mr. baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, i ask ispe further proceedings under thed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. baucus: mr. president, today the senate resumes its third day of consideration of the joint resolution to increase the debt limit. we continue our discussion of whether congress will allow the government to honor its commitments to pay its bills. yesterday, the senate disposed of the thune amendment to terminate the treasury department's troubled asset relief program. today, three amendments remain pending: the substitute amendment raising the amount of the debt limit, this senator's amendment to protect social security, and the conrad-gregg amendment to create a fast track process to consider a budget commission's recommendations. up to eight other amendments remain in order to the joint resolution. the senator from alaska has the right to offer an amendment on the environmental protection agency's endange

mr. baucus: mr. president, i yield nine minutes and how many seconds? the presiding officer: nine minutes an 11 seconds. mr. baucus: i yield nine minutes and 11 seconds to the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: i'm sad to see that our republican colleagues have resorted to fear tactics in a desperate attempt to preserve a dysfunctional, costly status quo medical system that we have in this country today. republicans in their attempt to strike fear in seniors across the country are trying to convince people that they've changed from the party that's always opposed to medicare to being medicare's staunchest defenders. we all know if it was up to our friends on the other side of the aisle, there would be no medicare. they fought it's very creation. don't take my word for it, take one of their standard bearers who ran for president when he ran for president. senator bob dole, who is a good friend of mine, i have a lot of admiration for senator dole, i just don't agree with him. he said, "i was there, fighting the fight, voting against medicare, one of 12, becau

mr. baucus: mr. president, i'm going to speak a little bit about the amendment offered by the senator from north dakota, senator conrad, cosponsored by the senator from new hampshire, senator gregg. it's not offered yet. i'm not totally certain when the amendment will be offered. i think it will be offered. i'm going to speak on the amendment now but if we're ready to enter a unanimous consent agreement as to the proceedings of the senate tonight and tomorrow i'll stop my -- my presentation, so we can enter that order. as i said, mr. president, under the previous order the amendment by the senator from north dakota, senator conrad, and the senator from new hampshire, senator gregg, proposing a fiscal task force is in order to the pending measure. yesterday evening the vice president met with a number of interested parties, including our colleague, the senate majority leader, the speaker, the senator from north dakota, and others. i was that the meeting. yesterday evening that group discussed a fiscal

mr. baucus: mr.sident, i am happ happy to learn the senar from north dakota favors my amendment or at least it wouldn't cause any injustice to his central mission. my main point, mr. president, is the regular ortd does work here. in 1990, in 1993, 1997, congress passed through reconciliation budget resolutions that worked, and i believe frankly that we have it within us as senators to do the same again, pass a budget resolution through reconciliation to get the deficit under control, working with the president. very much of this depends upon the president and working with the congress. it's not just congress. and i ha i'd urge all of us the regular order has worked in the past. it worked several tiesms the andrews air force base agreement was put through regular order. these that's what we as senators should do. we're senators. the presiding officer: all time has expired. mr. baucus: i ask for the yeas and nays on the next amendment of on my amendment. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient sec

mr. baucus: mr. president, the senator from north dakota makes a very compelling case for fiscal discipline. he's been making this case for a good number of years. he's on the forefront of -- of urging us and the congress and country to be more disciplined, to get in better control of these deficits. and i appreciate the work that the senator from north dakota. i might say that we have no disagreement whatsoever that we need to address our fiscal challenge. we totally agree. i think most members of this body. that's not the question, whether we address our fiscal challenge or not is not the issue. i want to get that off the table. we all know that we have a huge problem facing us and it must be dealt with. what we do disagree with is the process, it's how we address it. i have a lot more to say about that later today. i see the senator from arizona on the floor. he's been waiting very patiently. mr. conrad: could i call up the amendment? mr. baucus: certainly. mr. conrad: mr. president, i'd like to c

mr. baucus: mr. president, i suggest that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presidofficer: whout objection, so ordered. mr. baucus: mr. president, i ask consent to execute the order of december 22, 2009, with respect to hj res. 45. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. under the previous order the committee on finance is discharged of h.j. res. 45 and the senate will proceed to the joint resolution which the clerk will report. the clerk: house joint resolution 45 increasing the strach trilimit on the public -- statutory limit on the public debt. mr. baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: setor from montana. mr. baucus: pursuant to the previous order on behalf of the majority leader, i have a bs up. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from montana, mr. baucus, for mr. reidro amendment 3299. mr. baucus: i ask that further reading of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered

mr. baucus: mr. president, we are now back -- the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: madam president, we are now back on the debt limit legislation. in just a second, i'll cease speaking so the senator from utah can address the senate. i think we're making progress. three minutes -- three amendments are now pending. first, the substitute amendmen amendment -- excuse me, the substitute amendment raising the debt limit amount. second, an amendment by the senator from south dakota on tarp. and third, an amendment by this senator to protect social security. we anticipate that the senators from north dakota and new hampshire will be offering their amendment to create a budget commission sometime midday today. i am hopeful that the senate can schedule votes on my social security amendment, the conrad-gregg commission amendment, and perhaps the pending thune amendment as well early this afternoon. and we are hopeful that we can continue to process amendments with the goal of wrapping this legislation up early next week. before i take a few moments to describe the amen

mr. baucus: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senator is correct. the senate will be in order. the senator from montana. mr. baucus: thank you, madam president. madam president, the next amendment is about whether the united states will pay its bills. it's about whether the united states will continue to pay the interest it owes on the money it has borrowed. the spending laws that created the debt are behind us. the only question that remains is whether the government will honor its obligation to pay the bill. we have gone to the restaurant we have eaten the meal, now the only question is whether to pay the check. it's that simple. congress does not enact in legislation, the treasury will default on its he debt and for the first time in american history, which means lower social security payments, would fail to pay full payments to beneficiaries of other federal programs an many others, that would pale, madam president, in comparison to the cataclysmic

mr. baucus: mr. president, i have three unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders, and i ask consent that these requests be agreed to and printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. baucus: mr. president, i ask now that a senator be recognized to speak for ten minutes and immediately following his remarks the senate stand recessed. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. the senator from florida is recognized. mr. lemieux: thank you, mr. president. i rise to talk about the unsustainable spending of this country and the debt that we cannot afford. just a moment ago in a proposal by senator conrad and senator gregg to put together a commission to tackle the spending of this country was defeated in this chamber. i supported the proposal. it was not a perfect proposal. it was a proposal that some republicans didn't like because of the opportunity it

mr. baucus: mr. president, dr. lawrence peter, the educator who came up with the peter principle, once said -- "democracy is a process by which the people are free to choose the person who will get the blame." mr. president, in a sex, that's the people's right. in a democracy, the people elect us to represent them and in a democracy, the people lejt us to be account -- elect us to be accountable. but the chairman and ranking republican member of the budget committee have come up with a process to shift the blame. they have come up with a process for congress to punt our accountability away. they have come up with a process to outsource congress's central fiscal responsibilities to a new budget commission. i can see that a commission may be attractive to some. it's the easy way out. senators can blame everything on the commission. senators can say, the commission made me do it. but we should not shirk our responsibility. rather, we should do the job that our constituents sent us here to do. and we alr

mr. baucus: madam president, i fixed -- the presiding officer: could i please have order. mr. baucus: i yield back the balance of my time and i suggest the other side do the same. the presiding officer: is all time yielded back? all time is yielded bk. the clerk will read the joint resolution the third time. the clerk: house joint resolution 45, increasing the statutory limit on the public debt. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: are there any senators wishing to vote or to change their vote? seeing none, on this vote the yeas are 60, the nays are 39. under the previous order requiring 60 votes for the passage of this joint resolution, the joint resut pas. mr. reid: move to lay that on the table. e presidg officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the order with respect to debate prior to the cloture vote on the bankruptcy nomination provide that the debate be extended until 3:20 p.m. this afternoon with

mr. baucus.i want to take the liberty as chair to recognize students from pottawa high school in ohio who are visiting the capitol and seeing their government at work right here. so welcome. you and your teacher. we're pleased that you stopped by for a visit. thank you. the chair recognizes mr. baucus of alabama. >> welcome, former secretary. secretary paulson, march 2009 -- march 16th was when aig -- the payments were made to aig or guaranteed. leading up to that you participated in several meetings about aig. is that correct? >> prior to march of -- >> 2009. >> prior to march -- yeah. i had a number of meetings about aig as we were putting in capital. >> i knee one of the meetings, march 24th, my questioning of mr. geithner he mentions, secretary geithner, that you -- he said that you and he met with aig to discuss lehman's failure? >> to discuss what? >> september 14th. now, that was two days before -- >> oh, yes. you're saying -- so you're talking about 2009, march -- i think you're talking a

mr. baucus. i want to take the liberty as chair to recognize students from pottawa high school in ohio who are visiting the capitol and seeing their government at work right here. so welcome. you and your teacher. we're pleased that you stopped by for a visit. thank you. the chair recognizes mr. baucus of alabama. >> welcome, former secretary. secretary paulson, march 2009 -- march 16th was when aig -- the payments were made to aig or guaranteed. leading up to that you participated in several meetings about aig. is that correct? >> prior to march of -- >> 2009. >> prior to march -- yeah. i had a number of meetings about aig as we were putting in capital. >> i knee one of the meetings, march 24th, my questioning of mr. geithner he mentions, secretary geithner, that you -- he said that you and he met with aig to discuss lehman's failure? >> to discuss what? >> september 14th. now, that was two days before -- >> oh, yes. you're saying -- so you're talking about 2009, march -- i think you're talking

mr. baucus, for wreck -- bachus, for recognizing the ability, character of mr. ingram. we are very proud of him in flint, michigan. we are very so happy that alabama can share our pride. i thank you for your kind words. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. guthrie: i have another speaker. i would like to yield as much time as he may consume, another gentleman from alabama, mr. bonner. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alabama is recognized for as much time as he might consume. mr. bonner: thank you, madam speaker. mr. kildee, i want to personally thank you on behalf of alabama fans all across the nation for bringing this important resolution to the house floor today. mark ingram is an exceptional athlete. as my colleagues have noted, he won the heisman trophy for the first time in the history of the university of alabama to bring this honor and distinction to our storied and beloved university. but mark ingram is also an outstanding young man. i know the people in michigan, especial

mr. president, we've all been working to help the people of haiti and the american citizens who have been caught up in this tragedy. that's why we're committed to work with senator balk, senator nelson -- baucus, senator nelson, menendez and republican colleagues to make sure that we pass legislation next week so the departmen department of head human services will continue to have the funding they need to help american citizens who are repatriated from haiti. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that on tuesday, january 26, when the senate resume consideration of h.j. res. 45 the time until 11:30 a.m. equally divided and controlled between the leaders or their designees and the time be divide between the baucus amendment and the conrad-gregg amendment. that at 11:30 a.m. the senate vote on the baucus amendment to be followed by a vote on the conrad-gregg amendment with two minutes between the votes. further, as if in executive session, i ask consent that on monday, january 25 at 5:30 p.m. the senate proceed to executive session to consider executive calendar number 608, the nomination of josanna peterson to be judge for the eastern district of washington with the time until 6:00 p.m. equal

mr. baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask that we go out of executive session and i be allowed to speak for up to three minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president, in just a few minutes, as soon as i finish my remarks, we'll move to vote on the judge. this will be the 10,000th vote of arlen specter. i congratulate our distinguished colleague, senator specter, as he is about to cast his 10 thouth vote as a senator. he is only the 30th senator to reach this number, five digits. i have known senator specter for more than a quarter of a century. i have read his book. the book on his life is really a remarkably impressive travel through his political career. he was a crime fighter as a district attorn