republican senator tom coburn talks about the role of judges and the commerce clause. this is one hour. >> thank you, mr. chairman. miss kagan, welcome. you are probably aware of the fact that, about 12 years ago, then majority leader began a tradition -- bank goodness it became a tradition -- thank good became a tradition -- thank good is that it

host: senator tom coburn, thanks for being here. when we come back, we will turn our attention to the claims process down in the gulf coast for those who are seeking to get economic reimbursement from bp. first, a news update. >> here in washington d.c., here are the headlines. a top iraqi official says the u.s. has turned over 55 members of saddam hussein's former regime. among them, tariq aziz, you might remember he was the international face of the regime for years. tomorrow u.s. authorities believe the last american-run detention facility in iraq. california democratic senator dianne feinstein and weeks of the late tuesday and set a confirmation hearing for president obama's nomination of retired air force general to be the next director of national intelligence. that hearing is scheduled for july 20. by doing so she backed off from a threat to wait until a key piece of intelligence legislation passed the house before putting the confirmation process in motion. state agencies in utah are investigating whether any of their employ

about 45 minutes, we will discuss immigration with congressman luis gutierrez and talk to senator tom coburnbout the economy and an attorney with a look at the compensation process for gulf coast residents who suffered losses due to the oil spill. this is "washington journal."

it is why senator tom coburn asked her a seemingly silly hypothetical about the constitutionality of a law that requires americans to eat vegetables and fruits. all seven republicans on the committee sent her a letter last week demanding to know what she knew about the construction of the health care a lot as solicitor general and when she knew it. they're looking for any excuse to get her to recuse herself if there is a close vote in the court, more importantly coming up with excuses to vote against her." that vote will be today, we are covering it live on c-span 3. we want to direct you to c- span.org. we have a link for this confirmation process, you can see the senators who have indicated how they plan to vote. you can see statements from the senators as well as speech is that she has given. that is the hub for the nomination for the supreme court on elena kagan. the editorial today in "usa today," the paper says that she deserves bipartisan backing but that she will not get it. the opposing view is written by jeff sessions, who says that a big government vision is what she has a

i understand that tom coburn are heard an amendment to remove it, but democrats defeated the amendment -- host: what is your second point? caller: the second is that the under 26 can stay on their parents' health care coverage. i heard discussion on the radio in detroit that this will discourage marriage, an unforeseen consequence, because many young people. under the age of 26 -- guest: discouraged? host: marriage. guest: i had not thought about that, to be honest with you. that is an interesting thing to look into. with respect to ru486, there are real differences of opinion on that, and i don't think that i am the person to arbitrate that. host: are those each individually sponsored health- care plans that may or may not fund -- guest: yes, and it is very much depending on which helped plan. it is worth noting that today, again, in the private insurance market, where most of us are still getting our coverage, i think about half of the health insurance policies already cover abortion. a lot of people may not realize that, but that has been something of the industry standard for awhil

she was mad at center tom coburn for saying earlier in the hearing that some freedoms had been diminished are paying attention, that actually is true. the other branches of the government's do not seem to mind helping things along with the judiciary, but i digress. senator amy klobuchar was rambling -- some of you have seen it in your schools, the attitude helps with their ideological delusion that women are somehow oppressed in the united states, despite the fact that say the secretary of state is a woman. talks about -- talk to the woman about to be stoned to death in iran for adultery. center " which are asked solicitor general kaydin how many women were on the supreme court in 1980. 0 is the answer. how dramatically this was noted. how many women were in the senate in 1980. it was made clear again and that it was 0, which was later corrected. one was clearly not only the lonely but that number in her mind. she said, as i think about that question, there is no question that women have greater opportunities now, although they could be greater still. she would then praise kagan being con

i understand that tom coburn are heard an amendment to remove it, but democrats defeated the amendment -- host: what is your second point? caller: the second is that the under 26 can stay on their parents' health care coverage. i heard discussion on the radio in detroit that this will discourage marriage, an unforeseen consequence, because many young people. under the age of 26 -- guest: discouraged? host: marriage. guest: i had not thought about that, to be honest with you. that is an interesting thing to look into. with respect to ru486, there are real differences of opinion on that, and i don't think that i am the person to arbitrate that. host: are those each individually sponsored health- care plans that may or may not fund -- guest: yes, and it is very much depending on which helped plan. it is worth noting that today, again, in the private insurance market, where most of us are still getting our coverage, i think about half of the health insurance policies already cover abortion. a lot of people may not realize that, but that has been something of the industry standard for awhil