ms. klobuchar: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: i appreciate the senator from arizona and massachusetts allowing me to speak for a few minutes here. i want to lend my support -- strong support as a cosponsor of the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. i've always believed, mr. president, that the commitment of our top military leaders is critical to successfully implementing the repeal of this policy. since february of this year we have heard testimony from defense secretary gates as well as chairman of the joint chiefs staff admiral mike mullen. to this day both approve appeal of the policy. admiral mullen outlined it pretty succinctly. he said no matter how i look at the issue, i cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a rollsy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. our country is literally asking our service members to lie. earlier this year secretary gates called for a study of the repeal. that study involved comprehensive polls of the u.

ms. klobuchar: madam president, i also want to acknowledge the new senator from illinois and thank him for the time. but i also wanted to acknowledge the senior senator from illinois who's here who just spent the last few months serving honorably on the debt commission on the national commission on fiscal responsibility. they came out with some recommendations. and a number of us in this chamber, while we may not support everyone and disagree with some of them, think that that is something that we must pursue. as they wrote in their report every modest sacrifice that we refuse to make today only forces far greater sacrifices of hope and opportunity upon the next generation. and they're right. the longer we wait, the more wrenching the choices become. and guess who's going to have to make those painful choices, it's our children and our children's children. but you know what else, madam president, it's ourselves. as the senator from california pointed out about an hour ago, 6% -- 6% of our spending is just interest on that debt. so there are some commonsense suggestions that are in that rep

ms. klobuchar: madam president, i also want to acknowledge the new senator from illinois and thank him for the time. but i also wanted to acknowledge the senior senator from illinois who's here who just spent the last few months serving honorably on the debt commission on the national commission on fiscal responsibility. they came out with some recommendations. and a number of us in this chamber, while we may not support everyone and disagree with some of them, think that that is something that we must pursue. as they wrote in their report every modest sacrifice that we refuse to make today only forces far greater sacrifices of hope and opportunity upon the next generation. and they're right. the longer we wait, the more wrenching the choices become. and guess who's going to have to make those painful choices, it's our children and our children's children. but you know what else, madam president, it's ourselves. as the senator from california pointed out about an hour ago, 6% -- 6% of our spending is just interest on that debt. so there are some commonsense suggestions that are in that rep

klobuchar. >> thank you, ms. chairman. i want to thank you for your service on this committee. it has been an honor, and i also commend you and congressman ready for the way you have run these meetings. congressman brady, thank you for your leadership and the court to serving with you on the committee next year. -- i look forward to serving with you on the committee next year. there's a lot of work we need to do odd jobs on the economy, and i guess we start here today. no one is pleased when we have this unemployment rate, but i also think the people of this country understand that we cannot dig out of this hole in one month. it is a free trade going 300 -- freight train going 300 miles per hour, the way the wall street crisis occurred and everything else in this country. the jobs added in november to the economy -- it is important to note that we're one month shy of one year of employment gains and the private sector, although it is not happening as quickly as we would like. i listened to congressman brady and i agree with some of what he said on export and trade, but we have

klobuchar. >> thank you, ms. chairman. i want to thank you for your service on this committee.for the way you have run these meetings. congressman brady, thank you for your leadership and the court to serving with you on the committee next year. -- i look forward to serving with you on the committee next year. there's a lot of work we need to do odd jobs on the economy, and i guess we start here today. no one is pleased when we have this unemployment rate, but i also think the people of this country understand that we cannot dig out of this hole in one month. it is a free trade going 300 -- freight train going 300 miles per hour, the way the wall street crisis occurred and everything else in this country. the jobs added in november to the economy -- it is important to note that we're one month shy of one year of employment gains and the private sector, although it is not happening as quickly as we would like. i listened to congressman brady and i agree with some of what he said on export and trade, but we have seen some improvements with consumer confidence, where it has hit it

klobuchar. >> thank you, ms. chairman. i want to thank you for your service on this committee.for the way you have run these meetings. congressman brady, thank you for your leadership and the court to serving with you on the committee next year. -- i look forward to serving with you on the committee next year. there's a lot of work we need to do odd jobs on the economy, and i guess we start here today. no one is pleased when we have this unemployment rate, but i also think the people of this country understand that we cannot dig out of this hole in one month. it is a free trade going 300 -- freight train going 300 miles per hour, the way the wall street crisis occurred and everything else in this country. the jobs added in november to the economy -- it is important to note that we're one month shy of one year of employment gains and the private sector, although it is not happening as quickly as we would like. i listened to congressman brady and i agree with some of what he said on export and trade, but we have seen some improvements with consumer confidence, where it has hit it

klobuchar. >> thank you, ms. chairman. i want to thank you for your service on this committee.it has been an honor, and i also commend you and congressman ready for the way you have run these meetings. congressman brady, thank you for your leadership and the court to serving with you on the committee next year. -- i look forward to serving with you on the committee next year. there's a lot of work we need to do odd jobs on the economy, and i guess we start here today. no one is pleased when we have this u i didn't agree to it then for a very good reason. the deal wasn't good enough. it wasn't good enough for the american economy and it wasn't good enough for american workers. as i said in seoul i'm not interested in signing trade agreements for the sake of signing trade agreements. i'm interested in agreements that help jobs for the american people and also help our partners grow their economies so i told ron and our team to get this right and get the best deal for america and that is what they have done. the agreement we're announcing today includes several important improveme