so with real thanks to senator carper and senator collins, i call on senator carper who continues to be the chair of the subcommittee of this committee that oversees the postal service, thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you very much for the great leadership that you provided and really for i think encouraging the rest of us to work the way the senate used to. where democrats and republicans and occasional independent actually setaside partisan differences and we try to figure out how to fix things, get results, and results the american people are looking for right now. they want to mike sure we can still govern around here. and the business community is provide certainty, provide predictibility, because without that we'll continue to muddle our way through the economy. and what we do here as much as anything, we provide some predictibility, some certainty. the postal service will be around. it will be around in a different size and different form and fashion to some extent than it used to be. some of you heard, used to be vice chairman of the federal reserve when alan gre

without objection, senator carper's remarks relating to that will be in the agenda. senator carper and senator collins have worked very hard, basically, to keep the postal service ambulatory, if i can put it that way. the business environment has changed. that is why i call this instead of postal reform, postal rescue legislation. i would like to call on senator carper, who continues to be the chair of the subcommittee that oversees the postal service. >> thank you, chairman. thank you for the leadership you have provided and for encouraging us to work the way the senate used to. where democrats and republicans and occasionally an independent set aside differences and work to get results. the american public wants to make sure that we can still work together around here. without that, we continue to model our way through the economy. we provide some certainty. the postal service will be around. it will be around in a different size and different extent and form and fashion at a news to be. -- then in use today. when alan greenspan was chairman of the fed, he came to

senator carper. >> thanks for joining. senator lieberman and senator collins, senator brown and i have a conference in about five minutes on the postal service, so i am going to be very brief in fact i am going to pose a couple of questions and ask you to respond for the question. the question for mr. dunlap, i was intrigued by your discussion and images of the checkpoint of the future. the concept seems simple enough and that is risk-based screening driven by information that we already collect from the passengers. the use of advanced screening technology, separate lanes for different types of passengers. this kind of checkpoint i think could save travelers countless hours and ultimately increase the travel industry and the local economies. here is my question but given the financial challenge that we face as a nation, what would the checkpoint of the future likely cost taxpayers and where there are programs and technology is in place right now that can be seamlessly integrated into your vision so that's my question to re

dan carper, how is it that george wallace got 10 million votes and 46 electoral votes? >> all the states he won were in the deep south. to him, that was a disappointment. he had hoped to break into some of the border states. it was close in a number of them -- north carolina and virginia, and particularly tennessee. he was within striking distance. although he was disappointed, it was an extraordinary showing. no political third-party candidate since strom thurmond in 1948 had even carried enough votes in a state to take the electoral vote. he saw it as a strategy that did not succeed, but one that was sound, i think, in 1968. >> we want to get you involved in this program on "the contenders." 202-737-0001 for those in the east and the central time zone. 202-737-0002 for the mountain and pacific time zone. "the ceek on the contender ontenders" we talked about here humphrey and the vietnam war. can you talk about george wallace without talking about segregation? >> he was the first candidate, the first person, i should say, to testify in favor of a constitutional amendme

carper county charters are working hard to determine the cause of a deadly crossfire in the ball when area. it responded to greene avenue just after 7:45 p.m. last night where they found a man pronounced dead just minutes later. it took about two hours to get the fire under control. they believe the fire broke out in the living room but do not know yet what caused it. the labor department's october jobs report is out which means americans get the chance to learn how many new jobs were created last month. tracy potts is in washington with more on what this means for the sluggish economy. >> the unemployment rate dropped zero. & down to 9% with 80,000 new jobs, a balance of private sector jobs created and government jobs lost. there were big revisions in september, 50,000 more than first reported, but far short of what economists say is needed for a strong recovery. >> we need to double that if we're going to make a serious dent in the unemployment rate. >> at a job fair in tennessee, 5000 people lined up for 1500 jobs. the same story all across america. >> thousands of resonates for on

postal service i want to again thank senator collins and cementer carper for their leadership in this area and see how pleased i am and i know we all are that in the tradition of our committee we achieve a bipartisan agreement here. we are going to be battered from all sides when we go forward with this, but this really is a national problem. this is a national problem and we aren't going to solve it by putting partisan politics were being rigid about a particular remedy that each one of us have and that is the spirit that has propelled a were discussions to this point so i want to thank my colleagues for all that they've done and particularly want to thank all of the members of the respective staff who if you look at them carefully are suffering from sleep deprivation and other elements associated with being asked to do a lot of work in a short time. senator collins. >> thank you mr. chairman. first let me say how much i appreciate the hard work of german lieberman, cementer carper, cementer brown, that has brought us here today. it has taken a great deal of hard work but we have dev

senator carper. senator pryor.enator landrieu. >> no. >> no instruction. >> senator mccaskill. >> i am going to say no instruction. mitty will pass until we get clarity about the proxy's. -- maybe we will pass and we get clarity about the proxy'ies. >> senator tester? proxy is a no vote. ok. >> senator begich. >> no. >> senator collins. >> no. >> senator coburn. >> aye by proxy. >> senator brown. >> no. >> senator mccain. >> no by proxy. >> senator paul. >> aye. >> aye. >> senator lieberman. >> no. >> mr. chairman, on the both of those present -- vote of those present -- >> can i go back -- >> senator landrieu is yes by proxy. >> senator mccaskill. >> senator mccaskill is no by proxy. >> senator brown has just appeared. rather than his voting by proxy. >> senator brown, ok. mr. chairman, the yays are two, the nays are seven. on this vote, the yays are six, the nays are 10, and the amendment is not agreed to. >> thank you. senator pryor. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i think the senator wanted to be noted that she bas

carper: thank you, mr. president. i'm compelled to rise in opposition today to this resolution which would block the e.p.a.'s good neighbor clean air rule from being implemented. before i talk about the real-world impacts that would result if we block this new clean air rule, i'd like to go back in time 21 years ago when this body debated the last major update to the clean air act. that day we weren't debating how to weaken or delay our clean air laws. we were considering legislation, bipartisan legislation, that would improve our clean air laws and make them stronger. 89 senators approved the clean air act amendments of 1990. a republican president, george herbert walker bush, signed them into law. and we're all the better for it. i believe that we can protect our environment and grow our economy at the same time. it doesn't have to be one or the other. and the clean air act, clean air act amendments of 1990 are great examples of just that. for every dollar we spend installing new pollution controls and cleaning up o

senator carper mentioned the word of lunch break earlier and it has stuck with me. we want to keep it going. you have other amendments? >> i have no other amendments, mr. chairman. >> ok, thank you. senator levin, i believe, h passed, and we will go to senator akaka for an amendment. >> olike to offer akaka 5. it is an amendment on medicare. i would like to come back to workers' compensation oanother time, but not now. now i would like to turn to health care. >> ok. e crux my amendment is to strike the provisions -- >> my memo is to strike the provisions requiring workers to enroll in medicare parts "a" and "b" if they are eligible and replacing their current plan with a not yet negotiated plan. i understand the post office estimates it will save $15 billion from theserosions, but as far as i know, they have not provided anything to support that particular claim. opm, which is much more extensive health care experience, does not believe this will save. believes it will incur further cross. additionally, this will shift costs to the medicare program, which has seriou

it is my carper was today to open by introducing a eugene robinson. the active introducing him to an audience in washington is pro lee and exercise and redundancy. he is a big figure in this town, and for many it reasons. a longtime reporter and editor at the post. he now writes a column for the paper and website and the syndicated nationally. as you know, if you read him, he writes toughly and compassionately and has written on just about any and every subject you or i or anybody else might find interesting. he has also held just about every job post. @booktv as a reporter covering city hall, city editor, south america, london bureau chief, foreign editor, and assistant managing editor overseeing the style section before he began writing opinion columns in 2005. he won a pulitzer prize. today he is here because he is also an author. his latest book, "disintegration," is a fascinating exploration of the ever shifting sands and understanding of race in america. this train that he has covered powerfully before. in his book as south carolina native descr

carper: thank you. mr. president, last year, i was pleased to provide the other president, the president of the united states, with the names of three superbly qualified delawareans for him to consider for the one open seat on the u.s. district court in delaware. there are four seats on that court. any one of those three individuals would have made an excellent addition to our court, and all of them uphold the high regard to which that court is held, not only in delaware but across our country. i believe the president has made three -- has made a particularly strong choice in nominating for this vacancy richard g. andrews for this judicial appointment this past may. the senate judiciary committee used sound judgment in approving his nomination unanimously in september, and we're grateful for the expeditious handling and approval of this nomination unanimously. as i travel across delaware, i often hear from people who are convinced that the senate is overwhelmed by partisan tensions which really in too many

john mccain and carper i think are echoing a version over there, so it's bipartisan. we consulted with the attorneys who argued successfully against the earlier version in the supreme court. this is a constitutional version. i agree with that ruling you were talking about. what we think this does is it gets after the shenanigans played at the last minute when writing appropriation bills tucking a spending provision in there that nobody ever sees. this goes after those games, which both parties have been a party to. we banned earmarks, but that doesn't get at the heart of this issue, and we think this is a step in the right direction. >> what it does, andrea is makes it much harder for a member of congress to sort of quietly slip on a spending project that may not be in the national interests. >> right. >> and sneak it on by sticking it with everything else that is legitimate spending. it's kind of the christmas tree approach, where a lot of people may want to add their ornament. this says we're going to take an opportunity to have an up or down vote on the things that

yesterday, sinner carper was one of the first in the country to folk -- senator carper was one of the first to use this program in delaware to considerable success. the reason in number of lost our focus on trying to expand this is we're seeing some extraordinary successes. i want to describe one to you. we have seen an enormously successful tech startup in my home state called urban airship. you had some young guys that work in the technology field. they thought there were opportunities the consumers would want to make online purchases with smart phone applications. these were savvy software developers. instead of having the traditional maintenance to check for work, they could use the unemployment system as a trampoline to be able to, but new jobs, new industries. i have a picture of them. these are four young guys in their sneakers who know a lot about technology. is in this the kind of model that should be expanded significantly having seen these successes going back to the early 1990's? >> the answer is yes. the program does produce the duration of unemployment. it ends up substa

if 100,000 people take this retirement, we would save $8 billion. >> [inaudible] >> as senator carperd of our discussions with the postmaster general is that he would use $1.7 billion for the buyout program. the buyouts are tapped at 25,000 per employee. that is the highest amount which is comparable to the cap for federal employees' buyout programs. in some cases, it would be less. the option is also there to get service credits for people who are not quite at the number of years that they need. it would be one year under the civil service retirement system and under the federal employees retirement system. the postmaster general has told us that somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.7 billion of that money would be sufficient for the buyout program. the rest he said he would use to help pay down some of the $15 billion debt to the federal treasury. the postal service is at or near the ceiling for anbar when. -- for borrowing. it could be used for workman's comp and take care of litigants. it has lots of use. paying down debt is the priority after the buyout. >> let me add one thought

but i do want to thank senator carper for his leadership on this issue. we've looked at his bill and others and we're glad they have been able to come to an agreement between oche other. the issue of the postal service is one of the big issues that we need to deal with. i agree with you. i think that's something we can do now, and i thank him for the leadership. with that, mr. president, if it's okay, i'll yield back to my friend. the presiding officer: without objection, the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. and thank you to senator corker for very graciously beginning this discussion. i want to join in thank the very distinguished senator from delaware for all of his hard work and very successful and insightful work on a problem that really concerns all of us very, very deeply and immediately, and his leadership has really been an enormous contribution to the nation on this issue. and i'm pleased to be here today with senator corker to discuss a problem that is really spreading across the country. it is a public health

[applause] >> dan carper, the power of those words from 1963. >> pretty amazing. it really got him the first serious national attention. his aides worked very hard to make sure all the networks were there. it was the first stage in think took him out of a position of being a narrow, parochial, southern politician and put him on the national stage. that speech was written by asa carter, one of his unofficial aids who had been a klansman and became the writer of a number of best-selling novels under the name forrest carter. people to gather ideas from a lot of other people. it caught people's attention. >> danny in mississippi, you are on "the contenders." please go ahead with your question or comment. >> thank you. my question is as far-fetched as it might seem, but what if george wallace would have been elected president? i know there would have been compromise on both sides, but you think he would have been a good president? would the people have supported him? i will hang up and listen to what you gentlemen say. >> the only time that he even, i think, stood a ch

senators toomey and carper have a bill that would expand it by applying it to businesses other than bankss them. two other bipartisan house-passed bills give small businesses a new avenue to raise capital and small investors a new opportunity to invest in them. by allowing small businesses to raise money over the internet and through social media without having to shoulder the same kind of regulatory obstacles as big businesses. we all know that access to capital is one of the key ingredients to economic growth. here's a way to make it easier for folks to get the capital that also creates new avenues for the little guy to invest and to start hiring. senators thune and scott brown have companion bills here in the senate. why don't we take them up and pass them? this is the kind of approach we should be taking here in the senate. putting aside these great, big partisan bills that democrats know have bipartisan opposition and focusing on smaller proposals that can actually pass. on their own, these bills won't solve the jobs crisis. frankly, no piece of legislation can, large or small. but t

[applause] >> dan carper, the power of those words. from 1963. >> pretty amazing. it really got him the first serious national attention. his aides worked very hard to make sure all the networks were there. it was the first stage in think took him out of a position of being a narrow, parochial, southern politician and put him on the national stage. that speech was written by asa carter, one of his unofficial aids had been a klansman and became the writer of a number of best-selling novels under the name forrest carter. people to gather ideas from a lot of other people. it caught people's attention. >> danny in mississippi, you are on the contenders. please go ahead with your question or comment. >> thank you. my question is as far-fetched as it might seem, at what if george wallace would have been elected president? i know there would have been compromise on both sides, but you think he would have been a good president? would the people have supported him? i will hang up and listen to what you gentlemen say. >> the only time that he even, i think, stood a chance of

there's the private company flexibility and growth act, cosponsored by senators toomey and carper. let's pass it. there's the democratickization access to capital act sponsored by senator scott brown, a similar bill in the house passed with 407 votes, including 169 democrats. let's pass it. there's the access to capital for job creators act cosponsored by senator thune. it passed the house with 413 votes, including 175 democrats. let's pass it. and we shouldn't stop there. as i see it there's no reason we shouldn't take up ever one of these bipartisan bills that have already passed the house once we get back and pass them one by one. they all passed the house on a bipartisan basis. they'll help the private sector create jobs. there's no good reason we shouldn't take all these bills up and pass them right here in the senate. because if we can't pass jobs legislation that we all agree on, then what are we going to pass? this should be a lay-up. the republican house has done its job. it's time for the senate to act. let's do what the american people expect us to do. let's take up thes

carper money. -- corporate money.e're veering away from a democracy toward a plutocracy, where money -- you don't see it on c-span. i would like him to comment on the effect of money in politics. the gridlock in the senate. the senate cannot pass bills without 60 -- a super majority. we're now $15 trillion in debt and it is getting worse. we have the super committee. i think we have a problem in the senate, which is inaction. there's no debate in the senate anymore. host: you seem to indicate that inaction is a good thing. guest: there has been a problem of inaction in the senate. it has been an unwillingness to move major legislation. they have wanted things to begin in the house. the senate has not passed a budget. that is true. no budget has failed to get 60 votes. that is a conscious decision by the senate leadership. host: a question about campaign finance. guest: he talked about anonymous money. i think the solution to the money in politics problem would be a system of transparency. funding of all campaigns bein

and that is senators lieberman, collins, carper, and scott brown. these are the points that we made in our letter, and these are points that are going to be incorporated in legislation that i will be introducing this week, legislation that i think is commonsense legislation, legislation that will help us create a business model so that the postal service can be successful, legislation that will save 120,000 jobs. and this is what we wrote in the letter to the homeland security committee. first and foremost -- a lot of people don't know this. people say correctly postal service is having problems because we're in a digital age. first-class mail is going down because people are e-mailing. that's true. second of all, we're in the midst of a recession. many businesses are facing problems. but the most important financial problem facing the post office today are not those issues. they are the issues of accounting approaches which have done great disservice to the postal service. the united states postal service uniquely has been forced to prefund 75 year

. >> host: just to follow that up, marshall carper's tweet. i'm a young writer, published four books and am looking for a big break. what do i do, ben? >> guest: i mean, publishing four books is in itself phenomenal. i think the key is a story that translates well in a sentence. i think for me the key was that one sentence in bringing down the house, six mit kids who took vegas for millions. that was my subtitle. you want to know more. and the way television worked today, it's all a little sound bite. so if you can become that sound bite, next there's a book, you're going to have a big bestseller. but without that one sentence, you know, there's nothing to sell. and the movies work the same way. they've all got one sentence, you know? so you've got to come up with a story that can come down to one sentence that makes everyone want to read it. and even myself i still struggle with that. i'm like, i need that sentence. where's that snook so my advice to young writers is come up with a story that you can really write that you have a personal conn

bennet, bingaman, blumenthal, blunt, boozman, boxer, scott brown, sherrod brown, burns, cantwell, carper, casey, coast, conrad, coons, corker, crapo, durbin, enzi, feinstein, franken, gillibrand, grassley, hagan, harkin, heller, hoeven, inhofe, inouye, johanns, ron johnson, tim johnson, klobuchar, landrieu, lautenberg, lee, lug lugar, manchin, mccaskill, menendez, merkley, mikulski, moran, murray, ben nelson, pryor, risch, sanders, schumer, shaheen, snowe, stabenow, test tester, toomey, mark udall, vitter, warner, whitehouse, and wyden. and it's been called up. i ask consent to have it set aside so we can go on and continue with the pending matter. the presiding officer: without objection. without objection, the foregoing request from the senator from arizona is granted. mr. levin: well, reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: and i don't object because that is the way we should proceed, going back and forth. i just -- usually we do that informally and i don't know whether or not if the senator -- whether there may be implications becau

indeed, many of the functions the carper forms are under neither the command or the control of the department of defense. rather, for much of what the guard does, state governors are in command. and when the national guard does act in federal service, it does so as part of the reserves of the army or the air force. the chief of the national guard bureau does not command the national guard, acting in any of these three statices. rather, by federal statute, the chief of the national guard bureau acts as a principal adviser to the secretary of defense on all matters involving federalized national guard forces, and he also has the statutory duty to advise the secretaries and chief of staff of the army and air force on all national guard matters. our department of defense directive further explains the chief of the national guard bureau's authorities and responsibilities consistent guidance provided by congress. now, some legal background on the joint chiefs of staff. the joint chiefs of staff surf as the senior military advisers to the president, national security council, homeland security counc