going to the question of leadership but with the history of the transcontinental railroad railroad, and many people point to that why couldn't it be like that today? it was not so glorious because it took decades of discussion until abraham lincoln would force it through. it did not work perfectly in when they did not meet in the middle. with tales of corruption with jpmorgan and rockefeller made their fortune to start monopolies but we could envision that project because he envisioned the growth of the u.s. from coast to coast that the railroad connected it. to get goods to come back west to make it possible for the settlements you know, that from your time as secretary of transportation that you get economic growth so we did it then but because it did take of leader to florida of coalition from the interstate highway from the transcontinental railroad with 1000 miles of highway opened up all kinds of opportunities in to help the american end economy and then they could grow even more. and then get to working cities they felt abandoned but the defense rationale for the big projects inc

. >> guest: in the history have to look at the transcontinental railroad. many people point to that as the glorious past and why couldn't it be like that today. when i dug into the history, which is fascinating it wasn't glorious because it took decades of discussion and no one did it until abraham lincoln -- in the civil war. is not amazing. there were a lot of compromises that have to be made. it didn't work perfectly. the track started to be laid from the east coast and the west coast and they didn't meet in the middle. so that took extra money. and there were tales of corruption. that was how jpmorgan and john d. rockefeller made their fortunes and started monopolies. but we can envision that big project. we're envisioning the growth of the u.s. from coast-to-coast and have used that territory and i'm not connected by stagecoach. the better route connected and made it possible for farmers to shift their product ease to get good coming back last. and made it possible for settlements to spring up. you know that while from your time as secretary of transpo

chinese-americans as chinese not america's i guess you know we're building infrastructure the transcontinental railroad right i'm here a few generations later with the infrastructure chief infrastructure connects us i tried to explain my job to any children they don't understand that what do you do dad does anyone suffer from that what do you do. >> i explain look at where you walk when you take the bus, how do i drink infrastructure is what i do it connects all of us together we're one in this society and this is why although i first hand today was the staging and the traffic coming over here i'm reminded how to forcefully tells me to stop and look at my neighbor it forces me to stop and look at the other people in my city and my neighborhood i look at into their eyes and wonder where they're going it forces us to show that we are connected i'm not living just my life in a car by myself going from point a to point b that is not about me it is about the we and that's what i love about infrastructure it forces us to look at the eyes of the folks around us so when we celebrate today and we look at the gr

we have had other -- interstate highways was really big like the transcontinental railroad. have a defense rationale and it was a big old project. it was 1000 miles of highways and the huge price tag. opened up all kinds of opportunities and has held the american economy after the work. it helps settlements because the suburbs were already there but they could grow even more because people could live in the bucolic, idyllic green suburbs supposedly and get to work in cities. cities were kind of abandoned at that time and we can get back to that later but this defense rationale that we have had for all of our big projects including sputnik the space race race, the cold war those investments on defense grounds, some of them are levels. it's because president who wanted the interstate highways said we could move troops and we could evacuate cities. in hurricane katrina in new orleans in 2005 it was clear you can't evacuate cities by everyone having their cars and heading to the interstate. it doesn't work so well those were really great rationale for the time i also say we are

building the transcontinental railroad was tough and we didn't tough and the civil rights movement wasgh and we didn't shy away. why did americans tie away from something because it was tough? >> i retract the question. i think we should make it harder. >> the original star spangled banner is in the smithsonian but there is a replica here at the fort and vince's passion has inspired to raise the same size flag that inspired the national flag. >> he wants to raise the big flag. >> you have to raise the big flag. >> and from what i hear, it is a big-ass flag. >> we are flying a 17 by 25 and the huge one is 35 by 42. >> and raising the flag, we need everybody in here to help catch it when it comes down. that is the deal. >> so we can raise the big one but it is a team flag. >> and we need some visitors too. >> that is not the big flag. >> no. >> the big flag, is a big flag and it is like a sale -- sail. and when he says let go, let go. because he's been let go. >> he did not let go and it will drag you. >> it is fun. >> and it is a good, windy day. >> we would like to see it. it is possib

. >> in the history, you have to look at the transcontinental railroad. the glorious path. it wasn't so glorious visited decades of discussion and no one did it until abraham lincoln forced to through. >> even during time of war is. >> and that was, there was, there were a lot of compromises that had to be made that did not work perfectly. the track started to be laid from the east coast and west coast and did not meet in the middle. that took extra money. there were tales of corruption. j.p. morgan and john d rockefeller made their fortunes. we can envision that project because we were envisioning growth of the us from coast-to-coast. how you use that territory you not going to connected by stagecoach. the railroad connected it and made it possible for farmers to ship their products east. it made it possible for settlements to spring up. you know that is read every time you put into transit stop you get economic growth. so we didn't them. there wasn't all that easy. it's a a leader to forge the coalition and get the political we will. interstate highways that really big li

think about the transcontinental railroad a big call to action for the country. >> reporter: many decisions stanford university uses economic pressure to drive cars on campus. >> if you choose to drive your car you have to pay $500 to park. we're trying to push people from going over 70% of our commuters driving alone to less than 50% driving alone. >> reporter: in his exchange with ceos, the second heard an overriding message, many prefer washington set goals rather than choose what to do. >> set a goal like increasing amount of renewable energy or reducing emission and let great companies like those in silicon valley compete for the right approach. >> reporter: as bay area drivers forcing longer commute, that's the impetus to get engineers to develop solutions. david louie, abc 7 news. >> talk about the weather forecast. cool out there. >> maybe rain coming our way. spencer. >> looks pretty good for tomorrow. it may arrive early enough to complicate the morning commute. may not be entirely bad thing. look at live doppler 7 hd, sunny skies across the bay area at this moment. the presence o

building the transcontinental railroad was tough and we didn't give up on that.moon was tough, and we didn't shy from that. and the civil rights movement was tough and we didn't shy away from that. so just because it's tough, when have we americans ever shied away from something because it was tough? >> i retract the question. [ laughter ] i think we should make it harder. >> the original star spangled banner is in the smithsonian but there is a replica here at the fort and vince's passion has inspired in me a burning desire to raise the same size flag that inspired our national anthem. >> you want to raise the big flag? >> i want to raise the big flag. >> he wants to raise the big flag. >> you have to raise the big flag. >> and from what i hear, it is a big-ass flag. >> we are flying a 17 by 25 and the huge one is 35 by 42. >> pre -- pretty big flag. >> you think it's too windy for it? okay, here's the deal. we need everybody in here to help catch the flag when it comes down. that is the deal. >> so we can raise the big one but it is a team flag. >> and we need

think about the transcontinental railroad a big call to action for the country. >> reporter: many decisionscally. stanford university uses economic pressure to drive cars on campus. >> if you choose to drive your car you have to pay $500 to park. we're trying to push people from going over 70% of our commuters driving alone to less than 50% driving alone. >> reporter: in his exchange with ceos, the second heard an overriding message, many prefer washington set goals rather than choose what to do. >> set a goal like increasing amount of renewable energy or reducing emission and let great companies like those in silicon valley compete for the right approach. >> reporter: as bay area drivers forcing longer commute, that's the impetus to get engineers to develop solutions. david louie, abc 7 news. >> talk about the weather forecast. cool out there. >> maybe rain coming our way. spencer. >> looks pretty good for tomorrow. it may arrive early enough to complicate the morning commute. may not be entirely bad thing. look at live doppler 7 hd, sunny skies across the bay area at this moment. the pres

think about the transcontinental railroad as a big call to action for this country. >> many decisions made locally. stanford university, for example, uses economic pressure to reduce cars on campus. >> if you choose to drive your car, you have to pay $500 a year to park. so we're trying to really push people, and that's enabled us to go from over 70% of our commuters driving alone to less than 50% driving alone. >> in his exchange with ceo, secretary fox today heard an overriding message. many would prefer that washington set goals rather than choose what to do. >> so set a goal like increasing the amount of renewable energy you use or reducing emissions and then let great companies like a lot of those in silicon valley compete for the right approach. >> reporter: as bay area drivers are forced to endure longer and more frustrating commutes that could be the impetus to get more engineers and entrepreneurs to develop solutions. in san jose, david louie, abc 7 news. >> that's just what we need more time in traffic. >>> all right. could we see a wet commute tomorrow? >> drew tuma's track

education and infrastructure and the land-grant to connect america east to west with the transcontinental railroads as well as north to south. at the very illinois centered view of the world. he's very much a product of the midwest and the back bone of the union army in the civil war comes from the old northwest. ohio, sherman illinois. finally, this land is free soil. it is free soil because of the northwest ordinance adopted even before the constitution comes into existence. the language of the northwest ordinance prohibiting slaves in the north and west of the ohio river is going to become word for word the language of the 13th amendment, which lincoln signed into law and isn't yet ratified. he is the moses of our people given to him to see the promised land but not quite to enter it. the signature is a necessary, but he takes the vision in utc in the movie lincoln, he ultimately gets that into the constitution. it's a very midwestern view of the world. >> that is powerful and well argued. a 27 years later and i can't let the argument go. >> 27 years after her first conversation. >> there was an

the transcontinental railroad was built by the government and funded to connect california with the restuntry and fought the civil war and have been a policy of longstanding. this is an important 750,000 americans every day use the northeast corridor of the amtrak. without it, you're talking about congestion and economic dislocation. just traffic would be impossible. i think it's in the national interest. speaker boehner knows what he was speaking about politically. i thought it was the terrible use of the word "stupid." but if you look at the states, begins in washington, d.c., maryland, delaware, new jersey, pennsylvania, new york, connecticut, rhode island, massachusetts, new hampshire, maine. what do they have in common? they're blue, quite frankly and bluntly, they vote democratic. in a sense, republicans in the house have precious little interest in the northeast corridor. >> woodruff: you're saying there is a connection. >> i think a definitely connection. >> i wonder if train use makes people liberal. i take it three times a week to new haven. i wonder if the crash could have bee

they not only freed slaves liberating $3.5 billion worth of property, but they created transcontinental railroads with federal power. they created the first income tax with federal power. they created a vast quartermaster corps, which was a huge agency with 100,000 federal employees by 1864, engineering contracts with private enterprise to win the war. the mobilization of the civil war and the necessity of emancipation brought about a huge strengthening of federal power over states rights. the confederacy is born in state sovereignty and states rights. there is no question about that. you should always ask, states rights for what? they were asking for states rights to preserve a slaveholding society. for a while, states rights were put on the run. it is going to revive, as it always does, and it revived during reconstruction. heart of the resistance to reconstruction, so-called southern redemption -- the southern democratic party really revived in the south -- they are resisting not only the new racial regime and the right to vote for blacks, but they were trying to resist federal power. in the s

i said to him i'm glad you weren't around in the 1850s and the 1860s when we built the transcontinental railroadright through the rocky mountains. if we could do those things now, we should be able to do them now. and we have to quit this defeatism and this lack of priorities in washington, d.c. it can be done. if other countries can do it, we can find the will and the way to do it here. >> but we have a country where people can complain, and communist countries like china, they just draw a straight line. whether it goes through your house or not, it's a straight line. this amtrak, i've been taking it for half a century. it doesn't go in a straight line. in this case it tried to make a turn and turned over because there are so many turns on that route. >> you're right. if you can't get rid of the turns, at least fund the ptcs, at least fund the positive train control systems that would immediately stop the train if it's going too fast around a curve. but we're not funding that because we're underfunding our infrastructure. >> right. bob brady, the congressman from here, was just on talking about

to the growth and very interesting our our expansion westward and the construction of our transcontinental railroad and all those things. that's what he would have been doing had there not been a civil war. that's what he really was very, very interested in. and by 1870 we have become the largest, in terms of gdp the largest economy in the world. i think that's an interesting date, 1870, to have reached that status in the world the world economy, because it's not beyond imagination that the country of china will become similarly perhaps the largest country by gdp but overall gdp within the next decade or so. this is not an impossibility whatsoever. it took from 1870 about 40 years really to the advent of the first world war before we began to play a global role commensurate with our economic strength. it just causes me to wonder at what point china will be able to convert its obvious economic strength that it has now into really effective global legal action. i'm not trying to venture any prediction for you but our own national experience suggests that this equation if you will, the translation fro

committed to the growth and very interested in our expansion westward in the construction of our transcontinental railroad. that is what he would have been doing had there not been a civil war. by 1870 we had become the largest, in terms of gdp the largest economy in the world. i think that is an interesting date to have reached that status in the world economy because it is not beyond imagination of the country of china will become the similarly perhaps the largest country by gdp overall gdp. this is not an impossibility it took from 1870 about 40 years really tell the advent of the 1st world war before we began to play a global role commensurate with our economic strength. so it just causes me to wonder at what time china will be able to convert it's obvious economic strength that it has now into really effective global political action. i am not trying to venture prediction but our own national experience suggests that this equation, if you will the translation from economic to political power is not necessarily automatic and it does not necessarily happen right away. there are other factors the commen

going back to the transcontinental railroad, which was not a glorious day. it was highly contentious politically. national security dictated if you have the whole continent you have to put settlements there. how are they going to get back and forth without trains? everything we have done has been on defense grounds. we do not do that anymore. we need to define this as a mobility issue, economic growth issue. how do we get where we need to go in a seamless, connected way? nobody cares which mode of transportation they are taking as long as it will get them there. there are people that have to take four or five, even though their smartphone could connect them. host: something we do not always think about because it does not have a price tag, but the social justice impact. you had an anecdote about a man from detroit who has to walk five miles to work every day. this is a man in a low income communities who wants to pull himself up, but in order to do so, he needs to go to a different part of the city to go to that job every day. but there are not bus connectio

we're the country that built the transcontinental railroad, the erie canal we sent americans to the moonose were investments that built the middle-class, that created prosperity, that secured america's greatness for the next generation. instead, this republican congress has decided to spend whatever we have on special interest handouts. >> congressman steve israel always a pleasure to see you. >> thank you. >>> after a quick break we'll take you to boston where we could learn at in i moment where p whether boston marathon bomber dzhokhar tsarnaev will face life behind bars or the death penalty. the jury is just starting its full -- first full day of deliberations. plus dramatic new video of an attack in the middle of a busy new york city street. it happened in broad daylight. look at these pictures. but we're going to tell you about this incident yesterday on "the rundown." you remember it broke during our hour. we'll explain what happened with details coming up next. scott: hello! nbr: scott - we're concerned. you just fed your lawn earlier this spring and now you're at it again. scott:

stock in construction company there and the union pacific railroad, they were building the transcontinental railroad, members of congress want it there were some unscrupulous dealings. he had 10 shares and it was sold before it became a big deal. he was able to -- he got tainted a little bit because of his involvement in the scandal, but really it didn't cause him great difficulty. in 1876 garfield's son died and this time both he and lucretia were able to mourn together. as sad as the passing was, it brought this happily married couple, finally, together because they could share the grief. in 1879 a series of political events take place that are almost mind-boggling that no one could have predicted. the republican leader of the house of representatives was james lane of maine. he decides he would rather be a senator. remember, in those days the senators are not elect by the people, they are elected by state legislatures. he goes to the legislature in says -- i want to be a senator. they say fine, he's elect it. leaving vacant the leadership of the republican party in the house. republicans were tha

abraham lincoln don'ted that with the transcontinental railroad in the civil war and eisenhower did it with the national highway system. these are republican party ideals. i wish the republican party wasn't turning its back on its legacy. we have a bipartisan heritage lately of funding the infrastructure. but the republican party seems to have turned its become on this i urge you to reconsider. stop turning your back. join us in the democratic party in continuing our tradition of making this an economy that can function for all our people. where people can move and not waste time sitting in traffic jams where goods can move, economy can function, businesses can flourish. that's what's at stake. thank you. ms. brown: i want to thank you for your comprehensive information about transportation infrastructure. but my home state of florida, we bring many businesses to florida through amtrak. through the auto train. we have colleagues on the other side that want to privatize that system and i want to know how would that affect new york, privatizing that northwest corridor? mr. nadler: well,

he signed the transcontinental railroad act also, so he did a lot of things for this country that people do not realize. >> the real significance is we really just want to re-create history. it is a once-in-a-lifetime project. we want to educate people, especially the youngest generation on how people traveled back then. lincoln was a magnificent man. he had a great vision when he decided to sign the railroad act, and he brought the central and union pacific together so we had railroad tracks across the country. that is what made our country grow. that is what made america america, so lincoln had a wonderful vision. we are honored to salute lincoln because it is the 100 years anniversary. we are passionate about the project and lincoln himself. it was lincoln who inspired dave to build the leviathan, a locomotive engine. he realized the 150th anniversary was around the corner. he felt the need to build this. he felt like this generation needed to make it happen for the 150th anniversary. host: live again from springfield, illinois, on american history tv on cspan3. the reenactment, 150 y

united states, and very interested in our expansion westward, and the construction of our transcontinental railroad and all of those things. i mean that's what he would have been doing had there not been a civil war. that's what he really was very, very interested in and by 1870, we had by some reckoning had become the largest in terms of gdp the largest economy in the world, and i think that's an interesting day 1870, to have reached that status in the world's economy because it's not beyond imagination that the country of china will become similarly perhaps the largest country by gdp by overall gdp within the next decade or so this is not an impossibility whatsoever, and it took from 1870 about 40 years really, to the advent of the first world war before we began to play a global role commensurate with our economic strength, so it just causes me to wonder at what point china will be able to convert its obvious economic strength that it has now in to really effective global political action. i'm not trying to venture any prediction for you, but our own national experience suggests that this equati

i think we have to go beyond these things and remember the transcontinental railroad that was instructed by the labor of tens -- constructed by the labor of tens of thousands of persons of chinese ancestry. i think we have to go beyond this country if we're going to take a global look at the history. and i think, mr. speaker that america the beautiful is a more beautiful america because they are here. god bless you, mr. speaker. thank you for the time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from connecticut, mr. courtney, for five minutes. mr. courtney: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker yesterday was may 13 was a significant day for 15 million college students who are entering next year's academic year because it's the day that the u.s. department of treasury, based on their auction of 10-year notes, sets the interest rates for the stafford student loan program for all those students who will be borrowing for next year. the good news is based on yesterday's auction where . and it was slated for 6.8% and tying to the interest charged by the department of treasury, m

he signed the transcontinental railroad act. he did a lot of things for this country a lot of people don't realize. them him -- >> it is a once-in-a-lifetime project. we want to educate people, especially the youngest generation. lincoln was a magnificent man. he had a great vision when he decided to sign the railroad act. we had a railroad tracks across the country and that's what made our country grow. that's what made america america. it is a 150th anniversary. it was lincoln actually inspired dave to build the love i. -- build the leviathan. he felt the need to build this. he felt this generation the data make it happen for the 150th anniversary. >> reenactment, 150 years later of president abraham lincoln's funeral. we are told 1000 or so reenactors are participating in the event. they are making their way up the road. all afternoon our guest has been spring yield resident, lawyer, are -- lawyer and author richard hart. i see you are wearing a ribbon on your lapel. is that historically accurate? richard: i don't know if it

it's the same spirit that led to the building of the erie canal and the transcontinental railroad andnterstate highway system. those initiatives were not about party or partisan initiatives. the greatest generation came back from world war ii and built the interstate highway under the leadership of president dwight eisenhower. he committed to make america one nation in its roads tying us together binding us as a nation through that investment. and he had the courage as we should today to say what's great about america is what we give back, what we're willing to invest not only for today but for tomorrow, and we are in danger today in this chamber in this nation of being one of the first generations that left a lesser america for our children. think of it. a lesser america at a time when the word exceptional and exceptional trips off the tongues of many of our colleagues here in this chamber we need to match that rhetoric with real action. and so today let us resolve that we will debate and act on a long-term investment program to make sure that our roads and bridges, our railroads and

he really wanted to tie california to the union, and he signed the transcontinental railroad act. he did a lot of things for this country that people don't realize. >> the real significance is that , we really just wanted to re-create history. it is a once-in-a-lifetime project. we really want to educate people, especially the youngest generation on how people traveled back then. lincoln was just a magnificent man. he had a great vision. when he decided to sign the railroad act and brought the central union and pacific together. so we had railroad tracks across the country, and that is what made america america. lincoln had a wonderful vision. it is the 150th anniversary, and we are very passionate about the project. and about lincoln himself. it was lincoln who actually inspired dave to build the leviathan, the locomotive engine. with that, the 150th anniversary was around the corner, he felt the need to build this. he felt like this generation needed to make this happen on the 150th anniversary. >> live again here from springfield, illinois on american history tv here on c-span

it was lincoln who did the transcontinental railroad.way system and now we need a 21st century infrastructure. private/public partnership. i don't care if the technology comes from japan. don't just throw $10 billion more into band-aiding an amtrak system. leapfrog into the 21st century. that's america. >> let me ask you the question that tripped up jeb bush a couple days ago. knowing what you know now would you support america going into iraq in 2003? >> no i would clearly not. it was a mistake, the intelligence was wrong and the consequences have been terrible. in defense of president bush, though, after the surge we created a stable iraq and it was the decision by the clinton and obamas to withdraw every single american troop. >> that was going to be my next question. >> i don't think we should have gone in but once we did and we won we should not have created the void when clinton and obama pulled out every troop. >> governor pataki, looking forward to seeing your announcement. after the announcement come back here. >> i'll be back.

they not only freed slaves liberating $3.5 billion worth of property, but they created transcontinental railroads with federal power. they created the first income tax with federal power. they created a vast quartermaster corps, which was a huge agency with 100,000 federal employees by 1864, engineering contracts with private enterprise to win the war. the mobilization of the civil war and the necessity of emancipation brought about a huge strengthening of federal power over states rights. the confederacy is born in state sovereignty and states rights. there is no question about that. you should always ask, states rights for what? they were asking for states rights to preserve a slaveholding society. for a while, states rights were put on the run. it is going to revive, as it always does, and it revived during reconstruction. heart of the resistance to reconstruction, so-called southern redemption -- the southern democratic party really revived in the south -- they are resisting not only the new racial regime and the right to vote for blacks, but they were trying to resist federal power. in the s