there were these african-american buffalo soldiers who were sent to idaho to wallace, idaho, thereby,t doubling the population of blacks in the state of idaho by their arrival treated terribly. the headline in wallace dusky dough boys in town and they would have stories about their singing and their gambling at night and it turned out they saved two towns. they were heroic as well. i was going to write the quality and the drama of the wildfire when you didn't know how to fight one. but like so many americans before me, i absolutely fell head over heels for this man whose chiseled on mount rushmore, theodore roosevelt. and i also felt in a strange way for a man who's not chiseled on the forest service. let me tell you about each of these men because they figure so much in this fire. and this fire changed our history. it's so interesting to think here missoula, two nights of pure hell changed everything in terms of saving our public land but changed also the nature of firefighting in itself. but let me just back up. theodore roosevelt is a son of wealth and privilege. he's the only nati

jaft idaho is recognized -- the gentleman from idaho is recognized. ms. minnick: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from illinois, mr. schock. the chair: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for two minutes. mr. schock: thank you, madam chairman. first i wish to thank the thoughtful gentleman from idaho for his work on this important amendment. clearly the fact that we're debating this amendment towards the end of the piece of legislation speaks to the support for it and i truly hope that a majority of our colleagues join together in supporting this amendment. a couple of thoughts. last week the president hosted a jobs summit here. we go back home every weekend and the prevailing concern on the minds of our voters and our constituents is jobs. their concerned about double-digit unemployment, they're upset with the greed and the lack of oversight that has been provided and so rightfully so this body has tried to rein in some of that lack of regulation, tried to put forward a thoughtful program and i know that the chairman of this committee is doing

a senator: if i could ask my colleague from idaho? mr.barrasso: i was reading a national publication yesterday and the headline is "making a nightmare out of health care." the editorial says taxes will go up. this says the proposed overhaul contains at least, at last count 13 -- 13 different tax hikes. it goes on to say that -- quote -- "the joint tax committee" and it said for any one person who may end up paying lower taxes, there will be nearly four times as many, close to 70 million people who will pay higher taxes. and that's why i've been waiting now for a week to vote for the crapo amendment. this is something that was introduced last tuesday. well, the whole week has passed, and yet the democrats have been filibustering and praoefrbting us -- preventing us from voting for this very important amendment that the american people agree with, that we ought to eliminate these taxes. we ought to stick with what the president has promised the american people. as a result of the president's promises, i read a recent cnn poll, one that said

jaft idaho is recognized -- the gentleman from idaho is recognized. ms. minnick: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from illinois, mr. schock. the chair: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for two minutes. mr. schock: thank you, madam chairman. first i wish to thank the thoughtful gentleman from idaho for his work on this important amendment. clearly the fact that we're debating this amendment towards the end of the piece of legislation speaks to the support for it and i truly hope that a majority of our colleagues join together in supporting this amendment. a couple of thoughts. last week the president hosted a jobs summit here. we go back home every weekend and the prevailing concern on the minds of our voters and our constituents is jobs. their concerned about double-digit unemployment, they're upset with the greed and the lack of oversight that has been provided and so rightfully so this body has tried to rein in some of that lack of regulation, tried to put forward a thoughtful program and i know that the chairman of this committee is doing

but remember not all potatoes come from idaho. so always look for the grown in idaho seal. genuine idaho potatoes, from the best earth on earth. >> larry: there are, of course, others who have made mistakes in their personal lives. take a look at some of them and how they explained it. >> i have had sex with women who work for me on this show. now, my response to that is, yes, i have. >> the bottom line is this, i've been unfaith to my wife. it began very innocently as i suspect many of these things do. >> it was painful for her, but she responded exactly the kind of woman she is. she forgave me. >> disgusted at for making a mistake of adultery. >> i've acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family, and that violates my or any sense of right or wrong. >> indeed i did have a relationship with miss lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. >> larry: except for kobe, all of those were on the public trust. pat, how do they -- and where do they go from here? >> well, winston churchill said, when you're walking through hell, keep walking. that's what th

but remember not all potatoes come from idaho. so always look for the grown in idaho seal. genuine idaho potatoes, from the best earth on earth. >> larry: jesse ventura's new show, the title of which is "conspiracy theory" with jesse ventura debuts wednesday night on trutv. here's a sample. >> this is the infamous hangar 17. this is a place where we've contacted on multiple, multiple occasions to go inside and see what they have inside this building. because there are remnants from september 11th in there. get up here! this is what they don't want me to see. we've tried to get in this building. we can't get in it now. the door's locked. you can see girders obviously from the 9/11 site. why won't they give us access to this building? what is the reason for it? >> larry: wow. are you going to do every week? how long is the show on, weekly? >> yes, we're weekly, one hour a night. for seven weeks we'll cover seven different modern conspiracies that go back within the last decade. we won't be covering john f. kennedy or dr. martin luther king or any of the stuff back then. we ke

and very definitely we're hearing from our seniors in idaho who see through this. it is very clear to the folks in idaho that what we're seeing is a proposed massive growth of the federal government by over $2.5 trillion when fully implemented that is to be funded on the backs of the american taxpayers and our senior citizens through cuts in medicare. and in fact, in addition to those who have contacted me who are seeing their cut -- their health benefits lost, i've also been contacted by a number of the providers. we're talking about those who are in home health care or hospice health care, skilled nursing facilities or hospitals and the like, and they make a very interesting point. their point is that not only will senior citizens in medicare advantage, in particular, literally be losing their benefits dramatically, but that other senior citizens who are in traditional medicare will also be losing access and quality of care. and how is that the case? well, we know from the details of this bill that we are going to see major cuts in hospice care, home health care,

the presiding officermadam prese senator from idaho. mr. crapo: madam president, this is a very simple vote we're going to have now. this is the amendment that will correct the bill to comply with the president's promise not to tax anyone who makes over $200,000 as an individual or $250,000 as a family. the previous vote we just had, i think it was a unanimous vote for it, simply said to take the tax relief out of the bill. we've had plenty debates what tax relief is or isn't in the bill, but this is the vote that will say let's fix the bill and take out the hundreds of billions of dollars of taxes that are going to fall squarely on the middle class. mr. baucus: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: madam president, the crapo motion to commit is an attempt to kill health care reform. if it succeeds, it will keep 31 million americans from getting health care coverage. if it succeeds, it will keep americans from getting the tax cuts in this bill. if the crapo motion succeeds, over the next ten years, am

in idaho, in wyoming, in kansas, in kentucky. i think we have great concerns for the economy, and at 10% unemployment, we need to get those taxes out of there now. mr. crapo: the senator's exactly right. if you go back and just try and get a little perspective on the entire debate, most americans would agree that we need health care reform. but when they say that, they're talking about the need to control the skyrocketing costs of their health insurance and for the costs of medical care, and they're talking about making sure we have real -- real, meaningful access to quality health care in america. and inis statements, the president has many, many times commented about different parts of that. you remember when he said, if you like what you have, you can keep it? well, we've seen that that's not true and there will be and have been already amendments to try to address those questions. remember when he said, it's not going to drive down -- drive up but drive down the cost of health care and drive down your health care premiums? we

isn't that is correct, i ask my friend, the senator from the state of idaho? mr. crapo: the senator from nevada is correct. i'm thumbing through here trying to get the exact statistics. the c.b.o. indicated i think it was something like from an average number of $140 or so of extra benefits, it would go down, about half of that. they would get about half of those extra benefits. mr. ensign: that's per month. $140 per month, about half of those benefits would be cut under the new plan; is that correct? a senator: we have three republicans now saying this. you quoted official sources. mr. wicker: let me quote a democrat. representative michael mcmahon -- and i quote -- "medicare advantage which serves approximately 40% of my seniors on medicare would be cut dramatically." that's why that democrat from the state of new york voted "no" on the plan when it was before the house of representatives. so you don't have to take our word for it from a partisan standpoint. democrats are saying no because of the medicare cuts and the cuts to medicare advantage. drastically cut.

perhaps my friend from idaho can help me understand this. but this doesn't make a lot of sense of how we should proceed with health care reform. mr. crapo: no it doesn't and i appreciate my comments -- the comments from my colleague and all of the colleagues on the floor today. to commit this bill from the finance committee that the president pledged would not be in there the president pledged that no one who makes $250,000 as a family or $200,000 as an individual will pay any taxes under this bill. and, yet, in the very first 10 years there's almos almost $500 billion of those taxes, a huge portion of which falls on people who are in that category. and as has been indicated, the real implementation of the bill on the spending side doesn't happen until 2014. if you count the amount of taxes that start when the spending starts, it's about $1.2 trillion of new taxes. and, really, the only thing that's transparent here, because this was crafted behind closed doors, the only thing that is transparent is the gimmick. the president said, saids sen

my friend idaho, whose bill -- whose amendment is pending before the senate, recently received a letter from the joint committee on taxation stating that this additional group exists and many in this group make us less than $250,000 a year. so you see, mr. president, my friends on the other side of the aisle cannot, one, say that all taxpayers receive a tax cut. and, two, say that middle-income americans will not see a tax tax increase under the reid bill as promised by the president in the last campaign. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado is recognized. mr. udall: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection, it is so ordered. mr. udall: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate kphraoeuts business today it -- completes its business it adjourn until 2:00 p.m. monday, december 14, following the prayer and pledge, the jour

gregg: how can anybody argue against what the senator from idaho said, which is that this translates into real reductions in medicare spending? mr. mccain: isn't the vitally important point here in this discussion is this massive money that's taken out of medicare is not being used to save medicare? it is creating a huge, new entitlement program. so here we are with medicare going broke in seven years. we're taking money out of it in order to create new program. that's -- that's what the crime is being committed here. mr. gregg: the senator is absolutely right. the new program by the way will not be solved either. so we're compounding the insolvency of the future that we're passing on to our children. mr. hatch: we're taking a-billion out of a program that's going to be insolved before -- mr. gregg: $3 trillion -- mr. hatch: before the end of this program. and we're giving to another program that's already insolvent. mr. gregg: taxpayer be insolvent. mr. hatch: it is almost insane what they're doing. and then they wonder why the american people are having such a difficult time, why w

idaho, 60,676. illinois, 176,395. indiana, 148,174. iowa, 63,902.people enrolled in medicare advantage. let's proceed further. kansas, 43,867 people enrolled in medicare advantage. kentucky, 110,814. louisiana, 151,954. maine, 26,984. maryland, 56,812. massachusetts, 199,727. michigan, 406,124. minnesota, 284,101. mississippi, 44,772. missouri, 195,036. montana, 27,592. nebraska, 30,571. nevada, 104,043. new hampshire, 13,200. new jersey, 156,607. new mexico, 73,567. look at new york, 853,387. north carolina, 251,738. people enrolled in medicare advantage, who love the program. north dakota, 7,633. ohio, 499,819. goo geewhiz, that's a lot of people who are satisfied with medicare advantage. oklahoma, 84,980. oregon, one of the most liberal states in the union, 249,993. pennsylvania, 864,040. puerto rico even, 400,991. rhode island, 65,108. south carolina, 110,949. these are senior citizens. south dakota, 8,973. tennessee, 233,024. texas, 532,242. my own state of utah, 85,588. vermont, only 3,966, but 3,000 people -- 4,000 people in vermont. virginia

wicker: let me tell my friend from idaho about some courageous democrats. when the house version of this was being considered at the other end of this building, a number of democrats stepped forward and said i -- i can't vote for it. it was very close. they have a huge majority, 40 votes over there. as a matter of fact, one member of the house today basically said i -- i really can't take it anymore. he switched parties. the member from alabama is now joining the republican conference. but there are a number of loyal democrats who have no intention of switching parties, and they have stepped forward and said i can't vote for it. don't count me in on this. now, bart stupak is a representative, a courageous pro-life representative from michigan, and he did vote for the bill. and i don't impugn his motives. he did what he thought was right, but before he voted for it, he made sure that legislation was included in the house version to make sure that the hyde language which has been the law of the land for almost two decades was included. and here's what represe

the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. mr. crapo: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that marcus chavez be granted floor privileges for the remainder of today's session. the presiding officer: without objection. khaeup khaeup thank you, madam president. madam president -- mr. crapo: thank you, madam president. madam president, as we approach the vote tomorrow morning, i know a lot of people are calling it an historic vote, and in some context i guess it is. however, many of us are concerned that it is an historic mistake rather than a history-making opportunity. we've had a lot of debate about whether this legislation is the right or the wrong way to improve health care for all americans. we've had hours and hours, in fact days and weeks of committee hearings and meetings with good bipartisan discussion on options and ways to accomplish this. but now apparently we have a mandate by the majority that are demanding that we have the final vote in the senate before christmas. while we debate this, let me say i believe we nee

alexander: i thank the senator from idaho and from nebraska. it is true that in the legislation the estimate is the federal government will pay about 100% of the increased expansion of medicaid for three years and that it will cover about 90% of the cost, which sounds like a lot. but we throw so much money around up here, we have completely lost any appreciation of what that amount of money costs at the state level. and in our state, our governor has said that the 133% increase is about $700 million over five years, and that is a big new tax or a big increase in college tuitions. if i may ask unanimous consent to put in the record an article from the "wall street journal" on december 4 from the dean and c.e.o. of johns hopkins medicine? the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: the dean of johns hopkins medicine, who in a very sympathetic column which i won't read but a sentence or two of, describing the current health care bill says "even if only half these individuals seek medicaid coverage, such a large expansion would likely

a community center -- now, this is half a million dollars for a community center in custer county, idaho the population is 4,342. $100,000 for the cleveland municipal school district. $100,000 for a school district. they just picked one and gave them $100,000. $800,000 for jazz at the lincoln center. $300,000 -- if you don't like jazz at the lincoln center, then go to carnegie hall. there is $300,000 for music programs there. i mentioned the rural bus program. $400,000 for orchestra iowa music education, cedar rapids, iowa, to support a music education program. $2,500,000 for the fayette county schools in lexington, kentucky, for a foreign language program. $100,000 to the cleveland municipal school district in cleveland, ohio, to improve math and language skills through music education. $700,000 for the national marine fisheries service for the project, quote -- "shrimp fishing industry effort research continuation. "$1.6 million to build a tram between the huntsville botanical garden and the marshall flight center in alabama. how many places need need $1.6 million to build a tram? $250

idaho, kentucky, oklahoma, missouri. no evidence that there are any riders available in the individual market. even though technically colleagues will say you can buy additional coverage, it's not offered. it is not available. we are told by the insurance carriers that in fact it probably won't be available. so we all know what this is really about. this is about effectively banning abortion services coverage in the new insurance exchange we're setting up and could in fact have a broader implication of eliminating this coverage for health plans outside the exchanges. so that's really what this is about, which is why it's so important. again, we are agreeing on the elimination or the banning of federal funding for abortions other than extreme crisis circumstances. we have done that in federal law. this is about whether we go on to essentially create a situation where effectively people cannot get that coverage with their own money. the center for american progress noted that because approximately 86% of the people who are

gregg: the senator from idaho wants to speak. if i could ask the ranking member of the "help" committee a quick question? i heard the senator from montana, the senator from north dakota say that the amendment that i have pending would make it impossible for them, under this bill, to create a new entitlement programs because the medicare money which is going to be caken from medicare and used to create these new entitlement programs would not be available. my amendment says they can't do that. it says medicare cannot be used to create new entitlements which benefit seniors. it doesn't say those entitlement programs can't be created if they want to pay for them some other way. what they're saying is they don't have the idea, the courage, or the will to pay for them other than by stealing from medicare. isn't that what they're saying? mr. enzi: the senator from new hampshire is absolutely correct, and i'm glad you came down to make that point on the amendment that we're going to be voting on later this afternoon, because it's critic

we'll continue debating the motion by the senator from idaho on taxes, and we'll continue debate on thebill. under the previous order, the time until 1:00 p.m. today will be for debate only, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. beginning at 11:00 today, the republicans will control the first half-hour and the majority will control the second half-hour with continued discussions to try to find a way forward. i thank all senators. mr. president, i ask consent that the following staff of the finance committee be allowed on the floor during the debate on the health care bill. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. enzi: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: i appreciate the statistics that the senator from montana cited about how long we've been debating this and how many amendments we've done. actually, that's how few amendments we've done. and right now the majority is filibustering their own bill, and i have no idea why that's happening. we've been calling for votes on both of these amendments

currently there are five states -- idaho, kentucky, oklahoma, missouri, and north dakota -- that only allow abortion coverage through riders. guess what? the individual market does not accept this type of a policy, it doesn't exist. abortion riders severely undermine patient privacy. as a woman would be placed in the position of having to tell their employer or their insurer, and in many cases their husband's employer, that they anticipate terminating a pregnancy. also requiring women to spend additional money to have comprehensive health care coverage is discriminatory. we don't do that for services that affect men's reproductive rights. and the last point i would mention is i hear frequently from my friends on the other side of the aisle that the statements that we make -- that is, those who support the bill, underlying bill, that this allows individuals who have their current insurance to be able to maintain their current insurance, builds on what's good in our health care system. well, this amendment takes away rights that people already have. so if you have insurance today as an

the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. a senator: i have a motion at the desk to be called up. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: mr. president crapo moves to commit the bill to report the same back to the senate with changes that provide no provision of this act shall result in an increase in federal tax liability for individuals with adjusted gross income of less than $200,000 and married individuals with adjusted gross income of less than $250,000. mr. crapo: thank you, madam president. as the motion, which has just been read clearly states, this motion would be to recommit -- or to commit this bill to the finance committee. for the finance committee to do one simple thing. and that is to make the bill conform to barack obama's pledge for health care reform and who would pay for health care reform. in a speech that he has given in a number of different places, president obama has very clearly stated, "i can make a firm pledge, no family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase. not y

>> well, the states that we have now would be washington, oregon, idaho, part of montana, and part ofwyoming, but the oregon territory went up to what is now alaska, up into british columbia and other parts of canada. and polk boldly said in his inaugural address that, "we basically stake out our claim to all of oregon." the brits went crazy. the "times of london" was saying that it's going to lead to war. and a lot of americans were worried that polk was going to get us into a war. but at sort of the last minute he was, he had an iron nerve in a lot of ways, and at the last minute he offered a compromise that brought the border cross at the 49th parallel all the way to the straight of juan de fuca, where i grew-up, around there. and then down and around vancouver island, so that the british could have all of vancouver island, and that broke the logjam, the 26-year logjam, and so we got oregon. >> is it, what, "forty-nine- forty or fight"? >> "fifty-four-forty or fight." >> right. what was that -- who came-up with that slogan? >> mostly midwesterners, or people called northwesterners

i am sure this peaceful resolution that's going out, going on already because as the senator from idahopointed out because the involvement in the car companies, the stimulus, the bonus, the generational theft, this on top of that is going to give greater fuel to the fire already burning where they want real change which they were promised in the last presidential campaign and certainly did not get. >> one of the great ironies is we to be at 8:00 on the 24th when this bill passes with the 60 votes old democrat immediately following the vote is going to be a vote again all 16 democrats and only democrats raising the national debt. what an irony to put $2.5 trillion in spending of a new social and thailand program adding it to the free already huge entitlement programs that are in a process of bankrupting america, adding this to it and turning right around and increasing the debt ceiling and when they increase it is going to be -- nobody knows how much it's going to be, hundreds of billions, but then that is where we are going to last two months. they will have to come back again in februa

idaho republican offered a motion to send the bill to committee to deal with federal tax liability issueseekend and of course we'll be covering that live, the senate, on our companion network, c-span2. the house should be returning in just a few moments. live coverage here on c-span. >> waiting for the house of representatives to resume their work. they have been in recess so members could attend a meeting at the white house. the house should be back shortly to continue work on expiring tax provisions. until they return, a short interview from this morning's washington journal with ryan t. beckwith, editor of congress.org, he joins us to talk about that free website. now we will go to beckworth with the website, congress.org. we give people information. we try to give information, break it down. we also give tools so that you can write congress directly. host: this is part of cq? guest: yes, it has a lot ofocee >> we need to break away from that and take you back as the house has come back into session following their recess. live coverage on c-span. yeas and nays, adopting house resoluti

in idaho, mike crapo and james rich. in iowa, chuck grassley. in kansas, sam brownback and pat roberts. in kentucky, jim bunning and mitch mcconnell. in louisiana, david visiter. in maine, susan collins and olympia snowe. in mississippi,ed that cochran and roger wicker. in missouri, christopher bonn. in nebraska, mike johanns, in nevada john enson. in new hampshire, judd gregg. in north carolina, richard burke. in ohio, george voinovich. in oklahoma, tom coburn and james inhofe. in south carolina, jim dementhe and lindsey graham. in tennessee, alexander and bob corker. in texas, john cornyn and kay bailey hutchinson. in utah, robert bennett and orrin hatch. in wyoming, john bo rah sew and michael enby. please remember these names. these are people who have stole health care for this country -- who have staaled health care in this country. they watched as day after day, month after month, people get sick and even die because they have no health coverage. i assure each and every one of you that have done anything to obstruct health care, people wi

virtually every state is probably like idaho, where about two-thirds of the money the state spends goes to education. if you were going to try to balance a budget you either have to raise taxes or you have to dig deep into education to make cuts to balance the budget. states don't want to do this. finally let me conclude with this and say that the availability is another important issue. the states are doing various things to help people who are in this category. but if you bring in the federal program and increase the number of people that are on medicaid it is very difficult to find providers who are willing to take medicaid patients and that is what you are sentencing the people of the state to do in addition to causing these serious, serious financial problems in the state. thank you very much. >> governor barbour. >> do you think it may be putting more people into medicaid bill might help state budgets with less bad debts at hospitals and for medical care that is knell insured? >> no. >> why not? >> first of all, what we are going to end up with is a huge unfunded mandate that is t

the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. mr. crapo: i ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 20 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. crapo: before i begin my remarks, i'd like to yield a couple of minutes to my friend and colleague to the senator from oklahoma, as to whether americans are presented viable and meaningful alternatives. mr. coburn: the majority whip realizes that there's an alternative bill. there are four alternative bills out there. they weren't given a hearing. they didn't have the resources, they didn't have the c.b.o. that would score them. but outside sources on a bill that would guarantee, if you have what you have now and you like it, you can keep it. has absolutely zero tax increases on american families. no increases on taxes on american business. lowers the cost of everybody's health insurance premiums. covers preexisting conditions, period. protects seniors's high quality care an choices. increased personal control over your own health care. no medicaid expansion, but, in fact, puts

alexander: the senator from idaho is here.we both had the experience of being governors, as did the presiding officer in her state of new hampshire. but we were talking the other day -- and i hope you don't mind me repeating that. i worked with the democratic legislature the whole time i was governor, but what -- what we always did on anything important was we sat down together, we had our different positions, we fought during elections, but we we -- we worked things out, and we didn't go forward unless we found a way to agree. and that -- that meant i usually didn't get my way. i got some of my way, but i had to take into account that someone else -- in this case, the democratic legislature in tennessee -- might have a different idea. sometimes it was a better idea. and i would ask the senator from idaho, we talk a lot about bipartisanship around here, but the reason for bipartisanship is that these big bills are tough bills. we're expected to make difficult decisions. are we going to reduce the growth of medicare, are we goi

the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. a senator: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. crapo: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that two staffers from my office, rachel johnson and amanda critchfield be granted floor privileges for the remainder of h.r. 3590. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. crapo: thank you, mr. president. i believe i have 20 minutes remaining, correct? the presiding officer: the senator from idaho has 17 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. crapo: i ask that the -- that i be notified when i have two minutes remaining. the presiding officer: the senator will be notified. mr. crapo: we will refer my bill to the finance committee and have it comply with the president's promise with regard to taxes. as i said a number of times on the floor, this bill does not correct so many of the problems that we need to deal with in health care. it drives up the cost of health care and premiums, not down. yet raises hundreds o

the distinguished senator from idaho and former governor has not spoken. and then i wondered if the distinguished senior senator from new hampshire might close us out in the remaining time just to bring this all to a -- to a climactic conclusion. the senator from utah. mr. hatch: i have really appreciated all of the comments of my colleagues. you're right on. you know exactly what you're talking about. if this bill becomes law, the congressional budget office estimates that by the year 2019, 54 million nonelderly, nondisabled americans will be locked into medicaid. think about that. americans with incomes below the 133% of the federal poverty level are not eligible for tax credits to purchase private coverage through the exchange. just take a few minutes more. i would like to read a part of a letter i received from our utah governor, gary herbert, who has worked in almost every job from local government right on up to governor of the state. about the medicaid expansions included in the reid bill. my governor is deeply concerned about the impact the propose

senator from new hampshire, the senator from georgia, the senator from florida, and the senator from idaho -- wyoming be included -- they all run together out there -- be included in the colloquy if that -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: mr. president, very quickly, i just want to remind my colleagues that the aarp continues to be referred to as endorsing this legislation and endorsing it and supporting and opposing amendments that would have done things that they in the past have supported, so i would just urge my colleagues to look at this woaft -- one of my favorite sources of information, opinion, "the washington post," but not advertised in this lobbying campaign have been aarp's substantial earnings from insurance royalties and the potential benefits that would come its way from many other reforms. so we have been looking into that. and guess what? the aarp endorsement of more than $400 billion in medicare savings, endorsement. according to its own financial statements from 2008 aarp generated 38% of its its $1.1 billion in revenue or more than had 14 million i

a community center -- now, this is half a million dollars for a community center in custer county, idaho. the population is 4,342. $100,000 for the cleveland municipal school district. $100,000 for a school district. they just picked one and gave them $100,000. $800,000 for jazz at the lincoln center. $300,000 -- if you don't like jazz at the lincoln center, then go to carnegie hall. there is $300,000 for music programs there. i mentioned the rural bus program. $400,000 for orchestra iowa music education, cedar rapids, iowa, to support a music education program. $2,500,000 for the fayette county schools in lexington, kentucky, for a foreign language program. $100,000 to the cleveland municipal school district in cleveland, ohio, to improve math and language skills through music education. $700,000 for the national marine fisheries service for the project, quote -- "shrimp fishing industry effort research continuation. "$1.6 million to build a tram between the huntsville botanical garden and the marshall flight center in alabama. how many places need need $1.6 million to build a tram? $25

minnick of idaho. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be countbe counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: the yeas are 208. the nays are 223. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 36 as modified printed in house report 111-370, offered by the gentleman from alabama, mr. bachus, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in house report number 11

idaho, steve you're opposed to the senate healthcare bill. why is that?t wanted to point out there was two votes this morning the vote to raise the national debt limit almost 3 trillion dollars which is just shameful. shamefulo describe it. just completely shameful - we're getti'g more and more - hello? host: to a total of about 3 trillion. i think 290 billion. is that correct? they'll come back to raise it again next month. caller: yes, the point is it's totally shameful that even with, their leader president barack obama was saying recently that we cannot spend the money like it's monopoly money. the senators are not listening to their own leaders telling them that we cannot keep spending money like this. we have to start acting responsible and there's no responsibility at all in the present reader ship in the capital. >> so steve, it's a cost concern for you? why you're a posted to? it caller: i think the whole - the t tempered it up with all kinds of spending. hundred million for this and that. thqv had to bribe their own party people and the way that

general aviation manufacturers association for 19 years, died in his home on november 25 in boise, idahoy of us in this chamber recall that he was the driving force behind the general aviation revitalization act, which altered the liability of small aircraft manufacturers and led to a reinvig ration of the small aircraft industry in the united states. after he retired from direct leadership of the association, he took on a new project, the be a pilot campaign that was designated to increase the population of student pilots in the united states. it was a great success. not only in enlarging the number of citizens capable of flying light aircraft but also in providing a technological boost to the manufacturing industry that rilted in the design and con-- resulted in the design and construction of new aircraft. he was part of the national aviation civil organization. he served in that post as ambassador through 2004. and he was one of three ambassadors to be reappointed by president george w. bush. his reappointment was indicative of the bipartisan approach that he brought to all of his end

idaho falls, judy, you are unsure. caller: i am very unsure. i have a son in this fight. he came home from afghanistan three months ago. if this goes as obama proposes, he will no doubt go back again. it seems to me that the proposal but obama is making is dependent on the afghans and then doing their share. i have very little faith that they can or will. yes, i see the importance of following through with at least a good, honest effort to give them a chance. i do not know what to say. i'm up in the air. host: what does your son do and how much contact does he have with afghan civilians? caller: his e is a medic. he meets a lot of afghan civilians, but he does not speak the language, so he does not know what they say. host: does he get the feeling that the afghans interpret what he is trying to do and what the u.s. military is trying to do? caller: what he says is some of them are very appreciative, and others are very passed oissed of because they gobbled it. host: in the foreign section of usa today this morning -- they're both with the brookings institution. host: back

a community center -- now, this is half a million dollars for a community center in custer county, idaho the population is 4,342. $100,000 for the cleveland municipal school district. $100,000 for a school district. they just picked one and gave them $100,000. $800,000 for jazz at the lincoln center. $300,000 -- if you don't like jazz at the lincoln center, then go to carnegie hall. there is $300,000 for music programs there. i mentioned the rural bus program. $400,000 for orchestra iowa music education, cedar rapids, iowa, to support a music education program. $2,500,000 for the fayette county schools in lexington, kentucky, for a foreign language program. $100,000 to the cleveland municipal school district in cleveland, ohio, to improve math and language skills through music education. $700,000 for the national marine fisheries service for the project, quote -- "shrimp fishing industry effort research continuation. "$1.6 million to build a tram between the huntsville botanical garden and the marshall flight center in alabama. how many places need need $1.6 million to build a tram? $250

idaho, steve you're opposed to the senate healthcare bill. why is that? just wanted to point out there was two votes this morning the vote to raise the national debt limit almost 3 trillion dollars which is just shameful. shamefulo describe it. just completely shameful - we're getti'g more and more - hello? host: to a total of about 3 trillion. i think 290 billion. is that correct? they'll come back to raise it again next month. caller: yes, the point is it's totally shameful that even with, their leader president barack obama was saying recently that we cannot spend the money like it's monopoly money. the senators are not listening to their own leaders telling them that we cannot keep spending money like this. we have to start acting responsible and there's no responsibility at all in the present reader ship in the capital. >> so steve, it's a cost concern for you? why you're a posted to? it caller: i think the whole - the t tempered it up with all kinds of spending. hundred million for this and that. thqv had to bribe their own party people and the way

wicker: let me tell my friend from idaho about some courageous democrats. when the house version of this was being considered at the other end of this building, a number of democrats stepped forward and said i -- i can't vote for it. it was very close. they have a huge majority, 40 votes over there. as a matter of fact, one member of the house today basically said i -- i really can't take it anymore. he switched parties. the member from alabama is now joining the republican conference. but there are a number of loyal democrats who have no intention of switching parties, and they have stepped forward and said i can't vote for it. don't count me in on this. now, bart stupak is a representative, a courageous pro-life representative from michigan, and he did vote for the bill. and i don't impugn his motives. he did what he thought was right, but before he voted for it, he made sure that legislation was included in the house version to make sure that the hyde language which has been the law of the land for almost two decades was included. and here's what represe

senator from new hampshire, the senator from georgia, the senator from florida, and the senator from idaho -- wyoming be included -- they all run together out there -- be included in the colloquy if that -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: mr. president, very quickly, i just want to remind my colleagues that the aarp continues to be referred to as endorsing this legislation and endorsing it and supporting and opposing amendments that would have done things that they in the past have supported, so i would just urge my colleagues to look at this woaft -- one of my favorite sources of information, opinion, "the washington post," but not advertised in this lobbying campaign have been aarp's substantial earnings from insurance royalties and the potential benefits that would come its way from many other reforms. so we have been looking into that. and guess what? the aarp endorsement of more than $400 billion in medicare savings, endorsement. according to its own financial statements from 2008 aarp generated 38% of its its $1.1 billion in revenue or more than had 14 million i

joyce joins us from twin falls, idaho.ç caller: good morning. host: you are up early today.rm. watching this health care bill go through the senate on c-span, when people talk about how partisan the republicans were, if they had watched those hearings from the doctors to the insurance companies, in my opinion it became obvious that one group was sticking up for pharmaceuticals and the other for the insurance industry. they were not really sticking up for us. yes, of course,ç we were in the but the primary interests were the lobbyists, the groups that were hroeulobbying for what thee going to get out of it. and the deals behind the doors, the closed door sessions that occurr occurred, the promise that we were going to see all of this in front of c-span, knnone of that real materializ izizematerializç this has notç been an open and honest debate. a lot of the deals were made behind closed doors. you can say it was because the republicans were being obstructionist, but how could any be obstructionist if they were not even there? i'm for term limits. i think career politicians

i just wanted to say that a few days ago, there was a lady from idaho that called about how cold herd fall had been and that the crops were not growing. i know how cold your summers were up there. but apparently you don't know that we were the second hottest summer in our history in austin and san antonio. it broke every record back to 1926, and the next few hottest summers were very recent as well, and so just once you go to look around at other parts of the country and not just be so blinded by your own little area, that's all i wanted to say. host: next caller, diana, independent line in indiana. caller: good morning. i appreciate you taking my call. ma'am, these records that they keep referring to, they have only been kept for the past 100, 120 years. we have to go back farther and speak to the arcologists and people of that nature, because of what our weather is about. this is about elected officials and money. we do have to filter our waste. oil companies shouldn't have open flames and things of that nature or throwing waste into our water, but i don't believe that we should lo

host: idaho, on the line for the report -- on the republican line for james hansen.caller: i just heard from this gentleman the most blatant, ignored propaganda against the catholic church that i have heard from anyone in the long, long time on the public airways. i would just like to say that we are farmers and we have had such a cold fall this year that we cannot even get -- our wheat is not coming up out of the ground and replanted earlier than -- wheat planted earlier than usual. and personally, his information about the so-called global warming and they have changed it to climate change, of course we're going to have climate change. but really -- can we really have to global warming? can it really be measured? i think this man is doing a lot of propaganda. i am dismayed at his comments. host: dr. hansen, one last comment before we wrap up. go ahead. guest: with regard to religion, and baptized into the latter-day saints church, but i happened to fall in love with a catholic and i married one. and just by coincidence, both of our children married catholics as wel

currently there are five states, idaho, kentucky, oklahoma, missouri and north dakota that only allow abortion coverage through reuters. guess what? the individual market does not accept this type of a policy. it doesn't exist. abortion writers severely undermine the patient privacy. as a woman would be placed in the position of having to tell their employer or insurer and many cases has been an employer that they anticipate terminating a pregnancy. also requiring women to spend additional money to have comprehensive health care coverage is discriminatory we don't do that for services that affect men's reproductive rights. and the last point i would mention is i hear frequently from friends on the other side of the ogle that the statements we make, that is those that support the bill, the underlying bill, that this allows individuals who have current insurance to be able to maintain their current insurance build on what's good in the health care system. this amendment takes away their rights people already have. so if you have insurance today as an individual that covers abortion serv

the idaho republican's amendment was defeated, as expected. there was a max baucus alternative, a sort of sense of the senate that does not really affect things either way. i think what we are looking for for harry reid is can he get to the endgame, begin the closure process by the end of the week. it will take the democrats about six days or so from the beginning of cloture to the final formal vote on the bill and if they want to get out of here by wednesday, december 23, the cloture process needs to begin on friday. it is still a little unclear but that is what it looks like. >> a twitter message. who is actually an independent. sandwich, mass., independent caller. caller: one thing everybody needs to know and i don't hear talk about, real clear politics, health care, average of six major polls, four, 39.7%, against, 54.2%. that rally yesterday was for real. people don't like this. that is just an average. the cnn opinion research poll, 61% against, 36% for. you can put all of your seminar callers on c-span calling and saying they support th

the presiding officer: the senator from idaho is recognized. a senator: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the vote that -- referred to by senator harkin take place at 2:00 p.m. on january 20, 2010, when we return. the presiding officer: is there objection? there are objections. mr. vitter: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana is recognized. mr. vitter: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that this first block of time on the minority side be divided equally dweebetween the following senat: myself, senators coburn, thune, sessions, kyl and ensign. the presiding officer: without objection, it is so ordered. mr. vitter: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i'd ask for order on the floor before i begin speaking. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. vitter: mr. president, i just ask that time not be counted against me until the floor is in order. the presiding officer: the senator will not be charged with that. the senator from louisiana is recognized. mr. vitter: thank you, mr. president. mr. presiden