but the personal element, doing it for ted kennedy is very important. >> host: the phone calls between bill clinton and senator kennedy were somewhat frosty. >> guest: they were frosty and they were not just between the two. the conversations were going back and forth any time one of these people peeled off. in fact it was john kerry that was the establishment figure to pilaf and indorse obama. but the kennedys decided look, they're had always been tension between the kennedys and the clintons. there was a sort of rival claim to being the spiritual leaders of the party, and that rupture was very real and painful at least on the clinton side. i think it was difficult for the kennedys, too. >> host: did the selection of july and as barack obama is running mate surprise you? >> guest: i will admit to being surprised. yes, i will. knowing they had tension in the senate, senator biden was the chairman of the foreign relations committee. he didn't really treat this young senator with a big profile very well and he fairly treated him with disdain and that can help in the campaign and the prim

is stepping in for nor ted kennedy. this portion of the first day's session is about an hour and 25 minutes. and forth, on the opening statements. let me thank all the staff and others who spent as much time as they have on this legislation over the last number of months. this -- the opening line, is one that gets s s said quite offer we're doing legislation this is historic for all of us. mike enzi said, and will say again today and i agree totally, all of us here on this committee have dealt with major legislation in our lives. whether it is my work with orrin hatch on child care or working with other senators on the -- on the no child left behind act, the family medical leave act, i look at colleagues here, john, you work on immigration issues, others, major bills we have all worked on over the years that are huge and significant. but this bill affects everybody. 100% of our fellow citizens will be affected by what we do in the area of health care. every consumer, every business, every provider as well. and so this i

ted kennedy is one, john lewis is another. and so is the man i am privileged to introduce this morning, senator patrick leahy of vermont. [applause] now as of the son of irish and italian parents in vermont, a state where his father was used to see signs like -- no irish need apply, or no catholic supply -- and during a less progressive era, i suspect bags packed leahy understands what it means to sometimes feel like an outsider in the land of their birth. i believe that as a major reason why senator leahy speaks out so loudly against injustice, whether it takes place inside or outside of our country. is probably the trade i most admire of him. you can occasionally see it in his eyes as he thunders against the denial of an important symbol right war when he speaks of the dangers of trampling on checks and balances or civil liberties in the name of national security. and with the kind of criticism he has earned over the years from people like dick cheney. [laughter] including some nine bridges that i won't repeat here. it is ob

i usually disagree with ted kennedy's policies that have always admired his capacity to lead. this death is a bold but cannot do the kind of backroom discussions with centers that would bring them together -- the stuff is able, but cannot do the discussions. host: we are already getting tweets on your martini recipe. it is always a pleasure. thank you both for being here. the cover of this magazine, the latest edition -- the best and brightest blow it again. joining us from new york at the top of the are, former congressman tom davis will be with us in a moment to talk politics, health care, and to take your phone calls. happy father's day on this june 21. ♪ >> people did not want to think of roosevelt's conservation and as much as a policy but rather oppression. he put aside over 200 acres of wild america. now people are talking about environmentalism and green movements and roosevelt is becoming the key figure because he was the only politician of the day who understood biology and the migratory patterns of birds and mating habits of dee r, elk, antelope and actually did som

ted kennedy is one. john lewis is another, and so is the man i am privileged to introduce this morning, senator patrick leahy of vermont. [applause] a is the son of irish and italian parents in vermont, a state where his parents once used to see signs like "no irish need apply" or "no catholics need apply," during a less oppressive era, i suspect patrick leahy knows what it feels like to sometimes feel like an outsider in the land of your birth. i believe it is a major reason why he speaks out so loudly against injustice, whether it takes place inside or outside our country. it is probably the trait nanaimo's did mire. -- the trade i most admire. you can occasionally see it in his eyes as you see hihim speakf the dangers of checks and balances for civil liberties in the name of national security, and with the kind of criticism he has turned over the years from people like dick cheney, including some language i will not repeat here, it is obvious he has been remarkably effective. even with senator leahy h

and i can't tell you how proud i am to be involved in it in the name of ted kennedy, in the name of others who is come before us, mike defin dewine of ohio who championed this along with henry waxman in the other body and the thousands of organization whose have joined us today. mr. durbin: i thank the senator from connecticut for his leadership on this issue. just a few week he had historic legislation on credit card reform. senator enzi, thank you for making this a true bipartisan effort. we wouldn't be here today without your cooperative effort and i thank senator dodd for invoking the name of our great hero, ted kennedy, who really started this fight. in just a few minutes, this senate will make a historic decision and i think they'll make the right decision. joe camel will be given a life sentence and put away forever and we're going to give our kids and our families across america a fighting chance for a better life. this bill is historic. it's been a long time coming. thank you for all your hard work to make it possible. mr. dodd: i yield the floor. y mr. enzi: mr. president? the pr

ted kennedy was our champion and our inspiration for years and years on this issue. he hung in there and fought for this when a lot of people had given up. ted never gave up when it gets to the issues that are in his heart and soul. he fought as long as he possibly could. we're continuing that fight today, and he handed the banner over to senator dodd, who's done an extraordinarily good job on this bill. he's been called into action here on the senate floor repeatedly. just a few weeks ago he passed the credit card reform act after more than 20 years of trying. finally got it done, a dramatic change in the law to protect consumers and families across america. and now today, with the passage of this -- well, at least the movement of this bill forward toward passage this week, we're going to be able to protect millions of children and americans from deadly tobacco-related disease. i thank senator dodd for his leadership. i commend this bill to my colleagues. this is our moment in history. let's not miss it. let's seize this opportunity to create protection for a lot of

but the personal element doing it for ted kennedy is very important. hoich but the phone calls were somewhat frosty. guest: they were. and those conversations were not just between the two. conversations going back and forth, jacques was the first establish -- jauk was the first to -- john kerry was the first. but the kennedies decided there had always been tension between the kenddi's and the clintons, really. there was sort of a rival claim to being the spiritual leaders of the party, and that rupttur was very real and painful, at least from the clinton side. i think it was difficult for the kenddi's too. >> did the selection of joe biden surprise you? >> i will admit to being surprised. knowing that they had tensions in the senate, senator biden was the chairman of the foreign relations committee, been there for decades. he did not really treat this young senator with a big profile very well. he treated whim some disdain. and that came out in the campaign and the primary process when biden himself was a candidate. they obviously set that aside. the

i have had the privilege of working with his youngest brother, ted kennedy. he will hold hearings on the nomination of obama of sonia sotomayor to be the associate justice of the supreme court of the united states. i have my chief counsel here, we're going to get her informed -- confirmed. you better believe we will get her confirmed. take that to the bank. think of the number of firsts in her nomination. the first nominee in over a century to be nominated by three different presidents. goerge h.w. -- george h.w. bush, clinton, and now obama to the supreme court. and the first hispanic. being the first is not very easy. but you may be the first person to go to law school or college. i became the first one to receive a college degree. she graduated summa cum laude. she began her career as a prosecutor in new york city, the district attorney of manhattan was a wonderful [unintelligible] i remember when bill clinton nominated her, the republicans controlled the senate, and they put a hold on the nomination. they place an anonymous call on her -- hold on her, but

thank, representative waxman, representative dodd, -- senator dodd, and most importantly, senator ted kennedy be here today. [applause] and the legislation i am signing today represents a change that has been decades in the making. since the middle of the last century, we have known about the deadly effects of tobacco products. more than 400,000 americans now die of tobacco related illnesses each year, making it the leading cause of preventable deaths in the united states. more than 8 million americans suffer from at least one serious illness caused by smoking. these health problems caused us all more than $100 billion a year. what is even worse are the effects on our children. one out of every five children in our country are now current smokers by the time believe high school. think about that statistic. one out of every five children are smokers by the time the live -- leave high school. i know how difficult it can be to break the habit when it has been with you for a long time. i know that kids do not just start smoking for no reason. they are aggressively targeted as customers by the tob

ted kennedy, who cannot be here today. this legislation represents change decades in the making. since the middle of last century we have known about the deadly effects of tobacco products. 400,000 die every year, making this the legal will cause of preventable death in the united states. nearly 8 million merit -- million americans suffer from something caused by smoking, and this costs us over $100 billion a year. even worse is the effect on our children. one out of every five children are current smokers by the time they leave high school. every day over 1000 children become smokers, much of this began before the 18th birthday. i was one of those teenagers and i know how difficult this habit can be to break. and i know that children do not begin for no reason. they are targeted by the tobacco industry, and are exposed. raj of advertising where they live and learn and play. the offer products that mask the taste of tobacco. we have known about this for decades, but despite the efforts of so many advocates, tobacco industry has generally won the day on the hill. when henry waxman

that is, the bill proffered by our colleague, senator ted kennedy. senator kennedy has been a leader in the health care reform debate for more than four decades. i appreciate the fact he is the first democrat on either end of pennsylvania avenue, who has actually put out a proposal with some detail for us to evaluate and to react to. while more dills ar details are, we already know there are some red lines, some hot spots, some areas, if embraced by the democratic leadership, will result in failure, not in success. i think we all should be invested in the goal of bipartisan success. in fact, there are some provisions in the kennedy bill that would make things worse, in my view and the view of others and i think if there's one thing we should do, mr. president, that is tip the hippocratic oath, the same oath that medical practitioners take, to do no harm. we should take a legislative hippocratic oath to, first, do no harm as we undertake this massive reform. for example, in the kennedy bill it describes a plan called -- quote -- "a public health insura

ted kennedy is one of them, this is the person i am privileged to introduce this morning. patrick leahy of vermont. [applause] as the son of irish and italian parents, in vermont, where his father saw signs that said, no irish need to apply, i suspect that he understands firsthand what it means to sometimes feel like an outsider. this is a major reason why he is speaking now so loudly against injustice, whether this is inside or outside of the country. this is the trade that is most admired. you can see this as the defenders against the denial of an important civil right, or when he is speaking about traveling on checks and balances for civil liberty. and with the kind of criticism that he has earned from people like dick cheney, including language i will not repeat here, it is obvious that he has been remarkably affective. when he was targeted for terrorism, being under the police guard, he never set aside his principles. he was with us when there was a vigil at the national japanese american memorial to patriotism. he spoke out on behalf of the americans, who were state

as far as this idea of socialized medicine, if we are all going on socialized medicine, and ted kennedy along with the other rich congressmen and politicians are under the same system, make sure that everybody is the same. sometimes in america we have to hear the word no. if we eliminated all of these health insurers, coverage programs. if we eliminated them and a person walk into a hospital and needed care, wouldn't the hospital have to lower care costs to meet the current demand of the consumer as far as, you couldn't charge $20 for an aspirin. you would have to lower it down. these insurance companies, if you walk in with blue cross the doctor's eyes light up like they hit the lottery. but if i wanted to buy a hamburger far -- from a store, and the person so that for $10, nobody would buy it and they would be out of business. guest: very interesting. is the emergency room the most cost-effective way to do it? it costs a lot more than if you had to go a different way. as far as health insurance companies, one problems consumers face is blue cross may not take the coverage. i think the

he is sitting in for senator ted kennedy who is being treated for cancer. that is c-span3 at 10:00 a.m. eastern. it as the supreme court comes to an end, here supreme court justice chief bob burt's speak -- chief roberts speak. live coverage on c-span saturday morning and 9:00 a.m. eastern. president obama held his fourth news conference yesterday at the white house. but of the questions in this hourlong event for about health care and iran. >> we have been outraged by the beatings and imprisonment that have gone over the last few days in iran. we are morning each and every innocent life that is lost. i have made it clear that the united states respects the sovereignty of the islamic republic of iran and is not interfering with their affairs. we must also bear witness to the courage and dignity of the iranian people and the openings in iranian society. they are trying to have a debate about their future. some in iran -- iran government are trying to avoid that debate by accusing the united states and others in the west of instigating protests over the elect

cbo as i think you know scoring ted kennedy's bill as costing over a trillion dollars and yet it is still only going to ensure about a third of the uninsured. i realize you said that his bill and not your bills. doesn't that go for the old health care form in general. >> how so? >> if you spend that amount of money in the ballpark of the administration. >> in reading stories on this, i think it's clear that this is an old proposal, and incomplete proposal. i think what's important is what the president outlined yesterday in his speech to the doctors, that we know clearly what the cost of an action is. we know what the cost is to the federal budget. we know what it is to the state budget. we know what it is to the budgets of families and businesses, large and small. and that an action is something we simply can't afford. the president i think has laid out strong principles that he believes should be contained in legislation so that we can see significant cost savings for families and small businesses that are struggling, but again, i think this has many twists and turns to go and you have

finally, senator ted kennedy recorded a camping spot for chris dodd. in the ad senator kennedy says in part that quality health care is a fundamental right for all americans. chris dodd has been his closest ally in that fight. kennedy is being treated for a brain tumor. those of some of the latest headlines. "washington journal" continues. host: cover the pentagon for "the washington post" for many years. he is now out with a book called "by his own rules: the ambitions, successes and ultlimate failures of donald rumsfeld" -- how did donald rumsfeld view the role of public service? guest: he was very interested in public service from a very young age, inspired in college when it advice stevenson came to talk to his graduate in class. that was at princeton. stevenson urged all the students to use their educations to put them to work in public service. not long afterward donald rumsfeld ran for congress and became the youngest republican member in 1960 and believed in public service. he served not only in congress, but also in the nixon and ford administ

none more than senator ted kennedy. senator kennedy has been our leader on this issue. unfortunately, his personal health struggle prevents him from joining us regularly. and he may not be here for the vote today. but we wouldn't have reached this point without him. his dogged determination to reduce the number of tobacco-related deaths and illnesses of in america -- illnesses in america has really brought us to this moment in history. we will be voting with him in mind as we should. thanking senator chris dodd, who once again, has stepped in in an extraordinary way, just as he did with credit card reform, in passing a bill that had been decades in the making, again, senator dodd has been called in at the last moment and has done a spectacular job on the floor of the senate to move this bill forward. i'm hoping that we can pass this and get it enacted into law. it will save lives. but you can't blame tobacco for all of the faults in our health care system. there are many parts that need to be addressed. the u.s. spends about 17% of its g.d.p., gross domestic product, on

the main players are ted kennedy and max baucus. they are realistic that single- payer will not fly. this president is more pragmatic than thinking he would just push it through. host: our guest is also an author. if you read about something about two months ago concerning china, and the u.s. currency. it is complicated but you say we must be careful. you say it china owns an awful lot of the u.s. guest: i am not a financial expert. i started focusing on it since last september. but i have been reading and talking to experts. mark wolfe of "the financial times" anticipated this would happen. he is the chief financial correspondent, columnist for the paper. he identified this problem. the problem in housing in america including corruption and subprime loans was the product of several things one of which was the extraordinary flood of capital because china, japan, other parts of asia and the middle east were saving more than they could spend. then the fed loosened of the money. also, as that imbalance between us and china grew, the ch

health, labor, education. 10 kit -- ted kennedy has been the chairman but he has not been healthy enough to oversee that. his staff for a bill that was very partisan. it has rationing, the government running health insurance, mandates formed lawyers to pay for -- mandates for employers to pay for policies. on the finance committee, there has been more discussion. we had a lot of meetings where we talk about this. the bill is not being written with republican input. >> last week i was speaking with finance democrats, they insisted that max baucus and chuck grassley, but i am wondering if they are grasping at straws. trying to grab for olympia snowe, maybe a couple of others. does not sound like to me you will pick up a bipartisan vote. >> you are exactly right. charles grassley has been given no authority to negotiate anything. he has said that while his staff has spoken to senator baucus, he is not negotiating with max baucus. we have not had a republican meeting to decide the republican position. it may reflect the fact that i know that our democratic friends know what a lot of us are t

senator ted kennedy will not be part of the debate because of chemotherapy treatment.e hopes to be back in july for floor debate on the issue. also, california republican becomes the ranking member of the house armed services committee. for the next hour on our program we will take a look at economic principles of the obama administration, specifically applied to banks. the papers this morning talk about several banks that have received tarp funds given them back. other stories related to executive pay. for our ohour we want to get a sense from you about how the administration is handling things. we want you to give a grade to the administration on it. e-mails or twitter us. re-the administration on its bank policy and its handling of banks. this morning a look at several banks that are returning tarp money lent to them. "the new york times" and others rightabout this and the net result of having lent to the banks. here are the results -- banks the return taxpayers' money will remain dependent on other forms of government aid, among them are enhanced deposit insurance,

a few years ago i watched ted kennedy and dan quayle meet in the floor of the senate and a sort of grabbedach other and hugged each other. there were so happy to see each other, and their faces were like this are a part. there were talking and laughing and hugging and grinding together. i was up in the press gallery saying get a room. i do not want to see you two. these are the politicians and the people who run our country. the fact is, they would not do it if they did not care about the country. the life is actually not a glamorous. we in the public are sometimes a little too suspicious of them. they have their failings. they have a fear of being alone. they travel in packs. they are like emotional for year-old, but they do care about the country. the country is now led by one of the most remarkable politicians i have ever met, barack obama. [applause] i met him early on when he came to the senate before he had achieved messiah status. i see him in off the record settings once a month since he has become president. i had a chance to have dinner with him a few weeks ago at a columnist's h

his book "how philip morris burned ted kennedy and the antitobacco movement," this is no fan of tobacco. this is a guy that's calling balls and strikes. he's one person that's more concerned about the public health in this country and making sure that what we do accomplishes good public health policy that he's willing to be outspoken. he goes on in his book and he says "the process of validating new, reduced risk products appears to be designed to prevent such products from ever reaching the marketplace, thus giving smokers the start and for man the impossible choice of quit or die." you might remember that part. we can now call the continuum of risk "quit or die." rather than making smoking safer for those who continue to smoke, it will deny smokers access to new products that might literally save their lives. that is hardly a sterling prescription for good public health. if the objective is public health, h.r. 125 smalls way short. even if the idea of f.d.a. regulation were good in theory and practice, several things, including the f.d.a.'s competence in tobacco policy and science, it

, the senate health community with senator chris dodd acting as chairman sitting in for senator ted kennedy who is being treated for cancer, that is on c-span 3. president obama will have a press conference at the white house at 12:30 p.m. you can see that live on c-span2. >> how is c-span funded? >> donations? >> a little bit from the federal government. >> federal grants and stuff like that. >> dog food? >> government funding. >> viewers? >> 30 years ago america's cable companies created c-span as a public-service. no government mandate, no government money. now a senate republican conference meeting on the economic effect of the so-called cap and trade energy proposals and a look at the future of nuclear power plants. this is an hour and a half. [inaudible conversations] >> the hearing will come to order, we welcome all of our witnesses and others who are here. i am senator bob bennett from utah, i joined by senator lamar alexander from tennessee and senator jim bunting from kentucky and we are expecting some other senators to join us in the time period we have, we are planning to run un

christopher dodd of connecticut is acting chairman stepping in for ted kennedy who is being treated for cancer this is three hours. [inaudible conversations]tñ >> committee will come to order. we have a quorum present and i think my colleagues for being here this morning and the me say yesterday was a long day of opening statements but i think worthwhile and given the magnitude of the legislation and the importance of it, i recommended a time in a row and obviously i wasn't too rigid to put it mildly about that a doll. members i hope felt they had an adequate time to express themselves on the overriding issues and concerns for what we are confronting with all this so i thank them and was happy to spend the time and probably ought to give a special award to jeff bingaman since he was the only member who did not make an opening statement yesterday but was involved in both committees, on the finance as well as running back and forth as a day between both committees as they were working. senator, by unanimous consent your salmon as long as you want to be will be included in the record along

know it was championed by first senator paul wellstone and carried through to fruition by senator ted kennedy and pete domenici. it will provide parity for about 130 million people across the country, including 82 million people enrolled in self-funded plans. so it couldn't have come at a better time with our nation poised to enact meaningful health care reform under an -- a fantastic new administration with one that faces many new issues and challenges. i know we're all aware of that, but they have a commitment to reforming the health care system. so we have tremendous opportunities now that broaden our coalition to help create a guiding light and a changing agenda. there are some within the health care debate that may not want to reform mental health care. because mental health care can last a lifetime, they believe the cost of treating these conditions is one that we as a nation cannot afford, so they are raising the cost issue. you and i know differently. we know the cost is in ignoring these conditions. it is going to be far more expensive to ignore these conditions in the long run. but

senator chris dodd sitting in for senator ted kennedy. this is two hours. [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon everyone. i think with that the requisite number of members here to begin to proceed. let me thank all of the common you for being here and we will continue with the markup of the affordable health choice zizek. let me thank everyone. last week i felt it was productive. we had a long productive day. was here for seven hours of opening statements in made progress on the quality missions of the bill, title ii of the bill. i wanted thank the staff. they worked all weekend. mike enzi's staff and senator kennedy's staff and others on primarily i think on the prevention section. they reduced it down to i think seven teams are so as they were explaining it to me so i am very grateful to the staff and others to spend a good part of all of the weekend trying to win the down and resolve and reach agreement on as many proposals as they could. senator mikulski will be here and a couple of minutes. what i thought i would do at the outset briefly before t

they propose and plans when they themselves to live by it -- like ted kennedy going to do university to medical care. why did he go to a regular health care clinic like everyone else? they want people to live under certain plants and certain ways of living but yet they exempt themselves, it is obvious everywhere you look. host: one other comment from a viewer who said in this, for years we have only paid cash for what we need, credit cards used rarely. still hurts but we may not feel as much pain as others. thank you for all of your calls and comments on the economy. when we come back, the federal reserve board meeting in washington today and tomorrow. what is next for fed policy? the perspective from john taylor. and in the next hour, senator john mccain and linda douglass from the white house and finally bob schieffer from cbs news all ahead this tuesday morning, june 23. "washington journal" continues. >> july 4 weekend on "book tv." discover unfamiliar side of the nation's first president as we are live from george washington's mount vernon estate historian and author on the asce

other cosponsors are senator dick durbin, senator judd gregg, ted kennedy, richard burr, chris

senator paul wellstone and carry through to fruition and by senator pete to medici and senator ted kennedy and it will provide a protection for about 113 million people across the country. ..

the two main committees working on the bill are the health education committee, ted kennedy is the chairman, although he has not been healthy enough to oversee that. his staff has written a bill that's a very partisan, there is no republican input. it has a government run health insurance, rationing, it has the mandate that employers have to either pay for policies or they will be fined and so on. it is very left-wing policies from my perspective. the finance committee, there has been more discussion and we have had a lot of meetings where we have talked about this. but the bill is not being written with republican input. republicans have not ever sat down and said here is what we believe about x, y, and see. we have had general conversations back and forth and democrats know full well what our views are. they may or may not take into account those views when they write the bill, but we are not being asked to write the bill. the bill the chairman comes up with and says this is my mark, now let's and it, will not be a bipartisan product. >> just last week was talking to some finance democrat

senator max baucus, also the head of aarp and senator christopher dodd who is taking over for senator ted kennedy in supervising as chairman of the house committee hearings continue this week. it points out the lobby for drug companies, pharmaceutical research manufacturing organization said it pledged $80 billion of 10 years to help reform are troubled health-care system. the commitment came in a deal with the white house and senator max baucus, democrat of montana and chairman of the finance committee. but further in the story, senate aides and drug company lobbyists say the $80 billion reflected total projected savings to the health care system and included unspecified future concessions, besides the drug discounts and the coverage gap. some reflects savings to the government, some reflects savings to older americans, but all the savings from closing the so-called bill mudhole would go to beneficiaries, and not to the government. flint, michigan. good morning. caller: good morning. host: we will be in your town next week. what is the situation like? caller: i would like to talk about the banks

senator ted kennedy has long been a leader on this issue. i know he want to sea legs passed to end the ban -- to sea legs passed to end the ban. i will do all i can to support those efforts. we will see justice -- not just in the military but also for gay and lesbian families. last week, president obama took a first step toward ending inequality of gay an and lesbian families for benefits for federal employees. same sex pans can be included in the federal long-term care insurance program. now, any employee will be able to use sick leave to care for a same-sex partner. just as an low can make, take tyke off to care for an opposite sex spouse. i applaud the president for being -- beginning to tear down the inequities. while this executive order represents an important initial step there is so much more to be done, mr. president. the u.s. government is far behind the private sector on this front. large number of fortune 500 companies already offer comprehensive benefits to sakes-sex couples. they have done so for many years. sometimes more than

i once watched ted kennedy and dan quayle meet in the well of the senate, on the floor of the senate and they grabbed each other and hugged each other. and they were so happy to see each other and their faces were like this far apart and they were talking and laughing and hugging and grinding together. i was up there in the press gallery saying get a room. i do not want to see you two. but these are politicians and these are people who run our country. the fact is -- [laughter] for better or worse. the fact is they wouldn't do it if they didn't care about the country. the life is actually not that glamorous. and they wouldn't do it unless they thought they were doing some good. and we in the public are sometimes a little too suspicious of them. but they really -- they have their failings. they have a fear of being alone. they travel in packs. sometimes they're like emotional 4-year-olds. but they do care about the country. and the country is now led by one of the most in fact the most remarkable politician i've ever met. barack obama. [cheers and applause] i met him early on when he

steve, i want to chastise you for bringing up ted kennedy and setting up a question forc -- for cantor to respond to for us not all having the availability and technical equipment. what a nasty thing for you to do. maybe we should ask the question of cantor, too bad we cannot all have your kind of insurance. but you know what? shame on both of you. we all need insurance or rather we all need care for our health. host: i appreciate your comment. i should point out the question did not come from me, as your question came from you. that was a comment from a viewer and a question we have had from others as well. caller: i see. host: this is the chance to you -- for use at the dialogue. and you hung up, so we will go to you this from charlotte, n.c. -- eunice from charlotte, north carolina. on a cut in regards to the morality issue, i have a german sang it is better to have standards rather than none at all -- caller: in regards to the morality issue, i have heard a gentleman say it is better to have standards rather than none at all. i lived in south carolina and graduated from south carol

because, of of of a bipartisan compromise that could have become a lasting legacy for a dear friend ted kennedy. before a focus on some of my broad policy concerns and want to spend a minute on process. we're getting ready to debate a large the legislation probably the most important legislation of our service here. something that will affect one sixth of our total american economy and the impact every american life. we have a bill that is incomplete, no final cbo scores, not technical assistance from hhs or cms and we are still headed full speed ahead. those things are absolutely mandatory. if you're going to do good legislation of that to know where you're going and certainly have to have those kind of scores and technical assistance for people who deal with these problems every day. and even though we might not agree with some of the conclusions that they made it is extremely important that we have the best ideas we can and those people who are in the best position to give them. why? what are we rushing so much? what are we trying to hide. this is a much more serious situation than that ill-

on the senate side, this legislation passing is a real tribute also to the leadership of senator ted kennedy. it's really a great day. it's moment us, it's historic. we can't say that all the time about the legislation that we pass here. we certainly -- it would be impossible to exaggerate the importance of what is happening here today. today we have an opportunity to protect public health and prevent disease, and today we have an opportunity to honor our responsibility to our children to protect them from the harm that can come to them from the use of tobacco. madam speaker, tobacco was the number one cause of preventable deaths in the united states. according to the centers for disease control, it is responsible for about one in five or 443 deaths annually. again, i want to acknowledge the great work of chairman waxman and chairman dingell and chairman pallone. we passed this bill before easter. hopefully it will pass the senate so we can now pass the bill and send it to the president's desk for his signature. mr. oberstar in his role in transportation and understanding how we had to get s

which really is going to be, if we're going to socialize medicine and i want to make sure that ted kennedy and all of the other rich congressman and rich politicians are under the same system, make sure that everybody is the same and you know that would not be the case. the third issue is sometimes we have to your the word now. sometimes -- this is my question to the cast -- if we eliminated and i am not being facetious, if we eliminated all of these health insurers, all your coverage programs and eliminated them across the country and a person walk into a hospital and needed care, wouldn't the hospital have to lower their care costs to make the current demand of of the consumer like as far as you cannot charge $20 for an aspirin or that person could not afford to pay a city would have two laureate and to me it seems like the insurance companies, if you walk in with blue cross blue shield the doctors live up lucky hit the lottery and he starts taking these tests, it is paid for but if the consumer, if i wanted to buy a hamburger from a store and the person sold the hamburger for $10 nobody

ted kennedy is the chairman though he hasn't been healthy enough to oversee a lot of that.ut his staff has written a bill that is very partisan. there was no republican input. and it has the government run health insurance, the rationing board, the mandate that the employers have to either pay for policies or else they are fined. and so on. very left wing policies from my perspective. in the finance committee, there has been more discussion. we've had a lot of meetings where we're talked about this. but the bill is not being written with republican input. republicans have not ever -- any republican input? >> republicans on the committee have never sat down and said, ok, here's what we believe about x, y, and z. we've had general conversations back and forth and democrats i think know full well what our views are. they may or may not take into account those bills. but we're not being asked to write the bill with them. the bill that the president -- that the chairman comes up with and says this is my mark, now let's amend it, will not be a bipartisan product. >> senator, just

one has been more dedicated, worked harder or longer to see this day on the floor than senator ted kennedy and i wt to thank him for it. i hope once this bill gains cloture we will pass it swiftly and it will become the law of the land. and it will, in fact, save lives. i'd like to make three main points. the first is, the tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in this country. the second is the huge financial cost to tobacco. and, finally, the relationship between tobacco and cancer. we know that tobacco harms the health of americans. those who use cigarettes and those who are exposed to second-hand smoke. but i think what most people don't know is that every year 400,000 americans die from tobacco use. that makes tobacco the leading preventable cause of death in the united states. killing more people each year than hiv-aids, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle accidents, suicides, and murders -- combined. that's why it is the leading preventable cause of death. in california, every year, 36,600 adults die from their smoking. in michigan, the number is 14,500. in new y