republican representative fred keller of pennsylvania talks about the biden administration's response to the pandemic. later, georgia democratic representative hank johnson on continuing efforts to pass voting rights legislation in congress. host: good morning. thursday, january 13. inflation is at the highest level in nearly 40 years. president biden and his agenda could pay the price. a recent poll shows americans give him a 34% approval rating for his handling of the economy. senator joe manchin repeated yesterday has opposition to the president's build back better agenda, citing the latest news on inflation. for the consumer, it means a 7% increase in the cost of goods and services, with the added

disruptions in the delivery of those goods. how have inflation and supply chain disruption impacted you? if you live in the eastern and central parts of the country, (202) 748-8000. mountain and pacific, (202) 748-8001. text us with your thoughts and include your first name, city and state at (202) 748-8003. or go to facebook.com/c-span, or send us a tweet at the handle @cspanwj. on tuesday on the floor, a republican constance -- congressman talked about the impact of inflation and how it is impacting his constituents. [video clip] >> the people in my district do not care about wall street. we are focused on main street. when everything they buy every day, whether it is bacon, gasoline, it costs more, more

money out of their paycheck, but don't take my word. let's turn to some statistics. the december jobs report was the worst of joe biden's presidency, with the u.s. economy adding just under 200,000 jobs when it was projected to add roughly 500,000 jobs, grossly falling short of what all the economists were projecting. the december jobs report was the worst of the presidency. the labor force participation rate decreased for the following demographics, african-american men 20 and older, african-american teenagers, asian americans, hispanic and latino americans. all had failing numbers under the biden economy. let's look at inflation. gasoline up 58%. we have not seen increases like this in gasoline since the last time that joe biden was in the

white house. car and truck rentals of 37th percent -- rentals up over 37%. bacon, fish and seafood, eggs, coffee, 7.5%. what this means is the real wages of american workers, which have stagnated, are even worse than they were before this presidency, because everything the american worker buys costs more thanks to joe biden and the party across the aisle's economic policies. host: republican congressman guy ross and -- guy rosenthaler. on twitter, president biden, we are making progress in slowing the rate of price increases but there is work to do. i remain focused on lowering costs for families and maintaining economic growth. he also, according to bloomberg

news, says the infrastructure bill that was passed and signed into law will ease inflation pressure. he says the bill will create millions of jobs in infrastructure spending to be announced next week to implement that law. now, the president's federal reserve chair, jerome powell, was on capitol hill, and he was asked about what we can expect the cost of goods and services, what we can expect on those two fronts in the coming months and in the new year. take a look. [video clip] >> we go back to the issue of inflation. i know you have talked about it a lot with us this morning. in response to my questioning about inflation next -- last november, you confirmed inflationary pressures would last through the middle of this year, this coming year. what do you now expect in

the timely have had since the last time you were before this committee? -- the time you have had since the last time you were before this committee? >> i would not say things have changed much on that front since last november. inflationary pressures do seem to be on track to last into next year. and if they last longer than that, then i will say that our policy will continue to adapt. our policy has been adapting to this for some months, but if inflation is going to last longer than that, that would imply potentially more risk of persistence and it ultimately becoming entrenched and our policy will respond accordingly. >> you just said well into the middle of next year. did you mean this year or next? >> i meant this year. i still think it is 2021 sometimes. >> i thought so but i wanted to be sure. >> the federal reserve chair

testifying on capitol hill this week. now it is your turn to tell washington journal how this is impacting you. how are you feeling the rising costs of goods and services? and when you go to the score, what sort of supply chain disruptions are you seeing? larry in maryland, we will go to you first. caller: it is affecting me negatively. i recently went to purchase food. it is way, astronomically higher than before. and the gasoline is increasing. and you have a shortage of a lot of materials in the stores and so forth. we are in hyperinflation. joe biden's numbers are going to decrease. he is even more unfavorable than former president james carter. jerome powell, this quantitative easing. by this march, we will have a

stock market crash. so it is destructive policies that will destroy this country. host: larry, let me ask you, what did you put back? things have gone so much, what did you decide to put back on the shelf? caller: bacon. that's like $10 or so forth. orange juice. what i could previously purchase i cannot. you have to nickel and dime. it is outrageous. host: and what goods were not on the shelf? where did you see empty shelves and what was it? caller: you have a lot of shortages of, like, i would say some items like oil, motor oil and so forth, and a lot of the -- what is it? -- basic candy things, because a -- basic canned, because a lot of

people are hoarding. canned milk and so forth. a lot of meat and poultry gone. host: all right. larry in maryland. nate in tallahassee, florida, how are you feeling supply chain issues and inflation in tallahassee? caller: well, personally, i have not been affected by the prices. by the way, the last time you and i spoke, or the last time i called c-span, you and i were on the phone, and we talked about a similar issue, ok? and if i recall, the numbers, as the gentleman spoke earlier, the employment numbers were lower than the models expected.

now, i teach econometrics. if you have a model that continually under predicts, there's nothing wrong with the data. there is something wrong with the model. this happens each month. if you recall, the same thing happened when mr. trump and mr. obama were in office, and we never heard about the model over or under predicting. i think the only thing -- the only problem i think we have now -- as i told you before, i'm not a republican or a democrat, but what happens now is the republicans are getting back at the democrats just like the democrats got back at mr. trump, ok? they have put him down. the economy right now, according to what we are doing in our economics courses, is smoking hot. you have the lowest unemployment rate, the lowest labor force participation rate, in the case

that people are either hiring or retiring, which is a good thing, because that means people are getting higher returns on their portfolios. people are saying the economy is good for me. let me get out. we are interpreting the negative numbers negatively when in fact these numbers are very good. the economy is actually pretty good. i'm not having a problem with inflation. maybe it is because i'm an older guy and almost ready to retire, but i'm not having the problems i am hearing. host: and as you heard the congressman talk about, where prices are rising the most, energy, according to the new york times, used cars and trucks saw the biggest increases, along with car and truck rentals, hotels and motels, gas services, beef and veal, up 19%, furniture 17%, bacon and breakfast sausage, 16%. those of the increases you all are seeing. we want you now to tell

washington what you want to buy and why you cannot afford it. or, if you can, tell us that as well. and what sort of supply chain issues are you seeing? adding to the price of goods are the supply chain disruptions we see. china is carrying out sweeping lockdowns to keep the variant from spreading ahead of the olympics next month. despite predictions supply chain woes would dissipate, many businesses appear to have seen little improvement in these problems, leading to spillover and higher prices. the price to ship a 40 foot container from asia to the u.s.'s west coast is $40,572 this week, down slightly from the peak in september, but nearly a tenfold increase from two years ago.

the group that reported this data also showed that delivery times for ocean shipments from china to the u.s. stretched to a record 80 days in december, of 85% from 2019. barry in -- mary in fort washington, maryland, good morning. caller: thank you for reading that. it explains why it is not the president's fault. it is the variant's fall, the disease, the plague we are living in. as for me, i am retired, on social security and other things. it does affect you when you are on a fixed income but you have to be smart. i know when to stock up, what to buy. there are other things you can eat and eat well. you think about your future. you have to think about the people around you because it affects everybody at the same time.

one more thing, i would like to know who is getting polled, because president biden's polling's are fine with me. my thing is how many people are you pulling at one time? we have 350 million people in this country. too many times i hear it is 800 or 1000 people. that does not represent the country. i don't believe those numbers, but anyhow, retired and fixed income people, if you are not getting extra income, you have to be wise about that. you have to be really wise. and i hope everybody goes and gets their shot so we can create a new normal because this plague will be here forever. did the flu go away? the cold? has aids gone away? you will have to learn how to live with everything. the president's polling is unbelievable because you are not pulling everybody. thank you. host: ok. gary, meriden, connecticut, we

will go to you next. tell us what you are seeing in grocery stores and other stores. caller: the prices of gasoline certainly are up. the last time that happened was during the carter administration with the opec boycott. the price of oil drives the price of everything. so the inflation we are experiencing is not because of government spending. it is oil prices going up. and oil companies are now making record profits on the backs of the american people. this is an attempt to destroy build back better. it is being done intentionally, and to hurt biden's chances for reelection. this is a concerted effort, and everyone knows that when oil goes up, everything goes up. why are they making record profits, oil companies, and we are suffering from inflation? i just got a raise in my social security and that's being wiped out by subsequent inflation. that is the question that has to

be answered. all the other things are addressable. host: what is your message to senator joe manchin? here is some reporting from cnn. "very troubling" is the quote from joe manchin yesterday on the inflation numbers. he cited that as a reason why he put the brakes on build back better. what is your message to senator joe manchin? caller: my message to manc hin's let's get real. the real driver of inflation is oil. he knows it. is being used as a false argument to stop build back better and i am thoroughly disgusted. i have increasingly become an unaffiliated voter. i have been a democrat. i am in my mid-70's and it is a terrible thing going on now. host: all right, gary. brenda in fort lee, new jersey, good morning to you, brenda. caller: good morning, america.

i have listened so many times to the president speaking and i had a lot of faith in him. i've always been a democrat. i'm changing to becoming a republican. the price of food, gasoline and other things -- nothing is being done about it. he says inflation. i listened to him last night, the night before, and it is terrible. i'm on a fixed income. i'm a retired senior. nothing is being done. with him one day of voting him into the white house, he taxes the -- he cancels the pipeline, cancels a lot of things president had done before him, and i am disgusted. how my supposed to live? sure, you have to cut back on different things he used to buy,

meats and whatever, but everything is so out of control and what is he doing for us? host: ok, brenda. jeff and clarksville, ohio, let's hear from you, jeff. good morning. caller: i'm also on social security. social security raised our stipend 5.8% for next year. inflation is at 7%. it could go to 10%. and we are just losing ground. we are hard-working americans. we never got childcare credits. we never got free stuff. we never got daycare paid for. we worked two jobs if we had to. the younger generation wants everything on a platter. and as far as supply chain, with biden in his first day in office

cutting back on the keystone pipeline, made regulations harder to drill for oil, that raised the cost of fuel for tankers across the world, and that has something to do with how much it costs to ship a container.thank you . host: all right. jeff in ohio. also happening on capitol hill today, voting rights legislation will be moving, again, in the house. from the washington post's reporting this morning, majority leader schumer has set up a con for motion -- leader schumer has set up a final confirmation -- confrontation on voting rights and the filibuster, using existing rules to begin a debate by having the house amend and coexisting unrelated bill dealing with nasa and sending it

back to the senate as soon as wednesday night. starting the debate under those circumstances requires a majority of only 51 votes, not a 60 vote supermajority, but this does not apply on a vote for ending debate and moving for final passage. with two senators saying they are not willing to erode that provision, schumer's plan was set up a final confrontation when and if a motion to close debate is blocked. at that point, schumer or another democrat could move to establish a new, 51 vote precedent, subject to a simple majority vote. senators kyrsten sinema and joe manchin have defended it even his colleagues have changed their views on the filibuster in recent months. joe manchin says he is only willing to change the rules with bipartisan support, not party lines. today, the house will come into

session at 9:00 a.m. and vote on those two pieces of legislation, the voting rights legislation, that president biden has pushed for in georgia this week and at other times. after they passed those pieces of legislation, it will go to the senate, whereas you read, all they need is a 51 vote margin to start debate. to end debate, they will need 60 votes. that is how the process will begin. while the senators contemplate what to do, president biden will head to the hill to meet with his party rank and file behind closed doors to discuss, as the white house says, the urgent need to protect the constitutional right to vote and the integrity of our elections. the president is getting a little help from former president obama, who is writing in today's usa today a piece calling for the end of the filibuster for the voting rights legislation. he says protecting our democracy

was not always a partisan issue. the voting rights act was the result of democratic and republican efforts and both presidents reagan and george w. bush signed its renewal in office, but even if senate republicans now refuse to stand up for democracy, senate democrats should be able to get the job done with a majority vote. the only thing standing away as the filibuster, a senate procedure that allows a minority of 41 to prevent legislation from being brought up for a vote. he argues that the filibuster has no basis in the constitution. historically, the tactic was used sparingly, most notably by southern senators to block civil rights legislation and prop up jim crow. you can read more on the piece in usa today. back to our conversation about inflation and supply chain disruptions. how are you feeling it where you live? john in pennsylvania, good morning to you. you are next.

caller: thank you, gretchen. thank you for having me on this morning. i agree with the comments of the other callers. as soon as he stopped that keystone pipeline and waged war against the natural gas and oil producers of this country, it put the whole ballgame in china's hands.'s this would have have never happened if donald trump was in office and democrats did not steal this election, ok? it is obvious. i have been a democrat all my life. i even voted for barack obama but after his administration destroyed this country, i will never vote for another democrat again. i went to the supermarket -- host: let me show you this. political act low gas prices in kuwait and saudi arabia show that joe biden's decision to kill the keystone project is to blame for u.s. prices.

this is what they write, a post that blames joe biden for high gas prices in the u.s. sites lower prices in other oil-producing countries. the post, which alludes to buy muska decision to revoke permits for the pipeline, was flagged as misinformation on facebook's newsfeed. the post goes too far in suggesting that canceling the pipeline project is to blame or that the project would have made much difference in gasoline prices today if it had continued. experts say the recent increases in u.s. gas prices are due mainly to a lack of production, much more than any actions taken by biden, such as canceling the proposed pipeline. that caller hung up. we will go to annie in sugar grove, north carolina. good morning to you. caller: good morning.

i am a little nervous. i am not a regular caller, but i do call four or five times a year. i live in the blue ridge mountains in a college town, so it is a lot of tourism. i was raised by my mother, 91.5 years old, who grew up in the depression. i am a retired legal secretary. anyway, i have been watching gas prices. i went out of town at the beginning of the august of 2021 and our gas was $3.29. i mentioned i live in the blue ridge mountains. the fall came. we had a gorgeous fall. i mean, it was one of the best we ever had. i have lived here 14 years. gas stayed all through the fall at $3.29.

it went down four or five weeks to $3.15. college town, blue ridge mountains, prices not going up. organic food is what i pretty much by all the time, or local farmers. some things are going down. i buy a specific tuna that has been tested to have the least amount of mercury, mind blowing to think about that term, and it has gone down also. i don't buy a lot of mea. i am pretty much vegetarian. i am not a bacon eater. one bacon producer is owned by the genies -- by the chinese, americans out there. not "chinese-americans," chinese, americans.

our landlord raised my rent to a hundred dollars a month. -- to $800 a month. the problem is you have the tenants voting for trump. the landlord is a trumper, also a christian, and the other tenants, about three or four, including myself, are on fixed income. i find it so ironic that what went up is my rent. there's no rent control. i don't know if americans realize this out there. there's only rent control in four or five states. you might know. host: i will jump in, because a headline reflecting what you are saying about the cost of homes and renting is reflected in the new york times this morning. "cost swell, hampering homebuyers and pushing up rents." we heard from fed chair jerome powell that the economy is ripe for federated increases, three of them, and they could come as

early as marh. aaron in louisville, kentucky, good morning to you. caller: good morning. host: how are you feeling the cost of inflation and supply chain issues? caller: honestly, i'm actually pretty insulated from it. i live where i work, which reduces my gas usage, and i get rent reduction from that as well, but i can obviously see the price increases and supply shortages, but, i mean, i would largely contribute that to covid. host: what are you seeing at the grocery store? things are missing? caller: i usually actually doord ash that. host: you are spending a lot of time at home. caller: yes. i do go to the gymnasium for jiu-jitsu. that is close to where i live. i work where i live. i get rent reductions through

it. i don't notice much impact. electronics, one of the biggest things that i see supply shortages to, graphics cards for pc's and stuff. as far as, like, the actual price shock, i'm not seeing too much of it personally, because i have had a raise in the last year and i just switched jobs to this position. i did have a commute prior to this. my rent has basically been cut in half. host: ok. earlier this week, foxbusiness talked with a grocery store ceo about the shortages. listen to what the ceo had to say. [video clip] >> is this going to be the norm for the next couple months? >> well, there's a danger of it. as omicron grows, and it will grow over the next two to four

to five to six weeks, and omicron is taking its toll at different levels of the supply chain, whether it is the warehouses, whether it is the selectors, the drivers, the loaders, and if they call in sick, there's interruptions in the system. now, right here in the northeast, where our stores are located, we have multiple suppliers, where the national chains in the midwest have one or two, or one main supplier, and what is happening is, if those suppliers are short on product because of the situation of people being out because of the omicron, then they are going to have interruptions. what we are seeing in the u.s. is price increases. the price of eggs are going up, poultry, the price of beef, all

across the board, because they are supplying the product but increasing the prices to try to control the demand, so if they normally sell 10 million pounds of chicken, they figure that if they raise the price $.10, 20 cents, some people buy less chicken, and the people who really want to buy the chicken, the chicken will be there for them to buy. >> right. host: a grocery ceo on fox news breaking down for you what is happening in groceries with inflation and the cost of goods. a message -- it is everywhere. everything has a noticeable increase. gisele on facebook says, had to reevaluate my meals. had to reevaluate how to renovate my home. we will leave the conversation

there. we will take a break. when we come back, two people will join us on the washington journal, first, pennsylvania republican representative fred keller, and later, georgia democratic representative hank johnson. we will be right back. ♪ >> book tv, every sunday on c-span2, featuring leader authors -- featuring leading authors discussing their books. sunday, former new jersey governor chris christie provides his blueprint for how the republican party can win national elections. on after words, congressman and political scientist david price shares his book, the congressional experience.

he provides his commentary on the rules and roles of congress, how it has changed, and how it can do better. he is joined by democratic congressman joe connelly. watch book tv sunday on c-span2, or online anytime. ♪ washington journal continues.

host: congressman fred keller is joining us, republican from pennsylvania. the u.s. reported 1.3 5 million covid cases in a day, shattering the global record. what do you think needs to happen in the response from the federal government? guest: i think what we need to do first is realize there's a lot of people in our country who have done a lot of things to get us through the worst part of this. when this began, we did not have vaccines. we did not know a lot. we know much more now than we did at the beginning. and thanks to the previous administration, we have vaccines. we need to make sure we are working with all levels of government, not just the response coming out of one area, but all levels and branches of government, most importantly putting the trust in the american people, doing what is

right for them, not putting mandates on their businesses and so forth. they were able to keep their people safe, deliver goods and services throughout the pandemic when times were uncertain, and we just need to make sure that we are engaged. we have a lot of cases. we are testing more now than we ever did. so we are going to see things like this. it is serious, but we need to be careful. we need to trust that people know how to take care of their selves, communities and the people they work around. host: you are a small business owner. you have been business before this -- been in business before this. we have heard jerome powell say that vaccination is good for the economy because it keeps people out of hospitals. so why not then have mandates? guest: whether or not somebody gets the vaccination is not the issue. the issue is whether or not your government has the right to coerce you into doing that.

in the case of the president's vaccine mandate for employers with 100 employees are more, you know, he is getting private industry to enforce that, or trying to get private industry to enforce that, and that simply is not the way to go about it. host: i want to bounce this headline off you, an opinion piece in the washington post. "it is time to acknowledge reality. many schools will have to close because of omicron." this piece was written by a professor and director of the center for infectious disease research and policy at the university of minnesota. he's been a guest on this show. another author, a phd candidate at the school of public health at the university of minnesota. they are saying that without transmissible this is, you will see teachers, bus drivers, etc.,

not being able to show up to teach, so it is time to send kids home. what do you think? guest: we should listen to the medical professionals but also put concern into listening to the people who are treating the patients, and i have experience with that. let's look at where we are with this and also start looking at the therapeutics we have to treat people with the disease if they come down with it. the administration has been not talking about that, just the vaccines, but if someone gets sick, they are going to need treatment. we need to look at that as a method of dealing with the effects of the omicron variant. host: well, the administration yesterday at their white house covid briefing, the health officials who run that briefing a weekly basis, talked about the administration's efforts to expedite these antivirals pills.

here's what they had to say. [video clip] >> i want to provide some context about the actions the biden administration took on pfizer's antiviral pills. last spring, the company and administration agreed to speed up clinical research and manufacturing timelines. originally, the company projected that clinical trials would not conclude until the middle of this year. in cutting red tape and sourcing key supplies, the government and pfizer collaborated to dramatically accelerate the trial process, shaving about seven months from the original timeline. so instead of waiting for clinical trial results in mid-2022, we got those results late last year, and we were able to begin shipping the first pills in december, months ahead of schedule. at the present's direction, we also acted early and

aggressively to secure significant supply of pfizer's antiviral pills. the u.s. has now purchased a million treatment courses. working closely with pfizer, we are further accelerating the delivery of these pills. we will have the first 10 million by the end of june instead of the end of september. we continue to work with pfizer to help them further expand their manufacturing capacity, including through the defense production act if needed. as dr. fauci will discuss, these pills are meant for those at high risk of severe disease from covid. we have a number of other treatment options against omicron. we are working to increase our supply of those treatment as well. just this week, we completed the purchase of another 600,000 treatment courses of glaxosmithkline's monoclonal antibody treatment, all of their available supply. it means the u.s. will have more

than one million total treatment courses through the end of march. host: congressman fred keller? guest: well, i am glad to see that the administration is recognizing that, if somebody is sick, their therapeutics and things they can use -- sick, there are therapeutics and things they can use. additionally, there is a blueprint -- was a blueprint under the previous administration to get things moving quickly and cut red tape, and that is what we need. we need a responsive solution to this that does not cut out any options for helping the american people. host: let's get to calls. patty, atlantic city, new jersey, you are up first. caller: good morning. good morning to the congressman. i was born and raised in northeast pennsylvania and i

wanted to give a shout out to to pennsylvania. as far as a mandate goes, i am totally disgusted with the vaccine situation. i feel that if you don't want to get a vaccine that, first of all, it is despicable to do it for political reasons. if it is for medical reasons, that is one thing. but what about the people who do want to be protected and got the vaccine and their booster? if people do not want to get a vaccine, than they should be excluded from certain public situations until the virus is under control. it is just despicable because i feel that it is being done for political reasons, and it is a disgrace, and it is unfair to the people who do want to be protected. so what do you have to say about that? guest: well, if we take a look at our society here in america, and if we believe the vaccine and the boosters work, then we

should have faith in that and should not have to worry about questioning the person around us who has not been vaccinated. a lot of the political things that came with this when then-candidate for vice president kamala harris said in 2020 that it should be a medical decision between your doctor and the president should not be telling you to do it, so the people who made it political are the people in the current administration, and unfortunately, they made it political. this is not a political issue. this is an issue of americans rights. and again, it is not whether people should be vaccinated. it is whether they should -- whether the government has the authority to coerce people into doing it. we should not be looking at fellow americans based upon their decisions any differently. host: helen in long beach, california, a republican. caller: hi. i'm a teacher and i work for a

very large school district on the west coast, in california, and we are having high rates of positive for covid, and it sounds like it might be omicron because the symptoms aren't as severe as described for delta, but what is strange is it was mandated by our employer. we all had to be vaccinated before we could actually physically returned to the classroom. that was for all employees, all employees, whether you work in the cafeteria or in the classroom, and for all students. and if you didn't get vaccinated and could have the option of working online with students who were not vaccinated themselves. but what is strange is people are coming up who have been vaccinated, coming up positive for covid, having symptoms of covid, and we had the two shots, met all the mandates. i even got a booster shot.

i will find out whether i am positive tomorrow because i will be tested again tomorrow. we are tested every week. three weeks ago, this is a school population with a total of 284. this is a small school. we had 14 cases of covid three weeks ago. now, we have about 50. so it has had a really rapid growth. and here is where i have been reading. and i have read reputable sources, not conspiracies, jump sources, "nature," "lancet," "scientific american" and so forth. this is all pointed to this virus being what you call a chimeric virus made in a lab, and it is designed to mutate, designed to mutate into a more infectious virus that goes straight into the lungs.

what they are finding with omicron, different from delta, is that it settles mainly in the nasal passages and upper respiratory, whereas delta and the first covid went straight deep into the lungs. host: we will have to give the congressman a chance to talk as well. congressman keller? guest: we look at the science and, you know, viruses mutate and that's why we need to make sure that when we are looking at policy, looking at keeping people safe, we don't leave anything off the table. that is why we talk about therapeutics, vaccines and different options for the american people. at the end of the day, if those are available, then we can succeed and we will defeat this. we as a society will because that is what we do in america. we come together and we find solutions but we don't find it when we treat people differently

and we need to be united in this and respect all of the people in our country. host: sarah, michigan, republican. caller: hello, sir. i am going to have to try to keep myself a little calm here, but i do not understand what the united states of america does not understand. this is very perched postal -- this is very purposeful, sir, and it is being implemented on the people, and we are done with that, sir. nobody wants any resolution to this because that is not the plan. the plan is to keep people in medical purpose -- perpetuity because there are a lot of interests riding on this stuff. people, understand that viruses never go away. they proceed through populations as you create immunity with your immune system. stop -- shots acting kind with

the immune system. when you got the mrna, came across the virus. people who are not vaccinated are well. i live in a community where we are all fine. our kids are fine, we are fine. we already had this virus. we had it last year and we are good. host: i will jump in. we have seen the hospitalization numbers. it shows that most people in the hospital or unvaccinated. do you agree with her and what she had to say there? guest: i think we see a lot of information out there, and i will say there's a lot of people that are on all sides of this issue, and, when you talk about hospitalizations, and we actually saw dr. fauci and some people in the government admit that there are people who have gone to the hospital, in some cases children, for maybe another injury, but were tested for covid, and that was put down as part of the reason they are at the hospital, so we need to

be careful about what we are talking about here. it is serious. we need to take it seriously but we don't need to be panicked and ruling with fear. we need to be calm, have solutions, and that is why i say, when we look into the solution to this, we should not be discounting anything, from therapeutics to vaccines to our natural immunity that people who have already been infected with covid have. host: democratic caller. caller: good morning, sir. i am calling. i live in a neighboring state, new jersey. i have had family historically in pennsylvania, out in rural areas, similar to where you are from. but living in the state of new jersey, which is the most densely-populated state in this union, so, when we get omicron, this virus, which is extremely able to transmit, we are not in good position.

-- in a good position. we have about 70% of new jerseyans fully vaccinated. what we need is the other 30% to stop perpetuating this virus. how did they do it? they do it by being infected themselves, walking around. they don't like to mask as well as they don't like to vaccinate, and so what we have -- so we have what is called community spread, and in our state, as in all states of the union, most of these deaths, 800,000 or 900,000 american deaths, have come from the group 65 and above. i'm part of that group. we have about an 87% vaccination rate in this estate, yet we end up imprisoned in our houses trying to stay away from the 30% who think it is their right to infect the 70%. host: congressman, what do you

think? guest: i would say one thing. one thing we do not want to do is blame our fellow citizens for this virus, for the spread of this virus. we are americans and we should be together on defeating the virus. and i would not attribute the spread of this disease, of the omicron, to people who are unvaccinated, because it is found that this transmits among vaccinated individuals, so to accuse one group of individuals for being responsible for this, actually, who is responsible for this is china, and what we should do is get to the bottom of what china did to send this virus over here so nothing like this happens to americans again. host: tom is in lancaster, pennsylvania, an independent. your question or comment for congressman keller? caller: when i was, back in 1950's, when we all went and got our polio vaccine, you know, we

did it for the best interest of the country as well as for ourselves and our families and our neighbors, and that was through the eisenhower administration, and that is when -- i've been a republican all my life, from the time i was 18 -- i now 72. up until january 6, and the next day, i registered as an independent, after that disgrace. and what i am getting at is the leadership under our previous potus, i guess you would call him, is not representative of the republican party and had we had someone in leadership like dwight eisenhower i think the country would be on a much better path today than we were with that clown car that

continues with the republican party, and i did not want to -- you know, i do have to say that because, you know, it is, you know, to not stand up and do what is right and make the comments -- i mean, it is just -- i'm not -- i'm really disgusted with the republican party, which really, really, in my mind created this wholeness -- this whole mess with the past leadership. i will hang up. i have to say with regards to the lady who called up and said, you know, your immune system. that's great, but when you have friends who have passed, or relatives, which i have, maybe when you experience that you will understand how serious this is. anyway, that is my comment.

host: congressman? guest: i would say it is serious and we need to get to the bottom of what caused it, but i will not make statements about calling one party one thing or another. i think, you know, part of what creates the issues we have is things like that, where there are things that -- calling a person a clown -- we should be doing that. -- we should not be doing that. we are americans. if there's a policy disagreement, we should see how to resolve it and not deal with personality. there's no one person to blame for the political division here because you hear enough of it from all sides of the issue. when we are looking at standing up for america, defeating this virus, we do it much better united than we do pointing the figure at one another, and we need to start focusing on getting to the bottom of what caused this virus so it does not happen again, so china cannot do this to us again. host: david is in california,

democratic caller. caller: yeah, congressman. i have a comment, kind of like a question. we've had the polio vaccine, measles vaccine, smallpox vaccine. we've had several other vaccines through this. my question to you, what is the difference between the omicron vaccine and the covid-19 vaccine? what is the difference between that virus and the numeral amount of other vaccines that have been produced and required to take? and i don't want to hear this scripted answer that you are probably reading or memorizing. where is the difference between those vaccines and the present vaccine?

i will take your question off the line. guest: well, i would say one thing is this vaccine is for many things -- thing is there's vaccines for many things, but when something is approved for experimental use, you have to look at that. they should have that conversation with their doctor and it should not be their government that is encouraging -- you know, to have their will imposed on it by private industry because they are trying to get something done they cannot do themselves. so when we look at this, it is about making sure that people make the decision that is best, and that is done not by your government. that is done by you and discussing that with your doctor and not being coerced into a medical decision. host: in illinois, an independent, good morning. welcome to the conversation. go ahead. caller: i have a couple things i want to touch on it i guess i

will work backwards from the last statement that he just made about the government not being in control of the vaccines. host: we lost you. we cannot hear you. caller: [indiscernible] host: we will have to move on. apologies, but we could not understand you. in just said georgia, democratic caller. caller: good morning, greta. how are you? congressman, it is almost embarrassing to sit here listening to you, like the lady in new jersey said. people here, we are almost handicapped. we have been vaccinated, done the right thing. for you to sit there and say the government has no role in trying to help eradicate this thing, get people to take the vaccine,

you sit there and you say kamala harris said this. you sound like a sixth-grader. kamala harris made that statement in reference to our president, who had lied over 30,000 times. that is why she made that statement, but i would like to say, you say no mandatory vaccination. what do you call not being able to smoke in a building in america? is that mandatory? tell me what is the difference? host: congressman? guest: well, when you are looking at things -- being coerced to take a medical procedure, ok? we are not telling people if they want to smoke, they cannot. we are talking -- and i think the biggest problem is, and we are seeing it here, when we look

at tearing people down and saying things that we shouldn't to one another rather than coming together and looking for solutions, that is not what we need to be doing. in fighting this virus, any issue america has to face. it is ok we disagree on policy. we should welcome that. that gets us through things. but when we are talking about vaccinations and people are blaming it on americans for not being vaccinated when we know and follow the signs -- let's follow the real science and not the political science -- people who have been fully vaccinated and boosted are getting the disease. it proves that it is not just being transmitted by people who are unvaccinated. it is serious, but what we need to do rather than looking at other americans is make sure that we get through this and have the tools to treat it, whether that's vaccines, whether that is the pills, whether that

is the therapeutics, but then we need to make sure too that this does not happen to america again, and that is what we shouldn't be coming together on. we should not be looking at calling other people names or degrading them by saying that they sound like a sixth-grader. what we should be looking at doing is coming together in america for solutions, and what made this political in the first place, as i said earlier, was there then -- was the then vice president, and the president saying now, under the previous demonstration -- the vice president now saying they would not take the vaccine. we need to make this an american issue to overcome it. host: next up, robin in florida, a republican. good morning to you, robin. caller: good morning. i agree with everything you are saying. the political part has to be taken out of this. i have had covid twice.

i am fully vaccinated. i have had the booster. unfortunately, i did not consult my physician before i decided to take the flu vaccine at the same time that i took the booster shot and i ended up in the hospital with a stroke and i have a severe case of -- speaking with my physician, he said he would have never allowed me to get the vaccine with the flu shot. he would have separated them because it is just too much on your system, but you hear it on the news. you hear it on the pharmacy -- the pharmacy is the one who said, why don't you get your flu shot at the same time? the problem was that during the whole time i had covid, not once was a given -- you know, the part, call your physician and stuff. you cannot get into the dr.'s to

get the monoclonal treatments. now, my neighbor was fortunate enough, when she got covid, they did have the local areas. within two days, she felt normal. i think we have to start pushing more of the medical part and stop making it political and whether you are vaccinated, or unvaccinated. i was also one of the people, i had to work through all of covid because i am a first responder. i had to keep going and working and doing things. it was not until after i got vaccinated that when i got covid. it is like, what do you say to that? it is not an everybody -- host: we have got it. congressman. guest: as a first responder i want to thank you for your service and you are right.

this is something as you articulated very well that you need to discuss with your physician not with your government. you need to discuss it with your physician. when you are looking at medical treatments for a virus or that your doctor knows you and knows what the treatment should be. your government should not be the one coercing you to do it. it is sad that americans are suffering with this. i have known that -- i've known people that are sick with covid and those that have passed. we need to come together and the people i know would not want us fighting about this, they would want us coming together and looking at how we get through this. host: liz, waterford, connecticut. democratic caller. caller: i wanted to know what he thinks about people wearing masks. host: we will take that question. guest: i heard about people wearing masks. this is what we need to look at

is what we need to look at what works and what does not work. we have been told to wear cloth masks for so long and now they are saying they are not effective. if that is something that will make people safer, then let us take a look and see what we need to do. i am always respectful, if we need to wear masks so we wear a mask. and, -- but i do not think you need to do it if the people that you are around want to get together and have a gathering for a holiday, that is fine to do that. i do not think in that case it does not matter, it is a personal preference. we have seen it with the speaker and other people who have been at events unmasked. i think that is a personal decision and it probably depends on your own personal health condition. host: brian, woodbridge, virginia. independent. caller: i have a question and

comment. if you do not want medical procedures to be mandated by the government, all of the doctors said that if you did not mandate polio and yellow fever like the government did in the past that those diseases would be with us, so are you for of getting rid of all of the mandates against all of the other mandated vaccines that have already been mandated for centuries? are you for getting rid of all of those and letting those come back? the other comment is that the science of the virus is that it did not created in a laboratory. the virus has been here long before mankind, it is part of the environment like oxygen. it is the fastest mutating organism on the planet it has been here before us and it will probably be here after us and it is just like bacteria it is in the environment already. you cannot get rid of it, but you can manage it and make sure

it does not kill people. the vaccine is the only thing that keeps a virus from replicating. people who are vaccinated to get the virus because it eventually mutates past the vaccines. but the people who are vaccinated do not allow it to replicate and it dies with the vaccinated people. with the unvaccinated people it is allowed to replicate, create new strains that might bypass the vaccines that we have. host: i will jump in. your response. guest: as we have seen, people who have been fully vaccinated and boosted can get the virus. also, when you look at the science and look at what has happened we know that this might have been genetically modified or done something with it in the wuhan lab. we have been able to get to those issues because the chinese communist party has not allowed

us to do it and dr. fauci and the world health organization covered for them. we look at that. the other thing as far as the polio vaccines and so forth there were things done in school districts and vaccines developed in the past. i am not saying i am against vaccines, but we have a vaccine approved for use and it is out there, and the biden administration trying to use private industry to enforce his well on the american people is not what is happening. that is why it is before the supreme court and that is why it came out with a congressional review act that would strike down the mandate coming out of the senate in a bipartisan manner and we are working on that in the house, and i have joined with members of congress, sending a letter to the president asking him to reconsider his vaccine mandate for employers with more than 100 employees. and so, when you look at how the

administration is trying to force people to do this, eventually they are looking at coming at employers with fewer than 100 employees. so, you look at how things are going, and the things that have been done. when you have somebody tell the american people they are frustrated with 80 million americans, that is making it political and that is the problem we have in america. host: congressman fred keller, we thank you for the time and the conversation. guest: thank you. host: we will take a break and when we come back congressman hank johnson of georgia will be talking about voting rights legislation. ♪ >> american history tv saturdays on c-span two exploring the people and events that tell the

american story. on "the presidency" two programs about how the presidents influence the early space race. first a look at the role that president dwight eisenhower's administration and the creation of national. and at 2:15 we discussed the book "mercury rising: john glenn, john kennedy and the new battleground of the cold war." and at 3:13 a talk about the history of the philadelphia -- filibuster. watch american history tv on c-span2 or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> sunday, february 6 on " in-depth," a law professor will talk about race relations and inequality in america including her books "the agitator's

daughter" and "white space, black hood." join in with your phone calls, facebook comments, texts and tweets. join us february 6 on book tv on c-span2. ">> wash -- >> "washington journal" continues. host: representative hank johnson joins us to talk about voting rights and election laws. president biden is headed to capitol hill to meet with senate democrats to try and urge them to change senate rules to approve two voting rights legislation that he is pushing for and your party is pushing for. what do use -- what should he say to your senate colleagues? guest: i am happy that president biden will be going to the senate today to urge the senators to pass the freedom to

vote, john lewis advancement act, a combination of two bills that the house voted out last night. and, attached it to another measure that is now going to be before the senate. it is important that we pass voting rights today, tomorrow, no later than martin luther king jr.'s birthday, january 15. it is a matter of whether or not we will be able to protect the rights to vote for america's citizens and thus protect our democracy. it is important, and crucial. the time has come. the president is motivated to get it done right now and i think chuck schumer is motivated to get it done now. everything is coming to a head, and this is the time.

i expect the prolabor -- the president to deliver that message today. host: president biden in georgia announcing publicly that he wanted the senate to change the rules. he has the backing of former president barack obama. and you heard president biden when he was in the state saying that he has been having quiet conversations and he will not be quiet anymore. did he have quiet conversations with you leading up to this week and what were you telling him? guest: i along with other members of congress have been in the president's ear a lot over the past few months about making sure that voting rights and a protection of democracy for all is brought up as a priority right away. so, this has been going on for a number of months, the drama has built up. you know, it is a saying that

every dog has his season, well this dog is in season right now. and, all of the urging that has gone on over the past few months let us to this point where this issue has bubbled to the top of the senate agenda and now is the time to get this passed. that has been the message and that message has come from me, it has come for my colleagues on the democratic side of the house, and of course, joe biden has voted for voting rights in the past, as has mitch mcconnell, as have at least 16 of the republican senators, they voted to reauthorize the voting rights act and so now, what is

the reason why they would change that vote. it is only how they protect the big live. it is important that you overcome the lies and the deceit that have been -- that have ruled the day for so long. go ahead and pass voting rights reform so that we protect this right to vote, and so that those who propagated the big lie will not be able to put their finger on the scale and tilt elections in their favor. these measures that have been passed by the house and that the senate will take up will protect the precious right to vote that people like john lewis lead for and others died 4 -- bled for and others died for. that is the message that the president is carrying to the

senate and that chuck schumer is voicing and trying to get it done. host: let calls are lining up for you, but before we get to them, respond to republican senator mitt romney on the floor tuesday and his critique of democrat's trying to change the senate rules for these two bills. [video clip] >> the country is sharply divided right now. despite the truth spoken by a number of good people in my party, most republicans believe that donald trump -- they believe his lie that the 2020 election was fraudulent and stolen by democrats. that is almost half the country. can you imagine the anger that would be ignited if they see democrats alone rewrite with no republican involvement the voting laws of the country? if you want to see division and anger the democrats are heading down the right road. there is also a reasonable chance that republicans will win

both houses in congress and that donald trump could be elected president in 2024. have democrats not what it would mean for them for the democrat minority to have no power whatsoever? and finally, mr. president i offer this thought. how absurd is it to claim that the same democracy, a party that represents barely half the country, will have to trample on the rules of our democracy's senior institution? [end video clip] host: congressman? guest: that sounds humorous to me. in every endeavor of living, whenever there is a need for a vote, a majority rules vote, a majority vote, that is the way that everything is done. you know, we should not be

afraid of a majority vote in the senate. the senate, a body of 100, the rules say that when there is a tie vote, 50-50, and at this point we have extreme partisanship. no republican, not even one of the 16 who have voted on voting rights extending the voter rights act before are willing to do so today, not a single one, and the reason why is because they are all in line with this big lie. you know, we cannot allow a super majority procedural vote to trump, for lack of a better term, a majority vote opportunity on a fundamental issue such as voting rights. why would we impose a 3/5

majority vote on something as fundamental as voting rights? particularly when you go to the 50 states and and 49 of the states we have had over 300 -- 400 pieces of legislation that have been offered that would erode voting rights in this country. of those 49 states, 19 have passed laws, 34 laws have been passed in 19 states that would severely curtail the ability of people to vote. and then also, those same states and some of those same states including the state of georgia passed legislation that allows for the state legislature controlled by republicans or a majority vote basis to come in

and take over the operations of local elections officials, local elections administration. all of that is done on a majority vote basis in the house and senate of georgia and in the houses and senate of the other states, majority vote. but then the u.s. senate, which is equally divided cannot pass something by a majority vote as important as voting rights is, it does not make sense. it is unfair, unjust, and undemocratic. when we retain this rule, this filibuster rule, which requires a 3/5 majority, we retain it in a time of hyper partisanship where our democracy is on the

line with voting rights. it just does not make sense. host: kathleen in texas. an independent caller, go ahead. caller: i want to ask him a few questions. the first is about the coronavirus. we would not have had that problem if they did not open the dank borders up and that everybody came in from iran, and they are all coming over here. everybody will be coming over here. have they been checked or triple checked? i had all of my shots. i know everybody is afraid of it because it had bad repercussions of it. but i still got my shot, and i am fine. guest: i am so happy that you have gotten your vaccination shots and that you have also, i assume, taken your booster,

which means that you are being a citizen who is protective of the common good, the public health of us all. your private health is so important, i am glad that you are not ill and i hope that you can remain safe and protected based on your vaccination. i would let the crowd -- the audience know that more of us who get vaccinated, the quicker we will stem the tide of variants that developed in response to the continuation of the virus and how it affects human beings when you get vaccinated, you kind of stop that process of -- you do not stop it, but you retarded the process of the virus mutating.

and so, when we stop the mutations, then we are able to stop the virus in its tracks, and that is what vaccinations do. i hope that my listening audience will all do the right thing and get vaccinated. we live in a global society, people travel across the world for legitimate business, and this virus came to the shores of america based on europeans traveling and chinese -- asian people traveling to the united states. where would we be in this world if we did not have a global economy? if we did not have the internet? if we did not have international

relations or people visiting? that is just a part of living. it is unfortunate that the vaccine emerged, it was foreseeable, and that is why our scientists have been working before the covid-19 coronavirus hit. it was foreseeable that something of this nature would arise, and, based on the spreading of the virus, we came up with a vaccination relatively quickly that is effective, quite effective. and so, we will have to continue. this is what happens during our living and we should not be afraid of these viruses, but we should be preparing for them. and, investing in our research

and development of vaccines to fight these coronavirus is that are bound -- coronaviruses that are bound to hit us. i want to thank you once again for getting vaccinated and i hope the listeners on the call do the same. host: danville, georgia. democratic caller. caller: good morning i'm calling about voters rights. when president trump got to be president, the first thing that he said he was going to make america great again. ok, when he said that he was talking about he wanted to put -- he was talking about them too because they were poor. he was going to make america great again, but he wanted to

make slaves again. i serve a god who looks high and he is not going to let his people get pushed into slavery. i am 85 years old, and i believe in the united states of america, but i believe that we need people and biden is doing the best he can. but with his own politics and what would help him, what can the other man do? thank you for taking my call. host: thank you rosetta. guest: thank you for your call, and i am glad that you are safe. 85 years old, you have seen a lot. you have seen how civil rights in this country were established for black people at a time where we did not have civil rights. you are around for the montgomery bus boycott back in 1955, and you were around at the time of brown v. board of

education in 1954 that said segregation could not be the law of the land. you were around when john lewis rocked across the edmund pettus bridge -- walked across the edmund pettus bridge and people were beaten for standing up to the right to vote -- or the right to vote. you are there in 1964 when the civil rights act was passed and signed by president johnson. that civil rights act was subject to the filibuster by racist senators who did not want civil rights to pass. but, the senate passed it. you are there in 1965 when the voting rights act, after being filibustered by racists in the senate was able to get past. you were there when the net --

when the measures were signed into law and you saw the immediate impact of those laws being signed. black people were able to vote, we elected public officials that looked like us. we went from zero to 100 almost overnight when it comes to -- i am talking figuratively miles per hour -- when it comes to the election of black people into office to represent all people in this country. you saw how our ability to participate in the economy, and having the right to ride a bus without having to take a seat on the back of the bus, you have been through all of that and have seen how we have prospered. you have seen how we were able to elect in this country, 13% black and yet the country elected an african-american

president, barack obama not once but twice. and you have seen the country have a blacklash, going back to a guy who was talking about make america white again, that is what make america great again meant. you've seen us go through four years of intense polarization and divisiveness. you've seen as get to this point where state legislatures are calling back the rights that we gained since 1964. and, you stand with me in our fight to not allow that to happen, and it is coming to a head right before martin luther king jr.'s birthday, the man who did so much and gave his life for this rights to vote. it is coming right at the time

of his birthday. he would have been 96 years old, i think, had he lived. instead, he gave his life at the age of 38. a young man, lost his life because he gave it to us, and we owe him and those who came before us who bled and were beaten, and died, we owe it to them to preserve and protect that precious right to vote. host: aurora, indiana. republican. caller: why the mercy johnson talks that the white do not have the right to vote, it is just for the colored. this is crazy. all you have to have is an id. i live in indiana, i go in, my

id, that is it. all this crab about they do not get the chance to vote. they do. they can get an id, the blacks can vote as well as the white. host: congressman, an id to vote. guest: nothing wrong with voter id and the freedom to vote. john lewis advancement act establishes standards for the id that is required to vote. there is nothing wrong with that. there are other things that state legislators are doing that are targeted at elderly people, at students, at black people, at latinos and asians who are

citizens of this country. there are things that they would like to do, like make it more difficult to vote by mail in a pandemic. they want to close up precincts and force people to stand in long lines to go and vote because they have done away with voting by mail. they have done away with drop boxes to collect the ballots. they have consolidated polling places so that there are not as many places to vote, and those places that are available to vote are in white neighborhoods and not in black neighborhoods. there are so many things if you would only take some time to turn away from the television and start reading about what

measures are being put into place in your state, and then you will see, because you sound like an elderly gentleman. you must be after referring to black people as colored folks because i have not heard that in about 50 or 60 years. but, they are making it more difficult for people such as you to get out and vote. and so, it is not just black folks, it is all of us whose votes are being suppressed, and the election process is being rigged to allow for partisan hacks in the state government to come along and take control of the local voting process, and then actually nullify a vote that you were able to cast. and so, it is more than just voter id. host: kathleen, new york. democratic caller.

kathleen, good morning to you. one last call for kathleen in new york. i will move onto anthony, green town, pennsylvania. republican. good morning. caller: please do not cut me off. first of all, the hyperbolic statements and obvious racist statements that came out of this gentleman's mouth and the other woman that called trump wanting to make black people slaves again is hyperbolic nonsense and should not be on c-span. you have to make your rhetoric at least truthful. trump did everything he could for the black community. supported black colleges and whatnot. my question is where is your evidence that there is voter suppression? let me give a generalization that you cannot go to the drop off here?

georgia had 16 days of pre-voting, and voting by mail without an excuse. the drop boxes were everywhere. the current law is less restrictive than delaware, and where is the evidence that you can support, specific evidence that says you are being suppressed and anyone is being suppressed for voting. host: we will have the congressman respond. guest: ok. it does not take a rocket scientist to know that when you are closing precincts in the black community, and you are leaving precincts open in the white community at a time when studies have shown that it takes black folks in the precincts that they have now like an hour to vote whereas an average white precinct it takes six or seven minutes to vote.

why is that? when you look at those kinds of things, that is evidence that when you do it again, when you tighten the requirements for polling places, and you start closing them down you can see it does not take a rocket scientist to see that the effect will be making it more difficult to vote. and then, when you start shutting down the ability to vote early, by mail, you start increasing the requirements, unnecessarily, to vote by mail. you start making it more difficult, technically difficult for people to properly sign or fill out the absentee vote application. when you put in measures that,

with voter identification, and you decrease the type of id that can be acceptable to voting officials, to vote, it does not take a rocket scientist to know what the effect of those measures would be. and so, you can try to ignore the laws that have been passed and try to ignore without analyzing what the impact of those laws would be, and you can proclaim with a talking point that voting is fair, and it might be ok or easy for you to vote, but there are others who are of acted and who have been targeted -- you are affected and have been targeted who find it more difficult to vote. i have to respectfully disagree with you, and by the way this is

a discussion about important issues of the day, everybody's voice should be at the table. nobody's should be shut out and that is exactly what the make america great again crowd wants to do because they know they cannot make american white -- make america white again if black folks and people of color are going to the polls and voting. host: susan, philadelphia. democratic caller. caller: representative johnson, i just do not understand this. in philadelphia we have so many black representatives that have been voted in by white people. i have lived in several different neighborhoods. right now i live in a mixed race neighborhood and i voted in person and i have been in line with everyone and i see no

discrimination anywhere. i do not understand why you want people who are not citizens to vote. it is absolutely ridiculous. host: let us take that point. having people who are not citizens vote. guest: that is not true and the young lady is ill-informed. but, i agree with you that we all need to be able to vote for candidates regardless of the color of the skin of the candidate, or the voter. and i think it says a lot about this country that we have so many elected officials who are black, asian, latino, they are citizens, they have been elected by the citizens to represent them in local, state, and federal affairs, that is the way it should work. everyone should have the same ability to exercise the right to vote. no one should be suppressed in the ability to vote, and that is

what this is about. protecting the ability of older people, students, people who are disabled, black, brown, people, that is what this is all about. setting into place some federal standards by which local and state authorities must adhere to, because at this point we are getting back into this state's rights situation where the federal government just looked away from whatever the states were doing and the states were then able to enact jim crow laws that caused black people to have unequal rights and no rights after reconstruction, the period after the civil war. a brief 12 year period where black people had equal rights

and we prospered. not at your expense, but we were able to have our fair share of the piece of the pie. but that was cut after 12 years because of president -- presidential politics and states rights became the mantra that was used to enable states to take away our civil rights, and that is what it was until 1954, brown v. board of education. now we see folks trying to go back on that. a blacklash trying to take away our rights again and we cannot allow that to happen. host: congressman hank johnson, we appreciate your time and conversations this morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: we will take a short break and when we come back we will be an open forum. call in with a public policy issue on your mind. there are the lines on your

screen. you can begin dialing now. ♪ >> the first ever televised congressional hearing was on august 3, 1948. the first witness was a man who said he did not want to be there. he had been subpoenaed to testify to the house to many on un-american activities. his name, whittaker chambers. an american who had been a communist spy for the soviet union in the 1930's. we talked with a washington-based attorney who has spent years studying and researching the background of whittaker chambers in the story and trial of the man chambers accused of also being a communist spy, alger has. his work can be seen in 38

lectures amounting to nine hours on youtube. >> a conversation with attorney john beresford on this episode of booknotes+, available on the c-span now app or wherever you get your podcasts. ♪ >> weekends on c-span2 are an intellectual's beast -- feast. you will find events and people who explore nation's past. on sundays, book tv from the latest in nonfiction books and authors, television for serious readers. learn, discover, explore weekends on c-span2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are in open forum until the top of the hour when the house comes in early for legislative business because they plan to vote on the voting

rights bills that president biden has been pushing for this week. after they vote on those, it will go to the senate where they can begin debate with a simple majority. 50 votes, but they cannot end debate without a super majority, so that is all happening today, this week in washington, and president biden is getting help by his former boss, former president barack obama writing in "usa today" that it is time to do way to the filibuster. you can read his peace. the voting rights debate on the table in open forum and also on the economy, the associated press headline inflation at a four year high pressures consumers, 7% increase from last year on goods and services. you are feeling it when you go to the grocery store and buy

other things. and cnn reporting that the jobs numbers reporting 230,000 jobs added, higher than expected. more on the economy as well. president biden today at 10:30 a.m. eastern time is just -- is expected to deliver an update on the response to the covid-19 surge related to that is headline that the president is going to be sending more medical teams, military medical teams to hospitals that are feeling the omicron surge. tim in deltona, florida. republican. what is on your mind? caller: can i make a suggestion for you guys? when you have congresspeople on do not let them get long-winded. i would've liked more from mr. johnson. he is putting out misinformation. the reason that he claims that

number -- none of the 16 republicans voted for the john lewis act would not vote for it now is because they tied it to the hr one bill. they even said -- i sought on c-span where they were talking about if you separate it out, they will vote on that they do not want to do that. another thing, i do not feel sorry for these people, they cannot get id's or do not register to vote, ok? i do not believe that you should have same-day registration and vote. the day i turned 18, i went and registered for selective service and registered to vote. these kids that come out of high school have every opportunity in the world to go and register to vote, ok? my parents, they took and this past year was the first time that they have ever voted by absentee ballot.

they have always gone to the polls. i live in florida, i had no problems and i have a disability. they accommodated me, i got in, and got out. we always down here in florida have problems in the southern part of the state in broward county. there is -- that is where the majority of your problem is, and not as an democratic control. people miss the point is this, people are not saying the election was stolen. what they are talking about is the mass mail-in voting that went on. because you have you as a moderator, and me under the individual that has no idea when each one of these states culls their rolls of people who have passed away and moved to a different state. so, i mean that is what everybody -- that is where it comes in at.

host: i am going to go to lawrenceville, new jersey. independent. marvin? caller: i would like to make a comment and i saw something yesterday and it really caught my attention. i have a lot of empathy for the people of afghanistan. the united states is planning on sending $300 million to help those people in that country. but, i honestly have to say, and i am a very tolerant person in terms of helping people in desperate and dire situations, but i think in this situation for a lot of different reasons other countries that are connected to the united states need to pick up some of that financial slack. you know? because it is -- that type of money for a lot of different

reasons or a part of that type of money should be spent here in the united states for a lot of really serious problems that this country has right now, particularly when you're talking about mental health issues. people getting a date -- evicted, affordable housing, things really need to be you know -- this administration needs to be seriously trying to do some things that need to be really reinforced for americans. host: headlines this morning in the paper on schools. here is "the wall street journal." "public school attendance plummets, the -- the pandemic challenges children and teachers. school attendance fell below 70% for more than 91% before the pandemic. and earlier you have two

infectious disease experts writing in today's "washington post," "it is time to acknowledge reality, many schools will likely have to close because of omicron." they write it is because they will have staff shortages also kids are getting infected, and they are ending up in the hospital and the safest thing to do they argue is to go virtual and close schools. audrey, richmond, virginia. democratic caller, hello. caller: good morning. i am so glad to be on c-span and have -- and to be able to comment on things. my concern, and this is not the first time i am coming on, but my concern is about the right to vote, and they are trying to turn the clock back. i am so proud of our people and

senators who are working hard to get us back into the right to vote. because of the new laws, and the new states that are trying to turn the clock back on this voting rights, and making sure that we all have access to the right to vote. and that is the democratic way of electing our officials. so i just wanted to make that one comment and i am just so proud to be able to come on and make my concerns known. host: i want to show you from the republican perspective. here is the senator of south dakota on the floor talking about the voting legislation that has been passed on the state level. [video clip] >> in 2021 another -- a number of states passed updates to their voting laws partially

because of the challenges that arose as a result of the pandemic. so democrats decided that these commonsense, mainstream updates represented an unprecedented attack on voting rights. in georgia, which is one of the first to enact voting legislation has become the poster child for the campaign to convince americans voting rights are in danger. what parables -- what terrible voter suppression measures are being imposed? one provision of the georgia law that has, in for a lot of outrage is measure for bidding partisan political organizations from providing individuals with food and water within 150 feet of a polling place. yes. apparently, preventing partisan political organizations from providing lunch to voters threatens the very stability of

our entire democracy. now, nothing in georgia's law prevents outside groups from providing food and water to individuals outside the 150 foot what -- radius and georgia's law allows nonpartisan election workers as opposed to political groups to make water available to voters. of course, i am pretty sure that any voter can bring his or her own food and water. but, none of that has prevented democrats from suggesting that the rules about food and water distribution at polling places represent a grave threat to voting rights. ironically, the state of new york has a similar provision in this election law prohibiting any refreshment or provision to a voter at a polling place. except if the retail value of what is given is less than one dollar and the person or entity providing it is not identified.

i do not see the democrats traveling to do -- to new york to decry the threat to democracy , posed by the new york legislature. [end video clip] host: on the senate floor this week on the voting rights debate and whether or not they should change senate rules for two pieces of voting rights legislation and all of that coming to a head today in the house when they vote this morning and then send the bills over to the senate and we will see what happens. in other news from the " associated press" with the headline "kevin mccarthy if you will not cooperate with the january 6 panel investigating what happened that day liz cheney," one of the two republicans that serves on the panel in a headline with cnn says that she says that the leader is "clearly trying to

cover up what happened on january 6. we are in open forum with your thoughts on public policy. jeff in missouri, republican. hello. caller: hello. first i would like to comment on congressman johnson. the race statement that he was putting off calling make america great is make america white again is just as hyperbole as saying that they are trying to restrict the vote. the idea that a black person cannot have the ability to vote in the year 2022 is completely absurd as well as the idea as -- of make america great again is to make american white again. i believe that we should all love one another as god's children and every time that the idea that it is a picking on the

blacks, or the minorities is just sides talk. and i think it is done with that. host: rapid city, south dakota, democratic caller. dennis, what is on your mind? caller: i am 78 years old and i volunteered to serve my country in 1962. my commander-in-chief was assassinated november 23, 1960. when i was in america my drill -- my drill sergeant was colored and not allowed to vote. when i was overseas in the philippines is when president kennedy got killed by a russian. ok. there were three cooks and i was a cook. they were not allowed to vote. when kennedy was assassinated lbj became president. anyway, he gave us -- the

minorities the right to vote in 1965. i was out of the service by then. i am getting tired of everybody should have the right to vote. host: kelly in alabama. republican. we will go to you next. caller: i wanted to comment on voting rights and thank you all for that. i am in alabama but i lived in georgia for 46 years. can i say this, go dawgs, anyway. i went to university in gainesville and transferred to the university of georgia, but i was from rome. the first boat i ever cast was for bill clinton. i was so excited to cast my first vote, so i joined the democrat group at the university of georgia. i was told, and they sent -- and

they told me, get an absentee ballot from your mom in rome, georgia because i had a school id. get an absentee valid -- ballot from gainesville and at the university of georgia in athens, go and vote in person. i think that everyone should have an easier way to vote. we should be able to be there, have more days, and everything. my experience did kind of change my mind that they wanted three votes in the state of georgia, and i think that we should make it easier, but at the same time we should also allow some rules and regulation. host: peachtree city, georgia. republican. caller: hello and good morning.

i love "washington journal," you guys are fantastic. i want to speak to systemic racism i am african-american, disabled and a business owner and i just do not see the systemic racism that a lot of the democrats are speaking of these days. i am not saying racism does not exist, but systemic racism does not exist. also, as far as voting rights in georgia, i think the changes that were made make it more secure to vote, but also easier to vote. and, i have read the bill from beginning to end and i do not see anything that is restrictive. i live in an area in which it is very easy in order to vote either by mail, absentee ballots, or going to a particular polling place. host: here are some comments from text messages and social

media. "the retired fixed income folks are being hit by this new economy hardest. dollar tree increases their prices by 25% which is all the evidence we need to know." from florida -- "nate from florida are correct lots of baby boomers are flush with cash that they will spend pushing the economy higher making room for me workers." from stephen, "being impacted from every angle and it is showing when you see your grocery, gas, and bills showing every pride -- showing a noticeable price increase." from kissimmee, florida. caller: i have been waiting for a 70 to say something about it. in 2020, covid stopped this program from going forth. if you do not have a star on your drivers license when you go

to vote, you will not be able to vote even though your drivers license says a certain date, as the end date. the second thing that i have to say is you will not be able to fly in the united states as well . the second thing you have to's -- i have to say, who does the counting? you can tell by certain folks that there is going to be a 1 or 2 of how they are listed for calling? host: we put democrats on top for one month or listed for or republicans listed first next month. it is not the hose deciding which numbers go to which party it is something that we do and we switch it up every month, so democrats one month, that is this month and next month you will have republicans that are read first.

we encourage you send us facebook messages and tweets and text us with your first name, city and state. eugene stark on facebook on the economy. "not at all, retired and no children to support." you can continue to call us and text us and post your messages on facebook as well. the house to come in any second and they will be gaveling an early on this friday to deal with the voting rights legislation. that is happening in the house and then it will go over to the senate. live coverage here on c-span. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2022] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]