science base of engineering design, fourth greater understanding of science. and that is still in process. there is preliminary data but i have nothing to show yet. so we are starting to educate the students who are doing the research who will be a sassing, looking at the assessment. and then the question was how we need to change higher education. i showed you some of the program for educating the educators. but i think we are already changing. i don't think you're going to do many of those speeches were you look to the left and you look to the right, and one of you will not be here. i hope you will not be hearing those anymore. i think there have been a lot of innovation there is a lot a project-based learning going on after years of getting rid of laboratories. i think you have seen a resurgence in those. and there is a lot of interest in service learning.

engineers without borders have exported across campuses and universities. and service learning is basically an engineering design type of process where you have a problem, and you take a systems approach to solving it, and y work in multidisciplinary tea. and it could be extracurricular or curricular. which originated at purdue, was one of the major representatives of this service learning. it was founded in 1995, so it is 14 years. it has grown up in 17 universities now. it is dwing students in and it is a vertically integrated, so as students can continue in this program all the way through from theoftware to the senior-level. and they work in teams. at tufts have a social order pernod chef competition which

students can enter with her innovations, and mostly every year it is an engineer who wins this competition. it is open across the campus. we have a nerd girls group whom you may have seen written up in the u.s. news world report and they were on the today show. this is thbrainchild oone of our professors. she -- unchartered i had a senior moment here. professor karen, electrical and engineering. she believes that we have to fight the stereotype that women in engineering and has been successful at tufts. there is some mails that belong to this chapter now. they do a lot a project in the community. they do outreach in k-12. and they provide role models for young women. the other thing that is happening is this thing about silas. i don believe in silos. i think we have to go to reach out. but princeton, for example, there is an introduction to

engineering mathematics and physics that is done at the single integrated course. these types of courses are becoming more prevalent. at tufts, for example, we have a minor in music engineering, which is a partnership wit mathematics, mechanical engineering, computer engineering and electrical engineering. and it is expanding. and again, a lot of project-based learning goes o here. a lot of hospitalization. as another example, our provost starts of the called university seminar and are engineering faculty has to do to provide courses across the campus. if you were getting one in stem cells that involves a professor from industry, one from inner and bimetal policy and tiny, one for biomedical engineering and one from religion. those are the kinds of interesting courses that are appearing on our campus. i have to say that it's not just the faculties. it is a student driving it. i am not worried about telling their enthusiasm once they get up to the college-level.

i think there is a lot going on. i think the students are going to demand a different sort of course it so in summary then, i would just like to give my thoughts on where to go from here. for so long, within engineering, engineering education has not been thought of as an area of scholarship. education has been the purview of education departments. and that is starting to change. and i think it has to continue to change. national academy has identified that as an important area, and they are going to have the first of frontiers of engineering and engineering education symposium this year to sort of highlight that area. their new journals that have sprung up. we have to make the career path attractive for these individuals. and i think we are headed in that direction. the other thing that we need to be able to do is to do good outcome assessment research, and we need a cohort of people whose area of scholarship of engineering education in order to get research.

and we need to be developing new tools and new methodologies, smart phones. hadn't heard about, that's another area that is really exciting. but i've emphasized the need to be interdisciplinary because we don't want to greet any more sidles. we don't want to say that engineers are the only one to know how to do that becauswe don't. we need to partner with child development folks. education folks. the psychology folk. and euro scientists. the social sciences. so that we don't create another silo. as i mentioned, we need to educate teachers, however the best way we can do that through workshops, through recruiting, science and engineering undergrads into education. and didn't want to encourage innovation of the undergraduate and graduate levels, not just k-12. and finally, it hasn't been discussed too much, but i really believe we are missing a large segment if we don't engage the

engineering practitioner. and so we have to figure out how to show the kids, give them role models and show them what it means to do engineering and context. and i have tried to be --o do that at the undergrad and grad levels. we've cread a professor of the practiceodels and we now have 12 professors of the practice who are teaching in the classroom, who are advising students. and it is working real well. i way.to figure out a way to do so those are my remarks and i hope i am okay timewise. should i ask her questions? okay. thanks. [applause] >> leaf and the university of

maryland. one of the disconnect ciphered it is you have all of these activities now, inquiry-based and you have at the university level. but one thing i still see as kind of a significant is the admissions process because the admissions process at the university level is still at transcript, letters of recommendations. at night you have kids bri it portholes of information so that if you really want to truly get at all kids, shouldn't you be looking at diffent ways just having great in the transcript? >> i totally agree. and at tufts ve been expanding with phat. and we have -- we have allowed students gaap they still have great and the sat scores but they are also submitting products and they are trying to evaluate the innation and not just a building to take exams. d the jury is still out on a think how successful we are in evaluating that. one of the problems is that rankings depend on those numbers. and so there is a tension there. but i think that we have to be willing to change our

admissions. i totally agree. >> bop with national institute of aerospace. i want to give you a chance to spend a little more time on that last slide the next. the next-to-lt encourage innovation and undergradte and graduate education. you mean in engineering schools or are you referring to something else? i will give you a chance. >> was referring to engineering schools in terms of the development of new courses, bringing new tools into the classroom, more interdisciplinary activities, more cross the department of design projects, more first year courses. all of that. i didn't have any -- i'm not sure -- i hadn't thought about it outside of higher education in any other context. but that's what i was thinking. does that answer your question?

[inaudible] >> i think we have to do more partnering. what we found is that there is very little knowledge of engineering in schools of education, but there is a great science knowledge. so through the center, we have been developing partnerships and joint research proposals. and as they are getting more experience, we are starting to see a diffusion of the expertise and i think we have to see a lot more of that. absolutely. >> for those of us in iraq education all know that a major obstacle to change is the faculty reward system. what have you done about that? >> well, we ha made as a school, we are very small. we have 67 tenure track faculty so i have seen, and what my things is engineering education.

and so we are trying to build critical mass of faculty who was one of their main areas of scholarship is in this area. but i agree that that's what i think you haven't seen as many engineering education departments arise at universities. because of this issue. and i think it is changing, and i think you are going to see more of it. i think the national academy is putting a lot of an sfa national academy of putting a lot of resources, and administration responds to resources. and i think it is changing. [inaudible] >> university in guatemala. i enjoyed your presentation. i like the way you connect k-12 issues in higher education. i am less optimistic.

and i wonder how you see the kind of communities, the scientific communities that want to do research on how people learn. let me give you an example. you see that the science education community has a strong group ofeople that are doing research on how people learn science. they say even better i think immunity mathematics education. they have a strong community. they have a system in place. what i don't see is the engineering in the community doing this kind of research. i don't see that. i don't see this kind of search. there are journals but they are not willing to research. they are more else. and it seems to me this is the basic problem for moving this kind of report of the good intentions of engineering of

educating k-12 to research base. >> well, you may know a lot -- again, i am not speaking from a lot of knowledge about those communitie but i think -- >> it had a program that you have six did so how do they see where they're going to work with what is a kind of community in which they will engage? i wonder about this. it seems to me this is the basic problem in the united states. by not having a research base community by not having information on how people really learn. >> well, i see us in our infancy in this are so i think, i hope you see this community developer i think there are very few graduates that. my understanding is that they are in relatively high demand because there are so few

programs, and there are a lot of universities contemplating developing programs. so i believe that we will see a growth of this community, and a greater rigor in the research aspects of it. >> this ishere i am less optimistic. i don't seehat they are going with the faculty. this is not the goal. what i think is they have too designed with the new voting science community, and find this kind of space there. >> so actually the degree program the students are entered in is a joint degree with education. to students who are in role right now have engineering undergraduate degrees. some ofhem are working on tools. some of them are doing learning research. so i do think it's going to be a joint venture. i guess i don't see it sitting squarely into engineering

college culture. i guess i do agree with that, but i'm hoping to create -- hoping to see a space for them that spanned education, child development, psychology. as i said, but this area is a ballad and very vibrant area for scholarship and research. but i guess i do agree that i don't see it only housed in engineering. because i do think that it needs to expand. and i don't know how the science education and mathematics education communities are structured, but i think they are probably has more probably has more on education site. is that correct? yes. >> eric from mississippi state university. someone who is working on a dissertation on engineering education in a college that doesn't have that area, i appreciate your efforts. it makes it a lot easier than balancing between three

different cleges through a dissertation. but my question is about the engaging engineering practitioner. we have been starting a program called engineers and residents, based on artist in residence, poet in residence, things that were done in the 10s. the problem is what we do when someone wants to come to school. of a lot of them want to come in and teach but may not understand the demographic are working with. or they come in and feel helpless. how do i help them, encourage engineering and/or school. what are you doing tomorrow that, to help engineers become fully engaged in their local community schools? >> i'm so. i lost your. i bet you are talking about engaged in the university. >> you were talking a gauge in the practitioner, but what about down through the k-12. >> through the transit program it has been very successful. we have a lot of volunteers who have -- they have a little bit of training and they understand

the modules so it's a little more structure than just going in and talking about what they do. so that kind of program looks like it has a lot of promise, but i don't have any other great ideas at the moment about how to do that. at a college, university level, i am very fortunate that i'm in a large metropolitan area. and i found an enormous number of people who are really interested in participating in the likes of the univeity. and they can dedicate one day a week. and so we have long relationships and they are teaching one course a semester. but they are on campus and they are enged and administered to the workplace, and it is working superlow. so if there are ways like that to bring that down to those elementary and middle high school. but i think that we heard one example from wisconsin that sounded quite interesting. but i don't have a great ideas on that. >> thank you. [applause]

>> well, we came to the end of the event today. i would say of the presentation, and i would like to thank you on behalf of the committee for beingith us today, as we try to lay out the recommendations and findings of the report and also engage with you in a discussion about what is important and how we move forward. a lot of the concepts we discussed today on every difficult, of course. a lot of the solutions we suggested all seem to be simple, but i would say that the thinking of using engineering as the means to allow our youth to learn about math and science is a disruptive font. and i would like if we take it with us and try to see how we take it forward.

it will be very difficult for us in society to make a leap ahead of others and try to move from 4 percent of high school students who were selected engineering for those who were smaller percent of those who really matter math and science and then move to the 20 or 30% that we'veeen in other countries. just by trying to repeat the same thing. so trying to put more funding into similar programs. i think it will be critical for us to think creatively to thank out of the box or in the box as we talked aboutoday. there are many unique approaches that we can take and try to do what we have done in this country very well, to be creative once more in this particular area. and trying to afford advantage as we move forward if we do not necessarily have to much time to create the workforce that can be competitive in today's

environment. i truly believe that this committee is making some very important recommendations. the question is what do we do next and how we take those forward to those who care. and to those who matter. and i would like to ask you all to take this report to your workplace is, to your communities, and try to syndicate any idea. and bring us back to feedback, of course, to the academy. i would like to thank as a matter of fact, the academy and the national research council for giving us the opportunity to go through this very important study. and i would like to thank steve for his commitment to k-12 education and for the finding that the foundation to facilitate this work. but the work is ahead of us. as i believe there is much to be done. we will try to do as much as we

can with greg and mike and the academy will go back to chuck was. as we tried to communicate the recommendations of this report to as many communities as we can, but your participation in helping that regard will be really very important. and so again, i would like to thank you for being here, for your questions and recommendations. there are a lot of questions and answers, and really in need of an important solution i wou say. and one that can be implemented. but the issue of math and science and the issue of technology leaders is very critical. we have been talking about this for as long as i remember being a faculty member. that many years. and i think it's time for action

right now. and so again, thank you very much for being here, and thank you for everything that you plan to do in helping us to circulate and distribute the ideas in this report. we will have, we are ving a reception fohlowing linda's presentati. and the reception is in the great hall. also opportunity for us to talk about other questions or thoughts or concepts that you had in mind, but you did not have time to discuss with us. and so again, please take your time. we can spend the next hour and great hall with his reception and looking forward to speing with you. again, looking forward to your ideas and feeack. thank you. [applause]

[inaudible conversations] >> to president obama addresses the house and senate on his plan for health care. we will have live coverage of his speech starting at 8 p.m. eastern. >> hearing oral argued on the campgn finance case. listen to it same day on c-span3, c-span radio and at c-span.org. it also marked the first appearance on the bench for justice sonia sotomayor haircare is justice clarence thomas on what imeans to add a new

justice. >> as far as a new composition of the course you will bringing in basically in this word can be overused, you are being in a family member. and it changes the whole family. it is different. it is different today than what it was when i first got here. and i have to admit, you grew very fond, that you spend a very long time. there was a period there were chief justice rehnquist and justice o'connor, when we had gone, we had a long run together. and you get comfortable with that, and any changes. and now it is changing again. so the institution is different. your reaction is different. u.k. to learn each other. you have to start all over. people learn. the chemistry is different. >> his mother justices during supreme court week as c-span looks to the home of america's

highest court starting october 4. >> and now a briefing on the h1n1 swine flu virus. the centers for disseontrol has issued new guidelines on the use of antiviral medication for treating the disease. from cdc headquarters in atlanta, this is about 35 minutes. >> thanks everybody for joining us this afternoon. what i wanted to briefly i give a snapshot of where we are with the 2009 h1n1 situation, and then go into more detail about the new guidance on antiviral medicines that we have issued today that is on our website and also on www.flu.gov. the 2009 h1n1 influenza virus never went away this summer, and it is starting to cost increase disease in the fall. we areeeing increases in the southeastern states in particular.

dozer stated that began in school a bit earlier than other parts of the country. and it is not really that surprising that we are seeing in several southeastern states. in particular, we have widespread disease in georgia, alabama, mississippi and florida, among the southeastern states. we are aware of 24 schools that dismissed students on frida because of influenza, and more than -- about 25000 students that were dismissed because of the flu. so it is still around. is causing increased disease and it is time to pay attention. we do expect there to be a lot of variability with influenza this fall. we have a few states that are affected right now and we need to wait and see what happens elsewhere, but there is a lot that each of us can do to prepare and be rdy when the influenza appears in our own communitie. we saw a lot of variability last spring so expect more going into the fall. we wish we could predict exactly what is going to happen, but

unfortunately we cannot. we do know that the virus is unchanged from a we saw in the spring. and what circulate in the sohern hemisphere. and that is good news, because it means that the vaccines that were working on right now should be very good matches with the h1n1 virus that is circulating. so that is good news. there hasn't beea major change in the virus, the 2009 h1n1 vis. we are changing some of the ways that states report to us influenza, so we'll be asking states now to report hospitalization information and deaths to us. and those reports will be available on our website, and starting next week will be start the floozies again. so we will be getting this new season so you will see the spring and summer data archived on the website, but going forward-loing onward. so i want to talk briefly about antiviral guidance. it is important to antiviral medicines a a critical part have our toolkit, but the 2981

and one influenza virus and seasonal flu strain. important for you to know that most people will not know what type of flu they have because testing is likely to give us those answers. and so our new antiviral guidance really addresses the clinical symptoms of influenza, like illness and suspect influenza. without having to differentiate with exactly which stream a person has. i keep the antiviral guidance is at hospitalized patients who are expected to have influence at the prompt treatment with antiviral medicines that we think that can be a very important way to reduce the sevety of illness and help those patients out. we don't want people to wait, the providers to wait until the test result is available, but it is in porton to start those antivirus and hospital patients would use the spec influence. treatment is also generally recommended for people with chronic conditions that increase

their chance of having a severe time with influenza, they're young and the very old. people with chronical medical conditions and pregnant women in general are to be treated with antiviral when they have influenza like illness. the guidance also provides an option for a watchful waiting approach to prevent i use of antiviral medicine when high risk people have been in contact, close contact wh someone with influenza in stead of just definitely starting antiviral medicines. we give providers an option to do what we call watchful waiting, and wait and see whether the fever developed in when fever develops or respiratory systems developed, begin antivirals then. in our diets in general, for people with influenza like illness who are at risk for competitions, we strongly recommend prompt treatment. and so the guidance goes through many steps that clinicians and patients can take to reduce the

time between when influenza illness begins and when antiviral medicines are taken. we think that that window is ve important in trying to keep it short is going to be helpful. so we want patients to know the warning signs of influenza, where symptoms that backwards of your presentation is occurring, difficulty breathing, in a child bluish color of the skin, difficulty taking feeding, vomiting that just doesn't stop, nor difficulty waking up at the john. those are some of the warning signs that influenza like illnesses vere end of the treatment is necessary, promptly. a very important feature of our guidance is that clinical judgment is still important. this isn't something where we can take clinical judgment out of the equation. every patient is different, and we want clinicians to have that opportunity to customize care for each patient. at the weather a person is able

to be seen in the doctors office or need to call for assistance, we want people to know that clinical judgment is still important. a key point from our guidance is it that most children, adolescents and adults who have influenza like illness, do not need antiviral medicines. in fact, if all of those people taking antiviral medicine, things may actually get worse. . . train. and we are optimistic that this won't take off but so far, a critical feature is to use these anti viral carefully so that they can have benefit and not lead to problems. so the majority of ad lessents and adults and most children won't need anti-viral development in the influenza and can be cared for with mom's chicken soup at home, rest, and lots of fluids. people who have complications like pregnancy, asthma, chronic

heart disease, chronic lung disease, the very old and very young if they develop influenza-like illness, it is iortant they consult with the health care provider because the medicines may be very important for them. >> just to wrap up, it is really importan to mention antivirals are one pt of our arsenal. we constantly need to keep an eye on the situation and the patterns of antiviral and influence a strain. and our goal is the what does it strike a balance and how they are accused.

we can't control exactly what has happened with influenza. we wish we could predict and control the whole course of this outbreak. it is important to say there is a lot we are doing that we of working with schools and public health officials to mitigate the challenges of influenza and be as ready as possible. vaccines are being developed and seasonal vaccines are available right now i can be one way that we prevent seasonal fluains. but while we are waiting for the h1n1 vaccine to be available those other steps of prevention are still important. hand washing. staying home. making sure we don't spread the infection. it at this point if we'd like to answer questions that may be available. so we can start.

the anticipated strike to be an issue. you said several times if you're and the high risk groups, use these drugs properly. can you reiterate why it's possible and the first 48 hours. >> for the people who do need antiviral medicines, timing is important. beginning treatment within the first 48 hours of symptoms can really help with the outcome. people can do better with the influence of illness. the issue of availability of anti-viruses very important. we are monitoring this at a national level and not working at the commercial sector to understand the concern supply chain and the public health ministry to understand the resources we have, strategic national stockpile to really address this shortage. we think the supply of antiviral

and the system is adequate for any antiviral treatment. very important people know most children, adolescents, and adults do not need into our medicine. it is to those people with the risk conditions where the condition might get worse or people who have severe presentations like those who are hospitalized or have signs of lower-respiratory infections or other severe warning signs. we do think by working together with the private sector and the public-sector we can have a good supply available, and we really want the public to know that most people will need antiviral medicine to get through the influence of this year. t's take a question from the phone. >> again, it's star one if you would like to ask a question. the first question is from helen

brand. >> i'm with the canadian press. thanks for taking my question. in fact if can a a couple. i'm sry. i'm not clear what is new about the guidance. whats difference about this versus the guidance cdc would have issued previously. >> great. there are some keep things that are not new. the people that need antiviral medicines for treatment of the same as what we recommended in may, people with the underlying conditions and people who have worse presentations. the drug that we're recommending is not new. tamiflu, the first warning treatment. that is just what the issue. the new guidance to emphasize a few points. they emphasize the importance of a prompt treatment for those who are recommended to receive medicine. that guidance goes into more detail about how to shorten the timeframe, not just raise the suspicion of hospitalized patients are patients in the office, but also up front work that doctor and patient can have just a discussion about what warning signs are so that you know how to properly secure,

advice from clinicians on how to set up offices so that you can make sure phone access is available or appointmes are available so the people who need to get medicine quickly. providing prescription to people who have underlying conditions that put them at risk for worst kind of influenza. they may not just need t call you and not come into the office in order to be able to fill the prescription. so a little more emphasis o how to shorten the time of treatment. the other big change is that in our may guidance we talked about circumstances where preventive use of anti viright be appropriate. this was generally been a person who had a risk factor to suggest they might have a harder time with influen had a close contact with someone with the virus. in the new guidance we added. under the same circumstances

instead of preventive use providers they want to consider a watchful waiting where the don't necessarily be in preventive anti virals wait to see whether fever develops. most of those people who are exposed not going to fill its influence of. then the third point i want to stress is that this new guidance take to advantage of the whole experience of the spring, the southern hemisphere, and the circulation of the influence of virus as both the 2009 h1n1 and seasonal. able to make general recommendations out specific, but the empiric influenza, the fight be in a different type. that these notices of the first line. we have had a lot of h1n1 seasonal strains that were

resistan to tamivir. what we're not seeing as trends in the southern hemisphere. at fear of the tamivir resistance that implies some of our guidance, we did not have to incorporate into the new guidance. those are the principal updates. the idea of a follow-up question? >> i did. it relates to the issue you raised a few minutes ago. could you flush that out? are you talking about pregnant women, for instance, or people with hpd having a script in waiting in all the have to do is call a doctor and say i have these symptoms. yeah. it's time to start. >> yes, that' right. that'sne example where a prompt anti-viral medicine might be possible. many people with chronic conditions and certainly pregnant women see their health care provider frequently. so we think at some of those regular appointments it is reasonable to have a conversation about what to do if

one symptoms occurred and many providers may want to discuss with the patients the idea of providing a prescriptio this is going to vary by practice by individual, physician, and by state. there are different laws in different states. it's important for these risk groups and pients to be counseled about the signs and symptoms to be watching for and for providers to think through how they can really reach their patients quickly. pregnant woman, for peoe with asthma of verses pulmonary disease, heart disease. in the patient population of conversation will be very helpful in setting the stage for what to expect going forward. there are lots of ways that things will vary by practice and state and patient population, but we do feel that prompted an

is important and that the doctors' offices make it relatively busy. and it may be reasonable in some circumstances for a phone conversation to be sufficient for a prescription to be filled. the next question from the phone. >> the next question is from betsy mckay. please state your affiliation. >> hi, i'm with the wall street journal. i have a question about the general situation. i wondered if you could talk about how much of an increase we are seeing in cases compared to your expectations or scenarios you may have laid out. we have seen resulting cases, particularly on college campuses like washington state university with ove 2,000 cases of flu-like symptoms. i wondered if looking at the scenario you have laid out and the expectations and predictions you may have made over the summer, is this fulfilling in a

worst-case scenario or, you know, any fear you may have about widespread illness or peak of infection before the vaccine is ready? >> thank you. the observations that we're making about disease occurrence are vy consistent with what we are expecting based on what we learned from the spring, based on the southern hemisphere experienceand based on what we know about influenza. we did expect the increased influence would start to be evident earlier than usual and that it might be most evident in school-aged or young adult populations because that is where we really saw a lot of disease in the spring and sohern hemisphere. these of reports about out breaks in colleges and the reports about the increases in some of the southeastern states are quite consistent with what we were expecting. the good news is that the spectrum of the illness of incentive changed. it's the range for most people

have an illness. they get better after a few days. some people need to be hospitalized, and tragically some people die. what i can say is well this is within the range of what we are expecting, we don't know what that trajectory will be. we know some colleges have seen upticks, but the majority haven't. we know some states are seeing an increase, but its not a level we would think of as peak. we have a big country, so i know there are many communities that have not seen much flu this year. our principal prediction is that it is going to be a busy and long season. we need to be prepared for the next several months and also the spring. the good news is that we have been working hard with across government and the private sector to ready the schools and universities and businesses and child care centers and so for to have time for planning. some of the schools and universities that have had these outbreaks appear to have been well-prepared to be able to address the challenges that they have, and we congratulate with

them for that. next question from the phone. >> next question is from marianne. please state your affiliation. >> hello. thank you for taking my question. i have two. number one, about the cases that we have. you mentioned the 21, i think, reported so far, 25,000. you just mentioned 2000 at washington state. are these all h1n1 cases or more people are showing up, there is just a higher uptick of people going to health centers? >> thanks. >> in a typical year we don't do diagnostic testing of everyone influenza. don't expect the vast majority of people with influenza to have a diagnostic test that tells them when it is

flu are not and if it is a flu whether it is h1n1. it is important to say that the intervention, staying home with a little bit of t.l.c. and fluid will be important. the testing is really not so important right now. i don't know what number of college students have been reported to have influenza in the past couple weeks clearly have the h1n1 virus. but what i can tell you is that we are doing is logic surveillance. systematically testing strains from some people who have influenza-like elements. the 2009 h1n1 strand. that is not going to persist for the whole fall and spring. that is the case right now. something we will be monitoring.

right now of a person has flu-like illness the chances a pretty good it is the 2009 h1n1 virus. next queion. okay. let's get the next question from the ground. >> mike stoby. please state your affiliation. >> from the associated press. thank you for taking my question. you said earlier 24 schools dismissed schools on friday, 25,000 students. are you talking about colleges or other types of schools, and what states? and i have a second question. >> right. the 25,000 students is from the schools, not universities or colleges, but schools. the department of education is working with cdc on surveillance for schools and for school dismissals, and so that is the source of that data. the states that -- i think i may

not actually have with me -- oh, i do. okay. the states where schools have been dismissed include georgia, indiana, missouri, and tennessee. i think, though, that these may not be complete. this is the information that was available as of friday. really this is just situational awareness that helps us put in perspective the impact the virus is having right now. as we have been saying, we don't expect school dismissals to be the main way that we handle influenza. there are many other things that can be done. it is one marker for us that local groups are having challenges with the virus, and these the steps they're taking. recall also that we had a lot more school students dismissed in the spring that the numbers today. the univsity did get that one of the report is mentioned is to the american college health association which has set up a mass surveillance system of a nuer of universities and colleges. they are providing that

information to the media. next question from the room, i think. >> hi. beth again with fox 5. try to remember what my question was. can i wait? >> let's see if there is another question from the phone. >> alice park. please state your affiliation. >> hello. time magazine. just wanted to pick up on something, dr. schuchat, that you mentioned. right now the most common form of influenza that is the novel h1n1. if the influenza, if we know that they are at the end now

resistant the tamivir to offer people who are hospitalized, with those people be recommended to get some kind of testing? help would you know as the season goes on it won't be seeing more of that resistance flu. >> we do recommend testing, but we've recommended before the results are available. many seasonal influenza viruses are susceptible to tamiflu. it is just the seasonal h1n1 viruses that were sort circulated developed a resistance. so we have not been seeing the seasonal h1n1 viruses in the southern hemisphere and don't know whether there will be a problem in the northern hemisphere going through the fall and winter. so a key message for clinicians is that we believe that tamiflu or relenza will be great first-line treatment. we do think diagnostic testing for hospitalized patients is helpful. but we think that for the

seasonal h3n1, seasonal b -- seasonal h3n2 and 2009 h1n1 first-line drugs are fine. now we have a question fro the room. >> if you think that you have it this summer do you have any protection? are you okay going into the fall? do you still need the h1n1 v accine when it becomes available? >> this is such a common question, and a really important one. i wish i had a better answer. we think that if you are and have recommended group that you do still need the h1n1 vaccine going forward. if you are in a commended group you still need the flu

seasonal vaccine. most of the information. we had a lot of attention. in the southern hemisphere and saw a lot of other respiratory viruses. when i mentioned the 2009 h1n1 virus was the only influen virus we are seeing, it is true, but it is not the of the respiratory virus circulating. the key thing for people is we do think you will need an h1n1 vaccine if you are in one of those groups, and to remind folks we are recommending the h1n1 vaccine when it becomes available for health care workers and emergency medical service personnel, pregnant women, parents or other close contact with caregivers of children. all children under the ages of six months. and for 25-year-old through 64 with chronic medical conditions and increased their risk of a

bad outcome. that is a lot of people. we know that many people did have respiratory illnesses this summer, but we still think that people should go ahe and seek the influenza vaccine. >> do you have any evidence that they do have some cross protection? if they get sick again they will have of less severeime of it? >> we don't have information about that right now. i think that it is a big challenge, but we think that the vast majority of the country has not yet had h1n1 disease and the vast majority of people are at risk for seasonal influenza viruses as well. so our vaccination recommendations are based on the principles. next question from the phone. >> the next question is from david brown. please state your affiliation. >> yes. i'm with the washington post. thanks for doing this. dr. schuchat, can y say a little something about where current shortages in antiviral are and how the -- what cdc is

going to do should they develop, given the importance of immediate treatment how are you going to get antivirals to a region? certainly last spring in the washington area completely sd out. one hundred prescriptions waiting to be filled. the disease early had spread very much. >> our strategy for dealing with antiviral supply issues and spot shortage ussues is two prongs. one is about demand and one is about supply. the demand side is to really promote appropriate use of antiviral. they can be lifesaving for people who are hospitalized or people that have underlying conditions that increase the risk of a bad complication from flu, and they really are not necessary in the vast majority of children, adolescents, and adults to have influenza-like

illness and don't have a bad presentation. we are addssing supplied by working with both the commercial sector to understand where products are and how quickly they can be restocked in pharmacies and the public sector with the strategic national stockpile asset to get antiviral medicine to where they're needed. so it in many of the health department we are learning lessons from the spring, the best practices that some of the states had in making sure that there antiviral stockpiles or out there in pharmacies or in grocery stores or accessible to people through local help departments so that when there weren't assets in the commercial sector the public sector assets were aessible. this is a questio about supply and demand. a critical issue is to just remind people that the vast majority of us don't need antiviral medicine. next question from the phone. >> the next question is from it shannon. please state your affiliation.

>> hi. i have two questions. why is it you are seeing an increase in the south? i know you said in some of the schools go back earlier there than elsewhere. anything else having to do with climates. and my other question is about resistance. you can explain more on where you're seeing that. number of cases. >> right. the reason for the early increase isn't unknown. we have got two possibilities. one that we are exploring the schoolseopened a bit earlier and perhaps that gave more of a chance for mixing to occur. but another possibility is that the southeastern states are not that heavily it in the spring. so mayb just getting their spring wave right now as opposed

to new york city or chicago or seattle that saw a lot of disease last spring. it could be eitr of those were both of those or something else. your other question was about an tiviral medicines. i'm trying to remember. could you remind me? >> if you could tell me a little bit more. >> the resistance. that's right. so far there has just been handful of antiviral resistance around the world caused by the 2009 h1n1 stream. the vast majority have been in people who were on antiviral at the time, taking antivirals for preventive reasons. so far this has not been widespread. we continue to look. it is important for people to know it might become widespread. one of the reasons we on the thing is we have that fear. so far it is reallyust a handful. that don't have data on the state-specific data resistance. maybe we will have that for a

feature called. i think we will have time for two more queions. >> the next question from the phone is from diane. please state your affiliation. >> i am with parents magazine. you pointed out that most children don't need antiviral treatment and wl do fine at home. i am wondering if you could give some more specific guidance about when parents should call the pediatrician if their child has a cluster of symptoms that seem flu-like. do they only need to call if their child falls into a risk category or as one of the symptoms of a more severe infection? otherwise to they just treat the child at home or is it worth a call? >> every family is different. let me tell you se warning signs so that they can be on the alert with children.

warning signs in children include fast breathing or trouble breathing, a bluish skin color, not for drinking enough fluids, not waking up, or not interacting in a normal way. being so irritable the child doesn't want to be held, and flu-like symptoms getting better and then getting worse. that can be a warning sign for a second infection on top of the flu. those are key warning signs that parents should be aware of. we also think that the youngest children, children under two are at risk or influenza complication maybe harder to spot. so children over five do pretty well with influenza-like

illness. and sort of in between. so we think that clinical judgment is important. those are the clues that parents should be on the ale for. >> one more quick question. if the child had a rapid flu test that showed it was, is that a sign that they would not need h1n1 vaccine? >> our recommendation at this point is that they go ahead with the vaccine this spring. the rapid test is not perfect. so we do actually recommend that. i think we have time for one last question on the phone. >> from tom fudge. please state your affiliation. >> tom fudge. i am with kcbs public radio in san diego. i have a question about something that you touched on, vaccines. i think you said at the beginning that because h1n1 has been quite stable the vaccine will be a good match. can you expand on that a little

bit? how sure can you be, can it be that the vaccine will hit it right between the eyes? >> the influenza viruses that have been tested as recently as a couple weeks ago areremely close matches, essentially the same as the viruses that were used to prepare the vaccine. that doesn't mean that a couple months from now or a couple weeks from now the virus won't change, and that is really one of the frustrating things about influenza. it can change. based on what we know today we are expecting a pretty good match between the h1n1 vaccine and the strings that are circulating. that is very good news because the better the match the higher the efficacy of the vaccine. thanks, everyone, for participating, and we'll be back soon. okay. >> we take you live now to capitol hill where the u.s. senate is convening to consider a measure promoting foreign

tourism in the u.s. through the creation of a nonprofit corporation that would provide the information on requirements. a final vote is expected by 4:30 p.m. later the senate will move to the house chamber for president abominate be in health care speech before a joint session of congress. complete live coverage starts at 30 on our companion network, c-span. now live senate coverage heren the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray.

eternal spirit, the fountain of all wisdom, we bring our fragmented lives into your presence, seeking your wholeness. we bring our restless spirits to you, seeking your calm strength. we bring you our transient thoughts, seeking the permanence of your gracious providence. today remind our lawmakers that only as we lose ourselves in something higher can we truly find ourselves. to this end give them great causes to embrace and a great

faith to energize their labors. lord, lead them from doubt and disillusionment, from cynicism and frustration to a confidence that in everything you work for the good of those who love you. give them the light to see the way you desire them to take through today's perplexing circumstances, we pray in your holy name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me ineciting the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america

and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c, ptember 9, 2009, to the senate: under the provisions orule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the sate, i hereby appoint the honorable jeff merkley, a senator from the stae of oregon, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: robert c. byr@, presidet pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks th senate will be in a period of morning business f an hour with senators permitted to speak up to 10 minutes each. the majority will control the first 30 minutes. the republicans will control the second 30 minutes. following morning business the senate will resume consideration of the travel promotion act. the senate will recess from 12:30 unpil 2:15 to allow for

the weekly caucus luncheons. we hope to reach an agreement to yield back some of the time on the travel promotion legislation prior to 4:30. senators will be notified when the vote is scheduled. the senate will proceed to the cloture vote on the executive nomination of cass sustein. this week we will go to the transportation appropriation bill, so we continue to work through the important appropriation process. mr. president, i want to take a few minutes this morning to bring to the attention of senate an article in september 7th, "newsweek" magazine. th langue is from the magazine "newsweek." i'm not using their words, it's their words. two pages, five of the biggest

lies in the health care debate. remember, it's the five biggest. there's lots of them going on. these are the five biggest in the estimation of the publishers of this multimillion dollar distributed magazine. to the credits of the oh, poans of the health care reform the -- opponents -- which makes information th much more credible. instead because opponents demand everyone within earshot look say at page 425 of theouse bill, the lies take a patina of credibility. one chain e-mail that the government will have electronic access to everyone's bank account, implying that the feds will rob you. this is false hood. this is not in any bill on any page any place. it'sust made up and it's carried on talk radio, blogs, cable tv, all over america. it's false. it's not true.

one of the things that i found going home is people are concerned -- old people -- we get sick when we get old. we won't be able to get any chemotherapy. in this magazine, number one, the threat that medicare will give cancer patients over 70 only end of life counseling and not chemotherapy is a lie. it's not me saying that. it's "newsweek." illegal immigrants will get free health insurance. the house bill doesn't give anyone free health care. the illegal immigrants getting free health insurance is a light. it's one of the five biggest lies. death panels -- this is a dandy. started -- really took some -- got some legs because of the resigned senator from alaska. death panels will decide who lives.

on july 16th, betsy mcgahi, darling of right said on fred thompson's radio show said on page 425 -- they have page 425 for everything. it doesn't exist on 425r any other page but they picked 425, because it's gives them credibility. on page 425 congress would make it mandatory that every five years people in medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner, how to claim nutrition in an august 7th facebook pose. mr. president, that is a lie. the government wl set doctors' wages. this is a socialized medicine thing that we hear so much about. all this health care debate is about socialized medicine. mr. president, this is -- this magazine -- i've told the people in nevada and every place i went

during the break, the only person i've ever heard in all the many years i've been in congress who spoke publicly about a single-payer system was paul wellstone. he did it proudly. he believed in it. he talked about it. but he's the only person i heard talk about it since i've been this congress. maybe others have done it, but he's the only one. government setting doctors' wages is a lie. socialized medicine as part of the plan that is being talked about is simply not true. so, mr. president, i hope that people will come back to reality and understand what we're trying to do is fix a system that is bankrupting our country. insurance companies are making huge amounts of money. they're not subject to the antitrust laws. they're taking advantage of the american people. their number one goal is to see how much money they can make, and that's not a lie.

but we're -- what we'rerying to do is change the curve. right now in america one-sixth of every dollar spent by everyone in this chamber, everyone in nevada, oregon, illinois, one-sixth of every dollar spent is for health care. if we don't change this, by the year 2020, which is very close, it about be 35 cents of every dollar spent will be for health care. that's what we're trying to do. we're not trying to take away benefits from old people. we're not trying to make sure -- we're doing our very best to have a system that's fair and that stops the insurance companies from taking advantage of everyone. a senator: mr. president the presiding officer: under the previous order the leadership time is reserve. under the previous order will the -- the senate will proceed to a period of morning business for one hour with senators

permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaderr detainees with the majority controlling the first half and the minority contlling the second half. mr. durbin: mr. preside? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, we knew it was coming, yet the sight of senator kennedy's desk draped in black velvet and mourning is painfully sad. america and the world has lost a champion of civil rights and human rights and fairness. president obama said it so well. senator kennedy was not only historic, he w heroic. we will have more time later this week to talk about his extraordinary life and the honor that those of us who serve with him enjoyed during his life. today i just want to say briefly, before morning business, what a great honor it was to have worked alongside ted

kennedy. on his desk today is a copy of one of his favorite poems, "the road less traveled" by robert frost. there's another frost poem that eye -- is identified with the kennedys that senator kennedy loved as well. it is it called "stopping by the woods on a snowy evening," it is a man who notices the simple serene beauty of a nes england woods and the soft fling snow and wishes he couldtay longer. it reads, but i have promises to keep and miles to go before i sleep and miles to go before i sleep. unlike his beloved brothers, senator kennedy's life was not a life of promise cut short, but a life of promises kept. he loved america and his life's work made us an even better and more just nation. mr. president, if ted kennedy were here today, i feel absolutely certain tt he would

be on the floor at this moment talking about health care. it really was the hallmark of his public career from the beginning he understood that this was o of the most fundamental things when it came to justice and fairness in america. the fact that 47 million americans have no health insurance is at least embarrassing, if not shameful, in this great and prosperous nation. who are these people? these 47 million? are are theyazy or just lucky? well, they're not the poorest in america because we provide for the poorest. we have medicaid, which provides basic health care for those who are out of work and those who have no source of income or no savings. and they're not the fortunate few or the fortunate majority because they don't enjoy health insurance like most of us where they work. they're people who get up and go

to work every single day without the assurance that they're going to have protection if they run into medical bills. this morning in the state jonal register, published in my hometown of springfield, illinois. there is a story of one of those persons. terry broda is a fellow down on his luck. he's 62 years old. he said he couldn't get a credit card to buy a postage stamp. he is 62 and estimates that he owes $80,000 to springfield illinois doctors and hospitals. money he he thinks he won't -- money he thinks he won't be able to repay. is he out of work? no. he is a small business man who operates an air filter maintenance company. he is one of 45 million americans who has no health insurance. he wants to see congress and the obama administration see that all americans are covered through a system, and he's not

scared of socialized medicine. he said, we have sociazed medicine already, it's called medicare and it works. america's health care costs total more than $2.2 trillion a year, which accounts for about $1 out of $6 spent in america. latest statistics show 15% of americans like terry broda, are uninsured. health care costs are crippling the ability of many companies to compete an many companies are dropping coverage. broda is the father of six children. hasn't had health insurance in 40 years. that was when he was 22 years old and sold life insurance at a local agency. when he he left ththe job, he started operating furniture stores for more than 30 years. he said he was young, stupid and thought he could handle anything. he thought he could never afford health insurance, but could creep together enough money to get to the doctor for himself and his kids and now his ex-wife

until 1980. in 190, terry broke his right leg playing soft ball. toay for the $3,000 surgery to fix his leg, he agreed to reupholester the doctor's furniture. it was a pretty good swap, but that doctor died, leaving no one wi a silar swap to remove the medal rod that the doctor put in his leg. the rod is still there today 29 years later. the 17-foot fall through a roof while working in the early 1990's left him with another $3,000 hospital bill he couldn't pay and a heart attack generate another bill to the st. john's hospital in illinois and he thanks the hospital for new england debating most of the bill. terry sought medical care in 1996 when he fell off another

roof working. "i just laid in bed." spinal stenosis almost yip led him until his primary doctor referred him for emergency surgery in 22007. the surgery worked but the surgeon was from a local clinic which didn't offer discounted rates to patients like they offered to major health insurance companies. the doctor's bill alone for his emergency surgery was $40,000. he said, "dls a no way in hell i can say. 40,000. at o point i earned $50,000 a year. now i'm making $18,000 trying to recover from the surgery." he went on to talk about the fact that he had heart problems that may have been complicated by dental problems. he can't afford regular dental care obviously. and he basically said that he's for a universal system of hlth care. he'd like the federal government to establish a public option to

compete ainst private insurance companies so people like him could afford insurance. he said in this article, "businesses exist to make a profit. government exists to provide a service." asked whether the debate about reformation him hopeful, he said, "powerful lobbying interests will be a barrier to decisions by congressional lawmakersment. a not holding my breath. it's all about the benjamin. if they listen listen to the benning mince, we're rcrewed." they went up toork at their small busesses this morning. they made the bed in your hotel room last night. they're going to take the dishes off the table when you finish with your breakfast. they are eight folks who are watching your kids at daycare. they're the ones who are watching your mom in the nursing home. and they're the ones who don't have helicopter insurance. what kind after country are we

if we can ignore the obvio? 47 million uninsured americans. when people come to the floor and rail about health care reform and talk about socialism -- socialism? -- they're talking about whether we pass a nation can reach out and provi for those w go to work and don't have protection and security of health insurance. i don't call that socialism. it's fundamental americanism and fairness. it's what's really -- it's what really has defined us as a country for so long. it's been almost 80 or 90 years since we decided if you make more money in america you'll pay more in taxes than some who make less. socialism? i don't think so. i think it's fairness. and that's what we're getting down to in this debate. tonight the president of the united states will speak to us across the row i rotunda. i'm not sure exactly what he is going to say, but know one thing for sure:

he is not giving up on his promise to america to make a difference when it comes to health care. this president understands that it's once in a political lifetime that you can change this country for the better. he also understands that there are powerful forces again him. people who are making a fortune off the current system who don't want anyone to rock the boat. they're not going to say that. they're gog to come up with some of the thing that senator reid referred to earlier, the great lies about death panels and cutting off people when they need chemotherapy late in their life. they're going to peddle those lives and try to distort this debate. but i don't think they'll succeed because i believe the american people understand that the best thing for us to do is not going through shoving and shouting at town meetings but sit down and have an honest debate and answer questions honestly. not the kind of distortions and lies that we've seen. for terry, $80,000 in debt to the hospitals and doctors in high moment towrntion he's going

to work -- in my home towrntion he'll going to work tomorrow. hhe'll see his own medical condition deteriorate. and i wonder if whether on the floor of the? the or house of representatives there will be anyone listening to his story and deciding that america can do better? we are the fortunate few here on the floor th of the senate. we have the best health insurance in america. every american deserves that kind of health insurance. we have an opportunity once every year to pick from pvate health insurance plans, the one that's right for our family. we pick a big plan, we pay more out of our payroll deduction. smaller plan, we pay less. but we have that right and that choice and that security and peace of mind to know that our families are going to be protected. many of the same senators who come to the floor and to their town meetings to rail about public options and public-administered health care plans had a top belong to one right here in the united states

senate. interesting, isn't it? terrible for everybody else but just perfect for them and their families. i think the american people can see through that. we can improve this system and make it better and fairer. they understand if they have health insurance they want to keep that's going to be their right under any change in the. they have a doctor that they trust, they can stay with that trust. that's going to be protected. but, if they're like terry and have n health insurance, or they have health insurance which is trible, we want to give them the same choice members of congress have to pick the health insurance that's right for them and for those in lower-income categories, to give them a helping hand to pay for that health insurance premi. that's only right and fair. aand we want it make sure these alth insurance companies don't continue to rip ofd people. two out of three people who file for bankruptcy today do so because of medical bills, medical bills they can't patience just like terry.

two two out of three who fe bankruptcy. more than three-fowrnls of those filing for bankruptcy because of medical bills have health insurance. it's just no good. wasn't there when they needed t the dependent denied their benefits and refused to pay. and they were stuck losing everything. they are life savings, things that they'd saved for for their future, gone. we cannot allow thiso continue. wean't allow the radical voices that we've heard over the last several weeks distorting the facts about this gite prevail. this is a time for us to stand up and do the right thing for this country and bring coverage to those today in america who don't have the most basic security that we all need, the security of knowing that when you waning in the morning that you're not one accident or one diagnosis away from being wiped out financially. for 47 million people that's the reality of life in america.

the president tonight will challenge us to change it. we have to have the political courage to do it. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. i applaud the remarks of my friend from illinois and his leadership on health care issues and he's one of the people in this institution -- and i wish there were more -- that went home and listened to people and came to the floor of the senate to talk about the stories of people because that's why we're here, and he's -- he represents them very well. that's why he supports this health care plan by the president. that's why he supports the public option and coverage for all and prevention and wellness and all that's in this legislation, insurance company reform that really matters. i thank my friend from illinois. mr. president, tonight president obama addresses the nation just down the hall during a joint session of congress. a president has not addressed a

joinsession of congress other in the state of the union -- other than the state of the union address, which comes at the beginning of every year, since president bush did it right after september 11. we know how important this is. president obama is stepping up and going to be more specific and more forceful and help to set aside and answer all the distorons that the senator from oregon, the presiding officer, a i and others heard at our meetings inur state in august when we were home talking to people about this health care legislation. i wento the most conservative part of my state, cincinnati, and did my first large town hall meeting, 1,500 people showed up. 1,000 of people generally were supportive of this health care bill with a strong public option. about 500 were opposed. but -- and several people stood up and some argued that they just didn't like it. th called it socialism. they talked about death panel

they talked about illal immigrants, none of which are in the bill, of course. but they've been misled, in large part, by insurance company interests in this city, who have done all they cld to propagate this misinformation all over the untry. the c.e.o. of aetna was paid $24 million last year. the c.e.o.'s of cigna and united health and so many of these other companies make tens of millions of dollars -- that's just their top executive -- while at the same time they t often deny people coverage because of a preexisting condition or they put a cap, lifetimer aual cap on an insurance policy that makes you understand, if you get really sick that your policy wasn't nearly as good as you thought it was because they canceled your insurance or to this athese plans discriminate based on general teagender or age. so this legislation that we're

bringing to the floor that pass the out of the committee and on which the presiding officer sits, the health, education, labor, and pensions, and passed three committees in the house, this legislation will say you can keep the insurance you have but we will build consumer protections around that insurance. so insurance companies can't cut you off, can't deny you care, can't cancel your insurance policy, can't do the technical term they use is "rescission" when they find owl kinds of reasons to skill. mr. president, i want to talk a little bit about this town hall meeting i had in cincinnati, again the most conservative part of the state, where some people said, are you sure you want to go there, because there's all kinds of misinformationnd all kinds of anger and disagreement with the bill? but i found that was the case in a minority of those -- that was true only in a minority of the people who showed up. the huge crowd w had at the university of cincinnati. but one woman particularly got my attention, a young woman named rachel, 17 years old. there were three high schools --

wyoming high school, ways suburb of cincinnati, another couple of schools that were also there, and they -- this woman from -- this 17-year-old girl stood up -- her name was rachel. "my father -- his side of the family has the bast cancer gene, the gheej often indicates a high likelihood of breast cancer nlt next generation of women." and she said, "my mother has had some autoimmune diseases in her family." and she said, "i go to the doctor every year." she looked great. she was outspoken and friendly and she said, "and i go in once a year. i have a physical. i'm fine. i've never had any illness at awesome but my parents' insurance company told me because of my parents' illnesses or just my parents' condition, not even illnesses tirpt," she

said, "i was told i would not be able to get insurance because of my parents' preexisting conditions." imha kind of behavior is that? the insurance companies are going to go what they're going tougd. their bottom line is to try to figure out how to bri in the most revenue as possible and pay out the fewest dollars as possible. the way do you that is you deny care. that's their business model. that's what they're going to do. i don't even blame them for that. i don't hate the insurance companies. i understand this we need rules so the insurance companies can't do that. there's simply no reason that the law should allow this insurance company to deny ramp l in ayatollah high school in cincinnati, ohio, a suburbf ohio, should be able to deny her care. then i did other meetings around ohio in cambridge, eastern ohio, a small town. mark from cambridge discussed how businesses are struggling with crushing premiums and copays to take earnings away and employees'al is risms he

lernered that health insurance reform, that our bill will provide tax credits to buy coverage for employees and, as we talked earlier, will prevent insurers from dramatically increasing premiums if an employee gets sick. so, mr. president, imagine you have a business and -- you know, in eugene, oregon, or there is a business in my state in zane zanesville or akron or dayton or lima. it is a small company that's got 25 employees. two of these employees get a very serious form of cancer and cost the insurance exp -- they all have insurance through their employer -- costs them tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars. the insurance company often -- the insurance cop will do one of tw things. it will either jack up premiums so high, they may noi be able to afford premiums or will have to lay people off or cancel inrance or the insurance company will cancel the insurance. either way, that doesn't work for those employees that really did nothing wrong. so what -- one of things this legislation does is it allows those companies to give those

small businesses a tax credit so they in fact can ensure their -- insure their employees and make a financial go of it on the one hand it l.h. and it allows the small businessperson to take his whole business and all his glees this exchange where they'll get a choicef insurance companies. they could go with that. he could go with cigna, united health, they could go with a not-for-profit mutual company in ohio called medical mutual. they could go with the public osmghts they have their choice. that's the point of the public option to give a whole array of choices and at the same time to have insurance reform so these companies could no longer do that no longer cut people off beuse of preexisting condition or deny care for a whole host of conditions. and the public option will help us ennurse by giving people that option where they simply won't cheat and won't deny coverage ke that. another one man, brent discussed how the excitement of graduating from college turned

into anxiety knowing that he's one illness from medal bills an unemployment. brenton, like other recent college graduates, will benefit from low-cost plans and longer periods to stay in their parents' plan. i can't count the number of 21, 22, 23-year-old who's don't have insurance because when they graduated from college or left home in their early 20's, their coverage was canceled, they couldn't be a part of the parents' insurance plan. under this legislation, every person is allowed to stay, if the parents want them, and the children want to, can stay on their parents' plan until the age of 26. an age when young people get better employment that can often lead to coverage. another from jane from cambridge, eastern ohio, discussed how the retirement savings is shattering because of ballooning hikes.

it will root out waste, fraud and abuse. she'll get assistance under our health care bill with closing the doughnut hole if she has the medicare prescription drug coverage. the doughnut hole is swallowed -- has swallowed up so many people they've been buried in huge costs for their prescription drugs because of the way the medicare was written five years ago. if you may remember, back in those days, and we don't operate that way anymore, the drug companies an insurance companies sat down with president bush and wrote the medicare privatizaton bill and it was written for the drug companies, written for the insurance companies, they benefited most from it and created a huge doughnut hole where senior citizens have huge out-of-pocket costs. this legislation begins to close that doughnut hole so that won't be the case anymore. mr. president, it's clear that as -- as my of us -- the senator from illinois and the presiding officer now from

colorado, as we went around our states in the last month and listened to people, whether it's the young college student that lost insurance, whether it's the young woman, rachel in cincinnati who had a preexisting condition, even though she had not been sick a day in her life or diagnosed with any preexisting condition, whether it's the small businessperson, a fellow named mr. fishern cincinnati, that told us how difficult it was -- he's -- he covered his employees for 26 years and how every year it gets harder and harder to the point no where he' had some serious illnesses in his company of 40 or 50 or 60 people, if i recall, simply can't continue to cover al of them. every one of these has a specific problem. many of them are happy wh the insurance they have if they've had it. but many of them know the anxiety of what might happen with the preexisting condition, what might happen to their employees or might happen to them if they get a very expensive illness. insurance is good insurance only

when it always works. that's what this legislation does. it builds consumer protections so that insurance companies have to do what they promise, not in the fine rb -- fine print, but what they promise and this legislation goes in that direction. we look forward to hearing the president tonight as he leads us on this very, very important issue. this will be an important vote that we cast on a domestic issue. i know that senator durbin, maybe probably the most important votes since votin for the iraq war six or seven years ago. this is probably the most important vote we'll cast in our careers. we've moved intelligently, i think, we moved cautiously. we're ready to move this bill forward andet it to the president's desk and it will make a difference in the lives of tens of millions of americans. i yield the floor, mr. president. mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i see the senator from florida on the for.

at this point i would like to preserve the remaining time of morning business on the democratic side and yield to the setor from florida or whoever will be recognized for morning business on the other side. i ask unanimous consent. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. a senator: let me thank the senator from illinois for his kindness and appreciate the opportunity to proceed with my final speecon the floor of the senate, which is a unique moment in time for sure. mr. martinez: the opportunity to serve in the united states senate is the culmination of what has to be an unlikely journey from a place of my birth in a small city in cuba to having journeyed to the united states and had the incredible opportunity to be in the hall of this most cherished institution of democracy anywhere in the world has, indeed, been a privilege and unlikely journey, as i say. i'm really very grateful to the people of florida for giving me

the opportunity to represent them in the united states senate. i really do think of my time here in the senate as a culmination of my time in public service. the close of a fullling chapter in my own version ofhe american dream. having lived through the onsit of tyranny in one country and played a part in the proud democratic traditions of another, i leave here widh a tremendous sense of gratide r the opportunity to give back to the nation that i love and it's not the nation of my birth, but it's the nation of my choice, which is a significant difference. it is a great nation, and the proud tradition of welcoming immigrants to this country is one that has been throughout the history of this nation, but then in addition to welcoming, it has given us the opportunity to do the great things that all who are a part of this country can do. and i've been more privileged than most in the opportunities i've been given. sohat's why i considered serving my community, my state, and our nation for the past 12 years a really great privilege.

it was a desire to give back, to make a consideration to this nation that propelled me to enter a life of public service. as a mayor and cabinet secretary and as a senator, preserving opportunitie for others to receive their own claim to the american dream has always been a mission for me. i have worked during all phase of my public life with a sincere desire to make a difference and today i prepare to return to -- to return home knowing that i have done my best to advance the things that make o nation great, prosperous and free. we truly le in the greatest nation in the history of the world and throughout my life in public service, i have been humbled to play a proud role in this democratic history of our nation. as mayor of orange county, it was a real pleasure and privilege to lead theommuty that had done so much for me and my faily when we first arrived in this country and then had an opportunity to lead them as mayor was a rare treat and wonderful opportunity. we carried out an aggressive

agenda and tried to do the things that -- to make everybody who lived in orange county's lives better, i'm proud of some of the things that we accomplished there. upon my service as mayor, i received a call from president-elect them, president bush, to serve as the first cuban-american to serve in the president's cabinet. the call to serve as h.u.d. secretary was unexpected and not only a source of pride for me and my family, but emfor the entirety of - especially for the entirety of the cuban american. my service in the cabinet was punctuated by the terrorist attacked of september 11, 2001. these were sober be events, these were events that caused up to that time a fairly carefree, focused on domestic issues kind of time to focus on the reality of what had occurred in new york

and pennsylvania 8 and right -- and right here. it was part of my job as h.u.d. secretary to work in the reconstruction of lower manhattan and that and a number of other things were added as responsibility for us who are -- were in the administration a that time. and forever more i will remember those days as having been a significant part of my life in public service. there is no question that it was a privilege to serve the president, but there is no greater honor than to have the people of florida send me to washington to serve them as a member of the united states senate. and aside fromhe debates and the speeches and all the work that goes into turning ideas into law, one of the most rewarding experiences has been helping floridians resolve issues that they have in their every day liv. in the short time i have bn here, my office has assisted more than 46,000 of florida families through casework and written correspondence and countless more efforts. we made tremendous progress in

many of the issues that face our state including efforts to develop the natural energy resources while protecting the environment, seeking to modernize the military to increase shipbuilding and meet the navy's goals of strateg disbursal and working to protect our nation's home buyers from bad loans and bad investors. it has been rewarding to know that our work often impact the lives of thoseutside the borders fighting for freedom. i brought my work to -- to my work the belief that it is always necessary to provide a voice for those that are silenced for attempting to advance the cause of freedom. having lived under cuba's oppressive dictatorship, i have always recogzed the struggle of those who fight for freedom. that it as you has been and will continue to be a life long passion. i have taken every opportunity to recognize those engaged in cuba's peaceful civic struggle

for democratic change and stand up for human rights. their names like dr. oscar bessett, or the ladies in white, and the victims of the black spring government crackdowns. it is my hope that one day in the not too distant future that the people in cuba will live in eedom with dignity and the hope for a better tomorrow, that is their godiven right. even though i will no longer hold public office, my passion to work to see the day when people in cuba will live in freedom will continue. the preservation of all freedoms whether in cuba or around the world, call us to stand up whenever an wherever it is threatened. one series of events will stand out in my mind. a constituent of mine was in prison while visiting her family in vietnam. this is a lady who fled vietnam,

lived in florida. went back to vietnam to a family wedding. and while she was there, her views about the government of vietnam were clear and well known and so she was for no particular reason thrown in jail in vietnam when this matter came to my attention, she had been in detention for over aear. she was denied any of the basic rights that we understand and know. she had had no opportunity to have contact with home. and she had had no real hearing and no fai trial. but she was, yet, still in prison. and one of the wonderful opportunities that i've had in my time here was to work for her release. and it so hpened that working with president bush and secretary of state rice at the time we had before the senate the vietnamese free trade agreement and president bush was planng a visit to vietnam upon the completion of that

agreement. utilizing the resources that all of us have in the senate to ensure that the consideration of that free trade agreement was somehow connected to the freedom of this innocent woman, i was able to work with, again, our state department and secretary rice leang it at the time, as well as our president, to ensure that she was free. and i've never been more proud than the day we were able to get a phone call that she was on her way to san francisco and then have a wonderful reunion with her and her family in orlando, florida, is something that i will never forget. we did also stride mightily in this body to seek a solution to immigration reform. something that i felt very strongly about. and being the only immigrant in this body, i felt i was duty bound to try to advance that cause. and i'm proud to say that our efforts for immigration reform gave me the opportunity to work very closely with senator ted

kennedy, who we're also honoring today. here nearly a half century of service in the united states senate. i can recall one day near his desk, reminiscing with him, he he came steent in 1962 -- to the senate in 1962. it was the same year i came from cuba. it was the same year that we had been or immediately right after we had had a serious confrontation that involved cuba, the cuban missile crisis. and i remember discussing with him howed -- how tied his family had been to cuba during that period of time and how deeply that had obviously touched my life as well. but in addition to that many opportunities to reminisce about things like that with him, i really hold dear the opportunity to have sat at the table and negotiated with him what i would have thought would have been a very good immigration reform package. good for our country and good for many people in the country. we didn't always agree we didn't always have the same point of view. but we always find a way to get

along and be very civil about our differees. and i admired his ability to put differences aside and his ability to find consensus. the most telling about working with senator kennedy is that he was committed to reaching an outcome. he really wanted a solution, which then might -- and this might be a lesson for current issues today, that he could put aside the whole banana in order to get what he could. and so i believe in that working with him and then some other colleagues that have become such good and dear friends like senator graham and senator mccain and many others, senator kyl, who made an effort to get this legislation done, i leave with a sense of regret that that's not completed. but i do know that that is an issue that will have to be addressed at some point in the fruifuture. president bush said that america remains a brickon of freedom to the world when he spoke about the shining city on the hill. in his

farewell address, he talked about the contributions of all individuals making our nation great. he said, "if it had to be city wallets, the walls had the wds and the doors were open to those with the will and heart to get here." i believe those words to be as true today as the daye said them and i do hope that in the not-too-distant future this congress address them to the very important issue. whether it is immigration, budgets, or supreme court justice, i'll also miss the debates, and i want to thank my fellow senators for their collegiality and their friendship. i know these friendships are going to be the hard of the thing to leave here, on both sides of the aisle, and i must say that i've been very touched by the warm and gracious phone calls and other expressions that i've received from my colleagues, and as i sarges on both sides of the aisle. that makes me feel gd about my relationship with awful you, and i hope -- with all of you, and i hope many of those relationships

will continue. i want to thank senator kyl and senator alexander and other members of the leadership time for their kindness in working with me and give me opportunities to participate in our great debates. i want to thank senator reid and senator durbin for their friendship and willingness to work with me as well. i have had a very special relationship with my colleague from florida, senator bill nelson. we have known each other for a long time, long before we came to the senate. and it has been a real privilege and pleasure towork with him. i think we've work together well naff to give florida and excellent team here, and i am really pleed to not only have had this fine working relationship with him but also our staffs have worked together well, and i want to thank his chief of staff pete mitchell and others in this office for the wonderful way in which they've worked with us. all of you have extended great kindness to kitty and to me, a understand i -- and i hope that we will have an opportunity to

see you in florida where we'll continue to make our home much i want to especially recognize some people from my staff who have really made my office go and as all of you rely on these folks to make us look good at times and always be dedated to us. state director has been kevin doyle, he's done a magnificent job. senior director, kate bush, michael zaire, terry couch who has been bouncing with me from mayor to secretary to senator, and i dare say my even continue to hang around with me in some way. my chief of staff and lon longte friend tom wineberg. he worked with me wn he was county administrator and then came to join me here. there were a few folks who were in my staff, john lilly, my first chief of staff, and my former state director matthew hunter were also very important

in my work and i appreciate them very, very much. i have to say one of the most singular honors that i have had in my service war to work with the men and women who serve in our armed forces and to get to know, whether it is team people h. nem their leadership, like general petraeus, who is now a florida in the central command in tampaer or, or just some floridians serving in the national guard and having lunch with them in kabul or baghdad or other places here in washington or around the world, they are an amazing group of people. they have my respect and my deep-felt grat feud for the work that they do as they serve our nation in foreign, distant places and their families with them are part of serving as well. while saying "thank yous," i also want to say a thank you to my wife kitty. i promise you, if it wasn't fo kitty, i would not have done half what i've done in life.

and so i am eternally grateful to the good lord for the blessing of having a wonderful life companion. i want to tell you all that vula very fine -- that you will have a very fine person here in my place. i think he will serve the people of florida well. he want to extend a warm welcom to george as he joins this wonderful body. i am humbled by the trust the people of florida have placed in me. i have me a decision toove on. i do it with a heavy heart. i also want to address myself to the cuban-american community through our country but especially in frida who have had such great pride in me and have put so much of their faith and hopes in my public life and i want to say to them that -- [speaking spanish] -- which

meansism appreciative of the pride we share together and what we have accomplished. your enthusiastic support has touched my heart and i will always carry that w with me. the opportunity for someone like me to serve speaks volumes about the promise they made and one our nation continues to keep even to this day. i want to close with a quote from jose marti, a patriot, who strived for freedom. "he said liberty is the essence of life whatever is done without it is imperfect." with that, i have tried e enjoy the fruits of liberty but have also tried to extend it to others in every way i coul. i am immensely grateful to have been able to serve in this body. i am humbled by this moment and i am grateful for your

friendship and support. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. kyl: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator arizona. mr. kyl: as senator martinez snows, senator mcconnell could not be here this morning. i mae some brief remarks yesterday but let me just say, kick off some comments that i know others of my colleagues will want to make, that in addition to the other attributes that senator martinez has brought to the senate representing the people of florida, his personality, his engaging wit and his love of people, his spirit, his iendliness and his genuineness all have been appreciated by all of us, i know, very much. and so it's even more difficult for us to see him leave because in addition to being a good colleague and a great senator, he's been a wonderful friend. and i think all of u appreciate

that friendliness which is not always the order of the day when it comes to politics. with kitty and mel march te mare knees, we appreciate it very much and will miss them. mr. alexander: mr. president, the best stories in the united states senate are not the political stories. i seehe assistant democratic -- i would rather defer to him and come next, if i may. -- you -- you mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from -- mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i want to say a few words about my friendship. i didn't know him before senator martinez came to the senate. i think the first time i had an intersight into what he brought to the senate is was at a prayer breakfast when he explained t us how he happened to be in mencht he was one of the fortunate few who escaped from cuba under the tyranny of the castro regime, given a chance to

come to florida. and he told me and others how difficult it was, struggling with the language he didn't know, and he explained that one of the real saviors for him was the fact that he was a good athlete. so he was able to play many sports and make many friends, lerner elish in the process, and become not only an integral part of that community in florida but an integral part of america's political future. his story of growing up in florida, his family, his wife kitty, his children really mean the world to him. when i heard that he was retiring, i called from i wil is to reach him and to wish him the best and i asked, as everyone would, why? he said, it's all about my family. i want to salute you for that.

it takes an extraordinary person to give up the adulation and the head did i atmosphere of the senate but to remember what's most important in their lives. i also want to thank him for his extraordinary courage and helpfulness on so many issues, particularly when it came to issues of immigration. as i snow, senator martinez, you feel this personally. this is something that you've been through yourself. and you know so many others like you who are just looking for that chance to prove to america that they can make a contributi. senator martinez has been an outspoken supporter of the "dream" act, which is an opportunity for younger people to have their chance in america. and i thank you for that. i know it wasn't easy because there were many critics -- you told me -- who would come forward and tell you what a bad idea it was. but your courage in standing up for that is an indication of the kind of person you are. florida going lose a great nator in mel martinez. america is going to lose an

important voice in the united states senate. but i don't think we've heard the last of mel martinez. i think his contribution whether as a private citizen or in some other public service is in the future. i wish you and your family the very, very bevmen best. mr. alexander: mr. president? the pesiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: i often think about how the best stories in the juic united states senateret the political stories. senator inouye's braverx in world war ii leading to a congressional medal of honor; the former majority leader, bill ist, operating on -- performing open-heart surgery on general petraeus wn he was accidentally shot at ft. campbell; ben nighthorse k bell on the judo olympic team; jim bunning in the hall of fame; jim inhofe circling the world in a plane; ted stevens flying the first cargo plane into beijing

at the end of the world war ii, then in 19 dpsh after the elections of 2004, we have ken salazar from colorado, 15t generation america -- his family; we have barack obama with his incredible story, and then we had mel martinez in the same year. despite the emotion of all of those stories, mel martinez's story stands out to me. as the senator from illinois said, imagine growing up in cuba -- a good life -- not a rich life but a good life. he recounted in this book a sense of belonging that senator martinez wrote, "suddenly the castro regime comes, it's 1958 and one day your parents put you on airplane, send to you miami, not knowing if they'll see you again." then going to florida state,

meeting kitty, become the first hispanic lawyer, i guess, in ange county and then the mayor and then a cabinet member, then senator, then republican national committee chairman. iean, what a terrific story. so well-told in this book p one thing about our country that is unique is that we believe that anything is possible. the rest of the world looks at us and thinks we americans are very nig naive. but constantly we prove that over and over again, usually with the election of a president from unusual circumstances, as we just had. but mel martinez's story, his escape from cuba's communism, his coming from that, speaking no english, what he has already accomplished and now moving on yet to another career in private life is an inspiration for our country. he has enrimpe this body.

he says in his book, "my journey has taught me it is not an empty cliche that this country is a land where dreams can and do come true." his life shows that. we've enjoyed his friendship. we appreciathis example for the country. we wish him and kitty and his family well in thejectio the ner of their lives. the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: i want to join my colleagues from congratulating my friend from florida who are his service to our country and he has served in so many different ways, as has already been noted. but truly an example of the american success story, someone who came here, established himself, and has risen into the very highest -- i guess you'd call it echelons of this country in terms of public service and his contributions to the private economy in this country, and so it's with great regt that we say goodbye to him as a united

states senator but continue to maintain the strong friendships that weave built and developed during his service here. you know, they say that someone is measured not by the days in their life but the life in their days, and while senator martinez has maybe not served here as long as some other senators -- d he and i came into this senate together back in 2005 -- but -- so he may not be measured by his days of life in t senate, but he's certainly measured by the life in his days in the senate because he has added mightil to the debate here. he is an incredibly thoughtful senator, someone who i have to say i have lernered a lot from, and not just in our personal friendship but professionally because he brings so many insights and such a -- and such a thoughtful way in the way he looks at issues. domestic policy issues, foreign

issues. i have lernered a lot about florida, a lot about cuba, a lot about the hispanic community in this country p. those are insights and contributions that he has made that no one else could make. it is very rare indeed to have intusomeone of his experience to serve in the united states senate and be able to rub shoulders and lerner ery single day from those experiences. and so i want to congratulate senator martinez and his family, ase said, "like myself and many others of us, mel married over his head." he has a wonderful wife and family, and i hope that now that he is not a member of the united states senate that we'll get to see a little bit more of him in the state of south dakota because his son john married a south dakota girl. and i've been trying for sometime to get him to south dakota to hunt if he is ants and he is he's 345eud trips up there i think, but it's always a little bit later in the season and the climate tends t change in south dakota. but i hope now that he has a

little bit more time to enjoy those types of things we'll get that chance. i just want to express my great appreciation, mr. president, to the senator from florida for an extraordinary run here in the united states senate. he truly is the kind of person that what you see is what you get. th's rare in politics today. a genuine, thoughtful, sincere, kind, generous, the kind of person that serves -- that i want to see more of in public life. and so it's been a pleasure and an honor to have the opportunity to serve with him in the united states senate and to call him a colleague, but it's even a greater privilege and honor and opportunity to have been able to call him my friend. so, mel, best wishes. whatever you do you're going to do well. we are a proud of you and thank you for your great contributions to our country. god bless you. mr. graham: mr. president,

this is the time in a person's crier a supposed to lay it on thick. but there's really into "no" need to do that in mel's case. i think everybody here speak on both sides of the aisle are trying to sayhank you for your friendship. and there's a million ways to say it and to kitty, thank you for being part of our lives here and we're going to continue this relationship. i think all of us haveot stories about mel. i first heard about mel by reputation. he was a republican trial lawyer. that intrigued me. there are not many of us. we can meet in a phone booth. i got to know himuring his campaign and go some events for him. i think that experience of representing people really made him a good senator. he understands there are two sides to every story. sometimes a person need the best advocate they can get even though their cause may not be so popular at the moment. but i really the g.a.o. to know mel during the immigration debate. that's a hell of way to meet somebody. you'll lerner really quickly about a person when you talk

about polits at that level, that emotional. and mel was going to be part of that debate whether he wanted to or not because of who he was. i mean, you just could not talk about imand not think about mel martinez. but he was the first one to show up and he was the last one to leave. and we'll get that bill passed one day and it will be a tribute to medical and senator kennedy that -- the guts of that bill ll be the solutinn that will be embraced down the road. but that was tough politics. wed reminisce at night. you know saxby was involved and meet every morning in the president's room wh senator kennedy and mccain and try to figure out where we're out based on and what the night before. usually we lost ground, but we kept plugging. but a lot of stories was told about what was going on in mel's life. there was a lot of hatred out there, quite frankly. there should be a lot of people upset about the immigration system not working and broken

borders and legitimately concerned, but there are some people who were quite hateful. i think that mel took the brunt of that more than anybody else. it didn't get a lot of publicity, but i know what he an kitty went through to try to fix a broken immigration system. i will be forever grateful for their efforts. it was personally very difficult. when mel left a repressive place, he came to a hopeful country and during that debate he never lost sight of what america was really all about. america will never be defined by the people who hate. america will be defined by the people who love and care. i never met two people who led and cared more than kitty and mel who will be missed. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. a senator: mr. president, i too want to join my colleagues in recognizing mel martinez and his great contribution to this body and his fridship. i think most o those things have been said.

mr. brownback: one of the things i learned from a leader in your state was a saying he gave to me was that we get into trouble when we look at people as problems and not as people. and i thought about that for a long time because you could go back in our history and nerally when w looked at people as problems and not people is when we've gotten in trouble. when you look at various situation that's we've had and even the immigration debate would be one. well, this is a problem. no, this is a person. or you can look at our debate on abortion in this country and say, well, we've got a problem here. no, we have a person here. and the consistency of what i've seen in mel's policy position has been very much, no, this is a person. and it's not just a person, this is a great person. and not just at great pson, this is a -- this is an unusual individual and that he celebrates that with everybody, and that's a beautiful thing to do and it's a beautiful thing to

have and it's a beautiful thing to see because then that carries over into his friendships. so whenever he's talking with somebody else, it may be a colleague or another individual and normally you're sitting there and you're going, ok, i need to get something done through this person. but i don't usually find that in a conversation with mel. normally what i find is well, yeah, i need to get something done, but what i'm really interested in is you and what you're thinking and who you are. and this isn't an opportunity for me to get something. this i an opportunity for me to celebrate another beautiful soul that's standing rig there and staring at me and talking to me. i have this unique opportunity to engage them and how much better we all are when we look at people as people and not as problems or as opportunities or obstacles to get through, and that's where i find what he embodies and the way he works. we're going to miss you, mel. we're going to miss you an awful lot. we appreciate you.

and i appreciate the lesson that you taught me by the way you lived and the way you served. god bless you. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: mr. president, it is with a good degree of regret, and i'm going to wait until i get the attention of my colleague because he knows the heartfelt sentiment that's i'm going to express because i have tried for now the better part of three mont to talk him out of this particular day. i didn't want him to resign because it's been good for florida the way the two of us have worked together professionally because it is built on a personal friendship

that goes back over 30 years. there wasn't a day that we were in session here that mel and i did not talk and, of course, this floor of the united states senate is the pce that you can get away from the other distractions and, in fact, can come together and have those conversations that you want and that was so important in us looking out for the interest of florida. so it is with a great deal of regret that this day has come. i think it's imptant that the two senators from a state get along andhat is particularly

true of the two senators from a state who happen to be from different parties. and i is my hope that the kind of relationship that we had, both privately and publicly, as the two senators from florida set a- sent a message to our people that you can transcend partisan differences in order to get things done. i believe that that's the relationship that we've had now going on in the senate for a little over 4 1/2 years, and i just wish that relationship were going to continue for another year and a half to the remainder of senator martinez's term. but for personal rsons he has made this decision.

it is incumbent upon me as the senior senator of florida in the newly appointed -- and the newly appointed senator to have the same kind of relationship with him for the good of our country, for the good of our state to transcend political differences, to have a good personal relationship so that we can get stuff done in a bipartisan way. i intend to do that. and i assume that the new senator will do likewise. let me say that a lot of you don't know with regard to senator martinez that 30 -- now going on 31, 32 years ago when we were a lot younger, i was --

he was already, back then, a very promint trial lawyer. i was just a pup state legislator trying to run in a congressional distct that included the east coast of florida and the interior, including orlando. and mel was one of those high-profile very respected attorneys in central florida. and lo and behold, mel and his fe, kitty, as i campaigned for that congressional seat in 1978, went out door-to-door for me. and we have kept up that relationship over the years. and so it has been my privilege to have had that personal relationship turn into the professional relationships as

colleagues and the united states senate. and so i say to mel martinez and to kitty, godspeed. a senator: mr. proop? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: mr. president, this is one of those days that none of us look particularly forward to when we have to speak about a dear friend who's leaving the senate. but i'm excited for mel and for kitty in a number of ways and appreciative of great relationship, number one, that we've had from a collegial standpoint and for what mel martinez has provided to our country over the last several years. our friend lamar alexander, who spoke a little bit earlier, often talks and has got me talking back home to particularly young people about what it really means to be an american.

mel martinez has a greater appreciation about what it means to be an american than anybody in this body because of the fact that he's the only immigrant that is a member of the united states senate. and i know how hard he worked to become a citizen and that he has a great appreciation for what it means to be an american. what a great story it is. mel dodging bullets in cuba, escaping communism and ultimately coming to the united states, being separated from his parents, being somewhat lostn a sange land that he knew something about, but just didn't know any people. and as a 16-year-old young man thrust into that situation, most of us would panic, to some extent. mel never did. and through the raising and orphanages and foster homes and ultimately being reunited with

his parents after having his brother ralph come over here and being reunit with him before being reunited with his parents is such a great personal story and such a touching story, number one. but all of that serd to develop a foundation in mel martinez that america has been the beneficiary of and certainly those of us in this body who have come to know mel and kitty are the beneficiaries of -- i guess the ironic thing, when you read mel's book "a sense of benging," which i would recommend to anybody listening today. what a great book. it's a short read, but you'll have a lot of fun and be of great interest to you. what you realize is that when mel got here, there were several things that allowed him to transition into american society. enues bright young mannd didn't know the english language

when he came here. he committed to learn t he did learn t second-degreely, he was a very affable person back then, just as he is now. he made friends very easy and that helped him make that transition. and thirdly, he was a good athlete, maybe even a great athlete. in fact, if he could have hit e curveball, he might be representing the miami marlins today instead of the state of florida. but it's a great way to look at the history of america when he look at -- when you look at the history of mel martinez and his transition all the way from rural cuba to the united states senate. i guess the most important thing i could say about him is what's already been alluded to by the assistant majority leader, and that is that mel came to the senate for all the right reasons. he came into public service for

all the right reasons, and he's leaving for all the right reasons. i know, because of the many, many conversations he and i have had about our families, what a dedicated husband he is, what a dedicated father he is. and now he has seen his two older children, lauren and jack, come up and become very successful in their own right, and now he's got andrew. andrew is a 15-year-old young man who is growing up in orlando and is doing the things that all young men 0 do and, unfortunately, his dad is gone during the week and is home during the weekend and that's the time when young men like to be wit their friends and mel is missing a lot of that. and thand that's the reasons hes going back home. that's the reason all of us can stand up here sand say, wow, i wish i had the courage to do that. i had a very similar experience

during my days in the house, when i ran for the house in 1994. my son was a senior in eye school. he played football on what ultimately became a state championship football team. there was no question from my campaign staff as to where i was going to be on friday night. i was there to see my son. mel is missing the experience of seeing andrew play on thursday nights because he's up here during what he was elected to do and that's serve the people of florida. he's going toow have the toonts to experience with ---t-o have the experience to do what did he with lauren and jack. his service as mayor of orlando or as secretary of h.u.d. or his service in the senate, but his service to his family is what's important and wow what a public servant he is to his family. so, too, he and his wife kitty,

we just say we thank you for the great service that you have provided. we thank you for the great friendships that you have provided to all ofs as members of this body. and whatever road you ultimately travel down in the days ahead, we know you're going to continue to be a success. we know that you're going to continue to serve our country in your own special way. but most importantly, you're going to serve our god and you're going to serve your family. so, mel, thanks for everything you've done. thanks for your friendship. god be with you and godspee mr. corker: mr. president, spend very little time on the floor and intend to keep it that y. but you want to pay tribute to my great friend mel march teens. we sit beside each ear on the banking committee many we

commiserate about many things that happen in this body. i love working with mel martinez and i am going to miss him. i consider mel to be the epitome of decency in thi body. i thi that he's a person who truly wants to do what is best for this country, and i've seen him many times tormented over decisions thate all make here, which are very difficult to decide from time to time; what is the bet fo best for our couny over the language-term and i value thatn him so much. so briefly i am going to say that i think this body will be diminished with him leaving. i think having people like mel that, again, have such a sense of decency, which is, as senator chambliss mentioned, the reason that -- one phs reasons he'll be departinparting soon -- but it e a loss for this body. i have not met anybody here that

i think is a finer individual, nor anybody that i'll miss more than senator mel martinez. so i am happy for kitty. i am happy for his family. i'm sorry for us. but i'm glad that i served in the senate with somebody that i consider to be such an outstanding person as mel. so, mel, thank you. thank you for the many confidential conversations that we've had through the years, the frankness with which we've been able to talk about so many things. each of us brings something to this body that is unique. think thi that's why this functions the twhrai it z i think your insights into our relationships with the countries of latin america, to many of the things that were happening there from the inside because of so many of the relationships that you have has helped allf us make decisions that are more sound ando that peace will go with you as you leave here.

and surely somebody else over time will help fill i in that vacuum but value the many thingshat you have shared with me that have helped me to think about things in a more thoughtful manner and look forward to talking to you for years -- in the years coming about what's happening in your life. but thank you for what you've done in mine. thank you. the presiding officer: morning business is close under the previous order, the senate will resume conderation of s. 1023, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 71, s. 1023, a bill to establish a nonprofit corporation to communicate united states entry policies and otherwise promote lee sure, business, and schola scholarly travel to the united states. mr. dorgan: mr. president? e presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. dorgan: mr. president this legislation is now in the 30 hours postcloture period. we had a cloture vote yesterday,

late yesterday afternoon%, and i believe that the 30 hours postcloture will expire sometime later thi afternoon it 4:00 or so, 4:30. let me again explain what we're trying to do. this is reasonably simple, and one of the few pieces of legislation i think in the dust that'sreated -- all of the partisan dust in this country, this is one of the few piecesf legislation that has broad bipartisan support. we had, i believe, 52 cosponsors for this bill, republicans and democrats, and the proposition is very simple: first of all, we've lost a lot of jobs in this country. we are in the deepest recession since the great depression. a whole lot of folks have lost their jobs. this is a bill to try to create more jobs, but it is a bill that especially addresses a problem that has been created in the last eight or nine years, and since the year 2000, here's a

couple of numbers. since the yr 2000, there are 56 million more people living on this planet who are taking overseas trips, overseas travel. leet me say that again. there's a big old planet with billions of people living on t half have never made a phone call. laugh make less than $2 a day. but on this big old planet there are people who travel internationally and there ar t 6 million more people who travel but there are 5h 633,000 few pee who visited the united states than visited our country nine years ago. why is that the case? why is it important? it is important because international travelers -- i am talking about overseas travelers on average spend about $4,500 per person per trip. that's a lot of expenditures.

it supports aot of jobs in the tourism industry. it supports jobs in ery sta in our country. so it's important for that reason. it creat jobs. but it's important for another reason as well. when peopleome here from other parts of the world and see america and experience the cultured and character of our country, they leave almost inevitably with a v very positie impression of this country of ours. so for two reasons this is important and we have fewer international visors -- 6 633,000 fewer per year -- than we had nine years ago even at a time when 56 million more people are traveling around the globe for overseas visits. now, i described yesterday what other countries are doing. otr countries are saying, we understand that this creates jobs, the issue of international travel and tourism. and so other countries are reaching out. japan, italy, france, india,

england -- you name it -- they all have aggressive motions around the world and say, come to our country, come to see the eiffel tower, the wonders of frarns the beauty of ireland, come to india,experience the culture of yaindz. awful these countries are doing very aggressive international promotion for the international traveler. they say, come to our country. something happened in the year 2001, obviously on 9/11 we had a terrorist attack, a devastating terrorist attack. as a result of that, our country tightened up on vas. we made it more difficult to come to our country. and at the same time as we tightened up on visas, those who did want to come often had to wait for long periods of time, wait in long lines in order to get a visa, and then with respect to the iraq war and other policies, people became upset with our country and so the result has been a substantial decrease in

international travelers coming to our country. the purpose of this legislation is very simple. it establishes -- it's called the travel promotion act of 2009. but it stab establishes aublic sector, private sector relationship to begin promoting international travel to the united states of america. this is one of the few pieces of legislation that actually saves of government money -- the congressional budget office scores it at over $400 million in ruction in the federal budget deficit over the coming ten years. so this isn't something that expands the deficit. this redes the federal budget deficit, number one. number two, it is bipartisan. a fairly lae number of democrats and republicans have joined together 10 say we want to do this. number three, organizations like the u.s. chamber of commerce and others have weighed in saying, this is very foreig important fo

do. other countries are engaged in this type of promotion for their countries. we need to do it for ours. and so, along with my colleagues, have authored this leslation in the previous congress, i authored the legislation. my colleagues, senator ensign, senator klobuchar, senator reid and many, many others -- republicans and democrats -- have joined in the legislation that would create an opportunity for this country to compete internationally for international tourism travel. mr. president, we will, i think, for the next five hours or so -- or six hours -- stand atarade rest listening to people talk about what they want to talk about here on the floor of the senate, and it is a procedure that is a bit byzantine. most people wouldn't understand the procedure. h., on something as

noncontrovsial as this. something widely supported by republicans and democrats. something that reduces the federal budget deficit and extend our ability to create jobs in this country. we got 80 senators to vote fo cloture which meant we had-to-file a cloture petition. it takes two days to have a cloture petition ripen. then we got cloture with 80 votes, now we stand at parade rest until somewhere around 4:30 this afternoon because 30 hours, if the minority insists, 30 hours has to expire. tend oat the e of the 30 hours, we have have a voit son the legislation. this legislation is the right thing to do right nov. and at a time when this is an increasingly smaller planet, an increasingly smaller world in which we live, i think it is important forurountry to reach outo the rest of the word. according to so is in our self-interest t creates jobs and

expands our economy. but what we have created in this chun is quite extraordinary. this is not a circumstance where we would promote travel to america f one destination. it is travelo america to see all of this great country and its grandeur. there's so much to see and experience here, and we know from polls that haveeen done with international travelers that when people come to this country and travel here and experience what exists in our country, and understand the character and culture of our country, they leave with an unbelievably positive attite about the united states. and that's an awfully good thing, stoles. so, again, a bipartisan bill that saves the federal government money, reduces the federal budg deficit, combines the best ideas of republins and democrats, had 80 votes for cloture. i would hopee had at least that on final passage. and perhaps we will start off this work period of september and october on a pretty positive

note, stepping forward togher to say let's do something that strengthens our, mr. president, i yield the floor. m a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. kyl: mr. president, the united states is a very popular tourist destination. according to the department of commerce, foreign travel reached record highs in the year 2008, an increase of 15% over the previous record set in 2007. so our tourist industry is booming. people from all over the world want to visit our cities and see our sights. almost every state and community have tourist, promotion programs that are very robust, which help to accommodate that desire for foreign travelers to come here. so i'm a bit baffled by the legislation that's pending before us. the tourism protection act in my view, is both unnecessary and the wrong approach to attracting visitors from abroad. the bill would create another

government-affiliated office of tourism. now, why do we need that? the department of commerce already has a tourism offic and private sector businesses and other entities have demonstrated capability to promote tourism. according to the companies and lobbyists who are pushing this bill, they already are. so why throw at leas least $100 million a year to a new and unnecessary federal entity to market research travel and tour itch. research -- tourism. research tourism? what's to research? i wonder if this is one of the reasons why the american people have a lot of questions aut the capability of their representatives here in washington to do the right thing. the bill would impose a new $10 fee on foreign visitors. now there's a way to attract more visitors, charge them for coming here. maybe we need that research afterall. of course, imposing a new user

for your tax on nearly every foignisitor is hardly a way to promote new tourism. obviously we should avoid creating impediments to tourism if your first goal is to attract more tourists. for those families who do visit, every dollar they have to spend paying the federal government is one less dollar they spend on american businesses andocal communities, restaurants, shops, hotels, cab rides and so long. a $10 fee may not sound like much, but for a family of five, that's $50 to promote tourism. we agree that tourism boosts the economy, is vital to our economy. my state of arizona relies a great deal on tourism for our economy. and it's a wonderful destination place for folks to visit. i n't think we need the federal goverent to take

another bite out of our tourism dollars. i'm also concerned about the inevitable rallry effect of this legislation. there was an op-ed in "the washington post" on monday and pointed out that the european union and other governments said if we impose a new tax on foreign visitors, they will follow suit and have a tax on american visitors to their countries. well, that's not a ver good idea either, is it. do we need new legislation that will lead to n travel fees when we americans travel abroad. instead of an additional tourism office, i think we should work to fund the actual federal responsibilities that we have that relate to people coming to our country, such as, upgradin or adding infrastructure at our ports and making visa service improvements. there are always improvements we can make in this regard. the easier we can make it for tourists to come here, the more likely they will come. so if we want to spend $100 million, for example,

to make it more attractive for tourists to enter the united states, there are plenty of ways to do that that relate directly to our responsibilities. we don't have to create another redundant office of tour itch and charge the tourists to fund it. so, mr. president, at a time whej much of the world is experiencing economic hardship, we should support pollies that make -- policies that makes tourism more attractive, not more costly. that's why i believe this legislation is misguided, unnecessary,nd in the end harmful. a senator: the senator from north dakota. mr. dorgan: perhaps while my colleague is on the floor, i think it would be useful to at least discuss a couple of things that are apparently in disagreement. the issue of a $10 fee that could be used in at private and public sector partnership is being supported by the chamber of commerce and all of the organizations that want to promote this country as a destination for intnational tourism, let me just put on the

board here a chart that shows the fees that -- that our travelers to the visa waiver countries now pay. they charge us fees. we're talking about a $10 fee to people from these countries. $10. here's what we are charged if you go to france, a $51 fee. americans going to france, i think in most cases, collected actually by the airline in that case. we don't propose that here. you can see that spain, $14. the czech republic, $27. they're going -- they're going to retaliate. they already charge the american traveler a fee when we come and go. and we're talking about a $10 fee that would allow our country to promote our country as a destination just as their countries are doing. we're not -- we're not even in the competition. but the thing i wanted to ask my colleague about is - he talked about international tourism. i wonder if we disagree on this -- there's a ver big difference

between the classification of international tourists in this cotry an foreign travelers. -- and foreign travelers. trelers from foreign countries abroad. mexico and canada, and, by the way, the research that the senator seemed to diminish, the research tells us a lot about this information. on average a visitor from mexico and canada on a visit to the united states is going to spend around the 900. on average a foreigner from another country is going t spend $45 very different than visiting arizona or north dakota and spending money. all of the data tells us that in the last nine years global travel has increased by 56 million more people moving around the globe doing international tourism, travel, and that during the same time the united states has actually had 633,000 fewer overseas

visitors than nine years ago. do we disagree on that? because my colleague from arizona seemed to suggest, well, everything is at record high. that -- that's just not the case. overseas travel from people coming to this country is down -- down at a time when overseas travel is booming all around the rest of the world, we have over a half million people a year fewer coming to this country. do we disagree on that? mr. kyl: mr. president, i say to my colleague, two things. first of all, the statistics i quoted were for the last two years, 2007 and 2008ã i don't have the statistics for 10 years ago. mr. dorgan: i'm talking about overseas travel. the statistic you quoted, i believe, are statistic about mexican and canadian travel to the u.s. we have a lot of people moving in and out. i'm talking about overseas travel. the official numbers on overseas travel is 633,0 fewer people

coming to this country from overseas for tourism than existed nine years ago. do you subscribe to ma? kyl -- to that? mr. kyl: i was not referring specifically to canada or mexico. i would be happy to get the source of the statistical information that i presented, provide that to my colleague so we can mak a comparison. the other point i would make with regard to the fees, i'm not doing anything except reporting the news, which is that the countries abroad say if we impose this fee, they will reciprocate. the fact that may of them may already impose a fee, may mean that they will increase their fee, that's obviously not a good thing. it seems to me that any fee that any of the countries impose gets us into a little bit of a bidding war here. we're all going to try to attract tourism from other countries by raising fees on the tourists who come here, i don't think that's very good policy. if those countries want to have a fee, i don't think it's very

smart for them to have it. but i can't affect thatxcept by trying to ensure that the don't have a reason to reciprocate against the united states if we impose a fee. mr. dorgan: mr. president, i would simply say it's not a matter of reciprocating against us. they already impose the fees on american travelers. and our determination tompose a minor fee, $10 for an international traveler from a visa waiver country, it just seems to me suggest to -- and the senator described an op-ed piece by my colleague, senator demint, which, in my judgment, is full of misinformation. by the way, i'm sending "the washington post" a response to it today. look, international travel, you talked about -- and my friend from arizona talked about research. the commerce department does do research. what's the value of it? well, the research shows that in the first-quarter of this year

there was a 10% decrease in international travel to this country. that's the official data from the commerce department. so it's not the case that tourism is at record high, that we're setting all these records. and it is the case, in my judgment, based on imper kal data and research that we have far fewer overseas visitors coming to this country now than we did nine years ago and i'm telling you something, that relates, in my judgment, to substantial lost opportunity for a number of reasons: jobs that we should have that we don't have. and, second, an awfully good impression by people who come here and visit here. i think my colleague will agree with me that post 9/11 there were a lot of things done that suggested toeople around the country -- around the world, i should say, it will take a while to get to the united states. you're not very welcome there. it will take a long time to get a visa. you'll have to wait a long, long

time. i wanted to show my colleague, this is all 2008 material, by the way. headlines like this, "the sydney morning herald," coming to america isn't easy. "ed guardian," united kingdom, america, more work than it' worth. "the sunda times," travel to america? no thanks. there's something missing here because my friend from arizona represents a state that has a lot of tourism and a lot of jobs that relate to tourism. virtually every state in this country will benefit from being ab to promote america's grandure and opportunity for -- grandure and opportunity for people to come here and travel here and we're not even in the game. kilmr. kyl: i would like to maka quick comment. i think thathe headlines my colleague reads makes a good debate. if we're going to try to

concentrate on attracting more people to our shores, there are a lot of things that we can do to take the hassle out of travel that relates ports of entity, our visa system d other things at we can do to take that hassle of travel to the united states out, and i would put that sponsibility ahead of fancy brochureso tell people it would be nice to come to the united states when there are other ways that we can make our shores more attractive to them. as i promised my colague, i'll -- i'll get the source of the information that i quoted with regard to this the statistical informatio demonstrating more travel in the last two years, then we can have a further conversation about that. mr. dorgan: and i respect my colleague's views. i will only say this, the evidence is clear and not debatable. fewer people are coming to this country from overseas than nine years ago. in my judgment we should be concerned about that and do

something about that by encouraging them. yes, let's deal with the wait times on visas. we made some progress on that. it is also the case while india, france, china, japan and others are engaged in substantial promotional campaigns that say, come to our country. come and see what ue have. and if while they're doing that with aggressive promotion, we're sitting back and saying, well, we're not going to say anything much. we don't have a promotion campaign encouraging people to come to america. in my judgment, we lose that opportunity. advertising works. you know, whether it's a television commercial or promotion. all i'm saying is don't diminish that. because promoting travel to the united states can work. but deciding that we're not going to promote anything, i know, does not work. in fact, in this past decade we've been in a circumstance where just after 9/11, it was pretty clear that we're going to make it much more difficult for people to come to this country, and did.

and then we went through a period with the iraqar and other things, a lot of people were pretty upset and we saw a substantial reduction in the amount of tourism coming to this country from overseas. and, again, i'm knowledgeable about the op-ed piece written in "the washington post" just described by my colleague. i'm telling you there will be a response to that because much of that had no basis in fact. so, you know, all i hope is that the 80 senators yesterday who supported this will continue to understand and support the notion of creating jobs in this country on a bipartisan basis with a piece of legislation that actually reduceshe federal budget deficit. what a novel thing that is. so, again, i have respect for those who disagree. but i don't want there to b disagreement about the facts. we do research in the commerce department on who is coming to our country and how many are

coming to our country. that research is valuable. let's take advantage of the research and undstand what it says. overseas travel to this country, while up roughly 50-some million across the country -- across the planet, i should say -- overseas travel across the planet is up, up, up, way up, and to this country it's down. there is a something huang with that and something unhealthy about it. we can change t that's what this legislation is many it is an attempt to change t again, let me just -- let me quote mark twain. i probably should do this every time i speak on the floor because i'm always trying to sell something here. it is a bipartisan piece of legislation that i think advantages this country, but i said it yesterday. mark twain was asked once if he would engage in a debate that was being sciewltd. he sd yes of course as long as i can take the nextgenive side. they said we've not even told you the subject. he said, doesn't matter. the nextgenive side is going to take no preparation.

i understand that here in the congress. it is much, much, much easier to write a big ol' op-ed piece whacking away at something than it is to advance this country's interests. i believe this bill has merit. so does a brought bipartisan coalition of senators, 80 of them who voted yesterday. mrpresident, i yield the floor and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: