senator shelby asked me about the role of monetary policy. i say the role is there, is more unusual, but for financial stability of maintenance it is important the fed have that insight into the banking system. >> on both of those points i say respectfully. at the g-20 more than half of our colleagues separated supervisory and monetary policy. the companies that have weathered the storm well have been countries that have separated both. the british system was a light touch regulation. they did not have deposit insurance very well and they did not have the information. when they set up the system they did not allow the central bank to -- that contributed more to what happened in great britain. that is a legitimate discussion, but i don't think you could say with certainty that the other is true. >> thank you very much. >> i want to focus on how we should establish our financial system. this committee is working on regulatory reform. one of the biggest concerns is that we don't institutionalize the too big to fail some drum -- be too big to fai

senator shelby already raised it. the jobs picture, if i had exclusive time with you, i would want to talk about where we're going with jobs. an economist by the name of rubini, who correctly, we're told, predicted the global financial crisis we're now in and many other economists are concerned that the world's central banks are flooding the financial institutions with too much cash, setting the stage for another asset bubble burst. i don't know if you're familiar with his predictions at all with interest rates near zorro in the united states, the dollar dropped 12% in the last year against six maurnjor currencies and investors are borrowing dollars to fuel huge bubbles that may spark another financial crisis. can you tell us whether or not this threat has legitimacy? >> it's something we want to pay close attention to let me distinguish between the united states and abroad. in the united states, it's inherently difficult to know if asset prices are appropriate or correctly -- if assets are correctly valued. but we ha

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 great country is a right and not merely privilege for the select few. this morning's vote brings us one step closer to making ted kennedy's dream a reality. it is the dream of americans which is part of that treatment ted kennedy. that has also become a reality. every step of this long process has been an enormous undertaking. i want to thank chairman baucus, dodd, and hearkene. i want to thank my leadership team, they have

senator shelby already raised it. the jobs picture, if i had exclusive time with you, i would want to talk about where we're going with jobs. an economist by the name of rubini, who correctly, we're told, predicted the global financial crisis we're now in and many other economists are concerned that the world's central banks are flooding the financial institutions with too much cash, setting the stage for another asset bubble burst. i don't know if you're familiar with his predictions at all with interest rates near zorro in the united states, the dollar dropped 12% in the last year against six maurnjor currencies and investors are borrowing dollars to fuel huge bubbles that may spark another financial crisis. can you tell us whether or not this threat has legitimacy? >> it's something we want to pay close attention to let me distinguish between the united states and abroad. in the united states, it's inherently difficult to know if asset prices are appropriate or correctly -- if assets are correctly valued. but we ha

senator shelby's ideas have been strong statements in this area.till need a strong independent fed setting our monetary policy or we are going to be in serious trouble as a country relative to the value of our currency. this is especially true as we move forward because we are confronting a time when our debt as a nation is so large that our capacity to do fiscal policy is going to be significantly prescribed and an independent fed will be critical to us as we move through this time of trying to straighten out the debt situation in our nation. or our nation. on the specifics of chairman bernanke, it is obvious that mistakes were made. monomoved out into congress needs to take a fair amount of responsibility for this problem. we encourage people to buy homes and set up structure to allow people to buy homes who couldn't afford homes. and we had a banking system which basically abandoned the concept of sound underwriting when it came to lending. obviously there were mistakes made. i don't see them as being the primary drivers of what happened. when i

but first i want to thank senator shelby for his comments about the efforts we're making. and i want to thank him as well, and his staff. and you have been tremendously helpful already, very constructive. i was one of those people in that room the night of september 18th, when the new ag policy came into the room. and there is a lot of people going back, and i'll go to my grave believing what you did, what we did, over that two-week period, some of the economic equivalents of 9/11, such as you described that evening, very straight forward, monotone voice, i'll never forget your words, will go down as the right thing to have done. and he's not here now, but judge gray, bob corker, jack reid, chuck schumer, on this side, anyway, we met, along with some others, and worked with you and others in putting that proposal together. and is you deserve, in my view, a great deal of credit for moving that forward and then the creative ideas that kept us out of the difficult. improving the negative is always hard. and obviously, we don't to be in a situation to have to prove that. but n

with that, let me turn to senator shelby and we'll move on down the line for comments and proceed inat i've described at the outset of these comments. >> thank you, mr. chairman, mr. chairman, i have a lengthy statement and it will take me a few minutes to give. and i hope you'll indulge me. today the committee meets on the nomination of ben bernanke to serve a second term as chairman of the board of governors of the federal reserve system. our vote today will not only be an expression of our confidence in his ability to lead the fed out of the crisis, but also a judgment on his performance in the years preceding the crisis. after the recession that ended in 2001, which was precipitated by the bursting of the dot-com bubble, the fed was concerned about a sluggish economy and the specter of inflation, the fed chose to hold interest rates remarkably low. the effect of federal funds rate was below 2% between december 2001 and november 2004. during most of that period, now-chairman bernanke served as a member of the boar of governors of the federal reserve and supported the low interest

the guests on fox news sunday will include national banking committee ranking republican richard shelbys you will here robert gibbs, house majority whip james clyburn and new york republican peter king. he is the ranking member of the house homeland security committee. and cn tphfrpblts's state of the union will include secretary napolitano, john podesta and andrew card. indiana republican governor mitch daniels and ed rendell. you can listen to all five of the sun morning shows starting at noon eastern on c-span radio. 90.1 f.m. in washington, d.c., nationwide on x.m. satellite radio channel 132 and c-span radio.org and on facebook and twitter. >> in the mid 1990's omar waso was named one of the 50 most influential people po wash in cyber space. he has created black planet.com. helped found a charter school in balloon and explained new technology on oprah. tonight he talks about his current studies at harvard and what is ahead on c-span's "kwfrpbl"q&a." >> thursday a day of distributes to world leaders including the dalai lama, ted kennedy, colin powell and report byrd. then a look at

i would urge folks to talk to senator shelby. we can coordinate the efforts. thank my colleagues for their patients and indulgence. we are adjourned. happy holidays. thanks. >> good job. >> all right. >> you are looking live at the senate. you can hear senator's waiting for a senate majority leader harry reid to come to the floor. they're expected to recess. they will set aside health care legislation and work on the $636 billion defense spending bill for the fiscal year 2010. when the return to the floor, there is a possibility that after the vote, senators could be in session all night. you can follow the senate live on c-span 2. now house minority leader john maynard's year in -- boehner's you're in a news conference. >> i challenge -- they say we should not be spending or borrowing our way out of this recession. this morning, i have a statement supported by more than 220 economists to say instead of spending "more stimulus money," we need to get spending under control in washington to create jobs and get our economy moving again. these economists know tha

but first i want to thank senator shelby for his comments about the efforts we're making. and i want to thank him as well, and his staff. and you have been tremendously helpful already, very constructive. i was one of those people in that room the night of september 18th, when the new ag policy came into the room. and there is a lot of people going back, and i'll go to my grave believing what you did, what we did, over that two-week period, some of the economic equivalents of 9/11, such as you described that evening, very straight forward, monotone voice, i'll never forget your words, will go down as the right thing to have done. and he's not here now, but judge gray, bob corker, jack reid, chuck schumer, on this side, anyway, we met, along with some others, and worked with you and others in putting that proposal together. and is you deserve, in my view, a great deal of credit for moving that forward and then the creative ideas that kept us out of the difficult. improving the negative is always hard. and obviously, we don't to be in a situation to have to prove that. but n

shelby: mr.president -- a senator: i'd yield up to 20 minutes to the senator from alabama for leader time. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. shelby: i rise today in disbelief. the american public is searching for answers from its leaders on health care and yet they're poised to receive an expensive and holy inaccurate so-called solution. after weeks behind closed doors, including now, majority has produced a bill thus far that raises taxes, makes drastic cuts in medicare and increases premiums to create a new government program that so-called -- the so-called public option. mr. president, i believe that the public option is nothing more than socialized medicine and expanded government disguises greater choice and thus i'm adamantly opposed to this bill as it's written. mr. president, any legislation seeking to effectively address health care reform should have, i believe, as its dual aims, cutting costs and increasing access to quality care. but amazingly, mr. president, this b

shelby, no. mr. bennett of utah, no. >> mr. lincoln. mrs. lincoln, aye. ms. landreaux. ms. landreaux, aye. >> on this vote, the yeas are 63, and the nay are 55. the motion is agreed. the question is on the motion to concur with the house amendment. sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. clerk will call the roll. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: mr. leader. mr. reid: may we have order, mr. reid: may we have order, >> leader, may we have order, please the presiding officer: anyone wish to change their vote or hasn't voted? by a vote of 88 ayes and 10 noes, the motion to concur on the house amendment to the senate amendment on defense appropriations is approved. leader. mr. reid: first of all, to the united states senate, this is a good strong message we've sent to our men and women in uniform around the world as 88 senators voted -- it was a little bit of a struggle to get here but we got here, and i'm so grateful we were able to do that. i have some -- we're going to do the continuing resolution now un

chairman and ranking member shelby. as we are tasked with the renomination and confirmation of mr.bernanke to be chairman of the federal reserve board of governors today, our nation is also faced with finding ways to restore financial stability, remote economic recovery, and to find solutions that ensure that an economic crisis like the one we faced last year never happens again. while there has been criticism of the federal reserve for not doing enough to protect consumers and for unprecedented actions it took during last year's financial crisis, there is also [ inaudible ] mr. bernanke's energetic response to the economic crisis kept our nation out of a depression. going forward, there is no doubt that the fed can be better. it can be more proactive and it can better communicate with congress. but, let's not forget what mr. bernanke and the fed did right during the last many challenging months. as our nation continues on the path to economic recovery, there is no doubt, having one of the world's foremost experts on the great depression at the helm of the federal reserve is a bene

chairman and ranking member shelby. as we are tasked with the renomination and confirmation of mr.day, our nation is also faced with finding a way to restore financial stability, promote economic recovery, and to find solutions that ensure that an economic crisis like the one we faced last year never happens again. while there has been a criticism of the federal reserve for not doing enough to protect consumers and for unprecedented actions that took during the last year's financial crisis, there is also insistence that mr. bernanke's energetic response to the economic crisis kept our nation out of a depression. going forward, there was no doubt that the feds can do better. it can be more pro-active and it can better communicate with congress. but let's not forget what mr. bernanke and the fed did right during the last many challenging months. as our nation continues on the path to economic recovery, there is no doubt having one of the world's foremost experts on the great depression at the helm of the federal reserve is a benefit to our nation. the fed has economic and financial e

and continue to fight for these programs, i believe working at a republican in joining with richard shelby and jeff sessions, joe bonner, spencer baccus, and other members of our delegation will make me a more effective voice. as you know, i am a physician and understand our health-care system. i spoke out early and often in my opposition to the health care bill and they voted against it in the house. it appears today that this health care bill will pass the senate in one of our first votes of the new year -- and one of our first those of the new year will be on this health care package. i want to make it clear that this bill is bad for our doctors and patients and the young men and women who are considering going into the health-care fields. as a doctor and as a republican, i plan to once again oppose this measure and hope that we can defeat this bill that is a major threat to our economy. it is a threat to our nation. it is a threat to our health care system. i know there will be those who do not support my decision. i want you to know that it is not an easy decision to make, but i alway

with that, let me turn to senator shelby and we'll move on down the line for comments and proceed in. chairman, mr. chairman, i have a lengthy statement and it will take me a few minutes to give. and i hope you'll indulge me. today the committee meets on the nomination of ben bernanke to serve a second term as chairman of the board of governors of the federal reserve system. our vote today will not only be an expression of our confidence in his ability to lead the fed out of the crisis, but also a judgment on his performance in the years preceding the crisis. after the recession that ended in 2001, which was precipitated by the bursting of the dot-com bubble, the fed was concerned about a sluggish economy and the specter of inflation, the fed chose to hold interest rates remarkably low. the effect of federal funds rate was below 2% between december 2001 and november 2004. during most of that period, now-chairman bernanke served as a member of the boar of governors of the federal reserve and supported the low interest rate policies. in 2002, then-governor bernanke4 keep interest rates

continue to fight for the programs, i believe that working as a republican and joining with richard shelby, jeff sessions, joe bonner, mike rogers, spencer bachus and the rest of the delegation will allow me to be an even more effective voice on these issues. i also want to take a moment to diskuz health care that is currently before the congress. and i spoke early and oufrn and i voted against it in the house. it appears today that this health care bill will pass the senate in one of the first votes of the new year and that will be on the health care package. i want to make it perfectly clear that this bill is bad for our doctors. it's bad for the patients and the young men and women considering going into the health care fields. and as a doctor and as a republican, i plan to once again oppose to this measure and hope that we can defeat this bill that is a major threat to our economy, it is a threat to our nation, and it is a threat to our health care system. i know there will be those who do not support my decision. i want you to know that it's not an easy decision to make. but i always

most small business people i know in busyress, ohio, in galion and in crestline, in shelby and all over my part of the state, people like that, most of them want to cover their employees. but if you've got 20 employees and one of them gets really sick, your insurance rates are going to go so high that you can no longer afford it oftentimes or you'll get cans evmentd and . and the third thing our bill says is it gives them assistance so they can get insurance. so people can get a better insurance policy rather than having to spend that kind of money out of pocket. amber from morrow county, that's an area of the state sort of north central, north of columbus, mount gilliad. she said, "at age 19, amber was disconnected --" this is more a story about her than an actual letter. "at age 19, amber was discontinued and of under her step-father's insurance plan because of her preexisting condition. needing constant medication and treatment for her diabetes, she tried to obtain her own health insurance plan. she was unable to afford any of her treatments because she couldn't get insurance. as a r

senator shelby and i got to iraq and met saddam hussein. as yet we have not had an interparliamentary exchange which i have sought for a long time with the iranians. it would be my hope that iran, for humanitarian reasons, would release these people and that we would exercise our best efforts -- the united states government -- working through syria or whatever other channel we could find to secure their release. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. a senator: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: before the senate now is the issue of funding our military, the department of defense appropriations bill. this is a bill that's critically important because it provides the funding that our men and women in uniform now risking their lives while we meet in the safety of our business and offices and homes her

on the front page of " the washington post" style section, profile of richard shelby, republican of alabamaial markets, "the financial times." host: open phones, let's go back to your calls. utah, south jordan. stephen on our independent line. caller: i hear all this talk about global warming and trying to save the world. the inconvenient truth about global warming and saving the world is we as a nation are turning the 10 commandments into the tent and convenient troops. one commanded that the deal with global warming, fourth commandment -- remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy, six days shall your labor and do all of your work. that is a rest day for a man and a requirement and rest day for the earth. we can do more to save the world by keeping the 10 commandments than anything else. ok? host: next is leo, westminster, calif., democrats line. caller: i kind of wanted to talk about two things, and one of -- when you get the republican line, i think if you go back and check your records and listen to the calls the way they come in, the republicans are the bottom of the barrel as far as i

in alabama, i'm talking about jeff sessions, i'm talking about richard shelby. in alaska, lisa mruczkowski. in arizona, jon kyl and john mccain. in connecticut, joseph lieberman. in florida, george lemieux. in georgia, saxby chambliss and johnny isaacson. in idaho, mike crapo and james rich. in iowa, chuck grassley. in kansas, sam brownback and pat roberts. in kentucky, jim bunning and mitch mcconnell. in louisiana, david visiter. in maine, susan collins and olympia snowe. in mississippi,ed that cochran and roger wicker. in missouri, christopher bonn. in nebraska, mike johanns, in nevada john enson. in new hampshire, judd gregg. in north carolina, richard burke. in ohio, george voinovich. in oklahoma, tom coburn and james inhofe. in south carolina, jim dementhe and lindsey graham. in tennessee, alexander and bob corker. in texas, john cornyn and kay bailey hutchinson. in utah, robert bennett and orrin hatch. in wyoming, john bo rah sew and michael enby. please remember these names. these are people who have stole health care for this country -- who have staaled

i would like to a first of all, things german dodd and ranking member shelby and their staffs are working with us to put together today's hearing prepare chairman dodd is a busy man these days and in the midst of a chevy the most important reform in our health care system in a generation while at the same time working hard to completely overhaul our regulatory financial system and not to mention his central role in formulating legislation to jump-start our economy and create millions of new jobs. if the interest of giving him a few minutes to sleep and eat i volunteered to the the this hearing. we appreciate everything he is doing. want to start off five praising secretary lahood there overseeing transit policy at the time of historic writer should also the time with states and localities have the resources to meet this demand. they have proven themselves able and visionary leaders in these trying times proceed by the proposal there will discuss their relationship on safety. transportation policy safety must be of paramount importance. this past summer of the tragic metro crash claimed th

president, my good friend and colleague from alabama, richard shell pweurbgs and i spent about -- richard shelby and i spent about an hour or so again and five or six republicans and democrats on that committee spent about an hour together as we have every day over the last several of weeks trying to fashion a bill on services reform that we hope to present to our colleagues here on our return in january and february that will deal with the catastrophe that's occurred economically in our nation. and my hope is as a chamber here -- i know my colleagues have heard me say this. i arrived in this chamber as an employee of the senate about 50 years ago, and i sat on these steps right over here. lyndon johnson sat in your chair. he was the vice president. john kennedy was the president of the united states. and i was a senate page and listened to the all-night debates in the 1960's on civil rights and got to witness history, watched the members of this chamber, some of the historic figures -- hubert humphrey, lyndon johnson, everett dirksen, just remarkable people. barry goldwater. we served with barr

forward in fighting for these programs, i believe that working as a republican and joining with richard shelbyhus, and the rest of our delegation, will allow me to be a more effective voice on these issues. i also wanted take a moment to discuss health care legislation currently before congress. as you know, i am a physician, and i understand our health care system. i spoke out early and often in my opposition to the health care bill, and i voted against it in the house. it appears today that this health care bill will pass the senateç in one of our first vos -- and one of our first votes of the new year will be on this package. i want to make it perfectly clear that this bill is bad for our doctors, bad for our patients, bad for the young men and women who are considering going into the health-care field. asç a doctor and as a republican, i plan to once again oppose this measure and hope that we can defeat this bill that is a major threat to our economy, it is a threat to ourç nation, and it is a threat to our health care system. i note there will be those who do not support my decision. i

. >> hello, senator, i'm shelby from dallas, texas. i read in the cnn article that there was a proposal for a tax increase to help, to help fund the war in afghanistan. do you know how much the tax increase would cost the average american who's already struggling in the current recession? >> guest: if there is a tax increase, it will have to go through the finance committee that i'm a member of, and we have not had a meeting to explore that idea, and i don't think we will have a meeting between now and the end of the year to explore that idea. now, next year we'll probably get into some tax legislation. the idea that you suggested came from the chairman of the house appropriations committee with the idea that it ought to be done. in previous wars there's been three sources of revenue. one, borrowing. number two, tax increases. and number three, diverting money from domestic programs into the war effort. and i would say any one of those three efforts are going to be available to fund this operation as well. >> host: back to reviewers, b

i called into about 18 west tennessee counties, including shelby county, which is memphis. and about 30,000 people were on the telephone, so it was reported to me by the -- by the service, sometime during that hour. with a maximum number of 3,016 at any one time. someone might pick up the phone and say that senator barrasso is on the phone and threat might tune in for 15 -- and they might tune in for 15 or 20 minutes, maybe they have to cook dinner or have something to do or maybe the ballgame comes an and they -- comes on and they have to hang up. i took a number of questions and after it was over 563 e-mails from my constituents were sent to my website. it's interesting to me, people who know my history a little bit, to be elected governor 30 years ago, i walked across tennessee. instead of going to a rotary meeting, you see different places when you go to bars. it took me six months and i'd see 1,000 people a day. these random phone calls reminded me of that. it was as if the people were randomly selected. they weren't on a republican list or democratic list or list of d