>> the house recessed a short time ago and senior congressional lawmakers said agreement on a stimulus bill could come as early as today but policy differences remain outstanding. according to the "washington post" a compromise was worked out overfed powers in a severe economic downturn. house majority leader steny hoyer says to expect both sunday, possibly late in the evening. the associated press reporting as of about one hour ago that according to congressional aides, there would be an agreement saturday when it comes to another round of coronavirus relief.

the measure is finally nearing passage. debts and accumulate evidence that the economy is struggling. "we are getting very, very close," said minority leader chuck schumer, and he spent much of the day going back and forth with republican senator pat toomey about the proposal. senator toomey has been pressing to close down some lending facilities. democrats say it is to broadly worded and would have tied the hands of the incoming biden administration. those issues got resolved reportedly as of yesterday. vote pending when it comes to another round. again, background expected to cost about $900 billion including money for schools and health care providers, vaccination distribution and small businesses. it would enhance unemployment benefits and would also include another round of stimulus checks

, a 600 dollar check is what has been debated. what would you tell your member of congress about this effort when it comes to supporting it or not supported it, or maybe another message altogether? richard in springfield, missouri, independent line it starts us off. caller: good morning. i would like to see them clean up the last one. many of us did not receive our checks or received checks indirectly and now they are going to run into another one. my wife passed away, i got a check for $2400. i sent the check back in, i senator, and little has been done about it, and i would just like to see them do a little better job of getting the checks out to the people that actually need them. fortunately, i do not need mine. have a good day. host: so you sent the check

back, did you just send it back to the federal government? caller: yes, that was the instruction, that we would send it back to the address that was on them. in my case, it was to kansas city irs. host: from john in wisconsin, democrat line. caller: how are you doing? host: well, thank you. caller: i feel the same way. those checks for $600 don't help anybody. i mean, if you're that far in the hole, $600 is not going to help. i would think that if they came out with some serious advice on what people should do, like obama did when he was in office, and what obama said was now it is time for you to go out and buy stocks. he said stocks are as low as they are ever going to go. and they did that, and i made thousands. and that's what i think people should do. host: natalie is next, grand

rivers, kentucky, republican line. caller: good morning, pedro. good morning, america. my comment on the stimulus package is i believe every legal american deserves another stimulus checks and i also believe we need one monthly until this so-called crisis is over. host: why send out -- go ahead. caller: people are hurting. $1200 is not lasting for people. and especially for 5, 6, 7 months. they need a monthly check so they can carry on with life and handle their bills, take care of their families. is over, thecrisis money stops. host: you said send out the money but you initially described as a so-called crisis. what do you mean by that? caller: this pandemic that we are in, with the economy being closed down.

they need to get the economy going, give people money so they can spend it and get the economy going. that is natalie and grand rivers. we will hear from victor in birmingham, alabama, democrat line. caller: hello? host: go ahead. caller: good morning. i would just like to know why -- mi on? dashcam ion? -- am i on? host: you are on, go ahead. caller: i would just like to know why congress is laying down on sending people what they need. that is my only question. to sendt to sign a bill people any amount of money. we need to vote them out of their. that's all i've got to say. host: mark is in carlisle, pennsylvania, independent line.

morning pedro, good morning, c-span, good morning, america. number one, i am hearing the hold up is because the democrats hold money for joe biden to spend on his pet peeves. this ain't about the american people. the republicans want to protect big business, obviously. together need to get and vote these people out. term limits, this is ridiculous. they are holding out for their special interests, not the american people. host: as far as a specific package, this is something you wouldn't endorse? caller: obviously i would endorse it, let me take that back. it is not their fault. this is a pandemic, i believe that wholeheartedly. but it's their fault how bad they are messing this up. this should have been done back in april, may, whenever it was proposed to help us.

the democrats are holding out for their pet project. it is about their pet project. the republicans are holding out for pig to protect them, and this is getting ridiculous now. host: ok. we will hear from john in johnstown pennsylvania, democrat line. caller: thanks for taking my call, love c-span, love the show. retired, mark shields as a commentator on pbs, he was there with david brooks for about a 19 year run, the man was 83. if you want to talk about somebody who loved politics and loved politicians, he saw that as a way to make life better for people. host: how does that relate to the relief package caller: that we're discussing? package,ll, the relief i believe that mr. shields would support it. i also supported.

i think that there have been some good and bad things about it. i think what happens is people are so full of bitterness and acrimony about what side of the fans that they are politically on, that they lose sight of the bigger picture, that people need help and government is the way to help people. that it is notct about getting it your way, it is about helping others. i think that gets lost. host: john giving us a call, a lot of people who watch politics watching for those georgia runoff that could determine who holds power in the u.s. senate. the atlanta journal-constitution reporting that the president will return to georgia on the campaign, thee present on twitter saying late saturday he staged a big rally for kelly loeffler and david perdue on january 4, the day

before the twin runoffs against the democrats rafael warnock and theossoff for control of senate. it is not clear where the rally will be held. republican operatives previously indicated would likely head to north georgia on december 5. president's visit hold promising peril for republicans. when you look at the amount of people voting or who at least already have voted in that runoff, the atlanta journal-constitution a also saying more than one point one million people according to analysis from data from the secretary of state's office in the first four days of early voting. the number of votes is the presidential election pace. about 400 77,000 people. that is 43% of the early vote.

more than 760,000 requested mail ballots. randy in connecticut, republican line. caller: good morning. i was just wanting to say about the supreme court not taking the cases for trump's corruption in the elections. host: that's not what we are talking about, we are talking about the covid relief package. start with that. caller: yes, sir. i hear we are going to shut down walmart and amazon and take that business and leave small businesses entering into some of that positive financial gain. when is that going to start happening again? that is very unsafe, an unsafe place to go. they have filed many, many of these strains -- host: les in springfield, virginia, independent line. caller: good morning. i'm calling on the basis that voice in thent a

priorities and policies for the nation. i'm calling from the mandate democracy foundation, a nonprofit which is putting rolling outh ibm this year independent referenda online voting -- host: that is not our topic, our topic is the covid relief package currently being debated in congress. what do you think about that? caller: that the people ought to have a voice in determining its content. that is les. the question for those of you calling, thank you very much. we will finish the program talking about the topic of foreign aid and would government should be doing to help areas of the world where poverty is rampant including especially because of covid-19. for a discussion on those efforts, i will take your

calls as well when washington journal continues. ♪ >> tonight on a book tv, -- she is interviewed by barnard college and columbia university professor sherry berman. >> people dream about a grand juror only the leader knows how to capture for their people and that's very convincing and appealing to many people, they feel politics has passed them by. that qaddafi had was guide. they are the only people who can see the future.

>> that's tonight at 9 p.m. eastern on "afterwards" on book tv on c-span2. >> listen to c-span's podcast, the weekly. we are talking to robert browning who directs the c-span archives about congresses increasing use of lame-duck sessions to tackle big-ticket legislation. find "the weekly" where you get your podcasts. >> "washington journal" continues. joining us on the program, the founder and president of the borden project, to help fight poverty worldwide. it? is essentially is getting u.s. leaders to do more in foreign policy and looking at ways to strengthen

efforts overseas in terms of what we're are doing to improve the human condition for people who are struggling to survive. host: philosophically, what is the best approach? guest: it kind of depends on the country in the situation. broadly speaking, ways to help people out of poverty, everywhere from access to clean water, one i am a big proponent of. it allows farmers to grow crops in those regions and obviously, clean drinking water is a key component of life and thriving. hoping farmers increase activity is another way that has been proven really effective. some basic education on farming techniques, they can earn $400 a week per acre of land. but help the family increase income. there is really no shortage, i would say.

there's a lot of great strategies for improving conditions for people. really making sure members of congress are engaged and aware of how these issues can be tackled. and also why it matters. everything from national security as well as economic reasons as well. host: when it comes to the organization itself, how are you funded and how are you backed financially? guest: we are powered by small donors, we don't accept any government funding, we are nonpartisan. small, individual donations is what allows us to do what we are doing. host: so the idea than as far as helping the areas of the world and to lobby congress, a lot of that usually is done by the arm of foreign aid. talk about that approach. itst: one way of looking at is you take a foundation like the gates foundation which has been really successful investing in issues.

a lot of the programs of funding are the same groups on the government agencies addressing global poverty. there's really good systems in place for the u.s. government looks at both where they can be effective and give funding to the groups on the ground that have been proven to be effective. it has been a pretty big development. much more strengthened in terms of how they respond to the issues and the taxpayer bang for your buck. host: can you give an example of how foreign aid directly provides aid? guest: i will use the farmer example. land-grants, they a lot of time provide assistance for some of these developing researched could be

for some developing countries. often times they teach farmers on the ground to provide that direct knowledge and skill set. there could be situations where there is a loan and in exchange, the farmer pays the loan back. it would go to something like buying food fertilization, things like that. the war breaks out, and the short-term, very needed. short-term a respond, and there is a more long-term response. host: our guest is with us until the end of the program if you want to ask questions about the subject of foreign aid, particularly in areas of the world hit by poverty. (202) 748-8000 for those of you in the eastern and central time

zones. in the mountain and pacific time zones. the world bank tells us that when it comes to those areas of the world already experiencing poverty, the full impact of the pandemic is unknown, the world bank estimates that an additional 88 million to 100 15 million people will fall into poverty in 2020, but the total is rising as many as 150 million by 2021. if that is the case, what does that mean, particularly for americans and the u.s. government as it offers assistance like the one you just described? guest: this has been one of the most disheartening parts of covid. for years, there has been a huge success rate and partly -- poverty rate dropping. we're just seeing a lot more people rising out of poverty. and then covid came along and it

quickly has gone backwards. the big news today is always of the vaccines are rolling out, but a lot of these countries, they are four or five years away from ever getting a vaccine. one way to look at it is the u.s. is able to get out of the situation and address covid, there's going to be a lot less people in the world who are part of the global economic community as well, and you look at where a lot of u.s. exports or products come. most wheat is from mexico, number two is the philippines. some of these poor creditors are hit hard but it is going to directly impact our farmers and a lot of people in the world who are going to be able to buy products coming out of the u.s. so, we always talk about the border projects, we all do better when we all do better. who have the

opportunity to rise out of poverty, the more that helps everyone overall. host: we're told that the foreign ford eight operation budget for 2020 was about $56 billion. how much of that directly goes to foreign aid when it comes to poverty relief? guest: that a good question. a certain percentage goes to the embassies and diplomacy, and then it gets broken down to everything from a certain percentage will go to direct on the ground, so it really kind of depends how you slice the numbers. the foreign budget, a lot of people think it is 25%. most people think 25% of the federal budget goes internationally. it is actually about 1%. and then a small amount actually goes to those in poverty. ondon't spend nearly as much the account as most people assume. too long ago, talking

about this topic on the program, we had matt warner from the atlas work and he writes about these things as well. he said this in particular when it comes to poverty relief, saying the rule of law supported by democratic institutions are the reason poverty has declined as much as it has. building an institution that lasts in support of lifting people out of poverty for good, locals must take the lead. stepping back, people deserve and need to choose for themselves large institutions like the world bank will continue to play april but it should not be an issue in facilitating knowledge sharing and increasing opportunities for global engagement. really done ave lot in particular with the focus on working with the communities themselves and figuring out what is the best for those regions. i think there is a strong agreement that we shouldn't come in assuming what works in the

u.s. is going to work in every part of the world as well. there has been a greater don'ttanding that you want to come in assuming you know everything. host: let's take some calls. this is lorraine starting us off from ithaca, new york. thanks for calling, go ahead. caller: yes, hi. aboutered how you feel that thestical level world bank sets for poverty. because i read an article that says that the level they set is for the most severe of severe poverty, and it is not really for people who are, for instance, very food insecure and live fairly miserable lives, really. much powerred, how

does the world bank has when it sets these levels? guest: from their perspective it is helpful and i can tell you even for me to say that 689 million people live on less than $1.90 per day, we think it is helpful to have a set number, but were absolutely right, it really depends. the poverty rate in india is going to be different from egypt, is going to be different from south africa. that think the idea is there is a sense of having a number to go off of that helps people measure it. when you start talking like real there is a pretty good understanding that it is just a guideline number that the foreign bank puts out cap -- the world bank puts out. host: the number from the world bank as they tell us, this is all group led world vision saying more than 689 million, almost one in 10 worldwide currently lives below the

poverty threshold with covert accounting for more than half how does that compare to statistics you see on this topic? guest: a good chunk of the statistics come from the world bank or the united nations program as well. those numbers work for me. poverty is very hard to pin down in a lot of ways. poverty in the u.s. is different than in the heart of africa. when people can't meet their that is what we to look at. host: rick, pennsylvania. caller: first of all, i want to thank you for taking my call. the information that i have absorbed from watching this thus far has been extremely educational. i always have one question. americans seem to have problems dealing with their own needs. the education and feeding 70 people in food lines, all these

different problems we have right here, and we struggle with it. understand why do support tolly give countries that are economically strong, that really don't need it. israel being inclusive. what is the reason for that? startedo when we first doing hvac in the 50's, it has always been done for strategic reasons. i don't necessarily agree with this, we are trying to get the funding in particular going to the country that most it. we are are right, looking at doing a lot more next year, and a lot of it goes to countries like egypt which obviously have water issues but not necessarily one of the top countries for water issues.

egypt is a strategic location which the u.s. sees as a strategic partner, and they are more likely to receive assistance then somewhere like sudan or somewhere. something that has always been for strategic reasons. there is also that humanitarian component. personal challenge for me as well because we want to see u.s. taxpayer dollars going to helping the most number of people as allocated. sometimes politics can definitely come into play on what is deemed strategic and not strategic. viewer expresses, why on earth are we taking the world we have when we can't take care of the united states? guest: they are not competing interests. the u.s. has a foreign policy and our focus is getting our

foreign policy to improve conditions for people in developing countries. we do hear that from time to time. it matters what happens overseas, it matters here. 95% of the world is not the united states. you can have economic devastation across the globe and think it is not going to impact the u.s. domestically. the more we can do to improve conditions for people at home and abroad, the better we are going to the overall. it,look at the cold data on , a lot. is $12.7 billion of the money we get from exporting his $318 billion per year. you look at how much we are exporting to those countries, it is quite phenomenal. used to say we put

money into this funding we see a return on those dollars. that is not to say there have not been situations in the past where it could have been done better, but overall, i feel fairly confident in the systems in place now. host: let's hear from elizabeth in bridgeport, connecticut. caller: good morning. two quick questions. i've heard about innovation technologies like bicycles, water pumps, solar panels. what do you think about the use of gmo-producedseeds? and does your organization have a policy for our strategic plans for global warming? thank you. guest: we don't directly did in the way in the issue of gmo's, but one thing i will say is in parts of ethiopia, nothing is

growing, nothing can grow because it is very rough conditions and a lack of rain. there are seeds out there that allow people to be able to grow food and produce food. i personally don't see that as a bad thing. that would be my personal take. we don't directly get involved with that, but basically if people are able to grow food without using water, water is a huge resource that crops often require, but some of the seeds coming out now are a little more drought-tolerant. i think there is a place for it. i do understand the concerns around some of the companies involved in seed production but overall, i see there is a role for it. host: how much does the u.s. commit to these type of programs versus the rest of the world? guest: we are usually, among wealthy nations, toward the bottom. givers areobal

typically a lot of scandinavian countries, the u.k. and germany and japan. host: we meet those obligations consistently? guest: we seem to. every country goes through phases where there is more focus on those concerns but overall, if you look at countries doing the most based on ability to do the most, we unfortunately tend to rank toward the bottom. that was one of my personal concerns when i started this organization. there is a big gap between what the public assumes is being done about those issues and what you actually see. the united states is the world's agenda setter and superpower, we have a unique ability to accomplish a lot across these issues and i think i would like to see more of that stronger leadership. host: addressing this issues and since you've addressed mems of congress, is this a partisan issue? guest: it's not. you will find both sides of the aisle, members of congress. one thing that has kind of come out of the afghan war is the number of members of congress

traveling to afghanistan, and i hear time and again what they saw over there. they found it very disturbing, the condition people are living under. importance of providing assistance to people, particularly in education. in order to get influence over some of the bad guys. if you get out more on the extreme size of these parties, you will definitely find opposition from both areas. host: michael, virginia, good morning. there, hello commendations for the work you do, that is great stuff. training and ship they did just that a lot of times, there is an impulse when i try to do something good for somebody, that i impose my own

ideas of what is success and happiness and welfare on them. in fact, it would be better if i spend more time listening and trying to understand what the needs and values are of the people that i want to help. just curious, or i would like to try to understand the organization. if your organization has any strategies or positioning in place that takes that psychology into account. thank you. guest: we are really working at a political level, so we are not directly booth on the ground in terms of the implementation of all these programs, but we do talk to those groups a lot. the smartest people are the room and the ones who are quiet and they are listening. that attitude definitely applies to those on the ground. really communicating effectively with people on the ground.

my wife and i, we went to the village, and this idea as a westerner was like, one thing that would really help his people there were growing crops. they were planting more fruit and finding ways to increase their food supply. the reality for them on the ground is that the region greta constantly by hurricanes. any work that went into trying to produce stuff just would not make sense at all for that particular village. i think it is always way more effective if he can connect with people on the ground and find groups operate these days. host: frank in new orleans, good morning. caller: yes. first of all, charity should begin at home, and we have a lot of problems in the united states.

we eventually discovered the rice we sent for our or in thean purpose hands of when you're out fighting and you look up in your enemy has all the equipment you sent to him, and he is it against you. how do you stop people from using these things when you're ?rying to help them host: guest: thank you. thank you for your service, you definitely would have seen everything i talked about. war is a challenging and difficult situation. helping people can the equally challenging. that majority of people who live in hungary, most are outside of fighting zones.

i will confess, it really depends on the situation, it depends on the booths on the ground in the military ground. brokered to make sure we get people to supply lines, but you hit on a point that often in times of war, those providing assistance to as an can be viewed enemy and he can be very challenging to provide direct assistance in that situation. host: with the money that eventually goes to other areas of the world, how do you deal with the idea, or at least, what happens when it comes to corruption and inefficiency. and what safeguards are there, particularly for u.s. money being involved in all this? in the cold war, the u.s. was a lot more inclined to write a check to any given dictator as long as it did not

turn to communism. thesee willingly entered deals that we knew were not being done properly. the u.s. provides foreign assistance to countries with programs. the countries have to address a whole list of criteria in terms of addressing corruption and improving transparency. there's really a lot of systems in place now to make sure that you're providing bed nets. knowledge when you are training farmers, that is something. there's a lot of areas where we can provide assistance to people, knowledge that has a very transformative effect on their lives, that really bypasses some of these corrupt governments and situations. host: who does the oversight on those funds for congress?

which committee is responsible? guest: the foreign affairs committee on the house and senate correlations. host: francis from wilmington, delaware, thanks for joining us. go ahead. caller: hello. when theto ask if speaker made a comment about the u.s. being toward the bottom by contributing based on their ability, if that took into account private individuals contributing to, say, religious organizations. let's say political poverty such as catholic relief services. guest: catholic relief services is a great organization. that was just strictly by government surveying. that did not include -- and i don't know the number off that, the actual number that would

include. host: in a general sense, how does the private sector do in supporting this effort versus federal government? ableal government is still to accomplish way more than the private sector or even major foundations. but the amount given compared to other u.s. government parties is pretty small. a good impact to have compared to anything else they can be done on a charitable level. and a lot of the big groups that are having a big impact on the ground are big priority groups. host: florida, tina, good morning. caller: good morning. i am a substitute teacher in central florida. i've been working for three i believe in educating the students in the area so that they can overcome their poverty. they live in rural areas.

teachers are paid such low salaries, especially the substitutes, that if we had a better income, we would be able or globally,cally we would be able to contribute to the impoverished of families. we would be able to help them, we would be unable to help the people here were decisions -- or the citizens, and we are unable to help ourselves get to another level so that we can contribute. ast would you say to that something that would be a better so of cycling itself around that the teachers can be empowered so that they can empower the students and we can empower the world? again, there is a whole lot here that should be addressed. point onof your specifically education coming into play, i don't have a good answer for you on that.

educator, myof an dad was in elementary school principal and my sister is an elementary school teacher. overall, any expert in the world will tell you education is a huge component of how you lift people out of poverty. those who are educated and able to finish high school, able to earn the ability to live out poverty is pretty huge. education, no matter how you slice it, is a huge, important component. host: california, this is wanda. i was justh, wondering, for one thing, why can't the africans, the egyptians, and the arabs dig their own water wells? why are we always trying to fix the unfixable for centuries? it's just not working. why don't we just let them go, sink or swim, that is my opinion.

we've got plenty of our own problems, we don't need to help the world. guest: i couldn't disagree more but i appreciate your comment. has been asay it lost cause. hunger andsevere malnutrition be cut in half in the last 20 years. every water well i've ever seen being built in africa was being built by someone african but it does take some basic level of funding which a lot of people don't have. i can't stress enough how dire the poverty is. it is night and day. some of these countries, there is not a dumpster to dive in. again, what happens overseas matters domestically. number ofe this people barely surviving and think it is not going to have issues directly impacting us.

host: this is just about 10 days ago, the president signed an executive order and it took a look at the topic of rebranding foreign assistance. according to the headline, to advance american influence. states the united foreign assistance for the foreign policy objectives of the u.s. and maintain american influence and leadership such as is appropriately inconspicuously identified as american aid. how much do you know about this topic as far as the trump administration and what you think of this approach? guest: i do know generally for , some of this is primary -- probably already being done. host: when it comes to the president's administration over the last four years on the overall topic of foreign aid, how would you rate that?

>> we are a nonpartisan organization but i will say the administration definitely tried to cut foreign systems everything will year. there has been great bipartisan support in congress. we've got leaders on the republican side and democrat side really pushing back on those groups. host: the founder and president talking about foreign aid for the next few minutes on our program. next up, ohio. you're on. caller: hello? host: you are on, go ahead. caller: i have a question. comedian had a line in his act rate was talking about good service from foreign countries.

do they need more moving vans? they need to be moved out. i agree with that. in a lot of cases, we are fighting centuries-old feuds against those people. it is ingrained in them to fight and they spend a lot of their effort and energy and money fighting or at least not cooperating. as far as bill gates going after bigth care, that is a big, score. does.appreciate what this at some point, you just can't put the waves to steep. guest: you hit on a good point and to be honest, and a lot of people are leaving those countries and trying to come to our country.

a lot of people definitely .rying to reason look at some of the factors that cause poverty. if you live in a region that tends to flood, those are hard places to escape poverty. it's going to be much bigger struggle. 0 we are seeing the moderna vaccine being rolled out today from places in mississippi. we talked about it with the administration disturbing in the united states. but when it comes to other poor countries, and their access to vaccines, once the potential to get that versus others? guest: they are definitely not

in the front of the line by any means. it is going to be a while. i do hope that we are able to address it here. we look to how we can address it in some of these developing countries. i heard your earlier segment and a lot of it is the economic impact that has been pretty devastating. the virus itself has been devastating but a lack of jobs and people in developing countries and domestic leaders is justof that, it affecting all aspects of life. we also need to quickly pivot and do whatever we can to help. host: he talked about this issue on capitol hill, has there been a specific effort amongst those members to increase foreign aid because of this? guest: we were hoping in a later package to have funding around $20 billion.

we have no idea how it is going to land. host: new york, hi. caller: good morning pedro. is pastor michael vincent crea. today i celebrate the 30th anniversary of the similar work of mr. borden, oneworld life common worldng humanity, 30 years. i want to thank all the people behind the scenes who put us all on the air every day. vignettes, because i think he is doing an excellent job, my work has been out-of-pocket for 30 years. i've seen property overseas that , but't equate to my own

the vatican should be paying it because i was assaulted in new york seminary after leaving cornell. but my grandfather work here from 1930 to 1938 and sent all the money back to the north and irish village that it's from and cap the whole village alive. anti-emigration in the u.s. is wrong because most immigrants send back money to their country that outnumbers will be given foreign aid. host: i apologize because we are running a little short on time.

guest: different groups came in and the u.s. was a big funder as well. thank you for your comment. host: john and columbus, ohio. you next up. hearr: i just wanted to comments on may be help with birth control being part of the answer to this. guest: we don't directly get involved with that issue. as an organization working

bipartisan in congress, we just avoid certain topics. that topic is beyond our focus. strictly extreme poverty and engaging people on both sides of the aisle on that issue. people who are pro-life and people who are pro-choice, to bring as many people to the poverty reduction side as possible. we don't directly get involved with that. the u.s. government does not ofvide any relief in terms being very cautious with strict laws and play with what they can actually do when it comes to issues related to birth control. host: when it comes to distribution, there is a viewer who said when it comes to foreign aid that it should just be given out with troops directly handing out food to what he calls real people. sentimentys it as a that you can't run these through --, you need boots on the ground. one thing is soft power,

that is a big term used by the pentagon and it really gets into some of the ways we can to fight terrorism or fight the cartel in some regions. a lot of that is doing basic unitarian assistance. if you can undercut the influence that these terrorist groups have, you can, shallot. host: colorado, this is peter. i was wondering what you think the difference is in impact between having a short goal on fighting global poverty, specifically the huge reduction in poverty in china which has a more consistent political system versus the u.s. where different politicians have to run for office every 2, 4, 6 years in the policy is constantly changing with each ministration. guest: china is an interesting

withle because they went the green revolution in the early 70's. obviously there's a lot of jobs over there that certainly did not hurt the situation. they are an interesting example. they would also, i would say, they are doing a lot now in terms of providing foreign assistance in africa and the chinese government in general is working from a very strategic angle when they do this. that is one of the debates that comes up, there is concern among members that china is having way more impact and influence in africa than the u.s. is, which could potentially undercut our ability to do business in africa and accomplished a lot of stuff in the coming years. they are definitely a major player in these issues. they may or may not be for the same reasons of the u.s.. host: has the incoming biden administration signal how they will approach this issue? biden, hesident-elect

was pretty strongly on these issues when he was in the senate. pretty goods been a ally when it comes to addressing issues of global poverty and irrelevant. i anticipate he will continue that as president. he certainly has a lot on his plate coming in, but all signals are he will likely be pretty strong on these issues. hi.: john, florida, caller: i'm real concerned that everybody talks about the problem, but nobody has the solution. what causes poverty? i think the problem is that people are not more prepared to handle their financial and wind up with a they hadrd problem and

so many different things that are not helping them get their mind set on what is important because they are waiting for everybody to given everything. i think that the people have got a backup of funds, and knowing what they can afford and what they can't afford. and matt, i think, is what is causing a lot of the problem. people are spending more than they are making and they don't realize -- host: are you speaking of this domestically or internationally? international is our topic. caller:caller: i'm talking about even there. i'm talking basically what is causing the poverty here, and what causes the poverty -- host: we got you. thanks, john. slums i will say in the and orphanages i have been in, credit card debt has not been a

big issue. ofis really the basic lack human ability to earn income is a huge one. , jobl say one thing creation is a huge part of addressing poverty. it is really a resource issue. in these developing countries we are talking about, is a challenge, for sure. host: wendy you know when you have turned the corner on this? problemcally, is this a with issues of resolving the poverty issue? guest: there is also the data. you can look at how it has declined year after year until recently. you can look at it by region as well. the horn of africa is the one that struggles the most.

there is a lot of success occurring globally, it is just not all happening at the pace we would like to see. well.has been a hurdle as host: if you want to check out their work, you can go to their website. c-span's washington journal. we take your calls live on air and we discussed policy issues that impact you. this week, we are our authors week series. coming up monday morning, author and cnn political analyst discusses his book "my vanishing country, and memoir." the story of america's black working-class. we will talk about the future of republican party with adam goodman. watch c-span's washington journal live at 7:00 eastern monday morning and be sure to join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments,

text, and tweets. announcer: congress is in session today while the house and senate wait for a covid-19 relief in government funding deal. the coronavirus relief package estimated to cost $900 billion includes $600 in direct payments to individuals who qualify -- qualified in march, $300 per week and billions for small business loans, schools, and vaccine distribution. 2021 spending is also pending with a midnight deadline to keep the government from shutting down in the morning. the 1.4 trillion dollars spending package funds the government through next september. congressional leaders are negotiating over final provisions and they are waiting to see the bill in writing before putting it in front of the house and senate. houses and recess while the senate session is working on nominations. the house will be live on c-span. you can watch the senate debate on cspan 2.

next, the secretaries of state for georgia, michigan, and pennsylvania talk about the 2020 elections during a conversation with a bipartisan policy center. the election officials discuss election results, threats of violence they have faced postelection, and misinformation around the voting process. they also explore ways to improve election integrity and encourage voters to trust the results of future elections. >> welcome back. the bipartisan policy center is excited to bring you this panel of chief election officials from georgia, pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin.