durbin: mr. president, i ask that the chair inform me when i have one minute left of my five minutes. i think this is an amendment that's well known to my colleagues. i've spoken on the floor several times. it is about the interchange fees charged to small businesses across america for the use of credit cards. this amendment does the following things: it directs the federal reserve to ensure the debit fees on debate cards are reasonable and proportional to processing costs. it stops visa and master card from imposing anticompetitive restrictions. it ends prohibitions on discounts for use of different network cards. ends prohibitions on discounts for cash, debtor credit. it ends prohibitions on minimum purchase levels for paying with a credit card. it does not affect credit card interchange rates. we do not establish a rate. that is left entirely to the federal reserve to review. we do not allow discrimination against small banks or credit unions. the modification specifically prohibits any discri

about what we heard from senator durbin. what did you hear from him on financial regulation? >> they expect a pretty clean finish to this bill. it is a remarkable departure for the senate. they were bitterly divided almost over everything. we have a big commitment on the floor of the senate that are passing unanimously or nearly unanimously. many of them have a heavy populous. it seems like they want to make themselves whole after the t.a.rp. -- t.a.r.p. vote. this is coming full circle. you heard some of the frustrations democrats have had with the republican opposition they have confronted in the past -- unfair in their mind. they're not encountering that with this bill. >> it could wrapup by the end of this week? >> senaotr ri -- senator reid wants to finish this as quickly as possible and move on to this litany of other bills. senator mcconnell wants to continue the debate as long as necessary for these amendments to be heard and everybody to have a chance to speak. that is usually worse things break down over these litt

durbin: mr. president, america was alarmed to learn that times square was closed for business because of the potential of a bomb threat. a vehicle was discovered with smoke coming out of it, some alert people on the sidewalk, some surrenders called it to -- vendors called it to the attention of some police, and determined that the contents of the vehicle included elements that could have killed many people. all they had to go on was the vehicle itself and the fleeting glimpse of the person who might have been responsible, leaving, changing his shirt as he left that vehicle. it was a frightening situation where many innocent people who were visiting our largest city in america could have been killed just as in 9/11. what happened? 53 hours later our government arrested the prime suspect, the man who has conceded that he was responsible for that vehicle in times square. 53 hours. i listened to some of the criticism from those who come to the floor and say we should do this better. we should be more

dodd: the next three amendments, durbin, franken are not members of the banking committee. mr. dorgan: i only opening -- i've been here a fair amount. if the senator would object now, he has the right to object. but i will be back. and if i'm in the next tranche, the senator from connecticut announces, that's fine, then i'll be able to offer an amendment. but between now and then, i guess i'd like to understand how the system is going to work because i will continue to come and ask consent to be able to offer this amendment. and when we do debate it, i will have a real debate because i think this is the heart and soul of trying to the shut down a system that is unbelievable speculation in this economy that poses great danger to the economy. by the way, i might, madam president, point out, you know, the -- we should not always assume that we're in safe territory here on all of these issues. i mean, you probably saw the news this morning. last month's federal budget deficit is $83 billion. take a look at what the trade deficit is. i just mentioned, by the way, in the midst of all

durbin: thank you. madam president, i ask unanimous consent when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m., tuesday, may 4. following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders reserved for their use later in the day, and the senate proceed to a period of morning business for one hours with senators permited to speak therein for up to ten minutes each with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first half and the republicans controlling the final half. that following morning business, the senate resume consideration of s. 3217, wall street reform, and that the senate recess from 12:30 until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus luncheons. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previou

durbin some of the frustrations that democrats have had with all the republican opposition that they've confronted in the past. unfair, in their mind. but certainly they're not encountering that so far with this bill. >> and it could wrap up by the end of this week. >> well, that's where you may see some of this break down. because senator reid wants to finish up this bill as quickly as possible, and move on to this litany of other issues that we heard senator durbin discuss. senator mcconnell on the other hand, the republican leader, wants to continue the debate as long as necessary for these, all these amendments to be heard, for everybody to have a chance to speak their peace. so that's usually where things break down in the senate is over time agreements, and little things that don't mean anything to anybody beyond the floor. but those are -- that's where the battle is drawn. >> if i could stay but for a second on the litany of other thing that is democrats would like to do that senator durbin went through. realistically, because i asked him, you want to do this on jobs, what about

durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, i'm hoping that later this afternoon there will be a unanimous consent request that relates to an amendment which i've introduced, amendment number 3989. i'd like to take a few minutes now, since there's no one else seeking recognition on the floor, to describe this amendment in the hopes that when it comes up later, we can move to it very quickly and to a vote very quickly as well. i've spoken on the floor of the senate several times about the amendment because it is complicated in one respect. this amendment is, relates to the fees charged by credit card companies like visa and master card to the retailers and businesses that accept the credit cards. so, if you are a customer of a shop and when you purchase something, you present the credit card, there are two transactions taking place at least. one transaction is between you and your credit card company because you put the credit card out there and you have to pay the bill later on. and the other transaction relates to t

and follows on twitter. >> senator dick durbin is our guest today on "newsmakers."oday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern. "washington journal" continues. host: we're talking about u.s. immigration policy with clarissa martinez. before we get deeper into the policy, tellus your views on the law recently passed in arizona, and how it works into your organization's stance? guest: we legitimately believe that people are frustrated over the broken immigration system. we are terribly frustrated by it. and we agree with the governor that the federal government has not done its job. but we also think it is not an excuse to add even more chaos. we believe that this law, unfortunately, has the function of sanctioning the racial profiling of the latino community in the state. it is 30% of the population. so we are completely opposed to it. host: one of the stories last week, the headline is most citizens of arizona back the new immigration laws. it says that a poll conducted by it says that a poll conducted by the behavior research center and released last wednesday found 52

durbin: i suggest the absence of a cle will call the roll. quorum call:

. >> let's talk about what we heard there from senator durbin. first, start with financial regulations. what did you hear from him on this debate? >> it seems like they expect a clean finish to this bill, which has been a remarkable departure for the senate the last year and a half, just bitterly divided over almost everything. and we have big amendments on the floor of the senate passing unanimously, nearly unanimously, many of them have a heavy populous ting. it seems like a lot of senators want to make themselves whole after the tarp vote. i mean, this is sort of that coming full circle. and you heard from

it is moya -- my honor to introduce senator from louisiana, mary landrieu. >> senator durbin is going to be a strong a.l. lie as we fight for just -- justice and fairness. secretary salazar has been an extraordinary leader, and secretary nepal taun -- napolitano. they are putting forth all the assets of the federal government to tackle this problem. secretary salazar recognizes, as he said, that bp is responsible. but i recognize that the federal government isn't in charge of this situation, and he is pressing bp at every level with every scientist at his disposal and every engineer available to him and to the secretary to get this well shut at the earliest possible convenience or the earliest possible date. and they are doing that. i hope it could be done today. if not, in the next few days. secondly, we need all to do a better job of processing these claims. there were emotional pleas here. i have heard them before. i have been on the phone with hundreds of louisiana annals and people from around the gulf coast. if you made $50,000 last year, and you can't work this year, bp is goin

durbin: thank you. and i suggest the absence of a quorum.the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. barrasso: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come to the floor today -- and the republican leader has already addressed you and this body to discuss the issues of health care in this country about new revelations, in information that has come forth in terms of the specifics of the cost of the health care bill that has been signed into law. the costs that far exceed what was ever anticipated. and so i come to the floor as someone who's practiced medicine in wyoming for 25 years orthopedic surgeon taking care of families all across the state of wyoming was also a medical director of the wyoming health fairs, tndz it is a -- and it is a program provided low-cost health screenings to people all across the state of wyoming

durbin: would the senator yield for a question? mr. merkley: certainly. mr. durbin: as i understand the republican amendment amendment, it goes back to the old days where there was virtually no consumer financial protection. the bill that we have before us here that senator dodd and the banking committee brought has the strongest consumer financial protection law in the history of the united states. it has an agency with independent authority to protect americans, but more importantly, to empower americans to make the right decisions when they're taking out a mortgage, a loan for the car, a home loan, a student loan, and what the republicans are suggesting in the shelby amendment is to go back to the old days where there was no protection, there was no authority, and i ask the senator, the argument that's made about the fact that, well, when it comes to mortgages, they weren't the problems. the problems were wall street. but at the heart of the issue on wall street was the mortgage being signed by the family in springfield, illinois rs and portland, oregon. i

host: senator dick durbin on our "newsmakers" program. see that after this program tomorrow at 10:00. and then you can see it again at 6:00. springfield, virginia, back to our calls on military pay being too generous according to the pentagon. independent line. ed, good morning. caller: good morning. i have three areas here. there's the service aspect of this which essentially, you know, touches on why people join. if people are joining because they're trying to get rich, i think they're in for the wrong purpose. when it comes to the sacrifice portion of this, yes. that's what the military service is for. there is the likelihood that they may go overseas to an operation where they could be in danger. there's pay associated with that. although, you know, nothing can make up for a life. but there is pay associated to address that. there's also what's considered adequate. the military understands it's not going to make you rich. however, people have to understand that it needs to be adequate. with regards to that, there are a ton of incentiv

durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr.esident, i want to join my colleague from the state of oregon in speaking on behalf of nurses across america. we know with the baby boom generation that we're going to need more nurses than ever. and with these nurses we're going to have the professional medical care that we need across the nation, but we better get busy. we're falling behind. we don't gra graduate enough nus to take care of those needs. we have been poaching nursing talent from other poor nations from around the world. filipino nurses in chicago play a major role in many hospitals, particularly inner city hospitals and nurses around the world. many times the philippines generates more medical professionals and expect that they will serve overseas. but some places in africa lose their best medical professionals for higher, and more predictable pay in places like the united states, england and france and germ niche we have to reach -- and germany. last year in illinois 2,000 qualified nursing applicants were turned down

it is my honor to introduce the assistant majority leader, dick durbin. >> thank you. i want to thank senator napolitano and our host. we put this trip together on short notice. i contacted my colleagues late last week and said we would like to come and see what is going on. the turnout was amazing. we ended up with not only use it from the state of louisiana but clearly, in addition to that, we have the chairman of the energy committee in the u.s. senate. a senator from alaska that is the ranking member of that committee. and sought to white house from ryland. the reason we came here is to see firsthand what has happened. i can tell you after seeing it and listening to the men and women whose lives are affected that i have come away with a new feeling about bp. in my mind, it no longer stands for british petroleum. it stands for beyond patients. people have been waiting 34 days for british petroleum to cap this well and stop the damage that is happening across the gulf of mexico. there are alternatives that we hear about but what we have heard from this a bit lustrati

senator leahy's amendment number 3823, senator durbin's amendment number 3932, senator franken's amendment number 3808. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. dodd: with that, mr. president, i assumed that there was going to be some further -- i see my good friend from alabama. i yield the floor, mr. president. mr. sessions: mr. president? the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendments by number. the clerk: the senator from connecticut, mr. dodd, proposes amendments en bloc numbered 3823, 3932, and 3808. mr. sessions: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: i'd like to call up amendment 3832 and ask that it be considered. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from alabama, mr. sessions, and others proposes amendment numbered 3832 to amendment numbered 3739. mr. sessions: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent to waive the reading of the amendment and be allowed to speak on it. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sessions: mr. president, they say the proof is in the pudding. it is really an ultimate test o

it was a glistening july day, mid-winter in south africa, in the port city of durbin, an aging cruisecalled the oceanos was heading out to sea. this moment the start of a seven-day sail from durban to cape town and back again with selected ports of call along the way. on deck were vacationers from around the country, camcorders running and happy anticipation. and to look back at this now after it happened. knowing what terror these same lenses would soon record. feels oddly like snooping. here they are smiling, alive, unafraid. there were, for example, gerta walton and her just retired husband george, keeping a long-ago promise to celebrate more than 30 years of happy marriage. >> he always said he would take me on a boat trip and we were looking forward to it. >> karen winter was excited, too. she'd been on a cruise when she was a little girl, now married with two kids of her own, the chance for some time away with her husband was too good to pass up. >> sometimes you have to escape from your children, right? >> absolutely. you know, your cruise is always the clothes and get out the

durbin: both sides of the aisle, i hope we can work to accomplish that. mr. mccain: we have to ask our leader, but yes, that's fine. our two leaders say it's fine. thank you. mr. dodd: and i thank the senator from arizona. and we have senator sanders' pending amendment, which i think we have reached a lot of consensus on. i'd like to see us get a vote on it. i know there are some issues that -- i won't mention it at all, but my hope is our colleagues might let us go to this. is there any chance of that at all? would someone get back to me? well, i would move -- i would move the sanders' amendment. the presiding officer: is there sufficient second? there appears to be. mr. dodd: is there a sufficient second? the presiding officer: there is not a sufficient second. mr. sanders: point of order? how many hands do you need up? the presiding officer: we need 20. the presiding officer: the order of the yeas and nays does not force a vote on the amendment. ordering the yeas and nays does not force a vote on the amendment. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: vo

known as the durbin amendment, this practical commonsense language prevents card issuers from endlessly increasing costs borne by small businesses. costs for many stores add up to more than the cost of health care. it also are stricts some of the industry's most anti-competitive practices, finally allowing stores to give you a cash discount. i urge my colleagues in the house to stand up for small business, provide them the protection they deserve, and support inclusion ofhe durbin amendment in the final package of wall street reform. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. as we have hearings regarding the oil spill out in the gulf, there's been some staggering things come forward and the media is not grabbing it like they should and letting everyone know. who knew that the inspectors inspecting the offshore rigs were unionized and that they -- so they had union limits on how many

. >> senate majority whip dick durbin is our guest sunday, onn c-span is "newsmakers." he will talk about democratic efforts to pass reform legislation and the issues heading into the midterm election. a look now at u.s.-mexico relations. mexico's chief of international affairs gave a speech recently on his country's economy, border security, and combating the drug trade. this is about 45 minutes. >> i would like to thank you for coming in today. i am honored to introduce to you a man with a substantial influence over international matters in a very important region of this world. that is the state of mexico. i am talking about dr. arnulfo valdivia machuca. he is the chief of international affairs in the state of mexico. he is a political adviser to the governor. he has served as an honorary representative of the state of mexico in europe and the united kingdom. he has served as an independent adviser to the secretary of economic development of the state of mexico, the european union, and several mexican political parties. he is currently the president of the regional a

senate majority whip dick durbin is our guest sunday on newsmakers.e will talk about democratic efforts to pass reform legislation and a look at the political landscape in the midterm elections. that is at 6:00 a.m. eastern. now janet napolitano visits to asheville to hear from state and local officials about the response efforts after present severe flooding. after a look at the flood damage, she spoke at a news conference. joining her were the governor of the state and director of fema. this is about 15 minutes. senators and congress men have been in constant contact. through the process, i have had -- we had a chance to talk several times with the secretary here and she's been very helpful and wanted to come down, wanted to come down today to see things first hand. we have been traveling around this more than. and i think you know most of the pele standing up here but we're certainly available it answer queions. right now i like to turn this over to secretary napolitano to ve you a briefing on what she has seen and answer any questions that you may

durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, let me basically set the stage what we're doing in the senate today and why it's so important. this bill which senator dodd of connecticut has worked on for months with his staff, 1,407 pages, is basically a bill which has been designed to create financial stability in the united states. this great economy that we have and all the great financial institutions and businesses notwithstanding, this recession has brought us economic pain that many of us have never seen in our lifetimes and only remember vaguely from our parents and grandparents describing the great depression. and so what senator dodd and the banking committee sat out to do was to basically change the law to establish more oversight of financial institutions to make sure we never get into this mess again. it took quite a few pages to do it, and now this week we start considering amendments to this bill. efforts to improve it, change it, delete sections. it's the senate in its historic role as a deliberative bod

durbin: i thank the senator from rhode island and i'm happy to join him as a cosponsor.it wasn't that the senator wouldn't remember. when we had a debate on the floor about credit card reform, and people across america said, you know, there are some things going on with credit cards that just aren't fair and right. we need you to police these credit cards and make sure they don't do outrageous things and charge people unreasonably. i think we made some progress in the law that we passed, but we made one critical error. we gave the credit card companies a long grace period to adjust to the changes. and if you noticed over the last year or so, you will receive notices -- i got them at my home in springfield, illinois, from the credit card companies, saying in almost every instance, they were going to raise the interest rates on the credit cards before the new law went into effect. my wife saved all of them and said mr. smart senator, how did you let this happen? well, it turned out that we had no control over those interest rates during that period of time and very little

the plan to limit card fees, jump and by senator durbin -- championed by senator durbin, author particularly poignant example of how unfriendly the atmosphere has been on capitol hill this year. good idea or gimmick? to reset in columbus, indiana -- teresa in columbus, indiana. caller: it is just to make them look good. this is a total gimmick. they do not want anything to be done. when they get in there -- they have never tried to live like those that have benefits. they have never tried to live like that. that is going to be really different. if they all switched places with others in the cost would like us to be in and label as for needing help, social security -- label us for needing help -- social security and disability -- i do not like how indiana has done it. it is ruled by republicans. that is not a good plan. >> "washington journal" is live every day at 7:30 eastern. we are leaving this and going to take canaveral, florida. this is from nasa tv as the atlantis gets ready for its final launch. countdown clock has gotten started. it will be two more shuttle launches after this. live

yesterday, i was fortunate to accompany our assistant majority leader dick durbin and senator lan do you, senator vitter, all of us spent the day in the gulf observing the consequences of this accident and the joint response of our government agencies and b.p. and the many volunteers. it's a sobering reality to see oil begin to impact the shoreline, to know that this well is not yet under control. however, i also saw many people who have been working night and day for weeks to fight this spill and to protect the gulf, and i think we all express our gratitude to them for their extraordinary effort. today we examine the liability, financial responsibility and penalty provisions of the law related to this accident. this is -- there is urgency in our effort. we need to ensure that those harmed by this accident are fully compensated and that a system is in place that properly allocates risks and losses based on what i've learned so far, i believe that we have a system in dire need of repair. current law caps the responsible parties' damages, other than the cleanup costs at $75 million, wh

. >> i understand senator durbin and another senator wrote a letter to you about this topic. do you recall it? >> i do not. >> maybe you can take a look at that. i believe you would be interested in a response to the letter. we are not aware of a response. we can learn of your views. you are not aware of any discussions or deliberations with regard to the categorical use of humanitarian parole for the process you described. is that correct? >> i may have misunderstood your question. are we utilizing those mechanisms on a categorical basis as opposed to a case by case basis? >> are there any discussions or plans to do so? >> i do not know of any plans. we have discussed the tools available to us. we could have achieved a more efficient use we are not considering the use of deferred action on an expanded basis of humanitarian parole. >> children that may benefit from the dream act for immigration legislation, have there been specific discussions that you are aware of, with the use of deferred action with regard to those categories or individuals? >> we have discussed those and

senator durbin has six amendments.he's acknowledged that he's going to offer one of his amendments. i think that's an example for all of us to follow. again, we ended the day on a good note. i think that's important. we have already lined up some things to do when we begin legislative session on use it day. but monday the two managers are ready to do business on work that they're doing. a number of these things can be worked out. the two people managing the banking part of this bill are longtime legislators. of this a handled many, many -- they've handled many, many bills on the senate floor, and they will accept a lot of these amendments. the derivatives part of this bill is, by some standards, a little more complicated. but i think the issues even there are fairly clear. senators lincoln and chambliss are ready to work with senators who have ideas as to how they want to change this legislation. and they're also ready for business. so i hope that people understand the urgency of our agenda. we have many things to do i

withdrawn and that the durbin amendment 3989 and the franken amendment 3991 be considered called up in their place. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. dodd: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate now resume consideration of the landrieu amendment 3956 and the crapo amendment 3992. that the landrieu amendment be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table. that the crapo amendment unfunded mandate 3992 be modified with the changes at the desk. that the amendment as modified be considered and agreed to and the motion to reconsider be made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. dodd: mr. president, again, i want to take a moment and express my gratitude to our colleagues. i want to thank senator landrieu. she was involved in a lot of this. and i want to thank her immensely for her contribution. she chairs the small business committee of the united states senate. she and my very good friend from georgia, johnny isakson, crafted a very good amendment which we have just adopted and is going to make i think our wh

senator corker has joined with + senatoo durbin and ssnator caaden aad i to introduce legislation which commitment to rebuild haitt over the next five years and during the funding of those five years we want to ensure that our efforts are sustained and we ant to empower our aid agencies to engage in effective planning. important things i think here. we try to establish a ramework within which we can have democratic and competent governance with adequate security, economic growth and environmentally sustainable programs, particularly engaging women and children. 3 tasks u.s. aide with developing development strategy and 3and policy coordinator who will be responsible for advising and cooodinating the u.s. policy in haiti. clearly, the people of haiti need to be empowered and engaged in his effoot as eego forward. mark referred to the security challengg and hat is real. but also, ww've got to ensure that democracy does not become another carbletted of the earth quake. and so i endorse the nogsegs ttat hatediee an and it should planned. -pwe must do everything possibl to guarantee thatttha

when we think about the majority leader of the united states senator, dick durbin is here because the eyes of the united states senate is on the eyes of the gulf coast. i want to make it very clear, under the law, bp is the responsible party. bp is charged with tapping the leaking oil well and paint for the response and recovery without limitation. they will be held accountable. -- bp is charged with preparing the leaking oil well -- repai ring the leaking oil well and paying for the response and recovery without limitation. i also have made it clear that we are not standing on the sidelines and letting bp do what bp wants to do. the federal government has mounted the largest response to fight this oil and all of the history of this country. we have deployed more than 1000 vessels, 20,000 park people, we have burned oil off the surface. we have deployed miles and miles of protective boom. we are diggi getting independent numbers from the best scientists and the world that will tell the united states how much of the bp oil has already spilled into the gulf coast. the administration has

the chairman, the ranking member, senator landrieu, senator durbin and others to inspect the disaster caused by the bp deepwater horizon oil spill. since the tragic explosion this allred on the night of april 20, which killed 11 workers, ihas been spewing uncontrollably in the deep water of the gulf and a rate that has been likely on an estimated -- underestimated. it is another thing entirely to go see the entire massive oil slick spread across the gulf with black smoke billowing off of the water where the events taking place. tar balls are washing up on the beaches vital to louisiana, alabama, mississippi, and florida. troopersnd other gold for german talk about the collapse of their industries. some of these people are second and third genetion fisherman. this is truly the only light that they have ever knowand they worry that it could be gone forever. there a similar economic concerns but i am sympathetic to the concerns of our fishing community and this is in community. my bill wed enhanced penalties in the fall in three ways -- increase in civil penalties from $38,000 per violat

senate majority whip dick durbin is our guest on "newsmakers."lk about the political landscape heading into the midterm elections. that is today at 6:00 p.m. eastern. >> tonight, the entrepreneur ted leonsis on his book, "the business of happiness." we talk about what it means to own a professional sports team. that is tonight. >> the president got on the phone and said to me, "judge, i've been like i would like to announce you as my selection to be the next this is the justice of the united states supreme court." i said to him, "-- caught my breath and started to cry. i said, "thank you, mr. president." "the supreme court" has into this with all of the judges, active and retired. it is available now in hardcover and also as an e-book. >> a look now at developments in the british general election. host: things. we will take a break from the discussion to check with tom baldwin, on the phone from london, the chief reporter at "the *." he will talk to us about the latest developments in the british eleion held last thursday. good morning. guest: he

. >> senate majority whip dick durbin is our guest on sunday.e will talk about the effort to pass political -- to pass financial reform legislation, and the political landscape. a look now at u.s. relations with mexico. chief of international affairs gave a speech recently, hosted by the world affairs council of pittsburgh. this is about 45 minutes. >> thank you for coming here today. i am honored to introduce to you a man with a significant influence over very important matters in an important country in the world. he is currently the chief of international affairs in the state of mexico. he has been a political adviser to the governor of the state of mexico. he has served as an honorary representative of the state of mexico in europe, as well as the united kingdom. he has served as an independent adviser to the secretary of economic development of the state of mexico, the european union, and several mexican political parties. is currently the president of the regional advisory council for the national immigration institute in the state of mexi

senator durbin enumber rated a number of those statistics more on an individual basis or family basis. so we're determined, as we begin this process, that we begin with titles 1 and 2. the titles of the bill don't always reflect priorities, but had this case they do. there's mog more important -- there's nothing more important we do in this bill than to end the too-big-to-fail concept. the negs if you get in trouble as a financial institution, whatever it may be, that the federal government will bail you out when that happens. so we have worked very, very hard over many, many months to craft the language here that will work, that will actually bring us to that conclusion. the rare case resolution, in most cases bankruptcy, receivership, where management gets fired, where creditors lose, shareholders lose their market value or the value of their shares. there's a tremendous decline there. this is a very, very painful process to go through, but a necessary one. what senator boxer has crafted is merely in a sense restating what we have in the legislation in title 1 and title 2, but to kn

>> one of the most surprising changes that came through was an amendment from and dick durbin from illinois. he had an amendment that has been unsuccessful. it allows the federal reserve to limit the fees that debit card issuers can charge to retailers for processing a debit card transaction. when you go to the 711, the fed will be able to limit the amount of these that the data card issuer will charge 7-eleven to process the transaction. >> one of lead number of amendments. how are the changes to the regulation bill? what is that going to do when it comes to a final vote? >> it remains to be seen. depending on how the changes are perceived, it could make it harder for people to decide. it seems they are making the bill more extreme. it has the potential to sway people. >> you wrote in one of your articles that the senate democrats have to overcome tension in their own party to win pashas of the bill. >> there has been frustration on how the amendment process has worked out. the senator from north dakota had an exchange with chris dodd on the senate floor on thursday. he expressed his frust

the chairman, the ranking member, senator landrieu, senator durbin and others to inspect the disaster caused by the bp deepwater horizon oil spill. since the tragic explosion on this allred on the night of april 20, which killed 11 workers, it has been spewing uncontrollably in the deep water of the gulf and a rate that has been likely on an estimated -- underestimated. it is another thing entirely to go see the entire massive oil slick spread across the gulf with black smoke billowing off of the water where the events taking place. tar balls are washing up on the beaches vital to louisiana, alabama, mississippi, and florida. troopers and other gold for german talk about the collapse of their industries. some of these people are second and third generation fisherman. this is truly the only light that they have ever known and they worry that it could be gone forever. there a similar economic concerns but i am sympathetic to the concerns of our fishing community and this is in community. my bill wed enhanced penalties in the fall in three ways -- increase in civil penalties from $38,000

durbin: i want to thank my completion for raising this important issue.and i would say that all the many amendments which will be offered, this is clearly a game changer. and i am supportive of this amendment, even though i know that some of my frendles in the banking -- some of my friends in the banking industry won't be happy with that. what they're talking is about dealing with the concentration of wealth and the concentration of economic power to a level which can literally bring the economy down. that's what we went through leading into this recession. that's what led to the massive taxpayer bailout. and that's what the brown-kaufman amendment addresses four sp foursquare. soy congratulate them. i'd like to spheek a separate issue. 99 years ago a boat pulled into the harbor in baltimore, maryland. it had come over, passenger ship, from germany. and down the gang plank walked three individuals: my grandmother, my uncle, my aunt and my mother, two years old, in the arms of my grandmother. they had come from lithuania to the united states of america. an

so senator durbin has a bill, the fair elections bill, that some groups support that would basically try to have more public funding of congressional races. some people don't like that idea. in fact, many conservatives people why should the government be subsidizing election? i think there's a legitimate argument there to be had. many other folks on the left, as well as people concerned about how congress sexrates what the incentive structures are, say that someone's got to fund these races. and if you look graphic, the charts go like this. things have gotten so much more expensive largely because races are longer and you have to buy so much media. and so the other big idea here would be to help not lower the price of elections, you can't really do that, it's sort a runaway thing, but rather, provide some mechanism where people would rely less on donations. so i think that's where the big debate is going in looking at how we fund or subsidize federal elections. host: when you look at political we believe sites, or at least people who turn to the we believe for political information,

agency, and i'm still working with many of my colleagues, including senator jack reed and senator durbinto strengthen the provisions of the bill proposed by chairman dodd. one of the key authorities of any new consumer protection division or agency is that it must be able to adopt rules to protect consumers without being overruled by banking regulators who would rather allow tpwaofrpbgz pad their bottom lines by -- allow banks to pad their bottom lines. some argue you can't split consumer protection from safety and soundness, but historically, in the present setup, every time there's a conflict, the consumer loses. consumers deserve an accountable regulator with oversight of consumer financial products as its primary objective, not as an afterthought. the republican proposal being discussed is totally inadequate. it would allow the same bank regulators who stood in the way of meaningful consumer protection for years to veto consumer protection rules proposed by the head of the division -- of the new division. for example, the comptroller of the currency who publicly opposed the fed's new

i see my colleague from illinois, senator durbin, who has seen this firsthand in his state. firsthand people losing their homes. people at the mercy of call lines that they can't even reach anyone where they're calling and calling and calling for help. borrower protections like those we have in minnesota should be a national policy to help safeguard families across the country. a decade ago, mr. president, just 5% of mortgage loan origination were subprime. meaning that they were made to borrowers who would not wall pie for regular mortgages, only 5%. by 2005 it was 20% of mortgages that were subprime. it was a disaster waiting to home. this expanded homeownership to millions of people. but it also greatly increased the risk to our financial system. in minnesota in 200 there were 8,337 subprime mortgages issued, by 2005 it increased five fold to more than 35,000 subprimes. however, we now know between 60% and 65% of people who ended up with subprime qualified for traditional mortgages. we need to make sure this never happens again. that is why last year i introduced the home

>> i think one of the most surprising changes that came through was the amendment from dick durbin, the majority whip from illinois. he has an amendment that he is put up for many years that went through this week, and basically allows the federal reserve to limit the fees that debit card issuers can charge to retailers for processing a debit card transaction so you went go to swipe your debit card at the cash register, they will limit the amount of fees that the debit card issuer will charge in the process of a transaction. >> one of a number of amendments considered over the past week. how are these changes to the regulation bill, what is that going to do when the bill comes for a final vote to the floor? >> well i think it is, the to remains to be seen. depending on how these changes are perceived, they could make it harder for people to decide how they are going to vote, if it is seen that these amendments are making the bill more extreme so it has the potential to sway people on how they both. >> you both a moniker articles that senate democrats have to overcome tension in their ow

dream act, which is bipartisan legislation that has been sponsored in the past by folks like dick durbin and orrin hatch, and this is legislation that would allow these kinds of young people, will graduate from an american high school, who make their grades, who are in college, where not committed any kind of dangerous crime and are waiting for immigration reform to become citizens. many were, -- were brought this country when they're infants. some of the do not speak any other language besides english. host: virginia, an airline for democrats. caller: i agree with the arizona law. if the federal government would pass laws, like if you are born here, you're automatically a citizen. i think it should be changed to say that if you were born here, and both of your parents are legal citizens, that then you are legal. i think there should be a law change that you have to be an american citizen 10 years before you can get any food stamps or welfare assistance. this is our tax money. i want these people out of here. gee, i do think there is a barrier to your plan. -- guest: i do think there is

[unintelligible] >> senate majority leader dick durbin is our guest today on ". "" he will look at the political landscape heading to elections. that is 6:00 p.m. eastern today. >> the outcome of the british elections is still in the air. the conservatives have won 360 seats. the democrats 57 seats. we will show you the statement from the three party leaders. first we will hear from the liberal leader. then prime minister gordon brown. and then the conservative leader. this is a little over 15 minutes. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> thanks for coming in numbers. last night was a disappointment for the democrats. even though more people voted for us than ever before, even though we had a higher proportion of a votes than in it -- than ever before, it is a source of great regret to me that we have lost some really valued friends and colleagues. we have returned to parliament with fewer. many people during the election campaign were excited about the prospect of doing something different. it seems that wh

>> dick durbin had an amendment that he put up for many years that's been successful through this weekral reserve to limit the fees that debit card issuers can charge to retailers for processing a debit card. so when you slash your card, the fed will be able to limit the amount of fees that the debit card issuer would charge 7-eleven to process that transaction. >> one of a number of amendments considered over the past week. how are these changes to the regulations bill -- what's that going to do when the bill comes for a final vote to the floor? >> well, i think it remains to be seen. depending on how these changes are perceived, they could make it harder for people to decide how they're going to vote. if it's seen that these amendments are making the bill more extreme, than it was when it came to floor. so it has the potential to sway people. >> you wrote that the senate democrats have to overcome tension in their own party. >> there's some frustration at how the amendment process has worked out, whether everybody can get their amendment to the floor. the democratic senator from nort

national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> senator dick durbin is the guest sunday at 10:00 a.m. on "newsmakers." >> now, a senate hearing with new york city mayor michael blumberg. the terrorist watch list and gun purchasing is the main topic. this is one hour and 20 minutes. >> i just want to assure you that the last person to appear this late at a hearing because she was held up in traffic was secretary napolitano. so there is good precedent here. we thank all of the witnesses for being here today, and of course i want to begin by extending, i am on behalf i am sure of all the members of our committee, and the entire american family, our special thanks to mayor bloomberg and commissioner kelly, and all who work with you in the the new york city government and lived in that city for your grace and your pressure which remains still about the best definition i know of courage, and for the brilliant law enforcement investigation work that you and your colleagues in federal, state and local law-enforcement communities did to bring faisal shahzad to

. -- durbin. this is about 50 minutes. >> the budget request would allow us to better pursue our mission of facilitating capital formation and regulating markets. when i joined the commission, we were emerging from an economic crisis. markets were trying to regain a firm footing. confidence in government generally and the sec specifically was badly shaken. thanks to the song support this -- the strong support this subcommittee has provided, we have made significant changes to virtually every aspect of our operation. we brought in new leadership, streamlined procedures, and reformed operations. we employ new technologies and initiated a significant investor focus rulemaking agenda. we undertook a top to bottom review leading to a restructuring. things limiting internal communication were torn down. a layer of management was eliminated, freeing professionals for front-line duty. we created specialized units that will build a focus to market abuse and structured products. these efforts are paying div

>> one of the most surprising changes that came through was an amendment from and dick durbin from illinois had an amendment that has been unsuccessful. it allows the federal reserve to limit the fees that debit card issuers can charge to retailers for processing a debit card transaction. when you go to the 711, the fed will be able to limit the amount of these that the data card will charge 7-eleven to process the transaction. >> one of lead number of amendments. how are the changes to the regulation bill? what is that going to do when it comes to a final vote? >> it remains to be seen. depending on how the changes are perceived, it could make it harder for people to decide. it seems they are making the bill more extreme. it has the potential to sway people. >> you wrote in one of your articles that the senate democrats have to overcome tension in their own party to win pashas of the bill. >> there has been frustration on how the amendment process has worked out. the senator from north dakota had an exchange with chris dodd on the senate floor on thursday. he expressed his frustration that

have many supporters at the cemetery who chose to spend this moment with us today including senator durbin, senator burbas, and other elected officials and family. we're also joined today by friends and families of the cemetery to include the gold star mothers and families, volunteers, better and services organizations, community leaders, betveterans and others. speaking of distinguished guests and friends, we have a key special guest with us today. this guest was the keynote speaker at our 2005 memorial day ceremony. at that time, he was an illinois senator. today, he returns to us again, reprising his role as the keynote speaker accept this time, he is the president of the united states. [applause] president barack obama, thank you for sharing this stay with us today, sir. [applause] today we take a moment to reflect on those sacrifices with our present rate is my desire you will be comforted and inspired. actor for joining us on this momentous occasion and remember, freedom is never free. thank you. [applause] >> we ask that everyone stand as the joliet police department honor guard pre

>> one of the most surprising was from dick durbin.it basically allows the federal reserve to limit the fees that debit card issuers can charged to retailers for processing transactions. >> that is one of the number of an immense considered over the past week. how are the changes to the regulations bill -- what will it do when it comes for the final vote to the floor? >> that remains to be seen. it depends how the changes are perceived. it could make it harder for people to decide how to vote. if the amendments seem to be making the bill more extreme -- it has the potential to affect how people vote. >> what did you mean by your statement in this article the? >> there is frustration over the process. the democratic senator from north dakota had an exchange with chris dodd on thursday porky expressed from duration -- on thursday where he expressed his bill, that it was not allowed to get to the floor. chris dodd it countered by saying he understood the position of dorgan, but that he needs to get the bill moving. it cannot be weighed do