of the house committees on ways and means. in 2008 he was chosen on the house committee on appraisal reform. in 2005 he was named republican freshman of the year in the house of representatives and texas monthly has named him one of the tent as legislators in texas. he is a graduate of texas a&m and a dba from that university. and your honor, i have warned

and that is that the republican majority in this house of representatives is refusing, is refusing to allow a vote in this house on the senate bipartisan compromise. they are refusing to even allow a vote on a bill that received 89 of 100 votes in the senate, including 85% of the senate republicans. what are they so afraid of? it's very clear that the republican leadership is afraid that that same bipartisanship that took place in the senate will take place right here in the house. because they don't want a bipartisan bill. otherwise we would have a vote on it. what we are witnessing today, mr. speaker, is the triumph of tea party extremism over the good of the country. the sad part is we probably shouldn't be surprised because it was just a few months ago that the republican leadership was opposed to extending the payroll tax cut at all. they originally said that raising taxes on 160 million americans would be ok. no problem. i have a long list of statements from republican house leaders to that effect. then two things happened. a whole lot of economists told us what was common sense

reid has said the house of representatives must pass their bill. well, nobody made mr. reid the king. and i don't think that we have to do what mr. reid says. he has a very high opinion of himself. i think we do what the constitution tells us to do. when there is a difference of opinion, then we go to conference. a no vote to our colleagues means they don't want to follow regular order and want to continue the uncertainty. what has the senate done this year? the senate has passed approximately 10 substantive bills. it's my opinion that the senate is out of touch. a two-month bill is not

possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote -- the chair: on this vote the yeas are 171. the nays are 248. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 4 printed in part a of house report 112-296 by the gentleman from michigan, mr. peters, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by a voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment in 4 printed in part a of house report 112-296 offered by mr. peters of michigan. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national

the solution is not hands of the republican majority here in the house of representatives and steny hoyer i went to the floor of the house of representatives and we tried to ask to have the bipartisan bill brought up for a vote and we were gavelled down. >>neil: maybe because it was not what the president wanted originally or what nancy pelosi originally wanted. respond to this from nancy pelosi. >> by overwhelming evidence this will not hurt social security. we want one year. we all want as we have said, a one-year tax cut. >>neil: so the republicans in the house of representatives, they say we should make it one year because two months could be a nightmare no matter what the senate said, so, i can understand what you are saying, look, this is the best deal they can come up with, as we revisit this, but, really, who is doing what in the interests of the people? i mean, two months could be a nightmare, and one year would be a agreed to strategy and only a few week that was agreed to what changes? >>guest: when the president came before the congress last september, he laid out a plan to do

possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be led by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. o lord, our god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. you have kept us in life, sustained us and allowed us to reach this moment. bless the members of the people's house that you have gifted to serve our nation. as the first session of the 112th congress draws near a close, we ask your special blessing upon those who have given so much time and talent throughout this year and in these closing days. the staffers of each congressional office and the various committees, grant them peace and renewal in the weeks to come. grant the members of this chamber continued wisdom and charity as the work of this session comes to a close. may they be truly grateful for the awesome privilege which is the

possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 421. the nays are 2. the motion is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. mckeon: madam speaker, pursuant to clause 12 of rule 22, i move that the managers on the part of the house on h.r. 1540 be permitted to close to the public any of the conference at such times as classified national security information may be broached providing that any sitting member of congress shall be entitled to attempt any meeting of the conference. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12 of rule 22, the yeas and nays are ordered and members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a five-minute vote. five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captionin

members of the house of representatives, this issue has never gone before the house judiciary committee. never. and i would like to put in the record a letter from the former director of the federal bureau of investigation, william sessions, and it's dated december 14. and it says, there has been some debate over whether section 1021 of the national defense act authority merely restates existing law or would for the first time codify authority for the president to indefinitely detain without charge virtually anyone picked up in anti-terrorism efforts. including united states citizens arrested on united states soil. attached please find a letter from judge william sessions, a former federaludge and former director of the f.b.i. under presidents reagan, bush, and clinton, explaining the current law on this point is unclear and that enacting section 1021 of this act would dangerously expand the power for indefinite detention. i know you gentlemen have studied this in the armed services committee, but i've got a letter from the former head of the f.b.i. and judge william sessions, and anoth

joining us tonight. >> thanks for having me on, lawrence. >>> coming up, will the republican house of representativeson and do nothing to stop a tax increase on january 1st? i'll have an exclusive interview with house democratic whip sten hoyer. and the campaign season's king of opposition research happens to be a college student. he watches endless hours of c-span video to find old clips of candidates saying stuff they wish we would all forget. mitt romney's worst enemy joins me later. to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. spark card from capital one. spark cash gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash

a, as an exercise of the rule making power of the house of representatives and as such, shall be considered as part of the rules of the house and such rules shall supersede any other rule of the house only to the extent that rule is inconsistent therewith and, b, with full recognition of the constitutional right of the house to change such rules so far as relating to the procedure in the house at any time and the same manner and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of the house. c, timely reporting of financial transactions. one, reporting requirement. section 103 of the ethics and government act of 1978 is amended by adding at the end the following subsection. one, within 90 days after the purchased sale or exchange of any stocks, bonds, commodities, future or any forms of securities that are otherwise requires to be reported, under this act and the transaction of which involves at least $1,000 by any member of congress or official or employee of the legislative branch, required to so file, that member, officer or employee shall file a report of that transaction with the cle

swrojoining us tonight. >> thanks for having me on, lawrence. >>> coming up, will the republican house of representatives and do nothing to stop a tax increase on january 1st? i'll have an exclusive interview with house democratic whip steny high i hoyer. and the campaign season's king of opposition research happens to be a college student. he watches endless hours of c-span video to find old clips of candidates saying stuff they wish we would all forget. mitt romney's worst enemy joins me later. ♪ ♪ it's nice to be here ♪ ♪ it's nice to see you [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ this is zales, the diamond store. take up to an extra 15 percent off storewide now through sunday. big, big. big big big big? big big big big big. big big...big. ♪ big big big -big. -big! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ big big big -♪ big big -big! -big! -♪ big -big. -big big big. big big big [ whispers ] small. big big big big big big big... small! [ male announcer ] the space-saving, eco-friendly, totally unique smart. unbig. uncar. ♪ unbig. uncar. a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself

of the concurrent resolution. the clerk: house concurrent resolution 94. concurrent resolution directing the clerk of the house of representatives to make corrections in the enrollment of h.r. 3672. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 500, the concurrent resolution is considered as read. the gentleman from kentucky, mr. rogers, and the gentleman from washington, mr. dicks, each will control 10 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. -- mr. speaker, i yield myself two minutes. and i rise to present h.con.res. 94, this bill contains a legislative provision to offset the $8.1 billion in disaster funding provided by h.r. 3672. which we will consider shortly. this offset is funded by a 1.83% congressional record -- crod cut to all of -- crod cut to all of fiscal spending except the department of defense, military construction, and veterans' affairs. such an offset ensures that we are living within our means while still providing for the hundreds of thousands of americans affected by recent natural disasters with the help that they

you sell your house of representatives. remember when people came to you and they wanted it buy your house? >>shepard: there was good news out of that. >>gerri: the national association of realtors say the home sales are up 4 percent in november, month-to-month 12 percent but prices, unfortunately, are down $164,000. remember when the media was over $300,000 at the top of the boom. >>shepard: condo and apartment sales or construction are rolling. >>gerri: some folks in the construction business are getting back in, now, and deciding now is the time, but, republican the nar numbers that is a factor that companies used to go into the marketplace and we get revised g.d.p. numbers for that period. >>shepard: the down -- do you is down only 12 points. gear i would like to think i would retire some day. >>shepard: you can watch the willis report on weekdays 5:00 eve eastern and 4:00 in oxford on fox business news giving you the power to prosper. north korea has only had two leaders since 1948: kim chong-il, and his father before h

the republican party has a problem, and it's called the house of representatives. the republican presidential nominee will discover soon enough what republican members of the senate and the house who are not in totally safe seats already know. that the republican house of representatives can do more harm to the party than any of the attack ads the democrats come up with in the next year. one endangered republican massachusetts senator scott brown is scared. today he called the latest move by house republicans his words, irresponsible and wrong. on this one, there is absolutely no distance between scott brown and harry reid. scott brown is now desperate to show massachusetts voters that he's not one of those crazy house republicans. scott brown's panic comes after the senate reached a striking bipartisan compromise with 89 senators voting in favor of a temporary extension of the current payroll tax cut for the first two months of 2012. 39 republican senators voted in favor of it including obviously scott brown. after the senate vote, house speaker john boehner said t

boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the pray will be offered by the guest chaplain, reverend michael wilker, lutheran church of the reformation, washington, d.c. the chaplain: let us pray. gracious god, you give us light in the darkness. we praise you for the galaxies, stars, planets, and moon that shine in the night. we bless you for lamps and candles that ill lieu min our communities. we thank you for the fires that warm our homes and energize our work. we repent for the ways we pollute the beauty of the night, the ways we extinguish the light of companionship, the ways we fail to share your warmth. enlighten our darkness. be the day spring for those suffering from addiction and illness. be the bright morning star for those who are grieving. be the sun of justice for those living under oppression and in poverty. be the cleansing fire for those who survive violence and warfare. traveling send us with your light to share with friends and strangers. welcing light our gatherings with your love. sea

you need to know this republicans in the house of representatives wasted everyone's time yesterday passing their version of a payroll tax cut extension since republicans can't pass a clean bill to protect one hundred sixty million americans from a half a thousand dollar tax hike they instead attach poison pills to the tax cut extension repealing regulations that keep our water safe from coal polluters fast

and that is that the republican majority in this house of representatives is refusing, is refusing toote in this house on the senate bipartisan compromise. they are refusing to even allow a vote on a bill that received 89 of 100 votes in the senate, including 85% of the senate republicans. what are they so afraid of? it's very clear that the republican leadership is afraid that that same bipartisanship that took place in the senate will take place right here in the house. because they don't want a bipartisan bill. otherwise we would have a vote on it. what we are witnessing today, mr. speaker, is the triumph of tea party extremism over the good of the country. the sad part is we probably shouldn't be surprised because it was just a few months ago that the republican leadership was opposed to extending the payroll tax cut at all. they originally said that raising taxes on 160 million americans would be ok. no problem. i have a long list of statements from republican house leaders to that effect. then two things happened. a whole lot of economists told us what was common sense, that in

the floor, tarnish the dignity and integrity of the house proceedings and the integrity of the legislative process. all members of the house of representatives have a responsibility to protect americans and our country from physical and economic harm. especially during times of national crisis. yes -- yet, contrary to this mandate, the republican proposal to address the unemployment crisis threatened to damage our national economy as well as the well being of millions of americans. by drastically cutting benefits, especially for employees and states, hardest hit by unemployment by 40 weeks and imposing punitive restricks on access to benefits, the republican proposal will almost certainly harm. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois, the argument must be confined as to whether the resolution is privileged under rule nine, not the substance of the resolution. mr. draves: given the unemployment crisis that does in fact exist in our country an given the great needs that exist for people to feel a sense of comfort and security, given the fact that older americans, low income americans, americans from racial and ethnic minority grou

those important things what did the republicans actually get together and bowed out of the house of representatives they voted to hire somebody to create a bust of winston churchill that would be placed in the in the capitol which are not out of respect for churchill but out of disrespect for president obama. this goes back to the bush administration when george w. bush was in office tony blair was his good buddy and after nine eleven as a gesture of goodwill to the united states tony blair alone to george w. bush for his first term in office until two thousand and four loaned him a bust of of winston churchill that had sat in the british embassy here in washington d.c. in two thousand and four when bush was reelected tony blair said well you can keep it until the end of your term your second term and so it's very clear that you know the first week of january when george w. bush left office the bust was going to leave with it in fact the british embassy announced to the press quote it was lunch for the first term of office of president bush and the president was elected for a second and final term

the election will be decided in the house of representatives. says the house of representatives is made up primarily of democrats and republicans, our chances of winning would be pretty slim. now that the democratic party has revitalized itself, i have concluded we cannot win in november. the election will be decided in the house of representatives. the house of representatives is not pick the president until january. the new president will be -- will be unable to use the months of november and dissemble -- december to assemble the new government. i believe it would be disruptive for us to continue our program since this would obviously put it in the house of representatives and be disruptive to the country. therefore, i will not become a candidate. >> the volunteers know that this is a critical time in our nation's history. with their political party has addressed the concerns that affect the american people. they have asked me to run this campaign on the issues and to assure the problems that the american people are concerned with will be dealt

yet when it came to the house of representatives, you had the tea party wing, the more right-wing, the extreme wing of the caucus, put the brakes on that and tosses into this sort of fire storm in the closing week. so, i think as we go forward, i hope we will find it easier to resolve our problems without going to those extremes. republicans -- the public is watching that. they are understandably frustrated. i am and i would be to if i was watching this from the outside -- would be too if i was watching this from the outside. >> if you look at the poll numbers, democrats, republicans, independents -- they give 9%, 10%, 11% approval ratings. do they say, it is republicans? or do they say, washington is broken? >> a pox on both their houses. none of them can get together. the best we can hope for is to urge the american people to closely follow what is going on, to follow what positions everybody is taking. in this last week, people did get a real sense of who is willing to enter into bipartisan compromises. who only got their kicking and screaming -- there kicking and screaming? the imp

i am thankful to the founders for treating the house of representatives -- creating the house of representatives. to be the people's house. >> many other senators are in fact support of of the measure that came out of the senate. we can be unhappy with them for having done that, but they are supportive of resolving the differences between the house- measure and the senate-passed measure. we can still be hard on them but we need to give them their due. gosh i think that is appropriate to be said. that is probably the case. even if they voted for a bad bill, they support regular order. for four years, we didn't have a conference. people have forgotten what it is like to go the conference and have regular order. i think it is wonderful that we are going to be doing that and i want you to know that i will support the rule and the resolution, and i think it is rather frustrating to our colleagues that we are pointing this out, and i hope, again, we can move on the motions had get to where we need ago. >> i will yield to mr. bishop and recognize mr. a thing. -- mr. hastings. we are still debating the

they may be somewhere in the capitol, but they're not on the floor of the house of representatives whiche people's house transacts its business. we'll be here every day waiting for them to come to the floor of the house to actually take up this legislation so that we can get it done. >> you heard representative chris van hollen alluding to there was no vote on the senate bipartisan bill from the payroll tax cut issue. we will be speaking with one of the representatives that was named by speaker boehner to the conference that is supposed to hammer out a deal. many say it will just be a technical ba ras that will never lead to a solution. just 13 days to go before the iowa caucus. a new poll has ron paul surging ahead of the gop presidential contenders in iowa. here are the numbers. the new iowa state university gazette poll has the texas congressman leading the field with 28% of the vote right there followed by newt gingrich and then mitt romney. now university of virginia center for politics director larry sabado joins me right now. a very good day to you. >> a good day to you, richard.

we had a full year passed out of the house of representatives. they sent it to the senate, the pay-fors were pay-fors in the senate that most of the senate would have supported. but there's a lot of opposition to the way this thing was paid for. so to get it down to a level where everybody was comfortable with the offsets that were being used to pay for those three things, this is where we ended up. now, what that simply means is that we will revisit this in another two months, and obviously, we'll have these probably same debates all over again. it's not a perfect solution by any stretch. >> no. >> but it's what we're able to get through. >> all right. this keystone pipeline, let me just ask you about that. the president will have the right to say he doesn't want to do it because of national security concerns. do you think he'll do that? and i'm also curious, because the current version of this pipeline, obviously, you know, this is going to go through your state. and you're going to benefit from it. so i get that you support it. but how many job

and whereas the conduct of the representative from florida, mr. -- whereas the conduct of the representative from florida was repungent. now therefore be it resolved that the house of representatives disapproves of the behavior of the representative of florida, mr. west, for bringing discredit to the house by offending the memory of those who died during the holocaust. the speaker pro tempore: the resolution qualifies. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? mr. price: i move to table the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on -- to lay the table on the resolution. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. ms. edwards: mr. speaker, i'd ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those in support of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15-minute vote. pursuant to clause 8 and clause 9, this 15-minute vote on the motion to table will be followed by five-minute votes on motion to instruct on h.

possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 351 and the nays are zero. the bill is passed and without objection, the the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the the gentleman from california, mr. issa, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2158 on which the the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk: a bill to designate the postal service located at 14901 at la mirada at the wayne grisham post office. the speaker pro tempore: members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes

over half of the members of house of representatives voted for the impeachment. he does have a lot of support. but there is no precedent for this and we have to see what happens. it was hard enough getting thousands of troops into afghanistan, but it may be more difficult getting them out of the land-locked country. this is made even more difficult by the recent pakistan blockade, which will not be lifted for weeks. this air base has been used for years but is an option that will disappear in 2014 when the lease expires. >> a part of the u.s. war effort that most outsiders do not see. this is how the united states feels the fight, literally, by pumping fuel into fighter jets. >> this is incredible, these fighter jets are coming very close, -- >> at any given moment, day or night, there is always a plane above -- an airplane above afghanistan. when they're finished they go back across the mountains to central asia. this is a stage of america's war effort -- it does not make the headlines but is crucial to the fight. not only fuel, but virtually every -- everything

the house of representatives left town. and we will await orders on when they should return to finish up the year-end work, perhaps. >>shepard: i'm confused. where does this leave us with the payroll tax cut? >>reporter: it is fascinating. the one marker that has been put down by the republicans is, the keystone pipeline must be included. the democrats were floating the idea of extending the payroll tax cut two months and deal with it in february but that is smack in the middle of the presidential primaries. here is more from senate republican leader mcconnell. >> we need to get it down. now. the house of representatives has been quite clear they are not going to support a package that does not include the pipeline. i cannot support a package that does not include the pipeline. >>reporter: we will see what happens. the president of the united states said he would not like the pipeline included but tax relief for 160 million americans; pipeline. the republicans are not leaving out the pipeline because that is the only elemen

we had a full year passed out of the house of representatives. they sent it to the senate, the pay-fors were pay-fors in the senate that most of the senate would have supported. but there's a lot of opposition to the way this thing was paid for. so to get it down to a level where everybody was comfortable with the offsets that were being used to pay for those three things, this is where we ended up. now, what that simply means is that we will revisit this in another two months, and obviously, we'll have these probably same debates all over again. it's not a perfect solution by any stretch. >> no. >> but it's what we're able to get through. >> all right. this keystone pipeline, let me just ask you about that. the president will have the right to say he doesn't want to do it because of national security concerns. do you think he'll do that? and i'm also curious, because the current version of this pipeline, obviously, you know, this is going to go through your state. and you're going to benefit from it. so i get that you support it. but how many job

boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by the guest chaplain, reverend michael wilker, lutheran church of the reformation, washington, d.c. the chaplain: let us pray. gracious god, you give us light in the darkness. we praise you for the galaxies, stars, planets, and moon that shine in the night. we bless you for lamps and candles that ill lieu min our communities. we thank you for the fires that warm our homes and energize our work. we repent for the ways we pollute the beauty of the night, the ways we extinguish the light of companionship, the ways we fail to share your warmth. enlighten our darkness. be the day spring for those suffering from addiction and illness. be the bright morning star for those who are grieving. be the sun of justice for those living under oppression and in poverty. be the cleansing fire for those who survive violence and warfare. traveling send us with your light to share with friends and strangers. welcoming light our gatherings with your love.

then on saturday, house met speaks on a liberal wing of the gop. the house of representativesejected a bill that extended the payroll tax cut and unemployment bills for two months. of the next half-hour, we breathe air the house debate in you hear reaction from president john boehner ainte and nancy pelosi. then a conversation about religion. and jim wallace of sojourn there. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] "washington journal" here on c- span. >> then visit the congressional cemetery. the university of colorado. american prosperity in the '50s and '60s. they date back to the carter administration. monday highlights of coverage of the senate anniversary. experience american history television every weekend. >> surely after they rejected it, president obama spoke with reporters at the white house. >> good afternoon, everybody. it is no secret that there has not been an abundance of partisanship in washington this year. what happened on saturday was a big deal. the entire senate, including all of the republicans, voted to prevent 160 million working ameri

as long as the crazy republican house of representatives delays the payroll tax cut, democrats are winning. >> we are looking at 11 days before people will see a raise in tax. >> they have a lump of coal. >> i think the president should attend and brought mr. boehner and mr. reid down to the white house, pulled out "it's a wonderful life" dvd and -- >> are you kidding with this? >> we cannot go into this holiday season without helping our unemployed brothers and sisters. >> all of a sudden the republicans are on the other side. >> a washington stalemate. >> he's not happy about the house republicans. >> they refer to what they are doing as high-stake poker. >> mumbo jumbo. >> the clock is ticking. time is running out. >> what is happening here today is shameful. it is a disgrace. it is unreal. it is unbelievable. we don't believe speaker boehner has any good faith left. >> the person in the hot seat seems to be speaker boehner. >> i need the president to help out. okay? >> the president is not and should not be a marriage counselor between senate republicans and house republicans. >> overa

possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 241. the nays are 173. the previous question is ordered. the question is on adoption of the resolution. those in favor please signify by saying aye. those opposed say no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. polis: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: on that i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house pr

in the past 2 1/2 decades, the median net worth of a member of the house of representatives more than doubled, according to analysis by "the washington post." that means wealthier people are being elected. that's an incredible figure, by the way, given the fact that for the average american family that have seen their net worth actually decrease. well, nearly half of all members of congress are millionaires right now, technically, at least. just between 2004 and 2010, the average net worth of members of congress rose 15%. well, according to "the new york times," the gap between members of congress and the rest of the population is growing, but what's behind it? that's the big question. and what does it mean in terms of how our leaders represent us? ari melber is an msnbc contributor and a correspondent for "the nation" magazine. chris frates is a correspondent for the "national journal." chris, thank you, and ari, thank. you know, i think it's important to talk about. these aren't guys and women making money on the job. it's not selling influence, apparently. what we're talking about

together here to honor the character and courage, the civility of a former proud member of the house of representatives had a lot of adversaries in my political life, but no enemies that i can remember. in 2001, president ford was awarded the john f. kennedy profiles in courage award. as senator ted kennedy said that they come at a time of national turmoil, america was fortunate that it was gerald ford who took the helm of storm tossed ship's. his courage and dedication to our country made it possible for us to begin the process of healing and put the tragedy of watergate a hind us. you see, the love, respect and admiration for president ford was truly bipartisan. president ford as you know spend a lifetime of service to his country in uniform, in the congress, and as our 38th president. today, we welcome, proudly welcome him back to the capital. charlie the gentleman from michigan state, which he loved. me this statue long stand in the united states s. a testament of his leadership, values and integrity. me it also stand as a sign of respect for all visitors who come to this capitol of respect that th