mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee is recognized. mr. alexander: thank you. i ask unanimous consent to temporarily set aside the pending motion so i may offer a motion to commit which is at the desk. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. the clerk will report. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from tennessee, mr. alexander, moves to commit the bill h.r. 4872 to the committee on health, education, labor, and pensions of the senate with instructions to report the same back to the senate within one day, with changes to reduce the interest paid by student borrowers by 1.5 percentage points and to add an offset. idinofficer: the senator from montana is recognized. mr. baucus: mr. president, i wonder if the senator from tennessee would agree to modify his request so that the amendment be set aside -- earlier amendments be set aside until a time designated by the leaders, and that this amendment then be taken up at a time decided by the l

mr. alexander: thank you. mr.dent, wit would the chr please let me know when i have consumed 12 of the 15 minutes. the presiding officer: yes, sir. mr. alexander: thank you very much. mr. president, it was my privilege last thursday, along with some other members of the senate, to attend a health care summit at the invitation of president obama. it went on a long time, and we learned one thing we already knew, that our president is smart, knows a lot about health care. and so i stayed the whole time. but it gave those of us on the republican side a chance we don't have the opportunity to have as often, which is to be on center stage and let the american people know, a, who we are and, b what our ideas are. so it was a terrific idea for us to say, for example, that we are -- our goal is to reduce health care costs, that we'd like to move step by step toward that goal. we identified a number of areas, for example, allowing insurance to be transferred across state lines, limiting junk lawsuits, which would bring down

mr. alexander: mr. president, if i may ask a question of the senator from new hampshire. mr. gregg: yes. mr. alexander: senator gregg, the president's budget said it would cost, i believe, $371 billion over ten years to pay -- to properly pay for doctors who see medicare patients. i believe the congressional budget office said the number was over $200 billion. can you imagine a comprehensive health care bill that -- that improves medicare without paying doctors to serve medicare patients, and can you explain to me how you can possibly say that the -- that the medicare -- that the bill does not add to the federal deficit if it does not include paying doctors to serve medicare patients? mr. gregg: well, the senator from tennessee has asked an excellent question, which is, how can you pass a health care reform bill and leave off the reform that's necessary to pay the doctors to see their patients and claim that you are actually covering the costs of health care? and c.b.o. has scored that at about $250 billion, it may be as high as $350 billion. it's simply ignored. you know, it

mr. alexander: i thank the chair. madam president, the senator from arizona and i and senator barrasso who will be here in a few minutes had the privilege of being invited by the president to a lengthy health care summit not a couple of weeks ago. it was at the blair house, an historic location right across from the white house. over the seven 1/2-hour discussion, there were some discuss differences of opinion. in fact, my friend, the majority leader, said lamar, you're not entitled to your facts, and i think he's right about that. we want to use real facts. but the american people once again seem to have understood the real facts. in the "wall street journal" yesterday, march 10, there was an article by scott rasmussen and doug schoen. mr. rasmussen is an independent pollster. mr. schoen was president clinton's pollster. we were saying mr. president, your plan will increase the deficit. this is a time when many people in america believe the deficit is growing at an alarming rate and will bring the country to its knee

mr. alexander: i thank the chair.am president, the senator from arizona and i and senator barrasso who will be here in a few minutes had the privilege of being invited by the president to a lengthy health care summit not a couple of weeks ago. it was at the blair house, an historic location right across from the white house. over the seven 1/2-hour discussion, there were some discuss differences of opinion. in fact, my friend, the majority leader, said lamar, you're not entitled to your facts, and i think he's right about that. we want to use real facts. but the american people once again seem to have understood the real facts. in the "wall street journal" yesterday, march 10, there was an article by scott rasmussen and doug schoen. mr. rasmussen is an independent pollster. mr. schoen was president clinton's pollster. we were saying mr. president, your plan will increase the deficit. this is a time when many people in america believe the deficit is growing at an alarming rate and will bring the country to its knees in

mr. alexander: and i ask consent -- i see the senator wyoming on the floor. i ask unanimous consent that he be allowed to lead the colloquy in our remaining time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: could i ask the senator from wyoming, is he aware of a letter from i believe 85,000 physicians that oppose this legislation that recently came in? mr. barrasso: well, madam president, i am not aware of that article. i look forward to hearing about it from my colleague. mr. mccain: may i just mention to my friend, dr. barrasso, the undersigned state of national specialty societies representing more than 85,000 physicians and the millions of patients they serve are writing to oppose passage of the patient protection and are afordable care act. the changes that were recently proposed by president obama do not address our many concerns with this legislation and they, therefore, urge you to draft a more patient-centered bill that will reform the country's flawed system for financing health care while preserving the best health care in the world. i just

mr. alexander thank you very much. it's great to see you. congratulations. >> thank you, larry. >> it have to ask you. i have so many things and i know our time is short. this is an investor-class issue. that's the application of the 2.9% payroll tax on health care, to investments. it will raise the dividends' tax and annuities and it will probably raise capital gains. when you combine that with the end of the bush tax cuts it would jack up the capital gains' tax by over 50%. is this thing baked in the cake? can this thing be beat snn i think it's rattling investors and stocks right now. >> i think it can be beaten. i think it's up, and particularly. members of the house. we made it very clear to the president we were ready to begin to bring down health care costs and we had a number of ideas to do it. and we didn't want this bill and the american people don't want it. they've been trying to say in every wear they know how that they don't want it. so the democrats try to jam it through with a partisan vote. they're just saying to the america

mr. alexander: i see the senator -- the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. gregg: i ask that we be able to proceed as if in a colloquy. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: i ask consent that senator mccain -- senator mccain be allowed to lead the colloquy? i ask consent that senator mccain be allowed to lead the colloquy. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. alexander: the senator from arizona has been a consistent proponent of openness in government. i heard the senator from new hampshire say that a sweetheart deals have not been able to be voted on. will we have a chance to vote on them soon? mr. mccain: i thank my colleague from tennessee. i would offer an amendment that would remove some of the sweetheart deals. i don't think we'll find out all of what was in this 2,733 page legislation for a long, long time. as you know, it's that size and it really takes an expert, even though i read the bill, to really know -- go from one point to another. for example, it took us a long time to figure out the that the

mr. alexander: thank you very much. mr. president, this has been a debate filled with passion and good intentions and a lot of hard work, and our political parties have come to vastly different conclusions. the president and the majority have said this is an historic occasion. i agree. but i believe, as do most of us, that it is an historic mistake. it is important to say why we think that. this is the fundamental mistake that what we have done is to -- with the law that was passed majority and the majority is proposing to do in this second bill is to expand a health care delivery system that we all know is more expensive than we can afford instead of stepping back and instead seeking to reduce the cost of that health care delivery system so that more americans with afford to buy health insurance. that's the mistake. so i'd like to try to say in three or four minutes what this bill means to tennesseans. i was listening to the senator from montana and the republican senators talk about debt. we believe, i believe that this b

mr. alexander alexander: would r from arizona ask a question? mr. kyl: yes, and i was about to get to my final point of which the senator from tennessee is expert, having the federal government take over student loans. but yes, i will yield. mr. alexander alexander: i'll sd listen to his explanation on the other issue, but i heard you mention the new -- the news this morning that the new bill, which we haven't seen and which suddenly we're, of course, as is usually the case, we have to rush and pass it over the weekend before we read it, is going to save the government money. now, i don't think very many americans believe, but my question is this. i wonder if the senator knows whether this comprehensive health care bill, which is going to save the government money, not run up the deficit, includes the amount of money it costs the government to pay doctors to serve medicare patients. if -- and if it does not include that amount, which i believe i heard the representative from wisconsin say it was $371 billion in the president's budget over ten years

mr. alexander: mr. president, i was talking to the senator from new mexico and the senator from wyoming about stewart udall, who the majority leader just talked about a little earlier. he's the father of senator tom udall, the uncle of mark. and, really, a great, distinguished american. lived 90 long good years and did so much in our country to focus on conservation and the outdoors and so we remember and celebrate his life and send our -- from our family and i'm sure from the entire senate the -- our best wishes to our colleagues, tom and mark, and to their families. mr. president, i've been in and out of public life a long time. and i -- i have never had anything affect me in a personal way like the health care debate. i got up this morning and -- in west miller's cove in blunt county and drove to the knoxville airport and almost every single person with whom i talked on my way into the airplane had something to say to me about the health care debate. and when i get on the plane, here comes another fe

mr. president, but this is still a pig. jane: tennessee senator lamar alexanderre live with us next. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. [ male announcer ] competition... it pushes us to work harder. to be better. to win. but sometimes even rivals realize they share a common goal. america's beverage companies have removed full-calorie soft drinks from schools, reducing beverage calories by 88%. togethewith schools, we're hping kids makeore balanced chces every day. ♪ who says there's nothing like the taste of cool whip ? ♪ she does. ♪ and she does. ♪ and these guys too. ♪ obviously they do. ♪ oh, and her. ♪ we love getting our outback dirty. because it seems like the dirtier it gets, the more it shines. the subaru outback®. motor trend's 2010 sport/utility of the year®. hurry in to the subaru love spring event for great deals on all models. now through march 31st. jon: the hunt is on rig

alexander is on the floor and he's talking about health care. he offered a stinging rebuick of his view of how the obama administration views government. >> sometimes, i think mrpresident, the model of the obama administration is, if you can find it in the yellow pages, the government ought to be doing it. this is really breathtaking. we're taking over cars, banks, insurance companies, we're taking over more of health care. we'll just take over the student loan program. >> does he have a point? >> i don't think so. i obviously respect the senator very much. president bush was the one who lent billions of dollars of the taxpayers' money to the automobile industry. he put 230 million dollar there are into banks representing three quarters of our entire banking stip. when this president came in, we moved very quickly to get that money back from the banks. we have got 170 billion of that back almost all from the major banks at a positive return to the taxpayer. we've worked quickly to clean up the mess we inherited and get the government out from the emergency actions that president bush started to take to deal with this recession. >> as you know in politics, some

alexander von humboldt and the shaping of america. von humboldt, scientist, explorer and diplomat, is often called the father of modern geography and was one of mr. jefferson's most enlightened correspondents. he was also a correspondent of abraham alfonse albert -- jefferson's secretary of treasury and future president james madison. the seeds for von humboldt's great work, "cosmos," were set during his travels to latin america between 1799 and 1804, and his influences were wide ranging and not confined to the sciences, but also included literary figures such as ralph waldo emerson, edgar allan poe, henry david thorough and painters. it is a sincere pressure for me to welcome laura wahl to charlottesville and the virginia festival of the book. she is currently the john h. bennett chair of southern letters at the university of south carolina. she received her bachelor's and master's degree in english from washington university and her ph.d. in american literature from indiana university. she has just been named the recipient of the merle curty award for the best book in american history by the organization of american historians, specifically fo

mr. speaker, just because it's historic doesn't mean it's good. i think we got to be reminded of that. let's think back to history when something was good and that was when alexander hamilton said regarding on our constitution he said, here, sir, the people govern. we would be wise to listen to the american people. the american people have said no to the abc's of pelosi care. they have said no to the arrogance of this bill. they have said no to the budget-bustings of this bill. in illinois a manufacture called caterpillar said next year alone -- it will cost the company $100 million. what does that do to a state that is left roff shod by underpromises on -- rauf shod by underpromise -- roughshod by underpromises? the speaker pro tempore: the chair will moment that the gentleman from michigan has no time remaining. the gentleman from michigan has 1 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. levin: i now yield 45 seconds to the distinguished gentleman illinois, mr. davis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 45 seconds. mr. davis: mr. speaker, when i was growing up, our parents always taught us that right was right if nobody was right, and that wrong was wrong i

mr. chief justice, it's been a wonderful afternoon. thank you for spending time with us. >> thank you. appreciate it. [applause] >>> now, and even with former military interrogator matthew alexander. he was part of the team that helped locate zarqawi the former leader of al qaeda in iraq. the new america's foundation and national interest magazine hosts this hour and a half event. >> thank you for coming to the new american nation. i am peter, a senior fellow here. we've got a very interesting program for today. we are going to first start with justine, the address the national interest to will talk a little bit about why she commissioned this story and then matthew alexander will precede and basically tell you about the major findings of his story. matthew alexander is a pseudonym. he's a former senior military interrogator in iraq to raise instrumental in the capture of abu zarqawi and has written a book on that, how to pick a terrorist i believe, and his e-mail is how to break a terrorist .com if you want to get in touch with him. this is the cover story in the national interest, a very good issue of the national interest not only was not to alexander's story but a great discu

alexander correct when he quoted the congressional budget office that premiums would increase by 10% to 13% for individuals purchasing health insurance? or was the president correct by saying that that was not true? mr. barrasso: well, and senator ensee who's joined us on the floor, was also sitting with us on that day-on-at blair house. and my recollection and from doing the research afterward, the press reported that senator alexander was correct, that premiums on individuals buying health insurance in the individual market would see their health insurance premiums go up by 10% to 13% if this bill becomes law and the president signed it into law today. so the american public needs to know that their health insurance premiums are going to go up as a result of what the president signed today. and i'm bringing an amendment opposed to that. mr. mccain: that's exactly what -- mr. enzi: that's exactly what was concluded at that blair house meeting, which was supposed to be a listening meeting. nothing appears to have been listened to. there were multiple suggestions that the republicans had there. and on that 10% to 13% that this premium is going to increase, there's a very important addition to that. i

alexander, a republican from louisiana. i agree with the congressman, and i hope that all of my colleagues, democrats and republicans, will agree that seniors need emergency relief and they need it now. mr. president, over 90% of the individuals who will receive this emergency relief make less than $75,000 and over eight million who will receive help on this amendment make less than $14,000 a year. so that's where we are. millions of people are wondering whether in their times of need when their costs are going up when they're struggling to maintain their dignity, they're wondering if a congress that was there for wall street, a congress which over a period of years has been there for the wealthiest people in this country whether that congress will be there for our veterans and our seniors. i hope and expect that we will be and i ask for support on the amendment that will be voted on soon. mr. president, with that, i yield the floor, and -- i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from montana's recognized. mr. baucus: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the following staff be allowed floor privileges during consideration of the pending bill, mary baker, ivy english