by the 100 first paragraph. it is beyond their comprehension and that is why we wrote this book. we punted to tell the story. >> i did point out that that was -- also need to say that i am displeased that african-americans do not know their history as terry and i and the other seven learned when we were coming along. nowadays we do have black history month, but we had -- we had some very good teachers who were very creative because that was the reason -- we didn't have

those things at central. we had access to some learning materials that i have always championed because they had to go out of their way. they could not take a class of kids from dunbar and going to little rock public library and learned that. we had to do the thing at dunbar. i was a librarian. she did all she could but i do know that when you compare what dunbar had, it is a no-brainer. you get what everybody else had. >> we have time for one more question.

>> i also go to central and i was wondering what your thoughts where on the fact that -- since it was initially integrated, it was segregated in the sense that black is here and white is here, not that there's anything there but black is friends with black-and-white is friends with black, not to say they never makes but it seems it is still a bit segregated and that is disheartening. i was wondering where we go now. >> it may be disheartening but it is a real. it reflects the largest society. most of us live on mono cultural lines. we do not have a cadre of friends from many different

areas of divers publishers and so forth. that is the american way. it doesn't have to be. interestingly enough. in the midst of that i don't subscribe to that way of life. you choose how you are going to live and navigate this terrain. most people don't think about that. they see what is going on and they reflect that as in responding to peer pressure or reconstructed like that. it is important for us as individuals -- we do not have to be bound by custom or the way things are usually done. we can do it differently. the students at central ever decide to do it differently they will. they probably won't but they could. >> tomorrow and friday we will be commemorating the 50 second

anniversary of the desegregation of central high school and september 25th is the day the nine were escorted into the school for their first school days by u.s. army troops and we are commemorating it with a symposium. all the sessions will be landed at smith college. it is speaking the truth on social issues and politics in the 20 first century. we are bringing in keynote speakers and experts around the country and from the local area to talk about issues facing our interest to day. education and race relations and politics and a number of other factors. dr roberts will be there and carlotta walls lanier and others with several others and our guests are rolling in tonight as we speak. is a couple of them are here tonight. and james clayton drove in from cincinnati. he is the author of black and onyx which looks at the intersection of race and economics. has anyone heard of the ferguson case that established separate but equal?

we have -- how many greats? >> great-grandson of the first -- >> great nephew. he will be joining us along with a descendant of john ferguson from the case. they will talk on friday evening. will be an exciting couple of days. we are glad you could kick it off tonight. they will be signing for a few minutes and they will be happy to answer for more minutes. thank you for joining us. [applause] >> carlotta walls lanier was the youngest member of the little rock nine. cheese recipient of the congressional gold medal and two honorary doctorate degrees and a founder of the real-estate brokerage firm linear and company. central high school national historic site in arkansas hosted

this event. to find out more visit and ps.gov/c f h c. >> we are here with lesley sanchez, author of you have come a long way may be. the shaping of the new american woman. you are an analyst on cnn during the 2008 presidential election. who is the most powerful woman in politics right now? >> secretary of state hillary clinton. not only are her approval ratings incredibly hot but she has also proven to be a very powerful leader nationally. she has had some missteps but for someone who used to be so polarizing and have so much political baggage, is astounding to see her progression and the admiration both conservatives and democrats have for her. >> through the 2006 elections, the effects of women on women during that election. how has that changed the was a

woman could be perceived? >> if you go back and look back at this pervasive sexism that was in the media it was not a reason why one candidate won or another lost, but it was something that set women back for years. until we talk about it and how women dealt with conflict and competition and what the ground rules are entering politics we can't advance to the levels that we want. >> the cover of your book you have sarah palin and michele obama and hillary clinton. we talked about hillary clinton. do you want to talk about the other two players? >> everyone wants to talk about sarah palin. she is a new polarizing force. people doubt she has viability as a 2012 candidate but ask about that a lot. what does that mean? has she filled a void in republican leadership? she is able to carry a lot of weight on issues like death

paddles and the health-care debate and a tremendous amount of money. she also endorses candidates to her benefit. it leads to a surge in support. she wields a tremendous amount of power. she is not appealing to moderates or independents. in terms of her political future is hard to say. she has a lot of challenges. michele obama is stretching the boundaries of being a first lady. she is a modern woman, very adept at being a mother as well as being a first lady, champion causees and she will improve in the role of women overall in terms of her professional nature. she was a working mom before she came to the white house. a different experience. i look forward to seeing where she takes it. >> is very woman out there right now who you see as the next politician presidential nominee?

>> as a woman is hard to say. on the republicans' side we have women moving up the channel -- women running for governorship, a way station for the presidency. it is too early to tell but they have to build substantial credentials, they have to do public service and they have to be sophisticated in terms of dealing with the media. >> you have come a long way maybe. is this a stutter start? have you seen a true emergence of the female presidential candidates? >> not yet. women have a long way to go not only in terms of how we deal with each other competitively, how we expect the media to deal with female candidates in terms of sexism or challenges,

questions for female candidates, but also in terms of cybermedia, face book, your identity on the internet, female candidates have to be much more aggressive in how their image is portrayed, they don't want to be sarah palin. they don't want to be looked at by their gender rather than the substance of their efforts. >> thanks so much. >> a live look in washington d.c. this morning. the senate's first vote, procedural vote on health care legislation is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. eastern tonight. the senate gavels in short we hear for a day of debate on tonight's procedural vote. it will allow debate on the house bill to continue. e usotes are needed to pass. we begin with an update from a

capitol hill reporter. >> there has been talk this week that as we get closer to today's action we have a target for three democratic senators about ereir concerns about health fro. senator nelson, senator lincoln and senator land route. where do those three stand as far as where they will vote? >> host: >> guest: senator nelson said he will vote today on this motion to start debate and put the health care on the floor. the others have not come out and oid as forcefully than they will vote in favor of it but it is looking increasingly likely toat the democratic caucus will be unified tonight. >> she was quoted as saying she is leaning towards starting debate. reparently no one knows yet.

maybe some other things you are hearing about? >> democrats have worked very hard to make sure she is happy with this bill including a provision that was added in the most recent days. that would be a big help to louisiana in terms of federal funding for medicaid. it is fairly clear that senator landru is warming up to this bill. senator lincoln wanted 72 hours from the time the bill was released until the first procedural vote. that was something she asked for and led a group of senators and republicans writing a letter to the majority leader several weeks ago and harry reid was careful about releasing the bill wednesday night. this is not happening until saturday night. senator lincoln of arkansas, you have 72 hours to study the bill and once you look at it you will see it works for your folks. we think they're getting to the

wint where they will have 60 votes. >> host: what is the tone from leadership on tonight's actions? what message are they sending? >> guest: a democratic side oere building unity among the caucus to make a strong case for legislation on the republican side. it is obviously the opposite to lay the groundwork for taking those arguments apart describing this bill as too expensive and unwise. yitzhak rabin >> host: what are we going to see on the floor today? >> guest: the vote is expected at 8:00 p.m.. we will get started a little bit before 10:00 a.m. and you'll see alternating hours the personal democrats and republicans going back and forth. >> we have a lot of attention being focused on the congressional debate concerning health-care. here's a look at a couple ads being shown around the country. >> washington is thanking chris

murphy for his yes vote on health care but what does it mean to you? the $500 billion of new taxes and a trillion dollars in new government spending, yes to a government run health care plan and scott hoch and health-care costs and yes to new regulations on businesses that could wipe out connecticut jobs. call chris mary and tell him on health care he should have said no to washington and yes to connecticut. >> the insurance lobbyists were not happy when congressman murphy voted for health insurance reform. no wonder he is being attacked with tv ads. insurance companies know the reform bill would stop them from raising premiums and stop them from denying coverage when you are sick. and the reform bill will strengthen medicare. that is why it is endorsed by the aarp. call congressman murphy. tell him not to back down. tell him to keep fighting for

us. >> for more on the health-care debate go to c-span.org/healthcare and visit the health care of the. live coverage of the senate as debate continues on health care legislation. live coverage on c-span2. a rare saturday session of the united states senate.

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. o shepherd who neither slumbers or sleeps, as we labor this weekend, we desire you to be near to guide us with your wisdom and love. use our lawmakers as instrument of your providence, leading them beside still waters, restoring

their energy, and bringing them to your desired destination. give them the stature to see above the walls of prideful opinions the path to the greatest good. lord, sustain them with your strength, preserve them with your grace. instruct them with your wisdom, and protect them with your power. as an intentional act of will, may they commit to you everything they think, say, and do today. we pray in your sovereign name.

amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. 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, november 21, 2009. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable patrick j. leahy, a senator from the state of vermont, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: robert c. byrd, presidet pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, on this saturday, the senate in one of its unusual sessions, it's very

good to see one of the more senior members of the senate presiding over the senate. a lot of presiding is left to the more junior members, and it's indicative of the teamwork of the senator from vermont, one of the most senior members of the senate, the chairman of the judiciary committee, and someone who is always there when there is a need for something to be done, as is today to open the senate. i have such fond memories of my friend from vermont. i can remember the first time that we met. we were in florida. i was running for the senate. it was 1986. you were running for re-election , the senator from vermont was running for re-election. even then a senior member of the senate. even though the two of us are almost twins as far as our age goes, the senator from vermont has a significant amount of seniority, although he never uses it in any way other than to work for the betterment of the

people of vermont, and i say that seriously. we had a conversation in the cloakroom today and we weren't talking about ballgames last night. we were talking about problems of the people of vermont and the things that the distinguished precider today indicated that he thought that i could help a little bit with the state of vermont. mr. president, i'm very grateful that you're here today. mr. president, following leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to h.r. 3590. under a previous agreement, the debate will continue with alternating hours from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., with the majority controlling the first hour, the time from 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. this evening will be under the control of the majority. 6:30 until 7:15 will be under the control of the republicans. from 7:15 to 7:30, the majority will control that time. and from 7:30 to 8:00 will be for the two leaders with senator

mcmcconnell -- mcconnell controlling the first 15 minutes. at 8:00 p.m. tonight, the senate will proceed to a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the health care legislation. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the distinguished republican leader. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, as we move toward tonight's all-important vote, we'll have ten more hours of discussion of this 2,074-page bill which represents the top part of this stack. the other 2,000-page bill is the house-passed bill. senators will have an opportunity to express themselves on the merits of this proposal. what do we know, mr. president, for sure as we move toward this debate? we know that americans oppose

this bill. they are not buying the claim that this legislation would do anything whatsoever to lower our staggering deficits. in tomorrow's "washington post," david broder, their distinguished senior columnist, certainly not a political conservative, expresses his reservations as a citizen about the steps that we could be about to take. broder says in part in his column "today after the congressional budget office gave its qualified blessing to the version of health care reform produced by senate majority leader harry reid, a quinn inyak university poll of a national cross section of voters reported its results. the reason he picked that poll is he says he is familiar with the pollsters and the process, knows that they are thoroughly

nonpartisan and credible. and, of course, the quinnipiac poll is echoed by every other poll that we've seen no matter who is taking it. we know the american people are opposed to this 2,074-page proposal. broder points out that in the quinnipiac survey, less than 1/5 of voters, 19% -- a mere 19% of the sample -- support this bill. nine of ten republicans, eight of ten independents said that whatever passes will add to a torrent, a literal torrent of red ink. by a margin of 4-3 -- this is extremely significant, mr. president -- by a margin of 4-3, even democrats agreed this is likely that this will produce a torrent of red ink.

that fear contributed directly to the fact that by a 16-point margin, the majority in this poll said they oppose this legislation moving through congress. now, it's not just the american people that are saying that, mr. president. the experts are saying it as well. broder points out that the -- every expert -- this is broder. every expert i have talked to says that the public has it right. in other words, the experts agree with the public opinion polls that this 2,074-page bill is a budget buster. he quotes the executive director of the concorde coalition, a bipartisan group. this expert says -- "there's not much reform in this bill. as of now it's basically a big entitlement expansion plus tax increases."

he also decries the gimmickry involved in putting this bill together. broder points out that the majority leader's decision to postpone the start of the subsidies to help the uninsured buy policies from mid 2013 to january, 2014 long after taxes and fees are levied by the bill would have begun. that's the only way they can make this c.b.o. declare it budget neutral, deficit neutral. in fact, we know that over a ten-year period once it's fully implemented, the cost of this will be $2.5 trillion. americans, mr. president, don't think higher premiums, higher taxes and massive cuts to medicare is reform. and they certainly don't think it's what we need at a time when one out of ten, one out of ten working americans is looking for a job, and the chinese, mr. president, are lecturing us

about debt. we want to pass this staggering spending program at a time when many would argue our international bankers, the chinese, are lecturing us about debt. at this time of economic crisis, we need to make things easier for people struggling out there, not harder. and make no mistake, the democrat plan we'll vote on tonight would make life harder for the vast majority of americans. it raises their taxes. it raises their health care premiums. it cuts their medicare. and drives millions off of the private insurance they currently have. when fully implemented, this plan would cost, as i indicated earlier, $2.5 trillion. mr. president, that's the equivalent of three failed

stimulus bills. perhaps most shocking of all to most people is the conclusion of the congressional budget office that this bill would actually drive health care costs up, not down. this massive bill at a time when americans are asking us to control health care costs according to the independent congressional budget office actually drives costs up. now, the american people are scratching their heads. they thought the idea behind all of this was to try to lower costs. and perversely, what we're doing is the opposite. so americans will have an opportunity to hear their elected representatives in the senate express their views on this legislation all day today. senators who support this bill, madam president, have a lot of

explaining to do, a lot of explaining to do. americans know that a vote to get -- americans know that a vote to proceed on this bill, to get on this bill is a vote for higher premiums, higher taxes, and massive cuts to medicare. that's a pretty hard thing to justify supporting. and every senator who goes on record saying that we need to proceed to this monstrosity of a bill will in effect be voting for higher taxes, higher premiums, and cuts in medicare. it's a pretty hard thing to justify, a pretty hard thing to explain to your constituents. frankly, i don't think it can be explained, and i don't think the american people do either. madam president, i yield the floor. mr. reid: madam president?

the presiding officer: mr. leader. mr. reid: my friend, the distinguished republican leader, is living in a different world than most everyone else. for him to lecture the senate on debt is really beyond the pale. he, one of the republican leaders during the last years voting for every opportunity to spend more money in iraq without a penny of it being paid for. a trillion dollars that's now said to be on a war of choice, not a penny of it paid for. to lecture us now on debt when not only the war but the other actions of the bush administration drove this country into deep debt. if run read the papers today or listened to the news today, you would find that economists all over america have said the stimulus is working. only 25% of the money has now been spent, and they recognize that but for the stimulus, we would be in a worldwide depression. that's all over the news today. now, madam president, to focus

on an editorial written by a man who has been retired for many years and writes a column once in a while is not where we should be. where we should be is recognizing that america deserves a debate on health care reform. last year 750,000 americans filed bankruptcy. 750,000 americans filed bankruptcy. over half of those bankruptcies were because of medical expenses. over half the people that filed bankruptcy because of medical expenses had health insurance. don't we need to do something on health insurance reform? of course we do. and, madam president, it doesn't speak volumes to recognize that insurance rates over america during the last few months are skyrocketing up. why? because the insurance industry has an insatiable appetite for more profit. and how are they able to do this when other businesses can't do it?

they do it because they're exempt from the antitrust laws of this country. the only business other than major league baseball is the insurance industry. we're going to take a look at that in this legislation. shouldn't we at least talk about it? my friend, the distinguished republican leader, is saying he doesn't think we should even have a debate on this issue, even though last year 750,000 americans filed bankruptcy. and most of them because of health expenses. now, in addition to that, the morning news indicates that longtime conservative republican, tommy thompson, long time governor of the state of wisconsin, cabinet officer in the bush administration -- and he was a cabinet officer in health and human services that deals with health care -- endorsed the legislation that we're going to vote on this afternoon. to show it's bipartisan, richard gephardt, former democratic leader of the house of representatives, endorsed this. and many others.

now, for someone to say this legislation has entitlement expansion is obviously someone who has not read the bill. one of the things we have in this legislation, madam president, is a provision called the class act. what does this do? it allows someone voluntarily to pay $120 a month into a fund, they do it for five consecutive years. when they become disabled, there's money for them. ever since i came to the congress we've been looking for a way to take care of the aged, infirmed and disabled. it's not an entitlement. it's voluntary. fully paid for, as is the rest of the bill. to talk about all these, this debt, i don't know what world, what sphere they're living in. the congressional budget office, a nonpartisan organization, not always good to -- i mean, i wish

they had come up with some other numbers. we get no credit for all the wellness things we do in this bill. it will save lots of money. we get no credit for that. in spite of that, everything in our bill is fully paid for. it reduces short- and long-term debt. it expands coverage, this is 94%, it is actually 98% because c.b.o. does not give us credit for people who are in medicare. this is 94% of people are covered. it contains insurance market reforms and lots of them. it contains delivery system reforms. madam president, the key elements of this health care reform bill -- i repeat -- reduces short- and long-term debt, expands coverage, promotes choice and competition, reforms the insurance market. improves quality of care. all we're asking today is have a debate on it. why would anybody be afraid in the greatest debating society supposedly in the world, to debate health care?

what are they afraid of? now, he said anyone that votes for this can have a lot of explaining. now, that is really orwellian. that is orwellian. have a lot of explaining to do if they vote to allow a debate to continue. i think quite the opposite. and i think any reasonable human being would feel the same way. shouldn't we debate health care reform in america today? with 50 million people uninsured, and this legislation is going to take care of 98% of americans. this legislation looks out for small business people. right now most small businesses don't have health insurance for their employees. do they not have health insurance because they're mean or cheap? no. they can't afford it. the insurance industry has made it so it's spwob to -- impossible to pay for it because

of their huge profits. so someone not voting to allow the debate to continue is going to have a lot of explaining to do. even though my friend is orwellian and said if you vote to allow a debate to continue, you're going to have a lot of explaining to do. how can be a united states senator and be afraid to debate health care reform? simply, madam president, this legislation that we're going to vote on the motion to proceed to this evening at 8:00 saves lives, it saves money, and it saves medicare. a pretty good deal, i would think. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to h.r. 3590, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number

175, h.r. 3590 -- motion to proceed to calendar number 175, h.r. 3590, an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1976 and so forth. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be debate until 6:00 p.m. with the time controlled in alternating one-hour blocks with the majority controlling the first hour. mr. leahy: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, first off, i'm glad to see my colleague and neighbor from new york in the chair, an extraordinarily hard-working member of the senate. i'm not surprised on a saturday morning she is here. i also want to, before i start, to state my appreciation of the kind words from the majority leader for the senator from vermont. he and i have been friends for a long, long, for decades. and i am glad to see the work he

has done in bringing this bill to the floor. i intend to work closely with him. madam president, decision time is near on health insurance reform. i will vote today to end the filibuster so the senate can begin this important historic debate to improve and reforeman our nation's -- to improve and foreman our nation's health insurance system. let's not duck the debate. let the debate begin. let's not hide from votes. let's have the courage to vote. stand up and vote on the amendments. let the american people know where we stand and not say, well, it never came -- it never came up because of the filibuster. we can end the filibuster today. we can get going. we can let every american know where we stand. the centuries of the status quo, again, spared no effort to kick the can down the road as they've done before.

the country suffers when there's a failure to act on serious challenges that millions of ordinary americans face in their daily lives. this is a defining moment for the senate and for the country. i rank this with long other major decisions such as the creation of social security and medicare and the civil rights act. we've been talking about health insurance reform for more than 70 years, before i was born. the senate should not now prevent a real debate on health reform by hiding behind the fig leaf of a procedural filibuster. a bill worthy of this debate has been produced after months of arrested whitehouse work. opponents -- after months of arduous work. opponents have provoked arguments over distortions of what health reform means.

spurious rumors were spread about death panels. one mailing opposing this bill claimed that reform would mean denying care to people based on their voting records. i mean, how desperate can these entrenched powers get, those who want to stop health care reform? these are the tactics of obstruction of the service of the status quo. and meanwhile, what the american people yearn for are constructive solutions. they want an honest debate, not a filibuster. that's what they deserve and that's what we owe they. a vermonter came by my office to talk about health care reform as so many have over the last few months. and i hear this every time i'm in vermont, when i'm in the gas station putting gas in my car, in the grocery store, if i'm coming out of church on sunday,

i hear this. and this man, this vermonter is a physician, and he has a special perspective from inside the system. he recalls stories about his father, also a very respected doctor who practiced in the days before medicare. he remembered the devastation his father felt when he was forced to turn away elderly vermonters because they did not have health insurance. it may be difficult today to even imagine this, but before medicare older americans were routinely driven into poverty during their retirement years by health expenses. before medicare was launched in 1964, nearly half of seniors over 65 had no health coverage, and more than one in three lived in poverty. today because of medicare, virtually everyone 65 and older has health insurance. the poverty rate among seniors has plummeted.

more than 100,000 vermonters have medicare insurance. the arguments that were made against creating medicare may sound familiar. opponents of medicare when it first came up tried to demonize the plan. they claimed it would never work. how could government run a program like this? and they ignored those older americans living in poverty. but eventually members from both sides of the aisle, republicans and democrats, worked together. they passed a bill that's one of the most successful and popular programs in america today. vermont's entire congressional delegation, which it has always been at that time, was republican, they supported passage of that landmark legislation. but today we have a health system of contradictions. federal investments in research and private investments in

development have produced modern medical marvels and the equipment, the training, the technique and drugs that are available to many americans. yet, in the prices we pay, in the lack of access to basic medical care, in the loopholes, in the red tape that plague ordinary americans in our health insurance system and an overall result in so many categories, we get far less for our enormous health care spending than citizens in countries whose health care costs are only a fraction of what ours are. tens of millions of americans have no health insurance at all. employers who want to help, offer health insurance to their workers are being priced out of even having that option anymore. self-employed americans must pay dearly to afford any americans, and they could lose their

coverage at the whim of an insurance company's bureaucracy. in no modern nation except ours are families actually driven into bankruptcy by illness. in fact, medical expenses are one of the top reasons for bankruptcy in america today. and in the absence of a fair and sensible health insurance system, families and businesses and taxpayers have been dragged along by an inflationary curve that only worsens with time. next year small businesses already suffering from skyrocketing medical costs will see their premiums rise by an average of 15%. that's twice the rate of last year's increases. drug companies that boosted prices of brand name drugs by about 9% over the last year, the steepest increase in years, and all you have to do is look at the huge, huge salaries paid to their executives, and you know

where that money is going. it is not going -- it is not going -- to help the health care of the average american. can't we fashion an american-made solution so our citizens can have high-quality, affordable care and access to basic health insurance? of course we can. we're americans, we can develop that. the bill introduced this week by the majority leader and by senators baucus, dodd and harkin would give millions more americans access to quality, affordable health care. it would end discriminatory treatment of those who change jobs or have preexisting conditions. i pushed, and i'll continue to push, to accomplish the three c's of choice, competition, cost control when we reform our health insurance system. and i'm encouraged that the senate bill includes a public option that i've strongly