mr. bennet: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank senator alexander for his leadership over so many years on education issues confronting this country and making sure that every child in america has the opportunity to fulfill their full potential, and for his work on this bipartisan effort to do something very, very unusual for government and also for public education, which is actually the -- to begin an inquiry about not what the next rule should be, not what the next regulation should be, but whether there are rules and regulations that are now obsolete or whether our state regulations and our federal regulations are actually not accounting for each other in any way other than to overburden the people that are actually teaching our kids and our kids themselves. i used -- you know, i used to spend a lot of time when i was the superintendent of denver public schools wondering why everyone in washington was so mean to our teachers and so mean to our kids. and now that i've been here a couple of years, i kno

mr. bennet: mr. president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. i thank the senator. quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. a senator: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. a senator: i would ask the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. isakson: i would like to be recognized as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. isakson: i come at the end of a long day for all of us to talk about a subject off the subject of the current bill on the floor but one of tremendous importance to the united states and to the recovery of our economy, and also to just point out for the record and hopefully also for the right people that we are at a critical point in terms of housing in america with dodd-frank having been passed and the new rules being promulgated, it's essential that we do not make the mistakes that led us to the last collapse that caused the tragedy in housing in 2007, 2008,

mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i'd like to speak briefly on the importance of passing the america invents act. chairman leahy and the judiciary committee have worked hard to put this product on the floor. it will mark the biggest reform to our patent system in 60 years. this bill will create jobs in colorado and across the country by promoting innovation. by making our patent system more efficient, we are building the foundation for future economic growth. in my state alone, nearly 20,000 patent applications have been granted between the years 2000 and 2009. these applications have created the foundation for our clean energy economy and emerging tech and bioindustries. having the trademark office is essential to maintaining american leadership in innovation, the america invents act will help us build new industries and help cure the backlog and delay that has stunted the ability of inventors to patent their ideas. right now the average pendency period for a patent application is 36 months. that is comple

mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on wednesday, march 9. following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. following any leader remarks, there may be a period of morning business until 10:40 a.m. with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first half and the republicans controlling the final half. at 10:40 earnlg the senate recess until 12:00 noon for a joint meeting with the honorable julia gillard, prime minister of australia. that following the joint meeting, the senate requeen at 12 -- reconvene. senators are encouraged to gather in the senate chamber at 10 dlon 40 a.m. and we'll proceed as a body to the hall of the house at 10:45

mr. bennet: mr. president, i rise today to speak about the importance of a landmark piece of legislation, the clean air act. congress passed the clean air act over 40 years ago with broad bipartisan support from both chambers in congress, and president nixon wisely signed it into law. since then we've seen remarkable benefits to the health of our nation. we've seen significant reductions in pollution from lead, mercury, sulfur dioxide and a host of other contaminants. america reduced pollution and made remarkable strides in improving public health even while our economy adjusted and thrived. in fact, the clean air act has a long and clear track record of promoting job creation and economic growth while reducing pollution. the economic benefits of the clean air act are significant. for every dollar spent on clean air act provisions, we get -- protections, we get $30 of public health benefits in return. in the year 2010 alone, the clean air act saved 160,000 lives and avoided millions of cases of pollu

mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. i wanted to come to the floor to talk about the state of public education in this country, especially when it comes to the condition of poor children in the united states, in part because i think it is urgent that we fix no child left behind, a law that is not working well for kids and for teachers, for moms and dads all across the united states, and certainly in my home state of colorado. sometimes people that aren't engaged in the work of teaching our kids, which is, i think, the hardest work that anybody can do short of going to war, don't realize just how horrific the outcomes are for children in this great country of ours, especially children living in poverty. sometimes when i'm on this floor where there are 100 desks, 100 senators, i think a little bit about what the condition would be of the people here if they were not senators. but if these 100 people were poor children living in the united states of america in the 21st century. first of all, mr. president, it's important to

mr. bennet: mr. presiden.mr. nei ask unanimous consent to speak for eight minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: i rise to speak about the two budget bills that we'll be voting on that purport to cut spending in washington. i appreciate the comments of my good friend from missouri, senator mccaskill, in pointing out many of the shortcomings of the two pieces of legislation. i'm here to deliver a eulogy. both bills are dead and they deserve to be dead. one bill cuts too little. the other bill has too much hate. neither one is serious. most important, neither will pass and they shouldn't pass because their unfair. they're not in the best interest of nebraskans and taxpayers across our cufnlt the only thing they're serious about is guarantee shutting down the government. nebraskans want serious spending cuts but these bills are loaded up with tricks, treats, gimmicks and games sms on one side we see a bill that simply cuts too little. now it purports to cut spending by $50 billion, but when you push through the thicket of gimmicks, it actually o

bennet. >> thank you, mr. chairman. chairman bernanke, nice to see you again. thank you for your testimony. you talked a little bit in your remarks about the importance of not just about cutting, what the composition of the spending looks like, what the comprehensive approach to taxation looks like. your view is more nuanced than the headlines that come out of this place and i appreciate it very much. and i wanted to ask you in that context how you evaluate the product of the fiscal commission. what do you think of their suggestions about their mixes of cuts versus -- cuts to spending versus revenue? do you think it should weighted one way or another? i know you're here to talk about monetary policy, but n fiscal policy. i wondered if you would spend a few minutes sharing your views on it. >> what i think was impressive about thedeficit commission is that it -- first of all, it highlighted the size of the problem. secondly it, for the most part made a set of proposals that while obviously painful would address the problem. i say that for the most part because,

mr. leahy: we're ready to go forward on the bennet and kirk-pryor amendments. i'm prepared to call them up for a vote in the next few minutes if we could get somebody on the floor. mr. leahy: i understand there is a modification at the desk on the bennet amendment number 117. the presiding officer: without objection, the amendment is so modified. mr. leahy: i ask unanimous consent the senate resume consideration of the bennet amendment number 117 as modified , with the changes at the desk, and the kirk amendment number 123 en bloc. further, the amendments be agreed to en bloc, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. mr. grassley: reserving the right to object, and i won't object, i want to say for -- as manager for my side of the aisle that we support this. we think that both of these amendments are -- are good amendments and that we ought to move forward, and i appreciate very much the majority working with us to accomplish this goal. i yield. mr. leahy: thank you. the presiding officer: is ther

bennet. >> thank you, mr. chairman. chairman bernanke, nice to see you again. thank you for your testimony. you talked a little bit in your remarks about the importance of not just about cuttin what the composition of the spending looks like, what the comprehensive approach to taxation looks like. your view is more nuaed than the heaines that come out of this place and i appreciate it very much. and i wanted to ask you in that context how you evaluate the product of the fiscal commission. what do you think of their suggestions about their mixes of cuts versus -- cuts to spending versus revenue? do you think it should weighted one way or another? i know you're here to talk about monetary policy, but not fiscal policy. i wondered if you would spend a few minutes sharing your views on it. >> what i think was impressive about the deficit commission is that it -- first of all, it highlighted the size of the problem. secondly it, for the most part made a set of proposals that while obviously painful would address the problem. i say that for the most part because, you