mr. levin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: mr. president, the other day a reporter came up to me and he said, you've been here a while. what do you think it will take to end this shutdown? i rebelied a single sentence: the speaker of the house needs to lead. the majority of house republicans want to end this shutdown by voting for a clean continuing resolution. but a small number of the most ideological members of the house oppose such a move and oppose a vote, and the speaker has given the small group a veto over the functioning of the united states government. congressman charlie dent, a pennsylvania republican, made one of the most stunning statements about this situation. in a television interview this week, congressman dent said the following. he says, "i do believe it is impair that i have we do have a clean funding bill to fund the government. that was the intent of the republican leadership all along," he said. "but obviously there were a few dozen folks in the house republican conference who weren't prepared to vote for a

mr. levin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: on behalf of senatorlessness i ask christopher landburg with granted floor privileges for the consideration of the nomination of jacob lew. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: i very much support the nomination of alan estevez to be principal deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics. mr. estevez is a career civil servant who has served under presidents of both political parties since 1981 when he started work at the military traffic management command. over the last 30 years, mr. estevez has developed an expertise in military logistics eventually rising to become the first career federal official to hold the position of assistant secretary of defense for logistics and materiel readiness a position to which he provides civilian oversight for more than $190 billion of d.o.d. logistics operations. he previously played a key role in reengineering department of

mr. levin: well, mr. speaker, this will be a short five minute, indeed. a short one minute because it call -- all can be said a very few words. yesterday, the speaker said there are not enough votes in the house to pass a clean bill to fund the government and to end the shutdown. there's one clear way to find out, mr. speaker, let us vote on the floor of the house. on saturday, 195 of us democrats sent a letter to the speaker saying we are willing to vote yes. and the reports are also 22 republicans at least are ready to vote yes. that's a majority. there are enough votes to end the shutdown. and, mr. speaker, if you don't believe it, let us vote. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from connecticut, mr. courtney, for five minutes. mr. courtney: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, today marks day seven since the rollout of the health care exchanges under the affordable care act. again, listening to the hysterical rhetoric from the majority party in the house, you would think, again, that america's basic freedoms and

mr. levin: we should not be debating a bill that's going nowhere. we should be debating a bill that will end this shutdown. yesterday, the speaker said this -- there are not enough votes in the house to pass a clean bill to fund the government and end the shutdown. the truth of the matter is, if the bill will come up, it will pass. on saturday, 195 democrats wrote to the speaker and said bring up the bill. and the informed reports say there are 2 republicans who will also vote yes. that is a majority of the house. so i say to the speaker, let the majority, let all of us speak. the president today said this -- and i quote -- the truth of the matter is, there are enough republican and democratic votes in the house of representatives ght now to end this shutdown immediately with no partisan strings attached. the house should hold that vote today. if republicans and speaker boehner are saying there are not enough votes, then they should prove it. let the bill go to the floor and let -- let's see what happens. just vote. two words. and then he continued.

mr. levin, opponent. mr. young: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to include extraneous remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. young: some people may be wondering why we find ourselves here today. some people may be confused as to why we are voting on a resolution to disapprove of the debt limit suspension two weeks after the fact. and some people may be asking why i introduced this resolution of disapproval on behalf of some people who voted yes and others who voted no to give the president the authority to suspend the debt limit. the answers to these questions are much simpler than they might appear. we are here today because the united states of america carries a debt load of over $17 trillion and counting. we are voting on this resolution today because this is the procedure that was put in place by the senate when they crafted the package to end the government shutdown. many of us voted for that senate legislation largely becau

the gentleman is recognized is minutes.d for 13 lsh 4 mr. levin: the republicans have said no unless there was defunding of health care reform. it did not work. so the republicans shut down the government. turns out that tactic was in the works for a year, as described in the "new york times" yesterday, i quote, one morning in a location, the members insist on keeping secret, came a little noticed blueprint to defund obamacare, signed by leaders of more than three dozen conservative groups and arctic you can you lated, take no prisoners legislative strategy that were in conservative circles that republicans could derail the health care law if they were willing to push fellow republicans including carbous leaders into cutting off financing for the entire government. so now we have a shift, keep the government shut down, let government not pay its bills. why? because the speaker said that it ould be unquote, unconditional surrender. that isn't what is needed. we don't need another supercommittee but allowed to vote. this poster shows 195 democrats w

mr. levine's comment? >> he's a perfect weather vane for what's going on with this uncertainty because he's a guy who has a company, 7,000 stores, with half of his customers needing some type of government assistance so they're looking for bargains. when he starts to see sales drop that becomes an issue. so these people who are either on government assistance, some of them perhaps work for the furloughed, this is a serious discussion about what is really going on out there in america? >> so if you're not affected, if you're not a government worker, if you're not related to one of them, sometimes you think, not that big of a deal. but this is proof positive. i want you to look at the stock market because it looks as if it has gone up. >> this is the breaking news. while you were talking to karl rove it jumped 40 points. it was up 20, 25 points. look at it right now. jumping exponentially. why? the market either correctly or incorrectly believes that there is hope, that there may be some deal. this could rev

after that, in order to make sure everyone has an opportunity to question, mr. levin and i agreed to go to three minutes. >> can you start the clock? >> we'll give you those ten seconds back. there you go. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ma'am, thank you very much for being here. i want to thank my colleague from california who earlier pointed out that it wasn't you or cms that set up this computer system. that you used private sector outside vendors. i think that speaks to an issue at some point we need to look at. that's our federal procurement process which is in part responsible for a lot of the problems that we've seen. and also want to thank mr. neal for pointing out in fact when we worked together, we can avoid a lot of the problems that we're seeing. we should be working together to make sure people have access to quality affordable health care rather than trying to find fault and blame and trying to defund or derail or sabotage a program that is designed to help people have access to quality affordable health care. nowhere is that more seen better than looking at

i now recognize mr. levin for his opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and colleagues and marilyn tavenner, a warm welcome. we start this hearing facing a basic reality, democrats want to make the affordable care act work. congressional republicans don't. that reality has been reflected in 40-plus efforts by republicans to repeal, dismantle, or defund the affordable care act. that reality was reflected in their zeal, shutting down the government and jeopardizing the full faith and credit of our nation, damaging our nation's global standing, and leading to enduring harm, costing our economy $24 billion, tens of thousands of jobs, a dramatic drop in consumer confidence. now, having still failed to derail the aca, the republican focus of attack has shifted. the new front relates to healthcare.gov. there are very clearly challenges to implementing new, pioneering access to health care. consider these headlines, you can see them there. for example, "problems plague rollout," npr reported. "plagued by delays and confusion over coverage," said "the sa

with that i'll recognize mr. levin. >> thank you. a warm welcome. the chairman talked about the website and you said it's going to be fixed. and i might say if everybody would pitch in to make it work, the goals that have been set would be more readily met. that's what happened with prescription drug program. we all pitched in to make it work. and it had major problems at the beginning. and instead of standing in the way, we said we didn't vote for it, let's make it work, and it began to work. if we all had the same spirit about aca, it would be more than helpful. but then the chairman asked you about the notices that are coming from the insurance companies, and i'd like to ask you about that. a gentleman from michigan who had an $800 blue cross plan got this notice from michigan blue cross. went into the website with the help of navigators and ended up with a blue cross silver hmo plan with tax credits in that case instead of $800 a month, it's $77 a month. let me refer you to the interview on "meet the press" with the blue cross florida ceo. he wa

mr. levin: madam president, over the last few days, there has been a lot of talk about negotiating. there has been a lot of negotiating. and that's good. various senators and small and large groups have been talking about how long it -- various senators and small and large groups have been talking about how long a continuing resolution should be in effect, how much to extend the debt limit, among other issues. and surely it is important that negotiations take place. we democrats have tried over 20 times now to move to a house-senate conference so that we can discuss and can negotiate our differences on a budget resolution, but regrettably republicans have refused to allow those negotiations to occur. but the underlying issue, madam president, is this -- whether while negotiations are under way our government should be open and serving the american people. democrats believe government should be functioning during negotiations. for that matter, we believe because government performs important duties it should always be open and functioning. and while those negotiations are under way,

camp, sam johnson of texas and mr. levin. for consideration of the house amendment and the senate amendment, and modifications committed to conference, messrs. southerland and ms. fudge. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. members will take their conversations from the well. and take their conversations from the floor of the house. for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland rise? mr. van hollen: mr. speaker, pursuant to clause 4 of rule 22 i move that the house take from the speaker's table the senate amendment to the house joint resolution 59, recede from its amendment and concur in the senate amendment to open the government now. the speaker pro tempore: under section 2 of house resolution 368, that motion may be offered only by the majority leader or his designee. mr. van hollen: parliamentary inquiry, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman may state his parliamentary inquiry. mr. van hollen: the standing rule of the house is rule 22, clause 4, is that correct? the speaker pro tempore:

heaven -- that mr. levin and i could work with chairman camp, chairman reichert, to develop this bipartisan legislation, to not only extend some important programs, but to make a number of positive changes. mr. reichert has outlined some of these. i would add attention to a provision that i authored to help ensure that children don't lose assistance simply because their guardian dies. as a long-term member, long-time member of the congressional coalition on adoption and a member of the foster youth caucus, i am pleased that we could take these steps in the right direction on a bipartisan basis, to help these young people. the legislation both continues and improves the incentives now provided to the states when they increase the rate at which foster children, who cannot return home, find mr. ayotte: do notive family. these new -- find an adoptive family. this will now be focused on adoption of older foster children who are sometimes more difficult to place and who have found difficulty in securing a permanent

with that, i will recognize mr. levin. >> thank you. a warm welcome. the chairman talked about the website, and you said it is going to be fixed. i might say, if everybody would pitch in to make it work, the goals that have been set would be more readily met. that is what happened with the prescription drug program. we all pitched in to make it work. it had major problems at the .eginning instead of standing in the way, we said, let us make it work. it began to work. if we all had the same spirit about aca, it would be more than helpful. but then the chairman asked you the notices that are coming from insurance companies. i would like to ask you about that. a gentleman from michigan who had an $800 blue cross plan got this notice from the michigan blue cross, went into the website with the help of navigators, and ended up with the blue cross silver hmo plan, with tax credits in that case. it is $77 a month. and let me refer you to the press,"w on "meet the with the blue cross florida ceo. he was asked by david gregory, in florida, the oldest and larges

mr. levin: i've listened to the debate. nobody on the republican side has answered this question. why not a vote on a clean c.r.? why not? it would pass. that's why you're not bringing it up. it's politics within your conference. but it's harming the people of this country. piece by piece it's hiding the reality. let me point to a bit of it. 2013 figures compared to 2012 for n.i.h., approximately 700 fewer competitive research project grants issued. approximately 750 fewer new patients admitted to the n.i.h. clinical center. cuts to research delaying progress in development of better cancer drugs that zero in on a tumor with fewer side effects. i'm reading from an n.i.h. document. research on a universal flu vaccine that could fight every strain of influenza without needing a yearly shot. come forth and tell us why not a vote on a clean c.r.? don't give us all the other stories. come someone and say, why not? why not a clean vote? it would pass. we can do it. a long journey in one step. right now. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlel

with that i'll recognize mr. levin. >> well, thank you. a warm welcome. talked about the web site, and you said it's going to be fixed. and i might say if everybody would pitch in to make it work, the goals that have been set would be more readily met. that's what happened with the prescription drug program. we all pitched in to make it work. and it had major problems at the beginning. and instead of standing in the way, we said we didn't vote for it, let's make it work. it began to work. if we all had the same spirit about aca, it would be more than helpful. but then the chairman asked you about the notices that are coming from the insurance companies, and i'd like to ask you about that. a gentleman from michigan who had an $800 blue cross plan got this notice from michigan blue cross, went into the web site with the help of navigatorrers and ended up with a blue cross silver hmo plan with tax credits in that case instead of $800 a month it's $77 a month. and let me refer you to the interview on "meet the press" with the blue cross florida ceo. he was as

. >>> with that i'll recognize mr. levin. >> well, thank you. a warm welcome.bout the website and you said it's going to be fixed. and i might say, if everybody would pitch in to make it work, the goals that have been set would be more readily met. that's what happened with prescription drug program. we all pitched in to make it work. and it had major problems at the beginning. and instead of standing in the way, we said, we didn't vote for it, let's make it work, and it began to work. if we all had the same spirit about aca, it would be more than helpful. but then the chairman asked you about the -- the notices that are coming from the insurance companies. and i would like to ask you about that. a gentleman from michigan who had an $800 bluecross plan got this notice from michigan bluecross. went into the website with the help of and a half garretts and ended up with a bluecross silver hmo plan with tax credits in that case instead of $800 a month, it's $77 a month. and let me refer you to the interview on "meet the press" with the bluecross florida ceo. he wa

and, in fact, mr. levinyou were chief of staff during the last shutdown in '95-'9 6. >> guest: that's right. >> host: what was that like? >> guest: it was tough. it required us to do a lot of planning prior to the shutdown and then a lot of clean-up. i think my favorite story, if i could tell you a story from it, there was a group of asians, i think mostly end nices who came to visit reed hunt and i. hayed they had to walk up eight flights of stairs because the elevators, for some reason, weren't working. and they get up there and tear out of breath, and they just say, what the heck is going on? and reed says, well, the legislative branch decidedded to shut down the executive branch. and they started laugh, and one of them said, you know, in our country it's exactly the opposite. but there actually is a message there which is i think the world thinks we're crazy when we do things like this, and markets think we're crazy, and this has a profound effect on the economy which is very, very negative. >> host: har

mr. levin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. evin: madam president, house speaker boehner is sending to the senate a series of bills to put one band-aid at a time on the house republicans' government shutdown. it's an obvious attempt to fool the american people into thinking that house republicans are acting to end the shutdown. but their transparent tactic is not fooling many people and here's why. the people of this country know that the harm of a government shutdown isn't about the hands full of programs that house republicans will dangle in front of us. the house republican gambit will not put food inspectors back to works it will not put centers for disease control experts back to work tracing, tracking outbreaks of infectious diseases. it's not going to reopen head start classrooms for kids. their piecemeal approach won't restart lending to small businesses or bring back the f.a.a. inspectors who make sure commercial aircraft are safe, and it won't restore hundreds of other vital services and functions. no matter how many r

levin? >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. ms. carver, you were targeted for speaking out. chief judge administrative law judge andrews and mr. conn used a conn employee was a former police officer to videotape you on the days that you're supposed to be working from home. they were trying to catch you going shopping or otherwise taking advantage of the rules. they failed. they were unable to provide any kind of proof like that, so instead you work them going shopping on the weekends. and then evidence was fabricated in that videotape to make it appear as though you were going shopping during work hours, and then the videotape was turned over to your superiors. so far, is that direct? >> yes. >> they try to discredit you because they believed you had spoken to a record about what was going on in the office. and judge andrus has admitted as much. a signed statement to the social security administration ig, which is exhibit number 82. so now, shall i tell you ms. martin or ms. hicks, i'm sorry? >> either would be fine. spent okay. ms. hicks then, you're married. obviously, get

marlborough festival and my general music teacher-- not piano teacher but music theory-- walter levine, he called and asked mr he would take me and certain was only skeptical because i was 13 but he took me. and in marlborough there was not yet the concert hall there is now. we used to have concerts in the hall that was the hall that they converted into a concert hall after lunch. and i learned so much there about ensemble and making music with other people that are from then on the idea of just developing as a solo pianist went away from me and i had to make music with other people, all kinds of chamber pieces, songs and little by little i got the bug about doing some phonic and orator y'all and operatic repertoire. there was only one person there who was a kuch conductor to assist on cosi fan tutte believe it or not. that was the opera they were doing that summer and they asked me if i would put the pianists together and make a backstage chorus and i did. there wasn't anybody else there to do it and i got bitten by the opera conducting bug then. >> rose: and what a lifetime it's given you. >> hasn't it? >>.

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the levin amendment to the concurrent resolution which is deck be agreed to, the congress current resolution as amenden agreed to that a levin amendment to the preamble be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completees its business today, it adjourn until 10:30 a.m. friday, october 13. follow be the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved. following leader remarks, the senate recess subject to the call of the chair to to to aafa special caucus with the president of the united states. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. order. >> the senate has gaveled out but earlier today senate democrats attended a meeting at the white house to discuss the government shutdown and the deb

levin thanks. dr., congratulations. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this is the second hearing in a series looking at deficiencies in the social security handling of disability claims, and our first hearing was held in september 2012, looking at the atknesses and decisions made the administrative launch, and by their own internal studies, it shows that 22% of those were handled inappropriately. are going ton, we focus on the finding of the investigation into the huntington, west virginia, social security adjudication review, specifically the investigative report detailing how one lawyer, one judge, and a looked tooctors manufacture bogus, fraudulent medical evidence to award disability benefits to over 1800 people. i would like to thank my chairman, and the chairmen and ranking member of the permanent subcommittee on investigations, senators levin and mccain, for their hard work on this. without their hard work, this hearing would not be possible, but before we get into the findings of this investigation, i want to extend a thank you to the four coura

fix well to discuss this joining me are gerald levin publisher of the journal and curtis ellis executive director of american jobs alliance in london we have mr keith boy field a researcher for the center for policy studies and here in ross washington with me is neil mccabe senior reporter at human events thank you all very much for joining me i want to begin with you neal is this good news well it's terrible news for americans and for for conservatives it's good news for those people who believe that the obama care in the federal government should continue to grow and that the government should take an increasingly more powerful role in our lives it's really horrific to defeat for conservatives who trusted republican leaders so you see this as the republicans giving in absolutely ok let's go to jerrold in gerald celente what do you think of this yesterday i read one of your tweets where you talked about the debt default and what it means in terms of the u.s. public being off the radar not speaking about it in bars and such why is that so and what do you think of this news. well as far as on the political animal political atheist so i don't l

senator levin. >> i just had one additional question here. ms. slone and did either both of you watch as mr. conn looked for doctors with disciplinary album's? >> yes. >> what -- you said you watched. where was he looking? >> in his office. he was looking on the computer at the kentucky border board of licensure and he would look for doctors that had sanctions were problems but their license in the past. he would rent out their information. i know i have made several phonecalls to.year's asking if they had been doing evaluations for them. >> ms. hicks you also saw that? >> yes. >> and the reason is as they think you testified to you said it would be easier to work with them if they had prior sanctions? >> he actually had said before that he refer to those as -- doctors. if they had sanctions and had their license suspended before he could get them to do whatever he wanted and they were cheaper to work with. >> you heard them say that? >> yes. >> you wow. >> i think that concludes this part of our hearing. do any of you want to make a brief closing remark or anything you would like to say be

the next question will be asked by senator levin and followed by senator mccain, senator bald, -- baldwin. >> thank you, mr. chairman. you were targeted for speaking out. chief judge administrative law judge andrews and mr. khan used a khan employee, a former police officer, to video tape you on the days you were supposed to working from home. they were trying to catch you going shopping or otherwise taking van of the rules. they failed. they were unable to provide any kind of proof like that. so instead you were filmed going shopping on the weekend and evidence was fabricated in the video tape to make it appear as though you were going shopping during work hours. and the video tape was turned over to your superior. so far, is that correct? >> we're. they try to discredit you because they believe you had spoken to a reporter about behalf going on in the office. and judge an andrews admitted as much in a signed statement to the social security administration ig, which is exhibit number 82. so now -- should i call you miss martin or hicks? >> either will be fine. >> okay. miss hicks, you're married and obvio

mr. camp and senator hatch, and against -- who is ranking -- sander levin, will have the benefit of thiscommittee's work, a bush event apart and your staff has been a part, and all the people here are so extreme helpful. they are not just saying it's up to you, we're out of here. each of them have come forward with a way to handle this. we are all very grateful, so thank you, panel one. we thank you very much. go ahead. >> is there a prevailing views and how to address the deficit? is there a prevailing view? is there consensus that we have to do? spin let me try to answer it. tell me if i've misstated it. they want to see a user fee. they don't want to see, although there was one exception, maybe you can patch a small but with the general fund. that's not the consensus of the crew. the consensus of the group is we need a user fee, we need a long-term solution, and it would be pretty much related to oil and gas. that the, whether collected the way it is now and we increase the gas tax, or as i understand, in a state like virginia which is looking at that tax but it had a different level.

mr. maliki mismanagement of iraq he politics contributed to the surge of violence there. carl levin says he has a lot of to pull hiso do country together. he has not done a good job of it. is corker of tennessee quoted as saying what he has done is created a situation where the population is more excepting of what al qaeda is doing because of the lack of inclusiveness. herald -- front page encouraged to delay- flood premiums. it is introducing legislation to put off a heavy increase at an earlier law had put into motion. in the washington post, there is a picture of the diminishing support of the tea party. in "usa today, a look at the virginia governor's race at the amount of outside money that is rolling into that race. out-of-state money dominates the race 72% of -- dominates the race. 72% of mcauliffe's campaign funds came from outside of virginia. this virginia governor's race is the only game in town. ohio, democratic caller. hi kathleen. caller: i am self-employed. i have gone without health care for 40 years. i have never taken a dime from the state for anything. i pay for m

mr. pai said that, commissioner rosenworcel has said that, categorically go forward. the principal author of the national broadband plan, blair levin has said, absolutely, he would have said yes to the trials on day one. i think the key, congresswoman, is this isn't about us exclusively, it is industry-wide and it is nationwide. and i for one have been reluctant to put in the fcc a, quote/unquote, at&t plan for conducting the trials. i think it is really the job of the fcc to work with all of industry and all stakeholders and, frankly, state-level government as well to design those trials, much like was done during the dtv, and i am pretty confident that once chairman wheeler gets there that that is what will happen. >> thank you. >> the gentlelady yields back her time to the gentleman whose time has expired. and the chair now recognizes the mr. shimkus, for 5 minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. great hearing. i have learned a lot. and i love trying to stay as long as i can because you really do hear the point- counterpoint. but you never miss the opportunity to hear a member bring up a personal story. mr. cicconi, i am sure your

mike levin is joining us, he served as health and human services secretary under president bush. mr or governor. you have two good titles there. but take us into her seat right now. she is under enormous pressure. how do you think she got into this mess? >> wolf, i have to say that the seeds of this problem were sown a year ago as the administration made decisions not to issue regulations that were required for those developing the system to actually do it properly. and meps whhence when the site go live, it had been inadequately tested. they were issuing regulations in september for an october 1 implementation. i'm sure that will come up in the hearing today. but i think in terms of looking at causes, i think that's a big one. >> so who is to blame for that? >> well, let's just say i don't think that secretary sebel

mr. levin: the senator just made a reference to the fact that the speaker of the house has refused to put the senate resolution up for a vote in the house of representatives. and it seems to me that this has not been adequately illuminated to the public. it's not just that we insist that there be a clean c.r., which we do, because we don't want every other issue that people feel passionate about to be insisted upon as a price of keeping the government going. each one of us have issues that we feel very keenly about. but i don't know of any of us, at least on this side, that have said, "unless you pass a bill with a, for instance, an infrastructure bill, unless you pass a bill that a -- a check of people's -- a background check before they can buy an assault weapon" -- i mean, i feel very passionately about that, but the idea that we or any of us on this side of the aisle would say, the government is going to close unless we get our way on a particular issue that we feel passionate about is abso