we will begin with your marks from senator patrick leahy of vermont, the caucus code-share. -- code-share. -- co-share. chair. >> i wish my granddaughter was here. she has this computer program where you can draw pictures and play games. she had to take it over. it was very complicated. [laughter] we have senators who are not quite sure what the computer screen does. we actually showed them that they can do that. there are 200 vdiverse companies on the advisory board. i think that is great to protect our rights and freedoms -- the human rights of people everywhere. in some many countries were speech has been censored, the internet has allowed speech to get through. the secretary of state reaffirmed our nation's commitment. and thank goodness that people can feel free to speak about what ever they want. american businesses have to do that. i hope businesses will work together to promote global internet freedom. when you promote global internet freedom, you are also promoting freedom itself. i think that is something we should never lose sight of. we have to figure out the best way to prote

vermont senator patrick leahy says the hearings on the hill will begin on february 26. >>> the head of the internal revenue service says employees are anguished and traumatized in the wake of the deadly plane crash into an i.r.s. building in texas. on thursday joe stack flew his small plane into the austin office in a rage against the government. he and one other person were killed. the other victim has not yet been identified but commissioner doug schulman believes that victim worked for them. >>> the big dig just got some big help. president obama declaring eight maryland counties federal disaster areas. this pertains to december's snowstorm. but it could also signal good news about this month's storm. fox a's john henrehan talked to governor martin o'malley about why it is good to abdisaster area. >> reporter: although there is still plenty of snow on the ground from the two punch of winter storms earlier this month, at least the residential streets are now clean and passible. the gigantic effort to clean up the snow has exhausted virtually all city, county and state budgets set asi

aides to committee chair patrick leahy criticized the republican letter as, quote, partisan and divisive." adding that leahy's office is already working with the justice department to set a date and they have been, since early january, but it will take, they say, at least another four weeks for that session to be heard on the hill. >> shepard: catherine herridge reporting from our d.c. newsroom tonight. thanks. the director of national intelligence dennis blair pointed out the growing threat of cyber threats. he gave ominous warning about how vulnerable our economy could be to such an attack. listen to this. >> cyber crime is on the rise. global cyber bank and credit card fraud has serious implications for economic and financial systems worldwide. attacks against networks that control the critical infrastructure in this country and in others energy, transportation, attacks on those infrastructures could wreak havoc. >> shepard: the intelligence director went on to say we are not doing nearly enough to protect ourselves and that the government and private sector need to work together to t

. >> reporter: after more than 35 years patrick leahy and richard lugar are senior senators now.tical differences. lugar ran for president in 1996. >> just out of curiosity, had senator lugar won the republican nomination, would you have gone into a voting booth and voted for him? >> i find it very difficult not to vote for him. >> reporter: they know each other's families. they have visited each other's states. >> take back so much of the vermont maple syrup. >> have pat introduce me to all the leaders of the state, republicans and democrats, and really to why he was so interested in dairy, for example, why certain things were occurring vis-a-vis other new england states was tremendous. >> reporter: that's the thing. this is not just about close friends who accept their different views. this is about getting stuff done. the pair revamped the agriculture department and pushed out two major agriculture bills in the 1990s. lugar/leahy farm bill and the leahy/lugar farm bill. there are other bipartisan friendships on the hill. >> probably happens as more than you see. >> even if the

. >> patrick leahy kicks off the technology policy exposition on "the communicators" at 8:00 eastern c-span 2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: our sunday round table this sunday, april ryan and thomas defrank. let me begin with this story that was under the radar at first, but got some attention from our viewers on c-span t2, a gentile partisan conflict in the senate is threatening to get a feel messier -- threatening to get a little messier." what is going on? guest: republicans are delighted that he is not running for reelection, but because he is a lame duck, he can basically do anything he wants without sanction from the other side, and he has put a hold on all legislation for the moment. not often that you hear someone -- someone like harry reid refer to someone else's behavior in the senate as a moral, speaking legislatively and politically, holding up something as important as extension of -- as unemployment benefits. other senators have said that this is just a symbolic protest against democratic big spending and big governmentÑi to spend it now and let the grandchil

in 2007, senator trent lott co-sponsored legislation with patrick leahy that would have repealed an even swth of antitrust legislation that would have benefited the entire health insurance industry. at the time senator lott made the astute point that if the industry were not engaging in price fixing to wouldn't have to worry about losing its antitrust exsempings. when lott testified before the judiciary committee in 2007, he said, i cannot for the life of me understand why we have allowed this exemption to stay in place for so long. perhaps even more telling, the national association of attorneys general strongly opposes the repeal of mccarran-ferguson. one assistant attorney general noted, the most egregiously anti-competitive claims, such as making agreements to fibblingsing prices -- the speaker pro tempore: the time has expired. ms. markey: i ask for an additional 30 seconds. mr. conyers: granted. ms. markey: the most egregious competitive claims such as making agreements, fixing price or reducing coverage are virtually always found under prosecution under the law. one has enjoyed an