kristen brengel looks at the state of american national parks. we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. washington journal is next. ♪ host: good morning and welcome to washington journal. congressional action this week toward that shamed toward bringing it into reality. that's only after they congressional on desk congressionally approved -- congressionally approved was passed. the whole process should start from scratch and an equal right amendment isn't needed for women

anyway. what do you think? is the equal rights amendment needed? we are going to open up special lines is money. women under 50, we want to know what you think about the equal rights amendment. is it needed for you and mark call in at 202-748-8000. -- for you? call in at 202 -- call in at 202-748-8000. if you don't fit in those two categories, we still want to know what you think. your number for everyone else is going to be 202-748-8002. you can always text us at 202-748-8003. we are always reading on social media on twitter and facebook. for the scum session, let's set

up over talking about. let's look at what the -- for this session, let's set up over -- let's see what we are talking about. that is what the proposed equal rights amendment says. there was the congressional action on it earlier this week and i want to bring to you a story from nbc news that tells you exactly what happened in congress. the story reads the house passed a resolution to remove the deadline to ratify the equal rights amendment. just weeks after a federal judge ruled that time had already rolled out -- had already went out. representative from california said the passage of her joint resolution by a vote of 222-24 means there could be no aspiration date on equality. next expiration date -- could be

no expiration date on equality. only four republicans voted for the measure, including tom reed, that including tom reed. i want to bring to you a little bit of that debate on the floor. let's hear what jackie spear had to say as she spoke in favor of the e.r.a. area host: this particular resolution does one thing. we want in the constitution. scalia said once does the constitution require screaming nation based on sex -- require discrimination based on sex? no. does it prohibit based on sex?

the answer is also no. that should send a chilling feeling. that in the constitution of the united states, women are not protected. in fact, we are the only country with a written constitution that does not prohibit discrimination based on sex. shame on us. there can be no expiration date on equality. this is a bipartisan bill. we are proud to bring it to the floor. my colleagues across the aisle may say we don't need the e.r.a.. women are already equal under the law, that it is redundant. so that to christie ron scola who was raped by two players at virginia tech. the supreme court struck down the civil suit provision claiming congress lacked the power to pass it.

or jc whose starting salary at the arizona department of education was $17,000 that sure a woman whose starting salary at the arizona department of education was $17,000 less. she received $17,000 less then her colleague. she, too, filed under the equal pay act. the court held that there was some reasonable expectation. there is nothing reasonable about that. until we have the e.r.a. and the destitution that provides the same level of scrutiny as race discrimination, this will continue to be a problem. or jessica gonzalez, asked her if she thinks it's redundant. her estranged husband kidnapped and murdered her that their

children because the police refused to enforce. the e.r.a. will create stronger legal recourse against sex discrimination. it will import up -- it will empower congress to create laws protecting women. host: before we start taking calls, let's go through a little bit of the history of the equal rights amendment. it was first passed by congress in march of 1972. it required approval by legislature and three fourths of the state by march 1970 nine. that's 38 states. i 1977, 35 state just letters had approved the e.r.a. -- by 1977, 35 states legislatures

approved the e.r.a. no states voted yes before 1982 and the e.r.a. fell short. nevada and illinois have ratified the e.r.a.. virginia became the 38th state to ratify the e.r.a. in 2020. 38 states have ratified the e.r.a., but the last three did not ratify it before the deadline. what do you think about the e.r.a.? do you think it's still needed? let's go to our phone lines. tony, good morning. guest: caller: a little clarification on the e.r.a. if the e.r.a. is passed, does that mean that women could be reinstated, could women be drafted into the military? host: that's a really good

question. i don't know the answer to it. caller: that's a big concern i've heard. one of the biggest concerns a lot of americans had was if it did past, that women could be, if the draft was brought back, women could be drafted into the army. host: are you saying you don't think women should be drafted into the army? caller: i don't women should ever be drafted into the military. host: are you in favor of the draft at all? caller: yes, if it's needed again. in the event they did bring it back, women i don't think should ever be forced to be drafted into the military. host: is that your only

objection to the e.r.a.? caller: yes sir. that's my top objection to that. host: let's go to lawrence who is calling from st. paul, minnesota. caller: good morning. congress could pass an inscription to have women register for the draft without the e.r.a.. if you look at the equality amendment, that should have been included, but that's not why i called. when the show started, you read only section one of the equal rights amendment. there are actually three sections. my first comment is the constitution is written under a concept of negative rights. in the constitution are the laws of the land. not laws, but the legislative law of the land. there's a lot of things the constitution does not say.

if it's not in the constitution, the government does not have that right. cremation against women is not in the because decision that is not in the constitution. -- discrimination against women is not in the constitution. congress shall have the power to enforce by appropriate legislation the provisions of this article. i have no problem, i don't think it's needed. i have real problems with section two because equality is such a nebulous thing to consider. now we are going to have congress determine what equality for women. that is such an open-ended question that i find it to be dangerous. i will exaggerate the point and hang up. what if somebody decided that the national football league needs to be equal?

does that mean that the rules need to be changed so that it's not an aggressive sport so that women can play? does that mean that women are supposed to play? i don't know. but as written, section two, i think, is quite dangerous. thank you. as someone else said, you are one of the coolest dressers on c-span. host: let's go to anna who was calling from south windsor, connecticut. caller: i agree on the eera that it is needed. -- e.r.a. that it is needed. i want someone to explain why the secret service would allow president and vice president to travel to atlanta in the same room at the same time. i have not slept all night. thank you. host: on the e.r.a. debate, arizona republican spoke in opposition of the e.r.a. and

explained why she thought the resolution was unconstitutional. here's what she had to say. >> this push to remove the deadline for ratification of the equal rights amendment is an unnecessary and unconstitutional paragraph. this bill is unconstitutional. congress set a deadline for the e.r.a. it was 1979. with only 35 of the 38 states needed for edification at the time, congress extended the deadline to 1982. no other state joined in. ending the ratification process for the equal rights amendment. even the late supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg said that the deadline for the e.r.a. ratification had long passed. she said and i quote "i would

like to see a new beginning. i would like to start over. there is too much controversy about latecomers. virginia, long after the deadline passed. a number -- a number of states have withdrawn their ratification. if you count a late, on the plus side, how can you disregard states that said we've changed our minds? if our colleagues on the other of the aisle what to find the e.r.a., they have to start over. women have equal rights under the law. decision after decision, the united states supreme court has underscored that the 14th amendment of the united states constitution gives women equal rights and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex rendering the e.r.a.

unnecessary. finally, if ratified, the e.r.a. would be used to codify the right to abortion. undoing pro-life protections and forcing taxpayers to fund abortion. the new mexico supreme court ruled that there states e.r.a. provision requires the state to fund abortions. numerous row abortion groups have already made the case for ratifying the e.r.a. on the basis of expanding their abortion agenda. host: she brought up the 14th amendment as she says it does the same thing that the equal rights amendment would do. i want to bring to you the part of the 14th amendment, section one that she is talking about. all persons born or naturalized in the united states at subject to the jurisdictions of their of our citizens of united states and of the state wherein they reside. no state should make or enforce

any law that shall abridge the privileges or immunities. should -- nor should they deprive any person of liberty without due process of the law. the equal protection of the law. that's the section one of the 14th amendment to the constitution. opponents of the equal rights amendment says that does what the it will rights amendment would also do. they say the e.r.a. is not necessary. let's look at what some of our social media followers are saying about whether the equal rights amendment is still needed. here's one post from facebook that says there is nothing in the e.r.a. that isn't already covered by federal law. a text that says "give equal rights to women and give them exception to a military draft.

another text that says why should women be equal in everything. there's no chance of this bill passing. they will have to do away with the filibuster to pass anything. another text that says "sure enough, but let's stop telling women what they can and cannot do with our control and abortion. it's a woman's decision to terminate an unwanted president -- terminate an unwanted pregnancy. " another tweet open line -- another tweet "it buried from department to department and from company to company, thus the e.r.a. is needed." one last text this as the because illusion and for white men -- one last text that says "the illusion -- the

constitution was written for white men." caller: men don't even get a word in to me because they can't have an abortion. they can cause a woman to need one. it's a woman's decision. we have to do all of the caring and all of the work and all of the frustration and and evilness of this. it infuriates -- and on equal illness --unequalness of this. host: let's go to lee who was calling from south carolina. caller: good morning. the issue is it with passing more laws. the laws that are here need to be enforced.

from the deep south, i could tell you. women are not looked at the same as men. where i work, there are limited number of us on the floor. we make look way less than the men do. host: how do you get them to enforce the laws that have already been on the books but as you say have it done any good? caller: i don't have a clue. if you look back, we have laws for guns, different drugs. there's a double standard. some laws are enforced. some laws aren't. if the people who are making these laws are supposed to enforce these laws cannot do it, maybe it's time for new leadership in the house and senate. host: let's go to steve who is calling from charleston, south carolina.

caller: this -- i will give you four letters. aclu. if you are being treated equal under the law under the it will pay act of 19 625, you and -- 96 25 -- 1965, you need to call the aclu. this is one of those situations that our congressmen at one time said would be feel-good legislation. there's already a lot in the book to address it, it's just not being enforced. i went to work for the federal government in 1965. the equal pay act was in place at the time. let me tell you what we ran into. it was needed. women were not considered for some jobs that were -- that they

were traditionally left out of. by the way, your second caller was right. there is nothing in the constitution that denies women their rights. women started to apply for jobs, as well as minorities. african-americans because eggs needed to be made right. we have what we call a sheet. those are people who could reach the job on a certain -- cert. if you overlook that and hired a white man, he would have to write a letter that with all the way to congress explaining why he overlooked that person. let me tell you. that, innocence, made things equal. they did not want to go through that. they did not want to go on the carpet in front of somebody and try to explain that. but what happened came the term

reverse discrimination. women were putting in for jobs rigging heavy equipment for chips. -- for ships. clearly, some of them did not qualify physically for the job. so they would go into the job and it would be found out that they could not perform the labor , or at least some women. they would not fire them. they did not need to be fired. they would keep them in the shop under the same pay scale and find them something to do. that's just the way it worked and that was the problem with the system. they are still going through that. you had to be very careful if you deny a protected class a job in the federal government. that was in the 60's and it worked. it got people hired. it got african-americans hired. it made things equal. host: let's go to robert who was

calling from frostburg, maryland. caller: good morning. i'm a disabled vietnam veteran. they send me to vietnam, let me calm down. i was there because i believed in all of the principles that my country stood for. when i tuned in your show this morning, assault congresswoman jackie spears who was shot in south america with this jim jones thing and she survived it. when i heard president obama in kenya speak about the equality of women and tried to encourage their country to respect women,

this is unbelievable. we are disputing whether women should have equal rights are not. this is insanity. not only with women. if this country does not relook at itself, this is a shape. host: let's go to laura. caller: good morning. make you for taking my call. i'm 60. as a gentleman just said. this is crazy. we all love our country but we can't get equal pay. this is one of the things that everybody needs to think about. most of the women in this country, regardless what her

ethnicity is, she's probably a divorcee raising children whose not getting child support. she is on a job and she is not even making one half -- one third of what her male counterpart is making. name out all these acronyms? those people are only going to help you on a federal job. these private companies are the ones who are so. what i do. -- cap what i do, i'm 80,000 a year. that's the minimum.

host: what would you say to the people that have argued already that there are plenty of laws on the books already let the equal pay act. what would you say to those people who say that you have laws on the books. just enforced -- just enforced those. caller: when that woman or lady is at home working on these jobs , she has to think about the kids. if i go, i'm going to use this job that lose this job. -- lose this job. who's going to take care of the kids? who's going to pay the car payment? it's horrible. the men, who they have divorced or divorced them, they are looking down grinning or laughing because she is having to struggle so hard.

she should not have to be going through this. host: let's go to sandra who was calling from st. petersburg florida. caller: thank you c-span. i am a woman of color over 50 and yes, we need the equal rights amendment to be improved because it's not being enforced. for example, i tried to have my home refinanced last year. it was devalued by $20,000. because i am a woman of color. my white neighbors have a home exactly like mine were valued $200,000 and over. mine was 180,000.

when i said i don't understand, they said that it. when i tried to call a law your, they would not take it because you can't prove discrimination. host: but that brings up the question if you cannot prove discrimination, what good would a constitutional amendment do? caller: we need laws to protect us because it hurts when we are discriminate against. when you have no way to say help , and you can't prove it. i'm a veteran. i deserve to be protected. i worked hard i whole life and to have someone look at me because i don't look like them, it hurts. host: committee chair

representative spoke in favor of and offered. here's what he had to say. >> is long overdue greg lesh legislation -- legislation. the house passed identical legislation last time. in 1923, first introduced the amendment to the constitution to guarantee full april protection for women. the text of the amendment is simple and clear. the equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the united states or any state on the account of sex. unfortunately, it fell just short of being ratified.

in the 40 years since we have made great strides in this country to ensure equality. women have secured the right to vote. protection of workplace discrimination. many other critical protections denied them too long on the basis of sex. without the e.r.a., many women have had to march in support of their rights, their health care, their reproductive freedom, their dignity as equal citizens. through the me too movement, we have had long-overdue and painful conversations about the violence and harassment that others experience whether in the workplace, at home or in schools and universities. to this day, this constitution does not explicitly recognize and guarantee that no one can be denied equal protection under the law on the basis of sex. the e.r.a. would enshrine those principles and take the final critical step of making sure

lost disadvantaging women and other minorities are subject to the most rigorous forms of scrutiny. to date in passing hj rez 17, we will be one step closer to enshrining it into law. removes the previous proposing because and will therefore ensure their recent replication -- recent ratification. we are on the brink of making history. no deadline should stand in the way. congress says they have the authority to remove any deadlines. host: let's go back to our social media followers and see what they have to say about the question of is the equal rights amendment needed? let's start with a post of that post from facebook.

-- post from facebook. here's a tweet that says "2021 and the u.s. is discussing equal rights for women." another tweet that says "jfk signed the equal pay act. 58 years later, women scream they should receive equal pay. is there something wrong here? " why would anyone think it is not needed -- another tweet that says how about congress work on all citizens? another post from facebook this says." -- one more post from facebook this says "women have more

rights than men." we want to know what you think. is the equal rights amendment still needed? let's start with louise who is calling from st. peter's missouri. caller: good morning. i think everything comes down to money. i agree with president biden that money does not trickle down to me. host: louise, are you still there? caller: yes, i'm still here. i'm not used to this way of talking to people. host: louise? caller: with the stimulus checks , i'm so glad were getting, i do get money and that money will

blossom up because people had to spend the money on food, supplies and things they need. host: let's go to melissa who was calling from baltimore, maryland. caller: good morning. i'm calling and because i think that a lot of these calls demonstrate the strife that we have between generations. you have boomers and the greatest generation. for them, their golden years were very happy about a cultural structure where people were able to exploit the labor of others whether it's women in the home working for free or black people being relegated to below minimum

wage service jobs and relying on tips. people in my generation, which is generation x and mode -- and millennials and generation z and generation alpha, they think this whole concept, well i won't say everyone, but most people think this concept is completely insane and ridiculous because we are all humans and we are all created under god. if people have the ability to do their job, they will. for some of these people, ringing up whatever job they had in the 60's, -- bringing up whatever job they had in the 60's, those jobs are automated and don't require that level of physicality. some of these people need to reform their thinking and realize they are living in 2021. host: do you think that the

e.r.a., -- do you personally think the e.r.a. should be passed? caller: yes, and i believe it is long overdue. i think it should have been passed when i was in diapers. it's a shame that at this point something like that is still controversy old. host: whether you say to the people that say there are plenty of laws already on the books that people can use -- what do you say to the people that say there are plenty of laws already on the books that people can use if they think they are being discriminated against. >> caller: the constitution says all men are created equal. right? it has said that from the founding even though it has other clauses in there that undermined that. we are still here talking about the e.r.a. there is a constitution that is the basis and then there are laws and regulations that thin out that

help with implementation. that constitution says all men. not all people, not all citizens. that's an issue. the e.r.a. is needed to clarify that. host: what is the status of the e.r.a. resolution in the senate? rollcall had a story earlier this week that talked a little bit about what was going on in the senate and i want to bring that story to you. this is from roll call -- this is from rollcall.com. "on the equal rights amendment i wish i could tell you that we had more republican support. we will continue to work on that." murkowski said the concern among senate republicans are similar to those voices in the house

from questions about constitutionality to abortion and transgender right issues. that's coming from rollcall. their story on what the fate of the e.r.a. amendment resolution will be in the senate. on wednesday, michigan republican michelle fishback opposed the e.r.a. resolution and explained that the deadline congress passed years ago still applies legally. here's what she had to say. >> but the reality is that this resolution is unconstitutional. after congress proposes an amendment, the mm is sent to the state for ratification. -- the amendment is sent to the state for ratification the equal

rights amendment was proposed in 1972. the amendment set an exquisite deadline. it gave the state seven years setting a deadline for revocation is part of congress's authority to determine the mode of ratification under article five. in 1920, the supreme court held that there was no doubt that congress can set a date for ratifying an amendment. the deadline to ratify the e.r.a. has long since passed and the amendment fell short of the required number of states. when proposing a constitution amendment, the deadline for edification is just as important as the substance. the district court for d.c. denied an effort by virginia, nevada and illinois to force the adaption of the e.r.a. despite the deadline.

in denying the effort of those states, the deadline for revocation still receives of both houses of congress and put it in the closet does not -- put it in the clause because it would be absurd to say changing that deadline requires anything less. host: let's go back to some of our social media followers and see what they have to say. here's one suite that says women should be careful what they wish for. title ix and other laws will be in jeopardy. a text that says not sure if it's really necessary.

i'm 59-year-old white woman without a college degree whose -- i've done ok on my own merits. i'm not a feminist. i believe advocates that applicant -- standards should not be lowered to meet quote this quotas. a post on facebook that says "no, we are all free under the constitution." another post on facebook this as "the cry berries are going to -- the crybabies are going to want special privileges for special people. " one last post from facebook assess yes why would not -- one last post from facebook. i want to bring to you one of

our social media followers brought up title ix. while title seven of the civil rights act, it applies only to workplaces with 50 or more employees. title ix prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in schools, it only applies to schools that receive federal funding. that comes from the new york times in 2019. what do you think? start with jay. caller: thanks for taking my call. put my two cents into this discussion. women get pregnant. men don't. we need to equalize that is a constitution that is far more simple and not as complicated or

as the e.r.a. it would read simply women would be guaranteed the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy and to do so with access to modern state-of-the-art medical technology. that's my amendment. that would solve the problem and equalize the difference between men and women in this society. thank you very much. host: let's go to gail who was calling from sioux falls. caller: good morning. i appreciate what you guys do and what i want to say about abortion is until men stop impregnating women that do not want to be pregnant, abortion is necessary.

pregnancy can be life-threatening. if they don't want to be pregnant, they should not be. i have two other things i want to talk about the it will rights amendment. pro-life, to me roll up -- pro-life people are only concerned about the fetus. they are trying to believe this woman into keeping that fetus growing. once the baby is born, they don't care. if you are a pro-lifer, you need to get on the adoption list, the foster care list. take care of these children that need places to go. the other thing about equal rights about women which comes to pay, women -- wages have our will always that wages have always been less. at my age, my social security does not cover, definitely not

my rent. it doesn't barely cover my groceries, gas, utilities. i believe social security should be based on how many hours you work, not by the amount you contribute. people have spurned -- people have, men have earned so much more so they have this huge social security check coming in. with covid, we know who the essential workers are. the people at low wages should get a good social security when they retire. host: let's go to walter who was calling from clarksville, mississippi. caller: good morning. what i was calling about. they don't realize that what

-- that when god created us man and woman, we are all one family. i don't care what language you speak. we are still brothers and sisters in christ. people talk about white, talk about that. what we are doing, what we done to make a difference. god is not going to judge us by the color of our skin. he is going to judge us by our deeds. we all ought to get along because we are all brothers and sisters. take you and god bless and you have a blessed weekend. host: let's go to rodney who was calling from shelbyville, kentucky. caller: good morning. thank you to c-span. i think stacey abrams has changed america because she has

done much to change discrimination in this country. if women can represent more votes than men, we go to the ballot box and there will be no necessity for a constitutional amendment. folks would change. i would suggest to all women that they look at what their congressman is voted on. trying to suppress their vote or make them equal. i thank you, c-span, for your program. it's wonderful for america and i wish all americans would watch it. host: the current position of the justice apartment on the

equal rights amendment resolution passed by congress may be a bit of a barrier for the supporters. usa today mentions it in their story today. i want to >> welcome back to read to you a couple of paragraphs about the desk about what the justice apartment is. -- justice department is. it can only restart the ratification assets. folks, we conclude that congress had the constitutional authority to impose a deadline on the ratification of the e.r.a. and because that deadline has expired, the er resolution is no longer pending before the state. the justice department -- the er a -- the er resolution is no longer pending for the state. biden won't dictate an outcome. the justice department did not

respond to a -- according to the justice department, the er eight resolution in front of desk in front of congress cannot go anywhere because a deadline has passed. let's take another call. let's go to deborah who was calling from dallas, texas. good morning. caller: good morning. and enke for your show and what you do. -- and thank you for your show and what you do. the law should be upheld, as well as women's rights. i think they go together. as a woman of a certain age having lived through jim crow, i believe that a lot of companies don't enforce the laws. i've been experiencing in the

past racism, sexism, not getting promotions even after getting the education i needed to promote myself. mostly because my color. i have been pushed into offices where there are german who are employed by the company, ku klux klan hoods and nothing was done. i've been handed a box of chocolates, or should i say juju beads that were black because the rest of the staff did not want to eat them. go to hr with these issues and they tell you that you should get over it and that nothing is done and when you attempt to take care of it legally, it's brian. -- it's pariah. it needs to be a forced -- it needs to be enforced in

corporations as well as everyday life. host: let's go to patricia. good morning. caller: good morning. you know what? i am 85 years old and i have six killed. i'm from san diego, california -- i have six children. i am from san diego, california.

ending the confederate resistance in the shenandoah valley. for films marking women's history mount, 0 -- four films marking women's history month. a creation of events. on the presidency, try of -- it talks about how popular culture influences presidents. watch american history tv this weekend on c-span3. >> go to c-span.org/coronavirus.

if you miss our coverage it is easy to find our briefings. use our gallery of maps to follow cases worldwide. >> washington journal continues. host: we are back with dr. nathaniel beers, a pediatrician at children's national hot dog here in washington d -- children's national hospital here in washington dc. he is here to discuss recent guidance on school reopening's. first of all we are seeing more and more schools around the nation reopen either hybrid or full in person learning. start us off with just of the data. what does the data show us about the effects of covid-19 on

children, infection and/or death. guest: we have learned so much. we know children are capable of getting this virus, capable of spreading this virus, they seem to have milder disease course and much less likely to have severe outcomes from the disease . the data does suggested they are less likely to spread the disease as widely as adults are. host: does that mean we should be confident in sending children back to school? should we reopen all these schools are does it required a more measured process? guest: we have been advocating from the start to make sure there are additional measures to safely open schools for students.

that means making sure there are good, strong masking mandates and place for schools. that was supported by the evidence that came out from the cdc and the guidelines that came out from the cdc yesterday that said with universal masking you can reduce the physical distancing guidelines they had been advocating for over the past year. they shifted their guidance from six feet to three feet as well as the -- based on the evidence we have from other countries that chose we can safely reopen schools with three feet distance between students and universal masking to ensure that we are able to safely return stick. -- return students. there does seem to be some need

in communities with high level of community spread for middle and high school students to retain that six feet distance is still the recommendation from the cdc based on the additional spread that middle and high school students are able to do compared to younger students. we have to have a differential response based on the age of students as well as recognizing additional efforts in place to ensure adequate intuition plan and most importantly, for teachers, parents and staff, making sure there is clarity on what will happen. for many of the schools that have reopened, they have had positive cases, and building trust requires being transparent with all prop -- all parties.

we increase to the vaccination rate in our community -- we increase the vaccination rate in our communities, provide protection for adults to make sure adults are not exposed to kids, not spreading disease in the schools as substantially as they may have previously. host: do we know -- what do we know about the transmission between children of the coronavirus or transmission between children and adults? is that something we need to worry about? doing need to worry about children passing it among themselves, bringing it home, or giving it to the teachers? guest: data has been growing in that area. schools that have reopened have not seen substantial spread inside the school building.

they have not been the cause of spread in the broader community. when schools are open, the rates of covid inside the building have been less than the rates outside the school building and the broader community and the school systems that have an opened have not seen dramatic increases in immunity spread more broadly. there is not asymptomatic spread going on inside the school building causing water spread in the -- broader spread in the community. cases in the school building -- when you do have cases in the school building, there is not evidence that it has caused widespread outbreak in those schools, even with smaller distances between students.

recent data that came out yesterday from florida and missouri does not suggest to the smaller distance they have, does not suggest those schools that have three feet of distance some more spread than they did outside. it continues to be the issue that the most spread that we see between individuals in schools is consistent with what we have seen with adult to adult transmission. when adults let down their guard and remove their masks and at all only spaces, they are more likely to have adult spread. host: let me remind our viewers they can take part in this conversation. if you are a parent or a

student, we want to hear from you. (202) 748-8000. parents and students, your number will be (202) 748-8000. educators, whether you are a principal, a teacher, but you work in administration, we want to hear about what you think -- we want to hear what you think about covid restrictions and reopening (202) 748-8001. everyone else, (202) 748-8002. keep in mind you can text at (202) 748-8003. dr. beers, are you suggesting that schools test students or teachers for covid-19 at schools

or is that something that should only be done outside of schools? guest: the cdc recommendations right now, which are consistent with the american academy of pediatrics is that anyone who becomes symptomatic is referred to testing. there are school systems doing that testing on site, but anyone who becomes symptomatic or has a known exposure should be tested. the question becomes should we be doing screening testing. the biden administration has recently put in additional resources that would allow schools to do screening testing are the recommendations the cdc put out. the cdc is recommending there be some level of screening going on for students and staff to ensure we are capturing any

asymptomatic individuals and getting a sense of what is going on in the schools. the recommendation right now is that 10% of the and person population be tested on a weekly basis. additional supplies and resources will allow schools to think about doing that as part of their protocol moving forward. they're not recommending every individual in a school building get tested on a regular basis at this point. host: should it be required that all school staff get the vaccine before they are allowed back into our public schools? guest: there are a variety of reasons why people would not be eligible for the vaccine. we are not advocating that everyone get the vaccine in relation to the personal

conversations regarding race and equity that need to be had around the vaccine. we do want to note that the vaccine is a great tool to make sure we can effectively up in our schools and make sure they are the safest place they can be. in washington dc, children's national -- to help support teachers, school-based staff. we were able to vaccinate 3000 school-based staff to make sure they can feel safe returning in person and we are thrilled to be part of that solution. host: the cdc updated its guidance from six feet of distance between kids to three feet on friday.

i will bring to you dr. rochelle walensky, the cdc director and i want you to react to it. [video clip] >> evidence -- today we updated our recommendation on physical distancing in classrooms. specifically, in elementary schools, the cdc is now recommending that all students remain at least six feet apart in classrooms where everyone is wearing a mask regardless of whether community covid-19 risk is low, moderate, substantial, or high. in middle and high schools, the cdc is recommending that students be three feet apart in classrooms where everyone is wearing a mask. because covid-19 is spread more

likely among older students, the cdc recommends that middle and high school students should be at least six feet apart in communities where covid-19 risk is high unless cohorting is possible. cohorting is when students are -- to reduce the spread throughout the school. we recognize cohorting is harder in high school students, but these students are also more at risk of transmitting sars cov 2. these recommendations are specific to students and classrooms with universal mass careering -- mask wearing. the cdc continues to recommend six feet of distance between staff and students. in common areas of the school

where masks cannot be worn such as when eating, these activities should be moved outdoors or to large well ventilated spaces when possible and six featured used in community settings outside the classroom -- six feet of distancing should be used in community settings outside the classroom. host: how are they deciding six feet versus three feet? how do you make that determination? guest: as we talked about at the beginning, the evidence has been continuing to grow. when we first experienced best pandemic, six feet was proposed. we have data out of europe starting as early as last summer. there'd knowledged that while

six feet may be ideal, there was increasing data that three feet may be sufficient and that has continued to be borne out by data from europe and data from the u.s.. you do not need to see additional spread when you move from six feet to three feet with the caveat that dr. walensky noted, which is that older students did show there was additional spread that could occur and that is consistent with some data that came out of other countries where we saw when they reopened and did have high lapels of community spread, but problem areas were in middle and high schools not in elementary schools. that is where we have been advocating for the cdc to acknowledge that data and we are thrilled they have shifted their

guidance to bmi and with what the american academy of pediatrics has been at kidding for since last summer. host: let's start with bill calling from virginia beach, virginia. bill is a parent. caller: i am a parent and a grandparent. i am 72 and retired. first a comment -- i think this whole situation with the coronavirus thing has made us make to our doctors first and everyone else second and we really appreciate our doctors and i want to throw your complement -- that complement your way, dr. beers. guest: thank you. caller: it is important we listen to the right people.

my question is, it is my understanding that are immune system -- our immune systems get weaker as we get older. i wonder if that had anything to do with young children having more problems getting the virus and passing it on as opposed to children in high school and grandparents like myself. the second question is, is it possible we should put teachers higher on the level of importance of getting the vaccine as soon as it is possible to get kids back in school faster? guest: thank you for your comments. i thank those are excellent questions and we appreciate your

support of the medical field. you bring up the issue that the american academy of pediatrics has been strongly advocating from the beginning of the pandemic, which is we need to make sure our teachers and school-based staff are able to serve our students. part of that is entering they have adequate access to the vaccine. we are thankful for the biden administration. we have been advocating since last summer that teachers be part of the priority group. allowing schools to open safely means communities put in place measures that will decrease spread in the community by showing that we are still

using universal masking inside the schools. reducing community spread so our schools can be safely reopened and serve our students and serve the staff and teachers in a safeway. host: let's go to ron calling from west chesterfield, new hampshire. caller: good morning, c-span, washington journal, you guys rock. i love that show. cdc has been way behind on their guidance from day one, first allowing 250 people to gather, and not requiring corporations to give masks and social distancing and ppe to people

they have working for them. i knew from day one this thing was going to keep spreading. there are a group of people out there who do not believe in this. when it comes to the schools, when people are in school and you know there will be some kids who do not wear masks, there will be some kids who will not social distance, and their parents are no better, what kind of teeth do these guidelines have? what can schools do to make sure kids and parents are actually going by these guidelines, because if they do not, it is a disease. it will continue to spread. if you mix potentially uninfected people with potentially infected people, you will have spread. what teeth do any of these guidelines and school re-happenings have? -- school re-openings have?

that is my question. thank you. guest: it is a hard issue. as i said earlier, the important piece of managing this disease is managing it and they community. schools can be a part of that. what we have is a stronger push to return to school for those who have not reopened, a stronger push to make sure control measures are in schools for those who have reopened. increasingly the data shows those schools able to implement those measures by putting in place roles -- all schools have roles and we have all gone -- by putting in place rules -- all schools have rules and we

have all gone to school. rules are able to control these red. in the day dad that came out of florida, even -- rules are able to controlled the spread. it in the data that came out of florida, even -- it is important for everyone's safety, but acknowledging that school is not the place we would typically think of as spreading the virus throughout the broader community so the capacity to reopen schools and safely have those spaces have been continues to be something we need to push on to make sure the other effect s -- because the other thing the cdc put out on friday shows the dramatic impact on mental health for people all --

students in virtual learning as well as the impact on families of students in virtual learning. we cannot underestimate the impacts virtual learning has on students across the country nor the fact that it is more than just preventing the virus. there are other things impacting children's lives that we need to make sure we are addressing by making sure they can get back in person to help with their mental and physical health as well as their academic needs. host: you are the lead author in the american academy of pediatrics guidance for schools on covid. the aap continues to advocate that all policy considerations for school covid-19 plans should

start with a goal of having students physically present in school. aap has been an early out of a cat of this. why is it important that kids be physically present in school? guest: the aap last june put out that statement that the policy consideration should start with students being in person. the reasons are multifaceted. first there is strong evidence in education literature that there is what is known as the academic slide. at the academic slide we have typically seen in the summer has been well-documented as part of the effects of the pandemic with students not making the progress we would expect them to make with locke and brown students falling even further behind

their white peers. in addition we know there are health impacts. schools are spaces where kids get active and move around. we are seeing increasing rates of obesity and diabetes. we are also seeing increasing rates of depression and anxiety. we are also seeing increasing severity of child abuse cases show up in the emergency rooms and while the absolute number is down because there are not as many adults laying eyes on children on a regular basis. by the time they shop for medical care, we are seeing increasing severity of the needs occurring in those aces. on top of which, we also know the rates of food insecurity and housing insecurity are going up. that stress and strain on

children impacts their social and emotional development. all of those five errors together is part of why in june of last year the american academy of pediatrics advocated for starting with the pretense that schools should be in person as long as it can be done safely. we know we can get more children back into buildings safely and make sure students and staff can all be safe inside school buildings so we can address some of the problems that occurred over the past year. host: save you end the aap are put in charge -- you and the aap are put in charge of a school. when schools reopened beyond the three or six feet distancing and masking is there anything else

schools should be considering doing right now to ensure students and teachers stay safe? guest: the third thing we would add is addressing ventilation. school systems have been working hard to think about how to address ventilation in classroom . in some buildings that means opening windows. in other buildings that means opening doors to hallways. in some schools they have been able all to put in place better heating systems to ensure increased ventilation, but ensuring there is additional ventilation attention in place. there should also be strong cleaning protocols, particularly when we talk about high touch areas. that means talking about the railings of all the hallways

inside the building and outside the buildings. kids swing on those railings. we have to make sure we build that into our cleaning protocols . it means making sure we try to reduce traffic in buildings, so thinking about reducing the number of adults coming in. setting up plans where parents do not come in the building anymore to reduce the number of individuals in that space and providing them other ways to communicate teachers and staff. it means thinking about screening protocols, monitoring the spread of covid within schools. the final thing i said earlier was making sure we have clear protocols for when there are positive cases, how we will notify everybody and when we

will cohort individuals and when we will cohort the school to quarantine for a period of time. host: let's bring back some of our colors. let's start with james calling from oklahoma. james is an educator. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call, dr. beers and c-span. we have had our flow from what you are discussing here to total isolation of the students all the way down to full contact sports. when you realize that, that we can do that in this short space of time --- i give governor stitt a lot of credit for this system he set up. dr. beers, if you would address

the mortality rate for people under 20. it is far less than it is for my age group, which is 50 and above . guest: thank you for what you are doing as an educator because it is so important as we have been talking about. i think you are exactly right. the mortality rate for coronavirus for children is substantially less than four other individuals, but also the percentage of children who have severe disease or hospitalization continues to be less than it is for adults. that is part of the reason you continue to see the capacity to reopen schools and to do that in a safe manner. host: let's go to michael

calling from baltimore, maryland. caller: good morning, dr. beers. in terms of risk, i have a daughter. she is in 10th grade. she goes to school in richmond. she has a high achiever all the way. -- she is a high achiever all the way. her mom and i have decided to keep her home. with that said, i guess there are always outliers. these are any guidance you have for me yucca -- is there any guidance you have for me? caller: -- guest: i also have a daughter in 10th grade.

there is a law that families have to take into consideration when thinking about whether they are prepared for their students to return to in person instruction. part of that has to to do with the child's ability to learn in a virtual space. while there are many students struggling in that virtual space, it has been a space that has created safety for some students who were being bullied in school. it has created opportunities for individual exploration that may not have happened inside the school building as regularly as we would all like it to be. we know that there are families who have felt they have been able to engage deeply with their students and provide a robust a learning opportunity.

the health of the family matters, so there are families where children or adults in the household have significant risk of complications from covid and that has to be considered as families take that into consideration to determine whether or not that it is a risk they can tolerate. we have increasing evidence that shows we all have different levels of risk tolerance, but we need to make sure we are looking up actual data because we often overestimate the risk that might exist for a certain situation. one of the things that has been a benefit this year of virtual instruction has been that kids are less around other kids so we have seen less influence of this

flu season. and fact we have seen much less flu death -- in fact we have seen much less flu death. we have only seen one documented case of influenza death this flu season. it certainly those types of risks we need to be talking about publicly so families are making decisions based on the actual risk of covid for children as opposed to the perceived risk that has been put forward by the media as well as other forces including scientific sources who try to make sure we were extremely safe early on in the pandemic. host: speaking of risks to children there is ongoing conversation about a covid-19 actsing for those 16 years old and under. what is the status of getting a covid-19 vaccine available for

children? guest: it is another space where the american academy of pediatrics has been an advocate to make sure we do not forget our children. they are part of our community and they need to have the same protections that adults have. we need to make sure vaccine manufacturing companies are moving forward quickly with the studies necessary to be able to vaccinate more children. the pfizer vaccine does now go down to age 16, but we want to make sure our children under 16 have access as well. dr. fauci has noted that his hope is that school-aged children would have access to the vaccine this fall and we hope that that will again make it possible for more people who are concerned about the risks for their children feel more

comfortable returning to school for person instruction. host: speaking of dr. fauci, he spoke earlier this week about the efforts to find a vaccine for children against covid-19. here is what dr. fauci said -- [video clip] >> the question at the top of many parents'minds -- top of many parents' minds across the country is when will there be a vaccine for children? can they have confident sending their kids back to school knowing they will not be vaccinated? >> there are studies on going right now both for high school age children as well as for elementary school age children. the way these tests are now

designed, we will not have to prove in an efficacy trial that they work. we will just have to show that it is safe and produces a comparable immune response that we know corresponds -- high school students will be able to get vaccinated at the beginning of the fall. with regard to children, we are doing an age de-escalation study from 9 to 6. we expect to be able to vaccinate these children by the first quarter of 2022. host: that is what dr. fauci said earlier this week. i know this is looking pretty far ahead, but what do we expect

to see by the fall? do we expect children to be able to get a vaccine by the time fall school opens? do we expect all schools to be fully open by the fall> -- do we expect all schools to be fully open by the fall? guest: the vaccine can play a role in that. as dr. fauci said we are confident there will be some vaccine opportunities for school-age students and potentially middle school age students for that fall term. for elementary school age students, given the data we have that shows the low risk for elementary aged school students, parents can feel confident that they can return their elementary

school-age student to school without risk for coronavirus particularly as we vaccinate more adults. we know adults have a greater degree of spread then children are. host: let's go to andrew calling from houston, texas. andrew is an educator. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i want to share my experience with you as an educator. my school was real bend here in texas and the houston -- reopened here in texas in the houston area in september of 2020. i work for a charter school. our charter district put in a strict mask mandate for all students, all staff, all teachers. no guests are allowed on campus.

parents cannot even come on campus and visit their child at the school if they want to. they would be allowed to go for meetings and such with administration, but the key for us was a strict masked mandate. we had people infected with the coronavirus, but our campus was not a place where the virus was really spread. my wife and i both work there. we had an 11-month-old abie -- baby. enforcing the masked mandate with the students was at times hard. they want to pull it down, they want to take it off, they want to take a break. for teachers who have not reopened yet and are worrying, keep the mask on and make sure the kids keep the mask on too.

thank you. guest: thank you for sharing your experience and helping us reminder that -- remember that key factor. good wearing of the mask does help us contain the disease. that is a burden on educators. there are some strategies and we and the american academy of pediatrics have and advocating to make sure -- have been advocating to make sure that kids need breaks. people have been creative about putting down hula hoops or circles on the field to make sure kids are further distanced when they do take their masks off, but aching sure students know when to expect that break can make a big difference in the capacity that even young children are able to make.

we suggested that children between the ages of two and five may struggle with using masks, but as we have seen over time, with good modeling by adults, good reinforcement by adults in schools, we are able to see that very young children are able to use masks effectively for the entire day without dramatically impacting their capacity to learn or their ability to be safe from a health perspective. host: let's talk to bonnie who is calling from pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a story as a grandparent. what has happened here with families around me and including some in my family is kids went back to school full time, not for us -- thank you.

guest: that was a concern we had early on. that does occasionally occur. what we know from the data coming out of most schools and the cdc continues to work with states to look carefully at data coming out of schools, is that it is uncommon for a student to have got in the virus inside the school building. they are more likely with teachers and students are more likely to have gotten the virus outside the school building. there are some caveats to that. those have been around extracurricular events. you have seen some rather large clusters of spread related particularly to wrestling programs as well as football programs that's awesome widescale spread -- that saw

some widescale spread. continuing as dr. walensky said to make sure that extracurricular activities have adequate distancing between students and students wear masks . the american academy of pediatrics puts wrestling in particular in a high-risk category that should warrant some real consideration on whether or not it can be done. it is important to note that for students coming home to households that may have higher risk, making sure that potentially there is more masking occurring inside the household to make sure those other individuals in the household are not exposed. that is certainly a strategy that has worked in some families

and communities. host: are there any other high school or middle school sports that you are advising our high-risk exports forgetting coronavirus -- high-risk sports for getting coronavirus? guest: there is guidance in place for reducing the risk for sports, thinking about why you are doing relative to practice and trying to minimize the number of groups coming together, the size of those groups so you can try to control the spread during practices as well as during games and tournaments. certainly those of sports that require you to get up in people's faces are harder to control the spread. his words that occur at -- sports that occur outdoors are better than sports that occur

indoors. sports allow you the opportunity to physical distance between you and your opponent or between you and other competitors are all going to be sports that reduce the risk to the participants. host: we would like to thank dr. nathaniel beers from children's national hospital here in washington dc for walking us through children and covid-19 and school reopenings. inc. you so much for your time. -- thank you so much for your time. we will let you talk to us about your topic public policy issues. you see the numbers there on your screen. after that we will turn our attention to this date of -- the state of america's national

parks. that discussion will be coming up soon. we will be right back. ♪ > cohosts of the history checks podcast talk about the podcast support -- history chicks podcasts talk about the podcast's history. >> girls are hungry for role models. we keep hearing " representation is important," and that is so true. the amount of emails we get from very young girls or their mothers saying how either the subject we cover or the very fact that they hear two women speaking in that format, how it has affected them. >> all throughout history women have typically been the woman behind the man. what we get to do here is talk

about the men behind the woman, but focus on her life and tell the story from her point of view. the fact we get to do that, we hope that inspires people to do the same. >> the history chicks on c-span q&a. you can also listen to c-span q mandate as a part -- c-span q and a as a podcast wherever you get your podcasts. host: our regular lines are open, that means democrats, (202) 748-8000, republicans, (202) 748-8001, independents, (202) 748-8002. we are always reading on social media, on twitter and facebook.

here are some of the topics we will be talking about. first of all, discrimination and violence against asian americans given what has happened in georgia. we can continue the conversation about covid-19 and school reopenings. of course, what we are seeing in front of congress right now are the immigration reform legislation, the conversations going on around that. we want to know what your top policy issue is going to be. i want to read to you from the new york times this morning. vice president harris and president biden went down to georgia to talk about violence against asian americans. " president biden on friday expressed grief for the victims of a mass shooting that left eight people including six women of asian descent dead, saying

the violence was a -- the tragedy was part of a skyrocketing spike in violence against asian americans. the gruesome shootings in atlanta thrust mr. biden into the middle of a national struggle to confront the spasm of racially motivated violence from people angry about the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 500,000 people and shut the country down." this comes from atlanta on friday when president biden went down there to condemn the attacks against asian americans and talk about the spike in violence against asian americans around the nation. let's go to our phone lines and talk to bill calling from

florida on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning, jesse. i was disturbed to see chip wood the other day and his antics and his blatant racism. i was appalled that mr. collins, who was chairing the committee sitting there and saying nothing. last night jane harman and representative cap to --jane harman and representative -- harman has been gone for years. harman was talking about whacking people. that piece you had on last night regarding homeland security and the chinese is just more fuel to the fire. it has got to stop! thank you, jess. host: let's go to antoine

calling from garner, north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. what is up, yo? my line is i'm kind of disappointed, you know, it what is going on -- in what is going on. i don't know why i turned out to be honest. i'm looking at this administration and -- are host: host: you still there -- host: are you still there? caller: yeah. this administration let china walk over us. we barely got our checks. there really ain't no change in nothing. this dude can even function. might as well put come allah -- put kamala in there now.

host: let's go to glenn calling from pennsylvania on the -- caller: good morning. how are you doing? where is the proof that that sex fiend had anything to do with asian women? he -- he is three blocks from desha in his career he closed on the steel plants. i wonder if he has any regrets about all the steel plants he closed over his career. the news don't cover his family, like him falling down the steps. it is all phony.

when trump slept, it was all -- when trump slipped, it was on the news for 8 days. host: president biden talked about the recent mass shooting that killed eight people and called for americans to stand against racism. [video clip] >> whatever the motivation, we know this -- too many asian americans are walking up and down the streets worrying, feeling the safety of their loved ones are at stake. they have been scapegoated, harassed, assaulted, killed. documented cases of hate against asian americans have seen a

skyrocketing spike over the last year, let alone the ones that happened and never get reported. it has been a year of living in fear for their lives just to walk down the street. grandparents are afraid to leave their homes. attacks on some of the most vulnerable people in our nation, the elderly, low-wage workers, and women. asian american women suffer twice as many instances of violence as asian american men. we are learning again what we have always known -- words have consequences. it is the coronavirus,. . the discussed -- it is the coronavirus, full stop. hate and violence often hide in plain sight.

it is often met with silence. that has to change. our silence is complicity. we cannot be complicit. we have to speak out. we have to act. host: president biden alsohost: seems to have had a bit of a tumble as he went down to georgia and appeared to trip going up the steps to air force one. the white house said since this video came out that the president is doing just fine. i want to read to you from'abc news -- from abc news' report. " president biden's trip got off to a rocky start when he tripped several times while jogging up the stairs. the 78-year-old president fell

three times. the white house eventually said the president was doing great and blamed the incident on wind gusts." that is coming from abc news. let's go back to our phone lines and go to jenna calling from georgia on the republican line. caller: good morning. i was wondering about talking about the guy who shot up the spa. they are putting out that it is racist, and it is not, because we have had a lot of spas like that, massage parlors, where there have been people arrested for prostitution. host: what does that have to do with whether it was racism or not? caller: because there -- they are massage parlors and they

actually have prostitutes in there and he has a sex addiction. host: so because you think they are prostitutes, that allows people to be racist against them? caller: no, it is not racist against them. he is -- he has probably been there before. host: i am not seeing your link between the massage parlor and racism. caller: that's because i don't think there is any. host: let's go to catherine who is calling from texas on the independent line. catherine, good morning. caller: good morning. it is amazing to me to hear the hypocrisy. the united states goes around and it tells every country " you are wrong," and we are the most violent. we accost black people, asian

people, anybody we do not agree with. look at the attack that happened on the capitol. we have no right to say anything about any other country on till we clean up our own backyard. to the lady who spoke before me, i do not care if they are prostitutes, pimps. no one deserves to be murdered. no one. it does not make a right. host: let's go to margie who is calling from pennsylvania on the republican line. caller: good morning. as i learned on your show, it is everything about pushing the narrative. the man in georgia said he had held -had a sex addiction- and he held these people -- said he

had a sex addiction and he. held thesepeople responsible -- and he held these people responsible. the owner of the patriots was arrested for going to one but not a single word about goes on in that massage parlor. certainly they do not need to be shot over it, but the narrative is asians are being persecuted so we have to push the narrative, don't even pay attention to what the man said he did it for. i learned that on your show by the way. a guest at couple months ago said it is all about pushing the narrative -- a couple months ago said it is all about pushing the narrative. unfortunately some asian women were killed because they are the ones who normally work at

massage parlors. that is all i wanted to say. i did learn about that on your show. i'm 82 and happy to learn it. host: host: speaking of the issues going on with asian americans i want to read from you the npr story about asian americans experience far more hate incidents than the numbers indicate. according to stop aapi hate, a group aimed at stopping the hate, they got 3800 cases between march 19 and december 31 of 2020. by now the number of incidents has surpassed 3000 according to the cofounder of the coalition and professor of asian-american studies at san francisco state university.

what we discovered is not just that we have had a spike but that we have had a surge over the last year with covid-19 and with the president's political rhetoric in the last administration. the reported incidents range from verbal harassment to physical altercations. a 27-year-old u.s. veteran was attacked leaving kim with a black eye and injuries to his nose. let's go back to the phone lines and talk to kay calling from georgia on the democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? i am listening to these other callers and america needs to be extremely concerned hearing what

you are hearing. they are talking about pushing narratives and they are talking about the fact that these massage parlors or prostitutes were in these places. they are not focusing on the fact people's lives were taken. there focusing on the fact this man probably had a sex addiction and they have to pay attention to that. maybe he had a mental issue. all i am going to say is that we need to what people are saying. i asked the president and vice president to get together and address the hate crimes going on. not just this but address it overall. maybe something will start to be done about it. host: let's go to sal calling from staten island, new york on the republican line. caller: can you hear me?

host: we can. go ahead. caller: i don't know why every single time it has to be race, race, race. two white people were also shot. nobody talks about that. why can't it be the person just has a mental issue, is a crazy person, and that's it? he is unhinged. he is not a normal person and he did what he did. host: do you think all killers are just crazy? there is no reason other than insanity? caller: it is often just pushed by the media. the media creates the hate in this country. i personally do not believe in systemic racism and if you are going to report violence, and you said there was a report by npr? ok. let's look at that. how many were black on asian, or

asian on black, it is only reported one way. we don't have a race problem in this country. we have a problem and it is called --excuse me, it is ignorance. host: michelle is calling from tampa, florida on the independent line. good morning. michelle, are you there? i think we lost michelle. let's go to frank calling from new york on the democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. let's give you a history. when they built the trains and connected the trains from east to west asians helped build the trains. but in the photo they show nothing b but caucasians, ok? let me see, then you had us

picking cotton, building washington and everything else for this country, and race does play a part of everything. this whole country was built on race. this country used to belong to somebody else until another race came and took it. so yes, race is everything. what you need to do is stop a lot of these politicians like republicans trying to stop the vote because they bring in jim crow. these people that call in half of them are heathens. host: let's go to caesar calling from tampa, florida on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. it is jim crow all over again. these congressmen like johnson

etc. we need to figure this out quickly as american people because these folks are trying to divide this country because of 45. these folks are trying to divide this country. we have got to stop this right here, right now. this is racism. it is asians today, black americans tomorrow, etc. the guy even mentioned -- [indiscernible] -- they are trying to start this all over again. host: we bring you video the fence around the u.s. capitol which is been there since the riot. they are beginning to take it down from around the u.s. capitol. we saw workers a couple of

seconds ago beginning removing the barbed wire. that is one of the issues going on around washington, d.c. today. we are told the fence that has been put up around the u.s. capitol that has been there since the insurrection january 6 will be starting to go down this weekend. we are seeing video of some of the workers taking down the barbed wire. more of that will be coming down over the weekend which will be one step toward moving washington, d.c. back to normal. once again that fence is supposedly coming down this weekend. i want to redo you a quick paragraph -- read to you a quick paragraph when it comes to immigration. this comes from usa today. the house on thursday passed legislation that would create a pathway for undocumented farmworkers to earn a green card, sending the bill to the senate. the bill called the farm work

modernization act cleared in a bipartisan 147-174 vote. 30 republicans joined democrats in voting for the bill. one democrat, jared golden of maine, voted against the legislation. that is one of the immigration bills going through the house right now. i want to show you the second act called the american dream and promise act. that would provide a pass to citizenship for those with temporary protected citizenship. those are the dreamers. those of the two immigration bills going to the house right now. let's talk to carolyn calling from west plains, missouri on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you today? host: just fine. go ahead. caller: i will say something

about all three of the policies you had up there this morning. as far as these attacks on the asians, i hate hearing that but i also hate it when i hear it on the attacks on blacks and even the attacks on white people. that happens to everybody. i wish it would quit. as far as the school's reopening, they should have been reopened months ago. it has been proven they do work. as far as the immigration bills of these people crossing the border down in texas and new mexico, i feel sorry for the states. i got when idea that would maybe push it along to help the kids find places. take them and load them up and send them to washington, d.c. in the white house. there is plenty of room where they could hold 2000, 3000 kids. that would help. put these people in congress and move thereabouts along into something -- their butts along

and do something. host: gary is now on the line. caller: one of the things not spoken about is the hate crimes committed against seniors citizens. i'm 83 years old and i saw people going from the port authority into new york city where they were attacked, walker taken, and legislation needs to be enacted to protect seniors. in terms of discrimination the gentleman who said the chinese are correct. they help to build the railroad and in the 1920's the immigration quarter act was passed. it said people coming from central europe and china. that was in effect for 40 years. the government passed legislation where congressman in

the west did not want to have any labor coming from china, prevented the jews from coming in before the holocaust. there is still just rumination and we had to attack it on all fronts. host: let's go to james calling from texarkana, arkansas on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. i have been in this so-called racist south for 50 years and have hardly ever seen racism. one does my white privilege card come in the mail? host: would be hard for you to see racism if you are not a minority? caller: liberals like yourself -- every white person is a racist against black folk. i have never seen it. any kind of active racism and i have lived in arkansas my whole life. host: ok. let's go to mike calling from la

crosse, wisconsin on the democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. my question is a little off track. back during the trump era they put a 35% corporate tax cut in place. is there going to be any chance of that being repealed by the new administration? host: that i cannot answer. we will have to wait and see. caller: i am hoping they do something because that was ridiculous. the stock market was doing fine and on the corporations were asking for it. thank you. host: let's go to katie calling from springfield, missouri on the democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. i think that to say there is no racism or inequality in america is ridiculous. this country was built upon that. when you think about when you stole the land from native americans, african-americans

were treated extremely unfairly, and they are not even teaching things that have happened in this country to kids nowadays. when we put japanese people in concentration camps here on american soil. to say there is no racism is ridiculous and you are hiding the fact you yourself are a racist because you are not looking at the facts, you were only looking at what you want to see when we have facts pointing to racism and the fact that this person went into an asian owned facility with majority of asian people to shoot them up. you know, it's plain and simple. host: after the break we are going to turn our attention to the state of america's national parks and all of the challenges they faced since the pandemic

began. the conversation with kristen brengel from the national parks conservation association will be coming right up. stick with us. we will be right back. ♪ announcer: today on the communicators california democratic congressman jerry mcinerney talks about legislation on data privacy and social media regulation. >> the american people feel like their privacy has been invaded and they are not wrong. not just the big tech companies but a lot of people have access to your data and that means they know what activities you do when you are not working, where you might frequent, what sort of things you by the stores. that is a lot of very private information that should not be in the hands of whoever wants to buy it and i think that is the reason we need to look at privacy. announcer: watch the

communicators today at 6:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. ♪ announcer: you are watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. c-span was created by america's cable television companies in 1979. today we are brought to you by these companies who provide c-span2 viewers as a public service. ♪ announcer: washington journal continues. host: we are back with kristen brengel, the senior vice president of government affairs for the national parks conservation association and she is with us this morning to discuss the state of america's national parks. good morning. guest: good morning. host: tell our viewers with the national parks conservation association actually is. are you part of the national park service? guest: we are not.

we are the advocacy group that is the watchdog of the national parks. we are over 100 years old like the national park service. we have about 27 offices around the country. 1.4 million members and supporters and we work to protect and preserve the national park system and work with congress and administration to do that. host: where'd you get your funding? do you fund raise alone or do you get government funding for what you do? guest: we do not get government funding. we have membership and we get donations from our members to do this great work. host: what is the state of our national parks? we know a lot of the parks -- i shouldn't say a lot of the parks -- some of the parks closed down last year and even before that we had budget shutdowns. what is the state of our national parks right now as we enter into spring? guest: first of all, it is a

great day the beginning of spring and this is when parks are flourishing and the animals are coming out and we see the cherry blossoms in washington, d.c. our parks are emblematic of the beauty of the changing seasons. as you mentioned just when covid started the parks were no different from any other place in the country and many of them closed down for a period of time because staff did not have masks and ppe for protection. if you remember, the whole country was sort of, you know, concerned about the spread of the pandemic. parks were no different. many of them closed for a period of time between two months and longer. some closed for even longer and then they slowly started to open up facilities and allowing visitors inside. it has been quite a year for the

parks system. host: what are we looking at for this year? do we expect to see more visitors show up then last year? are people still afraid to go out? what does it look like for the upcoming spring and summer? guest: so visitorship in the park dipped down last year because of the closures and pandemic. only about 237 million visits took place and that is down from 330 million. that was to be expected during the pandemic and what we saw was a surge in visitation in many national parks toward the fall. yellowstone had a very large october visitation, zion in utah also had a surge in september, and places like indiana dunes. we expect people are going to get outdoors this year.

we expect people will seek opportunities to go visit national parks and what we hope is folks, make sure you bring your mask, make sure you are socially distancing, and for the parks we expect to be crowded there are 423 national park units spread out across the country. now is a good time to visit some of the smaller parks that do not get as much visitation. host: you brought up people should take their masks with them when they got to visit national parks. one of our social media followers already had a question for you ready for that one. this person wants to know, why do we need to wear masks while we are outside? you get vitamin d from being outdoors. the healthier you are the better you fight the virus. is that a requirement to wear masks in national parks right now? guest: it is. that was one of the first executive orders president biden signed was to have masks being

worn in parks and both outdoors and indoor facilities. here is why. if you like to visit the national parks as much as i do, you park your car in a parking lot everybody else, you walk toward the visitor center, and you use the trails and boardwalks just like everyone else. sometimes quite difficult to socially distance when you are out there. parks have overlooks. if you have been to shenandoah, everyone pulls off to the side of the road to look at the beautiful scenery. when you are in yellowstone you are on the boardwalks and in close proximity with people quite a bit. the best thing you can do is wear your mask, especially if you cannot properly socially distance. but if you can and be in the backcountry and you are just with your close family members, by all means. if you want to take your mask

off, but largely parks are designed to keep people on specific trails and boardwalks and sidewalks. if you know you are going to be around people you do not know, it is a good idea to wear the masks. host: let me remind viewers they can take part in the conversation about the national park system. we are going to open up regional lines for this conversation. if you are in the eastern or central time zones, eastern or central time zones, you can call in at (202)-748-8000. if you are in the mountain and pacific time zones, you can call in at (202)-748-8001. you can always text us at (202)-748-8003 and we are always reading on social media @ c-spanwj and facebook at facebook.com/c-span. one of my favorite national parks is assateague national

seashore in maryland. we have a good picture of one of the visitors on the beach. a sea lion is one of the visitors at the seashore earlier this year. my question for you is which national parks are going to be open? do we know the ones open and the ones that are still closed? is that the majority of them will be opened? will the majority be closed? what is the situation there? guest: the majority of them will be open but it will be really, really important to check the website and call the park itself to find out what is in place so you can adequately prepare for your visit. some parks are going to institute reservation systems at entrances. this means you have to, just like other places around the country, get your ticket ahead of time so you know you can actually get into the parks. if you are headed to zion, in

order to be able to travel into the canyon you will need a shuttle ticket. the best thing to do is go on the website or call the parks and find out what facilities are open. whether the visitor center is open or not and whether the bathroom facilities are open and make sure if you need a reservation for something -- and this is similar to getting backcountry permits or camping permits. just have everything in place before you go and that you are ready to pack out all your trash and garbage and help the park service at this time. we do not expect the parks to be fully staffed this year. because of the pandemic and employee housing being what it is they have to separate people in employee housing. we do expect parks to have far

fewer staff. the ways you can help is wear your mask, take care of your trash, and make sure you know what is open and available before you head out. host: you brought up my next question. as you said earlier, in 2020 we had 237 million system visitors and that was down from 2019 to. -- 2019. do we expect 2021 to surpass the number from 2020? you already talked about it but that brings up staffing at national parks. will there be enough staff to actually adequately deal with the number of visitors? guest: there won't be. glacier last year was down 70 seasonal staff people. those are the people you encounter in the park to give you advice on where to go hiking and what the weather is

like that day. you should just generally expect there to be fewer seasonal staff in most parks. we don't know what visitor patterns are going to look like. we do not know how much folks are going to travel. if it is anything -- there might be spikes in visitation and people might be vaccinated and feel comfortable traveling more. we don't know yet, but just be sure to check with the park before you head out to make sure you have everything you need to go. and also, one bit of advice, don't push yourself when you are going to a park this year. when i say that i mean if a hike looks too hard, don't do it this year. do it another year because as we all know medical facilities are in high demand right now for people getting sick for many reasons. you know, take the easier hike

this year and see something you have not seen, but don't push yourself this year because we know parks are struggling with staffing. host: let's let some of our viewers take part in the conversation. we start with chris colin from chester, south carolina -- calling from chester, south carolina. caller: good morning. executive orders only apply to employees of agencies. they do not apply to the general public. we pay for those lands and we have paid for those lands. i go in the forest all the time and i do not wear a mask and i won't wear a mask. this is ridiculous. host: let me just stick in here executive orders do not just apply to exec of agencies. caller: yes, they do. host: they can go beyond executive agency. caller: no, they don't.

they go straight to the agency. this is where all this has become -- people have just accepted an executive order or mandate becomes law. it doesn't. this has been the whole problem with this nation lately is nobody actually understands where the restrictions of power of the government are. host: do you have a question for kristin? caller: that is the thing. i go in the parks all the time without a mask, but i won't wear a mask. this is ridiculous. host: what power does the national park service have? can they stop people from going international parks if they refuse to wear a mask? guest: nobody wants to be in a situation that is confrontational. we want the community, we want folks to recognize that this is about safety. this is about keeping everyone safe. this is about making sure

everyone is socially distant and the best way to keep your neighbors and your friends and families and the park service staff safe is to put on a mask, especially in close quarters with other people. until everyone is vaccinated we need to make sure folks say stave --stay safe so they don't get sick. it is too bad of people feel that way. yes, an executive order is enforceable and park staff will ask people to put masks on and to keep everyone safe. all i can do is urge everyone we are one big family in this country and we need to take care of each other, especially vulnerable populations. the mask is a good way to do that. host: do we know of any covid-19 related deaths among national park service staff or covid-19 infections among national park service staff? guest: unfortunately, the

previous administration did not release any information on that but there have been news reports that have said that at least 2000 interior department staff have been infected. about 500 of those were in national parks and we have heard from park service staff about different people getting sick. when that happens to staff that are in employee housing it could actually remove people temporarily from being able to work because they all need to quarantine. an understaffed park will be further understaffed if service staff get sick. we want to keep everybody safe. host: without the park staff the assumption is the park could likely be closed if there is no staff to service it, correct? guest: yes, and that happened in at least two parks we learned of

last year. i think it occurred in texas and the washington monument. parks if they are down too many, staff people there could be additional closures. host: let's go to maisie calling from arizona. good morning. caller: it is mozie. host: sorry. go ahead. caller: how you doing this morning? host: good. go ahead. caller: with the whole park situation, it is a shame everyone is so divided. i think the clear thing to us all is we have a problem on our hands. we have a virus that has been a problem for some time now and this is a problem to be figured out. everybody should just cooperate and wear a mask. why take the chance? there is no gain in taking a chance. everybody has different emotions on it.

play it safe. things are coming to the surface as things go on, but everyone should just keep it safe and keep it simple. host: go ahead and respond. guest: thank you so much and arizona has some of the most fantastic national parks. i hope you are enjoying them and thank you for your comment. i think is caring about our friends and families in keeping everyone safe. host: we talk to brian calling from east sandwich, massachusetts. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for letting me speak. i have a question about the national seashore on cape cod. it has to do with in holdings. i don't know if you advise people about in holdings, but there is a place in the seashore from one of my ancestors and it

is completely surrounded by cape cod national seashore property. it is probably about 3 x 4 or 6x8 in one of the monuments broke off. the park historian or seashore historian are unable to determine who should prepare that. do you advocate for in holders? i will take my answer offline. thank you very much. guest: thank you for your question. we work with all sorts of folks who care about national parks and specifically in terms of your question, i would contact the park service of cape cod and make sure you are working with them on any issues. but it is really the park service staff who can help you with something like that. i would definitely say contact them directly. host: one of the questions i have for you is about funding

for national parks. what do you want to see from congress for funding for the national parks this year? guest: that is a fantastic question. we are constantly advocating for more funding for the national parks. we have seen a decrease in funding over many years and it is pretty significant in terms of -- when you look at the last 10 years a 16% decrease in park staff because of less funding for park operations. last year there was an increase and we thank congress for that. but what we are looking for is 200 million more dollars from park operations and this is because of that significant staff loss over the last 10 years. we are advocating for not only more money for more park service

staff, but make sure they are hiring staff who have expertise in specific issues like cultural resources protection where we have seen a major decline over the years and that specific expertise. we are also looking for more funding for science and planning and management that will help us have more resilient parks in the future. climate change has been a major threat to national parks in the last few years. we have seen some pretty dramatic effects from shrinking glaciers to massive wildfires and invasive species spreading over parks. we need to make a big investment in making parks more resilient so they can adapt to climate change. host: as you were talking about earlier i want to put up the service operations budget for the national parks. we can see in fiscal 2020 it was

$2.6 billion. there was an increase for 2021. what are you expecting from the biden administration for the national parks? is that going to be different from what we saw from the trump administration? guest: yes, it will be different. we saw a decline in the recommendations from the previous administration year after year. they recommended cutting park service funding and yesterday i was able to sit on call with my colleagues with secretary holland, the new secretary of the interior, and she made it clear the biden administration is going to invest in our national parks and public lands. we are hoping they will put together a budget that will increase not only staffing but resource protection for the national parks.

we are looking forward to working with them on making sure parks get the funding they need. host: let's go back to the phone lines and talk to mary calling from st. petersburg, florida. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i was going to ask your guest if there are any exceptions to the recommendations for certain national parks as far as masks are concerned. host: when you say exceptions what exactly do you mean? caller: what i mean is i spent 43 years in alaska and you have the national park and national park land. no one is there. there is no trails, nothing. i don't understand why a mandate would be somebody wear a mask in

the middle of millions of miles. it is not just st. elias. you look at the majority of the state of alaska national parks and state parks. to me it should be an exception to the rule. host: go ahead and respond. guest: st. elias is the largest national park in the system and there are so many places when you go to the backcountry, sure, you are alone or with immediate friends or family. if you are not interacting with other people, it makes sense you would not need a mask. but if you are in denali and on the bus on the road heading into the park and you are in a confined space with other people, i would urge everyone to wear our mask while you are around people you do not know in a confined space or on a trail

or getting close to folks that are not your family or immediate friends. it is not as though anyone would be unreasonable with a mask policy. this is about spaces where you are interacting with other people. if you are on the boardwalk watching old faithful, you are going to be surrounded by hundreds of people. that would be a good time to take the masks out and wear them. but if you are out in the backcountry and hiking and camping, sure. if you do not need the mask, you are fine. host: i think people are getting a bit confused about when they have to wear masks. just to make sure we clarify, they are required when you are around people you do not know and do not live with. but if you are out in the middle of hundreds of acres by yourself, i park ranger is not going to call you from three miles away and say, you don't have a mask, you're in trouble. is that what you're saying?

guest: that is what i'm saying. host: i just wanted to make sure i clarified. i think a lot of them are thinking if they are by themselves, they have to have a mask on. guest: no. host: let's go to shewitt: from maryland. -- calling from maryland. are you there? caller: hello? host: go ahead. caller: thank you. i want to say thank you for all the hard work and dedication you are doing for the state of maryland and particularly for this country. i want to ask, we live in the state of maryland. what is your favorite park you recommend we visit? thank you. guest: that is a great question. there are so many fantastic places around maryland. i would definitely recommend visiting harriet tubman in cambridge.

it is one of the greatest park unit and was recently established and surrounded by blackwater national wildlife refuge. not only can you learn about the history of harriet tubman who was an incredible american hero you can also go on one of the best kayaking trips ever and see wonderful wildlife and birds. it is an incredible place. definite had to cambridge, maryland and checkout harriet tubman. host: one of my favorite national parks is assateague national seashore. i try to get there as many times as possible. with a question from one of the social media followers who wants to know if you know how are the wildlife populations in the national parks doing. guest: that is such a great question. we love the wildlife in national parks and that is what parks are known for. wildlife is doing ok. we are worried in some cases

some species are struggling because of climate change and one of the things we are advocating for really strongly is the wildlife corridors act in congress. what this does is create corrid ors across state lands and created program so that we can connect parks to other state lands and tribal lands so we give animals and wildlife room to roam and have healthy populations. you know, we have to get used to how wildlife are going to have to adapt as temperatures increase and as snowpack and other impacts from climate change change habitat. by creating wildlife corridors and giving wild life a chance we

will be able to make sure we have healthy populations and that wildlife can thrive across the national park service system. host: let's go back to the phone lines and talk to peter who is calling from massachusetts. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i spent a lot of time in acadia and i used to live on the island for 30 years. it was jampacked. there was a ton of people around and you would go from places where you wouldn't encounter anybody to highly, densely packed places. the whole mask thing is common sense. that is what it is all about. you and i went to wind up in jail because you do not have a mask on and surrounded by trees and not people. but the reason i am calling about acadia and others is that i noticed while i was up there

this past summer there are search and rescue volunteers who are stressed to the max. they were making rounds constantly in and out. i used to work on the one ambulance squad up there and i realized there was always an uptick in accidents and lost people and people needing to be evacuated. but boy, they were overwhelmed last summer. it seemed as if he would constantly see references from the commanders of the emt squads that they could use more help. i am wondering, to the extent the actual park service search and rescue ranks could be increased seasonally, and they flux all the other personnel, why not do that with search-and-rescue? they pull people from other

departments into search-and-rescue. but it seems to me it is an issue that needs to be addressed over time. it is only going to get worse. host: go ahead and respond. guest: thank you so much, peter. acadia is one of the most spectacular national parks and i am fortunate i get up there once a year with my oldest daughter and enjoy all the great spots. absolutely agree that search-and-rescue is taxed so much in so many national parks last summer. you know, one of the trends we noticed in a lot of staff told me about was a lot first-time visitors to national parks last year and that is because people could not really travel anywhere else. folks were heading into the parks and this gets to one of the points i was making earlier. don't push yourself if you have

never been hiking before and you have never done -- never gone up any mountains or large hills before and you are not used for certain types of terrain. do not push yourself. like peter was saying acadia is one example of a park that the search folks were overwhelmed last year and we suspect some of it is from the first-time visitors to some of these places. i can tell you i have a 10-year-old who i take to acadia and every year as she gets older we take on a larger, bigger hike just to see the scenery and enjoy it. in 2019 we took a pretty excruciating hike in acadia and she made it and did a great job and i made it too. but i would not do that now. i would not test anything right

now. it is just a good idea to stay safe and take it easy and it overwhelm the search-and-rescue staff in the event there was something hard for you to do. host: let's talk to daniel calling from eureka, california. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i love the national parks. i am a hiker and backpacker and spent a fair amount of time in the national parks and him of the national forest alumni and so on. my first question was going to be about the wildlife corridors. yes, more, more, more. i had two questions specifically. one is about wilderness areas and about the idea -- again, i love going to the national parks.

i understand the mission has a lot to do with making wilderness available to people, but i also think wilderness -- part of what wilderness is his places we do not go -- is places we do not go. i wonder if that is on the radar. that there are places that should just exist for their own sake. is that something you think about, that other people think about, that is part of the discussion? the other question has to do with the civilian conservation corps and the hopefully upcoming conservation corps and whether you have involvement there or that is something the national parks are part of. i can stay on or go off. . i would love to hear what you have to say. guest: thank you for your question. i used to work on wilderness

advocacy for i just worked on national parks in general and have enjoyed spending time in so many wilderness areas in the national parks and the national forests. they are spectacular places and hiking in wilderness areas i sometimes have never run into anyone else. i think we want people to enjoy these places but it is not for everyone. not everybody can take a backpack into the backcountry and hike in these spots. in 2019 a wonderful bill called the dingell act named after john dingell were able to designate more wilderness in utah. that is a place where i have spent quite a bit of time in the wilderness. these are spectacular places. they can sometimes be hard to get to but totally worth it and

just as the wilderness act says it is on traveled land. you cannot always tell there has been another human being there but we want people to enjoy wilderness areas and if you can make it and do the hikes, go enjoy them. i remember one of my first experiences was seeing a starry night sky and seeing the milky way without a telescope from a wilderness area in montana south of glacier national park. i just remember my eyes filling up with stars and it being one of the most incredible things i have ever seen. if you can make it to a wilderness area, you should check it out. but they can be hard to get to sometimes. in terms of the conservation corps, absolutely. we are advocating that president biden look into developing a conservation corps for this

century and it would really help fix trails and take care of maintenance in parks if he were to put one together. and it would create jobs most importantly. we are among the groups advocating for it and hopefully that is something president biden will put in his budget in may. host: i'm going to put this on screen. right now there are 423 national parks including battlefield, historic parks and monuments and they have 19,000 employees. i will ask a two-part question. according to the national park service website 108 of those parks charge fees to enter. do we know if the fees for those parks will go up this year or will they stay the same? to second part of this question comes from one of our social media followers. do we know whether the national park service will be adding any

new parks? guest: such great questions. in terms of fees, that every park charges a fee. you have to have certain amenities in terms of being eligible to charge a fee. each part determines when they increase fees and there was an increase a couple of years ago. i don't suspect many parts will work on a fee increase this year because i think most of that happened a couple of years ago. folks should expect the same in their parks. one good investment you can make is the america the beautiful pass which gets you not only into national parks but other federal public land and you pay a one-time fee and you get a card. i would take mine out if i could find it right now, but that is a wonderful investment if you're

going to visit public lands this year. in terms of new parks we work really hard to tell more american stories and we are going to continue to work with members of congress and the new administration to establish some new park units we are working on now. i can tell you one that i really excited about is the julius rosenwald site. this bill passed at the end of last year to study the site. julius rosenwald would put money toward building african-american schools in the early to mid 1900s and this really gave young people an opportunity to have schools in the south. we want to honor his memory and his wonderful philanthropy.

the park service right now is undergoing a study and looking at sites that could be designated and this would be a new park unit that would celebrate not only amazing philanthropy but also education and making sure we are, you know, helping folks grow. we are excited about the possibility of designating that site and looking at other places where we could expand parking units and protect ecosystems better. host: let's talk to john calling from albany, ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. pleasure to talk to you. i was in the grand canyon in 2019, i went up there with the camper, and it was just busload

after busload and most of them were chinese. i would like to go back but there were so many people i don't know. i had to go out to the rim of the grand canyon while everybody was going to the left where everything was at. is it still going to be as crowded if i want to go this year or next year? host: what do you think? do you think there will be crowds at the popular national parks this summer? guest: i think you can and i think you should. especially if you are not a person that likes crowds, maybe enjoy a national park gets less visitation and go seek out -- there are so many beautiful deserts within the system you can visit. if you like canyons, tons of opportunities in other places to

visit that type of park unit. do some homework and see what you like. maybe visit a lesser-known park unit and try to avoid some of the crowds. host: let's talk to bradley calling from gainesville, florida. good morning. caller: hi. i was wondering, have you been to every national park? and i also wanted to know if you have, what your favorite were? host: trying to put you on the spot. guest: thank you so much for the question. i think i have been to about 150 national parks and there are 423 so i have more work to do. i would say one of my favorite national parks is not far from where you are in florida. it is called cumberland island national seashore on the coast of georgia and it is an island

and one of the most spectacular places i have ever been to. just the wildlife and the different types of ecosystems from swamps to beach and you can spend the whole day there roaming the island and enjoying the wildlife and there are also wild horses on the island which are fun. but it is also wilderness. you get to experience some mild piece of the east coast and kind of see what it would have been like hundreds and hundreds of years ago. i also love places like cape hatteras and visiting historic sites like the wright brothers to check out our history. i will admit that yellowstone, i have spent an incredible amount of time in yellowstone and it is just america's first national park. it is one of the most spectacular places.

i used to cry every time i went through the entrance just to see how beautiful it is and the roaring rivers and the geysers going often grant prismatic. it is unlike anything you could ever see and it is ours. you can go visit it. i want to mention a place that is not necessarily -- it is not a national park unit but a place that i love dearly which is the picture behind me. that is the grand staircase in utah and right now we are calling for president biden to restore the boundaries of it and make sure this area remains protected. we want to make sure this spectacular part of our country that holds so many cultural resources are better protected and unfortunately, the last administration reduced the size of grand staircase and bear's

ear. we are hoping the boundaries get back in place we can get them the protection they deserve. definitely a lot of places to visit and places to put on your bucket list. host: let's talk to aaron calling from upper marlboro, maryland. caller: good morning. could ms. brengel enlighten people about the wilkes brothers out of idaho and what they are doing to the parks? is anything being done about it? guest: i don't know about them. i am really sorry. host: can you tell us more about them? i'm not familiar with them either. caller: they are out of texas. they have made their money in gas and fracking and essentially what they did, there was this public land and they bought up acres and acres all around the land and basically turned the

public park into a private park. they put up armed guards and gates and things like that. guest: i'm really sorry. i have not heard of that but we have so many spectacular public lands and protected places in national parks. there is definitely a lot available for folks to go visit. host: i think we have run out of time. we would like to thank kristen brengel for the national parks conservation association for coming on on the first day of spring and telling us about our national parks. thank you so much. guest: thank you. goodbye. host: we would like to thank our callers, and guests for joining another edition of washington journal. continue washing your hands. enjoy some sunshine if it is

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