i know senator lautenberg, every time you speak, i'm talking to senator lautenberg -- wanted to say, every time you speak about losing your sister to asthma and the -- and i am glad that you remind us of this because a lot of times you hear these speeches about, you know, bureaucracy and jobs and things which i think are off base. but we forget about why we set up this entity. and what it means that when epa implements the utility mac and start to control chromium and other pollutants, we will see 130,000 fewer asthma attacks every year. we will see 5,700 fewer hospital emergency room visits. and 3 million fewer restricted activity days. so i guess my question is, and that's why the people support what you do administrator. when you sit there and hear this criticism coming from the other side of the aisle and it is their perfect right to think the way they think and do what they do and we have a big disgremt, and it's very respectful, but when i look at you sitting there with your people, it must feel pretty darn good to have a job that you know at the end of the day is going to save

. >> senator lautenberg? >> no, i think -- >> oh, i'm sorry. wait. wait. it's a little rock 'n' rollin' leahy, the chair of the judiciary committee, and then senator lautenberg. >> thank you, madam attorney general holder, good to have you here. my good friend from tennessee, senator alexander said, on the recess appointment. there is an easy way out of all of this. require a little cooperation on both sides. and i suggested this in the president resubmit theminations and republicans agree to have an up or down vote within a week or two weeks. the president did this even though you had -- knew there was more t normally what it takes to confirm somebody available, my friends on the other side of the aisle were blocking having a vote. i understand the president's frustration, but i think the if the republican leadership would agree to an up or down vote say within a week or two weeks. whatever amount of time is needed for debate. and resubmit them and have an up or down vote. that takes care of all the problem. i just would suggest that as an easy way out. i

first of all sen at chair of the judiciary committee, and then senator lautenberg. attorney general holder, good to have you here. if i could just follow-up a little bit on what my good friend from tennessee, senator alexander said, on the recess appointment. there is an easy way out of all of this. require a little cooperation on both sides. and i suggested this in the th president resubmit the agree to have an up or down vote within a week or two weeks. the president did this even ougs more than 50 votes, which is normally what it takes to friends on the other side of the aisle were blocking having a vote. i understand the president's frustration, but i think the easy way out of this is simphe would agree to an up or down vote say within a week or two weeks. whatever amount of time is needed for debate. and resubmit them and have an up or down vote. that takes care of all the problem. i just would suggest that as an easy way out. it's not as much fun on the talk shows, but -- now, mr. attorney general, the department your department administers many crucial grant

i know, senator lautenberg, every time you speak -- i'm talking to senator lautenberg.ery time you speak about losing your sister to asthma, and i'm glad that you remind us of this because a lot of times you hear these speeches about, you know, bureaucracy and jobs and things which i think are off base, but we forget about why we set up this entity and what it means that when epa implements the utility mat and start to control mercury, arsenic, lead and chromium and other hazardous pollutants, we will see 130,000 fewer asthma attacks every year. we will see 5700 fewer hospital emergency room visits and three million fewer restricted activity days. so i guess my question is -- and that's why the people support what you do, administrator. when you sit there and you hear this criticism coming from the other side of the aisle, and it is their perfect right to think the way they think and do what they do, and we have a big disagreement, and it's very respectful, but when i look at you sitting there with your people, it must feel pretty darn good to have a job that you know a

lautenberg: thank you, madam president. i rise to speak against three republican amendments that pose grave threats to our health, our children, and our environment. the first seeks to delay and weaken new e.p.a. standards that would reduce the pollution produced by industrial boilers. these boilers emit dozens of toxins, including lead, which reduces children's intelligence levels and dioxins, which can cause birth defects. boilers also release mercury, which is brain poison for children. and i ask my colleagues here: just think for a moment how lucky you are if all of your children are healthy and feeling good. under the republican amendment, polluters will have at least six additional years to continue releasing life-threatening toxins into our air. madam president, we've already waited far too long to see the health benefits these standards would achieve. back in 1990, both parties came together in congress and told the e.p.a. to set new pollution standards by the year 2000. if we delay these standards another six years

and we're going to move off this and we're going to go to senator lautenbe lautenberg. >> thank you very much. thanks. i didn't want anyone to hear what i was going to say. not that i would pick sides h e here. pick on somebody your own size. >> your time has expired. >> i have 45 seconds more. serious business here. thanks, madam chairman, for holding this hearing. and it's hard to believe, but we are essentially friends on this committee. and i hope that we'll continue to be after this hearing. politicians talk a lot about how congress needs to balance its budget the same way everyday americans do. they sit at their kitchen table, plan their household budget, crunching the numbers to see what they can or can't afford. but no american would try to balance their family's budget by cutting out money batteries for the smoke detector or putting off getting new brakes for the family car. it would be just a congress to sacrifice the public's health and safety in the name of fiscal austerity. yet that's precisely what our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have proposed when they say we

senator lautenberg? >> thanks very much, madam chairman and welcome, attorney general holder. the job doesn't seem to be getting easier, and i'm not blaming you. i'm just sympathizing. not so much that i won't ask for more, because we're doing with less, and we see it in my state of new jersey. 246 gun murders in 2010. 12% more than the previous year. we've had layoff it's galore, and from cities that can't afford

senator lautenberg? >> thank you very much, madame chair come and thank you come administrator lisa jackson. we are proud of the work that you and/or department has done. a dedicated people come and i met with many of them over the years starting with my superfund days and i know how much they feel is their commitment to their work and they will go to work under the circumstances and fulfill their missions. we had a brief discussion i don't know whether any of you heard it the energy committee, of but one thing i learned here today is it might be part of the budget committee what we are talking about constantly is the costs of these things. i ran a few large business before i got here and i know one thing. we had to have revenues could carry the business alone that was higher than our expenses, and here we have a new economic theory that says it doesn't matter what your revenues are. we don't look at that side of things, yet we dwell on the fact that there are more rules and more position on the business

lautenberg lautenberg: than, madam president. we've listened with interest and total accord as the life in the senate has been reviewed by so many people of friendship and goodwill about barbara mikulski. her record is quite well-known. she's determined to get things done. she never let's minutia stand in the way or block an accomplishment. when -- i noticed one thing, when barbara mikulski starts to talk in a debate that the noise around -- the crowd around the room quiets down. and if you don't, beware. barbara will call your attention to it and say it in a way that demands attention. barbara and i arrived in the senate at fairly close proximity. i came here in 1983 and barbara arrived in 1986, as i recall. and we were both on the appropriations committee. i had some slight seniority ahead of her. and one of the things that was being dealt with was seniority. and barbara asked my help in the choice of subcommittee, and i tried to step out of the way and help barbara obtain the chairmanship of a subcommittee on appropriations, w

rule of community bank quote underappreciated in a speech a new regulatory powers under the.frank lautenberg he gave the keynote address recently at george washington university law school in washington. this is part of an all-day symposium on wall street reform regulations and new consumer protections. it is about 40 minutes. the [inaudible conversations] >> we hope you enjoyed a good lunch. we've had a very interesting morning. we are delighted now to have the privilege and honor of hearing from chairman martin jay gruenberg of the insurance corporation. chairman gruenberg has a number of distinctions, but certainly one of the most for today's event is that it works very actively on the senate banking committee for a number of years, served under senator our brains, was actively involved in the drafting of that statue, along with chairman ken fuller and nicely professor was personally untruths are to evolve. better if dean is involved in the banking committee, but obviously steve harris also we've heard from this morning. so we have a number of folks with us this morning who are truly vete

no, no, the proposed legislation by congresswoman carolyn mccarthy and senator lautenberg to fix just the extended magazine ban that lasted in 2004 to cause so much kindergarten nanlg the safeway parking lot went nowhere. the house had 111 sponsors and it was referred and never got a vote. in the senate it had ten co-sponsors but never got a vote. that's as far as it went. since the tucson shooting here's what actually has happened in terms of gun laws changing in the united states. in arizona the state legislature there passed a bill forcing colleges to allow guns on campus even if the campuses did not want them. another bill said that every public building in arizona must allow guns inside and if they don't they must set up metal detectors and armed guards at the door. arizona governor jan brewer vetoed those bills. she did, however, sign a new law to make the comet single action army revolver arizona's official firearm. around the country gun laws only go in one direction. in indiana a new law says schools, public libraries and some local hospital authorities are now prohibited fro

senator lautenberg? >> thank you, madame chairman and director for the wonderful work that the fbi has done and the diligence and the competence that your people will read with, and have sought to you for your leadership. it's quite incredible we hear the review of what has happened budget fairly for these years, and i am reminded that on 9/11 the loss of lives the society took place in a way that isn't fully understood and the d-day at normandy on pearl harbor we didn't lose as many americans as we did on 9/11, and what we find is the proliferation i'm not doing a second amendment review. we are talking about guns in the wrong hands we are not talking about people who go through the rigors of testing as they do now we are anxious to review we now understood and understand people from the new york police department were doing surveillance in the state of new jersey across the river into our sovereignty and last week the special agent in charge of the fbi office criticized the new york police department s

lautenberg: thank you, mr. president. we are engaged in the business of the senate, and it's not only -- not always discernible that it's the business of the people. when we see what's taking place these days, the principal mantra of republicans on the campaign trail is that they seek more freedom for the american people. the republicans like to say they don't want government interfering in people's lives. then i ask why the devil we are debating a republican amendment that limits a woman's freedom to make her own health care choices. with women the republicans have a different idea about freedom. they want the government to interfere in the most personal aspects of women's lives. the amendment offered by the senator from missouri, the blunt amendment, it's called, will allow a woman's employer to deny coverage for any medical service that they, the employer, has a moral problem with. imagine that. your boss is going to decide whether or not you're acting morally. the republicans want to take us forward to the dark ages a

. >> senator lautenberg? >> thank you, madam chairman. welcome, general, attorney general holder. the job does not seem to be getting easier, and i am not blaming you, i am just sympathizing. >> good observation. >> not so much that i will not ask for more, because we're dealing with less. we see it in the state of new jersey. 246 gun murders in 2010, more than the previous year. we have had layoffs galore and cities that cannot afford to maintain their police force structure. so, when i look at things that we're doing, i worry about credit is the weekend due, from your department, from others. what can we do to help these communities? newark, camden, other cities in new jersey have cut their police force at alarming rates. the police force in camden, over 100 terminations of police officers in newark, new jersey. this december i wrote to find out if you would provide federal resources, a federal resources could be provided to assist our ailing cities. i am pleased to see an increase in the budget there. the department of justice, claiming other steps that we can use to help prote

clinton, there was a great deal of concern with a number of lawmakers, senators barbara mikulski and lautenberg about an increase of violence in afghanistan and that we should be leaving there. >> a wrap-up. what did you hear? >> i think he harbors personal doubt about whether the administration is being tough enough in its communications with the iranians and in making clear to both the israelis and the iranians what we're going to do and why. he wouldn't discuss the detail. he had a detailed briefing yesterday. >> thank you colin, donna. thank you both for your time. >> if you had said that in 2006 the world would be begging the united states to use force again in three 1/2 years, everyone would have said you were crazy. >> robert kagan serves on secretary of state clinton's foreign policy advisory board. >> what i've been writing for years, actually, is that there is a lot of continuity in american foreign policy, more than we expect. a broad consensus. i think what you are seeing here is the kind of consensus that exists in the foreign policy community, and probably from -- probably there i

of nevada, manchin, brown of ohio, udall of new mexico, murray, begich, kohl, nelson of florida, lautenberg, shaheen, bloomen that will, cardin, coons, feinstein, leahy, durbin, lieberman, schumer. cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance -- provided mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i have filed 17 cloture motions. the clerk has read the first one. there are 16 others. i would ask the chair if it would be in order for a unanimous consent request that the -- following the 16 nominations that were not yet read into the record, it would appear as if the same action occurred on those procedurally as the first one that was read. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: i now ask the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask co

here's new jersey senator frank lautenberg on that: >> the republicans like to say they don't want governmentn peoples' lives. then i ask, why the devil we are debating a republican amendment that limits a woman's freedom to make her own health care choices? >> >> reporter: that's just a sample of some of the debate here on capitol hill. we expect reaction to come shortly and one would expect that this issue will be back jenna. jenna: we're watching those developments. mike, thank you. >> >> reporter: thank you. jon: "happening now", some presidential politics. mitt romney and rick santorum likel to split michigan's 30 delegates, although romney won his home state on tuesday. as the gop candidates are busy on the road ahead of supertuesday next week, ten states will award more than 400 delegates. more than one third of the delegates needed to win the nomination. romney, the candidate with the most campaign cash and best organization is holding a rally in north dakota before skipping to idaho, both states holding caucuses on supertuesday. rick santorum beginning his day in georgia where newt b

lautenberg was absent, was for the bill. 3/4 of the senate voted for what was a very bipartisan bill and as a matter of fact, half the senate republicans essentially voted for that bill. it had, as you know, a technical flaw in the bill and that it had revenues which need to be initiated in the house of representatives. representative tim bishop of new york has introduced the senate bill which has overwhelming support in the united states senate and very frankly in my view would have at least 218 votes in this house, at least 218 votes in this house if it were put on the floor. the speaker has said in the past that he is committed to letting the house work its will. obviously referring to open amendments process. but obviously if a bill doesn't come to the floor, we have no opportunity either to amend or to vote. that's been one of our problems, of course, with the jobs bill that we hope would have been brought to the floor that the president proposed. that has not been to the floor. i ask my friend, rather than continue to delay, and both sides have done that on the highway bill, to

lautenberg: thank you, madam president. i rise today at a moment when america is in crisis. and that i don't think we're paying appropriate attention to the problems that befall our society. still too many people out of work, too many people who can't afford the health care presently, too many people who can't educate their children because they don't have the means. struggling. millions of homes still on the edge of foreclosure. and here we see a situation that is unacceptable under any stretch of the imagination. i rise today to talk to the american people who are struggling every week to provide the necessities for family life. at the same time, i ask my republican colleagues why they would insist on continuing tax subsidies -- gifts, really -- to multimillion-dollar oil companies at the expense of ordinary, hard-working, middle-class families. right now, these families are forced to come up with $4 a gallon, $60 to $80 typically to fill up the tank every time they have to go to the gas station. that's a huge burden. the big five oil companies have made almost $1 trillion

of the senate cosponsored it including senator boxer, senator feinstein, senator kerry, senator lautenbergsenator murray, and senator reid, the majority leader of the united states senate today. it was signed into law by then-president clinton demonstrating it was clearly religious freedom was not a partisan issue. it was a bipartisan concern of congress and the reason why this bipartisan legislation passed to protect religious freedom. so that just like members of the catholic church who are today concerned about being forced to provide coverage for surgical sterilization or drugs that induce abortions or other forms of contraception, members of the muslim faith, if they're a woman, need not be concerned about restrictions on their ability to wear their -- their desire to wear a head scarf in public buildings or dietary rules practiced by observant jews or that christians would not somehow be interfered with when it came to wearing religious symbols like crosses or rosaries. this is not about those -- those pieces -- those rules or those items of clothing or religious symbols. this is abo

members of the senate cosponsored including senator boxer, senator feinstein, senator kerry, senator lautenberg, senator levin andhee senator read the majority leader of the united states senate today. it was signed into law by thennn president clinton, demonstratina it was clearly religious freedom was not a partisan issue. it was a bipartisan concern ofhi congress ands the reason why ths bipartisan legislation passedom. the protect religious freedom.ou so just likerc members of the catholic church church who today are concerned about being forcel to provide coverage for surgical sterilization or drugs that induce abortions or other forms of contraception. members of the muslim faith neeo not be concerned about restrictions on their ability ta wear, their desire to wear headscarves in public buildings orpu dietary rules practice byht observant or the christians would not be somehow interfered with when it came to wearing religious symbols like crosses or rosaries. this is not about those, those pieces of, those rules or thoses items ofbo clothing or religious symbols. this is about religious f

lautenberg, gramm and feinstein. >> madame chair, i am going to let senator gramm have my time and i will come back at the end because i'm going to see any way. i do have questions, but i'm going to defer to senator gramm. >> thank you. this has been a very informative hearing. is it fair to say the we do not have the legal infrastructure in place to deal with the cyber threats that we face that the converse needs to give you better legislative support? >> yes. >> is it fair to say that of all the things that we should be concerned about, cyber attacks from foreign governments and terrorists is a growing threat by the de? >> yes. >> okay. would you consider a cyberattack generated from the people's liberation army of china against our national security infrastructure should that be considered a hostile act? >> welcome you are in an area somewhat beyond my curfew, but in the way that you would describe it absolutely it would be a hostile act to but i don't know if that is a connotation -- >> i don't know either what we need to come to grips with that because you have a law enforcement

lautenberg was absent, was for the bill. 3/4 of the senate voted for what was a very bipartisan billnd as a matter of fact, half the senate republicans essentially voted for that bill. it had, as you know, a technical flaw in the bill and that it had revenues which need to be initiated in the house of representatives. representative tim bishop of new york has introduced the senate bill which has overwhelming support in the united states senate and very frankly in my view would have at least 218 votes in this house, at least 218 votes in this house if it were put on the floor. the speaker has said in the past that he is committed to letting the house work its will. obviously referring to open amendments process. but obviously if a bill doesn't come to the floor, we have no opportunity either to amend or to vote. that's been one of our problems, of course, with the jobs bill that we hope would have been brought to the floor that the president proposed. that has not been to the floor. i ask my friend, rather than continue to delay, and both sides have done that on the highway bill, to g

and if senator lautenberg hadn't been at a funeral, it would have been 75. three-quarters of the united states senate came together around this bill. the house is wreaking havoc on the nation. right now you could fill 14 super bowl stadiums with unemployed construction workers. 1.4 million. and why are they doing it? because they don't want to deal in any way with the democrats. senator inhofe and i were so thrilled to work together. i see the senior senator from alaska, who helped us draft our bill. helped us with senator begich. they crossed party lines. we have a great bill. is it perfect? of course not. is it strong? yes. is it paid for? yes. will it protect 1.9 million jobs and create an additional million? yes. that's great news. but the house, you know, has decided the only people in america not to get this is the house of representatives over there, the republicans. and i see my colleague here. i'm glad to yield to him. mr. whitehouse: i wonder if the senator will yield for a question. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whiteho

lautenberg: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. lautenberg: mr. president, i rise to pay tribute to a friend from, a longtime friend from new jersey. it's a sad day for all of us from new jersey who knew congressman donald payne from north jersey. and i pay tribute to my colleague, new jersey congressman donald payne died this morning after a battle with colon cancer. congressman payne was the first african-american from new jersey to be elected to congress. he was a trailblazer and a fine leader and one of the finest our state has ever known. for more than two decades congressman payne served new jersey with distinction, but the whole world benefited from his leadership. he was a proud son of newark and became an expert on foreign relations, led efforts to restore democracy and human rights around the world, including in places as far away from one another as northern ireland and sudan. president clinton chose congressman payne to accompany him on his historic tour of africa in 1998. the congressman also worked hard. he secured more than $100 mil

act, signed by 16 senators as follows -- reid, carper, brown of ohio, begich, nelson of florida, lautenberg, shaheen, blumenthal, coons, feinstein, leahy, durbin, lieberman, murray, schumer and pryor. mr. reid: mr. president, this is an extremely important bill. that's the postal reform legislation. we have been waiting to get to it for a long time. we're going to move to that next week. i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask we proceed to a period of morning business, with senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i rise to speak about a disturbing made recently about the national football league. the national football league investigation revealed that the new orleans saints had allegedly been operating an illegal bounty program. under this bounty program, players were reportedly given significant sums of money in direct exchange for intenti

it was a great vote, 74-22, had, if senator lautenberg were here it would have been 75. what more can a chairman ask for? thank you very much, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: thank you, mr. president. i wanted to take a minute to thank senator boxer and senator inhofe and the staffs of both of those excellent senators that have worked so hard on this bill that is so important to our country. from new york to california, from alaska to florida, this bill represents over $110 billion of investments, investments, mr. president, in america today. whether we're talking about two-lane roads, farm-to-market roads, one-lane roads or two-lane roads or interstates or rail that's running in our urban areas that are congested, time consuming and frustrating for our drivers, whether it's for the trucking industry that depends on good, solid, strong highways, whether it's the petrochemical destroy, the oil and gas industry, our small businesses, it's important for america's infrastructure to be strengthened. and that's what we did to