mr. burris: thank you, madam president. i would like also unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. burris: thank you, madam president. in washington, there is a great deal to talk about what health care reform will mean for various segments of the population. in particular, many of us spend our time talking about 47 million americans who do not currently have health insurance and how they stand to benefit from our reform bill. this debate has centered on these folks, especially the 31 million people who will gain access to coverage under our proposal. madam president, in my opinion, this alone should be reason enough to pass health care reform. expanding access to coverage will provide -- it will improve relative health outcomes and save money across the board. it will shift our focus from sick care to preventative care and will reduce wait time in our emergency rooms. this will have a profound effect on the lives of millions, madam president, and speaks to the need

mr. burris: madam president, i rise to speak on house bill 4213. one amendment has already been dropped. i do plan to put in a second amendment. and, madam president, this amendment is dealing with the recovery act funds and during my three terms as state comptroller of illinois, i worked very hard to maintain accountability of the money that we spent from our state. and, madam president, i have been contacted by my state officials, the various auditors, controllers an treasurers to say that the stimulus money coming into the states are coming in and they have no funds to do the transparency and accountability. i put an amendment on to this bill to say that we should. and i offered amendment 3388, which addresses currently underfunding costs of tracking and reporting the stimulus money. this measure would set aside up to one half of 1% of all existing stimulus funds and allow states and local governments to use this administrative expense reserve to distribute and track this money as it is received and spent. it will allow the american people to ho

mr. burris? mr. burris: thank you very much, senator warner. senator warner, i want to compliment you for keeping us freshmen engaged and involved and making sure that we get the message out to the american people. this piece of legislation, which was signed yesterday by president obama is historic. and i am so proud and -- and appreciative that i had -- an opportunity to play a part in this. as you know, my position was a very, very strong public option. i say that those issues are in there when we deal with cost and accountability and for the insurance companies and, therefore, it is a major piece of legislation which we want the public to really and you can re. we want the public to understand that there will be benefits that they will get tax credit right away. and these tax credits can total as much as 35% of tote. premiums. secondly, for our children who have no elimination for preexisting conditions, within the next 90 days these provisions will kick in on behalf of children. so there are a lot of good things in this bill that's going to

mr. burris: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. burris: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. burris: thank you, madam president. i just heard a interesting colloquy between my two distinguished friends from across the aisle in reference to health care. madam president, i found that very interesting as they dialogued back and forth. the one problem with their dialogue, it's just misinformation that my distinguished colleagues are putting out on this floor and to the people of america. they keep saying that we should start over on health care. they're saying that we should -- we didn't incorporate any of their proposals, which is furthest from the truth, madam president. that work's been done over a year, and they had all the input. even the president of the united states incorporated their ideas into the bill that we passed from this distinguished body and the bill that's now lying between the house and the senate. so i found their colloquy very inter

mr. burris: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. burris: it is a pleasure for me to join in this very, very important position in the united states senate. i'm proud to join my democratic colleagues on the floor this morning to discuss some of the obstructionism we're seeing from the other side on a number of presidential nominations. it is a duty of the senate to provide advise and consent for more than 2,000 government officials appointed by the president of the united states. these individuals range from cabinet-level officers to agency administrators, ambassadors, federal judges, and more. they are tasked with leading important agencies and offices like the transportation security administration, a and diplomatic missions and various law enforcement organizations. these nominees generally make it through the committee 0 on near unanimous bipartisan votes. they are extremely dedicated public servants who stand ready to defend our national security, advance our shared interests and carry out the important work of the american peopl

mr. burris: thank you, mr. president. as a freshman member of this body, i have a great deal of respect for those who have been a part of this institution for many years. on both sides of the aisle veteran senators lend their experience and their invaluable knowledge to procedures to the debate that take place in this chamber every day. and as anyone who knows the history of the senate can tell you, this has always been a friendly place no matter which party is in control. this has always been a place where political leaders could disagree without being disagreeable no vast the differences happen to be. the senate has always been governed by mutual respect, mutual trust and mutual friendship. but of these key ingredients it is impossible for us to work together. such was the genuineness of our founding fathers who framed this system of government. they knew that partson politics would rage outside these walls, so they created the senate to be a refuge for those who prepare to move forward together to solve national proble

mr. burris: thank you, mr. president. i want to commend my senior senator from illinois for his comments on health care and what we must do in this body to pass health care. it's long overdue, mr. president. it's time for us to work with our colleagues in the house of representatives and make sure that we cover those 50 million americans who are uninsured. mr. president, i'd like to do a little presentation here for some young men from chicago. in 2006, a brand-new school opened its doors to the community of inglewood on the south side of chicago. this school was called urban prep charter academy for young men. it was designed to provide quality education to an area desperately in need of a new approach. local schools were failing. last year 93% of the public high school students in the neighborhood were classified as low income. public school attendance rate was around 68%. the local high school ranked 81st out of 98 public schools in terms of preparing students to succeed on college entrance exams like the a.c.t. until

mr. burris. this is the amendment proposed by senator baucus. the sanders amendment i ask be called up now. that's 3353. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i would note, mr. president, this is for senator sanders, mr. dodd, mr. whitehouse, mr. leahy, and mrs. gillibrand. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. ride, for mr. sanders and others proposes an amendment numbered 3353 to amendment numbered 3336. mr. reid: i ask the reading of the amendment be waived, mr. president. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i would ask the clerk call the roll. there appears not to be a quorum present. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. mcconnell: the republican leader is recognized. the presiding officer: are we in a quorum call? mr. mcconnell: i ask that further proceedings on the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, most americans breathed a sigh of relief in january wh

mr. turney and all of you very much. >> thank you. we expect votes just about now. there's four votes coming so let's try to have a second round for everybody. you have an additional question, senator burris? >> no, mr. chairman i'm just trying to listen to the distinguished gentleman. >> i just had a few and then we can turn it over to senator inhofe. you've spoken about your support, admiral, about the new phased adaptive approach for missile defense. one of the possibilities being considered is to ask russia to cooperate in the european missile defense with radar information as a way to enhance security against shared missile threats. do you support that idea? >> i do. >> what would it add? >> first all -- >> if you are able to achieve it what would it be? >> first it would create cooperation with russia which is important as i look at the majority. second, i think it could technically and to the early warning time because of the location of the system and feared i think it creates confidence-building measures between ourselves and russians. >> as the polish government now supports the missile defense approach? >> i think it's fair to say in general terms they do. i would not speak for

mr. healy, we thank you for returning to the committee and welcome your testimony now. >> thank you, sir. chairman lieberman, ranking member collins, senator brown, senator burris, thank you for the opportunity to talk about the terrorist screening center and the watch listing process. the attempted terrorist attack to northwest 253 summer 25th highlight the ever present terrorist threat to our homeland. over the past seven years the tse has played a vital role in the fight against terrorism reintegrating terrorist information from law enforcement and intelligence communities into a single nondatabase known as the terrorist screening center database, tsd beat for the terrorist watch list. this watchlist populates various screening systems used by the government. following the christmas they attack or attempted attack come intense scrutiny has been placed on the requirement to nominate individuals to the watchlist, particularly the no-fly or select the list which are subsets at tsdb. this requirement or standard has gone over time with the watchlist community and the issuance of additional presidential elect us. throughout this process the tsd while simultaneous

mr. burris: i ask to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. burris: thank you, madam president. my colleagues and i have spent much of last year debating the issue of health care reform. after nearly a century of false starts and broken promises, democrats came to congress determined to enact comprehensive reform. we felt confident that this time we would not fall short, as our predecessors have done. this time we would deliver the changes that the american people have been demanding for so many years, but over the course of the debate an unfortunate pattern emerged. a pattern of obstructionism and delay and scare tactics designed to derail our efforts to make a difference. my democrat colleagues and i worked hard under president obama's leadership to craft sweeping legislation, but our republican friends were not interested in passing health care reform. they have no desire to take action and no plan of their own. instead, they found every opportunity to stall, to clog up the senate, and score political points by attacking those who supported

mr. burris: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois is recognized. mr. burris: i'd like unanimous consent to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: the senate is in morning business. mr. burris: thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: senators shall suspend. the senate will be in order. the senate will be in order. mr. burris: thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois is recognized. mr. burris: there was an article in last thursday's "chicago tribune," my hometown newspaper that, really caught my attention. it's shocking news for many of my fellow illinoisans, so i'd like to share it with my colleagues today. according to state records, illinoisans who lose their jobs and have to buy their own health insurance will see their premiums increase by as much as 60% this year. the presiding officer: the senator will suspend. could we please have order in the chamber. senators will take conversations off the floor. the senator from illinois is recognized. mr. burris: as "the tribune" notes, this is affecting m

mr. burris: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. burris: i would like unanimous consent to speak about five minutes on morning business. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. burris: thank you mr. president. we just had a press conference this afternoon in reference to the don't ask don't tell action that we want to take in the united states senate for our military people. i would just like to make some brief remarks mr. president in that regard. i come to the floor today because i believe in the basic principle not just a political cause. i come to the floor because courage and valor are blind to race religion, philosophy and sexual orientation. i believe that every single man and woman who puts on a military uniform is equally deserving of our thanks and our respect and that when we dismiss the sacrifices made by those with a different sexual orientation we undermine the strength of our fighting forces. when we fail to recognize the brave contributions that gay and lesbian soldiers continue t