much weaker. i was surprised. labor unions and some other interest groups that are backing this legislation heavily would have done a better job of getting their vote to the cast -- capital to counter the fury we saw on the grounds. that did not seem to happen until after the bill was passed. then, the protesters magically disappeared of last night about midnight as i was leaving the capital, a lot of health care supporters were outside the capitol cheering on members of the house as they walked across the street to their offices. it looks like democrats have a serious sales job on their hands going into the elections. i don't know how they will take on debt. it looks like the president will take on the burden of selling this law himself to a large extent. i think you will see -- the caller complained that the president has been flying a round in airports when campaigning for democrats. i think you'll see more of that.

he will try to sell the public on what is in this bill and how it will help them. host: of the 34 house democrats that voted against the bill, 26 come from districts that senator mccain carrying 2008 in the presidential election. many are expected to face difficult reelection races this fall. alex wayne, tell us more about what kind of an uphill fight or will this help protect saw those democrats in those districts to vote against the bill? guest: that is a good question. every democrat that is in a swing district could go either way in november and they had to make a personal political decision yesterday. . .

>> in a democracy, you can only ignore the will of the people for so long and get away with it. and if we defy the will of hours -- our fellow citizens and pass this bill, we will be held to account by those who have placed us in their trust. we will have shattered those bonds of trust.

i beg you, i beg each and every one of you on both sides of the aisle, do not throw this right at the heart of this country and this institution. for surely, you will not strike with impunity. host: our next call comes from randy on airline for republicans. randy, are you in agreement with the house minority leader? have the bonds of trust in drogin? caller: absolutely, i have to say that the cradle to grave mentality is not alive in america. income tax legislation had to finally require an amendment to the united states constitution in order for the federal government to tax and penalize individuals.

the penalties involved with health care legislation cannot possibly be constitutional. also, energy is a national security matter. i can see that we should have greater control over our atomic station and perhaps under the military as opposed to it under control. host: let's continue our conversation about the house passing the health care bill last night with melinda on the line for independents. caller: i have not been able to get through for a while. has been tied up. i hope you get -- your line has been tied up. i am outraged. i cannot understand how a democrat could do something like

this to the american people when the american people have already stated and they got out there with their voices and they told them that they did not want it. i listened friday to kurmanbek on a radio show and -- glenn back on a radio show. i watched the baron farmlands out there and why didn't they give them 50% or 100%? do they have another ace up their sleeve? they have been behind closed doors with no transparency. obama, what he talked about in his campaigns, it has all been lies. and of to now -- now the people have seen it and i do not know of the people realize it or not. nancy pelosi, harry reid, chris dodd, charlie rangel, they have all made this white house no

longer the white house, but the house of ill repute. host: eric on the line for democrats in the astin rouge, louisiana. caller: your guest had a good point. he said he saw little support for the president in washington. do know why? because we did not want to get on the tv and look like the tea party and local radical. one of the callers called in and said she wanted to move out of the country, but when you ask her to a representative was, she could not say. another said she wants her country back. listen up, americans. you are not getting back what you thought you lost. [unintelligible] he was actually looking like he

was getting something going there. has he been doing that for the past two weeks? oh, yeah probably. republicans call this terrorism. guess what, nobody is dodging anymore. host: sorry about that, eric. we are going to move on. last week, the phone lines or hot -- were tied up pretty heavily on the house side as people work calling from various districts to express their concerns about the bill. do you expect to see those, and tied up again this week -- those phone lines tied up again this week on the senate side? guest: probably so. but i think it will fizzle out a little bit as people realize there will be a law on the books in a couple of days. this fight is mostly over.

i think most of the folks that have been protesting this publicly and calling their representatives, they make retreat a little bit and decide, -- they may retreat a little bit and the side, you will hear from me in november. i do not think we will see the intensity that we saw last week with the house. host: kathleen sebelius was interviewed this morning on the early show on cbs. this after the democrats passed the bill on a 219-212 votes. she said this was largely a result of statements that republican opponents and insurance industry majors have made about it. scott from california, tell us your thoughts regarding statements from republican house members and people from the insurance industry. host: good morning, america.

my statements about the insurance industry, my god. they seem like they're the ones that wrote this bill. from the start, from back in 1981 when i started paying attention, when reagan said everyone was going to get a tax break, they took 21 more dollars out of my paycheck. i remember that. i have basically been lied to ever since. the north american free trade agreement, energy deregulation, i still remember listening to the enron tapes. we will do the wait and see, but hmm, i can pretty much already figured out what is going to happen. republican or democrat, both of them just screwed us. host: next up is even out of drexel, md., on our line for independence.

caller: i heard there is a 705- $700 fine if you do not have health care. does that mean that if we do not have it, we have to pay for it and if we do have it, do we have to pay for something stupid? host: alex, can you help straighten that out? guest: maybe. in 2014, there will be a fine levied through your taxes and you would basically see it on your tax return at the end of the year for people who refuse to pay insurance and cannot prove that insurance is unaffordable for them. i think the fine does not start at $700. it is less than that initially, but it does crime every year. i think it is $395 -- it does climb every year. i think it is $395 for people of high income who do not retain

insurance. host: in the "business *" this morning -- in the business times this morning, reid engleson road -- back to the phones. the harrisburg, pa., patti on the line for democrats. caller: hello there. can you hear me? host: yes, i can. caller: i am thrilled to see that the health care reform bill passed.

there is a silent majority of supporters of health care reform. typically, when you see that people are screaming and matter, it is out of fear and concern. -- when people are screaming and hamad, it is out of fear and concern. people do not realize that there is a tremendous amount of money spent to make you afraid of that which will help you. on a day-to-day basis, the largest and most of a " part of my job is working with the insurance companies -- largest and most difficult part of my job is working with the insurance companies for the services that people pay premiums to get. if america could come and stand behind a pharmacy counter and see what we have to do on their behalf so that they can walk

away with a reasonable co pay for these outrageously expensive medications, they would have a whole different look. we have situations where insurance coveys at certain times of the month -- insurance companies and at certain times of the month will out of the blue for no reason their clients and my customers for whatever reason cannot get the medicine that their policies say they can get. i cannonote at the business andt it has to do with the company. they got its last month and instead this month is an outrageous price. i have to send them home, usually give them a few pills free of charge, to go home and teach them how to call their insurance company and tell them what is going on. i have to tell the customer how

to negotiate with the insurance company. the company that has hired me to do my job has hired me to fill as many prescriptions as i can. host: thanks, patty. alex witt of congressional quarterly, what kind of changes should we see -- what kind of changes should we expect to see in the region between ourselves and the insurance companies? guest: it struck me throughout the debate that there has not been more anger and the public directed toward insurers. -- from the public directed toward insurers. they say in policy-making circles that largely, people who have insurance are happy with their insurance plans. and i think that is because a lot of people do not use their insurance plans very much. the story changes a lot when you get sick currently in this

country. and the caller that just called and made an interesting point about drug purchases under insurance plans, how people can suddenly find out that the drug they were using for some reason and explain to -- for some reason, and explained often, just off their insurance. it will be harder in the future for insurance companies to do that, particularly those that are running -- but are operating in this government-run exchange. those exchanges are going to forbid behavior like the caller just described. they also not be able to -- they also will not be able to drop people when they get sick, which happened a few thousand times a year. >> briefly, -- host: briefly,

can you explain what an exchange is and how it is going to work? guest: it is a marketplace where people will go to buy insurance. it will be on line, certainly on line. an example of how it will work, maybe, if your viewers go to medicare.gov today, that website is a portal to medicare. you can shop for different medicare advantage plans, for example. you will probably see a bunch of different websites like that set up by states where you can get on this website and shop through different insurance plans that are available santa -- and shop for different prices and coverage. host: is what obama had to say about the future of this bill

and the vote. >> as momentous as this day is, it is not the end of the journey. on tuesday, we will take up legislation that the house has embraced, and these are revisions that have strengthened the slot and remove provisions that have no place in it. some have predicted another siege of parliamentary maneuvering in order to delay adoption of these improvements. i hope that is not the case. and will bring this to a close and implement this properly on behalf of the american people. this year and in years to come, we have a solemn responsibility to do it right. host: and in the "wall street journal" this morning their lead editorial has this quote --

boston, mass., robert on the line for republicans. caller: i am a 30-year veteran and i did my gulf war and my vietnam. i am 62 years old now and i am totally disgusted with this government, totally disgusted. i live in massachusetts in cape cod. i was on the television two weeks ago myself in florida, in charlotte county, lee counties and naples. naples is a very rich town, 100,000 people.

the only reason i go down there is because of the weather. it has not been too good. a 500,000 people unemployed in these three counties. it makes me sick. here we are sending trillions of dollars to these people all over the world. and where i take a vacation, there are 500,000 people that cannot find work and cannot find a home. no. 2, when mr. obama came out, -- i did not vote for him. i am a republican. he made me very afraid. when he comes across that teleprompter and he says, my voice, my men, -- my voice, my men, -- my boys, my men.

i would not salute him. he has no respect for the government. i have lost four under -- 4000 of my men in iraq and afghanistan. it makes me sick. host: we will leave it there, robert. alex, one of the big players in all of this is representative bart stupak in michigan. on the abortion, opponent. thyear announced his decision to change his position on the bill. explain how this works. guest: there is a law that is annually renewed in congress that is generally called the hyde amendment.

it is a number of different amendments, but they do the same thing. they basically say that federal health programs cannot spend taxpayer money to fund abortion. mr. stupak has been trying throughout the health-care debate to get language into the health care bill that he thinks would reflect those hide amendments and prevent those subsidized and taxpayer, the insurance plans from covering elective abortion, which is designed -- defined as those that are not the result of rape or incest and do not threaten the mother's life. he finally kind of gave in yesterday and agreed to support the bill as long as the president and issues an executive order, which is not as strong as having the language in the law, that makes clear federal programs cannot spend taxpayer money on abortion. that, of course, is already the law of the land.

the executive order does not really break any new ground. host: this abortion issue present any sort of a hurdle toward getting the bill passed on the senate side? guest: i do not think so. the bill that the senate is going to take up is -- does not have any abortion language in it a dog. -- at all. i do not think they will vote against this bill as a kind of protest against the executive order. a lot of the democratic members whose support abortion rights say they are ok with the executive order because they know, as an art stupak knows, it does not do anything new. it is interesting. burt stupak has emerged as a sort of a villain in the health care legislation serve rolls. but he really wanted to support -- in health care is legislation

circles. but he really wanted to support the legislation all along. but he said, no, i'm not going to vote for this bill. the only way you can get me to vote for this bill is by making a major concession on abortion. he wanted to get to yes. i think he took less than he really wanted yesterday in order to give him peace of mind that he could vote for the bill. host: next up is cindy, for independents. caller: i am disappointed in the old government. i mean, we need to be reforming d.c., not health care. like somebody said, this thing was written by the insurance companies. they are rewarding the insurance companies. my husband and i are paying

almost $1,000 per month. they jump up our rates when all of this came up. ñrthey haven't even talked about how much they are going to charge to cover the people with pre-existing. is there a cap that they will be able to charge these people? i think we need to get them all out of office and start off with people that are not lawyers. host: thanks for the call, cindy. is there a cap on people with pre-existing conditions? guest: no, not under the current legislation. the gap now is that if you -- the cap now is that you need insurance and you have a pre- existing condition, you probably will not be able to get any. the idea, what they hope will happen, is by requiring everyone

in the country almost to obtain insurance, the pool of people that are covered under insurance policies will be so large that you can spread the risk with people with pre-existing conditions, people who get sick. the hope is that it will keep premiums down for everybody. host: next up is anthony on the democrats line in washington d.c. caller: i want to point out three things. but the number one, i am glad that the bill got past. i give compliments to nancy pelosi, to president obama. he thought it was worthy enough to have a health care system overhaul. number two, to listen to my fellow americans that disagree with what just went down, based upon one thing and one thing only -- and the truth is, but he baggers -- the tea baggers.

to have people say they would never salute the president, but yet he has been to three wars. he made a big story with that. i wonder how many of those naysayers know that the american people are insurance for the people of iraq. people keep repeating about the water issue. and your guest already said he's never heard anything about that, but it came up again and you did not stop that. >> we are going to leave this now and take you live to the white house, vice president joe biden joined by treasury secretary geithner and irs director doug showman talking about the stigma -- the stimulus act. >> he is taking the lead to make sure that the american people

receive the full benefit of the recovery act. and the secretary geithner, was work with the president and vice-president and others to ensure that the american economy is strong and resilient. as you know, it is tax filing season for the american people. and about 75% of the american people get refunds. that means taxpayers are getting a lot of money from the irs these days. this year, they are getting a record amount. we are announcing today that the average tax refund is up 10% so far this year. as of last week, the average refund was $3,036. that is $266 more than last year. for many taxpayers, this will be the biggest check that they see all year. in all, we have sent $175 billion in refunds out through

march 12. but what is really telling about these numbers is that so far this year, we have sent out $6 billion more in refunds in the same time frame -- and then the same time a year ago even though we have received fewer returns because of the bat hit in many parts of the country. a major factor in these larger refund numbers has been the recovery act, from buying homes to helping people with their college expenses. the recovery provisions have increased tax payer refunds to record levels. this is going to continue in the weeks ahead because roughly half of the american taxpayers have not yet filed their tax returns. for those who have not filed yet, we want to remind everyone about the many important recovery credits and deductions that they may be eligible for this year. let me give taxpayers a few tips for the tax filing season. first, it is really important

that people take their time. the recovery provisions can mean extra cash in hard-working americans pockets. do not overlook checking into things like the expanded earned income tax credit and a common mistake we are seeing this year is people overlooking the making work pay credit. everyone should make sure to claim it. second, people should e-file because when they do, it helps catch mistakes and helps make sure that the software or they're procurer can help them find the recovery -- or their preparer can help them find a recovery credits they deserve. and finally, the fastest and best way to get your refund is to e-file with direct deposit. you get your refund in as little as 10 days. let me close my remarks with one message to american people who

are feeling stressed out at this time of year. if you are having trouble paying your taxes, please get in touch with us. and you have options. our sisters have been instructed to go the extra mile -- our assistors have been instructed to go the extra mile. we are even open an extra day this year on march 27 to resolve problems that taxpayers may have. with that might turn it over to secretary geithner. >> i want to start by thanking the shulman and all of the dedicated -- doug patrolmen and all of the dedicated hard- working employees of the irs. americans are still suffering a great deal from this recession, but because the president acted so quickly and forcefully the economy is now starting to expand again. and as the economy continues to

grow, as we continue to repair the damage caused by this recession, the economy will start creating jobs again. the recovery act and actions to fix the financial system were decisive in turning the economy around. i know that many people about roads and bridges, they think about assistance to states to keep teachers in the classroom, they think about extended unemployment benefits. but the recovery act also provided nearly $300 billion in tax cuts and tax and incentives. and these tax cuts are working. they're providing tax cut for 95% of working families, helping to fund investment projects in your communities, encouraging businesses to expand again, and helping people pay for college tuition. the most important thing we can do to improve the economic security of americans is to create more opportunities for good jobs and growing incomes. one of the most effective things

the government can do to help that happen is to promote a strong dynamic in the private sector. tax incentives can play a key role in this process. they work by encouraging the initiative of individuals and businesses. that is why the recovery act, including tax cuts like small business expensing and bonus appreciation to help companies afford a new equipment and new investment, tax cuts like the working pay -- make working pay a tax credit, and others are at the forefront of technological energy and efficiency. and that is why just last week, the president signed into law a new tax cuts to provide incentives to small businesses to hire new workers and make new investments. of the $300 billion in tax cuts in the recovery act, nearly half of that is still ahead of us. we want to make sure americans take the lead manager of these

benefits. if you just bought this -- your first home, you can be eligible in $8,000 in tax credits. if you replace old windows or put new insulation in your attic, you might be able to claim $1,500 in credit -- in tax credits. if you have a son or daughter in college, you could be eligible for up to $2,500 in college tuition expenses for four years -- per year for four years. the more money you can claim, the more money is put back into this economy, helping us grow out of this crisis. the vice-president chairs the task force on working families. he has been running the day-to- day process and making sure the recovery act is doing what it is supposed to do. and because of his forceful, persuasive powers with the cabinet, government and elected officials across the country, this program, the most power from brown in tax cuts in modern u.s. history, is -- the most

powerful program for tax cuts in modern u.s. history, is moving with speed and witness. -- swiftness. >> the commissioner laid out with some of these tax cuts are, as well as the secretary. i want to make an overall statement here. there are a number of aspects to the tax cuts that refer to small business, etc. we have done an awful lot. and there is -- with regard to today's announcement, i'm reminded of a comment by will rogers, a great comedian in the '20s and '30s. he said the difference between death and taxes is that death does not get worse every time congress meets. well today, quite frankly, congress having met last year, really is actually helping and helping in a big way.

the difference is that because of the recovery act providing $300 billion in tax cuts, millions to middle-class americans, hundreds of thousands of dollars in relief. again, i know you all know this. but sometimes people click on the news and hear part of this. they will hear, tax credit, tax deduction, and it does not compute right away. a tax credit means this guy is going to sit there and they're going to bounce out a check and give you money. money is going to come back. and you are not claiming something on your tax form that means you pay less tax. they need to get something back. -- it means you get something back on march 12, as the commissioner pointed out, the average tax refund was a record $3,036. that is of $266. in the neighborhood i come

from, the dread of the filing your taxes -- and 50% of people still have to file them -- even though it is their money, it is almost like it is found money. people are hurting. there is an average of over $3,000, some of lot more and some less, obviously. at this time when we are coming out of this recession and things are starting to move, that is welcome news for a lot of americans. for hard-working folks, this extra cash in their pockets during tight times can make astounding difference in terms of their attitude as well. for president obama and for me and for the whole team here, this is part of the goal that we set out when we first took office. it was not just rebuilding the economy, which was self

evidently necessary, but also to rebuild in the middle class. the middle class took a shellacking in the last two decades. at the end of the day, we will measure the recovery that the secretary has engineered for us. we will measure at the end of the day based on how many folks are in the middle class and how many were able to gain access and how many were able to stay. to ease the burden for men and women and working families today, it is a simple proposition. we are looking to, again -- probably many of you come from neighborhoods and families like i do. it is all about the standard of living. it is all about whether or not you feel comfortable, safe, secure in your home, in your neighborhood, in your ability to take care of your elderly mother, your child when you go to work, being able to make sure you get your kid to college.

these are things that the middle-class is all about. they are about family, about neighborhood. there are about having the ability to live a decent life. so, help with college tuition, buying a house or a car, this helps middle class families not only get by, but it goes to their sense of who they are and their standard of living. that is why we are here first and foremost. look, that is also why only days after being sworn in, i think if not the first, one of the first announcements that the presidents of the united states made -- that the president of the united states made was establishing a task force and he asked me to chair it. he called a meeting and we said, here's the deal, you have a lot on your plate. there's a lot in this moment of crisis, but do not take your eye off the ball.

scrub your agency. what can be done within your agency that, in fact, can increase security for middle- class people, what is it? commerce department is one thing. housing is another. and the treasury department, so on. everyone went forward and scrub their agencies as to what can we do to give middle-class taxpayers more security. and we dealt with it fairly swiftly. in the meantime we had to deal with a housing crisis, a financial crisis, and at less than a month after moving into the white house, we passed the recovery act. that is already responsible -- i do not think anyone argues anymore -- for saving and creating many jobs. we extended much needed assistance to the most vulnerable people. people got crust -- crushed in the recession, lost their jobs, their homes.

and to point out, tax credit for small businesses. 95% of working families got a tax break. so, people hear a lot about the recovery act, new highways, high-speed rail lines, abundant wind energy and solar energy. but there are many ways that we have helped americans through the tax code. about half of americans have filed their taxes. that means half face the unenviable task of sitting down and filing their taxes in the next couple of weeks. now look, american business, corporate america, they have people -- and they should -- who scour the code to find out and make sure that they get what they are entitled to in the tax code. a lot of hard-working americans just have enough trouble

working, sometimes two jobs, putting meat and potatoes on the table to make sure they can pay their rent or their mortgage, and they do not focus on it. they do not have experts. that is not a criticism of those that do. everyone is entitled to what the law provides. this is about -- and what i want to focus on in the next minute or so is on average middle-class taxpayers who are not business people. they may be business people. they are out there, and how can they get the most of what is intended by congress and the administration for them to get? we want to make it easier for them. we want to give them more breaks. and the people who have filed can still amend and we want to make sure americans get every dollar they are entitled to. that is why today i am proud to announce our new online tax saving tool which makes it easier for many, bill -- middle-

class americans to determine the benefits for which they qualify. just go to whitehouse.gov /recovery. it is a tool to make easy to file your taxes. it is easy to understand and simple to use. and it is going to help families across the country who have been hit by this economic downturn to know exactly what tax credits and tax benefits they are entitled to, including but not exclusively for those parents with a kid in college. they can get up to $2,500 in a check written by a local samp said -- sent back -- by uncle sam sent back to them. and by the way, for students who are doing it on their own, they can do the same thing. they can file and get $2,500

because they are struggling to figure out how to pay next year's tuition. it is coming due now. this is about the time when the university start saying, by the way, next semester now. families are struggling with energy bills. and most middle-class families are. as pointed out by the secretary, they can get up to $1,500 in tax credits in home energy efficiency improvements by buying certain appliances to putting in new windows that are high efficiency, to putting in insulation. and not only do they get that credit, but in the long term, they are reducing their energy bill. this is a win-win. and there is a $1,000 refundable tax credit expanded to help families hard hit by job losses. so, you still will get a thousand dollar tax credit if you are not on the job and you

have a couple of kids or a child, you get a $1,000 tax credit. and for most first-time home buyers, assuming they fall within a range where they're not making $300,000 or for the hundred thousand dollars -- $400,000, they will get an $8,000 tax credit. and what is the american dream? almost for every american family, to be able to have their own home. tax deductions, also on state and local fees, which can amount to hundreds of dollars for purchasing a new vehicle. you can save hundreds of dollars if you bought a new vehicle, and a new high efficiency vehicle, whether or not you can get this in terms of help on your tax reform. it is a lot of money in some states. no tax liability on the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits.

people who have never had to collect unemployment prole think that people get an unemployment check and that -- probably think that people get an unemployment check and that is it. well, they pay taxes on that check. the first $2,400 is not taxable. and up to $800 -- we keep talking about making work pay. i kid everybody and i say, we should speak english puritan most people -- should speak english. most people do not know what making work pay means. but everyone getting a paycheck is going to get $400 back over the year, and $800 if you are a couple. some may be self-employed. now on your tax file -- your tax form, when you file, if you have not been getting this all year, if you did not get that, you can

file now. and you are entitled to $400 as an individual or $800 as a couple. i would like to reemphasize. already this season, refunds are of $260 per person compared to last year. this is money that not only helps people who are strapped now, but it stimulates the economy. it is helping it grow. it is keeping people at dunkin donuts and other coffee shops employ, making sure the hair dresser does not go broke in a local town. it is making sure that people still have a little bit of money to go to a movie. these are things that employ people. when this money gets poured back into the economy, people stay employed or increased employment. when extra cash goes into the pockets of consumers, they have an incentive to go out, to buy energy-efficient windows, purchase a new hybrid, or finally by the first home that

they dreamed about. they are generating more economic activity when they do this, and in turn, spurring more jobs, and creating jobs in manufacturing and clean energy and construction. industries that we also spent a lot time in the recovery act on because they will be part of this new economy. i have seen it all across the country, and i have been close to -- been too close to 70 cities. -- i have been to close to 70 cities. it is not only working toward building a dynamic 21st century economy, but jobs and we will be able to lead in the 21st century. and by cutting taxes for millions of middle-class americans, the recovery act is helping working families and weather the storm that they find ourselves -- themselves in the

middle of. again, we have more information on which tax credits are available. and visit the saving tool at whitehouse.gov/recovery. we are off, i think, to a really good start. we look for to continue working with you guys to make sure that working americans get the tax relief that they are entitled to. this is a good thing, and i'm always happy to announce on the eve of a deadline approaching to file your taxes that there is in -- some good news out there. folks, go to our website. take a look. it will walk you through. if you have trouble paying your taxes, give the irs a call. if we want to help. people need help. thank you all. i apologize for the late start. we had something going on in the west wing.

all good, but i was a late. again, thank you all very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> vice president biden torn by treasury secretary geithner and the irs director, the patrolmad. 353 billion of the seventh hundred $87 billion committed so far. $202 billion has been paidñi out as of march 16. vice-president biden was talking about the new web site for tax advantage in the recovery bill. there is a link on our website c-span.org/stimulus. back on capitol hill this

afternoon, the senate banking committee returns to work on overhaul of the regulatory industry. it is the first of what will likely be several markup sessions. the first is at 5:00 p.m. eastern live on c-span3. and tonight on the communicators, congressional reaction to the fcc's broadband plan. that is tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2. >> the c-span, our public affairs content is available on television, radio and on line. and you can also connect with those on twitter, facebook, and youtube. sign up for scheduled alert e- mails @ c-span.org. >> earlier today, secretary of state hillary clinton address the aipac policy conference -- a dress aipac today will show you

as much as began before the house calls and four more in speeches at 12:30 p.m. eastern. ♪ [applause] ♪ >> thank you. thank you for that warm welcome. it is wonderful to be back at aipac with so many good friends. i saw a number of them backstage before coming out, and i can assure you that we received a lot of advice. i know i always do when i see my friends from aipac. [laughter]

and i want to thank lee rosenberg for that introduction. congratulations, you're going to be a terrific president. [applause] i also want to thank david victor and howard corp. and lonny kaplan, n.j. the pritzker, and howard freeman, and richard fishman, and i'd better stop. but all of aipac's directors and staff for your leadership and hard work. and i am very pleased that you will be hearing from a very good friend of mine, congressman jim landrigen, a great champion for israel. but let's hear it for jim. [applause] and to all of you, all of aipac's members, thank you once again for your example of citizen activism, petition your government, expressing your views, speaking up in the arena

-- this is what democracy is all about. [applause] and i am particularly pleased to see that there are once again so many young people here. [applause] you recognize that your future and the future of our country are bound up with the future of israel. [applause] and your engagement today will help make the future more secure. given the shared challenges we face, the relationship between the united states and israel has never been more important. [applause] the united states has long recognized that a strong and

sick -- and secure israel is vital to our own strategic interests. [applause] and we know about the forces that threaten israel also threaten the united states of america. [applause] and therefore, we firmly believe that when we strengthen israel's security, we strengthen america's security. [applause] so, from its first day, the obama administration has worked to promote israel's security and long-term success. and if you ever doubt the resolve of president obama

tuesday with a job, look at what we got done for the united states -- to stay with a job, look at what we got done for the united states with the passing of quality, affordable health care for everyone. [applause] and we know that as vice president biden said in israel recently, to make progress in this region there must be no gap between the united states and israel on security. [applause] and let me assure you, as i have assured you on previous occasions with large groups like this in small intimate settings, -- and small, intimate settings, for president obama

and for me, and for this entire administration, our commitment to israel's security and israel's future is rock solid, unwavering, and during, and forever. -- enduring, and forever. [applause] and why is that? why is that? is it because aipac can put 7500 people into a room in a convention center? i do not think so. is it because some of the most active americans in politics and who care about our government also care about israel? that is not the explanation. our countryies and our peoples are bound together by our shared values of freedom, equality,

democracy, the right to live free from fear, and our common aspirations for a future of peace, security, and prosperity, where we can see our children and our children's children, should we be so lucky -- and as a future mother of the bride, i'm certainly hoping for that. [applause] to see those children, those generations come of age in peace with the opportunity to fulfill their own god-given potentials, americans honor israel as a homeland for people too long oppressed, and a democracy that has had to defend itself at every turn. they dream nurtured for generations and made a real by

men and women who