that congress. frankly, it was the last congress that gave us the first tax modernization overhaul and tax reduction in 31 years. it was the last congress that began the opioid initiative that we've worked in a very bipartisan way on. it was the last congress that had more deregulation than any congress in american history. it was the last congress, working with my friends on the other side, that did work on human trafficking. last congress that did historic work, again, in a very bipartisan way with my friends, on the veterans' issues. finally, it was the last congress that began rebuilding the american military after eight years of neglect. so we'll see if this congress has a record that matches that in the next two years. but having said that, as my friend laid out, the proposed select committee would be charged with investigating, studying and making recommendations for modernizing congress, including improvements to rules, to procedures, including the schedule and calendar, improving staff, rec

new congress, ne

it's an odd practice by congress. some would say illegal that it's actually taking a federal benefit that they don't have to pay any taxes on which is essentially free housing but nobody has called the question. a couple dozen members we think at least will be sleeping in offices and some of the new ones will be taking up that habit pretty soon. >>> what about perks or benefits or healthcare? >> healthcare, they do get, since the enactment of the affordable care act, one of the requirements and outlaw which was directly written to address voters believe that members of congress got exempted from obamacare, members of congress actually have to buy their health insurance on the affordable care act exchange. so they are required to essentially participate in obama for serving in congress. they do get other benefits, yes. there are some perks. there are special parking places for them at the local airports to allow them to cut it close when they are trying to make a flight. of course, when they are here, they can, it's ea

congress and only congress has the power to declare war, even though the president may call for a declaration of war. and when the united states is involved in international agreements, the senate is all-important. for example, the signature of our secretary of state to the united nations charter had to be approved by a two thirds majority of the senate. a clause in the constitution states that treaties are made by the president that only with the advice and consent of the senate. we went down pennsylvania avenue for a look at the white house, that's where the president lives. the white house represents the executive branch of the government. could we got through, i understand why uncle jim said the president has the biggest and toughest job in the world. yes, the white house is both the home and office of the president. the president is chosen either people through the electoral college. some of the president's duties are set by the constitution. others are established by laws, treaties, president, and public opinion. nt and public opinion. the president's main job is that the law should be

the vetoed bill and message are sent back to congress, and this in the matter unless congress can pass the bill over the veto by a two thirds vote of both houses. then it becomes a law without the president's signature. the president can also appear in person between -- before a joint session of congress to explain a veto or propose new legislation. congress is then free to accept or reject the president's suggestions. and then it starts all over again. the great lawmaking assembly line goes on, passing bills, creating laws as diversified as the nation itself. labor, national defense, government departments, regulation of transportation, foreign trade, taxes -- bills, bills, bills. and all informed by the written constitution of the united states, which establishes the rules. rules made by the people themselves. and acting representative of the people, for the people, rules which govern the great enterprise of democracy that is america. ♪ >> next on "reel america," from 1946, a 15 minute classroom film describing how the three branches of government work. in "meet your federal govern

new congress, new leaders. watch it all on c-span. >> next, a discussion on presidential emergency powers. president trump's ability to use those powers to build a wall along the u.s.-mexico border. the brennan center for justice hosted legal and policy experts to consider the history, application, and scope of presidential powers. this panel is one hour and 35 minutes. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. thank you so much for being here. as jim told you, i'm liza goitein and i co-direct the liberty program at the brennan center for justice. we have been researching emergency powers the past two years and i am thrilled to have the chance to share some of what we have learned with you at a time when this issue is very much in the news and on people's minds. the format for our first discussion today will be a bit different from the usual panel discussion. i will lead off by giving an overview of the legal framework for emergency powers and how that legal framework came about. then i will sit down and speak -- e

this time it was a felony false statements charge about lying to congress, lying to congress about something mueller's prosecutors called "the moscow project." the moscow project was the trump organization plan to build a trump tower in russia. it was reportedly going to be financed by sanctioned russian banks, building the tower would have required the approval and the facilitation of the kremlin. prosecutors say it was a project that could potentially produce hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for president trump and his business. this moscow project was something the trump organization was pursuing actively and working on during the campaign, even while the president was publicly maintaining that he had no business, no deals, zero investments in russia. but what cohen pled guilty to that day in court in november, his second day in court, was lying to congress about this moscow project. he told congress the effort was over and done with by january 2016, by the time of the iowa caucuses. that apparently wasn't true. work on the project apparently went on for months thereafter. he al

reporter: new congress, new leaders. watch it all on c-span. >> new jersey sent for new members to congress, mikey sherrill will represent new jersey's 11th district mushy discussed her experience of experience in the military and as a federal prosecutor during one of the debates. >> i began my service to this country when i was 18 years old and joining the naval academy. i served at the u.s. attorneys office. after a lifetime i decided the best way i could continue my country and to new jersey was to run for congress. because i am not just concerned about what is happening now, i am concerned about the future of new jersey because i have four kids, i think we need to work in a bipartisan manner to get legislation passed in congress, a tax plan that does not attack new jersey. quality and affordable health care for everyone in this country, working hard to bring costs down in our health care system, infrastructure spending so it can grow our economy now and well into the future. put this country first, i have worked with

. >> according to the brookings institution, the 116th congress is the most educated congress in history 72% of the house having earned a graduate degree. she's recently spoke with some of the new members. democrat chris pappas is a restaurant owner and first openly gay member of congress from new hampshire. >> i read democrats have been trying to recruit you to run for a long time. why did you say no before? why yes this time? >> i care about the state where i served at the statehouse for a number of years. i needed to make sure i was meeting my responsibilities to the voters who elected me. this seems like an important time to be counted and put together the campaign we needed to restore faith in the institutions of our government and get some things done. while and may have heard before from people that wanting me to run at a different point in time, this was the time to do it. i did it at a time when people were running campaigns just like iran in new hampshire about ensuring we reformed the way our democracy works so that it is in the hands of ordinary folks. i ran a restaurant busi

calvin coolidge appeared once before congress. hoover, coolidge, they are not delivering state of the union in person. they are reverting to the earlier jeffersonian tradition of delivering it in writing. since the presidency of frank roosevelt, it has become customary for the president to deliver the address before a joint session of congress. though the constitution is clear the president shall give to congress information on the state of the union, the context of the speech during the modern era has changed dramatically. one of the most important developments is under lyndon johnson. johnson brings the speech into prime time. this allows the address to be given directly to the american people. this dramatically increases the number of people paying attention to the state of the union address. the first televised state of the union occurred in 1947 after 20 years of radio coverage. calvin coolidge was -- we remember fdr as the president who harnessed radio but it was really coolidge to harness the new technology. his presidency

but look we've got to keep congress together. we got to keep our majority together and we got to keep the country together and people understand we're dealing with a very unusual situation -- >> yes. >> -- where the corruption and criminality in the white house is pervasive. impeachment is no fetish but no tap oo either. we understand it's very much part of the kaunconstitution. it has played an important role. and self defense of the congress and the people about a president who insists on acting like a king. so when presidents decide they're going to set themselves at war against the constitution and rule of law, then impeachment may be the end of the road indeed. >> you mentioned the nixon article oz of impeachment, article one, obstruction of justice. improve -- counsel to lawfully authorize investigative officers and employees in the united states and false or misleading testimony in dually congressional proceedings. i want to get you on the record here. if it twhwere the case any president would order a subordinate to lie t

it was also an effort for congress that the president has to renew every year and that congress can overturn the emergency. in practice, it has not worked in congress has not ever reviewed the emergency or overturned an emergency. there was one time since that act was passed by congress really pushed back on a provision. george w. bush wanted to lift federal wage laws in rebuilding after hurricane katrina. there was a uproar in congress and bush rescinded that action. congress has never voted to overturn an emergency. atexample of good intentions reform that have not failed -- that have not worked in practice. host: we welcome our radio audience in the greater washington, d.c. area and on the free c-span radio app. our conversation with matthew dallek on the issue of what is a national emergency? bill in cleveland, on our democrat line. caller: good morning. when did that national emergency act -- what was it created for but i guess that was answered. does anybody know what the national emergencies that are declared right now by trump? there are three of them. dothere any thing we can about

congress is not in session. they will be back tomorrow. house will be in just for a pro forma session and the senate will consider a house approved built that will fund the government through figure eight, which includes funding for part of a wall along the u.s.-mexico border that is opposed by senate democrats. live coverage of the house on c-span and the senate on c-span2 . journal," live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. wednesday morning, a look at the government shutdown and the congress with a member of bloomberg and rollcall. then we will talk about the 2020 residential field with a member of the university of virginia center for politics, as we discussed wednesday's premiere of c-span's original program, the senate: conflict and compromise. be sure to watch c-span's washington journal live at 7:00 eastern wednesday morning. join the discussion. next, a look at loneliness and social isolation and how it can be prevented. health-care from industry professionals and researchers. welcome to the stage the president

to every member of congress, passed a bill that ends this crisis. to every citizen, call congress and tell them to finally, after all of these decades, secure our border. this is a choice between right and wrong, justice and injustice. this is about whether we fulfill our sacred duty to the american citizens we serve. when i took the oath of office, i swore to protect our country and that is what i will always do, so help me god. thank you and good night. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] pelosi: good evening. i appreciate the opportunity to speak to the american people tonight about how we can end this shut down and meet the needs of the american people. sadly, much of what we have heard from president trump during this senseless shutdown has been full of misinformation and malice. the

the people are ahead of the congress, the congress must join them. and that is why we have created a select committee on climate crisis. the entire congress must work to put an end to the inaction and denial of science that threaten the planet in the future. [ applause ] this is a decision, it's a public health decision about clean air, clean water for our children's health. it's a decision for america's global preeminence and the green technologies, it is a decision, a security decision to keep us all safe and a moral decision to be good stewards of god's creation. we have no illusions that our work will be easy and that all of us in this chamber will always agree, but let each of us pledge that when we disagree, we respect each other and we respect the truth. [ applause ] we will debate in advance good ideas no matter where they come from, and in that spirit, democrats will be offering the senate republican appropriations legislation to reopen government later today. [ cheers and applause ] we will do so to meet the needs of the american people, to

congress. in she ran for president 1972. barbara winslow, founder of the shirley chisholm project, talks about her early life, political rear and legacy i-- political career and legacy in this 15 minute interview at the american historical association's annual meeting. >> professor winslow, author of this book on shirley chisholm, who was she? >> she was among many things, the first african-american woman elected to congress from brooklyn in 1968. and after the inauguration of the 116th, congress, many of the women who had just been elected were photographed under her portrait which hangs in the capitol. >> what motivated her? why was she elected? >> she was interested in politics beginning in college at brooklyn college. she was active in the naacp. she found it a black woman sorority. she supported a woman who was running for president at brooklyn college and she was active in harriet tubman society. she began her political activism as a college student. she got a job working in a day care center, but politics was her pass

that is a baseline for congress. at the same time, the north korean issue has been a politically controversial one between and deep within parties at various times in terms of what i would say a lack of a bipartisan agreement was most evident back in the 1990s over the agreed framework which was reached during the clinton administration just before the midterms when the democrats suffered a great loss, and the republicans in congress subsequently was very skeptical and tried to express their unhappiness. i think that many people think that was one of the reasons that the agreed framework was not able to get the kind of traction. bipartisan yes, but it has certainly been an issue of great debate within the congress. i will defer to the congressman on where we are now, but i will take from the fact that on the democratic side, not only do we have a new democratic majority in the house, we have almost as many new candidates for president on the democratic side, and they will be looking to express their foreign-policy vi

you're hearing it from members of congress. the ones who aren't calling for impeachment saying they need to see the evidence. they know if they go forward with impeachment it has to be rock solid. they can't shoot and aim on something this important which is why you are hearing people like jerry nadler say yes, this is problematic. i don't have the tweet in front of me. we are going to do our job. you will hear more of it not necessarily from rank and file but the leadership of the party. >> i wonder if i could ask you this. again, this is an if. if bob mueller has evidence of this and corroborated evidence beyond michael cohen, some democrats say show us your cards now. let's not wait for the final report. by itself, this is significant enough. would you agree with that? >> i actually do agree. the mueller investigation has gone on for a long time. the american people are waiting for this thing to end. we want to know what the russians do to try to influence the election and anything else that turned up. if this is part of wha

the people are ahead of the congress. the congress must join them. and that is why we have created a select committee on climate crisis, the entire congress must work to put an end to the inaction and denial of science that threaten the planet and the future. this is a -- this is a decision -- a public health decision about clean air, clean water for our children's health. it's a decision for america's global preeminence in the green technologies. it's a decision, a security to be n to keep us all good stewards of god's creation. we have no illusions that our work will be easy and that all of us in this chamber will always agree. but let us give a pledge that when we disagree we respect each other and we respect the truth. we will debate and advance good ideas no matter where they come from, and in that spirit, democrats will be offering the senate republican appropriations legislation to reopen government later today. we will do so -- we will do so to meet the needs of the american people, to protect our borders and to respect our workers. and i ple

second, this focuses on the lies to congress. i think the way to make it much harder for congress to ignore this. i mean this is not sort of something they can brush away. this is something that arrives immediately on their doorsteps. the third thing is again, this shows how much knowledge bob mueller has that we don't know. this obstruction case which we sort of think of very simply as you know -- well, did he fire jim comey and tried to block the russia investigation in may of 2017. this may stretch all the way up until the last couple of weeks. this is a pattern of activity that's ongoing and bob mueller is interested in all of it. >> yeah. trump also encouraged -- let me find the quote. he encouraged cohen to plan a trip to moscow during the campaign where the candidate can meet face-to-face with putin. >> ryan, president trump was trying to meet with vladimir putin during a presidential campaign to get something of tremendous value for his personal business, is that compromised? >> very well. i mean this report, the more i p

that congress. frankly, it was the last congress that gave us the first tax modernization overhaul and tax reduction in 31 years. it was the last congress that began the opioid initiative that we've worked in a very bipartisan way on. it was the last congress that had more deregulation than any congress in american history. it was the last congress, working with my friends on the other side, that did work on human trafficking. last congress that did historic work, again, in a very bipartisan way with my friends, on the veterans' issues. finally, it was the last congress that began rebuilding the american military after eight years of neglect. so we'll see if this congress has a record that matches that in the next two years. but having said that, as my friend laid out, the proposed select committee would be charged with investigating, studying and making recommendations for modernizing congress, including improvements to rules, to procedures, including the schedule and calendar, improving staff, rec

we are on 12 days of congress. i understand it's a new congress. pelosi is in hawaii, everyone doing their thing over the holidays. the dow jones is in the tank. our people blind here, greta? let's not forget independents are 40% of the voters in america. the democrats have only taken the house. i am glad you brought up the fact mitch mcconnell has been missing in action. god bless us all. happy new year, thank you. host: you felt like there speeches were out of touch? mean, i just think we are in a world of hurt and people cannot see what is coming. recession to point out. host: did you feel like they were celebrating too much? mark has gone. as mark noted on the government shutdown, there are an estimated 800,000 government workers that either are furloughed or working without pay. if you want to continue to follow the story throughout the day, you can do so on c-span and freen 2, c-span.org or the c-span radio app. some other social media reaction or post from new members. the hill noted debbie halen in new mexico, where traditional pueblo dress

just 21 women in the new congress are republicans. and notably, this will be the most diverse congress ever. we have talked a lot about this in the aftermath of the midterm elections. today, 56 african-americans, 42 hispanic and latino members, and 10 lgbtq members. we have heard a lot from these members, the new members, as they're arriving here in washington. i want to highlight one touching moment posted on social media last night. she's one of the first muslim american women here in congress, and she posted this to twitter, this photo with her father last night. she said 23 years ago, from my refugee camp in kenya, my father and i arrived at an airport in washington, d.c. today, we return to the same airport on the eve of my swearing in as the first somali american in congress. certainly, many of these historic firsts will be celebrated today. just a few minutes ago, i was on the house side of the capitol where i met up with deb holland, an incoming member from new mexico, one of the first two native americans to take office. here

against 51 and the old congress. there are morewomen, 102 , almost one closer now for the house including many more democratic women. 89 as against 64 and the old congress. and there are more minorities were presented. 55 black members, 54 democrats against 47 in the last congress. and 40 latinos compared with 39. the question is, will that changing gender and ethnic composition be matched with big political or ideological changes? democrats emphasize issues such as healthcare and immigration in their successful midterm election campaign last year. and presumably a record of achievement there. but there was also a lot of talk about the president. impeachment talk. especially. while congressional leaders seem a little nervous, about the party being seen as too aggressive perhaps in the pursuit of mr. trump, the base is chomping at the bit. they talked about hammering the present during the campaign. meantime, what does the new class of republicans want to do with their minority now? is the new house gop caucus formed

if congress and congress acts. >> describe your district starting in january. mr. steube: you have the western and on of the state, sarto . e coastline and you southern t is a very rural citrus and cattle. trees trees and cattle. >> did you grow up there? >> i grew up there in the area for generations. my father was the sheriff. >> what was i don't remember childhood like. >> my mother was a school teacher. went to the university of florida after graduation. id undergraduate to the jufert -- university of florida. >> have you spoken to him about what this is like and any advice he gave you. ? are didn't want to get involved. and trying to be helpful. and the things to watch out for. and try to hire up staff. and some of the staft we are bringing on board and try to transition and i would say the most challenging piece of trangsings is getting your staff on board. >> have you spoken to your olleagues? and did russ spano spoke bills together. but you have a close knit bond between the three guys. i'm looking forward to working with them. have you found a balance and

officials now in the letter sent to congress. delegates right this is no way to treat partners such moves played into the hands of rival global powers and can only lead to greater fragmentation rather than much needed cooperation. and i'm joined tonight by the vice chairwoman of the european parliament's delegation to the united states. mr arkell was one of the european parliament members who wrote that letter to newly elected u.s. house speaker nancy pelosi chaka joins me tonight from new delhi in the it's good to have you on the show we appreciate you staying up to talk with us in tonight have you received an answer or response from nancy pelosi or any member of the u.s. congress not yet but we sent a letter today with time differences so that would be super quick but i hope that members of the new congress will take time to reflect on the impact of the trumpet ministrations confrontations with europe the changing role of the united states in the world and that they will feel empowered to do something about it how did you find

democrats in congress have refused to acknowledge the crisis. and they have refused to provide our brave border agents with the tools they desperately need to protect our families and our nation. the federal government remains shut down for one reason, and one reason only, because democrats will not fund border security. my administration is doing everything in our power to help those impacted by the situation. but the only solution is for democrats to pass a spending bill that defends our borders and reopens the government. this situation could be solved in a 45 minute meeting. i have invited congressional leadership to the white house tomorrow to get this done. hopefully we can rise above partisan politics in order to support national security. some have suggested a barrier is immoral. then why do wealthy politicians build walls, fences, and gates around their homes? they don't build walls because they hate the people on the outside, but because they love the people on the inside. the only thing that is immoral is the politicians to do nothing

i'm not trying to minimize the seriousness of lying to congress. you should never do it and if you do, you showdown probably go to jail for it. in this case, it's not like congress even knew they'd been lied to. did congress really have any reason to believe that trump tower moscow planning went through june 2016 inside of just through january 2016? and that was the kind of material lie they should be worried about from cohen's testimony? i mean, it would be one thing if congress knew it had been lied to and they're very upset about it and they therefore referred michael cohen for prosecution, and that's why mueller brought this charge of lying to congress. that's not at all what happened here. "the washington post" nailed this down the day after cohen appeared in court on the lying to congress charge. quote, the intelligence committee did not refer cohen's case for prosecution, rather, a staffer said the special counsel robert mueller asked the committee for the transcript of cohen's interview with them. mueller was given a copy of cohen's testimo

new congress, new leaders. c-span. all on ests joining us, sahil kapur of bloomberg news, international correspondent, and katherine tully-mcmanus of roll call, a staff writer for that publication. thanks for joining us and happy new year. guest: happy new year. the house it comes to and senate side, katherine tully-mcmanus, talk about the potential of coming up with some type of resolve for this. guest: a couple have been desolate over the holidays. me and my colleagues have been up there. there have not been robust discussions that we have seen amongst many lawmakers trying to figure out a deal. it does not mean they are not happening behind the phones or behind closed doors. both house republicans and democrats will be heading to the white house for what they are calling a briefing on the immigration issue. i think that will be a very interesting discussion, although trump has said that some of the things house democrats have laid out have been nonstarters, including tupac is that they thursday -- on including the p

lying to congress deserves 27 individuals pre-dawn, guns raid into their home for lying to congress. is that appropriate in your view? >> no. i mean if you look at this whole thing, it was about collusion with russia. between whether it's the trump campaign or the hillary clinton campaign. we've seen thorough work to look into this. there was no iota of collusion. if you look at all of the leaks that came out of the fbi -- why aren't they sending some of those agents to find out where all the leaks are coming from and address accountability within the fbi. where is that collusion? it would have leaked out. there is no -- >> sean: is there any doubt in your mind that what hillary clinton did with her e-mails that were subpoenaed deleted, sim cards removed, is there any doubt that when she put that server in a mom and pop shop bathroom closet with top secret, classified information, is that a violation of the espionage act and was the fisa courts lied to repeatedly and purposely withheld information, gave false unverified information to those judges? >> the fbi has never given us real

at the beginning of this new congress, the 116th congress, at the beginning of a new era in government and governance, we must demonstrate to the american public that we're willing to police ourselves in order to build the big projects and dreams and ambitions that they have for our country. i come from local government. i spent over a decade in local government. where we passed sweeping ethics reforms, campaign finance reforms because if we didn't, our folks would have thrown us out of office. what is unacceptable at the local level has been acceptable in washington, d.c., for too long. representative sarbanes, thanks to you that day over and a new day has dawned. thank you-all very much. [applause] mr. sarbanes: i want to thank everybody for coming. i do want to acknowledge there are in this room many, many grassroots organizations and groups who have been part of this effort to restore our democracy over the last few years and few months and decades. i thank them for their continuing efforts to give people their voice back. thank you for being here. i want to salute the new members

fewers new congress has veterans than the previous congress. what has that decline meant for the institution? >> i would prefer to talk about numbers of young veterans who are joining the congress and while the total number of veterans at this moment is declining relative to the numbers of veterans we have seen serve in congress and world war ii and the post-civil war era -- it is true that the absolute numbers are not equal to those numbers. i believe this congress will be invigorated by the voices of women veterans like mikey cheryl -- the new member from pennsylvania. >> are any new members serving on your committee? of them is seeking to serve on the committee. i already have veteran members. max rose from long island wants to serve on the committee. account member this name from pennsylvania. -- i cannot member this name from pennsylvania. he won a special election. is they areell you bringing a young, fresh perspective from afghanistan era veterans. that is going to be so important to setting our agenda for this congress. >> mark takano.

the convening of the 116th congress. democrats assume control of the house of representatives while republicans increase their majority in the senate. this congress has been described as the most diverse in history with over 100 new members coming to washington including more women and minorities than ever before. join us at noon on thursday as the one you 16th congress gavels into session. watch your member take the oath of office, the election of new speaker, and the congress begin its work. new congress, new leaders life on c-span and c-span2. >> next government officials testify in the enforcement of antitrust laws. witnesses at this house judiciary subcommittee hearing include the chair of the federal trade commission and the assistant attorney general for the antitrust division. >> subcommittee on briefed reform, commercial antitrust law will come to order. without objection the chair is authorized to declare recesses of the committee at

people need to remember is that ultimately it's congress was congress. that's right trump is also made it clear don't question every dollar that the military spends because we've got all these. unexpected things that come up and well but we're talking trillions of the last. four years of experience with. those inspector general reports they can be scrubbed i'm sorry i don't understand what you need to know i thank you so much pleasure so much larger always a pleasure and thank you for. smooth and precise those are the words used to describe the landing of china's national space administrations for a lunar rover on the dark side of the moon now the dark side of the moon isn't actually dark though it's actually just gets as it gets same amount of sun as the rest of the moon it just happens that because of the moon's rotation one side never faces or thing is that dark side is blocked from radio transmissions to earth so chung has a friend a dedicated satellite to relay its scientific findings to the ground in china launched on december eighth the lander is

congress to denounce white nationalism in congress. as a police officer, i worked white supremacist rallies. the words alone hurt enough. but as a police officer i also saw vicious acts of violence by those inspired by those hateful words. words do have consequences. and if you promote hateful, ignorant beliefs, you will be held accountable. and certainly congress should lead the way. this week the ignorance of white nationalism was defended by one of my colleagues. today as we recognize dr. king's birthday, i am reminded that dr. king called on all americans to enlist in a crusade finally to end the race question and make it an ugly relic of a dark past. still we know hate crimes are on the rise. we understand why. madam speaker, if we're who we say we're, a great nation, one nation, with liberty and justice for all, then we all must exercise our power and take a stand so strong that even the white supremacist cannot ignore. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentleman from -- m

an address american people from congress. the house of representatives becomes a cool television set for presidents to directly address american people. a different interpretation from the state of the union that we find in the constitution and what early presidents expected. formalizes this by moving the speech into prime time. if you are talking directly to the people, why not do it when most of them can watch? >> on this hill which was my home, i am spared by old friendships. total agreement between the executive and the congress is impossible. total respect is important. mr. ubertaccio: we know a lot about president johnson. those are significant words. payment except for his office and policy proposal. of the union is delivered in january 1969, the final. a short time before richard nixon would take the oath of office. ofs was delivered at the end the term, a custom they no longer subscribe to. president carter delivered it in writing. ronald reagan chose a farewell address. none since carter formally had a state of the

i think congress functioned better. i look to him as a potential model of how this committee should be run. joe moakley became chair of the rules committee. a reporter asked him, now that you're chairman, you can settle scores of people you don't like, and he said no. power to some people is the ability to say no. power to me is the ability to say yes. i am on the rules committee because joe moakley put me on the rules committee. we served as colleagues in congress for a few years. when he was diagnosed with leukemia that could not be treated, he had three months to live and he called me and said you're going on the committee. he put me on this committee and he said learn the rules. learn the names of all the members. get to know everybody. someday, you may be chairman. he said do not do anything stupid. like run for senate. stay where you are. i have been thinking about him a lot. over these last few days. his portrait hangs over the rules committee. during hears, he looks at me approvingly, and on some days disapprovi

members of congress . please raise your right hand. repeat after me. i solemnly doswear affirm that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that i take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which i am about to enter, so help me god. >> congratulations and welcome to the 116th congress. >> [ applause ] >> thank you, judge. >> yes. >> now for the 2019, 2020 offices of the congressional hispanic caucus, joaquin castro, of texas, ruben gallego , chc representative freshman representative, veronica escobar , raise your right hand and repeat after me. >>i solemnly swear affirm that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that i take this obligation freely, wi

the people are ahead of the congress. the congress must join them. and that is why we have created a select committee on climate crisis, the entire congress must work to put an end to the inaction and denial of science that threaten the planet and the future. this is a -- this is a decision -- a public health decision about clean air, clean water for our children's health. it's a decision for america's global preeminence in the green technologies. it's a decision, a security to be n to keep us all good stewards of god's creation. we have no illusions that our work will be easy and that all of us in this chamber will always agree. but let us give a pledge that when we disagree we respect each other and we respect the truth. we will debate and advance good ideas no matter where they come from, and in that spirit, democrats will be offering the senate republican appropriations legislation to reopen government later today. we will do so -- we will do so to meet the needs of the american people, to protect our borders and to respect our workers. and i ple

it is an odd practice in congress. some would say it is illegal but a benefit,lly taking a federal benefit that they do not have to pay any taxes on, which is essentially free housing. no one has called that question, so a couple dozen members at least, we think, will be sleeping in their offices and probably some of the new ones will be taking up that habit pretty soon. host: what about perks or benefits, like health care? enactment ofthe the affordable care act, obamacare, one of the requirements in that law, which was directly written to address that they getlief excepted from obamacare, members of congress have to buy their health insurance on the .ffordable care act exchanges they are required to participate in obamacare as part of serving in congress. they do get other benefits, there are some perks, there are special parking places at the local airports to allow them to cut it close when they are trying to make a flight. when they are here, it is pretty easy to get a free cup of coffee or a free sandwich. there

if the president of the united states directed someone to lie to the congress, what is congress to do with that? i think jerry nadler the chairman of the judiciary committee was right to say we are going to look -- take a thorough look at this without jumping to the next stage, but if this turns out to be true, the next stage could very well be impeachment. >> yep. circle february 7th on everyone's calendars in red because we'll all be -- we'll all be tuning in to the michael cohen testimony. in the meantime, another huge story has dropped regarding north korea and the president of the united states. so just a bit ago, president trump met with north korea's top envoy at the white house today where they discussed a second summit which we're hearing will take place near the end of february. i should remind everyone this top envoy say former spy chief. this is the same guy who hand deliver that had big envelope to trump last summer with this letter from kim jong-un. do you think they deserve a second summit? do you think that north korea is just totally playing this president? >> you kno