louisiana department of environmental quality. and finally, the department of health and hospitals which tests potable water. additionally these agencies already work closely in association with existing federal regulations under the e.p.a. it is illustrated in these graphics, current industry practices ensure multiple levels of protection between any sources of drinking water and the production zone of oil and gas. that's what i'm going to illustrate. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes mr. inglis from south carolina. mr. inglis: thank you, madam speaker. last night in spartanburg, south carolina, we had a town meeting and folks were joining in this debate we are having here this week in washington about climate legislation. there were folks who spoke passionately about the need to take action. and i'm in agreement with them. there is a need to take action and to discharge a stewardship obligation. then there are others there who really didn't buy the science of

for example, the red cross in the state of louisiana working towards a single unified sheltering plan. discussions are continuing with the state department of social services and the governor's offices of homeland security emergency preparedness about mutual logistics and sheltering for people with critical transportation needs. we recently participated in the state of florida in a major disaster exercise and with fema with a tabletop exercise category four hurricane affecting savannah, georgia. we also participated recently in a cabinet-level exercise that dealt with a category three making landfall near new york city. identifying new and strengthening existing partnerships continues to be a strong priority of my organization. on the local level, chapters partner with local community, faith-based and vividdic organizations. we have also stepped up efforts to insure that community two on one organizations have current disaster information. i would like to acknowledge ms. sternun. in addition we've cultivated and strengthened partnerships with such groups as hope nationwide, the nation

, and an extended and it has its relationship with louisiana state government. i am pleased to tell you we have the red cross, 211, and national guard imbedded four months of planning that have been under way. third, i would tell you statewide, we have begun response training for volunteers if called upon. however, there remain enormous vulnerabilities, and i would like to address them. the current economic climate has gone beyond capacity for system in many locations are around america. most 211s are in need. for example, generator, remote- control, calling ability, telephone service, and a significant concern to all but are the gaps along the u.s. atlantic coast. to properly respond, 211s across america need to unify technology and procedures serve to insure best responses. every american with any device, particularly cellular phones. 211s need a system of interoperability with one another. we're in desperate need of congressional help to ensure a level response and meeting everyday needs. fortunately, congress can cure this will ability during this session by

in louisiana. the people of louisiana law used to hunt them, their local communities i was speaking in monroe, louisiana, they want to save the black bear. people are proud of their beer history. william faulkner famously wrote the short story about a man who was a bear hunter named collier. legendary beer people down there in the delta. i do the math agriculture, over hunting, harvesting, killing bears because they're considered predators. we almost destroyed them. here's where they are debilitating them. roosevelt spent time and wrote about that river region in great detail. in louisiana. but i need to ask them what's going on there today, what were the black bear populations like back then that the biological survey had and what they're like now. this is the place i had to come to check. >> how long do you spend your? what do you do while you're here? >> look at documents, look at books. one of the most helpful things is not in this room, but out there they have a library. a minute ago they gave

we are very blessed and louisiana that there were donors then gave us more i.t.and that gives us the opportunity with the flipping of a switch to move it around and that is absolutely incredible opportunity, but that is aware of our country so the capacity of technology is critical. >> if you could take that down and you when and with the same issue. >> and i seen that york has some serious gaps in the very highly urbanized area, new york, new jersey, pennsylvania? >> that is, correct. >> and then is that kentucky gripes west virginia. >> delaware. >> know, further out. >> kentucky, north dakota, arizona, wyoming. >> but on the eastern seaboard and the reason that i raise this issue at this hearing in the beginning of this season is that the predictions i have seen and the feeling about this season it is the storms have been so intense in the gulf coast. there is some sense that this is the east coast time and i just need to reinforce that and other people and minorities have not had a storm and a longtime. but there are some significant study is that show what w

the seafood industry in louisiana and many parts of the country, not just louisiana, is a conglomerate of many single-owner businesses. sometimes a member of the industry owns a single boat. and that is part of the industry that we know in south louisiana along the entire gulf coast. and if you go throughout the fishing industry in this united states, you'll find that does not differ a lot. many domestic policies have strong positive impacts on all of our constituents. in the case of food safety and sustainability, all of our constituents, regardless of where they're from the north, south, west, east, middle america, share in the peace of mind they can feed their families with clean, healthy safe food. while those benefits are shared by all, it makes sense that the cost be shared as well. this project we are discussing today focuses funding on food safety and sustainability in a location that produces a large portion of the nation's seafood. by prioritizing the funding of the institute for seafood studies at nicholls state university, we are investing in a food supply we enjoy. this is

for example, it's a louisiana -- behind us, a louisiana black bear, or a louisiana bear. it's a subspecies of black bear. and it's almost extinct. there are only 200-some left in the region of louisiana, mississippi, arkansas. there are only 250 approximately left in the united states. >> and that are alive. >> alive. that's it. we're about to lose the louisiana black bear. only 250 alive. but here at u.s. fish & wildlife, they're going down to louisiana creating reserves for them. the people of ra -- louisiana who used to hunt them, including theodore roosevelt, they want to save the louisiana black bear. people are very proud now with their bear history. william faulkner famously wrote the short story, the bear about -- modeled loosely on a man named colt collier who was a bear hunter. these legendary bear people down there in the delta. we almost -- mass agriculture, overhunting, harvesting, killing bears because they were considered predators. we've almost destroyed them. but here is where they're rehabilitating them. t.r. spent time and wrote about the river region i

janet durden joining us of a community of northeast louisiana. my husband's home town and with katrina they did the good job as the office is dropped off, north louisiana picked up as i am sure what happened in texas, alabama, mississippi, f lorida the northern part of the state picks up a great amount of help and we want to hear about the increased activity of the 211 operation which is they go to operation when people need help and assistance they do not call 911 come with a call 211 and we want americans to understand that. the like to ask mr. fugate good to see you, senator. out by to ask mr. fugate to begin the may ask senator burr i know you were just coming in, welcome, do want to make and a brief opening statement or should we go right to the panel? thank you. we're happy to have craig 85 with us the new administrator from fema and man who i gave my whole hearted support they give for the work to have done but we look forward to hearing from your administrator 35 because we have made progress there is a tremendous amount of work that has

local levees in south louisiana failed again. they failed in katrina, they failed in rita, they failed in gust aff and ike and as the administrator knows because he is from florida, the people of south florida are very concerned about their water management issues and whether their dikes and levees and water will hold and that's the subject of another hearing. recovery has been frustrating for loggle lo governments despite many impriveyfplgts which i will mention in a moment. i believe we're still relying mr. fuge gate too much on trailers in order to jump start recoveries and we're going to be pressing hard on new housing and shelter options from this committee. i will continue to say that providing these communities with $5 million in community loan assistance is probably not what charleston or savena or miami or new orleans or atlanta or baton rouge or any number of communities they can't do much with $5 million and that's a all the law allows them to borrow. so administrator few gate from fema will discuss the 2008 response t

why have they cut the oil rigs in half in the state of louisiana over that time? why are you pushing a single- payer health care, mary? it will get you in trouble. you know what i'm talking about. guest: let me take the first question. you are right, ri rightg count is down by 50% because the prices have fallen so precipitously. they are on the rise again. they were all the way down to $40 per barrel. the last look it was at $85 per barrel. i am not defending the industry. i think they have lots of problems, but it is difficult to plan billions of dollars of investments if the product you so one day is $40 and the next day is $140. our goal is to help and stabilize as much as we can so we can get the account up. on your second question, i know that canada has a single-payer program and some like it. but i think we can do a much better in america. if i have to say so myself. to have a program that is market-faced with government protection. i am looking to give you and everyone in america a health care plan almost identical to that in congress for you cannot be dro

it has an enormous negative impact in louisiana. by my estimate, they are up to 7,000 louisiana homes affected. ril of those situations are, as senator warner described, serious health symptoms, yet people down no what the bottom line is, there is major damage to the home, which brings up fundamental safety issues with gas lines. in louisiana it is crippling the tragic, because by definition, these are folks who are flooded by hurricanes, katrina or read or gustav or

and the people in louisiana, they want to save the louisiana black bear. the people are proud of their bear history. william fauker of mississippi wrote the short story of a bear modeled on holt collier, there are legendary bear people in the delta. but mass overculture, overhunting and harvesting, and killing bears because they are considered predators. we almost destroyed them. but t.r. wrote about the river region in great details. so i had what t.r. wrote but for my book, i needed to know what the black bear populations were back then and today. and so the different species to write b -- write about, this is what i had to check. >> when you come here, what do you do here? >> to look at documents and books. the helpful thing is out there, there is a library, they gave me two titles i didn't know about. because they collect everything. i noticed a minute ago, in this cabinet, i never saw this book by c.b. cobly on fish and wildlife. why i feel like i am walking into a treasure trove, a lot of people that write on nature focus on parks. yosomite and how t

there are 23 states with 100% coverage in louisiana. there is a map showing this. >> the full coverage -- >> this is in green. >> the red states -- >> this is when this is in development. it is particularly concerning that there are gaps along the gulf coast, going all the way to delaware. these are some of the areas where there are camps, this is of significance. another fact is that the authorization bill -- the telephony capacity to be connected -- we are very blessed that people gave after hurricane katrina, to give us the opportunity to flip a switch and move this around. this is absolutely incredible. but the capacity. technology is just critical. >> if you can take this down for a moment and leave the state issue -- uic that new york has some serious problems in the highly urbanized area? new york and new jersey? is that pennsylvania? and is that kentucky -- is this west virginia? >> this is delaware. >> further out -- >> this is the western states. the reason i raise this issue is because the predictions is that the feeling abou

platts: i yield five minutes to the distinguished gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. scalise: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate my colleague's offer to yield time on this bill. this bill discusses the need for to the create healthy lifestyles for children. i think that's something we should also be discussing here -- i think that something we should also be discussing here is the need to create economic opportunities for children, to make sure they are not only having vag lifestyle that's healthy in school, teaching physical finance, but making sure that we're dealing with policies up here in washington that allow them to have real opportunities when they get out of school. there's one bill that's moving through this body right now, the cap and trade energy tax, that would severely jeopardize our children's opportunities to have a better life, to have the opportunities that we had in our life, so as we're talking about legislation right now, to create healthy lifestyles, i think we should be

. >> the only thing i would ask, inez, is that a lot of this is taking place in louisiana and florida. they have different climate issues in terms of humidity that folks we have in virginia. and i think we are up to 36 states now who have experienced this problem. it's remarkable to me that the testing and finding the cause is taking this long when it's evident from the families, and then again from even consumer product safety counsel staff that you start to have the ill effects literally just being exposed for a few hours. so i would hope that that money would be well spent to expedite this process, and as you go to the additional testing and i can just become the virginia standpoint but i'm sure my other colleagues who have got other different weather conditions simply testing it in florida or louisiana tech humidity issues, we've got humidity on anti-roads and virginia beach but probably not quite as much as they have in certain areas in florida. make sure you have other states involved in those deaths as wow. >> you, senator. i have spoken to senator pryor about the same issue in

talking to congressman steve scalise from louisiana. if you would like to call in -- there is a provision of the bill that i believe you are specifically involved in, involving an issue close to your home state on the drilling in the intercontinental shelf. can you talk about what this issue is and how it would help louisiana? guest: finally last year we were able to release the moratorium that existed, but this administration has literally block the ability to go and least some of the areas. the estimates are you got over 100 billions of barrels of oil in the shelf, 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. you have so much energy that could help our country that literally is being blocked off by the federal government. we want to unleash the potential. we want to open that up. what is great about it, the states would be the to participate -- states would have the option of participating. but if the state -- they can't dissipate and revenue-sharing. in a state like louisiana, we have a constitutional amendment in our book signing any mon

barry landrieu of louisiana chairs the subcommittee on disaster recovery.is an hour and 50 minutes. >> the hearing will come to order anthony welcome everyone that has joined us today for what i think is a very important hearing and what is one of a series of hearings that will have happened or happening today and will continue to happen as we strive to get our nation's response in the very best possible shape that we can for hurricanes and of disasters and that is the subject of this hearing today. to see where we are and have the opportunity to have on our first panel the new fema administrator who will be testifying today for the first time since this confirmation, welcome mr. craig fugate, and frank grass from missouri will be testifying today as well. let me say that this hearing is focused on her cane response because we snap started hurricane season this week, but we will be a salmon issues that affect not just the hurricane region but all regions of the country in this hearing today and we will be focusing on plans and processes that actually have a

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana's time has expired. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. johnson: mr. speaker, i yield three minutes to my fellow judiciary committee member, congressman pay drow pierluisi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from puerto rico is recognized for three minutes. mr. pierluisi: i rise in strong support of h.r. 1741 and want to commend congressman cummings for his terrific work on this bill. h.r. 1741 will provide funding to states and territories so they can create or improve their witness protection programs. priority for funding would be given to those jurisdictions with the highest rate of violence crime. mr. speaker, haven't -- violent crime continues to plague many of our communities. many of those crimes were likely observed by one or more bystanders. many of those crimes whether the witnesses choose to come forward or remain in the shadows will depend in large part on whether they feel safe cooperating with law enforcement. it is therefore critical to the effective functioning ever our cri

united way, united we of northeast louisiana and monroe began taking all of the 211 calls directed from new orleans. overnight we expanded from a four person call center and mom wrote to a 65% to 11. we have additional support that was outstanding. from 211 call specialists of america 25 states send people to the community and there were hundreds of local volunteers that responded. as the result of that in lonrho, to 11 responded to more than 111,000 calls in two months. the call volume peaked at 7,358 the day that rita hit. after 2005 we were even better prepared for 2008. going into the hurricane season in 2008 we had a partially integrated telephony, statewide disaster plan, centralized the sastre database and 24 hour day 70 a week coverage. 211 louisiana answered more than 170,000 calls between gustav hitting august 31st and a december 16th 2008. in the peak of that we were assisted by the 211 system of california which was invaluable expanding capacity and a today window when ike hit texas and the timber texas 211 answered 157,000 calls an absolutely incredible response. inland, th

how do we make it work in louisiana? we still have 100,000 children who are eligible for schip that are not signed up, so how do we encourage, how do we engage people to care and go sign up? and what happens -- to return them away at hospital emergency rooms because they do not have insurance of their own? what happens? how does it work? >> well, congressman, that is a great question. i think that one of my interests in the chip program is certainly taking some of the best practices of and roman -- of the enrollment and spreading those throughout the country, because there are some states that have done pretty creative work and have had great success in enrollment, and there are others that have not, and i think that that is one of the ways that our department, and that is a key building block for health reform, is actually getting folks to enroll and engage in programs that are currently eligible for and provide that coverage that congress and the administration has seen as a high priority, so outreach strategies, assis

host: louisiana, on the republican line with mr. will. caller: mr. will, i am insured and it's from a large insurance company. my husband is working and i am disabled. and he makes less than $20 an hour. and our deductible is $5,000 each. now in order for us to get any medical help, we have to pay that $5,000 ahead of time in order to get any medical treatment. so the only thing we can afford is office visits. and the doctors around here they will not accept us unless we come up with that $5,000 first. i don't know where you get your information from. we are insured, it's taken over one-fourth of his income to pay the premiums monthly, plus we have monthly visits to pay for with co-pays, plus medications. we can't afford the deductibles to get medical treatment. so we are not different than the people that are uninsured. my daughter is under the same insurance company, i will not name them, and her deductible is $300. i don't know if she has to come up with that first or not. host: why such a difference between yours and hers? caller: i have no idea,

guest: well, if he would stay home in louisiana a little more and focus on being governor. since the legislative session has started he has, but before that he was all over the place. our state really needs the governor to stay focused. we have a deficit, this oil and gas situation to deal with, and our universities are in terrible shape right now. he is recommending substantial cuts to our universities and spending a lot of time focused on his next office instead of the the one that he has. that is unfortunate. people elected to office should serve in the position they were elected for. i hope he will pass up any presidential run and give the people of louisiana the full four years that we elected him for. host: they thank you for being n "washington journal." we will be right back. ♪ >> every weekend, the latest non-fiction books and authors. saturday, how the run for congress was $7,000 and your sixth grade students running the campaign? cahill for congress. sunday, joel rosenberg tissue inside the revolution, how different followers of different religious leaders are ba

, louisiana. -- tom is joining us on the phone from lafayette, louisiana. caller: thank you for taking my call. thank you for c-span. i wanted to comment that we had a problem here with our senator, david vitner, who had some kind of a thing with prostitutes, and it seems like the republicans in louisiana overlooked that, maybe because of his politically conservative positions. but i am tired of these sanctimonious politicians that want to tell us about family values, moral values, and this other guy, sanford, from south carolina, is another example of that. i am thoroughly disgusted with david vitter, but i guess that is politics these days. host: this story as above the fold in most of them. our next caller is mary. caller: good morning. i really nervous, but i guess i get that way. host: no need to be nervous. caller: the ok. i figure nobody is perfect, but all this stuff really should just be private between them. between a husband and wife and stuff, because we have so many other things we ne

of louisiana. the honorable k. michael conaway of texas. the honorable vern cannon of nebraska. i am pleased to fulfill their requests. signed sincerely, john a. boehner, republican leader.

. >> host: louisiana, this is shelley on the republican line for mr. will. >> caller: mr. well, i am sure the and it is pretty large insurance company. my husband is working. i am disabled and he makes less than $20 an hour. our deductible is $5,000 each. now, in order for us to get any medical help we have to pay that $5,000 ahead of time in order to get any medical treatment so the only thing they can afford a is office visits and the doctors around here, they will not accept us, as we come up with that $5,000.1. i don't know where you get your information from. we are in short, is taking over a fourth of his income to pay the premiums monthly plus we have monthly visits that we have to pay for with our copays plus medications. we can't afford the deductibles to get medical shipment so we are no different than the people who are uninsured. my daughter is under the same insurance company. i'm not going to name them. her deductible is $300 and i don't know if she has to come up with that first on not. >> host: why such a big difference? >> guest: . >> caller: i have no ide

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana rise? mr. fleming: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. fleming: mr. speaker, recently elections were held in iran with the iranian government declaring ahmadinejad the landslide winner over mr. subey. few saaby is claiming the -- musabi is claiming that -- people went to vote. he is calling upon his supporters to remain vocal and protest the results of this election, and they are turning out in the tens of thousands but many have been killed. in response, president ahmadinejad has tried to minimize anyone with an opposing viewpoint, physical threatening any form of dissent and shutting out the media and communications. the accusations of voter irregularities should be investigated, a fact supported by vice president biden. but until the selection is certified the people of iran should be -- should be able to protest, if they so choose. and they should protest with violence without them. i call on our president to not b

from louisiana, dr. paul broun from georgia and i would like to refer to my colleague from louisiana to yield time to him at this point. mr. fleming: thank you to my friend and fellow physician and colleague, dr. gingrey. you know, you made reference to the 30-something democrats. and i watched that debate, that discussion with great interest, because to be honest with you, 32 years of medical practice and also owning businesses for nearly as long, when i hear this discussion about how a public plan can work, i really try to view that and try to understand that, but always come out totally mystified with how this sort of thing could ever work. and to clarify the debate, basically congress right now is looking at three different options. one is a total single heyer nationalized health care system, medicare for all. one would be a private system for all, which is what we on the republican side back. and the other is a public and private system that are competing with one another. . i really watch with grea

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana rise? mr. cao: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cao: mr. speaker, the issues of crime and hurricane recovery are most important for new orleans and jefferson parishes. yesterday i voted for the witness security and protection grant act and it passed. law enforcement officials in my district must have the federal resources needed to protect our citizens. on monday i requested a government review of unresolved fema public assistance projects that will help louisiana move forward with delayed disaster recovery efforts. lastly, i was able to acknowledge that the diverse culture of new orleans by co-sponsoring a resolution to honor black music. it has been a productive week. i yield back my time. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. sires: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is re

i'm actually aware of a center like that in louisiana. i don't know if our computer is as fast as but we'll see. a battle of computers between illinois and louisiana but i am very impressive with what several of our universities have done on the heels of katrina and rita and using technology that was there and building some strategic partners so let's explore the opportunity because there may be some expertise out there, mr. fugate, i know at the university of lafayette 'cause i've seen it perhaps senator burris has a suggestion as well. i'd like to get to my line of questioning, if i could, senator, and we'll come back. i wanted to ask first, mr. fugate, what are your top three priorities? i know you have many. but if you could for this committee because we'd like to work with you, we're going to push. we're going to work with you but push to get the very best systems we can. so what are your top three priorities as you're stepping in to an agency that has, you know, really been at the front line in many ways these last few years? how do

i'm aware of and a place like that in illinois -- louisiana, i don't of our computer is that mass but we will save. we will have the battle of the computers between illinois and louisiana but i am very impressed with what several of our universities have done on the heels of katrina and rita then using technology that was there and build a strategic partner so let's explore the opportunity because there may be real expertise now they're mr. fugate, i've seen in at the university of lafayette and perhaps senator paris has a suggestion as well. i like to get to my line of questioning mr. fugate, what are your top three priorities. if you could for this committee because we like to work with and we are going to push, we're going to work with you but push to get the very best systems we can, so what are your top three priorities as you are stepping in to an agency with that has really been of the front-line in many ways these last few years? had to use you're top three priorities and i am certain that you discussed this with the secretary and the highest levels of this administration, so

finally, the president of northeast louisiana united way. she has served as a coordinating council person, this is a nationwide of emergency response system that i think can be very helpful in all of the issues that we have talked about this morning. if you will be again, thank you. >> can you pull the microphone a little bit closer? >> normally my voice works wonders. thank you for the opportunity to be with you this afternoon, to talk about the work of the partnership. we have provided written testimony and asked that this be included in the record. this is an initiative from the corporate response operation, to implement the best practices for disaster response and recovery efforts. this is developed by a group of private sector leaders to understand that better preparedness does not just depend on the actions of the federal government. this is a community-based approach, to galvanize the resources of the public and private sectors to address a large scale crisis. these sectors depend on each other as they collaborate on how to improve th

the clerk: the senator from louisiana, mr. vitter, moves to commit the bill, h.r. 2918, to the committee on appropriations with instructions to report back to the senate making the following changes: one, amend the amounts appropriated in the bill so as to report back a bill with an aggregate level of appropriations for fiscal year 2010, not more than the level enacted for fiscal year 2009. , which while not reducing appropriations necessary for the security of the united states capitol complex. mr. vitter: madam president, i'll outline my motion to commit shortly, but, first, by way of introduction, let me say how disappointeed and strufted i am that another amendment i had proposed for this bill was consistently blocked out all of this week and no vote, no consideration was allowed by the distinguished majority leader. that amendment, madam president, which had been filed sometime ago, which i had worked hard to get before this body, would have passed again a repealed of the automatic pay raise provision for members of the s

the louisiana territory had been purchased two decades earlier that remained mostly on organized. mexico's north stretch from the sabine river on the gulf of mexico to the 42nd parallel on the pacific ocean encompassing all of what are now texas, new mexico, arizona, utah, nevada and california as well as part of colorado, oklahoma, wyoming and kansas. the pacific northwest was open country. backbeat the appalachian mountain range guarding the interior from south carolina to what only recently have become main, threatened to confine the great american experiment to the atlantic seaboard. the allegiance of the several new trans- montaigne state was unproven, their settlers looked westbound rolling river valleys for the mighty mississippi, not over their shoulders at the mountains that separated them from their political creators. former vice president aaron burr's enigmatic conspiracy of 1805, 1806 to make a nation for himself and others in the region opened by the louisiana purchase had come apart but illustrated the limited control exerted by the east over the last. of the nation

lummis: i look forward to that discussion, another of our colleagues from louisiana, co-founded to match patients to doctors free of charge. we have qualified and very caring medical care providers and physicians in our class and i'm proud to serve with them. dr. phil, you are among them. would you please comment on this subject. mr. cassidy: just a couple of things. one it's accessibility to care and that is the crisis of personnel. mr. roe: we need a million new registered nurses in the next few years. there will be more physicians retiring and dying in this country than we are producing. we aren't investing in the medical infrastructure to increase the class size and who's go to go provide this care? that is very direct and a huge issue. the challenge here is affordable health care and accessible to people. it's not going to be easy. i have deelt with this over 30 years and this is going to be very, very complicated to do and we don't need to do this fast but do it right. i think that's one of the worries i have is we're going to go and have this arbitrary deadline of 60 days from now

janet durden, president of northeast louisiana united way. she served as a coordinating councilperson for louisiana 211 but this is a nationwide emergency response system that i think can be very, very helpful in all of the issues that we've talked about this morning. so mr. forceman, if you'll begin. thank you. >> senator, thank you very much for the invitation to be here. >> can you pull the mic a little bit closer. there you go. >> normally, my booming voice works wonders. senator landrieu, thank you for the opportunity to be with you this afternoon and to talk about the important work of the ready community's partnership. we provided written testimony and respectfully request that it be included in the record. it seeks to identify and implement best practices that help support improvements in public and private sector disaster response and recovery efforts. this initiative has grassroots. developed by a coalition of public and private sector leaders who recognize that better preparedness for emergencys and disasters could not solely depen

also provided vehicles for the state of louisiana and the city of new orleans. he says i'll probably end up living out of my car as a result of this set of decisions. now, it brings me to i think where the gentleman was going and that is the clue travel edition, who is this task force and who made the decision to close eight chrysler plants without telling the workers it was going to happen? throwing 9,000 people out of work. who made the decision to be more aggressive and throw 200,000 people out of work that work for autodealers? before i talk about the auto task force qualifications and where we are going to go with the game of clue, i have to tell you i mentioned mr. manzo, the chrysler restrucring expert, and you may recall, mr. speaker, there was some discussion about bondholders. god forbid someone could take some of their money and invest it in a company in this country and be told that they were secured creditors. the secured crettors at chrysler -- creditors at chrysler had invested money. they have since been characterized as unpatriotic or not wantin

but as a former member of the louisiana legislature that served on the health and welfare committee there, we are one of the few states that has a state-run public health care system. and so we want to look at how public health care is conducted, we can see that even in our own country where you often get chair sores before you even get a bed down in louisiana. so i would encourage to take a closer look at how we've been providing health care in these public systems in our own country. but what's been pointed out here that's of grave concern to many americans is rationing of health care. that concern is magnified when you face the very real possibility that taxpayers will be denied certain treatments and procedures while at the same time their tax dollars will be going to fund a mother who will terminate the life of her own born child. now, at present, the bills do not specifically state that abortion will be covered either in the house or the senate versions, but we're certain that abortion will be covered under the guys funding health care services, which are stated more broadly. the on

the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: thank you, mr. president. i thank my colleague for her passionate remarks about this particular nominee, and i'm happy to join many of my colleagues in supporting a woman that i consider to be really an extraordinarily accomplished woman, and commend president obama for his selection. as the senate judiciary committee prepares for its confirmation hearing, i wanted to come to the floor to express my strong support for this nominee. as we all know, the supreme court serves as the highest tribunal in the nation, as the final arbitrator of our laws, the supreme court justice are charged, mr. president, with ensuring the american people achieve the promise of equal justice under our law and serving as interpreters of our constitution. it's a very important charge. it's our duty as senators to ensure that the members of this high court, which we are asked to confirm, serve as impartial and fair-minded, who apply our laws, not merely their ideology. the american people deserve no less. a number of my colleagues have

this is janet durden, president of north west united way serves as coordinating council person for louisiana 211 but this is a nationwide emergency response system that i think can be very helpful in all of the issues we have talked about this morning. so, mr. foresman, if you will begin. thank you. >> senator, thank you very much -- [inaudible] >> can you pull the microphone a little bit closer, there you go. >> normally might booming voice works wonders. senator landrieu, thank you for the opportunity to be with you this morning and talk about the important work of the community partnership. we've provided written testimony respectfully requested it be included in the record. the ready come into partnership is an initiative of corporate crisis response officers association six to identify and implement best practices that helps support improvements in public and private sector response and recovery efforts. this initiative is grassroots developed by a coalition of public and private sector leaders who recognize better prepared netz for emergencies and disasters could and so we depend on ac

louisiana, we all know. this is a state that often gets pounded with hurricanes, has also had five major disaster declarations due to flooding in the past 10 years alone. yet louisiana doesn't receive a single earmark in this year's predisaster mitigation fund. how can this be? the answer is easy. when you abide by a process that rewards some members over others, you wind up with a spoil system. i would submit that's what we have with the predisaster mitigation fund, a classic spoil system. unless we can determine that mother nature somehow finds those districts represented by appropriaters and sends more floods, more earthquakes, more natural disasters somehow to those districts or to the districts of powerful people on powerful committee, then we have a spoil system. that is an example here. when we look at this year's predisaster mitigation earmark, we see of the $150 million appropriated for the grant program altogether in this year's bill, more than $24 million is earmarked. there are a total of 58 pred

for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cassidy: thank you, mr. speaker. cap and trade threatens to be a well intended disaster. under the ruse of reducing carbon emissions to help the economy, it will hobble the economy. it reduces g.d.p. by $9.6 trillion over two decades, illuminates 1.1 million jobs per year and increases the federal debt by 26%. electricity rates jump 90%, gas prices 74%, natural gas prices 55%. cap and trade is designed to disguise what it truly is. in the words of mr. dingell, a great big tax. it imposes higher taxes on producers so producers pass higher prices to consumers. the authors are targeting the producers so that the producers increase the price on consumers. if the authors' target producers rather than consumers it would connect them too much and, therefore, they must distance themselves from the families who bear the costs. the authors know the effects. it de