we are expecting secretary ray lahood from the u.s. we are expecting the chair of the transportation and infrastructure committee from florida, and the ranking member from the railroad subcommittee in the house, also from florida. we have a good lineup for you. we will be hearing from republicans, democrats, from the administration, from congress, from manyfold folks who know their way around washington very well. we are here and washington at a very important time, not only for public transportation and the millions and millions of americans who rely on public transportation, but in deed for our communities, our economy, and our country. for most americans, 2010 was a difficult year, and it was a difficult year for those of us in public transportation as well. many of you had to take very difficult decisions. you had to raise fares. we are not allowed to have an unbalanced budget, so you had to raise those prices sometimes. sometimes you had to cut service. reluctantly, sometimes layoffs were part of the mix. for our business members,

el secretario federal del transporte, "ray lahood", ordeÓ que se tomen medidas en el aeropuerto "ronaldecreatrio de transporte pide que se tomen medidas por que en el aeropuerto anoche un controlador se durmió >>> el supervisor que se durmió mihentras trabajaba fue suspendido. >>> el supervisor no ayudó a dos aviones >>> los pasajeros dicen que dormirse es inaceptable >>> el secretario de transporte ordenó un supervisor adicional y examenes para los funcionarios >>> quizás no hay personas capacitadas para ese trabajo >>> el gobierno debe buscar loo correctivo, no sé de que manera, eso traería concecunecias negativas. >>> esto genera incognitas en caunto al horario del trabajo >>> no mehe quedado dormida pero si cancancio he sentido >>> desde washington univisión >>> el sherriff de arizona esta en nuestra region para participar con lideres conservdores para recaudar fondos para una capaña para barack obama, elk otro joe es quien fue tomado por ejemplo de los candidatos presindeciales >>> el déficit significa mucho dinero menos para educación y salud, lo que se necesita se podría consegui

testifying was the department's secretary, ray lahood. we'll now bring you a portion of that hearing beginning with his opening statement before taking you live for coverage of the conference of the american public transportation association. >> thank you, mr. chairman, ranking member hutchinson, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss president obama's fy-2012 budget request for the u.s. department of transportation. president obama delivered a powerful message in his state of the union. he said that for america to win the future, our citizens, company and companies need the safest, fastest and most reliable ways to move goods and information, and he reminded us if we build it, they will come. if we want businesses to open shop and hire our families and friends and neighbors, we have to invest in our roadways, railways and runways. we have to invest in 21st century buses, streetcars and transit systems, and we have to invest in next generation technology for our skies and sidewalks and bike paths that make our

week already that i think is worth reiterating today, that the secretary of transportation, ray, lahood made an announcement last week for a $53 billion high speed rail initiative, leading to achievement of a goal of having 80% of the population of the u.s. within reach of a high speed rail line in 25 years. it is very ambitious, which kicks off with $53 bill over the next six years. it has already run into a serious opposition of the house t

week already that i think is worth reiterating today, that the secretary of transportation, ray, lahood made an announcement last week for a $53 billion high speed rail initiative, leading to achievement of a goal of having 80% of the population of the u.s. within reach of a high speed rail line in 25 years. it is very ambitious, which kicks off with $53 bill over the next six years. it has already run into a serious opposition of the house as the new leadership of the house prepares to make budget cuts, including that program. it is nevertheless a very interesting opportunity, and i think it is visionary of the administration to put this on the table at a time of climate. we are confronted with a number of climate change issues that need to be addressed. the authority is dealing with a number of new funding opportunities that require calls for projects. those are all on our went. they are summarized in a memo. i will leave it at that not to make the report so long. there is and annual call for projects for prop k that is coming up which has a due date of march 25th, and that is for the

transportation secretary ray lahood will testify about his department's budget request for next year. live coverage begins at 2:30 eastern. >> president obama fy12 department allows us to continue to meet these threats and challenges. >> as cabinet secretaries meet with members of congress over the department's budget request for next year, which the hearings on line at the c-span video library. it is washington, your way. >> the head of npr said earlier that the current federal budget deficit has made cuts to public broadcasting more likely now than during past budget debates. during her speech, vivian schiller also addressed the firing of news analyst juan williams last year. this is an hour. >> good afternoon. welcome to the national press club. i am a broadcast journalist with the associated press. we are the world's leading professional organization for a journalist and we're committed to our profession's future through our programming and by fostering a free press around the world. for more information about the press club, i ask that you visit our web site. if you care to donat

. >> reporter: transportation secretary ray lahood ordered a second controller on reagan's night shiftnd has directed the faa to study stopping levels at airports around the country as passengers now contemplate -- >> that just put a little more extra fear in me. >> reporter: -- their own safety in the skies. kristin dahlgren, nbc news, washington. >>> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in nevada, a courtroom camera captured a vegas woman lashing out at court officers after a judge remanded her into custody for evaluation by a mental health professional. the defendant became so combative after the judge told her the process could take up to two weeks. the woman is currently jailed on child endangerment and kidnapping charges. >>> in california a ruptured storm drain transformed a street into a raging river. the muddy water forced the evacuation of a mobile home park and floolded nearby businesses and cars. officials were able to get the water under control but not before it caused major damage to some structures. >>> and in iowa, a newborn baby has a

, the official groundbreaking for the program, which was attended by speaker pelosi and secretary lahood. other west does include supporting the demolition and construction efforts as we began construction -- demolition of the eastern ramp. we also had an update to part of our website, creating a 10-day look ahead to our e-mail distribution list, 2000 folks who live in the area, as well as hosting community meetings at the tjpa. we have secured sustained media coverage for all of the program's highlights. most recently with the use of "big red" the wrecking ball at the terminal center. we also had a successful transition to phase two operations at the terminal. looking ahead to this year, we will continue our outreach project as the work progresses with a specific focus on phase three and four demolition activities. we are now moving to a new area of the project, the western side of the ramp, so we are ramping up our outreach to those neighbors as well. we are also coordinating communication for utility efforts, buttress and shoring, and excavation efforts happening. we will continue our

transportation secretary ray lahood has ordered a national review of air traffic control staffing because of the incident and from now on, there will be two, not one, air traffic controllers on duty at night at reagan airport. >>> in japan, stores across tokyo are starting to ration basic necessities. many shelves are bare because people are stocking up on goods like bottled water, even though authorities now say tokyo's tap water is safe for everyone, including infants. >>> at the source of the anxiety, the radiation leaking power plant. also, two workers stepping in contaminated water are hospitalized with burns. >>> because of supply problems in japan, toyota is warning all its american workers that it may have to temporarily shut down plants in the u.s. no timeline has been given. the automaker has 13 plants in america and inventories of japanese-made parts are running low. >> and this tick, tick, tick, is -- is bridging the hemispheres. >> veterans trapped by the horrors of war. how a bay area woman is helping some of them find peace. >> rain here, snow in the sierra. and lots of it.

transportation secretary ray lahood has since ordered that two traffic controllers be on duty at the washington, d.c., area airport late at night. >>> a soldier who pleaded guilty to the murders of three unarmed afghan civilians has been sentenced to 24 years in prison. jeremy morelock says he plotted to kill afghans with four other soldiers. yesterday's sentencing came days after the german news magazine "der spiegel" showed warlock and another soldier posing with dead afghans. >>> actress lindsay lohan is opting to face trial and a possible lengthy prison time in her felony grand theft case rather than accept a plea deal which would have put her behind bars for several months. >>> and a private collector in paris may have been duped out of more than $4 million. the mexican government says a mayan warrior sculpture bought at auction this week is fake. the auctioneer insists, however, the pre-colombian art is authentic. >>> and here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,086 after gaining 67 points yesterday. the s&p inched up 3 points and the

thank you, secretary lahood and assistant secretary bertram. secretary lahood, you and i had the opportunity to speak last week about the memorial bridge in portsmouth. would you still agree that is one of the worst bridges in america? >> is one of the worst bridges in america, senator, and that's the reason that we provided the money that we provide is that you all could have a new bridge. >> certainly we appreciate the commitment when you came to fort smith to the project and wanted to ask you about the actual approval process that new hampshire and maine are going through right now. there is a process that is undergoing the preview and itself is as light understand it, we've already undertaken it in the past that was sufficiently completed 2008 and approved. are you familiar with about? >> i know all of the approvals will be completed in late summer, early fall. >> as we understand the review that was already approved, the one that has been resubmitted is very substantially similar, very few differences between the two. would you agree with

transportation secretary ray lahood, described as furious, have two faa controllers going forward.there are 30 airports around the country that at times have only 1 controller on duty. the faa wouldn't identify them. but we learned one was richmond, virginia. if you make an immediate decision to add a second controller here, why not do the same at those 29 other airports around the country? >> well, in is critical air space. >> reporter: bob richards who worked 22 years as a controller at chicago's o'hare airport, told us two controllers should be the bare minimum anywhere. >> common sense, basically. you need two controllers to do two things. one controller would be working on an emergency flight that's something a problem. and the other person would be there to coordinate the emergency equipment. coordinate with the airlines. >> reporter: fatigue and staffing have long plagued air traffic controllers. the ntsb put fatigue on its most-wanted safety list. they said it's not just a nice thing. a necessary thing and a priority. something that needs to be changed. >> professionalism w

also on c-span3, layer -- ray lahood will testify before the senate transportation committee. now, congressman henry waxman talks about climate change legislation. a ranking democrat on the energy and commerce committee, waxman says that obama should oppose any spending bill that ends the epa's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. this is an hour. quex good morning, everyone and welcome. i am chairman for the action fund. i am pleased you could join us for this morning's discussion with congressman henry waxman. representative waxman is one of the most determined and effective progressive advocates in congress today. we all know that he has his hands full defending against a barrage of attacks on great energy and public health programs. it is a special thanks to the congressman for taking time out of your schedule. thank you for being willing to come here and speak to us. i want to start by taking a moment to recognize your hard work on the american queen in ag and security act in the previous congress. the house passage was a success. it would have lowered producti

secretary lahood sends his apologies for being unable to join us. part of being a cabinet secretary means that when the white house asks you to do something at the last moment, you do that. so he's out of state today. he will be with you tomorrow. so he sends his apologies, but i'm very happy tobe here on his behalf today. we are proud to count all of you as our partners. you've been a leading voice in the discussion about public transportation. your efforts and advocacy continue to ape the way we approach travel as a nation. and as you gather here for this conference, america's at a crucial crossroads for our trsportation network. we all know the history. for decades wee seen chronic underfunding of the maintenance and construction of roads, rails, subway, bus and other transportation systems. now, for the first time in decades, we have an administration that has made transportation ariority and proven that commitment not just th words, but with actions. you've all heard president obama talk about winning the future. he says that in order to do so

transportation secretary ray lahood has ordered a national review of air traffic control staffing, following a scary incident at reagan national airport. two airliners, loaded with passengers, were trying to land early wednesday, when the control tower suddenly went silent. after circling the airport, an american airlines 737 from miami was forced to contact a regional controller 40 miles away. recordings appeared to capture the confusion. >> american 1012, called couple times on a landline and tried calling on the commercial line and there's no answer. >> and they're not answering on the line either. >> reporter: moments later a united flight from chicago was on approach. >> united 628, just so you're aware, we just had one aircraft go into dca. and the tower is apparently unmanned. called on the phones, and nobody's answering. so that aircraft went in just as an uncontrolled airport. >> reporter: the two planes eventually landed safely, but the incident has raised serious questions about controller fatigue, especially amid reports the lone operator fell asleep. officials have ordered that

so transportation secretary ray lahood has ordered a national review of the air traffic control staffing because of the incident. from now on, there will be two air traffic controllers on duty at night at reagan airport. >>> a northern california town cleaning up from damage caused by a tornado. the national weather service says the small twister hit the rural town of williams in colusa county about 70 miles north of sacramento. it happened yesterday afternoon. meteorologists say the tornado packed winds of 65 to 85 miles an hour ripping roof tiles from several homes, no one though was hurt. >> yup, we could see that again today in the state of california. you don't hear about it very often but tornadoes, you get a little afternoon heating, one of these storms roughlibling through and yeah, certainly that's a possibility especially in toward the central valley. tell you what the green is starting to move onshore. what a wall of green it is, too. we are about to get into the storm system already starting to see it moving in parts of the north bay where rain is just beginning to pick up th

today, transportation secretary ray lahood, described as furious, immediately required two controllers on duty here, going forward. but the faa told abc news today, there are 30 airports around the country that at times have only one controller on duty. the faa wouldn't identify them, but we've learned one is richmond, virginia. if you make an immediate decision to add a second controller here, why not do the same at those 29 other airports around the country? >> well, this is critical airspace. >> reporter: bob richards, who worked 22 years as a controller at chicago's o'hare airport, america's second busiest, told us two controllers should be the bare minimum anywhere. >> common sense, basically. you need two controllers to do two things. one control your would be working, let's say in an emergency flight that's having some type of problem. and the other person would be there to coordinate the emergency equipment, coordinate with the airlines. >> reporter: fatigue and staffing have long played air traffic controllers. the ntsb put addressing fatigue on its most wanted safety list. bu

secretary ray lahood ordered that from now on two air traffic controllers be on duty at night. >> we have an update on a story we first brought you last night on the 10:00 news. philippine airlines said today a phoned-in bomb threat at sfo last night was a hoax. the flight arrived from manila at 7:20. the jet was moved to a remote area of san francisco international. all 357 people onboard were searched and bomb-sniffing dogs inspected every inch of the cargo area. no threat was found. >>> in news of the world tonight. in jerusalem a bomb exploded in a crowded bus stop today covering one woman and injuring two dozen people. this was the first such attack in jerusalem in seven years. so far no claims of responsibility. but israel is blaming palestinian militants and said it would respond aggressively. and several hours after that israeli air strikes hit the gaza strip. >>> in yemen the legislature passed a 30 day state of emergency. the president is struggling to hold on to power in the face of discontent. thousands of people held a protest. the law also gives security forces far-reac

secretary ray lahood ordered that from now on two air traffic controllers be on duty at night. >> we have an update on a story we first brought you last night on the 10:00 news. philippine airlines said today a phoned-in bomb threat at sfo last night was a hoax. the flight arrived from manila at 7:20. the jet was moved to a remote area of san francisco international. all 357 people onboard were searched and bomb-sniffing dogs inspected every inch of the cargo area. no threat was found. >>> in news of the world tonight. in jerusalem a bomb exploded in a crowded bus stop today covering one woman and injuring two dozen people. this was the first such attack in jerusalem in seven years. so far no claims of responsibility. but israel is blaming palestinian militants and said it would respond aggressively. and several hours after that israeli air strikes hit the gaza strip. >>> in yemen the legislature passed a 30 day state of emergency. the president is struggling to hold on to power in the face of discontent. thousands of people held a protest. the law also gives security forces far-reac

within hours of the incident, transportation secretary ray lahood was ordering the faa to add a second controller to the midnight shift at reagan national. it is not acceptable, he said, to have just one controller in the tower managing air traffic in this critical air space. the reason the situation caused so much concern is not just because reagan national is across the river from downtown washington but it's within a couple of miles between the pentagon and u.s. capitol and the white house. we should have more details soon about what is going on in that control tower. >> to be in the air is one thing. but the choreography, the delicate choreography of planes going from runway to runway and workers on the different tarmacs that poses a difficulty took. >> one of the main roles of is to assist the pilot not only landing but on the ground getting to their gate. overnight maintenance crews are out on the tarmac so the planes had to navigate their way to their gates all by hemselves with a little bit help from their own airlines. >> nancy cordes for us this morning, thank you. >> reporte

i think my colleague, secretary ray lahood, your former colleague, i think very, very highly of. i think what his work and epa's work closely with d.o.t. as he looks at the transportation acts of the future, we're happy to share with you the information that we are sharing with him. i think that communities are differently situated when it comes to transportation choices. and our interest is simply to ensure that we are not going to sacrifice air quality, and my belief is with technological innovations, including mass transit, we don't have to do that. >> i haven't thought about asking ray lahood to talk to you about that. excuse me, mr. chairman, for this, but indeed, those buses at the other end hopefully cleaner driven engines as it were, you could perhaps put together a major study to help us change the pattern of what people are willing to do in terms of transporting themselves. we can buy those buses. but we can't get folks to ride in them in southern california. it's an incredible challenge. and we are a long, long ways away from turning that corner. >> thank you, mr. chai

. >> transportation secretary ray lahood says the tower at reagan national will now center two controllersduty at night and there will be a national review of air traffic control staffing because of the incident. >>> 5:26 your time. gay marriage won't resume in california at least for now. a federal appeals court has refused to request to allow gay marriage while it considers the constitutionality of proposition 8. the process could take at least another year. >>> well, apparently a change of plans for britney spears. >> this weekend's free concert will not be taking place in the castro district as originally planned. it's being moved to the bill graham civic auditorium. the reason, it's lawrence's fault! no. >> you can blame everyone about him. >> blame the bad weather and the free show is being taped for "good morning america" to coincide with the release of her new album. the concert is sunday, 12 noon, seating first come, first served. some people not happy because of course you can't fit as many people in the auditorium as on the street. >> a lot of folks in the castro, the businesses

. >> transportation secretary ray lahood has now ordered a national review of air traffic control staffing because of that incident. and in now on, there -- and from now on there will be two air traffic controllers on duty at night at reagan airport. >> sounds like someone might be looking for a job there. >>> 6:21. opening day a week away. a week from tonight, the star giants player who could start the season on t dl. >> it happens to all of you was. video of mr. obama being locked out of the white house. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, day... a major setback for >>> good morning. lots of troubles on the roads. looking live at the upper deck of the bay bridge. windy conditions. injury accident in oakland. more traffic coming up in just minutes. frank? >> all right, gianna. it's 6:24. we are a week away from opening day of baseball but a major setback forch is giants outfielder and world series hero cody ross. he will have an mri today. he injured his right calf while making a catch yesterday here against the angels. ross limped off the field, left the stadium on a golf cart. that's not good. the gia

we should be focused on rebuilding our economy, creating and secretary lahood has done a good job, mrcretary w

ray lahood, our transportation secretary. lisa jackson, our epa administrator. [ cheers ] nancy sutley, our counsel -- >> president obama doing some of the form malties there, introducing cabinet members and others. he's giving a speech at georgetown university on energy. what we're gonna do is head over to sal and hear a little bit more about the bay area traffic and go back to the president a little bit more -- president and listen in a little bit more. >>> in newsroom, we have people listening to -- in the newsroom, we have people listening to this. and they are getting the details for us. >>> there's no game at the coliseum. today's game is at at&t park. there's not a crowd at the toll plaza. northbound 101 coming up from 280, some slow traffic there. it's very heavy up to sunnyvale. 101 southbound from burlingame to about hillsdale. sanmateo is slow. look at 92, heading east, kind of -- kind of slow. let's go to steve. >>> thank you, sal. we do have some patchy clouds and up above, temperatures are coming up and they wil

transportation secretary ray lahood described as furious immediately required two controllers on dutygoing forward. but the faa told abc news, there are 30 airports around the country that at times have only one controller on duty. the faa wouldn't identify them but we've learned one is richmond, virginia. if you make an immediate decision to add a second controller here, why not do the same at those 29 other airports around the country? >> this is critical air space. >> reporter: bob richards, who worked 22 years as a controller at chicago's o'hare airport, america's second busiest, told us two controllers should be the bare minimum anywhere. >> common sense. you need two controllers to do two things. one controller would be working an emergency flight having some type of problem and the other person would be there to coordinate emergency equipment. coordinating with the airlines. >> reporter: fatigue and staffing have long plagued air traffic controllers. the ntsb put addressing fatigue on its most wanted safety list >> but the ntsb has said it's not a nice thing, a necessary thing

and then transportation today, secretary lahood, well, you've got to like secretary lahood, he's a delightful man. he believes in roads and transportation. hold your hat. you know what? the transportation budget is going to increase this year if the president's budget is approved. 62%. i just -- i'm flabbergasted. 62%? is there a state in america that's showing hardly any increase in their stpwh-pblgs and we're having a -- in their budgets? and we're having a 62% increase. it's an investment in the future. an investment, investment, investment. give me a break. it's spending, spending, spending, spending and debt, debt, debt, debt. well, it is a pretty serious problem we're dealing with. the education department needs to be doing some different things, i think, instead of just spending money, they need to be figuring out how children learn. we've got to quit defining our commitment to education on how much money we throw at the problem, how many new buildings we build. we've got to ask are children actually improving? are they learning better? and too often that's not the case. canada spends

you may have read it was reported that i suggested secretary lahood was on drugs. i did not do that. i asked if he wanted to go in baby highway trust fund for complete streets -- go invade the highway trust fund for complete streets and have mandatory drug testing. having been through the complete conversion, i am convinced that complete streets is a good piece of legislation. the initiative is a good one for agencies -- or areas that are exploring it. it has michael sponsorship and my full support. -- it has sponsorship and my full support. what a big disappointment we had with the bush administration -- one of the big disappointments we had with the bush administration was that they said they eliminated funding and they thought they could have plenty of money to get things done. that is clearly not the case. we need our money. not only for the surface program, but for transit and for complete streets. i am proud to be a supporter. i want to make one observation based on what earl said. some people have come to town and want to slash spending and reduce taxes. i w

also on c-span3, layer -- ray lahood will testify before the senate transportation committee. now, congressman henry waxman talks about climate change legislation. a ranking democrat on the energy and commerce committee, waxman says that obama should oppose any spending bill that ends the epa's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. this is an hour. quex good morning, everyone and welcome. i am chairman for the action fund. i am pleased you could join us for this morning's discussion with congressman henry waxman. representative waxman is one of the most determined and effective progressive advocates in congress today. we all know that he has his hands full defending against a barrage of attacks on great energy and public health programs. it is a special thanks to the congressman for taking time out of your schedule. thank you for being willing to come here and speak to us. i want to start by taking a moment to recognize your hard work on the american queen in ag and security act in the previous congress. the house passage was a success. it would have lowered producti

i commend secretary lahood for ordering a secondary traffic controler to be on duty in particular overnight at the national airport. and i want to make the point that we are not demonizing air traffic controllers, because if you know the story, you know the individual that fell asleep had been on duty for three nights in a row. the secretary's action evidences there is no current mandate for multiple air traffic controllers. there is legislation in the senate and there is language in the house bill that deals with the study. i frankly believe that we should have a more firm assessment, having a minimum of three, and at least two air traffic controllers to address this question. and why do i say that? the national air traffic controllers association and their president have indicated one person shifts are unsafe, period. the most horrifying proof of this, of course, came on august 27, 2006. in addition, it has been in the air traffic controlers commission to have at least one -- two people on staff or as air traffic controllers for most of their existence. so i stand today saying that it is

be to president bush a bit and now i will talk about president obama and quite frankly secretary lahood who i know you hear from. were both elected in 1994, now he is a cabinet secretary, he has sort of speaking a different language than i used to. but he began our subcommittee and said we're going to go on 18 months listening to her rather than coming up with a proposal for a six-year highway bill. i don't know what the hell they're listening to because we have known since safetea-lu that we needed to raise the gas tax. and if we had the courage of our convictions in 2005, and actually confronted president bush and said we have to get more money into the trust fund, we wouldn't be having this conversation today. but we didn't. and clearly now an 18 months listening to are traveling around the country listening to people say, i would doubt that your message has changed much. you need money. and you need money and you need money because it not on a bunch of systems but it creates jobs. all across the country. so at the end of the day, and less we raise the gas tax, unless we exercise som

guest: we have scheduled to hear from secretary lahood on tuesday as well as mr.e chairman of the transportation infrastructure committee and many other members of congress and lumenaries in the field of transportation. host: one more call. caller, sorry that call dropped. if you want to learn more about the organization, apta.com is the website. thank you very much. guest: thank you. i am glad to be here. host: we are going to talk about the topic of bullying. the white house held a forum on this topic this week. our guest will be of the national school board association. up next we will talk about the current situation in libya with the center for security policy, the president and c.e.o. first, we will get a look at the news through the pen and ink of political cartoons. host: our guest. to date, how would you rate this administration on response to libya? guest: i don't know that it is possible to criticize it for not knowing what to do about libya. i don't think anybody really knows what to do about libya for the very simple reason that we are watching a civi

lahood has proposed a $53 billion high-speed rail initiative that house republicans are not very fond of. that could get a contentious. the irs commissioner will be testifying. i think health care will be a big issue in that hearing. the health-care mandate and the irs has asked for some money to implement and enforce the individual mandate, which has been so controversial. it has been the subject of legal challenges. on the interior secretary side, it's all about drilling. we have some senators, especially democratic senators, who have been pushing the administration to allow licenses for drilling. she blocked the nomination of the budget director for some time before she got the concessions. there's a lot of maneuvering. it's about the budget and what the obama administration has requested that congress passed, but there have also been a ton of questions with top administration officials. host: bob cusack, managing editor of "the hill." thank you very much. our question this morning, would you blame for a government shutdown? "the hill" said most voters think a budget shutdown would

call upon the administration to work with us as well under the very capable leadership of secretary lahood. i'm sure that the administration will work with us if they'll just give us some proposals and put some concrete ideas, excuse the pun, on the table with which we can work in a bipartisan and bicameral measure. so this is a job-saving piece of legislation, it helps provide some degree, although a permanent re-authorization would provide much more degree of certainty to industry, to our construction industry, so they can plan and invest in what is not short-term jobs but good, long-paying family wage jobs for our people. that's what we're talking about when we talk about investments in infrastructure, that's what we're talking about in this legislation and i urge my colleagues as i conclude to support this in a bipartisan fashion. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida. mr. mica: i yield myself the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mica: each

transportation secretary ray lahood testifying on capitol hill today on the 2012 budget request for the transportation department. we'll have the live coverage of that senate committee hearing at 2:30 eastern on c-span 3. >> c-span's congressional chronicle, you can follow every word from the house and senate floor online, track daily timelines, read transcripts and find a full video archive for every member. on this week's congressional schedule, a joint meeting of congress with australian prime minister julia gillard. see what others have said during their joint meetings. at c-span.org/congress. >> the top democrat on the house energy and commerce committee says he's willing to start from scratch on a climate change bill. california's henry waxman also says president obama should oppose any spending bills ending the environmental protection agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. his comments are about an hour. quex good >> welcome. i'm the chairman of the senate for american progress action fund. i'm pleased that you could all join us for this morning's discussion wi

i thank president calderon and his team as well as secretary lahood and u.s. trade representative ron kirk for reaching this proposed agreement. i look forward to consulting with congress and moving forward in a way that strengthens safety across border trucking, lifts tariffs on billions of dollars of u.s. goods, expand our exports to mexico, and creates jobs on both sides of the border. we are also deepening our cooperation against the drug cartels that threaten both our peoples. as i said before, president calderon and the mexican people have shown extraordinary courage in the fight for their country. tens of thousands of mexicans, innocent citizens and dedicated security forces have lost their lives. i have reaffirmed to president calderon in this cause, mexico has a full partner with the united states. because whether they live in texas or tijuana, our people have a right to be safe in their communities. so we are continuing to speed up the delivery of equipment and training that our mexican partners need to keep up this fight. as president calderon crack

i thank president calderÓn and his team -- as well as my transportation secretary, ray lahood, and ourade representative, ambassador ron kirk -- for reaching this proposed agreement. i look forward to consulting with congress and moving forward in a way that strengthens the safety of cross- border trucking, lifts tariffs on billions of dollars of u.s. goods, expands our exports to mexico, and creates job on both sides of the border. we're also deepening our cooperation against the drug cartels that threaten both our peoples. as i've said before, president calderÓn and the mexican people have shown extraordinary courage in the fight for their country. tens of thousands of mexicans -- innocent citizens and dedicated security forces -- have lost their lives. i have reaffirmed to president calderÓn that in this cause, mexico has a full partner with the united states. because whether they live in texas or tijuana, our people have a right to be safe in their communities. so we are continuing to speed up the delivery of equipment and training that our mexican partners need to keep up this fig

transportation secretary ray lahood is on capitol hill this afternoon. he's testifying before the senate transportation committee. about his department's 2012 budget request. c-span3 will have live coverage beginning at 2:30 eastern. >> the new way to get a concise review of the day's events it's "washington today" on c-span radio. every week day we'll take you to capitol hill, the white house, and anywhere news is happening. we'll also talk with the experts, the politician mrs., and -- politicians, and the journalists. the stories that matter to you the most every week day on c-span radio. can you listen in the washington-baltimore area at 90.1 f.m. and nationwide on xm slight radio channel 132 or go online at c-span.org. available as an iphone app and download the program every evening as a c-span podcast. >> the u.s. house coming in at it:00 -- it:00 p.m. eastern. until then the chinese foreign minister who held a news conference yesterday called the national people's congress, it's a largely ceremonial session. nearly 3,000 delegates met to approve t

last week the governor told the secretary of transportation, ray lahood, that the state of florida can do without the $2.5 billion for federal highway rail funding. $2.5 billion. 90% of the project is funded with federal tax dollars. that's money that floridians sent to washington that we are sending back to florida, gasoline tax money. not money from any foreign source, by the way. in addition, it didn't just happen. we worked on it bipartisan for years. in fact in 1980, bob graham appointed me to a committee to work on high speed rail in florida. over 30 years we have worked on it. and let me just tell you 90% of the funding would put over 60,000 floridians to work, and it's 90% of the funding. well, it's another 10% there. absolutely. the private sector has ipped kated that they would put the 10% -- has indicated that they would put the 10% there. i have model trains in front of me here today. we have over eight companies committed to high-speed rail. in fact, we started the rail system in florida in this country, we started the rail system and now we are the caboose and they don't

i applaud secretary lahood's decision to re-evaluate staffing needs throughout the country. congress will also need to closely examine air traffic control staffing and fatigue going forward. but this incident should make it clear, now is not the time to arbitrarily cut almost $4 billion from the f.a.a. programs and argue that the agency can do more with less without compromising safety. before us, and i know it's mr. rahall and others have talked about the provision in the legislation that i believe, too, is a poison pill. i will not go into all of the details as we will have an amendment later, but let me just say that the latourette-costello amendment i hope will be supported by members of this body. it's a poison pill provision, section 903 in this legislation, that is certain to hold the legislation up in the senate. there is no way that i see the senate acting on that provision and the white house of course has already issued a statement saying that the president will receive recommendations from his advisors to veto the bill. if we are serious about passing a long-term

there is a large arab community in peoria including my friend the transportation secretary ray lahoodw this community and all of illinois will be so proud of judge shadid. justice myerscough and judge shadid were unanimously reported by the judiciary committee. i hope my colleagues will agree the people of illinois will be well served with these two fine individuals on the bench. we'll still have one vacancy when these two are approved and fortunately president obama has nominated another excellent candidate to fill that vacancy. i look forward to working with my colleague senator kirk to consider her nomination in an expedited fashion. i also am working with senator kirk to fill all vacancies. senator kirk is alonging to fill one of the vacancies in the northern district of illinois. last year the senate confirmed three excellent judges, judge fireman, judge coleman and judge chang. judge chang was recommended by the republican senate committee the year before and i found him to be an excellent candidate. party aside, he is going to serve very well and is now serving on the northern