menendez: mr. president, my distinguished colleague from massachusetts has been talking about the urgency of now and the importance of this legislation has done so mass tperly. we have been -- masterfully. we have been debating health care for weeks. we have been debating it for months if you think about the markups that took place in the health committee as well as in the senate finance committee. we have been debating it even more if you consider the time of negotiations that took place between a group of six members of the senate, three democrats and three republicans, in search of a bipartisan effort. so, all of this talk that this is a rush to judgment is, doesn't just square itself with the facts. but there is another bill that is pending before the senate, a bill that should have passed without any difficulty. mr. president, the tactics of delay and obstruction that we have seen on this floor for the last few weeks on the part of the minority have now reached critical mass. we're fighting tw

menendez: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: madam president, i rise to speak to the great debate we're having on historic health care reform, and i'm reminded of the words of a great republican, president abraham lincoln. he said -- quote -- "we cannot escape history, the fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor of the latest generation. the occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. that's what abraham lincoln said. madam president, it's time to rise to the occasion. because our friends on the other side of the aisle have chosen to sit on their hands and do nothing. they have no plan. they have chosen to delay and obfuscate. you know, if you look back in history, during the great debates on social security in 1935 and medicare in 1965, our friends across the aisle were on the wrong side of history. but in the end, there was a minority who chose to stand up for historic social legislation and vote their conscience. they were not driven by the far right w

of the republican side and that all additional time, including that already utilized by senator menendez with postcloture time continue to run during this period. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 7:00 a.m. tuesday, december 22. that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, that the senate then resume consideration of h.r. 35890 with postcloture -- 3590, with postcloture time continuing to run during the overnight adjournment and that the time until the expiration of postcloture time be equally divided and controlled between their leaders or their designees. that upon the exexpiration of tiench the majority leader be recognized to move to table amendment number 3278. that upon disposition of amendment number 3278, that amendment number 3277 be withdrawn, that the senate then proceed to vote on adoption of

we will hear from senator schumer of new york, menendez of new jersey and new jersey senator sheldon whitehouse. this is half an hour. >> you want to hear what we have to say and have no question, right? i am delighted to be here with my colleagues, senator menendez and senator white blue but -- senator whitehouse. thank you for moving this bill forward and many other things they have done. as all of you know one of the main selling points of the senate health care reform bill is we will protect medicare by protecting solvency for five years, fear that medicare would run out of money and cause enormous problems for our senior citizens both now because they are worried and when we actually run out of money. how do we do this? simple. we get rid of fraud, waste and abuse in the system. these are dollars that don't go toward improving seniors benefits one bitch but instead go to assurance companies or otherwise flip through the cracks and jeopardize the fiscal future. i ask anyone to read their bill and they will find all kinds of costs, doctors they never met, this and that. everyone k

senator menendez and senator white house and i'd like to thank you for coming, and thank them for the great work they've done on moving this bill forward and many other things they've done. so, as all of you know one of the main selling points of the senate health care reform bill is that we will protect medicare by extending its solvency for five years, the fear that medicare will run out of money will cause enormous problems for our senior citizens both now because we worry and later when we actually ran out of money. how do we do this? simple. we get rid of the fraud, waste, and abuse in the system. these are dollars that don't go towards improving seniors benefits one bit, but instead go to insurance companies or otherwise slip through the cracks and jeopardize the program's fiscal future. and i would ask anyone who's gone to the doctor or hospital and gets back to bill in and refit. ask anyone who goes to the doctor has a major procedure to repair bill. you'll find all kinds of cost and doctors they've ever been, this and that. everyone knows how much waste and fraud and abuse th

menendez: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: mr. president, i appreciate my distinguished senior colleague from new jersey yielding time. i know he's going to call up his amendment shortly. that's what i want to speak to. before i do, i ask unanimous consent that megan morrow, be given floor privilegesdure the ermder of the debate on the health care reform legislation. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: before i get to the core of my remarks, i want to tell my colleague who left the floor, you know, i was tempted to rise under rule 19 that says that "no senator in debate shall directly or indirectly by any form of words impugn to another senator or other senators any conduct unworthy of becoming a senator." you know, i could impute, if i wanted to i guess, that maybe there are some who really don't care about this amendment as much as they care about killing health care reform. but i wouldn't do that. i wouldn't done doe that. so i hope in the context of the debate rkt i'll not forced to rise under rule 19. mr.

menendez: finally, this is a gamble we cannot afford to take. to open up the potential for these drugs or ingredients used in these drugs to find their way from nation to nation, from southeast asia where the problem is epidemic, to one of 32 nations listed into this amendment into the homes of american families. that's a gamble we cannot take. that is not about protecting our citizens. that is not about providing prescription drugs that ultimately meet the challenge of a person's illness. filling the doughnut hole totally, which is what we're going to do, is the way to achieve it. so, i do hope that that's what we'll dovment i do hope that we will adopt senator lautenberg's amendment and defeat the dorgan amendment, for i fear for the safety of our citizens and, i fear, as to whether or not we can ultimately achieve filling that doughnut hole, if this amendment ultimately gets adopted. and i fear what that means for health care reform at the end of the day. with that, i yield back the balance of my time and thank the senator from new jersey. mr

menendez,aye. mr. merkley, aye. ms. mikulskiaye. mr merkowski, no. mrs. mary,aye. mr.nelson of nebraska,aye. mr. nelson of florida,aye. mr. pryor,aye. mr. reed of rhode island,aye. mr. reid of nevada, [laughter] mr. reid of nevada,aye. [laughter] mr rich, no. mr. roberts,no. mr. rockefeller,aye. mr. sanders, mr. schumer,aye. mr. sessions, mrs. shaheen, aye. mr. shelby, ms. snowe,no. mr. spector,aye. mr stabinow, aye. mr. tester,aye. mr thune, no. mr udall of colorado,aye. mr. udall of new mexico,aye. mr.vitter, no. mr.voinivich, no. mr. warner,aye. mr. webb,aye. mr. white house,aye. mr. wicker,no. mr. whiden, aye. mr. bennett of utah, no. this is a hutchinson,no. mr. cochran,no. mr. bennett of colorado,aye. [no audio] mr. sessions,no. [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [applause] mr. sanders -- [laughter] >>yes? >> mr. sanders, aye. mr. shelby -- no. [no audio] [no audio] >> and the other senators wishing to go toward change their vote? the amendment is passed. [no audio] >> i had a restless night worrying about bipartisanship and i think i found a way tested. nowhere in

menendez: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise to speak about the omnibus conference bill before the senate and specifically about provisions on cuba that have not passed the senate and have not been subjected to debate by this body. these provisions would undo current law where the castro regime would have to pay in advance of shipment for goods being sold to them because of their terrible credit history. yes, cuba's credit history is horrible. the par is club of taris club -- the paris club has reported that they have not paid $30 million in debt, that's the worst credit record in the world. if the cuban government has put off paying those who it owes dz 30dz billion to, why does anyone think that it would meet new obligation to american farmers? considering the economic crisis we're facing right now, we need to focus on collusions for hard-working americans, not subsidies for a brutal dictatorship. we should evaluate how to encourage the regime to allow a legitimate opening. not in terms of cell phones and hot

on fox news sundayç pennsylvan democratic senator arlen spector and robert menendez. 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 thursday a day of distribute to u.s. and world leaders. including the dalai lama, ted kennedy, ronald reagan, walter conçç ci c cronkite. vladimir putin discusses his future from his annual call

. >> senator menendez. >> thank you all for your service to our country. howie 08 dead of credit to the specially of this difficult time. admiral mullen i heard you say that the underresourcing of our engagement in afghanistan over the last for five years has brought us to where we are today so that to me means that our adventure in iraq has created a set of circumstances where we have underresourced our efforts in afghanistan. is that a fair comment? >> as i indicated, i think my previous and comments, clearly the priority in the direction i have both as the chairman and chief of the services to resources iraq. we were balancing deployment, the balancing time at home. >> you could not iraq resources and resellers afghanistan as you needed to? >> that is correct. >> i look at this july 2011 date and i see it as clearly aspirational and i think we need to be honest with the american people. can any of you tell me that after july 2011 that we won't have tens of thousands of troops years after that date? >> i think that the president and we have been clear th

menendez: and gain other benefits they deserve.t's what we should do in terms of preserving the underlying bill. let's vote down this amendment. let's not turn back the clock. mrs. boxer: i ask unanimous consent that in ly -- in lieu of nor baucus' four minutes, that senator casey take that time. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i rise today in support of the nelson amendment, for two reasons. and i speak for myself, not for other members of the senate, obviously, and i know there is a good bit of disagreement on both sides of the aisle. but i support this amendment for two reasons. one, i want to make sure that we ensure through this health care legislation the consensus that we have had as part of our public policy for many, many years now, the taxpayer dollars don't pay for abortions, and i believe we can and should and will get this right by the end of this debate. secondly, the second reason i support th

let me thank senator menendez for doing this. he has strong interest in the subject matter. and others -- this is a subject in which a great many of us have interest. i am excited about your leadership in this effort. i appreciate that very much. this is -- is described -- i describe this issue as a win- win. it reduces dependence on foreign oil and protect our environment and connects people with jobs and services. this is an issue that truly demands our ongoing attention. it may have said this already. if i am repeating your remarks i apologize. i was stunned to see the numbers on writer ship. -- ridership, they are the highest numbers since 1956. there were 10.7 billion trips taken last year. we want to work to increase those numbers. our first priority is security. even though there are problems and we read about them, it is important to note that among the safest mode of transportation are transit. incidents fell by half which is a positive sign despite the notoriety of some of these major problems you are saying. a recent series of accidents have some americans' concer

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

diaz-balart: senator bob menendez gave an important speech last thursday, december 10, opposing dictatorshipcuba. he read out loud an open letter which had been sent by one of cuba's true heroes, a giant of the resistance to the tyranny, here photographed with his wife. a letter to the cuban dictator raoul castro. he wrote, for months now, my wife and i have been kept in judicial house arrest by your political police. mr. dick tator, let me ask you some questions that may help clarify some doubts for those who may have at some point who may have had hope that you would carry out democratic openings. what do you feel when you insite or allow people who call themselves men to beat and drag through the streets women, like the blogger. how can you sleep after your subordinates cruel beat more than once a pregnant woman. how can you and you are government talk about the battle of ideas, when ideas constantly face repression. maybe your followers will not dare respond, but i continue to write. i'm on the long list of those who do not fear you, will answer. you act like that because you are a cruel

let me thank senator menendez for doing this. he has strong interest in the subject matter. and others -- this is a subject in which a great many of us have interest. i am excited about your leadership in this effort. i appreciate that very much. this is -- is described -- i describe this issue as a win- win. it reduces dependence on foreign oil and protect our environment and connects people with jobs and services. this is an issue that truly demands our ongoing attention. it may have said this already. if i am repeating your remarks i apologize. i was stunned to see the numbers on writer ship. -- ridership, they are the highest numbers since 1956. there were 10.7 billion trips taken last year. we want to work to increase those numbers. our first priority is security. even though there are problems and we read about them, it is important to note that among the safest mode of transportation are transit. incidents fell by half which is a positive sign despite the notoriety of some of these major problems you are saying. a recent series of accidents have some americans' concer

and i appreciate the comments of senator menendez about main street and my -- my concerns, my reservations about chairman bernanke is that he has not focused on job creation, understanding that's not the central purpose of the fed but he's not focused on job creation the way that i would hope he would. this past week, i had breakfast with sandy penalta, president of the cleveland fed and i urged her to use her influence, particularly representing a manufacturing area, the cleveland fed includes pittsburgh, ohio, the northern panhandle of west virginia. it's clearly one of the feds of the 12 districts, it's clearly one of the ones most focused on manufacturing and i talked to her, as many have, using her influence particularly for the problem that senator merkley mentioned that, is credit, getting credit to small business, especially credit to manufacturing, especially credit to the supply chain for auto manufacturing as that supply chain begins to transition into alternative energy, those companies that make glass for automobiles can m so far, obviously the banking system has not done near

and i appreciate the comments of senator menendez about main street and my -- my concerns, my reservationst chairman bernanke is that he has not focused on job creation, understanding that's not the central purpose of the fed but he's not focused on job creation the way that i would hope he would. this past week, i had breakfast with sandy penalta, president of the cleveland fed and i urged her to use her influence, particularly representing a manufacturing area, the cleveland fed includes pittsburgh, ohio, the northern panhandle of west virginia. it's clearly one of the feds of the 12 districts, it's clearly one of the ones most focused on manufacturing and i talked to her, as many have, using her influence particularly for the problem that senator merkley mentioned that, is credit, getting credit to small business, especially credit to manufacturing, especially credit to the supply chain for auto manufacturing as that supply chain begins to transition into alternative energy, those companies that make glass for automobiles can make glass for solar panels, those companies that make gears

in just two months, and i know senator menendez made reference to this as well, the e.u. seized 34 milligan fate tablets including antibiotics, cancer treatments and anti-call medicines. and as the industry commissioner of the edu said, every fake drug is a potential massacre. even when the medicine only contains an ineffective substance, this can lead to people dying because they think they are fighting their illnesses with the real drug. americans buy medicines to lower their cholesterol, fight cancer and prevent heart disease. a madam what would happen to a mother or a child if they start relying on madison imported from another country only to find out-years later that the drug was a fake. imagine the heartbreak that might ensue if the medicine the americans were taking was found to be harmful. the fact is drugs from other countries have dangerously high counterfeit grades and impartation could expose americans to those drugs. and under the dorgan amendment drugs could be in ft. hood from saw writ union countries and estimates over 20% of the drugs are counterfeit. un

. >> senator menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. chairman bernanke, i just want to start for purposes of memory, we often have short-term memory here. november of 2008. and the time -- and i think you reference this to some degree in your opening statement. november 2008, after those presidential elections, you and secretary paulson came before members of this committee and basically said, you know, we have an emerging set of circumstances and we need you to act, to do so boldly. and in the absence of doing that, that we would have a global financial meltdown. so i want to start there because it's the beginning of what has then transcended since then. is that pretty much a fair statement? >> yes, sir. except it was october. >> october. okay. and the absence to place thereof. i often get to my constituents back in n i have to pay for it , too. the difficulty is creating a connection why we acted based on the expertise on others who said we needed to do so otherwise there be a global meltdown. that has real-life consequences. is that

. >>> up next senator robert menendez talks about his opposition to provisions on u.s. cuban policy. the measure is in a spending bill the senate is working on. the new jersey senator spoke on the senate floor for 20 minutes. >> i rise to speak about the omnibus conference bill before the senate and specifically about provisions on cuba that have not passed the senate and have not been subjected to debate by this body. these provisions would undo current law where the castro regime would have to pay in advance of shipment for goods being sold to them because of their terrible credit history. yes, cuba's credit history is horrible. the paris club of creditor nations recently announced cuba has failed to pay almost $30 billion in debt among poor nations that's the worst credit record in the world. so why ask if the cuban government has put off paying those who would already owes $30 billion to, why does anyone think would meet new financial obligations to american farmers? considering the serious economic crisis we are facing right now we need to focus on solutions for ha

and i'm a democrat and have interned for rush holt and bob menendez in new jersey. >> okay. >> i'm michelle lockwood and i'm from new york. i'm a first -- now second-term graduate student. and i've been on a number of campaigns in the past. a bunch of local races in new york and i figured this would be helpful to, you know, boost my strategies. i'm glad to be here. >> and you're a d or an r? >> oh, d. >> that's not always obvious. >> and neil newhouse. i'm your first speaker for today. >> in an half hour. >> i'm joe and i'm a senior from new york. i'm a democrat. no campaign experience. and i guess -- again, i've heard nothing but good things about cmi. >> i'm tim murphy and i'm from massachusetts. i'm a senior at a.u. i have very little campaign experience, mostly volunteering for small local stuff. i heard the class was great and i'm a d. >> whereabouts in massachusetts? >> south shore marshfield. >> i went to wheaton undergraduate. >> i'm marsha hannah and i'm a democrat from buffalo, new york. i interned at a opposition research firm and they suggested i get some campaign experience. >>

and i appreciate the comments of senator menendez about main street and my -- my my concern about chairmanhat he is not focused on job creation the way i would hope that he would. this past week, i had breakfast with the president of the cleveland fed. i urged her to use her influence representing the cleveland fed. it is clearly the fed most focused on manufacturing. i talked to her about using her influence particularly for the problem with credit, giving credit to small business, especially to manufacturing and the supply chain for of a manufacturing. -- for auto manufacturing. the companies that make glass for automobiles to make glass for solar panels. the companies that make y gears for trucks to make them for wind turbines. the banking system has not done well in opening up the credit and giving it to manufacturers. i hope that chairman bernanke understands that. i hope that he understands the urgency of using the powers of the fed to encourage member banks to do what they can to unfreeze credit to provided to local small businesses especially. i am going to vote for chairman bernan

menendez: thank you, madam president. i thank the distinguished chairman from montana for yielding the time. that is at its core, i believe, a regressive amendment. this amendment, however well-intentioned, reminds me of a time when the lack of sufficient regulation allowed people to sell snake oil and magic elixirs. let us not relive that history. let's learn from it. i'm sure many in this chamber remember a time when the doctor wrote a prescription, we would take to the local pharmacy. and the one thing we never did was question what was in the bottle. now with this amendment, we won't be so certain. we won't be so sure that what's in the bottle is what we need and think it is. we won't be so sure when it comes from countries all over the world -- lithuania, estonia, latvia, the chuck republic, or any one of 28 countries -- i'll speak to that. i know they're part of the european union but i'll talk about what the european union just said about their challenges with counterfeit drugs or any of the other countries who hav

and i'm a democrat and have interned for rush holt and bob menendez in new jersey. >> okay. >> i'm michellew york. i'm a first -- now second-term graduate student. and i've been on a number of campaigns in the past. a bunch of local races in new york and i figured this would be helpful to, you know, boost my strategies. i'm glad to be here. >> and you're a d or an r? >> oh, d. >> that's not always obvious. >> and neil newhouse. i'm your first speaker for today. >> in an half hour. >> i'm joe and i'm a senior from new york. i'm a democrat. no campaign experience. and i guess -- again, i've heard nothing but good things about cmi. >> i'm tim murphy and i'm from massachusetts. i'm a senior at a.u. i have very little campaign experience, mostly volunteering for small local stuff. i heard the class was great and i'm a d. >> whereabouts in massachusetts? >> south shore marshfield. >> i went to wheaton undergraduate. >> i'm marsha hannah and i'm a democrat from buffalo, new york. i interned at a opposition research firm and they suggested i get some campaign experience. >> okay. >> i'm mike mccart