>> the white house did not release an address this week. oregon senator ron wyden delivered the democratic weekly address. he focused most of his remarks on the russia investigation. senator wyden: hello, i am ron wyden, state senator from oregon. this week, america looked back at the remarkable life of george herbert walker bush. his public service began long before he sat in the oval office. he was a decorated navy pilot, he served two terms in congress, he was a diplomat, leader in the intelligence community, and vice president. he protected americans with

disabilities and he strengthened the rules and raised national education standards. he put the country on a path to a balanced budget. it was all done with bipartisan cooperation with democrats and the congress. that is what americans want their elected officials to do. set aside partisan division and do what is right for our communities and our country. that is one of the key issues that americans are focused on today. there is bipartisan support for legislation, protecting the mueller investigation into russia and donald trump. information that has just recently come to light shows you why that is so needed. donald trump has claimed for years that he had no business ties with russia. it is now clear that that has been false. deep into 2016, after donald trump had secured the republican nomination, long time lawyer

michael cohen was negotiating a deal with russian officials to build a trump tower in moscow. trump family members knew about it. there was even a proposal to give a $50 million penthouse as a "gift" to vladimir putin. here is why this is so important. from the beginning, i have said a top priority for this investigation is to follow the money. following the money has uncovered massive corruption, to reveal a growing web of lies told by the president, his aides and closest associates. the pattern of trump flattering putin and misleading the public while seeking profit from russian money is impossible to ignore. meanwhile, it is not a matter of if he will interfere with the mueller investigation, the interference has already happened.

he attacks mueller on a daily basis. he dangles potential pardons like carrots, to influence potential witnesses. he installed an acting attorney general, matt whitaker, whose prior prejudicial comments suggest that he is hostile to the investigation. that includes even musing about ways of killing it behind the scenes. here's the bottom line. the mueller investigation is rooting out crime and corruption that trump and his associates are desperate to cover up. that is why the president is lashing out. there is bipartisan legislation underway that would defend bob mueller against trump's attacks on his work. mcconnell has blocked it at every turn. that cannot go on any longer. congress must make clear that no american, not even the president, is above the law. that is one of the founding principles of our nation. it is time for republicans in

congress to put country over party and work with democrats to protect the bob mueller investigation. thank you very much. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> sunday on q&a. >> i worked with four people, once an former presidents, jimmy carter, bill clinton and barack obama and donald j. trump. >> the publisher of many best-selling nonfiction books. came to understand about donald trump and this is profoundly important for the way the things work now is donald trump in his heart of hearts he believes he's alway wins. in newa guy who has been york real estate, but gambling, real estate, boxing, wrestling, beauty contest, television, construction. never been the target of a criminal investigation.

that's astonishing in new york city. >> a conversation with longtime journalist and publisher peter -- sunday night at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span's q an&a. >> now c-span talks with congressman lamar smith of texas on his life and career in politics. this is 35 minutes. steve: congressman smith, what led to your decision to retire this year? rep. smith: steve, good question. appreciate being with you today. a lot of factors went into my deciding not to run for reelection. i was one of the first to announce that because texas has an early primary. we have an early period in which you have to file for reelection and i decided early on i was not going to. a couple of factors -- on the republican side we have term limits as committee chairman and i