issue with blake moore and we also hear from the strategic engagement director on president biden's decision to ban russian imports into the u.s.. washington journal is next. ♪ host: this is washington journal for march 9. the houses expected at 9:00 a.m. so only a two hour program. for the first half hour the reaction to president biden's decision to ban oil coming to the u.s. (202)-748-8000 for democrats, (202)-748-8001 for republicans, and independents (202)-748-8002. you can text us at (202)-748-8003 and you can post on facebook and twitter and

follow the program on instagram. you can find the full white house announcement at two places, c-span.org and our free app at c-span now. here is a portion from president biden yesterday talking about not only the decision to stop russian oil coming from the u.s. -- coming to the u.s. but how it might impact consumers. [video clip] >> this is already hurting american families at the gas pump. gas has gone up $.75 and it will go up further. i am going to do everything i can to minimize this at home. we already announced we are releasing 60 million barrels of oil from our joint oil reserves, half of that, 30

million, coming from the united states. we are also going to keep working with every tool at our disposal to protect american families. to the oil and gas companies and the finance firms that back them, will understand putin's war is causing prices to rise, that is self-evident. but, but, but it is no excuse to exercise excessive increases to explain the situation or american consumers. russia's aggression has cost us all and it is no time for profiteering or price gouging. i want to be clear about what we will not tolerate but i also want to acknowledge those firms and oil and gas industries pulling out of russia and joining other businesses that are leading by example. this is a time where we have to do our part.

host: more from that and you can see that at the website or our app. you can make comments for the first half hour until we see our first guest. (202)-748-8000 for democrats, (202)-748-8001 for republicans, (202)-748-8002 for independents. the wall street journal looks at the decision by the president and how refiners and those who produce gas or petroleum might be affected. there are two ways in which the ban on russian imports hurts refiners. it hurts margins because they're looking for replacement barrels in an already tight market. u.s. markets are 12% below for the year. two, u.s. refiners will have to outbid other buyers in the market. changing the type of crude oil going through the refining system makes it less productive. "there were better ones out there," that was matthew blair.

the wall street journal writing about how people at home might be affected and what states might do to counteract that. lawmakers and advocacy groups in numerous states including new york, california, ohio, illinois and rhode island have suspended gas taxes. california, which has the highest at $.51 per gallon, they proposed lifting the levy while democrats gavin newsom put off the increase in the tax plan. philadelphia, pennsylvania, you are next. caller: thank you for taking my call. i applaud president biden for stepping forward and issuing the ban against russia.

what is doing is killing innocents and he needs to stand trial. i applaud president biden. host: danny from yuma, arizona, republican . caller: i want to chime in and say what biden did, he was forced to do it by everybody. it is a little too late on what he is doing. we can be self-sufficient. we can be supplying our allies. he is going to iran, he is going to venezuela, these are dictating countries. these people in ukraine, women and children are living in bound

shelters under the ground. they have no water, no food, where do they go to the bathroom? this is unacceptable what is going on. host: that was danny in arizona. the washington post talks about the president's decision but also congressional action on this as well citing an effort by the democratic house saying it is speaker pelosi's aggressive timetable making the sanctions bill that ran into trouble as they unfurled a version that admitted one of the more severe punishments lawmakers had hoped to levy. a bipartisan end was scrapped by the white house after officials aired concerns about coordinating trade policy with allies. according to three people familiar with the matter. also today in the house a bill

to fund the federal government which faces a deadline on friday. that could be filed as early as this morning. a vote was scheduled initially for this week so look for that. as part of that bill $14 billion in aid going to ukraine. tom, florida, democrats align. caller: good morning. biden is doing a good job banning russian oil. it is unfair to blame biden. who started the war? putin. he invaded ukraine. 72% of american people don't mind paying a little bit more for gas. it would be wise for me to get a smaller car or something like that.

other countries are giving countries -- ukraine needs planes. a lot of women and children are dying. it is unnecessary. we need to stop hitler pugin. host: bill and orange park, florida. caller: i cannot believe that last caller. he is going to get a four-door or a motorcycle. good luck to him. i think we should have handled putin like the bully he is. when you have a bully you hit him in the nose. i would have armed all the countries with a nuclear warhead and then have the bully see what he could say. host: a previous caller

mentioned the offer by poland for planes to go to ukraine. that prompted reaction from the department of defense. john kirby releasing this yesterday saying, we are in contact with the polish government following the statement issued on whether to transfer polish planes to ukraine. it is one for the polish government. we will consult with allies and partners about security assistance to ukraine because poland's proposal shows the complexity. the prospect of fighter jets at the disposal of u.s. from a nato base in germany to fly into airspace contested with russia over ukraine is serious concerns for the alliance. it is not clear there is a substantial rationale. we will continue to consult with poland and other allies about the issue and difficult logistical challenges, but we do not believe poland's proposal is a tenable one. from our republican line this is matt in maryland. caller: they shutdown the

keystone pipeline. they shoot themselves in the foot and then complain about it. we are not ready to go green. we are not ready to get all electric cars. we are just not ready. gas prices -- i hope the gas pricing wakes people up and you are like, ok, maybe we should pump more of our own oil and become energy independent. globalism, whatever. this whole ukraine thing is making me so sick to my stomach. putin is a horrible person. i am disgusted with russia. you cannot protest without going to jail for 20 years, but on the january 6 insurrection the u.s. does not look much better. they want to do this aid package to russia and these senators, their children are going up to

ukraine and getting paid millions of dollars to sit on board they are not part of. ukraine is the most corrupt country in the world. we should not be giving them money at all. host: that is matt in maryland. the washington post looks at the keystone pipeline which some have raised them and they make this point, keystone was less than 10% complete when biden took office and would not in the near future be in operation. while new federal leases have stopped drillers are sitting on unused leases and lack of investment as more serious obstacles to domestic production. sammy, independent line on this ban of russian imports. sammy in new york, independent line. caller: i just want to make a comment. denial -- [indiscernible]

that is who putin is. putin is a lowlife and i hope he rots in hell. host: the president's decision on the imports of oil. what about that? caller: america used to be one of the most prominent countries about oil. i do not know why they have to depend on outside resources. it is a shame and disgrace. it is a real shame. we should be self-sufficient. we should be independent to make this country great again. host: that was sammy in new york. earl from connecticut, sorry, nashville, georgia. caller: good morning.

how you doing? good morning to all the american people, my brothers and sisters. i disagree with getting oil from russia. i don't call in that much but we should not get nothing from russia. we should drill our own oil here. host: the ban is russian oil coming to the united states. that was put into place yesterday. caller: i know but we should not get no oil from russia. russia is a dictator. they have been a dictator. we should not even go there and buy their oil. why you want to buy oil from a dictator? that don't sound right.

[indiscernible] trump promised to build that wall. host: i will only stop you because that goes beyond what we are talking about today. russia as far as they responding to yesterday say they will enact a ban on some of their commodities saying russia is the third largest oil producer in the world, the biggest exporter of natural gas and that few will russia's economy and the west is too dependent on them to quit easily. the invasion changed that. russia is a major supplier of grains and metals like aluminum, nickel and palladium. a sweeping ban on exports could upend global markets. that is the wall street journal reporting. people responding in the house of representatives about the ban of oil. kevin mccarthy was on the floor tuesday talking about the sanctions bill coming from the democrats. [video clip]

>> most americans have little choice but to spend $1300 extra on gas to fill up their cars. today the price is at an all-time high. democrats want to blame russia but the truth is they are out of touch with policy and that is why we are here in the first place. remember what happened day one with one party rule? the president canceled the keystone pipeline and then he stopped new oil and gas leases on federal land and water. then he gave the green light to putin's pipeline. these knee-jerk decisions have damaging effects up and down the supply chain. now democrats are creating a fake choice between sanctioning russia and lowering gas prices. in their twisted thinking americans must feel the pain at the pump in order to punish putin. it does not have to be this way.

when democrats won party rule last year they inherited an energy independent america. average prices were $2.53 a gallon. oh, do we wish we had those days again. it is possible to get back to that which is why republicans offered a bill last week that would approve keystone, fasttrack oil and gas production on federal lands and waters, and remove all hurdles to exporting american natural gas. the american people wonder what happened when we offered that? 220 democrats voted against that. then we offered targeted solutions to the immediate crisis, like approving the export permits being held up by the department of energy. just approving those six permits could increase natural gas exports by 25%. but democrats refused to listen.

they think our nation's future is better with leaving our resources in the ground. even if that requires us to buy oil from iran or venezuela and batteries from china. host: as many twitter feeds have been showing you about what is going on in ukraine a couple to show you the pictures. this is coming from ukraineworld showing the aftermath from the damage being done. when it comes to roads, bridges and other things being destroyed by bombardments. tony in connecticut, democrat line. go ahead. caller: good morning, pedro. what a day, huh? i am a lifelong democrat. i voted for obama twice, i voted for president biden. i don't know. i am one of those 60% that have voters remorse.

i feel like i have blood on my hands. i voted for this guy and he has done nothing but pay for putin's problems. now he is going to venezuela. they are going to do some kind of deal with iran. this is crazy. i will never vote democrat again. host: what about the president's decision yesterday? what did you think about that? caller: he is a day late and a dollar short. did you know when he did the state of the union address and he announced the markets went out for oil five dollars during his speech. this is terrible. as a democrat i have blood on my hands. terrible thing we are doing. host: ronald in texas, independent line. caller: hello, pedro. host: hi. caller: i want to comment that i am so glad we have a politician

in office that takes his time and thinks about his decisions and doesn't just boldly dive in. the embargo -- not the embargo, sorry, viggo will from russia was overdue. i am glad he was able to make that decision. joe biden is taking care of business. host: that is ronald in texas. the washington times takes a look at what could happen from this decision when it comes to economic issues. u.s. could fall into recession because of oil prices and more. it quotes a chief economist for moody's telling the house financial services committee yesterday elevated prices for oil and other commodities due to the russian invasion of ukraine could force the federal reserve in do no good choice on interest

rates. suggesting we will have to raise interest rates more aggressively and recession risk will rise quickly, he added. maxine waters who chairs the committee and several of her witnesses blamed inflation on corporate setting prices artificially high. the echo the sentiments of president biden. they quote tyler goodspeed, former chairman of the economic advisers under the trump administration, who testified the demands for good in march 2021 shot up 240 percent as democrats approved mr. biden's $1.9 trillion rescue plan. we had a massive increase in demand and supply, said mr. goodspeed, going on to say the difference has to go into prices. the washington times is where you can find that story. kathleen next in satellite beach, florida, democrat line. caller: i am a first time caller

but all of these callers keep saying we should drill more. i was listening to the stock market show yesterday and they were talking about how, with these record prices, exxon and mobil are buying back their stocks instead of drilling, instead of starting drilling on the 9000 leases they already have. everybody, it is not biden. it is the energy companies pocketing the profits and not drilling on those 9000 leases on federal land. host: what do you think about the president's decision yesterday on the ban? caller: i agree with it. host: why so? caller: because i don't like the idea of giving money to putin

either. as far as the europeans doing the same thing, you know, they get way more than we ever take from russia. that is all i really wanted to say. thank you. host: lori in north carolina, independent line. caller: good morning, pedro. i wanted to say i don't think all of this was thought through thoroughly before biden enacted his ban on russian oil. i don't think there was enough infrastructure for gas and oil put in place prior to conducting this ban. as a result everything is going to go up. gas prices are going to go up, it takes transportation and diesel to move all the stuff, all of our goods around, and that is going to go up. our country is going to end up

bankrupt over ukraine and russia and they have been at war with each other for hundreds of years. host: you are saying no action is needed? caller: no, i am not saying action isn't needed. but how far do we go before we say, ok, we have done all we can do? host: lori in north carolina. one of the other statements coming from the biden and administration yesterday came from the commerce secretary reported by the new york times saying, the secretary of commerce issuing a stern warning tuesday to chinese companies that might defy u.s. restrictions against exporting to russia saying the u.s. would cut them off from american equipment and software they need to make their products. the biden administration could shut down semiconducting or any chinese companies that supply technology to russia.

let's go to jim on the democrat line from highland park, new jersey. caller: the democrat line right? host: right. that's you? caller: pedro, how are you doing this morning? host: fine thank you. caller: what is happening obviously is russia is trying to control and dominate the entire world along with china as putin 's partner. consequently, what our president and also our allies are doing are fair, proper, and maybe some other things should happen.

i know it is going to cause more problems. however, they have to be stopped once and for all. host: the ban yesterday is something you agreed with? he hung up. we will hear next from jamie in new york, republican line. caller: good morning. host: you are on c-span. go ahead. caller: let me just say i don't agree with the ban yesterday. if the sanctions were kept in place that were under the previous administration, we would not have the issue that is going on right now where putin could think he could just take over the whole ukraine ordeal. really i think it is more to it. different news places are

covering different stories but i don't know if other people are aware of the bioweapons, places that were targeted that were u.s. host: let's stick to what happened yesterday. what specifically did you think about this decision to ban imports? caller: it is going to hurt us. it is going to hurt us drastically. with the prices now it is just going to double. it is not going to help the u.s. in any means. where are we now going to get our oil from? you got some that are reporting it is only 10%, others reporting 60%, others reporting 70%. what are the real numbers? now they want to get it from venezuela. i just don't understand with

this current administration what the end goal is. i understand they want to be energy independent but you cannot click a button and everyone has electric cars. i don't understand. host: that is jamie in new york, republican line. speaking of venezuela this is from the new york times. venezuela freeing two american prisoners saying the talks with venezuela, which has enormous oil reserves, assumed urgency after the president announced tuesday the united states would ban russian oil and gas. that will tighten the availability of crude oil in the market and could raise gas prices at a moment when inflation climbed at the fastest in 40 years. american officials says the prisoner release was not part of a deal with venezuela to restart oil sales which were banned under the trump administration. american business people who have worked in venezuela have had discussions with resuming

trade. when it comes to the men involved yesterday saying an executive at the venezuela state oil company detained in 2017, and an american businessman briefed on the situation and accused of terrorism for bring a drone into venezuela in february of 2020. independent line we hear from randall, chicago heights, illinois. caller: i would like to know one thing about gasoline pump pricing. you ever notice when you get your gas that the premium pump handles are full of webs because nobody uses premium gas? it is too expensive. why doesn't the u.s. stop making premium gas and only make

regular and midgrade? this way we have more gas because no one uses premium. this stopping of buying russian oil, we were only getting 2% and now they say putin raised the other countries to make up for our lousy 2%. we did not hurt putin at all. it is going to hurt us. host: what is gas like in illinois where you live? caller: it is $4.20. we are still paying the highest prices. host: one more call from frank in maryland, democrat line. caller: yes, sir. the american people don't understand we do not have a command economy. we cannot snap our fingers and say industry, do this, industry, do that.

we also don't understand all oil is not created equal. there is texas crude and then there is dirty oil that comes from russia and venezuela. decades ago refineries on the gulf coast and midwest decided to build refineries to process dirty oil. the reason? dirty oil is far cheaper to buy and they could leverage the difference between the cheap oil and the final product to make a profit. host: sorry to interrupt, but to the president's decision yesterday. what did you think about that? caller: i think it was a decision that had to be made. russia taking over ukraine is an existential threat not only to europe but to the free world.

host: that is frank in maryland finishing off this half-hour. appreciate all of you who participated. house coming in at 9:00 today. we have two guests before that. joining is next republican congressman blake moore of utah and member of the house armed services committee to talk about russia and ukraine, particularly the decision yesterday. later on we hear from the national resources fed council. that should accelerate the country away from fossil fuels. those conversations coming up on washington journal. ♪ >> the russian military has begun a brutal assault on the people of ukraine without provocation, without justification, without necessity. this is a premeditated attack. announcer: c-span has unfiltered coverage of the u.s. response to

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♪ announcer: washington journal continues. host: this is representative blake moore of utah, member of the armed services committee and committee on natural resources, subcommittee on oversight and investigations. he serves as the ranking member for that body. thank you for joining us. guest: thank you for having me here. host: what was the reaction to the president's decision yesterday? guest: i think it was expected.

you have seen the majority of americans really frustrated we are doing anything to aid russia and congress was moving that direction so president biden preempted it. i was not surprised by it. this is going to be another hit. in the last year i am frustrated at the policies that have gone in place to raise americans' gas prices for no real reason other than political gain. at this point i think america needed to come together. what i am finding my constituents it is hard for americans to look at the tragedy in ukraine and the suffering and not be able to do more. just one little thing we can continue to do to show solidarity with the ukrainian people and hopefully lead our european allies in the right direction to add more sanctions and get away and damage putin's economy. host: we heard democrats in the house offering their own

sanctions bill. what is the status of that? is it going to go forward? guest: i am not sure the details. there has been a lot going on. we have a budget that has been -- the democrats have been trying to pass since october. we keep doing crs. that was the talk yesterday on what they were trying to add to the cr. seeing the russian oil ban i think it is a good decision. we needed to move that direction and we need to get something done congress. host: because you serve on the committee of natural resources a couple of questions about energy independence. how do you define that? guest: being a net exporter. being a country that uses our resources in a positive, productive way. we were going that direction in so many ways. i also look at it as an opportunity if we were able to invest in ourselves and create profits, we can reinvest that back into finding more renewable opportunities. i am seeing a lot of industry go

the direction of finding a way to diversify their portfolio. that is the right decision. but relying on foreign energy, relying on -- as we move away from russia to even consider venezuela or iran, we have to take dictators at their word. they have bad intentions and we need to be able to shore up what we are doing at home. this is what we have been talking about the last 13 months on the committee, particularly energy reserves, critical minerals. why are we not doing it? we do it better with better labor standards, environmental standards than the rest of the world. let's shore up what we are doing so we can lead the world. host: one of the two points that have come up in this discussion over the decisions yesterday, one was the keystone pipeline that was 10% complete when the president took office. that was highlighted today. there also was this thing about

the federal leases that have stopped because drillers are sitting on thousands of unused leases that have cited lack of investment as the serious obstacle. you serve on the natural resources committee and come from utah. what you think about the latter piece about the leases not being used? guest: go back to february 2021, go back and look what we were saying. we were predicting this was a bad idea. president biden came into office and he immediately took a lot of executor action. one was the secretary order, the ban on leasing on federal land and water. he was also canceling the keystone pipeline. those were fatal flaws that increased our gas prices because it takes away -- gas prices are based on speculation. this is showing the move away from what he wanted to do and it was political. it was to appease a wing of his party that was not willing to look at the reality of the energy situation. now the american people are

stunning to realize, ok, that equals increased prices and it does not reduce emissions. we have to over rely on opec and dictators like we are seeing right now. host: would you suggest canceling imports from canada? guest: allies are a strong thing and we need a strong front against putin and the ayatollah. canada is a good partner and a good trading partner. that does not mean we cannot be an exporter with the keystone pipeline. there is good that comes from that. host: the keystone pipeline, she probably heard this as well, it would have come to full affect in 2023. there is only one portion a question because it goes through the gulf coast. what was the major point of that as far as this add-on to the pipeline? what is the big deal in your

mind about it? guest: we are looking at an inability -- we are going to start canceling oil from russia. we needed to be in a position to backfill that in a proper way with good partnerships that are productive and add security to the world. embracing that concept, creating jobs, those were all the things that were highlighted around the keystone pipeline. host: our guest will be with us until 8:00. if you want to ask questions, (202)-748-8000 for democrats, (202)-748-8001 for republicans, and independents (202)-748-8002. you can text us your thoughts at (202)-748-8003. because you served on the armed services a question about the offer of these polish planes to go to ukraine. the united states response to that offer. guest: as i saw some of this

play out yesterday. we need to be supportive and we need to provide as much aid as we possibly can to help the ukrainian people. this detracts from that and i think it is a poor move. poland and nearby nations are doing so much to support the ukrainian people. they are showing up to train stations with signs that say how may bedrooms they have. that is an amazing thing and we have to celebrate that would also make sure they have what they need. if we cannot intervene militarily, we need to be able to help them anyway we can because supporting ukraine is fundamental to the expansion of democracy across the globe and a loss here is a win for the bad guys. host: do you think that would've escalated tensions between

russia and the u.s.? guest: tensions are tight, tensions are high right now. no one wants to get involved in anything nuclear or kinetic or anything related to cyber. i think ukrainian forces need our support. if we can't intervene militarily, we have to show support however we can. host: blake moore, representative who serves the armed services committee and member of the natural resources committee taking your calls. rob is in colorado, independent line. go ahead with your question or comment. caller: good morning. being in western colorado i am in the middle of the oil and gas industry right next to utah. i am trying to figure out where you got the situation that they were canceled. federal leases are good for 10 years. they don't expire if they are

being drilled on until the well is no longer being used. in western colorado where we live there is 20.9 million acres of federal land that is least for oil and gas -- leased for oil and gas. only 9 million is being used. last week on cnbc an analyst indicated the problem is that the oil and gas industry is not going to concentrate on drilling, they are going to concentrate on profits. as you know, only 5% to 10% of our oil production is on federal land and with 11% on natural gas production. when are you people owing to force the oil and gas industry to start drilling again when they are there for profits and not for drilling? that is what my question is because the fact is hearing that

leases were canceled, they were not granted starting february 2021. guest: there are still leases that have not been executed yet. there is that gap between this secretarial order and the banning on drilling. gas prices have increased over the course of the last year steadily month over month. you can look back to the immediate actions president biden took when he took office with the secretarial order canceling the keystone pipeline. that has been directly related. we know gas prices -- there are a lot of factors that go into it -- speculation is a key thing. as you look at this move away from his energy -- biden's

energy policy is going to move away from embracing the success we have seen with what has taken place. the u.s. reduced emissions far better than any other country in the world. we have seen that trend take place. biden moved very aggressively to take executive actions and has put us in the wrong direction. it has been a tax on every single american as we see gas prices grow exponentially the last year. it is going to get even worse because we are not ready to address this global crisis. no, there are leases that have not been used, everybody knows that. what we are talking about is embracing for the future and what that does to gas prices. host: from new jersey, pat, republican line. caller: hello, sir. are any of you thinking about where this process is going to lead? you have visa, mastercard refusing to do business with russia. president biden is banning oil.

what is going to happen? are we going to end up with trading blocks of communist and everybody else? is this the end of globalization? guest: i love that question. i love getting involved in anything globalized economy which is what we largely have achieved at this point. we need to take the stand against russia. the good part is -- the positive part for america as we are not overly reliant other than seeing europe be too rely on russian energy. the u.s. itself is not necessarily reliant on a lot of manufacturing. for example, when all of this hit a couple of weeks ago our governor in utah moved to ban russian imported goods. it was like, one brand of vodka in the liquor stores which is not a high consumption liquor state as you all know. you joke with us about that. that is my point.

think about china. if we were to ban products from china, the economic integration is worse. but with russia it is going to be fairly contained. 2% to 3% is from coal and not much liquefied gas is what we took action on. we are keeping their oligarchs from being able to do business across the world in the banking industry. those are all good things. we have to take a hard stand. where it becomes an issue it is if it spills into communist china. that is why we are watching closely what is going on with china and russia. if russia becomes overly dependent on the chinese economy, that strength that would exist from those countries is a concern. host: what move could the u.s. make china if those take place? guest: we have already been able to show good relationships with

india, southeast china. the best way to add deterrence against china is finding new manufacturing opportunities. but we are not there yet with china. it hurts them as well. i would argue sanctions against china would hurt them a lot more than it would hurt us, especially if we can find new manufacturing opportunities. but we are not anywhere near where we are to be able to distance ourselves from russia. host: blake moore joining us. kathleen, democrat line, you are next. caller: good morning. how are you doing? guest: good. caller: why is it every time this president does something to help this country, even though he is going to help other countries, it is bankrupt. where is all this money that you can send millions out but when it comes to this country you are

broke? i do understand that. you all are sitting up there getting paid like the democrats but the whole time this man has been in office you are not even trying to work with him. how can you work with other people and you don't even work with your own president? this is a travesty. we vote you into office to help this country also. when you win your seats i would think you would get together whether you like biden or not and work for the american people. we got money. how can we not have money when you want to send millions and millions and millions of dollars to other countries? can you please answer that? actually answer that. host: that was kathleen in chicago. guest: absolutely. always a fair question of foreign aid versus domestic aid and spending policies. you're talking to me particularly. i am really thrilled with my 14

months in congress. i have had a strong bipartisan voting record. i serve on two committees, one is the last bipartisanship they would get in congress which is in support of our military. that has been a good, positive, productive approach this year. natural resources is more tense because it is related to a lot of energy policy decisions and there is always going to be conflict between two ideologies. amidst all of that i found numerous opportunities with respect to recreation, environmental concerns that we have particularly out west. there is good bipartisan work. i had a bill signed by president biden and i am proud of that. i will always push back and be very clear on how i view economic policy. president biden ran in his

campaign on a message of unity and bringing america together. the minute the georgia senate flipped to democrat and it was a democrat-controlled white house and senate, i'm sorry, i don't think anybody can look at what president biden -- he made a huge shift. he ran on the principle of not being bernie sanders and all of a sudden bernie sanders is the head of the budget and controls the budget. they pushed trillions and trillions, the most progressive agenda we have seen in our lifetimes, in the history of our nation. we have never seen this kind of spending proposal. last year there has been a lot of pushback on the amount of spending. why? because that type of spending loads a whole bunch of money into the economy that, when you don't offset it and you have a depressed workforce, supply chain issues, all that does, that is a direct tax on every american. we have seen inflation at a 40

year high. i was two years old when we saw this type of inflation. that is the kind of stuff we are pushing back against. president biden ran on a promise of unity and his performance in the white house has been completely different. democrats looked at it and said, ok, we have control of these houses of congress and the white house. let's go big. instead of looking at it like, we actually have a split government right now. it is a very small margin in both the house and senate. smaller than we have seen. that should have been an opportunity to work together. we have not seen that willingness for bipartisanship from democrat leadership as well. i hope you see from my response i have shown i am willing to work across the aisle and have productive solutions. i only have 14 months to go in

congress but i have not seen the same from the leadership side of the democrats. they did everything they could to get rid of the filibuster. they are taking really aggressive measures. more spending proposals then we have ever seen and that ultimately hurts every american. host: the senate majority leader chuck schumer sending out a tweet saying they have reached a budget agreement for the people. adding it will address major challenges we face from covid, the vicious and immoral attack on ukraine, and need to lower cost for america families. reporting saying $14 billion for ukraine, more money for covid, $15 billion. the republicans are saying increase for defense spending. guest: there are lots of things with regard to the budget. this is been going on since october and they continually kicked the can down the road. i think there is another cr

proposed today like a four day cr. they had all this time to get it figured out. we want a full accounting of the money that is still unspent from this covert relief. for there to be covid relief in here is flabbergasted. $1.9 trillion covid relief bill that a very small percentage went to direct covid relief over a year ago. what that directly led to was flooding the market with money and creating inflation we have not seen in 40 years. that and more covid spending is mind-boggling. but the ukrainian -- everybody agrees with ukrainian aid. what we struggle with is getting a bill at 1:30 a.m. and expecting to vote on it that is 2700 pages. it is one of those bad mismanagement of floor time. i have democrat friends saying to me, hey, we want to be in the majority but can you run the

floor? to get 2700 pages at 1:30 a.m. and we are going to vote on it today or at least the four day extension and have it by monday? it is disingenuous to the mega people. we need to do better. we have cr budget issues when republicans were the majority and i hope to be somebody that can bring a private sector let's be smart and instead of being up against deadlines and trying to control members back and forth. -- cajole members back and forth. host: as far as the full budget bill where are you for supporting that? guest: it is hard for me to support a $1.5 trillion bill getting it this morning at 1:30 a.m. i really struggle to see more covid relief getting jammed in there so they can satisfy some of their more progressive members.

that has been the reason so many americans are facing inflation. it is tough. i am supportive of -- i am going to be somebody willing to engage on this. this is only, what, one third of the budget? this is not the reason we are in debt or have deficit spending. there is good talk among republican colleagues in how we can be supportive. we will see when it comes out but again, we got this just this morning. host: don in ohio, independent line. caller: hello, yeah. we are talking about energy and everything. talk about the farmers. what are the farmers supposed to do? there is no electric car, there is no electric truck. why is he coming down on the farmer with this? help us out. host: that was don in ohio.

guest: that is the point i am trying to make with high gas prices, record inflation. it is not good economic policy. we know the equation of loading a whole bunch of money into the market, a whole bunch of free money that loads the monetary supply, and with a depressed workforce, too much money going after too few goods. record inflation is hitting every american, particularly farmers. i represent a lot of agriculture communities and they have had it tough. there is growing issues with respect to water and how we are going to manage that and prioritize our food. utah legislators and community is working hard on this. they care deeply and we are trying to come up with solutions. hopefully at the local level we can be supportive of our agriculture and having what they need.

there is more policy to get into but we need to recognize where the priorities are, health care, food, those are things we have always got to be thinking about. host: james from richmond, virginia, democrat line. caller: good morning. i find it amazing when trump was in here doing everything he should not have been doing, yell had no problem with that. biden come along and all you republicans do is sit around and complain about everything. this nonsense about the inflation, you tell these supermarkets in america stop throwing away everything even for a tax write-off. help the farmers. tell these big supermarkets to stop throwing away everything.

start balancing stuff out. you rich people to think of one thing, yourselves. you think you care about me paying $20 for gas? you don't. stop it. guest: there is a lot to respond to. let me highlight a couple of things. the debt has increased the last 20 odd years. last time we had a balanced budget i think was 1997. clinton administration, republican legislature, willingness to work together. i hope to be somebody that can revive that. i am hopeful and confident as republicans can be in the majority come next year that we have an opportunity to get the fiscal house in order and do so better than what we have done the last 20 years. with respect to president trump and the act, i am going on data. there is a lot ofi know there if

hyperbole and debate over this. increased the ability for american companies to stay within our borders and not have to offshore a lot of work because they had a globally competitive tax rate. it is not just tax benefits for the wealthy, there was a rising tide there, we solve real wages increase. with president biden's policies, we have seen inflation, which will decrease spending power. that is just data. the infrastructure bill should have been an opportunity to come together. you saw a more collaborative nature in the center on this, the ability to come together and work together. in the house, the infrastructure bill was nothing more than a ploy to get their more moderate members to jump on board to the other trillions of spending with

respect to the build back better plan. there is no way around that, that is what it was. it was a hook, we will give you your infrastructure bill only if you support or build back better. they were tied together into that was disingenuous. we could have gotten together, we could have easily come together on infrastructure bill, but when it is tied to trillions of more spending that is tough. i lived it, trust me. you can talk to my infrastructure advocates in utah, there was a sincere desire to do this, but i will not be responsible for tv in the way for multitrillion dollar spending that is ultimately bad for our economy and bad for all americans, middle-class, lower-class and everything. that is data and that is the case. host: the republican of utah joining us. we thank you for your time.

the house is coming in at 9:00 a.m. and a half hour, we will hear from bob deans. we will hear about clean energy type issues. you can respond to yesterday and other things in our open forum. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. text us at 202-748-8003. we'll be right back. ♪ announcer: c-span shop.org, browse through our latest collection of products, apparel, books, home decor and accessories. there is something for every c-span fan. every purchase supports our nonprofit operation. shop now or anytime at c-span

shop.org. announcer: at least six presidents recorded conversations while in office. hear them on our new podcast, presidential recordings. >> season one focuses on the presidency of lyndon johnson. you will hear about the civil rights act, the presidential campaign, the gulf of tonkin incident, the march on selma and the war in vietnam. not everyone knew that they were being recorded. >> certainly his secretaries knew because they were tasked with transcribing many of those conversations. they were the ones who made sure that the conversations were taped, as johnson would signal to them through an open door between his office and theirs. >> you will also hear some blunt talk. >> i want a report of the number of people who were assigned to candidate and to me the day he

died. and i want them right click. -- quick. i won't go to the bathroom, i won't go anywhere. announcer: presidential recordings, find it on the c-span now mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: one thing that took place on capitol hill yesterday was the cia director was before the house intelligence committee, one thing he talked about was his agency's assessment of the actions of vladimir putin. here is that. [video clip] >> he has been stewing in a combustible combination of grievance and ambition for many years. that personal conviction matters more than ever in the russian system, he has created a system in which his advisers are narrower and narrower. and it is a system in which it

has not proven career enhancing for people to question his judgment. he has gone to war on the basis of a number of assumptions, which led him to believe that he faced a favorable landscape to use forces against ukraine. first, ukraine was weak in his view. second, the europeans were distracted by elections in france and leadership succession in germany. third, he believed he had a sanction proved his economy and creating a large warchest of foreign currency reserves. fourth, he was confident he had modernized his military and if they were capable of a quick victory at minimal cost. he has been proven wrong on every count and his assumptions have proven to be flawed. president zelensky, as you

mentioned, has resented the moment and has demonstrated remarkable leadership. ukrainians have resisted fiercely. second, europeans have demonstrated remarkable resolve. especially the germans. third, the economic consequences of the sanctions that have been enacted have proven to be devastating for russia, especially for the russian central bank. depriving proven the -- putin the ability to defend himself. and the military has been largely ineffective, for example, not seizing kyiv within the first few days of the campaign. after two weeks, they fully have abbott able to encircle the city. so putin has come into publicly and privately over the years that he does not believe ukraine is a real country, but he is

dead wrong, real countries fight back. that is what the ukrainians have done. as you said, i think that putin is frustrated right now. he is likely to double down and try to grind it down the ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties. but the challenge he faces, and this is the biggest question that has hung over our analysis of his planning for months now, as the director said, is he has no sustainable endgame. host: you can find more of that at c-span.org. jim and virginia on the republican line -- in virginia on the republican line, go ahead. caller: how are you doing? i have several things. i missed the representative from utah when you had callers calling in talking about working with joe biden.

republicans cannot work with joe biden because he is trying to destroy america. we see it. we know gas prices have been going up. listen to president trump. he told you what would happen if joe biden was elected, which he was, fraudulently. food shortages, gas shortages and of the working citizens are the only ones suffering. that representative does not need to work with biden, they need to win 100 seats this november and destroy the democrat party permanently because at they hate america and they have proven it every single day. host: dolores in buffalo, new york. caller: good morning. i wanted to say that i am very proud of president biden. he's a great man and i wanted to say no matter what he does, he would give everybody a billion dollars and the republicans do not give him credit for that.

we are doing great together, we must work together, and we must not fight against each other. republicans need to remember that when they were campaigning, they said they would do everything for the american people. now we are working for them instead of them working for us. it is not a personal thing, it is about the american people. i say you go, joe. keep doing what you were doing. host: a caller on the democrats line. caller: i want to piggyback on what the president was saying about the energy right now. we need to convert to green energy. everybody who has been in a hurricane or tornado knows, even if you have a gas heater, you pull intoi a gas station if there isf. the range on cars is about 250

miles for most electric cars, and everybody has gas. who drive 200 miles a day? most of us don't. you can fully charge a car at night and have plenty of power to get around during the day. just about everybody can have an electric car. host: do you think that they are cost prohibitive to some people? caller: that is what i am saying. the lucid air, the car of the year of 2022, is $77,000. it's made in america. it has a 500 mile range and a 20 minute charge. i do not know how they do that, but the other car companies will soon catch on. people should not be afraid of running out of energy or power. no one drives 200 or 300 miles a day. host: good you afford something like that? -- could you afford

something like that? caller: the hyundai kona is $40,000 and has a 255 mile range. the ford mach-e, an all electric mustang, is 55,000 -- is $55,000. everybody thinks everything is a tesla, that it is $100,000, but that is only the model x. host: linda on the independent line. caller: yes. ok, what i wanted to say was -- listen, someone has to tell all these people that think the pipeline was running and we closed it and that is why we do not have gas, the pipeline was never finished or opened and we were never getting anything from that. and we will never get anything from that because it is sludge.

it's only coming down to be shipped to china, we will not get a drop of that oil to use. that's number one. number two, i am wondering if you can get a senator, anyone of them that knows anything, the last one would have been good, to explain why the president cannot make his order, an emergency order, that these oil companies that have these pumps already, i think they should be forced to open them because i follow the stock market and they said that when the price of oil drops below $45 a barrel, it was no longer profitable to pump u.s. oil. it would cost more to bring it up than they could sell it for. but it is well beyond that and i think they can start pumping and i think you should give them in order to do that. host: david in mississippi on the independent line. caller: thank you for taking my

call. -- thank you for taking my call. they do not have to pay to decommission. as far as these jets going to ukraine, i want to know who in the pentagon made the decision that they cannot transfer the jets. i wonder if it is the russian sympathizers there, like walter. pitt. host: there is a statement on ukraine from the department of defense's press secretary, if you want to read it as far as the explanation they offered yesterday. that is one of the things playing out with russia and ukraine. 15 minutes until we have our

next guest. a couple of other events that took place yesterday. a texas man accused of bringing a pistol to the capital, interfering with police in telling his children that traders get shot. he was found guilty to all charges on tuesday. the jury took less than four hours to deliberate. he faces a maximum of 60 years in prison, his sentencing is set for june 8. abc reporting about the leader of the convoys, one has been charged with conspiracy related to the attack on january 6, as part of the ongoing investigation into the attack. according to the indictment, even though the man was not president -- present on the 6th, he was instrumental in the riot and he was arrested and was

ordered to stay out of washington during the time frame surrounding the riots. also, spectrum news, which reports throughout the u.s., they highlight events of yesterday saying a federal judge heard arguments on tuesday between a law professor and the congressional committee investigating the january 6 insurrection, determining whether several of his emails will be private. both sides agreed, the u.s. district judge doing what is known as an in camera review of private emails to determine what can be turned over to the committee and which ones will be kept concealed under claims of work product privilege. eastman's attorney argued that the emails will not show evidence of intent to commit fraud and is seeking to overturn -- in seeking to overturn the presidential result. he said the government will have to prove some sort of criminal intent and there is no evidence of that.

but the judge said intent would not have to be proven under the fraud allegation and appointed to an emailer change of eastman and his emails with mike pence saying the certification of the election was violated so pence might as well create another violation by delaying the certification for 10 days. more on that on our website. from minnesota, the democrats line, michael. caller: hello. can you hear me? host: yep. caller: i am glad we got the bow finally calling in and telling people what the truth is behind the oil. the oil companies got us over the barrel. they set the prices of oil. they are causing inflation here. they are price gouging. and i was going to call the senator and ask him when they were going to have an investigation on all of the oilo

oligarchs that live here in this country and how long the price gouging is going to go on. and when we will have an investigation on that. host: greg in alabama on the republican line. caller: yeah, two things. one, as far as the oil prices -- help me understand this. you know, it is global. if we produce more oil, then speculation is going to come down. i think it is perception in what we are doing. if we produce more oil, we can drive the prices down when we shut down a pipeline you get less people -- or you have a global perception of less oil so the price goes up. i'm assuming that that is correct. but we need to be energy-efficient. back to electric cars. i keep hearing people bring up

electric cars and energy independence, it does not create it. it takes cobalt to make a battery. nine out of 10 mines in the country are in africa and produced by slave labor. those who buy the batteries are google and apple. they try to tell us how to live and they put emphasis on things here in this country and they do not practice what they preach. host: joe in maine on the independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. can you hear me? host: you are on. caller: my question is directly to you. the last week i have heard you repeatedly ask people about the connection between ukraine and president trump, and i would like to respond, is that ok? host: go ahead. caller: no, when president zelensky of ukraine got elected,

he was opposed by a russian puppet who, when they lost in the election, they tried to overthrow the country of ukraine. they had a riot. the ukrainian people stood up like they are standing up today. and i believe the person was yachenko, i am not president. so when he could not be president of ukraine, he left the country. and where did he go, guess where? russia. he is there today. so then our hero president trump, two weeks president zelensky was in office and he sent rubio -- do you remember that, his 11 pals and rubio going to ukraine.

do you remember that? host: you need to make your point. do not engage me. caller: who was being bribed? they were being bribed in ukraine through rudy giuliani, right? you do know that, right? it was a direct offer. and he got impeached. there is your connection. what did president trump do? he tried to stop the sanctions on russia. these are facts. host: let's hear from kevin on the democrats line. caller: hey, i think this energy crisis is all federal energy policy related. the progressive left pushing for people to believe that green energy is ready for prime time and it is not. and i am all about alternative

energy sources, i believe in all energy sources, but to force green energy on the people in the manner that this administration is doing is causing pain. and for the administration to make people believe that this is putin's fault or the energy executives' fault is ludicrous. the people of this country are smarter than that. come november, the people are going to speak loudly and make sure that the people held accountable for this are -- or the people that are this -- that did this are held accountable. republicans and democrats can continue to talk about how putin is a bad guy, and i think he is a horrible person who should be removed, if not assassinated, but the problem is not putin. the problem is our administration. host: from the national resources defense council,

bob deans will be joining us to talk about energy policy if you want to stay tuned for that. the wall street journal has a chart with the comparisons between the military capabilities of russia and ukraine, just to give you the rundown -- with budgets, the defense budget of ukraine was $4.2 billion, russia and $52 billion. military personnel active, ukraine with 196,000. russia with 900,000. reserves, ukraine with 900000 and russia with 2 million. for weapons, tanks and ukraine, 197, 3400 and russia. attack helicopters for ukraine, 405. aircraft coming ukraine with 128, 1391 in russia. you can find that chart in the wall street journal. from georgia on the republican line, this is can. -- ken.

caller: two things i would like to say. one, i do not understand why reporters do not have the backbone to not show up at joe biden's interviews. he refuses to speak. he refuses to answer questions, so may be it is time reporters got a little backbone and essay we will not even look at you during your interviews. host: he has held several conferences over the last couple weeks, you can see that on the website if he wanted to get out. caller: i have looked at it, i have not seen engagement. he might answer one question, but the second thing is this. people keep talking about electric vehicles, how cheap they are. i'm in a house with three vehicles. if we go electric, i have an

electrician that will retrofit my house to provide three 220 volt outlets outside in my driveway. so that all three can be charged overnight. host: would you actually buy three electric vehicles to replace the ones you have? caller: yes, three of them. i have gas vehicles, now i have to get chargers for three electrics to replace them. host: would you actually buy three or just buy one? caller: one will fill up one car. you need three for three cars. that means i have to have a brand-new electrical panel, a brand-new service throughout the house. can you imagine that thousands of dollars it is going to cost? host: red in arizona on the independent line.

hi. red in arizona, hello? terry in california on the democrats line. caller: hello? host: you are on. caller: yeah. they are talking about biden being the problem with the oil crisis, but i remember when trump, um, with the oil coming in -- ever since then it has been bad for the gas prices for america. and it keeps going up. and it's just, why -- do not take a hit on nothing. that has to change because the country is going to go down. it is all about capitalism, but we need more than that. host: ok. the new york times highlights an issue with the president's

former chief of staff, mark meadows. a report that mark meadows, who helped the former president spread false claims of voter fraud in attempt to overturn the results of the election is facing questions about his voting record, following a report he registered to vote from a mobile home where he did not live. there is no indication that he resided or spent the night at the mountain home, according to the new yorker, which first reported on the residence he had listed. the north carolina voter registration records show that meadows and his wife registered to vote at the mobile home in north carolina six weeks before the 2020 election, records show he voted absentee from that address and his wife voted early in person. her connection to the home is unclear. but he never owned it. mr. meadows stated he intended to move in the following day.

north carolina law requires a new voter live at their address 30 days before the election from which they are voting. ron in your on -- in new york on the independent line. caller: let's get something straight, i cannot believe that 40% of the nation is profoundly ignorant to their circumstances. you have got to be from i do not know, under a rug, not to see it. joe biden is the most well polished doorknob in washington. he goes where the money is. although this is bought and paid for. do not ask yourself one more time why, ask who. why is irrelevant at this point. these people are organized, connected and this is all bought and paid for. host: who are these people? caller: you are talking about any major figure. host: who are they specifically? caller: the democratic communist

a marxist party. these people are not who they say they are. the democratic party of old does not exist. it doesn't. the values are not there, the intentions are not there. now let's jump over to the united nations. host: we will go to mark in new mexico on the republican line. caller: how are you? hey, i just wanted to say two things. you know, i believe with april 14 coming up pretty quick, if everybody would just file their taxes, pay them minimum of $100 to the government, i imagine things would straighten up a little bit. on oil, uh, the oil business is being careful. the eta, they have so many laws -- epa, they have so many laws on them that, just let the oil

company take care of them, they are going to protect their environment. host: when it comes to issues of the postal service, one of the things not widely talked about currently by action in the senate yesterday, passing a bill overhauling the postal service getting wide bipartisan support. saying it would give the agency a reprieve in moving postal liabilities, eliminating $50 billion in payments. it requires future postal retirees to enroll in medicare, a rule that would administer go cost to the system and save taxpayers over the next decade. it is also said the bill is the cornerstone of -- the head of the postal service put for the restructuring plan. the chief has been a foil to the president. -- delays ahead of the 2020

election. read that in the washington post this morning. donald in ohio on the independent line. caller: is there any talk with the congress or senate about flying the ukrainian people here to america? host: i do not know about direct flights. there was talk yesterday with one of our guests about refugees and accepting them into the u.s. caller: is that going to happen? they are flying humanitarian aid overseas, can't they just fill up the military planes on the way back and help these people out? they have to fly back to the u.s. anyway, right? host: donald in ohio. one more call. this will be from peter on the democrats line. caller: yeah. uh, the representative that was on, he said he knew what was

going on. how come they saved $22 billion to people and they did it by themselves. host: one more thing, the house will come in at 9:00 a.m. our conversation with bob deans of the natural resources defense council, the strategic engagement director. he will talk about energy policy. we'll take calls for him when "washington journal" continues. ♪ announcer: american history tv, saturdays on c-span2. exploring the people and events that tell the american story. at noon, the host of history that happens podcast, talks with

a university professor about the history of the democratic party and how the democratic party's ideas and coalition foraged larger themes in american history. at 2:00 p.m., part two over eight part series, first lady, in their own words. a look at the first lady, their time in the white house and issues important to them. this week we will speak about betty ford. >> will that be a solution to women's problems? wouldn't it alter the fabric of the constitution? or pull women away from their families? it will help knock down those restrictions and that have locked women in to the stereotypes of behavior and opportunity. announcer: exploring the american story, watch american history tv, saturday on c-span2. find a full schedule on your

program guide or watch online, anytime at c-span.org/history. ♪ announcer: c-span's new american presidents website is your one-stop guide. from george washington to joe biden, find biographies, video resources, life facts and rich images that tell their stories of their lives and presidencies, all in one website. visit c-span.org/presidents to explore this rich catalog today. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: joining us is the natural resources defense council strategic engagement director , bob deans. remind people about the work of the council and who you are financed by. guest: the natural resources defense council is an

independent nonprofit environmental advocacy organization supported by 3 million people around the country. we do three things, tell the truth about what is happening to the environment, advocate for the policy solutions we need, and use the law and courts to hold people accountable. host: as for your financing? guest: it comes from our supporters and foundations. we get no government money or corporate money, it comes from individual supporters and foundations. host: when it comes to the decision on russian oil, you put out a press release saying it was the right thing to do. can you elaborate? guest: there is a difference between waging war against the military and cold-blooded murder of civilians. what we have seen the past few weeks with military attacks that have laid ruined into it entire buildings, left hospitals to operate literally in the dark,

and more shadows that have wiped out entire families, killing children who were literally running for their lives with their possessions in a backpack that should have been loaded with schoolbooks and lunchboxes. every day that this has happened, most americans do not realize at that we have been purchasing half a million barrels of oil from russia, writing a check for $50 million and is sending it to the kremlin to pad its war chest. and yesterday, the president of the united states said no more, we are done with that. we are no longer going to be sending money to help support a military aggression against ukraine, it is about standing up for the people of ukraine and the people of this country. host: when it comes to the markets, the decision yesterday, what is the reverberations and the energy markets here at home? guest: no question the world is

paying a price for putin's aggression, russia is a large oil supplier. it is the third largest in the world. ever since he began threatening his neighbor, and certainly once he attacked ukraine, the oil markets have responded. so we will see more of that as we go forward. i think the president got it right when he said that this is exactly going to be a cost on all of us, but let's be clear, many people have been advocating for a long time for us to reduce our reliance on oil. and to stop sending money overseas, whether it is to russia or other petro states. many people have been advocating for years to do this, the oil industry has done everything i possibly can to prevent us from taking those steps to break our dependence on this destructive fuel. and we are all paying the price for that right now. host: the house is coming in at

9:00, so if you want to get in questions up until that time, it is 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. you can text us at 202-748-8003. the wall street journal has another take, as you can imagine, to this thing when it comes to dependence on energy. they write in part, replacing russia's 5 million barrels of crude exports and building pipelines to transport it would take time, but the transition to a fossil free world would take technological breakthroughs and decades and will leave the u.s. dependent on other countries for lithium and nickel. prices remain hostage to those who guarantee higher prices, the president is enabling putin's leverage, even as he claims the opposite. guest: the wall street journal is doing a great job reporting on this war.

but we differ with that editorial. it's wrong. let's talk about who is being held hostage, the american people, our businesses are being held hostage the global oil and price shocks we cannot control or predict. every president since nixon has recognized that and we finally have a president trying to do something about it. many of us will remember that we were paying $4.11 for a gallon in 2008, that is $5.25 as adjusted for inflation. george w. bush, a texas oil man, recognized the problem and in his final state of the union address, he said we have a problem in this country -- we are addicted to oil. he wanted to do something about it and finally we have a president who is. we have a package of incentives

to help us reduce our reliance on oil, gas, coal and all the danger they do and damage they do. it will help the country and make our economy stronger, it will make us more secure and help us stop sending money to the criminals so they can use that money to drop bombs on children. it is the right thing to do and the senate needs to enact that package immediately. host: as far as the ability for green energy to replace current demand, where does that come in as far as the timeline? what is reasonable? guest: what is reasonable and doable is we can cut our reliance on fossil fuels in half over the coming decades. here is how. first, we invest in efficiency so our homes, workplaces and cars are more efficient. and we can do more with less waste. that is common sense, it saves us money. the second thing is to get more clean and renewable power from the wind and sun right here at

home. the third thing is we invest in a modern, reliable power grid and storage system. when we do those things, we make our economy stronger, we make our security stronger, and we strike a blow against the petrol creditors around the world who use the fossil fuel money to threaten neighbors. host: for bob deans, this is bill on the independent line starting us off. go ahead. caller: good morning, bob. thanks for taking my call. i am a first time caller. my comment is, and question, is about gasoline prices and oil consumption. the big question i have is how much oil is drilled in america and if sold outside of america -- and sold outside of america on the open market? it would seem un-american for a country -- for a company to

drill here and excelled oil on the open market. -- and sell the oil on the open market. guest: thank you. nobody knows more about automobiles and gasoline consumption than live people in michigan who build our cars. the domestic oil and gas industry in this country today produces about 11.2 million barrels of oil a day. in addition, there is something called hydrocarbon liquids, which comes with that and is refined. when you put them together, we are at 16.6 million barrels a day out of a total consumption in this country of 20 million barrels. so we are almost 17 out of 20 that we produce. but the industry is exporting 8.4 million barrels, sending it out of the country. nothing wrong with that, they are not breaking laws, but face

it -- if we are going to pretend that oil is a strategic commodity, what are we doing getting 16 million barrels a day out of our country and ascending half of it overseas? you cannot have it both ways. with the industry is doing, unfortunately, is trying to exploit the tragedy of the ukrainian people to lock us into decades more of dependence on these destructive fuels. part of the story is national security. again, if you are sending half of the oil we are producing overseas, it is like hollering to turn up the heat because the house is old and and then opening up the doors and windows. it does not make sense. host: caller from ohio on the republican line. hi. caller: how are you doing? host: fine. go ahead. caller: everybody is blaming

this on the ukrainian war, which is a fact, but the first day biden was in office he shut down pipelines and drilling. we where fine in the last administration, we were producing the oil we needed and is still exploiting. guest: i'm sorry, i lost audio. host: caller, go ahead. caller: he said he lost audio. host: can you hear us now? guest: i can. you are saying everybody recognizes the immediate cause of of the increase on the price of oil was the attack on ukraine. host: go ahead and repeat it. caller: it seems funny to me that the first thing that biden did was shut down pipelines, which is not a big deal, but he stopped the drilling and fracking. guest: i'm sorry, i am just not hearing you. host: dennis, i think we are

having connection issues with mr. deans. let me check in with you one more time. guest: i can hear you. go ahead and repeat the question. host: he talked about the biden administration's steps, when it came to pipelines and the like and at the outcomes it had. i am paraphrasing greatly. guest: again, this is part of the misinformation campaign that has been out there. let's talk about what actually happened. for the last year of the trump administration, oil production in this country fell by 8%, the largest reduction in history. it was not the president's fault, it was because of the pandemic. since president biden took office, production is up by 5%. this your it will hit an all-time record, that is what the energy information administration tells us. so we are producing more gas than we have ever produced.

we will produce more oil than we have ever produced. so those are the facts. what has happened is this, the oil and gas industry right now is able to drill on enough federal lands and ocean waters to cover the state of georgia. president biden approved it more than 3500 drilling permits just for federal lands alone in his first year in office, a third more than president trump approved in his first year in office. that is not the issue. the industry is sitting right now on 9000 permits, already approved by the federal government. got the permission to go ahead and drill and they are not using them. the industry has its own reasons, when and whether to use the permits, not the white house. so to the extent that anybody is talking here about oil production, you cannot blame it

on the white house. it has nothing to do with those policies. host: if the 3500 permits were approved, what does that say their approach to energy and particularly how does your counsel respond to that? guest: of course, we believe we need to be reducing and ending our dependence on fossil fuels as deliberately and quickly as possible, but we also recognize it will not happen overnight. we did not get here overnight, has been over 100 years of building fossil fuel infrastructure so it will take time. host: when it comes to the replacement or the green technology that you talk about, electricity being a source for cars, minerals being a source for batteries, does the u.s. have the capability of producing that or will be still depend on other countries for that? guest: right now we are depending on other countries for a lot of it. the lithium, there's heavy amounts in south america and actually quite a bit in ukraine,

so we will be relying on global supplies for raw materials. what is important is we strengthen our supply chains in this country. the package that the president is trying to get through the senate has incentives to help us to provide certainty in the market, to help investors to understand what is ahead, and help drive production here in this country so that we know it is sustainable. so that we know it has been produced in an ethical way. that is the goal. there are challenges. we are moving into an entire new industry and those challenges have to be dealt with. host: in pennsylvania on the democrats line, wilma. caller: i agree with mr. deans, but i tried to get in early. i might have a solution. the ukraine crisis. why can't we make ukraine neutral like switzerland or

sweden, wouldn't that help? maybe somebody could pick it up in the congress or senate that would give putin an out. that's what i have to say. thank you. host: that is wilma. guest: i was going to say, i think that ukraine was neutral before the fighting started. and when you shell neighborhoods, turn the lights out in hospitals and start killing children it tends to set people on edge. host: carla on the democrats line. caller: hi. i just want to say, it's so easy to complain to your neighbors or to the washington journal, but what i did yesterday is i took a few minutes and wrote a letter to the eight major oil companies and told them how i felt about the price gouging. you think you are helpless, and

you are in certain ways, but if you do not write your congressman and politicians about these things, they do not know. one of the things i have griped about and written letters about the politicians is the apathy that americans have had over the years. we take everything for granted. we have so much more than 90% of the rest of the world. we need to get active and do something. and i thank you for your comments, i agree, we need to be oil and nondependent on renewable energy. -- be oil nondependent. we need renewable energy. guest: thank you. when you write a letter like that, you are not helpless, you are contributing to our democracy because at the end of the day it is about understanding what is at stake and raising your voice. it is about holding us to

account for what we failed to do. it is about holding corporations to account as well as our government. i applaud what you did. i hope everybody listening will pick up a pen today and do that. host: you heard the president talk about price gouging, is there evidence that this actually happened? guest: it is a complicated thing. i will not say it is not happening, but have not seen evidence to prove demonstratively that is. here is what we know. oil is priced on a global market, it is subject to shocks in supply and in price. we cannot control or predict it, all we can do is break our dependence on it so that we are producing more energy in our country from the wind and sun. that's the way to become more energy independent, not to double down on a dependence for

decades more. host: clark on the republican line in new jersey. go ahead. caller: there is a solution to all of these problems, and it was done about 30 years ago. and it -- if congress will not act, the democrats killed in committee about 20 years ago, 15 years ago when obama first got in. you would think they would vote it in. it's called a flex fuel mandate for every vehicle sold in the united states. the cars would run on any combination of gasoline, ethanol oil and that would solve all problems. the whole world would get on.

because they were going to sell cars in the united states. it's all laid out in a book called "energy victory." now, you had him on the program before. and i suggest you get him back on the air and that would help out. if we did this 10 or 20 years ago we would have no problems. host: i thought that flex fuel was anything in the u.s., but maybe i am wrong. guest: i love the focus on solutions, i appreciate that. i am not familiar with the book, but i will tell you what would be a victory right now is when we begin to shift away from oil and gas and towards more electric cars. general motors is committed to it, ford is committed to it. 43% of the electric cars have been sold in europe. and we are seeing something like

200 new models of electric cars just in europe between last year and this year. we are getting more opportunities here. we understand an electric car does not work for everybody, it does not make sense for everybody, but for those for whom it does it is a move to reduce our reliance on oil and gas. ethanol is problematic. we are making it from corn. we are turning food into fuel. it does not make sense. but shifting to electric cars does, here is my. when i burn in my combustion engine gasoline for every 10 gallons i put in the tank, eight gallons are wasted. every 10 gallons we put in the tank, only to gallons are actually moving my car forward. why? 65% of it is waste. put your hand on an engine after has been running. actually, don't, but you know

what i am talking about. we sit there and idle. 80% of the energy used for an electric motor is actually moving your car forward. that kind of an efficiency gain is what makes cars so powerful, electric cars. host: what about affordability? guest: it is a real issue. that is why in the president's proposed a package there is money to reduce the price of cars, to make them more affordable, both new and used electric cars. to make them more affordable specifically for middle income and low income americans. if you are in a high income bracket, you do not get the break, but if you are a hard-working american, low income person who wants to buy a second and electric car or even springr for a new one, there is real money to make it more

affordable. the senate needs to pass this package now. host: we have a few minutes left with our guest. rick on the democrats line. caller: i have a question for you. back before two thousand, a lot of our energy for electricity was generated by hydroelectric and coal power. in virginia and in north carolina, we had a coal power plant that when it was generating, before the epa got involved, you never knew it was making power it was so clean. are we looking at any of that, like reestablishing hydroelectricity for alternate power again now? guest: thanks for the call. i wonder if you were near suffolk, the plants down that way.there is hydroelectric power produced in this country and it comes with its own set of issues. there is no such thing as free

energy, even with the sun and when do have upfront costs. the point is to reduce costs over time. and we need to get our power from clean and renewable sources. yes, there is hydroelectric power in this country, that is part of the mix, but we need to shift to cleaner and smarter ways to power our future, protect our children, and make this country's economy stronger. investing in clean energy will create hundreds of thousands of quality jobs around our country. right now, there are 3 million americans who get up every day, suit up, roll up their sleeves and go to work helping us to become more efficient, helping us to harness power from the wind and sun. those are good paying jobs, they pay 25% more on average than the median wage. we need to drive more of those kinds of clean energy jobs and produce a system that will save

our families $500 a year on average in energy costs. that is what this package will do, let's get it done. host: john in massachusetts on the independent line. caller: good morning to all americans. if i could echo your sentiment and talk around the world, everyone needs to here it. i'm a veteran, and when you talk about president bush trying to tell us, and what eisenhower tried to tell us, i think it is the truth that that the world needs to understand. i called to say that in massachusetts, we are with you in our hearts and minds in ukraine. we are waiting to do what we need to do. host: john in massachusetts.

guest: thank you for your call and for your service. i think many of us have been talking about reducing or breaking our dependence on fossil fuels as an environmental imperative. what this war is showing once again is that it is also a strategic imperative. we as a nation simply cannot continue to funnel oil and gas money into regimes that do not support our values, that do not support their own people, and that use of the money to finance military aggression against neighbors. we need to break our dependence on oil and gas, we need to become energy independent in our country by investing in cleaner, smarter ways to power our future so that we stop sending money to these petrol creditors, who hughes of that money to attack their neighbors. i am with you -- use that money

to attack their neighbors. i am with you. host: as far as the higher prices we will see as a result of these actions, what do you think about the relief from the strategic petroleum reserve? guest: i think it is an essential step. it is only a step, but it helps us with so much. we are talking about releasing 30 million barrels. we you 20 million a day, so that is a day and a half worth of supply. it is important to remember that in a tight market, we are talking about margins, they can have an impact, but that is a short-term impact. it is a band-aid. we need to break our dependence on these fuels so we are no longer subject to these kinds of price shocks. host: as far as the rest of the world is concerned, the climate issues -- are we becoming an example as far as other large nations that are polluters? what are we doing to help them reduce oil dependency and also

their pollution? guest: the u.s., for better or worse, it will always be in example. the rest of the world looks to the u.s. and take our lead in many cases. for better or for worse. whether we are doing the right thing, if we are doing the right thing, that is great. if not, it sends the wrong message. the european union is going to adopt a program this week to help accelerate the shift towards clean energy, as a way to break that dependence it has on the russian oil and gas supplies. they will do it in three ways. they will invest in efficiency, they will invest in cleaner ways to get their power, and for the short term they will try to diversify their energy supplies. it makes sense. the u.s. needs to do the same. we need to help europeans in that and help other countries, and we are, but we need to do more. what we need to do right now is

take advantage of this golden opportunity to pass and that package with $550 billion of strategic investment to move us down the road. that will send the message that needs to be sent around the world. host: thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: as you pay attention to the house of representatives, look for the spending plan that has been signaled by the senate as approved as far as funding for the federal government. plus, ukraine eight. we now take you -- aid. we now take it to the house of representatives. house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. march 9, 2022. i hereby appoint the honorable sylvia r. garcia to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives.