now. we hired a number of contractors through the procurement processors, including both building a federal exchange and building what you may have heard referred to as the federal hub a service we'll be providing to the states and to ourselves when we're running a state-based exchange, where it's a one-stop shop for the verification tax and homeland security information that states have to do to verify eligibility. one-stop shop of the data hub, that's under development as well. we're excited, we're ready, we think, we know, we're going to be ready to serve consumers in 204. we get that question a lot, are you guys going to be ready? we are going to be ready. but we are doing as much as we can to help the states along. i know there's probably a few states out there that are going to wait until this june but once the supreme court upholds the a.c.a., i think they're going to be ready to move forward

quickly. and we're going to be there to help them. we keep saying we're going to meet states where they are. although some states may have said that they're going to wait for that decision, many of those states are also the ones that are getting establishment grants. i think they know they want to keep moving forward as best they can, even though they may be waiting for something that may not happen. so i want to close my remarks with two other points that -- one of which i know is probably on some of your minds. this relates to the impact on agents and brokers on decisions by a lot of issuers to reduce commissions in the short-term. we have had ongoing discussions, a number of meet wgs janet and her team and some of your representatives here, we've certainly -- certainly been monitoring and watching and in some cases talking with the naic about the work they've done on

this. in the end, we have recritted -- revisited this issue once again with our lawyers in house, we concluded as the naic lawyers, i believe, concluded, when they first came to us with their recommendations, about the m.l.r. package, which is we don't see an avenue to modify or delay the m.l.r. regulation for agent produced business. we don't see any regulatory fixes there. we looked again. we do in the context of the adjustment applications that come into us from the states, that is one of the criteria we look at. we did that at the recommendation of the neic, we agreed with that recommendation, we granted a number of states adjustments that does provide some relief in those states and we continue to look at the impact that this may have on

consumers' access to health care so we continue to monitor this and it's not something we take lightly but that's unfortunately where we've landed from a regulatory perspective. second, and lastly, i hope you know this, but the affordable care act, even today, is having a real impact on many, many people's lives. maybe, hopefully, many people that you deal with, maybe clients or children of clients, you can stay on your parents' health insurance coverage up to age 26. that means you've got .5 million young people who have access to affordable coverage that in many cases didn't have access before. you can get coverage if you have a pre-existing condition now. i think many of you are familiar with the pre-existing condition insurance program. we have tens of thousands of very, very sick people who did not have access to coverage, who

are now covered. when we look at, by the way, when we look at the diagnosis codes that come in for people enrolled in that program, over 25% of those are cancer-related diagnoses. these are people that have some cancer-related diagnosis, that did not have health care and probably would not have gotten health care, not for this bridge program. until we get to 2014. insurance companies can't deny or limit your coverage now. health insurers have to provide a basic, we think basic, justification when they're going to raise rates more than 10%. and those justifications will be reviewed by independent actuary. the good news is states real ji stepped up. so although h.l.s. will do the reviews when the state isn't in a position to do them, the vast majority of states are conducting those rate reviews for those increases.

we think that's a very important program for our consumers. these are just some real world examples of the impact of the a.t.a. today. so in conclusion, look forward to working with you to implement exchanges and other portions of the reform forl law in the future. these are exciting times for all of us and we look forward to working with you and i very much appreciate the opportunity to come speak with you today. thank you very much. >> and we're taking you live now to cocoa, florida, on the screen former florida congressman bill mccollum, the state chair for newt gingrich's campaign. the candidate is here in cocoa, his last stop of the day, for a town hall meeting, specifically to focus on u.s. states policy -- space folcies. >> he's the one candidate for

president who understands we have a mess on our hands with nasa, we have a vision we need to have, we need to go back to the moon and into space. i want to introduce, to tell you what he thinks and let him listen to you, the man i believe will be the next president of the united states, newt gingrich. [applause] ♪ only in america where we dream as big as we want to we all get a chance everybody gets to dance only in america ♪

♪ [cheers and applause] >> wow. this is quite a crowd. calista and i are delighted to be here. bill and i go back a long way, talk about science and technology, i'm thrilled to be back with him and have a chance to once again talk about what we need to do in order to re-establish our leadership in science and in technology and space. it's great to be here. i also want to thank the senator

for being here, for being part of this, and i also want to say that i'm very, very honored that ken babington gave us the inve case. i want to thank melity for singing, she's got a beautiful voice. finally, let me say, bill mccollum has been all over the state with us and i think with his help and your help, we're going to win next tuesday. [applause] what i'd like to do is a little different than most of the gatherings like this we've done, in that i'd like to use this as an opportunity to talk in a serious way about space. and about how we reorganize what we're doing and we think about what we're doing. now, i have a deep passion about

this because i'm old enough that i used to read "missiles and rockets" magazine, a couple of you are old enough you know what i'm talking about. we're talking late 1950's, right, before "aviation week." i was at the right point as a youngster to be totally fascinated with sputnik and i had been reading science fiction and really, isaacs a move, in particular, helped shape my life. so i come at space from a standpoint of a romantic belief that it really is part of our destiny. and it has been tragic to see what has happened to our space program over the last 30 years. [applause] i wrote a section of a book called "window of opportunity" in 1984, talking about what we

could have done. bob walker, chairman of the science and technology committee, and late headed on the walker -- headed up the walker commission on aerospace, was with me in the early 1980's, and we interviewed younger nasa scientists. i wrote a chapter in "window of opportunity," what would have happened if we'd sustained the momentum of apollo? by the 1980's, we would have had a permanent base on the moon and we would have been on mars. look at the extraordinary trajectory. i want to start, because i used to be a history teacher, i want to put this in context. what i'm going to talk to you about today is going to be very, very bold. it's going to be very different. it's going to make, frankly, some of the nasa bureaucracy uncomfortable. there are going to be people in washington who are going to say, oh, my gosh. what if you were actually just flying rather than studying. what if you were getting things done instead of having planning

meetings? it would be a frightening change in the current pattern. so -- but let me put it in context. i want to use three examples, the third of which is obvious, john f. kennedy. but the first is abraham lincoln. abraham lincoln in 1859 stands on the banks of the missouri river at council bluffs, iowa, and says, we should build a transcontinental railroad. now at the time he says this, we do not have the steel-making capacity to build the rails to california and we didn't have an engine powerful enough to get across the sierra nevadas. in 1869, the railroad is pleated. lincoln is a fascinating study in the american passion for technology and progress. as a young man of 23, he runs

for the state legislature for the first time. part of his platform is to build a railroad in illinois. now, it makes this a-- what make this is amazing is that the first railroad, the rocket, built by stevenson in great britain, in 1829. the first railroad engine to reach the united states is 1831. lincoln has never seen a train. but he's read about it. and he has imagination. and he knows that the prairie is long and he knows that a train would be better than walking. and so, he is campaigning in 1832 on an idea. the idea of progress. i want to give you a few lincolnian visions on space in a minute. second, the wright brothers. this is my core critique of nasa, and frankly of all government science in its current form work the possible

exception of darpa. in late 19th century, people were sort of right at the edge of flight. they kind of almost knew how to do it. they almost had the right engines, they were all looking at birds. and there were two parallel american projects that are fascinating. the smithsonian, arguably at that time the greatest scientific institution in the country, had a $50,000 grant from congress to learn to fly. the smithsonian had very smart scientists, they had connections to the best scientists in germany and the best technicians and best metal urgists, so they coulded or aeroreally cool engine. meanwhile new york dayton, ohio, there were two brothers who ran a bicycle shop. now, bicycles in the 1890's were a high-end technology. actually, merited a discussion in the census report of 1890 on the fact that bicycles were

widespread and allowing teenagers to escape from their parents and there were many sociological side effects of this new revolution system of the wright brothers are here, in their spare time, they're fascinated with flight. they actually build a wind tunnel. these are not unsophisticated people. they build a wind tunnel, they study birds they go to the u.s. government for important weather information, where is the most continuous updraft in the country, kitty hawk. for several year they go to kitty hawk every summer and they take a lot of wood. now the reason they take a lot of wood is they know something very profound. they don't know how to fly. this may seem obvious but trust me, most government planners don't get this. [applause]

so what to they do? they get up in the morning they build a light plane with a weak engine. it's going to start at the top of the hill, go downhill have an updraft and it crashes. they average six or seven crashes a day. and they stop they fix it, they think about it, talk about it, have some more coffee and they try again. this goes on for several years. finally in december of 1903, they have the first powered flight in history. one brother runs alongside the plane to make sure it doesn't flip over and -- it doesn't fly fast enough to get ahead of him. it -- the entire first flight is shorter than the wingspan of a boeing 747 and it never gets high enough to get over the ficeladge of a 747. small article on a.p. that's december 7, 1903. in 1907, they made enough

progress that they fly around the island of manhattan and a million and a half people see an airplane for the first time. four years. because they figured out the core thing, which is how to fly. now, by contrast, the smithsonian, being a large, government establishment of great prestige with too much money, orders from germany a really cool engine. the problem with the really cool engine, it's heavy. and if you have a heavy engine, you have to build a heavy plane. if you have a heavy engine and heavy plane and you're a washington bureaucrat you don't want to go to kitty hawk, north carolina, which is nowhere, this place was so isolate, they were living in a tent. so they say, how do you get wind? they invent something we still use today a catapult on a boat. the precursor of a modern

aircraft carrier. and you uh p it in the potomac. you watch the -- invite the news media to come watch your very first test. you all probably know where this is going, right? so they get out there in the morning, the mist comes off the river, they launch the plane and it goes straight into the water. now here's the problem. when you have a plane landing on ground, it's fairly easey to recover it. when off plane that is heavier than water land in the potomac river, it goes down, the current tears it up, and you have no idea what was wrong. it's a one-time perfection problem. now the smithsonian is deeply embarrassed because they look like fools. and then they get this associated press report that two

bicycle mechanics have flan. this smithsonian hostility to the wright brothers was so great that the wright brothers would not give them the original airplane for 37 years. because bureaucracies hate things that aren't invented in the bureaucracy. there may be a lesson here for people at nasa and the air force. ok. i'm coming around here. bear with me. third example. may, 1961. this is the model for what i'm about to talk to you about. may, 1961. john f. kennedy, representing a new generation, having taken power from dwight david eisenhower, launching a new sense of a new frontier, announces to the congress, we will go to the moon before the end of the decade. in a movie called "city upon a

hill," we have buzz aldrin in the movie, he says, you have to realize, the only person who had gone around the earth at that component was yuri garr garen a russian, and the only american who had been in space had been in suborbital flight. here's the president saying, we will get to the moon inside this decade. and you had to invent everything. yeah, we had all sorts of precursors, we had the v-2 and we had this, and we had that. if you listed every problem they solved by july of 1969, it's one of the great periods of development in human history. and they just did it. so, i'll give you this background for our friends in the news media. twice recently governor romney has made fun of me for having bold ideas in space. has suggested that, you know, the idea of going up to a

permanent lunar colony. the weirdest thing i've ever done, because sooner or later his researchers will find it. at one point, early in my career, i introduced the northwest ordinance for space and i said, i think the number is 13,000. i said when we have 13,000 americans living on the moon, they can petition to become a state. and here's the difference between romantics and so-called practical people. i wanted every young american to say to themselves, i could be one of those 13,000. i could be a pioneer. i need to study science and math and engineering, i need to learn how to be a technician. i can be part of building a bigger, better future. i can actually go out and live the future, looking at the solar

system and being part of a generation of courageous people who do something big and bold and heroic. and i will, as president, encourage the introduction of the northwest ordinance for space to put a marker down, that we want americans to think boldly about the future and we want americans to go out and study hard and work hard and together, we're going to unleash the american people to rebuild the country we love. [applause] so, i'm going to give you a set of goals, and then i'm going to

make a set of observations about how to achieve those goals. by the end of my second term -- [cheers and applause] we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be american. [applause] we will have commercial, near-earth activities that include science, tourism, and manufacturing, and are designed to create a robust industry precisely on the model of the development of the airlines in the 1930's because it is in our interest to acquire so much

experience in space that we clearly have a capacity that the chinese and russians will never come anywhere close to matching. and think -- and by the end of 2020, we will have the first continuous propulsion system in space capable of getting to mars in a remarkably short teem because i am sec of being told we have to be timid and i'm sick of being told we have to be limited to technologies that are 50 years old. candidly, if we truly enspire the entrepreneurial spirits of america we may get some of this stuff a lot faster. now, i want to make some modest observations and some big observations. modest observation number one, we should be practical about using equipment.

that is, for example, the atlas 5 ought to be interchangeable an as usable for nasa products as it is for air force projects. we should get in the habit of absorbing small units of space. you know, it's very difficult right now to get the bureaucracy to think that somebody is about to launch a commercial launch and it has an extra space for 40 pounds but that doesn't fit either the nasa or mill -- military model. when we fly troops around we are fly them on commercial airliners with other people. so if you can share space, you can send things that don't have to be a military-only aircraft or a nasa-only aircraft. i suspect even nasa administrationor -- administrators actually fly on commercial planes with other people. i want to know, if we break down the bureaucratic barriers and go to a common sense model, if it's cheaper, faster and it works, do

it. second, we need to learn how to do five or eight launches a day, not one. we need to get in the habit of saying you know, this is going to be like an airport. year going to be so busy -- if we're going to get to the moon permanently and start getting to mars and build this near-earth capability and do it all within eight year well, better start thinking more like airports than space systems. start figuring out, how are we going to manage this many things? it's not that we can't do it, we don't push ourselves well, don't think about it, we don't design the systems for it. but i want constant activity. i want something there's a reason. the world war ii generations built tons of airports. so the designers after world war ii had made lots of mistakes. if you're a military aircraft designer today you're lucky if you work on more than one

aircraft in your lifetime. we don't have a learning curve. i want so many activities that people are learning again and we're drawing the best talent in the country right back to the space coast because it's exciting and dynamic and who knows what next week is going to be leek? and does that mean i'm a visionary? you bet. you know, i was attacked the other noith for being grandiose. i just want you to know, lincoln standing at council bluffs was grandiose. the wright brothers going to kitty hawk was grandiose. john f. kennedy saying we'll get to the moon in eight years was grandiose. i accept the charge that i am an american and americans are instinctively grandiose because we believe in a bigger future. [applause]

just a couple more core observations. i want you to understand where i'm coming from. i very much believe in a project you can google called strong america now. i believe we have got to become agile, lean, competent, constantly evolving and that means replacing the civil service laws that are 130 years old with a totally new, practical management system that comes much closer to the way boeing is doning the dreamliner. we went down to boeing, outside charleston, and they're walking us through how they do it. i don't know if you know this. this is just an example. the dreamliner is built in italy, wichita, and -- japan and korea. and is flown in in units. that are then brought together

at charleston. and they're walking around they said this particular work area currently takes 16 days. our goal is to get it down to six with the same number of people. and i looked at it and thought to myself, department of housing and urban development. let's be honest. i could have said air force space command. i could have said nasa. i mean, we want to become lean and aggressive. here's my point, they told me the corps of engineers, in order to improve the port of charleston to receive ships through the panama canal in 2014, that to do the study of the project takes eight years. not the project. the study. i said to them, you know, we fought the second world war in three years and eight months.

so we beat nazi germany and japan in 44 months. i want to imprint this on you. because if i become your president, you're going to see -- that is up to god and the american people. and i don't want to be presumptuous. so i'm going to stick with this. if i become your president, you will have a 365-day-a-year relentless pressure to be faster, quicker, leaner, more innovative, more thoughtful, more daring, more visionary, and so let's go back to how to do it. i would want 10% of the nasa budget set aside for prize money. lindbergh flies to paris for $25,000. you can set up prizes, for example, i forget what the bush

administration said it was, it was $450 billion to get to mars with a manned mission. let's put up $10 billion. and if somebody figures it out, we save $440 billion. if their don't figure it out, didn't cost us anything. but you'll have, for $10 billion, and i'd make it tax-free because americans love things tax-free so much, it's not a monetary value, it's the psychic thrill that uncle doesn't get any of it. and this is why he's going to have to learn to have a lot more launches every day. bob walker and i, shortly after i left congress, we were part of a two-day national academy of engineering workshop on prizes, it's online and it was published, we were talking about the historic use of prizes going

back to the 17th century. you put up a bunch of interesting prizes, you're going to have so many people showing up who want to fly, it's going to be unbelievable. so the model i want us to build is largely the model of the 20's and -- of the 1920's and 1930's, when the government was actively encouraging development but the government wasn't doing it. the goth was pay regular wards, it was subsidizing airmail, it was doing a variety of things. jimmy dolittle got famous winning prize money before world war ii, then he got famous for bombing tokyo he had a life that was very interestle. we had enormous breakthroughs in aviation in the 1920's and 1930's that cost the government very little. finally i just want to share, i want people cutting metal, or nowadays i guess you would say, creating various synthetics, and the dreamliner is a composite

aircraft. i want people pouring composite, is it a more accurate way to think of it? actually they wrap it. for a guy my age, i'm looking at that thing going, i'm going to fly in this? but it's stronger than aluminum and more durable. we would be better off to do 1% of the current studies and 10 times as many experiments, just fly it. if it doesn't work, walk off and go, that was kind of interesting. there's a great story of bernie shriver, the leader in air force icbm development, calling his successor. he said you know, you had 17 successful launches. the guy said, you're right. he said, you're not trying. because if you'd been trying, you would have inevitably made mistakes. you're only doing stuff that's safe, you already know how to do. i came here today to ask you, because you're here you know people all over the country who believe in space, you know how exciting it can be at its best

you know what a total mess, what an embarrassment, our current situation is. how can we build a bureaucracy this big and get into a period where we rely on the russians while we watch the chinese plan to surpass us and we sit around twidding our thumbs with no real reform. [applause] i want you to help me, both in florida and across the country, so you can someday say, you were here the day it was announced that of course we'd have commercial space in near space. of course we'd have a manned colony on the moon that flew an american flag, and of course we'd be moving toward mars by the end of the next decade. after all, we are americans and you were there at the beginning of the second great launch of the adventure that john f. kennedy started. thank you very, very much. good luck and god bless you. [applause]

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

♪

>> the florida primary is next tuesday. there were several hundred people who could not get into the event this -- event this evening. we'll have this program later on c-span.org. >> for more resources in the presidential race, use c-span's campaign 2012 website to watch video of the candidates on the campaign trail, see what the candidates have said on issues important to you and read the latest from candidates, political reporters and people like you from social media sites at c-span.org/campaign2012. >> following up to his state of the union address, president obama today started a five-state, three-day swing across the country. today's events included a stop in cedar rapids, iowa, that event is now in our video library at c-span.org, and another coming up this evening

in chandler, arizona. thursday, the president is in las vegas, and aurora, colorado, near deserve, and friday he wraps up his trip in ann arbor, michigan. we'll have coverage of those events as well on the c-span networks. today, congresswoman gabrielle giffords resigned if tremendous u.s. house. her last act was to increase a bill to reduce the penalties for ultra light penalties smuggling drug into the united states. members debated the measure before passing it and the debate on the house floor from this morning is about 20 minutes. ri strong support of h.r. 3801 because it would address the increasing use of ultralight aircraft in the smuggling of contraband across our borders. we also move this bill today in

honor of congresswoman gabrielle giffords, the sponsor of this bill. she ably represented arizona's ghth congressional district since being elected to the united states house of representatives in november of 2006. in fact, our offices were next door to each other when she first arrived in congress, and we had an opportunity to walk and talk and share some stories. i learned from her that she came to congress for the right reasons. she is concerned about her constituents and cares and loves this country deeply. so we got to know each other just a little bit. one of her foremost concerns has been the safety of her constituents. this bill is but one way in which she addressed those concerns. working together with her good friend and tireless colleague, representative flake. i'm delighted that we can move this bipartisan bill. we look forward to the day when

gabrielle fully recovers. the use of ultralights which are small, slow, highly maneuverable, single seat recreation air vehicles is a proven way to smuggle contraband. these planes fly at a very low altitude, and do not even have to land. they simply drop their bundles of contrand at a predestin point and fly back undetected. a sheriff in new mexico was quoted as saying that we need the ability to detect smugglersers' flights before they cross the bder to track them and give us a good indication of where the dropping -- where they are dropping their contraband so we can preposition our response teams. this legislation provides the tools to stop these smugglers from using ultralight aircraft. first, the bill adds ultralights to the definition of aircraft for purposes of

smuggling, and stiffens the penalties for using this type of aircraft to smuggle contraband. secondly, it enhances the ability of u.s. customs and border protection to detect, track, and halt illicit trafficking acrosthe international borders between the united states and mexico and the united states and canada by calling for a collaborative effort between thdepartment of defense, customs, and border protection. for these reasons i'm in favor of expanding our abilities to combat smuggling and support this bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balan of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: i rise very much so in support of the ultralight aircraft smuggling prevention act of 2012. it's concurrent resolutionly important in two respects. -- it's crucially important in

two respkts. it's clear we need to act, it's important of itself. every year hundreds of these aircrafts are flown across our borders. they are carrying drugs. smugglers favor them because they are hard to detect. they arenexpensive. and they can often avoid radar detection. and so the problem is that under current law, under current law immigration and customs enforcement, i.c.e., and the prosecutors don't have the authority to charge the users, these offenders with the existing statute. and so they can seek the higher penalties or lower the burden of proof.

this bill, and this is the second significants -- significance, it was introduced by representative gabby giffords, d it would close this loophole. so i think for all of us colleagues and fends this is a special moment. this legislation was characteristic of the devotion, the dedication, the hard work of representative giffords. representing so ably the people ofer district, the people of her state, and the people of our entire nation. gabby giffords has been a spectacular star in the congressional galaxy. and we say as friends with love

and affection we know that that star will continue to shine brightly and it will inspire us all. gabby giffords will be sorely missed, with you the example of her dedication -- but the example of her dedication, of her vitality and her courage, all of this has set an example that i think hopefully will le us to undertake our duties with the same devotion as she has given to her work here and at home. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. reichert: mr. speaker, i understand that their side may have some additional speakers. we have one additional speaker. would yield to mr. levin to continue with further speakers

on his side. mr. levin: thank you, the gentleman from washington. it's my pleasure now to yield to another distinguished gentleman from the state of washington, a member of our committee, distinguished member of our committee, mr. mcdermott. the speaker pro tempore: for how much te will t gentleman be recognized? mr. levin: three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. mcdermott: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, i urge members to support h.r. 3801, which is the ultralight aircraft smuggling prevention act of 2012. this bill as you have heard will help prevent drug smuggling across our borders and it does it really in three ways. it amends the current law to give our prosecutors the authority to charge smugglers who fly ultralight aircraft in the same way as they charge smugglers who fly conventional aircraft.

second, the bill adds both an attet and a, quote, conspiracy provision to the aviation smuggling law. that means our prosecutors will be able to seek higher penalties when it makes sense. and finally, the bill directs the defense department and the department of homeland security to collaborate in defying equipment and technogy that could be used by our customs officials to tect these aircraft. this is a common sense pie of legislation that address as real problem and in a way that deserves broad bipartisan suort. very similar bill passed the congress -- passed the house in the last congress by a vote of 412-3. so this is a broad bipartisan bill. i expect this bill to pass with the same kind of bipartisan support today. what's unique about it is that it comes on the day when gabby

giffords is going to resign from the congress, the woman who brought this bill to the floor. i want to congratulate her not only on this important piece of legislation but for the impressive record she developed over the five years that she was representing the eighth district of arizona. we all know gabby's spirit well. she has an office down the hall from me and i occasionally walk from office over here in the times when we came over to vote and got to know her on a newman basis, and she is truly a wonderful woman. and we will miss her. she had a bright future before her here. and it's sad to us that she's leaving, but it's imptant for her to take care of herself. i'm a physician, a psychiatrist, and i have seen cases like hers in the past, and know that t possibilities for rehabilitation are very good. but it takes time.

and running political cpaigns and doing the kinds of things that you have to do in this business doesn't give you much time to take care of yourself. so we want gabby to go home and take care of herself and return to h highest level of ability because she has much to offer the people of the state of arizona and her husband and the country. so it's with a great deal of sadness that we say goodbye to her, but on the other hand we are very happy for her. and we very much urge everyone to vote for this bill. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from washington. mr. reichert: mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield to the gentleman from arizona, mr. flake, and al take a moment to recognize him for his continuing efforts and doinged determination to ensure the safety of our countrs

borders. the speaker pro tempore: for how much time is the gentleman is recognized? mr. reichert: three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. flake: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise today in support of this legislation. it's been described it will help, it is needed on the border to close this loophole. to make sure we can better protect that border. i also want to pay ibute at this time to my friend and colleague, gabby giffords, for bringing this bill forward. for her work on this over the years. i have traveled to the border many times and meet with those property holders there. particularly the ranchers. that she knows so well, that she has worked with over the years to develop legislation like this and the other legislation and initiatives she has pushed to make sure that we have a secure border. she met with these groups and then committed to have conference calls routinely to make sure at she was hearing

their concerns. and she did s over a long period of time. and i can tell you those who reside at the border, those who live there, who have property there, who work there, who have been there for generations, appreciation so deeply the work that she has done over these years. i want to pay tribute also to her family, especially her good husband, mark, for these difficult and challenging year for supporting her and for making sure that she had what she needed and that she i recovering. what a wonderful story they have together and will continue to have. and also want to pay tribute to gabby giffords' wonderful staff. this has been a challenging year for them. and they have done everything possible to ensure that the people in the eighth district have received the representati that they deserve. they have worked long hours under difficult circumstances

and made sure those constituents were well served. i was down in sierra vista earlier this week and -- last week and spoke to many of her constituents who recognize the efforts of gabby and her good staff in this difficult time. we of the arizona delegation will miss her in congress deeply. we are so appreciative of the service that she has rendered and we know that she will continue to serve whether in the future as an elected office or whatever capacity she will continue to serve the good people of arizona and this country. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. reichert: i continue to reserve, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman continues to reserve his time. the gentleman from -- mr. levin: it's now my privilege to yield three minutes to a gentleman who has been very much involved in issues relating to this bill,

mr. reyes of texas, three minutes. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. reyes: like my friend and colleague from washington, i, too, rise in support of this legislation, h.r. 3801, as a former federal law enforcement officer, retired border patrol agent, border patrol chief who had the opportunity as a co-chair of the border caucus to work very closely with gabby giffords. and it's a real privilege to be able to support this piece of legislation which, as my colleague from washington mentioned, has previously passed the house and it's my understanding has already passed the senate. so i urge all my colleagues to support it. i, too, would like to pay

tribute to gabby giffords because not only did i get a chance to work with her on border issues as members of the border caucus but also as members of the interparliamentary group and wanted to make sure that we know that we're not counting out gabby. i think those of us that know her, those of us that have had the privilege of working with her understand that she is determined to make a full recovery. we all will miss her but we certainly agree with the decision she has made along with her husband, mark, and her family that she needs to take someime to fully recover. so we haven't seen the last of gabby giffords, i believe.

i think whatever the future holds for her she has made this a better place because of her work, because of her thirst to seek out the facts. this piece of legislation is just one indicator of the work that she has done on behalf of not just her constituents and not justher state but work done on behalf of our nation to keep us safe, especially post -9/11. so i hope today we have a unanimous vote of support for legislation that, yes, is needed because i've been on the bord with our border patrol agents and i.c.e. agents and have seen some of these ultra lights that this legislation addresses. but more than that, because we

have to continue the fight against these drug cartels and these drug trafficking organizations. so i urge all the members to vote yes and wish gabby and her family well and proud to have worked with her. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. reichert: i have no additional speakers and i continue to reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i now yield two minutes to the gentlelady from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentleman from michigan, and i thank the manager of the bill and rise todayto support h.r.

3801. i serve on the homeland security committee and know the importance of emphasizing, utilizing resources in a partnership and in fact passing a law, an authorization for that. well know there's a firewall between a civilian government and its department of defense, and that's why i think this bill is particularly astute and particularly important, authored by our friend, gabby giffords. i thank her for her thoughtfulness, to ensure that as we t assets together we have the act of law to ensure that it is properly done. as a member of a border state or a resident of a border state, having been to the border many times, having walked the border from california to texas, having been on the border at night, having been on the border with the customs and border patrol, i can see what these assets can

do to help stop the scourge of drug cartels and drug trafficking and certainly make sure that those who come into this country come in for the right reason. but i also had the privilege of serving as part of the region that we are associated with in the structure o this congress and served on the steering and policy committee with our friend. i consider her a gift that keeps on giving to this nation, and i really do believe that as she per sues her own health issues -- pursues her own health issues, as she continues to espouse those issues that she did when she was here, i think america is a great country and she's an example of that and her husband, mark, who served so well in exploring our universe. we in houston owe her a debt of gratitude for you could not imagine the love and affection of houstonians who never met congresswoman giffords as she healed in our community. and so i would just like to --

mr. levin: an additional 15 seconds. ms. jackson lee: so i'd like to say thank you to her and wi her well. she is an american hero because of the courage and certainly we acknowledge those who lost their lives and those who were unded on that tragic day but what a symbol that this congresswoman represents, this american represents to all who seek a better place. i ask our colleagues to enthusiastically support h.r. 3801. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from washington. mr. reichert: still no addional members seeking time. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i guess we'll wrap up. i do show as i look about and think of this institution, it sometimes can be quite impersonal. i think for all of us today this is a very personal moment,

and i think all of us join in saluting gabby and mark. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. reichert: i thank you, mr. speaker. i keep my closing statement short. this obviously is an important bill to this country, for our nation's security and is especially important on this day when our good friend, gabrielle giffords, has prented her resignation. i urge all members to join me in support of this captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> before the final vote, members paid tribute to their arizona colleague and officially turned in her letter of resignation. speakers included, nancy pelosi,

eric cantor and steny hoyer. the video begins at the end of the previous vote. this is 35 minutes.

>> i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order. >> without objection, so ordered. >> all of us come to the floor today, colleagues of congresswoman gabby giffords to salute her as the brightest star

among us, the brightest star congress has ever seen. >> when she came to congress, she brought to washington and the capitol, the views of a new generation of national leader. from this floor, she has spoken out courageously and led boldly, at times that demanded both. since the tragic events of one year ago, congresswoman giffered has become an inspiring symbol

of determination to millions of americans. she has brought the word of dignity to new heights by her courage. congresswoman giffords' message of bipartisanship and civility is one that all in washington should honor and emulate. as she said in her video which moved us this weekend, we can do so much more by working together. i want to thank you for courtesies extended to enable this extraordinary ceremony to

take place today. thank you, mr. speaker. >> i would like tore acknowledge gabby's mother and her father spencer who is watching from tucson. >> we thank you and we thank commander mark kelly, a hero and an astronaut.

a hero in his own right as an astronaut for the care and love he has given to gabby over this past year. and before that, help -- and gloria and spencer. i join all, i think all of our colleagues in thanking you, gabby, for the honor of calling you colleague and wishing you and mark much happiness and success. you will be missed in the house of representatives, but your legacy in this congress and your leadership in our nation will certainly endure. so thank you for being who you are, for lifting our country at a very important and sad time, and we wish you, again, much success with great gratitude, admiration and affection, we

saleet you congresswoman gabby giffords. >> the gentleman seek recognition? it's my privilege to yield the floor to the distinguished majority leader of the house, representative cantor. >> i thank the leader, and mr. speaker, a little more than a year ago, america witnessed a heinous attack on congresswoman gabby giffords, her staff and the citizens of tucson. this attack took six innocent lives, including gabe zimmerman,

ininjured 13 and shook all of us in the congressional community and in fact our nation to its core. this attack was a stark reminder that even in this country where freedom of speech and public demonstration are the cornstones of our democracy, citizens and public officials can face violence and danger. we will never forget those who lost their life on that fateful day or the brave efforts of our law enforcement community members, and a special intern who responded in the emergency. mr. speaker, i know i speak for all of our colleagues when i say we are inspired, hopeful and blessed for the incredible progress that gabby has made in her recovery.

>> as gabby leaves the house today, mr. speaker, she's decided to focus her energies on recovery, but she has refused to give up her fight for the people of her beloved arizona and her country. and as such today, we will vote on her legislation to help secure our nation's southwestern border. gabby's bill gives greater authority to penalize those who seek to do us harm by seeking in

illegal activity along the border. i commend gabby for her commitment to work on this and her unwavering commitment to a more safer, more secure america. for the past six years, congresswoman gabby giffords has served arizona's 8th district with dedication and dignity. i want to recognize her accomplishments here and thank her staff in their exceptional service, dedication and yes, courage, during these difficult times. >> i want to recognize her chief

of staff, pia carusone. i know having met with pia personally and having worked with her office, she has demonstrated incredible dedication to her co-workers, to you, gabby, and to you, mr. speaker, she has demonstrated unparalleled leadership to the people of the 8th district of arizona and we are very grateful. on sunday, mr. speaker, i received a call from captain mark kelly, gabby's husband, who informed me of gabby's decision.

mark has been steadfast in his support of his wife and for ever by her side as her best friend and partner. though gabby may be leaving washington today, i know this won't be the last we see of her or mark. we wish you, gabby, we wish mark, together, the best as they continue the process of gabby's recovery. and i'll say once again, mr. speaker, congresswoman gabby giffords' strength, against all odds served and will continue to serve as a daily inspiration to all of us. thank you, mr. speaker. and i yield back.

>> the gentlelady from california. >> i thank the leader and now pleased to yield to gabby's friend, the distinguished minority whip of the house, congressman hoyer. >> i thank the speaker for ensuring that we would have this opportunity to speak to our friend gabby giffords. i thank the majority leader for his comments. none of us on this floor are talented enough to summon the rhetoric that all of us feel in our hearts. we have young men and women on the fields in iraq, afghanistan and other troubled spots in the

world. they are fighting for freedom and democracy. and too many of them are injured on those fields. our beloved colleague, gabby giffords, was injured in the field in the exercise of that democracy. and in being injured, she has become an example for us, for all americans, indeed all the world. of courage, of clarity of purpose, of grace, of responsibility, of a sense of duty, which she exercises this day. i love gabby giffords. i was honored when she first ran

for office before she was elected, to go to her district, as i have done for so many others in this country to stand by her side, to walk down the streets of her community with her, to see and hear the beauty, not only of person -- many of us see the out ward visage of us all, but gabby's beauty is in the heart, in the soul, in the spirit. the house of representatives of america has been made proud by this extraordinary daughter of this house. who served so well during her tenure here, who felt so deeply about her constituents and cared so much for her country.

gabby, we love you. we have missed you >> i miss you. [laughter] [applause] >> mr. speaker, i don't know whether you were able to hear that response. as gabby looked with that extraordinary smile, the twinkle in her eyes as she said to me and to all of us, and i miss you. do any of us doubt that that is the case? pia, we are blessed in this house to be served by extraordinary people of which you are a perfect example, a people who love us, but love their country even more, who

serve our constituents so extraordinarily well, who evidence every day, care for us and care for the work that we do, which we could not do, pia, without people like yourself and all of your colleagues that we call staff. thank you. [applause] >> mr. speaker, god has blessed gabby giffords and he has sent a blessing to all of us in the person of gab real giffords and

god bless gabby as well with an extraordinary mom and dad and extraordinary partner in life. mark, we owe you a debt of gratitude. i look forward to the day when you and gabby will be returning here, return to full health and full ability to serve. gabby, america thanks you. it thanks you for the example that you have given of overcoming adversity and doing so with a spirit unparalleled. god bless you and god speed. [applause] >> mr. speaker, i know that

every member in the house would like to associate himself or herself with the remarks of our distinguished majority leader and democratic whip, especially in regard to gabby, of course, but also pia. it is something that every day we have a chaplain or the guest chaplain come to the floor and ask god's blessing on this house. as mr. hoyer said, one of those blessings to us has certainly been the leadership and the life and service that will continue for many years to come of congresswoman gabby giffords. we focus on her. she is our friend. we look at her remarkable recovery with great pride and carries with her the sorrow of so many others who lost their lives. so the apparent physical

recovery that we see is something even more than we could ever imagine for the challenge that congresswoman giffords has faced. god gave her a very special mission. he gave it to gabby giffords because he knew she could carry that burden because he had blessed her with so many, many gifts and a loving family to make her the person she is. how fortunate we have all been to be part of her life for now and hopefully for a long time to come she will miss us. it is now with very mixed emotions, mr. speaker, that i yield to gabby's very good and close friend. i say very mixed emotions because we want her to stay with us. she has made the right decision. hopefully it will be liberating for her in many ways, but she

goes without knowing the close ties we all feel personally to her. and so, mr. speaker, it is my honor to yield to her close friend, a leader in this house, congresswoman debey wasserman schultz. >> the gentlelady from florida is recognized. >> if i could ask my colleagues to join me at the well. thank you mr., mr. speaker, and madam leader. mr. whip, and majority leader. i couldn't prepare anything this morning because i knew i wouldn't be able to hold this together very long. i am so proud of my friend and

it will always be one of the great treasures of my life to have met gabby giffords and to have served with her in this body. we have all been through such a tumult tueous year, no one more than gabby, her family and her constituents in her beloved city of tucson, arizona and i know being able to be gabby's voice today that knowing as well as i do, that the one thing that has not been said is that gabby wants her constituents to know her constituents who she loves so much in southern arizona, that it has been the greatest professional privilege of her life to represent them, that she loves them as a fifth generation resident of tucson, that her public service has meant a great deal to her and that this is

only a pause in that public service and that she will return one day to public service. to represent them. and she has so in the last 5 1/2 years. [applause] >> and let me just say a point of personal privilege, that for the last year, it has been one of the honors of my life and the most important thing to remember that no matter what we argue about here on this floor or in this country, that there is nothing more important than family and friendship and that should be on high above all else. and i will always carry that in my heart. and even though i know we won't see each other every day, gabby,

we'll be friends for life. for life. >> thank you. [applause] >> i'm so sorry. >> i'm privileged to read this letter on behalf of gabby and her family and her constituents. january 25, 2012, the honorable john boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. dear speaker boehner, in 2001, strongly holding the belief that there is no higher calling than serving my country, i went from selling tires to being a freshman representative in the arizona state house. and for 10 years, i served in the arizona legislature in the united states congress and after marrying mark, as a proud military spouse. always i fought for what i thought was right, but never did i question the character of

those whom i disagreed. never did i let pass an opportunity to join hands with someone just because he or she held different ideals. in public service, i found a venue for my pursuit of a stronger america. by enshuring the safety and securing of all americans and producing clean energy here at home instead of importing energy from abroad and men and women in uniform. i found a way to care for others and in the past year, i have found the value that is unbreakable even by the most vicious of attacks. the tragic january 8 shooting in tucson took the lives of six beautiful americans and wounded 13 others, me included. i'm sorry. not a day goes by that i don't feel grief for the lives lost and so many others torn apart, dorothy morris, john roll, fill

is schneck, dorwin stoddard and gabe zimmerman embody yeed the -- embodied the best of america. they served their communities and country and died performing an important act of citizenship that is the heart of our greatness as a nation. they will be remembered always by their country and by their congress. i don't remember much from that terrible day, but i have never forgotten my constituents, my colleagues or the millions of americans with whom i share great hope in this nation. to all of them, thank you for your prayers, your cards, well wishes and your support. and even as i have worked to regain my speech, thank you for your faith in my ability to be your voice. the only way i ever served my district in congress was by giving 100%. i would add it's 150. this past year, that's what i

have given to my recovery. thank you for your patience. to my first words to my speech therapy, i have given myself to walk back on the house floor to represent arizona's 8th congressional district. today i know that now is not the time. i have more work to do on my recovery before i can again serve an elected office. this past year, my colleagues and staff have worked to make sure my constituents were represented in congress, but if i can't return, my district deserves to elect a u.s. representative who can give 100% to the job now. for that reason, i have submitted the attached letter of resignation to arizona governor january brewer. amid that was all lost on january 8, there was hope and faith. this past year, it is what i have clung to, hope that our government can represent the best of the nation, not the

worst, faith that americans working together in their communities, in our congress can succeed without qualifications, hope and faith that even as we are set back with tragedy or profound disagreement. we come together as americans to set a course towards greatness. every day, i am working hard. i will recover and will return. and we will work together again for arizona and for all americans. sincerely, gabby giffords, member of congress. [applause]

>> mr. speaker, in appreciation once again for your courtesies enabling this to happen, i yield back the balance of our time. >> the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. >> captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> senate select committee on intelligence holding their annual hearing on global threats to the united states. >> i do believe that the west for all of its historical shortcomings and i'm scathing in my book in discussing these

shortcomings because they have to be admitted, for all of these, the west still today represents the most acceptable and workable universally workable political culture. >> in 1991, the united states was the only global superpower. today, how to restore its status in the world from a former national security advisor on his strategic vision. and this weekend on book tv, did f.d.r. use world war ii to create a more powerful executive branch? saturday at 11:00 p.m. sunday night at 10:00, the new privacy is no privacy and how your rights are being eroded by social networks. book tv every weekend on c-span2. >> senate energy and commerce subcommittee held a hearing today on the obama administration's decision to

deny a permit for the construction of the keystone x.l. pipeline that would have carried oil from canada to the u.s. there is legislation introduced to give approval to that of the federal regulatory -- energy regulatory hearing. >> the north american energy access act. i would like to welcome those members of the referee training class, i didn't realize you were going to be with us this morning but we are delighted you are here and hope you'll enjoy the hearing as well. today's hearing gives us the opportunity to learn why the obama administration denied a permit to build the keystone pipeline from canada through parts of the united states. how could the obama administration when presented

with the chance to create thousands of jobs and at the same time significantly reduce our dependence on oil from the middle east say no to the american people? today, we will examine how such a harmful decision was made and explore opportunities to reverse that decision while the administration struggled to find a rational decision to reject the construction of keystone pipeline. we're going to look for ways to build the keystone pipeline. this is a project that would cost about $7 billion to build. there would not be any government money involved in this project. it is all being supplied by private industry. and it would immediately put at least 20,000 people to work. that certainly sounds like the national interest to me.

if our president decides that sending three aircraft carriers strike groups to the strait of humoz to defend the free flow of oil, if he thinks that's in the national interest, one would also think a pipeline from canada that would help us be less dependent on middle eastern oil would also serve the national interests. the president's own state department determined that the pipeline would have no significant impact on the environment. the president said it himself. his rejection of the keystone pipeline is not based on its merits. he said that, which makes us believe that the decision to reject the pipeline was solely a political decision to help him be re-elected. at this time, i would like to yield the remainder of my time to mr. terry. >> thank you, mr. chairman, for holding this hearing on this

bill. a couple of points, couple of minutes i have. this is what the state department has by way of environmental studies on the keystone route. it is very volumenouse and difficult to understand why this would be discarded and we'll get into the points later during questioning. i want to go off my regular script and express my displeasure that the state department decided or objected to our nebraska witness that could help put in context the nebraska exemption and what nebraska is doing. the state department objected because they don't sit on the same panel as a state witness. so the head of our nebraska department of environmental quality is not worthy enough to sit there and because of then

time constraints, ability to answer our questions had to be deleted from this panel and i'm disturbed by that. but we're going to get into the false excuse of using the state of nebraska as the reason, reading your testimony as the reason for the denial. in fact, the bill was written so you wouldn't have to make that decision and we'll get into those statements. i yield back. >> i thank the gentleman for yielding back. i might say also, last night, the president in his state of the union address, talked about the importance of infrastructure for america to remain competitive. >> the five minutes is up.

and we should proceed before the regular order is up. the time is up, mr. chairman. >> when you said that, there were still 30 seconds left. >> i looked at it >> -- >> we will enforce the five-minute rule. >> thank you for recognizing me. mr. chairman, i am also delighted to see the referee there. this is a good opportunity for them to exercise their craft and i expect the battle to take place this morning because today we are holding yet another hearing on the keystone x.l. pipeline as the follow-up to the last hearing, last markup and the full vote we had where the majority forced the obama administration to make a decision on the keystone x.l. pipeline. let me remind you the majority

first tried to remove legislation that required the administration to forego its legal obligations and its due diligence and come out with a favorable decision for keystone x.l. november 1 of last year. and the majority's reckless and irresponsible -- so be it if the american public was left unprotected because the administration did not have the time needing to conduct a thorough review -- and i want to repeat a thorough review and oversight of this project. four of my republican colleagues, as long as industry got what it wanted, then that was the most important role of this congress. after that tactic failed, the majority held hostage the payroll tax cut extension, which

would benefit millions of working-class family in order to attach a rider to force president obama to come out in favor of keystone x.l. within 60 days of the bill's enactment. and we all know how well that strategy worked out. again, the majority said too bad if ordinary americans might have been negatively impacted by the lack of federal oversight. and who cares if the republican governor and legislator of nebraska have yet to even identify a new route for the pipeline. as was the theme all last year, my republican colleagues continued to push this false notion that if you would just

roll back government oversight and protections for average americans and allow industry to do what it wants without restrictions, then somehow, jobs will be created and millions of out-of-work americans would be gainfully employed. after all, mr. chairman, we saw how well this well-defined philosophy worked during the bush years with the collapse of our total financial institutions and our economy. mr. chairman, it's ironic that 25 energy and power subcommittees and joint hearings denying bills that originated from this subcommittee that went to pass the house last year, the only piece of legislation that

actually became law was the pipeline safety reauthorization bill, which expanded regulations in order to address public safety. in fact, the pipeline safety bill enjoyed unanimous support from this committee. and so it would appear that my republican colleagues are not always opposed to federal regulations and oversight, especially when their districts are directly affected. mr. chairman, today we are here on another fishing expedition by the majority party to sidestep regulations and oversight in order to help regular industry get what they want and the american public be damned in the process. i'm not sure if the majority is

showing they are working on their behalf for more campaign contributions even when they know that the underlying legislation would never ever become law -- >> i think the gentleman's time has expired and i want his words taken down. >> move his words be stricken. >> the gentleman's time has expired. s >> the gentleman made an accusation of saying that we are tied to campaign contributions, a, that's wrong and that's against our rules. his words need to be taken down. >> we'll have the clerk review the transcript and then we will proceed at that point and i would remind everyone that we do

not need to be making accusations what people are or are not doing as far as campaign finance laws and whatever. i would like to recognize the chairman of the full committee. >> we have a number of referees in that second row. welcome to the big house. i know you have red flags. and it's a review of the play and we look forward to having a review of the play. that vote passed on a two-to-one margin and looking to have the ruling confirmed again and again and again. it's not often that congress can take a single step that will at the same time help reduce the future price at the gas pump, strengthening the nation's energy security and creating tens of thousands of jobs and it's not often that we can accomplish all of these important goals at absolutely no

cost to the taxpayer, but that is what this pipeline expansion project would do and i support this legislation the north american energy access act. keystone is a shovel-ready project whose construction would create badly needed job. once completed, it would allow more oil from canada to come to the u.s. taking the place of imports from far less friendly producers. the oil would go to refineries in the midwest and gulf coast, increasing the supply of american-made gas. the pipeline would provide an outlet for the growing supplies of domestic oil produced in north dakota and montana releaving the potential bottleneck there and every penny will be paid for by the private sector. given the many benefits of keystone it is no surprise that so many americans consider this decision to be a no-brainer

since the environmental impacts on the project have been extensively studied for years and found to be minimal. last july, the house passed the bill requiring the state department to make the decision by november 1. 47 democrats joining nearly all the republicans in supporting the reasonable measure. the bill probably would have garnered more votes despite the administration's repeated assurances that it's going to make a decision before the end of 2011 and the legislative deadline was not necessary. the administration reversed its decision and postponed its decision until 2013 at the earliest. in response, congress gave the president a second chance to do the right thing by providing them yet another 60 days to approve keystone as part of the payroll tax bill but last week he decided to reject the proposal after only 26 days. you see 60 days wasn't enough. make no mistake. time is of the essence.

not only are there unemployed americans looking for jobs and iran is threating the straits and the price at the pump headed towards five bucks in the next couple of months but the canadian government is under zandbly growing i am patient with the endless red tape and delays coming from washington. canada is a rapidly increasing its oil production and if the u.s. refuses to be a customer for these new supplies, canada will build a pipeline not to the south but to the pacific coast and the oil will be exported to china. that's why we are again offering an opportunity to approve keystone. i believe that this approach, this legislation giving the decision-making authority to ferc is a good one. i look forward to moving it through the committee and i would yield to anyone on our side that would like time. and if not, we'll yield back my

time. >> the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. at this time, i recognize the gentleman from california, mr. waxman. >> today we once again consider legislation to approve the keystone x.l. tar sands pipeline. this legislation exempts one pet project from every federal and state permitting requirement. yes, one project would be exempted from every review. now is that a way to approve an important and controversial pipeline? i hardly think that's the case. the fact is that the legislation we are considering today is an earmark that benefits just one project. you remember the republicans saying they were against earmarks, well, not when it helps their friends.

and the arguments for the project just does not stand up to scrutiny. this tar sands pipeline won't boost our energy independence or lower gas prices or create the inflated jobs being promised. why are the republicans introducing bill after bill to short-circuit the permitting process on keystone x.l.? they say it will make the country more energy independent. that is a myth. oil prices are set by the global markets. this pipeline will have no impact on our vulnerability to price spikes or iranian brinks manship and keystone won't reduce our imports but allow canadian oil companies to use the united states as a conduit for shipping their tar sands overseas to china.

i know they say if they don't get this pipeline, they will go to the west coast. well, that's a problem, because there are first nations in canada who don't want this pipeline going in that direction and it's not so clear they can get the approval to do that. the republicans say it will cut gasoline prices, but the opposite will happen. canadian oil that is now being refined in the midwest and supressing prices in the market will be diverted to the gulf coast for export, costing consumers in the midwest billions of dollars. the republicans say they support the pipeline because it will create tens of thousands of jobs, but that's not right either. according to transcanada, the company seeking to build the keystone x.l. pipeline, the project will have, quote, a peak

work force of approximately 3,500 to 4,200 construction personnel. some labor groups have recently described the g.o.p.'s and particulars on keystone as the politics as usual strategy of a do-nothing republican congress. if the republicans were seriously and actually concerned about jobs, they'd work with the president in passing his jobs bill. they have no solution to the jobs crisis. the jobs crisis, they say, must be responded to by tearing away regulations to protect public health and safety. and let billionaires keep more money and trickle down to more jobs and they say this one project will provide the jobs we need. it's amazing to me. the fact is, the legislation we are considering today is one that is hard to understand. we asked the koch brothers

whether this was -- whether this committee has an obligation to understand who benefits from this legislation. last year, news organizations reported that one company, koch industries, would be one of the big winners if this pipeline were constructed. we asked them if this was true and we were told they have no interest whatsoever in the pipeline. but then we learn that they told the canadian government that they have a direct and substantial interest. something does not add up. to understand this situation better, mr. rush and i requested that we invited them to come here and testify. the chairman hasn't responded to our letter. we therefore, mr. chairman, are invoking the minority's rights under rule 11 of the house rules to have a minority day of

hearing. it is important that we hear from them and the other stake holders. i think this pipeline is a bad idea -- >> the gentleman's time has expired. i would also tell the gentleman, we will certainly accept the letter and we will follow the rules, but we aren't going to be subpoenaing the koch brothers and not asking the koch brothers to appear because they have nothing to do with this project. at this time -- >> point of order, mr. chairman. you made a statement where you were not recognized for the time and cut me out in the middle of the sentence. i would like to know the subsubstantial yation. >> your time is up. and we are going to recess this hearing and then come back. >> are you calling the koch brothers during the recess? >> you want to talk about that, let's talk about the millions of dollars that obama administration gave money to

george kayser, would you like for us to subpoena him, too? >> why are you interrupting members when you take unlimited time for yourself? >> i'm responding to your allegations and i'm the chairman and we are going to recess for 10 minutes. . . . >> april 15, 2010, i had arrived in paris, walked into the hotel lobby, met general mcchrystal for the first time, he looked at me and he said, oh, so you're the "rolling stone" guy, i don't

care about the article, i just want to be on the cover. >> michael hastings wrote about the commander of nato forces in afghanistan in the june issue of rolling stone. >> i said it's between you and lady gaga. i was just making a joke, not knowing she was on the cover. he said, put me and lady gaga in a heart-shaped tub. i thought, this is a different kind of general. >> several months later, general mcchrystal was fired as a result of the article. michael hastings continues this interview sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on "q & a." >> each year, hundreds attend the world economic forum in davos, switzerland. it began today with an address by german chancellor angela her

tell. she spoke of the importance of mane taining a united front in the injure zoe zone. this is 40 minutes. >> allow me to welcome my colleague, the prime menster of denmark, to welcome you very cordially on behalf of all the heads of state and government, because she's currently in the presidency of the european union. ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you that i very gladly accepted your invitation to come here again and particularly to come here this year to the world economic forum, the annual meeting, after all, is in many ways the climax of many

activities that you have during the year. the motto the great transformation shaping new models certainly is more than appropriate. it is also, however, very ambitious but davos has always been an ambitious kind of place. what is needed is, as it were, a big rethink. ever since 2008, 2009, we've been debating time and again what sort of lessons can we draw from this big global financial and economic crisis? so let us take a moment and reflect a question that i asked last year, that i'm going to ask this year, what sort of lessons have we learned if the global economic and financial crisis, and is it sufficient what we've learned? i think the answer is, it's still not quite sufficient. if we're talking about having

rethink and breaking new ground, i think there's still room here for improvement. because if one is realistic, even perhaps pass mystic, one has to say that although in 2008, 2009, we've experienced very clearly that there is a very close interdependency, we have not been table bring the doha around to a successful conclusion. quite the contrary, in our last meeting, it was said to us that there are increasing signs of protectionism so that protectionism is on the rise rather than the con trear. we have made certain progress as regards regulation, the last g-20 meeting in -- g-20 meeting western found information for

the big banks for the -- but for the chateau banks we have to wait another two years and when people ask us, what have you learned, because there was a glaring lack of regular leags that brought us to this predicament, let me perhaps not elaborate at any great length about the financial transaction, but has the world learned its lesson, had we all said to our citizens we're not only paying some kind of tax on each and every product, but not on financial products, and we have to deduce that, we have to grant it doesn't look promising. the outlook to rio will be that we'll meet in rio de janeiro but if there is a followup on kyoto, we have to unfortunately be honest and say, there's going to be a time where we have less binding commitments in overall climate policy than more.

there is a lot that remains to be done to the global leaders and we have to come up with the necessary speed. so we don't allow for unnecessary and irreversible damage to be done to the planet. europe certainly is a continent that currently needs to debate new methods. we've learned, we're interdependent, we are part and parcel of one and the same world and one and the same global community but we've also learned in europe that the financial and economic crisis that started in america left a deep imprint on europe an we're still working on trying to redress that. europe is a great and magnificent european political project. i'm standing here before you that -- firmly convinced that we, and i think i speak on behalf of my colleagues, that we wish to further develop this great achievement on the ans

veryry of the signing of the treaty, we said we are united in europe and it is to our great luck that we are united. we will not be happy and lucky if we don't show this commitment to unison this year marks a year where the billions -- the seven billionth citizen of the planet was born. if we look at how the world has cheablinged sense the second world war, europe was a work of peace when it was achieved. i think we cannot overestimate what a success this was after centuries of warrer to a continent apart. at the time, there was .5 billion people living on this planet. the the europeans have not exactly grown in size but the world these days has seven billion inhabitants. we have about 7% of the population, 0% of the world's

g.d.p. in europe, both of these figures will shrink over the next few years, apart from the question of war and peace, democracy and freedom, another question has been added to that. how can we actually maintain our position in this world? how can we bring our interests and our weight to bear? and this is only possible, not for individual european countries, after all, we in germany, for example, have about 1% of the world's population and because, like the rest of europe, we have a demographic problem, the tendency is going downward, we need others to bring our weight to bear. we are actually lucky to be able to be with others and to shape our common future. this motivates us to go through this crisis and to come out strengthened at the end of this process. what is at the far ground of discussions is quite often the problem of public indebtedness and sovereign debt and this is why many people call this a

dealt cry sess but what has also become clear and this is just as important is that we have difficulties and weaknesses as regards our competitiveness in a number of european countries and that's even more difficult to combat, it's also become clear that in those countries with share a common currency, where economic and monetary union has made progress to the extent where they desaied to opt for the euro, there's a clear lack of political structures of the necessary underpinnings to make the project work. we will not be -- become faint hearted in the face of this challenge. i'm quite sure that this is an analysis that is shared by all. those deficits that have accrued over the years. this means it's not going to be with one sort of waving of a magic wand, we'll be able to overcome this or get rid of this. but we are resolved to do what is necessary to address this. because structural weaknesses,

because of the great burden the global financial and economic crisis constituted were much more acutely felt, we have to address them. we would probably have -- not had to acknowledge that there are these weaknesses at some point in time but now we have to do something about it because now we have a clear erosion of confidence on behalf of the rest of the world. they don't believe we are able to cope with this. so the question needs to be, do we dare more europe? the year 2000 said, yes, we dare to be more european. this is a good mess amming. we're ready in different areas to show we're ready to have more europe in budgetary discipline, not only because we're talking about budgets and finances but also because we're talking about sustainability. this is what we're after. stable growth, not only for europe but for the whole of the

world. stable situation for the global economy and sustainability will have to be the trademark of future policies so that we can -- so the budget area and secondly the area of competitiveness, linked to that also, jobs. that is essential and crucial area, people will not believe in europe if there is too high unemployment and thirdly, solidarity, showing solidarity toward each other. this after all is also an expression of our willingness and our conviction that we belong together, we wish to belong together and the world outside is expecting us to stand up for each other. if we think of the two sides, points i mentioned and what has already been done by countries other the past year, i would hold that this is not sufficiently acknowledged by that many people.

maybe it's also not sort of really seen all that clearly by people. what's happening in portugal, what's happening in ireland, partly in greece, what happened in spain, a lot more has actually been done than we have seen. they sid until 2010, they want europe to be the most competitive continent in the world, quite openly, frankly, we have not been able to a chief it. but over the past few years we have seen that something needs to be changed here. so it's not only austerity measures. i know everyone is talking about this, but this is not only in and of itself of the essence but also structural reforms that lead to more jobs. that's essential.

i'm deeply convinced of this. look at the different examples we've seen in europe that have already undergone those reforms. sweden, for example, or look at the reforms that we have launched in germany. they have brought about a massive change for the better in germany from more than five million we are down to less than two million. we know it takes 12 months or 18 months to achieve. it's extremely important that we are there for the duration. we don't lose patience, we remain steadfast on this course and since matters are moving so quickly, people tend to be impatient, we still have to convince each other that this is necessary. on the 13th of january new york only a few day, we shall have an extraordinary meeting of the heads of state of the european union and another council and

both of these, job and growth will loom large on the agenda. the commissioner, the president of the european commission said we have 23 million companies in europe. we have 23 million people who are out of a job in europe. if each and every one of these companies were to employ a person, we would have solved the problem. i know this is toocism plistic a view but it is a start to think of it in this way. we have no really truly, true mobility on the labor market. a i among european member countries, because we have not as yet such a convergence of labor market before us. we have to look at which countries have made the best experience. we have to look at those benchmarks. we have to look at the legal assistance underpinning those, for example, even though labor legislation may not be an area where there is european competence, we need to take a closer look at that.

we also have reflect where are funds that perhaps do not make the best and most effective possible use of their moneys, how can we address that, how can we make best use of, how can we perhaps set up partnerships between country that was made good experience in certain areas. because i think it is really urgently necessary that particularly young people can make the experience that there is progress. if there are certain countries that have 0% unemployment rate, some 40%, i don't think it's a great miracle that you've seen many, many young people not being exactly convinced that europe is a good option for them. we are convinced that the danish presidency is going to be suited together with the european commission and incidentally, independently of whether you belong to the euro area or not, this is a project we can all

join in on. we have, for example, things that allow us to do that. we also have binding commitments in europe and solidarity. in europe we have now come to a point where foreign policy gradually seems to become common domestic policy. we have to debate what the market ought to take. we have to be clear and honest here. it's no use to always sort of say, we're so lucky, we're so fortunate to be united in this great europe, that is true, but if future generations are to say the same thing, then it is incumbent upon us to turn this europe into a functioning europe. which means we have to be ready to transfer more confidences to europe. we have the stability and growth, we've had this in place

for many, many years. but this stability and growth pact was not -- was not capped. germany and france had watered it down. when the treaty was drown up, it was said the european court of justice would not be given the confidence to have a ruling if we infringe upon the rule. so in the end, they were saying, they're promising things they don't really keep. and that is the view all over the world. so the real message of the fiscal context we're trying to agree on right now is that each and every one is to address a cap on debt and do this, it's in the constitution and the european court of justice will monitor this, whether this is actually done. so we are no longer using any excuses, we are no longer deluding ourselves or deluding

others. we're opting for this and this is obvious because otherwise we'll lose credibility. i'm telling you, over the next few years, there have to be more steps of integration. this cannot be the last one. we will have to make more progress in the interest of our competitiveness and job creeeags. as i said earlier on. obviously, one can also argue, why do they make these incredibly ambitious appeals to us? i know that germany, some people say, it's because economic imbalances and whether it makes sense within one common monetary area to actually look at economic imbalances, it could be the same, i could do the same thing for germany because traditionally it's much stronger, but it's true there are intentions right now in the

euro area, germany is going to participate in reducing imbalances where we see unfare barriers. but if these imbalances come out of different levels of competitiveness, that brings taos a very interesting point. do we wish coherence and consistency with that? then all of this boils down to the lowest common denominator? or do we wish to look at who has the best packtieses, who can serb as the benchmark for all of us? then we can have an opportunity to be global players. it's not only cohesion at all costs that we should be after but the role of europe what sort of role can europe play in a globally interdependent world system of we cannot say because for 50 years we've been at the very top. we are confident that we will

remain there for the next 50 years. no, quite the contrary, we have to work for this every day. we have to have competitive product in our product range that people like to buy all over the world. we have to be innovative. and if we are not able to do this, then for many, many years to come, we will be an interesting place to take a vacation in but we will not be able to maintain or increase prosperity for our people. what's important is not who is stricter, who is less strict. what's important is creating and maintaining prosperity for europe of the future and i think we ought to be ambitious in bringing this about. which is why i'm firmly convinced that we need to continue to work on this. obviously there are certain steps that we have already made that will bring us closer to fiscal compacts and fiscal union but if i look at the discussions that are still raging, how can

we be more co-hoosive and how, i would say that we can be even faster, more resolved, in bringing about changes? is europe actually growing closer together? that's what's happened over the past months, is attention still, one can be very open in addressing that. there are euro member countries, noneuro member countries. we have to be careful that europe remains a common europe. obviously certain countries work more closely together in certain areas but we have to keep this common europe together. now, how do i measure this solidarity of european members for each other, particularly in the euro area? i sometimes have the impression that internationally people seem to use as a yardstick the degree to which we are willing to be liable or we are willing to set

up a firewall, the extent to which we are willing to spend money. that is a very controversial issue and very contentious issue. it has quite a lot to do also with where you actually come from. we have set up a temporary mechanism, we have 770 billion guarantee bus the markets only a440 ral i -- really in real money, they want to be triple-a. we have the necessary programs, portugal, ireland and greece can be financed. then we have rendered this umbrella more flexible. no one has had recourse to it, which is a good thing, it's good it has not been necessary. then we said let's set ape mechanism, a clear acknowledgment that this is not just a short-term exercise but a

lasting, durable one. 550 billion has already been paid that may rely on this. this is going to take the shape and form of an instrument and international loan and people say, this is not sufficient. and people say, this has to be doubled. then we would believe you, others say. it has to be tripled. then we would be true believers in your solidarity. that brings me to the question, for how long will this be credible? because if a people then say, show us whether you actually have the money are we still credible? allow me, each and every of our countries in europe is a strong country. some are stronger, others less strong, people believe that

germany is particularly strong. true, germany is strong. it is big exeared to others. but it's not as if we were saying we don't western to show solidarity. we are not willing to enter into binding commitments, that's not true. what we don't want is a situation where we are forced to promise something that in the end we will not be able to fulfill. if germany, for example, on behalf of all the other member countries were promising something that if the markets really attack us, we will not be able to come up with, then we have indeed an open flank. i think we have shown in many, many ways that we are serious about showing solidarity with a rescue package, in the willingness we say yes if we violate the rules, we are ready to have others bring legal action against us and also

militarize the areas. also we say to those who are questioning our solidarity and our steadfastness and our willingness to stand up for others, ladies and gentlemen, the problems that europe has are the ones that i addressed quite frankly here. let me tell you, i know that we are labeled the big economic headache of the flobal economy. we will probably not, we're probably not the only headache the global economy has. there are a number of other countries where quite a lot remains to be done if we agree on this, i am calm because i know we all have our work cut out for ourselves and will be kept busy for the next few months. for the next g-20 meeting, when we meet in mexico, i want us to work on the agenda for growth and employment.

the mexican presidency has set out an agenda on this, apart from groan growth, sustainable growth, food security, and also climate protection and energy. we will need to continue to work on financial regulation and also on how can we secure free trade. now one must remark on the transatlantic relationship. because we make such slow progress on the round, one will reprobably resort to a course of action where regions will come to bilateral agreements with other regions, we've done that with south korea, we're working on one with japan, also across the atlanta ex, we have many, many possibility of creating a free trade area.

we are the most important trading partners in europe and the potential has by far in the been stamped. we have still obstacles that hinder us than nontariff areas. services, investments, technical standards, procurement, to mention but a few. and i'm very gratified to note that i notice both from the european and american side a willingness to work together more, it will take some time but there is a willingness, apart from our cooperation with many others, with japan work india, with latin america, apart from these classical areas that we approach and many, many other areas where we can work together more closely. i wish you every success, i wish

you every opportunity for open discussions. i notice there are quite a number of those present here, i would like to tell you quite frankly, we as politicians need this kind of enput. we have seen, after all, we can only achieve success and can only be successful from the global financial and economic crisis is that a market economy has proved itself in such a sense that both sides of industry have to be in on this for our economies to be successful. so every success for your meetings here. >> chancellor, you have raised a

lot of issues that are important to us. you've given answers to those questions too. you said you are prepeared to go into some of them in perhaps a little more detail. my first question is in connection with -- you said we need to have more europe and give more powers to europe. what's your long-term mission with europe? are we going to the direction of the united states of america? how do you see the future of europe if a young man or young woman were to ask you today, what will europe look like in 0 years' time, what would be your answer? >> i actually think that we're a model in and of itself, a very unique model. the united states of america so quickly will not be a role model to follow. i think what we really need is a fairly clear commitment among

ourses -- ourselveses that we wish to coordinate our policies as closely as possible. the relationship between the nation state and europe, we will have very difficult debates ahead of us. particularly in germany, there are strict rules that are laid down and monitors as to the structure of our nation state. i would say to young people in a few years' time you will be able to change your residence as students, quite often you'll be able to take your pension rights with you. you'll be able to take insurances, you will be able to take up a place of residence and also to work, that is something that some can do already but there are still a lot of obstacles to actually doing this.

i hope there's going to be a european peculiar that will come out of that where it will be more and more a matter of course, not only for student bus also pensioners, for workers, to live and work in different places and the injure pune institutions, i think we have to actually become used to the commission becoming more and more like a government with all the confidences it will be kevin. for us in germany, this is not all that unusual because we will probably have a stronger european parliament and heads of state and goth will be like a second layer.

>> i hope that almost all countries will be members of the euro. not all, but i don't want to create diplomatic problems here. >> let's hope so. do you mean the u.k., denmark, the prime minister is here today, let's perhaps not go too deeply into that. but you were talking about the values of europe, of peace, freedom, and democracy. this has always been the message europe has given to the rest of the world. to you not believe that peace by the younger generations is taken for granted? freedom is also taken for granted. and democracy is considered to be something that works very slowly but people are starting to doubt it. what should be the message for

europe in the 21st century? >> well, i believe that each and every generation needs to ensure that democracy works and we are actually -- we actually have to face great challenges, particularly as regards the importance of the internet, as regards the ways people participate, the traditional parties will have it very difficult to be able to secure the support and -- of their voters for all time. and there will be certain projects that young people will be interested in, and they'll follow, and apart from that, the democratic structures will cheage but the general democratic principles, there's free tom of opinion, there's freedom of voting, i will certainly stand up for this because i haven't seen a better model. the biggest danger i see is that a number of people who do not

know the sort of democracy we have will say to people, well, it's so slow, these politicians are not really granting us our rights. they are constantly living at the expense of future generations. if that's the accusation leveled against us, that's a big problem. >> with president sarkozy, chancellor, you've done a great deal together for europe, you're a tandem in a way. but there are a number of question marks over that as well. how do you see the integration in the future? how do you see the basic basis for that process that you're driving with the -- with sarkozy? where do the problems lie in your view? >> i believe that it is on the

one hand expected from germany and france we show a harmonious front when we come to council meetings and that people don't really like us when we announce something previously. so they don't like us at all when we don't leek each other and they don't like us either when we have already agreed upon most matters when we -- when we come there. then people think, they are the ones that call the shots. why is this important? it's not that we as individuals are so important but in the way of thinking of french politicians and also german politicians, there are certain basic patterns of -- contradiction patterns are played out and we have to overcome them. the belgian prime minister said to me that belgium is a good

role model because on a small scale it is a way emblem mat exof what france and germany have, the poles, for example, are saying, but who do you think you are? italy and spain are also big countries and europe is son-in-law -- is only working if we strike a balance between the so-called bigger and so-called smaller countries. that's not an easy task to have. the dane herb prime minister will be able to tell us a thing or two about this. anyone who has been in the presidency will know how difficult it is to inform each and every one of those countries about what's going on and they have to overcome language barriers. and we'll have telephone conferences, i'm quite confident in them. modes of communication also need to be cheaged. it's fun also. it's an ambitious project. >> when you mentioned the countries at the end of your

presentation, you didn't say anything about russia. russia is an important partner of europe. could you say a few words about our relations with russia and what you would like to see as the relationship between europe and the russian federation in the future? >> well, europe as we see it, i think also would like to remind you, is after all surrounded also by countries who wish to be closer to europe, what with the, for example, european partnership. the ukraine, others. secondly, we have a situation with turkey that we have not yet resolved and that is quite the delicate one and we also have a relationship with russia that is being intensified.

we will also have debates about the process of democratization. but russia is an important supplier of energy and an important market for european products and a very important partner for foreign policy issues. i consider them to be an important partner which is why i've always tried to foster our relationship. that's also important, never sort of without acknowledging poland, we, together with poland and russia. >> with great courage and steadfastness you have shown, is there something you doubt in your policy? >> i'm not yet sure, things do

tend a take a long time. also, i know we germans are at fault here, on the one hand, there's an enormous die namism in the economic area, then on the other hand, it's only he swrit mat to have all those who are participating in the political process, truly giving them their say. so i would like to ask all of you who are here as representatives of the business community, please realize that when you're working in a democracy, it is a great thing to be in and please take the long, drawn out processes with a certain degree, also, of acceptance. >> what would be your wish, how can the business community support you in your work? >> the business community to the extent they come from europe can give a contribution by creating more jobs, creating, thereby, more hope for people.

i think industry representatives ought to be candid and tell us why they lee us and go to other places in the world. we want to create jobs for people in europe. so those who look from the outside have not yet invested in europe, i would invite them, take a very close look on what's happened over the past 12 to 18 months. europe will become more attractive once we have gone through this crisis. i'm absolutely convinced we will be able to mast they are cry is sis and get out of it. europe will have done a lot of its homework. please don't forget us when you're thinking of investment. >> we wish you every good western, we thank you very much indeed for having come to make this presentation, and speak to us this evening. thank you very much endeed. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> tomorrow morning's

"washington journal," live from the washington auto show, our guests are ford motor company's vice president, susan cischke, hyundai u.s.a. executive vice president david zuchowski and mark reuss, president of g.m. north america. "washington journal" is live every day on c-span at 7:00 a.m. eastern. senate democratic leaders are calling on republicans to join them in implementing the president's call to restore economic fairness for the middle class in last -- last night's state of the union address. senate democrats say they'll push for comprehensive tax reform this year. their remarks are 0 minutes. >> when the president fin herbed

his speech, i leaned over to senator durbin and said, as seriously as i could, i really enjoyed the speech. i think it was a speech that was a clear call for us to come together and restore fairness to the country. too many families in nevada and across the country wake up every morning wondering why the opportunities for them and their children are so scarce. and then they look at the top 1% and find out that they have a tax rate that is lower than what they pay. no wonder the buffett rule has become so well known. it's so easy to understand. why the wealthiest among us are paying a lower tax rate than the middle class, and why the system seems to be rigged in their favor. we believe that the middle class americans are sacrificing every

day and it's only fair to ask why people making millions shouldn't pay their fair share. so i agree, and we agree work president obama's call for fairness in our system. we have much to do this year and have many challenges to face. but nothing is more important to congress than reducing income inequality. this isn't a radical prop session. as president obama said last night, it's common sense. issues going to be at the forefront of the debate all year that we have. republican presidential frontrunner is a perfect example of what's wrong with the tax code. an individual who makes in a two-year period $43 million and pays a tax rate of less than 15% suggests that maybe things need to be cheaged a little bit.

americans across the political spectrum, independents, republicans, an democrats, agree that the wealthy should contribute more. the only question is whether republicans will stop listening to the tea party and start listening to the american people. if they do, i'm confident we can meet in the middle and move forward with common sense solutions to address income inequality in our country. senator durbin? >> president obama, in his state of the union address, touched on something the overwhelming majority of american families already know, that working harder and falling further and further behind. there was a survey recently, asked family that were working if they could come up with $2,000 in 0 days for an emergency. almost half could. that's a said commentary on working families across this country who are struggling to survive. when the president spoke to that issue last night, he spoke to

something that resonates across the country. people understand what's going on here. it isn't a matter of, as republican critics would say, paycheck envy or class warfare. it's a matter of reality. and the president spelled it out. if we don't have a fair tax code, then those at the top who are getting off the hook are going to add to our deficit or make it more difficult to provide the most base exservices we count on in america. those at the other end are just going to have to pay more. that's just unfair. what the president suggested last night, a 30% minimum tax for those making over $1 million a year, is not an outrageous amount. by historic standards, it's a moderate amount, compared to those rates that have been charged in the past. and we have to be certain, too, that whatever we do helps those in lower and middle income categories be able to make it paycheck to paycheck. that's why extending the payroll

tax cut is so important though it became a hot political issue here for some time. i want to add one thing to what the majority leader said. when it cam to the frontrunner in the republican race for the presidency, if we have reached a point in america where it is considered normal and expected that an american business leader opens a swiss banking account or invests in notorious tax havens like the cayman islands in bermuda, if that's become normal, i think we need to have a new normal. most american businesses struggle to keep their businesses open and profitable and hire the local people to make them work and the notion that high flyers can earn over $20 million a year, pay less than 15% when it comes to their tax rate and we're not supposed to raise that as a matter of policy? of course we should. it's our job to do it. the president is leading us in the right direction for the debate we should face in congress and the american people need to face in this election. there is a clear contrast and

clear choice. >> thank you. i thought the president knocked it out of the park last night. our republican colleagues, as shown by their muted response, really don't know what to do and talk about morning in america, the reagan optimism, the republican speaker last night, mitch daniels, talked about americans must talk about the state of the union as grave. so, uh, we think we're in great shape. we're in good shape. if you're wondering what our agenda will be this year, you pretty much heard it last night. the president's blueprint for restoring economic fairness for the middle class will be the basis of our agenda for this year. like the president, together with the president, we will focus like a laser on the middle class. make no mistake. this is a president who has not given up on governing in 2012,

as his speech showed. the president understands the middle class is at a crossroads. and he isn't going to wait for the next election to be its champion. the speech he gave was a little clintonesque. focus on the middle class with lots of proposals across the board, some requiring legislation, some not, that would help average americans do a little better. that is what we should be doing. and don't underestimate the chances of congress to enact parts of the president's blueprint. republicans will not go along out of a desire to cooperate, but they may find they have to out of political necessity. the republicans have spent the last three years opposing the president at every turn for political reasons, but they may find the stat ji only takes them so far this year. the payroll tax debate last year showed this strategy has its limits. it showed that if they take

their strategy of obstructionism too far and make casualties out of popular middle class priorities, they'll be faced with a political backlash. so, don't be surprised if election year pressures in 2012 may push republicans to cooperate with this president more than they might be planning to. otherwise, they're going to find themselves on the wrong side of the middle class again and again. so, we intend to test this theory out by pursuing major chunks of the president's middle class agenda. we're going to push serious proposals to help create middle class jobs. we're going to defend medicare. and we will pursue tax reform that makes sense for the middle class. now, i've heard plenty of republicans repeatedly call for tax reform. but their idea of tax reform is simply to cut rates for the wealthiest americans. that's their impetus, that'ser that goal. when republicans say tax reform, it's often code words for simply

reducing taxes on the wealthy. tax reform, after the president's speech, now has a different definition. we intend to pursue a different kind of tax reform that borrows from the president's proposals. for instance, we agree with the president that it makes no sense that a millionaire should pay a lower tax rate than his sec retear. so, if the priority for us -- it's a priority for us to act on some kind of romney -- i mean buffett rule this year. the president proposed more details that could shake this proposal to improve our ability to breng it up in the senate. we agree it's unfair for some companies to be able to exploit loopholes in the tax laws. we'll look at the president's fix for that. and we'll look at the so-called bush tax cuts that expire this year in a way that puts the

middle class first. that means letting tax cuts we can't afford, like those for million nears and billion nears, lapse on the schedule at the end of 2012 and we also need tax reform that stops rewarding firms that shift jobs overseas and instead helps those that bring jobs back home to america. so tax reform has a new definition. since the president's speech. it's the kind of tax reform that puts the middle class first and with a key component to the president's blueprint and will be a key component of our senate agenda this year. and don't underestimate our chances of success. because the payroll tax today has shown, there is a price to be paid for opposing middle class people on issues of tax fairness. >> i thought last night that the president laid out a very clear vision for building the country

that really works for middle class families again. you know, for far too long, policies in this country have favored the wealthiest americans and biggest corporations. loopholes and gimmicks have piled up in our nation's tax code and brought down taxes for the rich to the lowest levels in modern hithsry. it allows some of our biggest corporations to avoid paying taxes or in some cases even getting subsidies for sending our jobs over-- our jobs overseas. while the richest americans got richer, the middle class has been left behind. our schools have you have suffered, our roads and bridges have crumbled. and fa too many of our workers and small business owners are suffering from an economic collapse that they didn't cause. it's wrong and it's the result of a failed ideology that doesn't believe that government can have a positive force for our middle class. it's an ideology that continues to be pushed by republicans who

focus above all else here on cutting programs that are -- that our families depend on, eliminating support for the middle class and ending investments in the future of our great nation. their voices may sometimes be the loudest here in washington, d.c. but they haven't the view of the vast majority of americans who understand that the investments that we make have been a positive force in our nation's history. so i'm proud to stand with my colleagues and join with president obama in saying we're not going back to those policies that have devastated our middle class. we have worked very hard to bring this economy back from the precipice but we need to do a lot more for our middle class to get us on our feet. we've got to make the investments in our communities and our workers and in our families to move forward as president obama called on us last night to build an america to last. i'm proud to stand with senate democrats in moving that agenda

this yore and to fight for those people who need our help and support to make this nation strong again. >> are you going to encourage your -- the conferees on the payroll tax measure to include something about tax fairness? >> i think realistically, i don't think that's the place to do tax reform. we know we have to do tax reform, there'll be hearings in that regard. but we want -- we know we have to do tax reform. i think there's some who think we can do it on a borne basis. but the payroll tax is not the time to reform the tax code. >> democrats who look at mitt romney's tax reform want to talk about the interest for that buy utah, can you el us what you think? >> we've voted on that once in

the last couple of years and that will be part of what we do in tax reform. if other senators want to vote on that issue standing alone, we'll perhaps have that opportunity but i think it would be appropriate for us to approach that quickly, to have tax reform not be done in rifle shots. but we've voted on carried interest. the democratic caucus stands strongly that there should be some change in that tax structure. >> when the democrats controlled both houses of congress and the white house, nothing was done about terrorism, nothing was done -- i don't think any suggestion that capital gain tax rate os dividend tax rates be increased so why are you taking the buffett rule seriously now? >> i think all you need to do is look at the former governor of massachusetts' tax return, it pretty well indicates why it's become an emergency.

absolutely we should do it. >> a company had $14 billion in profit and paid no taxes. isn't that a bigger deal than mitt romney's tax return? >> of course. senator shusmer mentioned that. of course that's wrong. what g.e. does is improper, they may follow the tax code but it's not fair they have the breaks they do. the same applies to somebody who makes $42 million in two years and pay less than 15% taxes. >> the president also talked about some sort of new rule that would require an up or down vote on jew derble nominees. given your past statements on this issue, i was curious how you feel about that idea. >> i think we have to look at the nomination situation. i think it's become, for those of us who have been in the

senate, even for a short period of time, how it has come to a point now where we have a senator, a republican senator yesterday said, at least the way i understood his statement, i think it's pretty clear, they're going to approve no judge. what does that mean? i think we have to look at the nomination process. it's not working very well. we've tried to do something on secret holds but that hasn't helped much at all. and i the system has to go back to where it used to be, have a little collegiality and not be forcing us to have cloture votes on trial court judges that come out unanimously. and i say this, i do not think a majority of the republican caucus supports what the republicans -- the republican senator said on the floor yesterday. it has been clear going back to the gang of 14 or however many it was that they simply said

that we should not filibuster any trial court judge unless there's unusual, extraordinary circumstances and there haven't been any and they report out of committee unanimously. >> as a followup, there was a nomination the president put forward but there was also the conflict of interest. one of the things is that senators or congressmen who have stakes in companies and that business comes before the committees, they shopt have a vote. is that something that should be pursued? >> it's just common sense that if you have holdings in a business, a corporation's stock, that you shouldn't be voting for anything in that regard. it's only common sense. i'm december pointed that it's going to take a law to cheage

that but i'm happy to support such a law. >> one of the i thinks that president obama asked congress to do was a payroll tax cut, is that realistic, is there not going to be a fight about this? >> we believe the payroll tax extension is extremely important for the economy. as the president said last night, why should the average guy have to pay $40 every week extra because the republicans aren't willing to extend the payroll tax holiday that we have. they have said the right things publicly but we will see. i talked to my conferees early, some of them yesterday, after they did the opening peculiar conference, and i was somewhat surprised at the rhetoric from the house, they didn't seem willing to do something. but i think with the statements their leaders have made, we will

get this done. i hope it's done quickly. >> the president said he's delivering a housing plan to congress. i was wondering if you have details about that? >> i don't. but i'm tremendously interested because nevada is the number one foreclosure spot in the country. i spoke to secretary donovan several times in the last few days, he's going to nevada soon, some meetings i helped set up, i told him i hoped something is coming quickly. thanks. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> congresswoman gabrielle giffords