50 capital store. we are in austin with wendy host: good morning. the senate is in and 9:30 today. a.m.ouse returns at 10:00 the much-anticipated release of the republican tax plan expected to be unveiled today. we begin on the topic of immigration in the wake of tuesday's terror attack in new york. to anent trump has called end of family chain migration lottery.he diversity

we are asking you to tell us if you think immigration is making america stronger or weaker. --ocrats can call in at republicans at -- independents -- a special line for recent immigrants this morning. you can also catch up with us on social media. a very good thursday morning to you. according to the pew research center, 47 million people living in this country were born in other countries. we are talking about the immigration system in the united

states. you can start calling in now. focusing on the legal immigration system. [video clip] what we areump: demanding is merit-based immigration. we want people that are going to help our country. we want people that are going to keep our country safe. we don't want lotteries where the wrong people are in the lotteries and, guess what, who are the suckers who get those people? and we want a merit-based system. and we do not want chain migration, or somebody like him ultimately will be able to bring in many members of his family. and we don't want that. thank you very much. >> [indiscernible] they could,ump:

they certainly cap. they certainly could represent a threat. host: the president following up with a series of tweets yesterday on the topic of immigration. must endhain migration now. later, the president also said that he spoke to the president of argentina but the five wonderful men killed in the westside terror attack. he also tweeted out about chain migration, saying it must end. the president with this series of tweets yesterday. we would look for more tweets this morning on "washington journal." does immigration make america stronger or weaker? the president getting pushback from democrats including sheila

jackson lee on the floor of the house. [video clip] >> but rather than rise to the occasion, this morning, the words come from the white house, the terrorists came to our country to the diversity visa , a chuck schumer beauty. you tell me how many immigrants, how many italians, how many irish, how many of those who escaped the holocaust, how many would have met any test of merit? did the slaves meet a test of merit? all of these individuals helped to build this nation. and on the morning when people ing of their lost loved ones, rather than bringing people together, there is a politicizing, calling out names of members -- does he even

understand what merit-based is? host: we will talk this morning about the merit-based immigration system, about the visa diversity lottery. we want to hear your thoughts on the topic of immigration. does it make america stronger or weaker? frank is up first on the line for democrats. caller: yes. it will make america strong eventually. we don't go overboard in taking a lot of people. host: explain stronger eventually. is it not making america stronger now? caller: i think there will be more buying power from immigrants. there will be advances to the educational system. host: victor.

silver spring maryland. line for republicans. are you with us this morning? not sure if we have victor. one more try for you. caller: it is making the country a lot weaker. democrats don't want educated people, people with skills, they want the dumbest people they can find to get into this country and then they get a hold of them and make them vote democrats. that is the only what the democrats can get votes now, through letting people through that are stupid. criticism about the president's comments about democrats from the conservative editorial board of "the wall street journal" today saying it is unfortunate and counterproductive that president trump's first instinct has been

to politicize the tragedy by blaming immigration. they say it might call for better monitoring of terror websites and groups more likely to be radicalized. if you want to read more of the editorial board of "the wall street journal," the headline on --t these "trumps imitation "trump's immigration scapegoat." let's go to sylvia. caller: hello? host: go ahead. caller: this immigration thing. my feelings are how about we kick everybody out of this country that is not native americans and see what happens

then? everybody is like, we don't want them, we don't want them, this is just beyond. as far as somebody in america does something bad, they can't understand why. people are only going to be pushed so far before they break. point.dy has a breaking yes, this guy did a horrible thing in new york city, but we don't know what motivated him for sure. maybe he has tried for a long time not to have those thoughts, but he snapped. you don't know. he deserves a fair trial. killed,ys he should be get the lynch mob out. but i have something else i just .ant to fit in real quick on the nbc nightly news, then

announced that president trump is behind 10,000 wild horses being massacred because that is how people want to take over that land. it has been set on fire for those wild horses. host: we will save the wild horses conversation for another time. we are going to focus on immigration on "washington journal." around midnight, the president tweeting out his thoughts on what should happen to the attacker in this new york city terror attack, saying the and asked to happy hang and isis flag in his hospital room. the president, just before midnight. there is that tweet, there are several others on this topic from yesterday. we will look to see what he tweets this morning.

this is a time when he is usually active on twitter. we want to hear your thoughts. does immigration make america stronger or weaker? the pew research center has taken a look at this topic over the years. they have found that americans' views on immigrants are more positive today than they were 20 years ago. back in 1994, they were asked to consider which comes closer to their views, that immigrants burden the country or that immigrants strengthen the country through hard work and talent. in 1994, 63% said that immigrants more likely burden the country. 31% saying they strengthen the country. , that 63%e the switch say immigrants strengthen the country.

phone lines are yours. the numbers are a bit different. democrats, (202) 737-0001. republicans, (202) 737-0002. independents, (202) 628-0205. and a special line this morning for recent immigrants, (202) 628-0184. derek is up next in mississippi. the line for independents. caller: i just want to comment to america about the reason why i'm against the immigration. it hurts african-americans. it has always hurt african-americans. the people that actually built this nation with their blood and souls, they have never gotten any reparations. the system is built on right now. our $2 trillion is what is keeping this economy going. we spend 98% of our money back

with this country. the united states is actually depending on us to stay in our situation like it has depended on us through slavery to stay in our situation and white people are depending on that with their white privilege. they turn a blind eye when they see black people get shot and killed. that is the reason why we are protesting the flag. at the same time, it is not fair. to be the merchants in our community, that is historically going on, with the jewish people, the chinese people, the oriental people, we can't be the owners of our own businesses?

we can't get loans to run our own businesses? but that is the american way. host: appreciate the call. some tweets on the topic. --ol writes in stone says limited immigration will make us stronger. the diverse city visa lottery program is what he is referring to. 1990 andeated in managed by the state department. it issues up to 50,000 visas per year. some 11.4 million applicants for those spots back in 2016. in terms of what is required. adults with a high school diploma or at least two years of recent work experience, nations that have sent 50,000 or more

people to the united states in the past five years cannot participate. winners can bring spouses and minor children and winners do undergo background checks and other vetting. a lot of focus on this program today in the papers in the wake of the president's comments. here is "wall street journal" talking about the two different that havehad -- sides defended and criticized the program. democrats call it a way to ensure that immigrants come from a range of nations and argue that these immigrants are no more likely to become criminals or terrorists. republicans have said that it is vulnerable to fraud and that visas should be for those who bring needed skills.

should note that the visa lottery program, just a very small slice of the overall inbers of people who come through legal immigration channels over the course of any given year, but it got a lot of focus because this was the program that the new york attacker apparently used to come into this country back in 2010. cindy is up next from connecticut on the republican line. does immigration make america stronger or weaker? caller: it is really a loaded question. it is a mixed bag. i think it is a positive for the most part. it depends eu are letting in here, basically. this gentleman who killed eight caree, i'm sorry, i don't what he has been through, he does not have a right to take

life. there is plenty of white privileged people who are unemployed. you don't see them mowing down people. i don't like this race stuff. where people were not looking at skin color before, they are looking at it now. that being said, this gentleman has three children. when these kids grow up, are they going to grow up to love america or are they going to be indoctrinated in the mosque to hate us? oure three kids that he has potential, in 10 years, terrorists. it is like a cancer that can spread. i have no doubt that this program was based on good intentions. down the road, and a lot of things our country does with good intentions turn out to hurt us.

there are immigrants that come here and work, they do not go on the public dole. there are certain groups that come and immediately are put on health care and they just, you know, so i don't think there is really any good answer, but i think it has helped us for the most part. host: in terms of what you brought up earlier about his children and his family, this man apparently is illegal immigrant in 2010, legal permanent resident, had a green card, do you think that his family should be deported in light of these actions? , you know, you should not be punished for what another person does. i think they should be monitored closely without everybody saying it is an infringement on their rights. -- iare going to be raised don't believe this guy tried and he failed.

he could have been a sleeper. you just don't know. i don't believe they should be deported. they might have been born here. i don't know how old they are. i guess they are probably small kids. when you are impressionable and young, they are going to believe what they are taught when they if they are not taught properly to love this country, they are going to hurt us down the road. host: one more question on the fear of infringing their rights, explain that in terms of what we are seeing right now and is that something that we are more concerned about, should be less concerned about? is -- i don'tk it know -- i think in the climate i think we should be less concerned about it. -- we arel monitored

all being monitored. all of our rights are being infringed upon. in the name of safety, i don't mind. if you are not doing anything wrong, you shouldn't worry about being monitored. host: cindy in connecticut. one other issue that president trump said yesterday at that cabinet meeting yesterday is is tooe united states concerned about political correctness. here are some more of his comments. [video clip] will taketrump: we all necessary steps to protect their people and our communities and to protect our nation as a whole. we have to get much tougher, we have to get much smarter, and we have to get much less politically correct. we are so politically correct that we are afraid to do anything. that is not only our country,

that is other countries too that are having similar problems. we have to get tough, we have to get smart, we have to do what's right to protect their citizens. host: one more editorial to show you as we are having this conversation about immigration. this is the editorial board of the "washington post," saying that having reaped political advantage as a candidate in vilifying illegal immigrants, president trump has set his sights on legal migrants from a handful of mostly muslim countries, who he would like america to see as an undifferentiated mass of potentially violent interlopers. that is the editorial board of the "washington post." does immigration make america stronger or weaker?

state.ere in washington line for democrats. go ahead. caller: hi. i think that trump is right, president trump is right in not letting immigrants come over. i think if they are not on drugs, they can be good people. the same goes for our own country. , they aree on drugs doing everything against the law. i think drugs do terrible things to people. the other countries have worse drugs than what hours is -- ours is. that is what messed up our world. when i was young, i never heard of any killing at all. you think the way is better drug screening? caller: since the drugs came out

, you hear about killings every day. york,suzanne is in new the line for democrats. caller: good morning. a few points. the president is totally using this tragedy for political fodder. according to the reports come this terrorist was radicalized in the past year using websites and social media, not when he arrived in 2010. to talk about the death penalty is exactly giving him what he wants. he wants to die to sacrifice for what he has done. that is the greatest honor. we are a country of melting pots. this is always been a melting pot country. --another previous country

, we can all trace our roots to immigrants. we should welcome immigrants. finally, the woman from connecticut who spoke about monitoring the kids of this guy? then we have to monitor the children of every person who espouses hate in this country, including white supremacists and we need to monitor them too. this is all pure mongering. it is making everybody fearful and that is what the president's harping on because that is how he gets his base riled up. in harrisburg, pennsylvania, line for republicans. go ahead. caller: yes. i liked all your previous callers. i thought that was pretty good. in 1956. was born

my father was an immigrant. he was croatian. he became the president of the united states steelworkers. for the whole united states steelworkers of america and we used to go to atlantic city, new jersey every year. i remember that with the boardwalk and all that and that was wonderful. i will tell you what. i think it makes us stronger. however, we do live in a different age, where we do need preciselyple more because there are a lot of people that are let in that we know that should not be here and we don't follow them. all following the procedures. my god.

we need to get more agents on the ground infiltrating mosques and whatsoever and that is not racial to say that. we need to have more agents on the ground. rights where we messed up now in this day and age. that are just monitoring, infiltrating through the internet and everything. are they coming income are they doing this and that? no, we need people on the ground. to stop that. host: when you say that we need to infiltrate mosques and monitor mosques, you major in -- made sure to say it is not racial to say that. why did you say that? caller: i did not understand your question. host: why did you make sure to say that it is not racial to say we should infiltrate

mosques. caller: because people take at the wrong way, saying you are criticizing muslim americans. that's not what i'm trying to say. is a lottrying to say of the terrorists are beginning their plots in the mosques and we don't infiltrate them like we used to a long time ago. we used to have federal agents outside the mosque, potential people, we used to follow them and see where they were going. none of this was even known to the public. and we just eliminated that it is all on the new technology. well, that is not working. because this idiot that came over here -- and i'm sorry, i have to admit, yes, he should get the death penalty -- what the hell is going on?

try to watch our language as we are having this conversation this morning. this topic of immigration, what should be done in the wake of attack is the subject of plenty of conversation on capitol hill. minority leader chuck schumer took to the senate floor at its opening yesterday morning to talk about it, to talk about his concerns with the president's reaction. [video clip] >> i've always believed that immigration is good for america. i believe it today. trump, instead of politicizing and dividing america, which he always seems to do at times of national should be bringing us together and focusing on the real solutions, anti-terrorism funding, which he proposed to cut in his most recent budget. so, i'm calling on the president

trump to rescind his proposed cuts to this vital anti-terrorism funding immediately. our city relies on this funding to track potential terrorists. to snuff out attacks. who bravely and quickly responded to the scene yesterday and brought the mayhem to an end depends on this anti-terrorism funding to keep the city safe. again, i'm calling on the president to rescind his proposed cuts to this vital anti-terrorism funding immediately. instead of dividing, do something real, mr. president. restore the funding now. host: that was minority leader

ofck schumer on the floor the senate. it is coming up on 7:30 on the east coast in this first segment of "washington journal." we are talking about immigration in america, whether you think it is making the country stronger or weaker. democrats, (202) 737-0001. republicans, (202) 737-0002. .ndependents, (202) 628-0205 a special line for recent immigrants, (202) 628-0184. donnie is waiting on our line for democrats on the line in kentucky. caller: good morning. the immigration deal don't hurt americans, it don't make them weaker, it don't make them stronger. trump, he has got america

divided. he's the weakest leader i've ever seen. he is a liar himself. the press secretary. they need to change. impeach him and sent him back to new york. that's all i have to say about it. host: we have that line for recent immigrants. we want to hear your stories, the process for you. ed is on the line from maryland. caller: hi. can you hear me? host: yes, sir. i'm an immigrant. i'm a medical doctor and a research scientist. [indiscernible]

caller: providing jobs and security for so many people. i also argue that special attention should be placed on particular sectors. special attention should be placed on the islamic sectors because the majority of the radicalization that we are seeing is coming from that sector. i support the president in paying special attention to them . , increasingty watchlists. the immigration process. merit-based immigration process. host: can i ask you what the process was for you in terms of bedding and background checks? caller: it took me three years to get into this country. it took me three years.

it was really tough. of myid a lot of vetting accounts, my history, my jobs. eventually, i got in and i'm contributing immensely to the economy. i have contributed, so it is a mutual thing. -- last thing a want to say that guns haves killed more people than immigrants in this country. generally what i'm saying is that immigrants have done their role. [indiscernible] all right. that is ed in maryland.

on that special line for recent immigrants, we do want to hear your stories, the process for you, the line is (202) 628-0184. we played that clip from chuck schumer on the floor of the senate just a minute ago. the president yesterday also blaming chuck schumer for the immigration policy that allowed the new york city attacker to enter the united states back in 2010, blaming him for the diversity visa lottery program. coming to chuck schumer's defense was a republican, jeff flake from arizona, recently announced he would not be running again for his seat in the senate, but tweeting out yesterday --

talking about the comprehensive immigration proposal effort that tried to move forward in 2013 past the senate, it did not pass the house. flake talking about chuck schumer's involvement in that. , does asking you immigration make america stronger or weaker? john is in roanoke, virginia, independent. good morning. are you with us? caller: hello? host: go ahead. you are on the "washington journal." tell you what, we will go on to dan in kentucky. the line for republicans. caller: yes.

forgotten have really what has been going on here since 2001. about the lives of the ones that have been lost. no one is thinking about their rights. they don't have no more rights because they are passed now. we have just really forgotten where we have been for the last 16 years. so many people are worried about this guy who killed these people, but there forgetting about the rights of the ones that have passed away. i don't know what the answer is. but here he is wanting the isis flag in his room. i think they ought to have american flags all over the room

to let him know where he is really at. president going on with the death penalty, i don't know about that. i think they ought to ship the terrorists down to gitmo and keep them down there. for life. talk about the president not really caring about the people if the senate would help him do his job, i think he would be one of the best presidents in this century. have had division for the last eight years. host: two points you bring up. this picture getting a lot of attention over the past 24 hours. this is a group of high school

classmates from argentina who flew to new york on saturday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their graduation. their reunion turned tragic when the pickup truck allegedly driven by sayfullo saipov careened into the friends, killing five of the eight men in that picture. you also bring up what the president said should be done with the attackers. sending thepossibly attacker to guantanamo bay, to .he prison there senator lindsey graham cannot to push the president to declare the attacker an enemy combatant. here is his press conference. [video clip]

number one,am: senator schumer has supported legislation to do away with the lottery system. apparently this man came in through the lottery system. although it's a to the president was that count me in for wanting to eliminate the lottery system for merit-based immigration. but mr. president, the real decision you have to make in real time is not about changing the lottery system, which is a legislative agenda that will take time, but are you going to invoke your power to declare this man as an unlawful enemy combatant and gather intelligence versus reading him his miranda rights? >> [indiscernible] senator graham: i think the president wants immigration reform, count me in. i know what senator schumer is willing to do with the lottery,

he's willing to change it. i'm not here to talk about how to reform immigration in the next 12 hours. they're going to have to make a decision that is going to continue a practice that is going to make america less safe or adjust policies. i'm here to urge the president approach toe obama fighting the war on terror. you need to treat it as a war. host: if you missed that press conference, always available online at c-span's website, c-span.org. our c-span video archive celebrating their 30th anniversary year this year. yesterday orened 30 years ago, you can always find it there. we want to take you through a few of the other headlines happening today as we are having this discussion. plenty of other news. we mentioned the tax bill

release, the republican plan for their tax reform proposal expected to happen about 11:15 today. we are also going to be talking about this story. tapident trump is set to jerome powell as fed chair, as federal reserve governor. he is expected to be named to that position. he would have to go through a confirmation process. we will talk a little bit more about that later in our program. then this story on the front page of the "new york times" and several other papers. .ocusing on these hearings when it comes to major tech topanies and it comes , "congressbuys scolds tech companies over russia" is the headline in "the

new york times." bipartisan frustration. thatare some of the ads were displayed at the hearing from the "wall street journal." being released by the various tech companies and their ad impressions come out if people saw them during the 2016 election. if you missed any of those hearings, you can watch them at c-span.org on our video archive. back to your calls about immigration, whether you think it makes the country stronger or weaker. thomas is in daytona beach, florida. a democrat. caller: good morning. i have three points to make. i think it makes us weaker. reasons is because i think it drives down wages. know, we have people coming out of college that are having

finding a job. companies will hire an immigrant who will work for less. two -- host: does it help people in this country of that person is a legal residents living in this country? i think we have people coming out of college now that are having trouble finding jobs, so they don't need to be with immigrants from another country. , theottery system president was president george , ih, the first george bush

don't see how he can blame the democrats when it was a republican who was the man who signed that deal. is that we are divided enough in this country. is that out ofs the last three presidential elections, two of those, the democrats got more votes and still lost. we are supposed to be in a country where majority rules, whether the republicans like it or not. technicality is what is inping this country together -- together. bit of history about the visa diversity lottery program. 2007, the nonpartisan

government accountability office looked into the diversity visa program. here are some of their findings from a report that came out at that time. this is just three years before in the new attacker york incident came to the country in 2010. here is what the gao found. in 2003, the inspector general fromd concerns that aliens countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism could apply for diversity visas.

assessment back 10 years ago, just three years before the alleged attacker came to the united states. if you want to see that report itself, the gao makes its reports available on their website, gao.gov. you can read through it yourself. rachel is in alexandria, virginia, a democrat. good morning. caller: i just wanted to say that i feel that immigration makes the country stronger and i agree with some of the previous scholars that said this is a lot of fear mongering on the part of the president and it is also periods ofg and in our history when immigrants have been scapegoated have been some of the darkest times in our nation's history. i'm thinking partially of the 1860's and during the civil war when irish immigrants were

scapegoated and ended up in draft riots in new york. that was one of the reasons. additionally, i feel like a lot of people in this country forget that most of us are immigrants and that they are too far removed from that immigrant past, where as -- i'm not. my aunt is an immigrant from central america and my grandmother came over from germany in 1952. in my experience, those two ladies love the country and believe in the country more than most nativeborn americans that i come into contact with. host: thanks for the call, rachel. dave in ohio, line for independents. you are up next. i would say that immigration has to be strong for this country. the reason why i state that is because we are at a record low of birth rate in this country. we are at a negative birth rate. like it or not, this country is

going to have to immigrate people, just to maintain ourselves. in the future, we are going to be in a race between us and other industrial countries like japan, which also has a negative birth rate. that is about basically all i have. you have a good day. host: dave, appreciate your call. want to to show you some members of congress. criticism from democrats contrasting the president's response in the wake of this attack compared to the president's response to the las vegas shooting. chris murphy, a strong advocate of increased gun control legislation, tweeted yesterday, killer is it, if the an immigrant you can talk about policy change." congressman lou barletta is a republican from pennsylvania

talking about the visa lottery program. david purdue, senator from torgia, one of the sponsors move toward a more merit-based immigration system. he tweeted yesterday -- a couple more calls. reese is in westwood, california. does immigration make the united states stronger or weaker? caller: if you want to stop terrorism, you need to bomb the cia back to -- host: we are going to hold off bombing the cia. we are not going to have any discussion about that this alex is in marquez

california. yes, yes, yes. some of these people don't know jesus. if they don't know, you know, they just don't know. to --mmigrants, they need you know? they don't know. host: i'm sorry. are you saying people should get to know immigrants in the united states and get to know them better to understand what they go through? caller: some of them, they don't know jesus.

some people don't know jesus. we went to church last week and we asked as she was an immigrant and she did not know jesus. she did not know nobody. host: we will go to dorothy in clinton township, michigan. believe thatpen to immigration makes america thatger, but the thing is people don't understand is that we have always had immigration and people got treated better and better. when you have people coming and undocumented, they are called illegal aliens. they are not even immigrants. immigrants are people who come in and do it the right way. i knew his family from serbia and they all came and it cost

them thousands of dollars. it took them years to get it finalized, but they did it the right way. immigration is a good thing, but when it is not legal and we don't know who these people are that these types of things happen. it is happening on a regular basis in other countries too because of the open border policies that the democrats hold. is a diversity lottery to make the immigrant bool immigrant pool more diverse, is that a good thing? caller: i don't think a diverse lottery makes a difference much. i think that people who want to come and anybody that wants to come should be able to come as long as they do it the right way, fairly, and have to go through all the hoops that will make them legal. host: the editorial board of the "washington times" taking on the topic of the diversity visa

lottery saying it is typical of bazaar approach -- bizarre approach to immigration. if you want to read more on that , today's "washington times." franken virginia. caller: good morning. my name is frank. i would say you need immigration that will make america great. they are foreign-born. the people in high tax brackets, they are foreign-born. immigration should be skill-based.

skills,d evaluate their that is the way it is being done in canada, australia, and it has contributed very positively to their economies. the problem is that families of immigrants are coming. many of them don't have any skills. they end up becoming a burden on the taxpayer's. our last caller in this segment. caller: yes, i'm also a recent immigrant. not just a republican. i think america is being weakened by the way immigration is implemented now. of thelly because intention, but not the skill of

keeping diversity. i think a lot of the new immigrants are liberal. and they bring with them ideas a hero, guevara was when he was really a demented murderer. a lot of people even from romania are confused. they come from a country that has been oppressed by communism for 50, 70 years and they don't realize that this is a country that needs a balance between democrats and republicans. they need to value the american values that are ready exist here, not bringing their own values from their own countries. caller in this

segment of the "washington journal." i did want to show your president trump's latest tweets. a few minutesst ago. we had a discussion about what might happen to the attacker in the new york city case. the president tweeting -- again reiterating his call for the death penalty. we will keep you updated if there is more today from the president. up next, we will talk to freshman republican congressman matt gaetz and we will talk about today's rollout of the republican tax reform bill. later today, we will be joined

by democratic congressman tim ryan from ohio to talk about the trump administration's response to the opioid crisis. first, c-span's 50 capitals tour continues this morning. we wanted to show you a live shot of the bus spending the day in texas. we will talk to former democratic state senator wendy davis and former texas republican party chairman james dickey. that is coming up this morning on the "washington journal." ♪ this weekend, c-span's cities ctour takes you to sioux falls, south dakota. we will highlight the history and literary life of sioux falls. saturday at six a copy of eastern on book tv, a look at the history of native american citizenship in the u.s. with the book "broken landscape." is known asve what

sovereignty, they have the authority from their pre-constitutional existence as self-governing sovereigns and that is the position that tribes take him of that they are self-governing sovereigns within their territory. >> and the author of the book "outlaw dakota," about judge shannon and frontier justice. >> few were caught stealing a horse, if you were taking it away from any settlement from ranch country, they would hang you. that happened quite frequently. that was what you call frontier justice or rough justice. >> on sunday at 2:00 p.m. eastern, we will tour fort dakota to explore the u.s. history of the military's role in the west. >> and was called fort dakota. it was really one of many fourth established throughout the region and it was established to provide a sense of safety and security for those settlers

here. >> we will also take a driving to her of sioux falls. >> we are on one of the main thoroughfares of sioux falls, south dakota. phillips avenue. named for one of the first settlers of dakota territory. josiah philips. >> watch the cities tour of sioux falls, south dakota saturday at 6:00 p.m. eastern. tour, workingies with our cable partners as we explore america. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we welcome to our desk for the first time republican congressman matt gaetz. he represents florida's first district covering the state's panhandle and sits on the judiciary and armed services committees. glad to have you with us.

with the anticipated announcement today, republicans are about to release their tax plan, we have been talking about it for a long time. i know you are headed to a meeting pretty soon, so you might have to leave early, but what can you tell us about the details of this tax plan? guest: we are excited that the republican tax plan will simplify the tax code, it will broaden the base of taxpayers, so that we can lower rates of all americans, and really get the economy moving again. we would like to see more robust gdp growth. we think that there are specific features of this tax plan that can make a substantial contribution. first would be bringing back the trillions of dollars in assets that are currently overseas as a consequence of a tax code that seems to disadvantage america to the betterment of other jurisdictions by having one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. bringing those dollars back will inject some immediate vibrance into our economy. we are also excited about bringing down the corporate tax rate.

because we have one of the highest tax rates in the world come into many americans are not able to see that same opportunity for wage growth or advancement in their careers. by bringing our tax rate in line with a more competitive tax rate of other countries that are our peers and competitors, we think we can really get back in the game economically speaking. features.two we also suspect that individual tax rates will be lowered. we will have a system or nine out of every 10 americans will do their taxes on a postcard. , you again, this tax plan were going to find out about it in a republican conference meeting coming up. we will find out more about it at 11:15 with this press conference featuring house republican leaders. we will be showing a live on c-span3, c-span.org, you can also listen to it on c-span radio. where we are today without the budget process we went through.

we talk a lot about on the program. republicansof 20 who voted against the budget resolution. had it happened that way, we wouldn't need tax reform now. we could have gotten to attacks will by cutting spending as well. i am all for tax cuts but also spending cuts. as a member of the budget committee, i have seen the $20 trillion debt moving toward $30 trillion of debt. while in the business of cutting taxes, i believe in the house budget which cuts spending by $200 billion. wasunited states senate unwilling to cut even a nickel of spending. i would have preferred to work senate where the cut spending so whatever tax

we develop, it does not contribute to rising debts in the future. host: cut spending so whatever ? would you support plan that doesn't add -- in the short term we can add to the deficit -- deficit if there is a long-term plan that a widow -- that would allow us to long-term growth. my preference would be to do these things at the same time. to get the full value out of tax reform, we also have to have welfare reform, the type of spending cut we advocated for in the house budget. host: where do you draw the line and what is too much for you? guest: it depends on what the projections show for growth. we cannot look at a one year or two year window p or do we have to look at a 10 year window and as this tax bill to rate the rising water that

lists all boats, or does it contribute to 15 years of generational debt. i am one of the youngesti am ons of congress and i look at these deficits grimly. if we don't deal with the rising al is up first in buffalo, new york, democrats. good morning. i have people who live there.

they are getting properties stripped or a road comes through their from a two way to a four way. if we are going to do this tax what provisions are legal? some say this is what we want to it is sometimes like we are on nickels and dimes. make, i am a will veteran of 21 years and i cannot see taking a cut as far as being a veteran. host: i appreciate your comment. guest: first, i appreciate your

service to our country. woulduction in spending negatively impact veterans. the most substantive legislation the congress has put on president trump's desk has allowed him to make structural reforms that would increase the quality of care veterans receive . over 700 people who were previously not meeting commitments to veterans have atn relieved of their duties the v.a. and more than money, structural change will improve quality for veterans. widening ind a road florida. that is not something members of congress vote on. it is more state and local level. it is worth noting that one of the reasons we have infrastructure challenges as people want to live in florida. it has the lowest per capita state taxes in america and it shows that if you cut taxes and have more taxpayers, need can have five prints in the economy

and the need for infrastructure and growth. as for details of the tax lan, we will learn more but our estimation is regular people throughout the country can see a $4000 savings on the taxes. we will see more details but that is the scope and range we expect to have any impact it will have on american families. host: there has been uncertainty the details of the bill have started to come out here the washington post reporting kevin bill introduced will not permanently lower corporate tax rate to 20% and instead, the cut would be temporary and reduction would aspire around eight years. that is not exactly what the president was promising when he talks about permanent corporate tax cuts. guest: it is a fluid process. ideas are introduced and there is a committed -- committee

process and those are honed and we will be able to choose which priorities are most important to the country as we continue to govern on the issues. i will be supporting changes to that will achieve the objective for others, different types of deductions are important. for me, cutting the corporate tax rate will really create jobs and wage growth we would love to see. host: a call from florida, sean is an independent. caller: good morning. suggest to you you are referring to the failed trickle-down economic policy. of my career, i worked for a tax firm. we had one doctor that came in and he made cash and not stocks and bonds or anything else. $365,000. expertsime all the tax

were through with him and attorneys, he qualified for welfare and food stamps. i would like to suggest this is not a reality at -- in any way, shape, or form. a flat tax of 5% goes to state authority and 5% to the federal authority, and you have to live within those means. thank you and a pleasant good morning. guest: you are speaking my

guest: you are speaking my language with the national tax. i am a sponsor of that tax. i would absolutely support the system you described over the one weguest: you are speaking my language with the national tax. i am a sponsor of that tax. i would absolutely support the system you described over the one we have. we unfortunately do not have the votes to pass that. it excludes stays up to $11 million for a couple. this is a perk for the donor glass. how do you justify that? guest: easily by saying the money people made throughout their lives has already been tax. one reason i support abolishing

the death tax is it is a double taxation on people. abolishing the death tax is it is a double taxation on people. it is money tax at the time it was earned. good morning.g is we thank you, c-span. host: thank you for calling. what is your question? caller: i am glad to see him working on taxation. it is so high and the united states and it went up, and i am

not a kid and my parents have been married 73 years. there are seven generations of us our republicans will work together and get this done. the commentreciate you are you make a point about republican unity and republicans working together. i have neveryou is seen republicans as unified on capitol hill. everyone understands the importance of getting tax cuts passed. i look forward to getting it done just as the american people have demanded. our host: -- r paul ryan and mitch mcconnell

unified? sit nexte colleagues i to on the floor understand that tax reform is do or die for the party right now. after fumbling on health care, notolleagues understand the truth isaxes really unlock the potential of the american economy.

if you look at connections between russia and the hillary clinton campaign, the key nexus is the uranium one deal where the clinton foundation and president clinton presumably could -- received a great deal of consideration in exchange for the uranium one transaction being approved. mr. mueller was intimately atolved in that in his role the department of justice. as an attorney, i would apply the same standard to robert mueller as any other lawyer. if you have potentially been involved in a transaction, you cannot possibly be the lawyer in the process of scrutinizing or investigating that transaction. the connections between hillary clinton, her husband, the clinton campaign, and russia, necessarily would exclude robert mueller as the person to be able to pursue that. the mueller think investigation should continue without him in that role? guest: we have had a great deal of investigation in congress and special counsel.

if paul manafort was moving money around in dubious ways, i don't know the we have got some to continue to pursue. >> is there going to be any effort to quantify the savings to the economy in terms of the symbols location thinking with respect to taxpayer advocates and estimates to thenumbers and costs american economy complying with tax code.

and is there going to be an opportunity for reevaluating the itemized deductions people, to take specifically, i do not feel people should be allowed to write off their state and local taxes and mortgage interest expenses. obviously, a lot of people do not qualify for deductions related to home ownership. host: let me let the congressman take it up. guest: you are right this implication of the tax code alone makes a substantial contribution to the economy. the we really around at legislation and add details, we will get a congressional budget office score that will tell us a lot about the savings the average american can expect when you do not have to go to lawyers and accounts just to get your taxes done. by doubling the standard deduction, you will have fewer

people itemizing, as you described and nine out of every 10 americans will be able to fill out taxes on a postcard. that is something the american people are really looking forward to. a system that is fair and easy to comply with and that will increase participation in the system. a lot of people do not pay taxes because it is complicated. when it is fair and easy, we will have greater compliance and the confidence -- confidence of the american people that we have a system working for them. host: we will let you rent your meeting. guest: thanks. i enjoyed it. host: more of your phone calls and a preview of president trump's's announcement later today where he is expected to announce his new federal reserve chair. we will later talk to tim ryan but it is open phones up next. you can start to call. the phone lines are on your screen. later foro stay tuned the continuation of c-span's 50 capitals tour.

capital city of austin. we will talk to wendy davis and the texan -- texas republican party chairman. ♪ >> he has been called a chronicler of our age. guestl lewis will be our sunday. books have in common interesting characters in interesting situations. is, if you can attach the reader to the character at thebeginning of the book, -- they will follow the character anywhere.

realize the lives of these people you have come to know turn on that, you know. life.a very powerful the origins of literature. >> mr. lewis is the author of several books including money ball, the big short, and his most recent, the undoing project. during our live three-hour conversation, your calls, tweets, and facebook questions. watch in-depth with walker -- author michael lewis live on booktv on c-span two. >> "washington journal" continues. for the nextones 30 minutes this morning. we want to hear from you on policy issues you want to talk about.

phone lines -- we turn them over to you. janet, line for democrats, what do you want to talk about? for -- obamalaming for everything he has done. he tried hard and was not perfect but he was not responsible for the deficit. biggestg bush made a deficit in history. $3 trillion every other day for that war. reagan put that in us to begin with p or he spent social security, all the money, he kills people deliberately -- borrowed for four

--rs and then clinton got in social security and then the new havelied to congress to that war and was borrowing $3 trillion every day for that war. and they said on c-span he made the biggest deficit in history -- got your point. president obama is back in the yesterday, the campaign slogan of hope and change as he closed his foundation's first summit launching his post-presidency initiative to foster young, civic leaders. president obama held the invitation only summit in chicago for 500 hand-picked young leaders from 60 nations and 27 u.s. states to share ideas and hear speakers

including britain's prince harry along with artists, activists, and politicians. in texas, gary, line for republicans. caller: can you hear me? host: yes. think there ist anything wrong with immigrants coming over here. some are more talented than americans are. should have social security numbers of some kind and pay taxes like the regular white man does. they should be no difference, they should beginning the same kind of pay. the same pay that the black man does because they work just as hard and sometimes even harder. the united states is being burglarized every day. every day, stuff is going down there. warehouses in five where you can just drive in and pay them a fee and drive to the other side of the border and for

a fee, you get a carload of immigrants -- ask you. me you are fine with the legal immigration system in the united states hear you say that is working but illegal immigration is the problem. >> every day i see truckloads of stuff going south. most of the time, they are going through the gate. that is gary in texas. our question for viewers is whether you think immigration makes the country stronger or weaker. pew research poll on american views when it comes to immigrants over the past 20 .ears respondents were asked to consider whether their view on immigration was adding strength

to the country or burdening them. in 2016, 63% of respondents said it strengthened the country and 27% said it earned and the country. you can see the changes in the chart from the pew research foundation. peterson, kentucky, line for independents. good morning. i am a a black man, 55 years old. kentucky,inner-city, 90% white predominately. i listened to the senator the other day making references to the confederate monuments. he made references about history. between donald trump and mr. kelly, these people have exemplified a level of ignorance and hatred towards black people that is indicative of the white house. mr. trump with his comments about the congresswoman, calling whowacky and general kelly,

lied about what he heard in the conversation and lied and misrepresented what the congresswoman said, i think that type of attitude is bad for the country and really shows from the top of the white house, they really have a strong hatred of black people, and it is truly sad, but it is true. that is what is going on now and it is sad but true. how do you feel about race relations today compared to the past? caller: race relations are better in terms of individuals. a lot of what people learned from parents and grandparents, i lived here and i have been here 33 years. there are a lot of biracial people and young people who are white, born in a generation told to preserve their whiteness and never to marry or intermingle with blacks. below people do not listen to

that and they follow their heart. so race relations in general as far as individuals, are good in terms of improvement. but there are still older people who still want to hold onto the ideology that white is right and somehow they are losing out if other people are brought into the mainstream of america. host: thanks for the call from kentucky. guesses in ohio, the line for democrats. go ahead. i was listening to the republican senator about his tax cuts. , who was justtz on? caller: yes. he was talking about how great these tax cuts are supposed to be. the reagan era when ronald reagan was president. they have the trickle-down theory, where they think the economy was supposed to be boosted up, giving the wealthiest people in the country

a tax cut, and it will trickle down to everyone else. economy back then was terrible. we had over 10% unemployment. there was no money coming in and at the end, they had to raise taxes to bring money back into the country. thato-called reagan era the republicans think they remember, they made it so glorious that it was great but it was not. it was one of the worst presidencies that i had to go through. now they are going to do this again. they tell you all the tax cuts will happen but how will they make up the revenue? they want to cut spending, on where? medicare, medicaid, veterans, and other programs that are vital to the country. this,sonally, you know

rose garden that they are proposing to us does not work. it is all for the wealthiest people in the country and trump's cabinet. it has nothing to do with the common good. you watch the press conference today at 11:15 with republican leaders releasing the plan? and you will hear all the soundbites that they use. they do not tell you the truth. they just holler it like it will be one of the greatest things in the world and it is not here and like i said, they are cutting billions or trillions of dollars and the money has got to be made up somehow. who is going to pay for it? the press conference is happening at a 11:15 p reviewers

want to join gus in watching it, we are airing it live this morning on c-span3 when it happens. you can check it out on c-span.org and the c-span radio app and the ways and means committee chairman kevin brady who has been deeply involved in writing this tax reform bill will be there. of course speaker paul ryan and the majority leader -- kevin mccarthy. jim is in new york, independent. good morning. >> on wanted to reference the congressman before, someone asked about doing away with the estate tax and he gives the same answer they all do that the money has already been taxed and it is double taxation's. the person who is taxed no longer exists or the people who are being taxed are the living people inheriting the money. it is a source of income and they should be taxed. maybe they could double it. the small businesses could probably still stay in business.

but the higher income people in the super wealthy should still pay some kind of tax to the death of a relative or whatever. i do not like the argument of double taxation. the person is not being taxed again. that person no longer exist. why do away with it so only the wealthy -- people on the borderline, you can give them a break. but why do we have to do away with it altogether? i don't understand that. if sheldon whitehouse ever runs for president, he is a democrat, i would vote for him. would love to see a white house in the white house. in new york this morning. in massachusetts, line for william.ns,

good morning. it is open phones. caller: good morning my name is william joseph. i am from massachusetts. a couple comments. first of all, mr. trump should not be involved in any tax laws and changes until he provides income tax himself. it looks like he never files taxes. he never provided in the information for the general public. both like he never filed taxes for 12 years. now -- talking about changing the tax law? i was listening to the first republican guy -- host: matt gaetz.

caller: talking about lowering the tax for low income people. the tax for low 10% topeople informed 12%. is what they call lowering the tax to low income? from 10 to 12? the second thing is -- thosewe will take comments and continue with open phones in just a minute. we want to focus on the president's announcement today for his pick for chair of the board of governors for the federal reserve position. ,e take you out to arlington virginia, politico headquarters out there. we are joined by a financial services reporter from politico. good morning. we have been hearing the name

jerome powell as the president's's pick. who is jerome powell and is that pic still on track? >> yes. the pic is still on track. he is currently a member of the federal reserve board and was nominated by president obama in 2012. but he is a republican. he was in georgia -- george h.w. bush's treasury department. has a background in investment banking and private equity and briefly worked at the bipartisan policy center where he was involved in talking with republicans about consequences of breaching the debt ceiling. he has a lot of experience in public debt and financial regulation, which will play a if ultimately confirmed by the senate to this position. host: what does the pic signal for the future of the fed? guest: it is a continuity pic

and that jay powell has voted with janet yellen on everything will decision she has made as chair. the senate is a consensus-based organization. it is largely a continuity pic republican, asa i said and probably slightly for more deregulation than janet yellen would be, and so he sort on maybe a republican spin what janet yellen has been doing it he is also not an economist a practicalore of financial markets experience to the position which would be a change from the last several fed shares. if continuity is part of what the president is looking for, why not janet yellen? we heard her name as well. caller: -- is opposed by a lot of conservative republicans and would probably have a rougher

time in the senate than powell. also, he said he wants to make his own mark on the fed and i think he wants to have his own person and their. he has repeatedly praised yellen since he has become the president. he is definitely -- he seems to like her but i think he wants to have his own pick. the: can you talk about confirmation process, how this works, how long does it usually take? guest: the senate banking committee will be the committee that takes it up. on track, nominees for fed chair are typically nominated around october and november. so janet yellen's term is up at the beginning of february. the senate has to confirm him before then. he is expected to be confirmed and the democrats wanted janet yellen and the republicans generally wanted someone more conservative. they have talked about john taylor or kevin worship.

but powell is, most senators seem more or less ok with him. it is not to say he will get yes votes from everyone but he is expected to easily clear the 51 vote threshold. host: in your story about the upcoming pic, you note that unlike janet yellen, powell was trained as a lawyer rather than in economist, though he has worked in the financial world for a lot of his career. issue for him in the senate confirmation hearing? guest: potentially. the people who are fed observers and work at the fed, they do not seem to view that as as much as a handicap because he has been at the fed for five years, but it is definitely a different style and it raises questions about how much he would have to lean on staff in times of crisis, given that he is not an economist himself.

it remains to be seen how much of an issue that will be in the confirmation process. interest rates always a closely watched indicator, when we talk about the federal reserve hear what is inspected to happen with interest rates under a leadership -- powell leadership? of a: he is viewed as more neutral fed board member p or what i mean is he is not necessarily inclined to be more aggressive about inflation or more aggressive about unemployment. is not completely clear what his philosophy is chair would be, but as i said previously, he has voted with janet yellen on all of her decisions, and she has been chair and he also voted with ben bernanke before that. has considerable buy into what the fed has done in recent years. so for a lot of the things the fed is doing, it will be winding back some of the support it

provided for the economy, quantitative easing, which basically the fed bought one -- trillions of dollars in bonds. and the process for that is set in motion. powell would be expected to continue that. how aggressively he might raise rates in the future, that depends on what the economy does , but like i said. for host: what the fed has been doing. kenny -- for what the fed is been doing. host: as the press is a and confirmation goes through? guest: the fed's's top policymaking body, the open market committee just met this week and they announced yesterday, they are keeping the main borrowing rate which affects interest rates the same. it is currently between one and one and one quarter percent. but they are expected to raise rates by another quarter percent in december.

the statement yesterday gave no indication that the plans have changed. islooks like a december hike still on track and that will depend on what happens with inflation because the fed typically raises rates as a guard against prices going up and inflation has been weak, which has made people question whether aggressive rate hikes are really needed to the fed has been taking a more gradual approach. that will be something we will watch and the next month. the next meeting is december 12 through 13th. go, who willyou you watch in the confirmation hearings? whose questions will be the toughest for jerome powell as he starts to move through the process after the expected nomination today? senators to me and scott .oted against powell

i'm sure they will have tough why he did not speak up more in terms of, you know, some of the regulations rolled out under janet yellen, the person in charge of that was and power to them closely. i am sure they will have and hiss about that views. elizabeth warren, i am not sure where she is what she is someone to watch in those hearings. she tends to be pretty tough, particularly on president trump's nominees. watchare the main ones to . the vote is extremely important. he has also reported against .owell host: politico and their

reporting through all of this. a financial services reporter there, i appreciate your time. guest: thank you. host: back to open phones. policy to hear about any issue you want to talk about. the phone lines are yours. tammy is waiting in st. louis, missouri, the line for democrats. i just wanted to comment they are reform that debating in congress. i know we do not have all the details, but what they have been likeng at, it seems to me it will not really be a tax cut for everyone. it seems like some people get a tax cut and some people will pay more. wage earners making a higher income will see a lot of deductions they use no longer

available and they just have to pay the standard deduction. cut outope when people the plan, people will pay attention to the details and not just listen to rhetoric and what people are trying to spin it as. whether or not you think it is a good idea, people can disagree about it but i think that is what it is and i hope people will realize that. that is my comment. a detail we are expecting to hear today is a bill and reduce by house republicans will not permanently lower the tax rate to 28%. the cut would be temporary and the reduction was buyer around eight years, according to the person briefed on the planning who was not authorized to disclose details, reporting and today's washington post. that would be different from what president trump promised as he talked about changes to corporate tax rates as the

process has moved along. we will all find out together at 11:1530 and watch live on c-span three. gary, louisiana, republican, go ahead. caller: i really don't have a comment about the tax thing. about what iomment perceive to be the relation -- race relations in this country at this time. trump and he was not my first choice. i would've preferred rubio, ted cruz, or bush. in my opinion, once you get past , i do not like his style, but once you get past the way he says and listen to what he is actually saying, by and large, he is usually right on were very close to it. host: give me an example. caller: immigration. i have lived around the world a hasle bit and every country

their antenna up about immigration these days and the native people of those countries usually, by and large, do not want the country to be changed. in my opinion, if i may comment, if i am still there, barack obama was out to change demographics of the country. his immigration policies were open borders and etc. say isam trying to wanted people of color to dominate society. he did everything he could to affect that. host: to what end? caller: to have them control the

country, ok? in my opinion, he was out to minorities the dominant people in this country. i know that is harsh to say, but the facts can sometimes be rough. if you really look at him, and you want to talk about lying, people much forget, you keep your plan, you can keep your doctor, the family will save $2500, he attended reverend wright''s church for 25 years and did not know what was going on and what was being said? you know -- you think do president trump's's goal is when it comes to race relations in this country? think, you know what, go back to charlottesville. what were all those black, red,

and green flags being waved around? were those not white nationalist flags, black liberation flags? did you hear anything about that on the news? no. no you did not. sometimes, he does not say things the way i would say it, or other practice politicians, but there is no way that i believe that he meant anything racial. and i think he was right. there were good people on each side, ok? not dominateey did the situation, but they were there. you, youk, i will tell know what, as i say, we will not solve this race problem until white people get a backbone and call it what it is. when do you ever hear about black racism? from my life experience every black racism is alive and

well today in the u.s. i think the news media is afraid to touch that subject but it is there. thank you for your time. host: it is open phones on "the washington journal." line for democrats. good morning. the president's tax plan that he wants to call the cut cut cut should be called the f f over by president bone spur. caller: thanks for having me on. i love speed -- c-span. i was born and raised a republican and voted for john mccain. i cannot believe what this human being is doing to this state and this country. and tried is a sham

to intercept him and tried to intercept him a little bit, you know? ito not know how we will do but i want -- but i agree with ,im p or the young republicans in this state of the economy and our country. host: who are you looking to to be the face of the republican party? caller: [laughter] lord knows. it has put our clinical system in its mulch was up sweep. it will be a new political landscape at that point. ryan in indiana. sp's -- c-span viewers know, there have been hearings on russian ads on social media, facebook, twitter, google, three different hearings, and if you miss any of them, you can watch

them all on video archives. here is one of the headlines from "wall street journal." , the asple they give target groups on opposite sides of an issue including the russian backed pages that ran an ad in october meant to reach the lives of police officers, sheriffs, and pages memorializing killed officers times and 1.3 million --n there was "woke lacks blacks". that ad was seen more than 750,000 times.

expressing her dissatisfaction with their handling of the russian interference in the election. >> i want to make a personal comment. i have been proud to represent this tech community from california. i must say i don't think you get it. you defend your country, that what we are talking about is a cataclysmic change. what you're talking about is the beginning of cyber warfare. we are talking about a major , a sophistication and ability to involve themselves in the presidential discontent all over the country. we will not go away, gentlemen. .his is a very big deal

i went home with profound disappointment. i got vague answers. that just won't do. the united's rates will be the first to bring it to your attention and the others will follow, i am sure. now they're are being misused. you have to be the one to do something about it. or we will. waiting,rles is independent. caller: i like your show. c-span is the only show out there where you can get some of the truth.

that is done with reagan. ittrickled down because busted the unions. people who want to work or can't work or cannot find employment. they take advantage of the mexican people as far as i'm concerned. host: are you part of a union? caller: back then, you did not have a say and now he will never have a say.

back, youcompany's know, start taxing income and imports and stuff like that and bring the jobs back and let the unions back in and let the people negotiate people with money. people with money will bring the country back and if they have to get tax cuts to bring the company's back to this country, you will have to go over -- go back to that all over again. in missouri, line for democrats, good morning. caller: i would like to adjust the creeping coup by the republican party, gerrymandering, the electoral college, our president receives some 60 million votes.

some 80 million did not vote at all. less than one third of the voters elected our president. bush.pened back with i think we need to increase voter participation. a paper ballot mailed to every registered voter. one more point. on the tax plan, 49% of people do not pay taxes. you can ask mitt romney about the number. how are they going to get a tax rate? john is in long island, new york, line for republican, go ahead. i voted for donald trump. he is the first presidential

candidate or any candidate i've ever voted for, period. he is doing a reasonably good and theite obstructions visceral, whatever people call it. he made it ok to go drilling for clean coal again. one has to ask, is there such a thing as clean coal and arctic and -- antarctica is melting at a rapid place. the -- rapid pace. the eastern portion is melting so rapidly they project oceans can rise up to 11 feet as a result of the entire eastern portion. the global warming debate, that is another camera has been kicked down the road so long. there is not much more road to

talk on about it. energys another clean out there. have been trying to give it to a since 1946. all you need to do is look them up on the internet. i encourage president trump to do just that. host: may i ask how old you are? caller: 46. host: why didn't you think it was worth it to vote before last year. ? caller: i was disenchanted with all politicians. i viewed the mall as a bunch of corrupt people engaging in misappropriation of funds, who balance checks and leave it to estimate the difference. that puts it in a not shell.

caller: i was appalled that some he people who called in and talked about racism versus prejudice. they do not know the definition of racism. thatm is a group of people tried to control another group of people, economically and socially, to keep them down. that is racism. racism covers jobs and everything else. prejudice is another thing. i get tired of these so-called

talk about people racism is. how would you define prejudice? caller: i used to be prejudiced about obese people can gay people.bout that is the difference dealing with a person passes economic and social being. that is what i mean. and i am glad i am past that now. and i realize that i was prejudiced against obese people. i was against gay people and white people.

i look at a white person as a person, you understand what i'm saying? host: what made you come to that realization? education ping and or i have three degrees and just growing in life. our last caller in open phone segment. up next, we will be joined by congressman tim ryan ohio. addiction treatment and recovery caucus and he joins us to talk about the trump administration's crisis. to the opioid later on, c-span's tour continues. the bus is spending the day in texas capitol city in austin. we will be joined on our c-span bus by former democratic state senator wendy davis and text can republican party chairman james dickey. we will be right back. ♪

>> join us this weekend for book live at texas book festival in austin. coverage begins saturday at 11 .m. eastern and includes liesa girls, michael

herd and his book thursday night lights, the story of black high school football in texas, kevin bunk, the rise f humbug, phonies, post-facts and fake news, peter wadham, farewell to ice, report arctic, daniel allen cuz, acasta, deep in theshadow, undercover uthless world of smuggling and ellen almond, life in code, a personal history of technology. on sunday, our live coverage at 3 p.m. eastern with her book rson and white rage, unspoken truth of racial divide, melissa with story of a, the true drug cartel, the f.b.i. and the dynasty,r horse-racing and paula lavine and mark violated, eshgs posing posing

rape at baylor university among sexual assault crisis. texas book festival live on c-span 2 sunday book t.v. >> "washington journal" continues. ryan is back at the desk. serves as co-chair of addiction treatment and recovery caucus trumpngressman, president e week declared opioid epidemic public health emergency, what is impact of him doing that on the ground in akron in youngstown? guest: it certainly is welcome, underwom inuing is whelming. counties, you our need money, you need money on the ground to help, you need law enforcement and you need money for the first esponders, addressing a lot of issues and mostly you need the money for treatment. this is not alcohol addiction, drugs are very potent, a

in rehab 60-day stay is not enough, you need probably three, four, maybe five months get yourself off this stuff and get yourself well. think sometimes a lot of people just don't understand the level of devastation in some of the communities. the, you are talking money nationwide, how much would you like to see going crisis?his guest: we sent a letter to the president a few months back to the programs of and the comprehensive addiction and recovery thakt we passed a ago that was bipartisan bill, we had democrats and republicans working on it. about $10 billion, just to fully fund those programs, epidemic.national in the midst of the conversation we're having now, tax cuts and looks like, et moving in the wrong direction. host: $10 billion. included in oney recommendations that came out esterday from the president's opioid crisis -- the opioid

crisis report, the president's the opioid led by chris christie, any funding in there? guest: they have some recommendations in there. the reality is, you can make recommendations all you want. i sent a letter asking for more money, at the end of the day, if the budget,ve it in don't put it in the public health account through the eclaration for public health emergency, there will not be money on the ground for people back at home trying to work, ohio, west virginia, kentucky, new hampshire, hard-hit areas. host: one chart to show you the hard-hit areas, business insider showing death per hundred thousand peep when he will it comes to opioid overdoses. west virginia, in the mid-30s range. hio, where you're from, just over 20 per 100,000 people. kentucky just below that, are the nia, those highest rates in the country. home ch of your time back do you spend on this issue?

have two iterally staff people working almost full becausethe opioid issue there are so many meetings, so much grassroots activity, plus washington, d.c., chairing the addiction treatment recovery caucus, we're spending time here on the legislative side through the budget, through legislative to try to deal with this issue. we're spending a good deal of trying to address this issue and just for an example, y district director, rick leonard, who runs the offices in ohio, sends our staff a text a weeks ago of right across a nice et from him, in neighborhood, decent neighborhood in niles, ohio, there.ce woman across the street. this is happening in all of our eighborhoods, regardless of wealth, regardless of income or color. what is happen nothing our communities. host: drug deaths in 2016,

60,000, a exceed record when the final numbers are available. getting ay it is better? guest: no. no, not at all. give people perspective, that is more people than we lost in the vietnam war. one year. we have a vietnam war happening year now. sight, for fent n fentanyl, which is more potent, extremely addictive and we need campaign, as ions well, to make sure our kids even try this stuff can kill you. it is important for us to get that message out to them. congressman tim ryan here for the next 15 or 20 minutes calls.orning, taking your phone numbers, democrats, 202-748-8001.

republicans 202-748-8002. independents, 0205 this morning. this o hear your thoughts morning, your questions for him. e is the co-chairman of the congressional addiction treatment and recovery caucus. we'll give you john first from wisconsin. line for democrats. john, go ahead. caller: okay. thing to say. you know, nobody talks about the and how it is implemented on drugs that are selling and i think if they put more teeth into the law that it would lot of people from selling drugs. they would not be available and drugs that arehe coming across the border. you know, it's the same thing. don't need a wall down in mexico, between there and texas, better laws. and there isn't any politicians that are talking about

he law and how it pertains to illegal drugs, that's my question. host: congressman? on the here are laws books now, i'm working with tom ooney, republican out of florida, making it easier to bus lot e pushing fentanyl, a is coming from china. we've got to work with the mexican and chinese government piece in mexico and fentanyl piece out of china. t is important to do this dmroeb globally. look at local communities, they resources for the first responders, for the cops n the beat in some of the towns. you're talking about towns who have eroded tax base, again, to the economic issues in this country today, where we don't have the wear all to push back on these things. host: is it having enough bodys having with it, is it the treatment and life-saving crisiswhat is the bigger right now?

guest: well, it's hard to pick, really. boots on the ground here in the united states in local communities, they are with rescue ated efforts. you know, showing up with narcan, resuscitating people who overdosed, saving lives. night, we had, one 18 overdoses, two or three eaths, that is in large part because first responders show up administer and resuscitate people. we are saving lives, but that is toll.g a there is burnout level happening with first responders, that is occupied saving people who are overdosing instead of going after the bad guys. issues with once you bust somebody, getting the lab to processed quick enough make sure what we found is heroin or is fentanyl or xyz. having trouble because the labs are slammed, they're not getting the io not information back to the local

prosecutor, three, four, five people ater, a lot of getting off, they are back on the street selling. e've got to make investments, the public health emergency or the rhetoric is fine, but it's backed up with money so we can get this process going. pomona, new is in york, line for independents, go ahead. ryan.h congressman caller: yes, i don't know, you drugs roblem here with because you have so many on the yo you've got to cut the supply off, to cut the supply secure our borders. until we secure our borders, you problems nue to have .ith drugs here illegal turated with immigrants who bring with them a drugs and a l

litt -- house and they don't pay taxes and could care less about our drug problem. host: got your point. congressman ryan? guest: couple things. border with you, security is important when talking about drugs coming over the border. now in contrast to building a all, most drugs, 90% of the drugs are coming through the port of entries, in cars, in driving , people just through into the united states, security.e to up the when you're thinking about the drugs, they come over in small i mean, fentanyl, synthetic drug, it is difficult with dogs, it, even because of its nature. important. another issue that's really cary is how much of the stuff comes through the mail. it actually gets shipped through into the united states

and it is so hard because we get millions of packages that come in and out of the united states every year, to identify where the stuff is from. again, that is a resource issue, if we're going to try to push on this stuff. host: bon sein pennsylvania, line for republicans, bonnie, go ahead. caller: yes, i wanted to speak be ome things that could done that don't take a lot of money and that is letting these addicts who do survive continue on with their lives, letting drivers licenses back, possibly having their reduced so that when they get a job, they can pay them off. can't drive, they can't go to work. is a g them vote again, good thing to make them feel part of society. thing, the zone is hard to come by at times, it's addict to get he to a clinic or get the correct

need, ork or what they makes more readily available so hey can move on with their lives. host: thanks. caller: good suggestions. a financial issue, make sure that is readily available. i believe in reintegration, i that is an important point that you made and i think we that,o do a better job of but prior to the reintegration, we must have the treatment and seeing right now coming out of washington in both house, republican healthcare people -- is throwing off health care, in a state like are 2 to 300,000 people getting addiction treatment now hrough the medicaid program primarily would lose their coverage. so there is no getting the drivers license back, no getting into the work force, if you don't have a robust treatment united states, that can help get these people

better. host: just a few minutes left congressman tim ryan of ohio. layton is in indiana, mary, indiana, line for democrats. go ahead. to bring up i want the v.a. system. i know it's a wonderful system, i work there, of people that have to wait years for surgery. work with over the weekend five years ago, i have one.y he's a lucky five years ago if you would have had his back surgery, he would opiate the past five years. he's one of the lucky ones, i and day out, n people who should have had surgery years ago, our the nment keeps pushing drugs. is there any way you can take care of that? guest: we are working on it. the second of the v.a. is ocused on this, as well, i think he's doing a pretty good job of moving in the right direction and finding other ways to manage pain and there is a

lot of other ways to do it, the strict ust prescribing and over prescribing acupuncture,his is mindfulness based techniques people deal with chronic pain. there is a variety of other ways o do it before you jump straight to the opiates and the pursue beginning to these now and i think it is important they do that, not just in the v.a., but around the country. we did get into this culture of the last 20 plus years pain management primarily through these prescription drugs and then the prescription drugs have become stronger and stronger and that is kind of where we are now. host: you mention assessment of the head of the v.a., i wonder give me a sense of the head of your party, your emocratic caucus, we've talked before about your effort to challenge nancy pelosi for democratic f the caucus, do you think she would

win leadership election today? guest: we're not having one until next year, so she is our united in our re attempt to win back the house in 2018. think donald trump's behavior and agenda, the tax bill, for example, a complete giveaway to extremely have done well over the last 20 or 30 years, those are the things, people off health care, i just mentioned, the things that are uniting democrats values we have and to give you one example, over the ast 30 years, since we had tax reform the last time, 96% of ncome growth has gone to the top 10%, so in 30 years, 96% of growth went to the wealthiest 10% of the people in the united states. so the republican tax plan is to a tax at group primarily cut while people in youngstown

and indiana and other places had stagnant wage growth for 30 years. democrats and ng i think that is why we believe we have an opportunity to win the house back in 2018. host: before we leave the topic of nancy pelosi, were you urprised to hear vice chair of democratic caucus, linda sanchez torch is time to pass the to new generation of leaders in the democratic caucus? love linda. everybody has their opinion on i had an obviously opinion and i did what i did and linda has an opinion and other opinion.ve an host: do you still have that opinion? guest: bottom line, we are not n a position to make any changes. we are locked in with the leadership that we have. nancy pelosi espouses the body in many ways

campaign we are -- we are united. look at what the republicans are trying to do, it is completely opposite of what president trump on.aigned he was in ohio talking about expanding health care. gets to washington, d.c., votes people off health care. about increasing taxes on the wealthy. he gets to washington, d.c., taxes for wilth and he increasing taxes on middle us.ss, that unites i know we want to have this conflict going on within the really we're united in our attempt to win the house back and take on the agenda.an host: just a few minutes. jane is in darwin, minnesota. independents. jane, go ahead. caller: hi. say, i just wonder why they the opioids control ephedra, you go to the trug store and sign for the pills and they control the you can get, why not use

the same system for the opioids? there is a lot going on now with recommendations, states have saying you tive of can only prescribe seven days opiates, limiting amount that can be prescribed. important t is an step for us to take. ultimately the problem is, as people that are addicted to the pills and the ills go offline for you personally, we can't give you anymore, then people go to the waiting ins, someone the parking lot, maybe they have pills to sell you. i have 30 more pills, i'll pay to cash, they give them them. here is my number, call me when you're out. they call them, i don't have the pills, i got this other stuff. and they then sell them heroin. fentanyl or whatever. they start -- that is how it starts. one thing i want to make

sure we mention, too, all these ssues are important, but i really do believe that if people opportunity and they have wages d they have rising and they have secure pension and hey can have a good solid middle class income, that here's an -- you can diminish the impact of this stuff because you have purpose, you have are hing that you really trying to achieve and want to live for and it is not a areas, ence in a lot of they have been socked economically, a lot of job loss, wages and all the rest. and the opiate epidemic is a symptom of that. host: is that sort of bringing this all together, sounds like perhaps ning of presidential campaign platform? have you considered running for president? not holding back you? morning, are again, very focused on '18.

get enamored as we in presidential races, i want to e a major part of redefining the democratic party, getting us ocused back on the economy wages, pension, issues that are bread and butter in places. from, i'm me interested in being part of that discussion, where that ends up, we not sure, i think if focus on the issues, we can win the house back in 2018 and begin to shift it. i think the next party, the they ican or democrats, get their arms around the economic issues, we've been elections for almost 15, 20 years now. bush, i think ofore, was i think 2004 and 2008 2016 was based on -- one party was in, didn't fix it, next party. floeballization, artificial

intelligence, lack of venture capital in which 80% go to three states, and ornia, massachusetts new york. communities left behind, lot of g eeroding, a blight and they are disconnected. partyk the next political that gets their arms around fixing that is going to be the that is going to govern for a while and i want to be an saying d advocate for this is what the democrats should do. host: congressman, leave it there. democrat from ohio from the akron, youngstown area. appreciate your time. so much.ank you host: up next on "washington journal," our c-span 50 capitals continues. this morning, the c-span bus is capital of austin. coming up, we'll talk to former senator wendy e davis and texas republican party james diey.

we'll be right back. >> sunday night biographer and chernow, and his new book on grant. young and was dashing and handsome and romantic, in a way, a perfect man for a musical. is very different kind he was plain and laconic charisma of grant was that he had no charisma, the that he was ten is not dramatic in different situations. fascinating, but not as d of a much more

deep as hamilton, subtle that respect, reminded me of george washington, the george washington had a similar kind of eserved and egmatic quality to grant. >> sunday night 8 eastern on c-span's q&a. >> "washington journal" continues. capitals c-span's 50 tour continues. today the "washington journal" texas, where we're joined on the bus by former state senator in 2014, nominee for governor, wendy davis. senator davis, thanks so much. still involved at all in state democratic politics or politics? guest: guest: -- host: i apologize for that, we

lost our signal. will be joining us from the bus, it is parked right utside the state capital in austin, on the north side of the capital. fter she is finished, james dickey will join us, texas republican party chairman, one to g we want him to talk wendy davis is women in politics because she's heading up a new deeds, not words. we'll put the phone numbers on the signal.stablish we'll put the phone numbers up in.ou can dial it's 202-748-8001 for those who texas. 202-737-0002.s you may remember wendy davis of her 11-hour filibuster in the state senate abortion legislation matter in texas. she was the that

gubernatorial nominee in 2014. us here on theng bus in just a minute. another thing that is happening in austin is texas book festival and book t.v. on will be live from sunday.oth saturday and full coverage all day long, live go to book u can t.v. dot org, and find the schedule. established by laura bush in the 1990s, when she was first lady of texas, she on to establish the national book festival here in washington. going very ill strong and a full lineup of authors both days. weekend o live this with our monthly in-depth program on book t.v. on c-span 2 lewis, best-selling author of "moneyball," "the big books will be er the guest noon to three on sunday. to hear whether or not wendy davis is available on

austin.in and i don't see her just yet, we apologize for that. looking forward to talking to her, dpaen, after senator talking with e james dickey, the texas in blican party chair there austin. while we're waiting for wendy voices et's hear some wyatt there h one in austin. good morning, you are on c-span. caller: good morning, i just happen to be in austin, this is my hometown, but i've been live houston the past few years. comment i make one about the last program about the addiction process? fine.sure, that is caller: a lot of times have you to have an association. point with people that are in that addiction -- that process through that in order to be effective, otherwise all you're doing is,

talking to the wind. you have to know when to talk to hem, know when they're lying, know when they are sincere about the recovery process and all of that you now, things may do to save their life won't extendsir life, it just their life. host: are you speaking from experience? caller: from experience. host: what is the experience? cocaine, alcohol, gamet of anger. sugar, the dictive, process is long and have you to ecognize what your triggers are, where your -- what your addiction really is. host: how long have you been sober? caller: about two years, and i say sober, maybe longer than truly.eally and it is a process. here is no, when people ask me that, i sometime tell them it is

none of your business, they understand what the process is, you know. know, cess is pain, you the -- getting used to the pain. to process of the brain is avoid pain and to gain pleasure nd when you put people into this painful world, when just you have one people c-span and, you know, the ignorance, you know and nobody orrects them, no one really identifies with the -- what all.tion is, first of host: thank you for your time. anet calling from tacoma, washington. good morning, janet. us?et, you with caller: hello. host: that doesn't sound like janet. hi.er: are you speaking to me? host: who is this? don from red s

bank. host: don in red bank, new jersey, go ahead. i'm a primary care i'm r, i'm a chiropracter, t d of people in politics alternative care and poison phony ho put our kids, disease, to become heroin okay, and put the ountry in the biggest drug epidemic ever in white america. it is a disgrace what they did a disgrace that bush that let them do it and the democrats let them do let them republicans do it. the real criminals are the democrats and the who are being paid off and trump showing this, even guys close to him in the republican party, off by drug id companies and oil companies.

okay. you can run cars on water, epa ets or garbage and the knows it and they have all of hese inventions up in michigan and they know they work and won't let them out because the is not republic anymore, it's democratic corporation. ost: all right, don in red bank. let's hear one more call and his is bill in sebastian, florida. bill, good morning, you are on -span, what is on your mind this morning? caller: yeah, i'd like a little c-span erage from concerning the mayor from puerto and the aid she needs to and hasn't been able to secure, except for the deal with whitefish. i think that's a point that looked into because to as though florida

and texas give more attention puerto rico and to me, that seems awfully discriminatory. sea all right, bill in sebastian, florida, thank you for your time. pleased to return to austin, texas, joined by former 2014 senator and gubernatorial candidate, wendy davis. so muchdavis, thank you for being on the c-span bus in our 50 capitals tour. involved in state or national democratic politics at this point? well, i am in a way. first of all, thanks for having morning.is i am very excited to be helping the next generation of young involved in using their voices in the political process. nonprofit t a organization called deeds not do advocacy training

and engagement around issues of and helpor young women them understand how to take their care and their concern on issues and turn them into effective actions. senator, your view, what are some of the special challenges that a woman that a man y face might not? the : goodness, i mean, list is long. women are held to a different standard. the nk certainly watching most recent presidential election shown a bright light on that. an experience i had in my election, as well. what i encourage young women to is to forge ahead in spite of that, to demonstrate that we the capacity, once elected to be exxon mobil leaders at governance and unless and until we are willing to go through the hard fight of sure that our voices are there, we are going to continue

be the victims of legislative the ts that are against things that are important to us. so we've got to just put our through that ght and demonstrate that we are not nly very capable, but incredibly needed in the halls f every government in this country. host: what is it like to be a state?t in a very red fight, it teaches you to i guess is the best way to say that. i have always inenjoyed a good fight. my dad used to comment about the fact he felt i would be live career one sort of day. it isn't for the faint of heart, there is soou what, much at stake, if we're not step forward and fight for the people being left

behind in states like texas, we're doing a disservice to hat we are capable of doing to try to make change. i've always believed that people up the voices of who aren't being heard in the political process is one of the things that we can do for each other and i enefited from the fact that i went from a place of poverty to experience because of an environment that i came up in this country and i want to make sure we're oing this for other people, as well. host: we've established our phone lines as texas residents numbers are s, the on the screen if you'd like to talk with former senator wendy davis. deeds, not words, is her new organization. tacoma, ar from janet, washington. janet, you are on with wendy davis. -- i think ink that in s fine for women to be

politics, i think as long as hey know about politics, what they are doing what regular eople in the country, my -- kennedys were all political and girls.olitical, even the as long as you can do what is country and verybody else, women can be just as good as a good man f. it a bad man, they can be just as worse as any bad woman and good as good as anyst good man. are nk it is women and men equal in what they can do, but i is k they have to do what best. host: that is janet in washington. davis? guest: i agree with janet. one very important point. men and women, of course are

serving at ble of every level of governance. the question is, the experiences that we bring to the table, the unique perspective and the through which we view issues. women have different experiences we are the ones who are going to fight through wet lens for the things that know are important to lift up and make opportunity available in this country. women are unique fighters for value education and the that that has in our children's lives, as mama bears, that is of the most important things for us. we of course are uniquely to fight for reproductive freedom, understanding how incredibly us to nt that is for define our own economic we, in es and of course our workday experiences, inequity of pay, lifting minimum wage, affordable

all of these care, things are such an important part of making sure women can work place around this country and it isn't just mportant for women and for our families, it's important for the whole economic well being of the america.ates of so we need more women at the from who will be fighting their unique position and understand from the own why it is as a country we need to begin paying things as hasthese been the case in many other in the alized countries world. host: wendy davis, texas christian university and law harvard.om guest: go, frogs. host: emily calling from california. emily. caller: hi. lady.orning, miss i was calling -- guest: good morning. have to understand that we are the most valuable

of use we are the gate link life. men would not be here if it wasn't for her. and hen they turn around disrespect us and then deny us know, give ven, you our opinion about the way life is supposed to be. e women, we expect and revere life. men seem to always want to make war and matt gaetz their matt gaetzosterone, to see who is the baddest. host: emily, would you support a for political obvious wom woman? is a she takes in effect what life is about, you know, you raise children to start supposedly ff, you raise them so that they respect

ife and respect each other because everybody has a place here. host: thank you, ma'am. wendy davis, any response for caller? guest: well, i appreciate the brings to the table. moment ue, as i said a ago, women bring unique perspective. elected toen who are office and people are speaking strongly for making sure we're creating opportunity for our children to have a bright future, whether we're talking about making sure public higher n is supported, education is affordable or simply making sure that our kids safe. these tend to be some calling cards of the things that we work on. sell short want to the fact that women also bring a full umbrella of issues that we fight for. we do believe in growing the economy. do believe in the kinds of

olicies that help make businesses strong and lift up the work place for everyone who's in it. we tend to bring a little bit of special and unique perspective as well.ble, it is one that needs to be in existence in greater presence at every level of government. host: maria, katy, texas, good morning. caller: good morning. you davis, i sure do enjoy in politics in our state. to be iing a democratic state in a matter of years. we allow men to tell us what to do with our how, we are en and short changing ourselves.

hope that you do consider running for office again and one wanted to that i -- our and that is i legislators having a lot of misplaced priorities. no one ever questions millions and many millions of dollars a bomb that goes out to but or libya or wherever, they will argue to the last penny for women that need to medical attention. and i'm disappointed in how we women via the abortion situation. that are it is men the culprits and women are the suffer.at have to host: thank you very much. senator davis? i think those comments are so well made and obviously person who lives in texas and understands the

of women in this state. i'm not sure how many viewers have tand how dire things become here for women in women's health. 2013, many people know about stance or bortion ill i took a stance on and filibustered, but what many 2011,e do not know that in the very thing being talked about at the federal level right texas.appened here in ing, was a dramatic defend ing many other providers providing screening ive, cancer and well woman care for low income women across this state defending, of that almost immediately over 80 closed, those that did stay open served dramatically of patients and the

omen in the state began to suffer the consequences of that, many women literally over 100,000 women lost the only access to health care that they see what thegan to consequence of that was. ur medicaid birth rate shot up exponentially and with it taxpayer costs of supporting medicaid birth rate. we saw our teen pregnancy rate over the country it was falling dramatically and perhaps most concerning of all a very short period of time, hereaternal mortality rate in texas doubled and that maternal mortality rate is now only the highest in the country, but one report has said any the highest of developed country in the entire world. e are in a state with such a robust and vibrant economy, for 's simply no excuse women suffering the kind of severe health consequences they

are suffering here and unfortunately it's because they have become the victim of a ideologically pitched battle where politicians are moving the abortion conversation forward, believing that it is one that is them come ward election time and i hope enough in le are paying attention the state to understand that hese kinds of policies, these kinds of arguments have really o place in the business of running a state. what we ought to be doing here is taking care of making sure kids are educated, that climate esses are in a that is supportive and strong for them and that we're working working to we're make sure everyone has access to health care, so we can have a and hy strong work force move forward and move away from we have ful reputation for how we treat people in this

state right now. davis, will we see you run for another political office in the near future? texas? uest: i hope to run again one day. i can't answer that question accuracy right now. as i said at the outset of your doingm, the work that i'm with my nonprofit, deeds not ords, for me is something that i hope will create a multiplier effect, we'll see more and more women who are becoming educated on these issues, who to use rstanding how their voice to come forward on and who will see themselves as future leaders in this state and states across the country. their voices and their perspective are needed, you think y when electoratethe rising looks like across this country.

in 2020, a few short years away, this young generation of voters of oing to occupy about 40% the eligible voting population in this country. they step forward and own , the esponsibility opportunity to lead the way, we're going to start seeing a values are values that are reflective of a respect formount of individuals, for their liberty nd their freedom and decision-making and of course the idea that everyone ought to ave the opportunity to realize their full potential. to own power and come forward and help us define what our -- re looks like host: wendy davis, deeds not group, formerf the state senator from texas, thank

you for being on the c-span bus with us. continue our discussion on politics from texas, in just a minute. the chair of the g.o.p. in exas, james dickey will be joining us and as they switch out seats, we want to continue voices. sonny from houston. sonny, what is on your mind this morning? hello. host: hi. caller: i was listening to the representative. mrs. wendy davis. i kind of thought of something. talking about women work place a he -- seeing actually going i was e work place when n early 'sechts, and there was no -- know women to speak of, if who were time n keepers in the offices and stuff

nd then actually seeing women appear on jobs, so they have working omen have been -- beingaving the same treated like men for a long time ow and my recommendation to those women that really want it is first of all, you got to want secondly, you have to be very, very confident. men are not, you know, on the same level when you get to table, believe me, you guys ell pretty much which have confidence and what they are doing and confidence with means nce, of course, knowing what it is that you are doing. ost: sonny, did you support wendy davis in 2014 or governor greg abbott? i supported governor

greg abbott. host: why? because i'm the things he was saying, i'm a guy that likes to know processes, i like to know, the last representative that was wanting $40 g for $10 billion or billion to do something about opioids, that gentleman, what i wanted to call and ask okay, what is your process, one time i'd like to hear from johnny, finish, little when he took some opioids he was -- hurt his back and had to keep taking them and couldn't went to the ore, street, got on fentanyl and now everyday. that so then i have -- i know what talking about because it happened to me, too.

here was nobody, nothing, nowhere to go to get help with this. time i checked into a it was t was like a horrible. no one lays out a process of how going to get start to finish. i like that about greg abbott. wendy, i like hearing what she as saying right there about the -- doing deeds, finding solutions. solutions oriented person unfortunately, our politicians do not seem to be. sonny, thank you for your time from houston, texas. and now we're going to return to austin, and joining us on the -span bus is james dickey, who is the chair of the republican party in texas. thanks for being with us. what are the blessings and the

urse of controlling all three branches of government in texas? well, it is extreme honor he voters of texas have presented the republican party with such a clear mandate in electing really every ingle statewide elected official and in near super ajorities in the house and senate. they made it clear they want to enacted,blican policies that of course is a phenomenal and , a big responsibility so one thing we in the parties ave been doing is doing a better job of communicating to to the ors, to voters, press, even, what our delegates, asked for ters have and making it clear that we support those efforts and that to ill do what we can do help our legislature pass those.

the texas s in constitution did a lot of things to make it hard to pass bills, when a bill gets passed in texas it reflects real consensus among all of the parties.d and so it is important for us to ave meaningful dialogue around those priorities. we talk about our legislative eliminating the need to be licensed to practice rights, ond amendment like eliminating property tax hich make its so you never really own your home, like too nating the far widespread death of infants through abortion, there are so things that our voters have said they want to see happen and those electedwith officials to do it. it is both an honor and a votersibility we owe the who put our elected officials in

office. ost: you feel your party is aligned with the national party? well, actually our party and our delegates played a role setting the national platform and the national platform is well aligned. it is actually smaller than the texas platform. yes, in most cases, it's pretty well aligned with the proud of form and i'm the work the platform committee did at convention last year. donald trump doing? guest: you know, the policies, trump administration have enacted, have been incredible. them have been things that republican presidents and candidates have been promising for decades. recent study showed that more has been cut under president trump's administration administration at any speed going pack to the reagan

administration, that is a fantastic thing. will free up the entrepreneurial spirit and the in our economy. as they are fighting for tax cuts, they are fighting for repeal, those are exactly the things that our oters asked for and gave clear mandates for, as they elected a lot of new representatives to the senate and it is going to matter a lot in next year's election, when our officials keep those promises that the president and his administration are working keep.o make sure we demographicalexas rends, do they still favor republicans? lot.: i get asked this a i am shocked more people don't incredible fal see underlying that. mean m demographic trends a benefit or a harm to a given

means to assume how people vote is dictated by their race don't know anyone whose vote is dictated by race or the color of their skin and i encourage anyone to think so. one of the things we've seen in is that in the last few ab abbott, overnor enator cornyn, have won the hispanic market, the hispanic voter base, and we fully expect see in this next set of elections we'll win a traight-up majority of the hispanic vote coming in 2018 republican candidates will do so and it is a proper alignment of those individual voters, interests and with our party's principles and our policies. it should be. host: mr. dickey, what about

onald trump's call for the wall, how has that affected your position? guest: you know, in texas, we have the biggest stretch of the so we are most impacted by illegal immigration and those citizens along the border have season first hand the tragic rise in murders and crime and happened n that has from an utter failure of the federal government to take seriously the fact we have a the border should be respected and our laws about immigration should be respected. texas voters of all stripes are glad to see and will be glad to see the benefits of taking our immigration laws seriously. that doesn't mean we can't have an argument about what the details of the immigration law but the last eight years of a federal government hat pretended we didn't have immigration law and pretended

they could ignore it at will alone,e executive branch no matter what the legislative branch did or didn't do, i'm and all texans are glad to see those days gone. in : let's hear from ryan northern indiana, ryan, james ickey, is here, chair of the g.o.p. in texas. go ahead. caller: thank you for having me wanted to say to mrs. davis, i'm glad for her comments the g.o.p. comments. i guess my question is, how out you, man?are host: what do you mean by that, ryan? caller: you got a president that is doing all this stuff and then ah, ot the g.o.p. saying, don't mind that, look at the no tives we're doing, but cohesion, what is going on there? host: mr. dickey, any comment to the caller? know, it's the u president's leadership that

pulled us out of the paris thing, which is a good the president's leadership that pulled us out of ttp, which was a good thing. is the president's leadership that dictates a significant eduction in regulation, which is a good thing. it is a president's promises for tax cut and ending obamacare and many others have been willing to break those and president doesn't seem interested in breaking those promises. don't think there is lack of alignment between my thanks to the administration for their implementing good policies and the question about hether or not the president's leadership is helpful. host: what is your message to ryan mcconnell and paul right now? message 's the same that i've delivered to every member of the texas delegation spoken to them. it is absolutely critical that

our ed republicans keep promises and unfortunately from some other states there appear elected officials who promise for years they would repeal obamacare, when the came to make that happen, they backed out on their word fewer of them do so and we can get through on the follow-through promise that so many elected republicans make. the chairmanickey, of the texas republican party. elected in june of 2017, for, sir?is your term guest: i'll be up for re-election next june and then two-year term assuming i win re-election. host: thank you for joining us on the c-span bus parked outside the texas state capital in austin. 50 capitals our tour is in baton rouge, is next tuesday.

well, the house of representatives is coming into session, they're working on a medicare related bill and that's the you'll be hearing on house floor and of course today is the day that the tax bill is be tropped and you'll see that on c-span, as coming e house is just into session, just reminder for austin, texas and in book t.v. on c-span 2 will be live at texas book festival this all nd, which is held capital.e state come on down and see us. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the spoom, washington, d.c. november 2, 2017. i hereby appoint the honorable mimi walters to act as speaker pro tempore on