Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 20150514

Senate for pass. And over on the house side republicans to approve a bill to ban most abortions. Lawmakers will vote in the house on legislation allowing congress to review any nuclear deal. The senate has passed the bill and the president said he would sign it if there are no major changes added. In philadelphia investigators are still determining what caused amtrak train 188 to derail. The train had been traveling 106 Miles Per Hour and that part of the track had not been equipped with safety programs to limit train speed. Well begin this morning with a debate in washington on amtrak and whether or not the government should be increasing funding for the rail way. We want to get your thoughts on that this morning. If you live in the eastern part of the country dial in. Mountain pacific area and amtrak riders riders remember you can also join the conversation on twitter cspan wj and also spend an email journal. The phone lines are open so you can start dialling in. Well get your thoughts on this debate happening in washington. What to do for amtrak should government funding be increased or not. But first joining us on the phone is julie who is a reporter with the Washington Post who is reporting from the philadelphia area, and julie, lets begin with the latest on the situation there. What are you waiting to find out today . What do you know this morning . Julie absolutely. Whats on everybodys minds today is who is still missing and who are the victims of this crash. We learned many of the names yesterday and well still learn some today and hearing from the families and friends who are devastated. What were also talking about is how could this happen. The system called positive train control is what everybodys focused on. This is a system that an ntsb said yesterday if this system had been on place on these tracks this would not have happened and that is on everyones mind. This train was going 106 Miles Per Hour in a 50 mile an hour zone and much of the country cant make that possible. They were on the scene yesterday morning. Whats the timeline for their investigation and the protocol for this agency . Its a slow process which is actually why i was so surprised yesterday to hear them Say Something so definitive that this system would prevent this. Hes great at telling us were collecting data. Theyre moving slowly and do analysis and come out with a report. I never before heard the day after any sort of disaster this is something that would have stopped it. So this is apparently a very clear cut scene at that level and moving forward there is going to be a lot more analysis in the days and weeks to come. The ntsb puts out a report and who do they report to and what happens . Julie its a federal report and made public. Theres going to be a first report that will come out fairly soon, even today there is going to be another one coming that will tell us more of what they know afternoon and down the line there will be theres going to be a first report that will come out fairly soon, a full report. How does information sharing work . Who was jurisdiction over this scene . Youve got amtrak that travelled across state lines, especially this northeast corridor and this train coming from Union Station in d. C. Headed to new york. So who does this jurisdiction over this and the legality of it . Thats a great question. Were looking at simply investigating this scene its for the most part Philadelphia Police but there have been a lot of state and federal input coming in because this is drawing attention of people all over the country Going Forward. They need to look whether there needs to be policy questions and do something different. Thats a federal question. There is, as you said, lots in the papers today about positive control systems that would have prevented the derailment and allows the train to slow down when approaching an area where the speed limit was much lower, half of what the train was going. Do we know why this part of the track did not have this train system in place . Julie no, i dont think we know about this particular section. Its installed already in much of the northeast corridor which is amtraks busiest especially the station that this train was going, from Union Station to new york. Congress has required amtrak have to this system in place by the end of this year everywhere and this simply its an urban area and somewhat deserted area in the city. Its a lot of rails and not very close to residential and commercial areas and did not have the system yet. Whats the latest from amtrak about their operations and what do you expect to hear from them today in the coming days . Julie they have been focused on getting the people who were on that train where they need to go. They had a pretty personalized effort to get every Single Person get them to some other form of transportation whether they were heading home or they wanted to turn around and go back to d. C. Or whatever their preferences were they were focused on getting them there. What id like to know the stat is the status of people missing. We dont have a precise number of who theyre looking for. Appreciate your time. Julie thank you for having me on. Philadelphia inquirer fast and fatal is their headline. Seven people have died and 200 injured and eight critically and 12 are missing and those numbers could be changing. Well go to linda in connecticut. What do you think about funding for amtrak . Linda i think there should be funding for amtrak. The federal government doesnt want to do it i think the states ought to jump in and each fund amtrak in their states. I want to put in my suggestion. In all the trains across the country, that would override any engineer error in other words if an engineer going too fast this would prevent him from going around the curves or anywhere unsafe. Im surprised it hasnt been put in by now. I know its supposed to be going in by the end of this year. This has been in suggestion for many, many years and it appears now someone is trying to extend this time. I travel on amtrak a lot on Cross Country trains as well as the northeast regional and i think for all of our sakes we need to get this minimal upgrade with the positive train control. I would ask everybody to call their government officials and make this known for all our safety. Thank you. All right, linda. Ron in eagle river wisconsin. What do you think . Ron i think it just shows just how bad our rail system is and we cannot have a passenger system running on the same tracks that our Freight System is. The rest of the world realizes this. And the rest of the world is going between 2 and 300 Miles Per Hour and were trying to figure out a way to slow our trains down to 50. Its ridiculous that the country as rich as we are thinks that the private side is going to move in and provide funding for this. The Railroad Companies will put in just enough to maintain the Freight System. Thats where the money is. Its not passenger because thats not where the market is. What do you think about the idea of private tieing amtrak. There are some on capitol hill who want to do that. What do you think . Ron the worst thing that could be happening. They want that is our problem. There are certain things that we cannot private ties, and i feel that the Transportation System is one of them. While theyre going ahead people dont want to talk about it, the airlines, how much money do they put into the Airline System compare that to the pittance that they put into the rail roads. People wake up. Go travel outside our own country and you can see how second and third rate fourth rate our rail system really is. Okay. Benjamin in burbank, california. Early morning to you. Benjamin benjamin very early. Obviously its a tragedy what happened. But anything government gets involved in is a disaster. No offense what these previous callers are saying but they dont know what theyre talking about. If this was privatized there would be incentive for this not to occur. For the guy before who said we cant, why not . Who says we cant. Anything government gets involved in, its pretty much a disaster. We should start realizing that before its too late. The opinion page of usa today, the opposing views of this, they note sean davis from the federalist saying laura in seattle, its your turn. Give us your take. Laura i agree with the first two callers. I travel amtrak quite a bit down to Southern California which is breathtaking and gorgeous, and i would gladly pay more taxes. I dont think privatizing is the solution. Theres too much greed and we can see that already. Thats a big problem in our country and embarrassing when you travel overseas. I just think that we have to get behind this and do something about it. Its appalling. All right, laura. Couple of callers have mentioned overseas and other countries what their Passenger Rail way systems look like. Senator menendez of new jersey came to the senate floor yesterday and talked about this. Senator menendez we dont know what caused this accident, but we know that we need to invest in 21st century systems and equipment and stop relying on patchwork upgrades to old rusted 19th century rail lines. I travel amtrak virtually every week. I travel the excel which is supposed to be the high speed rail and its like shake rattle and roll. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee i traveled in other countries in the world like japan and they have a bullet train for which you virtually cannot feel anything while youre on the train going in speeds far in excess of what we call high speed rail. Now, there are so many questions we dont know the answer to. Was there human failer . Was there mechanical failer . Infrastructure issues . What we do know is that our rail passengers deserve safe and modern infrastructure. Top democrat was top democrat on the Foreign Relations committee. He stepped down ethics controversy but remains on that committee. As he was saying travels around the world and sees what other countries are doing. We turn to you this morning what should be done about amtrak. Jack, youre an amtrak rider. Give us your thoughts. Jack i am. Good morning cspan. Im a little nervous so bear with me. But, yes, i was talking to an amtrak reservationist several weeks ago and he was commenting to me how the system in the United States and north america is. It used to be and still is the largest rail system in the world right now. But china is going to surpass us. The european countries, they are just decades ahead of our system and its just very sad commentary. It shows to me that we are supposed to be the most wonderful best nation in the whole world and yet we cant get our Transportation System for people who want to ride the rails and amtrak together because our highways are crumbling, our airports are crumbling and we tear down we just cant get ahead of the Transportation System. 95 from maine to miami theres interstate 95, accidents every day. I dont know how many minutes every day and thats not a pleasure to go on the people who have automobiles which i do, travel the interstates. Its just i dont know the solution. But anyway we can do better and we should do better. Judy in new castl, pennsylvania. What do you think . Judy i dont think there should be an increase in funding. I think that the railroaded should be privatized. The government should not be in the business of railroads and i think that privatization would be the answer to everything. Because the government really doesnt do anything well. Its all political whenever the government is involved in anything. All right judy. Bob in texas. Good morning to you, bob. Go ahead. Bob good morning, greta. Ive been watching cspan for hello . Greta were all licening. Go ahead. Bob i was watching cspan when it was not in the senate. That goes way back. I watched it every day. So im going to tell you something what i learned about the rail roads. I used to watch way back there when a fella on the Republican Party bob, they got rid of him. He used to come to the floor every year and talk about funding amtrak and how bad it was and the whole reason was they dont make no money. Well, i learned that not a Railroad System in the world makes money. The one in europe they built the system to benefit the people. Its the peoples money. Government dont have money, its the peoples money and they built a Railroad System for the people. Every year that i can remember, and ive been watching cspan for 30 years, i guess they cut amtrak and cut the money and say the eastern corridor, the one they talked about now, the only one that made money, well, so many planes are falling out of the sky, i decided ill take one more trip to visit my buddy in georgia and then take the amtrak up the east coast and you can ride amtrak from now on of the im in my seventies, im going to ride amtrak from now on. Im not getting on no airplanes because i learned a lot about airplanes from watching cspan. Get to your point because ive got other callers waiting. Bob if i had the responsibility and the power what i would do is i would build the best Railroad System on this planet because thats for people. Greta got your point, bob. Well move on to daryl in mississippi missouri missouri. Daryl one of my dads favorite sayings is, heck of a running a railroad. Its the incompetency to run anything. Originally it was supposed to be profitable by 2002 and continues to suck up finances like any other federal program. It cannot be run by the government. They cant do it. Greta susan is in massachusetts, a former employee of amtrak. Susan, in your opinion, whats the company like and how does it operate . Susan well, i cant speak to the companies today. I was fortunate to be able to respond to letters from the writing public and members of congress and i worked with the carter administration, but he was a member of the Norfolk Southern railroading family so he had it in his blood and was passionate about it. Back then the same daunting and almost impossible odds were working against amtrak that are working against amtrak today. They have no lobbying clout. The Trucking Industry runs over amtrak. They get no funding. They dont own and operate their own tracks so they travel on freight tracks and its impossible to have maintenance integrity when you dont even control the lines. I would agree with all of these callers. The caller from texas and the caller from florida, our national Railroad System is a travesty and the reason privatization probably would not be effective outside because they would eliminate all other routes around the nation. What we need is to get away from long haul trucking which destroys our highways and makes driving anywhere very unpleasant and move towards both intense Passenger Rail upgrades and modernization and expansion to capture the million len yell march at the time. We have a beautiful country and the best way to see is it by train. Greta let me ask you about this part of New York Times this morning. Congressman john mica, republican of florida hes been pushing amtrak and privatization. He has said this susan that may be a fair criticism but thats because i think you know theyre caught between a rock and a hard place. They dont have near lit that may be money they they need to run a first Class National rail service, so i think it opens up opportunities for just sort of a sense of tpaout tilt within the organization. They dont have the backing of the nation and our nations legislature. Money they greta back to this New York Times piece. It says amtrak earned 286 million on the northeast corridor and lost 214 million on Long Distance routes. Should the government increase funding for amtrak . A third line for amtrak riders. This is a had line in the Washington Post. Debate over funding continues on capitol hill. Democrats wanted to double the budget and the white house wanted to zero it out of yesterdays Appropriations Committee this is the infrastructure committee. Bill sherman talks about the funding for amtrak. Heres his thoughts on this. Bill theyre up there looking at it and we dont know why. I heard some politicians already come out and say if we would have spent more money, maybe thats the case but we need to take a serious look at that. The northeast corridor is extremely important to the nation. Thats why we workedget. The Washington Post says greta we were showing you earlier the operating loss that amtrak has continued to have over the years since its inception in 1971. Ron, good morning to you. Go ahead. Ron i just wanted to make your point. You referred to an article i believe it was it was passed in 1970 and thats my point is amtrak and national security. Just like 9 11 and the planes were flying and people had to get away and it was highways or rails. If we have a Natural Disaster we need to be able to move people and First Responders if need be. So i mean were basically spending like a tenth of what we need to be spending on our rail infrastructure. And the people that are talking about how government shouldnt be involved, my personal pen, we opinion, we have one of the best governments in the world. We guarantee free travel and free commerce through the whole world through the military. We have one of the best militaries. Were a nation of over 310 Million People i think the Government Works very well with the freedoms that we over our offer. You get what you pay for. If you dont want to pay for it then youre going to get things like this happen again and again with these derailments and it just gives the people the ability to say, theyre incompetent. We need to wake up and say, we have competent leaders and government and weve been doing it for a long time and lets pull together and we can agree on infrastructure. Its ludicrous to have the conversation. Thank for your time. Greta heres one thing that theyre noting this fatal amtrak crash on tuesday took place near the site of a 1943 philadelphia rail disaster where many more people died in that 1943 derailment than did yesterday. But took place in that same area in philadelphia. And then also the Washington Post blog has put together what we know about amtraks history of accidents, injuries and deaths. If you look down into this piece, this is the number of accidents per 1 million passenger miles. Accident rate has improved over the years. You can see it has come down since the early 2000s. Apologies for that. The numbers show that it has come down over the years and it also says in here, takes a look at injuries, deaths on amtrak are rare but injuries are rising. So that on the Washington Post. Freelancer or twitter says greta and stella says and then t. J. Says well keep getting your thoughts this morning on whether or not there should be increased funding for amtrak in light of the derailment in philadelphia. But i want to share some other headlines with you. This is from the washington times. The house agreed to ban abortion after 20 weeks. 42 states prohibit with ten using the 20 week threshold. And says the bill would still need to survive the senate where the democrats are likely to ban a filibuster. It restricts womens choices at a difficult time for them. And as we told you at the top a deal has been struck on trade. This is the wall street journal. The senate deal gives trade bill new life. The break through came after Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell had a separate bill. A measure mr. Obama could hurt the trade deal itself. Theyll move forward on that as early as today and increase into next week. The path in the house is less clear and the speaker of the house who supports the deal has said the white house needs to provide at least 50 notes from the 188 Democratic House lawmakers to help pass the maker. More than 150 democrats came out in opposition to the deal. And then in washington today, president obama will continue with his gulf summit at camp david. Hes meeting with six countries. It says obama had planned to meet with the king of saudi arabia but the monarch decided to send deputies instead to the summit with the president and well have coverage of the summit at 5 00 p. M. Eastern time and the president will be talking to the press after meeting with the leaders there. And the New York Times reports that the saudis are promising to match Irans Nuclear capabiliti. The summit is in part to get these gulf region countries on board with whatever the country negotiates but now arab leaders are prepare to meet him he faced a consequence. Saudi arabia are vowing to match whatever Nuclear Capability they are permitted to obtain. The house yesterday kills provisions of the patriot act that allows for that metadata and heads to the senate where Senate Leadership wants to keep intact these ns a programs. The fight will go over to the senate and hell see what happens there. Bill, in glendale, arizona, youre up next. Were talking about amtrak. What do you think should be done with the system . Bill hello . Are you talking to me . Greta i am, bill. Go ahead. Bill my thoughts were we can ask the military because we know they are on the on ground and rumored that they have high speed trains that can go from the west to east coast in less than four hours. Greta mike in georgia. Mike i dont necessarily think money should be poured into amtrak per se, but the whole notion that the government should do it is ludicrous. Infrastructure like the internet, who do you think built the internet . The government. The government they researched that provider for the internet and it was funded by the government. The problem is people who dont believe in the government many seek government positions and they come in and muck up the system and turn around and say, see, we told you the government cant function. The same folks who dont want no regulations. So you privatize it and they got regulations. Some of these people will sell their moms if it makes them a profit. To think you have no regulations and yet you privatize everything, there wouldnt be any disasters . That is absolutely ludicrous. Greta coming up in the last hour of the washington journal well be talking to reporter who covers these issues about the difference between amtrak and the freight rail system, about this technology that that the National Transportation safety board is pointing to, positive control system. Heather from politico will join us to talk about that. Well get more indepth about this discussion of privatization and how much money amtrak has gotten. Well take more of your phone calls. But first i want to show you what senator had to say. He was on this train that was headed to new york. He got off before the crash at wilmington. He was at a Committee Hearing yesterday. Here are his thoughts. Senator i want to thank the folks on our committee and a lot of my colleagues and peoples round the country who expressed personal feelings what dozens who were riding in the train last night from washington up to new york are feeling and thinking. I ride the train a lot and get to know the people who are on the trains and ride with a lot of the same people and never imagined that six people from that train would be dead this morning. I pray for all of them and particularly also thank you for the First Responders who turned out late at night in the difficult circumstances. A lot of folks who heros last night and heroines. Theyre not only the First Responders or the crew, but a lot of passengers who just did extraordinary heroic things. Greta talking about riding that train and the importance of amtrak to him. Many on capitol hill debating what should be done with amtrak. There are bills pending to reauthorize the system as well as funding it. So we turn to all of you to get your take on this. James, what do you think . James i really get my hands around this. Why is congress why does congress cut amtrak when this happened . Im a moderate. I try being a moderate. I know paul ryan and a few other people and i dont know why they cut amtrak when this happened, that is really makes me im not a moderate anymore. I cannot be a moderate anymore. Ive been a moderate since 2002. This is totally absurd. Totally absurd. Greta someone says at capitol hill says you cant throw money at the problem and amtrak has mismanaged the money about a billion dollars. European nations use billions of dollars for their system. This one far better than United States could ever run. We need to look at the problem ask thats it. There is no excuse. Greta all right james. Amid this debate is discussion about highway funding, the bill thats been pending in congress for a couple of year now and doing Short Term Solutions and expires again at the end of this month. The Atlanta Journal constitution theyre holding up 447 million just in the state of georgia. That discussion happening as well. Ruben in pennsylvania. Go ahead. Ruben thank you for taking my call. You know there used to be an old expression that is no way to run a railroad. That was from a time when railroads were privatized, all the safety innovation came from private railroad operators. Right now from what we know of this accident theres nothing but gross negligence on the part of the operator of the train. You want to put in all safety features that drive it by itself then we dont need an operator at the stick operating the train. Its important for people to know that amtrak has never made a dime since 1971 to the presents. They have never made a dime. Theyve been mismanaged from day one. There is no fixing this. If they want to section off parts of amtrak and sell it privately thats the way they should be. Greta all right, ruben. Kevin, in california, what do you think . Kevin ithe problem with amtrak the product itself is weak. Out in california i took the amtrak from Orange County to cal poly which is about a four hour car ride. The ride took about 7. 5 hours. There are a lot of stops and noisy and not very good experience of the i wouldnt be going back on the train. For 15 or 20 more i could have gotten on the flight. For someone to privatize it they wont make any money because they dont have anything too overwhelming to offer. Maybe in japan where its high capacity and short distance you can make it profitable having a lot of volume. But extending a trip over business it would be difficult to offer the product. Greta quick headlines. Front page of the New York Times, the pope push for statehood. It would soon sign a treaty that gives recognition of palestine and then in 2016 news heres the columbus dispatch. The u. S. Never should have gone to war with iraq knowing what we know now. His answer comes after jeb bush, the Florida Governor has many republicans botched the answer to that question earlier this week. And then, speaking of jeb bush here is usa today on their first page and then in the junk page they have this headline nobody will catch jeb on funding. Hasnt officially declared which means he can raise large amounts of money and usa today says the number will be stunning when he announces in july. It has not made him the frontrunner in a tightly packed republican field. Bloomberg politics poll puts Kentucky Rand Paul and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker out front. Bush and florida senator marco rubio drew 11 . Colorado good morning to you. Coleman the problem with government running things it cannot. Look at what happened here. Before the facts are out, the democrats who basically just want government to own everything and control all the money money, of course the facts doesnt matter because in this case it was obvious 106 miles an hour going into an 50 mile an hour curve caused the accident. But nevertheless, government is corrupt from the standpoint of operating anything efficiently. The only thing good we have is a Defense Department that protects the country because it has a common goal. Everything else is all about politics. So, we have an impossible task. Look at every city that the democrats run. They get in bed with the unions and then you have the feedback where there is a conflict between the taxpayers and the people that are running the city. Look at about thebaltimore and detroit and any situation where government is in charge, yet you have no way of solving the problem. This is a political problem. Amtrak would be good probably in the northeast. If it wasnt for all the other parts of the nation that doesnt need amtrak. Greta all right, coleman. John is next in new york. Give is your thoughts. John ive been really sad when i heard about this accident actually. I instead of going to war and engaging in many different foreign occupations which war will end up and our nation involved in the rise in the terrorist groups in the region and im so sad we could be the best country with the best rail but were seeing people dying because of an accident. We have to be honest. Our government must be very honest with the people. They should not pay for war and occupation. We have to solve them first and then we can go and do other jobs maybe. And i think we need safety and we need security here in the United States too. A lot of black people in the United States are angry with us and theyre not feeling safe and secure in this country. We need to do something. Thank you so much. Greta well take a short break. When we come back, well talk with congressman representative hakem jeffreys and also part of the Congressional Black Caucus on the impact of the accident and what impact it will have on future rail and especially for the northeast corridor and Police Reform in the wake of high profile cases and g. O. P. Member of the house, ways and Means Committee and efforts tofor a new Inspector General. Well be right back. Sunday night on cspans q and a, he produced many activities and shares those scientific and personal aspects of life and space. The only time i felt a shiver of fear go up my back on the dark side of the earth looking at one side of australia of eastern australia and watching a shooting star come in between me and the earth. At first i had the standard reaction of wishing upon a star. But then i had the sobering realization that was a huge dumb rock from the universe going who knows 20 miles a second that missed us and made it down to the atmosphere. If it had hit us it was big enough to where you could see it. If it hit us we would have been done in an instant. Sunday night 8 00 eastern and pacific. On cspan q a. Washington journal continues. Greta we are back would have been done in an with congressman hakem jeffreys. He serves on the Judiciary Committee and a frequent rider of the amtrak to commute back and forth to your district. What is your initial reaction . Hakem its a tragedy. We mourn for the loss of the americans that have died and home hopefully well continue to stand behind the families as they deal with that loss of life. We also will have to look at not just the force of the accident and whether it srofl involved human error and overall what is the best way to have a functional rail system that benefits the American People and the american taxpayer. Greta is amtrak doing well managing what they have . What they have received from taxpayers . Hakem i think amtrak has done the best they can. Expertly with respect to the northeast corridor which is the section i take and the section that runs from boston to washington, d. C. Its extremely profitable. There are financial challenges with respect to other areas of the country that need to be evaluated but im not one that thinks we should pull the plug or private ties it. Its not clear that any Passenger Rail system in the world is profitable. The reason it requires Government Support its designed to create a Public Benefit which is the capacity to travel from city to city and different parts of the country via rail. Greta its operated at a loss every year since 1971. Why should congress now give it even more money because what happened in philadelphia . Hakem we want it make sure we protect the safety of the passengers but we need to reevaluate whether there are routes throughout the country that make sense in present day 21st century america. Certainly as it relates to the northeast corridor its extremely profitable. There are routes throughout the country that may be antiquated and out dated and perhaps we should reevaluate. Greta youre on board with shutting those routes board. Hakem im not on bord but its reasonable to look at the usefulness of the routes that have been unprofitable since their on set or recent times but im not going to rush to judgment in terms of pulling the plug and or privatizing it. That would not be the appropriate approach. The men and woman who work on amtrak are hard working individuals and do a tremendous job. We want to continue to support them. They provide a Great Service and by in large that service has to continue unimpeded. Greta the situation in baltimore has appears to have come down but there is now protesting happening in madison wisconsin. What do you make of the case there and the unrest that we have seen in many cities across the country of late . Hakem weve seen in place after place whether that you an in madison, wisconsin, baltimore, staten island, in new york down in charleston, oklahoma, there is a rising concern of police violence. The overwhelming majority of Police Officers are hard working individuals there to protect and serve. We want to continue to support those Police Officers and what they do. But it is clear weve got a problem with the police use of he can Excessive Force that has to be dealt with if we want to bring to life equal protection. Im not familiar with the specifics of the wisconsin case i assume the department of justice will look at those fact and he decide whether a federal investigation is appropriate to try to bring justice to the family of the victim. Greta president obama was speaking about the ties of poverty and unrest. What are your thoughts on it. Hakem the fact that you got specific pockets of america particularly in parts of brownsville and East New York where you have young people in particular who do not have a robust meaningful pathway to experiencing the American Dream and work hard and have that hard work being successful and purchase a home and send your children to college. The fact thats been cut off for a significant amount of americans in Rural America as well as inner city america is a problem. It should maximum my your work effort and many dont think there is an adequate pathway to pursue the American Dream and this should trouble all of us. Greta you agree and if so why . What is the absence of stable middle class do to these neighborhoods . Hakem the problem is one that america has got to confront. There have been structural impediments to the middle class remaining as viable as once was. That was the Success Story in world war ii where the heros came back and built the Great American middle class. Several things have happened. Since 1970s the productivity of the American Worker has increased in excess of 275 . But wages have grown during that same period less than 10 . Although they have become more productive theyre falling further and further behind. In inner city communities like baltimore where you dont have a stable middle class that provides the same several of engagement in the neighborhood then youll have issues and problems and challenges in those communities. Greta were talking with hakem jeffreys advice chair of the black caucus. A republican in kingston, illinois. Go ahead. For anyone who has played a game of monopoly, everybody in the world knows it e2 or 3 people have all the money and they all spread the wealth around and at least buy the houses. You have to invest in property, not only our infrastructure. Im sick of hearing about schools in afghanistan when i have potholes and my kid goes to school with old equipment. We should take care of america first. People pay into Social Security and they should get their benefits. People have to invest. Six people playing Monopoly Game and 2 or 3 people are hogging the money and putting it in a swiss bank or whatever, but entitlements welfare dont give you that much. Its hard to live on 10 an hour. 15 would be better. When you live paycheck to paycheck is no fun. If you take six people with a lot of money, if they group up and decide to put like an do like jersey shore, not gambling, but fun stuff. Host congressman jack of congressman . Guest thank you for your observations. First, i think investing in infrastructure is extremely important. It used to be it was a nonpartisan issue, an area where democrats and republicans could agree. An area that made sense for this country. But that issue has become more divisive in recent years, and that is problematic. Even the organizations like the u. S. Chamber of commerce is very business Friendly Organization here in washington dc agrees that have to do a better job for our economy to do and best in infrastructure. Invest in infrastructure. And i think we have to begin by making sure we have a Public School system that is functional. Places like baltimore, you have dropout rates that exceed 50 . That is just a recipe for disaster when you have children who have been undereducated for decades essentially dooming them to life sentences of disadvantage and despair. Host livingston, texas. A republican. You are next. Caller hi. I just want to tell you about the trade thing. I am really sorry about those folks, that is tragic. However, if they go , it is going to be worse. The airlines are private, but we have to pay for all the airports. I do know how that happened, but somebody blows a tire and we put in a new whole runway for them. And the government pays for that. Not the airline. Anyway in 1952, i took a train from Oklahoma City to buffalo new york. Changed in chicago to go from Oklahoma City to chicago. I was there in, like, a day. Then in 1970, i had to go from houstonbush airport to buffalo, and it took me three days because we kept having to land for this that and the other thing. It cost me a lot more money and a lot more time. Host congressman . Guest thank you for those observations. I certainly hope you enjoyed your time in buffalo. A great new york state city. But it is clear that there are americans who prefer rail. There is a usefulness that continues for amtrak. And we have to figure out how to make it a little bit more profitable. Particularly by evaluating certain routes throughout the country, but we cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater. We have to make sure that we can invest in things like speed control mechanisms that the ntsb has indicated, perhaps in this instance, may have prevented this tragic accident from occurring. Smart investment record i think is what makes sense for america make sense for amtrak, make sense for the taxpayer. Host amtrak operates over 300 passenger trains each day. More than put a 1000 miles of routes. And in fiscal year 2013,. More than 31. 6 million total passengers. Good morning, cody. Caller good morning caller good morning, greta. Thanks for having me. Mr. Jeffries, it is a pleasure to talk to you. I enjoy your show when you do that. So, about this derailment. I kind of wanted to hear your opinion on this is, i think the second major sale or second major fatal derailment and, i think, 10 years. We have been speaking of Infrastructure Improvements for over a decade now, and yesterday, congress decided to to spend their time talking about the 20 week ban on abortions when this derailment had happened hours before they decided to go into that. I thought that was very inappropriate. I would like to hear your opinion on the focus of the house at the time and on something that truly is not a huge, in my opinion, cultural issue when we had, what, seven people die previously in this derailment issue. And host ok, i will have the congressman respond. Guest thank you for your question. I certainly think that the house of representatives can do better job of focusing on issues of great importance to the American People, particularly as it relates to our economy. The legislation yesterday relating to abortion, everyone understands that that bill is that on arrival when it gets to the United States senate, and would never be cited to law by the president to and perhaps and perhaps may even be unconstitutional. It was a complete waste of time. I understand that there are people who feel very passionate about the issue and felt the need to symbolically move forward, but we would all be better served by focusing, as indicated, on issues of pocketbook significance for the American People. We are still in the process of trying to recover from the traumatic shock to the Economic System that took place in 2008. We have come a long way under president obama, but we still have a long ways to go. And that we deal with things like infrastructure and transportation related concerns that were brought to bear by the tragedy with amtrak yesterday. Host los angeles, shelley. An independent caller. Caller hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my call. I live in los angeles, what we call the urban community. One of the problems we have here, and this is something i want to ask why do you guys support illegal immigration . It seems to be blacks especially. You guys talking about, you know, we can send a message. Do you guys understand that this is hurting us economically . This is the thing that you guys need to be concentrating on. That is hurting us. We are not able to get jobs here. Host congressman . Guest i support comprehensive Immigration Reform. I served as an executive board member on the Congressional Black Caucus, but let me make it clear that the reason why i think it is the right thing to do for america, first of all, if that when youve got more than 11 million individuals who are living in the shadows of the economy, that is not good for anyone. There is opportunity for them to be exploited and it hurts people who are legitimately trying to make a living in the workforce. The pathway towards citizenship that is one of the centerpieces of the cumbrian to information Immigration Reform legislation that we believe many of us democrats, should become law is that individuals who are undocumented currently would have to go through a rigid and robust pathway in order to eventually be able to pursue citizenship. They have to pass a criminal background check, pay a fine, pay back taxes, demonstrate that they have the capacity to be employed. They have to learn english. After all of that, we will have to get at the back of the line, in terms of being processed through legal residency and perhaps eventually citizenship. Overall, anyone who is objectively studied who has objectively studied has indicated that it would significantly reduce the deficit and contribute to increasing the Overall Economic high. Pie. And in my view, that is good for every community. Host bill in chicago. A democrat color. Hi bill. You are on the air. Caller yeah, i am amazed that we are still talking about highspeed rail. In 1979 on my honeymoon, i wrote into japan. I wrote the bullet train from tokyo. The train moved at 130 miles an hour. Nothing cross the track, either under or over. I saw in japan that took your was more modern than American Cities are today. What, 35, 36 years ago . Host congressman, what about that point . Guest i think it is a very good point and i think we need to look into investing in highspeed rail. When you look at some of the underutilized routes that exist in this country or the overall loss of revenue that amtrak experiences every year, if you can enhance and increase the customer experience, the opportunity for the ridership to get from point a to point b in a faster, more efficient way, then logic suggests to me that you will increase the ridership. When you increase the ridership youll increase the profitability. As opposed to shutting down the whole operation, privatizing it has suggested, as privatizing it has suggested, how about improving the Passenger Experience that will lead to increased ridership . Host pennsylvania lawrence. A republican. Caller good morning congressman. Guest good morning. Caller i would like to ask why the black caucus does not take a stronger position on the drug war . Certainly, everyone in that caucus knows alexander, the new jim crow. Youve got an unwieldy prison population made up enormously of black males. Then we wonder why baltimore goes up in flames. I mean, i understand that you probably are not it is the ethic about supporting the drug war but how seriously is the black caucus against it . Thank you very much, sir. Guest thank you very much for that observation. A very important point that you make. We are in the midst, the black caucus, as well as democrats and republicans, in engaging in a serious effort to reform our criminal Justice System to deal with the problem of mass incarceration that you have pointed to in your question. Weve got more than 2 million americans right now who are incarcerated in this country. We have 5 of the worlds population. 25 of the worlds incarcerated population is here in america. We imprison more than anyone in the world in a matter that hurts our economic productivity, results in a loss of human capital, has a disproportionate impact on the africanamerican immunity, the Latino Community community, the Latino Community, but it hurts america. And it is the failed drug war that is larger than responsible. Largely responsible. People on the left and people on the right, i believe that massacre station has involved from hill failed government involvement. And i would have to do something about it. Beginning with the issue of mandatory minimums that have attached to the war on drugs and a very irresponsible way. Host how quickly is Bipartisan Legislation moving . Guest i think there is real hope that something is going to happen. In fact, just yesterday republican rand paul met with members of the black caucus to discuss strategic efforts on how to move legislation or. The chairman has indicated an openness and willingness to move legislation forward to deal with our criminal Justice System, in terms of the civil forfeiture Reform Efforts that are underway with the government can take the property of the American People in the actions of a conviction at the very beginning of a criminal investigation. That seems inconsistent with our notion of innocence until guilt is proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Dealing with the minimum mandatory minimum issue. Ensuring that people can Reenter Society after they have paid their debts through imprisonment or other forms of punishment. They should not have a Scarlet Letter attached to them. So i am very optimistic that we will tackle this issue during this congress. Hopefully this year. Host what kind of welcome that senator rand paul get from the Congressional Black Caucus . Is this the first time he has talked to the group . Guest he has been working closely with senator cory booker and others on the senate side. There is a whole host senator mike lee, for instance, has been actively engaged on the republican side with democrats in the senate. It was a very warm discussion here it was a thoughtful and strategic discussion. Host data, ohio, leonard. A democrat. Go ahead. Caller good morning. Host morning. Caller a lot of issues we are bringing the is just old, old issues. Including manufacturing and all of that. Ohio is starting out now with 12. 68 an hour. In 1986, General Motors here in dayton was paying that. As far as detroit and all the rest, youve got your cars made in mexico, china. That hurts a lot of people. Now you are talking about entitlements and all of that. Could you answer the question what is welfare states . Who are they and why did this come about . Please, explain to the American People what is a welfare state. Not for the people, but for the whole state. Host congressman . Guest well, i think that is an interesting point. And there has been a lot a conversation about individual americans being takers and creators. I think and that is rhetoric that i think is largely irresponsible. The American People are hardworking individuals who are simply just try to provide a decent way of lifes for themselves and for the families lives for themselves and for their families. In terms of the point about states, i have always been fascinated at the criticism of states like new york, which regularly contribute billions of dollars more to the federal government than we get back in return. States like new jersey connecticut, california also fall in that list. Massachusetts. So if you adopt a framework that some of our friends on the other side of the aisle have put forth with donor states directly benefit the American People, but we embrace that collective responsibility as part of the United States of america. And we should work toward thriving in a way that everybody has the opportunity across america to succeed because i just think that is generally good for the economy. As a representative from new york, we are happy to do our part. Host on our line for independent callers, good morning to you. Caller good morning. I wanted to ask congressman jeffries why he and other leaders in the black community have not promoted have not told members of the black community the truth about what needs to be done in their communities to improve the situation. I mean, heres a much about Police Brutality and what has been going on in baltimore and ferguson, but we dont hear about the importance of promoting families, education and the importance of entrepreneurship. We heard a caller calling from california saying that black people are being discriminated against intel on you because they dont in california because they dont speak spanish. I mean, my god, black people have been in california for generations. Why are we promoting education arent we promoting education among black kids . I want to hear less about Police Brutality and the protests. I want to hear members of the Congressional Black Caucus talking about the importance of family host got it. Congressman . Guest i have been a member since the founding of the caucus members since the founding of the caucus in the early 1970s have been talking about families Holding Together and children of all races have the opportunity to get a sound, basic, highquality education in a manner that gives them the opportunity to successfully pursue the American Dream. In the exchange ahead earlier about some of the things that need to be done in baltimore, i think Elijah Cummings has done a tremendous job on behalf of the city that he represents unloved, and and lots, and points out that we have to give the young people the tools necessary to be successful in life. And that really starts with dramatically improving the quality of the Public School system. Host a tweet, do you see a connection between rural and intercity poverty and our global free trade policy . Guest well, thank you for that week. Tweet. I do think we really have to take a hard look at the consequences of freetrade agreements of the past, such as nafta, which i think any objective observer would conclude has failed the American People and resulted in the loss of millions of good paying, middleclass jobs. That have moved overseas, and in many instances, never to return again. That has had an adverse impact on the capacity for hardworking, Everyday Americans to find good highquality, sustainable jobs. That is the reason why i opposed Fast Track Authority connected to the Transpacific Partnership because i believe that we cant do the same thing and expect different results. If we are going to discuss trade, a to be done in a robust, comprehensive way where congress cant cede its authority to the administration. And this is an administration that i support. I believe barack obama has done a great job, i just disagree with his approach to this particular issue. Host it appears that in the senate, a deal has been struck to move toward on trade after tuesday cost defeat tuesdays defeat for the president. Harry reid announced the deal yesterday. I want to get your reaction to what he has to say. [video clip] i want to take just a very brief minute and express my appreciation to all my democratic colleagues who have been understanding and vocal in their opinions as to what we should do to move forward. I also extend my appreciation to the Republican Leadership and joint leader for having this suggestion to go forward. We worked together the last 24 hours. I think we have come of with something that is fair. A bipartisan majority of the finance committee, we put out for measures four measures. Is on path for all parts of this legislation. Yesterday, we made it clear that we did not accept fasttrack or do trade agreements. We also must enforce the trade agreement we make. The proposal before us today provides that path forward. So i look forward to consideration today and tomorrow in the trade package and the africa bill. What we proceed, the majority leader has offered an amendment process that, in his words robust, and fair. I appreciate that offer. This is a complex issue and one that deserves full and robust debate. Once we get on the trade bill, democrats will want to vote on a number of amendments. And so, with the background and the understanding we have on both sides, i do not object. Host congressman, you heard from the leader of the democrats in the senate. He does not object. This deal will go for. Why not, then, for your support behind the president , especially with this headline barack obama works to mobilize black caucus on trade . Guest harry reid has been an extraordinary leader in the senate, and i look for to the leadership of the future majority leader, senator chuck from new york city. He has fought a good fight on this issue. He doesnt support fasttrack but he recognizes that the votes exist in the senate to move forward with trade Promotion Authority. I think what he has done successfully is to try to increase the opportunity for a better degree of enforcement, if this trade agreement were to move toward. There are labor concerns, environmental concerns, currency manipulation concerns that need to be addressed. And if we are going to move forward in a reasonable way, it seems that there has to be an enforcement mechanism. Host but it sounds like democrats are going to get a vote on that. That they will move forward on worker protections, enforcement, currency manipulation. Why not be a yes . Guest in my view, we will see what happens when the legislation comes over to the house. Democrats are going to get a vote on those issues in the senate. Anything is possible in the house. Who am i to predict what might occur . But you have a situation where fasttrack, which was used for nafta and cafta did not yield an agreement that made sense for the American People, for the middle class. So it is not reasonable, in my view, to proceed into the same exact thing, trade Promotion Authority, and expect that we will get a better trade deal. Host lets go to virginia. William, a democratic caller. Good morning. Caller yes, greta. Thank you. You are beautiful, intelligent lady. Host thank you. Caller congressman, i would like to make a couple comments about our Railroad System. If we didnt have the real system, we wouldnt have one world war ii. I am a 91yearold world war ii veteran. I rode the rails all over the country when i was in the navy. Also people dont take into consideration the talking about the wonderful rail system that japan has. Virginia is bigger than japan. In area. We have a huge country here to maintain the rail system. We have a wonderful highway system, and it is falling apart. I havent heard anything about privatizing it. I dont think the railroads should be privatized. I think we should have appropriated enough money to improve it, rather than to start picking it apart. Host all right, william. Guest william, thank you for your service as a world war ii veteran, for being part of americas greatest generation. I think you are correct. The challenges in america are different then, for in its, in japan. For instance, in japan. It is smaller than the state of virginia, as i believe you pointed out. We talk about bringing highspeed rail to america, i think we wouldnt initially begin by bringing it to all parts of america, but we can think about utilizing it in places where you know it would be welcome. For instance, along the northeast corridor. But highspeed rail would be even more effective, even more attractive, and perhaps this is something we can consider, to increase the profitability of what is already very successful along the northeastern corridor. It is those types of smart investment in transportation and infrastructure that i think will make sense. Host philadelphia, on our line for democrats. Caller hi, good morning. Guest good morning. Caller thank you for taking my call. I watch the show almost every morning, or at least every chance that i get. I listen to the representatives from all parts and they talk about education reform, jobs. Now, i am glad you are on is a democrat. One of the things that i have to say im disappointed with the democrats is the impact that the union has predominantly on the education system. In my opinion, we cannot move forward with any form of improvement with education until and unless we do something with the unions. As far as jobs are concerned, i am in business development. And it was the same conversation. We talk about some good warehouse jobs that are looking that we are looking at bringing back to the area of philadelphia. And one of the common discussions is the labor climate. Unions in the innercity are killing jobs. If we dont do something about that, we will never move toward. Host lets get the congressmans response to that. Guest a part of organized labor across the country, in that we have to support teachers and the jobs that they do to educate the next generation of americans. I do believe in education reform, in terms of looking at alternative ways in which we can perhaps provide a highcaliber education to the American People, particularly in innercity communities where you have had Public Schools that have failed for generation after generation after generation. And that is why i have been a supporter of public started School Education for a limited number of individuals. Charter schools in york city for instance, educate less than 5 of the population. But things like Charter Schools highperforming was in particular, of which ive got several in the district i represent, can at least demonstrate things that are successful that perhaps can be imported into the traditional Public School system. But im going to continue to make sure i support to choose i support teachers who, by a large, are doing a tremendous job and will be a part of the solution. Host maryland, george. An independent. Good morning to you. Caller good morning, folks. How are you doing . Host doing well. Caller and thank you congressman, for being here this morning. Earlier this decade not this decade, but last decade the Republican Party threatened to cut off funding to cspan. Host hold on, hold on, george. I think you are talking about pbs caller dont cut me off please. Host im i am going to george because cspan gets its money from cable companies. This is a Public Service offered by the cable companies. Caller please excuse me. But what i wanted to say what i have noticed is there is too much money and a lot of privatization that i think holds our country back. It is just like there in new york where you live at. I have politicians in my pockets going for my nickels and dimes. The privileged half has a much respect that it would rock the boat of their gravy chain train to change a lot of things and i think that holds the progress in our country back. Until we can somehow or another get the force of this privileged class out of politics, a lot of these problems that we expense in this country and i am a vietnam veteran and i hate to see what is happening to this country because of the ports force of the privileged half over all institutions. Host we will take that point george. Guest thank you, george. Washington is broken in many ways, and they are broken because of special interests that had to dominate the policy debate. And largely influences the flood of unregulated money that we have seen in recent years. As always been a district here in the united dates capital, and exists United States capital, and exists in all capitals across the states. We should be about during the business of the public interest. One of the reasons we can deal with that is through things Like Campaign finance reform to in reduce the influence of unregulated money. I think it is obscene that you have billionaires that are participating in conducting their own primaries because they have the capacity to poor Unlimited Money pour Unlimited Money into a princess of a president ial race. So, these are problems that we are going to have to address. Host one last call for you here, congressman. A democrat. Taxes. Caller yes hello . Host you are on the air with a congressman. Caller yes, my comment is about wages and how employers can pay people porr wages poor wages where they cant live. And then in a months time, they have to get on welfare to make ends meet. How is that possible . How can they get away with that . And another question how can you go to prison and you do your time and you get out and they still hold that against you for so many years when you try to go get a job and they look and youve got a record and they would hire you . Guest well, thank you for those points. In terms of the discussion that is underway with respect to criminal justice reform, one of the things we are dealing with it to make sure that you can have people successfully Reenter Society was they have paid their debts. One of the problems that we have right now, the overall majority of people, approximately 50 , in fact, who are currently incarcerated are there for largely nonviolent substance abuse, drug related offenses. About 8 of the people who are currently in the federal penitentiary across this country are therefore committing violent crimes. More than 20 are there for socalled regulatory public order type of crimes, which can be things such as fishing without a permit. Clearly, our federal Justice System is broken and one of the things we need to do to fix it is to make sure that people who are incarcerated deserve to be incarcerated and once someone finishes their sentence, they have an opportunity to successfully reintegrate into society, get an education, get a job, provide for their family. Host on Police Reform, have introduced a new bill that would ban the chokehold under federal law. Do you have bipartisan support and bicameral support for this legislation . Guest well, we just introduced the legislation and we have an additional 20 democrats who are original cosponsors. I beginning to talk to my republican colleagues about the legislation. The chokehold is not a legitimate maneuver. That is why we think it should be illegal. It has been unauthorized by logically department all across the country. Unauthorized in chicago, philadelphia, new york, largely limited here in washington dc. Not just in the eric gardner case, but in instances all across the country, we see that it continues to be deployed. It is not a maneuver that is designed to restrain someone. It is a maneuver that is designed to strangle someone. And that is a classic example of the excessive use of police force. And that is why we believe it would be appropriate to make it unlawful. Host congressman hakeem jeffries, thank you for talking to our viewers this morning. Guest thank you, greta. Host coming up next, we will talk to congressman peter roskam about oversight of the irs, as well as the health care law. Then after that, we will talk with a transportation reporter from politico. Including a vote by house panel two amtraks two s to slash amtraks funding yesterday. We will be right back. This sunday night at 8 00 eastern, includes an image. We will look into the personal lives of three first ladies. Rachel jackson, Emily Donovan and van buren. She was called and died of an apparent heart attack before he took office. His niece, Emily Donaldson becomes the white house hostess but is later dismissed as fallout from a scandal. And when much in van buren becomes president , his daughter in law is the white house hostess. Rachel jackson, Emily Donaldson and angelica van buren. Sunday night at 8 00 eastern on cspans original series, first ladies, examining the private and professional lives. From Martha Washington to much of obama to Michelle Obama on cspan3. As a couple meant to the series, cspans new book is not available. President ial historians on the lives of 45 iconic american women, providing lively stories creating in the lumen 80 entertaining, and inspiring read. It is available as a hardcover or any book ebook. Here are a few of the book festivals we will be covering on booktv. This weekend, we will visit maryland with former congressman tom davis, as well as former Senior Advisor to president obama, david axelrod. Then we will close out may at book expo america in new york city. Then on the first week in june, we are life for the Chicago Tribune lets fast lit fest. And your phone calls. That is the spring on cspan2s booktv. Washington journal continues. Host and we are back with peter roskam, republican from illinois. Congressman, we do want to start before we get to the irs and health care because it looks i do has been a deal struck in the Senate Looks Like there has been a deal struck in the senate. What is your view on trade Promotion Authority . Guest well, two things. The trade Promotion Authority is incredibly important. It is important because it creates a lot of opportunities for the American Economy to expand. 95 of the worlds consumers are outside of the u. S. , so we need permission position our economy to compete worldwide. And somebody is going to lead. If the u. S. Doesnt lead and we are not actively participating in these two new trade deals somebody is going to fill that gap. In the pacific rim, it will likely be china. From a Strategic Point of view i think it makes a lot more sense for us to be leading. And i think many of our trading partners have that similar view. We have work to do to get the votes. Host yes, this because of the house saying he needs about 50 democrats to join the republican ranks. Why arent all republicans on board . Guest there is the sort of odd confluence now that you see sometimes, kind of an arc for the two sides who dont agree on anything else find themselves similarly situated. You have some republicans that say, look, i just dont trust barack obama. And based on his past history the expectations are fairly low at the are unwilling to give him the benefit of the doubt. So they are not persuaded by the idea that your ackley restraining president obama actually you are actually restraining president obama. And there are democrats who have demonstrated a very high level of confidence in president obama in every other aspect of his administration. They are giving him complete confidence on the iran deal, for example, but they dont trust him on trade. So there is this strange confluence. I am hopeful that when all is said and done, we are able to put this authority on the president s desk. And then those deals will come back and will be debated in congress. Host the Senate Democrat hating the president he defeated earlier in the week, but it looks like it could be enough votes that they will forward now with trade. The washington times, some republicans suggest that mr. Obama should be leftist do in the toxic juices cooked by his own hand, but that would be shortsighted. Guest i agree with that. And i will go one step further. They should vote yes for it. Because it is thoughtful. I think about this in the context of putting together any sort of negotiation. There are people who are not going to put their best deal on the table until they know that our key negotiator has signed off on it. I didnt want to come back and get nickeled and dined in congress. Congress still has the ability to hold the last word. Host lets get to oversight than of the irs and health care. You are the chair of the oversight subcommittee for ways and means. This is a the hill, irs probes dragged on. Why and how much money has been spent . Guest it is highly dissatisfying because the department of justice has not acted on the referrals that congress made regarding the centerpiece, the centerpiece for the irs targeting scandal. Nor had they move forward on the contempt citation that congress moved forward. And the irs has been loath to forward documents. So just recently, we have received an additional 6500 emails from the Internal Revenue service that for a long time said we couldnt get them, we dont know where they are. These crashing hard drives. And it becomes ridiculous to the point of absurdity. And viewers are completely this that should of limitation does not run on her until about nine months into the next administration. So a newly constituted department of justice, i would argue, is likely to have a different disposition. In the meantime, what capitol hill is doing is to direct ourselves to what i have characterized as an attitude of impunity at the Internal Revenue service. That is a disposition that has developed over the years that has basically said we can do what we want, when we want, and to whom we want. That has been the attitude of the Internal Revenue service. I am oversimplifying, but i dont think im over characterizing. Host so you are saying that this investigation into the irs the charge that they were going after tea Party Affiliated groups that could continue into the next administration. Tell of you is how much this has cost taxpayers so far. Guest well, i cannot give you dollars and ents in terms cents in terms of the appropriate it dollars. There has not been a group created in terms of that sense. I would hope they have spent because i would argue they have violated Constitutional Rights by targeting people. And i hope they have spared no expense at pursuing justice. Their problem is they are not willing to disclose anything. Host so Congressional Democrats say that two years without investigations is costing millions of taxpayers dollars and has found with a have long success of long suspected guest i think that is a false claim. Let me give you a quick story. I will give you a 62nd story. My old law partner in 1996 was republican nominee for the United States senate and he loads his campaign a sum of money. The commission said, you did it the wrong way, and they put him under investigation about 60 days before the investigation. Big headlines that he was being investigated. He lost the election. The federal government sued him. And he won the lawsuit. The federal Election Commission thank him back and said, we have a settlement demand of about 300,000. He said, i won the lawsuit. They said, we are going to appeal. He said, let me talk to the person who has authority on this case. The person with authority on this case got on the phone with my partner and said, we will drop this case if you pledge never to run for office again. He said, put that in writing. She said, we dont put that in writing and we never lose. Now, i have told the story and i have given this account in public hearings in the ways and Means Committee. It has been editorialized two or three times. And there has been silence from lois lerner. Why . Because she did it. Now, that kind of disposition and that attitude and you take that and you move it from the federal Election Commission to the Internal Revenue service that is not bureaucratic bumbling. That is insidious targeting and that has to stop. Host ok. The irs commissioner has said this is not the irs of 2011 2012, 2013. The members of congress should give it a chance. He has performed it. Guest look, this is part of this great debate. We have had a number of hearings. One of the hearings we recently had was on an iris practice known as structuring. Structuring is a crime under federal law, and it has to do with triggering a reporting requirement that is a business person if a business person deposit 10,000 in cash, it triggers a report that the bank has to make to the federal government. Underlying that is a decent policy, and that is to go after meth labs and mafia front groups but the problem is that the iris has been pursuing these cases very very irs has been pursuing these cases very, very there is a case of a couple in maryland who the irs basically chased to the end of the earth. They hadnt done anything wrong. And the irs continue to be so aggressive. Then when we have a congressional hearing, the irs says ok, we are going to revamp our policies. The irs issued an apology based on my prompting. But my point is, we have a lot of work to do. This notion of, hey, new and improved irs. We have a long way to go. Host we will talk about health care and it, but first, charles. A republican. Hi, charles. Caller hi. Listen, i am right with you on the iris issue, but the safe the irds issue, but to say it is revamped, that is a joke. Having said that, on the tba i am a republican and wow i couldnt disagree with you more. Every Single Person i have heard on this program talk in favor about the tpa talks about how the largest middle class in the world is now in asia. But they dont say that they are middleclass in terms of asian currency and asian standards. To think that any of these other deals that you guys have made is going to sit there and level the Playing Field is ridiculous. The bottom line is you guys always come out to try and talk these trade deals up by saying that look, the more we do, the more it will raise their economy and they will start paying more money for this. So what you want us to do is raise the rest of the world to a middleclass and give these countries 20 years to do it, which means we are on a slow roll for 20 years going down to meet them at that median point. Host charles, will have a congressman jump in at this point. Guest charles, the arguments that i make a is that 95 of the worlds consumers live outside of the net is dates, live outside the United States, so what you want to do is lower barriers of entry so that u. S. Goods can flow into those areas. I represent a lot of manufactures in chicago who sell into manufacturing facilities of larger operations that are selling than overseas. So this is not about some slow roll for 20 years or track to figure out some level of equilibrium. The way we compete best is when barriers of entry for us in the marketplaces are low. Host we will go to indianapolis. Robert. An independent caller. Caller how are you doing . Host morning. Caller thank you for taking my call. I would just act the comment host we are listening, robert. Caller there is so much emphasis on giving the president a defeat that there is not enough emphasis on the American People getting a victory. We keep dealing the president the feeds, defeats, that is good for the Republican Party. Guest roberts, let me try to respond. I understand what you are saying. There is an irony in how the president has approached this debate though. I think part of the possibility responsibility for what we are is at the president cost desk. President s desk. The 2012 president ial campaign, he basically told the public you are stuck in your station in life. You are stuck. The only way you can get unstuck is of the federal government comes in with a program and helps you out. And there was a subtext there, robert, that said that people are successful because they have taken from someone else. That is messed up and it is not the way the economy works. Now, ironically, president obama has to shift and he has to acknowledge, no, that is not the way the world is. It is not a zerosum game. And it is not. And we need to move forward as it relates to growth and prosperity. And he is communicating a very different message. His problem is robert, that he persuaded a bunch of people to go the other way. I agree with you. It makes no sense for people to say, i just wanted to defeat Somebody Just for the sake of defeating. Robert, i think what is good for you and for me and indianapolis, since we are both midwesterners is clearly trade Promotion Authority and these trade agreements that are going to open up opportunities for manufacturers like, you know, in indianapolis, and all the agriculture interest in indiana. Host on twitter, do you think that cutting funding for irs so they cant even answer questions from the public as part of the problem . Guest congress cut their budget by 1. 2 billion. In other words, they were appropriated 10. 9 billion. Think about it. If your budget was cut and you are around the house will table and things are getting tight what do you say . We are going to do more with less. That is not with the irs said. The iris commissioner issued an email to the whole service and he said ris commissioner issued an email to the whole service and he said, we are going to do less with less. You can look at the appropriation. They took money that have historically gone that route and they backfilled their own operations. What do they do . They get 60 million in bonuses to their employees. That was new. The previous commissioner said, i am not going to issue these bonuses. The new commissioner said he was going to issue bonuses. There are two other areas we demonstrated in the hearing that the irs could do better from a fiscal point of view. The first is, the are spending 500,000 hours on Union Activity that is subsidized by the taxpayer. Only 10 of which is required under the law. 90 of that 500,000 hours they dont have to do, yet they chose to take money from Customer Service into the union activities. We also demonstrated they could pick up 100 million a year directly for the irs if they used to a private Debt Collection program, similar to what is going on it now their on in other areas of the federal government. I think that they have miss allocated the money that they have been appropriated. Host moving onto oversight of the health care law. This one comes from your colleague, congressman tim murphy, who is watching you right now. Talking about his bill, which i signed onto, that provides oversight for obamacare. Guest so, thank you congressman murphy. What congressman murphy from pennsylvania and he is the chairman of the oversight subcommittee at energy and commerce what he is referring to is a bill that i am initiating with a number of colleagues calling for a special Inspector General to oversee the Affordable Care act. So the idea here is, look, we have done a special Inspector General as it relates to the toxic act recovery program. One as it relates to Afghanistan Reconstruction and iraq reconstruction. Surely, the scope and breath and death is worthy of a special Inspector General. It will likely be introduced asked week. Host why is it necessary though . Is there malfeasance abuse and the law . Guest the lack of the ability gretchen, on the part of the administration, even to give you the information you need, its breathtaking. We were making inquiries of her. Think about this. This is the secretary of health and human services. One of the architects of the bill. We were asking her about certain aspects. And she was not able to go beyond the information of her own Inspector General. So it is incredibly limiting, this environment. And we have an administration, i would argue, that has really been acting with impunity in a lot of ways. Turning things off, turning things on. There is a great deal of litigation, obviously. But think about the standard. If it is good enough for trap, and trap found billions of dollars tarp and tarp found billions of dollars of savings surely a program as big as the Affordable Care act deserves that same level of scrutiny. Host sylvia, thanks for waiting. An independent. Caller yes, good morning. Thank you for letting me put my input in. I would like to say, keep our jobs in our country. Do not outsource them. We should not agree to nafta. People driving trucks who do not speaking lips, read english speak english, read english. Stop when it says to stop. I know my son works at chrysler. And when they are in the yards they cant understand a word they are saying and he cant understand them. And they cant understand him. Guest i cannot speak directly to the issue of who is in the trade yards or who is in the yards and the parking lot at chrysler. I dont know anything about that. The issue of how to create jobs though, and make them so that we are flourishing because that is really what you are arguing for, i think makes a lot of sense to me. I mentioned before, i am not for massachusetts. I am from sugarman suburban chicago. Youve got employers that are manufacturing takes things that are being sold into foreign markets. If those foreign markets try up, we will not need the workers here. So we need to shift things around and make it so that we are more competitive overseas. And we get more competitive overseas if we negotiate and we get the tariffs to put our goods into those areas. But there is a great deal to do here. And i am not here pumping sunshine telling you that if all we do is pass a trade Promotion Authority, then it will all be great. But i do know this. The sun will continue to go down on the u. S. And we will have more pressure on manufacturers if we are not able to sell into these markets. Host stanton, michigan. Rebecca. A democrat. Caller hello. Host go ahead, you are on the air with a congressman. Caller ok. Youve got three different topics there [laughter] i wanted to say, especially on the health care bill, i understand, you know, fixing things as they go, if there are problems because there are out to be something that they, but to the people who bought into this already and they have never had insurance before and people have called in many times and said that, you know, they just got a wonderful deal. And some people have said the opposite. But these people have no insurance whatsoever, you know, if you just kill the bill. Host ok. Guest i guess it depends on your perspective. Consent to it that i have constituent that i have, Breast Cancer survivor who is doing well and based on the direction of the changes in her policy under the Affordable Care act, she was not going to be able to have the doctor she had at that same level of health care, so there are people who have been previously injured. Some people now, their policies have changed entirely. Remember the claim of the Affordable Care act . Remember how great it was all supposed to be in that basically all these needs were going to be met . I think what you are sensing is a great deal of disappointment from people who have said, hey i was supposed to get this or how this going to be able to meet to dog keep my doctor or i was going to save 2500 a year per family remember all that . I think there are some people who are better off and some more much worse off. The question is, how do we make it so that health care is affordable and more abundant . I would argue that obamacare, in particular, has been really, really disappointing. Host on ilife for republicans, check in alabama. Though ahead. Caller i think first of all, you debate phase things, the trade bills if we go back to 1993 when clinton and the democrats gave us nafta, prior to that, you could go out any morning and get a job or you could get five jobs and almost have a selection. Whoever had these brainstorms to shoot jobs overseas, they were shipped overseas to accommodate manufacturers to bring their product act in back in. Unfortunately, there are about 537 people in washington who are screwing this country up for the other 20 300 million. If you base it on your record, i mean i am 77 years old. You are not going to harm me. There are clouds in washington and you may be one of them. Creating this atmosphere. If they ran everybody out of town and shut it down, things would probably improve. Host all right chuck. This the world wants to know what any factual or your guests represent and can you disclose the details of the Transpacific Partnership . Guest i represent the sixth congressional district. Your viewer is the to google six conceptual six congressional district. There is a wide range. Everyone from Precision Manufacturing where people are manufacturing five times to the right of the decimal have been in facilities in illinois. I dont question the nature of the inquiry, but the point is one of two things is going to happen if the United States stays still and we say look, we have it all figured rapidly we dont have to pursue foreign markets, and somebody else will. Someone else will fill that gap. It will be filled. We will be the losers as a result. So, i have been involved in visiting Many Companies in my district and it is a remarkable thing for me to see how much of their own bottom line is from sales into foreign markets or said another way, if they are not selling into those markets then what is happening . They dont need those employees in my constituency. I think there is a misperception on how trade works and what the benefits are. It is not easy, it is not a simple concept, which is why this brings out such strong emotions. Host we will go to florida. Margaret, independent. Margaret, i have to push the button. There you go. You are on air. Caller good morning. To life to our particular concrete i think its funny, he keeps calling you gretchen greta. Guest im sorry. Caller you seem very incredulous, greta when he discussed the virus investigation into the next administration which fascinates me and you talked about obamacare with him. The irs controls everything, seeps into all of our lives. I would remind people that they use the arbitrary use to stifle free speech is tandem until losing our liberty. Make the irs to obamacare the greatest overhaul, i would remind the democratic column who just called in that that was rammed through without republican vote that the majority of the country did not want it. And now, of course as they always do, they will say the witchhunt is old news. The irs is the most important story for the future. You talked about jobs they are everywhere. I am glad these representatives are pushing. I hope they keep pushing because the impunity, like you use perfect words, the tool that they have to the irs, what they could do to people in this country and i am disappointed in cspan because i am going to say that i do like cspan more and more, its leaning left in their questions, and the way the question and even in mannerism but i am for the trade, thats my original call. I stand and waited and listen to all this so i will hang up and that you respond. Host ok, margaret. What i was trying to do is what you and what the viewers and democrats are saying about the irs investigation but go ahead and respond. Guest i will yield a lady on time so you like during much. The point you are making is an important point to emphasize and that is this the amount of power that the irs has takes your breath away actually. Here is what we need. We need an Internal Revenue service that is collecting tax that are owed and basically like my fourth grade teacher miss anderson tough it fair. That sort of attitude is what i think americans expect. 99 of americans pay their taxes voluntarily and that begins to erode if they dont have confidence that the tax system tax rules are being imposed fairly on everybody. Host we will go to virginia democrat. Caller yes, host youve got to listen through your phone. Turn your television off. All right, i apologize but we are getting that feedback and its confusing. Jerry in North Carolina, republican. Caller good morning. I have a question for your congressman. The disparity this 95 of the World Consumers outside the u. S. And the disparity in the disposable income these folks have and the high cost of our manufactured products here, what on earth are we going to say given the cost that we have to bear to produce them . Guest jerry you are coming to the chicago area we are selling all kinds of things. All kinds of things that are getting manufactured in operations in suburban chicago and in those areas it just takes your breath away. These are going into asian markets, european markets, latin american markets. There is no end of things. One of the big manufacturers in illinois is caterpillar, the big, big earthmoving equipment company. They are serving not just caterpillar but all the tool and die folks, all the folks that are working those production lines in and around my constituencies that are part of that production is one small example. Food products, all sorts of things that are being manufactured and sold overseas and into those markets. Manufactured here and sold into those markets. Host you also were serving on this special committee on benghazi. I showed the headline of political versus clinton, no end in sight. It shows no sign of abating. What i hope you to get out of 10 testimony for the summer testimony secretary of state. Guest it was to find out what happened cap benghazi and how it was that poor americans were murdered and to do recommendations that this never happens again. As a result of that, the first thing is to get documents produced from the administration. Now, there was a narrative that was out there for a while that said, well this has all been asked and answered. If there is that the new here. But that turned out not to be true. Over 20 two people at these two had never been interviewed by any committee before were interviewed by had been interviewed by the benghazi select committee. Remember the claim that all the documents have been produced . And yet the state department within the past two months came up with 10,000 new documents that had never been seen by any Congressional Committee before. The first thing is the reason this is taking so long is to get these documents. And then to have a discussion with the secretary of state who is at a focal point but it is not just about the former secretary of state. Its about what happened before but was the prelude. What actually happened on the event . What were the subsequent events . Host do you want her to testify privately or just or does the state to be done in public . Guest i think its best if its done in public but there is a real interest. Trey gowdy offered if you want to come in and testify in private as it relates to your email operation, the arrangement she made with herself regarding these emails he offered to do that. This is the subject of a lot of discussions and hijinks with her lawyers. Autumn wind, look, we want to hear the truth from secretary clinton. We need the documents. This has become a big obstacle in terms of document production and it just shouldnt be this host host half. The committee will hear from her soon . Guest im confident. I dont have a date certain and i dont the chairman has announced that yet. Host we will go to frank in florida. An independent collar, frank you are on the air. Caller i have a comment and question about the Transpacific Partnership otherwise and that is the tpp. It seems to be shrouded in secrecy. The only thing we know about it is what has been linked by wikileaks. Most of congress has not releasing it. It claims to promote free trade but i think it would promote free trade in exactly the same with the u. S. Patriot act for most patriots, it does not in other words. It is a marketing gimmick used to the nature of the agreement. It seems to be a globalist oriented corporate framework that would strip power from the u. S. Congress and destroyed National Sovereignty on trade issues. Host all right we hear that a lot from viewers. Guest you could make that argument but the plot trap of that argument where a completely dissolves and there is nothing around the corner is that Congress Gets to vote up or down on the final trade deal. It is as if you give someone authority to say, go forward make a negotiation and come back and it will be fully disclosed the entire nature of the discussion the negotiation. You can imagine what kind of nightmare to put a deal together everybody is able tos. Out and make disclosures. Is able to scurrying out and make disclosures. I dont see a plot, i dont see something insidious. I see an orderly process that says it during this time, we need this to be closely held and abandoned that period of time it will fully be disclosed and congress, elected representatives who are accountable to constituents will vote yes or no on the final deal. Host previous president s have had this authority. Hampton, New Hampshire paul, an independent. Caller good morning. Previous president s have had this kind of authority. That is a big part of how we got into the mess we are in in general. Basically, this system has set up a hypocrisy and what you are seeing presently is a increasing this test distrust institutions in general and politicians particularly. The think that we can be comforted that congress will ultimately have an upanddown vote on it, and up and down vote with a bunch of that does not give us any warm and fuzzy at all. Until you stop stealing from those who are not your friends to give to your friends, until you start ending the systemic hypocrisy that has become the United States, i dont trust you. I dont believe the American People trust you. Host paul, lets take up the issue of trust. Guest just go back to tim murphy. Host democrats dont trust the president is a theme you are seeing over this trade issue. Democrats dont trust the president when it comes to trade. I think you said that yourself, but it seems that there are viewers and americans say we dont trust Washington Republicans and democrats when it comes to trade. Guest its a fair point. Good news for paul is he is an independent in New Hampshire so every president ial candidate is going to be knocking on his door over the next couple of months and he will have a disproportionate amount of influence into the next president is going to be. I dont necessarily share his worldview that is i in no more confident in washingtons ability to do wonderful things which is why i keep coming back to the restraining influence on congress being able to vote up or down on the trade deal when it is finally presented. I represent a constituency, paul where trade helps. Trade is an opportunity, where trade creates lazy and markets boolean see and markets. There is a disconnect that some people feel on the democratic side and i would argue that what i am describing as the world as it is, president obama for the past several years has been arguing that people cant all prosper and that is part of the weakness of his argument. Now he has a shift and there is an arc witness in the shift of his argument. I think you and on this in the shift of his argument. The only way for one party to benefit is that the demise of another and if you think about it, that is not who we are as a people, but the president has built a political culture around that and he has persuaded them. Now when he is trying to say you know what, lets not pursue that anymore. He is basically saying, oh, you persuaded us and now you are telling us that is not the way things are . That is the awkwardness you feel here. Host lets go back to the health care law. Is there a special Inspector General for medicare, medicaid . Guest there should be. I will tell you, medicare right now, we had a hearing, greta and the hearing said this was the medicare themselves we had a hearing and the cayman and we asked about god and erroneous payments. Whats the number . They said 12. 7 of medicare payments today are fraudulent or erroneous. You know what that amounts to . Over 1 billion over the of money that is just wasted. I mean squandered. By contrast, we brought in the person who is in charge of antifraud efforts at visa, the credit card company. We asked them the same question what is your fraud rate . They say, congressman, on 10 trillion dollars worth of transactions worldwide, our fraud rate is. 06 . Compare that. Federal government 12. 7 . Visa. 06 . Host why not use your position as chairman guest i am. I am. You sense my demeanor here. We have been able to successfully with Obama Administration help and bipartisan basis to do some changes that have to do with how Health Care Providers are compensated in getting these things up, but there is a lot of work to do. Host a press release from your office from the president that he signed into law recently, Medicare Fraud provisions into law to help with this issue. Lets hear from lou and carmichael, pennsylvania. Republican. Caller good morning. How are you . Host doing well, sir. Caller i have a question about the irs. I will make it a short story. Years ago i was in business. You could do a fiveyear tax average. My accountant made a mistake on a form so i got a notice from the irs, 10 days, pre please remit the said amount of dollars. I set up and gave them a date that i would make sure to have a check and they agree to it. I had no payments and they did not send me anymore. Which i am grateful for. I question is, they come after me for that for a mistake i was penalized for it but my question is, why is there so much problems that they can put a lien on the irs employees to pay their back taxes . Guest good point. There was a story we learned within the last couple of weeks that the irs has had about 1000 tax cheats who are working at the irs. There is an irony here and the irony is that the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service Called the budget cut that congress made to the irs hes the, well, that is a tax cut for tax cheats. At the same time, the Internal Revenue service is harboring 1000 tax cheats. So lou, your point is not lost on me and i appreciate you ringing that up you bringing that up. Its an important point and this gets too, look, we need the iris to be competent, there fair, and use good judgment in how they pursue the cases and it has been pretty underwhelmed. Host peter roskam republican of illinois. Thank you, sir. Guest t wright, greta. Host we will turn our attention to that amtrak train that derailed in philadelphia and we will talk about the debate surrounding amtrak up on capitol hill with Heather Caygle of politico. We will be right back. This weekend, this he spent cities towards part of the comcast to learn about the history and literary life of fort lauderdale, or do. This is really cultural tourism. When they set up their villages along the way, along the trail sometimes only leantos, the buses would stop because he was a tourist attraction. When they came into the tourist attractions, they were getting food, but weekly allotment of food and they were also getting sometimes a rental of sewing machines and they would let the people use them when they lived in the twist attractions. They would also sometimes get fabric because the tourist attraction people could supply them with fabric so they were sitting there selling and making things for crafts markets. This is a little boys shared belted shirt from the 1920s. This was an experimental time for patchwork and you can see that on the bottom this is not a design that is native today. This is an experiment of design. The designs were bigger in the 1920s and sometimes they were not leave used any longer than that particular decade. The thing about the devils tribal bermuda trying go is there are all kinds of things that have happened. It was a regular Navigation Training mission and they would take off from the base and fight 19s would go east toward the bahamas and there is an area that they would drop bombs on and the continue on another 70 miles or so and they would make a turn north. There ago 100 something miles and make a turn back west toward fort lauderdale. They never came back. Later on night after they were sure they were out of fuel, they sent out these rescue planes looking for them and one of them disappeared and it had 13 men on board. The next day they had a fiveday search with hundreds and hundreds of planes and ships and they never found anything. Watch all of our events saturday at 5 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan2s book tv, and on cspan3. Washington journal continues. Host we are joined by Heather Caygle, a transportation reporter for politico in washington and we are going to talk about the crash in philadelphia and the debate when it comes to amtrak. What is the latest on . This investigation that the National Transportation safety board is doing how long does it take . Guest they can take more than one year, sometimes up to 18 months, but they wont release preliminary results when they get them. Yesterday, the official came out and said that the train was going over 100 miles an hour at a 50 mile an hour speed zone, so they will say things like that as they get them, but the official investigation may not run for a few more months. Host they are looking into other factors beyond speak, one of them talked about yesterday was this positive train control system. What is that . Guest basically an anticollision Safety System and it has a wonky name but basically, if trains are going to ask, it would automatically slow them down to prevent accidents like this. It came out in 2008. There was a terrible commuter headon collision in california and 25 people died. After that, lawmakers were like we got to do something, so they passed a safety bill and a mandated that all major railroads, freight and railroads like amtrak, install the system by the end of the year. Most railroads already said they will not meet that deadline. I think the interesting thing is the ntsb has been recommending Something Like positive train control for the last 45 or so years and we are just now getting around to it in the last seven to 10 years in congress with railroads. Host the deadline is this year but there is debate on capitol hill whether or not to let these amtrak train stations extend that out to 2020 and give them even more time, why . Why do they need more time . Guest they said it is very complicated, a lot of money that goes into it. There was a lot of jurisdiction and it involves the Railroad Administration and the fcc because it involves some communication issues spectrums satellite, so there are a lot of components. Its not just like you put something, braking system in the train and it will automatically stop. Its so complicated and their say, we just need more time. Host how much . Guest billions of dollars. The railroads have already invested upwards of 5 billion i think. They are saying many more dollars will have to be invested. Yesterday, there was a democratic amendment in the house appropriate hearing that would dedicate about 825 Million Dollars to help the railroads and it was shut down. Host they did not give that specific honey for positive train control specifically for positive train control . Guest no, they defeated the amendment. Host how is amtrak because this part where the crash took place in philadelphia did not have this electronic equipment but other parts of the track to, so how is it that amtrak has been able to pay for these other places where they put these Electronic Systems . Guest they have revenue that comes in and they get federal subsidies. They get federal subsidies for operating and capital grants to make investments. They have had they have tried to install it along parts of their system. Like i said, its complicated. There are lots of issues. Amtrak shares the northeast corridor with other commuter lines and when they operate longdistance in statesupported routes out in the midwest, they should those rail lines with freight railroads. In a lot of places, in order for positive train control to work they have to have it. All the trains need to communicate with each other and that way we know what is happening on the railroads. I am told all the major trains have it. It is not necessarily matter if one specific train has it if another one doesnt and they are not communicating. Host top historically about this curve where the track crash took place. An interesting giving on what has happened along this area that said this equipment was not that there. Guest there was this story that came out yesterday that 70 years ago there was a deadly crash and Railroad Engineers have been talking for years about removing or trying to fix this curve, you know what i mean . There is a 50 mile an hour speed limit their and the train was going 100 miles an hour or more. There is obviously some issues there. It is something i think we will look at and congress will probably look at as the ntsb releases more findings. Host i would to show the viewers the headline on your story house panel votes to cut amtrak hours hours after deadly crash. What happened yesterday . Guest it devolved into a boxing match between the two sides. Both sides were accusing the other of trying to use the tragedy to their advantage. Democrats were saying, the bill that came out of the subcommittee reduced amtrak funding by about 261 million for next year. That is about 1 5 of the total federal subsidies because last year. The crowds were saying, we need to restore this funding, look at what happened in the accident last night and if we are hunting in the structure properly this probably would not have happened if we are funding infrastructure properly this probably would not have happened. Lets wait and stop speculating before we address the issue. At one point a congressman from idaho, a republican, stood up and started liking his finger at democrats and said, this is beneath you and i cant believe you are doing this. A democrats stood up and say, i cant believe you guys wont fund this. It was just the hearing actually devolved into this boxing match back and forth and amtrak took up most of the time, so it was very testy. Host over on the senate, you had the past of a reauthorization for the existence of amtrak in march. Its over in the senate side what happened to that bill yesterday . Guest what was supposed to happen yesterday is there is a group of senators who have been working on their own passenger we authorization. It has a lot of similarities for the hospital but there were some key differences in that it did focus it takes more of a National Scope whereas the house bill focused a lot on the northeast corridor. They were supposed to introduce it yesterday but they decided not to, to hold off on that because of the accident. They might go back every tool at a little bit once more details of this host accident have come out. Thats up a capitol hill. Back to the crash of philadelphia. Ntsb announces that this engineer had the train going 106 Miles Per Hour, twice the speed limit of that area. Who decides the speed limit on trains and how fast they can go . Guest i think that is something federal safety officials at site and amtrak all Work Together in conjunction for that. Obviously, michael another, the mayor of philadelphia said obviously, this is a problem. The engineer did something wrong because he did not apply the brakes into 106 Miles Per Hour. The ntsb probably will come out and say anything like that right now. They will say the train was speeding but they wont place blame for preliminarily until they know more about what happened. Host what will is the federal Railroad Administration saying and what is that agency . Guest the federal railroad is the watchdog and they oversee the freight and Passenger Railroads. There are a lot of issues with that with amtrak, things like this accident but with freight rail, there are things like a lot of their crude oil accident that we have heard about in recent years. They have a hand in that and making sure that those are sabers so that if these trains derail, they dont turn into fireballs and towns have to be evacuated. They have a very broad scope and they also deal with safety between highways and train crossings were Railroad Tracks and highways interact. We have seen great train crossings come back into the news recently. There have been a couple of highprofile accidents over the last year. They kind of have their hand in everything railroad. Host we will dig into that a little bit more but i want to get to our viewers. We have divided the lines by democrat, republican independent and a fourth time for amtrak riders. 2027488 003. Sherry in arkansas, independent. You are up first, go ahead. Caller good morning. I heard someone personally say let me personally say that i am disgusted that this situation in philadelphia with this train wreck has become so politicized. It is disgusting. I did hear about one hour ago that, that being said on christian talk radio, they are reporting that this driver is refusing to talk to authorities. He has lawyer. He has lawyered up and refusing to talk to authorities. I did not catch his last name. Host sherry, why does that trouble you . Caller why does that trouble me . That he will not talk to authorities . Host mmhmm. Caller because there is an investigation underway. Host lets talk to that all of the bit more. He will talk to authorities and has a lawyer. Our unions part of the Passenger Railway system . Does amtech have Union Employees . Guest they are. Im not sure if he is being advised by a union at this point. We didnt really know he was not talking to authorities until the nt is the came out and said that yesterday. The ntsb came out and said that yesterday. I dont think they announced their briefing for today the time for the briefing for today. It is an Ongoing Investigation so there are a lot of other things they can look at other than just his statement. They do have the black box data. Host how does that work . Guest it has a lot of data in it. Also, the engineers actions the time, so when he started raking, if he used to warn, other things like that. I think there is a camera on the locomotive if i remember correctly and that is something us they will be looking at. Host it will go to south carolina. Daniel, go ahead, daniel. Amtrak rider. Caller good morning. I just want to say the experience i had on amtrak. My wife and i decided to take a trip to new orleans from charlotte, North Carolina to new orleans. The state it was the most miserable experience i have ever had traveling. The first problem was that the train was supposed to leave charlotte at 3 00 and did not get to charlotte until 4 00 in the morning. Of course, we did not go to bed because we wouldve had to get back up at 1 30 to make the train, so from 4 00 as soon as we got on the train, we were seated directly in front my wife has a problem with being closed and only asked the conductor if we could find other seeds and he was very certainly as was very surly as was the entire crew. The entire crew had no concept of Customer Service. I went several cars back to get us a couple of drinks and the bartender was so disrespectful and demand did a five dollar tip for making two drinks and said that she had to supply the ingredients for the drink because amtrak would not supply. Host right, ok, daniel, what do you make of his experience on amtrak . Guest unfortunately its unfortunate the experience he is describing. People have towel experiences like that have travel experiences like that. Amtrak ridership has actually been growing over the last 10 years so i think last year they had 31 million riders, 11. 5 millions of those from the northeast corridor. Host why are they making a profit . Why do they continue to operate at a loss since 1971 . Guest the northeast corridor makes a profit but there are other ones that they operate they have about 20, 21 statesupported routes and then they have 15 longdistance routes. Those lose money but you have people in Congress Whose those rats both to their districts and they dont want to give them up. Amtech also makes the argument that without some of those routes, there would be people past the midwest that dont have any kind of train service. Its interesting. Lawmakers went amtrak to operate as a profit business but there are some moneylosing routes that Congress Wont let them get rid of. You have to figure out how to make money on the ways, so normally, what they have been doing is taking their profit from the northeast corridor and use it to for the moneylosing bots. Host ntsb according to this nbc story says that they hope to speak to him but they wanted to give him one day or two to recover from the traumatic event. We will go to ronald in madison, ohio. An independent. Tell us your experience with trains. Caller good morning. I have been there for almost 30 years and we have a book of rules we have to go by for with a timetable. When the engineer left the station and he comes into a curve, he should already have no the characteristics of the railroad which you have to go through a test to take. Why was he doing 106 miles an hour coming into that curve when he should have already been down to 50 miles an hour . Now, traffic consoles, we had that on our locomotives years ago when i first became an engineer. Then they took them out. With traffic control, i understand the serious of it but the engineer he is to be qualified with characteristics of the railroad, so with all the hopwood do this with going into a curve and slamming on his legs and an emergency slamming on his brakes in an emergency is going to derail. That is what happens. Host what kind of training did you get as an engineer . Caller i think can i became a fireman in 1968. I was four years as a fireman. I took my test and everything to become an engineer. Prior to that, on another railroad, i was the locomotive machinist, so i know locomotives inside and out. Host Heather Caygle can you speak to what kind of training and the difference between an engineer and conductor . Guest the caller is absolutely right. Engineers have to checkin in certain ways when the train starts the going, they have to check the brakes. There are, from what i heard even though these specific trains are part of the track with ptc, there are still supposed to be warning both the coop when you reach such a heist the. There are a lot of questions that the engineer asked to answer, and i think that we dont know a lot about him right now. I know some news outlets have put his name and face of their but Officials Say they he is not talking to them. Host go ahead. Caller my understanding is that about 71 years ago, and accident happened approximately in the same location. Why didnt amtrak install a kill switch probably at that location pretty much first up rather than go to these other places that you mentioned that they already installed the kill switch . Also, my thing is that japan can run a train borne almost 370 hours 370 miles or something for our. Also china we should be first in the country, in the world as far as running fast trains but our infrastructure is so bad and perhaps, congress should concentrate on pumping money for the infrastructure, thank you. Guest those are great questions. In terms of the curve, over the years since that deadly car 70 years ago, there have that has been back and forth about trying to fix this problem. I dont know exactly how you would do it. Its obviously a great undertaking, but its something amtrak and fra will be looking at now. Given the circumstances. In terms of highspeed rail, there is a lot of debate in congress about this. It has become part on republicans accuse it democrats say if you put more money up we could get this going. Its kind of stuck in the middle the stimulus in 2009, president obama tried to pump a lot of money into speed rail but once republicans got control again, they put the brakes on that, no pun intended. It has been a back and forth. Some republican governors who turned out federal money that would have helped them get their highspeed rail going because they say there is not enough private investment or interest in public ridership to more and the cost. Its a debate that crops up often, especially in california. You have Kevin Mccarthy who does not like highspeed rail and is and house leadership, so he does whatever he can to make sure there are no federal dollars going to. Host allison, amtrak rider in michigan. Go ahead. Caller hello, greta. Greta, i have written contracts over 30 is. My dad has ridden amtraks for over 30 years. The general is right about characteristics. Youve got to know everything, you need to know all of that stuff. As far as the gentleman driving on the northeast corridor, the ntsb said they will interview him today or tomorrow. Thats what the man said this morning, i saw him on the tv myself. He had talked to the police and had his clients speak first. Right now, you dont know where theyre going and what they will investigate. Im sure there are a lot of different stories coming out. The northeast corridor is the longest track that amtrak actually owns. The second longest is right here in grand rapids between grand rapids and chicago. Now, they made over 200 million on that northeast corridor. They could and did some of that money they couldve put some of that money in those systems but they chose not to because congress once the money for other causes. Host is that true . Congress does not allow amtrak to put money into its own profitable roads . Guest no, think about it. If the other bouts are losing money and you have to keep the business running, you will try to triage the wounds before you look at other things. The hospital tries to change that elizabeth. Host the house reauthorization bill . Guest right, sorry. It was very easily approved, pretty bipartisan but it would keep the northeast corridor on the northeast corridor and it tries to make changes that would make these states supported and longdistance routes, less money losing. If that happens, the practice will have to see him, like i say, the senate bill that is being worked on his different but of course you have to negotiate the differences. When was the last time been nations rail beds have been upgraded and who is responsible for the upkeep and upgrade . Guest thats a great question. Thats something im looking into this week. This accident the cost questions like that and puts it into perspective that makes us want to investigate it more. What about host what about the rail lines . What role do Freight Companies plate versus subsidized passenger systems like amtrak . Guest freight railroads owned most of the railroads in america, like the caller said one minute ago. Amtrak owns a good portion of the northeast corridor i think it is about 400 50 miles an amtrak owns about 360 or 370 of those miles. Other than that, for the states longdistance routes, they have to work with the freight railroads to work on timing differences, service, and things like that. Host we go to florida next dee, republican. Caller i have a question for heather if she does not mind. I used to take the train all the time from right here in okeechobee there is a train stop. I would go to california. We used to have a train in okeechobee it would be a straight shot from here straight across and probably the same rate that they would take all the way to the taste the west coast. We would catch a train to go to sacramento. They take that route away and now they send you up north, a big mess and congestion and long layovers and really a mess. The train now does not go that route anymore, so i quit getting on the train. Used to be a terrific ride. You get on the train and i was one of those people, boy, it was absolutely great. They take all these good rides away and they make a bigger mess out there, ok . Host Heather Caygle, take up that point. Guest i think thats a very interesting point. Your call reminded me there was something in the house bill after hurricane katrina, there were a lot of Railroad Lines deemed inoperable from new orleans to mississippi and down to orlando. We are 10 years out from that and they are still not running. In the hospital, it would establish a Gulf Coast Working Group to actually study and see if we can get some of these lines back which is interesting. Its amazing to me that 10 years later, we dont have those rail lines still. It will be interesting to see if that actually comes to fruition. Host new jersey, dave, a democrat. Caller yes number one. Ive got three points. Number 1 if either one of us has a car action car accident with bodily injury, they take all kinds of actions. We dont get to lawyer up and back off from authorities. This man is getting away with something. Why . The union is running something. There are even letting them rip off broken comp with a broken field mail. We know about that. Number two, the unions are the ones that are fighting against technology. They dont want the Maglev Technology in the u. S. Thank you, cspan. Host you know what he is referring to . Guest a little. All this there is always tension between business groups. There is still so much we dont know in a targeted engineer and it is hard to speculate. Until we get more details on that, its hard to comment on that part of the situation. Host rick in new york, independent. Caller you come i want to make two points. One, there is a terrific group of Railroad Workers from the south from Railroad Workers united. They have been fighting over the single crew issue for years. Cusa conference five to four to three to two and now they are down to one. These are Railroad Workers who have been fighting safety issues and i wanted to give you the listeners address. Www. Braille word workers united. Org. Host let me ask that pace on twitter saying it would be a second engineer just like copilot and airplanes. Guest thats something that has been debated in congress before and will come up again. There are lawmakers who say that these trains would be safer if these accidents and these accidents would not happen as often if we had two engineers the cap. I definitely think as we move forward in this investigation and throughout the year, we will see that issue come up. Host william in new jersey. Good morning. Caller good morning. My comment here is that i used to ride these planes the train from baltimore to new jersey all the time. I stopped writing it because those things are pretty fast. My comment is, why dont they put the kill switch one mile out from these curves so these things wont flip when they hit the brakes . That will save a lot of lives. And Congress Needs to stop trying to be president and front of bill. Thank you. Guest i think thats an interesting point. Something that congress will debate if they continue to talk about these railroad authorizations. Like i said, he comes back to positive train control at this point and when will the railroads have that fully installed. Some of the bills on capitol hill would give railroads a deadline extension to 2020 and that is five years from now. After this accident are they comfortable waiting five years now, you know what i mean . It would be interesting to see if those talks ship a little bit and there is the issue of it is very costly in high collision systems. Will congress had to put up federal dollars to help head out now that the accident has happened . Host Electronic Systems, positive train train control system. It would have slowed the train down according to the National Transportation safety board yesterday. Paul in indiana, go ahead, paul. You ride amtrak . Caller cap, south then, illinois i do. Sometimes there are only 20 people on the train. 18 billion has already been allocated in highspeed rail but one track has been made. One 800 Million Dollars in obamacare has been put out their poor infrastructure. For did all this money go . I would like to know where all the money went . I dont want one more dime given until we find that were all the cash went. Thank you. Guest that is a question that lawmakers, particularly republican lawmakers, have been asking. Rightfully so. You look at california highspeed rail and they are just kind of now. Groundbreaking saying there were a lot of issues and they would have to build new tracks, very expensive. Sorry they are still trying to go on private investments and eight is a chicken and an egg. People who are nervous, they say the federal the private dollars, and a federal dollars are same we will get private investment purse and show us that it works and we will help you out. Host mobile, alabama. Bill is watching us there. Caller good morning. I was struck by the intact causing bodies, people bodies to be fine around inside the scars. My basic question is, why dont they install seatbelts within the cars at least in my cut down on the impact of the individuals not having any secure to stay in one place. Thank you very much. Guest there has been debate over the years whether to put seatbelts on trains, but i think the between safety experts, there is a debate on how safe it will be. Without the question is, if we did put seatbelts on trains, how would we get everyone to use them because it probably some people are using them and others are not buckled up and an accident like this happens, what is the impact of those people who are not wearing seat belts client to people who are and it could be worse. Host chris is next from North Carolina. Good morning. Caller good morning. My question is this, the engineer was driving this train at 106 miles an hour at the 50 mile zone. Has this gentleman been tested his urine or blood samples for drugs and marijuana, especially in this day and age. Many, many states are making marijuana very trivial thing. Host chris, we will touch on that because there are stories in the paper today about the culture and amtrak and they have had a problem with drug use by their staff. They do test their staff. Guest pastor. Typically in accidents like this, the engineer is tested. Im not sure if its because he has Legal Counsel and that is that it, but investigators to test engineer after accident like this to hold that out. Host greg, republican from North Carolina. Caller thank you for cspan. A couple things. One is, i rode the train for from raleigh to charlotte and back. [indiscernible] it was way over priced. Second thing is, they dont have a clue what Customer Service is. Host lets have about those two points, way overpriced and Customer Service. Guest i think these are complaints that you hear like i said earlier in all modes of transportation. We always hear that from passengers that Airline Tickets are too high and sometimes and the unfortunately people have bad experiences on railroads, airlines, or any mode of transportation. Amtrak has been proving very popular over the last decade or so and a lot of people continue to write it. Host in new jersey, you ride amtrak, go ahead. Caller i am a frequent rider of amtrak and what i find troubling is i have traveled on the regional and keystone. The keystone goes about 65 Miles Per Hour to 70 Miles Per Hour. I have never traveled on the regional where it goes within 50 miles an hour or 60 miles an hour. I feel that it either something is wrong with the black box because that train is not capable of going that far in that short speed of time within these stations. The keystone, when i came back last week, what happened, it was coming very low and i discussed it with a friend of mine and said maybe they have concerns about the condition of the rail and that was on the keystone was going below 50 miles an hour, coming toward trenton and New York Newark new jersey. Host Heather Caygle, is it possible the black box would be wrong about this read . About the speed . Guest i do think so because they have video of the train going that fast. I think it can only go maybe 125 miles an hour because of how tracks were laid a long time ago. In most places, i think the average speed is around 70 miles an hour even though it can go faster. Its obviously possible that this train, and likely was going with hundred miles an hour and thats the question Everyone Wants to answer to. Host between from a viewer would trains be safer if they were automated . Talk about automation. Guest there is a talk in a sense of this anticollision system automating the breaking if needed. We have seen issues with automation in transit. There was a terrible accident in dcf two years ago in d. C. A few years ago on the red light and they are barely returning to automation on the red line several years later. There are pros and cons to that and it remains to be seen, i think, how automated trains will get. Host the house is about to gavel in the legislative session for this morning so before we get to that, lets just drop up Heather Caygle and tells what you are watching for today. Guest i am looking to see how the senators are going to react. They had to roll out appropriations will. Yesterday cut the chairwoman Susan Collins said she is already looking for more dollars for rail safety, so i will followup on that today. Host Heather Caygle with politico. We appreciate your time. The house is about to gavel in and they will do so momentarily. On the agenda today in the house are going to be taking up that Nuclear Review legislation that would allow members of congress to review any deal that this Administration Strikes on Irans Nuclear power. That packed in the senate last week, 981, it will be coming up in the house and they will be voting on that today. Yesterday in the house, they voted on the abortion legislation and the patriot act. More legislative business in the house and even on the senate side, tune in to cspan2 for that. They have struck a deal on the trade agenda and they will be Going Forward with some trade votes. The deal was struck between the minority leader of the majority leader. Coming up with a way forward for Senate Democrats that are in favor of trade. They will begin a series of both today that will stretch into next week to take a look at that trade legislation. Politico with breaking news on politics. Former wisconsin senator Russ Feingold announcing today that he will challenge the man who beat him, the okie senator ron johnson next year. He put out in a video message today, i am pleased to announce that im planning to run for the United States senate in 2016. That does it for todays washington journal. Thank you for watching. We will be back in tomorrow 7 00 a. M. Eastern time. Now, live coverage of the house. The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. The chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. The the speakers room, washington, d. C. , may 14, 2015. I hereby appoint the honorable George Holding to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. Signed john a. Boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the order of the house of january 6 2015, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. The chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and mi