shaheen: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: mr. president, i'm delighted to be here this afternoon to join my friend and colleague from the state of minnesota, senator klobuchar, in supporting the nomination of justice sonia sotomayor to be a justice of the supreme court. you know, everyone in my home state of new hampshire was very proud 19 years ago when former president george bush nominated new hampshire's own david souter as an associate justice of the supreme court. every action justice souter has taken since he began his service in our nation's -- on our nation's highest court has only reinforced that pride. so when justice souter announced in early may that he intended to retire at the end of his term and return home to new hampshire, i took particular interest in whom president obama would select to fill david souter's seat. i believe the president has made a thoughtful and outstanding choice in nominating judge sonia sotomayor. judge sotomayor has had a distinguished career as a federal judge, as has been widely noted. if

for many months now i've been working with several members, most notably senator shaheen of new hampshire, on bipartisan consensus generic drug reform. once again i was very hopeful that this f.d.a. bill on the floor of the senate now would be a prime opportunity, an obvious opportunity to pass that consensus bipartisan reform. once again, that door was closed to us. we're not going to have that opportunity. i express real disappointment. but we need to act in that area. i look forward to continuing to work with senator shaheen and senator brown and others in that important area. we have been focused on two things in particular that could make the huge difference. first, we need to clear up certain loopholes, quite frankly, in the law, that allowed drug companies to make labeling changes when their patent protection is about to run out, when gentleman nearbi e market and we need to clear up those loopholes so generics can come to market and provide americans with a lower cost alternative. surely the drug companies need a period of protection so they can recoup their enormous investment in

shaheen: thank you. a senator: will the senator yield? the presiding officer: the senator from california. [inaudible] mrs. boxer: i would wonder if she could expand her request and say upon finishing if i could have just about five minutes. mrs. shaheen: i'm delighted to do that for the -- my colleague from california. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: thank you. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. [inaudible] the presiding officer: the senator from california has requested five minutes. a senator: i've been waiting for awhile. [inaudible] a senator: go ahead. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: i would make an apology to my colleague. we're here quickly to speak about a very important issue, a murder of a doctor. i didn't want it to be interruptive. but can i make another u.c. that following my remarks, that senator carper be recognized for -- mr. gregg: well, madam president, reserving the right to object. as i understand it, we're supposed to be moving to the supplemental a

i want to say to my friend, senator shaheen, her words were eloquent here today. and that her voice adds so much texture to the senate. in a very plain spoken way, as is her way, senator shaheen has told us that regardless of where we stand on this contentious issue of a woman's right to choose, we should be able to come together when there's violence of any sort from any quarter, right, left, or center, there is no place for violence in any of our debates. that's what makes this such a great country. we debate here. we have had difficult debates here on the issue of a woman's right to choose. yes, we have. but we decide those issues in this chamber, in the house, at the white house, and across the street at the supreme court. madam president, the supreme court has ruled very clearly in 1973 in roe vs. wade that it is legal, legal, for a woman in the early stages of her pregnancy to make this tough choice and get the health care she needs. and, yes, later in the pregnancy, if her health is threatened, if her life is threatened, yes, a doctor can help her in that t

kent: senators mccaskill, klobuchar, whitehouse, udall, shaheen, kaufman, martinez, demint, barrasso, wicker, johanns and risch. the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: the resolution on will meet at a time to be determined. the presiding officer: the senate will take proper order and notify the house of representatives and counsel for judge kent. mr. reid: mr. president, i would ask in an orderly fashion that senators approach the desk for signing of the resolution. of the impeachment before they leave the chamber. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call : quorum call:

shaheen: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: mr. president, i'm delighted to be here this afternoon to join my friend and colleague from the state of minnesota, senator klobuchar, in supporting the nomination of justice sonia sotomayor to be a justice of the supreme court. you know, everyone in my home state of new hampshire was very proud 19 years ago when the former president bush nominated judge solomon your to the federal court position. -- judge silberman yousonia sote federal court position. i believe the president has made a thoughtful and outstanding choice in nominating judge sonia sotomayor. she has had a distingui

senator shaheen. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ambassador basra, thank you for being here and your service. i would point out to our graduate of dartmouth and to a sprout in new hampshire. >> thank you. >> you can't steal them. he still lives with us. [laughter] >> we are working on that. according to the recently released reports, north korean exports jumped 23% last year compared to the previous year and imports jumped 33%. to follow-up little bit on what senator kec was referencing with respect to china, what do these statistics say about our ability to isolate north korea economically and what affect that sanctions had on the country? >> i think first of all, senator, it's important to note those are percentage increases of very low base levels. i haven't personally analyzed the data sufficiently to be able to tell exactly what it means. i think one thing it probably reflects particularly on the import side is a very

. >> thank you senator shaheen guss senator corker, i know he has indicated to me he is not going to ask questions so this action follows if nation's recent nuclear underground test and subsequent missile testifieses in violation of previous security council resolutions. following the u.n. meeting, several members of the council spokes with reporters. this is about 25 minutes. >> thank you. good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. and today the security council has both spoken and acted decisively and clearly and unanimously. and through the security council the international community has made absolutely clear its determination to tackle the illegal provocative and dangerous activities of the north korean government. the resolution contains some significant tough measures with that objective in mind. it substantially expands and strengthens the arms embarg on north korea including the absolute ban on any arms exports from north korea, which will tackle one of the sources of revenue which funds north korea's missile and nuclear programs. it also enhances significantly the inspection reg

klobuchar: i want to thank my colleague, senator shaheen, for her remarks and for her reminiscence of meeting with the judge and her -- once again, the judge showing i was saying that this nominee would bring more federal judicial experience to the supreme court in any justice in 100 years. i notice my exchange in the airport with one person who wondered if she was a worthy of this position and apply the facts and the law. when you look at the experience that she brings, and you compared to any of these other nominees on the supreme court, she stands out. she stands out because of her unique background. she overcame obstacles to get here. she stands out because of her experience. all those years as a prosecutor and federal judge. that makes a difference. amount to a just one other point that has been made about her as her capacity as a judge. i want to talk about the temperament issues. there's been some stories and comments, mostly anonymous, the question her judicial temperament. according to one news story about the topics, she developed a reputation for asking tough questions at o

shaheen: mr. president, i rise today in support of the family prevention and control act. we all know someone who is currently a smoker, someone who has been a smoker. and i know we all worry about their health. and that's with good reason. tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the united states. it kills more people each year than alcohol, aids, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined. let me repeat that because it's hard to believe, but the fact is, tobacco use kills more people each year than alcohol, aids, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders and suicides -- combined. and tobacco-related health problems affect millions more resulting in skyrocketing health care costs every year. the cycle of addiction is so hard to break and the tobacco companies work hard to attract smokers with flashy marketing campaigns and by including chemicals that are proven to be addictive. undoubtedly this hurts our nation's overall health. there's no question that one of the most important steps the senate can take to improve health and to reduce costs is t

. >> i want to thank the senator from kansas and senator mccaskill and senator shaheen and senator landrieu who spoke today. i also know senator children, feinstein, mikulski, locks her and very well be speaking or may have already in the next few weeks on this nominee as will many of my colleagues but all i appreciate this, mr. president and we are excited for this upcoming hearing and glad we are able to be here as ambassadors of truth. thank you, high-yield the floor. >>> the senate continues work on a health care bill. this is the sixth day the senate health committee has led to mark up its legislation. they are one of a number of congressional -- [inaudible conversations] >> the committee will come to order. >> i thank my colleagues for being here. let me turn to senator enzi for offering the first amendment. >> mr. chairman, i call amendment 55 and this amendment strikes section 421 which modifies the student loan rates -- you still can't hear me? i thought they fixed that while we were on break. is that better? i called amendment 55 which strikes section 421 which modifiers student l

. >> thank you senator shaheen guss senator corker, i know he has indicated to me he is not going to ask questions so we thank you ambassador bosworth very much. we want to stay in close touch and i know we will and a look forward to chatting with you for a moment. if we could ask the second panel to quickly come up and take their seats so we can have a seamless transition, that would be terrific. i would ask each of the following panelists if they would try to summarize the comments in five minutes or less. your full statement will be placed into the record as if read in fall and this with the committee will have more chance to be able to explore the previous panelists with you and your own thoughts. [inaudible conversations] we are going to lead off with victor cha and then mr. revere, leon sigal and then nancy lindborg soe evictor if you would begin that would be terrific. >> thank you mr. chairman, senator lugar, members of the committee. it is a pleasure to appear before you again to talk about north korea. i have submitted a statement for the record, which i would like to be pa