merkley? >> thank you mr. sure. i was interested in oregon that we have an exemption from any company that applied and said it's just not feasible to provide privacy and flexibility in the great time in the setting, and so we assume a number of companies would to get vantage of that situation, and what actually transpired was not a single organ company has asked for that exemption. some have exported and basically tried to understand what is required of them and how can they make it fit and they've gotten advice on how other companies have tackled it, and i think it really is a testament to the fact that when people pause, they realize what profound value it is for the women to be able to express milk. there is no substitute for it, for the child, and it is not only good for the child's health, it's tremendous for the mother's health. we had testimony in this very committee from dr. colburn, who said when i first introduced the amendment, senator merkley hadn't begun to say ought i's and adjust to it. so i think it

merkley: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that my intern rachel travis be permitted on the floor for the balance of this pending legislation. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. pherpl pherpl thank you. i rise -- america america i rise to -- mr. merkley: i rise to address the obama-boehner debt deal and it is an issue i have been immersed in, wrestling to understand the impact on unemployment, the impact on investments that will strengthen our nation down the road. certainly the impact on programs that strengthen our families. and it is in that context, trying to understand how do we build the strongest possible nation for working families, how do we do that. and is this obama-boehner debt deal the right path? and i must conclude that it is not the right path. and i conclude that for four reasons. the first is the impact on jobs. we are facing a gathering storm on the job front. we have five million to eight million additional foreclosures that are suppressing success of ou

, which is essentially what commissioner magwood has said in his letter of july 29 to congressman merkley. this is the type of review that i believe four of the commissioners before us today are advocating. thank you. i look forward to the testimony. >> thank you. senator sanders. >> thank you for holding this hearing. thank you to the members of the nrc for being here. the first and most important point that i want to make is the function of the nrc is not to represent the nuclear power industry. that is not your job, whether we have more or fewer -- that is not your job. your job, foremost, is to make sure that the nuclear power plants that we have in this country are as safe as humanly possible. my friend from wyoming, senator russell -- barrasso said it is "on likely that we will have the fukushima disaster in this country." for the people of vermont and most people in this country that is not good enough. we want to make sure that everything humanly possible that can be done is done to make sure that nuclear power and nuclear power plants are as safe as possible in this country. mada

merkley: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that my intern rachel travis be permitted on the floor for the balance of this pending legislation. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. pherpl pherpl thank you. i rise -- america america i rise to -- mr. merkley: i rise to address the obama-boehner debt deal and it is an issue i have been immersed in, wrestling to understand the impact on unemployment, the impact on investments that will strengthen our nation down the road. certainly the impact on programs that strengthen our families. and it is in that context, trying to understand how do we build the strongest possible nation for working families, how do we do that. and is this obama-boehner debt deal the right path? and i must conclude that it is not the right path. and i conclude that for four reasons. the first is the impact on jobs. we are facing a gathering storm on the job front. we have five million to eight million additional foreclosures that are suppressing success of ou

i'm sorry, senator merkley was here first. i'm so sorry. go ahead. >> thank you for your testimony. i really want to make sure we understand fully the job implications. i've heard the estimates ranging from 700,000 jobs at the high end, 500,000 jobs, can a couple of you who feel like they have a real hand on these numbers help us understand what happens when we don't get the reauthorization and we have the roughly 35% drop. >> i can speak from my company. >> thank you. >> for my company, my customers' companies, and our suppliers companies, we are staffed at a level today that is in anticipation of maintaining the current level of funding. if for some reason that declines further, we unfortunately, and our customers, and our suppliers will also have to take further reductions to remain economically viability. we have no other choice. that is our only option. so this is not a theoretical job loss issue. this is real, these are human hn beings, these are members of mr. o'sullivan's union and others who we will not have worked for if the federal program is not maintained at current lev

senator merkley. >> thank you for your testimony. i really want to make sure we understand fully the job implications. i heard the estimates ranging from 700,000 jobs to 500,000 jobs. a couple of you feel you have a real hand on these numbers help us understand what happens if we don't get this reauthorization and we have a 30% drop. >> i can speak for my company, my customers's companies and our suppliers's companies. we are staffed at a level today that is in anticipation of maintaining the current level of funding. if for some reason that declines further we unfortunately and our customers and suppliers will have to take further reductions to remain economically viable. we have no other choice. that is the only option. this is not a theoretical job loss issue. it is real. the they're human beings. these are members of mr. o'sullivan's union and others who we will not have work for if this federal program is not maintained at current levels. >> the number i mentioned earlier was a 36% cut, 630,000 job loss to our agency alone. it i

. >> without objection, so ordered.mr merkley: >> mr. president, i rise to address the obama boehner debtni deal, and i must say it is an to issue that i have just beenr nao immersed in rustling tohe the impact on investment that will strengthen the nation downn the road.xt, certainly the impact on programs that strengthen our families. and it is in that context to try to understand how do we buildhis the strongest possible nation oa forma working families.h? how do we do that?ath. and as this debt deal the right path? and i must conclude that it is th not the right path, and i conclude that for four reasons. the first is the impact on jobse we are facing a gathering storms on the job front.th of we have five to 8 million h additional foreclosures that art suppressing the market and driving down the value of house, and having a devastating impact on the beattempt of recovery.hat second, the unemployment benefits, the extendedill unemployment benefits expire duction of this year, aro and the rough estimate is that that will blo result in

>> senator merkley. >> thank you, mr. chairman. in 2009, expanded by creating more protocols for interaction with the public. a couple months ago in june, ms. miller, you posted public testimony on the rate increase. it was the first public testimony on rate increases in 10 years. were you required to do that by law or was this an interesting experiment? >> this was the first time in 20 years that we conducted a public hearing on a rate filing. this was the first public hearing. we were not required by law to do that. >> you were skeptical about how that would unfolds. wasn't unable? -- you were skeptical about how that would unfold. was its valuable? -- it valuable? i heard from consumers that they so appreciated the opportunity to be heard and testify and have their opinions listened we also -- the way we structured the hearing, i asked the company about 10 questions then we had the consumer advocacy group ask questions and people left comment cards that said things like i have a lot more confidence in the work the otheror insura