whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, may i ask unanimous consent that the pending quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come to the floor of the senate this afternoon to urge speaker boehner and the house of representatives to pass the bipartisan senate highway jobs bill now. this is an important bill that would save or create nearly 3 million jobs with really a stroke of the president's pen. from washington in the northwest, 33,700 jobs. rhode island in the northeast, 9,000 jobs in our small state, to florida in the south, 81,700 jobs. this is the jobs bill that we need to act on. rhode island would receive $227 million a year for highways, roads and bridges from this bill and that would hold us steady at funding -- this year's funding levels. rhode island would also receive an additional $30.5 million each year for transit projects, which w

i agree with senator whitehouse, some of the finest men and women we have in this country, those who work in the department of justice and our prosecutors d but this one bothers me greatly. not the least of which i knew ted stevens. in my more than 30 years of knowing him, i never knew him to break his word. i never knew him to tell me something that wasn't accurate and true. and for full disclosure, i had what kind of a personal relationship with him. i thought the world of him and assumed that i would -- for whatever time i would be in the senate would be serving with him. we traveled together. we had -- in fact, i told his attorney that i would be willing to testify. while i could not testify to the facts of the case, i could testify to the fact that he was always totally honest with me. as chairman of this committee, 000, and one of the oversight of the department of justice, i realize this happened with the last department of justice, not the current one, i do agree with your assessment and your statement, approval attorney general holder in dismissing this case. we both have kn

whitehouse and for your opening statements too. ms. veasley, as i said, your entire statement will be made a part of the record. please proceed. >> as director of the nvi, an organization that serves long neglected and stigmatized women with chronic vulva pain, as a sufferer myself, it's truly a privilege that i do not take lightly to be before you today to share what some of americans are experiencing in their daily battle against chronic pain. we're very grateful for the committee's work, calling on the iom to study what the iom committee concluded as a national crisis that we have a moral imperative to address. the iom report and today's hear hearing has given us renewed hope. hope that our country is listening to us, cares about our plight, and is ready to enact long overdue change to help us regain some quality of life in our ability to contribute to society. i survived a near fatal accident when i was 15 years old and also found a resolution to the debilitating vulvar pain i experienced in my 20s, but i've had residual back and n

cinco de marzo para inscribirse y puede hacerlo a traves del sitio de internet de la casa blanca... whitehouse

whitehouse: mr. president, i see the republican leader is on the floor, and i understand that there may be a unanimous consent that is propounded. and i can offer some remarks in the context of an objection and a counterproposal if the minority leader would like to proceed now. mr. mcconnell: to the senator from rhode island, i'm not the one who's going to be asking consent. mr. whitehouse: well, i would like to join the -- i'll yield to the majority leader as soon as he seeks the floor, which i guess is now. so i'll yield to the majority leader. mr. president? until i get a signal from the majority leader that he will seek recognition, at which point i will yield, i wanted to -- the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. whitehouse -- i wanted to follow in the -- mr. whitehouse: i wanted to follow in the footsteps of senator landrieu from louisiana and reflect my own dismay and dissatisfaction with the situation that we are in right now. the house extension on the highway bill, which we'r

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whitehouse: mr. president, it is with great sadness but also considerable pride that i join senator reed today to honor the service of dennis p. whitechell jr. of the rhode island national guard who died one week ago today while serving our country in afghanistan. dennis' actions in defense of the lives of vulnerable civilians embody the most noble spirit of service, sacrifice and loyalty found in the hearts of the men and women serving our nation in uniform in the most dangerous corners of the globe. in particular, they reflect the spirit of service of the rhode island national guard which is the second most heavily deployed state guard in the country. dennis, who was 29 years old, lived in providence. he had joined the rhode island national guard in 2001 and he deployed to iraq in 2005 in support of operation iraqi freedom. as a member of company d third battalion 172nd infantry mountain regiment. in november, 2011, dennis mobilized with company c's first battalion 143nd infantry regiment troop com

whitehouse: t. over and over she put herself in harm's way as she followed her calling to bear witness to the atrocities of our world. in sri lanka, in the brutal conflict, she was hit by the explosion of a rocket-propelled grenade, and in addition to other injuries, lost her sight in one eye. she was shot at that day after calling out, "i'm a journalist." in the balkans and chechnya and libya and around the world she went to bear witness to suffering and corruption. i think she spent more time on the ground in libya than any other western correspondent. marie was proud of this work. we can and do make a difference, she said, in exposing the horrors of war and especially the atrocities that befall civilians. and sometimes she managed to do more than just expose atrocities. in east timor, she went to bear witness to the massacres. when the u.n. threatened to pull out of a base, leaving local employees and those sheltering there to the mercies of the massacre, marie announced i'm staying with them. th

this is mariellen whitehouse. you're down in haymarket, virginia? >> that is correct. >> easter is coming up so i assume that's why you're here talking about rabbits for children. >> they're not pets for children. should never give any pet as a gift for a child. just doesn't work. or as a gift to anyone. but the bunnies, this is a special time of year. too many people think about this them and -- about them and think they're good pets for children. they're not. this girl was turned into the humane society because somebody had been abusive to her. there was a dog barking continuously trying to get to her and kill her. somebody in the house decided to spray her in the face with insecticide. >> she's good now. >> she's coming along good. she's really -- she has no emotional scars. we had her spade spayed. >> how old is she now? >> between 3 and 4. we just had her spayed. they found cancer which is normal when they get that age but they've gotten it all out and she's fine and she should have a nice long, healthy life. she just need as good home where so

yesterday was the whitehouse. yesterday john boehner is nancy pelosi discussed the friendship between the u.s. and israel. and they will stand by them. ity inity in met -- benjamin netanyahu met with secretary clinton. >>> the mideast diplomacy of a different kind. teenagers visiting from israel, some are arab and some are jewish and they met american high school students and spent time talking and playing soccer. beth parker shows us what they can teach each other can change history. >> reporter: rolling across a soccer field is hope for world peace. >> and i'm from israel. >> she's from israel and is arab and goes hand-in-hand with another teen who, at worst, show might have hated, at best, she would have never met. >> and mixed emotion a little nervous. i'm living with them. >> reporter: the jewish fed region of greater washington and the parent center for peace helped bring eight teenage soccer players to washington this week. >> and back home, those girls live 20 or 30 minutessa-from- each other and they're w

then it had to pass future tests as we -- you know, combined the whole, ahe senator kyl, senator whitehouse contributed a title regarding cyber security awareness. because of senator mccain's concerns, we omitted significant language pertaining to the white house cyberoffice. colleagues had ongoing question as but a provision that i personally believed in extremely important to be extremely important. i agreed to drop it from the this provision that i am talking about would clarify private sector companies existing requirements regard risks, quot pertaining to cyber, have to be disclosed to investors in as you know at one point, out of frustration, i went to the sec and mary shapiro agreed if you are hacked into as a company it goesebse at sec and that had a substantial impact, actually. i believe this provision is crucial for the market to help solve our cyber vulnerabilities. we'll fight for an amendment on the floor. that's as it should be. the way the system works. but in the interest of to addre questions i agreed to take it out of the bill we introduced this week. any suggestion that

i briefly introduced -- but yield to senator whitehouse for further elaboration of our next witness. >> thank you, chairman. if you don't mind, i would also like to make a brief comment, first of all thanking you for holding a hearing on this important topic. the costs that come with chronic pain are enormous, and they're not just health care costs measured in dollars. they're also human costs measured in quality of life. as rhode island's attorney general, i brought together a group of health care stakeholders to look into problems we were facing in making pain management a routine part of patient care. our work centered on simple things like making pain a fifth vital sign, recorded by the medical establishment. if my memory serves, it was memorial hospital that was the first to take that first step and other hospitals have since fopped on. followed on. promoting an awareness and education about pain management particularly for patients nearing the end of life, both across providers and patients has to be a fundamental part of any strategy to improving pain care. with worked with dr

. >> just as a point of personal privilege, i should like to say that like senator whitehouse, i am a proud alumnis of the department of justice. this is a sad story. i take no joy in having had to come to these conclusions. i hope i never have to do again. >> well, ic'll concur in that. people ask me what my occupation is, i say lawyer before i do u.s. tt. proud to be in private practice, proud to be state's attorney, district attorney. i was proud to be picked as one of the three outstanding prosecutor t country one year. whether deserved or not, i won't judge, but that's probably the early things that will be on my biography some day. thank you very much. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >>> in march of 1979, c-span began televise iing to househol and today our content of politics and public affairs, nonfiction books and american history is available on tv, radio and online. >>> we're talking now about the supreme court! but they are the ones that changed this country inevitably with what we call a march toward progress, march toward knocking down the walls of discrimination that permit

whitehouse: thank you. i am here today to introduce the disclose act of 2012, what we're informally calling disclose 2.0 in recognition of the original bill that senator schumer worked so hard to get passed a few years ago. the supreme court's 2010 decision in citizens united v. federal election commission opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate and special interest money in elections, bringing about an era where corporations and other wealthy interests can drown out the voices of individual voters in our political system. we'rwhere still much of this spd something anonymous. so the public does not even know who is spending millions to influence our elections. here's how my home state newspaper, the providence journal, explained the citizens united decision: the ruling will mean that more than ever big spending economic interests will determine who gets elected. more money will especially pour into relentless attack campaigns. free speech for most individuals will suffer because their voices will count

i would mention to my colleagues that a few weeks ago whitehouse and i had a meeting with representatives from the insurance industry, noted as one of the more radical groups in our society. they pointed out the enormous damages that extreme weather disturbances are doing to their bottom line because of global warming. so it is my view that our country and the federal government should be investing very, very strongly in energy efficiency and sustainable energy in order to reverse green house gas emissions and try to protect the planet. now, in a sense what we are talking about today, this is the role of government in energy. and we are focusing on solyndra and the 1705 program. but let me ask you a question which i hope you have some familiarity with. back in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a huge overbuild in terms of nuclear projects. in fact, as i understand it, about 100 nuclear facilities were terminated at huge expense both to rate payers and taxpayers. right now, i find it a bit eye ronnic that some of my friends talk about picking winners and losers. but wouldn't you agree with me

senator whitehouse. >> thank you madam chair. i'd like to welcome administrator jackson back to our committee. i have some concerns about the beach protection budget that we can discuss as the budget process moves forward. very, very important to rhode island. and i wanted to mention what's very important to rhode island is there would be proper enforcement of the clean air act. we are a down wind state on a bright summer day, you drive into work and the drive time radio is often saying that today is a bad air day. and infants should stay indoors and seniors should stay indoors and people should not have engaged in vigorous outdoor activity. all because of toxic emissions that are being dropped on to us by midwestern coal plants and power plants. so that sentiment has been echoed. the american lung association has just done a poll that shows 73% of americans understand that you can have solid clean air standards and a strong economy. that they go together. 78% of independent voters agreed. 68% of republicans agreed with that. the

them when they're no longer convenient we have an idea obama i want you to back your own website whitehouse dot gov read up on the earth executive order one three four nine zero and specifically it like to direct you to sections two and three which elaborate on the limits that you set on lobbyists explaining what they can and can't do we even put the web address on the screen in case you forgot so you're welcome why would you waste everyone's time by actually writing out this labrat set of rules if you're not going to follow them makes you look foolish and worse disingenuous so for everyone who's watching at home or should he isn't the only member of the president's staff who is listed as a lobbying firm listed a lobbying firm as their previous employer either i can picture is an image of obama saying hey you can't beat em join em so far over looking is going executive order and yet again going back on one of his campaign promises president obama is tonight's told time warner. our guys it's time for happy hour and joining me this evening r.t. web writer andrew blake and mike riggs associate

. >> we are going to put on the floor on tax day a proposal by sheldon whitehouse that would enact the so-called buffet role. those at the top pay 30% regardless of their deductions. the rule is very simple. you should, if you're very wealthy, god bless you, you made a lot of money. we love you in america but let's be fair. you should pay more than your secretary. that will be on the floor april 15 tax day. >> interesting you're going to put that up for a vote in congress. let me just turn to one other section. the ryan plan would repeal the affordable care act on monday the supreme court is begin... will begin debating the legality of that. do you think this is going to be a major issue in this presidential campaign? >> well, i'll tell you something. if mitt romney is the nominee, the issue will be virtually taken off the table. let's remember not only did he propose it in massachusetts. but in 2009 when the health care debate was raging he wrote an op-ed in the usa today and called on the president to adopt it and called on the congress to adopt it. and the president said that our pl

from an estimate by the joint committee on taxation of a bill introduced last month by senator whitehousehe's a rhode island democrat. he and others in his party intend to put that proposal, the buffett rule, into law. the president has proposed

professor of law and political science at yale university and senator sheldon whitehouse.keyed up a question to you about the silver lining being struck down about being possible single payer in our future. what's your response to that? >> i don't think that is very likely. i mean, we just came off of a session in the snit where we passed a highway transportation bill, something every american understands that would generate three million jobs that passed with 75 senators supporting it. and the republican-controlled house can't even get a bill to the floor, they're in such disarray and dysfunction. if they can't do the business of governing to pass a job-creating highway bill, the idea that they're going to effectively take on the insurance problems and health care seems a little bit of a stretch. so the bill answered two questions. one is how do you spread it in a fair way. and the other was what do we do to reduce the cost. i think the other would be how do you improve care and reduce cost in the system. there seems to be a lot of agreement around that. >> in terms of th

he has meetings at the whitehouse, no public events. on pinterest via twitter. they have announced the president has a pinterst page. >> that's where a lot of your friends are wasting their time. you can go there to find obama-inspired recipes and obamart. at pinterest/barackobama. newt gingrich isn't dropping out of the race but he is dropping a third of his campaign staff and we are taking a look at the third day of the supreme court as they tackle health care reform, looking at the individual mandate and whether health care can survive without it. also, whether or not the federal government has the right to tell the states to expand medicaid. you can join us in chat to talk about this and everything else. current.com/billpress. we will be right back. [ mayhem ] it's march and it's mayhem. and if you've got cut rate insurance you could be wishing it was february. so get allstate. [ dennis ] dollar for dollar nobody protects you from mayhem like allstate agents. >>this is outrageous! [[vo]]cenk uygur calls out the mainstream media. >>t

whitehouse: thank you. mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: may i ask unanimous consent to speak for, say, 15 minutes? the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: thank you. let me first congratulate senator harkin for his remarks today, but more than that the work that has preceded today on the health care bill. he was an ardent advocate for the prevention programs that save lives and money. it was a real pleasure to work with him at that time. today is the second anniversary of the passage of the affordable care act. i want to describe how the law is already making a difference for families in rhode island and across the country. by drastically improving access to higher-quality care, by addressing rising health care costs and by protecting consumers. look at the changes. children with preexisting conditions were denied coverage. no longer. lifetime limits on insurance policies left many american families struggling to pay medical care bills on

whitehouse: thank you. mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: may i ask unanimous consent to speak for, say, 15 minutes? the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: thank you. let me first congratulate senator harkin for his remarks today, but more than that the work that has preceded today on the health care bill. he was an ardent advocate for the prevention programs that save lives and money. it was a real pleasure to work with him at that time. today is the second anniversary of the passage of the affordable care act. i want to describe how the law is already making a difference for families in rhode island and across the country. by drastically improving access to higher-quality care, by addressing rising health care costs and by protecting consumers. look at the changes. children with preexisting conditions were denied coverage. no longer. lifetime limits on insurance policies left many american families struggling to pay medical care bills on

i particularly wnts t want to tk senator whitehouse, who led the effort on the democratic side as we have shaped with this help for the gulf coast, which is flepperepresented in this bill,y to invest in our oceans by smartly using some of the interest earnings. and, of course, we would not be here on the floor without the extraordinary leadership of senator boxer from california, whose coast gets virtually no benefit from the restore act as it was originally introduced, but was willing to step up because she knows how important the gulf coast is to the united states of america. let me first remind people what this accident looked like. it's been two years, but we remember the horror that we saw on our television for months about the largest environmental accident in the history of our country; 5 million barrels of oil spilled along the coast of louisiana, alabama, mississippi, and seeped onto the coast of florida and had economic damage in texas. let me tell you that 600 miles of the gulf coastline was oil. 86,000 square miles of waters were closed to fishing, causing a $2.5 billion

whitehouse now. [inaudible conversations] i did. [inaudible conversations] >> you're pissed off. [laughter] i worked with you -- >> that sounds like a good start. >> oh! you ornery bastard. >> is this your daughter? >> it's me! >> my daughter's not here. i did, i -- [inaudible conversations] >> oh, wow. >> yeah, he was a democrat. >> you were a tiny boy, right? >> his mother was judge alice -- [inaudible] >> oh, wow. >> 13 children. nine boys, four girls, and the first one out was the best one there. [laughter] >> oh, that's a great -- >> here's the author. this is the author. >> oh, i wish i could have been your author. >> what's going on here? you used to take the -- >> he wrote the book. [inaudible conversations] >> oh, my, look at this, look at this. we're all here! >> and you remember my wife sarah, right? >> sarah, how are you? >> nice to see you. >> good to see you all. >> [inaudible] sends his regards. >> i can't help you. i don't do that kind of stuff. [laughter] >> how are you doing? >> haven't got me yet. [laughter] just pissing people off all over the country. >> you

senator whitehouse. >> thank you, madam chair.inistrator jackson back to our committee. i'm, i have some concerns about the beach protection budget that we can discuss as the budget process moves forward. very, very important to rhode island. and i wanted to mention another thing that's very, very important to rhode island is that there be proper enforcement of the clean air act. we are a downwind state. on a bright summer day, you drive into work, and the drive time radio is often saying that today's a bad air day, and infants should stay indoors, and seniors, and people should not engage in vigorous outdoor activity all because of toxic emissions that are being dropped onto us by midwestern coal plants and power plants. so that sentiment has been echoed. not just in rhode island, the american lung association has just done a poll that says 73% of americans understand that you can have solid clean air standards and a strong economy. 68% of republicans agreed with that. the poll showed that 72% of americans supported your new prot

whitehouse now. [inaudible conversations] >> i did. >> 45 minutes -- [inaudible conversations] [laughter] >> okay, now we'll tell you why we're pissed off. >> productive. that starts like how session starts. [laughter] >> is this your daughter? oh, it's margaret. >> it's me! my daughter's not here. >> you heard me say that. >> i did. >> i'll hold this for your dad. and he was a democrat. >> you were a tiny boy, right? >> his mother was judge alice k. murray. >> 13 children. >> nine boys, four girls, and the first one out was the best dressed. [laughter] >> here's the author. >> i could have been your author. >> he wrote the book. >> hi. >> oh, my goodness. we're all here! >> and you remember my be wife sara, right? >> how are you? >> all of the crew. good to see you all. good to see you all. [inaudible conversations] >> i can't help you, i don't do that. [laughter] >> how are you doing? >> haven't got me yet. [laughter] just pissing people off all over the country. >> you know, we were together at tr

whitehouse: madam president, i'd like to join my colleagues in a tribute to senator mikulski. i see my distinguished friend, senator cochran, on the floor, and i want to know if he would like -- very good then. i'm delighted to join my colleagues in joining in this tribute to our -- perhaps our favorite colleague, barbara mikulski, on her becoming the longest serving woman in congressional history. her work in these halls has made our country stronger, and in a place where partisan rancor too often rules the day, she has established a legacy of service to her constituents and to all of us in this body that stands as an example to every one of us. her political career began in the late 1960's when she launched a campaign to stop the construction of a highway over historic neighborhoods she wanted to protect in baltimore. she won that battle and went on to run for the baltimore city council in 1971. more than 40 years later and following a successful stint in the u.s. house of representatives, barbara mikulski continues to blaze an impressive trail. during her 27 years in the se

i agree with senator whitehouse some of the finest men and women we have in the country and that work in the department of justice or the prosecutors and others, but this one bothers me greatly not the least of which i knew ted stevens in my more than 30 years of knowing him, and i never knew him to break his word. i never knew him to tell me something that wasn't accurate and true, and for full disclosure, i had a personal relationship with him. i thought the world of him and assumed for whatever time i was in the senate on a would travel and we would have -- in fact i had told his attorney though we would be willing to testify while i couldn't tax defeat could testify to the case she was always totally honest with me. as the chairman of this committee and the oversight of the department of justice, i realized this happened in the last department of justice, not the current one, and i do agree with your assessment and statement of approval, attorney general, in the case we both know a lot of years before he was the attorney general, and i have a great deal of respect for his ability.

senator whitehouse? petraeus mix before. i would like to welcome administrator jackson back to the committee. i have some concerns about protection but that we can discuss as the budget process moves forward. a very important to ruda island. and i want to mention another thing that's very important to rhode island is that there be proper enforcement of the clean air act. we are a downwind state on a bright summer day you drive in to work and the drive time radio is often saying today is a bad error day and intense should stay indoors and seniors should stay indoors and people should not engage in vigorous outdoor activity all because of toxic emissions that are being caught on to us by midwestern coal plants and power plants, so that sentiment has been echoed not just for her violent and the downwind states that the american lung association has a poll that shows 73% of americans understand you can have the cleanest air standard and the strongest economy that they go together, 78% of independent voters agree 60% of republica

it was interesting down at the whitehouse yesterday, kind of a quiet day.ic events scheduled and there weren't even any private events on the calendar. jay carney took the day off and left his deputy josh earnest handle the press briefing which i attended. today, president back at it, 10:00 o'clock this morning, he will receive, with the vice president, his daily briefing, and then, at 10:45, the president stepping out into the rose garden to make some remarks urging congress to vote to end the billions in taxpayer dollars handed out to oil companies every year. then jay carney will be back at the podium with a briefing schedule at 12:15. and again, representing all of you, i will be there. here in the next hour of the full-court press, steny hoyer, the democratic leader, number 2 ranking democrat after speaker nancy pelosi will join us as well as david korn washington bureau chief for mother jones has got a new book out called "showdown" "showdown." all good reasons for staying around here at full-court press. >> this is the bill press show. spiriva helps

senator whitehouse said certain colleagues on the other side of the aisle have argued that the classplan would lead to a financially unstable entitlement program and would rapidly increase the federal deficit. that is simply not accurate. i look forward to my colleagues who supported and voted for the class act to come over and agree that it was, as senator conrad pointed out, a ponzi scheme. mr. wicker: i know our friend from south dakota has joined us and is eager to join in this discussion, so i wonder if he has anything he would like to add about the broken promises that were made during the passage of obamacare. mr. mccain: let me just say, the point is, the whole point of reforming health care was to reduce the costs of health care. that was the -- that was the goal. we all know we cannot sustain, medicare cannot be sustained for the american people if the inflation associated with health care continues. so the whole object of this game was to reduce the costs of health care and preserve the quality of health care. does anybody think that that was achieved with this legislation

whitehouse: madam president, i'd like to join my colleagues in a tribute to senator mikulski. i see my distinguished friend, senator cochran, on the floor, and i want to know if he would like -- very good then. i'm delighted to join my colleagues in joining in this tribute to our -- perhaps our favorite colleague, barbara mikulski, on her becoming the longest serving woman in congressional history. her work in these halls has made our country stronger, and in a place where partisan rancor too often rules the day, she has established a legacy of service to her constituents and to all of us in this body that stands as an example to every one of us. her political career began in the late 1960's when she launched a campaign to stop the construction of a highway over historic neighborhoods she wanted to protect in baltimore. she won that battle and went on to run for the baltimore city council in 1971. more than 40 years later and following a successful stint in the u.s. house of representatives, barbara mikulski continues to blaze an impressive trail. during her 27 years in the se

he will be back at the whitehouse at 10:00 o'clock just any time in time for a late dinner, i guess, >> in our next hour faz shakir is going to be here to tell us what their latest stories that they are working on. then melanie sloan from crew with all of the members of the house, democrats and republicans who are lining the pockets of their own families. stay tuned. >> this is the bill press show. ♪ >> good morning. it is tuesday, march 27th, welcome to the full-court press: the bill press show the only totally liberal show on television. we talk with the big stories of the day here in our nation's capital, around the country and around the globe. the story that i find most amusing today is that president obama was caught off mic telling the president of russia yesterday at their nuclear sur surmit in south korea if they wait until after the election the president will have more flexibility to deal with issues like missile defense. mit romney says it's alarming the president would say something like that. guess what: president obama is right. he will have more flexibility. we will t

i recently sent a letter with senators leahy, whitehouse, franken, blumenthal to john roberts asking them to publicly release one of the court's resolutions which says that the justices will follow the same regulations on outside employment, honoraria and income which apply to other federal judges. the chief justice agreed to our request and publicly released this for the first time since it was adopted in 1991. i applaud chief justice roberts' action. i encourage him and the other justices to continue on this path by releasing all of their ethics rules. there is more work for the supreme court to do to increase transparency and accountability. the court should either adopt a court rtle agreeing to follow the judicial code of conduct, the same ethics code that applies to all other federal judges, or adopt and publicly disclose their own ethics code. many have called for the supreme court to adopt a judicial coved conduct. in response, chief justice roberts vs complained that the justices use the code as one source of guidance but not the only source to decide ethics questions. give t

i would mention to my colleagues at a few weeks ago senator whitehouse and i had a press event, notching a noted as one of them are radical groups in our society and they pointed i think that it is a very broad, deep question as to whether the government should have been sponsoring nuclear energy. i do believe as a general comment that in any decent energy, reaganite you look at nuclear fusion, which could aid the answer to energy needs and a clean of energy. >> sorry to interrupt you. i have a limited amount of time. but when people talk about winners and losers, is it fair to say that for the last 50 years the united states government has decided with one of the winners in which we should make huge investments is the very, very w-whiskey nuclear power industry? >> this is my own experience, so i can count on this. an early phases of any industry, it is very difficult to pick winners and losers and therefore, i'll send you find finance team for a lot of different approaches to solving a particular problem and over time, one a lot. >> i agree with that. the only point i am making is when

senator whitehouse said certain colleagues on the other side of the aisle have argued that the class plan would lead to a financially unstable entitlement program and would rapidly increase the federal deficit. that is simply not accurate. i look forward to my colleagues who supported and voted for the class act to come over and agree that it was, as senator conrad pointed out, a ponzi scheme. mr. wicker: i know our friend from south dakota has joined us and is eager to join in this discussion, so i wonder if he has anything he would like to add about the broken promises that were made during the passage of obamacare. mr. mccain: let me just say, the point is, the whole point of reforming health care was to reduce the costs of health care. that was the -- that was the goal. we all know we cannot sustain, medicare cannot be sustained for the american people if the inflation associated with health care continues. so the whole object of this game was to reduce the costs of health care and preserve the quality of health care. does anybody think that that was achieved with this legislatio

together with colleagues, senators marry landrieu, carl levin, my colleague from rhode island, sheldon whitehouse, senator franken, senator durbin and others arent duesing a substitute amendment to this bill today. we hope that our legislation can serve as a base bill for the senate to discuss and amend as we move forward. so, what are some of the most serious flaws we are trying to address in the cantor bill? first and foremost, this bill is unlikely to create jobs, despite the title that the house has bestowed upon it. in fact, it may actually have the opposite effect. by weakening investor confidence, it could actually decrease the number of i.p.o.'s and lead to fewer investments in our capital markets. currently our markets are considered the most transparent and liquid in the world, which have been one of its great strengths, the confidence that when an investor puts money into american financial products and the american market, he or she has detailed information about the current status and the prospects of that investment. under the cantor bill, our markets will become less transparent, m

whitehouse: thank you. mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: may i ask unanimous consent to speak for, say, 15 minutes? the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: thank you. let me first congratulate senator harkin for his remarks today, but more than that the work that has preceded today on the health care bill. he was an ardent advocate for the prevention programs that save lives and money. it was a real pleasure to work with him at that time. today is the second anniversary of the passage of the affordable care act. i want to describe how the law is already making a difference for families in rhode island and across the country. by drastically improving access to higher-quality care, by addressing rising health care costs and by protecting consumers. look at the changes. children with preexisting conditions were denied coverage. no longer. lifetime limits on insurance policies left many american families struggling to pay medical care bills on

by the way, do you know what rate exxon -- and i have to tell you, at the whitehouse briefing yesterdayd from fox news said to jay carney, you know tion the ownil companies say they pay 41% in taxes. and, you know, i wanted to shout out loud: b.s that's not true. i looked it up. exxon last year paid 17.6%. >> when romney says to that girl, if you want something free, go with the other guy, he is giving free subsidies from the oil companies. >> absolutely, wayne. good to here from you. from new jersey, hi, bill. welcome to the program. >> how are you doing? >> hey bill. good. >> i just wanted to say i am from new jersey. this area, i am out in orangetown which is between philadelphia and the city. our gas is actually kind of cheap in consideration. it's about 20, $0.30 cheaper than the national average. >> uh-huh. >> you know i heard you say that since 1918, these companies have been subsidized? >> yeah. >> is that correct? >> yes. >> so, you know going back almost 100 years, i can understand the intent to do that before. >> right. >> nowadays, they are making what was that figure? how m

senator whitehouse said certain colleagues on the other side of the aisle have argued that the class plan would lead to a financially unstable entitlement program and would rapidly increase the federal deficit. that is simply not accurate. i look forward to my colleagues who supported and voted for the class act to come over and agree that it was, as senator conrad pointed out, a ponzi scheme. mr. wicker: i know our friend from south dakota has joined us and is eager to join in this discussion, so i wonder if he has anything he would like to add about the broken promises that were made during the passage of obamacare. mr. mccain: let me just say, the point is, the whole point of reforming health care was to reduce the costs of health care. that was the -- that was the goal. we all know we cannot sustain, medicare cannot be sustained for the american people if the inflation associated with health care continues. so the whole object of this game was to reduce the costs of health care and preserve the quality of health care. does anybody think that that was achieved with this legislatio

senate should work, and i am so proud to have been a small part of this overall bill with senator whitehouse, senator shelby from alabama, and many other senators that joined us in an effort to put on a very important amendment to the gulf coast and to the country in this transportation bill. and that bill, which was adopted as an amendment to the transportation bill, mr. president, you know, as the restore act and the reason we call at this time restore act is because that is exactly what it will do. it will restore america's energy coast, the gulf coast. and we're proud of our energy infrastructure. we're also proud of our fishing industry. we're also proud of our ecotourism industry. we're also proud of our commercial fishing and recreational charter captains that operate, taking people from all over the world off the beautiful coast of florida, mississippi, alabama, louisiana, and texas. mr. president, some of the best fishing in the world, a fishery that is alive and vibrant, not overfished, people in business, restaurants serving this food all over the country, we are so proud to have