>> that is not the case, senator leahy. the only question that ever came up -- as you stated earlier. this was a balance for the -- the law school. because on the one hand, we wanted to make absolutely sure that our students had access to the military at all times. but we did have a long stand going pack to the 1970s' antediscrimination policy which says no employee can use the office of career services if that group would not sign the plemg that applied to many categories, race, gender, sexual orientation, veteran status as well. but the military couldn't sign that pledge. >> because of the don't ask don't tell. >> because of the don't ask don't tell strategy. >> which the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said should be repealed. you said military service is the noblest of all professions. those cadets serve their countries in the most important of all ways. it didn't sound very anti-military to me. tell me why you said that? what you did at west point. >> i said it because i believe it. i was so honored to be invited

please go ahead, colonel. >> thank you, chairman leahy and senator sessions and members of the committee for the opportunity to testify before this committee. i would like toec press my concern regarding the nomination of miss kagan to the supreme court for the following reasons. some of them are referring back to some of the reasons my colleagues have mentioned as well. chief among them is that she has demonstrated a strong bias against the military, particularly while dean of the hafb art law school, largely over policies concerning the eligibility of homosexuals to serve in the military. as we heard in 1993 congress passed and president clinton signed section 654, among other things, the law provided that the administration could omit ret choirment that persons joining the military make any reference to their sexual orientation, a policy that became to be known as don't ask, don't tell. in 1995 miss kagan joined the clinton administration as a associate counsel, but i know of no policy that she had with don't ask don't tell with whether clinton. when she was appointed dean of the harv

economist cary leahy says the threat of deflation is real. >> yes, deflation is... i'd say is the biggest single economic risk. inflation is not a risk at the moment. >> reporter: leahy says the problem with deflation is that it usually brings two friends along for the party, namely high unemployment and a very weak economy. that's because if prices keep falling, consumers wait to buy things. the drop in demand then eats into corporate profits, and firms are forced to cut jobs. while economist stuart hoffman say the chance of deflation is low, he says it's so dangerous because it's tough to stop once it starts. >> that's why you don't want to get into a deflationary cycle. but that's exactly what happens- - people hold off, businesses worsen, they lay more people off, which only makes people more hesitant to buy, and the whole thing can feed on itself into a vicious cycle. >> reporter: so how does the fed fight deflation? experts say it can lower interest rates, buy mortgages and long-term debt. those could be good antidotes to deflationary fever. suzanne pratt, "ni

please go ahead. >> chairman leahy, ranking member sessions and other members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here day. it's a privilege to take partn these proceedings. my nye name is pete hegseth, an organization of iraq and afghanistan veterans dedicated to supporting our war fighters and their mission on the battlefield. i received my commission from printon university in 2003 and has since served two tours in the army. the first in guantanamo bay, cuba and the second in iraq with the 101st airborne division. the infantry captain with the massachusetts army national ard and a graduate student at harvard university. i'm as a citizen and a veteran and do not speak at all on behalf of the military, but i'm going to start with the bottom line up front as we do in the army. we're a nation at war. a nation at war with vicious enemy on multiple fronts. i've seen this enemy first hand. as have ecious few from my generation. the enemy we face detests and seeks to destroy our way of life while completely ignoring and exploing, for that matter, the rule of law. this con

this was the scene outside the home on leahy street tonight. reported they hadn't heard from alicia williams for several days. they found her inside the home with multiple stab wounds. no suspects announced. >>> coming up: robbed answering an ad on craigslist. a look at what police are saying about the victims. national pastime? saving money. and like baseball people love their stats. i started bringing my lunch to work -- 50 bucks a week in my pocket. here's a good one: state farm insures 40 million drivers. more than geico and progressive combined. i saved because i'm accident-free. of course, with so many ways to save including discounts of up to 40%, having that many customers shouldn't be a surprise. so ask a neighbor about state farm, then call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online. >>> some earthquake news. a 3.2 earthquake hit off the coast of the bay area. it was centered off shore about 3 miles between daily city and pacific. many people in the bay area said they felt the jolt but no damage or injuries reported. but there were two

we begin with chairman pat leahy and ranking member jeff sessions. this is about one hour. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> good morning. i would note before we start, at the end of this hearing, we were all trying to rearrange things so many of us, both parties, could attend the funeral of the longest-serving member of the united states senate, senator byrd, and many members of this committee were there. i know that in the i know that senators cardin and schumer and kaufman stepped in to take the gavel. i want to thank them especially, but i want to thank all senators, republican and democratic alike, for the amount of time that you spend here. democratic senators alike, for the amount of time you spend here. i should note, at the sake of possibly embarrassing him, that i'd actually stepped out prior to the end there, with the outside witnesses because some of the things i was going to have to be doing in connection with the funeral. senator sessions sat through all of that. no member of thi

during yesterday's hearing committee, chairman patrick leahy said he was "amazed" at the scope of the scandal. >>> and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in florida, a former fast-food employee will spend the next five years in prison for slipping painkillers into a customer's sandwich. surveillance video shows the worker appearing to reach into his pocket, pull something out and place it on the food. police say it was a highly potent narcotic that caused the person who ate it to suffer a seizure. >>> a georgia fisherman captured video of what experts say is a rarely seen alligator-feeding frenzy. hundreds of alligators can be seen thrashing in the water as they try and snap up fish at a wildlife refuge. one biologist said a feeding like this only happens once every three or four years. >>> and back in florida now, where one homeowner was in for quite a shock when he discovered a bear rummaging through the trash outside his third-floor apartment. the quick-thinking resident snapped a few photos of the raid before the four-legged creature ran of

and i greatly thank senator leahy, jeff sessions and long leadership on this issue. and i should say particularly senator leahy who is such a gentleman in moving this bill forward. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves and the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. rooney: i recognize myself for such time as i may consume. thomas jefferson observed that the only security of all is in a free press. the agitation it produces must be submitted to. it is necessary to keep the waters pure. it's safe to say jefferson would not take kindly to the subject of h.r. 2675. in the wake of 9/11, the american media has become alarmed over a phenomenon calmed libel tourism which is the practice for suing for libel in a country with weaker free speech protections than the united states. surprisingly, most of these suits are filed in great britain. as its libel and slander laws provide writers and journalists less protection than those here in the united states system. how do courts han

i thought jeff played the role of a law position in a credible honorable manner and senator leahy moved the ball at a fast pace but i thought at the end of the day we could handle the pace. if you're looking for a way to infuriate the public just do what we are we're doing, congressional approval rating is at 21% and i often wonder who they are and what are they like. and so i understand exactly what senator specter's been saying about the court but we have to remember we can criticize the court and that's great. the court is a pretty fragile body. they don't have the ability to criticize us. i guess sometimes the written opinion they can. so i'm a little respectful of that, that, you know when you appoint someone to be a judge for life that's a tremendous responsibility on that person. but at the end of the day, independent judiciary has served us well and i don't want to see that erode any further than it's been eroded in recent times. now, about the hearing, i thought it was better than most but i agree with senator specter it fell short of what we hoped to have, but at the end of th

chairman patrick leahy praised kagan's legal knowledge, judicial independence, and consensus-building skills. >> solicitor general kagan did not serve in the judicial monastery but i would suggest that her work outside probably is an additional qualification. solicitor general kagan demonstrated impressive knowledge of the law and fidelity to it. she spoke of her commitment to the continues constitution and the rule of law. >> sreenivasan: one republican, lindsey graham of south carolina, joined all 12 democrats voting for the nominee. he said kagan would not have been his choice, but that he believes she will serve honorably. other republicans, like jeff sessions of alabama, complained kagan lacks a "robust" legal and judicial background. >> that's the kind of legal experience of day in day out practice of law that forces clarity of thought. that's the kind of experience that separates the lawyer's lawyer from the political lawyer. ms. kagan does not have that kind of experience. she just does not. >> sreenivasan: senate democrats hope to confirm kagan before congress' august recess.

great that vermonts doing so well and i would like to credit jim douglas, bernie sanders, patrick leahy and also brian dewpoint for these efforts. however, what do all of these people do who are still unemployed, looking at all aspects, in the hardware stores and food places and everything else who cannot find work? because i i understand -- because i understand that the census workers are no longer working and we are immediately cut off immediately. guest: i apologize, i am not familiar with the vermont letter. but i can tell you a number of states sent lette are to folks explaining the delay, buand many states have done very worried that the federal government would never act on the extensions. if you would call the number that is on the screen, if we can get you specific information about the letter. and the triggering off in states where the unemployment rate has gone there and may very well be a prlem, but because of the timing of this letter, i am hesitant to give you a mre thorough answer than that. but i am happy to do it later today once i have reviewed the letter. host: states

. >> thank you, chairman leahy, ranking member sessions and committee members for inviting me here to tell mytory and state my position regarding the outcome and implications of the supreme court decision in my case. it's an honor to be given this opportunity to speak out. on behalf of millions of older workers, all too many of whom have faced discrimination in the workplace. my story is being duplicated daily across the country, and my case has been cited hundreds of times to deny remedies to victims of many other non-title 7 forms of workplace discrimination. i certainly never imagined that my case would end up he when it all started over seven years ago or that it would have such far-reaching implications. very briefly, my employer, farm bureau insurance, or fbl dismissed employees 50 or over and had supervisory or higher positions. i was included in the demotion even though i had 13 consecutive years of performance reviews in the top 3% of the company. my career and contributions were exceptional and very well documented for the jury. with very strong evidence of age discriminatio

chairman leahy, i do believe it's healthy to have this panel and people come before the country and be on c-span and present official positions before this senate, and i think is a healthy part of democracy. i appreciate the chairman allowing us to have this opportunity. >> thank you. on behalf of the chairman. thank you for your kind remarks and thank you for your very avid participation in the hearing. i have one final question for professor sullivan. some mention was made about positions general kagan made on affirmative action in the clinton administration. in general, were the clinton administration's positions on affirmative action in line with the mainstream at the time? second, did she ever to your knowledge while dean at harvard act inconsistently with affirmative law? >> answer to the first question yes, second question, no. she acted quite consistently with those laws. one thing i would add, senator schumer, i would just caution the public in inferring too much from positions as an advocate as though those positions necessarily will translate into positions as a judge. we le

great that vermont is doing so well and i would like to credit jim douglas, bernie sanders, patrick leahy and also brian dewpoint for these efforts. however, what do all of these people do who are still unemployed, looking at all aspects, in the hardware stores and food places and everything else who cannot find work? because i i understand -- because i understand that the census workers are no longer working and we are immediately cut off immediately. guest: i apologize, i am not familiar with the vermont letter. but i can tell you a number of states sent letters are to folks explaining the delay, buand many states have done very worried that the federal government would never act on the extensions. if you would call the number that is on the screen, if we can get you specific information about the letter. and the triggering off in states where the unemployment rate has gone there and may very well be a problem, but because of the timing of this letter, i am hesitant to give you a more thorough answer than that. but i am happy to do it later today once i have reviewed the letter. host: s

but chairman patrick leahy said he would grant the request by committee republicans for a one- week delay. c-span 3 tb has live coverage of the senate judiciary committee starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. at another obama administration deep water drilling moratorium is in place to replace the one that was thrown out by a federal judge. the new measure applies to all floating deep water rigs with blowout preventers, the mechanism that failed in bp's well. the oil and gas industry said this new moratorium is as arbitrary as the first. international energy agency says the world oil demand will rise next year, fueled by economic growth in developing countries. this is in spite of a drop in demand for oil by wealthy countries. in its monthly report, the paris-based agency says global oil demand for next year should increase by 1.3 million barrels a day. investigators say the two deadly suicide attacks in uganda were not intended to be the only ones. authorities found an unexploded suicide invest in a disco ball and the capital kampala. explosions at rugby club and a restaurant as crowds wa

immigration, we have seen a detailed proposals put on the table from senators reid, schumer, menendez, leahy durbin, of which talk about immigration reform and how to fix it. in march of this year you have senator gramm, a leading republican from south carolina, put a proposal on this -- on the table and now he is back tracking. yesterday, the president was serious. at some point, the grownups have to come to the table. host: and we have a line for qarizadah setup 202-628-0184. let's see some comments from obama about immigration. >> obviously, the problem is greatest along our southern border, but it is not restricted to that part of the country. in fact, because we do not do a very good job of tracking who comes in and out, large numbers of avoiding immigration simply by overstaying their visas. the result is immense -- an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the united states. host: this idea of porous borders, what you think should be done to deal with the border situation? guest: we need to have a strong border. we need to have a secure border. in our studies of what border p

senator leahy, the judiciary committee is going to work with the judiciary members. he's going to come in the next two weeks to the floor pass consent and we are going to spend time talking about this abuse that is taking place and hopefully get them to do something. the president of a lot with recess appointments as it relates to presidential appointees donner nonjudicial. but it doesn't work very well so we filed blocks and i can't put them into one filibuster. i have to do them one at a time and as i indicated during 22 of them a week at a time we can't do that. >> as we are wrapping up i wonder if you'd like to pick up a little bit about what senator byrd and senator kennedy meant to you and what the law means to the senate? >> i'm happy to do that. first of all, for me to think that ted kennedy is my friend is hard for me to say that because i was a person who so admired his brothers who were both assassinated. i can remember i was vacation and with my high school buddy with my family and when i saw ted kennedy offer the eulogy at the death of his brother bobby

in the words of a letter signed by a bipartisan group, senators leahy, sessions, feinstein, hatch, specter, grassley, durbin, graham, cardin, cornyn and coburn, a very, very bipartisan and broad spectrum group of supporters, they said this, congress has debated the need to address the crack-powder disparity for too long. we now have the ability to address this issue on a bipartisan basis, and they supported this legislation which is, again, why it passed in a bipartisan fashion through the united states senate. my colleagues, i urge support of this legislation. i am pleased that the leadership on both sides of the aisle will be supporting this legislation. we do so for the same reason that senators cornyn and hatch and gram -- graham and sessions all support this legislation. it's the right thing to do. it will enhance, not diminish, prosecution, and it will lead to better justice in america while at the same time making sure that we penalize and hold accountable those who would addict our children and our fellow citizens. and i urge support of this legislation and yield back the balance o

leahy. >> aye, by proxy. >> mr. slby. >> no. >> mr. crapo. >> no. >> mr. chambliss. >> know. >> the voters are 7-5. the measure is passed. we can send this proposal to the house. all those in favor? the ayes have it. >> under consideration, this is no (a recognize the gentleman from alabama. >> thank you, chairman. we convened at 5:00 p.m. we got a three-minute notice as to the amendment. but it was not three minutes before the meeting. it was three minutes after the meeting started. here is the mail. i would like to put --ere is the e-mail. i would like to put it in the record. attached is a copy of the amendment that will be addressed at today's meeting. this bill is like giving due consideration. we have all been out on the highway and seen an 18-wheeler that is swerving from lane to la and we said that that driver has not had any sleep in 16 hours are 20 hours. last thursday and friday, we had a lot of weaving. part of the weaving is going to cost american companies as much as an estimate of $1 trillion on the derivative pursuit. now we hear that we wi