held by people at the summit here to talk about what role those play in policy and politics is max blumenthal he's a fellow at the nation is an author of this book republican gomorra he's here to talk about it thanks so much for being with us today i know you joined us from quite a long distance there in lebanon now you did attend this and you covered it and i think it's pretty fair to say that you've taken a critical stance i'm curious just on a personal note you're jewish i saw in some of your videos you know people at this event asked you you know do you believe in jesus christ is that actually i'm jewish as a result of your coverage of this kind of a organization are you accused of betraying your christian american tradition. well when when i covered this and you can see my coverage of this all of your viewers can see my coverage of this in a video called rapture ready christians united for israel's washington israel summit two thousand and seven it's on you tube and person after person at this conference asked me if i was a member of the jewish race and while they didn't attempt to conve

blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection, the senator from connecticut is recognized. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i would like to join others of my colleagues in thanking and commending the majority leader, senator reid, for his tireless and relentless work in extraordinarily difficult circumstances. he has been a model for me as a new member of the senate in leading this body, and many of my other democratic colleagues in the leadership, and some of our republican colleagues as well -- senator johnny isakson, for example, of georgia who spoke to this chamber yesterday morning and who demonstrated his determination, as others on the other side of the aisle have done to work together in reaching an agreement. as the majority leader said just moments ago, the word of the day must be "cooperation" and "compromise." it is the word that we are hearing from countless americans and my fellow citizens of connecticut day after day. we want

senator blumenthal? thank you madam chair and first of all for having this hearing and again demonstrating your leadership in the area of combating financial fraud and related issues that undermine the integrity as well as trust of the public our financial system. these crimes are more than just superficial passing in their impact. they are enduring because they go to the core of what people trust and need to have confidence in. i want to begin by saying that i've reviewed the task force report which outlines increased prosecutions and convictions associated with mortgage fraud and related kinds of criminal the activity. those developments are very positive, and i really want to commend your efforts in this area. twice as many were charged in mortgage fraud cases in 2010 as in 2009 and twice as many convictions and roughly twice as many people sentenced at every level of criminal severity and that is very good news in the sending a message, a deterrent message about the severity and seriousness of the ad

senator blumenthal. >> thank you mr. chairman and i want to begin by thanking each of you for your extraordinary service to our nation and thank you your families as well, who share in the sacrifice you have made. i know some of them are here today and i would just like to assure them that we share in the gratitude and the country for their as well as your service. general odierno you have talked very eloquently about your caring and attention to all of our warriors, our wounded warriors and those who are serving now in theater. most especially, to the need for better care when it comes to brain injury, post-traumatic stress and i understand from your testimony and our conversations that you will continue to seek to upgrade and improve the kind of care that the military provides to those warriors. am i correct in that -- assumption? >> absolutely, senator. >> and safaris particularly the problem of suicide, which you again have spoken to very eloquently and powerfully in your written testimony and i was very impressed by

senator blumenthal? >> bank unit. i have questions focused particularly on gasoline prices and the commodities markets that are related to fuel and soon heating oil. even though now it's pretty warm outside, that will be pressing topic pretty soon. as you know, the national average is near $4 a gallon. to be specific, i think it's about $3.64 a gallon. its $3.94 aut's gallon, which is much higher than it's been. it cannot ask fully be explained by supply and demand. and a creeping down in the prices after developments and actions by the administration and other law enforcement substantiates my view that speculation and possibly political manipulation of the is to blame, at least to some extent. i welcomed and applauded the decision to create the oil and gas price task force. i commend the federal trade commission in initiating an investigation into the fraud and manipulation relating to gas prices at every level of industry. so far, i note with some regret the department of justice has not announced any such investiga

blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i don't need to tell anyone in this chamber -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. blumenthal: may i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i don't need to tell anyone in this chamber that our nation is at a crossroads. we are at a crossroads. we have said for many months we would be at this point, and now we are here. for months we have said that we will need to make tough choices and difficult decisions, and now we are at that very point when we need to make those tough choices and difficult decisions to rein in the debt and the deficit and to put our fiscal house in order, even as we raise the debt ceiling. now, this decision is difficult and tough and excruciating for us, but they are hardly different than what american families are doing all around this country and in connecticut, because i've seen them and i've heard from them, and so have you in this chamber. families that

from connecticut, blumenthal. california, senator boxer. from ohio, senator brown. washington state, senator cantwell. senator cardin. from delaware, senator carper. from pennsylvania, senator casey. from north dakota, senator conrad. from duane, senator coons. senator durbin. senator feinstein. from minnesota, senator franken. these are the people who said we will not allow the debate on the floor of the senate that might lead to a balanced budget amendment being passed, we're not going to allow that to come to the senate floor. let me go through the remainder of the senators. senator haggan from north carolina. senator harkin from the state of iowa. senator inway from hawaii. senator johnson from south dakota. senator klobucar from minnesota. senator landrieu from louisiana. senator lautenberg from new jersey. senator leahy from vermont. senator levin from michigan. senator lieberman from connecticut. senator manchin from west virginia. senator mccaskill from missouri. senator menendez from new jersey. senator merkley from oregon. senator mikulski from maryland. s

senator blumenthal. >> thank you: mr. chairman. i want to join in expressing my thanks for not aeration for your great service to the country, the extraordinary sacrifice and services that the men and women who serve under you and your family and look forward to your confirmation encoding. i want to pursue the line of questioning that senator hagan began on the assumption that the packet danny's are not cooperative because they have not proven cooperatives in the past. what additional measures can we take to destroy the source says of ammonium nitrate that has proved so absolutely and horrifically distract kids to the men and women is there our armed forces in afghanistan? general alan, i'd like respectfully to ask you to begin a month at merrill mcraven, if you can follow through with what you expect to happen. >> senator, that an important question. the posturing of our intelligence gathering apparatus, capabilities, isr capabilities, posturing potentially a special operators on the western side of the border to detect infiltrati

rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable richard blumenthal, a senator 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: following leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration the motion to proceed to the bill h.r. 2560. the time until 10:00 a.m. will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. at 10:00 a.m. i will be recognized to make a motion to table the motion to proceed. therefore, senators should expect a roll call vote at approximately 10:00 a.m. to accommodate senators on both sides on what will take a little longer than usual. this, i say to you, mr. president, and to everyone at the sound of my voice, this is an effort to move this piece of legislation off the floor. it's interfering with the negotiations between the white house and the house of representatives, and it is without merit, this legislation. this is a motion to table. it is a vote on th

i'd like to thank senators blumenthal sanders senator sherrod brown, you are servings the presiding officer, senator merkley, and senator franken for their support in cosponsoring this resolution, and i hope that my colleagues will join us in protecting the promise we have made to our nation's seniors through social security and medicare. in closing mr. president the challenge before us is a formidable one but i truly believe we can reach an agreement on the deficit and debt ceiling without compromising the security and well-being of our seniors. i thank the chair, and i yield the floor. mr. president, on the pending mexico, i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not on this motion, we have 69 yeas, 27 nays. the motion to proceed is passed. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: could we've order in the senate, please. the presiding officer:

of nevada, baucus, boxer, levin, harkin, cardin, schumer, durbin, leahy, warner, murray, coons, blumenthal, brown of ohio, conrad, begich, kerry, stabenow. mr. reid: mr. president, i have a second-degree amendment which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes an amendment numbered 590 to amendment numbered 589. mr. reid: i have a motion to refer the house message to the budget committee with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, moves to refer the house message to the senate budget committee with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment numbered 591. mr. reid: ask for the yeas and nays on that motion. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. the yeas and nays will be ordered. mr. reid: now, mr. president, i have an amendment to my that is also at the desk. -- to my instructions that is also at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk wi

senator blumenthal. >> thank you: mr. chairman. i want to join in expressing my thanks for not aeration for your great service to the country, the extraordinary sacrifice and services that the men and women who serve under you and your family and look forward to your confirmation encoding. i want to pursue the line of questioning that senator hagan began on the assumption that the packet danny's are not cooperative because they have not proven cooperatives in the past. what additional measures can we take to destroy the sourcesays of ammonium nitrate that has proved so absolutely and horrifically distract kids to the men and women is there our armed forces in afghanistan? general alan, i'd like respectfully to k you to begin a month at merrill mcraven, if you can follow through with what you expect to happen. >> senator, that an important questi. the posturing of our intelligence gathering apparatus, capabilities, isr capabilities, posturing potentially a special operators on the western side of the border to detect infiltration of

senator blumenthal, former attorney general of connecticut, go ahead. >> thank you for your leadership and senator feinstein's and other members of the committee who joined in this cause and thank you to all of the witnesses who are here today, particularly to mr. sorbo from the town of berlin, connecticut. it's a small town. there are those of us who love it. and i want to say at the very outset my thanks to you, all of you for giving a voice to some abstract and seemingly complicated principles of constitutional law and basic liberties and rights. you've given a face and a voice in terms of practical consequences of the respect for marriage act and i regard this hearing as really historic day for our nation. nations like people are judged by their capacity for growth and i think today marks another step in the growth of our nation and the progression toward recognizing some principles that go to the very core of what makes our nation the greatest in the history of the world. so i thank you, all of you for being here today. you know, for me some of these questions are much narrower. t

senator blumenthal please go ahead. >> thank you for your leadership and senator feinstein and other members of the committee who have joined in this cause in thank you to all the witnesses who are here today particularly to mr. sorbo from the town of berlin connecticut. is a small town but there are those of us who love it and i want to say at the very outset my thanks to you, all of you for giving a face and a voice to some abstract and seemingly confiscated principles of constitutional law and basic liberties and rights. you have given a face and a voice in terms of the practical consequences of their respect for marriage act and i regard this hearing as a really historic day for a nation. nations, like the pull, are judged by their capacity for growth and i think today marks another step in the growth of our nation and the progression toward recognizing some principles that go to the very core of what makes our nation the greatest in the history of the world. so, i thank all of you for being here today. you know, for me, some of these questions are much narrower than the constitu

i'm grateful that senators blumenthal sherrod brown franken, boxer and gillibrand have sponsored with me in joining on the resolution and i invite all my colleagues to do the same. mr. president, the conrad budget proves that we need not attack medicare and social security to deal with our deficit. his budget is living proof that there is reason to attack medicare and social security to get through our deficit situations. that attack on medicare and social security is a willful and unnecessary act by the republicans. well rhode islanders in increasing numbers have been writing to me urging me to continue fighting to preserve these retirement programs, to preserve this infrastructure of american freedom. time is running short and americans are counting on their elected representatives to do the right thing. well, it is time to do the right thing. let me close by reading a piece from an editorial in the "economist" magazine." the economist "magazine is a very conservative publication. and it is very much in the favor of free markets. i would say by and large it is a republican journal.