host: back with you live on the washington journal. time for some open phones this morning. about 15 minutes until we show you the latest on c-span's 50

capitals tour. the c-span bus traveling around the country. today we will be showing you our stock in cheyenne, wyoming that was recorded earlier this week. we interviewed the governor in that stop. onil then taking your calls lines for democrats, republicans and independents. it's open phones. any public policy issue you want to talk about. as you were calling and during that pro forma session you saw chaplain father patrick conroy. he is the house chaplain. he is slated to leave on may 24. that's his resignation date. we covered some of the controversy surrounding his resignation from the house. story out today from the hill newspaper on father conroy's job status. a small group of lawmakers from both parties had begun exploring ways to get the ousted house

chaplain reinstated. congressman jerry conley said yesterday over this week's break conley reached out to both democratic and republican colleagues to brainstorm possible solutions to prevent father patrick conroy from being forced out later this month. i have been having conversations -- speaker paul ryan's decision to force conroy to resign in. members of both parties and has ignited a firestorm. well it is still early in the process conway said there were two options under consideration through the first is to push back conroy's resignation date. currently may 24 under that scenario. the house have to let voted to amend the date on conroy's resignation letter so the chaplain could finish out the rest of his term and the second solution would be to have conroy revoke his resignation letter entirely which would also

require approval from the house. it's open phones on the washington journal. time for your calls. donna is up first in massachusetts. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing? regarding the probate and family court system. it violates the u.s. constitution pretty much on a daily basis. it's an administrative tribunal and you don't know what you don't know until you become appointingt this guardians for elderly people across the country, it is just terrifying because they lose all their rights. appoints judge somebody they know within the court system to become the guardian of an elderly person

they lose all their rights in spite of family members being more than willing to take care of that person as they had done for years. abusive tory targeting elderly, rich or poor across this great country of ours and its my lived experience. i'm not a storyteller. i am just appalled because i love this country and i care about the elderly and work all your life and acquire assets through honest hard work and to end up in a probate and family court system, it just throws you for a loop because they do not go by the constitution. they violate our constitutional inhts each and every day

that system across the country. it untile don't know they become a victim of what plays out. they claim they will resolve issues expeditiously and preserve and protect the assets but what ends up happening is they are wiping out families across the country of the assets that were acquired in an honest way by parents that care about their families. host: dora is up next this morning in las vegas. caller: good morning. i'm calling in regard to the immigration laws that we currently have. i think they are already outdated. immigrants are overwhelming our country.

we can't continue to support all these people that are coming in. sending our poor taxpayers to the brink and thank you for taking my call. host: what's the solution? should there be a moratorium on immigration? caller: that's exactly what i believe. a moratorium. host: for how long? caller: will i would think maybe a year, two years until they can get all this mess straightened out. i believe something like that has to be done. it's just overwhelming our country. poor taxpayers are having to foot the bill for everything and we just can't do it anymore. it might have been good laws when they started they are outdated now. host: in elkridge maryland.

independent. caller: i like watching your show when i can get to it. i just want to let the folks keep in mind that there's a lot of smoke and mirrors that goes .n in politics if you remember the wizard of oz , don't look at the man behind the curtain. he's not in charge. if people would take a look little bit back in history at , and heaking place being the petrodollar agreement made by nixon and how it's controlling what's going on in the world and it has everything to do with every aspect that's taking place including the immigration.

allowed tens of thousands of immigrants and gave them amnesty and reagan followed of --ting people out taking over the jobs that people were forced to work during the trade agreements when they left our country. and it's just on and on. all the stuff that you are seeing on tv now is just smoke and mirrors. and it's just on andbecause of t took place. i just need people to start taking a look at what's going on behind the scenes instead of being so concerned about all the stuff you have seen in news media today. dave in irvine, california. democrat. go ahead. caller: just want to make a comment about social security. for years and years they took money out of social security and used it for other things so they

and rich people a big break they took out of that fund and they never put the money back in. i was just wondering when are they going to put the money back in. and also ryan who's against social secury anmedicare took social security when he was younger and now he wants to take it away from everybody else. all you people out there who you need to get those republicans out or they are going to hurt more and more people. they have already taken away health care from people. and given people a big tax break. that's irresponsible. they are not conservatives at all. they could have gave the middle class a tax break. somebody has to pay for those wars. you'll get a tax break this year. but next year you are not going to get a tax break. the rich will have to pay it and i will have to pay it. and everybody else will pay except for the rich people. mentioned house

republican leader speaker ryan. i wonder what your thoughts are about the democratic leader in the house. there's a front-page story on the washington post front-page, democrats face calls for fresh south leadership -- house leadership as the low ceases seek a new generation. is the my thoughts democrats and pelosi want to help middle-class and poor people. the republicans don't want to help anybody but themselves. that's just my opinion and thanks for taking my call. host: ron in orlando, florida. independent. go ahead. here last guest joseph tartakovsky made a point about how the founding fathers were in disagreement so much about trying to get the country in order. i refer to them as confounding

fathers with all of their inconsistencies and how they treated people in the 3/5 compromise and so on. calling about the russian interference in the 2016 election to help trump. back in the day and throughout the history of this country basically they hated communists and people from russia and despised what they were trying to get started in this country almost as much as they hated black people or latino people are muslim people today. for the republicans today to feel like they can support trump knowing that we've already got evidence showing his campaign was colluding or working or speaking or doing whatever with , they makes and also this point about why don't we work with trump from ,nauguration right -- night

mcconnell and the rest of the republicans never worked with the last point, the young man calling about social security a minute ago. that's all their aim is to always take away from the people. those are our benefits that we work for. host: little rock, arkansas. independent. allen, go ahead. caller: great program every day. washington journal. comment on theo previous guest on the constitution and i'm going to try to get him on the phone later. pass alo the idea later, a book i wish i could get written. the correlation connection between the declaration of independence and the constitution. i'm a retired teacher and i would always use a hamilton $10 bill and a jefferson two dollar bill to make a point as to whose won the really

philosophy and direction of the constitution. 29 abusesis there are of the king listed in the declaration of independence and it's all directed talking about tierney. -- tyranny. so we start suffering from those after the war to gain our freedom and independence we are about to lose it and they say let's have a more organized government to hold on to our freedom so they say how will we our rules. secure these abuses of the king. we will continue to suffer these abuses of the king in our future. how can we construct rules to stop those future abuses. this great hope that this tournament has written is so profound. i just was stunned by it and it reminded me of a disraeli quote

that says don't study history, study biographies of individuals and thereby you will know history. let me just leave one last reference as to one of these abuses just to give people an encouragement to please read them. we talk about the declaration of independence but it's these abuses that are so instruct. host: i appreciate that and give us a call back and we have to take our viewers to the c-span 50 capitals tour. let's continue this conversation another time. always enjoy talking about the constitution on the washington journal. the book allen was referring to, the lives of the constitution by joseph tartakovsky. you to our c-span 50 capitals tour. we stopped this week in wyoming. number 31 on our capital stored takes us to cheyenne wyoming. it's the largest city in the

state. it was established in 1867. joining us on the c-span bus in front of the wyoming capital is the governor matt mead who is currently in his second term. governor mead, how would you describe the state of the state of wyoming? >> we are in good shape and i thank you for the opportunity to talk about wyoming. one of the things that i'm really proud of in my time in office is we nearly doubled our rainy day fund. we have great savings in our permanent fund and our tech sector continues to grow. are proudly the number one energy state in terms of exporting that has been a challenge the last two or three years. we see that coming back as well and so wyoming remains very strong and i'm very proud of that. >> i think i read on ballot p budgetat wyoming cut its

a little less than $8 billion. is that correct fact? >> that number wouldn't be right. cut their budget. the standard budget i presented to the legislature this past session was lower than it was 10 years ago and we have fewer employees and we did 10 years ago and that's responding to the pressure on oil and gas and coal in particular but not limited to that. uranium, ben knight. combinedose minerals make about 70% of our revenue year in and year out in the state of wyoming. when those prices are suppressed we have to respond to that and i think the legislature and my office has done a good job trying to recognize that we can't spend at a rate that is alsoustainable so we have been able to continue the good work that needs to be done in the state. 70% of the revenue or the

based in mining. can washington make that better through policy? >> some of the things i'm really proud of in wyoming and not just in my time. my predecessor and other governors have done a really good job balancing the environment with energy production and we need to do that recognizing tourism is our number two industry. g is our number three and a lot of us choose to live in wyoming because of the clean air and clean water. we need to have washington recognized states can take a lead in this issue and wyoming has really done that with regard to our oil and gas laws. i'mof the things particularly proud of relates to co2. we have set up a test site at an actual coal-fired plant to not only capture co2 but we have a competition among national international teams to see not

only who can capture the co2 but put it to use for a viable product and to me that is a very important thing to do not just because we are the number one cool state. it's important for the world to be able to address that. i think wyoming is leading the way in those areas and i want washington to recognize that this is our backyard and nobody has a greater interest in doing it right than the governors and the citizens in the state. that i've always asked washington to it before you say this is what we are going to do let's look and see what the states have already done in a proactive way the states have worked on these issues. >> president trump has talked about bringing cold back. -- coal back. wyoming coal goes to about 30 states. we are the largest supplier of coal. to have a bright future you do have to address co2 and it

international markets. that is where i feel very strongly about the importance of international trade. i think it's critical not only ag coal industry but our industry as well. we need to be able to ship that to our trading partners in all parts of the world so international trade is going to be critical for the future of coal. given that cheyenne is in the southeast corner of wyoming it is really closer to denver and a lot of your own state. is denver becoming kind of the metropolitan area for you? we certainly see the denver fort collins area growing. i talked to governor hickenlooper down there and he recognizes the growth and people that may work in colorado but

live in wyoming. while we are close in proximity we see the back and flow traffic, wyoming is uniquely wyoming and we in a good-natured way colorado rims we see the baw wyoming and wyoming gives grief to colorado residents. because while we are close in proximity we are certainly different and we do see that. i think there has been economic and to to wyoming colorado from the exchange of people working in one place and living in another place and as we continue to see denver area grow i think that's going to be more and more seen in cheyenne and other parts of wyoming as well. >> and no state income tax in wyoming. >> we have been recognized as the best state in terms of taxes. as i have worked to recruit companies one of the questions i often ask is can you give us a

tax break. we have no corporate tax we have no state income tax and that is a great attraction to businesses that are here which is priority one and businesses that we have been able to recruit and will continue to be able to recruit in the state. mentioned that your tech sector is growing. can you give an example? >> is the things that was important to me it is you need to be able to do business and so maybeed the legislature five years ago and we wanted to build a unified network and that is a 100 gigabit backbone across the state of wyoming and it moved us from internet protocol version four to internet protocol version six and we were the first state to do that and it connects all our state offices, all our schools. we are ranked the best in terms activity in our schools created as an opportunity for the private sector to grow and

you see companies that are here and companies that were recruited like microsoft to come to the state of wyoming. the tech sector is an important in my view fourth largest sector for the state of wyoming. not only because it helps diversify our economy but importantly in a rural state it's a great equalizer with telemedicine, telehealth, education, commuting. push technology and our great private tech sector has responded to that in a credible way and we continue to grow and it is so important particularly for young people to see that expansion. >> what are some of the issues in wyoming that keep you awake at night? news bad news about our wonderful energy industry is that we need to diversify. when you get 70% of your revenue from one source you see these cycles that not only affect your revenue but affect opportunity for young people and we lose way

too many of our young people out of the state of wyoming which is clearly our greatest resource and so to address that in november 2016i announced the dow a 20 year and that is plan to address how we in wyoming can diversify our economy so that we can expand upon the energy sector and also do a much better job keeping young people in the state of wyoming. and we have a lot of challenges as every state does what i view one of our greatest challenges as we need to diversify our economy. there's just no question about it. it's not just for revenue. it is sentimental. we want to have the opportunity for our kids and grandkids should they choose to stay in wyoming to have the wonderful career that allows them to do that. >> newly 50% of wyoming which is the least populous state in the

nation is controlled or managed by the federal government. what sort of issues does that race? -- raise? >> i knew going in about eight years ago that was going to be a challenge. i just and know how big a challenge it was going to be. mineral just development but all sorts of development. the challenges that poses on the state of wyoming. it is not just surface ownership. it is also mineral ownership. neva,r it's doing work on endangered species, there's always those challenges. i will also say this, one of the things that is great about wyoming is the many open spaces that we have and that federal land provides open spaces. we continue to challenge in court and otherwise how those federal lands or managed and i have often thought that we are hope will that the federal government takes a look at how we manage our state land because

i think we're just more efficient and we do it in a better way with the same goals of multiple use but also making sure that we do a very good job with regard to our habitat and our wildlife which is key to the culture of the state of wyoming. a year in the east we hear about two issues. snowmobiling in yellowstone and grizzlies in yellowstone. can you speak to both of those issues? machines i think the national park service and yellowstone has advanced and yellowstone has advanced that in a way. for me personally i grew up in teton county and had many wonderful trips through yellowstone on snow machines and that really gave me the love the park that i have now. is an important tourism opportunity for people not just for the pure enjoyment but to have respect and appreciation for what yellowstone national park

provides whether it is improving the engines or limiting the number of snow machines which yellowstone has done both of those. it is something i think should continue and it obviously provides tourism dollars to the state of wyoming. --ally important it provides enter in yellowstone is like nothing else. i think that is important to i think and i will say e changes have been made will help that to continue for many years to come. with regard to grizzlies no animal has been studied more and as the population has grown they are wonderful predators and we see what that does to other wildlife populations whether it is moose or others. we need to it recognizing that the state is in control of wildlife here we want state management and so we have moved forward on that and the question isn't whether or not to hunt grizzly bears.

the question is whether grizzly bears have grown in terms of population and in habitats that they can be a sustainable species and clearly they have and working with the fish and wildlife service and game and fish we have reached that point. the other thing i think people need to recognize while there is now going to be a hunting season in the state of wyoming it is not as if before that is leakers weren't being killed. they were being killed they were just being killed by government managers. a much betterhave plan going forward understanding that grizzly bears are an important part of the ecosystem. tourismmportant part of and should be celebrated as long as the state of women has the ability to manage them. >> what's next after this term is up? >> it has been the greatest privilege to be governor of wyoming. my great grandparents homesteaded here and have been involved in the state for a long time.

i believe in turn limits for governors and for me the role of politics is a short-term deal. my wife and i have a cattle ranch and we are looking forward to the next chapter of getting back to the cattle ranch and enjoying time with each other and are two amazing kids. >> matthew mead is the second term governor of the state of wyoming. .e joins us thank you for your time, sir. >> we also want to thank our cable partners in cheyenne, that is spectrum. stay tuned for our next stop on the capitals tour, lincoln, nebraska. of our previous interviews on the c-span 50 capitals tour or a schedule of stops, visit our c-span community page. that will do it for the washington journal today.