>> today on c-span, "newsmakers," with representative chris van hull and followed by the cop -- the confirmation hearing for john brennan. later, secretary leon panetta and martin dempsey testifying on the attacks in benghazi, libya. >> our guest on "newsmakers" is representative chris van haul in. he is a senior democrat on the -- chris van hollen. his district has several contractors waiting on the result of the sequestration. we are speaking to you on friday afternoon and you have just returned from a retreat. nancy cook is the tax and budget reporter. lori, yuo're up first. >> house democrats have prepared their own bill for dealing with the rest of the fiscal year. tax increases, republicans have said they will not go for any tax increases. everyone thinks the sequester is a bad idea. what is the plan to forge a compromise? >> we want to ask the republicans to take a balanced approach and i think there is growing pressure among other republicans to replace the sequester through a combination of cuts that take place over a longer time because they do not want to harm the economy in the short