Transcripts For CSPAN Public Affairs 20130418

among people of faith, praying for our city. >> she was bright, political, which is why she and lincoln got together in the first place. she spoke several languages fluently. she was well educated. she had all these things going for her, but she had suffered a series of tremendous emotional blows. three erou children died. one died in the w house, one shortly after her husband was assassinated sitting next to her at the tat. the kinds of grief this woman was going to are amazing. that,demonized her for thought she was crazy. we found out she was not crazy, but mary todd was a significant person, and i hope some day we get a better view of the range of things that influenced her life, not just a tragedy. lincoln,f mary todd monday at 9:00 p.m. eastern, also at c-span3 and c-span radio, c-span.org. >> a live look at the u.s. capitol right now. we're waiting to take you live to boston for a briefing from the fbi. we will take you there live when it starts. the fbi before that briefing gets underway announced they will release some video and pictures during this briefing, said that is coming up momentarily. we will have a live on c-span. the issue of the boston marathon bombing investigation came up on capitol hill during a hearing with a homeland security janet napolitano. she talked on a number of issues, but about the investigation so far. yoe to bostohe fbi brs. hi gtl is here, saying he was at the scene along with many other people. boston detectives saw this moving quickly moving out of the crowd. he seems to be moving deliberately, which could be a natural thing. they ended up taking him to the hospital. that is straight off cbs. we ask average american to assist law enforcement in identifying who the bomber was. see something, say some. now we have someone who was being deported due to national security concerns, who was at the scene, he can possibly i.d. everybody, we're asking that in boston, and we had this g there, and he was detailed in the hospital, covered with blood, and that we will deport him. ofif i might, i am unaware anyone who is being deported for national security concerns at all related to boston. i do not know where -- eli >> he is being deported. >> like i said, i do not even think he was technically a person of interest or a suspect. that was a wash, and i am not aware of any proceeding there. i will clarify that, but i think this is an example of why it is so impnt leaw endo its j >> that is why i say we wouldn't you agree that it is negligent for as the administration to deport someone who was at the scene of the bombing, and we are on to deport him, not being able to question him any more? >> i am not going to answer that question. it is so full of the statements that it is not worthy of an answer. >> cbs reports the gentleman was there. we the taint him at the hospital, which cleared him of any wrongdoing to. >> there has been so much reported on this that is wrong, i cannot begin to tell you, no congressmen. secretary to napolitano from earlier today. all of that hearing in our video library at c-span.org. we will take you to boston for a briefing from the fbi on the boston marathon bombing investigation. just ahead of that news conference, they announced they would release video and photographs of the investigation, so we will have live once it starts on c-span. the secretary, the the about the explosion at a fertilizer plant in the time of what -- in that town of west, texas, an explosion that killed 15 and injured as many as 160. >> i will begin with west, texas, as the more recent event, and give you the most current information that we have about the explosion, and of course, our sympathies and concerns go out to the families of those who have lost loved ones or who have had a loved one who has been injured. ghtthe faa has issued a temporary flight restriction over the area. the texas commission on environmental quality is providing air monitoring and technical assistance. the texas task force one has been alerted to provide structural collapse support. the union pacific railroad has halted freight service and local authorities have turned off utility service in the area, including gas and electricity. there is an incident command center and a triage center, but they have been recently moved due to fears that additional tanks could be at risk. fema, part of the department, has been activated and stands ready to assist texas upon request. the state fire marshal's office, the texas dps, other state agencies are also responding. the american red cross is working with local emergency management to identify shelter management assistance. activated ann fema incident management assistance team. three preliminary damage assessment teams, and we're also standing by to assist in any other way . that level c,ns which is increased readiness. we will continue to monitor the events over the course of today and provide you with updates as they are relevant. i might add, mr. chairman, that many of the things i have just gone through examples of the kinds of activities that have been supported by the cmittee, through fema, to th various grants that we supy, search and rescue be a good example of the kinds of things that grants have been supporting, increasing capacity for response and resilience as a nation. onthat is the most recent the west, texas. with respect to boston, we are and the fbi is investigating this as an act of terror. is partssisting -- ice we have agents assigned to the investigation. in a number ofg way, immediately after the attack. we worked to close logan, to ground air for a few hours, and to institute a special targeting roles, both in the air environment and at the canadian import environment in case there were those seeking to escape the scene. again,spect to fema, when you saw the response in boston and how coordinated it was, even given the level of destruction, i would remind the committee that just last november boston held a mass of exercise on how to deal with a mass casualty event, and that exercise was the kind of exercise and exercises courted by the committee to fhrough fema, crease in our ability for response and resilience. we provided several intel products and briefings to law enforcement across the country, critical conner and operators, and we have been reaching out to community organizations who want to know what they can do. we are and lamenting security measures, both seen and unseen, at airports, transit hubs with in the maritime and run it, and at ports of entry. the coast guard is providing security on the ferries in the doing area, and teams are searches on terms of ground transportation and fell like. and finally, with respect to the public, but we do urge the public to remain vigilant. we are all in this together. security is a joint responsibility. to see something, the say something message is something we can emphasize, and events such as boston remind us the importance of that. this is an all hands on that effort by the entire federal government pick, led by the president, and we a committed to m sure we bring the perpetrators to justice. janet the paula tunnel of homeland security testifying earlier today broadly on her department boss budget for fiscal year 2014. you may see that later on our program schedule, and you can see the video in our video span.org.ct c- we're waiting to take it to boston for a briefing by the fbi. the fbi has said they will release a video and photographs of persons wanted for questioning, said that is coming up in the briefing next. the fbi also said they will post at video on their website at the briefing at fbi.gov. it should get underway shortly. we will have a life. also today on capitol hill, the gang of eight senators who have crafted a bipartisan immigration bill talked about their proposal for their first time on a news conference at capitol hill. we will show you as much as we can hear and had of the briefing from boston. >> goerevy. announce that eight senators, from opposite sides of the political aisle, are coming together on a common sense immigration reform proposal that we believe can pass the senate. i want to thank mike seven other colleagues here today. each one of us is strong willed, each one of us has strong beliefs, differing beliefs, but when -- if you would have seen that room in any of our 24 meetings and seemed everyone argue strongly, but then come together to realize that we had to pass a bill and not everyone was going to get each thing he wanted, it was a sight that would give you some face in the future of our -- a faith in the future of our democracy on a morning like this. we know our immigration system is broken, and it is time to get to work on fixing it. immigration reform is vital to securing our borders, just starting our economy, and ensuring for access to that great american dream. the current status quo on immigration makes no sense. we turn away people from entering the country who could create thousands of jobs and let people crossing our borders who take away jobs. r oach ibanced. the border securitystro,ut achi. the path to citizenship is tough, but it is accessible. yes, our bill does secure the border first, but it treats the situation of those living in the shadows as an equally urgent priority. this is by design. we believe that americans will support sensible solutions to dealing with the undocumented and future legal immigrants, but only if they are convinced there will not be future waves of illegal immigrants. when the 11 million come out of the shadows and it will not only improve their lives and their families' lives, it will strengthen our country and its economies. in fact, conservative economist douglas holtz beacon has found that immigration reform will save taxpayers $2.70 trillion a. we what this legislation to make -- to meet the highest possible standards of transparency. to that end, the bill has been online since tuesday night. we will not begin markup until the first week in may. this will give everyone three weeks to read this bill and prepare amendments. chairman leahy has pledged an extensive market. the judiciary committee includes some of the leading opponents of the performers who will have their opportunity to challenge our ideas. this ensures the bill will emerge from committee battle tested. then we anticipatel an a ful fair debate on the floor. senator reid has proposed -- has pledged to take it up no later than june. as with any compromise, no one got everything they wanted. there were moments when it looked like an agreement would not come. the over a feature flow program were particularly intense. but realizing the high stakes, business community and organized labor roasted the occasion. when tom donahue from the chamber and the person from the afl-cio got on the phone together on a friday night in late march and signed their names to the effort, it became an agreement was possible. other stakeholders came together as well. many of them are here today, and we thank you all for helping us make this dream become a reality. [applause] so, if you're wondering why we are confident we can be successful in passing immigration reform this time around, look right behind me. these folks here. an unprecedented coalition has formed in favor of immigration reform, growers and farmers, nessde mmunit some of theost well knn conservative activists in washington as some of the most progressive, powerful outside forces have helped defeat other initiatives in washington, but on immigration, the opposite is proven true. i'm convinced this issue will not fall victim to the usual partisan gridlock. and we are mindful that we approach our task at a moment when the public has never been more fed up with congress, but in a week when disillusionment with politics is being acutely felt, this bipartisan breakthrough offers a degree of hope. despite strong personalities, and even stronger disagreements on many issues, we met in the middle for the common good. that bill as approved the art of political compromise is not dead. in conclusion, today is just the beginning of our voyage. it will be long and arduous. there will be perils we cannot even anticipate. but we start off with optimism, because this bipartisan agreement gives us a sturdy ship to ride out the store macy's ahead lastly, i would one who mention some could not be here. but who is on the minds of all of us today. the late ted kennedy. he is a hero manf th sides of d especially on thisss in many ws, our work pickup where he left off. and now i would like to turn the podium over to ted's longtime partnern this issue, a man who has become a great personal john mccain.ne, you, chuck, and thank all of you, and i want to obviously express my deep appreciation to all of my seven colleagues. it is well known in the senate that i am not the easiest guy to get along with. but i must say they put up with my tantrums and they put up with a lot, and i want to say thank you to all of you for really doing something that america deserves. to paraphrase churchill, this is not the end of the process, but the end of the beginning. there is a long and difficult road ahead. committee hearings, markham, open amendments will be offered. some will be intended to improve it, some will be offered in hope of killing it. none of us expect the bill to be identical with the one we introduced today, but we are all united in our determination that is the end of the remains a fair, comprehensive, and practical solution to a difficult problem that most americans can support and that stands a good chance of passing the house and being signed into that legislation is not perfect. not alls can support. tst some will appeal to more psych than the other. no one will like every provision. span.org. this that c- we take you now live to boston where the fbi will bring us into the status of the boston marathon bombings. >> i and the special agent charged in the boston division. the fbi and law enforcement partners have worked around the partners and are fully committed to investigate this matter. our law enforcement team has pursued thousand of leads and tips. two days ago we were working methodically with a sense of urgency to modify those spots will. within the last day or so, to that careful process, we developed a single person of interest. not knowing that the individual was acting alone or in concert with others, we worked with extreme purpose to make that determination. the force of the federal government, the fbi in boston, a ground war, as well as partners in the boston police, atf, massachusetts state police, and more than 30 agencies of the boston to terrorism task force have set out to ensure that all responsible will be brought to justice. it was done to ensure the future safety of the city of boston, the commonwealth of massachusetts, and the country. to that process the fbi depe suspect. today we are listing the public the public's help to identify the two suspects. after an analysis of voter, video, and other evidence, we are reducing those of the suspects. they are identified as suspect one and suspect to. they appear to be associated. suspect one is wearing a dark hat. suspect to is wearing a white hat. suspect to pass down a back pack at the site of the second explosion just in front of a restaurant. we strongly encourage those who were at the forum restaurant who have not contest the -- contacted us yet to do so. suspects one end to appear to be walking together in the direction of the finish line. that image was captured as they walked on boylston in the vicinity of the intersection. as you can see, the quality of the focus is quite good, but we will continue to develop additional images to improve their identification found you. website, we have voters of the suspects. the photos and videos are posted for the public and media to use, review, and publicize. for clarity, these images should be the only ones that the public should view to assist us. other focus should not be deemed credible and they unnecessarily divert the public's attention and the wrong attention and create undue work. for more than 100 years about the fbi has relied upon public to be its eyes and ears. thesehe media's help and i, images will be directed to millions around the world. the public will play a critical role in identified these individuals. somebody out there knows these people. though it may be difficult, the nation is counting on us with information to come forward and provided to us. no bit of information, how small or seemingly inconsequential, is too small for us to see. each piece this us for toward justice. it is important to contact us with any information regarding the identities of suspect one come suspect to, and their location. we consider them to be armed and extremely dangerous. no one should approach them. no one should attempt to ever apprehend them accept law enforcement. let me reiterate that caution. cannot take any action on your own. if you see these men, contact law enforcement. if you know anything about the bombings were the man pictured here, please call the telephone listed on the photo arrays -- 2534.225- confidential by area.t bosse contact us at hontips.fbi.gov. isn't burned emphasized the images from monday are indelible and the horror of that they will remain with us. this underscores our obligation to investigate this crime judiciously in order to bring those responsible to justice. the victims and survivors deserve nothing more. nothing less, excuse me. as to monday's victims, the fbi is committed to ensuring that victims receive the rights they are entitled to and the assistance they need to cope with a crime. treating victims with respect to providing them with assistance and benefits and assistance will better our cases. our resources include an office of victim assistance at fbi headquarters and victim of specialists nationwide. these professionals can assist victims and coordinate with agencies to provide them with support, information, and resources necessary to meet their needs. harvick and specialist teams work around the clock to bring justice to victims of this act. identifying and locating those spew our higst prrity. no other details of the investigation will be released at this time, because this is our focus now. if continues to be an ongoing active investigation review these photographs and contact us. take you very much. much.nk you very >> [indiscernible] >> i would not want to comment on that. i would allow the u.s. attorney to comment on that. >> [indiscernible] next question, please. >> [indiscernible] work both suspects seen planting these devices? planting abserved device is sup subject number -- is suspect number two. >> [indiscernible] >> aren't these the sole people the fbi is looking at? >> at this point, these are the sole people. you h any other information what they did after the explosion? do you have any videos of them walking away? proceeded west on boylston street, and that is all we know now. all over the country have identified the man as subjects. what does it do to your investigation when things like this get out? >> i addressed that question in my statement by saying the only photos that should be relied upon in this investigation are those you see before you today. >> [indiscernible] additional danger to the public? >> i stand by that statement. not that we are aware of. >> [indiscernible] >> thank you. again, the photos are available at fbi.gov. we will let you know. check out our website, fbi.gov. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] , very was very bright political, which is why she and lincoln sort of got together in the first place. she spoke several languages fluently. she was extremely well educated. she had all these things going for her, but she had suffered a series of tremendous -- tremendous emotional blows. >> three of her four children had died one died in the white house, one after the assassination. the kind of grief this woman was going through were amazing. demonize her for that, thought she was crazy. well, we found out she was not crazy, but mary todd was a very significant person, and i hope some day we get a better view of the range of things that influenced her life, not just the tragedy. >> more on mary todd lincoln live monday night at 9:00 eastern on c-span and c-span3, also on c-span radio and c- span.org. when the war began, the ingress came into session july, and it issued a statement ever since known as the crittenden resolution that articulated the consensus, warbles of the united states. simple, veryery es clear. the purpose of this war is to restore the aeneid. -- and it is not to disrupt the social institutions of this out. and everybody knew what that meant. it meant not to disrupt slavery. lincoln'slution of views on slavery. a professor on the political and legal factors of emancipation, n "lectures in history," saturday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern. today on capitol hill, jeff sessions and david vitter spoke against the gang of eight immigration bill, the bipartisan bill released today, saying it would amount amnesty if. this is from our earlier today. >>al is good t withou. this is an important event today, i think. i think -- tnk all of you, will be withitter us in a little bit. and thank you for sharing your expertise on these issues. enforcing ball all in the united states is tough. we provide a panoply of rights and privileges to people that come into contact with law enforcement, and just a few loopholes in the procedure can make it frederick -- virtually impossible for these to effectively do what they are asked to do. as these officers will tell you, this administration has aggressively defied federal wall. we can have no confidence in promises of future of law enforcement until the current constitutional role of law is upheld. special2007, the interests were brought in, being engaged behind closed doors, to help write a bill while law enforcement officers, the ones given the duty to make sure the laws complied with, have been shut out come as has been the public. this bill is amnesty before enforcement. begin now the is the promise for enforcement perry sa. today if it passes, illegal immigrants will have the percti of amnesty, and all the appellate panel pass it is submit alat ll never geimplemented. the bill's provision to include those who pose a public sector threat, as offirs w the bill. we have not gotten the full story on this issue. you will hear alarming facts, straight from the source, no immigration bill should ever pass congress that the law enforcement officers on the ground tell us will not work or cannot be enforced. senator, it is good to have you. if you would like to share a couple of remarks, and we will go straight to these gentlemen. >> thank you, and i am very honored to join jeff and the members of the house and the law enforcement leaders who are here. andmessage is simple straightforward and basic, but important. it is this -- we are very concerned this bill is the same fundamentally flawed model from the past. it is an immediate and misty with promises of enforcement. we have that model before. it has failed miserably. we all want to solve this problem, not continue it, not perpetuate it, certainly not grow it. we are fundamentally concerned that an immediate and misty with promises of enforcement -- an promisesforcement. wedomised his once, will never have to look back. we did not solve the problem. did not merel continue or perpette the problem. quadrled the problem. was 3 million illegal aliens than is 11 million or 12 million today. let me be clear, when i say immediate amnesty, that is because almost all the illegals we're talking about at the front end get a new legal status. that happens before any enforcement is proved out, before anything is measured, before anything is assured. and that fundamental model has failed in the past. we are concerned it will fail again, and thanks again to all these law enforcement leaders in particular who are fighting that fight on the ground. >> thank you, david. thes is the president of ice officers association. he has been dealing with this issues for some time. he is a former marine. share your thoughts. >> good afternoon, banks, senator. almost one month ago we asked for a meeting with the gang of eight to discuss law-enforcement concerns. they told us they were taknot taking meetings. they were working with the pro- amnesty groups. i got a meeting with senator rubio the day before this bill with them pleasuicaf not to drop the bill before these concerns were addressed. they dropped it anyway. this bill will put the public safety at risk without doubt. it fails on interior enforcement. it is amnesty first, enforcement perhaps never. felt a lawsuit against napolitano because both have refused to enforce the legislation enacted by congress. data with the specific intent misleading the american public with regard to the enforcement of illegal immigration. claims it has deported more illegal aliens than any time in history isai how are fa. r andlaims the interio border are secure is false. ice arrest numbers have plummeted since 2008. clear evidence that interior enforcement has in large part been shut down during the last four years. maive numbers of border patrol apprehensions are bng trand to ice to boost thta. rights group work withdhs and dictate law enforcement policies within these agencies, not a congress. under the obama administration, immigration agents can no longer arrest those who violate.s depression agents cannot arrest an individual for entering the united states illegally. we can arrest and individual who illegally overstays a visa. immigration agents are prohibited from enforcing law regarding fraudulent documents theft.ntifty agents are urged to apply the dream to adults inmates in jails and releasing adults back into the communities, criminals who have committed felonies, assault and our officers are and who prey on children. at the same time, ice officers are punished that trend by dhs and ice leadership, with a loss of their jobs, simply because they attempt to off enforce the law. and provide for public safety. since the gang of eight has chosen to ignore enforcement officei ha uld ke to ask them publicly. dick rubio, chuck schumer, durbin, john mccain, pat leahy, lindsay graham, robert menendez, jeff flake, michael beck, as united states senators, representatives of the people, where have you been for the last four years? what have you done to prevent political appointees at ice from ignoring all of congress? what have you done to stop these same political appointees from manipulating pressed data and misleading the american public and members of congress? what have you done to prevent dangerous criminals from being released back into american communities by the thousands? what have you done to protect america's law-enforcement officers who now not only placed their lives at risk to force our nation's loss, but their careers as well as they struggle against political appointees who ordered them not to enforce the law and who ordered them to place the public at risk? of course the answer is you have done nothing. he sat on your hands and watched it happen for four years. i guess it should come as no surprise that you have done nothing in the gang of eight's proposed new legislation to address any of these problems. rightmen, we have laws now that would be effected if senators like you would act with integrity and support law enforcement officersr efforts to provi for public safety. i strongly urged americans to egarthe talking points of the gang of eight and wt for the specific details of this legislation to become known. unfortunately, i do not believe the gang of eight is a group that we can entrust with a matter so important to the safety of american communities and the security of our nation. thank you. chris.k you, next speaker will be sheriff's sam page, rockingham county, north carolina, national sheriffs association. >> good afternoon, senators, and thank you for allowing me to be here today. i am the sheriff of rockingham county, north carolina. i am the vice chair put the border security and immigration committee. i served 92,000 people in my county and represent them, and i come to washington to express concerns in north carolina, but also as a national representative. when we enact legislation in north carolina that deals with publice should have input from law enforcement, the people who will enforce the law. and in congress, our lawmakers i should expect nothing different come for them to invite utoe part of the debate, the discussion, because after all we laws.be ing these united states, our borders are not secure, and as the sheriff, who has traveled through the border more than once, and work with officials down there, i can understand why there are representatives in washington cannot figure it out. when cartel members are in north carolina three days from the border, with drugs and money, and they are housed in our county, that concerns me. ina border sheriff also for north carolina. we must secure our borders. only security begins at home. that is a message i give you from the national sheriffs association. we must secure our borders rid amnesty is amnesty. you call it what you want to call it. the national sheriffs' association position says we will not accept amnesty. there is a process, called the rule of law. i am a veteran of law- enforcement and we need to get back to rule all. i think our senators -- i thank our senators for helping us to the right encouraged a group of eight to engage and allow us to have the opportunity to have input on this legislation that is going to affect the homeland security of this nation on this most important issue. you to she talking to speak borress >> aker w afr new mexico. >> thank you. todd the garrison, a sheriff in new mexico. i have lived on the border for about 50 years now. i have been share for eight years, and our borders are not occur. i am currently that share of a coalition that is a representation of the shares from california, arizona, new mexico, and texas. we have offered our services on a number of occasions to discuss this issue, being that we live on the border and deal with these issues. we feel we have knowledge of that. with the current bill that has to keepsed, it is hard trusting in our federal government on these issues, and it is frustrating. we are public servants, we have an elected to an office to serve the public, and our concern is public safety for our counties, ountry, and that iswewa know ss spoke a while ago with ice, he is asking that we be allowed to do our jobs, and i am asking the federal government to protect our borders. if we let them do their jobs, with the law that is already in place and we can secure this border and move forward with the problem at hand which is immigration reform. there are problems there, but we have to deal with that in that order. you very much. be a shareaker will from massachusetts. from massachusetts. >> i want to thank you for your leadership on this issue insisting law-enforcement be included in this policy that will, wall at some point here in the united states. there are 5 million people waiting behind the borders and around the world, respecting the law of the united states, waiting their turn to begin a pathway to citizenship. we currently have nearly 12 million people since 1986 to have ignored and disrespect a at of our country, and either overstayed their visit have entered the country illegally. i believe as my fellow sheriff's and legislators here that all immigrants that reside in the eyes it illegal, on immigration policy that is fair that towards citizenship based on the premise of following the rules, as previous speakers have said. those people that emigrate united states do so to live in a democracy that affords them the opportunity of self- determination, freedom to pursue a better life, economically, socially, and otherwise. but these freedoms are made awssible because we have lock protect the mark for cpa in ssachusetts we have sn rge influx of immigrants, although we are not a border state. they are working on unskilled jobs in regions where unemployment is high. illegal immigrants create public health hazards, public safety , 1-erns, living in homes room apartments with three families, taking the offices of the streets infested with bedbugs, filling our emergency rooms for lack of preventive care, costing the taxpayers millions and millions of dollars. that the gang of eight has put forward -- and i want to commend them for a least seriously beginning the conversation about immigration albeit fall too short -- what is happening here is as the previous speakers have said that we are effectively allowing the super bowl to be played in a stadium where sleep -- where 3/4 stadiumntrance to that had no ticket. people wander intoheyear after year, and finally after a time, since they have been able to do so, we are wrong to allow them to become season ticketholders. has not solved the problem because those kids continue to be unsecured. that is what we are talking here with regard to border control. we must secure our borders before we can implement the other parts of this legislation. it is critical to us to be able to preserve public safety and to protect the laws united states. i can assure you that anybody here is anti-immigrant. all of us have ancestors who emigrated to this country. my father came to this country from italy. he raised 13 children and did it the right way. if we allow this to go forward and suggest that law does not matter, and we effectively begin to erode our democracy further and create the incredible obstacles for all of us in law- enforcement to be able to do our jobs to protect the constitution and the people of the united states. asking thatg, i am the gang of eight to as senator sessions and the other legislators standing here today are asking. if we are going to make it a comprehensive law that will effectively protect the people of united states and allow for the demint immigration for this country, then you must include all the parties involved and particularly looking at law- enforcement up front. thank you again, senator sessions. >> thank you. i am a congressman, former mayor of pan hazleton, pennsylvania. for a6 i created a path law that dealt with illegal immigration. is to thousand miles away from the southern border, a prop -- a place he would not anticipate having a problem with illegal immigration. we did. we sell our population continue to grow, and it grew by 50% in five years, but our tax revenue remained the same. hadmember one time we arrested somebody for selling cocaine on a playground. the person arrested was in the country illegally. it took our detectives five hours to determine who he was a trick he had five social security cards. illegal immigration does not only affect people on the southern border. 40% of the people in the country illegally did not cross the border. they came on a visa, the visa expires, and they do not go home. it is nearly impossible for law enforcement to determine who they are talking to it, to determine someone's past. for a minimal amount of money, you can get an entire new identity. we have an immigration law tw reasons. one, to protect our national security, and, too, to protect american jobs. the proposal of the senate gang of eight violates both of those principles. it will make our borders less secure, and jobs harder to find at a time when 22 million americans cannot find work. by offering a pathway to citizenship, by offering amnesty, or what i like to college, temporary amnesty in definitely, we have now encouraged millions more people to rush to the united states illegally to benefit from this proposal. in fact, just last week border patrol chief michael fisher testified in a senate hearing that they already are seeing an increase in illegal border crossings, and he said in part it is due to the proposed amnesty for illegal aliens. we should be doing one thing rights securing our borders. nothing more. we should not be talking about anything else. we have good reasons to make sure our borders are secure, so that what happened 16 will not happen again aut ile terms,, without border security force, it is like replacing your carp a home when you still have a hole in the roof. thank you. >> bipartisan gang of eight senators unveiled their legislation today. rights ofington post" undocumented immigrants would have to wait 10 years for presidency. there briefing today is just over 50 minutes. >> good afternoon, everybody. we're here to announce that eight senators are coming to gather on a common-sense immigration reform proposal that we believe can pass the senate. i want to thank my seven other colleagues here today. each one of us is strong well, each one of us has strong beliefs, did police, but if you would have seen that room in any of our 24 meetings and seeing everyone argue strongly, but then come together to realize that we had to pass a bill, and not everyone is cut to get each think he wanted. it was a sight that would give you some faith in the future of our democracy, especially on a morning like this. we know our immigration system is broken, and it is time to get to work on fixing it. immigration reform is vital to seriorders, for access ic. e curr on immigration makes no sense. we turn away people from entering the country who could create thousands of jobs and let people crossing our borders who take away jobs. our approach is balanced. the border security triggers are strong, but achievable. the path to citizenship is tough, but it is accessible. the our bill does secure border first, but it treats the situation of those living in the shadows as an equally urgent priority. this is by design. we believe that americans will support sensible solutions to dealing with the undocumented and future legal immigrants, but only if they are convinced there will not be future waves of illegal immigrants. when the 11 million come out of the shadows and it will not only improve their lives and their families' lives, it will strengthen our country and its economies. in fact, conservative economist douglas holtz beacon has found that immigration reform will save taxpayers $2.70 trillion a. we what this legislation to make -- to meet the highest possible stanofto that end, the bill hasn online since tuesday night. we will not begin markup until the first week in may. this will give everyone three weeks to read this bill and prepare amendments. chairman leahy has pledged an extensive market. kup.ar the judiciary committee includes some of the leading opponents of the performers who will have their opportunity to challenge our ideas. this ensures the bill will emerge from committee battle tested. then we anticipate a full and fair debate on the floor. senator reid has proposed -- has pledged to take it up no later than june. as with any compromise, no one got everything they wanted. there were moments when it looked like an agreement would not come. the negotiations over a feature flow program were particularly intense. but realizing the high stakes, business community and organized labor roasted the occasion. the tom donahue from chamber and the person from the afl-cio got on the phone together on a friday night in late march and signed their names to the effort, it became clear an agreement was possible. other stakeholders came together as well. many of them are here today, and we thank you all for helping us make this dream become a reality. [applause] so, if you're wondering why we are confident we can be successful in passing immigration reform this time around, look right behind me. these folks here. an unprecedented coalition has formed in favor of immigration reform, growers and farmers, business leaders, the faith community, some of the most well known conservative activists in washington as some of the most progressive, powerful outside forces have helped defeat other initiatives in washington, but on immigration, the opposite is proven true. i'm convinced this issue will not fall victim to the usual partisan gridlock. and we are mindful that we approach our task at a moment when the public has never been more fed up with congress, but in a week when disillusionment with politics is being acutely felt, this bipartisan breakthrough offers a degree of hope. despite strong personalities, and even stronger disagreements on many issues, we met in the middle for the common good. bill ved e t of political compromise is not dead. in conclusion, today is just the beginning of our voyage. it will be long and arduous. there will be perils we cannot even anticipate. but we start off with optimism because this bipartisan agreement gives us a sturdy ship to write out the stormy sea ahead. , i would like to mention someone who could not be here, but who is on the minds of all of us today. he is a hero to both of us on both sides of the aisle, especially on this issue. in many ways, our work picks up where he left off. now i would like to turn the podium over to ted's longtime partner on this issue, a man who has become a great personal friend of mine through these negotiations, john mccain. [applause] thank you, chuck. thank you to all of you. i want to express my deep appreciation to all of my seven colleagues. it is well known in the senate that i'm not the easiest guy to get along with. [laughter] but they put up with my tantrums and they put up with a lot. i want to say thank you to all of you are really doing something that america deserves. thisraphrase churchill, is not the end of the process, but the end of the beginning. it is a long and difficult road ahead. , amendments will intended to e llinhe bill to be identical to the one we introduced, pure all united in our determination that it is the end of the day -- but we are all united in our determination that is the end of the day. it stands a good chance of passing the house and being signed into law by the president of the united states. the legislation is not perfect. there are provisions that some will appeal to one side more than the other. no one will like every provision in the bill. the legislation we are offering is comprehensive and a workable solution to our broken immigration system that piece not responses have not and cannot repair. the status quo threatens our security. it damages our economy. it disregards the rule of law. a problem of that magnitude that affects a many of our interests will never be easy to address, but never more necessary to address either. its resolution cannot be achieved by means other than political compromise and consensus and resolve and not good.he perfect that is what we have tried to do. we have agreed on provisions to regain control of our borders and protect the safety of communities along the border and we have addressed labor needs of a owin and competitive economy with a workable wor poli sn programs. we make it more difficult for emoys to hire people who come here illegally. we have confronted the reality of people who came here illegally by proposing a link he -- lengthy practices and ship does not place lawful immigrants at a disadvantage -- and does not place lawful immigrants at a disadvantage. thatly, we have recognized most people who cross our borders illegally overstay their visas have done so for the same reason that attracted other immigrants here -- to find economic opportunity and a better life for their families and to live in a society that values human dignity. we cannot sanction their violation of our immigration laws, neither can we continue to have people desperate for a better life be exploited by unscrupulous human traffickers and abused by violent crims and left to die in our deserts. path tooffer a citizenship for people who did not come here illegally. they are here. realistically, there is nothing we can do that would reduce them to return to their countries of origin. many of them have made valuable tion to our soy and will provide even more if they're brought out of the shadows and in compliance with with our loss. dash andnation with a are in compliance with our -- and are in compliance with our laws. as i said, it is a lengthy passage. we have tried to make it easier to work here legally. it is harder to do so illegally. we have done our best to resolve the many different parts of this complicated problem. we expect and welcome suggested improvements to the bill by our colleagues in the debate and amendment process. thosel oppose only amendments that are intended to prevent a comprehensive solution from passing and thereby perpetuate our current failed immigration system. there is no greater satisfaction than this job and working members from both parties in a good faith effort to serve the nation's interest. i thank i colleagues for the privilege. -- my colleagues for the privilege. [applause] .> thank you to chuck and john i can remember one of the rliesteetings of this group when we started talking about what the bottom line is. what is not negotiable? why aree here yivewe wri, it has to be fair and protect american workers. i recall the public and saying, whatever we write, have to be firm in protecting our borders. the democrats said the bottom line is to have a path to citizenship so people living in the shadows -- republican said they have to earn their way on that path. pay their taxes. have a job. learn english. it will not be easy. they have to earn their way. those are the basic principles that started this conversation. i think there were about money for meetings that took place as it came together to talk about all of the issues that are part of this 800 less page bill. it is not perfect, but it is a good faith, common sense approach to fixing a badly broken immigration system. there are several reasons why we are herend. first, the american people want us to do something. the notion that we would and this process with the same broken immigration system is unacceptable. we believe that we have come up with a good approach, one that would make the country safer and more. second, i want to talk about an issue that touches my heart. that is the dream act. this is an issue which means world to me and to many young people across this country. to i wantank my colleagues. the evening that we set aside for the dream act was a sho etg. everyone said it was time. it is time not just because it is a good idea and there is wisdom behind it, but because we have come to know the dreamers, those young people brought to this country by their parents with no decision in the process, those young people are now stepping forward. they spent most of their young your headg told, keep down. don't sign anything. if the police show up, go quietly to the exit because you can be deported in a second. having learned that as children , he realized to be part of the political process, they had to do the opposite. they had to stand up at great personal risk and introduce themselves and tell their stories. three other stories represented today, gabby, came to the united states is from ecuador at the age seven. the highest-ranked junior rotc didn't -- student at her high school. and threes ago, gabby other dreamers walk from miami, florida to washington, d.c. the 200 miles to build support for the dream act. they were joined by hundreds of young people. youngreamers and some supporters. they called it the trail of dreams. thank you. [applause] we have another in the middle igia a child. 2002 she graat from a prestigious university in virginia with a degree in chemical engineering. it has been 10 years since she graduated. she hayet toork a y as a chemical engineer because she is undocumented. thank you for being here today. and we have another. [applause] brought from peru as a child. .he graduated she started connecticut students for a dream. a statewide organization advocating for the dream act. all three of these young women have dedicated themselves full- time to helping pass a comprehensive immigration reform not just to help themselves, but to help mom and dad and their brothers and sisters. when i look at these three, i see that encourage, hardware, and determination that makes america this nation of immigrants the greatest on earth. thatay, it is my prayer the immigration law becomes the law of the land and i can attend that nationalization ceremonies and watch these people swear an oath of allegiance to this country that is their home. on that day, america will be a better and stronger country. thank you. [applause] i id be appropriate to refer to the a schumer mccain e two senators really started this pss. they have the smallest egos among us. ter] they would wear itter than the rest of us. i hope the third time is the charm. this is the third time i have been involved and try to fix this problem. i think 2013 is a year of immigration reform. many people involved. we will either have a bill or get into a heck of a fight. why do we have 11 million immigrants? .merica is an idea no one owns it. it is not owned by a race or ethnic group or any particular religion. where it has grown for 200 years and gotten better. we will always have a problem as long as we keep that idea in we have a right and responsibility to control for the good of our nation. the fact that we have so many people wanting to come here anyway they can come here, walk through the desert, swam a river with a kid on their back, they will come. that is a testament to what we have done as a nation for 200 years. all we're telling the world and and our neighbors and our friends and fellow citizens is we have to create order out of chaos. it is are here illegally, not much of a stretch for a guy from south carolina to imagine what life must be like to imagine living in this country illegally. not knowing if the next knock on the door someone coming to take you and your family away. it is not much of a stretch for a guy from south carolina to understand what it is like to live along the border of arizona and texas. bob menendez has been one of the biggest advocates. about the pathway to citizenship, learn the language , pass the exam, pay a fine, work, have a criminal background check. this is no easy task. [laughter] i'm glad were not applying ourselves. is hope is that america ready for immigration reform. look at the polling. to dogress ready something we should have done a long time ago? i believe we are. if you think the border can be better secured, we have an idea to be considered. if you think there is a shortage of legal labor and the current system is too hard to access, we have an idea for you to consider. if you are a union member or an average american word about losing your job because of the cheapabing your country, we have an idea to prevent that. if you are inws and you worry about what is going happen to you, we have a soti you have to earn the right to an ericbe. it is fair and tough, but it wie availa. ot one goal -- when this is all said and done, there'll not be a third wave of illegal immigration. -- ronald reagan gave amnesty to millions of people and congress failed to follow through. if we do not fix the broken immigration system and all the things we should have done many years ago, shame on us. .his bill fixes the problem i will fight for this bill. if you have got a better idea, bring it on. if you want to kill it, we will have a talk about that. always welcome newcomers to the united states. we will continue to do so. but in order to qualify for the honor and the privilege of citizenship, our laws must be followed. the world depends on an america that is strong economically and militarily and ethically. the establishment of a stable and efficient immigration system only supports those goals. as a nation, we have the right and responsibility to establish clear and just rules for flowenship and control the of illegal immigration and to eliminate illegal immigration -- control the flow of legal immigration and to eliminate illegal immigration. that paragraph sums up what i'm trying to do. to our fellow citizens, we know congress is broken. this is an effort by four democrats and four republicans to prove to you and the rest of the members of the senate and eventually the house that it does not have to stay broken. thank you. [applause] >> it was an extraordinary experience to work with my seven colleagues. having the benefit and tenacity of chuck schumer and john mccain to get us to the finish line, but also to have members like lindsey graham who overall had very little to gain from taking on a tough challenge like immigration reform, but willing to do so that he knows it is in the national interest and national security and the economy and what is right. that epitomizes all of my colleagues efforts. at the very beginning, i was not sure of the commitment of all of my colleagues. i must say they're shortly after the first few meetings, it becameayoo mean that there re touoments that there was a real desire to solve a prhat has for too long gone unsolved. i salute each and every one of them. it was one of the highest moms i have had in the senate, but even in the 20 years of being a house of representatives in congress. i'm looking forward to keep in that same tenacity and commitment. our system of immigration is broken. americans know that. they want to see it fixed. this is about preserving the national security. it is about enhancing the national economy. it is about preserving an american tradition that has had an exceptional reality of the greatest experiment in the history of mankind, bringing people from across the globe that america has had to offer and preserving them in a way that recognizes the loss. as part of that, i have said that one of the key issues is making sure that we find a way to bring people out of the shadows and into the light and to have a 11 million who are undocumented in our country come forth and register with the government and go through a criminal background check. if you pass that criminal background check, then prospectively get a temporary permit to be in the united states and pay your taxes and learn english and ultimately have a pathway to becoming a permanent resident. after that, united states citizen and fulfilling your dream and contribute into the nation. this is a long pathway. it is a tough pathway. it is an achievable pathway. it creates a real opportunity for these individuals. there are some who will argue that we do not need immigration reform. well, i cannot secure america unless i know who is here to pursue the american dream versus who might be here to do it some harm. unless i get millions out of the shadow into the light and register with the government, i will not be able to ascertain that. i cannot secure the nation unless we do what some of our colleagues have sought in an overall border security and enforcement and exit/entrance strategy. if i care about an american i want to see in american -- i do not want to depress his or her wages. the last thing i want is people who are exploited and create downward pressures on wages of all americans. even in this economy where there opportunities at trying to find a job, there are some jobst get anlar do it. you had some vegetables for breakfast or dinner last night, they were probably picked by immigrtr under a hot sun. get chicken for lunch today, it was probably what might hands of an immigrant worker. , they'reve a loved one probably being taken care of by the strong hands of an immigrant worker. this is about ensuring that the national economy is further promoted by making sure we do not depress wages and that we have people who pay their taxes and pay their way andt the same time promoting the opportunities for even greater jobs. you cannot be the concierge. you cannot see the chef. you can see the restaurant manager and you cannot do some of the fundamental things that those businesses need. , we are a nation of immigrants. my parents came to their -- in this country in search of freedom they came to the greatest country on the face of the earth. -- toe their son become have one of their sons to grow t senor is an enormous part of the american experience. we have some the brightest and the best in america that dick durbin was talking about. young men and women who came to this country through no choice of their own, who came here because there took -- parentbroe children. the only national anthem they know is the star-spangled banner. for them, america is their home. after enormous investment in them in public education and opportunity for them to contribute to america's growth growth and competitiveness, we turn our backs on them. that is why the effort on the dream back -- act, this is the best one that is ever appeared before the senate. this is a moment to meet one of america's toughest challenges in a way that is smart and secures our borders and at the end of the day preserves our history as a nation of immigrants. [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] thank you. [applause] actually i change my mind. no, i'm kidding. [laughter] >> not again. once is enough. >> grabbing water? [laughter] >> it has been fun. one of the things that makes our nation truly special is that we are a nation of immigrants. i know that has been said many times, but it cannot be said enough. what distinguishes us from the rest of the world is that we are a collection of the world's best and brightest. not necessarily the most riches of the most powerful, but people who refuse to accept the limitation of a society in which bathing -- in which they live. is only one nation on earth that will do them the chance to do that. millions of people come here for over 200 years. we have sought the -- built the greatest society and mankind. unfortunately both republicans and democrats have failed to enforce laws. areave many human beings in violation of immigration laws. we have a problem that needs to be solved. we have a broke will bash broken legal system. it is complicated and bureaucratic. it does not meet the needs of the 21st century. that is what this is all about. it is about modernizing our legal immigration system it is about helping attract best and brightest talents. it is about ensuring that our culture has a workers that they need. it is ensuring that american businesses not at the expense of american worker, but american businesses have access to temporary or seasonal labor as needed. ours also about enforcing immigration laws. it is ensuring the falvement dos supposed to do in a way that is effective and make sure we do not have this problem again. that federal government has to secure its borders. e-have set up a universal verify system to ensure that american worker is not disadvantage and to ensure that these mag ol employment is not drawing a we have the creation of the entrance/exit system. 40% of the illegal immigration -- we have to deal with the reality that there are millions of people living in this country today in violation of our immigration laws. yes, they did violate our immigration laws. they do not have a legal right to be here. but we are dealing with this not because we legally have to, but because it is our national interest as a nation. it is not good to have known the people living in the shadows. are dealing with this issue because this is who we are. we are the most compassionate nation on earth. we welcome people from all over the world for over 200 years. in a way that other countries rejected because they were scared. not us. we embraced it. each of us are direct descendents of immigrants. we have created the single greatest society mankind has ever known. descendents of the tired, the poor, the huddled masses. would say the and i that this is our common heritage. it is tragic that a nation of immigrants remains divided on the issue of immigration. this must become our strength. i believe we can make that happen. one final point to my fellow americans who shaymentmivemeisii would remind them that america is a nation of immigrants. both parties have failed to enforce the law and as a result we have millions who are here against our immigration laws. we will not support them. let's secure -- we will not the. let's secure the borders. they will pay a fine and start paying taxes. we all wish we didn't have have this problem, but we do. leaving things to way they are, -- [speaking spanish] thank you. [applause] i thought i might go last. it would allow me to say i agree with everything that was said. i want to thank my colleagues up here for showing me how the senate can work. it will take more effort to get this bill passed. this bill is incredibly important to people in my state. i think lindsey graham named i well when he called t schumer- mccain. the leadership of those two gentlemen in this process has been outstanding. it w everythg i wied i could see since i have been here. when this bill is passed, it it will be a reaffirmation of two .ncredibly americaeas the idea we are committed to the rule of law and the idea that we are a nation of immigrants. i would argue that it is those two ideas working together that has enabled decade every generation of americans to invent the future. it is our time in the 21st century to decide whether we are still up to that task, whether we can continue to invent the future not just here, but the entire world. recommitting ourselves to these two notions of the essential part of moving us forward. i want to thank the people in colorado who told me on how broken immigration system is effect in their lives and their works. the cattle ranchers on the eastern point. the people working in the high- tech field. the people who are the dreamers when i was superintendent of the denver public schools. each one of them is struggling to get ahead in this economy. each one of them feels burdened by a broken immigration system that is not working well. they are getting up every single day i'm working with whomever it is, neighbors do notuc to drive their business forward and to drive their family forward. the lethey can expect e man i states congss is that lel of effort. l ta that l effort to get this passed. the leadership that senator schumer's and senator mccain have shown will guide us through end.e very and -- thank you. [applause] i wanted to say that in spanish. [laughter] the new guy here. i arrived from the house. i was visiting some old colleagues. , how's the said senate? who are you hanging out with? i said, chuck schumer and dick durbin. i never thought i would say that. this has been a great experience. i do not know but the bill will be called in the end. this has been a wonderful process. i'm new to the senate, but i'm not new to the issue. we have worked in this issue in the house for a number of years. i grew up in a farm on a ranch in arizona, working alongside migrant workers. many were undocumented. i saw what they went through and -- theyhard they've work. this is always been a personal that theyake sure can have a process and an opportunityo what we allow them to do here. for the citizensar d about the border, and arizona has wanted a secure border for a long time. this is a good bill. the border security provisions are sound and strong. we will make sure that they remain in the bill. i know that all of us here want to pay tribute to our staff. this was a very difficult bill to write. [applause] translating and confusing john says the award will be in hell. i appreciate this legislation. we look for to seeing it through. thank you. [applause] >> we will take a few questions. ram legislation for background checks, it seems like it might have bipartisan support. i'm curious, what will you do to ensure that the same thing does not happen with your immigration legislation? >> i think we have a very strong foundation. we did not just get together on a whim. we have been working for three months and struggling through these issues and each getting to know each other. es ws doi think i can speak extremet e sides of both caucuses? i believe that this is the solution. i think we have a great product here. it is really strong. i think we have a great unity among ourselves that will keep this a going through. it will be like gun control. i think the product that we are starting out with has brought a support -- broader support on a broader basis than guns did both in the senate and in the country. >> can i mention one compelling reason? at the repok presentation of business, labor, religious community, the hispanic community, across the board, this is a coalition i never thought i would be with.ng but let me say thank you to all of our activists. this is why we will succeed. it is because of this broad base of dedicated support for this legislation. beneathare the winds our wi >> can you tell us i do justify allowing millions of workers e woplacwh a high an appointment rate? -- we have a high an appointment rate? ment rate?ecmmploy >> we will only have immigration -- immigrants come in when unemployment is low. right here. >> can you give us an idea of where you anticipate the biggest challenge is in terms of selling this to your fellow colleagues question mark will it be border security? -- fellow colleagues? will it be border security? >> there are some things that each person will not like. , an you put it all together vast majority of people across and ideological spectrum, there's much more to like than not to like. that is why i think we will get it done. what will make it more successful is the need to solve the problem on the product of has greetedk that with the backing of the people behind us. senator mccain, is there any particular element of this bill that you think is worth to be modified that would cobu to it falling apart? i know you said there are a lot of good things in the bill, but any particular thing where you would draw the line as a group and it would fall apart? >> as i said in my opening remarks, we are committed to good changes in the bill. this is not a final product. to votelso committed against amendments or proposals or changes that would kill the bill. there is a difference there. we're not saying it is a perfect piece of legislation. we think it can be improved upon. we also know proponents will be proposing amendments that if passed could collapse this very fragile coalition that we have been able to achieve. i would also like to point out that depending on how you ask the question, 70%-80% of of the people believe that these individuals should be given a path to citizenship as long as they pay a fine and pay taxes and get in line behind everyone else. they believe that is fair. that is one of the fundamental steps i think will help convince my more conservive friends. , how is the bill language compared to the [indiscernible] i think most republicans -- many more republicans than the last time are aware as marco and graphicallyout that the status quo is not acceptable. the status quo is not acceptable. if you believe that, then you're willing to make compromises that may not fit your exact land our proposal for immigration reform. that is why it is important that the eight of us -- and there is various backgrounds and various are your these and various viewpoints. that is why we have come together. republicans have got to compete for the hispanic voter. passage of this legislation in my view -- and i think my republican friends agreed me -- does not get a single vote from the hispanic community, but what it does is put us on a level where we can compete in the battle of ideas. -- hink we win with [laughter] right now we are not competitive. this issue has got to be resolved in the minds of our cizens who feel that this is a vital important issue that needs to be solved. when i was born, how many workers were needed for every retiring social security? 16. how many today? three. how many will there be in 20 years? two. where did the workers come from? 10,000 baby boomers are retiring today. everyone is living like john's mother. that is the good news. if we do not reform medicare and medicaid, we will become greece. they are the drivers of the debt. but if you do not have a legal immigration system to supplement a declining population, you're committing economic suicide. here is key to bring people in from all over the world. bring them in on your terms and not theirs. we need a system that has a family component. nealarese who say we do not lo at what is going o in america. a declining population. many the best and the brightest e beand and htesis a guy starts as a janitor. i'm really into this idea of supplementing. tell you about the cost to have people paid under the table and living in fear and around the country undocumented versus having them in a system where they get paid over-the-counter and taxes are taken out. the only way america loses is to do nothing. to those people who believe that we do not need legal immigration in the future, you are in denial about the demographics. [applause] like anhose of you who english translation of senator graham's remarks, i would be glad to provide it. [laughter] everyone is concerned about -- whatthe budget has is your estimation on the costs of the deal? >> there are no gimmicks on this bill. continue toand wi nue utral.is bill will b there are costs in this bill by securing the borders and setting up an ebay or by system and making sure that the exit entry system works and other costs as well. we also have income, the fines and the fees will pay. about the cbo. our estimates say that it will bring in a surplus. if some reason cbo was away from make sure it is revenue neutral. it is one of our bottom lines. deficit neutral, i'm sorry. thank you. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] on ther losing votes senate gun bill, harry reid decided to stop work on gun legislation. he talked about the decision on this senate floor. >> we knew this would not be easy. it h buit is worth the effort. many families watched as republicans defeated a commonsense proposal to expand background checks. it is not some hocus-pocus. what it says is that if you are a criminal, you should not be able to buy a gun. if you have mental issues, you should not be able to buy a gun. families of gun violence watched yesterday. the majority of the american people feel this way. despite the fact that a strong majority voted in favor of stronger background checks, republicans -- pardon me, filibustered a commonsense proposal. we were able to get four republicans out of 45. yesterday, president obama said it was shameful. and it was. i agree. make no mistake, this debate is not over. the fight is just beginning. i've spoken with the president. we agreed that the best way to keep working toward passing a -- in the check bill meantimep going forward with the people from colorado, virginia, newtown, and other places. we will make sure we are able to get something done. .enators look at negotiating nine president, we had bills that were not easy to vote on. but it was a good process to go forward and get some of these contentious amendments on both sides out of the way. or voted on rather. .e will come back to this bill i feel obligated to senator coburn on his amendment on background checks and a number of senators who will do a better job on the issue. we will have time to work on what people want to do before we come back to this. anwill give opponents opportunity to decide what you want to do when we get back on this to get their voices heard. this is the progress we have made on the bill. we passed a couple of amendments today. what i suggest to the senate is returning to square one procedurally. i think that is good. close the gun loophole and to cover by the sales. that's a motion to proceed would give brick-and-mortar a stark parity with internet retailers. it is only a matter of time before we ring this measure back to the floor for a vote. it is only a question of how long they will stand firm. the 90% of american to support meaningful background checks will continue this fight. n'own, aurora will continue to stand by that fight and the senators. i hope we can perceive the way we did, madam president. attorney general eric holder was on capitol hill today at a house hearing on the justice department's 2014 budget. he spoke about gun violence and the boston marathon bombing investigations. in the days ahead, we work closely with our federal, state, and local partners to investigate the tragedy that took lace in boston on monday will be more critical than ever. i joined every member of the subcommittee and expressing my deepest sympathy to the big ones of this cowardly and terrorist attack -- to the picnics -- victims of this cowardly terrorist attack was that we will find out who is responsible for this incident. of thefull resources department to be deployed to make sure this event is thoroughly investigated and to make certain that individuals are groups who carried out this heinous act of be held accountable to the full system of the law. the department will also continue to strengthen our broader national security efforts and to move aggressively identifying plots by foreign terrorist organizations and homegrown extremists. in securing convictions against nurouserrorists. the president's budget request of $4 million to maintain national security efforts would also provide critical support for a range of public safety programs that would impact citizens daily lives, including support for the administration's reconnaissance. a comprehensive gun violence reduction plan of the president announced in january, this budget request allows us to respond to events like the horrific mass shooting we last december in newtown, connecticut i making our communities and schools more secure. days after the tragedy at sandy hook elementary school, i met with first responders and crime scene investigators. i walked the halls were these unspeakable events took place. those brave men and women were asking with tears in their eyes to keep such a thing from happening again. i told him i would not rest until i got arrested -- i told them i would not rest until i got the changes that we needed. i could feel my anger at the filibuster yesterday this by a ajority voted for .'m committed to stand wit andall of those les futures shattered by this violence every day in our city streets. on behalf of the victims and their families, my colleagues and i will continue to fight for, since reforms out of the hands of dangerous depot without infringing on anyone's second amendment rights. thisu can see the rest of hearing tonight at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span. -span 2. secretary of state john kerry was at a congressional hearing today. he is part of that hearing in question by senator brand paul of kentucky about foreign aid. ,> thank you, secretary kerry for coming today. you mention in your remarks that we do not need politicians to go home and say that we need to end foreign aid and spend some of that money at home. tos might come as news politician who said we need to do less nationbuilding abroad and more nationbuilding at home. that would be the president of the united states. too not and this is unique either parties. it crosses all party lines was that it does not mean going, and atminphere ilpeople are doubtful of aid. it is that 80%re doubtful. we have bridges in my state that are over 50 years old. idgeanre dinginfrastructure. at the same time, we see not to have enough money to keep the doors open around here. theenough money to keep tours white house going. money is being sent to the agent. many find that offensive. $250 million in addition to the $2 billion we have sent over there. many of us are offended by this. the question i have for you is, the mubarak family is said to be worth more than $10 billion. most people said a lot of that money came from our foreign aid. for many years and central africa. he was said to be worth the lives of dollars. his wife was called gucci. is famous for going to paris and shopping for shoes with her louis vuitton bag. that money was looted from the american treasury. there are all kinds of examples of theft. there are examples of foreign aid being used to buy teargas and egypt that they use to spur on the egyptian people. by thet is stolen leaders who are unpopular in their country. i think it is often counterproductive. i think we are missing the boat if you think we are stoking the fires and the people do not believe this. this is something that is in the psyche of the people. people. we need money at home. i would like to comment on the president's position, but also on the idea that a lot of foreign aid has been stolen by these leaders. , i think there is a difference between some of that nationbuilding we have seen sometimes engaged in good that doesd programs not rise to the level of nationbuilding. we will wind up arguing about the smaller issue rather than the larger one here. let me try to frame it this way. has the money been stolen? absolutely. but by the largest measure possible today it is a reforms that have been put in place because of new accountability systems and the weight aid is way aid is given aw and other kinds of things, lot of the money does not go to governments anymore directly. it goes into either the investment or the projects and it is quite controlled. that is why reforms have been put into place. we often have a fight about that sometimes. pakistan push very hard the government said, no, we will do it this way and so forth and order did have the kind of accountability that you were talking about that we need. richest people have ripped off their own governments and not necessarily come from our aid. it come from stealing from the revenues of their oil or selling the diamond and the rubies that they have in the resource rich mines. there is plenty ways people have enriched themselves. that is something that we fight. that is also part of what our foreign policy investments try to change. installing the rule of law. tried to help with a justice system and create accountability for these things. >> but we inhave bto mubakea they were stealing it. >> i did not make that decision. i will certainly review any program that we are engaged in now. if you have any information of some and stealing, let me know immediately. is one penny on the dollar. i can go through a long list of things we invest in that provide a return on investment. we have stopped countless plots against our countryhich h the fbi not cooperated for the cia and other entities not been creating some of the programs we and have thher thgs we work with, we never would have done it. americans would have died. they would have been blown up. but for the discovery of the people that came to these kinds of efforts, we made our country safer. so i have to tell you for the penny on the dollar, i will still make the argument anywhere even though occasionally yes, something gets abused. the -- just as it gets abused in some parts of almost every government. like the rest of that hearing is a very -- available on the website. -- >> the rest of that hearing is available on the website. on this morning's washington journal, which talk to tammy baldwin, democrat from wisconsin about gun violence, immigration, and the federal budget. this is 45 minutes. theow joining us on washington journalist senator tammy baldwin, a democrat of wisconsin, a first-termer. we should probably start talking about what happened in the senate yesterday. what are your thoughts? >> i think the senate let the american people down yesterday. it was hard for me to fathom that some of the basic provisions that enjoys the support of over 90% of americans were voted down. a marity of the senate supported it but we require 60 ovtes to advance it probably my mos sappoig day so far in my short tenure in the senate. i feel the people are let down by this. >> were there a lot of gun owners in wisconsin? what there are many gun owners just like the country, wisconsin is reflective of that but the hunting culture and tradition. the. deer hunting season , over 600,000 hunting licenses were taken out. that is over 10% of the population. are otherthere hunting seasons also. even among gun owners in the state of wisconsin among the idea of extending background checks and reducing the percent of sales that take place without a background check was widely embraced. the measures against trafficking him a we all know of the incidents of mass violence as well as individual gun violence occur with weapons that were bought from traffickers. people do want to see his crackdown on these things. in wisconsin, we have had recent shootings also. one in a place of worship. is time for congress to act. i was very disappointed by hofu and i listen to the president's resolve on this issue that we continue this dialogue. we cannot give up on this fight. a topic inownership your recent election in the senate? i am a gun owner myself, a supporter of the second amendment but i don't believe -- theond amendment steps forward to create safer communities. i want to see us move. host: another issue coming up in the senate is immigration. where are you on the gang of eight proposal and immigration in general? guest: i can tell you it was very heartened to see a proposal put forward by four republicans and for democrats. we have been stymied on this issue for so long in the ngress of the united states everyone knows who interacts with the system knows it is broken and in desperate need of attention. i think it is a very promising step forward. i look forward to that debate coming up. host: where you stand on the issue of path to citizenship, and or amnesty for 11 million or so illegal immigrants? guest: the compromise introduce has a tough, but i think fair path to citizenship for those undocumented individuals who are here. a separate path is for those we call the dreamers. we're all familiar with the previous debates on the dream act. this focuses on the act through the auto people who were brought here -- there are children who were brought here as children. we do not look at them as having violated u.s. laws because most of them came in were too young to make those decisions. the future is so led ct that they lacked documentation that i think the path it set out for them is also fair and appropriate.tammbaldwin the budget committee. house democrats up pressure on john boehner to start the budget conference. the you think there will be an actual budget conference this ye r resolution? guest: it is hard to protect, having served in the house, still hard to predict what the house will do. i was proud to work on the senate budget resolution with chairman petty, who i thought did a fabulous job of moving us forward, and we crafted, i think, a resolution that like all budget resolutions reflects a set of values as we move forward. it stands in stark contrast to the approach taken by my wisconsin colleague, paul ryan in the house budget. i am pleased both chairman are talking with each other right now and looking for common ground, but i think there are other ways to get back to regular order. each of the budget resolutions provide guidance for the respective appropriations committee. there is nothing to stop them from getting up and going, and i think both are. the conference could happen at that level on each of the appropriations bill, rather than on the competing budget resolutions, and still allow us to move forward without a continuing resolution. host: would you like to be part guest: absolutely.? the senate budget resolution, very proud of and voted in support of, recognizes that right now our country is facing two challenges. you hear some elected officials around here talk as though the debt and deficit are the only challenges facing this nation, but when i am home in wisconsin i hear about the very slow and difficult recovery from this deep recession. jobs, and the ability for hard- working person to support their family are still -- i think still the key challenge facing the nation. our budget has to recognize both of those challenges are out there and respond. i think that is exactly what the senate budget resolution does. it focuses on job creation and the investments we need to make in people and education and innovation and infrastructure and manufacturer -- manufacturing in order to move forward as it tackles the deficit and debt in terms of cutting spending. cutting spending in the tax code. then i think it also keeps promises to people, it to those that were part of their whole life and want nothing more than a secure retirement. and our veterans to whom we have made promises as the have donned the uniform and fought for the country. host: what about the issue of gut: i start with the very basic notion that social security has not contributed one penny to the current deficit or it should not be on the table in similarly, to be concerned about thloerm solvency of so-so -- social security. retirement security is a real question mark for many american let's look at the real contributors to our deficit and debt as we try to tackle those challenges. and host: two final questions before we go to calls. this is another article from the hill. why were you left off the list of the 12 senators that went to dinner? guest: i have no idea, but i have been very pleased with the president's increase -- increase out reach to the senate and a house. that dialogue is essential to making progress, especially when you see the progress made on immigration reform. we saw yesterday that even measures with bipartisan support to get caught up. what we have to press forward -- while we have to press forward on gun safety and gun control issues, i think this dialogue is very have -- very healthy. >> what is your relationship to paul ryan and ron johnson, a republican? >> paul ryan and i were elected to the house of representatives and adjoining districts the same year back in 1998. and i regard paul ryan as a friend. you can imagine there are many issues in which we disagree, but i can tell you that the lines of our district split -- split through a county in wisconsin. on issues related to industry there, we worked together on a number of things, so i think that -- i would regard that as a very strong relationship. i am getting to know ron johnson, and in fact, would be pleased to tell you we had a real success yesterday in announcing the process to fill judicial vacancies in the state of wisconsin. they languished a little too long in my view, and we work together and i think river process to move it forward. we will continue to do that. i know it is a very high priority for me to be the strongest voice for wisconsin that i can't, especially the hard working -- that i can, are cially the hard working a break and get ahead again, and when i can engage senator al senator johnson as an ally and admission, i will do that. the governor and i served together in the state legislature. i was elected 1992. he came in in a special election a couple of months later. just small facts of baldwin walker bill was signed into law by gov. tommy thompson. transparency and campaign finances. and interesting. this was before wisconsin had any laws to allow for electronic filing of campaign reports. i did not want to say was the early days of the internet, but it was not used yet for public documents. if you really want to see how candid it was raising money into their were getting money from, you had to either pay for hard copies to be xeroxed and mailed at great expense or you had to journey to the state capitol in madison in order to get copies. this started the process in the states of electronic filing. host: tammy baldwin, a democratic senator from wisconsin. serves on the homeland security committee and special agent. bob on the republican line. first up. caller: i would like to ask the senator there why they cannot move as fast on thin that will beth the gun control? they got the vote and received it. what are they going to do? there are veterans out there waiting for benefits. some of them are waiting years to receive this. they ought to push it through as fast as they do the gun-control stuff, but as much effort into it as they did that and get something done for it. thank you for your service to the country. i deeply appreciate it. i would say as a new member of the senate, i am -- i have long wondered about the pace of change, and one of the positive forces in terms of moving things forward. i would reference the senate budget resolution that was just talking about it a short while ago, because one of the things that was really important to me in helping our chairman craft that budget, as well as passing it, was keeping the promises in keeping the promises to veterans, as well as to seniors who have worked their whole lives and deserve to receive the benefits they were promised at the outset. we dhave a lot of work to do in the va system, especially the speed with which claims are processed. that is something that i take very seriously in my home state. making asher -- sure the health- care promises that a been made have been kept. i was recently at a major va facility in milwaukee, wisconsin. asking lots of questions about the care that our veterans received. thank you for your service. host: my, newport, ky. caller: think you for taking my call. a couple of quick statements and then a question. a lot of money has been spent fighting than post 9/11 wars and taxpayers still have many unanswered questions about the events. despite the fact at an international team of reviewers published a physics journal proving the existence of a man no thermite found in the dust -- host: we got where you are going in the first question. caller: the agency task with investigating why these three buildings failed -- host: do you have a follow-up issue? we will see what the senator has to say about that. 9/11 conspiracy theories and different ways of looking at 9/11. what are your thoughts? guest: the report i go by is the 9/11 commission. frankly, many of its recommendations and assessments have become very relevant this week as we have dealt with shocking tragedy in boston. it has actually given me an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come with homeland security in the 10 years since that agency was created. 'as you noted, i am on the homeland security and government affairs committee. they are hard at work, the joint terrorism task force through the fbi and homeland security and local officials in boston in g antrers and bring ultimately the perpetrators to the full weight of justice in the united states. back to the caller's question, what is important to meet is we have made dramatic improvements in securing the safety of our homeland, the security of the homeland, but we could always do better. host: do you see further tempts at legislation guest: i think it is really too early to say. first of all, our hear go out to the victims and their families, and my respect goes to the civilian and uniformed first responders who did incredible things in responding to something that was not fully understood in a moment. they were potentially running into harm's way to aid others. we are at the very beginning of what will be a thorough investigation. i think we will have a chance to stand back after that has completed and say did it go well? what lessons were learned? what was done right and wrong? i have no idea whether any of that will call for additional legislation, but just in the early days of the briefings we have gotten so far, it seems like many prudent precautions were taken until there was an assessment that it was not an attack beyond what we saw. host: have you seen increased security on capitol hill, especially with respect to the mailings? gu is yes, i have seen evidence on capitol hill of heightened security since the bombings in boston, and we have also had a member of alerts on capitol hill as items and letters have been mailed to the president into members of the sun at -- members of the senate that have tested positive for ricin in this particular case, and specific packages have been alerted. our secretary of homeland security has been saying to committees and to the public, see something, say something. be alert and vigilant. i think a lot of what we're seeing is a result of the heightened vigilance on the part of all citizens. host: paul, please go ahead. caller: i have about three things out of like to run off and then get a comment on them, please. first of all, i am getting to be an old man now, and i was caught and still believe that the federal government is for the purpose of providing national defense and interstate commerce, but since the state have shuffled off welfare and education and everything else to the federal government, neither one of the governments are doing the job properly. another thing is i am a 21-year veteran. i think we should get out of afghanistan or any other place that we're in now that we're not going to go over there and beat the hell out of them and come on home. i think veterans a lot of times are complaining -- there are cases where they are being mistreated, but there are veterans who are complaining that are probably getting too much help as it is. i think you very much. -- thank you very much. guest: i want to thank you for your service to this country. the role of the better government, i have to agree first and foremost is a national defense. homeland security plays a key role in that. the clear role is to keep people safe and do what we can. i certainly understand the concern about making sure we do what we do it as efficiently and effectively as possible. i do see a public role with regard to the things that make america strong economically also. ve to say the president's words a couple years ago to say when he said to win the future must we mu out ia bit and out build the rest of the world. those running very true to me. those are the investments wewe a strong future, a strong economy, and a strong middle class, frankly. the idea that people should be o get ahead, and we know for many of the neighbors that is not happening. with regard to your comments about afghanistan, i cannot agree more. it is high time for us to redeploy the troops home. it is a position that i have taken for some considerable time. i would note that when i was serving in the house of representatives, i was one of those who disagreed with those going into a rock -- iraq the first place. i thought it was a war of choice and thought it was the wrong choice. we are bearing the cost, the human cost as well as monetary cost of those commitments. and we will for some time. host: senator baldwin is born and bred in wisconsin. like michael is a republican in missouri. hi. >> good morning. -- a marine for 21 gun control, you talk about background checks. they have been doing that for a while but all these politicians, even in congress, are so complacent with making money and letting states do what they please. you have people out there going to gun concealed classes. they will take your money. anybody will pass that class. they need to quit being so complacent. then the government wants to sit there and take money away from veterans and seniors. it is ridiculous. we paid the social security into our retirement. in the government wants to take it from us because they do not have to pay? i think it is ridiculous. guest: well, thank you also for your service to the country. i agree with you about keeping our promises, keeping our promises to veterans and keeping our promises to seniors who have worked hard to whole lives, paid into social security, paid intog more than a secure retirement. i was actually raid by my grandparents, and i mentioned that because at a much earlier age i got see theirtruggles during their retirement, their reliance -- grandthern particular lived to 94 years of age. she depended upon medicare and social security. i am one who wan to fight for the integrity of those programs. we are talking about paul ryan and his budget earlier. i do not believe that we should voucherize or privatize the medicare program. i do believe we have to tackle our nation's debt, but i don't think we need to go invade the benefits offered in the medicare program in order to do that. there are many other ways we can extract cost savings in our health care system. just earlier this week i joined senator jay rockefeller in introducing a bill that will reduce drug prices for seniors in the medicare and medicaid program by allowing the states and the federal government bargain with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices. we do that already in the va system, probably as you know, and it extracts savings of considerable amounts for taxpayers and for our veterans. we should be doing that for our seniors, two. host: where were you raised? guest: my mother was 18 and going through a divorce. my grandparents were there for n them. ra yeah. i feel very lucky. host: brian in pennsylvania, and he is a democrat. you are on with senator baldwin. caller: good morning. good morning, america. i just want to go on record and state that i value my second amendment rights, and i think that our rights are threatened every day by our nations government. we have become a regulation nation. i'm sure you have heard this before, senator, but when i voted for this gentleman, barack obama, i was persuaded by what he was saying. he gave us hope, he gave us change, very powerful words and i feel that he has failed. i feel he is ignoring the real issues that are facing our troubled economy. he has been very distracted, and so was our government, for that matter. i have been unemployed for some time, and struggling like everyone else. i'm doing the best i can, but i think we need to refocus. we really need to focus on job creation and stop being disted. our second amendment rights are fine already. i'm just disgusted because of the fact -- host: all right, we got your point. that's get a response from th senator. guest: brian, i couldn't agree more that our central focus needs to be jobs, private sector job creation, adding our economy back on track, helping to rebuild the middle class that has been really devastated, not just because the recession, but because of policies that have been in place for some time. i agree with you that that needs to be the major focus of congress. i do believe that we ought to be able to do more than one thing at once. i don't know that the effort to increase safety in our communities through the debate that we have been having on expanding background checks needs to be viewed as a distraction. we should be able to walk and chew gum and do multiple things at the same time, as they say. i have to agree with you that what you view as the core responsibility for the president and this congress is what i view as the core responsibility. that is what i think we should be fighting to do every day. host: sandy beach tweets in -- guest: you know, we buy as consumers sometimes in bulk and we get a better price if we buy a dozen. sometimes we get a' bakers dozen when we buy a dozen. versus one by one. and really when government through a prograke iociarses on behalf of 40 each of us going in as an individual consumer and bargaining on our own, we don't have much bargaining power on our own. but we do when we act collectively. i think it makes all the sense in the world. the va does it, most other industrialized nations do so on behalf of their citizens. we don't in the united states. ics paying the price and the taxpayers pay the price. host: bill badey tweets -- one of the amendments the senate will be voting on today. guest: in terms of the current background checks, once a name goes on the list by virtue of an adjudication at the state/local level, it is one of the areas where there is the least complete records in the background system, as they say. what we are voting on today is not really going to change that definition, but, rather, look at these issues especially in schools and provide more resources for outreach to those with mental illness. host: do you support the idea of people with mental illness or have had episodes of mental illnin i think it is well agreed that if you have a felony conviction or have an adjudication relating to dangerousness to self or others, it makes sense, and we and it should be the law of the land that you are denied the ability to purchase a gun. what i would want to say emphatically is that being dangerous and mentally ill is not synonymous with being -- diagnosed with having a mental illness. there are many mental illnesses that are -- don't imply any level of dangerousness to self or others and that should not be part of the backbone check system. host: do you know where towson, wisconsin is? guest: if i have a map in front of me i can find it. host: scott is coming from towson. where is it? caller: north of green bay. host: you are way up there. caller: i am loving it up here. i just lost my wife to cancer nine months ago. guest: i'm sorry. er tstionsas heshcod t mari helher, a some reason in the state we wh iot get it and i am wonderi guest: there was a recent attempt in the state of sconsin, i think, to pass legislation through the wisconsin legislature, and it didn't pass. there are other states where medicinal marijuana is available. it has been achieved many times through popular referendum. in some states you are able to put those on the ballot through petition where a sufficient number of citizens petition to put it on the ballot. in wisconsin, if my memory serves me correctly, it has to be placed on the ballot by the legislature. in order to create movement on the issue, one really needs to talk to the state legislature. back when i served on the state legislature, there was a bipartisan group who supported moving on this issue, and in part because a couple of the legislators had experiences with family members, as you did, and didn't want to see them suffer, and therefore stood up and said this is something that we should debate and tackle in the state of wisconsin. i'm sorry for your loss. host: has it been decriminalized in wisconsin? am i wrong about that? guest: not as far as i have heard. n'sshat. but certainly we see various states moving forward with different initiatives. a lot of movement in the last tion cycle. and what you see at the federal level is a realignment of what i would say is prosecutorial discretion of -- host: do you support those efforts on the federal level as well? guest: well, i think we should re-examine the federal policy. i think that it is hypocritical at this point. when you have states that have legalized medicinal use and the federal government that is acting at odds with those states, it is time to re- examine. host: just a few minutes left with senator tammy baldwin. walter, republican line. caller: how are you doing, senator baldwin? guest: i'm doing well. caller: i, too, emma, veteran. guest: thank you for your service. caller: i was going to talk about the second amendment, but i think the first amendment is the one we need to be talking about, the cleanup tv?s. all the stuff that's coming on tv now is a violence bad talking all this stuff. why don't senators start focusing on that and cleaning up the television, and then we will see what happens to this country?guest: well, that is intereg. congress h waded into this territory you are talking about several times in the past. usually the result has been the supreme court has not been satisfied with the activities under the first amendment. i am not sure we are going to see that happen again. we have to remember that we also have the option of not watching and choosing carefully what it is we watch. host: baby blue ice tweets in -- guest: well, it is a great topic. we have had several people talk about their strong support of the second amendment. i strongly support the second amendment, but we are not getting into the details about whether we believe that the second amendment allows common sense, sensible legislation like expanding background checks. i don't think anybody is saying that the background checks that are currently in place are somehow in violation of the second amendment. we're talking about expanding it to more purchases. that is simple and straightforward. it is embraced by 90%, according to tsidef the american tent t i ar. we are talking about going after traffickers and giving law enforcement the tools that they need to stop illegal trafficking. right now they don't have sufficient law-enforcement tools to go after these folks. i think there is really brought support for these commonsense measures that we are talking about. i wish -- this is the point on which we started -- i wish my colleagues in the senate had the courage of this moment to move forward and do right by the american people. host: just a minute left. frank in orlando, democrat. caller: good morning, and thank you for taking my call. i just find it laughable that the president saying that the bill did not get passed because of misinformation by the nra when we have politicians up there putting bills in like representative degentis in colorado that thinks that magazines are ammunition, that as soon as you shoot them they are gone forever. and robin kelly in chicago stating that aurora was filled with carry holders. an the politicians cannot get american people expect you to pass laws governing us? guest: that is a great question and it brings up an issue that was discussed earlier in this debate about guns that has fallen off the radar screen in terms of discussion. that was the recommendation that we actually fund scientific- based research on gun violence. several years ago the cdc in atlanta had done a fair amount of research on gun violence, and as it is the leading cause of death through injury or violence leading cause of death for younger people -- they did research on this issue, and they were defunded. i think we could benefit from or facts and research and evidence in this whole gun safety debate, and it is actually an area in which i wish we were more active. host: last call for senator baldwin comes from another frank, independent line. caller: yes. i was trying to figure out what you said when you said that the social security fund had not been touched by the government, and when president obama cut the rate from 6.4 to 4.2, and then he said that the government would make up the difference. where did the money come from that went to the government? to me, the politicians, especially lifetime politicians, speak twice and you have to listen to what they say, because our government had to replace that money spent money had to come out of the government somewhere. guest: that's right. i think you must have misread what i said earlier when i was talking about touching social security. what i was talking about was whether it ought to be on the table as we discussed our nation's debt and deficit. the reason i think it should not be on the table during that debate is that the social security program right now is solvent, and it is not contributing to our nation's deficit and debt, so why we should be looking at making policy changes there when we are trying to tackle our deficit and debt sort of -- it is frustrating to me. i think we have lots of challenges to confront with the social security in the out years, when it will become insolvent, but that is not the immediate task. we should be looking at what does drive our current deficit and debt, especially runaway health-care costs. as we tackle that deficit and . at said, when we hadpayroll tada deepesys of our rece the government did obligate itself to make up for the shortfall in the payroll tax revenues. and yes, that will come from other funds, other taxpayer funds. host: this is "washington journal," and we have been talking with tammy baldwin on a first-term senator from wisconsin. please come back. guest: thank you. really appreciate it. >> when the war began, congress came into session and july. it issued a statement that articulated the consensus war goals of the united states. it was very simple. very clear. the purpose of this war is to restore the union. to disrupt the social institutions of the south. and everybody knew what that meant. it meant not to disrupt slavery. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> saturday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span three. at the capitol today, cabinet secretaries and othersteng b qu, janet napolitano testified for a second straight day before a congressional committee. she talked about a number of issues and was asked about the status of the boston marathon bombing investigation. here is a look at that exchange. west,ill begin with texas as the more recent events and give you the most current information that we have about the explosion. our sympathies and concerns go out to the families of those who lost once or who was had a loved one who is been injured. faa hasght now, the issued a temporary fight was fiction over the area. they are providing air monitoring and technical assistance. texas task force one has been alerted to provide structural collapse support. the union pacific railroad has halted freight service and local authorities have turned off utility service in the area, anduding class -- gas electricity. there is a triage center but they have been recently moved due to fears that additional tanks could be at risk. fema, part of the department, has been activated and stands ready to assist texas upon request. the state fire marshall's's office, the texas dps, the waco fire and hazmat and other encies. a a the american red cross is working with local emergency management to identify shelter management assistance. activatedthin fema and incident management assistance team, three preliminary damage assessment teams, and we are also standing by to assist in any other way. remains at level three, increased readiness. he will continue to monitor the events over the course of today and provide you with updates as they are relevant. mr. chairman, many of the things i've just gone through our examples of the kinds of activities that have been supported by the committee through fema through the various , search-at we supply and-rescue being a good example of the kinds of things that grants have been supporting, increasing our capacity for response as a nation. on west,he most recent texas. we arespect to boston, investigating this as an act of terror. we are assisting ice as part of the jttf. we have over four dozen ice agents help in the investigation. they are assisting in a number of ways immediately after the attack. we worked to close logan and institute special targeting rules in the air environment and that the canadian border environment in case there were those seeking to escape the scene. , when youct to fema saw the response in boston and how coordinated it was even ,iven the level of destruction i would remind the committee that last november, boston held a massive exercise on how to deal with a mass casualty events. that i exercise was the kind of -- supported by fema to local areas, increasing our ability for response and resilience. we have worked with the fbi and provided several intel products and briefings to state and local law enforcement across the country. critical infrastructure owners and operators and we have been reaching out to faith-based organizations, community organizations and others who want to know what they can do. implementing a number of security measures at airports, transit hubs within the maritime environment. the coast guard is providing security on the fairies -- ferries in teh bostoghe he bost. , we respect to the public do urge the republic -- the public to remain vigilant. we are all in this together. security is a joint responsibility. the see something, say something message is something all of us can emphasize. events like boston remind us of the importance of that. this is an all hands on deck, led by the president. we are committed to making sure that we bring the perpetrators to justice. like the fbi today released photos and video of two suspects of the boston marathon bombings and are asking for help from the public in identifying them. here is more from the special agent in charge at this afternoon's news reefing boston -- news briefing in boston. >> good afternoon. i am rick deslauriers. bombings, our partners at the working around the clock and are fully investigating the matter to bring those responsible to justice. our law enforcement team has pursued thousands of leads and tips. as i said two days ago, we are working methodically and with a sense of urgency to identify those responsible. within the last day or so to that careful process, we developed a single person of interest. not knowing that the individual was acting alone or in concert with others, we have worked exte that determination. the entire force of the federal government, the fbi in boston, as well as our partners in the boston police, atf, massachusetts state police at more than 30 agencies of the st joint terrori tk fo have set about to ensur that all responsible for the bombings will be rocked to justice. ensure the safety of the city of boston, the commonwealth of massachusetts and the country. developed a second suspect in that process. we are enlisting the public's help to identify the suspects. after a detailed analysis, we are releasing photos of these two suspects. they are identified as a suspect one and suspect two. they appear to be associated. suspect one is wearing a dark hat, suspect two is wearing a white hat. suspect two sent him a backpack at the site of the second explosion just in front of the restaurant. we strongly encourage those at the forum restaurant for not contacted us yet to do so. as you can see from one of the images, suspects one and two appeared to be walking together through the marathon crowd on boylston street in the direction of the finish line. the image was captured as they walked on boylston street. the quality of the photos is quite good but we will continue to work on developing additional images to improve their identification value. gove, we havei. review a publicize.ct public ano for clarity, these images should be the only ones the public should view to assist us. other photos should not be deemed credible and they divert the public's attention in the wrong direction and create undow resources. the fbi has provided bomb -- has relied upon the public. we know the public will play a critical role in identifying and locating these individuals. somebody out there knows these individuals as friends, neighbors, coworkers, or family members of the suspect. it may be difficult for the nation is counting with those on information to come forward and provide it to us. no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential is too small for use to to see. it is important to contact us with information regarding the intensities --ente suspects andr locations. we consider them to be armed and extreme way dangerous. no one should approach them. no one should attempt to apprehend them except law enforcement. let me reiterate that caution. do not take any action on your own. if you see these men, contact law enforcement. if you know anything about the mbings or the man pictured here, call the telephone -- 1- 800-call-fbi. all calls will be kept confidential. we have also established a website for tips that directly relates to the bombing. thontip us at bostonmara s.fibbi.gov. the photos can be viewed on our website at fibbi.gov. the images from monday are indelible in the horror of that day will remain with us forever. further underscores our obligation to investigate this crime judiciously to bring the -- to bring those responsible to justice. the victims and the survivors diversseeserve nothing less. the fbi is committed to ensuring that victims receive the rights they are entitled to and the assistance they need to cope with the crime. treating victims with respect to providing them with assistance, benefits, and assistance will better our cases. our resources include an office of victim assistance at a gag headquarters in victims -- of victim assistance at fbi headquarters. we provide victims with the support and resources necessary to meet their needs. teamictims specialist works around the clock to brin sistan to the victims of this heinous act. identifying andocating those responsible is now our highest priority. no other details of the at this time because this is our focus now. it continues to be an ongoing, active investigation. we view these photographs and contact us at 1-800-call-fbi or immediately. thank you very much. [inaudible] >> i would not want to comment on that right now. [indiscernible] -- wereoth suspects both suspects seen with these devices? what's the only one oved planting is a suspect number two with a white. -- with the white cap. it was wiithin minutes of the bomb going off. at this time, these are the people of interest to the fbi. click the us any information -- on what they d afterhe explosion? >> suspect number two proceeded west on boylston street. that is all we know right now. newspapers all over the country -- what does it do to investigation when things like this get out? >> i just that question in my statement by saying the only official photos that should be relied upon in this investigation are those you see before you today. [indiscernible] >> do you stand by your statement that there is no additional data to the public? what i do stand by that statement. -- you've welcomed again and again , the fbi holds an fbi on the search for two suspects in the boston bombing investigation. later, the senate so-called gang of eight holds a news conference on their immigration proposal. introduce, jus senators their own measure. during thursday's session of the u.s. house, members held a moment of silence in honor the victims of the

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