Transcripts For CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20240622

Issues that capitol hill and the country has dealt with in the last several decades but now theyre at the floor. You are one of the worlds foremost experts on immigration and have been there watching as capitol hill has struggled with this issue over the of course, over the last couple of decades and going back and forth. And now, with the pope picks in the vatican in quite literally at the front of many of the issues as people are trying to cross the mediterranean. So lets just turn off with a question in light you have been doing this a long time how does it change when of pope takes an interest in your topic . [laughter] good morning. Thank you for the question. I think when the pope speaks the perspective that is global and tomorrow at the same time. And then to focus on the importance of family and children it is in a very clear way these kinds of issues that lots of people will want to hear the pope speak but i am not quite sure if the u. S. Congress who have spent the unable there and willing to reach any agreement with regard to immigration will influence them one way or another. It is more likely to sway Public Opinion than people in the u. S. Congress. The issue is very difficult because everything seems to be broken up on capitol hill but, philosophically the parties are the two major wings of each of the two parties that fundamentally disagree on how to move forward. I am talking about u. S. Sovereignty we know politically who should get credit or not, etc. But the broader context first is that washington cannot move forward but more specifically the two parties have a philosophical disagreement about the size of migration or what to do about Legal Immigration or how to deal with the challenge at the border, how much immigration or how many people to bring in and the formula. Lets not forget the way we choose them to day is designed between 1965 that was 40 or 50 years ago. So if you drive the 50 yearold car without updating so we fall behind on immigration and both parties understand that we always had a prohibitive advantage with immigration because people want to come here first and foremost, for fairly obvious reasons and were losing that advantage as they are more aggressive to attract immigrants that they want to read again the of vintages no longer prohibitive but the pope will focus what the Catholic Church has always focused on that is legal migration he will call let undocumented and unauthorized or not regulated. And mass migration and more generally and anything that involves protection of refugees to temporarily protect the people, etc. Etc. These earn if the churches concerned with migration because they argue for protection to save lives to treat people properly and not take advantage to exploit people and argues strongly against discrimination in, etc. , etc. But at the same time very conflicted about migration more generally. Often with the church thinks of migration as the lesser of the two evils. Were one has and fantasia with development or jobs or opportunities, etc. Or one verses the other but that does not treat them well. But immigration is about immigration and to be persecuted of the people who have no other choice but to go elsewhere to create a life for themselves. Reset your organization and deals with a wide variety of issues but for most is poverty and hunger as they affect the elderly. Is a little bit more amorphous than just the immigration proposal that congress is looking at can use. [inaudible] as an to what youre looking for with the pope and how you approach the visit . Iraq also thank you to my colleague because first of all, great to be with all of you as a time together to think about this important conversation with paul francis. And what is extraordinarily helpful about the popes visit, it is he speaks on many occasions about dignity for all people. So i just that, giving a voice will be important. We are the charitable arm of aarp to focus on antipoverty work in four areas to see those as interrelated that if you think about a problem in one of those areas you can imagine the individual would have difficulty in one of the others as it is a Multiplier Effect that could be a spiral downward for individuals. What is on my mind . Just over 50 years since johnson declared war against poverty by yet pc is on the rise rather than on the decline so we come together at this moment in time to put a spotlight to of that issue is to talk about some opportunities that have worked. When we think about poverty that is the key issue the pope has discussed, we know there are tens of millions of people in the United States that are in hunker every day so you may think of it as that temporary or physical state of not having food but there is a growing number whether children or midlife or the Older Americans that our food is secure and i hope that is highlighted because this is about the lack of dependable access to nutritious and affordable food. Moreover it is an opportunity to talk about the fact there is no face of thunder as is is about children or young adults and our seniors and that is almost every address in our nation which is an important feature. Urban settings, rural settings, but the Fastest Growing address is in the suburbs where individuals have been pushed out of cities possibly but do not have enough income to meet their basic needs in america there are programs that have worked to reduce poverty to increase Food Security said any highlighting of the great work of the supplemental nutrition act act, we know for seniors up problem remains the dave persistently do not apply for benefits of which they are eligible so it is just over onethird of seniors your accessing the important benefits that our nation is supportive of. That is lack of education and also Older Americans going back to your dignity thinking there are others. And reduces poverty rates in the United States to have access to affordable food and to lift them up out of poverty. So it is my hope to think about the fact that a a Rp Foundation that we have founded in addition to others a Faith Based Community but we also know it will take a collaboration from the private sector to come up with new solutions with access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and it would read the about putting together the Food Supply Chain so we are looking at how we can produce more nutritious and affordable and accessible food for children and Older Americans as well. There is a question to be asking why arent we winning the war on poverty . And how do we bin to that with under . This is getting worse and why do we have such a persistent deficits supply chain and those that are proving is secure . But to use the this as a great opportunity to let them know there are so Many Americans that our hungry those that our hungry every day i would say that is invisible if it is the opportunity to lift this up and encourage people to take more directed action to solve the persistent problems. We will get to your questions i want to make sure everybody has a of a chance as they have an opportunity and at the forefront today with Global Warming Program Attracted criticism on capitol hill. As a political issue the pope has the question from your Vantage Point and your experience, how has that changed . And to put on your smart phone that was released in june by the pope that is praise to my lord. Have the reason it has six chapters of the believe the pope will speak to that when he is here in the United States to build upon the work of the prior popes as well as in frances over the 50 year history of the Catholic Church to address these issues with even pope paul and pope benedict. Is it is the thoughtful piece and it is hard to do wrap their minds around the document but it hits of the scenes to talk about the relationship between god and nature and other earth. With the need for a common plan. If we lost the moral compass. And what is important to bring the panel together is that property and Climate Change are two different games end of that you may cover in other parts of rural life but the Sustainable Development goal to do with poverty and education and energy and the ocean but the pope sees this relationship between ourselves and in nature as one. So add as you think of a the pope to lay this out in a new way. But if you look at how we treat the people were the endangered species that are traffic it comes from the same place. Although growing up in german catholic family is like i did with a sense of guilt but i really do take it was helpful because with all due respect i felt when it came out the path for everyone to hang their issue that there is only a small sliver and there is an opportunity to take a much larger lessons. But the pope does have an entire section to having an event and it is part of the u. S. Domestic response to a large tree the meeting happening at the end of the year as a Climate Summit in paris that comes to an International Agreement they will be gathering at the end of the years of if they look at the pope visit with the large announcement with that large seven. To look at the Large International issues at the end of the your they will say this year was a to pinpoint so did they link the agenda of with poverty Climate Change and finance to put all the pieces together to create change. Second did the major country is late last year start to take action on Climate Change . And third, i agree the influence will be on the broader public purpose of my own family is thinking about taking a road trip from florida because this could be their only time to see the pope did United States with the excitement in the Catholic Community cannot even conveyed just never excited they are by this visit. But to be fortunate enough to look for Vice President gore when you look at capitol hill that members feel compelled to louis day with those private sentiments and many of them give privately and to donate their time and go to africa. I actually think beneath the surface you do see movement on some of these issues. I do think a visit a fax their families so what is intriguing to me is to move to the general election is whether or not we do see a softening on the flash point issues because the primary is not always the best time because that is in the issues are sharpened to of both parties claiming to the base and they will start to see the impact of a visit like this. We will open into question is. And a lot of them are interconnected. How important is the popes science background to the development of his ideas . He has degrees i think in chemistry . Actually the vatican has held several conferences on science to help educate the staff. I think he speaks to the importance to have a dialogue with and i think there is a misperception that the Catholic Church is somehow hot style to resign and spreading bed is the updated perception it also talks about the gm of in a space stand interesting way to a talkedabout technology. First of all, i think it is not just this pope said he seems to be interested in the opening seven or eight pages he does walk through the history of the commentary of this space which is particularly interesting. The key is able to speak to use some of the science so with those cards and credit to wasnt just scions but he could speak to their Rio Convention even the policy initiatives pothole that are out there and i thank you will find it very interesting of levels at which they have been understanding of what is going on internationally and domestically. Could you comment about the significance to philadelphia or the broader issues he may focus on . I am happy to speak about it budget would be more from our point of view that the pope with that visit and in general the of conversation about disparity in america, the way we a think about from the poverty standpoint is important to us for a dialogue. We have invested in a program in l. A. That it is a food program called l. A. Kitchen that the idea said neither food nor people should go to waste for the abundance of fresh fruits with a growing amount of food waste in l. A to package said in a nutritious mail one dash wheel for seniors but combined with a jobtraining program for either individuals coming out of the foster care system or released from facilities. As some of you may go, this is a significant issue in the immigration and irina, a federal judge about a week ago ordered the release of all mothers and minor children in detention and waiting for their cases to be heard and to be assigned at a later date. Of the detention particularly of unaccompanied minors is a very large issue and continues to be an issue over the next 30 days i would not be surprised if the pope would address that completely. This is a pope that does not hesitate to answer difficult areas he speaks very frank fleet frankly and forcefully over the European Parliament and in rome. He left rome where the immigrants used to come now they come in different places and he talks directly about the unaccompanied minors and how they crossed the border and how we ought to treat them etc. , etc. I would not be surprised if he develops a narrative to address the issues but more directly perhaps more than in the other person or pope may have. [inaudible] but you said to follow his visit . I dont pretend to know the inner thoughts so or of which way to the speaker of the minority leader or majority leader but theyre both catholic. And they dont put religion in to their policy positions, but certainly i would say one of the most surprising Political Developments over the last 10 or 15 years that i have witnessed since 1988, is the rapid evolution on gay marriage to the point where politically it is almost not an issue any longer in Congress Know member really wants to do talk about it that much anymore because they see where the public is and it is remarkably hall quickly congress can change positions when they see the public is getting ahead of them. And three above a the thorniest issues congress has been dealing with immigration and Climate Change and poverty we are discussing them in congress. There is not the impetus yet for members to go out on a limb to talk about these things. Now we have seen congress get very close. They may even vote in one chamber overwhelmingly but then the moment gets away. There is so many variables that it is interesting to see you how congress approaches the policy statements and what they say after word. Hello. This is not related to any of the issues but i am wondering since he is coming to the United States from cuba to play a significant role in december with a policy change towards cuba, with all the different bills going around in congress to lift the embargo, idiocy the pope talked about that issue even if it is behind closed doors . How is his role with the engage river between the u. S. And cuba play out . Thank you. I think the white house would likely will come his engagement on this issue and absolutely have led not be surprised to see him addressing it in some form or another. I also think there is more to come from the white house on cuba purport of think there doesnt announcing a joint initiatives and on Foreign Policy right now i think iran and cuba are shaping up to be to of the major pieces of the president s legacys so anything from their perspective that will be welcomed by them the. I see the fed is a very good question and a very good point. I think we are focusing too much on exactly what the pope will say or not say or how directly or obliquely but with lecces leading up to a visit and the days after the visit everybody else will try to make statements so even if he does not say the words cuba directly he will Say Something to facilitate in the dialogue of latin america lets not forget after all this is the pope that understands as he became a cardinal he has to live with these issues. And the president will speak about the popes role. So i favor is all on the table directly or indirectly to add to that, to use the analogy and i know if you saw the film interstellar somebody asked me what it was about and i said it was about love. That is what the film was about. And in the end he would say it is about love you could retire read the entire parch but in the end it is about interconnectedness about love and people and nature. That is tough to cover as a reporter you cannot write a story about love but but in washington for us to cover all the political pieces whether cuba or Something Else is from his perspective of love and peace and joy a. I thank you are right as both colleagues but it does go back to the earlier point of a unique moment in time to think about issues and shared accountability in particular lifting people out of poverty so anything we can do to be shared the facts are stair and shared across racial and ethnic lines to provide information on solutions that might work every society does it better. If i may, we do keep coming back to the 80th of dignity the essential dignity of human beings. Is difficult sometimes to convey that in a political system based on conflict. I wonder, as policy people, ed do you have a vice for other policy people or reporters for the layperson, how do you address this is a political event he is a head of state and going to congress and the white house. How do you mix those zero or make that transition from talking about the politics . Unfortunately that alien concept of dignity. I will take this on for a second. This pope is the most fundamental. We know of the Catholic Church thinks it is universal. We all understand that but this particular pope speaks very directly about globalization and he speaks repeatedly about it. For instance he spoke of of globalization and then to contrast with corporations so here is one of the many instances where the pope wants to push against to make them larger from the universal declaration on human rights. With the refugee convention. These are documents so with that declaration of human rights but these are the days they speak very clearly about. He really expects his audiences they are captive for people to engage in force people to engage those big issues with the broader perspective. I whoof degree and not speaking for a policy standpoint but the requirements of a conversation this could be the opportunity for all of us that we need to know our own place in that dialogue. Anywhere riata with the issue of punker across all age groups it allows us to be a smarter participant with the cold boiled dialogue because solving for hunger not just children Older Americans with the interconnected this of the food chain. In the face of the conversation would doesnt work for those that do work like us now program with the Antipoverty Program that has worked overtime to bolster a sense because they highlight for us without adequate accessible nutrition. For people to participate and for Older Americans without proper nutrition of chronic diseases. Of course, an ancient society where there is many more Older Americans but if there is difficulty that could be challenging as well. It is time to broaden our position. Wet said time there are bigger issues before us we also have the asian in trade deal and of course, of Climate Summit coming up at the end of the year. But at the same time with those the regime with the u. N. Or the world bank, and the rise of the counter institutions. Whether americans how the elections have been and the fact that the indian population so the pope comes in and as as the leader as the embodiment of the change that is happening and we have a struggle right now of parochialism and globalism. Therein is a perception in parts of the United States as a Global Player to have difficulty so i think there is the fundamental under courage and a challenge to the political fray and how are we a you looking at all of these things . With the International Treaty is to have difficulty even getting through congress with a parochial close struggle. He will engage in all of the growth is globally and we are struggling with that as a country to see the backlash and the struggle with the Multicultural Society and to become a minority in this country and he does not have to say that but that in and of itself is say undercurrent Ripple Effect that is very difficult to see right now. You can look through any lands to see how that plays itself out. But others as well. One other point. The timing may be unfortunate and in other words, we will be in the midst of an argument about iran, a budget we will try a to do something. [laughter] so unless he writes about his visit next week with your editors you should have an article every day for the next one never it is entirely possible the other issues that fuel the fires of the arguments of the disagreement in washington may not allow the popes message your on immigration or climate or poverty or all that. They disappear from the headlines on day two or three but in philadelphia they will talk about all of these issues in several places. Is in the york meeting with the immigrant families and in philadelphia he will dedicate a speech on immigration reaching with latino families. You folks will have an opportunity to write about this to have that cushion the effect so people pay more attention. But can the message cut through considering the other issues . I dont know. Also with the timing, the popes fezzes it is the third and fourth week of the month and snap benefits for individual families tend to run out by the end of the third week so that it is interesting. He will be here during the week of each month that is the most challenging for food insecure. Of a bite to ask each one of you to describe, and resources where data could get statistics on your area of expertise . I have literatures sitting there on the table. That is day illegitimates of authoritative issue. This is what others say. We have an amazing very interactive and uptodate website to get everything you need to get on this particular issue some american edition into a down lootings and a cyclical, i would also recommend the climate is sites from the government at climate. Gov. Also i got this in the mail but National Geographic has a cover about the visit that it thought was informative and Climate Nexus has a 10 of resources on Climate Change that i think are quite useful. You can certainly go to a arp. Org and double sides you can search to find quite a few studies with the foundation and it is interesting around poverty for Older Americans as well as the recent steady pace in honker after 50 which is less steady that we founded the you can find links to a number of Research Reports on poverty and hunger more specifically. With rollcall three tend to focus on a conference and more day to day policy and political fights. We have written about some of the issues. Other questions . I wonder will the popes visit help to engage the u. S. Catholic population, which is an enormous population in some of these political issues and for each of you are there activists for your issues who are actively working to engage that population to try to extend the impact of the visit . Very much so theres probably around 75 or 76,000,006,000,000 catholics in the United States today. About 52 of the people who are here have been born elsewhere, that includes both legal and u. S. Citizens born outside of the country like myself, they include people who are legally here and our lawful permanent residents, people with green cards, they also include about 28 of 28 of foreignborn population which are here legally. Which is about 43 Million People. More than 50 of them are catholic, so the growth of inmate ration both legal, and ilLegal Immigration leads to the growth of the catholic population in the United States. The question is excellent on so many points, if you dont mind i will say say stay on this one a minute or so. It was such a long time ago of the premier advisor of the bishop on immigration, about 30 years ago in 1984, or it was also one of many periods of time where were trying to kill each other when it came to immigration. We passed legislation in 1986 and created sanctions, the one thing, two things i remember distinctly about where the Catholic Church in america is today. The most difficulty thing i had to do was persuade senior bishop cardinals to go to congress and testify or to make any public statements, or to pick up the telephone and talk to powerful people. They didnt want to touch the issue. The issue was too radioactive. So, everything we did at that time, and the second problem was the bureaucracy in the catholic conference. Priests were careful and reluctant to touch delicate issues contrast that with 30 years later when now you can get any cardinal to speak on the issue, to sign statements, to, to go up on the hill and testify. To go up on the hill and meet with leaders, up on the hill. So this pope is coming to the United States at a point when the Senior Leadership of the church, bishops and above, are extremely active, extremely engaged, and address issues as a matter of course. With statements, with testimony and with homilies at the local level. I expect this will be intensified in the days leading up to the popes visit. And here we may have a significant, comments, two or three months after the pope visits. Catholics are engaged. Leadership is engaged, the big question is what we all opened up with, will this make a difference . And i dont have a crystal ball today it is too difficult to predict. Two interesting pieces to your question, i think first when we talk about these issues as political we tend to lump americans together as if they are blob, many of these issues in the silent generation and the baby boomers see these issues differently than the millennials so i would just urge when we say these are political or contentious i would really urge us to not say 300 Million People are the same. Because they are not. We see that on gay marriage and other issues as climate as well. For example on Climate Science if you look at an 80yearold voter in a 25yearold voter and there absolutely not the same. In the climate profile. So i would start by saying its a real mistake to think that somehow an 80yearold and a 20yearold are the same on Climate Change because they are not. Young people have grown up with ap Environmental Science they didnt even have that when i was young and im 44 years years old. I took ap biology but ap science is now taught in schools as an advanced placement class. So i would start by saying that its easy to say these things are political, but really they are perceived differently among generations and i urge you to if youre covering them, to dive into it. One of one of the reasons you seen this key change politically is that there is a buildup of young people in political power, gen x are tiny little generations try to make a difference but the millennials are really the way thats coming behind the boomers. The second thing i would say is that yes i think you can see that the Environment Community is doing a lot to be organized but by and large their members are coastal. Most are found on both coast, i happen to be in a meeting the other day they were talking about how many members a Certain Group had in the state of wyoming, and i think it was ten. So what you find is that there tend to be most of their members, in coastal areas. I honestly believe what was just said was the most important, catholics are geographically dispersed throughout the country. With what the Environment Committee does is extremely important, in a way its just different in smaller than what they Catholic Group can do in terms of this long comet tail that was just described, because it reaches a whole different set of people in entirely different way. I. I will explain that by virtue of same that i was really touch when i read the encyclical because it talked about life. Many environmentalists when they read it, as you know, the church the church has a position on life, goes from conception throughout life life and oppose the death penalty, and it touched me in a way that i was really surprised by as someone who has been prochoice all her life. I really think this pope and the church has a way of reaching people in a way that is very different than what any single Interest Group or linked up Interest Group can do. So, i think organizing is extremely important but it is fundamentally different than what the Catholic Church does. The encyclical of these materials go out to every catholic school, you have Church Groups its just fundamentally different than what you and we understand advocacy groups are capable of doing, in terms of reaching communities and children, and people of all age groups. I guess i would say thats what i would focus on, this this is just different than what we in washington think is a postcard campaign, and robo calls to congress, its not that. Its fundamentally different. Id only a couple of things, one is that and i will get to what we might specifically do, but i do believe that people across the nation cared that 45 Million People live in poverty, that 20 million of those are children, 20 are africanamericans and the poverty rate of among hispanics is just over 20 . What we have seen at aaRp Foundation is that the intergenerational connection are really strong. So anything we can do to bridge those dialogues, we have a program at the foundation called mentor up, where young people across the nation ages 15 through college, are taking on the challenge to help low income seniors, people who are 50 and older. We are growing these chapters in schools and colleges and there is a keen interest. Note there are differences, that to me is very hopeful, not only about the dialogue, but about the interconnection of generational connection. It will be interesting to see whether or how Colleges Universities and schools take on this public dialogue beyond religion to set up a platform that schools are opening right in advance of this visit. At the the foundation, though we didnt connect this directly it is important to us that the national day of service is just two weeks before the popes visit so on 9 11, aaRp Foundation is hosting a national day a national day of service on the mall where we hope to have a the largest event on the mall for service, will be coming together with intergenerational core volunteers, about 6000 volunteers. We will pack and deliver over 1. 2 million meals to those who are hungry in this metro region, maryland, virginia and to see with high rate of those being 55 and older. Its a time to call to the forefront all of the issues of those who live in poverty. These intergenerational kind of activities activities are extremely important. Were talking about what way or may not happen, about how surprised we all were the speed at which the issue of gay marriage and all that became a non issue. I suspect, ten years ago the conversation was about generational conflict. I dont think you see this anywhere in the newspaper for a number of years now, this issue seem to have pressed announce the international intergenerational conversation. People are volunteering there volunteering to help all people where their immigrants are not to negotiate life in their 70s and 80s, that is fantastic initiatives that are taking place from Temple University all the way to the university of california. In the case of Climate Change, unlike immigration where analysts pretends that the economics are clear, the effects are clear, you only have to overcome i dont mean to downplay, you only have to overcome sort of the politics and the economics. So i wouldnt be surprised if three years from now i dont know how much the pope may have contributed to it, we reach some sort of accommodation where we start taking steps that include legislative steps on both of these issues. On the issue of immigration, i would be really surprised nor anything else if somehow, people started to put together piecemeal pieces of legislation. In order for that to happen, and if indeed the popes visit becomes a catalyst, i wouldnt be surprised to see it happen as long as there is trust between the democrats and the republicans or the administration and congress. Thats what were missing more than anything else on the issue of immigration, lack of trust. So people who talk about small pieces of legislation, this is a way you can build up to resolve some of these issues, though small pieces of legislation can only be allowed to pass by either party if they can trust the other party that they will keep their word as to what the next step will be. Thats a difficult issue on immigration at this time. Followup for dimitri i think the closest parallel was his speech in 2013 with that speech move the needle in everett anyway . It . It certainly did, were not talking about outcomes now were talking about the European Commission, truly engaged. There have been all sorts of outside forces, particularly people dying in large numbers that have also contributed to this. But but the European Commission has made more progress in the past four months, since march, whatever that is five or six months than they did in the last ten years on this issue. Now, numbers are extremely uneven, take the the place of germany, not particular lay in german. The sense of germany is that there dont like immigrants well germany has over 20,200,000 applicants last year it is prepared to take 400,000 asylumseekers this year. Thats an amazing number, can you imagine all of them on invited, either parachuting in or coming through all sorts of different ways in germany per. Germany is about a quarter of the size of the United States, that would be equivalent to 2 million Illegal Immigrants in a single year, all of whom we would try to adjudicate the cases, etc. Its a remarkable change. On the other hand you have a spain, hand you have spain, some Eastern European countries that refuse to take any if they can help it. Austria austria send their not going to adjudicate a single asylum claim this year. Hungry, putting the border 12 meters high people are trying to put 5meter high in chile. The european member state are all over the place. But the European Commission has been making progress that is been fairly consistent, in trying to make trying to figure out what to do about all this. Unfortunately theyre focusing on the shortterm kinds of things, what do you do when you encounter people in the mediterranean . The pope as spoken about the mediterranean not becoming a graveyard area and so you know, there there is a sense that something is going on but the conversation is how do you address, how do you keep people protected, fed, create opportunities for them you know learning studying, et cetera in places near where the major 4 Million People have left syria. What you do about jordan, lebanon, and turkey who have taken virtually all of those 4 Million People. These are hard issues, the united issues, the United States have to engage with europe on this. But we wont until europe put something in the game. They have to do something. They have to really show that they want to do something and i have a plan. Then then they can ask us to participate in that. I cant help but think that you will see some of these issues really play out on a campaign trail, we have the first Republican Debate on thursday. The republican frontrunner donald trump, has trump, has made centerpiece of his campaign, building a wall. Which is, i guess it would take a Real Estate Developer to forward. These issues are going to come up again, and again in particular it immigration because some of the principal rivals for the nominations like jeb bush, who has has stated over the course of his year that this is an issue country has to deal with in a mature manner. Another front runner, rubio was one of the key players in immigration debate in 2007 in particular. And recently a couple couple years ago. So this issue whether all of the candidates want to deal with it or not, the issue will come up. Its a fascinating time that is coming up about a month to a month and a half out before the popes visit. Other questions . Do you have anything as sort of as a last thing that we havent covered, like the topic of one last thing youd like to leave our audience with . Human trafficking. None of the things that we dont like about immigration can happen without this theres theyre not large enough to. Sort of like the commonest itself are the marks itself toward the end of the area of the soviet union or what have you. Small liberation, you dont know who the next corporation is they they make a ridiculous amount of money. They incurred none of the consequences of illegal movement. Whether people died, ergot traffics traffics or get beat up, or die et cetera all of the costs are being pushed back by a country when they get to europe they get pushback. When they all of the cost gets pushed back to the individual so it is spoken repeated the pope has spoken repeatedly and clearly about Human Trafficking. An agreement that they will Work Together the faith leaders to eliminate Human Trafficking by the year 2020. We know these are not realistic kinds of things but moral authority, shining the light on one of the ugliest parts of this unwanted mass unregulated migration is extremely important. He has called it repeatedly a crime against humanity. So dont be surprised if he speaks in the contacts of some unaccompanied minors trying to make it to the United States and what happens to them afterwards, if he also says something about facilitators of this human traffickers. The other thing issue is just an observation for 30 seconds. This boat has spoken clearly about complicity of all of us in this ilLegal Immigration game. By focusing on the fact that we benefit from the presence of Illegal Immigrants. This is something the church and most of like conversations, dont really include you know when talking about him ilLegal Immigration and he really has spoken eloquently theres lots of paragraphs if you just google it. Im not going to read it for you. Basically saying we all benefit from their labor we just love exploiting them and taking advantage of their presence, we we discriminate against them, et cetera et cetera but we dare have some responsibility for what is going on. When Illegal Immigrants to make it and stay in our country it is very significant. I wouldnt enter estimate that pope francis took his name from pope francis of assisi it really such an interesting points about him as a person, second this is a pope who doesnt see the dividing between poverty and he seems of these things as interwoven and interlinked. A third thing is that this idea of the pope as a globalists, the encyclical he talks about the onedimensional list technical goal paradigm which may describe d. C. In a nutshell and finally he talks quite a bit about the desert of the mind. He had a comment in their that we feel free as long as we have the supposed freedom to consume. So so i will leave it at this when he talks about spiritual fulfillment, i think he feels that there has become a confusion in society and each of us as individuals has a role to play in our community all the way up to the global. That permeates all permeates all of the issues we have spoken about today and so when he talks about less is more, and humility, and serene attentiveness and gratitude, these are not things that are not necessarily we dont necessarily look at these as traits in washington that are often common as we work into a combative environment. I think he is really hoping to bring here, to take us out of this cultural relativism and bring this holistic approach across these issues to washington, an appeal to a higher plane within us whether catholic, or christian or a secularist. To try to find a way to communicate about these things in a way that we can understand on a higher level. I agree. I agree and support with my colleagues have shared, i believe the holistic approach is one he will emphasize. He believes, it would work with antipoverty work that we need whole person solution, i wrap up by saying Something Else that is important to know. We talked about many nations, around the globe, its hunger in america is far worse than in any other western industrialized country. That is important to know. I would wrap up by saying on my. I would wrap up by saying on my mind is always this notion that americans, seniors who are hungry in america are often too embarrassed to ask for the help they need, to have the nutrition they need to have productive and healthy lives. But imagine in a land of abundance that one in six americans, across all, across all ages is hungry each and every day. I would say the embarrassment is really shared, blogs to all of us. Thats an excellent point about democracy reminds me the pope has also talked about technology as a destroyer of jobs, and the root of unemployment and then you see the link between that and people having no choice is the lesser of two evils and they tried to emigrate in order to survive. This is a what he called the pope a pontiff who works all these issues on many Different Levels and unified this is an intelligent person who is committed to the things that my colleagues have discussed is willing to see the connections and this will be fascinating. And washington and reporters. These topics with the catholic population in is dispersed across the country. And they are hungry. They are hungry for stories and i just dont have time to read them. That is a good transition. Thank you again. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] my will transition and we spoke a little earlier the correspondent from mcclatchy newspapers. I guess i am covering the president ial race as well as others with the conflict driven in discussions. And with climate wire for years a Climate Change reporter that his first foul i saw his byline we had to know what he was writing about so it is a pleasure to meet him for the first time. We have a breaking news editor from usa today. I believe i encourage on my dues. [laughter] and just about everything you can imagine on the widest circulated news of the day. We will dive right into the same topic from the perspective how they approach these issues as a singular event and also why dont we start with you. Were looking at a lot of first Like Congress a political and cyclical that were looking at there are stories you can do from the seven years from the previous people with climate and economics. With how the pope later this message opposition to ruth trickledown economics with those political candidates and the base. This is not just about catholics to have impact with politics we should not forget to leave out the jewish relationship with jewish leaders with the pope. And evangelical christians this says san it incredibly and outspoken on so many issues. So there is a lot of conflict stories. Also looking at his visit precisely and to teach john everyone with a visit to a Catholic Charity and the last thing and would like to raise is he spent most of his career in south america between south america and the north america as well. I think he is here to get us to think outside of the box. And americans are very secure with our current politics when donald trump but to focus on Something Else and a read a report from somewhere in the middle east the temperature almost shadow world record 154 degrees. Think about that. In this book talks about the rights of the unborn. He that youre talking about abortion. To have the right but with the developed countries with the consumerism. Cry would really like to drive my suvs every where but the rights the people who have not even been born yet to those who dont think outside the box or are very comfortable in their box. Now to think about that for eight minutes among the global list as the developed world with the Greenhouse Gases to concentrate in the atmosphere in the first place as people started the industrial revolution, ive brought us a great deal of success to separate us from these people who suffer at 154 degrees and as the richest nation of the world to be the the way to share our time to get the world back under control that United Nations would like to hit of to centigrade the more than that would be very difficult. That is another part were like you to think about but the third part of the box is people are going to lose everything. Future generation there they go system, their language and their nation. There is a group of violent nations if it goes over 10 feet we will lose everything. Were sitting down to a think what happens when a nation in disappears . Misalliances it there in in the ocean . Doesnt have sovereignty . So i do have an acronym for a name but the island nations, there are quite a few of them there so shrilled nobody listens to them but they will post a basic problem that is a huge immigration problem. Where will they go . Should we care . Not to a many politicians raise this issue and it isnt something people really want to hear that this man will talk about that. But to cover the visit there is so much to do for reporters and publications. Every not supposed to be covering the entire waterfront to dovetail on capitol hill and on the president ial campaign trail. Like all good politicians the popes are pulled and he comes to the United States at a time when his polling numbers have dropped. Gallop had him dropping in a survey last month from 76 at about 59 which is where he was about the time he was elected. That is still spectacular but a little hit but ironically that was from conservatives he dropped from 72 at 45 . One could argue the decline is based is cyclical and his message about poverty. It is interesting to see how his message plays out among the president ial candidates and members of congress. There were some who were not pleased the of the facilitator a good number of the delegation members including the miami herald or marco rubio were not thrilled about the popes role in that. But that said he will be warmly greeted by the members of congress they are looking forward to having him on capitol hill. There will be fights to sell its closest to the aisle to shake his hand when he comes down the aisle but this intersection of his message cant be under estimated. From the standpoint is what i am writing about but also it is important of what we call in washington, other real people think about the pope. We also have local responsibilities and our readers want to hear their voices in our stories about what they think. This is a moment. Think back when john kennedy ran against nixon. To have allegiance to the vatican to impart knowledge on members of congress. That is a sea change of how we come to view religion and politics how. That is remarkable but at the same time we have a message that is appealing to a lot of members of congress but it will be interesting to see with the state of the Union Address where the president may say one thing joe biden jumps up and claps and then sits down then the pope could Say Something that joe biden might not like an ant behavior may pop up i dont think it is going to be that sort of behavior but it could that Climate Change message it is those secret a good number of republicans have questions about Climate Change. The pope comes during the planned parenthood debate whether or not he specifically discusses abortion but either way you will see the aftereffect whenever he says will be used as messages it in Congress Come on the trail, for whatever issue. Is an incredible moment we will be covering. And to see how that plays out. To keep track in roll call is local coverage with the institutions that make up like the Capitol Police and everything we have seen or gather for of this event from secret service to Capitol Police, is they have never seen anything like this they are expecting up words from 1 million or 2 Million People everywhere around the National Mall. It will be a ticketed the bench but they cannot keep kalee parents from amassing by the Lincoln Memorial if that is as close as they can get. This is something that donna mentioned, there are a lot of stories of pope john the rope that i remember from john paul ii to the Climate Change and the ridiculous and i wonder, ideas think for people who are cut out or not in the chamber, what kind of story uc vin washington that there are more reporters than can fit. Where are they going for stories . There is such an endless array of stories that i could think of i wish to have 400 reporters to a sign first first attack brought the souvenir story but almost every Catholic Church will said the delegations that can be followed. Also there are stories to be done that has a lot covey issues and were looking at a pope with the popularity of a rock star. Twerking and he do to get more support or interest with catholics to rejoin the church . Catholic education is on hard times and there are two aspects. First of all, allow Higher Education with these fine universities like georgetown and secondary schools as the diocese have closed people have lost the secondary school so there is the important issue for those that are outside of capitol hill. In terms of being in washington d. C. , flew is going to ruth come now for this . If he is such a superstar that others will want to be there as well to witness this incredible moment of history is what is, i think you can capturer crowds and security stories and also voices of people and what theyre hoping to hear. Adding to that also something about recruitment parcel of of profs problem with the secondary schools i of a product of Catholic Education it was almost exclusively the nuns. And we know there is a done a shortage co pay lost the peoples of those schools are closing can the philly or new york area taken interest of people becoming a priest or a nun . That has been hard to do in north america over the last decade and because the pope is so open on a short period of time that might appeal to Younger Generation here may not have taken an interest in serving of a rise. Over the years to watch sham participate based upon what he does and says about this particular issue you macy people working harder in the church i say this as a lifelong catholic so how do you reform an institution that sometimes feels it is sitting . Is a huge. Catholics are everywhere. On this issue the answer is yes tonight to get back to when he says in addition to the catholic vote there is also the Catholic Social Movement to a social progressive and in periods past in this country that catholics have been key to different social movements so now a group that says just like minimumwage if you are a catholic Business Owner do you chase away you because of the teachings . There are also stories about how this pope interacts with the social movement about Business Owners hand people who control other things like economics and education are the two that come to mind. What are lessons from 1979 during the carter years that effect was drowned out as the hostages were seized. Is there anything we can pull from that visit . That was like a rock star. He can open in some boxes with the level of popularity he has gained said earlier could not. It does go back but the timing on this one is exclusive he has a big issue to come in to say things that politicians the alliance of the throwaway culture to measure things are made with too much waste because we have all the goodies and they dont you dont hear too many politicians talk of raw how were dominated by special interest but this pope is likely to raise hell. To a that point, some candidates are speaking generically on the issues where the pope may call that income inequality so not necessarily ask for specifics may be of what forces clarification by addressing housing. He could steer the conversation because this is where it gets interesting. He is not running for congress or anything in washington d. C. But by moral authority he can steer a and influence things. Going back to the 1979 visit from the first panel the lady that talked about the schedules this popes seems very savvy about social media. He is reaching beyond us and the mainstream media. He is reaching the masses not going over our heads but supplementing the coverage by reaching out to. For some events like political conventions conventions, sporting events some do not like the of loggers because they cannot control them or they dont know who they are every he puts up the welcome sign trying to reach as many it people as possible because people can have an influence on institutions. He said that we cannot say that before. [laughter] billions of people are coming for this speech to congress but talk about logistics that to when we have Inauguration Day there is that inaugural committee that handles the purple title or that kind of thing but i understand they are handling the seats in the chamber but on the west front is there anything or the park service dealing like this is it going to be like fireworks with screens you have any idea . No. From my understanding of what congress cant control or pretend to control in this case, very controlled access to the house gallery to the point where they told former members last week week, unless the speaker asked you specifically you cannot come. I dont remember too many times that ever happened. So we would have members and special invited guests from the different parts of the country. On though less frantic is controlled by conference that is coordinated with that cap call police that comes. That is right there but there will be so many people but i think we learned our lesson with the purple title if you worked here for that delightful thing it was a way to channel people to the National Mall also it was ted degrees said january and the president started to speak and people were still in line in the tunnel love to manning were trapped there. But with the announcement. But even that is a limited area and what they are expecting, they are thinking this is a spillover by the inauguration where people are gathering around they cannot even see the jumbo tri and images because the pope they go out to say a few words. So flu wouldnt want that . To see the pope dead person . And congress or the secret service are all coordinating as best they can but there is only so much you can do when millions of people are potentially going to be there. It is easy to get swept up in the rock star status so what would be appropriately critical to be necessary during the visit . We just do our jobs. The first part of the question there is always a certain degree of hype to cover something vetted is unique and unprecedented. Obviously coming to the u. S. Is not unique the congressional speeches a little different. In terms of critical you just write stories. But what he says will not go unchallenged space the situation if he talks about Climate Change, we will called the Bush Campaign or Rick Santorum and all of them to say what they think and they may not like that. Put the same thing with poverty and with cuba. So to this degree the criticism is almost builtin. You are respectful because of a religious leader, but at the same time dont just let him state his case to go unchallenged. The insurance policy is to have but then to be analyzing the but the mall will look klay with all of the crowds. One story you can do in advance of up popes visit is not only about though logistics and security if but the Economic Impact it with every hotel is already booked. I suspect that it is to make you could do the comparison contrast of his visit verses the inauguration you could not get a hotel, the transportation situation in common there is a tourism story that definitely can be done the 2008 inauguration is the gauge in terms of washington d. C. But then that is worth checking out. Does anybody think they could get a ticket between washington and philadelphia you better books that now. Process suggest for those it if you go out of town during that time. People are already on airbnb to know the criticism is to know the subject to see if there percent criticize has followed his own record to contradict previous statements and if you dont know, you are really handicapped you can put as many voices did your article was you want but you need to know so if you get a chance of saw him up close, what was that like . Was their small talk or what were his gestures like . There are three personalized and his interactions with others. You cannot do that obviously but you talk to them after words. And you will have members and who is a giddy about leaving somebody . I am not sure but i think there will be members you have interactions you can talk to get the thoughts or the readout. Theyre must and then some moments where an issue has popped up bin pop culture. The movie by the former Vice President but the topic a little bit that they went to do antarctica with the well financed trip every journalist was cellist jealous that may have translated is there anything that compares . But the with the al gore raising this issue and maybe it is time to do Something Else but he has a moral streak that is very deep and he really pushed the issue and what we know about what he did there is a strong streak of denial that people dont want to think about this issue because it could require painful decisions to give up your material goods to change your lifestyle. So i got your items. And yes al gore would delay a lot of that out and here we have someone following him who has probably watched him go into the buzz saw and he takes some risk with fat as well. We have more forest fires now in california than anybody has ever seen and now messing of the traffic which is sacrilegious by yet it goes up one day then goes down the next. The people say it is a big issue, paying attention. But it will be interesting to see. He understands this issue and he wants to the of the bright side. In an interesting moment for my point of view. But with the popes visit i am learning about how much it cost to travel to a country so with that financial burden to talk so much the impact of this message so food takes charge of that . The cost is the United States will be different than the cost of cameron because washington d. C. In particular and new york are two cities that are very used to do handily enormous events so in terms of cost there is always a security cost and you can go to Capitol Police and the secret service to see how much has been spent then they bring in the occupancy taxes with the department of revenue to read the compare similar events to get us sense of what money is coming in and and what is going out of there was the economy of scale it would be different if you look from that perspective to see a big difference there. What could be an interesting topic is the lobbying q the right before he comes here come the day do not have the infrastructure, were talking about super bowl cities her capable to absorber incredible demand to with the infrastructure to guarantee safety. Q but is different with a direct contrast between water redoing and then the next couple of days inn in new york or philadelphia or washington as a fascinating story. We focused on the popes visit to congress but it he is a listing other places added is the entry points for stories. In philadelphia he will go to a prison and he is rather outspoken on forgiveness and care of prisoners and social and criminal justice is a great opening on the day from the back of our system and reminded me we have one of the highest incarceration rates in this country of developed nations. This is a good entry point some even if you cannot get access, there are so many other Access Points to allow a journalist to find a really great story strike if we see a picture of him carrying his own bags i would like to see it. Any questions . The question i have is for my own purposes and but the policy issues, the cultural issue of a huge gathering of people. Them like the day after the super bowl with an empty stadium. So where do we go as a journalist . What do we tell in the wake of the visit . And all the is issues the next thing is whether or not he has the impact. Did he break in the consciousness . So that is a great thing to follow up to keep track of the issues that he addresses of there is movement in the congress. They appear to have lost the religious survey but if there is a surge in membership or even something so simple as having a Catholic Church but then one week after they see if the pews are filled to see if that had any of course, it is anecdotal not based on scientific evidence, but you get a feel if there is impact with those color stories sam policy followups. You can come after words about planet change. I cannot remember one but that is the good question. But a lot of people for the singular event but that is to look bad before and after who will introduce legislation . Check out that member of congress find out their issues to address the policy expertise. If they will capitalize on that. The panel was day ready made the list with before and after the visit that will dominate some peoples thinking of what they want to hear and have not been able to. Dont pay a lot of attention to the internal politics there is colonel sam bishops that do not think the pope is headed in the right direction and a great source of that is there is a