mr. harkin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: so, madam president, as i said, the national programs to keep schools safe and drug-free, cut by two-thirds. i wonder how many people know that. i wonder how many people know that we cut that already by two-thirds. again, this list goes on and on. deep cuts to vital programs. again, i want to emphasize these are the cuts that we have already made in the last two years. the sequester will cut them even further. so fighting childhood lead poisoning, which we know continues on in this country, we know how it destroys kids and their future growth. we know that early intervention can alleviate that. and yet it's been cut by 93%. are we going to cut it by another 7%? and we just won't have any efforts at all to test kids for lead poisoning early on. the sequester will have very real consequences for the economy and for our society. finally, madam president, let me just step back and put our discussion of this sequester in a broader perspective. by all means, we need to reduce deficit

mr. harkin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: mr. president, this week is a milestone for working families across america. 20 years ago this week, president bill clinton signed into law the family and medical leave act. you know, there are many laws that we pass here in washington that most americans never have reason to know or care about. the fmla, by contrast, has changed this country in profoundly important ways. it has touched the lives of millions of working families. it's almost hard to imagine today but 20 years ago, before this landmark law, workers had to risk their jobs and their livelihoods when family needs arose. there was no national policy for maternity leave or paternity leave. new mothers were sometimes compelled to return to work just days after giving birth. or to quit jobs they would otherwise have liked to keep. there was no law allowing someone to take leave from work to care for an aging, potentially dying parent or to care for a child with a serious illness. families had to leave their loved ones in the hands

mr. harkin: would the senator yield? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: madam president, -- [inaudible] -- the amount of cuts that we've already taken in our appropriations bill on labor, health, human services, education, n.i.h., centers for disease control. but i couldn't help but hear my friend from pennsylvania talk about the president's budget as though that is controlling. would my -- would the republicans want to adopt everything in the president's budget? i don't think so. they might want to select this or that or this or that. but are we now hearing from my friends on the other side that we should cart blanche rubber stamp the president's budget? i sure hope not. i would remind my friends that the constitution of the united states clearly, clearly says that this body has two functions: taxing and spending. not the president, not the executive branch. the executive branch can propose whatever budget they want. it's up to us to decide how both to collect the taxpayers' money and how to spend it. so, it doesn't really matter to me exactly wha

mr. harkin and other lawmakers should consider that. host: what businesses could absorbent and what businesses cantor? caller: there are large multinationals that have large income streams that obviously could. but there are many small businesses, such as fast-food restaurants and the like, who could not possibly do it. i think that is the difference. host: i guess one would argue why penalize those for something that everybody -- that happens to everyone as far as getting sick is concerned. caller: that is fine, but in a perfect utopian world everybody would get this perk. but we do not live in a utopian world. that is the difference. businesses that can bear the cost should ethically do that and the smaller ones who cannot, they just cannot. that is the difference. host: 8 "wall street journal" stores as philadelphia is one of the places pushing for this idea. caller: that is not surprising h. host: why is that? caller: i know the political mind-set here. it is a feast of rules for democrats. host: that is of from philadelphia, pennsy

mrs. pelosi, steny hoyer, and top harkin, all prominent democrats have all said, "we don't have a spending problem in this country." they think what's wrong with our country is we tax too little. well, most americans watching today, bob, don't think we have a trillion-dollar deficit for four consecutive years because we taxes too little. they know it's because we spend too much. >> schieffer: but isn't what you're saying, governor, what people say is wrong with washington. here we go again. governor barbour says it's all the fault of the democrats will and the president says it's all the fault of the republicans and i want to know where there is some ground rathe 22 sides could get together and get something done. is there such a place? >> you're going to see on the sequester-- i believe you're correct the sequester will go into effect. >> schieffer: you do think? >> i do, and there are a lot of republicans that don't like parts of it, but they understand we've come to a point where we've got to take action about spending. and the democrats say the real answer is to have 50% more tax incre

mr. moslander. very good testimony. ms. mccarthy. signature and harkin members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today. my name is julia mccarthy, executive vice president at fidelity investment. with the privilege of serving more than 18 million american workers from about 22,000 employers. fidelity seriously the response ability to ensure workers know how to save, how much to save and how to invest retirement. victor thank you for bringing attention to the sheer retirement security and the importance of ensuring american workers save enough for retirement. or share your concern many americans are not prepared for retirement, yet we know from day to let savings behavior is work for a majority of this sets her straightforward. and when a than the earlier the better comments even the highest level, increase conjugation right, on your plan, stick with it, stay engaged and avoid taking out loans or caching when you change jobs. that said, when you savings is not always simple. epic to focus on three areas which all people increased

mr. speaker, the president of the united states. >> the president gets set to address the nation with an economy held hostage. tonight iowa senator tom harkin on the ticking time bomb of the sequester and how the president can dismantle it. >>> pope benedict xvi breaks centuries of tradition and shocks the world with his sudden resignation. tonight the director of the acclaimed hbo documentary "mea maxima culpa" joins me for exclusive reaction. >>> we'll have the latest on the largest manhunt in california as the largest manhunt in history continues. >>> plus, dick cheney. sit makes sense? >>> roger ailes is making accusations of racism. >>> an unhinged nra board member, ted nugent, is making an appearance in the chamber for the president's state of the union address. >> if barack obama becomes the president in november again, i will either be dead or in jail by this time next year. >> we'll tell you which member of congress invited him. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. every now and then in this business you get a feeling about a story. you know, we need to talk more about this. there is not enough conversation

invited by senator tom harkin and congressman pete sessions to a meeting they were hosting for business leaders up at a walgreens distribution center near hartford, connecticut. mr. watson was sharing at that meeting with other business leaders his view that hiring people with disabilities is not about charity, it is about what is doing what is best for the business. that is the message he brings to us today. we are very fortunate to have him, with that i ask you to join me in welcoming greg watson. [applause] >> thank you governor markel for that kind introduction. it is a pleasure to be here. i must say, getting up at 4:30 to get a 6:00 a.m. flight, -- it is good to be here. i did get the opportunity to go down and see our new store opening at seven and -- in chinatown. i was talking to our construction folks and wanted to make sure that we had a pharmacy signage in the building in mandarin. the construction guy said, we did but we had to send the first sign back because when we translated it, it said funeral parlor. we do try to fit to the local community. i invite all of you, if you get an opportunity, to go down there. i will start by uploading all of you h