mr. chambliss: mr. president, i would ask that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. chambliss: mr. president, i rise today to talk about the bill that's before the senate today, but as a part of that we are now in the midst of a true fiscal crisis in this country, and i want to address something that has been debated over the last several days, discussed over the last several days, criticized over the last several days, and been the object of a lot of misinformation by colleagues on my side of the aisle particularly about the proposal that has been submitted by the so-called gang of six, of which i happen to be a member and someone who for the last seven months has participated in discussions with two of my colleagues on our side of the aisle as well as three on the other side of the aisle to try to find a bipartisan solution to being able to repay the $14.3 trillion that our federal government owes and that we have all participated in creating. and the misinformat

mr. chambliss: mr. president? mr. president, scared me for a minute. i thought we were almost engaging in a debate on the senate floor. this could get interesting here. i have great respect for both my colleagues that were just making comments and it will be an interesting discussion on the floor when they both have thei their -- their respective numbers, and we'll look forward to that. and i want to say to my colleague from arizona that what he said is -- is exactly right. raising taxes is in the time of tough economic times a very, very difficult thing to do and is not stimulative of the economy. the way we need to see revenues increased -- and i don't think there's any disagreement from anybody in the senate or in the house that the 14.5% of g.d.p. that we are now seeing in revenues has got to be increas increased. but the way we need increase it is enacting policies, where they be tax policies or spending policies or otherwise that will truly proceed to the economy -- truly grow the economy. and we can do that with the right kind of policies that w

chambliss read from the congressman's letter. >> i inquired about the status of the potential transfer of uighur detainees to the united states. mrted that a decision had not yet been reached on the transfer of the detainees. >> i do understand his frustration. i did not mislead. >> and senator feinstein who leads that committee, shep, wants the confirmation process through by august 2nd. the full-timing is not guaranteed. members are getting an opportunity to submit more questions for olson, shep. >> shepard: before we go, catherine, gitmo came up today. >> it did. critics of gift mow, including the white house, say the detention camps are recruiting terrorists. the president's own nominee said there was no evidence to support that claim. >> i have not seen from, again, my perspective both on the task force and much more limited perspective in my current role the national security agency anything in specification response to your question to that effect there is a change in recruiting based on the current government policy. >> and for context, olson was the executive director of the team that was tasked by the white house to clo

mr. chairman, welcome. >> thank you, chairman feinstein. thank you, vice chairman chambliss, senator coats, good to see you in senator wyden, senator udall come senator warner. i'm delighted to be to introduce matt olsen. his parents are from north dakota, people live in a very long time. matt's roots are deep in north dakota. he returns every chance he gets with his family, his wife and his children, elderly come and meet and will come his sister, susan, is with us as well. as i said, i've known this family for a very long time coming and they are the best that it gets. his father was the chief of staff to the man the white defeated for the united states senate. and so i know how good he really is. van passed away three years ago, but i know he's looking down with a twinkle in his eye today proud of matte and all that he has accomplished. you know, after defeating the boss for the united states senate, i came here with some trepidation of what my relationship might be like with a van and his wife, the treated me with the greatest courtesy over time the cancer indifference.

mr. chairman, welcome. >> thank you, chairman feinstein. thank you, vice chairman chambliss, senator coats, good to see you in senator wyden, senator udall come senator warner. i'm delighted to be to introduce matt olsen. his parents are from north dakota, people live in a very long time. matt's roots are deep in north dakota. he returns every chance he gets with his family, his wife and his children, elderly come and meet and will come his sister, susan, is with us as well. as i said, i've known this family for a very long time coming and they are the best that it gets. his father was the chief of staff to the man the white defeated for the united states senate. and so i know how good he really is. van passed away three years ago, but i know he's looking down with a twinkle in his eye today proud of matte and all that he has accomplished. you know, after defeating the boss for the united states senate, i came here with some trepidation of what my relationship might be like with a van and his wife, the treated me with the greatest courtesy over time the cancer indifference.

mr. olson, as head of that task force, chose only to discuss the process and not the decisions. republican senator saxby chamblisshe concerns including accusations that the white house intended to transfer detainees to the u.s. in a secretive way. >> it was to be a stealth move. they were going to show up here, and we were going to announce it, said one senior official, describing the swift, secret i operation -- secretive operation that was designed by the administration to preempt any political outcry that could prevent the transfer. >> reporter: in response, olson admitted the decision on the transfer of two detainees had been made by april 14, 2009, and that when he met with the republican congressman eight days later, he was not told about those decisions. olson claims he did not have the authority to disclose that information. >> i do understand his frustration. i don't, i did not mislead, i was not in a position to decide myself at that policy time that i was going -- at that time that i was going to lay out exactly what that decision making process was. we had met before that briefing and talked about wha