecticut on newtown. i had net with families that lost a child or spouse due to that terrible tragedy. it was conducted by someone who had mental health that was untrue's -- that was untreated. those families have sent me pictures. those are my motivation.

i have them on a desk in my office. every day, i look at those kid'' eyes. that is my motivation. every day, people came up to me and told me you cannot do this bill. you have to compromise. i remember that. when people ask me how i stayed so-called, i told them that i had these pictures of the kids i tolda state so calm, him that i had these pictures of the kids in my office. nation --m as a everyone, whether they were in aurora,ok or tucson or wherever in america that someone -- that is why we are doing this. this is not a corrupt issue. this is a compassion issue. this is the reason why so many people came together on this bill to make a difference. host: carl is calling in on the

democratic line. good morning, carl. caller: good morning. one thing i am concerned about in my country is that many american citizens do not understand what government is about. have fought for this country. injuredyou get hurt, for your memory of battle, fatigue -- anything. corruption is not on your mind when you swear in to become a military person in this country. in my swearing in do i remember in my pledge that i republicanonoring a or a democrat or anyone. i am protecting the constitution of this country. --m tired of people

host: carl, let me just ask. you have a question about mental health? caller: if you do not understand that all of us are affected by something that is medically, or when we like that -- are citizens of this country, it has nothing to do with corruption other than understanding that -- guest: carl, you are right. it has nothing to do with corruption. when you swear into the military, there is nothing in there about corruption. mental illness, of the hundreds i have treated in my lifetime, people i have known that have gone through the v.a., i have never asked what party they belong to. mental illness is like cancer or diabetes -- it has no party affiliation.

it attacks people. the best thing in the compassionate thing we can do is to help them become productive citizens again. get back to school or work, get back on their feet. we want to work with them. that is what it is an essential part in our constitution to promote the general welfare. let's talk for a moment about suicide prevention. some statistics here from the national alliance on mental illness looking at suicide and other illnesses in young people. they have said it is the third leading cause of death in youth ages 10 to 14. 90% of those that died by suicide had an underlying mental illness. talk to little bit about what this bill does in this regard. guest: a key factor is making sure we have providers available.

when people make a decision that they are going to have a suicide havept, in many cases they sent out signals, they have .rowing depression or anxiety we want to reach out to find them. --t to let them know that sometimes, they can all the crisis hotline and those are readily available, but what locals if you call the psychologist is that they have a waiting list. we cannot be doing that. that is a big push we have been doing for the the a. they must respond -- for the v.a. they must respond immediately. we simply do not have enough providers. you mentioned the young age, we need 30,000 providers.

comethe 9000 that we have a very few have appointment available. and of those, not many do with the serious mental illnesses. inhave to have more people the field, and we want to offset some of their expenses in going through the training. guest: peggy is calling in from wyoming on the independent line. peggy has had experience with mental illness. peggy, you are on the line with congressman murphy. caller: my son is turn white, ,kins of -- is paranoid schizophrenic. he got tightness when he was about nine years old. he got treatment, and he got better. he then worked for a long, long time. he got fired because of his conditions, i guess. anyway, he went on medicare.

understandt i cannot that he could not get his medical for medicare for two years. not,i pushed him about why they said it was not life-threatening. i am sorry, but this is life-threatening. why does congress not pass a bill where they can get medical treatment right away? guest: that is a great point you are bringing up. it is part of the reason why we knew we needed this new law. there are a number of things that need to take place there. the number of people that are on medicaid, and then they come back off and they do not get there bills paid right out of jail. with people in the throes of poverty, and they are

not able to pay for the treatment. so, it is part of what we recognize. we need to streamline it. you get people treatment, it is 20 times cheaper for outpatient care then sitting in a jail cell. sometimes people wait for days and weeks for a bed in an emergency room to open up. so, getting a counselor to work with them, getting your support, it is all vital. what i am describing here is that we recognize how woefully inadequate our system is for dealing with the significant number of americans and their families on treatment. itd to work with parity comes to insurance companies, but also our federal government does not do a good enough job. host: how would mental health care be affected if the affordable care act would to be repealed? guest: i have spoken with dr.

tom price, and he had a standpoint from a medical view as a surgeon. that thetood combination of behavioral and physical health is important. so, what is it about these folks? when they have untreated mental illness, it can double the costs. it is a matter of working arefully, because those high risk pools. we want to get the position to ordinate care -- two coordinate care and make sure what they need is there. in the past, it has been on your own. when a mother brings a 17-year-old into an office and

hels the professional that is delusional, having problems, and they returned with is he a threat for violence, and she says no -- then they say there's nothing they can do. is a problem. the follow-up needs to be 95%. however, it drops down to 45%. the numbers are similar when someone goes into an emergency room with a drug overdose. you need to get treatment right away. if you get the full treatment immediately right there, you by 50%. it is about getting efficient, effective care immediately. host: john is calling in on the democratic line from ireland. good morning, john -- from maryland. good morning, john. caller: good morning.

have you read a book by diane ravitch? error" was written a couple of years ago. she is one of the country's leading experts on public school systems. she traces behavioral control deficits in school -- learning deficits in school, high dropout of adhd to instances a particular statistic that is shocking. was010, the united states tied with turkey, somalia, and thailand, for some of the worst rates of premature birth. the high rate of premature birth directly causes these kind of .ducational challenges

let's set aside the terrible medical bills associated with high rates of medical birth -- guest: let him respond to a couple of those things. i used to work in a newborn intensive care unit. seeingo frustrated children born addicted to crack or heroine and watching them go through withdrawals. they do have a long-term prognosis that indicates a long-term educational issues. there are a wide range of things that correspond. we need to get better at handling prenatal care for women who are on drug and addictions. we saw a study once that if you took a woman with an addiction months ofd for a nine her pregnancy, you have her go somewhere else and you help her

through the process. no drug in a positive one setting, then it is far cheaper for that child for the rest of their life. i'm not suggesting we send people off to five star resorts, but it does point out that providing quality prenatal care to make a massive difference in a child's life. we need to be thinking about this long-term perspective instead of just writing the child off. it is an awful way to treat a human being. host: let's talk about the prospect of this bill's passage. although the health care package is strong, it's passage is not a short. massachusetts senator elizabeth ward says that the bill favors at pharmaceutical industry the expense of patient safety. party does not favor the

bill because it would increase federal spending. how do you address these concerns? guest: i think the issue with elizabeth warren is wrong. if you have a family member with one of these diseases, you are searching for a solution. if you know someone with mental -- 959 deaths a day, and you say we are going to continue to hold out? we're going to let you just be one more that goes to the cemetery? thateritage, i would say there are areas when the federal government should be spending money. a lot of this bill is about improving effectiveness and efficiency. a lot of people do not want the government spending any money, and i understand your philosophy. however, i believe this is about life and death. in the constitution, it is about promoting the general welfare. this is about all americans.

we do have a sloppy system in terms of metal health care in america. here, when they say they have to spend another hundred million dollars to go through the system again and repeat everything you have done, i have concerns about that. -- not find ways of not bypassing research, but streamlining? warrenping that senator changes her mind on this. there is a lot that can be done to move forward with this. we ought to pass this bill so people can have their lives saved. host: john is calling from arkansas. also someone with experience with mental health care. john, you are on with congressman murphy. caller: good morning. first of all, i am bipolar. hate aboutthings i being mentally ill -- i found

out real quick that you are automatically stigmatized. i was just thinking that was other people, but i found it was not just other people. what we really need are lawyers to back us up so that people will not miss treat us. thing -- ihe violent am pretty sure that 97% of all people with mental illness are nonviolent. probablyft are sociopaths, the criminally insane, and someone like jeffrey dahmer. guest: yes, people that are mentally ill should be treated equally as rep. newhouse:. the our bills that protect as everyonets -- else. there are bills that protect

patient rights. there are some individuals, without treatment have also had drug and alcohol abuse, it increases their likelihood of violence tremendously. often, people will encounter someone in a and a health crisis and they can end up as violent. the was a large statistic of individuals that attack police if to a mental illness, and we had more effective treatment we could have saved a lot of lives. the process of handling them was put them in solitary confinement, and that is not a path to treatment. host: ok, congressman tim murphy.

thank you for joining us this morning. guest: thank you. it was great being here. up, democratic representative matt cartwright of until then you will talk about the house democrats' legislative agenda. also, efforts to reach rural voters. up, c-span goes on the road to arizona to explore it contemporary and historical life. >> it is located right in the central part in what we call the valley of the sun. it is right next to phoenix. it is the heart of the whole region. it is a big agricultural community back when it first started. the salt river does not really flow, but that is how we started as it agricultural community.

we started a state university, and more businesses are becoming located here. a variety of industries are moving here. we have the largest ratio of jobs per capita anywhere in the valley. we are very fortunate to have a diverse community. we have an aging and young population. we are home to the number one a innovative university in the country which is arizona university. we are a landmark as a community. we have businesses that are coming into our community. areas overveloping the past couple of decades. it is very exciting for us to have these innovative natures in our community. we are also expanding residential opportunities in our community. we are expanding the business

side for technology-based copies. it is very exciting to take -- technology-based companies. it is very exciting to take things to the next level. >> so i decided to spend much more time -- i spent much more time at west point to try to figure how this man could finish 29th at west point. sometimes viewed by biographers as a historical, intellectual lightweight. he said of himself, "i must apologize, i spent all my time reading novels." >> sunday night on q&a, we speak about the life and career of ulysses s. grant. convened residency, he a meeting one day of african-american leaders in the white house. he said, i look forward to the

date when you can ride on a railroad car or eat in a restaurant regardless of your race. that they must come. that day toays for come. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern time on c-span q&a. >> washington journal continues. byt: we are joined now congressman matt cartwright, a democrat from pennsylvania. he is here to talk about the house democrats'legislative agenda under president-elect donald trump, and the efforts by democrats to promote support among blue-collar workers. thank you for being here today. guest: thank you. it is my pleasure to be here. host: secretary hillary clinton .ost your district with 44%

what do you think happened? guest: it was a little closer in my district. the problem -- you have to go through all the precincts to see. endeavor tof an find out how much donald trump wopn -- donald trump won by. 9%.yes he won by almost i won by about 8%. it was a surprise. caught po can't -- llsters unaware. a lot of people came out to vote that i frankly do not think have voted since 2008. people that were energized in inspired by donald trump. they came out to vote for him,

so maybe they were not energized and enthused by mitt romney. the message that romney was putting out that they were much different from those put -- a were much different than those being put out by donald trump. i also think the election was very hard to predict. the models that were being used -- they all go sideways. let's face it, it was very hard for hillary clinton to be a change candidate. as i have been saying locally, she kind of had status quo stamped all over her pantsuit. people are hurting and life is not going -- if people are hurting and life is not going so great for them, and they feel like washington is working hard to help other people besides them, then change has a very big appeal.

ok,thing you wonder is -- are they racists? a lot of what mr. trump said was pretty bad. toseemed like it appealed bigoted people, but i do not think so. the other thing you need to know about my district was that president obama one my district by 12 points in 2012. so, i do not think so. there is always a little bit of truth and every bit of defamation, but my own sense is pain.eople were in they were working to or three jobs, and they were trying harder and harder to stay right where they are at. there is frustration with the economy. there are not enough manufacturing jobs still around. so, when someone comes around going backa future

to more manufacturing jobs -- even though he did not really lay out specifics on how he will do it -- it is still attractive. if you are hurting, change looks prickett. democratic house leader attacked you -- she nominated you to fill a spot on licy ande democrats' po communication committee. nancyhe tapped you, pelosi described be pennsylvania legislative as someone who knows how to take the concerns of his situation in working-class pennsylvania and translate them into a message that moves people. ideas tos fresh press individuals in their 70's.

guest: it is always important to remember that house democrats were not in charge of the presidential campaign. while we do tend to go around gnashingur breasts and our teeth, the house democrats did take up numbers. i think we gained another six seats. so, on paper in a vacuum, that is a victory. a victory that happened in the face of head wind. i think there was a kind of trump wave -- especially to the heartland. democrats have not lost pennsylvania since 1988. so, it was a tough year for democrats. even though that in the house, we still pick up seats. so, i think i know how to speak

with heartland voters. yeah cap credibility. they have to know that you -- you have to have credibility. they have to know that you care about them. if you care about people, then it shows. it is true of me, and i think it is true of all 194 democrats in the house, we really care about our constituents. they all won. it is the ones that did not win we have to focus on. when you are a challenger for a district. the voters do not know you all that much. they are not sure whether or not you care about them. there is a lot of work to be done. we need to get out and listen to these people. not just in our district. we won those districts. we need to get out and listen to the people in the districts that we did not win.

we need to hear about their concerns. if you want to be able to talk to people in a way that resonates, you have to listen to them. i hadtell you -- if anything to say about it, we are going to be doing a lot of listening out in the heartland the next couple of years. host: we are talking to congressman matt cartwright of pennsylvania. alan is calling from brooklyn, new york on the democratic line. caller: good morning. thank you. although it is unlikely that this republican congress will do anything in your favor this term, i think democrats have to start talking about some issues that will take a long time to succeed on. one of them was an idea that was mentioned by nude and rich at in the ninth -- newt gingrich back in the 90's. he said that elected officials forld be held accountable the same levels of fraud that commercial entities are. it seems clear that those

standards were applied to donald seen thataign, he has it is very clear that a lot of that it has he made been very clear that a lot of it hasromises he made -- been made it very clear that a lot of those promises he made were to appeal specifically to a white majority. he wanted to stir up these people with thomas is that he never intended to keep. in my mind, that is fraud. the public has been damaged as a whole by his desire to exploit the electoral college. host: let's give the congressman a chance to respond. guest: i was a courtroom jerry lawyer -- jury lawyer for 25 years. that is something that came across to me was that he made these congresses that he made hese promises that he --

made these promises that he never intended to keep. he has made gargantuan promises to the american people. he is going to rewrite the trade laws. i do not know how you do that. to me, it is a little like i'm baking the cake. unbaking a cake. he said he is going to dot the countryside with new manufacturing jobs, i do not know how you are going to do that without new training programs. modern manufacturing facilities are highly automated. you might have a big plant and only a couple dozen people work there. that is also true of mining. mining is hugely automated these days. i'm here to tell you that

democrats are behind rebuilding our manufacturing base in this country. we have our make it in america program which i am very proud of. -- youthink that mentioned newt gingrich in 1994. he came to power as speaker in 1994, two years after we all collected bill clinton to president. americans pay attention. they remember the promises that were made to them. if you do not keep them, then watch out. host: are there areas of potential agreement? might democrats take the position of holding donald trump accountable? there was a piece and the new about how democrats

prepared to deal with a president by finding opportunities to say yes. they want to strategically engage with the white house on while showingves the difference between donald trump and republicans anxious about his more costly ideas. bit about this approach. my own view is that you have to give the guy a chance. i think the people in my district that voted for him want change. we have to give change a chance. i do not think they are bigots in my district. they just want change so much that they forgave him all of the regrettable remarks he made throughout his campaign. they for gave him some of the allegations of fraud and all

that. anything for change. for democrats to get in the way of that would be a mistake. the other thing is that, democrat are solidly in favor of infrastructure investment. i just saw that the american society of civil engineers has rated american infrastructure as a d+/ / . democrats understand the importance for investment in all of our infrastructure systems. if we had taken a responsible approach to these things, something like flint michigan would never have happened. -- youd have realized have to spend money to take care of what we have inherited as american infrastructure. we have to spend something like

$3.6 trillion by 2020 to upgrade our infrastructure. when you do that, it leads to jobs. not only jobs that create the infrastructure improvements, but also the jobs -- went american biz -- when american business is more effective because infrastructure eight there efficiency. ir -- theirr efficiency. china made a huge infrastructure investment. president-elect donald trump wants to make that kind of investment, i will not stand in the way of it. caller: thank you for taking my call. this of all, i think president being voted was fully democrats fall. -- fault.

been a long time since a did not win the election -- the popular vote. this election right here was not democrat-republican. independence --independents also were in the election. donald trump was and independent republican. bernie sanders was an independent democrat. it was not about aristocracy. .t was about two independents

i think bernie sanders would have one if you had been put up against donald trump. host: let's give the congressman a chance to respond. guest: let's start with the electoral college. it is a system that is in the constitution. it would take a tremendous effort to prove -- to push a constitutional amendment to change it. the remains a significant question on whether it would have made a difference. the candidates campaign according to what the rules are. what we know is that if you can win the presidency just with the popular vote, then maybe esther comes campaign would not have focused -- mr. trump's campaign would have focused on places like california and new york. so, it is hard to say if bernie sanders would have one -- won.

maybe. i can tell you that in my own district, we had 14,000 extra voters that came out to vote in 2016 that did not come out in 2012. to say that those were bernie sanders voters as opposed to donald trump voters, it is hard to say. in my mind, we will learn a lot of those answers by getting out and talking to the people. it is something i really hope to do in the next couple of years. host: i want to get the response to some breaking news. the new unemployment numbers just came out this morning. in november, the implement rate is now 4.6%. added toe 178,000 jobs the economy. that is according to the washington post.

the unemployment rate was 4.9% in the previous month. it is now at 4.6% according to new information released by the government -- the federal government. what is your reaction to these jobs numbers? guest: when you get out and talk to people, they remember mark twain's remark about statistics. are damn lies, there lies, and then there are statistics. national unemployment went down, but employment to -- unemployment ticked up a point in my home county. so, you take it all with a grain of salt. up inif employment with

san diego, the folks at home were i live are wondering what about them. rightfully so. all over the country, jobs -- good paying jobs are the number one issue. the best social program in america is a high-paying job, a good income for an american citizen. a consult a whole number of problems. you to keep our focus on that if you cracked -- a good paying job takes care of a whole number of problems. democrats have do focus on this if we want to win back those donald trump voters. caller: thank you for taking my call. where are we at, and do you support a constitutional amendment to overturn citizens united?

oldnd of all, i am 65 years . i have researched and wrote a lot. -- researched, read a lot, and experienced a lot. it seems to me that we have stopped being a constitutional republic and democracy and have withe an oligarchy unlimited monetary bribery. i appreciate your comments. thank you for taking my call. guest: a wonderful question. yes, with full support, stand behind the constitutional amendment to overturn citizens united. we have to be practical. we have trouble passing regular appropriations bills.

so, passing a constitutional -- it is kind of like shooting for the stars at this point. my own approach has been, democrats have to win the presidential election so they can have influence on the unfilled supreme court seats. that is the quickest and easiest way of getting rid of citizens united. have a more sensible court look at it and overturn it. i could not agree with you more. we have to get this money out of politics. it is awful. you see it every day. people spend so much time trying to raise money to be reelected. for challengers, it is daunting to try and raise the money to be elected into the united states congress. it was one of the most scariest things i raised -- i ran into in

2012. how am i going to raise the money i needed to get my message out? it is only going to get harder. you are going to get more and more entrenched politicians unless you get rid of citizens united. i urge the donald trump administration to appoint someone to the supreme court of united states who wants to get money out of politics, too. from anthony is calling puerto rico. you are on with the congressman. caller: good morning. the caller from new york, i want to ask him -- the democrats have promised for decades to do something for the african-american community, and they have done nothing. at least donald trump is fighting for us. something you have not done for us in decades.

democrats only think about putting money in your pocket. that is it. he is try to fight for jobs. did me a break. -- give me a break. guest: it is quite the opposite. i do not criticize anyone fighting for jobs. i just got done saying that i admire the promises he has made on infrastructure. i want to hold him to those promises. investing in infrastructure will create millions and millions of jobs in this country. high-paying, family sustaining jobs. to say that democrats are turning their backs on anyone is a flat-out mistake. but, i like the fact that you are focusing on jobs, because that is the correct focus. it is what i talk about at home. i think we need to ramp up our economy inbs and the

the next election. host: congressman, i know that you said the house -- democrats pick up some seats in the house. it was fewer than projected. you are unable to gain control. what message do you have for people like the caller -- whether it is working class people or people of color that that theessed democratic party has taken them for granted. guest: speaking for myself, i do not take anyone for granted. it is a question about working hard and getting out to meet and listen to people. if you care about people, you are going to listen to them and work hard for them. i could not be more proud of my colleagues in the house democrat caucus. amazingly hard workers. people that have given up other

avenues of employment to do this -- to work for the people. to say that they have abandoned the people that have elected them -- that is flat-out wrong. that it is realize been a long time since the democrats have had a majority in the house. it is a republican majority. it has been a republican house of representative's for the entire time that i have been serving. a we are trying to do is push back on the republican agenda that i think hurts the average man and woman. it hurts the middle class, and it benefits the average 1% all the time. --ler: game guest: james is calling from florida. james, you are on with the congressman. caller: the first thing i want

to say, kimberly, you are a beautiful lady. the second thing i want to say to the congressman -- i want to how is donald trump -- how are democrats going to be able to work with donald trump. the kind of campaign he ran was nothing like the campaigns that barack obama or john mccain ran. president?be how are democrats going to be able to work with someone like that? guest: i do not know if that is as being fits far to be president, i have -- but i have read things about his mental state. we are all just speculating.

i have spoken with people who think he is a genius. he was just saying crazy things to get free press coverage. so, you might be crazy like a fox for all i know. i've never met the man. i do want to take him at face value. when he says that he wants to invest in american infrastructure -- as i said before, we have to be grown up about it. we have to realize that it takes money to do it. what is going to be really interesting is to see if house republicans go along with it. do note republicans agree that we need to spend money to keep america in good shape, they are going to have to come to the democratic caucus for the vote to do it. do not be surprised if you see us making a deal to get it done. if you love of america, then you want to keep it in good shape it

you want to keep us in a position or we can compete we can competere globally we want to keep jobs in this nation. ryan house speaker paul and others have prioritized many government programs including medicare and the aca. it is the plan by paul ryan, according to politico, to privatize medicare. they say, if he is to have his weight -- they will not repeal obamacare, it will dramatically into amedicare, turning complete form of privatization. what is your opinion? guest: it is nothing new. paul ryan has advocated for for a long this time. i think it is a mistake.

privatized social during the bush administration, the stock market lost 40% of its value in the 2008 crash. these are senior americans that depend on social security. in my district, the average benefit is significant. living0% of them are not on anything else. this is everything they have good to risk that -- to do anything that would -- this is everything that they had. the risk that or do anything to --nge it would -- you other the other thing he did about is retirement age. -- you need to think about is retirement age. make peopleg to

work into the -- into their 70's because few want to save money? that is not the answer. my view is that we need to expand social security and medicare. they are programs that have worked wonderfully for as long as they have existed. i am behind a wonderful bill that congressman john larson from connecticut to reduce. it is the social security when social security 2100 bill. i encourage you to look that up. it is about increasing the amount of money for these folks to live on in their old age. in froman is calling texas on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. presented of cartwright, don't you think that -- representative cartwright, don't you think that

citizens have have responsibility to do something about the economy? mcdonald's have just announced that -- as a result to any response of increasing minimum wage, they are going to put in automatic order kiosks to replace their population. if you go into a walmart, there are more self-serve checkout machines. we are helping corporations illuminate jobs -- eliminate jobs. why isn't anyone looking at 1930's germany, and what politically. press, destroying had, when ithey --t back and read my history

what is going on right now is truly frightening. guest: a wonderful question. thank you. let's start with other nation. automation.with i do not think there is any way to exact we stop automation. it is a bad thing in a good thing. it is bad because it takes away workers' jobs. there is no other way of looking at it. however, a lot of the jobs that are taken away our bad jobs -- breaking, lifting jobs. jobs.k-breaking, lifting torts -- of tof ours, and i had seen that a lot of this automation reduces injury.e industry --

with the future workforce needs to do is train themselves to run these machines and keep them going. there is going to be a lot more of it in the future. i do not really see a way that it is going to be going away. as far as the 1930's, i was a history maker -- major in college. i agree with the statement that if you do not study history, you may be doomed to repeat it. the 1930's in germany -- even starting with the 1920's, it was a horrible time. we have to learn from that. it scares me when we have that in thea sudden, political discourse, it is ok to use racist or bigoted terms? it is not all right. the the senate takes up position to confirm jefferson

davis sessions as attorney general -- a man that could not be confirmed as a trial judge in the federal court. the fireworks are going to fly. i think rightfully so. i'm going to be looking for from senator sessions is a complete apology for the racist, it could racist, bigoted things he has said and done in his life. that is what i'm going to be looking for. thank you. host: denise on the democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to agree with the representative on the comment he made about republicans in the house and the senate being the ones that have locked any further economic development. not only the ones in the senate

-- i have two good examples. in tampa after president obama took office. he came to tampa to deliver a stimulus package. he was ostracized by the republican party, by republican voters. scottent out and got rich -- not to replace or bring back jobs, but to replace obamacare. after governor scott was elected , i remember watching president obama come back to tampa. he had infrastructure bill that rail from theding west coast to the i-4 core door -- corridor.

governor scott rejected the package. host: we are running short on time. i want to give the congressman a chance to respond. guest: did she say she was from tampa? but she isas, calling from jordan. guest: understand. i want to mention trolley chris who is now -- charlie crist who is now a democrat in the house. chris who is now joining us in the house. aboute correct republicans who i called the "shutdown crowd." they don't want to spend money in a matter how good the programs are. they want to cut programs to the national science foundation.

they want to cut everything that the government does right. it is almost like they want the government to fail. so, i disagree wholeheartedly with their position. i agree with you. host: next caller on the republican line from maryland. caller: thank you for taking my call. it is confusing to me some of the things you have said. quickyou have to have one one, because we have to throw to the house in a moment. caller: one quick one. spoken.le have the government works for the people. host: all right, that is it. congress meant, can you respond? speaking for the people and not for your self? guest: that is the nature of our constitutional democracy. i am elected to speak for the

folks at home. i tried to do that. to keep in close contact with them about the boats that are happening -- about the votes that are happening, why i voted the way i did, and about representing them. when i come to washington, i hope to bring down here the sense of decency that people have in northeastern pennsylvania. host: i will have to let that be the last word. congressman matthew cartwright, thank you for joining us. guest: my pleasure. house iswe said, the gathering right now. we are taking you there live now. live coverage from c-span.