constitution. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. funded by these television companies and more, including charter communications. >> broadband is a force for empowerment. >> coming up on washington journal. ohio republican congressman warren davidson on the president biden and congressional democratss' spending plans and other news of the day.

then california democratic congressman john garamendi talks about wildfires in the west and the latest on legislation that would set national drinking water standards. be sure to join with phone calls, facebook comments, text messages, and tweets. washington journal is next. ♪ >> hopes of a bipartisan investigation into the january 6 attack on the u.s. capitol all but evaporated yesterday when nancy pelosi vetoed two republican nominees. kevin mccarthy then pulled all five geo-nominees, leaving live cheney -- liz cheney is the sole republican. how that select committee proceeds from here is uncertain for their next hearing tuesday.

welcome to washington journal. house is coming in for business at 9:00 a.m. eastern. we will hear your thoughts on the decisions made that made yesterday and the jittery sixth committee. the line for democrats is (202) 748-8000. for republicans, (202) 748-8001. for independents, (202) 748-8002 . you can send us a text at (202) 748-8003. tell us your name and where you are texting from. on facebook, it is facebook.com/c-span. on instagram, @cspanwj. we will hear about those decisions. politico, the headline is a pelosi vetoes banks, jordan for january 6 select committee. they write that policy stunned

that gop on wednesday by vetoing two of mccarthy's choices for a select panel investigating the january 6 attack. move all but aaron teed to spark a republican boycott. pelosi rejected jim banks of indiana, tapped to serve as ranking member, and jim jordan of ohio, both of whom voted to challenge certification of biden's electoral winds earlier this year. her decision sent shockwaves through the house and is likely to galvanize republicans against any participation in the investigation. the comments yesterday. after that, it was announced in a news conference on capitol hill -- also a news statement from pull too. -- from pelosi. this is kevin mccarthy. >> this shows exactly what i

warned in january, the policy would play politics -- pelosi would play politics. the senate bipartisan. schumer did not pick who went on for the republicans. they have reports from two different committees. two main questions. why was the capitol so ill prepared for that day when they knew under summer 14, they had a problem: what have we done to make sure that never happens again? pelosi has created a sham process. unless she reverses course and seats all five republicans, we will not participate. host: speaker pelosi making that announcement yesterday, saying,

with respect to the integrity of the investigation, with an insistence on the truth, with concern about statements made and actions taken by this members, i must reject the recommendations of banks and jordan to the select committee. the unprecedented nature of january 6 demands this unprecedented decision. that is from nancy pelosi. (202) 748-8000 four democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. the one remaining republican member on the panel will be liz cheney, appointed by nancy pelosi. she spoke to reporters outside the capitol yesterday afternoon. rep. cheney: we supported what would have been the very best option, which was a bipartisan independent commission. the minority leader opposed that. he lobbied against it in the senate. the senate blocked it. the american people deserve to know what happened. the people who did this must be

held accountable. there must be an investigation that is nonpartisan, sober, serious, gets to the facts wherever they may lead and at every opportunity, that minority leader has attempted to prevent the american people from understanding what happens. today, the speaker objected to two republican numbers. she accepted three others. she objected to 2, 1 of whom may well be a material witness to events that led to january 6. the other disqualified himself to his comments in particular over the last 24 hours demonstrating he is not taking this seriously, he is not dealing with the facts but rather viewed it as a political platform. host: the political playbook team with some analysis on that decision yesterday and the decision by kevin mccarthy.

democrats defended pelosi's power play. if jordan helps trump on january 6, he could be considered witness. some democrats think any republican who objected to the electoral college result should be barred from serving on the panel, but pelosi ousted only two of the three who did so, suggesting this was not her guiding motivation. they also write, it is important to know that both jordan and banks are effective committee caters with their base. moving to silence members by kicking them off committees is the new tact in oversight. president has long-term implications. we were not be surprised if a future speaker, kevin mccarthy, returned the favor if and when the time comes. the diskette to calls. -- let us get to calls. ronnie, georgia.

caller: mccarthy is playing the game of obstruction. the same thing he did when he spoke to trump on january 6. what we have is a group of people that have looked over election after election result. there was no problem. all of a sudden, you have a president who says the election was stolen. you are right up thousands of people and they stormed the capital -- the capitol. what i call it are in grown terrorists. to get on the right committee, mccarthy don't want that, trump don't want that, some republicans don't want that. we need to find the facts. these two, jordan and banks, are going to put more promise than

trying to find out. the main thing is that after years and years on january 6 why this year we had people to stormed the capitol? because someone stirred up ally. it was stolen. -- stirred up a lie. it was stolen. some people hear that word. you get to stirring up, it rain more and more. host: falls church, virginia, all of her line. -- oliver. independent line. caller: i lived in the metro, d.c., area all my life. i was appalled yesterday that kevin mccarthy is playing this

game. the american people better wake up and realize that the republicans are pulling us away from democracy. thank god for joe biden, for liz cheney, and for people who want to get to the bottom of this. these people attacked the capitol. i have been at the capitol numerous times, never thought i would see people attack that building. host: to the republican line, sophia, the bronx. caller: good morning. you are the host the last time when i called about nancy pelosi. when president trump shut down the government for 35 days, she told him he could, and have your

state of the union speech, you have got to open the government. he opened the government. all he did was bring rush limbaugh a letter. what she did was after she [indiscernible] kim, -- him, she tore up the paper. she is beautiful, elegant, intelligent. what she did yesterday, i was shocked so good last night when i heard jordan was going to be on the committee, i said, lord,

it is back. i do not know. thank you, nancy pelosi. host: the speaker yesterday long. -- blocking jim banks and jim jordan. i read part of her statement a moment ago. kevin mccarthy pulling all five members that heat nominated from the committee. liz cheney is the only remaining republican. here is a jim banks indiana at yesterday's news conference. >> she knows that we were prepared to fight to get to the truths to find the facts about what happened on that day to make sure january 6 would never happen again, but she does not want to go down that path. she knows we are already asking questions in just a first two days that leader mccarthy appointed us, questions that

democrats have never asked about why the capitol was vulnerable that day when we had intelligence that told us something dangerous would happen. she knew we would fight back against their political games. that is why she did not want us to participate. it goes to show this is entirely a political exercise on her part. it is a shame. the american people deserve better, they demand answers about january 6. the american people demanded that their leaders step up to make sure that never happens again. host: here is what some other members are saying via twitter. andy biggs from arizona, republican, that veto of leader mccarthy's nominees is outrageous and a further example of pelosi violating the historical norms of our body. from a congressman of illinois, the speaker made the right decision.

this committee is on a quest for the truth and no party will stop it from getting there. senator lindsey graham, totally support mccarthy's decision not to allow pelosi to dictate which republicans are allowed to serve on the commission. cheri bustos, democrat, i was on the floor when the cattle being was breached. the american people are owed the facts about that day. speaker pelosi has brought us closer to the truth. republican line, reggie. caller: thanks for taking my call. i feel it was righteous yesterday, but -- what spokesman pelosi did. i thank god we have lien cheney on the committee. i hope that committee can go

ahead and do their work. the woman republican from wyoming, one more republican or two more if she can. i hope the committee can get the truth and i hope americans can accept the truth and accept joe biden as the president and try to work this thing out with voting laws. some of the things are crazy and taking the rights that i would say, yes, my fellow americans had over 40 or 50 years ago, we had the right to vote. they want to take it away. host: room i -- a reminder to call on the line that best reflects your point of view. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001.

linda, mississippi, democrats line. caller: can you hear me? nancy pelosi did the right thing. jim jordan and every committee has ever been on, he is a disrupter. he does not want the truth. if he wants to beat -- kevin mccarthy, if he wants to be speaker, he must, like liz cheney said, he must go by the constitution. he is a republican taking us to an autocracy. and every move they make, they are looking towards dictatorship. it is the constitution, not the man in the white house.

we are the united states of america, not the republicans, not the democrats, but the united states. the american people are acting like they are in russia or in north korea, loving the man, not the rule of. host: republican line, wisconsin. caller: i think jim jordan could answer. four questions that were pulled up in front of the capital ahead of the group that came up from trump's rally. they got in there somehow. we do not see any videos. we want the videos that are shown to the public that could understand what is going on. host: also on the republican line, jason, maryland. caller: i want to out that you

are never going to get to the truth until you get kevin mccarthy and nancy pelosi both under oath. jim jordan, jim banks, it does not matter if they are on the committee. how could that impede the democrats in any way? i just want to say that i have been watching for the past couple of days. probably 60% of the republican calls you take are actually democrats. when you call, they are asked if they are calling on the republican line. it is watering down republican'' opinions. nancy pelosi is a demon. host: this is a story in the washington post that says some of the background on the bipartisan committee, they write, earlier this year, pelosi

appointed an independent commission. a panel that investigated the 9/11 attacks is made up of experts not holding public office. over the course of negotiations, democrats acquiesced to the gop's demands, including that the establishing legislation remove references to domestic violent extremism and white supremacy. the democrats rejected republican leaders' demands that that commission investigated scope be broadened. juncker the of january 6 -- beyond january 6, arguing that it is an attempt to up you skate the fact that the riot was spearheaded by trump supporters. that proposal died in the senate, prompting pelosi to push ahead with as -- with the

committee containing republicans and democrats. pelosi reported -- appointed liz cheney, adam schiff, jamie raskin, and elaine luria. besides jordan and banks, mccarthy had recommended others. let us hear from lorena, california, democrats line. caller: i think nancy pelosi basically took out the trash yesterday. the january 6 insurrection was a violent attack on our democracy. jim jordan and donald trump incited that insurrection along with mo brooks and a few others. i do not understand what we are talking about. the debate is not between a should be doing this together or not? the debate is why is the gop

lying to the american public? they have lied throughout this whole thing. they are denying everything that happened on january 6. they need to stop. this is a tearing our country apart. i am sad that this is how the gop has decided to act, instead of stepping up and finding out for the american people what happened. i would also like to point out that kevin mccarthy's separate investigation is going to be wasted taxpayer money and he should not be allowed to do it. if he cannot step up and do what is right by this country and be bipartisan, he should get out of the way and let nancy pelosi and her bipartisan committee with liz cheney -- i think she'll put on a couple more gop representatives and it will be fine. kevin mccarthy is just a crybaby and he should go back and just --

host: kathleen, new york, democrats line. caller: as i am watching kevin mccarthy speak, it is ridiculous. when he is speaking, you can see in his eyes, his facial expressions, the way he is standing there, he does not even believe his own lives. starts jim jordan and that banks gaia, nancy pelosi is an awesome woman. she did the right thing. she took out the trash. let us just say it was an awful thing that happened that day. mccarthy, banks, they all have blood on their hands. that is why they wanted a separate committee. host: here is a jim jordan at yesterday's news conference. >> i have said this before.

what else are they going to talk about? crime? the fact that crime is up in every major urban area in this country? are they going to talk about the order crisis? march was the highest month on record for illegal crossings. april was the highest on record until may. you cannot talk about that. are they going to talk about inflation? the fact that the price of eggs is up, milks, airline tickets, the price of a used -- the price of everything? they cannot talk about that. they will be partisan and focus on this. host: eddie thompson of mississippi had been selected by that speaker to be the chair. they have a hearing. the first is set for next tuesday, the 27th. we will have coverage if it goes forward. here is what benny thompson said yesterday. speaker pelosi has met

republican leadership more than halfway to investigate that facts, the circumstances of generally six. today the speaker by exercising her authority took decisive action to bring us closer to answers that the american public seeks on democracy. it has been more than six months since the attack. we owe it to our democracy to stay the course and not be distracted. comments on social media. this one says, mccarthy put jordan and banks on the committee knowing lucy would not entertain a clown show instead of finding out what happened did we know it is a trap so mccarthy could say this not fair. this one says, if policy is organizing the investigation, issue the one who will be direct -- redacting everything before the american people can see it? similar to bill barr filtering the truth. this has nothing to do is who

broke into the capitol. it is another example of creating a crisis in order not to waste it. just, tennessee, republican line. caller: i would like to make a few points. obviously, the covid increase has been caused by open borders, coming to texas mainly. it is not a coincidence that all these traders who left texas go to d.c.. not a coincidence that they also have the virus. as far as i'm concerned, blm does not stand for black lives matter. blm stands for big lie movement. most of the colors i have noticed on the program have either been democrats or rhinos -- rino's.

we basically have only two political parties anymore -- the republicans and the socialists. host: richard, georgia, democrat side. caller: i would like to make the point that at no time have you seen the blm marches attacked the capitol. the insurrectionists during january sixth wanted to assault democracy and the constitution. jim jordan ought to be ashamed of himself and lindsey graham. i want to get into lindsey graham's head to straighten him out. he is disruptive as well. we need to get these laws passed on voting rights, so that all americans, black, green, blue, whatever they can vote like we

did in 2020. black lives matter did not attack the capitol in none of their marches. host: kelly armstrong of north dakota is one of the selections by the republican party. a call next from north dakota. we have one from new jersey. tom, new jersey, republican line. caller: for anybody to accept any information from this committee is going to have to be bipartisan. you take any law or anything else. you have a jury. who picks the jury? not just the prosecutor, but the prosecutor gets to pick who he

wants, the defense picks who he wants. then you have a fair trial. how can you have a fair trial of one of them pick everybody who is going to be on? you can be sure they are not going to be able to convince all of the people in the u.s. that it was fair. host: delaware, gerald. caller: i would like to point out that i find it ironic that the democratic party and democratic callers who are trying to defend democracy are applauding nancy pelosi for moving -- removing duly elected officials from the committee. secondly, as far as a jim jordan

being disruptive, the democratic party supporting defunding the police, haven't we seen the disruption that that has caused? there are some serious questions about january 6. the meaning of the word in stash what the meaning of the word insurrection is? -- i would like to know what the meaning of the word insurrection is? it was a riot. it should have been prevented. there are facts that will tell you there are policies in place to prevent that. however, the speaker of the house is responsible for the security of that building. perhaps she also has an agenda. i would like to know who shot ashli babbitt?

who shot and aren't armed air force veteran -- and on armed u -- unarmed air force veteran who should not have been in that building? host: paul from kansas city says, kevin mccarthy has no interest in justice. pelosi accepted three and jordan. dave, illinois, why does pelosi play politics with everything and not strive for true facts. we need troops, not power. mccarthy should pull all the members. william, ohio, go ahead.

caller: it is just a kangaroo court. just like everything else. a waste of taxpayer money. it was all right, all the hearings the republicans had on an illegitimate deal. jim jordan thinks he is the arresting officer, the judge, the jury, and the executioner. as far as i am concerned, everything to do with the government is a waste of taxpayers' money to have some idiots representing like we have from ohio. that falls back to our great speaker of the house. it is a shame that we have let our political system get to this. i will never vote again in my life. i am 86 and would not waste my

time to vote for one of them crooks. host: more ahead. coming up, we will talk to two lawmakers about the january 6 committee decisions and other congressional news happening this week. first up, warren davidson of ohio. later, john garamendi of california. >> coming up today on c-span, the house returns at 9:00 a.m. eastern to consider legislation that would x the date the visa process for afghan -- would expedite the visa process for afghani's who worked with the u.s. government.

back later to vote on president biden's pick to lead the national security. then it, government officials testify about the use of digital financing by terrorists. ♪ host: congressman warren

davidson serves the fourth district of ohio and -- the eighth district of ohio and is with us this morning, joining us ahead of this morning's session. we were spending the first half hour hearing from viewers on decisions made yesterday by the house speaker in blocking two members, including jim banks and jim jordan. the republican leader took all five members off the panel. what is your view? guest: i applaud leader carthy. his decision highlights why republicans opposed it in the first place. nancy pelosi has drawn all of her conclusions. she is a transparent and how she structured it. they have already drawn all the conclusions.

they just need the window dressing. host: is there any way you are thinking there can be some sort of bipartisan investigation? guest: we have two political parties were going to appoint people or one party. pelosi seems to want one party that really chooses. the idea that these republicans are objectionable. when you have adam schiff who told lies for years about russian collusion on the committee. the chairman already drew his conclusions. he filed a lawsuit in february with the naacp. he is leading the commission, but he already thinks everything that happened is an insurrection. he is just window dressing. the idea that democrats can put people on there who have said and done inflammatory things, but republicans cannot have our a-list players on the commission

-- policy says we are concerned that people might raise good points. host: do you have expressed concerns over the administration's spending plans, the rise in inflation, the fed chair recently talking about inflation and saying he still expected to ease up -- what are your concerns? rep. davidson: last year, the federal reserve did a great job. the market was in freefall. that is a great case for central bank. they provided liquidity and stability. since then, they have been purchasing a massive amount of assets. no one is lending this money to us. it counts as debt, but the fed is just loading it up on their balance sheet. just today, the news is out that they are talking about when to taper off their purchases. there $80 billion of treasuries

per month and coat they are buying $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities per month. where is that showing up in the market? it is inflating the market. it is an economic distortion. that grows the wealth gap, creates bigger inequality. now democrats want to jump even more fuel on that fire. we need to take our foot off the gas and let the normal economy, back to life through lifting some of the government. host: you have a background in business and manufacturing. what is the longer-term effect if the foot -- if inflation does not ease up? guest: it hurts hourly wage earners to most and retirees on fixed income. they have a fixed amount coming in per month. as prices rise.

it is important to check inflation. the federal reserve has two mandates -- one is stable prices. the other is full employment. right now, they are failing on both. they are also not doing a great job as a regulator. when you look at what they're doing is a regulator, they're trying to balance out all the money that is being dumped in the one hand with their monetary policy. with regulatory policy, it keeps banks holding a lot on their balance sheets. it is creating whiplash for the market. host: with the delta variant rising, i wanted to ask about legislation. you proposed the vaccine passport act -- a measure that would prevent any level of government issuing vaccine passports. it would make business liable for discrimination should they try to verify vaccine status. what is your reasoning? rep. davidson: for the average

american citizen to go back to their way of life, they should not have to have a violation of their privacy. resume normal day-to-day life. go to a ballgame, take a flight, go to a concert. all these things people are proposing vaccine passports for, i think that is an incredible infringement on civil liberties and our way of life. host: your bill would have an exemption for medical facilities. a story in the new york times says more hospitals are requiring workers to get covid vaccines. you are ok with health organizations to mandate that their employees be vaccinated? rep. davidson: there are pragmatic considerations. the law has long established that health care facilities have those exemptions. we want the law to stand. it would be if it didn't provide

those exemptions. you have immunocompromised people in health care facilities that aren't good candidates for vaccines. some health care facilities do require it. should all require it? in my opinion, no. the other thing that dod has got to widen path, have to show some reasonable cause for requiring it. schools have been able to have a requirement for things that are fda approved. this is still just emergency use approved. and probably will be approved at some point. in those cases, there are religious conscience exemptions. the big thing that is not getting talked about in the u.s. so much, is that if you have acquired immunity from having recovered from covid, that counts in other countries.

it has not been counting in the u.s. this bill was said has to count for an exemption for schools. host: what sorts of rights to businesses have? i am thinking of the cruise industry? or even broadway shows? is it as simple as comparing it to businesses that have rules that you cannot come in with a pet, no shoes, no service, that sort of thing? rep. davidson: no. i look at this as a civil liberties thing. it is an argument on public accommodations. you cannot stay in my hotel, cannot eat at my restaurant. those things were litigated in the 60's. people said to go about your way of life, you cannot discriminate on the basis of wraith, -- of race, ethnicity, religion. one of the most private things for american citizens is their health status. there was a pressure not that long ago where i have to know

your hiv status before we can let you come anywhere. america pushed back on that. we will get through this. we just need to keep the values in place that our founders created to have service while we have amended the const -- have not amended the constitution to revoke a right to privacy. host: a number of political and congressional issues on the table. we welcome your calls. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. for all others, (202) 748-8002. vivian, tennessee, democrats fine. caller: i would like to ask you this question. why are you and all republicans against masks? right now, people where masks

when shopping. everything is going ok. business is resuming. why not tell your people to where masks? the virus is killing people. the first thing they do when they get the disease, they run to the hospital. some of your workers, to0. caller: -- guest: i do not know single republican who objects to you wearing a mask. the objection is to you wearing at -- requiring everyone around you to wear a mask prior to february or march of last year, that was the settled science. this magic virus is somehow treated differently than all previous viruses in america. there was a period of time where most of the country felt let us move forward and have some basic mask requirement. that is not the standard right

now. it should not be. host: what lesson do think we have learned it with the rise? what should be due? guest: we should study the science and spend less energy on political science. laster, political science got more attention than science. it never made sense to deem as summit business is essential and others non-essential. i hope we do not repeat that. the idea that we can close our economy. ohio closed very early, march 13 and stayed closed. we had a curfew. lots of mandates and restrictions. in florida, they were very open. the next process state on our case fatality rate to ohio is florida. the cause and effect relationships, like the color says, really are not there. we knew it bucket because the defect was pitched, it did not

turn out to be that way. in the u.k., the delta variant has been studied. i read that 92,000 hospitalizations, one hundred 17 fatalities. no one wants any fatalities or anyone to feel sick. but 117 fatalities out of 92,000, none under 50. the idea that we are going to go back and replicate things that should have not been done in the first place, but certainly should not be done with the benefit of hindsight, should alarm people. host: tampa, ken, independent line. caller: good morning. i am a veteran.

i noticed that -- and i want this from your heart and not some political situation on how you think things should be answered because you are on tv. when it comes to this whatever you want to call it, this non-insurrection, what is your true heart feeling if these people who stormed the capitol, if they were black or brown, i am wondering what would be your stance? my second question is, if those people who stormed the capital -- the capitol were black lives matter or antifa, what would be your stance on the committee as

far as finding out what happened? guest: it would be the same as right now. i am fine with a committee. it just cannot be partisan where all the conclusions are already drawn. it should be objective. this should have been done by the end of january. one of the things that has not been done is about 15,000 hours of video footage are out there. not only has it -- is not even being provided to the people charged with crimes. they are using the video evidence to say, we have images of you at the capitol doing this or that. they are using it like a totalitarian regime. the evidence is not being supplied for the people charged with crimes. i would favor and objective investigation, where evidence that might show guilt or innocence are provided, not just to the prosecution, but to the defendants. i am definitely opposed to

holding people who came in solitary confinement. i would be opposed no matter their age, color, or creed. there were criminal acts that day. we are prosecuting those just like we are prosecuting the criminal acts for numerous other protests that crossed the line this past year. as far as costs in line on protests ago, many went much further than this. it got a lot of attention, which is due because it is the nation's capitol, but it is also wrong to set fire to a federal courthouse. all of these things should be defended. it really was not defended very well. even though there is plenty of advance warning that it should have been defended better. that should be part of the scope of the investigation. host: david, south carolina,

republican line. caller: what happened to the antifa black guy who is in the capitol? did he go to jail like the rest of the people? why nancy pelosi had the national guard parking cars outside when she should have had them at the capitol? guest: the fullscope of the investigation should include what happened to securing the capitol. the national guard was part of it. they were delayed in being provided to the capitol. all of us were shocked that it happened. not the people were protesting but that something to a protest

where people could enter that capitol. i had full confidence of the capitol police have the situation at hand. when the breach did happen, i had a lot of confidence that it would be dealt with swiftly. we have had some briefings about that. some levels of that should stay private, for security purposes, but a certain amount should definitely be aired publicly so that it does not happen again. i do not know the situation for the specific person you reference. i remember seeing news about it. i believe a cnn journalist was accompanying him. there were people who planned to do some of the things that did happen. they were not all there because they support trump. host: our guest is an army veteran. i wanted to get your thoughts on the chair of the joint chiefs. there is a story in the washington post this morning.

pentagon officials on wednesday defended the military's tradition of staying out of elections. after fear that donald trump would've temped a coup. guest: i have been a little concerned about general milley as chairman of the joint chiefs. i suppose he fits just fine with what biden is trying to do. he has politicized the military from the beginning. we have not been able to meet since biden became president. they suspended it because they were concerned the military was being politicized. the reality is that they're working to politicize the military. they are preventing anyone being able to be president as they do it, including members -- to be able to be present as they do it, including members of pride -- members of congress. i am concerned when joe biden is doing is commander of chief and now what uniformed officers are doing to could -- to politicize

the military. president trump saying, we are going to control the street, pushback people on this block. general milley saying he was embarrassed to be part of that. that is their role. my own dad was deployed from fort bragg, north carolina up to andrews air force base. last time the military was brought in to help establish security. these were protests right after george floyd. there were other things the president did that people had concerns about politicizing. but the idea that the nation's military would be used to secure the capitol is not conversant -- controversial and certainly was not controversial on inauguration day. i am very concerned that the military is being politicized at every level. it seems like general milley seems ok with it as long as the

political tune is going to the left. host: marion, georgia, democrat. caller: you are from ohio. how long have you been in office? guest: i came in in the summer of june -- of 2016. i came in as a result of a special election. caller: then you have been there long enough -- this is a little off the everyday stuff we are talking about. in the last 20 years, we have gone from 50 million to 30 million acres of land, farmland, that is now being owned by other countries.

we have gone from 50 million to 30 million in 20 years of land owned by foreigners. this is prime farmland. ohio and texas have no restrictions. states can restrict how much land foreigners in their states can own. iowa, no foreigners own any land. if you are in ohio and are so worried about foreigners, illegal, coming in, why aren't you worried about foreign investors coming in and buying up an unlimited amount of prime agricultural land in your state? guest: you have already drawn the conclusion that i am not worried, which is false. during the previous congress -- a couple of congress is ago, when republicans were in the majority, we passed an act.

there is a committee on foreign investment in the u.s. that was strengthened. one big piece that was strengthened was to review real estate purchases, of china in particular. not just farmland, but sometimes they will buy the whole office building that some thing they want to group -- acquire is in and try to use the infrastructure to steal the data. we should rightly have concerns that real estate would be a way for foreign influence to grow in the u.s. under republican leadership, bills were passed to do that. you're right that we should use a more holistic approach for the federal and state governments to review this. people have been slow to respond to foreign purchases of real estate in this review process that was intended to be addressed. we have been slow to respond to china broadly.

i greatly appreciated trump putting the emphasis on trade. this was long overdue. our manufacturing sector in particular is being crushed by china's practices. i hope we can old a broader coalition to deal with china. they promised to be a market-based economy and have not done that. they steal intellectual property, shape market access. it accelerates their abuse of stolen intellectual property. it is anticompetitive. they do not just do it to the u.s., they do it to everybody. my hope is we can build a coalition around the world that forces china to behave differently. but there are other concerns about real estate purchases. thanks for raising the issue. host: republican line, maryland. caller: regarding -- we are

talking about january 6, correct? host: among other things. caller: i wasn't there -- was there. i was there in a peaceful way. i was listening to everyone, including trump and elton john songs, etc.. the people who ended up at the capital -- capitol steps i date where the conglomerate of some people that were not part of that 100,000 people that i was shoulder to shoulder with. we were there to unite the country. we love everybody. i love my democratic friends. i have many of them. we do not want to on the divide the country. -- to divide the country.

the reason we were there was because of what led up to that day. we were there is a peaceful set representing all of the country. we did not like the election and how it happened. we have got some things going on in arizona and other swing states that are going to come out. i ask, beg all of my citizens who are democrats to get ready and look at the election audit. not only the audit is going -- host: what you think is going to happen? caller: i think we will see that there is undeniable proof that the election was fraudulent. congressman, do you want to react? caller: i appreciate you providing some context. i have talked with a number of

people who brought their wives, daughters, friends of mine. people who live in the district that visited the capitol the same way you described. it was the same as normal trump rallies -- peaceful, happy in terms of support for trump, but also concerned about the election. that was the reason for the rally, but some people cross the line. who they were, where they came from -- we should probably have already concluded and investigation. -- an investigation. it has become partisan and continues to be described pejoratively by democrat leadership. i hope we can move forward objectively. you can watch video clip and after video clip of democrats

talking about the 2016 or 2018 election and concern going into 2020 about election fraud. but afterwards, it was the cleanest election ever. recently, we saw in new york city, when they were having a democratic primary, they found over 100,000 ballots that were miscast. they did an audit. it was not controversial. it was a democrat primary. these things happen. the idea that there could be a transparent audit is not normally politicized. it is part of how we have confidence in our elections. sadly, because of how it has been politicized, there are millions of just like you who do not have confidence in the outcome of this election. there should be full transparency, and audit, in particular in places where the observers were kicked out. you start right after they were kicked out, there is still valid counting going on. that is not supposed to happen. in austin, where that did

happen, we saw massive swings in the vote tally. that does not guarantee there was fraud, but it should guarantee an audit. host: one more call. cleveland, michael, independent line. caller: good morning, congressman. good morning. pretty civil question. i chose to get vaccinated, and you chose as to whether you are vaccinated or not, and you do not mandate and ask others? guest: yes, i have made a choice. i have not shared it publicly because i believe it is my right to privacy. people should do this in consultation with their own doctors, and the idea that there is this massive pressure tactic to force everyone to be vaccinated and then shame them for not answering it, you don't

know what's going on in somebody's personal health situation, and i think it is an invasion of privacy to put people on the spot and try to make them answer that question. host: congressman warren davidson of ohio represents the eighth district. thank you for being here on "washington journal." up next we will open our phone lines for our open forum and look at the latest political stores or public policy issues that you are following and reading about. 202-748-8000 is the line for democrats. republicans, 202-748-8001, independents, 202-748-8002. john garamendi will talk about the wildfires out west, including in his district.

saturday on the communicators -- >> the white house policy under obama and under trump, and now under president biden have all been very strong in the same areas. they believe in the future of artificial intelligence, of self-driving, and all these great technologies that are coming down which are going to make our lives better. so as much as we say about the white house -- are we talking about the president or about the people hoodoos policy and get things done? i have to say -- the people and the policy who get things done? host: gary shapiro talks about major tech policy, including online free speech, antitrust, and broadband access. on "the commune caters," saturday at 6:30 p.m. eastern -- on "the communicators, saturday at 6:30 p.m. on c-span. >> robert novak's nickname was

the prince of darkness, named that by many of his friends and fellow washington-based journalists. in 2007, two years before he died at age 78, his autobiography was published about his 50 years as a reporter, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. he appeared on book notes at the time about his book "the prince of darkness." announcer: listen at c-span.org/podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. announcer: washington journal continues. host: it is our open forum. we welcome your calls and comments on what is going on politically and in public policy issues. 202-748-8000 is the line for democrats. 202-748-8001, republicans. and 202-748-8002 if you want to comment about the decisions on the january 6 committee, that is

great. we have not touched on the senate, and the vote yesterday on infrastructure. here is the headline enrolled call -- in roll call. they write that the senate's rejection wednesday of a procedural step to advance a still unwritten infrastructure bill sets the stage for a second attempt possibly early next week. senate majority leader charles schumer said little wednesday about pleas from republicans and the 22-member bipartisan group with details about the legislation scheduled to vote next week is actions hinted at his intentions by changing his vote to oppose cloture on the motion to proceed to the plant just laid a vehicle, schumer allowed the senate -- the plan -- did not specify when. he writes a republican negotiators to unanimously opposed moving forward argued that the vote was not a referendum on the bipartisan framework itself but an opportunity to iron out two

lingering disagreements, transit funding and which unspent covid-19 relief dollars to use to help pay for the package, which now includes $570 billion in new spending. that is from roll call. a couple of opinions on the january 6 committee. the speaker removing, or blocking two members, and the republican leader pulling all five members of the select committee, believing -- leaving just liz cheney, who was appointed by the speaker on that panel. this is the opinion of "the wall street journal."

so then you, charlene other co- -- charlene, go ahead. caller: thank god we have need to police the -- nancy pelosi as

speaker of the house. jim jordan doesn't care anything that is truthful. he is just a disrupter. listen to his news conference yesterday. he tried to deflect, let's get to the bottom of what happened. it was a disgrace. i watched that on tv. i've watched all the hearings on c-span when jim jordan has been in there, and he doesn't care about truth. he just wants to have everyone listen to himself. back to the senate, what the senate did yesterday. what is the senate doing? what have the republicans done? they don't want to get anything forward. they are just disrupting everything. we are americans. we need to get going. we need to come together as people. i don't understand this. it is just so sad. i used to be a republican for many years, and i switched because i don't like the way this country is going, and i don't like the leadership of the republican party. host: here is the republican

line. ray in ithaca, new york. caller: i am more concerned about the people calling in this morning and have noticed it lately on your program, that everyone is so hostile toward the other side, and it worries me a great deal. i've been watching "washington journal" for a long time, and every year it seems to get a little worse where everyone is just attacking each other and calling everyone people and president trump is evil. these elected officials are not people. we have major disagreements. i think we need to be more polite in trying to work with each other. banks and jordan might not be the two republicans i would choose, but i still think they need to be on there and have their voices heard, and we need to respect each other. the level of hostility is a great concern to me. host: ray, do you think your opinion of the hostilities that

are in the callers that you perceive, is that politics particularly here in washington, a reflection of inside the capital here? caller: i do. i think it has gotten worse. i don't think it is anything new. i think people have been attacking each other for a very long time. but i do think the difference is , the public itself seems to be much more hostile toward each other. i respect politicians from both sides. but it is very troubling when people call in and justify terrible behavior or try to justify yelling at people or saying that this caller was an 88 or that caller was an idiot. i think that is just very -- was an idiot or that caller was an idiot. it is just very troubling. host: from albuquerque, new mexico, go ahead. caller: i disagree with the

previous caller, the i would not call people idiots. pelosi, i think jim jordan and mccarthy were being disingenuous because the democrats did not want a select committee. they wanted an independent bipartisan committee, and it was refused. they don't want to debate it, in other words. he was asking that the person responsible -- he is trying to pin this on pelosi for any facts are out. it was a standdown order, a memo on the fourth that chris miller said the national guard, they could not have weapons. they were not able to issue weapons or anything. i think he is being disingenuous. that's all i wanted to say. thank you. host: we will go to florida. i hope i pronounce your name correctly. caller: how are you doing? host: you are on the air. caller: i just wanted to

represent, i am from atlanta, georgia. i heard what you are talking about, the vaccines, everything, and i wanted to let you all know, i have seen a lot of different things in this world. you know how the traffic is in georgia. i appreciate you all letting me on the air, and as part of the democratic republic, either way, we are in gods hands. i appreciate you all letting me on the air. yeah, vaccines, i would not trust them because i have been in the hospital and i have been told it get you very bad side effects. i'm in the hospital right now in orlando, florida. host: thanks for the call this morning, another opinion on the decision yesterday by house speaker pelosi. pelosi calls the gop sen. blunt:

on the january 6 committee. -- the gop's bluff on the january 6 committee. the independent commission was shot down by republicans, many of people who are in uneasy with the -- possibly also into the behavior of republican members of commerce themselves. by rejecting the sabotage-minded duo, pelosi drew a thick line under the central reality of our politics. it is no longer possible to proceed normally when republicans answer to a leader and his loyal base for whom reality is not -- is an inconvenience. fairly counted elections are a hindrance, and outright lies are an accepted currency of politics. from kentucky, good morning. caller: good morning. that is exactly what i wanted to say, is that republicans do not want an inquiry into the

insurrection because they are guilty. and how all three republicans stand up and want to believe this when it was blatantly in front of them, and they don't want to call it an insurrection. i mean, they are guilty. that is why -- if they were not guilty, they would welcome an inquiry. that's all. host: dayton, ohio. janet on the independent line. caller: yes, i was also calling about the commission and the two people that were ousted. mccarthy knew exactly what he was doing putting them on there, because he does not want this to go through. specifically jim jordan from ohio -- this guy turned his back on young men in ohio state for power, and now he is putting -- turning his back on the american people. how many people have to get arrested in the trump camp for people to realize that he is so

corrupt, so morally bankrupt? and mccarthy and all of them that have taken over the republican party need to be ashamed of themselves. they have sworn over the republican party to donald trump and ruined it. all of those past republicans have now become independents because true republicans are for the american people, not for donald trump. host: president biden was in cincinnati yesterday, did a town hall on cnn. he was one of the headlines with the hill. biden won bipartisan infrastructure deal. he was asked why he is still convinced that bipartisanship is the way to go. [video clip] pres. biden: i spent a lot of time as a senator and vice president, and i got to say something outrageous. i don't know you will find any republican i've ever worked with who says i ever broke my word, didn't do exactly what i said i would do a keep my word.

i was able to get an awful lot of compromises put together to do really good things, to change things, and i still believe that's possible. but the well has been so poisoned over the last four years, and even now there is still this lingering effort. a lot of my republican friends -- and i'm not talking about your governor -- a lot of my republican friends say, joe, i know you are right, but i fight do this i will get primary and i will lose my primary. and i will be in trouble. i think that is all beginning to move. i don't mean overnight. don't get me wrong, i'm painting out some panacea here. but i think people are figuring out that if we want to -- i've always found you get rewarded for doing what you think at the time is the right thing, and people really believe that she believe it is the right thing to do. so i think you are seeing it

come together. by the way, the compromises are real. compromises with my own party between the far left and the center and some of the folks who are more conservative. that's coming together. they said that would never happen. but if you notice, it has happened. host: back to your calls. we will hear from frank in fort lauderdale. caller: good morning. i would like to talk about the fact that the democrats and the hyde amendment, which restricts federal funding of abortion, it has been in effect for over 40 years, and a lot of people -- we respect the human rights, the god-given human rights of the unborn as well as the born. we do not want to pay our taxes to kill these innocent unborn american babies.

i'm very much concerned about that. i used to be a democrat, but i left the party over that issue primarily. speaker pelosi has denied a vote on that hyde amendment for 38 times in the last month alone. the republicans are bringing that vote up on the hyde amendment, and she will not allow it. i think that issue alone is going to cause her the control of the house of representatives, and i think the american voters are really disgusted with this new administration. that is not the only issue i'm concerned about, but that is primary for me and a lot of us. host: here is dennis in salem, oregon, independent line. caller: i sit here and watch these people. nancy pelosi is directed to

secure -- it is all along the issues. this is a democrat to. they pushed biden in place while trump was in office. restoring this country. the democratic party, they were not bringing biden to people. obama, hillary, the corrupt swap. and it needs to be fixed. host: an observation from david mark of "the washington examiner."

susan page of usa today with an interview of the 98-year-old bob dole. he was one of the few elders of the traditional republican establishment who endorsed donald trump in 2016 and the only former presidential nominee to attend the convention that nominated trump. in a split with the president, dole said there is no question he lost in 2020, narrowly but perhaps fair and square. houston, texas, is next, billy on the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning, how are you? thanks for taking my call. i just wanted to make a comment on the january 6 investigations

going on. we can help people by telling the truth. the thing about it is pelosi has some rights. to not accept certain representatives in the investigation. our only one reporter that says there is a possibility that jim jordan may be called to testify. so why won't she have him on the committee if he is going to be one of the witnesses? host: she didn't choose him. caller: that's what i'm saying. they are trying to say the reason she didn't choose him was to throw a wrench and everything , just mess everything up. well what if jim jordan is called and he's asking the questions and is going to have to go up on the other side and answer questions? so i'm not saying that she --

that if he is going to be called as a witness, will he participate if he is called? but nobody said any part of that part of it. they only said nancy pelosi is just -- we need to start telling the people the truth. the thing about it is, you just had a caller that was talking about with obama, when people say things like that, if i'm wrong, tell me i'm wrong. tell me there is no possibility that jim jordan is going to be called. but to let people start saying things and not trying to correct them, that is when everything gets out of line. there are some things that have been said that are totally ridiculous, but they are allowed to be said. once it is said, it is what president trump was about.

he didn't care if it was the truth. he just wanted it to be said. host: bill is next in gloucester city, new jersey, republican line. caller: how are you doing? c-span, i watch this every morning. but you have one thing wrong here. the first commission that pelosi put off was bipartisan, right? i keep reading in the papers every day that she was going to pick the 29 or 39 people that are staff numbers who were subpoenaed. why don't you bring that up with these people? they don't understand the whole story. with the insurrection, what they call insurrection, james also live in is part of black lives matter. he was wearing -- james sullivan 's of black lives matter. he was wearing a mega hat.

sheesh -- he should be in jail, just like that more on with the horns. that's my opinion. fact-check, that's what they said. host: diane on the independent line, mansfield, ohio. you are on. caller: i think the congressman that you had on was congressman davis. i am just amused over and over, and he said the same, that he wants his medical decisions to be private between him and his doctor. even if they endanger other people's lives, kill other people. he said we cannot possibly know what is going on in another persons life. yet these are the same people who think it is all right to undermine a woman's right to choose and her privacy. host: from the new york times this morning --

open forum continues. linda is next, democrats line. hi there. caller: hello, good morning. thank you for taking my call. regarding the hearings coming up on the january 6 event, my question is for the panel. the mayor of d.c., i remember when something happened and he said don't send -- mira bowser, i think is her name, and i haven't heard anybody talk about her coming to testify or anything since that day. can you -- host: she has testified on capitol hill before at least one committee on january 6. the select committee is not met yet. they are set to meet next tuesday. i'm not sure if she is scheduled to testify before them next week, so -- caller: ok, because that is what

i was wondering. i will check the website because c-span i watch every day. host: if you go to c-span.org and search mira bowser -- she recently testified probably in the last couple of weeks before one of the house committees, perhaps even a senate committee, on january 6. she certainly has testified. caller: exactly what she did regarding the whole event. one more thing. another thing i was thinking about, if the people that were there protesting, did they expect to be able to get in? maybe it was a surprise to everyone, even the congressman and different people, that they were able to break the security. i think that might be something they should investigate as well. host: to miami, right next door in miami, florida fulton go

ahead. caller: this is ted. host: mute your volume and go with your comments. caller: i just want to talk about the january 6 election. we don't need to be policing ourselves. both of them need to stop policing themselves and figure out an independent person to come in and figure this out. we are not making any progress doing it ourselves, and as far as the pipeline, you know, he should have probably kept that open because, yes, he should have gotten with canada and everything else. stop policing ourselves. we need to stop doing that. we are not smart doing that. host: the callers from coastal florida. this is from the wall street journal. another surfside florida condo is evacuated after building deemed unsafe. people who live in a waterfront

condominium a few blocks from last month's deadly building collapse in florida have voluntarily evacuated because of structural problems identified by an engineer, the condo board president said. a building that was 70 years old, the evacuation began july 9. on problems with the structural integrity following an initial inspection. many residents were gone with the remaining few expected to leave within days. president biden we mentioned yesterday had a town hall meeting in cincinnati marking six months in office, was asked about gun violence in his administration's efforts on that. here's what he said. [video clip] pres. biden: the people who infect are using those weapons are acquiring them illegally, illegally. so what happens is i've got atf -- alcohol, tobacco, and firearms -- i have them increase

their budget and their capacity along with the justice department, to go after the gun shops that are not abiding by the law doing background checks. for real, that's number one. number two, we are in a position where most of the cities -- you have had a lot of gun violence here in cincinnati. i think it is up to how many dead? 500 over a period -- don't hold me to the number. but my point is, all across the country. it's not because the gun shops in the cities are selling these guns. they are either shadow gun dealers and/or gun shops that are not abiding by the law. so we are going to do a major investigation and shut those guys down and put some of them in jail for what they are doing, selling these weapons. there is also a thing called ghost guns that are being sold now and being used, and so -- but in addition to that, what we

have to do is we have to deal with a larger problem of the whole issue of law enforcement generally. we are in a situation where, as much as we need to pass the florida act and all that, here's the deal. cops are having real trouble. they are not all bad guys. there are a lot of good guys. we need more police men, not fewer. but we need them involved in community policing. and when they did that, all the violent crime went down. but guess what, crime went down until we stopped doing community policing. so it's about getting -- we have availability now of over -- lots of money for cops to be able to hire psychologists, psychiatrists, as well as social workers. host: one more call on our open

forum. list here from bill in maine. good morning, bill. caller: hello, bill. that hello. i was listening earlier to bipartisanship, and i listen to a few republicans, and i went to the democrats and it would be nice indeed if we actually could work together like we used to. but a certain person, and we all know who it is come is more interested in causing trouble. honestly everyone is busy going yes, no. the guy put his appointees, sit that memo out saying you cannot avoid the troop -- the truth. january 6, the same time that they were doing the electoral college count, then his people put out a memo saying we cannot

deploy troops. they knew it was going to happen. he was encouraging it and he was open for it. host: that will do it for this open forum. thanks for the calls and comments. there is more ahead here on washington journal. we will speak next to john garamendi of california. talking to him specifically about the wildfires affecting his state. other congressional news before the house comes in this morning at 9:00 eastern. sunday on "q&a," washington post finance columnist michelle single terry on her book, what to do with your money when crisis hits >>. it is not a matter of if there is another comic crisis but when. we want to set you up for the next crisis. it is not all about covid, but

what recession is going to come down the road. it may be long, it may be short. life is going to happen, and i need you to prepare now. i do a lot of financial seminars in my community, and it is so hard to get people to save or prepare when they are doing well because they are doing well. they don't think that tomorrow is going to have an issue, so you need to save, you need to do that, and they say i'm going to get to it. when a crisis hits, everybody is in frugal mode, they are ready to do it. but that's too late. the time to do that is when you have the resources, when you have the ability to cut. it's easy to cut when you cannot pay for anything or things are shut down. so i wanted to say, let's prepare. that's be that fireman or fire woman -- let's be that fireman or fire woman, that is prepared.

announcer: michelle singha terry, sunday on -- michelle single terry, sunday on q&a. you can also watch on the podcast. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: congressman john garamendi represents the 10th district in california. thanks for being with us this morning. guest: good to be with you, bill. host: let's start with the decision yesterday by the speaker to block jim jordan from the select committee on july 6. what is your reaction to that? what happened afterwards? the republican leader pulling all five members off the panel. caller: first of all, we absolutely have to have a thorough review and understanding of how this insurrection took place. most serious attack on the u.s.

capitol since 1814 when the british burned the place down. so we need to understand all of the elements that led to it so that we can avoid this ever happening again in the future. how to do that, the independent commission that we wanted to have was blocked by senator mcconnell and the republicans in the senate, and so that panel was never formed. nevertheless, we need to do this, and therefore we put together this panel in the house of representatives. the two people that were removed from the panel are clearly not objecting. mr. banks and mr. jordan are not objecting on any subject having to do with democrats and anything that would in any way potentially harm or implicate president trump. an independent person they were

not. they would have to be removed. the other three were quite satisfactory. the move by mccarthy could take all of the republicans -- taking all of the republicans off was in my view foolish. there is one republican that remains, liz cheney. she has been very clear that the insurrection was an insurrection, that the riot was a riot. so we are going to have a panel. we are going forward. it will be a full open hearing beginning next week. we need to find out and the public needs to know what happened. host: let's talk about the increasing cases of coronavirus, the delta variant spreading. the reporting of ktla, coronavirus hospitalizations hit the highest points in months as delta variant spreads across california. what do you think the congressional and the administration response should be in the immediate future on

this? guest: it is actually happening, and that is increasing the effort to get people vaccinated. we saw that last night with the town hall that the president did, and efforts all across the nation to get people vaccinated. the unvaccinated are the ones who are principally getting sick. there are a few breakout infections, but principally it is the unvaccinated. so get people vaccinated. we are not done with the virus. enormous effort is being done across the nation beginning in january up until this moment. but it is not completely successful. those folks who are hesitant are being very foolish. they are not only risking their own lives but risking their commute -- their community lives, and giving open road for the delta to infect more people, including vaccinated people. the good news is if you are

vaccinated, you may get healthy but you're not going to get a serious illness -- you may get covid but you are not going to get a serious illness and die. host: your part of the state includes davis and yuba city. remind us of where that is in california. guest: it is the great central valley of california. it lies to the east of the san francisco bay area, to the east of napa valley. it is a huge agricultural district. my district is the delta of california, the largest inland estuary on the west coast, the western hemisphere, and it is an enormous agricultural community. there is also a rich -- a research community for i/o tech and agriculture based out of the university of california. major manufacturing, major biotech, the largest biopharmaceutical facility in the world is in that district. so it is an exciting district. it's also a district where we have the highest mountains in

the sierras on one side and the highest coastal range on the others. we have open land. we also have the greatest flyway in the world. flyway for waterfall in the central valley. it is an exciting district, a complex district. it really is a reflection of the best of california. host: how has the drought affected the agricultural part of that. how are the farms doing in your district in particular. esco it is a very difficult year. i'm a rancher. we have very little grass for the ranchers throughout the hills and valleys of california. the water systems are severely stretched. we have seen pictures of the colorado river. lake mead in las vegas. it is one third, the lowest it has ever been since it was filled. and in the northern reservoirs and other reservoirs, it is going to be a very difficult

year for all of california. agriculture is clearly the largest consumer of water, and together with the environment we try to protect the fish as best we can in every circumstance. and in urban communities, they are in serious cutbacks. the urban water use, industrial, and certainly agriculture. in a lot of farms are going to be -- a lot of agriculture is not going to happen. host: you talked about this, the issue of water. why is this not a larger issue before hand? why does it take a make a drought like this to raise this awareness? guest: well, way back in the gold rush in california, a fellow called mark twain came to california to observe the gold rush, and among the things he wrote, it was, "in california, whiskey is fruit drinking, water is for fighting."

there is this enormous controversy. this is really an issue that spreads across the nation in georgia, alabama, florida, where they have had an ongoing battle over water. in those eastern communities, southeastern communities, as we have in the west. we do need to look to the future. i've said for years and years, this is going to happen, that we are going to have water shortages periodically. now we have a continuous water shortage. what we need to do is first conservation at every level. the fact of the matter is, agricultural conservation has been going on for at least 30 to 40 years and has had a very significant reduction in the amount of water to grow any particular crop. that is continuing. urban conservation. the city of los angeles two decades ago retrofitted every toilet in the city of los angeles to low flow toilets.

those efforts are underway. we also need to do recycling. in southern california, the fifth largest river on the west coast, the western hemisphere from alaska to chile are the sanitation plants in southern california. they clean the water and dump it in the ocean. recycling is a major effort in southern california, as it is in arizona and other places. these are all techniques. we need water storage systems, stream storage systems. we are in the process of putting together a major off stream reservoir in my district. if it were in place today, it would have a significant impact in reducing the effect of the drought. so these are all things that we need to do. we need to replenish the rivers so that -- but also use that water wisely. host: congressman garamendi with

us until 9:00. 202-748-8000, the line for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. for independent 202-748-8002,. the dixie fire up north in california, the bootleg fire in oregon. what about your district itself? has it been affected by these fires? guest: all of california is affected because the firefighters in california are centering on these fires. we have neutral aid programs from california. firefighters in southern california are in these northern districts. the new big one is near lake tahoe, just to the southeast of lake tahoe. so these fires are extremely dangerous. they are burning very, very fast. what the firefighters have learned is that the fires today are far more dangerous. they are explosive fires because

the biomass is very dry. previously the fires would burn, and they would get them under control or contain them. now they are simply burning without containment because of the explosive nature of them. we are going to have more. we are on alert. we are urging everybody in california to be fire safe. the insurance commissioner in california in the early 1990's and again in 2000, it was routine for me every fire season in the fall to be dealing with insurance problems because of the fires. i remember the oakland hills fire, one of the most disastrous , an urban fire. we had it three or four years ago, an urban fire in santa rosa that wiped out several city blocks, nearly 100 city blocks in santa rosa. what we have now is the urban wildland interface where the fire base is spreading into

urban areas, and it has devastating effects. so, yeah, it is extremely dangerous. we need to be very cautious. we need to be prepared and we need these neutral aid programs not only within california, but we do have these that spread across the west. right now we are receiving some aid and the eastern states are coming into california and oregon to assist. host: let's get to callers. from new jersey, democrats line. go ahead. caller: yes, hello. my question and concern is, do you think that this whole goal, that biden is going to be mandating the masks across the country? my concern is that you have all these illegals coming across the border who have covid, that is being distributed amongst the country and spreading it all over the place.

now, i am -- hold it. i took two covid vaccines, told that i would not have to wear a mask, and now it looks like i'm going to be penalized for these illegals coming across. host: we will get a response. guest: first of all, it is not illegals, it is the one third, about 40% of americans that have refused to be vaccinated. the delta is spreading among the american population. certainly there are people that are coming from other countries, legal and illegal, and they are not the reason that the delta is spreading in america. they have arrived here in america, probably coming through india, europe, to america. once it is here, this delta is a very very lent -- very viral and

an contagious virus and it is spreading among unvaccinated americans. with regard to the masks, this is a decision you should make personally. you are vaccinated, you are a senior. i'm vaccinated, i am a senior. what i noticed on the floor of the house of representatives, early this week, monday when we assembled, there were maybe half a dozen democrat and republican members wearing a mask. tuesday there were probably two or three dozen. today there is probably 100 mems of the house of representatives wearing masks. why are we doing it? to protect ourselves, and, should we have an infection, to protect others. what i do like here is that the evangelical and the religious community has reached back into

the bible, and they are pulling out passages in the bible about the responsibility we have to protect each other. so this is really about not only protecting yourself but each other. will there be a mask mandate? no, there won't. there will be local mandates. we have seen this in los angeles. about 12 million people in los angeles county that are now required indoors to wear a mask. why? to protect each other, to stop the delta variant spreading throughout the community. so please, for your own purposes, for your own health, for the health of your children and your grandchildren who are probably not yet vaccinated, wear a mask. you are not likely to get sick. but if you did, you could spread that to your children. and you are not likely -- if you

were to get covid, delta, you're not likely to get sick and you're certainly not likely to wind up in the hospital or to die. but you have a very high risk. host: allen in lutherville, maryland, good morning. caller: good morning. i have called before and am grateful for this forum. i am a retired army officer. i teach negotiation and conflict resolution endlessly to people throughout the day. i want to make a suggestion i think we all can do regarding border, delta, covid, whatever the issue is. there are only three things that iou in a conversation -- what i think, what i feel in -- emotionally, and what i do or don't want. this business about attacking the person if you don't like their beliefs, i have trained in advance training in rational

emotive be failure -- emotive behavior therapy. with people so outraged that somebody can hold that belief that they immediately attacked the individual -- what i have a major problem with is the term thought crime or early labeling of racism when somebody cannot prevail with use of reason. to say why i think what i think is like something from a minority report novel. it's the idea of saying i can climb in your head and tell you what you think. i want to end by saying that the first lesson for anybody who comes to any real cognitive therapy is that you yourself are utterly responsible for your emotions, and the only responsibility the other person has is not to act provocatively, where most people would have an excessive emotional response. but this idea that -- it is unreasonable and it doesn't follow science. host: congressman, any reaction

to that? guest: it is certainly a very positive statement about how we need to treat each other, and we are to listen very carefully to what the gentleman just said. thank you for bringing that to our attention. host: you were mentioned as you mentioned that you were an insurance commissioner. the headline in the washington don't says -- the washington journal says -- because of so many fires out there. what is your thought out there? is that he could move by pg&e, burying power lines? guest: it is certainly a good move by those areas of the state. the fires started principally in a very rural area where you have heavy trees or brush or other force material, so in certain areas, yes, we do need to bury

them. in other areas, probably not necessary. the reality here is that it is extremely dangerous of the situation, made worse by climate change. as i spoke earlier, the biomass in california, whether it is the brush or the oaks or the timber, is extraordinarily dry, and so the smallest spark from even a trailer going down the road with the chain dragging on the asphalt has started fires. and certainly pg&e powerlines have been responsible for various fires. in certain areas it is going to be necessary to bury them. host: from texas, this is rick. caller: this congressman is perfect reason why you should have a balanced program, somebody to counter. they are moronic.

nobody is buying into it. they are so ignorant, nobody is buying into it. so please go back to balance. host: what are you referring to in particular? caller: illegal aliens not bringing in covid, the new delta variant? are you serious? host: congressman, do you want to follow up on that, to the point you made earlier? guest: it is an open question on how the delta variant arrives here. it apparently began in india during the crisis india had about three to four months ago. in india, it spread around the world, probably through europe first and then into the united states. there is no evidence that it arrived through the southern border. it is spreading throughout the united states, principally among

the unvaccinated americans. that is basically the story of how the variant, the delta variant is operating in california. we may never know exactly how it arrived here. the illegal immigrants may have brought it, but it is most certainly were just as probably -- it just as probably arrived in an airplane from some part of the world. but what we do know is that it is in the united states, well over 80% of all new covert infections with the delta variant. where is it spreading? principally among the unvaccinated. man that is why we really don't know who is and who is not vaccinated. that is why communities like los angeles is requiring masks indoors, to protect not only the

individual wearing the mask, but other members of the community, and all of this oh our responsibility to the health of our neighbor, the health of our child, the health of our grandchild. so wearing a mask is not a mandate. the federal government is not going to mandate it, but our own risk and our own understanding of how to predict not only ourselves but our neighbors and our nation, it is going to be a mask issue. but first, get vaccinated. host: some pictures of kids in california, back in in-person person schooling for the first time. this is bill. what part of the state are you calling from? caller: calling from humboldt county, 250 miles north of san francisco. host: good morning. guest: i know it well. caller: you know, what we could really do to help prevent forest fires is actually cleanup our

forest floors. my first job in 1980 when i was 18 was with the national forest service, and in the winter that's exactly what we did. i don't see it happening anymore. guest: you have raised a very important policy question, and i'm going to get right into it. of the 1980's, you were working in the forest. until two or three years ago, the forest service, who you had the honor and pleasure of working for -- and thank you -- was spending almost all of its budget on fighting fires. that certainly was not the case from the 1990's to 2010 and to this time. almost all of the money was spent fighting fires. very little money available for forest management. that is everything from painting the picnic tables to doing what you did in the 1980's. that is creating a healthy

forest. we changed that. it took about five years to do it. i started with mike simpson of idaho. we pushed and pushed, and legislation is now in place that sets of two different budgets for the u.s. forest service. one fighting fires and the other, forest management. the u.s. forest service now has programs, and this is happening throughout the west. certainly it is in california, where the u.s. forest service is every year spending money, doing what you did in the 1980's. that is, removing the biomass, bringing the force back to its more natural circumstances. and when they fight fires, when they run out of money on fighting fires, they will do exactly what every other federal and state agency does. they go to fema and they get extra money to carry out the firefighting tasks. this is an extremely important change, and over time -- not immediately because there is so much that needs to be done -- but over time, we will have a

healthier forest. i would encourage young people, as you did in the 1980's, to work in the forest. it is a phenomenal way to learn about forest health and start a career, and i suspect you did also, in dealing with our environment. thank you, bill, for what you did in the 1980's. we are at it again. host: we are about two minutes before the house comes in. i want to get your quick thoughts on the article in "the atlantic," the headline "the california dream is dying." zoning, the issues we talked about, drought, a number of issues in that extensive piece. in a minute or so, your opinion on the state of the california dream in 2021. guest: years ago i said there were five things california needs to do to stay healthy -- best education, best research, best infrastructure, and think about making things in california. we are doing all of that. i talked earlier about the

biggest biopharmaceutical plan in the world in my district. california is not declining, it is actually growing. it is a leader in many of the technologies. biopharmaceutical, bio egg or culture, everything including the electronics industry. california is not about to go away. we are the leading state, we will remember the -- we will remain the leading state. we always will have challenges, and we will always overcome those challenges. host: we welcome you on the program talking about that and other issues, talking with our viewers. commerce me john garamendi of california, thanks for being with us. guest: my pleasure. thanks, bill. host: that will do it for the program this morning. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]