pete visclosky is the house of representatives. when i got here pete was the parliamentarian and he was the house of representatives. i don't want to break the mood here but in my opinion, the jury is still out on wickham, we'll see how he does, but i think things have the opportunity to be ok. i just want to tell two quick stories that to me told the measure of the man. the first was a number of years ago when we had a member who was going to be expelled from the house of representatives. only the third time in modern history that that occurred, the last one was in the 1970's, nobody had really had a chance to study the precedents and things of that nature. i was kind of surprised that that process only took an hour of floor time. an hour to basically end somebody's political life. so i went to john and he gave me advice and told me to file something to postpone it to a date certain, which i had never heard of and i bet most members never heard of but that gave members of the house an additional hour to discuss the case and i think

of the house thomas p. tip o'neill of massachusetts. as television cameras came to the floor of the house of representatives and brought the advent of c-span 33 years ago when this network went on the network went on the air. now we are three networks, a radio station, cspan.org and seen and heard in more than 105 million homes around the country. 33 years ago c-span went on the air. this is washington today on c-span radio. >> listen on the go with the free c-span radio

texas and other states with large populations of undocumented immigrants gained seats at the house of representatives at the expense of louisiana. louisiana went from seven to six seats in the house based on the census. back in a minute with more washington today. >> c span radio is just a phone call away. you can listen live over your phone. dial 202-626-8888. >> you are listening to c span radio live on audio now. c span created by cable, brought to you as a public service. >> calling charges or plan charges may apply. that number again, 202-626-8888. >> and you are listening to washington today on c span radio. the "the wall street journal" reporting that u.s. officials have identified an american who was freed in iraq over the weekend sam dagger writing from baghdad to the u.s. embassy identifying the american citizen who was purportedly help captive for nine months by a militia local to a shiite cleric. randy michael holts transferred to the embassy was neither an employee nor a contractor of the u.s. government and that he had been in iraq on private business. the issue coming up today at the s

of the house, thomas p. tip o'neill of massachusetts as television cameras came to the floor of the house of representatives and brought the advent of c-span 33 years ago when this network went on the air. now we are three networks, a radio station, c-span.org, and seen and heard in more than 105 million homes around the country. 33 years ago, c-span went on the air. this is "washington today" on c-span radio. >> listen on the go with the free c-span add ye app. four audio streams, congressional hearings, white house briefings and speeches from national leaders, supreme court oral arguments, american tv, history tv. and podcasts of some of our regularly scheduled programs like q&a and newsrooms. >>> at the top of the hour, the c-span radio, coast-to-coast on xf satellite radio, channel 119, and "washington today" continues. >> what will dixon say? will they stand up and uphold freedom, uphold the legacy of this great man and what did did to this country, what a difference it made? will that have been in vain, or will it be the generation that reagan feared and talked about in his farewell address that forgot

i'll conclude here with a picture of menard's arrival in the united states house of representatives in 1869. it was an international media of an african-american arriving on the floor of the house. this was taken out of frank leslie's newspaper. weekly harper also covered it and london "times" covered it. his international stock contributed to the media event around this. the last and final remarkable thing about menard's life is, when he arrived in congress, in 1869, he was only 30 years old. he accomplished this entire career of being a leader within the united states abolition movement, one of the instigato s instigators, a captive and victim of the morant bay rebellion, and the first african-american elected to congress by the age of 30. with that, i'll turn it over to matthew who will speak about his congressional career. [ applause ] >> mr. davis, if you would stay just for one moment. so i am not matt. i am rod ross. and i want to thank both mckendra, a board member here, as well as congressman for coming. arkansas's loss has been illinois's gain for both of them. i'm especially

of the house rules committee. he made the announcement on the floor of the house of representatives this morning. >> mr. speaker, what i'm about to announce will not come as much of a surprise. we all know this institution has an abysmally low approval rating and the american people are asking for change in congress. i'm announcing today that i will leave congress at the end of this year. i take the unusual step of announcing it here in the house because i am a proud institutionalist. i believe that this institution is as great as it has ever been. and, mr. speaker, i announce it from here because between the rules committee upstairs where you serve with me pro tem and the house floor, this is where the people of california sent me to represent them. now, as we look at the challenges that lie ahead, they are very, very great. i deliberated over this decision. and i have to say that three years ago i contemplated leaving at the end of that congress. but ultimately made a decision that i wanted to continue to serve through this term. and i wanted to do so in hopes we would win the majority with a goal of p

matthew wasniewski, who is the historian of the united states house of representatives. appointed in october of 2010. he had served as the historian and deputy chief of the house clerks, office of history and preservation. he's the editor in chief of women in congress, and directs many excellent programs in preservation of records, and the publication of historical documents and information pertaining to the house of representatives. and also, i might note on a personal note that prior to coming to the house of representatives, he worked at the u.s. capitol historical society. so it's a great pleasure to have matt on the program. so without further ado, dr. magness. >> thank you. john willis menard is a familiar name for those who know a bit about history of african-american representation in the united states house of representatives. his main claim to fame is that he was the first african-american elected to the house of representatives. but he was denied his seat in 1869. we'll get into a bit of the reasons behind that. but i'm here to talk about some of his life, his

prudential insurance company, a local city council member before serving eleven terms in the house of representatives was known as an advocate as you heard just a moment ago for his constituents. the star ledger in new jersey saying he was a champion of education, and the de facto ambassador to africa. at the end of today's news conference, the president had this to say. >> i want to publicly express condolences to the family of donald payne. congressman from new jersey. a wonderful man, did great work both domestically and internationally. he was a friend o

he is the historian of the united states house of representatives appointed in october of 2010. he had served as the historian and deputy chief of the office of history and preservation and he's the editor in chief of women in congress and directs many excellent programs in preservation of records and the publication of historical documents and information pertaining to the house of representatives. and on a personal note that prior to coming to the house of representatives he worked at the u.s. capital and historical society. it's a great pleasure to have him on the program. so without further adieu, dr. magness. >> thank you. i'm here to talk about john willis menard. he is somewhat of a familiar name for some. his main claim to fame was that he was the first african-american elected to the house of representatives but was denied a seat in 1869. we'll get into a bit of the reasons behind that. i'm here to talk about his life, background and history up until this point because he was actually an accomplished individual who sat at the crossroads of two major events in american h

figured out why professors keith pool and howard rosenthal examined the votes taken by the house of representatives during this congress and compared to previous congresses all the way back to eight hundred seventy nine the founding of our republic and what they found is that this house of representatives that's the green line the combined house of representatives high is conservative low is liberal this house of representatives right now is the most conservative it's been since arguably ever. made here why because the republicans have gone totally radical the democrats have been fairly consistent in being fairly progressive but the republicans are more extreme and more radical than they have ever been in the history of this country. this is the house of representatives of course was elected with the help of over three hundred million dollars in outside corporate spending thanks to the supreme court's citizens united decision in two thousand and ten strongly influenced and paid for by the billionaire koch brothers and the multimillionaire lobbyist dick armey it's the same people abroad as the tea p

today a conference call with a number of democratic members of the house of representatives including representative javier becerra, democratic of california and jan schakowsky, democrat from illinois, to question whether or not this is going to have any impact on the 2012 presidential race and congressional races. more from today's conference. >> the last question will be from so man-kim from politico. your line is open. >> quick question for the members. how concerned are you that the issue of health care and the health care law will drag down candidates this november? i saw a new poll today that shows the law is still very unpopular. >> doris and jan, why don't we each say some final closing remarks. >> go ahead. go ahead, javier. >> i simply will say this. jan made the point best when she said the more people see what the affordable care act is doing the more they're going to like it and the more they're going to support it. people are hungry for a chance to have decent health care that they can pay for and not go bankrupt. and i believe that you're going to continue to build on t

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 yeas are 235. the nays are 173. the two presenting vote. the amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 2 printed in house report 112-416 by the gentlewoman from oregon, ms. bonamici, 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 number 2 printed in house report 112-416 offered by ms. bonamici of oregon. 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 will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning ins

, and other states with large populations of undocumented immigrants gained seats in the house of representatives at the expense of louisiana and a handful of other states. louisiana went from seven to six seats in the house based on the census. >>> back in a minute with more "washington today." >> c-span radio is just a phone call away. you can listen live over your phone. dial 202-626-8888. >> you are listening to c-span radio live on audio now. c-span, created by cable, brought to you as a public service. >> calling charges or plan charges may apply that number again, 202-626-8888. >> and you are listening to "washington today" on c-span radio. the "wall street journal" reporting the u.s. has identified an american freed in iraq over the weekend. identifying the american citizen who was purportedly held captive for nine months by a militia royal to an iraqi shiite cleric, mochtar al sadr. before his release over the weekend, the embassy's chief spokesperson michael mclellan saying randy michael hults who was transferred to the embassy the day before the u.n.'s mission was neither an employer o

chair: the committee of the whole house on the state of the union having had under consideration h.r. 578, think -- h.r. 20 7, i report the same pack to the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 587, reports the amendment back to the house -- the rule back to the house. the question is on dopping of the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. the question is on engrossment and third reading. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: a bill to approve -- to remove restrictions from a parcel of land in accomack county, virginia. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise? >> i have a motion to recommit at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentlewoman opposed to the bill? >> in its present form, i am opposed. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report. the clerk: ms. loretta sanchez of california -- the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will suspend. the house will please come to order. members will take their conversations from the

started in 2009, nobody thought the republican party would be taking the majority of the house of representatives any time soon. as a matter of fact, you go back and read the sort of analysts at the time and the view was the republican party was going to be a permanent majority. what a difference one election's made. nobody says that today and we're likely to hold on to the house, whatever happens presidentially, a good shot at taking the senate. to dismiss this as some artificial construct as opposed to genuine opposition to what i think was massive government overreach is a mistake. and it's -- whether you're for it, sympathetic or not, fair enough. but i would just tell you politically that's not the calculus, it's a real movement. and there is vast concern in the country about the overreach. the sheer size of the federal government, what it's going to do. in terms of the tax question, i'll disagree with you again. if you want taxes to go up, just re-elect the president. it will happen. all the bush tax cuts run out. as a matter of fact the interesting thing is that the president is basically

the house of representatives back the week of march 19th. >> yes, so basically what's going to happen next week is the house is going to try and get its act together on hr-7 the bill they introduced january 31st. chairman mica who introduced the bill obviously has a lot at stake here, and he has been told that you know, the senate bill is what the house is going to vote on unless he can get those votes. he's going to be out there pushing a lot to try and get freshmen on board, perhaps get democratic support on board. the mass transit account change that he had proposed orally he has now signaled he's willing to leave the mass transit account intact with the hope of getting more support. of course, that's going to be heavy lift because house democrats including nancy pelosi have already said they do prefer the senate bill as the way forward. >> nathan hurst following the story for cq roll call joining us live tonight here in washington. thanks as always for your time. >> thanks so much. >> the headline this evening from "the wall street journal" website, mitt romney breaking with john

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 233. the nays are 179. the previous question is ordered. the question is on -- the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 237. the nays are 178. the previous question is ordered the question is on adoption of the rule. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the resolution is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from -- the house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? mr. mica: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r

his main claim to fame was that he was the first african-american elected to the house of representatives but was denied a seat in 1869. i'm here to talk about his life, background and history up until this point because he was actually an accomplished individual who sat at the of a and international history. the american civil war right here in washington d.c. but shortly after the war he my greated to jamaica. the morant bay rebellion in 1865. both of these events were tied to the end of slavery and greater freedom and civil rights. so, he had a front-row seat to two intersecting events at a troubled time in u.s. history. we don't know too much about his early life other than he was be born in illinois. there was some thought, it was always the family history that he was the descendant of pierre menard the first lieutenant governor of illinois. he had a white grand father and a white grandmother. his parents were two free blacks from probably the new orleans area when he was born in 1838. he grew up on the frontier that was set aside to be a free state when it was incorporated there. th

the representative for her clear understanding of the complexities of every argument that she is coring this morning -- is covering this morning. she's representative of what's going on in the house of representatives, i think we are in great shape. on the subtly on the argument of contraception. the natural law which i think she understands is pretty clear. the means, the object, the end of the act. but this has gotten complicated because it is impossible for catholic services to function without support from the federal government. which clearly has got to allow the federal government to make -- >> we are leaving this now as the house is return interesting its recess. you can watch our journal segments at c-span.org. 3606. will the gentleman from idaho, mr. simpson, kindly take the chair? the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the further consideration of h.r. 3606 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill to increase american job creation and economic growth by improving access to the public capital markets for emerging growth companies. the chair: when the committee of the whole rose earlier today, amendment num

it passed the house of representatives by a vote of 390-23. it has been endorsed by the white house. small businesses are the engines of our economy, but government red tape is currently preventing these businesses from creating even more jobs. this commonsense bill would enable small businesses in south dakota and across the country to better access much-needed capital so that they can make investments and add additional employees. there's no reason why it should not receive similar support here in the united states senate. creating jobs, mr. president, should be one of our top priorities here in the united states senate. we owe it to the american people and to small businesses across this country that are counting on us to do something that will make it easier, less expensive and less difficult to create jobs. too often, mr. president, what we see coming out of washington, d.c. are policies that put up obstacles, barriers and i am pedestrianments to our -- impediments to our small businesses to create jobs. we see that daily with regulations

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 236. the nays are 182. the yeas have it. the previous question is ordered. the house will come to order. the chair would ask all those present to rise for the purpose of a moment of silence. members, please take your conversations off the floor. the house will come to order. the chair asks that the house shall observe a moment of silence in remembrance of our brave and men and women in uniform who have given their lives in service of our nation in iraq and afghanistan and their families and all who serve in our armed forces and their families. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, five-minute voting will continue. the question is on adoption of house resolution 595. those in favor say aye. suppose opposed say no. the gentleman from florida. mr. hastings: i ask for

under rules of the house of representatives, the member is no longer recognized and is out of order. >>jonathan: with that, congressman rush was asked to leave the floor of the house of representatives on the basis of an old congressional rule which prohibits the wearing of hats and the hoodie which trayvon martin was wearing when he was gunned down qualifies as "a hat." >>shepard: hope they are having fun, thank you. do you have strong thoughts? get on the chat with jonathan he is there now, go to foxnews.com/shep and check "on the hunt." the pilot who lost it on board a jetblue flight this time yesterday is a consummate professional. that is according to the airlines. so what happened to make him wig out? moments ago we heard from the f.b.i. that is ahead. and $2 billion for a down in the dumps baseball team. wanna know the difference between a trader and an elite trader? it's this... the etrade pro platform. fast. beautiful. totally customizable. finds top performg stocks -- in three clicks. quickly scans the market for new trading ideas. it can even match options strategies to you

today two key members of the house of representatives working on cyber issues. >> congressman lee terry, what's the status of cybersecurity legislation in the house? >> guest: well, there's one bill that everyone's pretty much agreed to, the rogers bill, that allows the nsa to communicate to industries about known threats. that hasn't moved, it's still this committee as we're building on that. >> host: well, as you know, the senate is actively pursuing cybersecurity legislation, two bills going forward, the lieberman-collins and the republican bill. where do you stand on those? >> guest: well, those are ones that we will look at, but we're actually doing our own efforts in energy and commerce in the house of representatives, so i was on the speaker's task force, speaker's task force, and now i'm co-leading with dana eshoo on a bipartisan committee that will give us the outline. we want to just make sure that we're doing it in a little different way than the senate's doing. >> host: if collins-lieberman bill comes to the house, what are your thoughts about that specific bill? >> guest: w

senate approved its version of the new surface transportation act which needs approval in the house of representatives. the process to a riot at a successor has been difficult and the house of representatives is abandoning its own bill in favor of the efforts at the senate, specifically focusing on the senate version. the current funding expires th march 31st. the key sticking point has been the unwillingness of the republicans to raise the revenue for transportation so we are hopeful that this matter will be resolved and that it will be resolved quickly. as you can probably see in the agenda, we have a presentation on county transportation authority projects in district 1 and 11. this is a follow up to something that i promised earlier and is important for us to do is that here after the county transportation authority level that we have a discussion about different projects that the transportation authority is funding in the various districts and the first presentation will focus on justice one at 11 and next week we hear on districts to and 10. i would like to thank the staff for their work in maki

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 168. the nays are 253. the amendment is not adopted. the question is on the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment is adopted. accordingly under the rule the committee rises. is the chair: the committee of the whole house on the state of the union has under consideration h.r. 2842 and pursuant to house resolution 560, report the bill back to the house with an amendment adopted in the committee of the whole. the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee has under consideration the bill h.r. 2842, and pursuant to house resolution 470 reports the bill back to the house with an amendment a

he knew it was femly a tax bill and not a health care bill so it had to originate in the house of representatives. so here's a convenient bill number, h.r. 3590. amended, strip the housing language out of it and put the health care bill. and it's really a tax bill passed by the senate and ratified by the house in march of 2010. it was a dreadful process and for anyone who remembers those days it was some pretty dark dealing from the bottom of the deck and that's why the health care bill was unpopular. it stays unpopular to this day and i hope we are going to be able to get something done about it, if not this year than next. . . congress wants to punish their enemies or reward their friends. how do you figure special interests like ethanol and the special treatment they get in the tax code? the result of these actions are the complication of laws fraught with opportunities for, yes, avoiding taxes but also perhaps just simply making a mistake or not understanding all of the loopholes and all of this then comes down to the expense of fellow americans. everyone's familiar with the problems of the t

house republicans. paul ryan is the chair of the house budget committee. he's expected to release his plan later this week. democrats are angling to reclaim the house of representatives and they have launched a offensive tying 41 house lawmakers to the proposal which is expected to include changes to entitlement programs for senior citizens. we'll have specifics tomorrow from congressman paul ryan and have more tomorrow afternoon. the democratic congressional campaign committee with its medicare march campaign. it began today with ro bo calls that connect voters to their representative and encouraging the constituents to demand that the plan be defeated. the house is expected to vote on the marked up plan next week. the robo calls assert that supporters of the ryan plan are demanding quote, the seniors who earned their medicare benefits spend thousands more, but refuse to end tax loopholes and give aways for millionaires. it's not fair, it's not right. that's the message from the democratic national campaign committee. here's what it sounds like. >> they just recently voted yes on paul ryan's budget that will totally dismantle and destroy medicare as we know it today

going to press them harder. >> host: what's the timetable that you foresee for action in the house of representatives? >> guest: i'm hoping it's going to happen over the next couple months that we see one or both of the bills, rogers or the lungren bill to be brought to the floor, but being a minority, we don't control the schedule. that's up to speaker boehner and his team to decide when the pieces of legislation will be brought up. i'm looking forward to be supportive and commend both chairman rogers and ranking member as well as congress nan lungren for their continued attention to the issue. most security experts from the president, secretary of defense, chairman joint chiefs of staff, and many others recognize and repeated that cybersecurity is the greatest threat facing the country today. we've been lucky we have not experienced a major cyber attack, but as the fbi warned, this is also a real serious problem that they are concerned about, and we have to act with the greatest sense of urgency. i don't want to over hype, but i believe this is a pre-9/11 moment right now. on the other hand, as i o

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 -- the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 418. the nays are zero. the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. petri, to suspend the rules and pass s. 1134 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 1134, an act to authorize the st. croix river crossing project with appropriate mitigation measures to promote river values. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., i

denied an opportunity to pursue what they had previously voted for, and 286 members of the house of representatives cosponsoring the language of my amendment are not going to have a chance to do what 286 members of the house wants to do. and as i said, this is bipartisanship, but it's not the kind of bipartisanship, cooperation, intended or not, that this nation deserves. i won't ascribe motives to anyone this body, but i know that today's actions only deserve the desires of obscure and powerful wall street interests, and it undercuts the will of the overwhelming majority of congress that i just described. and it's once again an example of wall street being heard in washington and maybe the common person throughout the united states not having its will expressed. this process took a commonsense provision supported by a majority of both houses of congress, and they simply erased it. in other words, you got to remember, here, when you have a 60-vote requirement in the united states senate, you know what that 60-vote requirement is really meant to do. that no amendment under a 60-vote requirement is e

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 357, the nays are 36. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from new jersey, mr. garrett, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2682 on which the the yeas and nays are ordered the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2682, a bill to provide end user exemptions from certain and the securities exchange act of 1934 and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house assist pend the rules and pass the bill as amended. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institut

today, out of the tennessee house of representatives -- listen to this. this is what came out. : including her marital status the location of the procedure, and how many times she has been pregnant. are they insane? >> i would like to see those legislatures -- >> start to put an a upon every woman's chest? >> this is -- you have this -- as you said every single day something happens, right? and while the majority of the people out there may not be following every in and out, it is creating this negative story line. and every day people are talk about are the republicans anti-women? >> i just came from utah where the front page was a bill that the governor had to veto on family planning funding -- >> he vetoed it because -- >> it was par -- sex education at school parental voice. this was a republican who vetoed it. but you have utah, virginia there was -- texas defunding. and every state those voters are paying attention to what they are doing, and branding the republican party exactly as mitt romney does not want to be branded. >> if you offshore jobs downsize companies from a

more votes expected tomorrow in the senate chamber, the senate is in session this week, the house of representatives is out. votes on the transportation bill could come next week in the house. welcome to hour two of washington today on c-span radio >>> investigating the shooting that took place over in afghanistan, probable cause has been found holding an american soldier that in that rampage that killed 16 afghan civilians. he's accused of leaving a u.s. base in the kandahar province and gunning down the afghan civilians. the president, again, pressing his shock and dismay. he did so in the rose garden earlier today. >>> news on the economy, more optimism today from the federal reserve both about the u.s. economy and about europe's debt crisis, this following a one-day meeting of the fed which released a statement that employment should gradually decline. wall street liking the news from the fed, the dow up 218 points, closing at 13,178. the nasdaq closing above 3,000. up 56%. by the way, cnbc report that can the fed did say that a number of leading banks including citigroup and suntrust don't have

house of representatives to households nationwide. and today, our content of politics and public affairs, nonfiction books, and american history, is available on tv, radio, and online. >> my personal appreciation that i owe a great debt to others reinforces my view that a certain humility should characterize the judicial role. judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way around. judges are like umpires. umpires don't make the rules. they apply them. the role of an umpire and a judge is critical. they make sure everybody plays by the rules, but it is a limited role. nobody ever went to a ball game to see the umpire. >> c-span, created by america's cable companies, as a public service. >>> ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. welcome to the united states capitol. in 2009, congressman john lewis of georgia, chairman of the bipartisan slave labor task force introduced and congress passed h. conrad's 135. the resolution required the architect of the capitol to design and procure a marker to acknowledge the role of slave l

house of representatives, becoming the first african-american to serve in our institution. the arrival of revels and rainy ranked among the great paradoxes in american history. just a decade earlier, these african-americans congressional seats were held by southern slave holders. in so many aspects menard's background and his experiences foreshadowed those of african-americans who would shortly follow him into congress as phil just alluded to, he was young, he was just 30 years old when he made that speech on the house floor, like a lot of the men who would follow him in the 1870s and 1880s. he was born into a mixed race family. he was exceedingly well educated, relative to his c contemporaries and like all those who would follow him in the next decade he was from a reconstructed republican government in the south, and as did menard, african-americans elected after him found allies among radical republicans on capitol hill. menard's contested election too was a preview of what awaited other black politicians. such cases skyrocketed in the late 19th century particularly in th

that's fine but the pay increase won't go into effect until there's been an election for the house of representatives in between. so that people couldn't just vote themselves a lavish salary and retire. you're not going to touch a nickel of that pay until the entire house of representatives and a third of the senate. well, what happened was -- it was a student i believe in the 1970s at the university of texas who wrote a paper about this. and he said this is still out there. states could pass this. and his teacher gave him a failing grade. [laughter] >> he said this is the worst idea ever. [laughter] >> never underestimate the power of spite. he went and in those preinternet days wrote a letter to ever legislator in america. in case you want to you can still do this. why wouldn't you. it's always a winning issue to go after congress so why wouldn't you -- why wouldn't you want to pass this and so in the 1990s finally enough states go ahead and ratify this. the 12th amendment thank goodness we never passed this would have guaranteed one representative, one member of the house for every 10,000 citizens

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.] can the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 235 and the nays are 183. the previous question is ordered. will members kindly clear the well. the house will be in order. the house will be in order. members are asked to take their conversations off the floor. the house will be in order. for what purpose does the speaker of the house seek recognition? the speaker: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to speak to the house out of order for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the speaker: it's my privilege today to pay tribute to john sullivan who will retire this week after eight years of service as our parliamentarian and 25 years of service to this house. john leaves his post with much to be proud of, starting with a first rate team of parliamentarians who will do a fine job carrying on his le

except the leadership of the house of representatives on the republican side. just as this congress has done so many times before, i have been in this body over three decades, involved in every transportation bill we have done over that time. and every transportation bill we have done has been in a bipartisan fashion, passing this body by overwhelming margins. instead, today's leadership in this house has nowed -- plowed full speed ahead, writing a partisan proposal that is aimed at appealing to ideological spectrums of their party. last month the teamster general president wrote in a letter, i quote, how to eliminating osha protections for hazmat workers improve this nation's crumbling roads and bridge. how do loopholes put hundreds of thousands of construction workers back on the job? last month in a letter addressed to the speaker of this bod i why, the president of labors international union wrote, and i quote, the house must return to the principles of sound governance and bipartisanship that has historically characterized consideration of the surface tran

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 231. the nays are 179. one voting present. the question is on adoption of the resolution. as many as are in favor signify by saying aye. those opposed will say no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. >> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: on that i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is ordered. those in favor of 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 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

boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 17, 2012, the chair will recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leader leaders and minority whip limited to five minutes each, but in no event shall debate continue beyond 1:50 p.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. dreier, for five minutes. mr. dreier: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i rise to extend congratulations to vladimir putin for his election to become president of russia. we saw the reports yesterday. there were nearly 100,000 web cams that followed the voting stations all across russia, and even though there have been reports from the organization from s