mr. durbin: amen. mr. mccain: number two is that to insist, to insist that any agreement is based on the passage through the united states senate of a balanced budget amendment to the constitution of the united states, as i said before, is not fair to the american people because, because the terrible obstructionists on this side of the aisle, the terrible people, their flawed philosophical views about the future of america is not going to allow to us get 20 additional votes from your side, assuming that you get all 47 since it requires 67 votes to pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. so i think it was not only wrong assessment, continuing's not fair to the american people to -- i think it's not fair to the american people to say we can pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution through the senate at this time. now maybe after the senator is defeated in the next election and we get rid of a lot of -- maybe that will happen. but certainly let's not tell the american people that tha

mr. durbin: amen. mr. mccain: number two is that to insist, to insist that any agreement is based on the passage through the united states senate of a balanced budget amendment to the constitution of the united states, as i said before, is not fair to the american people because, because the terrible obstructionists on this side of the aisle, the terrible people, their flawed philosophical views about the future of america is not going to allow to us get 20 additional votes from your side, assuming that you get all 47 since it requires 67 votes to pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. so i think it was not only wrong assessment, continuing's not fair to the american people to -- i think it's not fair to the american people to say we can pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution through the senate at this time. now maybe after the senator is defeated in the next election and we get rid of a lot of -- maybe that will happen. but certainly let's not tell the american people that tha

mr. durbin: mr. president, those who are following this debate -- and i think many across america are -- should understand what just happened. there was a discussion about the filibuster. the filibuster is a senate rule that does two things. it says that you can't move an item to a vote, and you have to wait a period of time to have what's called a cloture vote, and in order to pass a cloture vote, you need 60 votes, not a majority. so i would just correct, if i can, the record. a filibuster does more than delay the vote. it establishes a higher vote requirement. 60 votes, not a majority. yesterday, the speaker of the house brought before his body of 435 members the proposal to end this deadlock. he received 218 votes, one more than half of the membership. he had a majority vote, not one more, but a majority vote. we are asking for the same opportunity. let us bring our proposal forward for a majority vote. the republicans have refused. they have put us in a filibuster. they have said no, we will req

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: before yielding to the senator from north carolina, i would like to note that last night, the two senators who just finished their colloquy, had an opportunity to vote for the boehner plan which required a constitutional balanced budget amendment and both senators lee and paul are registered as having voted to table the boehner approach which include that requirement for a balanced budget amendment. i yield to the senator from north carolina. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mrs. hagan: mr. president, we are here debating the government's fiscal deficit today and it's an important topic, one worthy of serious debate. of course, i wish i could characterize the mindless partisanship of the last several months as serious debate, but i fear that this do-nothing debate is distracting us from another deficit that is front and center in the hearts and minds of the american people and that is the jobs deficit. just yesterday, the department of commerce reported t

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: before yielding to the senator from north carolina, i would like to note that last night, the two senators who just finished their colloquy, had an opportity to vote for the boehner plan which required a constitutional balanced budget amendment and both senators lee and paul are registered as having voted to table the boehner approach wch include thatequirement for ar: mr. pres? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to give a voice to minnesotans, to relay their thoughts on how congress should resolve this impasse and raise the debt ceiling to avoid a default. on wednesday i received an e-mail from a constituent in st. louis park, my home towfnlt this e-mail reads, "dear senator, i am a republican. i am a minnesotan. i am a small business owner. i am considered to have a high income relative to the average american. here's my request: please work together to get this debt limit impasse settled." on thursday i rece

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: before yielding to the senator from north carolina, i would like to note that last night, the two senators who just finished their colloquy, had an opportunity to vote for the boehner plan which required a constitutional balanced budget amendment and both senators lee and paul are registered as having voted to table the boehner approach which include that ruirement for a mr. presid? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to give a voice to minnesotans, to relay their thoughts on how congress should resolve this impasse and raise the debt ceiling to avoid a default. on wednesday i received an e-mail from a constituent in st. louis park, my home towfnlt this e-mail reads, "dear senator, i am a republican. i am a minnesotan. i am a small business owner. i am considered to have a high income relative to the average american. here's my request: please work together to get this debt limit impasse settled." on thursday i

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, it was ten years ago that my office was contacted in chicago, illinois, a young woman named teresa lee, who is korean by birth, had been part of something known as the merit music program in chicago. it's an amazing program. a lady in her later years of her life decided to leave some money to a program that would offer to children in the public schools a musical instrument and instruction. her belief was that many of these students would take up the offer and that learning a musical instrument could be an important part of their future lives. she was right. the merit music program, at least as of last year, had a 100% placement rating of graduates in college. it turned out that giving a musical instrument to a young person and giving them a chance to develop that skill did a lot more than cre

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: before yielding to the senator from north carolina, i would like to note that last night, the two senators who just finished their colloquy, had an opportunity to vote for the boehner plan which required a constitutional balanced budget amendment and both senators lee and paul are registered as having voted to table the boehner approach which include that requirement for a mr. pres? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to give a voice to minnesotans, to relay their thoughts on how congress should resolve this impasse and raise the debt ceiling to avoid a default. on wednesday i received an e-mail from a constituent in st. louis park, my home towfnlt this e-mail reads, "dear senator, i am a republican. i am a minnesotan. i am a small business owner. i am considered to have a high income relative to the average american. here's my request: please work together to get this debt limit impasse settled." on thursday i

mr. durbin: object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. paul: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that i be allowed to present an amendment. this amendment would be an amendment to the reid bill, and under this amendment what would happen is i have at least 10 republicans who will vote for the harry reid bill which would allow a compromise, which would allow the debt ceiling to rise. i know the president is worried about having campaign time. he's worried about getting back out and doing some fundraisers. he doesn't want to consider the debt ceiling again before his election or his re-election campgn. so this amendment that i would offer would allow us to move forward in a bipartisan way. all republicans are asking for is that we balance our budget gradually over a seven to eight-year period. what this amendment what do and i'm asking unanimous consent to present is an amendment that says we will raise the debt ceiling contingent upon badge of a balanced budget amendment. by ask unanimous consent that i be allowed to present this amendment to the

mr. durbin: mr. president, this is an historic weekend in washington. who are visiting the capitol and following the proceedings, i think, understand the gravity of the decisions that lie before us. on august the 2nd our debt ceiling expires. that has never happened in our history. one time there was a technical period of a day or two, but there's never been a long period of time when the united states of america basically defaulted on its debt. and it's a very serious matter. it's one that affects our nation, our debt, and literally every family and business that live within our boundaries. and here's the reason why it's so important: in 1939, we created this law which said that a president could come to congress periodically and ask for the authority to borrow money to pay for the things that congress has already appropriated. so when members of the house and senate say to the president of the united states, as an example, we want you to continue to wage war in afghanistan at the cost of $10 billion a month, this president knows that he will have to b

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, you have been participating in the white house meetings with president obama and the leaders of the house and senate from both democratic and republican parties for the last several days discussing the deadline we face of august 2 where we are required to extend the debt ceiling of the united states, and the larger question about what we will do with our nation's deficit and debt. it is a daunting challenge but one with a sense of immediacy. most people across america would just react intuitively and say please, no more debt, and so they really wonder why we want to extend the debt ceiling. it's a part of our government and part of our economy that needs at least a little bit of explanation. imagine that you have decided to purchase a ho

mr. durbin: madam president, resuming my remarks. that means i have eight minutes and i may not use all of them. what we're doing in the white house today is negotiating with leaders in congress, democrats and republicans, and the president to extend the debt ceiling because many of us believe it would be disastrous if we would default on our debt. we'd call into question the full faith and credit of the united states of america and at the end of the day find ourselves with a self-inflicted wound to the american economy, raising interest rates, and making it more difficult to come out of this recession. we're trying to reach an agreemenanagreement and it's bed going. we've had five face-to-face meetings. it's been reported in the news that it's been contentious and it is. the president believes it is in our interest to get americans back to work. we should not do anything in the course of our business that would make that more difficult. i couldn't agree with him more. the highest priority in america is putting americans back to work

mr. durbin: madam 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: i have nine quack quack requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. i ask unanimous consent these requests be agreed to and printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you, madam president. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. kirk: i ask consent to vitiate the quorum and be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kirk: we are wrapping up to a vote that we hope will occur on senator vitter's amendment at noon. i would just like to summarize where we are. we are completing debate on the bill that provides funding for the veterans administration and our military construction needs. this is the bill that backs up over 22 million veterans who served our country

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: before yielding to the senator from north carolina, i would like to note that last night, the two senators who just finished their colloquy, had an opportunity to vote for the boehner plan which required a constitutional balanced budget amendment and both senators lee and paul are registered as having voted to table the boehner approach which include that requirement for a mr. pres? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to give a voice to minnesotans, to relay their thoughts on how congress should resolve this impasse and raise the debt ceiling to avoid a default. on wednesday i received an e-mail from a constituent in st. louis park, my home towfnlt this e-mail reads, "dear senator, i am a republican. i am a minnesotan. i am a small business owner. i am considered to have a high income relative to the average american. here's my request: please work together to get this debt limit impasse settled." on thursday i

durbin: mr. president, are we in morning business at this point? the presiding officer: we are. mr. durbin: mr. president, we know as members of the senate that we are facing a deadline of august 2 for the extension of our debt ceiling. the debt ceiling is the authority congress gives to the president to borrow money. now, you say to yourself, well, please, stop borrowing. we're already deep in debt, but what the president is borrowing money to pay for are things that we have already spent, commitments we have already made. let me give you an example. voting to continue the war in afghanistan cost $10 billion a month. we don't have that money, not enough. we have to borrow 40 cents for every dollar we spend. so when members of congress say continue the war in afghanistan, afghanistan, $10 billion a month, they are saying we're prepared to borrow $4 billion every single month to keep that promise. so the president comes to us about once a year and says i need more authority to continue to borrow m

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois is recognized. tkoeupl pending is s. -- mr. durbin: pending is s. 1323. this will not be a law if passed. it is merely an expression of sentiment by the senate on an issue. it can be summarized very quickly with the sense of the senate clause which reads, it is the sense of the senate that any agreement to reduce the budget deficit should require that those earning $1 million or more per year make a meaningful contribution to the deficit-reduction effort. why are we even talking about this? wouldn't everyone in america concede that everyone needs to make a sacrifice if we're going to make this country stronger? and those who can make a greater sacrifice, those who are well off, with an income of $1 million or more each year should do a little more. why is that such a bold and controversial suggestion? because in fact when we look at the actions taken by congress over the last ten years, we have found a sentiment, a political sentiment primarily from the other side of the aisle which says you cannot

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i know senator grassley is waiting. i thank him for his indulgence. when senator brown came to speak of john glenn, i couldn't help but stay. for those who are listening, the good news is we are celebrating his birthday. he is alive and well with annie. we are sure happy that is the case. when i was just getting started in politics -- 1982 -- i was running for congress in springfield, illinois, and john glenn, senator john glenn called and said, i'm going to come and campaign for you. i cannot tell you how excited i was to meet him face to face in my hometown and the people who gathered -- he is truly an american hero, for all of his service to the united states. a naval pilot, marine pilot in world war i i, in the korean war, our first man into space, an astronaut who repreesed his performance at the age of 77, went back into space. and it tells you what kind of person he is, his courage and his physical strength that he could do that. i had the good fortune of being here on t

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. urbin: i want to thank my colleague from california. this is an historic week in the united states senate, and she has spelled out what we face. i would guess most people around america are looking at washington and capitol hill now and asking if there's, if there are any grownups left. can adults sit down there in both political parties and solve our nation's problems? it is a legitimate question because we're up against the deadline of august 2, and the expiration of america's mortgage. the debt ceiling. what it basically means is for the first time in history, if we don't act, we will default on our debt. that's significant because the united states enjoys a reputation around the world, the highest economic reputation around the world, aaa bond rating is as good as it gets. if you're going for your credit score and you've got a aaa rating you're in good shape. you cannot only borrow what you need but at a good tr-frplt if we fail -- at a good interest rate. if we fail to do what we'

mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i rise to speak in morning business. madam president, i want to thank my colleague, the democratic majority leader, for his opening remarks. he and i have been given an assignment of going to the white house each day to sit down with the leaders, democratic and republican leaders in the house and the senate and the president, vice president, secretary of the treasury and leaders in the president's staff to deal with this pending crisis over the debt ceiling limit. on august 2, we are required to extend the debt ceiling of the united states of america. it is an interesting exercise which usually goes unnoticed. senator jeff bingaman of new mexico presented to us yesterday a history of the debt ceiling, and i was glad to learn a little bit more. in 1939, we passed a law which said we could extend the debt ceiling of the united states as needed rather than have congressional approval of every bond issued by the government of the united states. it made it a much more efficient way

mr. durbin all said yes, we need to get a handle on this spending. yes, we need to get a handle on the deficit. and, yes, we need to bring down the debt. and we need to come to the table together with everything on the table. and we need to pay for what we think we ought to buy and frankly we ought to ensure that the united states of america for the first time in history doesn't pay its bills. and i tell my friend that we've had a lot of commentary over the last few days, people on wall street, people in business, large, medium and small and i will tell you if the united states doesn't by august 2 agree to pay that which it owes, that which it has incurred, not what we're going to incur in the past, those debts we've incurred in the past, everybody in america is going to be hurt. everybody -- every economist that i've talked to says that interest rates are going to spike, stock markets are going to be at risk and millions people who have pension funds and who have interest in their pensions are going to be adversely affected. the housing market which

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: let me salute my colleague from west virginia. it's a sad task that we have to come to the floor and to recognize those who have passed, but he pays tribute to a young man whose life was cut too short and who was determined to serve our country. i thank him for bringing that man's life to our attention in the senate and to those who follow us across the nation. i'm sure the senate joins him in expressing our sympathy to the family in this tragic loss of their son. i thank senator manchin for coming to the floor. mr. president, many people have asked about the state of the recession and our nation and what it will take to turn this economy around. there is a lot of speculation, and i don't profess to be an expert, but i think there are two things that are really hurting us and that we will have to deal with to bring ourselves out of the current state that we're in. one of them is the price of real estate. i don't think we have quite reached the point where we know where the bott

mr. durbin: madam president, i meant what i said about senator isakson of georgia.e's a republican and i'm a democrat, and he's my friend, and i like him. and we don't agree on everything. our voting records are much different. but what he had to say this morning was the right thing. and what he had to say this morning i think should open the eyes of america about where we need to go. yesterday the president sat down and said we need to be serious about deficit reduction. we don't need a mini deal. we need something that speaks authoritatively to the world that the united states understands its deficit challenge and is prepared to make the hard choices to address it. i think the president is right. i was interviewed this morning by a quincy illinois radio station. they said why wouldn't you take a mini deal and just get it over with? well, if you think you'll take a mini deal, you'll probably be offered a minimini deal and at the end of the day little or nothing will happen. here's the problem we face and it's a real problem. for every dollar we spend in washington,

mr. durbin was for it. ms. pelosi was for it. i was for it. the vice president was for it. but unfortunately we couldn't proceed on that discussion in a successful way, at least, because the gentleman observed and his colleagues observed that as long as there were any revenues attached to that it would not be acceptable to your side of the aisle. notwithstanding that, every bipartisan commission that has dealt with this issue has indicated that it needs to be a balanced package, that it needed to include substantial cuts, it needed to deal with discretionary spending, defense spending, entitlement spending and it needed to deal with tax expenditures. the gentleman says correctly that we want to balance our revenues with our expenditures. the problem is if you keep cutting revenues you are just going to be chasing yourself down. obviously you want to bring revenue rates down. i hope we can do that, but if we bring them down to a place where we don't have the money to pay for our -- what we buy which is of course what happened in this past decade, then we will be confronted w

mr. durbin: i yield back our time on this side. mr. grassley: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to vote or to change their vote? seeing none, the vote on the question of the confirmation of paul engelmayer of new york to be united states district jrk the votes are 98 -- district judge, the votes are 98 aye, 0 nay, the nomination is confirmed. the question is now on the nomination of ramona manglona to the judge for the district court of the northern mariana islands. all those in favor please signify by saying aye. those opposed? the ayes appear to have it, the ayes do have it,, the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, motions to railroad are reconsie considered made and laid on the table, the president shall be immediately notified of the senate's action, the senate will resume legislative session. under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until 2:15 p.m. today. live coverage when t

mr. durbin. >> thank you, senator reid. boehner spoke to the american public, and then his plan was downgraded. >> they are talking about the need for compromise as the clock clicks down on the deadline whether the u.s. will default on its bills. and we are following another story. they called him the cloak. meet the 14-year-old boy that slit the throats of his enemies in the drug war. we'll have that story next. it makes its skyline greener and its population healthier. all to become the kind of city people want to live and work in. somewhere in america, we've already answered some of the nation's toughest questions. and the over sixty thousand people of siemens are ready to do it again. siemens. answers. a network of possibilities. in here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... for greater ac

mr. durbin all said yes, we need to get a handle on this spending. yes, we need to get a handle on the deficit. and, yes, we need to bring down the debt. and we need to come to the table together with everything on the table. and we need to pay for what we think we ought to buy and frankly we ought to ensure that the united states of america for the first time in history doesn't pay its bills. and i tell my friend that we've had a lot of commentary over the last few days, people on wall street, people in business, large, medium and small and i will tell you if the united states doesn't by august 2 agree to pay that which it owes, that which it has incurred, not what we're going to incur in the past, those debts we've incurred in the past, everybody in america is going to be hurt. everybody -- every economist that i've talked to says that interest rates are going to spike, stock markets are going to be at risk and millions people who have pension funds and who have interest in their pensions are going to be adversely affected. the housing market which

mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, in 1939, we passed a law, and the law created a debt ceiling. before that law was passed, whenever the government of the united states of america wanted to borrow money, it had to come to congress. congress had to approve it, the president would sign it. we decided then to change it. instead, we said congress will approve a certain amount of money that the president can borrow, and we'll change it as needed. in other words, we don't have to approve every single bond issue, every single borrowing of the federal government. 1939, that's what we did. since then, on 89 different occasions, presidents of the united states have come to congress and said the money that you spent i have to borrow to cover. we don't have enough in the treasury. 89 different times presidents have come and asked for the authority to borrow money to cover expenses that congress had approved. 55 times republican presidents, 34 times democratic presidents. not once, not once did we ever defa

mr. durbin, a representative back there, mentioned when social 61st started, the maximum amount you could take out of a check was $30 back in 1939 read it went to $600 in 1969. during the debate of 1990 when the program was taking place, the maximum amount they could take out was $3,000. it is a ponzi scheme. my father was born in 1916. when he retired in 1981, they had taken out $13,000. he lived on until 1997 and collected over $300,000. this trust fund, so this may -- so to say, there is no trust fund. that is why clinton had a surplus. that surplus was because he put the amount that is in the social security trust fund into that figure that made it appeared to be a surplus. we never had a surplus. the bottom line is, this is a ponzi scheme. the government does not take this money and invest it like a bank would. they do not lend i out and get 19% interest like credit cards or 8% on mortgages, so you cannot generate a critical mass of money for the retirement neration because -- like i said, my father put in 13,000 and got out $330,000. who makes up that difference? the taxpayers. gues

mr. durbin: madam president, i want to thank my colleague from new york, senator shiewrnlings as well as senator mikulski from maryland for coming to the floor and speaking about the crisis that we faissments the debt ceiling default which will occur in six days if we do not act will have a profound, negative impact on america's standing in the world and our economy at home. it threatens to stifle job creation and to slow down the business growth that we need to get out of this recession. it is the most serious impact you can imagine at a time when we are facing this kind of recession. this debt ceil something being extended or should be extended under a law that was passed in 1939 where we have extended the debt ceiling 89 different times -- 55 times under republican presidents, 34 times under democratic presidents -- and virltly evervirtually every pres done it. the president that holds the record for the most debt ceiling extensions in history is ronald reagan. ronald reagan extended the debt ceiling 18 times in his eight years. during that period of time, tripling the national debt.

mr. durbin, a representative back there, mentioned when social 61st started, the maximum amount you couldt of a check was $30 back in 1939 read it went to $600 in 1969. during the debate of 1990 when the program was taking place, the maximum amount they could take out was $3,000. it is a ponzi scheme. my father was born in 1916. when he retired in 1981, they had taken out $13,000. he lived on until 1997 and collected over $300,000. this trust fund, so this may -- so to say, there is no trust fund. that is why clinton had a surplus. that surplus was because he put the amount that is in the social security trust fund into that figure that made it appeared to be a surplus. we never had a surplus. the bottom line is, this is a ponzi scheme. the government does not take this money and invest it like a bank would. they do not lend it out and get 19% interest like credit cards or 8% on mortgages, so you cannot generate a critical mass of money for the retirement generation because -- like i said, my father put in 13,000 and got out $330,000. who makes up that difference? the taxpayers. guest: i

mr. durbin was for it. ms. pelosi was for it. i was for it. the vice president was for it. but unfortunately we couldn't proceed on that discussion in a successful way, at least, because the gentleman observed and his colleagues observed that as long as there were any revenues attached to that it would not be acceptable to your side of the aisle. notwithstanding that, every bipartisan commission that has dealt with this issue has indicated that it needs to be a balanced package, that it needed to include substantial cuts, it needed to deal with discretionary spending, defense spending, entitlement spending and it needed to deal with tax expenditures. the gentleman says correctly that we want to balance our revenues with our expenditures. the problem is if you keep cutting revenues you are just going to be chasing yourself down. obviously you want to bring revenue rates down. i hope we can do that, but if we bring them down to a place where we don't have the money to pay for our -- what we buy which is of course what happened in this past decade, then we will be confronted w

mr. durbin was for it. ms. pelosi was for it. i was for it. the vice president was for it.ut unfortunately we couldn't proceed on that discussion in a successful way, at least, because the gentleman observed and his colleagues observed that as long as there were any revenues attached to that it would not be acceptable to your side of the aisle. notwithstanding that, every bipartisan commission that has dealt with this issue has indicated that it needs to be a balanced package, that it needed to include substantial cuts, t needed to deal with discretionary spending, defense spending, entitlement spending and it needed to deal with tax expenditures. the gentleman says correctly that we want to balance our revenues with our expenditures. the problem is if you keep cutting revens you are just going to be chasing yourself down. oiously you want to bring revenue rates down. i hope we can do that, but if we bring them down to a place where we don't have the money to pay for our -- what we buy which is of course what happened in this past decade, then we will be confronted with a s

mr. durbin all said yes, we need to get a handle on this spending. yes, we need to get a handle on the deficit. and, yes, we need to bring down the debt. and we need to come to the table together with everything on the table. and we need to pay for what we thinwe ought to buy and frankly we ought to ensure that the united states of america for the first time in history doesn't pay its bills. ani tell my friend that we've had a lot of commentary over t last few day people on wall street, people in business, large, medium and small and i will tell you if the united states doesn't by august 2 agree to pay that which it owes, that which it has incurred, not what we're going to incur in the past, those debts we've incurred in the past, everybody in america is going to be hurt. everybody -- every economist that i've talked to says that interest rates are going to spike, stock markets are going to be at risk and millions people who have pension funds and who have interest in their pensions are going to be adversely affected. the housing market which is stru

durbin. this is about half an hour. mr. isakson: i rise this morning to talk about the meeting tomorrow the president has called at the white house, a summit as which it has been referred to. i hope it will be a summit where both sides leave their weapons at the door, sit across the table from one another and begin talking about a comprehensive solution to a comprehensive problem. the solution to that problem, though, does not lie in creating villains and enemies. in the last two weeks, we have heard a lot of rhetoric coming from the white house demonizing people who have corporate jets or demonizing people who make over $1 million. i was reminded in this debate about millionaires of the debate in 1969 in america. it was one of my first debates that i ever watched. i had returned home from the service. i had begun my business. and a report came out in the newspaper that 155 americans who made over $1 million paid zero taxes. i personally was astounded. everybody else was astounded. and congress went to work to close the loo

mr. peters and this is getting attention in congress. senator durbin, senator ensign are working on a draft bill come amine st fairness sect. what would you like to see the congress do? >> we would like to see the congress about a mean streak fairness act as senator enzi has been working on for ten years now, which gives the states the authority to require the retailers to cut the sales tax if those states have done the minimum simplification of the local governments and businesses have looked the ten years trying and to establish. the states have made the effort to make attacks better the right to enforce their sales tax because that is what this is about. it isn't about making somebody collect, this is about getting the tax and forced. >> last question. >> in your view is legislation necessary? mr. byrne brought the argument congress is the body given authority to regulate interstate commerce. could this be done without an additional legislation or is the bolack center in san and durbin's mr.? >> that is a never-ending debate among our group. our pre

. >> sreenivasan: in turn, the senate's number-two democrat dick durbin defended the president's actions. he said mr. obama is doing exactly what his predecessor president bush did repeatedly. >> to come here and second guess the president because he's held a man for two months in military interrogation and now is being prosecuted in our criminal courts is totally unfair. unfair because the same standard was not applied to the republican president who tried hundreds of would be terrorists, accused terrorists, in our criminal courts successfully. >> sreenivasan: administration officials said once warsame was handed over to the f.b.i., he was read his miranda rights, and the interrogation started over from scratch. what he said from that point on can be used in court. the u.s. army psychiatrist charged in the deadly fort hood shootings will be tried in a military court. and, he will be subject to the death penalty. that word came today from the commanding general at the texas military post. major nidal hasan is charged with 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder in the november 2009 sho

mr. sperling and dick durbin and what did they say? they simply would not rule in a veto.n boehner agrees to. he has no alternative. i think this crisis may be about to end. >> willie, you talked off the air that the president would veto an extension. >> eat your peas conference. that's when he said two weeks ago, under no condition will i sign a short-term deal. they were talking about a three-month deal. this is six months. but he was very clear and explicit saying this is not the way the united states of america conducts business in this piecemeal way. >> republicans have pushed aside the peas and went straight for the chocolate ice creams. >> yes. >> and they are going to get their way, aren't they? >> it looks like they are going to get their way in the sense that there will not be revenue. neither of these plans have any revenue. >> so if there's no revenue, is the mutual obligation that my dad was talking about is is it going to be met? >> it doesn't feel that way. there is no balance approach coming from either side at this point. there is no revenue. there are onl

please go ahead, sir. >> i begrudgingly yield to senator durbin. >> thank you mr. chairman and i want to especially thank the witnesses who have shared their personal stories with us and what you are doing here is very important. not just for the millions of americans directly affected lies so-called defense of marriage act but for our entire nation. doma is an injustice and immoral and discriminatory laws. our nation was founded on the premise that all people are created equal. and all persons should receive equal treatment under the law. our society may be different than it was then, but these principles remain the same. that is why i am an original co-sponsor of the respect for marriage act and that is why i think the day we repealed doma be a great day in this nation akin to the ratification of of the 19th amendment and the passage of the civil rights act. i think congressman lewis' presents here spoke to that in a very powerful way. mr. chairman i would like to enter the rest of my statement, opening statement, into the record. mr. minnery on page eight of you

mr. president, the president of the united states, in the presence of senator mcconnell, senator durbin, senator kyl, and the house leaders said to all of us, no president in history has spent as much time as i have in a complying basis meeting with leaders trying to come up with some effort on this budget problem we're having today. the president has spent hours of his time, days of his time, weeks of his time working on this. as we know, he believed that he had, as as i understand it, two tentative agreements with the speaker. the speaker backed out of both of those. the president, i haven't spoken to him this morning but i talked to him several times yesterday, he's willing to work with anybody that will give him a proposal. and that's my point today, mr. president, as i've said earlier. the letters coming, terrific, saying -- i haven't received it yet but i'm sure it's coming that the republicans say they will vote for my piece of legislation -- they won't vote for my piece of legislation. what will they vote for? do they have any ideas? let me know. we have gone so far as even to ac

mr. peterson, this issue is getting some attention in congress. senator durbin, senator enzi are working on a draft bill, the main street fairness act. what would you like to see congress do? >> >> guest: we would like to see congress adopt the main street fairness act as senator enzi has been working on for ten years now which gives states the authority to require retailers to collect their sales tax if those states have done the minimum simplification things that we, the states, local governments and businesses have worked the last ten years trying to establish. give states who have made the actual effort to make their tax better the right to enforce their sales tax. because that's what this is all about. this isn't really about making somebody collect that's not collecting, this is about getting our tax enforced. >> host: gautham nagesh, last question. >> host: now, in this your view is legislation necessary? mr. byrne brought up the constitutional argument that congress is the body given the authority to regulate interstate commerce. could this be done witho

mr. lew, thank you very much. appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> joining me is assistant majority leader of the senate, democrat dick durbin of illinois, and republican senator from south carolina, author of "the great american awakening: two years that changed america, washington and me," senator jim demint. welcome both. >> thank you. >> good morning. thank you. >> tim geithner, treasury secretary, was here last sunday. i asked him about this ongoing deliberation, and he was emphatic about the outcome. this is what he said. >> let me make this clear, david, the united states is not going to default. we are a country that pays its bills. we're going to meet our obligations, and the leadership in congress, republicans and democrats, house and senate, understand that. there is no alternative for congress to act by the 2nd, and they recognize it, and i'm fairly confident they're going to do that. >> senator demint, is he right, no alternative but to raise the debt ceiling? >> well, he's probably right on that, but there's only one plan in congress right now to do it in a way that the credit agencies say won't turn us towards a negative rating, and that

follows: reid of nevada durbin, murray inouye, coons whitehouse boxer casey sanders lautenberg brown of ohio, reed of rhode island, feinstein merkley cardin, levin, schumer. mr. reid: mr. president i now move to proceed to calendar number 91, h.r. 2055. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to proceed. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 91, h.r. 2055 an act making appropriations for military construction, the department of veterans affairs and so forth and for other purposes. mr. reid: i have a cloture motion at the desk, mr. president. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the under undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the motion to proceed to calendar number 91, h.r. 2055 an act making appropriations for military construction the department of veterans affairs and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2012, and for other purposes. signed by 18 senators as follows. mr. reid: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that the reading of