. >>> the winds dropped off overnight after causing some damage yesterday in northwest washington. gusts downed tree limbs, sometimes also taking out power lines. other falling branches, cracks and wind chills were reported, too. welcome back. i'm angie goff filling in for andrea roane. we will check in with patranya bhoolsuwan in a moment to check on the traffic but, first, the winds were fierce. >> they are now done and all eyes on the new year's eve stuff and the weather may have a role. an uninvited guest in your plans. yous you wake up let's get moving. we are facing cold weather. it is 24 when you step off the metro but 18 gaithersburg and frederick. martinsburg 17. good morning, southern maryland, how are you doing, 26, fredericksburg 25. we will have filtered sunshine and then those clouds will lower and thicken tonight. we don't haven't to worry about rain or snow today. it the calm before the storm. we will work on highs of 38 that feel like 38. don't have to worry about wind gusts taking away the christmas wreath. wreath. let's check in with patranya bhoolsuwan. >>> good

national cemeteries were established at alexandria, virginia, and at the old soldiers home in northwest washington. they were planned to accommodate all of those who died in the washington area hospitals. what happened was that the war went on much longer, it was much bloodierha

constricted and dysfunctional space at the general services building within the national zoo in northwest, washington, d.c. the vehicle's functions which covers the maintenance, repair, and fueling of 780 smithsonian-owned vehicles and pieces of of equipment are not compatible with the surrounding environment at the zoo and would be better served at the suitland facility which has more space and is isolated from the public access. this space being vacated, the zoo would be converted to other uses. the bill authorizes the plan, design, and construction of this project which would give the committee on house administration primary jurisdiction. the committee on transportation and infrastructure which has additional referral also reported this bill. the fiscal 2010 interior appropriations conference report which has been acted into law contains the necessary funding for this bill. i urge the approval of the legislation. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from nebraska rise? mr. terry: i yield myse

. >> ifill: officials from washington to amsterdam shed more light today on the plot to destroy northwest flight 253. ray suarez begins our coverage. >> reporter: there was new information from the dutch concerning umar farouk abdul mutallab and his alleged bombing attempt. flight 253 originated in amsterdam, and the dutch interior minister said initial findings appear to confirm al- qaeda's claim of responsibility. >> ( translated ): the first conclusions of the investigation are that the preparations for the failed attack were fairly professional, but that the execution was amateurish. secondly, the explosives used were neither easy to handle nor risk-free to prepare. the way it was used and the explosives compare to those used in previous attacks. the suspect had a valid visa for the united states. the passenger list presented prior to the flight did not give the us a reason to ask for additional security measures. >> reporter: the bomb-- made of the chemical p.e.t.n.-- was hidden in abdulmutallab's clothing, and failed to go off. that left the airliner intact on the tarmac, but it als

"washington journal" continues -- host:h tell us what have you ben told about this situation regarding the delta a northwestlight the canada detroit yesterday? guest: we are still learning details but this seems to be a very serious terror attempt. that is what the white house is calling it. this probably happened at the worst possible time, the holiday time when people are troubling about the country. certainly, people should see heightened security measures at airports around the country as a result of this incident yesterday. host: as a former inspector at all my security, give us a sense of what is going on behind the scenes. i know you cannot be specifically but given what you know of what goes and the government, what are they thinking about now? what do they want to put out? how will it keep the american people calm? guest: one thing is there is an investigation into what happened yesterday. there are two critical questions -- one question is, how is it that this person who apparently was at least on some kind of terror watch list, how is it he got aboard an aircraft? you may recall three years ago,

sources that apparently this man got on this northwest flight off of a flight that originated in nigerian but it was a clm flight. i used to travel from washington, d.c. to africa through the airport. and very, very good security there. when you get to the gate, you go through additional screening. they put you in a holding area. what a patdown search most likely would not have found, whatever it was -- i don't know exactly what kind of device this was. they said they're not sure if it was on the body, on his body, or maybe secreted in his clothes. he apparently suffered second and third-degree burns to his thigh area. he was hospitalized but is not in life-threatening condition. they don't know if the device was a black powder, flash powder or as peter just pointed out, could be like richard reid used, a hydrogen peroxide-based explosive. they're taking the evidence overnight to the fbi lab in quantico where the explosives expert and examiners will try to determine exactly what kind of device this was. >> how long -- obviously that can be a very obviously investigation if they open it and it's got wires and fuses. how long would an investigatio

"washington journal" continues -- host:h tell us what have you ben told about this situation regarding the delta a northwestlight the canada detroit yesterday? guest: we are still learning details but this seems to be a very serious terror attempt. that is what the white house is calling it. this probably happened at the worst possible time, the holiday time when people are troubling about the country. certainly, people should see heightened security measures at airports around the country as a result of this incident yesterday. host: as a former inspector at all my security, give us a sense of what is going on behind the scenes. i know you cannot be specifically but given what you know of what goes and the government, what are they thinking about now? what do they want to put out? how will it keep the american people calm? guest: one thing is there is an investigation into what happened yesterday. there are two critical questions -- one question is, how is it that this person who apparently was at least on some kind of terror watch list, how is it he got aboard an aircraft? you may recall three years ago,

supply -- we leave this recorded portion of "washington journal" to take you to a senate hearing on airline pilot fatigue. following an incident in which a northwestairlines plane overshot its destination by 150-miles. -- live coverage on c-span. >> the issue of pilot fatigue is not new. it's been on the national transportation safety board's most wanted list for 19 years since the list was created. pilot fatigue has consistently been an issue with theness secretary of state and the f.a.a. -- with the ntsb and the f.a.a. the current flight rules have been in existence for some 40 or 50-years without much change. the ntsb investigations have found that pilot fatigue was either the probably or the con contribute story cause of 20 air carrier accidents in the u.s. and has caused 273 fatalities between 1989 and 2008. so this is not some issue without substantial consequence. the ntsb's outstanding pilot fatigue related safety recommendations calls on the f.a.a. to revise the flight and duty time limitations to take into consideration research findings on fatigue and sleep issues. while the f.a.a. also limits the amount of flight and duty time a pilot

northwest straits commission. i commend the bill's sponsor, representative rick larsen of the state of washington, for his leadership in re-authorizing the initiative and enhancing the ability of the commission to produce locally driven, coordinated restoration projects with mesh surely results. -- measurable results. with that i urge members on both sides to support the passage of this bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? mr. brown: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. brown: mr. speaker, h.r. 1672 re-authorizes and makes modest modifications to legislation which creates a regional citizens advisory board in pacific northwest. northwest straits advisory commission was established to make recommendations to federal and state agencies based on input from the county level and has no regulatory power. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from guam. ms. borda

northwest. it makes sense. it is a commonsense approach, and i hope my colleagues will consider joining the senator from washington and me on this important legislation. and again, i want to commend senator cantwell's leadership. she has done a great deal of work to come up with this approach, and i'm excited to be joining her in this effort. thank you, madam president. madam president, i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. a senator: madam president? madam president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. crapo: i ask the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. crapo: i ask unanimous consent to enter into a colloquy with my republican colleagues for 30 minutes. following us will be the republican leader. following the remarks of the republican leader, senator durbin be recognized to speak. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. crapo: thank you, madam president. i'd like to speak on health care. the pending business

college station chamber, the northwest-houston chamber, odesa chamber, the west i-10 chamber, the crowley area chamber, the marble falls chamber, mccallen area chamber and the washington county chamber. well, you get the idea, madam president. these are job-killing policies and this bill is perhaps the biggest of them all. of course a few enterprises will get bigger under the reid bill, namely the internal revenue service. according to the nonpartisan congressional budget office, the i.r.s. will need a budget nearly twice its size to enforce the reid bill. the i.r.s. will need more agents and bureaucrats to collect the new taxes and enforce all of the new mandates and apply all of the additional red tape. madam president, i think we should be about facilitating the creation of new jobs, not killing jobs through ill-considered policies like this bill. i yield the floor. mrs. boxer: madam president? the presiding officer: senate from california. mrs. boxer: madam president, it's an honor to be here in the senate, a time when we're working on one of the major issues of our time. we know that generations of leaders in both parties have tried toll solve health care crisis,

washington right now, one of two things going to come a. is going to be jobs or health care. events like what took place over the weekend with a northwestflight in detroit made a national security stuff is going to pop up once in a while but it's probably right now only going to pop up based on defense, not based on others. so the challenges going to become than in an environment where everybody agrees was the number one issue is is how my going to make that issue mind. what is it about the issue that's going to become -- that's going to be my issue versus not some else's. let's face it. are you going to accuse mr. portman of not being the fact that he doesn't think people should have better jobs, or accused mrs. burner of the? that's tough to believe on the face of it all. so we need to be able to drill down a little bit further in the issue of jobs, health care on the lines have been drawn a little more just on a partisan basis in terms of people, at least congress' view of health care so far. but the challenge to us is taking the issue of economy and jobs, which i think we'll end up surpassing health care as the number one issue next

. >> tomorrow, on "washington journal," latest terrorist attempt on a northwest airlines flight with jenna mcneill. also, dr. anthony found she -- anthony fauci gives us an update on the h1n1 flu virus. following that, and ronald neumann and william island, at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c- span. >> tomorrow, american univ. it holds their campaign management institute. you will hear democratic strategist discuss how to target voters. that is 10:15 a.m. eastern on c- span2. c-span thursday, a look back at world leaders including the dalai lama, ted kennedy, ronald reagan, walter cronkite, colin powell and robert byrd. then i looked at what is ahead. vladimir putin discusses his future on a call-in program. the creator of the subway and the co-founder of "guitar hero" on innovation and entrepreneurship. >> now, a senate hearing. they testified about the panel's findings. according to the panel, nasa will need an additional $3 billion a year to achieve its human spaceflight goals. this is almost two hours a. >> good afternoon. this is an exceptionally important topic. i think that buzzer