sessions about moving this forward and we have been doing a few checks to see what members need to be encouraged. this is important for us as a nation, not only for the resources, but to make certain that the other countries, are not going after what i would suggest, would belong to the united states and so we will keep pushing this. one problem has been mapped this is objected to by some colleagues, and we know that we will not -- we know that this will require time on the floor and this is a very precious commodity this summer. i am not optimistic that we will see anything advancing before

the end of this work period. we will be very busy during the fall. >> i am with the "washington times." some democrats might be willing to vote for this if the rights are correct. >> byron dorgan of north dakota, they are doing a terrific job and they are advancing the oil and gas reserves, i think that sen. dorgan and conrad appreciate that as a resource to their state, even though they

are democrats who you may ordinarily put on the other side of the column when it comes to oil and gas production issues, this will come down to, who they represent and the industry that provides for jobs and resources. this is making certain that the amendments are balanced, you may be able to claim their support if this is balanced. >> are there any other changes to the energy bill? >> i do not know if there is anything -- the amendment list is -- everything that we had out there was clear for withdrawn.

>> to clarify something do you think that for the colleagues that this is a package deal, or is this enough to bring more votes? >> this i do not know. you are never quite certain how deep the line is that has been drawn in the sand. i feel so strongly that in order to get meaningful production, the revenue sharing has to be part of the deal. but sometimes, sometimes you have to effect -- except this now to do this later.

i do not know if this is how this will play out. i have not given up on the alaskan wildlife preserve, i did not receive the votes but just because, just because you have not been successful, this does not mean that you throw in the towel. in the committee, the chairman has made the issue of revenue very clear, to the people on the side. he disagrees with this. that is just it. so how this will play out as we move forward -- >> what risk well barbara boxer

raise if she tries to effect the legislation, this during the time for the peak price of oil as she prepares for an election? is there any specific risk that she may see? >> she is a smart woman, she is thinking about all of this. >> what do you perceive as her calculation? >> if the price of oil goes up, and the attention starts to refocus, on what they pay at the gas pump, i think the calculus

will change. we have all seen the list of priorities, when the individuals were asked, what is the major issue, the economy was number one, the environment or moving to -- climate change was no. 20. and if people are still losing their jobs and worried about their homes, and they are scale -- scared when they fill up their car, i do not think a calf and trade discussion, has much of a chance of success. outside of a small committee

room. i do not see this happening. >> just following the question, oil has gone from $30 to $70 a barrel, to you see a repeat of the same fight that we saw last year, with republicans calling for more drilling, and democrats looking to rein in speculation when it comes to the money markets hedging against inflation? >> i would not be surprised to see a repeat, and from republicans prospective, we would be ok with this repeat, because this message, we need to be producing more of this ourselves, this was resonating

louder with the american consumer rather than the market speculation, i felt -- i do not think that, republicans would be against having this kind of challenge. for the consumer's benefit, i hope that we do not see this repeating. people in alaska are still bleeding from what they ended up paying last year. in some villages back home, people have paid $7 or $8 or $9 a gallon for fuel, and this -- when the price goes down, they go down here, they do not go down to the north.

this is brought in once in the fall and spring, you will pay the same price, alaskans were doing this until one month ago. we do not want a repeat of this. >> are there any more questions? >> even though you are not that enthusiastic about this, if this is ok to gain your support at the moment -- would it be ok to say this? >> if we keep out the ugly amendments, this is ok to gain my support. >> would you consider trying to

keep major changes from happening on the floor? with the compromise that is going on? >> as you all know, you can say that i will work hard, to take this out, but this is a challenge. we all recognize this. you see, will you promise me, will you work for something higher? i do not believe it is difficult to predict the delivery. >> i was thinking, do you think that the senate will be better off, to change the legislation?

the house bill is climate change legislation. were you think they should draft their own bill? and if the committee is going to take the legislation, how will this be reconciled with the energy policy? >> i would prefer, that we have our own bill, this is for me to say because i am not on the committee that will be building this. but i think that, but the house has drafted, will not meet with the acceptance in the senate, and it would be easier to build our own, rather than trying to strip out the provisions coming

over from the house. >> one center has been working very hard. >> i have worked very hard to get him to this place. >> he was voting for things that he does not support. why would he allow the bill that blows up of the arrangement, -- >> hopefully he will not. >> is this going to happen? >> i had a meeting with my staff before i came over here, on the status of the remaining amendments, and there is an effort as we speak, to really try to keep to keep things from

tanking, at the very end. and you say that the chairmen, he has been working with us, this has been mutual. we have been trying to build this bill, as a bipartisan chairman and ranking member. he is not entirely happy with this and neither am i, but both of us feel that this has come a long way, i am hopeful that tomorrow, we will not be dealing with a couple of these amendments. but this is tour early to say at the present time. >> please joining -- please join me in thanking her. thank you for all of your hard work. we expect to have the center

sometime in the next week, if you are not getting the announcements directly, your business card needs to be included on the list. >> good questions, thank you. >> i am trying to make it to the elevator. >> in a few moments, obama meets with the italian prime minister. in 40 minutes, tim geithner talks about the economy and the government's help for financial institutions. >> a couple of live showings to tell you about on c-span 3. a subcommittee will hold a

hearing on the oversight of the insurance industry, and the members will look at ways to keep insurance companies from pursuing policies that will threaten the financial system. and then the nominations for the federal communications commission. >> president obama met with the italian prime minister late on monday afternoon. the remarks to reporters are 40 minutes. >> i want to welcome the prime minister, he has been a great friend of the united states and we have gotten to know each other, we are now in the process of the summit that italy will be hosting.

we're emphasizing the connections between the united states and italy and i am grateful to be his friend. >> [speaking italian] >> a couple of things that we specifically discussed, first, i thank the prime minister for his support of the policy of closing guantanamo. italy has agreed to accept three

detainee's, and he has been part of the leadership in europe, that announced a frame work with the european nations can except detainee's. [speaking italian] >> it is will give us the opportunity to create an international legal framework, for dealing with terrorism, that i think is important on both sides of the atlantic. [speaking italian]

>> we spoke about afghanistan and pakistan, or italy has been a critical part of the coalition that is trying to assist afghanistan to make certain that this is not a safe haven for terrorism. [speaking italian] >> we had an extensive discussion about my interest, in pursuing non proliferation, as an important agenda for all people, and given that i will be visiting russia before in visit italy, he was able to offer some

insight and how to approach the reduction in nuclear arsenals, and hopefully this will be a topic at the summit. [speaking foreign language] >> in addition to discussing the general situation in the world economy, we also spoke about the specific issue of security and how the g8 nations can assist people who are desperate in

poverty, to make certain that they are not falling deeper into poverty and this will be a major issue of the summit. [speaking italian] >> overall i am very grateful for his leadership and is consistent friendship -- is consistent friendship -- his consistent friendship to the united states, and this will

continue as long as we are occupying our positions, and thank you very much for taking the time to visit. [speaking italian] >> [speaking italian]

>> i would like to thank president obama for his welcome, and his willingness to allow us to say our opinions on many of the most important issues at the national level, and this has led to many of the issues and the topics that are at the table in the days before the g8 summit. [speaking italian] >> we want this to reach a concrete solution. and we want to reach the concrete solutions on many important issues. [speaking italian] >> the first issue is the world economy, and the economic crisis and how to get out of this. [speaking italian]

>> and we have also discussed the work that the ministers of the economy are carrying out to try to discover the principles of the rules for the similar situation, similar situations to what we are experiencing. [speaking italian] >> we both agreed on the fact that the g8 would not be able to produce this, this would be just one of the steps that are leading to this, for the g-20

summit where we would finally reached rules that would be shared by everyone, whether these are going to affect or hinder the establishment of the government. [speaking italian] >> and we have discussed other issues, one of them that will be discussed is for security. as obama has already said.

we hope that the countries make the effort for the proposals that the united states has promised to increase, these are going to make huge amounts of money, we have tried and pushed the other countries, to persuade them to do the same. [speaking italian] >> another important issue is climate change. [speaking italian] >> and another important achievement we are aiming at is to reduce co2 the mansions, but this has to be contributed to -- emissions, but this has to be

contributed to by all countries. [speaking italian] >> and because the door around has stopped we hope that by inviting the leader of the world trade organization to the summit, we can push to achieve positive results. [speaking italian] >> and what i forgot to mention is that the meeting is not going to be confined to the g8 countries.

[speaking italian] >> the second day would be the g8 + 6. [speaking italian] >> the major of economies of the world will be there, india, china, south africa, brazil, mexico, and egypt will attend on the second day. [speaking italian] >> there will be the majeure economies, with the participation of south korea and australia, and this will be attended by the netherlands.

and we're going to have to have these meetings together. [speaking italian] >> and then there will be attendance by the representatives of the main international organizations. [speaking italian] >> and the third day, we are going to have the president of the african unit, and the main african organizations, and we will discuss the development of the continent, and the issue of hunger. [speaking italian]

>> and i thank obama and express my warmest congratulations to him, this is coming from a person who has been long enough in international politics, to chair for the third time the summet, in 1994, 100 , --- 2001, and this is the third one. i want to thank h