. >> good evening everyone and welcome to the 48th annual united states capitol christmas tree lighting'm the architect of the capitol and i'm honored to serve as your master of ceremonies tonight as we carry out this wonderful tradition this year. for everyone's safety we ask you stay in your seats until the conclusion of this evening's program. >> every year, i look forward to this event to officially kick off the holiday season here on capitol hill. and even though the weather doesn't feel like it's december 4, nothing says christmas like the playing of festive holiday carols. i would like to extend a special thank you to the united states air force band under the direction of peter foliard and created this great and festive holiday mood. let's give them a hand, ladies and gentlemen. [applause] [applause] >> and behind me stands the u.s. capitol's christmas tree, a majestic 73-foot spruce from colorado's white river national forest. [applause] [cheers and applause] >> and in keeping with tradition, the speaker of the house, the honorable john boehner, will extend his holiday greeting

, let me express how humble and honored we are by your presence here in the rotunda of the united states capitol. >> ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the presentation of the callers by the united states armed forces color guard, the singing of our national anthem, and the retiring of the colors. ♪ ♪ ♪ oh say can you see by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hail at the twilight's last gleaming, whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming, and the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, i gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing as the chaplain of the united states house of representatives, the rev. patrick convoy, and gives the -- rev. patrick conroy gives the invocation. >> let us pray. god of the universe, we give you thanks for the gift of life and for the many blessings that life brings. today, we gather in this hallowed templ

just a few minutes, we will see ryan shuster flip the switch and officially light the 2012 united states capitol tree. he is an eagle scout and shares my great love for the out of doors. ryan, it is great to have you here. i met your mother and father earlier today and what an honor for you to be part of this. as i make way for the speaker, i had a great 10 years in the house. some days, i miss the house, mr. speaker. [laughter] i want to again thank you for being here and i hope you get a chance to see the beautiful ornaments up close. over 5,000 of them and hand made by the children of colorado and adults from corner of colorado to the other. so think of it as a way of wishing you a happy holiday season from colorado. thanks again for including me. we are proud to have the tree here from the great state of colorado. and i'll turn it back over to the architect of the capitol. [applause] >> thank you so much, senator udall. and now it's my pleasure to introduce, ms. lindsay lawler. she is the winner of the u.s. forest service song writing contest to create the official song for the capitol chris

united states senate, and the speaker of the united states house of representatives. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the honorable john boehner. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the united states capitol. i want to say how much i appreciate you all be near. on behalf of my colleagues in the united states congress, i will ask that you all join me in a moment of silence in tribute to ambassador stevens and the united states personnel who were killed in libya at this morning. thank you. since the days of the american revolution, congress has commissioned gold medals as the highest expression of appreciation for distinguished achievements. the first recipient was general george washington in march of 1776. today, we will present a congressional gold medal to arnold palmer of the commonwealth of pennsylvania. those of you who participate in these events regularly may notice the stage is set up a little differently than usual. we thought it would be more fitting to do so on this side of the rotunda and honor some of the presidents of that arnie knew so well. president gerald ford used to say "you know arnie's army." president ronald reagan. and of course president eisenhower who did a lot f

my name is ron sarazen and i am president of the united states capitol of the historical society. memories that have shaped the public careers of these senators. it is hoped that this will provide listeners with a deep appreciation for the human dimension of representative government we know as the united states capitol. senator daniel k. inoye was named after a methodist minister. in march 1943, he enlisted in the only second regimental combat team. he saw combat in italy and southern france and was badly wounded during an engagement for which he was awarded the distinguished service cross, which was later upgraded to the medal of honor. the highest award for military valor. with financial assistance from the g.i. bill, inouye graduated from the university of hawaii and the george washington university law school. when hawaii became a state on august 21, 1959, daniel inouye won elections for the united states house of representatives is the new states first congressman. later collected the united states senate in 1962, he currently is serving his eighth term in the united states

united states air force band and for all of us of this year's lighting of the u.s. capitol tree.y christmas and a good night. [cheers and applause] captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] ♪ [joy to the world] ♪ ♪ ♪ >> here is what is coming of this christmas day -- next it is the national christmas tree lighting ceremony and today's edition of "washington journal." we will take a look at the biggest policy events from the past year. after that, first lady michelle obama shows the children the white house holiday decorations. >> the time i was 9 years old, i was handing out leaflets for robert kennedy and when i was 10, made a big decision and broke with the democratic party and went to work for john lindsay who was running for mayor of new york but i would not work for him as a republican. i went down to the liberal party. i was handing out leaflets on a street corner in new york and some woman thought this was really cute, this little boy handing out leaflets and she asked me why and i made the case for john

gold medal on aung san suu kyi we honors them all with this ceremony in the rotunda of the united states capitol. it doesn't seem so long ago and it wasn't, that women leaders and members of congress gathered to honor aung san suu kyi on her 50th birth day. she could not be with us that they but madeleine albright was, secretary of state, and she is with us today and we are so honored. we agreed to that day as we saying happy birthday so loudly we thought you could hear us and it was important that you know how well we wish you but we also wanted to -- let the people in burma to know how strongly we felt about you as well as how hard we are willing to fight for you. i know that i consent i speak for all here today when i say that our hearts are full of joy to celebrate aung san suu kyi in her presence. her presence today is remarkable. when we pass the gold medal legislation in 2008, it was thought maybe it would be given in absentia but aung san suu kyi knew better. she knew if we waited a bit we could celebrate in this way. it is a symbol of the progress in burma and the bond between her and u

>>neil: you were look like at the united states capitol where we still have no deal, everyone. we reporting live from the russell building. we are waiting. we are watching. we are hoping to see a deal. that does not seem to be imminent. with all the work i have to do a fox and the super hero role where i try to get the guys to together get a deal done, it does not look likely. senator john mccain will join me and he finds this illustration to be way off for body types but that is just his opinion. and now why they are more worried today. normally when neither side blasts the other that is a sign of progress but both were taking to the microphone today to express frustration with the process that suddenly seems to have gone awry. take a listen. >> the american people have to be scrapping their heads and wondering when is the president going to get serious? >> the republicans refuse to touch one hair on the head of the wealthiest people in our country. >>neil: so they are become to their talking points. you heard a lot about trying to put together something by the end of the year

this debate belongs inside the united states capitol. with the speaker is doing today is giving us that opportunity. last year, we heard so much about the 99%. this will give tax cuts to the 99% in it is permanent. this is good for the economy. it is good for economic growth and i earned a yes vote on the rule. >> mr. speaker, i have no further requested comments. >> the gentleman from california. >> i will prepare to close as soon as my colleague does. >> the gentleman reserves his time. >> i cannot say it enough. plan b, plan c -- neither one of them is a serious proposal, but a gimmick to get headlines. the time for these games is over. it is time for the majority to come to the table with a serious proposal that reflects the wishes of the american people. nobody wants to see taxes raised on 25 million working families. as i said earlier, they seem to be called upon to pay the price of the fiscal irresponsibility of the financial district. the american people do not want to see hundreds of thousands lose access to nutritional programs

because the one place you are absolutely safe from gun violence in this country is inside the united states capitol. you can't get guns in there. we're not safe in school. we're not safe in movie theaters. we're not safe in our houses of worship, but you darn sure are safe in congress. >> i want to give this last question to you. we've talked about mental illness that's been something -- a reoccurring theme in these discussions, and when you -- as part of -- in terms of the brady campaign platform, you look at mental health services that are available to ordinary american citizens. in each of these shootings you were the victim of the virginia tech shooting. mental illness has played a factor in all this, and then you look at since fiscal year 2009 states have cut more than $1.6 billion in funding for mental health agency budget wrshz this, of course, is coming against the back drop of, you know, the fiscal cliff discussions and how much we are going to resource necessary treatment and service options for those that need it most. >> i mean, like the saying an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of

. >> will come to the latest interview in the united states capitol's society of historical interviews. i am a former member of congress from connecticut. i am a member of the united states capitol historical society. this interview with daniel inouye is part of a special series featuring asian-american members of congress. current and former members relive their memories that have shaped their public careers. it is our hope that these recollections will provide mission -- listeners with a deeper recollection in this temple of liberty we know as the united states capitol. senator daniel inouye was born in honolulu, hawaii was born in 1924. in march, 1943 he enlisted in a combat team, the famed go for broke regiment. he saw combat in italy and southern france and was badly wounded during an engagement for which he was awarded a distinguished service cross of which was later upgraded to the medal of honor, our highest award for military valor. with financial assistance from the g.i. bill, inouye graduated from the university of hawaii and the george washington university law school. dani

. >>> welcome to the latest interview in the united states capitol historical society's series of oral history interviews to the economy former member of congress from connecticut and i am the president of the united states capitol and historical society. this interview with senator daniel inouye is part of a special series featuring asian-pacific members of congress. in these interviews current and fellow members have relived their memories of people, places and events that have shaped their public career. it is our hope that these recollections will provide listeners with a deeper appreciation prehuman dimension of representative government in this temple of liberty we know as the united states capitol. senator daniel inouye was born in honolulu hawaii on september 7th, 1924 and was named after a methodist minister who had adopted his mother. in march, 1943, he enlisted in the u.s. army's 44 regimental a team. he saw combat in italy and southern france and was badly wounded during an engagement for which he was awarded the distinguished service cross which was later upgraded to the m

united states. we are coming to you live from our nation's capitol. our studio right here on capitol hill. n the street from the united states capitol building. we can see it from here, and they can hear us from there. and hear your voice as well. give us a call at 866-55-press. join the conversation. we will have the first time callers, an army of operate orders standing by to take your calls. follow us on twitter at bp show at bp show or facebook.com/bill press show. we got the remnant, the holiday remnants. >> no remnants here peter chooses not to be here, that's on him. we are doing just fine. >> bill: peter chose his family over spending this holiday week with us. >> dan: some people are not dedicated to the cause >> bill: i can't understand his priorities. dan henning running the show. hello, dan with the help of phil backert and cyprian, the voiceless but effervescent cyprian boulding. >> we might make it a new year's resolution to allow him to speak. >> he would just talk ball. >> that's all he knows. >> that's all he is good at bill good to have you all on board. and, boy, the form

i got to know frank buckles when he came to the united states capitol on some legislation that i will talk about momentary. frank buckles in world war i was too young to join, nobody would let him in. he went from recruiter to recruiter, he was 16. he might have been 15, but he lied about his age and finally convinced an army recruiter to take him in. he joined the doughboys and went over there, that song that george cohen wrote talking about the americans that wouldn't come back until it's over, over there. he drove an ambulance in world war i helping rescue other doughboys that were wounded out here in no man's land and some that had died, bringing them back behind the lines. after the great war was over with, he was in the philippines when world war ii started. and sure enough he's captured by the japanese. frank buckles was held in a prisoner of war camp by the japanese for 3 1/2 years and was finally released when americans liberated the philippines. after the war he moved to west virginia and worked on the farm until he was 106 driving the tractor. frank buckles, the last surviv

hopefully the senate can take it and amend, but this debate belongs inside the united states capitol. last year, we heard so much about the 99%. this will give tax breaks to them. it is permanent. this is good for the economy. it is good for economic growth. i urge a yes vote on the rule. >> i have no further. >> gentleman from california. gentleman reserves his time. >> i cannot say it enough. the legislation is a step backward. plan b, plan c, neither is a serious proposal but are designed to get headlines. they are making it harder to find common sense solutions to the impending fiscal cliff. the time for the games is over. it is time the majority comes to the table with a serious proposal. as i said earlier, they seem to be called upon to pay the price. i am sure that they can tell you that they do not want to see wall street reforms revealed and the historic health care a lot dismantled, but all of these things would happen if this bill before us became law. if -- i strongly urge my colleagues to reject the bill before us and return to the serious work of balancing our budget whi

with nativity scenes, if we are allowed to have a display in front of the united states supreme court and the united states capitold we're work with pastor dole right now. >> gretchen: so pastor dull, tell me your story. what's going on up in altoona? >> it used to be that cities all across the city and communities would be able to put out the nativity scene without any issue whatsoever. same thing in altoona where we live and of course, somebody comes along and says you can't do it. well, we can do it because this is the united states of america. so we would like to be able to work along with them to get the proper prime ministers to see that the nativity scene is back in front of city hall. once again, to make that statement that we can do it in the united states of america. in my opinion, the nativity scene, particularly the live nativity scene, is without a doubt one of the most clearest way to present the concept of what christmas is all about. we talk about christmas trees, the lack of the word christmas beside a tree, but the concept of the nativity scene is what christmas is all about and we believe as chr

wild winds here in the state capitol, the view from the united states naval academy, a little bit of late day sun. here are the current winds, 15 to 20 and gusting higher. it's still going to be breezy if you have to put out the trash or the recycling, lash it down or maybe wait until just before bedtime before you put that outside. it'll blow around. wind chill factor already cold. feeling like the upper 20s across much of the area. that will be the case in just about all the central maryland area. partly cloudy skies, storm system up north. a clear friday around here and then as we continue to work through friday into saturday, here is what's going to happen. this weather maker coming in out of the south and final track still somewhat in question. right now we have a better handle on this rain, snow situation. snow edging in toward five saturday morning. snow over spreading most of maryland toward ten saturday and you can see the rain snow line basically at this point in time if this were to verify and it may shift fort north. we are talking easton, southeast ward, a rain situation

we are down the street from the united states capitol building the house and the senate out of sessionybe, the meeting between president obama and john boehner indicate they will have something to talk about, maybe something to vote on a resolution of a resolution to avoid us going over the fiscal cliff. well after you will wanted to sound off on follow us on twitter at bpshow or facebook.com/bill press show. here we go peter ogburn and dan hinning. >> happy monday. >> fill backert has the phones. cyprian bowlding on the video camera. speakinging of video camera? peters his. >> dan has his peyton manning jersey. >> no. no. no. no. no. that would be his more astute brother 5 two points against the saints yesterday. take that. put it in your pocket and smoke it. >> what's a pate manning jersey? >> what else did you do? >> i look forward to next hour when you will wear your archie manning jersey. >> i would be all right with that. >> notes on people's backs they didn't know about. >> yeah. maybe 3rd grade. >> you know newt gingrich he has to do something to try to keep himself relevant, a

land of ours, booming out to you live from our nation's capitol hill down the street from the united states capitolothing is going on. john boehner went home to ohio to the weekend but the big news, of course, mostly about susan rice and her putting out a statement saying she no longer wished to be candidate for secretary of state. we get your comments here if you can join us by giving us a call at 866-55-press. >> that's the old fashion way. we will take your calls and try to get as many as we can on the air. follow us at facebook.com/bill press show. joined in the studio. by a man on top much everything happening here at the white house and up on this end of pennsylvania avenue reed epstein, politico reporter for politico. >> a mouthpiece. isn't it. >> this early in the morning. peter ogburn and dan henning. >> hey hey. >> good morning >> bill: friday. i love friday. phil bachus has the phone. cyprian boulding as always. everybody thinks susan rice is the big story of the day. the big story of the day was actually rob parker from espn. first show -- first take? he goes after the most popular reds

united states senate, and the speaker of the united states house of representatives. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the honorable john boehner. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the united states capitol to say how much i appreciate you all be near. -- being here. on behalf of my colleagues in the united states congress, i will ask that you all join me in a moment of silence in tribute to ambassador stevens and the united states personnel who were killed in libya at this morning. thank you. since the days of the american revolution, congress has commissioned gold medals as the highest expression of appreciation for distinguished achievements. the first recipient was general george washington in march of 1776. today, we will present a congressional gold medal to arnold palmer of the commonwealth of pennsylvania. those of you who participate in these events regularly may notice the stage is set up a little differently than usual. we thought it would be more fitting to do so on this side of the rotunda and honor some of the presidents of that arnie knew so well. president gerald ford used to say "you know arnie's army." few."p is "ford's president ronald reagan. and of course president e

just a few minutes, we will see ryan shuster flip the switch and officially light the 2012 united states capitol christmas tree. he is an eagle scout and shares migrate love for the out of doors. i met your mother and father earlier today and what an honor for you to be part of this. as i make way for the speaker, i had a great 10 years in the house. some days, i miss the house, mr. speaker. i want to again thank you for being here and i hope you get a chance to see the beautiful ornaments up close. over 5,000 of them and hand made by the children of colorado and adults from corner of colorado to the other. so think of it as a way of wishing you a happy holiday season from colorado. we are proud to have the tree here from the great state of colorado. and i'll turn it back over to the architect of the capitol. [applause] >> thank you so much, senator udall. and now it's my pleasure to introduce, ms. lindsay lawler. she is the winner of the u.s. forest service song writing contest to create the official song for the capitol christmas tree and will be singing her original composition "standing tall

this is a very, very historic room in the complex of the united states capitol. we are very grateful for the opportunity to be here. i want to thank the donors who did so much to make this evening possible. walmart, caterpillar, express scripts, exxon mobile. now the instructions on how to get out of here. guests should exit down the right quarter from the rotunda. take another right at the end of the corridor, take the elevator to the basement. the guard will direct to from there. what you are trying to do is get out of the dirksen building at . you cannot get out of this building. the doors are locked. you have to go out of the exit door in dirksen. thank you, all, for coming. this has been a wonderful evening. great comments. thank you very, very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> ladies and gentlemen, please take the centerpieces home with you. >> coming up on c-span, california rep and democrat lynn woolsey delivers her farewell address from the house floor. followed by a

want to give you a live look at the snow falling in front of the united states capitol.u can see it's a little bit hazy. washington is expecting one to two -- one to three inches of snow rather. that is likely to mix with rain and farther north boston could see up to six inches of snow thisw. >> gay couples are now allowed to marry in the state of maine. this is video of the first couple to wednesday in portland maine. they couldn't wait to tie the knot. they exchanged views just after midnight. >> we finally feel equal and happy to live in maine. >> it's official now. after nine years it's all good. >> voters in maine approved in nova long with voters in washington state as well as maryland. gay marriage ceremonies started earlier this month. maryland's law takes effect tuesday january 1st. >> that's also the day when new driving laws start in california. drifters can text on their phones while driving as long as they are using voice operated hands free technology. safety experts de disapprove of the change. >>> there are new laws taking effect on january 1st. right now

it has been quite a journey from that humble start to working here in the united states capitol each and every day. but the great thing about america is that this story isn't so unique. since its very inception, we have always been a place where what starts as small gatherings of concerned citizens, individuals getting to discuss and plan how to make the country even better can grow with hard work and dedication to actually achieve some of those very things. i first ran for congress not because i wanted to be somebody but because i wanted to do something. in fact, i wanted to do a great many big things. with so many millions of americans struggling to find a job and economic security, i wanted to get this economy growing and get our country back to work. with so many small businesses finding it harder and harder to keep their doors open each and every day, i wanted to fight for small business owners like myself and make sure that the federal government did a better job of helping to create an environment where small businesses and entrepreneurs can succeed. with our country buried in

on a per-capita basis as 10 times more visas for high skilled workers than we have in the united states. on capitol, creating investment incentives, no capital gains to make sure that investment capital flows to those countries, investing in basic research in better ways to commercialize research, less regulation, a whole series of things that many nations are doing to become more competitive. this is a global battle for talent and capital and ideas. if we do not move quickly to deal with this issue, we are going to lose our lead. we are going to wake up someday and say, what happened? how did we go from being the most entrepreneurial commission, the envy of the world, to slipping? a great example of this -- last month i spoke in detroit -- and realize two things. one was, 50 years ago, detroit was silicon valley. it was the most innovative region in the country, maybe in the world. in the last 50 years, detroit has lost 50% of its population. 50%. henry ford and others, they were building up these companies, which were tremendously innovative, and it felt when it lost its way. as a nation, we have

sixth, a plot to carry out a suicide bomb attack against the united states capitol. that was in february of this past year. seventh, a plot to bomb locations in tampa, florida. a plot to bomb new york city targets and troops returning from combat overseas. a plot to assassinate the saudi ambassador to the united states. and it goes on and on and on. so this has worked. and, you know, as the years go on, the intelligence becomes the way to prevent these attacks. now that the f.b.i. has geared up a national security unit, they've employed 10,000 people and information gained through programs like this through other sources as well is able to be used to prevent plots from happening. so in four years 100 arrests to prevent something from happening in the united states, some of which comes from this program. so i think it's a vital program. we are doing our level best to keep abreast of it, to see that these reports come in. i have tried to satisfy senator wyden, but apparently have been unable to do so. so i am hopeful that the senate intelligence committees 13-2 vote to

. >>> that's a beautiful picture of the united states capitol. it's 6:44 in the morning.here in new york city, welcome back to "morning joe." time for our "must-read op-eds." the one we're going to lead with comes from the weekend from "the new york times." headline, "the monster of monticello," talking, of course, about thomas jefferson. we just happen to have thomas jefferson's biographer, jon meacham here, so this is perfect. let's read a little of this. "there is, it is true, a compelling paradox about jefferson when he wrote the declaration of independence, announcing the self-evident truth that all men are created equal, he owned some 175 slaves. too often scholars and readers use those facts as a crutch to write off jefferson's inconvenient views as products of the time and the complexities of the human condition. but while many of his contemporaries, including george washington, freed their slaves during and after the revolution, inspired perhaps by the words of the declaration, jefferson did not. over the subsequent 50 years, a period of extraordinary public serv

it and amend it and change it and do whatever they want, but this debate belongs inside the united states capitol. what the speaker is doing today is giving us that opportunity. last year we heard so much about the 99%, this is going to give tax relief to those 99%. and it's permanent. i know how long it's taken us to do something with the death tax. that is in this bill. this is good for the economy. it's good for economic growth. and i urge a yes vote on the rule. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: i have no further requests for time. may i inquire if my colleague has any? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i will prepare to close as soon as my colleague does. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves his time of the the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: thank you very much. mr. speaker, i can't say it enough. today's legislation is a step backwards. in the effort to find the fiscal cliff compromise. plan b, plan c, neither one are serious proposals but a gimmick designed to get headlines. by using the halls of

hopefully the senate can take it and amend, but this debate belongs inside the united states capitol. last year, we heard so much %.out the 99 percen this will give tax breaks to them. it is permanent. this is good for the economy. it is good for economic growth. i urge a yes vote on the rule. >> i have no further. >> and from california. gentleman from california. gentleman reserves his time. >> i cannot say it enough. the legislation is a step backward. plan b, plan c, neither is a serious proposal but are designed to get headlines. they are making it harder to find common sense solutions to the impending fiscal cliff. the time for the games is over. it is time the majority comes nobody wants to see the taxes raised on 25 million working families. they seem to be called upon to raise the price for the fiscal irresponsibility of the financial district. the american people do not want to see hundreds of thousands lose access to fiscal programs. i am sure they can tell you they do not want to see wall street reforms repealed and the historic lot dismantled. all these things would happe

beautiful domed building that they were pointing at was not capital letter but the capitol with an "o." of the united states. beautiful luminescent, i don't ever see it to this day without just being in awe of what it stands for. >> you're the first daughter elected of a former member and you did it -- i know you said in the book about your father was so proud of you because he did it without his name from, a whole different area of the country. what would your dad say if he could see you today? >> he'd cry, i think. he was so in awe of -- he served in congress he served with these giants in the congress. he was a new deal congressman then became mayor of ball mother when i was in first grade. when i went away to college he was still the mayor of baltimore. speaker of the house that was really very important to him. he'd be wondering. how this all happened. but he did -- it was interesting that i would be the first daughter -- many fathers and sons who have served but the first father and daughter. >> pelosi has represented california's 8th district in in congress since 1987. she won a special election afte

visited with veterans, disabled hav veterans, as a matr of fact, in the corridors of the united states ca capitol in the last 48 hours. they have expressed without reservation that their lives would be advanced in the event that we are able to pass this treaty because their treatment in other countries would improve as other countries adopt principles that we have found useful, a practical means of helping the disabled. i believe that each one of us ought to be moved by the testimony of our veterans, veterans that i have seen here in the corridors who have lost legs during fights in behalf of the united states of america. this is a serious issue and a humanitarian, thoughtful way. and i emphasize again and again, the united states joins together with other countries sharing our experiences, how we can improve treatment of the handicapped, with no possible provision in the treaty. and we've all reserved this completely -- that there could be any, any change in our laws. i thank the chair, and i yield the floor. mr. kerry: mr. president, i reserve the balance of our time u. mr. inhofe: mr. presiden

griffin, would designate the fa sit of the united states postal service located at 600 east capitol avenue in little rock, arkansas as the sidney sid sanders mcmath post office building. the bill was introduced on february 1 and reported from the government oversight and reform committee. sid mcmath was a prosecuting attorney, decorated marine officer and governor of the state of arkansas. he received the silver star for his heroic leadership during world war ii. as governor, mcmath championed several infrastructure improvements to benefit his state, the paving of primary roads. mcmath died in his home in little rock, arkansas on saturday, october 4, 2003. he has given a full military funeral by the u.s. marine corps honor guard. mr. mcmathis a worthy designee of this post office naming facility and i urge members to support this bill and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. maloney: i yield myself such time as i may consume the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. maloney: as

you eliminate those tax rates and you will get less revenues, more capitol flight from the united states. we have the first net capital flight in decades. more departure of high-tech immigrants from the united stateseturning home to china. lou: democrats to feed the stamp act, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. immigrts into this country who deserve it and to we desperately want to have your while we throw open our borders and our airports to people who are, for the most part, the majority of those illegal immigrants are not even high-school educated, lacks skills, like education. my god. d they do so rejecting that law, that bill and prevent it from becoming law because they want to have a lottery. for crying out loud. the absurdities compound themselves. >> in general we have to recognize that the individual entrepreneur with special skills and contributions to american produce all the jobs, and they are the ones who are getting rich, who are punished by any increase in marginal t rates. the already rich -- lou: whatabout the young man or woman in this country who is no

state capitol building in lancing. the state, which is the heart of the united autoworkers and ground zero for union rights is poised to sign a major anti-labor bill into law today. the president weighed in on that, speaking yesterday in redford. >> these right to work clause, they don't have anything with economics. they have everything to do with politics. what they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money. america is not going to compete based on low skill, low wage, no workers rights. that's not our competitive advantage. there's always going to be some other country that can treat its workers even worse. >> the house speaker, john boehner, is speaking now on the house floor regarding the fiscal cliff. let's take a listen. >> beyond 1:50 p.m. today. >> the speaker of the house for five minutes. >> the speaker, last week republicans made a serious offer to avert the fiscal cliff, and most of it was based on testimony given last year by president clinton's former chief of staff erskine bolles. as he said on sunday, we have to cut spending. well, he is right. washington has a spending pro

united states. that's something that's not going to fly, was extremely unpopular on capitol hill. part of why you have to read that offer of the president, as just that, an offer. there's going to be horse trading throughout the month, and the question is whether they can come up with this deal by december 31st or all of that automatic spending decrease stuff goes into effect and economists say that can be devastating for the economy in early january. >> thank you so much, sir, do appreciate you. >> thanks. >>> closely tied over taxes is entitlement reform. a top republican said today he'll drop his plan for higher revenue unless democrats take a look at revamping medicare, medicaid, and social security. >> i'm serious about revenue. you can limit deductions to $40,000 or $50,000 a person, which takes care of the middle class. upper-middle income americans will lose their deductions, but i'll only do that if we do entitlement reform, and the president's plan is quite frankly a joke. >> as the country inches closer to the fiscal cliff, is there a way to avoid falling over it? joini

inaugurations they took place on the east side of the capitol that if you've been to washington than you know that's where the library of congress is and the united states supreme court, so here's what that looks like today on any given the that's the east side of the capitol and that's what it looks like with the eustis person that for the inauguration the would have a platform there in front of it and here is another view where you can see the platform to the left there is a press stand in the middle and the crowd gathers. but in 1981 everything switched and they decided to move it to the west side of the capitol and that is much larger and that allows more people to actually see the ceremony. here is what the west side looks like most days and with the jazz it up for the inauguration they put the flags of and that's what it looks like what we have seen every inauguration since 1981 and there is another view where you can look all the way back at the washington monument and a sort of be seen at the background and the lincoln memorial is even further than that. the inaugural ceremony itself, not have an invocation here today. there's normally an indica

on a per-capita basis as 10 times more visas for high skilled workers than we have in the united states. on capitol, creating investment incentives, no capital gains to make sure that investment capital flows to those countries, investing in basic research in better ways to commercialize research, less regulation, a whole series of things that many nations are doing to become more competitive. this is a global battle for talent and capital and ideas. if we do not move quickly to deal with this issue, we are going to lose our lead. we are going to wake up someday and say, what happened? how did we go from being the most entrepreneurial commission, the envy of the world, to slipping? a great example of this -- last month i spoke in detroit -- and realize two things. one was, 50 years ago, detroit was silicon valley. it was the most innovative -- and in the country, maybe in the world. -- innovative region in the country, maybe in the world. in the last 50 years, detroit has lost 50% of its population. 50%. henry ford and others, they were building up these companies, which were tremendously innovativ

united states. that would deal with this crisis right now. dana bash is our senior congressional correspondent up on capitol hill. , you know as well as anyone, this is a fierce debate over guns in the united states, and this debate is only going to intensify after what we saw last week and now what the nra is coming forward with. what is the likely reaction up on the hill to what we heard from wayne lapierre? >> reporter: i'm already getting reaction, e-mailing with sources here specifically about the fact that he called for congress to act to fund this program that he's calling for to put armed police officers at schools. the initial reaction, first reaction i got, probably no surprise, were from democrats in the senate who run the senate saying it's very, very unlikely that something like this would have the votes to pass congress. that's probably an understatement when it comes to democrats. you know, but the question is what's going to happen on the house side, if the republicans on the house side -- i will give it back to you because we're hearing from the president. >> let me continue this conversation but

capitol, the east side. if you've been to washington, then you know that is the site where the library of congress is and the united states supreme court. so, here's what that looks like today on any given day that is the east side of the capitol and that's what it looks like when the eustis were set up for the inauguration they would have a platform in front of it. here's another view we can see the platform to the left there is a press stand in the middle and the crowd gathers but 1981 everything switched and they decided to move it to the west side of the capitol and that's much larger and that allows for far more people to actually see the ceremony. here's what the west side looks like most days. and when they drive it through the inauguration, they put up the flags and that's what it looks like every time we see the inauguration since 1981 for. here's another view you can look back at the washington monument and can sort of the scene in the background and the lincoln memorial is even further than that. the inaugural ceremony itself we have an indication here today there is normally an indication of the presidential i

lot of expansionists in the united states, once the united states captured mexico city argues that maybe the u.s. should annex all of mexico. if you already conquered the capitol city, one that take all, and it is at that -- is at this one that people begin to question whether this should go on any further. the turning point in the creation of the national war movement occurs two months after scott occupies mexico city on november 141847. henry clay give a major anti-war speech in lexington techie after the war against the war. clay had been out of the public spotlight senses disastrous and terrible defeat by james k. polk in the election of 1844, one which she never expected and could not believe. unfortunately, henry clay not only had to suffer through that defeat, but his namesake and favorite sun volunteered to lead trips to mexico. so he becomes a leader of kentucky troops, takes them down to mexico, and he is killed at the battle of buena vista just like john j. harden. so clay has to face the death of his son in a war he did not believe in. after his son's death it becomes very religious, gets baptized in the episcopal church in decides to make a speech

united states senator daniel inouye. carried his flag draped coffin into the capitol rotunda this morning. 31 others have had that honor.em presidents abraham lincoln and ronald reagan. the democratic lawmaker died on monday at the age of 88. a highly decorated war veteran and the second longest serving u.s. senator. during world war ii, enemy fire left his arm hanging by shreds. as the story goes, he pried a grenade from the hand of his nearly severed arm and used it to fight back to protect his platoon. he lost that arm but later won the medal of honor. the nationest highest award for military valor. >> daniel inouye, in every sense of the word was a hero. >> shepard: former senate majority leader bob dole paid his respects today. the two met in a hospital in italy in the 1940s and senator inouye often credited his republican friend with getting him into politics. former senator elizabeth dole kissed her hand and touched the casket then senator bob dole saluted his old friend and colleague one final time. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. executor of efficiency. you can spot an amateur from a mile away... whi

capitol hill and to the white house? >> i would say focus on the real issues. the real issues are the united states and its leadership role in the world. the u.s. has an economic leadership in the world. to protect that and make sure that that leadership in tourist, the uncertainty has to be removed. if you are speaking from a strong position because you have dealt with your own issues, then you can advise, help, and encourage. but if you speak from a week position, it is more difficult. >> you have warned about the risks of playing political games with the fiscal cliff. what did you mean? >> what i'm advocating is -- please try to take a higher view and look at the broader horizon. from a geopolitical plenty of. >> you think that is what is happening? political games? >> i had been a politician in a previous life and i know what it is like. there is a lot of posturing, position in, negotiating. i dearly hope that the practical views have been taken by the americans in general would prevail. >> obviously you have a lot of experience with negotiations in europe. >> they are big boys and they can neg