excellent point. because i am opposed of the show i can change the topic, but i can guarantee that i am thinking they win that round. that is how i learned. i will change my position on this issue, that is a very valid point. or that is the best one, i am still solid. i have an advantage where i get caught in those positions, when i go home i have my brother on the phone giving me the details of where the government should go. so i should find out, so can you by talking to others. now you are being -- you have a voice, you are more than someone sitting in a seat, you are moving the dialogue, get excited about the issues. you will let no one tell you what you can and cannot say because that is who you are. if you are going to be a leader, you must find that kind of bold this, that kind of courage to be in front and not to be afraid of being different or differing in opinion with those in your midst. once your confidence you get a sense of humor about it, it doesn't always have to be this argumentative

we have many excellent employees. too many of them are not yet excellent. that is what we are working on. we are searching for the exact right crowd. we work very hard when we hire. it is a tricky process. we have replaced a lot of them last year. all our people are excellent. we are not there yet. that is our goal. we are working on it. that is a little bit about the game experience and the customers. i hope you are all having a good time any night your coming to the ballpark. i thought by now it will be better in terms of our neighborhoods and the economy, which has all of us hit, the development we all thought we would see by now has not happened yet. we all know it is going to. it has been delayed for a few years. it will make the evening experience of coming to the ball game even better than it is now. the last thing i want to talk about is the most important in many ways. it is the thing which is least talk about. i want to spend some time on this. i even brought some paper. i never read i did not know what i would talk about. i like to talk. i wanted

we have many excellent and police but to many of them are not yet excellent and that is what we are working on. we are still searching for the exact right crowd. we work very hard on who we higher. it's a tricky process. we have replaced a lot of them already this year because we have to get to the makes where all of our people are excellent. we are not there yet apply assure you it is our goal and we are going to keep working on that. so that's a little about the game and customer experience. i hope you were all having a good night any time you're coming to the ballpark. i thought i now it would be better in terms of our neighborhood and the economy which has hit all else and so many ways has certainly hit the business of going out to the nets' game. the development we thought we would see by now hasn't happened yet. we all know its going to happen. but it's been delayed for a couple years and when that happens that is going to make the evening experience of coming to the ball game even better than it is now. and the last thing i want to talk about is the most important in many ways and th

there is a chance to view excellent films this that they wouldn't get a chance to see in theater. delaware also boasts six wineries including the nassau valley where visitors can enjoy excellent wine and a pleasant atmosphere. you can see delaware is truly a place where folks from across the country can come for fun and excitement in a small, but plentiful tourist haven. i know that delaware is not alone. all 50 states and all the territories offer something special and i believe we should do everything that we can to spread the message. that's why i'm glad to be a cosponsor of the tourist act. it will remind people across the world what dell tell can offer. international traveling is booming. 48 million more international trips last year than 2000, but the united states is still not sharing that bounty. in fact, we lost travelers over the same time period. an estimate i saw says if we kept pace with the expansion of international travel, we would have seen 58 million more travelers since 2000. that would mean nearly 250,000 more jobs. in today's economy we could sure use that hel

record -- in my earlier floor statement that your excellent -- her excellent academic record, her experience harvard and yale, a professional experience and her tenure on the federal trial court under current tenure and the court of appeals for the second circuit. today, i am writing to judge sotomayor to give her advance notice that i willç be inquirig to reviews on television. -- to her views on television. i have long advocated to televise the proceedings of the supreme court. i have introduced legislation to require that, subject to a decision by the court on a particular case if they thought that it ought not to be televised. i think the televising the proceedings of the u.s. senate or house of representatives informs the public as to what is going on in these public matters. the arguments of the supreme court are open to the public. but only a few people have an opportunity to see them. first, it is not easy to come to washington. second, there are so many people even who do come to washington that they are allowed to be their only very few minutes. but with the marvels of television,

we have an excellent run company in my state of georgia, aff -- aflac with success. people want to see that the people running the companies have talent. so we have excellent examples here of shareholders taking part of that but i just want to make sure that is clear but my question to comment is how can we better align compensation packages with sound management so that they properly measure pay for performance and what is wrong with having shareholders have a say, not the government, but the people who own the company, they ought to have a say in what these people are being paid particularly hired with contracts. >> we have time for one answer. >> i truly think the say on pay is a situation of all of this live, no downside. you are in power in shareholders with the ability to have stronger oversight. you are forcing the company to think more seriously about what they do and how it will be received in automatic practices since their peer group is doing. all i am saying since we have time issues is i think that you need some type of long-term compensation or somethin

and she was -- she worked hard, won herself a scholarship to princeton, went there, excelled, and later went off to law school at yale, two of the finest institutions we have in our country. after that she was a prosecutor for a number of years. beyond that, a corporate litigator, and finally nominated by a republican president, george herbert walker bush, to serve as a district court judge. by all -- by all observe,she did a superb job there -- by all observers, she did a superb job there. she was an exceptional judge. so good that a few years later when there was a vacancy on the circuit court of appeals in her district, democrat president bill clinton said, i think she out to got the nod. he nominated her for that position and she was confirmed by a wide margin. she has actually been through this process not once, but twice. she has gone on to serve, i think, longer as a federal judge -- when you add together the district court time and circuit court of appeals time -- i think she served longer as a federal judge than anybody in the last 100 years who's been nominated to serve on the

that was excellent. now we will look at the state example where they are actually doing some very interesting things. the state of minnesota and read that we have paul geraghty who will discuss these recent initiatives that he is involved in. minnesota is well known for its low-cost care and high quality of care can really serve as a model for the nation and as we work toward those goals. >> thank you, nancy. some of you who are close to the front of the room the other is a fly buzzing over the podium here and a couple of weeks ago i would have just swatted it. [laughter] but we live and learn. thank you very much, is my honor to be here representing the state of minnesota and representing blue cross/blue shield and minnesota. the discussion we are having as a nation is really not just about health care, but it is about health and wellness prevention and quality outcomes is really what we are collectively thinking about and looking at. so as we talk about what we're doing in minnesota, i like you to take

while i certainly respect my esteemed colleague from california, ed royce, who served as an excellent chairman of the subcommittee on africa for several years and we worked closely together on many issues and i have a great deal of

that's excellent. also, i'm happy to accept enzi number 12 which inserts the practice of medicine as a criteria for participation in advisory counsels. i think that we can accept that. enzi 15 which relates to specialized advisory panels and last but not at all least, as someone who's interested in epidemiology, enzi number 6 which says that the center may allow reports to assess whether treatments benefits sub populations. and as we have got feedback from our public health experts as well as the aarp they thought enzi number 96 was an excellent and outstanding amendment and so do i and i'm happy to accept it. we can accept all of those and it shows how we can find a center on the outcomes research. let me go to some others. senator murkowski has two -- five amendments that she had just in sin effois inserting th where they were. that's murkowski 3, 4, 5, 60 and 61. we are ready to accept one affected trauma programs, this was agreed to also by senator murray. thank you, senator murray. senator roberts

in addition to all the excellent points that stan made, i would add that one as well. as i look at it, and of course, i have not had any conversations that with my military interlocutors in the will of nato, but i was struck by what ranking member ,ccaom said -- by what ranking member mccain said, ought to ask our allies to do what they're willing to do, and recognize that there are places they are not willing to go. that was the gamut from money to civil-military interaction, along the lines of the plan that general mcchrystal and anthe ambassador to put together. it includes the trust fund we talked about. the odds are high that we will need more security forces, more afghan security forces, at the end of the day. at the end of the day, all security is local. we will need funding for that. that is it a battle zone of contribution for nato. -- that is a potential zone of contribution for nato. i look forward to the interactions with our allies, and working with general mcchrystal to hear what he needs and attempting to facilitate that. >> my time is expiring, so i wan

guest: that's an excellent point. the cost of invading normandyy would have been much higher if the sofeyts hasn't done what they had done over the last two to three years. that was the point stalin was making was, hey, you've got to help me out here. you've got to have a major effort to sifen off part of the german army because i'm dealing with most of it here. that's why stalin didn't feel like the campaign in north africa or italy were really valid second fronts. and that's why he wanted a bone fide invasion of france from the beginning of the big three at the end of 1941 when the u.s. was in the war all the way through 43, stalin is lobbying pretty consistently. and that doesn't change until the spring of 44. so he is as delighted because he is still dealing with the bulk of the german army at that point. so that's an excellent point. host: the next call comes from washington. go ahead. caller: hi. thank you for having this program. my dad was a sergeant in the army in the pacific theater. and i've always found it

under the able leadership of this chairman this is an excellent bill, i wholly endorse it and i hope we get a very, very strong vote because the future of pakistan is a centerpiece that we need to be successful for our efforts and in that part of the world. with that, i again thank the chairman and compliment him as well as all those who worked on it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. berman: i thank the gentleman from missouri, the chairman of the committee for his kind comments and i yield myself three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. berman: mr. speaker, the united states has an enormous stake in the security and stability of pakistan. we can't allow al qaeda or any other terrorist group that threaten ours national security to operate with impunity in the tribal regions or any other part of pakistan. nor can we permit toe the pakistani state and its nuclear arsenal to be taken over by the taliban. to help prevent this nightmare scenario, we need to forge a true strategic partnership with pa

now, we have an excellently run company in my state of georgia. aflac. that has done this. with great success. shareholders see that their leaders, the people who are running the companies, they have the best talents, but they certainly want to make sure they perform. so we have excellent examples here of shareholders who are taking part of that but i wanted to make sure that was clear. before mike time runs out, just a comment from each of you, how can we better align our compensation packages with sound management so that they properly measure pay for performance? and what is wrong with having shareholders have a say, not the government, not us. but the people who own the company. they ought to have a say what these people are being paid. particularly the hired guns with contracts. >> we have time for one answer. >> i truly think the say on pay is a situation of all upside, no downside. your empowering shareholders with the ability to have stronger oversight. you are forcing the company to think more seriously about what they do, how will it be perceived and not just to g

, excellent job. we thank you for your first-class efforts in making this come to pass. you've done wonder flee and we should all -- wonderfully and we should all be very grateful to you. at this time i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from missouri yields back. the question son the amendment offered by the gentleman from -- the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from missouri. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 20 printed in house report 111-182. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? mr. connelly: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 20 printed in house report 111-182 offered by mr. connelly of virginia. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 572, the gentleman from virginia, mr. connelly, and a member opposed, e

that's an excellent report.ry uplifting, and i will return to the subject, the process in the time reserved for questioning. the acting deputy administrator, federal highway administration. >> chairman, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the federal highway administration's progress in implementing the recovery act. through the recovery act fhwa is playing a key role in playing jobs. the administration estimates of the highway portion alone other recovery act will create or sustain close to 300,000 jobs by 2012. it is provided a lifeline for americans who work in construction and have been especially hard hit by the recession. on march 3, president obama and vice president biden joined secretary lahood at dot to announce that $26.6 billion was available to states for highway investment. and within hours of the president's announcement, fhwa began to approve projects. as of yesterday, fhwa division offices have authorized more than 5000 projects in all 50 states, dc and the territo

forbes of georgia, for his help in bringing together this excellent bill. the united states military without a doubt, the premier fighting force in the world, however, military leaders face significant challenges as they seek to fulfill today's equipment and training needs. h.r. 2647 is dedicated to providing the necessary resources and authorities to help reverse declining trends in train and equipment readiness. h.r. 2647 includes the falling provisions -- the following provisions to include theover all state of the united states military -- the overall state of the united states military readiness. it provides $13 billion for reset of army and marine corps equipment, deployment. it has $762 million to fully sustain military base facilities and infrastructure including the department of defense schools. it has $450 million for army barracks, improvements that provides $440 million to support national guard and reserve military construction programs. it adds $395 million to navy maintenance, accounts for ships and aircraft. it authorizes $90 million for en

recognized and rewarded for that excellence. collective bargaining increases the ability of workers to take a stronger position to negotiate with anp employer, and this is good. but they are then left to give up any individual rewards for outstanding work. union workers end up trapped with a one-size-fits all contract that denies them the dignity that comes from individual excellence and achievement. no matter how hard that worker toils or how much he produces, he gets paid exactly the same as the co-worker who puts in a minimal effort. why shouldn't workers get extra pay and performance bonuses beyond the union negotiated wage base? why does the wage floor set through union contracts also have to be a wage ceiling for those union members who go the extra mile to get ahead? union leaders may see value in wiping out individual initiative to build solidarity among rank-and-file members, but those workers would be far better off if they could enjoy both the advantages of collective bargaining, and the additional rewards of individu

president, i wish to speak again about our excellent federal workforce. in my years of government service, i met so many wonderful people who give so much of themselves for the benefit of us all. that's why i believe it is essential for the american people to have confidence in our federal employees. americans need to know that they can place their trust those in charge of carrying out the people's work. our government is filled with talented individualsls performig their job with excellence. i cannot count the federal employees who deserve to be praised in this chamber because the number is so great. i hope to share one story today that is exemplary of our civil servants overall. the ancient philosophers used to compare the government of a state with that of a vessel at sea. in order to keep the ship afloat, to keep it headed in the proper direction, it required a captain and crew who were disciplined and responsible. moreover, everyone on board down to the lowest rank had a job to do and every task was critical. so it is with government. every federal e

i'd like to commend the college on its commitment to excellence throughout history in support of our military. i'd like now to draw your attention, if i may, to a particularly distinguished group of alumni. the five war heroes you see beside me. generals george marshall, douglas mcarthur, dwight eisenhower, henry arnold and omar bradley who served our country with valor and distinction during the second world war and became household names through their renowned accomplishments. it's a little known fact of which we are all proud that these great men were all graduates of the command general staff college where they received their unique training and education needed to excell in leading our brave service members into battle. since then the college has continued to improve and adapt its training to response to the ever evolving challenges of war. through the specifics the structure may have changed. the honorable mission has not. i, too, am a graduate of and former instruct -- instructor at the college. they received the best military leadership education our nation has to offer and s

provided to the rest of the staff and all of them have done excellent work, which i appreciate. adrian, dixon, diana, derek, tracy, scott, all with the subcommittee. mike and john on the minority staff. and then on my personal staff, sali and julie. it's a lot of work putting these appropriation bills if anyone who has been involved in it and they have worked long hours diligently with great competence to move this bill forward. and i most sincerely thank them for the efforts. we couldn't do it without them. mr. chairman, in brief summary, this bill totals $46.4 billion and increases $6.7 over last year, but it is $200 million below the president's request. $30.6 billion in science, technology and innovation, an increase of over $1 billion. within this level, the bill provides $6.9 billion for the national science foundation and $18.2 billion for nasa. for n.i.s., the bill provides $781 billion and noaa and the committee continues to provide resources consistent with the path identified. it also considers the science and research conducted at noaa and at nasa as critical to the

. >> rob: that is afn excellent percentage right there. -- an excellent percentage right there. >> bob: 0-2. he's running. up and away with a pitch. he is in there. >> rob: yeah, nice job. >> bob: how about cristian guzman taking a pitch on 0-2 that didn't miss by that much and helping his guy get to second base. >> rob: as you said, cristian not a very patient hitter. does take an 0-2 pitch right there. you can't teach speed. it never goes out of style. that throw just came up right there which actually helped corey slide under the tag. >> bob: guzman with a tapper foul. corey patterson just two years ago stole 37 bases for the orioles. the year before that, he stole 45 and tied for third in the american league with ichiro. he was the fourth oriole to ever steal 40. he's had speed. only apachrio and bumbry had done that. he got some hash on that. >> rob: a little too close to the unmentionables. >> bob: 1-1 game. this would be huge. nats warming in the bullpen. hanrahan is in the game beimel is throwing. he changed up on him and struck him out. the nats are having contact problems her

we had an excellent debate on the issues in the best traditions of our committee. i am confident we will have a similar experience here in the full house. mr. chairman, i'm pleased to be joined in support of the bill by my friend and my partner, buck mckeon. i'm thrilled that he is our ranking member and i commend him for jumping in head first on his first official day on the job. which, of course, was a full day for our markup. he's been a very able and constructive partner as well as when required a skilled opponent. i must, however, mention our esteemed colleague, john mchugh, who's agreed to become secretary of the army, but who leaves our committee having established a lasting legacy, especially on issues of personnel. in this debate, mr. chairman, we will consider and i'm confident we will adopt an amendment that is sponsored by both mr. mckeon and i, that is a tribute to the work of john mchugh on our committee. likewise, i must thank the subcommittee chairman, ranking members who contributed so much toward this bill. they did their homework and i'm pleased

new york city has x 1 blogs -- excellent resources, but they have had to cut their funding. you know this vividly. while there is a chart that shows significant growth, during katrina, people's lives were saved by the volunteers and staff of 211. we did connecting people to the appropriate governmental entities, and the most vivid example is a volunteer took a call from a man who went back into his home and found his mother's body. there was no to call the 211. your urgency to continue this funding and legislation speaks to the need of the american people. >> thank you. any closing,? >> i have come to realize there has not been a lot of consistent advocacy on the hill on the issues of disaster and response recovery. one of the things we have seen with the initiative is i know you are focused on it. we have had a bit of a shakeup in the los angeles region, with eight pandemic. and the one thing i encourage you to do is let's make this about the need for better capabilities to deal with catastrophic events, particularly housing, in respect of of the cost. because as the senato

i do not believe that an unfettered unchecked excel -- executive branch. we all have checks and balances. here is an executive can assert state secrets privilege, without any review, with broad authority, unbridled authority. i think this goes against the principles of our founding fathers. >> i appreciate that. just a point of intermission as a longtime member of congress, if you have ever gone into a classified hearing, given up your blackberry and cell phone and come back and recover that and then stepped in front of a television screen and seen the similar briefing coming out on the news summit -- simultaneously, like all of us have. >> your point is well taken, that there is a history. there are other branches of government have spoken about what has been classified information, the knicks -- the executive branch excels in that. i think the track record for the court is totally different. they don't have to stand for federal election and the judiciary. they have a track record that is extraordinary and protecting classified information. >> i agree wit

adam dunn has always excelled in inner league play. he's had one hit, one rbi, two walks. the nationals one through three hitters right up there. number one total in all of major leagues. they're averaging 5.6 runs a game. >> rob: if they don't give it to shields, this is one of the worst in getting runs in the major league. >> rob: johnson 2-8 and a walk this weekend. that's a breaking ball in the dirt. 1-1. >> rob: decent curve, decent slider. he's got two changeups. the one is show me change and the other is out change. that comparison and run support, detwiler not getting a whole lot. almost four runs a game. >> bob: shields just under four, third lowest in their league. detwiler the lowest among the young starting staff for the nationals. >> rob: sometimes there's a guy in the bad luck slot. this is one of their best pitchers last year if not the best. they've had 8 losses in his 13 starts. >> bob: he was their opening day starter. that's got something to do with it when they're pitching against their number one or two guy every time. >> rob: way out in front of the c

excellent centerfielder, good hitter. they have some guys and then don zimmer. >> bob: he is still a senior baseball advisor to this ball club in his 64th year, 51st in the major league. so this is not just a bunch of people running around without a plan down here. the tampa bay rays can win the american league pennant playing in the same division with boston, the yankees, toronto. >> rob: by the way. >> bob: there is not a. >> rob: the same year, the toronto blue jays are the best pitching staff. they won 86, 84 games. they have the best pitching staff in the american league league. a ridiculously tough division. >> bob: they have done it with draft and trades. ground ball to zimmerman, he brings the glove up, makes a dan dandy play -- makes a dandy play. nearly throw it is away but nick johnson makes the play. nick johnson saved a disaster right there. i mean, you are looking at maybe a run throwing if that ball goes down the line. >> rob: there is a look right there. the base runner is going on contact. you see zim loo

again 80% of the american people say their health care is good or excellent. and second, you hear a fundamental divide between the caller and mine, everything desire is a right, it's an entitlement. health care is a right. well, a right is an enforceable claim. and it's not a right in this country. housing is important, it's not a right. and it seems to me we should probably avoid casting every policy choice in this country as a right. because this right talk makes it difficult to split differences. host: warren, ohio, good morning. caller: good morning, first of all abc and the white house there will be no opposite and nobody fair. money won't come out [inaudible] and c-span needs to talk about [inaudible] and martha stewart. and can i disagree on iran and korea. and i think that iran is more dangerous and they get their food from china. iran is funding hezbollah and iraq, i think they are more dangerous. guest: the caller may be right, they may be more dangerous, and he's certain right, they are more dangerous. host: this is martha from maine. caller: yes, t

we have many excellent employees. to many of them are not yet excellent. that is what we're working on. we are still searching for the exact crowd. it is a tricky process. we have replaced a lot of them already because we have to get in the mix. that is our goal. that is a little bit about the game experience and the customer experience. i hope you are having fun any night you come to the ballpark. i thought that it would be better in terms of our neighborhood. the economy has hit all of us in so many ways. the development that we all thought we would see by now has not happened yet. we know what is going to happen but it has been delayed. when that happens, it will make the experience even better than is now. the last thing a lot to talk about is the most important in many ways. the thing that is least talk about the reluctance talk about that. if you know anything about me, i never read. i like to talk to extemporaneously, but wanted to bring some materials to talk about because i did not want to leave anything out. these are for our neighbors and the ci

the health insurance exchange is an excellent idea. should be promoted as a state institution at the state level. with regard to the public plan, the bill proposes the secretary of the department of health and human services deal with the plan which is to play on a level playing field. medicare payment rates are set below the private sector. the public plan would enjoy an advantage over competing private health plans. analysis shows the use of medicare payment rates would result in an erosion of current insurance. it has been said confidently that it you are serious about a level playing field, all rules and regulations that apply to private health insurances must apply to the public plan. if congress wishes to achieve a level playing field, then the other actions -- options should be allowed to compete and failed. that means without being kept on artificial life support through an infusion of taxpayer money. with regard to federal benefit settings, every american would be required to have health insurance coverage that congress would

- as great those who have excelled as war presidents and undertaken other large enterprises. when urgency hits the president, they choose to do things that the other departments of government object to. they can also object to projects that would reshape politics. the objections are typically made in terms of the rule law expressed in the other branches. in other times in our political history in our history since 9/11 may be written in terms of this contention between energy and discretion on one hand and the rule of law on the other. court cases have been filed and adjudicated. there have been hearings in congress in discussions back and forth from 2006 until last fall. i want to make one point for each of the presidents we will be talking about. regarding president bush, some supporters have criticized his presidency as preoccupied with executive power. it might be that of the vice president. this preoccupation was imprudent because it ironically led to the weakening of the power itself through adverse decisions. the results of a political weakening of the president. -- th

and those three standards are excellence, moderation, and diversity. i am confident that judge sotomayor meets these criteria, based on my review thus far of her lengthy and impressive record on both the district court and court of appeals, her impressive career in both public and private sectors and her stellar academic credentials. i've also been deeply impressed with her personal story, a true story of an american dream. she pulled herself up from the projects in the bronx to stand before this body as a nominee to the highest court in the land. her history is truly inspirational, a history of which we should all be extremely proud. it is a great american story. it is what the greatness of america is all about. as my friend from new jersey said earlier. i think some of the comments i've heard from my republican colleagues this morning have distorted judge sotomayor's distinguished record, so let's take a minute to consider what the real story is and how judge sotomayor's record reflects the highest ideals of judging. judge sotomayor's record reveals

. >> rob: excellent umpire. yes, they do get reviewed. and they go on -- the best umpires make it to the post season. that is part of the evaluation system. >> johnny: just like in college baseball. best officialsncttleit the nationals bullpen. julian tavarez getting loose. >> rob: excellent people. >> johnny: high infield pop into foul territory goes rosales and now back into fair territory. there's one away as kearns pops up to the 1st baseman. >> rob: before sandy wentk to the san diego office, dusty baker may make a pitching chao he was the pitching umpire who was in charge. >> johnny: baker makes a trip out to the mound to talk to micah owings. he is working into the 6th inning here against washington. got a 2-0 lead. >> rob: and he has only worked into the 7th inning four times so far this year. actually 7 innings once this year. but more than 6, only 4 times in 11 starts. >> johnny: that is jared burton trying to get loose. >> rob: he may give him a hitter or two more. he probably said if this guy gets on, you are done. >> joh

i believe that she is an excellent choice to replace david souter as a supreme court justice. she deserves a fair and a thorough hearing without delay. mr. president, i look forward to that hearing, and i yield the floor. ms. klobuchar: well, thank you very much, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: i ask for recognized? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: i want to thank my colleague, senator shaheen, for her remarks and for her reminiscence of meeting with the judge and her -- once again, the judge showing i was saying that this nominee would bring more federal judicial experience to the supreme court in any justice in 100 years. i notice my exchange in the airport with one person who wondered if she was a worthy of this position and apply the facts and the law. when you look at the experience that she brings, and you compared to any of these other nominees on the supreme court, she stands out. she stands out because of her unique background. she overcame obstacles to get here. she stands out because o

speaker, i am pleased to yield two minutes to an excellent member of the house foreign affairs committee, the gentleman from minnesota. >> mr. speaker, i want to commend the drafters of the resolution. i think it is carefully drafted and it was clear that the universal values of freedom that are expressed in the resolution are done with a great amount of prudence, and i think that is right. it is also important to understand that when the congress of the united states speaks, a lot of people listen, so it is important to not allow the congress to be used as a tool in what is essentially an internal fight in iran. so i would urge caution and urge the united states congress to stand up and speak about the universal values that we care about, democracy, freedom, due process of law, a lack of violence in terms of solving political disputes, and not allow ourselves to be used as a weapon against the people who we are in fact trying to help, which is the people of iran. thank you. i yield back. >> the gentleman from florida. >> i yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from california, the ranking m

and those three standards are excellence, moderation and diversity. i am confident that judge sotomayor meets these criteria. based on my reviews thus far of her lengthy and impressive record in the court of appeals and in public and private sectors and her stellar academic credentials. i've also been deeply impressed with her personal story. a true story of the american dream. she pulled herself up from the bronx to stand before this committee for as a nominee for the highest court in the land. it is what america is all about as my friend new jersey said earlier. i think some of the comments i've heard from my republican colleagues this morning have distorted judge sotomayor's record. let's take a minute and consider what the real story and how judge sotomayor's record reflects the highest ideals of judging. her record reveals her to be modest and moderate, dedicated to the rule of law and not outcome-oriented. for example, senator sessions spent some of his time this morning criticizing one particular case, hayden v. pataki because judge sotomayor's

these are all islands of excellence. we need to make a standard in our health-care system. replicating best practices, incentivizing excellence, closing cost disparities, any legislation sent to my desk that does not achieve these goals in my mind does not earned the title of reform. my signature on a bill is not enough. i need your help, doctors. to most americans, you are the health care system. americans, and i include myself and michele and our kids in this, we do would you tell us to do. [laughter] that is all we do. we listen to you and trust you. that is why i will listen to you and work with you to pursue reform that works for you. [applause] together, we take all of these steps, i am convinced we can bring spending down and quality up. we can save billions of dollars in health-care costs and make our system work better for patients and doctors alike. when we align the interests of patients and doctors, we will be in a good place. i recognize that it will be hard to make some of these changes if doctors feel like they are constantly looking over their shoulders for

while i would say a politician may well make an excellent supreme court justice, i think you need to make sure that person bhover they are, has an appreciation for the rules. >> [inaudible] future topics, such as imlegal immigration, gun control, and any effect she might have on tax policy in the future. >> let's see. taking the my guess is that she takes a liberal view in the sense she might be more sympathetic and justice thomas or scaly would be to claims of aliens. from my experience having argued some of these cases before her that certainly seemed to be the way she would approach the cases, she would hold the government no a demanding standard, not saying it was inappropriate, but she would makes sure the government had its argument right and the legal alien was being treated fairly. nothing wrong with that. but that was her approach. with regard to gun control, she had cases and was on a panel that revolved a case recently where prime minister say it shows she's more liberal but others pointed out a conservative panel reached the same result. it's hard to say based on that dec

he laid out an excellent agenda of actions already taken, those that are under way. i am glad that you have the ground breaking for the autumn train terminal. some 20 + years ago, my late wife and nine, our children took that trip -- my late wife and i and our children took that trip. we took the auto train to florida. it is quite an impressive experience. uc cars rolling off the trains. you can predict you see cars rolling off the trains. you get out and travel to your next destination. it has been so successful, that it needs renovation. thank you for participating in that event. you mentioned a positive train control, investing $10 million. that is under the recovery act money? >> yes, sir. >> could you list for us the company or companies that are producing the pt septc technolod how many jobs are created by that work. >> the total amount that we put this together, it would be 146 jobs in the first year. but that second year, it would be 8000 jobs. i do not have a broken down that way today. on the positive train control, we are doing in number of things. we are

>> excellent question. thank you very much. they were saved because the adams were a family who was aware that history was being made and that they were participating in history. john adams carried trunks of letters and papers around with him wherever he traveled. literally trunks. abigail of course saved all of her letters that she received from him, and her friends. and so all of those family letters were kept by both of them. in that era, both men and women practiced writing letters before actually writing what they called a fair copy. so generally, there were two copies of the letter, the draft and the fair copy. abigail rarely copied. so her letters primarily are drafts, and they were saved, they were saved because john kept them and he had a sense of history. she very often wrote to him, burn my letters. i don't want anyone to ever read these letters. and she meant that because she had beared her heart in her letters. john letters she kept, but sometimes there are two copies. a copy that he wrote and then sometimes his se

guest: you raise an excellent point. it needs to be looked at. it is the way that the united states government has contracted with oil companies. as a result -- first on the positive side -- we have some of the finest technology in the world. all over the world people look to american companies for that technology. i am very proud in my state of louisiana along the gulf coast we have developed a lot of that. as gently as i can say this, you have hit a point that may be time to look royal to reforms. we should look to see if companies are paying their fair share, just like we look to see if the coastal states are receiving theirs. and if the federal government is receiving there's been nohow? i do not know how we will proceed. but there are many different ways that countries all around the world contract with, or, on the far left side of the argument, they just take over the oil fields been a the problem with that is that you do not get any oil produced because governments do not a good job of running oil rigs. you need the technology and no- hass

he has walked 23 and struck out 65 which are excellent numbers. and 4 base hits. and holding opponents to a .219 batting average. a year away you think? >> well, could be. i think the orioles are going to have to take a chance on him pretty soon whether it be at the end of this season or the beginning of next year. he's everything rick was talking about. he is big, he's strong, he's got very good mechanics. he's got four very good pitches. of all of the good young pitchers that the orioles have, i think this guy's got the best chance of being the ace of the staff. you give him a couple years of experience and i think he'll take over that role if he stays healthy. the i think thing i like the most right over the top good hard fastball, good rising football. he can make it move but he's got a very good off speed pitches to go with it. the good curve ball. very good slider. doesn't use it as much and an excellent change up. this is what keeps hitters off balance. i'm surprised they found some way to beat him three times so far this season. but in the minor leagues th

he said he wished he had an excellent, comprehensive memory. i thought his memory was pretty good. it is interesting that he would say that. when you think about it, in terms of social class, he met everybody. there was an awful lot of stuff to remember. he told it to us. entertainingly and delightfully. he seems to have felt he could have done it a little better. he had a full life for what he wanted to do. one of the things he said in his letter to me when he said i was not going to succeed him, he said you don't want to be in a job that is not suited to you because responsibilities become after -- asphyxiating. even at the time, i was going through wailing and weeping, even then, this is not just a letter addressed to me, this is a bill writing to himself. i don't know how far those thoughts went. clearly is a ritter, he loved that tempo, that routine, all of the stuff, but to me, clearly, there was in him, at least a doubt, maybe some of this clutter, but was he going to change it? no. he put his chips on it and he was good at so much, he continued on with it. yes? >> my earlie