i want to thank senator chambliss for his important work. tomorrow it will be even more important give than this agreement will pass tonight. mr. president, there is always another election around the corner, a big array of special interest groups that need to be satisfied, and a constant stream of public opinion polling that politicians live and die for. why take action that could offend a group today if you can put it off for a while? the agreement that will pass tonight, in my view, is a victory for the politics of procrastination. at a time when americans are swimming in debt, more water will be put into the pool. instead of taking steps to fix the market distorting, job-killing tax code, last overhauled a quarter century of ago when china and india were blimps in the global economy, this tonight will prop up our broken tax code. millions of americans are out of work, small businesses are closing their door, and instead of finding permanent solutions to the problem, the agreement is smiling like scarlet o'hara saying, "fiddle de-de. i'

and republican saxby chambliss of georgia, who opposes it. gentlemen, welcome. senator lieberman, is it basically a civil rights issue for you? >> it's a civil rights issue, but it's also a national security issue. i mean, it's a civil rights issue because we make a basic promise to this country that you're going to be judged not by who you are-- your race, your gender, religion, et cetera, or sexual orientation-- but how you do the job. and "don't ask, don't tell" has resulted in 14,000 people in our military being tossed out over the last 17 years, not because they were inadequate soldiers, not because they violated the military code of conduct, but simply because of their sexual orientation. that's wrong. and as a matter of civil rights, it ought to be changed. but i can tell you that if i felt that changing this policy would compromise our national security in any way, i wouldn't be for it. in fact, when you think about it tossing out 14,000 people willing to put their lives on the line to protect our security and freedom-- including a lot of people who have

and he said, let's not fool ourselves, and senator chambliss would appreciate this because he used a southern turn of frayed. he said, look, we're still the best-looking horse in the glue factory, that's the only way our interest rates and our bonds are still strong. so what do we do about that? well, there's a way forward. the bipartisan commission has put in front of us a plan that we don't -- none of us agree with every single item but it's a way forward. and it's important to also note that of the 11 votes, five of those votes i believe were senators from our body. five of our six senators who represented us on that commission voted to move forward. so that's the way forward, is for us to join together, democrats and republicans alike. and despite our differences of opinion on many other issues, we can agree i think on one thing and that's to developing fundamental tax reform and addressing in the process our long-term debt problems. now, like senator wyden, i'm going to vote "no" tonight. i think this is a misguided effort and we will add $900 billion to our debt load. but i res

chambliss: mr. president, i believe under the previous order, i have five minutes of senator mccain's time. i'd like to take a minute to speak on this issue of repeal of don't ask, don't tell. i want to start by talking about the process. here we are once again at the end of the year, the last week, just a few days, in this case, one week before christmas, dealing with a very sensitive, a very emotional issue that is of critical importance to our men and women in the military as well as every other american, but most significantly those men and women who are willing to put their life in harm's way to protect america and protect americans, and they do such a good job of that. what we've seen here is we've seen the house take up a bill, pass a bill, and it comes to the senate direct to the floor, and no opportunity for amendments, limited opportunity for debate, which we'll have today, and then we're going to vote on this. i see the assistant majority leader is here, and i want to just say that as we

chambliss: madam president -- mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed en bloc to executive calendar 885, 886, 917, 9 35rbgs the knocks be confirms -- the nominations be confirmed en bloc, any statements related to the nominations appear at the appropriate place in the record as if read and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. chambliss: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: i want to speak for a few minutes about the start treaty. before i do, there is another issue that's been debated on this floor and that we'll continue debate on the over the next several days. that is the issue of funding of the federal government. there is an omnibus bill that has been laid out there now that is something that the process that happens here from time to time that is simply not the way that business ought to be done in this body. and as we move into the debate on the omnibu

i yield to senator chambliss. mr. chambliss: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia is recognized. mr. chambliss: mr. president, i rise to support the amendments offered by my good friend from oklahoma. you know, america is today at a crossroads and it's a crossroads where we have the opportunity as policy-makers to go in the direction that the people of america said we should go in on november 2, where we have the opportunity to go down the road of continuing to spend money by this body and the body across the capitol without paying for the money we're spending. these amendments are pretty simple, they're pretty straightforward. and what they say is, you know, we as policy-makers have an obligation to listen to the people that sent us here, listen to the people who said, by golly, we don't like the way you're running the financial resources that we send to washington. and here we are, the minority leader, senator mcconnell, just sat down from saying and talking about an omnibus bill that goes in the wrong direction, a

chambliss. mr. webb. >> thank you. let me begin by saying that i think we have an enormous amount of valuable material in this report. we can talk about what the response rate was, what it could have been, whether you could have set people down and made every person in the military fill out of form. we have 160,000 responses here in -- and it's given us the capability of really examining this issue and discussing it, a lot of it is in the manner that we've discussed it already this morning. i hope that on any side of this issue and i think they are really valid concerns, people will take a look at the in depth and read some of the numbers. question have a tendency to cherry pick one item or another out of the survey. i said again yesterday i want to repeat today that this is a valuable piece of work. so that we can evaluate this issue in a proper way. and i have tremendous regard, particularly for general ham. when you think about the jigty that he brought to this process, as he said yesterday, he didn't exactly seek t

chambliss: mr. president, i rise today in support of the risch amendment and the distinguished senator from massachusetts just helped make the case as to why this amendment is so important. i -- in every hearing we've had in armed services and intelligence, every conversation i've had either in person, by telephone with every administration official, everyone who's in support of this, i raised the issue not of what's in the treaty as being the most signifint thing in my mind, but the issue of what's not in there and that's the issue of tactical weapons. i hear what the senator's saying. and what you reinforce to me is th we've been talking to the russians about tactical weapons for over two decades and we have not yet been able to get them to sit down at the table with us. and if we get them now, when? i understand what theresident said that he's going to make a real effort to get them to the table, but we -- you get them to the tle when you have leverage. the russians want this treaty. they want th

i want to thank senator chambliss for his important work. tomorrow it will be even more important give than this agreement will pass tonight. mr. president, there is always another election around the corner, a big array of special interest groups that need to be satisfied, and a constant stream of public opinion polling that politicians live and die for. why take action that could offend a group today if you can put it off for a while? the agreement that will pass tonight, in my view, is a victory for the politics of procrastination. at a time when americans are swimming in debt, more water will be put into the pool. instead of taking steps to fix the market distorting, job-killing tax code, last overhauled a quarter century of ago when china and india were blimps in the global economy, this tonight will prop up our broken tax code. millions of americans are out of work, small businesses are closing their door, and instead of finding permanent solutions to the problem, the agreement is smiling like scarlet o'hara saying, "fiddle de-de. i'

chambliss. mr. webb. >> thank you. let me begin by saying that i think we have an enormous amount of valuable material in this report. we can talk about what the response rate was, what it could have been, whether you could have set people down and made every person in the military fill out of form. we have 160,000 responses here in -- and it's given us the capability of really examining this issue and discussing it, a lot of it is in the manner that we've discussed it already this morning. i hope that on any side of this issue and i think they are really valid concerns, people will take a look at the in depth and read some of the numbers. question have a tendency to cherry pick one item or another out of the survey. i said again yesterday i want to repeat today that this is a valuable piece of work. so that we can evaluate this issue in a proper way. and i have tremendous regard, particularly for general ham. when you think about the jigty that he brought to this process, as he said yesterday, he didn't exactly seek t

today senator saxby chambliss of georgia raised that same concern. by his reading of the pentagon report, more than a quarter million troops might up and leave if don't ask don't tell is lifted. >> what if it does happen? what if those 265,000 resign from the military over the next short period of time? what are you going to do? >> if i believe that a quarter of a million people would leave the military immediately, if given the opportunity, i would certainly have second thoughts about this. but i don't believe that. >> secretary gates on the idea of mass depart tours. there's also the question of why now? why war time. should we be tinkering with don't ask don't tell? republican senator collins handled that one. >> admiral mullen, the second objection that we hear over and over and over is that we cannot implement this kind of change in the midst of a war. and i thought you made an excellent point that the opposite may be true, that war time facilitates change in some ways. and in fact, wasn't president truman's 1948 order to integrate our forces ac

president, i think senator risch is correct and senator chambliss is correct to make the point that tactical nuclear weapons are more available for theft and to transship than stle-- than strategic nuclear weapons and it is a high policy of the united states to reduce the risk of terrorists obtaining weapons of this kind, and this treaty does nothing about that. it does nothing about tactical nuclear weapons, which the russians care about; it is a big part apparently of their defense strategy. and they gave not one wit on it. and whereas our president, who says he wants to move towards zero nuclear weapons in the world, a fan taft cal view -- a fantastical view really, one which endangers our world, creates instability around the world and would he create more national security risk -- did not negotiate this in any effective way. i think that was a failure of the treaty, a failure of negotiations, another example of the fact that we wanted the treaty too badly for what i guess is primarily public relations matters rather than substantive matters. that's just the way i see t and so the russia

i certainly think it's a glimmer of hope that senator werner, senator chambliss and significant senatorsth political parties will keep pushing in 2011, but we'll have our work cut out for us. >> you won't have to answer to this vote fot a the ballot box for another six years. you may be hoping that it's a forgotten vote by then. because when you go back to oregon after this vote, you are going to have to answer people who will be saying to you why did you vote against an extension of unemployment benefits? why did you vote for a tax increase for every tax bracket? >> larry, first of all, i campaigned on exactly the program i'm outlining tonight, and that i pushed forward with the president of the united states. i told everybody in this past fall election campaign when i was re-elected, i said what i wanted to see was a short term extension of the bush tax cuts, then finally end this culture of delay and procrastination in 2011. this town will never do anything because there's always an election coming up, special interest groups that have to be satisfied and polls, unless you have deadli

introduced by senator chambliss of georgia, senate 3592 passed the senate unanimously yesterday, december 16, 2010. the first lieutenant robert wilson collins was assigned to the second brigade combat team out of georgia. a class of 2008 graduate of west point, he deployed in support of operation iraqi freedom in the fall of 2009 and served as a platoon leader while they provided support for the elections in iraq. in keeping them connected to family and friends at home, he made a facebook page allowing them to share photos and messages to loved ones. sadly, he was killed when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an introadviced explosive device. he was 24 years of age. lieutenant collins is survived by his parents, retired lieutenant collins and his mother and girlfriend of eight years. mr. speaker, let us pay tribute to the life of linet robert collins by designating this post office building in his hometown. i ask my colleagues to join me in supporting senate bill 3592. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves his time. the gentleman

chambliss: mr. president, i rise today in support of the risch amendment and the distinguished senator from massachusetts just helped make the case as to why this amendment is so important. i -- in every hearing we've had in armed services and intelligence, every conversation i've had either in person, by telephone with every administration official, everyone who's in support of this, i raised the issue not of what's in the treaty as being the most significant thing in my mind, but the issue of what's not in there and that's the issue of tactical weapons. i hear what the senator's saying. and what you reinforce to me is that we've been talking to the russians about tactical weapons for over two decades and we have not yet been able to get them to sit down at the table with us. and if we get them now, when? i understand what the president said that he's going to make a real effort to get them to the table, but we -- you get them to the table when you have leverage. the russians want this treaty. they

, harry reid, mike mcconnell, the ranking republican helped smooth passage of this bill, senator chambliss who was the lead republican, represented this warrior, cliburn, and mccarthy all played important roles. we're very grateful to them. give them a big round of applause [applause] it is worth noting that this bill passed with bipartisan support in both houses of congress. that has not happened as often as we look like all but the last couple of years, but it says something about our politics. it reminds us that no wonder -- no matter what people may hear about how divided things are in washington, wheat and still come together and agree on issues that matter for our children's future and our future as a nation, and that is what today is all about. at a very basic level this act is about doing what is right for our children. right now across the country too many kids do not have access to school meals. often the food is not as healthy or nutritious as it should be. that is part of the reason why one in three children today in america are either overweight or obese. we are seeing this pr

chambliss. mr. webb. >> thank you. let me begin by saying that i think we have an enormous amount of valuable material in this report. we can talk about what the response rate was, what it could have been, whether you could have set people down and made every person in the military fill out of form. we have 160,000 responses here in -- and it's given us the capability of really examining this issue and discussing it, a lot of it is in the manner that we've discussed it already this morning. i hope that on any side of this issue and i think they are really valid concerns, people will take a look at the in depth and read some of the numbers. question have a tendency to cherry pick one item or another out of the survey. i said again yesterday i want to repeat today that this is a valuable piece of work. so that we can evaluate this issue in a proper way. and i have tremendous regard, particularly for general ham. when you think about the jigty that he brought to this process, as he said yesterday, he didn't exactly seek t

i'm proud that are senator chambliss and senator inhofe have joined me on this amendment.who can be -- could be against having the russians and the united states sit down within a year's time of negotiations and begin the negotiation on tacticals? who would be against that? you will hear from my friends on the other side who are defending this treaty and voting down all of the amendments offered on this side of the aisle that we can't amend the treaty because if we amend the treaty it's a poison bill. the russians will not accept it. if that is true, then we're not really fulfilling much of a function here, are we. under the constitution there are some special privileges that imbued to the senate. one of them is the treaty privilege, the treaty power. where all treaties must be confirmed by the senate on a two-thirds vote. now, if we can't amend it, all we're doing is either saying yes or no. to me, that limits our ability. and if my friends on the other side think this is a poison pill, i ask them to look at language. i'm just putting in the treaty if they would accept th

senator chambliss, the lead republican.epublicans hoyer, clyburn, and mccarthy all played important roles, and so we're very grateful to them. give them a big round of applause. it is worth noting that this bill passed with bipartisan support in both houses of congress. that has happened as often as we would like over the last couple of years, but i think it says something about our politics. it reminds us that no matter what people may hear about how divided things are in washington, we can still come together and agree on issues that matter for our children's future and for our future as a nation. and that is really what today is all about. at a very basic level, this act is about doing what is right for our children. right now all across this country, too many kids do not have access to school meals. often the food that is being offered is not as healthy or as nutritious as it should be. that is part of the reason why one in three children in america today are either overweight or obese. and we're seeing this problem in

in "the financial times," senator saxby chambliss and mark warner -- and senator mark warner are attempting to rally congress to a difficult, bipartisan consensus to tackle the long-term debt problem in the u.s. it could add pressure on to obama to come up with his own solution before the state of the union address. they are teaming up on the deficit. front-page of "de washington times," fcc set to ok rules on the internet. the gop opposes the neutrality plan. increasing government oversight of the internet -- it is difficult to tell who objects more, republicans who denounced the move, or democrats who dismiss the reform as too weak to do the job. that is what the fcc will be taking up today. how do you think the senate should vote on the start treaty? caller: i think the senate should but the whole doggone thing -- put the whole doggone thing on hold and take more time to look at the issues. i am a registered republican, but i am not happy with either side of the calling -- coin. track our representatives' records and the decisions they have made which have led us into this financial mess

senator chambliss, the lead republican., clyburn, and mccarthy all played important roles, and so we're very grateful to them. give them a big round of applause. it is worth noting that this bill passed with bipartisan support in both houses of congress. that has happened as often as we would like over the last couple of years, but i think it says something about our politics. it reminds us that no matter what people may hear about how divided things are in washington, we can still come together and agree on issues that matter for our children's future and for our future as a nation. and that is really what today is all about. at a very basic level, this act is about doing what is right for our children. right now all across this country, too many kids do not have access to school meals. often the food that is being offered is not as healthy or as nutritious as it should be. that is part of the reason why one in three children in america today are either overweight or obese. and we're seeing this problem in every part of th

chambliss: mr. president, i believe under the previous order, i have five minutes of senator mccain's time. i'd like to take a minute to speak on this issue of repeal of don't ask, don't tell. i want to start by talking about the process. here we are once again at the end of the year, the last week, just a few days, in this case, one week before christmas, dealing with a very sensitive, a very emotional issue that is of critical importance to our men and women in the military as well as every other american, but most significantly those men and women who are willing to put their life in harm's way to protect america and protect americans, and they do such a good job of that. what we've seen here is we've seen the house take up a bill, pass a bill, and it comes to the senate direct to the floor, and no opportunity for amendments, limited opportunity for debate, which we'll have today, and then we're going to vote on this. i see the assistant majority leader is here, and i want to justay that as we mo

hope we'll build on the conversation that i heard earlier this week with senator warner, senator chambliss -- a group of nearly 20 senators on both sides of the aisle committed themselves to work on the debt commission. i hope that we can in the proliferations committee start out -- in the appropriation committee to work on a ceiling and work together, a continuing resolution for a year is a lousy way to run a government. it wastes men because you -- money because you end up funding things that should be cut and -- and not funding things that need increases. so i -- i think this was the right result for the american people of the choices we had tonight, but there could be a better choice. towers responsibility to -- it's our responsibility to see next year if we can offer ourselves and therefore the american people that choice. i thank the president and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator -- the junior senator from tennessee. mr. corker: i say to the senator from illinois, leaving again, i thank the senior senator from tennessee who is always doing and saying the right th

>> i would just observe that i believe senator chambliss is correct.isimpression that there is a groundswell of support for this. i want to talk a little bit about how hard our military men and women work to prepare for combat, how many hours they work, how many hours they work during the combat time. any day that adds to that can be a difficult thing. i would observe that the army, marines, and air force chiefs of staff have all question of this change. that represents 75% of the men and women serving our country today. on the question about our cost, that is something we should look at a little more along with other factors that go into that. gerald schwartz -- generals schwartz, there was an explosion of competitive data in the air force tanker competition. i accept that you have taken immediate action. you have a plan for that. someone has complained about this. i want to give you an opportunity to say whether congress can have integrity in this procurement process as it goes forward. >> a couple of weeks ago, we had an inadvertent disclosure had a