mr. dodd: mr. president, let me just take a few minutes, if i will. how much time do we have now? the presiding officer: 29 -- 30 minutes. mr. dodd: mr. president, let me, first of all, talk about, if i can, the medicare issue because this has been the subject of sort of round and round debate back and forth over the last couple of days. i think it's important that, just to share with you again as emphatically as we know how what's being done mere with regard to medicare. the whole idea is to strengthen medicare, to put it on a sounder footing, to extend it solvency to eight years from five years, making it a sounder source of medicare that older americans need. the organization representing older americans, which doesn't lightly endorse proposals without examining them thoroughly, hardly a partisan group given the fact of where they have been over these years, in the last 24 hours has put out once again a statement from them laying out the facts of what is included in the bill drafted by the finan

mr. dodd dodd: it is -- it is to ears. in one ear, i give it two ears. mr. brown: senator dodd, we remember two years ago when the insurance carriers went to the government and said we can do something -- it later became medicare advantage. they said we can do it for 5% less than the cost of medicare. and government unfortunately made the agreement with them to sign up to do that. now they -- then what happened in the last ten years, the insurance lobbyists came here and lobbied the bush administration and lobbied the e congress and got bigger and bigger payment. and it really is a subsidy for the insurance companies. and you say -- and senator baucus and senator durbin said it's not a form of insurance, it's a privatized form of medicare that serves the insurance companies very well, thank you, but doesn't really serve the seniors this in this country. mr. dodd dodd: and i'll sit herl day for someone to cite just one benefit under medicare cut. just one. there are no guaranteed benefits cut under medicare advantagement and nor can they be cut. our legislatio

mr. dodd: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut is recognized. mr. dodd: let me commend our colleague from michigan who is a member of the finance committee and stalwart defender of the medicare program and the elderly not only in her state, but around the country. she has offered coming enter and worth -- cogent and worthwhile information on this subject matter. we keep going around and around and around in this debate. and it's a little bit frustrating because we're talking about basically whether or not we're going to limit to some degree the profits of some private insurance companies that are under the rule of something called medicare advantage. again, these are private companies that are receiving subsidies supported by medicare beneficiaries and the taxpayers of this country. and we're talking about not eliminating medicare advantage, but rather restraining. we had a great chart up here a few minutes ago that senator baucus had. i'll get it up here in a pew minu

mr. dodd: i really appreciate what the senator from montana has just done, because this is an area where i think there's a lot of confusion, a lot of misunderstanding. a lot of it begins, madam president, with just the branding, just the title of something. and i -- this was -- in fact, it was a revelation to me a couple of weeks ago. i heard the words "medicare advantage," i assumed this was part of the regular medicare program because it's got the title "medicare. ." mr. baucus: i think most people did. mr. dodd: so would my colleague correct me. this is really not -- this is not traditional medicare we're talking about? mr. baucus: to be totally fair all the way around here, the other side likes to trot out this medicare pamphlet that basically includes medicare advantage. i think that's misleading. it is not accurate. the what the senator says is totally -- what the senator says is totally accurate. these are private plans. mr. dodd: and the incentive in going back -- in looking back a few

mr. dodd: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 4284, received from the house and at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 4284, an act to extend the generalized system of preferences and the andean trade preference act and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. dodd: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times, passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table and any statements appear at this point in the record as if read with no intervening action. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. dodd: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on armed services be discharged from further consideration and the senate now proceed to h. con. res. 206. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: house concurrent resolution 206, commending the soldiers and civil

mr. dodd: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. dodd: mr. president, our colleague from maryland, senator mikulski, i believe, is on the way to the floor of the senate. she and several other members in the time we have allocated to us between now and 11:30 will be to address her amendment that she proposed yesterday. but pending her arrival, i just wanted to respond, if i could, very, very briefly to some of the conversation here this morning. first of all, i'm -- i know people -- some people have short memories, but i am somewhat intrigued to hear my good friends talk about preserving medicare. i recall the debates in 199 1995-1997 on the issue of medicare where my friends on the minority -- one of the ways they did so was by cutting the medicare benefits. we don't do that in this bill. despite the language about big cuts in medicaid here. in fact, we strengthen the medicaid program substantially. that's the reasoning the aarp and other major organizations involved with the elderly have endorsed our proposal. they would hardly be doing so i

mr. dodd: if i could, if my colleague and chairman of the finance committee, there is a lot of good things about our health care system. we want to start out by acknowledging that our providers, doctors do a wonderful job in many instances. we also know the system is fundamentally broken because it's based on quantity rather than quality. there is a question mark at the end of this. it's my opinion that that is what it is. in other words, doctors and hospitals, the system is rewarded based on how many patients you see, how many hospital beds are filled, how many tests get done, how many screenings are provided along the way. so it's all based on a quantity system. the more quantity you have, the system survives. we all inherit in that is, of course, if that's what drives the system, only quantity, obviously what you're going to end up doing, you've got a sick care system, not a health care system. we're trying, as i understand it, is to fundamentally shift away from a quantity-based system to

mr. dodd: i thank my colleague. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. dodd: i thank my colleague. mr. dodd: kevin has three employees in their 20's and 30's. this is kevin here in this maintenance shop in hartford, connecticut. never had a dental cleaning. one with two children to support. out of work, nearly died from a staph infection he got from an untreated calf tivment kevin has been work hard to provide for these people. he's recently lost people who have worked for him because they could have health care coverage. here san employee taking a drop in income in order to get a job where he can have some health insurance. and again these small business operators exist all across our country. my simple point being is this: anyone who suggests that this bill is the end-all obviously hasn't been through this process over the last number of weeks. there will be a lot more work that will need to be done in the years to come. but we need to do what no other congress has done before: we need to start. that's what we are attempting to do with this. that's the

mr. dodd: mr. president, i'm going to ask consent, if i may, that i be allowed to speak for 15 minutes and at that time include a colloquy with my colleague from state of minnesota. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. dodd: i asked my staff to notify me. i want to address a couple of issues. about this debate on medicare cuts an savings. let me -- and savings. let me make a point to my colleagues. about a year ago the bush administration sent us a budget. and according to the congressional budget office, again, and senate budget committee, the proposals in the bush administration's budget of last year alone called fo for $481 billion in medicare savings or cuts. it was not in the context of a health care bill. that was part of a budget proposal. so there's $4 1 billion, according to the c.b.o., just last year. going back to 1995 to 2005. this is literally 12 months ago, that was the proposal. in the context of an overall reform of the health care system in which we're trying to achieve sa

. \ mr dodd, aye. mr dorgan, aye, mr durbin, aye mr ensign, no mr enzee, no mr feingold, aye, mrs. feinstein, aye. mr franken, aye. mrs,geillearand, aye. mr graahm, no mr grassley, no. mrñgreg, no mrs, hagan, aye. mr harkin, aye. mr hatch, no. mrs. hutchison -- mr.inhosfe, no. mr noway, aye. mr isaacs said, nope. mr.johans, no. mr. johnson,aye. mr. kaufman,aye. mr. careyaye mr. kirk,aye. mr coles, aye mr. pyle,no. ms landreau, aye. mr lautenberg, aye. mr leahy, aye. mr levin ,aye. mr. lieberman,aye. mrs. lincoln,aye. mr. lugar,no. mr. mccabe,no. mrs. castle,aye. mr. mcconnell,no mr. menendez,aye. mr. merkley, aye. ms. mikulskiaye. mr merkowski, no. mrs. mary,aye. mr. nelson of nebraska,aye. mr. nelson of florida,aye. mr. pryor,aye. mr. reed of rhode island,aye. mr. reid of nevada, [laughter] mr. reid of nevada,aye. [laughter] mr rich, no. mr. roberts,no. mr. rockefeller,aye. mr. sanders, mr. schumer,aye. mr. sessions, mrs. shaheen, aye. mr. shelby, ms. snowe,no. mr. spector,aye. mr stabinow, aye. mr. tester,aye. mr thune, no. mr udall of colorado,aye. mr. udall of new mexico,aye. m

mr. dodd: mr. president, mr. president, before he leaves the floor, let me commend our colleague from massachusetts, paul kirk, who has only been with us a brief amount of time. under circumstances as he has said on numerous occasions over the last several weeks that he would much prefer to have avoided, but i want to commend him. in the brief time he has been here as a member. many of my colleagues know that paul kirk is no stranger to this institution, having worked as a member of the staff in senator kennedy's office for many years and has had a distinguished career in his own right in boston, and we welcomed him here under those very sad circumstances, but his remarks this evening are evidence of the value he has played in coming to this chamber and filling a gap here that -- and articulating i think a view that our colleague from massachusetts would be expressing were he here tonight and these days. and said so well -- if it hasn't been introduced in the record, i will ask, mr. president, that an editorial p

mr. dodd: if my colleague -- if i could just get a last minute or so on the floor, mr. president, i'd like to -- i want to commend mark pryor, our colleague from arkansas, who has offered one amendment ofs we're going to vote on shortly. this is a very, very worthwhile amendment he's offering. and giving individuals and small businesses better, more consistent information about insurance plans to be sold in the exchange. all of us in this chamber earchedz federal employee gets one of these. this is a little booklet here. it is a guide to federal benefits. i think i get some 15-20 options this year. i can open up this book to various pages and dplairsive analysis of consumer reactions to the various plans over the last year or so, what they thought of them, how well they've worked. there's nothing like this. we put language in our bill under the "help" committee to try to put this in common language that people can understand, getting away from the small print, telling people exactly what will be the benefits under their plan or the disadvantages, to some degree, and the

mr. dodd: mr. president, i want to take a few closing minutes if i can. i spoke earlier this evening about the importance of this moment that we all have come to appreciate, i believe, a moment that has been years in the making. going back, as all have pointed out, or most pointed out in favor of this legislation, dating back to the early part of the last century with theodore, a former republican who first advocated the notion of a national health care system in our nation. harry truman articulated in very specific terms. it was 69 years ago this month, mr. president, that mr. roosevelt identified the four freedoms. the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, the freedom from want and the freedom from fear. it is that last freedom that franklin roosevelt talked about in december of 1941 that is deserving of our attention at these closing minutes. whatever else one may argue about the specifics of this bill it is that fear that so many of our fellow citizens have over whether or not they will be confronted with a health care crisis and have the resour

mr. dodd. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut is recognized. mr. dodd: i'll be very brief because we want to have time to hear from our colleagues. a number of them served on the health, education, labor, and pensions committee, which helped us craft the legislation we now have before us in this compromise melded bill. i listened to the minority leader this morning and i'll talk more about this later. you'd phr-pl believe that 300 days proposal arrived as president of the united states and all these problems emerged. the fact of the matter is under the previous eight years we watched the nation accumulate debt and one administration, more so than all prior 43 administrations combined, the situation we find ourselves in economic did not happen overnight. it happened over a number of years of carelessness, a lack of regulation, a lack of enforcement of regulation that existed. we have been grappling with these problems. in december of last year more than 700,000 people

mr. dodd: absolutely not. mr. harkin: i would just say to my friend, was this not when the republican were in charge and they had a republican president? and a republican house and the senate? that's when they cut through all -- cut only mammograph screenings and things like that. mr. dodd: that is true and the record is very, very clear to. it's not -- people had the right to do so, that was their choice at the time. but to now try rewrite history somehow that this wasn't -- those cuts didn't occur, just the facts prove otherwise. in fact, they did occur in these areas, and that's why there are those of us here who objected strongly at the time. my colleague from arizona is absolutely correct when he says i said this was going to cut benefits for children and working families and cut screenings and tests for people. it did do that. those of us who made those warnings on that day proved to be 100% accurate. and compare that, if you will, with what we're talking about here today, particularly with reducing costs, r

mr. dodd: i'd ask consent that the call of the quorum be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. dodd: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent that over the next 30 minutes that time be equally divided 15 minutes for the majority, 15 minutes for the minority for debate purposes only. the presiding officer: is there objection? so ordered. [inaudible] the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. robert: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from can scan recognized. mr. roberts -- the senator from kansas is recognized. mr. roberts: well, i thank the president. i rise today to talk about health care in general and the latest proposal to come out in the form of a so-called compromise, if there's no objection. amazing. third time was the charm. you know, we talk a lot about being bipartisan here and i don't think that works too well on either side if a member can't at least seek recognition and express their views on what is

mr. dodd: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. dodd: madam president, i just want to agree with my friend, the majority leader, that we must close this doughnut hole. i think it's something all of us appreciate, and i second his commitment to doing so with this bill that we send to the president. as most seniors live on modest incomes, as we all know, it is imperative that we can afford -- rather, they can afford the prescriptions that they need. and as the majority leader has noted, seniors who have trouble paying for their prescription drugs are more likely to skip doses or stop taking their medication says altogether -- medications altogether which can lead to more serious health problems and higher long-term costs, beth for them and our -- both for them and our health care system as a whole n. my home state of connecticut, 25%, a quarter of all part-d enrollees fall into the doughnut hole. and so i understand the significance of delivering on the commitment to fixing this problem. we have a responsibility, i think as all of us

mr. dodd: mr. president, i'm not a member of the finance committee and don't have the responsibility that senator baucus does in dealing with these debt ceiling issues, but let me just corroborate what he has been saying. someone once drew the analogy this is like going out to dinner and enjoying a good meal and refusing to pay the bill at the end of it. we have a meal in front of us. the bill got too large because the past administration accumulated debt without asking the american people to pay for it and it left us in a hole larger than all previous administrations combined, over 225 years of our history. a remarkable achievement. it's not just the debt of one administration, all 43 previous presidents combined never accumulated the amount of debt that one administration did in eight years. i want to commend my colleague from montana. this is no easy task. it is always a painful vote for anyone to cast but it's obviously critical. this is more than just a vote in this chamber. it goes to the ver

mr. dodd: mr. president, if i can just spend a few minutes in resume the conversation about the health care proposal. before i do that, mr. president, let me ask unanimous consent that lia lopez, an intern in my office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the consideration of h.r. 3590. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. dodd: mr. president, let m me -- we've had a lot of talk, obviously, in the last -- well, going back now the las last more than -- well, you can go back 60 years we've been talking about health care. but in the last year, if you tried to calculate the number of times there have been meetings, conversations, not including the ones that occur here on the floor of the united states senate, but throughout the capitol, both the other body as well as here, between members and staffs, it has been voluminous, to put it mildly. and we've come down here now what appears to be the remaining just a few hours before we'll decide, as a -- as a nation, as to whether or not

mr. dodd: mr. president, i want to take a few closing minutes if i can.rlier this evening about the importance of this moment that we all have come to appreciate, i believe, a moment that has been years in the making. going back, as all have pointed out, or most pointed out in favor of this legislation, dating back to the early part of the last century with theodore, a former republican who first advocated the notion of a national health care system in our nation. harry truman articulated in very specific terms. it was 69 years ago this month, mr. president, that mr. roosevelt identified the four freedoms. the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, the freedom from want and the freedom from fear. it is that last freedom that franklin roosevelt talked about in december of 1941 that is deserving of our attention at these closing minutes. whatever else one may argue about the specifics of this bill it is that fear that so many of our fellow citizens have over whether or not they will be confronted with a health care crisis and have the resources to addr

mr. dodd: mr. president, let m me -- we've had a lot of talk, obviously, in the last -- well, going back now the las last more than -- well, you can go back 60 years we've been talking about health care. but in the last year, if you tried to calculate the number of times there have been meetings, conversations, not including the ones that occur here on the floor of the united states senate, but throughout the capitol, both the other body as well as here, between members and staffs, it has been voluminous, to put it mildly. and we've come down here now what appears to be the remaining just a few hours before we'll decide, as a -- as a nation, as to whether or not to move forward or to basically leave things as they are with the hopes that one way or the other, things may correct themselves in terms of the cost of health care, the affordability to individuals, as well as the quality of health care for many. and so the next few hours, debates, days, rather, could largely determine whether or not once

. >> mr. dodd? >> aye. >> mr.gan. >> aye. >> if you want to continue to hear will roll call of votes, go to c-span ii. willmington, north carole. you are opposed to this bill? caller: absolutely. i do think we need to do some things and how much we can sue. but to push it through like they are without a lot of debate and making sweet heart deals is just wrong. they are still pushing the vote through to the point where they push the the vote down so they can go home. host: what kind of work do you do? caller: i'm a bread vendor. host: we heard your senator there vote against the bill. next call from houston, texas. supportive of the bill. caller: yes. just of the fact that more people can get healthcare coverage is a great thing. not only that, we have seen conditions now that get insured. my sister is in the healthcare field and she doesn't even have insurance because it's not affordable. when they said more people are against this bill. who did they interview? they didn't talk to the mother of a child with a pree

. >> mr. dodd? >> aye. >> mr. dorgan. >> aye. >> if you want to continue to hear will roll call of votes, go to c-span ii. willmington, north carole. you are opposed to this bill? caller: absolutely. i do think we need to do some things and how much we can sue. but to push it through like they are without a lot of debate and making sweet heart deals is just wrong. they are still pushing the vote through to the point where they push the the vote down so they can go home. host: what kind of work do you do? caller: i'm a bread vendor. host: we heard your senator there vote against the bill. next call from houston, texas. supportive of the bill. caller: yes. just of the fact that more people can get healthcare coverage is a great thing. not only that, we have seen conditions now that get insured. my sister is in the healthcare field and she doesn't even have insurance because it's not affordable. when they said more people are against this bill. who did they interview? they didn't talk to the mother of a child with a

mr. dodd: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut is recognized. mr. want to commend my colleague from illinois, the democratic whip, for his arguments. he's laid them out, basically he speaks for me when he identifies what would have been the pillars of our views on this issue. i was elected to the house of representatives in 1974, two years after roe vs. wade. and i've been in congress now for 35 years, and we have lived with those guidelines, which while still have not resolved the matter in the minds of many people who have strongly held views in this matter, but have served us well. and what we have in this bill is a reflection of a continuation of those pillars. having been the acting chair of the health, education, labor, and pensions committee during the markup of this bill -- in fact, senator kennedy, who voted by proxy, as they call it in that process, we insisted upon the adoption of the kennedy amendment, which maintained the notion of conscience in these matters. so we're not forcing individuals to engage in abortion practices if they felt

mr. dodd: mr. president, i want to take a few closing minutes if i can.lier this evening about the importance of this moment that we all have come to appreciate, i believe, a moment that has been years in the making. going back, as all have pointed out, or most pointed out in favor of this legislation, dating back to the early part of the last century with theodore, a former republican who first advocated the notion of a national health care system in our nation. harry truman articulated in very specific terms. it was 69 years ago this month, mr. president, that mr. roosevelt identified the four freedoms. the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, the freedom from want and the freedom from fear. it is that last freedom that franklin roosevelt talked about in december of 1941 that is deserving of our attention at these closing minutes. whatever else one may argue about the specifics of this bill it is that fear that so many of our fellow citizens have over whether or not they will be confronted with a health care crisis and have the resources to addre

mr. brownback: and i believe you did a major health care bill with senator dodd from connecticut? mr. hatch: yes. mr. brownback: do you recall any -- mr. hatch: they were all bipartisan. and that's what gets me, because people know that people like myself, like the distinguished senator from kansas, we're willing to work on it with them. we know we can't get everything we want. our colleagues have different viewpoints than we do. but tell me -- tell me that i'm wrong. i know you can't. the "help" committee bill was done solely between few people at the white house and the kennedy staff really and basically a few democrats. that was it. no republicans. the house bill -- i'd like to ask the senator, do you know if any republican was asked to participate in helping to develop that monstrosity they call the house bill? mr. brownback: if i could respond to my colleague, no, i don't know of any. i don't know of any that were even asked. i know of some that were told you can join this bill, or asked that, okay, you can join our bill, but you don't have any input. mr. hatch: after they came u

mr. chairman. i want to say that i sat in the room with many others, senator dodd and senator shelby when we were told about the collapse of the financial system. we have lots of problems. this economy is not moving well enough for my purposes, but we are not in the great depression we might have been. you are a victim when you solve a problem you are better off -- society was better off the problem was avoided. i think people forget how important that is and easy to criticize, easy to say it could have been done differently. but at that moment action was needed quickly or we would have had financial collapse. i talked to warren buffett and he said the government deserves a high rate for its efforts to prevent the collapse of the financial system. i hope my colleagues will remember that. my question is on something i have been very critical of the fed in the past. that is consumer protection. the fed dropped the ball on consumer protection issues. i support the creation of a strong independent consumer protection agency. every day we find a new way. banks are in trouble. many of their profits are bein

dodd, senator kaufman. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: mr. president? reserving the right to object, and i won't. i just want to make a clarification that we wouldn't object to a couple of the people going without alternating so that we can have a couple of people that also go without alternate. mr. enzi: hopefully we can make some arrangements on the time limits. i like the provision in there that if one goes longer, then the other side can go longer too. with that provision, i have no objection. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: mr. president, could the chair inform me how much time the senator from nevada used. the presiding officer: 21 1/2 minutes. mr. durbin: thank you very much, mr. president. mr. president, this is an issue that is very personal and very important. i know a little bit about this because many years ago before coming to congress, i was a trial lawyer. i spent many years defending doctors when they were sued for medical malpractice, and i spent as many years representing plaintiffs

mr. bernanke. i want to join chairman dodd in voicing support for confirmation. while i certainly think transparency is important, it is the fed's independence and its ability to carry out day-to-day decisions about monetary policy without intrusion of congress that strengthens the fed's credibility and allows it to follow policies that maximize price stability and economic stability. what do you think about current proposals being considered by congress to audit the fed's monetary policy decisions and to change the way the boards of regional fed reserve banks are chosen by making them political appointees? if agreed to, how would these proposals change the way the fed operates? frnlg>> senator, first of all, . i think there has at least among the public been some misunderstanding of the word audit. audit sounds like a financial term. i believe that the congress should have all the information it needs about the federal reserve's financial operations, financial controls, to have appropriate oversight of our use of taxpayer money. we are, in fact, very transparent

mr. chairman. >> let me just say senator dodd may have to leave during the testimony because csg chair the bernanke hearings, confirmation hearing today so we expect that maybe the reason he has to go. >> i could have brought him here and had a joint hearing between the federal reserve chairman. >> maybe he could have told us out to pay for this. madam secretary thank you for being here and if he would follow secretary stayton admiral mullen we look forward to your testimony in if you want to summarize we can by your testimony in the record. >> thank you very much gemming kerry and ranking member lugar and all the members of this committee. it is an honor for me to be here to testify before you and also to continue the dialogue, both the chairman and ranking members statements as would be expected, were extraordinarily thoughtful, raised a lot of the hard questions we are grappling with campeau's the challenges that we have to meet, both the administration and the congress together and i want to thank the committee for the constructive role that it has played in helping us to address the difficult

mr. president, i want to begin by recognizing the work on this legislation of leader reid, chairman baucus, chairman harkin, and chairman dodd. mr. president, i believe when the history of this bill is written, that it will be recognized what a remarkable job of leadership senator reid has provided. bringing together a desperate caucus around extraordinary complex issues to accomplish something that will be mean? the future as a leap forward for america in reforming the health care system in this country. chairman baucus, no one has made a deeper, more committed personal sacrifice than senator baucus in advancing this legislation. his commitment to getting this bill done and getting it done right will stand the test of history. chairman harkin, who is -- who came in as the replacement to chairman kennedy made major contribution on the wellness provisions. and chairman dodd, who filled in for senator kennedy and continued in the role of handling this legislation, even while being chairman of the banking committee as well, provided an example of legislative leadership that's really unmatched. the four of them have done a super

mr. chairman, can i say one thing? >> yes. >> i agree with senator dodd. i don't think big is necessarily bad. but i do believe big is bad when it has an implicit -- >> i agree. >> -- response out there with the marketplace that the government is backing. >> i agree. >> i agree, as well. >> we all agree on that. senator corker? >> thank you. >> we're going to vote. you're in charge. >> okay. well, when you come back, you'll never know what may have happened to this place. but i'll try to behave like a gentleman. thank you. mr. chairman, i thank you for being with us so long, and i think you know that -- >> thank you. >> that -- i think you know that i was, you know, happy that the administration decided to renominate you. and i think you knew coming in these confirmations, unless something really strange happened, that i was going to support you, and i am. okay? i am becoming slightly frustrated, though. and i just -- i know that you're probably going to be confirmed, and i don't know when that's going to happen. you know, it may be held off until after th

mr. bernanke. i want to join chairman dodd in voicing support for confirmation.while i certainly think transparency is important, it is the fed's independence and its ability to carry out day-to-day decisions about monetary policy without intrusion of congress that strengthens the fed's credibility and allows it to follow policies that maximize price stability and economic stability. what do you think about current proposals being considered by congress to audit the fed's monetary policy decisions and to change the way the boards of regional fed reserve banks are chosen by making them political appointees? if agreed to, how would these proposals change the way the fed operates? frnlg>> senator, first of all, . i think there has at least among the public been some misunderstanding of the word audit. audit sounds like a financial term. i believe that the congress should have all the information it needs about the federal reserve's financial operations, financial controls, to have appropriate oversight of our use of taxpayer money. we are, in fact, very transparent

mr. president, as senator durbin just said and as our leader senator dodd just said, in about four hours, less, a little less than four hours now, the historic vote will take place in the senate. it will be the defining vote of my senate career. it's been about 25 years i guess i have been here. it probably will be the dough fining vote for all of us during our tenure here in the united states senate. it will be the cloture vote on the manager's package, and from that we move forward. i would hope that after that cloture vote and after we take that cloture vote that the minority side would see fit then since we have the 60 votes, we have crossed that hurdle, that perhaps they would be willing to close up the debate a little bit sooner than ending on christmas eve, but if that's their desire -- i mean, if they are -- i mean, they have the rules. i mean, we'll abide by the rules. if the republicans want to exercise every single right they have under the rules, they can keep us here until christmas eve, no doubt about it, no doubt about it. but to what end, i ask? to what end? we're going to

mr. president, first on behalf of senator dodd, i would ask unanimous consent that a military fellow in his office, captain joselyn hemler, be graintd floor privileges for the duration of the 2010 defense appropriations bill. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: mr. president, i want to speak for the few minutes i have this afternoon in support the appropriations bill which is before us, the defense appropriations bill. senator mccain and i and other members of the armed services committee spend a lot of time each year authorizing important programs to support our troops, protect our troops, support their families in a whole host of ways and hopefully to authorize funds which can help us succeed in afghanistan and iraq. that bill now is law and in front of us is an appropriations bill which contains most of those same provisions. not all, but most of those same provisions. and it's critically important that this appropriations bill be passed. you know, there's differences inside this body and between this body and the house of representatives and -- about the policies that a

mr. livieri, thank you very much. gene, we thank you for being with us here today. >> thank you, chairman dodd, members of the committee. i am jean ann fox, director of financial services for consumer federation of america. i am testifying today on behalf of the national consumer group listed on our testimony. we enthusiastically support senate bill 1799, that they're overdraft protection activewear also commend you for the proposal to create a consumer financial protection agency, which would not only implement that their overdraft coverage act, but also enforced the law and clampdown on all high-cost loans abuses. so thank you for doing that. in the dock after docket, the federal reserve has failed to protect consumers from abusive overdraft lending. the rule that was announced last week will be a help but it is not sufficient to protect consumers from the abuses that are inherent to overdraft coverage by bank. along with a recently announced changes in big bank overdraft programs, the rules are too little, too late to provide the reforms that american consumers need and want. banks extend credit when they pay a tran

mr. chairman, can i say one thing? >> yes. >> i agree with senator dodd. i don't think big is necessarily bad. but i do believe big is bad when it has an implicit -- >> i agree. >> -- response out there with the marketplace that the government is backing. >> i agree. >> i agree, as well. >> we all agree on that. senator corker? >> thank you. >> we're going to vote. you're in charge. >> okay. well, when you come back, you'll never know what may have happened to this place. but i'll try to behave like a gentleman. thank you. mr. chairman, i thank you for being with us so long, and i think you know that -- >> thank you. >> that -- i think you know that i was, you know, happy that the administration decided to renominate you. and i think you knew coming in these confirmations, unless something really strange happened, that i was going to support you, and i am. okay? i am becoming slightly frustrated, though. and i just -- i know that you're probably going to be confirmed, and i don't know when that's going to happen. you know, it may be held off until after th

mr. president, i ask consent that david barlava, an intern in senator dodd's office be granted floor privileges for the remainder of today's session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. baucus: mr. president, i want to take a few moments to talk about a provision in this package about which i am particularly proud. it would finally follow through on the federal government's responsibility to provide screening and medical care to residents at super fund public health emergency sites. the term public health emergency is defined by the comprehensive liability act of 1980, otherwise known as sfphe. it reserves the designation of public health emergency for the most hazardous superfund sites. this is where the potential release of a hazardous substance rises to a level of an emergency. when a public health emergency is declared, the law requires that the secretary of health and human services to provide screening and medical care services to people who have been exposed. to date the government has not created a mechanism to allow the secretary to deliver this screening and medical care req

mr. chairman. >> thank you very much senator lugar. let me just say senator dodd may have to leave at some point during the testimony because he has to chair the bernanke commination cairnes today so we suspect that maybe the reason you have to go. >> i have-- with. >> madam secretary thank you for being here. mr. secretary if he would follow the secretary of state and admiral mullen if you want to summarize the can put your full testimonies in a record. >> thank you very much chairman kerry and ranking member lugar and to all the members of this committee. it is an honor for me to be here to testify before you and also to continue the dialogue. both the chairman and the ranking member's statements as would be expected, were extraordinarily thoughtful, raised a lot of the hard questions we are grappling with an's the challenges that we have to meet on both the administration and congress together and i want to thank the committee for their constructive role it has played in helping us to address the difficult issues raised in their region of the world we are focus

conversations] >>> next, we will hear from senator dodd, who responds to rnc chairman michael steele's remarks about the senate health care bill. >> mr. president, let me -- we've had a lot of talk obviously in the last, well, going back to last more than -- go back years i guess we've been talking about health care, but in the last year if you try to calculate the number of times there's been meetings, conversations, not including the ones that occur on the floor of the united states senate, but throughout the capitol, both the other body as well as here, because members and staff is been voluminous to put it mildly. and we've come down here what appears to be the remaining may be just a few hours before we will decide as a nation as to whether or not to move forward or to basically leave things as they are with the hope that one way or another things may conduct themselves in terms of the cost of health care, the affordability to individuals as well as quality of health care for many. and so, the next few hours, debate, days could largely determine whether or not, once again, the congress of the united states, democrats, republican

senators such as diane feinstein, christopher dodd, ron by deny, frank lautenberg, patty murray, arlen specter, mary landrieu, and maria cantwell. now, mr. president, here's a letter dated 30 september, 2003. and it says, "dear medicare conferee:" it says united states senate, and it's signed by a number of senators, including my colleague, senator kerry. "we're asking" addition -- "we're writing to ask you as a member of the medicare conference committee to ensure that the final medicare bill includes a meaningful increase in medicare choice funding in fiscal years 2004-2005." so i guess that my friend and colleague, senator kerry, was against cuts in funding before he was for it. he was against them before he was for them. so anyway, it goes on to say, "you strongly support additional medicare choice funding for two very important reasons. one, to protect the health care choices and benefits of the nearly 5 million medicare beneficiaries who are currently enrolled in private-sector health plans. and, two, to strengthen the foundation for future health plan choices. we believe that the medicare choice funding provisions are critically

will reform mitch mcconnell banking chairman chris dodd finance chairman max baucus and republican unendurable marlet xander. cmac with every passing day, mr. president the american people become more and more perplexed about the democratic land for health care and they like it lots of mice. it meant lowering cost. this bill actually raises cost. americans thought reform meant helping the economy. this bill actually made it worse. americans thought reform meant strengthening medicare. this bill raised it to create a new government program that will have the same problems that medicare does. americans wanted reform. what they're getting is the opposite. more spending, more debt, more burdens, more families and businesses already struggling just to get by. one of the biggest sources of money to pay for this experiment is medicare. this bill cuts medicare advantage by $120 billion. it cuts hospitals by $135 billion. it cuts home health care by $42 billion. it cuts nursing homes by $15 billion because hospice by $8 billion. reform shouldn't come at the expense of seniors. and the mccain amendment guarantees that it wouldn't. the mccain amendme

mr. coburn: here's what i would say. this morning the claim made by you and senator dodd is that medicare advantage is not medicare. medicare advantage is medicare law. it was signed into law. it was a part of medicare. you would agree with that? mr. baucus: yes. 2003 i made the mistake and agreed to give the medicare advantage plans way more money than they deserved. and as you said, they're overpaid. mr. coburn: i agree with you. you won't hear that from me. now, how did we get there? how did we get there to where they're over paid? we had an organization called the center for medicare and medicaid services. they're the ones that let the contract, aren't they? they, in fact, are. and 25% of the overpayment has to be rebated to c.m.s. today. you would agree with that? 75% for extra benefits, 25% rebated. how did we get to where they're overpaid? because we have a government organization, a government-centered organization who was incompetent in terms of how they accomplished the implementation of that bill. and what was said by senator dodd this morning, and i confronted him already on it, but it bears repeating, i

dodd said, for example, this bill cuts funding from medicare and medicaid. which provide health care to poor working men and women, the disabled, and the elderly. what a plea. senator barbara boxer saying, mr. president, i oppose the bill before the senate. it would cut vital programs for the middle-class, elderly, and poor. that's why i cannot believe only two months after katrina that we have a bill that would cut medicaid by $27 billion. and the list goes on and on. and now before us, we have cuts of $483 billion, including hospice, including other vital programs for our seniors. we're going to go ahead and talk about flip-flops, let's look at the rhetoric. that accompanied my colleagues on the other side. which by the way, it only saved $2 billion over five years. i would ask my friend from oklahoma, does he believe that it is possible to make these cuts, including from the medicare advantage program, and establish a medicare commission that would not over time cut benefits that exist today for medicare and medicaid patients? >> mr. president, i would answer my colleague by saying, this bill is a government-centered approach. not a patient-centered approach. this is the very reason tha

mr. obama and congress want. congress gets what they want from the federal reserve. host: you are looking at video of chairman bernanke. his nomination cleared the senate 10 days ago. after the vote, senator dodd acknowledged the risk of a protracted battle on the floor. he said it might serve the poetical purpose of causing disruption in the marketplace but it is not in anyone's interest for that to happen. those are the comments of senator chris dodd, the head of the banking committee. we go to san antonio, texas. this is rich on the democrats' line. caller: you had a gentleman that talked about the creature from jekyll island. he sounded all little bit like a conspiracy theory guy. the government essentially operates on a credit card. everything that they used to fund the operation of the federal government is done on borrowed funds, whether it be from china, saudi arabia, the european union, or the federal reserve. the founding fathers set up our monetary system based upon a gold standard. everything the federal government does now is on a debt based currency model. that coupled with the fact that banks create money through the fractional banking system creates an empire of debt. it does n

mr. president, i thank my colleague from montana, the chairman of the finance committee, for his great leadership on this issue and on this i will, along with senator doddo took the leadership on our committee, on the help committee, putting our bill together. the two of them have just done an admirable job getting our bill this far along and hopefully we'll see the light at the end of the tunnel here pretty soon, mr. president. i think one of the best christmas presents that we could give the american people would bring this to a close, let's have our votes up or down and let's get it passed so that the american people can look ahead to a brighter future in terms of their health care and its quality and affordability and accessibility. but, mr. president, i wanted to take a little bit of time this morning to speak in strong support of senator pryor's amendment, which is before us right now. which would provide information on the consumer satisfaction of health plans offered through the exchanges. the pryor amendment develops an enrollee satisfaction survey for these plans and requires exchanges to include information from this survey on an internet web

- reid of nevada, dodd, udall of colorado, leahy, akaka, durbin, brown, shaheen, kerry, reed of rhode island, harkin, whitehouse, gillibrand, merkley, lieberman, boxer, and stabenow. mr. reid: i now withdraw that motion. the presiding officer: motion is withdrawn. mr. reid: i now move to recess until 10:01 a.m. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, parliamentary inquiry. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: before we proceed to the vote, i'd just like to make a parliamentary inquiry. i believe it is the case that a simple motion to recess or adjourn is not amendable. is that correct? the presiding officer: the republican leader is correct. mr. mcconnell: further inquiry, i also believe that a motion to recess or adjourning to a time certain is amendable with time changes. the presiding officer: the republican leader is correct. mr. mcconnell: i'll not offer an amendment to change the time to convene until later tomorrow, but just so everybody will know with regard to their own personal schedules, you know, this vote could occur at any time tomorrow t wouldn't have to be at 1:00 a.m. the majority leader has the discretion to do that. we're, of course,