to discuss which states will be the first to hold primaries and caucuses. live coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. you can also watch on our free mobile video app, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. this morning on washington journal, we covered today's biggest headlines and take your calls live. also representatives derek kilmer and william timmons discuss efforts to make congress more transparent as chair and vice chair of the house select committee on the modernization of congress. "washington journal" begins now. ♪ host: good morning everyone on this friday, december 2. the senate yesterday approved a measure to force a deal between the railroad unions and railroad

companies, avoiding a railroad strike. now the president will sign the bill. avoiding what he calls a christmas catastrophe. we want to get your reaction to this action. should the senate have forced a deal? republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . union workers, we want to hear from you this morning. (202) 748-8003. you can also text us, all of you, at that same number, (202) 748-8003. you can go to facebook.com/c-span, or send a tweet. the senate majority leader, chuck schumer, who brought this to the floor yesterday,

explained why congress needed to act. what would have been the consequences if they had not done so. >> time is of the essence. a rail shut down is set to begin december 9, but the truth is we need to resolve this well in advance of that date. suppliers and businesses across the nation are going to begin shutting down operations soon if they think a strike is imminent. they are not going to wait until december 9. they are not going to put something on a railcar on december 7 that may be stuck on december 9 because there is a strike. so, the suppliers and businesses , the drop-dead date, if you will, is a lot sooner than december 9. and there would be painful disruptions to the economy before december night if we did not act soon. the consequences of inaction would be severe.

unsafe drinking water. unusable gasoline. shuttered power plants. and a crippling shutdown of passenger rail across the company -- across the country. those are a few of the serious problems that would occur if there is a real shutdown. in that scenario nobody wins, everybody loses. the responsible thing to do here is to do everything we can to include paid sick leave. again, we must keep working until the task is complete. host: you heard the majority leader mention paid sick leave. the house pushed -- the house, pushed by progressives, attached sick leave language when they passed the bill. that was attended yesterday as well. c-span's producer tweeting out, 52-43, the senate rejects legislation to add seven days of paid sick leave for all rail workers to the union industry agreement.

six republicans voted yes to add that paid sick leave. senators ron, cruz, graham, kennedy, and rubio. mansion was the only democrat to vote no on the paid sick leave. from the associated press, what power does congress have to tervene in the first place? congress can step in to resolve disputes between labor unions and railroads under the 1926 railway labor act. as part of its power under the constitution to regulate commerce congress has previously intervened 18 times in such to buttes -- in such disputes. the last time congress did so with 1992. biden was one of the only six senators to vote against legislation, citing unfavorable terms for workers. this morning we want to know from you, should congress have

forced a rail deal? the president asked them to act. they did so quickly. the house did it earlier this week, followed by the senate yesterday. now the president said he will quickly sign this measure into law. forcing a deal from -- between the rail union and rail company. i did the president ask congress to act now? the oth options included extending a cooling off period tollow both sides to continue negotiating, or forcing the parties to enter arbitration. biden also could have urged congress to propose -- or he could have proposed adding sick time or other benefits the unions have been asking for. but sweetening the deal for railroad workers at this point would have been a harder sell with republicans the main reason for biden to act

now that nearly every industry would be hurt a rail shut down. in many communities would be stranded as well. railroads all about 40% of the nation's freight, and the railroads estimate a rail strike would cost the economy $2 billion a day. let's talk to susan, who is in germantown, maryland. a democratic caller. tell us your opinion about this. caller: i just have one thing to say, really. i think that the rail workers should have sick leave. of course there are some people that are going to take advantage of i didn't they

invoke something called th on? and that was the only government involvement at that time? thank you. host: rick, are you still there? caller: yes ma'am. host: are you suggesting there could have been a cooling off. caller: yes, ma'am. in years past i remember during railroad strikes in years past it was called the taft-hartley act, and it was put into place by the railroads and unions to keep negotiating while the railroads kept working. host: senator sullivan is offering an amendment to do

that, although it was rejected by the senate yesterday. some noting they did not vote for that amendment because the two sides have been negotiating for three years now, did not see the point of extending it for another 60 days. brian in waco, texas. a republican. morning to you. caller: good morning, yes. the guy before me, i agree with exactly what he said. my father said that truman had a railroad strike, and he threatened to draft all of them into the army and put them back to work. like he said, -- you said, they have been negotiating for three years. this affects the economy, and of course the federal government has to get involved. in spite of what we say about government intrusion. the railroad had made other concessions in the past, like more wages. the guys asked for more wages

instead of time off. there is a lot to this story, but i'm not a biden fan, that i agree with what he did. host: you do? the washington post reporting, under the deal being forced by congressional action rail workers are set to see a roughly 24 percent pay increase by 2024 while gaining more flexibility to take time off for doctors appointments. measure grants them one paid personal day. that does not include any new dedicated time off for illnesses. st. petersburg, florida. a retired rail burger, is that right, david? caller: yes. i would like to say invoking taft-hartley like they have in the past has not heard us, but it always gave us a cooling off period. i understand the need for

putting it on the train and may be getting it stuck somewhere, but i think the workers should have the right to put a sword of damocles over the railroads' heads, so they can get seven days. it is a very dangerous work environment out there. i know. i did 28 years. host: david, what about the fact that four out of 12 rejected this deal? so, the other eight unions approved that? caller: my brotherhood of railroads did disapprove it. for the reasons i just discussed. it is a dangerous job we hold. bad weather and snow, and blah, blah, blah.

i think we should have that right to strike up until -- i'm sorry to say, a done to their head. host: how many times where you heard on the job in your 28 years? caller: oh, probably about three or four, maybe. nothing serious, you know, but i was out of work for a period of time. host: when you were off of work, did you get paid? caller: negative. host: no? so, what did that due to to your bottom line? how did you manage that? caller: it put me in the whole, but you always work it out. you do save for a rainy day, and you have a couple of bucks put aside. for the most part i believe that seven days of being off sick is not that out of the question.

i think we should have, just as i have said, that it is a dangerous job out there and we go through every piece of the elements -- hot, cold, snow, rain, whatever, you are out there. host: david, were you able to make a good wage, in your opinion, over those years? caller: yes, ma'am. i always considered very proudly that i was a railroader because of my pay. the work was good, and we made a good buck. even at the end before i retired i was making a nice $50,000 to $70,000 a year, considering our overtime and stuff like that. host: what is your retirement like? do you have a pension? caller: yes ma'am.

i have a pension through railroad retirement made -- retirement. host: who you give credit to for how much you made in pension? do unions deserve the credit, or is it the job itself and the demand for workers like you? caller: hard question to answer, because they are both tied together. i would have to say the unions were very strong. they stood by the brotherhood. but on the same token the railroad new its employees were absolutely essential for the everyday operation. if the signalman went on a small strike, everyone shut down because of the safety factor. host: david in st. petersburg, worked for the railroads for 28 years. an editorial board member for the new york times writes a piece, a labor dispute gives biden a chance to prove he is pro-union. he notes that, as i said, four

out of the 12 unions ejected this deal, but they make up, he said, they represent more than half of the industry's unionized workforce. he also writes, in a statement that perfectly captured the gap between democratic party rhetoric and behavior house speaker nancy pelosi denounced railroad companies as rapacious profiteers who have been selling out to wall street to boost their bottom line, making it seem -- making obscene profits while demanding more from railroad workers. then one sentence later she announced that house democrats would stand with the profiteers. scott in south carolina, number credit caller. go ahead. caller: i am a retired union worker. i was in the machinist union, and previous to that electrical workers union.

what i'm seeing here is pretty typical in all industries. a company negotiating with a union will drag its feet and drag its feet until finally they say, this is going nowhere, we cannot reach agreement, and result in either lockout or hiring replacement workers, or both. in this case realistically the railroads cannot hire replacement workers. it takes too long to train them, and they would be a costly shut down anyway. this happens in other industries as well. it is the work of union organizing. it is typical after a union is voted in, again, a company dragging its feet until they are

forced to show down like this. railroad management has been playing a long game. and this -- i know this sounds like a conspiracy theory, it is my belief. i believe the management of the railroads wanted it to come to this, where the government has to force the issue, and force a contract on the workers. host: why? caller: why? because, well, they do not want to strike and they do not want to agree to what the workers wanted. this is their way of getting more -- management's way of getting more of what they wanted from the negotiations. let the government force the issue. host: all right.

scott, i'm going to leave it there and have all of you listen to the president when he was asked yesterday about this action he had asked congress to take. here it is. cracks do the freight rail workers deserve more than one day of paid sick leave, like millions of americans have? if so, why didn't you negotiate for that when you are helping to negotiate that contract you now want congress to impose? pres. biden: i negotiated a contract no one else could negotiate. i've been trying to get paid leave not just for rail workers, for everybody. but that other team, the republicans, they voted against it. we are one of the few nations in the world that does not have paid leave for workers. we cannot afford -- in the meantime we have a 45% increase in salary. there is a lot of good things that happened in that.

if this shuts down over a question of seven to nine, whatever the numbers, of paid sick leave, it is going to immediately cost jobs and cause a recession. what i make clear is, what was negotiated was so much better than anything they ever had. and they all signed onto it, by the way. there are only four unions that did not agree. so, the majority at the time that i presented it, he asked me to do it, i presented it, they all signed on. here is the story. it does not mean because we are going to pass this, god willing by friday, by the weekend, that i'm going to back off of paid leave. i'm going to continue to fight for paid leave for not only rail workers, but all american workers. i imagine it may surprise some of our european friends that there is no paid leave in the united states of america. we are one of the few countries

that does not have it. it is time. it is the context in which this took place, and labor signed onto it as well, as you recall, initially. there were four unions out of the 13 or 14 that did not like it. i think we are going to get it done, but not within this agreement. not within this agreement. we are going to avoid the rail strike, keep things moving, and we are going to go back and get paid leave not just for rail workers, but for all workers. host: president biden yesterday saying he thinks we are going to get it done, and they did. the senate approved the bill. here is another tweet from craig kaplan. senate approved legislation on a rail labor agreement to avert a rail strike. senator rand paul, the republican from kentucky, voted present. the house approved the bill to

90-137 yesterday. now it had -- 290-137 yesterday. now it heads to the president's desk. he should be pressing the companies to make concessions, he writes. the freight railroads have cut about 45 thousand jobs in recent years, reducing the number of workers on their payrolls by 29%. cutting costs has allowed them to hand out almost 200 billion dollars in stock buybacks and dividends since 2010. post-pandemic demand has driven profits to new heights, but the railroads have pushed the remaining workers to the breaking point. max in maryland. caller: i'm glad i get to follow-up the president there. the president during that talk made the situation so confusing that that was my point. the reason people are frustrated with unions -- i work for a

living. everyone always thinks, should i join a union? the problem is, at first i was on board with this idea you should pay a guy a single day off. but the media -- and this is what people get frustrated with you guys for it -- how many days did they have off, period? i have 10 days off for everything i want to do. 10 days. that is not good nor bad. how many days off to the railroad workers get, period? vacation, whether it is called sick leave or time off or whatever? how many days did they have? you just heard a guy saying he has a pension. nobody else has a pension unless they are in a union. you want to be on the side of the skies, but you can hear people spinning this. nobody knows how much money the railroad guys are making. nobody knows how many days off they have. we are supposed to sympathize

with everybody. good, sympathize, but tell people the truth. how much money are they making? if me a 24% increase. thanks. host: let me just share an overview from 2022, an overview of freight employees time off policies. the average employee receives 29 days off, -- off. it would be interesting to hear from a railroad worker this money. what is your time off policy? dave in ohio, independent. caller: top of the morning to you, greta. this whole thing to me is shades of what used to be. we have a government right now that, whether you are a democrat or a republican, they are both

there for business. what i mean by that his, just the way this thing was proposed to congress, where they had three different issues, it all should have been put onto one. because everybody sits here -- the thing everybody sits here and talks about is that we have an agreement. there was no agreement. when you are in a union negotiation, your leaders bring back what they think is acceptable back to the masses, and it is not an agreement until the workers basically say yes, we agree. this thing about the seven days, you put it out there as an issue by itself. basically congress gets funds from a lot of these businesses, including the railroads. both of them are basically their strict leaf or business, and not for people.

what we need right now is a third party that represents the people. that are looking out for us, not business. host: who do you think could head up that party? caller: anybody that is a workingman. anybody that is not a millionaire. anybody that would say that we the people, this is what we want, not what businesses want. host: any name come to mind? caller: none. me. i would like to start it. any person that is a working person that is not a millionaire that i would vote for. i will not vote for a republican or a democrat, because they are both -- go ahead. host: what about bernie sanders? caller: i would vote for bernie sanders if he left the democratic party and started a party for the people, but i will not vote for anybody that is a democrat or a republican. host: the editorial board this morning of the "wall street journal" has a piece about the

president stopping the railroad strike, praising him for that, wishing he would do more to curtail unions in this country. they also note six republicans voted yes on that paid sick leave amendment, including senator marco rubio. they write, who was elected as a free market tea party or, -- peopl -- people alread -- marise in alabama, democratic caller. good morning. caller: how are you doing? host: what do you think of this, congress intervening? caller: hello? ok, i have a different view. i'm helping with the railroad right now. as a matter of fact, i'm going to help some railroad workers,

and i don't believe these guys don't get any days off, as far as days. they have no saturdays or sundays off. these guys work 12 hours and we take them to the hotel, and we drop them off at different places. hello? host: we are listening. you just have to talk through your phone this morning. sarah in conover, north carolina. hey, sarah. caller: hello. i don't understand about this union. i live in a right to work state. i work for the biggest fiberoptics cable company in the world. they give us sick days, they give us raises, they give us all this stuff, and i don't understand unions. like i said, i was treated like a union employee where i worked.

but i was really proud to work where i worked. host: so are you for or against what congress did? caller: i think they need to let president biden do his job. enough is enough. a lot of people don't understand unions. i have a family member working for the railroad, and i would rather not go into details, but he is gone a lot, he has called out a lot, i can say that much. but as far as unions, i'm for the president doing the job, and if he has to do it, don't tie the man's hands. host: dave in orlando, florida sends us his opinion in a text. companies will sandbag negotiations. bonuses for ceos are outrageous. i belong to the ibew, and

companies fight tooth and nail to keep employees under their thumb. robert in rockville, connecticut. good morning to you. caller: good morning. you can hear me? host: we can. caller: i want to make a couple of comments. first of all, i cannot believe they had to negotiate a prior contract with the union with no sick leave. that is unheard of. unions represent people and they give them sick leave, so they accepted that contract. but then i wanted to go on as a suggestion. i worked at the post office, 43 years. we cannot strike, ok? we go to binding arbitration. why can't that be a solution? you didn't have to bring in congress, bring in independent people on both sides as

arbitrators, and they negotiate the final deal. host: all right, robert. another viewer on twitter says, yes, he thinks congress should intervene, but i would rather private companies he the president's advice without congress, because the health and welfare of everyone is dependent on well-moving mass transportation, and national safety is notice -- is potus' job. you can put your thoughts on facebook. also this morning, a line for union workers, (202) 748-8003. last night at the white house president biden hosted his first state visit of his administration, celebrating the alliance between the u.s. and french government. president emmanuel macron and his wife arrived at the white house for the event. it was bigger, according to

press reports, and the one former president trump held at the white house for the french president. president macron as well. anna wintour of vogue joined mcgrath and celebrities for the state dinner. gop leader kevin mccarthy brushes off questions about dining with investigation target hunter biden, who was asked to dinner last night as well. he was quoted as saying, i'm at a dinner with my mom, so i'm going to have a great time. the number two republican leader was also attending the dinner at the white house, along with democratic donors and others. you can read more in today's news accounts. back to our question here about congress intervening in -- intervening and forcing a rail deal to avoid a labor strike that would have taken place next

week, on friday, december 9. do you agree with what actions they took here in washington? let's listen to bernie sanders, from vermont. this is on his amendment to add seven days of paid sick leave to the contract, which four of the 12 said they wanted included in this deal, and that is why they ultimately rejected it. here is the senator. >> for three and a half years there have been negotiations between the industry and the 12 rail unions. the end result of this is that the workers received a 24% increase in their wages. it sounds like a lot of money. they have not received a pay increase in the last three years. if you average it out, that pay

increase is less than inflation today. this is not terrible, but it is not a great wage increase. i've talked about health care. they did not win on health care. the industry unbelievably wanted to do -- the industry unbelievably wanted to -- that was beaten back, so they remain at a status quo. not a victory, but not a defeat. egregiously, if you talk to the workers, as i have, it is not wages, it is not benefits. their issue is paid sick leave. they are one of the few industries in america today that have zero sick paid leave. unbelievably, if a worker today on the rail industry it's sick that worker gets a mark for

missing work and can -- and in some cases will -- be fired. can you imagine that? you're in congress -- here in congress, all of our staff, people get sick, of course they take time off. we do not give them marks, you do not punish them. this is america. 2022. you don't treat people, especially people in the rail industry, who were doing dangerous, difficult work. host: senator sanders offering an amendment after the house approved seven days of paid sick leave. craig kaplan tweeting, in a 52-43 vote the senate rejects house-passed legislation for paid sick leave for all rail workers to the agreement. 60 votes were needed. six republicans voted yes.

senator manchin was the only democrat to vote no. robert in north ridgeville ohio death north ridgeville, ohio. caller: i am in the aerospace workers union. host: what do you think of the field -- the deal? caller: it is a bad deal. what people don't realize is, you get a call, you are on call 24 hours, seven days a week if you are working on the train itself that is traveling. you have one hour to get to the station. and you do not know when they are going to call, when you were going to be, you know, when you are going to be working. you are on call. they give you an hours notice, and you cannot call off. if you call off they can fire you. that is really all i had to say. host: mark, waterville, maine. morning. what do you think about congress

intervening here? caller: good morning. i think congress is trying to do the best they can, because biden is trying to keep them from striking. host: do you think it was a wise deal? that the president would do this in order to protect consumers and other people at this time? especially with christmas around the corner? that is what the president was arguing, that they avoided a christmas catastrophe here. caller: yeah, i agree on that. i agree, because that is why they bring stuff in on the train. host: all right, steve in east haven, connecticut. hi, steve. caller: hello, how are you? host: good morning. steve, can you meet your television? caller: hold on a second. host: yeah. please, go ahead. caller: i think the judge, and

all of the railroad companies, are fearing a shut down it will cost them $1 billion a day. i think they could give the workers sick days. the matter where you work in america you should have sick days, eight to 10 sick days. so if they are upset about a shut down and what he could do for the country, have them the sick days. i don't understand. i worked for a company that had sick days, and i was grateful, but these people deserve sick days, no matter where you work. i would also like to say that the main fisherman industry is getting harassed by the government and administration, and biden last night -- what, 300 lobsters are suffering now?

i think they should get the sick days. host: 200 live lobsters flown in for last night's steak dinner. representative jerry -- representative jared golden said biden has not kept his promise to protect lobster men's livelihood. main lobsters were on the menu thursday night as the president and first lady hosted president emmanuel macron and his wife. you can read more of that in today's papers. steve in east haven, connecticut. independent. what do you make of congress forcing this labor deal between rail unions and rail companies? caller: i think they want to keep commerce open, the railroad open, and everybody getting items they need but if it is just a minor little thing of

sick days and the companies are making outrageous money, profit-wise, i think the administration, joe biden, should be on the family side, not the company site. that is the only thing holding up everything, sick days. host: how do you respond to the president saying he is on the side of families? this would have affected a lot of working families, a railroad strike, by halting the transportation of goods. caller: i agree. put the sick days in there. why is the transportations are not telling people, put the sick days in there? those people might not ever get the sick days. host: steve in east haven, connecticut. i want to show other headlines for you this morning dominating the front pages. president biden pushing a

primary shakeup. the president has asked leaders of the democratic national committee to make south carolina the nation's first primary state , followed by new hampshire and nevada i week later, and hold subsequent weekly primaries in georgia and michigan. the decision to remake his parties presidential nomination calendar came as a shock to party officials and state leaders who have been lobbying to gain a place in the calendar, which attracts millions of dollars of candidate spending and attention. while many have anticipated changes, the specific order biden proposed had generated little chatter in democratic circles. the talk had not focused on south carolina going first or georgia joining the early makes. they say that the president's proposal is likely to be approved when the dnc meets today and saturday. dnc officials will be gathering

to talk about which estates should go first. we will have coverage of that here on c-span, live today at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. you can also watch on our video mobile app, c-span now, or on-demand at c-span.org. there will also be coverage of this tomorrow, saturday, as well. this is also from "the wall street journal." a court halts the special master's review. an appeals court ordered an and to the special master process for reviewing documents seized from the former president mar-a-lago residents -- resi dence. then there is this headline from wall street journal. justices take student debt case. the supreme court decided to decide whether the biden administration can cancel student debt for millions of americans, putting the matter on a timeline that should produce a

ruling by the end of june. oral arguments for this will be in february. and from the new york times front page, president biden is willing to talk to putin, with conditions. here is the president yesterday on this at that joint news conference with the french president. pres. biden: look, there is one way for this more to and, rational way. putin to pull out of ukraine, number one. it appears he is not going to do that. he is paying a very heavy price for failing to do that. he is inflicting incredible, incredible carnage on the civilian population of ukraine. bombing nurseries, hospitals, children's homes. it is it sick, what he is doing. but the fact of the matter is, i have no immediate plans to contact mr. putin. mr. putin -- let me choose my words very carefully -- i am

prepared to speak with mr. putin if, in fact, there is an interest in looking for a way to end the war. he has not done that yet. if that is the case, in consultation with my french and nato friends, i will be happy to sit down with putin to see what he has in mind. he hasn't done that yet. in the meantime i think it is absolutely critical, we must support the ukrainian people. the idea that putin is ever going to defeat ukraine is beyond comprehension. imagine him trying to occupy the country for the next 2, 5, 20 years? if they could. he has miscalculated every single thing he initially calculated. he thought he would be greeted with open arms by the russian-speaking portions of the ukrainian population.

go back and read his speech when i said they were going to invade, and they did when i said they were. go back and read the speech he made. he talked about them needing to be another peter the great. he talked about the need for the people, that he have -- that kyiv is the mother load of russian identity. he miscalculated across the board. how does he get himself out of the circumstance he is in? i am prepared if he is going to talk, to find out what he is going to do. but i will only do it in consultation with my nato allies. host: president biden at the white house yesterday. back to our conversation with all of you about the president asking congress to act to enforce a railroad deal between the unions and companies, avoiding a real strike which would have taken place december

9. should congress have intervened? do you agree or disagree? lynn -- linda is in utah, independent and a union worker. linda, your turn. caller: thank you for taking my call. merry christmas and a happy new year. now, this is very upsetting for me, because it appears to me as he is taking people's freedoms away. we all have a right to strike, and i'm sure if the union were to strike it would have only lasted a couple of days. it is not congress's right to intervene on our freedoms. host: before you go, will this impact your vote in the next presidential election? caller: i have always been an independent. someone has to look out for the small people, the small voices.

i'm disappointed in biden. i did vote for him, and i cannot believe he has betrayed us by going with big business. i really appreciate this opportunity to express my feelings. you guys do a great job. thank you. host: we are -- we appreciate you calling in. here is cnbc with the headline, union bosses warn of consequences as the senate approves the labor deal to approve a strike. leaders of the unions have voted not to ratify the labor deal they told cnbc ahead of the vote that senators need to realize this is a humanitarian issue, and their members will not forget who supported them. the three unions, the brotherhood of railroad signalmen and the brotherhood of

railway employees division represent within half of railroad labor. four out of 12 did not approve this labor deal that the president negotiated back in september, but they represent more than half of the rail force. john in great falls, montana, independent. good morning to you, john. caller: good morning to you. hey, i agree with what linda said in one sentence. the government should not intervene. however, my disagreement comes from, i was a union worker and they have cut my retirement three times because they stole the money. i do not believe the unions at all. here is a whole gig about the whole thing. do you ever put your hand in a bucket of water and remove it, and the water settles down? they should go in there and fire all of those workers and restart

again, because i do not -- i absolutely do not believe in somebody holding up a whole country for a worker's right, or woke rights, or the whole process of, hey, if you don't like your job, go get another one. go get your own business, like i did when i hated the unions. i have no sympathy for the workers. i have no sympathy for big's nest. i have absolutely, you know, people have got to toughen up. host: john, respond to this. this is from the new york times, an editorial. the power of a union is the power to say no. unions can improve the lives of their members and increase the output of the economy, and they do so by threatening to reduce that output by disrupting economic activity. unions hold the same power over

management that management holds over workers. deal with us, or everyone suffers. the unhappiness of a single worker is negligible. a collective must be reckoned with. caller: i agree with that 100%. but it is also the business's right to pull the hand out of the bucket of water and fire everyone of them, and go hire a whole new crew. host: all right, joe, huntington station, new york, a union worker. which union? caller: i was part of d.c. 37 in new york city. i don't know if you can hear me? host: we are listening. caller: i want to make two quick points. first of all, real worker and rail commerce is an interstate thing. presidents in the past, from kennedy to truman, have installed temporary agreements. so, i really feel this is an

interstate in, and people that work in those industries after realize they cannot freeze the rest of the economy with what has been going on with 10%, 8% inflation. secondarily, i am a union person. i am retired. i work in a non-union job now. unions are good, but, you know, this is an interstate thing. it is not just a localized union thing. for the lady who says her look -- her rights are being taken away, you can strike, but it is the right of your employer to fire you if they want to. it is a double-edged sword, what i also want to point out that president reagan, during the air controller strike, he fired those people outright. so, you know, president biden is trying, it seems to me -- and i am a -- and i am more of a republican -- president biden is trying to move the economy along. the fact that those president --

those republican senators voted for more time off shows there is bipartisanship on the whole thing here, which i think is good. if president trump was in there this would probably be a mess. people will -- people would probably be fired on the spot and still not be happy. i think what is going on with ukraine and everything, the economy, that the union workers have to realize they cannot hurt the whole economy, which also hurts our relationship with canada and mexico. this is more than an -- anion issue. host: what power does congress have to intervene? congress can step in toesolve disputes between labor unions under the 1926 railway labor ac asart of its power under the constitution to regulate commerce congress has previously intervene 18 times -- intervened 18 times. the last time congress ended a rail strike is 1992, sending the case to arbitration.

biden was one of only six senators then to vote against that legislation, setting unfavorable terms for work. drake in rochester, new york sends us this text. while when our representatives vote no to paid sick time? it would benefit americans in the unions. but these people are. they are supposed to work for the american people. philip in kansas. i think the problem lies in, how their contracts are written up. vacation would be a luxury, but a person cannot -- but a person with sickness offers little choice. i would shift that and not be writing up anyone because they get sick. then you have john from vicksburg, michigan. lighting could have stood with the workers, instead corporate joe suck the big's nest. no difference between the two corporate-owned major parties. dennis, colorado, springs.

what do you say? janice, you have to meet that television, ok? alright, i'm going to have to move on. brian from kansas city, missouri. hi, brian. caller: how are you doing? i wanted to say a couple of things. the fact that congress thinks they can make people work is ridiculous. they said they can hire and fire new people, that is accurate, you have to have laborers to do that sort of thing. i stand with the workers themselves, saying they should have paid sick time, they should not be exploited through big business and the economy, saying that the economy is going to slow down too much because they are not working. well, pay them more money, and then they will start working. thank you. host: one of the senators, dan

sullivan of alaska, during this debate on the floor offered an amendment advocating for a cooling-off period for the negotiations to continue, so all of the labor unions would agree. here he is before his vote on the amendment. >> congress finds itself in another last-minute emergency being rushed to the floor of the senate. we have 50 -- we got the details of this about 24 hours ago, on a very complicated subject. since 2019 negotiations have been going on between labor unions representing railway employees and the railway industry, over employee pay, hours of service, benefits, sick leave, complicated negotiations. now that the negotiations have

meant an impasse, we have been asked to endorse a proposal that the presidential emergency board has endorsed and that the union members have rejected. complicated. barring additional action, as i mentioned, there could be a strike that would harm our economy. and workers and families and other businesses. again, we do not want that. mr. president, here is the other issue. we also do not want congress to become the de facto endgame for all future negotiations. private contract negotiations. connecting the agreements reached at the bargaining table, or having congress then dictate the terms of minutia in these contracts with regard to sickleave or other things. i know senator sanders has a provision on this.

it might be a great idea. it might not be a good idea. i don't know. but we got this 24 hours ago. no hearings, no discussion. so all i'm asking for, mr. president, is a 60-day cooling-off period so the sides can get back to the bargaining table, so the president of the united states, the secretary of labor, secretary walsh can get involved and do their job. that is it. host: senator dan sullivan proposing a cooling-off period, 60 more days for the sides to negotiate. that failed, 69-26. it needed 60 votes. let's hear from dan, in memphis, tennessee. dan, you are retired. what did you do from the railroads? caller: i left the railroad.

i started in 1971. ronald reagan made us go back two or three times. george bush made us go back. you should have made them go back. in our department we were 99.9% african-american. they are all white now, mostly. most of them voted for trump. ronald reagan wanted to steal our retirement, take it. every year at the first of november they would lay us off. they will call us back to go to new orleans. then they stopped hiring african-americans in memphis. they don't need no raise. they make enough money.

a man on the railroad can show up for $25 an hour. they made us go to work. i called the union, they did nothing. host: ri. -- all right. let's hear from you, rick. good morning. caller: i think that they should -- they are correct in stepping in. we don't need another stoppage in this country. with that stoppage right now the economy is already trying to bounce back. with any kind of transportation stoppage it would be a disaster. everybody would blame the president. everyone always points to him, so i can understand. this is totally different from

everything else, because this affects the whole country, not just one segment of the country. it affects everyone, and everything would go up. lumber and food and gasoline and everything. host: so you agree that this was the best decision by the president? caller: yes. i think this was a really good decision. something needed to be done. if they stop inflation would go through the roof. host: let's get in one more call here. paul in new jersey, independent. caller: good morning. i don't understand what is going on, other than this being another situation like the presidential election debacle. things were decided, but a lot of people said no, we are not going to accept it. now we have 14 unions involved

in the negotiations. the majority of them voted for the contract without the days off. so now we have people bitching. it is crazy. it was one idea, 14 participants . people first said they were not going to have the days off. that was the final decision, and now we have to call it back? it is crazy. host: horace in arkansas, democratic caller. caller: hi. i'm a rare animal here in arkansas. i've been told there is about three of us left wing democratic-socialists out here, outside of little rock. these people call in and complain about what president

biden is doing and they will not look at both sides of the equation. his only choice is let it go, and then the economy is blasted with a $2 billion per day stoppage. anybody with any brains at all has any economic sense at all, knows this country cannot stand that right now. if we are recovering from the virus know we have a flu epidemic coming on. we are spending money and over in ukraine as we should. i wish the damn republicans would quit criticizing without some kind of sense to it. what did they come up with? everything, they are against it but they have nothing to replace it. host: horace with regard to what the elbow companies have said this would cost $2 billion a day

if there was a strike. we will take a break, when we come back democratic congressman derek kilmer on the modernization of congress they will join us to talk us about their final reports on their efforts to make congress more effective, efficient and more transparent. we will be right back. ♪ >> listening to programs on c-span just got easier. tell your smart speaker play c-span radio and listen to "washington journal" daily. congressional hearings and other public affairs events throughout the day.

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c-span.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us this morning to members of congress the top lawmakers on the select committee on the modernization of congress, the chair derek kilmer democrat of washington state and the vice chair william timmons think you both for being here. guest: congress realizes things are not working the way they would like to. the modernization of congress it has been nicknamed and was really given the mission of just trying to make congress work better for the american people. it was about four years ago, a new congress was coming in there was a lot of discussion about

potential changes to rule and as those discussions were underway the members on both sides of the aisle recognize that some of the problems aren't just about rules. there are things like how we make sure that congress is an institution can retain and have talented and diverse staff. how does congress use technology in a way that serves the interest of our constituents and how we have more collaborative culture. our committee was set up to grapple with some of those issues, to make recommendations on some of those issues with the goal of making reforms within the institutions so it works better. host: congressman timmons defined modernization. >> so much has changed. really we're just trying to make the institution the best for the american people. more efficient, more transparent. we are using a lot of technology

that people use in their daily life. using pdfs to digitally sign documents, we are trying to figure out how to get wi-fi into our district office. it has been an experience and i think the american people will be better for it. host: was it bipartisan? guest: it was 100% bipartisan. we literally have to work together. it's been an incredible learning experience. we build relationships, we got results. 202 recommendations have been made. we still have work to do, the committee is coming to an end but i do believe we will continue to work in the next congress. host: 87 partially implemented, congressman kilmer you require a

bipartisanship, there is not more democrats are more republicans on this committee. guest: that was intentional. when the committee was established there was a decision has to be bipartisan or is just going to flip back and forth every time congress hands over the gavel to the other party. in the consequence we decided if you want things to work differently in congress you have to do things differently. what is that look like? when we started up with this committee the first thing that happened is the committee gets its budget. with every other committee simple math, democrats use their half of the money they usually hire people with the democratic background, republican stick their half and hire people with republican background. our committee didn't do that.

here's a great idea why don't we does have one staff? some will be democrats will be republicans but they will put on jerseys that say let's fix congress together. it was fundamental in terms of the culture of our committee. if you watch one of our hearings on c-span, you may have too much time on your hands but if you do watch one you will notice a few things. we don't sit with democrats on one side and republicans on the others. why? because when we hear the witness is to lean over to the person next he is a that's interesting what you think about that? when you do that, you are doing it to someone from a different party. we don't even sit on a dais we sit at a roundtable. i have never had a good conversation speaking to the guy -- sitting to the back of somebody's head. we sit at a roundtable where we can make eye contact and that's not cosmetic.

consequences we have been able to support both democrats and republicans passed more than 200 recommendations all of which were bipartisan and all of which were important as we try to make a congress that works better for the american people. host: the changes have been made. >> you can sort of go issue by issue. staffing was a big issue. the amount of turnover has been significant. congress seems to be struggling. art of the reason for that is you have seen this sort of frequent bottom my station -- when you watch social media hearings and it looks like congress is being outgunned because congress is getting outgunned in those dialogues. how congress is as an institution, do a better job of

reached -- recruiting and having a more diverse staff. being able to compensate staff better and some of it is actually having some hr capacities within the institution. congress is a very unique body and 435 independent contractors doing their own thing. we tried to provide some centralization so that offices can do a better job on boarding their staff. better development opportunities, training opportunities for staff. i will mention one other, i'm sure william has some thoughts as well. we were not assigned the topic of looking at issues related to civility and collaboration. it became clear when our committee was doing the work that one of the big impediments to progress is the amount of conflict in the institution. we talked to management

consultants, organizational can psychologists to think about how do we make this institution a place that is focused on progress, not on the jerry springer show. the good news is we actually made a number of recommendations. it's happening right now. when i talk to an organizational psychologist at the end of the conversation he said he took over a team with a really bad culture and turned it into a winner. i call it football coach and i said what are you doing? you have football players actively try to sabotage the team he said i cut them. i said we don't have that option. he said well i bench them i said we don't have that option either is it how do you on board new players? i said we do have orientation when new members come on, we are doing it right now there are new members who are here. he said how did it work? it worked entirely the wrong way. you show up for orientation if

your democrats you get on this bus, republicans you get on that bus. the entire orientation process is designed to keep the two parties apart. he said i don't know much about congress but it sounds like you ought to stop doing that. so one recommendation was to stop doing that. i've collaboration and discussion between the two parties in relationship development. we had about a dozen recommendations in that space trying to figure out how do we have some intentional just change above incentives to get democrats and republicans to try. i think one of the things that frustrates the american people is the institution doesn't even seem capable of moving forward. so we made a number of recommendations that could be jake game changers over time. host: and from you? >> 2019 we were in d.c. 65

full-day days and we traveled 66 days. we were at the airport more than we were working. that is not a way to run the place. we recommended to change the schedule to be in d.c. more the biggest challenge is our members serve in committees and subcommittees. we also have floor reps. we are all over the capital complex and we are never where we need to be to do our job. committee work is important. i have been on three committees and rarely, there has been more than three or four people in the room when i get my chance to speak. everybody has overlapping obligations. so d conflicting the calendar and the schedule is incredibly them. we have seen a lot of progress there. hopefully we will have a common schedule for committee calendars.

really understanding the challenges and where we can streamline the calendar to allow people to be in their committee. host: how does the common calendar work? >> we are still working on that. at the end of the day is just an application where the chairman would put in the calendar and they will be able to see where the members on their committees have overlaps in obligations. it's a step to say if you schedule on tuesday, 63% of your committee has a conflict if you do it at 11, 40 3% has a conflict so that's a step in the right direction. eventually once we get it in one place we will be able to do block scheduling generally speaking. people serve on all types of committees. we will be able to do a block schedule. again, just the first step

towards d conflicting the schedule to allow members to be in their chairs and engage in meaningful dialogue. we speak to the camera and we go do something else we need to be able to answer questions about their ideas. that's how we can actually move the fall -- ball forward. collaborative manner and mutual respect, we don't do that. the recommendations we made will facilitate that. i think that's going to make a huge impact. host: i'm sure viewers will be curious about proxy voting. what avenue does your committee advocate for? guest: it will not be next congress. i think long term is legitimate concern surrounding people that are ill or are having children. it's something that will be considered but i think next

congress we will go back to know proxy voting. it's something future congresses can consider but i think it has been interestingly abused. we won't get into that right now. >> it's on both sides of the aisle, i will say that. host: congressman comer where are you on that issue? guest: that was appropriate during the covid pandemic if there is a legitimate public health concern not to put themselves or others at risk. you know i think as we got past the pandemic the new majority will have to determine if it's a time to end that or whether it's important to keep it but i do think there was a real legitimate reason to establish it when you are in the middle of a global pandemic host: i want to talk about, you touched on this a little bit. bipartisan government in your recommendation. nine partisan member orientation is what you talked about making it more comprehensive and

promoting civility during the new member orientation. is that happening? >> it is and we have had incredible reviews from the freshman coming in. there was an event is monday night where there was a bipartisan and everyone got to know one another it was very well received. in addition to orientation, we had a lot of recommendations regarding spending in the capital is challenging to find neutral ground to engage in house discussions. it's is incredibly challenging just to break bread. it should be very easy for these members to sit down and have a meal and interact with us. we are making strides in that regard just tuesday night we had a civility dinner at the library of congress. it was incredible. we have 40 plus members, probably a hundred people overall and we spent two hours together talking about the

challenges we face in getting to know one another. i just think it's really challenging if you know one another. i've always said i've been elected office for six years now and just combat someone on an issue does amenable work with them. host: on rissman,? guest: -- congressman kilmer? guest: planning retreats. a member of that committee can sit down and say i have never been part of an institution until i got to congress that didn't define success at the beginning of a process. when i got to congress i was kind of amazed that this doesn't happen. we actually got a nice room at the library of congress. we sat around the table and started off by trying to get to know each other a little bit.

what would be interesting to your viewers is if you were a fly on the wall during that conversation you wouldn't be able to tell who the republicans or democrats were. the institution i am serving in has lower approval ratings then colonoscopies and the rock band nickelback. i think it's important. another recommendation that doesn't seem like a big deal but i think could change and that is to allow when a bill is introduced when a person of each party works on that bill for there to be to lead sponsors of the bill. right now, and i had a campaign bill that i worked on a couple of congress is back and i worked on it really diligently with one of my republican colleagues. we spent hours together, stuff together working on this legislation to land on something that could get support from both

democrats and republicans. when we introduced the bill we literally flipped a coin to see whose name would be on the bill. if it's a joint project it should be something that both members own. that was one of my recommendations is to allow two people to lead a bill. i think that's good to be in important step. it's a made -- minor change in incentive. host: i want to encourage our viewers to join us this morning. we want to get your comments and reactions from these two lawmakers and also any recommendations you have for modernizing congress, republicans (202) 748-8001. (202) 748-8000. and independents (202) 748-8002. remember you can text us (202) 748-8003 and you can also join us on instagram and on

facebook.com/c-span. ellie you are up first in new jersey, independent, good morning. caller: not be so divisive a lot of things, try to separate the american people and one way we can really bring people together is over the policies. i think our founding fathers called for is a bill in congress right now which is hr 9110 and s -- i think it would be a unifying thing for the unit -- american people. guest: thank you for your question. a couple months ago i have to take a look at those bills. some of the high interest rates

on the student loans, that's unreasonable. i know it's a real challenge for many people in this country. i'm not sure about forgiving student loans but congress should make changes to make it easier for people to pay off student loans and pursue the american dream by advancing education. that something i think everybody can agree on. and congress can help the american people. host: steve in maryland, democratic caller. or is this kelly? caller: this is kelly, yeah. host: did you get an answer? caller: yes i did. host: ok, thank you. >> there are some healthy areas where republicans and democrats can work together. challenges they face around the economy right now and things like student debt are not limited to blue or red

districts. that is something you see in all districts. we see areas around our committee were democrats and republicans have been able to find common ground. you see issues related to military issues and the oak we would crisis. all of these areas can see significant reforms were democrats and republicans have been able to work together. i don't think it's reasonable that student loan debt is one of the few things you cannot discharge in bankruptcy. that's why i'm supportive of enabling people to be able to discharge student loan debt. host: washington is facing another fiscal deadline over funding the federal government. the annual budgeting process the

establishment of a progression only directed program that calls for accountability. the program under article one of the constitution to appropriate federal dollars this has been fully implemented i understand? >> yes. host: explain why and what are the benefits? guest: article one of the constitution congress has the power, as a member of congress and know that me and my district i know it better. they are 3000 miles away from the district i represent. i think there was a desire to ensure that members of congress exercise the power of the first and dedicate funding to community projects in their district but a recognition for that there needed to be substantial guardrails around it. it would be limited both in terms of dollar amount, how much

of the budget could be comprised of these community projects, very transparent so that members of congress when they request a community project for their district all of that information is available to the american public, to the press, to everyone to see exactly what is being requested to actually have to attest to the fact that there is no conflict of interest. make sure it's only going to nongovernmental entities or nonprofits that are serving a governmental purpose. let me talk about what that looks like. in my hometown, they just were able to use project funding to purchase the food bank in the community which i grew up. they have just been able to purchase the property so they're not flushing money down the toilet every month on rent. they were able to purchase the property so the dollars can be dedicated towards actually serving the population that really needs some help.

for example, three of the coastal tribes in my district in the process of moving to higher ground because of the threat of tsunamis. i do make some of those infrastructure investments at higher ground. we are seeing the ability to invest in affordable housing. that's not unique to washington state's congressional district. members of congress can champion some of those needs all throughout the country and i think over time, the benefit of that will be that one will better meet the needs of the american people. host: do you agree? >> i do think that the reason is because of debt. fast forward a decade and the debt has gone up double. i don't know if that was necessarily the best argument.

i definitely see the chairman's point and i think we will continue to see the benefit of community funding as of now it's going to be for next congress. will continue to check in and make sure there is nothing abused. it is very different. lack of transparency, abuse, a number of other things. so the guardrails that our committee recommended take into account those concerns. there are still questions regarding seniority and other things but i do think it's much better than it was and we will continue to see our country. host: our audience will remember.

republican from pennsylvania, good morning. caller: i have a suggestion you guys ought to do. the biggest problem in congress and senate. first of all, stop gerrymandering. stop it altogether. second of all, it doesn't have to be done the way it is now. the full senate to vote on it and the house to vote on it, not people behind the door same people become alien heirs. host: let me take both of those ideas. guest: gerrymandering is bad. when you look at districts that are very strangely shaped you have to wonder it shouldn't be that way. it just shouldn't be that way. there is a lot of challenges to drawing district lines. it is a part of the process.

there is federal law that requires majority and minority districts. but i definitely agree with you that we should make districts look more reasonable and if there square were not in the right direction but i agree with you it is challenging because there are federal laws. i will let the chairman take the bottom of it. host: how gracious of you. >> we did make the recommendation early on in the committee's progress. trying to improve transparency around lobbying so that the american public will be able to understand better who is trying to lobby congress on what issue to make sure there is a single identifier of that lobbyist and i think you'd be able to look at, ok, this is a lobbyist here are the issues for which they are lobbying. right now that is a very opaque

process. i really do believe some of this is effective and it's one of the reasons our committee made that reform proposal. host: is a or no? >> that one is, i think in process. host: and how would it be implemented? >> technology could solve a pretty significant problem. we have a single identifier, you have to register and you have to register all your clients. it can't be, for example, under multiple names. i will use my father as an example. you have to be one identification number and all your clients, that is not currently the case in congress. this is not a huge problem to solve it involves simple technology. any -- have all your clients listed. i don't know if the existing

covers that. again, i'm a big believer in transparency and making sure that the american public knows what is going on. host: met from virginia, democratic color. caller: a comment and then a question. my comment is basically the choice of voting i think it does a good job of getting moderate candidates elected because if you look at alaska the very right wing candidates, sarah palin could not make it over the finish line because moderate voters had a chance to vote for their second best option and that person one versus the extremists. then my question for you is i have a problem with the unrepresentative nature of our current congressional districts. i feel like we should decrease the amount of people that are

represented by an individual representative. there is no, light, specific law that says the current congressional districts have to be represented by the current amount of people. we could change that and make it so the fewer people are represented by one person and you actually have a chance to meet and talk with the representative versus them only meeting with lobbyists, associations, and groups because they don't have time to meet with you. host: ok, matt. >> the committee held hearings on the big ideas. changing the site of congress we were not able to come to any agreement this is a pertinent issue. i do agree that it's challenging representing 700 plus thousand people. especially when my cell phone

number is everywhere and everyone uses it. i think this is going to be an issue. i do not think south carolina would go along with that. we will continue to monitor how we sent people to washington. guest: how we choose our candidates, how we choose our members, that supports the institution and its effectiveness. the state of washington has the top tier primary system. read districts the general election is usually between two republicans and deeply blue districts it's usually two democrats. what we have seen, the minority party generally votes for the more interest candidate and that has had an impact. i will share, when i first got to congress, after orientation we had to come to a committee first term. they called all the freshman

numbers. with the joint chiefs, the bus rolled in. it was my first week on the job so i said i'm going to go grab a burger. if anyone wants to come, come on. we went to a burger joint and were talking and breaking bread. about 45 minutes and i said it seems likely got to get our act together and get some stuff done. when my new republican colleagues, who actually became a very good friend, he said i really like you but here's what you understand he said i would my seat by being the republican incumbent. he said the first foot i cast was a vote against speaker bader . i sent a press release after that saying i voted against because it was too compromising. he said i -- you don't

understand i like you but i'm here to stop you. i, wife and i said was your reaction to this? this is a big problem. a lot of it is driven by things we talked about partisan uc the districts get more blue or red. in the partisan primaries where it's really easy for a candidate to try to make it through a primary. this is one of the reasons that we looked at this issue when we had what we called our big idea hearings. we were not able to land the plan that two thirds of our committee could support. i think it's a legitimate issue. good we make a recommendation to increase the size of the house? the average member of congress had a district that was 31,000 people. a lot easier to engage your

constituents if you have 31,000 people over three quarters of a million people. i do think there is value and you seen there was talk by the academy i actually encourage viewers to take a look at that. i think it lays out a very reasonable argument for why there should be at least some increase in the size of the institution so instead of capacity to meet the needs of your constituents. host: for our viewers who want to learn more about this c-span covers many of these hearings. you can go to modernize congress. house.gov. you can follow them on twitter at modernize committee that's cmt e.

thank you both of you for coming out together, for talking about this and injuring calls for our viewers. we need to let these to go because the house is coming in in about 20 minutes the legislative is this. we will say goodbye to them, come back with an open forum. any public policy issue on your mind, start dialing in now. ♪ >> there are a lot of places to get political information but only at c-span do you get it straight from the source. no matter where you are from, or where you stand on the issues, c-span is america's network. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. if it happens here, or here, or here, or anywhere that matters,

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and trends through insider interviews. you can find out about books on c-span now or wherever you get your podcasts. >> "washington journal" continues. host: open forum any policy on your mind that's on your mind. let :00 a.m. eastern the house will gather for legislative business on this friday morning. until then, what public policy issue would you like to discuss? to start with the economy here is the latest from the bureau of labor statistics the u.s. economy gained jobs in november and the unemployment rate held even in 3.7%. job grows beat the expectations of economists who expected the u.s. to gain rate -- roughly 200,000 jobs last month according to consensus projection.

it is above the pre-pandemic level. the job market continues to push their high inflation, and grows at a steady click. that is the hill newspaper reporting on the job numbers. vince in idaho falls, independent, what is the public policy on your mind? caller: i guess the economy. i'm calling kind of a holdover from your last session. the two guys you had on, that was extremely refreshing and encouraging. i'm an older person and those two representatives really showed, hopefully, with the future is going to be. i think they want to modernize the way the i.t. and their staff and procedurally but one thing

they might want to consider is term limits. i'm a baby boomer myself but it wrapped up in the current policy and there wrapped up, you know, entitlements and they are wrapped up, they are just kind of old. have to modernize and fourths those people out and get more people like those two representatives if were going to be in good shape going forward. thank you. host: keith in bombay florida, hi, keith. caller: good morning, how are you doing, greta? host: good morning. caller: the person before me is right along the same line. i think the biggest problem is term limits but what i would do

is set up some way to where in congress may be four years and some senators six years but after they get elected, not during now my time they immediately go into fundraising and they are not voting on what they are supposed to be voting on. they are voting with the money is. they are getting reelected. once they are elected they have to set out from all to two years. ngo, they have to back in order private sector job or have their own business or something. baby boomers are having a hard time turning the child -- turning the torch over to the younger crowd. these people stand there and make money and they vote towards

the money. they don't have to raise money because they're going to vote the way their heart is supposed to lead us. the term limit, there can be term limits but they are not set up for two years. they have to start fundraising as soon as they get elected. host: on elections, sun's this morning in the newspapers the washington post biden pushing from my -- primary shakeup the president asked leaders of the democratic national committee to make south carolina the nation's first primary state, not iowa. followed by new hampshire, the fatah and weekly primaries in georgia in michigan. democratic national committee is meeting today and tomorrow we have coverage of it right here on c-span at 2:00 p.m. eastern

time. all on our video mobile app which is free on c-span now you can download it in the app store and on demand at c-span.org. let's hear from alisha, hi we are an open forum. caller: hi, greta. i think they should do away with writers. like someone like john mccain did. he put the writer in. in with the military he knew that everyone would vote for the military budget and he put the

writer in the last minute of the 12 hours i think they should do away with that. host: ok, john in vermont hi, john. good morning to you. caller: you talking to me? really? i can't believe it. i'm kidding. i am just what benjamin franklin was. what was benjamin franklin? i would like to know, you know possibly what are we doing with our 700 and 50 million pages of resources? another don't keep it in reserve but on a resource base we can power the world for i think three or 400 years so i don't understand this debate here how

could you pose that to our polarized country. host: josie in san fernando, california. democratic caller. josie, it's your turn, you have to meet the television. jose, excuse me that's why. caller: i got some concerns about california and why but and 50/50 it feels like -- host: you have to meet the television. otherwise we get the feedback and is difficult to hear you.

caller: good morning, greta. i've been listening for years i'm 80 years old. and i was listening yesterday morning this gentleman called and and he made a good suggestion. why are the independents on the democratic side? if they are independent, they should not be on either side. so that's the question i've got. caller: one party or the other some have chosen the republican side pending on which with aileen and then at allows them to get committee assignments that they prefer if they caucus with the party that is in power or the parties they align with. so that's generally why you see them choosing one party over the other. kevin, ohio, good morning.

caller: hi, how are you guys doing? is this still open forum? host: yes, what is a question on your mind? caller: i guess i want to get back to the railroad strike. democrats in power are congratulating themselves and i think it seems to me that the house knowing full well that the seven day sickly wasn't going to pass. used the opportunity to be self-congratulatory and i want to point out that this is a perfect example. i don't pick socialism yes that's because ted cruz is a corporate socialist. it's a scary time in america were workers are going to be forced by the government to go

back to work and not strike and the democratic they chose within their workplace to not agree to the conditions or whatever were on the contract. i just for the want to say that in america if we really want a democratic society we democratize the work place and that's it, thank you host:. host:president biden hosting the french president and his wife at first the official state visit of the biden administration. it took place under a pavilion on the white house grounds. democratic donors, celebrities, republican lawmakers of congress and others all gathered for the festivities.

the french president emmanuel macron and his wife arriving here in washington, d.c. earlier in the week. they had a welcome ceremony at the white house yesterday and that followed the state dinner last night. if you are interested in who attended this affair you can find the guest list at washington post.com. they have everybody who attended including president biden's children. republican lawmakers, republican lawmakers, celebrities, etc. all attended the festivities. any policy issues that are on your mind. yesterday when the president met with the french president at the white house they talked about issues for three hours. after that the two of them held

a joint news conference. after the news conference president biden made some news in saying that he would meet with russian president vladimir putin under certain conditions. [video clip] pres. biden: there's one way to end this rationally. putin to pull out of ukraine, he's not going to do that. he's paying the price and inflicting incredible carnage on the civilian population of ukraine. bombing nurseries, hospitals, children's homes. it's sick what he's doing. but the fact of the matter is i have no immediate plans to contact mr. putin. mr. putin is, let me choose my words very carefully. i'm prepared to speak with him if in fact there is an interest

for him to decide he's looking for a way to end the war, he hasn't done that yet. if that's the case, consultation with my friends i will be happy to sit down to see what he wants, has in mind. i think it's absolutely critical what emmanuel said we must support ukrainian people. the idea that putin is ever going to defeat ukraine is beyond comprehension imagine, i'm trying to occupy that country if they could he's just calculated every single thing he initially calculated. he thought he would be greeted with open arms by the russian-speaking portion of the ukrainian population. go back and read his speech when he invaded when i said they were going to invade and what he did when i said they were go back and read the speech he made he

talked about another peter the great. he talked about need for the people. so the question is what is his, how does he get himself out of the circumstances? i'm prepared of he's willing to talk to find out what he's willing to do but i will only do an concentration with my day that will allow that. host: president biden at the news conference with the french president yesterday you can find it in the points of interest if you go to our website, c-span.org. you will find gold stars at the bottom that note from all the questions they took from reporters were about foreign policy,.

as we told you at the tap desktop the senate approved a real deal that would delay us -- for spin agreement. that was approved in the senate brian paul voted present on that message in the senate and approving -- awaiting approving in the house. he will deliver remarks, you can follow along on our website de c-span.org so democratic caller, john, what is the issue on your mind. i was hearing about oh i've got two of them.

the railroad strikers i believe that biden is right for them to before subodh work but they should also force companies to give them that seven-day sick pass. there was a thing about brian, what was the thing about brian? alyssa co. more questions for you, student loans they've agreed to take it up. or knows about the decision will come down in june. also an appeals court ordered an end to the so-called special master process for reviewing documents seized from former president donald trump this is his residence.

couple tweets here our viewers. since the labor union has been granted special favor from the government is it the right of the government to take that away. to force the labor deal also from michigan saying i am retired after 30 years, after 40 -- 34 years of the railroad it's a difficult job and they need to fix it. and then you have this from john in st. paul, minnesota. you think the wage increase is an isolated incident? all humans will want huge increases also and nonunion workers all because of bidens inflation which will create more inflation.

congress should resist the dog to the dinner bell to intervene unless the road has -- hartford connecticut, and other win for joe biden and the american people. they have lost workers their job the house is going to be gaveling in this morning early, 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. our coverage here on c-span.org we will bring you up to the house now thanks. we will be back tomorrow morning, 7:00 a.m. eastern time

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