kirk, hello. i guess the currency is genuinely seems to to be mispriced would be for the federal reserve to print money to hand it over to the u.s. government to buy the rmb and then to buy china's assets. how do you think that would be taken in the global market and in particular, what do you think would be china's response? >> well, i mean, i'm not going to be successful in getting you all even remotely interested in my visit here in brussels, which is to talk about this incredibly dynamic relationship between the united states and the member states that constitute the european union. let me say this. there are a number of things i think we can do to address america's competitiveness, not only in china, but around the world. one will be whatever decision that president obama and secretary geithner make with respect to currency valuations and whatever may flow from that. but secondly, there are other things we need to do and that's what president obama talked about in announcing his national expo

kirk waylan. [ music ]

kirk is recognized for three minutes. mr. kirk: i feel compiled to rise today as the only member of this body who was deployed twice to afghanistan, both times as a navy reserve intelligence officer in kad

trade representative ron kirk. [applause] >> nank you so much for the -- thank you so much for the kind introduction. i think he just proved you can i think he just proved you can do this >> i would make one correction. admonition to turn your cell phone. if i'm still talking at 1:30, please let your cell phone ring or beep or do something. we'll find a way to bring it to a close. it's a real honor for me to be at the press club today with you and your distinguished audience. i'm especially pleased to be joined by two of our deputy ambassadors, demetrius, some of you may have known from his career previously at ustr and many years of service on the senate finance committee, and ambassador shapiro who joins us as well from a career serving in various capacities in trade in the clinton administration and running her own various successful international consulting business. they have made a wonderful, wonderful addition to our team and help us to advance the objectives that the president has laid out for us. alan ment

kirk: if the gentleman will yield. we probably spend enough time naming post offices in our country in the worst economy. mr. berman:s that not a discussion of post offices. this is not a discussion of suspension legislation. both parties seem to like naming post offices and introducing other kinds of resolutions. this is a discussion about the decision to send our forces into harm's way. it's worthy of a serious debate. there is nothing wrong with that debate. i don't believe our troops are going to get demoralized by our having that debate. i believe to the contrary we're going to say we're proud to represent a country willing to undertake that event. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. who seeks recognition? mr. kucinich: i want to thank -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized. mr. kucinich: i want to thank mr. berman. we have a difference of opinion about the resolution but we're united in the opinion that this house should debate it and that every memb

will you need to work some of that ron kirk magic? >> my wife is blessed to know she's the first thing on my mind every day. we had a great weekend together in new york and hopefully she'll be back up this weekend. i know all of you that know her will call and help share the love with me and help rescue me from this faux pas. >> thank you for coming today, ambassador kirk. i would also like to thank the national press club staff, including its broadcast and library for organizing today's event. for more information about joining the national press club and how to acquire a copy of today's program, please go to our website www.press.org. thank you. this meeting is adjourned. . . the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by the chaplain, father coughlin. chaplain coughlin: greet the world with saum that the whole day be filled with blessing. for the lord of creation rejoices and it is with his people. may all the peoples of the earth turn to their redeemer and seek justice for the most forsaken. lord, grant hea

i'm kirk. back to you. >> thanks kirk. chicago cubs pitcher ryan defer store spent his weekend in chicago. he invited david caplan to one of the workouts. as you'll see this is a case study in the agnat my of a work use. >> reporter: not a time many professional athletes are up and about. brian is ready to get to work. he gets together with trainer micates in north brook. is occasionally joined by fellow pitchers jeff and tom. >> the three of us working out. it's fun to push each other like that. it's a friendly competition. >> to build team spirit. >> yes. >> reporter: dempsters teammates are workingout. it's up to me to keep up. >> stand up tall. push your butt down. >> reporter: the majority of it is your legs for a pitcher that'sth most important ccccccccccxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >>> all right now get this. it's a chance of a lifetime. a chance to wear your favorite baseball team uniform with mayor name on the back of it and you get to play baseball with former major league players. comcast sports net chicago's chuck jo

will you need to work some of that ron kirk magic? >> my wife is blessed to know she's the first thing on my mind every day. we had a great weekend together in new york and hopefully she'll be back up this weekend. i know all of you that know her will call and help share the love with me and help rescue me from this faux pas. >> thank you for coming today, ambassador kirk. i would also like to thank the national press club staff, including its broadcast and library for organizing today's event. for more information about joining the national press club and how to acquire a copy of today's program, please go to our website >> "washington journal" continues. host: maria carrillo is the medical director for the alzheimer's association. a new report out that african- americans are two times more likely and hispanics are 1.5 times more likely than white counterparts to have alzheimer's or other dementia. how did you find this out? what are the factors here? guest: every year, the alzheimer's association publishes the report where we attemp

he's only blocking the nominations as leverage against the president and ambassador kirk. that is pure obstructionism. it's these kind of political power plays -- one senator actually had 70 nominees on hold -- that lead to such cynicism in the country about our ability to work together to get things done. when a senator blocks basic governmental action, action that all agree is of national importance, for purely parochial and political reasons, the the public rightly wonders what is going on. if the senator from kentucky disagrees with the canadian legislature, fine. he should voice that disagreement publicly and try to persuade the president of the merits of his point of view. he is welcome to do that. instead, he has chosen to add to the obstructionist tactics that are poisoning this chamber and preventing the government of the united states from doing its business. that may serve the immediate political goals of his party, but it is wrong, madam president, for our country, and it is wrong for all americans who depend on an effective united states government. madam pres

. >> councilman robert kirk -- robert curran summing up the mayor's budget proposal. the main cuts would affect two areas. the first, public safety, including cutting three fire stations and grounding the police helicopter foxtrot, and eliminating the marines mounted and police service units. it would also make drastic cuts to the parks and recreation department. the city would also eliminate bulk trash pickup. >> i would book -- i believe we will also have to cut some services. the caveat is to find those that have the least impact on spending. >> committee chairman bill and the conways hoping that a compromise can be a -- belinda qana way is hoping that a compromise can be reached. >> from the top brass to the unions, all in the fire and safety are in agreement that it will affect safety. >> you are dealing with units that have a direct effect on safety of the children and elderly here in baltimore city. >> the mayor is expected to present a preliminary budget at next week's board of estimates meeting. coming up, there are proposals being put forward to generate rev

. >> when i see the ball kirk role described in the newspapers, -- the volcker rule describe the newspapers it talks about trading with commercial banks. you are enthusiastic but i would submit that i think the size part is important. if you can imagine non-bank commercial banks that do not do proprietary trading, there will be pressure on the government. you do not have any evidence that economies to scale in these institutions exist beyond the $100 billion in assets. now we have a crisis, if this is the opportunity, why don't we envisage reducing them to something better than the size of the market. gdp is some indication of our ability to pay for these things and give them 10 years to come down. why do we need the financial institutions that have trillion dollar balance sheet? i am disappointed to hear you say that that is unrealistic. i would like to think it is realistic i think that really is the key to doing something on too big to fail, resolution counts, wind down authority counts but the one that would deliver is some kind of size limit. >> i may be disappointed in myself. in not

but no thanks to congressman mark kirk. >> while republicans believe health care will be a political for the democrats who gave birth to it, the democratic party calls it a major achievement, not something to hide from. >> that's something to be proud of. that's something to run on. i think democrats, i think and republicans all see that. >> democrats say republicans are the ones who should be running for cover since they are trying to repeal the new law thereby depriving americans of important health care benefits. but the g.o.p. claims it's actually on the side of the american people. >> democrats keep saying that they know it's a tough vote for their members but they never say why. the american people know why. that's because they didn't support this legislation. >> 20 democrats from districts that supported john mccain in 2008 voted for health care reform. those are the ones the democratic party will especially try to protect in their ad campaigns and the ones republicans will try to unseat. in washington, steve centanni, fox news. >> bret: new home sales fell 2.2 percentage poin

she worked as chief of staff to rod kirk. replaces des'ree rogers who is returning to the private sector. she came under scrutiny after a couple crashed the state dinner without an invitation. >>> doctors find a not so harmless side affect to smoking marijuana. >>> and it will take longer to recover from the storm that brought us a lot of wind. >>> we are dealing with last weak's storm. another storm on the horizon. i will let you know how close it will come. 9 news now returns in just a leave hair healthy. s selsun blue. got a clue? get the blue. and in hard times, sometimes, a belief in a dream, a belief in what is possible - can transform everything. at at&t, we've never forgotten that our company began in a small laboratory, with a dream and a belief, in the future. today, our wired and wireless high speed internet networks are connecting small businesses across america - in cities and small towns - to markets around the world. we know that investment in broadband high speed internet can create hundreds of thousands of ne

. >> simon, speaking in brussels, today, ron kirk said his office is considering filing a complaint withhe wto on behalf of the companies but he hasn't decided yet. his office declined comment. it's another sign of rising tensions between the u.s. and china. complaints reportedly made by u.s.-based payment processing firms including visa, mastercard and discover. visa and discover declined comment. mastercard didn't return calls. the beef, when it joined the wto china ignored a deadline to provide foreign firms access to the credit and debit payment processing market. as a result, the u.s. companies still can't issue yen dominated cards or build networks for them unless partnering with a chinese firm. even then, the sole payment partner handles all payments made with the cards. peter morici from the international trade commission said they should get tough and file a complaint because the company's complaints are legitima legitimate. >> chinese payment companies are allowed to do business around the world without cobranding with foreign banks. this is another example of china practicing

kirk adams the speaker of our house of representatives.l of dobson high for your hospitality. my friends, i'm so grateful you are here. by the way, sarah and todd are leaving here and guess where they are going. they are going to searchlight, nevada. the hoeme of the majority leade soon to be minority leader of the united states senate, or maybe not the minority leader. maybe just out of a job, former majority leader. harry reid. and you know the message is, this healthcare bill repeal and replace, repeal and replace, repeal and replace. repeal and replace. repeal and replace. andç if you don't, we are goin to repeal them. ok? let me just luntion to you something you may have seen like in that 2,733-page monstrosity -- and i did read every page. but we are going to be finding out for a long time what this is doing to america. let me mention this morning's news. at&t will take a $1 billion ngnbash accounting charge, the largest disclosed ever. earlier this week a.k. steel company, caterpillar $100 million. valero energy, 3-m will take a $

we are already seeing this with mark kirk who is a republican senate candidate from illinois who ranssue of repeal in the republican primary in order to, i think, appeal to tea partiers and the hard right. as recently as two weeks ago, he was talking about repealing it if he made it to the senate. now he stopped saying that. he won't answer questions about repeal. so i think that points out the difficulty of, you know, if you pander to a hard right constituency it leaves you in a really difficult place in the general election because a lot of people -- older folks who hear repeal, aren't going to parse your talking points. they will hear the word repeal and be worried you are going to take away their health care. >> this i think goes back to the point that david fromm was talking about. before he got himself fired by conservatives everywhere, that there was no backup plan, no strategy in case they didn't succeed in tieing up health care reform forever or defeating it. clearly there was none because they came up with two self-contradictory ideas. there was no backup plan for the repub

on march 9th, we have embassador ron kirk who is the trade ambassador. on march 15th, we have dick armey chairman of the freedom works. second, i'd like to present our speaker, this is always the most exciting part of the program, with the traditional national press club mug. [applause] >> thank you. >> the final question has to do with looking ahead. i know you have been very busy, governor, with your book tour and believe in time for reflection and your family. vacation spots possibly in 2009. wondering if you are considering the morning, manchester, at cedar rapids, or c city? what could be your travel plans for the upcoming year? -- cedar rapids sioux city? [laughter] >> some of those places are lovely in the summer. this is a critical year for people like myself who are conservative. as a result, for people like myself and hopefully for a number of you in this room and others across the country, we're going to be working in our various states to elect people who share our views and values about the country. you can expect me to be in a lot of states

but no thanks to congressman mark kirk.th insurance companies and their washington lobbyists and against reform. >> and there are expected to be a whole series of those for different members of congress. 20 democrats from districts that supported john mccain in 2008 voted for health care reform and those are the ones democrats will especially try to protect in their ad campaigns and the ones republicans will try hardest to unseat, shep. >> shepard: let the games begin. steve centanni in washington. a golf legend tells tiger woods to open up to the media when he makes his big return to the masters -- right. arnold palmer says the best thing for arnold to do is let shoot at him. two interviews only 5 minutes long since the sex scandal began headlines. we just learned he will hold first news conference in five months on the monday of the masters. his return to augusta next month will mark the first time he has played competitively since november. arnold palmer also said woods told him last week is he not playing in tomorrow's

but again when you look at a place like kirk and it applies to all of the party whoever ethnicity oryou will support your ethnicity for stand party second. can guram make inroads? it remains to be seen. he's campaigning on this idea of a joint administration. guram says the kurdistan regional government which wants to incorporate crewcut into the kurdish region has not done enough to make that proposal attractive to the other groups living in kirkuk so there are doing there's no political space for the other groups in the kurdistan regional government. they have reacted to that by saying that's not right we are open to this and in fact we are open to the possibility of having a joint administration. this something you don't hear about. they've made references to this, vague references in the past. he commented on it again recently, his deputy also commented on it a little bit more at length in january saying we do need to take a hard look at the puk and how we have acted towards kirkuk and try to be more inclusive, and we are indeed open to the idea of a joint administration. of cour

kirk because he's knowledgeable and this is a naval intelligence answer. >> mr.irk, we'll try to get your question in before we vote. >> i have to ask since the second busiest airport in the world is in my state. we had the head of security at o'hare jim maurer say it was the least secure airport in america. this was on the front page of the chicago sun times today. can you comment on his charges? he's got some pretty specific complaints. >> yes, congressman. i'm familiar with the statements that he made. i will tell you that o'hare has an airport security plan. tsa inspects for that plan. they are in compliance with that plan. any time that we have something reported to us or we notice that there are inspections that they are not in compliance with we would take it up with the airport authority. >> one specific thing i want to raise with you is he says, quote, o'hare is the only armt in the country that allows private vehicles to park on the secure side of the airfield. >> i'm aware of the parking set-up there. basically right now they have a security plan that

international trade representative ron kirk. we'll look at caller's opinions in today's "washington journal." : president obama yesterday, talking about health care, once a bill passed by march 18. that is next week. here is the front page of "the new york times" this morning. i want to show you from "the new york times" this morning, bob herbert's opinion@@@@@@@@@ @ 8 the economy shed 36,000 jobs last month and that was trumpeted in the press as good news. well, after the house has burned down i suppose it's good news that the may finally be flickering out. but once you realize that it will take 11 million or more jobs to get us back to where we were when the recession began, you begin to understand that we're not really making any headway at all. saying president obama and democrats need to focus on jobs and the economy. we want to get your opinion this morning. health care and/or jobs. first call, cedar hill, texas. republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. host: what do you think, henry? caller: well, as far as jo

through his national export initiative and i look forward to discussing his plans with ambassador kirk. as our economy continues to struggle, it's evident americans will not be able to consume their way out of this recession. we must focus on getting our products and services to emerging markets around the world. american ingenuity, creativity and innovation can spur new jobs and new factories here at home. according to the obama administration, increasing trade by 1% will create 250,000 jobs, a significant start to helping americans find work. passing the colombia, panama and other free trade agreements would accomplish that, increasing trade exports by 1% and creating an estimated 250,000 jobs. these free trade agreements put american workers on a fair footing with workers in those countries, instead of alienating our global trading partners through programs such as buy american. many goods produced in other countries have no tariff at all when sold to the u.s. the president's goal is ambitious. surpassing these free trade agreements is an important first step to restoring american c

>> reporter: until recently kirk grossty was a federal prosecutor at department of justice, in chargeiminal medicare fraud. >> criminals can take these forms and fill them out better and more complete than actual health care providers. so real hospitals and doctors who are struggling every day to keep up with the paperwork, their formsometimes miss things. >> reporter: medicare makes life very easy for criminals. unlike credit card companies that stop payment the second a suspicious charge is made, we learned medicare is slow to respond. even when people call to tell them about fraud. what did you notice in your bill? >> thousands of dollars for treatments that i didn't even know what they were, actually. i think it turned out it was for diabetes but i don't know, all kinds of medications listed. >> reporter: but you don't have diabetes? >> nothing like that at all, no. and i called medicare. >> reporter: what did they say? >> what kind of question? am i sure that i didn't have it done? >> reporter: paula teller spent three years trying to convince medica that fraudulent charges were

kirk because he's knowledgeable and this is a naval intelligence answer. >> mr. kirk, we'll try to get your question in before we vote. >> i have to ask since the second busiest airport in the world is in my state. we had the head of security at o'hare jim maurer say it was the least secure airport in america. this was on the front page of the chicago sun times today. can you comment on his charges? he's got some pretty specific complaints. >> yes, congressman. i'm familiar with the statements that he made. i will tell you that o'hare has an airport security plan. tsa inspects for that plan. they are in compliance with that plan. any time that we have something reported to us or we notice that there are inspections that they are not in compliance with we would take it up with the airport authority. >> one specific thing i want to raise with you is he says, quote, o'hare is the only armt in the country that allows private vehicles to park on the secure side of the airfield. >> i'm aware of the parking set-up there. basically right now they have a security plan tha

kirk cameron was also a child star in the '80s. he competed for roles with corey haim. he says he can see how becoming a celebrity at such a young age may have contributed to haim's troubles. >> when you turn 35, 40 years old, these questions start coming up. who am i really? do you have value? what's the meaning of my life? where am i going? and for someone who grew up and at 15 years old was the superstar, these questions are intensified later in life and you are wondering how do i get back to who i was. but it was a false sort of identity -- >> to begin with. >> and you can't get back there. cameron said the main things that saved him from going down a similar life is haim was a strong foundation from his parents and his faith in god. >>> well, police chase after a ford f-150 in phoenix, arizona, early this morning. they arrested the driver and the passenger but find out what else officers discover hiding in the truck bed. >>> it's hard to admit that i need help, but i do. for 45 days from the end of december to early february, i was in inpatient therapy receiving gu

were to run against her in washington state, a very blue state, and we're competitive there, mark kirk in illinois on the senate races, obviously, but this map has expanded and the democrats have got to play a lot more defense, and we do have, i think, the momentum going right now, but i just don't want to take it for granted. martha: we're going to watch the mid-term races closely and the poll numbers and how they shift. i think we're going to see a little shift in some of those numbers as a result of this health care package in d.c., but we will see. it's good to see you, jason, thank you very much, maria, thank you very much. >> thank you. bill: you know what we didn't see in the signing room? martha: what? bill the bill. one sheet of paper, right? martha: you're right about that. bill: talk about a prop. martha: he signed his name with one half of the -- half of a name with the pen and -- because he had to use 22 pens. bill: we mentioned this a few minutes ago, health care package means big banks, private financial lenders will loan $170 billion a year, new the --o because the new

but again when you look at a place like kirk and it applies to all of the party whoever ethnicity or you will support your ethnicity for stand party second. can guram make inroads? it remains to be seen. he's campaigning on this idea of a joint administration. guram says the kurdistan regional government which wants to incorporate crewcut into the kurdish region has not done enough to make that proposal attractive to the other groups living in kirkuk so there are doing there's no political space for the other groups in the kurdistan regional government. they have reacted to that by saying that's not right we are open to this and in fact we are open to the possibility of having a joint administration. this something you don't hear about. they've made references to this, vague references in the past. he commented on it again recently, his deputy also commented on it a little bit more at length in january saying we do need to take a hard look at the puk and how we have acted towards kirkuk and try to be more inclusive, and we are indeed open to the idea of a joint administration. of cou

kirk? >> you met yesterday with the prime minister of greece.concerned as the washington post reported, its problems have only partially to do with speculators and more to do with false economic data, broken tax system, runaway spending, the greeks report only 5,000 people make $136,000 in their own country. i am concerned about the role of financial institutions particularly goldman sachs. as greece got on the air one of goldman money, goldman was the crack dealer and did not disclose these increasing liabilities to the eu financial system or the fed. the fed. it would seem not only should we very carefully review any requests he has, you have laf >> now it is very important that the united states work with your to put in place ut in place a comprehensive set of reforms to provide oversight over the markets. it is important to us and them and something that has to be done globally. in the house the have proposed a sweeping set of reforms that would bring oversight to all participants in the markets, move those parts on clearing houses, bring tr

i think it's terrific that things have taken a turn for the better in iraq kirk -- ever since the surgeearly 2007 under general patraeus and general air now. if he says to back it, i trust it. he is not going to risk u.s. troops or u.s. success in iraq by going too fast for drawdown. but i hope that president obama keeps an open mind. i think it is foolish to set an arbitrary number -- 50,000 by sunday, june, 2011. that was just picked out of the air. if you are fighting a war, and we have sacrificed a lot in that war, and you want to make it come out well, which is important for the middle east and our future, it is foolish to get trapped by some campaign promises for some arbitrary date. if we need to slow down the withdrawal, i hope he understands. it would be foolish to stick to that arbitrary number. host: for the students here, can you understand -- can you explain the role that the "weekly standard" plays in politics here? guest: i introduced as bill kristol, the editor of the "weekly standard" n'yah often get asked how often it comes out -- and i often get asked how often it com

-- kirk didn'crooked stuff. guest: every potential employees should check out the employer and see what kind of organization they are before they go for the interview. it is very important to see where they stand on issues and ethics. guest: its credit check was pulled on them, it would have looked fine. this is not an indicator of someone's character. host: independent line. caller: i do not know what the current line is -- lot is. i was wondering, the human resources woman -- host: you broke off a little bit. go ahead. we will leave it there. one more call, indiana, democrats line. caller: >> i have 10 years' experience in the employment and training industry. one person was talking about how it evolved from a military model where they did not want people to get security clearances because they felt if a person was receiving -- or was in debt, they could be bribed to pull some sort of espionage. what has happened over time is big businesses have captured this model. they say, if you have an employee who cannot

kirk adams, the speaker of our house of representatives.hank you to the principle of the high school. -- think you to the principal of the high school. my friends, i am grateful you are here. saratov are leaving here. guess where they are going? they are going to search light, nevada, the home of the majority leader soon-to-be minority leader of the united states senate, or maybe not the minority leader. maybe just out of a job, a former majority leader. harry reid. do you know what the message is? it is health care bill -- repeal and replace. repealed and replaced. repeal and replace. if you do not -- if you do not, we are going to repeal them. let me mention to you something you may have seen in that monstrosity. i read every page. i will tell you we're going to be finding out for a long time what this is doing to america. let me mention this morning's news. at&t will take a $1 billion noncash accounting charge that charges -- earlier this week, a steel, $100 million. valero energy, on and on. gm will take and $85 million charge. do you k

i think it's terrific that things have taken a turn for the better in iraq kirk -- ever since the surgey 2007 under general patraeus and general air now. if he says to back it, i trust it. he is not going to risk u.s. troops or u.s. success in iraq by going too fast for drawdown. but i hope that president obama keeps an open mind. i think it is foolish to set an arbitrary number -- 50,000 by sunday, june, 2011. that was just picked out of the air. if you are fighting a war, and we have sacrificed a lot in that war, and you want to make it come out well, which is important for the middle east and our future, it is foolish to get trapped by some campaign promises for some arbitrary date. if we need to slow down the withdrawa&,@@@@@@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @r i get asked, people introduce me somewhere, there's bill kristol, editor of "the weekly standard." the question is how often do your magazine comes out? once a week. there is the website weeklystandard.com. we have 1,000 print subscribers. people come from the left side to read the material. we're a conservative magazine started in 1995. i think

first to remind the audience of the future speakers marchant tomorrow investor ron kirk the u.s. trade representative who will discuss the obama administration's trade agenda. march 15th a week from today we have armey the chairman of the freedom works and april 5th douglas shulman the commissioner of the internal revenue service will be speaking as the clock ticks on your tax returns. for the second item, the moment we've all been waiting for i would like to present a guest with the traditional and coveted national press club mog. [laughter] >> i'm going to have to check with officials on such -- lester chris too regardless whether you can accept we thank you for coming today. i would also like to thank the national press club staff including its library and broadcast center for organizing today's event. our last question is in the program the simpsons the environmental protection agency is portrayed as an agency with no fewer controversies than the ones today. what you're epa consider putting a dome over the city of springfield as in the simpsons and what is your feeling toward

on tuesday march 9, we have ron kirk that will discuss the administration's export agenda. and then we have dick armey. second, i would like to present our speaker with the traditional national press club mug. [applause] >> used wrong for the big bucks. thank you. -- you sprung for the big bucks. >> i know you will be very busy on your book tour, and you also think about your family. are you considering destinations for vacation such as des moines, manchester, cedar rapids? what are your travel plans? >> some of those places are lovely and the summer. -- in the summer. this is a pretty critical year for people like myself that are conservative. as a result, for people like myself, and hopefully a number of you in this room and others across the country, we're going to be working in various states to let folks that share our views and values throughout the country. you can expect me to be an awful lot of states. i will be visiting 49 cities doing book signings and speeches. the book is about the challenges i think america faces, and my view that we have a stop apologizing fo

i think it's terrific that things have taken a turn for the better in iraq kirk -- ever since the surge early 2007 under general patraeus and general air now. if he says to back it, i trust it. he is not going to risk u.s. troops or u.s. success in iraq by going too fast for drawdown. but i hope that president obama keeps an open mind. i think it is foolish to set an arbitrary number -- 50,000 by sunday, june, 2011. that was just picked out of the air. if you are fighting a war, and we have sacrificed a lot in that war, and you want to make it come out well, which is important for the middle east and our future, it is foolish to get trapped by some campaign promises for some arbitrary date. if we need to slow down the withdrawal, i hope he understands. it would be foolish to stick to that arbitrary number. host: for the students here, can you understand -- can you explain the role that the "weekly standard" plays in politics here? guest: i introduced as bill kristol, the editor of the "weekly standard" n'yah often get asked how often it comes out -- and i often get asked how often it co

on tuesday march 9, we have ron kirk that will discuss the administration's export agenda.d then we have dick armey. second, i would like to present our speaker with the traditional national press club mug. [applause] >> used wrong for the big bucks. thank you. -- you sprung for the big bucks. >> i know you will be very busy on your book tour, and you also think about your family. are you considering destinations for vacation such as des moines, manchester, cedar rapids? what are your travel plans? >> some of those places are lovely and the summer. -- in the summer. this is a pretty critical year for people like myself that are conservative. as a result, for people like myself, and hopefully a number of you in this room and others across the country, we're going to be working in various states to let folks that share our views and values throughout the country. you can expect me to be an awful lot of states. i will be visiting 49 cities doing book signings and speeches. the book is about the challenges i think america faces, and my view that we have a stop apologizing for w

trade representative ron kirk on tomorrow morning's "washington journal" he will talk about health careinsurance. after that, melanie sloan on lobbying and earmarked. also, john della volpe on the 2010 midterm election. later, meredith will announce the winner of our annual student cam documentary contest. what should "washington journal" each morning beginning at 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> tomorrow we will announce the 75 winners of the student cam petition. 2000 middle and high school students entered a video on our country's greatest strengths are a challenge the country basis. find out the winner tomorrow morning during c-span's "washington journal." >> now christina romer. she taught the new programs aimed at job creation, including a higher rate -- hiring tax credit. this is part of a conference hosted by the national association for business economics. it is about a half hour. >> i would like to welcome all of you to the breakfast. my name is richard. i'm the vice president and a faculty member. i have two tasks tomorrow -- this morning. the first to remind you of the professional dev

trade representative ron kirk said and it was an important and very timely message.upports millions of u.s. jobs and expanding trade must be part of the u.s. economy. congress needs to support long delayed trade pacts with colombia, panama and south korea, which will greatly expand access to oversea markets for florida businesses. while these agreements are stalling here in washington, our competitors are cutting their own deals, to open more markets for their exporters. the european union, for example, has concluded an agreement with south korea, similar to the one that's been languishing here in washington, d.c. hundreds of thousands of people are employed in the trade industry. in my home state of florida, we exported more than $47 billion in goods last year. south florida is a gateway to latin america, and it's a huge hub with trade with colombia, which has already produced thousands of jobs in key industries such as the flower importing industry. trade is a crucial part of our economic recovery and an ideal opportunity for democrats and republicans to work toget

vito and the worker of his company for the federal government, they are kirk's. is a big leap of faith. but they improperly bill and take money that they don't deserve come and you are an employee. you know, about it coming at you report it. you blow the whistle and he will try to fire you. your history. self not only to incentivize to be whistle-blowers but why don't we at least try to protect them to get their job back and recover the lost wages. then we decided to go a step further if you are a whistle-blower done malaysia job projected in your respective there's a recovery you can participate receiving between 15 and 30% of the recovery from the federal treasury. i was told this week the irs may have a similar arrangement with votes to our reporting tax fraud or e evasion and money recovered recovered, some participation or seven reward can be provided to those. we can have all the stuff we're talking here about federal agency trying to make sure people there doing their job the part of me says one of the way to make sure that that is happening is to actually

kirk. >> thank you, mr. chairman. you met yesterday with the prime minister of greece. and i'm particularly concerned by -- as the washington post reported, greece's problems, critics argue, have only partially to do with speculators, more to do with false economic data, broken tax system, runaway spending. the greeks report that only 5,000 people make over $136,000 in their whole country. i'm particularly concerned about the role of u.s. financial institutions, particularly goldman sachs, that -- as greece got on the heroin of borrowed money, goldman was the crack dealer and did not disclose these increasing liabilities to the eu financial system, to the imf, or to the fed. increasing liabilities to the eu financial system, to the imf, or to the fed. it would seem not only should we very carefully review any requests he has, you have had any frank discussions with goldman about their very questionable role in this? >> they are digging their way out of the position. he has a lot of challenges to face. but he's beginning that process. and he also walked us through their

trade representative, ron kirk, is encouraging mexico to sign into the government procurement agreement so that mexico can actually have access to some of the stimulus funding, which was to create jobs here in the u.s. the one question to mr. carpenter and those involved in the administration. the administration coordinating what's happening or you going to encourage other countries to access the stimulus money? >> thank you, congressman. first of all, the 80 vehicles that i mentioned in the locomotive are all of the rebuild mode. so we are reconstructing those. but certainly amtrak is certainly going to comply with a buy american component and it's been a great deal of conversation were committed to doing. we're hopeful to be the genesis for starting a domestic manufacturing base. we restart that for a rail. if i might, i want to make sure that one thing is clear and i really has to do with the transparency and congress that if you can bear with me, it would probably speak to the question that you have. i want to make sure that they make it very clear that the $1.3 billion in their peo

in illinois, mark kirk. very moderate republican, there you go. scott brown, for all the talk that he was no. 41, the villager -- refers major vote was to support any cloture on the jobs bill. if he wants to stick around -- you do not win as a republican in massachusetts by voting with mitch mcconnell and having a voting record that looks more like kentucky that it does massachusetts. there are three more people at the table, potentially, then were there before. by itself, that can help to foster a different environment. is harry reid going to be back? if he loses the reelection, there's a fight for leadership there. chuck schumer? determined? that will create a different environment. some people look back and say that the best thing that ever happened to bill clinton was losing the house and senate in 1994. then he was able to triangulate and win reelection. the president has already done a pretty good job of that so far. he is setting up to rise above congress, his approval ratings are higher than congress. every time he sits down like he did at

vito and the worker of his company for the federal government, they are kirk's.a big leap of faith. but they improperly bill and take money that they don't deserve come and you are an employee. you know, about it coming at you report it. you blow the whistle and he will try to fire you. your history. self not only to incentivize to be whistle-blowers but why don't we at least try to protect them to get their job back and recover the lost wages. then we decided to go a step further if you are a whistle-blower done malaysia job projected in your respective there's a recovery you can participate receiving between 15 and 30% of the recovery from the federal treasury. i was told this week the irs may have a similar arrangement with votes to our reporting tax fraud or e evasion and money recovered recovered, some participation or seven reward can be provided to those. we can have all the stuff we're talking here about federal agency trying to make sure people there doing their job the part of me says one of the way to make sure that that is happening is to actually inc

on tuesday, march 9, we have ambassador ron kirk, the u.s. trade representative.rch 15, we have dick armey, the chairman of freedom works. i would like to present our speaker with -- this is always the most exciting parts of the program -- with the traditional national press club and mug. -- press club mug. [applause] the final question has to do with looking ahead. i know you are very busy with your book tour and i know you believe for time with reflection for your family as well. vacation spots possibly in 2009. i am wondering if you are considering destinations such as des moines, manchester, cedar rapids. what could be your travel plans for the upcoming year? >> thank you. some of those places are lovely in the summer. [laughter] frankly, this is a pretty critical year for people like myself who are conservative. as a result, for people like myself, and hopefully for a number of view in this room and others across the country, we're going to be working in our various states to let folks who share our views and values. you can expect me to be in a lot of states

kirk adams, the speaker of our house of representatives.nk you to the principle of the high school. -- think you to the principal of the high school. my friends, i am grateful you are here. saratov are leaving here. guess where they are going? they are going to search light, nevada, the home of the majority leader soon-to-be minority leader of the united states senate, or maybe not the minority leader. maybe just out of a job, a former majority leader. harry reid. do you know what the message is? it is health care bill -- repeal and replace. repealed and replaced. repeal and replace. if you do not -- if you do not, we are going to repeal them. let me mention to you something you may have seen in that monstrosity. i read every page. i will tell you we're going to be finding out for a long time what this is doing to america. let me mention this morning's news. at&t will take a $1 billion noncash accounting charge that charges -- earlier this week, a steel, $100 million. valero energy, on and on. gm will take and $85 million charge. do you kno

anthony kirk was already a convicted killer and a registered sex offender when he committed this atrocity. he served 16 years in prison for the assault and murder of another young woman. my wife connie and i extend our deepest sympathy to esmi's family and friends and to the community during this unthinkably difficult time. we lost esmi a year ago, but i know she will be a part of our lives always. the recurrence of these acts underscores the need to look at the criminal system. i join my colleague senator webb of virginia, the bill s. 174, the national justice commission act of 2009. this bill would establish a national criminal justice commission to undertake a presence rif review of the current system and submit a report to congress and the president that outlines findings and recommendations for changes in criminal justice policies. such actions vital is -- to keeping our children safe. as the crime that took esmi from us. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor and i -- i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until >> obam

committee witness kirk alison, university of minnesota, testified, and i quote, in my meeting with practitioners in june of 2006, evidence included transcripts of questions to identified hospitals and physicians on organ availability. falun gong sources were characterized were being of high quality and often available in a short a time as a week and in some cases with a guarantee of a backup organ should the first fail, end quote. the systemic killing of falun gong practitioners for their organs is almost too ghoulish to imagine. it seems incomprehensible that this could occur, a cruelty comparable to imperial romans throwing christians to be eaten by lions. the stark reality which this addresses gives new meaning to the phrase butchers of beijing. the beijing regime of today engages in the barbaric repression of some of its own people simply because they seek to practice a peaceful, spiritual discipline. . some remain in detention in labor camps. how can anyone seriously call these the actions of a responsible stake holder. i strongly and enthusiastically urge my colleagues to support this reso