action that will enable millions of students and families across the country to breathe a sigh of relief about the student loans they need to borrow for the upcoming academic year. everyone, from every specter of the country, will tell you that the key 0 our future is education, higher education. that we cannot be competitive in a world economy unless we have the best educated students in this country. that we cannot be the powerful force we have been in the world unless we have education. the key is for so many jobs today is going on past high school into postsecondary education. and yet we are days away unless we act, doubling the loan interest rates we're charging on students. there's been quite a bit of stalling tactics for months and i hope those tactics are over as

the july 1 deadline preaches. i hope we -- approaches. i hope we take action to prevent the doubling of the stafford loans. i'd like to thank leader harry reid for his tireless efforts to negotiate a bipartisan solution. i'd like to thank three other individuals that were absolutely critical in this effort, were really leaders without equivocation, with deep conviction. that's chairman tom harkin of the help committee, who led with vigor throughout this effort. senator shared brown of ohio --, share order brown -- sherrod brown, and also our congressman joe courtney of connecticut. last january, congressman courtney and i introduced a law to permanently. president obama called on congress to address the student loan interest rate hike in his

state of the union address. back then, many republicans scoffed at the idea. in fact, they voted for budgets that assumed the interest rate would double and they did that without any apparent equivocation. but thanks to students and families across the country who raised their voices and made themselves heard, my colleagues got the message. fixing the student loan interest rate matters, it matters a great deal. it matters to individuals trying to build a better life for themselves, it matters to parents whose dream to give their kids a chance at a better life depends on being able to afford college and matters to our shared economic future because the single most important investment we as a nation can make is to educate our young people. so thanks to groups like campus progress, ussa, the young invincibles, and the rebuild the dream coalition that pushed this issue to the forefront

where it belongs. the letters, the emails, the calls, visits, bus tours, and campus rallies made a difference. we should soon be voting, i hope, to keep this student loan rate low. for another year at least. however, it's important to remember that this is only a temporary short-term fix. now we need to develop longer-term solutions to the growing burden of student loan debt, the rising cost of college and the need to improve higher education outcomes so students complete their degrees and get the full benefit of their investment in education. these are tough issues, but we have to address them head on. our economy and our future depends on addressing these issues. it's estimated, for example, that more than 60% of the jobs will require some postsecondary education by the year 2018. in 2010, only 38% of working age adults held a two-year or

four-year degree. we have a very few years to go from 40% to 60%. that gap represents the challenge we have in being competitive economic force in the world, and certainly if we're ever going to close that gap, we've got to make sure that we don't double the interest rate on stafford loans, as a first step. but as i suggest, there are many other steps we must take. we have to address the rising cost of college. the cost of attending college has increased by 559% since 1985. 559%. rising far faster than costs for gasoline, health care, and other consumer items. keeping student loans affordable and interest rates low is one part of the solution. providing more grant aid through pell grants and other programs is another. we need to call on institutions to do their part to keep costs in check. yes, the college community has

to rally around and has to think of innovative ways to provide excellent education at a lower cost, a more affordable cost. states have to play a role, too. when states support -- state support for higher education goes down, tuition goes up and the crisis of so many states, real crises, difficult crises, has forced them to reduce their support for higher education. and the result as i suggest, has been tuitions climb, and that's another burden that middle america and middle-class -- middle-income families are bearing. i look forward to working with my colleagues on developing a comprehensive approach to addressing the issues. and also to just say that i hope that we are on the verge at least for the next year avoiding a doubling of interest rates on student loans. we've got a long way to ensure that every american with talent

and drive and the skills has the means to go to college. this is an important first step. there are many more that we must take and i hope we do that very quickly. with that, mr. president, -- i would request unanimous consent that members of senator bingaman staff, lisa peter kin, and eugenia woods are granted the privileges of the floor for the pendency of today, june 28, 2012. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reed: i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i want to spend a few minutes and bring everybody up to date. we have had wonderful cooperation the last several weeks. we've gotten a lot done. our passing the three bills that are left to do, student loans, flood insurance and the highway bill, would be a significant accomplishment for us, and we're going to do it. it's only a question of when we're going to do it. we worked a lot -- the committees and the chairs and the ranking members worked late last night. i talked to the c.b.o. today. they didn't get the information that they started scoring until 4:00 a.m. this morning. they're doing their best and moving forward. as all agreements, things come

up. at this point, everything appears to be just right. the committees of jurisdiction, as i have indicated, worked through all these matters. they have completed drafting a revised version of the conference report. so we expect this to be filed momentarily. it could have already been filed. but, mr. president, what we have done many, many times is we vote on what the house has filed before they pass it. we have done it many, many times here. it's very standard procedure here. right now, we don't have permission, consent, from all the senators to do that. that could be forthcoming, and i will report back to the senate within the hour, the next hour to find out whether or not we can finish this work tonight or do we have to come back tomorrow. so everyone stay tuned. as i have indicated, everything to this point i can't express

enough appreciation to everyone, democrats, republicans and the house and the senate. this has been truly as i laid out to my chairman's -- my chairman yesterday at the lunch i had, this is really an example of what legislation is all about. it's compromise. and compromise is really -- sounds good. legislation is the art of compromise until you are faced as a senator with something you may not get because of the overall good of the bill, but sometimes we have to understand that you have to give things up to the betterment of this country. we cannot let perfect be the enemy of good, and so everyone understands that to this point. i hope we get things done tonight. we'll know within the next hour. i will report back in the next hour as to whether we finish tonight sometime or come back

tomorrow. mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, i want to thank the majority leader and especially senators boxer, inhofe, as well as their counterparts on the commerce committee, banking committee, who have put so much time in this bill, so much effort. we are trying now to get this important and complex bill right and then to secure the support of both sides of the aisle to move it forward. there has been a lot of work going into it. everyone is working hard to try to accomplish what the majority leader has spelled out exactly where we stand today. i'm sure he will tell us if there are any developments. i'd like to ask consent that the statement i'm about to make be placed at a separate part in the record from my previous remarks the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, often -- for some time -- off and on for some time, i have come to the floor to speak about an issue that doesn't receive a lot of attention. it's the issue of political prisoners in foreign lands. journalists in cameroon and aids

activists in uzbekistan and a lot of others. i'm pleased that over the years, working with many of my colleagues, we have been able to see many of these innocent victims' political charges released. senators brownback, former senator brownback, cardin, casey, kennedy, lieberman and rubio have all been part of a joint effort to deal with these political prisoners. sadly, there is no shortage of political prisoners in this world. they link wish in horrible prisons in places like iran and north korea. today i want to focus on a number of them, and i preface my remarks by apologizing for mispronouncing names. some of these are extremely difficult names for an american to pronounce, particularly one from the midwest. i suppose one might start typically with the most outrageous case but tragically all of the cases that i'll speak to fit that definition. let me start with the heartbreaking case from six years ago, that of gambian journalist ambrima manneh.

he was a reporter for the local newspaper where he allegedly was detained by plain-clothed gambian security officials. he was held incommunicado for many years, although he was seen in the early years of his detention by witnesses in at least one detention facility and hospital. no one has seen him for years. it's possible he died in custody. but just imagine the pain and uncertainty of his family. the economic community of west african states court of justice, which has jurisdiction over gambia, and the united nations working group on arbitrary detention, both ruled against the gambian government on their case and called for his release. after years of waiting, the gambian government recently requested united nations help to investigate manet's case and the death of one of the journalists. this was a welcome move by the gambian government and i hope

that ongoing discussions with the united nations will expedite the investigation, bring some resolution to the case and answers to manet's family. mr. president, some years ago there was a change in leadership in turkmenistan, one that many hoped would open that country's closed and repressive political system. unfortunately, president bardeh muca madov has yet to meet those modest expectations. you'd think in a country where the president wins an election with 9% vote and where there's an annual weak of happiness -- week of happiness, the turkman leadership could be more gracious to its political opponents. unfortunately, the following examples demonstrate just the opposite. gogodine anasiav is a longtime political dissident who left turkmenistan in 2000 to settle in norway as a political

refugee. he reportedly returned to turkmenistan in june 2008 to visit his family and was arrested. after a closed trial on october 7, sentenced to 11 years in prison annakurban arnaklychev and others are members of the turk men sten helsinki foundation. they were convicted in owg 2006 after -- in august of 2006 after trials of only two hours and sentenced to six and seven years in jail on charges that were never very clear. unfortunately, we don't have a photograph of mr. kadziav. turkmen government officials have asserted that these individuals were arrested and convicted of -- quote -- "gathering slanderous information to spread public disconsent." the legal basis for their detention are suspect at best and raise serious concerns of political intimidation, questionable charges, closed trials and inappropriately punitive punishment. in may 2010, more than 20

senators -- and that's not an easy feat in this senate -- signed a letter to secretary of state clinton urging the administration to raise these cases with the turkmenistan leadership. i know the state department did, in fact, take those steps. i thank them but i hope they'll continue. in november 2010, the united nations working group on arbitrary detention released its opinion that the arrest and continued detention of the turkmenistan helsinki foundation members were arbitrary and in violation of the universal declaration of human rights and the international covenant on civil and political rights. that united nations called on the turkmen government to immediately release them. sadly, they continue to languish under harsh sentences that include hard labor, torture, and forced psycho droppic drug injections. to the leaders of turkmenistan, i say if you really want to change the image of your nation to the world, you really must release these and other political prisoners. mr. president, some who have followed this may wonder what difference does it make if i

make a speech on the floor of the united states senate about somebody languishing in a prison in turkmenistan? all i can tell you is that after years of doing this, it does make a difference. it turns out people listen. and when they listen, sometimes they react, and often in a positive way. for these people languishing in prison, they don't believe there's anybody in the outside world that knows they're alive. groups are trying to make sure that others are aware of that fact and that's why i come to the floor and many of my colleagues do as well. mr. president, it's hard to believe that in europe, there's still one regime like that of alexander luk lukashenko. he's often known as the last dictator of europe. now, i've been to belarus twice, once with the helsinki commission group, led by senator cardin of maryland, where we actually met this president lukashenko. most recently, i we want there after -- most recently, i went there after a highly suspect 2010 election held in december. what was egregious about this

election was that president lukashenko, on the night of the election, beat up and arrested all the candidates who had the nerve to run against him. as well as hundreds of byelorussian citizens who showed up in central minsk to protest his actions. lukashenko's barbaric behavior and that of his k.g.b. henchmen -- and that's right, belarus still has something called a k.g.b. -- earned him sweeping condemnation from europe and the united states, isolating his nation and hurting his own people. this photograph sadly today, a year and a half after this outrage, lukashenko is still holding this man, this presidential candidate, mikalai statkevich, who was sentenced to six years in medium security prison for having the nerve to run against lukashenko. at least six and as many as 13 other protesters from the election still sit in jail. this is outrageous in europe

today or anywhere on the planet, for that matter. it is time for president lukashenko to let this man and these people go. next, mr. president, i turn to vietnam. although our bilateral relationship tons improve with vietnam, we -- continues to improve with vietnam, we cannot ignore the troubling disregard for freedom of speech in that country. it's illustrated by the unfounded detention of a popular blogger, nyugen vonkei, known as dieu cay. he's the heads of the free vote knees journalist club and as such, cay's been detained almost continually by vietnamese authorities since 2008 when he was convicted and tried for trumped-up tax evasion charges. in 2009, the u.n. working group on arbitrary detention high lated cay's case as well as the illegal arrest and continued persecution of a number of other internet bloggers.

in october 2010, on the day cay was due to be released, having fulfilled his sentence, he was transferred to a new jail, rearrested for violating a security provision that prohibits propagandizing against the government. the propaganda in question? a three-year-old blog posting. the stuj of his propaganda -- the subject of his propaganda? freedom is of speech and other issues considered by the government to be too sensitive, just as labor strikes and the trials of two human rights lawyers. cay's arrest is part of a well-documented trend in vietnam in which national security concerns have been cited as a pretext for arrest and criminal investigation. the state department's human rights reported notes that the vietnamese government is increasing suppression of dissent, increasing measures to limit freedom of the press, speech, assembly and association and increasing restrictions on internet freedom. trend is clear and very -- the trend is clear and very concerning. secretary clinton noted in a speech last year on internet rights and wrongs -- quote --

"in vietnam, bloggers who criticize the government are arrested and abused. " it's long overdue that vietnamese leaders release mr. cay and stop harassing journalists and bloggers. lastly, mr. president, saudi arabia, our ally on many, many important issues but also a friend with whom we have vast differences when it comes to basic freedoms and women's rights. ret me tell a recent -- let me tell a recent story that is truly hard to believe. since early 2012, the saudi government has imprisoned 23-year-old blogger hamza kashgari. his crime? he tweeted an imaginary conversation with the prophet mohammed. that action sparked a spate of death threats, caus causing himo remove the tweet and flee to new zealand in fear of his light. while stopping in malaysia for a plane transfer, malaysian authorities detained him until their saudi counterparts swooped in and returned him to saudi

arabia under arrest. back in the kingdom facing accusations of blasphemy and caused for his execution by top claire ricks, he -- clerics, he repented before the saudi court, and showed great remorse asking for forgiveness. that was four months ago, yet he remains imprisoned, awaiting his fate, with no sense of what a decision will be made. i can imagine his actions sparking a debate in saudi arabia but leading to calls for a death sentence from blasphemy in today's world? that is hard to believe. saudi arabia has initiated steps towards social, educational, judicial, and economic reform. we encourage them to do more. immediately freeing mr. kashgari would be an important move. this man has suffered enough and deserves his freedom now. mr. president, these are just a sample of the many political prisoners that still suffer in parts of the world. i want them and their families

and the governments that unjustly imprison them to know that they are not forgotten. i and my colleagues here in the senate will continue to do our best to draw attention to their plight, work for their release and stand up for the cause of human rights in the united states and around the world. mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: mr. president, we are anxiously awaiting work on the transportation bill that came out of the environment and

public works committee which i'm proud to be a chairman of, last year. we wrote a bill, called mapp 21, that stands for moving ahead for progress in the 21st century. it was proud to see this bill become a bipartisan bill with senator inhofe working with me with his staff and my staff working together as one. when we got it out of the committee, it was -- i think it was unanimous or close to unanimous vote. and i know when you're young people learn how a bill becomes a law, it sounds a little easier than it really is. and i often think in my spare time i should write a little pamphlet on how a bill really becomes a law, because i would say to the young people who are here today as well as those who might be listening, it's a little trickier than it sounds.

because when we learn about how a bill becomes a law in school, it's very simply put. you know, the bill starts in a committee in the house or senate, it moves to the floor of that body, then it starts in a committee in the other body, it moves to the floor of that body, it passes both chambers, if it's identity, it goes to the president, if there are differences, there's a conference committee, then it goes to the president. the president either signs it or vetoes it. if he signs it, it's a done deal. if he vetoes it, you need to have a whole lot of folks, two-thirds, to override. so that's how it's taught in schools, and it's absolutely true, but getting it to the point we're at now where we await a conference report is sometimes a very long and winding path. this one was a long and winding path. and i think we are where we are

at the point where we hope to vote soon on this because people were willing to meet each other halfway. and i've been saying this for a long time. if we all stand in our respective coirns and we -- corners and insist it's our way or the highway, nothing ever against goetz done, nothing gets done. we must come together and the senate proved it could come together around our version of the highway bill. it passed by 74 votes. we were hopeful the house would just take it up and pass it. it didn't happen that way. they wrote a less comprehensive bill, they sent it over, and then we went into a conference committee and there was a lot of difficulty because there were issues that were just simply not seen in the same light between the house and senate. i would have to say through all of this, senator inhofe and i, the republicans and democrats on the -- the e.p.w. committee,

we're really united, but we didn't have that unifying factor with the house republicans. and i want thank every member of the conference committee, democratic and republican, house and senate, because everyone worked extremely hard. they worked hard. they were knowledgeable. their staffs worked hard. they asked a lot of questions, they cared a tremendous amount about the policies. now, the great news about the bill that's coming out of the conference committee is that it's a jobs bill. first and foremost, it is going to save about a million -- almost two million jobs that are currently held in the private sector, and it will create up to a million new jobs through an expanded tifia program. tifia is a program that fronts the funds for local governments

who have a revenue stream, and the leverage on that is about 30-1. so if you have an approximately billion dollars amendment, you'll get $30 billion of economic activity. so that's a really, really good thing that we can all be proud of, that is a fact. the bill that we have coming, we hope soon -- it's not here yet, it's not done yet, but it's close -- and what we hope we will have before us is a bill that creates 2.9 million -- let me say it again. that creates close to two million -- i am so tired, mr. president. will you forgive me. i have to say this right. i haven't gotten much sleep in the past three days because we've been working nonstop. i will say it again. we protect almost two million jobs that are currently held in the private sector, and we will create up to a million.

hence the three million jobs that are relying on this bill. now, we have thousands of businesses, thousands of businesses that care a lot about what we do. these are general contractors, these are equipment dealers, these are people in the concrete industry. i can tell you, mr. president, that these organizations, business and labor, have been behind us every inch of the way. and when i was giving up hope because i didn't think we could move forward they were there to say keep on going and they weighed in and i think the work product reflects the fact that we would never, ever give up. there's a lot of talk about what did democrats give up, what did republicans give up. let us just say that this is a negotiation between republicans and democrats, negotiation

between the house and senate, and not everybody got what he or she wanted. that is for sure. but i just want to say to people who might be listening to this that in a negotiation, nobody gets everything they want. you have to meet each other half way, and that's what happened in this negotiation. we -- we both wanted to see this as a reform bill. the senate brought a package together that took the 90 programs down to 30, and that pretty much survived the conference committee, and we also did some more reforms, certainly on project delivery, because all sides agreed it is taking too long to get some of these public works projects done. it's taking sometimes 15 years, 14 years, 13 years to do a road from start to finish, to do a bridge. we need to make sure that we can

move faster because our economy needs that. but still, in my view, protect the rights of citizens throughout this country to ensure that their communities are taken care of, that there's no damage to their communities, that the air quality is protected, the water quality is protected, and we were able to keep those environmental laws there while we were tough on deadlines and milestones and very tough to say this is it. if you can't finish in this time and we're trying to get this from 15 years to eight years per project, if you don't do that, you have to explain why. there has to be a really good reason why these projects will be delayed. i believe the funding in the bill is fair. every single state is protected. every single state. and this is a two-year,

three-month bill, mr. president. every state will get the amount of money they got last year, plus inflation. and that's very, very importan. so it is -- the current level of funding with the inflation put in. and every state can now know, if and when this bill passes, that they can count on that funding for two years and three months. everything is paid for. now, there are a lot of comments about what did we do about pedestrian walkways and bike paths? i want to be clear. that was an intense subject of conversation. there were those who wanted to funds set aside for bike paths, pedestrian paths, and it was very clear -- safe streets, safe roads to school, et cetera. it was clear that we had to negotiate on this. so, honestly, i think what has

come out of this is a good thing. and let me explain why. we kept the same amount of funding, same set-aside percentage for these transportation enhancements -- alternatives. but what we said was, for the first time, that half of those funds will go directly to locals, will go to the metropolitan planning organizations, will go to the large cities, and that is very key because we want the local people, who know their area best, making these decisions. and we protected those funds, mr. president. the only way anyone in the state could use those funds is if there is a nationally declared disaster, and there's some unobligated funds around, yes, that could be borrowed but must be paid back from any supplemental appropriation. on the state portion, which is the other 50%, we built in more

flexibility, and there are a lot of people who were calling that a cut. well, it isn't a cut. some states will use it all, and i say to those people in the states who are worried about it use your pressure, use your power, use your grass-roots strength to make sure you lobby your state legislatures and governors to provide for safe streets to schools, for bike paths, for pedestrian walks. these are very important safety issues. so i know not everyone is happy, but i wanted to be very clear on that. if a choice is between doing away with that wonderful program that i think is wonderful or having, you know, making a few sessions on flexibility -- a few concessions on flexibility, i think we did the right thing. i honestly d this bill, it's all paid for. i have to thank so much senator

max baucus and his team, his republican members of the finance committee, and also the team in the house headeddably camp because they came up with a pay-for that people on all sides can live with, and it gives us that security for two years and three months. we don't have any riders on this bill. i know some people very much wanted it. we don't have them. it became part of the give-and-take at the end of the day. two provisions that i lament are not on there are the oceans trust fund which was part of the restore act and the land and water conservation fund that was also part of the restorag resto. i lament the fact that those

provisions are gone. i have to be completely, totally frank with the senate. we just couldn't get it done. there was nothing that we could offer or give that would allow us to move forward with those two very critical environmental programs, and i will tell you, our oceans deserve attention, and our land deserves attention, and these you shalls are certainly -- and these issues are certainly not going away. having said that the rest of the restore act is in this bill. that means those folks in the gulf states that were so harmed by this horrible b.p. spill will be able to use some of those fines as they come in to restore -- that's why we call it the restore act -- restore their environments, restore their fisheries, restore the damage that was done by that horrific wipp spill. we don't know how much money

will come from those fines. we will watch it very carefully but we know when they do come -- if this bill passes and we're very hopeful it will, our gulf states will have the help that they need. i want to say to the people particularly in louisiana, who visited many times, your senators work very hard. i will say mary landrieu took the lead on this. senator vitter was on the conference, and i just want to say mary landrieu, you know her well. she's unrelenting, and she was very, very clear with us. i want to say to my friend, whoewhois in the chair from alaw helpful he was in pointing out some of the great unmet needs that he is dealing with in his state, a beautiful state, very interesting state that has very

unique needs. and i just want him to know how much i appreciated his working with us, giving us the facts as we needed them, and also senator murkowski, but i particularly want to say senator begich, thank you. you happen to be in the chair, and i really feel you were immensely effective for your state, but really you made the case for fairness. and i hope that you feel comfortable with how this bill turned out. i have never met a team of more dedicated staff -- never, never, never -- than i have seen. again, they're not resting, because we're not done. and until we're done, they're not resting. but we are talking seriously about this staff getting three, four hours of sleep over the last two, three days. the issues were still coming at us in ways we couldn't believe. at noon today -- last night we

had to work out some issues. so it has been in many ways a very difficult negotiation, but certainly if and when it bill comes buff before us and is pasa very satisfying one. i have to mention bettina, my chief of staff and chief counsel. i have never seen anyone more professional, more energetic, more persuasive. i have to thank her counterparts, david, grant, andrew, jason, tyler and paul, all of whom were just amazing, and if i left anyone out, forgive me. i will correct it in the record if i did. and i have to say to senator inhofe's staff, you were amazing, and part of the team -- worked together. if we had disagreements, we talked them o but for the most part we were on the same page.

so ruth and james, you know who you are, you also have had a very rough few days and working very hard at this. i want to say that congressman mica's staff also worked very hard. they're very, very tough negotiators. but we were able to talk out our differences. it wasn't all pleasant to deal with it because people see things in different ways. but we got it done. so we're not -- we're not out of the woods yet in the sense that we don't have the bill before us. we are awaiting a decision made by the leaders as to when we will have this vote. but i would like to say, i believe, as i stand here tonight, that really the work of the conference is completed, and that is very, very, very rewarding.

the last -- the last thing i want to say is a huge thank you to the outside groups who have stood by my side this entire time, and i tell you that i've had conference calls with them for months ant months and months three times week, sometimes four times a week, sometimes six times a week, saims's sometimes on saturday, sunday,man days, whenever we needed to touch bases. these an amazing coalition of people. people from organized labor, people from the construction trades, the chamber of commerce and the afl-cio worked together. that's a rarity, you know, in today's very difficult atmosphere. the granite people, the cement

people. i want to say something to a gentleman -- i won't identify his name -- 0 brought a umcan of his -- who brought a couple of his cement trucks and we had a rally and i think, senator begich,ern there. after the rally we were saying pass the bill, get the bill done. i talked to this gentleman, and he identified himself as a conservative republican who is so much for this bill. and one of the most, i think, touching things that happened was is that he introduced me to two of his drivers who came over to meet me, and i realized, as i stood there with these two gentlemen and the owner of the business, how much they were counting on us. what we do here matters. what we do here should matter. what we do here is literally life and death for the construction industry, for the business end and for the workers. and we know our president and all of us -- we all know that

this economic recovery is too slow, and one of the things that's weighing it down is the construction industry. one of the things that is weighing it down is the transportation sector. and we know, if we don't do our job and we pass another extension here, that is a signal that the construction industry is going to suffer and suffer mightily. and we cannot have that, and we are on the brink of getting this done. so i know i've left out a lot of people that i want to thank and don't have it really written in a speech here in front of me, and i will go back and correct the record if i left anyone out, but we're close to getting this done. whether it is in the next few hours or more than a few hours, i believe we'll get it done. and all the people who brought us to this day -- i should

mention senator reid, our majority leader, who just never gave up, even though i was -- at one point i'm sure he was ducking me i was walking around because i alwaysy asay, "senator, let's keep going, mr. leader." when we went over to meet with speaker bankers that was a moment that was very important. with chairman mike character it was important. and i think it helped us at that point realize that everyone did want to have a bill. i have to say the democrats in the house, you know, i'm sure -- it's very been very difficult for them because they had so many priorities as well. but they were very clear, day after day, pushing hard for a bill, until finally everybody came together and passed some

messages to the conferees, which said get the job done. and everybody came together on that one. get the job done. so, mr. president, it's, for me, personally, a very important day. this is a day when i think we're very close to getting a transportation bill done. and it's also a day that president obama will forever remember, where the centerpiece of his work was upheld as constitutional by the supreme court. we all know we cannot go back to the days when people with preexisting conditions suffered and couldn't get insurance. we just can't go back to the days when women, being a woman was considered a preexisting condition and it was impossible for her to get insurance. we can't go back to the days when kids were thrown off their

parents' health insurance at 18. we can't go back to the days when seniors were going broke having to choose between a drug that was lifesaving or having the dinner that night. these are all the things -- you know, in my state, 6 million californians, mr. president, are getting preventive services. they're getting the mammograms. they're getting the cancer screenings. they're getting everything they need now because of this health care bill. 300,000-plus senior citizens are getting help paying for their prescription drugs, and 300,000 more students are now on their parents' insurance. so, you're going to hear a lot of outrage about how this was a bad thing for america. let me tell you, today i thought was a critical day for america. no piece of legislation is perfect. we'll have to fix this, that, or the other thing in everything we do, whether it is a

transportation bill or a health care bill. but i think we need to move forward. we need to not go backwards. we need to make sure that health care in america doesn't become such an expensive burden for all of our people because it just drags down our families and it doesn't enable them to do the kinds of things that they want to do for their kids, for their moms and dads. so i think today was quite a day for the history books. and i look forward to working across the aisle in everything we do here, whether it is transportation or health care or anything else, to make life better for people, not to make it worse -- make it better for people. and i think if we all do that and we listen to each other, we can get things done. i want to thank you very much, mr. president. i notice there's no one on the floor at this time, so i would

note the absence of a quorum. thank you. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. sessions: i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sessions: mr. president, i wanted to share a few thoughts about the supreme court ruling today and the status of the health care bill. i believe the health care bill cannot be justified as written and will have to be changed. it will have to be repealed. we have to start over. it's just that simple. as ranking member of the budget committee, i began to look@the numbers we've had and our team is going to redouble it's effort this the weeks to come so we can

know precisely how much this legislation will cost, and as that becomes more and more understood by the american people, it will become clear we do not have the money to pass the bill. i know a lot of people are confident that it will undermine the right of an individual american to see the doctor of their choice, despite the president's protestations, even i believe, today. you will not be able to continue to keep your insurance, at least all people will not be able to. and there will be other different problems. there's a real concern that under the legislation, the quality of health care will go down. and i believe that's accurate for a lot of reasons, and people like dr. barrasso and dr. coburn have explained that in great detail. but as a member of the budget committee, i wanted to share some thoughts about the financing of the legislation, to

raise the issue of why we cannot go forward with it. the president promised the american people before a joint session of congress right down the hall in the house chamber -- quote -- "now add it all up and the plan i'm proposing will cost around $900 billion over ten years." $900 billion is a lot of money. there is no doubt about that. but he said that's how much it would cost over a ten-year period. and as we all have learned, that was a gimmicked-up number. it was fundamentally if i am gimmicked up as a result of the fact -- it was fundamentally gimmicked up as a result of the fact of the cost of the bill where it begins to pray out money and -- poupart money and have real cost and the

implementation of the bill was delayed for ten years. so you take a ten-year window and the bill is only going to be out there for six of those ten years and awennounce it's only going to cost $900 obama but that's not the right question. is it? the right question for the american people to actually understand the impact of the legislation would be to ask how much would it cost over the first ten years of full implementation? that's what you should be asking. we all know that, and so the numbers have come in on that. under the c.b.o. estimate, strictly adhering only to the insurance portion of the bill, i believe they came in as saying not $900 billion but $1.4 trillion would be the cost over

the first ten years. but the true cost of the health care bill is yet higher still. a complete and honest assessment of the cost of the president's health care bill would include a full ten years of spending, starting in 2014. adding up c.b.'s estimates for the different provisions in the bill, the president's health care bill will amount to at least $2,600,000,000,000, $2.6 trillion, not $900 billion -- three times -- almost three times the estimated cost. $over the true ten-year period. now, that's how we go broke in this country. that's how this country is going broke. we go through a whole debate and the president insisted that that's how much the bill was going to cost. members of the are senate said that. members of the house when the

democrats have a filibuster-proof majority in the senate. they had 60 democratic senators. and they insisted that it was going to pay for itself. there was more revenue thank needed to pay for the cost of the bill. don't worry about it, be happy. and on christmas eve, without amendments, after much secret debate and a bill plopped on the floor, the bill was voted up or down, 60-40, every single democrat voted for it and every single republican voted against t but i just got to say, the first ten years of the bill is going to cost three times what was estimated. so in addition to delaying the major spending provisions during the original window of the legislation, here are some of the other accounting gimmicks, tricks, and maneuvers that the drafters used to manipulate the score that the congressional

budget office gave to the bill. to manipulate how much the congressional budget office would say the bill cost. and to hide its impact. well, one of the most significant things is a double-counted $400 billion. can you imagine that? the united states government, according to the score manipulation and the way it was done by the c.b.o., utilizing complex rules of the c.b.o. to advantage, the way it was analyzed, they double-counted $400 billion. so they cut medicare expenses, they raised medicare taxes, but they took the money and used it to fund the new bill. and said they made medicare more solvent. in some ways you could argue

that they did make medicare nor solvent because the money was borrowed from medicare. there are debt instruments from medicare. so i would think -- my analysis of the legislation is that medicare got a benefit, but there was no money for the health care bill. but yet they counted it as being $400 billion free to be spent without adding to the debt of the united states, but it does add to the debt, because medicare is going broke. medicare is going to call the debt from the united states. it increases a the debt of the united states $400 billion. it was counted both places. income from medicare and income available to be spent on the health care provisions. that's a stunning development. i got a letter from the head of the c.b.o. the night before we voted, december 23, and he said in effect -- i think this is a

direct quote. "it is double-counting the money, although the conventions of accounting might indicate otherwise." he told us in a letter before we voted it was double-counting the money. but under the unified budget process rule that was utilized here, it didn't score. so, in addition, they counted $0 billion of extra -- $70 billion of extra income that would come from the class act, which was designed for young people, and the net result of that was in the first decade or so of the class act's implementation, healthy young people wouldn't make many young claims and there would be a surplus of $70 billion. but over 20, 30, 40 years, the class act goes into serious decline. it's actuarial unsound. it was referred to as a ponzi

scheme by senator conrad. finally, the secretary could not -- secretary of h.h.s. could not certify it as a sound program, so $70 billion has been wiped out as income available to be spent. they included unrelated student loan savings, unrelated to this bill of $19 billion. they relied on off-budget social security revenue for $29 billion, not scored in this -- as cost to the bill. they ignored the cost of implementing the law. imagine that. i mean, you have a bill, how much is it going to cost? it's going to cost $900 billion. well, do you not score the cost of it? what about all these i.r.s.

agents, 1,000-plus, 2,000 i.r.s. agents that have got to be hired and paid for? $115 billion not counted in the course -- in the cost of the bill. is this why we're going broke in this country? we score a bill, say it only cost oz $900 billion and you gt $115 billion of administrative costs not even counted. and then there was no permanent solution to the doctor reimbursement figure. to pay the doctors at the rate they need to be paid at -- and i think most of us agree they need to be paid at this rate, would be to cost $208 billion over the current level of expected spending. because they're expected, if we

don't have this doc fix, as we call it, doctors would receive a 20%-plus cut in pay for doing medicare work peedly. they're already paid less for medicare work than they're paid for private insurance. doctors would quit doing medicare work if they took a 20%-25% reduction in fee payments. that's $200 billion. that was one of the reasons we were supposed to have comprehensive health reform. this doctor fix, it was fixed every year but not permanently. but the bill didn't do it. the bill never fixed it. therefore leaving a $208 billion hole in the plan that we've got to find money for. and it's an essential part of all of that. so i would just say to my colleagues that this cost is

unsustainable. it will put us on a debt course that we cannot continue on. and we're going to continue to look at the numbers and i'm going to ask people if they desire to come to the floor and show if i'm wrong, let me see where i'm wrong. but i don't think they can show that we're wrong but in i and my staff are working as hard as we can be to be make sure what we say about the cost of this bill is accurate and fair. and what does this do to the long-term debt of our country? that is a matter of great importance. one of the things that our government does now is it analyzes the unfunded obligations of the united states government. and when you pass a law that says everybody, when they reach a certain age get to draw a social security check at so much money and it increases on a percentage basis each year, that's an obligation of the

united states. well, that's an entitlement program, we call it. you're entitled to that, whether the government has any money or not to pay it. so the health care bill is an entitlement. it has a guaranteed right for individual americans to receive certain subsidized health care benefits under this plan, and it's a permanent program. but it doesn't have a permanent source of income dedicated to paying for it in any significant fashion. and so it creates what the congressional budget office refers to as unfunded liabilities, unfunded obligations. and to show americans and congress the true state of our long-term financial health, they do it over 75 years. it's not a perfect estimate but

it's a pretty good estimate, so whether or not the programs are actuarial sound and what they'll do to the debt of america over 75 years. under the numbers that we've seen from the c.b.o. and the work of our committee, it's pretty clear that the health care bill that was passed by this congress will add $17 trillion to the unfunded liabilities of the united states of america. $17 trillion. not a little amount of money. a huge amount of money. to give perspective on how large that is, the social security unfunded liabilities over 75 years is only -- only -- $7 trillion. this is two and a half times asd

liability addition to our government as social security, and we're wondering how we're going to save social security. it's more than half of the unfunded liabilities of medicare or half of the unfunded liabilities of medicare over 75 years. at a time when we have a serious demonstrated requirement that we reduce the unfunded liabilities of medicare and medicaid and social security, this bill would add $17 trillion to it. this is why every expert has told us this nation is on an unsustainable debt course. the total unfunded liabilities before the passage of the health care bill was $65 trillion over 75. that trend, experts tell us, is

unsustainable and threatens the future of our children and grandchildren. after the bill passes, it's $82 trillion. we don't have the money to do health care reform in this way, with 2,700 pages and $17 trillion in additional cost to the treasury. we don't need to affirm and repass and -- a -- legislation that was said to cost $900 billion in the first ten years, and, in truth, in the first ten years of its obligation, year after next, beginning then for the first ten years will cost almost three times that much, $2,600 billion. so it's a matter of great concern to me. as to the court decision today,

i'm going to look at the bill -- the court decision, will evaluate it, but i think it's additional proof that this health care legislation, from the beginning and in its entirety, a 2,700-page rube goldberg contraption that will never work. it's further proof of that. even the fundamental justification for the legislation, that it was not a tax but a mandate, has been rejected by the court. the law was only upheld by saying it's not a mandate. in effect, it's a tax that the sponsors of the bill directly said it was not. indeed, the president said it was not a tax, himself directly.

so certainly this opinion that allowed the legislation to stand by the narrowest of 5-4 margins in no way is an affirmation of the wisdom of the bill but is, in fact, a demonstration that the people who cobbled it together and who rammed it through without full floor debate and amendments, that that scheme was flawed from the beginning and it won't work. indeed, there's 1,700 references in that legislation to regulations to be issued by the secretary of h.h.s. in other words, once the bill is passed and we pass -- turn over huge sections of it to unknown bureaucrats who will issue regulations to administer this monstrosity, and it's just not a practical and decent way to do business.

so, mr. president, i felt like the bill clearly violated the interstate commerce power grant to the people -- to the federal government. the federal government can only act and pass legislation if it's been specifically authorized by the constitution. and one of the authorized powers was to regulate interstate commerce. but if a person's sitting on a creek bank in alabama not buying insurance, not participating, can he be made to buy a product in interstate commerce when he is explicitly not participating in that? i didn't believe it was -- could be done and the court agreed. the court rejected the obama administration's argument that it did. they said the federal government has no power to compel you to participate in a commercial market when you don't

participate. if you participate, maybe they can regulate it. but if you don't participate, they can't tell you to participate, because this is a government of limited powers. and it was a historic and important ruling that the supreme court made clear, there are limits on the power of the united states government. i -- i felt good about that. but i -- now chief justice roberts and other members concluded, well, it may look like a mandate but we called it a tax -- and i haven't don't technical analysis that they went through to reach that opinion, but that doesn't seem correct to me. it seemed like it's still a mandate, a mandate to buy something you don't want to buy. that doesn't sound like a tax to me. maybe it is. maybe they can defend it that way. but i don't see how that's a tax. sounds like a mandate and a penalty. so scholars will be reading that opinion for some time and we'll

know whether chief justice roberts' analysis that this apparent mandate, apparent requirement that the president said was not a tax, now is a tax and that the law is constitutional because of it, we'll wrestle with that. but it doesn't deal with the fundamental question, can we afford this legislation? i say we cannot. i believe the facts are crystal clear that we cannot. we absolutely have to reform it, start over, create a health care system that works at a reasonable cost for the american people and does not burden our children with exorbitant debt that could throw us into a debt crisis at most any time and in the long term could destabilize the health of the nation we love so much. mr. president, i thank the chair and would yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk

will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. reid: mr. president, i ask that utah call. quorum be at the pointed. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid:. mr. reid: mr. president, i'm

sorry that it's taken so lodge there are a lot of things to do around here. the conference report has been filed. as i said earlier today, i appreciate very much the work of everyone, including our very, very hardworking staff on both sides of the capitol. but there's no need for us to wait anymore. we're not going to finish this tonight. we're going to have to come back tomorrow. i've talked to a number of people, and i wanted to make sure before anything was announced that the papers had been filed, and they have been. we have a number of issues that we're trying to work through procedurally, and we're not going to be able to do that tonight. i'm not going to be passing blame on anyone, because we all have a lot to do tomorrow, a lot of things that we are going to have to put on hold.

this is a very big work period for us the next ten days. but i think it's appropriate to say we'll be back at 10:00 in the morning to finish this legislation. to do it as quickly as possible. we don't know what time the senate going to vote on this -- i'm sorry. i don't know what time the house is going to vote on this tomorrow. but we may have to wait on them. we've done our best to try to complete things tonight but we're not going to be able do that. i am disappointed. i've heard from many, many people how disappointed they are that we couldn't moffitt down the road -- move further down the road, but that's the way it is. mr. leahy: would the senator yield? mr. reid: i would be happy to yield to my friend. mr. leahy: mr. president, i know the distinguished majority leader has been working very hard to get this -- accommodate

senators in a vote. i now he's got -- i know he's gotten the support of every member of our caucus in doing that, but i heard the distinguished leader say he had aide come in at 10:00? mr. reid: if i thought it would help to come in earlier, i would do that. but it would only be -- mr. leahy: the senator anticipated my next question. and i appreciate that. mr. reid: we likely can't do anything until the house works on the bill tomorrow. i have to say this. the house has been extremely cooperative. everything we've done the last few days -- i see on the floor my friend, the chairman of the environment and public works committee. she knows how hard this has been and how cooperative the republicans have been. no one has been more so than the ranking member of the environment and public works

committee, jim inhofe. i will always admire jim inhofe for the work -- i'll be darned, here he is. i will always admire jim inhofe for the manner in which he approached this important piece of legislation. and we passed out accolades on this floor about everyone, how hard they worked. but we would not be able to get this bill done except for jim inhofe. fact -- fact. so i'm disappointed we scant do things -- we can't do things tonight. as the chairman of the committee, chairman of the judiciary committee just said, we would stay here tonight on our side, you know, until the wii hours of the -- until the wee hours of the morning because we have some things -- i was scheduled to be in lake tahoe to. but i can't be there. and other people have certainly more important trips than that. but that's one of the things that we have to face with these jobs that we have, which are a

tremendous privilege but sometimes we don't have the ability as the governor does, the president does, a member of the court does, to just say the schedule this way. that is not the way it works here. there are 100 different leaders here each thinking that they have the best way of solving the problems of the world. and it takes a while sometimes to work through their opinions. mr. president, i ask now unanimous consent that we now proceed to a period of morning business senators allowed to speak up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to s. res. 514. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 514, commemorating the victory of loyola university, maryland, in the 2012 ncaa division 1 men's la crosse national championship. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding?

hearing none, seeing no objection, the motion is -- mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate, and flighted statement be be placed in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. on friday, june 29. follow be the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. and at that time i be recognized. that senators be permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: the transportation conference report wag filed in the house moments ago. i hope to get consent to move forward on this very early in the morning. i would hope that there could be a couple votes on this. i hope we can get them over with very, very quickly. so, mr. president, as disappointed as we all are not

being able to finish this tonight, i ask consent that -- who have would the senator yield? mr. reid: i would has been happy to yield to my -- i would be happy to yield to my friend. we'll hold things up for a minute and double-check. you ask -- i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the --. the presiding officer: we're in a quorum call.

mr. reid: i ask consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: if there is no further business to come before the senate i ask it adjourn under the previous order, previously order. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the >> he harry truman goes to the white house and says to eleanor roosevelt, can i pray for you?

and she says no, we need to pray for you. >> their campaigns or goes the there are a lot of promises made. they said they would have to rent a very large hall, very much larger than this want to one to get all the people that jack kennedy invited that year. calvin coolidge may indeed have been the last jeffersonian. a man who is present believe strongly enough in the limits of governmental power and forgive me of federal power to resist the temptation to extend.

>> this is probably the most famous place we like to show visitors when they come into the archives here at page library. and this is a book about harriet tubman. it's called harriet, the moses of her people, and the special thing about this book is it was written in 1866. the special thing about this book is that harriet tubman made her mark on their, and that is really the most famous autograph if you want to call it that. what we have here in page library, and obviously she couldn't read or write so she left her mark, the sign of the cross.

>> new york senator chuck schumer today praised chief justice john roberts opinion upholding the health care law as a quote welcome display of judicial independence. he urged congressional republicans to respect the court's opinion and abandon efforts to repeal the law. senator schumer and other democratic leaders spoke with reporters at the capital a few hours after the decision was announced. >> still struggling in this tough economy. we can't look back. we need to look forward. we shouldn't waste time.

refighting old old battles. we should focus on creating jobs, proving the economy to the people of this country. republicans in congress have made it clear that instead of focusing on jobs, they want to keep having this old, old political fight. republicans in the house announced even a day early next month they are going to have a vote on dwight? repealing, as they say, obamacare. it's just a show vote, a show vote on votes that they have so many different times to repeal the law. this is what my friend and republican leader said just an hour or two ago. quote, the clerk hearing doesn't mark the end of the debate. it marks a fresh start on the road to repeal. that is not white middle-class americans want to hear. we should be working to improve

the economy, not wasting time on partisan, strictly political issues. in the coming weeks we are going to take up legislation to cut taxes for employees and employers, and we want to make sure that these employers will decide to buy a new piece of equipment, will be able to appreciate it this year, now. we want to make sure when they hired new people they will be able to get a 10% tax credit before then and we are going to consider a bill to give incentives for corporations that start of facilities here at home and we are going to do everything we can legislatively to stop corporations from shipping jobs overseas. my republican colleagues should think hard about whether they want to continue leading letting the tea party debate their agenda. one of the tea party folks who is by the way a member of the united states senate, said just

because a small number of people said that his constitutional doesn't mean it is. now, can you believe that? but that is what he said. so it's time to start listening to the middle-class, the middle-class who so badly needs her help and republican should stop fighting yesterday's battles and start working with us to put americans back to work. senator durbin. >> thank you senator reid. republicans said the affordable care act was unconstitutional and unnecessary. today, in this 193 page opinion, the supreme court made it clear that the affordable care at signed by president obama passed by congress, is constitutional period. the highest court in the land has spoken and they have told us that what we did fits within our constitutional authority. is it necessary? i take that issue want in my

state of illinois with republicans to argue, we shouldn't do anything. explain that to the families, 102,000, 25-year-olds who now have health insurance coverage through their families. explain that to the literally millions of uninsured people in illinois, who no longer have to worry about existing conditions denying coverage to a child or lifetime limits cutting off chemotherapy midcourse. explain that to the thousands and thousands of senior citizens across america who are now getting a helping hand paying for their prescription drugs. we also know that expanding medicaid, offering the expansion of medicaid, means that people will be paying patients going into hospitals. today, they estimate that only 1%, 1% of america will end up in the category of those who decide they don't want any health insurance at all. i think those people are shirking their personal responsibility. when they are brought into

health care coverage, it's fairer for every family, every business, everybody in america. the bottom line is the president said it is time for us to put some of these political battles behind us and joined together on a bipartisan basis to not only tackle this problem, to make health care more affordable and to make a more reasonable for people across america that has the majority leader said, to tackle the more challenging problems of creating more good-paying jobs in america. we will come back after the fourth of july recess with a specific or postal to help small businesses hire more people. it would be a breath of fresh air if the bipartisanship we have seen over the past several weeks of in the senate will continue when it comes to the small-business jobs bill. we should work together, demo tracks and republican -- republicans for more good-paying jobs in america. >> thank you. this is not the first time for supporters, this is not the time rather for the supporters of health care to gloat.

nor is it time for sour grapes. from the law's critics. justice speaker boehner vowed not to spike a football. the law was overturned. republican should not carry on out of pique now that the law has been upheld. democrats remain willing to corporate on improving civil law but now that all three branches of government have ratified the law, it is time for quarreling to be over. it's time for disputing its validity is over. congress should now return to its full-time focus, the issue of jobs and the economy in america. if u.s. people what they want us to focus on, it's not rehashing health care. there may be a small few on the far right who enjoy doing that. the american people want us to focus on jobs, the economy, helping the middle class and

that is what we will be doing the rest of the session, even if our republican colleagues simply want to look backward. it's unfortunate that speaker boehner and house republicans are planning to plow ahead with the repeal vote after the fourth of july recess. the republicans are in a sense trapped between their tea party base that wants to repeal this law at all costs and the rest of the country, which wants to move on. so far republicans seem to be casting their lot with the tea party and this is a mistake. republicans concede with all these partisan fights and they want to keep reenacting them. and republicans should not be so quick to dismiss another potential effect of this decision. the health care law could well receive a secondary with the public because of its position, and of course validation of the law may cause americans to reconsider their opinion of it as well.

when social security was passed, it was decried as socialism just like health care. like health care it withstood was to a constitutional challenge early on and of course social security went on to endure as a cherished program in the country. the health care law is getting popular with time, getting more popular with time, and warrant or if it goes into effect. and lastly let me say this. this decision preserves not only for health care law, but also the supreme court position as an institution above politics. i and others have vocally criticized the court's conservative lot for its heavy-handed activism in decisions like citizens united but in this case at least, chief justice acted as the umpire that he promised to be. some have expressed -- over the

vote in the session but maybe we shouldn't be so shocked. after all, he is the most powerful conservative in washington, who doesn't have to worry about the next election. unlike the gop's elected leader, roberts can afford to follow the law rather than brag about his standing with his tea party. his was a welcome display of judicial independence. the supreme court sure could use more of a one swing vote every now and again. >> today's victory really was for the american people and now it is really his time for us to move on, having lived and waited for this decision for so long. i have heard from so many people in my home state of washington about the security that they have been waiting for when it comes to their health care. a woman who came up to me on the street and said that she had been diagnosed with cancer, was about to go into extensive

chemotherapy and was so worried that the decision under the health care law would mean that she would lose her coverage. a business owner who told me that, because she was now getting tax credits for the first time because of the health care law, given tax layoffs to employees this year and to keep her business going. these are the people that this law is making a difference for an today they can breathe a sigh of relief. that i want to hear that this is going to be another political debate for the weeks and months ahead. they want us to do the right thing and move to getting our economy back on its feet and creating jobs and getting this country strong again and that is we have senate them rats intend to do. >> okay. [inaudible]

>> every governor in this country who is part of the plan will make their state a better state and i think those governors that are now saying some things come if they continue a long saying they wish they hadn't because they will not have the ability to help their constituents like those states that have it. >> the president has said that the individual mandate is not a tax. do you think the health care mandate is a tax? >> i'm not here to give everyone my limited knowledge of the constitutional law. i am here to say that the law has been upheld. it's good for the country. it's good for my people in nevada and something now we can look at. i don't have to worry about a child that is born with a cleft palette. i don't have to worry about a child who shortly after birth develops diabetes or as the kids

became to see me today who have cystic fibrosis that develops. i don't have to worry about them anymore and very soon all adults, not just those that are under age 18, will be entitled to insurance. even though they have a preexisting condition. the people who can stay on their parents insurance policy, six or 7 million of them are benefiting from this law. the millions and millions of senior citizens who have and had the doughnut hole filled because of this health care law. millions of the senior citizens now can get wellness checks that they couldn't get before. i'm not here to give you a dissertation on constitutional law. the law has been withheld and i'm very happy about it. [inaudible]

[inaudible] >> yes i am if they should be spending that time focusing on jobs. we have millions of people who are underemployed or unemployed. that is why we are here today, telling each of you that we are focusing continually on job creation and we need the republicans to join with us. and america needs economic help just like their small-business jobs that we are going to vote on the week we get back. employers around america want that to happen. it's good for all of us. the tax credit boosting payrolls a little bit and not only that but why new equipment. they can write it off now and not have to depreciate it over the years so the answer to your question is they are wasting their time and they should be spending it on jobs. [inaudible]

>> at one time in my life i was really good with a yo-yo, and governor romney must be really good at yo-yo because we never know where he stands from one time to another. one time he is up in one time he is down so as we have seen with governor romney, one thing that is consistent about him is his inconsistency. pardon me? [inaudible] we passed a law. you cannot repeal up by executive order. we are here to talk about jobs, not about romney's inconsistencies. [inaudible]

>> all the more reason that the american people should understand, and we want to focus on jobs, not taking away benefits that millions of americans have today for sure. there is no more uncertainty so we are focusing on jobs. let them focus on taking these good things away from the merrick and people, including a repeal this is a loss of 400,000 jobs, not 4000, not 40,000, 400,000 jobs and we are here to focus on saving those 400,000 jobs and creating more jobs. [inaudible] >> harry truman goes to the white house and says to eleanor roosevelt, can i pray for you? and she says, no.

we need to pray for you. >> there are a lot of promises made. >> calvin coolidge may indeed have been the last jeffersonian. a man who was president believes strongly enough in the limits of governmental power and particularly of federal power to resist the temptation to extend it. >> the purchasing power of gold by weight unit, for example

national currency wisconsin for a period of four centuries. it seems to me that the record of the gold standard in some is3 a record i enlarge of growth and in the macrosense of accountability in the banking or microsense. >> up next remarks by attorney general eric holder from the u.s. attorney's office in new orleans. on thursday the u.s. house voted

to hold the attorney general and contempt of congress. the final vote was 255-67. is the first first time a sitting white house cabinet member has been held in contempt of congress. this briefing is courtesy of wb you eat tv in new orleans. it's about five minutes. >> by advancing it over the past year and a half, congressman issa and others have focused on politics over public safety. instead of trying to correct the problems that led to a series of flawed law enforcement operations and instead of helping us find ways to better protect the brave law enforcement agents like agent ryan terry to keep us safe, they have led us to this unnecessary and unwarranted outcome. during his time the men and women of the united states department of justice and i have remained focused on what should

and must be our government's top priority, protecting the american people. what concerns what "operation fast and furious" came to light i took action and ordered an independent investigation into what happened. we learned that the flawed tactics used in this operation began in the previous administration, but i made sure that they ended in this one. i also made sure that agents and prosecutors across the country knew that such tactics must never be used again. i put in place new policies, new safeguards and new leadership to make certain of this and took extraordinary steps to facilitate robust congressional oversight. now let me be very clear. that was my response to "operation fast and furious" and any suggestion to the contrary is simply not consistent with the facts. i have hope that congressional leaders would be good-faith

partners in this work, and some were. others however have devoted their time and their attention to making discharges, unsupported life facts and to advancing truly absurd, truly absurd conspiracy theories. unfortunately these same members of congress were nowhere to be found when the justice department and others invited them to help look or a real solution to the terrible problem of violence on both sides of our southwest border. that is tragic and it is also irresponsible. the problem of drugs and weapons trafficking across this border is a real and significant public safety risk. and it deserves the attention of every leader in washington. in the case of these and other challenges, the justice department has continued to move forward in fulfilling its critical law enforcement responsibilities, whether it is with regard to prosecuting financial and health care fraud,

achieving a record mortgage settlement, taking aggressive action in protecting the most vulnerable among us, or challenging proposed changes in redistricting maps that would potentially disenfranchise millions of voters. this department of justice has not been afraid to act, nor have i been. some of these decisions were not politically possible and help explain the actions that were taken today by the house. as attorney general, i do not look to that which is laid expedient. on behalf of the american people who i i'm privileged to serve, i seek justice. in recent weeks the justice department secured its seventh conviction in the most serious terror plot our nation has faced since 9/11. and just two days ago the apartment awarded more than 100 onion dollars to grants to save or to create law enforcement jobs including more than 600 jobs for recent veterans.

this is the kind of work that leaders in washington should we advancing. entitling so many americans are in need of our help. i refuse to refused to be deterred from it and i will not let election-year politics and gamesmanship stand in the way of continued progress. today's vote may make for good political theater in the minds of some but it is the base for a craft effort and a great disservice to the american people. they expect and they deserve far more. as a result of the action taken today by the house, and unnecessary court conflict will ensue. by efforts to resolve this matter short of such a battle word rebuffed by congressman issa and by his supporters. it is clear that they were not interested in bringing an end to this dispute are even obtaining the information they say they wanted. ultimately their goal was to

both the special interests they now have engineered. whatever the path this matter will now follow it will not distract me or the men and women of the united states department of justice from the important tasks that are our responsibility. a great deal of work for the american people remains to be done. i am going to be getting back to it. i suggest those who orchestrated today's vote do the same. [inaudible conversations]