waxman was talking about issues like smoking.he most famous henry waxman hearing was when he brought in all the ceos of the tobacco companies. i think that was a huge turning point. >> let me -- during 2008 the last year of the bush administration, democrats held on oversight committees held 96 committee and subcommittee hearings. this year with the obama administration in power, the committee held 76 hearings, a drop of 21%. here's some of the topics the democrats decided to hold hearings on. are super weeds an outgrouth of usda bibiotech policy, female d code felons, defining and fulfilling the mission of national archives administration. >> in the context of a big federal government, one hearing on those subjectes doesn't strie me as odd. >> one person's trivial subject is another person's substantive subject. you can bet john boehner will shut them down. >> i'm not even trying to score political points, and i've got to push back on you here, he's talking about doing 280 investigations in one year, more than what waxman did in

i honestly hope they do control and rb henry waxman still as chairman if he remains chairman for research and expect him to keep his offers to find some compromise on broadband regulation. i think in a very honorable way he took on the issue during the past year against some tough odds and the consensus among a lot of the stakeholders. republicans for a reason that howard can talk about decided they didn't want to move forward at that time. i think he did a yeoman's work in reaching a compromise and i think he will be likely to push that forward. on the senate side, senator rockefeller has been very clear he considers spectrum to be a priority. he has a proposal to allocate to transport, which is a spectrum band long been sought by the public safety community to build a network. and i think with support from the public safety community and support from certain carriers he will look to move that next in the early congress. >> host: tony romm. >> guest: i think the matter what happens next week there'll be consensus among stakeholders that there will be a lot of changes on the communication

chairman waxman is concerned about it. that is something in the next congress that we certainly could look at and maybe put together a bill to prevent that kind of activity from happening in the future. >> rick boucher, an active , lost.t what does his loss due to the community, in your view? >> i am republican and i am always happy to get more republicans and to have a majority, and obviously the gentleman who won over rick is to be congratulated for his victory. when you take aside the politics and the mathematics, as a person, there is not a better person in congress than rick boucher. also energy policy and many of the legal aspects, he is going to be really missed. he it is chairman on the energy committee and was active on the judiciary committee. a very bright person, very flexible, and somebody that was willing to work across i'll. i had the privilege when i was subcommittee chairman to have him as my ranking member on the energy subcommittee. he was just very, very good person to work with. on the political side,

chairman waxman is concerned about it. so i think that something in the next congress research that could look at may be put together a bill to prevent that kind of act two goodie from happening in the future. >> host: congressman barton, rick boucher and active democrat on the dnc committee on telecommunications laws, what does this was due to the committee in your view? >> guest: well, you know, i'm a republican and i'm always happy to get more republicans into having majority and obviously the gentleman who won over rick is to be congratulated for his sick dirty. and we take aside the politics and the mathematics, as a person is not a better person than congressman rick boucher is someone who is knowledgeable on these issues of telecommunications, but also energy policy in many of the legal aspects of congressman boucher is going to be really, really nice. he was subcommittee chairman on the energy committee. was very active active also the judiciary committee. very bright person, very flexible and somebody that was wil

chairman waxman and before him chairman dingell are both very aggressive overseers, but they focused their oversight out into the country. they really didn't, in my opinion, adequately oversee the obama administration. so, you know, we're not going to be punitive, but we are going to insist that all these executive orders and these pending regulations and some of the actions that the epa and the fcc and the fda have initiated, that they're going to have to come before congress in an open, transparent fashion and justify that. so those are the folks that'll be a little unhappy. i really don't think the democrats on the committee are going to be unhappy because they're going to be a part of the process and fully engaged, and the hearings will be fair and balanced. it'll be their decision whether to participate. but my guess is that they will. as they they should. >> host: you mentioned the fcc and chairman genachowski's proposal to reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service. do you think that they will be under more pressure to move forward with that now that republicans have

hopefully, obviously, i hope they do control, and that would leave henry waxman still chairman of the energy and commerce committee. i would certainly expect him to continue his efforts to find some kind of compromise on broadband renovation. i think in an honorable way he took on the issue in the last year against some tough odds and got a lot of compromise between stakeholders. the republicans didn't want to move forward at that time, but i think he did yeoman's work in reaching a compromise, and i think he will be likely to push that forward. on the senate side, senator rockefeller considers spectrum to be a priority. he has a proposal to allocate the d block which is a spectrum band that has long been sought by the public safety community to build a network, and i think that with support from the public safety community and support from certain carriers, he will look to move that early in the next congress. >> host: tony romm. >> host: sure. i think no matter what happens next week, there seems to be some consensus that there are going to be a lot of changes on the communications

waxman maintains or retains his chairmanship, what do you see his focus? >> >> guest: well, again -- >> host: particularly when it comes to rewriting of the telecommon -- >> guest: as you both know, he spent the last few months of the present congress attempting to gain some kind of con consensus around the issue of broadband regulation. i would think assuming he maintains the chairmanship, he'll try to continue those negotiations, work with the republicans on the committee, work with the industry, work with folks in the democrat and republican party to achieve that consensus to give the fcc clear direction on broadband regulation. and on the senate side, senator rockefeller, obviously, has been following that issue very closely and was involved in stakeholder meetings on the subject, but he seems more targeted in focusing on the spectrum question, particularly on allocating spectrum to public safety to get a public safety network built as quickly as possible and using funding from auctions to support the building of that network. >> host: and we have to l

cbc and waxman, everybody is on different camps. and some are saying the republicans are in denial. they feel like the president doesn't get it yet and some conservative democrats are saying that. >> pelosi has not endorsed either man? >> no. i think she's stayed neutral. and the race would be decided next week and they would come back in the lame duck and vote and she would stay out of it. and some of her constituents have backed hour so i don't think she will formally endorse. >> what does the president get involved in this? >> the white house is staying clear and saying we're not getting involved in leadership races. but i imagine people in the white house were kind of stunned as i was on capitol hill that nancy pelosi did not step aside. >> leading into the big election 2012, can't be a good setup for the president? >> no. right now it doesn't look good. but a couple of years ago we didn't see it looking good for the republicans. we've seen two waves. if the economy is still high and the economy is still ailing, incumbents be aware. now things could go the other way but right no

but if you look at the people endorsing hoyer, lawrence, you have guys like henry waxman, howard berman who are pretty much california democrats, pelosi-crats, if you will. if they are endorsing hoyer, it almost looks like nancy pelosi is giving the go ahead, okay, we won't stop hoyer, we won't try to get behind clyburn much like she got between in '96, they were interns together back in the 1960 fost a maryland senator, lawrence. >> measuring the microscopic differences politically between these democrats has some people saying that clyburn is to the left of hoyer and so it becomes interesting that people on the extreme left of the party in the house, people like henry waxman and i believe barney frank also today coming out for steny hoyer. so this is not breaking down along the lines of blue dogs for hoyer, which some people thought it might and liberals for jim clyburn, is it? >> no, not at all. that reflects what the rank and file members have told us, there's a desperate want for a guy like steny hoyer to be in the leadership because it balances out the house democratic leadership

>> henry waxman in the whole two year these chaired that same he committee only had something like 206 oversight hearings. darrell issa is talking not just about 280 hearings, seven subcommittees, a hearing a week, he says one or two. that could be 560 hearings in 40 weeks. the man is on a -- you know, he is on a hunt right now, really a witch hunt, i think. and every time he makes these accusations, somebody has to come along, put their hand over his mouth and has to walk it back. he called barack obama one of the most corrupt presidents ever. that the perspective he is coming from. of course, now he is trying to walk it back. but instead of looking at, for example, there is a lot of things he could investigate, why the insurance companies are continuing to raise their rates. i would be for that. but no, i think it is going to be more like dan burton. i was on that committee when dan burton chaired it and he had over 1,000 hearings looking into every tiny little aspect of the clinton administration. and i fear that we are going to have the same kind of witch hunt occupying all of the

waxman maintains or retains his chairmanship, where do you see us focus? particularly when it comes to rewriting of the telecom -- and >> guest: sure, as you both know he spent the last two months of the last congress -- actually the present congress attempting to gain some kind of consensus around the issue of broadband regulation. i think assuming he maintains the chairmanship, he'll try to continue those negotiations, work with republicans on the committee, work with the industry, work with and the democrat and republican party twitchy that consensus and to give the ftc clear direction on broadband regulation. on the senate side, senator rockefeller obviously has been following the issue closely and was involved in stakeholder meetings on the subject. he seems more targeted than focusing on the spectrum question, particularly on allocating spectrum to public safety to get a public safety network out as quickly as possible. and using funding from auctions to support the building of that network. >> host: and we have to leave it there. thank you both form

several top democratic chairmen including names like barney frank, ed marky and waxman designed -- signed a letter saying they're going to support hoyer for minority whip. last week, jim clyburn announced he's running from minority whip. that will raise eyebrows. while she's remained silent, pelosi backed the late congressman john murtha of pennsylvania when democrats took over the house and she became speaker. higher stayed in the race and won that contest but there have been questions over who exactly nancy pelosi would like to see in that number two spot. the bottom line, though, we talked with with folks and higher's plea believes strongly that they have the votes and they think they will be able to for steny higher. >> outside of this leadership race, maryland lost the top spot on the democratic congressional campaign committee. what are chris van holland's plans for the future? >> that is a mystery. the past two cycles, he's been running the dcc, the democratic congressional campaign committee, travelling the country back and forth and raising money for all sorts of candidates, maki

former chairman soon to be ranking member henry waxman and congressman polone and markey and dingal.helped pass it. they will offer witnesses and question and testify and all of that. republicans have nothing to hide. we're not going to do bills in the dead of night. we're not going to not post things on the internet. so that the public can't see what is going on. i think the more the public sees in the process, the more they're involved in it, and the fairer they see it to be, the more likely we'll get democrats to vote with us. if that happens in the house and the senate, the president is up for re-election, too, in two years. it's a debatable proposition where he vetoes it or not. >> greta: congressman, i hope we get transparency. we've been promised it over a number of years. i hope we get it. thank you, sir. >> john boehner means it and joe barton means it. we'll get it. >> greta: thank you. >> thank you. >> greta: here is a look at what is coming up on the show after -- actually, no. first we have pakistani president pervez musharraf is here to go on the record. he has tough wo

. >> chairman waxman, chairman... >> tony hayward, look at my hands. this is what it looks like for the plaquemines down there, and i think you need to be charged with a crime! you need to go to jail. as a matter of fact, i've got some chains and i'll... you need to be charged with a crime! >> can you tell us under oath that the decision to use six centralizers instead of.... >> narrator: amidst the technical questions, there were deeper concerns... >> you're the ceo of the company! >> with respect, sir, we drill hundreds of wells a year all around the world. >> yeah, i know. that's what's scaring me right now. >> narrator: ...about whether this was a company that could be trusted. >> mr. hayward, when you became ceo three years ago, you said that safety was going to be your top priority... >> narrator: the interrogation produced few new answers. >> one of the reasons that i am so distraught... >> i don't want to know whether you're distraught. >> narrator: it was mostly political theater. >> we're going to have a hard time reaching conclusions if you

he had the endorsements of henry waxman, barney frank, ed markey, powerful committee chairmen, powerful of nancy pelosi f steny hoyer is racking up the old members of the democratic party progressives, blue dogs, as well as he has been up here 30 years, looks good for him so far. >> james clyburn would be coming to the position with the backing of the congressional black caucus. that is not insignificant? >> no means at all that is over around 40 folks, who knows they all break for him. that being said it illustrates a clear division in the democratic party a lot of party leaders do not want in the front and center. what does it illustrate? essentially have an african-american going against a modern conservative, democratic conservative leaning democrat, a division that they don't want front and center because it shows disunity within the caucus. look, democrats routinely are often blasted by the gop for not being organized, for sort of winging it on a lot of things and certainly don't want that out there in front of everybody. i will say that the interesting thing going forward though,

about twice as many as democratic chairman henry waxman held when he was calling the shots on oversightwould include the bank bail jourkt the sometime lurks the mortgage crisis and maybe even health care. with us now is jean cummings, assistant managing editor for politico. what should the democrats worry about most? >> the party out of power takes the opportunity to bring scrutiny to the administration. some is expected but i do think that issa is going to be aggressive, as republicans have been in the past in trying to ferret out any kind of embarrassing details in the stimulus program where money might have gone wasted with or been unaccounted for, the headlines that the white house needs to worry about. >> they have been proud at the white house in how the stimulus money was spent, they think they have had a minimum of any fraud in this program. are they now going back and looking over things i and find out what they may have to be vulnerable about before he even gets in power? >> i'm sure that they are scrutinizing everything that they can. made it clear that if he found anybody wa

. >> phil schiliro, who was the top staff guy for henry waxman. >> in the communications department, robert gibbs, who worked in the senate, who's now the press secretary. >> so they had a very, very strong team of people who knew the hill, knew how to work the hill, knew how to have success on the hill. >> narrator: and to run it, they brought back the quintessential washington insider, former senate majority leader tom daschle. >> it was an enormous signal that this really is a priority for the administration. they're not messing around. they're bringing in the pros, they're bringing in the big guys to get this done. >> narrator: obama decided he would stay in the background. he would encourage congress to come up with a plan, fast-track it, relying on good will and personal relationships to get it passed. but the idea of hiring insiders almost immediately hit a snag. >> abc news has learned of problems faced by another of president obama's cabinet choices, tom daschle... >> tom daschle is trying to save his nomination to become... >> an unwanted distraction for the obama administr

can -- you can look atrops and what they're planning right now without saying that obama and henry waxman and ed town should have opened up this presidency with a bunch of truth and reconciliation. darrel issa got this job because everyone in the republican conference knew that he had a ton of energy that wasn't being spent on anything useful. they could spend it usefully on him running to cameras, bl bluetooth located right above his ear and explaining the scandals that he thought were important that day. he's calmed down a little bit. he's amped up a little bit since the election, but listen to what he's saying. when he says seven investigations, it's not seven investigations of where joe sestak sharpened his pencil and, you know, what michelle obama put on the menu somewhere. he is saying this will be a happy-go-lucky committee that investigates whether stimulus money is being spect effectively. there is some public desire for that. there's also a lot of room to demagogue that. now, if he was talking about, you know, going after scandals that republicans, you know, amuse republicans an

this is always a danger for churve party is in the majority when one of the prior chairman henry waxman pushed a little bit too hard in some areas, it rebounded to the democrats. it hurt the democrats. and as was mentioned, some of the investigations by this committee back in the late '90s did not do what the republicans then and the majority hoped it would do. so, darryl issa and the republican leadership need to be very careful about how far they push and what issues they do push. hopefully they will have learned by history and will do a good job. >> congressman bob barr and joy-ann reid we'll see you back here later in the hour. >>> an engine fire onboard the carnival "splendor" has stranded more than 4,000 passengers and crew members just off the coast of san diego. a fire knocked out telephone lines and left passengers unable to reach loved one. fortunately, no one was hurt. the coast guard is currently towing that luxury liner to the port. the "uss ronald reagan" has been diverted to help deliver needed supplies to the cruise ship. tracy's parents are onboard and she says passenge

the chairman of my committee, henry waxman, sent out requests for information to all these companies to say, how dare you try to embarrass the president on the day the bill is signed. we want to see what you're referring to when you say you have to restate earnings. turns out that's to comply with securities and exchange commission regulations that if the company's profits are going to substantially change, they are required to let people know about that but part of the information that was delivered to the committee showed that large companies across the country were at least considering what the future holds for them. when companies have a couple hundred thousand employees, they're paying $8,000 to $10,000 per employee for health insurance, on the ore side if they don't provide the health insurance, which they don't, under law, or they're going to get fined $2,000. the policy costs $8,000 to $10,000, the fine is $2,000. companies with large numbers of employees were suddenly looking at significant savings that could be available to that company and now were they obligated to do the

waxman-markey didn't fully eliminate e.p.a.'s ability to regulate under the clean air act.president obama and cap-and-trade supporters wanted both. keep in mind, all the time we're talking, we're talking about something that is a very massive, would be the largest single tax increase on the american people. when you're talking about $300 billion to $400 billion a kwraoerbgs tough bring that -- a year, you have to bring that down, what does it mean to me? i can tell what you it means to the taxpayers in oklahoma. each tax-paying filing a return it would mean over $300 a year. what do you get for it? you get nothing. one thing i like about administrator lisa jackson is she's honest in her answer. i asked her the question. f. we were to pass something like this, if we were to pass wax man-markey, do something legislatively, how would it effect worldwide emissions of co2? she said it wouldn't have much of an effect at all. the reason is we can't do that here in the united states. this isn't where the problem is. the problem is in china, it's in india, it's in other places aroun

waxman is a great outgoing leader. mr. bergman has been a best friend of bp. mr. upton has been a moderate over his career. he has the 12th best score for a republican. we do not agree with him on everything, but we can certainly agree with things with him. clearly, on the record, mr. blarton has been the best friend of big oil. host: you do not get involved in that? guest: not at all. you remember there was a fight last year with mr. dingell. that is something the party decides. we do not get involved in who controls particular committees in that particular way. host: article that i have read going forward on the energy agenda say that president obama backed away from cap and trade after the election, saying there is more than one way to skin the cat. as the papers put it, he seemed to walk away from the legislation. guest: i think we had our best chance to pass a comprehensive bill in this congress. it made important steps to create new energy jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and protect public health. but it failed in the senate. that particular appr

waxman maintains or retains his chairmanship, where do you see as focus? >> guest: again -- >> host: particularly when it comes to rewriting of the tele- >> guest: as you both know he spent the last human to the last congress attempting to gain some kind of consensus around the issue of broadband regulation. i would think assuming he maintains a chairmanship, so try to continue those negotiations, work with republicans on the committee, work with the industry, work with folks in the democrat and republican party to pass and give the fcc clear direction on broadband regulation. on the senate side, senator rockefeller has been following that issue very closely and was involved in stakeholder meetings on the subject. .. >> please be seated. >> good morning, everyone. we're going to take up the first case that's on the calendar, and that is the united states of america vs. the state of arizona. we allotted 30 minutes per side. the appellant wishes to save time for rebuttal, that's fine, just keep an eye on the clock. it's counting down. with that, a reminder,

he is one otwo members of congress, the other being henry waxman, behind legislationhat would spur a pharmaceutical company is to develop more antibiotics. est: thank you very much. it is good to be agreed to and have the opportunity -- it is good to see dr. fci -- it is good to be withou and have the opportunity -- it is good to see dr. fauci and discuss this important issue. host: can you explain thiwhy this is a priority? guest: is a priority for the very reasons dr. fauci just mentioned at the beginning of the show. the emergence of antibiotic restant bacteria, such as the stf the caucus, but there are many others -- bugs coming back from iraq and iran. our troops are being exposed to a crowded conditions, and more and more we're seeing these drug-resistant bactea. some of the so-called gene that allows them to mutate very quickly despite any wonder drug. all of a sudden you have antibiotic-resistance and no way to treat. we have, because of this, through the energy and commerce committee i introduced a bill called the gain act, give antibiotic incentives now, bipartisan legislat

the last one was waxman and markey. this has finally evolved that won my voice in the wilderness 10 years ago is now the prevailing thought. that's why i said to my little jace rayburn, grandson, i do it because no one else will. let me just say this, how much more fun it will be to come down here and do the politically correct thing and say, ah, earmarks are bad, earmarks are bad, earmarks are bad. we're going to do away with earmarks and let everyone applaud before they realize what it really is. to be able to come down -- i hear the staffers right now telling their members, you know, you have the greatest opportunity, you can vote for this amendment to ban these earmarks and you can make people think you're conservative, number one. number two, you can make president obama happy because he is -- he is publicly supporting this. this is what he wants. because this means, as it's been said by senator lautenberg and by senator harkin and several others, if we don't do it, that goes to the president. i'm going to explain

he is one of two members of congress, the other being henry waxman, behind legislation that would spur a pharmaceutical company is to develop more antibiotics. guest: thank you very much. it is good to be agreed to and have the opportunity -- it is good to see dr. fauci -- it is good to be with you and have the opportunity -- it is good to see dr. fauci and discuss this important issue. host: can you explain thiwhy this is a priority? guest: is a priority for the very reasons dr. fauci just mentioned at the beginning of the show. the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria, such as the stuff the caucus, but there are many others -- bugs coming back from iraq and iran. our troops are being exposed to a crowded conditions, and more and more we're seeing these drug-resistant bacteria. some of the so-called gene that allows them to mutate very quickly despite any wonder drug. all of a sudden you have antibiotic-resistance and no way to treat. we have, because of this, through the energy and commerce committee i introduced a bill called the gain act, give antibiotic incentives now, bipar

waxman, mr. schiff, mr. sherman, ms. matsui, mr. berman, mr. wexler and ms. rosa delauro. i think this is an excellent resolution. i thank the ranking member for his remarks, and i'm prepared, since there are no other members seeking recognition, to return my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 716. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to -- the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: i ask for the yeas and nays on this vote. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the