let's bring in rhode island senator sheldon whitehouse, a democrat. senator, how bad is it in your state? >> it's pretty serious, david. we have, as you said, 95, our major artery out. we have three of our waste water treatment systems inundated. i went through a factory in cumberland this morning going through the loading dock in an inflatable boat, families that have been in their homes for 35, 50 years and never seen flooding in cranston are now flooded out. down in south kings town where i was yesterday you've got the major part of downtown flooded out. it is a real challenge. it's been described here as a 500-year flood. >> what would you like the federal government to do? >> send the cavalry. we have a lot of people who have, you know, rhode island is in tough shape economically. we've been the second or third highest unemployment now through the entire obama administration. we've been in recession for probably 24 straight months. rhode island is a resilient place. rhode islanders are tough, but they've had a lot of economic pressure and particu

whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. i am very honored to have the chance to join my distinguished senior senator jack reed on the floor of the senate today to pay our respects to a friend of both of ours who has departed us. i will say a few words about our friend george peneches myself, and then my senior senator will say a few words in conclusion. tass great honor -- it is a great honor for me to be here with senator reed. one of the bonds that we have together is our tpreupb with -- friendship with the honorable george peneches. on march 2, the day of george peneches' funeral, the flags in the state were at half-mast in his honor. while george's family and friends are still in mourning, we would like to take this opportunity to share some of our memories in celebration of the life of a man who was really one of rhode island's legends. representative george peneches was many things: a husband, a father, a grandfather, a veteran, a public servant, an advocate, a loyal and active member of rhode island's greek community

warner: thank you, senator whitehouse. madam president, unanimous consent request unanimous consent that privileges of the floor be granted to the following member of senator cardin's staff: scott glick, during the pendency of morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. warner: i appreciate senator whitehouse's comments and pointing out one more example of the qualified nominee that needs toc needs to be votea aproved up or down. i now call on my colleague from illinois, senator burris. mr. burris: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. burris: it is a pleasure for me to join in this very, very important position in the united states senate. i'm proud to join my democratic colleagues on the floor this morning to discuss some of the obstructionism we're seeing from the other side on a number of presidential nominations. it is a duty of the senate to provide advise and consent for more than 2,000 government officials appointed by the president of the united states. these in

. >>> we start with this historic day, itself, with senator sheldon whitehouse, a democrat of rhode island. a new gallup poll by "usa today," one-day poll conducted monday, that's yesterday, finds 49% say it's a good thing that congress passed the health care bill. 40% say it's a bad thing. so times change, things change. so quickly, victory looks good to the american people so far. your thoughts? >> i think victory does look good to the american people. i also think that as they become more accustomed to this bill, as the president said, as its reality confronts some of the rhetoric that we've heard about it, they will learn some very important things about what this bill does. i think the republicans have painted themselves into a corner. if they want to run against us. in november, on opposing closing the doughnut hole for seniors, opposing protecting children with pre-existing conditions against the insurance companies that are denying them coverage, opposing $1.3 trillion in deficit reduction, opposing tax credits for small business, they put themselves in a tough position. >> okay. l

whitehouse: mr.president, on behalf of senator baucus, i yield myself up to 20 minutes. and that senator brown be recognized for up to 10 minutes and that the time be charged against the bill. the presiding offic: is there objection? so ordered. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, on this historic day, i rise to speak, as i have many times before, about our historic opportunity to turn away from the path of physica fiscal toshetoward the difficult and vl work of bringing down the cost of health care. after the wild and unsustainable borrowing of bush era, we now face an era of limited resources in which every last dollar is needed to spur economic recovery, create jobs, and restore economic security for all. economists agree with virtual unanimity that the needless and excessive cost of health care is the heaviest weight dragging down america's economic growth. in 1955, the year i was born, the nation spent $12 billion annually on health care. last year we spent $2.5 trillio. $134 billion more than the pr

whitehouse: thank you, madam president. my amendment cosponsored by senators schumer and bingaman and merkley would authorize a series of new programs designed to encourage energy efficiency in homes. i'm offering this amendment based on s. 1379, the energy efficiency and housing act to the job creation bill we are debating today because of the enormous potential of greenhousing to grow the economy, create jobs, and, of course, save energy. clean energy is the next big global industry. and according to the u.s. green building council, buildings account for 39% of all energy consumption and 38% of carbon dioxide emissions. clearly the housing sector must be a vital part of our energy efficiency efforts. venture capitalists and companies from google to general electric have testified before the senate that this revolution, the clean energy revolution, could be even bigger than the digital revolution. the countries at the forefront of this clean energy revolution will be the economic powerhouses of the next century. right now

whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that all remaining time be yielded back. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloturesenars in accordae provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of barbara milano keenan of virginia to be the united states circuit judge for the fourth circuit signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is: is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of barbara milano keenan of virginia to be united states circuit judge for the fourth circuit shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber who wish to vote or to change a vote? if not, on this vote the yeas are 99, the nays are zero. three-fifths of

whitehouse, mr. leahy, and mrs. gillibrand. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. ride, for mr. sanders and others proposes an amendment numbered 3353 to amendment numbered 3336. mr. reid: i ask the reading of the amendment be waived, mr. president. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i would ask the clerk call the roll. there appears not to be a quorum present. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. mcconnell: the republican leader is recognized. the presiding officer: are we in a quorum call? mr. mcconnell: i ask that further proceedings on the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, most americans breathed a sigh of relief in january when it looked like the democrats' partisan plan for health care was done for. most people saw the outcome of the massachusetts senate race as an opportunity to start over on what they wanted, which is a step-by-step plan that would target costs without raising taxes or ins

amendment, as of now, is supported by senator dodd, senator gillibrand, senator leahy, senator whitehouse. we look forward to more support. this concept is in the president's budget, and the president has been very clear about the need to go forward with a $250 payment. this amendment -- again -- this amendment that we'll be 0 offering tomorrow is supported by the aarp, the american legion, the veterans of foreign war, the national committee to protect social security and medicare, the disabled veterans of america, older americans league, and many, many other organizations. so we will be offering an amendment which simply says we are not going to leave america's seniors out in the cold. we're not going to leave america's disabled veterans out in the cold. and while there is no cola this year, we are at least going to do what we did last year and provide them with a $250 emergency payment. not a whole lot of money in the great scheme of things but, trust me, having just met with seniors on monday, a lot of seniors in this country today are finding it very difficult to feed themselves, take

it is what whitehouse's way to apiece anti-abortion lawmakers. federal money can't be used for the procedure except in cases of rape, incest or when i woman's life is danger. here is the president signing the health care overall into law inside a packed east room in the white house. the senate still has to approve the fix-it bill which eliminates special deals for individual states an increases subsidies to make insurance more affordable. democrats say it will improve the health care law but republicans are promising to change or delay the bill in the senate. >> while the senate still has a last round of improvements and these are improvements i am confident they will make swiftly. >> we will offer substantive amendments an hopefully some will pass. >>> it took just minutes for more than a dozen states including virginia's attorney general to file lawsuits. they claim in part that the health care bill is constitutionally questionable mainly because it mandates people get insurance arrest pay a fine or a tax. the lawsuit filed in virginia not sitt

in fact, yesterday touring with me was one of our senators, senator sheldon whitehouse. so we are getting a lot of the resources from all levels, from the state, to the federal government. but it's still just not enough because we're facing unprecedented levels of flooding. we certainly are in uncharted territories right now, in our city and our state. >> mayor allan fung our thoughts are with you and the people of cranston this morning. thank you so much. >> thank you, maggie. >> now here's jeff. >> all right, now to a scare in the air over northern california. a jumbojet loaded with passengers and a small plane almost collided in midair this weekend. cbs' nancy cordes covers transportation for us. she joins us this morning from washington. nancy, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, jeff. this was a really close call. the two planes were just seconds apart, and it was only quick action by the pilots of the jet that averted a potential catastrophe. it was saturday, at about 11:15 a.m. pacific time. united flight 889 carrying 251 passengers and a crew of 17 was clear

i would say to senator whitehouse that we can argue about this as long as you want to.have said that the science is settled over and over again are hoping to believe it. the guy in charge of all the science ofipcc, dr. phillip jones, says he does not believe the vast majority of climate science is correct. that is the guy who is in charge of the ipcc. feature real mistakes, i think it was senator sanders, we think it is trivial here but if you look overseas and what is happening the have called for an internet -- investigation of the the ipcc. the corruption is overpowering. they're calling this the greatest scientific scandal of our generation. there are doubting the un's credibility -- their doubting the u.n.'s credibility. "the guardian"says they were too trusting. they said they would be better journalists if they would have investigated more closer. the same is true of "the washington post." i will have been submitted into the record. one of the things that has been said over and over the the question that it is really not a question of the ipcc. i have read admini

that is why we here in congress and washington, senators whitehouse from rhode island, senator cornynfrom texas, reaching across the aisle to support the criminal justice reinvestment act. what it does would be to provide a small amount of money to states to gather the data so that the states can roll up their sleeves and figure out who we have here who is a violent criminal that needs to stay behind bars, and who are the low-level offenders, probation and parole violators, who don't really need to have in here for that long. when you see that kind of bipartisan cooperation, it really signals how much the politics and policy in our rent on this issue have changed. hos -- policy environment on this issue have changed. host: our guest was educated at the university of virginia and harford, worked at "the atlanta journal-constitution," a bit of a journalism background, work for kathleen kennedy townsend in maryland, and he is now director of the prison report at the pew center on the the states. how long have you been doing this report? guest: just a few months. counting the present viol

whitehouse: madam president, i would like to echo the remarks of my very distinguished colleague from maryland who i know feels so passionately about this and whose own state will suffer really dire individual consequences as the failure of unemployment insurance and cobra and other things begin to hit home in the personal lives of people in maryland, people in my home state of rhode island, people across this country. with so many americans struggling to pay their bills, why, why did thousands of the worst off, including hundreds of rhode islanders, have to wake up on monday morning to find that their unemployment benefits and cobra subsidies had expired? why are people being kicked out of these essential humane lifeline programs before the economic storm that put them in that predicament has passed? the answer is that we have failed to do what is right for the american public in part because one republican has chosen this time of great despair for millions of americans to make a political point. to make a political point about the deficit by hurting hard-working americans who are st

whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: i mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period -- the presiding officer: it is a quorum call. mr. whitehouse: may i ask that the quorum call be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: may i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed it a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:45 a.m. today. thursday, march 25. that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the

whitehouse amendment 3365, to be modified. rockefeller amendment 3371, to be modified. and baucus technical amendment, which is at the desk. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. reid: mr. president, reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i would ask the request be modified to allowed senator isakson to speak for 2 1/2 minutes following the agreement to this unanimous consent request and that i thereafter be recognized to offer a unanimous consent request regarding something on this bill. the presiding officer: is there objection? seeing and hearing none, so ordered. the senator from georgia. mr. isakson: i want to thank the leader for his courtesy. i want to thank him for his help on this legislation. but in particular, chairman baucus and his staff, chairman grassley and his staff, and, in particular, my staff, ed egey, in particular, who did a great job of addressing the pension problems in this country. this amendment gives corporations two alternatives to accept to adopt to smooth their obligations on pensions.

and that is why i'm offering today, along with senators dodd, leahy, whitehouse, gillibrand, lautenberg, begich, stabenow and menendez, an amendment which will provide over 55 million seniors, veterans, and persons with disabilities $250, a onetime payment, in much-needed emergency relief. this $250 emergency payment is equivalent to a 2%, 2% increase in benefits for the average social security retiree. and it is the same amount that seniors received last year as part of the recovery act. 2% -- that is not a lot of money, but it will in fact provide much-needed help to millions of people who are demanding that we not turn our backs on them. mr. president, this amendment is supported by a wide array of senior and veterans organizations representing tens and tens of millions of americans. let me just give you some of the organizations who are supporting this amendment. the aarp, which is the largest senior group in america; the american legion, the largest veterans group in america; the veterans of foreign wars, the national committee to preserve social security and medicare, the american