mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of senate resolution 382, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 3 382, supporting the goals and ideals of observing the national slavery and trafficking prevention month from january 1 through february 1, 2010, to raise awareness of and opposition to modern slavery. mr. durbin:the presiding officee objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to th

mr. durbin: i would be more than happy to allow that comment. mr. gregg: i fully agree with that analysis. the first 30 years of the class act will generate revenues that will add to the federal treasury and -- and that was the purpose of my discussion. that's the point i made. the first 30 years of this proposal is that younger people will be paying in and very few people will be taking out because they will not have yet qualified for the insurance because they won't be old enough to go into assisted living. mr. durbin: reclaiming the floor, i would just say if i understand what the senator has said, he is concerned that in the year 2040 that this program may not work as effectively as we had hoped it would work. i trust in the wisdom of future members of the senate and the house if that's necessary to modify the program, but it's certainly worthwhile for us to at least reflect on what this program is. it is a voluntary, self-funded insurance program for long-term care for american citizens. it was one of the visions of senator kennedy as part of h

mr. durbin: mr. president, reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, if i might engage in a colloquy with the minority leader, perhaps there would be a better understanding of his unanimous consent request before i make my final decision. i don't know. i have to ask unanimous consent. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i'd like to ask if the -- as i understand it now, when it comes -- let's set aside crapo and baucus and assume that there is commonlyity on that. as i understand it now, the dorgan amendment which would allow for the importation of pharmaceuticals and drugs into the united states has been offered on our side as well as a lautenberg amendment which has some history in the senate. it was previously offered by senator cochran of mississippi and establishes a standard for certification of safety of the drugs coming in. now, could the senator from kentucky describe to me what the new amendment, mccain amend

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, for those who are keeping score and following the senate and may wonder what we are doing here, we are in the middle of a filibuster, which is an attempt to stop legislation from moving forward. it is a filibuster inspired by the republican side of the aisle, and the bill that they are filibustering and trying to delay is the department of defense appropriations bill. this is the bill that funds our military. it is the bill that funds our soldiers and sailors, airmen and marines who are at war in iraq and afghanistan. it is a bill that almost without fail passes overwhelmingly with a bipartisan majority in the senate and the house each year. and it has passed the house of representatives with a substantial vote of about 394- 394-35, 164 republicans voted for it over there. there was no controversy associated with it. and yet when it came to the senate, the senate republicans announced they were going to filibuster the defense appropriations bill. why? do they disagree with

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, those who are following the business of the senate may be surprised to find us a little after midnight in session. this is a decision made by the senate just a few hours ago to postpone the continuation of our session into a new legislative day. the purpose is parliamentary so that a motion which we have filed can be voted on. it's an important motion. it's a cloture motion. we often have them. it's a motion that closes debate on the floor and moves us forward to the consideration of the measure, and they are very few measures that the senate would consider any more important than the one we're about to vote on. in about an hour or less, we'll be voting for the defense appropriation bill. this is a bill which is critically important to our nation's defense and security, as secretary gates reminded us today in a letter to the united states senate. it's also a bill that's important to the men and wom

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: under the previous order, the time until 1:30 p.m. shall be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, i thank the majority leader for designating haft of the time between now and 1:-- half of the time between now and 1:30 that i should control. and i would first like to thank all the people that are here, the staff and pages. this has been a tough session for many but tougher for many of them than some members of the senate because they have had to wait until the very last senator of either political party has finished for the day many times before they go home, and i was reflecting on that yesterday afternoon in the midst of one of the toughest historic snowstorms here in washington, d.c., that hundreds of staff people were waiting at their post, doing their jobs on a saturday in the middle of a snowstorm when virtually every business around washington was closing down.

mr. durbin durbin: madam presidw much time do i have remaining? mr. durbin: madam president -- madam president madam president i'd like to suggest the absence of a quorum and at that time under the quorum be allotted equally to both sides. the presiding officer: without objection, the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. chambliss: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: what is the current status of the senate? the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. chambliss: i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. chambliss: and, is it correct, madam president, that the minority side has the hour from 1:30 until 2:30? the presiding officer: that is correct under the previous order the time until 11:30 p.m. shall be controlled in alternating one-hour blocks with the republicans controlling the first hour. mr. chambliss: i would ask unanimous consent that senators cornyn, graham, isakson, and myself be allowed to have a colloquy for

mr. durbin: mr. president, could the chair inform me how much time was used on the republican side during the last group of speakers? the presiding officer: 42 minutes and 14 seconds. mr. durbin: i thank the chair, and i am going to proceed to speak in the same manner and yield to the senator from vermont, and our time will be less than that in total, so i see the senator from louisiana is here so we're going to be speaking less than 42 minutes. we guarantee you that much. and we're going to follow the same process, if there's no objection, that was just followed where three republican speakers spoke in that 42-minute period of time. and i ask unanimous consent that senator sanders be recognized after me to speak and that our total time be no more than 42 minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? objection was heard. mr. durbin: well, mr. president, i just offered that to the republican side and they asked me for permission and i gave permission, unanimous consent, so we'll speak as long as

mr. durbin: mr. president, reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i'm not sure i would support or oppose the amendment offered by the senator from indiana, but this matter has been on the floor for three days. there is a pending amendment from your side of the aisle from senator mikulski on this issue. i would hope you have approached her to incorporate your language. i don't know if you have approached senator mikulski, but at this point we think we have some effort being made at fairness on both sides, that there will be democratic amendments and republican amendments both offered, mikulski, murkowski and mccain and bennet, so i would object because i believe we have the basis for a fair agreement at this point. the presiding officer: objection is heard. is there okay to the original request? mr. vitter: mr. president, reserving my right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. visitor: again, -- mr. vitter: again, i'm very disappointed to hear that. senator mur

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr.resident, it's my understanding that we have gone over the original allocation of time and that senator mccain is coming to the floor. and we will of course offer to the minority side whatever extra time we have used so that there will be a like amount available to them. and i'll make every effort to shorten my remarks so that when senator mccain comes -- the presiding officer: the majority has not exceeded its time. it has 12 minutes remaining on the khrofpblgt. mr. durbin: misin -- on the clock. mr. durbin: sorry. yesterday, the majority leader propounded a unanimous consent request to have four votes with respect to the health care bill. the republican leader rejected the request. they needed time to review an amendment. therefore, mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent that following a period of morning business today the senate resume consideration of h.r. 3590 for the purpose of considering the pending crapo amendment to commit and the dorgan amendment number 2793 as modified

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, following leader remarks the senate will resume consideration of the conference report to aaccompany h.r. 8288, with the time until 9:30 a.m. equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. at 9:30 a.m. the senate will proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the conference report under an agreement last night the vote on adoption of the conference report will occur tomorrow, sunday, december 13. mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, does the clerk need to report the bill? the presiding officer: under the previous order the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order the senate will resume consideration of the conference report to accompany 3288, which the clerk will report. the clerk: conference report to accompany h.r. 3288, an act making appropriations for the departments of transportation and housing and urban

mr. durbin: i would be happy to. mr. baucus: i want ask my colleague, who knows senate procedures so well, why are we having a 1:00 a.m. vote anyway? isn't it possible it could be a different time? mr. durbin: i thank the senator from montana, because he's exactly right. under the usual business of the senate, we agree that we'll do something that is more thoughtful and humane and have a vote at an earlier time. senator reid has approached senator mcconnell and said, we have one of our senators, senator byrd of west virginia, with significant health proble problems, who's been brought to 9 floor now -- brought to the floor now early in the morning, late at night in a wheelchair. he looks better than ever, i might add. but the fact is that he is being asked to show up at 1:00 in the morning because we couldn't reach what is usual comity and gentlemanly accord on scheduling a vote. and it's unfortunate, because now we face this 1:00 a.m. vote. and with no cooperation on the other side to even change the vote for a very hum

mr. durbin: mr.resident, i ask unanimous consent that the next amendment in order be one offered by senator whitehouse of rhode island which is at the desk, that the other matter in order during today's session be a hatch motion to commit regarding medicare advantage, that no other amendments or motions to commit be in order during today's session, and that the time in sequence following this unanimous consent request -- i don't want to disadvantage the senator from new hampshire, but if it is our turn on this side of the aisle, i would ask that senator whitehouse first be recognized for the purpose of calling up his amendment, then the senator is chairman -- that i be recognized next for no more than 15 minutes, and at that point it's my understanding senator hatch has asked for the floor for one hour on his amendment. if there are any other requests, i would be glad to add them to the unanimous consent request at this point. mr. gregg: reserving the right to object, my only concern is that would ta

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois is recognized. mr. durbin: i ask that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i would like to respond to my friend from georgia who stepped off the floor. i would like to state a few things about the detainees in guantanamo bay. he misstated a few things. he stated that these detainees would be freed in illinois. not so the plan of this administration is not to free them. the plan is to imprison them in the most secure prison in the united states of america. it's in thompson, illinois, 150 miles from chicago. i was there a few weeks ago. it is a super max prison built seven years ago and never fully occupied. and now they're going to build an additional fence around it -- it will be more secure than any prison america. to suggest they will be freed they will be freed into the most secure prison in america and they're not coming out. -- out until such time as a resolution of whatever their issues may be or they pass away. and i might also say that the current la

mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that on the conclusion of senator ensign's remarks that i be recognized for a period of time equal to that utilized by senator ensign. further, that after the conclusion of my remarks members then be recognized in alternating fashion and that they be permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. further, if there's any extensions of time requested, then the other side be accorded the same. i ask the democratic speakers be as follows: senator franken, senator lautenberg, senator stabenow, senator 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 sid

mr. durbin: i will. mr.whitehouse: i'm interested in the parliamentary situation that took place earlier whereby one of our members was actually obliged to withdraw an amendment that was going to be voted on by all of us because of an insistence on part of the other side, that 800 pages, be read by our poor clerk, before that vote should take place. and i -- i have also heard the other side say that we want to get going and we want to move toward votes. and i would be interested in the distinguished majority whip's reflection on the extent to which a procedural objection to force the clerk to read 800 pages of an amendment and deny one of our colleagues his vote fairly represents a desire to move forward and get through our votes. mr. durbin: i'd say in response to the senator from rhode island, that we have heard repeatedly that people want debate, amendments, and vote. and, yet, what happened on the floor today when the senator from oklahoma, senator coburn, refused to give consent to suspend the reading o

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, it's my understanding the democratic side has 30 minutes now. the presiding officer: the senator is correct. mr. durbin: i see the senator from oregon is here. if i could have a few minutes to respond and then turn the floor over to him for as much time as he would need. first, the history lesson, and sometimes facts are tenuous, difficult, sticky things you can't get rid of. so let's look at the facts. when william jefferson clinton left the presidency, america's budget was in surplus. for the first time in 30 years, we were generating more revenue than we were spending. we were adding life and longevity to the social security system, to medicare and many others. we did this with a prosperous, booming economy, one of the most prosperous we have seen in modern history, creating new jobs, new businesses, new home opportunities across america. and when william jefferson clinton left office, we had a national debt of $5 trillion. in came the republicans. billing themselves as

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: mr. president, today all day we've been debating the health care reform bill which has been a matter worked on in the senate and the house for a solid year. i want to salute the senator from wyoming, senator enzi, who joined with civil other senators in i understand 1 separate meetings talking about this bill -- 61 separate meetings talking about this bill in an effort that didn't bear fruit as they'd hoped but was a bipartisan effort to come up with some sort of solution to our health care situation in america. i hope that we can still reach some bipartisan accommodation before this bill passes. at this point in time, only one republican senator has voted for any form of senate health care reform and that was senator snowe in the senate finance committee. we hope others will join us before this bill comes t

mr. durbin: the point dr. gawandi makes is that there is this conspiracy of silence, this fear of outing a doctor, you know, a senior -- mr. brown brown: they don't wano speak up. mr. durbin: doctors and nurses aren't willing to speak up, other colleagues are not willing to speak up and they should for the sake of their own profession but certainty the sake of the patients. mr. brown: so you're arguing, senator durbin, that if there was a mechanism that -- an environment where nurses and doctors would be willing to speak up if there was a doctor that -- a surgeon that had a problem with alcohol, that the problem -- this issue would not go away certainly but this issue would be much less serious, the issue of malpractice, the medical errors, the deaths, the injuries that come from some kind of medical error, medical malpractice, would be much alleviated? mr. durbin: i am. and i would see that my time is over. and i would just say -- just thank the senator from ohio and i would say this is one part of the answer.

mr. durbin: mr. president, before the senator speaks, i'd like to ask consent to follow the speaker from tennessee. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. corker: i can't imagine anybody better to follow me than the senator from illinois. how much time is left on minority time? the presiding officer: 12 minutes. mr. corker: 12 minutes. okay. and to the senator from illinois, it might not take quite 12 minutes. i'm here to speak regarding the gregg amendment. this health care debate in many ways has been going on the better part of this entire year. and there are obviously differences in this body over philosophical issues and how health care needs to be delivered. one of the things that i hope has come across is that all of us would like to see health care reform. i campaigned on health care reform. i used to be commissioner of finance for state of tennessee. and in that -- in that particular role, i oversaw the medicaid programs in the state called 10-care and i saw firsthand the tremendous p

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr.t, following leader remarks, the senate will resume the house message with respect to h.r. 3326, the department of defense appropriations act. the time until 12:00 is, as the chair mentioned, will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, and i've been designated by the majority leader. the time from 12:00 until 4:00 p.m. will be devoided and -- divided with the republicans controlling the first block and the majority controlling the next pwhrofpblgt if required to use all 30 hours of postcloture debate time the vote on the motion to concur with respect to the defense bill will occur around 7:30 a.m. tomorrow morning. senators are advised to plan accordingly in light of a winter storm expected to hit the d.c. area and virginia tonight and tomorrow morning. mr. president, i understand h.r. 4314 is at the desk and due for second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4314, an act to permit continued f

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 4165 received from the house. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 4165, an act to extend through december 31, 2010, the authority of the secretary of the army to accept and expend funds contributed by nonfederal public entities to expedite the processing of permits. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the bill be read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the bill be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding of

mr. durbin: mr. president, there's a saying in iowa and in illinois that any old mule can kick down a barn door, but it takes a carpenter to build one. i would modify that slightly and say any old elephant can kick down a barn door, but it takes a carpenter to build one. we are debating health care reform. the american people are following this closely because it affects every single one of us in this room. everyone in the gallery and everyone watching. this is one of the few things we'll debate which you can bet will affect you and your family personally. it's rare that an issue comes before us at this gravity and an issue that reaches every single person in america. it may be the biggest single issue we have ever tackled on the floor of the united states senate. in terms of its scope and its impact on the future of every single one of us. so for more than a year a lot of people have been working hard to come up with a piece of legislation that will have a positive impact on health care in america.

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i hope the senator from south carolina won't leave. he wouldn't yield for a question but i want to address his remarks and some of them are not accurate. and i don't want him to feel that i'm saying this outside of his presence. i would like to ask the senator from south carolina, while he has a few minutes there, if you could look in the bill and find the provision in the bill which kills the d.c. opportunity scholarship program. please present it to me now, because it's not there. it's not there. the d.c. opportunities scholarship program is a voucher program. it's a program created more than five years ago. it was authorized through the appropriations committee, not through formal authorization. and as many as 1,700 students in d.c., district of columbia, ended up going to school and getting about $7,500 a year to help pay the tuition for their schools. now, the program has diminished in size, i will concede, even though i tried in a debate and in negotiation to change that.

mr. durbin: mr. president, one of the issues that i have tried to focus on is our foreclose crisis. back in september 2006 when housing prices were humming along and the bankers and brokers were raking in money, the center for responsible lending published a report called "losing ground." that report december 2006 estimated that nearly 2 million homes would be lost to foreclosure in the coming years due largely to shoddy subprime mortgages. here's what the mortgage bankers association told "the washington post" when they heard of this study that was offereddably the center for responsible lending. i quote. "the report they said is wildly pessimistic because most homeowners have prime loans and are not at financial risk" that's what a senior economist at the mortgage bankers association said in december of 2006. he went ton say, "the subprime market was only a small part of the overall market and lending industry officials have said that regulatory action regulating the subprime markets could injure the opportunity for that market." on the floor of the senate, i was involved in a deb

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. urbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask to speak on the time allotted to the chairman of the finance committee relative to his amendment. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. durbin: there's been a lot of talk on the floor about taxes and health care. what we're discussing is this bill. it's a large bill, over 2,000 pages, but we needed all of these pages because we're tackling one of the biggest problems facing america. how could we take a health care system that consumes one out of every six or seven dollars in our economy and change it for the better, keeping what's good in it but changing those things that aren't so good. one of the things that concerns most of us is the cost of health insurance premiums. ten years ago an average family of four paid $6,000 a year for health insurance. now that's up to $12,000. and if we're not careful, in eight years it's projected to double again. $24,000 a yea

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. mr.vitter, no. mr

mr. durbin: mr. president, i would -- senator reid contacted me earlier today and was unable to be here for the opening of the session, and i told him that i would be here to open, and i would just like to say briefly in response that the comments that have been made by the minority leader, senator mcconnell, continue to raise question about the future of medicare. i hope that senator mcconnell is sensitive to the fact that this last week on december 3, we voted 100-0 for the amendment offered by senator bennet of colorado, which said that nothing in the amendments to this act shall result in a reduction of guaranteed benefits under the social security act provisions related to medicare. and he went on to say that any savings would be used to extend the solvency of the medicare trust fund, reduce medicare premiums, and other cost sharing for beneficiaries, and approve or expand guaranteed medicare benefits and protect access to medicare providers. we voted 100-0 on a bipartisan fashion to make sure t

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, pending before us now is an omnibus bill which contains six different appropriation bills. it was not our intention to call this omnibus bill but to call each one of the appropriation bills. unfortunately, it's been impossible to reach that goal because of a strategy that has been employed by the republican side of the aisle to slow down any debate on any topic as much as possible, to challenge us with filibusters and force cloture votes and make the senate go into interminable quorum calls. so many times we've called bills that came out of the appropriations committee with overwhelmingly positive votes tom run into roadblocks on the floor, and then after weeks and weeks and weeks of procedural problems tossed our way by the republican side of the aisle, the bill finally called and it passes by an overwhelming margin. the stray give is clear and it's -- the strategy is clear and it's clear on the health care bill as it is on the appropriation bills, that the republican side

mr. durbin: mr. president, i have six unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. approved by the majority and minority leaders. and i ask unanimous consent these requests be agreed to and they be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coburn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: one of the questions and one of the promises was if you have what you -- what you have now and you like it, you can keep it. what's happening under this bill for 11 million seniors on medicare advantage is not going to happen. if they like it, they're not going to be able to keep what they have. you can't deny that. that's the truth. medicare advantage needs to be reformed. there is no question about it. i agree with it. and as the senator alluded to the patients' choice act, we actually save $160 billion into the patients choice act but we don't diminish any of the benefits. and we do that because c.m.s. failed

mr. durbin: mr. president, i would -- senator reid contacted me earlier today and was unable to be here for the opening of the session, and i told him that i would be here to open, and i would just like to say briefly in response that the comments that have been made by the minority leader, senator mcconnell, continue to raise question about the future of medicare. i hope that senator mcconnell is sensitive to the fact that this last week on december 3, we voted 100-0 for the amendment offered by senator bennet of colorado, which said that nothing in the amendments to this act shall result in a reduction of guaranteed benefits under the social security act provisions related to medicare. and he went on to say that any savings would be used to extend the solvency of the medicare trust fund, reduce medicare premiums, and other cost sharing for beneficiaries, and approve or expand guaranteed medicare benefits and protect access to medicare providers. we voted 100-0 on a bipartisan fashion to make sure t

mr. durbin: mr. president, let me thank my colleague from minnesota. that letter from your constituent is heartfelt and should be an inspiration to all of us to get this job done. we've sacrificed. this is the 24th day of debating this bill. some of these sessions have been early in the morning, late at night, and i think the time has been well spent. people have come to the floor and spoken at great length, but no one more eloquently than your constituent who sent that letter. come tomorrow morning we will have the official vote very early in the morning. i'd like to say to my colleagues from west virginia and minnesota, we have a piece of news here. a lost what's been said on the floor has been said by others and said before, but this is a piece of news worth reporting. our bill, the health care reform bill, has been endorsed by the american medical association, the doctors, the largest physicians organization in this country. it's been endorsed by the american hospital association, the largest organization representing our hospitals. it's been endor

mr. durbin: mr. president, i want to thank the gentleman from the commonwealth of pennsylvania for his opening remarks because he has addressed an issue relative to a spending amendment offered by the senator from nevada, and he makes no -- note of a very critical flaw in this amendment. the senator from nevada is restricting the ability of the victims of medical malpractice to go to court to recover by restricting the attorneys' fees that can be paid, contingency fees, because people usually don't have enough money to buy an attorney, an attorney takes the case and says if i win -- if you win, rather, then i get paid. if you lose, i don't get paid. contingent fee basis. so the senator from nevada is restricting the ability of these attorneys to represent plaintiffs, victims, on a contingency fee basis but doesn't restrict the defense attorneys and the amount that they're paid. as the senator from pennsylvania just noted, the record is clear. the amount of money being paid to defense attorneys in med

mr. durbin: would the senator yield for a question? i'm going to be speaking at the end of this hour that's been allocated to our side, and tkwropbt interrupt the senator from -- and i don't want to interrupt the senator from ohio but for one reason. i don't know if ohio is aware of a -- i don't know in the senator from ohio is aware of a statement today by our colleague, senator coburn, who came to the floor and said what the american people ought to pray, that somebody can't make the vote tonight. that's what they ought to pray. i've been trying to reach senator coburn because he's on a committee that i serve on and i work with him. i'm troubled by this statement. i'm trying to reach him to come back to the floor and explain exactly what he said. about a senator being unable to make the vote tonight. i'm reaching out to senator coburn. i'll be on the floor in the next 45 minutes. i hope he will join me there. i thank the senator from ohio for yielding. mr. brown: thank you. i did not see that quote. i watched what happened two nights

mr. durbin: mr. president, i have six unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. approved by the majority and minority leaders. and i ask unanimous consent these requests be agreed to and they be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coburn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: one of the questions and one of the promises was if you have what you -- what you have now and you like it, you can keep it. what's happening under this bill for 11 million seniors on medicare advantage is not going to happen. if they like it, they're not going to be able to keep what they have. you can't deny that. that's the truth. medicare advantage needs to be reformed. there is no question about it. i agree with it. and as the senator alluded to the patients' choice act, we actually save $160 billion into the patients choice act but we don't diminish any of the benefits. and we do that because c.m.s. failed

mr. durbin: mr. president, let me first acknowledge the senator from connecticut, who played a critical role in the, not only the inspiration but the preparation of this important landmark legislation. senator dodd has been given so many tough assignments in his career. he's been handed some of the toughest, and this was one. his health, education, labor, and pensions committee met, i understand, for 54 hours if i'm not mistaken. i think that was said earlier on the floor -- considering hundreds of amendments to the notion that we could create a better, more effective health care system in america. i've yet to hear anyone criticize his chairing that committee. he was even handed and fair, entertained and accepted some 150 or 160 republican amendments to this bill in an effort to try to build some bipartisan support for it. he went the extra mile with extra hearings. his committee was weary at the end, but he proved that his experience here in the senate had taught him valuable lessons about what it t

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: mr. president, we are continuing to run time postcloture on the managers' amendment. following any leader remarks, the time until 12:30 p.m. are divided between the two leaders or designees. senator reid asked me to serve as his designee on the democratic side. at 12:30 p.m. we will alternate one-hour blocks of time until 6:30 p.m. with the majority controlling the first hour. if all 30 hours postcloture is required, then the roll call vote on the managers' amendment will occur about 7:15 a.m. tomorrow, tuesday, morning in the -- and the cloture vote on the substitute will occur immediately after that. so we expect two roll call votes early tuesday morning. hopefully votes will not be needed today to recess or adjourn this evening. and that is the state of play and business on the floor. mr. president, at this point i would ask to be recognized to speak pursuant to the unanimous consent request. let me withhold. i see that the majority leader's coming to the floor, and i want to give him

mr. durbin: could i ask the chair how much time is remaining on each side? the presiding officer: the senator from montana has nine minutes and 20 seconds. mr. durbin: and the other side? the presiding officer: the other side's time has expired. the assistant majority leader is recognized. mr. durbin: i would ask to be recognized for five minutes, and if the chair would please advise me? i found it interesting -- i'm sure the senator from montana has -- to listen to all of the republican senators who come to the floor to defend medicare, medicare. i'm sure the senator from montana has the same memory i do that when medicare was created, it was created by the democratic side of the aisle with the general opposition of the republican side of the aisle. they said it was socialized medicine. too much government. and it would fail. now they're coming, riding to the rescue of medicare. we have a right, i think, to be skeptical about the arguments they're making. imagining these republican senators defending medicare is trying to imagine a fish riding a bicycle. i

mr. durbin: thank you. i'm going to close by saying, for those who wonder whether or not it makes

mr. durbin: mr. president, this is the tenth day in the debate on health care reform. i believe it's one of the most important issues we have ever debated certainly in my time on the floor of the united states senate. there have been a variety of amendments offered, and there's been a lot of work going on off the senate floor. before we could reach this point of starting this debate, committees held hearings that went on for weeks and months. they started with a base bill and entertained hundreds of amendments. the "help" committee, health, education, labor, and pensions committee, as well as the finance committee, devoted so much time to this. the first time i can recall the chairman of the senate finance committee, max baucus, coming to see me personally on this was over a year ago. so over a year has gone in to this effort to come to this moment. and i might add that the negotiations and efforts to improve the bill haven't stopped. as late as last night a large group of members of the democratic caucus in the senate were meeting to work out pretty contentious issues

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, it seems i'm following the senator from iowa every day. i first want to say my friendship and respect for him, but the medicare advantage program which the republican side is trying to protect is a program which is private health insurance. the largest opponent, political opponent to health care reform in america is the private health insurance industry. we estimate that they have spent spent $23 million so far lobbying to defeat this bill because they are doing very well under the current system. they are very profitable companies. they realize that if they face competition and limitations on the way they do business, it will cut into their bottom line and profits, and naturally they are fighting this bill. the amendment before us, motion to commit by senator mccain, the first thing it does is to protect the medicare advantage program. that is a private health insurance program that was created with the promise that it would be cheaper than traditional governm

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: mr.nt, i rise in opposition to the hatch-nelson amendment. for 27 years it's been my honor to serve in the house and the senate. for 27 years the issue of abortion has been front and center, one of the most controversial and contentious issues that we have faced. the same is true when i return home to my congressional district in illinois and now with the state of illinois. there are many strong heartfelt positions on this issue that are in conflict, and members of the senate and house meet with the people who have varying address of intensity on this issue all the time. we are not going to resolve this issue today, not with this amendment, not with this bill. but we are going to do several things which i think are important. what we set out to do in health care reform was to honor the time-honored principles that we have now accepted. and they are these: abortion is a legal procedure since the supreme court case of roe vs. wade. since over 30 years now, we have said that no public funds

mr. durbin: mr. president, there's a saying in iowa and in illinois that any old mule can illinois that any old mule can >> host: there is a saying and speed 13 that any carpenter can kick down a barn door but it takes a carpenter to build one. i would say it can we any elephant. we're debating health care reform the american people follow this closely because it affects us in this room and in the galley and watching. this is one of the few things we will debate that you can bet will affect you and your family personally. it is rare in issue comes before us of this gravity and reaches every single person in america. maybe the biggest single issue we have everett tackled on the floor of the united states senate with the terms of the scope and impact on the future of every single one of us. a lot of people have been working hard to have a piece of legislation with a positive impact on health care. it has involved link the committee hearings we have sat in the teachings hour after eric debt -- hour afte

so i personally want to thank senator durbin for all of his hard work on this bill. so, 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 chr

mr. durbin: excuse me senator. do you mind if i make a unanimous consent request? i'm sorry to interrupt you. i didn't have this when i was speaking, i have 10 unanimous consent requests for committees to meet in today's session of the senate, they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders, i ask that these be agreed to and printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. grassley: mr. president, my point was that 23,000 jobs will be lost and, in fact, right now on december the 17th, continues are taking plans to shut down these operations by the end of the year. so everybody knows that our unemployment rate is 10%. everybody knows that the president has spent a great deal of time over the last two other three weeks talkin talking about creating jobs and getting us out of the recession. but we have to remember that for those without work this is not just a recession, it's a depression. we all agree that we should take whatever action's necessary to jump-start our economy and get people back to work. president obama, vice

mr. durbin: this is a basic choice. will we continue to subsidize private health insurance companies who are overcharging the medicare program by 14%? will we take that money out of medicare to continue the subsidy for profitable, private health insurance companies? it is that basic. i would say to the senator from tennessee, the congressional budget office tells us, yes, untouched the medicare program in seven or eight yeast faces in-- faces insolvency. but this bill adds five years of solvency to medicare right off the top. right off the top, five more years of solvency. something that you won't acknowledge, but you should. let me also add, if we're going to bring down the cost of medicare so that recipients get quality care, we have to get rid of the outrageous subsidies to private health insurance companies, the medicare advantage program. we also have to be honest about those providers overcharging medicare. why does it cost twice as much in miami for the same services that given to medicare patients in rochester,

mr. levin: i ask that a colloquy between myself and senator durbin be inserted in the record at this timepresiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. levin: i ask unanimous consent that my statement be inserted in the record at this time as well. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. levin: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. all time has expired. the question is on the conference report. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote: quorum call: vote:

vote: durbin, feingold, feinstein, franken. >> mr. reed of nevada, aye. senators voting in the negative. alexander, bohmbach, chambliss, coburn, corker, corn then, demeant, ensign, graham, grassley. hatch, hutchinson. inhofe, kyle, lemieux, lugar, mccain, connor, rich, roberts, sessions, voinovich and wicker. >> mr. byrd, aye. mr. webb, aye. mr. vitter, no. mr. baucus, aye. >> mr. kerry. mr. kerry, aye. mr. schumer, mr. schumer, aye. mr. kaufman, aye. mr. shelby, no. mr. bennett of utah, no. >> mr. lincoln. mrs. lincoln, aye. ms. landreaux. ms. landreaux, aye. >> on this vote, the yeas are 63, and the nay are 55. the motion is agreed. the question is on the motion to concur with the house amendment. sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. clerk will call the roll. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: mr. leader. mr. reid: may we have order, mr. reid: may we have order, >> leader, may we have order, please the presiding officer: anyone wish to change their vote or hasn't voted? by a vote

it begins with a procedural motion by democrat dick durbin and an objection by republican senator mike and see. this is a half-hour. >> yesterday mr. president and majority leader propounded the unanimous consent to afford both with respect to the health care bill. a revote later objected to the consensus indicating they had just received a copy of senator lautenberg's side-by-side amendment to the dorgan amendment so they needed time to review the amendment. therefore mr. president and ask unanimous consent that follow. mourning this mistake resume business as h.r. 3590 for the certain pending crapo amendment to commit in the dorgan amendment number 2793 is modified. may senator baucus be recognized with a side-by-side amendment to the crapo motion. once that has been recognized to the dorgan amendment as modified. the vote specified in agreement be five minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form upon the use or yielding back of the time. the senate proceed to vote in relation to the lautenberg amendment that upon the disposition of elaborate amendment the senate and with a devoted relation to the dorgan amendment that u