mr. collins. he suffered for 12 years with burns over 98% of his body. from a rare case of skin cancer because of the burns. the jury wanted to make a statement. the lawyer asked them to issue the largest verdict of 1$1 billion. >> my question s. how can collins be found liable in civil court but not be prosecuted in criminal? >> people are very often confused and usually a criminal case conviction will come before a civil case conviction because that verdict of guilty will often add to the preponderance of evidence in the civil case. but there isn't a rule that says one has to come before the other even though logically that's how it happens. in this the case, the family of robby middleton, has intentionally done this to put pressure on the d.a. the statutes of limitations has run. mr. collins, the accused here, could never be tried for the sexual assault nor the burning at this point because it's past seven years. however, because robby middleton died directly from the burns from that incident, the d.a. should reopen that case and pursue mr. collins fo

mr. collins, there are a number of people that have been arrested. we don't know what is going to happen in the future around those things. but given the breach of trust, given the allegations but were emerging at a rapid pace, you know, it was clear to me any way, and i think that the future will bear this out without any specific knowledge of the future obviously that it was the right thing for the paper to cease publication. >> he acted as fast as he could the moment he could. does that suggest you were held back at any point in the process in the last few weeks? >> to the committee earlier i can't remember which member, my apologies, but mr. collins there has been a frustrating process and actually my frustration - my real danger to learn that there was new evidence emerging as leaders the end of 2010 was real and is real and what i've done and with the company has tried to do is take new information, of just the course, beef with propriety, beef quickly, the hate in a humble way with respect to what happened and in which respect to trying to put

mr. sheldon kennedy, a former hockey player. the show collins, vice presidena of the center for exploited and missing children and franksing sorbonne from pennsylvania.ho h the support center for childppo advocates.t. while they are coming to the witness stand would like to a knowledge, as we get ready towi turn to mr. kennedy, someone else who was a victim of o terrible sexual abuse at theal hands of a nanny. ms. bruck of florida who is brought to our attention. and we want to welcome you.e we think you for your takinghana into personal tragedy in turnint it into an organization calledca lawrence kids. your father is with you and you go for it with your advice andlg >> wsel on moving this bill. >> we have an outpouring fromoug the people who wanted to testift , too use the hearing to come forward to bring to our national attention the depth an breadth of this problem.the defk we could not accommodate we everybody at this table, but we want to a compass the legislative table. get benefiting from your experience.om yodon't know what happened toha

mr. collins had abandoned mr. holdren, using discourse president as a guide. so i think holland already recognize that attorney abandonment can be extreme. we're just asking the court applied the same principles in recognizing that vast external in one context cannot be not external in the out of context. .. this is going to be a fact. you want to get into the specs although i think it is a very high bar. i think the holland decision makes clear the high bar and they think this case clearly passes the bar but it's something the courts will work out applying agency principles, applying the court's decision in holland, recognizing what holland said in this case is an going to create a new rule. is simply going to extend logically the recognition that attorney abandonment is external to the client and it always has been under agency principles. this court doesn't have to find a constitutional violation of the state park. it's enough for cause that the court finds the state actions are external and i think the key is where justice kagan recognize which is you look

collins? >> thank you, mr. chairman. unfortunately i don't have an eloquent quote to begin my hearing with to pick up where you left off today but i do want to thank you for holding this hearing to examine whether or not current laws are adequate to prevent members of congress from engaging in the inside trading. i very much appreciate you inviting the two colleagues, senator brown and senator joe lubber and to describe the bills they have proposed to address this concern to refine a co-sponsor of senator brown's bill which is known as the stock act, and i look forward to learning more what senator julca and's bill today. this hearing is an important step in our efforts to ensure that members of congress are not profiting from trading on inside information. recent press reports on 60 minutes and elsewhere demonstrate why this committee must explore the application of existing laws to congress and identify what actions may need to be taken to close possible loopholes that undermined public confidence in this institution.

collins. >> thank you, mr. chairman. fortunately i don't have an eloquent quote to begin my hearing with to take up where you left off today, but i do want to thank you for holding this hearing to examine whether or not current laws are adequate to prevent members of congress from engaging in insider trading. i very much appreciate your advice in our two colleagues, senator brown and senator gillibrand, to describe the bills that they have proposed to address this concern. i'm a cosponsor of senator brown spill which is known as the s.t.o.c.k. act, and i look forward to learning more about senator gillibrand's bill today. this hearing is an apartment step in our efforts to ensure that members of congress are not profiting from trading on insider information. recent press reports on "60 minutes," and elsewhere, demonstrate why this committee must explore the application of existing laws to congress and identify what actions may need to be taken to close possible loopholes that underline the public's confidence in this ins

collins. mr. servone. >> thank you chairwoman mikulski and senator casey and other members of the committee for this opportunity to testify today and thank you, senator casey, in particular for calling for this hearing, for continued leadership in this area. we know that you are a great friend for children and health care in early education and health care and all the ways we know we can turn to you. thank you very much. the support center for child advocates is still a volunteer lawyer program for abused and neglected children. we are a big shot for kids and represent about 850 children each year in court in various times of the victimization cases. i insisted today in this presentation by the work of kathleen and our colleagues in the protect our children committee which has spent the statewide coalition about tickets and physicians and service providers. i'd like to put some of the events of the recent days and weeks into context reflecting the reality that many more children are physically and

collins. mr. servone. >> thank you chairwoman mikulski and senator casey and other members of the committee for this opportunity to testify today and thank you, senator casey, in particular for calling for this hearing, for continued leadership in this area. we know that you are a great friend for children and health care in early education and health care and all the ways we know we can turn to you. thank you very much. the support center for child advocates is still a volunteer lawyer program for abused and neglected children. we are a big shot for kids and represent about 850 children each year in court in various times of the victimization cases. i insisted today in this presentation by the work of kathleen and our colleagues in the protect our children committee which has spent the statewide coalition about tickets and physicians and service providers. i'd like to put some of the events of the recent days and weeks into context reflecting the reality that many more children are physically and

collins. mr. servone. >> thank you chairwoman mikulski and senator casey and other members of the committee for this opportunity to testify today and thank you, senator casey, in particular for calling for this hearing, for continued leadership in this area. we know that you are a great friend for children and health care in early education and health care and all the ways we know we can turn to you. thank you very much. the support center for child advocates is still a volunteer lawyer program for abused and neglected children. we are a big shot for kids and represent about 850 children each year in court in various times of the victimization cases. i insisted today in this presentation by the work of kathleen and our colleagues in the protect our children committee which has spent the statewide coalition about tickets and physicians and service providers. i'd like to put some of the events of the recent days and weeks into context reflecting the reality that many more children are physically and

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator collins. other members of the committees are reminded that opening statements may be submitted for the record. in correspondence with today's witnesses, they vindicated the topic for examining and at a sensitive nature and depending on the questions asked from the main international security or compromise sensitive law-enforcement information. i consulted with senator lieberman and were in agreement that should it become necessary, the hearing should recess after the second panel has concluded and reconvene in a closed, classified session. therefore ask unanimous consent that the hearing moved to a closed session at the appropriate time should that be determined by chairman lieberman and by me. but that objection so ordered. i would also ask unanimous consent to insert into the record a statement from cumbersome and elephant who is not provided a statement to ses. he said that he was arrested included in the record without objection the worker. i would now like to welcome our witnesses today.

collins. >> thank you, mr. chairman. unfortunately, i do not have an eloquent quote to pick up where you left off today. i do want to thank you for holding this hearing to expand whether or not current laws are adequate to prevent members of congress from engaging in insider trading. i very much appreciate your inviting our two colleagues, senator brown and senator gillibrand to share with us their bills today. this hearing is an important step in ensuring that members of congress are not profitting from trading on insider information. recent press reports on "60 minutes" and elsewhere demonstrate why this committee must explore the application of existing laws to congress and identify what actions may need to be taken to close possible loopholes that undermine the public's confidence in this institution. elected office is the place for public service not private gain. as demonstrated by recent press stories, however, there are questions about whether lawmakers have been exempt, either legally or practically from the rea

collins, fox news. >>> the president and mrs. obama spent the holidays visiting at the marine corps base in hon that hugh honolulu. many of the men and women stationed at the base in hawaii served in afghanistan and iraq. >>> seven people were killed in an attack aimed at the interior ministry. the attack was one of several in the last week. prime minister al maliki officials issued a warrant for vice president of iraq. >>> an explosion in nigeria killed 56 people. islamist extremists took control of the church. the pope said in his post christmas address that violation leads to pain, destruction and death and only respect and reconciliation can bring about peace. >>> the arab league is trying to reign in the violence in syria. syria turned into a blood pat bath. syrian forces killed several hundreds in the past week. opposition leaders say they doubt the monitors will have much of an impact. >>> in north korea, thousands are gathering to mourn the death of kim jong-il. fox's david lee miller has the latest. >> reporter: the 14 y

mr. chairman. grateful for your leadership. ranking member collins, thank you for your leadership. i appreciate you holding this extremely important hearing and inviting me to hold -- to give my testimony this morning. it is a shining example of how important it is to shine light on an issue as important as fundamentals fairness. it can be stored america's faith in our government. i was surprised to learn that insider trading by members of congress and members of their staff is not clearly or expressly prohibited by the law or by the rules of congress. the american people need to know that their elected leaders play by the exact same rules that they play by. they also deserve the right to know that their lawmakers' only interest is what is best for the country, not what is best for their own financial interests. they should not gain personal profits from information they have access to that middle-class american families don't. i believe this is not right. nobody should be above the rules. i introduced a bipartisan bill in the senate with 15 of my colleagues. we have offered this b

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator collins. other members of the committee are reminded that opening statements may be submitted for the record. the topic we are examining is of a sensitive nature and depending on the questions asked, they in danger security or compromise sensitive law enforcement information. i have consulted with mr. lieberman and we are in agreement that should it be necessary, the hearing will recess after the second panel has concluded and reconvene in closed session. therefore collide recommended that the hearing moved to closed session at the appropriate time. and without objection, so ordered. i would also ask unanimous consent to insert into the record a statement from congressman ellison. he has not provided it to us yet, but he said he would. i ask that it be included. without objection, so ordered. i would now like to welcome our witnesses today. your testimony will be submitted for the record and i would ask you to summarize your statement at this time. we have a distinguished panel of witnesses to

mr. president, i would also offer excellent comments from senator susan collins for the record and ask consent that it be accepted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sessions: mr. president, i would just conclude by saying, we had some very important issues to deal with in the defense bill. a lot of them were very difficult. under chairman levin's leadership and senator mccain, we either reached an agreement or reached an agreement not to agree and moved the bill forward. i think it's over 50 years now that this bill has moved forward every year. i think it's something to be proud of. the only real controversy that came out of it is this depo matter. and so it sort of went against the way we felt that we should operate, the way that has resulted in settlement of disputed issues in moving the bill forward. and for that reason, i think it is appropriate that we ask that this issue be redealt with next year. i thank the chair and would yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: thank you, mr. president. i came to the

mr. levin: i ask unanimous consent now that the following two amendments be withdrawn, collins 1105 and collins 1158. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the amendments will be withdrawn. mr. levin: i notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana is recognized. mr. vitter: thank you, madam president. i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. vitter: madam president, i speak for -- i ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 10 minutes on a different topic than the defense authorization bill. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. vitter: i come to the senate floor to discuss another very important issue for our economy, which is the national flood insurance program. national flood insurance program is a vital federal program that helps provide flood insurance for properties all across the country. and it is absolutely vital to citizens and to o

collins, colorado, good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to quickly note that your guest, mr. yun, and the esteemed owner of c-span are all alums of purdue. what would it take for the banks to write and reshape distressed mortgages? guest: we should take care of a very easy situation which is that people who have been under water that have been making mortgage payments on time. we have some homeowners that are under water that are defaulting. then we have people under water that are making payments on time because they feel it is part of their moral financial obligations. they cannot refinance into the 4% rate because you have to be under water. many mortgages are backed by the u.s. government, fannie and freddie which are basically nationalized companies. for those u.s.-backed mortgages, why do not convert it from what ever prevailing rate the homeowners had, say 7%, to 4%? that would greatly reduce the risk of default. furthermore, these homeowners who have been responsible are now getting a reward for having been responsible and are not able to refinance like everyone else

mr. president, if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the >> senator susan collins released a jobs plan to includes exattention of payroll tax cuts and funds infrastructure projects and eliminates some federal regulations on employers. they spoke to reporters about their plan for 20 minutes this afternoon. >> good afternoon. i'm senator susan collins, and i'm very pleased to be here with my friend and colleague, senator claire mccaskill from missouri . every week when i go back home to maine, i hear the same refrains. people tell me that they are so tired of the partisan gridlock in washington. they say to me, why do there have to be democratic proposals or republican proposals? why can't you sit down together and come up with an american proposal? they are frustrated with the economy. they are frustrated that people can't find good jobs, and they want us to work together. they want us to work across the aisle to come up with a bipartisan jobs plan. most of all, they are frustrated that washington cannot set aside partisan bickering long enough to agree on a real re

collins, graham, cornyn and vitter. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there are two minutes equally divided prior to a vote on the motion to proceed to s. 1917. mr. casey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: mr. president, could we have order of th order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in orderment mr. casey: mr. president, this middle class tax cut act is very simple. it does two things for employers and also helps employees. last year the senate came together on a bipartisan bill. we passed a tax bill that, among other things, reduced payroll taxes for employees. this legislation expands that. instead of just saying we're going to have a reduction of 2% of the payroll tax, it was going to be -- this legislation has it as a -- a cut in half. so you're cutting the payroll tax in half. that's take-home pay, 1,500 bucks in the pockets of the average working family in america. secondly, it allows us to provide a -- a cut as well, cutting in half the payroll tax for businesses. it's good public policy. it will create lots of jobs at a time when the american people are telling us with one voice t

redevelop with senators susan collins of maine to ensure the protection of the main lobster man memorial which is located at the southwest waterfront memorial near main avenue. mr. speaker, this is a noncontroversial bill that passed committee by voice vote and removes out-of-date restrictions. it involves no cost to the federal government. i urge passage of the bill and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from south carolina. mr. gowdy: mr. speaker, i have no further speakers at this time and would reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from the district of columbia. ms. norton: mr. speaker, i yield back at this time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman. mr. gowdy: mr. speaker, i would once again thank our colleague, ms. holmes norton, ranking member cummings, mr. davis, as my colleague so aptly pointed out, also deserves credit, the ranking member of the subcommittee. with that i would urge all of our fellow members to support passage of h.r. 2297 and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

mr. walpin's claims that he was improperly removed from this position and they dismissed his lawsuit. our friends, senator lieberman and senator collins, both of whom enjoy strong reputations for both independence and integrity within the senate, stated their belief as ranking and chair of the homeland security that the president met the letter and spirit of the inspector general reform act. and -- and i do believe there was some miscommunication. i've talked to the senator from iowa about it. i think it was unfortunate. i wish it had been cleared up earlier. but i believe that it was genuinely a miscommunication, not an intentional act, and i appreciate the fact that mr. eisen has apologized to senator grassley for his sense of that miscommunication, a difference between review and removal and a sense of what may have happened in the course of that. but i also appreciate senator grassley's willingness to look beyond that and to enforce his principles as he is privileged to do as an individual senator but also to allow the senate to try to do its work here today. i will say a few words about mr. eisen and the job that he is doing, an