veteran lawmaker james oberstar of minnesota has served in congress for nearly four decades.ust before the 111th congress came to a close, the powerful chairman of the transportation committee sat down with our judy woodruff. >> woodruff: congressman james oberstar, thank you for sitting down to talk to us. >> it's a privilege to join you, thank you for inviting me. >> woodruff: so leaving the congress after 18 terms, what happened to you? >> there was a wave, no question about it. i've seen other waves. there was one in 1974. >> woodruff: that swept new. >> that was the year that i lost the party endorsement, but i ran in the primary and my theme was the people will decide. they did. in 1974. they decided again this year. and the outcomes were very different. but as thomas jefferson said, taking a group through the capitol after you had left the presidency, stopped at the door to the house chamber and said here, sir, the people rule. the people rule. >> woodruff: a lot of voters said in this election that we are frustrated, we're even angry at washington, we don't think wash

southern sudan's coming vote on independence; new models for charitable giving; departing democrat james oberstar; shutting down ethnic studies classes and remembering jazz legend billy taylor. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: the snow plows kept going in new york city today, four days after last weekend's blizzard. officials said crews have plowed every street at least once, and they're trying to get down to the asphalt streets. some blocks were still impassable because of abandoned cars. mayor michael bloomberg today called the city's response to the storm inadequate and unacceptable. he's been heavily criticized, but he promised to get answers, after the cleanup. >> you can get angry or you can focus on number one keep our work force out there and trying to solve problem of today. number one priority and to do it safely. number two, we can then go and have an investigation to learn so that we can do it better. >> sreenivasan: meanwhile, new storms in the west dumped heavy rain and snow on arizona,

. >> congressman james oberstar has represented the minnesota eighth district for 36 years and has served as house transportation committee chairman since 2007. in november, he was defeated in his reelection bid in recently spoke to was for about half an hour. >> chairman oberstar, i want to start with partisanship if we could. state.tay with the home help me understand a state that can support dfl and the tea party. >> this was a unique year, a national wave of reaction against a number of national issues. they did converge in minnesota as they did next door in wisconsin. that convergence of anger, lack of understanding to a great degree, perception that the country was off course and off track, just came together and we lost the minister of the state senate for the first time since 1972. it was not only off the majority, we lost the 2/3 majority in the senate and similarly in the minnesota state house, six votes from a veto over a. arrirride. in my district around the western and southern portions of the district, there was this swing. all the state legislators the, dfl legislators lost

that is congressman james oberstar of minnesota. in my entire 22 years in this congress, i have served on the transportation and infrastructure committee. i had chances a cup -- a couple of chances in my early years to move to other committees and i think people were surprised i didn't take one or -- either one of those offers. but i enjoyed serving on the transportation and infrastructure committee. it was originally tchailed public works and transportation committee, in part because it was considered to be the most bipartisan or nonpartisan committee probably in the congress. it was often said there's no such thing as a republican highway or a democratic highway and on many, many things, people on both sides of the aisle on that committee worked together to help build america. certainly congressman oberstar was one of the great leaders of that committee through his entire time in the congress. jim oberstar served for 11 years on the committee staff, rising to the position of staff director. he then has -- he then served -- began h

conversation is with the departing chairman of the transportation committee, 18-term minnesota democrat james oberstar. when congress convenes next month, we'll talk with members of the new republican majority. >> suarez: now, we begin a year- long partnership with "national geographic" magazine, which will be reporting on population issues throughout 2011. tonight, the looming crisis of water scarcity in india. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro reports from the indian capital of new delhi. >> reporter: to really know what it's like to live in an overpopulated place, watch the daily vigil for the municipal water tanker truck here in delhi's vasant kunj or thousands of similar neighborhoods across urban india. chanda lives in an illegal settlement here in this city of 16 million and growing. on this day, she left her job as a daily laborer mid-morning to run back and collect some water. exactly when the truck arrives is anyone's guess. every day, these women say they spend four hours a day-- their children often miss school-- just waiting for the only source of water for their daily consumption

james oberstar, the distinguished the gentleman from minnesota. it has been my pleasure to serve on transportation and infrastructure committee for 18 years with mr. oberstar. and we have had some really good moments. as a matter of fact, as i was listening about the bridge, we were right here on this floor the night that bridge collapsed and we were talking then about an aviation issue. the other thing is, being from texas, i only speak one english and that is texas english. but mr. oberstar speaks many languages and i was pleased when he heard me pro nouns those names. and those of us who serve on the transportation committee and many others in this chamber, chairman oberstar has been a historian, our friend, an expert, a champion and our admired leader. to think of the transportation committee and certainly the house without our beloved colleague leaves a vast hole among our ranks and in our hearts. during his tenure on the committee, both as a staffer, later as a member and then as chairman, mr. oberstar has played a key role in every major pie

then james oberstar. that is farewell and welcome speeches coming up tonight on c- span. during prime time starting at 8:00 p.m. we will look at executive power and its new limits with kenneth starr and attorney john yoo, who wrote the memos on tortured during the george w. bush administ then "q & a from london with the london bureau chief john burns. >> the candidates running for chairman of the republican national committee will take part in a debate next week. michael steele will debate on monday. that will be live at 1:00 p.m. eastern. one of the candidates joined us for an interview. this is a half an hour. >> joining us is gentry collins. he is a candidate for the chair of the republican national committee. here with the questioning is elliott.on., adnd phil why are you running? why do you want to be party chair? >> if we are going to beat barack obama and beat his ideology, we have to put the rnc back on track. republicans had a very good cycle, but it was not driven by the rnc. we sort of got away with that that organization at the republican national committee. t

then representative james oberstar followed by "washington journal." five candidates have put their names forward to challenge incumbent michael steele as chairman of the republican national committee. c-span's original documentary on the supreme court has been updated. sunday you'll see "the grand public places" and those only available to the justices and their staff and you'll hear how the staff works from all of the justices including the newest justice, elena kagan. the supreme court, home to america's highest court airing for the first time in high definition sunday at 6:30 p.m. on c-span. >> this year, nine-term representative pete hoekstra decided not to seek re-election and to run for michigan governor. he sat down with us for half an hour. is spending a half hour with us. he first came to congress in 1992 and back for the lame-duck session. that is it for you. what is that like? >> it is kind of liberating. it is a wonderful job but my wife and i and our family is excited about what the future may bring. >> you thought you had a bid for a pub

and we have speeches from transportation director james oberstar. starting at 8:00 p.m., we will look at executive power and employment with former independent counsel kenneth starr and attorney john yoo, who wrote the memos on torture during the george w. bush administration. at 10:00 p.m., from london with the and "new york times" bureau chief. then the radio personality garrison keeler talking about public life. the supreme court is considering an employment law to require workers to check immigration status in a national database. it checks and business licenses of employers who hire illegal immigrants and knowingly. whether a state can require participation in the database. janet napolitano, who was arizona's government -- arizona's governor at the time, the bill into law. the oral argument is just over an hour. >> case 09115. =-mber of commerce bursa's versus whiting. >> there was a question of how to regulate worker authorization, and it was converted into a core concern of immigration policy by the passing of the immigration reform and contr