mr. casey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. casey: before senator harkin leaves the floor, i am pleased to be here on the floor and hear you talk about our colleagues. what a wonderful thing to do and to single out democrats and republicans and to reflect on their service to their state and to our country. i just have to mention, you mentioned blanche lincoln. many people say, i respect highly of my colleague. here in the united states senate, we love blanche. she is such a joy to work with. she is sea always upbeat. she'd say, whatever doesn't kill makes you stronger. she has come through this with a smile and shown such grace. i loved working with her on the finance committee and especially on the health care bill that was designed to provide better outcomes for less money. bob bennett and i served on the banking committee for many years. in the end he lost his seat, i think, because of his willingness to reach across the aisle and find new ways for republicans

mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i rise to -- this afternoon to discuss the vote that will occur in a little more than an hour on the don't ask, don't tell policy. i just have some basic thoughts about this. coming from a state where we contributed probably as many or more soldiers to almost any every conflict we've had over the last 100 years, we've -- we have a state that has over a million veterans. we've lost soldiers most recently in the conflicts in iraq and afghanistan. in iraq our killed-in-action number was just below 200. last count it was about 197. in afghanistan more than 60 now, up to 61, 62 have been killed in action. so people in pennsylvania know what the war is about, what sacrifice is about because so many families have contributed to that service and that sacrifice. and when it comes to the -- to this change in policy that we're advocating, i want to focus, i guess, on two very basic considerations. one is basic integrity and the other is valu valor. we've had a number of statements made by senior

mr. casey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: mr. president, i ask consent for the following, that i be permitted to speak for 15 minutes, to then be followed by senator cornyn right after me. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. casey: mr. president, thank you very much. we're grateful to be here on a weekend talking about a critically important treaty for our country. this treaty has been the subject of many, many months now of review by the senate foreign relations committee as well as other committees in the senate. there have been some, somewhere between 900 and 1,000 questions asked of the administration and answered, many, many months of work. i think we start with some basic fundamentals about the context within which this treaty is being debated. and i hope is ratified in the next couple of days. first of all, this treaty is consistent with and is entirely consistent with our concern about making sure that our nuclear arsenal is safe, secure, effective and reliable. there is no questi

mr. casey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: mr. president, i would first ask unanimous consent to speak as if in legislative session and as if in morning business for up to 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i rise this afternoon to speak about legislation that has broad bipartisan support and will have a positive impact, if we pass it, on job creation in the united states of america. this is h.r. 6517, which is th the -- known as the m.t.b., the miscellaneous tariff bill. i'm just going to provide some highlights and then ask my colleague, senator brown of ohio, to -- to comment as well, and then we have a -- a consent request. first of all, this bill supports manufacturing jobs. the national association of manufacturers supports the bill. when the last bill was signed into law earlier this year, the last so-called m.t.b. bill, at that time it passed the house by a vote of 378-43. this was in july. the national manufacturers praised it as -- quote -- "a victory for job creati

mr. casey madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. kerry: could i just, madam president -- the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: could i ask the indulgence of the senator from pennsylvania just for a moment. let me also reiterate, i don't know where this constant questioning of the triad keeps coming from, because the secretary of defense, in testimony as well as in letters, not to mention the defense department through the joint chiefs and others have repeatedly stated their commitment to a viable, forward-going triad. the triad is not in question here. there will be a triad. we're committed to the triad. and i'll have something more to say about that later. i yield the floor. mr. casey: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: madam president, i'd ask consent to speak for up to 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: madam president, i rise to speak about two or thre

mr. casey: thank you. i want to commend my colleague from new hampshire, senator shaheen. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: madam president, i'm proud to join my colleagues this morning in support of the new start accord. next sunday will mark one year since american inspectors were on the ground in russia. we need to vote on the resolution of ratification for this important treaty because it will, indeed, make america safer. without this atfication of this -- ratification of this treaty, we are less safe and less secure. we have to maintain what we've always maintained in this country as it relates to our arsenal, a safe, secure, and effective nuclear arsenal. this treaty is consistent with that goal. the agreement provides for predictability, transparency and stability in the u.s.-russian nuclear relationship. former national nuclear security administration administrator linton brooks put it best when he said and i quote -- "transparency leads to predictability.

mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i'm grateful for the work that our chairman, chairman kerry put into this treaty over many, many months now, in fact many years when you consider his work as a member and now chair of the foreign relations committee. we're grateful for the debate that we've just heard because these are critically important issues that we're talking about here. and that's one of the reasons why it's critically important that we make sure that the american people know what the stakes are. without ratification of this treaty, we are in fact less safe than we should be. i think the american people understand that. i also believe that the american people want to make sure that even upon ratification of this start treaty, the new start treaty, that in no way will our security be undermined as it relates to our nuclear arsenal. we can say without qualification, without hesitation that ratification of the new start treaty doesn't in any way undermine the safety, security and effectiveness and even reliability

mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, this month the obama administration will submit its review of the war in afganistan. i expect, and i think a number of members of congress expect that this review will provide answers to the key questions before us. the questions of the american people deserve -- the questions the american people deserve answers to. i believe these questions fall into three broad categories, first of all, afghan governance, and, second, development and humanitarian efforts and, finally, establishing a sustainable security environment in afganistan. since the announcement of a new strategy in december of 2009 and deployment of 30,000 additional troops, i've sought to carefully monitor u.s. progress towards its goals. as part of this effort, i've paid special attention to combating the top killer of u.s. troops, which, of kowrgs, is impro -- of course, is improvised explosive devices. i chaired a committee hearing on this topic on november 18 and will continue to press our government and our

mr. casey: thank you very much. george voinovich as i served as governors together for six years. he chaired the national governors' association. he was good enough to be the vice-chairman. he chaired the jobs for america's graduates. i was his vice-chairman. he chairs the subcommittee on clean air and nuclear safety and i got to be his vice-chairman. so i'm used to being the second banana. i love the guy, and i've learned an enormous amount from him. he's one of those people who really every day tries to say, what is the right thing to do, not the easy thing to do, not the expedient thing to do, but what is the right thing to do and he tries to do it. he is the kind of thing, he goss his bible study group. we're always reminded by barry black of the golden rule, treat other people the way they want to be treated. the cliff notes of the new testament. george repeally personifies that. he treats everybody the way he would want to be treated. he is one of the people that focuses on excellence in everything he's done, as mayor, governor, here in the united states senate, and he's alw

mr. casey asked the cia, does the soviet union support terrorism? the after that came back was no.asey kahne said could you give me data to justify this? the agency sent back to a stack of cost and editorials where the soviets denied any connection to terrorism. kacey didn't of course put a red team together. now, the person to generate al hayes, during his confirmation hearing in february of 1981 was claire sterling and her book on terrorism, which is all from open sources. secretary gates publish a book in the mid 1990s that went through this story and said, reagan and casey actually underestimated the extent to which the soviet union was the father and mother of all terrorism. i think there's enormous lessons better for our current issues with respect to read. i want to thank you, congressman, for your extra ordinary service as ranking member. [applause] >> definitely want to comment on that? >> amen. for sure, we underestimate, i'm sure we underestimate all the evil things that iranian, that iran, iranian regime is up to come and the world right now. i mean, the quiet since, th

casey. >> thank you, mr. chairman, senator mccain, members of the committee, good morning. >> good morning. >> i've reviewed the final version of the associated working group's report. i want to be able to provide my informed military advise to the committee. i'll begin by relating how i see the military risks -- the risk from a military perspective. then i'll give you my views on the impact on the force if "don't ask, don't tell" is repealed. first, i think it's important that we are clear about the military risk. implementation of the repeal of don't ask don't tell would be a major cultural and policy change in the middle of a war. it would be yeted by a force and leaders that are already stretched by the accumulative effects of almost a decade at war. it would be implemented by a force in which a substantial number of soldiers perceive that repeal will have a negative effect on effectiveness and the morale and that implementation will be difficult. further, the report clearly states that over 40% of the co

casey. >> thank you, mr. chairman, senator mccain, members of the committee, good morning. >> good morning. >> i've reviewed the final version of the associated working group's report. i want to be able to provide my informed military advise to the committee. i'll begin by relating how i see the military risks -- the risk from a military perspective. then i'll give you my views on the impact on the force if "don't ask, don't tell" is repealed. first, i think it's important that we are clear about the military risk. implementation of the repeal of don't ask don't tell would be a major cultural and policy change in the middle of a war. it would be yeted by a force and leaders that are already stretched by the accumulative effects of almost a decade at war. it would be implemented by a force in which a substantial number of soldiers perceive that repeal will have a negative effect on effectiveness and the morale and that implementation will be difficult. further, the report clearly states that over 40% of the co

mr. chairman. general casey, i think in response to a previous question you made a comment i want to be clear about what the last several months if not several years has been indicated as the presence of gay and lesbian service members does not undermine readiness or combat effectiveness. is that, again, is that your conclusion? i don't want to read -- >> what i said, senator, is i believe what the survey indicates, what the report indicates is the presumption that underpins law that the presence of a gay or lesbian service member may unite the because the six and a unit causes unexpected risk to discipline and after reading the report, i don't believe that is true anymore and i don't believe a substantial majority of our soldiers believe that. >> i think it is a significant point because i think it's -- again, i want you to respond, but all i think what it shows is that obviously there are individuals in units that are perceived even though they do not proclaim it as either be gay or lesbian, and that perceptio

mr. gotbaum. we'll start of the five-minute rounds. it will be me, senator murray, senator isaacson. then senator bentsen, senator casey. mr. gotbaum, on page 8 of your testimony, you said, "however, neither program has the resources to fully satisfy pbgc's obligations in the long run." i read that last night and i circled it. i said what is the long run? what is the long run? you refer to that in your written testimony couple of times, saying that things are ok now but in the long run you may not have. what is the long run? >> let's start by talking 20 years, ok? >> oh. >> the pbgc has had a financial deficit, reported a financial deficit for 30 of its 36 years. that means that when you compare the cash that we have on hand with the obligations we will pay over the next 30 years, plus, bigger -- discounting the present value committee of the dishes are bigger than the cash we have. what has happened is congress has stepped in in some way and said maybe your premiums are too low and maybe you need to change. as a result, we have neglected to pay benefits for those 36 years -- for 30 to 36 -- 430 out as the obligations get l

casey. >> thank you, mr.enator mccain, members of the committee, good morning. >> good morning. >> i've reviewed the final version of the associated working group's report. i want to be able to provide my informed military advise to the committee. i'll begin by relating how i see the military risks -- the risk from a military perspective. then i'll give you my views on the impact on the force if "don't ask, don't tell" is repealed. first, i think it's important that we are clear about the military risk. implementation of the repeal of don't ask don't tell would be a major cultural and policy change in the middle of a war. it would be yeted by a force and leaders that are already stretched by the accumulative effects of almost a decade at war. it would be implemented by a force in which a substantial number of soldiers perceive that repeal will have a negative effect on effectiveness and the morale and that implementation will be difficult. further, the report clearly states that over 40% of the combat arms so

mr. chairman. general casey, i think in response to a previous question you made a comment i want to be clear about what the last several months if not several years has been indicated as the presence of gay and lesbian service members does not undermine readiness or combat effectiveness. is that, again, is that your conclusion? i don't want to read -- >> what i said, senator, is i believe what the survey indicates, what the report indicates is the presumption that underpins law that the presence of a gay or lesbian service member may unite the because the six and a unit causes unexpected risk to discipline and after reading the report, i don't believe that is true anymore and i don't believe a substantial majority of our soldiers believe that. >> i think it is a significant point because i think it's -- again, i want you to respond, but all i think what it shows is that obviously there are individuals in units that are perceived even though they do not proclaim it as either be gay or lesbian, and that perceptio

mr. obama's not eligible to be president. you said that in a note to general casey. ignoring the idea that you actually cited speculation as justification for your decision, but to say there's significant evidence that the president was not born in america is just false. you're an honorable guy, you've served your country incredibly well, you're a doctor, do you honestly believe president obama was not born in hawaii? >> let me answer as his lawyer. >> no, no, no. excuse me, this is -- this is a man who served his country for 18 years i think he can answer a question by himself. >> i think the lawyer should protect the client from incriminating himself. you say it's false, you're not prosecuting this case. >> if you call up the state of hawaii and ask for a birth certificate, that is the official document. >> that's not correct. that's absolutely not correct. >> and the president has released -- and the president has released that certificate of live birth, there it is, two newspapers in 1961 had birth announcemented provided by the state of hawaii health department.

mr. president, i would like s to point out, too, for makeup clarification that if you look at the makeup of our joint mulln chiefs admiral mike mahlon, general cartwright, generaly schwartz, general casey, admiral roughead, every single one of these gentlemen was appointed by a republican president and ine e addition to them we have a general in most.f my sense is based on the course o comments he has made over tfhe course of time he would have republican leanings, but each oe these people have firmly stated their support for the treaty. and in closing, mr. president, i would like to also added and ask unanimous consent that the statement of robert gates again appointed by republican president, head of our defense f the strategic stability at lowea numbers of nuclear weapons rime provide a rigorous inspection regime including on-site access to the russian missile silos,e necessary t flexibility to structure our strategic nucleare forces ds o its merits promp and its prompt ratification wiln strengthen u.s. national ask security.that this mr. president i would ask unanimous consent that this beiw entered into the record. >> there has been a lot ofr. prt discussion, mr. president, abouh

casey an opportunity here. but let me just say to my colleague from arizona, mr. president, a lot of us are sort of scratching our heads and trying to figure out what we have to do to get the senator from arizona to accept yes for an answer. yes on modernization. yes on our willingness to go forward and build a missle defense. it has been said again and again and again by the highest officials of our government and the president, i think, will make some further statement about this hopefully in the next hours or day that can indicate the absolute total commitment to proceed forward and the irrelevance of what the senator is referring to in the context of -- of a statement that is not within the four corners of the agreement that has no legal binding authority at all. none. now, don't accept my word for it. secretary of defense, robert gates, who i know the senator respects enormously said the following on may 25 -- quote -- "so you know the russians can say what they want, but as secretary clinton said, these unilateral statements are totally outside the treaty an

mr. wilson: amazon.com announced plans to open a distribution in casey. this will bring 1,200 jobs to the midlands. and i thank amazon.com for their commitment to our state. they put together a positive incentives package promoted by economic development manager chuck wiffle. the south carolina department of commerce has proven the success of creating long-term private sector jobs. under secretary taylor's leadership, the department of commerce has recruited 82,695 jobs and $16.7 billion in capital investment. as a result of local leaders like secretary taylor, the future is looking bright for south carolina. his proven successor is b.m.w. successor named by the governor-elect. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. welcome back to washington bob livingston. america's only electedagent general. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without obj

mr. right i don't know one single mom who doesn't try to get their freedom regardless of how old they are. it took 31 days before caseyessure by her mother that caylee was missing. photos revealed at the same time casey was out partying. her daughter's remains were found six months later in the woods near her house. she talks of having a family again. i always wanted to adopt a baby or child from another country. is it selfish to want one from ireland, accent and all. at one time casey anthony had a defense dream team but one by one,s they high-profiled lawyers have dropped out. casey is now represented by four florida attorneys. including ann sinnell, knew new to the case. profiled in an academy-award winning documentary about murder. >> casey anthony is scheduled to be back in court tomorrow where prosecutors and her defense will discuss how they will address the penalty phase if she's convicted. prosecutors plan to ask for the death penalty. that trial is set for early may. >>> still ahead on "today in the bay" -- a day of landmark votes in the senate but battles on capitol hill are not over yet. our political anal

casey is the chief of the army. he said as such, after a long statement, this is in a hearing, mr. president, we had just on the 3rd of this month. he said i think implement of the repeal of don't ask, don't tell will add, one, another layer of stress to an already stressed force. b, be more difficult with arm and combat units. and three, be more difficult for the army than the report suggests. general schwarz of the air force said, nonetheless -- this is the same hearing, december 3, current stuff. nonetheless, my best military judgment does not agree with the study assessment that the short-term risks to military effectiveness is low. i remain concerned with the outlook of a low, short-term risk for repeal to military effectiveness in afghanistan. and he goes on to talk about i therefore recommend deterring or -- or deferring certification and full implementation until 2012 while initiating and education efforts soon after that would take place. there is general schwarz of the united states air force agreeing with general casey that this should not be implemented. then general am

casey, 10 minutes. further, if there are republicans seeking recognition on the floor, they would alternate back and forth between the two sides. the presiding officer: is there objection? ms. landrieu: mr. president, may i ask consent of the first member on that list to speak for 30 seconds? thank you. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. ms. landrieu: thank you. mr. president, i was going to ask the minority leader, mitch mcconnell, who just insulted many of us by saying that we don't care about small business or the economy and as the chair of the small business committee, i was going to ask him this: since president obama has been in such good faith in the last couple of days negotiating with him this package, my question was, does he regret saying on national television that his number-one primary goal is to unseat the president? i was going to ask him how he felt about that. that's a tough place to start a negotiation, which is why some of us are interested in how these negotiations might be going with that as a startingpoint. but he ran off the floor and didn't answer that question. i will going to i am going to continue to ask it. thank you.

reid of nevada, gillibrand, schumer, casey, murray, franken, bingaman, cardin, inouye, bennet of colorado, shaheen, menendez, boxer, lautenberg, dodd and durbin. mr. reid: mr. president, regarding the h.r. 847, the zagroda legislation, have we stated that motion and have i asked that the reading of the names be waived? the presiding officer: the motion has been state and the names have been read. mr. reid: mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to calendar number 662, s. 3991 our upon the conclusion of the impeachment proceedings and the senate resume legislative session. and that the senate then resume the motion to proceed to calendar number 662 and the mandatory quorum required under rule 22 as it relates to all these matters and i filed cloture on be waived. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate resume consideration of the articles of impeachment against judge g. thomas porteous -- let's try this again. his name is judge g. thomas porteous jr. the district of louis

rockefeller, dorgan, kerry, whitehouse, pryor, casey, durbin, warner, shaheen, nelson of nebraska, bayh, dodd, conrad, webb, nelson of florida and klobuchar. mr. reid: i move to send it to the finance committee with instruction to report back with the following amendment. mr. reid: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, moves to refer the house message to the senate committee on finance with instructions to report back forth with with an amendment numbered 4755. mr. reid: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. reid: i have an amendment to my instructions that is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes an amendment numbered 4756 to the instructions to the motion to refer h.r. 4853. mr. reid: on that, mr. president, i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. reid: i have a second-degree amendment to my instructions. the presiding officer: the clerk wil

mr. right, i don't know one single mom who doesn't try to get their freedom, regardless of how old they are. it took 31 days before caseyee was missing. photos later revealed at the same time casey was out partying. her daughter's remains were discovered six months later in the woods near her house. casey maintains she's innocent. and talks of having a family again. i always wanted to adopt a baby or a child from another country. is it selfish to want one from ireland? accent and all? at one time casey anthony had a defense dream team. but one by one, those high-profile lawyers have dropped out. casey is now represented by four florida attorneys. including ann finnell who is knew to the case. she was profiled in an academy award winning documentary about murder. casey anthony is expected to be back in court on monday. where her defense and the prosecutors will talk about and discuss with the judge how they'll handle the penalty phase in this case if she's convicted. prosecutors are asking for the death penalty. the trial is set for may. amy? >> and kerry, you mentioned that $55,000 price tag. so far. how much more, then

casey, 10 minutes. further, if there are republicans seeking recognition on the floor, they would alternate back and forth between the two sides. the presiding officer: is there objection? ms. landrieu: mr. president, may i ask consent of the first member on that list to speak for 30 seconds? thank you. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. ms. landrieu: thank you. mr. president, i was going to ask the minority leader, mitch mcconnell, who just insulted many of us by saying that we don't care about small business or the economy and as the chair of the small business committee, i was going to ask him this: since president obama has been in such good faith in the last couple of days negotiating with him this package, my question was, does he regret saying on national television that his number-one primary goal is to unseat the president? i was going to ask him how he felt about that. that's a tough place to start a negotiation, which is why some of us are interested in how these negotiations might be going with that as a startingpoint. but he ran off the floor and didn't answer that question. i will going to i am going to continue to ask it. thank you.

casey, 10 minutes. further, if there are republicans seeking recognition on the floor, they would alternate back and forth between the two sides. the presiding officer: is there objection? ms. landrieu: mr. president, may i ask consent of the first member on that list to speak for 30 seconds? thank you. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. ms. landrieu: thank you. mr. president, i was going to ask the minority leader, mitch mcconnell, who just insulted many of us by saying that we don't care about small business or the economy and as the chair of the small business committee, i was going to ask him this: since president obama has been in such good faith in the last couple of days negotiating with him this package, my question was, does he regret saying on national television that his number-one primary goal is to unseat the president? i was going to ask him how he felt about that. that's a tough place to start a negotiation, which is why some of us are interested in how these negotiations might be going with that as a startingpoint. but he ran off the floor and didn't answer that question. i will going to i am going to continue to ask it. thank you.

mr. president, this makes so much sense. we're again tomorrow, probably senator casey and i and some others, will ask for a u.c. tomorrow. i hope that my colleagues can see fit to move forward in this. it's supported by business groups, by labor groups, by the majority of people in this body. i'm hopeful that we can bring in the few people who still disagree make this work for our -- disagree and make this work for our country. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i again thank senator kerry for his indulgence. a senator: mr. president? mr. lemieux: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. lemieux: mr. president, i've had the opportunity to work out with the senator from massachusetts the -- an amendment to the resolution which i will be offering in a second. but to my colleagues, what this does, we had this discussion the other day on the treaty. this is an amendment to the resolution that would require within a year's time of ratification, that the president of the united states certify to the senate that the united states will seek to initiate with the russian federation negotiations on the