mcconnell: the fear is palpable.in addition to the public opinion polls we've all seen, we're each having experiences with individuals. i just cite three win the lass couple -- last couple of days. i ran into a police officer, a long-term police officer, african-american police officer, came up to me and he said, senator, you've got to stop this health care bill. and then health care providers, i see dr. barrasso from wyoming here, within the last week spoke to one of the nation's fine cardiovascular surgeons, he said, please, stop the health care bill. this is going to destroy the quality of our profession. he told me of a friend of his, a neurosurgeon, who had called him with the same concern. i -- i get the sense that there are an enormous number of health care providers, physicians, hospitals, everybody involved in the health care provider business apparently with the exception, as senator mccain points out, in the pharmaceutical industry, which has seemed to cut some special deal here, who are ra -- that te fine

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, we had indicated to senator reid and senator durbin that we wanted to see if there were not a way to develop some path forward on the health care bill, and i'd like to at this point propound a consent agreement that might well give us a way to move forward on some of the amendments that have been pending for quite some time, some of which are both supported and opposed on each side. having said that, i ask consent that after the vote on the adoption of the pending conference report, the senate resume consideration of h.r. 3590 under the following order -- two hours of debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, and following the use or yielding back of that time, the senate proceed to a series of stacked votes in relation to the following amendments or motions -- a baucus sense of the senate amendment related to taxes, the pending crapo amendment, which i might add parenthetically has been out there since last tuesday, the crapo motion to commit the b

mcconnell: madam president? mr. reid: i ask the amendment be considered read. mr. mcconnell: i object. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: it is my understanding the bill needs to be reported at this time. the presiding officer: report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes amendment numbered 3276 to amendment number 2786. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: majority leader. mr. reid: madam president, before offering the amendment, the so-called manager's amendment, i've spoken with my republican counterpart. i would ask consent that the democratic senator on my side be allowed to speak for up to nine minutes prior to my offering the amendment. mr. mcconnell: madam president, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. reid: thank you, madam president. i have not given up the floor, madam president. mr. mcconnell: madam president, parliamentary inquiry. the presiding officer: the minority leader is recognized f

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i want to associate myself with the remarks that the majority leader made about all of the people that work at the capitol during the difficult an intense time. we thank you very much for your outstanding service. it's early and i'll be brief. the most obvious problem with the bill before us is it doesn't do what it was supposed to do. the one test for any bill was whether it would lower costs. this bill fails that test. it's also clear that even many of the people on this side who are going to support this bill don't like it. otherwise, the democratic leaders wouldn't have had such a tough time rounding up the votes. otherwise, democratic leaders would not have had to have votes in the middle of the night or at crack of dawn or over the weekend or even during a blizzard. otherwise, they wouldn't be rushing it through congress on christmas eve. the first time this body has had a vote on the day before christmas in more than a century. this debate was supposed to produce a b

minority leader mitch mcconnell: >> i guarantee you that people who voted for this bill are going to get an earful when they finally get home for the first time since thanksgiving.

mcconnell: would my friend yield before making opening remarks? i was wondering since it is thursday, my colleagues plan to be here saturday and sunday but would phraoeubg to know whether there will be an opportunity to go to church sunday morning? mr. reid: i think we would come in somewhere around noon on sunday. i indicate to my friend that it appears that we have the -- the next opportunity for amendment will be when we complete this. it's my understanding that senator ben nelson is ready, has an amendment. i think we've given it to your staff. this may be one where it's

you saw the mcconnell statements. certainly the republicans have lined up, many of them against this proposal. there also has to be an appropriation to purchase the prison which will be at least $145 million. you also have to have the money to staff it up. i think congress has a few entry points into this project. >> warner: now, senator durbin and the governor quinn said today outside the white house there's great unity behind this back in illinois or certainly from the area. yet the republicans had a press conference where they had a number of members from illinois saying this is a terrible idea. how controversial is this in the state of illinois? >> well, it depends on what region you're talking about. to have all the press conference you're talking about up on the hill where a string of republican members who banded together to protest this. you also have a few potential in the democratic party line of support on this. there's a big governor and senate race there. i would say it's broken down into some partisan di

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i want to associate myself with the remarks that the majority leader made about all of the people that work at the capitol during the difficult an intense time. we thank you very much for your outstanding service. it's early and i'll be brief. the most obvious problem with the bill before us is it doesn't do what it was supposed to do. the one test for any bill was whether it would lower costs. this bill fails that test. it's also clear that even many of the people on this side who are going to support this bill don't like it. otherwise, the democratic leaders wouldn't have had such a tough time rounding up the votes. otherwise, democratic leaders would not have had to have votes in the middle of the night or at crack of dawn or over the weekend or even during a blizzard. otherwise, they wouldn't be rushing it through congress on christmas eve. the first time this body has had a vote on the day before christmas in more than a century. this debate was supposed to produce a b

you saw the mcconnell statements. certnly the republicans have lined up, many of themgainst this pposal. there al has to be an appropriation purchase the pris which will be at least $145 milli. you also have to havthe money to stafft up. i think congress has a f eny points into this project. >> warner: now, senator durb and the vernor quinn said today outside the white use there's great uny behind this back in illins or certainly fr the area. yet the republics had a press conferce where they had a nuer of members from illinois sing this is a terrible idea. how controversial is this e state of illinois? >> well, it depes on what regionou're talking about. to have all the ess conferen you're talking about up on the hi where a string of republican membe who banded together to prote is. you also have a few potentl inhe democratic party line support on this. there'a big governor and senate race there. i would say it broken down into some rtisan divides but ifou look at the northwest part of the state where the are ople who

mcconnell: would my friend yield before making opening remarks? i was wondering since it is thursday, my colleagues plan to be here saturday and sunday but would phraoeubg to know whether there will be an opportunity to go to church sunday morning? mr. reid: i think we would come in somewhere around noon on sunday. i indicate to my friend that it appears that we have the -- the next opportunity for amendment will be when we complete this. it's my understanding that senator ben nelson is ready, has an amendment. i think we've given it to your staff. this may be one where it's sponsored by people on your side also. and we'll be waiting to see what your next amendment will be. mr. mcconnell: i would say to my friend, i assume we're going to continue with the procedure that your side offers one, our side offers one? mr. reid: and we will show those to each other before that happens. mr. mcconnell: all right. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: we're in this chamber, and a lot of times we talk it's as if no

mcconnell: i would like to proceed under my leader time. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. mcconnell: yesterday may have been a seminal moment in this debate. we heard from c.m.s., the centers for medicare and medicaid services. they did an analysis of the reid health care bill. a rather detailed analysis. the important part i would just summarize. it says -- "we estimate that total national health expenditures under this bill would increase by an estimated estimated $234 billion during the calendar years 2010-2009. in other words, it will increase the deficit. now, we know it was a letter to chairman baucus from six democrats on september 17, 2009, saying -- "there are many wide-ranging options to address the broad and complicated issue of runaway health care costs, and we pledge our support to you in making the necessary and stuff decisions. this is our number one priority. if we pass health care reform legislation without addressing the issue of health care spending, we will have failed." now, that letter was sign

i thank senator mcconnell. my colleague and dear friend senator jay rockefeller and all senators, every one, for their good words and for this outstanding resolution. today, madam president, is. mormore than a commemoration ofe length of service of one u.s. senator. today also celebrates the great people of the great and mighty state of west virginia. who have honored me by repeatedly placing their faith in me. because of those wonderful people in west virginia, this foster son of an impoverished coal miner from the great hills of southern west virginia has had the opportunity to walk with kings, to meet with prime ministers, and to debate with presidents. i've had the privilege not only to witness, but also to participate in the great panarama of history. from the apex of the cold war to the collapse -- the collapse of the soviet union, from my opposition to the 1964 civil rights act to my part in securing the funds for the building of the memorial to martin luther king, from my support for the war in vietnam

mcconnell, continue to raise question about the future of medicare. i hope that senator mcconnell is sensitive to the fact that this last week on december 3, we voted 100-0 for the amendment offered by senator bennet of colorado, which said that nothing in the amendments to this act shall result in a reduction of guaranteed benefits under the social security act provisions related to medicare. and he went on to say that any savings would be used to extend and he went on to say that any savings would be used to extend the solvency of the premiums, and other cost sharing for beneficiaries, and approve or expand guaranteed medicare benefits and protect access to medicare providers. we voted 100-0 on a bipartisan fashion to make sure that we protect the medicare p c c c cog the next 60 minutes. mr. nelson: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: mr. president, i want to speak on the bill and in part respond to the minority leader. at the end of the day, why are we staying around the clock discussing this bill with the i

mitchell mcconnell.tor brooke before we came on stage that i had an opportunity to observe him during his first term as a senate staffer in the back of the senate chamber. you could sense even then that this was a man of historic significance. as others have said, edward brooke was known as the first popularly elected african- american man in the senate. this is an achievement well worth our notice. but those of us who have followed this good man's career, know him primarily for the qualities that are recently departed friend, ted kennedy, enumerated at the end of his distinguished tenure in the senate. we know him for being a model of concern, sensitivity, courage, and intelligence. some were surprised when a black man was elected attorney general and then u.s. senator from a state in which 98% of the voters, as others have indicated, were white. the same people were surprised six years later, when the only state in the nation that did not go for nixon reelected him, not only reelected him, but reelecte

mitchell mcconnell.fore we came on stage that i had an opportunity to observe him during his first term as a senate staffer in the back of the senate chamber. you could sense even then that this was a man of historic significance. as others have said, edward brooke was known as the first popularly elected african- american man in the senate. this is an achievement well worth our notice. but those of us who have followed this good man's career, know him primarily for the qualities that are recently departed friend, ted kennedy, enumerated at the end of his distinguished tenure in the senate. we know him for being a model of concern, sensitivity, courage, and intelligence. some were surprised when a black man was elected attorney general and then u.s. senator from a state in which 98% of the voters, as others have indicated, were white. the same people were surprised six years later, when the only state in the nation that did not go for nixon reelected him, not only reelected him, but reelected him by an o

senator mcconnell has -- let me tell you the first one. senator mcconnell has never voted on a bill that [unintelligible] it is good to change health care in this country. it is clear to change the quality of care in this country. and we are buying votes to move this country from a patient- centered health care system to a government-centered health care system. you do not do things like this unless you have the majority or the middle of the country behind you. so we see this process unfolding because you do not have the majority or the milk in the country behind you. we have to use a mechanism of buying votes by making -- first of all, there will be constitutional challenges in this bill like you will not believe. i cannot wait to see the attorney general with the states that are getting the cuts with specific benefits in this bill and there will now have the constitutional basis to challenge it. >> senator lieberman said, i think the public plan is wrong for america. i cannot support it as long as it is in there. that was a matter of pri

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: first, i want to extend a welcome to the president who is coming up to the capitol today to meet with democrats on the suggest of the health care bill. so far, they have voted to cut medicare three times, cuts they previously described as immoral and irresponsible. cuts that made it impossible for the president to keep his pledge that people who like our plans can keep them, cuts that will reduce the quality of home health care, cuts that will reduce benefits for nearly 11 million american seniors on medicare advantage, cuts that raid medicare instead of fixing it, cuts the american people vehemently, vehemently oppose. democrats are in a tough situation on this bill, mr. president. they want to expand the government's reach into health care, but they don't have the money. and they don't have the support more importantly of the american people. so what did they do? they decided to take the money they need out of medicare, and that's only made their health care plan even les

mcconnell: all right. mr. president, i'll go ahead and make my opening remarks and i don't know when the chairman of the finance committee wanted to make this -- did he want to make a speech in connection with it as well? a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: i say to my friend from kentucky, not likely a speech, but i'm more than prepared to wait until you give your comments and at the conclusion of your comments, i'll make the request. mr. mcconnell: i would say to my friend from montana, it would be helpful to do the consent agreement if he wanted to speak to the issue later. mr. baucus: other senators would like to speak too. the senator from new mexico would like to speak too. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, reclaiming my leader time. the longer over debate on health care goes on, the clearer the problem becomes is that the problem that the democrats are having is not with some of the provisions that we're hearing on the news. the problem is the fundamental o

mcconnell: stphr-pt. the presiding officer: the republican leader -- mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: tonight marks the culmination of a long national debate. passions have rung high, and that's appropriate. because the bill we're voting on tonight will impact the life of every american. it will shape the future of our country. it will determine whether our children can afford the nation they inherit. it is one of the most consequential votes any of us will ever take, and none of us take it lightly. but make no mistake, if the people who wrote this bill were proud of it, they wouldn't be forcing this vote in the dead of night. here are just some of the deals we've noticed. $100 million for an unnamed health care facility at an unnamed university somewhere in the united states. the bill doesn't say where. and no one will even step forward to claim it. one state out of 50 -- one state out of 50 -- gets to expand medicaid at no cost to itself while taxpayers in the other 49 states pick up the tab. the same senator

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that i be allowed to proceed just for a moment here prior to the vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? so ordered. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i want to say to my good friend, the majority leader, we have been anxious to have health care votes since tuesday and we've had the crapo amendment pending since tuesday. you have said repeatedly -- and i agree with you -- that this is -- the health care issue is extraordinarily important and that we should be dealing with it and debating it, so it is my hope that somehow through our discussions, both on and off the floor, we can get back to a process of facilitating the offering of amendments on both sides of the aisle at the earliest possible time when we can get back to the health care bill. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i'm happy to respond through the chair to my distinguished co

ok, thank you. >> mitch mcconnell on health care this morning.ouse is going to gavel in. we also will hear from tom coburn right here in the radio and tv gallery. we will bring that to you after the house session. and heavy snow is falling all over the region, but that is not keeping the senate from working. the defense spending bill is now back to health care. since 8:35 this morning, a clerk has been reading the manager's amendment. this is expected to last until 3:00 this afternoon, after which they are expected to begin debating health care. it is expected get an agreement will be reached after ben nelson agreed to support the bill. he says he will build for the bill after winning concessions on abortion. the democrats as he would not have supported the bill without the change. the vote gives senate leaders the 60 votes they need to pass the bill. you can see coverage of the senate on c-span t2. "(d) quality measures. again, we are anticipating remarks from tom coburn. we will have that for you like. now to live coverage of the house for a sh

mcconnell: reserving right to object. and i will not be objecting. i want to make clear that the majority leader and i will have four votes tomorrow. not just two. four. bearing that in mind, i do not object. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. baucus: i might say reserving the right to object on this side, that's our standing on this side as well. madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: i call up the kerry amendment at the desk and ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from montana, mr. baucus for mr. kerry proposes amendment number 2926. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote:

mcconnell: mr. president, reserving the right to object. as i stated earlier today, as the majority leader indicated, we waited until tuesday to vote on additional health care amendments, including the pending crapo amendment to commit on taxes. the other side gave us language to the alternative -- the alternative to senator crapo's motion. it would ensure that the -- crapo's motion would ensure that the taxes would not be raised to the middle class. this consent now has us voting on two drug reimportation amendments on the other side. not one, but two on the democratic side. one of which we just received an hour ago and is 100 pages long. we're prepared to return to the health care bill and proceed to two tax-related votes tonight. after those votes, i would suggest we continue to work on the bill and other amendments. i assume there could be votes on the drug reimportation issue and a whole host of other amendments that we've all been anxious to offer at a later time. but at this stage, regretfully, i need to -- would object and propound

mitch mcconnell, because now we can really see this. -- and thank god for mitch mcconnell, because now now we know when we vote what we really want done, not a democratic way of pushing it through. guess what? it is turning on them, because they did it in the back room. host: "the washington post" story saying that republicans are expected to make a similar move 1 . introduces the revised senate bill, which is likely to top -- when harry reid introduces the revised senate bill, which is likely to top 2000 pages. guest: they have a right to ask for this. frankly, this is to be expected. you mentioned earlier the memo from senator judd gregg. this is what they read as the minority to force -- i believe it will take a date to read it, just to read it out loud. -- take a day to read it, just to read it out loud. a time to come up with more plants, to exercise their right. democrats call at stalling. -- will call it stalling, republicans call it exercising their rights. i like to see the fact that folks are paying attention. this legislation affects every american. you should go online, go

mcconnell: mr. president, i yield six minutes to the senator from wyoming. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. well, in listening to the debate and the discussion tonight, i will tell you that i spent thanksgiving with the troops from wyoming who are serving our nation overseas in kuwait and in iraq. and these 700 men and women driving in and out of iraq on dangerous missions have driven over a million miles. i went to three different bases in kuwait to spend thanksgiving with the troops, to pray with them, to tell them how the people of wyoming are supportive of their efforts, to thank them, to tell them that all of us at home are trying to do all we can to make sure their families know how much we care and we want to do anything we can in our communities to help the families. and i actually held three town hall meetings on thanksgiving day at different military bases in kuwait. and in those meetings, listening to the troops, they said they have

mitch mcconnell said on the floor that we are going to go home -- i do not believe that. i believe that the negativity that ms. mcconnell and others have continually displayed on the floor and now when people learn what is actually in the bill and all the good it does, it will become more and more popular because it is good for america and good for the american people and the true symbol of what we can do if we all pull together. >> over at the white house, president obama reacted having the latest departure -- having delayed his departure for hawaii until the senate passed the health-care package. >> members of the senate joined their colleagues in the house of representatives passed a landmark reform package. legislation that brings us toward the end of the nearly century long struggle to reform america's health-care system. ever since teddy roosevelt first called for reform in 1912, seven presidents, democrats and republicans alike, have taken up the cause of reform. time and time again, those efforts have been blocked by special interest lobbyists who have perpetuated

has been the director of institution of health, he is our guest and we have rebecca adams and dan mcconnell. what is your priorities doctor? >> it's a great year for research and the promises and the answers that have vexed us have never been better. we have technologies to answer questions about what are all the ways for a normal cell to be malignant. and all variations of our own dna to have risks in diabetes. and we have the focus to push into therapeutics where n.i.h. is playing a role and can be ramped up further. and we have the science of our own country and around the world, a global health agenda. and finally we have health reform, the need of scientific basis of health reform filled in, and n.i.h. does that kind of research and has for years. and we are anxious to step up to the plate for our health care system. >> can you be more informative of how n.i.h. steps up to the plate? >> one is the effective comparative research, of what works and what doesn't. when you have a circumstance of more than one therapies of a particular disease, how do we know which is right one for that per

mcconnell: will the senator yield? mr. mccain: gladly. mr.mcconnell: i recall our good friend the majority leader telling us on november 30 that we would be here the next two weekends and then i recall my friend telling us that we'd be here this weekend. my assumption is we were here to deal with the important issue that the majority leader has been indicating to everyone is so important, that we must stay here and do t and we're prepared to be here and vote. and vote. in fact we've been trying to vote for a couple of days now and the a been difficult to get votes. mr. mccain: could i ask the republican leader, maybe we -- if we're not going to have a vote, maybe we ought to have a vote to table the impending imp- pending amendments? i know new orleans is very nice this time of year, but perhaps we ought to stay here and get this job done. mr. alexander: a couple nights ago -- i think it is important to reflecten the season we have here. a couple nights ago the senator from arizona gave an impressive speech in front of the capitol for lightin

and it's something, no offense to senator mcconnell, but senator mcconnell has for a long time, memberriations committee -- [inaudible] -- what's the difference between being in a hospital and on a bill? >> there's plenty of difference in this. let me tell you the first difference. senator mcconnell has never voted on a bill that's one sixth of our economy. it's going to affect 300 -- every person in this country. it's going to change healthcare in this country. it's going to change the quality of care in this country. and we're buying votes to move this country from a patient-centered healthcare system to a government-centered healthcare system? it's day and night as far as i'm concerned. and i would send you back to what olympia snow said. you don't do things like this unless you have the majority of the middle of the country behind you. and so we see this process unfolding behind you that we have to use a mechanism of buying votes by making an ine quallity. first of allers there's going to be constitutional challenges in this bill like you can't believe. i can't wait to see the atto

mcconnell: i ask my friend one more question.is this the same bill that back in 2005 that my counterpart, the majority leader, decried as immoral? mr. mccain: as i recall, that's exactly it. i think the senator from new hampshire recalls that debate. mr. gregg: if the senator will yield. absolutely. i was chairman of the budget committee at the time. as the republican leader is alluding to, we attempted to reduce the rate of growth of medicaid by $10 billion on a a $1 trillion base over five years. less than .1% i believe it was. it was opposed aggressively by the aarp and it was opposed by the other side of the aisle. not one member of the other side of the aisle voted for that. and do you know what that change was going to be? it was going to require that wealthy people who benefited from the part-d drug benefit would have to pay part of their premium rather than getting it all for free. so that warren buffet, for example, would actually have to contribute to his health care drug benefit, assuming he is on part-d. maybe he isn'

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: first, i want to extend a welcome to the president who is coming up to the capitol today to meet with democrats on the suggest of the health care bill. so far, they have voted to cut medicare three times, cuts they previously described as immoral and irresponsible. cuts that made it impossible for the president to keep his pledge that people who like our plans can keep them, cuts that will reduce the quality of home health care, cuts that will reduce benefits for nearly 11 million american seniors on medicare advantage, cuts that raid medicare instead of fixing it, cuts the american people vehemently, vehemently oppose. democrats are in a tough situation on this bill, mr. president. they want to expand the government's reach into health care, but they don't have the money. and they don't have the support more importantly of the american people. so what did they do? they decided to take the money they need out of medicare, and that's only made their health care plan even les

mcconnell: mr. president, reserving the right to object -- and i will object -- look, we've been told by the majority that the single-most important thing we could do is to work on weekends and try to pass this health care bill, which according to the cnn poll that came out last night, the american people oppose 61% to 36% before christmas. now, we're here. and we're prepared to work. we'd like to get back on the health care bill as rapidly as possible and vote on amendments to the bill. it either is or i it isn't important for us to be here before christmas. so my members are not expected to take a break tbr this. we've been told by the majority all year long this is really important. first we had to get it done before august, then thanksgiving. now we have to get it done before christmas. we're here, ready to work. i object. a senator: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mr. gregg: mr. president, i note that there is nobody -- oh, i'm sorry. the sen

host: kids hunter -- that was senator mcconnell yesterday. we are also learning that tomorrow, and addition to voting for the health care proposal there will be a vote to extend the debt limit but only by two months, $290 billion compared to the 1.2 trillion dollars extension voted by the house earlier this month. what a difference? guest: again, the senate is bumping up against this christmas deadline, the end of the year deadline. the house has already adjourned for the year. the way the senate decided to handle it was due the short- term, two month extension, which would prevent -- basically something we need to be done to the debt limit by the end of the years of this is a short-term breather, a short-term fix. as part of the agreement they got, because republicans were going to say they will draw that out and as part of the agreement they got to expedite the process. having the final vote tomorrow in the early afternoon on a short-term extension, the short term fix. the republicans secured a commitment from the democrats that come januar

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: mr. president i rise to make some observations about a matter that occurred here in the senate earlier this afternoon. mr. president, the plain language -- the plain language of the senate precedent the manual that governs senate procedure, is that unanimous consent of all members was required before the senator from vermont could withdraw his amendment while it was being read. unanimous consent. earlier today the majority somehow convinced the parliamentarian to break with the long-standing precedent and practice of the senate in the reading of the bill. senate procedure clearly states -- and i quote -- "under rule 15 paragraph 1 and senate precedents, an amendment shall be read by the clerk before it is up for consideration or before the same shall be debated unless a request to waive the reading is granted." it goes on to state that -- quote -- "the reading of which may not be dispensed with excep

mcconnell: reserving the right to object. i want to be sure that the senator is aware, that the subs treat amendment will be -- substitute amendment will be limited to an actual amount when it is offered. mr. reid: that's right. and if there's any amendments here that would pass, it would be be a part of it. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: reserving the right to object. i wonder why under that consent is propounded whether the secondary amendments would be in order to the orders on that list? mr. reid: no. mr. baucus: i suggest the absence of a -- i do not object. the presiding officer: hearing no objection, so ordered. the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i want to recognize two young pages who are actually on the floor with us today. martin shabin o&m icalla, stayed until the -- volunteered to stay until the senate adjourned and sacrificed some of their christmas vacation and volunteered their service during the weekend before thanksgiving break. we have pages on the r

with that, let me turn to senator mccain. >> i want to thank senator mcconnell and our leadership and all of our republican members who have spoken out so strongly and so steadfastly and with such solidarity. let me just mention how far we've come here. look how far we've come from october a year ago. october 9th, 2008, when the president of the united states said on the issue of health reform i will have republicans and democrats sit down together with c-span cameras in the room so the american people will know who is on the side of the pharmaceutical companies and who is on the side of the american people. so where have we ended up? in a bizarre situation, where even the number two senior democrat, senator durbin in a colloquy with me says he doesn't know what is in the bill either. remember the commitment that legislation would be on line for 72 hours before we would take up the legislation? what ever happened to that? you talk about change coming to talk about change, it is interchange you can believe in. it's change that is astonishing. we all know promises are made in political

janet napolitano and rich mcconnell.na republican jim demint. on fox news sundayç pennsylvan democratic senator arlen spector and robert menendez. and the chair of the democratic congressional campaign committee chris van hollen. on "face the nation" you will have robert gibbs, house majority whip james clyburn and peter king the ranking member of the house homeland security member. and cnn state of the union hosted by john king will have secretary napolitano, andrew card and john podesto. and ed rendell and mitch daniels. you can listen to all five of the sunday morning talk shows starting at noon eastern on c-span radio here in washington, d.c. nationwide on x.m. satellite channel 312 and on the web at c-span radio.org. and you can follow us on facebook and twitter. >> in the mid 1990's omar wasow was one of the 50 people po watch. he has helped found to charter school and explained new technologies. tonight he talks about his current studies at march srard and what is ahead -- at harvard and what is ahead. >> this th

speaking mentioned mitch mcconnell. >> mr. president, the plain language, the plain language of the senate precedent, the manual that governs the senate procedure is by unanimous consent of all members was required before the senator from vermont could withdraw his amendment while was being read. unanimous consent. >> shortly after that senator durbin explained the democratic perspective. >> as they were reading it came to our attention senator sanders of vermont had authority under senate rules to withdraw his amendment and stopped reading. i wasn't aware of that because i can't recall that ever happened since i've been here but i made a point since many years ago i was parliamentarian of the illinois state senate and tried to read the rules time to time. rule 15 section 2 in the senate, standing rules of the senate it says a motion must be withdrawn or modified by the mover at any time before the decision of an amendment or ordering of yellmac dee dee, yays and nays. >> and kate hunter of congressional quarterly both sides a

mcconnell: stphr-pt. the presiding officer: the republican leader -- mr. mcconnell: mr. president?ing officer: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: tonight marks the culmination of a long national debate. passions have rung high, and that's appropriate. because the bill we're voting on tonight will impact the life of every american. it will shape the future of our country. it will determine whether our children can afford the nation they inherit. it is one of the most consequential votes any of us will ever take, and none of us take it lightly. but make no mistake, if the people who wrote this bill were proud of it, they wouldn't be forcing this vote in the dead of night. here are just some of the deals we've noticed. $100 million for an unnamed health care facility at an unnamed university somewhere in the united states. the bill doesn't say where. and no one will even step forward to claim it. one state out of 50 -- one state out of 50 -- gets to expand medicaid at no cost to itself while taxpayers in the other 49 states pick up the tab. the same senator who cut th

mitch mcconnell says so.crying th bill, please, please feel free to give up your medicare and your social security. they are after all government programs and i would t(implore you to please give it up. host: on twitter, joe writes that reform doesn't mean it will hurt the deficit, those taxes could be used for other purposes. going to barry from massachusetts. i think we have just lost barry, to shelly from tampa, florida. caller: yes, of course this is -- hello. host: hi, you are on the air. caller: of course this is being rushed, if it weren't rushed they wouldn't have to take a vote at 1 o'clock in the morng. when have they been taking a rushed vote, and you are told that nothing good happens after midnight. and else -- nelson said he would reform health care, and medicare is going bankrupt, we have heard this for months. you can't just add another program, and the one thing that people are not screaming at the roof tops. they say health care reform now but nothing is enacted for four years. it's all tax

from the senate, senator reid and senator durbin, senator mcconnell.f what's yet to say. senator jon kyl who is a republican and some of the members including richard lugar who is the ranking republican on the foreign relations committee and john kerry who is the committee of the committee. on the house side the armed service committee has issued a statement saying i commend obama for his my main concern has been that the president listened to our military leaders and the commanders on the ground does congressman skelton and he did. i have urged the president to give general mcchrystal the resources in the times to do the job and i am pleased that the president has agreed to provide the resources to get afghanistan right. that statement from mike skelton. or if your reaction including lancaster, pennsylvania. >> thank you mr. scalia. thank you for c-span. thank you for allowing us to air our opinions. i'm calling because i support the president but i don't support his afghanistan war strategy. i think that this war was a good war in the beginning when

mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: republican leader. mr. mcconnell: madam president, senators on both sides acknowledge thatd health care bill we're -- that the health care bill we're considering is among the most significant pieces of legislation any of us will ever consider. i think, i would argue the most significant piece of legislation certainly in my time here. so it stands to reason that we'd devote significant time and attention to it. indeed, some would argue that we should spend more time and attention on this bill than most, if not every previous bill we've considered. the majority obviously disagrees. why? because this bill has become a political nightmare, a literal political nightmare for them, as evidenced by more and more public opinion polls, including the "wall street journal"/nbc poll this morning. they know americans are overwhelmingly opposed to it so they want to get it over as quickly as possible. americans are outraged that the majority took their eyes off the ball. americans were told that the purpose of reform was

mcconnell: i'll be very brief. madam president, americans woke up yesterday stunned to read that democrats have voted to end debate on the latest version of the massive bill while they were sleeping. they'll be stunned again when they learned about the second early morning vote to advance a bill that most of them oppose. americans are right to be stunned because this bill is a mess. and so is the process that was used to get it over the finish line. americans are outraged by the last-minute closed-door, sweetheart deals that were made to gain the slimmest margin for passage of a bill that is all about their health care. once the sun came up, americans could see all the deals that were tucked inside this grab bag and they don't like what they're finding. afterall, common sense dictates that any time congress rushes, congress stumbles. it's whether senator so and so got a sweet enough deal to sign off on it. well, senator so and so might have gotten his deal, but the american people haven't signed on. public upo opin

mitch mcconnell said on the floor that we are going to go home -- i do not believe that. i believe that the negativity that ms. mcconnell and others have continually displayed on the floor and now when people learn what is actually in the bill and all the good it does, it will become more and more popular because it is good for america and good for the american people and the true symbol of what we can do if we all pull together. >> over at the white house, president obama reacted having the latest departure -- having delayed his departure for hawaii until the senate passed the health-care package. >> members of the senate joined their colleagues in the house of representatives passed a landmark reform package. legislation that brings us toward the end of the nearly century long struggle to reform america's health-care system. ever since teddy roosevelt first called for reform in 1912, seven presidents, democrats and republicans alike, have taken up the cause of reform. time and time again, those efforts have been blocked by special interest lobbyists who have perpetuated

senator reid has approached senator mcconnell and said, we have one of our senators, senator byrd of west virginia, with significant health proble problems, who's been brought to 9 floor now -- brought to the floor now early in the morning, late at night in a wheelchair. he looks better than ever, i might add. but the fact is that he is being asked to show up at 1:00 in the morning because we couldn't reach what is usual comity and gentlemanly accord on scheduling a vote. and it's unfortunate, because now we face this 1:00 a.m. vote. and with no cooperation on the other side to even change the vote for a very humane reason. mr. baucus: our -- the requests on this side for a vote at a reasonable hour, say, what, now it's 5:10, maybe 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, that a at a reasonable time, instead of 1:00 a.m., have been rejected by the other side? mr. durbin: unfortunately, the senator from montana is correct. and now, as the senator from oklahoma says -- and i quote -- "what the american people ought to pray is that somebody can't make the vote tonight. that's what they ought to pray." i

but i think if you ask senator mcconnell is he for building more power plants? he would suggest. u.s. car you for offshore drilling of oil and gas he would say yes. i think if you asked him or you for using clean coal, he would say yes. what we have to prove to him and others, that the admission standards are going to be acceptable to business, to our utilities and our manufacturers, and i would argue to senator mcconnell and others, if you want this greenie economy that we all constantly talk about, you have to price carvin. that is sent me singing it. it is business people from all sectors of the economy. so my answer would be if we can't make this good business it will happen. i believe we can. changes have to be made to get us their fighting began in environmental policy the best business policy and the jobs of the future, where do they come from? from the transmission lines that you would need to have a better dread if you're going to have wind plans or forms they got to be connected where people live. the supply change has been lost. to rebuild the supply chain alone create

we can only take one or two more because of senator mcconnell. but also compare this gentleman from "the new york times" hear who said look at the fights among the democrats. look at the difference. we are struggling to come together of the most difficult issue america has ever faced and we're getting close to the finish line for the we have had our disagreements but it has not been poisonous. it is just pure politics. it is basically coming up the political argument of the day, one day they like government and one day they don't. there is no consistency, no feeling here is how to make things better, it is tactical. here is the best argument today and let's see if there resonates even though has nothing to do with their true feelings. and it will be one of our saving graces because it will save us a lot of trouble because the american people see that. they see we're trying to do the right thing for them and they see a cynical ploy witticism of a just say no of the republicans and i will predict in 2010 that will serve us very well despite the bum

. >> a short time later senate manage or the leader mitch mcconnell held a press conference to discusswhy he is opposed. this is 15 minutes. >> it's important that we are having it read so we can figure is it out liar 300 million other americans. i'm here with a message for the american people this morning,w democrat leaders sprung a new piece of legislation on the mesh people that would have a hume impact. this is not renaming a post office democrats are forcing a vote over the weekend countying on the fact that american people are preoccupied with christmas and not paying attention to what they are doing. we know from all the survey data that americans are overwhelmingly opposed to this bill. this bill is a train wreck of historic proportions. they are so eager to claim a victory, they are so willing to jam it through. here are a few things americans need to know. in medicare, we note bill slashes hundreds of billions of dollars of medicare to fund massive government beurocracy. we know there are cuts to hospitals and nursing homes. we know there are cuts to home healthcare and hospi

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr.cconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, republicans are fully engaged in the health care debate. it's our view that there's no more important work we can do here than to show americans what the democratic plan for health care would mean for them. and once we return to the debate, republicans will be ready with two important amendments. one of those amendments, by senator crapo, would enable the president to keep one of the pledges he's made as a candidate and as president about what the democratic plan for health care reform would look like. he said that no family -- no family making less than $250,000 a year, and no individual making less than $200,000 a year would see a tax increase of any kind. of any kind. the crapo amendment would ensure that that promise was kept. another amendment, by senators hutchison and thune, would ensure that none of the taxes imposed b