odyssey, senator stabenow -- obviously, senator stabenow was critical as well. we ask that people getting the help as -- people getting the help exercise self help. ford was helped by the overall work done to save the industry. ford went out and worked with its workers, its creditors in an extraordinary effort. we are hugely proud. 136 helped. ford did this. we are proud of what they have done and happy to be a part of this today. it is nice to be in detroit where we can talk about car of the year and we can talk about market share increases and about ford adding 7000 jobs and talk about its position in "consumer reports." these are the sorts of things we need to talk about. it is an extraordinarily good day for this car industry. i would add one thing. >> one thing i am focused on is how we can support electrical vehicles. we have 30% credit in terms of charging stations. we have something in place to increase that to 50%. we want to make sure we are doing things that help major investments and the technology that has been developed by ford and all of our compa

odyssey, senator stabenow -- obviously, senator stabenow was critical as well. we ask that people getting the help as -- people getting the help exercise self help. ford was helped by the overall work done to save the industry. ford went out and worked with its workers, its creditors in an extraordinary effort. we are hugely proud. 136 helped. ford did this. we are proud of what they have done and happy to be a part of this today. it is nice to be in detroit where we can talk about car of the year and we can talk about market share increases and about ford adding 7000 jobs and talk about its position in "consumer reports." these are the sorts of things we need to talk about. it is an extraordinarily good day for this car industry. i would add one thing. >> one thing i am focused on is how we can support electrical vehicles. we have 30% credit in terms of charging stations. we have something in place to increase that to 50%. we want to make sure we are doing things that help major investments and the technology that has been developed by ford and all of our compa

odyssey, senator stabenow -- obviously, senator stabenow was critical as well. we ask that people getting the help as -- people getting the help exercise self help. ford was helped by the overall work done to save the industry. ford went out and worked with its workers, its creditors in an extraordinary effort. we are hugely proud. 136 helped. ford did this. we are proud of what they have done and happy to be a part of this today. it is nice to be in detroit where we can talk about car of the year and we can talk about market share increases and about ford adding 7000 jobs and talk about its position in "consumer reports." these are the sorts of things we need to talk about. is an extrad day for this car industry. i would add one thing. >> one thing i am focused on is how we can support electrical vehicles. we have 30% credit in terms of we have something in place to increase that to 50%. we want to make sure we are doing things that help major investments and the technology that has been developed by ford and all of our companies. >> what do you see it for the

chairman. >> thank you very much, senator stabenow. senator cornyn is recognized for 30 seconds. >> mr. chairman, i can't clear my throat in 30 seconds. [laughter] >> we're doing -- seriously, we're doing 8-minute rounds. >> thank you. >> mr. chairman, thank you very much for your service in what is by all accounts a very challenging job but, of course, we're all volunteers here. and no one is holding a gun to our head and making us do these jobs. we volunteer to do them because we think we can contribute to doing things that are in the best interest of the country. and i appreciate very much your service in an admittedly very challenging job. it strikes me that there are three events coming up which will really provide an opportunity for congress and the administration to demonstrate its seriousness at dealing with the run-away spending and the unsustainable debt problem that we have. one is the president's budget is going to be due the first monday in february. that will be, i think, one of the first indications perhaps of the presid

stabenow: thank you, mr. president. i'm so pleased to be here today. i appreciate the words of the great senator from minnesota. i am very, very pleased to rise with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pay tribute to somebody who is much more than a colleague, someone who is also a mentor and a great, great friend, the senator from maryland, barbara mikulski. today, as we all know, she became the longest-serving woman member of the united states senate in the history of our nation. i have a three-year-old granddaughter, lily, who will be able to read now in the history books about not only her grandmother, but the woman who holds this record: senator barbara mikulski, and all that she has done and all that she means to each of us, particularly as a role model for my granddaughter and other young children and other young women that will be coming after all of us. she's here today because she is bold and fearless and determined, as we all know. in 1986, when she first ran for the senate, she looked for inspiration from her own great-grandmother who

chairman. >> thank you very much, senator stabenow. senator cornyn is recognized for 30 seconds. >> mr. chairman, i can't clear my throat in 30 seconds. [laughter] >> we're doing -- seriously, we're doing 8-minute rounds. >> thank you. >> mr. chairman, thank you very much for your service in what is by all accounts a very challenging job but, of course, we're all volunteers here. and no one is holding a gun to our head and making us do these jobs. we volunteer to do them because we think we can contribute to doing things that are in the best interest of the country. and i appreciate very much your service in an admittedly very challenging job. it strikes me that there are three events coming up which will really provide an opportunity for congress and the administration to demonstrate its seriousness at dealing with the run-away spending and the unsustainable debt problem that we have. one is the president's budget is going to be due the first monday in february. that will be, i think, one of the first indications perhaps of the presid

chairman. >> thank you very much, senator stabenow. senator cornyn is recognized for 30 seconds. >> mr. chairman, i can't clear my throat in 30 seconds. [laughter] >> we're doing -- seriously, we're doing 8-minute rounds. >> thank you. >> mr. chairman, thank you very much for your service in what is by all accounts a very challenging job but, of course, we're all volunteers here. and no one is holding a gun to our head and making us do these jobs. we volunteer to do them because we think we can contribute to doing things that are in the best interest of the country. and i appreciate very much your service in an admittedly very challenging job. it strikes me that there are three events coming up which will really provide an opportunity for congress and the administration to demonstrate its seriousness at dealing with the run-away spending and the unsustainable debt problem that we have. one is the president's budget is going to be due the first monday in february. that will be, i think, one of the first indications perhaps of the presid

stabenow: thank you, mr. president. i'm so pleased to be here today. i appreciate the words of the great senator from minnesota. i am very, very pleased to rise with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pay tribute to somebody who is much more than a colleague, someone who is also a mentor and a great, great friend, the senator from maryland, barbara mikulski. today, as we all know, she became the longest-serving woman member of the united states senate in the history of our nation. i have a three-year-old granddaughter, lily, who will be able to read now in the history books about not only her grandmother, but the woman who holds this record: senator barbara mikulski, and all that she has done and all that she means to each of us, particularly as a role model for my granddaughter and other young children and other young women that will be coming after all of us. she's here today because she is bold and fearless and determined, as we all know. in 1986, when she first ran for the senate, she looked for inspiration from her own great-grandmother who

chairman. >> thank you very much, senator stabenow.ator cornyn is recognized for 30 seconds. >> mr. chairman, i can't clear my throat in 30 seconds. [laughter] >> we're doing -- seriously, we're doing 8-minute rounds. >> thank you. >> mr. chairman, thank you very much for your service in what is by all accounts a very challenging job but, of course, we're all volunteers here. and no one is holding a gun to our head and making us do these jobs. we volunteer to do them because we think we can contribute to doing things that are in the best interest of the country. and i appreciate very much your service in an admittedly very challenging job. it strikes me that there are three events coming up which will really provide an opportunity for congress and the administration to demonstrate its seriousness at dealing with the run-away spending and the unsustainable debt problem that we have. one is the president's budget is going to be due the first monday in february. that will be, i think, one of the first indications perhaps of the president'

let me indicate that on our side it is senator wyden, the the senator stabenow. senator wyden. >> thank you. i want to welcome senator sessions as our ranking minority member. he is someone i enjoy working with very much. i want to note that i do not believe the auburn tigers have a realistic chance of keeping up with the university of oregon's fast-moving, an innovative offense for the championship game, but we will save that for another discussion. >> well, if you are correct, i will be pleased to where that tie you have gone for a few days third >> we have an agreement, and i will reciprocate. >> senators, thank you. mr. chairman, we are glad to have you here because you and i share a similar deal that the big idea for economic growth for the country is fundamental tax reform, where you go in there and clean out the job-killing, thoroughly discredited mess. you address that very well i thought in the "60 minutes" discussion you had. here is my first question. it was clear at the end of the year that you had to take some steps with respect to the tax code in th

guest: certainly, democrats from industrial states, michigan, carl levin and debbie stabenow out. coal states, senator rockefeller, congressman mayhall. -- rhey hall. states that are so dependent on coal, is really difficult for those lawmakers to feel comfortable signing onto a policy that absolutely will change the future of use of coal as a generating source. if you are representing coal miners, is very politically difficult. some of the other -- max baucus in montana, that is a cool stay. -- coal states. bob casey of pennsylvania, another call stay. meckler mccaskill, from missouri, nelson from nebraska. -- claire mccaskill from missouri, nelson from nebraska. it puts them in a difficult position with their constituents to be seen supporting something that is so -- that the talking points against it is that it potentially harms industry. hi there is a group in the senate, i think about 10 or 11 democrats, who will be in a tricky position on this. host: let's hear from new york state. a republican collar. caller: i want to explain to this little lady that the epa is putting our

president, i yield the floor and i see that my great colleague senator stabenow from the state of michigan is here.fi >> the senator from michigan is recognized. >> thank youi' mr. president. i'm so pleased to be here today and i appreciate the words of the great senator from minnesota i am very very pleased to arrivo with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pay tribute to somebody who is much more than a colleague, someone who is also a mentor and a great, great friend, the senator from maryland, barbara mikulski. today as we all know, she became the w longest serving woman memr of the united states senate in the history of our nation. i have a 3-year-old granddaughter, lily, who will bo able to read now in the history books about not only her grandfather but the woman who m holds this record, senator barbara mikulski and all that she has done and all that she us particularlyll as a role model for my granddaughter and other young children and other young women that will be coming after all of us.ec she is here today because she is bold and fearless and determined as we all know. in 1

dick durbin and debbie stabenow -- due to a technical problem, we are unable to share the first few minutes of this event. >> i want to introduce dick durbin. >> it was not that long ago when vice president cheney and president bush said that deficits do not count. it was at a time when they wanted to pay for a war and not be held accountable for the amount it would add to the national debt. at the end of their eight years, the national debt had increased from $5 trillion to $12 trillion on their watch. the surplus the inherited from president bill clinton turned into the worst annual deficit the nation had ever seen. they announced that assist do not count. the first day of the new house republican leadership, we hear a similar song. we are learning, unfortunately, that the new republican leadership has replaced pay as you go with pretend as you go. the latest republican -- what they basically said to us is that there are certain things that will not be counted toward the deficit. i sat around for 10 months last year on the deficit commission. it was a bipartisan commission that included t

let me just indicate that on our side, senator wyden, senator manchin, senator stabenow, senator merkleyed senator enzi, senator corker. senator wyden. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i too want to welcome the senator sessions as our ranking minority member. he is someone i greatly enjoyed working with, respect very much. i do want to note for the record that i don't believe the auburn tigers have a realistic chance of keeping up with the university of oregon's fast-moving, innovative offense in the championship game at but we will say that for another discussion. i just want to welcome my good friend. >> you're correct in that i would be pleased to wear that tie you have on, for a few days perhaps. >> we have an agreement and i will reciprocate. senator conrad, thank you very much. thank you we are so glad to have you here. and i especially, because you and i share similar views, this big idea for economic growth in our country is fundamental tax reform, where you go in there and clean out this job killing, thoroughly discredited mess. and you address that i thought very well on 60 minutes

when there are issues like senator stabenow mentioned, 136, areas where the government can provide a measure of help, but when you have private sector companies like ford that have their act together and have a terrific relationship with their employees, then you have something that works. and in our industry, the fact that it is happening in detroit, the car industry is going to require innovation to be successful. and this is a company that is innovative. it is not the only one. others are in detroit as well and that is terrific. it will make for a better company and its competitors better companies. leaders who can come together. i think it offers us a lot of lessons. again, and intervention in a deep crisis that was unique, but a broad level of support that we were able to [inaudible] >> [inaudible] >> no comments about the future. nothing about the future. icsernible talking] >> but we have a six month mockup. we will have to see what the market does. the financial markets can be uncertain. we are determined to exit as soon as practical, but we are not going to do a fire sale. i

i had a chance last friday to be in the state of michigan with governor snyder and senator stabenow and congressman peters to launch hours that the state's small-business credit initiative. i came armed with an award letter of $80 million for the state of michigan and i wish i could come armed as well with more resources. i could tell you more about what this program is. this program was initiated as part of the small business jobs act that the president signed last september. it provided $1.5 billion available to all 50 states and the territories with the commitment by the states to demonstrate new private lending, $10 for every dollar invested in federal funding. this will create $15 billion in additional private lending. i remember back in the 1990's when the state of michigan had such an aggressive marketing campaign to bring businesses over to michigan. it was very interesting to actually made the michigan economic development corp. after so many years. this programthis enables you tor the funding. all states have to apply by june of this year. there was an intent to apply round th