mr. alexander: mr. president, i ask consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: and ask consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, nashville and middle tennessee have been hit with what the corps of engineers officials tell us is a 1,000-year rain event. in a thousand years, we wouldn't expect to have this much rain. it is providing enormous hardship to the people, not just of nashville and davison county but the counties in and around nashville. i wanted to give a brief report on what we know about that, what nor corker and i and congressman cooper and the other members of congress from that region are doing working together so that the people of our area can know what -- what to expect. there is a telephone number to call, and i'd like to -- i can -- if i can find it here, i'd like to give it. 615-862-8574. that's a telephone number for the people in the nashville and middle tennessee area who are concerned

mr. alexander, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for two minutes. mr. alexander: i thank the gentleman for yielding. all those along the gulf coast there are communities, many communities, hundreds of miles from the edge of the water, communities that are filled with families that for generation after generation have produced the workers that are required to produce gas and oil in the gulf region. some of those workers leave home for a period of seven days, 14 days, perhaps 21 days before coming home. sadly, some never return home. families can't be prepared for long those loved ones. and for th our hearts and prayers go out. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from louisiana reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from california. ms. speier: mr. speaker, i continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california reserves the ba

mr. alexander: thank you.ick about what the business should be this week; there's so much going on that's of great concern to many of us. we have a briefing this afternoon on the dimensions of the oil spill in the gulf of mexico. those of us in tennessee are deeply concerned about the 1,000-year rain, an event that only happens every thousand years according to to some of the engineers in the army corps that has wreaked havoc on middle tennessee and is beginning now to hurt west tennessee. we have the arizona immigration debate, which the distinguished senator from illinois was discussing a little earlier. we have a new start treaty that the president has asked us to consider. just around the corner we have a nomination coming for a vacancy on the supreme court of the united states which will dominate, as it should, the attention of this body for two or three months or so until it's thoroughly considered. and of course the american people would like for us to focus on jobs. i have a great respect for the democ

mr. alexander, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for two minutes. mr. alexander: i thank the gentleman for yielding. all those along the gulf coast there are communities, many communities, hundreds of miles from the edge of the water, communities that are filled with families that for generation after generation have produced the workers that are required to produce gas and oil in the gulf region. some of those workers leave home for a period of seven days, 14 days, perhaps 21 days before coming home. sadly, some never return home. families can't be prepared for losing those loved ones. and for that our hearts and prayers go out. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from louisiana reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from california. ms. speier: mr. speaker, i continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california reserves th

mr. alexander: thank you, madam president. madam president, i congratulate the senator from alabama for his comments and for his proposal which he describes as a republican proposal. of course, what all of us hope is that it becomes a bipartisan proposal as our friends on the other side look carefully at it. that's what happened with the big bank bailout provision that we worked on yesterday. senator dodd and senator shelby worked for a while. senators corker and warner had worked before that, and we came up with a conclusion that all but five senators agreed to. now we have moved to two of the other major deficiencies in the dodd bill that are all wrapped up in one proposal here, and it's really wrapped up with the central issue that's before the american people. president obama said in september of last year that the health care bill was a proxy for a larger issue about the role of government in americans' lives. the president was exactly right about that, and we have seen that issue over and over and over again. i don't thi

so we're honored to have tim alexander here with us today. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: madam speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed s. 3111, an act to establish the commission on the freedom of information act in which the concurrence of the house has requested. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to five requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. gutierrez: thank you. madam speaker, the old joke around congress is that the senate is washington's legislative's hospice, a place where good bills go and die a slow death. i hope this joke will be proven wrong. unfortunately, many of the reforms passed in the wall street reform and consumer protection a

mrs. bush? >> not really. >> mother, you didn't just remake my bed when i was there. >> well, okay. >> she gets the cross-examination. that's it for "the daily rundown." coming up next on msnbc, peter alexander reports." her guest former homeland security secretary michael chertoff. we'll see you tomorrow. >>> here is your business travel forecast. i'm meteorologist bill karins. rather quiet, tranquil day out there. the only reason we see a chance of thunderstorms will be cleveland and detroit, beautiful boston, new york, d.c., atlanta, chicago. pretty nice. some showers around. dallas is going to be near 90 and on the west coast, finally dry in the northwest. i get one free. and...they let me choose where to use them. the loyalty program he signed us up for has all these restrictions, blackout dates, a crazy point system... and we couldn't stay here. so what am i getting for free? my undying love? [ yelps ] wendy. hole-in-one. [ male announcer ] accumulate 10 nights. and get a night free. welcomerewards from hotels.com. smart. so smart. a heart attack at 57. that was a rough time. my doctor told me i should've been doing more for my high cholesterol. ♪ you should've listened. you're right.

but we'll have time for senator alexander and then we'll vote and return and return with you three senators. >> thanks, madam chair. mr. mckay, i heard an interview by the chief executive of b.p. and i believe he described the intry cassie of this drilling is similar to open heart surgery at 5,000 feet, is that correct? >> the description was about using remote-operated vehicles at 5,000 feet and doing connections and cutting hydraulic lines and rethreading things. >> that's a good way to think about it, it would be like open heart surgery at 5,000 feet? >> not a bad analogy. >> if you had open heart surgery, would you want your doctor 5,000 feet away? >> i wouldn't. >> i'm wondering even the most skilled physician or the most skilled operator would have to be very skilled to be always successful at 5,000 feet. wouldn't there be substantially less risk of an incident like this with drilling that are was not in such deep water? >> we were working on a piece of equipment that had failed and working on a piece of equipment that had hoses that were leaking and we were reworking those hoses in response to get that blowout