valerie valerie why don't you come on over valerie? ♪ ♪ >> ♪

for automobiles, the price for homes and other things that they buy on credit. this administration currently has no plan for how to deal with

that, but there are a few things that we could do, if we are serious about getting inflation under control. we saw the expiring tax policy. one of which is a bonus to appreciation. they are allowing the companies to take a full deduction for that. there is great growth in the economy. these are policies that would help keep the economy expanding and growing. they want to make sure they can help. host: he is the minority with in the senate. this is sunrise over capitol hill. coming up in about six hours

from now will be the federal reserve chairman making a statement to the public about the state of the u.s. economy and talking about the latest inflation numbers. that is happening at 2:30 p.m. eastern time today. that is about 7.5 hours from now, happening this afternoon in washington. getting your thoughts on how you describe the state of the u.s. economy, what is your view from where you are in america? good morning. caller: c-span, i have a lot of information for you.

i have never seen anything like this, and our country before. he does not have any business being president because he does -- he knows nothing about the economy. he is the stupidest president i have ever seen in this country. his whole cabinet had no experience whatsoever. they have no business being the head of our government. we need to get rid of him as soon as possible and get our country back on an even keel. host: a call from indiana saying things are getting better. caller: the economy is getting better. there are a lot of issues with the pandemic that are still continuing.

i think that caused polarized politics that distorts what is really happening in the economy. it can lead to inflation because people think that the economy is worse than it really is. we are coming out of the pandemic. biden rapidly deploying vaccines was fantastic. after that, a series of supply interruptions and other interruptions that adversely impact. i do not think it is due to too much stimulus money. i think it was all due to supply

interruptions throughout the economy. host: where did you see it the most? where was it? caller: food pricing, things he would shop to get food. ordering certain products, they were slow deliveries. i have had work done around the house and there have been issues. i think it is all due to the pandemic. i wish people would be a little bit more patient. these are the issues that are happening to the economy. host: on the issue of good prices, diving in a little bit. the rate of the increase had

declined. prices for food at restaurants, a decline from the previous months. this is compared with the .4% in october. the increases earlier this year, meet prices generally declined in november while prices for crackers and bread increased. the wall street journal is diving into that report. we will take you through the various aspects. is the economy getting better or worse? what do you think? caller: it is getting worse by fire. there is nothing we can do about it. biden is calling all the shots. it is nothing more than

corruption in washington. biden is the worst corrupted president to ever be in the white house. thank you. host: one of the headlines from the washington post has inflation slowing. pointing to comments yesterday with an expected reelection ahead. prices remain high. this is doug in florida. caller: good morning. i want to wish everybody a merry christmas, if they believe. but just look around. everything is starting to get cheaper, and they forget about what happened during the pandemic when he went grocery shopping. sue prices doubled, but let's

not talk about that. let's wait until biden gets in office. host: so you think things are getting better or worse? caller: they are getting better. it will not go boom like it did when it got higher. we never had ship after ship sitting on the coast. they could not get into port. what do you think will happen with that? have a good day. host: jackie from texas. go ahead. caller: it is not going to get any better until the student loan issue gets taken care of. that is close to $2 trillion that needs to be accounted for. the loans that are illegal, that is $2 trillioncan be put right back into the economy.

we have two bills in the house and one in the senate. senator schumer, pelosi, cicilline -- they need to get it done. the democrats promised that there would be bankruptcy protections to these student loans people. they have not done that in decades. host: patricia in chicago, go ahead. caller: good morning. i would like to say that i was looking at c-span, and i heard the presentation of the president that the debt has increased by 1.7 trillion. that is a huge deduction for one president. i think he is doing a great job. we have institutions.

when you do go to the grocery store or wherever you shop -- also other events such as technology science, advancement and technology, geography, government, culture, a lot of strands where you can create so that we do not have to worry about being in debt. some of this, people cannot afford to go to an institution and we have to create to make a difference. we cannot just keep going on fiscal policy.

it is not working. host: we are talking about the state of the u.s. economy, getting the pulse of your thoughts on the u.s. economy where you live. we show you the president yesterday talking about the state of the economy. this was at a signing ceremony for the respect for marriage act taking place on the south lawn of the white house. the president there with members of congress. it was senate majority leader chuck schumer and nancy pelosi you spoke about that bill after the president signed it. >> after a lot of hard work today, a long march towards greater equality takes an

important step forward. we are sending a message to lgbtq american everywhere that you two deserve dignity. you deserve a quality -- that is about as american an ideal as they come. a few bills have hit home for legislators. the exultation that we have getting this done just swells your heart. >> each and everyone of you should pat yourself on the shoulder because regardless of how much we have done, internally maneuvering or taking the lead in legislative capacities, this would not have happened without the advocacy, without the mobilization at the grassroots level. you all made this happen. host: those comments coming on

the south lawn of the white house yesterday. this is from the washington post. you can see the portico lit up in rainbow colors. we are talking to you about the state of the economy. this is paul in plantation, florida. i things getting better or worse? caller: i think i am free to say that they are getting worse because jamie dimon, head of the largest bank in the world has said that there will be a relatively strong session. i would say that my words have a lot of credibility as backed up by jamie diving, but i have been watching this program years and years. one thing that i have come to the conclusion is that people really do not understand where inflation comes from and how

government overspending creates inflation. people this year have finally realize -- they think that the dollar is a dollar. they think it will be the same dollar as it might have been in a different time. we have flooded this economy with dollars, with government overspending, and the people receiving those dollars think that they are going to go out and buy the same amount of goods for those dollars as before. they found out because of inflation that is not true. let me give you a 92nd explanation of why that is true. it goes back to the origination of self. bartering really did not work very well. you cannot sell somebody a fish in exchange for carpentry, if you do not have anything the

guide to build. it did not work too well. gave way to the advent of. host: bring me up a couple thousand because we have a couple people waiting to chat. caller: it is something that people need to understand. i will cut to the chase. think of the economy as one store, with one counter. there are 10 boxes of goods to be sold. there is a line of people waiting to buy those goods. let's say that there are six people in line everybody -- line. there is a second registered for the same boxes. those people receive money, but

the gave no service or goods for the money. they are buying the as the people who actually earned money to buy the goods. host: good morning. caller: everybody -- he is the best president we have ever had in this country. republicans want to read about a democrat president? i do not owe that much money a month on social security. i think the economy is doing great. i'll tell you what.

they need to send trump to mexico. that is very he needs to be. maybe he can solve the problem there. he is not doing it in the u.s.. host: your comments yesterday via our text service and your comments this morning. yesterday i received a letter from every source, our home electric supplier to increase a massive increase in our electric bill january 1. the u.s. had so much natural gas that it was selling to other countries. these policies are hurting people all over america. many people can only spend the same amount as last year or less. people will spend extra time trying to make the best of it.

when it comes to inflation's impact, more from this didn't republican leader. this is conference chair marasco. >> the no -- the new numbers came out today and we are still in a 40 year high. joe biden was asked about that. prices are up since the day he took office. when our prices going to return to normal? he said, hopefully at the end of next year. families have been suffering and this will be the most expensive christmas ever. also for decorations. we have decoration inflation. they are all up 15%, each one of those.

people say they will be able to afford fewer presidents or no presence at all. for people living paycheck-to-paycheck, they have to dig into their savings account for is left of them. people are having to make tough choices. the willingness to hire 87,000 new irs agents is a strain on the american people. this year, families are spending 5000 more just to stay even, than they were just before joe biden became president. the solution? cut the wasteful spending and unleash american energy. host: the conference chair on capitol hill. this morning, asking you about

how you view the american economy. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. prior to the last election, my spending rate was $1800 a month. i do not have a lot of money, but i have more than $1800. at the beginning of the biden administration, it went up to $2600, which i can still afford and in the last few months, it went back down to $2400. it is still higher than what it originally started as i guess my biggest problem is that i try to predict what i need to do to keep my spending down. you get different stories in the media. one is that we are getting worse

and the other says we are getting very. the short-term, we did get better. but i worry about the strategic oil reserve and how to change things on that. these are things that i worry about. the overspending and the government, i do think that we have a lot of waste. listening to one side of the media, what is that going to cost me? i have to be a little bit concerned because i am invested in the market and i worry about stuff like that. there are things that i worry about. host: when it comes to the $1800 that you used to spend and now it is 2400 these days?

caller: i always monitor what i spend. the year before was $1800 a month. my house is paid for and i do not have a car payment or a house payment. my spending rate was $1800. that includes the entertainment that we do. host: where did that increase come in? caller: it was more than $400. the price of gas shot way up. that added a lot because i have to drive a little ways. i have to drive a little bit farther. i actually got a motorcycle so i could get better gas mileage. my heating bill went up. it was almost $400 for the air conditioning.

i went to the mini split system. it cost me $2200 to do that, but it brought utility bills down quite a bit. it brought those down. i tried to do things like -- instead of going to the store, i'd buy from a bulk place that actually gets a better price than costco or walmart, and pensacola. i tried to watch what i spend. you know what i'm saying is that a lot of things that cost a little bit more, they actually went up and then they come down a little bit. also, i invested a little bit more. i had money in the bank getting 1% and now i bought into a couple companies that pay me a dividend every month.

they actually give me more income. host: thank you for the call from florida. gasoline prices certainly can fit into the category. prices for gasoline declined in november. welcome news for consumers. gasoline prices declined 2% from october. prices for electricity declined. gas services fell. the national average price for unleaded gallon of gasoline, $3.25 a gallon. that is down $.50 from a month ago. caller: thank you and all the other great men and women who bring us this program.

definitely, the economy is doing better. it is nice to actually see an administration that has the true american spirit in their heart in turning this big ship slowly. it is not going to turn right away, but this economy is turning slowly. i guess i was lucky enough to be around in the 1980's when i went for my first house loan and the banks were charging 22% interest. i got a 16.5%. this is a lot better than what i have seen and a lot better to have an administration that acts like they care for the country instead of throwing a tantrum like a three-year-old. i appreciate the work this current administration is doing.

have a good day. host: stacy, good morning. caller: i think the economy is getting worse. i am five years from retiring and it seems to me, my whole career in my life, every place i have ever worked, mostly factories, they are only going to seven years, so the little bit of retirement i have been able to nest egg has been going up and up. in january, i lost over half of my net worth of my savings for retirement. i am five years away from retiring. i do not know until -- i do not know that i can. host: what kind of work do you do? caller: factory work. mostly warehousing. >> i would have liked to retire at 67 or 68.

host: this is john in question. morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i think the economy is getting better. article four, section four of the constitution says every -- anybody in the federal government are all treasonous tyrants. host: take me to the economy. caller: the economy is getting better because they keep handing out money. when they hand out money, forest people are going to be able to go out and buy thing, but things are way more expensive than they were. gas coming down, it was a dollars $.70 a gallon when trump was president. i think things are going to get

better because every member of congress, every member of the federal government needs to be impeached because every single one of them are treasonous tyrants, according to our constitution. host: got your point. next call from tennessee. go ahead. caller: i see that things are getting worse. me and the wife have been married 45 years now and we cannot even buy each other anything for christmas this year. that is about all i have to say about it. host: where do you spend more than you used to? caller: utilities, gas, between the house payment and the insurance, we are stressed out.

she was a factory worker and we are both retired. we can hardly make intimate -- ends meet. host: we are asking you in the wake of the latest report i cannot yesterday, when you think about the state of the economy, do you think it is getting or worse? we will hear what jerome powell thinks about the state of the economy at 2:30 p.m. eastern today. we will learn a little bit more from him about the direction of the fed after price inflation. the new york times with a wrap up of what could be happening today from the fed. the fed, which has been rapidly raising interest rates three quarters of a point is expected to make a similar move today,

bringing rates to a range of 4.25 and 4.5% central bankers will release economic projection saying how much they expect to raise interest rate next year. they will slow by the february meeting. it will give them some latitude to proceed more cautiously -- caller: happy holidays. thank you for taking my call. it is on the verge of improving. we have not seen enough action on those issues as of yet. the child tax credit needs to be expanded again.

when it stopped, it through a lot of people into poverty. the student loan debt needs to be restored to bankruptcy protection. there is a bill in the senate that you discussed. host: we seem to be discussing at every day. i wonder if people are coordinating because to talk about it. it's ok if that's what it is, but i'm just curious. caller: if bankruptcy is restored to all americans, it will give a tremendous to those of us mired in debt. if every borrower has that protection -- host: on the issue of ongoing work in the house and senate, we

will find out what happened in the next couple of days. it seems as if there will be short-term funding to buy members of congress more time to come up with a federal funding bill. we will find out how long they will be working on this spending bill. mitch mcconnell stands by working with immigrants on that spending bill. fiscal conservatives want a short-term resolution, maybe a month were to be to allow them to negotiate in the 118th congress. the bill that is coming together is expected to include $187 billion. we talked yesterday about the defense bill, the national

defense authorization act. members of congress working to iron out the details and the expectation is that they may pass that omnibus the day before christmas. so we will find out. this is james. good morning. do you think things are getting better or worse? caller: a whole lot worse. when i moved here to be a years ago, we had to get food stamps. $300 would go longer. they have doubled it and i cannot make it go one month now. i do handyman work. i'm trying to get jobs out here as a handyman and i cannot really do that because people do not have the extra money.

car insurance is doubled. the only thing that has not gone up is my rent, and i think god that my landlord understands that, but this is ridiculous. biden has an agenda to hurt america so bad that when he gets ready to leave office china is going to start their stuff and we are going to be in such a crippled way that we will not be able to defend this country. he has depleted everything and given all of our weapons to ukraine. this is biden's fault. all he had to do was stand up like a man and tell vladimir putin, if you do anything, we will destroy you. but biden is a coward and paid off by china. we will be in big trouble by the time he is out of office. host: this is more from

president biden yesterday in the wake of the consumer price index report. pres. biden: for the last several months, wages have gone up more than prices have gone up. i want to be clear that it will take time to get inflation back to normal levels as we make the transition to a more steady growth, but we could see setbacks on the way as well. what is clear is that the plan is working and we are just getting started. bring inflation down while keeping the labor market resilient. build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out. because of my plan, we are beginning to see stark

investments in our leading companies to invest hundreds of billions of dollars. to build semiconductor factories and other advanced manufacturing right here in america. it will create thousands of good paying jobs. a significant number of jobs are expected to be jobs that pay an average of 125,000 dollars a year. many do not require a college degree, so things are looking up. host: that was president biden from the white house. taking your pulse on the state of the u.s. economy. d think things are getting better or worse? what do you think? caller: i think but i have a little bit of a problem with dollar general. they are everywhere and it seems like the prices are getting more

on that. i just wish someone would investigate them. thank you. host: good morning. i think the situation is getting worse. we are a senior county. grateful for the cool increase, -- caller: with the price of electric, the price of oil -- a senior is not going to get any more than that increase.

he is going out to work, contributing to his 401(k). most people are losing money, unless you are invested in oil. there has to be a little bit of fairness. we are all struggling, so i wish the guideline -- there is a penalty just for being married. if you are single or single with a child, they qualified that is wonderful.

there need to be new income guidelines. they need to make it fair for everyone. unemployment -- host: the housing market is cooling. we are constantly turning the corner. this is from audrey in pennsylvania. better for -- better or worse for whom? two americas. the self-proclaimed elite.

more tweets from data saying this is a trick question. not great to limit ourselves to the horse races, but if i had to, dozens of companies were falling around me and i was not sure i would live through a pandemic. good morning. caller: good morning. i believe the world economy has a profound effect on our economy. the president does not exclusively control the economy, not any president. any plans put into effect take time. there are not two americas, there is one america. anyone living here and loving this country, trying to do well for it and do something positive for -- i think the economy is doing better.

individuals, what they do in the personal economy, and their personal life one affect what is going on in their personal economy. host: this is james in manhattan, kansas. caller: i agree completely with joe from new york. people do not realize that the world is suffer the same -- suffering the same thing. it could be a lot worse, so i do not think that we are as bad off as we could be. host: good morning. caller: good morning. i think the economy is definitely worse. i was a nurse. i worked my but off for the

company for people. i cannot even get fuel assistance. i cannot even get food stamps because i earn two dollars more. they put up social security and in the vermont, everybody raises prices of everything, including apartments and food. my food bill doubled. i used to spend $90 a month for food from what i needed in the house and now -- host: did we lose you there? this is from new york. caller: good morning. for me, it is getting better. i have to travel a lot sometimes.

i have to pay a certain amount each month. they do not bother me as long as they make the payments. people should be lucky that they live in the u.s. because inflation is everywhere. i was paying that much of eddie every month, but they forgot. they sent me a bill. so i contacted them and we straightened it out. it is up for certain products. the economy is heading good. one more thing. you need to have something like 40 under, have them call because

a lot of times, it is a lot of old people complaining a lot. that is what they do. host: how old are you? caller: i am 49, but i am still with young people. host: but you would call in on the 40 and underlying -- under line? no, i understand what you're saying. you are what keeps this program going is your calls. in tampa, florida, good morning. caller: good morning, john. i agree with that last caller. you just need some younger people calling because a lot of people are just complaining. as far as the economy, can you tell me, where in history have

they raise the price on something? like when the airlines put the baggage fee on bags, it is still going on today, 20 years later. when people call in to complain, it is just sad that people see what they want to see. if the republicans were in charge, what would they do different? i might fall in that category. but it does not affect me i do drive the same road everyone else drives. people need to see what they are doing.

host: what do you think of the u.s. economy? fighting extradition in the bahamas. the founder of the crypto exchange. we are expecting hear from him. that hearing took place yesterday and at that hearing, the new ceo, here is what they had to say. >> it stems from absolute

control. grossly inexperienced, and unsophisticated individuals. they are entrusted with other people's money and assets. unacceptable management practices identified so far include the use of computer infrastructure that gave individuals in senior management access to systems and -- storing private keys to access of crypto assets without security controls or encryption. the ability to borrow funds, utilize for trading or investments without any limits whatsoever. lack of complete documentation

and tracks that -- transactions including separate investments. lack of personality and risk management. host: now if you want to watch that committee hearing in its entirety, you can do so on our website. next, indiana, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning. i like with the gentleman from tampa, florida said. we have some he things to be thankful for, this christmas season. i live in a small town in western vania, which has -- pennsylvania, which has a rather small population, but every time i go by the restaurants, i see

how the parking is. we are struggling to find a way to improve our economy, but people complain some much and gas is coming down. people seem to have enough pocket money to go out and eat. i see in increase in the cost of food, however i see fluctuating prices going down and i think we have become a nation of complainers. we find so much to complain about and we have so much to thankful for. they pay much more for gas, much more for all of the conveniences that we have, so i think we need to put things into perspective. the economy is getting better.

host: when did we become a nation of complainers? is it fairly recently? has it been a trend? caller: i am a retired teacher and i would say probably around 40 years ago. we cannot understand that we are not entitled to everything. i'm not just talking about what people will interpret as welfare or handouts. i'm just talking about the overall esteem of what people expect. they expect everything to be perfect. host: what was it about the 1980's that changed? caller: first of all, i do not want to be overtly political, but think about how everything

was getting better under the reagan administration, but if people would stop and think, they had unions and improvement for people. we began to rely on a service industry, the people began to think that they were entitled to much more. i taught and one of the things we had was a great self-esteem movement and public education during that time period and everyone began to inflate their own importance, not realizing that we have to rely upon one another. we cannot just look at our neighbor's pocketbook. host: what did you teach? caller: i taught social studies.

i taught history, economics -- host: when did you stop teaching? caller: i retired almost 14 years ago. i understand how people struggle, but i wonder if they budget. i did not grow up privileged. i will say that i had a single parent. my mother raised four children, and we did it on a limited income, so i understand limited income and i am learning that in the last 14 years, but i think that we complain so much that we do not look at what is being done. a lot has been done to improve the economy. host: thank you for the call. we will go to washington, pennsylvania. caller: first of all, merry christmas to the lady in

pennsylvania. i will be in that town on christmas day. host: is washington, indiana and year that area in pennsylvania? caller: not really, but that is where i will be. things will probably get worse. but the price index -- these goods have not yet come to the market. when they do, that price will be reflected at the stories. that is it. host: ronald in florida. you are next. caller: i think the things that are happening are by design the democratic party is destroying our country. biden came in and started giving all this money away.

we are just taking our country down. military equipment for the ukraine, which is not our fight. we need to get back to taking care of our own country. he is letting us be destroyed by people coming across the border. we had 16,000 people come across the border this past weekend. these people are eating our lunch. the people in this country are providing for those people. we are getting deeper in debt and he is draining our oil supply. just giving money away to other countries. we cannot do that. we cannot feed people coming in hundreds of thousands coming in across our border, and we are

providing everything they get and we are being destroyed. they are allowing this open border. host: our last caller in this segment of washington journal. plenty more to talk about, including two members who -- members of congress, who will be joining us. a member of the select committee on the climate crisis. and later this morning, republican david joyce will join us to discuss his priorities for the republican-led house and the 118th congress. stick around. we will be right back. >> friday's at 8:00 p.m. eastern is bran -- c-span brings you afterwords where nonfiction

authors are interviewed on their books. this week on how the u.s. can avoid "the worst economic catastrophe of our lifetime" with his book "mega threat." watch afterwords every friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> the new 118th congress convenes on tuesday, january 3 at noon eastern. they will return to washington as a divided government. republicans will control the house while democrats retain control of the senate. the new incoming members are younger with an average age of 47 compared to 58 in the previous session. they will be more diverse with a record number of women serving including women of color. follow the process as a gavel

into session, holds the election for speaker of the house and take the oath of office. new congress, new leaders, watch the opening day tuesday, january 3 at noon eastern live on c-span and span2 and c-span now or online at c-span.org. >> there are a lot of places to get political information, but only at c-span you get it straight from the source. no matter where you are from or where you stand on the issues, he span is america's network. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. if it happens here, here, or anywhere that matters, america is watching on c-span. powered by cable. >> washington journal continues. host: the focus is now on climate change and the focus on

the select committee for climate crisis. our guest is representative sean casten. if you go to the congressional webpage under issues it says that you have made combating climate change are top priority in congress. why is this issue your number one priority? guest: to some degree it is all i know. before i came to congress i was 20 years in the clean energy industry, 16 as a ceo. my focus is that it has been a huge problem moving faster than society contemplates. but also it is an enormous opportunity because virtually anything we do to give ourselves an energy system that meets our needs is also cheaper. so, the result of that is that it touches every part of our society, a way to make us richer, it is a massive wealth transfer and we have to make sure that it is equitable to

give a better planet to our kids and i can think of no more important priority for the folks who have the good fortune to be alive right now. host: a member of the select committee on the climate crisis. when was it formed and what was its mission? guest: speaker pelosi created the select committee and the 116th congress when i was brought in and kathy castor was elected to headed up. -- head it up. we did not have legislative authority but there was a recognition that because climate and energy touches every committee and the congress, it affects the tax policy and the energy policy, it affects the banking stability and financial services committee and if it sits on every committee the and it sits on no committee because nobody has the jurisdiction. our commission was to look across all the committees and look at what a coherent and

holistic policy look like. we came up with the report at the end of the 116th congress with 715 recommendations and we have signed more than 300 of those into law and it is tremendously incredible. i think we have done more to bend the arc on climate change than any congress ever. host: 300 signed into law, what are some examples? guest: a lot of that was in the inflation reduction act which is $360 billion of investment to make it people just cheaper to get an electric vehicle or a solar panel on the roof. for industries to decarbonized and there is also a lot in r&d with industrial technology act that says we have to find ways to decarbonized. how do you make steel without fossil fuel or fertilizer

without natural gas. let us set up a branch to de carbonized those. a lot of stuff for environmental justice is -- to look out to people the most affected by pollution and then to make sure as we build out the clean energy we are thoughtful about what happens to the communities that depend on extracting expensive energy and do not leave them behind. all of that stuff is in the ira and infrastructure bill and now in the implementation phase. host: hundreds of recommendations will not -- still not completed. what is still waiting and are the most significant that congress needs to act on? guest: at the highest level we had a problem created by the structure of the senate. the senate could not pass the climate builds on -- through -- except in a reconciliation process.

that means that you can pass things by a simple majority in the senate but only if they affect budgetary matters and to make policy changes you will need to overcome the 60 vote rush holt to break the filibuster -- threshold to break the filibuster. we need to fix the transmission permitting system and that is a policy system. we would like to see some kind of more economic signals whether through carbon pricing or clean energy standard, those are policy issues. most of what we have done involved direct government spending that we were able to do reconciliation primarily through tax policy because if we can make it 20% cheaper to put a solar panel on your roof very tax credit that is a government outlay. those issues where we have to move forward are the policy changes to make sure that we have a functioning market economy that appropriately

awards clean energy. host: he has with us until the bottom of the hour at 8:30 eastern. phone lines, 202-748-8001, republicans. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. as folks are coming in, the select committee cannot write laws but it can write reports. a final report coming out today. where can viewers find it and what will they find in a? guest: if you go to the website of the select committee and do not quote me exactly where it is that i'm sure it is easily googlable. it will be released at 11:00 today. we laid out what we had done and gave a record of the bills and what passed into law and then give a roadmap to where we really need to work. a lot of it affects the policy things and we talk about getting

a clean energy standard and how do we better use market tools to incentivize the acceleration of cleaner vehicles in the market. nature-based solutions, what do we do if you are in an area where your hone -- your home is lebron -- prone to flooding how do we use your lands to make a sponge for people upstream and then making sure you are also house uncomfortable. lots of those things that are lennar -- linear policy issues are in the recommendations moving forward for the next congress and congress is to come. host: it is climatecrisishouse.gov. will there be a select committee and the 118th congress? guest: that is a question for whoever the republican speaker will be, that i do not expect there will be one. certainly the conversation so far is that the republicans indicate that they do not want to have this committee. i think it is unfortunate but we

will have to do our work in other areas. host: one of those areas, hot brook summer. guest: that is how a member of congress who is willing to embarrass themselves draws the attention of government agencies. the regulatory commission which is the most important climate agency you have ever heard of is responsible for all of the rules around our electric grid. where are we going to build a wire, who is going to pay for those. how do we decide if a bunch of people want to connect and how do we allocate the cost. because so much of what we need to decarbonize is building a whole new system and then we want to electrify a lot of roads that are not there. we want to make sure that every gas station has a charger, and

that factories that are currently using low-grade heat run their process gains electricity. we will need a lot more wires to get from new locations of generation to new locations of load. the federal regulatory commission is responsible for doing that but it is about to be deadlocked 2-2 because the senate has moved too slowly to reconfirm the chairman and that is going to freeze a lot of the processes where the things that we desperately need to make sure that people can have what they want, cheap and reliable energy, will be frozen. so i took the opportunity to rap with fergie and then to sing along with rhianna. we called for a frc. host: i cannot let you bring it up without playing that moment.

it is c-span, so here's 30 seconds of you yesterday. [video clip] >> a little help. it is my duty to remind the legislative branch of our desperate need to frc, frc, frc,frc. climate changes urgent. this is no time to have us lurking. to be blunt, mr. chair, i do not like it. and i have dealt with it the nicest but this delay is not righteous and now we are in a crisis. [end video clip] host: he joins us on the washington journal and we have plenty of callers for you. guest: every time i hear that clip i am reminded every -- i am reminded that i need an autotune. host: we do not have that for you. deborah in ohio. republican. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i do not know where to start and i am a retired scientist.

for the last 15 years i have enjoyed studying -- studying the climate and reading about it but we also have a nasa engineer and my family. my concern is global warming is real, we are 170 years past the ending of the last little ice age. the seas dropped but prior to that in the medieval warming period they rose 1.6 meters and it all has to do with a lot of science, volcanic activity and etc.. it is real. but what we are not addressing that i think we have our priorities next up. for instance, the grid. if what happened today that happened in september 1859 when we had a solar flare, the only thing we have in the united states back then was the telegraph wires and they sparked.

my concern is that we are not looking at the telescope that nasa runs in hawaii. i do not hear anyone talking about of -- all of the signs that i have been reading or this nasa engineer in my family that we discussed. you will make a lot of money on all of this electric, but the reality is that i am not sure you have priorities straight or unintended consequences. host: let me let you respond. guest: sure. the last time that -- let us stay purely with the science because i do not want to be alarmist but the numbers are frightening. half of all the co2 we have ever immediate -- emitted has been since 1995. we are in untethered territory and there have been fluctuations in temperature and co2 historically but if you look at the ice core data, the most recent run-up is the first time

that the co2 has increased before the temperature. historically the fluctuations you have the earth wobble and the planet aspirates a little bit faster. we can see in the signature that the current heating is because of the co2 and when we look at the ice cores that it has a signature that plants tend to absorb certain isotopes. so we see specifically this is co2 associated with combustion of fossil fuels. the last time they were this high sea levels were six times higher. noaa and nasa agree that we will see you two feet of sea level rise by 2050. yes there were rises before, but we did not have huge populations living in miami beach or the carolina shores or in lower manhattan so we will have a huge displacement a population within the time span of a mortgage currently purchased so we have

to address that. the good news about this and this is some of the tension that has made the information a little bit complicated. the united states is vastly less energy-efficient. i mean turning energy into dollars. switzerland generates three times as many dollars in energy. u.k. generates twice as much meaning that if we just got up to the level of our energy partners with technology is proven to work notwithstanding solar flares and everything else we could be twice as rich as current energy use or if you prefer to use half much -- half as much energy. there is no reason not to do that but we have to deal with the fact that many communities that deal with fossil fuel extraction giving everyone access to cheaper energy is going to hurt them so we have to transition that, but we cannot put our head in the sand and

assume that all of this dislocation, the 1200 year droughts and the wildfires and the flooding around the northeastern seaboard that we should ignore this and pond it to future people -- punt it to future people. host: st. paul, minnesota. bobby, independent. caller: good morning. on the climate -- i am not a climate denier at all i believe in it. but where i have a problem and you went through a litany of things that are being done and can be done in the future. what i always kind of question is that al gore said we would be underwater and -- in manhattan at miami 20 years ago. aoc, and i know you take it with a grain of salt, we will not be around for the next 10 years. i think there is overreaction. here is my point. you know the bill with over $300

billion going to climate change? i just wonder what is our fair share? the bernie sanders of the world, the republicans will always say it is not enough. the democrats will say -- the republicans will say it is too much and the democrats not enough, so is it $500 billion, $700 billion, one trillion, $2 trillion? will there be a dome because we are spending more? host: we will take the question. guest: i do not think the way we measure success is how much money we spend and we would measure it on how it makes a difference. we know that co2 levels are higher and that the west is in a 1200 year drought. we know that hurricane andrew hit florida and it was a big

deal that we had a billion-dollar weather event. we have 35 of them last year. on any object of measure people are really -- any objective measure, people are vastly more exposed to climate change and we are seeing the pain. the colorado river does not make it to the ocean anymore within our lifetime. there is not as much no pack. these are real changes. the important thing is that is is a win-win. setting aside whether the government or the private sector spends money, ask yourself whether anyone who owns an electric vehicle is concerned about the rising price of gasoline? or anyone who has a solar panel goes to bed at night wondering if they should run their powerplant next day because maybe the price of electricity is not high enough to justify a? or anyone who has a well insulated home is worried about the rising price of natural gas? we know that if you have access

to heat and light and warmth and transportation and you do not have to pay for energy you have more money in your pocket. whether you get that because you are independently wealthy enough to buy a solar panel, or well insulated home or because the state government, the federal government and municipal government provides resources to do that, at the end the of the day you have more money in the pocket and the economy is growing and this is not a trade-off, it is a matter of how do we make sure that we get people cheaper and more reliable energy that happens to reduce our risk of climate change. there should be no tension. but i think we have framed a win-win paw -- problem as a win-lose problem and i am grateful to have the opportunity to try and get people to think about the challenges created by win-win but not get tied up in artificial losses and trade-offs. host: mark stone to what you

brought up. "i do not see why we cannot do both, we cannot be oil and gas self-sufficient while we transition to other energy. but where are most of the solar panels and batteries made? " guest: you are right about both but it is important to understand that capital markets are already running away from oil and gas. in the last five years we have become a net exporter of oil and gas. the reason why the oil and gas industry is exporting is because prices are higher in europe and they would like to sell over there. as we have had the huge spike in oil and gas prices recently you have not seen an increase in production by u.s. producers? why would it make sense with -- for someone to have a product not produce more but it is because capital markets are not willing to rest in them.

companies like first solar are trading at an earnings ratio of 100 times price earnings. exxon is training at the eight. that is the market saying i do not trust you. we are seeing the private sector is moving that way. to the questions of while -- of where it is made it is made all over the world. the sun lands where it lands. the trade-off is not where is the solar -- where this the solar panel manufactured but where is the sun versus the oil or the wind or the water versus the oil. do you know what else is manufactured, casting first steam turbine. you cannot buy that. the catalytic converters depend on rare earth metals mined all over the world. so yes, the physical assets to

make batteries and solar panels and wind turbines and steam boilers and nuclear reactors, all of those are in global supply chains. we need to be thoughtful about how we source those materials. but the fuel use to run these plants by definition is locally harvested fuel if it is renewable. if it is fossil fueled by definition it is a global commodity if it is priced on whatever crazy things let a mere putin is doing the day before. host: jim from florida. you are next. caller: yes. you have been talking a lot about money. but, are we talking about humanity, human gains. we have only been on the planet earth for how many years? humans? 200,000 years. guest: anatomically. caller: the earth is 4.5 billion years long -- 4.5 billion years

old. are we talking about human beings or the planet earth? we will be gone shortly. guest: i would not want to be quite so much of a fatalist. i like to pretend that we are not going to be gone shortly. you are right that over the course of the earth's history there were dinosaurs and then there were not. there were various fluctuations and if you are purely thinking from an ecology perspective the trajectory of every species tends to follow this, if the rabbit population booms the foxes start eating and then they collapse. the species is on the upward trajectory and we have reached the point where we have these godlike powers and we have actually changed the planet and we have massively transformed almost everything about the world that we live on and we have done it in unsustainable ways for us as a species. if we all died there would still

be species around. but with great power comes great responsibility not only for all the other species but for our kids and grandkids. if we have the ability to do that in a way that is economically beneficial, why wouldn't we? that is a trade-off. why not push to that point. i agree that if this was a zero-sum there are hard conversations to have. but as long as it is a win-win, let us give our species a little more breathing room and some smug human being will innovate something to turn the corner. until then the human beings have to live. host: i want to talk about the innovation of nuclear fusion. it was yesterday at the lawrence livermore national laboratory that energy secretary jennifer granholm announced that the facility made a breakthrough in nuclear fusion. [video clip] >> today we are here to talk about fusion, combining two

particles into one. last week, at the lawrence livermore national laboratory, scientists at the natural ignitions facility achieved fusion ignition. that is creating more energy from fusion reactions than the energy used to start the process. it is the first time it has ever been done in a laboratory. anywhere, in the world. simply put, this is one of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century. or as the president might say -- [laughter] [applause] [applause]-- i do think he probably did say

this is a bfd. [end video clip] host: why is that a big deal? guest: it is amazing. it is one of those things, getting as someone who got my start doing basic science, you spend forever as a scientist finding things that are theoretically possible and wondering why you cannot make it possible in a lab and then all of a sudden you get moments where we have actually made possible what we thought was theoretical for a long time. the idea fusion is you can take little hydrogen atoms and bang them together to create helium and other atoms that releases energy. this is what happens on the inside of the sun. it is a little hard to create a process on the surface of the earth or in a little lab and when i say little i think this facility is about the size of eight football fields. so it is scaled down a little bit, but in a place a lot smaller than the sun to create

temperatures and pressures and conditions so you can take the most ubiquitous element in the universe and use that as a nearly infinite fuel to provide more energy than you had to put in to compress it in the first place. the laws of vision experiment -- a lot of fusion experiments show that you could release energy but we never had proof that the energy to compress was less than the amount that came out. we are decades away from being something that is scalable and market ready but we have shown that it is possible and it is remarkable. the earlier question this is the kind of thing that i want ones around to innovate. if we can do that then all of a sudden we have a zero carbon, virtually infinite source of baseload energy that has yes it will take a lot of capital. but very little marginal operating costs.

so it is fascinating and it will be an interesting space to watch and it is the amazing power of science and what the u.s. is capable of doing when we commit ourselves to these problems. host: time for one more call. jack, kentucky. republican line. thank you for waiting. caller: yes, thanks you for having me on. i was going to call, i was a coal miner and i am retired. i just wanted to ask the congressman, most of the coal, what little bit left that we have now in kentucky is being shipped to china, the biggest part of it. like they buy it in china and india, is that not going to the atmosphere? it was still creating the same problem if we are burning it over here. the thing is they have taken away so many jobs that all of

the people who support the minds, all the people who build the motors in the truck drivers and everything. so to me it is a money thing that the democrats have come up with because i worked for a guy, a ceo of murray energy. he could explain it all in a way that you can understand. it is nothing but money. i live in a rural area, probably two hours from louisville. but you cannot -- there is -- i would just like to ask him that. guest: thank you jess. -- jeff. and i would ask you to think about the history. i used to work in the power industry and i bought a lot of coal back in the day. and i spent a lot of time with cool suppliers including your former employer. look at what has happened to employment in the coal sector

over the last 30 years. like when no more mining came out we decimated the employment became more productive because that is how we kept the price down and the benefit accrued to the coal mine owners that it laid out a lot of people and left them behind. we have seen over the last three years coal going from 50% of the u.s. electric red to less than 20% of the electric grid not because of policies that the federal governments have passed because it was not as cheaper and as they came off-line the power sector was saying it is cheaper to can bill -- to build a combined cycle turbine. i spend less money so let us run those. if you have the money to build a wind turbine connected to the grid that is cheaper stale. and so as markets have chosen not to build new coal plants the

price of power has come down because we have built cheaper alternatives but it has left behind those immunities like you live in. i think a part of our central challenge that we have to deal with and this should not be a republican or democratic split. if we are lowering the price of energy that is essentially a wealth transfer away from communities like yours that produce raw energy to communities like mine that are manufacturing intensive and need energy to make stuff and they would need cheaper energy. our challenge is to recognize that tension and that if we are giving americans cheaper energy we are creating more wealth and we will attract manufacturing back to the united states and create more jobs and we are seeing that. we are seeing the electric vehicle manufacturers building in the u.s. and chargers being built up around. how do we make sure that that

economic gain also flows through to those communities like yours where once the mines shut down in the employment is not there, all of those ancillary businesses go away. we have done a lot of that in the inflation reduction act in this conversation about environmental justice which gets heard about looking out for communities on the front end of pollution which is a part of it. the other part is looking out for folks in communities like yours to make sure that you can participate. in the same way as when the coal industry converted, they did not look out for the labor. we want to make sure that we are looking out for those communities and that is the collective challenge going forward. host: congressman sean casten, member of the select committee on the crimo -- on the climate crisis. their final report is out today.

i appreciate and hope you can join us in the 108 teams congress. -- 118th congress. stella head, a conversation with ohio republican david joyce where we discussed the upcoming government funding headline. and later, it is the center for strategic and international studies africa director program mvemba phezo dizolele who will join us to preview the u.s.-african leaders summit taking place in washington. stick around, it is open forum next and we want to hear your phone calls on any topic that you want to talk about, political or policy wise. republicans at 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. we will get your calls after the break. ♪

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r rules and tips visit studentcam.org. >> washington journal continues. host: it is time for open forum where we let you lead the discussion. it is any state, political or public policy issue. phone lines, republicans, 202-748-8001. . democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. we will start with al from new mexico. caller: good morning. host: what is on your mind? caller: i have been kind of worried about the congress not working together like they are supposed to.

it seems to me that there is a perfect time right now to do so, and they are not gathering forces like they should at this point. host: why is now a perfect time for that? caller: well, it is kind of -- there is no big majority right now, working together is something that is somewhat necessary when you do not have a whole lot of one side having all of the power, let us say it that way. and it is a perfect time, and yet there is some time left in the lame-duck. host: very close majorities in the house and senate with all of the ballots counted at this point. the new york times today with the final results of 2022

midterm election. the districts all around this country and all of these states with the last house race called, colorado district three, won by a republican with a 536 vote margin. the shape of the 108 congress is set. in january house republicans will have a nine seat edge over democrats and a far smaller margin than expected. they won 222 districts and only four beyond the 218 needed in control. a democrat did flip the pennsylvania senate seat having a party a gain of one until senator kyrsten sinema of arizona announced that she was leaving to become an independent. and a breakdown around the country of all of the districts and races. you can also look at individual cities and where democratic and republican districts fell in

those small boxes. it is a breakout on the bottom of the page of the individual cities. including neapolis, st. paul, chicago area fully blue. you can see atlanta is a deep blue downtown area. the republican districts, and miami. the baltimore/washington, d.c. area on that map with that graphic representation of the 2022 election. justin, huntsville, alabama. you are next. caller: you had a caller that said you needed to talk to more young people. i am 37 and i am an elder millennial. what would you like to ask me. i was inspired to call him by the collar. host: how do you feel about the state of the country? caller: ok. i am a twitch streamer and we are alive right now and we were watching c-span and i said i

would call in. and we are far more to the left than what the mainstream of the democrat party is, that is for sure. so we see the neoliberal order as the problem. reaganomics, baby boomers and their tax cuts and trickle down. it is the same policy from biden so we are really just content with the current administration and also republicans are scary. host: what is a trait screen -- twitch wiener -- streamer? caller: twitch is a live video platform, it is where the millenials and gen zers are getting their news. i do a new show nightly and we play c-span clips all the time. instead of having to do a five to six minute segment like you would get on a cnn or msnbc we

can sit down and watch whole clips of committee hearings. and really delve into topics. host: how do you figure out what to cover or to present for the folks who watch your streaming? caller: that is a good question. last night i let all -- i led off with the fusion breakthrough because i felt like that was an important topic to cover and then we had desantis talking about in paneling a grand jury to investigate vaccines and from there we kind of covered more lighthearted stuff. we had a talk about how the right is getting better comedy and is making a left scared and that sort of thing. host: why did you pick that order, fusion first and to santa second, why not the other way around? caller: i did radio news for years and years, so if it leads it leads is embedded in me and

the biggest story of the day to me was the diffusion breakthrough and i enjoyed your conversation with the congressman just now. host: how long did you do radio? caller: probably about eight or nine years and then i went back to school and did some radio there. and when i came out i was a production tech for a tv station. host: what will you talk about tonight? caller: i do not know i have not thought about it yet. i do things two hours before the stream. host: good luck to you. thank you for calling in. justin in huntsville, alabama, what was the name of the show if you are still there? caller: the troll patrol live. host: charles, north carolina. democrat. caller: good morning, how are you doing? first time caller and i wanted to express that i have been listening to you all for the

last couple of years and it is very interesting. what concerns me is that every time a republican calls in it is all about hatred towards the democrats. but we could be strong if we all came together and quit depending on trump. thank you. host: speaking of donald trump, a story on the front page of " usa today," a new poll out by " usa today" and suffolk university. "republican support for donald trump's president bid has cratered as the former president is beleaguered by midterm losses and courtroom setbacks. by a 2-1 margin they say that they want trump's policy but a different standard better to carry them. 31% want the former president to

run but 61% once a different nominee with the same policies. they do have a name in mind. two thirds of republicans and those are inclined to vote republican want ron desantis to run. 56% to set -- 56% to 33%. this is ted and raymond, new hampshire. independent. this is our open forum. caller: yes, my concern is foreign countries owning businesses in this country. like here recently we had a neighborhood problem where a gentleman was shipping nuclear pieces to russia, this is a major thing. i think we do not need another pearl harbor or 9/11.

these are like major parts for supersonic nukes. people have to be aware in their neighborhood, if somebody is getting a lot of packages and different things are showing up that look on, and companies that have influence with countries that are not really favorable to the united states, we have to get a handle on this. host: william in union, west virginia. good morning. republican. caller: thank you for having me on. i am just concerned about the border really more than anything. the economy second. i have a very simple solution for the border crisis, just like the residence acts that move the capital to washington, d.c.,

congress should write a bill that moves the capital to el paso and then when the current administration holds events on the south lawn they would be disgraced by their blind eyes and forced to get down to the root causes. host: a story on the border and a scene from capitol hill yesterday to go along with it. the gop expected to pursue impeachment against secretary may organize. -- the homeland security secretary. articles of impeachment has been introduced and they said that they must act to begin the process of removing him as secretary from his post. he was joined by more than a dozen republican colleagues to vocalize that caller -- that desire to oust mayokas.

julie in texas, democrat. good morning. caller: i am calling about the border issue as well. i live in texas. and i voted for biden. but what -- would anyone ask him about what we are doing on the border he says and other pendants say that he has put a plan together, but we do not hear about it. and aren't states at all responsible for managing the border? do they receive government funding to manage the border? or is that purely a federal issue and that is kind of my question and thoughts. host: we will do more segments on the border in the future and we will certainly get to some of those questions that you asked. matt in damascus, maryland. republican. good morning. caller: i just have a few things.

i cannot believe trump is running again, republican or not he has as polarizing as hillary clinton and it is not good to have a leader who everyone hates. twitter is great now, and the arizona election whether or not it was rigged, they had so many issues i do not believe it was adequately solved. like address the problems do not just steamroll people who have issues. how many people did not get to vote because the machines were not working? and then a lot of issues if we decentralize i think it would be solved. people -- the supreme court should not be telling people if they can or cannot take birth control. and the border crisis, we can solve that by getting rid of anchor babies. people are coming here for a better life and if you say you have a kid here from another country it does not count, you have to be a citizen first and that solves it.

but decentralization is big and thank you for letting me on. host: bobby in pontiac, mississippi. morning. caller: good morning. i am calling about this climate change because they have it all backwards. climate change is actually caused by infrastructure not carbon emissions. and -- host: anything else you want to add. caller: if you look at the solar panel in the infrastructure -- are you there? host: yes. caller: the solar panel and infrastructure draw energy from the sun. one charges a battery and the other becomes a man-made heater. now the battery is shut off at night but the infrastructure has to run all night long because i

am an outside fisherman. and i just do not get it, why are they pushing on carbon emissions when it is the infrastructure causing the problem? host: anna in texas. the line for democrats. caller: i want to say something about the solar panels. desoto texas has 56,000 people. they produce solar panels here in desoto. the wind turbines from texas up to kansas, they are nothing but wind turbines going. and then the other thing is the border. john, i am 74 years old. people have been talking about this border since i was a little girl, 74. a lady called from texas and was asking are we responsible as a state? we are.

once upon a time they took care of the border and they had work visas and people could work because there were jobs that black people used to do but they do not do them anymore. we have texdot. they work at night so the companies do not want them to see that there are a lot of hispanics and a lot of people on the borders working on txdot. we also pay roads and highways ourselves when we have to get our tags. so greg abbott is responsible for taxes. he took $250 million to work on that border and nothing. the former president trump took $1 billion to work on that border, nothing. give these people work visas like you used to.

what they used to do, the people, they would get at the post office and get money and send it home to their families. it is the same thing. they have a lot of illegals and i do not like saying that, they have a lot of people on the border working on these highways at night. thank you so much and have a merry christmas. host: staying in texas, pittsburgh, texas, jerry, a republican. good morning, sir. caller: thank you for having me on. since it is open for him, i am 87 and i have been watching and listening to c-span since someone else was in your place, and in 2014 i was watching c-span and i saw after it was turned over for the weather, it

was the 95th convention in chicago, and i added five and 14 to come up with 19 and there were a lot of congress conventions, the 31st and the 100th congress convention but they hardly make the news. i do not know why that is. i had a friend that was able to download the 2014 congress convention and you can download that from the website at span from the archives -- at c-span and from the archives and it is all they are, all two hours of it. host: the republican party national convention -- june 14 2014 available in the archives at c-span.org. why do you think people should watch that? caller: they should know what is happening in america.

we have a marxist government in washington. you see, this has been going on for 100 years. china did not celebrate 100 years of communism until 2021. we are two years ahead of them. host: kevin. carlsbad, new mexico. good morning. caller: good morning. my name is kevin and i called in because i want -- i have a question. how can somebody grant you permission to have a rally on the same day of the transition of power? can they do something to prevent that from happening again? because the same day that we are supposed to be transferring power you throw a rally? i had never heard that before.

gave them permission to have that on that day? host: a question for the park service or department of interior. but that is something that we can look into or have a segment on down the road. caller: i would like to know who gave that permission for trump to have a rally on the same day of the transfer of power? host: that is kevin in the land of enchantment. to texas, the lone star state. raymond is in dallas. caller: good morning. i was -- about the border. every president, the border patrol has always been border patrol. but every president has always added 2000 or 1800 all the way from george w. bush and president obama and trump, every

-- they always put 2000 or 1800 and that border should have so many patrol agents as well as texas having its own patrol, that is a lot of people up and down. about a month ago the lady was saying how easy and how in el paso that she was walking and saying that i see this and that. i do not see none of that happening. and the landowners around the rio grande they are not going to let no wall come across their property where their cows cannot drink out of the river. before i let you go, every time somebody says something about how well it is and they do not see this and that, there are political operatives in the central american places that are announcing that you can go to the border, they are letting you

in. no matter what president biden says or what vice president harris says this will not happen. there are political operatives saying that this is the time to go. host: brian, washington. independent. you are next. caller: good morning. a couple of things. we have a former wsu football coach that passed away and he has been in the news and as the headline this morning. host: an obituary in "the new york times" as well. caller: they should know the whole story that he quit washington state mississippi for a couple million more dollars but the crazy thing before he did that he brought donald trump to spokane, washington for the 2016 campaign and introduced trump and put them on the podium. and so i just have to wonder was mike an anti-vaccer like the

coach that replaced him. he quit his position as a highest-paid washington state employee over his anti-vaccination stance. i cannot help but wonder was mike watching fox news and getting the same propaganda responsible for killing more law enforcement officers land covid. we have the numbers that law enforcement was dropping to covid faster than it was criminals assaulting law enforcement officers. host: we got your point. our last caller in this open forum. steak around, more to talk about. we will be joined by another member of congress, david joyce, republican from ohio. we will talk about his priorities for the 118 congress and later the cis -- csis african programmer, mvemba phezo

dizolele will join us to preview the u.s.-african leaders summit. >> american history tv, saturdays on c-span 2, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. at 8:00 p.m. eastern, on “lectures in history” california state university fuellerton professor teaches a class about evangelical night life and christian nightclubs in 1970s california. at 10:15 p.m. is, a reenactment of 1775 at its original location. were patrick henry spoke his famous words, give me liberty or give me death. exploring the american story, saturdays on c-span 2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at org/history.

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7:00 a.m. eastern., important congressional hearings, and other public affairs events throughout the day. weekdays at 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. eastern catch “washington today” for a fast paced report on the top stories of the day. listen to c-span anytime. tell your smart speaker, “play c-span radio.” c-span powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: ohio republican david joyce join us now. he has set to start his sixth term in the 118th congress. he will also serve as chair of the republican government group in the next congress. what is that group? guest: thank you for having me. the government group is made up of six members who come from diverse districts, and what we do is meet for lunch we come in

monday and we discuss the agenda for the week and conference and bills that will be going to the floor and get insights from various members as to how they viewed the bill and what they think is good or bad about that. it is a great give-and-take between the members. after that we move on to member driven initiatives, bills our members might be putting forth and let each member give a reason why they think this is an important bill to sign on and gather 49 other supporters on the bill. and continue to try to move those things forward. we are the people who are working to get things done. we are here to make a difference. host: you set a meeting on tuesday, is this related to the old tuesday group viewers might go about? guest: correct.

i was laying out before, people would laugh at us because here we were coming on tuesday and meeting wednesday. it was one of the reasons we thought it was important to change the name and the fact we thought the republican governance group helps reflect what we are there to do to provide a solid base stable government. host: how do we do that in the 118th congress? guest: we need to get back to having regular order and having the committee's jurisdiction host the bills and host the hearings in which is that of members chattering about, bring in experts. during the age, i come from northeastern ohio, we have tremendous hospital facilities. all the ceos had great ideas and no one asked them for their input on how to keep the cost of care down or what it is to try

to manage care for the populations. we have to start getting back to that. defining the problem and then laying out solutions, bring in experts to give their input on the potential solutions and voting on it in the committee's. allow the members to have an open mma problems -- process. and then vote on it and send it to the floor and continue that same commitment process on the floor. that's going to be up to the rules committee, to determine that but then have the same up or down vote and pass it through the house with the sufficient majority that goes on to the senate and hopefully, we take it up by the senate by showing we have done the heavy lifting and the hard work that is necessary to produce bills that have meaning. host: you're a member of the appropriation committee. there is some issue with the

appropriation process because here we are at with a potential government shutdown. it seems like there'll be a continuing resolution to buy more time ideal to come together. what is the solution in the 118th congress, house controlled by the republicans, senate by the democrats, how do we get from getting from another shutdown again in 2023? guest: the process i described also has play out in the

appropriation process. we need the budget committee -- if we can do that, we can rein in spending and get a lot of the things we need address as far as policy is concerned and that are part of the process. host: people in washington think

compromise is a bad word? guest: i do not know anybody who gets a hundred percent of what they want except my wife, god bless her. that is one of those things where in all of life is a negotiation. everything you do, there is give-and-take but you have to be realistic about what the give-and-take is. people have principles and convictions. if we could sit down and have these discussions and you put on the table those things we can agree on, it is easier to start working on the things you disagree on instead of just trying to force one person's agenda or website agenda got other party strode. host: what do you think the biggest impediment to compromise in the 118th congress congress -- within the republican party or the democratic party? guest: when you have a slim majority, i do think everybody

thinks they have the opportunity to solve things because they do not like it. it is not team play. if a quarterback calls the play, the other 11 have to execute that play in order to make it work. we can disagree but we should work towards getting to accomplish and realize we're working towards incremental goals, not an all or nothing think. it is not good for our country, it is not good for america. businesses set out six months to five year budgets, 10 year budgets and they are still working towards the plan they put together on how they're going to grow. we cannot come in and take over the majority hh everything democrats did they knock us out and they change everything again. we need to be more consistent in our planning and agree with what the tax codes she looked like,

are energy policies should look like. we need to discussions on the extent of the theater we have had -- instead of the theater we have had. host: the headline from the washington post with the profile piece on congressman david joyce, everybody is a dalmatian gop moderate -- joe manchin, gop moderate looks ahead to a divided house. do you like being called moderate? guest: i think we are all conservative. some of us wants to get things done another want to be on tv shows. if you're here to make a point or difference, you have to analyze why you are here. everybody gets elected from the district. it is up from the district to send them back but i have found when you go back and talk to people and talk to the issues with them, people may be angry initially because unfortunately, the well has been poisoned before i can get home but once

you walk through it -- i did not hear about that. i think we have a duty after we get through here to go back home and educate our citizens as to what it is we are doing and why. host: congressman joyce on this program to talk with you, take your phone calls. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. will begin on the line for independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i do not know if i am off-topic, but are we talking about the african summit we have in d.c.? host: we are going to do an excitement -- an entire segment on that but is there a question you have for carcass me joyce -- congressman joyce? caller: i would like to ask the

congress meant he thinks about the summit because i'm an african immigrant, i immigrated from cameroon and we have a president and i do remember president obama when they're in the canadian parliament, they said africa needed strong institution and not -- president biden giving a meeting that silence is complicity and we cannot be complicit by have not understood why america has been so silent in the face of so many dictators like vladimir putin. he has been denounced but one of the worst dictators of cameroon, he has embezzled the country.

host: congressman on the summit that is taken place in d.c.? guest: i was trying to move across town last night and everybody realize we're going to have to walk home because of the security presence. i'm a cochair of international conservation caucus and we focus heavily on africa and the work that needs to be done. i understand and appreciate what you are saying and we need to focus on trying to bring stability to the region and allow them to have governments in which people are treated the same way are treated here in the same way you came here. that is something that has bipartisan support in trying to fix the problems of africa. host: tom in north carolina on the life republicans. caller: good morning.

i was wondering if donald trump is forced to goes independent, would you support him? guest: no. i look forward to supporting the republican nominee but again it is in 2024, i think that is for the individuals in every state to make the selections and look forward to the diverse field of candidates republicans will put out in 2024. host: do you have a preference or somebody hopes run? guest: a lot of my classmates, ron desantis, tom cotton, mike pompeo, i've never had the opportunity to meet nikki haley, but there is a lot of good names be enfolded about and as a little way down the road, we are focused on simply our 118th congress and getting to work here. host: in chicago, line for democrats. caller: good morning.

i am in my 50's. you guys, republican party, you go on the tax breaks for the wealthiest people in the country and then you say, it is not paid for and then you say, we are not fiscally responsible or the democrats is not fiscally responsible. let's tell the truth about this thing. you guys have been voting on tax rates for the wealthiest -- breaks for the wealthiest in the country as far back as i can remember, ronald reagan with trickle-down economics. it does not work. corporations are companies and

companies are there just to make money. host: congressman. guest: that is the object of corporations is to make money and return the money in for my dividends are payouts to the shareholders and keep the price of their stock and the market open which a lot of retirement funds invest in. if you look back to when president reagan over from president carter, inflation rates, the cost of mortgages, were hired and they were now and it was the heavy lifting during the reagan administration that carried on to the bush administration that president clinton inherited and wrote to the 90's -- continue to write to the 1990's. until september 11, there was a lot of money was spent on the war on terror, the economy has been moving on at a brisk pace. the policies under president trope were fantastic and cap the

country going. the only problem we had was people cannot find workers. the stock market was up, average wages were up across the border. i think it was important to remember those tax cuts put more people -- money in more people's pockets. it continues to spur growth. when you get the money away without having incentives to work, you do reckless spending taken place over the last few years, you have to think we were experiencing right now, inflation. cost of eggs 50% more than they were two years ago. cpi at 7.1%. it is a record high for the last 20 years/ i think it is something and i am not an economist, but when you look at the whole of tax cuts, america is better off if we have a less regulation and more money

in taxpayer pockets because they have better ideas than any bureaucrats here in washington dc. host: rick in north carolina, independent. caller: good morning. it is refreshing from the republican party and as an independent i can vote for either site depending on the candidate. i have three points. this spending bill will be unnecessary if we can get the budget passed family in the future. i cannot remember the last time a budget was pass. .2 is the debt selling, it is easier to pass that. it is a chance for people to blame the other side, whoever ever -- is in charge to is to be the spender and other party complaints.

next, from being a cpa here in north carolina is, i hate to hear the bashing of the 87 thousand new agents come to the irs. this funding was much needed, and as a cpa, i appreciate having somebody to call. less than 10% of the cause get answered and when you get somebody, is not very quality conversation. i appreciate the 87,000 new agents and i wish there republicans would stop saying they are going to audit the little guy because it is untrue. my clients appreciate the irs new agents. we will be able to get answers when we get these notices that come out. host: you bring up several things. congressman, budget, debt selling, irs ages? guest: i agree with you on the budget.

the debt selling i understand the issue. i do believe there is room to move to give concessions if we going to increase, what are we going to do to bring some of the entitlement because we look at spending, when i first got here a decade ago and this was high then, it was 65% mandatory, we now flip that the 76% mandatory and 24% discretionary and over the last decade but republicans were doing this, we managed to keep the discretionary spending in check. we're going level down in some instances. we have to do something with the mandatory debt that is being driven. i hear what you are saying about the i -- irs agents. when i go through my weekly wrap with the district office, 95% of the complaints about the irs is the slow response times.

they is going back 2019 or 22 any -- 2020. it is tough to do 22 taxes. another problem you have and we tried to push the irs to get an automated system that will work more closely with the employers because the money is being withheld from most of the paychecks and a vast amount of taxpayers in the country have the money withheld, so the documentation of that is there and the processing should be quick. with a one page and i know my friends, the get out so one page document and allow the taxpayers to do their own taxes, will be able to process the returns in a timely fashion. host: 10 minutes left with

republican david choice. congressman this morning today is the 10 year anniversary of the sandy hook elementary school shooting. there's a column in the new york times, we can be hopeful about gun safety. i wonder your thoughts on where we are today and years after the shooting. guest: one of the reasons i am here is because on february 27, 2012, the high school right down the street from my office robs i was the prosecutor for 25 years -- where i was the prosecutor for 25 years, a person came in the school and shot three people. i had not been opposed to job as a prosecutor since 1992, i came home that night late, i was about the window and i said i have to go. i cannot do this anymore, it is heartbreaking. my kids were in another high school and asking about their friends and their friends who

were in leadership with and the things they had done together with them. yet cops and deputies -- you had cops and deputies who had kids in the school who are giving their jobs done securing the facility and make sure we shot -- got the person. it has made me and continue to fight for the mental health issues that are out there. when people talk about drunken drivers and they kill people, it is not necessarily the gun, it is the mental health issues and we have to do something to get those mental health records in the background checks because the background checks are the information. someone who has a serious illness, where they may be saying things that they start to act out on those things, the simple delay for the gun

retailer to be able to say, i have 72 hours, after 72 hours, you continue on the search and we will get back to you. i think those things give people wiggle room and allows for a cooling off period in case people have a sense of it in those hours and allows for mental health records and gun store owner can get local authorities involved with several months to come in there and procure a weapon they should not have. i am willing to have the discussion and i have offered when sandy hook occurred then vice president biden offered to put together a task force. i have to a lot of research to get ready for that trial and realize the research get back to columbine. some of the things we're doing now in high schools like to go in, everything is car permits

allies -- compartmentalize. where is active shooter in the high school? slowly but surely we have done some things and keep moving forward, hopefully, this would never occur again but in this day in age and so we find a cure for mental illness, where going to see this continue to play out. host: andy in kentucky, republican. caller: good morning. i would like to talk to mr. joyce, with the gun troubles we are having, i am not saying we do not have mental issues out there, but to me i think the majority of the problem is -- we take -- a sin problem and it is the same problem we have. we take the bibles out of school.

they are voting for the same-sex marriage, it is a moral issue. we love the sinner but we do not condone the sin. we need to get back to the lord. we need to get back to jesus christ, he is the expert for america. during this midterm election, if you go like people wanted it to and then they blame a person, they should not blame him because it is not his fault, it is the christian because we did not stand up like we should and say enough is enough. guest: andy makes a good point, i think religion provides stable background for people to appreciate their fellow man and humanity and continues to nonsense of killing people breaks my heart to see, but i

would go a step further and i think it is the entertainment industry. i think the fact that kids, one thing i notice is sitting across from this young kid prior to going to trial, having a conversation with him, he was desensitized to what he did. he had no idea, it is not like the games the kids play where they're going to come back. this was forever. these kids were is not coming back. i think the mindnumbing games they play, and this is a ties is the case to the actions they are taking -- desensitize the kids to the actions they are taking. to get a conceal carry permit, you have to go through training. if you can pull out a weapon and you can shoot somebody and you probably have to kill them because it is the training you're going to get, if you have the ability to get -- do that live with yourself, most people

will take a long pause and i just want the weapon but at the end of the day you draw their weapon and someone draw snares, they are going to shoot. you have to be able to think about that and think through that. that is when you get back to religion. as a catholic i was brought up under the commandments of thou shall not kill, having some stability in the background, religion gives them the ability to fall back on and i agree with you. host: in florida, lying for democrats. -- line for democrats. caller: i was wondering about the environment and why we are not using a plastic, the main problem is how much plastic we use. guest: i'm with you on that.

the one thing i have learned during the pandemic, having to take up the family's recyclables, a lot of our neighbors do it. they just think part was how little -- they just a part was how little people understand about what can be recycled. clear glass bottle you think it is fine, they do not recycle that. wine bottle? yes but not a mason jar. we are trying to get people to understand the importance of that and the one thing we have had from the pandemic is an uptick in the use of plastic because everything had to be individually packed and we had to use more plastic for individual servings during this time. we need to get back to that. as somebody who believes in solid product in which it can be used, things that are natural persons plastic as a great idea. host: last call, robert out of north carolina.

caller: good morning. congressman i would like to ask you about the qanon republicans , how do you feel like having that happen? how do you feel about overthrowing the government and our ex-president lying all the time? are you worried about that, are you investigating your own people? guest: no, i hear you are saying. as a former prosecutor, as an american citizen, the constitution is the law of the land. no one is above it. i voted for the first january 6 commission which is going to be bipartisan in order to have an effective look at what happened. i think there is a lot of failures that day and certainly,

not just in what the president did at the time, but also the security that was in place. i do on january 5 there is going to be issues. i told my staff not to come in that day. you knew this had all the makings of being something poisonous. as for qanon, i do not understand what they do. i like to deal in facts. i'm a fact-based problem solver. i hear to the constitution. it gives us the ability to assemble, speak freely, as i used to say as a prosecutor, the right to make jack as of yourself. the important part of it is, the constitution is what allows us all to be here in the greatest country in the world and estimate for cameron said, he left a dictatorship to come here -- as a gentleman from cameroon said, he left a dictatorship to come here to america.

host: republicans joyce, we hope you will come back and join us sometimes during my team -- 118 congress. guest: thank you. host: up next, we are joined by csi as program director, mvemba phezo dizolele, he joins us for the u.s. african leaders summit taking place in washington this week. stick around, we will be right back. book tv every sunday features latest authors. she shares her book about the well-known abolitionists and the

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>> "washington journal" continues. host: with us now in the u.s. african leaders summit taking place in washington, mvemba phezo dizolele is the african program director of center for strategic and international studies. explain to us why the second u.s. african leaders summit is taking place this year, after eight years of the first summit. guest: this is important because we live in a world that is multipolar and united states is at a disadvantage when it does not engage at the same level as the other powers do. africa is an important continent , it is one of the largest voting blocks of the united nations. we saw this during the vote of ukraine earlier this year. it matters. africa has the largest resources

we can think of, minerals,. africa is the youngest continent in the world today. the median age in africa is 19 years. the future of the world depends on what is happening in africa in the u.s. has decided it will join it again. host: the history of the first time in ny has taken eight years to get to the second? guest: that has to do with the way united states works when it comes africa, the has not been consistent -- u.s. has not been consistent. we do not have a u.s. africa policy like the way we have with nato or eu countries. african engagement from the united states is less so, depends on the political wind of who controls the white house.

president obama held the first summit in 2014 but at the time he visited africa, visited a couple times, cairo, ghana. when he held the first summit, there was tremendous momentum. then he himself did not hold the second summit in 2015 and either -- in 2060. -- 2016. then the years of president trump was the years of america first, africa was not a priority. it took eight years and it is not acceptable because eight years as equivalent to two presidential terms and that is lost time. host: president biden is set to address the summit today at 1:30 p.m. eastern from the water to center. what are you expecting him to say. guest: i expect the president to

reassure african leaders visiting that the u.s. is serious about engaging them, take in the quality and substance of relationship between u.s. and african countries to the next level, i expect the president to tell them he cares about the continent, he sees what the continent can present and he will engage accordingly. host: in the wsj today, biden's africa submit -- summit aims to reset ties. the competition with china and russia when it comes to africa. talk a little bit about the ties between china and african nations and between russian and african nations? guest: china has been engaged with africa since -- before the independent movement. china helped and the independent

movement we are fighting against colonial powers, china office did with them providing technical assistance, military training, various types of supports the movement needed. china was not rich at the time. china was able to send its experts to work a song -- alongside african countries as the countries became independent. they gave scholarship and a large spectrum of engagement. russia, similar. if you look at south africa, during the years of apartheid, the united states and the west stood on the wrong side of that development there. the u.s. for a long time and french supported the apartheid regime. the russians were on the others, they supported the africans, not only in south africa lay places in angola, even ethiopia.

both of the countries -- the relationship goes deep and long. now in today's time, china has become very rich so they invest in infrastructure, construction, and support their friends in africa. russia is similar, they sit on the security council. russia is engagement is internally, there's a lot of defense agreement with african countries and there is regular group, it is only in two places. it essential africa republic. as far as the competition, the united states is not competing

in africa in ways that this narrative will lead people to believe. the competition has been building -- between china and turkey. with the exception of djibouti, if you visit it, the chinese have a military base there, americans have a military base, and the french and the japanese. there is a japanese presence there. the have a strong presence of the turks. the u.s. has been timid. the u.s. invest in humanitarian, security, but when it comes to big economic investments, the u.s. is on the second tier, not investing much. we help with the summit, the president will signal and put the resources to support an increase of u.s. foreign direct meant.

host: our guest is mvemba phezo dizolele of the center for strategic and international studies. taking your calls on phone lines regionally. eastern/central timezones, 202-748-8000. mountain/pacific timezones, 202-748-8001. you talked about committing resources to african nations, from the wall street journal article previewing the summit, he set the point of the summit was to show african leaders the u.s. is a reliable partner. he said the u.s. will commit for the $5 billion to africa -- $55 billion to africa on key initiatives. why the initiatives and how does the amount compared to other

countries committing to africa? guest: it is an important commitment. we commend the tremendous work in gifting the u.s. to organize the summit. strictly the folks on the international community -- security council. it is an important some. it will go to climate change and helping with those contingencies. however, it is a continent a continent of 54 countries. while it is a good start, it is not register as much. 54 countries. when you put that together, it is a good start. what i am hoping along those lines is about filling of the programs we have. u.s. exports and imports bank,

power africa. the united states international developed by news corporation, those institutions should become household names along entrepreneurs and businesses in africa the same way usa is a household name when it comes to humanitarian assistance. i think that is what we need to put our money and that is where we need to scale up, ensuring we are open to work with africa's in the same way africans work with united states. there is no single country in africa that is not want to work with the states. host: in ohio, jonathan from columbus. caller: good morning. my question is, does he believe the philosophy of africa must

unite? guest: important philosophy, as i said them a few moments ago, africa is 54 countries. african countries are not small. if you look at the drc of congo, it is the size of western europe. it is four times the size of france. it is one third the size of the u.s. that is a huge country. -- just want to country. by the time you get to sudan, algeria, and so on, it can become important to implement. why more -- what i believe in is to have strong regional economic communities. then you have seven countries

that have come together. if we can have strong regional integration and have communities to work, then maybe several years down the road, we can start integrating regions so maybe we get to the same. it is important dream the realization be problematic. the european union is only about 26 countries. one a country in africa like algeria or sedona or the drc is as big as europe. imagine integrating countries like that into one. it is problematic. it has its limits. host: in atlanta, georgia. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i love how you let everyone share the opinion.

i know you say it u.s. is interested in africa, but i want to hear your opinion on why the u.s. has not done more to help africa with the long-term effects of the berlin conflict of 1984? so where -- that led to the colonization of african countries, specifically west africa. we know exactly the control france has had over countries and england and other countries. i want to get your opinion on that. why do you think the u.s. has not been more involved? guest: the u.s. was not a part of the berlin conference, there an observer of the berlin conference.

in the case of congo, the u.s. was the first country to recognize the claim on what was then called the free state, today they'll, -- the main issue is how the berlin conference help put in borders that are problematic, they decided kingdoms and ethnic groups who were living together, the next day there colony of this, the next that. africans today, african union has come to accept the borders. what can the u.s. do -- africa is the one that changes borders. what the united states has done so far is to continue pushing for democratization and other

areas that promote engagement of the people. that is key. what the u.s. is not done well is engaging with african countries to economic means to allow them the support they make the continuous -- of the dreams to make true. with china, china is engaging with africans to try to help them meet their priorities. advocates are thirsting for u.s. leadership, particularly in investments and u.s. is not rising to the occasion. i believe that is where the u.s. can help. host: we had a caller who had a question for this segment, eric was his name, an immigrant from cameroon, he said he remembered when former president obama and vice president biden met with the ghana parliament and they

said africa needed a strong institution, not strongmen. he said, i've never understood why america has been silent about dictators in africa. the u.s. has been loud about vladimir putin, why not dictators in africa? guest: very good question. before i answer that, the second parts of the berlin conference, france has been a negative influence in former colonies. france has a rigid and neocolonial approach african countries it has colonized. they still good for currency in west africa. france is eager to conduct military operations, africans are not excited about france. we see this in places like mali. how can the u.s. help in that space? the u.s. needs to start charging

france. france is an ally of the u.s. -- it is a bit challenging because the u.s. these france. however, if the u.s. wants to engage africans and promote america's brand in africa, for which advocates are ready, they need to start challenging france's position in the way they challenge china as the other positions because france is not the best ally to have when it comes africa. to eric's question, this has been a problem because the u.s. is a big place. i'm talking about government here not the average american. the u.s. to is the big of the stability of the country. while all my side the u.s. supports -- promotes democracy, we have organizations like the national democratic institute,

this is national -- public institute, sometimes and often, we do not always follow that. we have dictators in various countries in africa and u.s. supports them in the name stability. this is problematic because this ability -- this ability means this stability to the regime, not the country. we often go to war. this is what we are seeing in a lot of countries in africa. the u.s. can do better in that space. host: here in d.c., roland. caller: i used to work at usaid and i've been in africa and ghana, and south africa and my mother is from amsterdam.

what i am upset about is the amount of money that has been allotted to the whole continent of africa, $50 billion per year we are giving ukraine 47 billion along with the other nations. why is it such an inequity in the money we are giving donations of color and of african descent when we have stripped africa of this natural resources, exported the people, exported the natural resources, and europe should be held accountable for that even if it is in the past and it has affected the future. i have seen poverty in ubiquitous level in the whole continent. it is appalling we are so willing to accept this small amount of money from the u.s. might there be -- and what can we do to not just get more

money, but to make people aware of how important africa is to the world. host: that number 55 billion dollars in commitment to african nations over the next three years. guest: this is an important question. i think this question goes back to your original point. the united states is the biggest impediment to the united states engagement in africa. that is for several reasons. the reason for which we look in africa, need a given day, if you opened the newspaper and try to read on africa, you get the negative news. it is about diseases, famine, war, hunger. you do not get often the stories about the entrepreneurship, the drive, the hard work africans put into every day trying to make the world better.

that present we use cups an obstacle. -- prison we use becomes an obstacle. when the chinese show up in africa, they see opportunity. when the u.s. tries to engage, we see the challenges. the chinese continue to push along. turkey is a country we should be talking about more. turkey has invested tremendously in africa. turkey is one of the most public countries in africa because you find them everywhere. they engage with africans where they are, they invest in infrastructure, they invest in soft power. one of the largest airlines that serves africa today is turkish airlines. they invest a lot in schools. you go to any major city in africa, major capital, you find the turkish international school.

the united states in terms of u.s. policy towards africa, we need to change our -- until we do that, and so we have a policy that says we value africa, we value africa people, we know we do that. we know the u.s. values them but we need to take it to the caller sank, why does we always figure to invest in other parts of the world, i understand why there are pressing reasons but are equally pressing reasons on the continent of africa. no continent is and down as the african continent. we talk about climate change, africa has some of the largest forest we can think of the are now saving us from global warming. africa has the main power, we talk about continent of 1.4 billion, we also talk about a young continent.

that future of the road is in africa. it is a loss for the u.s. cannot ramp up investment in africa. host: a couple minutes before the house comes in, we will take you there live when they do. we will try to get caps on --gaston. caller: the 54 countries of africa, how many are democratically run? guest: not many, not in the way you and i think about democracy. however, democracy has made tremendous and rose across the continent. most african countries, the population wish for democracy. they have elections. they're not gotten where we need to get but it is the trend. the trend is the average person if you do a poll, they're

pushing for better government and better democratic systems. host: you talked about chinese influence in africa. are there any communist countries in africa or countries where there communist party presence? guest: a couple countries used to be fully communist, one would have been angola and the other zandi -- but today there is no country that claims to be communist. audiology see the sense -- audiology -- now it is to reflect what is what he on the ground, government. no one is talking about we want to be like the chinese party or the russians. host: as a way for the house to come in, as you watch this

conference take place, who are you most interested in hearing from besides the president himself speaking at 1:30 p.m.? guest: it would be good for us to hear from congress. where congress stands. as you know, croakers -- congress holds it first. there will determine and have to play a role and i'm looking forward to it. host: are you expecting members of congress to be at the summit today? guest: i do not know if there speaking but they will engage. i attended the peace and security form yesterday and they have been engaged. staffers and other people supporting. also, senators and congressmen will be hosting some of the

press is in their own spaces. that engagement is taking place and that is positive. when it comes to the u.s. congress and senate, africa has always been considered a partisan initiative. that has worked well for africa and my hope is that it will continue. host: from center for strategic and international studies, it is mvemba phezo dizolele. the director of african program there. appreciate your time this morning. guest: thank you very much. host: that would do it for our program today. we'll be back here at 7 a.m. eastern. we now take you live to the floor. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in