tom donahue would be the number one answer on many list sin washington. please join me in welcoming tom donahue. [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you for not reading the obituary and your very thoughtful hyperbole. allow me to make one adjustment and what his said. where it says tom donahue, 450 of the smartest and most courageous and serious super people that have ever been in this business, we have done it together. i will talk for a little while and then we will do some q&a. i will leave a good amount of time for that. so start thinking about what you would like to ask. i operate under a simple system. i either know the answer, or i will make it up. most of the time i am close to write. we will give it a go. thank you for inviting me. thank you for the valuable, collaborative relationship with the organization putting in studies and information together with advocacy. we appreciate that. no one single person has done more to make this institution the valuable place it is then you have. it is different and very much the same. when you put it tog

i testified for two and a half hours with the head of the chamber, tom donahue, and with the labor leader, terry o'sullivan. everyone on that committee, including men and women who said i'm a conservative republican, they all said we have to do something about the nation's infrastructure. let's get moving. let's do these -- >> it only works if everybody is equal at the starting gate. the mythology of universality is everybody gets equally benefitted. they don't. if you start at a place that's behind, universal spending doesn't help you at all, or it helps you very little. it doesn't really solve the problem. i think president obama is seeing this bite hem in the political butt because he is an investor in that kind of universal -- if universal was already good, we wouldn't have to have -- >> infrastructure is something that theoretically benefits everyone, but early childhood education is one way of closing the gap and making sure that everybody starts from the same point. >> it's a way of talking about how we're going to hit poor people more. >> we're talking about the beginning of life

chamber of commerce ceo tom donahue on the economy and deficit reduction. he talked about immigration reform and the role of the private sector in promoting economic growth. the manhattan institute is the host of this hour-long program. >> president of the manhattan institute, it is my honor to introduce tom donohue, president of the u.s. chamber of commerce. [applause] it was in 1997 that tom donohue became president and ceo of the u.s. chamber, and he has built the chamber into an unparalleled lobbying and political powerhouse. has quadrupled the chambers' budget and added hundreds of thousands of new members during his tenure, policy experts and legal advocates have helped influence regulatory agencies and politics and in the court of public opinion and governments around the world. one of his credibility is is the neck to identify key issues will ahead of the curve. he has aggressively against american jobs and growth agenda, a plan that -- advance the american jobs and growth agenda, a plan that includes rebuilding infrastructure, combating an avalanch

chamber of commerce president tom donahue made the suggestion at a house hearing on how to fund the construction of new roads and businesses. in his state of the union speech, president obama proposed 50 billion in new spending on infrastructure projects. but few lawmakers support the idea of increasing the gas tax. i just got a funny thought. i don't think many drivers would like that. >> no. >>> 7:07. by the way, happy valentine's day. >> you, too. >> that leads us right to sal. you know what's happening on the roads. >> reporter: we look pretty good. the traffic is moderately avenue in some areas. let's take a look at what we have now with the bay bridge. a little bit of fog. steve and i have been talking about the fog all morning long. it looks like it's a little bit foggier than it was a minute ago. backed up for about a 20-minute delay. also this morning, we're looking at the commute here. if you are driving on 880 northbound and southbound, that traffic looks good. driving to the peninsula, we have a traffic time of eight minutes to 92. 280 looks good as you drive through. let's go back t

then tom donahue on the federal budget. and emily miller talks about washington, d.c.'s gun by furloughing employees and posing some air traffic control towers and smaller cities. lawmakers have until march 1 until automatic spending cuts -- spending cuts are expected to take effect. this is a little less than an hour. >> i remember all of you from roll call. [laughter]you asked me all the3se dumb questions. [laughter] >> i just want to say that it is my pleasure, and clearly yours, to have with me today the secretary of transportation, ray lahood, who is here to speak with you about the impacts of sequester, if it comes to pass, on the american travel industry. and as we've talked about a lot, the indiscriminate, deep cuts will affect everyone, really, in america, and industries. and secretary lahood is here to discuss one aspect of that with you and to take some questions. and afterwards, i'll be here to take questions on other issues. i just want to remind you that we're on a slightly constrained time schedule. we have the president's meeting with national governors