[applause] >> steny, thank you very much. you know, steny, i still have that first check. i've been going through my old records, i've got a copy of it. it actually cleared. you know, first of all, i want to thank everybody for coming. i know the hour is late and i'm not going to talk long tonight. if you can believe that. but i just -- i'm just so overwhelmed and humbled by the tributes. rachel, thank you. president clinton, harold, bruce, my friend danny sim el, rabbi sim el, tom vilsack, thank you for those wonderful tributes and really for everybody still here and everybody who was in this room tonight. y'all played such a big part in my life, such a big part in the success of the d.l.c., and in the -- such a big part in the new democrat movement. so thank you. i am just fondly and eternal -- profoundly and eternally grateful to all of you. i've tried to get around and talk to as many of you as i could individually and obviously i can't. i can tell by who is here who doesn't have to go to work tomorrow. i just have to say a couple of things about some very special peop

but i learned that lesson from steny hoyer. those who know me best know that i'm not one to shy away from a fig fight. ginger says i'm downright combative. lord knows i'm a democrat. i have never voted for a republican in my life and i probably never will. but i'm disgusted with the polarization and incivility that has come to define our politics and i deeply believe that the daunting challenges that president obama faces and america faces today require a transformation transformational post-partisan solutions that one party alone cannot produce. history has shown time after time the transformational reforms most often come with bipartisan support. social security. the g.i. became. the civil rights act. reforms that fundamentally transformed american life all passed congress with huge majorities of members of both parties. my old boss ed muskie taught me about that. he had a rule. we could never introduce a piece of major legislation without having a republican as the principal co-sponsor. that doesn't mean we can't argue with

clinton and house majority leader steny hoyer. . speakers include bill clinton, house majority leader steny ho yer, and incoming dlc chair bruce reed. >> ladies and gentlemen, rabbi daniels. ogata, creator of universe is -- oh, god, creator of universes, we're here to recognize a friend, a patriot, a leader, a lover of our country. in this moment, as we should in all moments, we recognize your presence in the work of our hands, your light, and the clarity we attain. your spirits, and the wisdom we achieve. your inspiration, and the good that we seek to do. we ask for continued guidance and a blessing, even as we know that we often merit them not. we thank you for our many guests. -- figts. -- gifts. so many across the nation and the globe are not here this evening. our tradition teaches that five years old, the person should study scripture. at 13, the commandments. at 20, one is ready for 1's life pursuit -- one's life pursuit. at 50, one is ready to give counsel. at 60, one becomes an elder, and with your grace, a sage. one would

speakers include bill clinton, steny hoyer and bruce reed. this lasts about an hour and a half. >> ladies and gentlemen, lab buy daniels. >> oh god, creature of universe upon universe, we are here this evening no honor, thank and recognize a friend, a patriot, a lead leader, a lover of our country. in this moment, dear god, as we should in all moments, we recognize your presence in the work of our hands, your light and the clarity we attain, your spirit and the wisdom we achi e achieve, your inspiration and the good that we seek to do. we ask for your continued guidance and blessing even as we know that we often merit them n not. we thank you for our many gifts. this evening we thank you for al and engineer fro ginger ginger others that are not here this evening. our tradition teaches that at 5 years old the person should study scripture. at 13 the commandments, at 20 one is ready for one's life pursuit. at 40 within achieves discernment. at 50 one is ready to give counsel. at 60, one becomes an elder even with your grace, a sage. which is is

then, former president bill clinton and steny hoyer at a business dinner. after that, another chance to see it the conversation with columnist george will. >> this week on "newsmakers," congressman pete stark discusses legislation working its way through congress. he talks about one proposal that would establish a public health insurance plan to compete with private plans. >> at the end of the day, if you choose to have competition and you choose to have a plan that is dependable and affordable, you cannot do it without having a public plan there. that creates the competition for the private plan. so yes, there will be a public plan in the bill. will the people vote for? i don't know who wants to go home in next year's primary and say i voted against the plan that is going to provide 30,000 people in my district, most of whom are nonwhite, most of whom are poor, most of who are working, and most to do not have a way now to get insurance. i don't think that is a vote many people want to make. >> california congressman pete stark, tomorrow morning at 10:00 an

i would like to thank the majority leader, steny hoyer, for his work on it. and i would like to thank congressman connellly for his work as well. the the gentlewoman from from new york has worked tirelessly to make the federal government an environment that is supportive of working mothers and fathers. i want to thank her for her efforts. and may i add, a job well done. we need to recognize that the federal government is the largest employer in the united states and that it is -- its policies should set the tone for the country. h.r. 626 provides federal employees with four weeks of paid parental leave for the simple reason that no employee should have to choose between caring for a new child or their paycheck. by providing four weeks of paid parental leave, h.r. 626 makes a strategic investment in the federal work force. this bill will help the government recruit and retain young talented employees. as the federal government prepares for a wave of upcoming retirements, we need to attract this segment of the population to help us take on some of the challenge

whereas, on december 5, 2006, majority leader steny hoyer, stated, quote, we intend to have a rules committee that gives opposition voices and alternative proposals the ability to be heard and considered on the floor of the house, unquote. "congress daily" december 5, 2006. whereas, during debate on june 14, 2005, in the congressional record on page h-4410 chairwoman louise slaughter of the house rules committee stated, quote, if we want to foster democracy in this body we should take the time and thoughtfulness to debate all major legislation under an open rule, not just appropriations bills which are already restricted, an open process should be the norm and not the exception, unquote. whereas, since january, 2007, there has been a failure to commit to an open and transparent process in the house of representatives. >> the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the house will be in order. members and staff will take their conversations from the floor. members will take their seats. the gentleman from georgia. mr. price: whereas, since january, 2007 -- wh

steny hoyer in 2006 came out in the paper to support the spirit does he favor the repeal of the 22nd amendment or not? the i think the president is in support of an amendment that would limit his time as president to eight years. >> the armed services committee voted to restore funding for seven f-22's. are you losing this battle? >> no, there is not a lot of support for that weapons program at the pentagon. the determination they made in going forward, that is not a weapon system they believe should be a priority moving forward. our administration set out a statement of administration policy that said that funding and funding for other aircraft were in legislation, that senior advisers at the white house would advocate a veto of that. >> five years ago, when president aristide of haiti was overthrown by the military, the previous administration recognized a new government by the chief justice. under the haitian constitution, he was an extensive section. -- next in secession. in honduras, their president is ousted. the new president is in accordance with honduran law. >> what we saw

the knowledge claire mccaskill, and as i said, i want to acknowledge the speaker of the house and steny hoyer. they are here because they are fully supportive of the efforts. two years ago, a democratic congress put in place rules to restore the principle gut -- but could not pass legislation without the support of the administration. you now have this support. the fact is, there are few people not distressed by deficits. this crosses party lines and ideological lines. but often in the political process, the interests of the few overtake the interests of the many. the debate of the day is drowning out the people who speak about what we may face tomorrow. that is why this is essential. congress must navigate politics but must be fixed on the horizon -- the fiscal horizon. it will take time and patience to dig out of the hold, and some tough choices. in the face of this challenge, there are many who are skeptical of the collective ability, they are not wrong to feel this way, after years in which we have allowed politics to grow smaller as the challenges became more daunting. and everyone

. -- steny hoyer district. i have a very progressive social values and i see tom smiling there as most republicans would. let me inform you that i spent seven years and navy special operations. i have a great deal of respect for thomas jefferson, who i think would be rolling over in his grave if he saw what was happening today. one of the things that i notice this one was tom's reaction, with his final statements, good luck. i also have a master's in economics. guest: i wish you good luck at this point. we will see what comes out of the health-care plan. when you start having the government take care of everybody with a problem, these are not simple solutions, we just continue to borrow money. it is an inefficient way of doing things number one. i think i am progress of in my views as well. i the government as a very tough business. i don't know that you can call on washington to solve this. she will be eligible for medicare in three years. at that point, she can probably get some of will -- some relief on thes

2007, i sat down with the republican whip and the democratic whip in the house of representatives -- steny hoyer of maryland, mr. roy blunt of missouri -- and we went through and took account of all of the concerns that they had on both sides in the house of representatives. we worked with lawyers from the department of justice, from the intelligence community, and lawyers for the majority staff in the house of representatives. and it took us several months. but what we finally came up with was a piece of legislation that overwhelmingly passed on a bipartisan basis the house and came back and passed the senate on a bipartisan basis. another key aspect of the fisa amendments act was to ensure -- the key problem was to ensure the intelligence community could continue to collect timely intelligence that could be used to prevent future terrorist attacks. another key aspect of the legislation was liability provisions that were designed to end frivolous litigation against companies alleged to have responded to request for assistance from the highest levels of government. i don't know what planet

speakers include bill clinton, steny hoyer, and the incoming dlc chairman. this is about an hour. >> standing right behind me, so save me, please. ladies and gentlemen, the rabbi. >> oh, god, a creature of the universe upon universe. we're here this evening to honor, to ease bank, and to recognize a friend, a patriot, a leader, a lover of our country. in this moment, dear god, as we should in all moments, we recognize your presence and the work of our hands, your lights and the clarity we attain, your spirit and the wisdom with chief, at your inspiration and the good that we seek to do. we ask for your continued guidance and blessing, even as we know that we all -- we often merit than not. we thank you for our many deaths. this evening, we thank you for al and ginger from who have shared some much of themselves with all of us and many more across the nation in the globe or not here this evening. our tradition teaches at five years old, the person should study scripture. at 13, the commandments. at 20, one is ready for one's life pursuits. at 40, one achieves

i want to thank steny hoyer. i want to thank my partner and my county, george miller, and i want to thank ike skelton and jim oberstar, my chairman, for being so generous and for helping me learn. i want to thank again my constituents for the honor. i especially want to thank my family, my parents, and my sisters and brothers, and my friends who have been patient and understanding when i couldn't be at birthday parties and volleyball games. i want to thank my daughter who was raised in the house. she came here as a 5 1/2-year-old. she is now going to college and i'm so thrilled that she's emans fate penn stated and happy and healthy and a smart young woman. we should be as proud of her as i am because you helped raise her. i want to thankspecially my fiance, jim, whom i will marry tomorrow. thank you. it's hard to be a blushing bride at my age but i'll do my best. let me just close and say that no matter where i'm serving in government, i will always remember those that sent me here and i will always be be gratef

steny hoyer is saying he does not like that idea. guest: let me take one step back here. this is half a of an idea that rockefeller from west virginia came up with. there is a medicare payment advisory commission. it is just an advisory commission. it tries to give congress reports on medicare, what kinds of things that should cover, how much it should pay for certain services. but it is just advisory. senator rockefeller once to give that commission full-fledged -- senator rockefeller would like to give that commission full- fledged authority to make those decisions. the idea is that day will be removed from political pressure. they might be able to make logical and rational decisions about what happens with medicare. president obama countered with his own twist on that theme in the letter he sent to the hill. he said he was giving some thought to may be setting up a base closure commission to handle this. there are a number of politicians who interestingly think it may not be such a good idea. you're still letting congress make all of these different medical decisions a

if so, the house majority leader steny hoyer has threatened to drive the business into the recess. there is a possibility of that. in may stave off that kind of direction of the floor action this week. host: here is another story in the paper this morning about house agriculture chairman from minnesota. how does that play into energy? guest: the energy bill is the no. 2 priority. dthey are nowhere near a decisin on that. he is one of the causes. it calls for a cap on carbon emissions and fines for people who pollute. he feels this bill would compromise the energy-intensive agricultural industry. farmers would have to pay more for fertilizer and equipment. he also feels the farmers are not being given enough credit for some of their conservation efforts. he is telling this bill. until peterson and other members from farming districts come along the house will not be able to move it. host: thanks for being with us. where can people read your congressional coverage? caller: dcexaminer.com. host: how is the job situation there in central florida? caller:

obama's remarks at the radio correspondents dinner and another opportunity to see president clinton and steny hoyer at a dinner for al from head of the democratic leadership council. >> tomorrow on "washington journal," a round table discussion with tony blank lee, "washington times" columnist and jon-christopher bua on iran, health care and politics. tom davis will talk about the republican party, virginia politics and issues like health care and kevin baker, contributing editor for "harper's" magazine discusses his cover story "barack "hoover" obama." >> every weekend, "book tv" has the latest nonfiction books and authors on c-span2. on afterwords eduardo galeano recounts the creation of the world through a short story collection. "after words" also airs sunday night at 9:00 eastern. also sunday, books on the economy, former investment banker john talbot exposes myths about the recession and what it will take to recover and jay richards on why he thinks capitalism is the best way to ease problems. also this weekend, the end of overeating. david kessler talks about how americans, programmed

the fact i am sitting here -- steny a week later and it hasn't come out as a surprise to me but i am assured her that it is being worked as i said as we speak and hopefully will have some resolutions to this rather soon. >> is there a commitment to releasing to the public? >> when you say a commitment, i don't know that i made a commitment, i don't know the secretary did a commitment. i have heard reports of commitments made by others. you know the secretary and chairman well and now, barbara, and both those men are people who believe in accountability, who believe in transparency and i think there defiled position is always to share more than last. so i would suspect that there is support of the highest levels of this building for sharing something with you all, but it is still being worked so i can say definitively what the outcome of that will be at. >> we may or may not receive something released? >> as i said, it is being worked and how to have some resolution on it soon and i will be the first to tell you when we do and hopefully it can come and hours and not days but we shall

now, when the republicans were in control and we had a $300 billion deficit, the now majority leader steny hoyer called that fiscal child abuse. now we have a $1.8 trillion deficit. this earmark makes it $155,000 worse, fiscal child abuse for the ipod generation. it should not be accepted. the chair: all time having expired, the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. hensarling: i request a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. hensarling: i rise as the designee of mr. lewis of california to offer amendment number 76 as printed in the congressional record. the chair: the gentleman is the designee of mr. lewis of california and the clerk will designated the amendment. the chair: amendment number 76, printed in the congressional record, offer

and i want to express my appreciation to nancy pelosi and steny hoyer for their leadership. we all know why this is so important. the nation that leads in the creation of a clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century's global economy. that's what this legislation seeks to achieve. it's a bill that will open the door -- door door to a better future for this nation and that's why i urge members of congress to come together and pass it. the last issue i'd like to address is health care. right now congress is debating various health care reform proposals. this is obviously a complicated issue but i am very optimistic about the progress that they're making. like energy, this is legislation that must and will be paid for. it will not add to our deficits over the next decade. we will find the money through savings and efficiencies within the health care system. some of which we've already announced. we will also ensure that the reform we pass brings down the crushing cost of health care. we simply can't have a system where we throw good money after bad habit

understand why 46 cents on the dollar, borrowing it from the chinese, something that majority leader steny hoyer once described in increasing the federal deficit, fiscal child abuse. we must have priorities. we must reject this earmark. and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: all time having expired, the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. the gentleman from texas. mr. hensarling: i request a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6, rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> mr. chairman, i rise as the designee of the the gentleman from california, mr. lewis, to offer amendment number 105. the chair: the gentleman is the designee of mr. lewis of california. and the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 105 plinted in the congressional record offered by mr. campbell of california. the chair: pursuant to house

what kind of presumptuous person and i to think that i could write something down in my steny in columbia, missouri that somebody in seattle or florida would want to read it? i got a letter and somebody says something, there is one person i reached so you keep going after these little straws when you're buying, anything to keep you going especially the first draft done here and here is a letter slightly different kind -- i'm reading the first sentence or two. if you are becoming a writer this may help to a little bit. your new book is one of the dulles things i have rhetoric read. [laughter] trust a, i read every word of it. i even read portions of it to my wife so she could see how bill it was. [laughter] i think the word here that we're looking for is anal compulsive of although i do know once i start a book i really don't like to quit in the middle and anybody in that category here, you keep going and say damage but to keep going. i do this and i found i can read faster and faster and with labor isn't working but i've developed this, before i commit a start reading and say i'm not read

we're now joined by steny beth morton, the national coordinator for the key party patriots. tea party patriots. [applause] >> thank you. barbara of florida volunteered as a local coordinator for one of the 850 plus tea parties that were held on april 15th. like 1.2 million taxpayers on the streets on tax day commission is concerned about the atom control government spending and taxing. barbara is unique. she has been diagnosed with what can be a terminal illness. she knows intimately that her time on this earth is limited and she has made a commitment to herself, her family, her to grandson's, her community, and her country to use what every time she has left to serve her country. our country, america. tea party pages with the help of people like barbara around the country are mobilizing grassroots activists who are the heart and soul of the tea party movement. we are going to be doing several things to defeat nationalized health care and to promote irresponsible government spending. what we are doing is taking the expertise from panelists like you guys and putting it on the

so outrageous that the majority leader of the house of representatives, steny hoyer, whom i joined at a press conference just a few hours ago, made these statements -- two sundays ago i was on a telephone call with the folks at the white house who are helping to make our policy with respect to this and i asked them this -- what money does it save the manufacturer, general motors or chrysler if you shut down a dealership? the answer, zero, zero, zero. this is the official answer from the auto task force to the majority leader of the united states house of representatives , and we send letters to general motor we send letters to the auto task force and all we get is silence. the destruction of a family business after 90 years does not deserve silence in america. it deserves the outrage of america saying how dare you close down these dealerships. when it costs you no money to keep them open. we ask general motors and chrysler, tell us the reasons why we're -- why you're doing it, and do you know what they say? it's to lessen competition. that means americans have less choice. that means

they actively have been meeting with us and supporting it for the past 15 years that majority leader steny hoyer and myself and others have been championing this bill. i'd like to put their letters of support in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mrs. maloney: i also would like to point out that this bill is pay-go neutral and would not affect, and i quote, direct spending or reseats. -- or receipts. to be clear, there are no pay-go implications for h.r. 626 because it does not create new expenditures. whether or not an employee takes paid leave, the paid for -- pay for that employee has been included in the salary budget for that agency. the only cost associated with the bill is the amounthat agencies currently save when employees who have a new child take their 12 weeks of unpaid leave, and the $140 million for four weeks of paid leave in the congressional budget office score is what federal agencies currently save when employees take unpaid leave. paid leave can also offset costs by boosting employee morale and productivity while reducing turnover. turno

from speaker pelosi and from several other members there in the house of representatives, although steny hoyer is in favor of the commission approach to solving our entitlement and tax reform crisis. we all know that we can't get this done through the regular order of business. we know it. we won't be able to get it done. and the proof of it is we haven't been able to do it thus far. and so we're going to need the commission. everybody understands that we're going to need it. as i say, if i were the president, if i were the mayor of cleveland, governor -- and i know the president wants to move on health care. i know he wants to move on climate change. but he's got to know that from a substantive point of view and a political point of view, he's going to have to do something about this long-term financial crisis that we find ourselves. and it would seem to me that he could go forward with climate change, he could go forward with health care reform, get the commission formed. it will take the commission at least a year to finish its business. and think of this, if the commission is able to

whereas on december 5, 2006, minority leader -- majority leader steny hoyer stated, we intend to have a rules committee that gives opposition voices and alternative proposals the ability to be heard and considered on the floor of the house. congress daily p.m. december 6, 2006. whereas during debate in the congressional record on page h-4410, chairwoman louise m. slaughter of the rules committee stated, if we want to foster democracy in this body we should take the time and thoughtfulness to debate all major legislation under an open rule, not just appropriation bills, which are already restricted. an open process should be the norm and not the exception. whereas since january, 2007, there has been a failure to commit to an open and transparent process in the house of representatives. whereas more bills were considered under closed rules, 64 total in the 110th congress under democratic control than in the previous congress, 49 under republican control. whereas fewer bills were considered under open rules, 10 total in the 110th congress under democratic control than in the previous con