host: we want to welcome back representative donna edwards, democrat of maryland. thank you for talking to our viewers. let's turn our attention to what happened over the weekend in tucson and where you were when you heard about it. guest: i was at a retreat with my district staff, preparing for the upcoming congress. it was really quite sobering. host: how did you hear about it? guest: we heard a notice from half-hour blackberries. at first i had thought that it could not be true. she and i share a seat on the science and technology committee. she was a friend. it was just really devastating to hear. host: the blackberry message, was that from the capitol police, something that all members of congress heard about at the same time? npr alert.it was an we tried various things for different reasons. we waited to hear from the capitol police to get some clarity. it was devastating. host: when you finally got word from the capitol police, how did all of that work? guest: that was about one hour after the incident had been reported. they wanted to be sure they had the m

donna edwards, maryland. karen bass. . representative terry sull. second district. fredericka willson. ladies and gentleman, please join me in congratulating the 112 j congress of the black caucus. >> thank you. it's my pleasure to introduce the ref rant mccompany. join me in welcoming dr. myron mccompany. >> i invite us all to be in an attitude of prayer. god who has walked with us, we thank you for a rich legacy of heroes and heroins that have stood in the gap. they stood in the midst of all man r and organized oppression. we thank you for them allowing us to stand on their shoulders and build on their efforts. >> we thank god for allowing us to see a new day. we are mindful that the struggle continues and that there are still many miles to go before we speak. we thank you that you promised never to abandon us or leave us alone. thank you for all the returning members of the cbc and the successes they were table to achieve in the congressnd the days past. thank you for the nine new members. and we remember all the members as they they vous to support the constitut

i'd like to yield again to donna edwards of maryland. ms. edwards: it occurred to me as we heard this discussion, and thank you to mr. courtney for raising these issues with us, mr. speaker, because it occurred to me that while we should be spending our time focused on job creation and we know that a core for job creation for the 21st century for this country is in our investment and transportation infrastrurture -- infrastructure, putting people back to work and instead we are relitigating what the american people thought we had finished with health care. here we are with a rule that then says to us, even as the bipartisan commission on debt commission has said we need to invest in the nation's infrastructure, those are investments that create jobs, jobs with taxpayers are paying into the system so we have revenue so that we can invest in our infrastructure that we are going to be constrained from doing it and i'm reminded that in the last congress, in the 111th congress, every member, i believe, of our transportation and train structure com

and then it was donna edwards from maryland.nd next to me was also jeff landry, freshman from louisiana. so it was a good experience. as we were going to the speech, sort of comparing notes, that was interesting. [inaudible] >> we were in baltimore. very positive. i think you're seeing a lot of sort of pen tablets go get them coming out of the freshman class. and that is i think setting a tone in a piece in many ways. leadership has been wonderful to work with. they're trying to make sure that everybody's realistic and what expectations are. i think that's going to be our biggest challenges we sent benchmarks of progress. we're not going to build a solve this whole thing in one fell swoop. it's going to be a long painful process. we've got to live within our means. we've got to make sure that where not just expect the miracles as for doing this as the wheel on the ship of state was turned in november. it's going to take a little time to move it around. >> phil huizenga, new freshman from michigan. >> thank you. >> talking with u

and then it was donna edwards from maryland. and next to me was also jeff landrieu, a freshman from louisiana. it was a good experience. as we went through the speech, we compared notes. that was interesting. >> -- >> we were in baltimore. it was very positive. i think you see a lot of pent- up "let's go get them closed out of this freshman class. it is setting the pace. the leadership has been wonderful to work with. they want to make sure that everyone is realistic on what expectations are. we are setting benchmarks of progress. we will not able to solve this whole thing in one fell swoop. it will be a long and continuous process. we have to live within our means. we have to make sure that we're not just expecting miracles as we're doing this. it will take little time to move around. hall. >> talking with us here in statuary hall. others continue to talk following the state of the union address. we are right outside the house chamber. coming up next, another new member, a republican of florida. start by telling us about your d

representative donna edwards, fourth district, maryland.epresentative marsha fudge, 11th district, ohio. karen bass, 33rd district, california. representative hanson clark, 13th district, michigan. representative terry sull, 13th district, alabama. representative cedric wilson, indiana. representative allen west, 22nd district, florida. [applause] >> representative frederica wilson, 17th district, florida. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please join me in congratulating the congressional black caucus of the 112th congress. [applause] ♪ glory hallelujah ♪ ♪ glory, glory hallelujah ♪ glory glory hallelujah ♪ glory glory, hallelujah ♪ >> thank you. it is now my pleasure to introduce the reverend dr. myron mccoy, president of the st. paul school of theology. he will deliver the invocation for today's event. in 2003, dr. mccoy became the fourth president of the st. paul school of theology in kansas city, missouri. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming dr. myron mccoy. [applause] >> i invite us all to be in an attitude of prayer.

and then it was donna edwards from maryland.nd next to me was also jeff lary, freshman from louisiana. so it was a good experience. as we were going to the speech, sort of comparing notes, that was interesting. [inaudible] >> we were in baltimore. very positive. i think you're seeing a lot of sort of pen tablets go get them coming out of the freshman class. and that is i think setting a tone in a piece in many ways. leadership has been wonderful to work with. they're trying to make sure that everybody's realistic and at expectations are. i think that's going to be our biggest challenges we sent benchmarks of progress. we're not going touild a solve this whole thing in one fell swoop. it's going to be a long painful process. we've got to live within our means. we've got to make sure that where not just expect the miracles as for doing this as the wheel on the ship oftate was turned in november. it's going to take a little time to move it around. >> phil huizenga, new freshman from michigan. >> thank you. >> talking with us in sta

representative donna edwards, 4th district maryland.ive marsha fudge, representative ohio. karen bass, representative california. representative happenson clark, distribute michigan. representative henry, alabama. representative richman second district of louisiana. representative allen west, 22nd district, florida. representative frederick wilson, 7th district florida. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in congratulating the congressional black caucus of the 112th black congress. ♪ [applause] ♪ [applause] ♪ [applause] ♪ [applause] ♪ [applause] >> thank you. it is now my pleasure to introduce the reverend dr. myron mccoy president of the school of theology delivering the e vocation of the event. he became the 4th president of the st. paul school of theology in missouri. please join me in welcoming dr. myron mccoy. [applause] >> i invite us all to be in an attitude of prayer. oh, god, who walked with us from sun up to sun down and days past, we thank you for rich legacy of heros who stood in the gap with freedom and justice on their mi

appreciation from the national press foundation which is the host: we want to welcome back representative donna edwards>> we want to welcome back representative don edwards democrat of maryland. thank you talking to our viewert this morning weekend in tucson and where you were when you heard about it. guest: i was at a retreat with my district staff, preparing for the upcoming congress. it was really quite sobering. host: how did you hear about it? guest: we heard a notice from half-hour blackberries. at first i had thought that it could not be true. she and i share a seat on the science and technology committee. she was a friend. it was just really devastating to hear. host: the blackberry message, was that from the capitol police, something that all members of congress heard about at the same time? npr alert.it was an we tried various things for different reasons. we waited to hear from the capitol police to get some clarity. it was devastating. host: when you finally got word from the capitol police, how did all of that work? guest: that was about one hour after the incident had been reported. they