and emily dickinson's garden. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan in our newsroom. >> sreenivasan: dozens more people died in afghanistan today. a provincial official reported at least 39 afghans were killed by an explosion in kandahar province. the victims were taking part in a large marriage ceremony. earlier insurgents shot down a nato helicopter in helmand province killing four american troops. a british soldier died in a bombing in helmand. in neighboring pakistan, militants attacked a nato convoy just six miles outside the capital of islamabad seven people were killed. the assault also damaged 30 trucks transporting military supplies to afghanistan. police said about 15 militants opened fire with automatic weapons, then torched the trucks. the debt crisis in europe should have only-- should have only a modest effect on the u.s. economy if the stock market stabilizes. ben bernanke offered that outlook today to congress. >> although the receipt fall in equity prices and weaker economic prospects in europe will leave some

it has to do with somebody named emily miller. give us the beginning. >> this is the heart of the jack abramoff scandal. he was a big-time republican lobbyist back in the day, released about five years ago. he made a lot of money from clients telling them how influential he was with republicans on capitol hill, particularly with tom delay. in order to get in bed with the delay crowd, he hired a lot of people at delay's office. he brought staffers to football games, baseball games, concerts. he opened a sushi restaurant that became one of the most popular places for young republicans to go out at night. there is a rumor that if you were a capitol hill staffer, you got a nice discount when you went to his restaurant. he really used all the tools that he could to get in good with the delay staffers and other republican staffers who could really make things happen for him. when he started going really over the line, he started flying staffers overseas for luxurious golf trips in scotland. he had a gulfstream jet he would fly people ar

i do want to thank brookings christine jacobs o did so much work on this, john, emily, darrell west, and tom mann. and i think when we think about democracy, it's important to remember, john to his famous stement that democracy isn't simply a system. it is assembly a set of formal practices. democracy is a wy of life. democracy and false values, and i will just mention two of those. it is based on a small our republican spirit that sees citizens not just simply as passive recipients of services, but as responsible actors defying and solving problems and looking out, not only for their own interest, but also for a common good. and democracy is rooted in a small d democratic spirit that honors the equity of all citizens and sees wisdom as rising up from the bottom and not simply, or primarily, something that is imposed from the top. now i was trained more as a political sociologist and a political scientist, so i want to put down as an aside, and i will get back tothis, that institutions matter, but ieas also matter. and social and economic underpinnings of political systems also matte

emily gooden associate editor for the hill. sarah, national director of the sierra club. it andrew schneider, associate editor for kiplinger and chairman of the speaker's committee. skipping over speaker, we have suzanne of the natural resources defense council, a member of the speaker's committee organized it days -- organize today's events. evan, chaar of the national press club's young members committee. bob keith, washington correspondent for the atlanta journal constitution and independent writer. thank you. on junee2, and farming bill brings west virginia is river as no. 3 on its 2010 most endangered rivers list. the threat that put it there was mountaintop removal. as its name implies, this mining practice removes the top of the mountain to reach the pole source inside, and it does not just affect west virginia -- to reach the coal source inside. that also affects mississippi. ashley judd is from kentucky. she first learned about them top removal from a grass-roots organization in 2007 and gave the keynote address at state capital last year. she is on the board of

things like emily's list seem so outmoted now.he notion of getting behind a candidate because of a gender. it seems so last century. and in minnesota, we have a endorsed female candidate for governor. margaret keller, and she's running behind and running behind among women yet she is saying let's make history and make the first female governor of minnesota. it's just not so really vent anymore to voters. it's issues not gender. guest: your comments became extremely really vent in the last election when the kinds of women who won were -- this raised a real problem for feminists when you have these very conservative, pro life women who are nonetheless ground breakers. first woman, first indian running for governor in south carolina. really impressive women or republicans feminists are for, the most part democrats and used to supporting democratic women and used to the idea of women rising out of public service to become candidates. or sarah palin who calls herself a feminist. that's the new thing among conservative women. and i thin

host: emily is joining us on the democrats' line from louisiana. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. we had to file chapter 13 of while back. three heart surgeries that were unforeseen. i am nervous. 13 as opposed to seven. we did not know anything about bankruptcy. and then we get the plan because we did not want to lose our home. home. and we finished out the plan. as opposed to chapter 7, while we were struggling to make ends meet at this time, and we just finished plan out and be repaid our debts and our trusty and everything -- i'm sorry, i am very nervous -- i see other people that had filed a chapter 7, and they were getting credit like quitting new cars and such -- getting new cars and such. i don't understand that. can you shed light on that for me? thank you so much for taking my call. host: is there disparity? guest: there can be. there are 1.7 million cases, so there are lots of different stories out there. in anticipation of the plan of a filing for bankruptcy, if you have, for example, a credit card, and are able to pay eight off so that you -

illinois, and moll -- emily. caller: i want to offer my condolences to senator byrd. i got an update and it said, "senator byrd has died." "senator byrd has died." i ran downstairs to see the news, and i started crying. host: how old are you? caller: i am 12. host: have you watched the senate before? caller: oh, yeah. i watch a lot. host: what did you like about him? caller: i just think he was very interesting, how he worked with everyone. he was the oldest senator, i thought it was really cool. host: 92 years old when he died. why do you like politics? what is it about politics that interests you? caller: if you can just make peace with others, you do not have to have a war. you can work together. host: thanks for calling in, thank you for taking the time to call in and learn about senator byrd. if you are interested in seeing the video of senator byrd, we can go to cease and video library. we have all -- the princess but you can do -- to the c-span at a video library. we have all the videos of that senator byrd on the senate floor pre. you can go to c-span.org and

he's survived, also, by his brother, gordon eche, his sister, emily of big fort, montana, son tom and his wife, charlene, and by grandsons and numerous nieces and nephews. we all remember him as a kind man who loved to tell stories and he cherished lifelong friendships. his relationship with his life as well as his relationship with his colleagues and his hope for the country can best be summed up in the phrase, "and the best is yet to be." i now yield to my dear friend from michigan. we will have order. members, the house will be in order. the gentleman from michigan. mr. upton: i'd echo the remarks. i knew marv esche as a staffer. he was a wonderful man dedicated to this house. we will all miss him and it is sometimes tough to be a wolverine and he was a great wolverine. i yield back the balance of my time. mr. dingell: mr. speaker, i ask that the house have a moment of silence in honor of our former colleague and friend, marvin esche. the speaker pro tempore: members rise in a moment of silence. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, five-minute voting will continue. the unfin