congress.ongress is article one authorities in the power of the purse. i welcome the discussion. part of it should center around congress, their own shortcomings in this matter, and its inability to follow or enforce its own rules. when it comes to budgeting and spending taxpayer dollars, just look at the historic record. since 1977, there have been 20 government shutdowns and congress has had to enact 192 continued resolutions, including for this fiscal year because deadlines for completing regular corporation bills have not been met. congress has failed to follow regular order that his passage of a budget revolution followed by 12 separate appropriation bills before the beginning of the fiscal year. every year since the fiscal year 1995. according to the congressional budget office, 1046 authorizations from 272 laws expired prior to the start of the school year 2020. appropriations for fiscal year 2020 included $332 billion attributable to expired authorization. as of right now, work on fundi

congress. this is a follow-up to a discussion we held on october 16 where we had the opportunity to discuss congress's diminished role in the constitutional system. i'd like to thank you -- with the program, social, cultural studies for hosting the event, and george thomas for sponsoring and organizing this event, as well. we're very fortunate to hold this because the timing is certainly right. we started talking about this in october. we had some rather, you know, broad discussions of article 1 powers and the kind of, you know, well-worn thesis about congress, how it had withdrawn from the separation of powers that had been dominated by the executive. and we began to discuss reform ideas, and we hadn't yet had the final report of a select committee on modernization, suggesting reforms, and we certainly hadn't had the general election and of course, we could have never anticipated i think the events of january 6th as they unfolded. so now, i think it is a very critical moment for this discussio

this is an invitation or congress -- for congress to act.indiscernible] >> think all of our members who attended today and particularly our witnesses were spectacular. this concludes today's hearing. i went to think all of our witnesses. did somebody have a request? >> thank you, chairman, unanimous consent to put into the record [indiscernible] they are more subtle. voter suppression, texas laws keep latinos from ballot box as evidenced from this article. >> without objection, so done. thank you, ms. lee. we have concluded our hearing and i think all of our witnesses were appearing today. it is an important process that we have to undergo to get a voting rights law. without objection all members have five legislative days to submit additional written questions for the witnesses or materials. we are experiencing great trauma, our nation and world and afghanistan and keep all of the soldiers in your thoughts and prayers and all of the afghani's who helped us in your thoughts and prayers. announcer: c-span is your unfiltered view of government

it runs contrary to congress's intent. how congress should go about restoring the standard.he eight years since the decision have left voters of color vulnerable. the records since the decision demonstrate what advocates fear. the decision, creating new hurdles for section two plaintiff's. congress must act. thank you for providing the opportunity to testify today. i look forward to your question. >> thank you. our final witness is samuel. prior to joining the legal defense fund, he practiced over a decade at tb own national firms. numerous cases involving capital punishment and voting rights. he served john paul stevens, one of the great justices in our country. he got both of his degrees from harvard. he liked harvard and harvard liked him. you are recognized for five minutes. >> think you very much, chairman and good afternoon to members of the committee. thank you for inviting me to testify today. since its founding in 1945 lgf has been -- ldf has been a leader to support voting rights for black people in this country. we are here in no small part because of the two supr

>> we relied on the hispanic division at the library of congress which polls new members of congresshether they identify themselves as hispanic. the interesting thing is in the 1980s it gets a little more complicated because tony coelho of california who is of a portuguese descent lobbies to get on the hispanic caucus and actually goes back to the roman definition of hispaniola and claims portugal is part of that area that would have been referred to as hispanic. there are a couple members who come to his aid, bill richardson from new mexico and he's allowed onto the caucus. it kind of creates a problem in later years because there's actually been probably a dozen members of portuguese descent, if not more, who have been elected since then. it's a matter of whether they identify as being hispanic or not. some do. some don't. we rely relied on the library of congress. another question that we had very early on was, you have the philippine resident commissioners from the early 20th century, and many of them have hispanic surnames, almost all of them. in working with the library of cong

, but the only woman in congress. while some reporters scoffed at her ability to fit in, others did give her credit for braving the circumstances. one kentucky reporter noted, was there any man willing to become one of a deliberative body made up of 434 women and himself? no, he concluded, a man in that position would have his courage ooze from the palms of his hands. to give you an idea of what it was like for her as the only female, jumping ahead to when she sat for this portrait of the 65th congress. so here she is in the center surrounded on all sides by men, but look at it when you actually expand the picture, how many men were on either side of her. 434 men, one woman. not only was rankin the only woman member of congress, but at that time there were few women working in the capitol. before she was sworn in, rankin hired two women staffers who she had known and who also lived with her for a time. these women became trusted aides, they would serve every function. they were secretaries, researchers, correspondents

congress. his books include one nation after trump, a guide for the complex disillusion the, desperate and the not yet departed. i love his book titles because the next one, we did in the constitution center and it depressed as even before we began the program. it's even worse than it looks how the constitutional politics and very relevant for tonight. the broken branch, how congress is filling america and how to get it back. contract he's a friend of the center and appears it's wonderful to have dropped the violence that consume the nation in general and in congress leading up to the civil war between 1813 1860, there were more than 70 violent incidents between congressman and the house and senate chambers, or on nearby streets and dueling grounds, and you know that it wasn't confined to congress between july and october 1835 alone, there were 109 riots nationwide. so much more -- let me ask it this way, is it true that there was more violence then and congress in particular but also in the na

congress. his books include "one nation after trump: a guide for the perplexed, the disillusioned, depressed and not yet departed." i love norman's book titles the next one we did at the constitution center and it guessed us even before we began the program "it's even worse than it looks: how the american constitutional system collided with the new politics of extremism" and we relevant for tonight as well "the broken branch: how congress is failing america and how could get it back on track." he is a friend of the center and appears frequently on our programs. norm, wonderful to have you back. >> always a pleasure, jeff. >> let us jump right into the history of the violence that consumed the nation in general and congress in particular in the years leading up to the civil war. joanne, we'll begin with you because your book "field of blood" describes it so vividly, the statistics that you talk about are so striking between 1830 and 1860 you write there were more than 70 violent incidents betwee

work of congress.is worth thinking about things like how to encourage members to spend more time together, how to encourage members to take retreats together or have dinner together. that matters, but i would say ultimately ultimately what matters more is the work of the institution. the cultural change of the work encourages a different kind of culture. and just spending time together is not really a way to get at the core of the culture of the institution. you have to think about how congress works, therefore how its members work. and fifth and finally, i would urge you to think explicitly the how you understand the purpose of the congress. reforms of the institution, including improving culture have to take for granted some idea of the purpose of congress is work, but there is a rather deep disagreement about that purpose which i think is implicit in a lot of the thinking that surrounds congressional form, and that sometimes leave some of that working coherent. simply put, i would say reformers have

congress. this event, with matthew wasniewski. -- >> i'm richard mcculley, on a story for the center of religiously of archives, thank you for attending today's researcher top of this last day of july, and this is the last top in this series until we resume in september. for those of you in attendance, our guest hardly needs an introduction, as wasniewski is the historian of the u.s. house of representatives, and an ex-member of the advisory committee on the record of congress to which the center for legislative archives reports twice annually. he is a longtime friend and supporter, as well as a source of guidance to the center for the service on the advisory committee. matt is here today to discuss hispanic americans in congress, 1822 to 2012, which was published last year. this is a third in a series that has come out of the house office of the historian under mats leadership, the previously published volumes being women in congress, 1917 to 2006, published in 2006, and black americans in con

and the executive branch and congress.to establish a mechanism to add countries in which the use of force is authorized against particular groups, and to have a periodic review of groups and countries. i think there is a lot of work to be done. it may be that those kinds of ideas aren't the right ones, but those are things we are willing to discuss, as well as other things that the senate and i put on the table. but we are in support, senator, of continuing those discussions in a timely manner to reach a revised 2001 aumf, at the same time that we continue to root -- to support the repeal of the 1991 and the 2002 aumf, which we believe are not useful anymore and are not relied upon in any circumstance. >> senator romney. >> i very much appreciate the opportunity you have given to our committee to hear from these witnesses and to discuss this very important matter. i'm going to continue with some of the comments and questions that were raised. secretary sherman, well the biden administration misuse this aumf? >> no, sir. >>

in law and the others knew that congress was not going to like that. so they said, we open up this building is a good investment and even if the congress decide not to use it, you'll make a good hotel site with big meeting rooms that the city did not have. they knew they had to get it done in a hurry so here are the quotations from the. about construction of this building. it says that the spot in which this spacious building stands, the cabbage garden on the morning of the fourth of july. and that afternoon, the digging was commenced and congress convened their december 5th. suet is four months that it took them to put of the building, been building a seat right in front centered here. so that's what's on the corner with the supreme court is not a supporter of a street and not maryland avenue which way will show you in a moment on the map because a street existed at that point but it does not now and congress reconvened on december 5th and 1st looked over the building and decided that yes this is what they needed and so they leased it right away. inse

congress reconvened on december 5. i'm first looked over the building and decided yes that is what they needed. until they leased it right away. thomas law and daniel are triumphant again. they have moved in and done the >> things that congress needed to do. there one's credit with creating capitol hill. if you look at the building, the house of representatives was upstairs the senate was downstairs. and in the wing that was walker's hotel is where there were offices and committee rooms. congress met there from 1815, 1816 then after the election they came back 1817 and 18. there back in the capitol by 1819. president james monroe was inaugurated outside of this building. the legend is and i have not seen it actually documented, because congressional record does not exist word for word in that. supposedly as to whose chamber they were going to use for the inauguration. finally monroe said oh let's do it outside. that is why we had an outdoor inauguration. you may remember george washington took the oath of office outsid

they stayed there through the seventh congress up through the first session of the eight congress in 1804. so, from now on, as i said, using the words of these three men, wadsworth, nathan reid, manasseh cutler. at some point i will be throwing in some words by william plummer, a senator from new hampshire. he came a year later to fill a vacated seat. he shows up in december 1802. again, all these things are spinoffs of my book on thatcher. i was curious once thatcher leaves congress, what happened afterwards? what happens to the federalist congressman from massachusetts who enraptured the other new england states primarily? who carried on the federalist fight? i call this top experiencing the feed. it's a riff off christopher hill's famous book the experience of defeat which looks how levellers, quakers, dealt with the restoration after the english civil war in the 18 sixties. i wanted to see how they dealt with defeat. and from that chronological episode, if you will, i teased out for themes. they all cover kind of like micro history. i teased them out of their records of just thre

house in a new congress. mr. stewart examines how the process has changed since 1789 and how the influence of partisanship has grown. the national archives center for legislative archives hosted this event and provided the video. >> well, it seems that the rain did not dampen any determination for you to attend today's researcher talk. so thank you for braving the elements. i'm richard mcculley the historian at the center for legislative archives, the sponsor of this series. today's program is the third researcher talk this year. next month we pick up the pace a bit. on may 19th georgia yen a professor of law and taxation at the university of virginia law school and a former chief of staff of the joint committee on taxation will speak about his research and that committee's records and the history of the joint committee. and on may 26 we host a professor of political science at wingate university who will discuss her research for his book manuscript about the politics of national identification documents in the u

black congress as well. we also very much appreciate the clip that we are going to hear from the chair of the congressional black caucus chairwoman joyce beatty. we very much appreciate her participation in the program as well. >> good afternoon. i am congresswoman chair of the congressional black caucus and representative for iowa's third congressional district. on behalf of the 57 members of the congressional black caucus i would like to begin by congratulate the national archives foundation on your virtual programming, recording history into thank you for highlighting the congressional black caucus as we celebrate our 50th anniversary. i am pleased to join my colleague and leader the majority whip and third ranking democrat in the united states house of representatives congressman james clyburn. i also want to extend a warm thank you to the esteemed event participants governor james and blanchard my friend former u.s. secretary of transportation rodney slater. in 197113 black members of congress, 12 men a

so they stayed there from the 7th congress up through the first session of the 8th congress in 1804. so from now on, i am going to be using the words of these three men, wadsworth, and >>> i was curious what happened afterwards? what happened to federal congressman from new hampshire? who were left behienld the carry on the federalist fight? it's rip off of the fame ds feet, which looked at how they dealt with the restoration after the war in the 1860s. as for the episode, if you will, i teased out four themes and they cover -- those first three or four days and i began to realize what they're talking about is a plitization about everything. food, science and historical memory. those are the four themes i'm teasing out of here. the the first one, socialability. the social life, probably then, as now, resolves around the white house. and the new occupant at this point was thomas jefferson. he'd been inaugurated in 1801. he says we're all federalists, we're all are republicans. he's trying to consilliate all parties. what he meant was we're all republicans, the federalists just don't k

they stayed through the seventh congress up to first session of the eighth congress in 1804. i am going to use the words of these three men, wadsworth, reed, and cutler. reed and cutler are roommates. at some point i will be throwing in words by william plumber a senator from new hampshire. he came in a year later to fill a vacated seat. he shows up in december of 1802. again, all of these things are spin-offs of my book on thatcher. i was curious, once thatcher leaves congress what happened everwards? what happened to the federalist congressman from massachusetts, new hampshire, the other new england states primarily would were left behind to carry on the federalist fight. i call all of this talk experiencing defeat, it is a ripoff of christopher hill's famous book the experience of defeat which looks at how levellers, quakers, parliamentarians dealt with the restoration after the english civil car in the 18 60s. i wanted to see how they dealt with defeat. from that chronological episode, full, i tease otd four themes. they all cover -- kind of like micro history. he teased

up until the 112th congress. the solid line, the dark line, the fraction of votes received by the top vote-getter from the majority party in the first round of voting for the speaker. you'll notice up to here it's pretty erratic, oftentimes less than one, which indicates that often times the majority party couldn't get everybody to vote far single person. you'll notice that things start getting calm around 1870 and it's been pretty calm ever since. and the fact that you don't -- the solid line doesn't get totally to one is not because of defections but it's usually just because of absences. this is a different graph, but this is the boehner problem and the ryan problem, which kind of puts it in context. it is the biggest divergence from the expectations since the civil war with the one exception of 1923. so this is a big deal. this is a really big deal. okay? i'm going to skip over clerks, printer, and others, and you can just believe me that they were really important and interesting. i love, love, love -- or yo

when drafting this legislation, national congress of american indians urges congress to establish an assistant secretary for indian housing and housing in urban development that would streamline environmental rules, allow tribal housing programs, access sanitation funding. congress should permanently authorize tribal veterans assistance programs to ensure all native veterans receive the benefits they deserve. in conclusion, if congress does not act, is a sting tribal housing existing tribal housing will continue to deteriorate and tribes will be left vulnerable, as we have all seen during the covid-19 pandemic. thank you so much for allowing me to testify. >> thank you so much. we will now turn to mr. stevens. >> good morning. my name is adrian stevens. i am the acting chair of the board of directors of the national american ending housing council. i currently serve as the executive director of the nation housing authority. i appreciate the opportunity to testify before the senate to discuss tribal housing. i would like to thank chairwoman smith, ranking member arounds, and committee

and another is a form of congress. you might think that a lot of the problems with the two powerful non- norm compliant president is that congress has not been exercising his constitutional responsibilities. we focus on our proposals that a road most of which became clear during the trump years. with focus on the backend and a populist demagogue and the president elected. [inaudible]. and we haven't seen it yet but there are reasons to think that our republicans do support some of these proposals they made some of these proposals in congress and a lot of the proposals especially the ones that we prioritize, are ones for which there was a bipartisan consensus for 50 years. the hope is that you put these reforms forward with a democrat is in office, that's an unusual situation that they have a democrat he might be president, might be willing to accept these constraints, that you are able to grab off some of that earlier consensus among enough republicans to make this a reality. i'll acknowledge that if these reforms are

even had to invent a new cataloging system for congress. so that's when the library of congress system was invented in this poor clerk was not the only person to know where all the books were and he was not able to get all of the money that he had hidden in the books before they got them all moved even though it took them 3 years to move all of the books. so the poor guy's ghost is still in the capitol trying to locate book -- all the books and you could hear him at night rushing through the capitol and trying to locate where he left those books. most famous book of all is john quincy adams. picture in his location of capitol building. of course, andrew jackson won the popular vote and got majority in the congress and they didn't let john quincy adams accomplish very much and so adams left office, woodiest , and theyarrested all of him le house of representatives and he had been elected senator by the state legislature in massachusetts but willing elected to the house of representatives, he was elected by the people and he always considered