klobuchar: thank you very much, senator kaufman. i'd like to acknowledge the amendment by senato senator dorn drug importation, something that i support, and i know that senator kaufman supports as well and we look forward to talking about that as well. the bill that senator kaufman referred to, the fraud enforcement act, was passed in part to an unprecedented financial crisis. i was proud to work on that bill in the senate judiciary committee, along with senator kaufman. americans should expect congress to do more than simply react to crises after the most destructive impacts are felt. we're always coming in after the fact, putting out the fire. that's not what we want to do. we want our constituents to be proactive and seek out and solve problems on the horizon so that financial disasters can be averted. in the midst of a deconcerning comprehensive health care reform, we must be proactive in combating health care fraud and abuse. each year individuals drain $72 -- $72 billion and $220 billion from private and public health care pl

kaufman: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. kaufman: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the senate now stand in -- i ask we rescind the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaufman: thank you. i ask the unanimous consent the senate stand in recess until 12:00 noon. that upon convening at noon and any leader time the senate resume consideration of h.r. 3590, with the time until 12:30 p.m. equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. that from 12:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. there will be one hour alternating blocks of time with the majority controlling the first block and all post cloture time continue to run during any recess, adjournment or period of morning business until 6:30 monday. the presiding officer: before the chair announces the unanimous consent agreement, the chair announces that because cloture has been invoked, the motion to refer falls. without objection, the request is agreed to. the senate stands in recess until 12:00 today. >> overcoming republican delaying ta

kaufman: i ask consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaufman: i ask to speak in morning business for up to five minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaufman: mr. president, i rise again to recognize one of america's great federal employees. last week in stockholm and oslo, the 2009 noble laureates accepted their prizes. we awd all be aproud that -- we should all be proud that 11 of the 13 prizes were won by americans. this is -- as a -- my honoree today holds the distinction of having been the first federal employee to win a noble prize in physics for work performed while serving the public. our federal workplace compose of citizens who are highly educated an incredibly motivated. dr. william philips is the perfect example. a native pennsylvanian, william learned the importance of public service and hard work from a young age. his hour, an immigrant from italy, and his father, a descendant of the american revolutionaries were the first in their families to attend college. t

kaufman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware is recognized. mr. kaufman: i ask to suspend the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. kaufman: mr. president, i speak today about the need for urgent action on the defense appropriations bill. i shouldn't have to speak about urgent action on the defense appropriations bill, because this is the one area that is so important to the country and which we should always operate as quickly as we can. i urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to stop their attempts to do their health care bill and allow the appropriations bill to move forward. i suspect, as i always do, that my colleagues have different views. we have different views on all kinds of things and we have all kinds of substance of difference. i'm one of the people in this body who believes that there are basic differences, that a lot of our differences are not political. they are about basic differences that separate us from be

speakers be as follows: senator franken, senator lautenberg, senator stabenow, senator dodd, senator kaufman. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: mr. president? reserving the right to object, and i won't. i just want to make a clarification that we wouldn't object to a couple of the people going without alternating so that we can have a couple of people that also go without alternate. mr. enzi: hopefully we can make some arrangements on the time limits. i like the provision in there that if one goes longer, then the other side can go longer too. with that provision, i have no objection. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: mr. president, could the chair inform me how much time the senator from nevada used. the presiding officer: 21 1/2 minutes. mr. durbin: thank you very much, mr. president. mr. president, this is an issue that is very personal and very important. i know a little bit about this because many years ago before coming to congress, i was a trial lawyer. i spent many years defending doctors when they were sued for

kaufman,aye. mr. careyaye mr. kirk,aye. mr coles, aye mr. pyle,no. ms landreau, aye.mr lautenberg, aye. mr leahy, aye. mr levin ,aye. mr. lieberman,aye. mrs. lincoln,aye. mr. lugar,no. mr. mccabe,no. mrs. castle,aye. mr. mcconnell,no mr. menendez,aye. mr. merkley, aye. ms. mikulskiaye. mr merkowski, no. mrs. mary,aye. mr. nelson of nebraska,aye. mr. nelson of florida,aye. mr. pryor,aye. mr. reed of rhode island,aye. mr. reid of nevada, [laughter] mr. reid of nevada,aye. [laughter] mr rich, no. mr. roberts,no. mr. rockefeller,aye. mr. sanders, mr. schumer,aye. mr. sessions, mrs. shaheen, aye. mr. shelby, ms. snowe,no. mr. spector,aye. mr stabinow, aye. mr. tester,aye. mr thune, no. mr udall of colorado,aye. mr. udall of new mexico,aye. mr.vitter, no. mr.voinivich, no. mr. warner,aye. mr. webb,aye. mr. white house,aye. mr. wicker,no. mr. whiden, aye. mr. bennett of utah, no. this is a hutchinson,no. mr. cochran,no. mr. bennett of colorado,aye. [no audio] mr. sessions,no. [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [applause] mr. sanders -- [laughter] >>yes? >> mr. sanders, aye. mr

kaufman -- mr. kaufman. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware is recognized. mr. kaufman: i thank the manager for making this bill a possibility. it is a historic transformational. it is -- and to is a large degree because of his hard work. i appreciate that. i yield him 30 minutes my postcloture time. thank you, mr. president. i rise today once again to express my support for historic health care legislation that we have before us. after more than a year of debate and months and months of negotiation, i welcome the extraordinary opportunity to enact meaningful health care reform. and, yes, i mean years and months. since this reform effort has been a long and deliberative process. not the rush job that opponents of this -- job have been claiming. i must admit, however, there were times during this debate when i wasn't sure we would reach this point. in fact, i was convinced we would not. i found in my life when you think things are never going to happen, every important thing that i've ever done, you will reach a point where you think this will never happen. for

the first being, i believe our new senator from delaware, senator kaufman. mr. kaufman: mr.sident? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware is recognized. mr. kaufman: i want to start by agreeing as to how we got to where we are and why it's important we do something about it. he's right. the chairman of the finance committee is right too. the freshman senators who come from all over this country got together and, frankly, with the leadership of senator warner from virginia, put together a package which i think is a very constructive package for the health care reform act that we have to pass. and i really appreciate the opportunity to join with the other freshmen, including the senator in the chair, to discuss the unique opportunity we have to finally enact meaningful health care reform. and make no mistake, we need health care reform now. when you look out there and you see the rising premiums, everything from rising premiums to insurers denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions, the health care system is failing individual americans. there is no doubt

kaufman: mr. president, i ask to speak in morning business for up to five minutes. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. kaufman: madam president, i rise to honor the service of a great federal employee. human ingenuity is boundless. this is especially true in america, which has always been driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and belief that nothing is ip possible. -- impossible. from the electric telegraph to the refridge rated railcar, our forebearers helped to build a nation. such invention closed the western frontier in the 19th century. in the century that followed americans continued to be pioneers on that frontier which has no end, the frontier of spbs. -- science. 67 years ago this week, a team of physicalists led by fredericko ferni, they huddled under the stands of a football stadium in the university of chicago, they initiated the first ever controlled nuclear reaction. that experiment called the chicago pile one, marked the beginning of the nuclear age. madam president, today all americans know that the discovery of nuclear power was

it right was because i realize that bruce hoffman was right and i was even more hoffman night then kaufman was. before 9/11 he began to waiver and i did not waiver at all. i was producing the fall hoffman on the eve of 9/11 and mi5 will show that. stowe mal for the hidden history. what i think is not realized in the united states. two things. one is the plans to attack the u.k. began before 9/11 and the first attack of u.k. was defeated before 9/11. secondly that in recent years, the most important of foiled attacks against the u.k. by islamist terrorism was a skeel beyond 9/11 so this was before 9/11. this is the first under the first islamist factory in britain, but fortunately he was under surveillance. the reason 9/11 words is the perpetrators were not under surveillance. the reason that didn't work is that aberdeen was under surveillance. this is a surveillance photograph. this is the first big attempted attack against the u.k. by islamists terrorist after 9/11. on the right there is omar khai am. he could make bones but he could not detonate them so on the left-hand side, there is th

and senator kaufman asked the last question, i wanted to ask you, secretary lew, obviously -- needless to say we scratch the surface of a lot of these questions and a lot remain outstanding. we look forward to meeting with general mcchrystal and follow up on the military side. so i appreciate that. and i know that secretary lew you're always available to us. we appreciate it. yes, ambassador. >> chairman, i wonder if i could also say one -- make one other point here, if we're getting ready to close out. >> please, yes. >> earlier in the hearings there was concerns raised about bureaucracy within the embassy. i'd be the first to say that we operate in an environment right now with our challenges on the ground, with the government of afghanistan, our allies, the friction of bureaucracy that goes with working with our own headquarters, we have a surface of bureaucracy. i wouldn't say in the embassy we don't create additional impediments out there in terms of bureaucracy. i would highlight over the last 12 months our embassy strength has increased threefold, sixfold out in the field, durin

kaufman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. kaufman: i rise to speak today about my great federal employee of the week who works at the department of education. mr. president, whenever i enthey are hallowed chamber, i never fail to notice the inspirational words written on each wall above the doors. above the east door is inscribed the latin phrase "fortune favors us from our beginnings." this refers to our founders' believe that providence looks kindly upon our republic during its earliest days. in that time, ours was mostly an agrarian society, town life centered on planting seeds and harvesting crops. children worked alongside their parents in the field and when it dime their education, homeschooling or learning to read and add in a one-room schoolhouse was the norm. thomas jefferson wrote some years after his presidency that -- quote -- "science is more important in a republic than in any other government." it was this belief in the importance of knowledge and reason, including political and historical literacy, that led ed

kaufman, aye. mr. shelby, no. mr. bennett of utah, no. >> mr. lincoln. mrs. lincoln, aye. ms. landreaux. ms. landreaux, aye. >> on this vote, the yeas are 63, and the nay are 55. the motion is agreed. the question is on the motion to concur with the house amendment. sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. clerk will call the roll. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: mr. leader. mr. reid: may we have order, mr. reid: may we have order, >> leader, may we have order, please the presiding officer: anyone wish to change their vote or hasn't voted? by a vote of 88 ayes and 10 noes, the motion to concur on the house amendment to the senate amendment on defense appropriations is approved. leader. mr. reid: first of all, to the united states senate, this is a good strong message we've sent to our men and women in uniform around the world as 88 senators voted -- it was a little bit of a struggle to get here but we got here, and i'm so grateful we were able to do that. i have some -- we're going to do the continuing re

kaufman: mr. president, i want to thank you for your help in this.s always, you are a great colleague, and i appreciate it. i ask to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. kaufman: i want to speak about television and to alert my colleagues to a troubling situation. recently the only vhf television stationed licensed in delaware canceled the one nightly public affairs program which covered delaware issues, closed its local studio and moved almost all of its employees out of delaware. that station, whyy tv, did this even though the community that is supposed to serve first, that should be its primary focus is wilmington, delaware. this is offensive and it's wrong. these and other actions led the city of wilmington last week to challenge the license renewal of yy. i understand the city --'s complaint. frankly, i think whyy was emboldened to make these changes by the weak end oversight of the regulatory agencies charged with making sure that broadcasts serve the public interests, the federal communicat

it passes the single achievement and i am glad to say senator kaufman from delaware because his predecessorwho now has another job in government, joe biden, was of course instrumental in passing of vawa. the landmark walk filled a void. to many victims -- too many victims. it had strong bipartisan support. i would compliment senator biden and senator orrin hatch, who were chairman and ranking member respectively who works so hard to get this passed. of a fort to working with members of the committee and -- i look forward to working with members of the committee. the victim of service providers. most importantly,ht the women ad families who were threatened with violence. we have an extraordinary panel with us. first will be catherine pierce. see is the acting director at the justice department. of course karen tronsgrard- scott, who i've known for many years. she is the leader in for montan vermont. i mention karen because people think of for mvermont with low e rate and everything else. we have domestic violence in every state. every state, every situation. ççsometimes in more ruralt( a,

people like eric schmidt, kaufman enterprises, and nobel prize-winning economist.ch a cross section of the united states. host: also available online, we can get more information on the company there. thank you for being with us. the headline this morning from "the wall street journal" "ben bernanke in power. one of the issues that came up, the impact asñr it moves from te recession from the recovery to the u.s. economy." >> the first line of defense should be regulation. if there are risk controls that stop the banks from piling into overcrowded positions, which look at emergence -- emerging asset price increases across the system. i think that that is the best way to address, i said it should be regulation of supervision, even if you are not sure about the increase in asset price bubbles. unfortunately we do not have that system. i think that monetary policy has to pay attention to the situation. let me be careful -- i have said in the past and continue to believe that it is very difficult to know in real time if an asset price is appropriate or not. but given th

kaufman: mr.president, i ask unanimous consent to speak under the control of the -- a senator: let me followup on some of the comments of our colleague from illinois. i'm always struck when back home i addressed the homebuilders in our state. mr. carper: i'm always amazed at the extent of the misinformation, confusion and we talked about to people about what's in the underlying legislation before us as our deputy leader has done here again today. there's a lot to like about the legislation. a lot to like about the legislation. one of the pieces that hasn't been focused on a whole lot, but i want to mention deals with how do we better ensure that people who are sick get well and people who are not sick don't become sick? and as it applies to the use of pharmaceutical medicines? our legislation calls for doing a number of things. one, if people could actually be healthier or stay healthy by or get well by taking certain pharmaceuticals, we'd all save money in the end. but as the -- under the current

. >> i know i'm out of time but -- >> senter kaufman, we are in the back seven minutes of the vote. there's a greece period as you know. senator cardin is going to come back so that we can hopefully get the to last senators and here but if you want to truncate a little bit it is your choice. >> i will do that. >> i want to thank you for rustling what i find to agree with the several statements made on the complex problems and difficult problem because it involves the lives of the folks that are just the best among us and i also want to thank queue for the patience to wrestle with us on this issue and the ability to do that and i can't think of three people who would be better than i would be happier to see russell this problem than the three of you. i want to agree with what senator casey and others said. the number one problem here there's a lot of problems. so i don't minimize any but the number one problem is do we have a partner in the afghan government for success? that to me is the key question. i spent time, two trips to afghanistan, met with folks and talked to them. that's

and senator kaufman asked the last question, i wanted to ask you, secretary lew, obviously -- needless say we scratch the surface of a lot of these questions and a lot remain outstanding. we look forward to meeting with general mcchrystal and follow up on the military side. so i appreciate that. and i know that secretary lew you're always available to us. we appreciate it. yes, ambassador. >> chairman, i wonder if i could also say one -- make one other point here, if we're getting ready to close out. >> please, yes. >> earlier in the hearings there was concerns raised about bureaucracy within the embassy. i'd be the first to say that we operate in an environment right now with our challenges on the ground, with the government of afghanistan, our allies, the friction of bureaucracy that goes with working with our own headquarters, we have a surface of bureaucracy. i wouldn't say in the embassy we don't create additional impediments out there in terms of bureaucracy. i would highlight over the last 12 months our embassy strength has increased threefold, sixfold out in the field, during t

a senator: i would just respond -- senator kaufman, you use the balance of the time, and then i will be able to work -- democrats have a few minutes left. mr. coburn: i think i will finish up here in just a second. mr. sessions: you take the balance of the time, and then it will be my opportunity in a few minutes. mr. coburn: every person in this country should be able to have access. i agree. nobody should lose their home. nobody should have to file bankruptcy because of health care. i agree. that premise we agree on. how we get there are two totally different ways. the number one impediment to access is cost. costs aren't going to go down in this bill. we know that by all the stakes. the health care costs are not going to go down on this bill. they are not going to go down per individual and they are not going to go down in total. so we will not have fixed the big problem with health care which is cost. we will have worked on access through government programs, but we will have not fixed the real problem. what are the real problems? fraud. at least 6% of the cost of health care. to

nevada, baucus, leahy, whitehouse, levin, murray, begich, cantwell, pryor, reed of rhode island, kaufman franken, harkin, webb, kirk, and bennet of colorado. mr. reid: madam president, i move to concur on the house amendment with an amendment which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, moves to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment with amendment number 3248. at the end of the amendment, insert the following. mr. reid: i ask further reading of the amendment be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. is there a sufficient second? there is. mr. reid: i have an amendment at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes an amendment numbered 3252 to amendment numbered 3248. mr. reid: madam president, i have a motion to refer with instructions which are at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: t

kaufman, a senator from the state of delaware to perform the duties of the chair, signed robert c. byrd, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration of the health care legislation. the time until 7:18 this morning is equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. the senate will then proceed to a series of three roll call votes that will be stacked in relation to the reid motion to table the reid amendment number 3273278, the harkin amendment ad motion to invoke cloture on the substitute 2876, after cloture is invoked the majority leader will be recognized and the time will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. at 9:30 and until 5:30 p.m. today, time will be controlled at alternating one-hour blocks of time with the republicans controlling the first hour. the senate will recess from 12:30 until 2:30 p.m. for the weekly conferences. mr. president, tensions have been high because of the -- this leg