the last time was before -- >> jim sensenbrenner, the republican, he was a republican from wisconsin, part of the judiciary committee. go ahead, sir. i just wanted to get that in for folks. >> thank you very much. he was chair at the time. he's still a member of the committee. he's still committed to this. he knows the value of this voting rights act. and what that did to bring people together in this country. to create the opportunities. it's why i'm here in the congress. it's why more than half of the congressional black caucus are here. not to mention the -- the hispanic caucus and other minorities. just because you've made progress doesn't mean you take away the latter. we are not at the top of the ladder by any means. to snatch the rungs of the ladder out from under us i think is a critical mistake. it would be okay if he did not ask history to rely upon. i do not know why the supreme court would not look back on some other early decisions of the united states and how we retrogress when those decisions came into being. and there is the possibility of retrogression if this decisio

jim sensenbrenner just made some news. ve to appreciate the wisconsin cheesehead leadership. he has been a leader -- when i was a young guy in wisconsin, jim ran the show. he was the leader of everything that we did and tommy thompson came around. he was a pioneer. obviously now it is scott walker, ron johnson. it is an incredible place. i am grateful for everything jim has done. i know in his heart and you heard him say it is at his core at the things he believes. as chairman of the rnc, i wanted to take this opportunity that we had together to commemorate this historic week here in history. i want to keep my remarks brief and everybody has said so much and i am grateful for everybody here. if you look around this room, and you just about know what this means for our party, with the lessons we can learn and what i can learn as chairman of the party. you cannot make the sale if you do not show up for the order. [applause] this is a good example of something a few weeks ago, we need to be a part of this. we need to commemora

ensure that the breath of this program isn't beyond what was originally understood and i know jim sensenbrenner shares some of your concerns how the patriot act is being applied. >> absolutely. i voted no to the patriot act when it was up for reauthorization because did i not feel comfortable with the answers we were getting the problem is when you go to these briefings, you ask questions. unless you phrase it in exactly the right way. you don't get the answer you need intelligence committee officials if if you don't know what to ask, it's hard to find out the information. if there are other secret programs going on, it's impossible to ask the question that gets the right information because you have to ask it in precisely the right way. >> laura: so, for several years, the nsa has been, in your estimation, pulling the wool over the eyes of members of congress? on purposely misleading you? >> i think there are members of the intelligence committee who -- intelligence committees who are aware of it. but, i think rank and file members, yes. there was an effort to keep information from us. in fact

it's wisconsin congressman jim sensenbrenner.g rights today at the republican's is version of the 50th year commemoration. take a listen. >> i am committed to restoring the voting rights act as an effective tool to prevent discrimination. more subtle discrimination now than overt discrimination. this is going to be difficult because of the way the court worded its decision. >> given the fact that the court did push it back on congress, is it a sign of hope you have at least one republican talking about commitment to restore the voting rights act? >> i think he understands what the majority of the republican party understands which is the party that in order for them to expand their base, they have to create policies that are welcoming to the majority of americans. when we start talking about race relations, part of it is the friction in the united states where you have roughly 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day but you have this huge growth of a young population, millenial generation so diverse. a boom in single women, africa

the very next speaker was rnc chairman reince priebus who remarked, "i think jim sensenbrenner just made some news here." yes, he did. if he gets to do what he said he's going to do, that would not only be news, that would be huge news. >>> i am committed to restoring the votes rights act as an effective tool to prevent discrimination. more subtle discrimination now than overdiscrimination. this is something that has to be done by the end of the year so that a revised and constitutional voting rights act is in place before 2014 election season, both primaries and general elections. >> that was republican congressman james sensenbrenner of wisconsin today calling for the voting rights act to be restored by the end of this year. by this congress. he's a republican. joining us now is congressman g.k. butterfield, represents elizabeth city, north carolina, where we visited and took this show last week. former voting rights attorney and former supreme court justice. thank you for being back with us. >> thank you, rachel. it's good to see you again. >> after what the supreme court did with vot

jim sensenbrenner just made some news. always -- you have to appreciate the wisconsin cheese had leadership. he has been a leader -- when i was a young guy in wisconsin, jim ran the show. he was the leader of everything that we did and tommy thompson came around. he was a pioneer. obviously now it is scott walker , ron johnson. it is an incredible place. i am grateful for everything jim has done. i know in his heart and you heard him say it is at his core at the things he believes. rnc, i wanted the to take this opportunity that we had together to commemorate this historic week here in history. brief to keep my remarks and everybody has said so much and i am grateful for everybody here. if you look around this room, and you just about what this with the our party, lessons we can learn and what i can learn as chairman of the party. you cannot make the sale if you do not show up for the order. [applause] this is a good example of something a few weeks ago, we need to be a part of this. we need to commemorate this historic day

when you look at jim sensenbrenner who's been a republican ally turning against the use of what's left of the voting rights act against voter i.d. laws in texas, what does that tell you about where this debate is going looking at the president's address tomorrow? >> well, sensenbrenner did say yesterday at a meeting that the rnc held to commemorate the march on washington that he wanted to be part of a solution on the voting rights act, and he vowed to fix the law by the end of this year which i think is significant. far too many leaders in the republican party have been silent at a time when there's a wave of new voter suppression measures all throughout the south. we have seven southern state that have passed our or implemented new voting restrictions since june bht supreme court gutted the voting rights act. this is a crisis situation. we're seeing the biggest threat to right is that we've seen since the passage of the voting rights act in 1995. >> jonathan, what do you make of that, that sensenbrenner who has a good record is saying we've got do something but not on voter i.d.? >>

so jim sensenbrenner has been a great champion for us on voting rights. hoping there are many of him on the republican side of the aisle and that we can get a fix. but time is of the essence. the right to vote is so essential to democracy. i think we've got to support the attorney general's obligation to enforce the law. i don't think the supreme court asked the attorney general to tie his hands. >> mark, i'm so excited to see the crowds on the mall tomorrow, to hear the speakers. i think it's really a time to be reinspired and reengaged and reactivated. what would you challenge people to do over the course of the next year? we know progress isn't going to happen in one day, but over the course of the next year and the years to come, what would you encourage people and challenge people to do to push for the causes of social and economic justice? >> i think there are a number of things, krystal. first of all, we've got to inspire a young and new generation of leaders to become civically engaged and to recognize that politicians many times respond to activi

objection that some people have, including some people on capitol hill that goes up to people like jim sensenbrennerf wisconsin, is that this program is going too far. that rummaging into the phone calls of every american, in the past anyway, pulling the e-mail addresses of perhaps almost every e-mail sent within the united states is just gathering too much information. whether the government's transparent about it or not. i don't think the critics are going to be satisfied when the notion of, you know, yet another oversight board layered on top of two or three other boards that we're already supposed to be watching and either weren't or didn't object to it. >> all right. so the we all want to sometimes put aside is we're in the business of stealing secrets. that's what we do to get the leg up on everybody else so we can stay ahead of everybody. so now that we know what we're all trying to do -- and chuck pointed out how europe is kicking back and other places don't like this. i want to the put this out there. in "the wall street journal," the cia second in command said i don't remember a time where

jim sensenbrenner is leading the charge.ou think from the view from washington in terms of republicans on the hill maybe doing something in congress to deal with the supreme court's decision? >> i think there's two problems. one is that whether there is a problem or not it's been an article of faith on the conservative side that there is a problem, there is massive voter fraud going on. >> even though those numbers don't really exist. >> right. but it is a thing that people believe so they argue and they believe that they are bringing about fairness by bringing about these changes in state laws. that's translated -- and will translate into a resistance in congress amongst members. there are also probably some in congress who will be a little more politically crass, frankly, and say that this will help me and so go along with it. the other biggest problem is eric holder. he's probably the person in washington to champion anything to congress. he has zero support in congress. republicans just look at him, they do not like him

the very next speaker was rnc chairman reince priebus who remarked, "i think jim sensenbrenner just made some news here." yes, he did. if he gets to do what he said he's going to do, that would not only be news, that would be huge news. we'll have more on that next with somebody who's helping to lead that fight. stay with us. to guard their manhood with new depend shields and guards. the discreet protection that's just for guys. now, it's your turn. get my training tips at guardyourmanhood.com humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? so, if you're sleeping in your contact lenses, what you wear to bed is your business. ask about the air optix® contacts so breathable they're approved for up to 30 nights of continuous wear. serious eye problems may occur. ask your doctor and visit airoptix.com f

first there's jim sensenbrenner, the republican in congress most responsible for getting the voting rightsnewed seven years ago. speaking to the rnc today, sensenbrenner says he's committed to renewing the law again in response to the supreme court. >> i am committed to restoring the voting rights act as an effective tool to prevent discrimination. with all of the problems that we have, with the budget problems and the continuing resolution and the debt ceiling and the snooping by the nsa, this is something that has to be done by the end of the year. it ain't going to be easy, but when we all are together we shall overcome. >> okay. but here is the problem. last week sensenbrenner asked the d.o.j. to stop enforcing part of the voting rights act because he didn't like holder applying it to voter i.d. hurdles in texas. d.o.j. is not going to do that. and it can't barter with a member of congress over lawsuits in order to get a law passed. now, contrast this whole exchange to another moderate republican, colin powell, who understands that voter i.d. laws are the civil rights and voter discrim

know about these programs or how they worked, including the former chairman of the committee jim sensenbrennerho was the chairman when these laws were written and myself. obviously some members were aware of this, but most were not. so it's important, i think, that we delve into this much more deeply. since then, we've held a public hearing on this. we brought that same panel that was involved with the classified briefing plus a panel that included civil libertarian experts and now when we return in september we intend to hold another hearing, a classified hearing so we can dig deeply into the questions about how much this costs, what evidence -- information is being gathered and how these programs need to be changed to comply with the law. >> schieffer: congressman, some members have actually said they thought that the committees, that have oversight on this have not been forthcoming to members. that they have withheld some things like audits and things. the committee chairs deny that. but do you think you've been getting the right kind of information on this? >> part of the problem is that w

a key figure here will be jim sensenbrenner, republican congressman who has been around for a long, long time. he was a leader in the drafting of the patriot act back in 2001. and he said before obama's speech, a couple of months ago, i think, he said that section 215 of the patriot act was something that he would now like to revisit. if sensenbrenner decides to get behind this package of reforms and throw his weight in it, he could conceivably bring along republican votes. it is maybe possible that something could happen here. >> john: i think you're right about the unexpected coalitions, michael. it em speaks directly to your most recent column because the aclu and harder right libertarians have both criticized this move. why do you think the president will end up getting more flak than credit? >> well, because it's never enough, you know. civil libertarians are pretty absolutists in general. and pretty insistent and look, they have reason to be. i'm glad they're there. i'm glad that we have people pressing the administration to make this case and i'm glad "the guardian" and "the washi

the very next speaker at the podium was rnc chairman reince priebus who remarked, "i think jim sensenbrennerust made some news here." yes, he did. and if he gets to do what he said he's going to do, that would not only be that would be huge news. we'll have more on that next with somebody who's helping to lead that fight. stay with us. license and registration please. what's this? uhh, it's my geico insurance id card, sir. it's digital, uh, pretty cool right? maybe. you know why i pulled you over today? because i'm a pig driving a convertible? tail light's out.. fix it. digital insurance id cards. just a click away with the geico mobile app. i'to guard their manhood with trnew depend shields and guards. the discreet protection that's just for guys. now, it's your turn. get my training tips at guardyourmanhood.com [ villain ] well mr. baldwin... it appears our journey has come to a delightful end. then i better use the capital one purchase eraser to redeem my venture miles for this trip. purchase eraser? it's the easy way to erase any recent travel expense. i just pick a charge, like my fligh

jim sensenbrenner, the republican from wisconsin was the chairman. and he has embraced the idea that we should revise section 4, make sure we respond to the supreme court's constitutional concerns, and revamp the voting rights act so that we can make sure that we make the franchise something that everybody has access to, not do what republican governors and legislatures have done across the country systematically since then, which is in 30 states introduce 55 different measures to actually make it harder for people to vote, and make it harder for certain kinds of voters to vote. >> why is congress reauthorizing the voting rights act? what can be done? >> you know, it's critical in the first instance that congress do something to put back in place the protections that were lost in the voting rights act. we need to have some way to block discriminatory voting changes before they go into effect, before they mar an election. but there are also other critical steps that congress should be taking to improve the voting process for all americans. we do have

jim sensenbrenner just made some news. u have to appreciate the wisconsin cheesehead leadership. he has been a leader -- when i was a young guy in wisconsin, jim ran the show. he was the leader of everything that we did and tommy thompson came around. he was a pioneer. obviously now it is scott walker, ron johnson. it is an incredible place. i am grateful for everything jim has done. i know in his heart and you heard him say it is at his core at the things he believes. as chairman of the rnc, i wanted to take this opportunity that we had together to commemorate this historic week here in history. i want to keep my remarks brief and everybody has said so much and i am grateful for everybody here. if you look around this room, and you just about know what this means for our party, with the lessons we can learn and what i can learn as chairman of the party. you cannot make the sale if you do not show up for the order. [applause] this is a good example of something a few weeks ago, we need to be a part of this. we need to comme

so the catch phrase now is that it must be bipartisan and that is why we were excited jim sensenbrenner to make sure that we can address these concerns as well. please grab the paper, up and let's be prepared for the fight. [applause] hillary shelton, the naacp. you raise an interesting point about meeting the bipartisan support and we talked about that a little bit. but, one of the things we have to be concerned about now as we move forward is getting that legislation passed. the voting rights act was reauthorize the in 2006 with an overwhelming majority of legislators voting. the supreme court that it did back down. john conyers, this question is for you. do you wake up in the middle of the night thinking about whether the supreme court is ready to mollify acts of congress? >> they always have been so i don't wake up at night thinking about that. [laughter] >> what do we know if you examine the decisions of the united states supreme court they have led us down on citizens united to begin with. [applause] and now they have to meet secretly into the political process. so that's why what