congressman emanuel cleaver came from humble beginnings, growing up in public housing in texas. sociology. my nieces graduated from preview. congressman cleaver arrived in kansas city as an activist in the southern christian leadership conference charged with found at kansas city chapter of the civil rights organization. in 1974, after the kansas city chapter of the sclc received its charter, he began his past dork career at saint james united missionary -- st. james united methodist church with a membership of 47. today, it's my understanding that st. james has a membership of 2800. with that record i know that our congressional black caucus will grow its memberships in leaps and bounds. right? [applause] >> from 47 to 2800. in 1979 congressman cleaver was elected to the city council of kansas city. after three terms he ran for and was elected to the office of mayor where he made history as the first african-american to hold the city's highest office. first african-american to serve as the mayor of kansas city. [applause] as mayor emanuel cleaver worked tirelessly to improve th

my dear friend, emanuel cleaver. is is man of great faith, a leader of his flock, a leader of his city, as its mayor, and a faithful and effective representative of his constituents. i know as you know he will again excel and inspire in his new role in leading the congressional black caucus. congratulations, emanuel cleaver. america will be a better place. the congressional black caucus a stronger part of our party, and of our congress, and of this country because of your leadership. may god bless you as you bless america through your leadership. and to each and every one of you, who has over come discrimination, rejection, racism, and so much more. to emerge as positive leaders of principal in this land of the free and home of the brave. god bless you, and thank you. thank you all. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> before we proceed, let me introduce the surgeon general of the united states, dr. benjamin. [applause] >> thank you for your joining us. and let me just introduce and present my wife diane an

emanuel cleaver, who you heard from earlier today, i don't know if you know it, but this perhaps wraps up a weekend, a very productive weekend, that we've been involved in. mr. cleaver organized a retreat where we had the opportunity to explore the many issues that confront us to set some priorities and develop a plan of action. so i would like you not only to join with me in giving a round of applause to our chair, congressman emanuel cleaver, but also to all of the members of the congressional black caucus. thank you. thank you very much. [applause] >> now allow me to take a moment to introduce our distinguished panelist who are joining us here today. our moderator is jonathan caphart. he's an editorial writer for the washington post, specializing in national politics and environmental issues. mr. january hart joined in 2010, prior to joining "the post" he was a part of the news board from 1993 to 2000. he then became the national affairs columnist for bloomberg news from 2000 to 2001, and left to work as a policy advisor to michael bloomberg and his successful campaign. the major of

emanuel cleaver, who you heard from earlier today, i don't know if you know it, but this perhaps wraps up a weekend, a very productive weekend, that we've been involved in. mr. cleaver organized a retreat where we had the opportunity to explore the many issues that confront us to set some priorities and develop a plan of action. so i would like you not only to join with me in giving a round of applause to our chair, congressman emanuel cleaver, but also to all of the members of the congressional black caucus. thank you. thank you very much. [applause] >> now allow me to take a moment to introduce our distinguished panelist who are joining us here today. our moderator is jonathan caphart. he's an editorial writer for the washington post, specializing in national politics and environmental issues. mr. january hart joined in 2010, prior to joining "the post" he was a part of the news board from 1993 to 2000. he then became the national affairs columnist for bloomberg news from 2000 to 2001, and left to work as a policy advisor to michael bloomberg and his successful campaign. the major of

emanuel cleaver and newly elected raul labrador, tea party backed from idaho. i'm so sorry the circumstances that we need to have this conversation. congresswoman, let me begin with you. this was a close friend and colleague. tell me about your friend. how is she doing? >> by every indication -- sorry. by every indication, the fighter that gabby giffords is, is showing full strength. she's, from what i was told by her staff last night, woke up, responded to mark's -- i think his voice. >> this is her husband we're talking about? >> yeah, her husband, mark. then they sedated her again. g gabby giffords, anyone that knows her, has ever met her, is the most open, warm and sweet woman. the best way to describe her is that she's the kind of person that tries to see the good in everyone, even when -- even when she's in the midst of the kind of strife that is going on in southern arizona with the immigration laws and the battleground that arizona has been. she really always looks on the bright side. she's a glass is half full kind of person. >> you worked with her ver

. >> thank you, chairman emanuel cleaver. i would like to give my congratulations to chairman emanuel cleaver and his colleagues for doing an excellent job of launching what is absolutely a necessary process -- the first-ever congressional black caucus commission on the budget deficit, economic crisis, and wealth creation. what is going on in the country? if we know that the u.s. is experiencing a severe economic and budget crisis that is primarily caused by the great recession, which is a combination of the financial crisis and the housing crisis. we know that we are running significant deficits and that we have of very large debt. just yesterday, the congressional budget office released projections for 2011 that if nothing is done the federal budget will show a deficit of close to $1.50 trillion, 9.8% of the growth -- gross domestic product. we also know that we need to spend. there is no need for investment. investments by the federal government have the ability to stave off the ill effects of the recession. we have tensio

democratic emanuel cleaver. at 1 p.m. it's abc this week, the guest includes the chairman of the budget committee, paul ryan of wisconsin, and the ranking member congress member chris van hollen. today we have brett barren sitting in and we have republican congresswoman cathy mcmorris rogers of washington state. and then it's state of the union, speaking with dick berbin. and next speaking to congress members and house member whip. these are brought to you by the public networks and c-span. these air at 1 p.m., and cnn's state of the union, listen to them all on c-span radio. xm satellite radio, or go online to c-spanradio.org. >> next "newsmakers" with congressman henry waxman. with more than 80 appearances and you can use the c-span video library to learn more about the newest additions of the obama administration. just two of the thousand of people you can search and watch online at our video library. it's washington your way. >> i think news organizations have adapted. is it great that overall news organizations aren'