Transcripts For CSPAN3 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20151008

Where theres quite enough to divide people that we should cherish a language and emotion that unite us all. Jacqueline kennedys 1,000 days as lady were identified as fashion icon, young mother and advocate for the arts. As television came to age, it was ultimately the tragic um manages of president ken that cemented her in the public mind. Jacqueline kennedy this sunday night at 8 00 eastern on cspans first ladies. Sunday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv on cspan3. The House Republican conference will meet thursday to choose their nominee for the next speaker of the house. We get an update from a capitol hill reporter. Danielle new houser writes that the House Freedom caucus backed webster for the speaker. Daniel neuhauser with us. Why did the Freedom Caucus endorse webster for speaker. He is the former speak are of the house and he prides himself on having, in his words, reformed the process of how bills were passed in the house there. And hes been going door to door caucus to caucus, delegation to delegation here on capitol hill making that exact case. He said, you know, i did this in florida and i can do it here. We recognize the process is broken and i want to fix that. I want to enpower individual members. Hes been talking about a power pyramid that he wants to do away with and allow individual members to have more of a say in the legislation that comes up and how it ends up getting passed. So you say this quest for the speakership comp cates things for kevin mccarthy. What is the impact on majority leader mccarthy as well as jason chaffetz, the other person in the race. Were not sure how much support he has, only a handful of members if even that many who have publicly endorsed him. He could get a few as well. The Freedom Caucus is comprised of 30 or 40 members and if they vote in a block, that promises at least Something Like 30 votes to webster. In the immediate term its not going to have a huge effect because mccarthy is going to be probably the recipient of a wide majority of the republican votes behind closed doors tomorrow. Where this matters is october 29th when they go to the house floor. And thiss a big unknown. On the house floor mcconsider thy needs 218 votes to be named speaker. He cant do that if 30 or more republicans vote for someone else. You need 218 republicans and theres 247 in the conference. It makes it infinitely tougher to get there. So is the Freedom Caucus not committing to vote for whoever comes out as the winner in tomorrows nominee election . My understanding of their decision is theyre committing to only tomorrow. And i think they view the rest of the month as a sort of trial run for mccarthy. You know that you have got all of these different issues coming up, a cr has to be dealt with in december, the debt ceiling in november, highway bill, other complicated issues that they hope to exert their influence on. If they are not happy with how mccarthy handles these things, they could potentially vote against him again on october 29th. But its possible they may do that anyways. Walk us through the process on thursday with the conference. How will the election for their nominee to be speaker work . So they go behind closed doors at noon. Each candidate has to be nominated by another member of congress and then there has to be a second. There essentially has to be two people who support the member. After that the candidate gives a short speech, i think five minutes or so. And then members cast their vote by secret ballot. Its not the tallyies are no given out. The individual votes are not relayed to the press or the other members. The votes will be counted up and whoever emerges with the majority, you know, will be who the conference elected. Now the other leadership positions in the party initially supposed to be voted on on thursday, thats been pushed back. Why . Thats right. Its unclear what the sort of back room reason is. But i think that the sort of public reason is, you know, its recognized that theres a lot of dissent right now. They dont think that the majority leader and position should be voted on another somebody is actually named speaker on october 29th. Its possible that, you know, this vote could go on for days or who knows, weeks. I mean, anything could happen if nobody can get to 218 votes. So i think they just dont want to jump the gun on naming somebody to a position that may actually not be open. Daniel neuhauser of national journal. He is on twitter. Thanks very much for being with us. Thank you. Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings blake spoke about the National Press club about her citys riots this year. She talked about her role as president of the u. S. Conference of mayors and the National Urban agenda. This is an hour. Welcome to the National Press club. My name is john hughes. Im an editor for bloombergs first news, thats the breaking news desk, and the president of the National Press club. Our speaker today is Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlingsblake. As the president of the u. S. Conference of mayors, she will discuss that groups agenda for the 2016 president ial candidates. But first i want to introduce our distinguished head table. This includes club members as well as guests of the speaker. From the audiences right, jared rizze, White House Correspondent for sirius xm. Wesley lowry, National Reporter for the Washington Post. Erica sutherland, assistant professor at the school of communications at howard university. Jp grant, president of grant capital management. Skipping over our next guest for just a moment, kevin johnson, mayor of sacramento and former member of nbas phoenix suns. Donna linewan leje, breaking news editor for usa today shes a past president of the National Press club and the vice chair of the clubs speakers committee. Skipping over our speaker for a moment, jonathan selant, the washington correspondent for nj advanced media, the star ledger. Hes a former National Press Club President and the member of the National Press Club Speakers Committee who organized todays events. Thank you, jonathan. Calliope parthemos, chief of staff for the mayor of baltimore. Bruce johnson, anchor reporter at wusa tv. Chris chambers, professor of media studies at georgetown university. And john dillman, a reporter at wnew fm and the coach of the National Press Club Softball team. [ applause ] i also want to welcome cspan and public radio audiences. You can follow the action on twitter, use the hashtag npc live. Thats npclive. 35 years ago today a telephone call was made from yankton, south dakota, to the National Press club and history was made. In a small room upstairs here at the club, cspan created the first regularly scheduled national tv callin show a tradition that continues today with the washington journal program. The press club today is placing a permanent recognition of that call, that historic call, on the wall outside of that small room upstairs where the call was made so future generations will always know that part of history at the National Press club. The man who took that phone call that day . Well, hes brian lam, the founder of cspan. Brian is a broadcast legend. He is a journalists journalist, hes the past recipient of our highest honor, the Fourth Estate award, and hes a personal hero of mine and i know so many others here. At the National Press club we simply love brian lamb. Brian, could you stand and be recognized. [ applause ] our speaker, who we are also honored to have here today, mayor Stephanie Rawlingsblake, was thrust into the news earlier this year in a way that she wished would have never happened. In april an unarmed black man, freddie gray, died in police custody. This set off a series of urban disturbances in baltimore. At least 34 people were arrested, Six Police Officers were injured, and Maryland Governor larry hogan called out the national guard. The Small Business administration estimated that about 285 businesses were damaged at a cost of 9 million. Mayor rawlingsblake was forced to cope not only with the riots and their aftermath but the underlying problems that led to the disruption. Elected at age 25 to the Baltimore City council, she was the youngest person ever to ascend to that position. She later was Council President before being sworn in as baltimores 49th mayor in 2010. She announced in september that she will not run for reelection. She said it was a very difficult decision but i knew i needed to spend time focused on the citys future, not my own. Mayor rawlingsblake is here today in her other capacity as president of the u. S. Conference of mayors. She will talk about the mayors urban agenda, the issues they want the 2016 president ial candidates to discuss. Lets give a warm National Press club welcome to mayor Stephanie Rawlingsblake. [ applause ] good afternoon, everyone. Thank you very much for the very kind introduction. And while youve given, i think, a very thorough and thoughtful introduction of the head table, i think one of the the thing that i would like you to know about kj that hes not just a former basketball player but also a former president of the u. S. Conference of mayors, and im very grateful that you are here. [ applause ] i appreciated his leadership for many reasons, not the least of which is now i can be mayor srb since he was mayor kj. [ laughter ] i figure if i say it enough time it will stick like kj sticks. Just a few more years. Either that or ill have to learn how to dunk. One of those things. So i want to thank the National Press club for giving me an opportunity to join you today to talk about a few things. Both my role as mayor of the city of baltimore as well as my role of president of the u. S. Conference of mayors. I will do my best to cover both of those areas as well as give us some time for questions at the end. And depending on what i see coming in as questions, that will determining how long i go. So as i was listening to my introduction, it reminded me that so much of the countrys current view of baltimore have been shaped by a few things. We know that weve had the challenge of being shaped by the excellent writing and acting in the hbo series the wire. But weve also been shaped by the two weeks in april following the death of freddie gray and the subsequent demonstrations and unrest. And the tragic death of freddie gray, you know, its uhoh, do we have a phone thats on . You know, the challenges of that tragedy are complex because we know that it is a tragedy. The loss of any life anywhere to violence in our streets is distressing, and its distressing for baltimore on many levels. It was traumatic for residents, for Police Officers, for Business Owners, and its traumatic for the industries in baltimore that depend on the image of our city because baltimore is much more than what was shown on the endless loops on some of our national media. Truth be told, while in my introduction it was suggested that i was forced to confront these issues that emerged subsequent to freddie grays death, none of those issues were new to me, nor was my work on those issues. Ive been working on the issue of Police Community relations since ive been mayor and well before as a City Council Person all of those years ago. I introduced legislation to address the issue of racial profiling in Baltimore City. And when i became mayor, the issue of Police Community relations, Police Brutality i knew was front and center as a part of the work that i had to do as mayor of the city of baltimore. I was very, very pleased in 2011 to be able to reduce homicides to the lowest number theyd been in generations. More than 40 years. However, that same year when i was traveling from Community Association to Community Association to talk about the progress wed made, getting under 200 when i was growing up would have been to talk about it would have been laughable. You know, the thought that baltimore could get under 200 homicides. So when we achieved that goal i was very, very prude. But when i talked to residents during that time, what i learned through those conversations was as pleased as people were about the progress with homicides, they were equally frustrated with the treatment they were receiving by the police, by the activity that they were receiving from the police. Thats why when i became mayor i dismantled the unit responsible for much of the abuse and mistreatment of Baltimore City residents. I held Public Safety forums across the city throughout my time as mayor, and particularly in the summer of 2014, to hear from residents about these issues as we work to reform the Police Department and thats why i launched the Body Camera Task force, because i knew that it was important to fight for more accountability. More accountability on the ground as well as more accountability in the policies surrounding the Police Department. Thats why i went to annapolis to fight for changes in the state law on the Law Enforcement officers bill of rights. It was a lonely fight in january as i tried to convince legislators that we were living in a powder keg. That we had to deal with the issue that many people in our Community Felt there was an uneven Playing Field, that Police Officers in our city, in our state, were hold a different standard after theyd been found guilty of a crime and that we had to start the process of reforming our Police Department across the board. Im very encouraged now that after freddie grays death many have come to realize the wisdom of that argument and they are now willing to be a part of that solution. I just think about what would have happened if those reforms could have started in january during the session i was fighting for those reforms and i knew the reforms needed to happen, like i said, within the department and within the way we connected with communities and thats why i invited the department of justice cops program into baltimore for a collaborative review. I heard very loud and clear from communities that they wanted to be viewed as partners and not perpetrators and i knew we needed help to get there, and i asked for the department of justice cops office to come in and help us evaluate our Community Policing efforts, to help us guide create a pathway forward to stronger relationships. Yes, we were seeing progress in reducing crime, but we had a long way to go when it comes to bettering the relationship between the community and police. Made, it was clear that the community was still on edge with respect to police relations. And in retrospect what happened around the tragic death of freddie gray serves as a reminder to cities across the country about what can happen in their cities. When ive spoken to mayors across the country virtually all of them have the sobering sense that what happened in baltimore could have happened in their city as well. The unrest in baltimore served as a reminder of so many things, and it was clear to us as well as we believed we prepared for those things, the unrest and our response was a stark reminder that baltimore was not as prepared as we should have been and certainly could have been for those for the unrest and were making significant improvements when it comes to communication, when it comes to training and equipment. I dont think anyone would have expected the unrest to unfold in the way that it did, but what it did give us was an opportunity to strengthen our response, to strengthen our training and to be better prepared. And im pleased to stay ive seen a lot of improvement in the way weve handled the potential unrest that has happened since. And i havent waited for the afteraction reports. While im grateful for the work, the independent evaluations of the incident, i havent waited for those reports to be finished before making changes. Were making changes as soon as we saw those problems come up. We made sure that i made sure the Police Department was led by someone that eliminated distractions away from our crime fight. Our new Police Commissioner has taken a number of steps to ensure we are better prepared for what could be six challenging and separate criminal trials coming forward. Were working with the department of justice on the patterns and practice investigation. I think im the only mayor in the country that actually asked the attorney general to come in and do a patterns and practice investigation which will result in recommendations for even broader reforms. Weve improved communications, training, and equipment already. So the unrest in baltimore create that created in baltimore and the aftermath points to deeper underlying issues. Issues of lack of jobs, challenges with housing, education, and disparities in opportunity. The crime surge in baltimore and cities across our country right now, the spring and summer, illustrates that as well. If we are to succeed in preventing such unrest, we must attack these underlying issues. None of this was created overnight and it wont be solved overnight. Whether its the breach in the relationship between the community and the police, whether its abandoned housing. When you have years of neglect, when you have years of abandonment, we know that the challenge the fix will take years as well. To make progress we need all of the support of our partners to participate, the notforprofit partners, the private sector, the state and federal government. The Obama Administration is really stepping up for baltimore and i know it wants to step up for other cities as well. And this speaks to what all of us at the u. S. Conference of mayors are hoping we will see from the 2016 president ial campaign a substantive conversation among candidates that recognizes the issues facing our cities and speaks to real solutions. This past week more than two dozen mayors of cities big and small gathered in baltimore to discuss both our priorities as well as our strategies moving forward to ensure those who wish to lead our federal government fully understand that cities are the engines of our National Economy and are at the center of every major issue that we currently face in public life. We know there are so many great economic and cultural things happening in our cities of all sizes all over our country. We know the strength of our cities and metro areas help to bring the National Economy back from the recession. And we also know that if we are going to continue to grow and be more successful as a country, cities have to be at the center of the solution. We know that there are far too many people who have been left out of the recovery since the great recession. They lack opportunity. Far too Many Americans in cities large and small continue to fear for their safety. They feel disconnected from the Broader Community. This is something im especially aware of in baltimore, but it affects and concerns mayors all of the mayors that convened last weekend. And as we confront challenges like these, our partnership with the federal government is threatened by the dysfunction in washington that no serious candidate for president or congress can or should allow to continue. Gridlock strangles washington, and the consequences of that gridlock are passed on to cities. Thats passed on to mayors. That gridlock is strangling the future of our country. Major campaigns like this one come along once every few years and mayors are uniquely positioned to influence the National Dialogue and as mayors we have a very large bully pulpit, and we can get our message out to great portions of constituencies throughout the country. We know that people are frustrated thus far that this campaign has not been wholly focused on issues that matter most to working families and people who live in our cities where the majority of people live. We have to have a campaign focused on substance and things that can move our cities and country forward. So we came together this past weekend to define our priorities which will be carried forward to the candidates over the next 13 months. We will publish these priorities in a new document, the mayors compact for a better america, a 2016 call to action. And while the exact wording of the document is being finalized based on intense conversation thats code for what is that code . Intense conversation, i wont say argument. Intense or robust conversations we had this past weekend, but we are reaching consensus on many critical areas we want to see a part of the national campaign, a part of the national conversation. Investing in our infrastructure, our roads, our bridges, our rail. Investing in our water and sewer systems. Focusing on educating and training the 21st century competitive workforce. Strengthening the federal and local partnership on Homeland Security and Public Safety and reforming our broken immigration system. Were going to focus on expanding clean energy use to grow our economy, to protect our climate and our environment. Were going to focus on investing in Community Development and affordable housing, encouraging pathways for access to entrepreneurship, technology and innovation in our cities. Improving access to health care, particularly Mental Health care. Redirecting tax policy to promote investment in cities. Advancing middleclass growth and reducing income equality. Increasing the economic strength of metro economies through promotion of trades and exports and the attraction of international tourism. I realize these are broad ideas, but underneath each one of these ideas lie the future of our country. And as we work through the final wording on all of these issues, i know that there wont be total consensus. While we have a great track record of working across the aisle in the u. S. Conference of mayors, even all the democrats dont agree on everything and the republicans dont agree on everything so we know that there wont be total consensus, but what you will see is mayors speaking in a unified voice about whats important to our country. I know we can find democratic mayors who are willing to take these issues to the Democratic Candidates for president and that republican mayors will be willing to address these issues with republican candidates. And there will be issues that well work on together regardless of who gets elected as president or whatever the makeup of the next congress will be because theres one thing we have a track record of and thats working together. We are a Bipartisan Group of mayors who know how to put ideology aside, to focus on things that matter most to american families. Because our jobs demand results. We cant have ideological conversations about how were going to fix potholes or collect trash. People just want it done. They dont want to know how we feel about it. Mayors have to get things done. We believe washington could learn something from us, and as we define our federal priorities, we also know that mayors have never been the type to wait for others to help. Mayors around the country have created and implemented best practices on each of these issues that were putting forth in our compact. Were not asking any candidates to do anything were not willing to do ourselves. We must continue to share in innovations with each other and with our Broader Community so we can maximize our impact with or without federal support. I want to thank you again for giving me the opportunity to join all of you today. I want to thank my baltimore contingency. We wanted to make sure i had a nice friendly audience down here in d. C. Im very pleased to have so many friends from baltimore who traveled with me. I look forward to answering what ive already seen will be thoughtful and interesting questions, whether theyre about baltimore, the u. S. Conference of mayors or even my role as secretary of the dnc. Im looking forward to hearing your questions. Thank you very much. [ applause ] thank you so much, mayor. As you suggest, many Great Questions have come in. This questioner asks, in an era when Congressional Republicans wont even fund crumbling roads in their hometowns, how do you expect any support for an urban read democratic agenda . I think its a mistake to read urban and democratic as synonymous. We have many mayors across the country, republican mayors, that are fighting for those same infrastructure dollars. Republican roads are crumbling just like democratic roads, and we need a solution. I think when and, again, this is why this election is so important. When we let the debate be around what somebodys face looks like or, you know, whether somebody has a low energy or whatever you know, i dont want to use a bad word but that kind of stuff misses the mark because we have families that are hurting. And when you talk about wanting to push our economy forward and create jobs, when youre fixing a bridge in baltimore you cant export those jobs to china. Thats work that happens in baltimore. When youre fixing roads and rails in philadelphia, that work has to stay there. So we need our the Republican Congress to understand that theyre not being patriotic when theyre holding up these projects from moving forward. When they refuse to Fund Infrastructure investment, theyre refusing to support america and the people theyve pledged to serve. You mentioned a hope for a substantive debate on poverty and crime issues from the 2016 president ial campaign. What have you heard so far that heartens you . Disappointed you most . So ill take off my nonpartisan conference of mayors hat and put on my very partisan secretary of the dnc hat. The one thing i can say about the debates that ive seen from the Democratic Candidates, or the conversations, its been about real things that matter to families. Whether its the fight to improve increase minimum wage or whether its the our efforts to make sure that more americans have access to Quality Health care. These are the things that matter to people at home. These are the things that connect. These are the things that will hopefully reengage a population that, i think, is growing in their frustration around what they are seeing at the National Level when it comes to politics. I would be very, very embarrassed if someone who had no concept of our country and what we stand for in politics had only one opportunity to get a sense of what we stand for when it comes to campaigning and that was the republican debates on tv. If that was someones only that they only had that experience to judge our country, i would be embarrassed. Were better than that, and we should hold all our National Leaders to be better than that. Theres too many things important to families that arent getting addressed, and were having personality conflicts at a time when our country can afford it the least. This questioner notes that mayors often focus on local solutions to big problems but what issues require National Solutions . Can gun control and Police Reform be responsibly conducted in a national patchwork . Just in the question, when you talk about gun control and a patchwork approach, the question answered itself. You cant have a patchwork approach to gun control. Right now, not too far from here mayors are meeting with the department of justice. Police chiefs are meeting to talk about the surge in violence weve seen across the country this summer. And mayors are speaking with one voice about whats needed and that is more support from our criminal justice partners. We need to do whatever we can to get guns out of the hands of people who have no respect for their lives or the lives of other members of the community. We need to do more to strengthen the laws and the enforcement when it comes to people suffering from Mental Illness having access to guns. Those are the conferences were having because in our cities, people are dying while the nra and congress has debates. People are dying. And we know we cant wait on the lobbyists to miss a meeting or not make a phone call. We have to get stuff done, and were looking for the department of justice and our federal Law Enforcement partners to step up and fill that gap until we can get some common sense gun reform in our country. What can mayors do to combat the rising homicide rate happening in so many cities across the country and in baltimore and washington, d. C. As well . What can be done to stem it . In baltimore, we had a very, very rough july. August was better than july. September was better than august, but weve still were still suffering from very high rates of violent crime. One of the things weve seen work and why i talk about the partnership with federal Law Enforcement is our work embedding federal agents in the Police Department, increasing the partnership between the u. S. Attorneys office, our States Attorneys Office as well as the Baltimore City Police Department. Were talking about what happens when atf agents are embedded in crime labs and have the ability to give almost in Realtime Data around guns that are used on the streets. This used to take upwards of six months to get the information back, and if youre a mayor, thats useless. You might as well never tell me where the gun is coming from if you tell me six months from now so anything we can do to strengthen the communication, to better share data and information, it will help us to be more nimble and to be more responsive to crime. That partnership has been responsible for the improvements weve seen over the summer, but theres still a long way to go. What are the one or two things you would put at the top of the list in terms of what other mayors in the nation should learn from your experience following freddie grays death . In other words, what are the one or two things you would cite to them as things to do to prepare to be ready . To prepare to be ready . I would say that what mayors are learning, not just looking at what happened in baltimore but the unrest, the riots weve seen in other places is that the 3 tp protests and the riots of today are substantially different than what happened in the 60s. And in the ways theyre different, we need to prepare differently. And ive been pleased that weve had the Lessons Learned to help prepare not just baltimores Police Department but Police Departments throughout the country that understand that the tactics are different and the strategies for how we deal with them are different. So our afteraction work will be helpful as we move forward with the six trials of the officers coming up, but also theyre helpful in other cities. Mayors across the country have watched the work that ive done pushing for reform in the Police Department. Mayors across the country watched me fight for a level playing a more level Playing Field holding officers that are that have been accused or found guilty of wrongdoing, accountable. Theyve watched the work weve done trying to repair the breach between the community and police, and theyve seen in spite of those efforts we still had riots. We still had the unrests and protests so theyre taking what happened in baltimore very seriously. So the lessons would be to take a look at what weve done subsequent to the unrest with the improved training, the better communication protocols as well as equipment and to understand that its never enough. That the work to build relationship is never over. Its not something you can say okay, i had a forum, i went to a community meeting, youre done. Its constant Relationship Building work. I say all the time in Community Association meetings that the police and the community are married. It can be a healthy marriage or a bad marriage, but we here in this together. Theres no way the community can do it alone and theres certainly no way the police can do it alone. We, for better or worse, are stuck together, and its up for us to decide if well have a healthy relationship or we are going to allow us to have an unhealthy relationship. I know plenty of people married for 30 years, havent spoken in 20. It can happen, right . And it happens day after day of just not talking. It happens day after day of not attending to the relationship so when we have these when i have Public Safety forums, its me working to attend to that relationship. One of my colleagues in government says, you dont ask the doctor if the medicine is working. You ask the patient. We have to stay in communication. Sometimes its stuff you want to hear, sometimes its not, but you have to deal with all of it because we can not think that the relationship is going to get better on its own. Its going to get better because the police make the decision to be in this relationship repairing work and the community. And thats why the partnership with the department of justice is so powerful for me because they get it. Theyve done it before. Theyve worked communities through these types of problems and encouraged by what im seeing and encouraged that over these next i think 13, 14 months of my term that we are going to get some significant progress. The department of justice announced it will begin keeping more statistics on those killed by police. How important is transparency regarding Police Killings to developing positive relationships that you are talking about between the police and the communities . I think its important to have transparency around Police Killing but also around police interaction, which is why ive been working hard in baltimore to make sure we implement a police body camera, a Body Worn Camera program that works and something that the community can have faith in. I want us to attend to those issues around privacy. What happens when a Police Officer goes into the house of someone whos called because of Domestic Violence issues. Do you turn the camera off . Not turn the camera off . What happens to that woman if she is victimized again because once its filmed, its part of the Public Record . Those types of issues we have to grapple with in order to get it right. How do we maintain the not the film but the video. Who has access to it and those things. So by making sure we get this right, well have the transparency around yes, around incustody deaths or policeinvolved shootings but also around the day to day interaction of the police with the community which i think will be helpful. This questioner says the Police Commissioner said he was stunned by the level of poverty in baltimore and in part attributed that to crime. Why hasnt more been done to address poverty in baltimore . What can be done at the city level . Poverty is a problem that exists in baltimore and cities around this country. Its not just a not even an american problem. Its a global problem. I dont know of a city thats solved the issue of poverty. And while many work to eradicate the disparities in income, raise your hand if you know the city thats fixed this problem. Its an intractable problem that if youre looking if a cure to it is success, well never be successful. But i think the work were doing every single day to improve our schools. Im standing here next to one of the biggest advocates in the country for excellence in education. When we provide excellence in education, were creating pathways out of poverty. My dad grew up in the projects, and he made it very, very clear to us growing up that education was his key out of poverty, and he wanted us to understand that education would be our key to whatever we wanted to do in life. My dad was an elected official. My mom was a pediatrician. We had access to a whole lot. But i said if jordache made encyclopedias, we would have had them, but they werent spending money on stuff that wasnt going to help our education. There was no designer jeans, there was no unless our grandparents got them designer tennis shoes. We had the same blackandwhite tv, i know you know what im talking about, old school, you turn it with the pliers because their resources were going to making sure that their children were educated, and so education is a key. Focus on creating jobs. Thats why it frustrates me so when weve made the Infrastructure Investment a partisan issue. Those are jobs that could help bring people out of poverty today if those resources were put there. So i think that the work to eradicate poverty is ongoing work. Its work that i think will continue to the end of our time. I think theres a way to continue to make progress, and im pleased to say there are many mayors doing a lot of good work making progress on this very, very challenging issue. Is it perfect . No. But we have mayors, including the work ive done in baltimore, that are fighting for progress everyday. You mentioned in the introduction that you have said youre not running for reelection and thats youve got a full more than a full year in office yet. How has your announcement affected your ability to work in the city . Has it helped or hindered . Sometimes lameduck is limiting but other times as john boehner is showing he seems to feel freed up. So how is your announcement affecting your work Going Forward . Ill say im very focused on the work at hand. Fighting for progress every single day. While ive made it clear im not seeking reelection, ive made it clear to everyone that works with me and for me that that doesnt mean were on vacation. That means theres a lot of serious work that needs to be done. And boehner, obama, you can go down the history of people who have been where i am and see that they are great examples of leaders in the running up to the end of their term who have been unfiltered, you know . Unchained, unrestricted. I think for me, i have the benefit of every single thing i do not being viewed through the lens of campaigning or politics, and i have the freedom of being able to be more intentional when im talking about those things as well. When i see politics is standing in the way of progress. So i am determined that these theres more than a year that i have left on my term that will be made every single day pushing for progress for baltimores families, and i have no doubt well continue to make progress. This questioner wants you to put on your dnc hat, and they wonder, should there be more sanctioned debates . Why or why not . Its interesting for me what things kind of get traction and what dont. This notion of more debates or not, i wont really weigh in on that except to say that we have the same number of debates this time as we did the last time we had a contested democratic primary. So then it leads me to the question and it wasnt the issue last time. The number of debates seemed to be fully satisfactory. There wasnt this push to have more. Then the question comes, whats different this time . Is it that we have some candidates that have that have a lot of resources and that are highly ranked in the polls and some that arent . What are those issues that created this debate controversy . I know that the our chair, Debbie Wasserman schultz, is working with the leadership of the dnc to look at that issue, and im sure that if there is a consensus that we need more debates, im sure that will happen. I still have this question of why, when you have the a contested primary and a contested primary why this time the number of debates we have is seen as insufficient. Can you tell us who youre supporting or in your dnc job, do you have to wait until theres a nominee . How does that work . So the officers of the dnc, we have this neutrality provision that we cant participate in the president ial primary, so i get to ignore that question. Heres a question at the intersection of president ial politics and local issues. Are you concerned any president ial candidates may try to limit or eliminate the Municipal Bond Tax Exemption . What case are you making to the candidates or to congress to preserve the exemption . Thats one of the things when i talk about Infrastructure Investment, i try not to get too upset about it because it really frustrates me. That issue really frustrates me as well. I dont know whos telling anybody that we should be balancing the budget on the backs of american cities. Whos telling anybody that it makes sense to restrict the capacity of cities to make significant investments . It just doesnt make sense. So we have a group of mayors that have taken on this campaign, and we will continue to be aggressive in making sure that the Municipal Bonds are protected. This is a little early, i acknowledge, with a full year left, but the questioner says, what is your biggest regret as mayor, and what would you say is your biggest accomplishment . Biggest regret . I dont know. I always feel like theres always going to be opportunity to have a bigger regret than any ive had to date. I will say i can say one of the things that i felt the most proud about is the work weve done when it comes to School Construction and fighting for more than a billion dollars to come to baltimore. Baltimore has the Oldest School facilities in the state. And when i toured our schools, it was embarrassing and it was you know, to see some of the classrooms with the Ceiling Tiles coming down, the windows were fogged. You know that kids are cold when they should be hot and hot when they should be cold. You cant drink from the water fountains. I always would joke that the boys bathrooms you wouldnt send your motherinlaw into except for somebody told my motherinlaw so [ laughter ] it was deplorable. Deplorable. So when we were able to bring that level of investment i dont know of another city in the country that has that level of investment going on in capital improvements, building new schools. When the governor signed that piece of legislation, there was a sense of calm that i had that i didnt i wasnt expecting. And that calm came from the fact that i knew that if god it was gods will that i died that day that i was a part of something that would transform my city in positive ways for generations to come. So i said as far as biggest accomplishments, im really grateful to have been mayor at a time we could do something huge like that that far after im gone will have changed the trajectory of baltimores future. And, of course this is a question along those same lines, youve got a year left. How do you see yourself being involved publicly after youre done being mayor of baltimore . What kind of work do you see yourself getting involved in . I guess i should be thinking about that more because i get that question every single day. But i have so much that were doing in the city. Im sitting here looking at my team from housing. Were rocking when it comes to our blight elimination. This is an issue that many cities dont even attempt because the problem of blight and vacant housing has piled up for so long. Many have given up because the challenge is so big and local Foundation Just took a look at our blight elimination plan which is called vacants to value which is having our fiveyear anniversary next month. Youre welcome to come to baltimore november 18 to 19 for a nice summit. They said its the most comprehensive blight elimination plan the city has seen in more than 40 years. Thats big stuff. And to be able to continue that work every single day to transform neighborhoods. You know, when i i noticed that since the death of freddie gray and the nations eyes have been fixed on baltimore and some of baltimores neighborhoods and challenges and you hear from people, my god. Theres so much abandoned property, and theres so much neglect. Absolutely, and it didnt get that way overnight. The frustrations weve seen, weve been living with this for decades. The difference is now theres hope that Something Better is coming. Because weve had fits and starts of blight elimination plans that department give hope that there was real change coming. But with vacants to value, weve seen our efforts, our marketdriven efforts transform neighborhoods. When you can do that, when you can look in the face of someone who is looking at green space instead of trees coming up through Vacant Properties and see the fact that its like they say that we know that you see us and that better is possible and better is coming. Thats the kind of stuff that im going to focus on for these and im glad i got a head nod from my housing team. That im going to focus on. Because it is important work to bring hope to our communities. And we do that when we focus on making sure that government does what its supposed to do for the citizens that we serve. This question in many respects pulls together everything weve been talking about. Some would argue that without the unrest and protests experienced in places like ferguson and baltimore, none of these issues that you mentioned would be even on the table for discussion. How would you suggest that citizens who feel their interests are ignored get their concerns on the National Agenda . I think that might be true at a National Level, but the issues of Police Brutality werent new to me. Weve been able to drive down the number of Excessive Force complaints. Weve been able to drive down discourtesy complaints and lawsuits that have been brought against the city because weve been focused on improving the culture at the Police Department and confronting that culture in the Police Department. So locally, while i think the nations eye has been turned to baltimore in the wake of the freddie gray the death of freddie gray, this is something that is not new to me. People are acting brand new. Some people feel theyre jumping on the bandwagon now. Like i said, when i was in annapolis fighting for reform of the Law Enforcement officers bill of rights, its great. But it would have been lovely if they would have done that in january when we could have shown the public that we were willing to confront the police union and fight for progress and reform to hold officers accountable. So nationally, i think in many places, whether its freddie gray or eric gardner, michael brown, these issues are creating opportunities for dialogue in many places nationally that to might not have had those conversations, but this has been an ongoing work that we have been doing in baltimore and it didnt start with the death of freddie gray. You mentioned the police union. There are a couple questions specifically about the police union. Considering the reaction of the police union based upon the charges into the freddie gray case, how does the City Government work long term to gain the cooperation of the rank and file . I think youre talking about two different things. The rank and file and the police union are two different entities. I think the rank and file officers, you know, we have officers that very, very proudly serve the people of baltimore. The vast majority of the officers we have in our city serve our residents with distinction and respect. The oath that they took and the uniform that they wear. The challenge that i have with Police Unions is that they are unwilling to evolve, you know, to when i was in annapolis fighting for the reform of the Law Enforcement officers bill of rights, i remember having a conversation with the leadership and union, and i said we might not get this passed this year. Might not be next year. But its coming. Change is coming. If you cant see it, youre blind. There is a wave in our country that is unrelenting that will hold officers more accountable for wrongdoing. And i said i remember this conversation like it was yesterday. I said that you are uniquely positioned. I said you can be the first in the nation to be a part of crafting what that looks like. You can do the same thing that you all have done for decades in the past, which is to just say no, to block any type of progress, and see where that gets you. And i will say that i think that the action of our police union and many across the country has made them has really devalued the power of that union. I dont know of based on the rhetoric that they have been spewing in baltimore, who would want the endorsement of the fop. And they did that to themselves by the way that they have chosen to deal with the charges in the police, the way they have chosen to deal with our efforts to reform. All of those things. And it didnt have to be that way. They had with me a partner that was willing to work with them to address these issues. I was very open in trying to find solutions. But you cant just go back to those kneejerk entrenched behaviors and think that it will work in 2015. Were almost out of time, but before i ask the mayor the final question or questions, i have some housekeeping. The National Press club is the worlds leading professional organization for journalists. We fight for a free press worldwide. To learn more about the club, go to our website. Thats press. Org. And to donate to our nonprofit Journalism Institute, visit press. Org institute. Id like to remind you about some upcoming speakers. This friday, october 9th, gop president ial candidate and neurosurgeon dr. Ben carson will address the National Press club luncheon. On thursday at our annual Fourth Estate awards gala, the National Press club will honor gwen eiffel, manager of Washington Week and coauthor and managing editor of pbs news hour. And on friday october 23, oscarwinning director and Actor Kevin Costner will be here to discuss his new book. Id now like to present our guest with the traditional National Press club mug. Thank you. So the last few questions in the time that we have remaining. Can the ravens, now 13, turn it around . Yeah, im a huge ravens fan. So much so that i blocked one of those losses out and ive had arguments with people, no, were not 13, its 12. They were like, no. I was like no. I have repressed a whole game because i cannot allow myself to think that we have started this season 13. We have to turn it around. There is no other option. I cannot envision a world where the ravens dont make the postseason. So we have to turn it around. We have someone at the head table who is quite interested in books. Interviews authors frequently in fact. Question, what is your Favorite Book . I dont have a Favorite Movie or a Favorite Book. I will say that i have a favorite author, and that is james baldwin. I remember and i go back to his books often just because of the way that he wrote. It really speaks it really spoke to me, and i can remember when he came to baltimore to speak to students at a local college, i squeezed my way in just for the opportunity to hear him speak. And it was one of the things that i hope that i will never forget in my life. Because he had a sensitivity and a way with language that is unparalleled in american literature. As far as useful books, ive read and you know what i mean. Not books that, you know, arent for just enjoyment. The enjoyment of literature. It was a book that i keep in my office, and i think its by alan deutscheman called change or die. And its a book about what it takes to change an individual, what it takes to change an organization. And ive been its been something that has intrigued me about individuals unwillingness to change even if its in their selfinterest as well as organizations. So thats something that a book that i go back to a lot. Ladies and gentlemen, how about a round of applause for our speaker. Thank you. [ applause ] i would also like to thank the National Press club staff and its Journalism Institute and Broadcast Center for organizing todays event. If you would like a copy of todays program, or to learn more about the club, go to our website, press. Org. Thank you. We are adjourned. On the next washington journal Washington Post political reporter robert costa on the election of the next house speaker. Then the authors of a biography of former congressman and president ial candidate jack kemp. Well also discuss the 2016 president ial election. Washington journal is live each morning at 7 00 eastern with your phone calls, tweets and facebook comments. Thursday the House Judiciary Committee hoilds a hearing on planned parenthood practices and abortsion services. Thats live at 2 00 p. M. East owner cspan3. This sunday night on q a, former senator and president ial candidate gary hart on the republic of conscience, comparing the current government to the republic our founders intended. The founders used the language of greece and rome and warned against corruption. And their definition of corruption was not bribery or quid pro quo money under the table. It was putting special interests ahead of the common good. And by that definition, washington today is a massively corrupt place. Sunday night at 8 00 eastern and pacific on cspans q a. Our cspan campaign 2016 bus is on the road to the white house tour. And this week was at the comcast studio xfinity store in chicago. Shoppers visited the bus to learn about cspans online interactive resources for following campaign 2016. To keep track of the bus tour, follow the bus on twitter and instagram using cspanbus. Business owners from north dakota and texas testified that the National Labor Relations Board joint employer decision would negatively impact their companies. This hearing of the senate health, education, labor and Pensions Committee is an hour and 35 minutes. The Senate Committee will come to order. Kwee have a hearing about the recent National Labor relations decision that threatens to steal the American Dream from franchise businesses and millions of contractors. Well also discuss the legislation ive introduced to undo this decision and restore the law the way it was before the nlrb decision. Senator murray and i will each have an opening statement. Well introduce our panel of witnesses. We thank each of you for coming. After the witness testimony, each senator will have five minutes of questions. Last week i met a man named oslom khan. Hes an immigrant from pakistan. He started out as a dishwasher at churchs chicken and today has become a successful owner of churchs chicken franchises. He talked about achieving the American Dream. He said it was possible because of our nations free entrepreneurial spirit. On august 27th, the nlrb made a decision that threatens to destroy that Free Enterprise entrepreneurial spirit. The labor boards new joint employer standard will make big businesses bigger and make the middle class smaller by discouraging Larger Companies from franchising and contracting work to Small Businesses. Its the biggest attack on the opportunity for Small Businessmen and women in this country to make their way up the economic ladder that weve seen in a long, long time. Im committed to fighting it with legislation. That already has 45 cosponsors in the senate and a total of 60 cosponsors in the house, including three democrats. For three decades, federal labor policies have held that two separate employees are joint employers if both have direct and immediate control over employment terms and working conditions. That means two employers who are both responsible for tasks like hiring and firing, work hours, issuing directions, determining compensation, and handling daytoday recordkeeping. Under the new joint employers standard adopted in august, a 32 nlrb majority said indirect control or unexercised control of work conditions could make a franchisee or franchiser joint employers. That means for all these franchisers n contractors who worked so hard to build their businesses in their communities, meeting payroll, paying taxes, trying to make a profit, theyll no longer be considered their workers sole employer. Rather, they are just one of the workers employers. And for the businesses that have franchised their brand or used subcontractors to haul their waste or clean their offices and are now considered one of the employers of these companys workers, there will be a huge incentive to retake control of those franchises and retake control of those contracted tasks because if youre going to have all the liability of being the borss, you might be much better off being the boss. That means cost goes up. Less ability to invest capital. Joint employers, Business Owners forced to engage in collective bargaining and Share Liability for labor day violations. The change also harms employees. Millions of employees will lose the ability to negotiate pay hours and leave time with their direct supervisors. Most decisions will be made between the larger employee and the union. As one employee put it in an interview with a denver news channel, i would be just another number to a corporation. Im a person to my employer now. Franchising will be particularly impacted by this decision. 780,000 franchise establishment across the country. They create nearly 9 million jobs. Last week i met with a chattanooga, tennessee, coup whole started their own franchisee location of two men and a truck, a moving company. The hard work and commitment theyve been able to grow their First Franchise into six locations. Id like to continue to grow but this new nlrb decision is causing them to put their plans on hold. Two men and a truck say good example of how franchising allows entry into Business Owner in the middle class. Was started in michigan by a mom with two sons who she was ready to put to work. Her First Franchisee was hir daughter. Its grown to 220 franchisees, 8,000 jobs, 38 of their franchisees began by working on a truck. Successfully franchising a franchise business is one of the most important ways to climb the ladder of success. Women owner or coown nearly half of all franchise businesses. Minorities own about 20 . Why would we want to cut off this Business Model . The protecting local Business Opportunity act that i have introduced along with 45 cosponsors would roll back the nlrb ruling and reaffirm that an employer must exercise actual direct and immediate control over essential terms and conditions of employment. This is the common sense standard. Thats been applied for decades. We have 45 cosponsors of our bill. I hope well add more. I hope that will include some democratic members of the senate. This is an issue thats important. I believe its time for congress to act as soon as possible to stop a destructive policy that damages middle class growth, the middle class growth thats made this nation what it is today. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will agree. Senator murray. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Our economy and our workplaces in our country should work for all of our families, not just the wealthiest few. I assume everyone agrees. We cant make that happen without considering the massive changes in the labor market over the past 30 years. Many big corporations increasingly rely on temp agencies, franchises, and other thirdparty sources to stay competitive and lower labor costs. And sometimes corporations still maintain significant control over the workers performing their daytoday operations of franchises and subcontractors. Now some of these corporations work very hard to ensure workers are treated fairly and have access to the protections that they deserve. Unfortunately, when some other Parent Companies maintain this control, it can often come at a huge cost to the workers and to Small Business owners alike. For example, some of the biggest corporations can dictate a franchises pricing and store hours. They decide how many people are on a franchisees staff. They sometimes even have a say in how much employees can earn. Yet these Parent Companies can escape all liabilities for poor work conditions and rock bottom wages. In some cases, workers have tried to exercise their basic rights to join together and improve wages and workplace conditions. When those workers sit down to negotiate, they find out that not all of the people who have control over the terms and conditions of their jobs have to show up at the bargaining table. Take for example a worker who worked for a temp agency that supplied workers for a warehouse in california. In a report from the National Employment law project, he said he and his coworkers barely made more than minimum wage. They never knew when their shift would end, and they never had a set day off of work. That made it impossible for them to plan their lives. But when they joined together to form a union, the company that owned the warehouse threatened to close that temp agency and fire all the workers. Now these Employment Arrangements can be bad for Small Business owners as well. Take for instance a man named sayeed. Hed come to the u. S. From india. Hed been a Franchise Owner for nearly a quarter of a century. Over time, the Parent Company had enacted tighter and tighter controls over his business and that has really limited his ability to free up resources to treat his workers better. He said, and i quote, when i lived in bombay, this is not what i thought that was meant by the American Dream. While there are many responsible corporations, other Parent Companies put all liability for low wages and poor working conditions squarely on the shoulders of the Small Business owner. I believe we need to help our workers and grow our economy from the middle out, not from the top down. And that means that we, as a nation, should not turn our backs on empowering workers, especially since thats the very thing thats helped so many of the workers climb into the middle class. There has been an overwhelming amount of disinformation out there about the nlrb browningferris decision. Before hearing testimony, i want to get a couple of things clear. When workers want to join together with their coworkers, they are not looking for special treatment. They are simply exercising their basic rights that are guaranteed by law. Secondly, one of the boards responsibilities is adapting to the realities of todays workplaces to make sure workers can exercise their right to collectively bargain. Some of my republican colleagues have claimed that this decision is somehow an overreach. Given the changes in the workplace, the board is carrying out its duties under law. And this might be the most important point. Ive heard some opponents of this decision use sweeping language about the scope of this decision. Lets be clear. This decision does not change the relationship between a local Business Owner and her employees. If she was deciding who to hire and who on her staff deserved a raise before this decision, she will continue doing that Going Forward. The Browning Ferris decision only clarifies if another company also has substantial control in the critical terms of employment, like who to hire and fire or how much to pay Franchise Owners employees, the nlrb is going to take it at its word and treat it as an employer as well. Workers can only exercise their basic rights, rights that are guaranteed under the constitution and the National Labor relations act, when all of the employers who have a say in the working conditions are at the table. Again, the labor market looks a lot different today than it did 30 years ago. Rather than using these trends to end basic Worker Protections and undermine the fundamental fairness of due process, this committee should study those trends and discuss what we can do for workers and Small Business owners. To keep the American Dream in reach of all families. I hope this committee can find ways to look at those trends. Grow the economy from the middle out and ensure our country and workplaces work for all of our families, not just the wealthiest few and the biggest corporations. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator murray. Im pleased to welcome our four witnesses today. Ms. Clara stockland is the founder of mode stores. Headquartered in fargo, north dakota. Founded in 2007, mode now has nine franchisees operating Boutique Stores across six states. Ed martin is the president of Tilson Home Corporation in austin, texas. Tilson homes is a family owned build on your lot custom home builder thats been in business for 80 years. Mark kusicki is an attorney. Hes represented clients in some of the most significant cases. Hes a member of the american bar association, section of labor and Employment Law committee on practice and procedure under the nlra. Mr. Michael rubin is a partner in san francisco, california. Mr. Rubin specializes in class action and appellate litigation representing workers. We thank the four of you for coming, some of you long distances today. We ask that you keep your testimony to about five minutes. That will leave more time for the senators to have a conversation with you and ask questions. Why dont we start with you, ms. Stokeland . Good morning. Chairman alexander, Ranking Member murray and members of the committee. My name is ciara stokeland. Im the owner and operator of mode, a designer complex that i founded. I currently live in grand forks, north dakota, with my husband and our two children harrison and isabella, which are watching todays events at their schools, fifth and sixth grade. Thank you very much for the invitation to be up here before this committee today to share my story of Small Business ownership and discuss the concerns of local Business Owners everywhere regarding the nlrb decision to change the joint employer standard. It is an honor to be in washington before you today. Likewise, it will be an honor to join employees, employers and many others as i attend the white house summit on worker boys tomorrow. Its a critical part of our livelihoods and very important that Small Business perspectives are heard by our nations leaders. I am here to speak on behalf of the hundreds of Small Business owners like myself who are members of the coalition to save local business, which i joined because i believe saving local business is whats at stake in this socalled joint employer issue. Today, i will share why it is so critical for the future viability of millions of Small Businesses and the 780,000 franchise businesses in america that this committee in congress reinstate the very successful joint employer standard by passing s2015. This simple onesentence legislation will restore certainty to Small Business. And i urge every Committee Member to support the bill. Mr. Chairman, i am a Small Business owner and a Third Generation entrepreneur. I employ ten people in my north dakotabased company and our franchisees have 40 employees in 11 stores. I love creating jobs in america. Nine years ago, i opened my first store in fargo, north dakota. Four years ago, we began franchising and have successfully expanded to 12 locations across the midwest and south carolina. Why did i franchise rather than own a companybased operation . I knew it would be difficult to operate companyowned stores and support employees from a remote location in north dakota. By franchising, my brand could grow through the operations of local entrepreneurs. I hope to continue to grow and i plan to have 75 stores by 2024. I am a franchisor. My company mode is one of more than 3,000 franchisors in the u. S. While some may hear the term franchise and think only of major corporations, they should also think of my story and the story of hundreds and thousands of franchisors and franchisees who are Small Business owners. My company is precisely the type of Small Business that members of congress can support. Like many Small Business owners, i have known the stress of making sure i can cover payroll and rent. While my employees have been paid first, i did not take a consistent paycheck until 2014. Thats eight years of working virtually for free. Every day i work knowing that if my business fails, my family will lose everything. We do not need another insecurity to add to the already extreme risk of Business Ownership. You might think we would have government that supports us, but instead the nlrb has created extreme uncertainty by introducing the bfi decision. I have two points to share. First, the joint employer ruling affects every Small Business. The majority of nlrb members made clear that the bfi decision was not an isolated one. The board wrote, we have decided to restate the boards Legal Standard for joint employer determinations and make clear how that standard is to be applied Going Forward. All businesses covered by the nlrb act and their Business Partners may face liability under the boards new joint employer doctrine. Second, there could be no question that the joint employer standard makes Small Business unsafe. No one here can assure me my business will not run afoul of an indirect control standard. It leaves Small Businesses facing serious uncertainty. Mr. Chairman, i plead for the use of common sense. The joint employer standard that has existed for decades works and protects Small Business. Why change it . If s2015 is not enacted, why would i continue to grow knowing i have the risk and im liable for other employers workers . Senator alexander has put forward a proposal today to protect entrepreneurs and Small Business. I urge all members of this committee to support locally owned businesses in your states by working to enact using the protecting local Business Opportunity act s2015. Thank you very much. Thank you, ms. Stokeland. Mr. Martin . Thank you, chairman. Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is eddie martin. I am a home builder from austin, texas, and president and chief executive officer of Tilson Home Corporation. Ive been active in the National Association of Home Builders throughout my career. The nahb was formed to protect the traditional joint employer standard. I am honored to participate in this hearing. I have over 30 years of experience in the Home Building industry