1/20th inch of rainfall to the. west. host: we will leave it there. guest: three of the most interesting articles i've seen in "commentary" magazine. he's very critical of his colleagues for making the treaty a political battle. he thinks that will discredit security analysts on the right. also, phil kaplan in "sl >> today in washington, the congress finishes its work and adjourned for the year. on c-span tonight, we are going to bring you several related defense.

first, it is the president's year-end press conference. the president ratified the start nuclear arms treaty. we will show you the reaction from russia. today, the president signed the repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. one last bill that congress passed today -- compensation for 9/11 responders facing related illnesses. members discussed the bill in a news conference. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> at this white house news conference today, president obama said his biggest disappointment of the lame-duck session was the failure to pass the dream act immigration bill. he also said his congress had not passed the tax cuts and unemployment bill, the u.s. economy would have begun to contract this year. this news conference came just before congress adjourned for the year. it is 35 minutes.

>> i just wanted to say a few words about the progress we have made on some important issues over the last few weeks. a lot of folks in this town predicted that after the midterm elections, washington would be headed for more partisanship and more gridlock. instead, this has been a season of progress for the american people. that progress is reflected it, is a reflection of the message that voters sent in november. a message that said, it is time to find common ground on challenges facing our country. that is the message i will take to heart in the new year. and i hope my democratic and republican friends will do the same. first of all, i am glad that the

democrats and republicans came together to approve my top national security priority for this session of congress, the start treaty. this is the most significant arms control agreement in two decades. it will make us safer, and reduce our nuclear arsenals along with russia. with this treaty, our inspectors will be back on the ground at russian nuclear bases. so we will be able to trust but verify. we will continue to advance our relationship with russia, which is essential to making progress on a host of challenges, from enforcing strong sanctions on iran to preventing nuclear weapons from going into the hands of terrorists. this treaty will enhance our leadership to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and seek a piece of a world without them. the strong bipartisan vote sends a powerful signal to the world that republicans and democrats stand together on behalf of our security. i especially want to thank the

outstanding work done by vice president joe biden, the chairman of the foreign relations committee, senator john kerry, and the ranking republican, senator richard lugar for their efforts. i just got off the phone with richard lugar and reminded him the first trip i ever took as a senator, a foreign trip, was with him to russia. -- to look at nuclear facilities there. and i told him how much i appreciate it the work he had done and that there was a direct line between that trip that we took together as a senator and the results of the vote today on the floor. this all speaks to a tradition of bipartisan support for strong american leadership. that was a tradition that was reinforced by the fact that the new treaty won the backing of our military and our allies. in the last few weeks, we also came together across party lines to pass a package of tax cuts,

unemployment insurance that will spur jobs, businesses, and growth. the package includes a payroll tax cut that means that every american family will get an average tax cut of about $1,000 delivered in their paychecks carry any make a difference for millions of students, parents, and directors. \in our ongoing struggle to we ended "don't ask, don't tell". it is the right thing to do for our security. it is the right thing to do. period. we passed a food safety bill. and i hope the house will soon join the senate in passing a 9/11 health bill that will help

cover the health care costs of police officers, firefighters, rescue workers, and residents who inhaled toxic air near the world trade center on that terrible morning in the days that followed. this think it's fair to say is and the most productive post- election period we have had in decades occurred it comes on the heels of the most protective two -- the most productive two years we have had. i do not believe our business is finished. i am disappointed that congress did not pass the dramatic. it allows kids to serve in the military and earn it education and contribute the talent to the country where they grew up. i'm disappointed we were not able to come together around a budget to fund our government over the long term. i expect we will have a robust debate about this when we return. the debate will have to answer a question -- and that is how we

cut spending that we do not need while still making investments that we do need, investments in education, research and development, innovation, and the things essential to grow our economy over the long run, create jobs and compete with every other nation in the world? i look forward to hearing from folks on both sides of the aisle about how we can accomplish that goal. if there is any lesson to draw from these past few weeks is that we are not doomed to endless gridlock. we have shown in the wake of the november elections that we have the capacity, not only to make progress but to make progress together. and i am not naive. i know there will be tough fights in the months ahead i hope heading into the new year, that we will continue to heed the message of the american people and hold to a spirit of common per cent -- purpose. if we do that, we will rebuild

our economy and we will make our contribution to america's greatness. finally, before i take questions, i want to send a message to all those americans who are spending christmas serving our nation in harm's way. as i said in afghanistan, the american people stand united in our support and admiration for you. and in this holiday season, i would ask the american people to keep our troops in your prayers and went hand to those military families to have an empty seat at the table. with that, i will take some questions, and i will start with karen bowman. >> thank you, mr. president. you racked up a lot of wins in the last few weeks. are you ready to call yourself the comeback kid? and as you look ahead to 2011, are you worried that bipartisan agreement will be harder to reach on issues like deficit

reduction and tax reform? >> well, look, as i said right after the midterm elections, we took a shellacking, and i take responsibility for the record but i think what has happened over the last several weeks is not a victory for me but a victory for the american people. and the lesson i hope that everybody takes from this is that it is possible for democrats and republicans that have principal disagreements to have some lengthy arguments, but to ultimately find common ground to move the country forward. that is what we did with taxes. those arguments have not gone away. i still believe that it does not make sense for us to provide tax cuts for people like myself to do not need them. when our deficit and debts are growing. that debate will continue in 2011. i know republicans feel just as

strongly on the other side of that. i think we are still going to have disagreements in terms of spending priorities. it is vital for us to hit -- to make investment in education and research and development, all those things that create a growing economy, while cutting those programs that are not working. there will be debates between the parties on those issues, but what we have shown is that we do not have to agree on 100% to get things done that enhance the lives of families all across america. and if we can sustain that spirit, then regardless of the politics in 2012, the american people will be better for it. that is my ultimate goal. >>thanks, mr. president. merry christmas. >> merry christmas.

>> i have a couple questions about "don't ask, don't tell". first of all, congratulations. what was your conversation like with marine commandant amos when he expressed to his concerns and yet he said that he would abide by whatever the ruling was? can you understand why he had the position he did? and on the other hand, is it intellectually consistent to say that gay and lesbians should be able to fight and die for this country, but they should not be able to marry the people they love? >> i don't want to go into detail about conversations in the oval office with my service chiefs. jim amos expressed the same concerns to me privately that he expressed publicly during his testimony. she said that there could be destruction as a consequence of this -- he said there could be destruction as a consequence of this. what i said to him was i was

confident looking at the history of the military, with respect to racial integration and the inclusion of women in our armed forces, that that could be managed and that was confirmed by the attitude no studies that were done prior to this vote. and what he assured me of, and what all the service chiefs assured me of, is that, regardless of their concerns about disruptions, they were confident that they could implement this policy without it affecting our military cohesion and good discipline and readiness. i take them at their word. i have spoken with them since the vote took place. they have all said that we are going to implement this smartly and swiftly, and they are confident that it will not -- they are confident it will not have an affect on our military readiness. i want to give bob gates and

admiral mullen credit for having guided this process through in a way that preserves our primary responsibility to keep america safe, and at the same time allows us to live up to our values. with respect to the issue of whether gays and lesbians should be able to get married, i have spoken about this recently. as i said, my feelings about this are constantly evolving. i struggle with this. i have friends, people who work for making who are in powerful, strong, long-lasting, gay or lesbian unions, and they are extraordinary people. and this is something that means a lot to them, and they care deeply about. at this point, what i have said is that my baseline is a strong,

civil union that provides them the protections and the legal rights that married couples health. and i think that is the right thing to do. but i recognize from their perspective is not enough, and i think this is something we will continue to debate, and i will personally continue to wrestle with going forward. sa as aii said, this is an issue not unique to the military. this extends to all of our society. i think we're all going to have to have a conversation about this. >> thank you, mr. president, and happy holidays. can you give us an update on that car that -- can you give us an update as to where it is today? what kind of high wage you think it will be driving on in 2011? -- highway do you think it will be driving in 2011 it?

what you think republicans will be sipping and say next year? >> you gave some thought to that question, didn't you? >> i did. >> well, i do think the car is on level ground. the car is the economy. i think we are past the crisis point in the economy, but we have to pick and focus on jobs and growth. my singular focus over the next two years is not rescuing the economy from potential disaster, but rather, jump-start the economy so that we start making a dent in the unemployment rate and we are equipping ourselves so we can compete in the 21st century. and that means we have to focus on education. we have to focus on research and development, innovation, we have to make sure that in every sector, from manufacturing to

clean energy into high-tech to biotech, that we recognize the private sector is going to be the driving force, and what the government can do is to make sure that we are a good partner with them, that we are a facilitator. in some cases, we are a catalyst for a fledgling industry. and that means that we are -- we have to look at some of our old dogmas, both conservatives and liberals, to think about what works. if there are regulations in place that are impeding innovation, let's get rid of those regulations. . let's make sure that we are also protecting consumers and we are protecting the environment, protecting workers in the process, but let's find ways to do business and that helps business. were doubtful about the approach we took to the auto

industry, but that was an example of, there may be occasions during prices were a timely intervention that is restricted can end up making a difference -- during a crisis. i think democrats, republicans, house, senate, the white house, all of us have to be in a conversation with the private sector about what is going to ensure that we can export and sell our products instead of buying exports from someplace else. how do we make sure that green technologies of the future are made in america? and how to we get all of these profits that companies have been making since the economy recovered into productive investment and hiring? that is a conversation that i had with the 20 ceo's who came here. and that is a conversation i exprect to continue. the american people are driving the car. they are the ones that will make

an assessment as to whether we are putting in place policies that are working for them. and both parties are going to be held accountable, and i am going to be held accountable, if we take a wrong turn on that front. you know, my sense is the republicans recognize that, with greater power will come greater responsibility. and some of the progress i think we saw and a lame duck was a recognition on their part that people will be paying attention to what they are doing as well as what i am doing and the democrats in congress are doing. mark? >> yes, sir. mr. president, can you explain the anger many democrats felt when the tax cut bill to extend a tax cuts and not just for the middle class but also for the wealthy? is that a divided you may be contributing to, when you and

the vice president talk about morally in a proper tax cuts for the wealthy? >> look, the frustration that people felt about that was frustration i shared. i said that before. and i will probably say it again. i don't think that over long run, we can afford a series of tax breaks for people who are doing very well and don't need it, were doing well when bill clinton was in office, and there were still rich then and they will still be rich if those tax cuts went away. and so this is going to be a debate we are going to be having over the next couple of years, because i guarantee you, as soon as the new congress is sworn

in, we are going to have to have a conversation about how we start balancing our budget or at least getting to a point that is sustainable when it comes to our deficit and debt. and that is going to require us cutting programs that do not work, but it also requires us to be honest about paying for the things that we think are important. if we think it is important to make sure our veterans are getting the care they need when they come back home from fighting in afghanistan or iraq, we cannot just salute and wish them well and have a veterans day parade. we have to make sure that they re are doctors and nurses and facilities for post-traumatic stress disorder. if we say education is the single most important determinant for our children's success in this countries success in the 21st century, we cannot have schools that are laying off so many teachers that

they start going to four days a week, as they have done in hawaii, for example. we have to make sure that young people can afford to go to college. if we want to keep our competitive edge in innovation, we have got to invest in basic research, the same basic research that resulted in the internet, the same basic research that resulted in gps. all those things originated in research funded by the government. so we are going to have to compare the option of maintaining the tax cuts for the wealthy permanently reverses spending on these things we think are important. and that is a debate that i welcome, but i completely understand why not just democrats but some republicans might think that that part of

the tax package we could have done without her having said that, i want to repeat, -- having said that, a compromise by definition means taking things you do not like. and the overall package was the right one to ensure that this economy has the best possible chance to grow and create jobs. and there is no better anti- party program than an economy that is growing. there is no better deficit reduction program and an economy that is growing and if the economy started contracting, as it might have had we not gotten this tax agreement, then the choices we would have to make would have been tougher. >> [inaudible] middle class? >> i think middle class folks would confirm what statistics say, which is they have not seen a real increase in their incomes

in a decade, while their costs have skyrocketed. that is a fact. people in the top 1%, in the top .01% have a larger share of income and wealth than any time since the 1920's. those are just facts. that is not a feeling on the part of democrats. those are facts, and something that has always been the greatest strength of america is a thriving, booming middle- class, where everybody has a shot at the american dream. that should be our goal. that should be what we are focused on. how are we creating opportunity for everybody, so that we celebrate wealth, we celebrate someone like steve jobs, who has differentwo or three

revolutionary products. we expect that person to be rich and we want that incentive. that is part of the free market. we also want to make sure that those of us who have been extraordinarily fortunate that were contributing to the larger american community so that a whole bunch of other kids coming up are doing well. that means schools that work, infrastructure like roads and airports that function. it means colleges and universities that teach and are not restricted to people can afford it but are open to anybody with talent and a willingness to work. and that is going to be part of the conversation we have to have over the next couple years. carlos lopez. >> gelifeliz navidad.

mr. president, you have been able to fulfil many of your promises. immigration reform is not one of them. the dream at failed -- the dream act failed. how are you going to be able to keep your promise when republicans controlled the house when you have not been able to do so with democrats? when republicans say they want to focus on border security before they do anything on immigration? >> well, let me say there are a number of things i wanted to get accomplished that we did not get accomplished. for example, like a collective bargaining for public safety workers and firefighters. we did not get it done. i am disappointed in that. tothink we're still going have to work out how we work on energy. and that is an area and that i want to immediately engaged with republicans to figure out. but i will tell you, maybe my biggest disappointment was his dream act. i get letters from kids all

across the country. they came here when there were five, came here when they were eight. their parents were undocumented. the kids who did not know. you're going to school like any other american kid, growing up, play football, going to class. they are dreaming about college. and suddenly, they come to 18, 19 years old and they realize, even though i feel american, i am an american, the law does not recognize me as an american. i am willing to serve my country and fight for this country, i want to go to college to better myself, and i am at risk of deportation. and it is heartbreaking.

that can't be who we are. to have kids, our kids, classmates of our children who are suddenly under this shadow of fear, through no fault of their own. they did not break the law. they were kids. so my hope and expectation is that first of all, everybody understands i am determined and this administration is determined to get immigration reform done. it is the right thing to do. i think it involves securing our borders and might administration has done more on border security than any administration in recent years.

we have more of everything, i.c.e., border patrol, surveillance, you name it. so we take border security seriously. and we take going after employers who are exploiting and using undocumented workers, we take that seriously. but we need to reform this immigration system. we are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. at minimum, we should be able to get the dream act done. i will engage with republicans who i think some of them in their heart of hearts know it is the right thing to do, but they think the politics is tought for for them. that may mean that i have to spend some time talking to the american people and others have to spend time talking to the american people, because i think the american people live any of

these kids, they probably do, they may not know their status. there is a, of course we want you -- they would say, of course we want you. that's who we are. that is the better angels of our nature. one thing i hope people have seen during this lame-duck, i am persistent. i am persistent. if i believe in something strongly, i stay on it. and i believe strongly in this. and i am happy to engage with republicans about, if they have ideas about more on the border security, i am happy to have that conversation. and i think that it is absolutely inappropriate for the american people to expect that we do not have porous borders, anybody can come in here any time.

that is legitimate. but i also think about those kids, and i want to do right by them. and i think the country is going to want to do right by them as well. mike? >> thank you, mr. president. merry christmas. guantanamo, sir. i understand a draft of an executive order is being prepared. i do not expected to comment. it has not got into debt. it makes me wonder where you are on at guantanamo. when closing it was one of your initial priorities. >> obviously, we have not gotten it closed. let me step back and explain that the reason for wanting to close guantanamo was because my number one priority is keeping the american people safe. one of the most powerful tools we have to keep the american seat -- american people say it is not providing al qaeda recruiting tools to for fledling

gling terrorists. guantanamo is the number one recruitment tool that is used by these jihadist organizations. we see it in the web sites that they put up, and the messages they deliver. so my belief is that we can keep the american people save, go after those who would be engaged in terrorism, and my administration has been as aggressive in going after al qaeda is and the administration out there. and we have seen progress, as i noted during the afghan review. every intelligence report we are seeing shows al qaeda is hunkered down. that they have reduced financing capacity, reduce operational capacity.

it is much more difficult for their top folks to communicate, and a lot of those top folks cannot communicate because they are on the ground now. but it is important for us, even as we are going aggressively after the bad guys, to make sure we are living up to our ideals and principles. and that is what closing guantanamo is about. not because i think that the people who are running guantanamo are doing a bad job, but rather, because it is becoming a symbol. we can do just as good a job housing somewhere else. the issue you have about the review. you are right. i will not comment right now under review i have not received yet. i can tell you that over the last two years, despite not having close guantanamo, we have been trying to put our battle against terrorists within a

legal structure that is consistent with our history of rule of law, and we succeeded on a number of fronts. one of the toughest problems is what to do with people that we know are dangerous, that we know have engaged in terrorist activity, are proclaimed enemies of the united states, but because of the manner in which they were originally captured, the circumstances are right after 9/11 in which they were interrogated, it becomes difficult to try them, whether in a article iii court or in a military commission. releasing them at this stage could potentially create greater danger for the american people. and so, how we manage that? and that is what this team has been looking at. are there ways to make sure

these folks have lawyers, to make sure these folks have the opportunity to challenge their detention, but at the same time making sure we are not simply releasing folks who could do us a grievous harm and have shown a capacity and willingness to engage in verbal attacks in the past? and so, when i get that report, i am sure that i will have more comments on it. the bottom line is that striking this balance between our security and making sure that we are consistent with our values and our constitution is not an easy task, but ultimately that is what is required for practical reasons, because the more people are reminded of what makes america special, the fact that we stand for something beyond just our economic power, but we have these core ideals

that we observe even when it is hard, that is one of our most powerful weapons. i want to make sure we do not lose that weapon in what is a serious struggle. with that, everybody, i wish you all a merry christmas, happy holidays, happy new year. see you in 2011. >> on tomorrow's "washington journal", census bureau director robert groves, the president of the alzheimer's foundation of america, and a look at the economic forecast. "washington journal" begins live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> it is a three day holiday weekend on "book tv."

the latest nonfiction titles and others, including jimmy carter, rick atkinson and on "after words," jane smiley on the man who changed the world. the man who invented the computer. find the complete schedule metcalat booktv.org. >> the senate today ratified a nuclear arms treaty with russia known as start. in a 71-256 votes. after the vote, a john kerry and richard lugar spoke to reporters. this is 15 minutes. >> that will move our country to a stronger and safer position and away from the brink of nuclear potential disaster.

>> i want to emphasize this was a bipartisan vote. it represented senators coming together to do america's business. there are no winners on one side or the other. this is a victory for the american people, a victory for our country, and a victory for all those people invested in making the world safer by reducing the threat of nuclear weapons. i am particularly grateful to my partner in this effort, richard lugar, who has been one of our national leaders on non- proliferation for years and years. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i join the chairman in rejoicing for not only the american people and the security of our country but likewise for people all over the world who

count upon our leadership, our ability to work in a bipartisan way when it is in our national interests and in the interests of world peace. as i commented in my final statement on the treaty, i've been in russia frequently for the last 19 years. we have often been working with the arms control treaties, but frequently with the russians, who wanted to work with the united states, who were prepared to show to us those things that might be destroyed. and we have a large scorecard in my office and all -- of all of the war had taken off of missiles, silo's blown up, submarines destroyed. this was well beyond the arms control treaty. but the treaty set the stage for engagement, not just the members of the administration but american contractors, scientists, other people who have worked with the russians who also want to contain the

problems of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, chemical, and biological. this is a very important step. i am hopeful that the russian duma will act soon. there are some accounts that the press and rosset -- press in russia has given that they might act during this calendar year. that would be a signal victory for both of our countries and the world and will set the stage for a very productive arms control talks on various other aspects we have discussed today. so i think the chairman for the opportunity to work with him and with the committee that i believe has had a remarkable two years in this congress. we look forward to more to come. >> any quick questions? >> closing arguments. [inaudible]

perhaps this is the final arms treaty and you will move on to other types -- to address other types of threats. >> i think it's a fairly dark view to suggest there will not be any ability to have further arms control treaties on a bilateral basis. the world is a tinderbox when it comes to the various types of weapons that are around, so we need to continue to work at that. but clearly, he was sending a signal about the process. i think it is going to be very important to try to establish an understanding of what that process is going to be, how we can proceed. and i am, i think there are some very creative ways in which we could read-think and re-tools some of the approach to the question of weapons and how we deal with them.

it is not necessarily have to be through a treaty, but there are other treaties i can envision that could have an impact. we will explore this in committee. we will look at it carefully and work with the senators to define the process. >> a question about republicans. a lot people were on the fence in the gop. were you surprised with the gop support in the end? >> i was pleased. it appears that 1/3 voted for the treaty. i would only say that is, as many of you have reported, a very strong statement that president obama has made throughout the world, the leadership it that he and the vice president have given, but i would likewise say that on the republican side, we have been attempting to do a good job for many years are in our arms -- on

arms control. there are many of us that have been armed and worked in a bipartisan way within the committee. i think that was respected. even if my colleagues decided for a variety of reasons to vote no. i think they appreciate the spirit with which the debate was conducted. a lot of times there is a call for civility even with very contentious issues. this was contentious. as you heard, the post? alexian argument. a new congress has been elected. -- a post-election argument. this congress is no longer representing the people. some of us still are. i would just say that, as opposed to that type of sentiment, that we finally came to a conclusion that is worked out by senator kerry, senator mccain and kyl, of ways in which amendments could be accepted

that reinforce their position. >> you said -- 70 was the new 95. >> 71 is 98. [laughter] >> and kind of sense you have from the duma? >> i thin k senator richard lugar's comments stand on that. it could be this calendar year. [inaudible] >> where does this fit as the president moves forward? >> it is an enormously important measure of credibility for the president. it's always hard to talk about this on the floor of the senate, and particularly if you are locked into partisanship, but the reality is that any president's ability to sit down with leaders and -- in another country and to say to them, if we agreed to x, y, and z, i can

deliver, is critical. if leaders look at the president and say that he is not going to be able to make this happen, they will be far less willing to put themselves into an agreement which requires them to do something. so this was a very, very important measure for the president in terms of his ability to move america's agenda on a global basis. an example of that is the next extension of what happens with iran. these tougher sanctions came about because of the reset button between president and get it and president obama -- president medvedev. the second thing that i think it does is that it makes a

statement about the united states of america as a whole, not just the president. it says that we are a country that even in contentious times, ors came 71 senate together and went ahead and articulated the direction that the united states wants to go with respect to nuclear weapons carried that is going to be critical in shaping opinion on a global basis. believe me, i will be in the middle east in early january, and possibly in pakistan, afghanistan, among other places. i am convinced already that this will have an impact on our discussions. >> as the two of you working together. how important was a that you had a republican ranking member working for the treaty? >> indispensable. it was -- i'd call it the sine

qua non of being able to afford on the treaty. -- to move forward on the treaty. >> the administration has applied $84 billion over 10 years. how should we pay for that? should be cut the defense byr to it? -- the defense budget/ >> we will come back next january. i will say something in early january, my sense of where we will go. but we will have some of the toughest choices that we face over the long haul regarding our fiscal situation. our national security is our national security. if we can afford to do that, we can always afford to do that. i believe, as you know, there was $70 billion already

committed. what we have done is response to our experts who told us that if we do not do x, y, and z, our deterrent would be impacted. that differential is not going to be hard to find in the context of the overall budget. we will look at everything next year as far as i'm concerned. but what i'm deeply concerned about is that we do not get locked into just one ideological approach to how we are going to resolve the fiscal crisis, there we understand that long-term investment in america, particularly to create the kinds of jobs we need to create in order to compete in the rest of, the world is not a spending measure. it is an investment. and it will repay itself many times over. if we can approach that within the next year with that sensitivity, i think you will find people more disposed to making some tough choices, including touching and looking

at and evaluating some of the so-called third rails. >> i would add to that answer by saying that one of the values of the start mechanism is that because we had boots on the ground and we had a good idea of russian developments, we did not spend billions of dollars during the last two decades on all sorts of armaments and that we would have, if we simply did not know what was there. that is an important point about this treaty. i heard much conversation about the real threat is iran or north korea. well, still, we are talking about a limit of 1550 nuclear warheads prepar. with one of them being enough to annihilate the city in which we live, indianapolis, indiana, for example.

that has not gone away. in order to figure out how to spend our defense money, we need to know as much as possible, with boots on the ground, american contractors, so that we get it right and we do not spend money needlessly. i think we have made we have made a vast economy on that basis in the last two decades. >> given that there was so much republican opposition to this, one of their arguments was that doing this in a lame duck with a lot of senators on their way out did not lend the legitimacy that it could have had otherwise. you think this leaves this open to be relitigated? >> i think maybe dick lugar wants to speak to that. under our constitution, the united states senate has the responsibility for dealing with the treaty. the duly sworn senators all

considered this treaty. i congratulate those that are elected this year, but they are not senators. they are not senators until next year. they had nothing to do with the evolution of this treaty. they have not been to one hearing or one briefing. they do not know anything about the in depth details that the senate was charged with responsibility of doing this year. we did that. it was entirely, completely, and only appropriate that this senate be the one that dealt with its own work for this year. and there will be things in the future that the next congress can deal with. moreover, 2/3 of the united states senate was not up for election. and that 2/3 into a large degree has spoken in this treaty. so the fact you have an election

does not suddenly derail the responsibility of the senate. there is only one reason this to the not donep prior election or the summer break, and that is because of friends on the other side of the aisle requested that it not be. we ceded to that. you cannot ask for the delays and then, and blamed the delays. >> [inaudible] >> last question; >n. >> what about the closeness of this vote, and the majority of the democrats will be reduced for the test ban treaty? >> i said months ago to the president, vice president, and to the administration that the test ban treaty and the current atmosphere is very, very

difficult process. a whole lot of educating has to go on for all of us, with our laboratory experts as to what the status of the stockpile is and precisely where we land. now, some people will oppose it automatically. others will go to the same kind of analysis we did this time. we will have to go through that in a very meticulous, very careful way, laying the predicate over a long period of time. i believe that we may be able to begin down the road towards some other paradigms' even as we are working on that process. i think it's way too early to not to scope out what's going to happen with it.

we have a lot of preparatory work to do before we contemplate that. >> an argument made by some of our colleagues against this treaty was that president obama gave a speech in which he talked about a nuclear free world and won the nobel peace prize a while back. there were some orators in one party or the other who said, this is one treaty after another. first of all, you take up the new start, and move on to stage two and three. analysis. my own counsel to some of these dear friends is that you have no idea how difficult it will be to gain ratification of the new start. this is not going to be chapter one accomplished by april 15, and three months later you try

something else. i think they are believers now. they appreciate that this is important works. it takes months of hearings and education, in which we all learned a great deal more. i would not want to jump ahead at this point. it is just the reality, that there may in fact be some further negotiations. and the chairman and others have suggested that with regard to a smaller missile or various other aspects, but that is why we will be back to the table with the russians. they may not be a monumental trees, but there will be important -- they may not be monumental treaties, but they will be important. >> on that note, very, very hpaappy holidays.

merry christmas to you, happy hanukkah, happy new year, and to all good night -- a good night. [laughter] >> senators jim demint and jame s inhoff both opposed to start treating. this is 15 minutes. ourselves here this time of year, but there are obviously very important issues to discuss. november 2 americans made a pretty historic statement. after two years of many things being crammed down their throat that they didn't like, they made historic changes in the house and in the senate. and i think all expectations

were that a new congress would come in and begin to change things. very few americans, and i think very few of us here in the senate, actually thought that we would use the time between that election and the swearing in of the new members of congress to continue to cram through more things that america doesn't want. most businesses have learned, if they ever have to make the difficult decision of firing someone, that it's very important that that person be sent home right away. because getting fired often makes people angry, less loyal obviously to the company that fired them, and instead of dealing with all the mischief that might occur, the fired employee is sent home right away. we're a fired congress, in a lot of ways.

america has sent us home. many people who set the policies for the last two years have been unelected. some have retired. but the decisions that are being made now in this congress are decisions being made by people who have either retired or have been turned out of office. and so much is being pushed through because of the fear here that if we actually let the newly elected congressmen and senators be sworn in before we take up these important issues, that they will actually reflect the opinions of the american people and stop what we're doing. so we have decided to use this lame-duck session to push many things through, a very unaccountable congress. we tried to push through a huge omnibus spending bill with thousands of earmarks, exactly the thing that americans have said, "no more." but thankfully republicans stood together to stop that.

we needed to extend our current tax rates, but in order to get even a temporary extension, we in the minority had to agree to more deficit spending. and in this lame-duck session, we've pushed our political correctness onto our military by repealing don't ask, don't tell, without the proper studies, without the proper phase-in time, no rational approach to this. it was diswrus a check-the-box -- it was just a check-the-box, another political payback. another act of amnesty, the dream act was brought up. republicans stood up against something that again avoided the big issue of border security. this congress has continuously reject led the idea of carrying through on our own law to complete the double layer of fencing that we put into law to help protect the southern border. thousands of people are being killed on the border because we

refuse to take action. yet we're continuing to try to expand the problem with more amnesty and citizenship and public benefits to those who came here illegally. and the threat is now to keep us here until christmas or beyond to pass what we're calling a 9/11 bill. every member of this chamber, republicans and democrats, want to do what's right for the first responders who may have been injured after 9/11. but we owe it to the american people to be accountable to ow we -- how we spend money to. put a bill on the floor in an unaccountable, lame-duck congress that that i has not ben through hearings when we don't know how the millions of dollars, how they've been used that we've already given to the same cause, certainly it is worth hearings on how to spend taxpayer money effectively in a

way that will help the people that have been injured. but, no, we've got to push that through in a fired, unaccountable congress. and of course now the big issue of the day is somehow in a time of economic recession and so many people being out of work that we want to use this lame-duck, unaccountable congress to push through a major arms control treaty with russia. somehow that ended up on the top of our priority list, using christmas as a backstop to try to force us to pass this bill. it's pretty interesting how this has progressed. the bill had no chance of passing. the treaty had no chance of ratification until the president agreed to billions of dollars of modernization of our nuclear weapons. folks, we've got to stop and ask ourselves, why should we have to have backroom trading going on to modernize our nuclear weapons? this should be something the president is committed to, we're

committed to. we should not have to trade for modernization. but now we appear to have enough republicans who've decided that this is a good treaty to ratify, a few days before christmas in a fired, unaccountable congress. with the need to push it through before america's representatives actually get here at the 1st of january. the sense here is if we let the people america just elected come, that maybe the fret will need some modifications. -- that maybe the treaty will need some modifications. there have been some things expressed here about the treaty. some very legitimate. clearly russian defense is a problem. the russians have expressed that americans cannot deliver any kind of missile defense system under this treaty. we say, no, no. we're going through all kinds of language to put things in nonbinding areas of this agreement to say, oh, we're

really committed or we're going to communicate to the russians that we're really committed. bur we even -- we're unwilling to put it in the preamble that there's no linkage between thevestment our missile defense system and this treaty agreement. clearly, there is a linkage. the russians believe there is a linkage. all the correspondents from the president-- --all the correspondence from the president says, liltrd linkage. we never could get the records to confirm that. but everything suggests that there is an implicit and explicit agreement that america will not attempt to develop a missile defense system capable of defending against russian missiles. perhaps capable of defending against a rogue missile launch, an accidental missile launch. but the language of this treaty, the communications from the white house, the hearings all say that we will only have a limited missile defense system. so there should be no mistake, there should be no confusion,

the agreement to this treaty is an agreement for america not to develop a comprehensive missile defense system. if that's satisfactory, then let's ratify. clearly, there's some holes in the verification process of this treaty. the growing, and biggest threat are tactical nuclear weapons, shorter-range missiles, ground-based, subbased are not even included here in this agreement. so the russians are fine with this. they were going down to the same long-range missile account that we require in this treaty anyway. they give up nothing. we don't restrict any of their tactical developments. the verification is less stringent than it was in start i, fewer inspections, and the ability to actually look at things like telemetry are obviously omitted here. so we really can't ratify this treaty with any pretense that america's going to be any safer. in fact, i think the biggest problem with this treaty is the

whole presumption that it's built on is that america should be at parity with russia. and we've talked about it here in this chamber that we do not have the same role as russia in this world. russia is a protector of none and a threat to many. america is a protector of many and a threat to none. over 30 countries live in peace under our nuclear umbrella. but we're saying we're going to reduce it, with a lot of questions of whether or not we're going to modernize it. and we're telling our allies that tactical nuclear weapons are not going to be restricted in any way, which is probably their biggest concern because of their contiguous location to -- to russia. a senator: will the senator yield? mr. demint: yes. mr. inhofe: for a question. when you talk about the -- the

missile defense aspect of this, has it occurred to a lot of people that maybe this treaty's with the wrong people. i mean, we know right now that iran is going to have the capability -- this is not even classified -- have the capability of -- of a nuclear weapon, a delivery system by 2015. and i think one of the worst things for america that this president did was take down the site that we were planning in poland that would give us this protection. my point i'm going to say and ask is that in the event that this is -- is ratified and that we are restricted in any way from developing further our missile defense system, doesn't that put us directly in an impaired position in terms of north korea, maybe syria, but definitely iran, who has already indicated and already has the capability of reaching us by that time? it's interesting that that site

would have been effective to knock down a missile coming from iran by 2015, the same year that our intelligence tells us they're going to have that capability? isn't that the threat that we're concerned about more than russia? mr. demint: well, mr. president, i want to thank the senator from oklahoma for bringing out another very important point. we're laser-focused on this treaty with russia that obviously restricts our ability to develop missile defense, yet we all seem to acknowledge that the greatest growing threat in this country is from iran and north korea and other rogue -- rogue nations that can -- can develop nuclear technology. and it's almost like a magician play here of getting us to look at one hand while other things are going on. we're really not paying attention to the nation's business here. and i'm afraid what this is is another "check the box," a foreign policy victory for the administration, which if it did

not have so many questions related to it, that would be fine. but to jam this through in a fired, unaccountable congress, rushing it through before the representatives that america just sent here are sworn in, and doing it as part of a list of -- of legislation, a long list over the last two years of things that america just does not want. i want good relations with russia and countries all over the world but i'm afraid this is part of a continued effort of accommodation and appeasement, that if we show weakness, other countries will accommodate us. we need russia to cooperate and -- with russia and north korea. folks, i don't think this is the way to get it, and i don't think we're going to gain respect for our process of trying to do this under the cover of a distraction of a major holiday, with a lame duck, unaccountable congress. and the way this is being

presented, it's kind of a mockery of the debate process here in the senate. we're not amending a treaty. we were told at the outset, it's take it or leave it. the russians are negotiating clearly from a position of strength because they said, here's the treaty, take or leave it, any changes and the treaty is dead s. that th -- is dead. is that the way america needs to deal with other countries? is that the way the senate should debate a major arms control agreement, where the majority party is saying, you can go talk about it if you want but we're going to kill every amendment, even though we say we agree with a lot of them there, will be no dmaing changes in th, we're trying to stick some things in the areas of the treaty that have no binding aspect and say we've covered it when we're making a mockery of the whole debate and ratification process. in an unaccountable, fired

congress, cover the christmas, in a debate where we've been told "take it or leave it." folks, this is not what the senate's about. this is not what congress is supposed to be about. certainly we should not be passing major legislation at this time of year with this congress. so, mr. president, i appreciate the opportunity to speak. i still hope my colleagues will come to their senses and show the american people that we're going to act in a responsible way that respects what they told us on november 2, and that this congress needs to go, a new one needs to come in. we need to stop cramming things down their throat that they don't want. with t gosh russian television reported done between e. this is 20 minutes. -- >> russian television reported on the treaty.

this is 20 minutes. >> thank you for being with us, it is 11:00 p.m. in moscow. within the last minute, that news coming through that the senate has finally approved the new nuclear arms reduction treaty with russia after months of intense partisan wrangling on capitol hill. the voting in the end his 71 votes of 100 senators. it needed 67 to pass. it seems according to this very early stage that it has gotten through. but to bring the correspondents into the story. theet's bring correspondents into the story. could you confirm what i was telling the power of the worst

-- our viewers? 71 senators out of 100 voted yes. >> 26 against, it was a big day for everyone had a lot of people here in the u.s. pushing so hard for the ratification. for the presidents and senators that have been on the senate floor over the last seven days, what do we get? we have some significant reductions on the way. over the next 10 years, they will cut their nuclear arsenal to 1/-- by 1/3. even with those cuts, the countries will still hold more than 90% of the world's nuclear

weapons. the value of this arms reduction treaty is not just in production, it is in the trust and cooperation between the nuclear superpowers. all the members of the president's administration were calling for senators and dr. ruin this opportunity for u.s.- russia relations -- four senators not to ruin this opportunity for u.s. relations. -- u.s.-russia relations. it was opened. iran, europe has been very vocal about the fact that the building blocks with russia ring is the u.s. only benefits. -- and brings the u.s. only benefits.

>> russia's turned to follow suit. -- turn to follow suit. >> moscow will applaud the outcome. yesterday, when we were still talking -- today, we are talking done deal. and of course, moscow has been watching. the vote was more about the u.s. credibility abroad rather than of russia's. they assured barack obama that russian law makers were ratifying hit as soon as it was clear and that the u.s. said voted in favor of it. it was just -- the u.s. senate voted in favor of it.

republicans and democrats had blamed each other for forgetting because this treaty was signed by the president's. there have been these lengthy processes of an identification. -- authentication. they come out as winners. the global nuclear stockpile, the question is whether everyone else will follow. they finally ratified this crucial document days before christmas and the years. >> you also mentioned it, you can't underestimate the rocky ath that this treeaty had to

survive at the end of the day. how difficult did get to the end of the dead? tell us more about the background here. -- how difficult did it to get at the end of the day? >> as we all know, the way through the senate was so difficult. a way to undermine the treaty without having to have arguments against it, probably just to get back at obama. they wanted to rewrite the language of the treaty that could have actually killed the treaty. they wanted to take up this line, the connection between offensive and defensive weapons. many experts will tell you that the connection is obvious. they were saying exactly that.

republican senators were speaking to the point -- sticking to the point that it would make the u.s. unable to defend itself. that is not the case. as long as it doesn't reach the agreement they have -- or breach the agreement they have. for russia, this new entry -- and this new treaty is all about -- [unintelligible] russia made it very clear that they are and as long as the united states respects that precious ballots. >> -- balance. between theial it is i two countries?

>> it has been a long time coming. the treaty expired and there were skeptics [unintelligible] and the countries will start increasing their nuclear stockpile. this did not happen. moscow and washington managed to agree. it took almost 20 years before the combination of intense talks between the delegation of both countries. there were face-to-face conversations between obama and president medviedev. what complicated matters worse was the placement of missile defense systems in eastern europe and poland and romania.

but still, the two presidents managed to find a way to sign the new strategic arms reduction treehouse with pomp and ceremony. they were well aware [unintelligible] just as expected, this lengthy process follows the united states of america specifically. it has been a tremendous victory refer both sides. -- for both sides. many say that by ratifying this treaty, it is the largest step in u.s.-russia relations. >> a lot of political observers

say this is the icing on the cake, it will submit -- cement the relations between them. >> the treaty is crucial. they will have to cut the nuclear arsenals by 1/3. the strategic nuclear war has hit for the rest of the world. that means they will also be proud of furred defensive systems. [unintelligible] it is something that they long insisted upon. in the vast machine of nuclear war is still with us.

the nuclear technology bubble, and of course, moscow and washington are leading by example. they say it is not a security asset, but a liability. the biggest challenge is to stop the nuclear technology from spreading worldwide. today, the treaty is a very crucial document. >> thank you for bringing us up to date. let me bring you up-to-date. if you have just been joined us on the breaking news. the u.s. senate has finally approved the new nuclear arms reduction treaty with russia. presidents both signed the agreement in april, but it has been bogged down across the

atlantic. the dealers say it is a cornerstone to renew u.s.-russia relations. right up to this vote, there was fear that they could prevent the deal over domestic issues and at the end of the day, they did not. the treaty will be finally sealed and it will ratify the process. it replaces the one sign to nearly 20 years ago. -- and signed nearly 20 years ago. it ensures compliance. this new treaty is the successor to the 1991 strategic arms treaty. we are joined by charles from the council of foreign relations in washington d.c. tonight.

this treaty finally approved. what does it say about obama's read on congress? >> it is a feather in obama's kathy, the midterms did not go his way. he had this lame duck congress where he tried to set a lot of things on course and he succeeded. not only this treaty, but the repeal of the don't ask, don't tell policy and how the compromise with the republicans on the tax cut issue. egos and the 2011 with a lot of wind in his sales. he has the domestic side, he has the foreign policy. it does not mean it is smooth sailing, but it is certainly a boost of his political momentum for the time being. >> president obama promises that this treaty will not let the defense plans, but republican

senators still see it as some sort of link between the new start treaty at the missile shielding. why are they complaining that the two -- comparing the two? >> what was simply partisanship, and some republicans felt that this treaty was being rushed and that they had been pushed on taxes and pushed on health care and pushed on the issue of gays in the military. they were pushing back on the start treaty. the top of the republican -- between missile defense and the preamble. the bottom line is, russia may

object or it may not. in that respect, many of the republicans who voted yes correctly saw that there was no significant linkage between the missile defense issue in the arms control issue. >> a swift reaction from russia. they have greeted the decision as he would very much expect. who do you think president obama ever thought there and be so much stalling on this and congress -- in congress? >> most arms control agreements on sale through the senate with very few objections. i don't think it was clear that there would be significant opposition. it was clear that the republican party has really changed over the last couple of decades, much more uncomfortable with treaty ratification.

obama suddenly found himself facing an uphill battle. it is also important to say that the significance of the treaty is much larger than the implication for arms control. it gives a lot of momentum and a boost to the broader recess. it puts the president on course to cooperate on a whole host of issues. this might be seen as the turning point in which the russia-u.s. rivalry is finally ratlaid to rest. we are turning the page in the right direction. >> there is a footnote, but a treaty will have to be looked at closely by the russian foreign office and the foreign ministry. know what to see any big

problems with that, but the devil was in the details, isn't it? obama [unintelligible] >> only a few weeks ago, the issue was very much in play. it was not clear that they would be able to get 2/3 of the senate, particularly after the midterms. the republicans felt that they had momentum on their side. the tea party is a pretty right away caucus within the republican party and was skeptical. there were a few weeks where there was great concern in the white house that the treaty could be slipping away. over the last 46 hours or so, the ducks started coming into the row.

the democrats vowed that they had enough of moderates to put together the 71 votes, more than the 2/3 needed to ratify the treaty. >> thank you for your thoughts on the council of foreign relations. if you have just joined us, the breaking news at the bottom of your screen is that the u.s. senators have now voted to ratify the much delayed nuclear arms reduction treaty. the headline figures [unintelligible] on the russian side, the headline is that the warheads deployed will be reduced to 1150.

we have been out of an agreement since last december, just over a year. it also limits the number of deployed and non-deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine launched ballistic missiles. and also heavy bombers equipped with nuclear armaments, they have been limited to 800 on each side. the figures if you have missed them, and it got through with more than the 2/3 majority needed. 67 votes needed, the vote was 71. that is the big story tonight. we will bring you more as we get it.

and also on our website. >> this morning, president obama signed a bill repealing the dundas, don't tell policy that prohibited gays from serving openly in the military. the implementation of the new policy is expected to take a minimum of several months. it occurred at the department of the interior headquarters in washington. [applause] >> how are you? it is a good day. a real good day. some of my colleagues can tell you, this was a long time coming

but i am happy it is here. ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. it was a great five-star general and president dwight eisenhower that said cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace. by repealing don't ask, don't tell today, and we adjust fairness and consideration. that is the real cooperation that president eisenhower spoke of. this was an important campaign promise that the president and i made. and many of you have fought for it for a long time. repealing the policy that actually weakens our national security, diminishes our ability

to have military readiness, and violated the fundamental american principle of fairness and equality. the same set of principles that brave gay men and women will now be able to openly defend around the world. [applause] >> it is both morally and militarily the right thing to do. it is particularly important at this result was fully supported by those in the military who are charged with implementing it. i want to pay particular respect -- a point of personal privilege, admiral mullen.

you're a stand-up guy. [applause] i think they like you. [applause] he already has enough power. [laughter] it could not have been done without these men and women

leading our military. it certainly could not have been done without the steady, dedicated, and persistent leadership of the president of the united states. [applause] mr. president. by signing this bill, you will be linking military might with an abiding sense of justice. you will be projecting power by promoting fairness and making be indicted states military as strong as it can be in a time where we needed to be the strongest. ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and commander in chief, barack obama. [applause]

>> yes, we can! yes, we can! >> thank you. yes, we did. >> thank you, mr. president. >> you are welcome. this is a good day. >> yes it is. [yelling] [laughter] >> thank you. thank you.

[laughter] i am just overwhelmed. this is a very good day. [applause] and i want to thank all of you. especially the people on this stage. but each and everyone of you that have been working so hard on this. i could not be prouder. 56 years ago, and the dense, snow-covered forests of western europe, allied forces were beating back a massive assault in what would become known as the battle of the bulge. and in the final days of the fighting, a regiment in the east division of the third army came

under fire. the men were traveling along a narrow trail. they were exposed and vulnerable. hundreds of soldiers were cut down by the enemy. during the firefight, a private tumbled 40 feet down the deep side of the ravine. dazed and attract, he was as good as dead. but one soldier, a friend, turned back. with shells around him amid smoke and chaos and the screams of wounded men, the soldier, this friend scale down the icy slope, risking his own life to bring the private to safer ground.

for the rest of his years, he credited this soldier, this friend with saving his life. knowing he would never have made hot out alone. it was for decades after the war -- four decades after the war that he learned that the man who saved his life, his friend andy, was gay. he had no idea. indeed didn't much care. he knew what mattered. he knew what had kept him alive and what made it possible for him to come home and start a family, live the rest of his life. it was his friend.

his son is with us today. he knew his valor and sacrifice are no more limited by sexual orientation than by race, gender, religion, hoare krieg. what made it possible for him to survive the battlefield of europe is the reason that we are here today. [applause] that is the reason we are here today. [applause] this morning, i am proud to cite a lot that will bring an end the don't ask, don't tell. [applause] -- sign a law that will bring an

end to don't ask, don't tell. it will strengthen national security in double the ideals that men and women risk their lives to defend. no longer will our country be denied the service of thousands of patriotic americans that were forced to leave the military regardless of their skills. no matter the years of exemplary performance. no longer will they be asked to live a lie. or look over their shoulder and ordered to serve the country that they love -- in order to serve the country that they love. [applause] admiral mike mullen has said that our people sacrificed a lot for their country.

including their lives. the of them should have to sacrifice their integrity as well. -- none of them should have to sacrifice their integrity as well. [applause] that is why i believe it is the right thing to do for our military, that is why i believe it is the right thing to do period. many thought long and hard to reach this day. i want to think the democrats and republicans that put conviction ahead of politics to get this done together. [applause] i want to recognize nancy pelosi. [applause]

steny hoyer. [applause] and harry reid. [applause] today, we are marking an historic milestone and the most productive years in the history of congress. in no small part because of their leadership. we are very grateful for that. [applause] i want to thank joe lieberman. [applause] and susan collins. [applause]

and i think carl levin is still working. [laughter] but i want to add car levin. [applause] they held their shoulders to the wheel of in the senate. i'm proud of susan davis. [applause] and a guy you might know, barney frank. [applause] they kept up the fight in the house. i have got to a knowledge patrick murphy -- [applause]

>> hi also want to commend our military leadership. and they don't ask, don't tell was a topic in my first meeting with secretary gates, admiral mollen, in the joint chiefs.

we talked about how to end this policy, we talked about how success and of passing in implementing this change depended on working closely with the pentagon. that is what we did. i am confident that history will remember well the courage and vision of secretary gates. [applause] of admiral mike mullen that spoke from the heart and said what he believed was right. [applause]

of general james cartwright, the vice chairman of the joint chiefs, a deputy secretary who was here. also, the authors of the pentagon's review. they were just outstanding with meticulous work. [applause] and all of those that laid the groundwork for this transition. and finally, i want to express my gratitude to the men and women in this room who have worn the uniform of the united states armed services. [applause]

i want to thank all of the patriots that are here today. all of them who were forced to hang up their uniforms as a result of don't ask, don't tell. but never stop fighting for this country into rallied and marched and fought for change. i want to thank everyone that stood with them in that fight. because of these efforts, in the coming days, we will begin the process laid out by this law. the policy remains in effect until secretary gates, admiral mollen, and i certify the to supportreadiness that. it is important for everyone to remember that.

they are committed to implementing the change swiftly and efficiently. we will not be dragging our feet to get this done. [applause] with any change, there is apprehension. that is natural. as commander in chief, i am certain that we can affect the transition in a way that only strengthen our military readiness. the people will look back and wonder why it was ever a source of controversy in the first place. i have every confidence in the professionalism and patriotism of our service members have just as they have grown stronger with each of the other changes.

i know they will do so again. the secretary gates, admiral mollen, and a vast majority of the other's share this view. including the experience of serving with her dedicated service members that were also gay, there is one special operations were fighter, this was one of my favorites. it echoes the experience decades earlier. we have a gay guy in the of it. he's big, he is mean, he kills lots of bad guys. volunteered that he was gay. and i think that sums up perfectly the situation. [applause]

i want to the fate of the men and women currently serving in our military. for a long time, your service has demanded a particular kind of sacrifice. you have been asked to carry the added burden of secrecy and isolation. all the while, you put your lives on the line for citizenship that is not fully granted to you. while today marks the end of a particular struggle that has lasted almost 20 years, this is more than two centuries in the making. there will never be a full accounting of the heroism demonstrated by americans. their service has been obscured in history had a loss to present -- prejudices -- and lost to present this is -- prejudices.

gay americans fought just as hard and gave just as much. there can be little doubt there were gay soldiers that fought for american independence. the consecrated the ground in gettysburg. amanda the trenches along the western front to storm the beaches of iwo jima. their names are etched into the walls of the memorials. their headstones got the grounds at arlington. as the first-generation to serve openly in the armed forces, you will stand for all of those that came before you. he will serve as role models. five of you will fulfil this responsibility with integrity and honor, just as you have

every other mission with which you have been charged. you need to look no further than the service men and women in this room. distinguished officers. [applause] marines like one of the first americans in iraq. [applause] leaders like captain jonathan hawkins had led the initial invasion following an ethnic riots and earning a bronze star in the valley.

he was discharged only to receive e-mail and letters from his soldiers saying they had known he was gay all along. and thought that he was the best commander they ever had. there are -- there are a lot of stories like these. stories that only underscore the importance of enlisting the service hall all who are willing to fight for this country. that is why i hope that those soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines that have been discharged under this discriminatory policy will reenlist when this is implemented. [applause]

that is why i say to all americans, gay or straight that was nothing more to defend this country, and your country needs you, we want you, it would be honored to welcome yogh into the ranks of the finest military the world has ever known. [applause] some of you remember i visited afghanistan just a few weeks ago. while i was walking along, this big crowd of about 3000, a young woman in uniform was shaking my hand and other people or taking pictures. she pulled me into a hug and whispered in my ear, but don't ask, don't tell the -- get don't ask, don't tell done.

i said to her, i promise you i will. we are not a nation that says don't ask, don't tell. we are a nation that says we are many, we are one. we welcome the service of every patriot. we are a nation that believes that all men and women are created equal. those are the ideals that generations have fought for, those are the ideals that we all pulled today. it is my honor to sign this into law. [applause]

[applause]

>> u.s.a.! u.s.a.! ♪ [applause]

♪

♪

♪

♪ >> tomorrow on washington journal, the census bureau director, robert groves.

also, eric hall and michael niemira. >> it did a three-day holiday weekend on "booktv." jimmy carter, michael korda, -- find the complete holiday schedule at booktv.org. signup to get our schedule in nailed to your in box. >> the c-span network. we provide coverage of political affairs and american history. it is available to you on television, radio, online, and on social immediate networking site. find our content any time on c- span bawdry video library.

we take c-span on the road with our local content vehicle. it is washington your way -- the c-span networks. now available in more than 100 million homes. >> on wednesday, the senate passed a bill to compensate 9/11 rescue workers at ground zero in new york who became ill. the measure approved $4.20 billion over five years to pay for health coverage for affected workers. kristin senator's gillibrand and chuck schumer spoke at this news conference in washington. this is 45 minutes. [laughter] [applause]

[crowd chanting "u.s.a."] [applause] >> you start with us through thick and thin. >> christmas is here.

>> this is a day of celebration. the good guys won. [applause] i have been so impressed with the legislative efforts of the new york delegation, led by schumer and gillibrand, but also the house members. everyone worked hard on this issue. it was an issue of fairness and justice. you cannot take out of your mind at the hours of 9/11 when these brave men and women rushed into those burning buildings, smoke pouring out of them. and when the smoke stopped, the

debris was still there. the debris was cleared. people rushed in to fight the fires, bring people out, and clean the debris. those are the ones we can never forget what they did. every american remembers the fear, anger, and sadness the the in the days, weeks, and months following 9/11. we can all remember where we were. i remember where i was. we had a leadership member every week. i was the first one to get there. we flipped on the television. we thought a pilot was off course. the meeting got started. senator daschle was leading the discussion. the door opened, people with him

out, he came back in and said, "we have to get out of fear." we could see the pentagon burning. we also remember the pride we felt as we learned of the stories of thousands of first responders who rushed into burning buildings, facing injury and, in many instances, certain death to save people they had never met and never seen. we also barred about the emergency personnel -- heard about the emergency personnel. those brave personnel were not just from new york. most of them were. emergency personnel, firefighters who came from nevada. they came from all over the country. patriots from all over america answered the call. when america needed these men and women following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, they

did not waver. they did their jobs. because of the fumes they and held that day and the weeks and months that followed, they are paying the price for a courage that is difficult to describe and, sadly, some of them have already paid the ultimate sacrifice. i cannot say enough about centers schumer and the new senator from new york. what a team. [applause] always remember, in the state of new jersey -- thank you very much. we did not get everything that

we wanted. but always remember, legislation is the art of compromise. this is $4.30 billion better than nothing. this is a great victory for the american people, the people in new york, new jersey, and the rest of the country. we said that we would never forget and today's action ensures that these heroes are never forgotten. just as they help us recover from 9/11, we will stand by them and help them recover from distress, illness, and the maladies that resulted from their heroism. [applause] >> this is the date we have all been working towards am waiting for. our christmas miracle has arrived.

[applause] democrats and republicans came together to make sure that we could fulfill our undeniable moral obligation to the first responders and all of the survivors at ground zero. the firefighters here, the police officers here, everyone involved in the recovery -- thank you. it was your work, heroism, and dedication that made the difference. we enjoyed coming here week after week to tell senators and congress members about what you went through and your dedication. there are so many people to thank. i love to start with my colleagues. my senior senator, chuck schumer. chat is an unbelievable leader and an extraordinary public servant. he put his heart and soul into this. the is an extraordinary closer. he was here until the last hour last night making every effort

possible to do what needed to be done. i can tell you with great honesty that he is an extraordinary man who put all of new york first. thank you, chuck. [applause] i >> want to thank our majority leader. harry reid is not only someone who leads by example, but leads from what he believes in. his core values are at the heart of a man who does unbelievable things for other people. he has led every step of the way. the has never faltered. he has never wavered. he has never forgotten our 9/11 heroes. thank you, perry. [applause] i want to thank senators and mendez and gothenburg for new jersey. they had been there every step of the way. thank you for your advocacy and commitments. thank you so much.

thank you, frank. i want to turn to my house colleague who has been working on this for nine years. the work that carolyn maloney, peter keane, anthony wiener -- have been extraordinary. they took this bill every step of the way in the house. they had 21 hearings. they did the hard work of getting it through the house at a time when it absolutely had to be done. it was their dedication, perseverance, and conviction that got it to the senate. thank you for everything you did. he brought the bill this for -- this far and allow us to do everything else. thank you. [applause] last but certainly not least, i want to thank my republican colleagues. if we learned anything from this

last election, it was that the american people wanted us to get things done. they ask us to come to washington, work hard, and work together. enzin tell you that senator n and senator kohlberg came to help. the chili made a difference. i want to thank them for -- they truly make a difference. of what to thank them for all they had done. [applause] a lot to close with a reminder of what this is all about. on 9/11, our country was attacked by terrorists. certain men and women, the strongest, the greatest among best, raced up those towers while everybody was coming down. they were the ones to white perch to look for survivors and then to find it remains -- who

went first to look for survivors and then to find remains. they were there because they were answering the call to duty. i want to thank them. i want to thank them for their perseverance, their dedication, their love of country, and for standing behind all america when we needed them. this is our small effort to stand behind them when they need us must -- when they need us most. god bless them. [applause] a lot like to introduce our senior senator. none of this would have been possible without him. he has an extraordinary way of bringing people together, moving legislation forward, and getting the american people's business done. senator schumer. [applause] >> thank you, kingston.

there is one person you did not thank -- yourself. [applause] she did an amazing job. she never gave up in the darkest of days and was indomitable. some of the senators said, " we'll stop her from bothering me?" i said, "no." what a great victory for a new legislature. is that not fabulous? [applause] for someone this new to do so much so soon is utterly amazing. when other group that was not thank -- that is the people behind us. i think we will all agree that we were the players who moved deep pieces on the chess table, but they were the ones who stood behind us to hold up that table. without up -- without them there would not be as many gains.

they never gave up. their love of country and their fellow first responders was unlimited. the mettle of them is amazing. we sat in a room and told them we might have to compromise. i was sure they would yell and scream. john feal showed the mettle of a man. john, you are amazing. [applause] everybody else who was here. today is an amazing day. it is a great day, of course, for those who are built. now at least we know they will be taken care of. it is a great day for new york.

it is a great day for new jersey. we were the ones hit. america rose to the occasion. most of all, beyond any of the amazing individual stories that bring tears to our eyes, this is a great day for america. [applause] when you doubt this great country of ours -- and believe me, we are not perfect -- remember days like today where americans, not democrats, not republicans, not new yorkers, rose to the occasion. america almost never lets you down at the end of the day. america it did not let us down today. she smiled brightly. the statue of liberty must have a grant from ear to ear, not just for new york, but for

america. this is an amazing day. we nearly gave up last night. i was in my office. i want to thank someone else we left out of banking -- our staffs, . staff, harry's staff, and my staff. i had a bad night last night. i can usually sleep through anything. when we woke up this morning and the into coburn's all this, first word he said was, "we are real close appear "you could tell by his body language and the tone of his voice that they wanted to get this done. it only took about one hour.

here we are. those people who rushed to help us and who thought they were being abandoned are now in the bosom of america. this is a proud day. a proud day for everyone who has been involved in this effort and for everyone who bears the a."le "citizen of the u.s. >> i am going to excuse myself. we have another vote. >> thank you. [applause] our two colleagues from new jersey were with us shoulder-to- shoulder. when you are in a fight that sometimes seem lonely, to help people buy your side is amazing. they were unclenching in their

dedication, devotion, effort, and ideas. it is my pleasure to introduce senator frank lautenberg and senator bob menendez. [applause] >> like everyone of you, this is a proud day for america. we are all emotional, but very satisfied that we have come to the end that we have. we must, again, tip our hats and give credit where credit is due. kristin gillibrand -- she worked more arduously banned many old- timers. she took a leadership position on this. we have been fighting for years to try to get some justice.

chuck schumer, artists supporter of this moment, bodman mendez -- all of us felt this personally because our friends and neighbors were some of the people who died that day. a young man i knew very well perished that day -- 28-years old. the brother of the fellow where they lost 700 people perished that day. we found a group of believers to fight for your help and your lives. we won over what to disbelievers, skeptics, and cold-hearted opponents. they denied the truth about our honor and duty to protect those who fought to protect all of us. some said it was wasteful

spending. with they dared stand in front of others and say, ", sorry, this is wasteful spending." even the governor of new jersey was skeptical about it. he thought it might be fiscally irresponsible. 700 people from my state were killed on september 11. 80 to 100 are being monitored for toxic chemicals. they believed it was their duty to spend hours surrounded by toxic materials. they were there many, many hours. everyone of the persons who are sick now, every one of the

persons who died -- this is a victory for anyone who wants to hurt america. this is one of the great battles this country has ever seen. i say great in terms of proportion. the battle of the bulge -- i was serving in belgium at that time. almost 90,000 american soldiers were dead, wounded, or missing. 90,000 people are now sick or being monitored as a result of this vicious attack on our country. like the men or women affected, the victims of 9/11 are our war when did. we are finally fulfilling our moral mandate to make sure they receive the care they deserve. it is sad that it took us this long, but we fought until we finally fulfilled our dream, particularly those who were part of the people who served in that

area, part of the families who lived in that area. i urge my colleagues in the house, do not delay. ensure that the heroes of 9/11 know that their sacrifices will be honored. stay strong and restore our faith in america. [applause] >> a grateful nation honors the men and women who wear the uniform. they responded on that fateful day.

today the nation honors those individuals in a meaningful way. i want to salute my two colleagues from new york. kirsten gillibrand sits next to me on the floor of the united states senate. if she grabs me one more time -- she was incredibly driven. if you have to be in a legislative or other battle, you cannot have a more skillful, fall whole intellect at work than chuck schumer. these two individuals made an enormous -- did an enormous job.

i want to remember the person for whom this bill is made. he was a new york city police officer. he spent 450 hours at the world trade center site. he felt it was his duty. when he drove away that day, he told his wife and kids and he needed to respond. his only protection was a simple paper mask. he did not think about himself nor did he think about the consequences for his family. he thought about his duty, his honor, and his country. we lost him two years ago, but for all of those who are still alive we honor them today by the passage of this bill. that passage says that we are truly a grateful nation. thank you very much. [applause] >> i want to also recognize two

people who cannot be here, but deserve much gratitude. mayor bloomberg has been an unbelievable advocate and has worked hard to support this bill. secretary clinton was here today on the senate floor. i said this was a double-rainbow because she was the first one to start this work in the senate. their hard work really made a difference. i would now like to introduce -- they are not here? i will go straight on. [laughter] we will move on to our neck speaker.

i just want to say one thing about my house colleagues. the bill they put together was so good. it literally work -- we were literally worked so hard to get it right in the first and cents. it was an excellent bill. it is their dedication that allow us to move here in the senate. i would like to add to do is to you the president of the afl cio. >> this is a very special and emotional day for all of us. it is hard to grasp the importance of this or the fact that it actually has been done. it has taken a long time and we have fought hard. i want to thank both senators for doing it. as we got to the end, -- there

is a certain title that goes to members of the house. that is to be called a "legislator." we do not hear that a lot. but the new york delegation is made up of legislate toleranors. they are therefore the common good and are willing to step out and do things when others say they cannot be done. to make the right compromises and bring people into it. i am proud of the work that was done this year, particularly in the last two or three weeks. we all had the interest of all in mind. i am very grateful. i want to thank someone directly to had a very big piece in doing this, inspired me to do this in

ways i did not think i could, to focus in ways i did not make i could -- the woman in the green dress. stand up. [applause] i want to thank jim today does technical information in ways many of us could not understand. i want to thank all of the unions and who got involved -- the firefighters, all of the participants that spent time and never gave up. one last thing on the house -- the way that it came from the house, the spirit and the

emotion that both of you brought to this, i am i will tell you -- -- i would tell you why i am looking at you. you brought passion. we should never be afraid of hiding our passion. john feal was always there. it is an amazing exercise in how america works, how good things are done, and why it is that this is without probability the best country to live. thank you ball. -- thank you, all. >> next i would like to welcome the president of the uniformed firefighters association.

do you want to speak, bill? come on up. >> i want to thank our senators who did a great job. i also want to thank our congressional delegation. without them we would not have gotten this far. firefighters will always respond when they are needed. it is nice to know we have our government standing behind us. we appreciate that. [applause] it is a shame that it had to come to this. it is a shame that it had to come to somebody on a comedy channel to make them take a look at themselves. thank you for getting it done. we appreciate its. >> thank you, bill. thank you agree or extraordinary advocates -- thank you for your extraordinary advocacy and hard work.

>> there are so many people to thank. i could have never expected this to be this way. this has united our country together. we are still fighting two wars i as -- as a result of 9/11. i think this historic event will truly unified the country. it is truly a christmas miracle. on behalf of our president, the uniformed fire officers association, the 7000 active members and retired from our organization -- we have so many people to thank. it started in the house and, ironically, it will end up in the house. i want to thank congresswoman carolyn maloney along with peter

came who worked so diligently prodding his republican colleagues. we cannot thank him enough. mike mcmahon who will be our friend for life. the entire new york delegation -- anthony wiener, joe crowley, i can go on and on. my senators, now -- i hope every citizen in our country feels the same way i feel about these two senators. i feel truly blessed to have two extraordinary legislate to worors. thank you kirsten gillibrand. thank you chuck schumer. thank you, thank you, thank you. i like to thank the general president of the international association of firefighters along with his staff. they are not here because of a

catastrophic event in chicago. there is a burning building. there was a collapse. we have lost two firefighters in chicago and two are critically injured. i want to thank the president of the new york afl-cio. the is a labor icon and has been working for passage of this for seven years. i also want to thank a woman to get all of these fractionalized groups together. she did an extraordinary job. john martell, standing right behind me. [applause] john utilized much equity and

shared his magnificent relationship with both of the senators. we thank them. we thank him. finally, to the real heroes -- the people who stand behind me. excuse me, there are more. ed kelly, rich parish -- they did an extraordinary job. the real heroes are those behind me. they answered the call when their country was attacked during an act of war. domestic veterans, each and everyone. god hold you in the pond -- god hold you in the palm of his hand, each and everyone. god bless america. [applause]

>> i want to thank elliott for all his hard work. the has been an advocate and fighter every step of the way. our last speaker is someone they're not only has a way with words, but he is someone who always speaks from the heart. that is where the truth comes from. we have no better advocate, no better friend, no better allied and john feal. he said he would make a difference in this legislation. he said he personally would bring his will on this congress to do the right thing. that will is so extraordinarily strong. despite all of the challenges he faces with his own health, he has mobilized hundreds to stand with them every step of the way. i just want to thank you, john, for your unbelievable advocacy and your heart of gold.

-- and your heart of gold. john feal. [applause] >> wow, you are tall. he almost lifted me off of my feet. [laughter] twice in the last month i said whoever did not think this bill would pass, i said, "leave." i never wavered. the result the loss to the men and women in the back of me. on 9/11, they were tested.

of the last few weeks they were tested. we never wavered. due to their leadership we have a bill. i had never met anybody more tenacious than me. you had the tenacity of a leopard. i have never seen a body lay the hammer like you do, chuck. let me tell you something, this man allays the hammer. the fact i got to play a small part in this big project is an honor. more importantly, we have gone eight christmases without federal assistance. we have gone eight years not knowing what the following year would bring to us on new year s. this christmas, while you may not get a check by friday morning, we will open a box that says, "the government will help

you." help is on its way in 2011. that is better than a christmas present this year. it is because of everybody's hard work that this christmas will be the best christmas i have ever known. thank you. [applause] >> what is your new nickname? >> questions? >> what finally moved the republicans on the bill? >> i think the people behind us focusing attention on those who stood in the way. >> senator, can you be more specific about what happened last night and this morning? it was only on sunday that there appeared there is a deal for

$6.30 billion. >> here is what happened. we knew the clock was running out. even though we would have been here through christmas, easier we knewhan for kingstorsten, that the clock could run out. there was a simple strategy by those who wanted to stop this bill, which was let the clock run out. we made it clear we would stay and stay. we tried to let them know that this was more important than going home. second, the focus, as i said, of the people behind us was amazing. the people who were standing in the way began to be softening of the court. last night, harry reid, at our

request, went to enzi -- there is a little story there will not tell. he went to enzi and said, " why don't we sit down and work something out?" we sat down with senator enzi -- before that, i met with the advocates and asked what kind of compromise we could make? i thought they would yell at me and kick me out of my own office. they're very smart about this, knowing you cannot play and ideological game will no lives are at stake. kirsten and i conferred. we told enzi that this was as

far as we could go. we made a strong pitch to him on why it was so important. we told him how well the program had gone in the past. they had these misconceptions that would not be included in the bill. he said, "okay, but my staff and leased to negotiate a few issues which you." our staffs what back to our offices. we're there until about 1:00 a.m. and it appeared the deal was about to fall apart. we were discussing early this morning what we should do, what was the best way of getting everybody in the senate tuesday. we also had to worry about the hell's going home. -- about the house going home.

i called up coburn and enzi and asked for one more shot. we discussed our strategy and then we went over to senator coburn's office. harry asked if he thought it would help it became. we thought it would. he came with us. we sell the center cobourg was being reasonable and we knew we had gotten it done. -- we salt that senator coburn was being reasonable and we knew we had gotten it done. all the changes that we may does not betray a single worker that got sick rushing to the towers. you could be sure we will be here fighting to extend this when the time expires. people will see what a good program it is. i do not think it will have the controversy that it had this

time. that is the basic story. do you want to add anything? >> this is something so many of us here have been working on so long. senator schumer and i have been working with our republican colleagues. we knew we had the support from the republican colleagues. what this final compromise represents is the hard work we have done for weeks and months. some of the changes will be very good for the program. i think it is a better bill and it is a bill that is strong. because it is bipartisan, it really does show the american people that we are here to represent them. >> the fact that this was, despite all the controversy, that it was enacted by voice vote, does that show that there may have been another way to get to this?

>> you know how the senate works. it is called unanimous consent. why was there a unanimous vote? because we worked them one by one. we did not have to work one person or three people for a majority on the committee. we had to work every one of the senators. it takes a lot of effort to do it. sometimes one person says yes and another person says no. we were only in session for one week after september 29. then we were off. look at a busy the lame duck was. there were lots of important things on the calendar. i do not see another way of doing this. >> senators schumer played in the hammer. that is what got it done. -- senator schumer layed the

hammer. that is what got it done. >> there is already a health care coverage for the men and women that was allocated next year. this new program will take the old format of six different programs and merge them into one. we now have one other% accountability and wind third- party administrator. that allows for greater transparency and accountability. that will start up next year. we'll have time to put that together. that is one of the reasons the bill passed. >> thank you, everybody. merry christmas. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010]

>> coming up tonight, the brookings institution host a discussion of the defense department budget. president obama holds eight news conference at the white house. the senate ratifies a nuclear arms treaty with russia. you are watching c-span.

>> on c-span christmas eve, nancy pelosi and other members of congress like the capitol christmas tree. president obama and the first family attend the passage of peace. michael dukakis and charles gibson will talk about the separation for presidential debate and their impact on campaigns. christmas day, tony blair and christopher hichens on the role of religion. garrison keeler talks about him are in public life. saturday o'connor and david souter discuss all life on the high court. this weekend: "american history tv" a visit to the american history museum in a williamsburg, virginia. we see that many traditions began in the civil war. former astronaut frank borman on the early space program and his

role as a liaison to the lighthouse for the lunar landing -- to the white house for the lunar landing. see the complete we can spot -- schedule online at c- span.org/history. >> today, congress passed a $725 billion defense bill that includes one under $60 billion for wars in iraq and afghanistan. the brookings institution hosted a discussion about the defense bill and spending cuts.

>> as we are all right now where -- as we all are all right our national debt represents 70% of gdp. it presents a particular challenge when it comes to national security. indeed, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff declared in this room about six months ago that the greatest threat to our national security is not al qaeda or iran or the rise of china, it was, he said, the national debt.

it is in that context that michael o'hanlon decided to return to his roots as a budget analyst, in particular the defense budget, to look at particular questions of how to cut the defense budget as a way of helping contribute to an austerity program that would lead to significant reductions in our deficit and, therefore, eventually in our debt. the defense budget is the latest in the analysis. it is this analysis we are here to discuss today.

the director of foreign-policy research at brookings. the is the author of 40 many books to mention. i will just highlight the most recent per. publishedtic's case," this year. last year he wrote a book called "budgeting for the hour." i am sure you'll find it fascinating reading.

with the policy paper he has written. today, michael will be followed after his presentation by comments and discussion from two very distinguished panelists. we are very grateful to alice rivlin for gracing us with her presence today. alice is one of our most distinguished scholars at brookings. it is not often that we have an opportunity to invite her to our foreign policy podium. she was in the congressional budget office as director of the economic studies program. she is now a senior fellow in that program and a visiting professor at the public policy institute at georgetown university.

she is on a commission that deals with budgets and deficits that does not -- there is a commission that deals with budgets and deficits that does not include alice rivlin. there was a commission that came out with the important recommendations on the deficit, which included recommendations on cutting the defense budget. alice is the author of many books. a modest them is a series that she coedited called "restoring fiscal sanity." that is something we will try to do today. bob is also a senior fellow in

the form policy program. he is one of the preeminent experts and commentators on u.s. foreign policy. a historian by trading -- by training and proud of it, he is the author of a book on u.s. foreign policy called "a dangerous nation." it is eight two-volume series on the history of american foreign policy. he is the author of another series of best-selling books. mike, why do you not give us a reprise of your argument of the defense budget? >> it is a treat for m