the right wing attack machine up in arms today over something democratic congressman john dingell of aid on a conservative talk radio show. dingell was asked why the changes in the health care reform bill have to be implemented over time, gradually, over the next four years. here's what he said. >> the harsh fact of the matter is when you're going to pass legislation that will cover 300 american people in different ways, it takes a long time to do the necessary administrative steps that have to be taken to put the legislation together, to control the people. >> oh, that set off a frenzy of comments on the right wing blogs about how democrats are fascist and want to enslave you. congressman dingell will set the record straight in a moment. >>> first, i'd like to remind our audience, give you a little history the man the righties are attacking. john dingell is dean of the house. he's been a public servant for 55 years. he started as a house page at the age of 16. he took over his dad's seat in congress in 1955 and has been re-elected by the voters in his district in michigan more than t

i yield two minutes to the distinguished dean of the house, john dingell from michigan. mr. dingell: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dingell: madam speaker, i thank my colleague mr. waxman for his leadership and his gracious comments. i want to thank and praise our speaker, our majority leader and the leader in the senate for the great leadership they have given us in this time. today is a day that's going to rank with the day we passed the civil rights bill in 1964. today we are doing something that ranks with what we did with social security and medicare. this is a day in which we can all be proud if we vote for that legislation. facts are an intransgent, hard thing. let's look at the facts of that this does. 32 million americans are going to have health care that don't now. america, which has health care of the best character in the world, does not make it available to 32 million of its people because they can't afford it. and americans every day are losing their health care. 18,000 ame

speaker of the house nancy pelosi announcing she used a gavel on loan from 27-term congressman john dingellealth care reform bill. it's been a mission of congressman dingell during all his years in congress. he's proposed health care reform at the start of every session and last night his yes vote helped send legislation to the president's desk for later this week something no congress has been able to do for over a half century. mr. dingell, back with us this afternoon. describe your emotions. >> it was great. my dad would be proud. i am delighted. my colleagues are happy and the interesting thing is we have done a great good for the people of the united states and solved a massive humanitarian, social and a massive economic problem that is destroying the american economy. >> for those who look at this as a tremendous start as setting a new mark for the debate where you have expansion of coverage but they believe there's messengerful opportuni meaningful opportunity, what do you say? >> i say yes. this will be a tremendous stride forward. 95% of americans will be covered by health insuranc

erce committee john dingell democrat of m. mr. -- michigan. some news reports this morning said that the house of representatives wants to have healthcare done by march 18 when the president leaves the country. is that going to happen? guest: i can't tell you that. we have run in nothing but trouble as we have progressed on this matter. if you will recall i have been trying to get it enacted for 54 years. i'm hopeful we are going to be able to do it and i believe we will. but there is almost total partisan opposition from my republican colleagues on this legislation including tremendous amounts of effort to at all almost everything in the senate. host: you wrote an op-ed recently for the "detroit free press" i believe it was where you said that the bill is bipartisan but the vote will not be bipartisan. guest: i think that is a fair statement. there are a lot of things in that bill which were ideas which the republicans had. it is far different than the bill which i would have had. i would go for single payer. host: that is what h.r. 1 is each

i am glad for john dingell the have his day, and john dingell has been very helpful in keeping us allin communication and urging us to continue to make these discussions with the white house. is a fountain of knowledge and at times when it things -- like things would go by, mr. dingell -- i kept them well informed of what he was doing and he kept me well informed of what i should be doing. [laughter] any other questions? thank you all. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> i don't know. you have asked him. -- you would have to ask him. >> following this news conference, a group of anti- abortion republicans spoke about how the executive order would have no legal effect on restricting abortion funding. speaking first is congressman chris smith, who chairs the caucus. this is about half an hour. >> let me say how grateful we are for those who have stood up for all the sanctity of human life. what we are experiencing here in this legislation that has brought to the house, we're looking at legislation that conta

up next is the dean of the house of representatives john dingell. talking about healthcare and other administrative issues but first a news update. >> it is 8:24 eastern. president obama talks about green jobs today when he visit as small business in arlington, virginia. c-span radio will bring you the remarks later on. update on the shooting at the pentagon yesterday. authorities speaking at a news conference earlier say the gunman who shot two pentagon police officers was heavily armed and spent weeks driving to the capital area from the west coast. resentment of the u.s. government and suspicions over the 9/11 attacks have surfaced in writings about the man. he reportedly had previous run-ins with the law. he was fatally wounded in the return fire. on capitol hill there is word massachusetts democratic congressman bill delahunt will announce his retirement today. he tells "the boston globe" he wants to spend more time with family and young granddaughter. he oversaw a shooting case in 1986 when he was the norfolk county district attorney and decli

i yield two minutes to the distinguished dean of the house, john dingell from michigan. mr. dingell: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dingell: madam speaker, i thank my colleague mr. waxman for his leadership and his gracious comments. i want to thank and praise our speaker, our majority leader and the leader in the senate for the great leadership they have given us in this time. today is a day that's going to rank with the day we passed the civil rights bill in 1964. today we are doing something that ranks with what we did with social security and medicare. this is a day in which we can all be proud if we vote for that legislation. facts are an intransgent, hard thing. let's look at the facts of that this does. 32 million americans are going to have health care that don't now. america, which has health care of the best character in the world, does not make it available to 32 million of its people because they can't afford it. and americans every day are losing their health care. 18,000 ame

johnson, from bill and hillary clinton to one of the deans who has been fighting this so long, john dingell. [applause] to senator ted kennedy -- [applause] it is fitting that heads would go, vicki, is here. -- it is fitting that his widow, vicki is here. [applause] it is fitting that teddy's widow of the key is here and his niece caroline, his son patrick whose vote helped make this bill at reality. [applause] i remember seeing ted walked through that door in a summit in this room one year ago, one of his last public appearances and it was hard for him to make it. he was confident that we would do the right thing. our presence here today is remarkable and improbable. with all the pundits and lobbyists and the game playing that passes for governing in washington, it has been easy at times to doubt our ability to do such a big thing, such a complicated thing. to wonder if there are limits to what we as a people can still achieve. it is easy to succumb to the sense of cynicism about what is possible in this country. to date we are affirming that essential truth, the truth every generation is

congressman john dingell whose father offered universal health care back in 1953.health care reform victory from last night. >> imperial billiards made custom pool tables. now they have pellets that account for 50% of their business. for more, watch msnbc on sunday mornings with "your business." at&t covers 97% of all americans. that's right, 97%. which means you can talk, text, email or go online from almost anywhere. so whether you're in portland, oregon, or portland, maine... washington, d.c., or seattle, washington, or somewhere in between, at&t has the coverage you need. hopefully that sheds a little light on the subject. ♪ let's wind 'em with precision. open our throttle to even more selection. and turn that savings swagger up full tilt. ♪ so when the time comes to bust open a can of doing... we've got all the tools for all the things we need to make 'em happen. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now, get miracle gro garden soil for flowers and vegetables for just $3.97. right now, get miracle gro garden soil band now we're ins

host: john dingell is our guest first-time callers only this morning. are talking of the health care in the health-care debate. representative dingell can talk about anything legislative with you. for if it is going to go from 12,000 per family to 25,000 per family, how to bridge that gap? is it deficit spending? is a cost control? is it all of the above it? guest: we cannot undergo that without consequences. we will get the cost curve down. it is what richard nixon wanted us to do during his career. the total percentage of healthcare is the gross domestic product. it could take what clinton wanted to do, it to be about 8 team. -- 18. something needs to be done to control the cost. the bill does. we can write that off host: why have you always introduce health care? why did your father always introduced national health care. guest: is an interesting story. i was in the west side of detroit. he had tuberculosis. he was said to die of tuberculosis in his home. he survived. it that the health care -- he survived because he got the health care. that particu

joining me is congressman john dingell. let's get an update from you on how you see the votes shaping up from your vantage point? >> we're going to win. the bill is going to pass. it's going to the president to be signed. 32 million people are going to get health care. we're going to see for the first time in a long time we're passing a massive budget reduction bill. and a deficit reduction bill. something which will mean 130-some billion dollars in reductions during the first ten years of the bill. in the second ten years, over $1.3 trillion. >> so representative dingell, the way you portray this bill, it's a wonder republicans would not be on board with this. why are they not? and with the public being deeply skeptical, do you worry democrats may have a big risk ahead come elections in november? >> we're sent down here to do what is right. that's why we're paid. having said that, the republicans oppose social security, medicare and guaranteed bank deposits. all matter of legislation like this, including food stamps, has b

from bill and hillary clinton to one of the deans who has been fighting this so long, john dingell. to senator ted kennedy. and it is fitting that ted's widow, vicki, is here. i remember seeing ted walk through that door in a summit in this room a year ago, one of his last public appearances. and it was hard for him to make it. but he was confident that we would do the right thing. >> when it came time to talk about the legislation the president said health care reform would soon speak for itself. >> in a few moments when i sign this bill all of the overheated rhetoric over reform will finally confront the reality of reform. this year tens of thousands of uninsured americans with pre-existing conditions, the parents of children who have a pre-existing condition will finally be able to purchase the coverage they need. that happens this year. this year insurance companies will no longer be able to drop people's coverage when they get sick. they won't be able to place life time limits or restrictive annual limits on the amount of care they can receive. this year all new insurance plans

signed, sincerely, john d. dingell, member of congress. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. members please take your conversations off the floor. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on the motion to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered, or on which the vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. any record vote on the postponed question will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4573 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4573 a bill to direct the secretary of the treasury to instruct the united states executive directors at the international monetary fund, the world bank, the inter-american development bank and other multilateral development institutions to use the voice vote and influence of the united states to cancel immediately and completely haiti's

very ugly and very disturbing and to my mind disproportionate to the legislation, this is, as john dingell has said, somewhere to the right of where richard nixon was. i think we should remember, as important this is, we need to look at it proportionately and with a sense of balance. >> speaking about balance, mike murphy, there are a lot of republicans who seek a little balance in all this discussion of history. there's a congressman who wrote on his website, just because it's historic doesn't mean it's good. >> i think that's right. i think it's a bad bill. i don't like it because it's not about cost, but only about access. the access problem is driven by cost. i think the truth is it's the end of the beginning on health care. the congre we'll have after the november elections, i'd be willing to bet it's a different kind of congress, may still be democratic but the numbers will be much tighter. this bill couldn't pass that congress. this country doesn't like this bill. this is long term here. this is only the beginning. i believe four to five years from now, when this takes effect, the s

john dingell. and he will be our cleanup here, but this morning he came forward in the caucus with a gavel in hand and delivered it to our speaker. the single most responsible person for this night's success. speaker nancy pelosi. and she, tonight, gavelled a continuation of that commitment to ensure that all americans have access to affordable, quality health care. tonight, or this morning, is not for speeches. it to safe the victory, not a party, nor of this leadership, but for the american people. i am pleased to now yield to the gentleman from south carolina. he and i started out together in the young democrats over 50 years ago. >> no. >> still young. >> well, 45 or 46. >> that's a big difference. >> mark, you remember. who did an extraordinary job in answering the question of whether we'd have the votes. jim clyburn of south carolina. >> thank you, thank you, thank you very much, mr. leader. let me just take a moment to say how proud i am to be serving this particular juncture with this group

moments ago i spoke to long-time health care reform advocate representative john dingell. >> well, we're going to win. the bill is going to pass. it is going to the president to be signed, and 32 million people are going to get health care. >> nbc's luke russert is live on capitol hill for us. with another good morning to you, luke. we have the democrats sounding more confident. they're going to get to 216. is that how you hear it? >> yeah, that's what i'm hearing, alex. you saw mr. dingell who's actually been in the house since 1955. has introduced legislation on this magnitude every year since he's been in this house. the words i'm hearing are extremely cautiously optimistic. they are right there, right around that 216 magic number. some -- one democrat i spoke to recently says there are about 214. some go about 210, 212. either way, those are well within striking distance for house speaker nancy pelosi and president obama. so cautious optimism seems to be the day up here on capitol hill, very close to making this dream for many a reality. >> yeah. okay. we have a big story that will e

. >>> though there are several democrats still on the fence, congressman john dingell says he's confident passed. michigan democrat joined me a short while ago. >> we're going to win. the bill is going to pass. it is going to the president to be signed, and 32 million people are going to get health care. it also is so that we're going to see that for the first time in a long time, we're passing a massive budget reduction bill and a deficit reduction bill, something which will mean 130-some-billion dollars in reductions during the first ten years of the bill, and during the second ten years, over $1.3 trillion. >> well, msnbc will have live coverage all day tomorrow as the house prepares to take this historic vote. keep it right here on msnbc sunday for final round of the health care battle. >>> the director of the cia says al qaeda is on the run and lacking for leadership in the wake of an aggressive operation by the agency. this week leon panetta reveals the cia believes osama bin laden and his top deputy have gone deeper into hiding. >>> also this week, a former cia field operative is d

he has a long relationship with john dingelle, who is fighting for this legislation and has been for 60 years. it will be interesting to see if they can come up with an executive order that says no federal funding for abortion and see if that resolves some of the concerns. it didn't resolve the concerns of marsy. she came out this morning. congressman stupak said his group is down to about six members who are solidly wanting this legislation changed. host: how critical are six votes? guest: six votes is huge. they can't afford to have slippage among any other democrats, people like lorta sanchez. they need those people to show up. if they do come up with some kind of final compromise, which seems unlikely, this bill could pass fairly easily, but it doesn't seem like that is in the cards. host: next is a telephone call from greg. greg opposes the legislation, watching in robertsville, alabama. you're on. caller: the whole problem is there are two many people who want something for nothing, and it is a large step for socialism. health care is not a right, it's a privilege. longevity of

we have representative john dingell of michigan.our stories on the president paz budget continues with the head of the women's policy research institute. >> we are in the business of trying to help our students, predominately them women and some of these older women and men who come to us understand that you should focus on achievement in your own life and not be looking to grab headlines. >> meet the woman credit for turning around trinity washington university. this weekend, former republican presidential candidate mitt romney and his latest book, no apology,"he argues that a strong america is essential for the world. >> an oversight hearing on government aid to citigroup. the financial services company that has received $45 billion from these troubled asset relief program noticed tarp. witnesses included the citibank ceo. this is slightly less than an hour and half. >> we will put your written statement and the record. >> thank you. thank you for inviting me here. citigroup today is a fundamentally different company from what we

from bill and hillary clinton to one of the deans who's been fighting this so long, john dingell.kennedy. and it's fitting that ted's widow vicki is here. it's fitting that teddy's widow vicki is here and his niece, caroline, his son patrick, whose vote helped make this reform a reality. i remember seeing ted walk through that door in a summit in this room a year ago, one of his last public appearances. and it was hard for him to make it. but he was confident that we would do the right thing. we are a nation that faces its challenges and accepts its responsibilities. we are a nation that does what is hard, what is necessary, what is right. here in thisountry, we shape our own destiny. that is what we do. that is who we are. that is what makes us the united states of america. and we have now just enshrined, as soon as i sign this bill, a core principle. that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care. and it is an extraordinary achievement that has happened because of all of you and all the advocates all across the country. so thank you. may god bl

>> well, i think john dingell is dead wrong about that.te. that is unprecedented in american history and i think unprecedented in any health care legislation. i don't know that i would have used the word armageddon but it is important for the american people to understand, this is extraordinary. the american government has never ever, ever inserted it selves in the lives and the businesses of the american body politic the way this administration is doing, and this bill goes stunningly further and that anything anybody had con tem plated before. republicans do have ideas and we should be talking about those ideas. i think there are many failures in this legislation you're seeing. >> with respect sir, particularly given perhaps the demographic. >> you can call me john. >> or shadegg. >> with the demographics potentially of some of your constituents in arizona, i think social security and medicare, which involved broad-based taxation would count as interference in the lives of the american people on arguably a larger scale. >> fascinating poi

johnson, from bill and hillary clinton to one of the deans who had been fighting this so long, john dingell -- [applause] to senator ted kennedy. and it is fitting that ted's widow is here. [applause] it is fitting that teddy's widow is here and his niece, caroline, his stoon patrick, whose vote helped make this reform reality. i remember seeing ted walked through that door and a summit in this room a year ago, one of this last public appearances. it was hard for him to make it. but he was confident we would do the right thing. our presence here today is remarkable and improbable. with all the punditry and the lobbying, all the game playing that passes for governing in washington, it has been easy to doubt our ability to do such a big, complicated thing. to wonder if there are limits to what we as a people can still achieve. it is easy to succumb to the sense of cynicism about what is possible in this country. today, we are affirming that essential truth, a treat every generation is called to rediscover for itself, that we are not a nation that scales back its aspirations. we are not a nati

after that, john dingell talks about his career in congress. then the joint economic committee reviews february employment figures. this week on america & the courts , the australian chief justice discusses -- the chief justice discusses the four lot in domestic courts issue. that is tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> the next to journalism must be one that is open to blog and e-mails that are hammering slight fists on the door to be let into the conversation to add new information, to raise new questions, to suggest new context. >> winners of this year's national press foundation awards talk about the role of journalism in a changing society saturday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span. >> former massachusetts governor in 2008 gop presidential candidate mitt romney discusses a range of issues including health care and the economy, government debt, and national security, and talks about the obama administration's handling of the issues. this event lasts about one hour. >> we are committed to our club. you can visit our web site at www.pres

lyndon johnson, from bill and hillary clinton to one of the deans who been fighting this along, john dingelltor ted kennedy, and it is fitting that ted's will come vicki -- that tads widow -- ted's widow, vicki, is here, and his knees caroline, and his son patrick, whose vote help make this reform our reality. i remember seeing ted will through that door to a summit in this room a year ago, one of his last public appearances. and it was hard for him to make it. but he was confident that we would do the right thing. our presence here today is remarkable an improbable. with all the punditry, all lobbying, all the game playing that passes for governing in washington, it has been easy at times to doubt our ability to do such a big thing, such a complicated thing. to wonder if there were limits that we as a people can still achieve. it is easy to succumb to the sense of cynicism about what is possible in this country. but today we are affirming that essential truth, the truth every generation is called to rediscover for itself, that we are not a nation that scales back its aspirations. we are not

johnson, from bill and hillary clinton to one of the deans who has been fighting the so long, john dingellause] to senator ted kennedy -- [applause] it is fitting that his widow vicky is here. [applause] it is fitting that his widow the key is here and his niece caroline, his son patrick was a boat helped make this reform a reality. [applause] i remember seeing ted walked through that door in a summit in this room one year ago, one of his last public appearances and it was hard for him to make it. he was confident that we would do the right thing. our presence here today is remarkable and improbable. with all but pundits and lobbyists and game playing that passes for governing in washington, it has been easy at times to doubt our ability to do such a big thing, such a complicated thing. to wonder if there are limits to what we as a people can still achieve. it is easy to succumb to the sense of cynicism about what is possible in this country. today, we are affirming that essential truth, the truth that every generation is called to rediscover for itself, that we are not a nation that scale

first political experience, as i remember it, was as a kid passing out leaflets for the dad of john dingell. his father introduced a health care bill, how many decades ago , and before him others. going back to teddy roosevelt. no huge radical. so now decades later we come to a moment when we can step up to the plate and you call it a different nation. no, i say it's in the best traditions of the united states of america. so this is simply a bill to reassure. don't use it as an opportunity to talk about something else. we want to say clearly to the veterans of this country and to the families of those veterans, to everybody who is part of that family, that their health care is going to be protected. that's the purpose of this legislation. i now yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all time has expired. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4887, as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill -- mr. levin: i

the energy and commerce committee under the leadership of henry waxman and formerly john dingell and the ways and means committee under the leadership of charles rangel and now under the leadership of sander levin from michigan. thank them very much. the energy, mr. scott what's your new committee name? energy, education and labor committee under the leadership of mr. george miller of california. all of these committees working together with the budget committee led by john spratt of texas and louise slaughter of new york -- did i say texas? excuse me, from south carolina. i'll personally apologize to him for that. john spratt from south carolina and louise slaughter from new york leading the rules committee. all these individuals working together to get us to the point where we were last night. the passage of this bill is monumental. it is historic. yesterday was not an ordinary day in the house of representatives. i thank my colleagues who voted for this legislation and i look forward to the results that it will yield. at this time, i will yield back my time to the congresswoman fr

more about the health care debate with representative john dingell of michigan. the chairman emeritus of the energy and commerce committee, and our series on the president's budget continues with the head of the institute for women's policy research. "washington journal" is live on c-span every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. now, an oversight hearing on government aid to citigroup, the financial-services company that has received $45 billion from the tarp program. witnesses included the citigroup ceo. his testimony comes up about half way through this three hour hearing. >> the march 4 hearing of the congressional oversight panel will come to order. good morning, i am elizabeth warning -- elizabeth warren, the chair of the congressional oversight panel. congressional oversight panel. as everyone in this room knows, in late 2008, a financial crisis threatened to bring the worldwide economy to its knees. sity's special special role in this is on october 28 of 2008, as one of the nine large financial institutions that received extraordinary assistance from the united sta

for more about the health care debate with john dingell of michigan. for and our series on the president's budget continues with heidi, headed the institute for women's policy research. "washington journal" is like every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. classical live events to tell you about. the british direct inquiry commission hears from prime minister gordon brown at 5:00 a.m. eastern. at 1:00 p.m., mr. romney at the financial press club. his new book is titled no policy, the case for american greatness. >> not a pentagon briefing on afghanistan. thousands of marines and afghan troops are in the seven city of marcia to establish security services. the marine commander is lawrence nicholson. this is 30 minutes. it is my privilege to be able to have the commander and second marine of the brigade. he assumed duties in june of 2009 and is doing this from camp leatherneck in afghanistan today. it is going to give a brief overview of what they have been doing it takes some of your questions. welcome. thank you for your time this morning. let me turn it over to