host: bill pascrell, thank you for talking to our viewers.ing up, we will talk about the magazines. the oral history of ms. magazine is our topic this morning. but coming up next, rich lowrie , one of the economic minds behind herman cain's plan. but first, an update from c-span radio. >> julian assange has lost his court fight against extradition to sweden. he has denied raping one woman and molesting another in stockholm. he has been under house arrest in britain. president obama heading to france for the g-20 summit. two-day at summit will focus on the european debt crime months -- debt crisis. there is a call for referendum on the hard fought debt deal. george papandreou's government still faces a vote of survival. those are some a bowl latest headlines on c-span radio. >> "washington journal" continues. host: gop presidential candidate herman cain was at the american enterprise institute on monday talking about his economic plan,. >> we wanted it to be simple. if the american people understand it, they will demand it. this is not going t

bill. mr. pascrell: where whether i would support a disputable constitutional issue about whether you can by law carry a concealed weapon or move towards the other side to those who oppose this. now, who opposes this legislation? besides me? mayors against illegal guns, the international association of chiefs of police, the major cities chiefs association, and the police foundation oppose this bill. doesn't this mean anything to you at all? doesn't it? or does it? i'll prefer -- i prefer community policing than try to put more guns into the hands of those people who we don't even know who are going to be trained to even use them. that's my preference. this means my home state of new jersey -- this is not idaho, this is not montana. we're -- in fact, we have the most vastly populated state in the union. there is a different culture. when clinton argued on behalf of gun possession when he was the president of the united states, he always made this point about the cultural differences in different parts of

this time to recognize the gentleman from new jersey, the distinguished leader in the congress, bill pascrell, for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for three minutes. mr. pascrell: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. ranking member, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, this attempt to change the constitution of the united states is a real disaster. we all want to make sure we balance our budgets, but to compare our household budget to the national budget is prepostruss. -- propostruss. alexander hamilton, who wrote so many of the federalist papers, i thought we understand a great leader, a great american, i thought we understood what the responsibilities of government are. but talking about disasters, what about natural disasters? how would a balanced budget amendment affect how the congress looks at when there is a tornado in joplin, a wipeout and flooding in new jersey, a hurricane in florida, wildfires in texas? the amendment requires this balanced budget amendment, which is a joke to begin with, how you named it. it doesn't balance the budget.

bill. mr. pascrell: where whether i would support a disputable constitutional issue about whether you can by law carry a concealed weapon or move towards the other side to those who oppose this. now, who opposes this legislation? besides me? mayors against illegal guns, the international association of chiefs of police, the major cities chiefs association, and the police foundation oppose this bill. doesn't this mean anything to you at all? doesn't it? or does it? i'll prefer -- i prefer community policing than try to put more guns into the hands of those people who we don't even know who are going to be trained to even use them. that's my preference. this means my home state of new jersey -- this is not idaho, this is not montana. we're -- in fact, we have the most vastly populated state in the union. there is a different culture. when clinton argued on behalf of gun possession when he was the president of the united states, he always made this point about the cultural differences in different parts of

this time to recognize the gentleman from new jersey, the distinguished leader in the congress, bill pascrell, for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for three minutes. mr. pascrell: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. ranking member, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, this attempt to change the constitution of the united states is a real disaster. we all want to make sure we balance our budgets, but to compare our household budget to the national budget is prepostruss. -- propostruss. alexander hamilton, who wrote so many of the federalist papers, i thought we understand a great leader, a great american, i thought we understood what the responsibilities of government are. but talking about disasters, what about natural disasters? how would a balanced budget amendment affect how the congress looks at when there is a tornado in joplin, a wipeout and flooding in new jersey, a hurricane in florida, wildfires in texas? the amendment requires this balanced budget amendment, which is a joke to begin with, how you named it. it doesn't balance the budget.

tomorrow morning on "washington journal" we will hear from budget committee member bill pascrell about today's discussions in the supercommittee. this morning the focus was on the future of social security. host: so let's just begin by talking about social security. what is the social security trust fund? guest: social security was set up as a pay as you go system. in other words, the taxes and benefits were supposed for approximately equal but there was always an understanding that social security would need to have a reserve. the trust fund is, if you will, the home for the reserve. the committee then arises, well, what do you do with the excess funds in the reserve and the decision that was made was that the safe thing to do was to put the reserve into u.s. treasury securities. these are not marketable securities. you can't buy them. the trust fund can't sell them. but they do earn a rate of return that is equal to the average of over the maturity spectrum of existing marketable social security securities -- treasury security. host: how did the excess get into the trust fund in the

bills. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. pascrell: just recently they produced a job loss ratio and report on the police departments throughout the united states of america. mr. speaker, it was not a pretty picture. we pat our police officers on the back, say they to a -- do a good job and watch 12,000 of them lose their jobs in the united states of america. one point i want to bring out here, mr. speaker, it's this, if we place so much homeland security responsibilities on our first responders, then how in god's name can we turn our backs when cities an towns and rural areas are in tough financial shape. swre an opportunity to rectify and right the ship this afternoon. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> last week, we did something in this house most people tnt think w

pascrell: i thank the gentleman. i thank the speaker. i rise in strong support of the motion so that we can amend the rule, provide for the consideration of a bill that will create over one million jobs. the currency reform for fair trade act. the floor skedle of the house has long been determined by the majority leader. everybody knows that. i hope that our majority leader would therefore represent what is a majority of our members. 230 members who co-sponsored the bill. that's not so bad. and schedule it for a vote. we quite simply can't afford to wait any longer. china's currency manipulation has a devastating impact on manufacturing and on the industry across this country. this results in chinese exports being up to 30% cheaper in america. now you know where the problem is. now you know what's hurting american industries. and conversely our exports being more expensive in china. estimates varery. the economists believe this manipulation reduces unemployment by no more than -- any more than from one million to 1.5 million. i thank the gentleman and speaker. we are out of excuses, mr. speaker. we really are. we've got support from both side of