mr. lautenberg: mr. president, i come to the floor today because there is an epidemic hovering over america, and we ought not to stand by and let it continue. a staggering one-third of americans are obese, a condition that can endanger health and shorten life span. among our children, the situation is becoming a plague and leaving too many young people unable to participate in physical activities like sports or games. now, i salute the first lady michelle obama for bringing attention to this crisis by educating parents, teachers and kids about the need to be more active and eat nutritious food, but it's going to take the involvement of this congress. we need to protect our children, our economy and our national security. our nation's childhood obesity rate is one of the highest in the world. here we see it. obesity -- childhood obesity rates here are displayed worldwide. obesity epidemic as seen among american youth. if we look at the other major countries in the world, going from the lowest, china, 5.2%

mr. lautenberg lautenberg: mada? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. lautenberg: thank you, madam president. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. lautenberg: i ask unanimous consent that further calling of the roll be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lautenberg: thank you, madam president. today, june 28, 2012, 30 million american people gave thanks and it's because the supreme court this morning upheld the health care law that will provide those 30 million people with access to affordable health insurance. today is a proud day for america, and for the values that we cherish, because on this day our nation's highest court has reaffirmed that america is a country that works for everybody, not just a privileged few. we fought for these values for many years, and this victory is just the latest in america's long struggle for a fairer and more equal country. we took the first step 77 years ago when president franklin roosevelt signed social security into law, ensuring that in this country, no senior would g

mr. lautenberg: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. lautenberg: i thank senator boxer for leadership in resisting this attempt to be able to permit companies to continue to pollute the air at risk to our children and marshaling the forces to say no to this. mr. president, in a way i feel like this is maybe a lesson that i learned when i was in business school at colombia. if you spend money here, you might save it there. but if you don't spend it, you are liable to lose something: a child. the child's ability to function. what kind of a proposition are we looking at here? this isn't an accounting exercise. this -- we're talking about the well-being of our children. i will say this. we may have disagreements between our sides, but i believe that republicans care as much about their kids on their side as we do on ours. but they would, in this debate, say that they have to take care of the power companies and permit them to emit poisonous ingredients in the air. i think the sentence would be more complete. they said rather than take advant

mr. lautenberg: thank you, mr. president.o speak against the paul amendment, amendment 2182, which would cripple the food stamp program. i have to tell you that there's an aura of wonderment around here that says look, let's cut food stamps for hungry families and for little children. we have these -- thing ary companies to --agri companies to take care of, thing ary gays bises to make sure -- agribusinesses to make sure they can feed their children. the fundamental test for any family is to put food on table, to make sure that their children get the nutrition they need. when tough economic times hit, families can find themselves struggling to meet their most basic needs. the food stamp program was created so that even in the toughest of times children in this country do not go to bed hungry. a picture of a child reaching out for food, the old stories about mottoes on cereal programs where -- talking about satisfying the brother's hunger. it was an old, old remark, remarkable display of what it is that comes to the fundamenta

lautenberg? >> thank you, chairman. mr. huerta, my recommendation to you would have been when senator boxer finished her introduction that you say, i plead my case and let it go at that. because you're getting some pressures here for things that i really don't think are justified. we have been fiddling around with nexgen technology before the turn of the century. and company after company, the best names in technology, aviation technology, were included. i was in the computer business before i came here. and the fact of the matter is that there was failure after failure after failure, with billions of dollars spent. and so why we want you to push along, hurry it up as much as you can, but i think on balance that it has to be recognized that you're not responsible for the delay but you will be responsible for the management of where we go and we look forward to that. i think that we're fortunate that you're here willing to serve at this job because you're not going to get lots of pats on the back no matter what you do. the a

mr. lautenberg: madam president, i rise to challenge the object stin eans -- obstinacy of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to prevent us from doing anything that can help ordinary families in our country get back on their feet and succeed. as a matter of fact, it was very clearly stated by the majority -- by the minority leader, the republican leader, to tell us that his number-one priority -- imagine that, the leader of the republican party in the united states senate, his number-one priority is to make sure that president obama is a one-term president. and i ask what is that -- what good is that to the people who don't have jobs or the people whose mortgages are about to be floadz or their kids can't get an education no matter how smart they are because it's impossible to afford it. and stated proudly on the floor of this senate that the mission is to destroy the presidency. shame on you. his number-one priority, not to create jobs, preventing another financial crisis, or keeping our children safe and healthy. it's just that cynical goal of destroying the presidency no mat