the united states ranks 37 in terms of health systems performance and we are far behind many countries in terms of infant mortality, life expectancy and keeping people from buying when they should not be dying. as the health care debate heats up in washington and on this committee we as a nation seems to me have got to answer to fundamental questions, and there is i think this agreement on the first issue. and that is the very simple one. should every american have health care has a right? the texas in every other industrialized country obviously it doesn't exist in our country. 100 years ago people at the federal and state level said every kid in america should be able to go to school, every american can go to public schools regardless of the family is rich or poor. no one debates that. education is a right. when you dial negative 11 the police department comes through the door whether you are rich or poor. no one suggests you're not paying enough in taxes police shouldn't come. the fire department shouldn't come in your house is burning but somehow health care if a low-income worker

united states. and they rated all of these countries according to several indices, life expectancy, faint mortality, the inoculation rates for the children. the united states ranked 12th. even though we spend twice as much as any other country on ert per capita, our outcomes were not as good. we were 12th out of 30. one area that we -- if you get to be 65 in this country, the chances are you're going to live a longer, healthier life than almost any other country in the world. why? because we have a health care system, medicare that provides health insurance for everybody over 65. there are polls and gaps in coverage in medicare, the premiums can be pretty hard for some to reach. the co-pay and deductible can be a problem. overall people know when they have medicare, they are pretty well darned taken care of and that is not the case for people under 65. i came it the floor tonight for a few more moments, mr. president, as i was listening to senator sanders talk so eloquently to share a couple of stories. sherry in albany, ohio, she is not medicare eligible, she is forced to consider borrowing from the equity in her home to pay her $1,070 premium through cobra. she

according to the world health organization, the united states ranks 37th -- 37th in terms of health system performance and we are far behind many other countries in terms of such important indices as infant mortality, life expectancy and preventible deaths. in other words, we're spending huge amounts of money, but what we are getting for that investment does not compare well to many other countries that spend a lot less than we do. as the health care debate heats up near washington, we, as a nation, have got to answer two fundamental questions. first, should all americans be entitled to health care as a right and not a privilege, which is the way every other major country treats health care and the way we respond to such other basic needs as education, police, and fire protection? 100 or more years ago this country decided every young person, regardless of income, is going to get a primary and secondary education because that is the right thing to do and good for the country. but unlike every other major industrialized nation we have not come to that same conclusion that health care is a r

according to the world health organization, the united states ranks 37th in terms of health system performance and we are far behind many other countries in terms of such important indices as infant mortality, life expectancy and preventible death. so we are spending almost double what any other country on earth is spending. we've got 46 million without any health insurance. we have more who are underinsured. we have thousands who die because they can't get to a doctor. and then in many other health care outcomes, we are behind many other countries around the world, some of whom are spending far, far less per person than we are spending. now, it seems to me that as the health care debate here in congress heats up, we as a nation have got to ask two fundamental questions. different people will have different answers to it but here are the two questions i think we've got to ask. first, as a nation, should all americans be entitled to health care as a right? that's the first question. and honest people will have differences of opinion. some people will say, well, do you know what? hey, some peopl

last, the united states ranked last. some analysts estimate that as much as 30% of our spending is for ineffective redundant or inappropriate care. that's care that does nothing to improve the health of americans. our system leaves nearly 50 million americans without health insurance, 25 million more with inadequate coverage and most bankruptciess in america are related to medical costs. our system needs reform. if we fail to act, healthcare spending will account for 20% of our economy in 10 years. put it another way, 45% of a family's budget will be spent for healthcare premiums. raising -- rising healthcare costs will swap federal and state budgets, businesses and american families alike. if we continue to spend at this rate it's only fair that we ask ourselves, what are we getting for our money and what are we not getting for it? it's time for americans and their doctors to use the world's most advanced science so that the most personal healthcare decisions can be made with access to the best available information. ok

in every industry, but i find that, although women make up half of the workforce in the united states, our ranks are declining in information technology. from 40% in 1986 to only 24% today. i am concerned this decline may continue. there has been a 79% drop in the number of women majoring in computer science in the last eight years. there are a number of factors including a long hours, travel, the glass ceiling, lack of mentors and role models, and a lack of the parity in pay especially in the lower ranks. despite these challenges, the information technology industry offers a tremendous opportunity to women and women are entering into the top ranks of our business. it considers xerox, a company that engaged in the first woman to woman ceo in the fortune 500. that makes this so spectacular. ursula burns become the first african-american female ceo in the fortune 500. women own almost 40% of all privately held businesses in the united states. this number will grow as unemployment climbs to over 9% and people are forced to dustoff their business plans and ideas. during this economic crisis, many wo

but i found that although women make up over half of the overall work force in the united states, our ranks are declining in information technology. from 40% in 1986 to only 24 percent today. i am concerned this decline may continue. there has been a 79% drop in the number of women majoring in computer science in the last eight years. studies suggest a number of factors, including long hours and travel, the glass ceiling, lack of mentors and role models, and lack of parity in pay, especially in the lower ranks of our despite these challenges of the i.t. industry offers tremendous opportunities and women are in the top ranks of our business. consider xerox, a company that will engage in the first of a woman to woman ceo handoff and the fortune 500, and making it more spectacular is ursula burns will be the fortune 501st female african-american ceo in the fortune 500. women own more than 40 percent of the privately held businesses in the united states. this number may grow as unemployment climbs to over 9 percent of people are forced to dust off old business plans and ideas. during this econo

. >> the united states' upset of top-ranked spain in the fifa confederations cup semifinal might seem just a pleasant surprise at first. after all, spain hadn't lost in three years. but in reality, the u.s. has already done something no other american men's soccer team has ever done -- reached the finals of a fifa-sanctioned event. today on espn, they can upset mighty brazil to win the gold. now, i'm not about to compare this to the 1980 u.s. hockey team, but we're talking a major upset in the making. brazil is in its fourth confederations final and looking for a record third title. last week i spoke with espn's soccer analyst and former national team member, alexi lalas, about the team's world cup chances, kind of shrugged his shoulders as if to say, hit or miss. he added, "it depends who they play." now, that restriction doesn't seem to apply. it's amazing how a great story in sports can make us forget we might not be a huge fan. i'll be watching this afternoon. please join us again next sunday for another edition of "the sports reporters." we're on each sunday morning at 9:30 a.m.

united states. a number of rankings are affected by countries having large guest worker programs that do not have safeguards built into them. they had their own guest worker lost in the 1990's. those guest worker laws have now been returned by congress last year. one of the situations we saw there is exactly what replicates itself into many countries around the world. that is the notion that the first step that the boss has in dealing with labour and the rest -- when asking for food or pay, they would have their sponsorship -- redrawn. i pot -- the punishment should not be something that the government in any way as implicit in. guest worker programs here in the united states and abroad, far too often, have been used in that manner. the united states past the traffic -- the trafficking reauthorization act in december in which we actually address that situation. one of the recommendations in the attorney general's report is a top down review of our programs to see if there are additional protections that need to be put into place. we certainly encourage other countries as well to do that same type of review.

a gentleman that has sponsored this legislation, for his support of the united states border patrolmen and women. and the ranking member, thank you for your support. i think the men and women of the united states border patrol do incredible work. the united states border patrol has rh hist that began on may 28, 1924, when congress passed the bill that established the border patrol. the 450 patrol inspectors were not only charged with preventing the entry of undocumented immigrant into the united states but were also responsible for combating the entry of illicit liquor from canada. the border patrol has evolved to include almost 19,000 agents in 20 sectors and 164 stations around our country. the brave men and women of the border patrol are currently responsible for securing 8,000 miles of our international borders, both with mexico and canada. and the coastal waters around florida and puerto rico. since 9/11, the border patrol has been on the frontlines in our national strategy to detect and apprehend terrorists and their weapons as they attempt to illegally entered intr the united states. before coming to cong

many studies over the years comparing the united states -- the outcomes of the united states, health outcomes, to the outcomes in other countries in the world. we rank, in terms of victim mortality, in terms of maternal mortality, in terms of life expectancy, in terms of diabetes, in terms of obesity, the united states of america, amazingly enough, even though we spend twice as much as everybody else, we rank almost at the bottom among the rich countries of the world on life expectancy, infant mortality, child obesity, all of those things. mr. president, there is one statistic where we rank near the top. that statistic is life expectancy at 65. so these pages sitting in front of me, five decades from now or so when they turn 65 -- we're going to change the system way before then. but people who are 65 in this country have a longer, healthier life in front of them than almost all other countries in the world. that's because we have medicare, and medicare works. it's pure and simple. today, some 65 years after harry truman made the speech to the joint session i mentioned, we're still waiting. we're still waiting for a health care system that delivers

united states court house. >> i yield myself one minute. mr. speaker, my friend, the ranking member correctly cited a whole series of very important issues that we -- the united states has with the government of iran. she is correct. the reason i worked to bring this up on this quick notice is about what she pointed out at the end of her comments. this resolution is not about a recitation of all those issues. it is about an affirmation of something that this house of representatives has done in places all over the world, whether it is and tibet, cuba, or in eastern europe, the middle east, or any other region. to reaffirm our commitment to stand for certain fundamental, universal principles involving human rights, participatory democracy, and the affirmation of the rights of the people of any country. today, it is about the people of iran. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. >> we have an impressive lineup of speakers on our side. i like to start by yielding five minutes to the gentleman from indiana, the author of the bill. >> the chairman from indiana is recognized

united states purchased a total of only $746,107 worth of parts. chrysler designates its top 100 dealers for the sales of cars as masters dealers. we were one of the top 100 in fact, we ranked number 76 among all the chrysler dealers in the united states for the sale of parts. in the area of customer satisfaction and retention we consistently outperformed our peers. as of february 2009 to, dodge had it will represent customer production averaged as compared to 17% average for all of the chrysler dealers in the western united states. our problems began when chrysler signed as an unreasonably high minimum sales requirement, requiring us to sell an unrealistically high number of vehicles. we didn't understand why chrysler would assign a session on reasonably high number so we look to the demographics and found that they made several errors in a traffic patterns and other demographics they use for our market area. we then pointed this out to chrysler and ask every computer our minimum skills requirements based upon the correct demographic all information. unfortunately chrysler refused to even consider our request. in the spring of 2008i attended the only dealer meeting unaware

ranking member from california. i will yield back and respectfully oppose this amendment as a united states marine, as a united states congressman and representing all of our men and women in uniform fighting for all of us. let's win and get the job done and then we can come home. thank you. the chair: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: mr. chairman, i yield myself the balance of the time. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. mckeon: thank you, mr. chairman. i think mr. hunter stated it very clearly. the exit strategy should be to win and then bring our forces home. it was stated earlier that general petraeus made a statement that afghanistan has been known over the years as a graveyard of empires. we cannot take that history lightly. that was part of the speech that he made. i'd like to say some other things that he mention approximated in that same speech. we have a hugely important interest in ensuring that afghanistan does not once again become a sanctuary for transnational terrorists. and to compliment and capitalized on the increased military resources, more civilian assets, adequ

united states senate in 2002. she is with us today because she is the ranking republican on the senate energy and natural resources committee, she is also a member of the senate appropriations committee, health education, labor and pension committee and the senate indian affairs committee. we know and understand how busy she is, particularly these days. we appreciate you taking time from your schedule to be with us. we normally ask our guests to speak for 15 or 20 minutes or however long she prefers and open up for questions and try to be done in an hour. >> i appreciate the opportunity to be here with you. timingwise it works out pretty well considering we are talking about energy this afternoon. that has been the focus of my life for the last 3 months as we have worked to advance an energy bill. i was at a gathering of few days back and somebody commented that the energy bill coming out of the senate energy committee was the longest, most torturous markup that they had participated in, and that was a good thing. was interesting that they framed it that way. complaining that it

united states navy. his last job in the military was a commander in chief, the highest ranking officer in the asia-pacific region. he was previously director of the joint staff and served in a variety of budget and policy issues. he was the first associate director of the central intelligence for military support. after retiring from the navy in 2002, he worked at the national bureau of asian research and a general of the army at dickinson college. he was also president of the institute for defense analysis focused on a national security. he served as the deputy director of a project on national security reform. i cannot say any more, admiral blair, you have done at all. he has been gracious enough to share his priorities for the intelligence community. if we are lucky, we will get some insights from his recent trip to asia which he had stopped in afghanistan, pakistan, and singapore. please welcome our guests. [applause] >> thank you ellen. eight is good to be here >> thank you. it is good to be here this evening. there are many friends. ong, so i will have to make it up here as i go along. but, it is a

united states armed forces. i also wish to commend and congratulate both armed services chairman skelton and ranking member mckeon for their commitment to put partisanship aside to get this important bill to the floor. the national defense authorization act, which passed unanimously out of the armed services committee authorizes $550 billion for the activities of the department of defense. it also provides $130 billion to support our combat operations in iraq, afghanistan and other fronts on the war on terror. our men and women in uniform and their families have sacrificed dearly to protect the united states. that is why i'm pleased that the bill will provide our troops with a $3.-- 3.4% pay raise. furthering our commitment to our troops, the bill extends tricare eligibility to reserve members so they can receive full tricare coverage 1880 days before they go on active duty and provides almost $2 billion for family housing programs to expand and improve the quality of military housing. the bill authorizes the expansion of the size of the military by 15,000 army troops, 8,000 marines, over 14,500 air force personn

united states munitions list. mr. rohrabacher: thank you very much, mr. chairman. i thank you and the ranking member. this is a vitally important clarification for our aerospace industry which is -- and at the same time while opening up better trade and technology with friendly countries, it ensures that we do not send technology to the chinese. i yield. mr. berman: the gentleman's remarks are worth elaborating on. the whole notion of a domestic commercial satellite industry is very much at stake if we can't in appropriate situations export and arrange for those kinds of transfers. i think it is part of what the gentleman pointed out that is why both the satellite industries association and the aerospace industries association support this legislation. mr. rohrabacher: thank you very much. thank you to the ranking member as well. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the the gentlewoman from florida's time has expired. the gentleman from california has a minute and a half remaining. the gentleman from california has a minute and a half remaining. mr. berman: let me ask unanimous consent tha

united states in our report. i believe when you shine a bright light, you need to shine it on everyone. we will rank ourselves. we believe we are tier one, but we will make -- but we will rank ourselves in the report next year. please read this. those of you working in the state department, usaid, our missions around the world, please take this and talk with your counterparts in governments, and countries that are willing to partner with us to make the changes that are outlined in this report. there are some many good ideas. yes, it does cost some resources, but the consequences for trafficking in any society are so much more expensive and a devastating. thank you all very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> good afternoon, everyone. it is a pleasure to have dr. luis de baca here. he will make some remarks and to take your questions. without further ado, i will turn it over to ambassador de baca. >> this morning, the secretary unveiled the annual trafficking persons report, which is for the secretary to report and

united states navy. is less job in the military was as commander in chief of the pacific command the highest ranking officer over u.s. forces in the asia-pacific region. previously was the director of the joint staff and served in a budget-- for idf policy positions on several navy staffs and the national security council. he was also the first associate director of the central intelligence-- director of central intelligence for military support. after returning from the navy in 2002, admiral blair l.t. national security studies at the national bureau of asian research and the general of the army omar n. bradley strategic leadership at dickinson college and of the army war college. he was also the president of the institute for defense analysis, a federally funded development corporation focused on national security and serve as deputy executive director of the project and national security reform. i can't say anything more admiral blair, you have done it all. we became the third director of national intelligence on january 29, 2009. directors blair has been gracious enough to share his priorities for the i

ranking sessions and members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to appear to highlight the work and priorities of the united states department of the justice. and i want to thank you of your ongoing support for the department. i look forward to working with the committee and appreciate your support of the department's mission. for the four-and-a-half months i have been in office, we have a set of goals. working to strengthen the activities of the federal government to protect the people. and to work to restore the credibility of a department shaken by improper interference and to fight crime and protect the civil rights and ensure fairness in the marketplace. and let me talk about several initiatives, and have provided detail in my written statement. the highest priority of the department is to protect the american people against acts of terrorism. working with the federal, state and counterparts, the department has worked tirelessly to safeguard america and will continue to do so. we will disrupt terrorism plots that will seek america harm. and we are consistent with america law and values. consistent with the priority, we

united states congress. i would commend the chairwoman for hire diligence and oversight and commend -- for her diligence and oversight and commend the ranking member for her partner. this product is truly a bipartisan result. and unlike some of the things that goes around here, the gentlelady from florida did in fact include the minority in every decision that was made in the crafting of this bill. and i want to highlight just a couple of the things that i'm really pleased with. one is the increase in the members representational account. not that members of congress can make more money but so we can attract and retain quality staff folks in our personal offices. i'm also appreciative to the gentlelady including some report language dealing with the congressional research service as a result of the oversight hearing. it's been mentioned before by mr. lewis and others, the icon fund, the anticipated repairs to the united states capitol and the cannon building are going to be astronomical. rather than sort of waiting for disaster to strike, squirreling money away so we can do it in an orderly fashion is a good idea. the only concern i have, a

there are two new united states securities, we will not interfere with ships coming into our ports. china can have the u.s. markets and a policy towards north korea. the reason i rank iran first is because the regime is ambitious. north korea's objective is to just dominate people. my concern is they will build tend bombs for themselves and put the 11th on ebay. but as long as the regime survives within its borders, i do not think they will take aggressive action. iran is the number one state sponsor of terrorism. so you would expect an emboldened iran would be tearing on terrorism with impunity. that puts us eyeball to eyeball with a hostile power. host: sutherland, nebraska. margaret. hello. you are on. caller: i have been worried for a long time about u.s.-china relations and our trade policies about china. i believe the u.s. is too involved with china and it is still and probably always will be a communist country. why are we still doing so much shade -- trade with china? they have so much interest, and they are not for the united states. guest: it is the most unbalanced trading relationship in the history of international trade, and this is because we have ope

a number of rankings are affected by countries having large guest worker program is who did not have any safeguards built into them. in the united states in territorial possession, which had its own guest worker, it has been overturned by congress last year ballooning it replicates itself in too many countries around the world which is the notion that the first step the boss has when dealing with labor unrest, when dealing with people who are asking for minimum amount of food or pay, the notion that they would withdraw their sponsorship, the person is deported, cut off any labor activism to try to get the workplace better. this is not something the government is implicit in. far too often they have been used in that manner, the united states passed a law, the trafficking reauthorization act, we address that situation. in the attorney-general's report, we do report on our guest worker programs. at the end of the day, it is not about administrative responses, a structural responses, it is a crime. >> the redesigned book -- >> -- slavery and involuntary servitude, pull their victims -- >> we're going to leave this program and take you liv

ranking member sessions and members of the committee. i thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to highlight the work and priorities of the united states department of justice. i'd also like to thank you for your ongoing support of the department. i look forward to working with the committee and appreciate your recognition of the department's commission and the important work that we do. in the 4 1/2 months that i have been in office we have begun to pursue a very specific set of goals. working to strengthen the activities of the federal government that protect the american people from terrorism within the letter and spirit of the constitution, working to restore the credibility of a department badly shaken by allegations of improper political interference and reinvigorating the traditional missions of the department in fighting crime, protecting civil rights, protecting the environment and ensuring fairness in the marketplace. now, before answering my questions, let me talk briefly about several current initiatives. i also provide sd more detail in each of them in my written statement. the highest priority of the department is to prot

ranking republicans believe those matters are very important. furthermore, let me say to the gentleman we just honored a president that you believe was a great president of the united states. we honored him yesterday with a statue. i know you'll be interested in some quotes from that president. i have an unbreakable commitment to increased funding for i.m.f. ronald reagan, september 27, 1983. he went on to say, in that same speech, the i.m.f. is the linchpin of the international financial system. he went on to say on july 14, the i.m.f. has been a cornerstone of u.s. foreign economic policy under republican and democratic administrations for nearly 40 years. that was of course in 1983. i suggest to the gentleman it has continued for the years, 26 years after that. and it remains, he said, a cornerstone of the foreign economic policy of this administration. another president on september 25, 1990 said this, george bush, president of the united states, the i.m.f. and world bank given their central role in the world economy are key to helping all of us through this situation by providing a combination of policy advice and financial assistance. september 25, 1990. he went on

united states. following a distinguished career in the military, he found his passion in military education. in the classroom, he worked to instill a culture of civic awareness within the military's ranks and found the cuban national war college and eventually was promoted to the director of cuba's military schools. following his career in cuban military education, he was appointed as cuba's military attache to the united states and delegate to the defense board where he was selected vice chair and developed a plan for a joint defense of the western hemisphere. for his work, colonel marking was honored in 1955 with grade of commander. he learned the shifting political winds in cuba and conspired to prevent freedom from losing its foothold in his native land. i can remember as a young boy in cuba living through tumultuous times and my father remark, that in this colonel cuba had its best home for democracy. his concerns led him to participate in a failed military revolt against the dictatorship and later to actively work against castro's totalitarian regime. he asked him to serve as defense minister. concern with the repressive nature, the colonel refused and, instead, chose to serve in

ranking member sessions, and members of the committee. i think for the opportunity to appear before you to highlight the priorities of the united states department of justice. also like to thank you for ongoing support of the department. i the forward to working with the committee and appreciate your recognition of the mission and the import work we do. in the over four months i have been in office, we have begun to pursue a very specific set of goals. working to strengthen the activities of the federal government that protect the american people from terrorism within the letter and spirit of the constitution, working to restore the credibility of the department badly shaken by allegations of improper political interference, and reinvigorating the traditional member -- the traditional manneissues of the department, insuring federal marketplace. allow me to talk briefly about several of our current initiatives. i have provided more detail in my written statements. the highest priority of the department is to protect the american people against acts of terrorism. working with the federal, state, and local partners and international counterparts, t

ranks. so i would hope that in the future with the task force, again the most transparent administration in the united states by its own admission would admit where the decisioners in lost jobs came from, not merely which ones faced the ax. mr. latourette: i thank the gentleman and that leads to the next point. mr. bloom, from the president's task force, testified yesterday, or the day before, in the united states senate and there are some people, we'll talk about, aside from -- well, let me finish this point. going back to the plant closures, what's now on that far' zell, that's a paragraph that was in the u.a.w. contract that people were asked to approve and it specifically was bargained for by the people in my district in twinsburg. this paragraph certainly doesn't tell them their plant's going to close the next day but it indicates chrysler will bring more work to the stamping plant. when my folks went to work, they voted not that they'd be out of work but that more work would be coming via the agreement with chrysler. but what the gentleman is now referring to is, in addition to the 9,000 people out put

ranking member from my subcommittee, my good friend mr. forbes of georgia, for his help in bringing together this excellent bill. the united states military without a doubt, the premier fighting force in the world, however, military leaders face significant challenges as they seek to fulfill today's equipment and training needs. h.r. 2647 is dedicated to providing the necessary resources and authorities to help reverse declining trends in train and equipment readiness. h.r. 2647 includes the falling provisions -- the following provisions to include theover all state of the united states military -- the overall state of the united states military readiness. it provides $13 billion for reset of army and marine corps equipment, deployment. it has $762 million to fully sustain military base facilities and infrastructure including the department of defense schools. it has $450 million for army barracks, improvements that provides $440 million to support national guard and reserve military construction programs. it adds $395 million to navy maintenance, accounts for ships and aircraft. it authorizes $90 million for energy conservation

ranking member, of course, is senator chuck ghastly from iowa. these two committees, as well as the president of the united states, are considering numerous proposals that deserve the careful attention of the american people and of congress. because this legislation, however it turns out, could fundamentally affect the relationship between patients and their doctors as well as the relationship between the individual and our government. in the kennedy bill, which has been proposed and which is pending now before the health, education, labor and pensions committee, there are several troublesome provisions. one, a government-run plan which would compete, allegedly, with the private sector but, as we all know, the government is the 800-pound gorilla and there is no true competition when government is involved. and, in fact, one projection is that as many as almost 120 million people would ultimately find themselves in a single-payer government-run system because essentially the federal government would undercut those private health mans to the point where individuals would find them them selfs with no choice other than to have government direct the hea

united states as in the next most expensive country. host: in fact, we have a tweet from france that says, no one mentioned france in the health care debate, it's ranked number one and is private and public insurance. >> live now to the senate subcommittee hearing on high speed rail. we'll hear from the heads of am track, the federal railroad administration and others the witnesses are in place in the hearing room, we're rating -- waiting for the subcommittee chairman, mr. lautenberg, and the full committee chairman, jay rockefeller is there on your screen. we expect this to get under way live in a few moments on c-span. >> we could do several -- we could do several things here. often at events which are meant to be full, they just invite members of the audience to come up and make it look like there's a big crowd up here. so you've got senator warren and myself, that's all you really need, but i don't want your egos to be upset. there's a lot going on today and part of it, obviously is what happened with the metro rail system. it's actually depressing, sad, that there is no current way for the ntsb or the department of transportation or anybody else,

ranking member of the senate judiciary committee, and dick durbin of illinois. this is almost 40 minutes. a new justice to the supreme court of the united states brings to our minds a core question both for the senate and the american people, than is what is the proper role of a federal judge in our republic? answering this question is not simply an academic task. it's fundamental to what we will be doing here. how the american people and their representatives and their senators, the ones who have been delegated that responsibility, answer this question impacts not only the future of our judiciary, but i think future of our legal system and the american experience, really. i would just say that from traveling the world as part of the armed services committee, i'm more convinced than ever before that the glory of our american experience, our liberty and our prosperity is based on the fact that we have a legal system you can count on. and when you go to places like afghanistan or iraq or pakistan or the west bank and -- and you see people -- bosnia, and they just can't get a legal system working. and it does not work and people are not protected

united states senate and to this committee. soo from now on, there may be very rare occasions, but we will not have opening statements except fra the chairman and the ranking member and then we will go directly to the witness. and that will be the order. i now call on senator cantwell. >> mr. chairman, will that be the janikowski rule? i thank the chairman and i agree. i'm hear to ask questions in person and i think it is an important hearing so thank you for your statement. mr. genakowski, the diversity of media, i don't know if any of my colleagues have asked about that so far but i've supported technical changes required to expand the number of low-powered fm stations. and these are important because they develop local content and they are important to the very community interests. i certainly opposed media consolidation, particularly that with the cross ownership and i don't think it's the way we're going to save newspapers. i think there is an important role for police education and government. the peg channels. and their service. and peg channels provide an outlet for people and communities to create and distribute their own television programming. b

united states of course, and our president, president obama, will be there with our italian friends. i urge the passage of this legislation. i want to thank the chairman and speaker. i want to thank the ranking member for all of your courtesies. this is truly something we need to get involved in to commend american organizations for reaching out to our brothers and sisters in italy. with that i yield back. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. er the gentleman from florida. mr. bilirakis: i yield back the balance of my time. i have already yielded back. i'll do it again. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from american samoa. mr. faleomavaega: mr. speaker, i also yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 430, as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to, and -- mr.

ranking member on the immigration subcommittee, we have had a history of working for the issues of parody as it relates to the opportunities for haitianans to become statused here in the united states as we have seen the cubans also have this opportunity through what we call the wet food, dry foot provision -- wet foot, dry foot provision. we have worked unending to make sure that comes about and as we look forward into the comprehensive immigration reform debate i hope that language from the save america comprehensive immigration legislation that i authored will be part of the debate so that our reform will include all aspects of those who are seeking to be statused and particular particularly those from the caribbean. we have worked on issues that address the questions of many caribbean leaders, when there were massive deportations of individuals from the united states who had never been to the caribbean, had never been to the countries of which their birth and therefore they were coming and providing the need for extra resources by caribbean leaders. this is paying attention to the issues of the caribbean and recognizing that they are a vital ally to us and that was recognized b

ranking republican, senator martinez. we did it together. and i also held a field hearing in duluth, minnesota, to highlight the importance of tourism to mid-sized and smaller towns in the united states. during the hearings, we heard the importance of tourism and travel to our economy and the urgent need to increase international travel to the united states. as you know coming from colorado, the presiding officer, senator udall, america has so much to offer our travelers, whether it is the mountains of colorado, or as senator kaufman is here, the beaches of delawa delaware, whether it's stunning national landmarks like the grand canyon, mount rushmore and the statue of liberty. whether its our oceans, our lakes, our rivers, our mountains, forests and beaches, whether it's the scenic country towns or the bright lights of the big cities. and whether it's centers of fun and entertainment, like las vegas or disney world or duluth. from the heartland to the coast, every state has an economic stake in the tourism industry, which is now a major part of the american economy. throughout the united states, many communities have discovered and developed economic potential. i keep using the exam

ranking member spencer bachus. and their staff as well. for their assistance in bringing this legislation to the floor today. i would also like to thank my staff, mr. speaker, particularly captain deana, united states marine corps, who is serving as a defense fellow in my office for the remainder of the year. her efforts were instrumental in achieving the required number of co-sponsors for this bill in record time. and sarah sitting next to her worked so hard on all of our office projects. thanks to all the great staff work on this bill. mr. speaker, as has been pointed out the bill before us today honors the special sisterhood of women. most of them in their 80's, who share unique place in american history. these women have been mothers and grandmothers, teachers and office workers, nurses, business owners, photographers, and dancers. one was even a nun. but before that they were pilots for the united states army corps during world war ii. they are heroins, women air force service pilots, or wasps, were the first women in history to fly america's military aircraft. between the years of 1942 to 1944 these courageous women volunteered to fly noncombat missions so that every available male pilot coul

maternal mortality, infant mortality, life expectancy, other kinds -- imization rates, the united states ranks almost last and other places the united states is almost first and that is age 5. if an american gets to age 65, yes, we do have some of the best health care in the world because everybody has the opportunity to join medicare. and 99% of our society's -- 99% plus belong to medicare. so when i hear my colleagues, most of whom are on the government health insurance plan, paid for by taxpayers, say that government can't do health insurance in pointing to other countries and saying it's a failure everywhere else, i look at them a little quizicly, mr. president. because when i hear -- when i talk to a canadian, they have to wait too long. that's right. they underfund their system. i don't see canadians repealing their health care law because they're unhappy with it. i don't see the brits or the germans or the japanese or the italians. they spend less than we do, have higher life expectancy, they have lower maternal mortality rate. so maybe we can learn something. now, mr. president, that b

2002, as ranking democrat member of the house on permanent select committee on the house intelligence, whereas nancy pelosi serves as speaker of the house, whereas title 3 of the united states -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. members, please take your conversations off the floor. mr. bishop: thank you. whereas title 3 of the united states code designates the speaker of the house as third in line from the succession to the presidency and whereas speaker pelosi has publicly challenged the truthfully of what she and other congressional leaders were told by the central intelligence agency officials about the agency's use of enhanced interrogation techniques on suspected terrorists. whereas, in an msnbc interview speaker pelosi said, they never told us that these enhanced interrogation techniques were being used. whereas speaker pelosi's public statements alleged a sustained pattern of deception by government intelligence officers charged by law with informing congress about the agency's activities. whereas when asked at a press conference on may 15, 2009, widely reported by the news media, madam speaker, just to be clear, you accusing c.i.a. of lying to y

ranks for over 50 years. we have engineers who know the mission and knows the needs of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. they have a reputation for delivering for our united states military. madam president, i believe we need to move forward with a fair and transparent rebid of the tanker contract. the comments and the actions coming out of france this week has been anything but. but, again, this isn't about one contract. this is about our nation's economic stability. it is about our military capability. it is about ensuring that our workers are a consideration in the decisions we are making on major defense contracts. it took us a long to time to build our industrial base here. and it's built on the best america has to offer, our innovative spirit, our dedication to this country, and, most importantly, our nation's workers. we have to work to preserve it. and we need to stand up against unfair and illegal trade practices like the ones that are being talked about at the paris air show this week. madam president, you and i both know we are in the middle of a recession. we're engaged in wars abroad. and these are two separate, but not unrelated challenges. we have