host: it is monday, may 15, 2023.

president biden noted that anniversary in the upcoming anniversary of the school shooting in uvalde, texas. he called on congress to do more to stop mass shootings and address gun right -- violence. we are asking for -- gun owners can call in at (202) 748-8000. those with experience with gun violence (202) 748-8001. all others (202) 748-8002. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. if you do, include your name and where you are from otherwise catch up with us on social media, twitter at @cspanwj. this is the front page of the buffalo news website.

this is a front page of the newspaper, this morning, marking the one-year anniversary of the shooting, -- this is the op-ed from president biden that ran in usa today. president biden saying i am doing whatever i can to reduce gun violen congress must do more. the president we need to do more and in the year the buffalo tragedy, our country has experienced over 650 mass shootings and many deathto gun violence. crime backgrounds for all gun sales. we need more governors and state legislators to take these steps. that is the president in usa today. " america doesn't have to be a

place where our children know how to duck and cover from a shooter gun violence is mobilizing an entire generation but we cannot sit back and pass this problem off to the nt generation. too many of them may never have the chance to grow up. they deserve better than that, as to all the gun violence survivors and victims. for god sake, do something -- forgot's sake, do something -- for god's sake, do something." what is the best way to reduce gun violence in the u.s. phone lines for gun owners, those who have experienced gun violence and all others as well. we hear from jeff in san jose,

california. gun owner. caller: every time we have a mass shooting, doing something has been done and that is why when you purchase a firearm, it has to go to a background check. however, the background check system has failed us. it has failed us because information either wasn't in the system or the people doing the review of the prospective purchase didn't do the review pop -- properly. almost all of the shootings take place in areas where the shooter knows people will not be armed. the sad truth is government can't fix this. a law can't fix this. when i was a child and a young person, this was not a problem

we have allowed our society -- problem. we have allowed our society to deteriorate to a point where people who are mentally ill or people are fed up with their lives know that they can take it out on someone else. they know that they will not be stopped. the problem is we have allowed our society to fall apart to this point, so we will not legislate our way out of this. we are not going to fix it by doing something. the moral concept of our society has deteriorated and that is a problem and until we restore that, this is going to continue. host: how do we restore that, doug? caller: well, part of it is, the moral concept of society.

we have lost a religion as a center -- we have lost religion as a center of society. we have allowed families to fall apart. we have allowed society to deteriorate to a point where people don't have connections in their own community. people feel isolated, people feel no one is paying attention to the, that they -- to them, that they are not seen or heard. that their concerns and ovaries are not being addressed. if we don't have a society where we actually care for each other, where we actually listen to each other, and where we help each other and where we actually have a moral concept of what is right and what is wrong, then we are going to continue to see these problems. host: before you go, you are calling in on the line for gun

owners, why do you own a weapon? caller: i learned to shoot when i was a kid. the boy scouts have a -- or they did, have a merit badge for shooting. over the years, i have done target shooting. i have gone out hunting. but yes, i also keep a weapon around for self defense. in california, it is difficult to carry a weapon in public for self defense. those of the main things i use it for. host: in washington dc, this is alan. good morning on the line for those experienced in gun violence -- with gun violence. caller: i am not sure if you want me? what what doug said -- i am not sure if you want me to add to what doug said or at my perspective.

it some states, it is easier than getting a gun -- drivers license. where i was at, there was a shooting at it is something you will never forget. host: remind people what happened at the school shooting. caller: that was on april 22, a guy was in a apartment building at eight sniper position and he started firing at the school. at the time the school was letting out and no one died but he stopped -- shot to 30 rounds at the school. four people got hit. there were a number things on the post ntb about a former officer who was shot and was really hurt.

i know him pretty well. just the idea of someone shooting up a school, trying to kill children and that is what the anxiety thing habit -- happened. host: listen -- caller: just the idea, there is nothing like it. you never forget it so we have to do something as a society to get rid of that because if we don't, everyone does not know what that feels like and nobody died. when someone dies, that is terrible. i don't know. i agree with doug on the stability piece. we have to stop looking at everyone as a potential threat or looking at things like entertainment. we are so divided in a way that -- when americans end up

shooting each other, they're so much eight. -- hate. what would drive someone to randomly shoot and kill children, i don't have anything -- i don't know anything about what that is about. that is a whole level of people. --evil. host: this is a story from a local 7 abc news. that anniversary coming at the end of april. eric is next ala --in la. the best way to reduce gun violence in the u.s. caller: i really think that the

first caller nailed it on the head. i don't think the issue is the guns as much as it is a mental health issue. there is a stigma attached to the mental health problem, that has always been there. if people were to get behind better policies when it came to mental health and take the stigma away of putting people under a microscope, that are seeking treatment for mental health problems, we would have less violence. guns don't kill people, people kill people. the guns have always been here. what has changed? attitudes have changed. society has changed. good values and good morals and

good character in our leaders is on a decline. if you are a conservative, to be conservative is to preserve traditional american core values. those are good things. those things work. --worked. what we have now is rewarding bad haver -- behavior and disdain for one another. i'm right -- it is a zero-sum game. in order for someone to win, you have to lose rather than anyone -- everyone winning. it is how i feel about it and i hope i made that clear. host: thanks from a call from l.a. in the op-ed from usa today on

the one-year anniversary of the buffalo grocery store shooting, president biden talks about what changed and the last year and what has changed in congress passing the bipartisan safer communities act. this is what president biden had to say, calling it the most significant gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years. it e the use of red flag laws. it helps prevent domestic abusers from purchasin and makes historic investments in mental hto address trauma resulting from gun violence. along with that op-ed, the white house put out a fact sheet on the 13th new executive actions that the white house has taken to strengthen and maximize the benefits of the bipartisan safer committees act, that gun

legislation that passed in the wake of the buffalo and uvalde shooting. jay is a gun owner, wake forest, north carolina. caller: and proud of it. good morning. in my opinion, bring back god in schools, take out all this book curriculum that is --this woke curriculum that is dividing america. you keep saying the buffalo shooter. have you ever told anyone he was a progressive? no. you said he was a white supremacist trump supporter but he turned out to be a left-wing progressive. we have to stop the medium from --media from dividing and destroying our great nation. that is why we need to make

america great again. the only way to do that is to stop the left-wing george soros owned progressive media. host: this is dave in indianapolis. good morning. experienced with gun violence was not -- violence. caller: i like washington journal. i got robbed at gunpoint. it was terrible. but i didn't have any money. i pulled my wallet out and there was no money -- i pulled my pocket out and there was no wallet or money will stop -- money. my brother pulled up and he was a strong christian and maybe an angel stop me from getting shot -- stopped me from getting shot. that is another story but i have one suggestion to stop and

bounce. you have to stop giving our -- our tax dollars to the palace billion -- host indian authority. they take our money and they paid people, it is called pay to slay. they kill israelis. there's one specific thing we can do. host: this is john in maryland. gun owner. caller: good morning. host: what are your thoughts on this question? caller: i am a lifelong gun owner, a hunter. i take my children out to shoot. might -- me and my friends enjoy going out to the range. it is a large societal issue because when i look at the way kids are brought up now, no

longer -- parents don't feel comfortable with their kids running outside and heading up. -- hanging out. they are online and you have a young man looking at their prospects in life. my son will graduate from high school soon and he has prospects but what about all the kids he goes to school with? he can't go -- it is so different now than it ever was because you can take a lonely, disaffected young men. --man. now he is looking for friends on the internet and they are impressionable. they either go far left or far right. it is difficult as a parent to understand where they are going. next thing you know, they become intertwined with these really

radical voices on the internet, whether they be left or right. they get disillusioned with the american dream. when i grew up, you joined the military and you get a job and you raise a family and now that dream almost season --is it even attainable anymore. houses are out price, you cannot move out of the home. phoning car, you are priced out of the market. this country is in decline and i'm not sure what to do. host: that is john in maryland. these are comments from folks on social media. jim writing the best way to reduce gun violence is having constitutional carry in all states. one person writing in i can recommend -- caused by the right. we can act and most of us want to but the end ra --nra is an

impenetrable force. this is a different op-ed. not the one the president wrote yesterday. was published yesterday. this was from arizona. fr t arizona republic and this is what he said about gun violence. " i can see democrats recalling at the suggestion that they have anything tith america's gun problem. ask yourself, why do so many americans own guns? much of it is fear and they crime in the breakdown of sociat leads to better -- greater threats. they fear dystopian cities but

they fear politicians they suspect want to take away their guns and leave them defenseless." president biden published an op-ed in the usa today calling on congress to do more to stop gun violence in america. having this conversation on phone lines. if you are gun owner (202) 748-8000 -- are a gun owner, (202) 748-8000. if you are experienced with gun violence (202) 748-8001. all others (202) 748-8002. this is ontario, canada. dominic a gun owner -- dominic, a gun owner. caller: it is dependent on the loss you have --laws you have on the books. in canada, we have exams that

are psychological before you touch a firearm. that is mandatory for every gun owner. every day, you get a background check. hello? host: you get a background check every day? caller: everyday. police department, they check if you have an infraction. if you have one, they take your weapon. it is how it works and it works great for canada. we are ported -- bordered next to you. when you have a -- that is how borders are, they are porous. if a criminal once again, they will get a gun. it is not that expensive. to get a gun, we have certain loss --la you can justws.

-- certain laws. you can copy our laws. that will solve your problems there. host: this is out of serbia, authorities in serbia yesterday -- including antitank rocket launchers that they say people headed over since back to back mass shootings. the government declared a one-month amnesty period for citizens to surrender unregistered weapons following two shootings in two days last month. the president, whose government has faced public pressure in the wake of the shootings, accompanied top police officials to view the assortment of arms

in one of the towns. the picture from the associated press showing tt title of weapons -- that title --pile of weapons on display. caller: i do not own a gun. i went hunting when i was 18. i did not let -- i shot a feeling and i did not like the feeling. -- i shot a rabbit and i did not like the feeling. someone new i voted for trump and i had some very nasty comments. just for my edification, he hates people -- they say trump does. i purchased a gun but that is not what my comment is to stop gun violence. where i used to live in

massachusetts, they had a huge mental facility for people. it ran acres and my father used to ride through it. those kinds of institutions, they probably put people in there. they were on the borderline. perhaps they needed to be in there but they brought them in their think it did good. it weeded out people who should not have a gun and if they did that, nationwide, there may be some violations of civil rights that a person had picked up -- was picked up and maybe should not have but that could have -- be remedied by the facility. have checks and balances and look at the person and say, he doesn't want to be there because my cousin went into one of those facilities and she was in there for a lifetime.

she was in a murder but they -- she was not a murderer but they seem to be hard on that stuff. our probability for herself and someone else, they did not put you cash they did put you -- they did put you in those facilities. host: it is not yesterday but last sunday -- that greg abbott touched on mental health and gun issues in the wake of the shooting in allen, texas. [video clip] >> this is something we have been grappling with over the past year. there are some potential easy solutions such as passing off to get guns out of the hands of

dangerous criminals into increased penalties for criminals who possess guns. we need to recognize the reality. we have seen an increased number of shootings in red states and blue states. we have seen an increased number of fittings in states with easy gun laws and strict lung -- then loss. the state with the largest number of victims this year is in california. one thing we can observe easily, there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of anger and violence that is taking place in america. what texas in -- is doing, we are working to address that anger and violence by going to the root cause, which is addressing the mental problems minded.

-- behind it. texas has been lacking in addressing mental health in the past for and that is why we have $25 billion to address mental health. we will have more funding, about $3 billion to address mental health year -- needs in texas, especially werewolves texas -- rural texas. the long-term solution is to address the mental health issue. host: that was a week ago yesterday, that he was on fox news sunday. talking about the unbound in the wake of the motion -- about gun violence in the wake of the shooting. the city of buffalo marking the anniversary yesterday and

pressed by remarking that anniversary and the upcoming anniversary of the uvalde shoe -- school shooting with an op-ed, calling on congress to do more when it comes to gun violence in america. this is what it looks like in paper form. " congress should take action." we want to hear from you, your thoughts. phone lines for gun owners, those experienced with gun violence and a phone line for all others to come in and having this conversation. gary in new hampshire. caller: good morning. i hope someone in the state of texas reaches out to the teacher who is suffering the effects of you wally. -- uvalde. i agree with doug on mental health but let's take mental health out of the equation.

ar 15's do not belong in our society. they are weapons of war, weapons of mass destruction. congress needs to do an outright ban altogether. it is time the u.s. congress stepped up and done something. i hope you are having them listen. how would you feel if it was a member of you are your family going through this violence? what would you people do? would you sit there or act at lightning speed? my answer is you people in congress would act? you know what, stop acts with lightning speed it and stick up your constituents, stopped being -- stop being bullied by the nra . host: the president forking on

thatop. -- focusing on that topi " when i helped secure a ban i 1994, i am asking -- to ban assault weapons. i know the brave american to serve law enforcement are tired of being outgunned by criminals with ar 15 stout firearms and willing officers -- and wounding officers. " host: this is john. a gun owner. what do you use your guns for? caller: i use it for hunting and self-defense if necessary.

i am hoping a year from now that president biden will remember and make a big deal out of the transgender shooter, at the nashville school that killed three children. we don't care about that. you keep hearing about the one in new york. my suggestion would be on the mental health side because i have no idea and i cannot fathom the idea of shooting a human being. if i am not in danger of losing my life personally. in my mind, it is totally 100% a mental health issue. in order to combat that issue, i would say anyone under the care of a mental health professional or receiving mind altering drugs that have been prescribed by a psychiatrist should be put on a list and band from having guns

--and banned for having guns. i know some people would say that is a hippo --hippa violation. that has to be gone. i don't understand how someone could take a firearm and shoot children. they are mentally arranged and that has something to do with society because i will be 60 years old. i took guns to school when i was a kid and i took them in the school and i did book reports on them and i showed people how to handle outgunned and how to clean it. i cannot grasp how someone can shoot another human being unless their life has been threatened or take another life. it is beyond me. if we are not in a state of war or something like that but that is my suggestion, mental health.

you have to get rid of the hippa laws. host: that is john in wisconsin. you mentioned the nashville school shootin the headline from fox news. the hool shooter's unredacted manifesto has been given to a judge ahead of a public hearing on whether or not to release shooter's manifesto and the release has be debated since the march shooting in the nashville school with someone into truck -- some wanting to try to understand the motivations behind the shooter. i just taking a look at that --a judge taking a look at that. this is max in maryland. caller: thanks for taking my call. someone touch on big perfect point -- the perfect point. if they don't release the

motivations, we won't understand why they would do it. we can't -- he couldn't understand why -- we are at war. all over the world. we are involved in foreign wars and anti-terrorist attacks. we are involved in counterinsurgency. when i got out of high school, all of this was called terrorism. i went through the sniper shootings in d.c.. that is called terrorism. the media and the politicians, they don't want to call it terrorism because they cannot control it and you have to go after the terrorists and organizations involved. i would like to remind people that if it walks like a duck, it is a duck. host: this is ken in louisiana.

good morning. gun owner. caller: good morning. to start off, i inherited guns from my family. we do occasional target shooting. i don't know if i could shoot someone even in self-defense because i was raised with certain values that life is important. i would probably be torn up if i ever was forced to do that. my state is not that guns are good. they can be used for people. --evil. what we should do is, what is the best way to reduce violence in the u.s. by limiting the cost of gubs,

you'll --guns, you are going down a certain path. the guns are only a tool that violence people use. if you take the gun away from them, with bands like assault weapons --ba like assault weapons, they will go tons the next available weapon which will still keep -- kill people. you have to back away from guns in this question and say, how do we reduce violence in the u.s. and i think many people have touched on what needs to be done. i think mental health needs more funding. to some extent, you have to step on the rights of the mentally ill to protect the rest of society.

likewise, think there should be some mandatory sentencing for everyone -- anyone who commits a crime with a gun. maybe a minimum 10 year sentence with no parole. quite often, people committing crimes with guns are let all three -- off free. the criminal justice system is somewhat overwhelmed. host: this is from last month and into the pool --in the pew research center. in 2021, 48,830 died in the united states including gun murders and gun suicides. suicides have been counter for -- counted with the majority of

u.s. gun deaths and 21% of all gun related deaths in the u.s. with suicide, and 3% where murders -- 33% were murders. 20,000 -- 81% involved a firearm and that marks a higher percentage since 1968, the earliest there are the cdc have records. for that half of suicides in 2021 -- more than half of suicides in 2021 involved a gun. this is robert, new york, a gun owner. what do you use your guns for? are you with us? this is nancy out of iowa, on the line for those experienced with gun violence. go ahead. caller: i say i have experience

with gun violence because i am a person with feelings. i have family. there is a misconception that morality only exists in religion. other people are moral, have morals. to think that people with mental illness and excessive frustration, knows they can take it out on someone and that is why there are mass shootings is ignorant and ludicrous. not all people with mental illness and extreme frustration resort to simple actions. if mentally ill and extremely frustrated did not have guns, they wouldn't be able to shoot to cope. the mentally ill need to treatment and treatment is extremely important and lacking in this country. we have a shortage of particular

-- petitioners -- practitioners. most people with mental illness are not about -- violent. host: i want your thoughts on the story we read earlier about what is happening in serbia, in the wake of two mass shootings and the shootings involving children being killed. the country cracking down on guns and gun ownership, collecting thousands of weapons and putting them on display. a country deciding in the wake of the tragic -- tragedies that they would change drastically, there gun laws. caller: that is an excellent idea. i have friends in new england. they are -- in england. they will have mass shootings.

-- they do not have to use -- they do not have mass shootings. if you don't have access to guns, you cannot shoot. host: this is richard out of bethlehem, pennsylvania. mark -- good morning. caller: one simple thing, no licenses for anyone under 25. most violence is done under people that age so let's take away the gun. das are not following the law, so it should be a federal or local law that anyone that kills someone automatically goes to jail and doesn't get out for a certain amount of yields -- years. these people running around, they rob stores. that is the symptom that causes doing the law it -- the way it should. on the legal side of things,

people don't talk about that anymore but in revelations 6:18, it talks about the red horse and the violence against the man against man and hitting men -- hating man. the 10 commitments, thou shall not kill, that is part of it. federal law, get out of there, the state have to do it and the das don't follow the law. host: henrietta, oklahoma. your next. -- you are next. caller: good morning. the basic cause of the problem is the lack of law and order and the word order is important better --there. no one feels safe in the country because they do not trust the court and the law people to

defend them. they are trying to defend themselves because they don't feel safe. when you have politicians -- from the president on down, that the first thing joe biden did when he came in office was encouraged the whole -- encourage the whole world to violate our borders illegally. when they had two legislators in tennessee, they violate the move -- they violated the move of legislator. kamala harris went there personally to congratulate them. one person brought them to washington dc and made heroes after -- out of them when they took them out of the legislator. the first thing people did was send them up there.

they don't respect law and order. host: that is cliff in oklahoma. this is frank, connecticut. the mark -- good morning. caller: good morning, john. i am from connecticut where that sanding cook -- sandy hook shooting without -- was held. it hit has -- as hard in connecticut -- it hit highs -- it hit hard in connecticut. you have to drop to listen someone -- someone like that. -- to listen to someone like that. they don't care who gets killed or who gets shot. i need your vote to get reelected. there is your mental illness in

congress. thank you. host: that frank in connecticut. in 2012, more than 10 years since the sandy hook shooting. we have been talking about the op-ed that president biden published yesterday in the usa today. some thoughts on thought -- gun ownership from the previous president, president barack obama. in an interview with cbs morning from last week. part of the interviewed has -- part of that interview has been released and he talked about the growing ideological partisan divide on the issue of guns and gun ownership. >> somehow and there are a lot of historical reasons for this, gun ownership in this country became a ideological issue and a

partisan issue in ways that it should not be. it has become a proxy for arguments about our culture wrote --wars, urban vs rural. race is always an issue, issues of class and education. instead of taking a practical approach, like we do with car safety, when we say we have a bunch of accidents. let's have seatbelts. let's engineer wrote so we prevent them --roads so we prevent them. instead of dealing with it in practical way, we deal with identity and stuff that doesn't keep our children safe. host: we have 15 minutes left in

the conversation asking you what is the best way to reduce gun violence in the u.s.. michigan, rob, gun owner. caller: i have been a gun owner over 65 years and never has my gun going off and committed a crime. there is no such thing as gun violence, is hyperbole will stop elect a good argument, you try to scare people. weapons of war, civilian weapons have never been used in a war. i mass destruction, putting it on par with a nuclear weapon is ludicrous. a second question, why? why are they concerned with the ar 15 gwen moore children die -- ar 15 gwen moore children die from handguns.

half a million children -- no attention from that. what to do? a complex problem that a complex solution -- needs a complex solution. ignorance, begets party, property begets desperation and desperation begets violence. we need to improve the education system. you don't start off saying, i am 12 years old and i can swim and i -- you throw me in the deep end of the pool. every we can eliminate the ignorance and it -- people will come out and have good jobs and

they won't feel the desperation that poverty instills on them and they won't endure the violence but the hyperbole of calling things mass disruption, salt rifles, the media knows that is not true but he gets coverage and generates -- but it gets coverage and generate support. host: our focus yesterday on the bank -- on an abortion guilt --bill. " north carolina's democratic governor vetoed -- abortions rights activists and voters watched on a plaster and a the capital of raleigh as the governor fixed his veto stance on the bill. the veto launches a major test

for leaders to attempt an override vote after they recently gained veto proof majorities in both chambers." that story appearing in the washington times. this is peter and the grand canyon state. gun owner, what do you use your guns for? caller: target, self-defense, competition. i would like to offer food for thought. it is understandable, from one side, there is always an disagreed -- this agreement. if you look at the heritage institute, they list on average, 1.2 incidences -- 1.2 million incidences a year of her --

occur when a good guy with a gun safes --saves life and limb. when you take 1.2 million and divided 365 days a year, that is thousands of time -- thousands of time a day where of them -- where a good guy -- host: you're talking about the heritage foundation, their chart on offensive gun uses in the u.s. update as of may 2023. you can click on this chart, individual incidents and dates in which that happened. caller: for example, in tucson, kboa, an affiliate of nbc. we had a good guy with a gun, stop a bad guy from shooting up

a restaurant of people. inmate local news but never -- it made no -- local news but not national news. that was a mass saving. i am not saying everyone has to like it but food for thought. host: with the heritage of four, almost every major study they have found, americans use their firearms for self-defense somewhere around 3000 times each year. defensive -- caller: you very much -- thank you very much. host: jerry, nevada. caller: there are three basic issues. we have a congress -- or a that says congress shall make no law -- or a constitution that says

congress shall make no law. the second amendment holding back legislation. you have the other side of the equation where fidel castro's, gun -- the government will take guns from the people. you have that side, people are terrified the government will take their guns. i have seen the lawyers. people are terrified of being sued and they stand up and point at someone. if you go back to that gabby gifford shooting, the school knew the boy was terrible that they pushed him out. -- but they pushed him out. they wanted him out because they did not want to deal with lawsuits and people say, who are

you saying that my son is bad? she has done nothing. and a florida, -- in florida, -- if someone can get them off the streets for 96 hours where they can be evaluated and that is what i think we need nationwide, the ability for people to speak up and for people to take actions and for people to be taken off the street to evaluate them. host: what you think about these red flag laws, where people will have their weapons taken away for a certain amount of time or family members or others are concerned they will hurt themselves or others. are those good? caller: i do. people are afraid to step up and i understand they are afraid because it is the litigious society we live in. they don't want to get involved but they want to speak up and

point to someone but not having to come back on them. that is a problem, a lot of it has to do with the fear of being sued in our society and people will not come forward and point out people that they meet his -- are covered -- trouble makers. host: a commitment -- a couple minutes left this morning as we ask you what is the best way to reduce gun violence and if he was this is ryan in north carolina. caller: i am actually from maryland. host: go ahead, brian. caller:? ? can you hear me? host: yes. caller: the buffalo shooter, his manifesto didn't sound liberal to me. he was quoting tucker carlsen replacement. . -- replacement.

--theory. my mother had mad boyfriends come to the house waving guns. gun violence happens when guns are around. the idea that they look for unarmed places, that is like saying accidents only happen on the road. that is -- no one should be armed. the police get upset or agitated and they people with the idea thinking they might have a gun. if everyone is supposed to be carrying guns, then why would the police be so quick to shoot somebody because they might have a gun? everyone is scared of guns.

if you give everyone a gun, you will have more incidents where people -- when people fight and get upset about a parking spot. now we have the wild west again. the mental health issue, you have folks out here quoting qanon conspiracies and jfk is still alive. the election was stolen and these are the masses of people you want to have guns to protect us from guns? i believe the legislation shows that when the assault rifle band was down, there wasn't as much mass shootings. host: last year, some 646 mass shootings in the u.s. according to the gun violence archives or, those numbers picking up each year, the gun violence archives with their numbers going back to 2013. you can take a look at how they break down and all the different gun violence incidences in the

country. gun violence.org --gunviolence archive.org. a caller experienced with gun violence. caller: what does a school need to do to protect those who have guns in school? host: protect those who have guns in school? what do you mean? caller: i don't know. to -- i don't know. host: we will give you a chance to collect your thoughts. this is donald in joseph, missouri. caller: good morning. what is needed most than ever, always, is having a hand on someone's shoulder who using

their gun and appropriately and read their miranda rights and take them to jail and depending on how serious the gun used was, up to murder. if it is murder and everyone in the jury sees that it is in fact cap -- capital murder, they should get the death penalty. we should use the death penalty in the country. if it is committing the crime with a lesser outcome, state minimum four years. in the constitution, the well-regulated militia means, practiced, ready to go people. we as a nation, that could mean as someone who is practice admitted -- and ready to go,

please around, -- police around, they can make a arrest. they can defend someone from a mass shooter. what that means in the constitution, practiced, ready to go. host: donald. the second amendment, reads, -- that's where we will in this first hour but stick around, plenty more to talk about. we will be joined by the semaphore reporter next to discuss the week ahead in d.c. and later this morning, the u.s. chamber commerce executive policy officer neil bradley will join us to talk about the debt ceiling debate in the immigration debate in this country. stick around, we will be right back.

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mccarthy and leader schumer and leader mcconnell are expected to meet tomorrow. it seems like the white house is approaching this optimistically. there were comments from the president and other senior officials over the weekend where they expressed confidence that they are getting somewhere but there are still a lot of issues to work out in the clock is ticking down. host: we saw the friday meeting was postponed. what's giving folks confidence? guest: the administration feels pretty good about conversation moving forward but there wasn't enough progress for them to meet again friday. the real test will be what happens tomorrow and what's on the table and is there something they can come to an agreement on. we will get more of a sense of that tomorrow. host: do we have a sense of the general pieces of the puzzle

that need to be put together? guest: there are a number of areas like permitting reform and we've seen democrats and republicans lay out on that front. there is other issues such as restrictions for federal assistance programs. the president said over the weekend he was open to that for medicaid. other programs potentially like budget cap so there are number of issues in the mix but it's really unclear if there can be enough consensus to come to an agreement that can get through the house. host: remind us of the president's schedule this week. how does that factor into the president's travel schedule? guest: he is about to leave for the g7 later this week. it's pretty clear that's his intention now but if there is a need for him to be here, he may delay that trip. he could potentially appear virtually.

that's up in the air right now in the white house is moving forward with the intention that he will leave and janet yellen has said june 1 is when the government could run out of money and we could see her potentially speak again this week in terms of an date but they are trying to get a resolution through as quickly as possible. host: from debt ceiling to title 42 and immigration, fall out from the end of it, what do you expect them capitol hill this week? guest: there are these bipartisan negotiations on the senate side. the house passed their big border bill last week but it's not going anywhere in the senate as it stands. many have been talking about immigration reform efforts. they introduced this bill that would basically extend a version of title 42 for another two years. i think people will be watching whether or not that gets

momentum this week. congress is talked about doing immigration reform for years with no resolution. i would say i'm pretty pessimistic about them getting something through. host: those of the two big issues this week but plenty is happening in washington, d.c.. if you want to talk about the week ahead, these are the phone lines. for folks who aren't familiar with semaphore, remind them who you are. guest: it's a new global news outlet that launched last year. we are small but we are global with the bureau in africa and people on the west coast and east coast, we cover all kinds of issues in we have a special

format with the news that's broken up with a reporters analysis and other views from around the globe so trying to lean into the transparent formats. i'm part of the politics team soy work on the newsletter and we have a few that cover business and tech news and i focus more on national security issues area host: you can go to semaphore.com. you also used to be with the hill newspaper. go ahead and start calling in. you talk about covering the politics of capitol hill, what's the latest on congressman george santos. he plead not guilty to 13 counts of money laundering and other charges so will he be back on capitol hill this week? guest: he's expected to be back. my colleague has been covering these investigations.

there has been more calls for him to resign. kevin mccarthy is not said that obviously. i think there will be added attention whether the speaker weighs in on that further. he says he is fighting these charges and we will see where the proceedings go. he certainly hasn't shown he will step away anytime soon. host: and the latest on the hill this week when it comes of the war in ukraine, what are you watching for? guest: there is a ton of attention to this counteroffensive that ukraine is going to be mounting. there is a divide within the republicans of supporting ukraine in the white house is not submitted a proposal for another funding package yet but they expect that in the coming weeks and months. we will see that play out and there's plenty of republican

supporters of ukraine on the hill that want to see a funding package but other voices who are skeptical of additional funding. i think that's where the attention will be on capitol hill once that debate gets going. host: a number of issues we are watching for this week but we want to hear from viewers on what you are watching for. this is robert from illinois, republican up first. good morning. caller: good morning. i have been watching politics for the last several years i actually voted the last couple of years, first time in quite a while. i've watched half of my representatives try to impeach a president over made up story. i watched obama be the head honshu -- head honcho.

i see people who swear on the constitution to obey the constitution and follow it. the first thing they do is try to break the constitution. i don't care if you're black, white, we pay taxes, we pay these people to do a good job. i would like to know how much obama knew all this horseplay when biden was vice president. i see half of my leaders try to overthrow president. why wouldn't they be charged with treason? host: i believe that's a reference brought forth by the oversight committee last week. the op-ed in today's washington times on it -- allegations of biden family corruption are heating up. do we expect to see more on that this week?

caller: james comer was clear that the investigation is moving into a different phase. he has laid out the business deals the biden family members have done with foreign owned companies. the investigation is not connected those to president biden but he is described in this investigation. that was a big update and we will probably see more discussion and investigating but i think the question is whether he can find a connection to the white house. host: gina in kentucky, line for democrats next. caller: to your guest, i'm wondering how close mcconnell's to mr. mccarthy. about what they will do on this debt ceiling. mcconnell has said that he doesn't feel they need to go

into the situation like that had before and with the debt ceiling. i wonder if you've heard anything about whether mccarthy is real close to mcconnell and what would happen and do you think mcconnell has the upper hand on the debt ceiling? guest: their relationship is interesting. we have seen mitch mcconnell backing up mccarthy and he and other senate republicans have said they support reforms and budget cuts. what happens when this gets down to the line if there is an agreement and does mcconnell try to huddle with joe biden. the two of them have had a tricky relationship. there is not of daylight between

mcconnell and mccarthy right now. host: pennsylvania, good morning. line for democrats. caller: good morning, everyone. i'm just calling about title 42. basically, that was in response to the pandemic and people coming over. basically what we should be talking about is removing sanctions and all these countries including venezuela that's what washington really needs to talk about is removing these sanctions and you will solve the border problems because people wouldn't be coming to the u.s. to escape poverty in those countries that we created. that's all i want to say. host: back to title 42. guest: it's a tricky issue for the democratic party in particular and the president has

been trying to address the root causes issue by tapping vice president harris to deal with that. the policies haveerred on the side of the trump administration and they gotten criticism for that and one thing that struck me over the weekend is the department of homeland security said the border crossings have reduced since the expiration of title 42 so i'm watching that. host: there is congressional action focusing on china, on the push for another bill focused on china and exports, what's the latest on that legislation? guest: there is a lot of attention on the house and senate side on china. leader schumer has announced this push that he hopes will be bipartisan to create this china bill that would be a compilation of different those across

different committees and we will see hearing on that this week in the appropriations committee as they try to get ideas on the table. right now, republicans in the senate are talking to democrats but they are skeptical. they want to see focus on military aid to taiwan and less of a focus on the domestic investments that chuck schumer wants. on the house side, there is a lot of conversation about taiwan and other areas of potential bipartisan cooperation headquartered in this new china select committee. host: how much work can get done on this as the debt ceiling is hanging over all of this? does a lot of this stuff get put on hold until the debt ceiling is figured out? guest: the debt ceiling is still the number one issues and they are crafting ret legislation for china that should happen down the line. the house select committee is trying to solve these long-term problems and look at the bigger

picture and try to figure out what's the best path forward. i don't think we will see anything move immediately. perhaps attached to the ndaa and other must pass legislation. host: we have another 15 minutes or so and we are talking about the week ahead in washington and another busy week. this is teddy from wilson, north carolina, independent. caller: has she heard of any talk in washington about starting to treat guns like cars? we need to pay money on it and

everything just like we do cars, that would raise money and then you confuse that with the red flag laws. i don't know why they look at this little bitty stuff. the second thing is i noticed that over the past years, we have sanctioned all these countries and made them poor. now, they're coming over here in creating this problem. we absorbed 4 million of these immigrants. these people are building of neighborhoods in my town and there's nothing wrong with them coming here. it was just mothers day and americans were going out to eat and going out to restaurants. some mothers travel hundreds of

miles over here and you talk about guns. guest: the legislative solutions on guns are extremely tricky now. republicans feel the background check till they got passed last year's as far as they can go. host: it was a bipartisan bill. guest: yes, that passed last year and democrats want to see more done in the president has repeated a weapons ban to close loopholes and background checks. i don't see anything happening just because the parties are so far apart and there was a bipartisan win last year. this close to an election, this is a very contentious issue. host: president biden focused in -- focused on guns in the op-ed of usa today.

you can read that in usa today. this is elliot in new york city, line for democrats. caller: good morning. i was wondering about the debt ceiling thing. is it still the case that mccarthy is trying to get various other topics addressed besides just the debt ceiling? i have a follow-up question if that's the case. guest: yes. caller: ok, about four or five months ago, when the republicans in the house were very openly and transparently discussing what they wanted what they called a healthy process, i felt that -- correct me if i'm wrong

-- i thought one of the things they were committed to was that there were no longer be these catchall all bills with multiple topics that was going to be one bill on a topic another bill on a topic. host: you are talking about the omnibus bills? caller: yeah in the promises that had to be made to get kevin mccarthy elected speaker on the 15th ballot. host: got it. guest: that was a big focus for republicans. i think they are learning is difficult to pass things through a regular order like that. it's complicated so yes, we are down to the line and probably this agreement will move through extremely quickly.

for years, congress has operated with large bills and the appropriations bills that come down to the line i think it will be difficult. host: the house is in at noon for morning hour for legislative business in the senate is in at 3:00 p.m.. the present is set to travel and perhaps that could change. what else are you watching for an capitol hill? guest: i will be watching some of these china hearings. there is a hearing of the china select committee that's happening on wednesday night focusing on economic issues in the u.s.-china competition. i'm interested in that and the g7, there's a lot of big topics there. host: the week ahead in washington is our focus for the next few minutes if you want to call in. this is a democrat from altoona,

pennsylvania. caller: good morning and thank you. what i see in the week ahead is the same thing, the ability to continue to disagree and see the debate happens more and nothing gets accomplished. we are losing our faith in anything happening because it doesn't. all there is is things left hanging and then no accomplishments. let's get down to not bringing up everything that is priority right now. there is debate against the parties and let's get the issues

accomplished. it's almost like we have to go to what we do in the simple daily life, have a list of what we are going to check off, get something done. host: if you are making a list for congress, what would you put the top of the list? caller: i would put gun violence issues and don't think about what parties would like to see, what america needs to do and also, the title 42 issues, to make sure we have curved -- curbed all that has happened at the border. those two things, i am very much disappointed in and not accomplishing. host: this is susan in grand

rapids, michigan, good morning. i think she just hung up. this is the republican line next. caller: i remember the rock 'n' roll dj so i have an affinity for c-span. host: he is right down the hall. caller: why is the flat -- flag at halfstep behind you? host: it could be the one-year anniversary of the shooting in buffalo. do you know the reason? guest: that would make sense but i don't know. host: it looks like they are down on the capital as well. also at union station across the way. any question about the week ahead in congress? caller: i'm coming up on 80 years old with 20 years in the air force and it seems like the people in congress they're

supposed to do the things of lost their minds. it's like rats running around and nothing, there is no organization. they say one thing one day in the next thing they don't do something else. the idea of our borders secured, it's a fantasy. it's a whole bunch of liars and i would use other language but i'd rather not. it's a dysfunctional organization, the whole thing, the republicans, the democrats, the bureaucrats, it's like nothing is getting done and nobody really seems to care about it. we the people out here have to suffer because of their ineptness. i've never seen this all my life and i've been following this stuff coming up on 80 years old.

host: do you think there will be a deal on the debt ceiling? they say it would be a disaster for the economy if we breached the debt ceiling, do you have confidence they can do that? caller: no, they will just come up with another excuse. that's how we got this way. they blown budgets away for years and years. every time they come up with some other new deal, they don't follow the constitution or the law, they don't care. i'm not going to worry about it because there is nothing i can do about it. host: john in louisiana. guest: i think that's

representative of a lot of people frustrated with the dysfunction they have seen in d.c. and they feel like things can get done. there have been things that have gotten done so if you are an optimist like me, you see movement that the debt ceiling will get resolved because it would be catastrophic and especially the political and economic ramifications of that. i seated across america where there is a lot of frustration on the way washington operates. host: a question from michael on twitter -- guest: no, but i believe there been a number of bills on that front. host: still working their way through this cycle as well. one more question from twitter --

guest: there has been some talks about that. it's a potential offramp but i'm not sure how likely would be but certainly, there are people on both sides of the aisle exploring ways to get something done at these negotiations between the big four do not yield anything. host: anything we should be watching for this week that you are covering? guest: just the debt ceiling will be the dominant theme this week. host: semafor.com is where you can go, we appreciate your time. guest: thanks for having me. host: coming up in about 40 minutes, we will be joined by neil bradley of the u.s. chamber of commerce who is the policy officer and we will continue the discussion on the debt ceiling and immigration as well but first, we turn the program over to you, it's our open forum and any issue you want to talk about

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include your name and where you are from if you do that. we will start with rudy in sun city, california, line for democrats. caller: good morning. what's on my mind is the social security crisis that we are having. they always want to raise the age limit and the only people i see doing that or people sitting in front of computers or wearing suits. they don't know anything about busting your back and the outside with 75% of people who work do medium to harbor later -- hard labor type of jobs. they have to get off of raising the age limit up to 70 years old. i am retired now but i was in

construction. up until i was 62 years old, i would carry 50 pound bags of cement to my shoulders. host: were you able to retire at 62? caller: i retired at 65. host: how are you doing in retirement now? caller: like everybody else, it's a struggle didn't have any savings. i rely on the social security. i'm just kind of looking at it and they have to look at the balancing act and keep their fingers out of the cookie jar of social security and that should help a quite a bit. host: thank you for the call. high rock, north carolina, good morning. caller: yes, my name is flyer. i got an answer for the democratic party.

i think anybody that's running for the house, the senate the presidency were throwing their head in the ring to be a supreme court judge, is soon as the second they get elected, we need to freeze their assets and don't add anything to it or subtract from it if they don't already get a salary from it from the government. they can do that as long as they are in office and assumes they get out, they can go steal all the money they want to. as long as they are in those positions, i'm tired of them taking money. host: what are your thoughts on the democratic governor of north carolina and the veto ceremony he held in front of a crowd over the weekend that got a lot of coverage. did you watch it and did you think about it? caller: i think it's terrific and is one of the best governors

we've had in the state in a while. i don't think anybody that's trying to be a legislator who is not a female should be making any choices for any woman anywhere. they are not qualified. host: governor roy cooper veto legislation saturday that would have banned nearly all abortions in north carolina after 12 weeks passed by the republican-controlled state legislature and out of his back to the legislature to see if they can override his veto. this is dave in san antonio, texas, republican, good morning. are you with us? manny in california, independent is next. caller: how are you doing? i'm just back from cuba and we've had an ongoing discussion

about the 70th birthday party of my old country club. i just wanted to report back that my month in cuba, what it was like and whether to make reference to the huffington post article called manny tour. if your audience can take a look at that about the tour that i give people when they come to visit me in cuba. host: what's life like in cuba right now? caller: i am a socialist and have been because i grew up in cuba as a rich kid. i show people all the mentions in cuba and they are shocked. they are amazed that there are so many mentions in cuba and havana where i was born. i went to the country club, i

thought the whole world was like the way i grew up. everybody had a mansion and it was a shock to me when i found out it wasn't that way. i love cuba. i'm one of the 50,000 cuban-americans who repatriated and i'm able to buy houses in cuba. i bought a house right on the water across the street from the u.s. embassy for $30,000. can you imagine -- that's a three-bedroom bedroom house. i completely gutted it and i will air bnb it.my son is a lawyer and will be there like i was. host: can you fly direct to cuba from the united states now? caller: yes, i fly from san diego on american airlines nonstop. every day there is flights on american airlines and southwest from florida.

i encourage her audience to go see cuba. don't believe all the bad stories in the new york times about cuba or the biden administration. go see it for yourself and take a look at michael article manny tour in the huffington post. it's 10 times bigger than hawaii. i've been to hawaii and it's 10 times better. it's an unbelievably beautiful place. host: this is tina in pennsylvania, independent, good morning. caller: good morning, i was going to say something but i'm going to ricochet back to mr. manning. i graduated high school in miami in the 1980's. the people that were coming over on the rafts, they definitely had no money. for him to publicly say he is a

socialist, a lot of the people in cuba are suffering because of people like him. we don't want that in the united states. this is not a socialist country. it was built on the constitution. i'm sorry, that just blew my mind what he just said. i watch the suffering of the rubber rafts. there was a raft that drifted up on the beach and these people were hungry and dehydrated. they were skin and bones. for him to say that he grew up a rich kid in cuba and everybody had a mansion, perhaps that's his family -- perhaps of his family had share the money with the country, he would -- we wouldn't have had the influx we had in the 80's. that's not what i want to talk about that my opinion. host: thanks for the call from pennsylvania. you want to touch on your other topic? caller: my other topic is, i'm sick of seeing the r's and the

d's.our country is dying and we need some action. we've got to do something. we've got to come together as one america. it shouldn't be i'm a democrat and i will vote one way and i'm a republican -- no, vote with your heart and vote with your mind. maybe you need to pray on it. vote for a policy. we have to loose -- we have to do something or we will lose our country. have a blessed week. host: independent from pennsylvania. on the issue of voting, an op-ed in the wall street journal -- he is making the case for an older voting age in his country.

this is diana california, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning, i'm calling about the budget and also calling about janet yellen and the federal reserve and chairman powell. she is absolutely correct. this will be a devastation and there will be a recession. we didn't need to give money to all these countries in the world. kevin mccarthy -- i saw this on a news channel and it was a clip from a newspaper saying that he

said that the president wasn't doing his job. that is so juvenile. he wants to communicate with the president and speak with him and meet with him, badmouthing him from israel when he was there a couple of weeks ago. kevin mccarthy, mitch mcconnell, the senior leaders are the major leaders of the senate. mcconnell has done a lot. he held up the election of merrick garland for the court. he's got someone on his arm holding him up and mccarthy could do a lot better as he once

california to live in and represent any needs to stand up for all the taxpayers in the nation. host: that's diana california. just about 8:45 a.m. on the east coast and the house is coming in at noon today. the senate is in today at 3 p.m. for their legislative business as well. in five or 10 minutes, we will get an update on the border we will be joined by the el paso times for the latest on the border in the wake of title 42 coming to an end but until then, it's open forum. the phone lines are yours to do so.

l this isupe in california, independent. caller: good morning. i have a couple of questions and i have no way of looking this up. marjorie taylor greene when she first got into office in the white house -- not the white house but she was married or divorced and she remarried and became a citizen and now it will be six years ago? where did she come from? host: fact checking on live tv is hard to do but i'm not sure about her marital past. what's on your mind, what public policy issue is on your mind? caller: let's see, public issue --

gosh, now i don't know what to ask. i will wait for another time but thank you anyway. host: this is frank and delaware, good morning. caller: good morning. i'm calling in reference to negotiations going on with the budget and various things. these democrats, all they want to do is spend money. they want to spend your money. the bottom line is, republicans are trying to save some money and you got to understand that these democrats cannot come up with anything. look at all the cities and all the things they run, it's no good. that's all i have to say. host: this is alvy in nebraska, democrat. caller: good morning, i would

like to say thank you to both parties for coming onto this program and for you to carry this program, this open forum to express views from both sides. the first thing i would like to say is a quick comment. that to the gentleman who just called. i would say to you that in the beginning in the 1980's, the republican party started [indiscernible] we are at $30 trillion. with each republican since then, there have been huge credit card uses of cash withdrawals to give to the super wealthy and tax breaks. i get the rich man does pay

their bills and keeps those jobs in america but i would reach out to every person that is wealthier than i, let's have some jobs in america. my statement is this -- we have bipartisan that needs to be used. for the house to try to have a bill come out that they would not negotiate to go before the president, to go to the senate and for our bills. i would say let's have a bias -- a bipartisan bill first then presented and i'm sure parties in the senate and the house

would be able to come together with something so we don't default. host: this is the headline from today's washington post -- he talked about the experience of border patrol in the wake of title 42 ending last week. [video clip] >> over the past two days, united states border patrol has seen an approximately 50% drop in the number of people encountered at our southern border as compared to the numbers earlier this week before title 42 came to an end midnight on thursday. we have been preparing for this transition for months and months. we have been executing on our

plan accordingly. our plan is very straightforward. there is a safe, lawful and orderly way to reach the united states and seek humanitarian relief. that is through the lawful pathways that we had expanded under president biden's leadership. then there is a dangerous way to arrive at our southern border in the hands of ruthless smugglers. we have to incentivize the use of the lawful pathways and dis-incentivize placing people's lives in the hands of smugglers and we are doing that. >> you said you will impose penalties who cross the border illegally. how are you doing that and is that happening yet? >> it certainly is and we have removed thousands of people who have arrived at our southern border. we are enforcing our traditional

immigration enforcement authorities under title eight of the united states code. we have also issued a rule that provides that if one arrives at the southern border without either accessing the lawful pathways we made available to them or seeking relief in one of the countries there which they have traveled, then they will have a higher threshold to meet to make a successful asylum -- >> you say there will be a five year ban of applying for asylum again. they could face criminal prosecution, are we seeing that yet? have you imposed any five-year bands yet? any criminal prosecutions? >> the sequence is as follows -- we have already removed thousands of people. if they try again, then they are met with the five year ban and

potential criminal prosecution. host: for more on the border and of -- in a post 42 -- a post title 42 world, we go to our next guest. guest: good morning. host: what does el paso look like today? are you seeing a decline in crossings in your area? guest: what he was saying about a decline in crossings is in fact what we are seeing here in el paso. we saw an influx of migrants in the two weeks before title 42. things have been relatively quiet in el paso. there are about 1000 apprehensions per day.

that's what the apparatus can handle here. any time there is a major shift in border policy, you see migrants take their time to react. what they knew about title 42 was that there would be a quick expulsion at the very worst. now with title eight and you heard secretary mayorkas mention their range of consequences for crossing irregularly or turn yourself in a port of entry which may or may not work. crossings are way down right now. host: on title eight, when was the last time that was in place in the migrants you are talking to, did the understand the process and you talk about how they understood what title 42 was all about so what do they know about title eight?

[no audio] we will get back to her when resume connection improves. we are talking about title eight. guest: it never went away, the nation's immigration law and includes a bunch of items including asylum and civil and criminal penalties for crossing the border illegally. we will see what happens next. that law has always been available in many of its provisions were effectively suspended since march of 2020 when the trump administration instituted the title 42 rule which allowed border authorities to quickly expel migrants to mexico where their home country. again, you heard the journalist

acting secretary mayorkas, have people begun to be prosecuted, we saw some of that in recent months as the border patrol began to transform port of policy back to title eight. it will really matter what happens in the next weeks and days as migrants arrive. what they know about it is going to come from the experiences of other migrants and from the misinformation that smugglers present. host: in the el paso area, how'd border officials manage the surge before the ending of title 42? there have been lawsuits about what to do with folks who are apprehended and what -- apprehended leading up to the

ending of title 42. guest: florida issued a temporary restraining order on the biden administration from releasing people under april process. what we saw in el paso in the days leading up to the end of title 42, it wasn't parole but it was the issuance of a notice to appear in immigration court. does migrants who were processed and found to have potentially a credible claim were released with these documents to appear in immigration court. we also continued to see expulsions here in el paso. the border patrol began expelling 250 migrants per day. those expulsions had stopped after the terrible fire in a detention center. it killed 48 migrants. we know quick expulsion is no longer an option for the border patrol but expedited removal

takes a little bit longer but it's effectively the same thing, voluntary return and deportation, there is a range of tools of the border patrol has to remove more dish migrants from the country. host: what are you watching for this week on your beat? guest: i'm interested to see how the ports of entry begin to process people. i understand there has been some upgrades made and we've been reporting terrible delays and the app freezing and has worked well for the majority some looking to see how that will play out. and whether people will be able to approach ports of entry. there are still cbp officers at the top of bridges where the united states line is.

they have been turning people back. i will be watching for the ways in which migrants attempt to use title eight to their advantage and how the border patrol reacts. host: you can read the el paso times on their website. thank you so much for your time and the update from el paso. guest: thank you. host: back to your phone calls in our open form, any public policy or political issue you want to talk about. about 15 minutes left of open form this morning. this is lucasville, ohio, go ahead. caller: i just heard onwgn news nation, the only station to

watch that they kicked veterans out of a hotel to make room for the illegals. host: what are your thoughts and how we are handling immigration in this country? caller: i think they are lousy. host: what would you like to see happen? caller: they just kicked veterans out of a hotel in new york to put in the illegals. because they were paid more money by the government caller: that joe biden albert administration. host: that is ohio state, california. go ahead. are you with us this morning?

caller: yes. i did not know i would be on so quick. [laughter] you know this situation of the border kind of reminds me of our withdrawal from afghanistan. even the president has said that we can expect a chaotic situation at the border for a while. and it has been chaotic ever since he took office and reversed trump's immigration policies. you know, i keep hearing this talking point that we have a broken immigration system. and that we need immigration reform laws. i think it was in 1976 where reagan signed an immigration reform bill where the people

that have come into the country illegally could on that condition that the border would be enforced. end of order has not been -- the border has not been enforced and it is not enforced now. you know, ia -- the media did not show any interest in what was happening at the border until ron desantis, the governor of florida sent migrants to martha's vineyard. and then it was they are all over it. oh my gosh, this is a terrible sadness, what a horrible man. they never showed any concern of what was happening at el paso, brownsville, or any of the other border communities that had far less in the way of financial resources to deal with the problem as martha's vineyard

did. the problem right now in this into airy city is that migrants are sweeping the floors of police stations in the city because there is nowhere to put them. in new york city, the mayor there, eric adams, is saying he may have to cut basic services for the citizens of that city because he spends billions of dollars putting migrants in up -- migrants up in hotels. and they shipped them to communities that do not want them area they never claim to be sanctuary cities. and in los angeles -- then he blames greg abbott for sending the migrants to his town. darrell -- well, where should te sent? host: we have the week ahead watch in politics it looks at the latest of ron desantis and election 2024. it went into overdrive may 5

when the florida legislative session ended. before it concluded they wrote a law that allowed mr. dissent's not yet allow his campaign for 2024 as president. and in polls he is second to donald trump amid his culture war agenda and his attack on disney. mike pence the former vice president appeared on fox news the same time fox -- same time donald trump appeared on cnn. and he said he had not decided to run yet and he was still looking at some of the non-donald trump candidates in the race for election. and we still have a open forum. we have democrat color. good morning. -- democrats -- democrat caller.

ok we are disconnecting please try to turn down your tv as you are on hold. thank you. caller: why are so many people coming from central and south america? it is happening in the countries where they want to leave their home of origin and families behind? what is so attractive about coming to the united dates? is it the money? did they think they will get on some sort of welfare or something or is this for those who are here and they want to move them to come to the united states? don't they really have -- want to remain in their own country. have the drug lords taken over everything? host: donna in illinois. this is craig in oakland. good morning. caller: good morning everybody.

i wanted to comment on something i heard over the weekend. james kolmar, republican committee investigating the biden crime family corruption. they have lost their whistleblowers. they have lost their whistleblowers. they are dogging their homework. that is all i wanted to say. host: the washington times in their lead editorial today. the focus is on the investigation of the oversight committee area judgment day for the white house allegations of the white house family corruption. taking a look at james comer's investigation. and investigations by other republican committees in the house. republican led committees including the judiciary committee. this is martin in florida. independent. good morning. caller: this same thing of kicking the veterans out of the

hotel rooms. i am of vietnam veteran, and when i came back home from vietnam we were treated pretty poorly. and now we are going back into the same situation where our government is not taking care of the veterans. i am so sick of this. everything is coming back down and something has got to be done because this country is going backwards. our veterans do not deserve this. even those who are our senior citizens, they are not being taken care of. i just hope and pray that someday they our government will look up and see what they are doing to the american people. letting all these illegal immigrants in and bringing them in and taking care of of them first is not right. i defended this country. i am a purple heart recipient and i will tell you that it hurts me very deeply to hear

that our veterans are being kicked out and put back on the streets or whatever they are doing to them. and having the illegal immigrants taken care of. this border control, they say is under control but it's not. it is a shame and it's very disgusting to me. i hope all the veterans of the united states jump in on the bandwagon and start telling our government, hey, let's bring america back to america not to other countries and not blink -- bring in illegal immigrants and put them before the american people. and i think you. host: this story on veterans and hotels and migrants. we've been leading the coverage on that. this is one of the latest stories on it. -- orange county hotels were

making way for migrants. the spokesperson for the group told the new york post over the weekend that they will be quick to condemn the eviction from several hotels. and it was first revealed by the post on saturday. leaders and the veteran community are quick to announce this eviction as well. former soldiers in the new york post again. this is tommy in georgia. republican area good morning. caller: yes, how are you doing? i am republican, but i am not a mag republicana and i believe is that -- believe in republican principles and what i am calling about is that they have all of these republican policies but they never talk about the people that return from the border every year under this president.

it never talks about how we stop separating families. we talk about the immigration policy now that is really stopping the people from coming to the border since they got to register in other countries before they get to us on the mid-america. -- in america -- asylum in america. host: do you think that they are doing well? caller: i think it is starting to work in america's favor. my thing is we are all a nation of immigration. therefore we have 2 million jobs out there and they will come in and do the jobs that a lot of americans do not want to do. it is our country that suffers, not the immigrants. so i think these people need to start telling the truth about what is happening in america

like broader, they passed new immigration law but on what? that will backfire on them because all the immigrants will start leaving and they will see how it hurts florida's economy . host: this is valerie and indiana. democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i just wanted to comment on the immigration problem and i agree with the former color when he said this is no new problem. the immigration problem has lasted for years. this, i call what we have now, the chickens coming home to roost. and it doesn't, it just happens to be now, because we have had this problem for years and years. republican, democrat, it does not matter. it really does not. because it is on all of them

that have bypassed this problem. and not set down like grown people and solved it. there is a way to solve it, but there is no will. and there has not been any will in washington for a long time. it don't matter if it is trump, biden, reagan, or whoever. we have this problem because these guys are avoiding trying to get a solution. host: cat is valerie in indiana. some members will be at least be talking about immigration and title 42 today when congress is back in session. the senate returns at 3:00 p.m. today and you can watch gavel-to-gavel coverage of the house here on c-span and the senate on c-span two. this is john in long island, independent, good morning. caller: good morning.

i just have a cleaning route, i was in the hamptons and the bank says take these bags out, there were 21 industrial sized bags. i put them in my car. i looked in the bag to see what i am carrying so i'm not caring liquids, and all i found was money orders. the lowest money order was $600. these money orders were going to mexico, guatemala, or south america. everything south. i called the fbi and told them something is going to happen. this is out of the ordinary. and i let the fbi kn and we still have a problem. when did this happen? where did this money go?

host: when did it happen? where you are talking about where you went through the money orders? caller: six months before they started crossing over the border. the money orders had receipts. i told the fbi that these money orders are going south. something is up. something is going to happen. i could not tell them what but these immigrant are not broke, they've got more money than i've got in the bank right now. host: that is john out of long island. one more call for open forum. this is linda. go ahead. caller: good morning. about the border. some people are saying we need help over there and with the migrants and stuff. but they she'll -- still should have a process to bring them over here.

the tabasco farm, they had green cards, and some are long, but they go back. you cannot just -- we have immigrants that are of course, we have a process where we had to learn english and have's to learn certain situations and things like that. you cannot open up your country to carry them because how many people that they send back -- you cannot do that. you do not open up a border and let anybody in without knowing it. you know. you can get jobs with green cards. that has been done in big tobacco farms. they come every year and they house them and everything and then they go back and then they come back again. that is what you do. host: that is linda in florida our last caller in the open forum.

stick around we have 45 minutes left in washington journal. during that time we will be speaking with neil bradley the chief policy officer in commerce. we will continue the conversation with border security and also talk about the debt ceiling. we will be right back. ♪ announcer: healthy democracy does not just look like this. it looks like this. where americans can see democracy work. and citizens are trillium form. -- are truly informed. get the true facts from c-span. unbiased, word for word, the opinion that matters is your own. this is what democracy looks like.

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chamber of commerce. near -- neil bradley is the chief policy officer they are. he has heard from members on both sides of the aisle. starting with the debt ceiling what are you telling them as the clock ticks down on whether you reach the debt limit. guest: the time is short. everyone was surprised by the june deadline. we should have worked on this weeks ago but that is a mishap now. we have had a few days to reach what will have to be a bipartisan agreement. at the end of the day it has to be a deal that supports republicans in the house, democrats and have the sick of president -- signature of president biden. the one policy we are following up on is there is a risk of miscalculation. you run up to the deadline and kind of coast in and get it over the line, but that is a recipe for miscalculation when you think it will take you a shorter period of time to round up the

votes in the house and senate to get it done we would -- done. we would like to see them turn in their homework a little earlier this time. host: you have seen this happen before. how concerned are you about this one compared to previous ones? guest: i'm more concerned that i was in 2011. i think the thing that is not well-known about that episode is that despite the policy disagreement between president obama and the republicans on capitol hill, we had a very good understanding and working relationship of what it took to get a debt limit deal done in order to avoid a default. both sides were committed to making sure we did not cross the line. this time a little more concerned that there may not be enough understanding of what it will take to get a deal passed through congress to the president's desk for a signature in time. i am more worried. host: so at that point in time

what is it mean. caller: i worked for eric cantor we were negotiating 2011. and that was with vice president biden. we actually spent we together. three days a week with the leaders of the house and senate and the vice president trying to find areas of common agreement. and we talked about some of the same things that they are talking about today. host: kevin mccarthy part of that leadership team back then. what is your assessment of how he is handling the discussions right now being one of the key voices in the room sitting down with the president last week? guest: i think he is doing all the things he needs to do. to unify the republicans to come up with a position. there seems to be a lot of skepticism in the town that the house republicans need to come together and pass a bill. they came together and passed a bill. they understandable required negotiation at this point. they asked to get back with the president and that finally happen.

he has done a good job of narrowing the scope of issues so that we can redefine bipartisan compromise. host: what is the bipartisan compromise? guest: there is three. we are sending him use covid monday. -- money. there's about $6 billion that the administration put into the system during the covid pandemic that it turns out we did not need. it is the right thing to do to reclaim the money and biden says he is open to that. and the second is coming up with a agreed-upon level of discretionary spending. currently we do not have cap it is up to the congress and and this ration on a year-to-year basis to decide how much they want to spend for this. you look back in history, one of the things that usually happens with debt limit deals when you do not have cash is you agree on new spending cap. so i think there is more there

for the administration of republicans and democrats on capitol hill to come together. but that is a policy issue around permitting. there is broad agreement on the left and right. it just takes too long to get the apartments into the country. whether it takes you more time doing paperwork in getting regulatory approval than the cost of -- the time it takes to build a bridge or road. shortening the process and streamlining and permitting i think both sides will agree on. we hope to see that. host: with you in the u.s. chamber of commerce, how long cash how often have you talked to congress about this? guest: we talked with him about this issue for years. on average it takes about 7.4 years to get a permit to build a bridge or eroded the date. -- in the united states -- or a road in the united date that is a long time to build. and it means that every project

cost more. if we can take the bridge we are building today let's say for everyone million dollars that it cost to build a bridge, if we started the project five years earlier, because we set up a permitting process we've saved about a hundred $70,000 or everyone million dollars that we spent. that is real money. that is value in money and savings it is the right thing to do. host: bradley with the u.s. chamber of commerce is with us until the end of the program today until 10:00 eastern. if you want to join the conversation you can do so on the phone line as general -- as usual. democrats (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001, independents (202) 748-8002. with the chamber of commerce committee businesses do you represent? guest: hundreds of thousands when you think about it is america's biggest countries --

companies. it is the ones you see on the s&p 500 and the dow jones. these are the ones that are often in towns and counties to american small businesses. we have a lot of members that are just a family business with two spouses and maybe the kids and grandkids. they are running a store on main street. the air proud to represent everyone from the small businesses in america to the large one. host: there is a liberty campaign push on the issue of immigration. guest: we are quite frustrated on two fronts. one with the chaos that we see on the southern border, and how long it is taking to gain control of the border and make sure people are coming into the country illegally -- are not coming into the country illegally. and having a good legal immigration system. if you look at one example of how both the systems are working we have people crossing the border illegally today who are getting a court date that may be

5-7, or 10 years from now to have their claims heard. but at the same time we have people legally coming into the country who have an advanced science degree. they want to come and work and help build his this is here in the united states, they are sometimes waiting 12, 13, 15 years before they can ever come into the country legally. both systems are broken so we are calling on congress to do something this year to secure the southern border and to begin reforming our broken immigration system. it should be harder to come into the country illegally and easier to come in legally. host: we have decades of failure on immigration. an that is despite efforts to overcome the system long before title 42. that is the headline taking a look back at the immigration debate in 2006, 2010, 2013, 2018, why is this such an

ongoing issue? what did you see going on and capitol hill in those meetings? guest: the problem has become so big so when you try to solve it with a comprehensive solution it tends to collapse under its own weight. that is one of the things we have seen. we are much more encouraged by taking a more pragmatic approach to the problem, but let's combine something to increase border security with a piece to reform the illegal immigration system. and let show republicans and democrats and be american people that we can actually make all grace on this complicated issue -- can make progress on this complicated issue. we want to solve the whole thing and one big comprehensive bill, that is the thing the new york times talked about and that takes a lot of effort that produces no result. that is what we cannot afford to allow to happen. host: the headline on the piece

tracking two decades of failure on immigration. it that is where you can find it on new york times. and you can call in and speak with neil bradley. you can do so. up forced -- up first, -- are you with us? go ahead. caller: i want to hear what you think about returning bankruptcy to student loans. because every other type of loan has the right of bankruptcy. why is congress so against this? guest: yes that's a great question. this is a compromise worked out decades ago that they said we would have a government stepped in and are vied a vital bridge to help -- and provide a vital bridge to help people get a

college degree. because we know college degrees has more earnings opportunity over the life of someone who achieved a college degree. and that is not something that will be allowed to be charged of bankruptcy because the government is stepping in and doing it. i think that is a possible policy in congress and what they could look at. it is certainly better than forgiving that -- debt across-the-board especially for those who do not need it. but that is a compromise from many years ago. host: is that not something the chamber supports? guest: our biggest concern with student debt loan forgiveness in the time of inflation is that broad-based when it is not adjusted into individual student needs will be inflationary. that is the big concern. we are talking about billions of dollars essentially of wealth transferred. host: why does it cost the college so high today and only

getting more and more expensive? guest: it is a broken economic model. in many ways. if you think about most things that you and i purchased, we are the consumer and we are also the payer. and someone is selling us that good. we are a stickler for making sure we get good value. we do not want to pay for things that we are spending our money on. we demand transparency, real value, sometimes we drive prices down. when you think about higher education today, the higher education that universities are providing it is the service i am consuming the service as a student, but oftentimes somebody else's paying. and bad third-party payer transaction does not really work well in economics because the university is not concerned about getting prices down, the consumer is not driving the value down, and the third-party payers are on the sidelines watching the prices go up.

so we really have to think about how we reintroduce the market forces in higher education. host: from oregon, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. the first thing on the student loans, there are a lot of poor students who cannot afford to pay their loans back and i do really feel for them. it is unlike our government. we have politicians who it is time to pay our bills and we will not pay them. s i wonder how that would workay with the student loans -- we do not want to repay this until -- will not pay them i wonder how that would work today if the students say we do not want to

repay this until -- in south america there is war and they are bringing their children and getting raped along the way. then they get to the border, what you want to do with them? you want to turn them around? i think i remember not too long ago when the war broke out in ukraine every country surrounding ukraine was a democratic country opened their borders with open arms. there people came out to the streets and fed them and did what they could because they cared about the people and they were fleeing a war. guest: that is a great point they are. one of the things that -- great point there. one of the things were going to have to do is make it easier for people to come into the country legally. when there is not a way for

somebody to have a legal opportunity to come to the united states, they often resort to the illegal means. that is why combining more enforcement and stopping illegal immigration with increasing log all -- legal opportunities and immigration we think is the right solution to help address the problems at the border. and also to help america grow0 . we need more people coming into the united states and opening businesses on main street to fill the open jobs that we have. this is a way to solve those problems. host: how many people do you let legally into the country each year and where with the chamber like to see that number? guest: we have about a billion people coming in legally each year. and on the employment-based size those numbers were set in 1990. i do not know about you, but i

am not driving the car i had in 1990. i'm not using the same personal computer i had in 1990. we are a bigger and different country than we were 33 years ago. we have the same immigration rules that were written back then which does not make a lot of sense. that is an example where -- just a story over the weekend in politico, tens of thousands of nurses, people who aren't nursing degree would love to come to the united states and be nurses here -- who earned a nursing degree would love to come to the united states and becoming -- be a nurse here. but we do not have enough individuals -- opportunity for individuals to come in. and that also hurts our health care system. host: are you talking about those who were not americans? guest: no, by the way we have a

lot of americans looking for work although we have more open jobs than we have people in the united states looking for work today. that is unusual. if you look back over history, normally we have more people looking for work then we have open jobs. so we have high and employment rate. today, we have generational low-end and women because for every 100 jobs that were open, someone is saying i want to hire, the help wanted sign is on the window, we only have 66 people actually out looking work. host: in delaware this is duty and independent. good morning. caller: good morning how are you gentlemen this morning? host: doing well. what is your question or comment? caller: my comment is this. with the influx of illegal immigrants, we have 85,000 children that are unaccounted or and lost. we do have laws about children

and we are finding kids working in places where they shouldn't be. we also have sex trafficking, human, drug trafficking, so how does this benefit us in any way shape or form? and there is a thing called -- servitude that we go to the people running the border and also -- i do not see how it is good for anybody on either side. guest: that's it's ackley right it is not good for anybody. it is a humanitarian crisis. at the end of the day -- that is exactly right. it is not good for anybody. it is a humanitarian crisis. anybody needs to look at it with the nonbiased and see the consequences. and they should not feel anything but anger that this is happening in the united states. to solve the problem we have to update our policy. the u.s. chamber, we are leaving

that. this coalition over 430 groups from all 50 states who are saying it is time for policymakers, republicans and democrats with the building over here and be u.s. capitol to figure out what we can do to reform the illegal immigration system and secure the border. and the good news of his there are a lot of good ideas -- good news is they are a lot of good ideas out there. and we are looking to start a process. host: cbs news last week -- i want to get the chamber pots. lawmakers in iowa passed a bill last week that would allow children to work an additional two hours each week and -- it filed 542 and it awaits the approval with the signature and it would join other states that have dial back long-standing child labor protections and they are looking to do so.

arkansas passed a new hiring act in march where it required children under 16 to have an employment certificate before they are hired. guest: i think this is something that lawmakers ought to take the a hard look we obviously do not want oura children or teenagerst. working in a dangerous situation. -- we obviously do not want our teenagers or children working in a dangerous situation. but at the same time, there are some jobs that a 13 and 14-year-old can do. it does make some sense. but we do not want to have a rule that prohibits the blanket but we do not want to have rules that are so >> that we are not protecting -- that are so relaxed that we are not protecting teenagers. host: is that something that the

state does or something that the government does? guest: something the state does. host: good morning. caller: good morning. great topic. i wanted to talk i was listening to the show yesterday about immigration. these people go to jungles or trudge through jungles. -- trudge through jungles. my husband is an immigrant and i knew what he has gone through to be here. but i don't hear anybody talking about it. i visited the country it is 45 minutes from loretta biplane. why is there more help to help people so they can stay in their countries? i know that we don't want to send the military a all thatnd but there has to be something to

help people make money for their families. using people back there. the resources are used. i am so upset. host: not the first color to bring this up today when we talked about immigration -- first caller to bring this up today of how we can help individuals so that they do not risk their lives coming here as well. guest: that can be part of it. they can ensure that the drug cartels are not running the countries. the united states has a long history of helping other governments. he successfully by example -- pretty successfully if you look at the example with columbia. and this also has to be important part of it. these countries need economic opportunity read part of the economic opportunity ought to be

able to make and sell things in the united states. we do not want to be taking down some of the -- we want to take down trade barriers that would allow more job opportunities for people in their home countries. host: richard, independent. good morning. caller: how are you doing? my comment is about our congress. we have 535 total with the senate and us what is with these people that vote by party? you know, i think when we elect them, we elect them to represent the people of the country. it doesn't seem like they do much in favor of this. it is like our president he -- now, we are proposing a bill

with the debit ceiling and vito is something that our president supposedly our president will veto regardless. this is kind of like the bs that we go through with taxpayers and citizens, you know, i'm going to be 77, i was in the military, i was in vietnam, and i hear these things about veterans all the time. it kind of makes me mad. host: a couple different issues there. guest: you know, unfortunately our politics is more polarized today between republicans and democrats on capitol hill and they tend to more often than not vote the party line. we have fewer members of congress who are -- crossing the aisle and figure out the bipartisan solutions.

the problem is, if we will get anything done in the biden government, you have to have the bipartisan solution. we look at what is the risk and reward? for too many elected officials today, there is too much risk in being seen working with the other side of the iowa. -- of the isle. one thing that we ought to think about as americans who do not like this level of our relation is to think that we are encouraging elected officials to find areas of common agreement across the aisle. and we need to have a reward for the been members of congress who work across the aisle because we want to reward the behavior that we see from the officials. host: give an example of somebody doing that. guest: the republican from nebraska. he comes on this program and he will take hard questions but he

is also looking for solutions. abigail spanberger who does not -- who represents the democrat , richmond area. she is known for trying to find bipartisan solution. you have individuals in the senate tom tello, or tongue -- todd young, important leaders or when these things happen it is because they get together and find bipartisan compromise. host: bradley with the you are -- chamber of commerce, and the largest business organization in the country. i want to share this from the washington post. the writer is mark mullen. chief executive and --bank he talks about the four-day workweek and why he thinks it would work. we use the four-day workweek cutting 3.5 hours also the way

you work week and we leave the pay unchanged. it worked out to be 9% of the cost of each staff member. he said in ways were very receptive, but there were no measurable deteriorations in productivity. what that tells us is there is a buffer in just about every company. i do not believe staff members are lazy with fewer hours in the work week encourages everyone to be more efficient. what do you think? guest: this is the great thing about america's free enterprise is. it is about you run a business like this gentleman does. you see an opportunity to reward your employees without hurting your efficiency or productivity, you have the freedom to make that decision. -- it also means that when it does not work for another company, they are not forced to abide by the same as that do not work for them. -- by the same rules that do

not work for them. how many of us thought we would be working so much virtually in different sectors before the pandemic. it turns out a lot of employee -- companies have figured out a way for them to work virtually. what we are most concerned about is that businesses have the freedom without it heavy-handed government to make the decisions. so they can figure out what works best for them and they are in use. host: but you're saying we are not likely seeing a chamber campaign on the four-day workweek? guest: we are not. no. caller: i am loving this conversation. i want to tell you why. i think are huge problems that we have, we need to restart the civilian conservation corps. host: do you want to restart the ccc? caller: i thought i lost the call.

i think we could engage a lot of kids that are students that have student debt to enable them to work off their debt in a way that is really a win, win, win situation. you could have immigrants working in. we have hybrid policies with the government now. we were in network for a private industry company, but medicare has highlighted policies. it is hybridized with our network. so it works already in our set up system. we just have all kinds of problems with -- we have streams that need protected and areas around them that need to be rebuilt. bridges -- all kinds of things that civilian conservation corps could do. i was wondering what kind of talk is happening right now about that if any? guest: the caller brings up an important point. there's a lot of things that we

need to do in this country and we do not have a people to do it. that is why the u.s. chamber launched this campaign of legal immigration with it being enforced of this year liberty. because we do not have enough people to build bridges, work in the businesses that have or higher signs out. the basic fundamental problem is we need more people in the workforce and to reform our legal immigration system so it is easier for people to come here and work. and we can address a lot of the issues that the caller mentioned. and have a bigger, better growing economy. we are raising the federal minimum wage -- host: are you raising the federal minimum wage to get people in the workforce? guest: yes, it is almost irrelevant when you look at the starting wages on the lower scale today. when you look at the minimum wage and states. i think we could increase the

minimum wage and adjust it for inflation from the last time it was raised and it would have almost zero material impact on the starting wages of the american because the economy is limply -- simply pass by the moment and time where minimum wage was accepted. host: frank good morning. republican. caller: yes, i was calling about the debt. i would like to know what we have so much going on with the national sales tax. just in the stock market, bond market, and commodities there were $400 billion which leads to over $4 trillion a year. and they put a tax on anything else that is trading by buyers, something that could get it to an over $4 trillion and it brings it to a trillion dollars and you could put $2 trillion on the debt. and then when you add in social security, defense, and everything else. why is everybody so opposed to

going with the national sales tax? host: are you opposed to a national sales tax? guest: from a practical sales point, we do not have sales at the federal level. many european countries do. instead we rely on income taxes with labor and capital gain. if you wanted to raise the most amount of money, you would add the sales tax on top of that. that would be a devastating tax impact. if you think prices are high today, add another layer of tax on the system level, in the past, people have talked about swapping a sales tax for the current system of taxation. that has proven to be really hard to get into surround. so i think -- get consensus around. so i think we are most focused on the lower marginal effective tax rate so we can encourage people to invest and work. that is what we need more of more people investing and more people working to contribute to

a bigger, growing economy. host: how did the chamber feel about the trump air attacks and did they deliver? -- trump era tax and did they deliver? guest: they did. incomes came in across the board. with the lowest tax in the united states. we saw a shrinking of the wealth gap between the richest and forest americans. we saw capital pouring into all of these major infrastructure investments in the private sector. importantly, we saw the best labor force that we had ever seen in terms of number of people unemployed. fewer people unemployed since the late 1960's. obviously the pandemic move that up, but when you think about where we are today in the employment picture, it is clear

that we are enjoying a lot of the benefits of the tax reform which leads to the discussion we will have in 2025 where a lot of the revisions expire. all that more important. host: this is james in connecticut. republican. good morning. caller: thank you. i am very much conservative person. i have my own company and technology for a while. what i have seen in my question for good chamber of commerce is it seems like the u.s. economic policy is always focused on two or three year horizons at most. i want to specifically speech -- speak to the issue right now with migration. all the years ago it said that nasa with the -- was a giant of a man -- american manufacturing leave in the united states and in many areas he was right and i was against that. but when i look at that issue

now, i have friends in venezuela, colombia, and what is happening is, the russians and the chinese are grabbing all the resources in the countries from the american government, and specifically under joe biden's inapt administration. where is nasa for north and south america where we can look at providing manufacturing jobs in these areas and use them as a supply chain to the united eggs. i am very worried, my son got out of the military, when we come to the supply chain and any altercation with china we will be contacting them asking for the uses for the bombs and we will be begging them for penicillin for our soldiers. can you lease week about what the chambers can -- chambers position on the -- agreement and where is it going quickly? we did not have 10 years. host: ok we will take the

question. guest: that is a really important point. sissy united states last join a freedom agreement with any country. in the same decade the world had over 100 trade deals. about 10 years ago, the united states was negotiating a trade, the transpacific partnership that involved being entire world around the pacific ocean with the exception of china. it wouldn't been great for american agricultural producers in getting access to japan and australia. it would have more resilient supply chains for the united states that did not rely on china. and we walked away from that deal. interestingly what is happening today we are on the outside and china is the one trying to get into the trade deal. whether it is north and south america, the specific brand,

europe, we did not have any trade with the u.k. our longest ally. we have to get back to the trade agreements that benefit the united states. and the second point that they raise as well, we do not have a coherent policy that make sense across the board. for example renewable energy. we are making a big push for things, but it requires critical member -- minerals, at the same time we are not permitting the mind that would allow us to get that in the united states which means we are more reliant on china. we really have to do a better job of cord mating the policies over the long-term so that they work together. host: a few minutes left with nero -- neil bradley dt policy officer in the chamber of commerce. we have a comments online that is where you can find them. we have a caller from maryland.

good morning. caller: good morning how are you? host: doing well. can you turn your tv down. caller: party me? host: we you turn your tv down. caller: sure. sorry. host: go ahead with your question. caller: i have a two-part statement that i want to make. yes, host: what is your two-part question? go ahead. caller: about the immigration process. i noticed over the years that every time the haitians tried to come over, someone mentioned the haitians earlier, and every time they try to come over, you mentioned they were coming over by both that stuff like that. but you always sent them back. they have never been able to successfully make it into the united states. so you have all of these people crossing here, why don't you

send them back like you send the asians back? why are they making it over here successfully and we are processing them through? host: on treating migrants from different countries from different ways. guest: unfortunately it is a symptom of the broken immigration system. we do not have a coherent policy to deal with people who are trying to escape violence or extreme poverty. we do not have avenues or them to come here legally. and we treat them differently when they arrive illegally. that is wet we are going to congress to address. this will not be fixed we will never fix a broken, illegal border system or the legal immigration system unless congress gets in the game and steps up the law. host: last call from florida. republican. caller: good morning. i have a question for you. on social security.

it seems that we have many immigrants coming to this country and they do not qualify in reference to the years that they have put into the system and then they are getting the full benefits of the social security system. is that something that could be changed and the question is, why isn't the government doing more to go ahead and allow more projects for people that don't have education rules and other types of work throughout the country? guest: on the latter point, the jobs are out there. the one thing that we most frequently hear from our members of the u.s. chamber regardless of the industry and regardless of size, regardless of whether they argue -- where they are located in the united states. they have a hard time and that

is for engineers and scientists all the way down to people working construction. so, there are plenty of opportunities they are. i would say that reforming illegal immigration has more people to come in and work legally you mean -- more revenue for the government. that would address the physical problems again. that is not a principal reason to do it but it is an added writ -- added benefit. host: you can learn more on the u.s. chamber of commerce website and you can also volo neil bradley on twitter at neil bradley d.c.. we appreciate the time. guest: thank you for having me. host: that will do it for us at this morning on the washington journal. 3:00 p.m. is when the senate comes in today. you can watch it on c-span and the c-span2. we will be back here tomorrow morning at 7:00 ame's earn.

in -- eastern -- 7:00 a.m. eastern. and in the meantime, have a great morning. ♪ >> congress returns later today for legislative business and votes. e house gavels back in at noon eastern. lawmakerwi consider several police-related bills later today in observance ofatnal police week, including a resolio memorializing fallen polic officers killed in the line of duty. later this week, the house will also vote on lislation to allow immigran cvicted of assaulting law enforcement office tbe deported and another measure allowing del police officers to buy firearms after they're retired from official use. the senate is back iseion later today at 3:00 p.m. eastern. senateawmakers will continue debating more psident biden's judicial nominations. at 5:30 eastern, a confirmation

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