how controversial is this in the state of illinois? >> well, it depends on what region you're talking about. to have all the press conference you're talking about up on the hill where a string of republican members who banded together to protest this. you also have a few potential in the democratic party line of support on this. there's a big governor and senate race there. i would say it's broken down into some partisan divides but if you look at the northwest part of the state where there are people who will get jobs who need them, there is no controversy over this. this is... this has not become a hot button issue in the state so far. there are a lot of concerns about safety. i think that is the job of the, you know, of the white house and supporters. what people probably do not realize until today when the white house said that they do now intend to have these military tribunals held at thompson it remains to be seen what the reaction is to that development. >> warner: lynn sweet, chicago sun times. thank you so much. >> thank you.

i might add that furthermore, senator durbin of illinois, the distinguished senator from illinois, cited this same c.b.o. letter in order to claim that the tort reform measures supported by many on my side of the aisle would cause more people to die. give me a break. i can only assume that he's referring to the one paragraph in the c.b.o. letter that addresses the effect of tort reform on health outcomes. in that single paragraph, the c.b.o. referred to three studi studies. one of these studies indicated that a reduction in malpractice lawsuits would lead to an increase in mortality rates. one of the three. the other -- other filed that there would be no negative effects on health outcomes and no negative effects could be expected. apparently omitting studies that disagree with your conclusion is becoming common practice these days on the floor. now in a speech earlier today the distinguished senator from illinois also discounted the prominence of defensive medicine in our health care system saying only that -- quote -- "some doctors" unquote perform unnecessary and inappropriate procedu

convicted and now incarcerated in marion, illinois in southern illinois. i heard not one word of criticism when this took place under the previous administration. the belief was this man had to answer for the crimes he was charged with and served time in our prison system as a result of it. never, not once, not one time did i ever hear any congressman of either political party say boy, it's unsafe to try him in peoria or it's unsafe to incarcerate him in southern illinois. it's never been said. what happens to these people when they go into our super max prisons where no one has ever escaped? they disappear as they should. they're where they ought to be. isolated in a way from causing harm to anyone. when president obama was looking for an alternative to guantanamo we came forward. one of the mayors of a small town in illinois, thompson illinois, just a couple hundred people living there, wrote to the governor of illinois and to me said i've got a big prison that the state built, never opened. built in 2001, it has a capacity of several thousand prisoners

schakowsky of illinois. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 964, the gentlewoman from illinois, ms. schakowsky, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from illinois. ms. schakowsky: thank you, madam chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i want to thank representative titus for joining me in offering this important amendment to make sure that the new consumer financial protection agency has authority to regulate reverse mortgages. it is a proposal that is supported by the aarp. reverse mortgages are unique mortgage products that allow homeowners over age 62 to borrow against their homes to receive a cash or line of credit. the loan is paid back when the homeowner dies or sells the home. in the past three years more than 335,000 federal insured reverse mortgages have been issued to seniors. unfortunately, all is not well in the reverse mortgage market. an october report by the national consumer law center found many of the abusive practice

how did the admistration decide on this facility illinois? >> well, talk about having a home state advantage. that would be . the objections in so of the other stat, michigan, kansas earlier in the running. when thedministration got serious abt this in november , latectober, the path for illinois was jt cleared for them. senator rbin, the senior senatofrom illinois, number two man in the senate, democric governor were champions of theroject. so werthe people from thompson whichou just showed. therwas just an easy glide path forcquisition of this little useprison. >> warner: when administrati officials sathis is going to be super secur how secure? mean, what extra measures e they taking? >> they' going to build another serity wall around e prison. the prison alreadyas built as a maximum-securitprison. they have a whole st of upgrades tt they're going to do to put even more security and more cstruction around e complex than what they have n. warner: and theefense department will actually r that part of the prin, i understand. >> right. this is

and now incarcerated in marion, illinois and southern illinois.ot one word of criticism when this took place under the previous administration. the belief was this man had to answer currency was charged with and serve time in our prison as a result. never, not once did i ever hear any congressman of either political party say boy, it's unsafe to try him in illinois or it's unsafe to incarcerate him and southern illinois. it's never been said. what happens to these people when they go into our super max prisons where no one has ever escaped they disappear, as they should, or were they ought to be, isolated a waste and from causing harm from anyone. president obama was looking for an alternative to guantÁnamo one of the mayors of a small town in illinois, thompson, illinois, just several hundred people living there, wrote to the governor of our state into me and said i've got a big old prison, state built a never been opened. else it did in 2001. it has a capacity of several thousand prisoners in the state could never afford to open it. and we had h

to open up for illinois criminals. because a few years down the line the people of eleanor will have to build another facility, which will cost 200 million up to $300 million to house the criminals. host: the number is -- the numbers of on-screen for congressman manzullo. talking about obama's decision to move guantanamo detainees to the prison in his district. do you share the safety concerns that have been pouring out at least from the republican side? guest: the safety concern that coming from everywhere. you would be surprised the democrats i've talked to who are breathing a sigh of relief that this facility is not located in the district. let me give you the name of free democrats that don't like the fact that gtmo -- it is not being closed, the moves. even the aclu is being upset with that because the personnel man, operations, everything going on in gtmo will occur in thomson, illinois. governors sibelius, when she was governor of kansas, fought and won a battle with the president of the united states and subseq

, which you know, he's from illinois so you draw your own conclusions.st: speaking of the people in illinois this is in the "wall street journal" this morning with the headline guantanamo detainees welcome here. expecting an economic bonanza. talk the waining about the maximum security prison and there is some nervousness about the plan in the article by joe barret. but most peo(le are eager for the 3,000 jobs the facility brings to an area where unemployment is about 7 pq)cent. read more about the town where they hope to move the guantanamo bay detain theees in this morning cash "washington journal". good morning. caller: good question. what is accomplished? i don't see anything accomplished. i think these are murderers terrorists and they are soldiers. they're soldiers that hide themselves and they should be tried militarily and i don't think that they should bring the case to new york because every muslim in the world will have it's eyes on it and every child will be out the how horrible we are and these people are going to have a method of speaking t

and you know what the process was i say to the from illinois? people sat down at the table together when they were writing the legislation, when they were writing the legislation. now, i'm a member of the health committee, okay? and you know what the process was. i say to the senator of illinois because i'm on the committee a bill was brought before the committee without a single -- and senator enzi will attest to this -- without a single period of negotiation where he sat down together with the chairman of the committee were they said what's your input into this legislation? now we have many hours, many hours of amendments in the committee, all of which were any real substance or rejected on a partyline vote. i have to tell the senator from illinois he can say all he wants to bet there has been efforts to open this up to bipartisanship. there has not and my experience here in the senate, i know how you frame it a partisan bill and that has not been the process that has been pursued by the majority. and i understand what 60 votes mean. but in al

the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr.urbin: mr. president, it's my understanding that we have gone over the original allocation of time and that senator mccain is coming to the floor. and we will of course offer to the minority side whatever extra time we have used so that there will be a like amount available to them. and i'll make every effort to shorten my remarks so that when senator mccain comes -- the presiding officer: the majority has not exceeded its time. it has 12 minutes remaining on the khrofpblgt. mr. durbin: misin -- on the clock. mr. durbin: sorry. yesterday, the majority leader propounded a unanimous consent request to have four votes with respect to the health care bill. the republican leader rejected the request. they needed time to review an amendment. therefore, mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent that following a period of morning business today the senate resume consideration of h.r. 3590 for the purpose of considering the pending crapo amendment to commit and the dorgan amendment number 2793

and thank the people of illinois at this important time. in taking this action, we are removing from terrorist organizations around the world a recruiting tool that guantanamo has come to symbolize, in recruiting terrorists and potential terrorists, warriors of the future that would harm our nation and see to alter the way we live. we think by taking this action, guantanamo will soon be closed. and that we know that this facility will be extremely secure. we also know the military personnel will staff the security and the people who run the security also know how to do this in a safe and secure way. this is going to be a facility that will be very safe. it will pose no danger to the community. we will take all steps necessary to maintain that the security of the people of illinois and the surrounding neighborhoods and enhance our national security. thank you very much to you senator and governor for stepping forward on behalf of the people of illinois. we are most grateful to you. >> this group is said -- [inaudible] >> would he say the sam

i'm the governor of illinois.ou have seen the letter today from the secretary of state and the secretary of defense and the attorney general and the secretary of homeland securitiened the head of the bureau of national security indicating that thompson, illinois, has been selected to be the prison in our state, the state of illinois, the land of lincoln to incarcerate detainees from guantanamo bay as well as to be a site of a new federal prison that will be located in western illinois. we believe in security and safety at all times. this will be the most secure prison in america and no one has ever escaped from a federal prison. the security enhancements which will be put at the thompson prison will make it the most secure maximum security prison in our country of all time. we think that is very important talmts to protect the safety of people of our state as well as our whole country and it is also important to note that any detainees that are going to be incars rated at this prison will only be allowed to speak

dale lives in blue mount, illinois. the mazure family is well known in my part of illinois. years i visited with them in their homes and their hometowns. blue mount is a little town south of decatur, illinois. everyone knows one another. they're all neighbors and friends. most of them go to church together and have the community picnics, great, small town in midwestern america. there are a lot of farmers there, retired factory workers from the caterpillar plants in decatur, and a lot of folks who like living in a small town. this used to be a thriving area, it has struggled with changes in manufacturing and changes in our economy. but it is a close-knit community. dale mazere lives there. he was born 61 years ago, a hard worker at the cat plant in decatur for 32 years. he decided to retire 11 years based on a simple calculation, he was told he would have a modest pension and his health care costs would be covered in his union contract. in the time since he retired, his expectations haven't been met, a difficult economy, new contract negotiations in decatur, resulted in the e

this is a gentleman who lives in evanston, illinois, named david buckley. evanston is a great town north of chicago. i enjoy going up there and have a lot of friends there. david had insurance when he needed it, but it ended up costing him his financial health. he's a freelance videographer. he was paying $4,500 a year for health insurance when he was health insurance when he was $4,500 a year for health insurance when he was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 48. david buckley had a surgery followed by chemotherapy radiation. he managed to rid his body of cancer. but that battle ended and another battle began. david's insurance company agreed to cover his cancer treatment but only after three solid months of investigations of his application for health insurance to determine whether they could find in that application a pre-existing condition, which would eliminate any responsibility to pay for david's bills. they couldn't. after covering his cancer treatment costs, they did the next thing that insurance companies do, they raised his premiums and they did

not senator from illinois. mr. roberts: that's a question. if he could ghief some assurance -- give me some assurance that that could be considered, but that hasn't happened with the situation we are. i'm done. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. mr. durbin: if the senator from minnesota would yield for a kind of -- kind of a question. mr. franken: certainly. mr. durbin: i wonder if you're aware that we've been debating health care reform for 19 days and in that time there were four republican amendments to change the bill, six motions to commit the bill back to commit, stop the -- committee, stop the debate on the floor and that is the sum total of all of the effort on the republican side to date. we don't choose the amendments, the leadership chooses it on the republican side of the aisle. i ask the senator from minnesota, are you aware of it? mr. franken: i am now. i was aware of the general shape of things which is the sort of dearth of substantive amendments offered and sort of the delay, yes, then i'm aware. thank you. mr. president,

this next case in illinois involves children.

the presiding officer: the senator from illinois used 15 minutes. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent for five additional minutes. mr. brown: would the senator yield? thank you. i thank senator durbin and senator whitehouse's question and his recollection. back ten years ago when it passed the insurance companies said we will save taxpayers 5%. as soon as they did that, as soon as president bush was elected in 2000, i remember they started lobbying congress for more insurance subsidies, it sort of peaked in 2003 with the prescription drug bill giveaway where drug companies and insurance companies got huge government subsidies. they formed a doughnut hole because seniors ended up paying a lot more so the drugs and insurance companies could get subsidies. that's when the tax was increased, that $90 tax, as i recall. am i right about that? originally it was actually a good thing for taxpayers. but then during the bush years, the insurance company lobby was able to increase that tax on the other 80% or 85% of medicare beneficiaries, the people that were in

that's a lot of fraudulent ballots, even by the standards of florida or illinois, this is cheating on a global scale. he got caught and he got away with it. i'm not sure how illegitimate his government looks in the eyes of afghans, but it looks illegitimate in the eyes of americans and of our european and noneuropean isaf partners. this administration has to bear some of the responsibility for this. this didn't happen on george bush's watch, it happened on its watch. its behavior towards the afghan election was a little bit like the famous deer in the headlights, it could see the problem coming but seem mess merized until it was run over. here again, we don't have a time machine and go back and fix it.

the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, i thank the majority leader for designating haft of the time between now and 1:-- half of the time between now and 1:30 that i should control. and i would first like to thank all the people that are here, the staff and pages. this has been a tough session for many but tougher for many of them than some members of the senate because they have had to wait until the very last senator of either political party has finished for the day many times before they go home, and i was reflecting on that yesterday afternoon in the midst of one of the toughest historic snowstorms here in washington, d.c., that hundreds of staff people were waiting at their post, doing their jobs on a saturday in the middle of a snowstorm when virtually every business around washington was closing down.

president, i'll yield 16 minutes to the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i thank the chairman of the finance committee. and i want to renew my invitation to senator coburn of oklahoma to please come to the floor but to do it soon before my time expires. i called his office to make sure that he knew i was trying to reach him. i've spoke own the floor to alert the republican side that i wanted to ask him to explain a statement which he made on the floor earlier today. the statement by senator coburn of oklahoma said, "what the american people ought to pray is that somebody can't make the vote tonight. that's what they ought to pray." i am troubled by this statement. i want to give the senator from oklahoma an opportunity to explain it, because the simple reality is that i don't think we should be wishing misfortune on any of our senate colleagues on either side of the aisle. i don't know if this was an innocent statement or something that he now wants to clarify, but as stated, it troubles me. it troubles me because i'm afraid it reflects the situati

in the illinois system, would that be of some guidance? >> i certainly think it is worthy of a look at the federal level. i believe the other witnesses have more knowledge than i do. >> very often when we spend federal dollars for a program, we put some standards in that program for the expenditure of those dollars. is there anything we can do, is there a federal role that we should have to try to make sure these things do not happen that we have heard happen i think there should be a federal law when we are spending dollars to hopefully help kids to make sure they are not hurt. >> one example we talked about is some sort of a registry that people can go to determine if this teacher was found by an administrative law judge guilty of at least abuse of children. there was a registry set up but we do not know if a state should do that or something national or at there is an ability to tap into that to do checks on people would be useful. for example, i am sure there are other things you can examine but that is something parents would be conce

we're creating 3000 new jobs in illinois. he is from illinois. you can draw your own conclusions.of illinois, this is from "the wall street journal." it is talking about the illinois town expecting an economic bonanza. bonanza. talk the waining about the maximum security prison and there is some nervousness about the plan in the article by joe barret. but most peo(le are eager for the 3,000 jobs the facility brings to an area where unemployment is about 7 pq)cent. read more about the town where they hope to move the guantanamo bay detain theees in this morning cash "washington journal". good morning. caller: good question. what is accomplished? i don't see anything accomplished. i think these are murderers terrorists and they are soldiers. they're soldiers that hide themselves and they should be tried militarily and i don't think that they should bring the case to new york because every muslim in the world will have it's eyes on it and every child will be out the how horrible we are and these people are going to have a method of speaking to us the terrorists will and it will be a

so with that i yield to the gentleman from illinois. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. i want to thank the gentleman from massachusetts for highlighting the research and development elements of my home state. i guess my reply is, simply casting a wider net and grabbing more procedural hostages, don't find it persuasive because i think the false premise that is the basis of this bill is the permanent -- permanence versus temporary argument. in other words, that the tax hikes that are being articulated are going to be permanent tax hikes. the tax relief that is being used, mr. speaker, to really sell the bill are going to be tell pore rare -- temporary tax relief. to the notion -- find it ironic, here we have had a job summit at the white house with the congressional leadership and the president and so much consternation that we all share about what? about the unpredictibility of our economy. and this is an opportunity, i think, for us to come together on the research and development tax credit, for example, and cast a larger vision. an

the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, those who are following the business of the senate may be surprised to find us a little after midnight in session. this is a decision made by the senate just a few hours ago to postpone the continuation of our session into a new legislative day. the purpose is parliamentary so that a motion which we have filed can be voted on. it's an important motion. it's a cloture motion. we often have them. it's a motion that closes debate on the floor and moves us forward to the consideration of the measure, and they are very few measures that the senate would consider any more important than the one we're about to vote on. in about an hour or less, we'll be voting for the defense appropriation bill. this is a bill which is critically important to our nation's defense and security, as secretary gates reminded us today in a letter to the united states senate. it's also a bill that's important to the men and women in uniform, those who are in harm's way overseas, literally ri

i tell my friend from illinois, i'll be glad to hear the senator from illinois response. i'd like to extent him that courtesy. >> i thank you, senator from arizona. i joined in those bill of rights. i and i would do it again. >> your stance was that no republican had done anything. you just said no republican had done to curb the health care industry. patients bill of rights certainly wouldn't have done that. >> my point was there are provisions in this bill which i have not heard the senator or others -- >> that's not what you said. >> well, i would just ask you do you support the health insurance reforms in this bill that give patients the right to -- against health insurance companies on preexisting conditions, for example? >> my record is very clear of advocating for patients and against the abuses of insurance ai companies aa cross the board. >> we thank you for that. >> mr. president, i ask consent to yield from the senator from oklahoma to describe the patients choice act. and the way we could truly save money and reduce the fraud abuse and waste in this system and

the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from illinois. mrs. biggert: madam speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. lynch: thank you, madam speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts yields back his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house concurrent resolution 160 as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the concurrent resolution is agreed -- the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. lynch: madam speaker, qui the call of the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. prayed -- pursuant to

the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: is there a unanimous consent or order of business at the moment? the presiding officer: there is not. mr. durbin: mr. president, i rise to speak as if in morning business. i would like to say at the outset that i respect very much my colleague from the state of kansas. he and i have worked on many things together. in fact, we have traveled together to africa, a memorable trip for us visiting the republic of congo and rwanda. i thank him for that. i know he is preparing for another public career in the state of kansas with the blessing of kansas voters. we do disagree on health care reform, aeupbd know that he's -- and i know that he's had a chance to explain his point of view. i will say that i disagree with many of his conclusions about what we are about, what we are trying to accomplish. this is the bill that is before us when we return to the health care reform debate. it is 2,074 pages long. itthe house of representatives spent a similar period of time to come up with thei

the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: how much time is remaining on the majority, democratic side? the presiding officer: 19 minutes. mr. durbin: thank you. i'd like to thank the senator from tennessee. although we disagree on this issue, i respect him very much, and i am just hoping -- maybe it's a false hope, but i'm hoping that before the end of the day that he will come join us and make this a truly bipartisan effort. we have tried -- we have reached out to the other side of the aisle for almost one calendar year with lengthy hearings in the "help" committee, in the finance committee, inviting republican senators to come join us, and there were times when there was kind of a tease that was going on where they would come in and offer amendments and the amendments would be adopted in the "help" committee. i think over 100 republican amendments were adopted, and we felt they're coming our way. we're finally going to have a bipartisan bill, but then the bill was called and not a single republican senator would vot

the gentleman from illinois. mr. rush: mr. speaker, i'm going to close so i will close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from florida. mr. stearns: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from illinois. mr. rush: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, as has been noted and is obvious here, h.r. 2221 is a bipartisan bill that is the result of a plausible process. it started in the 109th congress by representative stearns as the lead sponsor when his party was in the majority. it was voted out of full committee by unanimous recorded vote this year it was introduced by myself as lead sponsor and it was voted out of full committee by voice vote. compromises were made on all sides to produce a good piece of legislation. i want to thank both members and staff on both sides of the aisle to work on this -- for their work on this bill. i want to thank mr. stearns and mr. martin, mr. radanovich and ms. schakows

the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i'm not sure i would support or oppose the amendment offered by the senator from indiana, but this matter has been on the floor for three days. there is a pending amendment from your side of the aisle from senator mikulski on this issue. i would hope you have approached her to incorporate your language. i don't know if you have approached senator mikulski, but at this point we think we have some effort being made at fairness on both sides, that there will be democratic amendments and republican amendments both offered, mikulski, murkowski and mccain and bennet, so i would object because i believe we have the basis for a fair agreement at this point. the presiding officer: objection is heard. is there okay to the original request? mr. vitter: mr. president, reserving my right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. visitor: again, -- mr. vitter: again, i'm very disappointed to hear that. senator murkowski has incorporated similar language. i was hoping

her name is judy and works in a hotel in marion, illinois. she is a hostess in their morning for the free continental breakfast, sweet ladiy, big smile on her face, early 60's. she came up to me and said, senator, i'm sure sure this health care reform is good for me. i said, judy did you have health insurance? and she said, no, i haven't had health insurance. i'm a few years from medicare. i said, how much money do you make? she said, well, they cut our hours at the hotel because of the economy. i work about 30 hours a week now and i make about $8 an hour. and she'd said there isn't a person working here on the hotel staff that has health insurance. i said, does that mean your income each year is abou about $12,000. i guess, she said. it's the only job she has. i get by on it. i can't imagine how. she said, i get back on that. i checked into it and i saw her the next morning before i checked out, i said, judy, under this bill that we have, because you make less than $24,000 a year as an individual, you will qualify for medicaid. you will have

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, 151,942. washington, 225,918. west vi

illinois got 23 at the break. in the second, gordon, son of michael.e michael a little bit there, using the window. 88-53 the final, illinois a winner. >>> we're not done here on "the final score," more football. patriots look to keep their lead in the afc east. ♪ energetic music geico powersports. insurance for your car and the other stuff that moves you. >>> welcome back. titans hosting the 1-11 rams. nfl leading returner chris johnson doing his thing. look at johnson run. 39 yards to the touchdown. now his eighth straight 100 yard rushing game. later, first quarter, vince young dumps it off. who's he looking for? yeah, why not, chris johnson. going to do the rest himself, going 6 of yards, weaving through traffic. first player in franchise history to go over 2,000 yard in a single season. three touchdowns for johnson if the game. bad news for tennessee, young plucked out of the pocket, scramble, going to pick up 44 yards on this one. long in front of his career. he comes up lame on the play. left with a hamstring injury. titans blow out the rams 44-

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from illinois is recognized for one minute. mr. hare: the employee doesn't want another benefits check. they want a job. i am proud to say on friday i introduced h.r. 4290, the new deal for new economy act, which will help retain millions of jobs. it will reach that goal by investing $60 billion per year over three years in tarp money. first, it would invest heavily in the creation of public works and public interest jobs through the creation of the new economy grant program. the jobs could be filled by persons of all skill levels, specifically in the areas of public works jects on the state and -- projects on the state and local levels. secondly, it will provide a direct line of money to help alleviate the financial woes. it will allow the expansion of our current work force and will be channeled to local governments through the grant programs for cops hiring and for safer grants for our

frank: i yield to the gentleman from illinois. the chair: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for four minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman, i rise in strong support -- mr. frank: the gentleman -- temporarily i move the committee do now rise. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts -- mr. frank: i move the committee do now rise. the chair: the question is on the motion that the committee rise. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ace have it. the motion is say -- the ayes have. it the motion is adopted. accordingly, the committee rises. the speaker pro tempore: mr. chairman. the chair: mr. speaker, the committee -- the committee of the whole house on the state of the union has had under consideration h.r. 4173, directs me to report that it has come to no resolution throne. the speaker pro tempore: the chairman of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee has had under consideration h.r. 4173 and has come to no resolution thereon. for what purpose

not senator from illinois. mr. roberts: that's a question.f he could ghief some assurance -- give me some assurance that that could be considered, but that hasn't happened with the situation we are. i'm done. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. mr. durbin: if the senator from minnesota would yield for a kind of -- kind of a question. mr. franken: certainly. mr. durbin: i wonder if you're aware that we've been debating health care reform for 19 days and in that time there were four republican amendments to change the bill, six motions to commit the bill back to commit, stop the -- committee, stop the debate on the floor and that is the sum total of all of the effort on the republican side to date. we don't choose the amendments, the leadership chooses it on the republican side of the aisle. i ask the senator from minnesota, are you aware of it? mr. franken: i am now. i was aware of the general shape of things which is the sort of dearth of substantive amendments offered and sort of the delay, yes, then i'm aware. thank you. mr. president, i

the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, if i might engage in a colloquy with the minority leader, perhaps there would be a better understanding of his unanimous consent request before i make my final decision. i don't know. i have to ask unanimous consent. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i'd like to ask if the -- as i understand it now, when it comes -- let's set aside crapo and baucus and assume that there is commonlyity on that. as i understand it now, the dorgan amendment which would allow for the importation of pharmaceuticals and drugs into the united states has been offered on our side as well as a lautenberg amendment which has some history in the senate. it was previously offered by senator cochran of mississippi and establishes a standard for certification of safety of the drugs coming in. now, could the senator from kentucky describe to me what the new amendment, mccain amendment 3200 does? mr. mcconnell: fortunately, senator mccain is on the floor at this time, and i would like to

it was assumed that a group of people in illinois in the district would trade off of the district butmain in washington. even if his colleagues in illinois had wanted him to, his opposition to polk had destroyed his prospect of having another term. >> very little time to get into the mexican war. what did he have to do with that and what was the end result? >> when we end next -- and nexn texas, mexico thought of that as war. now we have texas and mexico withdraws the ambassador. this leads to huge tensions between the united states and mexico. he sends an army to the rio grande. a skirmish breaks out. 11 americans are killed. he goes to congress and said they us build american blood among the american soil. american blood among the american soil. the mexicans were are proud people and would not negotiate. they never won a battle but did not negotiate until the very end. the war dragged on for two years and became a major issue. do you remember how much it costs this country? >> i have it in the fall. -- book. i think it might be in the neighborhood of 17,000 lives, many through disea

the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, there's a saying in iowa and in illinois that any old mule can kick down a barn door, but it takes a carpenter to build one. i would modify that slightly and say any old elephant can kick down a barn door, but it takes a carpenter to build one. we are debating health care reform. the american people are following this closely because it affects every single one of us in this room. everyone in the gallery and everyone watching. this is one of the few things we'll debate which you can bet will affect you and your family personally. it's rare that an issue comes before us at this gravity and an issue that reaches every single person in america. it may be the biggest single issue we have ever tackled on the floor of the united states senate. in terms of its scope and its impact on the future of every single one of us. so for more than a year a lot of people have been working hard to come up with a piece of legislation that will have a positive impact on health care in america.

next up is david on our line for -- i'm sorry, on our line for republicans calling out of peoria, illinoisgo ahead. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> what was interesting is on several notes when president obama went to china and obviously didn't even bring up human rights and yet it's position turd that it's one of its key focuses on administration. and again with opportunities in iran, i mean, iran already calls the united states the great say the an. they already want to kill us. and so i -- the great satan. so i guess at one point does kind of lip service to human rights to actually do something. it's not so much me being critical of the administration. but when you see your governmental leaders say one thing and then not do anything and you say you're taking a soft approach, a quiet approach, well, who cares? because it's not effective. and so it seems cowardly in my mind. and so you know when you see this going on you just wonder, you know, it's more lip service than anything. and then if something does happen then you guys will take credit even though you didn't do a thing. >> mi

president, the senator from illinois is still on the floor. last week i pointed out the plans that republicans have introduced right here. the only way that the senator from illinois can have an out is he was cute -- he was cute in modifying it that it hasn't been scored by the congressional budget office, but here's the fact on what the congressional budget office can do and not do. they were busy since may with the senate health bill, getting it scored. they were busy working with us in the group of six to try to get a bipartisan bill scored. and since october 2 until now, they have been working with the senate leader full time to score thaefrg they have had a chance to put -- everything that they have had a chance to put oufplt oufplt -- put out. so i don't want anybody to think that republicans don't have alternatives to what's being offered here, but all he can say is they don't have a plan that's been scored. but we have plans, and if they want to hire more help in the congressional budget office, we'll get them scored. mr. president, i

i look forward to the rebuttal from the senator from illinois as well as montana. thank you. i yield the floor.. mr. baucus: madam president? the presiding officer: the chair is in doubt. pwau madam president, i suggest the senator from iowa -- mr. baucus: madam president, i suggest the senator from iowa be recognized. mr. grassley: i yield time to the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: this is a great discussion. toeuf say the fundamental point in this discussion should not be lost on anybody in this chamber or on the american people. and that is whatever was said during the course of the mccain -- during the course of the campaign last year was said in the context of protecting, preserving and prolonging the life span of medicare. the senator from mccain is very accurate in the way -- senator mccain is very accurate in the way he describes his position here. what the other side is proposing, a $2.5 trillion expansion of the federal government, financed with medicare cuts in the first ten ye

the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of senate resolution 382, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 3 382, supporting the goals and ideals of observing the national slavery and trafficking prevention month from january 1 through february 1, 2010, to raise awareness of and opposition to modern slavery. mr. durbin:the presiding officee objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the resolution be placed in the record at the appropriate place as

. >> got asked my friend from illinois. and by the way late to do this again perhaps when we could get more substance to many of the issues. isn't that -- i admit that these are unusual times. but isn't that a very unusual process that here we are discussing one sixth of the gross national product, the bill before us has been a product of almost a year of sausage making and yet here we are to position on the 12th of december were a proposal that none of us, except i understand one person, the majority leader, know what the fundamental parameters are. is that -- much less important the american people. i don't get it. >> and i think the senator was right in saying most of us are the fundamentals but we don't know the important details behind this. and what i'm saying is this is not the choice of the majority leader. it's the choice of the cbo. we may find a something that was sent over there doesn't work at all, doesn't fly. they may say this is not going to work, start over. and so we have to reserve the right to do just th

only 3700 people in illinois, and 267 residents of my state of kansas. mr. president, the health and human services has concerns regarding the safety implications. the food and drug administration has concerns regarding the safety of importation. and given the opportunity to purchase canadian prescription drugs, only 206 to seven kansans took that chance. we should not corrupt the safety of our drug supply chain without safety assurances from this country's regulatory bodies. >> madam president, the minute that we are no not considering s the amendment i have offered that deals with drug reimportation. that is, the report nation of prescription drugs from other countries. and one might ask the question, why would we want to reimport drugs from other countries? well, fda approved drugs are made all over the world. and they are shipped all over the world. again, fda approved drugs approved by our food and drug administration, producing plants that are inspected by our food and drug administration, the difference is only difference is when they are shipped

-- the gentlewoman from illinois, ms. bean. she's had a significant and positive impact to this bill. i yield two minutes. the chair: the gentlewoman from illinois is recognized for two minutes. ms. bean: thank you, madam chair. i thank chairman frank for yielding. i want to commend him and the committee for their hard work on this financial services regulatory reform bill we are considering today. chairman frank's leadership and determination is the reason we are here on the verge of passing the most historic and comprehensive regulatory modernization of our financial system since the great depression. mr. chairman, i rise in support of the manager's amendment in support for h.r. 4173, the wall street reform and consumer protection act. included in the manager's amendment is compromise language i negotiated with the majority leader and the administration to preserve the century old precedent of national banks and federal savings associations who are chartered nationally to operate in some cases under a uniform national s

. >> it was assumed that this group of people in illinois, district would trade off, but lincoln wanted to remain in washington. even if his colleagues in illinois had wanted him to, his opposition to polk and the nature of his opposition had thrown away his prospect of having another term. the boilers on the mexican war, what did polk have to do with that? what was the end result? >> one week and next taxes, mexico considered that to be an act of war. mexico had not been able to get texas back. but they had never recognize that texas independence. now we have texas and mexico which draws its ambassador. they threatened to declare war on the united states agree that leads to huge tensions between the united states and mexico. polk sent an army to the rio grande in disputed territory. a skirmish breaks out. 11 americans are killed. polk immediately goes to congress and says they have spilled american blood on american soil. one could argue that that was not exactly accurate. but he believed that it was american soil. and that led to the mexican war. he thought it would last four months.

>> what you are basically doing is going to the place in illinois whe al cone w ved to eliminate organized crim -- oe lived to elimina ganized crime. al qaeda has left the premises. admiral mi mullen says that one of the reasons the talan as recruits and ny in afghanistan is they p better wages. if t afghan army started paying betr wages, you would have a biddi war. let pakistan's message be very clear -- if you want special treatment, that we are n going afterhem,ecause they ha been soft on goingfter al qaeda, giving safe enclaves to taliban,ust get yourself a nuclear weapon and you will be trted differently. >> no wonder iran wants nuclear weapon >> the psident'sessagen al qaeda is misleading. these toll the cogen guments against what would y ve -- it leadso all theode in arguments about why wou you have it infghanistan if there is aew al qaeda there? it is about radical islam. we cannot allow rical islam to succeed in that ea. it is nlear armed. it is unacptable to us than to any our allies. how do you d that? people have miakenly thought about pakistan as a refuge r the bad guys afgnis

illinois, david, independent line. caller: i am with campaign for liberty. think we need to recognize bill clinton signed nafta in the early 1990's and all of the jobs that stayed were low wages and all the jobs that left, we lost. [audio breaking up] host: i think we lost you. britons and, florida. chris on the democrats' line. caller: a lot of problems these college students are having, with manufacturing going down. george bush turned fast food restaurants into being added into our equation of how many industry and manufacturing jobs we have. fast food, putting food together in a line is not manufacturing. that is how he made his manufacturing numbers looked so good when he tried to fool people. we spent $1 trillion in iraq and he said it would pay for itself with the oil we get back so really these republicans should not be complaining so much because they would get it back. thank you for taking my call. host: a couple of last headlines before we wrap up -- fallen barrier in but little fanfare. the story about the new mayor in houston. newly elected mayo

. >> they could end up in illinois though. >> some are supposed to go back to emeb veyemen very soon. >> or saudi arabia who has expressed interest in working more cooperatively. yemen is absolutely terrible at sustaining prisons. >> the saudis haven't done a good job either. >> no i agree but that might be another option. i think the real issue is will obama cave to the pressure of the right? whenever an issue like this happens he becomes more hawkish. with afghanistan he ends up sending more troops because of the allegation he was digterring. we will suddenly cave now and not close guantanamo out of some mass produced fear from the right which isn't legitimate. >> it is totally legitimate to keep these guys in prison forever. i don't care whether it's guantanamo or illinois or downtown manhattan as long as they keep them in prison forever. none of these guys seem to have left and founded a charity to do micro lending to people in small villages in india. these are very bad people. we want to keep them in prisonment my humble thought again is a bureaucracy is something you don't know