mr. mccain, proposes amendment numbered 625. mr. mccain: i ask unanimous consent further proceeding of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: mr. president, the amendment would authorize the continuation of trade adjustment assistance or t.a.a. for two additional years at the level of funding that the program maintained prior to the 2009 stimulus package addition. prior to the stimulus passed by this body in 2009, the t.a.a. program cost taxpayers about $1 billion per year. with passage of the stimulus package which was advertised to be a temporary injection into the economy, a temporary injection, the stimulus was increased and expanded to the program to cost about -- of about $2 billion in 2010 and according to the department of labor estimates, $2.4 billion in 2011 if the stimulus expansions were allowed to remain in place. i would remind my colleagues with the stimulus package these were one-time deal and once the money was spent, then those programs lapse. apparently not so with th

mr. mccain: could i ask my friend? mr. lieberman: i yield. mr. mccain: i ask unanimous consent for an additional seven minutes past 12:30. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lieberman: i thank my friend. at one point, somebody indicated to us when we were in baghdad that the american embassy, which is already the largest u.s. embassy in the world in terms of personnel, would go up, could go up as high as 20,000. it could be that high. those are a lot of civilians committed to working in the country that we need to have forces there to protect. so we're all coming to the floor today to appeal to secretary panetta, to the president. it would be shortsighted. if it's really going to be 3,000 and only 3,000 and frankly we're not going to tuck some away in those civilian personnel numbers in the embassy or somewhere else, covert operators, if it's really only 3,000, they are not going to be able to do the job that needs to be done, and not only that, they are going to send a message of weakness, lack of resolve, anxiousness to get out to the

mr. mccain: mr. president, the stimulus -- the presiding officer: the senator from arizona is recognized. mr. mccain: mr. president, the stimulus passed in 2009 was purported to be temporary. as part of that massive piece of legislation, we added a, made a significant expansion and added at least $600 million a year more to the trade adjustment assistance program. this amendment would cut back to the prestimulus number, the t.a.a. it's pretty simple. it will save at least $600 million per year on questionable programs of questionable effectiveness. but the point is that the stimulus was supposed to be a temporary increase in spending and not a permanent one. now the reid package makes that, most of it, at least 65 of p permanent. at least we can cut it back to prestimulus levels supported by the national taxpayers union. the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. mr. baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana is recognized. bow bow mr. president, this country -

mr. mccain: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: i ask unanimous consent to address the senate as if in morning business, and i additionally ask unanimous consent that i be joined in a colloquy with senator graham from south carolina and senator lieberman from connecticut. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: yesterday we learned from media reports that the obama administration has made a decision to sharply reduce the number of u.s. forces that it's proposing for a post2011 security agreement with iraq to roughly 3,000 troops. that media report has not been contradicted yet by anyone in the administration, so one has to assume that that is the direction which the administration is headed. as is well known, 3,000 troops is dramatically lower than what our military commanders have repeatedly told us on multiple trips to iraq that would be needed to support iraq's stability and to secure our mutual interests that our two nations have sacrificed so much to achieve. our military leaders on the ground in iraq have

mr. mccain's running mate. they described the choice of sarah palin as the vice presidential nominee as a mistake. as someone who took part in the decision, he said sarah palin as part of that decision was a failure of the vetting process to arrive at a nominee who was qualified to be president. >> i think there have been failures in the vice presidential vetting process, and i was involved in one of them. and i think both parties have had failures in the vetting process. john edwards, clearly, and the nominee in 2008. and i think, you know, that there is substantial room for improvement about how the vice president is selected. it's a process that is marked by, you know, fundamentally a lack of transparency in the selection. it's marked by, you know, tactical considerations, it's too political, it's about how do we step out of bounds, how do we get a couple points here, how do we reshape the race? the first and foremost consideration should be is this person qualified to be president in chief. >> she was someo

mr. mccain, you can't do both? he ended up coming to mississippi. >> you handed this to me.l me what this is. it's rick perry there. it says two candidates -- >> it is. in fact, take a look. we should be able to pull up a graphic of it. this is literature there, don, that is being handed out in florida as we speak right now. and it is mitt romney going right after rick perry when it comes to the issue of social security. a huge issue here in florida. in fact, he says in this piece of literature that's being handed out, not being mailed out, rick perry, how can we trust anyone who wants to kill social security? so there's been a lot of talk -- will this be a big issue monday night? >> i'm sure -- yes, it's going to be a big issue. >> it has to be a big issue. >> who's getting, this older voters? >> targeted people are getting this primary republicans -- >> there you go. listen, there are more than two people in the race. everyone's saying -- that's what pundits are saying, it's a two-person race. tell me what these names have to do -- what you think they have to do for monday

mr. mccain: last night we gathered in the house chamber for a joint session to listen to president obama speak about our nation's dire need to get our economy growing more strongly, to create jobs and to get millions of americans back to work. all americans share this goal, even as we may have some disagreements over the best way to do it. one way to create jobs that most of us i think would agree on is opening new markets overseas to american workers, products, and trade. u.s. products are the finest in the world, and we must lower barriers that impede free trade. to that end, we heard the president repeat again as he has previously on numerous occasions speaking to congress and the american people that we must lower barriers that impede free trade. to that end, and we heard the president that he wants -- last night he wants congress to pass three free trade agreements with korea, colombia and panama a that were concluded many years ago. i could not agree more. indeed, the international trade commission estimates that passing these three trade agreements could increase u.s. exports by $

mr. mccain is an unusual man in that he's never seen a war that he hasn't liked.er he told you what he just said, as we saw, he said we should have bombed the libyans more. so i think you have to take that with a grain of salt. but i do think he's right, the americans are sick of war. the american people. but unfortunately, their political leaders in both parties have committed us to situations where war will be automatic. we are dependent, for example, on the saudis as an oil producer and as someone who buys our debt. if they get in trouble with iran over the country of bahrain, we'll have to fight for them. and of course, all of your guests, senator mccain, senator feinstein, paul wolfowitz, would be willing ly -- would willingly see american marines and soldiers killed if that's what it took to protect israel. and the third thing, is while we have been bor--sighted on afghanistan and pakistan, and as senator righty says the plans for 9/11 came out of afghanistan, al-qaeda has established prayingal bases in yemen, in somalia, across north africa, palestine, iraq

mr. mccain last time? caller: no, i did not perry -- i did not. actually i was overseas and was not able to vote. i was incarcerated in a prisoner of war camp. at this time i am going to vote. unfortunately i did not have anybody to pick in the republican party except possibly mitt romney. i might end up voting for obama because he seems to be the only one presenting anything. host: petersburg, alaska. caller: there you go. another democrat posing as a republican. i just want to throw in my hat and say i support herman cain and mitt romney for president and vice president. host: have you always supported herman cain? caller: yes. host: what made you come to that decision? caller: the fact that his business experience is pretty adequate and him and mitt romney i believe and turn the economy around. mitt romney that experience in the political wing could be a big plus. host: what have they said that makes a difference this time around than four years ago, especially with mitt romney's case? caller: herman cain is the only one who has really come out

mr. obama beat john mccain, not only did mr. obama win, he won hugely. he won by nearly an eight-point margin. he won by about nearly 10 million votes. his margin of victory over john mccain was three times the margin of victory that george w. bush had over john kerry in the previous election. and the map from the '08 election makes that clear. the republican nominees for president and vice president won their home states, of course. alaska and arizona. they got deep red mostly low population states and that was it. that's all they got. they got the south. minus florida, minus north carolina, minus virginia. even though john mccain did win his home state of arizona he wasn't able to translate that into victory in nevada or new mexico or colorado. barack obama in 2008 won so big, so big that even this happened. >> hey, brian, one more thing, by the way, i'm having fun watching. nebraska, you know -- >> it's your favorite congressional -- >> they split their electoral votes. there's a way to follow it very easily. omaha right here. it's two counties make up

mr. chairman. >> senator mccain. >> thank you, mr. chairman. think the witnesses for their service in director mueller, thank you for your willingness to continue to serve. none in secretary, are you aware of the government accountability officereport of september 12, the trustee chairman levin and me and the subject observations on the cost and benefit of an increased department of defense will in helping to secure the southwest land border? >> i'm not sure i'm familiar with that particular report, senator. >> well, i would refer to you for your reading in the report it says in addition, agency officials identified a number of broader issues and concerns surrounding expansion of dod's assistant in securing the southwest u.s. land border, specifically they include dod officials expressed concern about the absence of a comprehensive strategy for southwest border security and the result of challenges to identify and plan a dod role. are you aware of the department of defense concerns about the absence of a comprehensive strategy for southwest bor

mr. charman. >> senator mccain. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i think the witnesses for their service in director mueller, thank you for your willingness to continue to serve. none in secretary, are you aware of the government accountability officereport of september 12, the trustee chairman levin and me and the subject observations on the cost and benefit of an increased department of defense will in helping to secure the southwest land border? >> i'm not sure i'm familiar with that particular report, senator. >> well, i would refer to you for your reading in the report it says in addition, agency officials identified a number of broader issues and concerns surrounding expansion of dod's assistant in securing the southwest u.s. land border, specifically they include dod officials expressed concern about the absence of a comprehensive strategy for southwest border security and the result of challenges to identify and plan a dod role. are you aware of the department of defense concerns about the absence of a comprehensive strategy for southwest b

mr. chairman. >> senator mccain. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i think the witnesses for their service in director mueller, thank you for your willingness to continue to serve. none in secretary, are you aware of the government accountability officereport of september 12, the trustee chairman levin and me and the subject observations on the cost and benefit of an increased department of defense will in helping to secure the southwest land border? >> i'm not sure i'm familiar with that particular report, senator. >> well, i would refer to you for your reading in the report it says in addition, agency officials identified a number of broader issues and concerns surrounding expansion of dod's assistant in securing the southwest u.s. land border, specifically they include dod officials expressed concern about the absence of a comprehensive strategy for southwest border security and the result of challenges to identify and plan a dod role. are you aware of the department of defense concerns about the absence of a comprehensive strategy for southwest b

mr. mccain apologize for or slap down mr. cunningham which he did. double standard? absolutely, don't you think? >> right. you know, the other thing is -- it goes all the way back on the same panel last night on bret's panel, why was everyone thinking the inflammatory rhetoric had anything to do with congresswoman giffords' shooting anyway. the guy was insane. had nothing to do with sarah palin or anything else. the whole process started on the wrong premise to begin with. >> we'll see how that continues to flush out. it looks like the white house is not going to respond to that. >> by the way, the name of the show. >> tattletales. >> one of my favorites. i loved it. >> as we mentioned, president obama's jobs plan including a plan to spend money on roads and bridges. there's one problem with that. dick morris up next with the details. >> then a football player sweeps a cheerleader right off her feet. the whole thing caught on tape. -- camera. hold on to your pom-poms. kevin are you sure this is okay? in the distance: hey, yall! run! go! i was just going to ask what t

. >> they got the nomination as did bill clinton and john mccain. >> mr.good to have you back in "the situation room." >> much more ahead on the republican battle for the white house. up next, my interview with the presidential candidates and former utah governor john huntsman. i'll ask him about the growing controversy over the future of social security here in the united states and what he plans to do about it. ♪ okay, so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. that's yours. lower cholesterol. lower cholesterol. i'm yummy. lower cholesterol. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste? honey nut cheerios. want whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. it's a win win. good? [ crunching, sipping ] be happy. be healthy. can i try yours? be happy. be healthy. another good thing about geico so like say you need to report a people wclaim, alright./7. a real person will be there to help you. then you can use geico.com to view photos of the damage, track your c

obfuscation completely transparent, please welcome former general council to the mccain campaign, and my personal lawyer, mrevor potter. trevor, nice to see you ( cheers and applause ) you want some ham rolls he's not-- he's not kosher. all right, now, trevor, i've got all these people down at the bottom of the screen who have been giving me money, individual americans, but i haven't gotten any of the big corporate money. that's why i have a superpac. why wouldn't a corporation give money? >> well, they'd be nervous about gig in a way that their name is publicly disclosed. people might object to what they've done. their shareholderes, their customers. >> stephen: okay, so that's where a c-4 comes in. a corporation or individual can give to a c-4 and nobody gets to know they it. >> that's right. >> how can i get one. >> and that money can be used for politics. >> stephen: great, that's good, too. >> we need to get you one. >> stephen: as long as it goes through me, it can go through anything at the present times. how do i gets me one, trevor? >> well, lawyers often form delaware corporations which we call sh

mccain rally and the obama campaign was offended and expected an apology and senator mccain came out and did so. >> mr. hoffa speaks for himself. he speaks for the labor movement, afl-cio. the president speaks for himself. i speak for the president. >> the press precedent that you are sitting for the 2012 election the candidates are the ones we need to pay attention to. those who introduce them at rallies and surrogates. you don't have to pay attention to anything they say. >> i think i have said what i can say. >> is that the standard now? >> you can report it as you would like. >> i would rather not have to do this washington kabuki every time something happens. if that's the standard, then -- >> -- the standard is we should focus on the actions we can take to grow the economy and create jobs instead of focusing on kabuki theater. did the president find the comments appropriate? >> can we move on? >> bill: that was excellent questioning by mr. tapper. if president obama wants civility he must hold allies to account especially when he is there and he obviously did not. so there you go. as for mr. hof

mccain rally, and the obama campaign was offended and expected an apology and senator mccain came out and did so. >> mrffa speaks for himself. >> whatever. we weren't even listening. for more let's go to the red eye senior political corresponder. >> he has his facts. >> that's why he will never have an office job. >> they are adorable, but they can't run office products. jedediah, were hoffa's comments a call for violence? >> it was clearly a call for violence. i think president obama -- i know i am revealing all of the -- all of the major insight you didn't catch. i think president obama needs to say something about this. he is the guy who has been out there calling for a new tone. he has been calling for saville tee. you can't call for saw elect tiff saville tee. you want people to be civil or you don't. their excuse is ridiculous. president obama wasn't saying it. this guy was speaking for himself, but why aren't you calling it out? bad language is bad language. >> who is surprised by what a hoffa says? do we not know the family? first of all, it is like being surprised by what john gotti, junior sa

mr. zanni, an economic adviser to senator mccain in the 2008 election, all of the estimates it will create 1.3 million to 2 million jobs. and drop unmroemt by approximately 1%. or maybe more. that's if they're implemented. we can't do much better than that. right now. unless, unless there is an aggressive action which seems unlikely in washington's political climate to clean up this housing mess. because that's freezing too much investment in place. so, i think that it's a very good program that he outlined. i think if congress seriously takes him up on it and they start trying to work through it and get anything approaching the amount of activity that was recommended they could put about 2% more on the gdp growth in the coming year and drop unemployment by, somewhere between 1 million and 2 million. they can create 1 million to 2 million jobs. >> you have said in the past, this is not time for mexican standoff or sort of macho politics, what can be done in to make people in this city that this country makes a national emergency in this regard? >> well, we need a little bit of help from th

mccain rally and the obama campaign was offended and expected an apology and senator mccain came out and did so. >> mr. hoffa speaks for himself, for the labor movement. afl-cio. the president speaks for himself. i speak for the president. >> the precedent you are setting now for it election the republican candidates are the ones that we need to pay attention to, introduce them at rallies their surrogates -- >> i think i've said all i can say. >> sean: bill cunningham when you sidebar rock hussein obama, the words he used himself when he took the oath of office. >> as soon as i used the name barack hussein report -- hussein obama, they got on the networks and said do you repudiate the remarks of cunningham. i didn't talk about red meat issues, hanging blacks, the progeny of canines, i used his full name and the media leaped on mccain who leaped on me, which he considered to be his sister souljah moment. i said nothing except the full name of the president that he employed at his own inaugural. there's such a double standard. when a conservative like joe wilson -- >> who cares about the duck standard.

mccain. and i don't care and you know what mr putin doesn't care a mystery but it doesn't care and the russian people don't care and that's what's most important about the standard in this type of political culture the. come into existence and two thousand citizens take care of themselves they think about their own wellbeing and that with the rest of the world thinks of them i think that's very important people about us across the many many thanks indeed for joining us don't go too far i want to thank you to our for now though let's continue here at r.t. and i cross over to our political analyst alexander a solar panel for more details on this. if you can hear me i'm just trying to establish a connection can you hear me yes i can super thank you very much for joining us this move and the timing of it something that was expected you think. yes i think it came as no surprise to. everyone in the country so we want to start saying that it happened and i'm just so just to make sure that the connection here is solid it seems likely that putin will become president then how would his leadership do yo

mr. dick cheney, senator mccain, and barack obama, that america is being attacked because of those thingsa disservice to the population of the united states. this war is not against americans because we are americans. it is motivated by the activities of our government and its allies in the muslim world. israel is an enormous problem for the united states and an enormous motivator for that area. it is not only that. is the support for the saudi police stayed. -- police state. it is our present in the arabian peninsula and military activities in iraq, afghanistan, yemen, and some malia. none of that is to say those policies or actions are wrong. i would vote to change several of them very drastically. unless you understand the motivation of your enemy, you are never going to be able to understand durability, intentions, or the ability to recruit in the coming generations. that is where we are at the moment. you can argue whether we should support the israelis or not support the israelis. that is a legitimate debate. when you think that israel is an enormous burden on u.s. interests and our

mr. dick cheney, senator mccain, and barack obama that america is being attacked because of those things is a disservice to the population of the united states. this war is not against americans because we are americans. it is motivated by the activities of our government and its allies in the muslim world. israel is an enormous problem for the united states and an enormous motivator for that area. it is not only that. is the support for the saudi police stayed. -- police state. it is our present in the arabian peninsula and military activities in iraq, afghanistan yemen, and some malia. none of that is to say those policies or actions are wrong. i would vote to change several of them very drastically. unless you understand the motivation of your enemy, you are never going to be able to understand durability, intentions or the ability to recruit in the coming generations. that is where we are at the moment. you can argue whether we should support the israelis or not support the israelis. that is a legitimate debate. when you think that israel is an enormous burden on u.s. interests and o

mccain. senator brown. 64 mr. chairman. >> here is a three part question.everal of the reason that the terrorist attacks against the u.s. have been carried out by were inspired by aqap. how would you assess the threat to the homeland, would you put them at top of the list of the threats by terrorist organizations and then as a follow-up is yemen on its way to becoming another afghanistan safe haven for aqap to plot a tax and to we have a sufficient strategy in place for yemen? >> thank you putative reports to that question, the first is that aqap is certainly among the biggest concerns from the counterterrorism perspective. it has shown itself to be to have both the intent and the capability of carrying out attacks against the united states and the homeland. i mentioned the two examples of that in christmas day 2009 and in 2010. beyond the actual attempted attacks one of the biggest concerns we have about aqap is its propaganda efforts. anwar al-awlaki, dual u.s. citizen has transpired magazine sought to inspire western request westerners. the actual issues

at a mccain rally and the obama campaign was offended and expected an apology and senator mccain did so. >> mr. hoffa speaks for himself and the labor movement, afl-cio. i speak for the president. what the president was glad to do yesterday was to present his views on the importance of working americans and on the importance of taking mshes to help working americans to create jobs and grow the economy. >> the republican candidates are the ones to pay attention to -- at the rally, >> i think i have said what they can say. >> is that the standard now? -- [inaudible] >> producing 8 million jobs, what can this man do? >> every day, he can do what he can and focus on the things we can do, working with congress or independently as the administration, administratively, rather, to grow the economy and create jobs, this isn't something that is done in a day. it's work that will continue beyond thursday as we push nor congress to take action on this package and part of an overall package regarding the president's longer term view. and tackling our long-term deficit and debt problem. the answer is obviou

. >>> three days after barack obama defeated john mccain in the 2008 presidential election, three days after that election victory, mr. obama called his first press conference as president-elect of the united states. from his transition headquarters in chicago, a victorious and look at him, notably much younger looking barack obama announced to congress and to the american people what his first priority would be as president. >> the one thing i can say with certainty is that we are going to need to see a stimulus package passed either before or after inauguration. i want to see a stimulus package sooner, rather than later. if it does not get done in the lame duck session, it will be the first thing i get done as president of the united states. >> a stimulus package. that stimulus package ultimately wasn't passed during the lame duck session of congress. that followed the election, but while bush was still president but when president-elect obama, boy king, said there that the stimulus would be the first thing he would get done as president, he was not kidding. less than a month after being sworn into office, presiden

. >>> three days after barack obama defeated john mccain in the 2008 presidential election, three days after that election victory, mr. obama called his first press conference as president-elect of the united states. from his transition headquarters in chicago, a victorious and look at him, notably much younger looking barack obama announced to congress and to the american people what his first priority would be as president. >> the one thing i can say with certainty is that we are going to need to see a stimulus package passed either before or after inauguration. i want to see a stimulus package sooner, rather than later. if it does not get done in the lame duck session, it will be the first thing i get done as president of the united states. >> a stimulus package. that stimulus package ultimately wasn't passed during the lame duck session of congress. that followed the election, but while bush was still president but when president-elect obama, boy king, said there that the stimulus would be the first thing he would get done as president, he was not kidding. less than a month after being sworn into office, presiden

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator mccain. >> i would ask that my full statement be made part of the record. senator mccain and members of this committee. it is an honor for me to appear before you for the first time as secretary of defense and represent the men and women of the department of our armed forces. i want to thank you won their behalf for your dedication and for your support, particularly in a time of war, and for your determination in doing everything possible to insure that they can see in their mission of protecting america and keeping us say. testified before this committee and placed i would treat congress as a full partner. in the months since, i had the opportunity to consult with many of you on all the challenges that the department faces. i will continue to do so. it is important to have your guidance and your council as we deal with challenges facing our department. before turning to the pressing issues and the challenges of the wars in iraq and afghanistan, i would like to briefly address the challenge of the defense budget. , which relates to everything we do. as you

an absurdly weak candidate in his senate race to john mccain, who seemed well off his game of eight years before. could the republicans be handing mr. obama another gift? this one named rick perry, who scares off the middle and hands the republicans to obama. also, a former president, a former head of the fbi, and 51 members of congress are among those who have called on the georgia parole board to grant clemency to troy davis. davis was convicted of killing a savannah, georgia, police officer, but seven of nine witnesses have now recanted their testimony. no one has given this story more publicity than the host of msnbc's "politics nation," the reverend al sharpton. and he joins me tonight. and what the obama white house didn't need, a new book portraying its team as rudderless and hostile to women. the white house is pushing back, pushing back very hard. let me finish tonight with this that question of obama's luck. are he and his rivals both counting on it to hold in 2012? we start with president obama fighting back. senator chuck schumer is a democrat from new york. he sits on the senate finance committee. senator schumer, it s

mccain. senator lindsey graham on the one thing the u.s. can't afford in iraq. donald trump on the president's plan. and mr. herman cain is here. seconds ago he finished debating several other contenders for the republican nomination. all four are here and ready to go on the record. right now all eyes on the white house. in less than 24 hours president obama traveling from the white house to the capitol where he will he us his long anticipated and promised jobs plan. unemployment rate staggering 9.1%. joining us senator john thune of south dakota. ready for tomorrow night's jobs speech? >> i am. >> greta: what do you want to hear? >> i want to hear something different than what the president said before. what he has said and doing hasn't been working. as you mentioned 9.1% unemployment rate. two million more unemployed today than when he took office. the debt has by 39% since he took office. gas prices doubled. health insurance rates up 19%. food stamp recipients up 41%. this is a bad economic record. his policies haven't worked many what i hope he comes out with are new ideas. i would like to see him declare a moratorium until

mr. obama biggest political adversaries on the hill. here now, greg mallot former chair for mccainor first president bush and congressman martin frost, democrat. thank you for joining us, both of you. >> good to be with you. you >> heather: congressman frost, i begin with you first. why begin the tour in virginia, home district of eric cantor? just a signal this is more political gamesmanship, one upmanship? what is this really? >> not at all. people have criticized president for being timid and not enough enough for the past couple of years. expression that fred knows. politics is not bean bag. this is a contact sport. nothing wrong going after and the home of an opponent. he will go other places, this is not the only place he will go. take the message to republicans and the public and hope congress does something. let the issues be joined. >> heather: but fred, isn't this really a message to eric cantor specifically? >> it's really disappointing to me after two-and-a-half years waiting for a jobs plan he comes out with a marketing campaign and goes in can't can'on apolitical vend

mr. reid: tomorrow there will be two roll call votes at about 12:30 in relation to the hatch and mccain amendments. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask we adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. agues for on very short notice coming to the senate floor for these brief remarks. madam president, next january following the annual retreat of sllowing the annual retreat of >> and president, next january following the annual retreat of the republican senators, i will step down from the senate republican leadership. i wl my colleagues have elected me as republican conference chairman three times and i will have completed four years or the equivalent of two, two two-year terms at that d time. my reason for doing that is this. stepping down from the l republican leadership willue liberate me to spend more times trying to work for results on issues that i care the most about. thatlations, r means stopping ry co regulation, runaway spending, but it also means confronting the timidity that allows us to -- that

mr. president, i want to say in response to something senatog mccain said, if we're not going to leave enough to do theo job, we might as well not leave anybody there. of course we don't want thatth t happen. one is that 3000 is not theificn number and hopefully will have clarification on that.o in all of our troops to iraq to, repeated teams of leadership, never has anyone said to us than we needed less than 10,000 troops to do this job.this -- it may be and i want to repeat n this, that there is a kind of sleight of hand here and maybe e it's 3000 here and there's going to be a few more thousand tucked into the civilian workforce atme the embassy and a few more in special operating covert mis operators. but i think if that is the gameplay in, it's a mistake. als we've got to say exactly how many troops are here because confidence to our allies in the region, particularly in iraq, utpecially in iran, now aboutnco the situation, concerned about the number of troops. who there may be some iraqis who might be pushing for a post-2011 forced to pay more than they dib but dr. pollack says this'll

mr. hoffa, republicans had 37% of union households voted republicans for congress. that's about the same as the 2008 presidential election, 59% of union households voted for president obama, 39% for senator mccainremember the final days of the 2008 campaign. i remember them well. unions were spending a lot of time and money in the local union halls in the big states telling rank and file members vote for the president, support senator obama and they were reluctant to do so. some of them supported president clinton. some were hesitant because of the race issue. are you confident heading into 2012 that your rank and file will support this democratic president or will we see in places like michigan what we saw in the reagan days, blue collar reagan democrats helping the republicans? >> i think it's going to be different this time because of the attack on the -- on labor by the tea party. we had 100,000 people at a rally in madison, wisconsin. we had 50,000 people in ohio. we collected a million signatures in ohio. people realize what's going on, that they might have voted republican a small group of organized labor. but i think people are aware now that this group is coming after them. when they s

mr. president, economists take for example mark was in the certainly a person that has his shown some by partisanship in as his working for john mccain as the economic adviser and now in the private sector we have to cut the spending and we all with acknowledge that. we agree but we also agree withn economist marc z. indy 500 saying we have to be very w careful how we cut now because s the difficult times we are going through. when we cut significantly in job programs that create jobs but ws have to get the debt under control. my mr. president, as my friend said, his number one goal is to defeat president obama the with that as the number one goao and it's difficult to get thing. done around here.ust but the report released last week should be l a wake-up callo every member of congress,very democrats and republicans.ore te we cannot waste anymore time as has been wasted overted the last eight months. the private sector added less js than 20,000 jobs last month and that was offset by the further unemployment that came so the ws net job increase was basically e zero. although august marked the 18th straight month of growth the stagnant

mr. mayor, it may have been several years ago when you're testifying in philadelphia, and i am not sure what we were working on, mccain-kennedy, something or other, what version, the arlen specter bill, but listening to your testimony at that field hearing, i just have to say that with people like you getting engaged, this was awhile ago, i thought we had success of getting something done eventually. over the years, we did lose the senate floor, but you formed a partnership, and we are working with you on that. if you want to see an impressive list of members of the coalition, all i want to address the website to www.renewoureconomy.org. there are mayors across the country. we are working together. these are the kinds of things i think we did not have eight or nine years ago which really helped form the grass roots that we need, if we ever eventually are going to get a bill done. today is focused on high skilled immigration. the other will be a subject of our next panel. thank you for coming. i very much appreciated and afford to your remarks. [applause] >> i do not know if it has been a rough morning here. i spend a