senator hutchison, let me ask you this. did $5 trillion of new debt over the last three years plus help grow the economy has robert reich suggests? >> that's just stunning to hear someone say that. everywhere you go in the world or talk to, ambassadors from foreign countries, they say america must get its economic house in order for the global economy to settle down. >> all right. >> and for us to be leading the way toward going to 100% of gross domestic product to debt ratio, which is where america is right now is not the example that the world is looking for. >> i got to leave it there. >> austerity economics is killing europe. >> we'll do europe another time. robert reich, thank you very much. senator kay bailey hutchison, as always, thank you very much. >> thank you. >>> okay. president obama pushes yet another mortgage bailout plan, one that includes a stiff tax on banks. so let's talk. we have a debate. former hud secretary henry cisneros. well welcome him back. and cnbc contributor jimmy pethokoukis from the american

hutchison: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mrs. hutchison: mr. president, i want to thank the distinguished chairman of the commerce committee for all that he said, and i really appreciate working with him because we have had clearly, because of 23 extensions, you know that this was a hard bill to pass. since 2007, we have been trying to reauthorize the f.a.a. and particularly increase aviation safety and put our nextgen air traffic control system in place. that has been the primary moving force. but as is often the case, it is other issues that have come to the forefront and caused delay after delay after delay process in passing this bill. we did pass it through the senate, and now have come out with a court between the house and senate. so i really first have to say thank you for the leadership of senator rockefeller, which has been quiet and effective, and letting the different members with different interests -- of which there were many on this bill -- have their s

. ♪ >> but as we probed deeper into his crimes, we soon learned that hutchison's murder victims werey ones who suffered. those who did not pay up on their drug debts often met especially sadistic consequences. >> how long have you held somebody hostage? >> hours before. >> torturing them? >> on and off. >> what kind of tortures? >> just all sorts of tortures. nailing people's hands, nailing people to doors, hammers, nails, pliers. >> what do you do with pliers? >> all different things. all different things. >> one of the men hutchison murdered was his cousin. >> how did your cousin die? how was he murdered? >> choked him. >> with your hands? >> with a rope. >> did he know he was going to die is this. >> mm-hmm. gave him a choice. >> and he chose? >> he didn't choose. >> it must have been pretty bad what he did. >> he wants us to stop. >> the interview is suddenly stopped by a shotts correctional officer providing security. >> it was one of the strangest experiences i've ever had filming in a prison, to have the officer interrupt an interview, take the inmate away and confer with him.

and that same address at rice university, which senator hutchison referenced as well.ited states was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. this country was conquered by those who moved forward and so will space. these four men, these astronauts of the new frontier did not wait or rest or wish. they did not look back or behind. they moved forward and our country moved forward with them, into space, into new generations of exploration, and into a new frontier of discovery, progress and hope for our future. for their spirit, for their actions, for their inspiration in this time of thanksgiving season, we thank them. we honor them, we congratulate them for receiving the highest civilian honor this country can bestow, the congressional gold medal. congratulations. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the republican leader of the united states senate, the honorable mitch mcconnell. >> in early 1959, about six months after congress formally created the national aeronautics and space administration, a

hutchison: thank you. madam president, i think it's obvious all around our country that americans are struggling right now with gasoline prices. the average american family spent more than $4,000 a year last year and it will be more this year before the additional devastating price increases that we're seeing now just wreak havoc on our economy. the national average price of a gallon of gasoline has gone up every single week, every single day for the last three weeks. every single day for the last three weeks. in many parts of our country, prices at the pump are around $4 a gallon. but instead of encouraging an all-of-the-above approach, which the administration has said it is doing, the administration instead has been frustrating every domestic source of energy production that doesn't conform to a narrow view of alternative fuels. the president is opposed to increasing drilling in the arctic nationaarctic national we preserve and opening additional areas of the outer continental shelf off the alaskan coas

. >> reporter: meet 14-year-old greer hutchison. she's a typical high school freshman into dance, facebook, friends, and shopping. >> i go shopping with my friends a good portion of the time. online, i actually just got a whole bunch of dance clothes which i spent over a hundred dollars on. >> reporter: greer is one of the nation's 80-million millennials- - a demographic whose buying power could top $2.5 trillion within a couple of years. suffice it to say the auto industry is smitten. >> they want a car that captures their hearts and minds. >> reporter: at the chicago auto show john mcfarland talks about millennials like a love struck suitor. he's chevrolet's marketing strategist for products like the sonic, cruze, and spark. >> 40% of those are passionate and excited about cars, but they don't think any brand has given them truly what they want and understand them yet. >> millennials are unlike any demographic before them. they're not big on brand loyalty. and, these are consumers who want to be directly involved in the design of

hutchison looks at how byron white's early celebrity shaped his career on the court. this is about 40 minutes. >>> thank you for that round of applause. it is nice to be home. i grew up colorado and have been in exile for the last 35 years. a few day after john f. kennedy was inaugurated president of the united states in january of 1961, byron white, the deputy attorney general, slipped out of the department of justice building for a quick lunch at a nearby restaurant. after the sandwiches, his coffee was poured, the waitress looked carefully at white and asked, say, aren't you whizzer white? white took a sip of coffee, measured her slowly, and replied in a soft voice, "i was." f. scott fitzgerald famously said that there are no second acts in american lives. but there must have been times when byron white wish that his first act could be forgotten once and for all. for his entire public career, white was constantly framed in the public eye by his headline making first act -- an act so to speak, that made him a nationwide household name while he was still a teen abler

as was just alluded to, i'm here on behalf of rick hutchison who sends his regrets. as mentioned, this program is two years in the making. rick is the c.e.o. and now presenting at the international car association in montreal as we speak. car share is being promoted worldwide. just so you know, not just here in san francisco. i want to thank again mr. mayor, president chiu for the early vision and leadership in this program and sfmta and city administrator's office, who's been a pleasure to work with operationally. we're very excited about the launch of this pilot program for a number of reasons, not the recent of which raises profile of car sharing. one of the aspects is making it more visible in the community with the very prime locations and congested neighborhoods and also makes it more accessible for people because many of our what we call pods, which are where cars are located or private garages or public garages and they're not as visible to the community. in these dense neighborhoods, car sharing does a couple things. number one, it puts people into a shared

science and transportation and the senior senator from the state of texas, the honorable kay bailey hutchison>> we are honoring four brave, determined, resilient men. they and the astronauts who followed took enormous personal risks for our country to venture beyond earth's orbit. their missions achieved as well as the dangers of not reaching for the stars. america urgently needs to continue our preeminence in manned space exploration. from senator glenn's flight on friendship 7 to astronauts armstrong, collins and aldrin's our recent space shuttle program to the space station, we know that space exploration is a step-by-step process. it will require leadership to gesu resources and a clear sense of purpose over time. look at what space exploration has brought to america. the technology and products in space science, earth science, fundamental air knocks research and education have spurred tens of billions economic activity dollars and hundreds of thousands of productive jobs. the use of satellites that can guide a missile into a window from three miles away has drastically lowered collateral

funnel clouds touched down in hutchison, kansas, overnight, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. nearby in the small town of harveyville, about a dozen people were hurt, three critically. look at the destruction. sirens did not go off before about 60% of the town was wiped out. >> we just knew from looking outside, it is a tornado. >> severe thunderstorm warning was put out by the national weather service, no tornado warning was sounded, therefore, the sirens did not sound. >> the sirens did, however, work in the tourist town of branson, missouri. still, several of the famous theaters in the downtown area heavily damaged today. some three dozen people had mostly minor injuries. in harrisburg, illinois, the death toll stands at ten and the dan is widespread from what looks like another strong tornado there. >>> also this morning, the wife of san francisco sheriff defending her husband against domestic abuse charges and she demanding the case be dropped. nbc bay area's christie smith is live in san francisco where a judge will make a decision some time very soon this morning. good

hutchison will buy orange, austria, and a private equity fund for $1.7 billion. france telecom and what would make the third biggest mobile phone operator. hutchison belongs to hong kong tycoon whose previous purchases include britain's water group and edf in france. >>> over 11 people in queens land have been trapped by flooding in the region. officials say thousands have been evacuated. flooding has impacted coal mining and agriculture. they are still feeling the impact of last year's floods. ross? >> and a siberian cold front has led to a death toll of 163 record lows recorded in some countries with temperatures as low as minus 32 degrees celsius in poland. 29 people have died since the deep freeze set in last week. forecasters are saying it's the coldest in 27 years. 41 of the 101 regions were on alert for snow or deep cold. the snap has pushed up gascon summation, too. now at a ten-month high. being 18% above the seasonal norm. so far what had been a pretty mild winter. despite continuing concerns about the world economy, a profit climbed 22% to 5.26 billion

thanks to the leadership of working with senator day willie hutchison and indeed a treasured friend, we come together once a month like the girls do once a week in friendship and fellowship. we work on a badge called women's health. since we've done that, we have increased breast cancer research 900%. the help that we gave to the nih that resulted in the famous hormone study has reduced breast cancer mortality by 15%. so we want the girl scouts to keep on being the girl scouts. that is, we worked on our badges, you work on those badges. and let me say a word about the cookies. first of all, i love the cookies. i never met a calorie i didn't like or a hand i didn't want to shake. but also, it was there that we learned about entrepreneurship. about business plans. about marketing. and most of all, we learned about, if you buy it, you own it, and you got to sell it. but i think what we also learned really when we look back on those years, we would talk about two things. one, the friendship with other girls. and i would encourage you through your life to keep on doing that. and the other

and now i'm going to turn to senator kay bailey hutchison and her senate colleagues for a few remarks. thank you. >> thank you so much. it is wonderful to have so many of our colleagues willing to come out and say that this is an important bill. and it's kind of a technical bill because it doesn't have the budget cuts in it. but if there is one thing that stands out to me, it is when we have an emergency funding bill that comes up. and it's for an unexpected expense in our military or it's a disaster where we have wildfires or hurricanes or tornadoes. and then all of a sudden, you see things being put on this bill and we call it a christmas tree because there are things that are not relevant to the emergency. if we could just make sure that we have a real budget which this bill will do, that we work from a budget that we stick to a budget and that we have emergency funding only when it's a real emergency, that in itself will help the transparency and the honesty and integrity that is going to be required if we are going to cut the deficits and get our economic stability back on track.

. >> a storm chaser caught these images of a twister moving through hutchison, kansas. nearby, part of the town of harveyville has been damaged. al will have more on the storms coming up. >> and for the first time we are hearing the frantic 911 calls from monday's high school shooting in ohio. three students were killed. coming up, the parents of the first victim who died will be speaking out. >> and a story that will get the attention of parents. why are so many schools failing to test for an invisible health threat that could be lurking in classrooms? we'll have the results of our investigation. >> we begin with the overnight outbreak of tornadoes in the midwest. al roker is upstairs with the latest on the story. good morning. >> good morning, ann. this is a developing story as we are going on air. before we go to the video, we have tornado warnings stretching from missouri into kentucky. then kentucky right into paduka. we talk about metropolis illinois down here. we are talking about a tornado on the ground. we have three tornado warnings right now active. so if you

we have people like kay bailey hutchison writing women's history textbooks. so it is no longer considered a brand of radical feminism to do with this history research and that is a whole other topic. but it is also true that a lot of people are just shocked by what they are learning. they never learned that women couldn't do this until 19 whatever. they didn't know that women were forbidden from serving on juries or attending princeton until 1958. so the result is a lot of folks say wait a minute, where u.k. not. and that is a natural reaction. but i would also say that once in a while, we look at somebody who is just very comfortable because the subject matter is painful. it is painful to look at the history of exclusion and assault. and so what i have to do as an academic is to say, in the discussion section, please feel free to respond as personally or angrily or emotionally as the readings in the view. in the written work you submit, you have to be professional, scholarly, empirical, reasonable. and so, that is the deal. you can say whatever you wish. all

. >> and the weekly republican message, senator kay bailey hutchison squarely blames the president. >> president obama's policy has resulted in an unprecedented slowdown in new exploration and production of oil and gas. offshore drilling permits are being issued at less than half the rate of the previous administration. the average number of leases issued on public lands is less than half that during president clinton's term. not only will the slowdown in domestic production drive up fuel prices, it also takes away jobs from tens of thousands of oil industry workers. >> obviously gas prices will be a hot topic when congress returns from recess next week as well as the debate over transportation legislation continues. cnn's athena jones explains from washington. >> reporter: as prices at the pump rise, so does the political rhetoric on the campaign trail. >> they're saying by the summer drive time in areas of this country it will hit $5 a gallon. >> i have developed a problem for american energy so every american can look forward to $2.50 a gallon gasoline. >> reporter: and in washingt

. >> i'm joined by earl hutchison, contributor for the grio.f the reverend al at 19 and i like watching centric and other cable network but they show old episodes of "soul train." you see moem influential african-americans still doing their thing who got their start and first exposure on "soul train." >> you know i think over the next few days, we'll hear a lot about don cornelius' legacy. a legend pioneer icon. these are all true. . he did elevate african-american music to another level. before don cornelius, typically in the 50s and 60s you typically thought of black music as being pigeon holed. it was for black audiences. the genius of don cornelius was he was able to expand the audience. he was able to take african-american and that's basically what it was, music and those sounds and that beat and that drive and essentially make it america's music because you had just generations of young white kids, young hispanic kids, young asian kids just dancing away. in fact, you know, tamron it was interesting to see a lot of them with their afros an

this is video of one tornado in hutchison, kansas. the reports coming in say one person has been critically injured, and a number of people have suffered minor injuries. the number of homes -- a number of homes were hit along with a church. this is part of a big storm system that is currently moving across the country toward us. >>> good morning, i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this wednesday, february 29, 2012. you can see those storms are moving fast toward the east coast and the d.c. area this morning. when will we see them, and what can we expect? the man with the answers, meteorologist tom kierein, joins us with the latest on our forecast. >>> it is a big storm, but i don't think we're going to have any tornadoes. i don't think we're going to have any severe weather from this system. but we are going to be getting much-needed rain. actually, so far this year, we're about 2.25 inches below average for rainfall. so we could use rain. and does look like it will likely be moving in around 9:00, 10:00 this

republican senator kay bailey hutchison, thanks for coming on this morning. >> thank you, chuck. >>> up next, the growing threat from iran, new fears that tehran is moving closer to developing that nuclear weapon with israel increasingly on edge. will the u.s. get drug further into the fight? >>> plus -- could super pac surge? we've talked about the millions flowing into the president's pac. we'll look at how all that big money could change the game. >>> but first, a look ahead at the president's schedule as you will see this ties the record for the most fundraisers he's done in a day as president. for today the only thing on his public schedule. or zero dependency on foreign oil. ♪ this is why we at nissan built a car inspired by zero. because zero is worth everything. the zero gas, 100% electric nissan leaf. innovation for the planet. innovation for all. okay... is this where we're at now, we just eat whatever tastes good? like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fan

senator hutchison and her staff worked with us for a good part of the past two years, she's my rankingbsolutely superb. i call her co-chair, too, incidentally. and i think we have, in fact, met most of her concerns. we've sought to engage senator chambliss in the same fashion. there was some reluctance at some points to discuss, have staff discussions. didn't make any difference. we were interested in what they had, and if it was something good in what they had, we put it in the bill. we wanted it in the bill. and it had to pass future tests as we, you know, combined the whole -- all the efforts. senator kyl and senator whitehouse contributed an entire title regarding cybersecurity awareness. senators kerry, lugar, gillibrand, hatch did the same on the title regarding diplomacy. because of senator mccain's concerns, we omitted significant language pertaining to the white house cyber office. when colleagues had ongoing questions about a provision that i personally believed to be extremely important, i agreed to drop it there the base bill. this provision that i'm talking about would cla

thank you. >> hello, i am senator kay bailey hutchison. as spring approaches, the super bowl is history, basketball is in high gear, spring training begins to open. there are 13 million americans who will not be talking sports at work. they are the unemployed workers who have not been able to get to first base. earlier this week, at any event to highlight the extension bill passed by congress, " said, "my message to congress is, don't stop here. keep going." we have six months before the elections. there is much we could accomplish, much on which we can agree. the president should send his message to the senate democrat leadership. for example, three of my colleagues and i reiterated our call to have the senate consider four bills that would make it easier for smaller companies to expand and hire. the key to moving from a monthly trickle of jobs to a tidal wave of growth is getting obstacles out of the way of our small businesses. they are our job creators. the measures we have brought forward would remove outdated barriers truitt expand a

committee we have a few bumps in the road, but we're going to straighten those out because senators hutchison and rockefeller are working together. so, why is it that we're doing nothing? it's because senators on the other side don't want us to move ahead. it's no wonder we have a 13% approval from the american people. and i'll tell you, if they didn't let our families vote, it would be less. how low can it go? well, we're going to know. you know, i have to say, we want to get to this highway bill. it also had 85-11 vote to move forward, okay? 85-11 vote to move forward. and guess what the first amendment is? it's not about making sure our highways keep up with the demand p. it's not about how we can make shower our transit systems are functional. it's not about how woe make our bridges safer. it's about birth control. excuse me? the first amendment that my friends on the other side want to offer is about birth control. now, i honor moi friends' views on birth control. i personally believe, as the vast majority of americans believe, that it is important that women have the ability to have the

hutchison, proposes amendment number 1500. at the end of the amendment insert the following: "prohibition on unauthority earmarks --" mr. inhofe: i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the reading of the officer without objection. mr. inhofe: i would like to ask unanimous consent that senator susan collins be added as -- withdraw that request. mr. president, today i'm -- i understand that senator toomey is going to be introducing an amendment that will -- it is quite an oversimplifying to say it that way, but it would make permanent the temporary ban on earmarks. and i think this is something that we have talked about and talked about and talked about on this floor. in fact, the last time we talked about the amendment to do -- to put a moratorium on earmarks, my conservative rating of number one in the united states senate moved to number 20 because i was telling the truth, not demagoguing an issue. the problem we have is this: when the -- when we -- the house of representatives first of all came up some time ago -- two year

senator hutchison and her staff worked with us in the past three years. i call her co-chair too incidentally and we tried hard to adjust her specific concerns. we have in fact met most of her concerns. we stopped to engage with senator bond in the same fashion. it some point, staff had some discussion and did make a difference. we were interested in what they have and something good with what they had we put in the bill. we wanted in the bill for past and future tests combined -- senator whitehouse contributed to the entire title of cybersecurity awareness. they did the same on the title regarding diplomacy. because of senator mccain's concerns we amid -- cyberoffice. when colleagues and ongoing questions that we believed extremely important to be extremely important i agreed to drop it from the bill. this would clarify private sector companies existing requirements. pertaining to cyber have to be disclosed to sec filings. as you know charney point out of frustration i went to the sec and mary schapiro greeted your hacked into a company it goes on the web

senator hutchison and her staff worked with us a good part of the past two years. she's my ranking member and superb. i call her the co-chair, too and we have tried hard to address all of her specific concerns, and i think that we have in fact met most of her concerns. we have sought to engage senator chambliss and before him senator bond in the same fashion. there was reluctance at some point to discuss but it didn't make a difference. we were interested in what they had and it was something good we put it in the bill. we wanted it in the bill and then it had to pass the future test has become by all the efforts. senator kyl and senator whitehouse contributed and untie your title regarding cybersecurity awareness and senator kerry, linker, children and hatch did the same thing regarding diplomacy. because of senator mccain's concerns, we owe significant language pertaining to the white house cyber office. when colleagues have ongoing questions about the provision that i first believed an extremely important to be extremely important i agreed to drop it from the la

senator hutchison and her staff work with us for a good part of the past two years. she is by ranking member, absolutely superb -- i call her co-chair, too incidentally. we have worked to address her concerns and i think we have met most of her concerns. we saw to engage senator chambliss in the same fashion. there was reluctance at some point to discuss -- staff discussions did not make any difference. we are interested in what they had come and there was something good, we put it in the bill. it then had to pass future tests as we combine all the efforts. senator kyl and senator winehouse contribute entire title regarding cybersecurity awareness. senators kerry lugar gillibrand hatch did the same regarding cyber diplomacy. because of senator mccain's concerns, we committed language pertaining to the cyber office. when colleagues had questions about the section i believed to be extremely important, i agreed to drop it. this would satisfy private sector companies' existing requirements regarding what material risks pertaining to cyber have to be disclosed to investor

thanked, and, again, i wanted to mention commerce committee, i didn't thank senators rockefeller and hutchison for their work on this as well. we have four committees that are involved in writing this bill. each committee has voted out their bills. and if all goes right today and we get a resounding go ahead, we can -- i hope we can begin with amendments on the e.p.w. portion and then move to add the different other bills to this bill until we have added all four -- all the committees together and then i hope we'll have a resounding vote and get to a conference committee. we have major differences with the other body, but i think we can work it out for the good of the people and the thousand organizations that back us in this bill in this effort. i also have to thank senator harry reid, the majority leader. he brought this bill to the floor, he exerted the right kind of pressure on all of our committees. he encouraged us. he understands clearly that as we try to get out of this recession and we have seen -- we have seen beneficial results of our actions in a number of areas, but this is going

it's the sequential to "journey to the center of the earth," about josh hutchison.stepfather, dwayne "the rock" johnson. they go in search of the treasure. lots of great 3d, cgi, volcanoes, animals, lush surroundings in hawaii. great 3d, family film. a must-see for families. >> how about "the vow," valentine's day flick. what's your take? >> definitely must-see, especially if you're a girl, female, or especially if you're a guy and you want to impress your significant other, girlfriend or try to impress a girl. definitely a much more female skewing film, but actually doing really, really well. actually all four films opening this weekend are dog really well. we're looking at a record box office weekend for prevalentine's day. but specifically "the vow" really driving people. a tear jerker, takes place -- it's based on true events, a woman gets into an accident, loses her memory and has to fall in love with her husband all over again. definitely a tear jerker, perfect for valentine's day. >> excellent. >> definite must-see if you're a girl for sure. >> totally. it's

senator hutchison and her staff worked with us a good part of the past two years. she's my ranking member and superb. i call her the co-chair, too and we have tried hard to address all of her specific concerns, and i think that we have in fact met most of her concerns. we have sought to engage senator chambliss and before him senator bond in the same fashion. there was reluctance at some point to discuss but it didn't make a difference. we were interested in what they had and it was something good we put it in the bill. we wanted it in the bill and then it had to pass the future test has become by all the efforts. senator kyl and senator whitehouse contributed and untie your title regarding cybersecurity awareness and senator kerry, linker, children and hatch did the same thing regarding diplomacy. because of senator mccain's concerns, we owe significant language pertaining to the white house cyber office. when colleagues have ongoing questions about the provision that i first believed an extremely important to be extremely important i agreed to drop it from the la

senator hutchison from texas and die have had quite around with the zero nb and the two of us having the responsibility for passing them massive bill back in 2010 then to go through the process to get it funded. basically nasa had, and not until the head of the zero men became and met with us, and nasa basically had stonewalled that omb had stonewalled the budget. since you are now the acting director, i think of the constructive dialogue that we have with having met with the congress and continuing the discussion on nasa funding so that there were a certainty in the program, i would like to know what your attitude is about continuing those discussions? >> it is a difficult budget environment. even in this budget environment. what we have done is to honor the 2010 discussions around the appropriations for the balance between things and the international space station and. of love to continue those dialogues. >> i believe that you have. i think the budget was basically a flat line budget and given the cutting edge agency of research and development that it is committed past have some

want to thank you all again for being here today, and now i'm going to turn to senator kay bailey hutchison and her senate colleagues for a few remarks. thank you. >> thank you so much. it is wonderful to have so many of our colleagues willing to come out and say that this is an important bill, and it's kind of a technical bill because it doesn't have the budget cuts in it. but if there is one thing that stands out to me, it is when we have an emergency funding bill that comes up and it's for an unexpected expense in our military or it's a disaster where we have wildfires or hurricanes or tornadoes, and then all of a sudden you see things being put on this bill, and we call it a christmas tree. because there are things that are not relevant to the emergency. if we could just make sure that we have a real budget -- which this bill will do -- that we work from a budget, that we stick to a budget and that we have emergency funding only when it's real emergency, that in itself will help the transparency and the honesty and integrity that is going to be required if we are going to cut the defici

senator rockefeller, who worked so hard with senator hutchison, and we hope we'll resolve the outstanding issues in commerce. senator baucus, who worked with senator hatch, and we did get a good finance piece. and we are so ready to go, and so we are going to await to see whether our colleagues on the other side will insist upon 30 hours going postcloture or whether they yield back that time and allow us to get started on the amendment process. so at this moment, i'm going to put in a quorum call, note the absence of a quorum and hope that we can can quickly move to amend this bill. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: skwhrao*eblgtsdz senior senator # quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. begich: i come to the floor -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. begich: i ask to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. begich: i come with a simple message about our economy. i know we're in the process of the transportat