reid: i ask unanimous consent that the vitter substitute amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, any statements relating to this matter appear in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask permission, unanimous consent that the committee on commerce be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 5859. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 5859, an act to repeal an obsolete provision in title 49 united states code requiring motor vehicle insurance cost reporting. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: i further ask the bill be read a third time passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate and any statements relating to this matter appear at the appropriate place in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now

thank you to senator vitter as well. want to just briefly say thank you to the president for providing the strong leadership he has in the -- wake of disasterrer in the connecticut. he promptly declared connecticut an emergency area and that permitted the sba to come forward along with fema and i want to thank the folks who came from sba, the people on the ground who have been there for quite some time now. .. >> i think you need to know that the connecticut office has already approved about 7 million in disaster assistance for struggling businesses in connecticut, as well as residents. that figure is significant. there are a large number of requests for funding that are still being processed. therefore, a large number of home owners and those requesting assistance, they are still in the pipeline, and we would appreciate even prompter attention of them. nearly a month and a half after hurricane sandy, many connecticut residents are still waiting to hear they are a able to repair their storm damaged homes. they are still

leland vitter, why won't the rebels step down?race, simply put, the rebels don't view russia as an honest broker. he'd been supporting assad two years. the rebels believe time is on their side. if you look at the latest video that's coming out of syria, a rebel army is better organized, better armed, better equipped, they've taken areas in the north and are tightened the noose on assad's power basis, the cities in the central part of the country like the capital of damascus. they also believe they can fight all the way to pushing president assad out of power. that may be what the russians are most worried about. russians have a key naval base in the city of tartoose and may are worried if rebels come in, they'll lose any influence inside of syria and are starting to beginning the process of hedging bets against assad and see if they can make inroads with the rebels. >> trace: give me an idea of what other powers are keeping the war going. >> exactly. this is a proxy war going on. russia may be trying to play both sides of the coin

i know that johnny isakson and david vitter and others in our body have been pushing for us to address that. i know the president, the presiding officer today, we serve on the banking committee together and we know that reforms need to take place. but here's what i would say. the main reason f.h.a. is in the problem that it's in is due to loans that were made back in 2006, 2007, 2008 and the beginning of 2009. and what's happening is the losses from those loans are just now kicking in. and there's no question that f.h.a. has some issues relative to their economic value. but there have been five increases in rates at f.h.a. just in recent times to try to get it back where it needs to be. so what i would say to my friends on this side of the aisle is, if we think that f.h.a. can get better by not having a director, i find that to be kind of strange. i mean, sheers there acting -- she's the acting director since david stevens left. but it seems to me we'd be much better having somebody in that position that's actually accountable and is able to bring permanent staff on with her so that th

louisiana republican senator david vitter co-authored the bill and joins us from capitol hill. >> good afternoon, maria. good to be are you. >> do you expect the gao will find evidence that the nation's biggest banks are getting preferential treatment? >> i do expect that. i think too big too-to-fail is alive and well. i think the markets know it, and i think the markets respond by giving too big to fail banks preferential treatment based on the biggest insurance policy imaginable. >> when you say preferential treatment, what do you mean? >> that's why we're asking for the gao study. i'm laying out my suspicions, but it could involve a lower lending rate, for instance, when banks are borrowing money. it could involve a lot of lower rates and costs associated with too big to fail banks versus other institutions. >> what other issues do you want the gao to investigate? >> this is very focused on the concept and reality of too big to fail, and is that perception in reality causing market distortion distortions in favor of the too big to fail institutions? that's something that's been deba

senator vitter and i are in the seventh year of recovering from katrina. i don't want to frighten people listening to this but it is a long road from recovering from a disaster. i just want to start with making sure we know what our challenges are. the record that i have and i want to see if it matches with what you have. in new york the documents that have been submitted show that there are 265,000 businesses that have been destroyed. in new jersey, it is 189,000. is that generally the records that you have, mr. rivera? >> yes, that is correct. >> just for comparison in katrina which is a no question catastrophic disaster on the gulf coast, we only lost 18,000 businesses. 265,000 businesses have been lost in new york and 19,000 in new jersey. now the only program that i know of in the federal government that is specific to meet the needs comes through your agency. we're pushing very hard for the community development grant to change into a much more flexible and better designed tool which is one of the primary tasks in this supplement which i hope congres

senator vitter and i are in the seventh year of recovering from katrina. i don't want to frighten people listening to this but it is a long road from recovering from a disaster. i just want to start with making sure we know what our challenges are. the record that i have and i want to see if it matches with what you have. in new york the documents that have been submitted show that there are 265,000 businesses that have been destroyed. in new jersey, it is 189,000. is that generally the records that you have, mr. rivera? >> yes, that is correct. >> just for comparison in katrina which is a no question catastrophic disaster on the gulf coast, we only lost 18,000 businesses. 265,000 businesses have been lost in new york and 19,000 in new jersey. now the only program that i know of in the federal government that is specific to meet the needs comes through your agency. we're pushing very hard for the community development grant to change into a much more flexible and better designed tool which is one of the primary tasks in this supplement which i hope congres

certainly we know senators landrieu and vitter brought it home to us in katrina, that these events arehappening more and more often and we have to focus on what it means to her people. many of our fellow citizens have a long road ahead to rebuild their lives and their communities. we have a duty to be by their site during this difficult time in the months to come. this year we'll create a record which has jurisdiction over flood control and other related issues. we'll explore how we can prevent or mitigate the incredible destruction and future extreme weather events as we take a the way we go. there's a photo we have from nasa and it illustrates why superstrong sandy is ranked as one of the worst natural disasters to ever hit our nation and how it caused such widespread destruction. stretching from maine to the colts take on the sandy brought a storm surge along the mid-atlantic coast northward including a surge to 11 feet and the long island. massive storms and sustained winds were 90 miles per hour with hurricane force wind approximately 75 miles to the center and tropical storm forc

. >> leland vitter, live in the middle east, thank you. >>> joining us, former state department officialhristian whiten, a principle at d.c. international advisory. he says it's easy, you got russia and iran pouring in the weapons. russia likes the leadership the way it is. >> russia has overwhelming interesting in the assad jeanie the rebels are not gang gaining grounds. russia has to be plan b in case the rebels win. >> they may but they want to do their best to keep assad there. this is a war that's gone on nearly two years, about two years. more than 30,000 people dead so assad is all in. he's going to pay any price and the russians think if they continue to buy time, the rest of the world will lose interest. >> if assad leaves, one of the places he could gain exile would be russia. >> moscow says it's not on the table but it's the only place he could feel secure. the depositories are not an option. >> probably not. could russia say enough is enough, let's bring assad to russia and get it over once and for all? >> they could if they want but they would rather have him there, realizin

vitter: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, as we continue to face enormous economic challenges and uncertainty, i rise to join with others in continuing to express concern about too big to fail, a policy that we saw clearly in a large measure coming out of the 2008 crisis, and a policy which many of us thinks continues to this day and puts the american taxpayer and the american economy at great risk to this day. this isn't a republican concern or a democratic concern. i.t. not jusit's not just a cone concern or a liberal concern. a lot of us on both sides of the aisle have this cerchlt a good example is a colleague i have been working with closely, senator sherrod brown of ohio. we disagree hon a lot of stuff outside anding within the banking committee's jurisdiction, but we do agree on some things, too, including real concern about too big to fail institutions and the continuation of the implicit policy of too big to fail. that's why he and i have come together on a number of fronts related to this, including legis

sessions, chambliss, wicker, brown of massachusetts, portman, ayotte, collins, gramm, cornyn, and vitter. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i move to proceed to h.r. 6516, which is the russia moll did a have a trade agreement. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 552, h.r. 6156, an act to authorize the extension of nondiscriminatory treatment, normal trade relations treatment, to products of the russian federation and moldova and to require reports on the compliance of the russian federation with its obligations as a member of the world trade organization and for other purposes. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from -- mr. mccain: i thank the -- the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: i would like to thank the majority leader for his patience in allowing this legislation to be completed. i would note that there was 145 amendments, and many recorded votes and good debate and discussion over very important issues, and i thank the

leland vitter territory has more on that from bethlehem. >> merry christmas from bethlehem.t is a christmas unlike any other here overlooking manger square. you get a sense what is going on down there. a lot of people late in the night still celebrating. palestinianian corn out of which is a traditional treat here. the nurch of the nativity is where the gatt toe who is so. tourists go in and see and make the pilgrimage down to where the bible says jesus was born more than 2,000 years ago. midnight mass inside the church of the nativity, a standing-room only crowd as the latin patriarch proclaims the birth of christ at midnight. he went on to to talk about the birth of a nation. that being the fact that palestinians have observer status at the united nations which has caused a lot of controversy here in the west bank. also in israel has a lot of people concerned about how many tourists are going to come here. tourism is now the life blood of this community. many come for christmas season and of course christmas eve. that's when at noon the palestinian boy scowtsz began their

that's what senator david vitter wants to know and he'll tell us what he wants to do about it cominghe "closing bell." bob, these projections... they're... optimistic. productivity up, costs down, time to market reduced... those are good things. upstairs, they will see fantasy. not fantasy... logistics. ups came in, analyzed our supply chain, inventory systems... ups? ups. not fantasy? who would have thought? i did. we did, bob. we did. got it. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. just a few minutes before we close out session, the volatility index is up better that be 10%. take a look. what does this tell you in the investor we bring into the conversation right now michael pento along with brian beleskey from bmo capital market. thanks so much for joining us. michael, what's your take on this volatility

and go on the vitter popularized , the world health organization group. it became much bigger than we ever anticipated. the number one priority that we made in the checklist was making the first item, going over the names and numbers of the team, going over their roles. deshaies a simple introduction. when gore won the land, he was particular that be the number one item as well. we have setup a value in making introductions, just a simple statement of your name and what role you have in the team to be a critical part not only to be friendly. let's face it that's nice, but that wasn't the goal. it was to empower people to speak out. at your workplace to have a conference room and you're sitting around for a meeting and you have to say something in the beginning our present some pain. it's easier to speak up again. it's almost as if the first time he speak up and say anything, your act debated and that's what we try to do is activate every member of the team. >> host: settee members are activated. what about the patient? >> guest: absolutely. it's amazing t

thank you to senator vitter as well. also to the president to provide the strong leadership that he has and promptly declared connecticut in the regency arianna and permitted the sba to move forward with fema and i want to think those folks, those on the ground who have been there for quite some time, and fema officials in advance of the storm. many of the recent storms indicate we may face a new normal of this catastrophic weather evaded the event. we need to prepare it -- prepare long-term and short-term and that is why the suggestions and other improvements are so critically important. you need to know the connecticut sba office has approve 6.7 million of disaster assistance for struggling businesses. that figure is significant but there is a large number of requests for funding. there for a large number of homeowners need assistance for the request quite frankly is in the pipeline and we would appreciate more prompt attention and and processing. of month-end 1/2 after many are waiting to hear if they can repair their

sessions, chambliss, wicker, brown of massachusetts, portman, ayotte, collins, graham, cornyn and vitter. mr. whitehouse: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island is recognized. mr. whitehouse: may i ask unanimous consent that we continue in morning business until 7:00 p.m. the presiding officer: is there an objection? no objection, so ordered. mr. whitehouse: i note the absencabsence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. begich: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska is recognized. beck beck recognized. mr. begich: i ask we vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. begich: you now lay before the senate a message from the house with respect to h.r. 2838. the presiding officer: the clerk lays before the senate a message from the house. the clerk: resolve that the house agree to the amendment of the senate to the title of the bill h.r. 2838, a title enact to authorize appropriations for coast guard for fiscal years 2012 through 2015 and for

we have a statement from national security council spokesman tommy vitter. he said, quote, this action is yet another example of north korea's pattern of irresponsible behavior. the united states remains vigilant in the face of north korean provocations and fully committed to the security of our allies in the region, devoting scarce resources to the development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons has not brought north korea security and skaept tans by the international community and never will. jenna, as you mentioned the u.n. security council is meeting as we speak behind closed doors. the north koreans have very little to fear in terms of serious sanctions as a result of this action because of course its friend, china is on the security council and has blocked those kind of actions in the past, jenna. jenna: interesting that you mentioned china. is there any indication that the north koreans had help from the outside? any sort of outside country with this launch? >> reporter: well there is no evidence per se but it is widely known that the north kore

while senator vitter is here, she and i discussed bringing the bill forward within the first 30 days.hat is our goal. so we really are going to work and we've been working on this so we don't waste any time given what we see. were going to have a really strong partnership on this. so were going to go to senator lautenberg for 10 minutes then senator whitehouse and governor gillibrand. >> thank you very much, madam chairman. i think the fact that we are bringing notice about her particular situation, but highlighting the fact that across this country there is no state spared and the more we get the word out to get an understanding of this thing in the more we cooperate one with another in the congress, the better chance we have to preempt the damage resulting from these storms and making life a lot easier, better and safer. and spoken on the senate floor before the committee to outline what happens in my home state of new jersey brought on basic or storm sandy. the total of the storm, roughly 8 million households throughout the power in the storm, including more than 2.5 million in my

do something even in this session of congress before the ranking member -- >> let me -- >> senator vitter, please can you wrap it up? >> sure, i'll wrap it up very quickly. let me suggest melding those two ideas together. i think if you suspend that program tomorrow you'll start saving the taxpayer money and create more pressure for the reform you're describing. thank you. >> senator men endezz. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, while i clearly have question ises -- questions about san joaquin, let me just create some balance -- sandy, let me just create some balance here for my perspective. first of all, am i wrong to say that the h.u.d. report says that f.h.a. continues to be impacted by losses from mortgages originated prior to 2009? >> that's exactly right. and, senator, if you look at the chart on the right here, what you see is that through 2007 and 2008 in particular, we have huge cost to the fund. that 2009 we saw still negative impact but real improvement and then in 2010 through twelve those loans are expected to contribute substantial revenues to the fund and to the ta

. >> yes senator vitter. >> i will wrap it up very quickly. i think if you suspend that program tomorrow you will start saving the taxpayer money and create more pressure to reform -- for the reform you are describing. >> senator menendez. >> thank you mr. chairman. mr. secretary, i clearly have questions about fannie but let me create some balance here. first of all, am i wrong to say that the hud report that says that fha continues to be impacted by losses through mortgages originating prior to 2009? >> that's exactly right and senator if you look at the chart on the right here, what you see is that through 2007 at 2008 in particular, there are huge costs to the fund and in 2009 we saw still negative impacts but real improvement and in 2010 through 2012, those loans are expected to contribute substantial revenues to the fund of the taxpayer. >> a good part of the portfolio here certainly took place prior to this administration? >> that is correct but i would also give you all credit for acting too funded down payment at the end of 2008 which

vitter: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to thank my senate colleagues. yesterday, we passed a reauthorization of the lake pontchartrain basin restoration act. that's very significant for my state of louisiana, particularly southeast louisiana. today i expect that that package will be similarly approved by the u.s. house and passed into law to fully reauthorize this important restoration program. mr. president, i will get in a minute to why it is important and positive and noteworthy. let me just mention in passing, it's significant to me, it happened to be the first bill i ever passed in the congress. i came to the u.s. house in a special election in 1999, and that very soon after that we passed into law in my freshman term this legislation in 2001. more important than that, it's been a very positive, productive program cleaning up a big part of louisiana and parts of mississippi. the lake pontchartrain basin is about 16 parishes in louisiana, four counties in mississippi, southeast louisiana. lake pontchartrain and areas surrounding lake pontchartrain,

senator vitter has a similar amendment. senator corker also has an amendment that would make participation in the t.a.g. program voluntary so banks don't have to pay premiums for insurance they don't use. and senator wicker has an amendment that would limit the term and exposure of the extension of the t.a.g. program. other members on both sides of the aisle have additional amendments that are relevant to this bill. no senators, however, republican or democrat, will get to offer any of these amendments because of the automatic -- autocratic manner in which the democratic majority is handling this legislation, which is, by the way, the same way they have handled the bill -- the previous bills, nearly 70 times. within two minutes after blocking out all amendments, the democratic leadership filed cloture on the bill, so our friends could end debate on this legislation before it even began. this procedural hardball, like blocking out all amendments by filling the amendment tree, is all too common. this is the 107th time the dem