[inaudible conversations] >> today on c-span, "washington journal" is next with your phone calls. ause continues work on hr 1 bill to overhaul campaign finance and ethics rules. in about an hour, we talked to congressman kelly armstrong about congressional investigations of president trump. and congresswoman marcy kaptur

on the trade deficit which just reached a record $891 billion. with a new reportm, adam on government debt and spending. ♪ [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: good morning. it is marked seventh, 2019. the senate returns this morning. we are with you for the next three hours on the "washington journal." we begin with the decision by house democratic leadership to put on hold the -- toi-semitism in response policy toward israel. it has caused renewed questions about when and how congress should condemn comments made by individual representative tenney senators. our question for our --

representatives and senators. if you think congress should, 202-748-8000. if you think congress should not, 202-748-8001. you can also catch up with us on social media. on twitter it is @cspanwj. on facebook it is facebook.com/cspan. good thursday morning to you, you can call in now. before we get to phone calls, we are joined by longtime congressional observer, editor in chief of the firewall, david hawkins. explain first why the focus is --e again on fresheners freshman congresswoman ill are oman --omar. omar has not once, but twice incurred anger from

lawmakers. fellow many of them also jewish lawmakers and many democratic lawmakers for saying things they view as anti-semitic. at one point -- the first time too manyshe suggested members of congress were too is anen to apac, which advocacy organization that advocates for the interest of israel and send out a tweet saying it was all about campaign contributions, all about the the keys, baby, was phrase. that got her in hot water and they said it was anti-semitic and she came back a couple weeks later and said she thought some members of congress and that she was essentially being asked as a member of congress to have dual loyalties, not just to the

united states, but israel and that caused even more anger. since then, the democratic leadership has been trying to figure out how or if to rebuke her comments. host: what happened behind closed doors yesterday? guest: what happened behind closed doors all week is this essentially made everybody mad there is a split in the democratic party that goes like this. there are older, more senior members, including free, powerful committee -- chairman of committees. all of them jewish democrats from new york. elliott angle of foreign affairs. -- appropriations being the two prominent. jerry nadler of new york of judiciary saying this kind of commentary from their own party is outrageous and she needs to be disciplined in some way.

on the others are younger democrats, including many of her freshman colleagues who say maybe what she said was out of line, but plenty other things are being said that our way out of line, many of them by republicans and that they are not being held to account either omar should be noted as this was going on, was the victim of hateful speech. she is one of the first two muslim women only to serve in congress as of january and there was actually an incident where this past weekend where posters work circulated in west virginia against atrait set backdrop of the twin towers on fire on september 11 trying to draw inference that because she is muslim, she was in some way

to be held account for september 11. host: who is leading the defense omarll han omar -- ilhan within the democratic congress? host: the one that is the most prominent is alexandria ocasio-cortez. the new york delegation is driven by this and miss ocasio-cortez makes the speeching point that that is out of line happens all the time in congress and if you are going to be unforgiving of miss omar, you need to be unforgiving of, for example, a republican who's name has gone out of my head who called out on the house floor yesterday that another member -- a latino member should "go back to puerto rico," even though this other member doesn't have a life at all in puerto rico and steve

king, maybe the punishment for him should have been stronger than it was. these democrats see plenty of other offensive speech happening all the time and think it is going unpunished. host: can you talk about the history of when congress decides to step in and how they step into police their own's member -- their own member's speech? guest: it is a complicated and inconsistent history. we are seeing there is no -- there are no hardlines. essentially, they step in when it sort of does not pass the straight face test, something that has happened that is outrageous and they feel sort of political or institutional pressure to do so. case in of landmark

recent history would have been a decade ago when congressman joe wilson, south carolina lie,"ican called out "you from the well of the house in the middle of a speech by president obama. this was considered an andedible breach of decorum so the house voted with some bipartisan strength, there were a few republicans who joined democrats in voting to rebuke mr. wilson for doing this and he acted in a totally inappropriate way and brought discredit on the house. this had to do a little bit with separation of powers and what happens on the house floor is judged to a higher standard than what might happen in the public or in a member's the district and the sort of sully, in the nature ofe house, the a presidential address to congress was considered over the

line. host: can you talk about the speech and debate clause and how that applies to what members say on the floor and outside of congress? guest: it is called the speech theebate clause and some of words used by the founders have different meetings. what we think about when we inc. about high crimes and misdemeanors in the case of impeachment. when they talk about speech or debate, the courts have interpreted it and evidence at the time the constitution was written makes it clear what that clause is supposed to say is essentially a member has sort of a form of immunity from being prosecuted -- particularly by the executive branch, the idea was to shield members from prosecution or intimidation by the executive branch for their official legislative behaviors. in other words, what you say in

a debate, in the performance of your official duties or how you behave in the performance of your official duties should not be subject to punishment or intimidation by the president or the executive branch, but it really does not know to angry language or inappropriate language nor does it go to personal behavior. the courts have ruled for example there was once a member who claimed he should not have to pay parking tickets in washington because the speech or debate clause protected him and said he could not be intimidated by any law enforcement because he was rushing to get around washington in performance of legislative duties. the court said, no, you have to pay parking tickets. in a more famous case, bill jefferson from louisiana, who was subject to a corruption investigation ended up in significant trouble.

the fbi raided his house office, came onto capitol hill and rated his office in search for evidence of crimes and he took that to court and essentially the court said what mr. jefferson was doing was criminal and not about his legislative duties and so the search was ok. what our last minute here, is up next for the ilhan omar resolution? is it going to see the light of day on the house floor? guest: i don't know that. one thing that is going on is the democrats politically have realized they have got their favorite bill on the board -- on the floor this week, hr-1. they are trying hard to allow that to get headlines in this is getting in their way and it seems as though they are postponing this until at least next week.

i think they are postponing it until they can come up with language that everybody can approve of that probably the only thing it would say is that all forms of religious bigotry or hatred are inappropriate to come out of the mouths of house members and none of it should be a good idea. every attempt to push it more generic makes some members mad and every attempt to make it specific makes the other members mad. nobody is happy at the moment. when congress is not happy and there is no consensus, -- consensus, day delay. host: you can find david hawkins on twitter @davidhawkings. appreciate your help. guest: thank you. host: you heard david hawkins say there are no hardlines one it comes to congress stepping in to police members' speech.

we are asking you where and if you think those lines should be drawn. if you think they should, 202-748-8000. if you think they should not step in and police speech, 202-748-8001. pamela in ohio, thanks for waiting. go ahead. caller: hi. personally ofe what different members may say, but i think we should be able to hear what they say. i think maybe there is a time and place where it can be said, but it is good to know peopleople's -- congress believe or what they support because that makes a difference in how you are going to vote in the future. from aou might remember

few months ago, congress stepped in and condemned statements made by congressman steve king of iowa about white supremacy. did you think that was a time where congress should step in? ok to saythink it is we do not back what this congressperson has said, but i still think if they just ban from saying what they believe or what they support things are going to determine how they vote on issues and what becomes law. i think we should be able, as the public, as people in this country, we should know how these congress people feel and

what they support. host: that is pamela. this is john in baltimore, maryland, on the line for those who think congress should not step in. go ahead. caller: first off, the comment about puerto rico, going back there by the congressman is about the vacation a bunch of democrats took. they keep on saying that, but it has nothing to do with race or anything like that. as far as the subject at hand, i don't think the speech should be policed and i also believe that every single time israel is mentioned, it gets claimed as anti-semitism, every, single, time. it is kind of ridiculous. that said, i don't want the u.s. to turn into what the middle east has been, which is jews versus muslims.

this is what this is turning into, a thousand year war we never should have had any kind of involvement in. we are the u.s. and we don't want to get involved in that. unfortunately, we do. host: you heard david hawking's say -- one of the most prominent omar within ilhan this split is congresswoman alexandra ocasio-cortez from new york. a few of her recent tweets about this effort by house leadership to bring this resolution to the house floor, if house leadership is creating a standard and committing to calling a resolution for every incident whether the congressional black caucus, hispanic caucus, et cetera, that sets a clear way to address the issue and we can understand. if they are not, i think it is valid to ask why not. one of the things that is hurtful about the way reprimand is a thought of -- sought of

omar. cold springs, harbor. good morning. .aller: good morning i like what congresswoman omar is saying. i don't think she is speaking the truth, i don't think -- i think she is speaking the truth and i don't think she should be muzzled. it is too much jewish power in our congress and senate with dual did is in ship. either you -- dual citizenship. either you are american and speak your mind or you are israeli. it is totally out of hand. host: do you think americans of jewish assent aren't loyal? is that what you are saying? caller: i am not saying that at

all, but i am saying america first, not israel. we are americans, what is this dual citizenship stuff? host: this is mike in new york. caller: good morning from the ist state of new york. the democratic party has been radicalized so that. ellison, president .bama getting his picture taken i do think if they say slursemitic or any racial against any ethnic group or religion, action should be taken. host: that is the question. where is it appropriate? where is the line to be drawn where congress should step in

and police what members say? caller: because she keeps saying it over and over again. she is saying things that are --ially inaccurate a doubleclearly standard. it democratic party has a problem with amp up -- anti-semitism and it will not be addressed by nancy pelosi because she is afraid of the radical framework that has taken over the democratic party. strippingtalk about committee memberships. anti-semitism has no place in this country. congresswoman omar has been

removed from the house foreign affairs committee. we must hold ourselves to a higher standard in office. president trump weighing in on this situation, saying it is shameful house democrats will not take a stronger stand against anti-semitism. anti-semitism has fueled atrocities and it is inconceivable they will not act to condemn it. membersongress police speech? we will also show you some comments from twitter as we have been having this conversation. johnny writes unless it is hate speech, every thought should be open for discussion. matthew saying it is not congress, it is the electorate's job. if you live in iowa and find steve king racist and unacceptable, there is no problem. vote him out.

let members say whatever they want. a bit of the conversation @cspanwj if you want to follow. or you can join by phone like tina from pennsylvania, good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: doing well. .aller: this is a hot topic it should be banned. i sit home and i am a fox addict. i watch it all day, i watched c-span, i watch these hearings. i voted for trump and i will vote for trump again in 2020. i get so tired of hearing how everybody that supports the conservative party, we are racist, xenophobia, but it is ok for dems to do it. i have not heard in the past kristen i just watched

gillibrand cost meeting and a her up. up -- tore it is not right. we are paying these people to make laws, not diving -- paying them to pay into -- dive into investigation. the michael cohen investigation alone cost us thousands in man-hour power. it just do your job. we don't care what you think about in your personal view, we put you there to do a job, do it. leave it at the door. put the bills in, yay or nay, discussed them, all this stuff about dual citizenship, i support israel. i should. it is the christian thing to do. i am not going to support somebody that is going to get up not say her i will

name. in my house, that name will not be said. her name shall not be said. host: the focus is youngest woman ilhan omar. this is her from a recent event comments she and other muslims have made about israel and how they are interpreted. [video clip] of ist i am fearful because she and i are muslim, a lot of our jewish colleagues, constituents, allies, go in thinking everything we say about israel, to be anti-semitic because we are muslim. it is something that designed to end the debate because you get in the --ce of

conscious of that and i .eel pained by that it is almost as if every single time we say something, regardless of what it is we say that is supposed to be about foreign policy or engagement or efficacy about ending oppression or the freeing of every human we getd wanting dignity, to be labeled in something that ends the discussion because we end up defending that. [applause] want to talk about the political influence in this

country that says it is ok for people to push for allegiance of foreign countries. is it ok for why me to talk about the influence oil industries or big pharma and not talk about a lobby that is influencing policy? thosesince some of comments, congresswoman ilhan omar has become the focus of this issue that has caused a rift. two of her largest defenders on capitol hill, some of the most vocal defenders, alexandria ,casio-cortez and rashida tlaib who was sitting next to her during that clip you saw. paul kane and his wrap up of what is going on in the

democratic caucus notes the defense of alexandria ocasio-cortez and rashida tlaib and also notes democratic unity might be determined by how this majornds, especially on issues like climate change and health care and potential showdowns with donald trump. ocasio-cortez has become the face of the green new deal, the umbrella effort to really -- reduce carbon emissions. demanding the impeachment of president trump, something she reiterated at a news conference wednesday morning. if you want to read paul kane's comment on how this rift fractured the congress, the washington post is the way to look for that. grant and washington, d.c., should congress police its own peech?s' s i amr: i live in d.c., but from minnesota and i could not rgree more with what ilhan oma

is doing. the reason she is under fire is she is there to open up a discussion about the israel issue and a pack -- apac. it is trying to speak about the way members of congress and most of her party is not in agreement with the massive amount of foreign aid given to israel, but she is trying to talk about the regulatory youure of congress and when think about it, signs of it are all over the place. in the last five years, members have made 1400 privately funded trips to israel versus 2500 to all other countries on this planet. you have to ask yourself what is it that she is trying to raise that is controversial and not

verifiable. members of congress don't want to talk about this. they don't want to talk about how campaign contributions they receive are tied to their supports, so it is easy for them to come down hard on omar. but what they should really be asking themselves is why are they so beholden to this that they are going so crazy over this issue? host: where do you go for your information about congressional delegation trips abroad and israel and other countries? theer: i always go to israel lobby and american policy press clube national talks about these things. i go to anti-war.com and there is an article called to members of congress take too many trips to israel with apac? full disclosure, i wrote it. host: joe is next in

massachusetts, good morning. caller: good morning. it is my understanding a member of congress is immune from any penalties for anything they may say on the floor of congress. host: are you referring to the speech or debate clause we talked about earlier? caller: yes. i tried to research it, my understanding is you cannot be penalized for anything said on the floor of congress. host: i will read you article 1, section 6 clause 1. for any speech or debate in any house, senators or representatives, shall not be questioned in any other place for that speech. the state ofr as israel goes, israel is an abomination that never should have been created. it was created in our image. for people who walks -- watch fox news and think i am

anti-semitic, i cannot be anti-semitic because i support the palestinian people. host: this is sid in upper , maryland.arlboro caller: she should focus on the issues, not express her opinion. she seems to express her opinion more than really focus on what her role is on that committee and we are always going to be a christian nation, we will always stand for israel. we are never going to be an islamic country and we are not going to push that agenda. let the democrats keep doing what they are doing because this is only going to fire up president trump's base and he is going to win the second term also. that is my final opinion. host: you say we are not going

to push that agenda here, what is that agenda? caller: the agenda is anti-israel and anti-semitic comments. totally wrong in expressing her opinion. she is not focusing on the issues and what the mission is of the international affairs committee she is on. ever since she has been in congress, she has been talking about her opinion. everybody has an opinion, but she needs to focus on what her role is in that committee and not always make comments about israel and comments that are anti-semitic. host: a few more comments from social media. angie on facebook saying each member is elected by their district, nobody should curtail their speech. if the district has a problem, they will vote them out. american joe asks can someone explain why they want to use force to silence anyone?

it leaves me thinking what do people really think that they are afraid to say? darrell saying cannot have it both ways, cannot support a person who is anti-semitic, but --n right that people who for being anti-semitic. in florida, you are up next. am calling about the very young lady that is a muslim, i think she is. i don't know if anybody has ever read the koran and what they believe. they believe the jews should be wiped off the face of the earth. it is -- host: we are not going to get into a religious debate. let's focus on the question, should congress police at their members' speech? caller: i think they should. i did not used to when i was younger. i used to be a democrat. now i am so ashamed of them, i

am ashamed to even say i was. this lady up there downing jewish for what they are and she is not even sticking to what she is supposed to be up there talking about. hung did that, we would be . i know everybody does it and finedet told -- they get for dismissed, she should not be on foreign committees because she don't like the jews. host: she is a member of the house foreign affairs committee and this is the editorial page of the wall street journal today . they took up this issue and specifically alexandria influence when it came to the disagreement inside the democratic party about bringing this resolution to the floor. we do not know if it will see the light of day on the house floor. democratic members trying to

figure out where to go with this resolution condemning anti-semitism that they were looking to bring. in wall street journal editorial board writes accusing american jews of putting loyalty to the jewish state above america is an anti-semitic classic -- tactic to read it has evolved into a display of political cowardice jewsequates smears against -- thus does a hatred get consumed and trivialized and ms. omar -- the most important may be who is really the speaker of the house, pelosi or the young radicals led by ocasio-cortez? richard in grove city, ohio. good morning. caller: i have a problem. people are discussing semites.

they don't even know what a semite is. it is a member of any of the people whose language is somatic, hebrews, babylonians, palestinian, et cetera .ot specifically a jew if you don't like palestinians, you are anti-semitic. if you don't like arabs, you are anti-somatic. it is interesting a semite is not a race or a religion, it is a language people speak. to make that loose association and think you are criticizing a race is ridiculous, actually. frankly, israel hates palestinians, they are the most anti-semitic people probably in the world for crying out loud and when it comes to the united states congress, i watched c-span a lot, i have seen them pass resolutions. it is like we are a little bit of a sermon to israel. when you get down to it,

congress comes across as israeli occupied territory. host: this is sally in pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning. host: should congress police its members' speech, what do you think? caller: no. host: and why? caller: because freedom of .peech is important constitution, freedom of speech, black, white, yellow, should be able to say what they want to unless it is harmful to someone. otherwise, yes. host: i guess that is the question. unless it is harmful to someone, define that. what is the line you would draw?

caller: if you are insulting someone. host: then congress should step in when it comes to their membership? caller: yes. host: sally, i guess the next level is to define when an insult is given or when it is taken. hard to define give an insult and it is not taken or you can take an insult that hasn't been given. tot: and our question speaks that, trying to find this line. should congress police its members'speech and it stems with the disagreement between the emma credit caucus in the house about what is due about the

comments made by congresswoman and aomar, democrat from soda, freshman democrat. she has been the focus on this discussion and a resolution that was expected to be on the house floor today at one point earlier in the week and democratic leadership backed away from that yesterday. dean is next in lucasville, ohio. what do you think? caller: i think the bible says if you come against israel, you will be cursed. i am all for israel. in jesus was a jew and we are paying the palestinians to go to israel and blow them up and i think we are going to pay very much for what we are doing to israel. we should always stand with israel. host: shelton in louisiana, go ahead. caller: the last caller, i think if you -- you cannot stand for something if it is wrong.

what this woman is doing is shining the light on what has long been happening to the palestinians in the gaza and west bank. israel has been starving people, killing doctors, murdering kids. the whole concept of not bad.cizing wrongness is it is not anti-semitic when you shine a light on something that when you are dealing with a country that is having an open air prison for constantlys and encroaching on their territory. it is good, what she is doing.

it should have done -- been done along time ago. i am glad the debate is going on. host: more reaction from democratic member's of congress from the washington times story. it fail to condemn anti-semitism, rebuke omar, quoting congresswoman camilla gaia tell saying people feel if we are going to condemn one form of bigotry, that we need to make sure we also condemn other forms of bigotry. other democrats said they do not want to cave to republican demands for rebuke saying republicans were trying to make a political game of this. to the overall concern is there has been a rise in hatred and so many different directions said karen bass of california, the chair of the congressional black caucus. unfortunate lee -- unfortunately, a lot of it has been emanating from the white house. debbie wasserman schultz said the rising race -- rate of hate

crimes targeting jews and the fact members continue to use anti-semitic tropes, the fact we have to put a resolution on the floor to spell out for people across this country what anti-semitism means is pretty outrageous. all quotes from the washington times story on this blowout today. taking your calls on the "washington journal." should congress police its members' speech? when should they do it? how should they do it? caller: hi. conversations the this morning because i knew so many people were going to call up and complain about israel. i never used to think we would have to police speech, but the way things are going in the world, i think we are going to have to. i see what is happening in europe and i know a lot of jews are leaving european countries because of the anti-semitism.

we have friends in england that are scared to go out because it has gotten so bad and i am afraid it is going to start to happen here and it is getting scarier and scarier. host: how should it happen on the floor of the house? really i think this is about anti-semitism and i think they should have the resolution talking about anti-semitism because if they brought it to everything, it means a lot less. it really should concentrate on -- thei-semitism resolution. host: what do you think about the calls for resolutions if we are going to do that about other hate speech? caller: then i think it loses everything. it is basically targeting what this woman has been doing. i think it was nice to have a muslim lawmaker. it is unusual, it is part of

america now. on fortunately, she is doing tropes or canards, whatever they are that we, as jews, have heard our whole lives when youet nervous hear it from people, especially congress and you get anxiety and sink, it is happening again. i definitely think you have to nip anti-semitism in the bud. host: about 15 minutes left on this conversation -- in this conversation. taking your calls on the 'policen should congress congress police its numbers' speech? caller: they need to do it on both sides. neo-nazis were walking up and down the street talking about

killing jews. why when this woman comes up and says something that is true, everybody wants to get upset? host: that is william in north carolina and this is robert in charleston. caller: thanks for c-span. i think it is a great subject and she has a right to bring up the stuff she is talking about. mueller, rodl steen, even the special counsel -- the investigator, the house investigator, what is his name? host: why would you say a jewish coup? caller: they have hated donald trump since the day he got in office and he said now you can start saying merry christmas. host: when you say to his coup, do you think that plays into

anti-semitism? caller: it has nothing to do with anti-semitism. host: you just called it a jewish coup. caller: they are all jews. host: this is sophia in florida, go ahead. cynthia and ie is am in melbourne, florida. good morning. i applaud omar and i don't think speech --members' host: should happen, why not? caller: right, i don't. pretty much, if they cannot control trump's speech and the way he says racial things and the way he is anti-semitic and against other races, i don't see stop free speech on the floor. scott, all of those senators know apac is

controlling congress. up fornnot even speak the palestinians. we can speak up for israel, which i think israel has a right to live in peace, but not at the detriment of the palestinians. host: that is cynthia in florida. at two editorials in recent days on this topic. the headlines of the washington r'ses talking about ilhan oma comments, the worst anti-semite in congress is the headline and this op-ed in the washington post is by paul waldman. he writes when this episode is over, ilhan omar and everyone else will have learned a lesson, you better not step out of line on israel, you better not question apac, you better not question members of congress for the craven way they deal with this issue.

he better not talk about the way policy toward israel is made and maintained because this is what you will get. having this conversation this morning in the first hour of the "washington journal." we played you some of ilhan omar's comment that that vent around washington, d.c. and here are some comments about the fallout on the floor of the house. here is a new york republican talking about anti-semitism and some of the comments made in the past by members of congress. [video clip] >> there is no room for anti-semitism anywhere in this chamber. this past january, the house voted nearly unanimously could -- to condemn white supremacy and named a republican member as we did that. i voted before that. in january around the same time, we had a member apologize for remarks about how israel had hypnotized the world, and anti-semitic trope.

a month later, apologizing for an allegation that if you support israel than you have been bought off by jews. now claiming that if you support israel, that means you have allegiance to a foreign government, but this time there will be no apology. i commend my colleagues on the other out of the aisle who have spoken out against it. this tamer should be taking action to condemn anti-semitism, to be naming names. were that member removed from committees, the member has been putting out anti-semitic tropes should not be serving on her committees, especially the house foreign affairs committee for many reasons. i encourage a voted to remain congressman omar from the house foreign affairs committee. yield back. host: we are having this conversation with you in light of this controversy and split within the democratic congress on how these issues should be

handled. we are asking should congress speech?its members' if you think congress should, 202-748-8000. if you think congress should not, 202-748-8001. a few hearings that we want to put on your radar today appearing on c-span later today. it senate foreign relations committee is holding a hearing on venezuela and the latest taking place at 10:00 a.m. and you can watch that on c-span 3. listen to it on the radio app and watch on -- at c-span.org. the house appropriations subcommittee is holding a hearing on the supreme court's budget and we are expected to hear from justice alito and attice kagan taking place 1:30 on c-span 3. plenty of action in yesterday's hearings on capitol hill.

here is one of the headlines from the front page of usa today. kiersten nielsen going before the house homeland security committee, the headline democrats blast immigration policy. if you missed that hearing, you can watch it on our website. from another hearing, the armed services committee hearing in the senate, some news and an emotional moment when martha mcsally of arizona revealed r by wasaped -- she was raped an air force officer during that hearing. [video clip] >> first entered the air force academy in the ninth class for women, sexual assault and harassment were prevalent. victims suffered in silence. it took too many years and too many lives ruined. thanks to the bravery of survivors like those on our panel today, significant change

has happened. i am so inspired by the many survivors who found the strength to share their stories, report their assaults and demand accountability, justice, and change. it is because of you a light has been shined on this silent epidemic and so many improvements have been made, including more than 100 legislative actions over a decade. like you, i am also a military sexual assault survivor. unlike so many brave survivors, i did not report being sexually assaulted. like so many women and men, i did not trust the system at the time. i blamed myself. i was ashamed and confused. i thought i was strong, but felt powerless. the perpetrators abuse their position of power in profound ways. in one case, i was prayed upon

by a superior officer. i stayed silent for many years, but later in my career, as the military grappled with scandal and their inadequate responses, i felt the need to let people know i was a survivor. i was horrified at how my attempt to share my experience were handled. i almost separated from the air force at 18 years over my despair. like many victims, i felt the system was raping me all over again. host: that was senator martha mcsally in the armed services committee hearing. about 10 minutes left and we are asking you should congress speech?its members' it's a question we put to a pole online as well. 72% saying no, congress should

speech tomembers' .8% saying yes having this conversation in the light of comments by congresswoman ilhan omar. this question of whether congress should police its members' speech. brian on facebook writes this is not a yes or no question. greg says members should be held accountable for what they say. we have the freedom of speech, not the freedom from consequences. stephen writing congress already has an ethics committee. carol in west virginia, do you think congress should police members' speech? caller: it is kind of sort of a yes and no answer. i think when you are in that , you cannot blame

everything -- i have heard a lot of, it starts at the white house. when you are an elected official, it starts from the top down. however, you still have the what yoube able to say wanted to as long as it doesn't hurt someone else. with that being said, you have to say anything you say could .urt someone i would think that basically we need to open up the door and have discussions about issues and the only way to have the discussions about the issues is to have the speech. it is kind of sort of a yes and no. caller: would you say you would err on the side of not policing? because it goes

into everything -- if you don't want anything -- everything now could be interpreted as a racist comment. maybe the person did not mean it as a racist comment, but the person that heard it received it as a racist comment. you have to be open to having a discussion without being offended by everything. as a do you think we, country, are getting more offended by things? caller: yes, i do. host: when did that start? caller: i think it has been happening for a long time and i think that may be -- this is just my perspective. i think maybe when president trump was elected -- this has

been happening for years, years, but when president trump got -- he is not politically correct and it is like, we don't have to be politically correct anymore. it has been leading this wafer -- i am 62 years old and i have seen it coming to this for about i would say 15, 20 years. host: do you see any benefit in being politically correct? caller: there are some benefits. there are pros and cons. everybody is so offended by everything, so everybody is walking on egg shells not knowing -- if i do this i can be accused of that. if i say this, i will be accused of that.

you have to be willing to open up the door and have a conversation. not a yelling match, not a name-calling session, but a conversation. host: do you remember a time where that happened to you where you did not say what you wanted to say or meant to say because you were scared about how it would be received? caller: every day, now. and talk little places to very few people because i do not to be misinterpreted on anything i say, anything. host: that is carol in west virginia. a dave is next in pennsylvania, good morning. caller: good morning. i thank carolyn for her candidness, that was pretty honest testimony. for me, i think it starts at the white house. that is the leader of our nation. he sets the tone for these conversations. for me, for omar -- number one

is is she truthful? is what she is saying the truth? and it is her committee. she is on the committee to grapple with these situations. i am fixed years old. -- 60 years old. it seems like when you are black, shut up and get over it when it comes to this speech or you are playing the race card. it seems like every time you mention jews, you are anti-semitic. the jewish nation has been here .ince 1947 i think i remember back then, in order to make this palatable to the nation, they came up with ifs phrase, anti-semitic so you said anything about them setting up this state, you are anti-semitic. like the caller called earlier and gave us the definition of

anti-semitism, we find out it is highly misused. i need my local officials and elected officials to be able to debate and bring this stuff up. right now, it gives us a chance to talk about it. it gives a chance for like myself to go back in history and see where it started. host: i do have concerns. democratic leaders have disputed there is any comparison, but i wonder what you thought about a few months ago with a resolution coming to the floor condemning steve king of iowa and comments he made about white supremacism? caller: yeah, and again, i understand that. steve has to answer to the people that put him there. even with that argument, it did not go to racism, it was right -- white supremacy. they avoided the true nature of the offense and it was against black people. up the is bringing

narrative, who is in control of the narrative. to me, michael cohen is far more important than this issue here, but now we are talking about this instead of michael cohen. host: dave in pennsylvania. time for one or two more calls. gregory in fort lauderdale, florida. go ahead. caller: good morning. i believe that ilhan omar is anti-semitic for this reason, because the middle east is this huge place full of muslim countries from morocco to iran and the only one she picks on is the one, tiny, is what makes it anti-semitic. she doesn't equally talk about somalia, where she came from. there must be a really great place for her to leave it. uncovered active

slave trade in libya. host: we are running out of time. come back to the original question -- should congress or democratic leaders be stepping in here? >> yes, because there is a limit on what congresspeople should .ay host: what is that limit? if you overtly say something about black people, it would be censured. i think the congressional black caucus would rise up in outrage. but when you say things in code, and maybe she doesn't realize this, but this dual allegiance herg, rashida tlaib in swearing in ceremony, she wrapped herself in the palestinian flag. why isn't omar talking about that as a dual loyalty issue?

host: that was our last color in this segment. stick around, we have plenty more to talk about. , we will be joined by congressman kelley armstrong, a member of the house judiciary and oversight and reform committees. later, we will be joined by democratic congresswoman lucy kaptur of ohio. we will discuss the recent trade deficit. we will be right back. ♪ >> the war in the pacific, a cure for measles and the life and legacy of dwight eisenhower. this weekend on american history tv, saturday at 1:00 p.m.

eastern, pacific scholars on world war ii allied defenses. >> for the american public, guadalcanal came to symbolize the first test of the manhood of the generation that had to fight the war. >> then at 10:00 p.m. on real reel at a film on the history of missiles and but a moment of the vaccine. >> in a few weeks, results are evident. the monkeys that were vaccinated developed measles. these ones that were given the vaccine that is protective antibodies. >> the doctors now know they have developed for the first willa vaccine which provide safe protections against measles. announcer: sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern, university of virginia professor and author william hitchcock on the age of eisenhower. >> dwight eisenhower was the

most popular and respected and most admired man of the. 5-'61. approval from the public, having won two landslide elections. his average approval rating while president for eight years was 65%, average. president who comes closest was bill clinton, at 55%, and after that, ronald reagan at 53%. announcer: watch american history tv this weekend on c-span3. washington journal continues. host: we welcome to our program for the first time, freshman congressman kelley armstrong representing north dakota's at large district. hat did you do before

being elected to this job? >> i started my adult life as an american legion baseball coach. i was a criminal defense attorney for 10 years, got sick of guys in black robes controlling my calendar, so i went back to work for my dad's company, then in 2012, i got elected to the state senate. years as our three state party chairman in north dakota, then one senator kevin cramer got into the senate race a year ago, i jumped into the congressional race. host: what is a big difference between working in the state senate and working in the statehouse? >> the republicans have a super majority, in the u.s. congress, we obviously came into the minority in january. the other answer is that north dakota is a true volunteer legislature. we have session 80 days every two years. we don't have staff or even in office. in the legislature, our desk is senate,loor of the

probably the most accessible legislature in the world. that process work better, and is that something that congress can learn from and make changes about? rep. armstrong: yes, i love the fact they have to go back and live in your district, you have to deal with those kinds of issues. i don't think it would work here, unfortunately for a lot of us, the federal government has gotten so big, and as you continue to do with separation of powers, you need a full-time legislative band particularly productive those things. host: what makes a successful first term for you two years from now? rep. armstrong: back when it n.a.f.t.a. past, we had three democrats representing north dakota and none of them voted for it. as time goes on, we continue to work on those issues. we are a commodity-based economy and reproduce agriculture that feeds the country in the world,

oil and natural gas. we are ao work -- commodity-based economy and we need to be it would to move our goods. host: we found out yesterday that the u.s. trade gap has high, $621 10 year billion. the commerce department figures undermine a key amendment from who said he would bring back overseas jobs and bolster the economy. rip up -- rep. armstrong: i think the economy is doing really well. this is a factor of all aspects of society, but particularly in this town, we get to what i call a point and click society. thinks tim time to develop. when you create situations that occur in 30 years, you don't months.em in 13 i think we need to do a better

job, and i think president trump would agree, of getting our deficit down. host: how many terms do you think you want to serve? idea.rmstrong: i have no when you are an at-large representative, you have to have a responsibility. we are just getting our sea legs. i have a great staff and a great team around me, but you want to be of to make a difference for your state. one of the ways is by learning how the place works and having some seniority and some success. host: county armstrong with us until the bottom of the hour this morning. the phone lines as usual, 202-7'8"-8000, 8001, andns, 202-748- independence, two 02-74 8-8002. what are your thoughts on whether voters should police their congressional members speech? rep. armstrong: we are accountable to the voters, and i

do think that -- when you get into anti-semitic remarks, it is incumbent among congress to some degree or another. ofwent to be very careful who is policing the police are's. the run -- who is policing the policers. we know that there was a draft resolution and it got pulled. there's another one may be coming, maybe not, it depends on what is actually in the resolution. host: democrats in the house had hoped to spend a week focusing on the first building introduced in the 160th congress, the "for act.eople" a bill that includes issues like voting rights, money and politics, ethics. what are your thoughts on the legislation? rep. armstrong: i think it is a terrible piece of legislation. it makes it harder to vote in

north dakota. host: house so? rep. kaptur: we are the only state in the country without voter registration. we have dealt with a lot of issues like vote by mail. currently in our legislature right now there's a debate between county auditors and state reps as to how we do polling places. time andtaken a long listened to the impact of our districts and have come to an issue where in north dakota, felons can vote as soon as they prison, there is no such thing as a federal election, they are all local elections. i really have a problem with elections.y in whether it is a small-dollar donation or high-dollar donation, those types of issues. importantly, with a 20 32 nine dollar deficit, when you live in a rural state like i do, -- 20 $3ore money for

trillion deficits, when you live in a rural state like i do, we need more money for infrastructure. host: democrats had pulled it out and tried to move it separately, do you think you would be on board without? rep. armstrong: yes, there are certain things in there i like. i like concepts, but i still believe you need to do them locally. we have a great absentee ballot program in north dakota. but our elections are over on election day. the earliest you can send in an overseasballot as or in a military is about making it accessible. like i said, i was a state party chairman. being the only state without voter registration, as a party chairman, i really wish we had for a registration. but as a citizen in north dakota, i think it is cool that we don't. some of the bill makes it is if of it would have more open access elections, i think it is

great, but i don't winky should federalize it. host: republican line, bob, go ahead. caller: good morning. i am a c-span junkie. congressman, you will love c-span 200. president trump three weeks ago in the rose garden speech, i looked it up in the archives, i constantly hear people in the news, and yesterday in the hearing for the homeland secretary, the chairman asked her, and the president said -- i this. have to do if you read the whole paragraph, 29 minutes 18 seconds into her speech, she says that, saying, i didn't have to prove to my base wall. was building a he said, i'd and have to do this regarding the 2020 reelection

campaign, he is doing it because it is truly a national emergency. host: bob, thank you for using the c-span archives and knowing the guidelines on both your calls and guests. go ahead, congressman. rep. armstrong: i think there is actually a border crisis, and whether you deal with either go immigration, we just had about 75,000 hits in the month of february, the highest in about of more to get a think importantly, among the oversight committee and the judiciary committee, we had is subcommittee hearing, and we have met the enemy in congress, and it is us. how this resolution came about, i will just be honest with everybody, it could have been written in a way that would have been very difficult for me to wee against it, that is, if will reform this process and give power back to congress, i think congress should take power back. not just in that area, but in a lot of areas. justn a lot of ways, it is

trump is bad, this emergency is bad. host: if the declaration is upheld, how concerned are you about this hypothetical democratic president on the road who would declare an emergency on things like climate change, or something you may disagree with? rep. armstrong: i am equally concerned about that, whether this is upheld are not. it goes back to what i said. always saidadison the legislative branch would protect its authority and fight that.usly for one of the things he may have gone wrong was that congress will oftentimes protect its right to be here more than it would protect its right to protect its authority. they have every right to do it now, they have the right to do it today, one of the emergency order is in place or not. this is an oversimplification, but i think it is true.

what is a national emergency, whatever the president says it is. whether this is upheld or not upheld. host: john on the independent line, good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. thank you for taking my call. i am an independent, which means i will vote for a democrat or republican, depending on how they affect me. is congressional investigations of president trump. what i believe is met that man was never vetted before he became president. we don't know about his past. , you should be more concerned that he might damage your party than hurt an independent. i believe that the republicans also brought us a next her $2 trillion to our deficit. you pushed for that as soon as

the election was over and you got it. but now you have $2 trillion more. but i believe this, that a free press, like sunlight, is the best disinfectant and we need to know as much as you can about our leaders. president trump is our leader, i knowt that, but i want to his background. he is kept everything on the hush, in the dark, in the shadows and he has been very and ginning up the darker side of our nature. to pushink congress has back, because an unbridled president is just as bad as an unbridled dictator. host: that was john in new york. rep. armstrong: i think chairman nadler sent 81 different letters to the administration. if your goal is to see how they push back, i think you will see.

like i said, there is no such thing as national elections. i represent north dakota and i can tell you that this president and administration have been fantastic for our state. north dakota benefited more than any other state in our country from the tax cuts. we have companies are building larger facilities and hiring more people, and we are working forward. we have had just about every single member of the cabinet who has been to north dakota, whether it is on trade, oil and gas development, infrastructure development. president trump has been there four times. has beenident pence there three times i can. tell you that this administration has cared more about flyover states than the other administrations. host: steve on the line, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. thank you for taking my call. i would just like to say that

our current president needs to office becausef of his own publicly stated words. russia if you are listening, i want you to find as emails. what else do you need to hear from our president of the united states saying that? rep. armstrong: as a democrat, you give the best you have the themum -- if you want president out of office, you can do that in november, 2020. i understand why there are people who might not like the president. i have yet to a single thing that is an impeachable offense. host: minnesota is not too far

from north dakota. linda on the independent line, go ahead. caller: good morning. we are neighbors, and my daughter actually lives in lewiston, north dakota. rep. armstrong: how is the weather today? caller: definitely going in the right direction, coming from -30 below the other day, and in a couple days will be at 30 degrees above zero. rep. armstrong: fantastic. i'm an i, too, independent. i have issues with how we were things. trump and sanders and his talking heads, and many of you republicans like to use words like "the majority of the people," and "most americans," and "the american people don't want this investigation." that is not true, the old show it. the fact that -- the polls show it.

trump did not win the election by the american people, he won, of course, by the electoral college. the majority of the people, the majority of the americans, they want to see transparency. we want a president who does not lie. we want a president who is not crooked. so for me personally, i wish the investigation would look into corruption, election fraud, tax fraud, rape and treason. armstrong: well, chairman nadler said they do -- sent 81 different letters to the judiciary. my point in all of this is that it is absolutely -- somebody who has served in the state legislature -- we were just talking, we had the michael cohen hearing in oversight, but i don't think at the end of the hearing, when you take all the pomp and circumstance out of it, at think anybody learned

new.ing we also had another hearing on emergency declarations and executive authority, and that was a fantastic hearing. there's actually oversight, there's actually things moving forward. if you are interested in the investigation, the blanket investigation about everything about this president, i think that is what will happen to them and i think that is unfortunate. host: h.r. 1, that bill should be on the floor tomorrow if holds.e one of the things we were discussing is that presidents would be required to release their tax returns. what do you think about that provision? rep. armstrong: i haven't thought about that all that much. the answer is -- we have the most better candidates in history. whether it is social media. , ifle are vetted absolutely not releasing your tax returns is a thing that makes the voters as angry as possible, then we should not -- we need to be more careful about how we do these

things. you decide to run for office, whether it is a congressional or governors race, and if you will make that happen, you should make it happen for every single federal elected official. host: we go to west palm beach, florida on the republican line, mike. caller: representative armstrong, i just have a few comments. it is maddening to hear some of the democrats and independents stating what they are stating. how can they call our president a dictator or treasonous? it is mind-boggling. dictators don't love their country. the love what they can get out of their country. this president is a wealthy man because of american capitalism. he has a big heart. look into what he does. look into how he cares. that is not dictator behavior. first of all, has there been any oversight at all over the hillary clinton investigation?

has that gone completely by the wayside? secondly, why can't republicans -- a few other public is are not on board with the president regards to the national emergency. anybody who understands understands it is a national emergency. host: congressman. rep. armstrong: i will start with the national emergency. we are a diverse group of people, there are 435 people in the house of representatives. i have talked to some we did not supported. the was i have talked to her, it is really a separation of powers issue. a couple of them are very adamant supporters of the president, just not a supporter of the national emergency. i think sometimes i am a little cynical or a most immune to the rhetoric, but i think he brings up a good point. somebody brought it up before, ratcheting down the rhetoric is probably helpful.

we are in a constant election cycle in this country, and lowering the rhetoric and -- we have had this president in north dakota many times, in a way who thinks he doesn't love this country or doesn't love the midwest hasn't spent any time. we were in his office monday , who won the championships, it was supposed to be a two hour -- a 20 minute photo op, but it turned into a two hour meeting great with the president. host: did you like the food? rep. armstrong: on the the world's biggest cynic -- i spend time with those kids, and we had ready -- senator holden had set up a very good formal lunch on the senate side. this was put together that morning at the last minute because the president wanted to spend more time with the football team. and i thought it was fantastic. host: you talk about ratcheting

down the rhetoric. as a freshman in the minority in the house, how can you do that? rep. armstrong: i want to be clear, there are types who ratchet it up -- there are times to ratchet it up. we have a big class, people in each side even. a state party chairman, i probably cosponsored more bills than anybody. criminal justice reform, nick something you can win on. this president doesn't get any credit for the first step act. federal criminal defense, that is the single most substantial piece of legislation in this area, i think in the history of the country. there are democrats who want to continue forward with it and republicans. so, pick some issues. i always tell people, i will absolutely fight with you to a thumbnail at noon -- with you to spend nail at noon and i will be -- i will obsolete fight with

you at noon, and be back in your office to talk with you in the afternoon. caller: hello to you john, and to your guests. i have a lot of questions and a lot of comments. first of all, nor the quota might be doing well -- north dakota might be doing well, other states are not. here in tuscaloosa, alabama, we are creating a lot of jobs through manufacturing from overseas, companies like mercedes, hyundai and toyota. those are foreign countries. but other american goods just like gm motors and dollar , sears, toysnney "r" us, they are leaving. you can't make america great by taking american manufacturers and moving them overseas while bringing in foreign countries over here. my comment is to deal with what about thisrlier

muslim lady who made a comment. i think congress needs to look at the speech deal. you have the oversight committee and they are looking into the president, donald trump jr., and other people who have been indicted and found guilty and gone to prison. to make you going to do sure that it doesn't happen again? when russia can hack into the ?nc and into the other part host: you bring up a lot of issues there. the autotrong: industry is interesting that. are toyotas made in michigan, and gm cars made in mexico. it is an example of an industry that has completely involved in the last 15 years and is truly a

global industry. with n.a.f.t.a. there was a list of auto parts that were a list of the trade agreements and 60% don't even exist anymore. so we are modernizing the steps of things. when you're talking about the investigations and all of those things, it is important to recognize, people who have been convicted, have been convicted of varying offenses, not a single one has been convicted of anything related to colluding with russia. whether it is the russia investigation or anything else, that is an important distinction to make. remember the exact number, but the only people indicted are people from russia. when it comes to election security, nobody disagrees that russia has been trying to disrupt elections, but in 2018, we have actually gotten a handle on it. ,ut we need to be vigilant

whether it is rush hour anybody else, trying to impact our elections. that is a problem with our high-tech society. host: you have representative kelly armstrong of north dakota, a republican. in northern virginia, an independent, go ahead. caller: i have a couple of congressman. the when he was talking about north dakota, it is great that north dakota has the of blue to access the ballot. but as representative, what -- that is your responsibility to make sure that it is available for other states as well. there are states that have restrictive access to the ballot. that bill is designed to increase access universally across the country. that you dislike the idea of public funds funding candidates. for does that look like access for folks who do have ambitions to enter congress?

it does seem that it is exclusive to folks who are wealthy to be able to even facilitate a run for office like that. host: thanks for the question. rep. armstrong: ballot access is something that is to be addressed in every state, but you had to -- it would be hard to convince me that it is not better suited to be dealt with level.state those things are serious, and if we have suppression going on, we need to address those issues. i think it is a really interesting time. congress has been volatile for a long time. money is as important as it has ever been in politics. but candidates have more direct access to people than they have ever had before. there was a primary race in axas, dan crenshaw cleared field let out of the anybody at the side of the race thought he would clear. it is a combination of both. voters have direct access to the candidates through social media

and different things. but also, we don't only want wealth of people representing us in congress. we don't only want wealthy people representing us in the state legislatures. the better thing to do is having a broader range to do that that is better for the entire country. host: what is one thing that most of the rest of america doesn't know about north dakota? rep. armstrong: we have summer and winter. everybody always things north dakota is called. we have beautiful summers -- everybody thinks north dakota is cold. we are the number one producer in the country of sunflowers, honey, we produce 1.4 billion barrels a day in oil. we feed the region and the world, and we are proud of it. host: kelly armstrong is the at-large member of north dakota, member of the oversight and reform committee and the committee.

rep. armstrong: and since we did talk about that north dakota state university, we also have the best hockey program in the country. host: thank you. up next, we will be joined by congresswoman marcy kaptur, democrat of ohio, to discuss the u.s. trade deficit. but first, representative don young of alaska begin the longest-serving member of the house, surpassing the tenure of former speaker joe canyon. here is a tribute to him on the house floor yesterday. a mr. speaker, i rise to mark stark moment in our institution as don young, dean of the house, becomes the longest-serving republican in the house's history. [applause] [laughter] [cheers and applause]

rep. pelosi: is that a blushing don young that we see behind the ?eard there on behalf of the entire house, mr. speaker, i congratulate congressman young on this on her your 46 years of proud service on behalf of the people of alaska. don young has served alongside from alaska, six senators and 11 governors. governors of his proud state. eight presidents signing his bills into law, proudly cover the walls of his rayburn office. despite -- he is -- despite the length of time, every single day he serves here, it is clear that don is passionate about his patriotism and about working in this institution to

make a difference for america. as he set said becoming dean -- remember, we celebrated his becoming dean not too long ago -- he said, i love this body, i believe in this body, my heart is in the house. just over two months ago, dean honored one of the special traditions of our institution when he, as dean, administered the oath of office to me, a woman speaker of the house. that oath began, i will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic. as don's name becomes further etched in the history of this house, his caucus and this congress, we will look to him for leadership to protect our constitution, to defend our

institution, and to drive progress for the american people. just so you know, my colleagues, in becoming the longest serving republican of the house, don surpasses the record held by the legendary former speaker of the house, joseph ken. he once observed that the house is -- this is a quote -- the house is the most peculiar assembleage in the world and only a man who has had long experience there can fully know its idiosyncrasies. it's true we engage in fierce combat. we're often intense partisans. sometimes we are unfair, yet, i venture to say that nowhere else will you find such a ready appreciation of merit and character. joseph cannon now surpassed by don young as the longest serving republican in the congress. don, thank you for being a leader of merit and character.

congratulations to you and your entire family on this milestone. congratulations, don. announcer: washington journal continues. host: we welcome back to our program ohio democrats marcy kaptur bama. often talkan, we about trade when you join us. we found out yesterday that the u.s. deficit hit a 10 year high, $891 billion was the gap. how did you get to this point? rep. kaptur: well, it has been occurring now for over a quarter century, starting in the mid-1970's. it was transformative to this economy on the negative side in my opinion, and has been responsible for the outsourcing of millions and millions of american jobs to low-wage environments.

whether it is china, mexico, pick your country -- engine tina or south korea. their wages are much better than mexico -- argentina or south korea. they shuttered plants this week in ohio. ag and -- a gm facility laid off its last 1500 workers permanently. it is a very troubling aspect of life in america today. and it is not getting better. the trade deficit is getting worse. ,hen we have outsourced jobs obviously, people have to find work and sometimes they have to relocate, which they don't want to do. in addition, this kind of economy produces a giant drag on wages in this country and on people's pension benefits and health benefit. butle are swimming faster not really being able to manage thatide, the economic tide

all this trade deficits, which equals more imports coming into this country van exports going out year after year after year. president trump promised in ohio that these plants would not close. the exact opposite is occurring with the lordstown closure. but it is happening in indiana. schneider electronics in indiana shuttered their workforce, those jobs, i believe, will go to mexico. i. am not sure if they are being outsourced to other environments. you are telling the american people to compete against to a dollar an hour wages down in mexico -- two dollar an hour wages in mexico. in china, even less. how is that good for this country especially year after year? the former caller from alabama was talking about all the foreign companies locating in alabama. firms like

sears and jcpenney, they are all leaving. host: president trump over the past year has imposed hundreds of areas of dollars of tariffs on imports coming into the united states to give american producers and add. bash to gived american producers and edge. -- an edge. has that helped? rep. kaptur: i don't think the president's staff has carefully targeted what they're doing. it has caused them to retaliate. there are also not working to solve a major part of the problem, to open closed markets. you can't get goods into japan in the automotive sector. we are hemorrhaging in automotive's, energy-related imports and also computer-related and phone-related imports, because of all the electronic technology today.

these other countries the to open their doors and they haven't for over a quarter century. host: if targeted better, are tariffs a good tool? rep. kaptur: they are a tool, but one has to be extremely careful in how one applies them, or you get retaliation. the other big issue globally is that other countries have something called a value added tax. america doesn't have this. it literally is a giant tax when all goods go into their countries. when they export here, for , theye, a car from japan forgive the cost of social benefits, whether it is pensions, health care, and it amounts to thousands and thousands of dollars a vehicle. so you have a very and even playing field globally. , i havereer in congress

been so disappointed in both democratic and republican presidents who have not had trade representatives who fully appreciate the loaded cost of goods going one way or the other . and the american people over and over and over in places like ohio which i represent have had to pay the price of these really misguided policies. i am for fair trade, but we haven't had the brilliance that we need in those offices for a very long time. i had hoped we would see some at what hast look happened is now under the trump administration, it has ever been , in places like ohio and indiana, they are paying the price. host: congresswoman marcy kaptur from ohio's ninth district. that is the cleveland and toledo hours. she is with us until 9:00. you can join the conversation. for the democrats, the number is 202-748-8000, republicans 202-748 -8001, independent , 202-748 -8002.

in the reports about the trade gap, what impact shouldn't have on negotiations the white house is in right now with china and efforts for the u.s.m.c.a.? rep. kaptur: i hope it will shake everybody up and provide an infusion of reality in what is happening across this country. the electorate is very impatient and in the washington is not responding. so i think that the report is going to be very sobering for those in charge, and i hope they read it carefully and look at the sectors that are particularly impacted. certainly, in the automotive sector which i represent, this has been a constant roller coaster. fortunately, fiat-chrysler just announced 4.5 billion dollar investment in detroit. the production related to that will i think have a positive impact in northern ohio

, but how do you make up for a massive facility like lordstown? we need new production in there and i hope the trump administration will look very hard to work with these automotive companies to find a replacement production for the plant. we are working very hard to do that. all the skills that go into manufacturing something as complex as a truck or a car, you don't really replace that overnight and in terms of america's security. , you can't afford to outsource all these major production facilities to places like china, really, or even mexico, where people aren't so little. look at the migration from parts of latin america into our country. i think economic conditions are horrendous. and the political conditions there. there is economies are not functioning in a way that old people can maintain their livelihoods. this trade issue goes beyond our

borders, obviously, and it creates very serious social repercussions both in our country and abroad0 plenty of callers waiting to chat with you. jim from leesburg virginia, an independent, go ahead. caller: congresswoman, i have three -- i appreciate it. my body, to doors down, lost his job. he worked at general motors. older, ii am much never went back to toledo, and i have a lot of family that lives there. labor all over the world in construction, from a, grenada these people. flooded into this country and drove wages down. i feel for the people in large stone, but you have to do something about the border and

security. i think that the wall should be built and e-verify should be enforced to the maximum. i listen to the democrats questioned the home as all of that yesterday in the subcommittee hearing. my son is a disabled combat veteran. before you focus one iota of that attention on the illegal immigrants and immigrants who come into this country, we should be funding our veterans 100%. host: congresswoman? rep. kaptur: thank you so much for your service and for your sons service to our country. --r criticism is your patriotism is precious and believe me, i appreciate it very much. andree with you on e-verify for the individuals coming here who are undocumented, we need to have this new n.a.f.t.a. negotiations are going on.

we need to have a labor standard for this continent. work with the canadians and mexicans, with the other countries in our hemisphere. that does not exist right now. so, if a -- it is a wild continent because labor moves many times. he legally. i had a gentleman in my district who was training a young accident citizen to go to his country and -- i had a gentleman in my district who was training gooung citizen in mexico to back to his country to tell people they did not need to pay a bounty to get into the country. he was murdered in mexico. i worked on that case four years. we are not dealing with countries that have transparent legal systems like we do, so i understand what you are saying. there are many companies who understand off of cheap labor that people with no rights and who are desperate to earn a

living. i agree that we need to regularize the labor flow. people need to come here legally and we need to undergird that the rule of law. no president has done that yet. host: gary is a republican in newport, kentucky. caller: i would like to ask the if you hadive, control of the senate -- you had control of the senate in the house for a good part of obama's presidency. rep. kaptur: two years. caller: and you did absolutely nothing on trade. now with trump in their two years, he has moved so much forward in two years more than any democrat ever did in eight years. i just wonder why all of a sudden now? rep. kaptur: first of all, thank you for calling in from kentucky. you have faced great challenges in your economy in kentucky. believe me, i am a member who

tries very hard to help the state of kentucky, and i respect the work of the people there. i think they have been given the short end of the stick. when the n.a.f.t.a. agreement was first proposed here in angress, we had both republican president, george bush the first, then, bill clinton, who both supported n.a.f.t.a.. i did not, sir. i fought against it with every grain of my being because in the people of our country and of this continent. we were not powerful enough. the big transnational corporations have enormous power that cuts across both parties. the deal that was struck caused enormous harm to our country, with outsourcing and in mexico, where millions and millions of people lost their livelihoods. and has created this massive stream of migration to our country as people seek to survive. so, n.a.f.t.a. was destabilizing with no easy transition.

i could speak for one hour on different elements of nafta and what went wrong. but, it goes beyond party. this is a way of looking at the country, trying to help the american people position in a very, very turbulent economy, where their jobs can be been.rced, and have trying to readjust to open closed markets and on our own continent, trying to get a set of agreements that put people on a level playing field. we are not there yet. it goes beyond party. host: from south carolina, democrat named johnny. caller: good morning. thelled in back during , when theyistration had this conflict with iran, they were trying to make this deal. and i asked one of the guests that was on c-span a question.

i made a comment, i said, no u.s. troop should have to go anybody and fight unless everything that he uses was 100% made in the usa. he looked at me and said, well, we can't do that, because different components are made here, there, and everywhere. and i said, that is ridiculous. flag wasnce, our u.s. made in china -- was being made in china during that time. here is where i get confused. you were talking about a trade deficit. who tied his corporations hands and made the move their businesses overseas? you are talking about a deficit. if there is a deficit, it is

with u.s. companies. host: thank you for the call. you can collect more than once and administration. the role is only once a month, johnny. rep. kaptur: thank you for calling in. obviously, we live in an open economy and corporations make their own decisions. and they make decisions based on their bottom line. they can earn more money if they move production out of this country into a country like mexico, where the average wage is to dollars an hour with no benefits. frankly -- where the average $2 an houro without benefits. the trade deficit is hovering near a trillion dollars and it translates into a 4.5 million jobs annually in this country that is operate or are not created because they are created somewhere else. if they are created in low-wage

economies like mexico, it brings down the wages of people in this country, but it lowers the cost of production for the transnational corporations. so, certain investors have made a lot of money off the outsourcing of u.s. production, and that has been going on now since 1975. the post-world war ii economy in this country was very robust. since 1975, it has been very uneven for the american people. host: congresswoman marcy kaptur during this in from capitol hill this morning, not too far from our studio. until 9:00, you can keep calling in. we spent the first hour of our program talking about the lead story in today's "washington post" -- "house democrats split on ilhan omar." can you give us a sense of what is happening behind closed doors and where you stand? rep. kaptur: where i stand is

that i think that america's strength is our unity and our diversity. we have to be civil in the way that we deal with issues here in the congress. we speak on the behalf of the american people. i come from a region where we have such a diverse city with the. every ethnic -- such a diverse consistency, every ethnic group in the world. we have learned to live together. sometimes it has not been easy, but we learned to coexist. i love that bumper sticker that has all the various symbols of various faith groups on it. obviously, living together goes beyond any single faith nomination. -- faith denomination. every electedat official has a responsibility to forge unit among the american people.

there a lot of chaos emanating from this country right now and i don't think it is helpful to start a pot in a way that turns -- to stir the pot to exacerbate divisions. it is about forging coalitions unity.eate host: have you seen great leadership from house democratic leaders this week on this issue? rep. kaptur: i have not been a part of some of the meetings that have been occurring behind closed doors, so i am not -- i hope that they exhibit leadership that creates unity. host: bill is next, waiting in california on the republican line. caller: good morning. rino,, you sound like a d anyway, you sound more republican than you do democrat. my point is here. we all remember the famous line thatss perot that said --

big sucking sound coming from south of the border. rep. kaptur: yes. caller: i am very familiar with the waterfront, i know how these containers are loaded. .hey come into our ports full the majority of the containers go out empty because they come back full. it tells you everything you need to know about what is going on in this country. last 10 years, this has been going on for 30 years. if you recall, president clinton said, "we no longer need manufacturing jobs, manufacturing jobs are dead." what did we do, we created china, we created japan, we created world powers outside the united states.

host: congresswoman. rep. kaptur: i really appreciate the gentleman calling in, because he is correct. california and its ports are primary ports of entry for all these goods that are coming from china, particularly, but also two leading are our trading nations, where we have enormous deficits. sector, untilive this day, i have tried with every ounce of my being, and i have not been successful, to open japan's market to goods from anywhere else in the world. they would not even take -- when they were manufactured. so you are correct, in terms of china and japan and the pacific rim, the ships that come from china go back empty. that is what the trade deficit is. more imports are coming in here than exports going out. japan's market needs to be

opened up. it is not a popular thing to say sometimes. but less than 4% of the market, the second largest automotive market in the world, is comprised of automobiles from anywhere else other than japan. in china, they are seeing them soar in terms of their production platforms. they have one billion people, dollar or twone dollars a day for working in some of these. . so you can see what is going on across the globe. we have had somewhat a blinded elite in this country who are making money for their corporations but not doing what is good for the nation as a whole in terms of trade. we have to "markets and we have to regularize trade. i have a bill called the balancing trade act, that if we overcome $1 billion out of

balance of any country, the president of the united states must report back to congress as to how they will fill the gap and not let it get company out of control as has occurred. we have never had a president who has been able to grapple with this effectively. it takes presidential leadership and it takes the congress to understand the enormity of this trade deficit. we have not had that either. host: time for a few more calls. edward in washington dc, a democrat. go ahead. caller: good morning. i agree with the congresswoman. she is right on target. the trade deficits situation in our nation's serious and we need to take a very serious. i am a proud african-american fromtist, retired n.a.f. -- retired from nasa. we have to be serious because our trade partners around the world and our allies

and partners around the world, we have to take these people very seriously. -- i worked at the state department and reported to two presidents in my lifetime. host: we appreciate the call, edward. the national security implications of such a large trade deficit. rep. kaptur: well, it is a negative number. whether it is a budget deficit or a trade deficit, it means we are living beyond our means. and the american people who have been outsourced and up ended because of this trade policy know how dangerous it is. he elites in washington respond to people with power. those being impacted many times are people without full power to speak out, so they defend on representatives like myself, but we have not yet had a majority of members of the house and

senate and a president who could lead this country to fair markets globally. we so desperately need that. look at all the presidential candidates running in both parties. have they actually been able to put together a program that would move us toward balancing these accounts? that should be an issue in the presidential race. trade must be an issue in the presidential race because of the american people are paying such a high price for these vast, vast deficits. host: the last call for you, congresswoman. becky from massachusetts, a republican. caller: good morning. happy to be able to call in. get tooping i would speak, because i would have to wait another month before i could call in. i just wanted to say to the representative, she sounds very intelligent and i have to agree with the guy that called in from california, you actually sound that --ino, in the fact

rep. kaptur: i am much for what rino is. anyway you stated about how you felt about nafta. in that aspect you sounded like president trump when he was running. guest: he stole some of my lines. i have been in elected office longer than him. host: your question? caller: you are probably a democrat. i would vote for you. host: thanks. last 30 seconds. guest: thanking [video clip] [video clip] -- thank you for having this segment on your program, john. this is at the core of why the american people are losing faith in the instruments of government.

we must renegotiate these agreements and help this country imports,re than cheap in order to make good services here in america and not become dependent on other countries. it is a national security issue, massive economic issue. we cannot leave this issue in the hands of a few wealthy investors and vast corporations. we need a human face on trade. this is about people. this is about communities. this is about standard of living. this is about how much they earn, whether their pensions will be there for them and whether social security will have resources 50 years from now to make sure the next generation will have decent benefits. it is all connected. we cannot keep reducing purchasing power of the american people and not expect there will not be political and social consequent us. -- consequences.

host: marcy kaptur , always appreciate your time at washington journal. next up, we are joined by adam andrzejewski, founder and ceo of openthebooks.com we will be right back. ♪ >> saturday night on book tv at 8:50 p.m. eastern, the claremont institute discusses unmasking the administrative state. >> congress has adapted to it but no one understood at that time that in accepting the

legitimacy of the administrative abandoned the necessity of establishing separation of powers as a viable way of working our national government. >> saturday, 11:00 eastern, the 20th annual frederick doctors book prize -- frederick douglass book prize. and tya strong dunbar miles are this year's winners. jones recountsg his prosecution of former kkk members involved in the 1963 birmingham church bombing that killed four black girls. he is interviewed by an author and journalist. >> what was going on? >> five days before. >> that gives you the theme of

the trials. >> absolutely. no question. fire hoses and dogs, april and may of that year in birmingham, which started that whole process, school integration, hope was alive in many quarters. for some, in birmingham, they were seeing their segregated life sliding away and they took matters into their own hands. >> washington journal continues. -- adam andrzejewski joins us now, founder and ceo of openthebooks.com . explain what your book does. guest: at openthebooks.com our mission can be summarized simply. online in real time.

taxed andery dime spent at every level of government across the country and put this online and our free books,app, open the apple and android. this allows people to see where their tax dollars are going with the objective to hold people accountable for decisions. we launched in illinois. headquartered in illinois. the super bowl of corruption. transparency would be the silver bullet where bad actors would self censor bad decisions. with pay to2011 pension every public employee at every level of illinois government. last year, we did the entire country. we captured every salary and pension record of all public

employees at every level in the country. host: do you make money? guest: we are a public charity, irs recognized, 501c public charity. years note first four taking a salary. took $28,000. i host: the latest report on federal spending, september, last year, a month the federal government refers to as christmas in september. guest: we have been looking at this. last year was the worst. big party funded by taxpayers. $97 billion out the door in the september,of fy, 2018. theout of every $10, on year in federal contracts went out the door in the last week.

the agency spent $53 billion in the last week. the first week, $8 billion. $18 billion, second week. third week, $17 billion. $53 billion, final week. host: why the surge? guest: it is called use it or lose it spending. federal agency heads spend down budgets this year so congress will appropriate the same money or more next year. this has been going on for decades. host: if you want to chat with adam, join the conversation. (202)-748-8000 for democrats, (202)-748-8001 for republicans, (202)-748-8002 for independents. chart on agencies that participated in this rush of money. $61 billion out

the door in september last year. falls off the 5.6 billion for department of health and human services. veterans affairs, $5.2 billion. what was defense spending on? guest: fixed wing aircraft, vessels, ships. there are interesting charges. for example, they bought $10,000 of leather chairs. pvr,renewed sponsorship in professional bull riders. on lobster$5 million and snow crab in the last month of the fiscal year. we look at that. 2018,ear, fiscal year pentagon spent $22 million on lobster tail. over the last four years, $55

million purchasing lobster. host: what questions does this report raise? guest: it highlights what should be bipartisan issues. democrat-controlled house, republican-controlled senate. they should want to stop this practice of spending. house should the get back to regular order. the appropriations start in the house. only four times in the last 40 years has the house delivered budget on time. this use it or lose it spending and the waste of it is because they are not holding hearings, subcommittee hearings and a staffer is not responsible like they used to be for every line of that budget. there needs to be accountability in congress. congress needs to crack down. host: will regular order do anything to stop that rush? guest: it would help.

another piece that would help -- two other reforms. bonusesl has a bill, for the bureaucrats that cut budgets. if you save money on budget rather than spend it, you would get a bonus. that is legislation that should be considered by the house and senate. here is another. the way they do budget needs to be reformed. largest corporations in the world do zero-based budgeting. start at the ground and build up. at the end of the day, every line item has to be justified and audited. the federal government, just like major corporations, should get to this platform. host: we will chat with a few colors. join in -- callers. join in. (202)-748-8000 for democrats, (202)-748-8001 for republicans, (202)-748-8002 for independents.

joseph in new york, republican. caller: i have an idea. $100, let's say. spent $80. why do you have to spend the other $20 at the end of the year? save it and get it back. you still have the same budget next year. that is how you save the people money. you are just spending, spending, spending. --you get a 5% raise, guest: this is common sense. thank you for your call. spot on. the entire budget process is broken. at openthebooks.com we have called on president trump as commander in chief to wage war on waste. vowed ondent, he draining the swamp.

unless he gets his arms and hands around spending, his promise will ring hollow. host: matthew in california, republican. caller: how are you doing? i wanted to tell you that what he is talking about is 100% correct. 23 years active duty, transportation for cv's in special warfare. i know guys that got awards for spending the end of year dump funds. every single september and october they say, we have to dollars but we spend the rest of the year holding money back. i used to work in transportation, equipment. i would give them a budget one year because i have new

equipment and they would say -- ok. here is your money. well,ars down the road, why do you want this much money this year? i have older equipment now. i need this. literally, iyear, used to be fiscally responsible when i started doing it. literally, i would get in trouble for being fiscally responsible. this is terrible. host: thanks. guest: the pentagon spending. according to data captured, the pentagon spends every year on contract spending, $250 billion. $63 billionf fy, went out. that calls into question whether frugal and proper,

if taxpayers are getting a good shake. this is why there is a cause for concern. president trump mandated, first ever audit of the pentagon. they spent the year, 1200 auditors, a half billion dollars on this audit and the pentagon slumped their first ever audit. host: latest report from openthebooks.com -- the spending follows a similar trend throughout the month . it ramps up at the end of the month. $12 billion out the door on september 28, 2018. $11 billion on the 27th. talk about the ebb and flow. $3.2: on average per day, billion in september in your oven spending. tremendous. -- year of and spending.

significant drops on the weekends, which you would expect. we found, the first week, $8 billion. last week, $53 billion. there was a push to get contracts out the door before close. host: you went through dod. second-highest was dhhs. contracts,consulting typically the largest contractors are at dod. $9is like lockheed martin, billion of contracts in the last 30 days of fiscal year. boeing got $5 billion. contractors.ot of booz allen hamilton, by and large as consultants, received $1.1 billion of contracts in the last 30 days of fiscal year. host: the report we are talking about, use it or lose it

spending spree. how the federal government spent $97 billion in one month. openthebooks.com bruce, nashville, tennessee. independent. caller: thank you for taking my call. adam, keep doing what you're doing. he is on point with the use it or lose it. legislatureecutive, and judiciary. i retired from the judiciary. it applies there too. guest: we have captured the federal checkbook. contracts, loans, payments, farm subsidies, grants back to 2001. the federal judiciary is opaque in terms of filing freedom of information act on judiciary, we will not be able to get our

request through the branch. host: how big is our operation? guest: we have a $2 million budget this year. 30 people. they file freedom of information act every single year. requests, 60,000 filed. we believe this movement is revolutionizing politics. that is why the platform here to talk about the oversight reports is so important, to get the information to the people. interesting point. the political class do not bring reforms on spending because it is a lot of work and they feel they do not have the political upside to take credit. they underestimate american people. alle issues drive us absolutely crazy. it is our tax dollars. they are being wasted. we need to raise voices and hold politicians accountable.

host: what got you into this work? guest: being from illinois, and that corrupt bipartisan atmosphere in my state, after a successful career in business -- my brother and i grew a business to $20 million over 10 years -- i searched for my passion, which is public policy, i settled on and identified the issue of transparency. over time, i met former u.s. senator dr. tom coburn from oak loma. he is our chairman. -- from oklahoma. he is our chairman. he partnered with barack obama to open the federal checkbook for the first time ever. we started in illinois. modelssted transparency in illinois. we have been able to transfer this to federal level.

host: richard, massachusetts, democrat. caller: morning. -- thank you for taking this call, how are we going to get out of this national debt? which is staggering now, especially with trump doubling the debt. i have an idea the republican philosophy for a long time, nobody voted for social security, medicare, medicaid, socialism diatribe, it is a nice political term to deflate the real inequality of the working class against the top 1%, and they are getting all the brakes from this administration. from this administration. this republican party philosophy, give everything to

the wealthy and trickle-down --nomics, a complete failure this is frightening. what is going to happen as, we are being put in a box with the working class and the poor so dependent on these programs and that is where the cuts will come from. guest: great call, great perspective, richard. here is how we see it. traditionally, republicans have castigated democrats. theiricans have proven tax-cut, under paul ryan and mitch mcconnell, when they had control of congress and the white house, the republicans took all obama era discretionary spending and hiked it by $300 billion. the president felt he was in a box and signed those bills. this is why we suggest to the president, he should declare war on waste.

we have been specific laying out the strategy to be able to cut waste, fraud, corruption from the budget. the president should open all spending real time as possible. spending posts way too late, up to six months after purchase. open the books. second. we suggest the president should cut 5% of agency spending. 29 days after republished this open letter in the wall street journal, last fall, the president issued his order to cabinet secretary to cut 5% of their budgets. we hear these secretaries do not feel the president is serious. the third prong is to report to the american people, the president by declaring war on waste should report progress or lack thereof, at least on monthly basis to the american

people. everyone watching the program can come to our website at openthebooks.com and sign our petition urging the president and congress to wage war on waste. 103,000 americans have signed it. host: asheville, north carolina, republican. caller: the spending, i was at the government, and we were told you have to have money spent by the end of the third quarter. there is not enough time to go through the federal rigmarole to get the money spent after third quarter. there is some way they should be able to carry money over so they do not do inappropriate spending with money they have that they cannot get done because you cannot get the contract out. host: what agency did you work for? caller: coast guard.

three pots of money. comment, the caller from massachusetts. we pay for social security. that is not socialism. thank you. guest: some of the buckets of instance,ound -- for the agencies literally drove up taxpayer cost. purchased $300 million worth of vehicles. general motors, ford the recipients of contracts. they also purchased $10 million worth of motorcycles. three quarters of a million dollars of golf carts. they purchased $130,000 worth of snowmobiles. host: rock hill, south carolina, james, democrat. caller: great program. that philosophy of use it or

lose it, for our local school district does the same thing. electrician, retired last year, working at the district. when i found that out talking to local principles, i did not agree with it then. i'm surprised that at the federal level they have this. that was my comment. guest: at openthebooks.com our objective is to capture all spending from all public bodies across the country. we have federal, state and we are capturing now local spending as well. 48 out of 50 states, we have at least one year of state checkbooks. only california and north carolina are the holdouts. after fivest week, years, we filed a lawsuit, a new state auditor sent us six years worth of line by line transactions in wyoming.

this was a victory for our team. host: the map showed federal spending by individual states. walk through some of the things. is this spending phenomenon occurring? a large portion of this is because of political power. everyone would expect the majority of dollars flow into the beltway, virginia, maryland and washington dc. only one out of every four dollars flow into the beltway. the number two state receiving the spending is texas, at $9 billion. california is fourth at $7 billion. number 10 is interesting. alabama. of use it or lose it spending. watchingedibly, people

will find it interesting that $6.1 billion went into 190 countries outside the u.s. host: led by who? guest: i do not have the country at the top in mind. we will get back to you on that and post it on our website. mark in new york. caller: i have to chuckle at the concept of asking donald trump to wage a war on waste. this is a man who lives in a goldplated penthouse and has known nothing but extravagance his whole life. good luck with that one. i applaud what you're doing. what this comes down to is taxes. we need a flat tax. average people busted their hump to make ends meet, to send kids to college, go on a vacation once a year.

our system is broken at the core, which is the tax base. 15% tax flat, multiple studies show everything would be more equitable. the rich would pay their fair share. we would not have these deficits. guest: good perspective. socialisment has put front and center on his messaging for reelection. here is our point to the president. you cannot take on socialism by saying democrats are going to drain the treasury from the left if you don't declare war on waste and take on republicans who are draining the treasury from the right. this is why the president needs to declare war on waste, simply for credibility. host: gerard, georgia, republican. caller: good morning. my mother-in-law used to work for sears.

the federal government would order trailer loads of televisions to spend money. it is not just the federal government. the county has a slot tax, 1%. they share it with the cities. the cities have to give it back if they do not spend it. spent out here named carl $86,000 because they were going to have to give it back. if they took the three signs down, you would not know it was a city. thank you for doing what you're doing. guest: public employees across the country are highlighting the fact that this phenomenon occurs at local, state and federal levels. public relations spending and dollarsing -- half, you $500 million -- $500 million

flowed out the door in the last 30 days. host: advertising on what? guest: billboards, tv commercials, social media -- there are 5000 public affairs officers employed in 122 federal agencies. that is not enough. the federal government spends $1.5 billion a year with some of the most prominent and successful advertising firms in the country in new york city and other areas basically using taxpayer dollars to convince taxpayers to spend more taxpayer money on bigger budgets. host: dee in okeechobee, florida, independent. caller: good morning. i have a comment. it is about schools.

the gentleman from south carolina, you stole my thunder. i worked at the school. at the end of the year, they get this extra money. boy, the amount of money, thousands and thousands they year,t the end of fiscal so when they get regular money for the following year, they get a little extra on top of that. all schools in every state are doing this. there is a lot of money that is being thrown away. something iment or would like to say. you brought this up. it has nothing to do with the subject on hand. you brought up the fact that the three, you held all know, the congress and the white house. even c-span does the same thing. c-span let's these haters come on and they say the same thing,

that we had full control. we never had full control. book, say since they have full control, you have to have 60 in the senate. republicans never had that. guest: these things have to be negotiated. here are some areas for bipartisan reform. the 20 largest federal agencies $1.2 that since 2003, out onn has been paid improper basis. programs, medicare and medicaid have paid out $650 billion improperly. doctors have lost their licen ses over improper payments. republicans should get together for basic accounting controls to make sure

payments are paid out properly. host: use it or lose it spending. talk about the lose it side. what happens to money that is not spent? guest: that is a long answer and a big mystery on capitol hill. we have been asking these questions to very powerful people and their staffs. it is a mixed bag. depending on appropriation, sometimes it is carried over. there are trillions of dollars that have been appropriated by congress but never spent that are sitting in accounts. we want to know is if that money has already been spent and contributed to the national debt of $22 trillion? host: carrie, iowa, republican. i work for iowa, i am

retired now. i worked 40 years ago for the state. one of the first things they did was we had orientation. in that time, they took me around, showing me buildings that i would be working on. i was working maintenance. we went behind one of them. there was a hole and there was a guy cutting up extension letters with saws. i said, what is going on? he said, we have a budget. we don't spend that budget, they reduce our budget by the money we didn't spend. so we have to cut up and get rid of things to get new things. i was flabbergasted. i was 19 years old. oh my gosh. my tax dollars. wasted not believe the

when i worked there, the money, the employees themselves. theirople that work to and were held accountable. debt is atnational $22 trillion. let's put that in perspective. per person basis, man, woman, child in the country, your share is $65,000. what that means in a family of isr, is your household share $260,000 of the national debt. that is why these issues are important. i do not care if you are obama's former chairman, mike mullins, he said the national debt is the biggest security concern, the biggest threat. we agree. our honorary chairman dr. tom rote the book, the

debt bomb. we need to get things in order. caller: good morning. john, thank you for taking my call. doing.ciate what you are we are experiencing a dishonorable group, congress. i relocated from california working. had preferred vendors. my question is, how does the bidding factor in? what degree does spoilage influence? procured byacts are program managers and bureaucrats that work within agencies. here is what we would advocate. we would advocate a new type of

bidding process. that uses the latest technology, it is called the reverse auction. a dutch auction. bidders, youfied have the auction online and it bids down the price of goods and services. 40% of theimes saves cost of procurement. it is high time we harness the latest technology at the federal level. , founderm andrzejewski and ceo of openthebooks.com we appreciate your time. guest: thank you for having me. host: up next on washington journal and until the house comes in at 10:00 today, we want to hear what story you are tracking in washington today. start calling in now. (202)-748-8000 for democrats,

(202)-748-8001 for republicans, (202)-748-8002 for independents. we will be right back. >> watch c-span3 today for live coverage of key hearings. 10 a.m. eastern, senate foreign relations committee on u.s.-venezuela relations with mark green, u.s. id administrator and elliott abrams, state department special representative for venezuela. alito and aamuel leg and kagan -- elaine kagan appear before the subcommittee on the supreme court budget. watch today, beginning live at 10 a.m. on c-span3, www.c-span.org or listen on the free journal@c-span.org radio app. q&a,nday night on

history professor amy greenberg discusses her book. >> i was astounded by the stuff she did and the way she exercised power. she wrote letters to a supreme court justice and members of congress that were completely confident, 100% politics and were not noticeably different from a letter a man would write. they wrote back to her in the same vein. ♪ >> the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. >> ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. >> the people who knocked these buildings down -- [applause]

book, notednewest historians rank america's best and worst chief executives, providing insight into the lives of the 44 american presidents, true stories and interviews. explore the life events that shaped our leaders. explore the challenges they faced and the legacy they left behind. it will be on shelves april 23. copy or e-book today. /thepresidents. >> washington journal continues. host: 20 minutes before the house gavels at 10:00 eastern. live gavel to gavel coverage. until then, we want to hear what you are tracking. the house is continuing debate

bill on hr 1, the 570 page including issues of voting rights, campaign-finance and ethics reform. that was the first bill introduced in the house in the 116th congress. debate continues today. that bill is expected tomorrow on the floor. house democrats consider a rebuke of congresswoman ill han omar for her anti-semitic remarks. that was our first hour on washington journal today and how congress should police speech by members. paul manafort, sentenced in virginia today. hearings we are watching today including the senate foreign relations committee, a hearing on venezuela happening at 10 a.m. today.

you can watch that on c-span3. listen to it on the free cspan radio app or watch it on the web at www.c-span.org. there will be a hearing on the supreme court budget. appearances by justices alito kagan, 1:30 p.m. today on c-span3. the c-spann.org and radio app. we want to know what story you are watching in washington today. (202)-748-8000 for democrats, (202)-748-8001 for republicans, (202)-748-8002 for independents. continue to call until the house comes in. chris, scottsdale, arizona, independent. caller: thanks. the story i am following is the

decision by the democrats to exclude fox news from primary debates. that is a bad decision. it serves to further divide us. debateslk about the last cycle and how you watched them and what you think the networks added or did not add? actually, i have been however, nom via, one way to watch them because, wherever i can find them, i watch them. when i was watching, i was switching between msnbc, fox news, cnn, just to get a different flavor from each on how they interpreted it. host: is that how you watch most of your news?

caller: yeah. my mother said, you have to get your information from a lot of different sources and make up your own mind. she was democrat. she believed in getting the big picture, not just relying on one source. there are differences. when you watch these talking heads and news outlets come down on an issue, they definitely -- it is supposed to be the same news but they come down with different slants. there is a different value on how they interpret news. you have to be your own news person. host: thanks. our question for you, what are you watching today in washington? jackson, mississippi, kathy, republican. caller: jackson, michigan.

thank you for c-span. you have been wonderful for 20 years. wonderful. on everything going on in washington between democrats and republicans. there are so many people praying for our presidents. it is a disgrace the way he has been treated but god is seeing everything and god will be victorious. i pray for the people in venezuela. keep doing the good job you are doing. you are the best channel on television. host: appreciate it. derek, new york, independent. caller: hello? host: go ahead. caller: i would like to talk about -- host: the freshman congresswoman? caller: she is anti-semitic

, 50% of it is dedicated to destroying infidels. host: before we get into a religious debate, what do you think about the members of leadership in the house stepping in and having a resolution about this and calling her out on the floor? do you think that is something that should happen? caller: i used to be a democratic supporter. i thought they were for the working class. over the past few years, all i see is them pushing socialist, islam, hillary clinton sought the u.n. resolution, endorsed 1618, which is an islamic blasphemy law. if she would have become president, we would not have

been able to talk about islam. host: got your point. kane writese, paul about it in the washington post, noting some of those who have come to her defense, her fellow freshman members of congress, oc.luding a within the party moving forward might be determined as to how this ends. might come down to democratic unity in the future months and years." accost ceeo cortez has been the has been the face of the new green deal.

the new resolution to condemn includes likely to islamophobia and the rise of hate." we are waiting to see what that resolution would be and when it would be voted on. huey is in washington dc, democrat. caller: i have been trying to get in touch for months. i feel as though they should not rebuke her. freedom of speech. she is telling the truth. nothing but the truth. host: in what sense? what issue? atler: you have to look israel.

force inoccupying palestine. those groups came out of europe. if anything, they should go back to europe after world war ii. they wanted to come here to america. the president would not let them. he wrote a letter saying how selfish they are. mostly, democrats -- you have to read history. i like to read. go to the library of congress and read the truth about israel. host: maria, fairfax, virginia, republican. what issue are you watching? it is sad what i am expensive. 33 years in america. i am confused. i'm concerned on what is going

to happen. i do not know who i will support. i see [indiscernible] racism, horrible things that i never experienced before. host: is the hate and rhetoric in this country what you are most concerned about? is there a candidate speaking on that issue? caller: john kasich for the republicans. i like that. judy, indianapolis, democrat. what issue are you watching in washington? hearings.like the infoare bringing out americans need to know.

infopeople finally have from the mouth's of people who are involved, then, the country can determine what is going on. following anybody blindly, especially donald trump, because donald trump tells a lot of lies, and the lady in michigan who says people are treating donald trump badly -- donald trump treats other people badly. office man in the top and he treats people badly all the time. for her to think people will sit back and allow him to do whatever it is he wants to do, -- he has spen been a lifetime and he has been a lifetime criminal, based on the hearings i have heard so far, he has to go to trial and be convicted but he is a lifetime criminal.

inill not sit back and revel him and what he is doing. god's will will be done. what is right will come out and what will be punished, is the wrong. host: you watched the hearings. you are in the right place for hearings. somewhere you can watch today on www.c-span.org, started 21 minutes ago with the armed services committee on safe military housing. 10:00, the senate homeland security committee, a hearing on data breaches. house oversight committee holding a hearing on president 10:00, --ugs at drug czar at 10:00. house appropriations subcommittee on the supreme court budget happening at 1:30 p.m. on c-span3. we were talking about the

resolution possibly to conduct -- condemn omar. news on that front. house democrats are planning to vote on anti-semitism resolution today according to sources inside a closed door whip meeting. watch c-span throughout the day to see if that makes it to the floor. brian, west virginia, independent. caller: good morning. i'm disappointed the way they are treating representative omar. i believe it was colin powell that brought it out bluntly to everybody that to criticize the government of israel is not anti-semitic. criticizing the religion would be anti-semitic. they are playing this to keep us

busy and not looking at what is really happening behind the scenes. it is sad and unfortunately mainstream media is helping them do that. the 1960's,nce mainstream media, which is owned by half a dozen people, 90% of media in the country, has been dumbing down the public so we will be fed this propaganda, as they used to call it in russia. host: what is your biggest disagreement with the policies of the government of israel? caller: they have been treating the palestinians worse than the south african apartheid. they kill the people. they take their land. start building the settlements where they were supposed to stay out of. that was supposed to be the palestinians' land.

it goes back to the uss liberty. israel's secret service, their motto is, by deception, thou shall do war. they try to get somebody else to fight their battles. i do not want to sound anti-semitic. i have nothing with how you believe in a higher power. with israel's government. host: this is elliot in chesapeake, virginia, republican. caller: good morning. rep. d like to support omar. i get sick and tired of israel pitting the united states, the anti-semitic card. i have been to israel. i love the people. i love the country.

they want to badmouth a black person in congress. on, the prime minister came when president obama was president, he came over here and said -- [indiscernible] [indiscernible] -- he goes in congress, with the republicans, he badmouth her president. badmouthed our president. it is so disrespectful. no one is talking about that. host: we found out a few minutes ago, that resolution may make it to the floor of the house today. congressou think should step in and police speech by members of its own body? congress don't think policeress should not

members because of freedom of speech. if there are racist overtones that are legitimate, yes, congress should police it. it has to be legitimate. not political. host: who gets to define what legitimate is? caller: when she made that statement, talking about lobbyists and israel controlling us and pushing agenda, that is true. they put money down and try to control the american people. we talk about them and they get mad. juice,said, i don't like that,- jews, stuff like that stuff should be policed.

racist overtones have to be policed. freedom of speech is beautiful. it is important. people, slurs should not be allowed in the halls of congress. host: steve, gaithersburg, maryland, independent. caller: the issues i am watching -- hr 1. hearings in the house science committee. withver the senate will do each national security response. that resolution. host: what do you think about hr 1? caller: great provisions have been coming up. maybe not all. increasing, franchising

people, making it easier for people to vote. legislation, registration at age of 18, motor voter, a holiday, a national holiday, i think would go a ways to increase participation of democracy. dct: provision pertaining to becoming a state for representation in congress. what do you think about that? caller: i have a sister that lives in dc with her family. i am not as big a proponent. seeink i would like to neutrality there. i understand their argument for wanting representation. now.are doing a great job, host: you mentioned the house science committee.

what hearing are you interested in? caller: those dealing with climate change. issue i am passionate about. there is a bill before the house, 763, deals with energy innovation and carbon dividends. that is in the house. maybe, a few months later, there will be a companion bill in the senate. [no audio] monthlyebate, or a rebate to their families. that is what is happening in the science community. haveoping going forward we a more science-based versus

politically based testimony from people brought before the panel. host: steve from maryland. this is the house floor. we will see you tomorrow morning. [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] the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., march 7, 2019. i hereby appoint the honorable mark takano to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 3, 2019, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties.