durbin:. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the concurrent resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the veterans' affairs committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 4360 and the senate proceed to its immediate considerati. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 4360 an act to designate the department of veterans affairs line habilition center in long beach, california, and so forth. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent -- the presiding officer: if not, the with the is discharged -- the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or debate and any statements in relation to the bill be placed in the record a

dick durbin from illinois. i know it's a busy day. i hope you heard a little bit of what dana and gloria were saying as you hooked up there. the expectation is if you talk to senator dodd and his staff, senator shelby and his staff, when the democrats and the republicans spend a few days in a room, they'll come up with the language. if that's the case and they're optimistic you can get 60, maybe 70 votes for this in three days or a week, why keep having these votes? >> i tell you why, because we face so many filibusters from the republican side. you know, chris dodd made a good faith effort. he sat down with the ranking republican dick shelby of alabama. they spent two months. he then said i'll work with bob corker, another republican on the committee. they spent a month. then dodd said, let's all come together in the room, democrats and republicans and discussion our differences, consider amendments. the republicans brought in 400 amendments that markup didn't offer a single one of them. so we believe that we have to make things righ

. >>> and coming up, politico's alex burns on why dick durbin is asking the white house for help. >>>nd americans dial the three candidates vying to be prime minister in great britain, held their second debate last night. >> david, you're a risk to the economy. nick's a risk to our security. >> i just think they're trying to frighten me, the other parties, because they don't want britain to stand up for itself in europe. ♪ ♪ [ bell rings ] ♪ [ male announcer ] at&t. the nation's fastest 3g network. this mother's day, get 50% off all messaging phones after mail-in rebate, like the pantech reveal, only from at&t. i'm ed whitacre, from general motors. a lot of americans didn't agree with giving gm a second chance. quite frankly, i can respect that. we want to make this a company all americans can be proud of again. that's why i'm here to announce we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule. but there's still more to do. our goal is to exceed every expectation you've set for us. we're putting people back to work, designing, buildin

dick durbin's a little more of an operator behind the scenes. good relationships with his colleagues and both have attributes that are appealing. >> and jim, just finally, does durbin have at least an inside track because of his closeness with the white house and president obama or is it really the kind of secret poll among democrats and it really is a popularity contest? >> it really is a popularity contest. the question for schumer, he raises a lot of money, but his ambition is so obvious that some find it off-putting. the truth is, and you've covered a lot of these leadership races, you never really know until the votes are cast behind closed doors because there are so many trade-offs and calculations that individual senators are making. >> that's why we love it so much. thank you so much. chris dodd lost by one vote. and coming up, is the senate any closer to a deal on wall street reform? just hours from now, another test vote on whether to permit debate. plus, homeland security secretary, janet napolitano, joining us right here with her rea

here's what dick durbin had to say on this subject. >> timing was perfect we are about to take up regulatory reform bill banks are saying this is unnecessary we have everything worked out. now we find out the securities and exchange commission has charged goldman sachs one of the biggest with involvement in some trading that really turns out to be very suspicious. >> sean: the sec vigorously denying the case is related to the administration's political plans in the voting process that determines whether the commission could pursue the case votes were cast down party lines. final vote 3-2, two republicans against, two democrats for. one independent appointed by the president casting the tie breaking vote. the president is gearing up to deliver a big speech to wall streeters thursday to pitch his regulatory reform. there's some irony to that he took nearly a million dollars, 994,000 to be exact, from goldman sachs during his campaign. so now that his administration has made an enemy of the banking giant, is he going to you return the money? joining me with reaction from the fox business networ

durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois is recognized. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consentheene proceed to the immediate consideration of senate resolution of 497 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 479, expressing sip by that for the peep -- sympathy for the people of p oland in after the devastating plane crash that killed the president, first lady and other civic leaders on april 10, 2010. the presiding officer: without objection, senate will proceed to the measure. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to the preamble be agreed to the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or debate and any statements related to the resolution be placed in the record in the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: mr. president, i also want to join sena

durbin would be more continuity. >> aren't durbin and schumer roommates? >> they are.nd literal room, they sleep in the same room. different couches. >> what? >> you know who else lives in there. >> who? >> della. a bad place. >> a bad reality show. >> it is. it's a little gross. i'm not going to lie. >> thanks, mike. talk to you in a couple hours. >>> next, president obama welcomes the yankees to the white house and then takes a swipe at the chicago cubs. just a complete cheap shot at the poor cubs. >> yeah. and this from a guy who can't even throw the ball like a man. >> that's a good point. >>> and later, senator claire mccaskill, reverend al sharpton and kerry kennedy. reminder, you can listen to "morning snow" on satellite radio. i'm ed whitacre, from general motors. a lot of americans didn't agree with giving gm a second chance. quite frankly, i can respect that. we want to make this a company all americans can be proud of again. that's why i'm here to announce we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule.

durbin: mr.president, i know that several of my colleagues -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i'd ask consent to speak for ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you very much. i thank the chairman of the finance committee. mr. president, this is the executive calendar. it contains the names of the nominations that the president of the united states sent to the senate for confirmation. it's an orderly process, an historic process. it's happened thousands and thousands and thousands of times. very few times do we have a lot of controversy associated with these names. and if there is a controversy, ultimately there's a vote. a debate and then a vote. but now there is a new approach being used by the minority side, and that approach is to basically use one of three options: stall, stop, and kill. what they're trying to do for the 104 nominations sent by president obama is to hold them on the calendar as long as possible so that it's difficult f

senator dick durbin has been subpoenaed to testify at rod blagojevich's corruption trial.he former illinois governor is accused of trying to sell president obama's senate seat after the 2008 election. durbin says he talked to blagojevich on the phone that november about possible replacements. blagojevich's lawyers are also asking a federal judge to subpoena president obama. the corruption trial is set for june. >>> the star witness testified today in a high profile hacking case. sarah palin took the stand in knoxville, tennessee. fox 5's jonathan seery has palin's creax to the crime that made her -- reaction to the crime that made her family's life public. >>it's not right. it's not legal. it's not fair or decent. >> reporter: former alaska governor sarah palin rails against the former college student accused of hacking into her e-mail. palin told the court that while campaignings a the republican vice presidential nominee, she found out her personal information had been stolen. >> access and communication is so extremely important when you're thousands of miles away from

senator durbin has considered legislation, but there has been very little support for such legislation to ensure the safety of the gmo's. the industry does not want it, because it fears it will trigger the need for more expensive testing. i think genetic engineering can provide tremendous benefits in terms of reduced pesticide use, drought resistance and improved nutritional values. we need to take advantage of this technology. at the same time, we need to guard against risks such as cancer or dive believe that these may conjure up. labeling is a very crude instrument. if food has to be labeled, nobody would buy them especially regarding gmo's. we do not have the educated public that we would like. i think we need to ensure consumers that genetically engineered foods are safe. and then eat them. we need greater legislation to give the fda that authority. guest: democrats line, san mateo, california. host-- host: democrats line, san mateo, california. caller: i think the testing may be adequate, but the time span is not long enough. my question is there is a lot of labeling on the produ

durbin: mr. president, in about one hour the senate will convene for a vote. it's one of the few times this week that the senate comes together. those who are following our proceedings will see senators from all over the united states gather on the floor of the united states senate. that gathering will be for a critical vote as to whether the republican filibuster on wall street reform will continue or end. this will be the third time this week we have given the republicans an opportunity to join us in a bipartisan effort to bring real reform to wall street and the big banks on wall street. twice now we have failed to get a single republican who will stand up and vote with us for wall street reform. i don't understand it. certainly they understand what we've been through as a nation with this recession. they realize that some $16 trillion of value has been yanked out of our economy, yanked out of savings accounts and 401(k)s and out of business ledgers. they know what's happened as these businesses have failed and millions of americans are out of work. and the

senator durbin. >> mr. attorney general, thank you.in response to senator grassley's remark, i want to thank you. i think it was a courageous position you have taken and they ripen. history tells us it was a supreme court that ruled that guantÁnamo detainees have a right to file petition under habeas corpus. is the bush administration that said they had the right to counsel and the argument being made from the other side of the aisle and their inspiration and fox news is if anybody decides to represent a guantÁnamo detainee they disqualify themselves from future government service because they can't be trusted. you know if that is the premise of our system of justice, that legal representation or possible inclinations toward one party over another disqualify you,, where does the event? does it end with prosecutors who fail to prosecute? does it end with judges who may rule in favor of a defendant? i think you are standing up for a very fundamental principle and rule of law here that does go back to john adams in the early days of this

[applause] senator dick durbin and congressman steny hoyer all provided outstanding leadership that our nation needed -- needed. [applause] on health care, max baucus, chris dodd, henry waxman, and charlie rangel and so many others offer expertise throughout the year. congressman george miller, jim cliburn, ruben hinojosa lead the house . senator tom harkin's dedication

joining us now, senator dick durbin, democrat from illinois. senator, your reaction to the president's speech? >> i think the president really hit the high points of what we're trying to achieve with wall street reform. the notion of too big to fail left the taxpayers holding the bag when financialists constitutions made some of the worst decisions in their history and almost cratered our economy. secondly the issue of transparency, more openness, open-market trading, so we can understand what's going on in these transactions. and finally, the strongest consumer financial protection law in the history of the united states. these are all desperately needed. >> the bill in its current form gives the federal reserve more power and has the ratings agencies still under the employment of the bank as opposed to working for the bond investors, the pension managers, those who actually represent our teachers, our police and our firemen. so much of this happened because of the misrepresentation or the misunderstanding of the value of the things being sold

senator durbin on this program last night renewed his call. new york senator chuck schumer wants it. that's very odd coming from a new york senator because it's going to be very damaging to banks. then you've got this announcement too. from the senate budget committee, mr. pence. apparently, they are not going to advance an inflation allowance for the alternative minimum tax. so you can have 100 million people -- i'm sorry. 30 million people may be hit with a higher alternative minimum tax after next year. the death tax, the inheritance tax is going up. the bank tax is back on the table. and a european franco-german value added tax looks to be on the table. your speech down in new orleans -- i heard it on c-span driving to the weekend place a couple of weeks ago. it's one of the best things i've heard in a long time. where are the constitutional limits? where is the tea party contract with america? where are the spending cuts, mr. pence? it seems like, after all the demonstrations across the country last week, it's all gone, and we're just bac

senator durbin? >> mr. attorney general, thank you. response to senator grassley's inquiry, and i respect the senator from iowa very much. i want to think you. i think was a courageous position to take and the right would. history tells us it was the supreme court ruled that the guantÁnamo detainees have the right to file petitions of habeas corpus that it was the bush administration which said they had the right to counsel. and the argument being made from the other side of the aisle and their inspiration and fox news is that if anybody decides to represent a guantÁnamo detainee they disqualify themselves from future government service because they can't be trusted. you know, if that is the premise of our system of justice, that legal representation or possible inclinations towards one party over another, this call for you, where does it and? does it end with prosecutors to who fail to prosecute? so then judges who may rule in favor of a defendant? i think you are standing up a very fundamental principle and rule of law here that does

senator durbin. >> mr. attorney general, thank you.in response to senator grassley's remark, i want to thank you. i think it was a courageous position you have taken and they ripen. history tells us it was a supreme court that ruled that guantÁnamo detainees have a right to file petition under habeas corpus. is the bush administration that said they had the right to counsel and the argument being made from the other side of the aisle and their inspiration and fox news is if anybody decides to represent a guantÁnamo detainee they disqualify themselves from future government service because they can't be trusted. you know if that is the premise of our system of justice, that legal representation or possible inclinations toward one party over another disqualify you,, where does the event? does it end with prosecutors who fail to prosecute? does it end with judges who may rule in favor of a defendant? i think you are standing up for a very fundamental principle and rule of law here that does go back to john adams in the early days of this

durbin said clean coal is the fight of his life here and i just can understand it.i just thought, you know, there's a great person from the soviet union said coming up, the roadside dogs bark or the caravan moves on. and i just thought, this coal is the roadside dogs in the green caravan is moving on. we know this is the future, but this kind of talk about coal on the weather's just a bruise or not blindsides any kind of progress it has were putting billions of dollars in tuition ultimately it's not stopping either.yeah? >> i spent a good deal of time a long time ago on the issue of nuclear power we were working out in the west where there was uranium reserves on the navajo reservation, which a lot of coal as well. and now, there are people who are sane well, nuclear power in people i respect sandefur not going to block mountains, we're going to have nuclear power. and so i think that then we tried to not think about that alternative and now nuclear power seems to be on many peoples minds, the greener option until we get windmills on the landscape. and i'd rather ac

durbin: mr. president, regular order. i believe there is a knack -- there is a unanimous consent request. mrs. mccaskill: let me explain how this list was compiled. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri has made a unanimous consent request. is there objection to that request? mr. kyl: i would be happy to object to that. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mrs. mccaskill: by the way, just for the senator from arizona's edification, there is one of these nominees on here that i believe is being secretly held by a democrat. by the way, i want to point out that the rule that does try to bring transparency to this process was one that was sponsored by senator wyden and senator grassley in a bipartisan way. the wyden-grassley effort that spanned a number of years was a bipartisan attempt to change and reform the way the senate worked to provide more transparency. so this is really about transparency and this is about secret holds, and my criticism for secret holds is a bipartisan criticism. i don't think anybo

durbin: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.quorum call: mr. burris: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. burris: thank you, madam president. i would make a motion that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. burris: thank you, madam president. we just witnessed a few moments ago the third try to try to do something about financial reform legislation in this body. and for the third time, it went down. you know, madam president, i'm an old baseball player. i played a lot of baseball in my young days, and there's a rule in baseball that says three strikes and you're out. we're at three tries at this financial reform and i will tell the distinguished colleagues on the other side of the aisle, we're not out, that we're just beginning to fight under the circumstances we're confronted because we're fighting on behalf of the american people. earlier this week, our distinguished majority leader called for a vote to open the debate on major financial reform and we've s

i know -- i apologize to senator durbin. i know he wanted to come and join us as well and the timing changed so that he was unable to attend. but i thank him for his cosponsorship of this amendment. and i also want to thank the distinguished chairman of the armed services committee, senator levin, for cosponsoring it t i am truly honored by their support, and the diswd senator from illinois -- and the distinguished senator from illinois, senator burris, tells me that he wishes to cosponsor as well. i am grateful to him and i thank him. he is a former banker so he understands these issues very, very well. i'm very gratified by his support. the last thing that i want to say before i close on this subject is that the system by which credit card companies get consumers into these high interest rate predicaments is no accident. it is a system, and it's been carefully designed by the credit card companies, beginning with the way they write the agreement. when credit cardigan, the credit card agreement was two or three pages long.

durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: ask consent the quor cal be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, again today for the second day in a row, we have failed to break the republican filibuster on the wall street reform bill. the votes are very clear, with one or two democrats who are -- one who is opposed to breaking the filibuster and the other absent, there was not a single vote in support of moving to the debate on the wall street reform bill. tomorrow there will be another opportunity, and it appears that the other side, the republican side of the aisle, has decided that they don't want to debate this issue. the senate is -- as an institution is designed to give people a chance to express themselves, beth by votes and amendments that they might off offer, and that is what we've offered. it's interesting to me, this bill, which is before, the financial stability act -- just to check on how many pages. we

durbin: let me go to my blazing close. let me just say at the end of the day, currently, lobbyists are being paid $120,000 a day by wall street to stop this bill. so far, they have the republicans on their side and they have been successful. in an hour, i hope that all changes. let them join us in a bipartisan effort to make this economy stronger, make the rules work for average people, and to put some protection in there for the consumers of america, and i yield the floor. mr. dodd: madam president, i am told there are others that want to be heard. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. dodd: madam president, so i would just at this juncture ask for -- i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. dodd: i'd note the absence of a quorum. and i see the presence of my friend and colleague from oregon, and -- i ask consent that the rescinde. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. d

there are other democrats, the senate minority whip dick durbin among them, not happy about the way thethink it needs to be tougher on wall street, better for consumers. for as far as being bipartisan, if republicans want to stand up for all streets, we will stand up for consumers, they say. either we will get a better bill or we will have a fight in the elections in november. >> there's so much frustration against wall street, so we dare you to stand up against this this time, they are saying. >> some democrats -- wall street bailout was really unpopular. a lot of democrats say it they're looking for a way to bolster their tough on wall street credentials. >> alan greenspan is testifying before a commission investigating the crash. he said the government bears much of the responsibility for pushing all street to make the sub-prime loans, which led to the toppling of the housing market. >> that's right. his testimony was somewhat controversial. if the city was 70% right hand 30% all. he says that's a pretty good average. other people say it's like driving a 70% without a crash and 30% b

senator durbin. >> mr. attorney general, thank you.in response to senator grassley's remark, i want to thank you. i think it was a courageous position you have taken and they ripen. history tells us it was a supreme court that ruled that guantÁnamo detainees have a right to file petition under habeas corpus. is the bush administration that said they had the right to counsel and the argument being made from the other side of the aisle and their inspiration and fox news is if anybody decides to represent a guantÁnamo detainee they disqualify themselves from future government service because they can't be trusted. you know if that is the premise of our system of justice, that legal representation or possible inclinations toward one party over another disqualify you,, where does the event? does it end with prosecutors who fail to prosecute? does it end with judges who may rule in favor of a defendant? i think you are standing up for a very fundamental principle and rule of law here that does go back to john adams in the early days of this

. >>> tomorrow we visit with dick durbin, the number two democrat in the senate joining us with his thoughts on the battle for financial reform and the midterm elections. coming up next this evening, just days after being charged with fraud by the s.e.c. goldman sachs reported huge first quarter profits. on the other hand, their stock dropped another 2%. michelle cabrera has the details. >>> and later on, should synthetic cdos be banned? we'll talk to david goldman and peter morici. there is a debate. you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. >>> all right. fresh off s.e.c. fraud charges, goldman sachs reported huge first quarter earnings today. cnbc's michelle cabrera joins us. hello. >> three and a half billion dollars they made in profits, much better than a year ago. nearly double what they made a year ago. look at the numbers. turned out to be 5.59 per share, much better than expected. there's the chart. what the stock did today. we'll explain why it was down toward the end here. once again, the first thing we wanted to show you were the actual earnings which were much better t

durbin said timing couldn't be per in terms of passing legislation and using goldman sachs as an examplemerican people about why they need to pass this reform quickly. do you see a pattern in terms of the fear mongering that the president uses to pass justç about every piece of legislation he has? >> of course. that is an ideological tool straight inspired from playbook rules for radicals to create constant crises to create this momentum for reform that is is going to cause more harm, do more harm than good if you look at the fineprint of this so-called reform, what it would do is institutionalize and make permanent fi%ancial bailouts. which i think is the perfect swan song for corrupt-o-crat chris dodd. >> sean: he took a million dollars in donations, harry reid took money, rahm emanuel took money. then craig representing geld man sakses. dick gephardt lobbies for goldman sachs, tom daschle represents companies on wall street. eric holder onceç represented and lobbied for global crossing. how do they make the case they are against cronyism when almost every member is involved in some

and i think that's why politifact referred to senator durbin's assertion as false, as an independent analysis, and why independent observers have also rejected that. look, it's a serious day in the life of the nation. the truth is the american people are hurting. this government is running about a $1.3 trillion deficit. we ought to get serious about fiscal discipline in washington, d.c., and we ought to get real about giving the american people across the board tax relief. only cutting taxes across the board, like john f. kennedy did, like ronald reagan did, like george w. bush did after the towers fell, only by cutting taxing across the board for working families, small businesses and family farms can we hope to ignite the entrepreneurial energy of this country to lift americans and to create jobs once again. so i appreciate the time the gentlelady has yielded. it's important to set the record straight and the american people deserve to know on tax day that this administration and this congress have increased taxes by $670 billion and counting. because in just a few months after con

. >> let's listen to a little bit of the political argument, first you have dick durbin of illinois whoays this is all the republicans' fault. >> if we could just get enough compassion from the other side of the isle for unemployed workers as we had for bank bail bailouts, we would have a chance of feeding these people during one of the worst recessions in history. >> and the republicans say we would have done it yesterday if you would just help us find the money to pay for it. >> for my money, if we can't find $9.5 billion somewhere in this government and say that it's a higher priority to extend these unemployment benefits and pay for it, then whatever that money is used for, then we're not doing our job. >> so will the politics of this get in the way of getting the 60 votes necessary to cut off debate and end this and get the checks in the mail by the end of the week? >> i'm told tonight from democratic and republican sources that they are talking about trying to at least move faster on this, both republicans and democrats. up until then, both republicans and democrats think it's har

john harwood interview with president obama and the number one senate democrat majority whip dick durbingive us an exclusive interview. we'll talk fin regular, back attack. >>> john paulson, who shortage mortgages correctly and is now touting a v-shaped economic. he must be watching our show. >>> the new derivatives bill will clobber new york and oobeboost chicago. >>> finally, a brand new $100 bill, a counterfeit c-note benjamin for you, or is it for the chinese? fasten your belts, "the kudlow report" begins right now. >>> good evening, i'm larry kudlow. welcome to "the kudlow report" where we believe free market capitalism is the best path to prosperi prosperity. president obama spoke with john harwood. and john joins us now from washington wash with the lee tails and key clips. >> reporter: i talked about all the issues surrounding financial regulation with president obama at the white house this afternoon. but one issue really stands out over the last few days, and that's the question about goldman sachs and the s.e.c.'s case against goldman sachs. some have raised the question about

durbin madam president, i ask consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, pending before the united states senate is the question of whether or not we are going to extend unemployment compensation to the unemployed across our nation. it is an issue which recurse in the senate with some frequency and it baffles me why we continue to argue over this question. we have eight million people actively unemployed and of those six million long-term unemployed people. we know that many of them have lost their jobs because of this recession through no fault of their own. if my colleagues have taken the time, as i have, to meet with them, they know that they're in desperate straits. there are approximately four or five unemployed people in america for every available job. when i sit down and listen to their stories of how they're applying online for job after job after job, and a great week for them if one or two potential employers even follow through with an e-mail of inquiry about their backgroun

people like senator ted kaufmann, senator sharrod brown, senator blanche lincoln, dick durbin, maria can'twell, carl levin. bernie sanders. they all want an honest debate about the fundamental flaws in the bill. however, those in the leadership role are attempting to quash that debate and serve the bankers who deliver them the money. lawmakers, actually trying to bring transparency to the shadow banks. lawmakers actually trying to stop the police and regulators for being under the employment of the crooks they're supposed to supervise. trying to fix a bill that perpetuates permanently too big to fail. it's a bill that is designed in fact deliberately to hide the next bailout so that congress never has to do it again. and meantime, all of them, the bankers and the politicians, hold you and i prisoner, to too big to fail banks that have only gotten bigger. four of them now control 60% of all the assets in our country. with leverage like that, my friends, you don't need a democracy, you own the place. the goldman sachs lawsuit finally put a spotlight on the dire need to fix the derivati

the recession as senator durbin said like the current one is no time to make the same mistake that led to the double-digit -- double-dip downturn in the 1930's, short-term reduction of the deficit i think is the worst thing we can do for the economy. we need government spending to create the jobs that drive continued economic growth. and i am absolutely certain we are not engaged in mission impossible. we've done it before just a decade ago. we ushered in the era of the fiscal responsibility during the clinton administration creating over 20 million jobs producing budget surpluses and a rapidly declining debt and we can do it again. we are ready beginning to see signs of progress. americans should be confident that we have it within our power to fully restore the economy and soundness of the federal budget while keeping the commitments to with our grandparents and our children. americans should feel confident that this great country can continue the american tradition of each generation looking forward to an even better life than the one that came before it is up to us to show the way.

durbin: speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i want to commend the senator from new mexico for drawing our attention to earth day. it has certainly become a national, if not global, observance, that calls to mind the relationship that we have with this earth we live on and our responsibilities. we're considering now legislation involving carbon and the impact of carbon on the environment and on this planet. there are some differences of opinion on the floor of the united states senate about whether this is a challenge and if it is how to address it. early next week three of our completion are going to step forward with a proposal. senator john kerry has spearheaded an effort working with senator barbara boxer and senator bingaman to come forward with an idea on clean energy. he will be joined by senator joseph lieberman and senator lindsey graham. it's a bipartisan effort. and what they are seeking to do in this bill i think is certainly consistent with the goals of earth day and our national goals. first, to reduce o

. >> we now go to senator durbin. >> thank you, mr. chairman.kes me, stepping outside and looking in that social security and medicare's calculus the tax code is astrophysics or something and you just touched on it here because each year we go through a very public display in the appropriations process involving a very small amounts relative to the size of the federal budget yet when it comes to the tax expenditures which we are making each year there are very few sunsets and little and you will review about where we are going. i don't know if this qualifies as a starting or a short but the amount of money we spend on tax expenditures use it can distort business and economic decisions exceeds the amount that we appropriate in domestic programs each year so would you say that among the things we should consider are not only the entitlement programs and the spending programs but also this tax code that is literally spending tax dollars or forgoing the tax dollars each year in the name of social policy and goals? >> absolutely, senator, as i sit in

durbin: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the quor call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: we're considering the extension of unemployment benefits and it's a debate which has gone on repeatedly. i see the chairman of the senate finance committee has come here and has been sitting patiently on the floor trying to work this through. and i think we may be close to a vote on this matter very shortly. and if i'm not misstearntion i think if we're successful in passing this, it will extend unemployment benefits until the end of may. i hope we don't face this again between now and then because not only does it tie up the senate for a lengthy period of time, but it creates uncertainty across america. 212,000 people had their unemployment benefits cut off in the united states last week because we were gone and the benefits expired. and so this week another 212,000 people. in my home state of illinois, 16,000 people a week lose their unemployment benefits because of the decision by the senate not to move forward and extend those

if you sent to chairman's durbin market was like $34 trillion. that raises the question in my mind under senator dodd's bill is the cftc a member of the systemic risk council of regulators? >> i believe the answer is yes. >> let me ask the next question, should you be a member -- >> i think so >> if you're not a member of the council, i'm going to offer an amendment to the commodity futures trading commission on that council that think it's important that we try to be as included. >> hi others the council, it may have different names in different bills. >> it does but there are no tax is the chairman confirms that. >> let me ask the question then. how do you plan to help monitor and mitigate the potential for systemic risk arising from the concentrations or interconnectedness of risk related to derivatives products >> we have a sort of spider's web between the financial systems and one of the things we've been fighting to lower risk for the american public is to bring of the derivatives in to clearinghouses. clearinghouses again stand between the

durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr.i join my colleagues in expressing the sorrows of the families of west virginia of the coal miners lost in that disaster. illinois is a coal mining state. through our history we've had terrible coal mining disasters and the loss of life. i hope we can not only bring them constellation, but learn from this disaster. when we find that only a small -- for safety violations have been paid, it clearly calls for a much more aggressive approach by our federal government and the agencies entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the safety of these coal miners. we can do better. one of the saddest comments, but i'm afraid true comments, that came from this came from my colleague, senator rockefeller, who said these tragedies are likely to occur again no matter how much we do. congressman nick rayhol said that when it comes to coal miner safety, it is written in the blood of dead coal miners. let us do a better job of writing the laws and enforcing the laws so the men and women who work i

senator durbin is so eloquent. that is before a military commissions have been established.it found a properly backing. it took some time for it to all be written. they would be tried by military commission but do his case -- commission. his case is already proceeding. was it not? >> it had been proceeding in a halting fashion. the decision that the obama administration made was to halt those things so that the commission procedures could be amended. >> you had a commission. you concluded that those have been arrested that there would be a perception that they would be tried in civilian court and not by military commission. has that been changed? >> the perception that we use -- the protocols do given have that presumption in it. >> it is not exactly a clean slate. in that case, you have a presumption in favor of civilian trials. >> it is a presumption. there are a variety of other factors. not the least of which, at the end of the day, in which form can we be most effective? the test is, what have we actually done? military commissions are the best places for them to be tri

. >> we now go to senator durbin. >> thank you, mr. chairman. it strikes me, stepping outside and looking in that social security and medicare's calculus the tax code is astrophysics or something and you just touched on it here because each year we go through a very public display in the appropriations process involving a very small amounts relative to the size of the federal budget yet when it comes to the tax expenditures which we are making each year there are very few sunsets and little and you will review about where we are going. i don't know if this qualifies as a starting or a short but the amount of money we spend on tax expenditures use it can distort business and economic decisions exceeds the amount that we appropriate in domestic programs each year so would you say that among the things we should consider are not only the entitlement programs and the spending programs but also this tax code that is literally spending tax dollars or forgoing the tax dollars each year in the name of social policy and goals? >> absolutely, senator, as

the bipartisan agricultural bill is included in this proposal, just as dick durbin spoke about the dream act. there is a reason. the wilson immigration system has been devastating to a major industry, agriculture. in my state, it is the largest of ag stay in the nation. farmers cannot farm, growers cannot harvest, packers cannot pack but 90,000 acres have gone to mexico. 20,000 mexicans have been hired and nothing is better than american produce but if you cannot farm, you have to import from others and that is exactly what is happening. i have story after story of farmers whose crops lay on the ground because there is nobody to work in the hot sun with the skill to harvest a row crops or picked citrus or pears or any other thing or canned tomatoes. that is where we are today. the system is broken. farmer after farmer comes to us and says please help us secure a legal work force. this bill would do that. i think that is important. we note today that we have to do this. the question is, do the people of america want us to do with? one of the ways we have to look at this is threefold. ever

stretch that you heard when i opposed the nomination and senator kennedy, senator biden, senator durbinnd i were called anti-catholic. i remember talking to my pastor the next day. he said "where does this sort of thing to come from?" i would hope we could talk about a lot and not things that belong to another time, an unhappy time in our country. we have heard you criticized that you have not had a lot of courtroom experience. i cannot recall a single republican saying a thing when judge kimberly and the more was nominated by president george h. w. bush for the federal circuit. she had had years as a federal clerk. no one felt this disqualify her. or, when judge j. harvey wilkinson was nominated by president reagan to the fourth circuit. he had had one year as a clerk, five years as they newspaper editor, two years in the government, five years in academia. he was confirmed. judge frank westbrook, nominated at the age of 36, he spent one year as a clerk, five years in the government, seven years in academia. he was confirmed. let's talk about reality. let's leave these straw men compla

the committee is chaired by illinois senator dick durbin. >> good afternoon. i am pleased to convene this hearing and i apologize for being a few meetings -- minutes later. this is a hearing to consider the 2011 funding request of two are most important federal agencies, the commodities futures trading commission and the securities and exchange commission for it i'm welcoming my colleague. i'm sure you're tired from yesterday. senator susan collins of maine, who is my ranking republican on this committee, my friend, we've worked together on many aspects of many different laws over the year and this is an important 13 other colleagues will join us during the course of the hearing. i want to welcome. kessler -- when this subcommittee was created and started, i insisted that it bring these two agencies to gather into one appropriations subcommittee, because the parallel one another and the regulatory responsibilities and i felt that the ancient separations no longer applied, that there really should be considered as a tandem operation to bring confluence to impor

stretch that you heard when i opposed the nomination and senator kennedy, senator biden, senator durbinnd i were called anti-catholic. i remember talking to my pastor the next day. he said "where does this sort of thing to come from?" i would hope we could talk about a lot and not things that belong to another time, an unhappy time in our country. we have heard you criticized that you have not had a lot of courtroom experience. i cannot recall a single republican saying a thing when judge kimberly and the more was nominated by president george h. w. bush for the federal circuit. she had had years as a federal clerk. no one felt this disqualify her. or, when judge j. harvey wilkinson was nominated by president reagan to the fourth circuit. he had had one year as a clerk, five years as they newspaper editor, two years in the government, five years in academia. he was confirmed. judge frank westbrook, nominated at the age of 36, he spent one year as a clerk, five years in the government, seven years in academia. he was confirmed. let's talk about reality. let's leave these straw men compla

stretch that you heard when i opposed the nomination and senator kennedy, senator biden, senator durbinnd i were called anti-catholic. i remember talking to my pastor the next day. he said "where does this sort of thing to come from?" i would hope we could talk about a lot and not things that belong to another time, an unhappy time in our country. we have heard you criticized that you have not had a lot of courtroom experience. i cannot recall a single republican saying a thing when judge kimberly and the more was nominated by president george h. w. bush for the federal circuit. she had had years as a federal clerk. no one felt this disqualify her. or, when judge j. harvey wilkinson was nominated by president reagan to the fourth circuit. he had had one year as a clerk, five years as judge frank nominated by president reagan at the age of 36 spent seven years in academia. let us talk about reality. let's leave these complaints out of it. we have so many people sitting on our courts of appeals nominated by a republican president, supported by both republicans and democrats who do not beg

. >> chuck, on friday dick durbin acknowledged he had been subpoenaed for rod blagojevich's trial, a time for democrats in illinois up. also look at the fact, the democratic nominee's family bank went under, so a lot of problems in illinois, including our own chicago affiliate out in illinois has aggressively gone after some of the claims and have redacted some of the claims from a complaint. is the white house afraid that this president may get pulled in about some -- as this heats up over the summer and fall, may get pulled into this? >> reporter: can i tell you, the way they've handled the illinois political situation, there's been this fear of touching it, right? there's this assumption since blagojevich tried to sell the seat, figure illinois-related is radioactive. for instance, they made one effort to find a candidate in that senate race, it failed. then they backed off. even though you talked about the democratic nominee, alexei, his family bank that just went under. he's also going to get potentially dragged into the resco trial, another part of this blagojevich situation. >

the bipartisan agricultural bill is included in this proposal, just as dick durbin spoke about the dreamact. there is a reason. the wilson immigration system has been devastating to a major industry, agriculture. in my state, it is the largest of ag stay in the nation. farmers cannot farm, growers cannot harvest, packers cannot pack but 90,000 acres have gone to mexico. 20,000 mexicans have been hired and nothing is better than american produce but if you cannot farm, you have to import from others and that is exactly what is happening. i have story after story of farmers whose crops lay on the ground because there is nobody to work in the hot sun with the skill to harvest a row crops or picked citrus or pears or any other thing or canned tomatoes. that is where we are today. the system is broken. farmer after farmer comes to us and says please help us secure a legal work force. this bill would do that. i think that is important. we note today that we have to do this. the question is, do the people of america want us to do with? one of the ways we have to look at this is threefold. every

my friend senator dick durbin, a democrat, is so eloquent, but president bush -- the first case that came up was padea. that was before military commissions had been established. he established military commissions and the supreme court found them lacking, and the defense department stopped and had to rewrite rules. during that period of time through 2006 the congress passed legislation to effectuate the military commissions. in late 2006, that was. then it took time for the rules to be written and to move for it. -- to move forward. antÁnamo that were going to be tried. all of them didn't have to be tried. but they would be tried by a military commission and khalid shake ahamed's case was already proceeding as a military commission, was it not, tell president obama his first act was to stop that. >> the case had been proceeding in a military commission and a halting fashion and the decision the obama administration made was to put a hault to those things so that the commission procedures could be amended and congress passed those in 2009. >> you had a to a commission and you cochair