ranking member thune asked a good question. how are we going to decide which of these projects, whether it is $13 million or 5 funded million dollars, how we decide which projects should be given priority? i suggest we create a national infrastructure bank staffed by professionals, not necessarily professionals, all of them in transportation, it could be members of congress. rank project on what they do for transporting people, the effect on climate change, all of those things, an independent ranking system because the public does not want transportation dollars authorized to the same old system and certainly not for project on this magnitude. how are we going to pay for it? $13 billion as ranking member thune said, is a lot of money but it is a drop in the bucket. how will be paid for a high-speed rail system in this country? 2 ways. recommend the congress consider using some of the money that comes from national climate change to do just that. what better way could we help our climate in getting cars off the road, trucks off

thune: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without t objection, so ordered. mr. thune: mr. president, while i have the floor, i did want to express, because i didn't have an opportunity to this morning, we had a cloture vote on the nomination of harold koh to be the next u.s. state department legal advisor. and i wanted to express some of my views and the concerns that i have. now, obviously cloture was invoked this morning. my guess is ultimately he will have the votes to be confirmed here, but we have an opportunity now in the postcloture period to talk a little bit about this nominee. and i have to say, mr. president, that, again, this is an important position. if confirmed for this position, mr. koh would be "the" top lawyer at the state department and would be involved in the negotiation, the drafting, and the interpretation of treaties in u.n. security council resol

. >> thank you, chairman lautenberg, senator thune, senator hutchinson and members of the congress. it's an honor to appear here on behalf of president obama, vice president biden and secretary lahood to discuss the future of high-speed rail. the obama administration has a vision that ensures safe and efficient transportation choices. one that builds a foundation for economic competitiveness, one that promotes energy efficiency, environmental quality and one that supports interconnected livable communities. and in each case passenger rail is an integral part of that vision. in many cases even modest investment in existing right ofways can result in high-speed rail with competitive trip times and continued rails unmatched safety records. transportation is the lifeblood of any economy. and not only will the high-speed rail vision improve mobility, but obviously the construction will create many short-term jobs but more more importantly the sustained investment will revitalize domestic rail suppliers in the manufacturing industry. rail is already among the cleanest and most energy effi

i want to pick up on senator thune's comments about the funding. senator thune, i just wanted to pick up on your points about the funding because it's very critical. this $13 billion standing alone just can go so far. but in my state we had an election about putting in $9 billion funding package, and the people voted aye which was kind of remarkable given the latest votes that we had. so, you know, the people there really understand it. and our system, and i think -- i bet most everybody in this room has been to my state. it will eventually connect sacramento, our state capital, to san diego in the south. that is the first phase will be between los angeles and san francisco, points in between. i also want to point out the private sector has to be leveraged into this too. in california we're working with the private sector so you take the $13 billion, you add the $9 billion from my state, hopefully billions from other states, and hopefully billions from the private sector that you can get involved in it. and it starts to look like something on the s

i also want to thank ranking member -- there we go, ranking member thune and all of the senators forbeing here today and the interest that you have in this project in our state and these projects across the country. i believe this it technology will support transportation immobility in the united states, and i know am by no means alone. governor rendell made the good point about high-speed inner city rail to find $185 miles an hour and higher is we think the most important thing to remember is when you talk about high-speed rail is evidence by the examples around the world. projects that actually work that provide real significant potential -- to reduce potential -- reduce the congestion in our crowded skies and highways, reduce carbon emissions, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, stimulate and orchestrate economic development across the country right now. i was not invited here to talk about the preaching to the choir, though, for high-speed rail. you are aware of the benefits and we talked about that today. i was brought here more to discuss how close we are to seeing these bene

senator thune was previously chair. we have made the changes and we are happy to call on them for comment and we'll take questions if there are any. john, why don't you lead off? >> thank you. i want to thank my colleagues for giving me the opportunity to continue as party chair. i think they have given us a lot of opportunity to work with, whether proposing the largest tax increase in american history, spending it at unprecedenced levels, adding an energy tax, nationalizing america with the healthcare system, calling for more unionization. there are so many things out there that i think create opportunity for us to point out the distinctions between our vision of the future and ours. i look forward to not just challenging democrats on the things we think they are doing wrong, but also advocating a positive agenda for america's future to help address the problems and challenges the american people are facing. i'm looking forward to working with the team. i want to congratulate senator murkowski for joining this leadersh

so thank you and good luck. >> thank you, senator thune. >> thank you, senator thune. >> let me dive in, if i may, with just a few brief questions. first about erate. this is a provision in the '96 act that senator rockefeller and senator snowe worked on. just one of the things the chairman is very proud of because of the effectiveness in closing the digital divide. when the telecom act of '96 was passed, only 14% of the classrooms in the country and 5% of classrooms in low income communities had access to the internet. thanks to the e-rate program, today more than 90% of all classrooms have access to the internet. the question would be do you support the e-rate program as it's currently laid out in the statute? >> yes, sir. >> and do you think there should be any modifications, either changes or enhancements to it or do you think it ought to just stay as is? >> well, i've called for early this year complete audit, like i said before, of all fcc operations, financial operational, everything. and that would include e-rate and the whole use of funds. not for any particular reason, but

chairman, ranking member thune, ranking member hutchinson and members of the subcommittee, thank youor the opportunity to discuss high-speed inner city passenger rail and the american recovery and reinvestment act. the $8 billion provided by the act for high speed and other inner city passenger rail projects have focused more attention on and generated a great deal of anticipation about the possibility of developing high-speed rail systems in the united states. my testimony has two parts. i will discuss the factors that we have identified that affect the economic viability of high-speed rail projects and how f.r.a. strategic plan incorporates these factors. first, while the potential benefits of high-speed rail projects are many, these projects are costly, take years to develop and build and require substantial upfront public investment as well as potentially long-term operating subsidies. determining which, if any, high-speed rail projects may eventually be economically viable will rest on the factors such as ridership potential, cost and public benefits. high-speed rail is more lik

thune: thank you, mr. chairman, for calling this timely hearing and we've got a dwibbed panel i want to welcome as well and look forward to hearing from all of you. my state is one of the few in the country that doesn't have passenger rail and you have to hearken back a long ways in theages of history to a time -- in the anals of history to a time when we did. i recall my father who is now almost 90, talking about back in the 1930's taking the railroad from my hometown about 130 to 140 miles, that was a fairly frequent thing, people at that time traveled by passenger rail a lofment it's been some time since we had that in south dakota. we're dependent on freight railroading. i can probably approach this issue more dispassionately than most, since it's not something we have in our state, though maybe with the stimulus money we could get some. that would be nice. it is an opportunity, obviously, the fund that's been made available for high speed rail and the -- in the president's budget, nottle on the stimul

thune: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, there is a disturbing pattern that is emerging in washington, d.c., which i don't think is being lost on the american people. we've seen since the beginning of this year with the new administration coming to power, the new congress taking control of the leadership in both the house and the senate, an enormous, unprecedented amount of spending, borrowing, and taxing and i think that the -- to bear that out, i guess this piece of information has been used before -- if you look at the numbers, you have to go back a long ways in american history, back to the foundation of our country, back to 1789 and take it up through today, 2009, 220 years of american history, the total amount of debt that has been accumulated over that period of time, literally since the presidency of george washington through the presidency of george bush will be equaled in the next five years. we will double the amount of federal debt, public debt, in this country in the next five years. mr. president, we

thune will be policy chair and senator murkowski will replace him as senator conference by share. the announcement came at a news conference in the capital. >> good afternoon, a one to introduce you to our two newly elected officials. we're pleased to welcome them to the team. they were already there in a sense. senator tune was vice chair and she was by my department at the leadership table. we have now made these changes and doned i'm happy to call on m for questions. >> thank you, leader. i want to thank my colleagues for giving me the opportunity to serve as policy committee chair. i am very much looking forward to continue working with the leadership team as we shape an agenda that i think will move america forward and serve as a counter to some of the agenda items we think will be detrimental. i think they have given us a lot of opportunity to work, whether proposing the largest tax increase, spending at unprecedented levels, putting on a new energy tax, nationalizing one sixth of the economy with health care system, taking ownership interest in now over 500 companies. there

>> yes. >> good afternoon, chairman lautenberg, ranking member thune, and members of the committee. thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify today. in 2005 are appointed to the national surface transportation policy in revenue steady commission by senate majority leader harry reid. in january 2008 after 2 years of meetings, hearings and research, our commission recommended to congress a vision for transportation policy and funding in america. a new vision which includes a framework that will reformat hopefully revolutionize the way we do transportation policy and funding for the next 50 years. one of the recommendations was substantive reform of our passenger rail system. over the next half century the united states is projected to ed 1 fifty million new residents, 50% increase over its current population. this increase will cause travel to grow at even greater rate than the population will. we will need to provide new choices which require a cultural shift for the traveling public. we presented our report to congress in january of 2008, we recommended that the entire coun

thune: thank you, mr. chairman, for calling this timely hearing and we've got a dwibbed panel i want to welcome as well and look forward to hearing from all of you. my state is one of the few in the country that doesn't have passenger rail and you have to hearken back a long ways in theages of history to a time -- in the anals of history to a time when we did. i recall my father who is now almost 90, talking about back in the 1930's taking the railroad from my hometown about 130 to 140 miles, that was a fairly frequent thing, people at that time traveled by passenger rail a lofment it's been some time since we had that in south dakota. we're dependent on freight railroading. i can probably approach this issue more

thank you all very much. >> senator thune. thank you very much.d talk about that a bit earlier. we have to propose some legislation that it fixes that. but let me ask mr. babbitt, if -- if, in fact, the recommendation had been made -- now, you weren't there but the ntsb had made the recommendation to the faa, what, two years ago? >> the recommendation was actually made a number of years ago. but an advisory circular came out, to their credit, which suggested that this can be done by having the waiver signed. we would like to see it -- >> well, i understand that. you can go get a signature on a waiver form but you had recommended i believe that the faa do a rule-making and proceed to allow an easy access to the complete records of the pilot just as they have easy access to the complete records of the airplane. now, i guess, mr. babbitt, based on your knowledge of the culture of the faa, why a couple of years after this recommendation was made would the faa not initiated a rule-making? >> to be honest with you, i can't answer that. i don't know why

also this morning, related to the shakeup of the republican leadership, talking about senator john thune wants to replace ensign in the hierarchy, and alaska senator lisa morehouse state seeking to be the vice chair of the senate republican conference as a senator john thune click to move up to the policy chair in the senate leadership. >> is greg from franklin, virginia. independent line. caller: i think it is a little disgruntled -- or it seems that we are putting all the money into the financial institutions for the stimulus package, focusing so much money on financial institutions, when their product is money. so we are giving them their products. apparently there were not good at managing the products. i think the money would have been much better used had it been given to the citizens to stimulate the economy. people don't have money to spend. it sent it is taxpayers' money. if they would have given more of the stimulus money back to the people, then the people could perhaps by -- the scenes like this and the station is in support of big business when that was not with the people v

then senator thune, a member of the republican leadership, has a government ownership exit plan act of 2009. he would require the treasury to sell any ownership of private entity by july 1, 2010 and prohibit additional ownership. well, i think you can get the drift, madam president. we have a number of senators, mostly from this side but cosponsored from the other side, who say the american people are tired of washington take overs. they know that cars aren't going to get better in this country if the government is medaling with them and designing them and building them and making them. i can just imagine what we'll have. we'll have a purple, polka dot car that gets 50 miles per gallon, and will have a windmill on top and a solar panel on the side. and it will have this part made in this congressman's district and that part made in that senator's state. tanned probably won't run file phaoeufs. then what will we do? we'll lower the price to get people to buy it, and we'll have no american automobile industry left. we need to get the government out of the car business, stop that washingt

leadership, we have been talking about shannon there john finan -- we will be talking about senator john thune. and the alaska senator is seeking to be the vice chair as john will move up to the policy chair in the senate and leadership. next is greg from virginia. good morning. caller: yes, i think it is a little -- i am disgruntled. it seems like we are putting all the money into the financial institutions or the stimulus package has focused on financial institutions when their product is money. so we are giving them their product. they were not good at managing their product. the money would have been better used had it been given to citizens to stimulate the economy. people don't have money to spend. if it would have given some of that money back to the people, then the people could use it. but it seems like this a administration is in support of big business when that was not what the people voted for. people voted for change but nothing seems to have changed because big business is still the one reaping the benefit. host: the headline in the washington paper, the situation on the metro s

how we can make that happen, and i turned first to the ranking member on the subcommittee, senator thune and then hear from senator rockefeller and ranking member hutcheson. >> thank you, mr. chairman for calling this hearing and the distinguished panel today i want to welcome my state is one of the few in the country that doesn't have passenger rail and we have to hearken back in history to a time when we did. i recall my father who is now almost 90 talking about taking, back in the 30 staking their railroad from my home town to mitchell which is about 130 or 40 isles and that was a frequent thing and people at the time traveled by rail of lott, passenger rail but it's been some time since we've had the south dakota where we are dependent upon the freight railroading so i can probably approach this issue may be more dispassionately than most since it isn't something we have an outdoor state although maybe with all the stimulus money we could get some. that would be nice. but i want to say it is an opportunity that the funding that's been made available for the high-speed rail in the bud

and i turn first to the ranking member on the subcommittee, senator thune, and then we'll hear from chairmanckefeller and ranking member hutchison. >> thank you, mr. chairman. for calling this very timely hearing and we got a very disti>ñtp'el today that i want to welcome as well. we look forward from hearing from all of you. my state is one of the few in the country that doesn't have passenger rail and you have to harken back a long ways in the annuals of history to a time when we did. i recall my father who's now almost 90 talking about taking the -- back in the '30s taking the railroad from my hometown to mitchell which is 140 miles and that was a fairly frequent thing and people at that time traveled by rail a lot, passenger rail, but it's been some time since we've had that in south dakota. we're very independent on freight railroading so i can probably approach this issue maybe more dispassionately than most since it's not something we have in our state, although maybe with all the stimulus money we could get some. that would be nice. but i do want to -- i want to say that it is an opp

. >> senator thune is next. >> let me echo what has already been said. you all are extremely, extremely qualified. i cannot think of individuals better equipped to serve in the post for which you are here this morning. i want to thank you for that service and also add my appreciation to your families with a sacrifice that they make every day so that you can continue to serve our country with such distinction. i also want to associate myself with remarks made by senator lieberman earlier, and also senator inhofe, with regard to the third site in europe and the dangers posed by the iranian threat. at most pervious made strong comments in that regard. -- at most of it is -- admiral stavridis made strong comments in that regard. it is important that we continue to pursue that undertaking. general mcchrystal, the core of the new af-pak strategy is to destroy extremists and safe havens in afghanistan and pakistan. he would apply from that is not necessary to form a coalition government or reconciliation of political elements in afghanistan, as general petraeus

. >> guest: senator thune was also there briefly at the end but, yeah, there was not a whole lot of republicansthere. >> host: i want to go back to the media ownership before we move on to that. she was very clear about her position on this issue, wasn't she? >> guest: i think so. it was a statement in the form of a question. and i think he responded to it very deftly and didn't raise any hackles with it. >> host: and speaking of senators attending, it did not seem that the full committee was there to attend this hearing. >> guest: i would say maybe half of the members were there for some of the time. in fact, i don't know if you have this on your clips, but senator rockefeller actually got a little angry about senators showing up and asking their questions and leeing. leaving. to be fair, this hearing has been a long time in the making, there's a lot going on in the senate, but still it was not particularly well attended by the -- it was well attended by the immediate ya and lobbyists but not so much the members. >> host: why? >> guest: you know, it's the problems surrounding the delay for gen

dollars per facility it should provide it summer between the 300 and $400 million in new revenue for thune safety activities. let's put this be into context. in the peter pan outbreak, the average cost per victim reporting and no less was $2,650. and this is based on an estimate using the economic research service cost calculator, so when there is an outbreak consumers who are affected may pay over $2,500 or more. these are individuals, so clearly a thousand dollar fee on each facility to avoid these problems is more than reasonable. especially when compared to the cost of individuals and families that you have had here before this committee testifying on a severe impact of foodborne illness. in addition, i would just like to note that companies themselves can run advertising campaigns to promote their products that run into the tense and even hundreds of millions of dollars. to conclude, i just want to say that the polling has shown that the public has lost confidence in the safety of food and. the percentage of consumers confidence in food safety fell to about 22%, according to the unive

. >> senator thune. >> i want to thank you for calling the hearing and thank our panelists for being here, especially you mr. mauer. our condolences to you and your family and all the families, very tragic incidents. i applaud you for committing yourself to making sure this doesn't happen two any other families. thank you for your efforts and the courageous work you are doing. coming from a state like mine, we have a heavy reliance on regional airlines and a play in a poor role in transporting passengers from smaller communities who otherwise would not have scheduled air service and while i don't think again that we can, no one is arguing we should take our overall aviation safety record for granted, i believe there is room for improvement and we want to ensure that the faa and airlines are doing everything they can to improve the overall safety record when it comes not only to regional airlines but all airlines and particularly want to hone in on something we discussed at the subcommittee hearing last week, mr. chairman, and that is the need to incorporate more information regarding

senator thune. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, all very much for being here today and to mr. press. mr. henderson, it has got to be uncomfortable for you have to come here. it is uncomfortable honestly for me to have you here, because it means that we're doing something that is outside the realm of what we know about. i don't think anybody here has any particular -- with some exception, any particular expertise in the car business. i certainly don't profess to. and -- but you find yourself now with a board of directors essentially, 535 members, and you have to be subjected to all of these questions which i'm certain you feel are micromanaging your business. but we are now partners and as partners, these are the types of questions that you get to answer. and i appreciate, mr. press, you sharing with me a little bit about what your intentions are with respect to my state of south dakota. you had indicated that there are seven dealerships in my state of south dakota, and i might add, too, just for point of reference, in a small state, like mine, and a lot of small communities, t

thune: mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call:

bond, brownback, enzi, graham, martinez, thune, wicker, alexander, cochran, ensign, vitter, and i'm sure there are others. it's a bipartisan bill. now, mr. president, we have already wasted so much time on this. we had to file cloture on a motion to proceed to this heavily bipartisan bill. and once we're on the bill -- i spoke to the republican leader and we thought when he a pathway to having civility here so the republicans would try help us. but, of course, we learned that yesterday the senate g.o.p. still saying "no." democrats need to know when the bring bills up we're going to extend the debate as long as we can even if we can't win. we said okay, let's -- you offer -- you, the republicans, offer four amendments. and they did. they picked all the amendments they wanted to offer want germane to this bill. and i said okay. they were all involving tarp, the money that we all know about by now. and so i said, well, senator -- i told senator from vermont, senator sanders, i said, if republicans want to offer nongermane amendments, i'll be happy to offer your amendment. his is -- his is