now, i would just refer senator kyl to his colleague, senator lindsey graham, fellow republican from south carolina. also military lawyer in the air force. this is what senator gramm said and i quote i believe we could handle 100 or 250 prisoners and protect national security interests because we had 450,000 german and japanese prisoners in the united states so this idea they cannot be housed somewhere safely i disagree. and of quote, senator graham. people who suggest we can on detain terrorists in our prisons should show more respect for the brave corrections officers who put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe. just the week before last i went to the prison in southern illinois. it was once our maximum security prison in the united states before the super maximum facility was opened at florence colorado. it was interesting as i met with the corrections officer in the lockup of the mary and federal prison, and after a little bit of a tour i asked what do you think of this notion that we hear from senators on the floor like senator kyl and senator mcconnell that we can

first of all, i want to say thank you to my two senators, jim demint and lindsey graham. it's an honor to have both of the senators from my state support me and i want to say that i appreciate so much your being willing to step forward and then doors me to this committee so thank you. and i'm honored by president barack obama's nomination of me to serve as the chairman of the united states consumer products safety commission. i thank the president for this tremendous opportunity and if confirmed by the senate, i will do my utmost to ensure the safety and the well-being of america's children and families. i want to introduce my husband, samuel. he and i have just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and i support him -- i thank him for his support and his encouragement during this nomination process. both samuel and i were raised in georgia. he is from savannah and i'm from a small town called pine view. my mother was an elementary school teacher and my father, william robert moore had a career in the united states navy. with president obama's approach to governance, if

lindsey graham, who's a military lawyer, said -- and i quote -- "the idea that we can't find a flies securely house 250-plus detainees within the united states is not rational." what's the record? today, our federal prisons -- and this is the most updated number from the justice department -- our federal prisons hold 355 convicted terrorists, including al qaeda leaders like ramsey youseff, who masterminded the world trade center bombing in 1993. no prisoner has ever escaped from a federal supermax security facility. clearly -- supermaximum security facility. clearly we know thousand hold these terrorists -- how to hold these terrorists safely and security so no one in america is at risk. unfortunately, some on the other side of the aisle continue to argue that we should keep guantanamo open at all costs. i disagree. i believe, president obama believes and i believe many americans believe that closing guantanamo is an important national security priority. now, it isn't just the president and president bush, for example, who wanted to close guantanamo, among those military and security

you told senator lindsey graham that you agree with him that, quote, every person who commits to going to war against america or any other peaceful nation should be held off the battlefield as long as they're dangerous, closed quote. and i don't think your actions that we've seen so far are consistent with that commitment. since your confirmation you've done a number of things, i think, that you pledged not to do. time and again i find myself reading about political appointees who have overruled career department attorneys to further some agenda or left-wing activity. one such instance came when you rejected the office of legal counsel on its conclusion that congress' recent legislation on the district of columbia voting was unconstitutional as it appears plainly to be. so during your confirmation hearing you emphasized that your review of o.l.c. opinions would not be apolitical process. so when o.l.c., office of legal counsel, who assigned this responsibility has prepared an opinion for you that said the congress' legislation was unconstitutional i would expect you to listen to their

i think we just have a difference of opinion between senator lindsey graham and senator joe lieberman who have been the leaders and i would not prolon it any further. i think we ought to go to a vote. >> the clerk will call the roll. [roll call. ] [clerk calling roll] . >> will you read the roll again for proxy votes. [clerk reading] >> why don't we zip list. >> i have a proxy. [reading list. ] >> >> on this motion there are 13 yeas, 17 nays. the motion fails. now to the clunker amendment. >> thank you, mr. chairman. not to prolong the evening, but let me make six points why i think that this is the wrong six. i didn't know you had that many fingers. i'm glad i didn't ask for 11. >> i've got 11 points. >> first, obviously this is an emergency spurmtal for the purposes of funding the troops. what do clunkers have to do with funding the troops? we're not buying clunkers in afghanistan, i presume. secondly, the president made it very clear on actually the same day that the clunker vote passed the house with $4 billion unfunded event that he wants us to live by paying. and yet, -- pay go.

and you told lindsey graham that quote, that any nation that against [inaudible] should be held off the battlefield. and i don't believe that your actions are consistent with that commitment. and you have done a number of things that i think you pledged not to do. and time again i read about appointees that have overruled attorneys to further some agenda or left-wing activity. and one such instance came when you didn't adhere to congress' votes to be unconstitutional that it appears to be. and during your confirmation hearing, you emphasized that your o.l.c. opinions would not be a political process. so when o.l.c. the office of legal council that has assigned this responsibility and prepared an opinion and said that the legislation was unconstitutional, i would expect you to listen to their opinions or follow them or explain why you do not. and instead you moved around them and sought an opinion from the solicited general office, an office that's required to defend what is past. and asked them for their legal advice. you again i think followed pressure from the left to override common

also, these republicans, lindsey graham, john mccain -- they just need to be quiet. iran, unless you are aniranian citizen, who are we to say who they should elect? guest: darfur is a very good example of a story that like gaza surfaces and then slips away far too often. 400,000 people indarfur have died because of war or famine in recent years. it is a place that my newspaper spends a lot of time covering. a correspondent spent weeks at a time there. this is an age where stories are of the moment, unfortunately, and our attention span can be very short. iran in particular has captured the world's attention and this country's imagination largely because of the very tangible u.s. national security interests there. that is one of the reasons special attention is paid iran. darfur poses such a huge moral dilemma to the world and a challenge to western powers not to allow genocide again. the response has been inconsistent. it is a story that does deserve more attention. host: from florida, chris on the independent line. caller: good morning. some of the statement you are

i sell lindsey's graham bellyaching. he is on the government program.e need to push back the insurance companies who are in the business of the nine claims and paying huge bonuses. i spent my entire career fighting this industry, trying to get innovative, cost- effective measures. if we had a government system where you just walked right into nor care provider and of the costs were kept within -- into your health care provider, and the costs were kept with the norms across the country, it would be the most cost effective way to get health care out there. you could reduce the expense by at least 50%. i hate to say it been a republican, but the president is on the right track. i think we should support him on this. host: here is bob on the independent line from arlington. caller: yes, i think we definitely need a public auction. i would prefer single-payer. i do not know what value insurance companies add to health care. we know that medicare which is currently a public auction for our retirees, the administrative costs to administer health care, about 3%

fear that anyone who has earned the admiration and respect of senator fritz hollings and senator lindsey graham and senator jim demint is a person of great ability. [laughter] >> and the ability to bring people together and to win their respect, really it means so much in the role that you're going to play. i am only going to ask one question and preface it by some remarks that would show where my biases is in my biases protecting children. it always has been and i know you come from that place as well. but i just want to make sure you know that in the 80s when i came to congress that all of our regulations were based on protecting 8155-poun a 185-poun. all of the tests went to the nih. there were no women in the test. there were no children in the tests. we worked together, all of us across party lines, change that and i think the beauty of our work is very simple. when you protect the children, you protect everyone. if you protect 155-pound, healthy man, it's going to be good for all those guys who are in that category. but the vulnerable folks, the children, the pregnant women, those with di

some republican on capitol hill, john mccain and lindsey graham for example, said your response on iran has been timid and weak. today it sounded a lot stronger. it sounded like the kind of speech john mccain has been urging you to get saying that those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history referring to an iron fist in iran, appalled, outraged. were you influenced at all of them accusing you of being intimidated? >> what do you think? [laughter] >> lucki think john mccain has genuine passion about many of these international issues. and i think all of us share a belief that wants justice

senator lindsey graham, on your side of the aisle, has stated publicly it should be closed.ormer secretaries of state have made the same statements. now, he is entitled to his point of view. i respect him for holding that point of view even if he doesn't have the support from the security and military leaders that i just mentioned. but to come to this floor and repeatedly say to the american people that we are in danger because we are trying terrorists in the coforts america -- in the courts of america i think goes too far. i think the president has done the right thing. i think they man, ahmed ghailani, should stand trial. if 12 innocent americans died -- and they did -- among 224 people, this man should be on trial. and i think the president was right to bring him to the court for trial. to suggest that he shouldn't be put in a military tribunal, which has had a record, incidentally, over the last seven years, military commissions at guantanamo, seven years, tried three individuals and two have been released, doesn't tell me that it's a good batting record when it comes to

i teamed up with senator lindsey graham to introduce legislation that sought to break the logjam blocking health care reform legislation. while senator graham and i have had different ideas about what reform should look like, we agreed that further delay was unaccept. i know some of my colleagues are now arguing that health care is being rushed through the senate. well, that's not my experience, and i think the wisconsinite who's have been talking about the need for reform for years would agree. that's why i'm so excited that the senate is preparing to consider health reform legislation. and i look forward to reviewing the bills at -- that the help and finance committees are expected to report shortly. i remain committed to reforming our health care system so that every single american is guaranteed good, affordable health care coverage. today i want to talk about one of the most important elements of any reform and that is a strong public health insurance option. frankly, i'm disappointed that this has become the topic of so much controversy because it really is such a fundamental part o

lindsey gramm and john mccain -- they are american citizens. you are pushing one side against the other and you need to stop it, ok? guest: on the first point, john mccain and linseed graham said it was a step in the right direction, not that they accepted the stigma. so, we disagree there. on embracing the new media, and meant that generally. i was talking about the first prime time press conference. . . i think it has become often too personal in this country in recent years, but this is a policy debate. there have not been personal attacks made by lindsey gramm and john mccain against president obama, and president obama can as he said yesterday, respects john mccain's passion on this issue. this to me feels like what washington does. host: scott wilson for "the washinton post," thank you for being with us. coming up next, congressman akin will join us. now a news update from c-span radio. >> president obama focuses on health issues when he meets this afternoon with several governors and hosts a town hall meeting later today at the white house carried by a c dot carried by abc news. later, kathleen sebelius says the president is willing to listen on how to pay for heal