mr. kagan: i rise in strong support of the perlmutter-klein-kagan amendment. why? it's exactly the medicine we need in our economy right now. small businesses in wisconsin, small businesses in colorado and across the country, are looking for access to credit at a price they can afford to pay. and right now our community banks are unable to lend. not because of their own activity, but because the bad judgment of big banks on wall street. main street community banks and main street small businesses should not have to continue to pay for the mistakes of wall street. the perlmutter amendment would allow community banks under $10 billion of assets to amortize potential losses over six years and up to 10 years if they increase their lending to small businesses. we get it. we understand that small businesses are the economic engines of this country. it's time to give small business the opportunity to grow our economy and the jobs we need to work our way back into prosperity. i would urge a strong yes vote on this amendment. yield back. mr. perlmutter: how much time do i h

kagan. massachusetts is proud, mr. chairman, of enain lane nan kagan's accomplishments. and we believe through these hearings as each of you get to know her as we do, we willer and broad bipartisan support just as she did when she was nominated as solicitor general. by now, every one of us has heard many times repeated and you know well the high points of her record. a trail blazing pace culminating in her selection as the first woman to serve as the dean of harvard law school and the first woman to serve as solicitor general. fur confirmed, she will make history once again. in an america where women comprise more than half the population, she will join justices ginsburg and sotomayor and for the first time in our history, a full third of the united states supreme court will be women. but there is much more that distinguishes elena. her life has really been characterized by her passion for public service. and her awareness what he it means to be a good public citizen. a close friend from her days clerking for justice marshal remembers elena interviewing at a big law firm

the case against kagan. mr.illyer, it seems, before we get into the specifics, it seems that not a lot of people have paid attention to this supreme court nominees. that affair statement? >> i think that's fair with the oil spill in the gulf and everything going on in afghanistan. this just hasn't made it to the top of the news. next week, it will. the hearings start. host: case against kagan. this is what the washington times and i presume you wrote this one. this is what quin hillyer and the washington times write. kagan is too political, too leftist and too experienced and too disrespectful towards existing law to be confirmd for the u.s. supreme court. let's take that one-by-one. too political? guest: too political. the memos from both her time with chief justice marshall, and her time at the clinton white house show that she consistently is results oriented where she tries to figure out what political results she wants to get and then tries to twist the law to get there. rather than starting with the law an

mrs. kagan's class. but she got the most out of people. and she changed people's lives because of that. and if i look at my own career in this kind of strange way, not land, but in a strange way, part of my life is my father and part is my mother. part of my life has been in public service. i've been blessed with the opportunities i've had to work in government and to serve this nation. and then part of my life is teaching, which i take enormous pleasure and joy from. i mean the -- i'm looking over your right shoulder -- your left shoulder right on my side. and there's a student of mine right there. and maybe there's some other students that are around the room. and it's kind of a great thing. >> these -- these things that i -- i mean, each one of us can speak about our parents and what they brought to us. seems to me they gave you pretty strong values. that speaks about who you are as a person. now we go to some of your legal abilities and criticize your background and your legalizing -- even going to what did you write on college papers. the chairman of the republican national committ

the case against kagan. mr. hillyer, it seems, before we get into the specifics, it seems that not a lot of people have paid attention to this supreme court nominees. that affair statement? >> i think that's fair with the oil spill in the gulf and everything going on in afghanistan. this just hasn't made it to the top of the news. next week, it will. the hearings start. host: case against kagan. this is what the washington times and i presume you wrote this one. this is what quin hillyer and the washington times wre. kagan is too political, too leftist and too experienced and too disrespectful towards existing law to beconfirmd for the u.s. supreme court. let's take that one-by-one. too political? guest: too political. the memos from both her time with chief justice marshall, and he time at the clinton white house show that she consistently is results oriented where she tries to figure out what political results she wants to get and then tries to twist the law to get there. rather than starting with the law and

mr. justice stevens and i welcome you solicitor general kagan. you coim before the committee with a remarkable record, a psychologicalor avenue the law, a skilled practitioner. i enjoyed meeting with you in my office and look forward to the discussions as the week proceeds. i think it is fair to say that some of my republican colleagues are not so favorably disposed to your nomination. we have already heard a lot about their concerns. let's not lose the big picture here. you have the solicitor general of the united states, a lawyer for the united states, before the supreme court and the former dean of harvard law school, a school to which i suspect every one of us on this committee would be proud to have our children attend. talk about the institution to which you have been nominated, our supreme court. the judiciary has no influence over the sword or the purse. no direction, either the strength or the wealth of the society and can take no active resolution, whatever. it may be truly sad to have neither force nor will but merely judgment. in othe

kagan could administer justice without respect to persons as the judicial oath requires. mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. >> now will look at all local impact the gulf of mexico oil spill was having on the community. cheri pete of the maw's sandwich and snack shop. >> katrina could not keep me away. i was back to months later. i am bound and determined to stay. it took us to february to get back open. >> is that right here? >> that was right next door. it would nine weeks. this is before katrina. >> i notice that you have a bunch of signs up on the side of your restaurant. can you explain those? >> it's a frustration. you wake up -- you go bed watching the news, and then you see the same thing on the news. no progress whatsoever. they say things to make you feel better but it is not working. we are living with what is going on out there. we want to see some progress. we have lots of ideas and we know they will work. things that can work, things that are common sense. as one of our sons show, we have obama a

mr. poe: madam speaker, when kagan was dean of the harvard law school, for personal and biased reasons she banned military recruiters from campus. by her actions she violated the right of free speech. in a university setting of all places. a college campus is just the place for free expression, free speech from all points of view. kagan's actions also denied the students the right to hear the information. she denied the students the right to even discuss military career as a choice because of her own prejudices. and when kagan personally joined a lawsuit to uphold her banishment of the military recruiters, the very supreme court she wants to join unanimously said she was wrong. in her judgment. she's hostile to the first amendment. she wants control over free thought and free expression unless she personally agrees with it. kagan's attack on the first amendment chose her dangerous distrust for the principles of the constitution. her lack of objective judgment shows she has no business giving judgment on the most powerful court in the world. that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempor

solicitor general kagan, i know you have an opening statement and now the floor is yours. >> thank you very much, mrchairman, senator sessions and members of the committee. i would like to thank senators kerry and brown for those generous introductions. i also want to thank the president again for nominating me to this position. i'm honored and humbled by his confidence. . let me also thank all the members of the committee as well as many other senators for meeting with me in these last several weeks. i've discovered that they call these courtesy visits for a reason. each of you has been unfailingly gracious and considerate. i know that we gather here on a day of sorrow for all of you, for this body and for our nation with the passing of senator byrd. i did not knowhim personally as all of you did, but i certainly knew of his great love for this institution, his faithful service to the people of his state and his abiding reverence for our constitution, a copy of which he carried with him every day. a moving reminder to each of us who serves in government of the ideals we must seek to fulfill. allf y

kagan, unqualified justice. and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: ms. woolsey of california. mr. wiener of new york. mr. jones of north carolina. ms. kaptur of ohio. mr. moran of kansas. fro what reason does the gentleman rise? >> permission to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. herger: mr. speaker, i rise to israel's right to self-defense and express my outrage over the knee-jerk, international condemnation of our strong ally following the recent flotilla incident. the activists ignored warning from israeli forces to turn away from gaza and disregarded invitations to offload supplies elsewhere. worst of raleigh, they placed israeli forces in grave dangerer by brutally attacking them. many countries immediately condemned israel. their reaction sharply contrasts with their failure to denounce the hostile behavior of iran and north korea. i applaud the obama administration for avoiding this double standard. the united states must always stand against the unfair treatment of an important ally. the speaker pr

solicitor general kagan, i know you have an opening statement and now the floor is yours. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, senator sessions and members of the committee. i would like to thank senators kerry and brown for those generous introductions. i also want to thank the president again for nominating me to this position. i'm honored and humbled by his confidence. . let me also thank all the members of the committee as well as many other senators for meeting with me in these last several weeks. i've discovered that they call these courtesy visits for a reason. each of you has been unfailingly gracious and considerate. i know that we gather here on a day of sorrow for all of you, for this body and for our nation with the passing of senator byrd. i did not know him personally as all of you did, but i certainly knew of his great love for this institution, his faithful service to the people of his state and his abiding reverence for our constitution, a copy of which he carried with him every day. a moving reminder to each of us who serves in government of the ideals we must seek to fulfill. all

mr. chairman, thank you for your work on this nomination. republicans are committeed to conducting this hearing in a respectful manner. serious questions will be asked, miss kagan will be given ample opportunity to respond. she certainly has numerous talents and good qualities but there are concerns about this nomination. she has less real legal experience of any nominee in at least 50 years. it is not just that the nominee has not been a judge. she has barely practiced law and not with the intensity and duration from which i think real legal understanding occurs. miss kagan has never tried a case before the jury. while academia has value there is no substitute i think for being in the harness of the law, handling real cases over a period of years and what the record does reveal is a more extensive background mixed with law. her college thesetithesis affir activists tendencies of the court but complained that they could have done a better job of justifies their act varieivism. she took leave from teaching at law school to work for this committee. under then chairman joe biden to help secure the nomination of ruth bader-ginsberg. and now one of the most active m

but elena kagan may well be a supporting actress featuring chief justice john roberts jr and bust a many gut. which begins tomorrow to put robers and his court on trial. republicans will put mr. obama on trial in what he views as his big agenda. + and -- independent enough to keep that agenda in check. henry is joining us from hot springs, arkansas. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a comment and a plan. host: ok. caller: i'm going to change the whole perspective on theeterm limits and thousand congress should be run. after the elections, and in all states and for whatever position in congress, there no longer will be any term onments. they would be put on hourly pay. give them a good hourly pay, but then 2007 privilege and the power to fair to them, if they don't performance well. right now term limits. all these people in congress with the corruption and everything that's going on, we can't fair to them. so if we put them on an hourly pay for a certain length of time or even no length of time, you know? we're not -- we don't have any idea as to how long they have been in office. but if they get an hourly pay, we, the people, are their customers. and we should have