mr. durbin: thank you. earlier today the senate voted to move forward with this nomination. 65 senators recognized the extraordinary qualifications mr. koh will bring to the state department. in the last few weeks some senators on the other side of the aisle have done everything they can to slow down the work of the senate, even going so far as to delay the consideration of the bill to promote tourism in america. a noncontroversial bill with 11 republican cosponsors but a bill that could get only two republican senators to support it when we asked to move it forward. untphorpbl, the same thing is happening with the -- unfortunately the same thing is happening with the nomination of mr. koh. this is a nomination that is noncontroversial. 65 supported going forward. yet the republicans are insisting, as they have the right to do under senate rules, that we delay for maybe up to 30 hours before we actually get to the vote. if we're going to waste that much time on a noncontroversial nomination for a person to b

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: and ask consent to sneak morning businessment. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, after the closure of morning business, we will return to the family smoking prevention and tobacco control act. this is a piece of legislation that has been in the making for two decades or more that would finally say that tobacco is going to be regulated as it should have been a long time ago. for the longest time, the tobacco lobby was the most powerful lobby on capitol hill. and they managed to create an exemption in virtually every law so that no federal agency could take a look at them and regulate them and basically know what we know about every product and service offered in america. they said, well, the food and drug administration shouldn't have any authority. the tobacco lobby argued, we're not really a food and we're not really a drug. and so they managed

mr. durbin: thank you. mr. president -- and i ask unanimous consent that after my remarks the senator from oregon be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection, swithoutobjection, s. mr. mccain: mr. president, could i amend that unanimous consent request that i follow senator wyden. mr. durbin: absolutely. and i ask unanimous consent that on the republican side, for their morning business, senator mccain be recognized first. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: this morning the republican senate leader came to the floor to talk about health care. it is a timely conversation. among members of the senate about the future of this important issue and i know senator wyden of oregon is going to address it at all. yesterday in chicago, illinois, which i am honored to rerntion the president came to speak to the american medical association, a gathering of doctors dpr all ove from all ove dwriewunitedstates to address te issue. they understand, as we do, that we want to maintain th

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: "washington post". mr. durbin: mr. president, the senate is considering many issues now of great importance, but none more important to the american people than the future of health care in this great nation. this weekend a new poll was released by "the new york times" and cbs, 5% of the people surveyed said -- said that it needs fundamental change or to be rebuilt 85%. people sense that though we have great hospitals and interests, there's something fundamentally flawed with our system and you can understand. why we're spending more money than any other country on earth and we're not getting the medical results that we want and there's real uncertainty that average people just won't be able to keep up with the cost of health, the battles with health insurance companies over coverage and w

mr. durbin: i ask consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: yesterday i reintroduced the credit card fair fee act. it will provide fairness and transparency in the credit card fees. the senate passed legislation that will crack down on abusive fees an practices that credit card providers impose on consumers and cardholders. this landmark legislation 20 years in the mak making, and i s pleased to support. it we need to look at the fees an restrictions that credit card providers impose on retailers. retailers like the restaurant down the corner, the grocery store, the shop. these have to be looked at as wes. banks an credit card companies impose fees an restrictions on retailers who accept their cards as a form of payment. many fees are anticompetitive

mr. durbin: mr. president, this morning we heard the republican leader come to the floor again -- this is not the first time -- to address the health care situation in america. i read his previous speech and i listened to his speech today. it is clear to me that he does not believe that we are facing a crisis when it comes to health care. i think we are. i think it is a serious crisis. it is a crisis where 47 million americans have no health insurance. imagine, if you will, being a parent, having children with no health insurance coverage. imagine yourself in a position where an accident or a diagnosis in a doctor's office could literally mean you'd lose every penny you ever saved in your life for expensive medical care when you don't have health insurance. imagine that as a crisis that affects americans, too many of them today. and then imagine those who have health insurance and worry that tomorrow the cost will go up to the point where they can't afford it, that there will be medical procedures ne

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i will speak briefly and yield to the senator from arizona and be happy if he would like to ask a question or whatever and maintain a dialogue here. i will make this very brief. i have confidence in the courts of america. if i had to pick one place on earth to have a trial and to be sure it would be a fair trial with a fair outcome, it would be right here in the united states. maybe i've gone too far. maybe i'm showing my patriotism here, whatever it is. but i believe that. if you say to me we captured a terrorist somewhere in the world where would you like to have them tried? it would be right here. i believe in our system of justice. i believe in the integrity of our judiciary. i believe in our department of justice prosecutors. i believe in our defense system, our jury system, and i believe we have the capacity and resources to try someone fairly, better than any place in the world. the senator from kentucky may not agree with that conclusion. he obviously thinks there is to

mr. durbin: mr. president, today we are debating a bill that would allow the food and drug administration to regulate one of the most deadly substances for sale in america, tobacco. the substance responsible for 400,000 deaths, more than hiv-aids, for example, each year. more death thans illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle accidents, suicides, and murders combined. the substance responsible for $100 billion in health care costs every single year. now, i'm glad that we finally reached this point. i hope that we can pass this with a strong bipartisan vote. this moment has been coming for 20 years. there are senators who deserve great credit for where we are today in coming to this moment in history. none more than senator ted kennedy. senator kennedy has been our leader on this issue. unfortunately, his personal health struggle prevents him from joining us regularly. and he may not be here for the vote today. but we wouldn't have reached this point without him. his dogged determination to redu

mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask consent to speak for up to three minutes before the vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i'd like to join in saying that the chairman of the senate judiciary committee, senator leahy, has come up with a reasonable timetable for considering this historic nomination. i believe that his setting monday, july 13, for the hearing is well within the ordinary bounds of time allotted for supreme court nominees. the important date is when paperwork is submitted, and when it came to the submission of paperwork before the hearing actually took place, it basically -- when it came to judge sotomayor, she completed her paperwork, setting forth her key information, background, on june 4. the july 13 hearing will take place 39 days after that paperwork was submitted. in the case of justice alito, who, incidentally, had participated in 4,000 cases -- 1,000 more than judge sotomayor -- in that case, in justice alito's case, the hearing took place 40

mr. durbin: mr. president, i've listened carefully to the statement of my colleague, senator sessions, from alabama, who is the ranking republican on the senate judiciary committee. he is charged with a special responsibility at this moment in history because with the retirement of supreme court justice david souter and the vacancy that's been created, the senate judiciary committee has the responsibility to work with the president to fill that vacancy. i'm honored to be a member of that committee. and to be facing the third vacancy since i've been elected to the united states senate. it's rare in one's public political life to have a voice or partial role in the selection of one supreme court justice but to have a chance to be involved in the selection of three for a lawyer is quite an amazing responsibility. senator sessions and i are friends and we see the world somewhat differently but i would say to him that i would quarrel with the notion that our laws are so clear that a judge, given a set of

mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president. i went to the twhows hear president obama announce a sweeping change on the regulation of financial services. it is the most important change since the great depression. at the heart of president obama's proposal is the creation of an independent new agency. it is called the consumer financial protection agency. it's going to put the interests of american families and consumers above the interests of a lot of businesses and banks. i introduced a bill last year and then again this year that would create that same agency. it's an honor for me that the president would pick up on this idea and make it a major part of what he's doing. before i take too much credit for it, the idea really originated with elizabeth warren. she is a professor at harvard law school who is one of the more creative and innovative people who advises us here on capitol hill. she realized, as most of us do, that most consumers and customers and businesses are at the mercy of a lot of regulations and a lot of fine p

mr. durbin: mr. president, i know there is controversy involved in the so called cash for clunkers, kind of a humorous name for a very serious proposal. let's be real honest about where we are in america today. we have seen the largest decline in automobile sales in 50 years, sales are down 29% and automobile production is down 46% from just 17 months ago. plummeting auto sales have reduced production and it has had a ripple effect across the economy forcing dealerships and factories to close. we have lost 280,000 american jobs in the automobile industry. that's what had is about -- 280,000 american jobs lost and more that will be lost if we do nothing. some would have us do nothing. while the automobile industry is roiling from job losses and declining production many consumers in the market for new cars are waiting, holding back. the purpose of this legislation is to put some movement into the purchasing of new automobiles. it is a targeted way to give incentives to americans to buy cars, gets them

mr. durbin: mr. president, i want to commend the obama administration for the progress that they've made to date on closing the detention facility at guantanamo bay. according to media reports tod today, the obama administration has reached an historic agreement with the government of palao to transfer 17 guantanamo detainees to this specific island. these 17 detainees are uighurs from china. the bush administration determined that all 17 are not enemy combatants and do not pose any risk to u.s. national security. the bush administration had determined that the uighurs couldn't be legally returned to china for fear that they would be imprisoned and tortured. a federal court looked at all the classified evidence against these 17 uighurs. the court found there's no legitimate reason to hold them and ordered them released. mr. president, this administration is going to follow that court and follow the law. i commend president obama and those working with him for finding a solution to what has been a vex

mr. durbin, which is a humbling experience and disqualified me from service in the president's cabinet. having said that, it was an eye opener. may i ask you about refund anticipation loans. i don't know if you're familiar with these. i've co-sponsor the legislation, nationalal consumer law center found the interest rate for a refund anticipation loan can range from 50% to 500%. is the irs doing anything at this point to address concerns about refund anticipation loans? >> a couple of things, one of the most important things we do is continue to get our technology in order so we can get refunds out quick to so they can get money in their pockets. we now, if you electronically file and get a direct deposit you'll get your refund back in under ten days and usually it comes back in three to four days. if we can finish our modernized taxpayer account database, every taxpayer will have opportunity to get a quicker return back. that's one way, get rid of the need. i think it's incredibly unfortunate that people's financials that they need to take a high interest loan and can't wait ten days t

mr. durbin: i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: i thank my colleague and friend from illinois for his outstanding words once again on health care. and on the fact that we need some kind of check on the insurance companies -- our colleagues offer nothing, they just point to canada and england which is a totally different system than we are focusing on. second, i thank my colleague from oregon doing a great job in his first year in the senate for his generosity so i can speak for a brief moment, share with my colleagues some words about an act of bravery that occurred in my state yesterday. mr. president, as the senate right now debates some of the biggest national issues of our time, it's important to sometimes take a step back and look to see some of the great acts that are happening every day in our towns, cities and states. so lied like to call -- so i'd like to call attention to an act of heroicness yesterday morning at south orange town middle school in new york, in rock land county, 45 minutes from new york city, a di

mr. durbin: i thank the senator from connecticut for his leadership on this issue. just a few week he had historic legislation on credit card reform. senator enzi, thank you for making this a true bipartisan effort. we wouldn't be here today without your cooperative effort and i thank senator dodd for invoking the name of our great hero, ted kennedy, who really started this fight. in just a few minutes, this senate will make a historic decision and i think they'll make the right decision. joe camel will be given a life sentence and put away forever and we're going to give our kids and our families across america a fighting chance for a better life. this bill is historic. it's been a long time coming. thank you for all your hard work to make it possible. mr. dodd: i yield the floor. y mr. enzi: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: mr. president, i rise today in support of the family smoking prevention and tobacco control act. i thought long and hard about this, and after a lot of work and a few good improvements, i believe this bi

mr. durbin: with all due respect, the senator failed to answer my question. asked him this question: if it is a danger to america that if we put a convicted terrorist in prison in our country, if that creates a danger, as you've said repeatedly, in our communities and neighborhoods near this prison or in other places, then i ask the senator from kentucky, what would you do with the 355 convicted terrorists currently in prison and the senator didn't answer. he said we haven't been attacked since 9/11 that. is unresponsive. we know that there are facilities where these convicted terrorists can be held safely and securely. marion federal penitentiary in my own home state has 33 convicted terrorists. i just spent a week down there not far from your home state. there was not fear among the people living in that area because 33 terrorists are being held at marion. do you know why? because our corrections officers there are the best. and i went in to see them and i sat down with them. they are concerned, angry, even insulted at the suggestion that they cannot safely

senator durbin. >> mr. attorney general, thank you for being here. first i'd like to ask a question related to an issue in chicago. i recently met with the head of the chicago public school system and he told me an absolutely stunning statistic. in this last school year recently completed, over 500 school children in chicago were shot, at least 36 of them fatally. i think you'll share my view that this is unacceptable in chicago or anyplace in america. i think under the second amendment people have the right to own a gun, responsibly and legally, but children also have the right to be able to walk to school without being caught in the crossfire of a gang war. i'd like to ask for your help along with the help of secretary of education, arne duncan, and other members of the administration, to work with mayor daley and state and local officials to deal with this serious problem in president obama's hometown. >> yeah, the problem that you have detaillighted is simply unacceptable. i met with mayor daley last week here in washington. and we discussed that

mr. chairman. >> chairman shapiro, the floor is yours. >> chairman durbin, ranking member collins and senator tester, thank you very much for the opportunity to testify today. in the short time that i have been at the sec, we have taken on an active agenda. all with the goal of protecting investors, vee vitalizing the agency and restoring confidence in the markets. we are making great strides yet recognize we have quite a distance to go. in the area of enforcement, we have changed our policies so that our investigators do not have to jump over unnecessary hurdles before seeking penalties or launching investigations. we have hired a former federal prosecutor to lead the enforcement division. someone who is focused on bringing significant cases with a meaningful impact as quickly as possible, and ensuring that the division is appropriately organized to do just that. we have begun to update our management systems to update our risk assessment capabilities so that we can better detect fraud. and we have expanded and improved upon our training so that our staff will be able to keep pace with the new fina

mr. diehl had to leave the. dr. hamburg, as you probably know, senator kennedy and senator durbin have introduced a food safety billon the senate side and has a the administration and doors to that bill or hasn't endorsed this bill or endorsed any

whitehouse, inouye, feingold, dodd, burris, durbin, murray, tester, udall of colorado, klobuchar, reed of rhode island, baucus, merkley, lincoln, cantwell, dorgan. mr. reid: i ask that the mandatory quorum be waived. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: i ask the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask now that we proceed to a period of monk business, senators allowed to speak -- of morning business, senators allowed to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president, let me just say a brief word on the cloture that was not invoked on the travel bill. i hope that everyone understands what obstructionism is. this is obstructionism at its best, and it goes along with what the republicans said they wanted to do and that is stop everything. as indicated in "roll call" newspaper last week. this is a bill that saves the government money, almost a half a billion dollars over ten years. it would create in the first year of the -- after passage of the bill 40,000 jobs. the republicans just killed th this. over

durbin. he's a superb lawyer and can certainly -- if i were in trouble, i'd like to have him defending me. i thank you, mr. chairman. i yield the floor. >> every weekend book tv has the latest nonfiction books and authors on c-span2. >> there's lots more books and authors this weekend on book tv. our website has the entire schedule and great new features including streaming video, archives that are easy to search and simple ways to share your favorite programs. booktv.org. >> people don't want to think of roosevelt's conservation as a policy as much as a passion. he put aside 240 million acres of wild america. >> from crater lake to devils tower and the grand canyon, president theodore roosevelt was on a mission to save the west >> and so now as people are talking about environmentalism and green movements, roosevelt is becoming the key figure to understand 'cause he was the only politician of his day who could absorb darwin and who had biology and birds' migratory patterns and understood mating patterns of deer and elk and antelope valley and actually dig something. >> sunday on q & a, the first of two h

mr. will. a first of all abc in the white house, there will be no money that will come out -- c-span news to talk about dick durbin and can i disagree with you on iran and north korea. i believe iran is more dangerous than north korea. north korea banks from the food and get it all from china iran, they fun hezbollah and libya, they fund hamas. there are finding al qaeda in iraq so myself i think they are a lot more dangerous. >> guest: the caller may be right, they may be more dangerous and he certainly right that they are dangerous. >> host: this is martha in rockland, maine on democrats line. >> caller: hello? this is martha clarke in that rock landed and out like to ask mr. well, why you included insurance companies in the health equation at all. they bring nothing to the table are in the business to make money and to prevent health care. thank you. >> guest: that seems to me is an eccentric view of the current function of history of insurance companies and our country. i don't know quite how to grasp the thought of there to prevent health care. are they trying to make a profit? yes and the way you make a prof

the fdic model, chairman durbin and i and others and senator dodd would have proposed beefing up the fdic. we need to use them and i'll have further questions for the record and mr chairman asked that my full statement and all my good advice would be included in the record in the hopes that somebody might read it some day. >> we look forward to reading that and we'll gladly be inserted. senator bond and senator nelson? >> thank you, mr. chairman. secretary geithner, you mentioned that we're reluctantly in a position of holding shares of general motors and perhaps in a position of controlling other institutions, but we're doing so reluctantly. i'm so reluctant to be one of those holders of that stock, that i'm introducing a resolution as a sense of the senate resolution that we begin the process to divest ourselves of the stock ownership over a reasonable period of time, making clear that we're only a temporary shareholder and that we should take all steps to protect the american taxpayer dollars and begin to invest the ownership as expeditiously as possible and call for a gao study to help determine the period of time that it may take to return gm and chrysler's

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be suspended. i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent to speak in morning business after i have presented to you four unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate with the approve the majority and minority leaders, consent that they be agreed to and printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: mr. president, as we meet on the floor of the senate, we're deliberating a bill about promoting tourism in america which turns out to be a way to increase economic activity, create some business activity, keep people in their jobs and maybe attract folks from overseas to see this beautiful land of ours, we're now in a procedural holding pattern. the minority party has asked us to wait 30 hour

mr. durbin: for the last month the republican leader from kentucky has come to the floor and argued that we should not move detainees currently in guantanamo, into the united states, even for trial. luckily, the president and the attorney general have the head of the joint military chiefs of staff have come to the conclusion that it's in the best interests of the united states' safety and security that one of these notorious terrorists be brought to the united states for trial. and so it has been announced today that mr. ahmaz ghalani is being brought to the united states, to new york, for trial. luckily this administration is not following the advice and counsel of senator mcconnell and some on his side. it is time for this man to face a trial. what is he being charged with? he's being charged as one of those involved in the 1998 embassy attacks in africa. this tanzania national has been held in cuba since september of 2006. he was captured by our forces, and others, in pakistan, in 2004 and transported to guantanamo. he is being charged with his involvement in the 1998 bombings of u.s.