mr. demint. i await the investigation. -- mr. zimmerman. i with the investigation. this is bad public policy. >> the justice department is investigating. >> look at the uproar over this one case. here is the difference. if you come with me to the superior court of the district of columbia or the d.c. jail, you will find young men in those systems to have committed crimes, shot and killed somebody. the difference in this case is that somebody shot an unarmed kid and is free. that individual to not go through the criminal justice system. that is where the outrage comes in. they can understand and of individual shooting someone -- cannot understand an unarmed individuals shooting someone and not facing the court of law. in cities, you have a black on black crime, but they are prosecuted. >> zimmerman gets the benefit of the doubt from the police immediately. the police chief steps aside and the victim does not. >> i think he still has begun. i don't think they have even taken the gun away. >> zimmerman says he was acting in self-defense. >> his story involves having hi

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator demint. senator cantwell. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you for this hearing and i thank the witnesses. i think combined, at least three of you employ about 100,000 people related to washington state, so thank you very much for that, and thank you for continuing to innovate in the business models. while we could have a lot of discusses here about a wide number of issues from net neutrality and bandwidth caps and online distribution rights and piracy and privacy and what the fcc is capable of doing and not capable of doing and simplicity. one of the things that i wanted to discuss or get your input on is just as we're talking about business models related to entertainment and the changes and what congress needs to do, to me there's one incredible opportunity with the advent of online content and distribution of that content, and that's in the area of education. and particularly when you talk about konnect and two-way devices, i'm curious about what you see, mr. westlake, as opportunities in the area of education. i could say healt

demint? >> thank you, mr. chairman. secretary clinton, thank you for the way you have represented us around the world and for being here today. i certainly agree with you that american power is a stabilizing force around the world. and i'm sure you'll agree with me that any perception of american weakness is a destabilizing force around the wor world. we are overextended here at home and maybe tires of intervention that our determination to continue to be a stabilizing force is in question. as i look at your budget and budgets throughout the federal government now, i have to look at it not so much as i once did as what we want to do or what we should do, but we are financially able to do given the fact that probably half of the money that we'll be spending through the state department is either borrowed or printed money. so we have to make that money work for us. and i agree with your priority certainly of facilitating and expediting international business travel, trade, energy supplies, are key to americans' interest.

demint? >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. diller, i'm curious, if you were still in the broadcasting business, what would you think about areo? >> well, you know, i probably would -- if i was in the broadcast business, i would do what every broadcaster has done since the beginning of broadcast which is to protect their arena and do anything to prevent anyone else from getting into it. but i would also recognize that the part of being a broadcaster was receiving a free license. and in return, you programmed in

demint. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. dill e i'm curious, if you were still in the broadcasting business, what would you think about areo? >> well, you know, i probably -- if i was in the broadcast business i would do what every broadcaster has done which is to protect their arena and do anything to prevent any one else from getting into it. but i would also recognize that the part of being a broadcaster was receiving a free license. and in return, you programmed in the public interest and convenience. and core to that was that if you had a finger in the air or antenna or whatever, you could receive a signal without anybody being -- anybody taking a toll or doing anything to prevent you from receiving that signal directly. that's what areo does. it's technology that allows a consumer to get what was the quid pro quo for a broadcaster receiving a free license. >> so do you see yourself as selling network subscriptions in effect or do you -- >> no. >> as a reselling content? >> we're not reselling -- we're not reselling any

and senator demint, we look forward to your comments. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i do thank all the witnesses for being here. thanks for holding the hearing. the communications sector continues to be one of the most dynamic and innovative in our economy, and i hope this is just the first of many hearings this year that allow an opportunity to learn and discuss the marketplace and update the committee's record. mr. chairman, the obstacles between consumers and the video content they seek continues to disappear. and the video market, tremendous advancements in technology and massive capital investments in distribution networks now empower consumers to craft their own viewing experiences more than ever. at the root of this increasing consumer power and choice is a complex and overlapping mix of content creators, distributors and electronic manufacturers racing to serve the marketplace better. a few such companies from this mix are with us today. with innovation empowered individuals however comes disruption to establish mods and incumbent powers. unfortunately ma

on april 15, 2008, senators graham and demint sent letter to the chairman asking for a hearing for mr. matthews. despite his qualifications, mr mr. matthews waited 485 days for a hearing that was never held. his nomination was returned on january 2, 2009. rod rosen stein was nominated to the first sic circuit seat on november 15, 2008. the american bar association standing committee on the federal judiciary unanimously rated mr. rosenstein "well-qualified." previously in 2005, he had been confirmed in a noncontroversial voice vote as united states attorney of maryland. prior to his service as u.s. attorney generals he held several positions in the department of justice under both republican and democratic administrations. on june 24, 2508, senator specter, ranking republican of the committee, sent a letter to mr. rosenstein's home state senators pointing out that the seat to which mr. rosenstein had been nominated had been vacant since august of the year 2000. at that point, that was eight years. he requested -- senator specter requested they return their blue slips to his nomination.

senator jim demint is the ranking member of the subcommittee on this subject. senator kerryforward to your co. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i think the witnesses for being here. thanks for holding the hearing. the communications sector continues to be one of the most dynamic and innovative. i hope this is one of the first of many hearings that allow an opportunity to learn and discuss the marketplace and update the khomeni's record. the obstacles between consumers and the video content they seek continues to disappear. the video market was a tremendous advancements in technology and massive capital investment and networks in power the worst to craft their own viewing experience. at the root of this is a complex and overlapping mix of content creators, distributors, and electronic manufacturers, racing to serve the marketplace better. a few such companies from the sonics are with us today. with innovation and howard -- empowered to innovation comes a need to establish a incumbent powers. and number of our laws were achieved decades ago by interests seeking government granted protection from market forces. they w

jeb bush, senator jim demint and in wisconsin, chairman ryan and on top of that, you had the rock star of the senate now, senator ron johnson saying he's my guy. so the tea party and mre enough for me and he's enough, he believes enough with the tea party to get behind. it seems like the people of wisconsin agreed with that and a 14 point deficit two weeks ago was a victory last night. >> gretchen: there were two states in the district of columbia. even though mitt romney had three victories, rick santorum, another competitor who would like to be the nominee, says he's not going anywhere, that we're only to half time of this fight. so what should romney now focus on? he's getting some advice from lots of people, including all of us on strategist. but our own charles krauthammer who was on "the o'reilly factor" last night and says romney has to continue to go after the president and not after the other republican rivals. >> what you do is you put a ton of money in ads in santorum's home state to scare him away or beat him. but all your rhetoric, all your speeches, all your interviews are about obama. not a word about santorum. today obama went after romney by name. th

mr. demint: mr. president, i'd like to call up amendment number 2046. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from south carolina, mr. demint, proposes amendment numbered 2046. mr. demint: i ask the reading be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. there will be two minutes of debate. mr. demint: thank you, mr. president. this amendment is the paycheck protection act, and it protects the first amendment rights of postal workers by requiring postal labor unions to obtain prior approval from their workers before they spend their dues money on behalf of political parties, political candidates or other political advocacy. unions are the only organization in many states that cannot only force people to join, but forcibly use their dues for political purposes without the permission of the members. 60% of union members object to their dues being spent for political purposes without their permission. this amendment protects their right to have their dues used in a w

mr. demint: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to vote or on change their vote? if not, on this vote, the yeas are 57, the nays are 42. under the previous order requiring 60 votes for the adoption of this amendment, the amendment is not agreed to. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. lieberman: mr. president, i believe the next in order is amendment number 2025 by the senator from kentucky. mr. paul: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky. mr. paul: i call up amendment 20256789. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from kentucky, mr. paul, proposes an amendment numbered 2025. mr. paul: i ask unanimous consent that we dispense with the reading. mr. president, it is a federal crime for anyone but the u.s. post office to use a mailbox. the united states is the only country in the world that grants a mailbox monopoly. you can purchase your mail