objection, so ordered. mr. levin: i've been here almost 29 years. this is a disgraceful moment. this country wants compromise. what you're doing with this bill is to undermine the chances of compromise. that's what you're doing. you're trying to throw a monkey wrench in the reid bill before it can even leave the station. that's what you're doing. you're trying to make sure that the senate cannot work its will. why isn't this bill being brought up? because senator reid wants to sit down with senate republicans and work out a compromise and you're bringing up this bill to make sure that this will never happen, this is a disgraceful moment, mr. dreier, it is a disgraceful moment. mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield? mr. levin: no. mr. dreier: madam speaker, may i yield time to my friend? may i yield time to my friend

from michigan? am i allowed to yield time to my friend? mr. levin: mr. dreier, you have always spoken and the -- mr. dreier: i am the author of this measure. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has not been recognized. mr. levin: i want you to yield to me. mr. mcgovern: i yield the gentleman 15 seconds. mr. levin: mr. dreier, it's clear what you're doing here. mr. reid wants to sit down and work with mr. mcconnell. what you're trying to do is make sure that a signal is sent to the senate, don't bother, we're going to -- mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield? mr. levin: yes. mr. dreier: i say the action we are about to do here today is see the process that senator mcconnell and senator reid work together. why? mr. levin: i take back my time. mr. dreier, that is pernicious nonsense.

the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to address their comments to the chair, not otherwise. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i didn't hear you, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: i said members are reminded to address their comments to the chair and not to others. mr. dreier: i will not only address you, madam chair, i won't point my finger at you as i address you. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. mr. dreier: let me say, madam speaker, that senator mcconnell has just minutes ago asked senator reid to bring the reid proposal to the floor of the united states senate and a decision has been made by senator reid not to bring the measure up. on at least three occasions senator mcconnell has asked since senator reid has said that his proposal is the only one that can pass both houses of congress, senator mcconnell has asked us to show what we all know and had a is there is not going to be a majority of support in the -- all know and

there is not going to be a majority of support. we look forward to the discussions that will take place between speaker boehner, senator reid, leader mcconnell, leader pelosi. and with that, madam speaker, i'd like to yield 30 seconds to a hardworking new member of congress from indiana, mr. young. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. young: thank you, madam speaker. we need to cut spending now. we need to control spending in the future. but the american people understand that our foremost constitutional duty here in congress is to make sure that america is safe. former secretary gates said that further cuts to our military will mean there are certain things our military won't be able to do and places they won't be able to go. this proposal, the reid-obama plan, proposes to cut spending by $859 billion or 10 years compared to the president's fiscal year 2011 budget. yet, the president and senator reid has told us which places we won't be going and which

missions we won'ting doing. it's irresponsible. i can't support this proposal. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, at this time i'd like to yield one minute to the gentleman from texas, a member of the committee of the ways and means, mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. doggett: this republican ploy is too clever by hat. at the very same time republican senators are filibustering against bringing up this proposal in the senate. the house republicans are insisting on bringing it up here so they can vote it down. while it is imperfect and imbalanced, this reid proposal protects educational opportunities for college students, it protects retirement security through medicare and social security, and it provides more important resources for public services than the reactionary house republican budget. with house republicans still at fault for refusing to seek any type of middle ground, the reid

bill is the least worse alternative to avoid default. as desperate as they were last night, to cobble together a handful of votes to pass a partisan boehner bill, they are even more desperate to defeat this reasonable middle ground because they insist it must have 2/3 votes in this body. let us join democrats in unity to approve this proposal. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, i yield myself 10 seconds to remind my friend from texas that the measure we voted on last night stemmed from the bipartisan agreement that was put together one week ago this afternoon right down the hall. and with that i'm happy to yield one minute to my good friend from jefferson, louisiana, mr. scalise. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for one minute. mr. scalise: i thank the gentleman for yielding. if you look at the reid bill it doesn't even start to address the problem. with all of the budget gimmicks and shell games, people would recognize if you have an honest conversation it doesn't even

start to tackle the spending problem. now, hardworking american families back home know the problem in america is not we got corporate jet owners and millionaires and billionaires, the problem is that washington spends too much money. you don't solve that problem by sending more money up to washington to spend even more. and so when the president talks about a balanced approach, what he really means is more job-killing tax hikes. families back home know what we really need is a balanced budget amendment to put accountability back in place in washington, to control this rampant out-of-control spending in washington and to finally attack the real problem and that's washington spending. i oppose the bill, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: thank you, madam speaker. i yield one minute to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. andrews. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. mr. andrews: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. andrews: madam speaker, this agreement offers the calm, reasonable compromise the country wants. most americans don't want to let the debt ceiling expire.

this bill solves that problem. most americans say, you know what, you probably could cut about 5% in most government programs. not everybody believes that, but that's what this bill does. most americans say there ought to be some other way to look at difficult entitlement programs and other issues that the bill sets up a process to do that. what the bill does is recognize the difference between the two parties and puts that difference aside. the majority party wants to make radical changes in medicare and social security. we do not. we believe that the wealthiest americans should pay their fair share to solve this problem. the majority party does not. the bill leaves that disagreement aside, focuses on the areas of agreement. you know, american troops on patrol are not asking under what conditions they should do their duty this afternoon. they're understanding their duty and they're doing it, and so should we. pass this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired.

the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, at this time i'm happy to yield 130ekds to my good friend from colorado, a hardworking new member of the class of 87 people that came in here to change this place, mr. tipton. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. tipton: thank you. when we hear our colleague from texas this is the least worst alternative and that's our best choice? i think the american people demand and deserve better. it's time we put people before politics and partisanship aside so that we can have progress for the american people. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts rise? mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, i yield to the gentleman from texas, ms. jackson lee, for a unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: for what time? mr. mcgovern: i yield for unanimous consent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for

unanimous consent. ms. jackson lee: i stand here united for america voting yes on this bill to save medicare, medicaid and social security. as an american i ask unanimous consent to put my statement into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, i'd like to yield one minute to the gentleman from georgia, a member of the financial services committee, mr. scott. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. mr. scott: thank you very much. thank you very much, mr. chairman. ladies and gentlemen of the house of representatives, this is not a nation of tea party people. it is not a nation of democrats or republicans. it is a nation of all of us, and what the reid plan presents, it represents the tea party, the republicans and the democrats and the president of the united states. this is what the american people expect us to do. that is what has made this country great. at critical times we've come together and we have compromised. we're protecting medicare. we're protecting social security. we're protecting medicaid as the people of this country

want. and yet, as the republicans and tea party wants, there are no tax increases in this. as the president of the united states has asked us, there will be a second act in the year 2013. ladies and gentlemen of this house, the time is present. it is time for us to do the american thing. stand up for the american people and let us compromise in the best interest of all of us so this nation will not go into default. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. dreier: madam speaker, i yield myself 15 second. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. dreier: the house is not in order, madam speaker. well, it is now. madam speaker, i think it's very important to note that yesterday and today we are continuing to hear that under the boehner proposal that cuts in medicare and social security would take place when in fact both the boehner and reid

proposals have virtually identical, identical plans to put into place -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. dreier: joint select committee that would in fact report back to this institution. thank you very much for helping to obtain order, friends. and madam speaker, i'm happy to yield one minute to my very good friend from houston, a member of the appropriations committee, mr. culberson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. culberson: thank you. madam speaker, it's important for everyone to know the reason the house is considering this bill today is to put up another guardrail, to show what the house cannot do. it's important in any compromise to understand what can and cannot be done. the house will not pass this new constitutional conservative majority of the house will not pass the reid bill because of its devastating cut to our u.s. military. the house is going to find a way to compromise with the senate, but it is not going to include massive cuts in the military. it's -- as we've established, not going to include tax increases. it looks like it's going to include some sort of select committee that will make

recommendations to the congress. we're going to find a way to make sure that america does not hit the brick wall of running out of the ability to borrow. but this is one of the most important debates, one of the most important votes we will have in our brief time here in congress is to make sure we're protecting our kids and grandchildren from a crushing unaffordable level of debt. so we're working hard to find what the limits are, -- limits are of what the house and senate will do. we're not going to cut the military as the reid bill would. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, i yield myself 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 15 second. combovegove make no mistake about it. from day one this majority has put the military on the chopping block. and the reid would disamate medicare as we know it and -- the boehner bill would disamate medicare and the military as we know. i yield to the gentlewoman from florida, ms. wasserman schultz, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida is

recognized for two minutes. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, madam speaker. i would point out that to my good friend from texas, madam speaker, as a constitutional conservative he should recognize that the constitution itself was a series of compromises. and our nation and our economy is being pushed closer and closetory default. hardliners on the right, extremists by any other name, have refused to compromise. we are putting in jeopardy the payment of social security obligations, paying the members of our military, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff yesterday couldn't even answer in the affirmative that he was confident that those payments could be made if we default. we're putting in jeopardy the full faith and credit of our nation. yesterday, seniors in my district called my office in tears wondering whether we would default and what those consequences would mean for them. these are real people who live on social security to survive. we have many strongly held views on both sides of the aisle. i don't like everything in the reid proposal before us. but compromise is critical.

i recognize that i can't have everything 100% my way. democrats have been at the compromise table for months. with an empty chair on the other side of the aisle. it is time on the other side of the table, it's time for republicans to warm that seat across from us. mr. dreier claims that republicans have brought the reid proposal to the floor to show that it doesn't represent a bill that can pass the house. yet, the process is a sham. the bill has been brought up under a rule that requires a 2/3 vote of this house for passage which they know cannot happen. what are republicans afraid of? they're afraid if their propose might just show how much support there is for this proposal. where are the cooler heads in the republican caucus? where are they? they appear to not exist. your caucus seems to be held hostage by extremists and have driven the moderates from the room and from the discussion. allowing extremists to take over is doing harm to our

country. president obama, house and senate democrats have said that we are willing to support cuts. even to programs we would not -- can i have another 15 seconds, please? mr. mcgovern: i yield the gentlelady 15 seconds. ms. wasserman schultz: we said we would support cuts even to programs we would normally fight to preserve. republicans have doubled down in a groundhog day move that has pushed dead on arrival proposals by bringing us closer to the brink of chaos. at the end of the day the stewardship of our economy is in jeopardy. thank you. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman -- the gentleman from california is recognized. . mr. dreier: i'm happy to yield one minute to the gentlewoman from from washington. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from washington is recognized for one minute. miss harrah beutler: the reason

we came here, this caucus is here, the freshmen are here because the american people said enough. they said you are spending too much of our money. that's what this conversation is about today. the president stood on the -- across the row tuppeda a couple years ago and said it's a failure of leadership to raise the debt ceiling. guess what? i came here never expecting to raise the debt ceiling. but i'm now compromised. i have twice voted to raise the debt ceiling to cover spending from failed stimulus, from a health care bill that ends medicare as we know it. i have voted -- twice. twice for solutions. and you know what? that's compromise for me. i came -- when i ran for this, this seat, i told the people that i serve, you know what? i'm not extreme, i am mad. i'm mad that washington, d.c., thinks you are their piggy bank. that's what this debate is

about. we end it today. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. mcgovern: i yield myself 10 seconds, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 10 seconds. mr. mcgovern: to remind the gentlelady that she has voted time and time and time again to decimate medicare, medicaid, and social security. we are not going to stand by and let them do that. at this point i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from maryland, the ranking member of the budget committee. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the gentleman will suspend. the house will be in order. mr. mcgovern: at this point, madam speaker, i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from maryland, the distinguished ranking member of the budget committee, mr. van hollen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for two minutes. mr. van hollen: thank you, madam speaker. i think the american people just heard a new definition of compromise. paying your bills is a compromise. the american family can't wake up one morning and say, boy, it's a compromise and pay for what i already incurred.

it's a compromise to pay my mortgage. that's a new one for the american people. and it's part of a reckless pattern that we have seen emerging here. furs our republican colleagues walked out of the biden talks. then twice they walked out of the talks of the president of the united states. then when the republican leader in the senate put forward a proposal, they ridiculed it. thursday night in this very house they said no to the proposal by the republican speaker of this house until he amended it. the same speaker who said we need to have an adult moment. here's the concluding paragraph of today's "wall street journal." republicans are not looking like adults to whom we can entrust the government. the american people are looking for that adult moment. if you're not willing to compromise on critical things for the country, you are not fit to govern. and that is why senator reid put forward a compromise proposal. he doesn't like his own proposal. he would be the first to tell

you that. you know what it did? it met the criteria our republican colleagues put forward. $2.4 trillion in cuts. even if you take out the war savings, more guaranteed cuts according to c.b.o. than the boehner proposal the other night. it also incorporates mcconnell's proposal. here's what it doesn't do. it doesn't end the medicare guarantee. it doesn't cut social security. and it doesn't protect tax breaks for special interests corporations. now, look, what we are seeing here is people who are holding the american economy hostage. you have to stop playing kamikaze pilot with the future of the american people. in order to extract 100% of demands for budgets your way. compromise is necessary. and that is what senator reid put forward. a compromise proposal. let's show we can govern together. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired.

the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i yield myself five seconds to again say to my colleagues the measure we voted on last night stemmed from a bipartisan compromise put together in this very capital one week ago today. with that, madam speaker, i'm happy to yield 30 seconds--actually one minute to my good friend from ohio, mr. jordan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for one minute. mr. jordan: i thank the gentleman for yielding. let's cut to the numbers and what this bill does. we got a $14 trillion debt. this is going to raise the debt ceiling $2.4 trillion. achieving savings of $18 billion in the first. think of it the american people see things. you got a kid who maxed out the credit card at $14,000. the kid goes to the bank and the bank says ok here's what we are going to do. we are going to give you $2,400 on the credit card, but you have to promise us over the next year you're going to spend $18 less than you planned on spending. that's what this bill does.

this bill doesn't even come close to starting to solve the problem. that's why we are against it. that's why it should be defeated. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield back. the house will be in order. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i yield myself five seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: my colleague from california keeps on saying that the boehner bill was bipartisan. i remind him not one single democrat voted for that bill because democrats do not want to decimate social security. mr. dreier: would the gentleman yield? mr. mcgovern: at this time i'd like to yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. fattah. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. fattah: i assume that something that the american people are gullible, but this is not a coincidence or happenchance. we got a republican majority that took us from trillions in surplus to trillions in deficit. added a $7 trillion prescription drug plan. unfunded wars. and then refused any additional

revenue. and choking off our country's ability to pay its debt. now they want to walk us towards default. there is a special place in the shadows of the history books for a group of people who in order to gain power were willing to sacrifice americans' leadership in this war. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, i'd like to yield any of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who will tell me where in the boehner bill it says that we want to cut medicare, social security, or any of the other items that they continue to attack? may i -- i'm happy to yield to anyone who can point to me where in the boehner bill it says that. i'm happy to yield to anyone. obviously -- i'm happy to yield to my friend. mr. mcgovern: balanced budget amendment you have, the ryan budget. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. mr. dreier: madam speaker, with that i'm happy to yield 30

seconds to my good friend from colorado. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized for 30 seconds. >> thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, the president of the united states, barack obama, has said to the congress that we need to put america first and get this done. mr. coffman: i agree with that. i agree that we need to put america first and take politics -- put politics aside. last weekend a bipartisan proposal emerged. which speaker boehner and majority leader reid, senator reid coming to an agreement. but the president of the united states got a hold of senator reid and said, absolutely not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. dreier: an additional 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. coffman: thank you, madam speaker. the reason why he pulled the

agreement was because it didn't have enough money to get him through the election of 2012, november of 2012. the president's campaign considerations is not putting america first. we need to put america first -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. coffman: vote down -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. van hollen: the chairman of the rules committee wanted to yield -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is not is recognized. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. dreier: we have a lot of members who would like to be heard. i extended time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: may i inquire of the time remaining on both sides? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts has four minutes remaining. the gentleman from california has 6 1/4 minutes remaining. mr. mcgovern: we'll reserve our

time. maybe the gentleman from california might want to yield to mr. van hollen. we reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, i did ask a few minutes ago and expended time by asking anyone to yield. i mean -- we have a lot of members here who want to be heard from. mr. mcgovern has time if he would like to yield. i yield 15 seconds to my friend and maybe mr. mcgovern will yield him 15 seconds and then we can hear what mr. van hollen has to hear. i yield the gentleman 15 seconds, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. van hollen: if you look at the boehner proposal it says we got to cut $1.8 trillion. the speaker of the house has already said that you can't have any revenue as part of that. you can't close one corporate loophole. in fact he said that the majority would override any proposal. so the only other way to get it math mathically is to start slashing medicare. and to start going after social security. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired.

mr. dreier: madam speaker, my point has been made very eloquently by the gentleman. i very much appreciate it. the speaker pro tempore: who seeks recognition? mr. dreier: i thank my friend for his contribution. madam speaker, at this point i'm happy to yield one minute to my good friend from drexel hill, pennsylvania, mr. meehan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. mr. meehan: thank you, mr. chairman. as we used to say in the courtroom, the facts are, there are no facts. the truth of the matter is the only people who are cutting $500 billion from medicare are the democrats in their proposal. but that's not -- the gentleman will not yield. i'll make my point and be happy to be off. the issue here is really one of compromise. i come here as a freshman.

somebody that's looking at this for the first time. and we came in and worked on a bill, the boehner proposal. the frustration from me was knowing going in that evening that i had already been made aware that this leadership, the leadership of the party on the other side, had ripped their members so not a single member was ready on the other side to sit and talk to anyone on this aisle. the whip was there. you will not vote. you will not talk. we were not able. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the house will be in order. the house will be in order. those in the back of the chamber will take their conversations off the floor.

the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i yield 10 seconds to the gentleman from maryland, mr. van hollen. the speaker pro tempore: is recognized for 10 second. mr. van hollen: just to be very clear. what we did was eliminated the overpayments to some of the medicare advantage plans and, and -- madam speaker -- madam speaker -- the speaker pro tempore: the house is not in order. the gentleman will suspend. the gentleman is recognized. mr. van hollen: thank you, madam speaker. we used much of those savings to close the prescription drug doughnut hole. in your budget you took the hole $500 billion, but you reopened the drug doughnut hole at the same time you are eliminating the medicare guarantee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, let me yield myself five seconds to say i thank the gentleman for

once again pointing to the fact there is nothing in the boehner proposal that there's anything that cuts social security or medicare. madam speaker, with that i'm happy to yield 15 seconds to a new member from zealand, michigan, mr. high tsenga -- high sanga. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 15 second. mr. huizenga: we heard from a colleague from florida on the other side of the aisle talking about the constitution and intend of it. ladies and gentlemen, this is about controlling our spending and accountability with the american people. and it might not be in this bill. it might not be in the other bills. eventually we have to realize we need to institutional brakes on our spending because we cannot control our spending in this institution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: if this is about protecting social security, medicare, and medicaid, i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from south carolina, mr. clyburn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized for two minutes. mr. clyburn: thank you very much, madam speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding.

the clock is ticking. the american people are anxiously waiting for responsible leadership. and the republicans here in congress are continuing to play political games. last night the united states senate rightly defeated the boehner bill on a bipartisan vote. that partisan bill was the product of the republicans' my way or the highway approach that held all americans hostage to ransom payment for medicare, medicaid, and social security beneficiaries. . now, we must find a commonsense compromise. that's why i will vote for the reid amendment today -- reid bill today. the reid bill says it will not let us default from our

fiduciary obligations. throughout deliberations on the self-inflicted debt crisis, my bottom line has been to protect social security, medicare and medicaid. this plan contains real spending cuts and deficit reduction to begin putting our nation's fiscal house in order. it meets the speaker's requirement that spending be cut by the amount at least as large as the debt ceiling increase. and it does so while protecting social security, medicare and medicaid beneficiaries. it also safeguards programs that provide low-income young people the opportunity to go to college and to work to achieve the american dream. we must take responsible action now to avert this crisis and

move to significant measures to create jobs and generate economic growth. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. clyburn: thank you, madam speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, at this time i'm happy to yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from tupelo, mississippi, mr. nunnelee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. nunnelee: thank you, madam speaker. we heard from the people on the other side, we want compromise. the american people expect solutions. and this harry reid plan offers no real solutions to the out-of-control spending problem. this harry reid plan offers no solutions to the broken washington mess that got us here, so i'll vote no. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, may i inquire about the time on both sides, please? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts has 1 3/4 minutes remaining.

the gentleman from california has 4 1/2 minutes. mr. mcgovern: we'll reserve our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, at this time i'm happy to yield to my friend from new jersey, mr. garrett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. one minute. mr. garrett: and as i come to the floor, as the previous speaker said, this side of the aisle is committed to reaching a solution and not just a deal to this problem. we are committed to reaching out across the aisle and across the other side of this house to reach a compromise. we have already compromised on the level of cuts going even further. we have already compromised on the level of the caps, raising the caps to make it even easier in that regard as well. we have also already

compromised from where we started with regard to a balanced budget amendment, holding true to the idea that we should, as all americans agree, eventually pass a change in the constitution and require a balanced budget amendment to this bill. but at the end of the day, although we will compromise on cuts and we will compromise on caps and we will compromise on moving forward on a balanced budget amendment, let it be clear as god as my witness we will not compromise on our principles, our principles of defending the constitution and defending america and making sure our prosperity does not have this excessive debt on it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from new york, mr. engel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. engel: well, thank you. here we are on the brink of economic disaster and we're wasting time with symbolic political theater at its worth. we want compromise and

solutions and to protect medicare on the democratic side. why don't you try working with democrats? the american people want us to meet in the middle. they don't want this nonsense. the debate focuses only on spending cuts without closing tax loopholes and that still isn't enough for some. no wonder "the wall street journal" said no wonder they don't look like adults. the democrats want a compromise in the middle and the president needs to pull the 14th amendment -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. engel: the republicans have shown they don't want compromise at all. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. dreier: thank you very much, madam speaker. at this time i'm happy to yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from newberg, indiana, mr. bucshon. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is recognized for 30 second. mr. bucshon: madam speaker, here we are on the verge of a financial meltdown and my friends on the other side of the aisle are worried about politics. they're here today worried about protecting the president

from having to do his job, lead. the republicans in the house are leading. we passed two bills that would end this crisis, and the senate hasn't -- they haven't put them down. they haven't voted on them. they've tabled them. we're here to lead. we need leadership. and we're providing it. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, our side is prepared to close so i will ask -- we'll reserve our time. mr. dreier: madam speaker, we have several more speakers on our side. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. dreier: at this time i'm happy to yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from ashton, wisconsin. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. duffy: my friends across the aisle voted to rob $500 billion out of medicare for obamacare.

they instituted a board that will ration care for our seniors. we brought a proposal for our house that will root out all loopholes in nooks and crannies for businesses who hide their money and they voted no. >> will the gentleman yield? mr. duffy: the american people -- will the gentleman yield? -- >> will the gentleman yield? mr. duffy: the harry reid bill is full of -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. duffy: budget gimmicks which doesn't get the job done. the speaker pro tempore: who claims time? the house will be in order. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: thank you very much, madam speaker. at this time i'm happy to yield 30 second to the gentleman from

mississippi mr. pa. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. palazzo: the american people expect us to lead during times of crisis. house republicans have led. house republicans have provided plans and solutions to america's debt crisis. house republicans have used their voice as representatives of their district to end the deficit crisis and to balance a budget. we've done our job. it's time a the senate does theirs. leader reid and president obama is what stands in the way of helping this debt crisis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. palazzo: vote no on the reid plan. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman reserve? mr. mcgovern: i ask unanimous consent to insert in the record an article that appeared in "the wall street journal" today entitled "the debt limit hobbits." the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, is the gentleman prepared to close? i'm sorry. mr. mcgovern: yes. our leader is prepared to close for us. the speaker pro tempore: then i'll close on our side. i reserve the balance of my time -- mr. dreier: then i'll close on our side. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, i yield myself 15 seconds before i yield the remaining minute to -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 15 seconds. mr. mcgovern: i implore rational republicans to passing the reid bill. i appeal to your sense of responsibility, to your sense of duty to your country, have the courage of your convictions to do what's right. don't be paralyzed by the threats of the tea party or other extreme groups. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. mcgovern: medicare, medicaid and social security, and i yield the balance of our

time, one minute, to the gentlewoman from california, the democratic leader and the defender of medicare, medicaid and social security, nancy pelosi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for the time remaining. pelosi -- ms. pelosi: thank you very much, madam speaker. i recognize the great leadership of mr. van hollen as our ranking member on the budget committee and he and mr. clyburn representing the values of the american people at the negotiating table for this. i rise in support of the reid legislation. i urge my colleagues to support it because it protects social security, medicaid and medicare , because it is fair. but i want to use my time in the following way -- i listened very carefully and very

attentively to our speaker yesterday when he spoke and he used the term, "the bill is not perfect but we did our level best." our level best. one might infer from that that this process is on the level. how can it be on the level if we're bringing a $2.5 trillion bill to the floor under suspension the same way we might bring the naming of a post office? $2.5 trillion, 20 minutes on each side. members have said on both sides of the aisle this is a very important debate. well, if it is why is it brought under suspension which requires a 2/3 vote guaranteeing that it will not prevail, not on the level? the word level, of course, enters into, is this on a level playing field? is it level for senior citizens

while it gives big tax breaks for oil? is it level so we can give tax breaks to corporations sending jobs overseas? is it on the level for us to make children -- young people and their families pay more for their college education so we can give tax breaks to the high end? is it on the level to bring a boehner bill to the floor that makes all those cuts, undermines social security, eliminates medicare and it doesn't charge one red cent to people who have benefited so much from the greatness of our country? is it our best? is it our best to drag this out for all this time to keep in sess spence as to whether we would -- suspense as to whether we would honor our constitutional responsibility to pay our debts? the constitution says the national debt has to be

recognized. it has to be recognized. and recognize we did. president after president, 3 times in -- 32 times in recent memory, including when president bush was president, at that time, even though many of us did not agree with the war in iraq, did not agree the tax cuts for the wealthiest people in our country to the tunes of hundreds of billions of dollars, not agree to the giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry, we didn't agree with that policy. that's how we got into debt. turning around from the surplus direction we were going in with president clinton whose last four budgets were in balance or in surplus. we didn't agree how president bush took us into debt, but we never, never stood in the way of honoring the full faith and credit of the united states. why, then, why, then -- why,

then would we this one time with this president decide that we would put up barriers so extreme, changing the constitution in order to lift the debt limit? it's a mathematical requirement. of course we must all reduce the deficit. but is it our best to say we're going to use the debate to reduce the deficit, to destroy the public's faith? look at the appropriations bills that are brought before us. destroying the public's faith of clean air, clean water, food safety, the education of our children, the health and financial security of our seniors through medicare and medicaid, that's what they are doing. this is -- we have come to those conclusions, we have to do it, we know how to do it.

but if they want to take it to the next step of destroying the public sector, we cannot go to that place when it affects the air our children breathe, the water they drink, the food they eat, the education they receive, the safety of the neighborhoods in which they live. the speaker also said that the bill was not perfect. . no bill is perfect. i disagree in one respect. i think this bill is perfect in its absurdity. his bill was perfectly absurd. perfectly absurd. perfectly absurd again to say to a president after 32 times lifting the debt ceiling we are going to change the game for you, mr. president. it's perfectly absurd for them to say that the bill they brought to the floor -- the boehner bill they brought to the floor was an agreement of the

four leaders of the house and senate, democrat and republican. either you don't know what you're talking about or or -- i will not yield to you. very, very important that we all take a deep breath. we have important work to do. important decision to make. senator reid has given us a direction to go. no cuts in benefits for medicare and medicaid and social security beneficiaries. i wish that we had revenues in there so that those who had been fitted from the greatness the last 50 years of bipartisan progress for the american people would be able to make their contribution, but not one read -- red cent of revenue while we are saying kids should pay more for their student loans. so it's time to end this theater

of the absurd. it's time for us to get real. it's time for us to get real and listen to the wisdom of the american people. they have said to us that they support an overwhelming -- in overwhelming numbers a bipartisan balanced approach. in overwhelming numbers that we should all pay our fair share. and they all agree that we should get this over with so we can get back to work putting the american people back to work by creating jobs. the speaker chose when he didn't have the votes instead of to reach out in a bipartisan way to see how we could work together, he chose to go to the dark side.

let's bring -- let me repeat. and i repeat, he chose to go to the dark side. by putting forth a bill that he himself told his members would sink it in the senate and i add lead to default. lead to default. we cannot default. we are the greatest country that ever existed in the history of the world. we are the united states of america. so let's go from the dark side to the bright side of the american people. vote yes on the reid bill. thank you.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the house will be in order. members will take their seats. members in the back of the chamber will remove their conversations. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. dreier: i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for the balance of the time. mr. dreier: i believe in civil discourse and i want to say that on several occasions in the past 45 minutes members of my staff have urged me to have the words taken down that have been

offered by members on the other side of the aisle. and i chose not to, i chose not to, madam speaker, -- the speaker pro tempore: the house is not in order. the house is not in order. the gentleman is recognized. mr. dreier: madam speaker, in the name of civility i chose not to because we have a very serious issue that needs to be addressed. and it's before us and we need to make sure that in the next several hours we effectively address it. now, since 1962, since 1962 on 75 different occasions we have seen the united states congress increase the debt ceiling.

now, we keep hearing about the urgency that exists today. i'll tell you what's urgent. if we don't change the course that we have been on the last four years with an 82% increase in nondefense discretionary spending, we are not going to have resources for any of the things that my colleagues have talked about. what we need to do and the message that has been sent is that for the first time ever we are going to change business as usual. now, i'm going to say something i probably shouldn't at the very end here. there are some good things in senator reid's proposal. there are some good things in senator reid's proposal. i believe that the idea of establishing a joint select committee of our colleagues who will come together and make recommendations and force an up or down vote in both houses of congress is a positive thing. but i will say this.

i don't believe, i don't believe that continuing down the road towards increasing debt ceiling without -- with the kinds of checks that are necessary is the right thing for us to do. last night's agreement that we voted on here was in fact, it stemmed from the bipartisan talks that took place right down this hall. and i will say to my colleagues, madam speaker, vote no on the read proposal. the speaker pro tempore: all time having expired, the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2693 as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative -- for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise.

a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, this 15-minute vote on suspend the rules and passing h.r. 2693 will be followed by a five-minute vote on suspend the rules and passing h.r. 2062 if ordered. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 172 --

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 173, the i nays are 246 -- the nays are 246. 2/3 not voting in the affirmative, the rules are not suspended anded bill is not passed -- and the bill is not passed. the house will be in order.

the house will be in order. members will take their seats. members in the back of the chameler will take their corporations -- chamber will take their combingses off the floor. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? mr. hoyer: i ask to speak out of order for the purpose of asking the majority leader for the coming weekend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. hoyer: i yield to my friend, the majority leader. mr. cantor: i thank the gentleman from maryland and if i could, to the gentleman, update him as well as all of our colleagues on the house's schedule for this weekend and the upcoming week. and i thank him. to say to the gentleman, the house will now meet in pro forma

session only tomorrow. therefore no votes are expected in the house on sunday. but given the critical fiscal and economic situation, however, members should be prepared to return to washington quickly if needed. we may only be able to assure a few hours' notice at most. lastly i'd say to the gentleman, the house will be in legislative session on monday and first votes are expected as early as noon. and i thank the gentleman and yield back. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for his information. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on -- the unfinished business is the question on suspending the rules and passing h.r. 2062 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: h.r. 2062, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 45 lane in massachusetts as the matthew a. pucino post office. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the

bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? >> madam speaker, i move the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have t the motion is adopted. accordingly, the house stands adjourned until until 1:00 p.m.

.

>> we'll let you go. thank you for that update. here on c-span we are waiting for a couple things. we are planning to take you live to a couple briefings out there that the senate democrats are holding. we are also expecting to hear from speaker boehner and senator mitch mcconnell. in the meantime, we are warming up our phone lines with your thoughts on the message to congress. the status is, the boehner bill passed yesterday in the house. it didn't move move forward. they blocked it. here today in the u.s. house, senator reid's plan failed to move forward, and now it is up to the senate this evening. we'll find out whether senator reid has the 60 votes necessary to move forward with his

legislation in a vote that's anticipated again about 1:00 in the morning. the senate is in today. you can follow that on c-span. the phone numbers are democrats, 202-585-3885. republicans 202-585-3886. independentents 202-585-3887. let's go to tom in yuneon, south carolina. >> i am living in low-income public housing. i have several conditions. i dent think it is right for a billionaire to keep all this money and they want to take our medicare, medicaid, i only get foodstamps, and i'm living day-to-day, hand to mouth. and these corporations and this

tea party, i don't understand. someone should compromise. the democrats. they want it all. they should keep their wages frozen and let them see how it is to struggle day-to-day hoping to get to money. host: let's go to james on our republican line. >> i am on social security. i take that in. it is to the point now, even living month to month, i would put in 10 dollars or $15 or $20 more to help solve this problem. the corporation apple has more money in their bank than our whole government does. do you think apple wouldn't mind paying a couple $10 or $20 to everybody in this country to get

this thing solved? this is ridiculous. i've been a republican all my life, and i'm ready to just give it up. it is ridiculous to take away from the seniors of this country that built this country. it is even more ridiculous to make our grandchildren pay for this. the republicans need to quit playing hardball and start being a little more of what the people want. that's what we put them in there for. everybody has to bend and give a little bit to fix this situation. >> thank you for your comments, james. let's go to the independent line, and karen in anderson, indiana. >> they need to get this done. they need to get it done because i know for a fact in anderson, indiana, it is so poor, some of these good things is refusing to help people because they are running out, because the food is so high, and some people can't

afford it. they need to get this done quickly. let the country know what's going on. >> texas next, democrats line. this is helen. >> hi. i want everybody to listen to what senator reid is saying on the floor. all of us are on disability, and hey, if we don't get this bill passed, we are not getting our social security and medicare and medicaid gets stopped. and the military needs to get their money as well. and president obama is one of the best. the republicans need to cross over that line and join hands with the democrats and get this done. >> a lot of people have asked for payments for things like social security. the washington post writes an article about banks preparing for the tuesday deadline. banks preparing for a government shutdown is the headline. banks across the country have

begun preparing for the worst-case scenario. navy federal credit union, they write, the largest in the country, say they will advance pay for active duty military or civilian employees of the defense department. they also said they would expedite approval for overdraft. it oversees nationally chartered banks that would encourage financial institutions to work with customers if their checks were delayed, particularly in the case of overdraft or penalty fees. looks like we'll take you live, momentarily, senator reid will be holding a briefing shortly. we also understand john boehner and the speaker of the house, mitch mcconnell, holding a briefing. tox -- texas, hang on just a minute and wall street get to our republican line, and allen

paul. >> thank you for taking my call. you know, i like to vote all the republicans out of office and all the democrats out of office. it is ridiculous what's happening. i'm 76 years old. i have been watching politicians all my life. it is sad we can't get things done in a logical order. i just wish everybody would vote them all out. people realize what a trillion dollars is. a trillion dollars, if you paid it off one dollar a second, in order to pay off bun dollar a second, it takes 31,500 years. a trillion dollars is a lot of money. you spend a trillion dollars here, and a billion dollars there, pretty soon you got a lot of money. >> let's go to ruby in athens, texas. independent line.

hello, texas. >> hello. how are you? >> fine. >> this is my first time calling. >> welcome. glad to have you. >> i have been watching you ever since it started, and i'd like to make some comments if you don't mind. >> that's why we're here. but keep in mind, ruby, we are going to go live momentarily. >> i am a senior citizen. i have all my benefits for retirement. my husband worked special duty in the marine corps. he got killed. i have watched the democrats. i have watched obama. and the people that vote for him, they deserve exactly what they get. they better wake up and they better find out, because obama is not american, he's not a leader. he is trashing america, and the american people, and they are hurting. >> ruby, did you say obama was not american? >> yes, sir, i did.

ju believe that he wasn't born in this consumer dri? -- country? >> i have proof of that, sir. >> where did you get this proof, ruby? >> that's my husband that died in the military. i know exactly who obama is. i have sat by and said nothing, period. this government is corrupt. and the democrats is playing on the american citizens on the military, and it's wrong. >> ruby from athens, texas, speaking of the president. the associated press is reported in this tweet from "politico" that the president is planning to meet with democratic leaders reid and pelosi for an update on debt ceiling negotiations. that update from "politico." and martha is on our line. >> hi. >> what i would like to say is that i think they need to come together.

they need to come to a fair decision considering we pay taxes. consider asking the people of the united states to pay more into social security and then they can keep it. >> what's going to happen? you say they need to come together? >> they need to start listening to each other and share plans and come up with a plan that's not going to hurt people. with all the talks with ksks and medicaid and medicare. they are going to hurt a lot, a loot -- a lot of people. even with the doctor system, they are talking more out of pocket. >> you are talking about the proposal -- the paul ryan proposal? >> yeah. >> but i think they need to talk about.

>> we don't expect the house back in session until monday. they failed to pass senator reid's bill. they need 60 votes to move forward. that vote will happen in the wee hours of monday morning. that vote is called a cloture vote. let's here from maria in lansing, michigan. >> hi. if you can't believe the polls, if you can't believe the free press, if you can't believe the

politicians, if you can't believe the president, if you can't believe the union bosses, i think we should stop funding. they lie. the people that call on this line and they they are republican, they are lying. >> you are calling on the republican line. >> no, james that just called. he's a big, fat liar. listen, i'm telling you. small businesses are getting killed. we are the people that run and fund this country. we are getting killed because of the budget in the federal budget can't be balanced. >> maria we're going to let you go here and hear from monte in apache junction.

>> it looks to me like it's basically a poker game. there are spending cuts that need to be done. they are going to make some revisions to social security and probably some other things. those things are going to have to be done. so the question is, it seems like everybody -- the ideological focus of both parties seems to be narrowing down. we're going to stay on our side, we're going to stay on our side, whatever it happens to be. everybody talks about compromise. the constitution of the united states was a compromise. the whole thing came about through the result of a compromise. otherwise we never would have

had it. for anybody to think i'm going to take a hard line on my position either side is ludicrous. i really think that there are ways they could hammer this out. there will have to be spending cuts. there are some things that will have to be capped, and that type of thing. the opinion that we absolutely have to have a constitutional amendment to balance the budget, that's congress' job in the first place. that's their job. so now we have to have something in the constitution and amendment that forces this situation. i can understand that. for that to be part of a situation, well, if we don't have this, we're not going to vote for it.

>> monte, thank you for sharing your views. the vote in the house on the reid ropesal was 172-236. it needed two-thirds to pass. it didn't get it. 11 democrats voting no. those were borne of west virginia, mathison of utah, macintyre of north carolina. mike ross of arkansas. slader of oregon. visclosky of indiana. 11 democrats voted against the bill. we hope to take you live shortly to a meeting by speaker boehner. also the president will meet shortly with minority leard pelosi and majority leader harry reid. in the meantime, harry reid spoke to reporters a short time ago. a quick briefing. we'll show you that next.

>> thank you very much, everyone, for being here. i will give a brief statement and take a few questions. i have to go to the white house. i got a message a short time ago, so it will have to be fairly quick. there have been a number of conversations as i walked in here about the letter i got from 43 republicans today. it's pretty interesting that the 43 republicans, a number of them have been contacting me. one of them met with my democratic senator. that democratic senator met with the chairman of the budget committee. there are things going on. i don't know what the 43 letters were meant to be, whether to stall things. i don't understand. but the fact is, we have 43 people on a letter, republicans.

a number of them have already agreed to work with. whether it bears fruit, we'll see. people should understand what this is all about. the only game in town, the only one left standing is the amendment that's on the floor today. we have the ability still to change that today. before the 12:00 hour passes, we can still do this. we can still change this. if my republican colleagues acting in good faith come to me with a proposal, that's what we will do. we are at a crucial time in the history of the country. we have said it before, but it is true. the four republicans that didn't sign the letter, i hope they come and visit with me. but i certainly hope those that have signed the letter will continue working with us, help us come up with a proposal. we have until midnight tond tonight. that's what we're doing here on the floor. we're tau stopping a filibuster.

we're doing our very best. they are stalling on this important piece of legislation. "they" meaning the republicans. to show you how high these stakes are, let me look at anarch p. news article that came out a few minutes ago. i read, "half a world away from capitol hill, the economy and debt crisis are weighing heavily on u.s. troops in afghanistan. the top question on their minds saturday, even as bombings rocked the city around them, was the top u.s. military officer couldn't answer. will we get paid? these are soldiers in afghanistan with the bombs bursting around them. here's what the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said, and

i quote, "i honestly don't know the answer to that question." admiral mike mcmullin responded, statement telling them to work each day to defend this country. wearing the uniform, listening to bombs go off around them. that is why today what is referred to in the press as real people. i guess we're not. we have students like laura and sidney. we have veterans like bill and roger and carlos and ariana who is a senior. guerm who is a senior. felicia is a senior. alyssa is a senior. they are here representing the millions of people around this country who are as frayed of the

soldiers on the frontline in afghanistan. we don't have more delaying tactics? we need to get to the business of hand. we have a message that we can send back to the house very quickly. that's why we did the message so quickly last night. we wanted to get to what we are trying to do today. that is, solve this problem that we have. we can't do this alone. we need the republicans to join with us. we hope before midnight approaches, they will come to us and work with us during the day today to say thank you. it was a good idea. i haven't heard anything from the republican leader. now, i hope that he knows his troops are concerned. we know that. all of us know that. we have talked to the republicans. we have a proposal that is a proposal that the president will

sign. it takes into consideration many of the objectives the republicans had. there are no revenues. there are cuts. it lowers the debt by $2.4 trillion. it allows us to raise the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion. if they think it can be approved, let them tell us how they think it can be approved. s >> you say mr. mcconnell won't speak to you. he's just one -- five feet in a room away from you. we don't understand why you can't get into a room and work this out. >> i have trouble understanding that also. we have for days received no responses from the republicans. why they have not been willing to work with us on what most of

>> it seems a little odd to me on something as important as this they put in their bill that you have to pass a constitutional amendment before they will allow the debt to be increased. that's a little extreme, i think. we're happy to have a vote on balanced budget amendments. we've had them before. on your other question, we've had two wars. this administration didn't start either one of them. we don't need to go into the wars. i have not been a big fan of the iraq wars as most of you know. those wars have cost us almost $2 trillion. they are winding down. the office of congressional management have looked at this

and said, if you take trillion dollars, it will lower the debt by a trillion dollars and allow us to take an additional $200 billion in interest savings. that's what we have in our bill. it's all been done by the no one partisan congressional office. i can't imagine the fact that they have voted for it. 230 republicans voted for that. why is it suddenly something they don't want? >> you noted the four republicans that didn't sign the letter. scott brown is one of those that told some of us he is working with you, and he could vote for your bill. he's trying to get some teeth into the commission. if there are three others, assuming you hold your caucus, are --

>> your math is terrific. if we get those four more, we have 5857. we need 60. the issue has been now for a week or so, a trigger. if the joint committee doesn't come up with a result, what should happen? we've been willing to say we're happy in we don't arrive at the budget goals with the joint committee, that certain things should happen. we've been willing to say that there could be a sequestration as long as it included some revenue. it is unfair to make this all a spending deal when we have billion nares and million nares, and corporate jets and yachts and all this stuff. the american people agree with us. they agree with us. the polls, democrats and republicans, independentends, all agree there should be shared sacrifice. that's our bill called the shared sacrifice bill. we're happy to have a trigger,

but they cannot keep turning their heads away from the american people who say there should be shared sacrifice. this will be the last question. [question not audible] >> in a little zpugs i had with the senator on the floor today, he has to get this straight in his own mind. he complained on the senate floor that he was combing the white house last saturday and said i don't want to be here. let's work this out by ourselves. today he changed his mind. he wants the president involved. the president has been involved. he told us -- i also said this on the floor, with the republican and democratic leaders and the cabinet from the white house, they have been there a long time. it had been a long meeting. he said i have spent more time, and i'm paraphrasing what he said, i have spent more time dealing with this raising the debt creen ceiling -- the debt ceiling than all the other

presidents combined. ronald reagan had the debt increased during his time as president 18 minutes. he didn't spend 10 minutes with members of congress getting the debt ceiling raised. it was not an issue. it has only become an issue with this tea party driven republican congress. >> does that mean the president does not need to be at the table >> senator mcconnell said he wanted him to be a part. we'll see. he can't have it both ways. the president has always been fully willing to be engaged. thanks. >> senate majority leader harry reid from within the hour following the passage of what was essentially his bill in the u.s. house. it failed an "vote of 173 to 246 with 11 democrats voting against the bill.

now they await a vote in the u.s. senate in the early hours moving forward on harry reid's legislation. he needs 60 votes to move forward. you may have heard a question in that briefing about a letter that was sent to senator reid by 43 republicans. that letter is rinked on our web site. it was written late yesterday by 43 of the 47 republican senators to senator reid saying they would ven support his bill. that's key because he needs 060 votes to move his legislation forward. what you're looking at is a view of the speaker's balcony. we're moving to take you live to a meeting with mitch mcconnell. we'll have that live as soon as it starts. in the meantime, we'll go back to your phone calls and hearing what you have to say in your message to congress on the debt ceiling situation. let's go back to arizona on the democrat's line.

this is netta. go ahead. >> hello? >> hi, you're on the air. >> you know, i've heard some very intelligent things today, and i've heard some not so good. but my concerns are this -- we are the united states of america. we have been the number one leading country in the world. all these other places in other countries are looking at us and saying, this is democracy? this is what you want us to learn? like in iraq? et cetera, et cetera. why do we want that?

we have a lot of people who are stable throughout the country. i know it is chilly to say. i think everybody involved would be willing to send $50 of their checks every month, we wouldn't be in this position. we're all sitting here griping, why don't we write a check to our government to replace the money that's needed that's gone out to our people on social security. over 3/4 of this town is on social security disability. >> thank you for weighing in. we want to get to as many calls as we could. here's a tweet from congressman miller, "a balanced budget

amendment -- stop the explosion of the debt." you can go to c-span.com and you'll see several lists there. here's jodi on the written republican line. >> my concern is this, pligs claim that they are for the people, but they are more into cutting from the poor and the seniors and the disabled. and the military first. i believe they should take the cut completely like they are asking these american people to do so. >> john in tennessee is on our independent line. what's the name of your town? >> it is chucky. it is near johnson city. >> go ahead. >> i appreciate you guys being on here. i have been watching this every

day for weeks now, and i have to divided. i'm from the vietnam era. i was wounded in vietnam, and i'm on disability myself. i tell you, i would rather lose a check than see us waste anymore money or waste anymore of our freedoms. what we need is another tea party, but instead of throwing that good tea overboard, we need to line up these politicians. they are the ones leading us to owe oblivion. >> another caller said this was not a good example of democracy to other countries. do you agree with that? >> no. i think it is. where else in the world can we disagree as we are? different opinion. where else can they do that freely? i fought for that. my father for that. my son passed away in

afghanistan. he was a medic in the nafeyism -- navy. these are the freedoms we fought for, and we should relish this. there comes a time when the people have to say, enough is enough. if they would raise the debt limit 70 or 80 times, i don't know that i know the numbers and i don't know if anybody can tell the truth up there, we do it because we've done it before and we put no restrains. you put these people up there that get different bifts than you or i get, get better pay than you or i get, and guess what happens? they are corrupted by the power. >> john, thank you for calling in. we are sorry about the loss of your son. >> the senate wrapped up nearly an hour of debate on the harry reid bill. 173-246. that failed. we'll give you a chance to see all of that debate, some of it lively and contentious from this

morning and this afternoon. let's go to seabrook, texas. jerry is on our democrats line. >> thank you for taking my call. this is going to be bogus. the reason it will be bogus is because of the fact that no one is going to talk about revenues. no one. it is all going to be hit on the people. that's it. harry reid's bill, mitch mcconnell, nobody is going to do anything. it is all about revenues. where are the jobs? nobody is talking about the jobs. at this point we've already tried to work things out. now we need to take everything off of that table and start talking about revenues. remove the bush tax cuts. 9.2% unemployment, and that's a bogus number because most people know that it is right about 35%.

it is all about the checks that are going out. we kill knows bush tax cuts. we stop these republicans, the weak and the poor. they call themselves christian. that is not christian. we take care of our elderly, we take care of the poor. we're god's children. all good people do that. >> here's another view from texas. thank you, jim. this is plano, texas. make sure you mute your television there. i'm going to put you on hold momentarily and go to international falls, minnesota. this is brad, independent. >> good afternoon. we're talking about all these problems of our debt, but what people have really forgotten is that from 1940 to 1990, for

those 50 years, the democrats controlled the house and the senate, and they decided at that time to put approximately $30 trillion to $40 trillion of i.o.u.'s in social security and medicare. we're broke, gang, and i don't know other than stop spending is our true answer. we have all these crackpots that want to keep pushing the elderly out there. they are pushing wrong issues. >> we'll let you go, brad. the speaker is out, and we're going to listen in. >> the house floor indicates there is bipartisan opposition to senator reid's proposal. the house yesterday sent our second bill to end this crisis to the senate. it is a reasonable, responsible approach that will end this crisis and get our economy moving again and get americans back to work. the only thing standing in the

way of the house proposal over in the senate is the president and senator reid. it's time for them to tell us what they are for. time to tell us how they are going to get us out of the cul-du-sac they have driven our country into. we're hoping that we'll hear from them soon about their plan >> i don't want to linger too long on the spectacle going on over in the senate, but it is worth noting that you have the majority in effect refusing to accept a vote on their own proposal. we know the reid proposal will not pass the senate. we know it will not pass the house. and my view is, we ought to end that charade and get serious. in the category of getting serious, i've spoken to both the president and the vice president within the last hour.

i'm confident and optimistic we're going to get an agreement in the very near future and resolve this crisis in the very near future. >> a couple questions. >> mr. speaker, a question to you. the chairman of the chief of staff is in afghanistan and he soldiers whether they will get their checks next week. how can you allow these soldiers to wonder whether they are going to get paid. >> senator mcconnell and i are both confident that we will be able to come to some agreement with the white house and end this impasse.

>> is there a delay in the bipartisan agreement? >> we could have had this bill passed early this week. there was a bipartisan agreement between myself and the senate leaders to move the underlying bill that we moved through the house yesterday. and if the president -- all he had to do was say "yes" and that bill would have moved quickly through the house and the senate. so we've wasted a week that we didn't need to waste. and now we've been driven into this cul-du-sac. >> what is -- how will you get the vote? >> in spite of our differences, i believe we're dealing with reasonable, responsible people that want this crisis to end as quickly as possible, and i'm confident that we will. >> and let me just add, our country is not going to default for the first time in history.

that is not going to happen. we now have, i think, a level of seriousness with the right people at the table that we needed and thought we had as the speaker indicated last weekend. we're going to get a result. >> you said this is going to take a bipartisan vote. i understand waiting on the president and harry reid to get something. how will you do this with two days left? >> we have all worked together for most of the year to try to avoid this. senator reid, senator mcconnell, and i have -- had a solid agreement last sunday. it was the president that derailed that agreement. it's time for the president to tell us what he's for. it is time for the president to outline how we get out of this .

-- senator mitch mcconnell and i believe we will come to an agreement to end this crisis. >> senator mitch mcconnell

indicating he had spoken to the president. he said, we are fully engaged with obama and confident we will be able to get an agreement. here on c-span, we are going to show you the entire debate from the house floor on the harry reid proposal. it did not get it 2/3 vote necessary. we have a few more phone calls to get to. we will show you the president's comments from this morning. at's get back to calls for little bit. the toy, this is gary on the independent line. >> i am a senior. i do not think it is fair after all the years we have paid in, when it is time for us to retire, the money is not there. this problem they have had to try to decide whether or not to give the tax cuts to everybody or not, that is not a discussion that needs to be had.

we need to have a flat tax across the board. we need to cut out a lot of foreign aid that do not need us and do not want us. we need to keep the money at home. we need to take a higher priority for our seniors and their checks and their benefits. take care of people who are not united states citizens. we also could help this country a lot by bringing our jobs back home from foreign countries rather than having a the countries that cannot reach the quality of the food or the products that we get. we need to all work together. it is not a republican or a democratic problem. it is the united states problem.

if they were told to massachusetts that their benefits were going to be cut -- many of us are too old -- if they were told that their benefits were going to be cut, many of us are too old to work anymore. francine into roscoe, texas. >> i am a senior citizen. it is time for the government to take a cut in their pay. they need to stop spending foolishly like they are doing. we did not put us into any of these wars. this last one, obama put us in by going over there with our planes and starting to bomb.

>> you are talking about libya. >> yes. he was wrong in doing it because he did not get an okay from congress. >> thank you for your thoughts. let's hear from dale in houston, texas. i had the wrong name. you are on the air. make sure you mute your television. >> hi. i just wanted to -- i just wanted to say that we are burning in taxes while they are fiddling in washington. years ago, a center named robert byrd wrote a book -- senator

called robert byrd wrote a book called losing america. it predicted the fiasco that is happening in washington today. >> the republicans are out of touch with the american people. the american people do not have trust funds to lead to their children. >> who is the book by? >> you need to get a grip. the republican party needs to get a grip. senacca falls. >> i am an independent. i am tired of the bickering and the fighting. it is definitely a spending problem and not a revenue problem. the rest of us have to live within our means and it is time the government live within its means. if we are spending billions of

dollars overseas, we need to bring our troops home and let them start taking care of our borders and kicking out the illegal immigrants and everybody in our country sucking up our money that could go to senior citizens and other people who are legal citizens and could use the money. i just think that the debt crisis and the debt ceiling should not be raised at all because we are already at $14 trillion in debt. our grandkids cannot afford to pay for it. pretty soon, the american dollar is not going to be worth anything. i believe right now that the people in congress -- the only people i think are right -- are the tea party people saying they do not want any more taxes or any more stuff put on the american people. the government takes in 30% of our gross domestic product.

that should be more than enough to run the programs they need to run. they are running a lot of programs that are not constitutional or under the constitution. there does not need to be a department of education or most of the government agencies. they were not established by our founding fathers. government is supposed to provide protection for our borders and to make sure we can live freely. that is the way i feel. >> we appreciate it. new voted for 80 party candidate in the congressional election? -- you both should -- you voted for a tea party candidate in the congressional election? >> no, i was not able to. >> this is the republican line. maria, hello.

>> i am court mandated to take medication. i have been in jail twice. i have been in the hospital for nine months. we are talking about serious cash. the medication i take cost $1,000 a month. i just recently went on medicare. >> is your medication entirely paid by medicare? >> no, a different program pays for the dedication. the point i am trying to make is that there are many people out there who have more medications on them. get one more view. kurt is in baltimore on our democrat's line.

>> hello. i hope you allow me the maximum time that i can get. i am a 25-year old and i looked at the election of barack obama. on one side, there were blacks and whites and latinos and asians. everybody said we are the new america. we are denied the states of america. on the other side of town, there were some bad white christians. that was their thing. -- mad white christians. people were talking about a civil war. -- mad white christistians. we are in a hostile situation. these people are al qaeda. they want to destroy us from the inside.

>> who is working with al qaeda. all of these rich bankers, bush. the whole thing is to try to bring america down and divide the people. they could take place. how can you take its place and say we are going through the old. >> you are talking about the tax pledge, that they would not raise taxes. >> you put your head up to the plate and put your hand up to the constitution. dge and put your head up to the constitution. if the blacks were to try to make a movement and say no more of this republican thing, they would say the bad black people are coming. if the latinos do it, they are

going to say the mexicans are coming. if the good people who votes for if the good people who votes for obamas and up to