frank of massachusetts. on page 152 of the amendment numbered 1, strike 74 and the following text through page 153 line a. mr. frank: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the reading be dispensed with. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the question? no objection -- to the request. no objection is there objection to the original request? hearing none your amendments are modified. pursuant to house resolution 964 and rule 18 the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the further consideration of h.r. 4173. will the gentlewoman from maryland, ms. edwards, kindly resume the chair? the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole on the state of the union for the further consideration of h.r. 4173 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill to provide for financial regulatory reform to protect consumers and investors, to enhance federal understanding of insurance issues, to regulate the over-the-counter derivatives market and f

the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. neal: thank you, madam speaker. with that i'd like to voice a -- to a voice of fiscal responsibility to the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. >> i thank my friend, mr. neal, for yielding. i think all of us here today, certainly in this game of inside baseball, understand that we have to raise the debt limit. we don't have a choice to let our nation go into default on its bonds. but i do come today to ask you to support it. i come reluctantly. and i am glad to hear that my friends on both sides of the aisle now offer fiscal responsibility. i think many of us over here have been saying for years, and particularly for the last eight, nine years, that the policies that we were pursuing starting in 2001 of spending more than we were taking in on an annual basis had to stop. we found ourselves in pretty good shape in 2001, and then we changed the policies and you know the rest of the story, the history of that. many of us have been working all

frank of massachusetts. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 964, the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. frank, and a member opposed, each will control 15 minutes. and the chair now recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. frank: i yield 30 seconds to my colleague from massachusetts, ms. tsongas. the chair: ms. tsongas is recognized. ms. tsongas: i urge adoption of mr. frank's manager's amendment which includes my amendment to guarantee that consumers have the same action sess to their credit scores that lenders now have. i have heard from a number of my constituents like carla from concord, mass, that quote, it seems unthinkable to me that consumers would be placed in the dark in regard to their creditworthiness, unquote. i'm proud to say the manager's amendment levels the playing field for consumers. i urge my colleagues to support the manager's amendment and the underlying bill. thank you. the chair: the gentlewoman's time has expired. who seeks time? mr. frank: i will now recognize -- i now yie

massachusetts. mr. lynch: mr.speaker, we have no further speakers at this time. but i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from utah. mr. chaffetz: mr. speaker, we have no further speakers. we yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from utah yields back the balance of his time of the the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. lynch: in closing, i just want to ask members on both sides to support mr.er marshall and his resolution to congratulate the warner be robins, georgia, 2009 little league softball world series winner from his hometown. and yield back the balance of hur time. the speaker pro tempore: all time having been yielded back, the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 742. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to, and witho

the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: i have great respect for my colleague from arizona, but technically this point of order is about whether or not to consider this rule. . i think that is wrong and i hope my colleagues will vote yes so we can consider this important legislation on its merits and not stop it on a procedural motion. those who oppose the conference report can vote against it on final passage. we must consider this rule, we must have a debate and we must pass this legislation today. i have a right to close but in the end i will urge my colleagues to vote yes to consider the rule. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from arizona. mr. flake: i thank the chair. here again, i'm here claiming time on the unfunded mandates point of order because it's about the only opportunity we've had. and all t

i thing my friend from massachusetts for his courtesy. i look forward to the rebuttal from the senator from illinois as well as montana. thank you. i yield the floor.. mr. baucus: madam president? the presiding officer: the chair is in doubt. pwau madam president, i suggest the senator from iowa -- mr. baucus: madam president, i suggest the senator from iowa be recognized. mr. grassley: i yield time to the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: this is a great discussion. toeuf say the fundamental point in this discussion should not be lost on anybody in this chamber or on the american people. and that is whatever was said during the course of the mccain -- during the course of the campaign last year was said in the context of protecting, preserving and prolonging the life span of medicare. the senator from mccain is very accurate in the way -- senator mccain is very accurate in the way he describes his position here. what the other side is proposing, a $2.5

the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. neal: mr. speaker, we're trying to just assess how much time is here if you could give me just a second. mr. speaker, i'd like to recognize the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for three minutes. mr. levin: i think it's important that we look at the facts here, the gentleman from texas and others who have raised issues on real estate. and these are the figures that's been compiled by our staff based on i.r.s. data. less than 10% of all of the income earned in real estate construction and development is earned by partnerships that might be involved here. at less than 5% of all wages earned by employees in real estate construction and real estate development are earned by employees or partnerships. 9% of the wages in real estate construction is earned by c corporations or s corporations. let me just say in terms of corporations who are involved in real estate when they give stock options, when those are exerc

mcgovern from massachusetts, for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for five minutes. mr. mcgovern: thank you very much. i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i am proud today to rise in support of h.r. 4017, to rename the post office at 43 maple avenue in shrewsbury, massachusetts, as the ann marine blute post office. she was a beloved and active member of the tight knit community located in my district. she passed away on may 1 of this year after suffering a stroke and she's dearly missed by her family and all who knew her. mrs. blute was a true pillar of her community. her life revolved around helping others, especially children. she once told her son, joseph, that all she ever wanted to be was a mother. along with her husband, she did just that, raising 11 wonderful children, including former congressman peter blute. she took great pride in watching her children and later her 23 grandchildren and four great grandchildren thrive and prosper. what truly distinguished

massachusetts electric ed to the senate not because of the -- massachusetts elected ed because of thecharacter. the man became known for its independence, public service, whose compass was guided by conscience. he was one of the first advocates of legislation to provide affordable housing in america. when it was difficult, he stood up for affirmative action, desegregation, privacy rights, minority business development, and increase in social security benefits, and the extension of the voting rights act. after the assassination of dr. king, ed became the first to propose a national holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader. he said it would be fitting to pay our respects to this noble figure by enduring public commendation of his wife and philosophy. except 15 years for the best -- for the rest of america to catch up. it was not the only time ed broke with president nixon and the appeals to racial prejudice. he knew it was wrong to win an election publisher consciousness. he opposed three of president nixon's supreme court nominees. he introduced legislation as a republican for th

is massachusetts the answer? massachusetts health care reform, which i have heard some people say is probably going to be the shape of the current bill when it passes. maybe you can tell as or if it is true, the kind of bill that will end up looking like massachusetts. >> there is a layer that people know about pretty much which is a basic tranche-- concerns change and then there's the delivery system side arguably which is more important. mass is a basic shape of what we are doing on coverage. massachusetts itself would tell you we are not the answer and the reason is this. you often get them in the conversation and people say whether caused her still going up. that is a bit like yelling at the fireman because he is not very good at making breakfast. they did not try to do cost-control mass. they tried to do coverage and the one really good thing and the interesting lesson is when you do coverage the political incentive to do cost. massachusetts right now because that they don't do cost will have to essentially

massachusetts electric ed to the senate not because of the -- massachusetts elected ed because of thee man became known for its independence, public service, whose compass was guided by conscience. he was one of the first advocates of legislation to provide affordable housing in america. when it was difficult, he stood up for affirmative action, desegregation, privacy rights, minority business development, and increase in social security benefits, and the extension of the voting rights act. after the assassination of dr. king, ed became the first to propose a national holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader. he said it would be fitting to pay our respects to this noble figure by enduring public commendation of his wife and philosophy. except 15 years for the best -- for the rest of america to catch up. it was not the only time ed broke with president nixon and the appeals to racial prejudice. he knew it was wrong to win an election publisher consciousness. he opposed three of president nixon's supreme court nominees. he introduced legislation as a republican for the appointment

the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. frank: with all these assertions that it's going to hurt credit and small banks, the independent community bankers association, a great representative of small banks support this bill. now they will be upset if we do bankruptcy. as far as the bill is concerned, the independent community bankers association support this bill and they believe the opposite about credit. and i yield four minutes to the the gentleman from california, mr. sherman. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. sherman: tarp on steroids that was the original bill that was submitted to us by the secretary of the treasury. this bill is very different. i want to thank chairman frank for all the changes we have been able to make and declare that this bill is now a step forward in limiting on balance the power of the executive branch to put taxpayer money at risk or to bail out private institutions. the bill does include two provisions that those concerned with bailouts might object to, but these are limited to amou

the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. lynch: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and add any extraneous materials. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. lynch: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lynch: i would like to recognize the lead sponsor of this resolution, representative david price, my friend from north carolina, for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. price: i thank the gentleman, madam speaker, and i rise today in support of house concurrent resolution 160, honoring the contributions of the american kennel club on its 125th anniversary. over the course of these 125 years, the a.k.c. has established itself as our nation's leading not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement, study, reresponsible care and breeding of dogs. today, dog owners throughout the united states can be proud of the work the cl

the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. frank: madam chair, i now recognize a strong advocate of a responsible policy towards the business community, the gentlewoman from illinois, ms. bean, for two minutes. the chair: the gentlewoman from illinois is recognized for two minutes. ms. bean: madam chair, i rise in opposition to the amendment and in support of the underlying bill. while opposed to the gentleman from idaho's amendment, i want to commend him on his leadership, on comprehensive financial regulatory reform. we've worked closely on many issues in committee and i appreciate the expertise he brings to these complicated issues before us. reforming our financial system is vitally important to creating a functional, sustainable financial system that american families and businesses can count on. we must not fail to enact adequate safeguards so that the mistakes of the past do not reoccur. topping our to-do list should be the enactment of a strong consumer financial protections that will keep our constituents safe as they

you mentioned massachusetts, it's a democratic state. the way you mentioned it to use it as an example that i took to be something you would like to see emulated across the country. what enabled them to be able to pull this off? what forces came together that sort of allowed for this magic moment? >> you have three or four marvelous people who are also politically advanced. paul gagnon was an ally -- early allied mine said yes we have to have grade by grade specificity in history and geography and of course we had to upgrade by grade specificity. he was very influential in massachusetts and i'd send your sicko. the other two important figures that i know in detail what the president of the massachusetts senate, tom irving him, a marvelous forceful man. he said yes, we have to do this and is associated with mark roosevelt. i think it was 93 it was pushed through. that was the date and you see the results -- and xander saucy wrote the language arts. you add all of these people who are allies of core knowledge and the antiestablishment view

host: rich on the independent line in massachusetts. caller: someone said that the supreme court should go over the constitution. . constitution because apparently the politicians don't understand that. the constitution. the other thing that gets me activated when they say we are a country of laws but we don't uphold some of the laws like the illegal -- we can't ask them if they are illegal if they go to a hospital but if i go in without hospital but if i go in without my insurance car to have money on me to pay. the supreme court of to strike -- straighten this country out because this country says one thing and does the other thing. the laws are only abiding to certain people, not the government. they have all these investigations. investigating themselves. host: any thoughts? guest: on the first point, it is certainly true that this is a more -- that we think of the court more in political terms now than people did 50 years ago. and perhaps even 30 years ago or 20 years ago. every nomination, even when it is not going to shift the co

i speak of course of our colleague from massachusetts, ted kennedy. he never expected that he or we would cure all of our ills in one fell swoop, in one massive bill here that would once and for all right this problem of health care. progress, he would argue, is hard. and the simple mathematics of the senate make it harder all the time. i know that our republican leadership has basically advised their fellow members of their caucus not to vote for this bill no matter what's in it. i regret that. i think it's a sad moment indeed but one we have to grapple with. we can't quit because of that political conclusion. we have to move forward. in fact, they went so far as to write a play book on how to disrupt this issue. i know they don't like this or many parts of t. i also know that many like parts of it. they acknowledge that when they talk about greater access and cost reductions and quality of health care. as one who conducted the markup and hearings on health care over the last year, i heard over and over again the members of that committee -- republic

neighboring massachusetts would get one too. i guess there's a number of maybe states that should have stickers on them so that the american people can see where these special deals were cut o

the future of massachusetts, you go into u- mass boston. we are proud to be part of, never to, brother of the kennedy library in boston. there are three things the senator brought to the table every day. he was the best prepared in the room. he did his homework. he had respect for other people and other people's ideas. he knew how to reach across the aisle. thirdly, he knew how to get the deal done. if we can impart to young people today as they study the u.s. senate, those three items to bring with you in whatever your task, we will have succeeded in his dream of explaining the u.s. senate, teaching young people the importance of understanding how a democracy works, and about how you get it done, which was what the senator did all the time. he was blessed. he had a partner who had the same zeal about the important issues of justice and health care, justice and education and all the labor issues. you could go through -- people talk about senator kennedy as the health center. the labor guy stands up and says he was the education -- the labor

in massachusetts, we have something called the connector. in fact, the exchange that is in this bill is significantly based on the connector in massachusetts, and in that, the connector has the ability to negotiate contracts for what's called commonwealth care and it's placed pressure on carriers to reduce the rates overall. we have had this in place for three years now. the average premium increases have been only 4.7% compared to 8% average premium increases for private insurance. the language in the senate bill is modeled after the strength of the exchanges in massachusetts, and i believe it will insure that taxpayer dollars are spent in a smart way. that's what this does. it guarantees that you can go and negotiate for the expense of the taxpayer dollars so you're driving down the costs to the taxpayers. now, this bill also will ensure that all americans have access to quality, affordable health care and will create the transformation within the health care system necessary to contain costs. the congressional budget office has determined

massachusetts proves to be a cautionary tale.n the one hand, in three years ago they introduced sweeping health care reforms and today marvelously 97% of massachusetts residents have health care coverage, that's a major step forward. it's a landmark achievement. it's a model for the nation in terms of access but expanding access is only one element of comprehensive health reform. health care costs in massachusetts are already among the highest in the nation and are continuing to climb rapidly. which puts enormous pressure on families, employers and taxpayers. this situation exists in massachusetts because while rising to the challenge on access they avoided confronting the it tough choices associated with bringingç down the rising cost of medical care. if this brings us to the basic question, what is cost containment so hard? first, consider the mixed incentives that drive the american health care. our system rewards doing more, more tests, more madison, where specialists. whether or not it improves the result. in our system is

he'd won the pennsylvania primary and the michigan primary and massachusetts and others. he had more foreign policy experience. and he was the guy who was going to be the one who would best unify the convention because as you know as we all know, unified conventions tend to win in the fall and divided conventions tend to lose in the fall. and there's a part on governor reagan and mrs. reagan taking george bush because of these lingering issues being left unaddressed. this one day of what is just madness in detroit where they try to put together the copresidency which some of you would remember the gerald ford, the dream ticket where, you know, he had reagan running for president and they tried to get gerald ford it off serve -- to run as vice president. i always thought jim baker had the best line on the whole situation. because if you had reagan and -- reagan and ford elected as president and vice president, would you address ford as mr. president, mr. vice president or address him as

if you go up to massachusetts, they have a mandate as well

the future of massachusetts, you go into u- mass boston. we are proud to be part of, never to, brother of the kennedy library in boston. there are three things the senator brought to the table every day. he was the best prepared in the room. he did his homework. he had respect for other people and other people's ideas. he knew how to reach across the aisle. thirdly, he knew how to get the deal done. if we can impart to young people today as they study the u.s. senate, those three items to bring with you in whatever your task, we will have succeeded in his dream of explaining the u.s. senate, teaching young people the importance of understanding how a democracy works, and about how you get it done, which was what the senator did all the time. he was blessed. he had a partner who had the same zeal about the important issues of justice and health care, justice and education and all the labor issues. you could go through -- people talk about senator kennedy as the health senator. the labor guy stands up and says he was the labor senator. he was

i heard the senator talk about massachusetts. i would relate appear article from the "chicago tribune," they have broadened care, and i'm proud of them for doing that, but at what cost? at a 10% increase in cost of premiums for people in the middle. so when we go back to what the president said about what his goals were, there's no question that this bill does not keep those promises. i'd ask unanimous consent now to turn to another area which we have discussed and ask unanimous consent to put into the record an article from the "north county times of the california," dated december 5, 2009, at 9:35 p.m. mr. kerry: reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: it is so ordered. oh, the senator was -- mr. kerry: i reserve the right to object. i would like to find out if we could have a moment to have a discussion, i ask my colleague. mr. coburn: i will offer you the same courtesy you offered me. when i finish my remarks, on your time, you are more than welcome to refute what i have said. the presiding officer: without obje

you mentioned -- i always say i'm from massachusetts. we have mad our problems in this sphere. always like to say thak god for louisiana. >> for both of us. >> for the sake of us all. >> consist kids and young adults who worked for bobby kennedy's campaign ended up supporting barack obama, and who heard a little bit of a sense of j.f.k. in the sort of somewhat -- the cerebral and cool part of him. and some of the r.f.k. in the more sort of -- in the more passionate part of him. and different people who were out of the kennedy tradition, some saw him more as jesk, some saw him more as r.f.k. and i think that's possible. but you gave me an opening to do one thing i wanted to do before we close. by chance, i was looking up something in arthur schlesinger's great journals. they're fantastic. there's a lot of great gossip in them. there are a lot of very shrewd political observations. and i happened upon this passage in 1963. so it was taken the first year after he got elected. it's not about ted kennedy. and this does go to your question, i promise. >> it's ok if it doesn't. >> and

vermont and massachusetts have special deals. and then there's a $100 million earmark for an unknown hospital. oh, i can't wait to find out what that's about. and those are just some of the sweetheart deals we know are in these bills, and i'm sure there are more that we will find out about. this process has just gone too fast and gone too far off track. it reminds me of what rahm emanuel, the president's chief of staff said, when they jammed through the stimulus bill earlier this year. they said, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. well, it's one thing if we were acting in response to a crisis in a responsible manner, but what this is going to do is to make it even worse, as the senator from wyoming pointed o out. well, i think people listening, the 56% and growing number of americans who are concerned about this deal, they're wondering, are -- are the politicians in washington more interested in jamming this through or getting it right? senator snowe, olympia snowe from maine, on the finance committee, the one republican to v

you mentioned -- i always say i'm from massachusetts. we have mad our problems in this sphere. always like to say thak god for louisiana. >> for both of us. >> for the sake of us all. >> consist kids and young adults who worked for bobby kennedy's campaign ended up supporting barack obama, and who heard a little bit of a sense of j.f.k. in the sort of somewhat -- the cerebral and cool part of him. and some of the r.f.k. in the more sort of -- in the more passionate part of him. and different people who were out of the kennedy tradition, some saw him more as jesk, some saw him more as r.f.k. and i think that's possible. but you gave me an opening to do one thing i wanted to do before we close. by chance, i was looking up something in arthur schlesinger's great journals. they're fantastic. there's a lot of great gossip in them. there are a lot of very shrewd political observations. and i happened upon this passage in 1963. so it was taken the first year after he got elected. it's not about ted kennedy. and this does go to your question, i promise. >> it's ok if it doesn't. >> and

and the prices, of course, were up for these things even though they're made in massachusetts. don't you know there's a war on, as she was saying to her own clients and was being said to her, well, he sent her a shipment in 1780 of barcelona hander chis. they were a women's item, and they happened to the hit right in the middle of a terrible shortage of that particular item when they were at high fashion. she sold them for enough money to buy it, and what could john say? she bought it with her own money. [laughter] in that same year, 1780, john adams had an idea. still in paris he says to abigail, maybe having had some of our shipments seized what i should do is instead of putting them in these big chests and shipping them across the atlantic, i'll dispurse them and ask everybody who goes from france to matts to take a little -- matts to take a little thing for you. that way we're spreading the risk. and he sent the first presents, he called it, with the marquee delafayette. you may know he went home every winter. the army's not fighting, no reason to stick around here. so he w

he wanted him to run in massachusetts in 1962.this is someone who is ambivalent about the legacy but finally takes it on and finish it -- finishes its with flying colors. >> he describes his father and talks about his politics saying he might have a lot of questions about his politics. he then says in some region of my mind, joseph p. kennedy reminds my dad -- remains my dad just as i remain the ninth and youngest child of all of the kennedys. he is also quite candid. he says this guy who was a pretty stern taskmaster. you can live an interesting life or not. his dad was an early riser. "you can come riding if you are downstairs in five minutes." he meant exactly that. if i was late he would be gone. i was seldom late. >> the interesting thing is on paper, we were told there was a father who is that intense and demanded so much from his children, you would think out of nine children at least one of them would rebel. you have to assume that because they combined it with that kind of love and commitment, that is why it succeeded. th

jim mcgovern of massachusetts. he spoke these exact words on the floor over two years ago regarding what he eloquently and accurately called a martial law rule. which is what we are being asked toer consider here today. we are being asked to consider this outrageous process on the house floor today and yet the democratic party knows it's not the right thing to do. it was not right then. and it's not right now. my friends on the other side of the aisle know it's not right, and that's why they spoke up at the time, and i agree with them. last month the democrat majority warlede barreled a 2,037-page health care bill through congress forcing government-run health care on every single american. today in similar form they are considering a 1,300-page federal takeover of the financial services industry. 1,300-pages. this is simply another example of the government overstepping its boundary into the private market courtesy of the democratic party. this monstrous financial reform package include provisions to extend tarp,

in the wace of massachusetts, hundreds of thousands of acres are individually approved each time. the same is true in virginia . they are due all of the respect a national park would be due. you think forward on those transmission lines that have to be built. make sure you are mitdepitting and compensating on the impact on those resources. >> thank you. our final witness is david jose, president and chief executive officer of the principal subsitry energy consumers. welcome. >> thank you. and thank you for announcing my name properly. >> i appreciate the opportunity to address the subcommittee this afternoon. we there for appreciate the difficulty in siting new transmission and new interstailt lines as a last resort. we see a need for transmissions in michigan. along the lake michigan shore line as part of the renewable standard. we believe the developments should meet three key commomon sense principals. number one, proposed project should be similar or superior to other alternatives including other transmission solutions, low voltage solutions. finally, costs ought to be fairly

[inaudible conversations] >> the senator from massachusetts. >> i think the chair. madam president, let me begin by commending the senator from california, the really outstanding presentation regarding this legislation. i was listening to her before i came over here in my office. i listened to her over here and she's really laid out a very careful and delivered it in a thoughtful way. the realities about this legislation before us, i really want to thank her or that terrific presentation. and i want to sort of pick up a little bit where she is left off. but let me just in choir so i understand where we are here. can i ask, shall we have remaining on the majority side? >> the majority side has 34.5 minutes remaining. >> i thank the chair. let me begin by -- let me begin by saying that i listen also to our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, particularly the senator from south dakota just a little while ago. and i was really struck by the chart that they put up showing medicare going up and up and up. and then they talk to americans, basically scaring them, try

massachusetts proves to be a cautionary tail. -- tale. the one hand three years ago they introduced sweeping healthcare reforms. and today marvelously, 97% of massachusetts residents have healthcare coverage. that's a major step forward. it's a landmark achievement. it's a model of the nation in terms of access. but expanding access is only one element of expensive health reform. healthcare costs in massachusetts are already among the highest in the nation and are continuing to climb rapidly, which puts enormous pressure on families, employers, and taxpayers. the situation exists in massachusetts because while rising to the challenge on access, they avoided confronting the tough choices associated with bringing down the rising costs of medical care. it brings us to the basic question, why is cost containment so hard? first, consider the mixed incentives that drive american healthcare. our system rewards doing more. more tests, more medicine, more specialists. whether or not it improves a patient's outcome or improves the result. our syste

the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. frank: madam chair, i now recognize a strong advocate of a responsible policy towards the business community, the gentlewoman from illinois, ms. bean, for two minutes. the chair: the gentlewoman from illinois is recognized for two minutes. ms. bean: madam chair, i rise in opposition to the amendment and in support of the underlying bill. while opposed to the gentleman from idaho's amendment, i want to commend him on his leadership, on comprehensive financial regulatory reform. we've worked closely on many issues in committee and i appreciate the expertise he brings to these complicated issues before us. reforming our financial system is vitally important to creating a functional, sustainable financial system that american families and businesses can count on. we must not fail to enact adequate safeguards so that the mistakes of the past do not reoccur. topping our to-do list should be the enactment of a strong consumer financial protections that will keep our constituents safe as they

we welcome you back to massachusetts for the conference opener for boston college and miami in acc plays the hand and tries to shoot and a long three, and he rattles it home! . >> mike: really killer possessions for boston college. miami, if you're frustrated, you force a long shot like that with the shot clock on your back and makes a terrific play. >> ron: the last two games miami averages 7 of 6 and pushed to 15. tries to force something inside. reggie jackson counting the basket and will go to the line. reggie jackson, the sophomore out of colorado springs, colorado, a couple double-doubles this year, his third already this season, killing them. >> mike: it's almost a place you don't expect him to rise up and shoot from. >> ron: get our first look at reggie johnson, the red shirt freshman. he has lost about 40 pounds since last year and a huge wingspan of 7.2. has five in the ballgame and lead cut back down to a dozen. laroche checked into the lineup from boston college. and drive by jackson and we have a foul. >> ron: one of the things last time out looking at the numbers, miami is

we've had the massachusetts model. and as entered into the record yesterday, they have insurance reform. almost everybody in massachusetts is covered. yet, last year 21% of those people covered couldn't get care. because they couldn't afford the deductibles an co-pays. -- and co-pays. expanding insurance and expanding the model doesn't solve it. so you can either approach controlling costs or you can ration care. and what has happened in this bill, as it comes through, is we've chosen to ration care. and my colleagues are going to dispute that. but i want to offer significant evidence to offset that and discuss what's in the bill. and also discuss what's not in the bill. what's not in the bill is a prohibition against rationing, which all of my colleagues on both the finance committee and the "help" committee voted against a prohibition on rationing, which means you're for rationing if you vote against a prohibition. the leader denied an amendment to eliminate rationing on the floor of the u.s. senate. so we don't ge

i dare say everybody trumpeted the reforms in massachusetts. what we learned early on is that massachusetts didn't have any reforms. they did coverage expansion. and where they used to pay for it out of right pocket, now they paid for it out of the left pocket. they promised that coverage would be extensive and include everyone. and where are we today just a few years later? the companies they said they would never send bills to, they're sending an additional surcharge. -- to the massachusetts people that they said everybody would be covered. this year they're throwing people off of the massachusetts plan because they don't have enough money to cover it. real health care reform means that we're going to make sure that every american has the resources to be covered or to be able to pay out-of-pocket. because the real boogieman of health care today is the cost shift. it's costs that incurred when a service is delivered to you that the person or the institution delivering the service isn't reimbursed for. and if they received no payment for the se

an important part of the university of massachusetts at

the future of massachusetts, you go into u- mass boston. we are proud to be part of, never to, brother of the kennedy library in boston. there are three things the senator brought to the table every day. he was the best prepared in the room. he did his homework. he had respect for other people and other people's ideas. he knew how to reach across the aisle. thirdly, he knew how to get the deal done. if we can impart to young people today as they study the u.s. senate, those three items to bring with you in whatever your task, we will have succeeded in his dream of explaining the u.s. senate, teaching young people the importance of understanding how a democracy works, and about how you get it done, which was what the senator did all the time. he was blessed. he had a partner who had the same zeal about the important issues of justice and health care, justice and education and all the labor issues. you could go through -- people talk about senator kennedy as the health senator. the labor guy stands up and says he was the labor senator. he was

the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: madam president, i yield myself such time as i will use. madam president, i just listened to my friend, senator grassley, and he and i have a good relationship and we work together here -- we both serve on the finance committee and i have enjoyed a lot of the things with that we do together. so what i am going to say is something substantive, not personal. there just is a lack of reality here in a lot of the comments that we're hearing from our friends on the other side of the aisle. and a persistence in perpetuating a myth. you know, a lot of us have seen the politics of this country where if you say something over and over and over and over again, no matter how true it is, it request have an impact. i know that personally. but let me tell you, i just heard the senator from iowa say -- quote -- "-- i am going to quote him -- i wrote it down -- "certainly, if $450 billion is being taken out" -- out of medicare -- "it is hurting medicare. " that's what he just said. let me revie

the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. mr.ch: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to add any extraneous materials. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. lynch: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lynch: madam speaker, on behalf of the committee on oversight and government reform and chairman ed towns, i'm proud to present senate 303, the federal financial assistance management improvement act for 2009 for consideration. . it was passed by the united states senate on march 17, 2009, by unanimous consent. the legislation was subsequently referred to the house oversight committee on march 18, 2009, and approved with a manager's amendment on december 10, 2009, by a voice vote. madam speaker, the legislation will re-authorize and enhance the federal financial assistance management improvement act of 1999. specifically senate 303 re-a

john kerry of massachusetts years this hearing. is about three hours. >> the hearing will come to order. secretary clinton, secretary gates, and admiral mullen, we welcome you here today. thank you very much for joining us and we appreciate your coming to share more details about the president's plan and for consulting and partnering with congress on the decision obviously of enormous consequences for our soldiers, our security in their country. this is a decision that the president of the united states has made but ultimately the all of us share responsibility for its consequences. given the complexities of our challenge in the seriousness of the sacrifices the head and the absence of strategy over much of the last 80 years, i believe the president exercised importantly leadership by taking the time he needed to make the right decision even as political pressure mounted in different directions. his words in your testimony showed that the administration has confronted tough realities, carefully weighed all of the options and the ri

the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. olver: madam speaker, i would like to just reiterate that the bill that we are considering bringing to conference this morning is the transportation and housing and urban development and related agencies bill. the bill -- i want to thank again my ranking member. this is his first year that mr. latham has been the ranking member. and i have enjoyed greatly the communications that we have had . sporadic as they have been. we worked kind of -- because there's been a lot of waiting in the process to get to where we are today, but i want to thank him in particular for the cooperation and the work that he and his staff have done. and i would name the minority clerk, dena barren, and on the majority side, dave gibbons and allison peers and jeannine. and on our side, i want to give the strongest praise to our staff and to our clerk and that staff, kate who has given me a list who doesn't have her name on it. she is so modest here. kate, laura, alex, sylvia garcia, who is in this lengthened pr

health bill will keep massachusetts overhaul in tact. senator kerry says also mean as five 100,000,000 for the state. healthcare the senate passed has protections that ensure massachusetts overhaul will remain in tact and 500,000,000 in the extra money for the state in a quick visit between votes on the measure the legislation also includes additional 2 hundred million for massachusetts hospiáals that say they have not been adequate ri reimbursed. they scored a enormous victory. none of the things will be undone bias legislation yet in some respects the senate plan is more extensive than the program in massachusetts assing many people with higher incomes to qualify. the senate version will provide subsidies to individuals and up to 400 percent of the poverty level and 43,000 and 88,000 for families of four. there have been concerned massachusetts u)s& be penalized because of landmark overhaul that uses significant states to reassure benefits. back to peter. host: pam new jersey philadelphia. welcome to "washington journal". what's your v

health bill will keep massachusetts overhaul in tact.ator kerry says also mean as five 100,000,000 for the state. healthcare the senate passed has protections that ensure massachusetts overhaul will remain in tact and 500,000,000 in the extra money for the state in a quick visit between votes on the measure the legislation also includes additional 2 hundred million for massachusetts hospiáals that say they have not been adequate ri reimbursed. they scored a enormous victory. none of the things will be undone bias legislation yet in some respects the senate plan is more extensive than the program in massachusetts assing many people with higher incomes to qualify. the senate version will provide subsidies to individuals and up to 400 percent of the poverty level and 43,000 and 88,000 for families of four. there have been concerned massachusetts u)s& be penalized because of landmark overhaul that uses significant states to reassure benefits. back to peter. host: pam new jersey philadelphia. welcome to "washington journal". what's your view?

the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. frank: the gentleman from north carolina, a leading member of the committee who has done a great deal on this bill. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. >> madam chair, i have endured the entire debate this evening, which is now approaching three hours, and i've been absolutely fascinated by -- before i came to this body, i practiced law for 22 years, now i've been in this body 17 years, and i was practicing law quite often i had cases in which the facts and the law were on my side and i would go to court and i would argue the facts and the law and deal with what was before us. sometimes i'd have some cases where neither the facts nor the law were on my side, and i would show up in court, and i would argue everything other than what the case was about. now that's what my friends on the opposite side of the aisle have been doing tonight, because neither the facts nor the law is on their side. this time. so we have heard about health care. i've been making notes. i was here the whole

after the supreme court decision, massachusetts v.e.p.a. -- vs. e.p.a. was rendered in 2007 they instructed the bush administration and its environmental protection agency to make a determination as to whether or not co-2 posed a danger to the health and welfare of the american people. they told them they had to make a finding, one way or the other. back in may of 2008, the e.p.a. of george bush made the decision that co-2 was a danger. and they sent an email over to the white house. an email. the bush e.p.a. saying we have found a danger. but vice president cheney found out that they had sent over an email, and the finding was not going to be finalized until the bush white house accepted that email. so what did they do? vice president cheney ordered that the email not be received in the white house. no email, which gives the consensus of the environmental protection agency of george bush that co-2 is a danger. we won't accept that email. there is a scandal. that's a scandal. the american environmental protection agency has made a finding that co-2 is a

the chair: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr.k: i agree with what he said about credit rating. i for the record would like to make an assertion i know he agrees with. when he talks about our agreement on the c.r.a.'s and role, we are talking about the credit rating agencies, not the community reinvestment act the other c.r.a. with which we deal. sometimes people don't pay full attention. i don't want to get anybody too agitated. he's right. he and i collaborated on the legislation to remove the statutory assertion. he's also correct, we fully agree, i think it's very true unanimity, with the purpose he articulated. telling the average investor, pay attention on your own. don't rely on the rating agencies. don't subcontract your judgment to them. i am frustrated. i would hope that people out in the economy would take advantage of the full legal rights they have to create some buy site ratings agencies. that would be helpful. we checked. there were no obstacles to doing it. i had frustration we weren't able to do more. i think we h