and another book had appeared when year before entitled madame chang kai-shek tae nazi eternal first lady written by a journalist who reported from asia and was a wonderful source for the material on madam, available and libraries and archives around the world. but i strongly disagree with the conclusion that madame chang showed serious signs of manic depression and/or substance abuse. that left me with the problem of explaining her constant preoccupation with illness. for starters, it seems to be a family trait that affected both of her sisters precut first i thought since the chinese usually say they are sick to avoid refusing invitation they regarded a direct know as bad manners, all this was just an excuse to get out of things for things she did not want to do. that was not it. you may have heard the story how madame chang slept only on silk sheets which had to be changed every time she got into bed. it is the most often repeated story about her and the one she gets a bum rap. at least three of the sung siblings apparently suffered from a congenital rash which heard doctors diagno

as to madame chang, a great deal of what i needed was also in english. and when it came to material in chinese archive, i was fortunate enough to find a graduate student through the friend of a friend, a young woman who lived in shanghai and did not automatically spout party dogma. without her, i could not have written this book. you will probably notice if you look at the back pages of the last empress, that i ended up consulting quite a number of archives in order to write it. by far, the best source for information, however, was the hoover institute at stanford university. my personal favorite is that most right wing governments leave their archives to hoover. my experience with hoover goes back to my first book, the last romantic, a biography of queen marie of romania. this was a long time ago. alan and i were living in southern california. he was directing all the presidents men, and i went up north to see the sun of the romanian prime minister who was working at hoover at the time. at that point in my life, i had written nothing more than book revi

madam speaker, i believed we were all going to freeze in the dark. scientists told us that we were going to freeze in the dark because of the weather patterns. climates do change, madam speaker. in the 1970's it was getting cooler. they say it's getting warmer. climates do change. that's what seasons are. most of us in the north have seasons. in houston we have two seasons. we have summer and we have august. other than that the seasons change in most parts of the world. they get warm, they get cold. and we are going to try to trust the world's climate prediction to a group of people from the 1970's and now 2000 to a group of people who can't even predict correctly tomorrow's weather. you know, people in the weather industry are the only people i know who can consistently be wrong and keep their jobs. but yet these same people trying to predict mars' weather or from now on saying that climate change is because of man, the culprit. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. poe: thank you, madam speaker. i yield back the remainder of my time and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlela

congress, particularly as he leaves the committee on the environment and global climate change here in the congress. madam speaker, i rise tonight to join my colleague, mr. markey, and so many others in addressing this issue of global climate change particularly during tonight's special hour to recognize the critical negotiations that are beginning to take place in denmark at the united nations climate change conference. like so many of us, i am greatly concerned with the permanent damage that we have already inflicted on the planet by failing to curb carbon emissions, but i believe there is still time to enact meaningful reform that will not only stop the harmful effects of pollution, but will also jump-start our economy with a greater investment and demand for clean energy. this issue, in terms of addressing clobal warming is important for our environment, it's important for our national security, it's important for our economy in creating jobs of the 21st century and clearly it is vitally important to the future of our planet. the predictions of what will happen to our planet if we do not take action o

this is a manifestation of a collapsing system that needs fundamental change. madam president a number of months ago i took to the floor to relate stories i heard from people throughout the state of vermont regarding the health care crisis. stories which i published into a small booklet and placed on my website. let me just tell one story. a man from vermont in the northern part of the state wrote to me to tell me the story of his younger brother, vietnam veteran, who died three weeks after being diagnosed with colon cancer. at that time he was diagnosed he had been laid off from his job and could not afford cobra coverage and this is what his brother said, when he was in the enough pain to see a doctor, when he was in the enough pain to see a doctor was too late. he left his wife and two teenage sons in the prime of his life that 50-years-old. the attending physician said if he had only sought treatment earlier he would still be alive, and of quote from his brother. madam president, how radically, tragically, that same story is being told in every state in this coun

this is a manifestation of a collapsing system that needs fundamental change. madam president, a number of months ago i took to the floor to relate stories that i heard from people throughout the state of vermont regarding the health care crisis. stories which i published into a small booklet and placed on my website. and let me just tell you one story. a man from swanton vermont in the northern part of our state wrote to tell me about his younger brother, a vietnam vet or in who died three weeks after being diagnosed with colon cancer. at the time he was diagnosed he had been laid off from his job and could not afford cobra coverage. in quotes, this is what his brother said, when he was in enough pain to see a doctor, when he was in enough pain to see a doc or it was too late. he left a wife and two teenage sons and the prime of his life at 50 years old. the attending physician said that if he had only sought treatment earlier he would still be alive end of quote from his brother. a modern president, or rhythmically, tragically, that same story is being told in ever

madam chair. we need to change some things so we don't face financial collapse. we can change those things without creating an entirely new agency spending billions of new dollars, hiring thousands of new bureaucrats, and a new building, and creating a conflict between the safety and soundness of banks and consumer protection. the underlying bill creates all those problems. this amendment accomplishes consumer protection without all of that. support this amendment. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. frank: i have one remaining speaker. since i have the right to close i will reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from idaho is recognized. mr. minnick: i'd like to yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from new jersey. the chair: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for 30 seconds. >> thank you, madam chair. the current regulatory structure is not lacking authority. the federal reserve and the other banking agencies had all of the powers needed to address problems in consumer prote

back into their pockets, and it also includes fair and appropriate changes for home health that actually protects access to health care. madam president, the truth is the johanns amendment is the amendment that actually would wind up hurting seniors. this amendment provides additional benefits. and we all understand the importance of this. the senate bill releases home health care payments so that those payments actually reflect the real costs of providing care, and we do that not in a partisan way. we do that based on the nonpartisan medpac commission recommendations to us of how you can improve medicare. so i think our colleagues have a long way to go on the other side to really begin to talk about this real health care change here. this bill roots out fraud from the system. it revises how medicare pays for the outlier cases. that's the cases that treat the sicker or what we call outlier patients. unfortunately, g.a.o. found -- guess what? some providers were gaming the system and getting more outlier payments than they deserved. do they want us to continue to overpay people? providing service that people either don't need

madam president. americans are waiting for these changes. they're waiting for these reforms. have been for a long time. decades may be an understatement. our health insurance system is just -- doesn't do what it should for our americans. for the american people. people who represent. and now, finally we're taking a significant first step to -- to finding those reforms. these are reforms that american families, workers and businesses desperately need. they're reforms on which the economic stability depends. that's no small matter either, madam president. we get our insurance matter under control, that's more economic stability. it's not just for families who don't know what the insurance company is or is not going to do. small businesses don't know whether premiums are going to be up or by how much next year. you know, why? more economic stability for families and small businesses. and soon economic stability for budgets, state budgets, our federal budgets. we just need to get a little more control over the, all the excessive costs that are going up and also the volatility, th

about what the stupak measure does and a level of danger that this kind of sweeping change could pose to women and girls. madam president, this health care package must move us forward toward quality health care for every single american. i ask my colleagues to oppose the nelson amendment and any similar measure and i ask that we work together to preserve current law and respect the private choices made between a woman and her doctor. thank you, madam president, and i yield -- i yield the floor. mr. specter: madam president, i have sought recognition to join senator boxer, senator mikulski, and senator gillibrand in opposing the amendment. the controversy set forth on this issue has been debated in this body and in the house since the hyde amendment was enacted in 1977. and what is attempted by the pending amendment here in the senate and the stupak amendment in the house is to alter that to the disadvantage of a woman's right to choose. the decision in roe v. wade, 1973, was admittedly and obviously, no dispute, a landmark decision which recognizes the constitutional right of a woman to choose, and there have

change is recent. >> thank you. thank you, madam chairman. >> thank you very much, senator grassley. senator franken. >> thank you, madam chair, and i want to thank you and chairman lay hi in your leadership on this issue. i want to thank each of our witnesses, ms. smith, ms. seipech, for your courage and strength, and mr. redding and ms. stol of for your expertise and professionalism and ms. haulie for your advocacy. last month i introduced a bill joined by my colleague senator grassly and senator hatch and senator feinstein that would create financial incentives for jurisdictions to process the rape kit backlogs and remain prompt. the truth is i think this is one of those i

in such a way that our premiums continue to rise 15% last year alone, and this will help change that. now, madam president, in the time i have remaining, i also want to speak briefly on a subject that many members of congress, both democratic and republican alike, have an abiding interest in. throughout this week, delegates from countries around the world will gather in columbia to participate in the second review conference of the convention on the prohibition, use, and stockpiling of antiperso antipel land mines. this would give the obama administration the opportunity to announce its intention to join the other nations that are parties to the treaties, including our coalition of allies in iraq and afghanistan. in fact, every member of nato and every country in our member is sphere except cuba is a part of the treaty. the united states is only one of 37 countries that has not joined, along with priewsh and china. -- along with russia and china. we are the most powerful nation in the earth. we ask our countries to join these treaties. we've been unwilling to ourselves. we do not use these land

madam chair. we need to change some things so we don't face financial collapse. we can change those things without creating an entirely new agency spending billions of new dollars, hiring thousands of new bureaucrats, and a new building, and creating a conflict between the safety and soundness of banks and consumer protection. the underlying bill creates all those problems. this amendment accomplishes consumer protection without all of that. support this amendment. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. frank: i have one remaining speaker. since i have the right to close i will reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from idaho is recognized. mr. minnick: i'd like to yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from new jersey. the chair: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for 30 seconds. >> thank you, madam chair. the current regulatory structure is not lacking authority. the federal reserve and the other banking agencies had all of the powers needed to address problems in consumer prote

change was, mr. speaker. and now they have a pretty good idea -- madam speaker, excuse me. now they have a pretty good idea of that change that has been in store for us, and they reject it. that's why they filled up the capitol, filled up this the town hall meetings. what we've seen so far, this intensity this resistance to cap and tax, this resistance to a national health care act, the resistance that brought somewhere between 20,000 and 60,000 people here to this capitol, outside this west side of the -- west side of the capitol on the thursday before the final vote and some of those people who came here on thursday got on a plane and flew back to their hometown, landed and saw they had a request to come back to the capitol to do this again on saturday to do our level best to dump out all our energy to kill this socialized medicine bill. that's the american people mobilized, madam speaker. the american people have been mobilized in every state in in this union and they came to this capitol from every single state, including alaska and hawaii and that mobilization of americ

. >> madam speaker, over the past several months, airbus and their congressional allies have been pushing the pentagon to change requirements for the air refueling tanker. so that the french company will win the contract. just last month the airbus team sent the department of defense a clear ultimate tum. if you don't change your requirements, we won't bid. the air force needs an air refueling tanker that meets the needs of the war fighter, not the needs of the french. airbus is gambling that the threat of not having a competition will force the air force to change their requirements. the very same requirements that were determined by the air force to meet the needs of the war fighter. to change them -- to meet the needs of the competition does not serve the interests of our fighting men and women or the nation. if airbus chooses not to offer the tanker in a bid that the air force needs then that's their choice. and then the decision will be easy -- will be an easy one for the pentagon. after seven years of trying to recapital the tanker fleet, we know what it takes to ensure that the war fighter gets the tanke

madam president. i actually was kind of feeling bad because i thought i was going to be changing the subject here when senator durbin said i'd be the next democrat to speak because our good colleague from nevada brought up an amendment on medical malpractice liability and the senator from illinois responded to it and i thought the senator from nevada was going to respond to his response with some factual information or something, but completely changed the subject. so i -- you know, i -- to the canadian system, to rationing. he will include his entire statement, which include this, "we don't ration care near the united states -- i mean the government -- we let the private sector do that." and they do a great job of rationing care, the private sector. that's where we ration care in this country. they ration it by cutting off your insurance when you get sick. they ration care by not giving you insurance if you have preexisting condition. but i want to talk about a -- an amendment -- that's when i was going to change the subject. let me talk a little bit about -- just a little bit about tort reform liabi

a pedigree for medicated was mandated by law in 1988. 1988, madam chair, and has still not been implemented and this bill will change that. for the first time, in fact, this legislation will include resources to inspect all facilities handling medications so we're not just making imported drugs safer but also domestic drugs drugs, madam pre. now, some attempt to alarm americans about the countries from which we would import drugs, citing nations such as latvia, estonia, slovakia. well, madam president, last time i checked, these are members of the europe peen union -- of the european union. and the same is true for ireland, for example, where lipitor is made. so let me get this straight. it's fine for those companies to manufacturer drugs in their plants for domestic u.s. companies and ship those drugs here where we then have the privilege of paying higher prices than anywhere else in the world? but we somehow cannot safely import drugs made in those same countries. well, madam president, exactly what kind of sense does that make? in fact, going back to this chart where the european union and other countries from wh

now, madam president, i would just conclude by saying congress should help the president keep his promises, even when it seems as he's changedhis mind now by suggesting that we extend tarp and use tarp on a purpose that congress has never authorized or never intended. it seems like one -- like the bad ideas never end when it comes to spending and debt out of washington, d.c. these days. we know in addition to all of these other problems that i mentioned that i really haven't talked about, this health care bill which would exacerbate and makes much worse the deficits and debt situation and not make it better, all the time while not benning the cost curve down -- not bending the cost curve down but making it worse, raising premiums, raising taxes, cutting medicare. madam president, we need to end the tarp program because, frankly, it is being misused in ways that congress has never authorized and never intended, and indeed over the very objections of congress. and we need to learn from our mistakes, and, frankly, the stimulus spending which i voted against because i thought it was based on an academic theory which had not been

now, madam president, i would just conclude by saying congress should help the president keep his promises, even when it seems as he's changed his mind now by suggesting that we extend tarp and use tarp on a purpose that congress has never authorized or never intended. it seems like one -- like the bad ideas never end when it comes to spending and debt out of washington, d.c. these days. we know in addition to all of these other problems that i mentioned that i really haven't talked about, this health care bill which would exacerbate and makes much worse the deficits and debt situation and not make it better, all the time while not benning the cost curve down -- not bending the cost curve down but making it worse, raising premiums, raising taxes, cutting medicare. madam president, we need to end the tarp program because, frankly, it is being misused in ways that congress has never authorized and never intended, and indeed over the very objections of congress. and we need to learn from our mistakes, and, frankly, the stimulus spending which i voted against because i thought it was based on an academic theory which had not bee

change. the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: madam president, i rise to oppose the dorgan amendment. let's be clear. there are those who want to did i minimize safety. but the one entity in this country who's sphorlgt safety of food and drugs is the f.d.a. and commissioner hamburg has mentioned in her letter of all of the potential risks of the dorgan amendment. secondly, we've heard about the european union, as an example of why we should permit reimportation. what did we here hear from the european community last week? that this just two months they seized 34 million fake tablets in all member countries and that this was beyond their greatest fears. thirdly, how do we create affordability? by closing the doughnut hole and this amendment will not do that. it will undermine that. and, finally, finally, senator lautenberg's amendment, which comes up after this, is the one that permits reimportation, but takes care of the safety issues that the f.d.a. has said is cr

madam president. americans are waiting for these changes. they're waiting for these reforms.or a long time. decades may be an understatement. our health insurance system is just -- doesn't do what it should for our americans. for the american people. people who represent. and now, finally we're taking a significant first step to -- to finding those reforms. these are reforms that american families, workers and businesses desperately need. they're reforms on which the economic stability depends. that's no small matter either, madam president. we get our insurance matter under control, that's more economic stability. it's not just for families who don't know what the insurance company is or is not going to do. small businesses don't know whether premiums are going to be up or by how much next year. you know, why? more economic stability for families and small businesses. and soon economic stability for budgets, state budgets, our federal budgets. we just need to get a little more control over the, all the excessive costs that are going up and also the volatility, the yo-yo effe

change is recent. >> thank you. thank you, madam chairman. >> thank you very much, senator grassley. senator franken? >> thank you, madam chair. and i want to thank you and chairman leahy in your leadership on this issue. i want to thank each of our witnesses, ms. smith for your courage and your strength and mr. redding and ms. stoiloff for your expertise and professionalism and ms. howley, for your advocacy. last month i introduced a bill joined my colleague, senator grassley and senator hatch and senator feinstein that would create financial incentives for jurisdiction to process the rape kit backlogs and to make sure that processing then continues to remain prompt. the truth is, i think that this is one of the issues -- those issues in congress where we all can agree on the big picture. rape is a heinous crime and we need to provide our law enforcement agencies with everything they need to prevent it. and bring perpetrator it is to justice. i just want to ask a few questions on this front. mr. redding, in your testimony you need there's a need for improved infrastructure and lab c

finally, madam president, we put pressure on private insurers to change the way that they pay, by encourageurers to reward programs that produce -- to reduce disparities. providers will increasingly focus attention on population that need it most. by proactive targeting these needy folks through culturally competitive training, language service, and community outreach. our amendment will increase wellness and reduce the use of costly emergency room care. my colleagues and i are supportive -- supported by top business groups, consumer groups and providers because they all know that we have to transform the way care is delivered in this country. businesses know that without the reduced cost of care and promoting transparency, the cost of premiums will continue to rise, putting a stranglehold on wages increasing and making them less competitive. consumer groups want to ensure that patients get more dollar for their dollar. not just get more care, but they get the type of coordinated, effective care that will keep them healthy and out of the emergency rooms and out of the health care system. th

madam president, i could not support the bill that was passed to deal with climate change by the house of representatives. let me just read a couple of the descriptions of that bill. "the new york times" described it as -- quote -- -- quote -- h compromises, carve-ou carve-out, concessions, and out-and-out gifts." "the washington post" described it as having pollution credits and revenue that were divvied up to the advantage of politically favored polluters. i do not believe this bill, which is a 2,000-page monstrosity, can garner the necessary 60 votes to proceed in the senate. the "clear" act, by contrast, would help to move a stalled debate forward by offering a fairer, a more efficient and a straight approach. you have only to look at our bill. it is 39 pages long compared to 2,000 pages of the house-passed bill. madam president, my full statement goes into detail on how the bill would work. and i hope that my colleagues will look closely at it. but let me just talk about one part, and that is, in the "clear" act, 75% of the carbon auction revenues would be returned to consumers as

changes in the managers' package would improve the delivery system, c.b.o. also says that it's likely that the amendment will have little impact on premiums. so, madam president, as we move towards the cloture votes on this bill over the next couple of days, i think it's important for the american people to get some understanding of the fact that the deals that have been made, the deals have that have been cut to get the democrats to 60 votes on this bill, don't do what's been said over and over again by folks on the other side of the aisle. i'd now like to ask my friend from texas how it impacts texas, the managers' amendment, as well as the underlying bill and other comments he has relative to the bill. mr. cornyn: madam president, i thank the senator from georgia, and i look forward to engaging in a further colloquy with both of our senators from georgia and our senator from south carolina, senator graham. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: i've been in the senate now seven years, which is not all that long compared to the length of service of a number of senators. and i was and have been proud to represent the 24 million

change our current system? and there is certain numbers here that i think explain it. the first number is 14,000. madam president, we know that every single day 14,000 of our neighbors lose their health insurance through no fault of their own. they either lose their job, they can't afford to keep up health insurance, or they have a condition in the insurance company walks away from them. or they just are priced out of the market. 14,000 a day. that is cruel and we need to change it. 62% of bankruptcies are linked to health care crisis. now, where the only nation in the world where people go broke because they get sick. if we do nothing, 45% of an average family's income will go for premiums in 2016. i ask everyone to think about it. paid 45% of your income for premiums. it's not sustainable. what about food? what about clothing lacks what about shelter? can't do it. we are 29th in the world on infant mortality. we come in behind cuba. we come in behind singapore. we come in behind south korea. twenty-ninth in the world on infant mortality because people don't have good insurance or they don't have any

change is recent. >> thank you. thank you, madam chairman. >> thank you very much, senator grassley. senator franken. >> thank you, madam chair, and i want to thank you and chairman lay hi in your leadership on this issue. i want to thank each of our witnesses, ms. smith, ms. seipech, for your courage and strength, and mr. redding and ms. stol of for your expertise and professionalism and ms. haulie for your advocacy. last month i introduced a bill joined by my colleague senator grassly and senator hatch and senator feinstein that would create financial incentives for jurisdictions to process the rape kit backlogs and remain prompt. the truth is i think this is one of those issues in congress where we all can agree on the big picture. rape is a hainnuss crime and we need to provide our law enforcement agencies with everything they need to prevent it. and bring perpetrators to juss dis. so i just want to ask a few questions on this front. mr. redding, your testimony you said there was a need for improved infrastructure and lab capabilities so that d.n.a. evidence can improcessed as qu

madame secretary? >> i would just add three points. one, general mcchrystal significantly changed the way that our military forces and nato isaf conduct themselves with respect to civilian population. he significantly tightened the rules for air support for any kind of combat in order to limit the number of civilian casualties, and he also issued orders concerning nighttime raids particularly with the use of dogs. when i was in afghanistan i had a number of people tell us that made a huge difference. secondly, in every reliable research that i have access to, there is no appetite for the return of the taliban whatsoever. what we have seen an increase in over the last several years has been more hedging, that people were understandably nervous about what is the outcome and who was site should i and my family in the pond. but there is no appetite for the return of the taliban. and we do not see what is a legitimate concern to keep in mind. the potential reaction that would lead to increased insurgents. we also know that a lot of the people who are in the taliban do not share the ove

madam chairman, we live in a time of enormous foreign policy and national security challenges. on issues of war and peace, nonproliferation, climate changeand economic and financial situation around the globe, our leaders need and deserve the very best information and analysis before making difficult decisions. if confirmed by the senate, i look forward to working with you and your colleagues to make sure that happens. thank you. >> thank you. thank you both very, very much. i have a list of four questions that we ask all nominees. if you would just respond yes or no to each of them. the first is, do you agree to appear before the committee here or in other venues when invited? >> yes. >> often wondered what we would do if someone said no. >> i gather, ms. wagner nodded yes. >> she said yes. i heard her. do you agree to send officials from your respective organizations to appear before the committee in designated staff when requested? >> yes. >> yes, sir. >> do you agree to provide documents and any other materials requested by the committee in order to carry out its oversight and legislative responsibilities? >> to the best of my abilit

madam chair, for holding this hearing. more than eight years after 9/11 attacks, it is not particularly surprising that we face the growing, ever-changing threat from violent extremists. the department of homeland security stood up in the wake of those attacks as evolved over the course of these past years yet even amidst changing there are con stands. on one hand we are challenged by the constant and continued threat posed by terrorists both transnational and domestic. we're challenged by groups of those willing to penetrate inconceivable acts of violence. on the other hand, we're supported by the constant efforts of our dedicated law enforcement intelligence and homeland security professionals who helped defend against that threat. there are other constants in that we, too, have a duty we must remain vigilant. we must's vigilant to ensure that those who bear the brunt of detecting, identifying, disrupting and dismantling efforts by terrorists to strike at us, our citizens, our homeland and our allies have adequate resources and tools to do so. we must be vigilant that we do not slip back into a september 10, 2001 mentality regarding t

madam president, the train is about to leave the station on the last of the appropriations bills for 2010, and unfortunately nothing has changed. everything's the same. earmarking, pork barrel, excessive and unnecessary spending, billions in wasteful earmarks have again found their way into this bill which could otherwise be spent for the priorities that our men and women, our military leaders as well as the secretary of defense has asked for. there is in this one, here we go again, appropriations bill loaded up with earmarks 523-page explanatory statement for 1,720 earmarks, totaling $4.3 billion. so let's do some simple math here. $4.3 billion in pork, pork, $2.5 billion in unauthorized and unrequested c-17's, $500 million in unrequested and unwanted funding for the joint strike fighter alternative engine and presidential helicopter. $7.3 billion that the military nor do the defense department request and doesn't need. $7.3 billion. now, some people would say that's not a lot of money. well, it's enough to keep the state of arizona's budget requirements fulfilled for ten months. states across america are facing great difficu

change our current system? and their are certain numbers here that i think explain it. the first number is 14,000. madam president, we know that every single day, 14,000 of our neighbors lose their health insurance through no fault of their own. they either lose their job, they can't afford to keep up the health insurance, or they have a condition in the insurance company walks away from them or they just are priced out of the market. 14,000 a day. that is cruel and we need to change it. 62% of bankruptcies are linked to health care crises. we are the only nation in the world where people go broke because they get sick. if we do nothing, 45% of an average family's income will go for premiums in 2016. i asked everyone to think about it, paying 45% of your income for premiums. it is not sustainable. what about food? what about clothing? what about shelter? can't do it. we are 29th in the world on infant mortality. we come in behind cuba. we come in behind singapore. we come in behind south korea. 29th in the world on infant mortality because people don't have good insurance or they don't have any insuranc

madam chairman relive and a time of enormous foreign policy on issues of "war and peace", a change in the economic situation around the globe, our leaders to serve the best information and analysis before making a difficult decision. if confirmed by a book forward to working with you and your colleagues to make sure that happens. thank you. >> thank you very much for i have a list of four questions we ask all nominees. please respond yes or no. do you agree to appear before the committee when invited? >> yes. >> i wonder what we would do if somebody said no. [laughter] do you agree to send officials from your organizations to appear before the committee and doesn't a staff when requested? >> do agree to provide documents and any other material requested by the committee to carry out oversight and legislative responsibilities? >> to the best of my ability, yes. >> to the best of my ability, i guess. >> what does that mean? >> if it ever became as far as the inr bureau goes i will share whatever we can. there are some issues from time to time might come up about the documents or executi

changes that have been made in the bill since it was reported? and i yield with pleasure to chairman boucher. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. boucher: madam speaker, i thank the gentleman from michigan for yielding the customary 10 minutes to the energy and commerce committee. at this time i'd like to yield for such time as he may consume to the gentleman from the state of california, the chairman of the full energy and commerce committee, mr. waxman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. waxman: madam speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 3570, the satellite home viewer re-authorization act of 2009. i want to commend mr. boucher, chairman of the subcommittee on communications, technology and the internet, as well as subcommittee ranking member stearns, for their hard work on this bill. mr. boucher's been working on these issues since the first satellite tv bill in 1988, and he and his staff have been a tremendous resource for all of us as this bill has moved forward. of course, i also want to thank and recognize mr. barton and his staff for their work on this legislation. this has been a bipartisan effort

now, madam president, i would just conclude by saying congress should help the president keep his promises, even when it seems as he's changedw by suggesting that we extend tarp and use tarp on a purpose that congress has never authorized or never intended. it seems like one -- like the bad ideas never end when it comes to spending and debt out of washington, d.c. these days. we know in addition to all of these other problems that i mentioned that i really haven't talked about, this health care bill which would exacerbate and makes much worse the deficits and debt situation and not make it better, all the time while not benning the cost curve down -- not bending the cost curve down but making it worse, raising premiums, raising taxes, cutting medicare. madam president, we need to end the tarp program because, frankly, it is being misused in ways that congress has never authorized and never intended, and indeed over the very objections of congress. and we need to learn from our mistakes, and, frankly, the stimulus spending which i voted against because i thought it was based on an academic theory which had not been proven whi

or maybe they changed jobs and lost their insurance or maybe they got laid off. so many of these problems -- the other thing that i noticed, madam president is, that as you know, what happened in louisiana, from the letters you get from baton rouge and shreveport and all over, people 58, 62, 63, that don't have insurance, just pray they can make it until they're 65 because they know that they have a good, strong public plan at 65 that doesn't deny people from preexisting condition, medicare doesn't do that. a plan that is predictable and they can stay with and will help them. let me share handful of these letters. start with marry from madison -- mary from madison county. it is west of columbus. the county seat is london. for 26 years, i worked hard. carried my own insurance. when i started a home-base business, i started my husband's employer-based job. he had an injure andy went on employer disability in 2006. so i had to find my own insurance. i was turned down by almost every health insurance company because of a preexisting condition which was a heart attack five years ago. the only insurance i could buy was a short-term po

madam president? the presiding officer: mr. leader. mr. reid: may we have order, mr. reid: may we have order, >> leader, may we have order, please the presiding officer: anyone wish to change their vote or hasn't voted? by a vote of 88 ayes and 10 noes, the motion to concur on the house amendment to the senate amendment on defense appropriations is approved. leader. mr. reid: first of all, to the united states senate, this is a good strong message we've sent to our men and women in uniform around the world as 88 senators voted -- it was a little bit of a struggle to get here but we got here, and i'm so grateful we were able to do that. i have some -- we're going to do the continuing resolution now until the 23rd. the reason for that is this defense bill will take a little time to enroll it. we just want to make sure that there's no gaps in having the full funding that secretary gates has indicated he needs. i ask consent that the senate proceed to immediate consideration of h.j. res. 64 the continuing resolution received from the house and is at the desk, and the joint resolution be read three times passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. the presiding o

madam president, we have in front of us, just generally, the basic contours of this bill have not changedor do we expect them to change. they will tweak around with this government plan, there was already a vote on the issue of abortion, which i believe the taxpayer fund should not be used to finance abortions. we had that vote and there will be other votes on individual aspects of this. but some of those things are not going to affect the fundamental core elements of this plan which have stayed the same throughout the entire process. and those core elements are a massive expansion of federal spending, $2.5 trillion over 10 years when it's fully implmentd. massive cuts to -- implemented. massive cuts to medicare, about $1 trillion over 10 years when fully implmentd. again, that affects hospitals, nursing home, home health agencies, hospices an beneficiaries of medicare advantage of which there are about 11 million across the country and it's also financed with increases in taxes, which i have just mentioned. those are the basic components of this bill. 70 new government programs called fo

change our current system? and there are certain numbers here that i think explain it. the first number is 14,000. madam president, we know that every single day 14,000 of our neighbors lose their health insurance through no fault of their own. they either lose their job, they can't afford to keep up the health insurance, or they have it, a condition and the insurance company walks away from them. or they just are priced out of the market. 14,000 a day. that is cruel, and we need to change it. 62% of bankruptcies are linked to health care crisis. we're the only nation in the world where people go broke because they get sick. if we do nothing, 45% of an average family's income will go for premiums in 2016. i ask everyone to think about it. paying 45% of your income for premiums, it's not sustainable. what about food? what about clothing? what about shelter? can't do it. we are 29th in the world on infant mortality. we come in behind cuba. we come in behind singapore. we come in behind south korea. 29th in the world on infant mortality because people don't have good insurance or they don't have any insura

madame president, healthcare is a woman's issue. health care reform is a must do woman's issue. and health insurance reform is a must change issue. so many of the women and the men of the senate are here today to fight for change and to make sure that we have universal access to health care and we have universal access that it makes a difference in our lives which means that we have to have universal access to preventive and screening services. what my amendment does, and by the way it is a bipartisan and meant, it makes universal access to preventive screening services for women available. now, there is much discussion about whether or not you should get a particular service in particular age. we don't mandate that you get a surface. we leave that up to a decision made with the woman and her doctor. but first of all you need to be able to have a doctor. so we are for universal access, and this is why the underlying bill is so important. and then when you have that there would also be universal access to preventive screening services particularly to the top killers of women, those things unique to women. if we take cancer we thin

madam president, health care is a woman's issue. health care reform is a must-do women's issue. and health insurance reform is a must-change issue. so many of the women and men of the senate are here today to fight for change and to make sure that we have universal access to health care. and when we have universal access, that it makes a difference in our lives, which means that we have to have universal access to preventive and screening services. what my amendment does -- and, by the way, it is a bipartisan amendment -- is makes universal access to preventive and screening services for women available. now, there's much discussion about whether or not you should get a particular service at a particular age. we don't mandate that you get a service. we leave that up to a decision made with the woman and her doctor. but, first of all, you need to be able to have a doctor. so we're for universal access, and this is why the underlying bill is so important. and then when you have that, that there also be universal access to preventive and screening services, particularly to the top killers of women, those things that are unique to wo

our aim in this bill is to change our current sick care system to a true health care system, one that keeps people out of the hospital in the first place. madam president, i was struck y something the distinguished minority leader, senator mcconnell, said early friday morning just prior to the first critical cloture vote. addressing democratic senators, he turned and faced us and said, "it is not too late. all it takes is just one, just one," gesturing to this side of the aisle, he said, "one can stop this bill. one can stop it or every single one will own it." well, he was talking about democrats. well, madam president, i say to the minority leader, we democrats are proud to own this bill, just as we are proud of our ownership of social security and medicare and the elementary and secondary education exact so many other reforms -- education act, and so many other reforms, progressive reforms, that has made america the great nation we are today. for the record, let me point out exactly what it is that democrats will own by passing this bill. we will own the fact that this bill is fully paid for. indeed, this bill will reduce the federal debt

madam chair, for holding this hearing. more than eight years after 9/11 attacks, it is not particularly surprising that we face the growing, ever-changing threat from violent extremists. the department of homeland security stood up in the wake of those attacks as evolved over the course of these past years yet even amidst changing there are con stands. on one hand we are challenged by the constant and continued threat posed by terrorists both transnational and domestic. we're challenged by groups of those willing to penetrate inconceivable acts of violence. on the other hand, we're supported by the constant efforts of our dedicated law enforcement intelligence and homeland security professionals who helped defend against that threat. there are other constants in that we, too, have a duty we must remain vigilant. we must's vigilant to ensure that those who bear the brunt of detecting, identifying, disrupting and dismantling efforts by terrorists to strike at us, our citizens, our homeland and our allies have adequate resources and tools to do so. we must be vigilant that we do not slip back into a september 10, 2001 mentality regarding t

madame chairwoman, the system is very strong. i am confident in saying that for several reasons. there were six persons or updates to the document that was released, that had very significant changese way we conduct the screening procedures. secondly, this was a management 's standard operating procedure three it had a lot check list as to what to do to start the day at the checkpoint three it did not have a lot of security if permission on how this certainly do procedures at the checkpoint. i appreciate the gravity and the significance with which people regarded this. but we knew, and our immediate reaction, was the began to do a line-by-line review of that the mocked -- that document, compared to measures in place today, and frankly, even with the confidence that we had, with an abundance of caution we immediately took some additional measures, which we do any time we get information that says -- let's put an additional set of measures into place in order to be that much more confident in the system. >> is it safe to say that you have changed the review procedures, and i am asking several questions at once -- you might want to make note. and ministers of the ssi, prior to making

madam speaker. i rise in s. 1422, the airline flight crew technical corrections act. this is companion bill to h.r. 912 which the congress passed on a voice vote. this makes a few changes in the other body and it is equally deserving of support. . as we have heard this legislation is needed to address a very narrow, very specific concern. at issue is the fact that some airline personnel are subject to a unique scheduling process which they are paid for being on call but in some cases are not credit with those hours and calculation used for the family, medal leave eligibility. some flight crew personnel may work a full-time schedule but fail to qualify for family medical leave. this is a real concern for those grappling with health conditions or family obligations. many members have been uneasy about efforts to open up the family medical leave act for small changes when it's clear broader reforms are necessary. the fmla has worked well for 16 years, offering workers the flexibility to tend to their own health or care for a loved one in their time of need without fear of losing their job. despite the loss, many successes has become clear that changes are needed. the real

change that to help them diversify their sheet. >> we have three minutes left on the vote. of course, we will return ten minutes after the last vote. i understand there's three votes. madame minutes after the last vote. committee in recess. exchange commission. committee chair is about to take his seat. we're continuing to bring you live conch coverage on c-span 3. >> our second witness is the director of the division of enforcement at the securities and exchange commission. it is committee policies that all witnesses are sworn in. if you would stand and raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. if so, answer the affirmative. >> i do. >> you may be seated. let the record reflect that the witness answered in the affirmative. >>> i am director of the division of enforcement at the securities and exchange commission. i became director on march 29th of this year. thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of bank of america's acquisition of merrill lynch. the committee's invitation asks about the litigation against bank of america. because the enforcement action is ongoing, discussion of certain aspects

will give women preventive care and begin to change that statistic, which shows that among other nations, w we do so badly. i really hope, and i thank you, madam president, for coming to the floor and speaking out on this. i really hope that there are enough people in this body that recognize that virtually everything women have gotten in history has been the product of a fight, and this is one of those. thank you, and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mr. gregg: i'd ask unanimous consent that the next republican speaker be the senator from louisiana, senator vitter. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. gregg: madam president, i wanted to rise to speak generally about the bill and specifically about this medicare proposal, the proposal from -- in the bill and the amendment that has been offered by senator mccain which i think is an excellent amendment. let's start at the size of this bill. it is unusual that we would be considering a bill of this size and not have had more time to take a look at it, but the bill itself -- and i'm glad that the chairman of the finance committee is essential -- ha

change that to help them diversify their sheet. >> we have three minutes left on the vote. of course, we will return ten minutes after the last vote. i understand there's three votes. madameou for coming this morning. we will now recess until ten minutes after the last vote. committee in recess. exchange commission. committee chair is about to take his seat. we're continuing to bring you live conch coverage on c-span 3. >> our second witness is the director of the division of enforcement at the securities and exchange commission. it is committee policies that all witnesses are sworn in. if you would stand and raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. if so, answer the affirmative. >> i do. >> you may be seated. let the record reflect that the witness answered in the affirmative. >>> i am director of the division of enforcement at the securities and exchange commission. i became director on march 29th of this year. thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of bank of america's acquisition of merrill lynch. the committee's invitation asks about the litigation against bank of america. because the enfor