bingaman: mr. president, as if in legislative session and morning business, i would ask unanimous consent that the commerce committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 5116, and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 5116, an act to invest in innovation through research and development to improve the competitiveness of the united states, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate proceeds to the measure. mr. bingaman: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that the rockefeller-hutchison substitute amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time, that a budget paygo statement be read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bingaman: i would also -- would the clerk -- the presiding officer: the statement will be read. the clerk: this is a statement of budgetary effects of paygo legislation for h.r.

bingaman: mr. president, i'd ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bingaman: mr. president, i'd ask permission to speak in morning business for up to 20 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bingaman: mr. president, let me start by thanking senator baucus for putting forward his proposal on tax issues. it is a responsible course for us to follow. it's one that i can vote for without reservation. he's basically saying, look, let's ensure that the first $250,000 that is earned by any and all americans in this next year will be subject to the lower tax rates that were put in place during president bush's time in office. the tax rates that were adopted essentially in 2001. and, of course, it also contains other very useful provisions to reinstate the estate tax at a reasonable rate with a significant amount exempted from the estate tax. it has provisions for energy tax, extending of energy tax provisions, which i think are very import

bingaman: mr. president, i want to speak for a few minutes on the tax package that is before the senate and that we will be voting on tomorrow. yesterday the senate voted to proceed to this $857 billion or $858 billion package that would have the effect of extending all personal income tax rates tpwaor years, sub -- for two years, substantially reducing the estate tax. now, i think the way to evaluate this package is on two basic grounds. first of all, how does it help us deal with the very substantial economic problem we face with trying to strengthen the recovery from this deep economic downturn that we've experienced? and, second, how is it helping us to set a long-term course to achieve fiscal stability? on the first issue, the economic recovery, there's much in the package that i would strongly support and that i do strongly support. we should protect 98% of american households from any tax increase. we should extend benefits to our fellow americans who are unable to find jobs in this period o

bingaman: mr. president, as if in legislative session and morning business, i would ask unanimous consent that the commerce committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 5116, and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 5116, an act to invest in innovation through research and development to improve the competitiveness of the united states, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate proceeds to the measure. mr. bingaman: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that the rockefeller-hutchison substitute amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time, that a budget paygo statement be read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bingaman: i would also -- would the clerk -- the presiding officer: the statement will be read. the clerk: this is a statement of budgetary effects of paygo legislation for h.r.

my commentary on that plus reaction from senator jeff bingaman of new mexico who's get the deal. >>> here's one for you. a group of wishy washy washington types want them to come together so they started a no labels group. what a bunch of garbage. here what it really mean. no conviction whatsoever to see it through. i'm going head to head with one of the founders of this group. >>> and incoming speaker is a weeper of the house. can you imagine if nancy pelosi had started just crying at the drop of a hat? what do you think the right wing talkers of america would have been saying about her? joan walsh and the republicans, their big double standard, we're talking about that. >>> this is the story that has he fired up tonight. at this hour harry reid and his best friend, mitch mcconnell are trying to hammer out a deal to bring the obama tax compromise to a final vote in the senate. they could get it done tonight on the floor. we'll see. the president and any other democrat with their name on this deal, i think they are walking themselves right into an election fight for their lives. repu

next on the list, senator bingaman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. dr. berwick, thanks for being here and thanks for your willingness to serve in this very important position. i'd like to go back to this office of inspector general report that you referred to on medical errors. i think the euphemism that the report uses is adverse events in hospitals. and i guess what i'm interested in hearing from you if you could tell me is your reaction to some of the recommendations. one of the recommendations in the report is that cms should provide further incentives to hospitals to reduce the incidents of adverse events through its payment and oversight functions. and then another, further down it says cms should look for opportunities to hold hospitals accountable for adoption of evidence-based practice guidelines. this is something you've spent the last several decades working on. i'd be interested in your views as to what opportunities you think you have under this new law to make progress on this. >> thank you, senator bingaman. yes, you're correct, patient sa

reid: i ask unanimous consent that the bingaman substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to. the bill as amended be read three times, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, any statements relating to this matter appear at the appropriate place in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask we proceed to calendar number 647, s. 3167. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 647, s. 3167, a bill to amend title 13 united states ko*et code to provide for a five-year term of office for the director of the census and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the committee-reported amendments be considered, the carper amendment at the desk be agreed to, the committee-reported amendments, plural, be agreed to, and the bill as amended be read a third taoeurpblgs passed, the motion to reconsider -- third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, any statements relating to th

signed by 17 senators as follows: reid of nevada, gillibrand, schumer, casey, murray, franken, bingaman, cardin, inouye, bennet of colorado, shaheen, menendez, boxer, lautenberg, dodd and durbin. mr. reid: mr. president, regarding the h.r. 847, the zagroda legislation, have we stated that motion and have i asked that the reading of the names be waived? the presiding officer: the motion has been state and the names have been read. mr. reid: mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to calendar number 662, s. 3991 our upon the conclusion of the impeachment proceedings and the senate resume legislative session. and that the senate then resume the motion to proceed to calendar number 662 and the mandatory quorum required under rule 22 as it relates to all these matters and i filed cloture on be waived. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate resume consideration of the articles of impeachment against judge g. thomas p

bingaman: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mr. bingaman: madam president, i'd like to speak briefly on the new start treaty and state the reasons why i believe the senate should go ahead and ratify this treaty. let me highlight some key points on first what the treaty accomplishes. let me mention four things. number one, it reduces the number of deployed nuclear warheads by a relatively small number. that is, it takes us from 2,200, which is what we're required to reduce to under the moscow treaty, down to 1,550. second, its counting regime is not based on attributing a number of warheads to a launch system but instead, like the 2002 moscow treaty, this treaty actually requires the counting of deployed warheads. third, this treaty reestablishes a verification regime of inspectors on the ground. this is something which lapsed a year ago when start i lapsed. and third -- and fourth, this treaty still maintains a credible nuclear deterrent against russia, against china, against anyone who might threaten our country. before discussing

sentiment -- senator bingaman is here. martin heinrich. it was their effort. sit in the audience. and we have people who dad gave advice about various causes. we have aspiring officials that granddad did not win that dad gave advice. -- that ran and did not win that dad gave advice. all of you in that category, please stand up, and elected officials, people involved with him in any way. please stand up. [applause] let's give them a round of applause. [applause] that is the way he told me to do it. we may vary a little bit, but that is the simplest way because he had so many times in this community and he loved people. he loved to mentor and they were very much part of his lives. -- of his life. gov. bill richardson was one of those very good friends of my father. >> they shared many values and many causes. one of the great ones was passing legislation through the congress to protect the uranium miners. there was a policy involved with that. bill richardson was very important. when it came to clean energy -- you know my father's opinion on clean energy. bill ri