Ready . Okay. You can see this and all other american artifacts programs on our website, cspan. Org history. On the next washington journal, a look at the Donald Trump Campaign and his positions on key policies with Michael Warren of the standard. And then policy issues impacting millennial voters including student debt and health care. Later our spotlight features mark perry about in fighting at the pentagon over how to combat c china. Washington journal, live every morning at 7 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan and you can join the conversation with your calls and comments on facebook and twitter. This sunday night on q a, institute for policy studies fellow and antiwar activist phillies on u. S. Foreign policy since 9 11. The recent negotiations with iran and the war on terrorism. Who is isis . What do they believe . Why are they so violent . I address all those questions in the book. Whats more important is because its something we can do something about is what is the u. S. Policy regarding isis . Why isnt it working . Can we really go to war against terrorism . Are we just doing the war wrong or is it wrong to say there should be a war against terrorism at all. Those are the questions that in some ways are the most important and that will be the most useful. Sunday night at 8 00 eastern and pacific on cspans q a. More. American history tv tomorrow night focusing on former president ronald reagan. First the speeches that defined president reagans administration including what became known as the evil empire speech and his 1987 west berlin call to gorbachev to tear down this wall. Later a look back at his 1982 address to the british parliament. The march of freedom and democracy would leave it on history. American history tv throughout the month of august, starting at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan 3. Coming up next, the house ways and Means Committee paul ryan and Ranking Member are joined by political commentator roberts to celebrate the history of congresss oldest Committee House ways and means. His father served on the committee from 1949 to 1971. This hourlong program is hosted by the Historical Society in the Committee Hearing room in the Office Building on capitol hill. We have distinguished guests with us this evening. Im going to ask some of them to stand. And please hold your applause until the keynote speaker has been introduced and that will be the end of the group. Congressman paul ryan, chairman of the ways and Means Committee. Congress levin, Ranking Member of the committee. Well hear from both of these gentlemen later in the program. Former distinguished Committee Chairman bill archer. Bill thomas, charlie wrangle, dave khan, former Ranking Member jim mcrery and all the sitting members of the committee, please rise. We have two former Committee Members, a democrat of connecticut. And Nancy Johnson a republican of connecticut. Barbara and nancy were two of the very first congresswomen to serve on the ways and Means Committee. And then we have our keynote speaker. And well hear from her a little bit later. Were obviously very pleased that all of you who are here could be with us this evening. Another distinguished former Committee Member is not able to be here in person but sends his best wishes. Let me read this letter from president george h. W. Bush. Greetings to all assembled, a special tribute to the house ways and Means Committee. I sure wish i could be there with you. Being appointed to the ways and Means Committee as a freshman member of congress was a high honor and a lucky break for me. To say the least, i was at the right place at the right time. I loved every minute i spent working with my fellow Committee Members and i learned a lot from them, most especially from chairman mills. My tenure in the house and on the committee was brief, but the happy memories endure. To the current members serving on this distinguished committee, i send my respect. These are challenging times, but i know each of you is up to the task. All the best to you in your very first work, signed, george bush. What a wonderful tribute. [ applause ] what a great tribute to this committee. This evening is possible because of the generous support of several sponsors. Bank of america, grant thornton, northwestern mutual, the securities industry and Financial Markets association. Were grateful for their support. And now the chairman of the u. S. Capital Historical Society and former member of congress from missouri will offer a toast to the committee and then we will have dinner. Before i offer the toast this evening, i want to give a very brief history of the committee. But i want to set the record straight first as far as the history goes. The Ranking Member was chairman of this committee as well. I want to set the record straight on that. It was 226 years ago and ten days from now that this committee was created in 1789. Its responsibility is very clear. Its to raise money to pay for the government. The newly signed constitution, as we all studied, declared that all laws to raise revenue must originate right here in the house of representatives. For the first two months, thats exactly what happened. Committee drafted and considered bills to impose tariffs and taxes. But a turf battle arose. Imagine, a turf battle in washington, its unheard of. This one arose between the committee and the secretary of the treasury alexander hamilton. Hamilton won that battle. The committee was actually disbanded. Thereafter hamilton himself drafted the bills and smutted them directly to the whole house of representatives bypassing the entire committee system. Congress did not reassert its authority, as it should have, until after six years when hamilton vacated the office of the secretary of treasury and the white house developed a new relationship with congress. The ways and Means Committee was reestablished. As we know that uneasy e quill lib yum between congress and its exercising of its constitutional power to raise revenue, exercising the authority to actually collect and disperse the money continues to this day. In 1975 to the 1860s shs the committee was the center of power in the house. In addition to revenue, it had jurisdiction over appropriations in banking. The chairman was, in fact, the defacto leader of the house. The Committee Room was located right next to the House Chamber where boggs reading room is now located. Now i dont wish to single out any former chairman, but lets face it. Some modern chairman have been noted, but none come closer to an early chairman John Randolph of virginia, who took the house floor in his entire of riding boots and accompanied by his hunting dogs. Its unclear whether or not the dogs were trained to hunt down members of congress or to scare off the opposition. Paul, you might want to take note of the dogs. 1865 banking and appropriations responsibilities with taken over by new committees. As we know, there was objection by the then current chairman of the ways and Means Committee. He claimed taxes and spending should be controlled by the same committee, quote, in order that they might make both ends meet, end quote. Something that we now call a congressional budgetary process. As the country grew and changed, so did the focus of the committee. From tariffs to taxes, from raising revenue to reducing deficits, trade, Social Security, unemployment compensation, Disability Insurance and provide iing the funding of our nations highways and infrastructure as we saw today are some of the issues now face i facing the committee. As ron said, distinguished leaders have served on this committee and have gone on to higher positions. Bush xli went on to become president. 21 became speakers of the house and 4 served as justices on the supreme court. Perhaps this will continue. Today without question the ways and Means Committee is one of the most powerful committees in the house. Serving on the committee is indeed a prestigious assignment. So please join me and rise to toast this committee. Heres to the house ways and Means Committee, where safeguarding the constitutional requirement that all bills for raising revenue should o originate in the house of representatives, the chamber closest to the people. Confronting complex financial, economic and International Trade issues affecting our nation and the world. For addressing with compassion the challenges facing older americans, the disabled, children, and those in need, and finally to the members who are serving with extraordinary commitment and dedication. Here, here. Thank you, you may be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, were going to begin our program. Coffee will be placed on the tables shortly. The desserts are already there and they will be clearing the plates, but were going to start the program. One of the special features of this dinner of course, is this setting. The elegant newly refurbished Committee Hearing room. Its really very well done. Thank you to the committee for opening this room and the library for us this evening. It is now my pleasure to introduce the chairman of the ways and Means Committee, congressman paul ryan represents the first Congressional District of wisconsin. Hes been a member of Congress Since 1999 and is now serving in his ninth term. As a member, paul quickly gained respect for his expertise in the budget process. He was chairman before elected chairman of ways and means. Under his leadership, ways and means recently passed major trade legislation, as we had mentioned earlier, that was just signed into law. And congratulations again on this major accomplishment. P [ applause ] as a diversion from his responsibilities on the hill, paul enjoys a variety of sports such as fishing, hunting with bow and arrow, thats impressive, and running marathons, thats even more impressive. He also makes his own bratwurst and polish sausage. Paul and his wife have three children, lisa, charlie and sam. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the chairman, paul ryan. [ applause ] welcome, everybody. You know, i think the last time we did an event like this, if im not mistaken, was bill thomas host ed in 2006. So its not very often that we do this. So for those of us on the committee, its a real treat for us to be able to do this. Ron, tom, thank you very much for doing this, appreciate all your kind words for our committee. And i want to thank the Historical Society for hosting us here. I also want to thank coky roberts. You spent part of your childhood here in this room. And sandy levin, i look forward to hearing from you, but i want to thank you hear as well. The Ranking Member of the ways and Means Committee. The past chairman, you just look around this room, a lot of us spend time here. We see the portraits. This past chairman, there are legends in their own right. Wilbur mills, oscar underwood, to be honest its a distinguished list that its a little intimidating for a guy with two first names. I try to relate by looking for similarities of things we share in common. To me, the most striking resemblance is John Randolph. He was tall, he was lean, he had hunting dogs, i have hunting dogs. He looks really young for his age. My staff, on the other hand, picked stevens, the youngest of four children and he liked to wear large, illfitting suits. A little bit of an Office Debate about this. But the chairman who had the biggest effect on me are the chairmen who are sitting here in this room tonight. Bill thomas, bill archer, dave camp, and a person who is a fantastic Ranking Member, jim mcrery, its great to see you guys. P [ applause ] i was the young guy. I came here when i was 28. I aspired to be on this committee. People told me no chance, you cant get on this committee. Ended up getting on here and just looked at the people who were in the fast lane, the people who actually knew how to get things done, and its these gentlemen right here that taught me so much. And i had just this it amazing flashback today. It was in one of the rooms that ways and means has and the flashback was bill thomas saw me, came up to me and started yelling at me. Exactly. And in this particular case, if youre here in the room, this is a newly redecorated hearing room. We were in other rooms until this year. And chairman thomas presided over redoing the room to historical accuracy of the committee, but the committee here serves as the alternative for the house floor. And the audio system had to be redesigned in order to accommodate putting 435 members in here. We had to do a big overhaul of this thing. During that overhaul things got changed. The curtains are different, the carpet is different and i would like to let you, bill, know and anybody else who has concerns, complaints, problems, criticisms about this, to email those to dave camp at the private sector. He is the gentleman who made all those decisions. So let me get serious for a moment. Whatever the superficial similarities about all of us, the tenures we had here, what every member of this committee shares is a love for public policy. Were in the right place in this committee. Because the way i see it is the ways and Means Committee is basically the Mission Control of congress. This is where the Big Decisions about where this country will go are being made. The things we do here, the jurisdiction we have, the laws we write, they have a huge impact on peoples lives. Social security, medicare, welfare, trade, taxes, health care, this is why both parties, both parties put their best members on this committee. The moment knowledgeable, the most passionate, and the hardest working people in congress are on this committee, republican and democrat. [ applause ] the people on this committee came here not to be someone, but to do something. Ways and Means Committee, we are not beers, we are doers. Why do we talk so much about the ways and Means Committee . Will rogers once said, outside of traffic, there is nothing that has held this country back as much as committees. I would like to argue that this one has made a very special contribution to our democracy. Remember how we started. The house ways and Means Committee was create d in the first session of congress in 1789 and dismissed after two months of that time. Congress needed to raise money for the federal government. Most members thought it would be more efficient just to defer to alex apderh ee ee eapder hamilt. With wasnt until later that they didnt like what he was doing. So they wanted to make their own judgments independent of the administration. So the house recreated the committee and this is where we have been here in business ever since then. We conduct oversight of the administration. We double check their numbers. And of course, most often we draft our own legislation. You could say we offer a Second Opinion and more importantly an example. Here the people rule. We dont outsource the job to some specially trained elite. Elected officials in this committee come from all walks of life to do the hard work of government. They study up on the issues. They take on a specialty. They struggle with the trade offs, each and every one of us do this this, and through it all they have always maintain ed tht fierce sense of independence. One of my favorite examples, because we used to have this book on the history of the ways and Means Committee that was always handed out when you became a member of the committee. One of my favorite examples is chairman who earned president wilsons eternal grat. Tud when he passed a bill to establish the income tax. He earned wilsons eternal hatred when he passed a bill to tax the president s salary after that. It makes you almost want to forgive. Him, not quite though. Its the same fearless attitude that we need today. Were looking at two enormous challenges in particular. A huge debt that is dragging us down and a tough global competition that is racing ahead. This committee will make the reforms that we need to do to make this country great to move our country ahead. The questions we face are really simple. Will we shape the World Economy or will it shape us . And on the home front, do we control our budget or does it control us . Ill leave you with this. Every question of ways and means is also a question of aims and ends. You look at our history. First, we argued over tariffs. Then we argued over the income tax. Now we argue over all sorts of things. On the surface, the issues look different, the people, the numbers, the policy, but at the core s core, they are the same. Who pays, how much do they pay, what do we discourage, what do we reward. On the surface they seem like technical issues. Things like tariff rates and tax exemptions, but at their core, they are really fundamental issues. They are not just about whats efficient or whats effective. They are about whats right, whats fair, whats good, whats just. These questions are not distractions. They are the essen