senator sharon brown is in hampton falls, new hampshire. 7:15 p.m. eastern, south bend, indiana, mayor pete buddha czechia holding meet massachusetts senator elizabeth warren is in massachusetts to formally announce her presidential candidacy. 4:00 p.m.rday, at eastern, new jersey senator cory booker's in des moines, iowa, at a community forum. sunday at 2:30 p.m. eastern, minnesota senator amy klobuchar takes the stage in minneapolis to make what is billed at a campaign announcement at follow the road to the white house on c-span and c-span.org, or listen on the free c-span radio app. on "washington journal," your calls and comments. later, a conversation with tennessee republican. later, a conversation with tennessee republican congressman tim burchett on his goals as a

freshman member of congress and democratic congressman bill castro of new jersey -- bill pascrell. of new jersey. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] host: it is the "washington journal" for february 8. john dingell passed away yesterday after dealing with cancer and heart attack. his influence can be seen in legislation and oversight efforts such as the passage of the affordable care act, environmental protections, and civil rights. we are getting your thoughts on the life, career, and passing of john dingell. you can give your thoughts several ways. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. for those of you who live in michigan and want to give your thoughts on the passing as well,

202-748-8003. you can also post on our social media sites @cspanwj is our twitter feed and our facebook page at facebook.com/cspan. the detroit news highlights some of the life and career of john dingell serving in congress adding it was on june 6 26 -- he became the longest serving member. it was december 11 of 2014 he cast his long -- last vote in the u.s. house. democratman or ranking from 1981 to 2008 and viewed as a giant shaping landmark laws protecting endangered animals. as 2010 with the passage of the affordable care act, but can also be seen in the clean air act amendments of 1990, endangered species act of

1973. actell as the water quality of 1965. he served with 11 presidents, 11 21,551 days he served in congress and he and his father consecutively served congress for 29,871 days. debbie dingell now serves in the seat he wants took. haley stevens sang today the world lost a giant for justice, health care, and the advancement of american innovation. that john's thoughts --gell some other people weighing in, gary peters saying john emboldened the value, spirit, and dedication of public service.

if you are from michigan and want to give your thoughts on the passing of john dingell, it is 202-748-8003. you can call us, republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. and independents, 202-748-8002. if you go to our c-span website, he appeared on our site in one way or another over 100 times including an event that went back to 2013. it was a celebration recognizing him as the youngest serving member of congress surpassing the late senator robert byrd on june 7, 2013. here is some of that event featuring john dingell. [video clip] >> i find myself very much troubled about the fact that we, in the congress, don't seem to learn one of the important

questions and that is a meaning of the body of which we are apart. congress means a coming together, where people come together to work for great causes in which they all have an important interest and share. we have, i think, unfortunately because of the pressures of the times, have forgotten this. i am hopeful that as we move forward, it will come to our mind again how important it is workwe pull together to for a common good and that we come to something my dad used to teach me. at one of my look neighbors and say, pardon me, but your end of the boat is sinking. we are all in this thing together and it is very important we keep those things in mind, that we understand how

important it is that this nation is a treasure beyond any that any group of human beings have held. host: we will start in washington, democrats line. this is janet. good morning. caller: good morning. hasel the democratic oath made our democratic politicians the best. they cared about everybody and did everything they could for us. grandmas andd and grandpas were all democrat. it was such a good party. why did it change? the catholic politicians should --a symptom them suck ashamed of themselves. rob, line morning,

for democrats. caller: good morning and thank you for c-span. you do a great job. he was a great man. i am old enough to remember him in the 80's talking about the unfair trade practices when it came to automobiles coming in from japan. he talked about the imbalance in trade way before what you are hearing today. unfortunately, the remedies of the past are not the remedies of the present in terms of balancing trade. was a an old school -- he great guy. when he spoke, you listened to him and he was down-to-earth. fantastic guy. i wish we had more people like him today and i wish people in high office could take a lesson although i don't believe they

will. host: when you say he was old school and someone could take a lesson, what is something someone in congress today could learn from john dingell? thatr: people like dingell came up and earned his keep the honest way, without cutting corners had self-esteem. people who break the law and who don't cut corners get their income from legitimate means, they suffer from low self-esteem and illegitimacy and never feel equal to guys like dingell. he obtained his legitimately. when people don't earn their keep legitimately, they always feel less than guys like dingell . they stand next to a guy like dingell and they don't feel

equal to him. they know he was old school and got his on his own. host: let's go to mark, republican in maryland on the passing of john dingell, go ahead. c-span.thank you for i wanted to say condolences for the dingell family. as a 25-year-old business owner out of maryland, i was not alive for most of his term or his father's term. i just wanted to comment and say the fact that congressman dingell took over his father's seat collectively almost 30 years and now dingell's wife is now in the seat. i think that, despite all the positive accounts of his personality and his dedication to good work, i think congress needs term limits and i believe a man like dingell's impression

and influence could have been a supportive role after a few terms. more minds, more thoughts, more answers, we could have had some things worked out by now. on to the next. host: that is mark in maryland, republican line. we have set aside a line for those of you from michigan. stephen, go ahead. caller: can you hear me? host: you are on, go ahead. caller: like i said, this man is a great man and everything he has done was to protect the environment and clean water, clean air, all the things we need today. everything is polluted. see him gone. i know his wife, debbie, we'll

carry on and carry that torch for him. host: you heard the previous caller saying how congressman dingell, his father served in the seat before and his wife serves after. what do you think about that as a dingell -- as a legacy for the dingell family? caller: it's a long legacy of fighting for social justice and clean air and clean water. what more can you ask for? host: the new york times highlights when he was chairman of the house energy and commerce committee and again after the 20 vastection, his unusually portfolio allowed him to shape policy. it was in the early 1980's his committee uncovered the slack procurement procedures including payment of $640 for a toilet seat. offorcing the resignation

and gorsuch buford. dingell was an avid hunter. he kept fish and game trophies in his office including that of a 500 pound boar he reportedly killed with only a pistol. mr. dingell defended the right atbear arms and was a member the national rifle association. that puts him at odds with many democrats, but hunting was important to his working-class constituents. tulsa, oklahoma, vincent up next, republican line. ulller: i wish dingell the b the best in the afterlife. out: do you have any stand memories of his influence in congress? caller: i think it is a good state. that is where cars are made. host: one of the things the congressman talked about at an event in 2014, taking a look at

the condition of congress and how it functions. here are some of those thoughts. [video clip] >> the congress is something which belongs to us all. it is something which has been achieved only at great bloodshed, great loss-of-life, great suffering. -- farrd work and stronger than any we see running around now. interestingly enough, those men and women were not people who had prodigious education. they were, rather, people who understood by hard study of the wisdom of persons earlier in the history of this world. is to haved to do the american people dictate that

.hich must be done i am proud i have been able to trulyart of the body and a child of the institution. i intend to keep this nation and all my colleagues in my thoughts ,nd prayers and i have to say more often in my prayers then in my thoughts. [laughter] host: more of that event can be seen as well as mr. dingell's many appearances on this network. if you go to our website at c-span.org. tim walberg from michigan saying i count it a privilege to have served with john dingell in the house and represent a part of his former district. he left a mark that few can match. this is and 11 john dingell represents the house itself in all of its dignity and down-home-ness. he mastered it and enjoyed it

all. , ourry clinton saying i country, and twitter will miss john dingell's quick witticism. --fellow americans who lostdent obama saying we citizens who inspired me and many others who -- by leading on the civil rights issues of our time in opening the door to others and leaving all that on the field. the detroit news highlights an aspect of mr. dingell's career saying how he went to the dean of health to the dean of twitter adding when he left congress after 59 years of service, he gained that title of dean of twitter. he amassed more than 258,000 followers with wit and cutting attacks especially about president donald trump. a columnist for the national memo -- democrats should create

an official twitter account to respond to the president's tweets and dingell was best qualified -- the world's greatest's 90-year-old twitter user. you can read more of that in the detroit news. let's go to cape may, new jersey, republican line. caller: good morning. host: good morning. you are on. caller: i did not even -- i don't remember even knowing about this gentleman, to tell you the truth. he served a long time, which is representative of too long. we should never have any congresspeople in the house or senate 59 years. that is absolutely absurd. i believe in term limits and i think the country overall would

be better served to have term limits. even though he may have been a wonderful person, it is never right to have someone serve that long anywhere in the senate or the house. i don't know if he was a young man getting started, whether he would approve of what took place the other night when so many women sat on their hands from the democratic party and did not really participate in anything but their self-serving and that is the problem, self-serving attitudes. for this first part of the program, your thoughts on the passing of john dingell passing away yesterday at 92. --eral lines available, standard.

if you are in michigan, you can give us a call at 202-748-8003. that is where wendy is calling from. you are next up. caller: good morning. i was quite an admirer of john dingell. it to me, he is a patriot and a very respected man and he served his country so well from right after his dad and 59 years is quite an accomplishment. i was not from his district, but he was someone to admire. host: as a republican, why did you admire him particularly? caller: he represented his district so well and called everybody his friend. it to me, that means a lot, to that takes the first of his constituents and legislators to honor him should do that, be proud to represent the people they are elected to

serve and not do things their way, but follow the will of their people. i think john dingell did that very, very well. host: that was wendy in michigan. senator roy blunt giving thought on twitter to the passing of john dingell saying john dingell served our country long and well. he chaired a powerful committee and made it even more powerful. he considered everything his jurisdiction and proved it. nothing was more dreaded than -- by administrations and agencies , which wasngell-gram the height of congressional oversight. >> john sat down to give me advice, you are not important, it's what you can now do to help others that is important. if you never forget that, you will do fine. john never forgot and helped millions prayed a very fine light indeed. rest in peace. roll call highlighting some of the things the represented of has said over the course of his

career and people -- when people brought up the idea of term limits. >> as someone who served nearly 40 terms, it is not a surprise -- " term limits are the lazy voter's way out." went on to say, "i believe in term limits. they are called elections. if you don't like your elected official, you can back someone to work against them. the people who benefit most from term limits our lobbyist." his book, which was released when this was written, talk to me about -- talk to me about term limits when they exist for lobbyist. is tracy from oregon, independent line. caller: hi, good morning. how are you? host: fine, thank you.

go ahead. the man. really admire he really represented the people of his district. not only that, he brought dignity and honesty and determination for everything he did and the way he treated ofple and the kind legislation he tried to get passed and did pass. how very curious to wonder he would feel about his democratic party now. manyjust shocked at how are representing socialism and this great new deal. this is like a modern-day hunger games. i just don't think this is

something he would represent or try to pass and i don't think he would be very hard -- i think he would be very hard on this party about what they are doing. host: one more bit of tape from our archives. this was his last public appearance last spring. this was an event sponsored by the united states capital historical society paying tribute to the energy and commerce committee and witty oversaw for many years and its achievement over those years. [video clip] >> being the chairman of the commerce committee was the highlight of my career. we had a some bitter fights. we were air and water. we had bitter fights over a lot of other things. the one thing we always did was to resolve those differences in a way which enabled us to walk out of the committee room and shake hands and smile and to maintain the friendship which

meant so much to us and which meant so much in terms of making for -- the commerce committee not only the greatest committee, but a committee which worked regularly on all the important and difficult matters which came into its hands. i want to say that greg's comments about being here for nearly 200 years, that would be nice, but i think we can have it for longer if we could get members that would be good for the congress and the country and for this particular grade committee, which is one of the great committees that has got the greatest committee in the congress of the united states. host: if you wanted to see all those events concerning congressman dingell, we invite you to go to our website at

c-span.org. for the remainder of our time, we are going to tell you what is going on in today in washington and give you a chance to comment. typically this is how we will take the phones. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. perhaps you want to comment on the upcoming hearing that will take place at 9:30. this will be on c-span 2 before the house judiciary committee and will feature the acting attorney general of the united states, matthew whitaker. you saw stories leading up to that saying several letters back and forth between him and joe nadler, the house chairman on whether the idea of -- on the idea of whether a subpoena would be used. all those issues being resolved and he will appear. you can see that at 9:30 on c-span 2. -- come upeporting

with a border framework to keep the government from shutting down. roll call saying the emerging deal will be a first big test of democratic unity saying when it comes to legislating, house democrats are still in the honeymoon stage of the new majority. in the rocky period is coming -- the rocky period is coming. signaled thursday they are narrowing in on a border security deal that could be finalized and ready for floor votes next week. while there is no agreement, many were optimistic, some more than others that they would reach one on friday over the weekend providing enough time to draft and file legislation. that story in roll call. comments on that, the hearing, other things on this today in washington segment. the house coming in at 9:00 and

we will have legislators between 8:00 and 9:00. columbus, ohio, independent line. caller: hello. host: you are on, go ahead. say i: i just wanted to am an independent, but i would like to know why every time one of these republicans call in just like the republican that called two minutes ago, they did not want to give dingell any credit. i would like to remind that the congress voted him in that many times. what is the matter with these guys? host: andrew is next from michigan, independent line, good morning. caller: in michigan, we have been represented by the dingell family for a very long time and

i would like to echo the prior caller from the great state of ohio. the reason he has been in congress for 59 years is because we like him. i don't understand why we have to listen to people call up and say this guy should be term limited when all he did was a great job for an extremely --erse in host: why did you like him, particularly? caller: he stood for everything this district was about, even the gun saying. this district goes from one of the most educated cities in the country and we also have one of the highest arab populations in all these towns in between that are working class and into hunting. he represented the entire district. we put -- that is why we put him there for 59 years. host: david next, republican

line. caller: i wanted to make a comment. i cannot remember her name, but she was the representative from el paso after the president's speech. she spoke up and said about the violence in el paso that president trump was lying. he got that from the border patrol. she is he is calling -- calling the border patrol liars as well. host: border security is one of the topics you can come up today as they try to come up with a deal to keep the government from shutting down. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 democrats. .ndependents, 202-748-8002 from atlanta, georgia, democrats line. this is derek. caller: what i would like to see

is donald trump -- democracy in this country is gone. in a country -- this country is going to continue on. it is not going to be a democracy after donald trump. autocrats andn is an oligarchy in america. it is up to the democrats to prove this point. the taxs far as returns, why do you think it is important for those to be revealed? caller: the tax returns will expose the country he is dealing with. see deutsche bank and these people. these willo you know

be revealed in his tax returns? caller: follow the money, it is that simple. these are the things that motivate this guy and republicans are right along with him. catherine ino to new hampshire. caller: good morning. i have two issues that i would like to see congress work on. the first is the u.s. department of education's first priority clubd be a yearly safety -- public schools and safety checklist before any schools and open it doors to students. the checklist would make sure schools are safe from toxins, pollutants, pesticide, lead, ticks. why wait for students to be sick?

when public schools and playgrounds are reported year -- yearly safe, students could use the school. drugld like to know what companies sell childhood vaccines and are these childhood vaccines made in the usa or some other country like china? thank you. host: yesterday it was revealed by ed markey of massachusetts rtez ofxandria ocasio-co new york. the framework for what they call a green new deal. some of the ideas -- usa today highlighting the resolution thursday called for that increase in generation of renewable fuel and a shift within 10 years to energy systems that are "net zero when it comes to greenhouse gases that are a primary contributor to climate change. the revelation --

it was representative of casio-cortez that talked about the framework and hoping it would have impact within the united eights and also worldwide. [video clip] >> it is comprehensive. it is thoughtful. it is compassionate and extremely economically strategic . today is the day we choose to assert ourselves as a global leader in transitioning to 100% renewable energy and charting that path. that means we are not going to lowestselves by the standards of other nations. it doesn't mean we are going to say, what about them? they are not doing it. we should do it because we should lead. we should do it because that is what this nation is about. we should do it because we are a on ideals.nded

we should do it because we are an example to the world. that is why we should do it and we need to save ourselves and we can save the rest of the world with us. host: a story saying other democrats expressed more skepticism about carbon emissions "i am not sure a 10 year goal is realistic. "" that was angus king, adding that he had yet to read the draft and adding, "i used to be in the renewable power business," referring to his time as a wind energy executive. mansion adding "they never shared it with us until today. i want to bring everyone together. we have to settle in on the same set of facts." you can bring it up and comment

on this. the things going on in and around washington, d.c. we are hearing today with matthew whitaker, the race of the green new deal -- release of the green new framework. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. an independents, 202-748-8002. lisa from idaho, independent line. caller: thank you, c-span. i have this to comment or a question if anybody can answer it for me. i saw a commercial on the television for a tax cut a book for trump's tax plan and how to get loopholes and stuff about it. i was just wondering had anybody seen this or is anybody making money from his tax cut for what? host: democrats line, this is

from cincinnati, ohio. thomas, good morning. caller: good morning, pedro. the question is will the president release his tax credits? that was one of his campaign promises. he won't do it. nickname, them a russian's version of agent orange. host: why do you think the president will release his tax returns and what will you learn from it? caller: he gives tax cuts to the rich, but not the middle-class. he should pay his fair share and so should his family. if we are all in this together, he has to pay his fair share and

release his tax records. host: from our republican line, paul from alabama, you are next up. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. first time caller. -- representative, i want -- when she was making that speech, where is the money going to come from? host: you hear me, pedro? -- you hear me, pedro? host: this is matthew, independent line. caller: i was a republican for most of my life. leading up to this election, this passed election, -- this past election, i could not help sick to my stomach about what was going on. -- i decided i

donald trump. for i am more of an independent. for myselfhinking and really looking at the world for what it was. the jews are everywhere. host: caroline, next up in pennsylvania. i am republican and i have been one since 1980. i voted for ronald reagan. republican i support my president. i am afraid of the socialism, that the democrats have gone too far left. i was wondering on that. host: you say you support the president, what about this idea of the president revealing his

tax returns? do you think that should be done? caller: of course not, he should reveal his tax returns, of course. oft: what is the value having the tax returns revealed? caller: all presidents do it. advocat out ofhe baton rouge responding and giving their take to a supreme court decision that took place late yesterday concerning a law that was about to go into effect in louisiana concerning abortion providers. this is the story by elizabeth chris adding the u.s. supreme shutteropped a law to abortion clinics. -- privileges at hospitals is likely far from over. the court ordered admitting privileges law to be put on hold pending a timely filing of petition for the high court to act on the law itself and it would immediately expire if that doesn't happen.

it -- the emergency state was 5-numeral four vote with john roberts voting more liberal. this advocat story adding it was brett kavanaugh, the newest member of the court writing a dissent on the ruling that was more than 10 times longer than the majority of remarks and he argued doctors would have a 45 day waiting period to obtain admitting privileges as required by law and if unsuccessful, the court would revisit the issues. "if the doctors after good faith efforts cannot obtain admitting privileges, the fifth circuit's factual predictions could turn out to be inaccurate as applied that story available at the advocat's site out of baton rouge. that is the local paper giving the perspective of that court decision. you can make your comments on that as well in this remaining

20 minutes. joe in nebraska, democrats line. on for hoursld go with my complaints. i only have two things. one is where is my 10% tax cut to the middle class the president blurted in december? if anybody knows where that is, let me know. i called in the day after the election and said we could survive four years of donald trump. this country cannot survive 8 years of this nonsense from the highest office in the land. thank you. fresnorom california, in , good morning, go ahead. caller: good morning. i have a couple comments. first of all, in the green new deal, no one is mentioning how you pay for it. you are going to pay people not to work. that is not an incentive to the

united states of america. that is not heard number two, the whole thing with people coming together and the loss of john dingell, he came out and said let's work together. i don't see that in the democratic party right now. number three, i watched you read, not too long ago, on the solarstatus of i was a and you cut off and highlighted and the other things that led -- the bad part of it, you cut it off. host: you are going to have to get context. i don't have total recall of things i have read. caller: you read it about three callers ago. talk about the guy that he was part of the solar energy blah, blah, green new deal and you cut it off. you highlighted yellow and then messed it up and then you went

to the next paragraph. you are not reading all the paragraphs. you are not giving every information. host: there is not enough time and space to do that, to be honest with you. you can go ahead and finish your thought. caller: let me finish. isyou highlight it, there enough information for you to read the whole thing. c-span girl.nd of the totalit and i see disregard for anybody else's opinion but your own. you don't ever have republicans on here. you don't ever have anybody trying to go back and say, this is both sides of the story. host: in our next hour, we are going to have a republican legislator, democratic legislator, we try to have those 4 things. we try to prevent a viewpoint.

i know you are new, but i want to give you an understanding this is what we try to do. if you look at our history, it will prove itself. if we read from the paper, it will prove itself out even if we cannot read everything. caller: yeah, it is negative. if you have 10%, where is that 10%? host: let's go to sarah and baltimore, maryland. independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i wanted to make a comment about the new, green deal. there is part of it that concerns me. i am all for energy and independence, but there is a part that describes a job guarantee. the text says a job guarantee is a legal right that obligate the federal government to provide a job for anyone who asked for one and pay them a living wage. i would have to say that is totally unrealistic. if we gave a job to 10% of america, it would cost us $2 trillion, which is two thirds of

our existing budget. i don't see how that is possible. we would have to rearrange our entire economy. host: from our independent line, this is scott from florida. caller: how are you doing today? thank you for taking my call. i was going to suggest maybe we could use that gofundme they started for the wall to maybe and haunch of bulldozers ul a bunch of that clean coal up there -- host: have you ever try to climb over a bot -- a pile of clean coal? caller: me neither, but i that it isn't easy. then dig a trench along the border and cover it with plywood and if somebody falls in, they can forget about it. host: that is scott from

florida. only birnbaum, a historian the hill website talks about the idea of smart wall technology being floated by some in the process of border security and causing concerns from lawmakers adding democrats and republicans have touted using technology to secure the border as an alternative to president trump's physical wall. lawmakers are raising red flags about the consequences of deploying new technologies such --drones, motion sectors, sensors. this quote is from someone who represents a district on the border in arizona. sakeology for technology's is equally invasive on people's rights. it has to be walked carefully and there have to be safeguards as well. it also quotes another lawmaker, veronica escobar, democrat from texas who represents a border

district telling the hill, "i feel strongly already many fundamental rights are evaporated when you step foot under a certain line near the u.s.-mexico border and that has always been troubling to me. you can see that more at the hill website story -- pennsylvania is next, gary, democrats line. the woman from idaho that wanted to know whether mr. trump was benefiting from the tax book or not. i got it out of the library or it looks like the one i saw the commercial for an it is basically a book that tells you how to fill out your income tax line by line. it has the trump changes in it, but basically tells you how to fill it out line by line and it is written by someone who i doubt very seriously would vote for donald trump. i don't remember reading that much about her biography, but

that is what i do remember. the other thing is the lady in texas, the democrat in texas is worried about invasiveness and all these other stuff, then vote for the wall. it is as simple as that. host: from republican line from new york in plain view, go ahead. caller: good morning. my comment is i think all members of congress should have their taxes reviewed and presented. why are they exempted? committeesm vote on and have access to stock ipo's such as nancy pelosi, who is worth at least $100 million. the clinton foundation took money while she was in office from various governments. why isn't that investigated?

host: arthur in tennessee, democrats line, hi. caller: we don't have to worry about mr. trump in 2020 because he will be impeached or resigned once they find out about his taxes, the russians own him lock, stock, and barrel. host: why do you think that? arthur, why do you think that? arthur hung up. we will go to rip in virginia, republican line. caller: you have got to see someone's tax returns, but you don't have to see someone's birth certificate. politicians are the scourge of our world and we are taking it in the knees on a constant basis by individuals who pretend like they are for us, but just take advantage of us on a daily basis. that is the way it has always been and always will be. everybody should think about

youth instead. youth is in horrible trouble and if we don't look to our youth and protect them and helping them arrive at a functional arena, it is going to be horrible for them. it is certainly going to be horrible for us. it up,ince you brought let's start with the president's tax returns, do you think they should be revealed? caller: real estate individuals are probably the most dysfunctional. that is why they changed some real estate taxes. i think he will eventually show them as the scrutiny will be overwhelming as it was for this last president, the scrutiny over his birth certificate was overwhelming while that turned out to be a fraudulent piece of paper so probably will be the documentation representing the taxation of mr. trump as well. host: you think probably -- people will not learn anything from it? caller: i think people in the

united states believe whatever they want to do just like people in the united they do whatever they can get away with. host: as far as yourself, if the tax returns are revealed, will you be interested in learning from them? caller: i don't really care. it's not going to make any difference as far as what goes on in the united states. we are so divided, it is unbelievable -- hatred. it is not just disagreeing. in the 1940's, no one told anyone what they thought and no one was asked what their political stance was and that is what is going to have to be and all those who have a political stance, you should keep your mouth shut and never tell anybody what you believe or who you are going to vote for. that should be a totally private thing. host: this story from the new york times talks about the upcoming physical that will be undergone by the president of the united states. kate rogers writing dr. ronny

jackson who used about mr. is nos great genes longer the white house physician. taking his place will dock -- will be dr. sean conley. the physical will take place on friday. this story adds in the months after the first physical, mr. trump, a lover of fast food made attempts at trying lighter fare. has not demonstrated any changes in his fitness regime. when he plays golf, he still relies heavily on golf carts. from new jersey, this is barbara. independent line. caller: hi. thank you so much for making communication known, still, even if you cannot get through on

lines people are making themselves seem like they are part of those parties -- which they are not. let me share what president lincoln shared. a house divided against itself cannot stand. we need each other, but we do not need a foreign infiltrators andgning our conversation paying media sites to promote their own selves within our country. people need to be sure who they are listening to on the media. they should not get excited with emotional things. they need to know it is not all from this country. thank you very much and god bless america. host: we will take a few minutes to update you on the process of confereesns by border . joining us on the phone from politico, rebecca rainey who covers labor and immigration issues to talk about and give us the latest. guest 1: good morning.

thank you for having me. host: remind people about the group -- the deadline this group gave themselves. guest: negotiators have until or spending will run out and we could face another shutdown. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were optimistic that the bipartisan conference committee will be able to reach a deal on order security funding. -- border security funding. -- new house rules, they are facing a tight turnaround to come up with a deal. the house requires a three-day review of major bills, so lawmakers have to come up with a deal by sunday to have enough time for the house to take it up and allow for congress to vote before the february 15 deadline. host: what are the sticking points? guest: really, there is going to be some sort of funding for not

necessarily a wall, but for potential fencing. they have also talked about including funding for technology. for the most part, it doesn't seem like the president will get -- $5.7 billion funding request. host: how much cooperation is going on to make those things happen from the conferees themselves? agree --ey seem to there was a meeting wednesday where they were confident they could come up with a deal and agree on putting some sort of fencing or barrier at the border . it is certainly not going to be the request the president requested. host: clarify this. toseems to me the deadline at least get this processed settled so they could meet the deadline -- were the major

discussions just starting this week? guest: yes. major discussions did not start until wednesday when lawmakers met with customs and border patrol agents. they wanted to wait until that meeting on wednesday to really start the substantive talks regarding whatever the deal will be this committee comes up with. host: how many republicans and democrats are represented on the committee? guest: the committee is made up of 17. it is a bipartisan committee. there are about seven representatives from the house. i don't know the exact breakdown. host: as far as the timetable for today, what is expected? lawmakers have headed out and home for the weekend. it is expected lawmakers will meet today and talk more. it's likely the discussion will be pushed until later this weekend.

we should seey some sort of framework amount? -- come out? is that the expectation? guest: it is likely they will have to sign a continuing legislation -- continuing resolution. host: thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: betty is next in fort worth, democrats line. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i want to talk about these people that call in about social security, about socialism. if you don't believe in socialism, don't take your social security, just take out what you put in. i don't have social security. the next thing i want to talk about is the lie this man told about the tax returns, every family was going to get $4000

back. it did not work for my family. the next thing i want to talk about is these people who just love the children. i worked in a school -- an all-black school in fort worth that was surrounded by wealthy -- and other income caucasians. the people -- the children were poor. they needed glasses, they needed clothes. they needed food. the teachers had to help supply it. this community was beautiful -- the caucasian community. they had beautiful churches. never in the 20 something years i worked there, those who love to children, they never came that school and offered to give any of those children any help. host: that is betty in fort worth, texas. public in line, kevin, go ahead.

-- republican line, kevin, go ahead. caller: good morning. i wanted to know if pelosi would make a wall like the prior guy said that trump should change his taxes. i would like to know where she got all that money at. on that last caller, i understand there is a race problem in this country because i am from indiana. certain parts of indiana, it's all white. maybe one black kid. i don't know the answer to that. host: back to the president's taxes, do you think the president should reveal them? caller: like i said, i think pelosi should reveal -- or whoever challenged him should put their taxes out there and they should not just pick

whoever has the perfect tax form. host: when it comes to the president himself, do you think his taxes should be revealed? caller: if the congress doesn't show all of theirs, i don't think he should have to show his. they can't even build a wall. host: let's hear from mike in virginia, last call on this segment. independent line, go ahead. caller: i am concerned because i see a lot of foreign interests operating with the current executive. there has been an email between felix seder and cohen clearly linked to putin. i believe there should be financial exposure on the part of the executives. ultimately, we are all americans regardless of our race, creed, religion. ultimately, we are all americans and we should be concerned with

american security and that means making sure there is not undue foreign influence. host: you think those things will be learned from the president's tax returns? caller: i think the president's tax returns will leave a money trail straight to vladimir putin. a civil suitto over the election and i'm concerned there is not more media reportage on the subject because i feel it is a very important subject. host: that is mike in virginia. don't forget, amongst the things happening in washington, d.c., that hearing featuring matthew whitaker, the assistant attorney general will be before the house judiciary committee live at 9:30. you can see that on c-span 2, c-span.org, and our radio app. the houses in at 9:00 today. two guests joining us.

we will hear from tim burchett from tennessee and we will later hear from bill pascrell on the ways and means committee, the committee that wants to deal with the president's tax returns . first, you can go to our website presentationull from howard schultz. he was at purdue university yesterday talking about his political beliefs and here is what he had to say about a beliefs. here's what he has to say about a potential run. >> this past year, i have traveled the country. i have heard and i have learned so many things. among them is that the american people are longing for more honesty. authentic and real leadership in washington, d.c. that is finally working for them. our political class in washington, d.c. is not solving the problems we need to solve. in order to make the future of america brighter and better for

your generation. mired,iticians seem every single day, in revenge politics. the american people are exhausted by. yhey want and deserve -- buy it. they want and deserve something better. of americansirds agree that our party system is broken. it is time for a candidate, not affiliated with either party, to be president. the question is where do we go from here? running for president is one task i am seriously considering. doing so as an independent would completely free me from being the holdings to special -- beholdant to the

special interest groups. it would allow me to focus on the american people in a new, nonpartisan wins. has been anhitaker attorney general november, when he replaced jeff sessions. today, he will testify before the house judiciary committee. his first appearance before the committee. watch live today at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span2, c-span.org or listen live with the c-span radio app. washington journal continues. host: this is tim burchett. a republican from tennessee. he serves on the foreign affairs and budget committee. good morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: when it comes to this. people may not know where you're from. give us your back room -- macron. guest: knoxville, tennessee. i have represented several

counties. i was the county mayor for eight years. the second congressional district is in east tennessee. it is a fairly republican area. host: what was your interest in running for the u.s. house seat? guest: i got an politics because i was mad. i had a small recycling business and i was accused of taking toxic waste and my political friends ran for cover and the epa cleared me, oddly enough. with,, after it was over i said if i got into political office, i would look after the little man and woman. that is what i have done. my whole career has been that. received race iran, i about 2.5 percentage points over the opponent, who was an incumbent. out of 99 house races, i was the only person to be an incumbent. --ch her years later, iran

four years later, i ran for state senate. positiony mayors opened up and i took a shot at that. we received 85% of the vote against a very powerful share in eriff inunity -- sh our community. from your background, what do you think about it on its face? guest: i am a capitalist. i told cortez that. we have talked about it extensively. if you look at the framework, that is really all it is. it is a nonbinding resolution. i would like to see some deep in it. eeth in it. they had to take it down because there were some errors or

something. i am a capitalist. we need to look at those kinds of things that will encourage people to find cures and resolutions. county, we in knox produce one tire per person per year. if you can clean up our entire mess, you see the wheels turning. that is the kind of incentive we need in this country. and more government intervention is not going to happen. to say we are not going to have , how people are going to get to why, i guess they will take a boat. -- hawaii, i guess it will take a boat. host: are you saying this on its face? guest: i think there are a lot of holes in it. there are questions and since they pulled it off the website, there are questions about going to- is this

spark innovation or send us backwards? the government will put limits on people and then you just see it or up and they go somewhere else. they will not have internal combustion engines i think is a mistake. part of our energy has to deal with -- and i know a lot of the folks are saying we need windmills, solar and things like that. it has to have nuclear. there is going to be some aspect of that in there. it scares people. i have said this. i would like to bring our military home. is about oil. it is not about defending the constitution of the united states. representing is next door to -- minds inhe greatest

the world are in east tennessee. joins of dollars are sent overseas to folks that hit our country and treat them in -- women with disrespect. we are giving them billions of billions of dollars. we should invest that money in our own technology. we can solve the energy problem. it would all be domestic. we can use coal. in the second world war, the germans, most of their gas a lot of there were effort was on -- war effort, the gas was produced on coal. that has not been advanced since then. innderstand that some folks kentucky and some of those areas and i hope leader mcconnell would push those clean coal initiatives and use that technology. at oak ridgep it national laboratory.

tot: let me invite people congress and with our guest, tim burchett. (202) 748-8002 four republicans -- for independence. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 four democrats. guest: i have not -- say that again. host: troops in syria may be out by april. do you agree with that idea? guest: i would like to -- guest: i would like to see us move in a direction. i realize the threat with isis. the industrial war complex, $600 billion last year and they got maybe 8-12,000,000,000 more than they asked for. at some point, we have to say enough is enough. we cannot be the world's police officers. host: are you concerned about

who bills that vacuum? guest: i am -- guest: i am concerned. we never have and at a plan. we get into the wars and for when -- men and women out when they are young. we had an excellent veteran service group with tom humphries , they did great work. i saw the cost. if you would see the cost of cheap gasoline, tried underneath a bridge and look at the people living underneath those bridges. close to half of them have tattoos and our military people. we have done them a disservice. uffed up about war but we do not take care of our veterans when they come home. it is a disgrace in east tennessee where some veterans have to drive to johnson city to get medical care or a pharmacist. we could walk to -- that is our drugstore. veterans to this day and some of

these folks are disabled, it is a disgrace. if we are going to go to these wars, let's commit that we are going to take care to these -- of these boys and girls when they come home and we are not doing that. host: how does that score with other republicans on the foreign affairs committee? guest: i would say i am in the minority. i would say i am in the minority. a lot of the democrats that are wanting -- when the president says and he ran on this, everybody agreed with it, the president -- president trump said we will bring our troops home. now that the democrats -- president trump wanted, democrats don't want it. young kids need to start thinking more water. let's putey would say drink machines in kindergarten's. if it is right or if it is wrong, they will be opposed to it regardless. this is an issue where i feel like he is right. the world's police

force. it is ridiculous to me. after 9/11, everybody was pumped up and we went after enemies and we got our enemies. it is time to start thinking about an exit policy and bringing those folks home. host: this is tim burchett joined us. he is on the budget and foreign affairs committee. the first call is from connie, go ahead. caller: good morning. you know, about this budget and everything and the wall. president obama, when he was in asked for a double barrier at the border when he was sending troops down. this is the first time in about 30 years that i have ever saw republicans actually stand up against democrats. i am very grateful for that. with trump and russia, it

thatestified to under oath the cia, the doj and the fbi checked trump out thoroughly and found he had no ties to russia. host: thank you for calling. when it comes to border security, what is your personal stance on the wall? guest: i say build it. i agree with what the president said. the reality is it needs to be in some areas and where it doesn't, it does not need to be. we need to let the experts decide that. the president has been clear about it. he does not want to build it from sea to signing -- shining sea. i think there are areas where it needs to happen. a young man was killed. mother is a sweet, dear christian lady.

they were at the state of the union. -- he wasackburn killed by a 22-year-old that crossed the line and had been here 14 years, never pay taxes, did not have a drivers license. -- paid taxes, did not have a drivers license. we will have to do more than building wall. we have to start busting these bad actors. these hispanics come over and they are hard-working, good people, the vast majority of them. they come here expecting a job and some duck back hires them -- --t bag hires them and they for less. and they get hurt. i followed this man. -- van. i am from east tennessee.

i'm kind of a redneck. i always noticed interesting vehicles. it was packed full of hispanic folks. i thought that was odd. i noticed the van was about to fall apart and there was no way it was legal, the amount of people in the van. i followed it all the way into nashville and it unloaded in this one area where the advertising signs were in spanish. this was kind of news to me. and the folks got out and they were young folks and kids and grandparents. i remember one little girl who did not look like anybody was even with her. i thought something is going on. i did a little research. what those dirtbags do is tell them you cannot take a greyhound. of course you can but they don't know. they take advantage of these hard-working people. some kids get sold into sex trafficking and god knows what. and i passed a law dealing with

that. is you have to have some people with some guts to go after these people. i'm not talking about the hard-working hispanic folks. million, i vote suspect there is more, better here illegal. there is no way you're going to deport all of those hard-working folks. we have to do better. we have to figure a middle of the road where those folks are not ripped out of their communities and they have had kids that are american citizens. i think there is a workable thing. we just have to be reasonable and sit at the table. we have to quit demonizing the people that are coming over the borders. host: let's hear from bristol, virginia, democrat line, charles, go ahead. caller: you were talking about the use of -- coalars ago, the united

company -- the use of coal. 30's ago -- 30 years ago, the united coal company failed. it cousin whoad was bankrupt. the company would not buy it. it was so expensive you can't afford it. caller: that -- guest: that's right. caller: i am in at minor, how are you going to get all of the debris? they had to pay to get the gas out the same way they do -- guest: i agree with you. i have a legislation dealing with that. representative cotton from memphis and i both do.

i stood up against them when i was a state legislator. cortez used itur -- alexander acosta cortez used it as an example. it is a public utility. they have private meetings. they have private meetings and that is wrong. or $6y the had five million, if they want to go , they can do that. they can have private meetings but i'm going to fight them. i don't know if there are enough legislators with enough guts to stand up to them but i am one of them. i've had it. these people were killed. and now they have to clean up the group that cleaned it up -- the have to clean up her in the

group that cleaned it up, they let them wear masks. liedwere fraudulent and under oath. i am ticked off. i'm going to go after them because i hate it when i see working people like this man right here taken advantage of. another thing. he was talking about the goal and he is right. we need to clean it up. there is a process where they can do it in the ground and do not disturb the ground around it. that is the kind of technology we have to look at. i don't want to be a conspiracy theorist, although i have been accused of that. it seems that every time we get technology that will do it cheaper than gasoline, miraculously, the price of gas falls below the magical amount and people end up losing their shirt. that is unfortunate. i'm going to expose that stuff. i'm sick of it. i think the public is sick of it. i think they realize the folks controlling gasoline, the big boys and they are big goals --

too, diablo -- big girls they have a lot of strings attached to a lot of puppets. host: from wisconsin, independent line, tim, go ahead. caller: i'm going to talk up the clean coal technology, what are you going to get out ? is it possible at all to come up with a formula? guest: that is exactly what i would like the folks for the oak ridge -- at the oak ridge national laboratory to do. i am hoping that some of those folks -- the technology is not there yet. if you can imagine what the president is saying, he said we have spent $6 trillion on these wars. plainspent 6 trillion on coal, do you think we could have clinical by now? i submit to you, i think we could. if the boys keep controlling this stuff, we will never get

past it. you can argue one way or the other but we have to start looking at other alternatives. we have over 500 years worth of coal in the ground and energy in the ground. it is ridiculous when you -- we have had presidents negotiate trade deals to lock our american workers out and let foreign russia andchina and all of the others and allow them to do it and claim that we are going to clean the environment because we are not going to use our coal and they do. and we are all breathing the same air. why they put those smokestacks so high so you don't have to breathe it, someone else will. host: from pensacola, good morning. caller: i have two quick things. i am a disabled veteran. when the government shutdown, i want to get my benefits. i just wanted to -- you to know if your test to know if you are aware of it, that is number one.

the government has been shut down more than one time. so, now that i have said that, i have the real question for you. at thee republicans house and senate and executive branch, why wasn't the wall being built or past? where was the legislation then, the democratsthat and crazy ortez are in there. what's going on? ourt: thank you for serving country. my wife and daughter were kind enough to agree with me, not that i shouldn't take it. --t: did you agrees with agree with the use of the shutdown? guest: i thought it was an appropriate measure. i hate it. i think it is a failure on

everybody's part. you have too many egos. honestly, is speaker pelosi let her people vote on that, there is probably more than 60, maybe less than 100 that -- democrats that agree. she has said it is an immoral law but she has voted for it in the past i believe, as has president obama and some of the others that seem to be up on their high horse about it. and i have forgotten his last question. it was -- host: talking about his experiences. guest: that is totally disgusting. host: usa today has an analysis of the hospital. someonek a look at analysis that said hospitals have lower rates or surgical complications such as hemorrhages. rates forhad higher infections. such as intestinal bacteria,

bloodstream infections. what do you think about the current state of the ba? guest: my father fought in the second world war and my mother lost her brother. she flew an airplane. she is quite the patriot. --wife is a widow and he was quite a patriot. think there needs to be -- they need to be a float for money. i think -- the v.a. would pay them just like your i. if congress was under the same plan as the ba, there were not -- v.a., there would not be a problem. there is no reason why we can't do that. it is because of victims.

that is the only reason. when you look at where these hospitals are located, it is because of some political, somebody in congress or the senate. that model is broken. we have to get back. that would help us a lot on our small hospitals that are closed in some of these rural areas. problemssolve a lot of . if somebody told me you make too much sense, you don't have a place in government, i see that. that would clean it up. unfortunately, i don't think anybody has the guts to pull the trigger. host: james is from michigan, democrat line. caller: good morning. good morning. i am calling in regards to the comments you made about people killed by the illegal immigrants.

it seems like we put more importance -- why don't you get just as the aboutabout -- vehement school kids that were killed in florida. and things that happen to the school children. guest: i agree with you. one death doesn't -- and my heart goes out to those folks and i agree. part of the trouble you have with a lot of these shootings, one of the common denominator's is mental health. that is something that i have focused extensively on. i would embarrass both parties because unfortunately, the mental health, if you have a mental issue, say i cut my hand and it is no big deal. i would go to the hospital and get sewed up. if i have something going on in my mind, there is a stigma attached to it. some of my best friends have mental issues. that is why i got involved with it.

i come to find out that a lot of those folks, a lot of these mental illnesses, and that is what they are, it is an illness. we need to quit attaching stigma to these poor folks because they are just like me or you. if they could get the proper treatment, we could diminish the stigma and that would happen. as far as some of those kids, what in the world is an adult ing and ar-15 to a kid for and not keeping it locked up. you need to hold parents accountable for some of that craziness. if you pop one parent, everybody would cry about it eventually. the way this country is going. somebody needs to take some personal responsibility for some of these things. host: this is on a republican line, barbara, from texas. caller: good morning. i would like to know when we are going to adjust the situation the u.s..es born in that is the way they are able to get into our welfare system. , there is a 17-year-old

sixth-grader sitting next to my daughter which is bringing her grades down. he can't speak english. he gets to go to the teacher and talk to her anytime he needs it. -- help. my daughter has to raise her hand. they are given a higher priority than our american children. that is the reason why our school systems are so messed up. something has to be done because i don't think two illegals should make an american citizen. host: ok. guest: you have a local issue and the feds have tried to intervene and made it worse. there is one school i know of that has 20 different languages spoken and there are 300 kids in it. that is a huge problem. a huge financial burden. is anchor babies i think she

talking about is when somebody comes here illegally and they have a child and that person is declared an american citizen. the is currently the way constitution is targeted. aknow that marsha blackburn, senator from tennessee as addressed that. i have not read enough on its to be educated -- it to be educated. host: do you think there will be a change as far as the passing of resolutions to fund government? guest: no. i am totally disgusted. i think that in politics now, reign inst want to hell, rather than serve in heaven. everyone wants their piece of the pie. that is what is killing us right now. we just need to put the egos inside and come to some resolve. yourselves into

prosperity and cannot give it away. we have to quit. we have to quit with the blank check. you can talk about military and all of it. education for instance, i made thepoint yesterday where department of education, it is $56 billion. shut the department of education down. send that money to the locals. let the people of tennessee, the people of michigan, let them decide what is best to do what their money. and confidence in the state of tennessee and our legislature. our speaker and lieutenant will -- andy lieutenant governor. someone dropped a penny on the ground and they both went for it and the state of tennessee is run tight. that is why people are clamoring to get into tennessee. education is one of those issues

where i think we could send the money to the states and let them irresponsible. education is not in the constitution from what i understand. so, we have taken that on and made it horrible. host: first time on the program, representative tim burchett, he serves as a republican for tennessee. thank you for your time. guest: thank you. it has been great. host: we will talk to bill pas grell next -- bill pascrell next. that conversation coming up on washington journal. ♪ >> this weekend on booktv, a look at the use of cyber weapons by the u.s. military. saturday at 8:40 p.m. eastern with theird herb,

latest book, bikes, bombs -- bites, bombs and spies. >> they're hoping to have leaders of one country creating perception with the mass publics of another. which, the evolution of this technology is going to make what the russians did with social media -- >> then at 11:00, the beating of isaac wondered, and african american world war ii veteran. by south carolina federal police. >> criminal prosecutions by the federal government for civil rights violations of the south are with problems. ,ost notably, all-white juries deeply un-that it to civil rights cases. further, congress was under the control of powerful southern committee chairs who were

determined to block even the most civil -- modest civil rights legislation. 9:00, the age of surveillance capitalism. she is interviewed by the editor and chief of the verge. where folks discovered that this doll that our children were talking to was actually picking children.logue of our chunks" wereue being sent to a company called nuance communications. which then sells dialogue chunks ,nto other organizations companies, and institutions, including the cia and nsa for

developing voice recognition software. right? -- coming from your child nursery, all the way to the cia for their first recognition through these -- voice recognition through these odd things. >> washington journal continues. host: this is representative bill pascrell, a democrat from new jersey. he serves in the ninth district and serves in the ways and means committee. guest: good morning. good to see you again. why is the committee so interested -- host: wife the committee so interested in tax returns? -- why is the committee so interested in tax returns? guest: we have been interested for two years. we are not just talking about taxes, we are talking about checks and balance in a where the forefathers

knew what the heck they were doing. there is no part of the government, whatever branch we're talking about that should have dominance over the other. we have surrendered our authority under the law, under the constitution. this is one example of it. that we have to go. and we're talking about a private thing, one's personal taxes is like your health. and we are not meddling. to getnot trying anybody. two years ago, on february the second, when we started in 2017, i wrote a letter to the chairman of the ways and means committee. and i said kevin, why don't we do this together? why don't we make this a bipartisan effort to do, to get what everynt to do

president since richard nixon has done. and that is to provide us with taxes. a widetalking about range of paperwork that has to come in. tax lawyers have to look at it. and i think it is important to know whether there are a potential or actual conflicts of interest in who is or to be the chief executive. we are not electing a king, we are electing a president of the united states. host: why has this not been done before, particularly when democrats were still in power? guest: every president since nixon has given their taxes. there is no law saying the president has to give their taxes. there is 6103, which is part of the tax code formed in 1924. the year after the teapot dome scandal. we're not only talking about the president and vice president, we are talking

about every member of the executive branch of government. we do not want any of our folks -- whether it be the supreme court, the congress, the executive branch of government, to have backgrounds which provide them to the open -- be open to conflicts of hostage and held as a businessnformation or viewing they may have. it is critical for the president to give the tax returns. it is clear in 61 of three that we can do this if we do it methodically. -- 61 of three that we can do this, if we do it methodically. that we can do this if we do it methodically. host: (202) 748-8001 four republicans.

.ndependents, (202) 748-8002 .emocrats, (202) 748-8000 one of the people responding to this was tom price. i want to play this video of what he has to say and get your response. [video clip] >> i think in the stock act, we have reviewed this disclosure and we tightened it up to her three years ago. this is something that is not new. this is something that has been considered over and over again. it has been tightened more and more. in our zeal and the zeal of our friends across the out to attack the president, to weaponize agencies of the federal government, including the fbi, the doj and the irs, to pursue him with any means possible, now they want to go after his tax returns. when it is not required. it has never been required. at anyd have required time we thought it was appropriate, we could have

passed the law. that is a perspective bill may be considered at some point and may the able to pass. but there is nothing that requires the president to disclose his tax returns. host: a point you make what his comments. -- but his comments. guest: absolutely. the president -- that is one thing. the other thing is there is 61 03, that is 61 developed and part of the tax code, presented in 1924. very important to read before you comment on it. it says that there are three committees basically, i am trying to condense it. we are talking about pages of a law which is very important. there are three committees in the congress that can ask for

these with cause. the ways and means committee, the chairman of that committee has tremendous power under the law for the second committee is the joint committee on taxation. -- underhird committee the law. the second committee is the joint committee on taxation. , theeapot dome example interior secretary was making -- to make a private so they could cut up the pie. democrats and republicans were involved in that scandal. it really shook up the nation at the time. i remember learning about it in catholic school. that is a laww --

that we are talking about. have is a law that says we the right to do that. there are only three committees. host: if that committee gets the information from the treasury department -- guest: they cannot just give it publicly either. vote, if any must part of it is to be made public, or nothing is to be made public. if you're not hiding anything, why not do this since it is protocol already and every president since nixon has done it. they found out he owed close to a half $1 million in taxes. -- $500,000 in taxes. host: we have calls. the first one comes from plano, texas on the republican line. patty, you're on. caller: one question. why did nixon?

did he voluntarily? guest: there was some question about -- the irs reviewed his taxes and said they seemed to be ok. a committee within the congress of the united states decided to take a look at it and found it was not ok. and that there was almost a half $1 million owed to the government by mr. nixon and then he surrendered the rest of his tax returns, which were reviewed. and they were interesting tax returns. host: from new york, the democrat line, jeffrey is next. go ahead. guest: hi, jeffrey. caller: good morning. calling to you from the home of harriet tubman. the point i would like to make is republicans are calling democrats socialists and -- as if that is a dirty word. the taxes are for the purposes

of social betterment and spreading the wealth that socialism, if you don't believe in it, you don't believe in public hospitals. you don't believe in public schools. you don't believe in public police action, part apartments, military, and evading taxes the prize the public of -- deprives the public of using public money to fund for the better good of the general public. and this is the crux of socialism and as a democrat, i supported. they should support the lesser of these and socialism is the safety net that keeps society function. host: thanks. guest: democrats and republicans oath. this is one nation. -- both. this is one nation. democrats and republicans don't believe in many of the things you just said.

we have taxes to make sure we fix the resources we have. that may be your definition of socialism, it is not mine. i am not a socialist and do not pretend to be a socialist. even the republicans are calling us socialist because we believe in many of the things they believe in, a public school system. i don't want to get caught up in definitions. i do want to say we need to take a look at how we define these terms. more portly, we need to see how we are best able to provide resources -- importantly, we need to see how we are best able to provide resources. host: what do you think about the president's speech? guest: is a test it is a political gimmick. it is all socialists -- political gimmick. we are all socialists. i served on the original

homeland security committee. we put that together for democrats and republicans. many of us served in the armed forces. many of us did not. we believe we needed to protect the united states. how did the president? loyalty to this country. that is -- i better not say any more about that. host: for minnesota, independent line, joann. caller: good morning. i would like to make two .ifferent comments one on one thing to see the tax returns of our present it and making test president and making it a law. i don't feel we have a business -- president and making it a law. i don't feel we have any business to do that. they want to make it a law so he can't be blackmailed. i think if you are going to make a law that the president has to show his tax returns, all of congress should have to show

their tax returns. they are the ones who bring up the laws. they are the ones who vote on it before it ever gets to the president. many of your people in congress start out being very poor and all of a sudden, they are worth millions and millions. and they often vote or bring up laws that benefit them. if you're going to do it to the presidents, then every member of congress should have to make their tax returns and their business public. if they have done business with somebody, that person has the right to have their taxes confidential. , congress, the president, you see whoever they have done business and that is not fair. host: i have to leave it there, only for the sake of time.

guest: i believe in open government. since i have been here, my record will indicate that. attempt to try to bring openness to the executive branch of government. put in the cotton mixed -- context, i hope you're listening before, beginning in 1995, the agencies that feed the congress people, like myself, democrats and republicans, the agencies that provide the information, the research have all been cut. they did that for a reason. the congress of the united states play second fiddle. disclosure, the president has to make a disclosure. we believe that we need to see, for the president of the united if he iso see if he --

in adventures -- and conflict of interest or if he has the potential to be in conflict of can be held inhe hostage. that is why we need to see the presidents tax returns. this is not an attempt to say we got you. president. every every president 6 -- since nixon has given up his taxes. they have been -- process isong of a it and do you think richard is working fast on that matter? guest: that is a good question. i support the chairman, not singly because he is the chairman of our committee. i think he has a good sense of this, richard neal. 2sent a letter in february the governor -- in february to the governor, asking that we do

this in a bipartisan matter. so that there would be no question as -- if we're going after anyone, particularly. one particular president. there was an investigation of the irs for our five years ago. they went into 51 tax returns groups."ral under the scrutiny of the irs. they found nothing of any criminal intent whatsoever. number two, they never apologized to those people. time,e committee, at that said nothing about this. these were individual people. these were ordinary citizens. they were not congressman. there were not presidents, ordinary citizens and they defiled their privacy.

and they never -- they found nothing. people are hypocritical when they say we don't want to go rummaging into people's business. you are full of baloney. host: you see it coming with me next two months or so? guest: that is my guess. the chairman never said to me we will do this in two months. there is a tremendous amount of pressure to be done with the thing already. that is very interesting. these things happen. you have to have witnesses. we had witnesses yesterday. we never had that in the last few years under republican control. i have many good friends on the republican side. we never had witnesses on the largest bill that we had. nothing. in 2017, nothing. no one came before

the ministration of the united states. that hearing is still available at c-span.org, if you want to see those proceedings. in wisconsin, independent line, here is rich. caller: i'm glad you brought him up. he did destroy evidence. do you support that he should be held accountable? guest: i think the president should be held accountable, i think i should be held accountable. that is the name of the game. we're talking about equal accountability. isryone under scrutiny accountable. whether your the supreme court justice -- you are the supreme court justice or the presidents of the united states -- president of the united states, you need to be held accountable. host: michigan, democrat line, raymond, hello. caller: how are you this morning? guest: i'm pretty good, how are

you? how is the weather? caller: cold. [laughter] guest: [laughter] like to see it he wanted a trillion dollar tax cut, what does he get out of that? guest: very good question. how did the bill that was passed in december of 2017, which the republicans never ran on in this past election which is interesting, cutting taxes, that should be at the center of your brochure. they never ran on it. because of the very things you're talking about. i'm telling you right now, there is more to this than looking at pieces of paper with numbers on

it. we are talking about hundreds of forms. we are talking about thousands of papers that reflect the business opportunities of the person that we are examining right now. and the law is written very carefully, richard. methodical of what we can do and what we can't do. you can't get the tax returns and make them public. no. that has to be voted on by the ways and means committee. if they choose to vote it out, send it to the house floor, we can talk about making something's publicly. they may choose to put only part of it there. they may redact most of it. they have that authority. they have that power. a law that has been used every four years. it is a law that people need to in 1924.t and came out host: we don't have time to dive deeply into it. that asks why-ed

is congress so dumb? gingrich, why think is a brain legislator, turned on his own people. the congress of the united states. induce the resources that the government accountability office and the general research research, hea research, hebio shrunk those agencies. if we don't have the resources, we can't do it ourselves. if we don't have enough staff that are paid well, this is important stuff. on whatnot just working was in the newspaper. you have to research this.

i like to do my own research. a lot of it. i want to learn, not just be told. and that was the beginning of the demise of the congress of the united states in 1995. the reverse of that is more funding for these -- host: is the reverse more funding of the agencies? guest: let's see what we need. i'm glad nancy pelosi has talked about revising -- -- these are brilliant senators. these are bright guys and girls. their questions were from ours. they knew very little about the subject matter and it was obvious. because they don't have the tools to be able to reinforce what they do. host: the washington post is where you can find that op-ed. it is titled why is congress so dumb.

republican line, carl, go ahead. you know'm sure president trump is working pro bono. to do community service and work pro bono for a while? are you asking a question if i can answer it? caller: the president has been scrutinized by the irs. if they dug into your background, they could find some stuff too. guest: -- host: ok. we will let our guest respond. guest: this is time for facts. i defend law enforcement agencies. , i don'tthe fbi, etc.

support that at all. you can pat them on the back during election time. you can put a bumper sticker on your car but you cannot support when they are doing the job they're being paid for. i don't want to hear anything about that. i will be honest with you. disclose, whether you're a member of the house or senate, -- we don't have to provide our income tax. i did that one or two years ago. basically, when you become a member of the body, whether it is the executive or legislative person thatbecome a has to be a lot more open about your life. that goes with the territory. presidentknow if my is in any conflict of interest, don't you? host: philadelphia, pennsylvania

bob.dependent, caller: most of the questions you're getting, you're giving long-winded answers. you are not direct and i wish you would be. would you go for a law that would make mandatory congress expose their taxes, share their tax return? their time they leave work demands, how is that possible on the government's salary, sir? i want a yes or no answer. no long-winded answers. guest: i am not cap dancing. -- tap dancing. yes. thank you for calling. host: jerry, from new jersey. caller: a couple of questions i have. al sharpton ode $4 million in taxes. do you know if he paid it back? guest: we are talking about the

presidents returns. he is not an elected official. theer: you democrats are most corrupt people i have ever seen. you're talking about flynn --ting about flynn and other people in congress. how about clapper? host: thanks, color. guest: thank you for reading off your list. host: when it comes to the tax returns, what is the next step? guest: that is a good question. i think that we need to have witnesses. that is what i would suggest. committee.ve on the with john. he has allowed me to be on their through courtesy. this is the very center of what our work is in the congress. have hearings, have witnesses, swear them if necessary.

timeld say have a frame of don'tt's we -- so that we wind up in no man's land. host: representative bill pascrell, he serves on the ways and means committee. for the tax returns of the president, vice president and others. he serves the ninth district of new jersey. thank you for your time. don't forget, you can go to c-span2. in a half hour, to watch the hearing with the district attorney general, matthew whitaker. as he appears before the house judiciary committee to answer the work. that is available to you at c-span2, c-span.org and you can monitor it on our c-span radio app. it is friday, the house of representatives is about to come in for