just one more ranch thrown into this whole political quagmire in washington that was paul blumenthal reporter for the huffington post now speaking of lobbying it is not just domestically interest here foreign governments hire lobbyists to have their message heard in washington and as this case shows it can make a big difference in the relationship between countries and the perception of everything from relationships to conflicts to countries policies and artie's kalends board on the third anniversary of the war in south ossetia shows the role that lobbyist played and how that whole conflict has been perceived. three years ago when war broke out between georgia and russia and south a city. by conflict estimated to have killed hundreds and displaced one hundred eighteen thousand in just five days the us media it is like david versus goliath georgia's president says russia is attacking his country and u.s. lawmakers like then republican presidential candidate john mccain today we are all georgians were quick to place blame. and european union report found that one also violated internat

. -- blumenthal. it's a great honor to be standing here before you,, a native daughter. what did you think of the 65-foot ladder race? pretty incredible. i would be certainly remiss if i didn't introduce personally each member. most of them are not working today and they volunteered their time to come here. just like the sheriff's department and police department that play a large role in the city, we're part of this -- the fabric of this great estimate so engine company 41, operating a rig under the direction of o'neill, and i would like to introduce each and every one of the members. it's a 10-person lift that made the demonstration. first, ramon simone. kevin walsh. julio delucchi, dave cites. doug menguay, pat moran. sasha grande. marco lopez. jonathan ashbrook. down to two. daniel mccloskey. and the person that called the ladder and bravely climbed the ladder and flew our beautiful flag, larry mcdonald. i'd also like to acknowledge paul barry in the red shirt. paul is president of our san francisco fire historical society and there are many members today, including

. >> let me welcome senator blumenthal. everybody is very busy. sign of people being here is a sign of a key interest. let me ask you about the federal interest in drug courts. in a letter panel, will hear from a witness who says the federal government should not manage with this. -- should not bother with this, and it should be left to the states to manage drug courts without support from the federal government. you've been involved in this for a long time. make the case for a federal goal and supporting drug courts around the country. >> in terms of my experience, as you indicated, i have been involved in this work for a long time. in any number of programs that have been successful, such as drug court programs over the last 20 years, it seems that very often the beginnings of those programs, the testings and demonstration projects that give rise to these programs -- that are funded in some cases by private dollars, but often to the interest of the federal government in providing seed money for these programs, so they can get traction. that is w

it gets right to the point of what senator blumenthal was talking about. i read that "times" article yesterday and as i mentioned i was with judge russell yesterday who initiated that first court and he's quoted in that article about that gentleman and the parameters surrounding that horrible situation where he was in the woods out in michigan with a gun and there were officers surrounding the area and felt they were being shot at. and their lives were in danger. and this veteran, this fellow is alive and is getting help now. and those officers have actually dropped all their charges as well. it's a extraordinary level of compassion and understanding what that guy alone in the woods alone was going through. he was back in iraq on three tours. he lived with that extraordinary anxiety, tension and adrenaline. we have no idea, no comprehension at all of what's that like in a combat zone and, you know, we're in three countries now where it's just every day normal life. and a lot of these men and women are serving multiple tours. we have to be aware of that. an

if you ask me i want to thank you so much for coming in and giving us your insight that was all blumenthal reporter for the huffington post now speaking of lobbying it's not just domestically interest international interests hire lobbyists foreign governments to have their message heard and washington and as this case shows it can make a big difference in the relationships between countries three years after fighting broke out between georgia and russia and south of setia one side continues to enjoy better press and public opinion in the united states and our teeth can't afford investigated the part that lobbyists had to do in that. three years ago when war broke out between georgia and russia and south the city. of conflict estimated to have killed hundreds and displaced one hundred eighteen thousand in just five days the us media it is like david versus goliath georgia's president says russia is attacking his country and u.s. lawmakers like then republican presidential candidate john mccain today we are all georgians were quick to place blame. the european union report found that not all

to ask how could this possibly happen with these the lobbyists in full force i spoke with paul blumenthal a reporter for the huffington post i started off our conversation asking him just what kind of mobilization are we seeing on k. street in response to the supercommittee here's what he said. well we're looking at one point five trillion dollars in cuts to the deficit to the day over the next ten years and that is a huge amount of money for basically any industry and the big thing in this super committee is that we're talking about triggered cuts in health care and defense spending if they don't come up with a different plan bill that a lot more of who gets appointed to the committee will be much more partisan based you're seeing a lot of that political gridlock a lot of the clips that you just showed show that these people are butting heads on both sides and i think that more of the line up of the committee is going to be based on how the parties can play the politics better than the interest groups can play what comes out of the committee so you think that that that actually lobbyist

the order on our side is senators franken, blumenthal, klobuchar and coons.ken. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i notice that our former congressman, jim ramstad is here, and i'd like to recognize him, too, for his leadership in mental health parity and in parity for treatment of addiction. minnesota's been a leader in, actually, in addiction treatment, and we're very proud of that. and minnesota we have seen drug courts do pretty good things, do very good things. you talk to, talked about really return on investment both in your opening statement and your response to senator kohl. and part of this is recidivism. we've found in minnesota that participants in drug courts are less likely -- less than half as likely to be arrested for another crime as offenders who are prosecuted in traditional courts and, i mean, this, of course, we give lent kind of arrests, etc. . -- with equivalent kinds of arrests. so i want to see if you're seeing that nationwide, that trend nationwide in drug courts in terms of she -- recidivism. >> senator, with respect to recidivism, yes, w

linda mcmahon lost and we have blumenthal of connecticut. in nevada where it looked like harry reid's political career was not long for this world until a tea party backed candidate named sharron angle defeated more normal republican candidates in the primary. and of course we still have democratic senate majority leader harry reid. for example, in utah, arguably the most republican state in the country, in utah incumbent senator bob bennet was not renominated by his republican state party. they picked a tea party guy instead named mike lee. he was retired as incumbent senator and mike lee did go on to win that seat. >> you're robert bennet, you are one of the most conservative members of the united states senate. how is it that you get tossed out by this tea party movement or whatever it was in utah, how does that happen? >> they don't really care. you can win an election screaming in anger, but you cannot hold and govern for a significant period of time on screaming and anger. >> even while hurdling through the subway system, bob bennet up

rather than take up the other senators time, i will wait until the end and yield to senator blumenthal and then whoever else is next. >> thank you, mr. chairman and thank you for bringing together this really very, very impressive panel. not only for its star power, but its intellectual and scientific and persuasive power. i want to suggest that there is a danger year, which is to conflate veterans problems in drug problems and to see a drug court is also potentially a veteran scorer. and i think what is so impressive about the work that you have done, judge lafazia if you have address not only the indivisible ruins of posttraumatic stress in a traumatic brain injury that can cause many as the addictive behaviors that result in criminal activity, but also to address the problems that are unique to veterans and they can become addict dave, but they also have other problems. and so, i would like to invite you and others on the panel to perhaps talk about why we need to address separately the issues that affect veterans as opposed to simply opening the truck courts that may deal with vete

blumenthal go ahead. >> thank you mr.n for your leadership and senator feinstein and other members of the committee who have joined in this cause and thank you to all of the witnesses who are here today particularly to mr. sorbo on the town of berlin, connecticut. it is a small town but there are those of us who love it. and, i want to say at the very outset might thanks to you, all of you, for giving a face and a voice to some abstract and seemingly complicated as the polls and constitutional law and basic liberty and rights. you have given a face and voice in terms of the practical consequences of the respect for marriage act. i regard this hearing as really a historic day for our nation. nations, like teeple, 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 couples they 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

senator blumenthal, please, go ahead. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for your leadership and senator feinstein's and other members of the committee who have 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. .. >> you know, for me, some of the questions are much narrower. the constitutional issues that are being debated in the courts because what really matters here is the respect for connecticut's law. and mr. sorbo, you were married under connecticut law. respect for connecticut law means that the federal government should recognize that law and give it the kind of sanctity that the founders of the nation meant for the laws of our states to have. states do have the prerogative to establish the rules that surround marriage, just as they do inheritance and divorce. and so for the federal government to discriminate against some marriages in the way that it does is also disrespect for connecticut law as well as connecticut's people and connecticut's mar

we will go back to center blumenthal for a second round. -- we will go back to senator blumenthal for a centesecond ro. >> i would like to follow upon some of the answers given, especially the description of the training and preparation that goes into preparing a warrior to go into modern-day battle. people come back from explosive situations that they might not have survived in the past wars. they have come back with wounds that are undiagnosed and untreated. how do we prepare the courts, law enforcement professionals, and others involved in the system for dealing with those individuals in their jurisdiction who they may not fully understand? >> the armed services have training curricula and intervention specifically for this purpose, trading law enforcement and judges. how do you recognize an invisible one? someonerecognized with post-traumatic stress syndrome? all you have to do is ask the right questions. in 5 minutes, you will know. if you do not ask those questions, you will never know. >> what are those questions? >> asking someone if they get startled. if there is a slight mov

our next witness is senator blumenthal -- next witness. next one to question -- >> i hope not a witness, mr. chairman. [laughter] >> no -- >> i would yield to senator durbin if -- i would be delighted to yield, not grudgingly yield. [laughter]