mr. schumer,aye. mr. sessions, mrs. shaheen, aye. mr. shelby, ms. snowe,no. mr. spector,aye.mr stabinow, aye. mr. tester,aye. mr thune, no. mr udall of colorado,aye. mr. udall of new mexico,aye. mr.vitter, no. mr.voinivich, no. mr. warner,aye. mr. webb,aye. mr. white house,aye. mr. wicker,no. mr. whiden, aye. mr. bennett of utah, no. this is a hutchinson,no. mr. cochran,no. mr. bennett of colorado,aye. [no audio] mr. sessions,no. [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [applause] mr. sanders -- [laughter] >>yes? >> mr. sanders, aye. mr. shelby -- no. [no audio] [no audio] >> and the other senators wishing to go toward change their vote? the amendment is passed. [no audio] >> i had a restless night worrying about bipartisanship and i think i found a way tested. nowhere in history have we found a way to make health care more affordable than today. this is a victory for the american people, those fortunate enough to have health insurance will be able to keep theirs and of those who do not will be able to have health insurance. this is a victory because we have affirmed that the ability

mr. schumer, mr. schumer, aye. mr. kaufman, aye. mr. shelby, no. mr. bennett of utah, no. >> mr. lincoln. mrs. lincoln, aye. ms. landreaux. ms. landreaux, aye. >> on this vote, the yeas are 63, and the nay are 55. the motion is agreed. the question is on the motion to concur with the house amendment. sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. clerk will call the roll. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: mr. leader. mr. reid: may we have order, mr. reid: may we have order, >> leader, may we have order, please the presiding officer: anyone wish to change their vote or hasn't voted? by a vote of 88 ayes and 10 noes, the motion to concur on the house amendment to the senate amendment on defense appropriations is approved. leader. mr. reid: first of all, to the united states senate, this is a good strong message we've sent to our men and women in uniform around the world as 88 senators voted -- it was a little bit of a struggle to get here but we got here, and i'm so grateful we were able to do that. i have some -- we'

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. and it's truly my honor to be here on this historic evening and speak in support of the bill which we will vote on early tomorrow morning, christmas eve morning. it's an honor because anyone who looks at this country knows the problems we have and that two problems caused by the health care system are at the top of the list. and one represents a more conservative point of view and one represents a more liberal point of view, but i'm proud to say the bill that we will pass tomorrow morning, god willing, deals with both of them. the more conservative issue is controlling costs. the health care system costs this country a whole lot of money. by and large, we get good health care. not everybody but most people. but it is so expensive, and that's been documented. and what does that mean? it means small businesses can't grow and actually have less money to pay for wages. it means that our large businesses are less competitive globally. we've seen that in th

mr. schumer, aye. mr. sessions. mrs. sheen. >> aye. >> mr. shelled by. >> missnow, no. >> mr. inspector, aye. >> there tester? >> aye. >> mr. udal of colorado? >> aye. host: the senate has now passed their healthcare bill. this is not the end. there will be some type of reconsiliation with the house bill which will pass on november 7th. we will continue that process but this is another step in healthcare reform in the nation's capital. in georgia. you are in support of this bill? caller: yes. with the idea that this may be something to build upon. i don't know exactly what would be in this bill. they should have reduced everything to the lowest common sdee nominator and kept everything real simple. the only significant time i used my health insurance is when i broke my leg. i spent three days in the hospital. the hospital presented me a bill for $40,000. they settled for blue cross for $40,000. at the same time, my insurance went from $500 a month, when i dropped it, it was $1200. the price should be the price on healthcare and precipitation drugs, if you sell it in one part o

mr. schumer, aye. mr. sessions. mrs. sheen. >> aye. >> mr. shelled by. >> missnow, no. >> mr.pector, aye. >> there tester? >> aye. >> mr. udal of colorado? >> aye. host: the senate has now passed their healthcare bill. this is not the end. there will be some type of reconsiliation with the house bill which will pass on november 7th. we will continue that process but this is another step in healthcare reform in the nation's capital. in georgia. you are in support of this bill? caller: yes. with the idea that this may be something to build upon. i don't know exactly what would be in this bill. they should have reduced everything to the lowest common sdee nominator and kept everything real simple. the only significant time i used my health insurance is when i broke my leg. i spent three days in the hospital. the hospital presented me a bill for $40,000. they settled for blue cross for $40,000. at the same time, my insurance went from $500 a month, when i dropped it, it was $1200. the price should be the price on healthcare and precipitation drugs, if you sell it in one part of th

mr. schumer, [inaudible] >> well, as leader said to have the two major problems of the public option which the group of ten of us has tried to resolve and so far, so good obviously were all waiting the cbo score. and the abortion issue. are there other little problems here and there? gas. but the number one thing that has impressed me whether we're sitting around a table for long hours with nine of my colleagues or watching people like senator menendez and senator whitehouse and all the democratic docket. there is not a single person who's strongly and genuinely doesn't want to pass the bill. and so, you know, our own individual needs, ideology and states are sort of a centrifugal force but our desire to pass the bill and stay together is a centripetal force and i believe that will overcome the centrifugal force. [inaudible] >> well, you know, again we are all waiting to score. but there is a positive reaction the day after we came out with our plan there was positive reaction from both bernie sanders and joe lieberman so that at least has its allies. >> senator schumer -- [inaudible] [lau

mr. schumer is recorded as aye. senator hutchison voted nay. 16 of voting aye, 7 voting no, the nomination is passed. >> let me thank my colleagues. the committee will record this vote accordingly and i will let members know when we cançó talko the leadership about scheduling the vote on the floor. again, the invitation obviously -- we will talk about how we can do that. i would urge folks to talk to senator shelby. we can coordinate the efforts. i thank my colleagues for their patients and indulgence. we are adjourned. happy holidays. thanks. >> good job. >> all right. >> you are looking live at the senate. you can hear senator's waiting for a senate majority leader harry reid to come to the floor. they're expected to recess. they will set aside health care legislation and work on the $636 billion defense spending bill for the fiscal year 2010. when the return to the floor, there is a possibility that after the vote, senators could be in session all night. you can follow the senate live on c-span 2. now house minor

i don't want it to be so disjointed, so we will go to senator schumer and then we will reconvene at 1:00 p.m. and >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to say that i sat in the room with many others, senator dodd and senator shelby when we were told about the collapse of the financial system. we have lots of problems. this economy is not moving well enough for my purposes, but we are not in the great depression we might have been. you are a victim when you solve a problem you are better off -- society was better off the problem was avoided. i think people forget how important that is and easy to criticize, easy to say it could have been done differently. but at that moment action was needed quickly or we would have had financial collapse. i talked to warren buffett and he said the government deserves a high rate for its efforts to prevent the collapse of the financial system. i hope my colleagues will remember that. my question is on something i have been very critical of the fed in the past. that is consumer protection. the fed dropped the ball on consumer protection issues. i support the creation of a strong indep

schumer. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you mr. chairman. i sat with some this room when we were are told about the imminent collapse of the financial system and panic was in the air. we have lots of problems. this economy is not moving well enough for my purposes or i think anybody's here. but we're not in the great depression, which we might have been. and in the sense, you're a victim in this society when you solve a problem, you're better off than you avoid a problem, even though society is better off that the problem was avided. i think people forget how important that is and easy to criticize, easy to say it could have been done a different way, but at that moment, action was needed and needed quickly or we would have had financial collapse and you did act quickly and i think you know, that, well, i talked to warren buffett. he said the government deserves a high grade for its efforts to prevent the collapse of the financial system and rescue the economy from imminent freefall and you played a major role there. i hope my colleagues wil

schumer. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you mr. chairman. sat with some this room when we were are told about the imminent collapse of the financial system and panic was in the air. we have lots of problems. this economy is not moving well enough for my purposes or i think anybody's here. but we're not in the great depression, which we might have been. and in the sense, you're a victim in this society when you solve a problem, you're better off than you avoid a problem, even though society is better off that the problem was avided. i think people forget how important that is and easy to criticize, easy to say it could have been done a different way, but at that moment, action was needed and needed quickly or we would have had financial collapse and you did act quickly and i think you know, that, well, i talked to warren buffett. he said the government deserves a high grade for its efforts to prevent the collapse of the financial system and rescue the economy from imminent freefall and you played a major role there. i hope my colleagues will

mr. chairman. >> thank you very much. we are going to give a little out of order. senator schumer asked to ask a question and has to go to the meeting for the white house. i've already discussed with senter sessions. >> thank you, mr. chairman and colleagues on both sides of the aisle and secretary napolitano just a brief question on the wtii to read it went into effect on our northern border we seen a precipitous withdrawal and a good part of it at least the people there believe it is because of a lack of education. the canadians believe they need a passport to travel across the border. obviously wtii was put together to make it easy to travel across the board, but the problem is they believe that and a good number of our americans believe the same western and york buffalo depends on cross border traffic. it's probably the number-one thing in its economy so online asking is would you be willing to work with me and commit to working with you and your canadian colleagues to get an education campaign on both sides of the border informing people with the requirements are of wtii that

mr. president, i rise today to discuss health care fraud. earlier this month i introduced along with senators leahy, specter, kohl, schumer and klobuchar an amendment that would protect our increased national investment in the health of americans by improving fraud enforcement. everyone believes in fraud enforcement, and this amendment does that. it's no secret that fraud represents one of the fastest-growing and most costly forms of crime in america today. in no small part our current economic crisis can be linked to financial fraud starting with unchecked mortgage fraud generated by loan originators, through securities fraud that hastened the eventual market crash and maximized its impact on main street and average american investors. in response, this body passed the fraud enforcement recovery act,fera which directed critical tools to antifraud efforts. fear was passed in response to an unprecedented financial crisis, but americans should expect congress to do more than simply react to crises after their most destructive impacts have been felt. we owe it to our constituents to identify and address problems when they arise so that we can prevent

mr. mccain: 500,000 senior citizens in your state. there is no -- quote -- "shieldinshielding." according to this bloomberg article, it says "senators's senators charles schumer, bill nelson of florida and ron wyden of or oregon are among those who secured special provisions shielding constituents from cuts." casey -- that's senator casey says he wants -- quote -- "very comparable protections for his state." surprisingly enough. "where more than one-third of medicare beneficiaries participate in medicare advantage." quote -- "it is the kind of thing that will likely be addressed on the floor, he said. "i eagerly look forward to working on the other side of the aisle with all the members from those states with the exception of new york, florida, and oregon who have earned special shielding from these cuts. i look forward to working with them and let's fix it for all of us. right, senator? mr. hatch: that's right. go ahead. mrs. hutchison: i would just say to the senator from arizona, i was wondering if every state could have the same treatment? why not have every state get this shielding for their medicare advantage? that is 11 million people in this country w

mr. president, by just saying this: i want to again thank the majority leader, senator reid. i want to thank senator durbin, senator schumer, senator murray, and thank you and the democratic leadership for your support of this concept. as you know, this idea developed back in the 1960's with senator ted kennedy who developed this concept in the first place. it has expanded, and now we are going to take it a giant step forward, and in the process i think we're going to make a difference, a real difference in improving the lives and the well-being and the health care access of tens of millions of americans. mr. president, thank you very much. and with that, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask that the calling of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: it is so ordered. mr. grassley: i would call the attention of the leadership of the majority party that i have a unanimous consent request i want to make. i'm going to be visiti