private insurers competing against the government non-profit entity and that would bring down costs. th@@@@@@@ @ r . . far reached. >> comments the president made in ohio about the public option. >> i see reform bringing stability and security to folks that have insurance today.

you never again have to worry about going without coverage if you lose your job or change your job or get sick, you got coverage there for you. where there's a cap on you're out of pocket expenses so you don't have to worry a serious illness will break you and your family even though you have health insurance. where you never again have to worry, where you never again have to worry that you or someone you love will be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. i see reform where americans and small businesses that are shut out of health insurance today will be able to purchase coverage at a price they can afford. where they can shop and compare in the new health insurance exchange. a marketplace where competition and choice will continue to hold down costs and help deliver them a better deal. and i continue to believe that public option in

that basket of insurance choices will help improve quality and bring down costs. >> yeah, i mean you listen to all the cheers he got when he said that. i think he has a lot of people on his back and a lot of progressive point out poles that people understanding what the public policy is, they actually support it. he may explain that further tomorrow night but also you have to answer the callers question. my understanding is one of the things people agree on is making healthcare portable so if you do lose your job you can take your plan with you and i think that's something people do get behind right now. >> from chicago, illinois. >> how you doing? i was calling around first of all i know there was existing committee bills in the house and senate and i wanted to know, are those still in play or have we pushed a reset button in terms of starting over and i know that

still hashed out. if there are existing, if we're going with the committee bills, which one has the most promise of actually going forward? also i wanted to know, i know there was also talk about a scale bound version where there might be a less another amount of votes needed in order to pass something closer to 50 as apposed to 60 votes and what is that still into play also and then my last point is, with the late senator passing, us that bring anything to the evoke more of a spirit around bipartisan ship if that exists around doing, getting this done finally? >> the, thank you for the question. the bill in the house is known as, redcon $3,200. that's three different committees work accomplishment.

three different committees, education and labor committee. the energy and commerce committee and house ways and means. they all have different pieces of the same bill and now leadership is cobbling it together putting it in one big package. there can still be revisions made to the bill and public plan is one of those areas that people are talking about trying tweak it possibly. and also the tax provisions that were set out in terms of paying for it. that is, that is something that they hope to bring to the floor and within a couple of weeks, hopefully by early october at the latest, over on the senate side, that's where we're back at the finance committee because the finance committee was supposed to do its version of the bill that would then be taken with the health committee and merge those two together. it was called seem lesley was what harry reed told us weeks

ago. those two bills have taken such different looks and presences that it's going to be a very interesting process trying figure out which of the two gets more into the final senate bill. um... one of those two bills was written by the staff of senator kennedy that passed away a couple of weeks ago after along bat will brain cancer. at the time, it was talk that this would be a moment that would cause people to you know, think really long and hard about bipartisan ship and what it all means. the reality is healthcare is so big, it is such a big issue, it confronts every member. every member has constituents. senator kennedy's passing, did not have any sort of effect that impacted a republican or

moderate democrat. what it probably did, was it cooled the temperature of the debate. we had this moment where all of the sudden we know longer had screaming constituents and fearful democrats running from the screaming constituents. there was a week long mourning of kennedy and that changed the tone. >> i think you'll see this week a lot of senators take the floor so i would imagine you get a hot of people giving this long passionate tributes. but that might kind of bring that feeling a bit. >> does that resonate with the american public or legislators? >> maybe. i doubt it because i'm cynical in washington, but it's possible. so many people tuned out that they might be looking at the tributes where if they didn't when he actually passed away. >> and reconciliation. how is it really on the table

still, who would that work for and who would fight it hard? >> it's you know reconciliation is a process by which they use special rules for budget issues and by using those rules, they're not allowed to filly buster. would be a simple 50 vote minimum for democrats and joe biden can break any tie taciting vice president. it is a dangerous path to go because it's those very partisan, which you know, goes against everything that christina spent a lot of time on the campaign trail with barack obama and it would be apart san move and more importantly, these rules only a huh apply to certain pieces of the legislation. this - the things that president barack obama likes to talk about these days.

the portability of the legislation would probably get knocked out of the bill and they would have to try to come back and do a second piece of legislation to try to make the whole - it really become as humpty dumpty moment and i'm not sure all the president's men can printh back together. >> very messy. i think you'll get a lot of americans saying process fall. but what about the party in line and telling democrats look, vote for culture that prevents the filly buster and you can do what you want on the final passage of the bill. do you see harry reed getting tougher on that? >> that might be the final saving grace is you can go to ben nelson's of nebraska or the ben lincolns and say this first vote is your vote for the party, your vote for the presidency, just a vote in order to invoke

in culture and then there's a couple of days later a final vote on the actual legislation and in that case, you know they could probably do it because they would have at least 59 if they had all 59 democrats. olympia maine is likely to join them if they allowt senator to replace kennedy that person could be in place by early october. you could be up to 61. >> shirley from newcastle, pennsylvania. >> good morning. what i would like to make a few points here. people in the united states, and i have been watching these town hall meetings, in the united states people are sick and tired of government telling us how to live our lives. they need to do what their

suppose to do. voted in office to take care of federal and take care of back part of the government. tell us okay, now you, your healthcare is going to change. we're going to have a plan where everyone is going to be included except all of us. your all going to be put into one barrel and we'll tell you what doctors you can go to and what hospitals if any and when you can get an appointment. we don't need the government running our healthcare. we don't need the government, they've already taking over the automobile industry and over the banking industry. now they want to take over our healthcare? >> one thing i would say, president president barack obama would respond saying i don't want to be in the government run healthcare business. we've already took on the

automanufacturer to try and help with the economy and obviously what you mentioned with the banks but he's really going to try on wednesday night to combat that. that's not what the proposal is and while there's this element with the public insurance option that would be government run you have medicare and a lot of people like that program so you will here president barack obama talk about that. some of the battles he's had and some of those happening in the past with social security and medicare getting this through and he'll try to explain how it's not government - bureaucrats making the choices for you. >> that caller sort of summed up what the members felt back in their districts though that it was, this was all being tied together and you know, a year ago, roughly right about now, federal government took over fanny and freddie mac. a couple of days later they

injected 80 billion into aig and then let lehman bros. close and said we need 700 billion for the rest of the financial industry. that sets the table for a series of events to take us to, today and there is this sense of people, well there is a large amount of government involve meant in the private economy and now healthcare is the thing that hits everybody. everybody has to go to a doctor or hospital. everybody has someone that's struggled with end of life issues and that's really, they've really touched a third rail here. through new our guests are paul cane with the "washington post" and christina with the washington times. they're with us for the rest of the hour. william calling from andrews, north carolina. >> good morning. i saw president barack obama on t.v. a while back and he said, if we wanted to what his

policies were, that we could see who he surrounded himself with. well he surrounds himself with czars and one of them quit in the middle of the night on sunday and heard nothing about it from any of the newspaper or cb s&nbc or abc and glenn beck on fox news, and there's more czars in there that's radicals. people had better - wheres the press been? >> well as reporter that had to write that story at 12:10 am late saturday night when the release came out that van jones re-assigned it did get covered. it got lost in the holiday weekend a bit and came in a point where many newspaper put the sunday papers to print. it ended up in a monday labor day edition. it did get talked about and

czars is an area of concern and you have even congressional democrats talking about. it senatorbird familiar with it saying the president is kind of going around congress to put people close to him, but president president barack obama refers to his cabinet a lot and has really experienced hands and people that can help him especially through the healthcare fight to show him what happened the clinton years and where mistakes where is made. he may even address that tomorrow night because one of the mistakes clinton's made was presenting congress with their bill and it didn't work that way. president barack obama did hands off. my principals and well that probably wasn't the best strategy either. he may even talk about that and say here's w >> yeah. he is walking that tight rope where he's trying to figure out how detailed can he be without

irritating the left, without irritating his moderates. it is a tight rope and i can go into seven different cliches and all that, but any move to the left and on top 25 to 30 sentist democrats who don't like what he just said. any tilt to the right sort of against the public option and up top, 40 progressive democrats who are demanding something like that be in the bill. it is a tricky game he has got tomorrow night. >> a recent piece in "time" magazine called "prarie revolt." he also heard fear. are you hearing that from other lawmakers and what does the president have to do to alay those fears? think the answer - the

fear part is the economic anxiety. that moment of you know, what have we actually done in the last year? when you ited a it up and have take overs of fanny and freddy. 7 hundred billion injected banks and take over of gm and chrysler and now people are trying - losing their jobs and healthcare is a real issue. there's fear across the board and you know, one of the great things, one of the crazy things about washington is it's usually easier to kill big legislation than it is to get it passed. fear is always a motivating factor in doing that. we went through this four years ago when president bush wanted to reform social security system and democrats basically set out to do the same thing, and person leading that effort for

democrats was max buckas, the senator trying bring healthcare together. his chief-of-staff was the point man for leadership in helping kill that. he's now deputy chief-of-staff to president barack obama in the white house. >> it's worth mentioning some of the fear did come from parts of country that didn't support president barack obama. they - now that he's taking government this the direction he said he would, people are anxious about that. you have to be understanding but at the same time they have to understand he was elected by the popular majority and will get most of his agenda passed. >> bob from massachusetts. >> good morning. thank you for having me and it's pleasure listening to you folks. and we just talked about fear. i'm calling on a democratic line because i voted straight democratic this last election for the simple reason i felt it

was time which is what makes america so great time for a pendulum swing. a lot of people will talk about the president. we either voted for mccain or for president barack obama. i don't think that anybody voted for glenn beck or rush limbaugh. and yet, their voices as erratic as they are, are determining what this is all about. um... it's they keep talking about nazis and communists and leftist and all those little trigger issues that fright energy people but the thing is, what's very sad about it, i find that if you listen to a rush limbaugh the following day, not the day before but the following day half of the republic party is mouthing the same garbage and rhetoric that comes out of his mouth. we've heard senators and

congressmen using the terms nazi and death panels. this is very fright energying for this country. we have political systems. we don't need to be march together the script of the alcoholics and drug addicts. this is what people are doing. they're taking their advice from people who really are a little bit more than fringe element. they're really not interested in what's good for america. and i hope you can hear not the fear but the concern in my voice because it really is tragic what's happening to this country. >> i've heard a lot from people on both sides of the political spectrum talking about that being concerned about the wrach energying up of the rhetoric. some of the people you thought some of the town halls were very angry. had some violent eruptions and i

think probably president obamaly say we need to take a step back. i interviewed a consultant that said his advice for tt would be this could be my waterloo or the issue you want to defeat me on to win back the house in 2010. don't do for that. the if you disagree with the healthcare vote against it but don't do it for me. i think he's always sending the message saying look evaluate the own merits. people will do the political choice but he'll ask people to do that. if american people hear it they might put that from what we heard so much of. >> to the caller's point about glenn beck and rush limbaugh there has been the republicans sort of are so wiped out the

last couple of years there really has been sort of a vacuum created in terms of leadership. they don't have really prominent leaders at this point who set the sort of, pr agenda and because of that, you know glenn beck and limb bow have only seen their ratings go up and their voices with all the different medium we have in order to get that out between twitter and all of the other things. it's those guys have seen arise in the own stature. >> comment from twitter. one of the listeners or viewers wrote is president barack obama going to keep one promise. tax caps, war, transparency, healthcare reform? the president's record as far as keeping promises? >> i think it's moving right

along. obviously guantanamo bay. he issued an order it will close by that date but it's more complicated than that's everybody predicted it would be. he's got task force and everybody evaluated that. as far as troops he does have a time to withdrawal from iraq and he's sending more to afghanistan like he said he would. transparency is another great example. on friday the white house said they're going to post visitors logs. they're going to be be releasing them and at the end of this year and they're going to do that going forward. those are excellent things from a media and citizen perspective you should be glad about the transparency but there's certainly elements they're not keeping transparent as well. i think it's all in the works. >> hick son, tennessee. >> good morning.

please give me time enough to say what i want to say please ma'am. yes, ma'am. are you there? medicare is a government run health thing. it's going broke or is it broke. then you'd have a public option that's run by the government so you'd have two government plans run by the government and what i want to say is, i worked all my life for dupont and they wants the government option, and i called my insurance company at et in n etna. and they want it too. so my wife and i will end up losing our insurance, our private insurance and there's no - that's facts. how could you have medicare run by the government and then the public option run by the

government and then all of the sudden your private insurance wants it and you and your wife or family will be out of the private insurance. it needs to be stopped. i know ya'll both up there from the times and post are ya'll definitely for the man in the white house, but come on, be fair and honest with the public because- >> um... the insurance companies, most of the insurance companies are in a sort of dance right now where they can't decide what to do in terms of this legislation. their hesitant to endorse a robust public option. they don't want an a public option that the progressives like max in border wants which would be tied to medicare payment rates and they feel that would be a very unfair

competitor to them. there has been a lot of anxiety in the insurance industry but you haven't seen them po go out and do a full pledged campaign to kill this, the way they did in 1994 to the clinton proposal. >> and i think also you have to look at the budget numbers. these are very important questions. how is all this paid for and does it actually bring down costs? one thing i think the budget gurus will talk about is the fact that the united states pays so much when it comes to uninsured people right now that's huge tax burden so if you do reform these in the right way you could actually save money but proving that to the american people and get them to support this is a much different thing. it's all a possibility and projection. >> did, david from texas. >> all these right wingers.

when bush, 6 hundred million dollars cash to iraq and then we showing all the other [inaudible] and the news media. how can ya'll even talk to medical. you take all the full page advertisements and don't want to see the insurance change. the television shows all the advertisements 50 time as dayton medical stuff. and then, you show all these right wing, where were you? you never showed the pink lady, all the democrats marching against the war. you never showed none of that? >> i mean i do think there's criticism to be had of the media generally in the way these things are covered. one of the reasons i love c-span is it gets so much into the policy and you can see people talking about something. but i do think that is an area

where you've got to have the full bill and proposal out there and then people can get down and explain exactly what will do and evaluate and compare it to example the spending on the iraq war or the bush tax cut and look at how that helps the economy or hurts the economy and how kind of where this healthcare legislation can go from there. >> susan calling from north rich land hills texas. >> i couldn't agree with this last caller more. all this would be rather funny if it wasn't so sad for our nation. we have a president that's trying do something, and you know all this ignorance going around, um... when bush wanted to go into iraq i made a comment to a coworker that, you know if i had studied it. studied the history of the area and said i really don't think we

need to be going in there and i was told i wasn't a christian. this is the same rhetoric, keep it going. i want to make another comment if you would let me please. i want to make two. my family has had big issues with healthcare. i had employ based for years. i'm over 65, i'm now on medicare. it's the best i've had and it's government run but another thing i want to mention. i was in i was at fort steward outside of fort steward last week trying to find housing for my granddaughter that married a young soldier. i've never seen such filthy nasty things offered for these young soldiers. it was unbelievable. and i think some of these radical idiots want to get on to something they need to go to the

bases and see how these kids are living. >> stories like that have also dominated the town halls for democrats in the last five weeks. they have come away convinced they need to do something and they're going to be told by their leadership doing nothing is the worst case scenario politically that it w so there is support for doing something, for doing some sort of health care legislation and that is really broad-based throughout the house democratic caucus, but it's trying to figure out the pieces of the puzzle. >> steven on the republican line calling from california. >> there is a simple answer to all of this. back in november, 50 million people or so voted for obama and believe in his socialist vision

for america or whatever. if each of those people had a box on their tax form where they could check off a box where they could adopt someone who is uninsured, illegal alien, someone on welfare, whatever, there is more than enough of them, they could pay for people's insurance and the government would not have to mess with ours. >> it's an interesting proposal. i think one area and we mentioned this a little bit earlier are looking at social security and medicare, which are very popular programs and which took a lot of political fighting to get them passed. and i think you will hear that from the white house. they have been ramping that up through august and the president was talking about that. i can understand why people are hesitant. i can understand why people don't necessarily trust their government, all the bailouts.

but here's how it can work. health care is a basic right. the democrats haven't exactly gone out there and spelled that out. the party platform is health care is a right, not a privilege. you have the right to this. shouldn't you go out and say that and explain why everybody in america should have it, i'm not sure they did before they started fighting about a public option, death panels rather than just explain the principle behind it. >> they got caught up on the issue of cost and you heard the president using the phrase bending the cost curve. his one bit of advice is just don't use that phrase anymore. people have no idea what it means and get back to basic principles. basic principals. >> president talks to american school children and c span will broadcast that live at noon.

this got a lot of reaction out of conservatives when the education announced the president would be talking to students. christina tell us where things are at now and some of the folks that criticize it now have backed down a bit. >> you heard complimentary words from newt gingrich saying this is the right thing. i read through it this morning before i game here to have it fresh on my mind and, you know he does what they said he would. it's very much a stay in school, don't let your country down by dropping out of school and set personal goals. i think president barack obama has very passionate personal feelings about. he obviously grew up in a home without a father and dealing with being a black man and he was able to work hard and a schooef a lot of great things in his life and i think he'll talk

about that and he's got a line in there about, jk roland and the author of the harry potter series and how she failed before becoming successful. just he might even mention the controversy. president shown he thinks children can handle a little bit of explaining them things. not going to get the political side of it but might elude to it and did even yesterday in the speech. >> i don't think he'll use this as a moment to say, hey tell mom and dad to call your congressman and tell them to support the healthcare legislation. this is a side of president barack obama that remains popular. he is a popular person that people still do look up to and he has this ability to inspire in sort of a nonpartisan way and that's message that republicans

like newt gingrich will say that's fine. >> for all the controversy. the party chairman said he wasn't going to send his kids to school but for all that controversy i said several people saying where can i waf this. kids want to see the president no matter what he said and past presidents have done the same. >> caller from manhattan. david. >> hi. how are you? yeah. basically, well, i'm listening to a whole bunch, basically the whole entire government issues is set up by the media. that's what president barack obama is a creation of. as an independent voter. that strong hillary clinton campaign, i voted for mccain. the bottom line is when you hear

the way the media sets this up with the town hall meeting, i mean, america is a left country. you have a whole bunch of white people out there saying i want my country back. when you hear all the old white folk at the town hall meetings. basically when you hear the word socialism you hear the word negro and puerto rican. i ain't taking orders from no negro and i don't want no supreme court justice that's puerto rican. that's what it comes down to. >> this is the first time i've heard hillary clinton's name. she was looked at as face of healthcare for a long time. and one of their biggest prices was about healthcare because hillary clinton wanted to mandate that everybody have insurance and president barack obama changed his mind and said,

well one question i've asked the white house and they have said we're not getting into fr priva conversations but have they talked to the clintons. what kind of conversations are they having to avoid some of the mistakes and have they fallen right back into the name calling and labels? every time you hear it called obama care it's like, wow what decade are we in. >> west virginia? jeff? >> hi. i'm jeff. i just wanted to post a comment. i had insurance with a health plan here and it's really good bits expensive. had it back when i was married and i was doing on cobra but i didn't have a lot of money and that was ten or 15 years ago.

as time went on i tried to get other insurance as i was working for a guy and he said, you can still get it but it's 8 to 900 a month and you go for 8 or 9 months and then if there's nothing wrong with you because i've had cancer they'll give you insurance for $500 a month and i'm thinking, my income is like 20,000 a year so i'm thinking 900 dollars a month. that's half of what i make and i'm think together myself. people are saying i have my insurance and i'm not going to let, we don't want you to get government involved. any time they do it improves the situation. >> the legislation that is coming together in the house and senate would for somebody making $20,000 a year, you would be getting some sort of this is the fight. what kind of assistance is it from the federal government?

you would get a boost from the federal government that you could go into this insurance exchange and be buying insurance you know, maybe from a government funded public option. or a private ensurer, back caller would get some sort of insurance and in this new proposal. >> let's go to kevin from pennsylvania. >> good morning folks. my thing is i think the country is dealing with a trust issue when it comes to fear. it's trust from the government. if you remember nafta was supposed to be a great savior for this country and supposed to bring jobs and more competition but her shey chocolate factory moves to mexico. it's a way of saying screw you americans. we can't compete with people

making $2.00 a day. you have 1 $100 mart dpaj you have to make the money to pay that. i bring it down to a trust issue. another thing for the politicians. if they want to exempt themselves from the healthcare plan that's what they do, they exempt themselves for things so if it's so wonderful you participate in it sirs and madames. i'm sick and tired of our government trying say they're doing the right thing but in the long run it's a matter of trust. i have no trust for the politicians thank you. >> that's one thing we talked about campaign promises and that's one of president barack obama's biggest promises on the campaign trails is end tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas and that's a lot of angle ns this country and that's something we have not really seen addressed. the stimulus was not exactly what they wanted.

i think that you may end up hearing that addressed down the line to keep jobs in the united states. >> you know, a president barack obama discovered being president doesn't mean you get to run everything. you still have to deal with 5.25559 different personalitys in the white house and it's a slow moving process trying get the applause line on traded a min administration and those provisions have different people that support them. it's tough on that level of trust. >> and finally, briefly. what else will we watch to see what happens over the next couple of week? this whole conversation has been mostly about healthcare? >> the energy legislation. obviously with senator kennedy passing away you have another

big element going through, but actually has turned out to be fairly unpopular and a lot of members are getting hit back in their district and senate will consider some major changes to energy policy that i think you'll see more on that. >> um... one sort of wild card in all of this is they're going to have to do the appropriations bills. the house - the bills that fund the federal government the 12 of them, the house has passed their share and senate is passing theirs and those will contain billions of dollars of these little things known as earmarks that congressional prerogatives on spending. president barack obama has been an an only of that and that can be a big fight between them and congressional democrats. it could be an interesting side fight that kicks up in about three to four weeks. >> and will he get it done on time? a big criticism of all

congresses? >> they'll definitely punt and have to pass a resolution to keep the government opepen and [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> and congress is back today from its august break. the house begins the week with a number of bills dealing with federal lands and historic sites. live coverage here in 15 minutes. senate gavels in at 2:00 eastern. senators begin with general speeches and they will continue legislation on promoting u.s. tourism to people in other countries. on wednesday, the house and senate hold a joint session to hear from president obama on health care. we will have live coverage on that at 8:00 p.m. and also on c-span radio and c-span.org. >> the supreme court has a rare special session tomorrow,

hearing oral argument on a campaign finance case and marks the first appearance on the bench for justice sotomayor. here is chief justice roberts what it's like. >> it is unsettling, you get to view the court as the court as composed of these members and it becomes hard to think of it as involving anyone else. it's the way people look at their families. this is the family. how could it be different? but you do get new arrivals in both of those situations. it's a tremendous sense of loss. justice white used to say when the court gets a new member, it changes everything, changes everybody. simple changes. we move the seats around in the courtroom. the seats are by order of seniority. there will be a shift there. same in the conference room. but more importantly, it can

cause you to take a fresh look of how things are decided. a new member is going to have a particular view about how issues should be addressed that may be very different from what we have been following for some time. so it's an exciting part of life at the court. >> hear from other justice during supreme court week as c-span looks at the home of america's highest court starting october 4. >> just a reminder, we will have oral arguments from that campaign finance case tomorrow about 11:30 eastern on c-span 3, c-span radio and online. that ceremony at the supreme court getting upped way at 2:00. the commissioning of a new justice. the justice had photos taken with their families. here's a look.

>> how are you? you guys are busy all day? >> justice, i know you know steve. and you know patricia. and my office. and this is deborah, she is a producer from nbc. randall is on camera. and scott our ap photographer. >> how are you? i have seen you before. right over here. [laughter] i have a memory for space. hello, how are you? what do you need? >> we need you first. >> need me? they lost my family. you know that, literally. >> she's an expert.

>> perfect. we'll do this all day until your family shows up. [laughter] >> hurry, find them. >> great. >> here we go right here. good. >> that's great. >> thank you. one more. great. all those are good. >> that's my brother. >> i said you were awol in the building. >> i went shopping. >> she looks good over there.

>> you're going to be first. >> my, you look great. >> this is official. here we go. great. great. >> ok. that's good.

that's good. all right. very nice. great. >> smile, mom. >> she's doing good. >> scoot that way. >> this way? >> yeah. you guys look great. this can be fun. some people have to work for a living, you know. that's great. couple more. you guys are great. you guys are great. wonderful.

>> move this way a little bit. kind of get used to this. >> i know. i know. >> ok. great. smile. >> who should we bring out? my brother?

>> we're going to do this. >> great. justice, maybe you can step forward. a little more. one more. very nice. >> why don't you be seated.

>> ok. you get to just stand? >> do you understand spanish? if you don't -- [laughter] >> the tall guy is always at the back, you know that? >> you guys have any idea what three months of this will do to anybody? [laughter] >> one more. nice smile. good. very nice. ok. and now we need to add your sister. >> tracy. >> and i would like one with my

brother. >> tracy, you're going to be over here. >> we are all turning towards the justice. you're fine where you are. you're fine right back there. >> does that look ok? >> i don't mind being in the back. >> all right. perfect. right here. >> beautiful. couple more.

>> i think we're going to do brother and the justice. >> i haven't had a tie on since 10 years ago. >> all right. look here. good. >> i'm not giving you any. >> my sister will make me pay. >> we'll get tracy in on this.

>> trace. >> don't tell me your shoes hurt. >> no. >> that's the key. >> here we go. good. great. >> you're in the middle of things upstairs. it's not too bad. >> one more. gait. >> can we get you, your mother and brother together. >> that's ok. that doesn't bother me. you must have a million shots --

two million? >> i'm a fast lerner. >> step forward a little bit. perfect. good. ok. look right here. what a shot. good. great. you guys are doing great. >> i got a little plaid here. >> that's it. >> i don't know where i go next, but i'll find out. >> you have some down time. >> when we were here last time, you talked about a cd. >> i can get you anything.

you just have to be good to her. [laughter] >> that's why i need to speak to you directly. you don't understand. i'll have theresea get it. >> momma, when we go back upstairs -- steve did this book for you. i'll show it to you. thanks, guys. i'll see you all later. you'll be in the room, i hope? >> i'll take you downstairs. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] [captioning performed by

national captioning institute] >> the supreme court has a rare special session tomorrow. hearing oral argument on a campaign finance case and marks the first appearance on the bench for justice sotomayor. her formal ceremony takes place in the afternoon. here's chief justice roberts on what it's like for a new justice. >> to some extent, it's unsettling and you get to view the court as the court composed of these members and it becomes hard to think of it as involving anyone else. it's the same way people look at their families. this is the family. how could it be different. but you get new arriveals in those -- arrivals in those situations. justice white used to say when the court gets a new member, it changes everybody, simple changes. we move the seats around in the courtroom. the seats are by order of seniority. so there will be a shift there. same in the conference room.

but more fundamentally, it can cause you to take a fresh look at how things are decided. the new member is going to have a particular view about how issues should be addressed that may be very different from what we've been following for some time. so it's an exciting part at life at the court. >> hear from other justices during "supreme court week" as c-span looks at the home of america's highest court starting october 4. >> the house and senate gaveling shortly. president obama will speak to both bodies on health care. we will have live coverage here on c-span at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> as the debate over health care continues, c-span's health care hub is a key resource. go online and follow the latest tweets, videos and links and

watch town hall meetings and share your thoughts on the issue with your own citizen video, including any video from town halls you have gone to. and there is more at c-span.org /health care. >> the house will be dealing with bills on federal lands and historic sites. the u.s. senate gaveling in at this hour. they will begin with general speeches. and later today, in the senate, they will be debating bills on promoting tourism. now live to the house here on c-span.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. september 8, 2009.

the hereby appoint the honorable steve dehouse to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father coughlin. chaplain coughlin: lord god, creator of the earth, the sea, and the sky, everything is of your making and all gives you glory. this holiday weekend urges us to beg your blessing upon our labors. whether our work is hand crafted or managed by computer or machine, harvested from the field or designed in a laboratory, whether our service takes shape in public form, in aerospace, or private industry, whether in courtroom, hospital, school, home, or in the halls of government lord, bless the

work of your people, bless this nation. our human labor drains our energy, fixes our mind, and uncovers our creativity. daily work adds dignity and accomplishment to daily life and all human effort. when our work is expanded to others, hopefully it benefits our brothers and sisters. when offered to you, as an act of worship, it becomes holy. grant success to the work of our hands, lord, now and forever. amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentlewoman from arizona, congresswoman kirkpatrick.

mrs. kirkpatrick: mr. speaker, members, and guests in the gallonry, please join me in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives. madam, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2 dh of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on august 4, 2009, at 12:01 p.m. that the senate passed without amendment h.r. 774, h.r. 987, h.r. 1271, h.r. 1397, h.r. 2090, h.r. 2162, h.r. 2325,

h.r. 2422, h.r. 2470, appointments, ronald reagan centennial commission. with best wishes i am signed sincerely, lorraine c miller, clerk of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives. madam, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on august 4, 2009, at 3:14 p.m. that the senate passed senate 748, senate 1211, senate 1314 . with best wishes i am, signed, sincerely, lorraine c. miller, clerk of the house. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, madam. pursuant to the permission

granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on august 5, 2009, at 10:03 a.m. that the senate agreed to without amendment house joint resolution 44. with best wishes i am, signed, sincerely, lorraine c. miller, clerk of the house. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, madam. pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on august 5, 2009, at 4:47 p.m. that the senate passed with an amendment, request a conference with the house, and appoints conferees, h.r. 2997. that the senate passed, senate 475. with best wishes i am, signed, sincerely, lorraine c. miller,

clerk of the house. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives. madam, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on august 6, 2009, at 9:59 a.m. that the senate passed senate 713. that the senate passed without amendment h.r. 1275, h.r. 2938. that the senate agreed to without amendment house concurrent resolution 171. with best wishes i am, signed, sincerely, lorraine c. miller, clerk of the house. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, madam, pursuant to the pir mission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the

senate on september 3, 2009, at 10:42 a.m. appointments, public interest declassification board, with best wishes i am, signed, sincerely, lorraine c. miller, clerk of the house. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 4 of rule 1, the following enrolled bills and joint resolutions were signed by speaker pro tempore hoyer. the clerk: h.r. 774, h.r. 987, h.r. 1271, h.r. 1275, h.r. 1397, h.r. 2090, h.r. 2162, h.r. 2325, h.r. 2422, h.r. 2470, h.r. 2938 , h.r. 3435. house joint resolution 44, senate joint resolution 19. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute speeches.

for what purpose does the gentlewoman from arizona rise? mrs. kirkpatrick: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. kirkpatrick: mr. speaker, i rise today to honor amy mcbroom of grand canyon, arizona, who has been named the 2009 rural teacher of the year by the national rural education association. as the only art teacher in the grand canyon unified school district, amy teaches students from kindergarten to 12th grade. she founded a juried art show for students, and led efforts to bring new international back laurt programs to our schools. like so many of our teachers, amy's work educating our kids does not stop when the school year ends. she spends her summers helping native american children experience different cultures, and she has led field trips to europe and washington, d.c. a quality education is more important than ever to succeed in today's global economy.

and getting a quality education takes great teachers like amy mcbroom. northern arizona is lucky to have her. congratulations to amy for this recognition for her work. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from north carolina rise? ms. foxx: permission to address the house for one minute, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. it was a long, hot august for many members of congress who returned home to face the displeasure of constituents fed up with washington's tin ear syndrome. over the past month i heard from more people than i can count who have had enough of the explosion of washington-style big government. it was no comfort in the middle of august the white house announced that they expect $9.1 trillion in new government debt over the next 10 years. so how is it that the american people are expected to stomach a new government-run health care proposal that is estimated to cost up to $1.6 trillion?

let's scrap the democrat government-run health care proposal and return to the drawing board for a plan like ones that republicans have offered that put patients not government first. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. costa: thank you very much, mr. speaker. congress has come down here in september and the primary focus is on health care as if should be. i rise today to speak on the health of millions of californians that are dependent upon a reliable water supply. i'm speaking on behalf of farmers, farm workers, and people who live in our cities. this manmade with the aid of mother nature drought crisis will not go away. it could go a fourth year. we are living on borrowed time to fix california's broken water system. wishful thinking will not wish it away. over 30 lawsuits pending on two biological opinions we can't

have the courts making these most important decisions. it's time we take action. now is the time for the federal government to keep its commitment to being a partner in helping to solve california's water problems. we need administrative flexibility immediately, we need near-term assistance with the two gates and projects. and the long-term we must address all the stresses impacting waterer quality and fisheries in the sacramento system to -- and finally we need town crease our water supply. this is not nor should it be a partisan issue. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe: mr. speaker, one of the things i heard most from my neighbors at recent town hall health care meetings was they don't want the government in charge of their health. they believe government-run health care means rationing and substandard treatment. and the people in southeast texas don't want the additional $800 billion tax increase to pay for what is yet more government intrusion into their

lives. this massive 1,017-page bill requires are heavy-handed tax increases to pay for all the new government programs that don't treat one patient nor will they provide for a healthier america. in this time of economic hardship, no one in america should be force fed tax increases to pay for this glittering illusion that big government is the answer. america has the best health care in the world. there are problems such as affordability and access, but complete government takeover is not the answer. fix these problems rather than destroy american health care. does anyone really think the government can do a better job of running the entire medical health of this nation? this government-run health care plan will have the competence of fema, efficiency of the post office, and compassion of the i.r.s. that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas rise? mr. boozman: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

mr. boozman: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to honor bela vista police chief jim who has devoted his life to protecting the public, upholding the law, and serving his country. he's retiring at the end of september after 38 years in law enforcement. the last 14 as the head of the bela vista police department. he helped the department grow from nine officers to 20 and he was always looking for ways to improve the police force and the services it offers. . he's proud of his department and rightfully so because he makes sure that his staff put people work. i describe him as a friend. bella vista will undoubtedly be losing an amazing man who contributed to the safety community. we're blessed to have such caring people such as jim. i wish him continued success in the future. i ask my colleagues today to join with me in honoring jim

wazniak, a wonderful public servant who is and always will be dedicated to the people of bella vista. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does -- the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. lungren: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. lungren: mr. speaker, i rise in honor of the american people. i had five town hall meetings this summer. i did a teletown hall in which i had 19,000 people on the line. with all due respect, mr. speaker, i saw no mobs. i saw nothing that was unamerican. i saw no evil mongers out there . i saw average everyday americans coming to my town hall meetings in ones, twos and threes not being busted by anybody.

they were educated about the issue of health care. they understood what was on the floor. these people are concerned about what we might do here. they're also concerned about taxes, spending, debt and the size of the federal government. no, they were not american mobs. these are real americans. expressing what they're allowed to do under the constitution in the best way they can, directly speaking with their members of congress. we better listen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado rise? mr. coffman: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. coffman: the democrats have gone on a spree with americans' money.

then came a $400 billion omnibus spending bill followed by a $3.5 trillion budget for the next fiscal year. budget officials predict that this year's deficit will reach an historic level of nearly $2 trillion. money borrowed from our children and our grandchildren. after six months of fiscal irresponsibility, they are now pushing for a government takeover of health care that will grow our national debt and do little to extend quality care to the american people. despite raising more than $800 billion to pay for this plan, we will also go into debt by $239 billion over the next 10 years to pay for it. republicans have a better plan for health care reform, one that does not saddle our children and grandchildren with a mountain of new debt. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, i rise to respond to some of what i heard on the floor of the house of representatives. i think it's important to know that the crushing debt left behind for the last eight years of ruinous republican control was a debt inherited by this congress and this administration because of republican policies. the refusal to pay for the programs they undertook. the willingness to allow pay-go legislation to expire, to provide a medical care provision in medicare d prescription drug benefit that was not paid for, to have two ruinous wars in iraq and afghanistan that were offbudget. i think it's important that our constituents understand who was responsible for the debt we now have to manage and the debt we have to get away from. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? >> mr. speaker, i send to the desk a privileged concurrent

resolution and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the concan't rurings. the clerk: house concurrent resolution 179, resolved that the two houses of congress assemble in the hall of the house of representatives on wednesday, september 9, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. for the purpose of receiving such communication as the president of the united states shall be pleased to make to them. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the concurrent resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone furnt proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered or on which the vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. recorded votes on postponed questions will be taken after

6:30 p.m. today. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1043 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1043, a bill to provide for a land exchange involving certain national forest system lands in the mendocino national forest in the state of california, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, and the gentleman from colorado, mr. lamborn, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that

all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. grijalva: mr. speaker, h.r. 1043 provides for land exchange between the forest service and solano county, california. solano county currently has a special use permit from the forest service to operate fouts springs correctional facility on 82 acres of land in the mendocino national forest. the hacts been working diligently for years to acquire wilderness quality forest lands to exchange with the forest service in order to acquire the lands occupied by the youth correctional facility. mr. speaker, the lands the forest service would acquire are wilderness quality lands bordering the snow mountain wilderness area and has been identified areas for acquisition dating back to 1992. the land exchange would be of equal value.

mr. speaker, the chairman of the committee on education and labor, chairman george miller, is to be commended for his efforts on behalf of solano county and this youth facility. an earlier version of this legislation passed the house last year by voice vote. i ask my colleagues to once again support passage of this measure, and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado, mr. lamborn, is recognized. mr. lamborn: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. lamborn: the majority has adequately and very well explained this bill. i don't believe there's anything to add at this time. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i would yield as much time as he may consume to the chairman of the education and labor committee, mr. george miller, for his comments on his legislation, 1043. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california, mr.

miller, is recognized. mr. miller: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise in strong support of h.r. 1043, the deafy glade land exchange act, and i want to thank chairman rahall and chairman grijalva of the natural resources committee, the minority, for bringing this legislation to the floor. as was noted, this similar legislation passed by vose vote last congress. the fouts youth facility has been there for nearly 50 years. the bill before the house guarantees they can continue to do their good work. fouts springs has helped rehabilitated california's young offenders with much-needed structure and significant vocational educational opportunities. presently, solano county operates fouts springs as well as other california counties under special youth operation. this legislation, the deafy glade land exchange act, would give solano county the 82 acres they use at fouts springs and exchange would give the mendocino national forest of 160 acres of nearby lands known as deafy glade. they have access to the snow mountain wilderness areas and

has been part of the forest service since the 1990's. they heard testify that the deafy glade would be key addition to the trail system. again, i want to thank the committee for the timely consideration of this legislation. i urge all my colleagues to support this matter when it comes before the house. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. lamborn: i'd continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time is reserved. mr. grijalva: if i may inquire of mr. lamborn, do you have any additional witnesses? mr. lamborn: in response, we don't have any speakers. so we're ready to close. mr. grijalva: i reserve the balance of my time. mr. lamborn: we yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado yields back. mr. grijalva: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the time has yielded back. the question is will the house

suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1043, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1287. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1287, a bill to authorize the secretary of the interior to enter into a partnership with the porter county convention, recreation and visitor commission regarding the use of the dorothy buell memorial visitor center as a visitor center for the indiana dunes national lakeshore, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, and the gentleman from colorado, mr. lamborn, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva. mr. grijalva: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and

extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. h.r. 1287 would allow the national parks service to shared visitor center responsibilities for the indiana dunes national lakeshore with the local counties convention, recreation and visitor commission. the bill also allows the national parks service to construct exhibits at the visitor center and authorizes m.p.s. employees to work there. since the visitor center lies outside the established boundaries of the park. finally, mr. speaker, h.r. 1287 would clarify the definition of conparticular with us lands in the park's original legislation so that m.p.s. could accept donations of continuous land even if that land is separated by a right of way such as a road, a railway line or utility corridor. mr. speaker, congressman visclosky has been working on this bill for a long time and is to be commended for his

diligence. this passed last congress by an overwhelming vote. i ask my colleagues to once again support this measure, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from colorado, mr. lamborn. mr. lamborn: thank you, and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. lamborn: here 1287 has been well explained by the majority and we support this legislation, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i would yield as much time as he may consume to the sponsor of h.r. 1287, mr. visclosky. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. visclosky: i appreciate the gentleman for yielding and i rise today in strong support of h.r. 1287, the dorothy buell memorial visitor center act. i am the proud sponsor of this legislation. and as i have in the previous congress, i thank mr. donnelly for joining me as co-sponsor. i do want to thank chairman

rahall, ranking member hastings, subcommittee ranking member bishop, and especially subcommittee chairman grijalva for all of their hard work in ensuring that this legislation is brought to the floor. it has been explained, and i would simply say that it is my sincere hope that this legislation will enable to protect and enhance the indiana dunes national lakeshore and to ensure that all americans can benefit from the park. the indiana dunes national lakeshore, which was established in 1966, is relatively new, but as it continues to mature, the dorothy buell memorial visitor center will be vital in helping provide each lakeshore visitor a complete and rewarding experience. mr. speaker, we should not delay. the lakeshore's ability to mature, allows people to appreciate the beauty of northwest indiana. i again urge my colleagues, as i did in the last congress, to support this measure. and i would yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana, mr. visclosky, yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado.

mr. lamborn: if there are no further speakers we'll yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: mr. speaker, we yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1287. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, baffed, and without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. -- the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 324. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 324, a bill to establish the santa cruz valley national heritage area, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, and the gentleman from colorado, mr. lamborn, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva. mr. grijalva: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. . my own history began in the santa cruz valley where my father worked. my memories are of a life in that extraordinary scenic valley and they compromise an important part of who i am and today. sharing a border with mexico, the santa cruz valley encompass as multitude of cultures a. rich and diverse histry, as well as a host of nationally recognized national treasures that are situated within its borders. the amount of support for this proposal both in my district and ms. giffords is astounding. every county, municipality, tribe, federal, and state park,

and land management agency within the proposed heritage area, plus a long list of chambers of commerce, tourism organization, conservation, and historic preservation groups, ranchers, farmers, and businesses all support h.r. 324. the house has already approved this legislation as part of the heritage area package in the last congress. this bill is important to many of us and to me, to my district, and to ms. giffords and her constituents. i ask my colleagues to support the passage and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. lamborn: thank you, mr. speaker. unfortunately i have to rise in opposition to h.r. 324. as many of us have discovered the national heritage area program although well intended and is not a new program and has no established framework. many of our colleagues have sought to ensure that despite a lack of guidance, heritage areas would include basic property rights protections.

unfortunately this bill does not have sufficient protection for the property owners within the boundaries of this area and it is likely many of them have no idea that they are to be included. to remedy this problem, we request and we have requested in the past that the bill be amended to allow property owners the opportunity to remove their property from the heritage area. while the current language allows owners to, quote, refrain from participation, unquote, nothing changes the fact that this bill places them within a new federal designation that provides a basis for ambitious federal land managers to claim that they now have a mandate and millions of federal dollars to interfere with local decisions affecting their neighbor's property. three years ago, this point was brought to the forefront when my friend, the sponsor of this legislation, authored legislation to reduce the size of the yuma crossing heritage area. when that heritage area was established in 2000, it was much larger than local farmers were expecting.

further exacerbating the problem, local zoning bureaucrats began to use the hair 257b8g area boundaries in planning. because the language designating the heritage area included no recourse for property own horse wanted out -- property owners who wanted out or never wanted to be included in the first place, their only option was to come to congress to adjust the boundary and solve the zoning assaults they faced. we must not make that mistake again. complicating this particular proposed heritage area is the inclusion of some of the most heavily traveled human and narcotics trafficking routes in our contry. we have already seen what happens when we lock up federal border lands within federal wilderness areas. the cartels run rampant knowing that border patrol is hamstrung by draconian rules making them subcertificate have iant to land managers and accompanying bureaucratic red tape. now is not the time to place yet another layer of federal interference over this region.

the border lands are far fundraiser secure. i urge my colleagues to support private property rights and the effort to secure the border by opposing h.r. 324. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. every time we bring up a national heritage proposal, we hear concerns expressed about private property protections. we should be clear the 20-plus years of this program's existence, opponents have not been able to identify a single instance in which someone has been deprived of the use of their property as a result of this designation. tens of millions of americans in states across the country have lived, worked, and recreated and made their living within a heritage area. despite the best efforts of opponents of these designations, they have never found a case where property rights were violated. the government accountability

office even investigated potential property rights violations and found none. nevertheless, this bill contains extensive private property provisions. these private property protections is the same language approved by congress in earlier bills and signed into law by both the obama and bush administrations. if the problem existed, the bill has the language necessary to take care of it if the problem existed. the other issue in terms of law enforcement, this designation in no way restricts local, county, state, or national law enforcement from carrying out its enforcement mission and its responsibility to uphold the law. there is no restriction, no impediment, and no redesignation of their mission. the mission continues, heritage area in no way hinders or prohibits that mission from going on. with that let me reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. lamborn: are there any additional speakers at this point from the majority? if not i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. i have no further speakers. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question now is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 324. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules -- mr. lamborn: on that i demand the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by yeas and nays will rise and remain staining -- standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? mr. grijalva: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1858 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1858, a bill to provide for a boundary adjustment and land conveyances involving roosevelt national forest, colorado to correct the effects of an erroneous land survey that resulted in approximately seven acres of the crystal lake subdivision night filing encroaching on national forest system land, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, and the gentleman from colorado, mr. lamborn, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva. mr. grijalva: thank you. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and

include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. grijalva: thank you. mr. speaker, h.r. 1858 introduced by representative betsy markey from colorado would provide for a boundary adjustment and land conveyances involving the roosevelt national forest in colorado to correct the effects of an erroneous land survey. the bill responds to an ongoing boundary dispute between the forest service and private landowners with property adjacent to the forest. mr. speaker, i want to commend our colleague, representative markey, for her work on this bill. as a freshman she has demonstrated remarkable ability to get things done on behalf of her constituents. i ask my colleagues to support passage of h.r. 1858 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. lamborn: thank you. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. lamborn: this bill provides a legislative solution for a number of homeowners in colorado who own real property

adjacent to the roosevelt national forest. these homeowners have occupied or improved their property in good faith and in reliance on 1975 land surveys. it was introduced in the last congress by congresswoman marilyn musgrave and it is needed to resolve the issue fairly because a recent forest service resurvey now claims a small portion of roosevelt national forest is occupied by these adjacent landowners. this bill conveys approximately seven acres occupied by the effected landowners to those landowners and i support its passage. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: at this point let me yield as much time as she may consume to the sponsor of the legislation, representative markey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from colorado, ms. markey, is recognized. ms. markey: mr. chairman, i rise today to support h.r.

1858, and for private property rights. imagine for a moment that the federal government sends a notification that you need to repurchase land you have owned for over 30 years. this is exbe actly what happened to landowners in the crystal lake subdivision on the border of the roosevelt national forest. when the crystal lake subdivision was developed in 1975 an inaccurate land survey resulted in a seven acre overlap with the u.s. forest service land. in 2006 the crystal lake landowners were notified that parts of the property were on federal land and they would be required to purchase this land at current market price from the forest service. it is simply unacceptable in these tough economic times to penalize the crystal lake landowners for mistake made through no fault of their own and mistake the federal government has waited for over 30 years to rectify. the current property value is without question higher than it

was at the time of the sale in the 1970's and 1980's. if forced to repurchase their land, some landowners may be in danger of for closure. -- foreclosure. these property owners have bought their land in good faith and been paying taxes on that land. while i support the national forest system and the need to preserve land in the west for future generations, for the federal government to ask these landowners to repurchase land they have owned for decades stands against reason. therefore i urge all my colleagues to vote for h.r. 1858 today to adjust the boundaries of the roosevelt national forest in colorado. with your vote we can ensure the landowners in crystal lakes will be able to remain on their land. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. lamborn: i commend my colleague from colorado for bringing this bill. she's building on the good work that was begun by her predecessor, congresswoman marilyn musgrave, this is a

bill i would urge all of my colleagues to support. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: we yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question now is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1858 as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 310. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 310, a bill to provide for the conveyance of approximately 140 acres of land in the wash at that national forest in oklahoma to the indian nations council incorporated of the boy scouts of america and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr.

grijalva, and the gentleman from colorado, mr. lamborn, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva. mr. grijalva: once again i ask for unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. h.r. 310 would direct the secretary of agriculture to convey 140 acres of public land in oklahoma administered by the united states forest service to the indian nations council of boy scouts of america. the boy scouts will use the land to expand their existing camping area and will pay fair market value for the land. h.r. 310 is identical legislation that passed the house last year by a vote of 370-2. mr. speaker, i want to commend our colleague, representative boren, for his work on this legislation. i urge our colleagues to support pass ang of 310 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. lamborn: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. lamborn: the majority has explained this bill well. we are pleased to support this legislation also which will help the young men of oklahoma by allowing the boy scouts to expand their summer camp within the national forest to accommodate the fast-growing number of campers. this speaks volumes about the excellent organization that is the boy scouts of america. i strongly support this legislation and urge all of my colleagues to do so as well. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. . mr. grijalva: i'd like to inquire if we have further speakers? mr. lamborn: we have none so we're prepared to yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: thank you. we yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time.

the question is now will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 310. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- mr. lamborn: on that i demand the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado has asked for the yeas and nays. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3123 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3123, a bill to direct the secretary of the interior, acting through the bureau of reclamation, to remedy problems caused by a collapsed drainage tunnel in leadville, colorado, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, and the gentleman from colorado, mr. lamborn,

each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. h.r. 3123, introduced by our colleague, representative lamborn, will direct the bureau of reclamation to remedy problems caused by collapsed of the leadville mine drainage tunnel due to contaminated water has backed up in the tunnel posing a public health and environmental threat. i ask my colleagues to support the bill's passage, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. lamborn: thank you, mr. speaker. the leadville mine drainage dunl was constructed by the bureau of mines in the 1940's and 1950's to get veeng for the world war ii efforts. the bureau acquired it in 1959 hoping to use it as -- for

water for a project. water that flows out of the tunnel is considered part of the natural flow of the arkansas river. with the passage and subsequent signing into law of h.r. 429 during the 102nd congress in 1992, the bureau of reclamation constructed and continues to operate a water treatment plant at the mouth of the tunnel. groundwater levels at the tunnel have fluctuated in recent years. in addition, a collapse inside the tunnel has increased the tunnel's mine pool significantly leading to new seep and springs in the area. estimates suggest that at one time up to one billion gallons of water may have built up within the mine pool. in november, 2007, the e.p.a. sent a letter to the bureau of reclamation expressing concerns over a catastrophic blowout. and in february of 2008, the

lake county commissioners declared a state of emergency. emergency measures are currently being undertaken by the environmental protection agency and the bureau of reclamation to relieve water pressure in the vicinity. their success has been notable to date. however, many of the problems reported at this site are not new. legislation addressing this matter and authorizing the secretary of the interior to rehabilitate its tunnel dates back to at least 1976. in response to the request for action from the local community, i have begin worked together -- again worked together with new york city mark udall from colorado and reintroduced h.r. 3123. this bill would direct the bureau of reclamation to relieve water pressure behind certain blockages in the tunnel, permanently manage the mine pool behind any blockage to prevent releases of contaminated water and manage the tunnel in such a way to

prevent failure of the structure. i look forward to seeing this situation remedied so that concerns about human safety and environmental integrity may be appropriately and responsibly addressed. i remind members that only minor technical changes have been made since the bill was originally passed by the house of representatives in the previous congress. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and i yield -- i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i have no other speakers, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mr. lamborn: i yield back the balance of my time, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all time yielded back, the question now is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3123, as amended.

those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules is -- mr. grijalva: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: on that i question the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking the vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. i move to suspend the rules and pass house resolution 541. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 541, resolution recognizing and honoring the restoration and renovation of the bishop museum's historic hawaiian hall, the nation's premier showcase for hawaiian culture and history, on the occasion of the museum's 120th anniversary. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, and the gentleman from colorado, mr. lamborn,

will each control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva. mr. grijalva: again, thank you, mr. speaker. and i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. grijalva: mr. speaker, the bishop museum was founded in 1889 in honolulu, hawaii, and for 120 years has served as the nation's preimminent resource documenting, educating others on the native hawaiian culture. the museum's collection of 24 million objects is the largest hawaiian pacific island collection in the world. over 2,000 of these objects and images are on display in the newly renovated hawaiian hall. resolution 541, introdutioned by our distinguished -- introduced by our distinguished colleague from hawaii, representative abercrombie, will help the people of hawaii and the united states. mr. speaker, we commend representative abercrombie for his tireless efforts on behalf

of his constituents and the preservation of hawaiian history and culture. we support passage of the house resolution 541 and urge its adoption in the house today. we reserve the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. lamborn: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. lamborn: the resolution has been explained well by the majority and we have no objections, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: we have no further speakers. we reserve the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. mr. lamborn: we yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado yields back. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: we yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the -- all time having been yielded back,

will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 541. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to, and without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. i move to suspend the rules and pass house resolution 361 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 361, resolution recognizing the historical significance of historic virginia key beach park of miami, florida. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, and the gentleman from colorado, mr. lamborn, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered.

mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. in 1945, a group of black men led by lawson e. thomas gragecrage ousley protested the banning of african-americans from the public beaches of south florida. as a result of the virginia key beach park was established as a colored beach under the segregation laws that persisted throughout the civil rights movement. the park was transferred to the city of miami in 1979, which attempted to close it three years later citing the lack of operating funds. since then, dedicated community leaders have fought to not only keep the park open but also add it to the national register of historic places and establish a trust to manage it. with this resolution, sponsored by representative ros-lehtinen of florida, the house of representatives recognizes the historic significance of the site and honors the african-americans struggle of equality there. i ask my colleagues to support the passage of this resolution and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. lamborn: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore:

without objection. mr. lamborn: in the 1920's, virginia key beach, located about two miles south of miami, florida, became the area's public beach that was used primarily by african-americans. in 1945, dade county officials designated the beach as a segregated beach for the african-american community. today it is managed by the virginia key beach park trust and is owned by the city of miami. this resolution recognizes the historical significance of virginia key beach park. i congratulate congresswoman ros-lehtinen for her work, and i urge passage of this resolution. at this time i would yield such time as she may consume to my friend and colleague, the gentlelady from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from florida is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you so much, mr. speaker. and i thank the gentleman from colorado, my good friend, mr. lamborn, for the time, and i also thank mr. grijalva of arizona. thank you so much for bringing this resolution before us today. and i rise in strong support of house resolution 361, which is a bipartisan bill recognizes

the national significance of historic virginia key beach park which is located in my congressional district in south florida. i'd also like to thank my dear friends and fellow south floridians, kendrick meek, alcee hastings, lincoln diaz-balart and debbie wasserman schultz for their support on this legislation. a segregated beach during the 1900's, virginia key beach park serves as a reminder for our nation's struggle for equality and justice for all members of our society. during world war ii, the beach was a training ground for african-american soldiers serving in the united states army. shortly following the war's end, the beach was established as the only public beach opened to the african-american community. and in the 1950's, the beach played a prominent role in south florida's efforts to

desegregate during the civil rights movement. in the years following desegregation, leaders of the african-american community in south florida, including the influential and late wonderful leader in our area, range, fought tirelessly to preserve this historic site. today's resolution serves as a tribute to range and so many african-american pioneers, including our former colleague, congresswoman carrie meek, who authored a bill in 2001 to include virginia key beach park into the national park system. i was honored to work with carrie on her quest to include this beach into the national park system, and years later, i am joined by her beloved son, kendrick, in honoring the importance of this historic and often overlooked site. so i thank congressman grijalva for the time and i thank my

dear friend, mr. lamborn, for the time to talk about this historic part of south florida history. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: let me also congratulate the gentlelady from florida for the resolution and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. lamborn: thank you, if there are no further speakers then i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question now is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 361, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is

agreed to and without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does does the gentlewoman from california rise? ms. watson: mr. speaker, i know that the -- i ask that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 2004. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2004. a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 4282 beach street in akron, michigan, as the akron veterans memorial post office. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, ms. watson, and the gentleman from california, mr. issa, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from california, ms. watson. ms. watson: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, it is so ordered. ms. watson: i now yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. watson: mr. speaker, on

behalf of the committee on oversight and government reform, i am pleased to present h.r. 2004 for consideration. this legislation will designate the united states postal facility located at 4282 beach street in akron, michigan, as the akron veterans memorial post office. introduced by my colleague, representative dell kildee of michigan, on april 21, 2009, and favorably reported out of the oversight and government reform committee by unanimous consent on june 18, 2009, h.r. 2004 enjoys the support of the entire house michigan delegation. mr. speaker, the legislation before us pays tribute to the

brave men and women from akron village, the state of michigan, and across the united states, who have served our nation in the united states military both at home and abroad. over 23 million american military veterans are currently living in the united states, including approximately 742,000 living in the state of michigan alone. they, as well as those that are no longer with us, have devoted their lives to the defense and security of our nation and always at a great personal risk and sacrifice. we are eternally in their debt and forever grateful for their noble and selfless dedication to our nation and the preservation of its founding principles. mr. speaker, let us pay tribute to the distinguished service of our veterans from the village of

akron, the state of michigan and across the country by designating the akron post office in their honor. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting h.r. 2004 and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. issa: thank you, mr. speaker. i too rise in support of the akron, michigan, post office, from its humble beginnings on july 23, 1857, this post office has been part of the community in smalltown michigan. rather noteworthy, mr. kildee has chosen a rather unusual naming for the post office and one that i wholeheartedly support. this post office is not named after one brave american or one now departed politician. instead it's named after the countless thousands of men and women of michigan who have served in the armed forces or are serving today and deserve

our respect as veterans. so, i would urge support of this and i would urge all of my colleagues to take note that this post office represents a symbol of service more than the symbol of any one person. reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from california. ms. watson: mr. speaker, in closing, i again urge my colleagues to join me in honoring america's military veterans through the passage of 2004 and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. mr. issa: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back the balance of his time. the question now is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2004. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on

the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise? ms. watson: mr. speaker, for what purpose does -- excuse me, mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1345. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 88, h.r. 1345, a bill to amend title 5, united states code, to eliminate the discriminatory treatment of the district of columbia under the provisions of law commonly referred to as the hatch act. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, ms. watson, the gentleman from california, mr. issa, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. watson: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. watt watts i now yield myself -- ms. watson: i now yield myself such time as i may consume.

mr. speaker, i'm pleased to rise for the consideration of h.r. 1345, which is designed to ensure that employees of the district of columbia are subject to the same rules of political activity under the hatch act that applied to all other state and local government employees, thereby ending the discriminatory treatment they have received since 1993. in october of 1993 congress passed the hatch act reform amendments allowing federal employees to take part in political campaigns under offduty personal time. the legislation of 1993 did continue to prohibit federal employees from seeking public office in partisan elections. however it also retained a measure which subjected d.c. employees to federal hatch act

provisions. this ignored the district's authority to self-govern and enact its own local laws. not to mention that employees in all other state and local jurisdictions are subjected to laws written by their own state and local governments and are not subject to the federal hatch act like d.c. government employees. h.r. 1345 ends this dis-- this treatment by placing d.c. employees under the same federal hatch act restrictions that apply to all other states and locates. this bill was -- localities. this bill was introduced by the gentlewoman from the district of columbia, ms. norton, on march 5, 2009. having been considered by the subcommittee on federal work force, postal service and the

district of columbia, chaired by representative lynch, the committee on oversight and government reform under chairman towns ordered the bill reported to the full house by voice vote on june 4, 2009. mr. speaker, h.r. 1345 is a commonsense measure treating employees of the district of columbia the same way the other state and local government employees are treated. the difference in treatment under the hatch act has persisted for far too long -- long. i urge my colleagues to help end the disparity treatment by supporting this measure. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from california. mr. issa: thank you, mr. chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

mr. issa: mr. speaker, this is a bipartisan bill authored by ms. norton that is in fact timely or perhaps beyond its time. this was passed by our committee on a voice vote and is supported by all members of the committee. mr. speaker, home rule by the district of columbia will not be complete until we harmonize as many rights and responsibilities as we can to the district. our committee is dedicated to do that harmonization, to look for inequities either by too much or too little, much of it well intended in the past, some of it even needed in the past, but as the district of lumia takes on -- columbia takes on its immediate responsibilities, we must also treat it appropriately and not have it governed by special rules. this narrowly constructed change will in fact cause the hatch act to be identical in the way it is implemented throughout the country, being implemented toward the district of columbia.

i think every american appreciates that if you lived in a city in maryland or in a city in virginia you would have the same he can pecktation of the rules of national governance as you should have here in president nation's capitol if you're involved in similar activity. for that reason, object a bipartisan basis, we support this simple but technically necessary fix and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from california ms. watson: mr. speaker, i'd like to have the distinguished representative elnor holmes norton from the great district of columbia for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from the district of columbia is so recognized. ms. norton: first, mr. speaker, let me thank the gentlewoman from california for her work on this bill and for managing this bill as well and explaining it to the house. i'm very grateful to the ranking member of the full

committee for his work on this bill and his cooperation and helping us to move this bill forward. mr. speaker, this is nothing -- nothing less than a hold over from the old prehome rule days of the district of columbia. the congress passed the home rule act and intended that local laws would be a matter for the district of columbia. and somehow this got left out of the mix, and the o.p.m., the office of personnel management and its counsel's office has been vecksed, that's the only word for it, vexed by these complaints that sometimes come and sometimes don't. for example, advisory neighborhood commissioners, peculiar to the district of columbia are, quote, elected officials, are unpaid. if you look at the counselor of the district of columbia, almost all of them were -- council of the district of columbia, almost all of them

were advisory neighborhood commissioners. they are not regarded in federal law as elected officials. well, they're elected officials, unpaid but they are elected officials. they run for office. those are not matters that you'd expect a federal regulatory agency to pay any attention to. and i don't want the o.p.m. in fact spending the time of its special counsel of the arcane laws of the district of columbia. what this law says is you, d.c., will have to have your on hatch act. the hatch act was one of the great reforms in government. perhaps there's no reform ever in government that's been more important than the hatch act. still can't go into effect until the district of columbia has its own hatch act for its own local law the way that california and all the states of the union has its own version of the hatch act. as i heard the ranking member say, when you're getting federal money and you're involved in federal matters and

often matters in the state are state and federal matters, hatch act applies as always. when you're dealing in d.c. with d.c. matters you need your own hatch act. and you need to leave o.p.m. to dealing with the more serious, often more serious matters that affect the federal government when millions of dollars may be involved in hatch act violations. i want to thank the -- my good friend from california, both of them for their work on this bill. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. issa: mr. chairman -- mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from california. ms. watson: mr. speaker, i again like to urge my colleagues to support this much-need he had measure, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back her

time. all time yielded back, the question now is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1345. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, baffed, and -- the bill is passed, and without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise? ms. watson: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 2760. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2760, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 1615 north wilcox avenue in los angeles, california, as the johnny grant hollywood post office building. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, ms. watson, and the gentleman from california, mr. issa, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, ms. watson. ms. watson: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 2760,

a bill which i introduced to designate a post office in my district as the johnny grant hollywood post office building. johnny grant and hollywood are synonymous. as tinsel town's honorary mayor, he was one of the community's most enthusiastic supporters for more than 20 years. he served as chairman of the walk of fame selection committee and the hollywood historic trust. he not only created what was to become part of hollywood's history but had been a long-time supporter for preserving cinema city's past. johnny grant was also a big supporter of public diplomacy. over the memorial day recess period, i took 30 films donated by johnny grant before he passed away to south africa and konated them to the rosa parks

library and information center at the u.s. embassy. the films will be accessible to the public and will be used to promote the united states moral values, principles and culture. grant was a retired major general in the california state military reserve. he was sought out to advise the guard in his areas of expertise, morale, public affairs, recruiting and special events. though retired, he continued to be recalled by california's general for special duties. in 1982, the state of california showed their appreciation for johnny grant's 30th year of service by awarding him the order of california, the state's highest

honor. the governor in an unprecedented act awarded johnny grant a second order of california at the state capitol in 1990. general grant was also the recipient of the national guard's medal of merit. in june of 1999, retired major general johnny grant was recalled to temporary active duty to promote and produce events saluting the california national guard on its 150th birthday. mr. speaker, thank you for the time, and i urge my colleagues to support this bill and to honor johnny grant for a lifetime of public service. and i just want you to know before his sudden death, he had completed 60 trips to entertain our troops, more than any other celebrity who has gone overseas

and around the country. so we honor him also for that. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from california. mr. issa: thank you, mr. speaker. and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. issa: i join with the gentlelady in supporting her legislation. every member of the california delegation, in fact, has supported this. because it is in representative watson's district, of course, it's her bill. but johnny grant was bigger than hollywood, bigger than california. during his decades of service outside of hollywood, johnny grant represented the finest in american service. after his service in the army air corps during world war ii, he continued supporting in many ways our men and women in uniform for the rest of his life. in 1952 when mr. grant, along with binge cross bee, bob hope and frank sinatra hosted the

first national telethon, a fundraiser to send american olympic athletes to the summer olympics in finland, he in fact set a path of service in all aspects of public life, continuing with the olympics, adding to that the boy scouts, the u.s.o., fire and police services, and, of course, his many trips overseas. in addition to the 60 u.s.o. trips that mr. grant did, i want to know two of them. because during the very difficult times in 1982 and 1983, he distinguished himself by willing to be -- be willing to go to beirut to support and entertain our marines there. that long after many people had considered that to be out of the way. he also made two trips to saudi arabia during desert shield and desert storm.

he continued to support the u.s.o. along with bob hope and his many other friends throughout his life. mr. speaker, i believe we've given a lot of awards to a lot of people less deserving and who dedicated less their entire life. many celebrities are for causes when they're in their active career. mr. grant was for causes that were fully supported by the american people but fully funded by generosity of people like him with his time and energy for so many years. so i join with the gentlelady in supporting h.r. 2760, urge its passage, remind all of us that in fact there are those who give far more -- give far less that have had these honors bestowed on them. and i certainly thank the gentlelady for picking this hollywood post office to be the johnny grant post office, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from

california. ms. watson: mr. speaker, i want to thank darrell issa, my colleague, for his words about johnny grant. and i want you to know johnny knew he would live forever. and now that we're going to have a building named after him in the new remodeled and revitalized hollywood, he indeed his image will live forever. i thank my colleague and in closing, i, again, urge my colleagues to join me in honoring johnny grant through the passage of h.r. 2760. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the question now is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2760. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until approximately eá

nash, commander of u.s. forces in southern iraq. he speaks with reporters via satellite about the ongoing transition of security from american to iraqi forces. also questions about the recent suicide of private kiefer willhound and allegations that he suffered abuse from people in his platoon. this is about 35 minutes. >> i can hear you very well. >> thank you for joining us, general. i think it was back in august when you last gave us an update.

this is, for those of you who might have missed the early one, mainly general richard nash who is the commander of multinational division south. and he is in basra today where he is briefing me from. and he's going to give you a brief update and overview of what his forces are doing down there and then take some of your questions. general, again, thank you for joining us and let me turn it over to you. >> again, thanks. good morning from basra, iraq. i am major general rick nash and i command multican division south and 44th infantry division also known as the red  bulls. the red bulls are a national guard division based in st. paul, which is a suburb where we're located by the name of rose mount, minnesota. i appreciate the opportunity to talk to you today about our operations here in southern iraq. the 34th infantry division is responsible for the command and

control of the multinational division south with division headyrters located just outside the city of basra. we have three he brigade sectors throughout the nine southern provinces. in addition to an aviation brigade that provides support throughout our area of responsibility. our mission here in iraq is to build civil capacity and train and support our iraqi partners in their mission to provide security for the iraqi people. since we spoke last month, the iraqi security forces have had tremendous success establishing security throughout the nine provinces in southern iraq. i'd like to highlight a good news story in the provinces. and a productive mission that resulted in a significant capture of weapons and ammunition. during recent operations, the 10th iraqi army division captured dozens of penetrator plates, magnetic car sticky bombs, rocket-propelled grenades, hundreds of michigan

guns, assault rifles and thousands of small arms rounds. additionally, over 100 rockets, artillery rounds and mortar shells were collected from catch sites in the marches in the south of the province. among the recently confiscated items were rocket rails, radios, and gas masks. the iraqi army is cementingity reputation with the citizens of southern iraq as a catalyst for peace and adding to their security. most of these catches were exposed by tips from concerned citizens who refuse to let criminals and terrorists erode security and economic opportunity in their country. as we move forward together, the ongoing success of the iraqi police, the iraqi army and the department of border enforcement are indicative of the positive outcomes we have achieved together. and they're also a testament to the professionalism of the iraqi security forces.

so, brian, thanks for the opportunity to share these successes with you. at this time i look forward to your questions. >> very good. i'm sure we have a few here. looks like joe would like to start us off. go ahead, joe, then over to barbara. >> good morning, this is joe. i don't know if you could give us more details about the captured munitions that the iraqi divisions have found lately in the south? do you know what's the source of these weapons, these rockets? >> joe, thanks. again, i'd like to expand a little bit about the greatest by the 10th iraqi division. i must also mention in my opening comments that there was a great participation from the adjoining division, the 14th division, headquartered here in basra, commanded by major

general aziz. the 10th division command is commanded by major general what bib and those two -- habib and those two generals work very closely in an operation that was well planned, well coordinated and supported by our u.s. forces, the 41 a.d., colonel pete newly. this operation was named southern triangle and it started approximately six weeks ago with an effort to intercept trafficking of lethal ammunition, lethal weapons, mechanisms that would provide terrorists and criminals means to do harm to the iraqis. this effort is still ongoing, they're deliberately going through the areas i mentioned, the swamp areas, it's very difficult operations, obviously during the hottest part of the year here in iraq.

late august, early september. these soldiers have done a great job. i'm speaking now directly about the iraqi division, the 10th and the 14th. as i mentioned, the caches that they were able to find, the munitions that i mentioned, certainly have markings on them. and they come from a variety of places and i'll be quite frank with you, some of the rockets have made in iran on those rockets, as well as some other countries that -- munitions. they certainly can be munitions that are left over from the previous war, the iranian-iraq war in the 1980's. some of them are rather new, but, again, they're marked with certain country markings and those are the things that we try to exploit, look at, find out hoe new those weapons are, how new those munitions are as

we continue to exploit the networks that are doing harm here in southern iraq. >> again, joe, do you know what -- who was behind this -- who was controlling these munitions? is there any specific group you know, you could name? >> i think i would be safe by saying, they are extremist groups. these were located in very remote areas, in vacant buildings, in the marsh area themselves. some of them were already buried. so to tie it back to a particular group would be very difficult, again, but again through the human intel that both the 10th iraqi division and the 14th iraqi division are able to do, they it do a great job of exploiting information that they gather when they go

out in the villages and the cities and dealing with the sheiks in the tribal areas. they do a tremendous job in getting to the source of those and, again, we have dwofled -- developed a good network, a god network of intelligence and we share that with our iraqi partners on a continuous basis. they have full knowledge of how we bring that information together. we share it with them, who we believe, individuals, groups, cells, are working those issues and we allow them to be in the lead as they have been and we partner with them but they are in the lead and they are prosecuting. they get warrants for their arrests. they go in front of a judge and the rule of law is well in place and imbedded and they're really doing a great job and i've seen just magnificent improvements since we've been here taking over this area in

may. >> general, in mailtary time, you said the other ewe munitions have come from a variety of places. could you please be more specific? or tell us why you can't be? >> bill, again, you know, if i talked about names, i'd be pointing fingers and again we don't have information our intelligence that would directly pinpoint it back to a particular supplier. so needless to say, the bulk of what we see would have a stamp on a particular munition that would say iran. >> thank you. >> barbara from cnn. now i have to follow up and ask my real question, on the iranian weapons, you have seen this for many years now, you understand the date stamps on the iranian weapons.

so what is the most recent manufacture iranian weapons you have seen? and then i'd like to ask the question i needed to ask. >> follow up on that, i believe i'll be able to answer that. i believe probably 2007 was the latest stamping of a date on a munition that i pempley saw and have -- munition that i personally have saw and heard about. >> what i really wanted to ask you about was the case against the four soldiers for alleged mistreatment of fellow soldiers and specifically the link link you believe there is to the suicide of private first class willhelm. in reading the chart sheets, see here the military seems to make a direct link between the alleged maltreatment and the private's suicide death. what you can tell us about what it is that you believe these

soldiers did to their fellow soldiers? and what happened to the private in the hours before he committed suicide? >> first of all, i'd like to express my deepest thoughts, prayers, to the wilhelm family during this very difficult time of. all of our soldiers have private wilhelm in our thoughts. to follow up on your question, we immediately started an investigation first of all into the death of private wilhelm. that investigation is still going on, it should conclude probably before we speak again next month to determine the actual cause of death of private wilhelm. in the conduct of that investigation, it became clear that there was other issues that we needed to take a look at. and they revolved around the cruelty and maltreatment that was discovered during that

investigation of private wilhelm's death. we take these allegations extremely seriously. very seriously. and we're investigating that. if the cruelty and maltreatment charges are true, the accused will be brought to justice. >> well, sir, let me follow up there, the charge sheets that have been released indicate excessive physical exercise was ordered, corrective action was ordered, someone was forced to carry rocks in their backpack, can you give us any better indication of what these allegations are and since you said you're still trying to determine the cause, the specific cause of private wilhelm's death, his family's been told that it's suicide, do you have any reason to believe it's other than suicide? >> again, i'm waiting for the c.i.d. report, the filing report, from the c.i.d.

regarding private wilhelm's death for that final determination. that will be the concluding determination of his death. with regards to the charges, the charges of the four individuals that you speak about that have been made public, they range anywhere from nine down to four charges per individual. and they evolve around cruelty and maltreatment, making false official statements and a charge of rec reckless endangerment and those are the types of charges that four of the individuals are currently facing. again, that is going to be under total investigation, there will be a full investigation that will be in article 32 hearing, if you will, that will determine if there's enough evidence there

to formally bring them to justice. >> way in the back. >> i just have one more follow-up on the same issue. courtney kube from nbc news, where are the four soldiers right now and where is their court marshall presumably if any of them are court marshalled, where would that be held? in iraq or in kuwait? are there any plans to bring wilhelm's family over, his parents over, to be there for the trial? any trial? >> those are good follow-up questions. first of all, the soldiers in question immediately after the preliminary investigation was conducted at that particular base, were removed from that site and they were by the brigade commander and they were redirected for further assignment back to his headquarters.

so that's where those individuals are currently performing duties. we are in contact with the family and we'll keep them informed about the total process we're going through, the investigation. we will facilitate their wishes to the best of our capabilities, again, keeping in mind this is a combat zone, a war zone, and someone will have to decide about the availability of them coming to iraq if this does become an issue that goes to a court. my expectations are and until i'm told differently, i'm expecting that the trial, if it becomes a trial for an individual or individuals, would be held here in iraq. >> jim with american forces press service. if we could go back to that

operation southern triangle. i'd just like to ask you, you know, you worked with the 14th and 10th divisions. what sort of support did you provide them and could they have done the job even maybe taking longer without that support? >> jim, i think i can answer that by the fact that we are continuing to partner and it becomes not only just an operation, operation southern triangle, as an operation to get at the lethal aid, it continues to build a confidence with us as partners. the u.s. forces, the iraqis, and it becomes still a part of their training. this is a major effort, two divisions coming together, to do an operation like that, cordoned and search, around the areas that we have, it's pretty monumental. at this stage in the

development of the iraqi security forces, this is something to be pretty proud of for the iraqis and for the u.s. forces that have spent time training and working with and mentoring and providing resources to the iraqis. and so not only was it an operational issue, it is one that we went with them, we partnered with them and i say with them, we still have military training, training to advise and assist as they go through this, whether the conduct of the operation, the development of the operation order. i was personally present when major general habib, major general aziz and in fact the governor, he briefed us on the operation he was plan to do. laid out the maps, what he intended to do each and every day of the operation, what his soldiers were going to do. we also provided them i.s.r. capabilities, we also provide for them medivac capabilities. again, as i mentioned earlier, intelligence sharing information, what we know about networks, to make sure that we were covering the areas that we

feel that were probably rat lines coming in across the border illegally. and those are the types of things we continue to do each and every day. but again this was such a large operation with a lot of forces across two divisional boundaries, two provincial boundaries, it was well planned and well ects cuted and there will be a phase two following this. >> just to a quick follow-up, bhow logistical support, food, fuel, things like that, did you provide that for the iraqis? >> no, we did not. they in their fledgling logistical capabilities have had the ability to refuel themselves, provide fuel for themselves, maintenance, transportation, so that was not an issue in terms of a successful conduct of the southern triangle. >> thank you.

getting back to the investigation of this soldier's death, are investigators looking into whether this could be a homicide? >> again, i could not determine what the c.i.d. is looking at. it's an independent operation investigation, under investigation, and i would expect that that's going to conclude shortly. i cannot predict the time line. but the c.i.d. is doing that independently and i will have to take look at the results of that. but they're totefully charge of that investigation -- totally in charge of that investigation. >> originally this was -- it was said this was a suicide. now i understand investigators are looking for a cause of death. you can rule out this was a homicide? >> i will not rule out whether it was a suicide or homicide. that is not in my purr view. again, the cause of death will be determined through the c.i.d. investigation.

>> general, your territory down there a year or so ago was fairly lawless. militia was running around, criminal gangs. we've seen very little news. what's the overall security situation? you've obviously got weapons still coming in, about security incidents, an overall view of what your security situation is? >> i'll try and answer that the best i can. i think heard you ask. you're right, back in the early part of 2008 the basra area was pretty much under control of the militias. prime minister maliki, as you are all aware, started off with an operation called in charge of the knights here in basra. and it was pretty violent,

taking individuals off the streets. there was pretty heavy fighting here in the city of basra. it was not in control of the security forces. i mentioned an individual earlier, major general aziz, who's commanding the 14th tuition. he was part of the 11th division that came in here with the prime minister's forces at the charge of the knights and he currently is here in charge of a portion of security, being in charge of the iraqi army. along with another great iraqi army officer by the name of mainly general muhammad and he's in charge of the basra operation center, who also has control of the m.l.b. -- of the iraqi police. that center, that center which i was down to last night, talking with major general muhammad about some future operations, has taken control of basra. i've spent time with the

governor of basra, a newly elected official as of january. he's concerned about security, he's concerned about the economy, electricity and water and citizens and the cleanup of the city. and i can tell you that the city of basra has done a 180-degree turn. recently we had in my headquarters i invited over for an -- in honor of ramadan last wednesday a sunni, a shi'a, general muhammad and an individual from the 70th recon squadron and all told me how better the city of basra is now compared to what it was a year ago. and all these efforts are going on. we're putting together coalitions here in basra with the leadership, the religious leadership, of talking about

how to make things better. along with the governor. and we're supporting him. there are over 100 projects that we're working on here that are all focused on the citizens of basra. and making life better for them. from the atmospherics that i see, the polling that i see, the clear that the citizens are not as concerned about security any longer in the city of basra or in the province itself. they're concerned about jobs and their concerned about the economy and they're concerned about their families. and so those are the things that governors are working on and the support of the iraqi forces in support of the govern railroad making great headway in that area. >> this is gordon at the christian science monitor. you can give us kind of a -- some sense of the amount of violence across your area of responsibility? and also, just kind of characterize what are your

troops doing? >> ok, let me answer the sort of two-part thing. what my troops are doing and the level of vie leps. we averaged a little over 1.3 attacks per day and that's throughout all nine provinces that i mentioned earlier in my opening statement. you know, landwise it's probably the size of wisconsin, geographically. primarily all shi'a, you have to keep that in mind, and the fact that we probably have clotes to -- close to 10 1/2 million people in those nine provinces. so we're averaging a little over 1.3 attacks per day and this is less than in baghdad, less than in multinational division north, in the mosul area, but slightly more than in multinational force west, in the anbar province. since june, the attacks

generally have dropped slightly in our area. the number of i.e.d. attacks has gone down dramatically. the highest month was the month we got here, in may. but that was the highest in eight months and each month since then i.e.d. attacks have gone down. now, having said that indirect fire attack on bases have increased slightly since june 30, since we've complied with the security agreement. but in general, the attacks against the coalition forces on the roads during their missions, partnering with the iraqi security forces, going out to trainings to advise and assist, to be part of their operations that i mentioned, has gone down slightly. now, talking about our soldiers, what are they doing? they're engaged each and every day like they have been.

it's sort of like now we're commuting to work whereas before we were out and about, not so much here in the south because we were really not part of the -- imbedded in the major cities that were part of the security agreement, but we continue to partner with our iraqi counterparts, whether it's the border enforcement individuals at the border for thes, at the ports of entry, we have a large portland here, a large vessels coming in, oil going out. we're engaged down there on a continuous basis. we work with the iraqi army and we continue to train them, to professionalize their n.c.o. corps and their officer corps and that training is being asked for still by the iraqis. it isn't as if once we became working out of the cities program that they forget about us. they will escort us on the routes to whatever the training

site may be, wherever the range may be that we will go out and assist with them. and so we're probably more partner with them in terms that they're with us from the time we leave our bases until we return that evening or if we remain overnight, working with them. and some of our bases are still co-located with the iraqis. some are adjoining, t walls are separating us. others are within 200, 300 meters of our bases. so the partnership is there from morning until night. that relationship has not stopped, our soldiers are still totally engaged doing the great work that they have since at least i've been here in may. and that partnership is getting greater and greater because the success rate here in the south is getting better and better each and every day. >> two quick clarifications. you said attacks 1.3 per day, down from what had when you got there in may? and then, you said attacks were up in one category, i just

didn't catch it. >> sure, i'll clarify that. the attacks with indirect fire attacks, rocket attacks, if will you, and that's why we're pretty adamant about interdicting the lethal aid because indiscriminate rocket firing at our bases has increased slightly since june 30 because, you know, we are a fixed location and after this amount of time they become, you know, they change your techniques and tactics, procedures and they're able to acquire us, if you will, with indiscriminate rocket firing on homemade rails, if you will, washing machine timers to set the timer and ignition on these rockets and they just let them fly. they aim them toward a base or an iraqi infrastructure if will you and they just shoot them off and by the time we're able

to respond, which is in minutes, because we can track where these rounds started from, those terrorists and criminals have vacated because they've set a 30-minute timer, if you will. the iraqis, boat the army and the police and the boarder enforcement, are usually there before we are at a site because they're out and patrolling. they set these systems up and leave. that is the criminals an terrorists. and -- but once they fire these weapons systems, the iraqis respond immediately. and then we look at those site it's, we exploit them, find out anything that the criminals or terrorists are doing differently. and we try to always get ahead of their thinking cycle, if you will, and to upset those networks. we also have seen where those indiscriminate ant rocket attacks have landed and impacted in residential areas

and certainly we exploit that and the local citizens are angry and that's why they're using our tip lines and that's why they're calling in suspicious activities and are reporting more and more, more than i've seen since may. and -- but that has increased, the rocket attacks on our bases. >> the 1.3 now per day versus when you got there before is what? how can we compare? >> it's probably at least 1/3 or 1/4 less than when we arrived. and that again, nothing because of what we arrived, it was just on the decline for a period of time before that. you know, the 10th mountain division that we replaced and here in the basra area, the british were here before that

and they all were working on these issues to minimize the attacks and so it's been on a steady decline against our forces. >> if i could indulge and get one from abc. >> the fourth brigade is the first advisory assistance brigade. how would you compare their operations with the other brigades? what makes them different? what's different about their operations? >> sure. that's a -- i'm glad you asked that. i'm glad you asked about the advise brigade. that's the fourth brigade, first armor brigade pete newell

. that organization, it's really a mission change for that b.c.t. it's still a brigade combat team but their mission has changed now as they've come back in and taken over operations in three areas. and so they look at their missioning in terms of how they deal with the p.r.t.'s, provential reconstruction teams and how do we deal with the enforcement of the borders which is not normally a b.c.t. per se mission task. and so they spend time on u.s. borders back in the united states and how we deal with our border forts in the u.s. and it's not necessarily the border we share with iran or kuwait or saudi arabia. they look at how we partner with them, how do we add came kaipabilities out there, how do we train the border enforcement

authorities that are at the ports of entry both for personnel as well as traffic of goods. and as you know, there's a great deal of trade that goes on between iraq and iran and a lot of goods, agricultural goods as well as building materials. and how do you look at searching those types of vehicles, how do you process people through -- how do you look for terrorists and criminals coming through? those are the lessons they can learn back in the united states outside of going to a national training center which they really train on a full spectrum of operations. so a and b is a proof of principle that colonel newell is cutting ground on. and he may not be aware but briefed the secretary of defense on his visit here with regards to what he's done in the first 100 days.

and it's been pretty spectacular, the impact that his b.c.t. has done now with the aab concept partnering out with as i said the governors looking at issues that they can request for and his forces can respond to through the economic areas, assistance in governance. again, working with the provential reconstruction teams. we support them here in the south. all the nine teams that we have is a focus for pete also. as he goes around and discusses issues. rule of law, agriculture issues , other factors and expertise that they come in to adding businesses to provincings, to increase again the -- provinces to increase the training of iraqis. so there is a pool for future investments, foreign

investments, opportunities for business. again, all caveated with the fact that we provide that security for those type of things that flourish. >> general, i want to thank you for the good discussion that we've had here and for taking the time to give us your prospective. and before i bring it to a close, though, let me throw it back to you in case you might have some final thoughts. >> great, thanks. i certainly appreciate the opportunity to talk with you again on our ongoing relationship that we had with our iraqi partners. going forward, we'll continue to provide training and support for iraqi security forces that are capable and nonsectarian. we will move forward with continuing our part of the strategy. to responsibly remove all of very good combat forces from iraq by the end of next august and fulfill our effort to remove all american forces in

the sovereign nation of iraq by the end of 2011. every day i'm impressed by the work and accomplishments of the soldiers, airmen, sailors, marines and coast guards of multinational division south. they strive daily to ensure iraq security and improve the quality of life from this democracy. our deepest gratitude goes out to the families, friends, loved ones and employers of these patriots and professionals. i our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families that have given their last full mission. both americans and iraqis can be proud of the fine job their sons and daughters are doing. i have complete confidence that working together we can overcome any obstacle as we move forward by, with and through our iraqi partners. thank you. >> general, thank you. and we look forward to having

you back in this forum in a few more weeks. >> we're looking forward to the same opportunity. thank you very much. >> the house debated nearly a dozen bills this afternoon. members return at 6:30 eastern to vote on a number of them. this is the first day back for the house and senate after the month-long august recess. tomorrow, the u.s. house will consider energy legislation, and on thursday, continuing the program to protect the chesapeake bay. live coverage when the house returns at 6:30 p.m. eastern here on c-span. tomorrow the house and senate meet in a joint session to hear president obama on health care. he was invited to speak by the democratic leaders of both bodies. we'll have live coverage here on c-span at 8:00 p.m. eastern. also on c-span radio and c-span.org. >> as the debate over health care continues, c-span's health care hub is a key resource. go online. follow the latest tweets, video

ads and links. watch the latest events including town hall meetings and share your thoughts on the issue with your own citizen video. including video from any town halls you've gone to. and there's more at c-span.org/healthcare. >> here's today's white house briefing with press secretary robert gibbs. questions focused on the president's health care address tomorrow night before a joint session of congress. this lasts about 40 minutes. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> good afternoon. let me -- since i neglected to do this friday when we met in my office and then neglected to do on the plane, let me give you a dwindling week ahead

since i forget it one more time we'll be halfway there. tomorrow, the president will travel to new york city where he'll attend a memorial service for walter cronkite. as many of you know. later that meeting the president will address the joint session of congress about health care. on thursday the president will hold a cabinet meeting it the white house. the president and vice president will have lunch here at the white house together. later in the afternoon, the president will meet with the crowned prince abu. and in the evening, the president will host -- >> crowned prince -- >> of abu defensive backy. -- of abu daubi. >> and he'll host the national hockey league champion penguins. and hold meetings at the pentagon and is expected to spend the weekend in washington, d.c. >> deliver remarks at the

pentagon. at the memorial? >> yeah. >> the weekend part, camp david -- >> spend the weekend in washington. >> on health care -- >> broad subject but i anticipate the topic will be one that is discussed. yes, ma'am. >> tomorrow night, will the president be definitive about a public option, yes or not, what he might accept kind of in the middle? >> let me asks broadly what i think the president will talk about tomorrow. let me say first and foremost the president will use tomorrow night to speak to the american people about his vision for achieving stability and security through health care reform for the american people. secondly, i think he'll lay out clearly what health reform means to americans, for those who are fortunate to have health insurance but still struggle with skyrocketing

premium costs or insurance abuses, he'll address those. for those that don't have health insurance, he'll obviously address the need to provide accessibility to affordable health insurance. and i'll think he'll clearly up any confusion about what's not in health care reform. and lastly, i think he will answer many of the big questions about how we move forward on health care reform and what he considers reform truly be. i think those are the three points that he set out to do. i will wait on the details for the president's speech. >> just want to look ahead to friday. what kind of message do you expect him to deliver, what is his focus that day? >> well, i mean, obviously first and foremost, it is to

remember the events of september 11, 2001. to honor the memories of those that gave their lives in new york and pennsylvania and at the pentagon. and then secondly, he will continue to talk about this notion of serving our country and of public and national service as a way of bringing our country together and getting some of our bigger problems addressed. yes, sir. >> an nonhealth care-related questions, does the president seen and does he have a reaction to the w.t.o.'s initial ruling last week on airbus employees? >> i do not know if he has seen that but i will check. >> secondly and more broadly,

he released a statement today with his comments about the g-20. aside from the goal of setting a pathway for sustainable growth, what else broadly would the president like to accomplish? >> well, i think obviously there will be a long discussion on where we are in the state of the global economy. progress that we've seen made quite honestly since the group got together in late march. i know secretary geithner has outlined plans for financial regulatory reform and increase stability in our financial system globally. is what we need to do to move forward to ensure that the progress that we've seen made and that pulling back as we've often talked about the economic abyss continues to have. i think it's an important time as people get together to evaluate sort of how far we've

come but also to understand how much further we have to go to create the foundation both in tchun and around the world -- both job and economic growth. >> something you like to see progress on at some point, financial progress? >> i assume that's going to be a topic that's discussed as well as at the u.n. general assembly earlier. yes, sir? >> what's the president's message for liberals or progressives who feel that health care reform without a public option is nonnegotiable, it must have a public option or they will not vote for it? >> well, i don't want to get too far ahead of the president in terms of the speech or drawing lines. i think i would reiterate what a number of us said on the weekend and that is the president continues to believe that increasing choice in competition through additional

option for people to get health insurance is tremendously important. i think what you'll hear the president talk about, again, talked about over the weekend, understanding what the public option is and what the public option isn't. i try to do this some as well. for the vast majority of americans that get their insurance primarily through their employer or if they're on medicare or medicaid or receive their health through the v.a., the public option is not going to impact your health care. what the public option will do is provide that additional choice in competition for people primarily those in the private individual insurance market and in the small group or small business insurance market. a friend of mine in alabama started a small business in january. one of the first things he had to do was find insurance for his family. he went into the individual

private insurance market. the market in alabama that's comprised 89% of the market is comprised of one company, blue cross/blue shield. he likes his insurance. he was lucky enough to get it. other small business people he talked to has not been fortunate. they have been denied coverage or hard to find something for their employees. and he understands that if his coverage for -- if he loses coverage somehow, his family gets sick he'd be in a real tough spot. so i think the president will discuss both what the public option isn't and what the public option is in terms of bringing choice and competition. >> if he supports it, why won't he draw a line in the sand over it? >> i don't want to get ahead of where the president -- there will be an extensive conversation about this tomorrow. >> ok. one other question then. you talked about all the other things the president will do in this speech and with the exception of the last one

having look forward from here, none of them are new. he's been making the argument about security and stability about health care reform, what it means to people that have insurance, what it does mean for people that don't have the insurance. we've heard this all before. the american people have heard this all before. >> no. i don't -- i don't know that -- i don't know that they've heard it in -- as big a forum as clearly, directly from the president as they will tomorrow night. yes, sir. >> there's a story in "politico" that there was a speech by one of the former campaign advisors in which he expressed concern on health care and other issues. among other things he said that he believes the president needs to be more bold in his leadership, that he's expressed frustration from the white house. and he said that obama isn't listening enough. how do you react to that kind of criticism from someone who was a campaign insider? >> well, look, we all know and

love steve hill brand. he was there for -- hillebrand. he was there longer than the campaign. he was involved in the president's decisionmaking on whether to run. i think steve said in that article, it's true. he talked to us. there's nothing in there that we haven't heard from him. i think that steve's frustration is the frustration of people not only in this town but a lot of people outside of this town and that is washington's inability to address its big problems and get something done. that's what led the president to run for president. that's what led him to fight for reforming health care. >> he's specifically saying the president's not bling bold enough -- not being bold enough. >> well, i'll email steve and tell him which affiliate in sioux falls will be covering the speech so he can listen to the president. look, it had nothing that we haven't goten personally from

steve before. >> a question on afghanistan. what is the status of the mcchrystal report here in terms of -- i know you said last week that the president would bring him to camp david. >> yes. >> did he have a chance to read it? what is his timetable for making some important decisions about the way forward? >> understand that this was part of a rigorous reassessment of our strategy in afghanistan that the president demanded when he came into office. obviously he made some initial decisions to ensure security environment for recent elections which i think most people will tell you it was important for those to happen. he will continue to talk with staff here, and as i think secretary gates said last week, he'll be getting from secretary gates and admiral mullen as well as general petraeus their

thoughts on the mcchrystal assessment. i think those meetings will be ongoing. in terms of additional resource request, i think general mcchrystal and secretary gates have said that would be fort coming in a separate -- forthcoming in a separate document over the next few couple weeks. >> so is this days or weeks though in terms of a presidential decision? >> we haven't received a request for additional resources that we don't anticipate coming for weeks. so i don't anticipate a decision before the president has had a chance to discuss general mcchrystal's assessment with all of his team and all of those up and down the line of -- up and down the chain of command. i think one of the things that he will -- he will do as he has done on any number of these decisions is ask for everyone's opinion and take that into account as we move forward. >> a quick follow-up. how important is public opinion

to the president's decisionmaking when it comes to the war in afghanistan? >> well, obviously i think he will -- i think he will take into account the degree to which additional resources can be born not just by the public but also by those who are providing the resources. obviously there's been a tremendous strain on our military forces over the past several years that will be taken into account. i think he'll take into account assessments by commanders on the ground in the region as well as those at the pentagon. so i think a number of factors will go into his assessment on where we are in afghanistan and what our way forward is. >> is the president going to give new specifics in the speech tomorrow night that he has never publicly stated before? >> yes. [laughter]

i thought i'd taunt you with that answer. if i did, what would we talk about thursday? >> oh, we'd find something. [laughter] >> that was my great fear. no. you know, i think the president -- i said this this weekend, people will come away understanding where he is on these big issues. >> it's not just going to be a compilation of everything he said before and doing it in a different forum and on a bigger stage? >> it is all those things. but it will be more than that. >> and on the public option, the door is still open to compromise? >> well, i don't know if i can be clearer than the fact that the president believes it's a very valuable tool. that has to be -- we have to have choice and competition. we can't have an insurance market where a place like alabama, as big as a place like alabama is controlled by 89% of

the private insurance and small business market is controlled by virtually 90% of it is controlled by one company. it's hard to find optiones that are available to you if you have only one place to go for those options. >> the president agreed that august was overall a major setback? >> no, not at all. i think he would disagree with that quite a bit. >> why? >> because we're -- he'll say this tomorrow. this isn't new. but it's still true. we're closer than we've ever been on getting health care reform. that was true the end of july. it was true throughout the month of august. it may be more true now in september. >> the fate was in the hands of angry people at town halls and conservatives focuses on issues, claiming some of them false. >> struck bip the fact that you

have many republican members of congress, some of whom were on tv recently saying they've talked to their constituents and they understand we have to do understand. i think niece a -- that's a great recognition that this is a problem that's been on the radar screens of the american people for a long, long time and that they demand something to be done by it. and i can assure you the president aims to be the person that does something about it. >> you said that he's going to talk about how to move forward. specifically does that mean having -- once the legislative works, he's said, ok, you've heard what i want, this is now my bill? >> i do not anticipate that this is going to be accompanied by truckloads of paper and our own piece of legislation. obviously the team here has been combing through different ideas for months. there are many proposals out there. this has been through multiple committees. and this is about -- >> he's going to give his

version of this is what i think the best of all that's there? >> i don't think you'll walk away confused of where he is. >> will that be considered a piece of legislation when he's done? >> again, i -- it's not my expectation. i can't speak for yours. but again there's -- i think the president will outline his plan moving forward. >> not just the plan on health care but a plan on how to get it passed? >> yes. >> now, will he talk about -- when he talks about how to pay for this, part of the conversation we have not had in a while, is he going to continue to talk about the plan he had to pay for it or is he going to now look at the various -- well, because his plan seems to be rejected. he said i wanted to do this, now congress has come forward with --

>> i think he will outline ideas on how to pay for this, including some of his own that -- if there's a consensus to pay for this, i was previously unaware. >> mitch mcconnell put out a statement saying welcome back, health care needs reform, we have to start over. is there any way the president would ever consider starting over? >> no. we've been doing this for how long? the president said yesterday, this is an issue that was first raised nationally by teddy roosevelt. not teddy roosevelt iv but teddy roosevelt. i mean, how much longer do we have to talk about it? >> do you believe there's enough strands out there to put together a bill? >> absolutely. that's why i continue to say that we're closer than we've ever been before. i think it's good to know that senator mcconnell believes we have a problem out there.

i think he's heard that from small business owners in kentucky. i'm sure he's heard that from families sitting around the table wondering how they're going to meet the costs of skyrocketing premiums or what he must hear when a constituent calls his office to say i thought i had health care -- i thought i had insurance but i was just denied coverage by my -- by what i thought was my insurance company. i think it's a recognition that all those things exist. we're not starting over. we are a large way through this process. the president's going to take -- pull those strands together and move this process forward and get something done this year. john. >> the finance committee -- well, actually, senator bacus' draft has been bouncing around a few days around capitol hill. first, has the president seen it in his outline? >> i don't believe that -- i

don't believe anybody here has -- we've seen what we've read in the paper but i do not believe that we've seen paper on the plan. >> i understand -- >> i think it's been bouncing around k street, not surprisingly. >> has there been any conversation between the white house and senator baucus and the group of six since this floated around sunday? >> i don't know how far back that would go. we continue to talk to all the players involved. obviously you know speaker pelosi and leader reid will be here momentarily. so he's going to continue to talk to all those involved. >> what do you mean it's bouncing around k street? >> i was told that k street had a copy of the baucus plan. not surprisingly the special interests have gotten a copy of the plan that i understand was given to committee members today. >> and it -- >> it wasn't cryptic.

>> are you impugning somebody here? it sounded like impugning, like, k street had it? >> k street is normally where associations and lobbyists have their offices. i'm simply making the point that those people have gotten a copy of health care reform. >> and why is that? senator baucus gave it to them? >> call some of your lobbyist friends, chuck. i don't know how -- we haven't seen what was i think dispersed today. >> k street got it and you guys don't? >> not surprisingly, yes. >> can you tell us about specific people that -- the president has taken to, let's say today, other than leader reid or nancy pelosi? >> i don't anybody today that works here. >> do you have a feel for how long the speech will be?

>> not at the moment. but i -- >> is there something written? >> absolutely. i will have better guidance, knock on wood, a little bit later on today on that. my sense -- this will all -- from start to finish will all be wrapped up within the hour. i assume the speech will go -- it's hard for me to judge, applause and things like that, but my sense is that the speech is probably a 30 to 35 minutes in length itself. >> and what are the stakes involved? is this a do or die, make or make, now or never kind much speech for the president? >> i thought that was yesterday. and we just bounced from make or break moment to -- there are so many great sort of sports analogies we can use. you know, i generally think that for whatever purpose we're

always late in the fourth quarter with very few seconds left on the clock and a long, long way from scoring a touchdown. that simply sets everything up for one of those glorious hail mary passes that -- and a touchdown. no. look, are the stakes important? of course they are. it's a big audience and the president will get a chance to lay out clearly for the american people what's involved for them. again, if they have insurance, if they don't have insurance, some of the reforms that are there for -- that will govern insurance companies, his principles for health care reform. you know, if we added up all the make or break days, you generally exceed the number of days we have on a calendar. i think everything gets automatically ratcheted to the point that everything is -- everything is do or die at that

particular time. yes, sir. >> robert, you mentioned that speaker pelosi ands -- and leader reid is coming. what does that say to the american people that he's meeting with only the two top democrats? >> well, the president has throughout the past several weeks met with and talked to people throughout the political spectrum, on the left and on the right on this issue. i would not read everything into one do or die meeting. i don't think that -- even late in the fourth quarter. and i switched sports because i felt like we are here for college football now. major. >> will there any [inaudible] >> i'm trying to remember. i think the president will

outline what he tpwhreebs would constitute reform. -- believes would constitute reform. >> will the president try to establish -- >> yes. [laughter] she asked it. i'm having a little fun. >> will the president establish or seek from congress a timeline sooner than the end of the year? >> that -- i'm trying to remember what was in the latest draft. i don't think we've -- >> what should the american people expect? something that would constitute a timeline or something more accelerated than they heard before? >> the president will outline what he thinks can get done this year. i think most of the american people will believe that it's taking years too long to happen but that's a timeline the president thinks. >> and you said on abc, if it takes doing whatever to get health care done, the president

is ready, willing and able to go, do that. what is whatever? >> whatever is whatever. talking to whoever, discussing ideas. i think what's always been a hallmark of the president is there's not a rigidity. he's focused on the end and he's focused on the results. i think that's what the american people will see tomorrow night. >> and you were asked about the public option on the same show. i just want to make sure what you were trying to convey. you were talking about the vast majority of people. you said if you were on medicare and the host said something and you said, you're not even going to be affected any way, shape or form by a public option. >> right. >> is that -- were you just meaning people who were on medicare or people in the private insurance spectrum or across the board? >> using the example at the beginning of the briefing when i was asked about the public option. if you are one of the 160

million or 180 million people that receive it primarily through your employer, if you are -- if you're on a program like medicare, medicaid or v.a., all of that universe together is not substantially at all impacted by the notion of a public option. it -- it's primarily -- its primary effect is on that private individual and small group or small business market. >> so that comment was limited to those within medicare and medicaid and v.a.? >> and the 160 million and 180 million. the vast majority of people in this country, that's what i think one of the reasons the president will talk about this and you heard us talk about in the last few days because i'm not sure everybody that's debating this topic has a full range of understanding about what it is. you heard the president address it before we left. before we left -- congress'

radio show, there was a woman who called in and asked about this. he said, look, if you've got insurance and your insurance is through -- generally through your employer, this isn't going to affect you. so this notion of a government takeover of health care, that's why the president continues to -- >> continuing on that point. you also said this will not be unfairly subsidized and compete against private insurers in an unfair basis. can you define that? >> i think there's a notion that in one of the so-called fears is that you are going to have a system that is so heavily subsidized by the federal government for even that small group of people that they can't possibly compete with -- you've heard this argument. you can't possibly compete with private insureans. i think the president will be -- insurance. i think the president will be specific about what it is and

what it isn't, meaning, there will not be some grad yosely subsidized un-- grad owes subsidized playing field. [inaudible] i think just outlining that example and specificity will be what it is. >> robert, can you tell us a little bit about the nature of the meeting with speaker pelosi and senator reid? is he speaking their advice on the speech? >> look, i think he will get a legislative lay of the land. i think he wants to talk to them -- he's talked with them -- he talked with them over the recess. he'll talk to them about where members are. and i have no doubt they'll talk extensively what the president will outline. will provide a readout from the meeting as well. i think they're planning on visiting you all outside after that meeting as well. >> knowing that the president reads about subjects like

health care, he circulated that in an article this year, has he read the recent covery story of "the atlantic," the argument made -- the argument that was made in that article about catastrophic health insurance for all americans and allowing procedures day-to-day to be put into the market and paid for by individuals rather than insurance claims? >> i have seem him with "the atlantic" before. i don't know if he's seen or read it. >> david wrote a column urging the president to read this over the weekend. >> i didn't see the column or the article. let me see if he had a chance. >> what does the president think that he has done wrong or that he could have done better over these last recent months to explain this better to the american people? >> well, look, i think in some ways -- look, to give you a little bit more of an inside

baseball, the answer -- look, in many ways this has been something that congress has been working through. details. this has obviously gone through four or five committees. we talked about a fifth committee continuing to work on this progress. i think what the president will do is, as i said, take the strands that exist, the ideas that are out there and try to pull many of those together. outline in some specificity a plan moving forward. i think the president understands and always has understood that this was not going to be easy. so i think the -- an additional forum, one of the size and magnitude of a joint address. i think he feels that he can speak more directly to a larger

group of the american people and hopefully talk explicitly about what is in health care reform, not just what is not in health care reform which has taken up a decent amount of all of our time. >> in terms of the forum, why was a joint address picked over an oval office address, since he's addressing the american people first and foremost other than the members of congress? >> just from a purely -- you know, in many ways i think what you -- the length of time in all honesty, that you get with a little -- i mean, obviously, i think most joint addresses are far longer than an oval address is. this is a topic that probably takes some time to walk through. yes, sir. >> robert, 16 years ago this month president clinton chose this forum to deliver a similar message. what's going to be different? is it going to be the time?

>> logistically, i think as best i recall, that was the beginning of a health care process rather than what we see as quite frankly close to the end. so, i mean, i think there are a any number of -- i think that's probably the biggest and primary difference in those two speeches. my guess is that both leaders saw it as a venue and an opportunity to engage a big number of the american people in a topic that i thought was important. >> yesterday at the labor day speech, we really saw the feisty obama, the one who said the opponents out there spreading lies, we have to stand up for what's right here. are we going to see that tomorrow night or is it going to be a -- >> little less labor rally and a little more congress. look, not to make up a little pun, the president was fired up yesterday. told a story that i know we love to hear again and again.

[laughter] i actually mean that. having been at that event, i love that story. we told that story a lot in some of the darker days. but i think -- well, we're trying to get you fired up. but i think -- look, we understand the audience which is directly the american people. and that is -- and congress, and i think the president will use it as an opportunity, less of a rally and more of walking people through again what's in it for them for health care. >> the president has said many, many times and you just repeated for those that don't have health care nothing is -- >> >> that's related to -- related to the public option. >> related to the public option.

>> we hope it changes because -- >> better. >> there are millions of people that gets discriminated against because of their insurance company. >> if you like your health insurance you are not going to lose it. i guess one of the reasons that the polls have slipped for you on health care is that people with health insurance are worried that employers will dump them into the public option if they have their choice. will he say tomorrow night that -- >> see, i think that's part of what he's going to address. the fact that -- >> prevent them from doing that. >> again, that's why we explained sort of what is and is not involved in the public option. i know there's this great myth of the fact that, you know, hundreds of millions of people's coverage will be dumped into that -- that wouldn't solve a problem. that would simply -- >> won't be able to happen. wait, my second question on this is i know you got a letter from these progressive caucuses in the house asking for a meeting with them. has it been set yet? >> i haven't seen that letter. i known there was a phone call

friday with the heads of many of the -- >> well, then my question about that is, how does he interpret the statements of liberals in congress who say that they won't vote for anything that doesn't have a robust medicare-style public option in it? are they just pushing hard for what they want or are they willing saying they'd rather have nothing than a -- >> is there a c? >> no. >> look. i am not going to negotiate on behalf of the president before he speaks. >> i am saying what he thinks they're saying. >> i think he takes what they're saying is what's on the paper. again, i think it's important the president will have a chance to address the concerns by some on the left, concerns by some on the right, concerns by some in the middle.

as we get health care reform done this year i think that's what he'll do tomorrow. >> robert, just one question. i was curious about a couple of things about the g-20 statement. one i was curious, why was it out today? was there some sort of -- >> no. i think just a process of getting a bunch of stuff out over the course of the next few weeks as we head into -- i mean, obviously this week -- this week and next week we're here but then obviously we go into that monday the 21st i think it's unga and g-20, there's just a lot of stuff. >> i found it striking there was no mention of the word protectionism or the concept of it in the state which was really the bellweather of it. and he talked about that a good deal in london last spring.

>> i don't think the totality of everything that might be discussed is necessarily -- it was necessarily in that introductry statement. i don't doubt that the trade and the global -- global economic health as a result of ensuring that commerce is happening like that. i think that will obviously certainly be a topic. >> do you expect him to rail against protectionism? >> i would remove those sort as separate issues. >> how crucial is it to get a senate finance draft for framework out there by the president's speech? because it -- >> we'd be happy -- happy to have it. >> that doesn't have a public option? >> we've got four out of five committees. if we can make it five out of five committees that would be great. >> one question. >> hold on.

>> president sweeney, the outgoing president of the -- >> i have to look in your direction. >> said last week that when the president is finished with health care he would put his support behind the employee free choice act for passage in congress. i have not heard a lot of talk about that and it seems as though the president tried to downplay that at this point. is he still a strong supporter of it including the card check provision? >> i would point you to what the president said at a rather voist russ labor rally yesterday where he reiterated his support for that. >> so he will get behind it all the way after the health care debate? >> i'm certainly not going to stand up here and contradict the president less than 24 hours after his speech. thanks, guys. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> the house debated nearly a dozen bills this afternoon. members return at 6:30 eastern to vote on a number of them. this is the first day back for the house and senate after the month-long august recess. tomorrow, the u.s. house will consider energy legislation. and on thursday continuing the program to protect the chesapeake bay. live coverage when the house returns at 6:30 p.m. eastern here on c-span. tomorrow, the house and senate meet in a joint session to hear president obama on health care. he was invited to speak by the democratic leaders of both bodies. we'll have live coverage here on c-span at 8:00 p.m. eastern, also on c-span radio and c-span.org. >> the supreme court has a rare special session tomorrow hearing oral argument on a campaign finance case. listen to it same day on

c-span3, c-span radio and at c-span.org. tomorrow, also marks the first appearance on the bench for justice sonia sotomayor. here's justice clarence thomas on what it means to add a new justice. >> as far as the composition of a court, you're bringing in basically and this word can be overused, you're bringing in a family member and it changes the whole family. it's different. it's different today than what it was when i first got here. and i have to admit you grow very fond of the court that you spent a long time on. there was a period there with chief justice rehnquist and justice o'connor when we had gone we had a long run together. and you get comfortable with that and then it changes. and now it's changing again. so the institution is

different, your reaction is different, you get to learn each other, you have to start all over, the chemistry's different. >> hear from other justices during supreme court week as c-span looks at the home to america's highest court starting october 4. >> at today's state department briefing, there was questions taken on the outcome of the afghan elections that took place on august 20. the u.s. is not in position to say who might eventually be declared the winner or whether there should be a runoff election between the top two finishers. this is about 22 minutes. >> on afghanistan, what exactly is the secretary doing on that front specifically, who is she talking to, if anyone directly? >> yeah. >> is she talking to karzai? what's her role? >> well, obviously there's an

extremely important process that's playing out now, the whole electoral process. we've seen a couple of important announcements today. we've seen that the independent electoral commission has announced preliminary results accounting for 91.6 of the polling stations. also announced they're quarantining about 600 polling stations for further investigation. you also probably saw that the election complaints commission called on the i.e.c. to act on some allegations, what they call clear and convincing evidence of fraud in a number of polling places. and i think our message has been -- has been consistent throughout that the results of

these -- of these elections need to be credible and need to reflect the will of the afghan people. and as a result, we need to have a rigorous vetting of all of these allegations of fraud. and a legitimate electoral process is it vital to us and vital to any kind of partnership that we would have with the government going forward. having said all that, it is a process, and it hasn't played out. we're seeing the first phase of it drawing to a conclusion. the accounting process. the next phase is just as if not more important and that's dealing with these complaints of fraud. so we are calling on all the candidates. we're calling on all the different actors out there,

political institutions to show patients. and we are not going to pronounce our -- you know, our analysis of the election until the whole process is played out. now, you're asking about secretary clinton. she did talk to ambassador ickenberry yesterday. she talks often to other ambassadors in these areas of u.s. national interest. he was able to give her an update on where we are in this very complicated process. of course, i think you saw secretary lu is out there now. and he is out there, i think, not so much in connection with the electoral process but more

in connection with the state role in helping afghanistan develop into a prosperous country. >> based on what you've seen, do you think there should be a runoff? >> we're going to wait for everything to play out. this -- this announcement by the e.c.c. i think raised some very concerning issues. and like i say, the e.c.c.'s recommendations have to be followed through on. there has to be a complete and rigorous vetting of all of these complaints. >> are you -- just a follow-up to the question. >> what can you tell us about icke nembingsberry's meeting about karzai yesterday, whether or not he raised a number of these concerns about fraud?

>> unfortunately, i can't give you much of a readout because i didn't get a readout of his meeting with president karzai. i can imagine that his message is the same as our public message. this process needs to play out. we need to have an election that is -- that reflects the will of the afghan people and all these allegations of fraud need to be acted upon. i honestly don't have a readout on it. >> rigorous -- can you have a partnership with whomever is declared the victor.

>> i think it's important that is right in the eyes of the afghan people and the eyes of the community. i think it's going to be -- it's not going to be a matter of days or weeks. it could be a matter of case or months to sort out all of these allegations. >> you yourself raised the issue of partnership and the importance of -- >> yeah. >> credibility. >> right. >> to partnership. and if you have a government whose election is not seen as credible, you know, how do you deal with that? >> well, that's a fair point. i think it's important that all of these allegations get thoroughly investigated. you run all these things in the ground. and everything we're seeing so far is that the process is working. the e.c.c. took these

allegations seriously. the i.e.c. has quarantined 600 polling stations for further investigation. this is a good process, and it needs to be -- it needs to be given a chance to work itself out. and that's why we all need to show a little patients and not get -- patience and not get too ahead of ourself. >> how much was it about the embassy security guard situation? >> you are talking about the conversation of the -- >> with ickenberry? >> i can't tell you that. i don't know. >> the security guard situation -- >> don't know. frankly. i don't have a readout, i'm sorry. >> no. i think you didn't have readout of his meeting with karzai. >> yeah. i don't have a readout of the conversation with the secretary. >> ok. you said she talks to ickenberry and others in key spots. when was the last time she spoke to ickenberry? >> don't know the answer. >> what's the latest on the security guard situation?

>> yeah, well -- >> ian, if this election is taking place in the midst of war essentially, a conflict, then what is your assessment of how dangerous it is to have this stretch on for months without a definition of who is the head of the country? >> well -- >> allegations about massive vote frauds, what's the level of concern? >> again, i don't want to get too far ahead on this and prejudge where we are might come out on this. >> yeah, but where you are right now is the situation that there are allegations of massive vote fraud. >> yeah. >> the election that people were hoping would be over and defined is not. and you're saying now it could stretch on not for weeks but for months. so what is the effect of that on a very delicate military and political situation? >> well, i think -- you know, as i said before, the key thing

is that the result we end up with is a result that has the -- has the confidence of the afghan people. that's the -- that's the main thing here. and, you know, we don't -- people may have been saying that this could be finished sometime in september, but the main thing is that we ensure that we do -- i shouldn't say we -- that the afghan authorities do what needs to be done to ensure that all of these serious allegations are addressed. that's our bottom line that we end up with a credible result at the end. yeah. go back to matt -- >> on the elections. >> on the elections. ok. >> as far as i understand it, all these complaints about

fraud charged that it was president karzai and his people that did this. they are talking about fake election voting sessions in the hundreds. so i'm wondering, you know, you're sitting here in washington, the secretary is here, the president is here. this is the -- the president, the government has giving billions of dollars to and this guy that's supposed to symbolize democracy in afghanistan is having hundreds of fake election sessions in his country. what does that say about the american people? >> you're saying you already conducted your investigation on president karzai's -- >> no. they have convincing evidence that this is happening. >> but let's -- ok. the announcement was made today. let's -- let the investigation play out. >> in your mind, is there any question