returns for general speeches at 9:00 a.m. at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business for work on bills related to childcare, federal education grants, and election technology. on c-span2, the senate returns at 10:00 a.m. to debate the nomination tom wallace robinson of california to the u.s. district judge for the southern district of california. a c-span3 at 10:00 a.m., senate appropriations subcommittee folks at how the department of health and human services continues its response to covid-19. witnesses include cdc director dr. robert redfield and admiral assessment --hhs assistant secretary for health. several land management bills that include firefighting and force management. -- forest management. coming up in an hour, congressman jared huffman on the wildfires in the west and climate change.

that 8:30, francis rooney discusses the agreement between israel, the united arab emirates and bahrain, and other news of the day. ♪ host: good morning. it is wednesday, september 16, 2020. the house meets at 9:00 a.m. we will begin focused on congress and the members voters will get a chance to decide whether to rehire on election day. we want to know if you plan to reelect your house or senate member. if you do, give us a call at (202) 748-8000 and let us know who your member is and why. if you don't plan to vote to reelect your member of congress, we want to know who and why. that number is (202) 748-8001. if you are unsure, the land to call is (202) 748-8002.

textan also send us a (202) 748-8003 (202) 748-8003 at --a text that (202) 748-8003. include your name and where you are from. catch up with us on social media on twitter, facebook. a very good wednesday morning. you can start calling a note to retake the senate. democrats would need to net four seats on november 3, or three and the presidency to retake the house. republicans would need to net 17 seats on election day. that all depends on you. with less than 50 days to go until election day, kevin mccarthy unveiled his roadmap to try to win back the house yesterday on capitol hill. it is called the commitment to america. here are some of the principles he laid out yesterday. [video] >> republicans will defeat the

coronavirus and keep america healthy. [applause] and we will ensure the safety and security of all communities and uphold the constitutional liberties of every single american. -- willans were rebuild the greatest economy in history. add 10cally, we will million good paying jobs with investments in distressed communities and support for american small businesses. while democrats choose to ignore the threat from china, we will increase american manufacturing and supply chain resilience by ending america's dependence on china. and: across capitol hill, here is where democrats were focused yesterday. the headline from the wall street journey.

nancy pelosi saying the chamber should remain in session until lawmakers can strike an agreement on new coronavirus relief. she indicated she was not willing to scale back democrat'' offer.t a many anxious democrats have been pressuring party leaders to break the logjam, eager to pass the bill helping struggling americans even if it gives concessions to republicans. that is the story from the wall street journal. we will talk more about it as we hear from you throughout this first hour of the washington journal. will you reelect your member of congress? let us know who your member is and why or why not. phone lines if you do, (202) 748-8000. if you don't intend to reelect your member of congress, (202) 748-8001. if you are unsure, (202) 748-8002. starting in charlotte, north carolina. john, good morning.

you plan to reelect your member? before i say anything, thanks for c-span and for everything y'all do. i was listening to kevin mccarthy in the introduction. program compared to the underfunding of police and the destruction of american cities, intimidation of law-abiding citizens, and also the destruction of the rule of law and what they are doing to the citizens in the cities after they burn them to the ground, i think there is no choice for me but to vote for the republican in our race. apparent,ome unfortunately, the socialists, communists, whoever you want to

call them in the country feel that they will be able to win america through intimidation and violence, etc., instead of using the system we have had set up for all these years. i believe law-enforcement officers, black or white, should be held to a standard that is basically fair and they should be prosecuted to the extent of the law if they break the law themselves. however, i don't believe in correcting our society by burning it to the ground. all the hard work and personal property people have worked so hard for their life. host: do you think republicans can pick up 17 seats in this election cycle in the house? caller: i think they can do better than that. i will tell you what. i'm an american citizen, born and raised in this country.

i grew up. -- i was born in 1960. race relations in this country got better and they were healing. sure there were things that needed to be taken care of. the heart has to heal in different ways other than by making a law. this country was accepting people as americans until the long march of the radical left brought in their identity politics to create the chaos and the angst and the confrontation between the two. starting with barack obama and his crowd of identity politics. say thest wanted to democratic congress woman is your congresswoman in charlotte? caller: yeah.

unfortunately. host: the republican running, phil brewster. elect -- he will ru taking your calls from around the country and having this theersation the day after last state primary of this election cycle. delaware was the last eight to hold its primary yesterday. no surprises out of delaware coming out of yesterday's vote. senator christopher kunz fended off a left-wing challenge, defeating jessica saccharin. former --e held by a by former vice president joe biden. cutting a moderate profile in washington. be opponent in the fall will lauren witzkey, who has

tweeted about qanon conspiracies. the senateed in rate yesterday -- the senate race yesterday in delaware. now focusing towards the general election and asking if you will reelect your member of congress. michelle is next out of new york. good morning. no -- hello? host: go ahead. schumer. no for schumer andover gillibrand. for gillibrand. we need term limits. that is the root of corruption. thank you, c-span. armand at a georgia plans to reelect his member of congress.

caller: i am not exec leisure who is running for the republican seat in my city, my district. i know i am a republican. whoever the republican is will get elected as far as i'm concerned because i am not happy with the politics being played by the democrats. don't know why i politics is being played with the funds to help people. half a glass is better than an empty glass. alreadyw they could gave money to help people. instead they would rather use that towards winning the election. i appreciate you letting me say that. trump 2020. can't wait for the election. host: hank johnson is the democrat? caller: if i have anyway of

getting him out of his seat. host: what do you think happens in both senate races, the special election in the senate, as well as the regular election taking place? both of your senators are coming up on the ballot this fall. what happens to those seats? caller: i like doug but i was not happy with what he did, opening up a congressional seat to take the senate seat away from kelly. the other seat, i think he needs to stay where he is at. perdue has done a pretty good job in my book. out,ch politics in and democrats, republicans, independents. i don't like the socialism. i don't enough republicans are

standing behind him in congress or the senate. host: armand out of georgia this morningg. chuck schumer speaking yesterday to reporters about some of the main themes in the 2020 election, tying the president to house and senate republicans and their responses on capitol hill. [video] >> what the president is doing about climate and fires in the west is reminiscent of what he did on covid. ignore it. downplay it. deny it. make it worse. mr. president, for four years you have done nothing on climate. part that are in things are getting worse and worse and worse. pandemics don't magically disappear. climate change does not

magically disappear. when is he going to get that into his head? knowledge going to get through that orange hair and into his brain? it is galling. galling. grasp basic not scientific facts, and the senate republicans once again go right along with donald trump. there is almost no difference between his ignorance and their followership. host: chuck schumer on capitol hill yesterday. asking if you will reelect your member of congress this cycle. a bit of a unique perspective here in washington, d.c. daniel is represented in the house by elinor holmes burton. caller: good morning. no, i would not want to reenact eleanor holmes norton. she has been in office way too long.

just corrupting of any rich person. i have a couple of quick questions on that subject. why do we have hierarchy? what is a congressman or senator from one state control legislation? why does the presidential office of point the heads of all the departments that virtually control our lives? why do we have political appointees and not a meritocracy where professionals run offices? why do we have lobbyists trashing the departments they were lobbyists of for coal and oil and fracking? why is nobody talking about reforming the presidency, which we can see clearly a psychopath, a narcissistic psychopath can get an office and babble away while the country is being destroyed? while hundreds of thousands of people are dying of disease? why are we not reforming the federal government to be more

democratic? why do we have hierarchy? can people answer that question? why do we run around saying democratic party when it is democratic party? where are the socialists? where are the socialists? let's get some socialism for the people in this country to be benefited by socialism instead of just the rich. host: let me bring you back to the house and eleanor holmes norton. she has been in office since 1991. caller: i live in washington for 35 years. we can't save our parks. they are all being developed. site, peopleeral like eleanor holmes norton and her staff who become councilmembers like mcduffie and mendelson and mayor bowser, they are all working for the developers to sell out the people. they have an income out of elinor holmes' office. it's a training ground for corrupt officials.

the district of columbia government is a national embarrassment. it is a criminal racket, spending $10 million a day, funneling tax money to developers hand over fist. we are trying to save mcmillan park. we want some recreation areas, not just for the rich but for the rest of the city. we are treated like a commodity. we are sold out to developers. why do we care about the fires forests in brazil when we are cutting that are trees in washington? president trump is letting people dump pesticides in local streams. host: daniel and washington, d.c. carlsbad, new mexico. ted, who was your member of congress and why are you planning not to reelect that person? caller: thank you for taking my call. thank you for c-span. i am looking to correct the injustice of the 2018 election. announced to was

be the winner of our congressional district 2 in new mexico. in the middle of the night the democrats came up with mail-in ballots in sufficient number -- sufficient number to name xochitl torres small. enough,at wasn't bad xochitl torres small is pretending to be a gun toting moderate. she is pelosi's puppet. she voted to impeach the president and some kind of ludicrous -- on some kind of ludicrous grounds. , don't falles small for her at. -- ads. host: bill out of michigan. why do you plan not to reelect your member of congress? caller: my wife and i were just

talking about that last night. is we are going to take the valid and vote for -- ballot and vote for every nonincumbent regardless of party. these parties are sitting on the backs of the working class. 100 million working-class for politicaler gain. i don't care what party. ballot go right down the and vote against every single incumbent. host: is there any incumbent in all of congress who you do like what they say or you think is doing a good job? caller: it is so politicized right now that they can't do a good job. is to get the bum

s out and move in some fresh faces and start rebuilding the political system that works for the american people. host: thanks for that call from michigan. looking for your tweets and texts and facebook posts. this is lindsay saying matt gaetz has to go. i am voting for the democrat running in the first district of florida, an attorney and navy veteran. lindsay saying marco rubio needs to go as well. a couple of comments from north carolina. liz.ext from i will not reelect tom tillis, saying i am voting all gop and saying tillis is who he is voting for. when it comes to tom tillis, the north carolina senate race is one of the most watched races on the senate battleground map.

yesterday the senate democratic kim payne committee -- campaign committee released a new ad targeting tom tillis in north carolina. here is the ad. [video] >> for tom tillis it is about the money. he is raked in more campaign cash than any other senator. he took good care of them. he opposed bipartisan bills to lower the price of prescription drugs, and voted to give the millions and millions in new tax breaks when they jacked up prices even higher. tom tillis, washington corruption. we pay the price. that addd in north carolina yesterday -- ad in north carolina yesterday. plenty of house races to choose from. one of the most closely watched is the iowa first race. freshman democrat is being

targeted by house republicans. the national republican congressional committee released. [video] >> for me, it is always about iowa. >> who is abdicating? her government-run takeover of medicare would raise seniors? it could cost $40 trillion in close 17 hospitals in northeast iowa. >> for me, it is always about iowa. >> not true. abby's extreme views damage iowa. host: back to your phone calls, asking if you plan to reelect your member of congress. john does out of missouri. caller: hey. bangert. hello? host: why do you plan to reelect

your member? caller: i watched her on c-span. i think she is doing a great job. host: what specifically do you like? climateher views on the and health care. host: that is john out of missouri. dustin out of virginia, you are next. caller: thanks for taking my call. mark warner. i will not reelect him. he is too much into bashing the president and not working. i am an independent. i have voted mostly democratic my whole life. i do like change. mark warner has been a governor. he has been in office forever. the last two years i feel like he has been bashing the republican party and the president dealing with anything virginia voters have to go for. the new challenger, gabe, he is

a veteran. he has solid views. he looks like he actually wants to reach across the aisle and work with the other side. even talkthey can't or help each other out with the pandemic. if you look at the way the country was in world war ii, everyone got together. we rallied around defeating the nazis, defeating japan, and now we can even defeat a virus because everyone is so against each other. to me he is part of the issue. as an independent i cannot vote for him now. thank you for taking my call. professor, retired army officer. the website you were looking at is a good place to go for looking up any candidates running for any congressional race. has an easy map to search around if you want to

find races and links to the candidates' website. ted out of oregon. you plan to reelect your member of congress? heler: we have widen, doesn't do much for us but raise taxes and give breaks to billionaire landowners. every time trump tries to help them out, he raises taxes on gas. it never got below $2.50. out of us.e heck everyone else is getting cheaper gas. lehman andng is don some of the newspeople, if you listen to them, they are worse than the kkk. listen to them on the news. they are very racial. they cause racial problems. host: where do you go for your

news? who do you trust? caller: at the moment i don't trust widen work kate brown. brown.ate they try to make it hard on everybody here. i am for trump. i don't know who i will go for an congress. --in congress. everyone is so tax heavy. we have never gone below $2.50 a gallon were almost every other state is about a dolla $1.99. we voted against a sales tax. they raised individual taxes on everything. it is terrible. washington county is the highest property taxes and almost all the united states. the property taxes have been out

of control. host: you mentioned the president, although we are focused on congress today. plenty of news out of the white house yesterday. story in theead washington post and most other major papers. israel establishing ties with the uae and bahrain. president trump presiding over that signing ceremony to establish formal ties between israel and the arab states. "it will change the course of history." the headline they go within the washington times from one of the president's statements yesterday. the dawn of a new middle east. here is the president from the white house yesterday. [video] president trump: for generations the people of the middle east have been held back by hostilities, lies, treachery. so many things held them back. actually, lies that the jews and

arabs are enemies -- were enemies and the mosque was under attack. these lies passed down from generation to generation fueled a vicious cycle of terror and violence that has spread across the region and all over the world. these agreements proved the nations of the region are breaking free from the failed approaches of the past. today's signing sets history on a new course and there will be other countries very soon that will follow these great leaders. host: the agreement signed at the white house yesterday, known as the abraham accords, a reference to the common traditions of islam, christianity, and judaism. a brief rundown of what the accords will do. exchange of embassies and ambassadors among israel and the two arab states. suspension of israeli annexation of territory on the west bank.

cooperation education, health care, trade, transportation, security, and other areas. an agreement between israel and uae to give muslims access to the all oxo mosque -- mosque in jerusalem. president trump talking about that yesterday in a statement from the white house. back to our focus on congress, asking if you will reelect your member of congress. we head out to the bluegrass state. stephen in lexington on the line for those who say no. caller: thank you for taking my call. i just want to make sure that people understand the difference between communism and socialism. we have socialist programs already in place. social security, general welfare for u.s. citizens. don't be scared of the word socialist. i am not voting for mitch mcconnell and i'm not voting for -- mitch mcconnell has been in

power way too long. he has been in power longer than i have been alive. andy does not have my best interests. i am voting for amy mcgrath. host: why does he not have your best interests in mind? caller: he did not support theater affordable care act. true't think he is a proponent of climate change. i think she supports the well-being of kentucky. a lot of individuals my age and around my age are supporting her views. i want to see a woman in power. we have all these old gentlemen. we want to see something different. i want to see a woman and power. i want to see some change. that is the reason i am voting my congress people out. host: amy mcgrath running against mitch mcconnell in the senate race. andy barr, his opponent is the democrat josh hicks, a former

police officer. who do you think is the better shot of flipping a congressional seat? mcgrath. think amy i think people are tired of mitch mcconnell. i think he has been in his position way too long. the previous caller said we should have term limits and yeah, he has been their way too long it has not done much for the state of kentucky. host: this is chris out of texas. who is your member of congress? caller: good morning. my congress meant as louie gohmert. i am proud of him and i have voted for him in early voting. situation for me at the v.a. where they try to force me onto a generic brand of

medicine. he got me my original back that works real well. pleased with him. he went out of his way to make sure my needs are met. a guy. is -- he is my guy. we cannot control the weather, that is a bunch of democratic bunk trying to get money out of people, that is all that it is about. host: we will speak more about climate change and national disasters and the 8:00 hour and we will be joined by jared huffman, a democratic congressman from california, the second district as those wildfires continue to rage. stick around if you would like. as we hear from bill, and a stories -- and he plans to reelect his member of congress. that last call, we are going to the opposite end.

i am voting for my member of congress, aoc, who i love. she is one of the best, most dynamic members of congress that we have. host: what do you like about her? is ar: i like that she working-class person, that she is smart, and she is media savvy and knows how to work the system, and that she scares the old, white men. look at ted. look at the only reason that he did what he did, and use that awful word is that he knows that he is on the way out and she is on the way in. the future is not all white cis male, the future is brown, female, and completely different. host: with the caller earlier that said he and his wife sat down and decided that they would vote for any nonincumbent, that any incumbent right now is part of the problem and that there was nobody that he could name

that was in congress who he thought should be given -- should be rehired. caller: i disagree with that. we have this whole thing against expertise and people being good they do. incumbency is not a bad thing. the guy that said he would vote for louie gohmert, he is an incumbent. nothing is bad is when people forget where they are from. , i amk we need expertise fine with incumbents, i like nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. i think having people who know what they are doing is good to have when you go for some things. you do not want a doctor who is new or a lawyer who is new, you do not want a president who is new, look at the idiot in the white house. host: i assume you are a democrat. caller: social democrat. host: can you name a democrat who has forgotten where they

have come from? caller: yes. nothing comes right directly to mind. i am mostly involved with my people, to the people that i vote for. aboutwhat did you think that primary? with eliot engel? one of the most senior members and the democratic caucus? caller: i think he deserved to be kicked out. i am not happy with what the kennedy guy tried to do to get mark out in boston. host: why is that? caller: mark is good, i'd like him. he does not represent me and this area, that i think he is good. host: he has been around congress a long time. what do you like about them? caller: because i feel like he has the right positions. he was green before aoc was

green. host: thank you for the call. this is jackie out of north carolina who plans to reelect her member of congress. go ahead. caller: absolutely, thom tillis. we hade saw the ad, and a few callers and folks commenting. what do you like about him? caller: he is responsive. every time i have had to reach out for him at the federal, state, and local level, he contacted me within a day, and his team followed up to make sure we reach a resolution. he offered me resources in the community and helped me do what needed to be done. host: have you spoken to him directly or has it been through staff? caller: both. he returns the initial contact, and then he will connect you with a team member that specializes in what the need is. he is very responsive. that tossupillis in

category in most of the race ratings. this insight elections senate race ratings has four republican seats in the tossup category. two in the tilting democratic that -- category. insideectation from elections and most other rating agencies is that democrats will pick up between three to five seats. again, if they get three and the white house they will control the senate chamber. if they get four seats in the senate, they will control the chamber outright. lakeis mary lou out of geneva, wisconsin. plans not to reelect her member of congress, go ahead. caller: i am voting for roger getock because we need to someone in congress who is independent-minded, and the person who is there now, bryan

steil, and to be fair this is his first term, i do not think -- he just does whatever trump tells him to do, and roger pollock is very well qualified, and he is a democrat, and i plan to vote for him. host: we had a caller earlier talk about concern that even new members of congress cannot do anything because of the seniority in the system and there is so much power at the top, especially in the house, what are your thoughts about a new member of congress and whether he could make a difference on capitol hill? caller: roger pollock has had experience, he is a veteran, he has a law degree from georgetown, and he also served in the obama administration. i cannot exactly remember what position. i think he has more political

experience than bryan steil had going in. host: thank you for the call. from wisconsin. this is richie, out of texas, you are next. are you with us this morning? you have to stick by your phone. we will go to san francisco, california, you are on the line for unsure. the first one we have had so far. caller: no problem, i am happy to provide. i live in san francisco, 12, and my ca congressperson is nancy pelosi. have -- it isi funny because i was prompted by your prompt and wanted to see do i have alternatives to my congressperson, it never occurred to me that there would be. is there is a gentleman who

a little bit more outspoken about things that we care about here incident -- in san francisco, and it is not nancy pelosi's fault, she has administrative work to do and of thetoe the line party, but what is interesting to find is that there is somebody else running, somebody that has policies and opinions that match mine, and i think most people in san francisco. who is outspoken about them. host: is he running at it -- as a write in? the democratic primary is over in california, so is he continuing as a write in? caller: i believe nancy pelosi got about 73% and the rest was dispersed, that he was second at about 13%. and it is the top two primary system.

so he is active. and it was just odd and kind of interesting to me to find somebody that is from my town, and somebody that has all of the same opinions that i have, and substance of late, nancy pelosi as well, but she is not able to voice them. host: for those of us who do not live in california, can you talk about the top two primary system? do you like it. it is something we have to be reminded of, and sorry about forgetting about it. two democrats will face each other in the general election. does that work for you all? caller: you must imagine the context which is that i did not even recognize that there could even potentially be a second candidate until i saw the prompt have and i said do i choice? and i looked, and i do.

so, to me it was very eye-opening, and i briefly read his website and campaign policies and all of these things, and i am like, i agree. cannot is going -- you take on nancy pelosi, that is absurd. host: thank you for the call. you found it through the website we pointed you to? caller: exactly. host: politicsone.com. very helpful. speaking as nancy pelosi, announcing that she wants to keep the house and session as coronavirus relief talks continue to be at an impasse. she wants to find a breakthrough before the house leaves before the election. we will see what happens. yesterday on capitol hill, one of her top you tenants -- lieutenants talked about that decision to continue to keep the

house in session until some sort of covid relief bill comes together. [video clip] >> donald trump and the senate republican response continues to evidence a depraved indifference to human life. that is the only way i can explain what is happening. again, arewe, committed to finding common ground and not leaving town until we accomplish that objective. >> to be clear, you will not leave town until there is a deal with the administration? >> i will yield to catherine as well, but i believe that is a perspective widely shared by the house democratic caucus and was repeatedly articulated on the caucus called today. the schedule of course, will be determined by the speaker and majority leader, who will probably have more to say on

this later on this afternoon. but, it is clear to me based on the calls that have taken place up until this point, and the caucus meeting today, that the overwhelming consensus among the members is that we stick around until we get something done for the american people. taking your phone calls in this first hour of the washington journal, asking if you will reelect your member of congress. we have asked you to weigh in via text and tweet. here are a few comments from those mediums. this is randi out of michigan saying he will be voting for senator gary peters. "i do believe government has to have some sense of humanity in it. voting is how we change things." this from mount lebanon, pennsylvania, connor laminae are veterans but that is all we have in common. i do not vote for democrats or republicans since 2009.

if my district has third-party candidates i will consider voting for them. what representative government must evolve in the u.s.. will --m georgia from from georgia, "absolutely not. they are in it for themselves and both sold stock shares when they were briefed on the coronavirus. alston scott, my congressman, has not done anything that i can see here in middle georgia. scott will not allow you to come to his office to speak about your concerns." that from a constituent in georgia. this from marilyn saying "jamie raskin is one of the best." isaac saying, "he will be voting blue. the gop has lost all mandate to govern. they need to scrap the party, pick a new name and vision." joe from ohio on that line for those who say they will not be reelecting their member of congress. go ahead. caller: yeah, i am not going to

vote for the same person again because they have been in there too long and they do not seem to agree with anyone. host: who is it? caller: i believe it is marcy kaptur . a couple of callers saying that members have been in for too long. are you for term limits? caller: im. -- i am. the republicans they are in, they seem to do whatever the president wants, it is almost like they are bowing down to him. and whatever putin wants, they agree to it, and the democrats just seem to fight it for no reason. ahave been an independent for long time because i felt that if with,ed what party i was

they would automatically count me as a vote. so, -- that is the biggest reason i am independent, and that is why a vote against whoever has been in there as an incumbent for such a long time. host: how do you feel about independents in this day and age, such a polarized political time. what do you think about the role these days? caller: i believe that they are the ones who are going to be the dominant factor in who gets elected due to their growth in -- and basically it is not really a party. it is the deciding vote, i feel. --ause host: that is joe in ohio. out of texas, dairy on the line -- gary on the line who says

that they will reelect their member of congress. caller: yes, i will be reelecting him. host: why is that? caller: i will also be voting all republican. and we do not care about the protests going on, we could not care less about them. host: what do you care about? immigrationre about on our southern border in texas. it is overwhelming the school systems. and it raises taxes. thornberry is a -- is retiring at the end of this term. republican is ronnie jackson running in the 13th district in texas, the retired rear admiral in the navy and former white house physician. have you seen him on the campaign trail? caller: not a whole lot.

host: but you are ok as -- with ronnie jackson? -- ronny jackson? caller: im. host: a couple of unsures. jay out of north carolina, go ahead. .aller: hello are congressperson, we have not had one because he has been chief of staff at the white mo davisd we have running for the position now. it is an interesting time this year, and that the county gave up their party is nowtion and

independent, or just not affiliated. it is an interesting dynamic in the area in that there issues like broadband access and these are just making the challenges that people are having with covid and things and bringing in issues that i guess have been needing to be addressed for a long time back to the forefront. so, it is pretty wide open, and i guess you can say that it is an exciting time to be out here with a lot of changes happening. host: if mark meadows were running for reelection and not take the job at the white house, would you have been certain to reelect him? caller: absolutely not. host: what do you think about him taking that position at the white house? think it is a, i view shared by quite a few

people in the area that that was more in his interest aligning with that. and the only reason he is not theing is because of redistricting situation we have. so i think he took that position because he is supporting the president and he showed that his line and itore in kind of expanded his voting pool --e, addressing folks instead of addressing folks with a more diverse political ideology. that is my thinking, but i am not that smart. host: i appreciate that call. also unsure out of topeka, kansas. that morning. caller: good morning.

i really love c-span, the only channel i watch our roosevelt commercials and turner classic movies. host: thank you. caller: you bet. i am not going to vote, and i was not sure what to say, the screener said to go into the unsure, are incumbent -- our incumbent lost the primary because he is a trump lackey, and alleged illegal activities. he was defeated, and the person that is running against him, is a republican which puts it out for me. i am actually voting for the mayor, who is the democrat. of 100fantastic and one people that mayor pete endorsed, quote,it was not for the i would love to see mayor pete in here. he is in here virtually, but i would love to see him here too.

she is the one, and that is why i cannot vote for my candidate because he will not be running. host: what do you think about the number of members who have lost in the primary this year? do you think it sent a message to incumbents on the republican side. five or six members who lost in their primaries on the democratic side as well. at least three members. clayipinski, lance -- lacy losing in their primaries. caller: i really cannot say. i am not familiar with that area. there may be democrats that should be beaten too. vote for the person, not the party, that is the most important thing, and that limits great -- eliminates democrats too. really there will be exciting people here for

senator, that will be replacing the physician. she will be a doctor and then a senator, and she has good chances of flipping the seat and made tremendous money from mitch mcconnell and his group of millions of dollars. it is unbelievable. in kansas, people might be annoying it, but big things are happening here. our senator, and hopefully our senator will be one of the few that will flip the senate. host: thank you for the call from kansas. to keep track of members of congress who are not up for reelection, a good place to go is the u.s. house of representatives press gallery, the casualty list. the keep a track of all democrats and republicans who are retiring or seeking other office. there are 12 democrats who are

retiring and seeking other office, a lot more retirements on the republican side. you can see the list includes 33 others retiring, seeking office, or members who lost in their primary. primariesys -- the are over and delaware's was the last. so congress turning its full attention to the general election, which is why we are asking our viewers this morning, will you reelect your member of congress. about five or six minutes left. we will get to as many of your calls as you can. this is cheryl out of virginia. plans to reelect your member. caller: yes. he is alwaysand very responsive. i wantbelieve he is on to say with the concerns about the military.

military, is retired but i do have a question for you. i do not have the pleasure of listening to c-span every morning, but when do you have men runningout the for president, joe biden and kamala harris? inarely hear anything call from supporters or people who do not support. have you done that? i have not heard it. you talk about everything except. it is like you are avoiding having your callers call in to talk about joe biden or kamala harris. like i said, i do not have the pleasure of listening every day, and i listen a lot. i hear a lot about trump. now as -- it is the congress members, but what about the other two. should we have discussions about

them as well, and i would like to hear supporters and why, and i get nothing from c-span on that. host: i promise you we do it quite a bit. we have done it this week already. we will have open phones about the presidential race splitting our phone lines up by those who support president trump and mike pence and kamala harris and joe biden. caller: i am just saying, do you have the topic of like you have a topic on something about president trump, mostly about president trump. do you have a topic for people otherl in and discuss the two that is running for president and vice president. host: give me an example of a topic you want us to put up there. onler: well, their positions -- have they handled the unrest or whether their positions on the unrest and what do we think about that. how they plans on

to run the country, what do we think about that. i get nothing from c-span. host: yesterday morning we focused on the climate issue in campaign 2020 and talked about joe biden's plan on climate. president trump going out west and speaking about the wildfires. caller: i am talking about something exclusively about the other person. i do not get that. it is like you are trying to protect them, that is what it feels like. do not want to have a discussion about joe biden and kamala harris. and there are a lot of people that support him, and so it would be good to have topics about him and about kamala harris. host: i promise you, if you keep listening there will be people who call in andrew. -- do not support him and we fear from those folks every day. keep listening and i hope you

do, and thank you for listening. we tried to can read an environment where -- to create an environment where folks can come -- call-in and express their opinion and we do it for three hours. today, it will be two because the house is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. and we will take you to the house for live coverage the morning our schedule today from 9:00 a.m.. legislative business set for 10:00 a.m.. time for one or two more calls. this is pete, out of new hampshire who does not plan to reelect your member of congress, why not? not only-- caller: congress, but the senate. i did not vote for the representatives at any time, because the so-called representatives that we have, it is like everything else in washington and both houses, these people are not problem solvers. this is the main issue i have.

andof them, maggie hassan jeanne shaheen were former governors, and all they have done since they have been down crisis,th the opioid they keep dragging home federal money, these people love to spend money, but they will not sit down and find solutions. and we are still in this opioid situation in new hampshire. i am going to vote straight down the ticket all republican, i have had enough of this. host: you said you want problem solvers there is a group called the problem solvers caucus on capitol hill made up of democrats and republicans. this week they gathered attention for proposing their own middleweight when it came to coronavirus relief legislation. have you looked into that group and you have thoughts on them? caller: i have and i think they are headed in the right direction. the issue is it still goes back to this, they should all be special, not just these

groups and subcommittees and committees and all of the hearings. everybody needs to be involved in this. a lot of these people down here are too busy playing the horse race and jockeying for position to be reelected and turn around and do absolutely nothing. you look at how many days a week that they actually are there in session, i think it is pitiful, and i think it is a stain on this country and the people who pay taxes and vote in this country. i do not think we are being well served. ralphone last call from in connecticut, plans to reelect his member of congress. go ahead. caller: i do. i think they are doing a great job, and they really care for the people. i do not think the problem is the ideologies come first for some parties over the american people, and i think that should not happen, and they should actually televise all of the

voting for the virus relief, both sides. host: who is your member that you like? caller: blumenthal. host: the senator is blumenthal? caller: yes. host: who is your house member? what district are you in? caller: i am not sure of the district. is it --? i think.osa delauro, host: do you like what she is doing? she is another one of those members who has been around for a long time. any concern about members staying too long? caller: i think they should do two terms and then go home, and like the president. i think they should televise when they are having republican

sitting together trying to come up with a plan. it should be televised to see who votes for what, and who votes against it. same on the democrat side. host: do you watch the committee hearings on c-span three? do you think that does what you are looking for, looking for legislation being crafted and members having to raise their hand and vote on legislation? are you saying there is more that happens behind the scenes? caller: there is more that happens behind the scenes, that i would like to see it all televised so we can watch who votes for what and who votes against it. host: we will keep trying our best. ralph, our last caller in this first segment. stick around, plenty more to talk about, including two members of congress joining us today. first up is california democrat jared huffman, to talk about

those wildfires out west and later, florida republican francis rooney talks about the signing of that deal between israel, the uae and bahrain at the white house. we will be right back. ♪ night on q&a, author and historian harold holzer on his book, the president versus the press. he talks about presidents from fdr to donald trump. >> when president trump tweets early in the morning as he does almost daily, the news cycle immediately bends to his latest issue, idea, rant, complaint, attack. cycle ishe days news devoted to rehashing his tweet and analyzing it and in the case of talking heads, pushing back on it. this is nothing short of genius on the part of trump.

obama may have created the first aitter president but trump is resident of such mastery of fdrter that he ranks with with radio and jfk with television. >> harold holzer, sunday night at 8:00 a.m. -- 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a. >> "washington journal" continues. host: democratic california congressman jared huffman joins us now. his district spans six counties up to the oregon border. can you give us a sense of the impact of the wildfires in the second district and how your constituents are doing? guest: thank you for having me and asking about my constituents. this is a tough summer for folks all over california, and much of the west. we have had the worst wildfires by acreage that our state has

ever seen. my district has borne a lot of that. as we get containment on some of the biggest fires, we are still not out of the woods. we have several more weeks of fire season ahead of us, and the intensity and the smoke has been so great and the inversion layer has held it in place for so long that air quality in almost every part of california is very unhealthy. we are struggling. people are feeling the health effects. evacuatedem have been and unfortunately most of them have lost homes. host: compare it to 2018, which is known as the worst wildfires season on record. 103 confirmed dead that year, nearly 2 million acres of land burned. are we getting close to that? guest: we are beyond it, in terms of acreage burned. thankfully we have not lost as many lives.

that was the paradise fire. the year before, we had the north bay fires, and we had entire neighborhoods completely scorched and burned to the ground. we lost dozens of lives. ofgot four consecutive years off the chart wildfires, and it is tough. host: this year you are doing it amid a pandemic. can you talk about the added challenges? guest: the pandemic has confounded us in a couple important ways. the first is we were left prepared for this fire season. normally in the springtime, we have the funding and we have our agencies working together, we would be outdoing vegetation management and controlled burns to reduce fuel. you do that during the months when it is safe to light controlled burns.

we were dramatically less able to do that proactive vegetation management because of the pandemic, and that hurt us. came, yourres ability to marshal resources to stand up these massive fire camps and to mobilize and pull in firefighters from all over the place. if you have been to one of these camps, they are like small cities. you have dining facilities, and people are bunched in very close together. all of that has to be reimagined in order to be safe during the pandemic, and the pandemic has hurt the ranks of our firefighters as well, and it has hurt our prison crews. we lost our prison crews in california, which are usually a really important resource for firefighting. that is because of the pandemic. host: congressman jared huffman is joining us in this segment of "washington journal." asking you to call in with your questions and comments. as usual, democrats,

(202)-748-8000. republicans, (202)-748-8001. independents, (202)-748-8002. a special line for those who have been impacted by the wildfires and other recent natural disasters, (202)-748-8003. as folks are calling in, president trump was out in your state this week. one exchange she had in particular with the natural resources secretary of california. i want to play that for viewers. [video clip] >> from our perspective, there is amazing partnership on the ground, and there needs to be. we had temperatures explode the summer. we broke a world record in the death valley. 130 degrees. in greater l.a., 120 plus degrees. we are seeing this warming trend make our summers warmer and our winters warmer as well. one area of priority is vegetation management. we want to work with you to recognize the changing climate and what it means to our forests and work together with that

science. that science is going to be key. if we ignore that science and put our head in the sand, we are not going to succeed protecting california. >> it will start getting cooler. you just watch. >> i wish science agreed with you. >> i don't think science knows. host: congressman huffman, your reaction. guest: i don't know where to begin. i don't know why this president is so hostile to facts and science, but it does not serve us well when you are confronted with something like a pandemic, where you do need to listen to the people who know what they are talking about. you can't just wish it away and declare that it will soon be gone, and it doesn't work well with climate change and wildfire conditions. this is reality. those of us who are living it don't have the luxury of just pretending it is going to get cooler and go away or that you

can rake the forest. a lot has been said about this president and his problem with the truth, and his problem with science, but it is dangerous. i guess that is the main take away, that lives in property and our entire way of life are at risk, and that is the opposite of leadership. that is just dangerous reckless stuff. host: a select climate crisis committee on capitol hill, you served on that committee. what sort of legislation have you been trying to move? has anything been passed to address climate change? guest: the select committee asued a 500 plus page report sort of its final work product. it is up to the different authorizing committees in congress to take the recommendations and put them into legislation. some of that has already started to happen. there was quite a bit in that report on natural systems and

how we need to make them more resilient to things like wildfire and extreme weather conditions, but also if we are smart about the way we manage them, they can become part of the solution, and if you think about these forest lands we are talking about in the west right now, when you have these out-of-control wildfires, that is not good. that is emitting carbon and that is worsening our climate change problem. you are always going to have fire as part of the natural cycle. if you can do that in ways that grow healthy large older growth trees, those trees do a wonderful job of drawing carbon out of the air and sequestering it. healthy forests are part of our toolbox for climate change, and healthy forests are also more resilient and able to handle occasional fire without spinning out of control, like what we see through much of the west. host: a question for you.

nowing here in portland, judged the most toxic atmosphere city in the world. outside, the air is dangerous to breathe. suitlmost needs a hazmat with oxygen tanks to remain outside for any length of time. it is like being on the surface of another planet. looking west coasters do to get the rest of the country to see our present is their future? guest: that is the right question. we really are the fast forward the rest of the country. if anyone thinks this is just a california and oregon problem, it is not. this is coming to the entire west, and other extreme weather impacts are coming to you, no matter where you are. we are talking about freezing -- crazy storms in iowa, the increased intensity of hurricanes in the gulf coast and atlantic coast.

there is no place in the united states that will be spared from the devastating impacts of extreme climate change. all of us need to pull together. we have a narrowing window of opportunity to change this around. we can still take action to prevent the worst of these impacts from unfolding. we will have some of them that have to mitigate because it is already set in motion, but it will get worse if we don't come together and act. i think that is the right question. host: to austin, texas. this is gus, an independent. caller: good morning and ask for having me on. i would like to ask, how come we don't invent special types of planes that are at every air force base and have heatseeking drones where as soon as a fire starts, you call supertanker planes that aren't invented yet? why don't we do that to put out the fire until he gets out of

control? guest: the good news is we actually have a lot of the things you just described. there are all sorts of assets that we have available, including 747s that have been retrofitted to be fire bombers essentially. they have been flying over the skies of california, oregon and washington. they get stretched thin when you have a fire season like this. we are talking hundreds of fires around the west. more ofbly do need those types of assets, but we have them. they do an amazing job helping us control and contain wildfires, and some of the drone technology you have alluded to, we already have that now. those drones can fly above, even when there is no visibility and we are unable to fly regular aircraft, they can fly above the fire and use technology sensors

can see through the smoke and tell us where the fire is burning and other vital information so firefighters can make strategic plans. those are important assets. much of it does exist and is being deployed right now. host: are those all owned assets? guest: yeah. there are certainly a lot of state funding that gets spent on those types of things. the national guard has a lot of these assets as well, and the forest service. there is an entire fleet of these assets and like everything else in firefighting, it is a mutual aid system. a lot of them are private. you had the seven, that is privately owned. it is contracted out each year to agencies and states around the country that need the help. host: wanda out in california, republican. good morning. caller: yes. i would like to protest a little

bit. we don't get the opposite view on climate change, ever on the media or on c-span, but there are opposing views by scientists who are just as valid as these people that are speaking now. there is a website called , and there is a movie coming out that is called climate hussle two, from climate depot and you should have mark marano on as a guest for the opposing view. there is another video that is called the great global warming swindle, and that is what it is. to takemarxist plot over the globe by using climate as a tool. host: we got your point. we want to give congressman

huffman a chance to respond to that. guest: i really wish that were true. it would be so much easier to just declare it all a hoax, and with people suffering like they are in my district, i would like nothing better than to wish this all away. i hate the way everything has been sorted into these partisan alternate realities, that you i guess are being told you can choose from. who wouldn't want to choose one where you can just continue business as usual, and we can continue exploiting and burning fossil fuels the way we have in the past? it is cheap and convenient. if there are no impacts, why wouldn't we continue to do that? the problem is it is not true, and there isn't an opposite science view that is just as valid. there is a fake science view that some of these websites and films being mentioned reflect. it is dangerous to dignify that and take it seriously.

go to some independent sources. if you think democrats can't be trusted, don't believe a democrat, go to the most knowledgeable scientists in the world, the independent authorities of the world, and fact-check for yourself. if you do, you'll find it is not just two choices you can pick from. there is a right and a wrong. what i'm telling you, i think you will find out, is the truth, validated by the overwhelming majority of the world's scientists. these other notions are deeply dangerous. host: do you think people are trusting science less these days? guest: i think some people are trusting science less because they are being encouraged to trust science less. i think facts and science are very threatening to people who would like to exploit a low information public, an under educated public and mislead them

and seize power. i think we are seeing that a lot right now. this president is an accelerant for that kind of thinking and that kind of politics, and it is taking our country in a very dangerous direction. host: our next caller out of new york, a democrat. caller: good morning. thest heard mr. hoffman say public that believes differently from him is uneducated. besides the fact of the scientists he is talking about, really if they had any sense withoever, they would stop the deforestation, you would get off your high horse with your agenda 2030, which the lady who was on prior to me, speaking about that, which really is about a marxist takeover, a new world over. host: you are calling in on our line for democrats.

i assume you don't agree with democrats? caller: i just spoke about the person who was speaking before who was republican who said the exact same thing. democrats and republicans do think the same. it is not because people are uneducated. it is because people have opened their minds and they can see the truth, and that is what the issue is. this man and these people who are running this country right now are satanic. host: all right. out of new york. do you want to respond? guest: the guy who is running the country is president donald trump. i don't even know where to begin. conspiracy theories are finding traction right now. they are being fueled by all sorts of reckless demagogues, from the president on down. i think he just heard a great example of what happens -- i think you just heard a great example of what happens when these things that are not true, absolutely intended to mislead.

look what president trump is doing with his authority. he is breaking down the democratic institutions of this country, to try and seize more power for himself. this is the demagogue playbook, the fascist playbook. this is what is happening. if you want to believe these crazy conspiracy theories, there is a cost, a price to be paid. i don't want our country to go that route. host: from twitter, back on the issue of wildfires, libby writing in i don't understand why people build their homes in known fire and flood areas. imagine the money saved on homeowners insurance. is that the problem here? guest: we do need to have a conversation about the wildland urban interface, both how much we build but also the standards that we require when people do live in these areas. we need to talk about building codes and building materials.

when you talk about floodplains, that is a conversation as well. we can't just keep rebuilding these homes that are at or below sea level, in areas that continue to get hit by storms. that is part of the conversation with climate change. todoesn't mean that you have necessarily move or get rid of entire communities, but it means we have to be much smarter. in california, we have begun to do that. to some extent, the lack of fire insurance that is probably going to be confronting us is forcing that conversation, just as it has with flood insurance. host: another person on twitter wants to know why haven't the scourge of wildfires affected heavily forested areas on the east coast? guest: you have different conditions. in the west, we have month at a time where we see almost no rain. that is just part of our aerated minutes rainy and climate. we have different vegetation as well -- our arid

mediterranean climate. we have different vegetation as well. you would see lightning sparked fires in the summers in many parts of california. native americans used to induce fire because they knew it had beneficial effects on nature. it all was in balance. for the last 100 years, we really have been suppressing fires. we have also done a lot of cutting over forest lands and replanting them in ways that cause all the trees to grow back at the same age class and at much higher densities, so our forests are more dense, they don't have the same diversity that they would in a natural system. all of that has left the more vulnerable wildfires as well. even though you have different conditions and vegetation, you will start seeing some of these

fires in the east and southeast forest lands as well, as climate change begins to worsen. host: to new jersey, this is mark, a democrat. caller: good morning. i just want to thank congressman huffman, for his work, and his intelligence. exposedy he has to be to these qanon and low information people who haven't done their homework. this is the existential threat we are all facing. 97% of scientists agree. together to do something about this, or we just fight each other, which is what is happening now under this lawless horrible president. i want to urge everybody to look at biden's energy plan. he wants to have all were new energy by 2035 -- all renewable energy by 2035.

it is very ambitious, and that is where we have to go. let's look to the future and stop fighting each other. guest: i appreciate that very much. can't say it any better. host: about five minutes left with congressman jared huffman of california. i want to ask about capitol hill, we found out yesterday that speaker pelosi plans to keep the house in session until there is some sort of deal, when it comes to coronavirus relief. do you think that is possible? guest: i guess it is how you define a deal. let me say this. there has been some reporting that there are some democrats who want a deal and others who don't. every single house democrats wants a deal -- house democrat once a deal. on ourwant a deal pandemic response before we leave town. the difference is that some in our ranks would accept a very skinny deal that frankly doesn't help any people, even if it is

the last chance we have to legislate on this issue. that is what mcconnell and the administration have made clear. we might have one more chance to do something. here we are, faced with a crisis that many of us think requires action that meets the moment, that actually helps address all of our critical needs. not just extra unemployment insurance, not just money for state and local governments, not just funding for the postal service so they can deliver mail and medications, but all of it together. we are certainly willing to compromise on the shape and size of that package, but it has to meet those needs. speaking for myself, i don't want to just vote on anything so i can check the box and go to my district and say i did something, if it doesn't actually help people. that is what we are trying to figure out. can we get our republican

colleagues in the senate to work with us on something that actually makes a difference, or are we just trying to check the box and say we did something so we can go home and enjoy that political cover? i am not interested in the political cover. i am interested in trying to meet the moment. host: what is the lowest another figure you would accept? guest: it has to be in the $2 trillion range, and that is a crazy number. this crisis is unlike anything we have ever seen. it is the deepest economic detraction we have seen since the great depression, and we are still battling this pandemic. it is nowhere close to being done with us. i was just on a conference call with dr. fauci yesterday, and he is very worried about this twindemic scenario where the flu season combines with the continued problem with the coronavirus. we could quickly find ourselves in even deeper hole.

we've got -- in an even deeper hole. we've got to take action now to get our state and local governments resources they need to get out there and fight this pandemic. we have to make sure the postal service can deliver all the things we need it to deliver, especially the ballots we need to have a fair election. we have to have a national strategic plan on testing and tracking and tracing, and ppe stockpiles in procurement. all of that kind of forms the basis of what i think should be about a $2 trillion package. host: time for maybe one or two more phone calls for jared huffman. jill has been waiting in california, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: good morning congressman. i live in the middle of one of the largest national forests in california in los padres.

our local forest office as the county fire department, they do a huge burns.of controlled whereall it mastication, they do some clearing of overgrown brush, fallen trees and whatnot. area, we havee been one of the safest areas from fires, thankfully because of good management. but in other parts of the deadt, the brush, the falls of the trees and whatnot it is a causehat

of higher fires. change, i'm 60te years old. my family has been in california for over 115 years. my husband's family has been in california for over 150 years. this is a cycle. we have had so many years of droughts, so many years of el niño's, heavy snows that were unanticipated by science. you can't control what is going for the jet north, streams and whatnot, as well as the united states in general, we are the cleanest country in the world. host: we will end it there.

we want to give you the last minute to respond. guest: thanks for the question. you have obviously put a lot of thoughts into these things and by the way, you live in a beautiful part of california. i love the los padres national forest. to unpack a couple things there. in terms of the changing climate, i realize there are some theories that these are all just cycles and that this one will turn around and get cooler. i have seen those theories. by thee not validated leading climate scientists in the world. somet commend you to do independent sources on this, go to the folks who are not democrat or republican, just the smartest people in the world who have studied this and have looked at the data, and their models are telling us this is different. the drought that created some of the conditions you described in california was different than prior droughts, going back hundreds of years, and in fact

we may be in the middle of what is a mega drought in california and much of the west. these are all the things we are told to expect more of in the future, not more of, not less of, not some rebounding cycle where everything will be just fine. and oneit is dangerous heck of a spin of the existential roulette wheel if we want to believe this cycle will get better sometime soon. i choose to listen to those scientists, and i hope you will take a closer look at that. in terms of the united states and our contribution to global warming and climate change, you are right, we can't control what happens in the arctic, but the things we do are changing the arctic dramatically. and all far less ice, sorts of reporting on that just this week, what it is doing to ice shelves in the arctic and antarctic. what that intern is doing to things like the jetstream and

the other dynamics that drive the weather all over this planet. it is potentially spinning out of control. climate scientists are saying we may be entering into a period we don't even know what the weather is going to look like because we have never seen anything like this. the weather kind of begins at the poles, in the arctic in particular. it has the most extreme changes from global warming. this is a dangerous time. it is a time of real consequence, and to say that the united states is the cleanest country in the world ignores the fact that a huge portion of the accumulated carbon dioxide and methane and other greenhouse gases that are in the atmosphere right now, overheating the planet came from our country. we produced way more of that than anyone else in the world. you can take a look at the high point of our emissions and say we have come down from that a lot and pat ourselves on the

back, but we have a long way to go, and we should be leading the world in the other direction, toward cleaner solutions because we have a disproportionate responsibility for having created this problem. i actually think there is a way to do that, that is good for our economy, good for our quality of life and certainly good for the climate crisis. we can be the world leaders on climate solutions. many of us are trying to make that happen. i think you are going to see in the years ahead, especially if joe biden wins the selection and we get serious and bold on climate action. these things make us healthier, they produce good paying jobs and they get the united states back in the leadership business in the world, in leading the world in the right direction. i am happy to leave you with that, which i thing is a hopeful thought about what is otherwise a very grim crisis. huffman,gressman jared

democrat of california, a member of the house select committee on the climate crisis. up next, we will hear from florida republican congressman francis rooney, about the signing of the abraham accord between israel, uae and bahrain at the white house yesterday. we will be right back. ♪ statue of young eisenhower as a teenage boy, sitting on a stone block, looking in the direction of two of his greatest compliments, president of the united states and supreme commander of the allied expeditionary forces. >> thursday at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2, watch live coverage of the dedication ceremony for the new dwight eisenhower memorial in washington, d.c., just off the national mall and at the base of capitol hill. speakers include the memorial designer, former secretary of state condoleezza rice, the

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continues. republicanda congressman francis rooney joins us now via zoom. a member of the house foreign relations committee. i want to ask you about the significance of the abraham accord, as they are now known, signed at the white house yesterday. is this the key breakthrough needed on that very long road to middle east peace? guest: it is certainly a milestone to bring bahrain and the united arab emirates into harmony with israel. it is a big step, no doubt about it. i don't know how that is going to play out with palestinians. they probably feel like they have been cast aside by their fellow arab countries, and i could breed some difficult behavior from them -- and that could breed some difficult behavior from them. i am not in favor of abandoning the two state solution.

host: can you truly be on the road to middle east feast -- middle east peace if palestinians aren't involved, and what would be the next step? guest: i don't see how you can. the two state solution goes back to the 1950's. they have to have a homeland and eventually to state -- and eventually develop a stable government and economic opportunity for their people. host: what are the next states you want to see sign on to this and the next step to see this -- to keep this from becoming a mirage? guest: i would like to see qatar doing it. obviously the 900 pound gorilla is saudi arabia. the benefit of the hostilities with iran is that has been a big driver to drive these arab countries to look at israel in a new light. folks not as familiar

with the dynamics, explain the triangulation that the trump administration is going for. guest: it is not just the trump administration. saudi arabia itself realizes they are in the wrong, and certainly that bahrain and qatar, nations that are closest to kuwait. of --gemonic ambitions played out all the way to made the arab states have to look at israel as a potential ally. host: talk about the role that congress played here. when did you come into the loop when he came to these negotiations? what do you think about the work of jared kushner? guest: apparently he played a role and a lot of people said he played a strong role in getting this accomplished. i don't know who the key levers

work -- were. explain the role of f-35 here. guest: we have made massive sales of military hide -- military hardware to the united arab emirates and i believe we will do the same with bahrain. the f-35 is the latest military aircraft in the united states arsenal. host: the carnegie institute with a recent piece bringing up the f-35, saying one complication of this deal is the possibility that uae and israel can purchase advanced weapon systems with normalize relations with the uae, israel would be less able to make a compelling case against the sale and then he goes on to say that without the palestinians being involved, the concerns that this deal the f-35 -- could issue complicate this going forward? guest: i definitely think it

could. what if the deal unravels? we still have the palestinians and they have the f-35's. congressman francis rooney as our guest this morning, a republican from florida, joining us after the signing of the abraham accords at the white house. we want to get you involved in the conversation with about 20 minutes before the house dabbles in for the day. phone lines as usual, democrats, (202)-748-8000. republicans, (202)-748-8001. independents, (202)-748-8002. go ahead and start calling in, we will get to his many of your calls as we can. as folks are calling in on a different topic, what happens here in the coming days and weeks when it comes to coronavirus relief legislation? what did you think of nancy pelosi saying the house will stay in session until some sort of deal is reached?

guest: it is kind of like kennedy and khrushchev, who is going to blink? they've got to do something, they know they have to do something. these elected officials are being pounded on by their constituents across the country to extend the relief. billy question is how much. realhave gone from -- the question is how much. how is it going to be played out to the public? host: do you think there is a middle way? -- is i think around about halfway between what the democrats wanted and the republicans wanted. host: that to trillion dollar number is what you would be comfortable with? guest: i would become to the with whatever they did. you've got people that are in serious trouble around this country, individually, small businesses, certainly the hospitality, leisure and travel industries. until we get some vaccines, it is going to stay that way.

arkansas, aout of republican. caller: can you hear me? host: yes ma'am. caller: hello. i am going to vote straight republican. i want you to know that. please stand you, up with president trump. this is a crucial election. we need to keep him in the white house. thank you. host: why is it a crucial election, in your mind? democrats,ause the to me they are communists, and we need to get them out. i don't want a communist country. host: congressman rooney, are you worried about a communist country? guest: i am worried about the increase of socialism, the lack of concern and the lack of

commitment to free enterprise, private property and things like that. agreet sense, i would with the caller. i don't think it is a communist young,y but among the there is a lack of belief and commitment to free enterprise, private property, less state intervention and more individual initiative. that is a bad thing. that is not what made our country what it is. host: is the president doing what he needs to do to win your home state of florida? guest: he is doing a lot. he did the offshore drilling ban extension, which i have been working on for years to get him to do. the house passed the offshore drilling about a year ago but we have not been able to get much headway out of the senate, so the president did it by executive order, which is very important to florida. voted to amendns

the state constitution to ban offshore drilling. host: our next caller in new jersey, independent. hower: i am just wondering there was going to be peace if the israeli apartheid policy on palestine continues. thank you. i am for a two state solution. i think the palestinians have to have stability, economic and personal stability, for there ever to be real peace in the region. the unintended consequence of the law may be the lever that drives all the arabs to work with israel and the palestinians to get something accomplished. do you think the suspension of israeli settlement building is something that will last in the coming weeks and

months? is there a specific timeframe in the abraham accords about how long israel will do that for? guest: i don't know, but i have been against the illegal settlements are a long time. how can you say we are committed to a two state solution peace process and then continue to push is really settlements into the middle of palestinian territory? -- push israeli settlements into the middle of palestinian territory? host: our next caller, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for washington journal. i appreciate it. i want to ask about what this new so-called peace deal. i agree what trump said, he is going through the back door but i also think it is the wrong house on the wrong block. they are completely ignoring the palestinians. a lot of politicians from america have gone over to see ursula him and tel aviv but no

one is going to the gaza strip to see the conditions that palestinians live in. i don't think they even gone to the west bank. benjamin netanyahu said several years ago that there will never be a two state solution. that is something that died a long time ago, and we are fooling ourselves if we think that is going to happen. my main question is why do we -- hote to support and -- to support an occupying force in palestine? it is more like the apartheid of south africa, what they are doing to these people. i don't think israel does have the right, that they are occupying someone else's country and have for over 70 years, and we don't give credence to the palestinians who have suffered for decades under the israeli government.

they have no rights, and it is not a democracy. do you say you don't think israel has the right to exist or that they don't have the right to occupy territories? caller: they don't have a right to exist in occupied era tory. it is palestine and the israelis just don't want to recognize palestinians, and we are supporting, financially, militarily, the continued occupation of palestine. rooney, weessman will let you respond. guest: per member that prior to world war ii, there were plenty of choose in palestine just like there were plenty of christians, just like there were in iraq and jordan and all through the upper middle east. exist,ht of israel to whether you agree or not, that is not going to change. it is they are and it has international affirmation.

it has been a country for a long time. you make some very good points. you've got to remember that when --esident clinton, was the prime minister of israel, they negotiated with yasser arafat and they offered every single thing he asked for, and he walked out of the room. the question becomes, can we get some palestinian leaders that really want peace, and then can we get the israelis, and you make some good points about netanyahu, can we get the israelis to meet them halfway, perhaps spared on -- spurned -- spurred on by their new arab buddies? we shouldn't be supporting netanyahu to continue those things. i think the palestinians need a legitimate decent piece of land, not just the gaza strip. host: the caller said we are

fooling ourselves to think that a two state solution is going to happen. do you think he is pessimistic or are you too optimistic? guest: i hope he is too pessimistic. it hasn't worked out yet, but i don't see any other way to have two people who don't get along live side-by-side without putting in opportunity for them to have a decent life and economy, as well as to have a diplomatic architecture that allows the parties to speak peaceably without going to arms. that is what diplomacy is all about, to provide an alternative to armed conflict between people that disagree with each other. host: what did you think about the move of the u.s. embassy to jerusalem? president since before ronald reagan has said we want to move the embassy to jerusalem and no one ever did it. what i would say is either stop talking about it or do it. i'm not sure that it was worth

doing, but if you are going to talk about it, and every drum upt has, to support of israel, then do it. at least trump did what everyone said they wanted to do. host: why did you say you are not sure it is worth doing? the heart ofiv is business and if a medic center of israel, not jerusalem. jerusalem is an architectural monument, and a religious shrine. host: the house dabbles in at 9:00 a.m. eastern. we will take you live there when they do. this is joe out of florida, republican. caller: good morning. how is everybody doing? host: doing well. caller: i thought that the peace deal they signed yesterday may not be what everybody wants, but at least it is a step in the right direction. the other gentleman spoke about a two state solution, they have been trying to do that for about 40 years.

maybe this peace agreement will go along and help. if saudi arabia gets on board and everybody else gets on board, maybe palestine will see the light of day and maybe they will think we better change our attitude and maybe we ought to try to get along a little better. does that seem like a reasonable solution? host: congressman? guest: i think he hit the nail right on the head. if the palestinians realize that the arab world has changed, it will drive them closer to the table. if the arab rolled will work ath israel and put together broader coalition, we might be able to get something done. the realization to palestine that the arab world has changed is a big thing. host: our next caller on the independent line. caller: i am surprised how much i agree with the representative.

i am shocked how much. back to the f-35 deal. uae and qatar have never even argued with each other. they never went to war. uae'sone commentary of prince mohammed siding with prime minister netanyahu, sitting on f-35, flying over the desert. of a little bit of a farce to have a peace agreement, which is the first time in history the arabs ever gave up anything for peace. guest: they haven't given anything yet, they actually got the f-35's. what they have given up is the criticism of israel and joining

the diplomatic architecture. i prefer to be optimistic about that. you: i did want to ask you, are stepping away from congress at the end of this term. tell our viewers why. guest: i never went into this to become a professional politician. i am a businessperson and a diplomat. i ran for office to do some specific things for florida, in particular for my area down around the everglades where we had languished inappropriate money to put up the projects that were called for by the restoration plans to save the everglades. the water comes down and -- we have had bad problems with red tide and algae blooms as a result. i managed to get $2 billion in the last four years. we got all the money to build

out major projects and rebuild lake okeechobee. the other thing is we got the offshore drilling ban done. do, thanks all i can to nancy pelosi. know the department of interior is not super happy. they have been pretty anti-environmental. host: are you worried you are going to miss it up in washington? guest: i like washington. i went to college here and law school. we will be in washington no matter what. i won't miss the housework. i have done what i came to do. i never went into this to be a politician. i went in this to do some specific things for my area. i said two or three terms would be plenty. i would like to be an example for term limits.

the founders of our country never would have conceived of professional politicians. host: what do you think the limit should be for members of congress? guest: i did a bill to do 12 years. i also did a bill -- there were like 50 term limit bills with tons of sponsors that they all require a constitutional amendment which we know is ridiculous. it is not going to happen. is, ict of the matter came up with a bill that would stop your pay at 12 years. it does not require a constitutional amendment. the house can decide its own pay. i've got like 20 sponsors. int: could you do 12 years the house and 12 years in the senate under your bill? guest: probably. i don't remember how we worded it for that. stopping your pay and making a change would be a good start. host: time for maybe one or two more calls.

connecticut, immigrant. makes america great is our compassion. i am a vietnam vet. this man is making a mockery of the country and is destroying america. it is wrong. it needs to stop. host: congressman rooney? guest: i think he said some very aggressive things at times and he said things that have been called on president -- presidential -- un always --al, that is different here. there have been some good things accomplished, especially if you are pro-free enterprise, business, things like that. he has done the things i hoped he would do with the everglades and the environment in florida

with offshore drilling. by and large, there has been a lot of criticism of his personal stock. host: if you could make a quick -- make it quick, adam in florida with your question. caller: good morning. i just want to say how trump can talk about making peace between other countries when there is civil war in the u.s. unfolding. trump brags about this treaty to get people's vote. trump never cared about the u.s. people's lives because he knows their votes never determine who should be president. host: we will have to end it there. guest: i think the hostility and violence plaguing our country right now is a terrible thing. somehow or another, we have to heal the country, come together and solve some of the problems that are causing the protests and particularly the violent protests.

host: francis rooney, republican of florida, leaving congress after this term. we always appreciate you stopping by. that's going to do it for today. we will take you live now to the floor of the house of representatives.