sincerely yours, diane feinstein, united states senator -- dianne feinstein, united states senator."plause] >> i don't know what to say. i'm so overwhelmed. it really feels good to get some recognition from the politicians and top politicians. i'm glad that i lived to see this day. [applause] and i want to thank all who have made this day possible, including all the people at the library that put this event together. thank you very much. [applause] >> now, i would like to introduce the driving force behind this program, and award- winning, internationally known storyteller, recording artist, and educator. she is a truth teller and an artist for social change. she has made it her life's work to tell history through the words of its off forgotten witnesses. zero two one-women shows -- she wrote two one-women shows. she told the true story of the 1955-1956 montgomery bus boycott through the eyes of four women. please help me welcome her. >> i guess you are wondering why i'm standing here. [inaudible] my teachers have been teaching me a lot about standing up for what is right. it was a w

well, anybody who has come to the united states senate who isn't willing to vote their convictions, whatever those convictions are and be held accountable by their constituents back home doesn't deserve to be in the united states congress. and we're here to take hard votes and to make hard decisions, because it's not about us and our political career. it's not about the next election. it's about addressing these problems that we have been sent here to try to fix the best we can under the circumstances. and it just -- it is beyond unbelievable when i hear some of our colleagues across the aisle, the senior senator from new york, among others, talk about another stimulus spending as part of this debt reduction deal. and beyond that, we have the -- the chairman of the senate finance committee making clear that insistence on tax increases was an essential element of any deal on raising the debt limit. the vice president himself is quoted as saying in the "politico" publication, he said -- "the piece most important to us democrats, revenue." that's washington speak -- the word revenue is washingt

this is hard slogging work in the united states senate. it is not easy to do. it is not one bit glamourous. but it makes the senate a more effective institution. and if we're more effective, then we can deal better with our debt rs then we can deal better with libya, then we can deal better with creating jobs, then we can earn more respect from the people who elect us. so i thank them for their leadership. i thank senator mcconnell, senator reid for creating the environment in which this can happen. and i thank all of the colleagues, many of whom did not exercise all of their rights, and allowed the bill to come to the floor in this agreement by unanimous consent. we haven't had this privilege very often in the senate. it is a good way for the senate to work, it is the right way for the senate to work. what it means is that over the next day or two, however long it takes, senators may bring their relevant amendments to the floor and they may call them up without asking unanimous consent to set aside a pending amendment. and then we'll have a debate and then we'l

every family, every business has to go through that process, but not the united states senate. and not apparently the president of the united states. the proposal he made, which is double the debt in five years, triple it in ten years, calls for huge new tax increases. but yet, when it came up for a vote, and only because republicans forced a vote on that, it didn't get any support -- i think it was 97-0. not even our friends across the aisle could support the president's outrageous proposal back then. why didn't he come back with a new one? why didn't he stay at the table? instead of going to philadelphia tonight and raising money, why doesn't he call senator mcconnell, speaker boehner, minority leader pelosi and majority leader reid into his office and sit down and do his job? just do his job. mr. president, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut is recognized. mr. blumenthal: thank you very much, mr. president. i ask that

because i wanted to be a united states senate. i ran for the united states senate because i realized we are bankrupting this nation. i think the evidence is quite clear. if you take a look at the budget deficits for just the last three years, $1.4 trillion, $1.3 trill years, $1.4 trillion, $1.3 trill ion, estimates as high this year as $1.65 trillion. we have incurred over $4 trillion worth of debt just in the last three years and our nation's debt stands at dz 14-dz .3 trillion. we've reached our debt limit. our debt is almost the size of our entire economy. i have been watching washington for 32 years from oshkosh, wisconsin, i realize that washington is pretty broken. i've been here for six months and i haven't seen anything here that convinces me otherwise. the united states senate has not passed a budget for over two years of the six pieces of legislation that we've passed, only six pieces of legislation that we passed from this chamber have actually become law. of those six, three dealt with last year's business. there are pi

president, that deserves the attention of the united states senate on this particular issue. so i want to thank the senator for his comments and recognizing the effects that regulatory reform will have on the performance of small business and ultimately job creation in this economy. mr. president, i'm very pleased to have so many of my colleagues cosponsoring this amendment and i'm pleased as well to as worked with the senator from oklahoma, senator coburn, and has been cosponsored by senators mcconnell, ayotte, barrasso, senator brown, senator coats, senator enzi, senator isakson, senator hoeven, senator johnson, senator moran and senator vitter. it is clear to me that many of the senators understand the value and the imperative of reforming our regulatory system. it is absolutely vital that the federal government considers the small business economic impact of the rules and regulations that the agencies that -- are promulgating. the question is why do we need regulatory reform? i keep hearing this. we had a bill on the floor last month, early may, in which i was deny add vot

i did and performed and fought and passed bills that made israel secure when i was in the united states senate. two major pieces of legislation, the syrian accountability account and iran support act i augesered. the president of the united states, george w. bush, opposed both. thought they were too tough. even though i did it because i wanted to get syria out of lebanon and to quit harassing through hezbollah another israel and i wanted to put a stop to the iranian nuclear program. and to help fund pro democracy movement in iran because i knew that the existential threat to israel was in fact iran. so i fought president obama -- president bush, and eventually he came to my side and signed those bill and we had a safer israel as a result. and i've also led the charge on the culture. the debate was the other night. i happened to notice the that john king asked all of the cultural moral questions to me. but that's ok. because i'm used to that and i'm proud of it. i'm proud to stand up for life. i'm proud to stand up for the family. i'm proud to stand up for those at the end of life. because some

from the united states senate.he black and white online video is a montage of senators urging gay and lesbian teens to look for help if they're bullied. it comes just five days after new york legalized same-sex marriage, an issue that all the senators in this video support. >>> here's something that might be hard to imagine. was john lennon a closet republican that enjoyed arguing with left wing radicals? yes, according to his former personal assistant. in a new documentary, fred sighman who worked with him before his death in 1980 said lennon was a fan of ronald reagan and was not the peace-loving militant that many thought he was. sieman added that the former beatle said he would vote for reagan because he was "really sour on jimmy carter." he goes on to say by 1979, lennon was a very different person and looked back at his life embarrassed by his me to eve they. >>> you're -- naivete. >>> you're watching martha stewart and can smell the cookies she's making in her show. researcher at u.c. san diego have created

united states. back to richard russell and lyndon johnson. johnson became president of the senate and later president of the united states. in his own works, lyndon johnson credits richard russell as the strength of his career as a senator. so great was senator russell's control of the united states senate that in a quote by powell moore, his press seact few year, he said, "when president kennedy gave advice to newly elected senators, he said the following: 'if you want to become an effective senator, you should start by going to see dick russell'." that's exactly what lyndon johnson did. so good a friend was he with him, that every sunday night, lady bird would have richard russell over to the house to thank him. as lyndon johnson grew in power, he kept beside him richard brevard us are elt. he is the greatest senator who ever served from our state and senator chambliss and i will be the first to tell you that we're ewe're in the back of the line when you compare our records. when i was elected to the snatd and asked to pick an office, i said the only requirement i had it woul be

senators i have to tell you something. i said tomorrow for only the second time in american history the chief justice of the united states is going to leave his court, is going to come into your chamber and is going to administer an oath to 100 united states senators to do impartial justice. tomorrow when the chief gives you that oath and 20,000 courthouses around the country, judges are going to be administering the exact same oath to untold thousands of. if they can take the oath and if they won't take the oath they can't sit. when i think about tomorrow, how many single moms working at starbucks, how many rivers and how many people working in gas stations and how many unemployed people that would rather be someplace else and do something else will take that oath and take that oath seriously as an american citizen. i have to believe that when 100 members of the greatest deliberative body on the face of the planet takes that oath, there is going to be the same degree of seriousness that i've seen jurors take my whole professional life. there was a silence in the room. and the six senators looked at each other and they look

tester: god bless the united states senate. i would say this, first of all, to the folks in the galleries and members that are still in their offices, look at me. do i look like a banker? senator corker and myself drew this amendment up. the banks did not draw this amendment up, with the help of senators hagan, crapo and bennet. as is usual, we agree on 90% and 10% we disagree on. do i think swipe fees need to be regulated? of course. the problem with this amendment is the exemption on community banks under $10 million does not work. i've read the quotes from bernanke and bair and all and they said they don't know how to make the system work as a free market. the system will overrule that and that's the way it ought to be in this country. the bottom line is i look at this from a rural perspective and the impact the federal government has on rural america and while we're trying to solve one problem we're creating two or three others. i could care less about the wall street banks. they're going to do fine. i tell you what, we lose

>> that is a -- that is an understatement. >> a nobel laureate cannot be confirmed by the united states senatethe gang of six has not been able to cut through the partisanship and some of the procedural hurdles in the senate which is what they were formed to do. i wonder if you could talk about whether you think the senate is broken, is there some dysfunction there that it is impossible to break through? you were involved in trying to revamp the rules earlier this year. did it make a difference? >> it has made a difference. the problem is that the democrats have not brought up anything to talk about. the way the senate works is, when you're the leader, when you have the majority, you set the agenda. the republican leader cannot set it. it is up to harry reid to set an agenda every week. he could bring up any single thing he wants to bring up. he brings up some small business bill and we will stay on it for three weeks. i'm not sure why they are doing that when we have 9% unemployment, health care law that is running and causing people to lose their health care, we've got a financial regulation

i did and performed and fought and passed bills that made israel secure when i was in the united states senate. two major pieces of legislation, the syrian accountability account and iran support act i augesered. the president of the united states, george w. bush, opposed both. thought they were too tough. even though i did it because i wanted to get syria out of lebanon and to quit harassing through hezbollah another israel and i wanted to put a stop to the iranian nuclear program. and to help fund pro democracy movement in iran because i knew that the existential threat to israel was in fact iran. so i fought president obama -- president bush, and eventually he came to my side and signed those bill and we had a safer israel as a result. and i've also led the charge on the culture. the debate was the other night. i happened to notice the that john king asked all of the cultural moral questions to me. but that's ok. because i'm used to that and i'm proud of it. i'm proud to stand up for life. i'm proud to stand up for the family. i'm proud to stand up for those at the end of life. because some

. >> i'm lamar alexander, united states senator from tennessee. i'd like to talk with you for a few minutes about making it easier and cheaper to create private sector jobs here in america. we can start by helping companies make in the united states what they sell in the united states, but unfortunately recent actions by the administration are making that hard to accomplish. last month the national labor relations board moved to stop america's largest exporter, the boeing company, from building airplanes at a non-union plant in south carolina, suggesting that a unionized american company can't expand its operations into one of the 22 states with right-to-work laws, which protect a worker's right to join or not to join a union. but instead of making a speech, let me tell you a story. the story is about a white house state dinner in february 1979, when i was governor of tennessee. president carter said to us, "governors, go to japan. persuade them to make here what they sell here." so, off

it turns out his real name is johnny reed edwards, but we know him as john edwards, united states senator, vice presidential nominee of the democratic party, two-time presidential candidate. no one ever dreamed he would be the edwards in a case called "the united states versus edwards." it's been a spectacular fall for a public man. tonight, john edwards, johnny reed edwards of north carolina, is an accused felon under federal indictment on a charge of trying to use campaign money to hide his relationship with another woman. his wife elizabeth is now dead with breast cancer. edwards, who is a very good lawyer, said he'll go to trial with this in july. we begin with lisa myers. >> good evening, brian. this is a sordid story of deception and betrayal. even if most of the facts prove true, there already is controversy whether it all amounts to a federal crime. >> here he comes. >> reporter: with his daughter kate by his side, john edwards took responsibility for doing wrong, but not for breaking the law. >> i take full responsibility for having done wrong, and i will regret for the rest of m

budget that he sent over here in january, it was so unserious that it actually lost 0-97 in the united states senate not a single democrat senator voted for that budget. we have an awful lot of work to do. our budget deficit this year, the highest estimate i've heard is about $1.65 trillion. we've incurred over $4 trillion in just the last three years. if anyone wants to understand why our economy is in a coma, it is exactly that. people look to washington and they see how reckless, how out of control our spending is. as a former manufacturer, as somebody who has made investments, has created jobs, i realize when the federal government is spending so much money that it doesn't have, eventually the federal government is going to take. they're going to take in the form of higher taxes, possibly in the form of higher inflation, and the other thing that is overhanging this economy that is preventing job creation is the overregulation. i cannot tell you how many wisconsin business people come in a to our office and -- in to our office and are talking about that resolutio regulation or ths regulation that

the united states senate has unanimously passed a resolution condemning what it called the use of forcey chinese ships in the south china sea. the vote which is largely symbolic calls for multilateral negotiations to solve the territorial disputes. the resolution was passed as the u.s. begins major military exercises with the philippines in the area. this was one of the many issues on the to do list of the philippine president durit. our correspondent in manila went to be tempered >> the philippine president aquino has been in power for a year now. he came into office on a wave of optimism, but right now with an increasingly dominant china next door and a growing row with the church, he faces many serious challenges. at the moment, there are tensions over this island on the south chinese seat. if china decided to take ownership of those islands, what realistically could a country like the philippines do about it? >> they are -- international law is applicable. if anybody looks at the map, it's about 18 miles from -- it's not part of the philippines. the closest that the chinese hold is

compromise here on this issue that is a very difficult issue and very divisive here within the united states senate. so we're voting at 2:00 today on these amendments that senator klobuchar has already referred to. the first is an amendment by senators feinstein and coburn repealing the incentive for domestically produced ethanol. i emphasize domestically produced because we don't have to worry about oil sheikhs robbing us of all of our resources when you burn ethanol like you do when you burn imported gasoline. the second amendment is offered by senator mccain, prohibiting the u.s. department of agriculture from using funds for the installation of blender pumps. these amendments won't lower the price of gasoline at the pump. that's what people today are concerned about: the price of gas at the pump. these amendments won't lessen our dependence upon foreign oil. we spend $835 million every day importing oil. and these amendments won't create a single job in the united states. in fact, they'll do just the opposite. they'll raise the price of gasoline and make us more dependent on foreign oil, and it

a united states senate seat should not be put up for sale. you shouldn't let it happen. i think we would have kicked ourselves and other should have rightly kicked fuss we sat around and watched the senate seat be sold. >> blagojevich was told not to leave the state while he awaits sentencing. he could be sentenced to a decade in prison. >>> turning now to decision 2012. it is official, minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann is seeking next year's republican presidential nomination. bachmann formally launched her bid today in the birthplace of waterl waterloo, iowa. the bid comes five years after being elected to kwong. she's the head of the tea party caucus in congress and is calling on voters to make a change. >> i want my candidacy for the presidency of the united states to stand for a moment when we, the people, stand once again for the independence from a government that has gotten too big and spends too much and has taken away too much of our liberties. >> a new poll of iowa voters shows bachmann neck in neck with front-runner mitt romney. >>> every time you get a

the commission said, supported by three republican members of the congress of the united states and the united states senate, said we need also to have revenues as a component. so that the problem i have with paul, and where paul and i have the difficulty is, paul is a camp disciple, if you will. supply side economics frankly has failed. it failed in the reagan administration where we incurred $1.4 trillion in new deficits. it failed in the... >> steny, steny. the commission recommended supply side economics. it recommended lowering tax rates. that is pro-growth economics. bowels is saying lower tax rates. >> as you know, i agree with that. >> so we agree with that. >> no, you don't think that revenues ought to be any part of this. >> we think revenues should grow by growing the economy. raising tax rates hurts economic growth. >> schieffer: both of you... >> bob, that's an important point because, with all due respect, that was your argument in 1981. that was your argument in.... >> i was a kid in 1981. >> not your personal argument but kemp's. listen to me. that was the argument in 1981. that was the argu

senator rick santorum. >> i'm running for president of the united states of america. join the fight! join the fight! >> what role will he play in a crowded gop field? >>> finally, our "political roundtable" on where the gop field now stands just days before candidates meet for their second debate. has gingrich's campaign imploded after key advisers jumped ship? could texas governor rick perry be positioning himself for a run? and will the race turn on the economy or the country's changing demographics? with us, democratic mayor of atlanta, kasim reed, republican strategist and "time" magazine columnist mike murphy, author of the book "revival 2.0: how the obama white house is making its political comeback", richard wolffe, and columnist for the "wall street journal," kim strassel. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good morning. new developments this weekend concerning congressman anthony weiner after new online communications were revealed between him and a 17-year-old girl in delaware. his staff claiming, however, the contents were not explicit or indecent, but that news appeared to

am very hopeful that we will have 60 votes, which should send a very loud message from the united states senatethank you very much, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from indiana is recognized. mr. coats: mr. president, thank you. i also want to say to the senator from california, many of the points that you have made are valid points. i came back here to -- for the purpose of addressing our overspending, and that involves all kinds of tax expenditures, it involves all kinds of subsidies. it's necessary because of our current debt situation, and debt situation we've got to get control of this. it's the only reason i ran. it's the only reason i'm back here, with a commitment from the people of indiana who supported me that, yes, this is what needs to be done in washington. and so i'm not here to criticize ask senator coburn's, senator feinstein's and other's efforts to begin to address this. i think the senator's phrase this is what we are doing in a timely way goes to the essence of where i believe we ought to go. we have subsidized f

it was produced by the united states senate. >> the -- >> the economy would drop.hey say the economy is dependent on u.s.a. i don't know that -- >> but what happens with -- [everyone talking at once] >> the relationship with pakistan, the area is so critical to our safety. >> it's a disaster. >> i do. >> the afghanistan -- is not a theater in which our national security interest is at stake. we should pull out and pull out right away. slowly. pull out. issue three, underwear bomb two. >> i'm deeply sorry i lied. but at the end of the day, i lied because i was embarrassed. i lied because i was ashamed of what i had done and didn't want to get caught. to be clear, the picture was of me and i sent it. >> new york, democratic congressman anthony weiner this week admitted to sending an underwear anatomy photo of himself to a woman via -- >> question, a recent poll shows that 56% of voters and congressman weiner's district -- where is it? >> queens and brooklyn. >> do not think he should resign! so will weiner survive? i ask you, rich. >> i think he about. there are thre

change things either nato is a defense treaty which the united states has with our allies in europe and by ratifying the treaty the united states senate affirmed that if say west germany or at the time or any of our other nato allies are ever attacked in their european territories we have the legal obligation to immediately defend them but the nato treaty does not authorize or commit the united states to non european north american interventions we certainly have the option to do that and likewise even if the united states were the fact that we are sending unmanned drones to attack and bomb the libyan military doesn't change things whether you attack with robots or with life pilots what war is still a war we are engaged in a war with libya and the price of the military air is actually in the concept that francis is the no one sect the humanitarian intervention is a noble motive and that's one of the reasons i support the substance of this but that doesn't change the fact that it's a war whether we're taking that if there are to take the oil or to protect the people the conduct of what the united states is doing is still a war and the

i mean, a united states senate seat should not be put up for sale.houldn't let the sale happen. i think we would have kicked ourselves and others should have rightly kicked us if we sat around and watched a senate seat be sold. >> reporter: he faces up to 300 years in prison. he becomes the fourth illinois governor since the 1970s to do jail time. so many illinois politicos have served time that local newspapers interviewed them about how they think blagojevich will fare in lockup. their advice, talk less, listen more. >>> two famous falcons shot out of the sky in oakland. the first falcon was shot on june 1st. her 3-month-old daughter was found shot nearby on june 10th. the birds live at the fruitville avenue draw bridge. both are recuperating in walnut creek. we got a rare look at haya being injected with an antibiotic. there's a $1,000 reward for the person who provides information about who would shoot these birds. >> we're reaching out to the media, asking for anonymous t tips. >> you should know that shooting a falcon, which is protected at the

this time the victim is the united states senate website. senate security officials say the site had been hacked this past weekend, but that security was not compromised. a hacking group that's broken into other high profile websites says it is responsible. >>> also this morning, militants in iraq are holding hostages after an attack on a government compound. iraqi officials say the attackers set off two car bombs east of baghdad, then stormed the building. police say at least eight people were killed, and 27 wounded. >>> this morning the army corps of engineers and hundreds of volunteers are working feverishly to try to save the town of hamburg, iowa. the missouri river broke through two levees yesterday. one near hamburg and the other near a missouri resort town. near hamburg, though, water is rushing through a 300 foot-wide hole in the levee and is expected to reach the top of the secondary levee that is protecting the town by tomorrow. >> i'm without a home, living with my kids, all my stuff in a semi. no job. where i work, they closed d

i began my political career in vermont by running for the united states senate on a third party ticket, running against democrats and republicans, and i received all of 2% of the vote. [laughter] that was back in roughly 1971. and not deterred i then ran for governor of the state of vermont -- [laughter] the same third party, the liberty union party, and i went from 2% to 1 %. [laughter] not a kind of trajectory that we were hoping. but i may not be very bright, but i am persistent. [laughter] i came back, ran for the senate again in 1974 against my now-colleague patrick leahy. he won, i lost, but i got 4% of the vote in a three-way race. so i saw those votes going up. and then two years later i ran for governor again. we have elections every two years in vermont. and i got 6%. at that point i took the hint. [laughter] maybe getting elected to political office is not what my life was going to be about. i went about doing other things, mostly doing some writing, working on historical filmstrips and actually having a pretty good time. in 1981 you know how people, politicians always tell

grandma out on the street, and i was out there leading that charge and was successful in the united states senatefederal entitlement. something we have to do in this city right here is to do something about entitlements. you have someone in the race who's taken it on and been successful. i've led on national security issues, particularly in the middle east. i had two major pieces of legislation where i actually fought president bush, eventually signed both, but he opposed both when i first proposed them, one on iran and one on syria. and i've also been a leader on moral cultural issues. you take any issue area, i've had the courage to go out on controversial issues and take leadership roles and i've been successful. >> let me ask you about being a christian conservative in the race. do you think that mitt romney, jon huntsman will have a problem in this race in the primary as mormons? >> i hope not. i hope that people look at the qualities of candidates and look at what they believe and look at what they're for, look at their records -- >> are they true conservatives, in your eyes? >> i think the

is what president john adams opposed when he opened the treaty of tripoli ratified by the united states senate and signed in seventeen ninety seven adams their second president with the words as the government of the united states of america is not in any sense founded on the christian religion as it has in itself no character of empty against the laws religion or tranquility of muslims and as the said states never entered into any war or act still ity against any mohammad to be a nation is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions show ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries or when thomas jefferson wrote the legitimate powers of government extend to such acts as are injurious to others but it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god if god who picks my pocket or breaks my leg if founders understood religious intolerance and how dangerous it is which is why i do stablished one clause in the constitution makes herman cain's religious test for office illegal. this kind of scapegoating and bigotr

after the retirement of senator hatfield, who we all know is still beloved by many here in the united states senate, i have had a chance to work with our former colleague, senator gordon smith, and now with senator merkley to send to both republican and democratic presidents some outstanding men and women for their consideration for the district court in oregon. today senator merkley and i send to the senate for its consideration today another outstanding individual, someone who's going to take his place with the other leaders that have been named to the district court of oregon. michael simon is one of those persons who, when you look at what kind of jurist you want to have, he meets all the essential tests. he is a thoughtful man. he is a fair man. and he's an individual who always wants to have all the facts in front of him before he makes a reasoned judgment. and when i look at his background -- and senator merkley has laid out several of the areas that we're especially proud of. his work in the private sector, perkins kuhey, i come particularly to his work in consumer protection and the antitr

in this debt limit debate either in the house or the senate and they win case in point the united states senate where practically nothing has been done thanks to a minority of filibustering republicans so far this year the senate has only held eighty seven roll call votes a far cry from the two hundred five votes it plays to this point from the last session of congress back in two thousand and nine to fill the time the senate has resorted to endless what are called quorum calls this is just a basic generic procedure of calling the roll for senators to see who's in the building and who's not one third of all the time that senators have spent on the floor of the senate this year has been devoted to these a who is here calls often wasting as much as ten minutes between calling each name system killing time as the senate's official historian quipped it's just a matter of keeping the story lights on when the customers aren't there. now that a majority of republicans have transformed the senate to require a super majority a pass everything something has never happened in the history of this country o

i managed at that bill in the united states senate because i cared about the dignity of every person. i didn't believe that poverty was the ultimate disability. i believed that people could work and they could succeed. we brought people together. i got 70 votes to end a federal entitlement, which was what paul ryan's proposed for medicaid and food stamps and other welfare programs. he we did it. we set the template, and i led and got bipartisan support to do it. >> that wasn't the question. are you concerned at all about the influence of the tea party? >> not at all. i think the tea battery is a great backstop for america. i love it when people hold up the constitution and say we have to live by what our founders laid out for this country. it is essential we have that backbone to the republican party going into this election. >> i know you agree, congresswoman. address his concerns. the tea party pushes him out? >> what i've seen in the tea party, i'm the chairman of the tea party caucus in the house of representatives. unlike how the media has tried to wrongly and grossly portray the

find and read where these checkpoints are is this really a problem likely really does the united states senate have to care about the this is going to be surprising thing the drunk people do you know i woke up and looked in my case in the next morning at apparently there is a fancy feast that it was made the night before. are there problems like a lot of skill. this is. the math right you know to be like below goes like fancy feast like it was the big a bunch of cat food that you had bought and i was you just like loaded up throughout the kitchen ok enough about me go on i think you should see. i'm on here you know i think now i want to say well this one is eft so the supreme court has ruled that apparently if you get in your car and you decide to leave the police in your car that's now considered a violent felony and that can give you up to a fifteen second come with a fifteen year mandatory minimum sentence and i think we all know what this might look like sometimes take a look at a clip. only to talk to a woman named betty or driving erratically. she's got one here. you are better than me.

these checkpoints are is this really a problem likely really does the united states senate have to care about these are private things or drown people do you know i've woken up and like to my kids in the next morning at apparently there is a fancy feast there was made the night. for the problems like a lot of skill. this is. right you know exactly what it was like and it's it feels like it was the biggest bunch of cat food that you could walk and i was the sleepy little girl because again about me go and i think we should. because now. well this one is eft so the supreme court just ruled that apparently if you get in your car and you decide to flee the police in your car that's now considered a violent felony and that can give you up to a fifteen second come with a fifteen year mandatory minimum sentence and i think we all know what this might look like sometimes let's take a look at a clip. i'm talking all over a woman named betty we're driving around. here. you are very sad randy. how does he look like a violent criminal to us on a felony actually it's all going to get out there that'

on tuesday, june 21, 2011, the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar numbers 34, the nomination of michael simon to be united states district judge for the district of oregon, an hour of debate divided in the usual form, upon the use or yielding back of that time the senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on calendar number 34. following this vote the senate recess until 2:15 p.m. to meet for party conferences. at 2:15 p.m. the senate consider calendar number 183, leon e. panetta, to be secretary of defense for our country, two hours of debate divided upon the two leaders or designees. upon the use or yielding back of that time the senate proceed to vote with no intervening action or debate on calendar number 183. the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, no intervening action or debate, and no further motions be in order to the nominations, any statements related to the nomination be printed in the record, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative. further, that following this vote the senate resume consideratio

there's only one united states senate. and i suggest we start acting like a louisiana -- like a senate, like a u.s. senate and stop acting like a bumper sticker -- a bumper sticker operation, and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: i just want to make a couple of comments. i said in my earlier comments, there are some good things with the e.d.a. the fact is they are all self-reported, there is no data, there is no metrics. any time you send money to the state of oklahoma, i guarantee the people who get the money are going to like it, but there isn't one metric, one set of metrics that measures the effectiveness of the money that's been spent through e.d.a. in terms of job creation. fully one-third of the dollars don't get through to completion over the history of the program. you know, the very idea that we would defend -- the bureaucracy didn't help us on 9/11 because they were stovepiped, they wouldn't communicate. the bureaucracy failed to ensure the safety of the levees in ne

he made 60 speeches and he couldn't get 60 votes in the united states senate. but there are a variety of ways to adjust social security very slightly so that it's solvent for the long term. and what our goal should be is to make she is slight adjustments today, before we have a crisis and make it solvent and strong so people can count on it. >> are you concerned about the political fallout of a proposal being put forth by house republicans on this that could be seen as doubling down on trying to privatize entitlement programs after the medicare vote? >> that shouldn't surprise anybody. republicans have always suggested and most republicans have -- and i'm one of them -- who said we ought to try private accounts. let people take their social security money and put it in a private account. i'd like to try it. i'm a believer in pilot programs rather than apply it to the whole system. but i don't think that's likely to happen this year. what could happen, if the president recommends it, is a sound way to strengthen social security for the long, long term. and that

today to lobbying giants were pitted against each other in the united states senate it was wal-mart versus wall street on the issue of debit card swipe fees besides oil barons and health insurance c.e.o.'s good luck trying to find two industries that spend more on lobbying the d.'s to heavy weights. if i can think of a good metaphor here. i. hate that's right the irresistible force wal-mart and other giant retailer and merchants that get pretty much whatever they want from congress up against the immovable object wall street and industry is practically untouchable the issue at hand is the sixteen billion dollars in debit card swipe fees that retail merchants have to fork over to the banks trees every year so that you and i can use plastic when we buy stuff as part of some new federal regulations set to go into effect next month these are all rages swipe fees will be reined in and kept depriving big banks of over a billion dollars a month in profit that is frankly largely revenue because with all these innovations in computers these swipe fees no longer reflect the actual cost to collect th

>> what happens to the people when politics, raw politics becomes the central focus of the united states senateer said democrats in the senate will keep introducing jobs bills until they can get enough votes to overcome filibuster threats and bring them up for a vote. >>> department of homeland security says it is keeping national guardsmen in place along the u.s.-mexico border for at least three more months. the guard unit support the border patrol watching people from coming into the united states illegally. the obama administration deployed 12,000 soldier and will spend an extra $35 million to extend the deployment through the end of september >>> u.s. conference of mayors plans to debate whether the money spent on the wars spend in iraq and afghanistan should be spent at home. the ajen dane includes a resolution on the war spending. the meeting runs through monday. >>> santa clara county supervisor unanimously passed a $4 billion budget for the next fiscal year. this comes after a week of hearings and the closing of $220 million budget gap. today, they closed deficit through programs and se