toomey: thank you very much, madam president. i'd like to thank senator vitter for yielding his time and for his help on this effort. listen, i just want to be very clear. first of all, i'm not aware of anybody in this body or anybody i know that wants to see a government shutdown. i'm not aware of anybody that wants to see the disruption that would result from failing to raise the debt ceiling when at the appropriate time. but i also feel very strongly that it's critical that we take this opportunity to begin to address the structural problems that we have. the fact is we have a burden of debt right now that is costing us jobs in this country today. the uncertainty that it creates, the cost of financing this, the question of whether and for how long we can roll this over, the extent to which inflation becomes a problem, all of these risk factors are already weighing on our economy and our ability to create jobs now. for the future, it's an even bigger rifnlgt and so -- risk. and so senator vitter and iav

toomey: thank you. i think we all agree that the last thing we should ever tolerate would be a situation in which the united states government would default on our debt, the chaos that would result from that would be devastating. and so this is an amendment that says, in the event that the debt limit is not raised, when we reach it, and, by the way, we've been there before so it's not unconceivable, that we'd make sure that we under no circumstances would default on the debt. and because senator vitter offered a -- an amendment to this amendment essentially, the merger of these amendments ensures that social security payments would also go out. by the way, there is more than sufficient revenue from ongoing taxes to ensure that that could be done. and so in the interest of avoiding the chaos of an actual default, i think this absolutely should occur. and by the way, i think it's also important to note that a majority of all the debt issued by this government is held by americans. they're held by senior c

caller: i want to say that president obama toomey is doing what he said he was going to be doing. 75% of what he said he has done. the only thing i do not get are all these lies. people forget things. president bush went over into iraq for weapons of mass destruction. then he changed it to the people. you cannot have it both ways. you just cannot have it both ways. mr. obama is doing what he is supposed to be doing -- a leading this country. i am sick and tired of people always -- if they did not go over there, that would be saying he is slow. he is not doing the right thing. host: thanks for the call. as the new york tabloids can only do that -- and from the new york post, strike one. guest: i read them daily growing up in new york. always an interesting headline. your post headline is interesting. we do not know where strike to end strike 3 will come, when and where. it is dgerous for the president of the united states to come out and say we will not use ground troops in libya. your boxing yourself in that that point, or you will have to explain your way out. that can be publicly --

a senate bill 163, by senator toomey, the full faith and credit act to prioritize principal and interest payments when and if the debt limit is reached. senate bill 178, by senator dees mint to reduce federal spending by $2.5 trillion through fiscal year 2021. senate bill 245 by senator corker, his so-called "cap" act to create a discretionary spending cap for congress. senate bill 259. this is my bill to prioritize social security payments, if and when the debt limit is reached. senate bill 360 by senator inhofe to create a point of order to exceed nonsecurity discretionary limits and also to create spending limits for fiscal years 2017 to 2021. senate bill 389 by senator kirk, and i believe senator hatch has a very similar bill, to establish a commission to review cost control. senate bill 391 by senator moran to reall unobligated balances of president obama's stimulus bill. senate joint resolution 3 by snare hatch, a balanced budget amendment. and senate joint resolution 4 by senator shelby on the same topic. and senate joint resolution 5 by senator lee on the same topic. this is a lo

senator sessions, rubio, demint, paul, lee, toomey, and ensign. the letter is very simple and very straightforward. it says, that this is the greatest challenge we face. and it says that because of that, we need to face it. we need to debate it. we need to talk about it. we need to act. and we need to start doing that now, well before any significant dead line like when the debt limit may have to be increased. so the letter says, mr. leader, we're going to oppose moving to any other bill that doesn't directly address this crisis when we need to act on this grave threat. let me read relevant portions of the letter because i think it goes right to the point. dear leader reid, yesterday the senate voted on two proposals to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year but this debate gave us only a limited opportunity to discuss what americans know is the crucial issue of our time, cutting government spending, and dramatically reducing our national debt. additionally no member of the senate was permitted to offer amendments under the structured

a senate bill 163, by senator toomey, the full faith and credit act to prioritize principal and interest payments when and if the debt limit is reached. senate bill 178, by senator dees mint to reduce federal spending by $2.5 trillion through fiscal year 2021. senate bill 245 by senator corker, his so-called "cap" act to create a discretionary spending cap for congress. senate bill 259. this is my bill to prioritize social security payments, if and when the debt limit is reached. senate bill 360 by senator inhofe to create a point of order to exceed nonsecurity discretionary limits and also to create spending limits for fiscal years 2017 to 2021. senate bill 389 by senator kirk, and i believe senator hatch has a very similar bill, to establish a commission to review cost control. senate bill 391 by senator moran to reall unobligated balances of president obama's stimulus bill. senate joint resolution 3 by snare hatch, a balanced budget amendment. and senate joint resolution 4 by senator shelby on the same topic. and senate joint resolution 5 by senator lee on the same topic. this is a lo

>> >> toomey year organized crime getting there, by the bishop costas all. so if you could let us know your resources. >> your request is 890 billion. we love to return to those numbers. you mentioned you have cut 24 programs. u.s. for that you cut. -- you left some that you cut. >> >it is a point of personal privilege. the time has expired. do you wish to add additional response? he may continue to respond in writing if you feel like it. the chair recognizes mrs. baldwin. >> thank you for being here. i wanted to start by reacting to some of the other comments that were made. he noted that we switched sides. it was because of this law. i disagreed. i think the last election was about jobs. instead of focusing on jobs, the new majority has made it their first order of business to repeal the affordable care act. that is one of the first votes we took. that is already providing life- saving coverage to many who did not have it. instead focusing on jobs, the new majority has attempted to deny funding and implementing the affordable care act. the new majority has

madam president, i'll ask unanimous consent that senator toomey of pennsylvania be permitted to speak as if in morning business at 2:15 p.m. for up to 15 minutes in order to deliver his maiden speech in the united states senate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i i understand that h.r. 1 is due for its second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the bill for the second time. the clerk: h.r. 1, an act making appropriations for the department of defense and other departments and agencie agenciee government for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2011, and for other purposes. mr. reid: madam president, we have before us today an extremely important piece of legislation. it's called the america invents act of 2011. the reason i emphasize "2011," its eight been almost 60 years since we had the most meaningful reforms of the nation's patent system. we have tried on many occasions in recent years to get this bill on the senate floor. the judiciary committee has reported out a number of bills over the years, and we've taken no action here on the senate floor

toomey: thank you, mr. president. i wanted to share a couple of thoughts with the budget process that's underway, where we are on the continuing resolution that we voted on this afternoon. first, with respect to that measure, that was a tough vote for me. it was a tough vote because this is no way to run the government. we're here now dealing with business that should have been done last year. unfortunately, the senate last year didn't get its work done, didn't even do a budget, didn't do the normal appropriations process. it started kicking the spending can down the road last year, and we're still in the midst of that. i'm not sure how many continuing resolutions we've had at this point; three, four, five, six. i'm losing track. but this last one for these next three weeks, frankly, it's the last one that i'm going to support. this i could support because it does sustain the lower level of spending that was passed by the house. there are some tough cuts in that bill, but it's very necessary that we get serious about

seattle to announce this, and women are extremely happy that we are just asking for our fair share. 5% toomey is low. -- to me is low. women will be able to compete for federal contracts as well. we're really happy about that. >> we have time for questions from the floor here. i think zandi will help us with a microphone. raise your hand and now try to do a fair and balanced job of calling people. >> if you could state your name and association. >> first, i am what the national women's health network. i want to thank you so much for the report of having an evidence-base area for our health is important. we have been working to raise awareness for women about the benefits to women and working with are raising boys his campaign for the 1-year anniversary. we have launched another campaign so we are rangy -- awaiting the decision on those no-cost contraceptions. this report raises the question of the impact of this -- you both mentioned the ability of women to go and increase education. that impact on economic well- being and preservation of the work force in packs all aspects of women's lives.

caller: i want to say that president obama toomey is doing what he said he was going to be doing. 75% of what he said he has done. the only thing i do not get are all these lies. people forget things. president bush went over into iraq for weapons of mass destruction. then he changed it to the people. you cannot have it both ways. you just cannot have it both ways. mr. obama is doing what he is supposed to be doing -- a leading this country. i am sick and tired of people always -- if they did not go over there, that would be saying he is slow. he is not doing the right thing. host: thanks for the call. as the new york tabloids can only do that -- and from the new york post, strike one. guest: i read them daily growing up in new york. always an interesting headline. your post headline is interesting. we do not know where strike to end strike 3 will come, when and where. it is dangerous for the president of the united states to come out and say we will not use ground troops in libya. your boxing yourself in that that point, or you will have to explain your way out. that can be publicly

toomey: you know, i feel a tremendous sense of urgency. don't think we have time to waste, time to wait, time to kick this can down the road anymore. we've done that too long. the fact is a balanced budget amendment to our constitution would provide the kind of fiscal straitjacket that this government clearly needs. you know, if we operated the way that many states did, if we operated the way that all businesses did, if we operated the way most families did and lived within our means, maybe this wouldn't be necessary. it's just become obvious to everybody that we're not living within our means. not even close. we're running a budget deficit this year of $1.6 trillion, that's 10% of the size of our entire economy. just this year alone. last year was $1.5 trillion. if we don't do something very serious about this now, not soon, not in the next few years, but now, if we don't do something about this now, this is already at unsustainable levels. you know in -- in 1988, the total debt as a percentage of our economy was about 40%. in 2008, the t