recently published a critical study on conroy's work understanding pat conroy. and who is currently working on a biography, pat conroy. having perused this book, this is the book right here that you will be seen when you are be sign or going to have your book signed. having perused it, it is really a gateway to understanding the complexities and his work. it is just wonderful, i just got it and i just thought wow, what she has done with the works to help us understand this complex man appear. now i give you catherine seltzer and pat conway. [applause]. >> i've had the chance to interview pat weekly over the last several months as i've been researching this book in the next book and the conversations are always fun, always interesting. it is great to be able to do it today with all of you. extending the conversation. pat i want to start in a different direction today, we are in nashville, the people who really thought to define southern terms and how we think about it. so i want to start by asking a few questions about how you see yourself as a southern author an

chaplain conroy: let us pray.

starting at noon you can watch authors' talks and panel discussions on the life of pat conroy. race in america. southern culture and more. also this weekend on "after words," sean naylor provides a history of the joint special operations command in conversation with washington post investigative reporter dana priest. republican presidential candidate and former neurosurgeon ben carson has a new book out, "a more perfect union." in it he weighs in on current social and political issues. and john carl and mary loomen suggest ways to reform america's prison system. also this weekend lillian faderman, anne marie slaughter talks about her vision of male and female equality, and marian nestle reports on soda politics. for a complete schedule visit booktv.org. booktv, 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors. television for serious readers. >> host: we are joined now by gene theo harris who is the author of the rebellious life of rosa parks. prior to december 1, 1955, was rosa parks rebellious? >> guest: absolutely. and her rebellious spirit really starts as a young person, as a kid.

ll be our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. as the members return, we ask your blessing on all those, who are discerning significant options about leadership here in the people's house. may a spirit of freedom and public responsibility prevail among the other voices competing in the conversations and debates that ensue. bless all members with wisdom and good measure, pressed bound, taken together and running over, that the legacy of great legislatures in our history may be carried on with integrity for the benefit of all. may all that is done in the people's house be for your greater honor and glory. 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 1, the journal of s approved. the pledge allegiance will be led by the gentleman from jea, mr. carter. mr. carter: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it

the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. prior to the great compromise, benjamin franklin addressed

the prayer will be offered by of chaur lane, father conroy -- chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. loving god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. we give you thanks that you have given to us the goals of justice and the designs of freedom and that these are our heritage as americans. bless th

the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. prior to the great compromise, benjamin franklin addressed the constitutional convention. quote, we indeed seem to feel our own want of political wisdom since we have been running about it in search of it. in this situation of this assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, have we now forgotten our powerful friend? lord, you are the powerful friend referred to by franklin and we turn again to you to ask that your wisdom might breakthrough the political discussions of these days. bless the members of the people's house and all of congress with the insight and foresight to construct a future of security in our nation's politics, economy and society. may they, as you, be especially mindful of those who are poor and without power. may all that is done today be for your greater honor and glory, amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last d

the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. eternal god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. during these contentious and unsettling days during which an important transition is taking place within the house, we ask your presence in this assembly. imbue each member with confidence, that they are called not to be successful in any one

the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. holy and compassionate god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. as they return from their constituent visits, bless the members of the people's house, amid so many political pushes and pulls. give them perseverance and wisdom to address those most pressing needs for the benefit of our nation. in the aftermath of severe storms, bless those

pat conroy will be at the bar. @[pplause]. >> will be in the signing well, come to the plaza. [inaudible] next, more from the 27th annual southern festival of books with a panel a panel discussion on race in americ pl >> good morning. everyone can hear me? wonderful. good morning and and welcome to thet,015 southern festival of books. i am jim mccarron's, a writer and teacher from philadelphia by way of los angeles, now, now based here in nashville. it is long story. all you need to know is i am your prod host for this mol. ing's session. a brief note of business, this incredible three-day celebration of the written word depends heavily on donations. not15ust to keep going every year but to also remain free. free of charge. do you keep that in mind, donations of whatever level can be made by mail or online through various socphl medph platforms, or even a person through actual time live, person-to-person communication. any, and all are greatly apprecphte. second your authors today will be heading to and signing books at the signing table iperedphtely follow our session. books

the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. compassionate and merciful god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. give the members of this house strength, fortitude, and patience. fill their hearts with charity, their minds with understanding, their wills with courage to do the right thing for all of america. in the work to be done in the week to come, may they rise together to accomplishwh

the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. loving god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. while members come to the end of a long weekend of constituent visits, bless them and those with whom they consult, among those they represent, with wisdom, patience and generosity as they seek law and policy that benefits not only local interests but, where possible, the greater common good of our country. we again ask you to impel those who possess power here in the capitol to be mindful of those whom they represent, who possess little or no power. finally, bless those men and a women who work faithfully here at the capitol from staffers to maintenance, to security, all who serve to enable the engines of legislation to proceed without distraction of day to day concerns. may all that is done today be for your greater honor and glory, 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

the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. loving god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. lord, you know there are many americans who look to the people's house as uncertainty about the future of the economy and our nation's debt hang in the balance. as well, leadership in this assembly is being considered and will be determined in this coming week. we ask that you bless the members of the people's house with the -- discernment in these trying times. we ask again that you impel those who possess power here to be mindful of those whom they represent who possess little or no power and whose lives might become all the more difficult by a failure to work out serious differences. may all that is done today be for your greater honor and glory, 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 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by scombrafment maryland, mr. hoyer -- th

the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. loving god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. lord, you know there are many americans who look to the people's house as uncertainty about the future of the economy and our nation's debt hang in the balance. as well, leadership in this assembly is being considered and will be determined in this coming week. we ask that you bless the members of the people's house with the

ll be our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. as the members return, we ask your blessing on all those, who are discerning significant options about leadership here in the people's house. may a spirit of freedom and public responsibility prevail among the other voices competing in the conversations and debates that ensue. bless all members with

the prayer will be offered by of chaur lane, father conroy -- chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. loving god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. we give you thanks that you have given to us the goals of justice and the designs of freedom and that these are our heritage as americans. bless the members of the people's house with the understanding that it is their work to develop the strategies and the plans for achieving those goals and the trust to know that your spirit is with them in their work. grace this assembly with the resolving to be faithful in its tasks, responsible in its actions and fervent in its desire to serve a nation which so many hope will live beyond any current difficulties into an ever-greater realization of both justice and freedom. may all that is done today be for your greater honor and glory, amen. the speaker: 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 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance today will

i am tom conroy, vice president for government performance here. thank you for sharing some time with us today. on behalf of our president and all of my colleagues, it is my privilege to welcome all of you here today. the few charitable trust is an independent nonpartisan nonpublic policy institution dedicated to serving the public. we are speaking today on the topic of immigration in that vein. our immigration in the states to explorecreated this intersection of federal, state, and local immigration policies and practices. panelists tonk my share their experiences on how this intersection of federal state and local policies and practices actually affect their communities. with that i will turn over this program. going to focus on driver's licenses in these communities. thank you. >> good afternoon and thank you. we don't see broad immigration reform be enacted in congress is in the horizon on the near term. states have been active in passing immigration laws. according to the national conference of state legislatures, 171 laws were passed in 2014,

the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. eternal god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. during these contentious and unsettling days during which an important transition is taking place within the house, we ask your presence in this assembly. imbue each member with confidence, that they are called not to be successful in any one per suit but rather faithful -- pursuit but rather faithful to the pursuit of the welfare of the united states and faithfulness to its constitution as they have taken oaths to do. may they, with confidence, use their abilities to best perform their duties and obligations. may all that is done this day be for your greater honor and glory, amen. the speaker: 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 1 he journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance today will be led by the gentleman from california, mr. mcnerney. mr. mcnerney: please join me in reciting the flag. i pledge allegiance to

i am tom conroy, vice president for government performance here.hank you for sharing some time with us today. on behalf of our president and all of my colleagues, it is my privilege to welcome all of you here today. the few charitable trust is an independent nonpartisan nonpublic policy institution dedicated to serving the public. we are speaking today on the topic of immigration in that vein. our immigration in the states project is created to explore this intersection of federal, state, and local immigration policies and practices. i want to thank my panelists to share their experiences on how this intersection of federal state and local policies and practices actually affect their communities. with that i will turn over this program. it is going to focus on driver's licenses in these communities. thank you. >> good afternoon and thank you. even while we don't see broad immigration reform be enacted in congress is in the horizon on the near term. states have been active in passing immigration laws. according to the national conference of state le

the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. holy and compassionate god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. as they return from their constituent visits, bless the members of the people's house, amid so many political pushes and pulls. give them perseverance and wisdom to address those most pressing needs for the benefit of our nation. in the aftermath of severe storms, bless those recovering from floods and storms this past week and those emergency workers who have placed themselves in dangerous path in service to their brothers and sisters in need. may we all be inspired by their heroic example and moved to step forward in those times when we might be called upon as well. may all that is done today be for your greater honor and glory, 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 1 the journal stands approved. the pliege of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from michigan, mr. kildee.

i am tom conroy, vice president for government performance here at the pew charitable trust. thank you for spending time with us today. on behalf of our president rebecca rhinehold and all my colleagues at pew it's my privilege to welcome you all here today to this very intriguing event. i think you're going to enjoy it. as many of you know the pew charitable trust is an independent nonpartisan public policy institution dedicated to serving the public. and we do a lot of work with state governments and we are speaking today on the topic of immigration in that vein, our immigration and the state's project was create d to really explore this intersection of federal, state and local immigration policies and practices. and i would like to thank our panelists for joining us today to share some of their experiences on how this intersection of federal, state and local practices actually affect their communities. and with that, i would turn over this program, which is going to focus on driver's licenses in these communities, to our host today, adam hunter. thank you. >> good afternoo

the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. almighty god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. we pray for the gift of wisdom to all with great responsibility in this people's house for the leadership of our nation. along with millions of men and women around the world, we join praying for those in leadership in our world. those you have entrusted to lead in local and national governments in this nation and all the nations of the world. guide them, lord, with wisdom and truth. may they seek you in the decisions they make and in the way they live. in praying for them, we are also reminded to pray this morning for those on life's margins who are affected by extreme poverty, poor health care, polluted and diseased water, unjust societies, division and terror and those who do not have the opportunity to receive a quality education. lord, the suffering of the world is all around us. stimulate our hearts and minds so that everything we may do this day would be for your greater honor and glory. amen. the speaker: the chair ha

katty: let us pray. -- chaplain conroy: let us pray. eternal god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. we continue to ask your blessing on all those who are discerning significant options about leadership here in the people's house. you endow all your people with gifts of various designs meant to be used in service to others. may the pressures that come to bear not obscure honest self-reflection and evaluation of the gifts each has to bring to the needs of this time in the people's house. bless all members with the sense of their collective responsibility to our nation and to this assembly so that the american people might look forward to the coming months with hope and a renewed respect and trust in those whom they have elected. may all that is done today and in the days to come be for your greater honor and glory. amen. the speaker: 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 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegian

the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. compassionate and merciful god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. give the members of this house strength, fortitude, and patience. fill their hearts with charity, their minds with understanding, their wills with courage to do the right thing for all of america. in the work to be done in the week to come, may they rise together to accomplish what is best for our great nation. yesterday we honored and rethank you for the service rendered to all the world by the monuments men of world war ii. may we always be grateful for the genius in our midst and the efforts of those who labor to preserve the patry moany of our human civilization. may all that is done this day be for your greater honor and glory, amen. the speaker: 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 1, the journal stands approved. for what purpose does the gentlelady from indiana rise? mrs. walorski: pursuant to cla

like to thank reverend cannon for traveling to washington for this honor and house chaplain father conroy for providing this opportunity to a pastor from the 17th district of florida. reverend rod cannon is the senior pastor at new vision worship center in florida. he comes from a family of devoted to the church of god where both his father and son have been influential pastors in that community. reverend cannon has been a leader in his church and the community since he arrived at the new vision worship center in 2009. he's offered prayers across the state of florida and i'm happy he can add the house of representatives to his extensive ministry. i commend reverend cannon's commitment to his ministry and wish to thank him for offering the opening prayer today. it was my honor to invite him to washington as guest chaplain w that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 15 further requests for one minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from indiana seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman from i