to talk to -- >> you know who the client is and you get directions from him or her. >> senator blumenthal? >> as an attorney general recently in this business, one of my frustration has been in fact for our attorneys and personally, that finding someone who was the real party and was in a position to modify a mortgage was one of the real travails, frustrating aspects, often to the detriment of in fact the real party in interest is real interest would have been well served. by being present and involved in the process. but since it is in essence consentual, in my view, and since the program itself would be optional for the bankruptcy court. i would like to ask, judge drain, if more bankruptcy courts would engage in this? >> i think that is the case. since we enacted it, half of the district said they would do it. i am told by one of my colleagues that one of the judges -- one of the judges who did not do it was somewhat concerned that he would be overreaching his authority. i think, as i think you said, senator, in your opening remarks -- by enacting legislation in this area, the congress

-- senator blumenthal? >> tax or penalty? the discussion outside this room -- is it a tax or penalty or does it make a difference? >> if the congress had enacted a tax on everybody which they would then remit to those people who bought private health insurance, it is hard for me to imagine that we would be having this discussion. congress did not so enact. it did not do so for political reasons. it did not want to have this. i think they are now paying the price. in the fact that they have to defer -- confront this discussion. it was not put as a tax although the penalty is something that is collected by the internal revenue service, i believe. it is not viewed, it was enacted -- it was not enacted as a tax because if it had been the power to tax for the general welfare and spend for the general welfare is pretty plenary. that is not how congress chose to enacted this. it left us with this debate that we are having. >> i want to agree with everything professor fried said about that. the only thing i would add is that if you t

blumenthal is the new senator from connecticut, his first month on the job. should cut him a little bit of slack. >> every rookie has his or her troubles. it's all right. >>> it is a lucky break taking a wisconsin couple from the soup kitchen to the super bowl. >> they had been living in a homeless shelter for the past two months. they went to green bay's winter fest looking for some free fun. ended up winning a trip of a lifetime, free tickets to the super bowl in dallas. on top of that, a free hotel stay too. >> he's a diehard packers fan. he says it is a dream come true. >> oh, man. a little bit of luck. can't hurt -- blame them for that. enjoy it. >> a couple people, if you're thinking you want to do that drive from green bay, wisconsin, down to dallas, they say avoid leaving before wednesday afternoon. as you've been watching, the weather is awful. >> go to dallas. it's warmer there. we'll be back with more after this. [ doctor ] here's some health information for people over 50. maybe you don't think you're at isk for heart attack or stroke but if you'v

senator blumenthal, you are recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman.d i join the chairman and ranking member in thinking you and others on the committee for your extraordinary service, both admiral mullen and secretary gates. in particular, for your continued commitment to the jss and the single engine in the sub building program, which i know was reiterated as recently as yesterday remarks in florida. so i assume that will continue and i want to express my thanks. in particular, i like to focus on one area of your prepared testimony, admiral mullen, relating to the injuries on the part of many of these young men and women returning from his conflicts in iraq and afghanistan. tonight brain injury, that are new in their magnitude and number. and i see perhaps to specifically what is being done in terms of the treatment both in service and veterans and perhaps what can be done to list the growing number of private efforts, the woodruff foundation that could provide resources. >> one of the areas we've struggling throughout the words his statement issue.

much of supreme court doctrine -- getting back to senator blumenthal's question, the resumption of constitutionality, a state may defer to the congressman's judgment. president jackson is saying that if the court is one to defer to us, which is commenting on a specific case, it is incumbent on us to protect -- to independently assess where we think something is an improper. he thought he was respecting the supreme court decision in mcauliffe v. maryland by holding the bank unconstitutional which the supreme court itself that found to be constitutional. >> but all of the land until the president acted was clear. that decision of the court was controlling. whether i agree with that as an individual citizen, that does not matter. >> you're absolutely right. i appreciate the opportunity to clarify that. >> may i add to that, senator? there is a great difference between the congress deliberately passing a statute which the court said by alex to constitution, and refusing to pass a statute which the congress thinks it is unconstitutional even though the court has said it is not unconstitutional. i think t

but when senator blumenthal asked me to the state of the union, how could i say no? i mean, john thune was already taken. [laughter] and you know, the state of the union was quite an experience. did you know that they didn't even have a seat for me? no joke. they set up a folding chair and put me in the ogle. come on, they will get chris coons a booster and they won't even get me a seat? [laughter] [applause] but there was quite a speech the president gave. i found it interesting president obama called this our sputnik moment. i mean, we always kind of suspected he was a communist but we -- [laughter] i don't think any of us expected him to be so obvious about it. [laughter] regardless, i am so thrilled to be here to support the washington press club foundation, and i am pleased to join all of you in recognizing the achievements of bonnie angelo and barbara barrett. it is also a pleasure to be here with congressional leadership and i am so excited and thrilled to be part, to be a new member serving in the 112th congress. and we have got quite a crew tonight. we've go

. >> senator blumenthal. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and i want to join in thanking both of you and the men and women who serve with you for your service and safer particularly to you, general austin, many of your soldiers and others who serve in our military are from connecticut, and have been to iraq not just once but twice, and some three times into his of service that i would guess that very rarely in our countries history have so many individuals born so much of the burden, so few of the total number of people who live in this country, our citizens, born so much of the burden militarily for this country. and to you, ambassador, my thanks on behalf of connecticut and our country to the members of the foreign service who are in, not only in iraq but other dangerous places in the world, we have only today to look at today's headlines to see how dangerous those places are two civilians as well as military. and i want to focus my questions on an area that hasn't been covered, and perhaps would seem to be outside this committee

but when senator blumenthal asked me to the state of the union, how could i say no? i mean, john thune was already taken. [laughter] and you know, the state of the union was quite an experience. did you know that they didn't even have a seat for me? no joke. they set up a folding chair and put me in the ogle. come on, they will get chris coons a booster and they won't even get me a seat? [laughter] [applause] but there was quite a speech the president gave. i found it interesting president obama called this our sputnik moment. i mean, we always kind of suspected he was a communist but we -- [laughter] i don't think any of us expected him to be so obvious about it. [laughter] regardless, i am so thrilled to be here to support the washington press club foundation, and i am pleased to join all of you in recognizing the achievements of bonnie angelo and barbara barrett. it is also a pleasure to be here with congressional leadership and i am so excited and thrilled to be part, to be a new member serving in the 112th congress. and we have got quite a crew tonight. we've go

we have fortunate to have two former attorneys general on this committee, senator blumenthal and senator whitehouse. you represent the state of oregon. you said that oregon is a sovereign state, but i am trying to summarize your testimony in terms of protecting the health, welfare of its citizens, do you have any concern about the constitutionality of the requirement that -- to purchase health insurance? >> none whatsoever. >> thank you. now, as attorney general, were you asked or did you -- on your own review, the legal basis for the affordable care act? >> yes, i have, senator. >> you think it intrudes on oregon's responsibility to protect the health and welfare of its citizens? >> senator, i think it greatly assists the ability of the state of oregon to protect its citizens. >> thank you. and professor fried, having been here actually from the time of president fo, when you were solicitor general for president reagan, i almost feel like i should call you solicitor general, but do you believe the requirement in the affordable care act individuals purchase health insurance represent unp

but when senator blumenthal asked me to the state of the union, how could i say no? i mean, john thune was already taken. [laughter] and you know, the state of the union was quite an experience. did you know that they didn't even have a seat for me? no joke. they set up a folding chair and put me in the ogle. come on, they will get chris coons a booster and they won't even get me a seat? [laughter] [applause] but there was quite a speech the president gave. i found it interesting president obama called this our sputnik moment. i mean, we always kind of suspected he was a communist but we -- [laughter] i don't think any of us expected him to be so obvious about it. [laughter] regardless, i am so thrilled to be here to support the washington press club foundation, and i am pleased to join all of you in recognizing the achievements of bonnie angelo and barbara barrett. it is also a pleasure to be here with congressional leadership and i am so excited and thrilled to be part, to be a new member serving in the 112th congress. and we have got quite a crew tonight. we've go

we're fortunate to have two former attorneys general on this committee, senator blumenthal and senator white house. you represent the state of oregon. you said that oregon is a sovereign state, i'm trying to summarize your testimony, in charge of promoting the health and welfare of its citizens. do you have any concern about the constitutionality of the requirement that individuals purchase health insurance? >> none whatsoever. >> thank you. now, as attorney general, were you asked or did you -- on your own review, the legal basis for the affordable care act? >> yes, i have, senator. >> you think it intrudes on oregon's responsibility to protect the health and welfare of its citizens? >> senator, i think it greatly assists the ability of the state of oregon to protect its citizens. >> thank you. and professor fried, having been here actually from the time of president ford, when you were solicitor general for president reagan, i almost feel like i should call you solicitor general, but do you believe the requirement in the affordable care act individuals purchase health insurance repre

senator blumenthal, welcome. please proceed. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you to the panel. i have to make clear, i do not feel like i am back in moscow. of law school had been this interesting, i would have gone to more classes. [laughter] i wanted to join senator hatch and others in thanking you for spending time with us today and giving us the benefit of some very important testimony. i want to say that i appreciate general kroger being here. i declined some challenges partly because this new act actually saved money for many states, including connect it -- conn. it saved millions of dollars through september of 2011. perhaps it does the same for oregon and the birth date. i also believe the lawsuit is without merit. i think the two opinions we have, to the contrary, show clearly that it is without merit, and partly because of this distinction made out of non-constitutional clause between activity and inactivity -- i think they give very inadequate attention and weight to the doctrine that laws should be presumed constitutional. congress rejects the idea because of a foot

senator blumenthal blacks -- senator blum called? >> i during the chairman and ranking member believe thinking you for your extraordinary -- i joined the chairman and ranking member in thinking about that view for your continued commitment. these were reiterated as recently as yesterday in florida. i assume that will continue. in particular, i would like to focus on one aspect of your testimony relating to the injuries on the part of the young men and women returning with dramatic brain injuries that are new in their magnitude and number. i would ask you, perhaps, to describe what is being done in terms of the treatment of and the service, veterans coming in what could be done to and lest the growing number to provide resources? >> there is the stigma issue of even raising your hand and asking for help. in december, i was with the command sergeant major for the first. he relayed it to me an extraordinary statistic which basically had those who work in concuss of events -- concuss sieve defense returning to duty at around 80%. if you

senator jean shifting, senator richard blumenthal on the majority side, senator robb portman, senator kelly on the minority side. we also welcome back senator john korenisn't who is rejoining the committee after a brief hiatus. this committee has a tradition of bipartisanship. it is a long tradition. it is based on our common desire to provide our men and women in uniform and their families the support that they need and the support that they deserve. that gold makes the work of this committee truly rewarding. senator reid, senator chester and i recently returned from visiting iraq. one of my main impressions was that the team of ambassador jeffrey and general austin is providing the strong leadership needed to manage the critical transition. over the coming here, leading up to the december of 2011 deadline for withdrawal of all u.s. military forces from iraq. a deadline that was set by president bush and prime minister maliki in the november of 2008 security agreement that they entered into. unbelievably two gentlemen are the right team to lead that transition. on behalf of the commi

we're fortunate to have two former attorneys general on this committee, senator blumenthal and senator white house. you represent the state of oregon. you said that oregon is a sovereign state, i'm trying to summarize your testimony, in charge of promoting the health and welfare of its citizens. do you have any concern about the constitutionality of the requirement that individuals purchase health insurance? >> none whatsoever. >> thank you. now, as attorney general, were you asked or did you -- on your own review, the legal basis for the affordable care act? >> yes, i have, senator. >> you think it intrudes on oregon's responsibility to protect the health and welfare of its citizens? >> senator, i think it greatly assists the ability of the state of oregon to protect its citizens. >> thank you. and professor fried, having been here actually from the time of president ford, when you were solicitor general for president reagan, i almost feel like i should call you solicitor general, but do you believe the requirement in the affordable care act individuals purchase health insurance repre

. >> senator blumenthal will have around two. i just have a few questions. general austin, you were reluctant to speculate as to what your recommendation would be if there were a request from the iraqi government or any military support beyond the december date. my question is the following. it relates to that question. it is a question that his asking your personal and professional military view from a military perspective as to whether or not you agree with the current policy of the administration to remove all u.s. military forces from iraq by the end of this year. >> senator, the agreement that i think we are referring to is between our country and the government of iraq. that agreement says that on less a request is placed -- is made by the iraqis to extend the agreement, or a request for assistance is made, our mandate is to reposition all forces. we are on track to do that. i think, certainly, if the iraqis decide that they want to -- they need further assistance , and a request is made to our government, then i think secretary gates has been clear. h

rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable richard blumenthalenator from the state of connecticut, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, following any leader remarks the senate will resume consideration of the f.a.a. authorization bill. i've spoken to the chairman of the committee, i've spoken to the republican leader and we're going to do everything question to move to matter forward as quickly as possible. those that have amendments should offer them. we'll try to set up the votes for those that are already pending at the earliest possible date. we could do some of them in the morning. we may even be able to get a number of them out of the way tonight if we can work something out on that. at 4:30, we'll turn to executive session to consider the nomination of james graves of mississippi to be united states circuit judge for the fifth circuit and edward davila of california to be a u.s. district judge for t

senator sessions of alabama, senator lieberman of connecticut, senator franken of minnesota, senator blumenthalof connecticut, and senator harkin of iowa. republicans and democrats in big states and small are coming together to support american innovation. the senate judiciary committee, as i said, unanimously approved this legislation on february 3 of this year. but this effort extends back several years. our current congressional efforts reform the nation's patent system began in 2005. in fact, this bill is the result of years of hard work and compromise. the senate judiciary committee has reported patent reform legislation to the senate in each of the last three congresses. in the house it's seen efforts over the same period, led by congressman lamar smith of texas. and howard berman of california. the legislation we're considering today in fact is structured on the original house bill and contains many of the original provisions. from the beginning, we each recognized the need for a more effective and efficient patent system, one that improves patent quality and provides incentives for entr