senator begich, i really do sim -- sympathize with the ruralness of alaska. while we're waiting for the mou to be finished, alaska is one of two places where we are proceeding with tribal interactions and i hesitate to use the word pilot. but to get specific agreements within a tribal unit in alaska. i believe it's the southeast alaskan tribal association and we are progressing in getting some arrangements made. it would be wonderful from my perspective if a veteran could make a choice, and access tribal clinics if indeed that was more convenient and the care was -- if it was successful and that we could work out the reimbursement arrangements. i think that's what we're trying to do in alaska and we have another effort in south dakota. >> and you feel -- the ultimate question, you feel it's moving in the right direction? >> absolutely. >> i have two quick ones. the one is senate bill 914, it authorizing a waiver on telehealth and telemedicine. i know we have about 2 hundred veterans or so, i think a hundred or so are in the program in alaska, i know others ac

begich: mr. president, just as i expected we'd be in this back-and-forth show-and-tell on oil and gas issues and i stead of really spending the time and working on a real energy plan, one that is important for not only my state, my colleague's state, bur for the -- but for the whole nation. so we're back-and-forth and it's politics as usual. we just heard a nice presentation by my colleague from wyoming about how it is all the president's fault. the pricings are going up and all -- the prices are going up and all these other issues. let me say this. i know my friend from louisiana knows this. in alaska there's a clear indication what we feel when it comes to energy prices. we have communities that pay $9, $10 a gallon for heating fuel. we need when costs go up what happens -- we understand when costs go up what happens to our rural communities. we also are a producer of oil gas and we understand the potential and the job opportunities. but, you know, this last week when we started to move on this

senator begich reminded me of your connection to alaska. godspeed and thank you again for your service. general jacoby, i did want to put on the record that the flow of drugs into our country is significant and substantial and worrisome but it's a symptom of the demand that exists in our country. i know you will go to the ends of the earth to cut off the flow but we as a country have to have a continued discussion about what we do to dampen that demand down. i just want you to know i'm a senator that understands that that's a real challenge that you face. thanks for your service. >> thank you, senator udall. senator hagan? >> thank you, mr. chairman and general fraser and general jacoby also, thanks very much for your service. i couldn't agree more with what senator udall just said about trying to ramp down the desire in our country for narcotics. i wanted to ask a question about ecuador. the 2009 closing of the cooperative security location at the air force base in ecuador and the ejection of the u.s. ambassador in april of last year has r

senator begich? >> thank you, senator. thank you both for being here. thank you for being patient, as many members obviously have a lot of questions for you. general, i want to point out, and i don't do this that often, but i want to point out the colonel did an incredible job for us when we went to afghanistan. we had a lot of modifications in our schedule. let me just say that. and adjustments were made rapidly, which gave me even more security that what's going on there in the sense of our troops are doing a great job. so i just wanted to point that out. colonel didn't ask me to do this, and he'll say why did i do it, but because you did a great job. you made our trip easier and in a compressed time. >> senator, thank you. i'll extend him 18 months so he can support your next visit. >> i like it. thank you very much, colonel. let me also say that -- and i know you know this, and that is one-tenth of the force over there comes from alaska right now in the sense of their stationed capacity. about 9,000 troops. and i had a great opportunity to see the 1

senator begich. >> thank you very much. and i also want to echo the same comments that senator moran, and i like some of these ideas you just mentioned, so i'd be anxious to participate. i in one of our hospitals in -- i know in one of our hospitals in alaska they actually give a pretty significant bonus, up to $10,000, to recruit and retain nurses because of the high capacity and the need. so thank you for those ideas. let me also say thank you, mr. secretary, for the two staff that you sent up to alaska, i think it was last week or the week before. chairwoman murray for sending committee staff also. it's important, as you know, to come up to alaska to understand what rural is all about. i know that you have been there, thank you for your visit and your team's visit. it makes a difference to the people there, but also i think it opens the whereas to a lot of folks -- eyes to a lot of folks how we have to deliver health care in the most remote, rural areas of this country. so thank you for that commitment. let me, if i can,

begich: you were a county executive, i was a mayor of a community. we had a deal -- had to deal with the real-life aftermath of what happens when it comes to extensions and what happens, and i know in my city when i saw these extensions from that end of the table, we also had to stop projects, slow them down, didn't have the money to finish them, winter shutdown, all it did was add cost, increase the capacity -- or decrease the capacity of roads, and literally take products off the list. in your community, had you to deal with this probably like i had to, did you have the same kind of impact where you had to tell contractors i'm sorry, we don't have the money because the federal government hasn't done their job they said they would do 20-some times before and never completed it? is that a similar situation situation? mr. coons: madam president, the senator from alaska is absolutely right. in my county role, we didn't do roads, the state does the roads but we do sewers and heavy capital sphrus fraws fast that in our little county would cost tens of mi

by 18 senators as follows -- reid of nevada, manchin, brown of ohio, udall of new mexico, murray, begich, kohl, nelson of florida, lautenberg, shaheen, bloomen that will, cardin, coons, feinstein, leahy, durbin, lieberman, schumer. cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance -- provided mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i have filed 17 cloture motions. the clerk has read the first one. there are 16 others. i would ask the chair if it would be in order for a unanimous consent request that the -- following the 16 nominations that were not yet read into the record, it would appear as if the same action occurred on those procedurally as the first one that was read. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: i now ask the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senato

secretary, senator begich, i really sympathize with the ruralness of alaska and other parts of the country. while we're waiting for the mou to be finished, alaska is one of two places where we are proceeding with tribal interactions and i hesitate to use the word "pilot," to get -- >> right. >> specific agreements within a tribal unit in alaska. i believe it's the southeast alaskan tribal association, and we are progressing in getting some arrangements made. it would be wonderful from my perspective if a veteran could make a choice and access tribal clinics if indeed that was more convenient and the quality was access and we could work out the reimbursements and that's what we're trying to do in alaska and we have another effort going on in south dakota. >> and you feel, i guess -- the ultimate question, do you feel it's moving in the right direction? >> absolutely. >> excellent. the last -- i got two quick ones, one is, senate bill 914, it authorizes a waiver that i've introduced on collection of copayments for telehealth, telemedicine. i guess the general comment -- i know that we have a

both begich and santorum did well among voters who described themselves as conservative. this is mississippi and alabama. everybody consent -- everybody is conservative. we have ginger dixon with newt gingrich in birmingham, alabama. ginger, a couple things -- why is gingrich in birmingham? why alabama, not miss a beat? i want you to get to the question i asked earlier, take a behind-the-scenes, what it is like to be covering begich and what life is like a newt gingrich bubble? >> he is there today because they think he can do well. alabama is next door to his home state of georgia, he lived right on the border at one. when he was a child. they thought they were going to do well here. we are still hearing positive things, not the sadness we would expect coming out for the apprehension looking at the exit poll numbers that been floating around. it is an interesting right to be following gingrey cha. today they told us we were going to the zoo with the speaker. he is a huge fan of animals. the rain canceled that. we got to go to space can and see the rockets. long days, lon

. >> senator begich. >> good to see you. i feel like i am an alaska right now, both of you up their commanding operations. it is great be back in a forum where we are all three here. they could very much. let me start, general jacoby, and we had a brief meeting last weekend with regard to last at command and what is gonna on, and i want to lead into the arctic. the general description is, can you tell me from your perspective the value of alaskan command in regard to the connection of northcom? can you tell me how that plays and what the role and responsibility is? of course, i am biased, and i hope it is a good answer. >> when i was commander of the mys. army in alaska, commander was doug fraser creek outcome was valuable. senator, a last it is unique, should teach it significance to the fund -- to the country, and more so as to our gaze turns toward the arctic. it requires a 3-starke command. it requires a joint command, and i think alcom remains relevant and important to the defense of the homeland. many tasks that take p

klobuchar, cornyn, the presiding officer senator blumenthal, senator schumer, harkin, gillibrand and begich for cosponsoring the bill. they bheeive that public scrutiny of court proceedings will produce greater transparency and understanding. i'd like to thank senator leahy for scheduling my bill, the cameras in the courtroom act, for a vote in the judiciary committee. it was reported out with a strong bipartisan vote, and it's now pending on the senate calendar. the bill has been cleared by every democratic senator for a vote by the full senate. i'm still hoping we can bring it to the floor as quickly as possible. and now i'd like to tough on a relate issue. just as the supreme court hearings should be televised, so, too, should the court's ethical standard be available for review the public. the ethics rules for all branches of government should be clear and public. when ethics decisions arise in the senate -- for example, the senate equit ethics committee is eresponsible for enforcing the rules for our senators and employees. they are a matter of public record. that cannot be said for th

his own, has the support of senators cornyn, klobuchar, schumer, blumenthal, gillibrand, harkin and begich. as senator grassley would note, democrats and republicans from both chambers have written to the supreme court asking it to permit live television broadcasts of the health care reform arguments next week. in november, senators bloomen that will, schumer and i wrote -- bloomen that will, schumer and i wrote a letter to the chief justice making the request, open the supreme court for this historic argument. let the court make the argument before the supreme court and the questions asked by the justices in open court. well, chief justice roberts responded to our request last week, and it sounds like he sent the same letter, incidentally, to senator grassley. the chief justice informed us that the supreme court has respectfully declined to televise the health care arguments, but that the court would graciously offer an alternative. here's the alternative. now the court will post audio recordings and unofficial transcripts to the court's web site just a few hours after the arguments are o

senator begich i do sympathize with what you are talking about in terms of the ruralness of alaska and other parts of the country. while we are waiting for the mou to be finished alaska is one of the places where the opportunity with tribal interactions and i hesitate to use the word pilot but to get specific agreements within a tribal unit. in alaska i believe it is the south alaskan tribal association and we are progressing and getting some arrangements made. it would be wonderful from my perspective if a veteran could make a choice and access tribal clinics if indeed that was more convenient and care was successful and that we could work on the reimbursement rates. i think that is what we are trying to do in alaska and we have another going on in south dakota. >> and you feel it's moving in the right direction? >> absolutely. >> i have two quick ones in one is, senate bill mine 14 authorizes a waiver that i introduce on collection of co-payments for telehealth and telemedicine. i guess the general comment as i know we have about 200 veterans and 100 are at in the program and others

. >> senator begich. >> thank you very much mr. chairman and thank you all for your service. the thing i was wanting to know is, we are talking about oil prices and gasoline prices and what it means to people at the pump and west virginia's close to $4. we are probably one of the states, the most rural states commuting for jobs. we have to say you have to drive to survive in west virginia. with that being said i'm hearing so much from all of u.s. experts that there is very little we can do any can imagine the frustration when we go home and people say, can't you help me? we feel frustrated. we think we can help by alternative fuels, coal and liquid and natural gas, things of this sort. it's not going to be the way you are trading oil but we have more control of our own destiny and we know the technology is there. secretary chu has said coal liquids with biomass really make sense and it does not leave a carbon footprint. it basically can work and it has worked. the germans basically perfected it and senator jennings randolph flu and airplane in 1942 from west virginia to washi

his own, has the support of senators cornyn, klobuchar, schumer, blumenthal, gillibrand, harkin and begich. as senator grassley would note, democrats and republicans from both chambers have written to the supreme court asking it to permit live television broadcasts of the health care reform arguments next week. in november, senators bloomen that will, schumer and i wrote -- bloomen that will, schumer and i wrote a letter to the chief justice making the request, open the supreme court for this historic argument. let the court make the argument before the supreme court and the questions asked by the justices in open court. well, chief justice roberts responded to our request last week, and it sounds like he sent the same letter, incidentally, to senator grassley. the chief justice informed us that the supreme court has respectfully declined to televise the health care arguments, but that the court would graciously offer an alternative. here's the alternative. now the court will post audio recordings and unofficial transcripts to the court's web site just a few hours after the arguments are o

>> begich loans -- we give loans for things in the u.s. we gave a loan that was to a design group in l.a. and there is another covenants that goes to manufacturing in the u.s. the money we give in loans is very targeted -- >> i understand they were struggling and this money was actually going to be used in finland. >> the loans we give our for american jobs and we are very clear about that. if -- >> no money goes to finland? >> the -- we give loans for jobs in america and we are very clear about that. >> they are now using in the u.s. taxpayer dollars? >> i can get back to you on that but i know the overall scope of the loan is for manufacturing in the u.s. >> you are concerned. picking winners and losers. >> people are saying windmills, even though we have paid for them and we have been started, if you take away subsidies, they will never make a profit. they're not profitable. we are throwing money at windmills. i do not see the purpose. it get down to what senator lee has talked about. we should not be in this business at all. you are ch

helped us with senator begich. they crossed party lines. we have a great bill. is it perfect? of course not. is it strong? yes. is it paid for? yes. will it protect 1.9 million jobs and create an additional million? yes. that's great news. but the house, you know, has decided the only people in america not to get this is the house of representatives over there, the republicans. and i see my colleague here. i'm glad to yield to him. mr. whitehouse: i wonder if the senator will yield for a question. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: setting aside the issue of the house's inability to govern, but focusing on this highway question, it's now the end of march. if we go 90 days, 30 days takes us through the end of april, 30 more days takes us through the end of may, 30 more days takes us through the end of june. there is a seasonal component to getting this work done, is there not? what is the effect of this entire industry, our entire highway road and bridge industry having no certainty about what their funding is going to be until practically the

introduced s. 2222 with senators blumenthal, tester, mccaskill, klobuchar, franken, sherrod brown, begich, and pryor. this legislation which i have filed also as an amendment to this bill, requires the cftc to useual of itsz authority, including its emergency -- all of its authority, including its emergency powers, to eliminate excessive oil speculation. i should point out that this emergency directive in our bill is identical -- and i want my republican colleagues to hear this -- is identical to bipartisan legislation that overwhelmingly passed the house of representatives in 2008 by a vote of 402-19, with significant large-scale republican support. mr. president, the dodd-frank financial reform bill stipulated very clearly that the cftc needed to eliminate, prevent, or diminish excessive oil speculation by january 17, 2011, 14 months ago. they have not done it. the cftc has not obeyed the law, and it's time for congress to tell them that breaking the law is not acceptable and what they have got to do is in fact to defend the consumers of this country. mr. president, in my view, what thi

senator begich, i really to sympathize with what you talk about in terms of the ruralness of alaska as well as other parts of the country. while we're waiting for the measuring -- mou to be finished, alaska's one of two places where we are proceeding with tribal interactions, and i'd hesitate to use the word pilot -- >> right. >> to get specific agreements within a tribal unit in alaska i believe it's the southeast alaskan tribal association, and we are progressing in getting some arrangements made. it would be wonderful from my perspective if a veteran could make a choice and access tribal clinics if, indeed, that was more convenient and the care was -- >> yes. call. -- we call. >> and i think that's what we're trying to do in alaska, and we have another effort going on in south dakota. .. this is a potential way to meld the two problems and create a solution? >> senator, neither dr. petzel or i are familiar with this legislation. so if i may i -- >> absolutely. >> i will provide that for the record. >> that is on senate bill 914. we'll get you information on it. the last comment if i

21st century postal service act, signed by 16 senators as follows -- reid, carper, brown of ohio, begich, nelson of florida, lautenberg, shaheen, blumenthal, coons, feinstein, leahy, durbin, lieberman, murray, schumer and pryor. mr. reid: mr. president, this is an extremely important bill. that's the postal reform legislation. we have been waiting to get to it for a long time. we're going to move to that next week. i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask we proceed to a period of morning business, with senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i rise to speak about a disturbing made recently about the national football league. the national football league investigation revealed that the new orleans saints had allegedly been operating an illegal bounty program. under this bounty program, players were reportedly given significant sums of money