we have three fine public institutions of learning -- the university of rhode island, rhode island college, and the community college of rhode island. unfortunately, the state contribution to higher education has plummeted in recent years. my budget reverses that trend by proposing an additional $10 million for our higher education system. even in these tough times, we must demonstrate our commitment to higher education and the young people of this date. there is no more important rung on the ladder to success. maintaining transportation is another vital investment in our state for all future. our method of paying for transportation budget is broken. right now, the department of transportation uses proceeds from the gas tax to fund part of the state's share of the federal highway project. we borrow the rest. the number of potholes and closed bridges in our state -- the options are not easy. rhode island as one of the highest dast -- gas tax rates in the country, and we cannot raise it higher. in 200011, rhode island spent $43 million of gas service on transportation. that is money we could

. >> woodruff: plus, paul solman visits two rhode island cities that are struggling to honor pension pledges to retired public workers. >> i've been telling my firefighters and police i am happy to give 3%, i can not afford to fund your pension. >> lehrer: and mark shields and david brooks offer their weekly analysis. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> okay, listen. somebody has got to get serious. >> i think... >> we need renewable energy. >> ...renewable energy is vital to our planet. >> you hear about alternatives, right? wind, solar, algae. >> i think it's got to work an a big scale. and i think it's going to be affordable. >> so, where are they? >> it has to work in the real world. at chevron, we're investing millions in solar and biofuel technology to make it work. >> we've got to get on this now. >> right now. bnsf, the engine that connects us. pacific life-- the power to help you succeed. the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. an

the university of rhode island, rhode island college and the community college of rhode island. each plays an important role in educating our students. unfortunately, the state's contribution to rhode island's higher education, as you know, has plummeted in recent years. my budget reverses that trend by proposing an additional $10 million for a higher education system. [applause] even if those tough times, we must demonstrate our commitment to higher education and to the young people of this state. there is no more important running on the ladder to success. maintaining our transportation infrastructure is another vital investment in our state's future. one of the government's core functions is to build and maintain roads and brings, yet our method of paying for it is broken. right now the department of transportation uses proceeds from the gas tax to fund part of the state's share over the federal highway project. we borrow the rest. the number of potholes and closed bridges in our state demonstrates we need more funding in our state for transportation. rhode island has one of

we're fortunate to have the university of rhode island, rhode island college, and the community college of rhode island, each plane an important role in educating our students. unfortunately, the state's contribution to higher education has plummeted in recent years. my budget reverses a trend by proposing an additional $10 billion for a higher education system. [applause] >> even in these tough times we must demonstrate our commitment to higher education into the of people of this state. there is no more important rung on a ladder to success. maintaining our transportation infrastructure is vital to the future. one of the core function is to build and maintain roads and bridges, our method of paying for these projects is broken. right now, the department of transportation uses proceeds of the gas tax sioux fun part of the state's share of the federal -- tax fund -- to fund highwaythe state's projects. we have one of the highest gas rates in the country. instead, we must break our habit of borrowing money to build roads. in 2011, rhode island will spend $43.6 million in debt service on

where southern rhode island newport was the host of the america's cup for 53 years out of a 150- yearradition, of course, that enthusiasm is compounded once we knew that mr. ellison had won the cup, the san francisco should pounce on the ability to try to become the host here. naturally, we wanted to do everything we possibly could to work together as a city family to extend our families to secure that particular right. needless to say, the people of rhode island are a little bit upset with me, and i and my home town, as my mom likes to remind me. i'm sort of kidding. they said the politics thing does not work there. come back home. that idea is completely off the table. as it relates, i think, to index steps, we are very appreciative of the fact that the city family came together in what was amid very extraordinary circumstances. the board of supervisors, supervisors, room 200, as well as with the private sector to be able to proffer what seems to be the strongest deal that will possibly could devise in meeting a deadline that really was imposed upon us. we also realize in the blessi

why didn't rhode island ratify the constitution?>> guest: well, it had a lot of paper money issued, and it wondered whether it would remain valid because article 1 section 10 said the states can issue nothing but gold and silver as legal tender. rhode island did this in order to address a tremendous problem it had with regard to its war debt. the amount it had to raise just in interest was over five times what the whole budget of the state had done before independence, and this was held -- the debt was held by a handful of speculators, and they were going to impoverish everybody in order to enrich a few. they tried to address this with paper money. they did it in ways that was certainly questionable. however, they worried what was going to happen to this whole effort, what would be the fate of their money if the constitution went that way. that wasn't really enough. i think there was also substantial opposition in rhode island to the constitution's provisions on slavery. rhode island had a very high incidence of quakers. >> host: ji

the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. a senator: mr. president, is the senate current until a quorum call. the presiding officer: yes. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, may i ask that the pending quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i -- i'm here today to speak about a report that was released by the center for disease control which i think is instructive for the american health care system. we are currently in a process of change in health care, changing the way that health care is delivered in our country is going to take years of hard work, of experimentation, and of learning. there are stakeholders on both the federal and state level who are out there right now working to implement models of care that increase the coordination and efficiency with which health care is delivered, improve the quality of the care that is delivered, improve the outcomes that patients experience, and control costs, bring costs down. this delivery system reform is the real

provides in rhode island and all across this country. it would also endanger 9,000 jobs at local public radio stations in communities across the country. i urge my colleagues to vote against this assault on the free exchange of ideas and instead support a democracy that continues to listen carefully to its people. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california. the gentlelady from california is recognized. ms. eshoo: mr. speaker, i'm very pleas to yield a minute to the gentlewoman from new york, congresswoman nita lowey, who is one of the great advocates of public bradcasting in the congress. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. lowey: i thank the gentlelady. and, mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition. 170 million americans use public media for vital news. 61% of voters who support deficit reduction also support funding for

representative peter king from rhode island appears to harbour fears and happiness of the muslim community of the united states. of the homeland security committee, on thursday, he plans to open the first of a series of hearings into the threat of home-grown islamic terrorism and the allegation that muslim americans have failed to cooperate with law enforcement efforts to foil terrorist plots. i felt there should be at least some response to what i think is a very severe action by this particular congressman. this resolution speaks to that. i appreciate supervisor avalos for his co-sponsorship. were it not for the timing of this, i would encourage this to go before committee. i would prefer a vote on it. president chiu: it is going to committee. supervisor kim: my request is to continue item 35 to next week. president chiu: that has been seconded by supervisor campos. >> i would like to read the item. resolution opposing the proposed elimination of medi-cal funding for adult day health center programs in the state of california. supervisor elsbernd: based on the actions of last week, where

problems during the years that he was governor of rhode island. that's a state that's small enough that the governor gets to know a lot of individual citizens and what they're struggling with. and some of those struggles that chafee encountered back then stayed with him and made him a passionate advocate for trying to bring more people into the health insurance system. he kind of pestered bob dole to create a task force on health-care reform back when the bush administration didn't seem to be very interested in the issue, led it for many years, and under just unbelievable pressure from many in his own party and ultimately his own leader, senator dole, to abandon the effort and to hand president clinton a real political setback. john chafee fought and worked till the last possible day. the other person, a man i did not know at all well, was bob reischauer, who was at the time this battle was going on the director of the congressional budget office, a classic, professional civil servant. and reischauer, because the cbo scoring was so critical to wha

if it was sought as we would go to connecticut and rhode island? >> just to answer that a little bit, i think the reason it works in both states is because both states and the people take this process very seriously. and i think -- i had an experience in 2007 when the iowa caucuses were over three of us went to nevada to help them in the final week to help prepare for their caucuses which to be honest they were not prepared for. it was a complete mess and the people out there were someone interested but somewhat not. so what i would ask is if the people of rhode island or any other small state if you had a conference like this would there be 500 people sitting in the seats for eight hours? no. they don't -- we take these roles those seriously the that we are almost a year out and we're all sitting here scratching our heads and getting to know these candidates and wondering why they haven't been here more? we demand to see them over and over and what that allows us to do is understand are they consistent in their position or just selling me somethin

without rhode island it would have been less of an issue. >> host: who was patrick henry? >> guest: what thomas jefferson called the greatest orator who ever lived. a leading figure in and virginia. living in an age of oratory. they did not have microphones or voice enhancement systems. a speaker who could project, who could speak dramatically the purchase will could command great audiences. that is one reason why people were crowding into these conventions to see the performance of the greatest orators and thomas jefferson called him the greatest orator who ever lived. jefferson hated henry but politics were 180 degrees, and later he told patrick henry's grandson and his grandfather was a mean-spirited person. >> host: what did he do for a living? >> guest: he was a lawyer. he also had a plantation but mostly he made his money by law and jefferson said he was not a very good lawyer either but obviously he was effective before the jury because he could speak. >> guest: is it fair to say -- >> host: in "american scripture: making the declaration of independence" you call hi

jobs could be driven out of california and amazon have stopped some services in north carolina, rhode island, and colorado after those states enacted similar laws. >>> the dow gained 95 points and nasdaq rose by one before the month the dow was up to 3% in february marks the third straight month of gains. >>> legendary hollywood actress jane russell has died. ♪ diamonds are a girls best friend. >> she played a series of roles including starting with marilyn monroe. she had a strong religious background, founded in adoption group and later formed a gospel singing trio. >>> there is a $7 million science experiment in adults at that creates a barrier to deibert young salmon and the idea is to annoy the fish so they will turn the other way. >>> it may be the most easily recognized vessel in the world of boat racing and tonight it is in san francisco. it will play a key role in the upcoming america's cup challenge even though it will not be racing. >> reporter: is so fast the owners say they do not know its limits. >> we will race for one race only. >> reporter: it won the 33rd america's cup arri

several other states including new york and rhode island have also requested that money. the only project that would achieve the high speeds associated with bullet trains would be here in california. checking traffic on this friday this is the james lick 80-1 01 split. traffic is slow headed toward the bay bridge. let's look at the golden gate bridge. a bit sluggish but not too bad for friday. slower on the right going into marin county that is on the left. we will be back a lot more news after the break. >>pam: a santa clara man who is muslim it is in the fbi with the help of american islamic relations. he claims the agency violated his constitutional right to privacy. last year they found a gps tracking device under his car. as kron 4 tells us that 20 year-old student still feels he is being watched for no apparent reason. >>reporter: this is what 20 year-old said he discovered under the rear bumper of his car. while getting an oil change last october. he said he didn't know what it was near their did his mechanic. after asking his mechanic to remove the weird looking l

rhode island is a state that has a very rich manufacturing history. we are the place where the industrial revolution began, home to some of the greatest manufacturing. and i think like many states we have suffered in this recent economy, rhode island's been particularly hard hit. i think if we are going to remain a world economic power we absolutely have to make things again in america, and, you know, if you ask people who believe that we're losing that position as a world economic power and say who do they think is the world economic power, they say china. you say, why china? they say, because china makes everything. i asked my constituents during my campaign, go into a store in rhode island, try to find something made in america. it's almost impossible. and i really hope that the 112th congress will be the congress that revitalizes manufacturing in america. and that is making sure that we provide manufactures the tools they need, -- manufacturers the tools they need, allow them to compete globally and to be really making the kinds of investments in

for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island wish to be recognized? >> ask unanimous consent to be recognized for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. . >> i rise to commend the meadows. they provide individual living with enhanced social services and high quality care to approximately 100 rhode island seniors. mr. cicilline: it was built using a smart bination of federal, state, local, private funding. it has a green design which includes geothermal heating, energy star appliances and energy efficient lighting. for the commitment to providing our seniors a quality standard of living, i congratulate them. i honor them as a community of quality for our seniors for exemplary development. thank you for your work. congratulations for your achievement. and thank you for your commitment to rhode island seniors. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york wish to be recognized? without objection, the gentleman is recognize

a flood watch is also in effect for massachusetts, rhode island, and connecticut. that storm currently baring down on the knot east is leaving devastation nit wake. a tornado touched down in rayne, louisiana after protecting her son. 12 other people were hurt. yesterday louisiana's governor toured the town and surveyed the damage. >> i want to stop by recognizing the resill yen and generosity of rayne. we will rebuild back better and stronger. >> he says there will be more -- they will know more about federal assistance after teams from the state and federal government assess the damage. right now crews are clearing properties and making sure buildings are structural sound before people are allowed back in. >>> in a few hours a coast guard trial will begin in alameda over a boat crash in san diego that killed an eight- year-old boy. opening statements are expecting today in the court- martial of petty officer paul ramos. he was responding to a call of a boat in the water. he collided with a pleasure boat that was docked to watch the parade. a jury of seven coast gu

we grew up with jeremy in cumberland, rhode island.junior year abroad. and he picked up the accent. >> jeremy: but i was formed by my early time there. [ laughter ] >> actually though -- the von bulough connection. >> which is a nice rhode island story. >> jeremy: of course, yeah. is he still alive? >> he's brilliant in that. >> but sunny isn't, is she? >> no, she's not. >> no, no. >> jimmy: thanks for bringing the party down, jeremy. i appreciate that. [ laughter ] >> by the way, this is like a real show. we thought you were doing a podcast. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: no, i have a talk show. this is on national television. >> i'm stunned by this. >> jimmy: this is ridiculous. >> i thought it was like a -- >> jimmy: he and bobby -- >> jeremy: does it go on the television? >> jimmy: jeremy, this is not a radio show. >> it hits some markets. >> can you get it on your iphone? >> jimmy: most markets. >> it's like a huge thing. >> jimmy: it's a giant thing. people can see you, yeah. [ cheers and applause ] >> oh, my god. >> jimmy: if people don

. >>> in rhode island lawmakers from a task force studying the problem of cyber bullying. the panel is set to address legislation to address online bullying and inappropriate teen texting. >>> in new york madame tussauds unveils its latest wax icon, teen singing sensation justin bieber. >>> all day long stay on top of developments as they break on nbc. tonight watching brian williams with "nbc nightly news." >>> finally a look at what's coming up later on the "today show." ann curry reports live from japan where fears of a nuclear meltdown are mounting. >>> harry potter star daniel radcliffe talks about bringing his magic to broadway in the hit revival "how to succeed in business without really trying." now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry.

rhode island democrat jack reed is on the armed services committee. and georgia republican johnny isakson is on the foreign relations committee. i spoke to them a short time ago. senators, thank you very much for joining us. senator reed and senator isakson. before i ask you about what president obama said last night, senator isakson, just quickly, do you believe the u.s. should be involved militarily in libya in the first place? >> i think we've done the right thing but in the wrong way. i think the president should have first come to congress as did bill clinton when we went into kosovo and george bush when we went into iraq and afghanistan. but i do think it's important when democracy is emerging around the world, the united states to be a supporter of those who want freedom and peace. >> woodruff: what about you, senator reed? should the u.s. be there at all? >> i think the president has very adroitly assembled a diplomatic initiative that complemented a very limited military initiative. we set the basically we set the parameters for turning it ov

the mayor of providence, rhode island, has fired every one of the city's nearly 2,000 teachers. >> show me just cause. >> reporter: but says he'll rehire as many as he can afford. >> we have to balance our budget. we have to educate our kids. we're going to do both. >> reporter: a major issue in providence and elsewhere is tenure. a controversial teachers union protection, frequently perceived as a job guarantee. nationwide, a handful of states are trying to eliminate it. >> teaching can no longer be the only profession where you have no rewards for excellence and no consequences for failure. let new jersey lead the way again. the time to eliminate teacher tenure is now. >> reporter: but what is tenure? new public school teachers get tenure after three to five years, but it is not a job guarantee. >> what it means in the k-12 system is that you are entitled to a hearing, and that's it. >> reporter: but at least nine states have replaced tenure and the perception of a permanent position with renewable contracts, based on teacher evaluations. in 1997, oregon was among the first to adopt r

. >> reporter: in providence, rhode island, the school board announced that all of the district's 2,000 teachers were given pink slips. not all of those teachers will lose their jobs, but it's an example of tough budget decisions facing school districts nationwide. and the results for many, classes will be combined because of teacher layoffs. in fact, one survey found 65% of school administrators expect class size to increase in the next school year. this high school psychology class in los angeles already has nearly 60 students enrolled. nationwide, the average class size is 23. >> it's depressing when you realize that some are going to fall through the cracks and you can't do anything about it. >> reporter: but some argue, class size is only one part of the equation. >> class size by comparison is virtually meaningless. put a great teacher in front of a large class, and you can expect good results. >> reporter: teachers insist, smaller classes are especially important for kindergarten through third grade. >> we're really going to pay a high price in future years by increasing class si

ashleigh banfield went to rhode island for an exclusive interview.y, in just watching him, listening to him and the whole town, your heart just breaks. >> reporter: i've been in a lot of courtrooms. this is as bad as they get. as grisly as they get. a 5-year-old boy, stabbed to death by the 16-year-old who lived across the street. a teenager who did unspeakable things to his body and held that body for seven years in the house. and all the while, keeping a journal. but he confessed. and now, is getting out. and there may be nothing anyone can do to stop it. >> you know, it was terrible the way he was killed. my head is hurting from it. my heart's hurting from it. all the people in this community are hurting from it, as well. >> reporter: it's been 36 years since john foreman last saw his 5-year-old son, jason. the little boy was abducted in front of his kingston, rhode island home, by the teenager who lived across the street. and it was unsolved for years. until that teenager, confessed. >> when i saw the coroner's car, i knew why it was there. it ju

continued up through the 31st, and representatives of the team went back to new england to visit rhode island officials, and there was a sense that other competitors, other cities were really in the running. that was the backdrop against which we -- first, the mayor knew some and later with city staff, reached out to the event authority to take advantage of the delegation of authority that the board had offered in its resolution. i will get into some of the details that counsel is going over earlier. the mayor had a series of exchanges with the ceo of oracle least management. during those exchanges, and i was not party to them, but in essence, they established clearly the terms that oracle and the event authority were looking for in the city's bid that would bring us back into this preferred position to win the bid. so it was a high level term sheet discussion. in essence, they were wanting clarity about their ability to develop seawall lot 330 and years 30 and 32, and i will get into those details in a moment. we wanted to understand how the infrastructure financing district would work. with

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from rhode island is recognized for two minutes. . mr. cicilline: i urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so we can address this important issue. manufactures in my home state of rhode island and those across the nation are working hard and playing by the rules and they are suffering disproportionately because their counterparts refuse to play by the same set of rules in the global economy. one way chinese businesses cheap is by keeping their currency artificially low so their imports are cheaper than u.s. goods. that's simply not fair and this practice must end. artificially low chinese currency contributes greatly to the global trade imbalance which puts u.s. businesses and workers at a significant disadvantage. chinese unfair currency manipulation has destroyed millions of good-pailing american jobs and jeopardizes the future of the american middle class. employment and manufacturing shrank from 20 million in 1979 to fewer than 12 million jobs today. in rhode island we experienced the loss of more than 30,000 manufacturing

continued up through the 31st, and representatives of the team went back to new england to visit rhode island officials, and there was a sense that other competitors, other cities were really in the running. that was the backdrop against which we -- first, the mayor knew some and later with city staff, reached out to the event authority to take advantage of the delegation of authority that the board had offered in its resolution. i will get into some of the details that counsel is going over earlier. the mayor had a series of exchanges with the ceo of oracle least management. during those exchanges, and i was not party to t

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island rise? >> permission to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cicilline: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to recognize the creativity, effort and resourcefulness of two local housing authorities in the first congressional district of rhode island. at a time when rhode island and many other states across our country are experiencing unacceptably high foreclosure rates there are some beacons of light in the housing sector. beacons like the town of lincoln housing authority and the housing authority of the city of providence. which are both being recognized by the national association of housing and redevelopment officials as awards of merits winners for being well positioned to meet the demand for safe and affordable housing for low and very low income families. the lincoln housing authority has instituted innovative programming for seniors and the providence housing aut

guest: yesterday i was meeting with the rhode island delegation.i found was that the senators and congress people from rhode island are pretty aware of these trends. in fact, rhode island is one of the state's, like quite a lot of states in this country that experienced no net population growth. the white and black populations are raising and quite static, and to the extent that there is some dynamics in the population, it is from asian and hispanic people moving into the state. we find that we are going to be dependent on these groups for the future. rhode island has a very high unemployment rate, and people are asking questions about what is the future of the economy and the job market. well, what we have to offer increasingly is an immigrant labor force or a minority labor force. we are not doing a very good job of paring it to do good work, -- of preparing it to do good work. that is the issue from a policy perspective. host: from virginia, joanne, on the independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call i agree with the first lady. race i