judiciary committee to talk about compensating recording artists for their work. it focuses on legislation that would a direct additional royalty payments to artists, musicians, and record labels when their music is played on radio stations. later the house transportation subcommittee talks about the use of automated vehicles. state officials, union representatives and safety advocates testify. the house returns monday, they are expected to vote later to extend funding past that february 18 deadline to avoid a government shutdown. members will vote on legislation to end it forced arbitration agreements for sexual assault and harassment survivors in the workplace. on the other said of the capital the senate is back at 3:00 p.m. eastern considering several of president biden's judicial and executive nominees including the u.s. ambassador to germany and

the president of the export /import bank. live coverage of the house on c-span and the senate on2 -- on c-span2, c-span.org or the live video now app. ♪ good morning and welcome to "washington journal." one of the greatest spectacles of international sports is underway in china with the beginning of the winter olympics. the opening ceremonies are done in the first gold medal has been awarded. this comes with international intrigue with the chinese and russian leaders meeting in china in symbolic opposition to the united states. the u.s. is participating in the winter games while keeping political leaders at home in protest of china's human rights abuses. this as well as china's desire to become the sole superpower is casting concerns over the games.

our question to you this morning, are you concerned about china hosting the olympics? we are opening special lines. that means if you are concerned about china hosting the winter olympics, we want to hear from you at (202)-748-8000. if you are not concerned about china hosting the winter olympics, your number is (202)-748-8001. if you are unsure or have not made your mind up yet, your number is going to be (202)-748-8002. keep in mind you can always text as your answer at (202)-748-8003 and we are always reading on social media on facebook at facebook.com/c-span, on twitter @c-spanwj and always on instagram @c-spanwj. the winter olympics has begun in china. the u.s. olympic athletes are

there but going through a diplomatic boycott of the games because they are held in china. white house press secretary jen psaki in december came out to announce that boycott and explain why the u.s. is not participating politically in the beijing olympics. here is what jen psaki had to say. [video clip] >> the biden administration will not send representation to the beijing 2022 olympics and paralympic games given the genocide and crimes against humanity and other human rights abuses. the athletes on team usa have our full support. we will be behind the 100% as we cheer them on from home. we will not contribute to the fanfare of the games. u.s. diplomatic or official representation would treat these games as business as usual in

the face of the egregious human rights abuses. we simply cannot do that. as the president has told president xi standing up for human rights is in the dna of americans. we have a fundamental commitment to promoting human rights and we feel strongly in our position and will continue to take action . host: the conflict with china seems to have americans less interested in the winter olympics van they have been in previous olympics. there's a story in axios that points out the concern some americans have about having the winter olympics in beijing. i will read a couple of paragraphs. americans' concerns about the chinese governments human rights abuses, surveillance, and competitiveness, and fears of another covid-19 outbreak, are

driving down enthusiasm about this year's games according to a new poll. seven in 10 disapproved of allowing china to host the olympics but half plan to tune in anyhow. 7% say they are more enthusiastic about this year's games in 2018 games while 47% say they are less enthusiastic. fewer than half of americans say the olympics should go ahead while omicron is spreading while the rest say they should be postponed or canceled. six in 10 americans could not name a single athlete who is competing. snowboarder shaun white got the most mentions, 6%, from people who named athletes. another 1% mentioned simone biles who is not competing. with the olympics going on in beijing right now the question

is, should americans be concerned about the idea of the olympics going on in beijing? should we be supporting the american athletes who are there? or should americans be tuning out these olympics in beijing? there is a story in pew research that talks about what americans are thinking about the winter olympics and i want to bring that to you. the biden administration is moving ahead with the diplomatic way caught of the 2022 olympics citing china's treatment of the uighurs. shortly after the white house announced the boycott in december leaders in the united kingdom, canada, australia and japan announced their governments would also declined to send high-level officials to beijing. with the 2022 olympics set to

begin here's is a summary of recent survey data about americans' view of the boycott as well as how people in the u.s. and around the world see china more broadly. according to a recent survey, 45% of u.s. adults say they have not read or heard anything about the biden administration's plan for a boycott of the winter olympics. the same share say they read or heard little about the boycott and only 9% said they have read or heard a lot. despite the low profile among the american public the views of the boycott are positive. nearly half of americans approve of the decision to hold the diplomatic boycott of the winter olympics compared with 22% who disapprove. three in 10 americans are not sure. confidence in president joe biden's handling of relations with china have fallen the last year. 39% of americans have confidence

in biden's ability to deal effectively with china, down from 53% in early 2021. we want to know, are you watching the olympics? are you concerned about the fact china is hosting the olympics? let's look at what our social media followers are already saying about the idea that the beijing olympics have started. here is one from facebook that says, yes, we should not have gone. talking about whether we should be looking to china. here's another on facebook that says, it is ok for china to host the olympics and if other countries want to boycott the olympics because of china's inhumane treatment to the weaker uighur muslims, they

should not participate in the games. another says, it is an absolute disgrace. one facebook post says, i hit the chinese government so much i would boycott the winter olympics. they persecuted ethnic minorities. they threatened to start a war by invading taiwan. here's one more post that says, i am not concerned but angry. they do not deserve it. the world is cowardly after they spread through the world the biggest pandemic in our lifetime and they have a repressive and brutal government against their own people. we want to know what you think about china hosting the winter olympics. are you going to watch the winter olympics? do you plan to support the american athletes who decide to go to beijing for the winter olympics? we want to know what you think. before we get to your calls house speaker nancy pelosi on

friday came out and explained why she is telling u.s. athletes who went to china for the olympics not to speak out against china while they are there during the olympics. here's what how speaker pelosi had to say [video clip] >> the olympics opened this morning in beijing. we wish our athletes well. we salute the president for the diplomatic boycott that has been joined by other countries and the approach i support. i wish the athletes well. i do not encourage them to speak out against the chinese government because i fear for their safety if they do. i remove all doubt about why they should not speak out because i fear for their safety. host: let's go to the phone lines and see what you think about china hosting the olympics. let's start with kelly calling

from lumpkin, texas. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: i'm fine, go ahead. caller: what i wanted to say is i don't think they should have went to the olympics. my whole concern of it all is number one, china wants to take over the united states. that is common sense if anybody has not realized it. look at the play they put on the whole world. i think it is a disgrace and this is all i'm going to say but nancy pelosi saying that, they should fear for their lives but there is also freedom of speech. i don't know. i am totally against it. i am not going to watch it and for all the people who sponsored it in the united states, shame on them. host: do you think in addition to the diplomatic boycott do you think american athletes should have boycotted completely?

caller: i think it is unfair to them because they have trained all their lives but with the situation we are in right now and everything that is happened, yeah, i think they should have boycotted. i am not going to watch it. host: do you think the government should have told the athletes not to go or do you think that was an individual decision for each athlete? caller: it is an individual decision just like me and you. i am not for them going but, you know, other than that i am not going to watch it. i think it is wrong. look at the play they put on the world. i just don't trust china. i don't. after everything that has happened i would not have sent them over there but it is their decision. i would be very frightened if it was me to go over there. host: let's talk to curt calling

from mount union, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: morning, how are you? host: i am doing great. how are you? caller: really good. host: what do you think about the winter olympics in china? caller: i don't see a problem with it. it is an athletic event, it is a sporting event. i don't think you should really boycott those types of events. it is about sports. it is about the athleticism of these individuals who have trained for years. as far as the diplomatic boycott, not really sure i agree with that as well because that is probably a good time when you can really engage and show your viewpoints and may be able to change minds. canceling things i don't think is the answer. host: you have some people will argue sports and politics should

be divorced. do you think that is the situation right now? politics should not be involved when it comes to sports? caller: absolutely. the history of the olympics was not political, it was to show the excellence of world athletes. and if you inject politics in, you kill the original idea. host: do you plan to watch the olympics and what sports are you most interested in in the winter olympics if you plan to watch? caller: i do watch it from time to time. i am not a big olympic watcher. i do like to watch the curling. the curling interested me and i like to watch some of the skiing events. in general, i am not a big watcher but i do watch from time to time. host: let's talk to eric calling from washington, d.c. good morning.

caller: good morning. my comment is how dare we question someone's human rights violations when we are one of the biggest culprits. you know, worry about what is going on in your country. we don't know if that came from some planned thing with china. it is amazing to me these people call and say that. one about the human rights violations in this country? they not saying boycott the olympics here. they put up their fist to fight for human rights for african-americans but it is amazing. we are so hypocritical of what we do in this country. they are driving down 295 looking at this and it is amazing. i got people in my family who i

love. they should be saying something about human violations in your country. china is no different from any other country. host: you have some people including the previous caller who said politics have nothing to do with sports. the two should be divorced. i am taking it you disagree? caller: yeah because we always jumping on the bandwagon. that platform, you have to stand up for it. everyone should be treated equal. i don't care if you blue, green, orange or whatever. wrong is wrong, right is right. i don't condone what china does to their people but who are we to judge another country when our backdoors shows the

opposite? we do the same things here in this country. host: let's go to steve calling from schenectady, new york. good morning. caller: good morning. wonderful to talk to you. i wanted to say i am not sure it is an actual threat to the olympics in any way to be hosted in china, but i do understand the worry. because china has done a lot of things that are kind of, i guess, underhanded. that is not necessarily the right way to put it but that is the feeling i feel most people have. i can understand being an extreme worry but we have the olympic committee for that reason and i have to imagine if they are to be bought out, it has happened already. they are going into china.

host: do you plan to actually watch any of the olympics? did you watch the opening ceremony? caller: as much as most people do. host: did you watch the opening ceremony yesterday? caller:caller: i have not watch much of it. i have some of it recorded on the dvr. host: are there any particular sports that happened during the winter olympics to enjoy watching? caller: the luge is quite interesting to watch. that opening run is always interesting to see. that is what sets them through the whole thing. host: you are in schenectady one. of the more famous winter olympics happened at lake placid. do you consider yourself a fan of the olympics or is this another sporting event for you? caller: to me it is another sporting event. i am not interested in it personally. i am not the kind of person who is going out in my life and watching much winter sports even

though it is common. host: let's talk to jeff calling from woodridge, virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. the two things are separate, olympics and politics. china for sure is one of the worst abusers of human rights in the world, especially against the uighurs. the olympics go on as they do normally. i support the speaker nancy pelosi in calling out this and safety for our athletes and i support our athletes. host: do you plan to watch any of the olympics or have you been watching so far with the opening ceremony? caller: yes. i have not watched the opening ceremonies but i will watch select events. host: which events are you looking forward to? caller: skiing. i like downhill skiing. host: great. let's talk to glenn calling from

lakeland, florida. good morning. caller: how are you doing? host: just fine. go ahead. caller: as far as the winter olympics is concerned i am not that interested in it. every now and then i see what is on but i agree with the previous caller. right now it is hypocritical to sit here and say china is -- we want to protest against them. how can we do that as americans when we have problems we refuse to fix? it is not about what china does in their country. we cannot even come together to fix anything here so why is it a concern? because when the winter olympics -- nobody talked about it. we don't know the athletes. the government doesn't support them like other athletes and we are trying to say, don't look at it. we cannot even fix our own problems. we can't solve our own problems. everybody needs to get off china's back because when they

had the crisis in san diego where do you think that came from? it came from china. it is hard to say we want to be negative towards them but then again, we depend on them for everything. i don't understand with the problem is. you bring up all the stuff they do and we cannot fix one problem we got, not one. people need to look at it from that standpoint. don't worry about china. worry about what we can do here. host: glenn, while the games themselves may not be political the symbolism of the games could be considered political. we all know and people still talk about the u.s. hockey team beating russia at the olympic games and in the history book is jesse owen going to germany and winning medals in front of adolf hitler.

sometimes the games can be made political. is there any worry of china coming up with a symbol they say will show their superiority? caller: i am not worried about them because we cannot fix our own problems. if we can fix our own problems, maybe we can be concerned about somebody else. until we figure out what we need to do here to take care of racism, the brutality, and everything we do, we have as bad a rap as they do. host: maxine is calling from chicago. good morning. caller: can you hear me all good? host: i can. caller: i am not terribly concerned of china hosting the olympic games. like the previous caller said, we have to look at our own self and i think china, you know, they are going to be our enemy for the 21st century. yesterday you spoke about russia and i think one of the callers

was correct saying they are no longer the biggest problem. but if we are going to fight china, it is not at the olympics. i am going to watch the olympics for one thing. i have a personal friend who does skiing. host: let's go to george calling for minneapolis, minnesota. good morning. caller: good morning. i am concerned but i don't think we should restrict who gets to the olympics. this is just like world war ii with the nazis. they have the uighurs and the whole ethnic cleansing thing and that is what we need to look at. if you are watching the olympics, you are choosing to support a kind of racism we cannot even understand here in the united states. when you talk about ethnic cleansing. you should feel bad. host: what about the family and friends of the athletes who are competing? would you tell them the same

thing? that they should not support their family and friends in the olympics in beijing because it is in china? caller: i am family and friends of athletes at the olympics and they support not watching it. they are happy to go and compete but they are upset with the olympic for having it there. it is the equivalent of giving the olympics to prewar germany. we talk a lot about the prejudice here but i have been in china. you don't understand real prejudice. the things we get upset about here is nothing compared to other countries. people are put in internment camps, people being killed, people who call your show have no idea. host: you said you have been to china. tell us about your experience. when was this and where were you in china? caller: i was in beijing but i was outside beijing. i had a certain invention i had

to demonstrate and i did. we were very restricted. we could not photograph. i watched the attitude toward people in different regions. it is a different world and you cannot conceive it. i took a picture of an armored vehicle inside the square in the pictures off my phone before i got back to the hotel. people have no idea, no idea the strides that have been made here against prejudice compared to other places. host: let's go to teresa calling from hampton, virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. i am calling because i don't think we should even be showing what is happening in china at the olympics because of their human rights atrocities. and also, here in america we have people sleeping on the

streets in the cold and the american government putting illegal immigrants in hotels. america has a double standard period when it comes to black people. we need to clean up our house and we need to deal with internationals that are doing wrong. host: teresa, can we as americans ever criticize what is going on in another country considering the problems we have in our own country? or can we do both at the same time? can we fix our country and suggest other countries fix theirs? caller: i think we can do both at the same time. what we need to do is come clean about what we are doing here in america. helping people living on the street and get them in hotels instead of shelters. we need to deal with china

because china has been taking jobs from americans. they have been stealing mineral rights in africa. we need to deal with them and we need to deal with them effectively and not by sending our athletes over to play in the olympics. we need to take a grand. stand. we should have taken a grandstand and said no athletes are going. pay them what they were going to get anyway. host: on thursday house speaker nancy pelosi came out to talk about the u.s. working with china on some issues like climate while also condemning the country's human rights abuses. here's what house speaker nancy pelosi had to say. [video clip] >> i take second place to know one in my criticism of china when i first came to congress and i fought them every step of the way on trade issues, on human rights issues, and on proliferation of weapons, web

minari, and delivery systems. -- weaponry and delivery systems. i have worked with them on issues related to climate. i have been to china on that very subject where we have seen what they have done. they deserve credit for many things they are doing in terms of climate but they remain a major emitter. as do we end we all have to do better but we have made our decisions. it is in their interest. it is in their interest because they have a pollution problem that is a health issue and that becomes a political issue as well as an economic issue. we cannot say, we hope you will do something on climate that we can ignore the fact you are committing genocide of a population in your country. that is not going to happen. and i will close with this and that is i have said it all the

time. i have said it with the dalai lama standing right next to me. if we ignore human rights abuses in china because of commercial interest, then we lose all moral authority to talk about human rights any place in the world. what does it profit a person or country to gain commercially and suffer the loss of its soul? we cannot do that. host: let's see what social media followers are saying about whether they are concerned about china hosting the limits. here is one tweet that says, i will be watching every moment that i can. here is another tweet that says, the united states should have never sent athletes. comparing china to the united states is ridiculous. the human rights violations and

atrocities are horrendous. we should contribute 02 them. -- zero to them. another says, the winter games could be held in lillihammer. the summer games could permanently be in athens. this tweet says, i don't know a single person watching the olympics. one final tweet that says, in a perfect world sports should be above politics and bring us together in the spirit of fair competition. problem is this is not a perfect world. we want to know whether you are concerned about china hosting the olympics. let's talk to lawrence calling from new jersey. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: i'm fine. go ahead. caller: we are all complaining about the olympics but every

goes to walmart every morning and that is china's company. how can that be an issue? host: do you think there should be a boycott of china? not only the china olympics but chinese goods as well? caller: you cannot have both. they have the worst human rights country in the world and then buy them aircraft carriers and complain about the olympics, let's look at the aircraft carriers what you say? host: do you think americans would pay higher prices for goods if there was a boycott of chinese made materials? caller: remember, they did this in the 1990's. remember the extra money we are talking about is nine cents on

the item. we try to justify it by saying it is better to pay less than eight cents than to build them supersonic rockets and aircraft carriers. it cannot be both. it can't be both. host: danny is calling from missouri. good morning. caller: morning. good morning. i wanted to say i think they are corrupt. people should not watch it. you don't know what they are going to do. it is not legal. [indiscernible] china should not be a place considered to have the olympics anyway.

[indiscernible] host: let's go to steve calling from webster, massachusetts. good morning. steve, are you there? caller: good morning, mr. jesse. i am here. can you hear me? host: go ahead. caller: please bear with me. i just started chemotherapy this week but i think i am going to make it. regarding human rights, i believe people are presenting a false equivalency. we all grow by leaps and bounds but i believe george floyd riots would have never happened in china when you think about the square or the great leap forward in the 1950's where the chinese killed 50 million of their own people. but we progress.

i do nothing we should boycott. we always need to have a dialogue with them. that is the politics in the game. it has not always but it has been present. tom smith in mexico city, great moment for america. to the munich olympics where the palestinians killed jewish athletes to one of our greatest moments when we beat the soviets in the 1980 olympics. i had one more point that i cannot remember. host: do you think boycott do any good? do you think it affected anything by the u.s. deciding to do a diplomatic boycott for these games? caller: yes. i think it sends the message we do not approve of what you are doing with the uighurs. and i will still put up the

record on civil rights against the chinese any day. one more thing i wanted to point out, the joining of putin and xi in the olympics. it seems most of the diplomatic participants are going to be people from that steer. listening to the echo chambers that is what is going to happen. remember that the russians went into crimea pretty much after the sochi olympics. there is a lot of political volatility as you know going on in the world. that is life. you just can't say i am not going to talk to you, you are not going to talk to me. we still need a dialogue. advance with trepidation but that is life.

host: mara elizabeth cunningham is a historian of modern china and the co-author of " china in the 21st century: what everyone needs to know." she had a column in "the new york times" i want to redo you about the diplomatic boycott and how it affected the beijing olympics. here's what she said. the united states wanted to send a message with the diplomatic boycott over china's human rights abuses. few were foreign dignitaries and the absence of foreign spectators are not necessarily bad things in the eyes of beijing. in fact, communist party leaders likely exhaled a sigh of relief that they had an excuse to close off the games. foreign spectators might call unwanted attention to the repression of the uighurs and crackdown on freedoms in hong kong. a full-scale boycott for example

would have been harder for china to ignore. that comes from maura elizabeth cunningham, co-author of "china and the 21st century: what everyone needs to know." we want to know what you think about china hosting the olympics. are you concerned? richard is calling from durham, north carolina. good morning. caller: i wonder if you are aware two things the african-american community should seriously consider. that the chinese have listed 800 million of their people out of poverty and the chinese have defeated the west in two wars against enforcing drug addiction. are you aware of that? host: where are you getting that information from? caller: it is easy to find, my man, it is really easy to find.

the competition between china, the african-americans, and the united states is going to be fierce and we should be very conscious of what is going on. how many people do you think the united states is lifted out of poverty? they have made a profit off of poverty. they have made a profit off drug addiction. you need to get on the right track, my man. host: rose calling from oregon city, oregon. good morning. caller: morning. i am concerned about anything that enhances china's image in the world and i am absolutely against having the olympics there. i think it is deplorable that the olympic committee decided to place the olympics there.

host: should america have boycotted and refused to send any of the athletes? caller: i do not think that is fair to the athletes. it is just not fair to pit us against the athletes who spent their lives developing their skills. so, i just think the situation is wrong from the beginning. we should not have to make that kind of decision. we just should not be there. host: do you support president biden's decision not to send political leaders? caller: i do not think it is relevant. host: you do not think it is relevant? caller: and i am sure the chinese are not concerned whether political leaders, or not. host: john calling from north hills. caller: good morning. how are you today? host: i'm great. go ahead.

caller: i am not concerned in the slightest. if china's human rights violations were so egregious, why was the president's son and brother brokering million-dollar deals to the same communist party officials in china that are committing these offenses? if americans were more informed and allowed to read the evidence on hunter biden's laptop, they would be very suspicious of this man's motives. and we can see with the ukraine how hunter biden is there is well. journalists need to become journalists again rather than stay narrators and let the american people know the truth about this family. host: let's go to paul calling from palm desert, california. good morning. caller: you have our president. host: liz calling from linden,

new jersey. caller: i think we are boycotting the wrong country. we need to be boycotting the apartheid state of israel. the american propaganda always shifts its attention on countries that are competing economically against them. israel has been brutalizing palestinians for the past 100 years or more and we support them, we send them arms to continue to harass and abuse and murder and imprison the palestinian population, and there is nothing set on no networks. but somebody wants to boycott israel we passed legislation in each state to say you cannot do that and if you do, you cannot receive funds from the government. we are the biggest hypocrites in

the world when we have a country who is basically an apartheid state and ethnic cleansing of palestinians and other minorities. hello? host: an event held by the heritage foundation on monday, house foreign affairs committee ranking member michael mccaul spoke about china's human rights abuses and the u.s. diplomatic boycott of the olympic games. here's what he had to say. [video clip] >> the olympics are supposed to be the most prestigious sporting event in the world, but the international olympic committee has stained the reputation by turning a blind eye to these atrocities and handing the ccp the honor of hosting the 2022 winter olympics. the world must wake up to the horrors of the human rights abuses. as we speak over one million people in shin john province are

held in camps, forced abortions, sterilization and even death. the ioc allowing what i am calling the genocide of the games is a stain on the olympics and i am disturbed these games will take place in the shadow of concentration camps. glorifying the ccp and normalizing their genocide is simply unacceptable and putting u.s. olympians in jeopardy as they travel to china is unacceptable. american athletes who have ever spoken out against the ccp or spoken out in the country could face up to life in prison. we cannot turn a blind eye to the ccp without preparing our athletes for the dystopian reality of china.

i supported the diplomatic boycott because it is a way to stand up for american values without punishing our athletes. we can root for team usa without giving the ccp a propaganda opportunity and victory to spread lies and whitewash of their crime. if our olympians speak out against the ccp's atrocities, the state department should ensure they are protected. and just as jesse owens showed adolf hitler the area nation was not superior i know our athletes will show the chinese we are going to take home the gold and we are going to take it back home to the united states. host: let's see what our social you followers are saying about whether they are concerned about china hosting the olympics. here is one tweet that says, biden did the right thing with the diplomatic boycott and not punish our athletes who have worked for a lifetime to compete. another tweet says, no, not at

all. i support the athletes competing. stay safe. another tweet that says, i am more concerned about the athletes than the country hosting the olympics. these athletes work hard in their training and the olympics is the highlight of their training. politics should be put aside for the short time as countries come together and celebrate these athletes. one final tweet that says, why should the location of the limbic smatter? see how politicizing everything screws everything up for everyone? it is supposed to be about the competition between athletes, or so i thought. we got away from that because world leaders cannot get along. we want to know what you think about china hosting the olympics. are you concerned? don calling from ohio. good morning. caller: i would like to know why we even bother with it anymore

because the athletes, you know, they have to be drug tested and everything else and we pay for it. my question is, how much does it cost to taxpayers to put this on when the government is talking about equality? if equality means we should not be over there to be anybody, why did we give china $25 million? host: let's talk to laura calling from hampton, georgia. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to go back. i am always fearful for whatever. i have worked in various countries but what i feared mostly in china was the white american that was so negative toward the black from america. from the famous words of martin luther king jr., injustice

anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. directly or indirectly and i am not watching the olympics because my infamous skater vanessa james and her partner are not participating because of what we are talking about today. host: let's go to al calling from the virgin islands. good morning. caller: it is sal. good morning. i competed in the 1972 olympics and shooting and qualified in moscow in 1980 and jimmy carter, the president, boycotted it because the invasion of afghanistan. in 1984 there were signs the eastern countries boycotted our olympics so the best were not there. the best should be there. everybody should be there.

i agree in the political boycott we are doing from our government representatives but they should not punish the athletes. it should always be about the athletes. we work very hard many years and we should not be punished. host: did you ever get the chance to compete in the olympics or was 1980 your only shot? >> 1972 in munich i competed. host: between 1972 and 1980 did you get to compete again? >> i did not qualify in 1976 which was in canada and i barely missed it by a couple of points. i could have qualified. qualify the next week but it was too late to go. i did not go in 1976. i qualified for 1980. i could not qualify by 1984 because my eyesight started to go. host: how did you do in the olympics you qualified for? >> shooting, now everybody is a

professional. back then it was really a sport of amateurs. but in shooting, shooting is mostly done by country's armies or navies. in georgia, they mostly represented the olympics. everything is paid for. your ammunition, you're traveling, your coaching, your uniform, we have to pay for everything. i do ok. it is the u.s. virgin islands i am talking about and i do welfare but i cannot train every day when i have to work for a living. host: as an athlete and former

elliptic athlete do you ever think there should be any boycott of the olympics no matter what country they are being held in? >> look what happened in 1980 and 1984. that is a perfect example of the best not being there. if the best is not there, they are not considered the olympics. you want to be an olympian who won over everybody not just, oh, well, the americans were not there or the russians were not there. that is not fair to the athlete. the best should be there. host: steve calling from bangor, maine. caller: good morning. how about the guy that was in the 1972? the reason i am very concerned, however, we are the issue. i challenge anybody out there who is listening to look in your

car, look in your cupboards. is there anything in there that is not made from china? we make a decision to keep china going and like many people have said i think the athletes are nonpolitical. if there is any athlete who does not believe in what is going on in china, they can stay home. that is the thing. we want someone else to make the decision for us. we want the president, for example, to boycott it. well, we all have a choice and we make that choice. the reason china is so powerful is because we want to buy those things at those prices and that is the bottom line. i mean, we had an olympics where we stole -- and we gave them back -- the medals for the who was it?

they raised their fists in protest of our own country. we want our cake and eat it too. we want to claim we are so outraged at what is going on in china but we still want to go to the grocery store or the big-box store and buy those things from china. host: let's go to matt calling from maryland. good morning. caller: how are you doing? host: just fine. go ahead. caller: i just wanted to point out -- i agree with the gentleman who just spoke. i think he was right on the mark. but i want to point out, i just wonder why c-span gives them so much airtime, the heritage foundation. they have got to be one of the most racist and brutally capitalist organizations. i don't know. we listen to them too much

because they are, like i say, what can i tell you? host: kurt calling from indianapolis, indiana. good morning. caller: good morning, sir. i don't have a problem with the chinese hosting the games. my problem is how does america callout china on its human rights abuses when america is the biggest human rights abuse the world has ever seen? you and i are black folks. our ancestors were beaten, raped, murdered for fun and they are still murdering black people in the streets for no reason. america is the biggest hypocrite in the world. how can they say something about the uighurs when we support what israel does to the palestinians

and our own genocide in this country of the american indian lasted until 1925? how does america justify that? by the way, jesse owens went to the munich games and when he came home he was still that word, was he not? host: eric calling from clive, iowa. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for all your work at c-span and "washington journal." i like the calls i have been hearing. making a comparison to the 1936 olympics and i know not every historical example is perfect but in that example we had adolf hitler sitting in the seats. in retrospect it is my understanding america likes to use that as an example of how our way of living had produced better athletes or a more ideal

country then hitler's. outspoken, racist, fascist kind of designs for germany and i don't know if we had boycotted the 1936 olympics whether or not that made a statement that would affect how things developed in europe. i agree with the caller who was a couple of callers ago. if we want to callout china for things, we have to do it with our lifestyle choices, with how we support them. i think if anything the olympics is an example to show awful and us great versus china. that is the only point i had to make. host: scotty calling from eden, north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. i think all the people have said is really true what they have said. ain't it the same thing with

what adolf hitler was doing in the 1940's what china is doing the same thing? i am just wondering maybe someday -- what my point is, i am just trying to understand all of this. i think we need to boycott china because of the human abuses what is going on right now. what is more important, life or sports? host: oregon democratic senator jeff merkley on monday came to the senate floor to talk about china and say that the perpetrators of human rights abuses should never again be allowed to host real epic games. here is what senator merkley had to say. [video clip] >> as it skiers raced down the

slope, the provinces will still be locked up for defending their culture. as athlete after athlete climbs the podium to have beautiful bronze, silver, gold medals around their necks, people will go on languishing in prison cells. that is the backdrop of this year's beijing olympic games. human rights abuses, genocide, the destruction of freedom and democracy, and we cannot allow that to be ignored or overshadowed. we cannot allow for that to be gone and forgotten in the glitz and glamour of olympic gold. we cannot let these names and these faces and countless, countless others who have faced the same be lost in the shadows

of the flames of the olympic torch. the world must join together to say to the international olympic committee never again the perpetrators of human rights abuses be allowed to host a treasured event like the olympic games. never again can the athletes of the world ask to be conspirators in the glitz and glamour of covering up genocide. and for all of us, we need to remind the world throughout these games of what is going on in china. host: let's go back to our phone lines and talk to ed calling from ocean city, new jersey. good morning. caller: yes, ed o'donnell. if we engage all people and all nations in a loving, forgiving way, they will become more merciful and more humane.

in other words, the quaker approach is the right approach. host: ok. we would like to thank all of our callers for calling in for the first segment. coming up next, or caddis mercatus center's weifeng zhong. later jacob stokes at the new american security will hear to discuss national security threats to the united states. stick with us. we will be right back. ♪ ♪ >> next week on the c-span networks, the house and senate are both in session. the house takes up legislation to avert a shutdown. the senate will follow suit on that bill. the upper chamber continue work on president biden's judicial

and executive nominations. on c-span3 the armed services committee holds a confirmation hearing for the lieutenant general to be the general of the u.s. central command. at 10:00 a.m. eastern u.s. surgeon general testifies before the senate finance committee on shortfalls and mental health care for children and teenagers in america. on wednesday at 10:00 eastern on c-span3, the senate commerce committee holds a hearing for the head of the federal communications commission. also on wednesday on c-span.org and on the video app, the chair of the commodity futures trading commission testifies before the senate agriculture committee to discuss what the agency needs to crackdown on abuses in cryptocurrency marquez -- markets. watch not -- watch next week. also head over to c-span.org for

scheduling information or to stream video live and on-demand demand at any time. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. ♪ >> " washington journal" continues. host: we are back with way fangs along