that is the push of the congressional black caucus. we're not violent people, so i won't say dead or alive, but we are consistently engaged in pushing the envelope, pushing the margins, pushing the conscience of this congress, led certainly over a huge number of years by the late john robert lewis. john conyers, who headed the judiciary committee and fought against every civil rights injustice. so many leaders. as i indicated, shirley chisholm who ran for the presidency. barbara jordan who sat on the impeachment committee as a young member and said, we the people, and she denied any right of anyone to undermine the constitution. her voice was strong and powerful, glad to call her my mentor and my predecessor. and so i just want so i just want to give these words, congressman torres. i want to capture some words here on that insurrection. everyone knew the outcome of the 2020 presidential election long before january 6. 2021. we also knew the states were going through a lot of tra versioning, even they were sued, they still came back as

he's also a co-founder of the congressional black caucus in 1971. and he uses the caucus to help move into a position where he can get on armed services. and one of the stories he told us in an oral history interview was going to speaker of the house carl albert and appealing to speaker albert to put him on arms services. and this was in effect going around the committee chairman who was a southern dixiecrat from louisiana. and he went in to make this pitch with his fellow congressional black caucus colleagues louis stokes and bill clay, with clay playing bad cop and stokes playing good cop, and dellums trying to weasel his way onto the committee. >> bill clay saying it's about fairness and justice, right? so at a certain point carl albert got up, and he said i'm going to see if i can get this name reconsidered. at that moment i knew i had won. so, we'd walk out and i said it's over. you really think so? i said the fact that the speaker said they were going to reconsider it, it's done. okay? hour and a half later i get this phone call, i'm the first

what is a congressional your mark? -- earmark? guest: it is a line item provision inserted into legislation going to a specific project by a lawmaker. it could be a road project. in some cases, it was a teapot museum in sparta, north carolina. it could be the bridge to nowhere. that project in alaska. a provision into legislation. it was something very prevalent in our history until starting in the '90's, it exploded through the mid-2000's and after some reforms, republicans took control in 2011, decided to enact a moratorium. host: was there a bubbling up of public animus toward this spending, these congressional earmarks? people said somehow this is pork spending. guest: it is always referred to in the third person. it is never pork in your own district because you are for your constituents. some projects were seen as excessive. randy cunningham's earmarks led him to prison. a few bad examples. the vast majority are just members of congress doing what they are supposed to do according to the constitution, which is be responsible

what is a congressional your ? >> and earmarked bill is a line item provision that is inserted into legislation that is going to certain project and is inserted by the lawmaker. so it could be, it could be in some cases a museum in sparta north carolina. also the bridge to nowhere was that was named as a bridge to nowhere that alaska so is this right provision into a variety of legislation and is something that wasn't very three until really in the 90s, it just exploded through the mid-2000 and after some reforms, the publicans took control in 2011. decide moratorium that you are. >> and mark strand, ask you this was their only a animus towards this spending. these congressional earmarks? you heard people say this is somehow important spending. >> port is always referred to in the third person. it's never worked spending in your own district because advocating for your constituents. earmarks, i think because of some projects that received as effective. randy cunningham's earmarks actually went to prison so you've h

. >> here at cbs news, we are marking black history month today with a look at the congressional black caucus that is celebrating its 50th anniversary. it was to give black americans greater influence. >> it has grown from the original 13 to a record 58 members. while some have endured controversy the caucus has become a powerful voice on capitol the hill pushing legislation and presidents to stand up for human rights here at home and abroad. >> we are here not to discuss transportation but to discuss education. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: in 1971 with just over a dozen african-american lawmakers serving in congress, the congressional black caucus was formed to amplify their voice in an institution that was not always welcoming. >> even in the house of representatives, black folks voice was not expected and indeed was not wanted. >> reporter: at 90 years old, former new york representative charles rangle is one of the last surviving founders of the group. you came up with the name congressional black caucus. >> just the name, we all had a view of a quality of life. >> reporter: rangl he and the o

most congressional staff are on the young side. them do not make a career of it and have moved on by the time they're in their 30s. in their letter to the senators they make the point that many of them are in the generation that has been painfully trained for january 6th. quote, many of us attended school in the post-columbine era and were trained to respond to active shooter situations in our classrooms. they do not limit responsibility for the attack to donald trump alone. quote, that mob was incited by former president donald j. trump and his political allies some of whom we pass every day in the hallways at work. the congressional staff signing this letter to senators say the choice facing senators is now simple. the use of violence and lies to overturn an election is not worthy of debate. either you stand with the republic or against it. as congressional employees we don't have a vote on whether to convict donald j. trump in his role for inciting the violent attack at the capitol, but our senators do. and for our sake and for

funding and what would be without congressional action? mr. jeffries: good questions. on the pharma allocation, it's allocated the same way we allocate to the states, tribes and territories. however the centers for disease control has experience with working with pharmacies is making sure we are picking pharmacies that are harder to reach to ensure we have equitable distribution of the pharmacy doses and across the board. equity is foundational to everything we do. on the american rescue plan, we are doing what we can with the resources we have. the faster congress acts and the faster we can scale vaccination sites, global units and increase emergency supplies. given this pandemic, it's important that they act as fast as possible to scale our efforts and fight the pandemic as effectively as possible. >> we have time for a couple of more questions. usa today. reporter: the question about production is that the reports they get getting the vaccine every week even though they are ordering the same amount. is it production that it various by w

this is from the beginning of his congressional career. this later moving from the paper form to wax is a recording he made called "keep the faith, baby." it's a series of speaking meditations on a number of different issues and these really sort of bookend his career, which is very long, and he is no william dawson, he has a very different approach at how to do things. >> all human beings, black and white, rich and poor, equal in the sight of god, keep your faith in the life of your fellow man even though he abuses you. when he abuses you, he makes himself a lesser man. a great man once said, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray, pray, pray, pray, pray for them which they use you. keep your faith. >> up through the 1970s powell was the person who kind of embodied civil rights in the house, right? civil rights in congress. he's elected in 1944 -- he and dawson are the only two members of congress for a number of congresses until the early 1950s and 2 very contrasting styles, whereas dawson is

you have a wonderful day. >> the republican representing tennessee's first congressional -- first congressional district. the first in her family to graduate high school and college, she owns a pharmacy with her husband. her 2020 arm -- or 2020 run for office was her entry into politics. >> why did you decide to run for this seat? >> i looked at our nation and i feel we are at a tipping point. i have a son and two grandsons. i've mentor young people for over 24 years. i feel for the future of our families. that is the reason i raise my hand and said pick me. protect the country. from socialism as a viable option. that is a problem. i needed to step up and step in and see if i should do something to take our country back to the traditions and the approach our forefathers thought would work. it has worked, all these years. >> dear member you dashed your over the moment you decided -- do you remember the moment you decided to run? >> i do. i've got to congress for over 25 years to talk to congress and senators about my profession. for the profession i have a license to do. i understood how valuabl

>> we're following the process outlined in our congressional budget. as you know, the legislation was inclusive of the 1980s that we submit to us. as you know, the bill spans the total of the bill from the sign committee completely above the instruction total. we also note the three committees did not receive submissions the amount of their inspection in the budget. was about $11.75 billion. most of the noted congressional provides a mechanism by which compliance can be addressed and that is through google's committee. >> but this is going to be a self-executing amendment when the houseboats on a rule, will come out of the rules committee so again i just want to $.7 billion, it's still a significant sum of money argued that this process is transparent . >> archives expire for? answer. you have had an opportunity in the general debate portion . please, were not going to turn to now proceed to four minutes of general debate recommendations to make pursuant to the reconciliation function there will be 20 minutes until amatory 20 minutes control mine. i kn

he's also cofounder of the congressional black caucus. in 1971. and, he uses the caucus, to help move into a position where, he can get on armed services. one of the stories he told us, in an oral history interview, was, going to speaker of the house, carl albert, and appealing to speaker albert to put him on armed services. this was in effect, going around the committee chairman, who was a southern dixiecrat from louisiana. he went in to make this pitch, with his fellow congressional black caucus colleagues, louis stokes, and bill clay. with clay, playing bad cop, and stokes playing good cop. and trying to wheedle his way until the committee. >> -- he says, we've got all of the members of the cbc, on various committees. but we could not do anything for ron. so that's when we started top. -- mister speaker, tomorrow ... bill clay, and if you don't put the brother on the committee, we're gonna denounce this as a racist institution. we call a press conference. so you get the nice guy going, this is a matter of principle. run dellums knows these issu

unified. >> that is the chair of the congressional black caucus.gresswoman, good to have you on tonight. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> let's stick with georgia, speaking of marjory taylor greene and republican politicians there. as you know georgia turned the senate blue this year. and new poll numbers show how that is affecting republicans there. that poll from the atlanta journal constitution puts the gop's net favorability rating deep under water. "snl" had some fun with that last night. maybe you saw that sketch depicting a small georgia town today. >> well, i never. >> excuse me, you lost? >> nope. just want to get something to eat. drove up here from florida. >> well, ladida. sir, i don't know what they're teaching over there in florida but this is georgia. this is stacey abrams country. >> birthplace of tlc. >> why don't you let jimmy here drive you to the state line before any real trouble starts. >> trouble? don't bother. i'll see myself out. hey, what happened to y'all anyway? georgia's changed. >> yeah, science is real and love i

every day, we are so grateful for the hard work and support of our congressional staff. many of them are young enough to be my children, but they serve congress and our country with brilliance and honor every single day. so this evening, i want to read a letter signed by nearly 400 congressional staffers to their senators because they don't have a voice on this floor but their words are so raw and so heart wrenching. here's the letter, entitled an open letter to members of the u.s. senate. we are senate who work are to the senate and house of representatives where it is our honor and privilege tore serve our country and fellow americans we write to share our views, not the views of our sploirs employers. our workplace was atanged by a violent mob trying to stop the electoral college. that was by president trump some of whom we pass every day in the hall ways at work. many of us attended school in the post-columbine area and are trained to respond. as the mob smashed through capitol police barricades, broke doors and windows and charged with body armors and weapons, we hi

capitol rotunda and wednesday morning a congressional tribute.icer sicknick died of injuries he sustained during the violent attack on the capitol on january 6th. watch live tonight at 9:30 p.m. and wednesday at 10:30 a.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org or listen live on the free c-span radio app. >>> two

i was performing what i viewed as my congressional duties. and after all of this i was asked to vote on approval. in the interim, obviously, this insurrection occurred. i did not know what was going on. it was clear to me that, as a spectatora behind me was. security was running-- was happening. security was running. the vice president was shuffled out of the area. the speaker, minority leader, the majority leader, the majority whip, everybody had a security detail was escorted out of the facility. and members of congress who didn't had to remain in the gallery to don gas masks and basically what we thought was to fend for ourselves because we really did not know what was going on. so, it was the effort around trying to find out what is going on. it was the fact that about an hour passed before i was able to really know what was going on and to get out of the gallery area into what i thought was a more secure area, that turned out to be a hot spot for coronavirus because a number of members of congress and staff who had been marshalled to tha

running for office as a congressional candidate. we see that she is a champion. >> i expect we all had the experience of being a freshman at one point or another. what is a lesson you have learned from different members of congress? who is the most influential? >> they have been helping me all along the way. all in different ways. ayanna pressley will talk to me about how i am promoting myself. how i take care of myself. setting your schedule up so that you stay human. alex and i talk about drifting. talking about making sure that i have what i need. i am hearing from so many different people. stay a fighter, all of us bringing something different. i am talking to williams and jamaal bowman. some of the best advice is definitely reminding myself that i am human. look at who you hire. just make sure that i have what i need to be ready, to be able to do what i told the community i would do. >> i wanted to focus on that. there was a story online about you buying clothing for the new job. >> it was kind of thrust upon me . i was thinkin

but what is her role in the georgia congressional georgia delegation.ayer in the delegation right now? >> so, she just got sworn in to office on january 3rd. so i think it's a bit early to know what her role will be in the delegation. i will say that because she is a trump loyalist who trump has even given her his sign of approval. and she has shared a stage with him. georgia republicans have embraced her and the maga base has embraced her, therefore, other republicans in georgia's delegation they have stopped short of embracing her but they have avoided criticizing her and they have definitely kind of realized that well, they have decided they don't want to angerer the base and have so far taken a hands off approach to her. and that has allowed her to have a big voice, because she is the loudest voice and other voices are silent rate now in the georgia congressional d delegation. >> tia, thanks very much. >> thank you. >> coming up, two weekends of historic protests and thousands of people detained in russia. we will tell you why the demonstrations roc

for the congressional black caucus we have four nurses within the congressional black caucus.hing out in our own communities. let me tell you about in the heart land of it all in ohio. we have a young dr. by the name of laurel espy beall who put a vad owe to talk about what you're talking about. it's all young, black doctors and these doctors all will give you a statement about why you should get it. the ramifications if you don't get it. where you can go and they have made themselves available to our younger folks because it's so important for you to know where you can go and because of the disparities, it's really important for us to have community access. we have churches. we have health centers. the biggest thing, if you don't know where to go, if you don't know about it, then you can't do it. >> congresswoman lawrence, same question. >> one of the things we're doing in detroit which i think is really powerful, the mayor designated saturday as senior day. if you're age 60, you can pick up a senior and bring them to the testing center. it's not about you going online and go

>> we're following the practice outlined under the congressional budget act. today as you know the legislation before us is inclusive of the nine committees that did indeed submit to us. as you note, the bill stands, the total of the bill from those nine committees is slightly above the reconciliation instruction total. i would also note that the three committees for whom we did not receive submissions, the amount of their instruction in the budget was about $11.75 billion. also as you please be the congressional budget act provides a mechanism by which compliance can be addressed and that is through the rules committee. >> right. but these -- this is going to be a self-executing amendment when the house votes on the rule, come out of the rules committee. again, $11.7 billion still a significant sum of money. i don't think you can argue this process is transparent. >> dr. burgess all time is expired for the question and answer period. you will have ample opportunity in the general debate portion, which we're now going to turn to. we will now proceed to 40 min

also, the utah republican congressman will join us to discuss congressional news of the day. watching c-span's washington journal live at 7:00 eastern, wednesday morning. join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, texts and tweets. >> back with us on c-span is author of the book "the great influenza: the story of the greatest pandemic in history. "we are coming up on 11 months of this pandemic. 26 million cases of covid in the united states. states. 11 months into the great influenza pandemic, where was the united states when it came to infection where was the united states when it came to infection levels and deaths? >> one of the --ich the speed i. everything with influenza is faster from mutation rate, incubation period, how long you shed the virus and how long you are sick. 11 months into it, it was almost completely over. by that time you had close to 700,000 americans dead, of course the population was much smaller than worldwide, 50 to 100 million dead which would be 225 to 450 million people today. a much more lethal pandemic. this is bad enough. ho

and it sometimes feels like, congressional process works. if you look at the budget process or you look at how just as we go from appropriations or budget to appropriations and authorization, you first get there you can displace to make sense. people have been added a long time and it ought to work pretty well, derek and the select committee really realized and demonstrated there's a lot of structural issues that we can improve dramatically. so there is some truth to the idea that we've got to change the structural things but there's a more fundamental problem and that is that people are getting our, the connection between what it takes to get in office and what it takes to serve well in office is distant. it's a differentskill set , it's not a merit system. and then once you get power you want to hold power the same way you got it. that takes reform and it's especially difficult and i'm not sure someone who has run for office in an academic realm fully gets that especially if you didn't run in a swing district. if you run into the swing dis

that was basically done more as it cost savings by the congress the congressional inaugural committee that anything else because they didn't have to build basically, you know a large amphitheater because they took advantage of the terraces existed at the time same way in 1985 it all so had a advantage that it was the fifth time that a president was inaugurated actually on a sunday. so we had two ceremonies and i think chris this also happened with president obama on the second time that he had this historical thing of happening on a sunday. i think it was a total of seven times that the inauguration day appeared, but some previous presidents refused to be inaugurated on this on that on that sunday's zachary taylor because the very religious man wouldn't do it on a sunday so we had two different weather extremes between those two we had it in two different locations because the second one had to be taking inside to the rotunda so they were too historical in terms of that. so each one was a whole new experience that we hadn't planned for and the second one. i was the general manager of

and it starts with the congressional caucus in united states in 76.ers -- as a service organization that would influence policy affecting african americans, hispanic community. unlike other congressional caucuses over time the diversity of the caucus somewhat limited its legislative effectiveness. it was open to members from both parties. its roster included rosters from across the country, there were regional parties at work -- the operation clearinghouse than a legislative vehicle for moving legislation through congress. hispanic american numbers were divided for instance in the 19 eighties on immigration reform and also entrÉe polls in the 1990 such as nafta. perhaps most are computer of this era is simply that again that's going on. the civil rights act and voting rights act in the 1960s, and court ordered redistricting which began in the early 1960s open the new avenues for political participation for millions of hispanic americans. the voting rights act and an extension's profoundly changed the face of congress in terms of african americans, but

we will bring you that congressional tribute live when it happens. we're also following other headlines here this morning because just added to president biden's schedule, covid relief talks with democrats from capitol hill. he's got a call with house members and then a meeting next hour at the white house with various senators. democrats have now taken the first steps to try to approve the president's nearly $2 trillion plan, even with talk of a bipartisan plan with republicans in the ether. in the fight against the virus an encouraging report on astrazeneca's vaccine which new research says can really slow the spread of the virus. let me bring in nbc's richard engel who is following that piece of story from london, shannon pettypiece is outside the white house, dr. celine grounder is also here, an infectious disease specialist as well as a former member of the biden/harris advisory board. shannon, let me start with you. what do we know about these new meanings. what kind of tea leaves are you reading into them, that the president has these two meet

congressionally directed spending, member designated local high priority projects. earmarks, pork. whatever they are called, they're making a comeback. >> nancy pelosi is going to get her title to nowhere and chuck schumer is going to get his bridge to nowhere from new york to canada. >> when republicans assumed control of the house in 2011, they dropped earmarks. defines a specific spending projects or tax proposals that benefit the state, city, congressional district. >> it became a gateway drug for higher federal spending. >> as they appear on their way back to congressional spending bills, some republicans say they will still oppose them. >> we're going to fight the earmarks because what it does it will lead to corruption and lead to entitlement of the leadership and reduce the power of the members. >> they will institute reforms and push transparency. they have yet to release the proposal. house majority leader says "i've talked to a lot of republicans who i actually expect are going to be requesting earmarks for their districts." some republicans say in banning earmarks, cong

he has violated congressional mandate and health, safety, regulations.to fight over 130 subpoenas and dozens of formal demands by congressional committees to testify in terms of his subordinate, cabinet and sub cabinet level. there are two lawyers. history crime attack -- history crime attack, which was well argued by the house democrats, but then the institutional separation of powers attack that was far more fundamental in terms of long-range impact, terms of his current impact on hundreds of millions of the american stage of american people. they did not go the full hand. had they gone with a full hand, they could have shown the intrinsic republicans exactly what price they're going to pay if they vote to acquit donald trump. amy: talk about what pence would've had to say, and li always the president trump, defender almost to the end until he decided to be there to ensure the account of the -- the final count of the electoral college. one of the things the house managers showed was the timeline. maybe you can argue trump in his speech that day when he

access to a ballot is one thing, redrawing congressional districts in your favor, another.rush to do just that is under way in several states and being made worse by a lack of census data. >> plus straight ahead, i'm going to talk with the white house's deputy communications director. that conversation just moments away on "american voices." [music: “you're the best” by joe esposito] [music: “you're the best” by joe esposito] [triumphantly yells] [ding] don't get mad. get e*trade and take charge of your finances today. it's not “pretty good or nothing.” don it's notd. “acceptable or nothing.” and it's definitely not “close enough or nothing.” mercedes-benz suvs were engineered with only one mission in mind. to be the best. in the category, in the industry... in the world. lease the gla 250 suv for just $399 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ hey limu! [ squawks ] how great is it that we get to tell everybody how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? i mean it... oh, so

now you are a congressional correspondent. what's going to happen to these 11 republicans, you think, by and large when they go back to their own districts and presumably they're going to seek reelection in two years? >> yeah, i think it's very interesting, wolf, kind of the cross-section of members that you see taking the calculated risk of voting in favor of removing her from the committees as opposed to those who chose not to. you know, a number of members from upstate new york, for instance, you talk about representative from staten island. that is a part of the country that was hit so dramatically by 9/11, right? i'm sure she family were probably watched the towers fall. and so the idea that, you know, a fellow member of congress would then come and suggest that 9/11 didn't happen or that at least parts of 9/11 didn't happen had to touch her in a pretty dramatic way. i think there were surprises with these 11 members that voted in favor of pulling her off of these committees. keep in mind, wolf, there were only ten republ

according to the congressional budget office, raising federal wage to $15 an hour is a hisignificant budgetary impact which should make it permissible under reconciliation rules. i want to thank the hard-working senate staff and my staff senator sanders and many others in participating in these arguments today. on another matter, everyone knows our country and economy faces daunting challenges beyond covid-19. while our two parties don't agree on a whole lot, both republicans and democrats know the main challenges of the w21st century will be competing with china. the roots of this challenge go back decades. when i was first elected this senate and visiting all corners of new york, i spent time going under as a result of unfair chinese many ablation and currency by china. for decades, china has effectively cheated and stole its way to economic growth, engaging in brazen theft of american intellectual property, operation and technology transfers, goods in our economy and for a while, any relation of currency american workers, academics and thissi is, of all sizes have paid the price t

i represent the third poorest congressional district in the country. i want you to think about that for one moment. i have a couple, an elderly couple who have to melt snow in a bucket so that they can have the ability to flush their toilets because they can't afford water. water has been increased by 400% in rate. i have a mother in my district who is pleading for me to find a place for her daughter to eat twice a day. more than half of my residents pay a third or more of their income for housing. our economy is structuring in a way to benefit the few over the many. it is no surprise that many -- that for many it is not working for are working people in our communities. if we want to truly look at the economy, measure the am of debt our families have compared to their income. look at the productivity numbers that are up compared to the wages that remain stagnant. at the same time that our people are suffering, large corporations are seeing record breaking profits. and c.e.o.'s are being paid record high salaries. it is simply unfair and immoral. raisi

for the last decade, republicans have held a 12-4 advantage in the congressional delegation. that has endured through a number of political wave this. -- waves. republican still can stroll -- controlled the state legislatures so if nor the commission nor the legislature can come to an agreement on when the map -- on what the map should look like, the legislature can still draw through simple legislation a new map that would only be in effect for four years until the process starts again. most states pass maps that are valid for 10 years. we will see whether the commission can come to any kind of bipartisan agreement. if not, ohio could be quite gerrymandered again. host: here's a map of redistricting controlled by state. ohio, one of the states in yellow, that has one of those independent commissions. the red states here, redistricting is controlled in the state legislature, and they are republican. blue states, democrats controlling state legislatures. purple come a split. why are there so many independent commissions in the west? why does it seem like there is regional grou

with the popular vote can you talk about the difference between winner take all allocation and congressional district allocation? >> somehow the state was allowing a popular vote but not statewide but had a district system today to states have one form of these that is maine and nebraska. maine has two members of congress into centers one - - senators but the way they set up their system instead of every other state in the country if you just win by one popular vote you get all of the electors and only two electors for winning the state and one from each of the congressional districts that you want. this used to be a bed trivia because it never worked out but then we go back to barack obama and nebraska donald trump has won twice in the main congressional district and in the last election we have seen both of those split their electors and it is possible but that feature that they have is a possibility if you want to think about other ways to allocate. >> we have this election day winner take all those congressional district system so can we talk about what happens between that date in novem

i was serving in that capacity, reelected in 2018, when republican's loss are congressional seat here. i was approach that very night for running in the seat. >> amongst some of your work within the oak state senate you helped overhaul the liquor laws there. tell us about that. >> i did. oklahoma is very unique in that we were one of five states left selling what was called low point beer. the laws passed were constitutional changes that were enacted in 1959. they had never been changed. i really understood we were losing out on economic opportunities across the state. i took on the task of rewriting an entire title of law, as well as putting forth a state question which passed in 2016. it revolutionized our industry here. a lot of people were asking for things like wine in grocery stores. you were not able to do that here. we also did not allow for beer higher than 3.2 percentage at a grocery store. nicaea glow mug breweries that have popped up across the -- now you see oklahoma breweries that have popped up across the state. it was never about alcohol. it was about economic developm

when i was speaker in 2007, congressional democrats raised the minimum wage in the first 100 hours of our new majority. it took a little longer for the senate to get it done in the spring. that was 14 years ago. an increase in the middle wage is a financial necessity for our families, a great stimulus for our economy, and a moral imperative for our country. with that view, it is therefore inevitable to all of us that the $15 minimum wage will be achieved, even if it is inconceivable to some, it is inevitable to us and we will work diligently to shorten the distance between the inevitable and the inconceivable. the $7.25 minimum wage that exists now is in many instances an exploitation of the american worker. and it is a cost to taxpayers because the minimum wage workers need food and housing assistance. and many are on medicaid. this is corporate welfare. this is a subsidy for business to pay a low wage. we want to work to be respected, we respect the dignity of work. we will seek a solution consistent with senate rules and we will do so soon. the american people are demanding the bol

i am optimistic about the meeting we had today with our congressional colleagues and now i'm going to walk over and sign that executive order. thank you all very much. >> [indiscernible] pres. biden: i am, but i do not so much blame it on the senate. i blame it on the failure to have a transition that was rational. as you know, previous administrations had a significant number of their cabinet confirmed before being sworn in. that is the tradition. we are doing fine. i think we are going to be in good shape. thank you. >> [indiscernible] have you read the jamal khashoggi report yet? pres. biden: yes, i have. >> c-span's "washington journal." every day, we take your calls live on the air on the news of the day and discuss policy issues that impact the. coming thursday morning, congressman byron donalds, the freshman member who serves on the budget, small business, and oversight and reform committee discusses his legislative priorities in the 117 congress and congressional news of the day. tom o'halleran, who also serves as blue dog coalition cochair, on coronavirus relief and the coali

now, he represents wisconsin's fifth congressional district, following jim sensenbrenner. interviewer: where did you grow up in wisconsin? representative fitzgerald: outside milwaukee in a couple rural counties, dodge, jefferson county, that area, a little town called used hustisford is where i went to high school. interviewer: what was growing up in a small town like? representative fitzgerald: it was wonderful. wonderful. one of the odd things, i guess, was that my father was both chief of police in the small village and sheriff in dodge county, wisconsin, which is kind of how i got my start in politics.

the administration should have sought congressional authorization here.his is a recurring debate but an important one. >> and what we've seen repeatedly, administration after administration, and in this case iraq and syria as well. keep in mind before the strikes occurred, the president was getting public pressure from republicans, and i'm told behind the scenes pressure from democrats to do something because of reports over the last couple weeks. i think the interesting element here i'm interested in seeing play out was they received their justification. they are not calling for past use of military force which the administration before this used repeatedly. we're told by administration officials that congressional leadership were informed, some relevant committees were informed, not all the relevant committees were informed, so there is frustration there as well. but this will be a process here where the administration is feeling out, and there are a lot of veterans here who have served in past administrations. who do we keep in the loop on this, and if

as chair of the congressional caucuses immigration task force-- excuse me, the congressional black caucuses, i have seen the glaring inequity, blatant racism, vicious xenophobia and civil rights violations that immigrants face, particularly in immigrant communities of african descent. donald trump's administration exacerbated an already naive immigration strategy that continues to dehumanize and divide. however, this is not just a moral issue, it is an economic one as well. if covid-19 has taught us nothing, essential workers are the life blood of our economy. they risk their lives during a global pandemic to serve, support and protect american views. we rely on them during this crisis and it's time to give them a way out of the shadow. this bill the biden-harris administration's vision for fixing our immigration system once and for all, and only congress can provide immigrants with a path to citizenship. the 11 million undocumented dreamers, the recipients deserve swift, humane and comprehensive action on their behalf and i will not relent until our immigration system reflects a modern and

this week the republican congressional caucus declined to censure greene in any way. house minority leader kevin mccarthy pretended not to even know what qanon was. in the senate mitch mcconnell has finally drawn the line, describing greene's views as looney. but it is too little, too late. the party has been encouraging looney views for years. today we rightly applaud mitt romney for his political courage, but it is worth recalling when he was running for president in 2012, he craved donald trump's endorsement. when he got it, he gushed.

let's get straight to cnn's congressional reporter daniella diaz. a voterama going early in the morning for all of these lawmakers. bring us up to speed on what's going on now and what it means for americans who need help in the pandemic. >> reporter: i thought when i woke up this morning i thought it would be over and it's still going on. voterama is still going on. marathon session to try to pass amendments for budget reconciliation. first step that needs to happen so that they can pascoe individual 19 relief without any support. now the senate doesn't do this very often. it shows how important it is. there was one amendment that all senators agreed on except for rand paul. targeted stimulus checks for the next round of covid-19 relief. this comes as 10 senators were clear with biden they want to continue this dialogue. they want to continue talking about covid-19 relief. they have concerns about his $1.9 trillion package. they want something smaller. they want something more targeted. they sent a letter to him hoping to continue that conversation