and what about houston's sheila jackson lee?ncluding when it was george bush walking down the aisle. not a plait call friend by any means. look at 2008. >> she greets them by saying "hey brother" and tries to say something to him and it becomes immediately clear that bush has absolutely no interest in getting caught in a conversation with her. >> reporter: but somehow it is worth it because -- >> if you really hit the jackpot, you get to shake your hand, maybe he'll tell you a joke and all your constituents back home, i guess, are going to say you, say, wow, that's my congressman. >> my congressman? dale, after 18 terms, has been at this so long he's practically a state of the union institution. and who is to say, maybe he's here just because he can be, because it's an honor and thrill and nothing to do with who is watching as he flashes into frame and once again out. i'm john donvan for "nightline" in washington. >> the aisle hogs. thanks to john donvan and salon for that. >>> when we come back, the president's performance. tha

representative sakafa trn a, representative sheila, jackson lee, 18th district texas. jessie jackson june yor ee lija kuc cummin dpfrns. representative gregory meeks. mike >> representative an draw carson. donna edwards, maryland. karen bass. . representative terry sull. second district. fredericka willson. ladies and gentleman, please join me in congratulating the 112 j congress of the black caucus. >> thank you. it's my pleasure to introduce the ref rant mccompany. join me in welcoming dr. myron mccompany. >> i invite us all to be in an attitude of prayer. god who has walked with us, we thank you for a rich legacy of heroes and heroins that have stood in the gap. they stood in the midst of all man r and organized oppression. we thank you for them allowing us to stand on their shoulders and build on their efforts. >> we thank god for allowing us to see a new day. we are mindful that the struggle continues and that there are still many miles to go before we speak. we thank you that you promised never to abandon us or leave us alone. thank you for all the returning memb

we were joined by sheila jackson lee who will be joining us again shortly from the great state of texas. i see that we have a question already. congressman cleaver. >> thank you. yesterday a new proposal was floated. which is a debt service first policy. that is to say that if this proposal is approved, then the nation would pay it's debt service on the debt before any other expenditures. now that's approximately $140 billion a month. the third highest ever. the third highest monthly debt service ever. and usually the debt service is anywhere between 1/3 and 5th highest expenditure in the national budget. so the proposal is before social security, before medicare, before anything else, we pay debt service. what impact would such a policy have overall? and certainly what it would have if there's no consideration given in the budget close to the top for both the populations, the aged, the young? >> well, it seems to me that that is only binding if they say when we run out of money, we won't fund anything else. so i mean currently the debt service is paid, and other things are paid, and we

i'd like to yield now five minutes to the gentlewoman from texas, congresswoman sheila jackson lee. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentlelady. it's a pleasure to be able to join my colleagues on the floor and including congressman gregory meeks of new york, who we'll have the opportunity to hear from and i thank dr. christensen for your continued leadership and my colleague on the judiciary committee, we have the opportunity to contribute to the debate today. the judiciary committee has at its jurisdiction the constitution and our friends on the other side of the aisle keep talking about this is unconstitutional. it baffles me. and almost frustratings me -- frustrates me because i'm trying to grab hold of the argument, particularly since we've had medicare by the federal government since 1965 and has withstood any constitutional challenge and that was implemented under the commerce act. but frankly, if we have an argument to make on the constitution, i will share with you why this is clearly a constitutional bill because we are actually denying people both due process and equal protect

we were joined by sheila jackson lee who will be joining us again shortly from the great state of texas. i see that we have a question already. congressman cleaver. >> thank you. yesterday a new proposal was floated. which is a debt service first policy. that is to say that if this proposal is approved, then the nation would pay it's debt service on the debt before any other expenditures. now that's approximately $140 billion a month. the third highest ever. the third highest monthly debt service ever. and usually the debt service is anywhere between 1/3 and 5th highest expenditure in the national budget. so the proposal is before social security, before medicare, before anything else, we pay debt service. what impact would such a policy have overall? and certainly what it would have if there's no consideration given in the budget close to the top for both the populations, the aged, the young? >> well, it seems to me that that is only binding if they say when we run out of money, we won't fund anything else. so i mean currently the debt service is paid, and other things are paid, and we

and what about houston's sheila jackson lee?ge bush walking down the aisle. not a political friend by any means. look at 2008. >> she greets him by saying, hey brother, and then she tries to say something to him, and it becomes immediately clear that bush has absolutely no interest getting caught in a conversation with her. >> reporter: but somehow it is worth it because -- >> if you're really lucky, if you hit the jackpot, he'll shake your hand, maybe he'll take a joke, maybe you'll say something to him and all your constituents back home, i guess, are going to see you and say, wow, that's my congressman. >> reporter: my congressman? heck, dale kildee after 18 terms has been at it so long he's almost a state institution and who's to say, maybe he's here because he can be, because it's an honor and a thrill and has nothing to do with who's watching, as he flashes into frame and once again out. i'm john donvan in washington. >> such an interesting phenomenon. and the guy who wrote the article in salon.com actually said the first

conyers: i yield to sheila jackson lee of texas, a senior member of the committee, for the remaining time. which is about one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for 2 1/2 minutes. ms. jackson lee: mr. chairman, you're absolutely right. this is a constitutional question that has been raised. as i came to the floor earlier, i mentioned my predecessor, congresswoman jordan, who believed in this constitution without question. i mentioned the 14th amendment. i now mention the fifth amendment. first of all, the commerce clause covers this bill but the fifth amendment speaks specifically to denying someone their life and liberty without due process. that is what h.r. 2 does. and i rise in opposition to it. and i rise in opposition because it is important that we preserve lives and we recognize that 40 million-plus are uninsured. in my own county, harris county, this bill will allow some 800,000 uninsured members of harris county, citizens of harris county, to be insured in texas. in addition, the texas department of insurance, as many other states, have

conyers: i yield to sheila jackson lee of texas, a senior member of the committee, for the remaining time. which is about one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for 2 1/2 minutes. ms. jackson lee: mr. chairman, you're absolutely right. this is a constitutional question that has been raised. as i came to the floor earlier, i mentioned my predecessor, congresswoman jordan, who believed in this constitution without question. i mentioned the 14th amendment. i now mention the fifth amendment. first of all, the commerce clause covers this bill but the fifth amendment speaks specifically to denying someone their life and liberty without due process. that is what h.r. 2 does. and i rise in opposition to it. and i rise in opposition because it is important that we preserve lives and we recognize that 40 million-plus are uninsured. in my own county, harris county, this bill will allow some 800,000 uninsured members of harris county, citizens of harris county, to be insured in texas. in addition, the texas department of insurance, as many other states, have

conyers: i yield to sheila jackson lee of texas, a senior member of the committee, for the remaining time. which is about one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for 2 1/2 minutes. ms. jackson lee: mr. chairman, you're absolutely right. this is a constitutional question that has been raised. as i came to the floor earlier, i mentioned my predecessor, congresswoman jordan, who believed in this constitution without question. i mentioned the 14th amendment. i now mention the fifth amendment. first of all, the commerce clause covers this bill but the fifth amendment speaks specifically to denying someone their life and liberty without due process. that is what h.r. 2 does. and i rise in opposition to it. and i rise in opposition because it is important that we preserve lives and we recognize that 40 million-plus are uninsured. in my own county, harris county, this bill will allow some 800,000 uninsured members of harris county, citizens of harris county, to be insured in texas. in addition, the texas department of insurance, as many other states, hav

representative sheila jackson-lee, 18th district, texas.epresentative jesse jackson, jr., second district, illinois. representative elijah cummings, seventh district, maryland. representative donna christensen, delegate, virgin islands, first vice chair congressional black caucus. representative danny k. davis, seventh district, illinois. representative gregory meeks, sixth district, new york. representative william lacy clay, first districts, missouri. representative david scott, 13th district, georgia. representative g.k. butterfield, jr., first district, north carolina, second vice chair, congressional black caucus. representative al green, 9th district, texas. representative gwen moore, fourth district, wisconsin. representative yvette d. clark, 11th district, new york, secretary congressional black caucus. representative keith ellison, fifth district, minnesota. representative hank johnson, fourth district, georgia. representative laura richardson, 37th district, california. representative andre carson, seventh district, indiana west c

sheila jackson lee will join us again shortly. \ \ the gray / state of texas. from the great state of texas. >> yesterday, a new proposal was floated. it was a debt-service perk first policy. first policy. if this proposal is approved, the nation would pay its debt service on the desk before any other expenditures. that is approximately $140 billion. per month. that is the third highest monthly debt service ever. usually, the debt services anywhere between the third and fifth highest expenditure in the national budget. the proposal is before so security, medicare and anything else. we pay debt service. what impact would such a policy have overall and what would it have that there is no consideration given in the budget close to the top four of the vulnerable populations, the aged and the young? >> it seems like that is only binding if they say that when we run out of money, we will not spend anything else. currently, the debt service is paid and other things are paid and we increase our deficit. if their point is that we will pay the debt when we run out of cas