quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. perdue: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. perdue: madam president, i'm very excited today. in georgia, we're celebrating a first today. oh, i apologize.

i'd ask that the quorum call be resended, please. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. perdue: madam president, we're celebrating a first in georgia's history today. last week our state's farm bureau president was elected by the american farm bureau federation to serve as its 12th president. i join my fellow. mr.mr.felfellow georgians.zippyf the farm bureau in 1977. avenues third-generation dairy farmer and maintains a beef herd. to the duvalls, it is a proud family tradition. as a dairy man, zippy is accustomed to hard work and will be a tireless for the agricultural industry. he understands the importance for a safe and abundant food supply. zippy traveled over 55,000 miles and visited 29 states to meet

with americans and discuss his vision for the future of american agriculture. he heard from farmers and ranchers across our country. just as we have in the senate that something has to be done to defend citizens against a runaway government. from taking action against the e.p.a.'s power grab of our nation's water to promoting a climate of abundant trade and supporting a safety net, not a guarantee to farm prices, to pursuing policies that enhance the availability and affordability of all energy resources, i am glad to know that zippy will be leading in these and many other areas. agriculture is a strategic industry, not only for georgia but also for our nation. i join our country's farmers and ranchers in the pursuit of a strong, safe, and aimpugn daunts industry -- abundant industry. our kids and grandkids depend on this. i'm very confident that with leaders like zippy we can actually do this. congratulations to zippy, his wife bonnie, and the entire

duvall family as they begin this exciting chapter together. not only is this election a great victory for georgia but also for all of agriculture. i look forward to working with zippy and the members of the american farm bureau federation to promote a strong, safe, and abundant future for our agricultural industry in the united states. thank you, madam president. with that, i note the example after quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. a senator: madam president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. fischer: i have seven unanimous con set requests tore

the committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. fischer: thank you, madam president. madam president, i rise today to thank and congratulate my environment and public works committee colleagues on the passage of the bipartisan sportsmen's act. this legislation will now join the senate's energy and natural resources committee's sportsmen's package that was approved last fall. i hope this legislation can now swiftly advance to the senate floor for consideration and approval. as a man of the e.p.w. committee and vice chair of the congressional sportsmen's caucus, i'm grateful for the opportunity to work with my colleagues on legislation to promote our country's hunting, fishing, and conservation heritage. the bipartisan sportsmen's act

includes a broad array of bipartisan measures that enhance opportunities for hunters, anglers and outdoor recreation enthusiasts while preserving our nation's rich outdoor heritage. this bill also expands and enhances hunting and fishing opportunities on federal lands by establishing a more open policy for recreational opportunities to gain access on public lands. the bill also provides states with more flexibility to build and to maintain public shooting ranges, allowing greater opportunities for more americans to engage in recreational and competitive shooting activities. it prevents groups from restricting ammunition choices which would hurt -- which would unnecessarily drive up costs, hurt participation in shooting sports and consequently decrease

important conservation funding. i am especially encouraged by the fact that this bill includes a bipartisan amendment which is identical to the sensible environmental protection act that i promoted with senators carper and crapo. it targets the duplicative permitting of pesticides under fifra and the clean water act. this duplicative process has created unnecessary burdens on resources for pesticide users like private homeowners, businesses, golf courses, local water and natural resource authorities and, of course, the sportsmen's community. all across the country, sportsmen and outdoor enthusiasts utilize pesticides for critical habitat management by suppressing harmful pests and vector-borne diseases.

these threaten outdoor activities of all kinds. eliminating harmful and invasive pests is crucial to vegetation and ecosystem management. this legislation clarifies that the npdes permits should not be required for the application of pesticides that are already approved by the e.p.a. and are authorized for sale, distribution or use under fifra. these products benefit outdoor recreation enthusiasts by protecting and maintaining natural habitats. another priority that i championed increases transparency for the judgment fund. this provision will help our efforts to track taxpayer-funded litigation that impacts public land policies. as my colleagues may know, the

judgment fund is administered by the treasury department and it's used to pay certain court judgments and settlements against the federal government. essentially this fund is an unlimited amount of taxpayer dollars which is set aside for federal government liability. the judgment fund is not subject to the annual appropriations process and even more remarkab remarkably, the treasury department has no reporting requirements. so these funds are paid out with very little oversight or scrutiny. this is no small matter. as the judgment fund disburses billions of dollars in payments every year. since the treasury department is not bound by reporting requirements, few public details exist about where the funds are

going and why. the public lands council has denounced the lack of oversight of the judgment funds stating -- quote -- "certain groups continuously sue the federal government and treasury simply writes a check to foot the bill without providing members of congress and the american taxpayers basic information about the payment." this kind of litigation can have a major impact on sportsmen and others who enjoy multiple uses of federal lands. a g.a.o. report regarding cases filed against the e.p.a. showed a disturbing pattern where groups and big law firms are suing under the same statutes to push a political agenda through the courts. this legislation that i introduced with senator gardner known as the judgment fund

transparency act has been included as a provision in the e.n.r. sportsmen's act. it will bring these cases to light. simply put, more transparency leads to greater accountability. members of congress have worked hard on the bipartisan sportsmen's act for the last six years. it's time for the senate to take action. we have the opportunity to provide the sportsmen's community with the certainty that they need to allow important conservation work to thrive without fear of destructive federal red tape. i'm proud to be the vice chair of the sportsmen's caucus and i look forward to continuing our work to advance these important legislative measures. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor and i would

suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: will the senator withhold her suggestion? mrs. fischer: i l. i see senator blumenthal on the floor. thank you, madam president. mr. blumenthal: thank you to my colleague from nebraska. and thank you, madam president. i ask that the quorum call be lifted if there was one and permission to speak. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you. madam president, i come here on two issues of great importance to our nation, both involving the rights and opportunities of individuals to live in the greatest, strongest nation in the history of the world with the tremendous opportunity to fulfill their dreams and their rights. rights to enhance themselves and rights of privacy.

tomorrow we will celebrate the 43rd anniversary of the supreme court decision in roe v. wade. as i recall well from my days as a law clerk to justice blackmun in the term following roe v. wade, that was a bitterly controversial decision but it was one that we thought at the time would assure every woman of her constitutional right to make her own decision about whether and when to have a child based on the fundamental right of privacy that that decision enshrined and expressed and protected. unfortunately, those great hopes have been dashed over the last four decades, this constitutional right to reproductive care has been under

attack throughout this country. rather than advancing the health and well-being of women, legislators in a lot of states and even in the federal government have put themselves squarely between women and their health care providers, denying that fundamental right of choice that roe v. wade guaranteed. that practical reality means that roe v. wade has been far less effective than it could and should have been. because those opponents have advocated and implemented dangerous laws that undermine and violate a woman's right to privacy and diminish her access to constitutionally guaranteed reproductive health care service. these restrictions fall disproportionately on minorities and many who live in rural or medically underserved areas, and

i have great respect for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, but we are jeopardizing health care necessary for millions and millions of women and their right of privacy in this great country. i've introduced a measure that would help prevent these violations of rights at the state level, the women's health protection act would invalidate not only extreme laws, such as the texas law that's now before the united states supreme court, but dozens of other restrictives have implemented. i'm happy to celebrate this anniversary of roe v. wade, but i think it is a moment to rededicate ourselves to the continuing task more urgent and

difficult than ever to enable every woman to have the right of privacy, the right to make decisions about her own body, about whether and when to have children. and that fundamental right can help make abortion safe, legal, and rare. i want to talk now about what should be a right for young people and all people in this country, which is the goal of debt-free college. over the last months i've held round tables around the state of connecticut, all around our state, with young people at the college but also high school level who are in danger of losing the american dream, their dreams, their choices about

where they want to go to school because college for them has become unaffordable. for many who have already been to school, the debt is crushing. in fact, financially crippling. it is approaching $1.3 trillion, which affects not only those students who have graduated and who may be seeking to go to college, but also our entire economy. someone graduating from college with $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 or $100,000 worth of debt and then from graduate or law school or business school with that same financial burden can't save for retirement, can't start a family, can't buy a home, can't begin a business that may employ business. college affordability is essential to go creating jobs and advancing and fueling

economic growth. it is an engine of economic growth. it enhances the talents and the gifts that young people bring to the economy. it provides the skills that are needed now on the assembly line and in businesses. i encounter businesses across connecticut -- i'm sure it's true across the country -- who tell me we have jobs, we can't fill them. we can't find young people with the right skills. and that's why our community colleges play such an important role in our educational system. so the agenda that we have announced today as a caucus will meet this need in a number of important ways. it will make two years of community college tuition-free. it will enable students to refinance their debt when interest rates are lower, as

they can now with a loan for a car, a loan for a home, but not for a federal loan. it will assure that people are enabled a more affordable education by holding college accountable and make them responsible for the levels of debt that their students incur. because they should be held accountable when those debts default. it will take those measures and others that are part of a comprehensive agenda that will advance the affordability of college and make debtless burdensome. but it will also expand the

availability of pell grants and take other measures that will make debt less necessary. because the goal should be debt-free college. that's our ultimate aspiration: debt-free college. we're beginning with comiewnlt comiewnlt -- community colleges that are tuition free but the ultimate goal ought to be debt-free colleges and that will require expanding pell grants and financial assistance that now are available but simply unacceptably in too small amounts. i have two measures that i've offered on my own to be taken as part of this total program, although they are not part of the read act. one would recognize students for the public service they perform.

if they become firefighters or police or work at the ymca or in local government, their community service ought to be recognized by reducing the debt they owe. not just at the end of ten years, as happens now, but year by year, pro rata. not just if they stay in the same job, but if they move from one job to another, or even have to move homes across state lines, expanding the availability of public service recognition and credit to reduce college debt is much in the spirit of the g.i. bill. and i hope that we will move forward to expand the availability of debt recognition and reduction for public service. i also hope that when our needier students receive assistance for room and board

when they go to college, that they not be taxed on that assistance. that happens now. why should they be taxed on the room and board they need and that assistance to go to college? that's wrong. and scandalously and outrageously, it is wrong that the united states government makes money off the backs of our students. we should be investing, investing in one of the greatest assets in a democracy. people who want to raise their skills and talents and education so they can better serve not just in the public sector, but in the business world, so they can help create jobs themselves,

become the entrepreneurs and the job creators. they can't do it if they are burdened with tens of thousands, some hundreds of thousands in debt. the present levels of debt are a disservice to our nation. they inhibit freedom. they undercut opportunity. and they destroy dreams. some of the most moving moments of my round tables with young people was to hear them describe how they could not attend their dream school. they called their first choice their dream school. and the reason it was their dream school was because they could pursue engineering or nursing or marketing or other kinds of vitally important skills at that place in the best way possible. that was their dream school not because the weather was good or

because their friends were there. the skill levels and the education offered was exactly the right fit for their aspiration. some cried as they described the unbridgeable gap between what they could afford and what the school would charge. what this could afford even with financial aid and even with help from their families, and even with debt. still they face an unbridgeable gap. and those dreams dashed, deferred, destroyed for those students are a national tragedy. for them, it will shape their

futures. although i have great confidence that their drive and perseverance will enable them to achieve great things. but for our nation, it means a deferring and diminishing of our economy and our national quality of life. we are the strongest, greatest nation in the history of the world because we provide more opportunity and more freedom than any other country. we are stronger because of our diversity and because we create and we reward the dreamers who have the strength and the ability to set high standards, to aspire to be the best and to want an education that enables them to achieve those goals.

the current levels of college debt are inconsistent with who we are as a nation, and that's why i am proud today to join my colleagues on this side of the aisle to say to our friends across the way, join us. let's make it bipartisan. if you have a plan, if you have ideas, if you think there are other ways to accomplish the same ends, let's work together. because those students, their families, our nation, the businesses that are creating jobs and want these young people to fill them so we can drive the economy forward all depend on us working together, reaching across the aisle and making sure that we enable every person, every student who wants to go to college to fulfill that dream without the financially crushing

burden of current levels of debt. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. ms. warren: we have a problem. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. ms. warren: i ask the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. warren: thank you, madam president. we have a problem -- money. six years ago today, the united states supreme court made the problem worse, a lot worse. thanks to the supreme court, our system of elections is riddled with corruption. money floods our political system. money that lets a handful of billionaires shape who gets into congress and they decide who sits in the white house. and as congress has become more beholden to billionaires and less worried about the american people, just look at what's

happened in washington. armies of lawyers and lobbyists flood the hallways of congress and regulatory agencies, urging just a little tilt for every law and every rule since here an exception there and always tilted in favor of the rich and the powerful. corporate executives and government officials spin through the reinvolving door, making sure -- revolving door, making sure that the interests of powerful corporations are always carefully protected. powerful wall street businesses pay barely disguised bribes, offering millions of dollars to trusted employees to go to washington for a few years to make policies that will benefit exactly the same wall street businesses. and corporations and trade groups fund study after study that just so happen to support

the special rule or the exception that the industry is looking for. washington works great for a handful of wealthy individuals and powerful corporations that manipulate the system to benefit themselves. it works great for the lobbyists and the lawyers who slither around washington day in and day out, handsomely paid to troll for special deals for those who pay them. but for everyone else, washington's not working so well, and if we don't change that, this rigged political game will break our country. change is needed in many areas, but we can start with how we fund elections. in 2012, about 3.7 million americans gave modest donations, under $200, to president obama and mitt romney. those donations added up to

$313 million. in the same election, 32 people gave monster donations to super pac's. 32 people spent slightly more on the 2012 elections than the 3.7 million people who sent modest dollar donations to their freeferred presidential candidate. when 32 people can outspend 3.7 million citizens, it's pretty obvious that democracy is in real danger. we are headed into another presidential election, and i speak out today because i am genuinely alarmed for our democracy. i am genuinely alarmed because six years ago today the united states supreme court said that the privileged few are entitled under the constitution to spend billions of dollars to swing

elections and buy off legislators. six years ago today, the united states supreme court overturned a century of established law, and in doing so unleashed a flood of secret corporate money into our political system. the supreme court created a big problem, but that does not mean that anyone with any integrity must just roll over and play dead. no, it is time to fight back. sure, the supreme court has a lot of power, and yes, they have used it to do a huge amount of damage, but even under the supreme court ruling, there is room to fight back against a complete capture of our government by the rich and powerful, and let's start right here with three examples of what this congress could do right now today, what this congress could

do if we had the political courage to stand up to the super wealthy few and a handful of corporations. number one, pass senator durbin's fair elections now act. this legislation would create public funding for congressional elections. matching the contributions of small donors so that working families would have a louder voice and could begin to compete with the rich and powerful. this is a bipartisan solution. well, at least bipartisan outside washington. according to an recent poll, democrats and republicans both agreed strongly with the idea of citizen-funded elections. 72% of democrats and 62% of republicans said yes. number two, pass the disclose act. senator whitehouse's bill to force super pac's out of the

shadows and make them tell where their money comes from. according to that same poll, 91% of democrats and 91% of republicans -- that's right, 91% agree that super pac's and other special interests should have to disclose the source of their funding. number three, pass the shareholder protection act. senator menendez's bill to force companies to tell their shareholders how much money they're giving to politicians and which politicians they're giving it to. this is the shareholders' money, and they have a right to know how it's spent, and if they don't like how the money is being spent, they can put somebody else in charge. that's three things congress could do right now. but there's even more. the president could finalize an executive order requiring government contractors to

disclose their political spending. why should companies that do business with the government be allowed to give money in secret to benefit elected officials? 78% of democrats and 66% of republicans want to see this done. five, the s.e.c. has the authority right now begin to put together rules that would require public corporations to disclose the money they spend in elections. despite republican efforts to try to block this rule through a rider in a recent government funding bill, legal experts agree that the agency still has all the authority it needs to prepare a disclosure rule. and the public demands action. the s.e.c. has received more than a million comments from the people across this country urging the agency to issue this rule.

88% of democrats and 88% of republicans -- that's right, 88% of both sides support public disclosure of political spendi spending. three former s.e.c. commissioners -- one republican, two democrats -- wrote a public letter to chair mary jo white urging her to adopt this rule. this is time for the agency to stop making excuses and start doing its job. and, six, the federal election commission has the authority right now to require ads run by super pac's include disclosure of the main people or corporations that paid for them. if they want to run the country, then the billionaires shouldn't be allowed to hide in the shadows. make them step out in the open where the american people can see who's calling the shots. and there's one more step we could take: a full-blown

constitutional amendment like the one pushed forward by my colleague senator udall to restore authority to congress and to the states. now, i got to say, i am reluctant to take on a constitutional amendment, but we need to defend our great democracy against those who would see it perverted into one more rigged game where the rich and the powerful always win. and that means taking every step possible, including amending the constitution. six ideas that would help bring an end to a corrupt political system. six ideas that congress, the administration, the s.e.c., and the f.c.ce.c. could put together right now. and a seventh idea -- a constitutional amendment that we could begin working on today. this congress doesn't lack for workable ideas for thousand

route out -- for how to route out the influence of money and politics. this congress just lacks a spine to do it. six years ago the united states supreme court turned loose a flood of hidden money that is about to drown our democracy. we can blame the supreme court. heck, we should blame the supreme court. but that is no excuse for doing nothing. a new presidential election is upon us. the first votes will be cast in iowa in just 11 days. anyone who shrugs and claims that change is just too hard has crawled into bed with the billionaires who want to run this country like some private club. all of us were sent here to do our best to make government work. make it work not just for those at the top but to make government work for all people. and i.t. tim it's time we startg

like it. thank you, madam president. i yield my time. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: thank you, madam president. earlier today i attended two hearings. one was held by the senate finance committee and the consumer-operateded/oriented plans. the other was held by the committee on veterans' affairs where secretary mcdonnell, a son of ohio, detailed his plan for the veterans administration. beth support public health and access to health care services. we know that the veterans administration, with all its problems, today has provided extraordinary health care for millions of veterans all across

our country for decades. it doesn't mean we sit back and don't make very important improvements that are necessary at the v.a. what we learned -- when we learned that shocking wait times at the v.a. were delaying veterans from getting the care they earned, we took action and passed a new law to provide more health care choices to our veterans. but we simply can't act in tiesms crisis and then turn -- in times of crisis and then turn or backs on those who have served in our military. it is time to make sure that those who served in ohio and connecticut and the presiding officer's state of the iowa and all over, these facilities have what they need to provide state-of-the-art medical care for veterans. i have been struck on my time on the veterans' committee by how there are a whole lot of members of congress that are always help

to appropriate -- happy to appropriate billions of dollars to send our men and women to war but then when it comes time to take care of them when they come home, these same members of congress aren't nearly as generous as, let us say, we were in sending them off to combat, and that needs to change. the same g' goes for health insurance co-ops. 12 of these programs have failed. we can't sit back and let the remaining 11 meet the same fate. that's why i'll continue to work to make sure that c.m.s. understands the importance and that they have the support and solvency they need to succeed. when this comes to providing quality health care, the ohio co-op is a success story worth telling. in-health mutual in ohio covers approximately 25,000 lives, has enrolled individuals in each of ohio's 88 counties. in-health is doing some

wonderful work and is a wonderful player in ohio. in-health has chosen to highlight health equity. it is focusing on reducing barriers to care through its in-health care program. to that end, in-health start add faith-based initiative called project reach to address health disparities. three years ago at a martin luther king jr. celebration -- breakfast in cleveland, a minister told us something we perhaps already knew but said it so poignantly. he said, your life expectancy is connected to your zip code. think about that. if you're born in apapaappalach, your life expectancy can be a difference of 20 years.

imagine. there are places in cuyahoga county, one only eight or nine miles apart from the other, where a baby born has a life expectancy literally 24 years less than a baby born in the more affluent suburb. but one of these things these co-ops can do is involving trusted members of the faith committee focusing on infant mortality and asthma and diabetes, utilizing key community players to improve access to care in minority communities across ohio. despite their success, they continue to experience significant challenges. earlier today, the acting administrator of the center for medicare and medicaid services testified in front of our committee about the challenges facing co-ops. at the hearing many of my colleagues expressed significant concerns over the closures of the 12 co-ops that have pulled out of the market as well as the viability of the others that remain. i share those concerns. i urge the acting administrator

of c.m.s. to work with congress and the remaining co-ops, like inhealth, to ensure their future viability. but i commend him on his performance at this morning's hearing. i hope the committee will take the appropriate steps to confirm him so he is no longer an acting administrator but has the real job. congress and c.m.s. must work together to find creative ways to ensure that's co-ops, which are negatively affected by lower-than-expected risk corridor payments, a way to ensure financial viability. we could work together to help the new and smaller health insurance programs like the co-ops. they provide for greater transparency in the marketplace. we must work together to provide alternative ways for smaller co-ops to raise capital.

co-ops like in-health in ohio are putting customers before profits and making a positive difference in patients' health. co-ops boost competition, they drive down prices for customers and because they're locally run and operated by their own members, co-ops are invested in providing the best possible care to the communities they serve. co-ops like in-health are working. we need to make sure they have the support they need to continue providing quality, affordable local snurntion to thousands of people -- insurance to thousands of people in my state of ohio and across the kufnlt i look forward to working with my colleagues in the finance committee and on the floor and with c.m.s. on these important issues so that the existing co-ops like in-health can continue to pursue unnovative approaches to affordable, comprehensive health insurance. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio.

mr. murphy: we have a co-op in connecticut that has been providing very good quality care, at very reasonable rates. that's part of what makes our marketplace function, and yo i k forward to work welcome him as we try to sustain the success of co-ops across the country. the affordable care act is working. madam president, today i want to come down to the floor and speak very briefly about a resolution that the majority leader introduced i believe earlier today. this is an authorization for military force resolution that apparently purports to give the president legal authority to conduct military operations against isis. before we break for the weekend, madam president, i thought it was important to come to the floor to explain why, very briefly to my colleagues -- excuse me, what this resolution really is.

this resolution is a total rewrite of the war powers clause of the united states constitution. let's be clear about that. it is essentially a declaration of international martial law, a sweeping transfer of military power to the president that will allow him or her to send u.s. troops almost anywhere in the world for almost any reason with absolutely no limitations. article 1, section 8, clause 11 of the constitution, it vests in congress the responsibility to declare war. many of us on both sides of the aisle have been arguing for over a year that the president right now has exceeded his constitutional authority in continuing military operations against isis without specific authorization from congress. now, i've been amongst those that have calling o been callins

body to bring forth an authorization for military force. isis is a terrorist organization that deserves to be degraded and defeated and wiped off the map of this earth. madam president, while the ink is still wet on this resolution -- so i won't endeavor to go into any detailed analysis of this -- it is safe to say in this resolution is the wrong way to authorize war against isis. the language of this resolution is dangerous and it is unprecedented. the american people want congress to authorize war against isis, but they also want us to make sure that we don't send hundreds of thousands of u.s. soldiers back into the middle east to fight a war that has to be won, first and foremost, with regional partners, and they certainly don't want congress to hand over the power to the president to

send our troops into any country anywhere in the world for almost any reason. and that's what this resolution would do. it doesn't give the power to the president to deploy u.s. troops in iraq and syria. it gives the power to the president without consulting congress to deploy u.s. forces in any one of the 60-plus countries where isis has a single sympathizer. and, even worse, the language doesn't even require isis to be present in a country for the president to invade. all that is necessary for the president to be able to argue with a straight face is that the threat of isis was present. wcialtion awell,as we've seen hd states, the threat of isis is present in vitter lit every corner of the world. -- in virtually every corner of the world. this would give the president total, absolute carte blanche authority to send our soldiers to any corner of the world,

without consulting congress. we wouldn't have to worry about a president abusing this authority granted to him if an example of this abuse wasn't in our immediate rearview mirror. this president gave president bush sweeping authority in two resolutions to fight terrorism in the wake of september 11, and he manipulated and abused that authority to send millions of american troops into iraq to fight a war under concocted, false pretensions. he got an open-ended authorization from congress and he ran with it. what did we get for this colossal misrepresentation? over 4,000 americans dead, scores more than that crippled and a region in chaos in large part because of our disastrous invasion and occupation. on the campaign trail today, several of the candidates for president talk with such irresponsible bravado about throwing around america's military might. the likely republican leader -- the