mr. alexander: how much time is remaining? the presiding officer: 12 minutes. mr. alexander: thank youvestment would the chair please let me know when we have -- i have one minute remaining. madam president, on monday, on the senate floor, i expressed my concern about the number of so-called czars in the white house and in the administration. i said then that the number of czars -- i believe the number is now 32 -- is an affront to the constitution, it is antidemocratic, it's a poor example of what was promised to be a new era of transparency, a poor way to manage the government, and it's a -- it's the most visible symptom of this administration's eight-month record of too many washington takeovers. yesterday something called "a white house blog" and the white house press secretary objected to what i had said on monday pointing out that i had supported manufacturing czars and aids czars six years ago. of course i did. i acknowledged that in my remarks on monday. there have always been, as i said monday, some czars in the white house and in the government since frank

mr. alexander: madam president, i notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. a senator: motor vehicle, i ask that the call of the -- mr. president, i ask that the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ensign science i ask unanimous consent to -- ensign science i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. ensign science mrmr. ensign: the crisis has turned my state into literally a ghost town. the grass of the housing market has been at the root of our economic crisis. we have to focus on fixing the housing problem in this country if we want many of the states that are still severely suffering to have their -- the economies turned around. in february i offered a bill called a fixed housing first bill. and this would have done just that. it would have turned the housing market into this -- in this country around. i b

mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: mr.president, i ask to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: thank you, mr. president. i want to challenge two sconceptions in the waxman markey climate change bill that is in the senate after passing the house of representatives. the first is the idea that raising energy prices will somehow be good for job growth and for t economy. the second is that whatever the problems created by waxman-markey, they can be mostly resolved by building more windmills. waxman-markey started out as a bill to start shall -- to deal with carbon emissions. it ended up being a $100 million energy tax nailed to a mandate that will saddle consumers with expensive energy for years to come. instead of a broad based national energy policy, waxman-markey has given us a narrow, expensive national windmill policy. i believe cheap energy means good jobs. my perspective of courseomes from tennessee where alcoa shut down its smelter where my dad worked. they're looking

mr. alexander: mr. president, the best stories in the united states senate are not the political stories. i seehe assistant democratic -- i would rather defer to him and come next, if i may. -- you -- you mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from -- mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i want to say a few words about my friendship. i didn't know him before senator martinez came to the senate. i think the first time i had an intersight into what he brought to the senate is was at a prayer breakfast when he explained t us how he happened to be in mencht he was one of the fortunate few who escaped from cuba under the tyranny of the castro regime, given a chance to come to florida. and he told me and others how difficult it was, struggling with the language he didn't know, and he explained that one of the real saviors for him was the fact that he was a good athlete. so he was able to play many sports and make many friends, lerner elish in the

mr. alexander, thank you so much. and young mr. exander, thank you too. >>> we are deep into the campaign for the virginia governor race. up next the two big names offering their support for the candidates. and up next, the fight agains the swine flu. how long the deadly virus could remain contagious. >>> and also coming up later, greek pride on display in the district and holly is taking us to the biggest greek festival here in the nation's capital. that's coming up. need a lift? hey buddy, i appreciate the ride, you know. no problem. ♪ mind if i take a shortcut? yeah, sure. ♪ i knew the subaru legacy was the smart choice... what i didn't expect... was the fun. the all-new subaru legacy feel the love. the quality of our lives depends on our connections. access to high-speed internet, at home and on the go, is no longer a luxury. it's how our children access education. it's how we find jobs, discover information, and connect with family and friends. it's the spark that drives innovation, creates investment, and builds a stronger eco

mr. alexander was slavishly loyal, had 15 or 16 czars.t statistic is according to fox news. >>> "dateline," new york. number one best gullible news actress trying to sell more conspiracy nonsense. she showed a clip in which an a.c.o.r.n. employee in san bernardino, california, claimed she had killed her ex-husband. an actor trying to trap her into something said, you killed him emotionally? and is he answers, no, i shot him. and the ex-beauty pageant contestant answers, seriously, she killed somebody? despite this, some want to continue funding the group. she had previously noted -- according to a.c.o.r.n. he's still alive. yeah, also according to the san bernardino police department. police point out that the woman says the actors trying to entrap her were so bad at it, she started playing them. she also said they investigated and found that her former husbands were all alive and well. but gretchen, why listen to the police when you can listen instead to the all-knowing voices inside your head? >>> sarah palin finally made her choice of

mr. alexander: thankou, very much. mr. president, we have two speeches by the president of the united states today and tomorr tomorrow. th one today is to the schoolchildren of america. the one tomorrow night is to us, to a joi session of congress and to theountry. for the last several days, there's been a small uproar about t president's speech to schoolchildren and in some ways that's very understandable. the country's very wary right now of more washington takeovers. we've seen takeovers of banks and insurance companies and -- and car companies and student loans and even farm ponds and health care and all of a sudden some people may have thought that the president was intending to take over the classrooms of america as well. and that was compounded by the fact tt the early lesson plans, probably drawn up by someone either in the white house or wan department of education, made the speech seem more about the president than about the children and inviting the children to help the president fulfill h goal the way he wants

mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee is recognized. mr. exander: thank you. i congratulate the republican leader, the senator from kentucky, on his remarks. he made it very clear that we on the republican side of the aisle want health care reform, but our definition of that is a little different from that on the other side of the aisle. we want health care reform that reduces costs, costs to the american people when they buy health insurance, and costs of the government of the american people. and we do not want more debt and another washington takeover, which we're seeing so much of these days. president obama said in his address to us that he will -- quote -- "not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits either now or in the future. period." that's good. and as david brooks wrote in "the new york times" this past friday, "this sound bite of the president kills the house health care bill," because the house health care bill would add $220 billion to the deficit over the first ten years of its operation and another $1 trillion over th

mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander i often think about how the best stories in the juic united statesenate aret the political stories. senator inouye's bravery in world war ii leading to a congressional medal of honor; the former majority leader, bill frist, operating on -- performing open-heart surgery on general petraeus when he was accidentally shot at ft. campbell; ben nighthorse k bell on the judo olympic team; jim bunning in the hall of fame; jim inhofe circling the world in a plane; ted stevens flying the first cargo plane into beijing at the end of the world war ii, thenn 19 dpsh after the elections of 2004, we have ken salazar from colorado, 15th generation american -- his family; we have barack obama with his incredible story, and then we had mel martinez in the same year. despite the emotion of all of those stories, mel martinez's story stands out to me. as the senator from illinois said, imagine growing up in cuba -- a good life -- not a rich life but a good life. he recounted in this book a sense

mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee is recognized. mr. alexander: thank you. i congratulate the republican leader, the senator from kentucky, on his remarks. he made it very clear that we on the republican side of the aisle want health care reform, but our definition of that is a little different from that on the other side of the aisle. we want health care reform that reduces costs, costs to the american people when they buy health insurance, and costs of the government of the american people. and we do not want more debt and another washington takeover, which we're seeing so much of these days. president obama said in his address to us that he will -- quote -- "not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits either now or in the future. period." that's good. and as david brooks wrote in "the new york times" this past friday, "this sound bite of the president kills the house health care bill," because the house health care bill would add $220 billion to the deficit over the first ten years of its operation and another $1 trillion over

mr. alexander: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i believe it is time for us in congress to admit that we don't do comprehensive well and that the era of the 1,000-page bill is over. look at immigration in 2007. some of the best senators here worked day and night trying to deal with that issue. senator kennedy, senator kyl, senator mccain, senator martinez, and many others. they worked and they worked and they worked, and they got 34 votes at first. not the 60 they hoped. finally you got 14 votes shy of the votes nighted to pass the -- needed to pass the comprehensive immigration bill. or look at economy-wide cap-and-trade as a way of dealing with climate change and clean energy. years ago when the lieberman-mccain bill -- i noticed everyone was looking at me. thank you. two years ago when the lieberman-mccain bill, there were 36 votes. i'll start over, mr. president. i don't want anybody to miss a word. it's time for us to admit that we don't do comprehensive well. it's time for us to admit that the era of the 1,000-page

mr. alexander, whatever time he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. alexander: i want to thank the ranking member and chairman and members of the committee for passing this important piece of legislation. the entire louisiana delegation or co-sponsors of this, the national forest service is in support of this. they provided the language that is in this bill. as has been said, c.b.o. has scored it to zero. the proceeds of this sale will go back to the national forest service for money they have spent over the years providing maintenance for this 50 acres of land that will be sold to this not-for-profit group. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. holden: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lucas: the minority has no further speakers and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from p

alexander. lamar smith. mr. smith: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my friend from massachusetts, congressman delahunt, for yielding and i also want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their forbearance tonight and not enforcing strictly the time limits. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. smith: may i ask unanimous consent for additional five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. smith: thank you, mr. speaker. which gives me a second opportunity to thank my colleagues for their forebarons tonight. senator kennedy -- for bearence tonight. senator kennedy was a friend. as members of his family, including his son, who is here tonight. and it was a privilege to have known him in lots of different ways. my being a conservative republican from texas, the senator being a liberal democrat from massachusetts, many people wonder about this friendship. and therein lie many stories, but let me tell a couple tonight. the first one goes back to when i was a fairly junior member of congress and

alexander, nbc news, flushing meadows, new york. >>> it is 8:04 right now. let's go back outside to mr. al roker. there he is. >> thank you very much. we got a grandma and granddaughter on the road trip. right there. yeah. >> wisconsin. >> are you guys doing anything wild? >> we are! going to the "today" show. >> and then it gets crazier from there. right? let's check your weather, see what's going on. for today, atlanta, georgia, nbc 11, afternoon showers, 83 degrees. the jet stream is way up to the north so those pesky upper lows down in texas won't move. that's why they got all the heavav >> plenty of sunshine out there already. it is going to prevail throughout today. 79 to 85 is the temperature range. partly cloudy and the low 80s tomorrow could only up to >> we got my friend here, your name's matt. right, young man? >> yeah. >> where you guys from? >> atlanta. >> atlanta! 11 alive. all right, good to see you. back over to ann. >>> coming up next, we've got megan fox live in studio 1a right after this. vegetables are naturally low in calories. v8 juice gives you 3 of your 5 daily servings. i

mr. obama and he said history shows whenever someone is elected to the left, governs from the left it's a recipe of success for the republicans and lamar alexanderhe fox news network said these legislators will deal with somewhat, if they don't respond to the sentiment of the american public, that they've heard over the past weeks when they get back to congress, if they don't respond, they're going to experience amy any revolution and i think we're starting to see the american people wake up regarding on what's going on and i'm sure use, when they come back, do ya'll think all though the healthcare is the big trigger they're going to be taking care of, do you think the past town hall meetingings - the tone will come back up on the floor between the legislators? how aggressive or contentious you they that will be on the actual floor of the senate? >> one thing, i talked to representative eric canter and i asked him what he expected the republicans would do during the president's speech. they might boo or his or sit on their hands on-lines they don't disagree with from their parties perspective and he said no, we're all listening intensively. from

mr. obama and he said history shows whenever someone is elected to the left, governs from the left it's a recipe of success for the republicans and lamar alexandern the fox news network said these legislators will deal with somewhat, if they don't respond to the sentiment of the american public, that they've heard over the past weeks when they get back to congress, if they don't respond, they're going to experience amy any revolution and i think we're starting to see the american people wake up regarding on what's going on and i'm sure use, when they come back, do ya'll think all though the healthcare is the big trigger they're going to be taking care of, do you think the past town hall meetingings - the tone will come back up on the floor between the legislators? how aggressive or contentious you they that will be on the actual floor of the senate? >> one thing, i talked to representative eric canter and i asked him what he expected the republicans would do during the president's speech. they might boo or his or sit on their hands on-lines they don't disagree with from their parties perspective and he said no, we're all listening intensively. f

alexander, voinovich and cochran. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, are we now on the nomination of judge lynch? the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to vote on the nomination of gerard e. lynch of new york to be the united states circuit judge for the second circuit. there are two minutes of debate equally divided. mr. leahy: madam president, it's constitution day 200 years ago today the constitutional convention finished its work and with this vote -- mr. leahy--can we have order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. leahy: with this vote the senate will finally fulfill one of our most constitutional duties by granting consent to the president's nomination of a lifetime appointment to the federal judiciary. as the first circuit judge, the sean has yet to confirm a single judicial judge despite the number reaches 120. we all know that judge lynch is an outstanding judge. he passed out of our committee a voice vote unanimously in the judiciary committee