justice joseph story, in his legendary commentaries on the constitution, called this right the -- quote -- "palladium of the liberties of a republic" -- unquote. i, for one, am glad that our founders did not give short shrift to this fundamental individual right. so let me close my remarks this morning -- or this afternoon by saying that these are some of the questions that need answers, issues that need clarification and concerns that need to be satisfied as the senate examines judge sotomayor's record. perhaps such answers, clarification, and satisfaction exist. my mind is open, and i look forward to the nearing which these and many other matters no doubt will be raised. these are important issues. they can't just be shunted aside as though they're unimportant. and judge sotomayor needs to answer some of these issues and questions that we are raising, as we go along. i've told her that we will ask some very tough questions and that she's going to have to answer them. she understands that, and i appreciate that. with that, i yield the floor. shiewn shiewn mr. president? the presiding o

as justice joseph story wrote nearly 200 years ago the second amendment acts as a strong moral check against the arbitrary power of rulers and as a the united states supreme court held itself last year in the district of columbia versus heller, there seems no doubt based on text and history that the second amendment confirmed an individual right to keep and bear arms. close quote. madam president, i agree strongly with the supreme court's reasoning in the heller decision and i think that most americans accept that as the law of the land. judge sotomayor, on the other hand, as a member of the second circuit court of appeals, was one of the judges that was first given an opportunity to apply the supreme court case in heller to the states. and she concluded in that decision that the trite keep and bear arms was not a fundamental right and therefore was not enforceable against the states via the due process clause of the 14th amendment. her decision in that case was troubling in light of the heller decision, especially because her opinion included very little significant legal analysis.

next morning they took me to the church and i preached a sermon there, and it was taken from the story of joseph in the book of genesis. in reference to this -- to the young man back here, the only thing that kept me from being angry and i spent 14 years in prison, 21 months of it was on death row, not that i was sentenced to death. i was sentenced to 75 years, but they didn't have no places to put a man with 75 years, so they put me on death row. the way i dealt with it, was that i had accepted christ before they arrested me and framed me and sent me to prison. i had enrolled at a bible institute in chicago, and was an auditory student going to class that semester, so that i could, you know, as an auditory student so that i could enter the next semester and i had been called to the ministry, and was preparing myself when i was snatched off a bus, and taken to prison. i was beat up on the tier where i was, they put me on a tier where there were dope addicts, they didn't want me to preach, and told me that if i didn't stop preaching, that they were going to beat me up and i said well, can start b

harrisburg and it met with almost immediate success and that's the kind of story we expect to see constantly. the honorable joseph sabo, the f.r.a. administeror. this is the first time you've been before this committee since your confirmation. we're looking forward to hearing how you're working to develop first-class rail passenger service, i know your head and heart are behind that. the honorable judge robert exles, chairman of the texas -- eccles chairman of the texas high speed corporation, ms. susan plining, and tom skanke, commissioner of the revenue study commission, president and c.e.o. of the skancke company and we thank you all for being here and governor rendell if you would, please take five minutes to summarize, try to meet the target, if we can. >> mr. chairman, you forgot mr. boardman. >> i looked at you and -- fire that person. >> i've only been here six months. >> that's what happens, take advantage of relationships. i know, we're glad to have you, joe, you do a great job at amtrak, we're proud of you, i'm sorry, i thank you governor for the reminder. we'll start you off at a fresh five-minute clo

philadelphia and harrisburg, met with almost immediate success and those are the stories we expect to see constantly. the hon. joseph szabo, the f r a administrator, this is the first time you have been before this committee since your confirmation. we are looking forward to hearing your work in developing first-class rail faster service for the nation, you were behind that. and the hon. judge robert eckels, of the high-speed rail and transportation corp. and a director at the government accountability office, and thomas skancke, commissioner of the transportation policy and revenue steady commission, president and ceo of the skancke company. we thank you all for being here. gov. rendell, if you would, please take 5 minutes. >> en we will fire that personally. and >> 6 months. >> take advantage of relationships, i know. we are glad to have you. you have done a great job at amtrak. we are proud of you. thank you for the reminder. we will stop you -- >> mr. chairman and ranking member, this is an opportunity for the country and i will compare it to the opportunity we had when we build a federal highway system. we need

so without further ado, allow me to introduce writer, producer, story teller, photographer, justin falconer of all trades, joe sohm. joseph? [applause] >> >> good afternoon. it's still morning for me. i just through in from california where i reside and i kind of dodged a few fires on the way and an earthquake that was centered in the town i live, so it's very nice to be here in washington, d.c. i want to thank john for that very gracious inter ducks. -- introduction. mostly i want to thank him for pronouncing my name right. this is a problem most of my life where my name is is pronounced sohm, and occasionally i'll be asked to speak now at an event and por recently it was at an event called "the food chain" and unfortunately the person that filled out the little name card, like many of you have on your neck, was slightly dyslexic. they had all the write letters, but they weren't in the right sequence beings and i have, being into wide angle views, rather than closeups, i, excuse the pun, i basically didn't look at the tag. well, number one, you should have had always look at your tag, so when i picked it up, again, it wa

harrisburg and met with almost immediate success and that's the kind of story we expect to see constantly. in the honorable joseph szabo, the fra administrator, the first time you have been before this committee since your confirmation and we're looking for to hearing how you are working to develop first class passenger rail service and your head and heart are behind that. and the honorable judge robert eckels, chairman of the texas high-speed rail and transportation company -- corporation. susan fleming director of infrastructure issues hipaa gao, and tom skancke, commissioner of the national surface transportation policy and revenue steady commission, president and ceo the tom skancke company. and we thank you all for being here and it governor rendell if you would please take five minutes to summarize, i try to meet the target of weekend. >> mr. chairman, you forgot mr. joseph boardman. >> my god, i look good show. and fire that person. [laughter] that is what happens taking care of relationships. we are glad to have you, joe, you have done a great job at amtrak. i'm sorry and we thank you, governor for the re

the stories of the people they're fighting for, like whom i just mentioned -- joseph, ken, sheryl, a understand kathleen. that's why we can't wait any longer. we need health care now and a strong public option now. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: