truman wanted a legal opinion. he went to a man named oscar ewing who ran the federal security agency. he said give me a judgment. would a jewish state be legal under international law? and ewing's study -- he concluded that a jewish state would be legal and not against any existing legal law. palestine had been turkish and the allies had given part of it to do jews who had a indisputable title and he recommended the u.s. stick to partition. now, at this point the issue is going to be turned back to the united nations. the head of the american delegation to the united nations was a man named warren g. austin. and warren g. austin was -- gave a few speeches, i'll concentrate on the most famous one in march. frita kearsewiggen was studying and talking to the all the delegates tu-u.n. warned truman that she thought the u.n. delegation in conjunction with the state department was planning to double-cross truman and that she had spoken to secretary of state robert lovett and that he was telling the press that state was

[laughter] >> i just arrested harry truman. [laughter] >> truman later insisted the cop just pulled him over to shake his hand. [laughter] >> manly stampler is still alive and well. he lives outside phoenix. and he says i did not pull him over to shake his hand. i pulled him over because he was violating the law. he also said he didn't ask for an autograph either but wished he had because it might be worth something today. he did -- he did let him off with a warning and casually when he went back to the barracks at the end of the day, casually mentioned to the desk sergeant you'll never guess who i pulled over today and the next day it was in all the papers that harry truman had been pulled over for a traffic violation and in the republican papers especially had a good time with it. [laughter] >> they returned to independence on the 8th of july. the trip taught harry something and that is that you can't really go back to being a plain, private citizen after you've been president of the united states. friend, he said, i can't se

[laughter] truman finally relented and looking up at his old friend, a truman said, you win you bald headed sob, i will see him. he then served as a liaison between the white house and u.s. agency before the official government could be set up. then the truth is all the factors i discussed played several but how important ozzy? and what part of the store where they the most significant? we thought understanding truman and the founding of israel was to place the story in the context of the very dramatic events german encountered from the time he became president april 1945 to the recognition of israel may 1948. and we believe the best way to approach it was three narrative history showing how truman responded to these events. but since the story embraced so much more than truman himself, we thought it important to include the narrative and voices of the groups and people involved including the jews, british, arabs, american state department, and many more. we know a tremendous did not receive his decisions easily. his daughter margaret said it was actually the most difficult dilemma o

truman became president. he had been vice president just 82 days and had met with fdr just twice outside of cabinet meetings. in all that time. his presidency, of course, encompassed major events in the 20th century, the end of world war ii, the cold war, mccarthyism, the united nations. flash forward now eight years, almost, to 1953, january, 20th, and dwight d. eisenhower is inaugurated as president. and just as he was back in that summer of 1922, harry truman is unemployed. after eisenhower's swearing-in the secret service drove harry and bess to union station in washington and they said goodbye and harry and bess rode a train back to independence. i guess they rode the train to kansas city and was there a spur that would go to independence. i think there was a depot in independence so they could go all the way back to independence. harry didn't really know what to do with himself. there were rumors at the time he would run for senate from missouri. or governor. even that he would run for president in 1956

truman gets this kind of message from the so-called experts. unfortunately there were other people advising truman as well, chairman also wanted a legal opinion he went to a man named oscar ewing on idiocy who ran the federal security agency and said give me a judgment would a jewish state the legal under nashville lot? he studied the situation and concluded that a jewish state would be legal and not a violation of any law he said palestine was turkish and the allies had given part of it to the jews who now have indisputable title to it there for the u.s. he recommended and stick to partition but at this point* the issue would be turned back to the united nations. the head of the american delegation was a man named warren g. boston. warren austan gave a famous speech in march. up this point* one who plus studying and talking to delegates at the u.n., warned truman that in conjunction with the state department was planning to double cross truman and she had spoken to the under secretary of state and he was telling the press the state was beginni

bess truman was a big baseball fan and in the truman household, bess was the sports fan. and as a kid she actually played a lot of sports. harry wasn't much of an athlete. as a kid he wore glasses and confessed to not being very coordinated but bess placed a pretty good short stop according to harry and in her later years, she actually followed the royals pretty closely. she was actually honorary cochair is it thomas eagleton in 1974 running for reelection of the senate. was honorary cochair of hiss campaign and when he went to the house on delaware street, he was amazed. all she wanted to talk about was the royals. [laughter] >> anyway, btabout this story i takes place in the summer of 1953 after harry and bess left the white house and that summer they did something has millions of ordinary americans do all the time. and something that had never been done before. they took a vacation, a summer vacation. they took a road trip. harry was behind the wheel. bess rode shotgun and they drove from 2500 miles from the east coast to west coast. the trip was unique because the tru

so in light of that, what -- what are we to make out truman's attitudes? is there a conclusion that can be drawn? >> i've think people have used those quotes to say truman was an anti-semite who really didn't care about the jews and came out with statements like that, but negative can kind of see it as an ark. he ran into the state department resistance. then there was tremendous amounts of pressure on him by the american public and especially by the organized american jewish public led by militant rabbi who did put tremendous pressure on him, and this is how he reacted. and his aides would even say that when truman bulls under undue pressure tube exploded and makes statements like that but they didn't really believe that is what he was feeling or thinking. and those statements kind of present him as a victim and that is how i think he saw himself. he felt i've tried to get the 100,000, i call on the british, i have submitted to commission with them. i have done everything but everything i've done never works out. either the british reject that, the arabs

lift the embargo, truman wouldn't. on the other hand, again, truman was afraid that would bring the u.s. too closely on one side. it was not until kennedy as warren bass points out in his book a few years ago that militarily the relationship with israel began to change. and that israel would begin to get arms from the united states, but, you know, truman did not want to get involved militarily and he thought that kind of thing would lead to u.s. military involvement he wanted to avoid. on the other hand, they gave israel to truman the first economic loan they desperately needed in order to be able to settle jews in palestine and truman put through that economic law. so, you know, truman was not really a zionist. even afterwards. he didn't do everything israel supporters wanted. >> also, i think he was picking his battles with the state department, and i got the feeling that after the recognition of israel he just wanted to back off for a while and he was well aware that israel was getting arms from czechoslovakia and t

truman was not really a zionist even "after words". he did not do everything israel supporters wanted. >> also i think he was picking his battles with the state department and i got the feeling after the recognition of israel he wanted to back off four while and he was well aware israel was getting arms from checklist a pocket and receiving a lot of money from american jews to buy arms and after that the french came and sold arms to israel. >> even j. edgar hoover look to the other way when they broke up, there's a famous incident marlon brando was packing arms for israel and crates marked oranges but decibels or fruits and they were putting arms in the crates and the fbi busted and hoover said let it go through. and looked the other way. we're not going to stop them. we know it is illegal but let them go through. >> i believe eleanor roosevelt was very sympathetic to the jews and even tried to influence franklin roosevelt. did she have any role in this era of with truman? >> she was a u.n. delegate and one of two or three delegates wh

and vice president and harry truman who in 1945 president truman said millions of americans to not enjoy good health, millions do not have protection or security against economic effect of sickness. the time has arrived for action to help obtain the lubber to eddy and that protection. it in a dozen years before president truman ordered those words franklin roosevelt made a momentous decision as this conagra's was about to enact social security that he was small when to be able to enact health care reform at the same time in large part because of his fear of the american medical as initiation knowing the doctors oppose including something that later became medicare and beyond that in the social security act. it was only 20 years later after president truman's comments that president johnson pushed through with huge democratic margins in the house and senate over the opposition of the american medical liz's negation again and the opposition of almost all republicans was able to enact medicare in july of 1865 president johnson signed it. we heard accusations than from opponents that it was

that was president harry truman. a dozen years before, mr. president, president roosevelt made a momentous decision. president roosevelt decided in large part because of his fear of the power of the american medical association to not include health care in the social security legislation, in the bill to create social security, because president roosevelt actual fully believed that social security meant a pension and health care, but he thought the power of the doctors lobby would keep him from being successful, so he moved forward on social security, the creation of social security. who knows if that was the right decision then, but it certainly brought us a program that's mattered in the lives of all of our parents, our grandparents, our great-grandparents. harry truman was not able to accomplish medicare or any other kind of health care reform, significant health care reform in his seven years or so as president. fast forward to july 1965, president johnson passed legislation creating medicare. but leading up to that legislation, again it

, he and truman struck up a friendship and he was appointed to the courts by truman at a time when there's a lot of in-fighting on the course, a lot of conflict. vincent was known as a very affable person and seem to get along with people on both sides of the political aisle social and thought he would be a good person to bring some peace to the courts in unanimity to the court -- it didn't quite work out that way but that was the intended reason for appointing him. >> why did and it worked out? >> in the book we tried to explain the major reasons, one is the members of the court did not think that justice vinson was their intellectual equal, many, one was felix frankfurter who have been a harvard professor of law and in the roosevelt administration. so he was a much more down-to-earth kind of person, here is the issue, here is the opinion and didn't read these long floury some of opinions explaining why the court was doing when it was doing. and i thank you had too many piven don is on the court at that time and i'm not sure anybody and i think that sort of a judgment of history is not cl

let's look at the job of a vice-president -- is heat harry truman, al gore, thomas jefferson? i think not. i think that joe biden needs to think before he speaks. if he needs to run, what he will say through the president's office, but so he does not have to -- so that president obama does not have to say it oh, my gosh, what did joe biden say? he needs to be that if something were to happen to president obama, he needs to step in immediately. whether we like it or not, he needs to be seen as a credible man -- and he is not. he needs to be seen as a person who is helping the white house when he speaks -- and he is not. i know that during the campaign there was a lot of ridicule of governor sarah palin -- well, having this person as vice president, they should be ready to become president. when i compare governor sarah palin to vice president joe biden -- i do not think he is a much better -- he is not harry truman or roosevelt. host: let me get you to respond to what this historian, robert writes. "despite his reputation for occasional gaffes, he has been an effective point ma

another person she sawed during the candidates seek was harry truman, who she first met add add event in independence, missouri and they were being screamed and yelled at by the ku klux klan who were opposed to al smith running for president. harry truman was also widely believed to be a part of machine politics but he too with someone who she saw greatness then and she became a friend and ally of his as well so even when fdr died she went to work in the civil service commission and did. many things for truman on the review board, including rooting out communists in the federal government and convincing them to quit their jobs before they got into trouble. this is a woman obviously who had, who did many things. at the end of her life, she looked back at her life and the thing she was produce was the creation of social security. and indeed that really is remarkable. 50 million people now get social security. the latest figures that came out on unemployment insurance at a record 5 million people are on unemployment insurance. if we didn't have that 55 million people getting that income

brown brown: madam presidenn 1945, president truman delivered a speech to a joint session of congress in which he declared, "millions of our citizens do not know have the full measure of opportunity to achieve and enswroi good health -- enjoy good health. millions do not now have protection or security against the economic effects of sickness. the time has arrived for action, to help them attain that opportunity and that protectio protection." that was said by president truman 10 or 11 presidents ago, perhaps, six decades ago. 64 years later, we're still fighting to provide that opportunity and that protection. a severely weakened economy, growing unemployment, rising health care and insurance costs, and declining employment-based insurance are all factors contributing to the current health care crisis. today, 47 million americans are uninsured, an additional 2 25 million, 30 million, 35 million, as many as 40 million, americans are underinsured, and many are saddled with catastrophic medical debt. closing the health care gaps would dramatically prove the public health. it would also

there's nobody in this room younger than margaret truman at that point. [laughter] to get out first. [laughter] >> that wasgate x5rmob, though. there was a bad mob that was -- and they had more than( umbrellas. they had ball bats and tire irons. so as these things go, we'll call that the bad mob. we're at the m's already. n, neighbors, they could not be improved by a good fence. outcast. i have a kid name lemoncats whose father throws him in kind of a high school kid, one of those kids that's it from the day he first starts school. everybody is picking on him at the playground. so finally his father makes him go out for football in high school to make a man of him and it's one of >> it is one of those deals i have never been on an athletic team that i have not been on the outcast. i keep saying i, but keep in mind it is a novel, not a memoir, but at any rate this guy would smuggle baby ruth candy bars into practices and he would go and hide behind a block of demi's -- a demi's and he gets caught and the coach with him up and had bought him. and makes him

harry truman first tried to do this. he tried to make general mark clark the great world war ii hero the first ambassador. there was a change human cry against that that truman drew it back realize politically this would be a mistake. >> it was either jimmy carter or ronald reagan who actually didn't have the political cover to appoint an ambassador to the vatican. so eventually it became a nonissue of. >> so when it breaks down, where did the catholic vote go in 1960? >> it overwhelmingly went to john kennedy. he received a historic vote. interestingly enough he received almost exactly the same protestant vote that edley stevenson's had in 1956. but it was the catholic migration than that provided him a tiny, teeny sliver of a victory that he got in the united states. >> there's another new book out on the 1960 election, what's the fascination with this election? >> i think it's the two characters. arguably kennedy and nixon were two of the brilliant political minds in america produced in the 20th century. and to put th

however, the holiday was not officially recognized until 1949 when president harry truman signed the national flag day bill. since the beginning of our republic, americans have flown the flag to show their appreciation and pride for this great nation. every day americans pledge their allegiance to the flag and the troops carry their flag as they defend the liberties which they stand and which represent this country, the united states of america. our flag day we remember -- on flag day we remember the importance of our oldest national symbols and reflect the loss of loved ones who have died in defense of this great nation. let us pledge allegiance to this flag to declare patriotism and raise its colors high to express our pride and respect for our way of life. i urge my colleagues to support this resolution and, madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. lynch: madam speaker, we have no further speakers at this time. i tennessee to reserve the balan

presidents since harry truman recognized the importance of reforming our health care system. but the issues involved are complex and the political realities are really hard and really difficult. this time is different, however. groups and individuals who in the past have lined up in fierce opposition are today sitting side by side, many cases, because they know what we all know, that is the status quo is not only unacceptable, it is unsustainable. some of these same long time opponents of reform have participated in town hall meetings, as i have, and i know many of my colleagues have as well in our respective states for the past number of months. because we know that it is not only through an open and collaborative process that we will be able to succeed, but also imperative to people understand what we're trying to do. this time is also different because this time we simply don't have a choice. the stakes are far too high to accept the status quo or not to meet the challenges that we have been asked to address in this committee as well as in the others and, again, collective

guest: if you look at a presence in the past, fdr, lincoln, truman, they went into these world changing crisises and they did not have it down all right away. they made all kinds of errors. i am looking pass conventional wisdom, looking for what might be called radical pragmatists, things that work that went behind any kind of ideologies. what in the and bailed out the country. that is the way that the obama administration will have to start thinking. and host: this tweet says that obama's ideas are all old ideas. this has failed every time it has been tried. guest: calling obama a socialist or fascist is ridiculous. what i was hoping is that he would be more of a pragmatic liberal. we are not seeing that unfortunately. some of these charges are amazing. it is one of the reason the republican party is in the trouble is in. you are still getting the old cliche accusations. it is a shame to see that we have two major parties, that one have them has decided speak this way host. host: virginia is next. caller: i agree with a lot that kevin bacon is same. -- kevin baker is saying. you talk a

teddy roosevelt, harry truman, jimmy carter, bill clinton, they all called for it. while some reforms have been made, efforts at comprehensive reform that covers everyone in brings down costs have largely failed. part of the reason is because of the different groups involved such as doctors, insurance companies, and others could not agree on the need for reform or the shape it would take. if we are honest, the other part has been opposition that has used fear tactics to take any efforts to achieve reform as an attempt to socialized medicine. despite this long history of failure, i am standing here because i think we are in different times. one sign that things are different, the senate passed a bill that will protect children from the dangers of smoking. [applause] this went nowhere when it was proposed a decade ago. [applause] what makes this moment different is that this time for the first time stakeholders are aligning not against but in favor of reform. they are coming out -- coming together out of a recognition that while reform will take everyone in our health

together after 1936 to resist some of fdr imperatives but really it is after world war ii win during the truman and many kate -- administration when he pushes for federal employment taxes commission and a desegregation of the military that you have southern political elites suddenly declare independence from the national democratic party. of course, than dixiecrat have the state revolt in 19,408th the strategy was to get enough electoral college votes in the south to throw the national election into the house of representatives which did not work but it began to separate the seven democrats from national democrats and the growing ratio liberalism and i think then what happened was conservatives in the north frustrated with eisenhower and with what they saw it is the need toism and the new deal era began to look to our allies to rebuild a conservative party and push back so "the national review" magazine begins to invite segregationist writers and others to write articles for "national review". and some conservative republican strategist begin to build the republican party and the south which ha

the entire debate in the past, truman, johnson, nixon, carter, and president clinton, every one of the talked-about how to expand coverage and the fundamental difference that the administration has sponsored in this perspective is to do healthcare reform, you must change the incentives in the system, the way you control costs, that if you don't do that and putting more money into a broken system that has the incentives all upside down, not only will the political system not expand coverage, you will not get anywhere farther ahead. we have a number of ideas you will be seeing through the process, the president pointed to them and his radio address, of the main goals from a message standpoint, from a policy standpoint, the president's basic point is unless we have this, you cannot call that bill health-care reform. he has made controlling costs and reducing costs so that the average family can see it in their premium payments, cost control had become a coequal objective with expanding coverage. we have a couple ways, what peter or that likes to call game changers, ways we think to accomp

teddy roosevelt called for it, harry truman called for it, richard nixon called for it, jimmy carter called for it, bill clinton called for it. but while significant individual reforms have been made such as medicare, medicaid and the children's health insurance program, efforts at comprehensive reform that covers everyone and bring down costs, have largely failed. and part of the reason is because different groups involved, doctors, insurance companies, businesses, workers, and others, simply couldn't agree on the need for reform, or what shape it would take. if we are honest, another part of the reason has been fierce opposition field by some interest groups and lobbyists, opposition that has used fear tactics to paint any effort to achieve reform as an attempt to socialized medicine. despite this long history of failure, i am standing here because i think we're in a different time. once thing that different, the senate passed a bill that will protect children from the dangers of smoking, a reform the ama has long championed. [applause] disorganization went nowhere. when it was pro

using people like teddy roosevelt and fdr and if truman and lyndon johnson and jimmy carter and clinton and people that have got involved with conservation, using them as a centerpiece if the talk about these characters around them. >> when did you do the reagan diaries? >> that came out three years ago. if we did it pretty quickly. it is ronald reagan's book, so i did not have to write it, on the edited it. if we are bringing out the complete diaries in a box set. i was working on this book for a long time. i started writing in earnest. i had a couple of chapters written when i started the reagan diaries. what it is when you go to these places, just pick one of your going to go to mesa verde, when you go there, that's in southwest colorado in the four corners region. it is the ancient anasazi indians, the cliff dwellings that roosevelt approved as a national park. when i go to a place like that i knock on doors. i call in advance. i go to meet the superintendent. i say, look, you're the expert, what do you have in your files? help me. while i'm not writing the chapter, i note booking a

we have been fully around with this for 60 years since harry truman suggested a universal health-care system. it is a very simple way to finally change things. we are not saying you should choose the system or choose the system. you should decide. stop listening to the people of the right. stop listening to the people on the left. we will give you a system where you make the choice. i think that is the best way to go after 60 years. we cannot keep doing what we're doing today. host: an e-mailer talks about an experience that he had with his father. he said -- guest: that is a very important question. this is not something we have talked about. that is the talk of the end of life care. most seniors do not want to go through what your father went through. he did not have much say because he had alzheimer's. one thing i like to see that nobody is suggesting in washington, if we are going to have a public health insurance option, there have to be some things that the american people are responsible for, not the government or the private sector. one of them is having a living will and powe

harry truman and this and this, it is a once in a generation window and it is open right now. whatever happens sets the tone for arguably the next generation. >> i think that is inappropriate notes to and on, a call to action. if there are some people in the audience left to the press or pessimistic about this, i have a large supply of antidepressants with me. [laughter] >> the other thing among to say is people say oh, you are so cynical. lookit, americans can be informed but they're not stupid. we are in a partial system that works in a country that works. change is possible. i was raised in the 1960's. it being elected is a powerful proof of what this country can accomplish. i never, ever, ever, i get less cynical about this country and its ability to change. >> that is an even better known. [applause] -- that is an even better note. >> thank you all for listening and we might well move on to the next panel. thank you, panelists. [applause] what's ladies and gentlemen, our next session is health care reform for the future. we will focus on the challenges and opportunities.

the colonel further wrote, and i quote, when president truman considered disbanding the marine corps after world war ii in 1946, then-commandant of the marine corps alexander vnder griff brought the issue before the congress of the united states and the general presented the lidgeage and let those actions speak for themselves. after hearing the general's remarks, our congressional leaders did the right thing, not only preserving our core but -- our corps but ensuring its roles, mission, and size become the law of the land. the colonel further stated, the stroke of a men, adding three words, and marine corps, will complete general vander griff's actions of some 63 years to ensure our leaders, their staff and constituents recognize the co-equal status of the marine corps and will ensure once and for all the equity of the marine corps in the eyes of the nation around its people. i ask unanimous consent to submit the full text of counselor kaiser's letter for -- letter for the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. smith: madam speaker, i have beside me an actual copy of

teddy roosevelt called for it, truman called for it, nixon, carter, bill clinton all called for it. but while significant individual reforms have been made, such as medicare, medicaid, and the children's health insurance program, efforts at coomp rehencive reform that covers -- at comprehensive reform thats everyone and brings down cost has largely failed. partly because the different groups involved, doctors, insurance companies, businesses, workers, and others simply couldn't agree on the need for reform or what shape it would take. and if we're honest, another part of the reason has been the fierce opposition fueled by some interest groups and lobbyists, on sigs that has used fear tactics to paint any effort to achieve reform as an attempt to, yes, socialize medicine. despite this long history of failure, i'm standing here because i think we're in a different time. one sign that things are different is just this past week, the senate passed a bill that will protect children from the dangers of smoker a reform the a.m.a. has long championed. [applause] something this organization

some of our greatest presidents of the 20th century, teddy roosevelt, franklin roosevelt, and harry truman, or advocate for health insurance for all americans. president clinton fought hard for the administration proposal. those initiatives may have failed, but the hope that inspired them was never defeated. the time has finally come to redeem that and to deliver true health reform. in my conversations with colleagues, i am getting the sense there is now a willingness to tackle this issue and to resolve the problems and bring forward a much better health care system for all americans. with president obama and the white house, we now have the best opportunity ever to enact health reform. i'm determined that we not let this opportunity slip from our grasp. i look forward to this morning's testimony and continue with urgent, pragmatism, to send help reform legislation to the president for his signature this year. i want to recognize the ranking republican member of the committee. >> thank you. >> we both attended summit this year. in both those summits, i said that the republicans in the hous

entity that could provide sustained over the side of wartime contracts similar to the efforts of the truman committee during the 1940's. waste fraud and abuse in wartime contracts transcends politics. oversight should not be the luxury of the divided government and languish when congressional majorities in the president share a common political party. wiesel the disasters as we initiated in prosecuted action in iraq. i have by expectations for the contract thing can accomplish and we are here to assess progress to date. the commission's interim report highlights a number of issues related to management and accountability, logistics', secure in reconstruction efforts in iraq and afghanistan. one interesting case described in the reports as the costly construction of a duplicative dining facility at the cost of $30 million. that certainly is represented in such issues. ism portsmouth commissioner mckracken krampert others nuss in sync grading alvis i did the deed that merely duplicates the work going on by the government accountability office. we do expect to review those and synthesize them

the room was this size but it was completely full of people mostly to hear margaret truman. margaret shows up, doesn't say

we heard in 1948 when harry truman tried to -- tried to push through medicare. we heard it in 1965, when lyndon johnson and the overwhelmingly democratic house and senate passed the medicare law we heard it in 1993, my first term in the house, senator sanders' second term in the house. that's what insurers are claiming today. they're saying government takeover of medicine. that's not true. we want a government option plan. we want the government to provide a medicare plan that people can choose from. you can choose a private plan or public plan. americans deserve no less. our country can afford no less. the president asked us to move on this as quickly as we can and to do it right. this is our chance and i think we're going to do it. mr. sanders: will the senator from ohio yield for a moment? mr. brown: yes. mr. sanders: i want to thank him for his cogent remarks talking about one of the most basic issues facing this country, and that is health care. we're on the veterans committee as well, and i know that you spend a lot of time talking to veterans in ohio. you

to take and dramatically improve our health care system to succeed in delivering the vision that trumand out more than 60 years ago of saying it is time for an afforaffordable, accessi health care system for every single american. >> senator, thank you very, very much. senator roberts. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i think i'm going to nominate you and senator enzi and senator harkin for the perseverance award of this session of congress, at least to date. i would remind you that dr dr. coburn over here indicated that exercise -- with appropriate exercise you gain 20% more in intelligence cog any distance. i think with what you've had to do this afternoon, listening to virtually all of us saying the same thing over and over and over again, it might be time for a seventh inning stretch. but don't do that because i'm the last speaker. and with all due respect to my colleag colleagues, i've never seen such three sad sacks in my life trying very hard not to fall asleep hearing the same thing over and over and over again. that also goes for the staff in the back who are now you starting to com

oral history, and even the profession and mainly with the practice of places like the harry truman live braver they interview people who erased all the tapes so nobody would find out anything that was not supposed to be known. that was the division of oral history but oral historians performing the professions in the '60s and '70s were mainly community activists of one kind or another or oddballs who wanted to document a community that was a disappearing under some kind of pressure. so, they made a dent. we made a dent but not such a big dent and we always come up against the formidable problem that the people who are in charge of society aren't all that interested in the lives of ordinary people who are not influential enough. >> you said a couple of times, he mentioned how the book doing well or if the book does well enough, what is well enough and what the needs of this book, what kind of zeitgeist this is tough to catch? >> it is a really good question. as we speak i think probably linda barry's panel has finished up. and if i were there, i would have vast a question i often nuk, th

that president was harry truman, and his words were repeated by various other presidents since then. in 1971, richard nixon proposed a system of universal health care through an employer mandate. icy chairman conyers shaking his head. he remembers that. i was in high school, but i do remember the proposal. [laughter] >> obviously, there have been against most recently in 1994 in other reiterations since then. there is one common thread i hope is running through members of both parties and through both houses. i know it exists in the white house. this time there is going to be a law, not a discussion. and we are going to do our very best to make sure it's a law that works, and obviously that can pass. i think that today's discussions have been very fruitful and constructive in helping us get to that point. as i said to you, chairman, at the outset we hope this is the beginning of our interaction with you, not in. and with that i would like to thank the members and without objection members will have 14 days to submit additional materials or question for the hearing record. without obj

this is the day when the conservatives have revealed their truman festo for this country and this is the day when they've showed the choice of the next election has been investment under labor and massive cuts under the conservative party. >> mr. speaker, in 2007 there were 8,324 deaths where there was an increase of 28% on the year before. i brought out a report which said that infection control procedures were being damaged because of overcrowding and understaffing at n.h.s. facilities. does the prime minister agree with me that any unavoidable death is totally unacceptable? and in light of this report, what fresh actions is the government now going to take to eliminate all superbugs from our hospitals? >> mr. speaker, i'm determined to do that. that we have brought in new rules for nurses, we've brought in new rules for people being checked coming into hospitals and brought in new rules for cleanliness and given them more powers and doubled the number of matrons so cleanliness is on the center to everything that happens in the national health service. we're determined to rout out

still is the perfect stopover in the rolling green hills of central missouri and there the man harry truman called the great rural citizen, winston churchill, marked the beginning of the cold war with the words that were heard around the globe. today the speech is regarded as perhaps one of the most important that chump hill ever delivered. the speech contain -- churchill ever delivered. the speech contains certain phrases, which at once entered into general use and which have since survived. however, it's churchill's mention of the iron curtain that attracted immediate international attention and shaped opinions in the united states and western europe. he said, from the balance tack to the -- baltak and the

and, in fact, since president truman, 60 years ago called for health care for every working american as a national priority, we've been struggling to achieve that goal and before he not yet gotten there. we've been periodically trying to fix up a fragmented expensive, unfair system. but the fear of change has always overtaken the sense of possibility. those stakes and that history make it all the more critical that we seize this moment to meet the challenge that president obama has laid out for us and that we deliver on health care reform. this is the year, 2009 is the year. this is the area to deliver on the promise, to give every american access to affordable health coverage, to ensure our economy has the same potential, the engine of prosperity, the opportunity of employment in this century that it was in the last century. to make this happen, we have to find ways to make our health care system more affordable. we need to spend our health care dollar in smarter ways so we can put money back in the pockets of americans and make our businesses more competitive. the good news is we h

and truman and lyndon johnson and jimmy carter and clinton and people that have gotten involved with conservation, using them as the centerpiece but talk about these characters around them. >> when did you do the reagan diaries? >> that came out a couple years ago. we did it pretty quickly. again, i didn't have to right that, it's ronald reagan's book. what we're doing this year is we're bringing out the complete diaries in a box set. so i was working on this book for a long time, but started the writing in earnest the second i had a couple of chapters written when i started the reagan diaries. what it is, brian, when you go to these places, i pick one. if you're going to mesa verde, when you go there, my field observation notes -- >> where is it? >> that's? southwest colorado in the four corners region. it's the ancient anazazi, there is some argument about the native cultures but it's the cliff dwellings that roosevelt creates as a national park. congress has to approve national parks. when i go in a place like that, i go in advance and i meet the superintendent. i say, look, you'r

he received the medal of honor from president harry truman in 1945 in recognition of his heroism during the tide turning battle. he served in korea, vietnam and was a 14-year employee of the v.a. in 2004 congress named the v.a. facility in utah. the v.a. said this in his passing, he truly exemple flies the commitment to service and love of his country. the people of utah, this hospital and the veterans he tirelessly served have lost a remarkable man, end quote. indeed they have, we all have. thank you, madam speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. culberson: thank you, madam speaker. you know, congress is operating under some of the lowest approval ratings in history, and clearly the public has lost confidence in its federal government. perhaps that's because the federal government is rapidly moving down a past that shows that the government is losing confidence in the american peop