unsustainable and unacceptable. we need to get the nation's fiscal house in order. congress has the authority and responsibility to do so. article one of the constitution vests congress with the power of the purse. no money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of and ariations made by law regular statement of accounts and procedures shall be published. i would argue that we have not been faithful to article one, section nine, clause seven in the constitution. congress exercises its authority to determine overseas federal spending through the annual appropriations process. over time, more spending has been put on autopilot. the government accountability office calls this backdoor spending, federal agencies spending not subject to review in the appropriations process. remember what article one says, that there will be a regular account of expenditures and procedures. today, the gao issued a new report on the scope and frequency of backdoor spending. according to the gao, backdoor spending has increased by 88% since 1994. federal agencies reported $3.2 trillion in backdo

. when the new congress takes office in january, it will have the youngest, most diverse freshman class in recent history. new congress, new leaders, watch it live on c-span starting january 3rd. >> the house oversight and government reform subcommittee back door spending by federal agencies. over the next hour, government accountability office officials talk about how congress can more tightly control spending. this committee on governmental affairs will come to order. we can call a recess at any time. the national debt recently reached $21.3 trillion and there is a debt clock in new york that is running at an extraordinarily rapid rate and the american people pay in that debt and last year the government paid in net interest and the debt held by the public has uncreased and the debt has nearly tripled and this is unacceptable. we need to get the nation's fiscal house in order. article 1 section 9 clause 7 says no money should be drawn by treasury, but the appropriations made by law and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all of the money shall be posed

republican from indiana. he was a former prosecutor for wayne county, indiana. as member of congress, david dennis sat on the house judiciary committee, which at the time probably seemed like a great gig, right? former prosecutor sitting on one of the more prestigious committees in congress. it was probably an awesome gig, until it meant having to decide whether the republican president of the united states should be impeached. republican congressman david dennis was on that committee, and the matter came up, and he took up the challenge. and he took it up with relish. he was not at all shy about his desire to tell the world what a lot of hooey he thought this whole watergate business was. >> if you start talking about the fact, if you start pleading the facts, you can't hold any much intendment against the president except by taking the worst possible construction on everything that happens. the more you analyze it, the more you're going to find out how weak this case is on the fax. we need to remember is we're not accusing the president because of his general moral character or whe

representative mike coffman of colorado about his career and time in congress. this is about 40 minutes. teve: congressman coffman, for those retiring yours is not voluntary, what happened the election? in 2012 they dramatically changed my district to essentially get rid of me at that time. john mccain had carried the district by eight points in 2008 to an area that barack obama carried by eight points in 2008. what was extraordinary about it, was the diversity of the district was extraordinary. it was blue but it was stunning in terms of its -- 20% is foreign-born. three large immigrant communities dominate, aurora, colorado. it is over half the population were the minorities are the majority. i was able to decisively win it in really a wave election. it is a stork when you have a new president who comes to office, particularly with a house and the senate. midterm election is going to be ugly. the president's tone made it very tough in the state of colorado. i think there were losses at every level. steve: in your campaign and in congress you have expressed your displeasure with donald

protection and intervention strategies. >> when the new congress takes office in january, it will have the youngest, most diverse freshman class in recent history. new congress, new leaders. watch it live on c-span starting january 3. next, this is one hour. the subcommittee on intergovernmental affairs will come to order. debt recently reached 21 $.3 trillion. there is a debt clock in new york that is running at an extraordinarily rapid rate. people pay for that debt with interest. without serious reforms, debt held by the public will increase by more than 80% and the interest will nearly triple. this is unsustainable and unacceptable. we need to get the nation's fiscal house in order. congress has the authority and responsibility to do so. article one of the constitution invests congress with the power. article one, section nine, clause seven, says no money should be drawn from the treasury except for appropriations made by law in a regular statement from public money from time to time. i would argue we have not been faithful to article one, section nine, clause seven of the constitu

congress. over the next hour, think tank experts talk about likely lines of inquiry during the 116th congress. >> we're going to get started, guys. if you could take your seats, please. thank you. so we've got three experts here who have expertise with both oversight from the executive and the legislative branches. they are going to help draw a picture for you, literally, the nuts and bolts of oversight. so from your left, we've got, wait a minute. oh, yeah, here we go. from your left, we've got austin evers who founded american oversite in 2017 after serving on the state department on oversight and transparency issues. then we've got andy wright, a senior fellow and founding editor of just security. he's a research scholar at new york university school of law as well. pertinent to this discussion, he served on obama's white house counsel and was staff director to the house oversight committee. and then we've got justin rood, the director of the congressional oversight initiative at pogo. he was also a senior investigators on two senate committees. he bridges reporting skills to his

budget appropriations process is making it harder for congress to tackle our pressing fiscal challenges. to start one easy thing we could do to improve the process woulds be to change the names of the budget and appropriations committee to better reflect each committees function. the budget committee which is tasked with crafting an annual fiscal framework to guide the progress really should be called the debt control committee. the appropriations committee which is responsible for making the actual decisions about how money is spent each year should be renamed the budget and appropriations committee. too often when we come up against appropriations deadlines as we are now, press reports that declared congress has to pass the budget to avoid a shutdown that is true of the budget has been passed a long time ago in reality the budget reflects the start of the process and appropriations reflects the end. changing these committees names with more clearly delineate the actual responsibilities and thereby make it easy for them to be carried out and understood by the public. a secon

civil war, joanne freeman talked about her book, "the field of blood: violence in congress and the road to civil war." she describes the process of researching the topic and says she found that while fights were not always included in the official congressional record, clerk notes and private letters show more than 70 altercations in the antebellum period. this is about one hour. >> i am very pleased to introduce joanne freeman. she is a professor of history and american studies at yale university as well as a leading authority on early national politics and political culture. she is the author of "affairs of honor," essential research for lin-manuel miranda. and cohost of the popular political podcast "back story." while the political theme may seem like polarized now, i think we can all agree we are glad not to live in the time when congressmen used to shoot each other as well as poor waiters at the willard who would not serve them breakfast. pre-civil war america, contentious, rowdy, and violent. however, the violence was not merely a result of ill behaved congressmen, although

. when the new congress takes office in january, it will have the youngest most diverse freshman class in recent history. leaders.ess, new watch it live on c-span, starting january 3. >> officials from the government accountability office testified on how congress contract track and control spending better at a hearing by e-house oversight and government reform committee. oversight and government reform subcommittee, this is an hour. >> the national debt recently reached $21.3 trillion. there is a debt clock in new york that is running at an extremely rapid rate. the american people pay for that debt with interest. last year the government paid $371 billion in net interest. in 10 years, debt held by the public will increase and the net interest will nearly triple. this is unsustainable and unacceptable. we need to get the nation's fiscal house in order. congress has the authority and responsibility to do so. article one of the constitution vests congress with the power of the purse. no money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of and ariations made by law regular

the basis of congress or the president had succeeded the court of what the president allowed to do structurally. 1990's, whenthe cases like new york versus the united states in 1992, which was the first significant case in this area, and going on to lopez in other cases later. the supreme court did begin to -- revised federalism and several ways. one is they said it is not the case that the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce means the power to regulate anything. there will be some limits. specifyt easy to exactly what these limits are. but in several cases, beginning in lopez, they said there are constraints. they also said more firmly, that the federal government is not allowed to commandeer state and local governments. not allowed to say that we will force government officials to help enforce federal law and carry out other functions. , thee also most notably obamacare case, they have ruled that there are constraints that are meaningful on the kinds of grants, conditions that can be given -- and i can be composed on federal governments -- i'm sorry, state

. now with just hours left in the 115th congress, we need to pass this important bill out of the senate and get it on the president's desk. the little shell tribe has waited for lifetimes. they should not have to wait another year to get this done. therefore, mr. president, in the fashion of all the previous votes on this bill, with strong bipartisan support, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the calendar number 574, h.r. 3764. i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. lee: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: reserving the right to object, tribal recognition is a very serious matter, not one that should be taken lightly. given the sacred nature of tribal recognition and the significant impact it has both for the tribe in question and for the united states government as well as surrounding communities, we have an orderly process by which this nee

distinguished members of congress, representative martha griffith, democrat of michigan, and representative patsy mink, democrat of hawaii. shia served on the house ways and means committee, the only woman ever to serve on the committee. she has been a member of the joint economic committee. before congress, she served in the michigan state legislature and was also a judge. mrs. mink has represented hawaii in congress since 1965, and was -- also an attorney, she serves on the health education and labor committee and interior committee. before coming to the house of representatives, she served in the hawaii legislature and lectured in business law at the university of hawaii. welcome. in recent years, women in the united states have begun to organize themselves to improve their status in society. what do you think has caused this movement, this women's movement, or women's liberation movement, as it has been called? >> i think one of the things is they are so much better educated. secondly, so many more of them have been forced by economic necessity to go to work. and they hav

of how oversight might work in the new congress. austin: good morning, everybody. i am the executive director of american oversight. american oversight is a nonpartisan, nonprofit government watchdog. open up the books of the government to find conduct -- misconduct and corruption. differented 2000 requests. 'm sure many of you know that foya is not fast. we haven't planning for this a year.or i can tell you more about this in detail, but we have been lining up our foia requests with what we expect congress to investigate. we went to supercharge investigations and increase the likelihood that somebody will be held accountable if we find misdeeds. we'rehe broader picture, expecting an oversight storm. we have republican secretly setting the oversight hell. 52 investigations the democrats want to run. the end of impunity. winter is coming. a nice picture of elijah cummings, donald trump's worst nightmare. the nuts and bolts of how that oversight will be conducted. i want to get into some details. i want to paint a picture of how you are a big part of the accountability landsc

outer bounds of the fourth amendment, within those amendments it has been congress that enacted strong privacy protection but only in specific areas. most significantly where congress has chosen to act it has been often to address only specific problems about which there was widespread consensus. the issues are technically complex to begin with and we all know political accord can be difficult to achieve. thus in many cases given pace of technology we have been left with either aging or no laws at all. take for example, how congress tried to address new technology the 1980s. at the time the law focused on privacy protections related to telephone calls. a out of date. the supreme court's decision in miller and the adoption of e-mail and kperizing cord keeping systems were the subject. in 1986, congress passed the electronic communications privacy act which established a new framework that provided varying requirements for law enforcement to compel the disclosure of the content of electronic communications depending in part how long they had been in storage. for those communications that

the congress where you might want to ask the kids to leave the room for this he lied. don't tell don lemon mark zuckerberg is a liar. watch him do this. >> this is the most principle for facebook. every piece of content that you share on facebook, you own and you have complete control over who sees it and how you share it. and you can remove it at any time. >> are you willing to give me more control over my data? >> senator, as somebody who uses facebook i believe you should have complete control over your data. >> tucker: yeah, have you complete control over your data. you control who sees it. you own it that's really the most important principle at facebook. mark zuckerberg says so with a completely straight face. the only problem it was a lie. sorry, kids. according to a piece in the "new york times," facebook does not actually allow you or anyone tolls control your data. not at all. in fact, they secretly hand over your data personal data to other big tech companies. now, that decision has made mark zuckerberg even richer, adding on the house in hawaii, probably. unfortunately, h

with several brave activists from yemen. they have urged congress to put a stop to this war and told me see madewhen yemenis in the usa on the bombs killing them, and tells them that the usa is responsible for this war and that is the sad truth. mr. president, the bottom line is the united states should not be supporting a catastrophic war led by a despite regime with a dangerous and you're responsible military policy. some have suggested that congress moving to withdraw support from this war would undermine u.s. efforts to recent -- reach a peace agreement. but i would argue the exact opposite is the truth. it is the promise of unconditional u.s. support that has undermined the efforts towards peace. we have evidence for this. just yesterday, we received news that the u.s. special envoy richard griffiths made a breakthrough agreement for the exchange in that war of some 15,000 prisoners. they build the necessary trust there broader commitment seems to be a firmer willingness to reach an agreement than in previous talks as the government realizes that the international pressure on saudi

of staff and the latest from the swamp including the members of congress who you just booted out heading straight back in as lobbyists and the shenanigans over donations for the trump inaugural committee. i don't know how were going to cover all that but we will try. let me just set things up for you on these two massive issues dominating the news as we head into the holiday. look at it from a populist perspective. what is best for working americans? not the rich, not the donors, not the activist but regular working people? on immigration, establishment republicans have wanted cheap labor and establishment democrats wanted cheap votes. working americans lost out as uncontrolled immigration kept wages low. on healthcare, the republicans have gone too far right and the democrats too far left, but what we actually need is a major reform that delivers universal healthcare using free market solutions. that's how i see it and i think president trump has got the right instincts on all of that. with me to it debate all of this, fox nation host tommy lawrence and contributor jason j fitz,

an event that will focus on congressional oversight and importance of the role of congress in overseeing intelligence activities, it we will talk about the role of the press and media in governing over see intelligence activities. tonight we are going to focus on spy watchers, the people who are inside the intelligence community or executive branch whose job is to make sure those intelligence activities are conducted in a moral and ethical manner. i am one of those of noxious hosts i will ask you to do something. i would love you to stand up for a moment. thank you. i would like you to raise your right hand. fantastic. look around the room at your colleagues and friends in such, fantastic, you can all sit down. when you looked across the room you saw people standing with their right hands up. i would like you to know that is what every member of the intelligence community does on their first day of work, they stand up, raise their right hand and swear an oath. affirmative they can't swear. that oath is to protect and defend the constitution of the united states of america, to

on the judgment? aca wasast friday, ruled unconstitutional because in 2017, congress passed a tax bill that included a provision that the aca individual mandate would be reduced to zero. this essentially took the heart out of the mandate. legislation was passed other than that in the tax bill. because of this thing that congressman pointed, the judge decided that renders the aca unconstitutional. this is a judgment in a case brought by the plaintiff that numerous scholars on the right and left have called absurd. context, go back to early days. 2008, 2010, aca debates. the three legged stool. pillars,ad the three the mandate, without the pillars, the stool falls over. that is the concept behind the case. as emily says, i do not know i have heard anyone showing support for the judge's ruling. that includes a number of voracious aca critics. it is unusual to be discussing aca lawsuit and have everyone be in agreement. host: part of the language says congress stated unequivocally that the individual mandate is essential for the aca and that the text makes clear the mandate must work

>> when the congress comes back in january they will have the youngest and most diverse. watch it live starting on january 3rd. >> current government funding is set to expire on friday at midnight. congress and the president need to reach an agreement to keep the government funded. the speeches from the senate floor where senators spoke about the potential government shutdo shutdown. >> earlier this month, congress sent the president another continuing resolution to allow more time to resolve a partisan impasse that has us on the brink of a government shutdown once again. yes, continuing resolution allows agencies to continue to spend money without knowing how much they actually get to spend. the current episode is yet another example of the breakdown of what should be the basic nuts and bolts of governing, keeping the government open and funded. in other words, they've been spending money since last october without knowing how much money they get to spend. so i come to the floor today to talk about the need to reform our broken budget and appropriations process and layout ideas h

the congress to be a check and balance on the other branches of government. and they, the public, are the ultimate check and balance and want to operate congress in an open way. transparency, of course, so they can see what is at hand here and see bipartisanship and that we are unifying in what we do. one of the issues that emerged on the campaign that the new class of house democrats have the priorities with the integrity of government. that is our for the people agenda. lower health care costs, bigger paychecks, integrity in government. for a while now, congressman john sarbanes of maryland has been working on that initiative. h.r. 1, that was signed by so many, the first order of business when we come here. the impact of that will be transformative to congress when we reduce the role of money, amplify the voice of every american so they know that their voices matter. i'm very pleased to see the energy and entrepreneurial spirit that our new members are bringing, and want to acknowledge that we are joined by representative-elect dean phillips of minnesota. ron escobar of texas.

, which is the end of the fiscal year. do wellr, congress did in the appropriations process, much better than they have in previous years. they got five bills pasts. they got the defense bill passed. construction, a legislative branch bill and an energy bill. that still leaves seven bills and severn agencies -- seven agencies. so, we have a two week reprieve to give them some breathing room to get things done. if there is a shutdown come december 21, it won't be the whole government because congress has done part of the government already. host: where our most people likely to experience this? how are federal employees decided which are essential and which are nonessential? guest: that depends on the agency. the agency's work with the officers money and budget to agree to who is essential and nonessential. and a lot of times, you have the people who work behind the desk who are going to be the ones that go on furlough. then there are others were deemed essential or who do lawrity for their agencies, enforcement activities and things like that who continue working. you don't see th

c-span, and the senate on c-span 2. when the new congress takes office in january, it will have the youngest, most diverse freshman class in recent history. new congress, new leaders. watch it live on c-span, starting january 3. bloomberg trade reporter jenny leonard joins us for a discussion about the year ahead in trade policy. icy. let's start with our closest neighbors from the north and south and what and when the next steps will take place when it comes to replacing nafta with the so-called usmca. guest: usmca is the new nafta. it is not yet in front of congress. so the president reached a deal signed it at the g20 and argentina. obviously the fight in congress is going to be a long one and it has not even really started. what is called the implementing bill has not been written by the administration. all the changes in u.s. law that need to be made democrats and republicans both still want to weigh in on. turns out some of the democrats that have been closely involved in the negotiations with the administration are calling for a reopening of the agreement. host: explain that.

new congress takes office in january, it will have the youngest, most diverse reshma and class in history. new congress, new leaders. watch it live on c-span, starting january 3. announcer: homeland security secretary kiersten nielsen testifies before the house judiciary committee about border security and immigration enforcement. she was asked about the death of a seven-year-old girl who was importer patrol custody. -- who was in border patrol custody. [chatter] >> good morning. the judiciary committee will come to order without objection . the chair is authorized to declare recess at any time. we welcome everyone to this hearing on oversight of the department of homeland security, and i will begin by yielding to the gentleman from new york. >> thank you, mr. chairman. before we begin, i want to point out this is most likely the last time you will be presiding over this committee as chairman. although your retirement is well-deserved, it is a great loss to this committee, for congress and the country. , it's no secret you and i have disagreed about many issues over the years, and

the incoming 2019 congress? they brought in reporters to talk about issues over the next two years. this lasts about an hour. >>> paul miller is out there. it's been two months since i've seen you. i'm having some senior moments recalling you instantly, but i know who you are, and by the end of the day i'll remember all of you again. and i see some of our fellows from previous paul miller years and other programs. thank you all for coming. so we have a tax morning, we have three panel discussions. the first is 55 minutes, the next two are 60 minutes. no official brakes between them. we will go from one panel directly to the next. first talking about the congressional agenda, then the white house agenda and the political landscape. if you're looking for the wi-fi landscape, it's the md, not not -- -- if you're coming to the front of the room, you can come up front, just be ware of c-span's equipment in the back. we want to thank c-span for airing this. it will be on c-span2 all morning, i believe. i also want to thank maryland. for the paul millers, we also have a handful of paul mi

interests here in the congress of the united states for eight terms. i also rise this final time in appreciation to my colleagues in this wonderful institution, the u.s. house of representatives. for their support over the years, as we have worked on many impactful issues for the betterment of our constituents and our nation, it has been my honor to serve in congress for the last 16 years, and i leave here proud of what we have accomplished, not just for guam, but for our nation and our allies in the asia pacific region. as the nonvoting delegate for the 168,000 americans who live on the westernmost territory of the united states of america, i worked with my congressional colleagues to support policies, programs, and legislation that have benefited the people of guam. i have also secured billions of dollars in federal investment in guam and our people. and with the support of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, we saw the passage of landmark legislation for guam, including passing war reparations to recognize the survivors of the occupation of guam during world war ii. enshrin

than i expected to be in congress but i kept getting to be the chairman of this committee or subcommittee and that keeps you are around. it is hard to walk away from that. but having just finished up my six years on the science committee and been term limited there, it seemed like a good time to leave. steve: what do the you think about the idea of term limits? rep. smith: i like what the republicans have done. so you can only serve the six years because that brings in new ideas and people and new expertise and new knowledge and new perspectives. i like that. as far as term limits for the entire congress, i would argue that we have term limits and they are called elections every two years. there is a pretty large turnover in fact. and you have a situation today where two thirds of the members of congress have been elected since the year 2000. you do not need term limits to have new faces. and beside that, term limits would require constitutional amendments which is a high hurdle to clear. in effect, we have term limits between the natural turnover and the elections every two

congress and the media. so to get started i will give you a list of the mechanisms to oversee the intelligence community. number one there are lawyers. intelligence community agency the general counsel the nsc lawyers group a small group of lawyers from the national security agency who get together regularly that is the policy intelligence communities are legal the office of legal counsel of the department of justice and ultimately the attorney general himself. a lot of lawyers there are inspector general's and at the dni and those are statutory. there are executive branch oversight bodies the advisory board common intelligence oversight board privacy and civil liberties oversight board than ad hoc commissions as well which is when i served on with president obama with those disclosures on technology and disclosures and forth whistleblowers some of those were defined in statute or regulations. i want to add one more because i wasn't sure where to put in the series and that is the fisa court so we will put it in even though it's not part of the executive branch oversight body there

something that indeed you could achieve here even in the halls of congress. i have a special reason to be so grateful. also so sad about his departure. i relied on him for his advice and counsel. he gave its proactively. when asked, he always had the wisdom of years and the judgment that so many of us will miss so badly. a took a chance on me as young lawyer from cincinnati, ohio, to come into his white house as associate counsel to the president. he then took a chance on me to join his legislative affairs team. i was not particularly qualified for either job. i had only worked on the hill briefly as an intern. i was not nearly as distinguished as the other members of the legal team who had been mostly supreme court clerks. it just made me work all the harder to earn his trust and respect. he didn't just give me a job. he taught me about being a leader, a public servant, a better husband and father. he showed me what servant leadership meant. what it looked like in practice. i try to work every day to live up to that example. one of the most decent and honorable people i have ever m

for giving me the profound honor of representing the state in the united states congress for 12 years. and then in the united states senate for almost eight years. nevada, thank you for granting me the privilege of working every day for a state that i am so proud to call my home. of course, like to thank my immediate family. especially my wife, for being on my side. for nearly 30 years of public service. to my children, hilary, harris, drew. to their spouses, thank you for your patience. your understanding and your tolerance of this process. i would be remiss if i did not think my parents jack and janet heller. setting the right example and religious tone in our home growing up. to my father-in-law, richard, all of my wife's family, thank you for raising such a wonderful daughter. a sister, cousin and aunt. madam president, i have five brothers sisters -- ancestors. they all played a vital role in my upbringing. so thank you to jack, tammy, sarah, match and brian. all of these individuals i mentioned gave me their steadfast support. in my journey from nevada legislature to the s

united states congress and proud of that. prior to that, a successful business leader in texas. he was an ambassador to the united nations. he was c.i.a. director. he was envoy to china, the first one. he was vice president of the united states, and he was president, of course, during one of the most momentous times in our nation's history. what a life. in his absence our country is losing a lifelong patriot, a guiding voice, and really the embodiment of the very best of america. for me, president bush was also my mentor. i was very blessed early in my career to have been able to work for him. he brought me into his white house when i was a young man trying to figure out my way in life, and i would not be in this crazy business of politics but for him. not just because he gave me opportunities to work for him but because he showed me that you could do this work of public service and politics with honor and dignity and respect. he showed that nice guys can finish first. he showed that his approach, kinder and gentler, as he would call it in 1988, was something that indeed you could achieve

every level. steve: in your campaign and in congress you have expressed your displeasure with donald trump, why and how? rep. coffman: issue by issue, certainly when i agree with the president i sit with him. when i disagree with him, as i did with separating families at the border -- i think his relationship with vladimir putin. there are a number of issues that concern me. particularly among college-educated women, independents that are registered, who had voted for me in the past. they really were recoiled by the tone of the president. they felt there needed to be a greater check on the president by a democratic-controlled house. steve: were you caught in the middle? you were one who would often cross the aisle and that would anger conservatives in your own party. rep. coffman: it was a difficult situation to be in. i was ranked as the 12th most bipartisan member of congress by the nonpartisan institute. i think those who were offended by the tone of donald trump, nothing i could do or say would be enough. some people saw that as disloyal. questioning the president. i saw i

california. announcer: watch conversations with retired members of congress tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span and c-span.org. you can also listen with the free c-span radio app. a new congress begins in january with democrats taking the majority of the house. next, a discussion on congressional oversight hosted by the national press foundation. it is an hour. >> we are going to get started. if you could take your seats, please. [indistinct chatter] thank you. we have three experts here. they have expertise with both oversight from the executive and legislative branches. they will help draw a picture for you, literally, the nuts and bolts of oversight. from your left we have austin evers who founded american oversight in 2017 after serving in the state department on oversight and transparency issues. then we have andy right -- wright, the senior and fellow editor of just security blog. pertinent to this discussion, he served on obama's white house counsel, and was step director to the house oversight committee. then we have justin rood. , he was a senior investigator on two senate committ

the youngest most diverse freshman class in recent history. new congress, new leaders. watch it live on c-span starting january 3. >> the senate returns today to consider amendments to measure that would end u.s. military assistance in yemen. next, a look at some of the debate from yesterday on the senate floor. >> mr. president, i i come to e floor today to talk about one of the great humanitarian crises facing our planet, and that is the horrific war in yemen. in march of 2015 under the leadership of mohammad bin salman who was then the saudi arabian defense minister and is now of course the crown prince, saudi arabia and the united arab emirates intervened in humans ongoing civil war. as a result of the saudi uae intervention, yemen is now experiencing the worst humanitarian disaster in the world. according to the united nations, yemen is at risk of the most severe famine in more than 100 years, with some 14 million people facing starvation, in one of the poorest countries on earth as a result of this terrible war, according to the save the children organization, some 85,000

congress is going to do it. i'm supportive of senator menendez's legislation. i thank him for putting all the time into it. and i would note that both he, as the incoming ranking member, and senator risch, as the incoming chairman of the foreign relations committee, were amongst those 60 votes today that voted to move forward on this resolution. i hope that portends the ability for our committee to work together next year to put forward and advance this legislation. but to simply reiterate what senator graham said. saudi arabia is our ally. but when your ally jumps into a pool of sharks, you aren't obligated to follow them. there is a line that saudi arabia crossed. i would argue long ago. and unfortunately it is now up to the united states congress to try to make clear what this relationship can be and has to be, going into the future. yemen is one of the symptoms and unfortunately it is the most disastrous of them. 85,000 kids under the age of 5 have died from starvation and disease. all the evidence points to the fact that many times the saudis are using our bombs to deliberately t

never been authorized by congress. now, this is a debate we've had many, many times and i know the distinguished chairman, senate foreign relations committee has been a part of that debate and has wanted us to come to grips with a congressional authorization for military use in yemen. i applaud the chairman and i'm proud to be on that committee. if it would have been left up to the committee we would have been able to agree with that resolution. i'm not saying that we are culpable, but we have not passed the authorization, there is no authorization for the u.s. of military force in yemen, despite the fact that article 1, section 8, clause 11 of the constitution of the united states gives the congress the sole power to declare war. we're spoble for military and you can't get that authorization, there should at least be a presumption that we shouldn't be using our military. if you can't get the support of congress. if a president, commander-in-chief can't get the support of congress for use of force, there should not be a suspend use. we know there are emergency situations and we exp

coming for transborder wall, blessed congress provide $5 billion for the wall which democrats do not support. see live coverage of the u.s. house on c-span and watch the live here on cspan2. >> c-span: where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's television companies and today, we continue to bringyou unfiltered coverage of congress , the white house, the supreme court and public policy events in washington dc and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. >>. >> it is secretary james honored house speaker paul ryan in a pentagon ceremony last week. both secretary mattis and speaker ryan delivered brief remarks area. >> good afternoon and welcome. today ceremony in honor of house speaker paul ryan. please stand for the arrival of the official party. >>. >> grassy. >>. >> i don't want to mess with protocol here. where a member of the press? you've got to fess up, there you are. good to have you, thank you. but speaker ryan, and flag officers and secretaries and members of the press, for a moment i'll s

what congress can do to avoid a shutdown. and later on the your money segment, reuters correspondent david shepardson discusses how the federal government has supported the american automobile industry. as always, we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: good morning, it is monday, december 10. the house meets today. the senate returns at 4:00. we are with you for the next four hours. we begin on the front end of a two week window that congress and the white house have given themselves to come up with a government spending deal. the major point of disagreement is whether president trump will get the $5 billion he wants for a border wall. if no agreement is reached by december 21, the government will go into a partial shutdown. we are beginning our program by asking whether you think it is worth risking a shutdown. if you think it is worth it, (202) 748-8000. if you do not think it is worth it, (202) 748-8001. you can also catch up with us at social media. on facebook it is facebook.com/c-span. you can s

wonderful institution. the only institution in america chartered by congress to give information about the u.s. constitution on a nonpartisan basis. beautiful. these are congregants at the church of constitution. amen. we are here to inspire ourselves tonight and i'm here to thank you for showing up on this snowy evening to join me in celebrating the launch of my new book on william howard taft. [applause] the snow anecdote, this evening. on the morning of the past in operation, he met with theodore roosevelt and it was so snowy they couldn't get through the streets. she said the storm will soon be over, as soon as i'm out where i can do no further harm to the constitution. taft replied, you are wrong it's my storm. it would be a cold day when i got to be president of the united states. both predictions about the constitutional would pose in his efforts to impose his program by executive orders in the political cost of taft would prove to be correct. we are here tonight to discuss taft's legacy as our most judicial resident and presidential chief justice. i can't think of a better colleagu

headwinds here at home. members of congress pressing for answers. first, why did trump deany business dealings of any kind russia while on the campaign trail? and was roger stone a facilitator? >>> it was publishing hacked democratic e-mails. >> i have never done anything politics that was outside the norms of my colleagues and my contemporaries. i have always made it clear that so called dirty tricks come up to but do not cross the line into legality. >>> on another front growing concerns. this line of questioning from the man who once said he would take a bullet for trump. michael cohen pleaded guilty to lying congress. he lied about his efforts to secure a real estate deal for the organization. cohen admitting he talked to the president and his family about it multiple times this past january 2016 which he claimed in his original testimony. >> it is coming to an end. the fact that he was lying to the american people about doing business in russia and that the kremlin knew he was lying gave the kremlin a hold over him. one question does he have hold over him? >> we have more ton lat