two, on or about june 8, 2007, at judge kent's request and upon notice from the committee, judge kent appeared before the committee. three, as part of its investigation, the committee sought to learn from judge kent and others whether he had engaged in unwanted sexual contact with cathy mcbroom and individuals other than cathy mcbroom. four, on or about june 8, 2007, judge kent made false statements to the committee regarding his unwanted sexual contact with donna wilkerson as follows: a, judge kent falsely stated to the committee that the extent of his unwanted sexual contact with donna wilkerson was one kiss, when in fact as he knew he had engaged in repeated sexual contact with donna wilkerson without her permission. b, judge kent falsely stated to the committee that when told by donna wilkerson his advances were unwelcome no further contact occurred, and when fact and as he knew, judge kent continued such advances even after she asked him to stop. five, judge kent was indicted and pled guilty and was sentenced to imprisonment for felony of obstruction of justice in violation of se

kent.this vote came after a thorough investigation and much work by the task force on judicial impeachment. specifically, the task force conducted an investigation of judge kent's conduct, which included working with the f.b.i., the department of justice and the fifth judicial circuit. the task force conducted a hearing on the matter, at which two court employees testified about the extent of their sexual abuse. at the same hearing, we heard from a constitutional scholar who testified that judge kent's misconduct rises to the level of impeachable offenses. judge kent was invited to testify and his attorney was also invited to testify and participate in the hearing. both declined to attend. as you have already heard in statements today and as you have already seen in the jish -- judiciary committee report, it merits the serious step of issuing articles of impeachment. the evidence shows he lied to the f.b.i. and department of justice about the nature of his sexual conduct with court employee

only congress can remove judge kent from office. until we do so, he will continue to draw a salary as a sitting federal judge, even from his prison cell. while the executive can prosecute him and the judiciary can impose punishment for his criminal conviction, only the congress of the united states has the power to remove him from office. and that is our constitutional duty here today. i bring this resolution to the floor with heavy regret that we are even called upon to take such action. let it be clear, i have no doubt that this member of the judiciary must be removed from office -- from the office that he has so blatantly abused. the evidence is overwhelming. the grounds for impeachment perfectly clear. i therefore urge my colleagues to support this resolution and mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves the balance of his time the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is r

and again, judge kent made

kent. a federal grand jury indicted judge kent on three counts of inappropriate sexual conduct and one count of obstruction justice. he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice pursuant to a plea agreement. as part of the plea agreement, the government agreed to dismiss the remaining five counts at sentencing. at that time, i called on judge kent to resign, saying i would introduce articles of impeachment upon his sentencing in may if he did not resign. on may 11, 2009, judge kent was sentenced to 33 months in prison. on may 12, i introduced the first resolution calling for his impeachment he was tried to use his knowledge to work the system by requesting a waiver for disability retirement. in february, i wrote the court asking it to carefully consider all the particulars concerning judge kent's request. on may 27, fifth circuit chief judge edith holland jones denied judge kent's request. the impeachment task force held an evidentiary hearing where both victims of judge kent's testified as

judge kent is the exception to this rule. we are past the stage of allegations because he made admissions against his own interests in a court of law sufficient to convict him of a felony to the degree it is an abuse of office. abuse of duty. while serving on the bench in a courtroom. that's basically the end of the story. it is a felony, it's a high crime and misdemeanor. his actions since the conviction show a haughty spirit and total disregard for misconduct. in the united states we don't pay federal judges to go to the penitentiary. he should be impeached today by this body. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back. the gentleman from texas reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from iowa, mr. king, also a member of the judiciary committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. king: i thank the gentleman from texas for yie

or did kent go out and win it?i think kent won it, because calvin borel would have had to have the same kind of trip he had in the kentucky derby -- that inside, late move along the rail to win the belmont. he didn't get that. kent desormeaux did. >> a lot of times, when a horse wants to run it's counterproductive for a jockey to be tugging against it, especially when you're trying to go a mile and a half, so calvin was faced with a situation where the horse wanted to run when they turned into the back stretch, especially since he was on the outside a little bit, so it might have been the best thing to go ahead and give him his head and hope for the best. >> reflect on this triple crown. five weeks ago, mine that bird was 50-1, summer bird was a huge long shot in the derby, and rachel alexandra was racing against gals. one of the most unpredictable triple crowns we've ever seen. >> it's the year of the bird. >> birdstone indeed. >> times are changing. a decade ago or more it was almost unheard of for a trainer of a

kent following service of the summons, and to be effective june 30, 2009. the presiding officer: the return of service and accompanying statement of resignation will be spread upon the journal and printed in the record. the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the secretary of the senate be directed to deliver the original statement of resignation executed by judge samuel b. kent on june 24, 2009, to the president of the united states and to send a certified copy of the statement of resignation to the house of representatives. i further ask consent that a copy of the statement of resignation be referred to the impeachment trial committee on the articles against judge samuel b. kent established by the senate on june 24, 2009. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: the senate is not having a quorum call, is that true? the presiding officer: that's correct. mr. reid: madam president, there will be no more votes today. we will have no session tom

it is kent conrad's model something that your colleagues are taking a look at, that even has any chance of passing the house? if not, i guess given that the senate is not looking at a medicare model for the public plan, how do the two changers' bridge -- how do the two chambers bridge your differences on that point? guest: i use medicare as an example because people familiar with it. i think the people that fear a public plan are afraid that it is going to be all paid for by the federal government, it is not going to make a profit, and the federal government is going to favor it in many ways as possible so that there is not a level playing field. what we have said and what i have said is that you have to create a level playing field. for example, the public plan has to rely on premiums of the people that are purchasing it, just like a private plan. it cannot be subsidized by the federal government. you know, basically you say that whether it is advertising, whether it is subsidization, whether it is -- whether certain doctors participate, all these things are made the same between the p

you have a new chairman of the you already know him, kent. you also have a chief restructuring officer. well will this mean to your role running general motors? everyone has emphasized that the government will stay out, but your role has changed. how do you view that? >> there is a painting it as i came up from our offices of alfred sloane. i see paintings in our building in detroit and ask myself what he would do if in my shoes. he never was. but at the beginning of general motors there was a crisis. he did his job. he led the company through it. if you were sitting here today i imagine he would tell me to do my job. if i look at what my job is, yes, we have an interim chairman, kent. i am a believer in separating the chairman's role from the ceos role. i have my handful without running the board of directors. so i am very appreciative. working for kent is a pleasure and working for the board has been a pleasure. they are very hard-working. you heard the president. the only thing i can tell you is that the automotive task force has been rigo

jeff kent?rob: jeff kent. >> bob: let's hope he's not so grumpy. >> rob: so true. >> bob: but jeff sure could play. he just didn't know how to have fun. >> rob: you know what he said? he said i want to leave this game with no friends at all insuring the game. so, i mean, yeah, i think he pretty much succeeded at that. but he was a hall of fame player. >> bob: oh, yeah. he brought back rbi numbers as a second baseman that rogers hornsby had put up back in the 20s. and the 30s. that's how good he was driving in runs. it's not a position you associate with rbi's. there have been a few. joe morgan and ryne sandberg, but over the years not that many. right-field line, brett carroll with the long run. and right at the bullpen barrier for the second out. willie harris still looking for contact. >> rob: 377 home runs, 1518 rbi's, lifetime .290 hitter, .356 on-base percentage over 17 years. won mvp back in 2000. he was special. eight times drove in over 100 runs. >> bob: and those were the numbers, the r

this debate, should there be a government sponsored health plan, should go the route of something kent conrad of north dakota has talked about a co-op idea and again for a regional or state based and federal seed money and a lot operate and nonprofit level at that level. i think this is just a huge discussion point, did you have a government plan, do you need a government plan, would it be an unfair competitor or a fair competitor -- that is into the payment rates and all sorts of things and as people follow the debates they need to be reading and thinking about that. >> host: talk about one of the ways of paying by taxing employer health-care benefits. explain that. >> guest: right now you get health insurance from your employer and it is not taxed, and it is an expense for the employer so they don't have to pay taxes and you don't have to pay taxes as part of taxable income in the idea is that costs the federal treasury billions a year. so if they looked at the level a bit of those benefits and decided to tax at a certain level or decided to tax people of a certain income tax on the

my name is kent lewis. i'm chief executive officer of bank of america. this committee is reviewing important issues. i hope my remarks will be helpful to you. our business lines include deposits, welcomed investment management, corporate investment banking, credit cards and mortgages. we have a deep commitment to serving all the communities in which we operate. we have committed to land and invest $1.5 trillion in the community over the next ten years. the financial services industry went underwent turmoil in 2008. earned a a profit of $4.2 billion for the year. we made two significant acquisitions. countrywide and merrill lynch. it does not appear to beny debate these were in the best interest of the financial system, the economy and the country. the failure of countrywide could have destabilized an already crippled market. merrill lynch could have caused havoc when assessing a government-style bailout. these acquisitions, those, were also in the best interest of bank of america and shareholders. certainly the merrill lynch acquisition in particular cam

this is the wilson kent kelner professional glove. kelner played.g a diving play with that. >> i can't imagine. >> ray: i better make shoe that i catch it in the palm. look at how worn out this fall is. >> why did it take so long for glove makers to we have the fingers together. >> ray: i don't know. that's a big glove. >> for the great players of the past, you see some enormous error totals for honus wagner, ty cob. the point is, you don't know how good the fielders of 350 years ago w the glove is not doing everything but it sure beats trying for catch a ball with a seat cushion. i now understand why grandfathers used to yell "use two hands", because they had to. >> you also get prop pay for doing this, you know. thanks so much, phil. we'll come back and continue. noticec pre-fame. the first of a big weekend series in tampa bay against the rays we'll talk about the starting pitchers coming up tonight. it will be craig stammen for the nationals against matt garza. hey. don't move. for the next minute, i'm gonna show you what it's like to have verizo

and kent conradt would create health care cooperate tiffs owned by groups of residents and small businesses similar to how electric or other cooperate tiffs operate. they would be nonprofit and without the government involvement that troubles republicans and business groups about the public plan options. senate finance committee chair baucus said yesterday that the idea could be key to a bipartisan health bill. that's in the "philadelphia inquirer." more from senator baucus. baucus aides warn k street. called a last minute preemptive strike wednesday with a group of prominent democratic lobbyists warning them to advise their clients not to attend a meeting with senate republicans set for today. russell sullivan, the top staffer on finance, and baucus chief of staff met with a block of more than 20 contract lobbyists, including several former baucus aides. "they said republicans are having this meeting and you need to let your clients know if they'll have someone there that will be viewed of a hostile act," said a democratic lobbyists who will be attending the meeting. republican leaders hav

said kent, we have a political system that is given to gridlock and not passing major reform when james madison wrote the constitution and what was the word about? tyranny. he wanted checks and balances so nobody could usurp the reins of government to match. he succeeded and would be very proud of the gridlock. [laughter] it makes it hard to change. then there is a machiavelli rule of reform. machiavelli is a great political scientist and he said be aware of initiating anything new because those people who have an investment in the old system will oppose you baker's the rouse those people who may benefit by the new system are only lukewarm supporters. why? because those who lose know what they will lose than those of say it is a hypothetical and maybe it will not pass. then there is finally with many of you and california have experienced the rule of sec and best. some of you may be incremental west carnegie die-hard single pager advocates i may have convinced you to my program and it is do nothing. [laughter] i suggest it is not a second bus but a prescription for failure but it is har

unusual day in the chamber as lawmakers will begin the impeachment trial for texas district judge samuel kent. first, a quorum call together senators who may have to have ceded. the house judiciary members will present articles of impeachment against the judge and later the senate will appoint a special committee to gather evidence in the matter of process that could take several weeks. also, a vote to advance the nomination of harold code to the legal counsel for that state department. that is expected at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. now, live senate coverage on c-span2. cert may their consistent communion with you radiate on their faces, be expressed in their character and be exuded in positive joy. fill this chamber with your spirit and our senators with your strength and courage. we pray in your gracious name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding offic

kent on charges that he abused his power, lied to cover up sexual assaults on two female court employees. the house has not in piste a federal judge since the 1980's when three jurors were removed. a total of 13 judges have faced proceedings. the judge's case will next go before the senate. the house of representative it also voted 425-1 to condemn the iranian government crackdown on demonstrators and interference with communication and cellphone. foreign committee chairman said it is not for us to decide whom should run iran. indeed we must reaffirm our strong belief that the iranian people have the fundamental right to discuss their future without intimidation. associated press reporting that illinois senator roland burris will not be charged perjury for statements he made before in the illinois house impeachment committee. state prosecutor there investigating the case said there is not enough evidence to support the charge. senator burris was appointed to president obama is vacant senate seat by former illinois governor rod blagojevich who was impeached due in part by allegations that

kent. the presiding officer: the message will be received. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: later today democrats will move forward on a bill sponsored by democrats and republicans, lots of republicans, a bill that creates jobs at a time when we need them the most. i encourage the republicans to join with us. i want us to move forward on this piece of legislation. democrats will do our job using this great legislative body to legislate and make life better for struggling americans. i encourage my republican colleagues to do the same. the travel promotion bill is critical for our economy. mr. president, tourism and travel generate $1 trillion in economic activity every year. $1 trillion. in its first year this bill will create 40,000 new jobs. mr. president, there isn't a state in the union that doesn't depend on tourism. i can remember the first time i went to a place -- we had a democratic retreat in west virginia. i walked out -- i'm sorry in virginia. pardon me -- in virginia. i walked out in my room, and i saw this hu

host: philadelphia, next for george will, this is kent. independent line. caller: mr. will, you are one of my favorite commentator, you've got a couple of blind shots, global warm that type of thing. i want to go back to the original discussion about today's column about tobacco, i think it's very cogent and i think it's very, you know, something that -- it's really fascinating to me the di cotmy you're talking about here. there's a big solution here that nobody is -- well, not nobody. it's getting to be a bigger and bigger topic all the time. that is legalization of marijuana. that could replace all cigarette revenues in the state in about a week. surely you know enough of the history of this country to know who harry amsinger was, who william randolph hearst, two of the great megaloman yakes, th

buck: it really turned around, i guess you can say it started with joe morgan and carried on to jeff kent and ryne sandberg and morgan and sandberg, of course rhall of famers, but second base has become a pretty good, an important power position. >> jim: and that is a little low. >> buck: certainly aaron hill in front is one of those run producers when you think about what he can do toffly, but add in the power and the pop he has hitting as a second baseman. >> jim: uehara steps off. the infield is looking for a ground ball to turn two. and that splitter is low and he lays off, does baker, 2-2. >> buck: now the marlins are a little more patient with uehara the second time through the order making him throw more pitches. they really swung quickly the fist time through the order and basically allowed uehara to breeze through the first nine hitters. >> jim: from 0-2 to 2-2. foul ball. >> jim: this has been the marlins' inning on the year, 44 lunes scored and that is the most and best production of any inning ton year, and it comes right in the middle of the game. 2-2. it is hit to left field

. >> you wrote about one element of the emerging plan that is kent conrad ' alternative to a system run by the government. how would that work? >> it remains to be seen exactly. the senate bridge -- there is supposed to be a bridge for the plan. instead of a public plan like a government run insurance co., is essentially what the public plan would be. he is offering to help create cooperatives that are similar to credit unions. they have some rules that make it a lot easier for customers to deal with and make it more price conscious. they do not have the same business pressures as private companies in terms of profit making. they are not government entities, and would be much more fair and how they competed with private insurance companies. that is what these medical cooperatives would be theoretically. some democrats were willing to take a look at that idea. they were trying to decide how the government would run the cooperatives themselves, which are causing republicans to say that is just like having a government-run private plan. even if you call it a cooperative. we are not interes

. >> you wrote about one element of the plan and that is senator kent conrad, what alternative to a system run by the government -- how would that work? >> it remains to be seen exactly, the senate budget chairman has tried to bridge the divide of the public plan and he has offered an idea that instead of a neighbor of a plan like a government-run insurance company, which is essentially what the public plan would be, he is offering to create or help create cooperatives that are similar to credit unions. they have some rules that make them a lot easier for customers to deal with that make them more price conscious, they don't have the same pressures, business pressures as private companies in terms of profit-making but by the same token they are not government entities and therefore would be much more fair in how they competed with private insurance companies of that is what these medical cooperatives would be theoretically although some democrats who are willing to take a look at that idea are trying to design them in such a way that the government would essentially run the cooperatives th

and that is why i introduced comparative act research in 2008 as mark said along with my colleague kent conrad. he and i share a passion for this. we believe it is fundamental to transforming our health system from one that is volume-driven to one that is evidence-based. there are many, many other components of moving that direction but comparative effectiveness research is clearly a part of it. this year we plan to reintroduce the bill. we've been discussing it constantly with staffs and the committee and elsewhere. we're close to coming to an agreement and that's important because i intend to include my bill that is the comparative effectiveness bill in a comprehensive health reform bill that we'll mark up in the finance committee later this month. and that brings me to my last point. the need for comprehensive health reform. the finance committee has spent many hours, many days, weeks, months laying the groundwork. you have 12 hearings last year all day summit at the library of congress we held three round table discussions outlining options for reform. totally inclusive, totally bip

senate received articles of impeachment from the house this morning in the case against judge samuel kent, a federal judge in texas who has been convicted of sexual assault in his home state. the senate has not held such a trial since the impeachment of president bill clinton in 1999. the federal reserve board continues their two-day meeting today. members are considering whether some programs intended to drive down rates on mortgages and other consumer debt to be slow down. most economists predict fed chairman ben bernanke will not raise interest rates. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> as this year's supreme court term comes to an end, here chief justice roberts talk about the court tossed work. as well as some court watchers, including linda greenhouse, gen crawford greenberg, and ted olson. live coverage at 9:00 eastern on c-span, saturday. >> join our 3 our conversation sunday, july 5, live on in depth on c-span-2's book tv. >> how is c-span funded? >> through donations crac? >> my guess is government funding. >> the viewers? >> how with c-span funded? 30 yea

presentation and the7+÷ wedding coordinator would be sitting there in this immaculate suit looking like clark kent a calvin model saying we could 13 courses or 18 courses and i was sitting there quite amazed by all of this. and i remember asking, well, could we have two or three? and he was mortified by my suggestion and said, absolutely not. my reputation would be demolished no one would come to me again to plan a wedding. these are your options. and we sort of silently sort of not and went along with the next step in that wedding empire of that coordinator which was photography. and we were handeds&÷ a big boof photos to show us, you know, if we went with this wedding coordinator what could we have in terms of wedding photography. i started to go through these albums and it was quite astonishing. there were photos of young couples galloping off onto horses in the desert and frolicking in the ocean waves and finding each other dressed, of course, in a tuxedo and ball gown on a grand estate and we were told, of course, this could all be set to music and we could have a dvd made of it. that our fri

we will continue to on the impeachment front, not only have we impeached judge kent but there is a serious investigation going on now of judge portius in the case of louisiana who has apparently committed quite serious legal and other violations. is we have a pretty full agenda. i think the chairman is strongly committed to encouraging justice to get that report out as soon as possible. they're telling us it really is going to happen fairly soon and to having a hearing where we will, if necessary, subpoena those individuals to testify. i have every reason to believe that they will not defy those subpoenas. some of them, such as mr. ewe who has a pending civil lawsuit against him may be interesting as to which questions he will and won't answer. the committee has not hesitated to use enforcement powers where necessary as in the case of miers and bolton to find people in contempt as needed and do what needs to get done. yes, sir? >> a couple quick things, on the karl rove bill, i just drove up overnight from alabama and i've been covering this thing for the last couple of years and i was jus

kent on june 24, 2009, and presented to the senate in open sessi o

kent: -- mr. kirk: one thing you mentioned is the need for public health. that puts forward a critical point missing in the debate. we know of the uninsured, 44.7 million, of the uninsured, 14.7 million are already eligible for public coverage. as we have found -- mr. dent: that's medicaid and schip. mr. kirk: that's right. as we found in the state of massachusetts, when a mandate that everyone has to buy health insurance is put forward, what they have generally found is that a technical and legal solution is not adequate. they thought by putting a health insurance signup machine at the entrance of every emergency room at the state would register and collect the required number of people who hadn't yet signed up for public assistance that they were eligible for. what they found is, for a small percentage of the most difficult parktes, either because of alcohol, drug abuse, or law enforcement problems, these patients were not registering under similar names, not registering under similar addresses and were failing to report for appointments and other prevent

three, judge kent impeded investigations as finals as follows. cathy mcbroom filed a complaint with the court of appeals. they appointed a committee heenchafter referred to as the committee to investigate cathy mcbroom's complaint. on or about union 8 of 2007, judge kent appeared before the committee. three, as part of its investigation, the committee sought to learn from judge kent and others whether he had engaged in unwanted sexual conduct -- contact with kathy -- cathy mcbroom and individuals other than cathy mcbroom. on or about june 8, 2007, judge kent made false statements to the committee about his sexual contact with donna wilkerson as follows. he said the extent of his sexual contact with donna wilkerson was one kiss, when in fact, as he knew he engaged in repeated sexual contact with donna wilkerson without her permission. b, he stated to the committee that when told by donna wilkerson his advances were unwelcome, no further contact occurred, when in fact, as he knew, he continued such events even as she asked him to stop. . on the bas

kent, judge of the united states district court for the southern district of texas for high crimes and misdemeanors. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. for what purpose does the gentleman from west virginia rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 2847. and that i may include tabular material in the same. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. pursuant to house resolution 552 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the further consideration of the bill h.r. 2847. will the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, kindly take the chair? the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 2847 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill making appropriations for the departments of commerce and justice and science and related agencies for the fiscal year ending s

kent, a judge of the united states district court for the southern district of texas. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the consideration of the resolution? without objection, the resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leaves of absence requested for mr. capuano, mr. defazzo, mr. fattah today after 1:00 p.m., mr. kanjorski of pennsylvania for today after 12:00 noon, mr. shadegg of arizona for today, and mr. welch of vermont after 2:00 p.m. today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the personal requests are granted. does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i do. mr. speaker, i ask to address the house for one minute for purposes about inquiring next week's schedule. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman will suspend. the house will be in order. the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i yield to the gentleman from maryland, the majority leader, for the purpose of announcing next week's sch