current faa authority expires this friday at midnight. the ecaon secretary testifies before house lawmakers about hisepartment's policies, priorities, and budget. you can also watch our live coverage on the c-span now video app or online at c-span.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including cox. >> the disease is extremely rare, but friends don't have to be. >> this is joe. >> when you are connected, you are not alone. >> cox supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> president biden and first

lady jill biden hosting a cinco de mayo celebration at the white house. the president highlighted his administration's work and efforts to address issues important to hispanic communities. this is about 15 minutes. ♪ [band playing "hail to the chief"] >> hello. >> hello. >> and welcome to the white house. please join me in another round of applause for our talented musicians who flew all the way here from los angeles this morning. today we celebrate cinco de mayo

and the long line of mexican americans who have added their own threads to our rich american tapestry with bravery and vision. activists whose movements for justice achieved hard-won progress. trailblazers in every career and calling who have led us toward a more perfect union, and as we recognize mexican americans who have so profoundly shaped our country and are continuing to shape it, we also remember the first step to progress is dreaming. creating those images in our own heads even if the odds are against us. reaching for the stars even if we may miss. sculpting the world we see when we close our eyes and imagine. that's what your president does

every single day. [cheers and applause] he's growing the middle class, working to level the playing field for all families. he is fighting injustice and inequality, defending our rights and freedoms, and creating a better, brighter future ahead, but he cannot do this alone. he needs your help, your hope, your dreams, and your passion, and your determination to make those dreams and those images real. thank you for all that you do to lift up our communities. thank you -- well, thank you. thank you for helping us celebrate our nation's mexican-american heritage today,

and happy cinco de mayo. [cheers and applause] and now it is my pleasure to introduce an incredible athlete -- not you, joe -- [laughter] who is sculpting his own path in the nba and in his community and inspiring so many people -- so many young people to reach for their own dreams. here you go, it's yours. >> appreciate it. thank you, dr. biden. it is such an honor to be here today. i am from camarillo, california, and i play in the nba for the miami heat.

i stand here before you on the shoulders of giants. generations of proud and incredibly accomplished mexican americans that came before me. i'm proud to continue their legacy and continue to push the traditions of mexican americans that make the spirit of our people so great. a tradition and spirit based on the physicals of hard work and the importance of family. thank you, president biden and your administration, for celebrating our community and all our contributions here today. without further ado, it is my honor to welcome the president of the united states, mr. president joe biden. [cheers and applause] president biden: happy cinco de mayo! >> four more years. four more years.

four more years. president biden: thank you, thank you. i'm jill biden's husband, joe. doug, our second gentleman, is here. good to see you, pal. jaime, thanks for the introduction. i've always looked up to you. congratulations on a great rookie season in the nba. as you said, you stand on the shoulders of those who came before you. future generations will stand on your 6'6" shoulders nba hell of a lot taller, man. when i was elected, i promise my administration would look like america, and i'm proud to say it does. i want to thank my cabinet members here today tom perez,

tom, where are you? on friday, i had the honor of bestowing our nation's highest civilian award to 19 incredible people, two trailblazers who were hispanic american as well. the first latino to lead the national union -- a national union, of american farmworkers. as you look over my shoulder, i have got a few quests in their, one of them being cesar chavez. in the first latino to travel to space. i'm glad she decided to come home. we are a nation of immigrants, and we should not forget it.

why we are so good, why we are so strong, why we have such potential. we are a nation of dreamers. as cinco de mayo represents, a nation of freedom. that is the america we share, the america we are fighting for together. we created record low unemployment among latinos. we have doubled loans to latino-owned businesses and invested a record $15 billion to hispanic serving colleges and universities, and we have relieved student debt for 4.6 one million. a burden disproportionately falling on latino borrowers. people say why am i so fundamentally focused on latinos? simple proposition -- make up 28% of students in america.

think about it -- 28% of all the students in high school and grade school in america are latino, and i want to tell you, the idea we are not going to pay attention is the dumbest thing i have ever heard. look, we have your back. you have had ours. i unveiled the most ambitious housing plan for decades. for example, it boosts construction on rental units and lowers rent, cracks down on discrimination by home appraisers so latino homes are finally devalued as fairly as they were when they were built for wealthy families. we are in a situation of lower cost across the board. we finally beat big pharma and gave medicare the ability to negotiate lower drug prices. we kept insulin at $35 a month down from $400 a month, for seniors on medicare, including 5 billion latinos, and guess what? we saved not only those lives,

but taxpayers, saved them $116 billion in medicare costs over the next 10 years they are not going to have to pay. it's a big deal across the board. we also extended health coverage through the affordable care act, doubling the number of latinos unrolled since 2020. my administration finally announced a will that for the first time -- finally, finally, i am able to provide health insurance through the affordable care act for daca recipients. [cheers and applause] the first bill introduced was about daca, to make sure they have a direct path to citizenship. the president and i created that program 12 years ago to give 800,000 dreamers a chance to go to work, but more than 1/3 of dreamers cannot get health insurance, and it was wrong. this rule changes all that. dreamers cannot get health insurance that they deserve.

my first day in office, i sent a bill to congress that expands legal pathways for families and employers, includes pathways to citizenship for dreamers in the only country they ever called home. i love it when people say why dreamers? can you imagine a kid two years old? these are model citizens. congress has to act and the right thing to do is to keep pushing forward and get it done. on this day two years ago, we were honored to host the first lady of mexico to celebrate the unbreakable bond between our nations. bonds proven in history and heritage, boosted by record trade. i want to thank president lopez obrador for his partnership. we have become friends. i talked to him all the time. he's helping on immigration.

we are doing all this while cutting the federal deficit and fighting to make the wealthy and the big corporations finally begin to pay their fair share. under my plan no one earning less than $400,000 a year will pay an extra penny in federal taxes. not a single penny. did you know there over 1000 billionaires in america? if you make one million bucks, go get it, but guess what? you have to pay your fair share. you know what the average tax rate for a billionaire is in america? 8.2% in federal taxes. that's less than the vast majority of americans. no billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a teacher, nurse, firefighter, or cop. that's what i propose a minimum tax of 25% for billionaires. that will raise 500 billion

dollars over the next 10 years. imagine what we could do to affordable care for children, paid leave. that's a kid who knows what he is about, man. as you know, there are those with a different view. when my predecessor was in office, he enacted a $2 trillion tax cut that overwhelmingly benefited the super rich and corporations and exploded the federal debt more than any other president has in eight 4-year term. he wants to do it again. he also wants to terminate the affordable care act and deny health care to millions of latinos. he wants big banks and big pharma to be able to charge $400 a month, so they would eliminate that legislation instead of $35 a month. he wants to cut social security and medicare. he says there's a lot we can do in terms of cutting. i got one really serious idea on

how to cut -- a candidate. anyway. he brags about getting roe v. wade overturned. he jested an interview in "time" magazine and said states should monitor women's pregnancies. monitor pregnancies? he also said we should prosecute those who violate abortion bands. kamala and i will never let that happen. we will keep working to restore roe v. wade as the law of the land. my predecessor vowed to use the u.s. military to deport 11 million people here in america that he says should not be here. he would use the military to deport 11 million people in america. he calls immigrants rapists and murderers. he said they are not people. he said immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country. wants to bring back cruel and inhumane family separation policies that ripped children from their families at the

border. that's not who we are. that's not america. my administration has united 700 of those families and still looking. families belong together, folks, not separated. let me close with this -- we are here in the rose garden. in the oval office i have a little bust of cesar chavez. on the back corner of the garden, there is a rosebush planted in his honor. he once said "our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and dreams of others for their sake and our own." the reason why we are the fastest growing country in the world with one of the best economies is because of immigration. that's not hyperbole. that's a fact. what i have seen of latino communities, doctors, teachers, construction workers, first responders, you are dreamers and

doers. cutting cancer, commending the military, taking deep steps into space. it matters. you matter. you really do. you matter more than we can express. as i said earlier, you know, when you have 28% of all the students in our schools after high school, 28% speaking spanish, how -- how in gods's name can we are not pay attention? open opportunity we share, honesty, decency, faith -- that is the future we are building on. in america, we expand democracy, we do not diminish it. if the economy grows from the middle out and bottom up, the wealthy pay their fair share, that is what we are about,

america where no one is left behind. i know we can do this. because of you, i have never been more optimistic about the future. we are the united states of america, a nation of immigrants, and there's nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together. god bless you all and may god bless our troops. thank you, thank you, thank you. >> friday night, watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail, a weekly round of c-span's campaign

coverage, providing a one-stop shop to learn what candidates across the country are saying to voters. updated poll numbers, fundraising data, and campaign ads. watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail friday night at 7:30 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org, or download as a podcast on c-span now, our free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. c-span -- your unfiltered view of politics. ♪ >> c-span's "washington journal," a live form involving you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy, from washington, d.c., and across the country. coming up tuesday morning, reuters reported david jefferson discusses congressional efforts to approved federal aviation

administration reauthorization legislation and its potential impacts. then we discuss the latest on the youth vote, campus protests, and campaign 2024. c-span's "washington journal," join in the conversation live on tuesday morning, c-span, c-span now our free mobile video app, or online at c-span.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including charter communications. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers, and we are just getting started, building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a