shaheen: thank you. i want to begin by congratulating senator landrieu and thanking her for all the hard work that she's done on this bill. first of all, for small leadership, with her leadership she have improved this legislation for small business so that so many small businesses in this country in my state of new hampshire, will be able to get help as they try to cover their employees for health care. i also want to congratulate her, mr. president, for awful her good work -- all of her good work to help children in the foster system. it is really significant that they will be able to get health insurance once they age out of the foster system. and also to help those of us who, as you point out, have children who are in their early 20's who are still trying to get settled in a profession. my daughter was fortunate enough to have health insurance last year in her first job out of college, but now she's going to a new job that doesn't have health insurance and she'll be able to be covered once this legis

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 to live a healthy life in our gre

shaheen: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: in the past several months, my office has responded to thousands of letters and phone calls about health care. i have traveled all across new hampshire talking to small business owners and to families, business owners and families who are desperate for help. i have talked to health care providers who are frustrated with the current system, and the underlying message is very, very clear. health care reform cannot wait any longer. my colleagues on the other side of the aisle continue to offer amendments that would take this bill off the floor of the senate, arguing that we need to go back to the beginning and start all over, or worse, do nothing at all. but, mr. president, you and i both know we need to act and we need to act as soon as possible. we need to continue to move forward. we need to move forward on behalf of thousands in new hampshire and millions across this country who need health care reform. i've listened to these families, these individuals, and i want to take j

shaheen: mr. president i ask that a fellow in my office be granted floor privileges for the duration of the consideration of h.r. 3590. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mrs. shaheen: thank you. mr. president, i rise today in support of senator mikulski's amendment to ensure that women have access to preventive health care screenings and care at no cost. and i want to thank senator mikulski for her leadership not just in this effort, but over the years to make sure that women are treated fairly when it comes to our health care. as a woman, mother of three daughters and a grandmother of three granddaughters, this is an issue that is critically important to me personally. but as a former governor, now a u.s. senator, and a policy-maker, i understand that these preventive services that we're talking about today are not just good for women, but they're good for families, for the children and husbands and brothers and fathers of the women that we're talking about today. these -- thi

of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable jeanne shaheen, a senator from the state of new hampshire, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: robert c. byrd, president pro tempore. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration of the health care legislation with the time between 1:30 between the two leaders and their designees, between 1:30 and 11:30 tonight, there will be alternating hours with the republicans controlling the first hour. at 11:30 p.m., the senate will recess until 12:01 a.m. with the time until 1:00 a.m. equally divided and controlled between their leaders their designees, with the democratic leader controlling the final ten minutes and the republican leader the ten minutes before that. at 1:00 a.m., the senate will proceed to a vote in relation to the health care bill. that time until i have at 1:30 i designate to the [inawd inaudi] the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the leadership sometime

senators shaheen. >> thank you mr. chairman. i want to begin by thanking each of you. >> i will tell you i don't know why we have a hurricane above us today. >> we thought it was then a bowling alley. >> it would be news to me. >> i want to applaud you and the president and everyone who has been involved in a very thorough review of what our strategy should be in afghanistan. new hampshire this week is sending another 140 national guard members over to afghanistan and is you pointed out secretary clinton these are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters and we'll them and all of the men and women serving their a mission that they can understand and support and i think it is appropriate also that we continue to have a rigorous debate in congress and in the senate about what we are going to do so thank you all for that. there have been a number of mentions of those the importance and the potential for reconciling certain taliban elements in the importance of that to the success of what happens in afghanistan. have any of those ove

. >> senator shaheen. >> thank you, mr. chairman and thank you to each of you for your commitment and being here today. thank you, ambassador eikenberry for your hospitality when i visited afghanistan with a number of other senators. you were very new there. we appreciate it very much your hospitality and your direction. a lot of the discussion this morning has focused on what is happening on the governance and development side as well as what is happening with security. there has been discussion about a civilian coordinator for afghanistan, a civilian counterpart to general mcchrystal. can you give us your assessment of how important you think that position and person might be and then why we are in the attempt to find someone to fill that position? >> well, coordination, senator, at the international coordination that the united nations level, that's essential to our success. and as well within nato isaf, within that command, the civil military coordination aspects are also fundamental in terms of just trying to rationali

shaheen 5. dodd 5. menendez 5. baucus 4. the presiding officer: is there objection? objection, so ordered. mrs. boxer: mr. president, i gave birth to two beautiful children, and i am proud to say i have now four grandchildren, light of my life. light of my life. and i am just here to say as a mother and as a grandmother and as a senator from california, i trust the women of this country. and i don't want to tell the women of this country and tell nobody else anything like this, that they can't buy insurance with their own private money to cover their whole range of legal reproductive health care. we don't do that to the men. we don't say you can't get any surgery if you might need it for your reproductive health care. we don't say you can't get certain drugs in the pharmaceutical benefit that you may need for your reproductive health care. we don't say that to men, nor should we. imagine if the men in this chamber had to fill out a form and get a rider for viagra and it was public. forget about it. there would be a rage in this chamber. we're saying now treat women f

shaheen: thank you, mr. president. so pleased this morning to join my freshmen colleagues in introducing our innovation and value package. for the last several months the freshmen in the senate have been coming to the floor to help make the case for health care reform, to tell our colleagues and the public about what we've heard from our constituents and to come together as one voice in support of reform. today we back up that rhetoric with action. today we propose something concrete. we've talked about the importance of reforming the way we deliver care, about how we need to slow down the skyrocketing costs of health care while improving quality and about the need to provide incentives to make the changes happen. today we deliver on that talk. our proposals are about containing costs. they're about looking into the future, thinking about our delivery system and finding ways to make small but very important changes that will make a difference. throughout this debate, i've been talking about the importance of increasing

shaheen: thank you, mr. president. rise today to support the health care reform legislation that's before us. and i want to talk a little bit specifically about what the bill does to reform our health care delivery system, and that's really health care jargon for the way we provide health care to people who need it. i've heard a lot of debate earlier this afternoon about the fact that the health care bill doesn't do anything to address costs. well, i think that's just wrong, mr. president. the fact is, this health care bill does begin to address costs in our system. that's one of the reasons we've got to pass it. in fact, we know that over the next ten years, it's going to reduce our deficit by $130 billion. but more importantly than that i think are the changes that i believe this is going to begin to make on how we provide health care for the people of this country. you know, the fact is, we all know it. even our colleagues on the other side of the aisle know that our current health care system just is not working. i

johnson -- senator johnson, senator kerry, senator kohl, senator levin, senator johnson, senator shaheen, senator specter, senator tester. widespread bipartisan support for legislation which says let's end the absurdity of the american people having to pay substantially more for the same exact medicine that is sold in other countries around the world. let me just take a look at some of these charts. to begin with, we all understand that when you deal with the drug companies in the pharmaceutical industry, you are dealing with some of the most powerful lobbyists and forces right here in washington, d.c. these people spend huge amounts of money on campaign contributions, huge amounts of money in lobbying. just recently in order to make sure that they got in under the wire, in case there was some real reform passed here in washington, they substantially raised their prices for particular drugs just in the year 2009. and here is the chart right here . single 12%, plavix12%, lipitor 5%. bonivar18%. and one of the reasons that health care costs are soaring in america, one of the reasons that m

. >> senator shaheen. >> thank you, mr.airman and thank you to each of you for your commitment and being here today. thank you, ambassador eikenberry for your hospitality when i visited afghanistan with a number of other senators. you were very new there. we appreciate it very much your hospitality and your direction. a lot of the discussion this morning has focused on what is happening on the governance and development side as well as what is happening with security. there has been discussion about a civilian coordinator for afghanistan, a civilian counterpart to general mcchrystal. can you give us your assessment of how important you think that position and person might be and then why we are in the attempt to find someone to fill that position? >> well, coordination, senator, at the international coordination that the united nations level, that's essential to our success. and as well within nato isaf, within that command, the civil military coordination aspects are also fundamental in terms of just trying to rationalize

also, i want to thank senator shaheen, senator murray, senator gillibrand joined by senators harkin, cardin, dodd, and others to really come to the floor and help women with this battle. the fact is that women have different health needs than men, and these needs often generate additional costs. women of child-bearing age spend 68% more in out-of-pocket health care costs than men. most people don't know that, but it's actually true. and so we believe that all women, all women should have access to the same affordable preventative health care services as women who serve in congress, no question. the amendment offered by senator mikulski -- and she is a champion for us -- will ensure that that is, in fact, the case. it will require insurance plans to cover at no cost basic preventative services and screenings for women. this may include mammograms, pap smears, family planning, screenings to develop -- to detect postpartum depression, and other annual women's health screenings. in other words, the amendment increases access to the basic services that are a part of every woman's health c

by 17 senators as follows -- reid of nevada, dodd, udall of colorado, leahy, akaka, durbin, brown, shaheen, kerry, reed of rhode island, harkin, whitehouse, gillibrand, merkley, lieberman, boxer, and stabenow. mr. reid: i now withdraw that motion. the presiding officer: motion is withdrawn. mr. reid: i now move to recess until 10:01 a.m. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, parliamentary inquiry. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: before we proceed to the vote, i'd just like to make a parliamentary inquiry. i believe it is the case that a simple motion to recess or adjourn is not amendable. is that correct? the presiding officer: the republican leader is correct. mr. mcconnell: further inquiry, i also believe that a motion to recess or adjourning to a time certain is amendable with time changes. the presiding officer: the republican leader is correct. mr. mcconnell: i'll not offer an amendment to change the time to convene until later tomorrow, but just so everybody will know with regard to their own personal schedules, you know, this vote could occur at any time tomorro