mr. durbin: and you end up with a student loan? mr. harkin: and, by the way, as the senator fully knows, these student loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. they are around your neck forever. mr. durbin: i might also add that i think that congress made a serious error in saying that the private loans from the same schools will be treated the same way. they are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. here you have someone who could be 19 or 20 years old signing up for $4,000, $5,000, or $10,000 worth of student loans. have they really thought and reflected on the fact that that debt -- that debt they have incurred is going to be with them for a lif lifetime? and at some point in their lives when they can no longer borrow money to go to school and they still are facing default on their student loan, they could have their income tax returns attached, they could be prohibiting from federal employment, they cannot discharge this loan in bankruptcy. they're stuck with it. and that poor girl living in her parents' basement with a $90,000 loan f

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, first let me salute my colleague from ohio for bringing up trade adjustment assistance because even if you are a proponent of expanding trade in the united states, you know that the ebb and flow of the economy is going to take away some jobs in this country, as other suppliers arrive. and what the senator from ohio and the senator from oregon, ron wyden, are trying to achieve is to make sure that trade adjustment assistance is there to help these workers make a transition to another job in another area that is expanding in our economy. that is the thoughtful thing to do for their lives and the future our economy. it's also a necessary part of any conversation about the future of trade in the united states. mr. president, i rise to speak about the effect of interchange fee refor

mr. durbin: i understand there is time on the other side as well? the presiding officer: 28 minutes on the majority -- on the other sides. mr. paul: would you like to interject outn or at a later time? mr. durbin: i would like to speak on the majority side. does the senator yield the floor? mr. paul: okay. i'll go ahead and finish up, then. as we go forward on these, i would hope that there would be some deliberation and that the vote, as it goes forward, people will think about that we need to balance our freedoms wit our security. i think we all want security. nobody wants what happened on 9/11 to happen again. but i think we don't need to simplify the debate to such an extent that we simply say we have to give up ouriberties. for exame, i can tell you how many times people have come up to me in washington, other elected officials, and they say, we could have gotten moussaoui, the 19th hijacker, if we would have had the patriot act. the triewt of the matter is we didn't capture moussaoui because we had poor police work. and ask yourself, did we fir

mr. durbin: mr. president, if you would have visited the city of chicago in the last 50 years and someone would have asked you the name of the mayor and you would have said "daly" you would have been right about 90% of the time. because between his father and himself, in 42 of the last 55 years, there's been a richard daly as mayor of chicago. monday marks the end of that era. when richard m. daly steps down as the current mayor after six terms in office. he's led chicago for 22 years and 8 months, five months longer than his dad and longer than any mayor in chicago's history. i know rich daly pretty well. we started together in politics. he was a state senator and i was a staff attorney to the illinois state senate back in the 1980's. in that period of time -- i guess the 1970's, now that i think about it. in that period of time, he was a young father with a young fami family, brand-new to public li life. he, of course, had his storied last name of "daly," and he and i were in charge of the senate j

mr. durbin: mr.e presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: ask consent the be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: and consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, we've heard some terrible stories about severe weather and damage it's causing across the united states. my heart just goes out to the people of tuscaloosa, alabama, and all of the communities in the south that were ravaged by tornadoes of record force and velocity. in the midwest, our problems are more subtle but also devastating in terms of the impact to flood waters. it's not new in our part of the world. we have the confluence of the illinois and ohio rivers at the southern tip of our state. further north -- i'm sorry, the confluence of the mississippi and ohio rivers at the southern tip of our state. further north on the mississip mississippi, the illinois river, the missouri river. and whenever there's heavy rainfall in one

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, i want to thank the senator from west virginia for his comments on our dependence on foreign oil. we import about $1 billion worth of oil a day. that does not make our nation any stronger. in fact, it makes us more dependent, and for our economy to grow, we need to have good, home-grown energy sources. we may never be totally independent, but if we don't move toward intelligence, then i'm afraid we're going to continue to be victimized as we have been recently by not only oil companies but the greed that you mentioned that drives up gasoline prices every spring just as sure as the baseball season is going to open, gasoline prices are going to go sky high, and then they're going to retreat back, but they never retreat back to where they started. they always end up higher as we go into the summer vacation season. the senator from west virginia has some thoughtful ideas for you on how to address this, and i share his -- his support of herb kohl's legislation, that

mr. durbin: i understand there is time on the other side as well? the presiding officer: 28 minutes on the majority -- on the other sides. mr. paul: would you like to interject out in or at a later time? mr. durbin: i would like to speak on the majority side. does the senator yield the floor? mr. paul: okay. i'll go ahead and finish up, then. as we go forward on these, i would hope that there would be some deliberation and that the vote, as it goes forward, people will think about that we need to balance our freedoms with our security. i think we all want security. nobody wants what happened on 9/11 to happen again. but i think we don't need to simplify the debate to such an extent that we simply say we have to give up our liberties. for example, i can't tell you how many times people have come up to me in washington, other elected officials, and they say, we could have gotten moussaoui, the 19th hijacker, if we would have had the patriot act. the triewt of the matter is we didn't capture moussaoui because we had poor police work. and ask yourself, d

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, i have 10 unanimous consent request for committees to meet during today's session of the senate with the approval of the minority and minority leaders's majority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and printed in the record. officer without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, at 2:00 we'll have a vote on the floor. a man is seeking a judgeship. there's no question in anybody's mind that this is a judgeship that should be filled. professor goodwin liu wants to serve on the u.s. circuit court of appeals for the ninth circuit. he was nominated in january of 2009. here we are in may of 2010. the significance of that delay is the fact that this is a vacancies that causes a problem. the administrative office of the u.s. court -- no political office but the court's office -- declared a judicial emergency in this circuit and said they they'd needed this vacancy filled. so nobody questions that there was at lea sense of urgency in filli

mr. durbin: madam president, it was last february that i went to byelarus. i had been invited to go to lithuania to speak to the parliament on the 20th anniversary of their independence from the soviet union and took a separate trim into minsk, byelarus in a neighboring nation because there was a political crisis. it was february, and since the presidential election in the december before, there had been a wholesale effort by lukashenko, the leader of byelarus, to imprison his political opponents. with so many significant events going on in the middle east, there is an understandable risk that if we lose sight of things happening in countries like byelarus. in byelarus, under alexander lukashenko, if you have the temerity to run for president or protest a fraudulent election, you'll find yourself thrown in a k.g.b. jail where you're likely going to face torture and harsh prison sentences. if this sounds like a throwback to the cold war in the soviet union, that is exactly what it is. madam president, i ask the senate be brought to order. not only is byelarus

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, i first want to thank my colleague from oklahoma. he and i share a passion and interest in the continent of africa. he has traveled there many, many more times than i have, but we have talked about the situation on that continent. and i want to give special accolades to him for continuing to raise the questions relative to that continent, the people who live there. it is an important part of the world. and for too long has been exploited. i'm glad that on a bipartisan basis we feel the united states should pay more attention to that important continent. i thank senator inhofe. mr. president, it's been ten years ago now that i was contacted in my chicago office by a mom in chicago. she's a korean american. she had a problem. she had come to this country with her young daughter from brazil. the family was originally from korea, but they came to the country from brazil. and her daughter came at the age of two, grew up in chicago. she was a bright girl with a lot of talent and

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, the filing deadline for all second-degree amendments to s. 493, the small business jobs bill, is at 11:00 a.m. there will be up to two roll call votes at noon. the first vote will be on the notion invoke cloture on s. 493, the small business jobs bill. if cloture is not invoked on the bill the senate will immediately proceed to a second vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of john mcconnell to be u.s. district judge for the district of rhode island. madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i rise to speak as if in morning business. madam president, hundreds of local first responders, 500 national guardsmen and hundreds of volunteers in southern i will tphoeul are working around the clock to try to protect homes and communities from rising waters of the ohio river and other rivers in the region. i have a photo here which shows the devastation which i witnessed personally last friday. this is an area of sout

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, i have 10 unanimous consent request for committees to meet during today's session of the senate with the approval of the minority and minority leaders's majority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and printed in the record. officer without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, at 2:00 we'll have a vote on the floor. a man is seeking a judgeship. there's no question in anybody's mind that this is a judgeship that should be filled. professor goodwin liu wants to serve on the u.s. circuit court of appeals for the ninth circuit. he was nominated in january of 2009. here we are in may of 2010. the significance of that delay is the fact that this is a vacancies that causes a problem. the administrative office of the u.s. court -- no political office but the court's office -- declared a judicial emergency in this circuit and said they they'd needed this vacancy filled. so nobody questions that there was at least a sense of urgency in f

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, i'd like to rise in support of the comments made by the majority leader. i was in chicago over the weekend and down state as well in illinois and saw these gasoline prices and understand the hardship they cause. at a b.p. filling station in chicago near lawrence and lake shore drive, i ran into a man who was a plumber who had a van and went from job to job, and he said it's not unusual for him to spend now over $100 a week on gasoline. and, of course, that's taking away money that he could have brought home for his family. it's a real hardship on him. he kind of smiled and chuckled and said but they do it to us every year, don't they? that's true, madam president, whether you're talking about the situation in new hampshire or in illinois. we can predict the rites of spring in america -- the opening of the baseball season, easter egg hunts, seder dinners for passover and then skyrocketing gasoline prices. there is an excuse. there is always an excuse. we had to

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: madam president, i ask that the quorum call be di dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reed: madam president, i rise today in support of the nomination of john jack mcconnell to serve as judicial court judge in the state of rhode island. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. mr. reed: we have heard and we will hear a number of very strong statements about this nomination. i would argue they -- i would argue that many arguments that have been made are inaccurate and they're not shared by the legal and business community in rhode island. in fact, jack mcconnell is supported publicly and enthusiastically by the two former republican attorney generals of rhode island, arlene violate and jeff vine. he is supported by the greater providence of rhode island

mr. durbin is from. host: about 2 million a world war ii vets still survive. the veterans administration predicts that in 2015, 85,000 vets will survive, and 2025, only 20,000 vets will still be alive. our next call is from a vet, frank in washington state br. caller: hi. host: please go ahead, sir. caller: i am 86 years old. i was on about five different islands, went in on the invasion. i was on a seaplane basin. i came back stateside a couple of years later. i got to get an address to a friend. he got to ride back to see the memorial, and i got a friend out and maybe if i could get a chance to do that, i would sure love to come back and see that. host: all right, thank you, frank. do you know anything about this a free ride? guest: i don't know about the free ride. this weekend, rolling thunder is coming, vietnam war vets using this to celebrate memorial day weekend. i want to emphasize that when we started this idea of this memorial, one of the other concerns was that we were losing about 1100 world war ii veterans a week. people were dying off on a regula

mr. durbin, the senator from michigan, mr. levin, the senator from massachusetts, mr.cole, the senator from connecticut, mr. lieberman, the senator from california, ms. feinstein, the senator from california, ms. boxer, the senator from arizona, mr. kyl, the senator from south dakota, mr. thune, the senator from texas, mr. cornyn, the senator from indiana, mr. luger, and the senator from utah, mr. hatch. the speaker: the members of the escort committee will exit through the chamber doors, please. >> mr. speaker, the acting dean of the diplomatic corps. >> mr. speaker, the president's cabinet. >> mr. speaker, the prime minister of israel. the speaker: members of congress, i have the high privilege and the distinct honor of presenting to you his excellency, binyamin netanyahu, prime minister of israel. >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you. vice president biden, speaker boehner, distinguished senators, members of the house, honored guests i'm deeply moved by this warm welcome. an i'm deeply honored that you have given me the opportunity to address congress a secon

mr. durbin is from. host: about 2 million a world war ii vets still survive.ans administration predicts that in 2015, 85,000 vets will survive, and 2025, only 20,000 vets will still be alive. our next call is from a vet, frank in washington state br. caller: hi. host: please go ahead, sir. caller: i am 86 years old. i was on about five different islands, went in on the invasion. i was on a seaplane basin. i came back stateside a couple of years later. i got to get an address to a friend. he got to ride back to see the memorial, and i got a friend out and maybe if i could get a chance to do that, i would sure love to come back and see that. host: all right, thank you, frank. do you know anything about this a free ride? guest: i don't know about the free ride. this weekend, rolling thunder is coming, vietnam war vets using this to celebrate memorial day weekend. i want to emphasize that when we started this idea of this memorial, one of the other concerns was that we were losing about 1100 world war ii veterans a week. people were dying off on a regular basis. t

mr. durbin is from. host: about 2 million a world war ii vets still survive. the veterans administration predicts that in 2015, 85,000 vetsill survive, and 2025, only 20,000 vets will still be alive. our next call is from a vet, frank in washington state br. caller: hi. host: please go ahead, sir. caller: i am 86 years old. i was on about five different islands, went in on the invasion. i was on a seaplane basin. i came back stateside a couple of years later. i got to get an address to a friend. he got to ride back to see the memorial, and i got a friend out and maybe if i could get a chance to do that, i would sure love to come back and see that. host: all right, thank you, frank. do you know anything about this a free ride? guest: i don't know about the free ride. this weekend, rolling thunder is coming, vietnam war vets usi this to celebrate memorial day weekend. i want to emphasize that when we started this idea of this memorial, one of the other concerns was that we were losing about 1100 world war ii veterans a week. people were dying off on a regular ba

mr. durbin is from. host: about 2 million a world war ii vets still survive. the veterans administration predicts that in 2015, 85,000 vets will survive, and 2025, only 20,000 vets will still be alive. our next call is from a vet, frank in washington state br. caller: hi. host: please go ahead, sir. caller: i am 86 years old. i was on about five different islands, went in on the invasion. i was on a seaplane basin. i came back stateside a couple of years later. i got to get an address to a friend. he got to ride back to see the memorial, and i got a friend out and maybe if i could get a chance to do that, i would sure love to come back and see that. host: all right, thank you, frank. do you know anything about this a free ride? guest: i don't know about the free ride. this weekend, rolling thunder is coming, vietnam war vets using this to celebrate memorial day weekend. i want to emphasize that when we started this idea of this memorial, one of the other concerns was that we were losing about 1100 world war ii veterans a week. people were dying off on a regula

coons, blumenthal, klobuchar, whitehouse, brown of ohio, udall of colorado, durbin, carper, sanders, rockefeller, shaheen, schumer. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask consent that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate resume legislative session and then proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the republican leader, the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 61, there be three hours of debate equally divided in the usual form, that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on calendar number number 61, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further statements be in order to the nomination, these statements related to the nomination be printed in the record, that the

mr. bernanke, we are hearing february. we talked about the serious risk that the durbin amendment would have on small community banks and credit unions because of the lack of ability to enforce the 10 billion under exemption. you've got more information since then. do you still deal with the information you've got that an exemption can work? >> to be honest with you, we write gnostic. we're still not sure whether it will work. a number of the networks have expressed their interest willingness to maintain a tiered interchange fee system. but of course that is not required. there is no law which says we have to do that. the suggestion we got was that we should ask for even require networks to make public to put the interchange fees were they recharging. the e. some value in terms of transparency. there are market forces that would work against. >> you've been in the business for a long time and you're very intelligent guy. i know in the political process and i know you've probably been getting a lot of pressure from people at least one person on the senate. i'm talking about rural america but here. i'm talking the community bank

mr. bernanke, we are hearing february. we talked about the serious risk that the durbin amendment would have on small community banks and credit unions because of the lack of ability to enforce the 10 billion under exemption. you've got more information since then. do you still deal with the information you've got that an exemption can work? >> to be honest with you, we write gnostic. we're still not sure whether it will work. a number of the networks have expressed their interest willingness to maintain a tiered interchange fee system. but of course that is not required. there is no law which says we have to do that. the suggestion we got was that we should ask for even require networks to make public to put the interchange fees were they recharging. the e. some value in terms of transparency. there are market forces that would work against. >> you've been in the business for a long time and you're very intelligent guy. i know in the political process and i know you've probably been getting a lot of pressure from people at least one person on the senate. i'm talking about rural america but here. i'm talking the community bank

mr. bernanke, we are hearing february. we talked about the serious risk that the durbin amendment would have on small community banks and credit unions because of the lack of ability to enforce the 10 billion under exemption. you've got more information since then. do you still deal with the information you've got that an exemption can work? >> to be honest with you, we write gnostic. we're still not sure whether it will work. a number of the networks have expressed their interest willingness to maintain a tiered interchange fee system. but of course that is not required. there is no law which says we have to do that. the suggestion we got was that we should ask for even require networks to make public to put the interchange fees were they recharging. the e. some value in terms of transparency. there are market forces that would work against. >> you've been in the business for a long time and you're very intelligent guy. i know in the political process and i know you've probably been getting a lot of pressure from people at least one person on the senate. i'm talking about rural america but here. i'm talking the community bank

mr. cummings about his concerns with respect to access to credit. if you think of the combination of cfpb, the durbin amendment, the credit-card act, we are going to drive may be a million consumers out of the mainstream banking system. cfpb by increasing the regulatory burdens here is going to drive more consumers out of the mainstream banking system, put them exactly in the hands of the paid lenders and check caches and everybody else. we have seen this. the payday lending migrates online. on why they lending. people migrate to pawnshops. we're talking about the situation where when you go in with good intentions you end up hurting the people you intend to help, and that is what i am concerned is going to happen. >> to follow up a little bit, i don't know that you heard earlier testimony, but i have some concerns about the sec versus the ftd. i believe there are clear differences between the two. could you talk a little bit about the differences between the sec and a cfpd in terms of oversight? >> the clearest difference is that the comptroller serves it the pleasure of the president and the direct

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: mr. president, last week the chairman of the house budget committee, paul ryan, came to the chicago to speak to the economic club and to articulate his vi the republican vision, on how to reduce our nation's debt. it was an interesting speech because congressman ryan's budget, the republican budget, which passed the house of representatives, has become an object of debate and controver controversy. i know congressman ryan and we served together on the president's deficit commission. i know he is a very thoughtful and learned and sincere individual, but i certainly have to say that his approach to dealing with our budget deficit is one that i believe falls short of the mark. it would seem to me that if we are serious about our deficit -- and we should be -- we should acknowledge the fact that out of every dollar that we spend in washington, we borrow 40 cents. that is unsustainable

mr. durbin: mr. president, according to the u.s. energy information administration, the average price of gasoline is $3.96 a gallon nationwide. i have my own special appointed monitor of gasoline prices in the state of illinois: my wievment and i called her yesterday morning and she said to me, senator, it is up to $4.20 in springfield. what are you going to do? so she put me on the spot. since she's my number-one stirkts i said i'lconstituent, t least make a speech. every time they go to the pump, families and small businesses feel the pinch. at the same time, the five largest oil companies in the country made $33.9 billion in profit between january and march this year. exxonmobil earned almost $11 billion in the first three months of this year. 69% greater profits this year compared to laflt year. the high oil and gas prices are forcing many american families to make tough choices about what to forego mosquito they can fill the tank. it gets worse. while operating at substantial profits, oil companies will get an estimated $4 bill