. >> are the vitter's married? exsenator ensign do -- is he married?ere monogamy that is a part of marriage. we never hear -- >> stephen: we do. you are saying we shouldn't put so much weight on it? >> we're bad ate it. look at the clinton, look at the vitter's, the limbaugh's -- >> stephen: i know i should do crunches. >> but your marriage doesn't collapse. >> stephen: my heart fails. marriage is an exercise. you have to work at it. what is heaven for if you don't set these goal? >> if people make a monogamous commitment they should try to honor it. many people who believe they are in monogamous relationships and those who made the commitment will fall short and then what? should it be a relationship end ending event. or should it be something that you should be able to get past. the marriage should be expected to survive. >> stephen: that is not what you are saying. you are back pedaling? >> i'm not. >> stephen: high five, buddy. you were actually saying that playing around outside a relationship can be good. >> it can save a marriage at times. >> st

vitter: thank you. and now, madam president, i rise to ask support, bipartisan support for the vitter amendment which we will be voting on at 12:00 noon. this amendment is very simple, it's very straightforward, but i think it's important and makes a central point. the amendment says that these funds in this bill will not be spent unless and until we have a 2012 budget, unless we start with first things first and decide what the overall budget framework is and then move forward with spending with appropriation bills consistent with that budget, and that's all it says. simple, straightforward point but an important point. madam president, folks around america, including in the market, are scratching their heads. they look at washington, they look at us, they look at congress and the president and see almost complete dysfunction and this complete lack of a budget, even lack of an attempt to get a budget in place is a glaring, maybe the top example of that. now, this isn't just a good commonsense idea, som

vitter proposes an amendment numbered 568. mr. vitter: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i will a read it. it's very short and i'll explain it. this amendment simply says, none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this act shall exceed the level of the concurrent budget resolution for fiscal year 2012. that's the entire amendment -- quote, unquote. mr. president, the point this amendment makes is a pretty simple but basic and important one. we don't have a concurrent budget resolution for fiscal year 12012. we're in the process of passing an appropriation bill with this bill, spending money without a budget, without a game plan, without a framework, and that's clearly putting the cart before the horse, and clearly having things backwards, in a dysfunctional process. mr. president, every louisiana family, every louisiana small business -- as families and businesses do in minnesota -- sit down and make a budget and then they spend money under that budget. that's the rational, straightforward way to do things. unfortunately, that's not what we'

vitter: thank you, madam president.irst i rise to celebrate that we are finally, finally, after months and months of doing everything under the sun but facing our gravest challenge, spending and debt, we're finally focused on that on the floor of the united states senate. and that's progress. we have a long way to go, but at least that's progress. for months, i have been urging us as a body, urging the distinguished majority leader who controls the floor please, let's focus on our gravest challenge, federal spending and debt, right here on the floor of the senate. not wait until the 11th hour. not wait to a crisis atmosphere around the debt limit. let's have a constructive debate, put meaningful legislation on the floor about spending and debt. and for months and months and months, unfortunately, we did everything but that on the floor of the u.s. senate. the majority leader looked for every bill, every topic but that and it was all sorts of cats and dogs, many of them, quite frankly, trivial, unnecessary legislation, p

we're honoring to be joined by senator vitter. would you like to make a statement? >> thank you, senator, but i'm beginning to wait until the second panel to ask questions there. >> thank you. a couple questions of you, ms. quarterman. basically, if you could just go through a little bit of chronology here. it's my understanding that last -- i don't know what it was -- august or sometime that the people of laurel were a little concerned about the integrity of the pipelines, about the river potentially rising, of course, not august, but earlier on before the incident, and consulted with epa, consulted with the state, concerned about the integrity of the pipeline and maybe even exxonmobil too, and then as i read the history, basically there was review that the pipeline and phmsa talked to ex exxon did a study, and it turned out the pipeline was okay, and then we had the incident. from your perspective, walk us through the chronology of what happened. >> absolutely. about october of 2010, we were approached by the city of laurel, i believe the city works department. i

republican senator david vitter gave advice to negotiators. >> be imaginative to lay out the case strongly about why we need growth and growth can produce more revenue, new revenue. that's an important part of the solution. but that's a whole lot different than hiking up taxes on folks. >> the president says while the two sides are divided, they do agree it's time to get a deal done. >> both sides are going to have to step outside of their comfort zones and make some political sacrifices. >> whether that's enough to lead to a budget deal on sunday remains to be seen. susan for cbs news, new york. >> near record time, that's how quickly nasa officials say space shuttle astronauts completed their tasks today. they used the shuttle's robot arm to inspect the shuttle's heat shield for possible launch damage. so far, atlantis does not have minor glitches. the worse problem, the crew could not find an i chart for a vision test. something that caused a chuckle among ground controllers. atlanta's four person crew is expecting to dock tomorrow. >>> even before the atlantis returns to earth, all acr

record snowfall created breathtaking waterfalls but sometimes vitters visitors underestimate the falls. >> it was slick rock and they swept away. >> if you follow the rules, there is no problem. >> reporter: hikers heard about the tragedy and some are taking it slow. >> you can see it's dangerous up there. it's kind of common sense not to go past the rails but some people they want a better picture. >>> well, a setback for bryan stow. he was severely beaten in march and had to undergo emergency surgery. according to the family's website, fluid had built up and was putting pressure on his brain. that caused a 30-second seizure. doctors also had to remove a previously unseen growth. in late june, stow's condition was upgraded to serious but the prospects of recovery are uncertain. the reward though in the case is now up to $225,000 after l.a. supervisors added another $15,000 to the fund. >>> today the giants gave a special honor to a teenager who came face to face with death. >> two years ago, doctors diagnosed 17-year-old alfonso garcia with a failing liver from wilson's disease. witho

amendment number 568, that there be no amendments or points in order prior to the vitter amendment on the motion to table and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it recess until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, wednesday, july 20. following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. following any leader remarks, the senate be in a period of morning business for an hour. senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first half and the republicans controlling the last half, the final half. following morning business, the senate resume consideration of the military construction appropriations bill. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, for the benefit of senators and everyone within the s

senator vitter. mr. vitter: thank you, senator johnson. i'm honored to join you and all of our colleagues here to echo the same important message. everyone knows, everyone paying attention across the country knows that our greatest challenge is out-of-control spending and debt. everyone knows that we face a mountain crisis and an important deadline in terms of the debt limit. and so when are we going to face these crucial issues? the top challenges we face as a country, when are we going to face them squarely, directly, constructively here on the floor of the u.s. senate? it's just that simple. let's get to the iortant matter at hand. let's debate in a constructive way. let's vote on proposals to curb spending and debt. yesterday we stood together under senator johnson's leadership and said just that, and we said we're going to block any effort to go into a recess or even aro forma session next week, july 4 recess. and we have done that. we have successfully blocked that recess. and we're going to do it because we need to roll up our sleev

they were on the menu and in addition to dining, there was dancing with louisiana senators david vitter and his family. also having a good time. our very own andrea roane and she sucks the head and pinches the tail. all right. >> yes, we do. >> you can get more on the blog. >> they're having a big $35 all you can eat weekend and they're going to go fast. >> heard you were good at eating. >>> thank you for watching 9news now at 6:00 a.

. >>> for more perspective on how any budget compromise will be ready, david vitter joins us. >> good morning. >> are you encouraged president obama says severing on the table? >> i was encouraged and i was in a meeting with the speaker thursday where he gave an update about the discussion and it seemed to be more positive than a week or ten days before that. the sides are quite far apart still but it was a positive discussion. they're getting together again sunday. >> sunday at 6:00. in that spirit of compromise as we heard from whit, democrats want to raise taxes on the wealthy, something we heard from senator boehner, republicans are vehemently against. do you see any movement at all on your side on this issue? >> there's a possibility about revenue, revenue through growth, revenue through tax reform and tax simplification which could produce real growth and when you grow the economy, which we desperately need, we just heard about these horrible unemployment figures, you also produce more revenue so i think that is the key area where we should focus. >> it is july 8th, the deal has

vitter: thank you, madam president. so i urge all of my colleagues, democrats and republicans to, come together and continue this debate and move it to the next level. as i said when i began, the first thing i want to do is recognize and celebrate progress. because finally, after months of resistance from the distinguished majority leader, we're finally here on the senate floor actually talking about our most pressing challenge: spending and debt. but it is a sense of the senate resolution. it is a procedural motion. so let's get to the real substance by having meaningful legislation: cut, cap, balance legislation put on the floor of the senate, open to the amendments, open to wide-ranging debate. that's the history and tradition of the senate. unfortunately, it hasn't been the practice of the senate all that much in recent years but we're trying to get back to that. so let's put that meaningful substantive legislation about, standing it on the floor of the senate, have that debate, have amendments, have a free flow of

the six republicans were lindsey graham of south carolina, jim demint of south carolina, david vitter of kentucky. it is possible that rand paul was simply voting against anything that increases the debt ceiling, as would jim demint, lindsey graham may have had different thinking. we don't have statements from them on why they voted the way they did. the action continues in the senate, harry reid trying to move ahead, as you heard from kent conrad, at the moment, the senate floor is in a bit of a stall. now, i can remember a long time ago that, in fact, now that i think of it, it was just months ago, when i was the only television writer in history to have written the words "debt ceiling" in scripts, scripts for television drama. in fact, i did it in two nbc dramas, "the west wing" being the one you might remember. not every joke writer in tv knows what the debt ceiling is or knew what it was until recently, but now every one of them, every joke writer in television has caught up with me and they've written more debt ceiling jokes into scripts than i could ever have dreamed of. here t

. >> reporter: it's a journey into space at the godard place flight vitter center where imaginationssoar high as the heavens. >> for me, it's just so big and so unexplored. so it's completely new. everything is new. >> reporter: signs of the shuttle program are everywhere. and as the final launch approaches, there's a ground swell of pride among godard employees.1 it's an end to somt has been a remarkable program. the space shuttle is just a remarkable flying machine. just an incredible achievement in technology, and human achievement. >> reporter: that's because the godard space flight center has played an important role in the shuttle program. now in its 30th year, godard projects have been on board 75% of all shuttles. for three decades, a shuttle program has brought about incredible triumph, the launch of the hubble telescope, john glenn's return to space, the construction of the international space station, and the hubble repair mission. but also, tragedy. the loss of the "challenger" and "columbia" and 14 astronauts. visitors here remember it all well. >> i have a very persona

cases let's just get it out there on the table, there have been others, for instance, you know, david vittersgn, marc sanford, who embraced family values and it turns around to kick them in the butt. >> there are democrats guilty of both crimes as well. i think that you do set yourself up if you hold yourself up as a pious person, you set yourself up for a fall but it is interesting because i think certainly in 2004, as recently as 2008, i don't think any conservative presidential candidate, not that rick perry is one yet, would have been attacked for doing what he did, that the linkage between religion and conservatives in the republican party was really strong and it's interesting that there does seem to be a little bit of blowback from moderates in the republican party that just perhaps aren't as comfortable with -- not with religion per se but with the role of religion in politics. in iowa, for example, michele bachmann's come under a lot of fire with her husband's gay treatment therapy, and a conservative group there, tim pawlenty is -- i'm surprised to see this happening. >> it's intere

. >> seasu the ones i confisu ed are you, vitter, mike lee, jim demint. >> we sign adler ss tt privatey total, maybe 14 who will vote no on the boer.er plan. the boehner plan never balances. it will aions $7 trillion tes3 $8 trillion to the debt. it doesn't change the course we are on. an interesting analogy is to look at this is to say if we froze spendin som pn fple could understand thaoffe if we didn't spend any more money next year than we oncent this year and dd it for ten years, washington would count that as a $9.5 trillion cut. why? because we are going to add $9.5 trillion to the doppt over the ne the ten years so when ty tell you they going to cut a trillion dollars it is from prreprosed iideareases in the debt. it isn't meaningfuean >> seasu i want to put a highlight on this because you have now signed on to the coect house. >> right. >icalt tthat w: a simple understandsoole plan. for example next year we are going to spend correct me ai 23m wrong anywhere between 7.5 and 8% more, the federal government government will tha3 correct? >> right. year after. >> going up at 7% a y

recommended that congress dedicate to this purpose 80% of the clean water act penalties as senator vitter mentioned earlier, his discussion of the legislation the gulf ecosystem restoration task force chaired by the administrator should lisa jackson and mr. graves is developing the gulf of mexico ecosystem restoration strategy due in deceer, 2011. legislation to degette the fund and established the council to administer them seems to me at least to stall in congress in part because the lack of consensus among the gulf states over the scope and permissible use of the farms, and once again come allocaon among the states. as senator vtter announced some r gup will take place as a sign we will see progress on that. the oil spill commission in looking at this issue conclude it was most compelling from the natural perspectives the application of the fund is focus on the ecosystem restoration, and that we argued that the criteria should be national significance, contribution to the ecosystem resiliency and the extent to which the natural policies such as flood control the oil and distillate, agr

we are honored to be joined by senator vitter.senator, if you wish to make a statement. >> thank you. i am going to wait until the second panel. thank you. >> you betcha. a couple of questions for you, ms. quarterman. basically, if you could just go through a little of chronology here. it is my understanding that last august or sometime, the people were a little concerned about the integrity of the pipeline, about the river potentially rising -- not august, but before the incident. -- and consulted with epa, the state -- a pivotal concerned about the integrity of the pipeline and its effects. then, as i read the history, basically, fimsa talked to exxon, and exxon conducted a study and so forth. it turned out that the pipeline was ok. from your perspective, just walk us through the chronology of what happened. >> about october 2010, we were approached by the city of laurel, i believe there public works department, who contacted our inspector. i think they were trying to find among the government agencies whose responsibility it wa

leland vitter is streaming live. >> that fighting continues in the town of brega but the rebels have been unable to deliver the knockout punch they need to retake the oil town. it would give them access to the export port which they could sell the oil on the open market and finance. rebels have paid dearly in terms of injuries. this is the first one in many months. they tried to hold their fire, train their men at least a dozen people dead, injuries now in the hundreds coming into the hospital outside of that town of brega as the fighting continues. it goes to show you the rebels are brave and dedicated and believe in their cause of freedom. they lack the military training they need and military hardware to make an effective move against the khadafy's army. he is hold up in tripoli where nato airstrikes pounded military installations, but nato has failed to deliver the knockout punch. we haven't seen shock and awe and critical bombing, phone systems or something like water plants that we saw during the iraq aware that would cripple his ability to hold on to power. so we are still at

i think next is senator vitter. >> to me this is akin to having a cousin who has a credit card problem and he says don't worry have a solution. i need you to come down to the bank with me to get a higher limit or to get a credit card. that is not the solution. the solution is doing something meaningful about the underlying spending and borrowing problem. that is what this approach does. cut, cap balance making that a requirement in terms of any increase in the debt ceiling is a responsible way to attack the true problem as well as deal with the immediate situation and i strongly support it. >> thank you. i really congratulate my colleagues were the for the work they have done on this. we have to change the way we do business. we don't have the money to continue spending as we are spending. we simply do not have the money and it is not going to be the objective to come in anytime soon so we have to do the things that families and the businesses and states and cities are doing all over america and that is raymack and. i agree with senator johnson that we need not only to reduce spending

. >> next remarks from senator david vitter of louisiana. he called on congress to pass a balanced budget constitutional amendment. senator chuck schumer responds saying it would take years to pass and congress needs to do something now. he also questioned senator vitter's support for the ryan budget. this is 25 minutes. >> thank you madam president. madam president, first i rise ta celebrate that weda are finallyn finally after months and months of doing everything under the sun but facing our gravestin challenge, spending and debt, wo are finally focused on that, on. the floor of the united states s senate. w and that is progress. we have a long way to go, but at least that is progress.g for months, i have been urging us as a body, urging theder distinguished majority leader the floor, please let's focus on our gravest challenge, federal spending and debt right here on the floor of the senate.or not wait till the 11th hour.ere not wait until a great miss atmosphere round the debt limit, let's have a constructive debate with meaningful legi

vitter: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise again today to urge all of us, democrats and republicans, to come together and put serious deficit-reduction proposals on the floor for full debate and open amendment process, a constructive debate and votes and action. that is the way we can move forward and resolve this greatest threat we face as a country, out-of-control washington spending and debt. mr. president, we are making a little bit of progress in that regard. after months and months of the distinguished majority leader putting every other issue under the sun on the floor but spending and debt, we've finally forced this central issue to come here and be debated. last week many of us banded together, conservatives who were pushing fob this debate said we should cancel this july 4th reserbgs we should block it so we can stay here and debate the central issue. that's what we did, and we successfully did that. unfortunately, the majority leader then proposed we stay here, yes, because we blocked the recess bu

leeland vitter has the latest. >> heather, that fight continues tonight.ks during the beginning of this war back in february and march. i can tell you, it would be very difficult for the rebels to retake that ground if for no other reason than it's on the top of a hill. remember, the rebels were out there fighting or largely doing so with home made weapons and not tanks that gadhafi has. still the forces have been unable to push out of any of their fortified positions because of the nato air strikes. the one thing gadhafi has done is send in heavy fire power in various cities and that's having an effect on the civilian population and one of the reasons the rebels are trying to push out is to push gadhafi forces back and away from the cities. in the mountain, closer to tripoli and the place they want to march on, gadhafi forces are holding very strong and the rebels have been unable to reach a key oil supply line that they want to try to cut and lay siege to tripoli. where we're coming up to is three weeks from the beginning of ramadan. since this war began

. >> heather: leland vitter, thank you. >> getting new details on plans to keep you safe in the skies. faa rolling out a series of brand-new rules to keep air traffic controllers from sleeping on the job. what they are now being told to do. >> heather: and serious concerns over the deadly virus unfolding and who may be funneling weapons to rebels and we'll talk to ambassador bolton and whether is we should be pulling out remaining troops. >> hello everybody. we're in iraq right close to baghdad. i want to say hi to everybody, back home in united states and happy 4th of july. happy birthday buddy, take care, bye-bye. ♪ ♪ introducing purina one beyond a new food for your cat or dog. every day you live with the pain of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis could be another day you're living with joint damage. help stop the damage before it stops you by asking your rheumatologist about humira. for many adult patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis humira has been proven to help relieve pain and stop joint damage. humira's use in patients with ra has been evaluated in multi

every anthony weiner and david wu, you know, the republicans have, and this was mentioned before, vitterf men in power. the power goes to their head. no pun intended. they think they can do what they want. >> pete, you see why i started with you on that one? the two ladies are taking it out on you talking about men in power. >> i agree. don't ever put me in that office. >> i'm sticking up for the men. i think it's women too. >> oh, okay. this could be a whole nother debate. all right. the buzzer beater. ten seconds each on this one. mayor michael bloomberg presides over one of the first same sex marriages in new york so what do you think, future career path for the billionaire mayor? dana? >> possibly. maybe he could be more successful at that than he is in politics. stop putting ice in your beer! >> maria? i think he should set up a consulting service, kyra, that walks gay couples through how to get married and which state and set up a flagship shop in minnesota next to bachmann & associates. >> oh, pete? >> listen, i think if mike bloomberg needs a new career path we're all in a lot of

tonight's photo is senator david vitter of louisi

tonight's photo is senator david vitter of louisiana during a news conference today to introduce the

. >> thank you, chairman vitter want to thank all the witnesses for the test whether this is very helpful. mr. rowan, the question i have you relates to, the written testament of mr. mr. gellert, he's propose an initiative that would apply to all nrsros that would require them to file on a quarterly basis essentially confirming the ratings. i guess he believes it would provide confidence to the public that the rating agencies are standing by the ratings and their opinions. is moody's prepared to file quarterly and would moody's stand by the ratings on an ongoing basis going forward? >> congressman, moody's on a regular basis reviews and maintains its credit opinion. our willingness or capacity to sign on a quarterly basis is something that i can't answer for you today. but i do know that we regularly review and monitor our ratings on all of the instruments that we have ratings on. >> mr. rowan, how long have you been with moody's? >> for about 15 years. >> fifteen years. so certainly you remember six or seven years ago enron and worldcom went bankrupt. moody's had rated both of those enti

>> as the senator pointed out, or senator vitter, the other part of this is also want to make substantial progress on the long-term fiscal situation, and if the rating agencies thought we were just abandoning that effort, that would not be so good, either, so we want to make a convincing case that we are continuing to try to find solutions to our fiscal issues. >> i would share that. i think, speaking for this side of the aisle, we would continue that, but, clearly, rather than have the situation blow up in the short term, that is not something you'd walk and the room about, is it? >> well, again, my first best is that the debt limit its increased promptly and that we have a real solution for our longer-term fiscal problems. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator? >> thank you, senator, and thank you for being here, chairman bernanke. real quickly, i think we all understand we have a fiscal problem in the country. we cannot keep kicking the can down the road. we need stability and dependability. we need a long-term plan. correct? >> correct. >> thank you. i want to talk about h

please put serious bills on the etg senate were were were were read >> thank you, senator vitter. >> thank you, senator johnson for your leadership on this issue has a ranking republican on the budget committee, and n assure my colleagues disappointed though we have not functioned. it's good to see senator chiat,e senator johnson, members of the committee. we work hard to get prepared some weeks ago on the assumptios the united states senate would meet its statutory bricklayer judy and that is produced sectin budget. i'm holding onto tile to come id the states code sections 632 and it is the budget act.get. it requires that the congress annually produce a budget. we've got now is 702 days i guess it that a budget. act the first sign of the act is on or before april 15 of each year, congress shall complete actions on a concurrent t resolution ong the budget for the fiscal year beginning the owner first for the next fiscal year.ehoul wow,d we haven't done that. it also said we should hit by april 1st. and senator conrad, our budget chairman, democratic chairman was prepared to go forwa

i commend senator to me and representative jordan, vitter, and others who have brought this forward. this allows us to avoid having american senior citizens being used as pawns to avoid this game of what some art improperly referred to as a default. the one plan that has been put forward to raise the debt limit, to address this problem, was put forward by this same group here, and was passed in the house with the support of five democrats in the house. when it came over to the senate, it was denied an opportunity for a boat. -- vote. we think this is unfortunate. we think it is also no coincidence this happen as a result of a fact that a cnn poll released monday after it passed the house that the american people were overwhelmingly in support of the cut, cap, and the balance act, as it was described in the pool. -- poll. that is the only plan that has garnered significant support in congress and from groups in the country. we are preparing for the worst in the event that, if we reach or past the august 2 deadline, this will make sure our senior citizens and troops, those who have pur

. >> senator vitter. >> thank you very much, pat, for your leadership. i've been working with pat and others were months on this concept. and obviously right now it's particularly important and timely. again the idea is simple. for months we've heard about u.s. government default. there is absolutely no reason that ever has to happen no matter what. and this bill will make that clear and ensure that. more recently with social security checks not going out to seniors. there is absolutely no reason that should ever happen. this bill will make that clear and ensure that. that's been similar talk about military pay. again, there is absolutely no reason, no matter what, the checks have been disrupted. this bill will make that clear and inshore that. i think we owe all of those groups to put the seniors on top of that list that reassurance. and the fact that quite frankly, they have been scared in tactics over this battle is very unfortunate. but we owe them that priority, and we owe them that reassurance. the next is congressman swagger from arizona. >> thank

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question is on the vitter amendment. mr. johnson: mr. president, the vitter amendment pending before the senate is another attempt to derail the progress that we have made in a bipartisan fashion on the milcon-v.a. bill. the senate has voted twice on this issue during consideration of this bill. at the outset of debate, the ranking member of the budget committee raised a point of order against consideration of this bill without prior adoption of a budget resolution. i made a motion to waive the budget point of order and the senate voted 71-26 to cut off debate on the motion to waive. the senate then agreed to waive the point of order 56-40. now we have an amendment that says that none of the critical funding provided in the bill can be obligated in excess of a budget resolution that does not exist. the strictest interpretation of this means that the v.a. can't spend money for vets and our military can't construct new training, housing or other critical facilities until we have a concurrent budget agreement. i don't disagree