c-span video library. washington, your way. >> beginning to day, watch the confirmation hearings for elena kagan live on c-span three. c-span radio and at c-span dot or dp and see reairs on c-span two. to learn more about the nation's highest court read the latest book. supreme court. candid conversation with all justices. providing unique insight about the court. and as an e book. internet and information service. tele communications. tonight a look at the f.c.c.s efforts to reclassify the internet. our guests, the communicators on c-span two. "washington journal" continues. host: the former deputy national security advisor for the bush administration of counterterrorism and he's joining us to talk about violent extremism and u.s. efforts for the counter terrorist up. in a recent opportunity ed. who the energy in the war on terror nd he writes, in the new national security strategy released recently by the white house the obama administration wants america to remain a nation at war. unfortunately it refused to identify our enemy in this war as what it is. violent islamic extremism. to you agree? guest: i think so, peter. senator lie

c-span.org. and questions about the interest inelevising the court's >> watch the hearing live, beginning at 12:30 eastern, on c-span 3, and c-span radio, and c-sp c-span.org. still to come on c-span, canadian prime minister, stephen harper holds a summit on canada. and next regarding the energy bill on the oil spill. and secretary janet napolatino on the border security. >> i believe that this is the civil rights issue and not about race but class. >> monday we have madeline sackler, at 8 eastern, on c-span's "q & a." >> next canadian prime minister, stephen harper holds a summit with members from germany, russia, japan and the united states. the meeting focused on economic security and funding of child care in the developing world. this is 20 minutes. >> good afternoon, everyone. [speaking foreign language] -sp. >> the g-eight has committed >> the aid has committed $5 billion u.s. delivers over the next five years. as new money. we have contributions by all departments that raises it up 7.3 billion. so we insisted on the need to be accountable for our actions. and we have discussed many international issues, nuclear preparation, iran

this is as first oval office address, and live coverage will be on the c-span networks, including c-span radio and c- span.org. up next on c-span, a look at sub-saharan africa. this area has been heavily affected by hiv-aids, more than any area in the world. after that, ryan crocker. and later, british prime minister david cameron on afghanistan. >> the second one is to continue to press the industry to get access to news applies to the world. that is drilling wells 10 kilometers into the deep gulf of mexico, beginning to explore under the ice in the arctic. >> tony hayward on energy policy this past january before the gulf oil spill. thursday he will testify on capitol hill. see what others have said about this bill with more than 100 briefings and other programs all archived at c-span is video library. it is washington your way. >> now state department conference on sub-saharan africa. topics include promoting economic growth and democracy in the region and health care. assistant secretary for african affairs johnnie caason addresses the gathering and takes questions from the audience. >> go

of the hearings continue with live coverage on c-span 3, c- span radio and c-span.org. their 4 daybacke up two of questioning, day three of hearings. guest: the take away from yesterday is the nominee backed away from many of the controversial statements she had made it -- she had made it in her career printed in 1995 characterized these same hearings as vapid and hollow and a charade. when she was asked to offer more substantive views on the merit of the issue of abortion and other matters like gun control and the war on terror and so forth, she said, like predecessors, she would refuse to talk about cases that might come before her as a judge. democrats seemed pleased. republicans seemed upset. nothing out of the or never. one of the things that strike me as interesting about the cake in the confirmation -- the fourth one -- clearly the media coverage has been less. part of it is she has the votes to succeed. she is well known in washington. she has a good reputation. lindsey graham, republican senator from south carolina, is likely to vote for her. so there is not a

and the gulf -- on the gulf of mexico owes bill. live coverage on the c-span networks, including c-span radio and c-span.org. >> the second one is to ntinue to press the [unintelligible] of the industry to give access to new supplies of the world. that is drilling wells and 10 kilometers into the gulf of mexico, beginning to explore underneath the ice in the arctic. that is before the gulf oil spill this past january. this thursday he will testify. see what others have said with more than 100 hearings, briefings, and programs, all archived. it is washington, your way. "washington journal" continues. host: at the table, tripp baird. as the house and senate conferees continue their work, what kind of bill do you see taking shape? what concerns you? guest: the whole bill. where to start? we can get to what is in it, but what is not in it is most concerning. nothing deals with the government sponsored enterprises, fannie and freddie, making up half of the primary mortgage market and a good chunk of the secondary market. these two enterprises that taxpayers have dumped money that dwarfs all other bailouts. that is troubling, them not dea

and will talk about the 2010 elections with mike kinsely. "washington journal" live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> c-span -- our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and online. you can also connect with us on twitter, facebook, and youtube. sign up for schedule alert e- mails at c-span.org. . >> providing unique insight about the court, available in hardcover and also as an e-book. >> they did not send out one penny about where that money was coming from. when they look forward to the budget next week and ask about what we are going to do, perhaps they can have the decency to tell us what they would have done. >> now, from london, prime minister's questions from the british house of commons. david cameron defended his government's proposed budget set to be released this week. harriet harman pressed the prime minister on the budget. the prime minister was also asked about troops in afghanistan and the future of britain's manufacturing industry. the two soldiers died yesterday. we send our condolences to their family and their friends. perhaps, today, in particular, to the doctors and nurses that worked alongside them. mr. speaker, -- they would e

c-span3, c-span radio and c-span.org. we continue our look at related supreme-court programming now, with a discussion on c-span posing alleged -- newly published book, "the supreme court: a c-span book featuring the justices in their own words ." it is based on interviews with current and former justices. this is an hour and 40 minutes. >> honorable, the chief justice and the supreme -- and the justices of the supreme court of the united states. >> something is going on of the capital and in the white house and we need to understand how important is to our system of government. >> this is the highest court in the land and the framers created it after studying great lot givers in history -- lawgivers in history. >> the government concedes the destruction in these proceedings. >> we do not make a lot to decide who we want to win. we decide who wins and a lot that people have adopted. >> -- under the law that people have adopted. >> he would be surprised at the high level of congeniality. >> there are four a of the nine that want to hear these cases. we will hear it. >> cannot have a decision of the sport -- >> why is it we hav

robert ford and vincent sha heen participate in a debate hosted by news 13. live coverage on c-span, c-span radiond c-span.org. it begins at 7:00 eastern. today, president obama said bp could face criminal charges over the gulf of mexico oil spill. he also named an inquiry commission. his remarks are next. then we hear from eric holder who is in the gulf region. later come remarks from admiral thad allen, who heads up the federal goveenment's response to the oil spill. >> suspend, our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and on line. you can also connect with us on took care, facebook, and youtube. sign up for a scheduler e-mails @ c-span.org. >> president obama introduced the co-chairman of an independent commission that will investigate the bp gulf of mexico oil spill. bob gramm is a former democratic senator from florida. william reilly and led the epa from 1989 to 1982 -- 1992. this is almost 10 minutes. >> good morning. >> good morning. i just met

both of those hearings are alive during the week on c-span 3 and seized and radio. -- c-span radio. >> the second one continues to press the frontiers of the industry began access to news supplies of the world. >> tony hayward before the gulf oil spill. thursday he will testify. hear what he and other government officials have said about this bill, all archive that the c-span video library. washington, your way. the surviving spouses of workers killed in the deep water rise and explosion testified during the week about safety issues -- deepwater horizon explosion testified during the week about safety issues. this house energy subcommittee hearing took place in louisiana, chaired by bars to pack. it is about four hours. >> we would like to thank the louisiana fish and wildlife association as well as the national guard, who after this hearing will be further down in the gulf today as members are still exploring the impact it has had on this region. i would like to recognize two louisiana congressman. charlie should be here any minute. members of the subcommittee and commerce committee

state senators robert ford and vincent shahid will participate in an hour-long debate hosted by wbtw news 13. live coverage on c-span, c-span radio and c-span.org begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern. >> new british prime minister and conservative party leader david cameron answers questions in his first prime minister's questions as head of the coalition government. live from the british house of commons wednesday at 10:00 a.m. eastern. >> this weekend, noted feminist, author, and legal scholar martha nussbaum has written or contributed to more than 20 books on liberal education, ethics, sexism, and legal justice. live sunday on c-span 2. >> nv's primary election is june 8. republican candidates are vying for senate majority leader harry reid of's seat. this form was held a couple of weeks ago and is moderated. >> he is the most reviled man washington among conservatives, and now southern republicans are offering the right to take on u.s. senate majority leader harry reid. next, on "face to face." >> this is "face to face." >> welcome to "face to face." we bring you news and commentary you won't find anywhere else. the second of our two-

both of those hearings are live this week on c-span 3 and c- span radio. with confirmation upcoming for3 span takes you inside the supreme court to see the rarely seen spaces. hear directly from the justices as they provide insight about the court, the building, and its -phistory. the home to america's highest court -- this sunday at 6:00 p.m. on c-span. >> we have three new books. "abraham lincoln," "the supreme court," and "who's buried in grant's tomb?" to order, go to c-span.org /books. this is a great gift idea for father's day. >> c-span to -- live coverage o+ the u.s. senate. on weekends, "book tv." connect with us on facebook, twitter, and youtube. sign up for alert e-mails on c- span.org. >> the sustainable defense tax force came back with ways to cut defense spending without reducing national security. this is a group of individuals from policy and advocacy individuals formed to find options to cct the defense budget. this is just over the hour. >> the building does not have a 215. it took me a while to give up. this is an important meeting. i am

that is 10:00 eastern on c-span 3 and c-span radio. >> the second one is to continue to press the frontiersof the industry to give access to new supplies to the world. that is at drilling wells to 10 kilometers in the gulf of mexico, beginning to explore under the ice in the arctic. >> the ceo of bp on global policy this past january before the oil spill. he will testify thursday on capitol hill. selah other government offfcials have said about the spill. it is all archived at c-span's video library. it is washington your way. >> a discussion now on the in+ floods of the conservative movement, this was part of a conference called the campaign for america's future, a progressive advocacy organization. a quick nnte to viewers -- due to a technical problems, we were unable to show you a brief portion of the beginning of this one hour and 10 minute event. >> 3 from the folks on the right. the movement has to lead. -pin my experience on the hill d at media matters, it is not enough to sit back and expect the legislators in congress or even the white house to keep -- to be able to change the dyna

c-span is the only network bringing you uninterrupted coverage from the senate judiciary committee. that is live monday, beginning at 12:30 eastern c-span 3, c- span radio and c-span.org. >> international leaders are meeting in canada at the g-8 and g-20 summit. they are meeting today to discuss several initiatives, including how to alleviate global poverty, dealing with nuclear standoffs with iran and north korea, and later holding outreach sessions with leaders of seven african nations. saturday and continuing on sunday, talks move to toronto for the g-20 summit, which includes china, brazil, and india. c-span will bring you the closing summit of each this weekend. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] . . the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father coughlin. chaplain coughlin: let us keep only to truth and work for justice and the aspirations we hold on to elude the promises you have made and the words you have spoken. you rule over our actions now and forever, amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1rk t

the c l makes his first appearance before congress, testified before an energy oversight committee. but those hearings are live on c-span 3 and c-span radio. now more on the impact of the gulf oil spill with louisiana congressman bill cassidy from today's "washington journal." this is about 40 minutes. . jessica taylor, thank you for us this morning. now we want to turn our ttention to the oil spill and is with us, republican representative from is -- a sixth district. tell us where the oil spill is in relation to your district. guest: my district is the capital city of vekton error iyou think of -- that baton rouge. if you think of it like a boot, it is where the races are. -- the laces are. host: how concerned are your parish's about this? guest: it has clearly affted the fisheries and tourism, and now we see this as a third hit the economies of the region. ho and how much ofour area is related to the gas and oil industry? guest: if we are just going to speak of the deep water of rigs are going to be affected by the matorium, i'm told ththat there are 25 deepwater rig jobs. and each of those has four or five spin-off jobs. the deepwater

eastern on c-span 3 and c-span radio. o watch the latest briefings and congressional hearings, or our live bp feed at the oil spill, log onto c-span.org. >> senator blanche lincoln addressed reporters after narrowly defeated lt. governor bill halter on tuesday. >> i cannot begin to thank eacc and everyone of you for doing such rich renders job. the message was that the vote of this center is not for sale, and neither is the vote of the people of arkansas. [applause] we have worked so hard, all of you, all of these wonderful this state, in reminding one%- another what this is all about. this is about us. this is about who we are as arkansans, and what we want to and i have heard your message, and let me tell you, i cannot feel any stronger than i feel today as the daughter of the delta and arkansas, to know that your essage is loud and clear, that washington needs to work for us in arkansas. [applause] the solutions to put arkansas and this country back on traak. [applause] i stood up to the special interests, and i have do

and other events online any time at the c-span video library. it's washington your way. >> c-span, our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and online, and you can also connect with us on twitter, facebook, and youtube, and sign up for our schedule alert emails at c-span.org. >> and now clinton-era fema director james lee witt, he spoke at the clinton presidential library about relief efforts following hurricanes and haiti earthquake. he gave this talk before recently being hired as a consultant by b.p. this is about an hour. >> thank you. i would like to thank the foundation staff for the food work that they have done in this exhibit, as well as the library, and what this library's about. i also wanted to thank leona for all the support she's given me over the years. we're working on our 49th wedding anniversary. i told this story one time and she told me never to tell it again. one time this lady asked her, what do you contribute to the longevity of your marriage? i said our honeymoon. i said, well, what did you do on your honeymoon? well, we took this mule ride down the grand canyon. about halfway down, that mule stumbled,

and oversight of private security contractors. live coverage begins on c-span. >> c-span, our public affairs content is available on television, radio and on line. you can sign up for our females. >> a debate between the two canada is running for the democratic nomination in norrh carolina. >> this question will give us insight into your priorities. if you win the fall general election, what will be your first priority? the first bill you will co- sponsor when the session begins in january? >> that is a great question. let me begin by thanking the league of women voters for the opportunity to stand before you and answer questions. it is an honor to run for this job. if elected, and given an opportunity to serve in the u.s. senate, i would put six hardworking years into rebuilding the foundation of our economy, working to get jobs are growing. it will not be one specific legislation, but a series of policies i will pursue that will provide tax credits for small businesses and provide targeted middle-class cuts for families, and restore fairness to the trade roles and treaties that have created an unfair playing field. i want to inves

both of those hearings, live this week on c-span 3 and on c-span radio. h the confirmation hearing for supreme court nominee elena kagan, today c-span takes you inside supreme court to see the public places and those rarely seen spaces. hear from the justices as they provide insight about the court and all its history, the supreme court home the america's highest court today on c-span. >> the democratic the congress for 40 years, and there was a certain level of corruption that had taken hold and we're rallying againss that. so it's so ironic that years later i would be the face of a similar type of corruption to a whole different group of people. >> director alex gibney talks about corruption on capitol hill in his new book, about the life and times of convicted lobbyist, abramoff. >> coming up next, president obama's testifying before the committee. discussed was improvement to the airport screening process and the terrorist watch list. the third person to be nominated for this position. this lasts an hour and a half. >> good morning, eb. the two most im

c-span. >> c-span, our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and on line. you can connect with us on twitter, facebook, youtube. >> earlier this week, and a c- span crew took a tour of and the wisdom in a march that has been affected by the oil spill. they spoke with a local shrimper who is striving airboats for pp as part of the effort and also theepublic affairs officer john miller. >> that white bloom, that is there to try to take up the oil that is near the shore. they are trying to protect it from hitting the shore. i have been in this area quite a bit and i have seen less and less along the shores. they change it every day as it gets absorbed. they change it out and they put a fresh one in. >> when the oil touches the grass, it will kill it. we have the wave action from the marshes. we should be sending on land ran now. that is how bad it erodes right now. once the grass is gone, it will erode that much quicker. we can clear this seaweed. we are probably 50 feet from the shoreline. there used to be land here. this is closer to the shoreline and is caus

and mary university hosting the event. we will have that for you starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> c-span -- our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and on twitter, facebook, and youtube. sign up for schedule alert e- mails at c-span.org. >> now bob woodward and carl bernstein talk about watergate and the state of american journalism at ohio state university. as reporters for the "washington post," woodward and bernstein began investigating the watergate break-in. from columbus ohio -- from columbus, ohio, this is about one hour and 10 minutes. >> i'm bob, he's carl. good to get that out of the way. >> i think the best thing we can do, given what people seem to be asking us lately, particularly about could this happen again? is to tell you a little bit about what we did and what happened. because it is very anomalous, concerns of the way that we in terms of the way journalism work then and the way it works now. we were reporters at the "washington post." i happen to be in the office on that day, june 17 or 18th, 1972. bob was called in by the city editor. >> if it was a nice day. and it was a saturday. and the editors in the morning s

and talk about ways to strengthen democracy. this gets underway live at 1:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> c-span -- our public affairs content is available on television, radio, andct with us on twitter, facebook, and youtube. sign up for schedule alert e- mails at c-span.org. >> other memorial day services and the nation's capital included a service at the vietnam veterans memorial. among those who speak at the event are admiral mike mullen. this ceremony is just under an hour. ♪ [applause] >> excellent. well, one day when she becomes even more thymus, you can say, i saw her alive at the vietnam veterans memorial. such extraordinary talent really makes us all proud and on a great day like this, this is memorial day, it actually began many years ago has warred decoration day, when people would decorate this cultures -- the graves of the soldiers that fought in war, and it gradually became memorial day for all of the nation for war casualties to receive honor and respect and recognition. on a great day, we're here to welcome you here on behalf of the vietnam veterans memorial fund and the national park service, and we are here especially to day to remember the man

c-span 3 and c-span radio. >> a discussion now on the future of the tea party movement. you will hear remarks from journalists and republican strategist on whether the party can sustain itself passed the 2010 election. this is about two hours. i think were goi started. ister >> i think we are going to get startedd i am going to try to hold these peopll to time. first, thank you for coming. i am jonah goldbg visiting fellow here ataei nd deighted to be here. today's ent is the first in a series of ev sponsored by the erican citizenship program. the program is dedicated to sttheninthe foundations of american freedom ends governme by renewing our un the topic today is "our the tea parties the future"? i am excited to be here, because this is the first panel i have ever moderated. it is always a bridesmaid and second, this is a historic event, because my understanding is this is the of this panel they have ever hhd. the average age of -- the young this panel they ever had. the average age is 31, and if you take me out of it, the average age is 14. after all the years, i have learned a few tricks. first, always ask the panelists a completely different question than the one they prepared for. be prepared to be asked about turkey. second, i have to cut them off before they make the most important point, and i have to be sure to pick the questioners most likely to wield to conspiracy theories in the form of a statement. i will try to avoid most of those cliches, and i want to say we have a very impressive panel. they are true experts. i am tempted to say i of convene i expect the answer will be mine. they are here to talk instead about whether or not the key parties are the future. i have got to say as a pundit, few topix have generated more gnashing of teeth than the tea parties. you get a sense from reading some of the newspapers on this panel that when the fourth seal was open, sarah palin came forwarddon a pale horse with a tea party not far behind her. i shoull say as a matter of full disclosure that on april 15, i was the keynote speaker at a tea party rally in cincinnati, and i did not give the distinct sense of sulfur in the air when i was -pthere. whether or not a response from the depths of mephistopheles pause bear or read in -- later -- mephistopheles's claire -- layer, these guys are going to answer the question. first, from a seller and ever so usefullchannel, kristin is the director of policy research. she is a contributor to the huffington post, "the daily caller," and politico. she has written for "the national review." for research focuses primarily on the election trends, young voters, political parties, and education policies. she has been published in the american journal of research for campaign finance refoom. after that, dave is the intrrpid researcher who reports the real america about what the strange creatures called conservatives are about. for three years, his reporting focused on the american conservative movement. he has covered the remaking of the american right for the washington independent. his work has appeared in "usa today," "the american conservative," and "phoenician." finally, he needs the introduction, thomas of "the new york times." keys to hang his hat at "the atlanta.. he is the author of "privileged ." he is the film reviewer for "the -pnational review." that is where i sometimes hang my hat as well. i wwll handed over to christian, who will be going first. >> my primary position is looking at the data. the media portrayal of the tea party has ranged, occasionally sympathetic, but often confused as to what are these organizations, who are these people? before digging into the date, i would say my initial gut reaction when people say, why have the tea parties happened now, why not five or 10 years ago -- my first instinct is to say it has a lot to do with new media. i believe barriers to entry when it comes to political engagement have dramatically decreased, that even 10 years ago if someone wanted to become an activist, there were more official organized ways f going about it. you would get involved with the local republican organization, and he would be put to task knocking on doors for candidates, whereas now as the average age of a facebook user has one up word, folks who do not have that much time between making dinner and checking up on their kids can now find time to get involved, to get engaged, to send out something on facebook, and because you have reduced that barrier of entry, you have seen a lot more folks able to publicly express their frustrations with what has beee going on in politics, but it is not the tools alone that has allowed the tea party to emerge the political environment. the tea party in march because of frustration and it cited the about the economy and jobs. as the economy got worse, as unemployment rose, so did spending. you saw the bailouts and the stimulus package, and that the folks of said. then you saw the health care bill, and that is when you saw people saying, enough is enough. you have seen projected deficits blossoming to numbers folks are beginning to see in headlines about, so from that, you havened seen the economy and jobs to emerge as a top issue for voters overall. in february, you had the economy and jobs as a top issue for 45% of americans. health care was only no. 14 they were simply on the wrong topic, and use of this trend continue until april. the story we like to tell as to why the health care debate was so detrimental to the democrats is it is the equivalent of taking a house that is on fire and saying, that screen needs to be fixed, and you can probably reduce some of the wiring, but until you put that fire out, nobody cares about the rest of it. you really have to dress -- to address the fire, which is the unemployment rate. as you see obama's majority coalition start to fall apart. you saw his approval ratings go from extremely high levels when he was first inaugurated to flat landing here. our survey showed him 45% disapproved. you can see as unemployment went up, obama [pause] approval went down. most political cientists will tell you if you want to know what is happening in an election, look at economic indicators as the most reliable predictor. you saw the tea party emerge. 15% of voters if we found in our april survey. it had been slightly higher. it has slightly decreased, so what do they want? they want largely the same things the rest of america wants. they want the economy fixed. 37% said that was their top issue. only 11% said health care. you saw us bike around deficit spending. we saw that even higher in february. this is a group of voters very frustrated about the economy, and they believe spending is out of control, but they are not just looking at economic, conservative policies. we ask them, which of the following is more important -- reducing home region reducing unemployment to 5% or balancing the budget? 63% of them said reducing unemployment. it is not conservative policies as an end unto itself. it is because they boost positive outcome that they get excited about it. what do they believe? we found 64% identify themselves as republican. you have 12% five who said they were democrats. it is not homogenous. it tends to be republican. it tends to tilt to the right. 67% conservative, but that is not all. we asked on the scale of 129, where do you -- one to nine, were you place yourself on a variety of issues? one person onsidered conservative on foreign policy may be very different from another person. you see the tea party is to the right of the electorate on these groups of issues. we separated moral issues and social issues with moral issues being things such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and social issues representing health-care, domestic policy issues. you see the tea party is further to the right than the electorate, particularly on economic and foreign affairs. you also see the electorate overall is to the right and further to the right on the economic issues and foreign affairs. take a look at one particular example. let's look of the stimulus ann see what he party folks think about government spending as a way to fix the economy. we asked if they believe the statement -- during a recession, government spending is needed to stimulate the economy. 56% overall did agree, but that dropped significantly with the party, yet when you ask if lowering taxes will benefit the economy and create jobs, 64% of it believe that. when you take this to a bigger lovell, away from specific policies and more to the concept of is the government trying to get too vague, we asked if they believe the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals, 67% agree, and in the tea party, we found 92% agree. i think it is very interesting as a unifying factor about the tea party. it believes the government is spending too much and this needs to be stopped. -pwhere do they stand? what are the political ramifications? they do not believe the economy is recovering. 56% did not believe the u.s. had gone from recession to recovery. the tea party is less optimistic with 80% believing we have not entered a recovery. 52% of americans think we are on the wrong track, and that skyrockets to 92% for the tea party years. what does that say for obama and the democrats? 45% disapprove,,but when it comes to tea party, 90% disagree -- disapprove. do not let that fool you. it is not just a coalition that is anti-democrat but pro- republican. we ask the question the show's 43% say they plan to vote for republican candidates in this election, whereas 47% plan to vote for democrats. if you look at the tea party, a 87% said they plan to vote for a republican candidate. this has a lot to do with a high and favorability toward democrats. -- hi un-favorability towards democrats. when you look at republicans, it is not enormously positive either. 50% have a favorable view. the challenge is this. the tea party is going to be an important part of the way we reflect on the 2010 elections, and they tend to favor republicans. the game is not one yet for republicans. they still have a lot of work to do convincing tea partiers if they are handed back the reins of power, they can be trusted to put in place conservative policies they believe will generate economic outcomes we need. it is going to be about unemployment and whether or not republicans can be credible when they say they want to put in place economically conservative policies, so with that i will hand it over to david. >> i like going second, because i have a better idea. i have numbers, too, but i do not have a giant slides. the answer to the first question, which is a pretty easy question, is the revolution afoot among average americans mobilize by the power of the internet, yes, it is. only recently are we seeing conservatives take advantage of this. years an enormous historicalix%- surgeon people who can get on line with broadband quickly. a 2003 pugh said the majority of americans access americans by dialogue. by 2009, when the fcc survey this -- by dial up. by 2009, when the fcc survey this, it was 40%, so by 2009, by the time barack obama takes power after his internet-driven presidential campaign, he got people in middle age who are no llnger the urban liberals, who are online everyday with the smaller and nonexistent barriers to entry, and i think that is probably the most important thing. economics the fine politics, but the fees with which people can become participants in politics is the most important -- the keys -- ease with which people convergys debate in politics is the most important thing to reagan when the key part -- important thing. when the tea party began, anger started in september, 2008, when -pthe passage of tarp. the rally started in february of 2009 when unemployment was stilllat the level the white house could predict it would not go above 8%. the biggest issue of motivating conservatives was government programs that were going to help people who made bad loans get rescued by the credit of us taxpayers. there was economic anchor, but it was mostly conservative anger. i was at, not the first ever tea parties and the rest of the country, but the fiist in dc. i saw mark hemingway. 67 reporters. it was not clear what this event was going to be. for years, plugged in conservatives have put on the events and invited their friends. we saw this throughout the bush years, conservatives trying to put something together that would shame republicans into behaving better, or in 2009 to convince everyone only ron paul nothing happened. not sure who was there yet -- they started a web site and put this together, and it looked like it was going to be a pivotal event where 50 people showed up. it was plugged in on facebook to a lot of people in their 50's and 60's who told me they had not been to political rallies before. they always had rallies a couple of people would show up to and talk about the speed at which of or should get out of dick cheney's house, but these were people -- al gore should get out of dick cheney's house, but these were peoole who told me they have not done this before. these were people who were able to get on-line and organize. i do think that is even more important than economics. something like a tea party movement and the economy not been as bad. the polls tell us 40% of americans are conservative, so the subset of that has been hard to add -- to activate, except on a social issues like immigration, where passions are very high. until to the of nine to get people to organize, but they found the tools. -- until 2009, it was hard to get people to organize, but they found the tools. people now who feel like they can buy and to something spend time and donate online or show up to something, get involved, they can shift the debate. right now it is conservative. if we had this panel two years ago it would have been why republicans are hopeless. three years from now it could be why these are such a problem. taking the long view, it is so much easier to organize that the tea party is the first example of people not buying into a candidate for an idea are some policy that is going to make them richer, but in a libertarian idea that has been tough to organize around in the past, so how is the future of politics for the rest -- the next couple years?3 conservative. i think there's only so much space and the media for news, and were there no tea parties, there would not be as much coverage of criticism of liberal parties, worries the government is too vague, -- too vague -- too big. there was a worry that they were going to give american handout, a big stimulus that was going to get us out of the recession. there was a sense conservatism was bad. the tea party did not need to be a majority to change this. one thing you hear often in the tea party is sam adams saying one man with courage makes the majority. that is revealing. if everyone likes to think they are the silent majority, but in reality, this is the latest of many american movements that have taken a subset, gotten very loud,,got an awful lot of media attention, and taken the narrative away from people in power. this affected the republican party. with the election, the parties ram, and they did not do so well. that is the wrong way to look at it. go back to what republicans were talking about a year ago, and compare it to republicans who won their primary puritans -- their primaries. one was supposed to bay more out of reach for people worried conservatives are to grow. she won by running as a pro-life candidate, because the party activists were so visual, you could not be a serious contender without answering them. they have lost primaries. the candidates that have come up of the -- even if they are faking it for now, the most ideologically rigorous candidates the epublican party has put together, probably ever. 2004 you till have candidates in the northeast and a couple of people and the west. because of this movement, which is a subset, all agree we need to roll the clock back to 1913. we need to take a harder look at calvin coolidge policies, things nobody discussed until these people got organized online. i think it has affected democrats. i think democrats are more reactive than republicans to what is said and the op-ed pages of some urban newspapers, because they are more reactive news shows. this is also on cable, i realize. they play close attention -- they pay close attention to pundits, to what they feel like the village in d.c. is saying are the loudest people in their districts. if allowed as people in their district were tea party activists, democrats will have ended this congress by getting a lot of what they wanted done, but so much momentum is gone because democrats became convinced through the way they talk to voters fed the country was revolting against them. i am not sure it is true. we had a few special general elections for house seats. republicans won massachusetts because the democratic candidate decided to insult every living person in the state one by one starting with sports fans and english catholics. the other one in why a -- in hawaii. the democrats have been holding on by running a campaign that is pretty apologetic about how bad the economy is, but basically saying, you do not want the party activists to win because they're going to repeal social security. these are hardly things we're used to them saying. it is not even clear this is going to lead to a huge republican victory. it is clear it has changed with the congress passed and the most powerful democratic majorities in the 1970's, and that is enormous. in makes it clear whatever this this is, with what is being said on the op ed ages, less power is going to come from them. more often they are going to be reacting to people with facebook accounts. i always glaze over when people went at an ipad about how force for is changing the world. getting this rump of americans who did not represent the coalition that elected this congress, that changes everything. we are going to have a congress that listens much harder to the minority that is passionate, and i am done. i want to hear what stafford says. >> first, i want to youcommend u for keeping your time exactly right so far. there's an enormous amount of pressure on ross. >> i want to start by taking the second time of it. i want to start by taking us back in time to sometime in 2001, when i was a very lowly researcher looking for a freelance pieces to write. i happen to live in southwest d.c. at that point. i was just south of the washington mall where one of the first anti-war product -- protests was going on, and i decided the thing to do was to wander around the left-wing protest and right of peace making fun of them. i think it was a pretty good piece, because there was a lot to make fun of they have the giant, oversized topix. they were carrying around cliche and posters from the 1960's. basically, it seemed to me to be eminently lockable movement, and i bring this up, because i think the progress of the anti-war movement from being mocked by right wing freelancers found the washington mall to capturing the sympathies of a majority or even a large majority of americans by 2004 or 2005 was probably the closest recent analog to what the team parties have tried to do or have even done. when they got off the ground, barack obama was riding high. the consensus in washington was the this was a new progressive moment, and no one was clear about what this was about. they were treated as a joke, and flash forward, and you only have to flash forward a year and a half, and we reached a point where in a sense the tea party message that washington is out of control, deficits are out of control, and taxes are going to go up and up, is not perhaps as potent as opposition to the iraq war was in the darkest days, but it is close, and in that sense the tea parties have moved even more rapidly to aanational consensus. the comparison to the anti-war movement is eliminating in a lot of ways, because there are a lot of things the movements have in common. one is from a consensus. the second is organization, where the two parties are the first right movement who imitates liberal and left-wing success in harvesting new media to organize. the tea parties include a lot of people, who had never been active or involved in politics in any way, shape, or form, and i remember reading about people who got involved in moveon.org. people in wisconsin who wwre never involved in politics, and they woke up one day and said what george bush is doing is terrible, and i need to get involved. what you see with a similar pattern with many people who have run for office, and at the same time you have an essentially right of center movement filled with people who feel betrayed by the right of center party. just as the anti-war movement ended up leading to the candidacy of howard dean, who blasted his fellow democrats for having voted for the iraq war and so on -- team may not have been against the patriots back. similarly, the tea parties are motivated -- the patriot act. similarly, the tea parties are motivated with the discuss over the debates in the waning years of bush's presence steve -- presidency. finally, i think there's a parallel in the sense that the tea parties comprised of core and potentially much larger group that does not share the same structural critique of american politics but shares the overall critique. if you look that the anti-war movement, there was a deep structure of critique goong right to the 1940's and the 1950's. i think if you polled people at the first rally, you would have found a lot of people who said everythhng the american government has done since hiroshima and nagasaki was a mistake. similarly, you have the score who do want to start the debates of 1913, who want to talk about calvin coolidge and the 10th amendment, and so forth. in both cases, you have a larger group that has become sympathetic without sharing the structural critique. you can see the laager group as kind of like the old ross perot constituency, people who were conservative-leaning, no one could government, who believe in spending restraint, low taxes, and so on, but are not highly ideological, and they have been moved rightward by tea party activists in the same way many center-left or center-right americans were moved eventually to an anti-war posture. if we take this analysis seriously, i think it suggests two problems going forward. the first of which is the agenda problem, and the problem theree is whereas the anti-war movement had an explicit constant policy method, which was to end the war in iraq and bring the troops home, and having that kind of clear-cut message is a powerful motivational and organizational tool. the tea party message is more in choate. it is riven by deficit. it is a driven by the stimulus. there is not one set issue that has the same kind of resonance as the iraq war did for the anti-war movement. you can say cut the deficit is the issue, but that begs the follow-up question about what programs need to be cut, and the tea party might be divided amongst themselves with some people being anti-medicare and social security and some being the kind of conservatives that think medicare is just fine and responded favorably to repuulicans who've attacked obama's health care bill on the grounds that it to cut health care. you have seen that play out off it in the fluctuating fortunes of the tea party. there was aapoll that showed the favorability numbers dropping a great deal since the height of theehealth-care debate. i think what you have seen is when there is a thing if government item on the agenda -- when there is a big government item on the agenda, the tea party has an easy time attracting support, but when those get taken off the table, you end up with a situation3 have an easier time highlighting aspect of the agenda and the tea party candidates that the american center does not respond to favorably, so what they've was saying about democrats say republicans just want to cut social security, if that is the debate 50 party is having, that is not as thick as the health care debate was for them, and you have a figure like friend paul -- rand paul, who shows how this plays out, were suddenly he struck center stage and the bright lights shine on him, and the week after he won the primary was not a good time for the primaries. that seed into the second problem, which is the barack obama problem, which is you want to select candidates you are confident will connect your vision. you want true believers. the problem is those candidates3 corps general election campaigns. in a sense, you could say what you really want is a more sophisticated politician, someone who shares your goals but is also aale to reach out, build coalitions, speak to the broader narrative of american politics, and that is where you get barack obama. barack obama, someone who attacked hillary clinton from the left and went on to win the general election by a comfortable margin, he is an ideal case. baracc obama has not ended the war in iraq and has escalated the war in afghanistan, so i think you can see this playing out with the tea party, where scott brown in massachusetts was he is somebody the tea party backed but who had bipartisan appeal and was a sophisticated politician because of his folksy persona, but then scott brown goes to washington and end of disappointing the tea party in all sorts of ways, so your other alternative is rand paul or sharon angle. can she, who haa been publicly quoted saying both medicare and social security needs to be phased out over the long terr -- is she goinn to be a potent force in national politics? it is hard to say. this is the problem the anti- war movement's founders upon. they won national elections, but they did not get their ultimate policy goes achieve. i think it remains to be seen whether there is a tea party candidate who will provide the kind of success that has eluded their anti-war parallels in the democrat party. >> b hold the power. questions, i want to make one general observation. i have one question which may have been my fault for not hearing at the very beginning. the first is, david was talking about the comparison between the left movements and the antt-war movement and the tea party, and i do think it is worth at least pointing out, and i understand media criticism is the lowest form of punditry, but you had during the anti-war movement are remarkable exceptions of fairly radical figures as mainstream. whatever you think of the merits of her position, sheehan is challenging nancy pelosi in that tiny crawlspace to the left, yet you have the overwhelming majority of the media establishment excepting her as an indisputably mainstream, and norman rockwell kind of figure, yet at the same time, you have tea parties, who are essentially, the flinders -- fringers, the race to portray these guys, for the same people who said dissent was the highest form of patriotism, suddenly, it is the lowest form of racism. it is a remarkable turnaround in the way these guys are portrayed, and it still seems there was this panic running through much of the liberal intelligentsia and mainstream media to figure out how best to demonize these people, but you never got anything remotely like that when it came to the antiwar crowd, even though ross was general as when he said they were quasiparticles stalinist. they are literally stalinist. one question i have -- "the new york times" poll referred to tea party supporters, because one problem you have is it is not like you have an id card. i asked for one, and they would not give me one. tea party supporters are very amorphous. i know lot of conservatives who would say they are to party supporters common so on the one hand, i could see how the pulling of this --, so on the one hand, i could see how the pulling of this would--e indicated, but at the same time, the supporters themselves may simply -- these are mainstream people they may be the ideological core of the republican party, but how do you tell who a tea party member is? . wesked t bsic question do you consider youelf a mber of the tea party movement? wted to keep it a symbol. you've seen a lot of research, notthatill have different finitions how one fits in that atory. i suppose youcould do a beer questions king hae u attended the tea arty raly there was an exit poll conduct by politico to 80 party rally n wall and they d pap exit poll imore rigorouy dined universe, uelking folks who attendedhe rallyin ington, d.c. duri the middle of the day so for the purpose of theesearch i showed the question was do youconsider yourse a member of the t rty moement? >> with that i will pmit you guys a i know you are gifted atthis, workng your swers and the questions from he audience and you're incredib respectful to thconsenof responses from there we going toove and keepthe trains rolling and move to the audience. have one rqust the use state who you a not some sort what is themeaning of li we but just your affiliation and you and if you could please try to akeyour statement in the form of a question would be awesome. way for the micrphone, correct? yes. >> sing you have to wait for he micropho. but the question germanynd build. there you go. >> i'm politically active with the division of the brherhood of temsters and youlready asked my first question which was the self idenfied ting. guess you gentlemen mosy touched on this. do you think the same tigs that contibuted to the rapidity of the developmenof the t party vement isalso likely to make it difficult to utain e demise likely to be s rapid because of the media and the media used to communicate with each other is the demise likely to be as rapid? in oher words are going into a litil climate where everything, ll movements had been quickly left right, whatever. people get very enthused. attentiodeficit diorder in the body of politics. thank you. i think so. i was tryto mak the point towardthe end. love to pect things but we are goi to see moremovements. the best examples a year and a lf ago ppl were wkin round withama shirts and a bumper stickers and a year and a half later not everyo i dont think in this city that if you travel into dustin people are less interest to get met a i can see thsituation in a year-and-a-half pople who identified the key party to disappointn some fashion and people are aamedo admit they spent souch tim working to elect these peole but it al we didn't bring this up in the rspart it's shown t popularity o tea parties decrse in the membership might be dreasing. if theecnomy impes i don't knowwhere the body of th moveme comes from. we couldave a sitation like the iraq war 4% unemployment and a movement based on the opposion was something else but i don't seethis lasting ch longer. will be like thepopulist party joining the democrs and 86. changed things and en we will do a retrospective in five years. i think the only countervling point to that is the posibility that what we see withthe movement from the bush years and the tea party our movments the position driven y a antipathy towas the governing party and governg predent and in that sense they cold last as long as the president is in por so i agreit dave about the underlying dynaics f the movements may lend themselves to sort flatn the pan phenomena but t the same ime it is if employment goes downo 4-ct nobdy's going to care about the tea party but uemployment isn't going to go dwn to4% and barack oba will stil be present and at this poin barack obama is so identified tea pties spirit inthe firste place. i think wat is more likely o fluctuate as what you saw in the poll t woarties pand the american center like the tea party may have les appeal in the americancter when the 2012 presidential electiorolls arnd but i thinkthat you are stl going see as ong as oba is president during his first term maybe it won't be a pitch it was during the health care debate but at least some kind of right-wing activism will rsist. >> i think onof the other reasons use of such animationn the tea party paicarly ring the hlth care ebate was that there wa a sense that the present and activism could have some pay of at te end in ts case if you are sding corresndence to a ember of congress and you are gettg yourpposition youould peel off the blue gs. there was the ance that the tea party movement could engage enough americans and creating enough popumovent to stop this train. whereas w in the absenof the health care bill it's mre nebulous. my attendance of the tea pa rally will hopefullycontribute to the outcome x. some sort of like what was ntioned initially that in the absence the lrgeear meage that there is a oehat isheealth care bill in that case it's not harder to ornize but it's just there's less nee to beso lo. >> two uick poin. e technical. on thelatest poll that shows thtea pary bing play popular some of my colleagu in the review were talking about it and there may be a problem. something of a problem th describes the drop that the generic ballot is favorle to democrats in the pollsha any other d that tell you there is something skewing andhe's a remarkable small nmber from publicans as well. not saying the couple was wrong but may be less dramat than that and the second point getting to the question you know richard hofstadter had that famous essay about thir parties where he argu thirdarties are like es in ican polic they have their imt by stinng andthen buying and the tea partiers righnow all, what are still not a tird-partyand r purely mercenapatisan easons i would hate to see them ecome one. but ey are still already having a huge effect in at respect. they he pushd the republican party i woul arge in a del bash against what we sw with conservatism and the ret anthey have already had a dramatic effe on th repuican party. some would say pushing to the extreme. gary wght and some would say on their spines. m more of the steel spine column but opinion vary. is it even if they go off nd they die tomorro it is not necearily like some flash in the an facebook fat where everyo's shows up for a snowball fight. they had a lasting impact. another qstion. yes, sir, over here. >> ihave two questions one of which relates to things r the pane g8 cy party shifted the-party movement and broad assault to the center of the reectability. wonder if the cparison completely fair on theground and not sure the antwar movement as ever abtious because t tea party tried to put oua history book glenn picked as a statemeno correct the record frequently the was a crazy book that i'm sure one of you is awre of that but the academic community excid because they sid just liberals could b facist. the argument the tea party is making as much a historical ere th mvemenwill convince people the war was wrong e firsplace ever managed to ship the narrative to suggest stalin was a good guy in the way that you sgested. the second queion as ou mentioned the n medium of fact t al th it's udertny people who were50 or 60-yrs-old. ani'm curious a quesion for thpanel how do you uggest people would movethenw mea pasthe 50 or 60 demographic to people cser to my age andwho speak to thew media as a second language bt real haven't been reached by this oup for whatever reaon. >> will try to anwer that quickly one thing ishe rht entered the oba yeath an iul network f media and institutions the left ddn't have and had t buildandstil havet buas successfully as the right. networks that compete with fox, ratings fox does. radio hosts for rush limbaugh ght etered exile i don't kwre of the figur still 20 million but the rush limbaugh listen and glennac program, th think tanks in wasngton, d.c. stuck th bush exiles andthey just i think you broug up little fcism whichas bee incredibly influential. there is a additiona tfor a lot of people that says here i your history that has been denied by e media but the et didn't have that. i think history with r is in the same as the history with a nedeal. the right is always opposed t thenew deal and opposes th war when a present is declar war and you saw that with barack obama. there is an anti-war movement but it doesn't o anything ymore. [inaudible] please wait unil he speaksut no the right w more consistent about this i the bush years st nobody litened tlew ckwell will these guys were putting out this stuff just ing ther dusty and ady to be picked up and i idn't use the word fred. it just getting easier today to thco each day o connect with people but i think people can le the question better. >> i will let you handle the questionabout thuse, but quicy i hink history never repeats itself exactl and the analogy is n perfect but you're point goes to the int i wa trying to make which is i a sense e of th potential weaknesses of the tea arty in terms of hing a direct impact on ameican policy as oppod to american politics thahey are in a sese t policy critique is as i said in uwait andmuch more wide-raing in a wa than the left anti-warcritique. you could go ack and forth on this because there is a lof anti-war ativists website howard xin with the same kind of authority that may be tea party in the liberty ad tyanny but i agree there probably is more of a structural critiqued present in somef the tea part tivism but i think that is actually for ms movement that can be a weakness as wel as a strgth because th anti-war movent always knew what it wanted too when it took power wheas t tea party ght day onwhen it takes power maybe iwants to repeal the obama care but in terms of the deficit, taxes, the constition. if you k thtea party would do you do one day one you get a lot of different wers and there is this sense and which i thinthat he party runs the risk of kind of getting into frankly some of the same territory the left got to not the bush years but in the 70's d 80's where you had in a weird way the left wing academy peopleaking their critiques of the eran society hat pan back sometimes x from the right. he talks but -- while h lks bouthe profession some. but, you know, in the same wy sometimes left-wing academics would talk about patriarchy or capil i imperialism an it can be tough to move from those nd of broad critues to a concrete policy agenda. >> to answer the portion of your question that pertain specifically to what younger voters may not have benengaged in the tea party mement inthe numbers yu exect since it is a movement thagrew out of the new medi, iwould suggest young voters particularly in 2006nd 2008 wou begino foll from the right you saw in the 2008 election the sort of scarygin of victory for democratic candidates among e youg voters and there is concern once the folksovecome barers to entry for the first time and to vote for a party ce and in thesecond election there's thiinertia that carries you through nd sticks with you in future elections so right now young e edge of remaining democratic forlong time. luckily for the white democrats managed to screw it up a little bit. thhad th rt of ene behind hope and change faded away and e all e war in ghanistan was escalated and you have young peple graduated fromcollege now and theyan't to the joband they are saying this isn't the hope and change i heard about. so there's an opportity i think for the right to begin to recapturfol to capture optimism. but don't make the mistake of confing thnew media tools with an automatic way to reach young people to read a ot of candidates through especially the 2008 ha thi you build it they wi come entality. if i put the facebook page i will magically have young peoe signing upo bemy fans and it's not the case. the tool is only as useful e messagesconveyi so right now that he rty movement is the mssage here that i think could haven opportuny to designate with young fols if we could onvin young folks to have skin in the game is the defits will be paid for by our generation ad sowe have something ry seriously a st hereif these policie contue. but what you see now is a little bit more disillusionent stepping froe process rather than the yougvoters changing parties. the portunity is there but it hasn't been eized. >> i'm not goi to get into the defenses of the pofessi som. all i haveo say out that i now out in rback. buithik that she is absolutely rigt about t youth faor and one these things has too witthe sociology of the movements. one of the things we know from e tea partiers as they have jobs and they pay taxes a a lot of themha cllege-a kids and i dot want to denigrate he sinrityr the seriousness of the large numbers of people in the anti-war movement butat a certain level esthetically tre was something about the anti-war movement that was catchyand i know this is on cs'm going toget e-mails from people wh disagree wi me and they wilso in all capi. [laughter] but anti-war movement if there had been attracted wld he been much more personal vemen and much igger as we kno from the imam era but because there is no draft it was in mny ways a very a theological indulgt movement that alwed people t express their cultu positions more than anything else and the tea party movement seems to affect people who hits the bottom line in their push and you expect given the differences and e level of income an all theres of the people entering the tea party versusollege kids ocampus and so on you would expe those differenc would manifestthemselves in the kind of movements they'vebecome and on this thig about if you build they will co in dg years i'm le 320 but interne i am aof tuzla. i've been o he intnet r a long time ad every four yea ere's been aandidate who s popular a gets a big website and has huge traffic and whoever was the consultant for the campaign becomes

and a cash prize. a 14-year-old from alabama started things off this morning by correctly spelling " serendipity." those are the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> we have a three nude c-span books for you, "abraham lincoln -- three new c-span books for you, "abraham lincoln," "the supreme court," and "who is buried in grant's tomb?" each one is also a great gift idea for father's day. >> "washington journal" continues. host: let me introduce you to the president of the national education association, dennis van roekel. he began his teaching career as a high school math teacher at paradise valley high school in phoenix, arizona. welcome to the program. guest: thank you. host: let me start with your reaction to the governors and state school chiefs' blueprint for what might be a national syllabus on english and math standards. guest: we think is important to have a common chord standards. the important distinction is that it is that from the national level, but 48 states that have agreed -- that is not from the national level, but 48 states that have agreed on that standards. host: who are the two states that opted out? guest: off the top of my head i cannot tell you that r

eastern time on c-span and c-span radio. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captions performed by the national captioning institute] [applause] >> welcome to america's future now. [applause] you're over here. are you? you here? >> are you over there? one way name cards. my name is robert and i direct the campaign for america's future. i welcome you to washington. this has been a city of great heat and big storms recently. and i'm not talking about the weather. and we need you to turn up the heat a little bit more. [applause] you will be over 1 now, people -- 1,000 people strong, you come from over 30 states. you come from across the progressive tribes of the progressive movement. we come together at a critical time. it is a little more than a year into the obama and little less than six months from the elections and in a midst of a battle about the direction of this country. 24 million people still unemployed but action on jobs is stalled in the congress. and bipartisan majority in the senate just prov

c-span, also on c-span radio. a c-span crew attended an expo for those seeking assistance after the gulf of mexico -- gulf of mexico oil spill and chalmette -- in chalmette, louisiana. >> we have the wildlife and fisheries service here to tell you how they clean birds. this is a friend of mine, here to collect your ideas. if you have an idea of, we absolutely want to hear it. kirk is here and he will take your ideas. we also have an educational opportunity and an informative opportunity for you. if you are angry and concerned, we want to hear from you as well. this is a good event for all of us. i am a brand new incident commander, taking command about two weeks ago. i assault 33,000 people being rescued from your houses. and i saw how tough that was. it really messes up your way of life. and i am here to tell you, that is what this is about. this is about your way of life. and i am here in louisiana to fight for you and your way of life. so thank you very much. [applause] >> sandy beaches are very easier to clean up the end of march. we want -- to clean up the ban on march -- t march --han a -- than a marsh. what if a hurricane

and chris van hollen meeting with local officials. you have a chance to see this later in our schedule on the c-span networks. >> c-span, our public affairs content is available on television, radiond online and you can also connect with us on twitter, facebook and ue tube and sign up for our -- youtube and sign up for our scheduled alerts. >> well, the house and senate back in session today. the senate gaveled in this morning. they continue working on that package of tax extension, tax and benefit extensions. a number of amendments to be considered. can you follow it live, senate coverage on c-span 2. they are in a break for their party caucus meetings. the house will gavel in shortly in about an hour or so, 2:00 p.m. eastern. about five bills on the agenda today . including one that honors the late explorer, jacques cousteau. the house in at 2:00 p.m. eastern. coming up this afternoon at 3:00 on c-span3, senate foreign relations subcommittee will focus on the activities of hezbollah and the middle east and the officials testifying include the counterterrorism coordinator for the state department and as well as former bush administration ambassador ryan crocker. live coverage at

c- span. >> c-span, are content is available on television, radio, and online. you can also connect with us on twitter, facebook, and you too. -- youtube. >> a preeti now on the gulf of mexico oil spill with incident commander that allen. he spoke with reporters for about 30 minutes. >> he may begin your conference. good morning. we just cut the riser pipe off of the package. they had to use the sheer cutters, which are the ones they did to use the other pipes yesterday. the other saw we are attempting to use was not successful, so we replaced it with the shares which do not have as clean a cut, but we do have a cut now. the next couple be to put the containment cap over what is left of the more riser pipe and start seeing if we can move gas and oil up the pipe to start syphoning off gas and start production later today. we will give you updates throughout the day. is significant step forward at this point. the challenge now is to seek that containment cap over it. it is different between what we were trying to do with the smooth cut and what is happening now. w

c- span. >> c-span, our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and on line. you can also connect with us on twitter, facebook, and you too, and sign up for scheduled alert e-mail's act c-span.org. >> this weekend, noted feminist, arthur, a noted scholar nussbaum. she has written or contributed to more than 20 books. join our three-hour discussion on "book tv" in depth. >> white house press secretary robert gibbs said the u.s. would not change its position on the flotilla. he speaks about gaza, the gulf oil spill, and other topics, for about an hour. >> one quick scheduling update for you all. tomorrow before departing for the gulf, the president will stop with the vice-president at a business in maayland to comment on the may employment numbers that will be released tomorrow. they will visit a commercial truck dealership and truck parts supplier. the president and vice president will do a tour with workers and the president will make brief remarks. >> did the president signed off about at the prospect of jobs? what is his reaction to this? as i have not talked

c-span. >> c-span -- our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and online. and you can connect with us on twitter, facebook, and youtube. signup for our females are at c- span.org. >> the discussion now on the future of education in the united states. " continues. host: let me introduce you to the president of the national education association, dennis van roekel. he began his teaching career as a high school math teacher at paradise valley high schl in phoenix, arizona. welcome to the program. guest: thank you. host: let me start with your retion to the governors and state school chiefs' blueprint for what might be a national syllabus on english and math standard guest: we think is important to have a common chord standards. the important distinction is that it is that from the national level, but 48 states that have agreed -- that is not from the national level, but 48 states that have aeed on that standards. host: who are the two states that opted out? guest: off the top of my head i cannot tell you that r. host: maybe i can find it for you. why does it ma

c-span radio. >> commissioner robert mcdowell talks about reclassify something broadband services, media ownership, and the use of public airwaves for emergency services tonight on "the communicate indicators" on spoim c-span -- cspan2. supreme court justice clarence thomas on the prospect of a new justice. >> bringing in a family member. and it changes the whole family. it's different. it's different toddy than what it was when i first got here. and i have to admit you grow very fond of the court that you spent a long time on. >> with the confirmation hearings for alana kaghan, learn more about the nation's highest court in c-span's latest "the supreme court: pages of candid conversation with all of the justices" providing unique insight about the court available now in hard cover and also as an e-book. >> "washington journal" continues. host: arthur brooks in the president -- is the president of the american enterprise institute. he has a new book "the battle." what are you writing about here? guest: this is about the main cultural battleground in america today. the battle today is not over the cultural issues from the 1990's, god, guns, gays and abortions, but rather over whether we want to be a culture-free

c-span radio. that's 90.1 f.m. here in washington, d.c. and nationwide on xm satellite channel 132 and live on the web at c-span.org and you can also follow us on facebook and on twitter. >> c-span is now available in over 100 million homes, bringing you a direct link to public affairs, politics, history and non-fiction books all as a public service, created by america's companies. >> of course, the lotry is prescribed by law if demand outpaces supply, you have to do a lottery. >> i really think this is the civil rights issue of today, and it's not just about race. i mean, it's about class. >> tonight the lottery producer director madeline sackler on the family she chronicled hoping to and tone -- at 8:00 eastern on company's -- let me say to the american people, this is a change in personnel but not a change in policy. general petraeus fully participated in our review last fall. and he both support and helped design strategy that we have in place. >> learn more about the president's choice to head u.s. forces in afghanistan. general david petraeus has been on c-span more than 40 times. watch his appearances at events online any time at the c-span video library. it's washington,

c-span radio and c- span.org. watch each day's rea error every night beginning at 9:00 p.m. eastern every night. -- we-air every night beginning at 9:00 p.m. eastern every night. >> you are watching c-span created as a public service by america's cable companies. canadian prime minister harper holds a closing news conference at the gao summit in canada a. on"america and the courts," justice john paul stevens and elena kagan have a discussion. >> the lottery is described by law that if demand it out places supply, you have to have a lottery. >> this is the central issue of today and it is not just about race. it is about class. >> madeleine sackler on the anti charter school sentiment. that is at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span "to end the." >> next, canaddan prime minister steven harper holds a news conference at the g-sheet summit in canada. he was the host of the summit. the meeting focused on international security, economic stability and funding for child care in the developing world. this is 20 minutes. >> good afternoon, everyone. [speaking french] -span. >> the g-8 has committed $5 billion over the next five years of new money. we have commitments from all of the partners that raised

c-span. -- live starting at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> our public affairs content is available on radio, television, and online. you can connect with us on twitter, facebook, and - span.org. >> president obama met with bp executives at the white house. bp agreed to put $20 billion in an escrow account to pay damages resulting from the oil spill. now, statements following the meeting from the president and the executives. this is 15 minutes. >> good afternoon, everybody. i just concluded a constructive meeting with bp's chairman. and i raised two issues at the meeting. first was the containment of the oil that is still spewing into the gulf. as i mentioned llst night, my administration has directed bp to mobilize additional equipment and technology and in the coming days and weeks, these efforts should capture of to 90% of the oil that is leaking out of the well. that is not good enough. we will continue to press and drop on our best mines and resources to capture the rest of the oil until the company finishes drilling a relief well that is expected to stop the leak completely. the second topic recalled to run the issue of claims. i heard growing frustration at the pace of which claims have been paid. i heard concerns about whether bp will make resources available to cover legitimate claims resulting from this disaster. this discussion today was essential. currently, under federal law, there's a 75 million-dollar cap on how much oil companies could be required to pay for economic damages resulting from this bill such as this. that amount would be insufficient. that is why i am pleased to announce that has agreed to set aside $20 billion to pay claims for damages resulting from this spill. this $20 billion will provide substantial insurance to claims people and businesses have will be honored. it is important to emphasize this is not a cap. the people of the gulf have my commitment that bp will meet its obligations to them. bp has pledged to make good on the claims it goes. the agreement we reached sets up a financial and legal framework to do it. another important element is that this $20 billion fund will not be controlled by either bp or the government. it will be put in an escrow account, administered by an impartial independent third party. if you or your business have suffered an economic loss as a result of this spill, you'll be eligible to file a claim for part of this $20 billion. this fund does not supersede either individual rights are state's rights to present claims in court. bp will continue to be liable for the environmental disaster it has caused and will make sure the address it. bp agreed to establish a $100 million fund to compensate unemployed oil rig workers affected by the closure of the deepwater rigs. we agreed that ken feinberg will run the independent process and there will be a three-person panel to adjudicate claims that were turned down. every effort will be made to expedite these claims. ken has long experience in these matters including running the department that compensated victims of 9/11. i am confident that he will administer claims as quickly, fairly, and transparently as possible. 'bp's liabilities are significant. we will continue to hold bp and all responsible parties accountable. i am confident bp will be able to meet its obligations to the gulf coast and the american peoplee bp is a strong and viable company and it is in our interests that it remain so. what this is about is accountability. that is what every american wants and expects. the structure we are establishing today is an important step towards making the people of the gulf coast whole again but it will not turn things around overnight. i want all americans to know that i will continue to fight each and every day until the oil was contained, until businesses recover, and until the gulf coast bounces back from this tragedy as i know it will. one last point. during a private conversation with the chairman, i emphasized to him that for the families i met with down in the gulf, or the small business owners, or the businessman, or the shrimpers, this is not a matter of dollars and cents. that a lot of these folks do not have a cushion. there were coming off rita and katrina, coming off the worst economy this country has seen since the great depression, and this season was going to be this season where they would be bouncing back. this happen from their perspective at the worst possible time -- happened to from their perspective that the worst possible time. they're making their entire income in the three or four months during which folks can take their boats out and people are coming down for tourism. i emphasized to the chairman that when he is talking to shareholders, when he is in meetings in his board room, to keep in mind those individuals. they are desperate. some of them, if they do not get relief quickly, they may lose businesses that have been in their families for two or three generations. and the chairman assured me he would keep them in mind. if that is going to be the standard by which i measure bp's responsiveness, that was a good start and it should provide insurance to the small business owners and individuals that bp will meet its responsibilities. i indicated that through this process as we worke to make sure that the gulf is made whole, the standard i will be applying is whether or not those individuals i met with, their family members, those communities that are vulnerable, whether they are uppermost in the minds of all concerned, that is who we are doing this work for. thank you very much, everybody. >> we have had a very constructive meeting today with the president. we appreciate his deep concern and we appreciate the deep concern that he feels for the people in the region and you can hear on his speech today how his frustration. i trust also that we threw the meeting that the president sends the sadness and the sorrow that we feel for this tragic accident that should never have happened. bp, we have always met our obligations and responsibilities. we have made clear from the first moment of this tragedy that we will live up to all our legitimate responsibilities. we have agreed today with the president a framework that should assure the american people that we mean what we say. we will look after the people affected, and we will repair the damage to this region, the environmental damage to this reason and -- region and the economy. we are announcing today as you heard from the president and $20 billion commitment to make sure that all proper claims are handled swiftly and fairly. we have also announced an independent adjudicator that makes sure that the right people will get the right money at the right time. the bp board has today decided that we will not pay any further dividends this year. we made it clear to the president that words are not enough. we understand that we will and we should be judged by our actions. what has been clear today is that this administration and our company are fully aligned in our interest of closing this well, cleaning the beaches, and care for those that are affected. . . >> are you concerned about the legitimate payments? >> this meeting influenced many different points. the determination and the ambition to get through this was clear from the beginning. >> the large oil companies are greedy companies who don't care, i hear this all of the time. we care about all of the small people. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> we care about your small people. small people. >> at today's daily briefing, briefinggibbrobert gibbs was joy asean coastguard chief. >> carol was involved in the meeting that was had today. she and i can answer questions about that. >> the questions about the oil spill fund, was bp ordered to do this or did they do this on their own? >> we reached an agreement that they will establish an independent claims facility and an escrow account and this was in the course of the discussions that they agreed to do this. >> today do this on their own? >> no. this was driven by the white house. they will agree to set up this facility where it claims can be expeditiously reviewed and decisions made on how to proceed. they will provide assets to back that up. >> obviously the white house and other agencies of the government have been working on this and we heard the president at speak about this. there would be an escrow account that would be independently administrator -- administrative. >> what about those that have an interest in the well or the rick? >> bp is the responsible party. they will be working with the companies in whatever way it is corporate to secure the funds. what we have is aa agreement for $20 billion. what gives us is the assurance said that we can make sure the people of the small businesses that have been impacted can get the claims in a timely manner. this sets up a process. there will be a review panel. the and dividual -- the individual claims it will be met. if the individuals are not happy, they will reclaim all of their individual rights. they can grant an appeal if this has been allowable. >> why a 20 billion? >> this is not a floor or a ceiling. we wanted to make sure that there was adequate resources there so people would know that they could have their claims met. local governments might have claims. we wanted to have this with a fund that would meet all of the expectations. >> this does not limit or capped the economic damages that bp might be responsible for. this does not limit in any way their responsibility. >> does the president have anything specific to say? >> the president spent 20 or so minutes at the beginning of these meetings for several hours. our group was in discussing the details of the agreement. the president spent 25 minutes with the chair alone in the oval office. these comments were directed at the tire economy. -- at the the entire company. >> can you bring us behind the scenes of the meeting? it was supposed to last a short time and it lasted several hours. can you tell me about how it played out and whether the ecology was something that you suggested? >> they began with an apology from the chairman. we talked about the containment. every time he goes down to the gulf, he visits with individuals and small businesses feeling the impact. we need to get that addressed. the best way to move forward would be an independent process not run by the government or this petroleum -- or british petroleum. bp remains liable for everything they were liable from the beginning. they are liable for the cleanup costs. we have a fund to honor the economic costs. >> is the dividend something that you pressed them on? >> they have said they understood that they have legal obligations. they agreed today not to proceed with those final pieces. >> why did it go on longer? there must have been sticking points. >> we did have to take breaks. there were six people representing british petroleum and we had six or seven and a times each side wanted to talk among themselves. we did take a break at 1.2. there were breaks for each of the party salon. >> did the president to accept the apology? >> i assume so, yes. >> can you tell me what were the sticking points? >> i think we will be happy to get into what was agreed to. >> we have reached an agreement. this is a really important agreement for the people of the call of mexico. their claims will be expedited in a positive manner. is it $100 million? was that suggested by the white3 >> that was suggested by the white house. we welcome the fact that they are making a voluntary contribution, hundred million dollars for the foundation for the unemployed oil rig workers. we continued to pursue some legislative fixes that would allow individuals to apply for unemployment insurance. >> as these things were being brought up, $100 million, $20 billion, what were they doing? where they pushing back? >> negotiations are negotiations. people discuss them and they proceed. what we needed was some kind of independent claims process. >> when was the $20 billion fund agreed to? >> that was agreed to today. >> going forward, do you expect continued meetings at this level? >> the president will meet with whoever he needs to meet with. admiral allen is in touch with bp. >> at this level, do you expect this to happen again? >> if more meetings are needed, they will be had. >> the president said that if something isn't working, we need to hear about it. are you confident that authorities have the ability to commit date with the government? we have been reporting a good deal for the gulf and many officials are having to take steps on their own. >> i talked to the president about this yesterday. we have established a different deputies and this guaranteed that we had a group of these individuals into the command centers in florida, in mississippi. we have to increase the ability to respond. quarks that it sounds like these are not being put into a category. could this have applied it best at 20 billion? >> we want to make sure that there were mechanisms to address that the contribution by pete t bp. >> the president understands the economic impact of the moratorium. we do not know what has caused the accident. because of that, the president believes it was important to stop additional drilling. the national commission that will look into the regulatory framework, we must have this going forward to insure that drilling is safe and they can and should look at the framework of round deepwater drilling first and report back to him as soon as they can. >> it sounds like they are in a separate -- >> the taxpayers will pay for some portion. >> some of the workers were qualified under existing law, some were seeking to make sure that they are qualified and now there is the additional funds. >> he has set standards. there is a lot of bureaucracy. >> this will be a seamless transition. there is a claims process. this is not working the way we >> what they are getting is a drop in the bucket. >> that is why we did this. >> i think picking him and someone who has done this before understands that you have to take place. if you were to file a claim, you still fall within the window to have that claim adjudicated and that will continue to be the case. we believe that this will be handed off in a seamless way. claims are not just heard independently but the appeals process their lead and the federal. >> these are people with mortgage payments, it didn't get his money in a week or two, they could be looking at problems. "we are working as quickly as we can. "there are plans that are being honored. we can get you the number of claims that have been responded to. people should go into that process and they will be moved over most important to understand. people will be able to apply over and over again as necessary. >> if you are a fishin \erman,m- fishermen, you can ile a claim now. you don't have to extrapolate 12 months or 24 months from now. you can refile until you are made whole. courts will i get it or is this out of the question? >> you will have your claims heard under the process i think that this gives the certainty of the funding. >> this is the overall summary. we can give you more details. as of this morning, there was over 66,000 claims filed. the checks that were cut are 26,000. >> are there people that receive money. >> let's have a look at how the current system works and how it will work. right now, if you file a claim and you are dissatisfied, you have the right to go to the federal trust fund or to go to court. what this sets up, you can file a claim. mr. feinberg will determine how if you are not working, you can file another planet it it you did not. you can file another. if you do not like it, you can have it reviewed. at the end of that panel, you can take that. if you are still dissatisfied, you can go to the federal trust fund or you can go into court. you get a quicker answered and you can file over and over. >> the 90 day process is within this. >> what is the procedure to go to this bertran and say that 20 billion is not enough hel? >> bp retains all of their liability. if there was no money available, you can go straight at bp. all of the rights of the claimants have been preserved. this new claims facility will stand in his place. if for some reason there was not money, you could ask for the payment. the only people have limited their rights here is bp. >> if you accept the money, you have limited funds. >> can you walk us through this? >> you have heard the president for three and a half years talk about his approach to comprehensive energy reform. i don't think that that has been unclear. he reiterated a call last night and said that the greatest price we pay is the price of inaction. this morning, the president spoke with senator kerrey and senator lugar, each of whom has the energy legislation that the senate is likely to take up the next several weeks. we announced that next wednesday we will have a bipartisan group in the white house to discuss the process that the senate will use moving forward. it is safe to say that the president's direction on energy is very similar to the direction that is in the carried lieberman bill. -- kerry lieberman bill. there are a number of proposals, that is why senator lugar and carry both got calls. there have been ideas about increasing energy standards. the president met with business executives last week and whether questions was outcome money is not spent on research and development? the president will have a meeting next week here to work through that process going forward. >> the president supported the public option but he got 20% of+ what he wanted. >> i don't know why it would be pertinent to get into hypothetical at this point. go back to what he said and pittsburg a week and a half ago or in 2006 as a u.s. senator. his position on how to approach our energy policy comprehensively is fairly well known. >> what is bp getting as a result of the agreement? are they getting any agreement that they will not be found negligent? you said that they would use this with u.s. asset. >> they will provide assurances by setting aside 20 billion in u.s. assets. >> they have committed to 20 but they will provide insurance by setting aside assets that could tel. -- by setting aside assets. >> what are they getting out of the agreement? >> you can ask them. there might be a way for them to explain what they did why they did this. this provides certainty and peace of mind. if there is any wonder were concerned that they would not be made whole for the disaster that dathey caused. the president ask the chair when they were talking about what is happening in the gulf and they were discussing these parameters in the board, it is the people that he has met in his trips who for four generations have fished on its waters to make a living. those are the people that the president has been focused on and he believes that that is two pp should be focused on. -- and that is what it bp should be focused on. >> is he being disingenuous when he says that people will be made whole? >> the response will party has committed today through an escrow account that starts at $20 billion to make them whole. if you are a fisherman or a shrimper and your livelihood has been changed. this provides independence from the company that caused the disaster. that is important. in terms of gulf coast restoration, the president was concerned about the region in are mentally long before this disaster. whether it was a man-made or natural disaster, katrina coming to mind. we have seen the wetlands nd the marsh become degraded. this president believes that we have an obligation to return the at the system and an impairment better than it was before this accident happened. the pe is liable for the degradation. -- bp is liable for the degradation. i believe the basis of that will help restore the environmental vitality of that region. >> president obama said that no asking was required at today's sessions. >> i think the president was clear about what he thought bp was responsible for and obligated to do. we came with that in mind and be left with an agreement that is substantive providing the insurance, the independents, the funding. they will go to sleep tonight and people will be doing this independently and transparently. they will sleep quietly. >> was this confrontational? >> this was a business meeting. we did what we thought was appropriate. >> has see expressed his frustration? what the parts of the meeting -- >> the parts of the meeting that i a worwas in work as they were described. we have seen the president over the past weeks. the livelihood of generations interrupted. there was one place such s dauphin island to that was going to recover after katrina. they thought that the economy was getting better. they have rebuilt after watching a hurricane. one of the reasons that you take the ferry is that is two islands. this is to be the season for tourism and for fishing. i think the president discussed those stories. i don't think that anyone from bp can walk away from the last 58 days of the meeting here not knowing that the president, all of those involved in the response and recovery have been frustrated. >> the executives and the companies made the decisions and this resulted in the knowledge that the people in the gulf will be made whole . >> bonds were trading at a distrust level. there is about a 40% chance of default. what was said by the company about the [inaudible] >> we did not discuss what was happening in the market. we have said analyst look at this situation and we believe that they have a lot of strong assets. they will continue to operate and be a viable company. >> did they make any suggestions? >> no. >> have you removed the possibility of punitive damages? >> nothing was taken off the table. that was made clear. >> even if everything works optimally, 10% of the oil will be leaking into the water. >> we hope that we will have a new capping system. there should be minimal leakage around that will head. we should have up to about 20,000 barrels a day. it will have a harder cap on the device that will allow us to produce more oil and this will have us up to 80 by july. we will have to unbolt the flange. we will have to do this to jump from 83,000 barrels to 50,000 barrels. >> are any foreign flag skimmer's headed to this country? >> we have foreign flag vessels operating out there. we will not turn down any offer of travel. >> these were made early on and they were turned down. >> we have an exhaustive list. >> there are foreign vessels on the way? >> there are foreign vessels. >> there are foreign vessels operating as we all speak in the gulf right now. >> they are operating outside of state waters. bp has purchased from many countries, wherever they can get a supply. >> was there any reason that anyone had to pressure bp to do anything else or are you completely satisfied with the course of action that they have laid out in the letter? >> there has been a very significant process. there was not enough capacity, redundancy. we have some shuttle tankers not usually in the gulf of mexico. these are dynamically positioned so they don't move. they have told us how they will do this. we need to monitor this. >> we did spend some time going through these containment plans making sure that everything was being done to expedite. they walked through the different schedules. we have to remain vigilant to ensure -- in the case of getting to something on the order of 50,000 barrels per day, they are actually manufacturing a riser. there is not one in the world that work for this particular application. >> does the fine limit bp's responsibility for any worker? >> there were significant questions about whether or not those individuals would be eligible under the oil pollution act. that is why we have asked congress to look at changing knee unemployment compensation for a disaster situation. >> as far as the government is concerned, that settles the issue for their liability? >> there is a significant effort to protect these workers. today, we reached a very extensive framework. we covered a lot of issues. there were many issues to further flush out with lawyers. >> during the campaign, the president said that he would let science guide his decisions. many of the scientists have said that they've never signed off on a blanket moratorium. why is he following the recommendations? >> at the time of the accident, a ask the department of the interior secretary to complete a 30-day review. they got a lot of input. some of the people that provided input -- policy decisions were made based on those recommendations. mr. salazar made a decision to recommend a moratorium. that was a policy decision. what they were giving was their expert in vicadvice. >> the president did not think that it made sense to continue the drilling activities as we were dealing with this without knowing what was going on. you cannot sit here and tell me that you cannot trust bp to do anything. we will take their word for it on the premise that they had drilling in deep water even as we were dealing with the disaster in the gulf. we had a long discussion because he understood that this was not a decision that did not come without any displacement. that was superseded by not knowing what had happened and what could potentially happened if this happened again. the resources that would be necessary of this happen again would be hard to describe in words. >> there is a criminal investigation going on and the justices are looking at some of the actions of the company. mike the administration look at any of the claims that they made with respect to their own liability? >> there was no discussion of any activities by the department justice investigation. >> there was no request? >> no, there was no request for community. -- communitimmunity. >> did they want payments to be stressed out over four years? >> this was a very focused business like discussion. >> we took a group from petroleum to look at this and make this happen. any time there is a discussion or negotiation, there are sticking points and they get work through. this is a very important achievement we have gained for the people of the gulf of mexico. >> the reason the president had this meeting was to come out with the agreement like this. his goal has been to do we have to do take care of the people of the gulf. today, we come out with the assurance through finding an independent process. that is what has driven his actions this entire time. >> this is something that they were not going to do on their own. >> this has been happening over many days. you would have to ask them when they came to some conclusion in their mind, we have had folks looking at this for many days. >> petraeus played down the ideas for a september review. and you give us a sense of the review. >> without having seen the question or the extent answer, it is not as though we were on going on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. that would not exist until that- december and that might be what he was pushing back on. those commanders provide the president but written weekly updates that are quite thick. there are monthly situation remains with the relevant cabinet members. thissreview is ongoing in nature. >> what happens to the dispersant? you push this down to the bottom of the ocean where it kills and shoves the marine life. you are talking about capturing 90% of the oil. what happens to that of oil that has been pushed down? >> the purpose is to make it go into small particles so it biodegrades quicker. we have applied these to the surface and we are applying them at the source of the leak. we have limited their particular situations to those used on the surface. the most effective application is at the leak site down at the bottom. >> that is a poison that pushes the oil down? what happens? >> this set biodegrades. all of the oil will weather and biodegrade and the dispersants accelerate of that. there is some talk city but this is far less than the oil. >> [inaudible] >> if you have an oily pan and you go to watch it, you scored some soap -- you squirt the soap in. you are watching the oil break up. you are watching the process happen right in front of you. >> there is a preconception about big oil verses average america. >> parts of this, yes. >> did you hear about the president's frustration? he said that we are concerned about the small people. those words rang very strong. is this the wrong terminology? i'm listening, we are the ones that had to push this forward. what did they offer? >> i will let carol talk about what was in the meeting. in the meeting with both the chair and the group of executives as the president came in, it is the people of the gulf that the president has had in mind throughout this process. these of the people he is fighting for. those of the people that the president has had in mind. >> we began in the roosevelt room, bp representatives. when the chairman of the company's books, he began with an apology. -- when the chairmen of the company spoke. >> i would assume so, yeah. >> you seemed to indicate that that would be the basis upon which the president will move toward. >> what i said was the principles are consistent with the principles that the president has outlined on countless occasions dating back to the campaign but likely dating back to his service in the senate. >> many people on the hill interpreted the ambiguity. >> i would focus on what the president said and has said. >> with all due respect, i understand the legislative process. >> i don't know how i can be more clear than to look at what has been said in pittsburgh. >> the climate has to be a component of the comprehensive energy. >> this would crash your computer all the times that the president has talked about the comprehensive strategy. >> there are reports that bp was considering suspending one of their dividend payments. was there any talk at all about the anti pp rhetoribp rhetoric? is the president concerned about losing influence allies in the media? >> no. i've said this before and i will reiterate. if the president had decided to run for president based the what the pundits were saying, he would be in the senate. i appreciate the hand of the polls of america by those that live on cable tv. i don't think that is where all of real america lives. >> -- one of the things that the government groups have complained about is the deal that was cut to in terms of requirements. can you talk about why the president of tax to the deal? >> i would be happy to look at what was put out and give a sense of what is in that brief. thanks. i would say he is probably in there for about 45 minutes. [no discernible body of] -- audio [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> tomorrow, the ceo of bp will be on the hill to discuss his company'')s response to the oil spill. for more information about the the oil spill and to watch any of the video on the topic, visit our special website where you will find dozens of congressional hearings on the oil spill and the video from the gulf coast. to find out how the oil spill is affecting people in the gulf coast, we talked with a small business owner. >> i am a lifelong resident of venice, louisiana. i have been here my entire life i am bound and determined to stay. i was nine weeks until -- destroyed everything. >> was that right here? >> that was right next door. >> can you explain the science on your restaurant? >> you wake up, you go to sleep at night and you see the news. there is no progress whatsoever. they try to say things to make you feel better. it is not working. we just want to see some progress. it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out this is not working well. there are things that can work. things that are common sense. we have obama and the rest in black and we have bp surrounded by the oil signs. . . it is right here in our front yard. basically. where we live, there is a levey following the mississippi river and the back bay. you can almost see that call from 100 yards behind my house. it will not be long that it will be up in those waters. all we need is a hurricane come through here right now one blow the oil into every one of these areas. there may not be a recovery process for louisiana. it is taking away our homes, our livelihoods, our cash, and anybody that comes to south louisiana or anyone along the coast, it is always, always taking you in like one of you -- like you are one of our lifelong friends. you cannot deal anywhere like you do in south louisiana. that is our nature. that is the way we were born and raised. we welcome everyone would open in arms just like we welcome the oil. we need to be drilling. we need to be drilling because louisiana is going to need that not too far down the road to survive. >> would you think the federal government should do to help? >> let's say. where do we go from here. the federal government to help -- first they can and after katrina -- they came in after katrina. we saw what happened there. we've got so much red tape that people are still trying to figure out how to get home loans, to get money from roads. i never received very much from fema. i did not know. the government issues are like i could sit and chu had all day long and people will look alike i am crazy. they are not living it. i invite anyone to come spend the weekend in our shoes. i've got employees that cannot keep up right now because of the stress. we have people hired on by bp or whoever working for bp or what have you, we're not getting paid. my husband has been working for over four weeks now. he is not gotten a paycheck that. our bills are piling up on the kitchen table. they want to see what is like? let me -- let them come work with me in the kitchen. a cheeseburger and a cheeseburger. bring in on. for it -- bring it on. >> next, a searing helene on the oil spill's impact on the local economy defense secretary robert gates testifies on capitol hill about the defense budget. and later, members of the armed services -- senate armed services committee questioned david petreaus about afghanistan. on tomorrows "washington journal," a look at the war in afghanistan with congressman joe wilson. we will talk with kathy castor about the gulf oil spill. and david michaels on protecting the safety of those working in the gulf clean-up effort. "washington journal" is live starting at 7:00 a.m. eastern time on c-span. >> he was a volatile, emotional, dedicated depressive young man. and very adventurous. when he came to america my he was 25 and decided to have an adventure. >> taking a look at his 1831 toward america. the new book on c-span's "q&a." >> we've got three new c-span books for you. "abraham lincoln," "the supreme court," and "who's buried in grant's tomb?" each with a unique contemporary perspective and perhaps something new to you about lincoln, the nation's highest court, and the gravesites and lives of america's presidents. to order, go to c- span.org/books. each one also a great gift idea for father's day. >> now was hearing here -- a senate hearing on the costs associated with the gulf oil spill. testifying are the bp vice- president in charge of the claims process, transocean ceo, and government officials. this is an hour and 45 minutes. >> the subcommittee will come to order. i want to welcome our colleague, frank lautenberg from new jersey, and before i call on him as the f

c-span network, on our web site, and seized and radioo -- and c-span radio. last week that new japanese primm minister held a news conference. became the fifth prime ministtr in the four years after the sudden resignation after failing promise to relocate the u.s. air base. >> we will now begin the press conference. the prime minister will open the segment. earlier this afternoon i was formally appointed by the emperor as a new prime minister of japan. appointment, i would like to offer some of my basic stocks with the citizens of japan. -- my basic thoughts with the citizens of japan. i belieee politics is to reduce to a minimum the causes of unhappiness for the people of japan and the world to create a society of minimal misery. obviously it is important to strive for a larger causes of happiness for things such as love o or paintings of one's favorite scene. those are areas where politics should keep the minimuinvolvemet to a minimum. where does japan stand today? as a child growing up in the 1950 paulson 1960's, we were not privy to many goods, but new things are being introduced, and as a result it was an era filled with hope. in the 20 years since the bubble economy burst, however, the economy has slumped and over 30,000 people continued to commit suicide every year. the general malaise of society --seems to be growing deeper, as if we have entered a time of oppressive fight. i aim to eshaae the nation from its foundation, transformiig it into a more dynamic country to enable our youth to take wing and soared to new heights in japan and in the world. one step towards this will be to fundamentally rebuild the japanese economy, its finances, and its social security system. in short,, we need to create a system that incorporates strong economy with the robust financial foundation and social security system. we are now in the process of finalizing a national growth strategy. but i cannot say that japan, despite having major opportunities to speaa, has not been able to fully respond and for example, the goal to reduce carbon emissions by 25% that the former prime minister proposed for global warming initiative is a huge opportunity for japan to provide new technologies and products to the entire world. thus, drive national growth. pet we have faalen behind in this effort. the same is true with asia this region is in the midst of the largest leap in economic development in history. i recently visited china. while thh business opportunities are boundless, they have taken a back seat to european pounterparts, relegated to the status of contract in. why is this happening? i believe all of this is due to the leadership in japan of the past 20 yeaas. the new national growth strategy save space on what we saw green innovation. areas in which japan can provide technologies and capital to drive our nation's growth. the national budget will be -pallocated on the basissof this strategy. moreover the reason jjpan's financial a situation has deteriorated to this point is because we have not raise taxes for the past 20 years. relying instead on huge deficits to spend its way at of the quagmire it basis. repeatedly pouriig money into public works projects, which are not very effective economic stimulus. pour instance, nearly 100 airports have been built in this country, but not one has become a major hub at. a traffic case of wasteful and ineffective public spending. meanwhile, our social security costs have ballooned. i believe they are their fleeting structural causes behind the monumental deficits that we stagger under today. because of the weakened state of finances prevents us ffom taking the steps we need, i believe that revamping of the nation's financial plays a key role in the furtherinn of the growth of our economy. as for the social security system, it has become seen by pany as a growing burden on economic growth. is this really the case? many countries such as sweden have actually leverage there's also security system to create jobs and provide a stable environment in which young people can study and do research.. in fact, many aspects oo the system actually serve to drive economic growth. seen in this way, i believe, there is a way to integrate and the social security system into a single paakage and make it stronger. turning to international issues, japan postwar foreign policy over the past 50 years rests on the bedrock of the japan/u.s. alliance. it remains fundamental to this day and must be maintained. at the same time, as the nation in asia, japan must work with other nations. the contender issue has been a source of concern for japan/u.s. relations. as well as for the people of japan. a bilateral agreement has been reached, and i believe we must abide by its conditionn. but at the same time, as stated in the cabinet resolution, we will do the utmosttto reduce the well it is a truly difficult issue, i intend to tackle the problem with the specific orientation. what is my job as prime minister? in the past few days many of the officials i appointed have been interviewed on television and in tte media and offered commentss on issues. hell would you rate them? -- how would you raae them? these people are 10 to 20 years younger than i am serving in my cabinet. when i see them and listtn to what they are saying, i am impressed. i am sure that they have impressed you as well. i worked the previous prime minister to abound this in 1996, and served as the first president when it was launched in its present form in 1998. in the verge region we merged with the present party shortly thereafter -- we merged with the present party shortly i can say with confidence that we an and will advance the reforms to remake japan. like myself, many of the dpj lawmakers are the sons of ordinary salary worrers and self-employed falters. -- fathers. these hugyouth set out with ther own aspirations, burkhardt, and are contributing to the world of politics in iria. isn't that what a democracy is supposed to be? in working with these people my job in part is to define the direction we must take, and after extenssve discussion in -pthe cabinet or party in which everyone is satisfied, bring to bear the full force of our united effort to the issue at hand. now that i am prime minister, i will not have much time for myself. i prefer to continue practicing might buddhist austerity, but that has been shelled for now. in the sense, i will view this signed as a form of buddhist in the service of japan and the world' to the best of my ability for the betterment of japan and the world. i promise to do so to the people of japan, and with that close my statement. thank you very much. we will now field quuetions from the media. please state your news organization in question. please make our questions specific. >> and at press conference after minister is spoke of stress and in the capabilities of your own3 yoor cabinet in deciding your cabinet ministers. reserved as deputy prime minister, was there any structural issues at the time, and do you want to change things from the lessons you drew? please be as specific as possible. >> in the administration i was given the responsibility of deputy prime minister. the administration did not last long, and i am disappointed and feel considerable responsibility for his demise. with that said, my cabinet will revolve around the chief cabinet secretary who will serve as my chief operating officer and if of my views. mr. nemcovakota has served for many years. but as my chief cabinet secretary, it will be his job to do so.+ he is more than qualified for the post, and he represents the first step forward in enhancing the cohesion f my discretion. and with that post of chairmano, it will be structured around the respective ministers. but much haa been said about the central bureaucracy and politicians. the idea issnot to let politicians decide everything. bureaucrats are the policy profeesionals that have been working on the issues for many years. and their task is to exercise the knowledge they have built u+ to the fullest. they must be allowed to do their at the same time, the people voted the members into office, and these legislators vote for the prime minister who then chooses the cabinet. while prioritizing the views of the people, we need to use the paradis seek to develop initiatives. -- while prioritizing the views of the people, we need to utilize the nitiatives. i spoke to each member for about 10 minutes a day. while i urge them to do their best at their respective ministriis, i also said there may be times when i will interject my thoughts on a specific issue, perhaps for the cheap covenants. i will just be trying to improve cabinet cohesion law also improving relations. >> do you plan to extend the july 11 eeection date? many candidates refer to hold this as currently scheduled. what will constitute an ththe minimum number of seats for you to declare victory? >> an ordinary session last for 150 days. still goallis to pass the bills you are backing in that time. -- the goal is to pass the bills you are backing in that time but we still have many bills to vote on. given the situation, we have agreed with our coalition partners, at the new people's party,,to get the service reform even if we were to extend the upper house elections, it will be difficult to pass all the bills we have submitted. if that is the case, some say we could try again after the election. pn any event, we will have to secretary-general and diet affairs chief, as well as our coalition partner and other political parties. as for the minimum bid to line it will be the basis we 16 years ago. the question is, can we secure more seats than in 004, or is that realistic? i will have to get a better grasp on every election -pdistrict and their respective situationss i hope to do so once the campaign gets under way and said lead the effort. >> you raise the points of restoring the nation's fiscal health. what is your position on raising the consumption tax and revising the tax system? you also have said that you want to cap issuing government bonds+ to less than the 44.3 trillion yen issued this fiscal year. pledge? >> i did say that, but the 44.3 trillion yen will not restore our public finances back to health. public debt will continue to rise. at this rate, japan steppe's del hit to enter% of its gdp in a-p. -- japan's debpt willlhit 200% of its gdp in a few years. i will be giving a policy speech in a ew days. but this matter must be addressed on a non-partisan basis. we must reach a national consensus on the debt size and time table to tackle its. every party must be willing to discuss this. all of these things must be considered before we make it an electiin pledge. >> 14 years have passed since the original her dpj launched. -- since the original dpj launched. will do disclose the secret funds of the cabinet or their briefings given by all offthe cabbnet members? complete access to the chief cabinet secretary press briefing? the previous prime minister had promised to do so. >> have yet to examine the issue ps prime minister. while i personally believe transparency is important, i believe too muuh focuses to the media can affect operations of+ the administration o. in that end, what is important for me as prime ministerris what i do now, not how it is communicated to the press. in the u.s., for example, that3 secretary. -pi understand president devaoba rarely holds press conferences. but that may not necessarily mean disclosure was lacking. ittis not the frequenny of interviews or accessibility that determines transparency. cao what is important is to do what must be done -- what is important to do what must be done and then explain it. the manner in which it is offered is key. i will have to discuss this with the proper authorities as well. >> now that theedpj 6 in the seat of powwr in the prime mmnister has changed, will yyu call for the election? to come we will test the public's judgment -->> we will test the public's judgment with the upper house election first.3 said at times, and i am not entirely in disagreement, but the results of the upper house election must come first. in one sense we have already laid out our election pledges last year, and in the broader sense, the direction we want to take has gone clearer. including how we will deal with the problems we face.. all of that will be judged by voters in the upper house electionn that is probably the first thing we must tackle. as such, everything is pretty much a blank slate for now regardinn the upper house elections. >> what would be the ssogan of the new administration? >> what comes to mind now is grass-roots politics, but that may not be probably enough for you, so i would offer something like the [unintelligible] cabinet instead. [unintelligible] is attracting a great deal of interest these days. i was born in an area once known as toshou. she was not only quick to flee, but quick to attack. as an influential figure, i believe japan is a need for action that is similar a decisive period to break through delays that is suffered today. what i mean by militias thais tt we are comprised by more than the sons of lords. we come from many walks of life3 come ut of the broad social ssctor, and da they will be askd to battle with great courage. that is the expectation i hold for might administration, and why i would dub it the militia cabinet. to g>> yesterday, the dpj secrey general said he would leaae it up to the prime minister whether he wanted o go before the ethics committee. what are your thoughts on this? the japan/u.s. agreement stipulates that a decisionnmust be made on technical matters by the end of august. however, residents remain opposed to the agreement. have you propose to resolve this? >> he did cite those reasons and his resignation speech, and it pould be said that he had to set them because the president reject public had a difficult time understanding what the administration was meant to do. in that sense my administration must take up where he left off, his efforts. as for the issue of money in politics, given his statement, mr. osaui had to step down as the secretary general. has been reached because he minister and president of the dpj. that may not be announced for some people, but i think it is sufficient. whether this will be pursued further remains to be seen, but because of the parties that are particularly keen on bringing him in as a witness, we will3 before we arrive at a final decision ourselves. as for sutema i intend to appear however, that does not mean the situation at this time has which the people of okinawa are offering their approval. while the expert level talks will come up with the general direction to proceed in august, phat as a matter of the timetable that the countries have committed to. to enlist the understanding of%- the people. a task that must be pursued in parallel to the bilateral talks. obviously just because the governments agree, it does not mean the people there agree. in that sense, our discussions to ease the burden must be held as part of the entire prooess. in the previous a administration of revious priie minister had so many different people offering their ideas and views, and cheering them out was a good thing, but having too many people involved may be an invitation to onfusion. -- hearing them out was a good thing, but having to many people involved may be an invitation to confusion. we will examine what will be the best approach to thh issue. obviously the ministry of foreign affairs, defense may have to be included. we will have to sort what is the most appropriate way to deal with this. women not have the time to deal with this essentially, -- we may not have the time to deal with this sequentially, but we will have to assemble a team of first and cllsely reexamined the parameters that need to be discussed. some say your cabinet appointments weee made too neutralize the influence, while the opposition parties are claiming that you are simply trying to hide as the upper election nears. you have said he needs to keep quiet for some time, and does that mean until the electionnis over? >> watching the media coverage, you people are always asking -- how should i say this, how close or distant one is or whether one is under his influence as far as my cabinets are concerns. the key determinant was who i should ask to accept this portfolio and carry out the work in the most productive3 if you look at who i chose, you will see that each minister has their own idea and will act upon them. i believe they will fulfill their respective responsibilities admirably. regarding my statement, i was relating what had happened to me personally in 2004 while it was ultimately discovered that the fault was when the social security -- was with the social security admmnistration. the best thing to o with that point is to keep quiet and keep a low profile, which is what i did. and similarly, mr. cutter resigned in 2005 after being questioned in the lower house election. looking back at ttat time now i suppose it may be too harsh, but he certainly had as acting as schools and a play he scripted. responsibility for the setback and uietly traveled around tte country meeting with the dpj candidates that failed to get a seat. he stayed oot of the limelight, and when another oppootunity arose, he took action. that is why i do not believe i said anything out of the ordinary. and they were both nvolved n political funding issues. i supposeein one sense they felt responsible, and for that reason they should stay low and for awhile. doing so is not only better for them, but better for everybody. ittwas, i believe, the natural thing to say. as for how long is a while? it is not a matter of whether it should be a few days or a few years, i think this examines their options if and when a new location comes up, and that should be enough. >> what are some of the solutions you propose to progress the finaacial locations and what steps can you take? >> a week in, -- what about the week in? yes, what can you do about it? i stated earlier that i intend to integrate the economies fiscal health and security into one package. what -- while i would like to go into greater detail, i have been making statements on this here and there, plus i will make a policy speech in a few days in which i will prrvide additional information. in one extreme measure remedies of japan's bloated debt would be to raise taxess but that engenders the risk of further in excel rating a deflationary spiral. with that said, what is important is the way public outlays are spent. areas stimulating economic growth. also, economic policy in which the savings of oor citizens are converted to government bonds obviously a viable one. what was wrong with this policy was how the money was spent well public debt mounted as a result of building 90 airports. it led to little oo no economic growth. we are still -- japan has the highest public debt to gdp ratio. the financial markets have consequently become highly volatile and jittery. in this context we are now at a crucial juncture, one in which we must choose hether it is wiser to continue relying on to fund state spending to or structurally reform the tax system and create new sources of revenue. ideally oor administration should not make this decision unilaterally. it should involve opposition parties, which share in our sense of urgency. our past is to expand this discussion to as broad an audience as possible. generally regarded as a positiv3 . .' take to improve ties with the u.s. that have been strainedd with the summit held in canada, will you takeethat opportunnty tt visit america and speak with the president? >> while we still have a little time before the summit and nothing definite has been decided, i hope to speak with president bama at the time. i can say that, when i spoke with the president the other day, he said he was looking for to the caaada summit, which leads me to believe that a meeting is indeed possible. it is also possible that i may go to the u.s. before the su summit. of course, i have dire matters to respond to first and the president has many pressing global issues to deal with. as for now, it will be the first time thht i meet with him as prime minister. >> this marks the third time in which free-lance journalists have been allowed in april ministers conference. participation is regulated -- allowed in a prime ministers' conference. participatton is regulated, however. this is regarded by a the establishment as a major rock maker -- a major ruckmaker. it is right to exclude a journalist from your press conference based on the nature of his past work and ideollgical beliefs? >> as i stated earlier, i believe in transparency as a general principlee but, as i repeatedly noted, how this principle should be achieved is something i will have to discuss with the people overseeing these things. there may be limiis to what aa prime minister can discuss that i have not yet been briefed on. i haae made thousands of speeches at outdoor political rallies and weird things have happened. sometimes ittis a person with a megaphone who tries to disrupt a rally. at other times, it is a whole group of people. that is why i think it is important to be as open as possible. but, impact as, it is important to have a set of rules to deal with the matter. >> many of your cabinet membbrs, officers still hold the government. government. was your decision based on the believe that this cabinet remain election? >> the hatoyama administration lasted less than nine months. its ministers have only served forrthat amount of time.when i e minister talks in canada this yearrand introduced myself to my g-7 counterparts, i was greeted with wide grins. that is because i was the fourth finance minister from japan in the span of one year. if a prime minister or his ministers are replaced into shorter time, it is not -- in too short a time, it is not good. but most ministers are willing to ulfill their responsibility. those people i have seen at work for myself i retained. >> you refer to the possibility of a cabinet reshuffle. >> you people seem to love things like that when something is changed to create something new if the same people are seriously doing their jobs, the media hardly ever covers that. that is why i have no such plans for a reshuffle at this time. i urge you to follow the work of a minister in my abinet. really see what he is doing. only then should you sk if i am going to do this -- >> we are going to leave this event toogo live to the gulf coast whereepresident obama is making his fourth visit today in response to the oil spill. >> you could see the footprint of buildings that have been decimated from katrina. in some ways, what we're dealing with here is unique because it is not simply one catastrophic event. it is an ongoing assault his movements are constantly changing. that is what makes this crisis so challenging. ii has to be constantly watched. it has to be trrcked. we are haviig to causally redeploy resources to make sure ttey're having maximum impact. we also need to make sure that we are constantly helping folks who have been hurt by it, even as we are stopping oil from spreading into more and more areas. response effort has to happen on %+bunch of different tracks. ittmeans containing as much of the wealth as quickly as we can. after receiving the first oil colllction plan from bp, which said they need to move faster and more aggressively. they have now come back with a+ plan that accelerates and contains 50,000 barrels per day until theeend of gen. that is two weeks earlier than they had -- ended june. e --nd f june -- end of june. that is two weeks earlier than they had planned. we will continue to hold these parties accountable for the disasters they have created. dealing withhthe aftermath of this also means protecting the heallh and safety of the follss who live and work here in theodore, here in alabama, and here in the gulf coast. as part of the effort, i am announcing a comprehensive, coordinated, and multi-agency to ensure [unintelligible] i had seafood for lunch and it was delicious. but we wann to make sure that the food industry down here is getting the protection and the certification that they need to continue their business. this is important for consumers who need to know that theer food is safe. but is is also important for the fishermen and processors who need to be able to sell their goods with conference. the true today is safe to eat. stays that way. and the fda and the national oceanic and atmospheric administratioo are increasing processors, strengthen surveillance programs, and monitoring fish that are caught just out of restricted areas. we're also coordinating efforts with the states that are implementing similar planss these safety measuues are on top of steps that we have taken to protect workers who are involved in the cleanup efforts. observed here today involve making suue that workers are sticking to the protocols that are put in place. when they arrive there on the working with potentially toxic materials, they have to takk that seriously and are not cutting corners on safety. we do not want tragedy on top of the tragedy we have already seen. inspectors from the health and safety and administration are they are boarding vessels off the coast to make sure that bp is complying with its safety operations. if they see a problem, they will work with bp to resolve it as quickly as possible. we are also monitoring air and water across the gulf coast. we can act swiftly should any risk arise. these health and safety measures are just part of our overall efforts to deal with the spill. in our history with the largest environmental disasteresponse ar history. over 20,000 personnel are working to protect her gulf coast. more than 5400 skimmers, barges, as we came into this facilityw%- are clearly responding to the spill. over 2 million feet of containment boom are beinn used and millions of more feet are available. in addition, we have authhrized the eployment of 17,500 national guardsmen and women to assist in the response wileffor. across the gulf coast, supporting local, state, and federal a florey's are being helped in a variett of ways. there is materials training and guard aircraft are helping in the response to courted vessels that are out on the water. in alabamm, and particular, about two hundred out of 450 guardsmen have been activated. they are prepared to handle any challenge and i hope that our governor is put them to good use. the full resources of our government are being mobilized to confront this disaster. it is not only important from government on ttem to do what we can. it is also important for us to wook together to make sure ouu efforts are well coordinated. that is why governor riley and theeother coast governors have been working with my administration seven days a week since this at disaster occurred. we will be working with state and ocal officials on every front, from containing as much oil as possible to protecting ourrcoast, until we put this tragic ordeal behind s. i cannot promise here that the oil will be cleaned up overnight. it ill not be. it will take time for things tt return to normal. there will be harrful effects. a lot of fooks. -pfolks will be frustrated and some folks will be angry. but i promise you this. things are going to return to normal. this region has known a lot of hardship. april bounceback just as it has bounced back before. -- it has bounced back just as it has bounced back before. in the end, i am confident that we will be able to leave the gulf coast in better shape than it was before. governor rrley, high-pressure it all of your efforts. to all of the local officials who have been working so hard, we appreciate you. let me give you one last comment about our coast guard and about+ our national incident coordinator and that allen. thad allen was about to retire. -phe is working as hard as anyby in this country right now to help deal with ttis crisis. members of the coast guard have been doing outstanding work each and every day. i just want to say to all of them thht the country is proud of you, grateful to and keep up the good work. all right? thank you very much, everybody. [apppause] i want to take this one question. there have been some reports in the news. i will beemeeting with the bp officials on wednesday. we have begun preliminary conversations about how to structure and mechanism so that the legitimate claims that will pe presented, not just tomorrow, coming months are dealt with the jussly, fairly, and prommtly. so far, we have had a constructtve conversation. my hope is thht, by the time the chairman and i meanet, we will -phave significant progress so that we will have a structure in place. right now, it is too soon for me to make an announcement. by wedneeday, helped to make an announcement on this front. -- i hope to make an announcement on this front. >>>[unintelligible] >> i am going to let thad allen+ address this question. we ttlked about it in our meeting. >> first of all, we have a number of different types of skimming eqqipment. some are offshore deep draft vessels. we have others that are towed wick boomed systems. and we have shallow water vessels that are deployed offshore. they are the major resources of the effectiveness. we know what we're doing near the well head. we have to push the enemy back. we have 400 of the skimming vessels that are organically containing skimming equipment. we their state partners, including national guard ooerflights and so orth. >> [unintelligible] >> you're only going to get to questions. the initiative has come up across the gulf. keep in mind what we mean by vessels of opportunity. that could be a big shrimp boat from a little ecreation vote that someone has brought up. each of them will have some of them will be able to take skimming equipment of the discussed and ashley place itton the boat. some of themmwill not have that spot oil. ttere may be able to shovel bbg ships.3ck-and-forth to these inventory. all the vessels that have presented themselves determine which ones caa go out deep water.. they have radio and deep water -pequipment. we determine which ones are not able to do that. that process will be coordinated. throughout four states. at any given time, the priority might e that -- we just want to get this stuuf out 20 miles before it starts coming in closer.+ that means it's necessarily see a lot of scammers close and because --+ that means you are not going to necessarily see a lot of skimmers close in. we need to make sure that we have a full inventory. we know the capacity of these we need to make sure that these people are being trained with of these vessels and we will start to put them to work as quickly as possible. all right?%+ >> [unintelligible] >> i have seen a number of beautiful beaches. i saw some in mississippi. we saw the beaches when we flew over. but i will be honest with you. we are going to stop as much of the oil from coming in as possible. that is their number one job. ii turns out that, if you will+ hit the beaches, ttat is probably the easiest to clean up. it is a concern, obviously, for tourism and an entire gulf region that depends on the tourism season especially at this time when people are out of school. those big globs of oil, when they hit the beaches, we can%+ -psend people up there to scoop pristine in a year or two years from ow. theebiggest coocern we have are the marshes, the estuaries, and the wetlands. if the oil is seeping in, that can not only kill oyster beds and vitally important seafood and ecosystems, but even the repair efforts in those areas can actually destroy the ecology in the region. we are having to coordinate with the bbst scientists we have available. at mcclellan is working with hoa and -- with noa and agencies with the areas that have to be protectived first and foremost. in mississippi, they have decided not to put any boom in front of beaches. if the soil gets there, it is bad, but it is temporary. but these others, it would be worse. thank you everybody. >> the british secretary of energy and climate change on the floor of the house of commons today. from london, this is aaout half an hour. >> [uniitelligible] >> thank you. i welcome you to your position. sympathy for those three very injured in the explosion in the gulf of mexico. and for all individuals and communities affected by spilling oil or fearing that they will be affected over the days and weeks to come. our thoughts must be first with them. on the 20th of april, an explosion and subsequent fire on a drilling rig operated by transition under contract to bp effectively killed 13 workers. it sank. substantial quantities of oil were leaking into the ocean. the blowout preventer, hich should have sealed a leak, failed. the causes of the accident and now subject to a .s. presidential commission of inquiry and to civil and criminal investigation. there has never been such a large llak of oil so deep in the sea. attention by the pea under the direction of the u.s. by bp under the direction of the u.s. authorities to seal the league have been unsuccessful. it is also no fault that the leakkis worse than previously believed. the u.s. government's estimates of the daily flow of the leak is now 35,000 barrels to 40,000 barrels a day. bp hopes to increase significantly the amount of oil is capturing. moreover, the leak will not attthe earliest, when the first- relief well should enable the original well to be plugged. there is also an enormous operation to help the impact of admiral thad allen and more than 2000 boats have been involved scamming the water and using dispersant chemicals. thousands of workers and volunteers on shore are removing oil and maintaining coastal defensess the house will wish to join me in paying tribute to those involved in this work. we sympathize with the u.s. government's frustration that oil continues to leak at the rate thatt t doos. to appreciate the scale of this environmental disaster, each week, a quantity of oil pquivalent to the total spillage of the exxon valdez is escaping into the gulf of mexico. the u.s. administration has said that bp is doing everything asked of it in the effort to combat the spill. we have looked to the company to continue in this and we will do everything that we can to help. the key priority must be damage. in a telephone conversation, president obama reassuued the prime minister that he has no interest in undermining bp's value and the frustrations in america have nothing to do with national identity. hon. members will remember that, in 1998, the alpha read in the north sea exploded with 167 fatalities. following that disaster, our own regulatory regime was significantly tighttned and we splii the functions of licensing and health and safety the u.s. have announced that, in the future, in the u.s., these functions will be held by a separate organizations. we hope that we have some experience in operating such a system. my department and the health and safety executive have been discussing witthis with of the . counterparts. it is my responsibility to make sure that the oillindustry remains with the highest possible standards. i have urged a huge review undertaking. the industry's record in the north sea is a strong. but with the beginning of exploration in deeper waters, we must be vigilant. initial steps are already on the way, includiig doubling annual inspections from? two drilling rigs. -- from decks to drilling rigs. we're building on the ork already begun by the newly formed oil spillage and response advisory group. i will also ensure that lessons and practices are shared with3 operating companies. mr. speaker, i now turn to the position of vp.%+ it is usually egrettable that the company's tactical efforts to stop the spill have, to date, been only partially successful. but acknowledged the company for its strong public commitment to stand by its obligation, to hold this bill, and to provide a remedy and payment of all legitimate claims. as a bp's chairman has ssid, these are critical tasks for bp and bp must complete them in order to rebuild truut in the company as a member of the business community in the united states, in the united kingdom, and around the world. bp remaiis a strong company. although its share prices have fallen sharply since april, the company has the finnncial resources to put right the damage. it has exceptionally strong cash flow and it will continue to be a major employer and vital investor here and in the united in many ways, bp is effectively an anglo-american company with 33% of its shares owned in the u.s. agginst 40% in the united kingdom. there has been much speculation in the press about the impact on u.k. pension funds and whether the company will pay a quarterly dividend.+ this is highly matter for the bp directors who will weigh all%+ factors and make a day -- make a recommendation to their shareholderssthat is in their best interests, which also includds a the best interest of many u.k. pension funds. legitimate worries about their penssons. but i wouud like to reassure the house that, not only is the bp financially sound, but pension generally also hold a very- diverse portfolio of assets. their exposure to a single company, even a company as economically important as vp, it is limited. in concluding my statement, i profound sympathy to those in the u.s. affected by this accident and by its aftermath. the priority must be to address the enviroomennal consequences of this bill. our concentration is on practical measures that can help in this. this disaster is a stark reminder of the environmental dangers of oil and gas production in never-more difficult areas. ccupled with of the effect of high carbon consumption, this highlights yet again the importance of improving the eeergy efficiency of ur econooy and the expansion of low-carbon technologies. we must ann will learn the%+ lessons of these terrible >> mr. deputy speaker, let me start with a thank-you for the secretary's statements and the developments on the gulf. let me also join him in the regret over the people who have died in this tragedy. [unintelligible] we shall never forget the people who lost their lives in this accident. can i also join him in the deep concern for the impact of the oil spill that he mentioned in his statement. i believe it is in the interest of the environment and the employee, shareholders, and investors of the bp that there%+ be a coordinated response of the government's of the u.s. and united -- of the u.s. and the u.k. sector companies of all this accident, but does he agree with me that all of the company's evolving in the deep water horizon project should be subject to investigation and that finger-pointing at bp in particular is not helpful? secondly, on the issue of reguuation,,does he agree that any process of learning lessons need to look at not just the accident the private companies but the regulators of the u.s. minerals management? [unintelligible] could he also, in his response on the specific understanding o+ the level of regulation in place in he u.s. compared to the united kingdom? can i welcome what he said about the icensing of drilling in the deep waters of u.k.? does he agree with me that it is essential that we look at any lessons learned before beginning thh process of that the deeper importantly for the long-term future, mr. deputy speaker, does he agree with me that the central section of the deep water horizon is that we cannot dig deeper and deeper for oil, pondering the world's resources? i do think that the opportunity should be seen on both sides of the atlantic by the prime miiister and the president may need to send a clear message [unintelligible] it will take decades, but it is a transition that needs to start all around the world. fifth, in that context, does he agree witt me that, out oo the tragedy of deep water, the best thing that can happen is a push ttward low-carb and energy america passing the climate and energy bill and in the securitization of the national treaty [unintelligible]] domestically, we need to play our part and that also means maintaining support for the local transition? looking for the budget next week, i do say to him that it is important that, if we are to make the low-carbon transition ourselves, of the investments being promised by the previous government will need to go ahead as soon as possible this is -- as possible. this is an environment to wake up for the world. this disaster must change the rules of the game across the world. this requires strong leadership, including being tough with our allies. if the governor provides that kind of strong leadership for bp employees, for pension holders, and the environment, we will have crossed the port. >> i am grateful to the gentleman for the manner with whhch he has approached this. the truth is that there is not a lot of difference in our approaches. i think we have seen some examples of what can happen if peoppe attempt tooslam up red truck rather than deal with these issues in a measured -- slam cup record -- slam up rhetoric rather than deal with these issues in a measured manner. trans ocean and is a welll respected united states company and it was using technology which was indeed produced in the united statee, the blowup prevent her produced by cameron and was ppoduced to american petroleum industry standards. all of that said, i think it is crucial to that the full investigation take its course. we simply do not know. -pso many of the people who told -- who could have told us what happened are no longer alive. we simply do nottknow exactly what the events were that happen on the deep water horizon and we need a proper process of investigation if we are going to learn those lessons. i have already said something about the difference in a -pregulatory regime between us d the united states. the most important feature is the decision we took after the piper alphaadisaster to separate the licensing and regulation from the health and safety side. but that is certainly not the only lesson that will be learned from this disaster. when we have more clear understanding of exactly what went wrong, i am certain there will be aatechnical and other regulatory response is required. in the interim, we have made that step of improving inspections. because we have already announced the increased number of inspections, i do not believe that it would be appropriate to stop the drilling going on west of shetland. i think that a regime has been shown to be robust. but we do need to go on learning the lessons. on the final point that the hon. gentleman makes, i very much agree with him and that we do need to accelerate the process of the move toward low-carb and economy. whatever else the risks and evolve, for example with the tidal stream, the future generation of way of technology, they are not in the same order of magnitude with the the sort of risks we are currently running in the drilling and increasingly hostile of environments in the world. i think that message is an important one. this is an environmental wake-up call. hydrocarbon oil and gas will play a crucial part in the transition period from our economic history, we know that we cannot simply switch off steam power and move on to electricity. these things do take time. but it is unimportant 24 is that there is no time -- it is an important time for us that there is no time to lose. >> we will have reassurance that we are operating in two different environments. we need to recognize that these mistakes in a difficult environment are the responsibility of the whole industry. the whole industry will have to+ solve them in partnership with the regulatory authority. can i say o him that we have to ensure that 25 million barrels of oil we got out offthe north sea we need to get out and environmental energy need to work together? >> he is absolutely right. this is a crucial industry force. it is in everyone's interest, not least those of those working in the industry, that the standards and environmental safety and health and safety shhuld be as high as weepossibly can make them. i can assure him that we intend to make the case. >> [unintelligible] things seem to have calmed down. i'm glad to hear that. it partly has to be because of3 partners, know what we need tt do, know what the responsibility is with regard to clean up, and understand and are able to quantify just how much it will coot for those people. right. i spoke yesterday with bp') tony hayward and i spoke with another board would member. i had not realized until those conversations the cooperative efforts across the country to find a solution for this. it is in the interest for all oil companies to make sure they can reduce sure that public's and people who are affected in louisiana and other coastal states that there are genuine and technical solutions. >> i reenforce the secretary is recognition of the human tragedy involved in this disaster. while the president was reassuring that he did not intentionally want to affect the finances of bp, he may have an intensely done so. we can ensure effective ensure solutions. [unintelligible] blowout preventers are subject to rigorous inspection and to ensure that it does not happen here. >> my hon. friend is absolutely right. it is in fact the case of that, and a regime and and in the u.s. regime, the blowout is checked on a regular basis. hear, the blood pressure had been checked within two weeks of the disaster. it still failed. clearly, that ii one of the things that the investigation will have to get to the bottom of and one of the things that we will need to learn about operating at these steps add at this sort of pressures, whethee the blowout preventers are fail- safe or if they need to be yet further fail-safe mechanisms built into them. we will certainly look into that. i think he is certainly right again to draw attention to the human tragedy and the importance oo maintaining safety for all of those who work in the industry. >> can i welcome the minister's statements? it is not just the technology that is important. bp has identified that, the seven policies of the disaster, so far, people werr ignoring warning signs. that tends to happen when people are badly trrined or are inexperienced or they are afraid to challenge their superiors. that is one of the key lessons we have learned from the tragedy. is the cemetery of state aware that we have made huge progress . there are three trade union representatives. there is a major problem in the drillinn iidustry with their attitude toward public relations. until that issue is sorted out in the north sea, will continue to have problems.3+ i would certainly be happy to look at the issues he raises. i personally believe that it is+ important to have trade union cases where the companies aren%- unionized. it provides another perspective and a guarantee to other employees that safety will be given the attention it deserves. >> %unintelligible] companies to outsource environmental and safety criticallprocesses failed to take their responsibility seriously when it really counts, before disaster strikes. they lost their very license to3 what this session will his department have with businesses+ in the energy sector to get a grip on their direct environmental responsibility instead of simply balancing the rhetoric of corporate responsibiiity? >> i think my friend for that question which is very cute and well directed. i think there is an issue of but one of the lessons that will come out of the inquiry, aboutt extent of outsource ing. however, there is another side to wait. -- syed to ii. the oil majors -- there's another side to it. the zero majors will argue that sometimes the level of expectaaionexpertise can be hig- the oil majors will argue that sometimes the level of expertise all of the big oil companies will be enormously more aware of the potential reputation all -- reputational damage possible. i would hope ttat will provide an additional incentive to make sure that corporate governance is strengthened and that the ethical of corporate governance is strengthened. >> can i draw his attention to a helpful answer from the minister from -- from the minister of energy in? two raids mar in panama and three in liberia and two in [unintelligible] in given the public concern about where they are registered, has he ordered a review of the safety of those particular rigs? if not, why not? >> that is precisely why, when we conducted the -- review of our existing regime, we thought it was -- conducting the%+ immediate review of our existing regime, we thouuht it was imperative ttat the rules and regulations that set out safety and environmental procedures are directly applied. that is exactly what we have done. much of the shipping of the world is registered in what often seems to beeexhausted -- seems to be exotic jurrsdictions. whenever the basis of they have to be of two u.k. regulations and we will not take any risss. that inspectton is under way. the increase in the pace -- there is an increase in the pace of inspection as i speak. >> on a ore positive note, can i ask him if he has [unintelligible] >> i am grateful for his suggestion. some of the reporting back that i have heard from the united states suggests that another british voicelawyers turning upn this screen may not help. one of the things that have had happened is that bp efforts are being directed by one of the american executive directors. we do not want any elements of national identity to creep into this issue. bp is effectively an anglo- american company. it as previously bp amoco, amoco being ban american company of. ttis company is going to go on playing a very important part in the economy of the u.s. as well as the uk for many years to come. 3 i think he minisser for his statement. thank you for bringing some calmness and other wess of waters. -- in an otherwise choppy waters. deep water drilling is partially insatiable demand for more and the commentary against bp is doing intolerable damage to a company here and it is grossly there is recognition in northern ireland that america recognize that those comments are doing damage to your companies. >> if there were no oil spill of the scale of deep water horizon off theecoast of northern ireland, i think that he would be among the first peopleewho would be insisting that we do whatever we possibly could to stop that and it would be absolutely enormous. the skill of this -- the scale of this, in terms of trying to compare to valdez, it is not exactly the same.you're lookinga day of oil escaping. hear, the latest estimate is 50,000 barrels a day. the sheer scale, frankly, we to understand the reaction we would be making if this was going oo in our waters. >> i wonder if i can press the secretary of state for a more full answer to my hon. friend's question in regard to investment in other technology. -- other technology? it needs to be matched, -pparticularly in the context of sheffield, by ending the uncertainty. would the secretary of state support a wishing to see a speedy end to that uncertainty support?nfirmation of that >> when i was doing politics, philosophy, an economics at oxffrd, i was told that socialism involve the language of pluralities. on the basis of public+ expenditure commitments3 the last six months, including sheffield forge masters, i did recognize a government that was making choices about hard earned taxpayers' cash. as we just heard from the chancellor of the exchequer, the treasury has penciled in 44 billion pounds -- $44 billion pounds in cuts without finding a single one. this government, having inherited the llgacy that we have, to scale the deficit of what we have to review and we have to see the crucial projects that must go ahead. that is the process that we continue to undertake. >> given that we are very neil peak oil and a capacity and -- -pvery near the peak oil capaciy and given that and conventional oil, like caaadian [unintelligible] and evolve an acceptable climate change costt, what plans do we have to mooe the process flow toward as i am sure he wwnts to diminish oil consumption drastically before there is another horrendous catastrophe for the that the price of oil spikes horrendously? >> i think we share a lot of the same in stings -- a lot of the same instincts. in the next+ year, we will inted to accelerate theirrmove to low- carbon. saving energy is by far and away the most low-cost meanssof closing the ggp between our energy use and energy production. -- to a aacelerate to the production of low-carb and sources of energy. that is something we wiil be bringing forward measures. this is a time of transition. nothing can be done overnight. we're talkkng about enormous investment that cannot be suddenly switched on while others suddenly switched off. but we have a route map to a low-carbon economy which really does reduce our carbon emissions by the amount callee for by the climate change act. i think we intend to make sure that we are credible foo making this.. >> tomorrow, oil company c o's will be on capitol hill, including exxonmobil, conocophillips, and bp. they will be answering questions from the house oversight subcommittee. tomorrow night, president obama will address the nation from the oval office and the talk about taking to deal with the gulf of mexico oil spill after today's visit to the region. we will have live coveraae of that speech. on thursday, b c. o tony hayworth will testify before the house -- bp c zereo tony hayworh will testify before the house. >> it is beginning to explore under the guise under the arctic. >> tony hayward, this past january, before the gulf oil+ spill, thursday, he will testify bbfore capitol hill. see what officials have said about the spill, all archived on c-span's video library. mooe from the british house of david ameron.th prime minister he told members of the fronal qa threat on troops and vasquez stand have been held up. -- troops in afghanistan have beend

c-span, also on c-span radio. next, a debate between the3 tomorrow's utah second congressional district primary. congressman jim matheson and claudia right appeared on "sunday edition." they discussed oil-drilling, health care, and immigration. this is just over 20 minutes. >> in the sunday edition -- >> i am a democrat. >> a congressman faces an in- party challenge. >> i'm running for congress because i believe the people come first. >> a conversation with jim matheson and claudia right in this open " sunday edition." -- jim matheson and claudia right in this open " sunday edition." >> this is a comedy called a primary election. in the second congressional district, democrats will choose one of these two candidates as their nominee. this will not be a formal debate today, but rather a conversation in which our guests will have a chance to differentiate their opinions. i have asked each to give a 45- second self introduction, and based upon the coin toss, i will ask you to go first. >> thank you. you know me. you know that in my time in office, i have always put utah first, and i'm proud of the fact that i approach every issue with the notion of solving problems and making progress. whether it is resolving very contentious public lands issues and moving the first major legislation in 25 years, whether it is standing up for you talkans looking for jobs -- utahans looking for jobs in this down economy, i always put utah first. i value the relationship we have. thank you for making such a good congressman by your input. i look forward to your vote this tuesday. >> i am running for congress because i believe that the people come first, the lobbyists and certainly not the corporations, not the banks, not wall street. i believe that a different kind of politics is possible, one that allows elections to be publicly financed, and making our representatives accountable only to their constituents. not to the next election or the dollar. i believe that i have traveled all over the state, talked to many people and become increasingly aware of the unique nature of the different communities in utah, and i would hope that you would find it in your hearts to support me. >> thank you. your opponent has the highest approval rating of any major political officeholder in the state, the only democrat in the bunch. he has been elected as a democrattin a swing district five times. why do you as a fellow democrat want to knock him out? >> i believe that over the past decade, my opponent has moved consistently to the right. he has in fact disenfranchise himself from his base. i believe that was made very evident march 23 when his representatives across the state were heckled and booed. i believe that had to be a terrible day in his political career, and i do not think he was aware until that day how far from the base he had moved. i think it is time to reexamine this, take a good close look, and see if this is the kind of representative you want to have3 had he moved from core democratic principles? are you wearing a republican or democrat jersey? >> it is easy to throw out this kind statements. facts just do not bear out. one of the things i have always been proud of is that i told people that i am what i am. i run on the values and politics and the approach i learned from my mom and dad. i told people that they should not expect to agree with me on every issue, but they should expect i will take a thoughtful approach to every issue, and i think that is what i've done. the vast majority of votes in our state, i think they know that and are comfortable with it, so i think we have to be careful about making general statements. the republicans sound too far to the left. some folks in the democrats sound too far to the right, but i think i have been pretty consistent all along. this notion there has been some change, i just do not buy it. >> let's talk about health care, the landmark piece of legislation in congress. not a single republican in the house voted for it. 87% of your democratic house did, but you crossed and voted with republicans. why did you do that? is that an example of what you call this disenfranchising the base? >> i do not think i would describe it as crossing over to vote with republicans. i think what everybody wants is access to quality, affordable health care. those are the goals that we all agree on, and i do not think the legislation achieved those goals. i think instead, the legislation ignored the issues of real reform of our health-care system, did not take on special interest. the pharmaceutical industry supported this health care legislation, so i think we need to be careful about saying this is a partisan issue. i think we really all want to talk about looking for a solution to the issue that allows for a sustainable, affordable health care system for everyone in utah and everyone in the country. we do not want to go down the path where massachusetts has gone. word has a cover such only bill in just three ssort years later, one in five are denied access to health care because of cost. >> since you voted against the health care bill, would you vote to repeal it? >> i would not because there are components we all value and believe in. no longer can insurance companies deny coverage for a pre-existing condition. i do think there's a lot we to do to improve the bill. i have suggested all along to improve the bill, but to take just a meat axe approach and a peak -- repeal the whole bill, there are components to the bill that cannot be repealed, and i have been very up-front about articulating what they are. >> you would have voted for the health care bill? >> i would have voted for the health care bill. i also think we need to put some caps on the pharmaceuticals. my opponent in 2003 voted to deregulate pharmaceuticals, and one of the things he has talked about is the fact that this does not control pharmaceutical costs. i believe that in fact, we need health care, and it is affordable, and i also think that i would have voted for this health care bill. i would have voted for the one that had a public option. >> in this most republican state, mr. matheson's electability is not in question. some say they yours is. what is your path to success in november? >> i believe anybody watching politics right now would realize there is a political realignment going on. we have increasing numbers of moderate republicans coming into the ranks of democrats. even at the convention will not get -- moderate republicans chose to go to the democratic convention. i think the leadership of the republican party has leaned so far to the right that many people who are moderates and independents think they have more now in common with democrats. i would also think that anyone successful in this state has got to address top to bottom issues as well as left to right. >> such as? >> such as election reform, public financing of elections, term limits, time limits for campaigning. we need to look at holding wall street and the banks accountable, extending our antitrust laws to includeebanks. there is a lot of things we need to look at. >> he mentioned public financing for all elections. what is the virtue for voters? >> we have always had political and ideological difference. i believe what cements those ideological differences in place and prevent our politicians from being as pragmatic as historically they have been, with the amount of money in politics and the role that money place in the next election, rather than making our officials look at the public good and what would best serve the public good. >> on public financing of elections, what is your position? >> we all want to look for ways to make a level playing field, so i think that is a good objective. i think in our current situation with our economy in disarray and deficits growing, asking taxpayers to pay for political campaigns is not going to be received very well, but i would submit that there is a bigger issue, and that is that the number one issue we have facing our country, i say it is jobs in the economy. my opponent thinks it is campaign finance reform. i think jobs and the economy really is the fundamental issue we ought to be talking about. we need to get this country going again. we have taken some steps, including the economic recovery act that i supported. i think we have to get our priorities down in terms of where we go. when it comes to political financing, i think it very imporrant -- i wish campaigns were not so expensive, and i wish the dialogue would maintain the dialogue between candidates and voters. i'm worried about the new supreme court decision to mail out unlimited amounts of money to delete or overwhelm the dialogue that candidates are having. we face a threat of that this november, and me to focus on addressing that problem. >> do you favor capital punishment? >> i think that in cases of extremely horrible crimes, as long as we go through a very thorough process in terms of using all available technology to make sure that we prove guilt or innocence -- in this case proving guilt -- and i am open to capital punishment in cases of horrible crimes. >> i think capital punishment is archaic, and i also think that's until we have the ability to help reform folks, that basically, there may be some extreme cases where capital punishment is necessary, unfortunately, in our society. i also believe that capital punishment is something to be looked at very carefully as a society because we are executing someone in the name of our state, in the name of the people of the state. >> and the oil is still spewing into the gulf of mexico. do you support a moratorium on further deep water drilling? >> i do. i also think we need to get to the bottom of this as far as what kinds of regulations are in place. were there enough? were they in force? why were they not in force? >> were there enough? >> we probably need to do that -- review that for deepwater very carefully, and i think there were not enough. we know now that there were men on that platform that with home to their wives to put their affairs in order because they knew that it was dangerous. i want to know why those were not enforced. i think i have been misunderstood -- i do not necessarily blame my opponent for that, but ooer the past 10 years, those regulations were set, and i think we need to look at those regulations, and i think we need to look at those as a society and certainly as government officials. the number one job is to protect the people of this nation. >> what is the role of this congress? the president extracted a promise. what should congress be doing or what has congress done? >> congress supports the moratorium. congress should find out what is going on within the department of interior, which has the responsibility to enforce the regulations, find out if those regulations were in fact in force or whether they were ignored. congress also has the responsibility to find out if these regulations need to be updated to prevent this type of disaster from being -- from happening again. turns out there are a significant number of congressional hearings already on the oil spill, and number of which i have participated in. it is important to hold bp accountable. that is the role of congress, and they are moving in that direction. >> let's take a break for commercials, and we will be back to the candidates facing each other in the democratic primary for the second district nomination. we are back with claudia wright and jim matheson. the "new york times" profile this race this very week saying that it was an opportunity for party crashers to crossover primary voters, for republicans to come in and make mischief. at a primary like this in june when turnout is really everything, what are you doing to ensure that that is not negatively impact your candidacy? >> first of all, we have gone out and tried to get underrepresented democratic areas to the polls. trying to infuse the party with new blood and table that have not been participating in the electoral process. i believe that republicans are out there with a senate race that needs to be determined, and i truly believe that registered republicans are going to vote in that race. >> a new web sites is everybody can vote. today in my view benefit from that kind of crossover? >> i might, but the truth of the matter is that basically, 40% of utah is republican registered. 40% is independent. there has to be an appeal -- >> they will not be reporting in the republican close primary. >> that they come out and vote and express their opinions. >> you are telling your voters to be sure to turn out because turnout is the key. were you concerned about this kind of mischief? >> we have had websites created where if you type in my name it takes you to the conservatives for my opponent website. no one is taking responsibility for it. i think that is wrong. i suspect that some mischief is being played out there to try to gennrate turn out because they know that gives the republican the best chance to win in november. >> arizona has adopted a loss in to take effect that would require police to stop anyone whom they suspect might be in the country illegally. is that a good or bad idea? >> bad idea on two counts. this is a federal issue, and it is unfortunate that final action has not taken place, but i do not think states should be trying to set immigration policy. secondly, the substance is wrong as well. this is going to create greater problems for law enforcement. it is an emotional and in some respects i would say irrational response to a situation. i do not want to diminish the importance of border security issues, and there are some serious issues in arizona, and i think that has created a motion that perhaps manifested itself in this law, but i do not think it is a step in the right direction. >> i think the arizona immigration law came from a very specific drug problem that erupted across the border and made people in cities and safe. we are not in that situation. i think that was used as a guide to pass a law that in fact is racial profiling and will not stand up legally. i believe we need immigration laws that work with a fluctuating quota system rather than having a fixed one that goes up and down with our economy. those who choose to go past permanent work visas, and i give them some avenue toward citizenship. >> what about those many millions of people who are in this country illegally now? what would you do for them? >> i think that, for example, a temporary work visas, we made them for two to five years. if you have been here all along, been able to support your family, kids taking english and whenever you want to do like that, they do permit work visas, so you work from there to see who would qualify. you just apply the law evenhandedly across those that are here and those that want to come. >> what you think of those -palready in the country? >> i would not give them visas. >> you program your party in 2001 and voted in favor of the bush tax cuts, $1.3 trillion. that tax cut is about to expire. should expire and go away, or should it be expanded? >> components of it should be expired, and components should be extended. i agree with president obama on this issue. let's go back to 2001. in the time, there are components to tax cut that people want to keep. the lowest rate at which in comes taxed, the loaded to cheaper rates, so lower income folks have less of a tax burden -- i think you want to maintain that tax cuts. >> last year, roughly 40% of americans owe nothing, that 7 1 million had no tax liability at all. >> he have to be careful about that statistic. >> related to income tax alone when you include social security or medicare. a lot of folks in lower income circumstances are actually paying a greater proportion of their income. i am all for looking at reforming our tax code. it is too complicated, not particularly fair, and i'm all for looking at making it simpler, more transparent, and more equitable, but i think we have to be careful about that statistic. income tax is one thing. social security is another. >> do you have a tax policy proposal? >> mr. obama says taxes should not be raised on anyone that makes less than $200,000. >> i would agree with that premise. the bush tax cut gave a huge benefit to the wealthy, and i do not think at this point they are paying their fair share. >> how can congress use tax policy or any policy to address 9.7% unemployment in this country? >> one of the things we need to do is take a look at how bailout money can continue to be used, and i think we need to add to that to encourage small business loans. the fastest way to put people back to work is through small business. it is one of the areas we agree on. we just need to finance and get it done, and i think that is one of the ways we can really help with putting people back to work. >> how would you grade the stimulus money dispersal so far in its effectiveness in putting people back to work? >> the stimulus money given to banks has been largely ineffective except in covering the assets of the bank. i think the stimulus package back obama put forward in fact is a much better program than what you saw the bush administration do, just handing out billions of dollars with no strings attached to the banks and saying that they would like them to help with mortgages and they would like them to help with small businesses. it just has not been used for that purpose. >> would you grade the effectiveness of that legislation? >> i voted against the bill. i thought it would not work. it was presented as a plan to deal with mortgages that were under water. i voted against it, and i feel good about that vote. when it comes to the economic stimulus package, and has that impact. it saved or created 3.5 million jobs in america. is all about trying to mitigate what was one of the worst economic downturns we face in this country. it is the worst downturn since the depression, and it was the right thing to do at the time. on tax policy, some of this tax issues, and saii that they should expire. i have voted for that in the past. we are going to have to have much more balanced policy and what has taken place. >> we have about a minute to divide between the two of you for closing summary. >> i always enjoy having the chance to meet with constituents and get their ideas. their ideas have been what has made me a better congressman. all of my legislative proposals, all of my achievements about solving problems and getting things done for you talk, we have worked together to get it done. i always put utah first, and again, i ask for your support this tuesday. >> thank you. >> i would like to explain that i'm here because i believe different politics as possible. i do believe that in fact, if elected, i would like to hold in-person meetings so that i can see my constituents face-to- face, know when they are happy, when they are unhappy, when in fact, they are indifferent. i think it is part of the obligation of a congressperson to inform, explain, and certainly, to listen. i appreciate the citizens of utah and their support. thank you. >> we appreciate you both very much for being here. thank you for being our guests. we look forward to speaking you again -- speaking with you again tuesday evening after the voters make their decisions. we will be back right after this. ever since the utah primary election was moved to june, voter turnout has been pathetically low, usually something between 10% or 15%. we profiled the democratic nation contest. in voting districts across the state, there are primary contest with school boards, county offices, for the state legislature, and in some cases, the outcome of the primary may be more decisive than the general election in november. some jurisdictions have on elections were you have a say in your taxes. the utah primary election is this tuesday. we all have the opportunity to vote. we posted links to kso.com. you can find that link at the "sunday edition" page. thank you for sharing your -- part of your sunday with us. we will save a place at the table next week for you. >> learning how louisiana is dealing with the oil spill in the gulf. this book with a doctor from the health and human services department about health-related concerns. >> [inaudible] my name is commander tim davis. i am a physician with the secretary of fairness as bonds, part of health and human services. >> where are you doing in the area in general? >> we are here as a unified command. the medical element that we are organizing the policies for the care of the -- primarily the occupational workers that are down here dealing with the -pcleanup offshore, on shore, ad inland. >> what kind of health problems are you finding. >> right now, just general. we have not found anything we could clearly identified as oil related. we are constantly looking for it, but most of the things we have seen other types of illness you would associate with a group together in a barracks or some other dormitories situation like that. >> how many workers are involved in this that you have to worry about? >> there is about 27,000 right now. the numbers i had earlier today, about 11,000 in terrebonne parish, and about 11,000 in five men perished -- plaque men perished. >> how do you address these conceens? do you have to set up mobile health units? >> there are mobile health units for sure. we do not want to tax the parishes and counties. they have their own medical infrastructure, so we have first aid set up. we have ambulances' set up. we have what we call intermediate care. we have care set up that would be equivalent to an acute care center. then, we monitor -- the assets are mobile, and then we work and coordinate with the parish president and the county authorities to make sure again that we are not burdening the parishes, but also not depriving the local medical infrastructure of a chance to provide service to these individuals. >> how do you plan this? is this a structure that was in place that you have done in other places in other disasters, or is this something you are inventing as you go? >> it is not invention. it is using our incident command system, which is standard process we all follow. we generally do have disaster medical teams and surgical teams that come in after an event occurs, when the infrastructure is fractured or damage, broken. in this case, the infrastructure is not, but yet, we are importing -- sometimes, maybe the county increases populations by 30% or 40% because of the workers brought there, and it is not something we could expect the county or paris to provide care for and not cause problems caring for their citizens. it is a little bit differ from what we do, but it is a variation and still what we do. >> is there any involvement from non-governmental organizations? or is this a different kind of operation? >> as far as i know, the red cross is not involved, at least at my level. i'm sure they are monitoring the situation, but i have not worked directly with the red cross. >> what about the concerns of citizens who might be exposed to gases and have health problems with drinking water and whatever? how do you keep your eyes on that? >> the department of health and hospitals is monitoring 7 emergency departments in effect in parishes. the cdc has their health line going. this is actually what i'm doing here. i come out to the town meetings and as a lesson or ask for am available to answer questions about health-related issues. today, i have not received any health questions. people look been concern seeing more economics, loss of jobs, not getting enough of the work that bp may be needing help. they are being people from distant cities instead of local folks -- they are bringing in people from the distant cities instead of local folks. one single question about nausea and headaches i do not know its disbursement was, and i just send them over to the coast guard. >> finally, who is paying for all this? is the taxpayer paying for it? is vp paying for it -- is bp paying for it? >> its my understanding they will pick up the final bill. they are monitoring and giving us anything they want, by my normal way of getting paid. in his van that those involved with the oil spill will be a painful amount. >> could you tell your history with this kind of work? >> nothing exactly like this, but in the past year, we have done things like the inauguration of 2 million or 3 million people. i storms in kentucky, as floods in north dakota, the american samoa tsunami. fully involved in the h1n1 outbreak. haiti was another reason disaster we respond to of note, and now, this disaster -- a collective disaster, probably the largest in the last hundred years. >> how long have you been doing this kind of work? >> first one, probably about 1981 with the some assassination. i was involved in that. that was a military. since then, teaching. and also with the cdc's epidemic intelligence service. >> thank you. sec commissioner mcdowell talks about reclassifying some broadband services, media ownership, and the use of public airwaves for emergency services. tonight on "the communicators" on c-span2. topics at today's state department briefing included an official statement on the gaza diplomatic quartet, and united states' role in the limit -- the middle east peace process. they talked about the importance of the u.s. japanese alliance. the of ongoing work of the u.s. expert group on the base relocation plan, and experts to lighten the impact on the people of okinawa. they also talked about regional issues, including the need for a strong response to the sinking of the ship, and international issues, including implementation of resolution 1929. the secretary and foreign minister will see each other next month. the united states welcomes the announcement the special united nations of a tour on the special human rights in the dprk. united states hopes it will be granted access to north korea to observe conditions inside the country and hold direct discussions on human rights issues. the united states recognizes and banks the professor who taught for six years of outstanding

c-span, president obama and mes with senior citizens on efforts to prevent scams and frauds. seniors across the country will be able to participate by telephone. >> c-span -- our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and online. you can also connect with us on twitter, facebook, and youtube. sign up for schedule alert e- mails at c-span.org. >> utah's senator robert bennett lost his bid for a fourth term when he failed to secure his party's nomination. the top vote getters will be on the june 22 primary ballot. the two candidates debated last week for about an hour. ♪ >> good evening, and welcome to salt lake city for the first of our election-year debate. already the election season has produced reversals of fortune for several high-profile leaders. one of those played out in utah, where bob bennett was denied the nomination of his republican party for a fourth term. tonight our debate features to man who face the challenge with gun -- within been its own party. they will be on the primary ballot in june 22 to be the next senator from utah. a coin toss determined that likely would deliver it -- deliver the first one-minute speech. >> my name is mike lee. i believe in the second amendment right to bear arms. i opposed amnesty for illegal immigrants in any form. i am running for the senate because i believe that

and afghanistan. the house is live on c-span. >> c-span, our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and on line and you can connect with us on twitter, facebook can you to and signed up -- and sign up for e- mail. >> on tuesday, executives from the five major oil companies testified at a house subcommittee on the hill. the executives faced questions about offshore drilling for it but also were asked about questions about oral skills and energy policy. this portion of the hearing is about 3 hours 14 minutes. [gavel pounds] >> 57 days ago, in the dead of night, the worst environmental nightmare in u.s. history began. on a screen here and in homes across the country, we see the live video of tens of thousands of barrels of oil, billowing into the gulf of mexico every day. for years, the oil industry's war this could never happen. we were told the technology had advance -- for years, the oil industry swore this could never happen. bp said they did not think the rig would sink. it did. they said they could not handle an exxon valdez size spill every day. they could not. they said it was 1,000 barrels per day. it was no