mr. simpson: you're welcome. mr. hastings: the gray wolves are showing up in the cascades now, eastern side of the cascades. you'll get them. i yield back. mr. dicks: the olympic too. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from washington. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. mr. dicks: mr. chairman. the chair: the gentleman from washington. mr. dicks: i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by offered by the gentleman from washington, mr. dicks, will be postponed. the clerk will read. the clerk: page 60, line 6, trailing livestock over land. mr. dicks: mr. chairman. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? mr. dicks: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. dicks of washington. page 60, beginning on line 6, strike section 120. the chair: the gentleman from w

mr. simpson: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 2584 and that i may include tabular material on the same. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. pursuant to house resolution 363 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the consideration of h.r. 2484. the chair appoints the gentleman from california, mr. campbell, to proside over the committee of the whole. -- preside over the committee of the whole. h.r. 2584. the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the consideration of h.r. 2584 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill making appropriations for the department of the interior, environment and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2012, and for other purposes. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as read th

mr. simpson: mr. chairman, i insist on my point of order. the amendment proposes a net increase if budget authority in the bill. the amendment is not in order under section 3-j-3 of house resolution 5 112th congress which state, i shall -- it shatshal not be in order to consider an amendment to a general appropriation bill proposing a net increase in budget authority in the bill unless considered en bloc with another amendment or amendments proposing an equal or greater decrease in such budget authority, pursuant to clause 2-f of rule 21. the amendment proposes a net increase in budget authority in the bill and is in violation of such section. i ask for a ruling from the chair. the chair: any other member wish to be heard on the point of order? >> mr. chairman, may i be heard? the chair: the gentleman from new york. >> i fully expected that my friend from idaho would insist on his point of order. i fully expect the chair to sustain the point of order. mr. bishop: but let's be clear. the underlying bill violates house rules. there are 39 -- a

mr. simpson: will the gentleman yield? mr. moran: yeah. mr. simpson: the gentleman brings up the point i tried to make. this is a shot across the bow. all of these programs need to be re-authorized and we had to start somewhere. that's it. i mean, this goes across the heart of the endangered species act. mr. moran: so you're picking winners and losers. you could have picked any number of programs but you like those so -- in fact some of them you've increased, funding for grazing subsidies, funding for oil and gas subsidies. but the endangered species act, the poor species who are in danger of extinction, they get targeted. they're the ones you're going to make an example of. you know, not allowing listings of the designation of even the critical habitat that will protect endangered species doesn't change the fact that so many plant and animal species are at risk of extinction. there are 260 species that are in danger of extinction. but we're not going to protect them. the lack of critical habitat designation not only hurts those species at risk

mr. simpson: mr. chairman, i move to strike the last word. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. simpson: mr. chairman, i rise in opposition to the amendment. this is truly one of the less thought-out amendments i think that's been proposed to this bill. the smithsonian is truly a gem in this country, ask the american people. if you look at what they are doing and the important role they play, a lot of people think that it's not important if you don't come to washington. the smithsonian doesn't do anything, they only operate museums here. that's not the truth. the smithsonian operates all across this country. if you look at what they're doing in digitization of their -- digitalization of the things they have in their museum and their reaching out to schools and so forth, it is making an amazing difference. go on their website and see what they're doing in terms of the applications for your iphone that are making a difference in people's lives, plus the research that they do on a variety of things around this country is

mr. simpson: move to strike the last word. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. simpson: i rise in opposition to the amendment, reluctantly. i understand what the gentleman is saying. i agree what -- with what he's saying. there's a concern that we are not allowing these oil companies to go out after the permits an trying to send a message to the secretary. i understand that. i don't have a problem with sending a message. but the -- the problem is, and this is a little bit of inside baseball, i guess, to talk about it this way. under the rules we have, if you -- you can reduce an account by a certain amount and put that money in the budget reserve account which then reduces the allocation that the committee has to spend. it takes the $420,000, i think it is, out of the office of the secretary and reduces our allocation by that much. as members have heard that have listened to this debate, there are both republicans an democrats that are concerned about some of the funding allocations in this bill of the various accounts. people want to put more money into the land

mr. simpson: i'd be pappy -- happy to yield. mr. clarke: i offer this amendment because of what's at stake. it's a $7 billion industry in the great lakes fishing industry and right now metro detroit and the state of michigan's in very hardhit economic times, you know, by our industrial base being eviscerated. this is the one saving grace in our state and in that region is the fishing industry. that's the reason why i'm asking for this right now. it's emergency action. we found asian carp d.n.a. in lake michigan last week. i believe i've got to do everything in my power as a representative of not only michigan but of that entire region to stop that carp from getting into the great lakes system which would destroy our fishing industry. i urge your help. mr. simpson: yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from michigan. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. mr. clarke: recorded vote. the chair:

mr. simpson: this would -- the b.l.m. still collects the fee, they just won't be able to spend the funds. this makes little sense as though fees offset the cost to administer the program. in other words, these programs are paid for by the industry, not taxpayers. in other words, the b.l.m. will have the cost of these programs but won't be allowed to spend the fees it's collected. i have a problem with this amendment and urge my colleagues to vote no. i yield back. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the yom from new york. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. ms. hochul: i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause six of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment will be postponed. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, proceedings will now resume on those amendments on which further proceedings were postponed in the following order, an amendment by mr. moran of virginia, an amendment by mr. huelskamp of kansas, an amendment by mr. richmond o

he compared him to homer simpson's evil boss mr. bushes. suffice to say, mr. burns had a very bad day. >> this is the most humble day of my life. >> reporter: and, for the rod, murdoch say that well before the pie incident. >> rupert murdoch called this the most humble day of his life. sound about right? >> i'm sure it was. i think this is -- i can't imagine anything being m me painful for him, more miliating for him. >> reporter: painful, you say? >> absolutely. this is the emperor without clothes. itit just, once you see it and everybody else seals it, it becomes very hard to ignore. >> reporter: today's hearing started as an effort to restore order in the middle of a scandal that's quickly become britain's answer to watergate. but this time, the bad guys are the newspaper men and women. hacking the phones not just of princes of the realm but also a 13-year-old murder victim, just to get a scoop. they allegedly did it with the help of corrupt police officers on the company payroll. already britain's top two policemen have resigned. now, the prime minister is

mr. simpson is you were anemic and your men met -- menu of choices and how you apply them. principally the tax loopholes. they put the tax loopholes on the table, which is very brave of them, because they are sacred, but of the 1.1 trillion per year that we give out and tax loopholes, tax giveaways, they took only 100 billion of it to help cover the debts of the past. i believe that we should have put more of that, because by only putting 100 billion of that into paying for the debt of the past, they had to make very harsh cuts to medicare. even to social security into other programs to try to get rid of the deficits. i said that is not fair. i did not think it is fair. i said if you change or mix coming your prescription of the things you have on the table, i will vote for it, but they had to keep the votes they had. they did not go where i thought it was important to go so i voted no. otherwise i thought it was great. >> lawrence, georgia. ed on the republican line. caller: you said too many things that i do not have time to answer to come up but i will take the main one.

mr. simpson has engaged in. >> it's my understanding they haven't gotten that much of the $33 million that, very interesting topic. thanks so much for joining us from california. >> thank you very much, gretchen. >> the mainstream media hyped those missing e-mails from governor sarah palin's file. remember? what was she trying to hide? today we have those e-mails and wait until you hear what's inside them. get it or forget it? from the shake weights to the gyro bowl, which of these overhyped infomercial products are worth your money. we put them to the test coming up next. i think eric is going to shake that dumbbell right there. we used to bet who could get closest to the edge. took some crazy risks as a kid. but i was still over the edge with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i've been eating healthier, exercising more, and now i'm also taking lipitor. if you've been kidding yourself about high cholesterol...stop. 80% of people who have had heart attacks have high chole

simpson. >> thank you, mr. speaker. does the prime minister agree that details of all the weapons and explosives the state mmission in northern ireland should be made publi as promised? and will he agree to have negotiations with the irish government to move forward to the americans to see that it happens? >> well, the point is the independent international commissioning -- commission on decommissioning did not provide us with an inventory. they were an independent body and this was a decision for them to take, difficult i kw as that is. they stated, and i quote, we would not quiche in advertently decommissioning ents by groups that are actively engaged today nor to detour groups for handing over any arms when they subsequently come to light. this is difficult and we are all having to do in northern ireland and elsewhere in the world difficult things in order to bring conflict to an end and keep conflict to an end and that is what the independent commission report was doing. >> mr. adrian sanders. >> there's a real issu

mr. simpson is you were anemic and your men met -- menu of choices and how you apply them. principally the tax loopholes. they put the tax loopholes on the table, which is very brave of them, because they are sacred, but of the 1.1 trillion per year that we give out and tax loopholes, tax giveaways, they took only 100 billion of it to help cover the debts of the past. i believe that we shod have put more of that, because by only putting 100 billion of that into paying for the debt of the past, they had to make very harsh cuts to medicare. even to social security into other programs to try to get rid of the deficits. i said that is not fair. i did not think it is fair. i said if you change or mix coming your prescription of the things you have on the table, i will vote for it, but they had to keephe votes ty had. they did not go where i thought it was important to go so i voted no. otherwise i thought it was great. >> lawrence, georgia. ed on the republican line. caller: you said too many things that i do not have time to answer to come up but i will take the main one. you'r

mr. simpson: i move that the committee do now rise. the chair: the question is on the motion that the committee rise. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly, the committee rises. the speaker pro tempore: mr. chairman. the chair: mr. speaker, the committee of the whole house on the state of the union having had under consideration h.r. 2584 reports that it has come to no resolution thereon. the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union has had under consideration h.r. 2584 and has come to no resolution thereon. for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut rise? >> mr. speaker, thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, by the direction of the democratic caucus, i offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. caller: house resolution 377, resolved, that the following named members be and are hereby elected to the following standing com

mr. simpson continue to speak almost daily of the importance of addressing our fiscal situation and continue to make impassioned pleas that this situation must be corrected and must be done so in the short term. it is during these hard times that most americans look to their elected representatives and the chief executive of the united states for guidance on these issues. the american people have waited for leadership on this issue and have demanded fiscal discipline. it is reprehensible that an issue of this magnitude and significance is subject to the partisan bickering and gamesmanship that often rears its head in politics. this is an issue that will determine the fate of our country. it deserves careful, serious, thoughtful deliberation and not political theater. not long ago, the senate held a series of votes on budget resolutions that everybody knew were determined to fail. the american people expect and deserve an honest budget debate and an honest budget process. while i'm glad the president is now engaging in this debate, he, too, has not been forthcoming or helping decide america's

mr. burns being c. montgomery burns from fox's the simpson's, springfield's richest man. g funny about the allegations against mr. murdoch's british newspaper empire. he spent a fair bit of time painting himself as similarfully out of touch. listen. >> i can't answer. i don't know. i don't know. i was not aware at the time. but i don't have any memory. i don't know anything about that. i'm not sure what i said. i cannot swear to the accuracy of it. i just don't remember. >> joining me now, cnn's international richard quest, jeffrey toobin and "vanity fair" contributing editor vickie ward. welcome to all of you. you all have busy days i know. richard, let me start with you. how do you think the murdochs did today? i'll preface by saying if the stock price is any indication, the reaction seemed to be favorable. should we be reading into that? >> the murdochs did what they had to do in the sense of apiecing investors. but not a great deal more than that. they still have not answered to the fundamental question, why was the culture allowed to take place at that newspaper that

at the same time your fellow wyoming resident al simpson and of course mr. boles laid out a very aggressive outline for future deficit reduction which did include significant taxes down the road. it doesn't have to be triggered immediately while the recovery is still sort of limping along. what is your position on taxes and where we go at this deficit summit? ? the, andrea. i just came out of the meeting of the republican senate leadership. i spent the fourth of july with al simpson in his backyard in codey, wyoming. i think with 14 million americans looking for jobs, can't find someone to hire them, the wrong thing to do is to raise taxes on anyone in nick times like this. our problem is not that we're taxed too little, it's that washington spends too much so we need to cut the spending, cap the spending and the president talks about a balanced approach. we need a balanced budget and the way to do that is with an amendment to the constitution. >> senator, i just came from a bloomberg breakfast and their point is that the deal has to include tax measures. it

mr. ga planter, you lefted o.j. simpson and charlie sheen.what is it like to defend such a person with such a negative public opinion up start. >> it's like you're swimming upstream. you have to confront the media, all the talking heads every night. it's very difficult to get a verdict like this in this type of the case. kudos to the defense. they did a wonderful job. >> i mean, it was extraordinary. judge sidler, you judged the anna nicole smith trial, one of the most high profile in recent years. there are, it seems to me, you can take your choice with any of these trials. when it's high profile, when it's famous, predicting a verdict is almost impossible, isn't it? >> yes. these jurors were strong. they had integrity. they didn't allow the media to pound them. they stood and they listened to all the facts. quite simply, i challenge the critics. the state did not prove their case. they overcharged the defendant. what does that mean? they charged the defendant with murder one, which means there's 12 jurors. it's much harder to prove to 12 ju

mr. bolwles and formr senator alan simpson asking everybody to take part getting a handle on the debt whichonference us and it's essential and everybody agrees. the question is how do you do it? who gets hurt jt do you as the amendment on flort or the bill on the floor of the house of representatives today, present the wealthiest among us? protect the tax loopholes that exist throughout our code and require a two-thirds vote to repeal any of them. a protection of the best office in america while a majority vote would undermine least well off in our country. i don't think that's the direction americans want to go. >> and i think that's why i think senator coburn's plan was so interesting. he basically said, i'll go for the tax code in opposition to the grover norquist fringe republican group that you're dealing with in the house. senator coburn, i think, is a little more of a statesman in that regard. also the military. >> takes courage. >> and hits entitlements. my kind of conservative at the end of the day. if were you to look at the democrats, specifically if something comes out of the ga

mr. alan simpson, the cochairman of the deficit commission appointed by president obama, told us earlier this year in the budget committee that this nation has never faced a more predictable economic crisis. and what he was saying was the spending level we're on is so out of sync with reality that it is inevitable that we will pay the price economically for that. and so, part of the problem, part of reason we're where we are is because we haven't had a budget in over two years. and if you don't have a budget, it makes it harder to, for the american people to ascertain whether you're spending more than you ought to be spending. and the whole process is able to be pursued without public knowledge and full disclosure when you don't have a budget. every president is required by the same budget act to submit a budget. i think there is no president who's failed to comply with the budget act. it does not require that you go to jail if you violate it. probably we'd be better off had that been the case. but the president submitted a budget earlier this year, i think in february. it was, i believe

mr. burns on the left, the sinister but powerful simpsons character. the attacker is facing criminal charges this morning. will rupert murdoch face any? here is jeffrey toobin on "ac 360." >> a lot of people have talked about the possibility of criminal charges in the united states, the foreign corrupt practices act or something connected with hacking of 9/11 victims. there is really no credible evidence at all of any sort of american criminal violations by anyone in connection with news corp. so i really think the question is really a business one over here as well as in england, can the murdochs stay in control? and i think probably yes is the answer. >>> another hacking headline, 14 accused hackivists are wanted for a sish attack on paypal. the sweeps span the country tarthing people. this video is from a raid on long island. they're said to be from the hacking group an none mist which claims to have attacked visa and master card after the companies refused to process donations being made to wikileaks. the crew of the shuttle "atlantis" waking up to

mr. duke, in your testimony, you said in our view thebowl-simpson tax proposal represented a very good start, because it endorsed these 3com opponents of reform. there's a version of that that is circulating right now, which is the gang of six. and it basically gives huge deficit reduction, back to the committee's jurisdiction. the biggest deficit reduction would come back to this committee. tax reform, what you all have testified to. health reform, and set up. now a big part of that tax reform is taking all of these tax preferences otherwise known as tax expenditures, and getting rid of a lot of them. and instead, taking that revenue that you gained from that, and then allowing the tax system to be reformed. and to do just exactly what all four of you have testified. which is bring down the rates for everybody and simplify the tax code. as a matter of fact one is simplefied in three brackets for the individuals and lower of course all the rates considerably as well as the corporate rate. now my question to you all is boy, you're going to be stepping on some sensitive toes when you get rid o

mr. hastings said. it is about president obama. he could absolutely have pushed simpson-bowles and didn't do a thing. it is about the process we've had process on this has be junk. it's been absolute junk. we had good process was on h.r. 1. you want to fully debate a proposal, we had that on h.r. 1 and it went where? to the senate and the white house to die. you want good process, we had that. on the budget. that we worked on together in the budget committee. that we worked on together on the house floor. full, open debate and process and you know where that went? nowhere. in the senate and at the white house. there has been absolute good process when the time was right to do it right. and there has been no leadership from the other side of this capital and from the white house on any of those issues. not one proposal. folks had lots of things that they're against. but not one proposal that they are for. and that's why sitting out here a week from august 2,ou're right. all we're left with is bad press. because we've got seven days to avert calamity in this country. we could have averted it by lly fun

simpson. >> thank you, mr. speaker.oes the prime minister agree that details of all the weapons and explosives the state commission in northern ireland should be made public as promised? and will he agree to have negotiations with the irish government to move forward to the americans to see that it happens? >> well, the point is the independent international commissioning -- commission on decommissioning did not provide us with an inventory. they were an independent body and this was a decision for them to take, difficult i know as that is. they stated, and i quote, we would not quiche in advertently decommissioning events by groups that are actively engaged today nor to detour groups for handing over any arms when they subsequently come to light. this is difficult and we are all having to do in northern ireland and elsewhere in the world difficult things in order to bring conflict to an end and keep conflict to an end and that is what the independent commission report was doing. >> mr. adrian sanders. >> there's a real

. -- simpson-polse. -- bowles. mr. garamendi: i see our colleague from texas is back so please, if you would, then i'll turn to our colleague from texas. ms. sutton: i want to say one more time because i know the people i represent in northeast ohio are just waiting for this congress to demonstrate they don't want government on their backs, but they do want government on their side. how do we show that we're on their side? we focus on the issue that matters to them the most. all they want is a chance. they want a chance at that american dream. and how do we do that? we do that by focusing on jobs. and we do that by focusing on this agenda to make it in america. what does that mean? it means policies that make sense regarding trade. instead of fighting to protect companies as the republicans are through this whole default debacle, instead of protecting those companies that ship jobs overseas, we want to level the playing field to allow our manufacturers and workers to fairly compete because we know that they are the bes

mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent on behalf of senator bingaman that his interns shannon simpson, brook jordi and tray dubrey be granted floor privileges during today's business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the leader is recognized. mr. reid: i ask that the call. quorum be terminated. officer sphe without objection. rioted reid mr. president, we have five days remaining until a few extremist republicans drive our economy off the cliff because they're too radical and inexperienced to compromise. mr. reid: financial experts are begging copping to come toon agreement and avert the first-ever default on this nation's financial obligations. this is what one financial analyst said yesterday about the need to avert a default crisis that would spark a global economic depression. this is a quote. "the market is saying we need a deal here. default is starting to seep into the marketplace." close quote. it won't be long, they say, before financial markets

simpson. he may be the last reasonable man standing. the president's poll numbers, they are ticking down. even if there's an 11th hour deal, is mr. obama headed to the point of no return? we kick it off in washington with the dramatic events on capitol hill. kate bald win is there tonight. what is your read? what is holding this up? >> reporter: it depends member-to-member. i'll tell you what we have been seeing since it became clear early this evening that they did not have the votes yet or they were working to secure the votes. the house republican leaders took to their offices and we started seeing member after member being called into their office. leaders speaking with them about their position. many of them that went into their offices were leaning no or were firm no or leaning yes. it seems clear, what they want to know with 100% certainty they have the votes to pass the bill before they take back to the house floor to vote on it. while we are inching into later in the evening, we are still hearing from a spokeswoman from eric cantor, the majority leader. my colleague saying the vote will be tonight. they still seem confid

mr. speaker. again, the president's proposal which mirrors the framework of the bipartisan simpson-bowles commission says we'll do $3 in cuts with $1 in revenue. it's shared responsibility to reducing our deficit so that our economy in the future can grow. let's make sure that we don't do anything now that will hurt the fragile economy. i yield one minute to the gentleman from michigan, mr. peters. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for one minute. mr. peters: i rise today in opposition to h.r. 2560. since take office i have fought for greater fiscal responsibility in washington, i have voted against hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending and today there is a new bipartisan consensus that a comprehensive deficit reduction plan is a national priority. but unfortunately republicans are squandering this opportunity. rather than a balanced approach they are pursuing a radical agenda that will force our nation's seniors and middle class to sacrifice while letting millionaires and special interests keep their tax breaks and loopholes. let us be clear. a vote for th

simpson-bowles commission, $3 in cuts. $1 in revenue. let's take a balanced approach. that's the way we did it the last time our budget was in surplus. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: all time for the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, i yield myself the remainder of the time and i ask unanimous consent to address the house in the well. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman has seven minutes remaining. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, here's our problem. we have a crushing burden of debt that is coming to hit our economy. this is where it all comes down to. we are driving our country and our economy off of a cliff. the reason is, is because we are spending so much more money than we have. we can't keep spending money we don't have. 42 cents out of every dollar coming out of washington is borrowed money. let's take a look at where it's coming from. we are borrowing it, 47% of it from other countries. china number one. mr. speaker, you can't have sovereignty, self-determination as a country if we are relying on other governments to cash flow half of our deficit. this i

mr. bowles said it could happen within two years. not our children and grandchildren. he said two years, maybe a little sooner, maybe a little later, and alan simpson popped up as cochairman of the committee and he said i think it could be one year. in other words, some sort of economic crisis like we had in 2007-2008 or something that could put our economy in a tailspin. it's that serious. and the debt trajectory path we're on is unsustainable, and tomorrow i have to say tomorrow will mark the 800th day that this senate has not had a budget we're spending -- we're borrowing 40 cents out of every dollar we spend and we have gone this long without a budget. there is no plan apparently to present one. a chairman of the budget committee where i'm ranking republican tells us that he has got one, that he has talked to his colleagues and they have agreed on it, but it remains secret. the congressional budget act explicitly says we should have a budget by april 15. it said the committee should begin markup april 1. well, we have not called the committee and not had a markup, and apparently there is no plan to. we're just going to wait and see if secret ne

simpson approach. we have a bipartisan group working. that's how we should proceed. quite frankly, mr. president, this cut, cap, and balance is not a bipartisan effort. it is an extreme effort by republicans to bring forward a budget that is even more severe and more radical than the ryan budget. i call it cut, cap and kill twhe comes to medicare. why do i say that? i've taken the floor in regards to the republican ryan budget to point out that the impact on the medicare system would be to increase the costs on average to our seniors twhe's full threu -- when it's fully implemented of an additional $6,500 of costs to our seniors to pay for health care. mr. president, i know you've been through west virginia, i've been there maryland, and i tell you our seniors are already paying too much for health care. they can't afford another $6,500 a year to pay for their health care bills. we should look at reducing their costs, not increasing it. but the cut, cap, and balance would go even beyond that. it's estimated there would be another $2,500 in costs on top of the $6,500 or $9,000 in additi

mr. president, i spent the last few months following up on the bowles-simpson deficit commission meeting with a number of my senate colleagues. three ofous the democratic side, three -- three of us on the democratic side and three republicans. and we have tried to take the bowles-simpson proposal and put it into language that works, make it -- make a law out of it so that it works. well, we've been at it for a long time and we've had our ups and downs. one of our members left, came back. it's a tough assignment. it isn't easy. and sometimes emotions run high because there are things of great value and importance that are being discussed. but, mr. president, something happened this morning that was perhaps historic. we took our plan, which still is short of completion, and we sa said -- invited every member of the united states senate, democrats and republicans, to come and listen to a description of the plan. and if it's not -- if i'm not mistaken, senator warner's on the floor, he's on this group with me, 49 senators came to the room. and you know what? there were no fistfights, there w

in fact, we maybe able to do it if we foul bowles-simpson and at the same time, reduce the imaginal tax rates for all americans. remember, mr. president, 70% of americans do not itemize. which means they do not take advantage of the tax code where they have refundament tax credit. these people are not using the tax code. those who use it are in high income tax categories. warren buffett had a great quote. which we should remember. said is november 26 in 2006. there's class warfare all right. it's my class, the rich that's, that's making war, and we're winning. warren buffett because of his business and life hits the nail on the head. he said to me and many others it is unconscionable using our tax code today, he, warren buffett theys a lower marginal tax rate than the secretaries in his office. that is wrong. why should a hard working person in a business at a lower level pay a higher marginal tax rate than the person owning the business. that's why the tax code is wrong. that's where we can change it, save money, use it to reduce the definite, and reduce marginal income tax rates. that's what this resolution is all about.

mr. udall: i was proud of the senate when five of the six senators on the commission voted for the bowls-simpsonrecommendations, not without some concerns, not without some interest in working to flush out the plan. but five of the six senators from across the political spectrum said this is a very good startingpoint. mr. bennet: i see we're joined by senator coons from delaware. and i'm going to stop. but, you know, just along that line, just to giver people some optimism that are here in the chamber or that might be watching, just two weeks ago we took a vote on one subsidy, an ethanol subsidy. i think it was senator coburn and senator feinstein who put it on the floorks a democrat and a republican, and it got like 73 votes. i get in trouble with my kids. it wasn't "like" 73 votes. itas 73 votes -- to end that subsidy. and, by the way, there were i think around 40 democrats and 30-some republicans that supported that. we need more of that around here. and i think if we keep work at it, keep chipping away at it, we're going to be able to see in the end common schens actua senl actually prevail

mr. cardin: madam president, let me first thank our assistant democratic leader, majority leader, for his incredible work on the subject, on the bowles-simpsoncommission, senator durbin, you were a real voice of reason and brought together diverse views. we need that this week. and then with the gang of six, with our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, you were able to bring us together achieving two goals. that's what we have to do. one is we need to raise the debt limit and secondly we need a credible plan to deal with the deficit. and i think you have added greatly to that -- accomplishing those goals, reaping across party lines, understanding it -- reaching across party lines, understanding that it cannot be what the republicans want, or what the democrats want, but we must work together. we have seven days away from the august 2 date. we have two goals. goal number one is to raise the debt limit so we don't default on america's obligations. raising the debt limit needs to be our goal number one. we've already incurred this debt. this is not about increasing america's spending. this is for spending that has already occurred and now we

mr. jaczko. i can remember the remember greece attended to demonize nuclear power, so quit in china syndrome and in the modern culture with no less than the very popular simpsons, where homer simpson works and doesn't always need to have a level of education that you bring to the podium. so when you see those portrayals of nuclear power, does that bother you? what is your reaction to it? >> well, i wouldn't say it bothers me at all. i would say tran re-are very funny and ultimately it's the job of the nrc to communicate to the public what we do and i know the people who work at the nrc dedicated to nuclear safety in our tremendous a talented group of people. as they lit down that nuclear power plants in this country, they are dedicated to those plants as well. it definitely don't have disagreements and differences, but in the end, you know, if everyone does their job right, we'll get there. >> how about a round of applause for a guest speaker. [applause] i'd like to thank you all for coming here today i don't think you think the national press club staff including our laboring gracchi center for organizing today's event. remember you can find more information

it if a we follow whole simpson atat t the same time reduce themarg marginal tax rates for all americans. it can be done. let's take a hard look at the tax code and remember mr. president, 75% of americans tak to not itemize which means they do not take advantage of the tax code except in the rare situation where they have a refundable tax credit. usi these people are not using theho use tax code. i those who use it aren't higher income categories.eyre they are using it and followingvoid theg law and avoiding theirfett h taxes. warren buffett had a great quote which we should remember what we debate this. november 26 2006, there is "the class warfare alright but it is my class, the brits class that is waging war and we are." waiting. warren buffett is a man of few is words and listened to carefully because of his wisdom in business and life and he hit the nail on the head. he said to me and to many others and and publicly it is unconscionable that using our tax code today warren buffetttax rat pays a lower marginal tax rates in rate than the secretaries in his office. that is absolutely wrong.ho why should a hard-working persons at in a business at a lower l

simpson-bowles commission, $3 in cuts. $1 in revenue. let's take a balanced approach. that's the way we did it the last time our budget was in surplus. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: all time for the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, i yield myself the remainder of the time and i ask unanimous consent to address the house in the well. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman has seven minutes remaining. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, here's our problem. we have a crushing burden of debt that is coming to hit our economy. this is where it all comes down to. we are driving our country and our economy off of a cliff. the reason is, is because we are spending so much more money than we have. we can't keep spending money we don't have. 42 cents out of every dollar coming out of washington is borrowed money. let's take a look at where it's coing from. we are boowing it, 47% of it from other countries. china number one. mr. speaker, you can't have sovereignty, self-determination as a country if we are relying on other governments to cash flow half of our deficit. this is w

mr. president. that's a committee that could bring in the ideas of the gang of six. that's a committee that can bring in the simpson bowls commission concepts. that's a committee that can bring in tax reform. that's a committee that can bring in entitlement reform. and these are the things that we're going to need to address to get this economy going and get control of our spending. i know, mr. president, you've put together many pieces of legislation that have been bipartisan and very important for this country and i think that this committee truly offers us that opportunity. and i hope it's something that we in the senate can find a way to come together on, and that we can get our colleagues in the house to join us. in my -- in my view, i think we do need to engage in tax reform. i think the right kind of pro-growth tax reform, some of the concepts brought forth by the gang of six can truly help us to stimulate economic activity and i think the real way to get revenue for this country is through economic growth, not higher taxes, through economic growth. expand the pie. the rising tide that lifts all boats. so if