cardona, the nominee for education secretary, testifies before the senate health education and pensions committee. at 2:00 p.m., michael regan, the environmental protection agency nominee testifies before the public works committee. coming up in 30 minutes, bloomberg news correctional correspondent previews today's house republican meeting on the future roles of representatives marjorie taylor greene and liz cheney. at 8:00 a.m., mark pocan, and member of the appropriations committee, talks about president biden's covid relief plan and other news of the day. at 9:00 a.m., evie blad on the covid-19 pandemic's impact on education. and she will preview today's confirmation hearing for education secretary nominee

miguel cardona. at 9:30 a.m., blake moore, who serves on the natural resources and armed services committees, on his priorities in the 117th congress. ♪ host: good morning. it is wednesday, february 3, 2021. yesterday, several more executive orders aimed at undoing policies when it comes to immigration. the goal, the president said, was to reestablish america as a haven for people in need. today, we are focused on his aspirations, should america be a haven for people in need? if yes, 202-748-8000 is the number to call. no, 202-748-8001.

you can also send us a text message at 202-748-8003. include your name and where you are from. otherwise, catch up with us on social media, on twitter and on facebook. a very good wednesday morning to you. you could start calling now, as we show you from the oval office last night, president biden, what he had to say after signing latest executive order focused on immigration. [video clip] president biden: we will reestablish our reputation for being a haven for those in need. host: the president last night from the oval office, saying he wanted america to be a haven for people in need. that is what we are asking about, should america be a haven

for people in need? three more executive orders last night from the president. a rundown of them from the washington post. he signed executive actions ordering the review and potential reversal of the trump administration's deterrent policies along the mexican border and the barriers they created to legal migration. and that address the zero-tolerance at the border. in the wrapup of the executive orders, the washington times notes the latest moves come on top of an inauguration day changes, including a halt to construction on the southern border wall and a 100 day halt on deportations, although that pause is before a federal judge now. no other issue is the gap between the previous and current president as deep as our immigration, and it underscores

the focus mr. biden is placing on the issue and of the work it will take to try to unwind mr. trump's signature policies. one key player in that work now will be the new secretary of the department of homeland security. he was confirmed last night and sworn in last night. this is the story on his confirmation. vote yesterday in the senate. he was in the oval yesterday when president biden made those statements. usa today saying he will be the first latino to head the department of homeland security, despite opposition from republicans he's a good enough votes for confirmation. but it was the closest a vote so far for any of the nominees. the story notes he arrived from cuba in the u.s. in 1960 with his parents as refugees from fidel castro's regime. he has been deputy secretary of the department of homeland security and headed its

citizenship agency. we will show you some of the debate over his confirmation that happened yesterday before that vote, as we go forward in the first hour of the "washington journal." but the question is, should america be a haven for people in need from around the world? robert out of louisiana on the line for those that say yes to that question. caller: how are you doing today? host: i am doing alright. what do you think about the question? you say yes, why? caller: in the beginning of this country it was a haven for the pilgrims. the pilgrims came and made a good life for themselves. and this country has been a beacon for all other races to come her to reap the benefits of the country -- come here to reap the benefits of the

country. slaves were brought here, and now we are living like the soviet union. they tore things down inside, just like this country right now. host: have we been that beacon over the past four years? caller: it has been the history of this country since the beginning. it has been a haven for people of all races since the beginning of the existence of the united states. host: robert out of louisiana. john out of georgia, good morning. caller: good morning. america has always been, i think, a haven for people in need. it was established as such, as the first caller said, but isn't it up to congress from time to time, depending upon the times, to legislatively determine what

need is. it's such a nebulous term. it's much like -- to find a definition of pornography. the judge couldn't do it. and no one has been able to define due process. it's constantly changing and it is a delicate balance. host: do you think we have struck that balance in recent years? caller: over the past four years, as you asked the previous question -- or caller, uh, the answer to my way of thinking is no. but it is up to congress to determine and do you fine what need is, then let the courts see if that is constitutionally

correct -- the constitutionally correct interpretation. but it is up to congress to find -- to define that. host: the president has asked congress to define the immigration issue and who should be coming into the country through a new u.s. citizenship act. the usa today with a wrapup of that act, unveiled by the biden administration in the opening days of his term. under the proposal, agricultural workers, people who arrived illegal as children, and immigrants with temporary protective status would immediately qualify for green cards, giving them legal status and right to work. other undocumented immigrants would receive temporary legal status for five years, with the path to citizenship if they pass background checks and pay taxes. the republican from iowa, chuck

grassley, ripped the legislative plan, calling it masked amnesty, the words used by josh hawley as well. that's the wrapup from usa today. white house.gov with a rep. boebert: the u.s. citizenship act as well, among its many provisions, more border initiatives, more technology to expedite screening. and when it comes to migration issues, the focus on increased assistance to el salvador, guatemala and honduras. improving efficiency in the courts, and it eliminates the one-year deadline for filing asylum claims. some of the provisions the white house would like to see in their u.s. citizenship act, what they

are pushing for in the opening days of the biden administration. but we are asking you, as we talk about immigration, do you think the u.s. is a haven for people in need from around the world? joe says no. joe mccutchen on the line. caller: i love c-span. you have a great screener, she is so nice. host: you probably know all of the screeners at this point, but we appreciate you saying that. caller: my answer is no. i tt leadership class -- teach a leadership class. and all of these immigrants coming in, especially the illegal ones, we have a $27 trillion debt and we have to say no to that because we could be bankrupted with all of the spending, particularly by joe biden, he scares me to death. i am opposed to that right now. host: what would you say to the

first two callers, news that america has always been a beacon for those in need? caller: i think that legal immigration, yes. you legal, no. -- illegal, no. we have to be careful with it. let's play down some of the debt, get that under control, because we do not control it. it's the future for our children and grandchildren and it will be very bleak. i am trying to educate these young people, the importance of electing taxpayer champions. i think we need to cut back on it for a while. host: how much can we pay down on what is currently a $27 trillion or so, u.s. national debt? what do we need to get it down to before we can help more people in the world? caller: we need to get it down to trillion dollars or $3 trillion. host: then we can focus on those

issues? caller: yes, but all we have been doing lately is increasing at. we need to start decreasing it. we need to elect more taxpayer champions. host: joe mccutchen of georgia, because every 30 days. in terms of spending -- calls every 30 days. in terms of spending, the latest legislation moving through congress. the efforts back and forth between the $1.9 trillion package for covid relief and a smaller version proposed by 10 republican senators, the so-called gang of 10 plan for $600 billion. the story from the washington times focusing on the democratic efforts to move the $1.9 trillion package. and joe biden's efforts to encourage those in the senate to go big on that plan. the washington post in their

wrapup of the package noting that president biden spoke to senators on tuesday, saying to go big, making a case in favor of the bigger rescue package. the story noting that his comments on a private lunchtime call with the senate democratic caucus were confirmed by several people. he spoke to the washington post on conditions of anonymity. we have been talking about the republican senators going to the white house on monday to meet with the president, pitching that smaller $600 billion plan. questions this week on whether a deal could be cut. those comments from the washington post, yesterday during that democratic lunch, seem to be pointing in the bigger package direction. back to your phone calls. parlin in -- carlin in washington. is america a haven for those in need? caller: yes, i think we need to bring in more from the countries

at that you mentioned. they are in dire straits. and i do not think it is going to hurt. i think it helps. and, of course, the people that come in that do all over the work, that work in the different jobs, picking and all of the things they do. they should get a green card. they should be able to stay for five years and work it out and maybe they can get their citizenship. host: when do we say no? when do we say there is not enough room or money? caller: i think that we have a long ways to go. we have a lot of space in this country. and there's a lot of work that can be done. and we are not bringing in that -- we are not having that many children that we are

replenishing. i think we can go for quite a while. my son has been here since -- my family has been here since the 1700s. we fought and everything. we have had family members taken by indians and everything else. i just think that we have a lot of room. host: lamar out of pine bluff, north carolina, answers no to the question. caller: they need to slow things down because we've got big problems in our own country with the pandemic going on, our hospitals full, they cannot get enough shots out for people, they are running slack. we do not need more.

plus, what may come into this country with people coming through. i no they contest them, all -- i know they can test them, but they could miss some and it could spread more. we need to slow down until we get a hold of things. they are signing so much stuff, so many changes, cutting back this, adding this and that and the other. it's just more than we need at this time. it needs to be none right now, until we see how this new administration is going to get a handle on the problems that we have. host: lamar out of north carolina. i want to show you the scene as we are having this conversation in the rotunda of the u.s. capitol right now. it's the laying in honor for the late capitol police officer

brian sicknick, who has been lying in honor since yesterday evening. his remains at the capital -- capitol. the ceremony will start at 10:15 a.m. eastern this morning with members of congress to honor the capitol police officer who died in the line of duty defending the capital during the attack on january 6. you can see the flags over the capital at half-staff. -- capitol at half-staff. you can continue to watch at those who work on capitol hill make their way to the rotunda there. we will be showing that starting at 7:45 a.m. eastern on c-span2, then the congressional tribute at 10:15 a.m. will be here on c-span. you can watch on c-span.org and listen to it on the free c-span radio app. the question, is america a haven for people in need?

timothy says yes, out of vermont. good morning. caller: uh, good morning my friend. yes, the fact that -- the simple fact of the matter is that people, folks are going to migrate from south america and central america. and they're going to come here. eventually, the predominant language is going to be pretty much spanish. but yes, i mean, given the decency of man. given the untenable situations that have been presented to those folks down there with global warming and the political

mess, if you will, i apologize for that. and yeah, it is going to happen. it's inevitable. that's fine. where i live here in vermont, in my lovely little bubble in vermont -- and i am going to go skiing today -- and i will have my lovely white privilege time, but the largest farm where i live is in the state of vermont. and there are mexican and southern american individuals, who work at that farm. and you never see them. and it's -- and they are good people. man, you know, they are good

people. host: have you had a chance to talk with them? do you know if they are in the country undocumented or legally? caller: i think it is a mixture of both. that's the only summation i can come up with. so, i truly do not know. but nonetheless, you know. i mean, these folks are doing jobs that -- hell, i do not want to do. i could go up to that farm right now and get a job myself chopping trees, right at the moment, or what have you. but, no, these people are good. and i need to use the agrarian stereotype, and i hate that, but it just seems stereo typically

that these folks need to work. and they want to come here and work. i'm in vermont right now and we have two foot of snow. and i'm going to go skiing, because i know how to ski. but these poor folks don't know how to ski. host: the liberty tony and with a t asking -- with a tweet today, asking how many families would not be allowed in the country today under the current rules. president biden is looking to change the rules through executive orders, three more coming yesterday. we saw several executive orders issued on the first day of the

biden administration, the one on the immigration front. and no one gaining the most attention was on the border wall . yesterday it was on reuniting families is separated during the last administration. here is president biden welcoming his new department of homeland security secretary, and then on these three executive orders. [video clip] president biden: it is an honor to congratulate the new secretary. the new secretary of homeland security. and who will be working with congress on a lot of issues, including a bill that has great support in both chambers. today, we are signing executive orders to strengthen our immigration system, building on the executive actions i took on day one to protect dreamers and

the muslim ban, and to better manage our borders. that's what they are about. i want to make it clear, there's a lot of talk about the a number of executive orders i have signed. i'm not making new laws, i'm eliminating bad policy. i'm taking on issues that 99% of them the last president of the u.s. issued executive orders that were counterproductive to our security and who we are as a country, particularly in our immigration. it's about how america's safer and more prosperous when we have a fair, orderly and humane legal immigration system. and with the first action today, we are going to work on doing the m -- we are going to undo

what the last demonstration did at the border with no plan to reunify their children who are still in custody, and their parents. the second action addresses the root causes of migration to our southern border. and the third action, or order, orders a full review of the previous administration's counterproductive immigration policies, basically across the board. host: that was the president last night. we are taking your calls, asking is america people even -- america a haven for people in need, asking if that is something america should be. our caller from kentucky says no. caller: this is bert. i have to take issue with the question that you have there. is america a haven for people in

need? the obvious answer is yes, it always has been, it is now and always will be in the future. but the question -- it's like being asked by a liberal station -- the question in my mind should be should people be allowed to migrate to this country illegaly? everybody forgets, we spend billions, many billions of dollars every year around the world to help people. we have always been a giving, passionate country. we still are. why do we have to do it helter skelter? we are only putting -- people come here when they rush over the border, the way it was

with obama into donald trump's term, until he got it under control. the question of children -- joe biden can say that we rip to children from their mother's arms, which is an obvious political lie. we separate children from the people bringing them over, because there is no documentation that they are even the parents of these children. you could just as well ask, do we agree -- should we agree to have child sex and slave trafficking in the u.s.? the answer would be no. host: the reason we are asking the question, using that wording, is those are literally the words that joe biden used. he said, we will reunite these children and reestablish our reputation as being a haven for

people in need. you can see it from the transcript released from the event. he said reestablish our reputation. you say we have always been a haven for people in need. but using the term reestablish with seem to indicate that we lost that reputation. caller: yes, when they come over in the thousands, when they rush over the border, when we hear that some of them are committing crimes, committing murders, um, there's something wrong there. i mean, many of these people wouldn't even be allowed to come in if it was done properly, if we would vet them. the way it has been for many years, under the democrat party, we got away from it. i feel so bad. i used to, under obama, when i

would hear stories of a mother and child found dead in the desert because the traffickers , who they paid money to to them into this country, dropped them in the desert and they died. i would much prefer those two that died to the allowed to come into this country legally. , safely, and when it is helter skelter like that, we are endangering the lives of many thousands of people that are just coming across through the desert, you know. trump's wall was eliminating a lot of that. host: linda is in orange,

connecticut, on the line for those that say yes, america is a haven for people in need. go ahead. linda, are you with us? caller: i am here. yes, i'm here. um, addressing the question, yes. my ancestors can be traced back to 1650 in maine. and we are still here. but, i have to take exception to the prior caller on obama's record, because he was in hot water with our hispanic population because he was actually tough on deporting people who had committed crimes. more so than the bush administration him. and joe biden isn't opening up

-- there are no flighty -- floodgates. they are redoing policy because they do not want to reopen the floodgates. because of the pandemic, that's going to end, but for jobs we need infrastructure. and we are having less children. we have to populate. and there's so much need for labor. and no one ever complains when they let people in from all over the world on h1-b1 visas, or if they are temporary workers cleaning your hotel rooms, or the janitor cleaning offices at night. we cannot have it both ways. so, there has to be balance. and, no, we cannot have

thousands of people rushing the borders, but we also are a haven. we always have been. and if you look at our history, we have had signs up, no catholics need apply, no irish need apply. now we have a president that is irish catholic. people need to let people adapt, let them come in. have ai -- i have a lovely friend who came from guatemala. they assimilate. that's who we are. we are a haven, and that is a good thing. all the negative things that come along with it, we work through it. we always have, we always will. host: keep calling on this question, is america a haven for people in need? we will get back to your phone calls in a moment. one of the headlines from today's papers, the house gop fractured over green and cheney.

marjorie taylor greene, the congresswoman from georgia and liz cheney, the congress chair of house republicans. from more on this internal battle in the house republican caucus, we turned to billy house of bloomberg news, a congressional correspondent. good morning. bring us up to speed on why marjorie taylor greene and liz cheney will be the focus of a conference meeting today among the house republicans. guest: marjorie taylor greene, the issue hits on her past inflammatory remarks, the conspiracy theories that the democrats have finally said, hey, we need to remove her from her committee, at least the education committee, and we have a resolution today to do that. that's angering obviously her, but some of the house republicans who say, if we are

going to start doing that, you are going to do that when you're in the majority, we will do that when we take the majority. other republicans are saying, we do not want to defend marjorie taylor greene. the liz cheney thing is another aspect, also tied to donald trump, in that some of her own members are angry that she voted to impeach trump, and also some of her early run ins with him. so that's another aspect that they are dealing with, so two issues. host: what could happen today? what do we know about the conference meeting and the meetings that have happened already this week between the rest of house leadership and these two members? caller: -- guest: at 3:00 p.m., the rules committee will decide whether or not to advance the marjorie taylor greene removal from the education committee language to

the floor for a possible vote this week. some republicans will show up with an amendment that strips her name out and then put democrat omar in there with some of her remarks, suggesting that there is an equivalency. and at 4:00 p.m., the house republicans will gather in a conference call, and they are all over the place on what to do with marjorie greene. and if they have to squeeze in their internal divide over what to do, whether to keep number three, republican cheney in that post -- that could be one of the less quiet, private conversations we will ever cover. host: why is mitch mcconnell stepping in here, making comments about his house republican colleagues? guest: some would say he is taking a principled stand

against looney tunes, the loony conspiracy theories and other things from his party. and that seems to be a prevailing view. otehr -- others say he is worried about the future of the gop, that he needs to take back both chambers. host: where will you be today? guest: i will be at the capital. i will be at the rules committee meeting. before that, i will be talking to the fractured republicans, asking is this really how they want to be viewed and what it means for kevin mccarthy's leadership of the conference. host: bloomberg.com is where you can read billy house's work. perhaps the greatest twitter handle @houseinsession. we appreciate it. back to your phone calls. the question for you this morning, asking if you think

america is a haven for people in need. those were the words used by president biden last night as he was signing his latest round of executive orders. tom says yes, why? caller: it's always been a haven for -- we have ways been a haven for people. my grandfather and grandmother came over here. but there were were people trying to come here, because nobody knew what america was. there were no computers, no cell phones. it was word-of-mouth. and they were so desperate that they came over. it was a trickle, a flood once in a wild, but now with cell phones everywhere -- in india, indonesia, africa -- everywhere poor people have a cell phone and the see america as is so beautiful, so you could probably

have 2 billion people come over here now. in previous decades or centuries , there was a melting pot of everybody. now we only have one part of the world coming over and we really cannot take everybody. i read an article in the wall street journal a couple years ago, we are up to 8-10 million long-distance truck drivers who will be unemployed once you electrified the network on the interstates. and you are going to let a truck go 300 miles to get charged, then go on. so there will be millions of drivers looking for jobs. and more and more stores will be mechanized, using less people. with our country getting older and more people needing help, like myself. i do not need help, but i am

old. it's going to be -- and people are going to need to pay for that. and there is not enough money to go around, just about when we are maxed out on our credit cards helping people like me with covid relief. now there is not much money left. host: tom in new jersey. mike out of arkansas, good morning. on the line for no. caller: i have to say no. if the dollar ever loses its reserve currency status, we will be third world in this country. the fed is producing money out of thin air, and if they want to get money, they do not need to waste money on the wall. they need to make e-certify mandatory. you change the hearings back to

teleconference, since there are one million people waiting in line. third, and most importantly, we need to end the current misinterpretation of the 14th amendment, granting citizenship to children born to mothers who are not u.s. residents. thank you. host: you want to change birthright citizenship? caller: i think it is a misinterpretation of the 14th amendment. if you do not deal with that problem, you will never solve the issue, even if you addressed all the people here currently. if you do not change that, you will be back in that same situation a decade from now. host: why do you think it is a misinterpretation? caller: it was never intended that way. it was originally written with regard to slaves, giving them citizenship, it was not with regard to the way it is

currently interpreted. that's my understanding. host: section i of the 14th amendment, passed in 1866, ratified in 1868, all persons born or naturalized in the u.s. and is subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the united states. no state shall enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges of citizens of the united states, nor shall any state deprive any person of life, property without due process or deny any person the full protection of the laws. any chance to read the u.s. constitution, we are happy to do that. robert in charlotte, north carolina. you would say yes. caller: i just listened to the gentleman from arkansas, and i wrote down information from the gentleman, the caller from kentucky. and the one from georgia, all

who were opposed to the immigration thing, saying we should not serve as a haven. i wish somebody would pick up a history book, not you manufactured history book, but a real history book, and read people like john garrity, people like john heinz, john f. kennedy -- pick up those history books and read them. read them. give me your tired, poor and huddled masses on the statue of liberty. read them. not these manufactured things by qanon. we have been a nation of immigrants forever. the nation was built on that. and we have got to realize that much of those immigrants, most of them came from europe, that is why whites are the majority in this country. they had open gates and let them

come in. the gentleman from georgia should understand the history of georgia. georgia started as a prison colony, meaning whites who were criminals in europe were allowed to come over here and set up prison reform policies. look at tennessee and kentucky, in the 1790's, they became one and two states that came in after we had the original 14 colonies. those two got in and they were set aside for irish and scottish immigrants coming over. so many white people can trace their heritage to kentucky and tennessee, and they were poor immigrants coming from europe, to get away from the desolation in europe. they talk about the situation of the immigrants coming across the border. most of the immigrants who have come here since the 17th

century, all the way up until the 1900s, they came from europe. now, the ones that are in this new wave, they are largely coming from central and south america and mexico, and they are coming here -- a lot of them are brought here to work. during world war i and world war ii, there was a program where they brought up immigrants to work in the forms as far north as iowa and wisconsin and other places. that story has been kept quiet, but farmers are big into those immigrants because they come here to work and then they leave. the other thing about history that seems to be lacking with some of these people are that this nation has a history of racial discrimination when it comes to immigrants. look at the situation with the chinese exclusion act of 1881, when we were letting irish and scottish immigrants come from europe in the 1880's, and coming

from southern europe, while we were denying chinese immigrants coming from asia, denying them the right to come in. host: that is robert with his thoughts. plenty of viewers on social media as well. this juan, writing that the u.s. is not even a haven for its own citizens. steve saying, yes, but we have to be careful not to do it in a way that will put national security at risk or the health of our citizens at risk. mlb writing, a haven for people in need of a future for a chance to better their lives. anybody who read the declaration of independence should know the answer to that question. about 15 or 20 minutes left in this segment to answer this question, is america a haven for people in need? kevin in michigan on the line for those who say no. caller: actually, i believe we

are a haven and we have been, but everybody seems to be missing the point. we are in the middle of a pandemic. half of the country is still shut down. how can we even be talking about immigration until we get our country and our people vaccinated? i have seen the caravans already coming. they let these people in, who will get vaccinated first? they are, because they cannot come into the country without being vaccinated, or they will spread the virus. so, i think this question should have been put light down the road until after the pandemic was over, because we still have tons of people, our own people are out of work. host: what about immigration before the pandemic? caller: i think if they come legally, i have no problem with it. but during obama, you had tens of thousands of people just

rushing here. i mean, you cannot vet those people. i'm not against legal immigration. host: what about the undocumented immigrants who are already in the country and have been living here for years, including folks like those in the daca program, folks who under the biden legislation that he has proposed would have a pathway towards citizenship? caller: i kind of agree with that, i really do. if you were brought here from not your own will, your parents brought you here, i think that you should be able to work towards a citizenship. you cannot just send them back home after they know nothing more than american life. so, yeah, i believe that. that -- there should be a pathway. host: we will stay in michigan. donald is on the line for those

who say yes. good morning. caller: good morning to the american people and c-span. robert, the caller, the robert caller, i agree with everything you said. the caller before robert, i agree with a little bit of what he had to say. at the end of the day, we need to realize if that was my brother, my sister, my friend coming across the border into looking for help, you would give it to them. so, republican, democrat, and independent -- they have to come to the table with biden and fix our immigration laws. and stop using them as a tool to divide the democrats. every two years and four years, immigration, gun control and abortion are our wedges that

split the american people apart. so, it would be a nice thing for our representatives to solve some problems, so the american people in this world can survive. host: linda in pennsylvania, good morning. caller: good morning. i want to know, and to the american people have a safe haven in america, since they are citizens, how can we keep inviting others to the table? if there is not enough bread, how can you invite more? until we satisfy the american citizens, i do not think that we can do anything for anyone else coming in. if somebody breaks into your house, you get them out. host: at what point are american citizens satisfied? what do you need to get to two allow more people at that table?

-- to allow more people at that table? caller: the political contention has to stop. it's us against them, and that is not what america was built on . you can have different ideologies, but you have a discussion about it. all they do is yell and scream and there is a divide. now i am an enemy because i am a republican. that doesn't seem like the america i grew up in. my grandmother was an immigrant from ireland. she came to ellis island, and she was only 12. i mean, me and my husband live in the poconos. no one up here has money, nobody is having a good life. when you call your representatives, it's laughable because they are like, well, you have to be nice to the people from new york and new jersey

because they come here and spend money. i do not understand that philosophy. host: linda in pennsylvania. greg in trenton, new jersey. good morning. caller: i want to say a few things. they talk about obama. obama supported more immigrants than trump. besides that, people do not walk 1100 miles for no reason. he just released 500 billion dollars to go down to central america to see whether problems are. every time they set up a democratic government in one of these countries, they are overthrown. basically a cia move. it's big business down there. when they become democratic -- host: the question is should america be a haven for people in need? caller: yes, but there wouldn't be so many people coming if they would straighten things out in central america.

you cannot have gangs running countries, saying, we will kill your kids if you do not pay us $50 a month. that was on 60 minutes. you cannot have that. host: we are having this conversation the day after the biden administration got the confirmation of their secretary of the department of homeland security. he was confirmed yesterday with the closest senate confirmation vo so farte -- vote so far when it comes to the nominees. also with the bagging -- biden cabinet, pete buttigieg's confirmation happened yesterday on capitol hill as well. tom vilsack making his appearance before the senate agricultural committee for his confirmation hearing. he has been tapped by president biden to head the department of agriculture.

more hearing today, including michael reagan, the epa nominee. he will be testifying before the environment and public works committee. you can watch that today at 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3 and on c-span.org, and it will be on the free c-span radio app. this morning as well, the education and pension committee will hold a confirmation hearing for miguel cardona. that is to serve as education secretary. you can watch at that after this program at 10:00 a.m., over on c-span3, and again on c-span.org and radial app. we have 10 minutes left in this segment. robert out of massachusetts on the line for those who say america is not a haven for people in need. caller: good morning. how are you? host: i am doing well. why do you say no? caller: i say no, but i say yes,

too. yes, we need to wait and get the economy back on track. and get up the jobs again, everything flowing nicely again, and then do major background checks on these people coming in. you cannot just storm into a country illegally and have everything handed to you. no, you have to wait. the country is in shambles right now as it is. i say put america first, the people in america first, before we start taking on more people here. host: the unemployment rate in the country as of december, according to the bureau of labor statistics, 6.7%. what do you want to see that number at before you would be willing to start letting more people in? caller: well, i know a ton of people who are out of work. people can't get help.

unemployment is running out. they cannot find jobs. then you have the politicians arguing about the $2000 stimulus checks, that will pay somebody's car insurance or rent for one month. it's ridiculous, these billionaires pocketing tons of money and becoming even more richer and the poor stay poor. it never changes. host: that is robert. barry in north carolina. you say yes. caller: i did. i believe the united states, the ligh on the hillt -- light on the hill is what we represent, and we feel that way as a country. we do have some issues, though. i do not know if we can say for all 7.4 billion others out

there that we open our doors to you. there has to be a limit somewhere. and right now, we are $27 trillion in debt, not counting medicare and medicaid or social security. we have states in financial positions that are precarious at best. so, i think we want to find those that can contribute to the country as well, because there are plenty of needy people that also have something to give to us. and i believe also that we should have -- i do not know if it would be how you would set it up, or i think it is actually set up already under some systems, but you can go to certain countries, a certain number, and we bring them into our society and we give them the opportunities that we would hope

our children would have. so, i think it is hard if you don't stop and think about what the repercussions are on our country right now. the one thing i want is my great grandchildren to also have the opportunity to live the american dream. host: do you think they will right now? caller: no, i don't. i think that the debt we are leaving on our children and grandchildren is so heavy, that at some point the interest rates are going to go back up. and when that happens, defense will not be the most expensive line item on our budget, it will be paying our debt. host: molly, you are next. caller: good morning, thank you for c-span. i agree that the country should be a haven for immigrants.

the nation was founded by immigrants. and when you think back to the evaders, if you want to call them that -- invaders, if you want to call them that, what they did to the indigenous people. so nobody has the right to speak, this one can come, this one can't come. if it is a so-called christian nation, why are we not helping everyone? host: bob is next. good morning. caller: my answer is yes, that people consider the u.s. as being a haven for people in need. but do i think they should? i cannot really agree with that, simply because i think we do not need all these people with needs. we need to develop our own country so we can help people. in other countries who are needy, not just money on them --

dump money on them. we need to teach people how to grow. there are countries around the world that have all the resources we have, and they are not using them. we need to help those people, not bring them here to burden ourselves with their problems. host: is that an argument for more foreign aid, which is a topic that is often brought up in these discussions, people calling to say, why are we spending money overseas when there are poor people in this country? caller: when you say foreign aid, i immediately think, oh, se nd a bunch of money. i get requests daily from the political parties, saying send me money. host: building a technology program in another country to help them, that means money too, whether it is through u.s. aid

or another program. caller: i agree with what you say, but it does take money. everything takes money. it takes money to want to the grocery store. but using our expertise instead of just dumping money, then i am not sure our politicians are in favor of doing that. all they think is a bunch of money, not the technical expertise needed. host: thank you for that call. jerry out of columbus, you are next. you say no. caller: good morning. it's always a pleasure to listen to all the different opinions. um, we are not a haven for every need of every human across the world. i disagree with that. that's why we have legal

immigration. illegal immigration, you cannot walk into another country anywhere else and get your every need taken care of for you and your family, but this is what is being presented through the biden administration. all trump was doing was enforcing the laws. so, no, we are not a haven. we cannot even afford to take care of our own people. there's too many needs within our own country. so i find it really disingenuous. and the question is kind of funny, actually. i do not think the premise is good. host: these are the words used by president biden when he was signing the new executive orders, saying, closing his remarks by saying, we will reunite these children and reestablish our reputation as being a haven for people in need. caller: i know.

i disagree because it's basically buying votes from people. some of these people cannot even speak in their own language. they are dependents. we cannot even afford our own dependents. i appreciate you taking myhost:. this is bill from chicago. caller: good morning, sir. host: what do you think, is american a haven for people in need? caller: i am going to say to a small degree based on the history of america, but mostly it is a haven for cheap labor. that is why we had slavery. i mean, the british settlers primarily could not afford to pay anybody to work, so they used slave labor, even native americans in the beginning. eventually they turn to more -- to those of african descent to do the work because, again, they

could not afford to build out ever property they owned or what they were trying to build based on labor costs. so, then -- basically, america has been built on cheap labor. this is just another version of it. we have always had it. biden is suggesting a haven for people in need, no. he is really saying, if you know history, that it is a need for cheaper labor, that is not the best way to say it or an acceptable thing to say. especially, given the conditions we are in, 25 to 30 million people out of work. we know based on the civil war, president lincoln brought up the idea during his december 1864, the need to replenish the lost due to the civil war, which is why they called for greater

immigration as of 1864. for most of the history of america, there has not been a need to help people, necessarily, but more so to help build out of the country based on the need for cheaper labor, and probably within the last 70 years, after world war ii, it has been more of the country -- it has been more of a country that has brought in people because of the refugees from world war ii. i can understand that. we always have to remember, even not -- even now with these visas, people having three to 500,000 coming over and building out properties and building out businesses as long as they hire people, it is all about cheap labor. host: helen in new york. good morning. you are next. caller: i say yes.

i do not know if you are going to hang up on me, but i have to get god into the situation. god created the world. the virus is around the world. peace on earth, they always pray peace on earth. when i was a kid my father used to tell me that when the war was happening, on christmas they would cross lines and have peace on that day. if god is in control of this world, and people had better stop because judgment is coming. host: do you think god would want to see america as a haven for people in need? caller: yes. he would want to see it all over the world. this is the problem. host: this is out of fayetteville, north carolina. the morning. caller: good morning. yes sir, there should be a

caveat to that haven for people in need. if done legally. there are protocols that if a portion -- person once to immigrate -- wants to immigrate they have to go to their country of origin and submit the paperwork. this has been done before, the democrats are playing upon our sympathies and insuring themselves more votes. tammany hall did it before with the irish-americans. and, to reiterate, this is playing on americans' sympathies. using children as a weak spot in americans' hearts. a lot of these children are being used for sex traffic. these families have no birth certificates, and the adults are piggybacking on these children.

and, using them for various means. host: our last caller in this segment, but stick around, two more hours to go. next we are joined by democratic congressman, mark pocan of wisconsin, top member of the appropriations committee to talk about the covid relief plan and other legislative priorities and later we will preview the confirmation hearing from a gail cardona, the pick -- miguel cardona, the pick to run the education department. ♪ >> live coverage of confirmation hearings continues for the nominees. two hearings today, first at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span three, miguel cardona, and then at 2:00 p.m. eastern, michael regan. on thursday at 10:00 a.m. eastern, marty walsh. watch the confirmation hearings on c-span3, stream live or

on-demand at c-span.org or listen on the radio app. listen to c-span's podcast, the weekly, this week the paris agreement. three .5 years after former aide or president trump withdrew, the executive order to reenter the treaty. dan michaels explains the paris agreement and how it is viewed worldwide and what is next for the united states. >> the first challenge would seem to be in when he meets his counterparts to discuss the paris accord, is to rebuild u.s. credibility. no one will doubt that he carries credibility, he helped write the paris accord. no one will doubt president biden's sincerity. but, the u.s. as a whole, probably europe and others will be looking at it to see if the u.s. is really going to take measures that will address

climate change and also commit money to helping other countries address climate change. >> find the weekly where you get your podcasts. the senate impeachment trial of former president donald trump begins tuesday with senators deciding if the former president should be convicted on incitement of insurrection. watch our live coverage starting tuesday at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2, c-span.org or listen live on the free radio app. if you miss any part of the proceedings watch any time on-demand at c-span.org/impeachment. >> "washington journal" continues. host: wisconsin democrat mark pocan back with us on his fifth term as he serves of the appropriations committee. on the word on covid relief there is a $1.9 trillion plan

that could potentially move forward without republican support, and then there is this smaller $600 billion package that has been put forth by republican senators that potentially offers a path for bipartisan agreement. what is the correct path to take? guest: the correct path to take is what we should have done last year and did not, which is why we have to do another package, which is to have something big enough to actually help both people in need and the economy in general. there are too many people still unemployed and plenty of small business owners who are hurting through no fault of their own. our state and local governments are providing many services, but there is no funding for them. we need to do something big enough that eats at what this crisis is. most people understand that this is a huge crisis, a once in a century pandemic that has been

mishandled. we need to do a lot more. democrats are unified in doing what is right, not worrying about the credit and all of the things that the republicans seem to be fighting over. we want to be sure that we are doing enough to help the american people. host: when it comes to a $1.9 trillion package, some questions on whether that is big enough or the stimulus check being proposed, is it big enough. when it comes to joe biden's plan, it is $1400 checks and the eligibility rules are likely to be the same as last time, and two change. is a $1400 check big enough? guest: many of us have been advocating for 2000 a month for quite a while, and i think the promise was we would get people to thousand dollars. the biden administration says the $600 in the last practice -- package and $1400 in this one will confirm the promise.

we are hearing constituents from -- hearing from constituents. congress is made up of half millionaires and are telling people that they are making too much. we are talking about people who have been hurting since last march, and anything we will get out we will try to do with this package, but a lot of us have advocated for moe. -- for more. host: democrat from wisconsin and a member of the appropriations committee. let us give the phone lines. he is with us for 20 minutes and start calling you now. it is 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 four democrats. independents, 202-748-8002. as folks are calling in, yesterday congressman poe can, -- pocan, we are talking about the covid relief package and there was a caller who said that he was fine with immediate

relief but he said there were things in the package that did not need to be in there that should be a separate bill. why does a $15 an hour minimum wage, why should that be in a bill for immediate relief. why should there be new tax credits for families with children? why should that be in an immediate relief bill? what would you say? guest: we have not raised minimum wage since 2009 and anyone who thinks you can live on 15,000 a year, you are under the poverty level. those are all some of the things that have put us in the place we are at. because we have a subpar minimum wage, we are in a situation where people lose jobs because of a once in a century pandemic and are hurting more and are closer to eviction because i do not have savings and they are closer to not being able to feed their families. this is really an opportunity to

go back to not just a normal but a new normal and recognize some of this -- the mistakes we have made especially with covid that have highlighted things strongly and make sure we are fixing them so people can get by through the rest of the pandemic and we can get the economy going again, which will be an additional part of the crisis that president biden inherited from the trump administration. these are things that absolutely are related to getting the economy going and giving people the help they need, and i hope we will keep these in the package. host: ralph -- russell, illinois, an independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i was wondering that they said that there is already of hundreds of millions of dollars in the old packages that have not been spent yet and i would like to know your comment on that. guest: this has been a refrain that we have heard a little bit and some of it is because money

cannot be spent until you have other things happen. it is not like you are going to take money away from a vaccine if you do not have the vaccine to distribute. it is a paper tiger of an argument. we are not putting out money where it is not needed. in the last package we did no help to state and local government except for the very specific help on vaccines but they have been doing more on testing and other things. this is money that has to get out, and the fact that it was lacking and we did a substandard bill, it was not big and bold enough because mitch mcconnell and donald trump would not let it be. a lot of this is actually long-overdue supports that people need, and if we do not do it big or bold enough, many economists told us that we will be back doing this again. i do not trust congress to keep having to meet to get these things done. let us do it right. we did not do it right last

time, but this time i think we need to get the right bill out. host: maryland, nancy, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning, i wanted to follow-up on a phone call that i heard that a caller made in reference to the immigration. i strongly believe that it is america's fault. you encouraged the labeler -- the labor. they come in and work, you encourage them to come and get the welfare system, why is that? because only in america do they pay for you to have free housing, free taxpayer money when they are not even paying the taxes on new homes. it is only this country that encourages people to stay on

welfare for 18 years. that is an extremely long time. some people are evening living with multiple people in housing. why do i say that? there was a major fire in washington and maryland in a welfare home that was so cluttered by other immigrants. host: we will let the congressman respond. guest: i think nancy raises one of the great fallacies and arguments that it is not based on truth when it comes to immigrants and welfare, because so often immigrants as she pointed out are working really hard, especially in some jobs that and they seem to dominate certain fields, and yet at the same time they are paying benefits and not getting the benefits. they are paying taxes but not getting the rewards of that because in many cases they are undocumented, all the more

reason we need to fix the system that has been broken. any answer is clearly not what donald trump was doing which was feeding the fire of hatred and xenophobia. but instead, having a policy that allows for a pathway to citizenship for aspiring americans and we will deal with protections in the borders, which the wall was not. that is a reality for folks working hard and paying taxes who cannot access benefits. the fallacy that they are somehow living off of america in a way that is inappropriate when it is really just the opposite, they are paying into a system that they cannot benefit from. we benefit from the diversity we have, and the quicker we can find a pathway to citizenship the better off we will be. host: you are the chair of the congressional progressive caucus. how do progressives feel about biden's immigration action so far? do you think that the executive orders have gone far enough?

guest: we have been encouraged to see him come out of the gate so fast. he is not a rookie, and he has done a lot of things that need to happen. a lot of the executive orders are around covid because it had been screwed up under the trump administration, but a lot of other executive orders around climate change, immigration, labor law protections and those were returning actions that the trump administration took. we are glad he is coming out of the gate like this and hoping he is hold strong. when we have this package, make sure it hold strong with things like minimum wage increases and things that are beneficial. but, we would be happy to see him come out of the gate so quickly and strongly, and really addressing things that needed to be addressed and he has done in a pretty amazingly fast way. host: greenville, kentucky. robert is a republican. good morning. go ahead.

caller: sure. i had a question about the long-term health effects associated with the covid and what kind of relief bill that will be set up. i was pretty healthy, and i caught the covid last year at the end of april and beginning of may, and it started an autoimmune disease in my body, and now i am having extreme issues with trying to work and trying to get health coverage. i am wondering if they are going to set up a 9/11 style fund to help people out who are having issues with this, and i hope you have a great day, god bless america. host: thank you for sharing your story. guest: thank you for sharing your story and i am sorry to hear what you are going through. you are i loose definition, a

long-hauler. we have had conversations with dr. fauci and others who have said that about 35% of people symptomatic with covid are likely going to have long-term respiratory, cardiac, or neurological problems. so, brain flaws, your heart is -- brain fuzz, your heart is releasing the same thing when you have have a heart attack. we are seeing that in the testing. right now we are trying to work on getting the vaccine out as quickly as possible as variants are coming. what we heard is that they are trying to get more information on this effect that you yourself are having, and that is why joe biden is opening up the affordable care act and why are we are trying to address health care in general because we are not sure of the long-term ramifications yet, but we are finding that it can be up to 35%

of people who have been symptomatic and covid could have long-term problems in a number of areas. host: herald out of greenwood, indiana. a republican, good morning. caller: we are hearing some people 1400 and someone thousand. he said that he would like to have 2000 per month, and i am wondering why not 3000 a month? or 4000 a month? at what point with the congressman say we cannot afford it, because there must be some point. what about 10,000 a month? we could solve a lot of poverty if we gave everyone $1 million. is there a top limit that you would say, we cannot spend that much. thank you. guest: by that same logic, why do we have a minimum wage?

why cant kids work? that is not necessarily an argument towards people who are really hurting right now at no fault of their own, and that is the key part they have to stress. because of covid in the mishandling of the trump administration we are suffering through this longer and deeper than we needed to, but you cannot not support people who lost a job and business through no fault of their own and we are trying to help people get through this. to suggest that people, especially people who are lower income who are needing this this most -- this the most and are facing eviction and this is something that you do when you are a civilization. i do not buy the argument at all that somehow there is no upper limit to this, but i do not think that a $2000 check is outrageous, especially given a majority of my colleagues are millionaires. i do not think the best people

to do the test. i think the people who are not millionaires should vote on this because some people cannot understand the word empathy. host: as often happens, somebody has brought up the u.s. national debt, 27,000,000,000,800 67 billion, $271 million and counting according to the u.s. national debt clock, how much does that concern you? guest: in a situation like this we are the only entity that can help when it comes to a once in a century pandemic especially the impact that it is having on the economy. unless we do something bold quickly it will have us do a little bit to do more in the long run and this is absolutely necessary. i would argue that when we spent $740, 740 billion dollars, i am

sorry, on defense with a 20% increase in the last four years at a time of relative peace that there is and also in -- awful lot of money that you can save and build down the debt. we should always be frugal with how we are spending tax dollars. but, it is the appropriate thing right now to do, to make sure we are getting the economy going during a run -- once in a century pandemic. i would argue, especially serving out appropriations we should look closely at, that is one area that barbara e and i are looking closely at is pentagon spending. when you have the air cult -- the aircraft carrier where they have a problem with the toilets and every now and then they have to spend $200,000 to flush down the drain, that is a problem, and we have to look at the money we are spending on outside contractors. i worry about it in the sense

that doing any spending that is not necessary is a problem, but also the economy will help us grow so that as we get out of this, if you talk to people there is a new theory that i am intrigued by. stephanie kelson wrote a book about monetary theory that is saying that as the economy grows we grow out of these things, unless we help the economy go -- grow. that will put us in the best place to be able to grow out of this. host: gregory in south carolina. independent, good morning. gregory, are you with us? caller: i am. yes. host: what is your question? caller: i was going to tell him about my income and how hard it is for me to live. i am 72 years old. and -- host: how are you getting by?

caller: well, i had to go to three loan companies to borrow money, and that was -- and for six months in a row, i lived off soup, really. i do not have enough money, and i live on soup. host: thank you for sharing your story. congressman. guest: gregory, i hear you, and i think you are representing too many people that do not get heard. obviously, qanon people can get press 24/7, but real people who are struggling do not get nearly enough coverage, whether that is people working full time with minimum wage likely without health insurance struggling on $15,000 a year, or people like yourself, or people who are hurting specifically because of

the pandemic. we have to do better. we are the united states of america, and thank you for sharing your story. i wish more people would cover your stories so they understand why we are fighting for many of the things we are fighting for. host: what are your thoughts on marjorie taylor greene? guest: yes. you know, i am always amazed by the fact that when she took over -- when the trump party took over they were the extreme edge. now when qanon took over, they are the extreme edge. the problem is that the party became a cult rather than a ideological conservative cop -- the conservative party and out of that came like her and some others in congress in this freshman class that do not operate in the way that most democrats and republicans have operated. when you look at the many

outrageous conspiracy theories that she is slamming -- swam in the pool of, it is pretty astounding. and, i think we are really trying to get a grip around what is the republican these days. is it a party of qanon, or is it ever going to go back to be the party that supposedly stirred -- stood up for conservative values. host: eric in the work -- newark, new jersey. a democrat. you are on. caller: i would just like to ask the senator exactly how you can double the minimum wage without causing runaway inflation, inflation on steroids? how can that happen without costing the dollar -- causing the dollar to be less than half of what it is now? host: got the question.

guest: a number of things, i served in the wisconsin legislature for 14 years and every time we raised minimum wage, more people entered the workforce. it is really trickling up rather than trickle down. if more people have money they are more likely to spend, which stimulates the over -- the economy and helps out rather than we give tax breaks to the wealthiest and they put in savings or the occasional vacation. that will not have the same effect that we can have by raising minimum wage. about 85% of businesses pay over $10 an hour, it is really bringing the laggards behind, and do not forget the tip wage at two dollars and change that needs to get up to where we can actually support yourself by working full time on. it is not going to have that negative effect.

by 2023 gets to $15 so it will have a phase in. 85% plus of employers are well over $10 an hour, it is just picking up for the laggards and getting a system in place that has a minimum wage increase and a way to make sure it continues to increase as the economy does, because i do not know about you, but i do not trust congress to get it done. i do not want to wait for congress to do it again, let us have some system in place for it to happen. host: the caller referred to u.s. senator, and there were some folks that wanted you to run against ron johnson. you are not planning to do that, correct? guest: i love serving on the house appropriations committee and i am also joining the education and labor committee that i used to serve on. my passion is around working class issues and labor issues and working on that, gaining seniority and appropriations is where i want to be, just getting

a new title is not very impressive, but getting something done is. i think i am the best place to do that. host: i know it is wednesday, any chance we could get a magic monday from you? guest: the only thing near me is a package of n95 masks, but i do not know if i could do anything too quickly with that. thank you for the plug. people should follow our twitter and facebook and every monday we put up -- put out new magic and doing a magic trick. it has been difficult in the era of zoom so we are putting good flashbacks. host: how long have you been into magic? guest: eight. i won a jr. magician contest and got third place, i was active in college, largely doing magic shows, and i walked away from it for a number of years and came back to it about a decade ago,

but, it is nice to have a different -- something different to do than just talking about public policy, even if i am doing magic and talking about public policy, and hopefully that gets the message out. host: magic monday on the congressman' website. thank you for your time. not next or coming up in about half an hour, we will be previewing today's confirmation hearing for miguel cardona, the pick to run the education department. that conversation in just a little bit. we will be talking about the education policy and school openings before that. but first, the remains of the late capitol police officer, brian sicknick who died defending the capital can actually capitol continue to lay in honor. he is the fifth private citizen who will have the honor and i want to take you -- take the next minutes to view a live look

at the scene in the rotunda. officer brian sicknick was 42 years old when he died. [silence]

host: the remains of the late cal app -- capitol police officer brian sicknick lying in honor. that you can watch live this morning at 10:15 a.m. eastern here on c-span and you can also watch it on c-span.org and listen to it on the free radio app we will show you over the flags over the u.s. capitol at half-staff. back to "the washington journal." a conversation coming up in half an hour about president biden's nominee to head the education department, but until then, a question for your viewers about school re-openings. we are asking you whether it is going well in your area, how it is going. give us a call on special phone lines. 202-748-8000 if you are a parent

or student. tell us your experience. i'll -- educators can call in at 202-748-8001. all others at 202-748-8002. go ahead and start calling in as we show you this article from just a couple of hours ago this morning from "the associated press." "pressure building on schools to reopen during the pandemic," noting that it is building on school systems around the country to reopen their classrooms to students "pitting politicians against teachers who have yet to be vaccinated against covid-19. the rancor is so great that teachers are on the brink of striking in california a frustrated gavin newsom employed school to find a way to reopen in cincinnati. some student returned to the classrooms after a judge throughout a teachers union lawsuit over safety concerns. while communities maintain that online classes remain the safest option for everyone, some

parents with backing from politicians and administrators have complained that their children's education is suffering and the isolation is damaging them emotionally. the associated press out with that story. we want to know how school openings and we want to know about your comments. no ahead and start calling in on phone lines. for parents and students, educators, and all others. the editorial board of "the wall street journal" taking up this issue and focusing on president biden and his role in the reopening of schools. the editorial board writes this, "perhaps you've heard a few thousand times at the biden administration will listen to the science, but the science says that schools can safely reopen what the white house is still listening and make that vowing to the nonscientists who run the teachers unions. mr. biden has set a goal of

reopening schools in his first 100 days in the current union standoff in chicago is his big test. elementary and middle school teachers refusing to show up to classrooms so the district has postponed reopening by two days. we are practically begging teachers to come to the table so we can get a deal done says the mayor. that is the lead editorial in " the wall street journal." we are asking to hear your stories from around the country, how was school reopening going, is it happening at all and is your kit -- and are your kids back at all. brenda is in new york city, a parent. you are up first. caller: good morning, how are you? host: doing well. caller: i want to make two comments to say that i think that it would be much safer if they get the teachers all what they need so that our schools can open up.

and, so that our kids can get back there. this is becoming so much a problem for these kids with this virtual learning. all they have to do is get these teachers vaccinated so they can open up safely for our kids. this is going on for too long, you know? biden has to reach out to all of these teachers and get them vaccinated. it should not be that hard to do. host: if that happens, if a teachers vaccinated, should they be required to go back? caller: yes. i think that it will be safe. they have their equipment. they can take the kids' temperatures, and even the kids now are getting their covid tests and stuff. i know we are in the middle of a pandemic, but this is really affecting our kids. host: if a teacher gets

vaccinated and says they do not feel safe going back, should they lose their job? caller: then they need to take accountability, because what else more excuse will you use? if you are getting vaccinated, and if the thing is safe to open up, then yes. host: how old are your kids? caller: 10. and she has a hard time with this virtual school, she cannot catch up. she was an a student. and now grades are falling back, and it is frustrating because there is so human -- so much human contact. she misses her teachers and her classmates. this is beginning to become too hard for them with this. enough already with these teachers. i know we are in the middle of

the pandemic, but please, go and get the vaccine. biden passed to come out to -- has to come out and get teachers get the vaccine and so they can open up so kids can get back to school. if not, yes, they said lose their jobs. host: diane out of california. good morning. caller: good morning. my name is diane and i am calling from the city of norwalk. i am a democrat and political science major. in regards to the teachers being fired, i do not truly believe that they should get fired in regards to not taking the vaccine, especially for religious reasons. host: what if they get the vaccine and say they do not feel comfortable going back. they do not feel safe. caller: i think they have every

right to do that and they should not be fired for it. my son is 10 years old, and it is very difficult, but you need to understand that everybody wants to feel safe, and having the child at home doing school online and his teacher is so great. i applaud for him. he tries so hard and make sure that the students are on time, and that they get applause for the job done. the child has to wake up and start studying and doing what they have to do online, i do not think that they should have a problem. host: beverly in washington, d.c., good morning. good morning, you are a parent,

how many kids do you have, and what age? beverly, one last chance for you? we will go to richard, an educator in lakewood, california. what do you teach? caller: this is richard, i used to be a teacher at trade tech in los angeles california. i was a teacher for 10 years and a sign painter. when i went there everything was going well and the students had more contact hours than they do now. once the unions came in in the 70's things went from good to bad and they never got better through the time of 93 when i retired. i would like to say that the teachers unions where the worst thing that happens the education system. to this day i cannot understand why the teachers unions execs -- exist for their own good, that is the unions themselves and the people who run them. host: do you think they have

gotten in the way of school reopenings around the country? caller: i certainly do. i heard the ones in los angeles that sounded like they had a political agenda with three or four things that belonged in more -- more in politics than educations that was one of the top executives talking up a time. host: that is richard. we will stay in california in woodland hills, this is esther on the line for educators. what do you teach? caller: hello? host: what do you teach? caller: kindergarten. host: how are the kids doing? caller: [laughter] a lot of them are doing fine. i hear a lot of flak about the unions and i understand even though most of us have to be in the union. but, some of us do want to return to class. i mean, i hate when people say all of the teachers, it is not

all, i am willing to go back. we know enough to take precautions. i think socialization in kindergarten is extremely important. it is not just about academics, it is knowing how life situations, you need to be social. this is reality. i think that if the schools take the proper steps of sanitizing. there is a sanitizer used by private schools that sanitizes surfaces. we use good sanitizes, we use distance -- social distancing, and if the school districts would provide n95 mass for teachers who do not want to get vaccinated, i would go back. i do not think that all teachers have to be vaccinated because a lot of people do not know that these vaccines are not approved by the fda. we do not know what is going to

happen, there are no long-term studies and there are some of us that are skeptical. they are all -- they'll have no long-term studies. myself, i am a little skeptical. host: that is f star out of celt -- esther out of california and this is a parent out of palm harbor, florida. caller: good morning. yes, i would like to say that i have two students. one is a high school student, and one is in fourth grade. my high school student is in a public school, and they have done a good job of being transparent, cleaning the school and alerting parents when there is a case, and if the child is in a certain proximity to the person who tested positive, you

get a phone call and you can quarantine the child. so far it has been effective and they have done a good job and i feel fortunate that my kids can go to school every day. host: was there any pushback for reopening to begin with? how long have schools been open? was there ever a closure? caller: there was when the pandemic first started last march. they were closed, but we had remote learning. even my daughter who goes to a private school had remote learning and my son had remote learning online. and so, summer came and they reopened a little bit late, about a week or two later than normal, but you had the choice in the public school and private school for the first couple of months of school to online or go

in person. so, you made that choice, and my son was quarantined the first couple of days of school, and then we decided the best thing for him was remote learning. he did that, and then we had the option again to opt into go to live learning a couple of weeks ago and he has done so. and, i am glad that he could be back. my daughter in her private school, when they walk in and get out of car line, their temperature is taken before they walk into the school. it is done efficiently, schools are clean and they have a special cleaning process, a machine that cleans. there have been some cases and quarantines, but not enough to close the school. and i feel that every state could do this. it seems like it is possible, and you know, i feel for the

parents who have to work and be at home with their children online learning, it is very difficult, a difficult situation. host: thank you for telling us about your family. this is montgomery village, maryland. nancy, i fat -- a parent as well. host: how old are your kids and what grades are they in? caller: my kids were in school, but they are out right now. i am a strong believer and -- i understand what the seizures -- teachers are saying, because they have been careful. they took every precaution. it does not mean that every household has as well, because the same way that everyone else who gathered in large crowds, you have a lot of children that do commute by public transportation, you do not know who have -- who could have

touched the handrail and bring it into school. they have to touch the water fountain. they are going to touch each other and they are going to lift their mask up. host: nancy in maryland. i want to note that vice president harris is paying her respects to the remains of officer sicknick, the capitol police officer who died in the january 6 attack. attributes happening throughout the morning as the lying in-state continues, but the vice president showing up on capitol hill and walking around with her husband in the capitol rotunda. more images from the capitol rotunda, but back to your phone calls and back to this question about school reopening's. thank you for waiting james, an educator in venice, florida. you are next. caller: good morning. i was both in american history

high school teacher and a secondary school principal. and i think -- i called to have people who watch the other " washington journal." the beautiful ceremony going on right now, tune that in in silence and watched the beauty of what america is about, and if there is any thought that we should not impeach the former president, that is a reason why we need to. please, let them have that moment. thank you. host: thank you for the call from venice. that moment will be continuing throughout the morning. you can tune in and watch it on c-span2 this morning, and then at 10:45 eastern -- 10:15

eastern, that memorial service will be taking place on capitol hill for officer sicknick, and we will be airing that on c-span. tonya is next, miami, a parent. in morning. caller: i am not a parent, i am a mother of two teachers in florida. and, when a child comes to school and, that child tests positive for the virus, the teacher is -- the teachers have to be quarantined because they came in contact. now, i do not want to be a parent of my two teachers that is looking down at them in a casket because everybody is in a rush to push these kids back

into the classroom. yes, virtual learning is a problem. but if the teachers are quarantined and you have 15 teachers out of school because they are in quarantine, then you still have a problem. the parents are going to have to take some responsibility. they are going to have to try and get their kids tutoring, and as far as the caller they called about the teachers unions. if other people would consider when they go out wearing a mask, and doing what is mandated, then the problem could have been addressed a long time ago. there should have been mandates for masks a long time ago, but what happened, the kids were out of school for the summer. we could have gotten started then. no, they waited until school

opened and now we have a problem. host: mark in st. george, south carolina. we have a problem -- good morning. how old are your kids? caller: my daughter is 12, and from the beginning, the liberals and democrats have just used it to their advantage, to get what they wanted, and i think it has been unnecessary. and the teachers that do not want to go back to the classroom , they are getting a paycheck. if they are not going to go back and do their job they should get on unemployment like everyone else. that is what i think about the situation. they are americans and how their right not to go back if they do not want to but they have a right to get a vaccine. and if they do not want to get the vaccine or go back to school, fire them and find a new person, plain and simple. host: this is sharon from minnesota, a retired teacher of 32 years saying "thank god from

the union and let us get real, our schools would have never had to be closed. our society chose liquor over the kids." ivy out of georgia, the line for others. morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to say that we can all acknowledge that this pandemic has been egregiously mishandled by the government and there is evidence that we would not have been in this situation had we ended it from the beginning. the remote learning is not ideal, and i do feel sorry for the children coming up in this education because they are the future and they are lacking in the experience that will be necessary for them to come in on the workforce. we do not know how this will impact them in the long run, but

we do have to acknowledge that teachers are some of the most disrespected and undervalued workers of this country. and, there are people who do not want to get this vaccine. they have been right to stand in that position and still be able to keep their jobs. it is not fair to have somebody in a position like the gentleman that was here earlier was saying. through no fault of their own, they now have to face consequences because the government is mishandling the pandemic. host: what about the situation where, and viewers have described this, when they have called in. where, moving teachers to the front of the lines and giving them vaccine shots early, what if one of those teachers says they still do not feel comfortable going back. should they be able to keep

their job? caller: sorry, i did not hear you. host: what if there is a teacher who chose to get the vaccine but does not feel safe going back, should that person lose her job? caller: absolutely not. you do not feel comfortable and you should not risk our life. we are not people who decided that we need to put our lives on the line for others, and they need to be able to do their job from home as they have been doing and they have been doing it well. respect that. host: ivy in georgia. doyle, an educator in hollywood, florida. caller: i was calling about corona/covid-19 and you guys agree with teachers/educators allowing to have it mandatory for the vaccine for them to teach the students in class? host: do you think it should be mandatory?

caller: i do, personally, that it does not matter. i believe if they choose not to, it is between their will. host: that is doyle, in florida. this is gregory and maryland. how old are your kids? caller: i am calling because, as a parent, we have not gone back to school in maryland. our kids are at home. they are doing their virtual learning thing, and you cannot force teachers to do this any other way, because you are putting them at risk and the students at risk. and for the callers complaining about socialism and kids being social, i am saying let your kids play with a bubble of kids, but do not put everyone at risk in overcrowded classrooms carried --. our county is a good county for public schools.

parents have to do a little bit more work and you have to be on your kids' butt a little bit more. host: how old are your kids? caller: the oldest is 10 and april and the youngest is five. host: who is doing well virtually? the fourth-grader in the pre-k and is pre-k virtual? caller: the pre-k, we basically hired someone because she was going to a day care, basically, in the fourth-grader is doing well. she got an award for making all a's on her grades in math and science, so that was important to us. we put her on a program in saturday's that was virtual before now, so you just have to put in the effort as a parent, and i know some parents are first -- forced to go to work and things like that. right now i am taking leave so i can be home, and i'm fortunate

enough to do that. you have to get up every day and today is this day, what is that module that you did not complete and it is work that has to be done. host: congratulations to her and you forgetting that award. thank you for the call. this is emma out of massachusetts, the line for others. morning. caller:caller: i am a former teacher and i have four teach -- children who are teachers and grandchildren in school. several of my children are science teachers and i take issue with the fact that the science tells us that it is safe. goodness gracious, this is a complicated issue. in massachusetts, vermont, and new york, where my family goes to school and work, there are schools that have no ventilation and are completely sealed up in the winter. and, they have not had any money

to change for more ventilation. in those schools, the children cannot safely go to the classroom because they will infect the teacher, even if testing is done every day because they are contagious. so contagious before they get symptoms. and even before the test can be analyzed, teachers can get infected with the virus. and then, spread to their families and other students. this is one of the most highly contagious diseases that has ever circulated through the population of the united states and i am 73 and i experienced a lot. host: how old are the grandkids? caller: they range in age from 4 to 10. they are doing well because they are in hybrid school systems. every single one of them.

i know a lot of other neighbor children are in a different situation. the ones that are doing well are ones where the parents help the kids do the hybrid learning or do the online learning. whatever it is that seems to be working best for the kids. host: so they are back in school sometimes? caller: some of the kids are back in school part of the time. some of them went to school when the weather was warmer when they could go outdoors. others have been in all online learning. others have been able to go to ymca programs and other social interaction. we have a gazillion different

things going on in massachusetts and new york. everybody's health is different. some people are looking at chronic illness for the rest of their life if they get covid. other people are looking at very little symptoms at all. host: we will keep these phone lines going. one for parents and students, one for educators, one for all others. you can go ahead and keep calling in. we are going to continue on the topic of covid-19 and its impact on schools. we are joined now by evie blad. good morning to you. after the election, president biden said his goal was to get schools reopened within 100

days. how close is he to meeting that goal now that we are 15 days in? guest: if he said he wants to open a majority of k-8 schools, high schools are obviously a part of the goal of school reopening's, but there are some concerns about older children being more likely to grow severely ill. one of the really complicated parts of this is that we don't know exactly. there is no federal data source right now that tells you how things are operating be it in person or remote. 60% of children in the u.s. have some in-person learning in school. that may be a hybrid approach like your previous caller mentioned where half the students are in the building one day and half are remote the other days. it may be because the district

is fully in person. there are also students in districts that are in person that opted to remain remote. as much as educators are pushing to return to in person learning, there is also concerns they make sure remote offerings are strong. host: having this conversation with evie blad on the day the secretary committee is holding their confirmation for the president prospect to serve as education secretary, miguel cardona. how much of today's hearing do you expect will be focused on school reopening's? guest: it is obviously an issue dominating everyone's conversations right now. kind of a kitchen table issue. it has come up at every single

white house briefing. decisions are ultimately left to states and school districts and the ability of the federal government to mandate reopening's, which is not really there. they can issue guidance and support and bring together best practices, try to bring some credibility to their approach to the public trust that when they say this is safe or this isn't safe, people can trust that. miguel cardona, the nominee, is currently connecticut's education commissioner. he has really emphasized the importance of in person learning in his state but stopped short of mandating it all together or taking actions like some other states have with threatening to remove funding for sanctioned school districts that don't return. host: for folks that don't know

anything about miguel cardona, what is his background? guest: he is currently education commissioner of connecticut. before that, assistant superintendent in his hometown. he is the child of parents that moved to connecticut from puerto rico as children. he came to school as an english-language learner and grew up in housing projects, which is some of that background. that is what people have applauded with him that he can identify with a growing share of the nation's students. he went off to become an elementary school teacher and a principal at age 28, which is pretty young. he was involved in a lot of statewide work to bring together ideas about how to address the achievement gap or to spur performance between student groups. eventually, he became education secretary. he started in august 2019 and

his time has really been dominated by this crisis. host: which senators are you interested in watching him to think get the toughest questions from? guest: the income chair of the committee is senator patty murray of washington. she is a former pre-k teacher herself and has been outspoken about the need for schools to ensure equity as they come out of this crisis, to make sure they know what students have learned, what students might need more help and support. she is expected to push for a swift confirmation for dr. cardona because the schools are in this moment where they believe they need guidance and support and additional resources from congress. we also expect potentially some questions about some intense issues in the national debate related to student civil rights, which is one of the areas we have seen some of the biggest contrast between what president biden has promised and what the

previous administration did. turning to a more aggressive approach on federal civil rights, reinstituting potentially guidance on the rights of transgendered students in school. addressing racial equity and school discipline and concerns like that. host: on resources, how much money has been approved at this point for schools and school reopening's versus how much money has been spent so far for that? guest: it is a little complicated to measure exactly how much is spent. it was a topic of debate for secretary devos in the previous administration because as money goes out, states don't have or are a little unsure about how to spend their existing resources because they don't know how much they will have eventually. also, funds are reimbursed rather than spent outright.

the timeline to spend them goes into december. it is a little bit difficult to say this is exactly where we are at in this need for resources. president biden has asked for 130 billion dollars in additional resources for k-12 schools. that will require approval from congress as part of a pretty big package as he knows that some republican senators have already suggested they want something smaller. host: evie blad with us until the bottom of the hour at edwee k.org if you want to check out her work there. kyle is in buffalo, new york. that line we have set aside for educators. good morning, you are on. caller: good morning.

how are we doing? host: doing alright. caller: i am an educator and a parent of a child who is affected by the online learning stuff as well. while i was sitting around listening to all of the calls, i started making a list of concerns for people who have chimed on about different things. i think the difference is, you have a lot of urban schools who have a lot more students than a lot of suburban rural schools. partially, i think the reopening process is a little bit different because of the size of the school district. urban schools statistically have more people in homes, use more public transportation, at least

a high school students around here. i think that is a lot of concern because you can't bring back all urban students into the building because you have buildings where there are 2000 kids in a building, 800. i would say between 800 and 2000 depending on the building. also, you have a lot of older teachers, at least in new york state. those are people more at risk. i get some of the concerns that are out there. host: thanks for bringing them up. maybe you can jump in on some of these concerns and the differences in types of school districts. guest: it is something we hear from educators a lot is that this is not really a yes or no question, in person or remote. there are groups, including the center for education in

washington that tried to track a sample of school districts to see how they were operating and found that rural districts are more likely to be operating in person than larger urban districts. that could be for a variety of reasons and it is difficult to track down exactly why that is happening. some of it may be that a smaller number of students give districts a little bit more ease and separating them and taking on creative solutions. if you only have one high school in your school district, you don't have to worry about consistency and approach across a bunch of high schools like you within a larger school system. concerns about things like ventilation. before this conversation started in earnest in late summer, the government and accountability office released a report exploring how many schools have dated ventilation systems. this was a really common area of

concern when schools discuss whether there were ready to reopen. it is questions about whether they have the resources to phase students out, whether they have the guidance they need. another reason we see such a dramatic difference into how schools are operating is that they have told schools very different things about when it is safe to reopen. some states guidance does not include any health metrics at all leaving the decision entirely to local schools. some states operate under very different metrics. we saw new york city last year face this debate over whether they should fulfill their promise to close schools when the number of tests that came back in their city rose above 3% positivity, which is a pretty low bar compared to or pretty low figure compared to what some other states and schools are doing. there are great inconsistencies and concerns.

i think even the folks who have been pushing for schools to be open at least from a public health perspective, have recognized it is complicated and will take a creative solution. host: this is liz out of new jersey. caller: good morning. i am a retired teacher, but i have been substituting throughout the years i have been retired up until march of 2020 because, at that point, they had to shut down new jersey. but even since they have opened up to schools as much as they have, i don't consider it, at my age, a smart thing to do. to run out and subject myself to a lot of chances for infection. i think a lot of people who are talking about schools, the gentleman before me, he has it right as far as urban education

of which i am familiar with. even in suburban areas, often times, the school buildings could be the new infrastructure bill. instead of dams or highways. if we could fix the ventilation systems, the plumbing systems in schools. they should marry those two objectives, in my opinion because most of the schools are not built to handle this pandemic. host: thanks for bringing up that point. guest: liz brings up a good point which as a substitute teacher, she represents a big part of this debate which is the capability of schools to adequately staff when they are in in person learning. applications for substitute teachers have been down significantly this year.

especially because a lot of substitute teachers are retired teachers or older teachers who may be more vulnerable and some just don't want to take the risk. schools are dealing with an unusual situation with absences among their core staff of teachers which is that under proper health guidelines, teachers have to quarantine sometimes and be out of the classroom. that leads to real concerns about how to supervise students especially when you are trying to keep students in smaller cohorts to limit the possibility of spread. i saw one rural district even ask some parents to come in and supervise classrooms while teachers taught remotely from home because so many were quarantined at once. it is a really huge concern. host: we have been talking a lot this morning about executive orders. they have also been plenty of executive orders when it comes to schools and school reopening's.

a few of them asking the department of education to provide evidence and submit a report on the pandemic's impact on educational outcomes to ask the education assistant secretary of civil rights to report on the pandemic's impact on various students and segments of the population and collecting data on the pandemic's impact on educators as well. what should viewers know or dive deeper into some of this executive orders? guest: the one on guidance is significant because the trump administration did it eventually unveil quite a lot of guidance for schools. the concern was that district leaders said early on that it just was not coming quickly enough. back in the spring, district leaders started saying we can see this is going to be a problem in the fall and we need the summer to know what to do, how to message it to folks. the initial guidance was not very clear and did not commit to

very firm guidelines as far as when your community spread is at this level, this is the action you need to take. eventually, more guidance came out, but some of it was faulted for being somewhat contradictory and not giving schools enough concrete metrics to say, you can rely on this data. this is what the federal government believes is safe and this is what we believe is unsafe and these are specific steps you need to take to address the situation. president biden has directed departments to issue more specific guidance. how quickly that comes out and how helpful it is to schools is one question. we know there are a lot of strategies for maintaining credibility in messaging during a public health crisis. one of them is to be as consistent as you can and one of them is to prepare the public for the idea the situation is going to be fluid and dynamic. there are some people who would

suggest we have already missed the boat on that and a lot of folks have their perception of risks pretty well fixed in their head whether they think this is a really risky situation or whether they feel comfortable with schools opening. in addition to the guidance, local school districts are going to have to come up with plans that satisfy all of the various stakeholders including educators and parents. the other executive order i would flag is important or the other part is the data piece. collecting federal data that shows us how many students are in school, in person versus remote, collecting data on whether certain student groups have been affected more severely by this crisis, we know that dr. cardona has said that this crisis has kind of wrenched open inequities and that students who were struggling to learn before or who were not given the

support and resources at school before the pandemic may be having an even bigger problem now. collecting data not only so we can understand the crisis at the moment, but so that in the years to come, as schools continue to recover and work and give students the support they need, they can understand the contours of the crisis. host: to the line for parents, this is jerry out of minnesota. caller: good morning. they have released all of the studies that show it is safe to be at school as it is to be almost anywhere else in society. also, there has been 176 suicides of kids school-aged 18 or less and two of those total covid deaths and 7000 suicides. 2000 murders. the federal government has come out saying it is safe to reopen. now, we are talking about ventilation systems. , on.

my wife was a teacher for many years. we have friends that are teachers. i know some that have come right out and said this is not a bad gig sitting at home and doing this for a couple of hours. this is not about the kids. this is about a union deal. this whole shutdown is a wrong. nobody argues that virtual learning is as good as in person. nobody does. it just bothers me so much that these teachers, some of these teachers, are so lazy and have put the kids at so much at the bottom of the line, that it is a ridiculous statement. host: got your point. guest: it is important to note that there are studies that suggest it could be safe for schools to operate and have said states operate with appropriate precautions and what those precautions are and how schools can carry them out.

the concern stressed by the collar about students mental health. their developmental need to be social and to have interactions with peers and teachers is something we have heard a lot of folks flag. i don't know you can trace this all directly back to unions. we have seen some schools i don't have strong unions. some charter school systems that are also remaining in remote mode. i think it kind of depends on the local context. we do hear from some parents who feel like their big frustration is that they are not clear on exactly what it will take for schools to go in person and they feel, some people feel like the goalposts have moved some. local school districts will say we are going to try this and it doesn't happen. there is just a lot of moving parts. the concerns about students mental health, there are concerns about their ability to

learn and engage more directly in person and are not small ones. they are certainly on the minds of many people who are trying to find a solution to this crisis. host: roger is in arkansas. good morning. caller: my comment is we vote for different people in the organization of school boards and stuff. the main person that the president has put in order to oversee the school boards is appointed by the president. he should be elected by the people so he can be held accountable. whenever reagan made the unions for our government, we should have voted on that instead of giving the lawyers that you cannot fire a state employee. they will move to another office. host: can you explain the education secretary's role and

relationship when it comes to local school boards? guest: we know that the education secretary, like every other cabinet official, is appointed. the president has the authority to form his own administration around his own policy goals. that is part of the choice we make when we are electing a president. the federal role in education is actually quite small compared to some folks in the public's purse -- perception. he is not directing school boards on exactly what to do. one of his biggest jobs is to ensure students civil rights are met and ensure title i funding. i would say even before the pandemic, the role of the federal education secretary became a lot more high-profile

and divisive than it has been in the past. secretary devos had an unusually high profile and -- confirmation hearing. i would say had every level of government, local, state and federal, this part -- crisis has made parents and even members of the public pay a lot more attention to school governance and how it works. down to protesting or building campaigns to try to persuade their local school board. protesting at state capitals or doing electronic campaigns to convince members to issue mask mandates and things like that and right up to the u.s. department of education where folks are pushing for more resources, more support or a stronger voice in one direction or another about how this should work. host: just a few minutes left with evie blad.

edweek.org if you want to check on some of her work. caller: good morning. i was just wondering. i know i believe the last stimulus round, they voted in $65 billion for schools and now, they're asking for $130 billion. how much money do they have to have to get things in order for the schools to open? i live in a small community, but we are just outside of joplin and only 65 miles from springfield. our kids here have been in school, k-12 and high school since august of last year. we have had no cases in our school of covid. whether it be children or wet. i have 12 grandchildren that are grown. 17 great-grandchildren.

all of them in high school except for a couple of babies. even the private schools, how do you rectify that in those schools? nobody getting covid, but yet, the teachers union, wherever they have the unions at, are not allowing their teachers, even if they want to go back to work and are not afraid of getting covid, to not go to work. guest: i think the response to that would be yes, i think some public health officials have said they believe schools are not as risky as some folks initially believed they would be, that there is strong evidence the schools should take creative approaches and work hard to get students back. i think to say that there is no covid cases in a school, the response to that would be that specific states and communities

don't have the contact tracing that we have seen in other countries to really determine exactly where cases are coming from. we know children often have a symptom that it cases and there are questions about whether that contributes to greater spread within a community even if children are not getting sick within their schools. the question of exactly how much money schools need is very complicated. even if we had an exact dollar amount, some schools are arguing that the same time they are trying to come back from this crisis, they are dealing with potential cuts in state and local budgets and not only the need to get their buildings open physically, but to meet the needs of students who cannot or don't believe they can safely return to school for in person learning and provide adequate remote learning. they are also concerned about what is coming up on the horizon , which is to say, we have students in special education programs that may need some compensatory services to ensure

our legal obligations to them are met. as the previous caller mentioned, we have a mental health crisis alongside a public health crisis and concerns that this pandemic may be exacerbating that. things like tutoring and counseling they need if they return. it is an open question and active debate about exactly how much money schools need and exactly when they have adequate resources to take that next step and to get to the point where they can open for our children. host: we will have to end there. edweek.org is the website. please do come back. host: in the next half-hour, we will be joined by blake moore of utah to talk about his first few weeks in office and his legislative priorities for the new congress. we will be right back. ♪

♪ >> are live coverage of confirmation hearings continues for president binds nominees. two hearings today, first at 10 a.m. eastern on c-span three education secretary nominee miguel cardona and then at 2 p.m. eastern, epa nominee michael reagan and it 10 a.m. eastern on thursday, marty walsh. watch the confirmation hearings live on c-span3, stream live or on-demand at www.c-span.org or listen on the free c-span radio app. listen to c-span's podcast the weekly. this week, the paris agreement, three .5 years after former president trump withdrew, president biden's executive order for the u.s. to reenter the global treaty. brussels bureau chief of wall street journal explains the paris agreement and how it's viewed worldwide and what's next for the united states. >> the first challenge would

seem to be when he meets his counterparts to discuss the paris accord is rebuilding u.s. credibility. no one will doubt thatthierry's -- kerry's credibility on this because he helped write it and no one doubts biden's sincerity but the u.s. as a whole, probably europe and others will be looking at it to see if the u.s. is really going to take measures that will address climate change and also commit money to helping other countries address climate change. >> find "the weekly" where you get your podcasts. the senate impeachment trial of former president donald trump begins tuesday with senators deciding if the former president should be convicted on incitement of insurrection. watch our live coverage of the senate impeachment trial starting tuesday at 1 p.m. eastern on c-span two,

www.c-span.org or listen live on the free c-span radio app and if you miss any part of the proceedings, watch any time on-demand at www.c-span.org/ impeachment. "washington journal" continues. host: freshman interviews are a top priority for us and we are joint now by freshman congressman blake moore, a republican from utah upon first district. as of today, you have been in congress one month officially. has that first month gone anything like you thought it would? guest: it's been a journal entry month, i will admit to that. it has not gone as predicted. the second half of the month, we have been able to focus on committee assignments and all the stuff that i was excited to come into congress to work on. it's definitely not how i

predicted but we will take things as they come. host: the first couple of days are unpredictable. where were you on january 6? guest: i was in the house chamber and was in the joint session on the floor and as the debate started, a few of my colleagues and i had been asked to spread out a little bit. i wasn't going to be a part of that debate so i went up to the balcony. i was on the balcony in the house chamber and walking back and forth to the windows and looking at the protest going on and you could get a sense that things were starting to get a little more active out there so i was back and forth and looking at that. i was in the house chamber when they shut the doors down and they stopped debate, they started up the debate again and the police came in and that's when it got a little more chance. -- a little more tense, we had to get gas masks and that sort of stuff. there were moments when i

thought i could call my wife and let her know what's going on and then there were more intense moments when the police came in and they were taking leadership out. it was quite an experience. host: and then a week later, an impeachment vote in the house? how did you vote on that and do you think president trump bears any responsibility? guest: i voted not to impeach but i do believe he had some responsibility that should be addressed. with several other colleagues, we signed on to a resolution of censure to address that. i did not vote to impeach. the week before, there was a vote and in our office we started calling it the wednesday vote because there were big votes on each of those wednesdays. it's about precedent, it's about maintaining a high bar that

played into my decisions for the objection and whether or not to do that. i did not object, i certify the election and the next week, impeachment is a high bar and we need to make sure we have the proper process to go through and not having any committee hearings were having it go through any type of process was something i took a stand there. i am willing to admit there is definitely things that need to be addressed and there is accountability we cannot move forward without accountability from all sides and that needs to be a standard in our government process. host: why did you want this job? guest: [laughter] public service has been something i've been closely tied to for -- since 17 years old. i was fortunate to win an award that my high school government -- guidance counselor had recommended me for. it was a national award for high

school seniors based on athletics, academics and citizenship will stop service projects as an eagle scout, that type of stuff when it to that award step i got the unique honor and that embedded that public service is something to be a part of. i have served their country before in the foreign service, the first part of my career, i was drawn back to it step specifically, as this first district seat came open last year after representative rob bishop retired, after serving nine terms, it was suggested that i have a great background, somebody that has time to serve at the air force base. utah has an military community

with veterans who are serving, men and women in the reserves and active duty in the civilian workforce that serve a really awesome air force base in utah. i want to be a part of that, too. so there are lots of initiatives to be involved with but the air force base is one that triggered me to say i could be someone positioned well to serve that particular community. i jumped into the race. i was about eight years into a career with a management consulting firm in salt lake city called cicero group. about a two week span, it changed my life and my wife and i look at -- look at all the options and decided to make a run for it. i wasn't politically known very well. there were 12 candidates in the race, actually, and we emerge from the convention and went on to win the primary. it's been an amazing year and i am excited for this opportunity

to serve. host: and we are just one month intuit. representative blake moore is with us, the representative from utah and hear the phone lines -- go ahead and start calling in. you mentioned former congressman rob bishop, big shoes to fill especially on the natural resources committee which you are now serving on. explain your priorities there. guest: yeah, you are correct, he was chairman in the 116 congress and we actually had two members on the natural resources committee with represent of john curtis as well as both of them were leaving with retirement so it was important we had some representation on natural

resources. my priorities will align really well with our ranking member. i have really been inspired by his message of balancing our economic opportunities with our environment and finding ways to make that work well. 65% of utah is public land. that is something that not every state really understands, the nuance that is involved with that. there needs to be a strong balance of how we approach that. people in utah love our public lands and they love the opportunities for recreation and hunting, grazing, all the different types of things. we do well with it. utah cares a lot about conservation. and we've got some amazing national parks so is making sure we can look at everything, balance it and i want to bring some tools of efficiency to this. often times, with so many

different organizations involved at the state and federal level, making sure those groups can work together in an efficient manner. that's something i appreciated for my previous career and i want to use that management consulting experience to push this along. host: for those of us on the east coast, explained the extent of public land in the state of utah, not just the national parks, but also the bureau of land management land as well. guest: i had it explained to me why it's difficult for some people to understand. 65% of utah is under federal jurisdiction. if you take a square mile and say new jersey or some other state that doesn't have that type of factor, you can build a subdivision, you can build homes, you can actually go and get quite a bit of tax revenue off of that land you are able to use.

in utah, that type of stuff is restricted where federal land is. we get small payments from the federal government that are very small but it's a way to justify it. it's payment in lieu of taxes were other states can go and raise money by taxing certain things whether it be property taxes or businesses, utah does not have that opportunity. it puts us at a disadvantage in many ways to make sure to maintain strong revenues to provide services. you have to work with the federal government if you're going to have a mineral lease or any type of oil exploration. there is a lot of work that goes between us and our state and the federal government. that's the simplified way to talk about it.

utah benefits greatly from a lot of the recreation and everything we do. you talk about conservation and we benefit from that but it is an added factor that we need to make sure that we are not taken advantage of and that other states have not considered that many ways. host: let's start with from price, good morning. caller: good morning, i would like to tell this guy was going on here in utah. i have had neighbors threaten to run me out of the country. i have been run off the road with people shaking their fist and one of my neighbors, his mother called him and wanted him to buy her and ar-15 so she could kill democrats. that's what's going on in utah. i've got a suggestion for you, mister. you need to get with mitt romney and use some backbone.

host: congressman moore, on the political division in this country -- guest: yeah, i was able to give a speech, i am on the house floor, during the impeachment debate. i sat there and i listens to the rhetoric, as i got up, i changed my comments to simply say that we've got to rise above it. there is so much negativity being spewed back-and-forth that we have to foot -- have folks who are willing to rise above it stop we have to talk about what's best for folks. i get the frustrations. sir, i believe that i've shown that i can be very objective in my voting. there is a lot more i still want to accomplish. i was asked by a delicate one

time, do you have the spine to do this job and i assure you it's there host:. host: two of your republican house colleagues in the headlines for different reasons, congresswoman liz cheney and congresswoman marjorie taylor greene. i wonder what, if anything, should happen to either of them when it comes to this meeting of the house republican conference that is set to happen later today. guest: yeah, it's, again, these are things ultimately distracting us from the real work americans are going through real problems right now and we need to be addressing those first and foremost. i look at it in two ways. chairwoman cheney has been a mentor to me and she offered advice freely and i look at leader mccarthy and with steve scalise. that is a solid group of leadership that i support and they have all been exceptionally

helpful to me as i have gotten off the ground and excited to work with them. i am hopeful that we are able to move on with their leadership with respect to representative taylor green, i trust leadership and the steering committee is extremely thoughtful and will be able to navigate this and i will look for their input as we move forward. that has not happened yet but more will happen later today. as i couldn't champion aspirational progrowth, inclusive policies. that's what i believe my party represents and there will always be distractions in our political world but i will maintain my focus on that and there is so many members of congress back you're doing incredible things on both sides of the aisle that truly care about the district and working on smart policy and i hope to continue to push forward in those efforts.

now that we have committee assignments, i'm excited to jump into and get involved with armed services committee, something that we pushed really hard to be a part of. and making it so our men and women serving her country had what they need to do their mission. host: to our republican line, dug out of key largo, florida, go ahead. caller: good morning and i just wanted to ask you -- is there any way you see term limits would be ever possible within the senate and the congress? guest: as i have said, i am a month into having a literal job. i was in a politician coming into this. i have a perspective that i think you are coming from as well why we have it at the executive level and not at the

professional level. my worry and i want to dig into this as i have a better understanding is if you have term limits on members of congress, is that the lobbying world that dictates how policy is made? they are not elected, they are not accountable to voters and that's a concern of mine. term limits would also limit special interests and would keep people from becoming career politicians which has its own problems and they are often times beholden to certain interest groups enter primary focus instead of the will of the people. i think the term limits need to be considered. i think could governance goes along with that so externalities that could come with it is often times people don't think about all of it. for me, it's easy to say on the campaign trail that term limits would be great and we should do it because then we don't have career politicians because

that's not something that necessarily works but i worry about who that seat is seated too. it would have to be widely accepted if you put term limits on just one delegation. you could say i will commit to serving two terms and other states congress as a whole doesn't buy into it, then it only advantages that particular state redistrict. that's another consideration that needs to be thought through and worked on. host: what would you say to the viewers that would argue that the lobbying world already dictates too much how policies is made in washington? guest: that's something that has been a surprise to me. i have had lots of different meetings with lobbying groups from pretty much every industry. it's something i enjoy and i was involved with that in my previous work experience. you don't surly choosing interested to work and whether it's finance or health care, you

get a chance to work in different areas. i love that aspect. these folks on the lobbying side care about their particular companies they represent. they will work to put that in the best situation possible. with so many policy decisions that are made, it's important to get stakeholder input. i haven't had that many votes yet so come back and talk to me after the first term. i have felt like folks are willing to help us gather the data that will dictate where we'll go when certain legislation comes into it. i have not felt an overly awkward pressure from these groups yet stop i am new but i won't go into it with a naive mindset. there is value in capturing expert opinion. health care is one of those areas that so many different

stakeholders are involved in. i view my role as being able to go out and understand as much as possible from the stakeholder groups that will be most effective, be at the voters, the citizens as well as companies and try to balance that. i haven't felt there is an overwhelming control. come to act to me in two years and we will talk again. host: we will go to the sunshine state, frank pensacola, good morning. caller: yes, good morning. i can't understand when you say that mr. trump should be held accountable but where we should not impeach him. and yet, people were killed in the insurrection going on. nobody is wanting to hold anybody except the people that was outside accountable for it.

when he yelled to march on the white house and doing away with the people's will and you are sitting there and saying he did wrong but there is no accountability to it. as an american that has served his country, we all have accountability we all are responsible at what we do and yet you want mr. trump to be allowed to walk away with no consequences for killing five people. guest: first off, thank you for your service. i get the frustration. i was flying back on the next day from impeachment and that was the first time i heard about it. impeachment was pushed quickly. it was done by leader pelosi and

democrat leadership in the house because the timeline is very short before mr. trump was to leave office. they wanted to make sure they got that done and they knew they had the votes to do it from the democratic side, they only needed a simple majority. there was in norma's amount of talk about constitutionality. as we see it play out now, there is still that balance on that talk on the dilemma with the debate about whether it's constitutional to do this, to hold the trial for someone who had been previously in office who is no longer. that was the fundamental piece to a lot of decisions made from my colleagues that there is other constitutional ways to address accountability. the fbi his own jurisdiction on something like this to determine what was known and when. all of that was rushed and that was very quick. i understand why democratic leadership wanted to push forward with it and i understand

the other side. i had to make that decision that i did. i use the framework i did based on an impeachment is something that requires a high bar and we need to make sure we have the time to process and go through it. others were able to justify the means and not necessarily the policy to process the decision and i respect that everybody had to make their own decisions. host: would you make the same decision if you were given that today? guest: if i had more time to be able to determine that's the only way given that time, at this point, i support the senate for moving forward for what they will do and that will be for them to ultimately answer. host: just about seven minutes left in our program, the late

capitol police officer brian sicknick is lying in state in the capital. in 25 venice, the congressional tribute to the officer who lost his life on january 6. you can watch that on c-span and that's happening here on c-span.org. you can see the flag over the capital at half-staff. have you had a chance to meet many of the capitol police officer's in your time up here? guest: i walked into the office the next day on january 7. it was tough to see and i don't meant -- and i don't know many of them personally yet. when individual grabbed me on my way in and had to go in and out several times that day and i was able to have a couple of quick conversations.

sicknick was going through everything and seeing his condition worsened and one officer talk to me about it and it was weighing heavily on him and my heart goes out to him. it's tough, every chance i get, i walked by and i say thanks and i got to meet the utah national guard that was here to make sure we had a peaceful transfer of power. that was an honor to be able to do that. i will hopefully continue to build camaraderie. i am early glad officer signet will be honored in this way. host: we will take you to our neighbor to the north in montreal, richard, a republican, good morning. caller: good morning, congressman. on the night of november 3, president trump was leading in five swing states by a country mile and suddenly, around 10:00

p.m., all those states stopped counting and lo and behold at 4:00 in the morning, biden was winning. how come not one republican is asking who gave that order? that is never happened in history. who gave the order to stop counting in those five states? host: on the questions that folks still have -- guest: there are many that are asking questions. i have highlighted even back in august that a rush to implement mail-in ballot and when states have been doing it, absent team voting and changes, there is real concern there i want to maintain a productive way to go forward so we know there is immense election integrity in our system. i come from utah that has implement and mail in balloting as far back as 2012 and hit is taken us some iterations to get it right and i'm confident in their system. i want to be someone who can

help perpetuate that. there are best practices that need to be done. there are many people that have questions and concerns and i hope i can be a voice of reason to implement really sound policies in our elections. host: do you believe election 2020 was stolen from president trump? guest: stolen no. from the perspective i was able to address, i have very limited role. on january 6, the electors is where we can get involved. i just revert back to early november, seeing that we had so many gop house victories. i want to keep building on that momentum.

i believe the american people see value in conservative principles that are good for our economy and will strengthen our borders and we need to be able to build on that. the american people resoundingly said that in early november. i hope to be able to join my colleagues and continue to push those policies and i am hopeful we can have a majority in 2022 in the republican house that can show, is reflective of the good policies for the american people. host: last call, spring grove, illinois, independent. caller: i would just like to ask, i'm a college student. i have been very stressed, all my friends have been stressed, 18-24 our developmental years and quite a frightening world.

unfortunately, we look to our politicians for guidance and it seems they are taken down that -- bipartisan nonsense. as u.s. someone with not too much of a political background is exciting for me to see. how do you address those with those concerns? where would you like to see the direction of young students move towards? guest: i love that you're engaged, stay engaged. as you talk about hyper-partisanship, it's at the root of this. we need to be focused on what first binds us and we build from there. there is actually so much we can actually agree on. we need to be building our policy from that level.

if i were to speak to that group of people, there is a lot of productive work going on back here. you don't catch it on the news that often. dig in and talk to your local leaders and talk to your state legislators, reach out to your congressmen and women in your district will step understand what is going on more often than what grabs headlines. the stuff that grabs headlines isn't quite bipartisan. i'm on the armed services committee and that is a group that truly cares about the men and women that serves our country and our military and finding the best way forward. there's a ton of productive work going on there. don't lose hope. you don't necessarily catch it on the news. host: blake moore from utah's first district.

we hope to see you on "washington journal." geraldine: -- guest: thank you. host: we will be back here at 7:00 a.m. eastern/4:00 a.m. pacific. in the meantime, have a great wednesday. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> you're watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. c-span was created by america's cable television companies in 1979. today, we're brought to you by these television companies who provide c-span to viewers as a public service. >> the senate impeachment trial

of former president donald trump begins tuesday with senators deciding if the former president should be convicted on incitement of insurrection. watch starting tuesday at 1:00. on c-span, c-span.org or listen on the free c-span radio app. or you can watch ondemand c-span.org/impeachment. >> the u.s. house of representatives meets today to start the process of creating a nearly $2 trillion covid-19 relief package. today's resolution instructs committees to write the legislation, which then returns to the full house for debate and vote. the senate is working on its own proposal. and you can watch that debate live on our companion network c-span. but here on c-span, our live coverage of the house gets under way at 1:00 p.m. eastern today. but first, we're going to bring you live coverage of today's congressional memorial ceremony for officer brian sicknick, the

capitol police officer who died from the january 6 attack on the capitol. that starts in about 15 minutes. until then, we'll show you some of officer sicknick's lying in honor last night in the u.s. capitol rotunda. we begin as the motorcade arrives at the capitol. >> i can't hear you.