i hope he's watching today because nothing made him happier than the day that mark begich got elected to the united states senate. and when mark once came up there with me and w we're greeted by uncle joe, it was like a hero's welcome when mark begich appeared on the iron range in minnesota. people came out. we did an event with veterans. and then the problem was of course maybe we went to a bar up there and we could get no pictures that didn't have a budweiser sign in them. but market is a hero up there and he's a hero across our state. just for the work that he's done for rural communities. he always says when i say we have rural commute in the minnesota he says we have extreme rural communities in alaska. he has done work in conservation which we care about so much. houston work on tourism. we are co-chairs of a tourism caucus. and ty stewart member of the hearing that we had right in the middle of the downturn where every center came to talk about the things are happening in their states with tourism. mark was able to cite the price of cruises you to take and alaska. it was writte

the president doesn't have kay hagin and mary landrieu and mark begich to defend any more. he can be freer and you saw a president who was that way today. >> let's swing over to the white house briefing room, mike viqueira, eight questions, all women, none of the broadcast stations got questions. what do you make of that, and what is the range of options that he's likely to be presented with. >> you're right, they were all females, none of them tv, whether broadcast or network. i think this is a president on his way to three weeks of vacation in hawai'i. his childhood home, it's a place that could easily anticipated by the president and his staff as they prepare for this. the president being circumspect about retaliations against north korea. no one needs to be reminded what is at stake here. we're talking about a very unpredictable and unstable regime and opaque regime. let's not forget there are 30,000 american troops along the dmz between north and south korea, and they've been there for the better part of the last 60 years ever since the assistance of the korean war in

president, i also would just say that we will be losing a good friend, mark begich. mark and i have served on armed services committee together for a number of years, and we were very active. i was ranking member and chairman of the armed services subcommittee on strategic affairs to deal with missile defense, which alaska was deeply involved with as a state. we have our missile defense site there in alaska. mark was an expert on those issues. we dealt with nuclear issues in outer space and satellite issues. that was a particularly good time together. i believe every commitment, every decision we reached was a bipartisan decision that came out of committee, and we supported the subcommittee report that was made a part of the armed services bill and then became law for the most part, i think. not too many changes made in it. and i think a lot of people might not appreciate that senators do get along, they do work together on the issues important to the country like the space and military space necessities that are so valuable to men and women as they are in harm's way,

that's a man who gave an answer on keystone, who no longer has to worry about mark begich, mary landrieu, mark pryor. when you look at his answer on dealing with congress and he's sitting there going, you know, the premise of the question, of course, being, do your executive actions make it harder to work with congress. his mind set is, hey, congress has to decide how they're going to work with me because i'm going to -- you know, i'm confident they're going to be able to -- that his party is going to be able to uphold vetoes. so, i think he looks almost -- i had heard this from others close to him, that there was sort of a sense of relief that he didn't have to make all of these decisions, which if you think about the first ten months of 2014, there wasn't a decision appeasement that harry reid needed. delaying immigration, talks about keystone. that state of the union, which was the sort of emptiest state of the union he had given as far as policies were concerned. they were very light. it was all very light touch. anything that could unite a mark pryor and bernie sanders on the same p

mark begich of alaska, i can't imagine how a senator from alaska handles that commute back and forth, but he did it. i've said the other day when we spoke p his service that many people don't realize his father was a congressman before him and died in a plane crash with hale boggs when they were flying back to alaska to appear at an event. that plane was lost and never recovered. when mark begich came from alaska to serve in the united states, he completed the journey his father never could complete. his six years of service to alaska have been extraordinary. i hope that his commitment to public service will continue for many years to come. tim johnson and i came to the senate together, tim from south dakota. eventually became chairman of the banking committee. after he faced one of the toughest physical challenges any senator has ever faced, a debilitating brain injury that left him physically limited but never limited in spirit and intelligence. thank god with barb at his side, he continued in public service to serve the state of south dakota. i'm going to miss my great friend, tim

he add some fun last week for mark begich who lost his seat in the midterm election. >> we need moreors here. sometimes we say we need more diversity, we need more women. god knows we need more satirists. a lot of people ask me is being senator as much fun as working on "saturday night live". and the answer, of course, is no. it's not close. but it's the best job i've ever had. >> in 2008, you barely, barely, barely won, right? >> i don't think that's fair. >> by a few hundred votes. closest race in american history. you're now coming off a race where you won by ten points. what changed? >> one of the things that changed is i had a term behind me, or most of a term behind me. i was able to build on what i had done and communicate that to the people of minnesota. i think i had a pretty good record of accomplishment. so i was able to give him something to vote for. i reached across party lines to find common ground. but i also stood my ground when powerful interests came after the middle class. >> the democrats need to hold the white house. >> i think hillary will make a great presiden

he had some fun in his farewell speak last week for mark begich, who lost his seat. >> we need more mayorsere, you know, sometimes we say we need more sdwersdiversity, we need m women. god knows we need more satirists. a lot of people ask me, is being a senator as much fun as working on "saturday night live"? and the answer, of course, is no. it's not close. but it's the best job i've ever had. >> and franken got that promotion by a razor-thin margin. in 2008 you barely, barely, barely won. >> i don't think that's fair. >> by a few hundred votes. one of the closest races in american history. you're now coming off a race where you won by ten points. what changed? >> one of the things changed is i had a term behind me, or most of a term behind me, so i was able to build on what i had done and communicate that to the people of minnesota. i think i had a pretty good record of accomplishment. they knew i had worked hard. that's very different from where i had been six years or 5 1/2 years previous -- or 6 years previously where i had been a comedian for all but a lot of them knew and didn't kno

. >> senator mark begich of alaska gave his farewell address on thursday highlighting programs he championed during his time in the office. senator begich lost his bid for a second term to former alaska attorney general dan sullivan. his remarks are just under an hour. >> mr. president, i came down to do my farewell remarks, i'll just say one comment if i can about senator coburn before i can if i do that, and that is, you know, he is absolutely what many people said here about his word. just yesterday was an example of getting something resolved, so i wish him the best, and as all people, there's always other activity after the senate, and i wish him the best. mr. president, thank you for providing me this body a few minutes to discuss my six years serving in this body. it has been a true honor, true honor to serve with you in the short time that you were here, and to all my colleagues. but an even bigger honor to serve alaskan, my fellow alaskans. alaska is a huge state, 660,000 square miles, more than to my friends from texas and california, please don't take this personally, but more tha

. >> mark begich. >>> the first major court challenge was filed by attorneys from nebraska and this,use speaker john boehner's leadership by this south carolina republican who is currently investigating the 2012 benghazi attack. >> trey gowdy. got that right. 400-point toss-up. the next surgeon general was confirmed by the senate on monday by receiving the t support of one republican. the first-term senator from illinois. mark kirk is correct. retiring republican senator told 60 minutes he is proud the country elected barack obama. >> retired? >> coburn. >> coburn said that. wow. tied for last going in and wins the game with 2100 points. you can do anything in the 300-point round. craig, you were leading. but as the winner, we have a prize package for you. bill wolf is about to tell you all about it. >> as champion, your name will be engraved using the finest sharpie ink. you'll receive a dvd copy of the classic 1988 film "cocoon 2: the return." and you'll get to play in the jack pot round for today's grand prize. a get certificate to quick meal food cart in downtown manhattan. opera

the 113th congress, mark begich of alaska, saxby chambliss of georgia, tom coburn of oklahoma, kay hagan of north carolina, tom harkin of iowa, mike johanns of nebraska, tim johnson of south dakota, mary landrieu of louisiana, carl levin of michigan, mark pryor of arkansas, jay rockefeller of west virginia, mark udall of colorado, and george walsh of montana. they have all worked hard, ceaselessly giving their energy and considerable time in service to their constituents, their home states and our country. and i want to thank them for their service and for their kindness to me over many, many years in so many cases. and in particular say a few words about these colleagues. mark begich and i worked together to address the challenges facing the fishing industry, which is vital to both our states, and he's continually fought to ensure access to the unique challenges facing alaskans and particularly with respect to access to v.a. health care and i salute him and wish

mark begich and i worked together to address the challenges facing the fishing industry, which is vital to both our states, and he's continually fought to ensure access to the unique challenges facing alaskans and particularly with respect to access to v.a. health care and i salute him and wish him the best. i've served with saxby chambliss on the armed services committee and joined him in his efforts to support the national infantry museum and soldier center because saxby has been a strong supporter of our men and women in uniform. and he's also been a leader on homeland security and intelligence and i wish him well. tom coburn has always been passionate for the issues he cares about. we've engaged in vigorous debate, demonstrating, i hope, that principled disagreement can lead ultimately to principled progress. and my thoughts are with him and particularly as he battles a health issue, the cancer, and i hope and wish him success and much happiness as he moves forward. i've served with kay hagan on the banking committee and the armed services committee and we've worked together on a nu

begich family has pushed on. his mother continued to raise six children aloan while managing real estate properties and being active in local politics. by the age of 17, mark had already acquired his mother's business acumen, starting his first business, a jewelry venture and also owning and managing real estate. one reason senator begich has been a good united states senator is because of his innate business acumen. at age 26, he was elected to the anchorage assembly which is the city council, a position which he held for ten years. then in 2003, he was elected mayor of anchorage. he served two terms before running for the senate. 2008 was a really dark time for alaskan politics, but mark's senate victory brought a fresh face and new hope to the state. from the time he stepped foot on the senate floor, he has not let the people of alaska down. he has fought to expand economic opportunity, defend the right of alaska natives and fortify rural alaska. senator begich's efforts to reform the alaskan veterans' health care system was exemplary, exemplary service and it's a blueprint for a bipartisan solution that the senate reached this year to reform the depart