02_Data_Exploration.ipynb

{
 "cells": [
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": null,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "from google.colab import drive\n",
    "drive.mount('/content/drive')\n",
    "\n",
    "import os\n",
    "os.chdir('/content/drive/My Drive/Partisan-Responses-master')"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 1,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "import pandas as pd\n",
    "import os\n",
    "import matplotlib.pyplot as plt"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "markdown",
   "metadata": {},
   "source": [
    "## Speeches\n",
    "### 111 th bound edition \n",
    "### 1. Bigrams\n",
    "- **By party** \n",
    "- By Congressperson"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 3,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/html": [
       "<div>\n",
       "<style scoped>\n",
       "    .dataframe tbody tr th:only-of-type {\n",
       "        vertical-align: middle;\n",
       "    }\n",
       "\n",
       "    .dataframe tbody tr th {\n",
       "        vertical-align: top;\n",
       "    }\n",
       "\n",
       "    .dataframe thead th {\n",
       "        text-align: right;\n",
       "    }\n",
       "</style>\n",
       "<table border=\"1\" class=\"dataframe\">\n",
       "  <thead>\n",
       "    <tr style=\"text-align: right;\">\n",
       "      <th></th>\n",
       "      <th>party</th>\n",
       "      <th>phrase</th>\n",
       "      <th>count</th>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "  </thead>\n",
       "  <tbody>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>0</td>\n",
       "      <td>D</td>\n",
       "      <td>0 0</td>\n",
       "      <td>29</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>1</td>\n",
       "      <td>D</td>\n",
       "      <td>0 000</td>\n",
       "      <td>1</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>2</td>\n",
       "      <td>D</td>\n",
       "      <td>0 01</td>\n",
       "      <td>1</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>3</td>\n",
       "      <td>D</td>\n",
       "      <td>0 0100</td>\n",
       "      <td>1</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>4</td>\n",
       "      <td>D</td>\n",
       "      <td>0 02</td>\n",
       "      <td>1</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "  </tbody>\n",
       "</table>\n",
       "</div>"
      ],
      "text/plain": [
       "  party  phrase  count\n",
       "0     D     0 0     29\n",
       "1     D   0 000      1\n",
       "2     D    0 01      1\n",
       "3     D  0 0100      1\n",
       "4     D    0 02      1"
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 3,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "# Partisan bigram\n",
    "party2gram = pd.read_table(\"../hein-bound/byparty_2gram_111.txt\", sep = \"|\")\n",
    "party2gram.head()"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "markdown",
   "metadata": {},
   "source": [
    "### 2. Speech related\n",
    "- **Speech Metadata**\n",
    "- **Full text**\n",
    "- Speaker Metadata"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 2,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/html": [
       "<div>\n",
       "<style scoped>\n",
       "    .dataframe tbody tr th:only-of-type {\n",
       "        vertical-align: middle;\n",
       "    }\n",
       "\n",
       "    .dataframe tbody tr th {\n",
       "        vertical-align: top;\n",
       "    }\n",
       "\n",
       "    .dataframe thead th {\n",
       "        text-align: right;\n",
       "    }\n",
       "</style>\n",
       "<table border=\"1\" class=\"dataframe\">\n",
       "  <thead>\n",
       "    <tr style=\"text-align: right;\">\n",
       "      <th></th>\n",
       "      <th>speech_id</th>\n",
       "      <th>chamber</th>\n",
       "      <th>date</th>\n",
       "      <th>number_within_file</th>\n",
       "      <th>speaker</th>\n",
       "      <th>first_name</th>\n",
       "      <th>last_name</th>\n",
       "      <th>state</th>\n",
       "      <th>gender</th>\n",
       "      <th>line_start</th>\n",
       "      <th>line_end</th>\n",
       "      <th>file</th>\n",
       "      <th>char_count</th>\n",
       "      <th>word_count</th>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "  </thead>\n",
       "  <tbody>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>0</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000001</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>20090106</td>\n",
       "      <td>1</td>\n",
       "      <td>The CLERK</td>\n",
       "      <td>Unknown</td>\n",
       "      <td>Unknown</td>\n",
       "      <td>Unknown</td>\n",
       "      <td>Special</td>\n",
       "      <td>66</td>\n",
       "      <td>70</td>\n",
       "      <td>01062009.txt</td>\n",
       "      <td>107</td>\n",
       "      <td>16</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>1</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000002</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>20090106</td>\n",
       "      <td>2</td>\n",
       "      <td>The CLERK</td>\n",
       "      <td>Unknown</td>\n",
       "      <td>Unknown</td>\n",
       "      <td>Unknown</td>\n",
       "      <td>Special</td>\n",
       "      <td>77</td>\n",
       "      <td>100</td>\n",
       "      <td>01062009.txt</td>\n",
       "      <td>836</td>\n",
       "      <td>134</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>2</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000003</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>20090106</td>\n",
       "      <td>3</td>\n",
       "      <td>The CLERK</td>\n",
       "      <td>Unknown</td>\n",
       "      <td>Unknown</td>\n",
       "      <td>Unknown</td>\n",
       "      <td>Special</td>\n",
       "      <td>565</td>\n",
       "      <td>591</td>\n",
       "      <td>01062009.txt</td>\n",
       "      <td>219</td>\n",
       "      <td>37</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>3</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000004</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>20090106</td>\n",
       "      <td>4</td>\n",
       "      <td>The CLERK</td>\n",
       "      <td>Unknown</td>\n",
       "      <td>Unknown</td>\n",
       "      <td>Unknown</td>\n",
       "      <td>Special</td>\n",
       "      <td>593</td>\n",
       "      <td>613</td>\n",
       "      <td>01062009.txt</td>\n",
       "      <td>596</td>\n",
       "      <td>92</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>4</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000005</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>20090106</td>\n",
       "      <td>5</td>\n",
       "      <td>The CLERK</td>\n",
       "      <td>Unknown</td>\n",
       "      <td>Unknown</td>\n",
       "      <td>Unknown</td>\n",
       "      <td>Special</td>\n",
       "      <td>616</td>\n",
       "      <td>622</td>\n",
       "      <td>01062009.txt</td>\n",
       "      <td>200</td>\n",
       "      <td>34</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "  </tbody>\n",
       "</table>\n",
       "</div>"
      ],
      "text/plain": [
       "    speech_id chamber      date  number_within_file    speaker first_name  \\\n",
       "0  1110000001       H  20090106                   1  The CLERK    Unknown   \n",
       "1  1110000002       H  20090106                   2  The CLERK    Unknown   \n",
       "2  1110000003       H  20090106                   3  The CLERK    Unknown   \n",
       "3  1110000004       H  20090106                   4  The CLERK    Unknown   \n",
       "4  1110000005       H  20090106                   5  The CLERK    Unknown   \n",
       "\n",
       "  last_name    state   gender  line_start  line_end          file  char_count  \\\n",
       "0   Unknown  Unknown  Special          66        70  01062009.txt         107   \n",
       "1   Unknown  Unknown  Special          77       100  01062009.txt         836   \n",
       "2   Unknown  Unknown  Special         565       591  01062009.txt         219   \n",
       "3   Unknown  Unknown  Special         593       613  01062009.txt         596   \n",
       "4   Unknown  Unknown  Special         616       622  01062009.txt         200   \n",
       "\n",
       "   word_count  \n",
       "0          16  \n",
       "1         134  \n",
       "2          37  \n",
       "3          92  \n",
       "4          34  "
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 2,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "# Speech Meta\n",
    "speechmeta = pd.read_table(\"../hein-bound/descr_111.txt\", sep = \"|\")\n",
    "speechmeta.head()"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 3,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "hein_bound_direc = \"../hein-bound/\"\n",
    "daily_bound_direc = \"../daily-bound\"\n",
    "hein_bound_files = os.listdir(hein_bound_direc)\n",
    "hein_meta_files = []\n",
    "for f in hein_bound_files:\n",
    "    if f.startswith(\"descr\"):\n",
    "        hein_meta_files.append(os.path.join(hein_bound_direc,f))\n",
    "hein_meta_files.sort()"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 30,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "char_count = []\n",
    "word_cound = []\n",
    "num_speeches = []            \n",
    "for f in hein_meta_files:\n",
    "    df = pd.read_table(f, sep = \"|\", encoding=\"latin\")\n",
    "    char_count += df[\"char_count\"].tolist()\n",
    "    word_cound += df[\"word_count\"].tolist()\n",
    "    num_speeches.append(df.shape[0])"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 33,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "x = [os.path.splitext(os.path.split(i)[-1])[0].split(\"_\")[-1] for i in hein_meta_files]"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 36,
   "metadata": {
    "scrolled": true
   },
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/plain": [
       "<BarContainer object of 69 artists>"
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 36,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    },
    {
     "data": {
      "image/png": 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\n",
      "text/plain": [
       "<Figure size 432x288 with 1 Axes>"
      ]
     },
     "metadata": {
      "needs_background": "light"
     },
     "output_type": "display_data"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "plt.bar(x,num_speeches)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 41,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/plain": [
       "106.39143265153987"
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 41,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "sum(word_cound)/len(word_cound)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 2,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "import spacy\n",
    "from spacy import displacy\n",
    "import nltk"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 3,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "filepath = \"../hein-bound/speeches_111.txt\"\n",
    "with open(filepath, errors=\"ignore\") as f:\n",
    "    speech = f.readlines()\n",
    "    speech = [s.replace(\"\\n\", \"\").replace(\" | \", \" \").split(\"|\") for s in speech]\n",
    "df = pd.DataFrame(speech[1:], columns = speech[0]).head()            "
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 4,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/html": [
       "<div>\n",
       "<style scoped>\n",
       "    .dataframe tbody tr th:only-of-type {\n",
       "        vertical-align: middle;\n",
       "    }\n",
       "\n",
       "    .dataframe tbody tr th {\n",
       "        vertical-align: top;\n",
       "    }\n",
       "\n",
       "    .dataframe thead th {\n",
       "        text-align: right;\n",
       "    }\n",
       "</style>\n",
       "<table border=\"1\" class=\"dataframe\">\n",
       "  <thead>\n",
       "    <tr style=\"text-align: right;\">\n",
       "      <th></th>\n",
       "      <th>speech_id</th>\n",
       "      <th>speech</th>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "  </thead>\n",
       "  <tbody>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>0</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000001</td>\n",
       "      <td>The Representativeselect and their guests will...</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>1</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000002</td>\n",
       "      <td>As directed by law. the Clerk of the House has...</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>2</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000003</td>\n",
       "      <td>The quor closes that 428 Represer have respond...</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>3</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000004</td>\n",
       "      <td>Credentials. regular in form. have been receiv...</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>4</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000005</td>\n",
       "      <td>The Clerk is in receipt of a letter of resigna...</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "  </tbody>\n",
       "</table>\n",
       "</div>"
      ],
      "text/plain": [
       "    speech_id                                             speech\n",
       "0  1110000001  The Representativeselect and their guests will...\n",
       "1  1110000002  As directed by law. the Clerk of the House has...\n",
       "2  1110000003  The quor closes that 428 Represer have respond...\n",
       "3  1110000004  Credentials. regular in form. have been receiv...\n",
       "4  1110000005  The Clerk is in receipt of a letter of resigna..."
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 4,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "df.head()"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 5,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "with open(\"../hein-bound/111_SpeakerMap.txt\", errors=\"ignore\") as f:\n",
    "    speakermap_df = pd.read_table(f, delimiter = \"|\")"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 6,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/html": [
       "<div>\n",
       "<style scoped>\n",
       "    .dataframe tbody tr th:only-of-type {\n",
       "        vertical-align: middle;\n",
       "    }\n",
       "\n",
       "    .dataframe tbody tr th {\n",
       "        vertical-align: top;\n",
       "    }\n",
       "\n",
       "    .dataframe thead th {\n",
       "        text-align: right;\n",
       "    }\n",
       "</style>\n",
       "<table border=\"1\" class=\"dataframe\">\n",
       "  <thead>\n",
       "    <tr style=\"text-align: right;\">\n",
       "      <th></th>\n",
       "      <th>speakerid</th>\n",
       "      <th>speech_id</th>\n",
       "      <th>lastname</th>\n",
       "      <th>firstname</th>\n",
       "      <th>chamber</th>\n",
       "      <th>state</th>\n",
       "      <th>gender</th>\n",
       "      <th>party</th>\n",
       "      <th>district</th>\n",
       "      <th>nonvoting</th>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "  </thead>\n",
       "  <tbody>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>0</td>\n",
       "      <td>111120160</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000007</td>\n",
       "      <td>LARSON</td>\n",
       "      <td>JOHN</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>CT</td>\n",
       "      <td>M</td>\n",
       "      <td>D</td>\n",
       "      <td>1.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>1</td>\n",
       "      <td>111117010</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000009</td>\n",
       "      <td>PENCE</td>\n",
       "      <td>MIKE</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>IN</td>\n",
       "      <td>M</td>\n",
       "      <td>R</td>\n",
       "      <td>6.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>2</td>\n",
       "      <td>111118060</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000013</td>\n",
       "      <td>BOEHNER</td>\n",
       "      <td>JOHN</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>OH</td>\n",
       "      <td>M</td>\n",
       "      <td>R</td>\n",
       "      <td>8.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>3</td>\n",
       "      <td>111120780</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000014</td>\n",
       "      <td>PELOSI</td>\n",
       "      <td>NANCY</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>CA</td>\n",
       "      <td>F</td>\n",
       "      <td>D</td>\n",
       "      <td>8.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>4</td>\n",
       "      <td>111119830</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000015</td>\n",
       "      <td>HOYER</td>\n",
       "      <td>STENY</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>MD</td>\n",
       "      <td>M</td>\n",
       "      <td>D</td>\n",
       "      <td>5.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "  </tbody>\n",
       "</table>\n",
       "</div>"
      ],
      "text/plain": [
       "   speakerid   speech_id lastname firstname chamber state gender party  \\\n",
       "0  111120160  1110000007   LARSON      JOHN       H    CT      M     D   \n",
       "1  111117010  1110000009    PENCE      MIKE       H    IN      M     R   \n",
       "2  111118060  1110000013  BOEHNER      JOHN       H    OH      M     R   \n",
       "3  111120780  1110000014   PELOSI     NANCY       H    CA      F     D   \n",
       "4  111119830  1110000015    HOYER     STENY       H    MD      M     D   \n",
       "\n",
       "   district nonvoting  \n",
       "0       1.0    voting  \n",
       "1       6.0    voting  \n",
       "2       8.0    voting  \n",
       "3       8.0    voting  \n",
       "4       5.0    voting  "
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 6,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "speakermap_df.head()"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 7,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "def read_full_speech(filepath):\n",
    "    with open(filepath, errors=\"ignore\") as f:\n",
    "        speech = f.readlines()\n",
    "        speech = [s.replace(\"\\n\", \"\").replace(\" | \", \" \").split(\"|\") for s in speech]#Full speech\n",
    "        speech_df = pd.DataFrame(speech[1:], columns=speech[0])\n",
    "    return speech_df\n",
    "\n",
    "def read_speakermap(filepath):\n",
    "    with open(filepath, errors=\"ignore\") as f:\n",
    "        speakermap_df = pd.read_table(f, delimiter = \"|\")\n",
    "    return speakermap_df\n",
    "\n",
    "def merge_speech_speaker(speech_df, speaker_df):\n",
    "    speech_df = speech_df.astype({\"speech_id\": type(speaker_df.loc[:,'speech_id'][0])})\n",
    "    return speaker_df.merge(speech_df, on=\"speech_id\", how=\"left\")\n",
    "\n",
    "def get_speeches_filename(idx):\n",
    "    return \"speeches_{}.txt\".format(idx)\n",
    "\n",
    "def get_speakermap_filename(idx):\n",
    "    return \"{}_SpeakerMap.txt\".format(idx)\n",
    "\n",
    "def lemmatize(phrase):\n",
    "    return \" \".join([word.lemma_ for word in sp(phrase)])"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 8,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/html": [
       "<div>\n",
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       "\n",
       "    .dataframe tbody tr th {\n",
       "        vertical-align: top;\n",
       "    }\n",
       "\n",
       "    .dataframe thead th {\n",
       "        text-align: right;\n",
       "    }\n",
       "</style>\n",
       "<table border=\"1\" class=\"dataframe\">\n",
       "  <thead>\n",
       "    <tr style=\"text-align: right;\">\n",
       "      <th></th>\n",
       "      <th>speakerid</th>\n",
       "      <th>speech_id</th>\n",
       "      <th>lastname</th>\n",
       "      <th>firstname</th>\n",
       "      <th>chamber</th>\n",
       "      <th>state</th>\n",
       "      <th>gender</th>\n",
       "      <th>party</th>\n",
       "      <th>district</th>\n",
       "      <th>nonvoting</th>\n",
       "      <th>speech</th>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "  </thead>\n",
       "  <tbody>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>0</td>\n",
       "      <td>111120160</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000007</td>\n",
       "      <td>LARSON</td>\n",
       "      <td>JOHN</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>CT</td>\n",
       "      <td>M</td>\n",
       "      <td>D</td>\n",
       "      <td>1.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "      <td>Our democracy renews itself every 2 years as M...</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>1</td>\n",
       "      <td>111117010</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000009</td>\n",
       "      <td>PENCE</td>\n",
       "      <td>MIKE</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>IN</td>\n",
       "      <td>M</td>\n",
       "      <td>R</td>\n",
       "      <td>6.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "      <td>Madam Clerk. as chairman of the Republican Con...</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>2</td>\n",
       "      <td>111118060</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000013</td>\n",
       "      <td>BOEHNER</td>\n",
       "      <td>JOHN</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>OH</td>\n",
       "      <td>M</td>\n",
       "      <td>R</td>\n",
       "      <td>8.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "      <td>Madam Speaker. Leader HOYER. fellow Members. a...</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>3</td>\n",
       "      <td>111120780</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000014</td>\n",
       "      <td>PELOSI</td>\n",
       "      <td>NANCY</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>CA</td>\n",
       "      <td>F</td>\n",
       "      <td>D</td>\n",
       "      <td>8.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "      <td>Thank you very much. Leader BOEHNER. Together....</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>4</td>\n",
       "      <td>111119830</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000015</td>\n",
       "      <td>HOYER</td>\n",
       "      <td>STENY</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>MD</td>\n",
       "      <td>M</td>\n",
       "      <td>D</td>\n",
       "      <td>5.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "      <td>Mr. CLYBURN. thank you.</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "  </tbody>\n",
       "</table>\n",
       "</div>"
      ],
      "text/plain": [
       "   speakerid   speech_id lastname firstname chamber state gender party  \\\n",
       "0  111120160  1110000007   LARSON      JOHN       H    CT      M     D   \n",
       "1  111117010  1110000009    PENCE      MIKE       H    IN      M     R   \n",
       "2  111118060  1110000013  BOEHNER      JOHN       H    OH      M     R   \n",
       "3  111120780  1110000014   PELOSI     NANCY       H    CA      F     D   \n",
       "4  111119830  1110000015    HOYER     STENY       H    MD      M     D   \n",
       "\n",
       "   district nonvoting                                             speech  \n",
       "0       1.0    voting  Our democracy renews itself every 2 years as M...  \n",
       "1       6.0    voting  Madam Clerk. as chairman of the Republican Con...  \n",
       "2       8.0    voting  Madam Speaker. Leader HOYER. fellow Members. a...  \n",
       "3       8.0    voting  Thank you very much. Leader BOEHNER. Together....  \n",
       "4       5.0    voting                            Mr. CLYBURN. thank you.  "
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 8,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "filepath = \"../hein-bound/{}\".format(get_speeches_filename(111))\n",
    "speech_df = read_full_speech(filepath)\n",
    "\n",
    "filepath = \"../hein-bound/{}\".format(get_speakermap_filename(111))\n",
    "speaker_df = read_speakermap(filepath)\n",
    "\n",
    "final_df = merge_speech_speaker(speech_df, speaker_df)\n",
    "final_df.head()"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 13,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "df_merged = pd.concat([final_df, final_df.shift(-1).add_prefix('next_')], axis=1)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 14,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/html": [
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       "\n",
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       "</style>\n",
       "<table border=\"1\" class=\"dataframe\">\n",
       "  <thead>\n",
       "    <tr style=\"text-align: right;\">\n",
       "      <th></th>\n",
       "      <th>speakerid</th>\n",
       "      <th>speech_id</th>\n",
       "      <th>lastname</th>\n",
       "      <th>firstname</th>\n",
       "      <th>chamber</th>\n",
       "      <th>state</th>\n",
       "      <th>gender</th>\n",
       "      <th>party</th>\n",
       "      <th>district</th>\n",
       "      <th>nonvoting</th>\n",
       "      <th>...</th>\n",
       "      <th>next_speech_id</th>\n",
       "      <th>next_lastname</th>\n",
       "      <th>next_firstname</th>\n",
       "      <th>next_chamber</th>\n",
       "      <th>next_state</th>\n",
       "      <th>next_gender</th>\n",
       "      <th>next_party</th>\n",
       "      <th>next_district</th>\n",
       "      <th>next_nonvoting</th>\n",
       "      <th>next_speech</th>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "  </thead>\n",
       "  <tbody>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>0</td>\n",
       "      <td>111120160</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000007</td>\n",
       "      <td>LARSON</td>\n",
       "      <td>JOHN</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>CT</td>\n",
       "      <td>M</td>\n",
       "      <td>D</td>\n",
       "      <td>1.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "      <td>...</td>\n",
       "      <td>1.110000e+09</td>\n",
       "      <td>PENCE</td>\n",
       "      <td>MIKE</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>IN</td>\n",
       "      <td>M</td>\n",
       "      <td>R</td>\n",
       "      <td>6.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "      <td>Madam Clerk. as chairman of the Republican Con...</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>1</td>\n",
       "      <td>111117010</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000009</td>\n",
       "      <td>PENCE</td>\n",
       "      <td>MIKE</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>IN</td>\n",
       "      <td>M</td>\n",
       "      <td>R</td>\n",
       "      <td>6.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "      <td>...</td>\n",
       "      <td>1.110000e+09</td>\n",
       "      <td>BOEHNER</td>\n",
       "      <td>JOHN</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>OH</td>\n",
       "      <td>M</td>\n",
       "      <td>R</td>\n",
       "      <td>8.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "      <td>Madam Speaker. Leader HOYER. fellow Members. a...</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>2</td>\n",
       "      <td>111118060</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000013</td>\n",
       "      <td>BOEHNER</td>\n",
       "      <td>JOHN</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>OH</td>\n",
       "      <td>M</td>\n",
       "      <td>R</td>\n",
       "      <td>8.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "      <td>...</td>\n",
       "      <td>1.110000e+09</td>\n",
       "      <td>PELOSI</td>\n",
       "      <td>NANCY</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>CA</td>\n",
       "      <td>F</td>\n",
       "      <td>D</td>\n",
       "      <td>8.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "      <td>Thank you very much. Leader BOEHNER. Together....</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>3</td>\n",
       "      <td>111120780</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000014</td>\n",
       "      <td>PELOSI</td>\n",
       "      <td>NANCY</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>CA</td>\n",
       "      <td>F</td>\n",
       "      <td>D</td>\n",
       "      <td>8.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "      <td>...</td>\n",
       "      <td>1.110000e+09</td>\n",
       "      <td>HOYER</td>\n",
       "      <td>STENY</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>MD</td>\n",
       "      <td>M</td>\n",
       "      <td>D</td>\n",
       "      <td>5.0</td>\n",
       "      <td>voting</td>\n",
       "      <td>Mr. CLYBURN. thank you.</td>\n",
       "    </tr>\n",
       "    <tr>\n",
       "      <td>4</td>\n",
       "      <td>111119830</td>\n",
       "      <td>1110000015</td>\n",
       "      <td>HOYER</td>\n",
       "      <td>STENY</td>\n",
       "      <td>H</td>\n",
       "      <td>MD</td>\n",
       "      <td>M</td>\n",
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      "Question:  Will the gentlewoman yield?\n",
      "Answer:  I yield back the balance of my time.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker. you dont have to look far to see that families across this country are gripped with a tremendous amount of fear and uncertainty. They fear for their jobs. if they have one. They fear for their future as they see their 401(k)s. their college savings accounts collapse. They fear that their elected leaders dont get it. They fear that this Congress may very well be incapable of change. incapable of producing the kind of results that they want and to get it right. Under existing House rules. when a bill is brought to the floor that includes a tax increase. the minority has a right to offer a motion to strike that increase. and the Republican minority had done that on nearly half a dozen occasions over the past 2 years. With this rule change now. though. House Democrats are trying to push through what we Republicans will no longer have. the ability to say \"no\" to higher taxes. We will not be able to simply strike a tax increase and demand an up or down vote. In fact. the only option we will have would be to replace one tax increase with another. There will be no ability for us to cut taxes to lighten the burden on the middleclass families that are hurting right now. One can see that this rule change makes it a lot easier for the Democrat majority to In fact hide tax increases inside other larger bills. In fact. that is why all of us are sitting here scratching our heads. If the House Democrats feel a tax increase is necessary. then why wouldnt they allow for a full and open debate? Why not let the American people have a say? Why not let the hardworking people of this country hear why Washington is once again looking to take more of their hard earned money? Either way. what is clear. this type of partisan rules change flies in the face of a new era of openness and transparency that Presidentelect Obama has promised. I take the Presidentelect at his word. I believe he wants transparency. openness. and debate. I believe he wants Washington to begin to do business differently. I believe he is serious in wanting Congress to work together for the good of all of our constituents. But apparently that word hasnt made its way down to the leadership of the House.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. Speaker. I reserve my time.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  I thank the gentleman very much. Mr. Speaker. I am beginning my 31st year here. and one of the things that I have learned both being in the majority and being in the minority is that procedural fairness is the antithesis to partisanship. I want to repeat that: Procedural fairness is the antithesis to partisanship. This rules package. and particularly the changes in the motion to recommit. will bring about more partisanship. and I would ask my friends on the majority side to reconsider what they are proposing here. The previous speakers on the Republican side have stated instances in the last 2 years where it has resulted in excessive partisanship because of changes that have been made to the motions to recommit on an ad hoc basis allowing the majority to pull the bill. their choice. not ours. because they set the schedule. not having motions to recommit on certain bills and not allowing to strike proposed tax Increases. What is wrong with debating these issues? And what is wrong if the majority of this House of Representatives. which is 21 seats more Democratic than the one that just expired. agrees with the Republican minority every once in awhile? What are you afraid of? Are you afraid of losing a few more motions to recommit? If that is the motivation behind this. shame on you. because you are shutting down the process and you are going to result in more partisanship. not less. You are going to result in having the country even more divided. not less. and that goes exactly against what our new President has been trying to do with practically everything he said since he won the election 2 months ago.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts .\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  The gentleman from Wisconsin said. why will the majority not in some instances agree with the minority? Thats the problem. We are talking about cases where we in the majority have tried to agree with the minority. and they would not be agreed with. They would not take yes for an answer. This is the issue: if they offer a motion to recommit and it says forthwith. and they win the vote. the bill is amended. If they offer an amendment to a bill. not having offered it in committee. not having gone to the Rules Committee to ask it to be on the floor. if they take a noncontroversial popular issue and offer it as the motion to recommit. but say it should be sent to the committee and reported back promptly. we have tried to agree with them. and they have refused. This literally is a way to not take yes for an answer. its a way to take something to which the majority would like to agree. I have been here when I. and when the majority leader has said. in such a situation. could we get unanimous consent to simply agree to that now. and the minority has said no. Well. people have a right not to be agreed with. People have a right not to be agreeable. Some indulge that right more than others. But you dont have a right to refuse to be agreed with. and then complain that you werent agreed with. And thats all thats at stake here. So. yes. there are times when the majority should say yes to the minority. and that should be determined by the floor. What were saying is the minority should not manufacture a situation in which there is no way to say yes to them because their goal is patently not to amend that particular bill. because if it was. they would accept the request that that amendment be accepted. Instead. it is to put a bill back to committee because theyre afraid to vote against it. Thats the issue. This is used as a way to send bills back to committee to avoid votes. And this leaves. this package. the minority. fully able to offer any motion to recommit or send it back to committee. It just says they cant play games.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. Speaker. at this time I am happy to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Columbus. Indiana\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. Speaker. the Republican Members of the 111th Congress collectively represent more than 100 million constituents in this Nation. The changes that are being contemplated by the majority today represent an erosion. not of the interests of elected officials. not even of the interests of a political party. but. Mr. Speaker. I say with respect. it represents an erosion of the interests represented in this place of over 100 million Americans. As I listen to this debate. I cant help but wonder what our constituents who might be looking down from the gallery and looking in from elsewhere are thinking. How does this affect them? Instructions being promptly or forthwith. motions to recommit. But really what we are here to object to in this rule package is really the death of democracy in the Democratic Congress. What we do not wish to see is a return to the heavyhanded imperial Congress days that ruled Capitol Hill for some 40 years. And walking away from the provision of the current rules that allows the minority to offer a motion to recommit that would be promptly reported back erodes those minority interests. Repealing term limits on committee chairmen erodes the fundamental principles of reform that the American people voted overwhelmingly into this well in 1994. And so. as we prepare. 2 weeks from today. to receive a new President of the United States of America. as we are just a few hours past bipartisan speeches. it is important to know and to remind the American people that rules matter. The rules on the back of a box of a board game matter. and the rules of the House matter. and they matter because they determine whether or not the interest of all Americans will be represented in this place. And. sadly. we begin this Congress in an inauspicious way. learning that change does not equal reform. and I urge that we reconsider this rule.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. Speaker. please let me yield myself 1 or 2 minutes. One minute. I think. would be sufficient. I hadnt planned to do this. but I think the RECORD requires it. I want to quote from three of our Republican Members for whom I have great affection and an awful lot of respect. The first one. Representative Tom Davis. who is not with us this year. stated the minoritys intent to use \"promptly\" motions to kill legislation during debate on a motion to recommit H.R. 1433. the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act. And let me quote him: \"Let me just say to my colleagues. I think the gun ban in the District is ridiculous. and would join my colleagues in overturning It. The problem is this motion doesnt do that. Instead of bringing it back to the floor forthwith for a vote and send it to the Senate. it simply sends it back to the committee. essentially killing it.\" Representative JOE BARTON of Texas likened motions to recommit promptly to gimmicks during debate on H.R. 3693. the Childrens Health Insurance Program: \"I will tell my friends on the majority side. its not going to be a gimmick. I think it will say forthwith. which means if we adopt it. we vote on it.\"\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. Speaker. may I inquire of the gentlewoman how many speakers she has remaining on her side. and how much time is remaining on both sides for this debate?\n",
      "Answer:  I dont have any further requests for time. or at least not from anybody who is presently on the floor. so I will reserve to close.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. Speaker. I would just like to say that It doesnt appear that we have any other speakers on our side. Is the gentlewoman prepared to close debate on hers?\n",
      "Answer:  I am.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. are we now in a period of morning business?\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. on the Fourth of July of the year 1851. the legendary statesman Daniel Webster. himself a former Senator. laid the cornerstone for the Senate Chamber where we now gather. He said: Be it known that on this day the Union of the United States of America stands firm. Today marks the 150th year that this Chamber has housed the Senate of the United States. When Vice President John Breckinridge gaveled the 34th Congress open in this Chamber in 1859. our Republic had a population of onetenth what it is today. There were just 64 Senators. Each Senator enjoyed a little more leg room. and that is an understatement. Many of these desks we see behind me. and behind the Republican leader. are from the original Senators of this country. They are real old. This Chamber. for 150 years. has served as the primary working space for most Members. The first session held here 150 years ago began as it did today. with the Vice President of the United States administering the oath of office to new Members. Today. nine new Senators joined what many have said. and I agree. is the greatest deliberative body the world has ever knowncertainly the greatest legislative body. So I extend my warmest welcome and congratulations to Senator MARK UDALL of Colorado. Senator TOM UDALL of New Mexico. Senator MIKE JOHANNS of Nebraska. Senator JEANNE SHAHEEN. of New Hampshire. Senator MARK WARNER of Virginia. Senator JiM RISCH of Idaho. Senator KAY HAGAN of North Carolina. Senator JEFF MERKLEY of Oregon. and Senator MARK BEGICH Of Alaska. To the profound challenges we face. these nine men and women bring vast judgment and experience at all levels of Government and public service. I am confident every one of them will serve their States and our Nation with distinction and pride. It was just 2 years ago this inaugural day of Congress that we heralded a new majority for Democrats in both the Senate and House of Representatives. but in the Senate that was a very tenuous majority. We began with 51. but TIM JOHNSON became very ill and the crowded Democratic primary field left us oftentimes short of an outright majority and far short of the 60 votes needed to prevent filibusters and pass legislation. Although we made substantial progress in the 110th Congress. partisanship with divided Government too often ruled the day. I have said from the day the election was over. we are looking forward. We are not going to be concerned about the previous 8 years. we are concerned about the next 8 years. Since 2006. we Democrats have received a net gain of 14 Senate seats. 45 to 59. Just 2 weeks from today. Barack Obama will become the 44th President of the United States. We are ready to answer the call of the American people by putting the past 8 years behind us and delivering the change our country desperately needs. We are grateful to begin anew with a far more robust Democratic majority. But both parties learned an important lesson over the past 2 years: When we allow ourselves to retreat into the tired. wellworn trenches of partisanship. when we fail to reach for common ground. when we are unable. in the words of Presidentelect Obama. to disagree without being disagreeable. we diminish our ability to accomplish real change. To my Republican counterpart. Senator MCCONNELL. and all Republican colleagues. a number of whom I have called and personally visited with. I say to them: With American troops fighting two wars overseas. we are together in all of this. With the American people suffering a staggering economic crisis here at home. we are in this together. With the middle class struggling to make one paycheck last until the next one. we are in the middle of this together. With health care. college tuition. and retirement more expensive and harder to reach than ever. we are in this together. With our climate in crisis and energy prices rising and falling unpredictably. we are in this together. Some may fear the depth of the challenges we face. but I remind them that adversity is no stranger to this Chamber or to our country. In America and in this Chamber. we have never failed to persevere and ultimately to prosper. In this Chamber. our Union came unraveled and was mended. great wars were declared and peace has been celebrated. Here. our most fundamental freedoms were challenged. upheld. and expanded. In this Chamber for 150 years we have watched things happen. In more recent years. we watched the passing of the New Deal by Roosevelt. Trumans Fair Deal. Kennedys Great Frontier. and Johnsons Great Society. Over these many years. we have outlawed child labor. brought electricity to the western frontier. and ensured a college education for those who serve in uniform. I had the opportunity yesterday to go to the funeral of Claiborne Pell. a man of wealth. a patrician. a man who went to the finest schools in America but dedicated his life to public service so that other people who were not in his situation could be educated. That is where the Pell grants came fromClaiborne Pell. a very aristocratic man who devoted his life to public service. We have done those things right here in this Chamber. Of course. we passed. after long. hard struggles and much anxiety. the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts. There is no question that the challenges ahead of us are staggering. I do not think anyone would disagree. But I am confident that if we renew. in this body. our commitment to bipartisanship. the 111th Congress will be a tremendous success. Just a short way from here yesterday afternoonand I dont remember the exact time. 3 oclock or something like that. or 3:30we had a bipartisan meeting of the leadership of the House and Senate. It was a wonderful meeting. with an exchange of ideas. The Presidentelect was here. I was very Impressed. I heard Senator MCCONNELL say to him: There are some things I need to talk to you about. Senator Obama said to him. when the meeting broke up: Lets talk now. I assume they talked sometime in the next little bit. But that is what we need: the ability to talk to each other. There is no script that can be written where Senator MCCONNELL and I will agree on everything that happens here. But there is a script being written today that says that even though we disagree on things that take place in this body. we can do it in a way that is constructive and works toward the good of our country. The State of Kentucky is much different from the State of Nevadathey are two different States. That was the genius of our Founding Fathers. that this Senate. which came about by reason of the Great Compromise in 1787 in Philadelphia. has allowed people to work together. Even though the State of Kentucky has more people than the State of Nevada and the State of California has more people than the State of Nevada. the State of Nevada has as much power in the Senate as Kentucky and California. I have confidence we can work together. I am convinced that Senator MCCONNELL and Iour critics and the press can call us a lot of names and make suggestions. but one thing they cannot say about us is we are not experienced. We have been through a lot of political wars. We are ready to take on whatever wars face us. I say to my friend. Senator McCONNELL. I have every confidence we will be able to move this country forward. We need to have the 111th Congress a tremendous success. and we can do that. In the coming days. my fellow Democrats and I will introduce our priorities for this Congress. It happens every Congress. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle will introduce their legislative priorities. We look forward to developing dialog between the two sides of the aisle to see if we can meet somewhere in the middle. This day marks not just the 150th year of this Chamber but also the 50th year of the service of Senator ROBERT BYRD of West Virginia. For 50 years he has been a Senator. but he has been a Member of Congress for 56 years because he served in the House before he came here. It is no secret. when it comes to reverence for the Senate. we have all learned a lotI have learned a lotfrom President BYRDS love of this body. I also have learned a lot from Senator BYRD of his desire for all Americans to appreciate that little document we call our Constitution. So on this the 50th anniversary of Senator BYRDS service. I express publicly my affection and admiration for this good man and wish him well in this Congress. For our nine new Members sworn today and for all Americans. I offer a few of Senator BYRDs words which he delivered to a meeting of new Senators about 12 years ago. when he said: After 200 years. [the Senate] is still the anchor of the Republic. the morning and evening star in the American constitutional constellation. It has weathered the storms of adversity. withstood the barbs of cynics and attacks of critics. It has provided stability and strength for the nation during periods of civil strife and uncertainty. panics and depressions. In war and peace. it has been the sure refuge and protector of the rights of states and of a political minority. And. today. the Senate still standsthe great forum of constitutional American liberty. So said Senator BYRD 12 years ago. Today is a new chapter in history. It begins today. Each of us has the honor of taking part in it in some way. We here in the Senate have the ability to help write that history. As the work starts. the words of Daniel Webster return to mind: \"Be it known that on this day the Union of the United States of America stands firm.\" I believe that. I have just a few other brief remarks. As my colleagues are aware. two Democratic U.S. Senate seatsone from Illinois and the other from Minnesotaare currently vacant. I will briefly address these two unusual circumstances because of the inquiries we have all had. First. the Illinois seat left vacant by Presidentelect Barack Obama. Although I do not know Mr. Burris personallyI hope to meet him in the next few dayshe has served the State of Illinois in elective office over many years. Mr. Burris and his advisers were welcomed to the Capitol this morning by Sergeant at Arms Terry Gainer. who was chief of police in Chicago. so they have known each other for a long time. They then had a gracious meeting with the Secretary of the Senate. Nancy Erickson. and Senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin. who informed them that Mr. Burris is not in possession of the necessary credentials from the State of Illinois. A court case in Illinois Is pending to determine whether Secretary of State Jesse White is obligated to sign this certification. We are awaiting that court decision. If Mr. Burris takes possession of valid credentials. the Senate will proceed in a manner that is respectful to Mr. Burris while ensuring there is no cloud of doubt over the appointment to fill this seat. I also understand that Mr. Burris will likely give testimony to the Illinois State Assembly impeachment proceedings in the next few days. these proceedings pending against Governor Blagojevich. We await that proceeding as Senators as well. As to Minnesota. I know a little bit about close elections. I am only going to talk about two of them because I have had a number of them. I lost one by 524 votes. It was a statewide election for the Senate. That was traumatic. to lose that race to Paul Laxalt. one of the historic Senators from Nevadabut of course for this country because of his very close personal relationship with President Reagan. Paul Laxalt and I are close personal friends. but I lost that vote by 524. We went through a recount. I didnt file any lawsuits. There were no challenges. As hard as it was--and it was hard because that is really the first thing I had ever lostI lost the race. All over the country. Democrats were winning these Senate seats and I lost in Nevada. but I had to give up because I had no chance of winning. I won the second by 428 votes. One reason JOHN ENSIGN and I are soulmates is because our politics are so different. but our friendship is as good as it gets. That was a tough election. a bitter election that JOHN ENSIGN and I went through. We had a recount in Nevada that was ongoing. JOHN ENSIGN made a decision that it was a waste of time. I cant win the election. Before the recount was completed. JOHN ENSIGN called meI was having dinner with my wifeand said: You are going to be the next Senator. I thought when he made that phone call. gee. this is some kind of good guy. I didnt handle my loss nearly as well as he did. I remember that. Anyway. JOHN ENSIGN filed no challenges. didnt complete the recount. there were no lawsuits. And JOHN ENSIGN is now a Member of the Senate. I am fortunate to have a number of good friends. but. boy. he is a friend. and I think if you ask him he would say the same. So I say to my friend Norm Coleman. watch what I have said and watch what has taken place in the past. The Senate race in Minnesota was very close. It was very. very closeone of the closest in history. The bipartisan State Canvassing Board and Minnesotas election officials have done an exemplary job in handling the recount. There were no allegations of partisanship or unfairness from either side that I am aware of. and I followed it every day for 6 weeks. Even close elections. though. have winners. I can testify to that. After all votes have been fairly counted. Al Franken is certified as the winner by the State Canvassing Board. and he Is the Senatorelect from Minnesota. Democrats will not seek to seat Senatorelect Franken today. We understand the sensitivity on both sides to an election this close. This is a difficult time for former Senator Coleman and his family. I acknowledge that. He is entitled to the opportunity to proceed however he feels appropriate. But for someone who has been in the trenches on a number of these elections. graciously conceding. as his friend JOHN ENSIGN did. would be the right step. This cant drag on forever. and I understand that. I hope former Senator Coleman and all our Republican colleagues will choose to respect the will of the people of Minnesota. They have chosen a new Senator. Al Franken. and his term must begin and will begin soon. I repeat. I look forward to this year. hoping that next year at this time we\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. I rise for a few moments to address two subjects. the first will be about Israel and the second about the passing of Griffin Bell. All of us are deeply concerned with the conditions in the Middle East. most recently in the last 12 days. the actions in Gaza. the loss of human life and the conflict. But there is a necessary perspective we all must understand. In November of 2007. I stood at the last Israeli outpost overlooking Gaza. In fact. if you watch Fox or CNN or NBC or ABC tonight. where you will see those reports coming from. I stood on that very spot just a little over a year ago. Also. I went to Sderot. the Israeli settlement outside Gaza. that since mid year last year has received 1. 2. 3. 10. 15 missile attacks. random attacks coming out of Gaza dropping on this Israeli settlement for no reason at all but the absolute ability or desire to terrorize the Israeli people and destroy that settlement. What Israel has done by moving into Gaza is a major military operation. In some reports that you see on television or you read about in the papers. you would think it was unprovoked and unnecessary. The opposite is true. It has been provoked for 15 months by Hamas in Gaza. The Israelis have finally drawn a line in the sand and they have moved in to try to protect the best interests of their citizens. For perspective. Gaza and Sderot are a little bit like Arlington and Washington. You are not talking about a large land mass. you are talking about a very narrow. tight area. It would be similar to South Carolina and Georgia lobbing missiles back and forth. What would happen if one of those States did it? We would immediately react to protect our citizens and protect their lives and their livelihoods. That is what Israel Is doing. I pray every night that somehow and some way we can be a catalyst for ultimately a lasting peace in the Middle East. But surrendering to terrorism or the acts of terrorism such as Hamas has been taking out on the Israeli people is no way to go. I support the Nation of Israel. I believe they are doing the right thing to confront headon the terror that has been imposed on them. It should not be lost on any of us that the supplies that have gotten into Gaza through what is known as the Eisenhower Passageway. which is from Egypt into Gaza. have been military materials being flown in and then taken in through tunnels basically by operatives of Iran. Just as what happened in Lebanon a year ago with Hezbollah and the Lebanese. the same thing Is happening today between Gaza and the Palestinians and the Israelis. The catalyst for the conflict is another nation. Iran. It wants to diffuse the focus on its producing of nuclear weapons and instead keep turmoil in the Middle East to use it to its benefit. As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee. I take very seriously my responsibility to look upon every nation in this world as a nation we should respect. as a nation we should dialogue with. and as a nation we should work with. But we cannot and we must not turn our head away from a nation that is causing terror to be invoked against innocent people such as Iran is doing against Israel through the Palestinians in Gaza. So I hope and pray these difficulties end tonight. I hope and pray there is not another loss of life. But as long as Hamas is unwilling to enter into a meaningful peace. a meaningful effort to stop the terror. one that can be trusted and verified. then Israel is doing precisely what it should be doing in the best interests of its people. It is doing no less than we in this Congress and America would do were we attacked in the same way in the same time. In the first part of my remarks. I stand in solidarity with the people of Israel in hope and prayer that the hostilities end but not because of surrender. because ultimately we confront terror and get people to lay down their arms. not for a day. not for a ceasefire but for generations to come. The second subject is. for me. a very sad subject but also a subject that brings a lot of joy to my heart. There is a great American by the name of Griffin Bell. known to many people in this room. I know you. Mr. President. being a former Attorney General in the State of Colorado. are familiar with Griffin Bells record and jurisprudence in the United States for the last 75 years. Griffin Bell first rose to prominence in America when Jimmy Carter brought him from Georgia to become the Attorney General of the United States of America. He brought him in at a critical time in our countrys history because Griffin Bell had done unbelievable things as a lawyer during difficult times in the South. Griffin Bell was the man whom Andy Young and the civil rights leadership of Atlanta and Ivan Allen. the mayor of Atlanta. turned to to write the plan for the desegregation of the Atlanta public schools. It was Griffin Bell who. as a lawyer but more so as a human being. worked through the difficult stress of those times of integration and the enforcement of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. to see to it that separate but equal ended and equal access to education prevailed for all. He did it in a way where Atlanta was one of the few major cities in America that had no violence. no conflict. and no academic loss because of the imposition of the desegregation guidelines that were imposed by the courts. Griffin Bell did something no one thought could be done. It was because of his ability to do that and find common ground and find understanding that Jimmy Carter brought him to Washington. DC. and appointed him Attorney General. When Griffin left and went back to his law firm of King & Spalding in Atlanta. there was not a single thing that happened in our major capital city and our State for four decades that Griffin Bell was not a major player and a major part of. During Olympics. when they came to Atlanta in 1996 and there were difficulties. to whom did the Olympic committee go to weed through the minefield of Washington to get the security assistance necessary for the Olympics and Atlanta? It was Griffin Bell. When there was a company that was in need of a forensic audit by a legal man who would come in and clean up a problem in their company. such as E.F. Hutton did. whom did they call? They called Griffin Bell. For the better part of the last six decades. Griffin Bell has been the most prominent lawyer in the State of Georgia and I would suggest one of the most prominent lawyers in the United States of America. His mark has been left on countless hundreds of thousands of lives in our country. Sadly. at 9:45 a.m. yesterday morning in Piedmont Hospital. Griffin Bell passed away. I know where he is now. He is in heaven and he is looking down. He would be the last person to want anybody in the Senate or the House or anywhere else bragging about him. But I sing his praise for the greatness he did for our State and the greatness he did for his country. To his children and to his wife. I pass on my sincere condolences and my thanks for the support they gave to a great father and a great Georgian. Griffin Bell. I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.\n",
      "Answer:  Thank you. Mr. President. And I say to Senator REED. thank you. I rise in honor of a great friend and mentor. I look around me at a room that just this morning was filled with Senators. It was a crowded Senate floor. with packed galleries. as a group of bright and promising new Senators began their careers. with all that joy and hope. Now. as my senior Senator. JACK REED. and I speak. the room is quiet. the galleries are mostly empty. and colleagues are gathering in remembrance because yesterday Rhode Island saw the sunset on a Rhode Island era with the funeral of our friend. Senator Claiborne Pell. I am deeply honored by Senator REEDs kind words. and he has a unique position as the successor to Senator Pell. It must be an interesting feeling to have served in the Senate for 36 years. to have loved this institution. to have accomplished extraordinary work in this institution. and then to walk away and leave your seat to a new. young Senator to replace you. Senator Pell had great confidence in Senator REED from the very beginning. He was. indeed. able to assure that there was no primary to succeed a seat that was open for the first time in 36 years. and it was because of his confidence in JACK REED that he put in that effort. I know firsthand how extraordinarily proud he was of the Senator JACK REED has shown himself to be. We in Rhode Island are a little. tiny State. but over the years we have had some towering and remarkable Senators. Claiborne Pell. obviously. was one. John Chafee was one. John 0. Pastore was one. Theodore Francis Green was one. Even the gentleman once known as the general manager of the United States. Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island. was a towering presence. Certainly. Senator REED has shown himself to have joined that pantheon. I probably have another 10. 20 years of work before I get there. but I will keep trying. But certainly Senator REED is in that category. and I am deeply honored by his kind words. Many in this body knew Claiborne Pell and served with him. I wish to say on behalf of Rhode Islanders who watched the service yesterday how grateful we are to Majority Leader REID. Majority Whip DURBIN. Clalborne Pells dear friends. TED KENNEDY and JOE BIDEN. and Senators PAT LEAHY. DICK LUGAR. Orrin Hatch. CHRIS DODD. JEFF BINGAMAN. JOHN KERRY. and JOE LIEBERMAN. all of whom honored Senator Pell by attending the funeral. Of course. I give special thanks to President Bill Clinton. who came to Rhode Island. a place where he is beloved. and spoke for his departed friend. Senator Pell was there for me in my own career at key junctures in so many important ways. and I should give him credit and in front of all my colleagues express my deep gratitude for what he did. He recommended me to President Clinton for appointment as U.S. attorney. After I served my term as U.S. attorney. I ran for attorney general. I served with the Presiding Officer. Senator SALAZAR of Colorado. as an attorney general. I had a threeway primary for attorney general. Claiborne Pell endorsed me in the primary. He actually did a television ad with me. In his 36 years in the Senate. he wanted no part ordinarily of primaries. For two people he got involved in a primary and endorsed a candidate. One was me. The other was Congressman PATRICK KENNEDY. It is almost unimaginable what a difference it made in my fledgling campaign. my first bid for elective office in the Democratic primary to have a man of Senator Pells towering reputation stake his reputation on me and express that kind of confidence. It is something for which I am indebted to him and to his memory and to his family forever. To me and to so many people in the Ocean State. Claiborne Pell was a mentor and an example. a leader whose vision. grace. and authentic kindness left an indelible imprint. He was born in New York City in 1918. and he first came to the Senate in 1961. after a colorful primary battle. described by Senator REED. that pitted him as an essential unknown against two established Democratic powerhouses: Dennis J. Roberts and J. Howard McGrath. contending for the seat that was being vacated by Theodore Francis Green. It did not look good. Pell was the ultimate outsider. He was so much the underdog in that race that John F. Kennedy. who was running for President at the timeand who knew Claiborne quite well because he was a dear friend of Mrs. Kennedy. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. and was in Rhode Island a good deal because of her family associations with Rhode Island. so he knew Claiborne Pell quite wellhe called him the least electable man in America. At his funeral yesterday. I saw Pell buttons from that race back in 1961 on mourners lapels. The Providence Journal described the race that ensued as \"the first modern political campaign the state had seen.\" Senator Pell invested his own money in television ads and polling. and he won the Democratic primary. He was the first unendorsed candidate in the history of Rhode Island to ever win a Democratic primary. He went on to win the general election. He won it by the largest margin ever at the time. 69 percent of the vote. To his great satisfaction. more Rhode Islanders voted for Claiborne Pell in that election than voted for John F. Kennedyso much for being the \"least electable man in America.\" The fact that John F. Kennedy road on Claiborne Pells coattails was a point Claiborne Pell. in his quiet way. loved to remind President Kennedy of whenever the opportunity presented itself. Of course. Rhode Island. in that election. got its first look at the oneofakind political temperament that was to define Senator Pell for the rest of his life: courteous. innovative. and always quietly humorous. Senator Pell looked back on that election in an interview with the New York Times. and he said this: I remember my first campaign. My opponent called me a cream puff. Thats what he said. Well. I rushed out and got the bakers union to endorse me. Frankly. I think a little bit of humor is sorely lacking now. How many people in todays politics being called a cream puff would go out and get a bakers union endorsement rather than trying to find some other way to hit back? Claiborne Pell believed. as he once told the Providence Journal. something that is so important: [T]hat governmentand the federal govermnent in particularcan. should and does make a positive impact on the lives of most Americans. He lived by that observation. and certainly Senator Pells positive impact on the lives of the people he served will be remembered for generations. Two years after taking office. Senator Pell sponsored legislation that became the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant. now known. thanks to its champion. as the Pell grant. At the time. the Nations colleges wanted Federal aid for themselves. but Senator Pell wanted the aid to go directly to students. He enlisted in the Coast Guard 4 months before Pearl Harbor. serving in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. and after that he used the GI bill scholarship to get an advanced degree from Columbia University. The GI bill showed him the transformative power of a college education. and Claiborne Pell resolved then that all Americans would have the opportunity for a college education that he and millions of veterans had received after World War II. So every year in September a new group of students goes off to college. and we see anew the work of Senator Pell. enlivening millions of young Americans who use Pell grants to pursue their dreams. In 2008. this Pell Grant Program was nearly 5.6 million grants. worth $16.4 billionall from his idea. I am delighted the distinguished Senator from Colorado is presiding at this moment because I remember in Rhode Island a few years ago I was at an event with a number of Senators. and the distinguished Senator from Colorado. now our Interior Secretary designate. was present. Senator Pell came to the event. He was very disabled. and he came in a wheelchair. I went over to greet him. Senator SALAZARI say to the Presiding Officer. you will remember thisalso came over to greet him. He took his hand. and he told him: Senator. my brother and I went to college because of the Pell Grant Program. Now here I am standing in front of you as a Senator. thanks to the vision and foresight you showed years agoyour vision that every American should have the dream of higher education at their disposal. I say to the Presiding Officer. you were then in your first term as a newly elected Senator. It was an unforgettable moment. I say to the Presiding Officer. It happened because Senator Pell understood the difference that higher education could make in the lives of Americas young peoplefrom a young KEN SALAZAR from rural Colorado. to toddlers across this country now who will seize the opportunities of America in years to come because of this man. Senator Pell knew that the arts. too. could transform lives. He authored the landmark legislation that gave rise to the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities. These institutions have secured a place for the culture and the arts in the public life of this Nation. Over the years they have helped bring poetry. drama. dance. painting. sculpture. song. literature. and history to millions of Americans. Of course. we New Englanders are deeply indebted to Senator Pell for his passion for public transportation and in particular for his long fight to develop for the Northeast corridor a transit system to support the cities of today and tomorrow. As we face the challenges of rising energy costs. economic recession. and urban stresses on our congested highways. Americans will rely more heavily than ever on systems such as Amtrak. Senator Pells foresight again has served us well. Here in the Senate. Senator Pell is remembered for his big ideas. In Rhode Island. we remember him also for his gentle. generous spirit. He had lived all over the world. He had been honored with medals from at least 18 different nations. But Newport. RI. was always home. In both his personal and his political life. he was a consistent model of civility and kindness to his fellow Rhode Islandersalways. without faileven sometimes at his peril. For example. in his final bid for reelection in 1990. Senator Pell reportedly insisted on warning Congresswoman Claudine Schneider. his Republican opponent. every time he was about to air a new television ad. He told his campaign staff that he would not permit a selfpromoting press release to go out. chiding: \"No. no. no. we never boast.\" In a debate I remember watching. he was given two huge political softball opportunities. One. he was asked to criticize his opponent. to critique her capacity to defeat him and serve in the U.S. Senate. The only thing he had to say was she has been a very fine Congresswoman. Then he was asked what his most significant legislative achievements had been during the previous term that had helped Rhode Islanders. He said: You know. I really cant think of one right now. My memory is not as good as it should be. One would think those answers would be lethal politically. but Rhode Islanders loved it and they loved him for it because he was as genuine and as authentic as a man could be. I guess one of the great lessons of his life is that voters dont want you to be perfect. they want you to be you. They want you to be authentically who you are and from there to fight for them. and he certainly lived that. For his authenticity and gentleness of spirit. Claiborne Pell was beloved by all of us in the Ocean State who were privileged to know him or work with him or learn from his example. We all will miss him deeply. To his wife Nuala. to his children. Toby and Dallas. and their families. and to the families of his departed children. Bertie and Julie. I know I join my distinguished senior Senator and all in this body and indeed all of America in holding them in our thoughts and prayers. As his family reminded us last week. Senator Pell summarized his role as a Senator with seven simple words: Translate ideas into actions and help people. Would that all of us could have ideas as big as Claiborne Pells and the strength. grace. persistence. and courage to translate them into action. I thank the Chair. and I yield the floor.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Thank you. Mr. President. And I say to Senator REED. thank you. I rise in honor of a great friend and mentor. I look around me at a room that just this morning was filled with Senators. It was a crowded Senate floor. with packed galleries. as a group of bright and promising new Senators began their careers. with all that joy and hope. Now. as my senior Senator. JACK REED. and I speak. the room is quiet. the galleries are mostly empty. and colleagues are gathering in remembrance because yesterday Rhode Island saw the sunset on a Rhode Island era with the funeral of our friend. Senator Claiborne Pell. I am deeply honored by Senator REEDs kind words. and he has a unique position as the successor to Senator Pell. It must be an interesting feeling to have served in the Senate for 36 years. to have loved this institution. to have accomplished extraordinary work in this institution. and then to walk away and leave your seat to a new. young Senator to replace you. Senator Pell had great confidence in Senator REED from the very beginning. He was. indeed. able to assure that there was no primary to succeed a seat that was open for the first time in 36 years. and it was because of his confidence in JACK REED that he put in that effort. I know firsthand how extraordinarily proud he was of the Senator JACK REED has shown himself to be. We in Rhode Island are a little. tiny State. but over the years we have had some towering and remarkable Senators. Claiborne Pell. obviously. was one. John Chafee was one. John 0. Pastore was one. Theodore Francis Green was one. Even the gentleman once known as the general manager of the United States. Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island. was a towering presence. Certainly. Senator REED has shown himself to have joined that pantheon. I probably have another 10. 20 years of work before I get there. but I will keep trying. But certainly Senator REED is in that category. and I am deeply honored by his kind words. Many in this body knew Claiborne Pell and served with him. I wish to say on behalf of Rhode Islanders who watched the service yesterday how grateful we are to Majority Leader REID. Majority Whip DURBIN. Clalborne Pells dear friends. TED KENNEDY and JOE BIDEN. and Senators PAT LEAHY. DICK LUGAR. Orrin Hatch. CHRIS DODD. JEFF BINGAMAN. JOHN KERRY. and JOE LIEBERMAN. all of whom honored Senator Pell by attending the funeral. Of course. I give special thanks to President Bill Clinton. who came to Rhode Island. a place where he is beloved. and spoke for his departed friend. Senator Pell was there for me in my own career at key junctures in so many important ways. and I should give him credit and in front of all my colleagues express my deep gratitude for what he did. He recommended me to President Clinton for appointment as U.S. attorney. After I served my term as U.S. attorney. I ran for attorney general. I served with the Presiding Officer. Senator SALAZAR of Colorado. as an attorney general. I had a threeway primary for attorney general. Claiborne Pell endorsed me in the primary. He actually did a television ad with me. In his 36 years in the Senate. he wanted no part ordinarily of primaries. For two people he got involved in a primary and endorsed a candidate. One was me. The other was Congressman PATRICK KENNEDY. It is almost unimaginable what a difference it made in my fledgling campaign. my first bid for elective office in the Democratic primary to have a man of Senator Pells towering reputation stake his reputation on me and express that kind of confidence. It is something for which I am indebted to him and to his memory and to his family forever. To me and to so many people in the Ocean State. Claiborne Pell was a mentor and an example. a leader whose vision. grace. and authentic kindness left an indelible imprint. He was born in New York City in 1918. and he first came to the Senate in 1961. after a colorful primary battle. described by Senator REED. that pitted him as an essential unknown against two established Democratic powerhouses: Dennis J. Roberts and J. Howard McGrath. contending for the seat that was being vacated by Theodore Francis Green. It did not look good. Pell was the ultimate outsider. He was so much the underdog in that race that John F. Kennedy. who was running for President at the timeand who knew Claiborne quite well because he was a dear friend of Mrs. Kennedy. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. and was in Rhode Island a good deal because of her family associations with Rhode Island. so he knew Claiborne Pell quite wellhe called him the least electable man in America. At his funeral yesterday. I saw Pell buttons from that race back in 1961 on mourners lapels. The Providence Journal described the race that ensued as \"the first modern political campaign the state had seen.\" Senator Pell invested his own money in television ads and polling. and he won the Democratic primary. He was the first unendorsed candidate in the history of Rhode Island to ever win a Democratic primary. He went on to win the general election. He won it by the largest margin ever at the time. 69 percent of the vote. To his great satisfaction. more Rhode Islanders voted for Claiborne Pell in that election than voted for John F. Kennedyso much for being the \"least electable man in America.\" The fact that John F. Kennedy road on Claiborne Pells coattails was a point Claiborne Pell. in his quiet way. loved to remind President Kennedy of whenever the opportunity presented itself. Of course. Rhode Island. in that election. got its first look at the oneofakind political temperament that was to define Senator Pell for the rest of his life: courteous. innovative. and always quietly humorous. Senator Pell looked back on that election in an interview with the New York Times. and he said this: I remember my first campaign. My opponent called me a cream puff. Thats what he said. Well. I rushed out and got the bakers union to endorse me. Frankly. I think a little bit of humor is sorely lacking now. How many people in todays politics being called a cream puff would go out and get a bakers union endorsement rather than trying to find some other way to hit back? Claiborne Pell believed. as he once told the Providence Journal. something that is so important: [T]hat governmentand the federal govermnent in particularcan. should and does make a positive impact on the lives of most Americans. He lived by that observation. and certainly Senator Pells positive impact on the lives of the people he served will be remembered for generations. Two years after taking office. Senator Pell sponsored legislation that became the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant. now known. thanks to its champion. as the Pell grant. At the time. the Nations colleges wanted Federal aid for themselves. but Senator Pell wanted the aid to go directly to students. He enlisted in the Coast Guard 4 months before Pearl Harbor. serving in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. and after that he used the GI bill scholarship to get an advanced degree from Columbia University. The GI bill showed him the transformative power of a college education. and Claiborne Pell resolved then that all Americans would have the opportunity for a college education that he and millions of veterans had received after World War II. So every year in September a new group of students goes off to college. and we see anew the work of Senator Pell. enlivening millions of young Americans who use Pell grants to pursue their dreams. In 2008. this Pell Grant Program was nearly 5.6 million grants. worth $16.4 billionall from his idea. I am delighted the distinguished Senator from Colorado is presiding at this moment because I remember in Rhode Island a few years ago I was at an event with a number of Senators. and the distinguished Senator from Colorado. now our Interior Secretary designate. was present. Senator Pell came to the event. He was very disabled. and he came in a wheelchair. I went over to greet him. Senator SALAZARI say to the Presiding Officer. you will remember thisalso came over to greet him. He took his hand. and he told him: Senator. my brother and I went to college because of the Pell Grant Program. Now here I am standing in front of you as a Senator. thanks to the vision and foresight you showed years agoyour vision that every American should have the dream of higher education at their disposal. I say to the Presiding Officer. you were then in your first term as a newly elected Senator. It was an unforgettable moment. I say to the Presiding Officer. It happened because Senator Pell understood the difference that higher education could make in the lives of Americas young peoplefrom a young KEN SALAZAR from rural Colorado. to toddlers across this country now who will seize the opportunities of America in years to come because of this man. Senator Pell knew that the arts. too. could transform lives. He authored the landmark legislation that gave rise to the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities. These institutions have secured a place for the culture and the arts in the public life of this Nation. Over the years they have helped bring poetry. drama. dance. painting. sculpture. song. literature. and history to millions of Americans. Of course. we New Englanders are deeply indebted to Senator Pell for his passion for public transportation and in particular for his long fight to develop for the Northeast corridor a transit system to support the cities of today and tomorrow. As we face the challenges of rising energy costs. economic recession. and urban stresses on our congested highways. Americans will rely more heavily than ever on systems such as Amtrak. Senator Pells foresight again has served us well. Here in the Senate. Senator Pell is remembered for his big ideas. In Rhode Island. we remember him also for his gentle. generous spirit. He had lived all over the world. He had been honored with medals from at least 18 different nations. But Newport. RI. was always home. In both his personal and his political life. he was a consistent model of civility and kindness to his fellow Rhode Islandersalways. without faileven sometimes at his peril. For example. in his final bid for reelection in 1990. Senator Pell reportedly insisted on warning Congresswoman Claudine Schneider. his Republican opponent. every time he was about to air a new television ad. He told his campaign staff that he would not permit a selfpromoting press release to go out. chiding: \"No. no. no. we never boast.\" In a debate I remember watching. he was given two huge political softball opportunities. One. he was asked to criticize his opponent. to critique her capacity to defeat him and serve in the U.S. Senate. The only thing he had to say was she has been a very fine Congresswoman. Then he was asked what his most significant legislative achievements had been during the previous term that had helped Rhode Islanders. He said: You know. I really cant think of one right now. My memory is not as good as it should be. One would think those answers would be lethal politically. but Rhode Islanders loved it and they loved him for it because he was as genuine and as authentic as a man could be. I guess one of the great lessons of his life is that voters dont want you to be perfect. they want you to be you. They want you to be authentically who you are and from there to fight for them. and he certainly lived that. For his authenticity and gentleness of spirit. Claiborne Pell was beloved by all of us in the Ocean State who were privileged to know him or work with him or learn from his example. We all will miss him deeply. To his wife Nuala. to his children. Toby and Dallas. and their families. and to the families of his departed children. Bertie and Julie. I know I join my distinguished senior Senator and all in this body and indeed all of America in holding them in our thoughts and prayers. As his family reminded us last week. Senator Pell summarized his role as a Senator with seven simple words: Translate ideas into actions and help people. Would that all of us could have ideas as big as Claiborne Pells and the strength. grace. persistence. and courage to translate them into action. I thank the Chair. and I yield the floor.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. would it be in order for me. before I begin my remarks. to compliment the Presiding Officer for his nomination to be Cabinet Secretary. the Secretary of the Interior. and wish him very well before the Senate in being confirmed and serving in that position? I guess that question doesnt need a response. I certainly hope it is in line for me to be able to say that.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. would it be in order for me. before I begin my remarks. to compliment the Presiding Officer for his nomination to be Cabinet Secretary. the Secretary of the Interior. and wish him very well before the Senate in being confirmed and serving in that position? I guess that question doesnt need a response. I certainly hope it is in line for me to be able to say that.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. I hopeand I am joined here by Senator LIEBERMANthat the Senate will have an opportunity to consider before this week is out a resolution we believe has been drafted by the majority leader and the minority leader that deals with the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip and that we believe needs to express the will of the Senate. We believe as well that a similar resolution would be voted on in the House of Representatives to express the will of the House. So then the whole worldand certainly the administrationwould know of this bodys strong support for the State of Israel and our support for the actions Israel is taking right now. We hope that vote can occur before this week is out. I wish to commend Senator LIEBERMAN for his considerable leadership on this issue. We support this resolution. The first thing the resolution does is to remind people why the State of Israel had to act. Last February. on a trip to the Middle East. I visited the Israeli town of Sderot. which is about 3 miles from the border of Gaza. and I learned from the towns mayor of the toll taken on the residents of this town and neighboring cities from more than 8 years of rocket attacks by the Hamas terrorists. At the police station. I saw rack after rack of these spent rockets. the remains of the rockets that had been launched by Hamas against the civilian population of this city. In fact. about 15 minutes after we departed the city. one of these Hamas launched a Qassam rocketidentical to the hundreds we had seen at the police stationwhich fell on an Israeli home in town. destroying it. Thankfully. no one in that attack was harmed. Is there any doubt that if the United States were suffering an attack from just across the border similar to this. that we wouldnt react to stop that from happening? I think there is no question that we would act to stop this terrorism. It is our hope that the resolution would express our acknowledgment that a nation has the right to defend itself. that Israel has had to respond to this. to more than 6.300 rocket and mortar attacks on its citizens since it fully withdrew from Gaza in the year 2005. In fact. this town has been suffering for over 8 years from these attacks. The second point the resolution makes is that there Is no equivalency between the actions of Hamas and Israel in this case. Israel conducts its military operations to spare innocent life. They have specifically targeted Hamas command centers and security installations and rocketlaunching sites. weapons stockpiles. and weapons smuggling tunnels. They have tried very hard to avoid civilian casualties. In fact. Israel has transmitted very specific warnings to Gazans. They have dropped leaflets and made phone calls to targeted areas to warn citizens to leave because an attack Is imminent. This. of course. even means they lose the element of surprise and potentially put the lives of Israeli soldiers at risk. But Israel believes it is important where possible to avoid jeopardizing innocent lifequite the opposite from Hamas. which deliberately and cynically fires rockets from civilian areas to make it more difficult for Israel to target the terrorists and to increase the likelihood of civilian casualties when Israel does take action. Hamas has ignored a plea by U.N. Secretary General Ban Kimoon on April 28 that: Civilian areas In Gaza should not be used as a base from which to launch its actions against Israel. Dozens of mosques in Gaza have been turned into weapons storage facilities and Hamas command centers. In fact. an airstrike on a mosque in the Tel El Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City last Wednesday set off numerous secondary explosions caused by the arms that had been stockpiled in the mosque. Finally. Hamas openly admits that it uses women and children as human shields. A leading member of Hamas told AlAqsa TV on February 29. 2008: For the Palestinian people. death has become an industry . . . This is why they have formed human shields of the women. the children. the elderly. and the mujahedeen. in order to challenge the Zionist bombing machine. While targeting terrorists. Israel works to avoid a humanitarian crisis for ordinary Gazans as well. During the first week of Israels operations. it facilitated the delivery to Gaza of 400 trucks loaded with more than 2.000 tons of food and medicine. This is not easy when you are in the middle of military operations. Ten ambulances and two thousand blood units were transferred to Gaza just in that week. More than 80 Palestinians have entered Egypt for treatment. In addition to a dozen or more who have entered Israel. On January 5. more than 93.000 gallons of industrial diesel fuel and gasoline for vehicles was transferred into Gaza from a fuel depot in Israel. By the way. that fuel depot comes under constant attack from terrorists in Gaza. as does the place where the electricity is generated for Gaza. which. of course. makes absolutely no sense. Finally. this resolution speaks to calls for a ceasefire. Many voices in the socalled international community have been heard pleading for an immediate ceasefire. although I think it is instructive that one never hears those voices condemning rocket attacks by Hamas terrorists. I believe the path to a halt in the violence is clear. A ceasefire is appropriate if and when it is durable and sustainable. A ceasefire. on the other hand. that would allow Hamas to rearm and rebuild its support in Gaza is. of course. not acceptable. Hamas cannot be given a ceasefire that only serves to provide it breathing room to regroup and then a month or 2 months\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. I hopeand I am joined here by Senator LIEBERMANthat the Senate will have an opportunity to consider before this week is out a resolution we believe has been drafted by the majority leader and the minority leader that deals with the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip and that we believe needs to express the will of the Senate. We believe as well that a similar resolution would be voted on in the House of Representatives to express the will of the House. So then the whole worldand certainly the administrationwould know of this bodys strong support for the State of Israel and our support for the actions Israel is taking right now. We hope that vote can occur before this week is out. I wish to commend Senator LIEBERMAN for his considerable leadership on this issue. We support this resolution. The first thing the resolution does is to remind people why the State of Israel had to act. Last February. on a trip to the Middle East. I visited the Israeli town of Sderot. which is about 3 miles from the border of Gaza. and I learned from the towns mayor of the toll taken on the residents of this town and neighboring cities from more than 8 years of rocket attacks by the Hamas terrorists. At the police station. I saw rack after rack of these spent rockets. the remains of the rockets that had been launched by Hamas against the civilian population of this city. In fact. about 15 minutes after we departed the city. one of these Hamas launched a Qassam rocketidentical to the hundreds we had seen at the police stationwhich fell on an Israeli home in town. destroying it. Thankfully. no one in that attack was harmed. Is there any doubt that if the United States were suffering an attack from just across the border similar to this. that we wouldnt react to stop that from happening? I think there is no question that we would act to stop this terrorism. It is our hope that the resolution would express our acknowledgment that a nation has the right to defend itself. that Israel has had to respond to this. to more than 6.300 rocket and mortar attacks on its citizens since it fully withdrew from Gaza in the year 2005. In fact. this town has been suffering for over 8 years from these attacks. The second point the resolution makes is that there Is no equivalency between the actions of Hamas and Israel in this case. Israel conducts its military operations to spare innocent life. They have specifically targeted Hamas command centers and security installations and rocketlaunching sites. weapons stockpiles. and weapons smuggling tunnels. They have tried very hard to avoid civilian casualties. In fact. Israel has transmitted very specific warnings to Gazans. They have dropped leaflets and made phone calls to targeted areas to warn citizens to leave because an attack Is imminent. This. of course. even means they lose the element of surprise and potentially put the lives of Israeli soldiers at risk. But Israel believes it is important where possible to avoid jeopardizing innocent lifequite the opposite from Hamas. which deliberately and cynically fires rockets from civilian areas to make it more difficult for Israel to target the terrorists and to increase the likelihood of civilian casualties when Israel does take action. Hamas has ignored a plea by U.N. Secretary General Ban Kimoon on April 28 that: Civilian areas In Gaza should not be used as a base from which to launch its actions against Israel. Dozens of mosques in Gaza have been turned into weapons storage facilities and Hamas command centers. In fact. an airstrike on a mosque in the Tel El Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City last Wednesday set off numerous secondary explosions caused by the arms that had been stockpiled in the mosque. Finally. Hamas openly admits that it uses women and children as human shields. A leading member of Hamas told AlAqsa TV on February 29. 2008: For the Palestinian people. death has become an industry . . . This is why they have formed human shields of the women. the children. the elderly. and the mujahedeen. in order to challenge the Zionist bombing machine. While targeting terrorists. Israel works to avoid a humanitarian crisis for ordinary Gazans as well. During the first week of Israels operations. it facilitated the delivery to Gaza of 400 trucks loaded with more than 2.000 tons of food and medicine. This is not easy when you are in the middle of military operations. Ten ambulances and two thousand blood units were transferred to Gaza just in that week. More than 80 Palestinians have entered Egypt for treatment. In addition to a dozen or more who have entered Israel. On January 5. more than 93.000 gallons of industrial diesel fuel and gasoline for vehicles was transferred into Gaza from a fuel depot in Israel. By the way. that fuel depot comes under constant attack from terrorists in Gaza. as does the place where the electricity is generated for Gaza. which. of course. makes absolutely no sense. Finally. this resolution speaks to calls for a ceasefire. Many voices in the socalled international community have been heard pleading for an immediate ceasefire. although I think it is instructive that one never hears those voices condemning rocket attacks by Hamas terrorists. I believe the path to a halt in the violence is clear. A ceasefire is appropriate if and when it is durable and sustainable. A ceasefire. on the other hand. that would allow Hamas to rearm and rebuild its support in Gaza is. of course. not acceptable. Hamas cannot be given a ceasefire that only serves to provide it breathing room to regroup and then a month or 2 months\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. I wish first to thank my friend and colleague from Arizona. Senator KYL. for the statement he has just made. which was characteristically straightforward. clear. principled. and passionate. about what is involved in the current crisis in Gaza and the opportunity this Congress has to not just stand with our ally. Israelwhich is critically important at this momentbut to take yet another stand against terrorism for the rule of law. for democracy. and for the peaceful settlement of disputes. I could not agree more with everything Senator KYL has said. I wish to add just a few words in this regard. As Senator KYL has indicated. the United Nations Security Council was to convene shortly after 5 this afternoon. about an hour ago. I presume it has convened to hear speakers and consider resolutions on what is happening in Gaza today. Secretary of State Rice has gone there to speak on behalf of the United States. which indicates the importance of these deliberations. She will carry with her the policy of our Government since the outbreak of conflict in Gaza that I think has been strong and principled and consistent with the best of American values and. of course. consistent with our national security interest in the global war on the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 because what is happening in Gaza is yet another battle front in the larger war against Islamist extremism and terrorism. It is. in another sense. also another battle front in the conflict going on within the Muslim world between the extremists and fanatics and terrorists and the majority of people who are more moderate. more lawabiding. obviously not violent and want to live a safe and a better life. The Government of the United States has been very clear in articulating a policy which I presume and have confidence will be expressed in these Security Council deliberations tonight and the days to follow. No one wants to see violence occur. Yet. as Senator KYL has said so eloquently. when a country such as Israel has been attacked literally thousands of times with rockets fired from Gaza at innocent civilians over a period of years. a ceasefire is negotiated and it goes on for approximately 6 monthsnegotiated with great help from Egyptand then Hamas breaks the ceasefire and begins firing rockets again. the Government of Israel. our democratic ally. essentially said: Enough is enough. we are not going to tolerate this anymore. coming as it is from Hamas which is an openly avowed terrorist group with the aim of destroying the State of Israel. In response to the violence. there is a natural reflex reaction heard often in world councils. and undoubtedly will be heard at the United Nations Security 55. Pt. 1 January 6. 2009 Council at this hour and the hours to follow. that there ought to be a ceasefire. I think we all have to ask ourselves: What is the end of a ceasefire? Of course. we dont like to see violence occurring. but lets remember this is being done by Israel in the exercise of the right of selfdefense. The Government of the United Statesbeing President Bush and everyone else who has spokenhas made very clear that. yes. the United States wants a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas regarding Gaza but not just a ceasefire for the sake of a ceasefire that one side may follow and the other may not and that simply leads nowhere but back to the conflict that has been occurring. The U.S. Government has been very clear and principled about the fact that the ceasefire our Government seeks is one that is durable and sustainable. in other words. that represents a real resolution of some of the issues in conflict and that also deals with the smuggling into Gaza of additional weapons which are being used to attack innocent civilians in Israel. I know Secretary Rice will be expressing exactly this position. Yes. America wants a ceasefire but. no. not one that leads nowhere. We want a ceasefire that is durable and sustainable and will include a ban on smuggling. activities to carry out a ban on smuggling of weapons by Hamas in Gaza. I am very pleased. very encouraged that as the initial action of this Senate this year. the majority leader. Senator REID. and the Republican leader. Senator MCCONNELL. are working together in a bipartisan waytotally bipartisan wayto bring before this body. hopefully in the next day or two. a resolution that does exactly what Senator KYL has said: to express our unwavering commitment to the security. wellbeing. and survival of the State of Israel and recognizing its right to act in selfdefense to protect its citizens against terrorism. that will reiterate again that Hamas must end the rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and hopefully do what the Palestinian Authority has done. which is to accept the right of Israel to exist and renounce terrorism and to begin to work toward a twostate peaceful solution. This resolution really will. in essence. I think. say. as Senator KYL has said. in this hour of crisis to the people of Israel. our allies. that we will stand with you. and also say to the peaceloving Palestinian people that we stand with you. too. and we continue to support a twostate solutionIsrael and a Palestinian stateliving in peace one against the other. but the Government of the United Statesthe Secretary of State. the President. but the Secretary of State who is at the United Nations is not speaking simply for the executive branch of Government but that January 6. 2009 CONGRE the Senate. and we have reason to believe our colleagues in the other body. the House. will have an opportunity to say to not just the Israelis we stand with you. but to say to the world community that we as the representatives of the people of America. across party lines. stand together with Secretary Rice as she expresses the position of our Government: Yes. a ceasefire. but only one that is sustainable and durable and deals with the smuggling of additional weapons into Gaza. This will be critically important. I thank our leaders on both sides. I thank Senator KYL for the work he has done. Again. it has been a privilege to work with him. I also say in a larger context that there is a lot of speculation about why Hamas broke the ceasefire and initiated the rocket fire against Israel deeper into Israel than they have ever done before. I do think. as Senator KYL suggested. that the answer to that question probably comes as much or more from Tehran than it does from Gaza City and Hamas. that Hamas has become an agent of the Iranian Government. It is trained and supplied by the Iranians and secondarily by the Syrians. Therefore. there is a larger conflict being played out. Iran is noted by our State Department to be the most significant state sponsor of terrorism. The leaders of Iran regularly not only call for the extermination of the State of Israel. but also lead tens of thousands in Tehran and elsewhere in Iran in chants of \"death to America. death to America.\" We have long since learned from the lessons of history that you cannot simply ignore statements that seem so extreme and fanatical that they are unbelievable because very often the people making them do believe them. and given the chance. as we have seen from Osama bin Laden in recent times. who told us throughout the nineties exactly what he intended to dohe happened to have done it on 9/11. but he did it earlier in other placeswe have to take these threats seriously. I want to say that a precipitous ceasefire simply for the sake of a ceasefire will allow Hamas to claim a victory. A victory for Hamas is not simply a victory for Hamas. it is a victory for Iran. And a defeat for Hamas. which is in reach if we allow the Israeli action to continue. is a defeat for Iran and a victory for the United States and for the forces of democracy as against terrorism and for the forces of moderation and the rule of law in the Islamic world as against fanaticism and violence. This is all that is being played out. This is why I am so encouraged this resolution is coming forward. It is. yes. a statement of support for our ally Israel. but it is also a statement of policy for the Members of the Senate. across party lines. and I hope with an overwhelmingly positive vote that says the security of the United States is on the line in how this conflict ends. We cannot let it end in a way that strengthens Hamas and Iran. I repeat. there has been a lot of speculation: Did Hamas break the ceasefire because of the end of the Bush administration? There has been some interesting speculation that has said the best thing that could happen for the incoming Obama administration is that Hamas be defeated here because then whatever happens between the new administration and Iran. Iran will not approach that next chapter with a sense of triumphant. but the country would have seen one of its major clients and agents of terrorism defeated. We have the opportunity to speak to all that on this resolution in the days ahead. Most immediately. I hope we will speak to the Members of the Security Council and in the most direct way say: We stand with President Bush. we stand with Secretary Rice. This is not simply the position of a few people at the top of the executive branch of our Government. This position the Amerloan Government has taken with regard to the crisis in Gaza is the position embraced by an overwhelming majority of Members of both parties of both Houses. I yield the floor. and I suggest the absence of a quorum.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. I wish first to thank my friend and colleague from Arizona. Senator KYL. for the statement he has just made. which was characteristically straightforward. clear. principled. and passionate. about what is involved in the current crisis in Gaza and the opportunity this Congress has to not just stand with our ally. Israelwhich is critically important at this momentbut to take yet another stand against terrorism for the rule of law. for democracy. and for the peaceful settlement of disputes. I could not agree more with everything Senator KYL has said. I wish to add just a few words in this regard. As Senator KYL has indicated. the United Nations Security Council was to convene shortly after 5 this afternoon. about an hour ago. I presume it has convened to hear speakers and consider resolutions on what is happening in Gaza today. Secretary of State Rice has gone there to speak on behalf of the United States. which indicates the importance of these deliberations. She will carry with her the policy of our Government since the outbreak of conflict in Gaza that I think has been strong and principled and consistent with the best of American values and. of course. consistent with our national security interest in the global war on the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 because what is happening in Gaza is yet another battle front in the larger war against Islamist extremism and terrorism. It is. in another sense. also another battle front in the conflict going on within the Muslim world between the extremists and fanatics and terrorists and the majority of people who are more moderate. more lawabiding. obviously not violent and want to live a safe and a better life. The Government of the United States has been very clear in articulating a policy which I presume and have confidence will be expressed in these Security Council deliberations tonight and the days to follow. No one wants to see violence occur. Yet. as Senator KYL has said so eloquently. when a country such as Israel has been attacked literally thousands of times with rockets fired from Gaza at innocent civilians over a period of years. a ceasefire is negotiated and it goes on for approximately 6 monthsnegotiated with great help from Egyptand then Hamas breaks the ceasefire and begins firing rockets again. the Government of Israel. our democratic ally. essentially said: Enough is enough. we are not going to tolerate this anymore. coming as it is from Hamas which is an openly avowed terrorist group with the aim of destroying the State of Israel. In response to the violence. there is a natural reflex reaction heard often in world councils. and undoubtedly will be heard at the United Nations Security 55. Pt. 1 January 6. 2009 Council at this hour and the hours to follow. that there ought to be a ceasefire. I think we all have to ask ourselves: What is the end of a ceasefire? Of course. we dont like to see violence occurring. but lets remember this is being done by Israel in the exercise of the right of selfdefense. The Government of the United Statesbeing President Bush and everyone else who has spokenhas made very clear that. yes. the United States wants a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas regarding Gaza but not just a ceasefire for the sake of a ceasefire that one side may follow and the other may not and that simply leads nowhere but back to the conflict that has been occurring. The U.S. Government has been very clear and principled about the fact that the ceasefire our Government seeks is one that is durable and sustainable. in other words. that represents a real resolution of some of the issues in conflict and that also deals with the smuggling into Gaza of additional weapons which are being used to attack innocent civilians in Israel. I know Secretary Rice will be expressing exactly this position. Yes. America wants a ceasefire but. no. not one that leads nowhere. We want a ceasefire that is durable and sustainable and will include a ban on smuggling. activities to carry out a ban on smuggling of weapons by Hamas in Gaza. I am very pleased. very encouraged that as the initial action of this Senate this year. the majority leader. Senator REID. and the Republican leader. Senator MCCONNELL. are working together in a bipartisan waytotally bipartisan wayto bring before this body. hopefully in the next day or two. a resolution that does exactly what Senator KYL has said: to express our unwavering commitment to the security. wellbeing. and survival of the State of Israel and recognizing its right to act in selfdefense to protect its citizens against terrorism. that will reiterate again that Hamas must end the rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and hopefully do what the Palestinian Authority has done. which is to accept the right of Israel to exist and renounce terrorism and to begin to work toward a twostate peaceful solution. This resolution really will. in essence. I think. say. as Senator KYL has said. in this hour of crisis to the people of Israel. our allies. that we will stand with you. and also say to the peaceloving Palestinian people that we stand with you. too. and we continue to support a twostate solutionIsrael and a Palestinian stateliving in peace one against the other. but the Government of the United Statesthe Secretary of State. the President. but the Secretary of State who is at the United Nations is not speaking simply for the executive branch of Government but that January 6. 2009 CONGRE the Senate. and we have reason to believe our colleagues in the other body. the House. will have an opportunity to say to not just the Israelis we stand with you. but to say to the world community that we as the representatives of the people of America. across party lines. stand together with Secretary Rice as she expresses the position of our Government: Yes. a ceasefire. but only one that is sustainable and durable and deals with the smuggling of additional weapons into Gaza. This will be critically important. I thank our leaders on both sides. I thank Senator KYL for the work he has done. Again. it has been a privilege to work with him. I also say in a larger context that there is a lot of speculation about why Hamas broke the ceasefire and initiated the rocket fire against Israel deeper into Israel than they have ever done before. I do think. as Senator KYL suggested. that the answer to that question probably comes as much or more from Tehran than it does from Gaza City and Hamas. that Hamas has become an agent of the Iranian Government. It is trained and supplied by the Iranians and secondarily by the Syrians. Therefore. there is a larger conflict being played out. Iran is noted by our State Department to be the most significant state sponsor of terrorism. The leaders of Iran regularly not only call for the extermination of the State of Israel. but also lead tens of thousands in Tehran and elsewhere in Iran in chants of \"death to America. death to America.\" We have long since learned from the lessons of history that you cannot simply ignore statements that seem so extreme and fanatical that they are unbelievable because very often the people making them do believe them. and given the chance. as we have seen from Osama bin Laden in recent times. who told us throughout the nineties exactly what he intended to dohe happened to have done it on 9/11. but he did it earlier in other placeswe have to take these threats seriously. I want to say that a precipitous ceasefire simply for the sake of a ceasefire will allow Hamas to claim a victory. A victory for Hamas is not simply a victory for Hamas. it is a victory for Iran. And a defeat for Hamas. which is in reach if we allow the Israeli action to continue. is a defeat for Iran and a victory for the United States and for the forces of democracy as against terrorism and for the forces of moderation and the rule of law in the Islamic world as against fanaticism and violence. This is all that is being played out. This is why I am so encouraged this resolution is coming forward. It is. yes. a statement of support for our ally Israel. but it is also a statement of policy for the Members of the Senate. across party lines. and I hope with an overwhelmingly positive vote that says the security of the United States is on the line in how this conflict ends. We cannot let it end in a way that strengthens Hamas and Iran. I repeat. there has been a lot of speculation: Did Hamas break the ceasefire because of the end of the Bush administration? There has been some interesting speculation that has said the best thing that could happen for the incoming Obama administration is that Hamas be defeated here because then whatever happens between the new administration and Iran. Iran will not approach that next chapter with a sense of triumphant. but the country would have seen one of its major clients and agents of terrorism defeated. We have the opportunity to speak to all that on this resolution in the days ahead. Most immediately. I hope we will speak to the Members of the Security Council and in the most direct way say: We stand with President Bush. we stand with Secretary Rice. This is not simply the position of a few people at the top of the executive branch of our Government. This position the Amerloan Government has taken with regard to the crisis in Gaza is the position embraced by an overwhelming majority of Members of both parties of both Houses. I yield the floor. and I suggest the absence of a quorum.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. I would like to be recognized for a period of time. The majority leader has been very gracious to offer me an opportunity to have some discussions about some amendments that he is going to possibly allow on a bill that he is going to introduce this evening. I wanted to take some time now rather than later so that we would not keep staff here. and that way we could be efficient with our time. I want to talk about several things. I want to preface it with a statement. that I have been very pleased to see a man I respect a great deal. even though not in office as of yet. but the Presidentelect. be very firm in the principles he outlined as he ran for President and now is about to be sworn into that office. One of the themes that has characterized his campaign and has characterized him ever since I have known him has been the idea of hope and change. So I. like many other Ameri155. Pt. 1 63 cans. look forward in great anticipation to the leadership that will be brought forth in the next few weeks and what that means to the millions of Americans who are going to look to Washington this month with a level of hope and excitement that we have not seen in this country in decades. While most of the attention is going to be focused on the White House. the institution at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. this Congress. will arguable have a greater role in determining whether Presidentelect Obamas invocation of change is remembered as an election slogan or a true new era in American politics. My hope and prayer is it is a new era. While many commentators have noted. with some justification. the concepts such as hope and change were never defined much and were not given a specificity during the campaign. I believe the American people have already defined those concepts very clearly in their hearts and minds. I believe what hope. change. and optimism represent to the average voter is very simple: It is a real expectation that Washington will be different. Voters have not undergone an ideological shift nearly so much as they are demanding that Government be more competent. that we be more mature. that we be less corrupt. and that we be less selfish. That last part is one of the things that has driven us to do things that are not very good. The concept of selfpromotion. the concept of promoting ones career at the expense of our country. I believe what both parties in Congress must do. and do very quickly. is ask themselves the hard question of why Congress has a historic low approval rating of 9 percent. Why do we have an approval rating of 9 percent? That Is according to a recent Rasmussen Poll. Both parties are accustomed to analyzing what they and the other party did right or wrong in recent election cycles. but yet neither party has come to terms with the fundamental public rejection of how Congress as an institution has governed and behaved in recent decades. In many respects the American people understand us far better than we understand ourselves. While politicians tend to believe the public is put off by ideologic debate. what alienates voters is the truly debilitating division in Congress between statesmen and those who view reelection as the ultimate goal. Careerism is not driven by any set of ideas but by pure parochialism and the shortterm pursuit of power for powers sake. The real division. then. that blocks progress and commonsense solutions is not between ideas or parties but between every Members selfpromoted interests. The American people understand this intuitively. which is why Congress has had historic low approval ratings long before we entered this recession. What the public knows is that a Congress that debates ideas tends to develop the best solutions. while a Congress that is driven by careerism and parochialism builds bridges to nowhere and fails to conduct oversight over entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In short. the American people can handle serious debate. but they cannot handle incompetence. corruption. stupidity. and selfinterest put above that of the Nation. Congresss handling of an economic stimulus bill will no doubt be an early test. Although the policy may be suspect. Congress seems willing to try to avoid embarrassing the new President by turning the package into an orgy of parochial porkbarrel spending. He said today there will be no earmarks in the stimulus package. Congresss real test. though. will come next and will be repeated hundreds of times over the next 4 years with each piece of legislation. So far Congress has signaled little desire for a longterm commitment to change. Some would ask why would I say that? I would say that. because here in a little while this evening we are going to reintroduce a bill that nobody knows right now how many other bills it has in itthat is going to be the first order of business of this Congressthat allocates $10 billion. some to some very worthy projects but tons of that money to projects that do not have a priority anywhere close to what we ought to be doing. This is an omnibus lands bill that indulges the worst habits of a parochial Congress. The bill. which is a holdover from the last Congress. includes such things as a $3 million road to nowhere through a wildlife refuge. a $1 billion water project-$1 billiondesigned to assure that 500 salmon will be repopulated. It does not take long to divide 500 salmon into $1 billion to see that what we have is $2 million a salmon. They are worth more than gold. There is $3.5 million to give to the City of St. Augustine. FL. so they can prepare a celebration 6 years from now to recognize their 450th birthday. I hardly see. in the midst of the economic times we face. how that can be a priority for the Nation as a whole. I know it is a priority from a parochial standpoint. but is it in the best interest of the Nation? It has been claimed that this bill is noncontroversial. and it should pass essentially without amendment. without debate. However. it is to note that over 100 different organizations on both the left side of the political spectrum and the right side of the political spectrum are opposed to this bill because it is controversial. a point noted by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. The earmarks in this bill have angered many groups. as has the significant. antienergy. more foreign dependence on oil programs that are in this bill. This bill contains a provision that will eliminate 8.8 trillion cubic feet of known natural gas reserves. proven reserves. today that we will not be able to take for our consumption. What that means is we are going to import 8.8 trillion feet of natural gas because we are going to say: You cannot have this. It also contains 300 million barrels of proven oil that we are no longer going to take. We just went from $146 oil to $35 oil. $40 today. If we have learned anything. we ought to be about as much energy selfsufficiency as we can. The controversy over whether we get off fossil fuels is a debate for another time. But no one can deny the necessity of us discontinuing sending our fortunes to countries that are supplying us oil and are also ultimately our enemies. The energy resources walled off by this bill will match the annual production levels of our two largest natural gasproducing States. Alaska and Texas. My worry about bringing this billand. again. I am thankful the majority leader has reached out that we might be able to offer amendmentsis. what does this send as a signal to the American public? Here is what it sends. It says: There may be change in the White House. but there is absolutely no change in Congress. Why would we bring a bill that is going to spend $10 billion of our moneyat least $9 billion of that is not a priority In terms of the priorities facing this Nationwhy would we bring that to the floor as the first order of business of the 111th Congress? The only reason we could be bringing it to the floor is because it makes us look good at home with multiple parochial projects. If our country has a failing that will cripple us forever. it is the fact that we have allowed parochialism. not the oath we saw all new Members and newly reelected Members take today. where we uphold the Constitution. What we do is. we uphold the future of our own political careers. History is interesting. The 1994 Republican revolution unraveled not because they made a lot of big mistakessome were madebut because Republicans made a ton of little mistakes they didnt realize they were making. The new and expanded majority will realize that with greater numbers comes a greater share of the responsibility and blame for whatever happens in this country. If we go back to that 9percent approval rating. it has to do with this: Congress. we dont believe you are going to do at every turn. at every opportunity. what is in the best longterm interests for this Nation. And we are going to prove it. Because this bill ultimately will probably pass out of this Chamber and be passed. and we are going to spend. at a time when we are going to have a $1 trillion deficit this year. another $800 billion trying to stimulate the economy. We are going to say: Priority doesnt matter but parochialism does. Looking good at home matters more than the longterm interests of the country. matters more than the financial future of our grandchildrenmy political career. my party. me. me. me. The historical basis of our country is built on sacrifice. It is built on sacrifice by one generation for the generations that follow. Our political history used to be that as well. My worry. my concern is we cant live up to the hope and the change the Presidentelect has set before us. By bringing this bill to the floor as the first order of business in the 111th Congress. we have confirmed to the American public that business as usual is business as usual. that we dont recognize the severity of the situation we find ourselves in. that we are not going to change our habits. that we will continue to promote those things that promote us rather than promote the longterm good and benefit of the country. It is pure selfishness. It is saying what I want and what I need and my political future or my State has to come above the longterm interests and the best interests of this wonderful country. The real challenge doesnt come from any of the parties. It comes from parochialism. The public has told Congress it is time to start acting in the best interest of the country rather than the best interest of our next election. The sooner Congress realizes change requires a cultural shift in both parties. the sooner that change will come. I would like to spend a moment outlining a few components of this bill. We have not actually gotten to see the bill. but I have been told by the majority leader that we have added. I think. 12 or 13 other bills to it. But from what we have known in the past. let me go through and explain to the American public what is in this bill. The national parks today face a severe shortage of money to maintain them at their current level. It is about $9.8 billion. In this bill we add four new national parks. The U.S. Arizona Memorial in Hawaii is sinking. The visitors center is sinking. We havent put the money in to repair it. but yet we are going to create more national parks that will further dilute the maintenance budget of the National Park Service so we cant even maintain what we have. We have a $700 million backlog just on The National Mall in Washington. We didnt address any of that in terms of the priority of fixing that. Yet we are going to add four new national parks. We are going to add 10 new heritage areas. It is great for us to protect and think about the environment. But we never talk about how that impacts property rights. one of the rights given to us as our Nation was created. We are going to threaten that area. We are going to threaten through eminent domain. We are going to threaten through councils that will impact individual ownership of what you can do with your own property because you might .be in proximity to a heritage area. We have 14 studies that would create or expand future national parks. in other words. 14 more. That is what we are funding in this bill. We dont have the money to take care of the parks we have today. but yet we are going to put into this and spend money to potentially create 14 more. There are 17 provisions in this bill that will totally prohibit any exploration. oil extraction. coal extraction. natural gas extraction from 2.98 million acres in this country. many of which have proven reserves underlying. There are 53 rivers that are designated or portions of which are designated as scenic rivers. We have a great scenic river in Oklahoma called the Illinois. I am glad it is a scenic river. But with scenic river designation comes a trampling on the rights of people who are far away from it. We didnt change scenic rivers designation in light of our energy needs. Once a river is designated a scenic river and we need to move natural gas or a coal slurry or oil from point A to point B. we are totally prohibited from ever doing that on a scenic river. So it is another strike at any sort of increasing in our independence on energy because we are going to designate scenic rivers. Why not designate scenic rivers with an option to make sure we dont handcuff ourselves when it comes to energy? There are 65 new Federal wilderness areas. Here is an important matter we came across as we studied this bill. In the United States today. right now. before this bill. there are 107 million acres of wilderness. All the developed landcities. suburbs. townsacross the whole rest of the country is only 106 million acres. We are going to be adding to that and limiting our opportunity to the resources we have. There are 1.082 pages in the bill. I understand it is now 1.200 pages. There are 1.2 million acres in Wyoming that are withdrawn from mineral leasing and exploration. There are 1.93 million acres of Federal wilderness land. There are 3 million additional acres withdrawn from leasing and energy exploration. There are 331 million barrels of oil that we know are there and we are never going to take. We are just going to help those who drive up our energy costs because we are going to know it is there but we cant touch It because we are going to make it offlimits. There are 592 spending and 15 new State and local water projects. There is nothing wrong with State and local water projects. as long as they are a priority. but these are earmarked. specific projects for specific Members. There is $10 billion of total spending money we dont have. We are going to borrow it. There are 8.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas that we know is there that we will never touch. What the Department of Interior tells us is there is much more there. but these are the proven reserves. I will end my conversation. only to be continued in a more thorough manner as the bill actually comes to the floor by asking the American public: What would they hope we would do in terms of trying to change. trying to meet what they see as the problems in front of us? Would it be that we would be about passing things that are small but make us look good that we cant pay for or would it be that we should attend and address the pressing and also longterm needs of the country? It is about trust. The reason we have a 9percent approval rating is because we are not trusted. We are addicts. We are selfindulgent addicts over our power. My query to the body and to the American people is. will you hold us accountable? You have to do an intervention with us. each one of us. every time we are home: Are you being a good steward with the limited dollars we have? Are you making choices that may not look good for you as a politician but are truly the best choice for the country? Are you putting yourself second and our country first? Are you acting as a statesman or are you acting as somebody who wants to get reelected? The real paradox is. with trust comes confidence. With that confidence comes the involvement and support of the very people we actually do represent. We have a choice. I hope the introduction of this bill does not portend that we will not take Presidentelect Obamas lead and offer the American people real hope. real change. that we will get away from our addicted selfindulgence to look good at home and start making the hard. tough decisions that will right our ship and put our country first. Anything less than that says the people who took their oath today and those of us who have taken it before. we violate it. We raise our hand and put one on the Bible and say we will uphold it. but then when it comes to the first tough choice. look good at home or do what is in the longterm best interests of the country. we swivel. we back down. and we opt for the short term. the selfaggrandizement. and the stroke on our own back. We are better than that. The people in this body are better than that. My hope is we can prove to the American people over the next 6 to 9 months that we got the message. that it is about making the tough choices. It is about doing what is right in the long term. It is not about what makes us or our party look good. it is about what Is best for the country as a whole. I suggest the absence of a quorum.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. Presiden with great admiration and resp I take this time to recognize Kentuckys most distinguish zens. Roman Catholic Bisho McRaith. who retired as th Bishop of the Diocese of Owensb Bishop McRaiths service o last 26 years in the Dio Owensborowhich consists of ties with 79 parishes. 3 high sc middle schools and 13 ele schoolshas made him a legac community. In addition to being a large Owensboro Diocese is one of t diverse dioceses--home to a larl ber of Hispanic Catholic imm along with a priesthood that men from Latin America. Asia. rica. The work done by Bishop and the priests at Owensboro has increased church attendanc E. Vol. 155. Pt. 1 January 6. 2009 e need to els that are considered among the highrun this est in the Nation. rs man. I Bishop McRaith has left his commuy and ac- nity a better place because of the auave faith Move for- thenticity and kindness of his services e to ruin and faith. While I am sad to see him retire. I am comforted knowing that those who learned from him will conDAVID. tinue the good work that he displayed each day. On behalf of all of those who of Idaho tor] held uld do to thank Bishop John McRaith for the better in- grace and strength he brought to westy and the em Kentucky.. s we are uture. we ract. The TRIBUTE TO HARRIET CORNELL e of nat- * Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President. I am s? Every proud to congratulate the Honorable orehouse. Harriet Cornell on her historic selecy derived tion as chair of the Rockland County ities. All erved for Legislature for a fifth consecutive eeds. No year. Harriet is the first chair of the in direct legislature to hold the office for 5 conrhen it is secutive years. it is the Harriet Cornell has been a member of the only the Rockland County Legislature since ublic and 1984. In her first year of office. Mrs. icient fu- Cornell founded the Legislatures Coiwith any wtany mssion on Womens Issues and invited Roy community leaders to participate in the formulation of public policy. She is ents rely also the chair of the Eleanor Roosevelt can have Legacy Committee. he end of Her long record of accomplishments ny dying led the Journal News naming her as syptoms one of 25 people who made the greatest iving dis- impact on Rockland County during the r] people aging 50 20th century. As chairwoman. Mrs. is cost in Cornells priorities have included proat times tection of our environment. enhanced ng to the educational resources. improved health is much services for women and chidren. homeveness of land security. Rocklands transportation infrastructure. and smart land Boise. use planning. Under her leadership. she has brought together elected officials TS from every level of government in Summit meetings to collaborate on these issues. HN I commend Mrs. Cornell for her many years of devoted public service to the t. it is citizens of Rockland County.. ect that one of MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE ed citip John At 6:09 p.m.. a message from the e third House of Representatives. delivered by oro. Mrs. Cole. one of its reading clerks. anver thenounced that the House agreed to the cese of following resolutions: 32 coun- H. Res. 1. Resolution that Lorraine C. Milhools. 2 ler of the State of Texas. be. and is hereby. chosen Clerk of the House of Representanentary tives. That Wilson S. Livingood of the Coiy in the monwealth of Virginia. be. and is hereby. chosen Sergeant at Arms of the House of diocese. Representatives. That Daniel P. Beard of the he more State of Maryland be. and is hereby. chosen ge num- Chief Administrative Officer of the House of igrants. Representatives. and That Father Daniel P. recruits Coughlin of the State of Illinois. be. and is adAhereby. chosen Chaplain of the House of Repand Afresentatives. McRaith H. Res. 2. Resolution notifying the Senate Diocese that a quorum of the House of Representaa to 1ev- tives has assembled. that NANCY PELOSI. a Representative from the State of California. has been elected Speaker. than Lorraine C. Miller. a citizen of the State of Texas. has been elected Clerk of the House of Representatives of the One Hundred Eleventh Congress. The message also announced that the House has agreed to the following concurrent resolution. in which it requests the concurrence of the Senate: H. Con. Res. 1. Concurrent resolution regarding consent to assemble outside the seat of government. The message further announced that the Speaker appoints as members of the committee on the part of the House to join a committee on the part of the Senate to notify the President of the United States that a quorum of each House has assembled. and Congress is ready to receiver any communication that he may be pleased to make: The gentleman from Maryland Mr. HOYER and the gentleman from Ohio Mr. BOEHNER.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. as the 111th Congress begins. the most important item on our agenda is to help end the worst economic crisis America has faced since the Great Depression. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to develop and approve an economic turnaround package as quickly as possible. But even if Congress authorizes as much as $1 trillion in new Government spending over the next 2 years to stimulate the economy. if we dont address the origins of this crisis. I fear the impact of any recovery package will be dampened. This economic crisis began with the bubble that burst in the housing market. So we have to address that. first and foremost. Families need to be able to stay in their homes. and communities need to be stabilized before the economy can start to grow again. Thats why. as my first bill in the new Congress. I am reintroducing the Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act. When I first began working on this bill almost two years ago. the Center for Responsible Lending. Credit Suisse. and others estimated that 2 million homes were at risk of foreclosure. The Mortgage Bankers Association and the rest of the mortgage industry scoffed at such a number. Last month. Credit Suisse estimated that 8.1 million homes are likely to be lost to foreclosure by 2012. If the economy continues to worsen. they believe foreclosures will exceed 10 million homes. If over 8 million familiesrepresenting 16 percent of all mortgagesare losing their homes. our economy is not going to recover. I first introduced this bill in September of 2007. I have chaired three hearings on the subject and tried three times to pass this legislation last year. A large coalition supports this billincluding the AARP. the Consumer Federation of America. the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. the AFLCIO. the Center for Responsible Lending. the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. and many others. But the Mortgage Bankers Association and the rest of the mortgage industry have successfully opposed it so far. Three things have fundamentally changed. and I am back. pressing even harder that we make this bill law. First. the banks that brought us the reckless lending. dense securitization. and risky investing practices that created the boom and bust in the housing market have now happily accepted a $700 billion handout from the American taxpayers . . . even as most of them refuse to help the homeowners who are suffering most acutely from their irresponsible business practices. Frankly. I think that the credibility of the opposition to my bill has slipped just a bit. Second. it is painfully clear that foreclosure mitigation efforts to date have failed. Professor Alan White of the Valparaiso School of Law analyzed a large sample of the mortgage modifications made voluntarily by the industryled Hope Now Alliance. He found that almost half of these socalled foreclosure prevention plans actually increased the monthly payments of homeowners. How does that help families save their homes? Third. America soon will have a President who understands the enormity of this problem and supports this change to the bankruptcy code. So what does this bill do? This bill would allow mortgages on primary residences to be modified in bankruptcy just like other debtsincluding vacation homes. family farms. and yachts. Only families living in the home would qualifyno speculators are allowed. The bill would allow judges to cut through all of the constraints that have doomed foreclosure prevention plans from being successful for even the most proactive and wellintentioned mortgage servicers. There are very real constraints on some of the current efforts to prevent foreclosure today because most mortgages are sliced and sold to different investors. servicers sometimes have a hard time locating all of the owners of the mortgages to get their consent for modifications. Servicers that modify mortgages without the consent of all the investors fear that they could be sued. Some investors refuse to approve sensible restructurings. because there is little incentive for the owner of a second mortgage to approve a modification of a first mortgage that will see the second mortgage wiped out. Mortgage modifications that ignore the other pile of debt a household is facing is a setup for failure. Thats a leading reason why we see so many redefaults on newly modified mortgages through the current programs. Finally. servicers who are on the front lines answering the phone calls from homeowners and processing the paperwork often are compensated more for foreclosures than modifications. My proposal would allow judges to cut through these complicating factors to rework the underlying loans. The mortgages that are modified in bankruptcy will provide far more value to the lenders and the investors than foreclosure. The bill would provide borrowers who are frustrated with their mortgage servicers some desperately needed leverage to get their bankers full attention. It provides an incentive for banks to modify loans before the judges in bankruptcy do it for them. Best of all. this program would cost the taxpayers nothing. Given the staggering amounts that taxpayers have been asked to give to the mortgage industry lately. the taxpayers are ready for a plan that doesnt cost them anything and that will actually work. Since the Mortgage Bankers Association still opposes this plan. after taking all of that taxpayer money and after failing to do anything meaningful on their own to address this crisis. I want to address their primary remaining objection to this plan as clearly as possible so that everyone listening fully understands why the industry is wrong. once and for all. A few weeks ago. the Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association testified in the Senate Judiciary Committee that my bill would create a tax of $295. per month. for every homeowner in America. forever. I asked in the hearing. and my staff asked three times after the hearing. for some shred of evidence to support such a ridiculous claim. The response finally came just before the holidays. and it is laughable. The Mortgage Bankers Association claims that changing the bankruptcy code will create new costs for lenders that must then be passed on to all borrowers. They have concocted a list of individual costs that add up to the full \"tax.\" as they call it. But they dont provide a single shred of evidence to support any of these cost estimates. Not one. They just made them all up. On the other hand. a study conducted by Adam Levitin of the Georgetown Law School uses actual statistical data to show that there is virtually no impact on mortgage interest rates just because mortgages can be modified by judges in bankruptcy. The main problem with the argument that my bill will increase future mortgage rates is this: The choice for mortgage lenders and investors is not full payment of the original mortgage versus a lower payment from a judicially modified mortgage. The choice is between a lower payment from a judicially modified mortgage and mortgage failure. Valparaisos Professor White reports that in his large study sample. mortgage servicers and their investors lost an average of 5 percent of the value of the mortgages that failed through foreclosure. or about $145.000 per loan. If those loans would have been modified in bankruptcy. the servicers and investors would have been given ownership of a sustainable mortgage worth at least the fair market value of the home plus an interest rate that included a premium for risk. These modified mortgages would on average have created far better results than the foreclosures that actually occurred. Therefore. when the Mortgage Bankers Association claims with no evidence whatsoever that my bill would raise mortgage interest rates. we should all ask them this: Why would mortgage bankers charge future borrowers higher interest rates tomorrow because of a change in the law that helps the bankers reduce their losses today? I urge the Senate to move swiftly to enact the economic recovery package that America desperately needs. And as part of that effort I urge my colleagues to support the remedy to the foreclosure crisis that will provide the most help to the 8.1 million families across the country who are at risk of losing their homes. If we dont address the core of the crisis. I fear that the stimulus may not work as well as It should. I look forward to working with Chairman DODD. Senator SCHUMER. all of the other Senators who have supported this provision. and Presidentelect Obama to see that It is signed into law quickly. Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. today. I. again. introduce the Medicaid Advanced Practice Nurse and Physician Assistants Access Act of 2009. This legislation would change the Federal law to expand feeforservice Medicaid to include direct payment for services provided by all nurse practitioners. clinical nurse specialists. and physician assistants. It would ensure all nurse practitioners. certified nurse midwives. and physician assistants are recognized as primary care case managers. and require Medicaid panels to include advanced practice nurses on their managed care panels. Advanced practice nurses are registered nurses who have attained additional expertise in the clinical management of health conditions. Typically. an advanced practice nurse holds a masters degree with didactic and clinical preparation beyond that of the registered nurse. They are employed in clinics. hospitals. and private practices. While there are many titles given to these advanced practice nurses. such as pediatric nurse practitioners. family nurse practitioners. certified nurse midwives. certified registered nurse anesthetists. and clinical nurse specialists. our current Medicaid law has not kept up with the multiple specialties and titles of these advanced practitioners. nor has it recognized the critical role physician assistants play in the delivery of primary care. I have been a longtime advocate of advanced practice nurses and their ability to extend health care services to our most rural and underserved communities. They have improved access to health care in Hawaii and throughout the United States by their willingness to practice in what some providers might see as undesirable locationsextremely rural. frontier. or urban areas. This legislation ensures they are recognized and reimbursed for providing the necessary health care services patients need. and it gives those patients the choice of selecting advanced practice nurses and physician assistants as their primary care providers. Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. I am offering today private relief legislation to provide lawful permanent residence status to Claudia Marquez Rico. a Mexican national living in Redwood City. CA. Born in Jalisco. Mexico. Claudia was brought to the United States by her parents 16 years ago. Claudia was just 6 years old at the time. She has two younger brothers. Jose and Omar. who came to America with her. and a sister. Maribel. who was born in California and is a U.S. Citizen. America is the only home they know. Eight years ago that home was visited by tragedy. As Mr. and Mrs. Marquez were driving to work early on the morning of October 4. 2000. they were both killed in a horrible traffic accident when their car collided with a truck on an isolated rural road. The children went to live with their aunt and uncle. Hortencia and Patricio Alcala. The Alcalas are a generous and loving couple. They are U.S. citizens with two children of their own and took the Marquez children in and did all they could to comfort them in their grief. They supervised their schooling. and made sure they received the counseling they needed. too. The family is active In their parish at Buen Pastor Catholic Church. and Patricio Alcala serves as a youth soccer coach. In 2001. the Alcalas were appointed the legal guardians of the Marquez children. Sadly. the Marquez family received poor legal representation. At the time of their parents death. Claudia and Jose were minors. and qualified for special immigrant juvenile status. This category was enacted by Congress to protect children like them from the hardship that would result from deportation under such extraordinary circumstances. when a State court deems them to be dependents due to abuse. abandonment or neglect. Today. their younger brother Omar is a U.S. Citizen. due to his adjustment as a special immigrant juvenile. Unfortunately. the familys previous lawyer failed to secure this relief for Claudia. and she has now reached the age of majority without having resolved her immigration status. 55. Pt. 1 139 I should note that their former lawyer. Walter Pineda. is currently answering charges on 29 counts of professional incompetence and 5 counts of moral turpitude for mishandling immigration cases and appears on his way to being disbarred. I am offering legislation on Claudias behalf because I believe that. without it. this family would endure an immense and unfair hardship. Indeed. without this legislation. this family will not remain a family for much longer. Despite the adversity they encountered. Claudia finished school. She supports herself. her 17yearold sister. Maribel. and her younger brother Omar. Again. both Maribel and Omar are now U.S. Citizens. Claudia has no close relatives in Mexico. She has never visited Mexico. and she was so young when she was brought to America that she has no memories of it. How can we expect her to start a new life there now? It would be a grave injustice to add to this familys misfortune by tearing these siblings apart. This is a close family. and they have come to rely on each other heavily in the absence of their deceased parents. This bill will prevent the added tragedy of another wrenching separation. Given these extraordinary and unique facts. I ask my colleagues to support this private relief bill on behalf of Claudia Rico. Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. I offer today private relief legislation to provide lawful permanent residence status to Jacqueline Coats. a 28yearold widow currently living in San Francisco. Mrs. Coats came to the U.S. in 2001 from Kenya on a student visa to study Mass Communications at San Jose State University. Her visa status lapsed in 2003. and the Department of Homeland Security began deportation proceedings against her. Mrs. Coats married Marlin Coats on April 17. 2006. after dating for several years. The couple was happily married and planning to start a family when. on May 13. Mr. Coats tragically died in a heroic attempt to save two young boys from drowning. The couple had been on a Mothers Day outing at Ocean Beach with some of Mr. Coats nephews when they heard cries for help. Having worked as a lifeguard in the past. Mr. Coats instinctively dove into the water. The two children were saved with the help of a rescue crew. but Mr. Coats. caught in a riptide. died. Mrs. Coats received a medal honoring her husband. Four days before Mr. Coats death. the couple prepared and signed an application for a green card at their attorneys office. Unfortunately the petition was not filed until after his death. rendering it invalid. Mrs. Coats currently has a hearing before an immigration judge in San Francisco on August 24. but her attorney has informed my staff that she has no relief available to her and will be ordered deported. Mrs. Coats. devastated by the loss of her husband. is now caught in a battle for her right to stay in America. At a recent news conference with her lawyer. Thip Ark. she explained of her situation. \"I feel like I have nothing to live for. I have nothing to go home to . . . Ive been here four years . . . It would be like starting a new life.\" Ms. Ark explains that Mrs. Coats is extremely close with her late busbands family. with whom she lives in San Leandro. California. Mrs. Coats has said that her husbands large family has become her own. Ramona Burton of San Francisco. one of Marlin Coats seven brothers and sisters explains. \"She spent her first American Christmas with us. her first American Thanksgiving . . . I cant imagine looking around and not seeing her there. She needs to be there.\" The San Francisco and Bay Area community has rallied strong support for Mrs. Coats. The San Francisco chapters of the NAACP. the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. and the San Francisco Police Department. have all passed resolutions in support of Mrs. Coats right to remain in the country. Unfortunately. if this private relief bill is not approved. this young woman. and the Coats family. will face yet another disorienting and heartbreaking tragedy. Mrs. Coats will be deported to Kenya. a country she has not lived in since she was 21. In her time of grieving. she will be forced to leave her home. her job with AC Transit. her new family. and everything she has known for the past 5 years. I cannot think of a compelling reason why the United States should not allow this young widow to continue the green card process. Had her husband lived. Mrs. Coats would have filed the papers without difficulty. It was because of her husbands selfless and heroic act that Mrs. Coats must now struggle to remain in the country. As one concerned California constituent wrote to me. \"If ever there was a case where common fairness. morality and decency should reign over legal technicalities. this is it. We. as a country. need to reward heroism and good.\" I believe that we can reward the late Mr. Coats for his noble actions by granting his wife citizenship. It is what he intended for her. It can even be argued that a green card for his wife was one of his dying wishes. as the papers were signed just 4 days prior to his death. For these reasons. I reintroduce this private relief immigration bill and ask my colleagues to support it on behalf of Mrs. Coats. Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. as I did in the last Congress. I am cosponsoring the legislation introduced today by the Senator from Connecticut to provide a House seat for the District of Columbia and an additional House seat for Utah. Representation and suffrage are so central to the American system of selfgovernment that Americas founders warned that limiting suffrage would risk another revolution and could prevent ratification of the Constitution. The Supreme Court has said that no right is more precious in a free country than having a voice in the election of those who govern us. I continue to be55. Pt. 1 January 6. 2009 lieve what I stated more than 30 years ago here on the Senate floor. that Americans living in the District should enjoy all the privileges of citizenship. including voting rights. The bill introduced today would treat the District of Columbia as a congressional district to provide for full representation in the House. The bill states. however. that the District shall not be treated as a State for representation in this body. No matter how worthwhile or even compelling an objective might be. however. we cannot legislatively pursue it without authority grounded in the Constitution. I would note that the Constitution explicitly gives Congress legislative authority over the District \"in all cases whatsoever.\" This authority is unparalleled in scope and has been called sweeping. plenary. and extraordinary by the courts. It surpasses both the authority a State legislature has over its own State and the authority Congress has over legislation affecting the States. Some have argued that despite the centrality of representation and suffrage. and notwithstanding our unparalleled and plenary authority over the District. that Congress cannot provide a House seat for the District by legislation. They base their argument on a single word. Article I. Section 5. of the Constitution provides that the House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen by the people of the several States. Because the District is not a State. the argument goes. it cannot have a House seat without a constitutional amendment. I I studied this issue extensively and published my analysis and conclusions in the Harvard Journal on Legislation for everyone to consider. I ask unanimous consent that this article be made part of the RECORD following my remarks. Let me here just mention a few considerations that I found persuasive. First. as I have already mentioned. the default position of our system of government is representation and suffrage. That principle is so fundamental that. in this case. I believe there must be actual evidence that Americas founders intended to deny it to District residents. No such evidence exists. Second. establishing and maintaining the District as a separate political jurisdiction does not require disenfranchising its residents. The founders wanted the capital to be free from State control and I support keeping it that way. Giving the District a House seat changes neither that status nor Congress legislative authority over the District. Third. Americas founders not only did not intend to disenfranchise District residents. they demonstrated the opposite intention by their own legislative actions. In 1790. Congress provided by legislation for Americans living in the land ceded for the District to vote in congressional elections. No one even suggested that this legislation was unconstitutional because that land was not part of a State. If Congress could do it then. Congress can do it today. Fourth. courts have held for more than two centuries that constitutional provisions framed in terms of States can be applied to the District or that Congress can legislatively accomplish for the District what the Constitution accomplishes for States. Congress. for example. has authority to regulate commerce among the several States. The Supreme Court held in 1889 that this applies to the District. Do opponents of giving the District a House seat believe Congress cannot regulate commerce involving the District? The original Constitution provided that direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States. The Supreme Court held in 1820 that Congress legislative authority over the District allows taxation of the District. Do opponents of giving the District a House seat believe that the District is suitable for taxation but not for representation? The Constitution provides that federal courts may review lawsuits between citizens of different States. The Supreme Court held in 1805 that Congress can legislatively extend this to the District even though the Constitution does not. The list goes on involving provisions of the Constitution. statutes. and even treaties. Over and over. courts have ruled either that provisions framed in terms of States can be directly applied to the District or that Congress can legislatively do so. Perhaps opponents of giving the District a House seat believe that all of these decisions over more than two centuries were wrong. that the word States begins and ends the discussion in every case. They cannot say so in the present case without confronting those precedents. These and other considerations which I discussed in the article I mentioned have led me to conclude that the Constitution allows Congress legislatively to provide a House seat for the District. I do want to repeat my continuing opposition to District representation in the Senate. The Districts status as a nonState jurisdiction is not relevant to representation in the House. which was designed to represent people. but it is relevant to representation in the Senate. which was designed to represent states. I would once again emphasize that the bill introduced today explicitly disclaims Senate representation for the District. In December 2006. I signed a letter to the majority and minority leaders expressing the same position I had taken three decades earlier. It stated that while there are many differences between Utah and the District. to be sure. they share the right to be represented in our countrys legislature. I take the same position today. believing that Congress may and should pass the bill introduced today to provide for that representation.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. I am proud to cosponsor the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2009 to end the unfair treatment of District of Columbia residents and give them voting representation in the House of Representatives. For over 200 years. the residents of the District of Columbia have been denied a voting Member representing their views in Congress. That is wrong. and I hope the Senate will consider this important issue early this year to remedy the disenfranchisement that residents of our Nations capital have endured. When the Senate considered this legislation last Congress the Republican minority chose to filibuster the bill. While a majority favored it. we fell short of the 60 votes needed to end the filibuster and pass it. Earlier that year. however. the House of Representatives worked in a bipartisan manner to pass a version of a voting rights bill for the District of Columbia led by Congresswoman ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON. As a young lawyer. she worked for civil rights and voting rights around the country. It is a cruel irony that upon her return to the District of Columbia. and her election to the House of Representatives. she does not yet have the right to vote on behalf of the people of the District of Columbia who elected her. She is a strong voice in Congress. but the citizens living in the Nations capital deserve a vote. as well. The bill introduced today would give the District of Columbia delegate a vote in the House. It would give Utah a fourth seat in the House as well. Last Congress. the Judiciary Committee held hearings on a similar measure and we heard compelling testimony from constitutional experts. They testified that this legislation is constitutional. and highlighted the fact that Congresss greater power to confer statehood on the District certainly contains the lesser one. the power to grant District residents voting rights in the House of Representatives. Congress has repeatedly treated the District of Columbia as a \"State\" for various purposes. Congresswoman ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON testified that although \"the District is not a State.\" the \"Congress has not had the slightest difficulty in treating the District as a State. with its laws. its treaties. and for constitutional purposes.\" Examples of these actions include a revision of the Judiciary Act of 1789 that broadened Article III diversity jurisdiction to include citizens of the District even though the Constitution only provides that Federal courts may hear cases \"between citizens of different States.\" Congress has also treated the District as a \"State\" for purposes of congressional power to regulate commerce \"among the several States.\" The Sixteenth Amendment grants Congress the power to directly tax incomes \"without apportionment among the several States.\" but has been interpreted also to apply to residents of the District. In fact. the District of Columbia pays the second highest Federal taxes per capita without any say In how those dollars are spent. I believe that this legislation is within Congresss powers as provided in the Constitution. I agree with Congressman JOHN LEWIS. Congresswoman NORTON and numerous other civil rights leaders and constitutional scholars that we should extend the basic right of voting representation to the hundreds of thousands of Americans residing in the District of Columbia. These Americans pay Federal taxes. defend our country in the military and serve on Federal juries. This is an historic measure that holds great significance within the civil rights community and for the residents of the District of Columbia. I urge Senators to do what is right and to support this bill when it comes to the floor for full Senate consideration. Over 50 years ago. the Senate overrode filibusters to pass the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Congressman LEWIS. a courageous leader during those transformational struggles decades ago. gave moving testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last Congress in which he reminded us that \"we in Congress must do all we can to inspire a new generation to fulfill the mission of equal justice.\" The Senate should continue to fight for the fundamental rights of all Americans and stand united in serving this noble purpose. No persons right to vote should be abridged. suppressed or denied in the United States of America. Let us move forward together and provide full voting rights for the citizens in our Nations capital. By Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. are we in a quorum call?\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. it is my understanding there are 12 bills at the desk due for a second reading.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. I have notified a number of MembersI had a meeting with them at 9 oclock this morningthat because of a Senator not allowing us to move forward on this legislation last night and throwing every procedural hurdle in the way of these bills. which is now in the form of one bill. we are going to have a vote Sunday morning in the Senate. So everyone should understand. Sunday morning we are going to have a vote In the Senate. I have had a number of meetings with Presidentelect Obama. We have a lot to do. I spoke with Senator MIKULSKI right before coming in. I have spoken with Senator KENNEDY today. The Ledbetter legislation. to make things more fair for people. especially women. is the next piece of legislation we are going to move to after this bill. We have just a few days to do all this work. As Presidentelect Obama has said. there are people out there who would love to work on Sunday. We are going to have to spend time on Saturdays. Sundays. and nighttime. especially during the first several months of this difficult time in which we find ourselves in this country. Everything that should be up is down. Alcoa is laying off 13.500 people today. The word is out that they expected about 400.000 jobs to be lost this month. They are reporting within the next few hours almost 700.000 jobs were lost this month. Do you think we can work a weekend. maybe take a Saturday vote or a Sunday vote? I think we better do that. Senators should cancel their travel plans this weekend. I have a family just like everyone else does. and I would rather not be here this weekend. But I want everyone to understandI am glad Republicans are on their retreat. That is important. We are going to have one later on. I hope the staff will alert them that on Sunday we are going to have a vote. I am sorry for the inconvenience. but as Presidentelect Obama has said. there are people out there who would like to be able to work on Sunday. They would like to work anytime. they dont have jobs. Mr. President. 670.000 people this month have lost jobs. Think about that670.000 people have lost jobs. Mr. President I want to say just one thing. This is Senator BYRDs 50th anniversary. I spoke at some length yesterday about his record. I dont want this day to go by without having acknowledged the 50th anniversary of Senator BYRDS service in the Senate. Senators will be coming to the floor today to talk about Senator BYRDs 50 years of service. At a later time. we will put that into a document and have that available for the public and individual Senators. I suggest the absence of a quorum.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Thank you. Madam President. I come to the floor today to offer my support for S. 147. the Lawful Interrogation and Detention Act. which my very distinguished colleagues. Senator FEINSTEIN of California and Senator WYDEN of Oregon. have just spoken about. This bill would do three very important things. The first is force the closing of the interrogation and detention activities at the Guantanamo Base. I have supported previous legislation that would do this. I enthusiastically support this legislation to do it. The Bush administration has created a pretty significant mess with the activities down at Guantanamo. Unfortunately. some things you can snarl up so tightly that it becomes very difficult to unsnarl them. and I am afraid that is exactly the situation with Guantanamo. It will be difficult to unsnarl. It is a real challenge for the incoming administration. But it is vital that we do so because it has become a symbol to the rest of the world of Americas departure from our core principles. So I am enthusiastically in support of that provision. Another provision would restrict our interrogation activities to those techniques that are permitted under the Army Field Manual. In effect. it would end our embrace of enhanced interrogation techniquesindeed. torture. In support of this notion. I would cite GEN David Petraeus. the Commander of the MultiNational Force in Iraq in 2007. who at the time wrote a letter to all U.S. military forces in Iraq. In that letter. he said this: Some may argue that we would be more effective if we sanctioned torture or other expedient methods to obtain information from the enemy. They would be wrong. Beyond the basic fact that such actions are illegal. history shows that they also are frequently neither useful nor necessary. Certainly. extreme physical action can make someone \"talk.\" however. what the individual says may be of questionable value. In fact. our experience in applying the interrogation standards laid out in the Army Field Manual ... shows that the techniques in the manual work effectively and humanely in eliciting information from detainees. We have heard arguments that. well. you cant really rely on military interrogators. They dont really know what they are doing. They are amateurish. They need the limitations of the Army Field Manual. By contrast. the interrogators of the CIA and of our intelligence community are experts and much more sophisticated and adept and dont need to have the Army Field Manual restricting them. as if it is some sort of a learners permit for interrogation. If you look at the facts. the reverse is actually true. It is the military that has officers with literally decades of experience interrogating enemy prisoners. interrogating enemy prisoners in situations where their fellow soldiers lives are on the line. where men and women will die or live because of the information they are able to elicit. Notwithstanding those high stakes. they live by the terms of the Army Field Manual. By contrast. we know that the CIA really did not know much about interrogations. that when they got into the business. they had to learn about it. The place they chose to learn was from the SERE Program. a program designed to train American soldiers. airmen. sailors and marines who are likely to be captured by enemies that engage in torture how to be prepared for that. how to withstand it. So for training purposes. to prepare them for these ordeals. they used the interrogation techniques of despot. tyrant nationsNorth Korea. Communist China. Soviet Russia. For some reason. that was where our intelligence community thought it needed to go for expertise in how you interrogate prisoners. never minding the fact that the purpose of those despot regimes was not to interrogate prisoners and get actionable intelligence information. it was to torture those prisoners so they would say things and produce propaganda for those tyrant regimes. So the notion that the military is a bunch of amateurs in intelligence who need the constraint of the Army Field Manual to prevent them from making amateur errors and the CIA is a bunch of clever. crafty experts who can operate at a graduate level for all of this is absolutely backward. The damage that has been done to our country by this decision is. in my opinion. incalculable. When I think of the choice that was made to go this road. I am reminded of a phrase of Winston Churchills. He describes a bad and dangerous decision that leads to worsening consequences in this way. He describes it as going down \"the stairway which leads to a dark gulf. It is a fine broad stairway at the beginning. but after a bit the carpet ends. A little farther on. there are only flagstones. and a little farther on still these break beneath your feet.\" That is where we stand now. in this dark. descending stairway. with flagstones crumbling beneath our feet and the world looking on in horror at our departure from our core principles. I believe this legislation will help turn us back away from that dark and descending stairway. back into the light of our own best principles and the good will of our fellow nations. America has not only suffered grievous and lasting harm from this administrations embrace of torture but also from this administrations embrace of tortures handmaiden. Tortures handmaiden. of course. is secret detention. The bill Senator FEINSTEIN and Senator WYDEN are proposing would require the International Committee for the Red Cross to have access to any prisoners held by the intelligence agencies. The ICRC has been visiting detainees in connection with armed conflict since 1915. nearly a century. In 2007. the ICRC visited over half a million detainees in 77 different countries to ensure respect for their life. dignity. and fundamental right to judicial guarantees. All of those notions are enshrined in our own Constitution. They are our national bedrock. Thirtyeight retired military leaders. distinguished generals and admirals. have concluded that the ICRC access to prisoners held by our Government is a \"critical measure to ensure continuing respect for the norm that [ICRC] access must be provided to all captives in wartime.\" This letter comes from battlefield warriors and intelligence officers who participated in every major American conflict from World War II until today. One of them. less than 3 years ago. was a member of our Joint Chiefs of Staff. They understand that this is important. and they understand why. If we go down the corridors of history and survey the evil practices of tyrant regimes. we find one of their most notorious methods of coercion and subjugation is holding prisoners secretly and incommunicado. From the oubliettes of the Bourbon Kings of France to Calcuttas Black Hole. from the Gestapos secret prisons to the Soviet gulags. from medieval dungeons to the bamboo cages of the Cambodian killing fields. secret and anonymous imprisonment has always been the hallmark of the despot. And now the Bush administration has stamped America with this shameful mark. Our military leaders who are in the best position to judge are pushing back and saying \"enough.\" Why do they do that? I think they do that because they are not beguiled by the force of arms. They live with the likelihood of armed conflict. of injuries. of fatalities. They understand that we engage in that to defend principles. and to give away those principles without a shot fired accomplishes the very harm that we have a military. that we have intelligence services to protect us from. What is it. we ask ourselves. that makes our country great? Whence cometh our strength? For centuries. America has been called a \"shining city on a hill.\" We are a lamp in the darkness to other nations. One of our greatest Senators. our friend TED KENNEDY. on the occasion of I believe his 15.000th vote in this institution said America is not a land. it Is a promise. Torture. anonymous detention. and secret cells break that promise. extinguish that lamp. and darken that city on a hill. Our strength as Americans comes from the fact that we stand for something. Our strength comes from the aspirations of millions of people around the globe who want to be like us. who want their country to be like ours. who want to believe in what we believe in. Our strength comes when we embody the hopes and dreams of mankind. Our strength comes. as President Clinton said. not from the example of our power but from the power of our example. I believe Senator FEINSTEINs legislation will restore across this darkening world the power of Americas example. turn us back from that dark and descending stairway. and restore us to the place where America belongs as an ideal and an example for other nations. I appreciate Senator FEINSTEINs hard work in putting this legislation together. I appreciate the support of Senator WYDEN. Many months ago. I offered the first amendment in the Intelligence Committee that would apply the Army Field Manual to interrogation techniques used by our intelligence agencies. and Senator FEINSTEIN was kind enough to cosponsor that amendment. We worked together in conference to get that amendment passed into legislation that was subsequently vetoed. I submitted the International Committee of the Red Cross access provision last year. I cannot find words strong enough to explain the strength of my view about the things we sacrifice for whatever small. shortterm. tactical intelligence advantage we may achieve from torture and secret cells. assuming there even are any. Most intelligence professionals believe that what you get from torture is people who will say anything to get away from the pain. But lets assume there is some value to it for the sake of argument. I cannot find words strong enough to explain how overwhelmed that small tactical value is by the loss of our reputation and our standing and the confidence and trust of our friends and allies when we engage in behaviors that have been associated with despots and tyrants and the worst of historys regimes. Lets put this behind us. Lets support this bill. As we go through this time of transition in American Government. lets also go through a time of transition in Americas reputation in the world. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.\n",
      "Answer:  I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Madam Speaker. we cannot truly celebrate a new year. a new Congress and a new administration if all we see is the same old destruction in the Middle East with U.S. weapons being illegally used to kill children. I oppose Hamas rocket attacks on Israel. The rocket attacks. even to try to end the blockade. have no moral justification. are illegal. and must stop. But how can Israel claim selfdefense when it bombs Gaza. which has no army. no air force. no navy. and has been under a constant blockade? How can Israel claim selfdefense when its bombs destroy U.N. schools. killing children? The children of Palestinians and the children of Israel both deserve life. But the lives of the children of Gaza are cynically discounted as human shields. Massacres are being rationalized. Israels \"moral high ground\" in Gaza. a growing pile of small bones in a graveyard. The administration knows Israel is using U.S. weapons. paid for by U.S. taxpayers. with disproportionate force. creating a collective punishment of Gazans. assuring an escalation of conflict. clear violations of the Arms Export Control Act. Israel was given U.S. weapons on condition they would not be used for aggression or escalation. This outgoing administration must finally stand for the rule of law. not the rule of force.\n",
      "Answer:  Madam Speaker. I rise today to honor a brave American soldier who sacrificed his life for freedom. Sergeant John Penich. Sergeant Penich. by all accounts. was an extraordinary solider whose hard work and determination earned him the title of Soldier of the Year in 2007 for his brigade. His bravery was evident in combat on several occasions. Brigadier General Perry Wiggins has said he knows of three separate instances when Sergeant Penich saved the lives of his comrades. According to newspaper reports. one of his final acts of bravery came on September 6. 2008. when his patrol was attacked by rocketpropelled grenades and smallarms fire. He showed his courage under fire. taking charge and reestablishing security and saving the lives of his platoon members. His heroics on that day earned him a Silver Star. the third highest honor given to members of the armed services for valor. Five and a half weeks after he earned the Silver Star. he gave the ultimate sacrifice. Sergeant Penich put himself in harms way to make the world a better place. His commitment to this country is second to none. He wanted to be an officer. and theres no doubt we would have benefited from this young mans tremendous leadership abilities. Sergeant John Penich is a true American hero. I ask that my colleagues keep his family and friends in their thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Madam Speaker. the current economic recession is putting a lot of pressure on American families. Today. millions of our constituents are fearful that they could lose their jobs any day now. Last night. my sister told me that she lost hers in New York. Theyve seen family members or work colleagues already let go. and they are uncertain about their futures. They are also working for less money than they did 10 years ago. Yet they face skyrocketing bills for their childrens education. for health care and for their own groceries. They hear the bleak economic forecast on the news every night. and theyre looking for help. We all know that the U.S. economy is in trouble. but now the question is: What are we going to do about it? Democrats and Republicans must come together to pass a robust economic recovery package that includes tax relief to middle class families so we can begin to relieve the pressure that they feel every time they pay a bill. Madam Speaker. the American people are looking to us for help and for help to jump start this economy. Lets go to work.\n",
      "Answer:  Madam Speaker. last year. our economy experienced the weakest employment growth since the Great Depression. causing more and more families across the country to feel financially strapped. The U.S. economy lost hundreds of thousands of jobs in the first eleven months of 2008. and we heard bad news this morning about Decembers reports. The employment rate last year reached the highest level since 1993. and it could get worse. and those who managed to keep their jobs are experiencing stagnant and falling wages. Americans are concerned about their futures as debts continue to mount. as bills pile up and as parents worry that their children wont have the same opportunities they had. Small businesses are an integral part of getting this economy moving again. We must ensure that we take appropriate action to assist small businesses and to restore our economic engine of growth. Small businesses represent the backbone of this country and of Americas unwavering entrepreneurial spirit. Madam Speaker. we must address our economic challenges quickly. and we must work in a strong bipartisan fashion to relieve the financial strain Americans feel every day. We must work immediately to pass an economic recovery package.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Madam Speaker. Israel and Hamas are fighting each other in the Gaza Strip. The question is. what is this fighting all about? For centuries. the Jews and Muslims have fought over a strip of land in what we call the Holy Land called the Gaza Strip. Its a territorial dispute. but its also a conflict of a religious nature. The Gaza Strip is a tiny sliver of land about two times the size of Washington. D.C.. with a population of about 1.5 million people. It is bordered by the State of Israel on three sides and the Mediterranean Sea to the West. The modern war between Israel and the Palestinians began after Israel became a sovereign nation in 1948. after the end of World War II. After the Egyptian invasion of Israel in May of 1948 and the subsequent occupation of the Gaza Strip. large groups of Palestinian refugees began to arrive and live In Gaza. In the last half of the 20th century. territorial control bounced back and forth between Israel and its Muslim neighboring countries. In the 1990s. Israel transferred security and civilian responsibility for the Palestinianpopulated areas of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority. After that transfer. Palestinians elected Yasser Arafat to be their leader. a person who was by no means proIsrael. but a leader at the very least who worked for peace between Israel and Palestine. In September 2005. Israel unilaterally withdrew all of its settlers and soldiers and dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip on the condition that the Palestinian terrorist groups. like Hamas. would stop terrorizing innocent civilians in Israel near the Gaza border. but that did not happen. Hamas continued its relentless attacks against the Jews. causing an escalation of tension in that region. Then in January of 2006. the people of Palestine elected Hamas to head the Palestine Legislative Council. The international community did not accept the Hamasled government because it refused to renounce violence. refused to recognize the State of Israel. and refused to honor previous peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. After a series of infighting between Hamas and more moderate Palestinians. Hamas militants succeeded in a violent takeover of all the military and government institutions in the Gaza Strip. So since 2000. Hamas terrorists have targeted over 1 million Israeli civilians in Gaza and Israel literally firing thousands of rockets. missiles and mortar shells into Israel. In just the past 10 days. Hamas has fired more than 500 rockets at innocent Israeli civilians. and there is no end in sight. The antiSemitic hate speech propagated by Hamas leaders is no figment of anyones imagination. It is real. Its enticing an entire generation of young people to become terrorists. all in the name of religion. Even our State Department has designated Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization for as long as that list has existed. But we dont have to take our own governments word for it. In 2005. a Hamas leader in Gaza told the media that. \"Neither the liberation of the Gaza Strip nor the liberation of the West Bank or even Jerusalem will suffice us. Hamas will pursue the armed struggle until the liberation of all our lands. We dont recognize the State of Israel or its right to hold onto one inch of Palestine. Palestine is an Islamic land belonging to all the Muslims.\" Later in 2006. another leader said. \"Israel is not a legitimate entity. and no amount of pressure can force us to recognize its right to exist. Israel must be humiliated and degraded.\" These are not the words of a people who desire peace and reconciliation. These are the words of a people who blatantly call for the complete destruction of Israel and will not stop at anything until that happens. Whats worse. Hamas doesnt care what it takes to make this happen. even if that means killing its own people. Since the fighting began. Israel has allowed over 200 truckloads of food and medicine to enter Gaza. even under shellfire. Just today. Israel agreed to cease its ground operations for 3 hours every day so that humanitarian supplies can be taken into Gaza. But meanwhile. Hamas is not only preventing its own wounded civilians from crossing into Egypt to receive medical treatment. but theyre stealing medicine and supplies meant for civilians and using them for their wounded terrorists. What makes Hamas even more inhumane is their willingness to put their own people in harms way. Time and time again. Hamas has intentionally launched missiles into school yards and residential areas. putting Palestinians at risk. daring Israel to try and come after them. even hoping for Palestinian civilian lives to be lost in these attacks. Its time for the rest of the world to stand in solidarity with Israel in its fight against terrorism and demand that Hamas immediately end its rocket fire attacks on Israel and stop smuggling through tunnels between Egypt and Gaza. However. Hamas says it will never end their war against Israel until Israel ceases to exist. In the face of such hate. Madam Speaker. Israel is left with no other choice but to defend its people and its sovereign territory from these murderous terrorists. And thats just the way it is.\n",
      "Answer:  Madam Speaker. the wonderful opportunity of a new Congress is that it is not bound by the mistakes of the past. As foreclosure rates rise in Ohio and across our Nation. its pretty obvious that the Federal responses are not working on Main Street. whether its the $700 billion Wall Street bailout or the $300 billion FHA loan workout program. Citigroup. for example. was one of the big culprits that caused the financial meltdown. yet. they got paid $25 billion from the public Treasury. But Ohio. where foreclosures are raging. got nothing. Instead. outofState megabanks are buying up Ohio banks. while more Ohio homeowners get booted out of their homes. Last year. in my home County of Lucas. another 4.100 homes were foreclosed. Thats a minimum of 10.000. 10.000 more people who were not helped by Treasurys failed TARP program. Ohios families alone need $20 billion to stop the real estate hemorrhage which is less than what Citibank received. and would go to real people. not ersatz and paper trades on Wall Street. In Toledo. Ohio. you can now buy a home for $4.500. but last fall. rather than local homeowners being refinanced in this Wall Street bailout bill. one California investor figured it out. He bought 137 foreclosed properties in Toledo at auction. an auction sponsored by the very Wall Street banks that caused the trouble in the first place. Houses are being auctioned at prices so low we could have put the original occupants back in. Even cities would be able to bid on these homes on behalf of their local homeowners. their property owners. but theyve not yet received any funds from the $4 billion neighborhood stabilization program that we were told was supposed to keep local neighborhoods whole. But the Wall Street banks are cleaning up. They get the bailout money. They dont have to manage those properties. They auction them to outsiders and then theyre just waiting for their taxes to be filed for 2008 at the IRS to get all those losses booked and get more back from the people of the United States. Something is very wrong and uncoordinated with the manner in which the Federal Government is allowing equity to be bled from local homeowners and from our communities at large and awarded to Wall Street whole. Wall Street banks that hold or sell mortgages on these foreclosed properties are not managing their property holdings. These holdings are then frequently stripped of copper. electrical wiring and other materials. further devaluing adjacent properties and decimating entire neighborhoods. The $300 billion FHA program designed to help modify troubled mortgage loans is as ineffective as the Wall Street bailout. The program has received fewer than 200 applications nationwide since taking effect October 1 and not a single loan has been modified. A banks receipt of TARP funds should be conditioned on them lending money and engaging in mortgage workouts to ensure the program at least starts to work somewhat. Many banks and servicers are still reluctant to structure manageable workouts with their customers. Among them are JP Morgan Chase. Wells Fargo and Wilshire. who have received $65 billion among them in Treasury funds. Whats fair about that? May the 111th Congress pass more than just hollow legislation. Lets pass a measure worthy of the oath we took yesterday to protect our Republic from all enemies. foreign and domestic. Jesse James robbed banks because he said thats where the money is. Well. Wall Street just robbed the biggest bank of them all. the public Treasury. Its time for Congress to blink and do whats right In the 111th Congress of the United States.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Madam Speaker. the wonderful opportunity of a new Congress is that it is not bound by the mistakes of the past. As foreclosure rates rise in Ohio and across our Nation. its pretty obvious that the Federal responses are not working on Main Street. whether its the $700 billion Wall Street bailout or the $300 billion FHA loan workout program. Citigroup. for example. was one of the big culprits that caused the financial meltdown. yet. they got paid $25 billion from the public Treasury. But Ohio. where foreclosures are raging. got nothing. Instead. outofState megabanks are buying up Ohio banks. while more Ohio homeowners get booted out of their homes. Last year. in my home County of Lucas. another 4.100 homes were foreclosed. Thats a minimum of 10.000. 10.000 more people who were not helped by Treasurys failed TARP program. Ohios families alone need $20 billion to stop the real estate hemorrhage which is less than what Citibank received. and would go to real people. not ersatz and paper trades on Wall Street. In Toledo. Ohio. you can now buy a home for $4.500. but last fall. rather than local homeowners being refinanced in this Wall Street bailout bill. one California investor figured it out. He bought 137 foreclosed properties in Toledo at auction. an auction sponsored by the very Wall Street banks that caused the trouble in the first place. Houses are being auctioned at prices so low we could have put the original occupants back in. Even cities would be able to bid on these homes on behalf of their local homeowners. their property owners. but theyve not yet received any funds from the $4 billion neighborhood stabilization program that we were told was supposed to keep local neighborhoods whole. But the Wall Street banks are cleaning up. They get the bailout money. They dont have to manage those properties. They auction them to outsiders and then theyre just waiting for their taxes to be filed for 2008 at the IRS to get all those losses booked and get more back from the people of the United States. Something is very wrong and uncoordinated with the manner in which the Federal Government is allowing equity to be bled from local homeowners and from our communities at large and awarded to Wall Street whole. Wall Street banks that hold or sell mortgages on these foreclosed properties are not managing their property holdings. These holdings are then frequently stripped of copper. electrical wiring and other materials. further devaluing adjacent properties and decimating entire neighborhoods. The $300 billion FHA program designed to help modify troubled mortgage loans is as ineffective as the Wall Street bailout. The program has received fewer than 200 applications nationwide since taking effect October 1 and not a single loan has been modified. A banks receipt of TARP funds should be conditioned on them lending money and engaging in mortgage workouts to ensure the program at least starts to work somewhat. Many banks and servicers are still reluctant to structure manageable workouts with their customers. Among them are JP Morgan Chase. Wells Fargo and Wilshire. who have received $65 billion among them in Treasury funds. Whats fair about that? May the 111th Congress pass more than just hollow legislation. Lets pass a measure worthy of the oath we took yesterday to protect our Republic from all enemies. foreign and domestic. Jesse James robbed banks because he said thats where the money is. Well. Wall Street just robbed the biggest bank of them all. the public Treasury. Its time for Congress to blink and do whats right In the 111th Congress of the United States.\n",
      "Answer:  Madam Speaker. I thank my colleague for yielding. and I am honored to join with him today in paying tribute to our States former senior Senator. Senator Claiborne Pell. who passed away on the 1st of this year. He was an incredible public servant. and someone who I was proud to call a friend and a mentor. He was one of Rhode Islands greatest statesmen and gentlemen. as I said. who passed away on the first day of 2009. Born on November 22. 1918 into a prominent and wealthy family. Senator Pell was better known as a champion for the common man and also the \"Father of the Pell Grant Program.\" After receiving a degree from Princeton University. he served in the United States Coast Guard during World War II and later traveled the world as a Foreign Service Officer of the State Department. In 1960. he was elected to his first of six terms as a United States Senator from Rhode Island. After retiring in 1997. he became our States longestserving Senator. Diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease in 1994. he never let his physical condition diminish his spirit and he remained active in the Rhode Island community and the Democratic Party. In Rhode Island. the Pell name is legendary in politics and synonymous with the best attributes of public service. and his legacy endures. The esteemed Senator once stated. \"The strength of the United States is not the gold at Fort Knox or the weapons of mass destruction that we have. but the sum total of the education and the character of our people.\" Believing that education was the great equalizer. he created legislation that passed in 1972 establishing the Basic Educational Opportunity Grantsbetter known now as Pell Grantsthat provide financial assistance to students who may not otherwise be able to attend college. It is estimated that a remarkable 54 million students have benefited from these grants. Due to his love of the arts. he also authored the legislation. as my colleague. Congressman KENNEDY. mentioned. creating the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He helped shape our countrys foreign policy and believed strongly in the power of diplomacy. He stood up to defend rights for all Americans. regardless of race. class or sexual orientation. Knowing him for more than two decades. I considered Senator Pell a friend and a mentor and had the opportunity of interning in his Washington. DC office during my studies at Rhode Island College. I found it to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and the beginning of a career path that led me here to Congress as a representative of Rhode Islands Second Congressional District. As I began my own career in government. Senator Pell was always there for me. offering advice and support.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  I thank the gentleman from Texas. It might not be your accent that hurts you with the points IQ. but it may have been your introduction of me. But it is good to be here with you to talk about the stimulus package. I voted against the stimulus package. or the recovery bill. as I know you did and many others did. because we didnt see any real plan out there. And the only plan that we really heard. Madam Speaker. if you will remember. they said there was a bad automobile wreck. that this credit crisis was like a bad automobile wreck clogging up the expressway and that behind this accident there were trucks carrying student loans. automobile loans. mortgage loans. all different types of credit. and that because of this accident that those loans were not getting through to the people that needed them. so we need to spend $700 billion. And I think at the time they said it was about a 5 percent bad mortgage of home loans. and there are about 80 million mortgages. so thats roughly 4 million loans. So this credit crunch was caused by these 4 million loans to spend $700 billion. So we cleared the accident. or at least we were told that we were clearing the accident. But the accident is not cleared. or if it is cleared. nobody has let the traffic through because there are people every day being foreclosed on because the banks that are getting this money. and one bank in particular that does business in Georgia got $4 billion of TARP money and they are foreclosing on people every day. They are not giving people an opportunity to restructure their loans. They are calling more principal due on these loans. And Im not telling a bank to make bad loans. but the reason that we are in this situation is because they originally made bad loans. What I think were telling them Is they need to clean up the bad loans that they made. They need to clean up their own mess. But now that theyve got taxpayers dollars. they especially need to be using that for the intent that Congress gave it to them. There was an article. and I think it was in the New York Times. this is the name of the article. December 17. \"Fed Cuts Key Rate to a Record Low.\" It says: \"Of much greater practical importance. the Fed bluntly announced that it would print as much money as necessary to revive the frozen credit markets and fight what is shaping up as the Nations worst economic downturn since World War II.\" And you addressed that. Were not necessarily in that economic downturn. and were going to continue to print money until we unfreeze the credit market. Well. this first $350 billion should have done something to help fall it out in the least. but people every dayI have got builders and developers. small business people in my district. the Third District of Georgia. every week calling me saying. were going out of business. A good friend of mine has been in the grading business. His family has been in the grading business for 57 years. Hes been running it for the past 30 years. His father started it. He called me and he said. \"Lynn. today is the last day were going to be in business. Ive got employees that have been with me for over 30 years that I have got to let go. What do I need to tell them about the bailout?\" This money is not getting through to these small businesspeople. and we need to make these lending institutions accountable. I talked to Chairman FRANK. and he said that theyre going to come up with a bill in about\n",
      "Answer:  Thank you. Mr. WESTMORELAND. for participating. You have made some great points. You know I have talked to a number of builders there in east Texas. where I represent. back in September. I know things were tough in a lot of places in the country back in September. but the contractors were telling me they are doing okay. you know. its just not fantastic. but they are doing okay. As soon as we started hearing all the gloom and doom. I started to hear people say. you know. we were going to 55. Pt. 1 January 7. 2009 buy a house. we were going to build a house. we were going to buy a car. But since we are told we may be headed for depression. we are going to hold up and wait and see. you know. maybe sometime next year. We dont want to be buying a new house. or building a new house. or building a new building for our business if we are about to hit a depression. So what happens? People quit buying cars. they quit building. Contractors say. you know. we always love when the phone rings. that means it may be somebody thats about to build another building. But. lately. they cringe every time the phone rings. because it means someone else may be calling to say we had talked to you. we were planning on building something the first of the year. but lets hold up and wait and see if this depression really is coming. Let me tell you a little more about the 1980s when people say. oh. this is the worst since the 1930s. Actually. in 1980. there were approximately 4.590 State and federally chartered savings and loans institutions with total assets of over $616 billion. Lets see. between 1980 and 1983. 118 S&Ls with 43 billion in assets failed. Things were going badly in this country. Banks. S&Ls failing. S&L crisis. all kinds of things that had been built up. ready to start happening during the 1970s and in the early 1980s that began happening. Were it not for the foresight to have tax cuts. stimulate the economy. then things never would have turned around. but Ronald Reagan did a good job of doing that. Now. as my friend. Mr. WESTMORELAND. read the quote. the Fed is printing money. They are printing money like crazy. There are consequences to doing that. for those of us that really believe so many solutions can be found in history. because you can go back historically. As Solomon said. there is nothing new under the sun. There is new technology. but there are not new issues. These things have all been tried and failed. succeeded. So you go back and you say. okay. this is what was done this year. that failed. This was done here. that succeeded. Lets go over the things that succeeded. And we have seen over and over that if you want to create inflation. as we saw in the late 1970s and the very early 1980s. just print money like the Fed is doing now. We are very fortunate that we havent hit a huge inflation rate in the last 2 months. And why would that be? Well. back last summer. we were paying $4 a gallon for gasoline and now many of us are paying $1.40. that kind of thing. for gasoline. We are very fortunate that the price of energy failed at a time when we were printing money like crazy. But we cannot keep doing that. To print $1.2 trillion over the next 2 years will devastate this country with inflation. We are talking about the 1920s. For those of you who remember your history. going back after World War I. Germany was in very. very difficult circumstances. Their economy was a real problem. They had elected officials. they were trying to turn things around. They thought they could print money and print their way out of their economic troubles. And some people remember the illustration of people carrying wheelbarrows of money to the supermarketwasnt supermarkets back thenbut to the market just to buy essentials and food. Thats where this leads. when you just keep unabatedly printing money. like is being done now. the inflation will come. It will devastate this country. It is silly to be doing that when we know from history what happens. If you really want to get scared. look what happened in Germany in the 1920s and going into the 1930s. The economy got so desperate because of all this inflation. they ended up electing a little guy with a funny mustache that was such a bigot and such a meanspirited man. he devastated the planet. Israel is having difficulty now. having rockets fired on them each day from the Gaza Strip from Hamas. During that little man with the mustaches regime. over 6 million Jewish people were slaughtered. Why? Because good people in Germany got desperate because of inflation. and they elected a man who was going to help with their economy. not realizing just how mentally unbalanced the man was. and millions and millions and millions. the entire world. suffered as a result. This Nation has been the defender of freedom around the world. This Nation has been the most solid economy around the world. The world depends on us to make good judgment in this body. And when we fail. its not just those of us in this body that suffers. its the Nation. its the world that suffers. It is so touching. and the older I get. the more I turn into my late mother. who just got tearyeyed and emotional about all kinds of things. it was deeply touching to see all the children. Madam Speaker. gathered up here around the Speakers rostrum yesterday as we were sworn in. cute children. all races. both genders. just really neat. great. wholesome. bipartisan. Democratic kids. Republican Members kids. But the thought that went through my mind is. if we dont change our ways. these are the sweet little children that as adults will pay. literally pay. for what we are doing. We are running debt up on those little kids that they should never have to pay. For us to live now. that is so wrong. We need to be helping our children. not saddling them with more debt. and thats what an overzealous stimulus package will do. Thats why yesterday the first bill that was laid down on the desk over here to be filed was a 2month tax holiday bill. I filed it in December. and I filed it again yesterday with this Congress. It takes the 350 billion still remaining of the bailout bill. and section 4. its not a long bill. it just has 5 pages. section 4. \"Immediate Termination of TARP Purchase Authority.\" That is an important principle. It is time to end the authority that we gave to one person. the Secretary of the Treasury. with all of this unfettered ability to just squander money. I mean. the main restriction in there was he couldnt bail out central banks of foreign governments. But. basically. you read through the billand I am afraid there werent enough people that didand it just goes on and on as the Secretary determines. I tried to point out to people. we have never. since we had a Constitution. given that kind of authority to one man. We should never give that kind of authority to one man. It was a mistake. You dont give unrestricted authority like that to just go out and squander money. No matter which party is in power. it doesnt matter in this country. the principles that made us great. the principles that caused the signers of the Declaration of Independence to pledge their lives and their fortunes and cause many of them to lose and give up their lives. their families lives. their complete fortunes. was the principle that government does not need to have this kind of unrestricted authority. And yet the market dropped 777 points. and all of a sudden people who knew our history. knew the principles on which this Nation was founded. were all of a sudden ready to come rushing in here and give one man that kind of authority. George Washington. before the Constitution. December 27. 1776. was given that kind of authority. He didnt ask for it. He hardly used any of it. He used his leadership to persuade the soldiers to reenlist. Thats why the bill was passed December 27. 1776. The Continental Congress knew if these guys dont reenlist in January. we are all dead. and so will our families be dead. So thats why they passed the bill giving Washington this unfettered authority to spend money. He used his leadership to persuade them to reenlist. even in that terrible winter. Thats leadership. But as Washington said. a people unused to restraint must be led. they will not be driven. And too often in Congress we try to drive people instead of leading people. So thats one part of my 2month tax holiday bill. It ends the authority. Now. Madam Speaker. people need to understand that in this bill. the bailout bill that was passed in September. there was $700 billion appropriated. To give another $350 billion. all be has to do is file a plan. and we dont vote for 15 days. My bill is funded by bringing that $350 billion back into the Treasury. So. what did we learn historically from the tax cuts that President John F. Kennedy did. President Ronald Reagan did. and in 2003 President George W. Bush did? We will just overlook the last 4 months where we forgot our principles here in this administration. But you go back to those tax cuts. the economy was stimulated. And each time the revenue into the Federal Treasury did not decrease. It increased dramatically. because the economy went strong. So there are two ways to raise revenue in this country. One Is raising taxes. and then you have an immediate increase in tax dollars coming into the Treasury. but the longterm effect repeatedly we have seen it is to kill the economy. Or you can lower taxes and immediately stimulate the economy. and then as a result of the economy being stimulated. then more tax dollars than ever come in than even when you raise taxes. So it is all what you want to happen longterm for the sake of our children and those to follow us. and that is why this bill says instead of the Treasury Secretary squandering. it doesnt use that term. of course. but that is what has happened. squandering $350 billion. it allows the people who earned the money to keep it for two months. So. that is about $101 billion a month that individuals pay into the U.S. Treasury in individual income tax. Now. we really need longterm tax reform. We need to drop the capital gains rate. like Ireland did. to 12 percent. which has really helped their economy. I think their corporate tax rate is 11 percent. so businesses are flooding into Ireland. I am sick and tired too of hearing people say we will never get manufacturing jobs back into America. That is hogwash. Look around the world. Some of us went to China. What was the number one reason industry was moving to China. they told us. why they moved their industry? Yes. they said labor is cheaper. but we have better quality control back in the U.S. Our workers produce better products back in the U.S. But the corporate tax rate is less than half of what it is here. Lower the corporate tax rate. You will see manufacturing jobs flood back into the United States. That is what it is all about. Some of them said. you know. they cut us a deal on corporate tax rates in China so we were able to build a brand new facility with stateoftheart equipment and it basically was paid for very quickly out of money we didnt pay in corporate taxes. and now we are competitive again because our aging factories in the U.S. were costing us. and now we are stateoftheart. All you have to do is lower the tax rate. Jobs will instantly appear. Go after our own energy in this country. We know the energy rates are going to come up. and we need to do something about it now to produce our own energy so that we are doing that and this inflation cycle doesnt kill us. Going back to my 2month tax holiday bill. it says as far as the tax cut part. in the case of wages received for services performed during the period beginning in the first full month after the passage of this bill. the percentage of tax will be zero. Now. I heard from some selfemployed people who said. well. it is not going to help me being selfemployed. I work just as hard or harder than anyone else. and yet I am not included. Yet that is not accurate. That is included. It says clearly in the case of selfemployment income for service performed during the 2month period. the percentage of tax will be zero. So there will be no withholding during the 2month period for income tax. there will be no withholding for FICA. I have gotten good suggestions. Newt Gingrich has been extremely helpful in suggestions and spreading the word. as Jed Babbin and Neal Boortz and Steve Morton. so many. many great thinkers have been helpful. But Presidentelect Obama promised that if you make less than $250.000. you will get a tax cut. Some of us have been concerned when we give tax cuts to people that dont pay taxes that that is not a tax cut. that is welfare. Under this bill. the tax cuts go to people that pay taxes. There are. we know. people who do not pay income tax. They dont make enough. They work hard. they earn a wage. but it is not enough to get to the level of paying income tax. They still have FICA withheld from their check. Under this bill. no FICA will be withheld from their bill. and because the employee has no FICA taken out. then the employer who is struggling to make sure they keep people employed gets a 2month holiday on paying FICA as well. Some have said. well. this will hurt people on Social Security. No. it wont. because it specifically says that. and this is in section 3. funding of Social Security trust funds is with repealed TARP funds. It is covered. The $350 billion doesnt get to be doled out for bonuses for the Nations wealthy who have mismanaged their banks or their firms and then reward themselves with bonuses. It doesnt go there. It goes to the people who have earned it. So everyone who is working will get a tax break. Some have said. well. I would appreciate having the withholding not taken out for 2 months. that will really help me for those 2 months. but it will hurt me at the end of the year when I have to pay that. They miss the point. There is no Federal tax for 2 months under this bill. Everybody gets a tax cut. So actually what this very short. very efficient bill does is exactly what Presidentelect Obama promised would be done. with the exception it doesnt have a $250.000 cap on it. Now. there are those I know who are doing well and are able to live off the dividend income and the interest income. and that is harder. of course. after the stock market went down. And God bless those folks. I am thrilled to death that you are in a position where you can live off of dividend and interest income. I would like to see acrosstheboard complete tax reform. But under this bill. this does not give tax breaks for unearned income like interest and dividend. This is only for wages earned during this time. So if you are a hardworking American. you are going to get a tax cut under this bill. It does exactly what Presidentelect Obama promised. For anyone who pays any FICA. income tax. for 2 months you get that tax break. Now. it is so ironic that the bailout bill was partly under the guise that we are going to give all these billions or hundreds of billions to banks so they can increase credit. make more loans. so people can refinance their loans and finance into the new refinance money what they are behind on so they dont lose their homes. Well. I have talked to people who say if they could have their withholding from their check in their check for 2 months. they can catch up. A lot of people fell behind last summer when gas prices were $4 a gallon. They get their withholding for a couple of months. I have seen figures that estimated if your family income. household income is in the $60.000 range. you could get $2.000 or $3.000 over that 2month period. So they could catch up on the mortgage and you wouldnt have to borrow more money to catch up on your mortgage. You could catch up. I have had some people tell me. I want to get out from under this gasguzzling car I have got. but when energy prices went up. the value of any car went so far down. now I owe more on my car than it is worth. so I cant trade it in. because I dont have a down payment for another car. I would be without a car. so I have to keep paying on this gasguzzler. I would like to get a more efficient car. This would allow those people to buy a new car. a more efficient car. It is good for everybody. But we come back to what I said earlier: If people cannot buy cars. then it doesnt matter how many trillions of dollars we give to the auto makers. they are going to still ultimately go out of business. And the trouble with bailouts is once you start giving money to anybody. whether it is a bank. an insurance company. whoever. once you start that process. you will always be able to find someone more deserving of a bailout than those who have already gotten money. and there becomes no good place to stop. Well. when you love someone and you see that they are getting addicted to some substance. and as a judge I saw it. you see them getting addicted to something. then it is time to have an interdiction and say I love you too much to allow you to continue this addiction. We are not going to let you have any more of that. Now. I was upset when we were talking about an auto bailout. because I knew the auto makers had been withholding holdback money. rebate money. that they contractually owed dealers. They were putting dealers in a bind just because they werent abiding by their own contracts. As I understand it. they have begun to catch up on that. and that is appropriate. But to see then letters from major banks who have gotten billions of tax dollars who are now saying we are not going to be lending money for cars. we are not going to be lending money to dealers anymore. even though they are wonderful dealers. they have a good business. it looks like they will stay in business for good. we are just not going to lend anymore. that is such an abuse and 180 degrees from what was promised. Now. some would say we should not get the Federal Government into the business of telling lenders what to do with their money. and I am one of those. However. the danger that every bank should have been told by their attorneys is. keep in mind if you take Federal money. the Federal Government is going to have their hand in your business and they are going to tell you how to run it. because they are a partner with you. And I happen to believe if we are going to put Federal money in something. we should have restrictions and tell people like a bank that this is what you can and cant do. Secretary Paulson did not do that. But my preference is dont give away any more bailout money. Lets let the people that earned it keep it and let them decide who deserves to be bailed out and who deserves to have their products purchased. That is how a free market works. When you look back. you see that an open government is a good thing. a free market is a good thing. To my way of thinking. being such a student of history. it looks like from our founding documents the most important job that we have as a Federal Government is to provide for the common defense. Then. beyond that. this Federal Government should create a level playing field. punish cheaters. make sure everybody plays fairly. and then let them play. That is what we need to be doing. and we have gone so far in excess of that. This government. when I heard that we were going to encourage a car czar. I couldnt believe it. I mean. we cant even do a good job of designing our own I.D. card. Can you imagine what we would do with cars? Good grief. We should not be in that business. So I would encourage people. Mr. Speaker. who believe that they would do a better job of spending their own money. to contact their Representative. contact their Senator. call the Capitol Hill operator and they can be connected to their Representative. their Senators. and that would go a long way toward getting this bill to the floor and getting it passed. Because it is not an issue of if the money will be spent. it is anissue of will the Treasury Secretary squander it on your behalf. or will you be able to use your own money to help get this economy turned around.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Thank you. Mr. WESTMORELAND. for participating. You have made some great points. You know I have talked to a number of builders there in east Texas. where I represent. back in September. I know things were tough in a lot of places in the country back in September. but the contractors were telling me they are doing okay. you know. its just not fantastic. but they are doing okay. As soon as we started hearing all the gloom and doom. I started to hear people say. you know. we were going to 55. Pt. 1 January 7. 2009 buy a house. we were going to build a house. we were going to buy a car. But since we are told we may be headed for depression. we are going to hold up and wait and see. you know. maybe sometime next year. We dont want to be buying a new house. or building a new house. or building a new building for our business if we are about to hit a depression. So what happens? People quit buying cars. they quit building. Contractors say. you know. we always love when the phone rings. that means it may be somebody thats about to build another building. But. lately. they cringe every time the phone rings. because it means someone else may be calling to say we had talked to you. we were planning on building something the first of the year. but lets hold up and wait and see if this depression really is coming. Let me tell you a little more about the 1980s when people say. oh. this is the worst since the 1930s. Actually. in 1980. there were approximately 4.590 State and federally chartered savings and loans institutions with total assets of over $616 billion. Lets see. between 1980 and 1983. 118 S&Ls with 43 billion in assets failed. Things were going badly in this country. Banks. S&Ls failing. S&L crisis. all kinds of things that had been built up. ready to start happening during the 1970s and in the early 1980s that began happening. Were it not for the foresight to have tax cuts. stimulate the economy. then things never would have turned around. but Ronald Reagan did a good job of doing that. Now. as my friend. Mr. WESTMORELAND. read the quote. the Fed is printing money. They are printing money like crazy. There are consequences to doing that. for those of us that really believe so many solutions can be found in history. because you can go back historically. As Solomon said. there is nothing new under the sun. There is new technology. but there are not new issues. These things have all been tried and failed. succeeded. So you go back and you say. okay. this is what was done this year. that failed. This was done here. that succeeded. Lets go over the things that succeeded. And we have seen over and over that if you want to create inflation. as we saw in the late 1970s and the very early 1980s. just print money like the Fed is doing now. We are very fortunate that we havent hit a huge inflation rate in the last 2 months. And why would that be? Well. back last summer. we were paying $4 a gallon for gasoline and now many of us are paying $1.40. that kind of thing. for gasoline. We are very fortunate that the price of energy failed at a time when we were printing money like crazy. But we cannot keep doing that. To print $1.2 trillion over the next 2 years will devastate this country with inflation. We are talking about the 1920s. For those of you who remember your history. going back after World War I. Germany was in very. very difficult circumstances. Their economy was a real problem. They had elected officials. they were trying to turn things around. They thought they could print money and print their way out of their economic troubles. And some people remember the illustration of people carrying wheelbarrows of money to the supermarketwasnt supermarkets back thenbut to the market just to buy essentials and food. Thats where this leads. when you just keep unabatedly printing money. like is being done now. the inflation will come. It will devastate this country. It is silly to be doing that when we know from history what happens. If you really want to get scared. look what happened in Germany in the 1920s and going into the 1930s. The economy got so desperate because of all this inflation. they ended up electing a little guy with a funny mustache that was such a bigot and such a meanspirited man. he devastated the planet. Israel is having difficulty now. having rockets fired on them each day from the Gaza Strip from Hamas. During that little man with the mustaches regime. over 6 million Jewish people were slaughtered. Why? Because good people in Germany got desperate because of inflation. and they elected a man who was going to help with their economy. not realizing just how mentally unbalanced the man was. and millions and millions and millions. the entire world. suffered as a result. This Nation has been the defender of freedom around the world. This Nation has been the most solid economy around the world. The world depends on us to make good judgment in this body. And when we fail. its not just those of us in this body that suffers. its the Nation. its the world that suffers. It is so touching. and the older I get. the more I turn into my late mother. who just got tearyeyed and emotional about all kinds of things. it was deeply touching to see all the children. Madam Speaker. gathered up here around the Speakers rostrum yesterday as we were sworn in. cute children. all races. both genders. just really neat. great. wholesome. bipartisan. Democratic kids. Republican Members kids. But the thought that went through my mind is. if we dont change our ways. these are the sweet little children that as adults will pay. literally pay. for what we are doing. We are running debt up on those little kids that they should never have to pay. For us to live now. that is so wrong. We need to be helping our children. not saddling them with more debt. and thats what an overzealous stimulus package will do. Thats why yesterday the first bill that was laid down on the desk over here to be filed was a 2month tax holiday bill. I filed it in December. and I filed it again yesterday with this Congress. It takes the 350 billion still remaining of the bailout bill. and section 4. its not a long bill. it just has 5 pages. section 4. \"Immediate Termination of TARP Purchase Authority.\" That is an important principle. It is time to end the authority that we gave to one person. the Secretary of the Treasury. with all of this unfettered ability to just squander money. I mean. the main restriction in there was he couldnt bail out central banks of foreign governments. But. basically. you read through the billand I am afraid there werent enough people that didand it just goes on and on as the Secretary determines. I tried to point out to people. we have never. since we had a Constitution. given that kind of authority to one man. We should never give that kind of authority to one man. It was a mistake. You dont give unrestricted authority like that to just go out and squander money. No matter which party is in power. it doesnt matter in this country. the principles that made us great. the principles that caused the signers of the Declaration of Independence to pledge their lives and their fortunes and cause many of them to lose and give up their lives. their families lives. their complete fortunes. was the principle that government does not need to have this kind of unrestricted authority. And yet the market dropped 777 points. and all of a sudden people who knew our history. knew the principles on which this Nation was founded. were all of a sudden ready to come rushing in here and give one man that kind of authority. George Washington. before the Constitution. December 27. 1776. was given that kind of authority. He didnt ask for it. He hardly used any of it. He used his leadership to persuade the soldiers to reenlist. Thats why the bill was passed December 27. 1776. The Continental Congress knew if these guys dont reenlist in January. we are all dead. and so will our families be dead. So thats why they passed the bill giving Washington this unfettered authority to spend money. He used his leadership to persuade them to reenlist. even in that terrible winter. Thats leadership. But as Washington said. a people unused to restraint must be led. they will not be driven. And too often in Congress we try to drive people instead of leading people. So thats one part of my 2month tax holiday bill. It ends the authority. Now. Madam Speaker. people need to understand that in this bill. the bailout bill that was passed in September. there was $700 billion appropriated. To give another $350 billion. all be has to do is file a plan. and we dont vote for 15 days. My bill is funded by bringing that $350 billion back into the Treasury. So. what did we learn historically from the tax cuts that President John F. Kennedy did. President Ronald Reagan did. and in 2003 President George W. Bush did? We will just overlook the last 4 months where we forgot our principles here in this administration. But you go back to those tax cuts. the economy was stimulated. And each time the revenue into the Federal Treasury did not decrease. It increased dramatically. because the economy went strong. So there are two ways to raise revenue in this country. One Is raising taxes. and then you have an immediate increase in tax dollars coming into the Treasury. but the longterm effect repeatedly we have seen it is to kill the economy. Or you can lower taxes and immediately stimulate the economy. and then as a result of the economy being stimulated. then more tax dollars than ever come in than even when you raise taxes. So it is all what you want to happen longterm for the sake of our children and those to follow us. and that is why this bill says instead of the Treasury Secretary squandering. it doesnt use that term. of course. but that is what has happened. squandering $350 billion. it allows the people who earned the money to keep it for two months. So. that is about $101 billion a month that individuals pay into the U.S. Treasury in individual income tax. Now. we really need longterm tax reform. We need to drop the capital gains rate. like Ireland did. to 12 percent. which has really helped their economy. I think their corporate tax rate is 11 percent. so businesses are flooding into Ireland. I am sick and tired too of hearing people say we will never get manufacturing jobs back into America. That is hogwash. Look around the world. Some of us went to China. What was the number one reason industry was moving to China. they told us. why they moved their industry? Yes. they said labor is cheaper. but we have better quality control back in the U.S. Our workers produce better products back in the U.S. But the corporate tax rate is less than half of what it is here. Lower the corporate tax rate. You will see manufacturing jobs flood back into the United States. That is what it is all about. Some of them said. you know. they cut us a deal on corporate tax rates in China so we were able to build a brand new facility with stateoftheart equipment and it basically was paid for very quickly out of money we didnt pay in corporate taxes. and now we are competitive again because our aging factories in the U.S. were costing us. and now we are stateoftheart. All you have to do is lower the tax rate. Jobs will instantly appear. Go after our own energy in this country. We know the energy rates are going to come up. and we need to do something about it now to produce our own energy so that we are doing that and this inflation cycle doesnt kill us. Going back to my 2month tax holiday bill. it says as far as the tax cut part. in the case of wages received for services performed during the period beginning in the first full month after the passage of this bill. the percentage of tax will be zero. Now. I heard from some selfemployed people who said. well. it is not going to help me being selfemployed. I work just as hard or harder than anyone else. and yet I am not included. Yet that is not accurate. That is included. It says clearly in the case of selfemployment income for service performed during the 2month period. the percentage of tax will be zero. So there will be no withholding during the 2month period for income tax. there will be no withholding for FICA. I have gotten good suggestions. Newt Gingrich has been extremely helpful in suggestions and spreading the word. as Jed Babbin and Neal Boortz and Steve Morton. so many. many great thinkers have been helpful. But Presidentelect Obama promised that if you make less than $250.000. you will get a tax cut. Some of us have been concerned when we give tax cuts to people that dont pay taxes that that is not a tax cut. that is welfare. Under this bill. the tax cuts go to people that pay taxes. There are. we know. people who do not pay income tax. They dont make enough. They work hard. they earn a wage. but it is not enough to get to the level of paying income tax. They still have FICA withheld from their check. Under this bill. no FICA will be withheld from their bill. and because the employee has no FICA taken out. then the employer who is struggling to make sure they keep people employed gets a 2month holiday on paying FICA as well. Some have said. well. this will hurt people on Social Security. No. it wont. because it specifically says that. and this is in section 3. funding of Social Security trust funds is with repealed TARP funds. It is covered. The $350 billion doesnt get to be doled out for bonuses for the Nations wealthy who have mismanaged their banks or their firms and then reward themselves with bonuses. It doesnt go there. It goes to the people who have earned it. So everyone who is working will get a tax break. Some have said. well. I would appreciate having the withholding not taken out for 2 months. that will really help me for those 2 months. but it will hurt me at the end of the year when I have to pay that. They miss the point. There is no Federal tax for 2 months under this bill. Everybody gets a tax cut. So actually what this very short. very efficient bill does is exactly what Presidentelect Obama promised would be done. with the exception it doesnt have a $250.000 cap on it. Now. there are those I know who are doing well and are able to live off the dividend income and the interest income. and that is harder. of course. after the stock market went down. And God bless those folks. I am thrilled to death that you are in a position where you can live off of dividend and interest income. I would like to see acrosstheboard complete tax reform. But under this bill. this does not give tax breaks for unearned income like interest and dividend. This is only for wages earned during this time. So if you are a hardworking American. you are going to get a tax cut under this bill. It does exactly what Presidentelect Obama promised. For anyone who pays any FICA. income tax. for 2 months you get that tax break. Now. it is so ironic that the bailout bill was partly under the guise that we are going to give all these billions or hundreds of billions to banks so they can increase credit. make more loans. so people can refinance their loans and finance into the new refinance money what they are behind on so they dont lose their homes. Well. I have talked to people who say if they could have their withholding from their check in their check for 2 months. they can catch up. A lot of people fell behind last summer when gas prices were $4 a gallon. They get their withholding for a couple of months. I have seen figures that estimated if your family income. household income is in the $60.000 range. you could get $2.000 or $3.000 over that 2month period. So they could catch up on the mortgage and you wouldnt have to borrow more money to catch up on your mortgage. You could catch up. I have had some people tell me. I want to get out from under this gasguzzling car I have got. but when energy prices went up. the value of any car went so far down. now I owe more on my car than it is worth. so I cant trade it in. because I dont have a down payment for another car. I would be without a car. so I have to keep paying on this gasguzzler. I would like to get a more efficient car. This would allow those people to buy a new car. a more efficient car. It is good for everybody. But we come back to what I said earlier: If people cannot buy cars. then it doesnt matter how many trillions of dollars we give to the auto makers. they are going to still ultimately go out of business. And the trouble with bailouts is once you start giving money to anybody. whether it is a bank. an insurance company. whoever. once you start that process. you will always be able to find someone more deserving of a bailout than those who have already gotten money. and there becomes no good place to stop. Well. when you love someone and you see that they are getting addicted to some substance. and as a judge I saw it. you see them getting addicted to something. then it is time to have an interdiction and say I love you too much to allow you to continue this addiction. We are not going to let you have any more of that. Now. I was upset when we were talking about an auto bailout. because I knew the auto makers had been withholding holdback money. rebate money. that they contractually owed dealers. They were putting dealers in a bind just because they werent abiding by their own contracts. As I understand it. they have begun to catch up on that. and that is appropriate. But to see then letters from major banks who have gotten billions of tax dollars who are now saying we are not going to be lending money for cars. we are not going to be lending money to dealers anymore. even though they are wonderful dealers. they have a good business. it looks like they will stay in business for good. we are just not going to lend anymore. that is such an abuse and 180 degrees from what was promised. Now. some would say we should not get the Federal Government into the business of telling lenders what to do with their money. and I am one of those. However. the danger that every bank should have been told by their attorneys is. keep in mind if you take Federal money. the Federal Government is going to have their hand in your business and they are going to tell you how to run it. because they are a partner with you. And I happen to believe if we are going to put Federal money in something. we should have restrictions and tell people like a bank that this is what you can and cant do. Secretary Paulson did not do that. But my preference is dont give away any more bailout money. Lets let the people that earned it keep it and let them decide who deserves to be bailed out and who deserves to have their products purchased. That is how a free market works. When you look back. you see that an open government is a good thing. a free market is a good thing. To my way of thinking. being such a student of history. it looks like from our founding documents the most important job that we have as a Federal Government is to provide for the common defense. Then. beyond that. this Federal Government should create a level playing field. punish cheaters. make sure everybody plays fairly. and then let them play. That is what we need to be doing. and we have gone so far in excess of that. This government. when I heard that we were going to encourage a car czar. I couldnt believe it. I mean. we cant even do a good job of designing our own I.D. card. Can you imagine what we would do with cars? Good grief. We should not be in that business. So I would encourage people. Mr. Speaker. who believe that they would do a better job of spending their own money. to contact their Representative. contact their Senator. call the Capitol Hill operator and they can be connected to their Representative. their Senators. and that would go a long way toward getting this bill to the floor and getting it passed. Because it is not an issue of if the money will be spent. it is anissue of will the Treasury Secretary squander it on your behalf. or will you be able to use your own money to help get this economy turned around.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. Speaker. I have been concerned about the financial future of our country for some time and in 2006 introduced a bill to set up a national commission to review our Nations longterm economy. including mandatory entitlement spending. discretionary spending and tax policy. It is bipartisan. We have well over 100 members from both sides of the aisle. The bipartisan CooperWolf SAFE proposal was similar to the commission proposal by Senator CONRAD and Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire. would be bipartisan and a way to review entitlement spending and force the Congress to act. The commission has over 100 cosponsors during the last Congress. Weve all read. Mr. Speaker. the stark figures of the 2008 Financial Report of the Federal Government. Even more telling is. during the month of October and November. for the first 2 months of this fiscal year. the Federal Government piled up $401 billion in red ink. and were on a pace to surpass the fiscal year 2008 deficit of 455. in 2 months almost were going to rival that. And yesterday. Presidentelect Obama predicted a $1 trillion deficit. he said. \"for years to come.\" Now. does anybody really care? It just seems that this institution continues to go and do what its done in the past. In the past few days. numerous sources have reported that the economic stimulus is expected to cost $675 billion. and some are saying up to $1 trillion. Mr. Speaker. whatever package Is voted on. Congress has the obligation to their children and their grandchildren and to their constituents to find a bipartisan way to address the Nations looming financial crisis by including a mechanism to deal with the underlying problem. what is now on autopilot spending. If we dont do this in this Congress when were doing the stimulus. I think both political parties in this Congress. the 111th Congress. will go down as the Congress that refused to deal with the fundamental issues that are facing this country. Theres the Simon and Garfunkel song. The Boxer. that says \"Man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.\" This Congress disregards the overwhelming debt that we have faced in this Nation. I have here. Mr. Speaker. a bill issued by the Federal Reserve of Zimbabwe in July of last year. Its $100 billion. $100 billion. It wont even buy a loaf of bread. Is this the future of our country? And if this Congress. and let me just say to my colleagues on this side. if our party doesnt deal with this issue. and they dont deal with this issue then. frankly. this Congress will go down in Congress history as the Congress thats neglected to deal with these fundamental issues. So many say. why a shortterm stimulus simultaneously with this? Well. it takes two legs to walk. If we can demonstrate that we are dealing with the entitlement issue now. that may very well get whatever shortterm thing were going to do to demonstrate that we have the commitment to make it work. Isabel Sawhill. Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute. has likened the situation in our country. she said. to \"termites in the woodwork. slowly eroding our strength as a nation.\" I recently read a speech by Richard Fisher. President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. its called Storms on the Horizon. Its a sobering account from a monetary policy point of view of why deficits matter. And it is frightening. I put it in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD every day. I would hope Members of Congress could read It. But what he said is doing deficit math is a sobering exercise. It becomes an outright painful one when you apply your calculator to longterm fiscal challenge posed by entitlement programs. Then he goes on to say that we are facing catastrophic conditions. Our children. our grandchildren. our constituents are facing a catastrophic condition if we dont act. Some people say we need regular order. Frankly. If we dont do this in a bipartisan way. 8 Republicans. 8 Democrats. similar to what we did on the Iraq Study Group. frankly. I think this Congress will not have the courage. the foresight. the ability to vote on these Issues to deal with it. So what we are saying is a massive package upordown vote. 8 Republicans. 8 Democrats. this bill was drafted by the Heritage Foundation. by the Brookings Institution. supported by David Walker. supported by David Broder. by David Brooks. by economists all over the country. and then it uses the language that is In the Base Closing Commission that requires. because if you dont require this institution to act it will not act. It will find all the reasons it can to neglect it. It will require it to act in 60 days. So I say to my colleagues on this side. if were going to deal with this stimulus. wed better have our own ideas and put up for a proposal. which I will do unless Im tied and gagged. I will offer a motion here to force us to vote on this. And I say for the other side. I ask you to do the same thing so we could come together in a bipartisan way so when we leave this Congress we know that we have truly dealt with the entitlement issue and saved America for our children and our grandchildren and future generations.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. Speaker. I have been concerned about the financial future of our country for some time and in 2006 introduced a bill to set up a national commission to review our Nations longterm economy. including mandatory entitlement spending. discretionary spending and tax policy. It is bipartisan. We have well over 100 members from both sides of the aisle. The bipartisan CooperWolf SAFE proposal was similar to the commission proposal by Senator CONRAD and Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire. would be bipartisan and a way to review entitlement spending and force the Congress to act. The commission has over 100 cosponsors during the last Congress. Weve all read. Mr. Speaker. the stark figures of the 2008 Financial Report of the Federal Government. Even more telling is. during the month of October and November. for the first 2 months of this fiscal year. the Federal Government piled up $401 billion in red ink. and were on a pace to surpass the fiscal year 2008 deficit of 455. in 2 months almost were going to rival that. And yesterday. Presidentelect Obama predicted a $1 trillion deficit. he said. \"for years to come.\" Now. does anybody really care? It just seems that this institution continues to go and do what its done in the past. In the past few days. numerous sources have reported that the economic stimulus is expected to cost $675 billion. and some are saying up to $1 trillion. Mr. Speaker. whatever package Is voted on. Congress has the obligation to their children and their grandchildren and to their constituents to find a bipartisan way to address the Nations looming financial crisis by including a mechanism to deal with the underlying problem. what is now on autopilot spending. If we dont do this in this Congress when were doing the stimulus. I think both political parties in this Congress. the 111th Congress. will go down as the Congress that refused to deal with the fundamental issues that are facing this country. Theres the Simon and Garfunkel song. The Boxer. that says \"Man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.\" This Congress disregards the overwhelming debt that we have faced in this Nation. I have here. Mr. Speaker. a bill issued by the Federal Reserve of Zimbabwe in July of last year. Its $100 billion. $100 billion. It wont even buy a loaf of bread. Is this the future of our country? And if this Congress. and let me just say to my colleagues on this side. if our party doesnt deal with this issue. and they dont deal with this issue then. frankly. this Congress will go down in Congress history as the Congress thats neglected to deal with these fundamental issues. So many say. why a shortterm stimulus simultaneously with this? Well. it takes two legs to walk. If we can demonstrate that we are dealing with the entitlement issue now. that may very well get whatever shortterm thing were going to do to demonstrate that we have the commitment to make it work. Isabel Sawhill. Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute. has likened the situation in our country. she said. to \"termites in the woodwork. slowly eroding our strength as a nation.\" I recently read a speech by Richard Fisher. President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. its called Storms on the Horizon. Its a sobering account from a monetary policy point of view of why deficits matter. And it is frightening. I put it in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD every day. I would hope Members of Congress could read It. But what he said is doing deficit math is a sobering exercise. It becomes an outright painful one when you apply your calculator to longterm fiscal challenge posed by entitlement programs. Then he goes on to say that we are facing catastrophic conditions. Our children. our grandchildren. our constituents are facing a catastrophic condition if we dont act. Some people say we need regular order. Frankly. If we dont do this in a bipartisan way. 8 Republicans. 8 Democrats. similar to what we did on the Iraq Study Group. frankly. I think this Congress will not have the courage. the foresight. the ability to vote on these Issues to deal with it. So what we are saying is a massive package upordown vote. 8 Republicans. 8 Democrats. this bill was drafted by the Heritage Foundation. by the Brookings Institution. supported by David Walker. supported by David Broder. by David Brooks. by economists all over the country. and then it uses the language that is In the Base Closing Commission that requires. because if you dont require this institution to act it will not act. It will find all the reasons it can to neglect it. It will require it to act in 60 days. So I say to my colleagues on this side. if were going to deal with this stimulus. wed better have our own ideas and put up for a proposal. which I will do unless Im tied and gagged. I will offer a motion here to force us to vote on this. And I say for the other side. I ask you to do the same thing so we could come together in a bipartisan way so when we leave this Congress we know that we have truly dealt with the entitlement issue and saved America for our children and our grandchildren and future generations.\n",
      "Answer:  I will take much but not all of this hour to speak. Roughly. the first half of the presentation will be on our economic situation. The second half will focus on foreign policy. I know that I have a number of colleagues that may have important things to say to this House. and If they come to the floor. Ill be happy to yield them a few minutes at a time that is convenient for them. Even with this long speech. I will not be able to cover all the details that Id like to provide to my colleagues. Therefore. I invite all my colleagues to visit the relevant portion of my web page. bradsherman.house.gov for more of the details of the matters Ill be discussing here. In talking about our economy. I will divide my speech first to talking about matters relevant to the Financial Services Committee. on which Ive served for 12 years. and particularly the bill known as TARP. or EESA. the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. best known to the public as the $700 billion bailout bill. The second part of my economic presentation will deal with the stimulus package now being put together. particularly by the Committees on Appropriations and Ways and Means. Now. I was a critic and twice voted against the $700 billion bailout bill. the socalled TARP. The supporters of that bill will have to admit that it has not restored our economy as the proponents had advertised. and. in fact. some of the worst times for the economy were the 2 to 3 weeks following its passage. On the other hand. those of us who were critics should admit that the bill has. frankly. cost the government far less than I had anticipated. When I say cost. I dont mean just how much is spent. but from that must be subtracted the value of the securities. the bonds and the stock certificates received by the Federal Government. In this case. Secretary Paulson misled this House and the other body by testifying that he would use the $700 billion to buy toxic assets. bad bonds. Had he done that. and all of us voting on the bill had every reason to believe that he was telling us the truth. had he carried out that policy. then he would have bought. for the money he had spent. whether its the 350 billion he has spent so far or the 700 billion that I feared he would spend. he would have spent that money in return for assets of dubious value. Thats why theyre called toxic assets. In contrast. having misled the House and the other body. Secretary Paulson bought preferred stock in the various financial institutions. In doing so. he was overly generous to Wall Street as to the terms. but. nevertheless. he did secure assets for the Treasury that are of substantial value. Paulsons shift. frankly. was right along the lines that many of us who are critics of the bill had urged him to adopt. And so those who supported the bill. those who are critics of it. must both recognize that what the Treasury has done so far is far different from what all of us believed would. in fact. be the policy. Now. we see that $350 billion has been expended by the Treasury. and another $350 billion remains unspent. I am pleased that the Secretary of the Treasury has not yet taken the procedural actions to release and give himself control of the remaining $350 billion. It is my understanding that leadership will bring to this House a bill that will release the $350 billion to the Treasury and will impose additional conditions. And Id like to take a few minutes to address what I think ought to be in that bill. First. is the issue of whether any of the funds to be released. any of that second $350 billion. will be available to the Bush administration. Last month I wrote the chairman of the Financial Services Committee saying that we should have limits on the amount that could be spent by the Bush administration out of the second $350 billion. In fact. I proposed that only $10 billion or less be available to the Bush administration to deal with whatever exigencies it dealt with in its waning days. It is my understanding that the bill that will be brought before this House will provide the Bush administration with $0 to deal with whatever comes up in its last week or so in office. In any case. I think. having seen Paulson in action. the vast majority of this House would believe that somewhere between 95 percent and 100 percent of the second $350 billion. if it is made available to anyone in the executive branch should be made available only to the Obama administration. I should point out something about process. It would be best if any bill dealing with the second $350 billion was actually dealt with in regular order. Now. Im not saying necessarily that every committee of possible jurisdiction should do a full markup. but as we deal with this economic crisis. at least the primary committee as to each bill should have a markup so that Members can be heard. and the House can work its will. In addition. I would hope that the Rules Committee would allow a reasonable number of amendments to be considered on the floor. In addition. I would hope that the Financial Services Committee would give the same scrutiny to the financial institutions who have received and are likely to receive additional bailout monies as we gave to the executives of the three automobile makers. We need extensive hearings. We need to bring the titans of Wall Street down. and we need to have these hearings at both the full committee and the subcommittee level. We do not want to give further credence to the accusation that Congress and the administration have two standards for scrutinizing bailout requests. one for those who shower before work and a more severe standard for those who must shower after work. We should have at least the same amount of scrutiny to an industry that has already received the bulk of $350 billion as we provided to an automobile industry that is requesting amounts less than 5 percent of that amount. Now. what should we provide in the way of restrictions to those who obtain bailout funds or retain the bailout funds they have already received? Federal dollars should be expended to bail out private interests only on the toughest terms. Taxpayers should demand the highest yield. the largest equity upside. the strictest limits on executive compensation and perks. Even when we bail out individual homeowners rather than big time executives and shareholders of major companies. the Treasury should get a large share of the profit that they earn when they sell their homes. Why is it so important that we are tough on those who seek bailout funds? There are three important reasons. First. being tough will increase support for the program. The public is currently focused on executive compensation and perks. I think it will soon focus on the value of the securities the Treasury is receiving. including warrants that represent the upside. the potential profits of a company that is receiving bailed out funds. Ol 1415 We need public support for the enactment. and there is considerable public skepticism. In talking to my colleagues. I find very few who are enthusiastic about releasing the second $350 billion to the executive branch. and I find. while most of my colleagues believe that we need a stimulus package. there is real reluctance to adopt one as large as that being recommended by so many prominent economists. We can achieve that support in this House and in the public by being tough on those who receive bailout funds. Second. being tough on those obtaining bailout funds will help to limit the number of people seeking to be bailed out. Not even the Federal Government can afford to fund all of the bailouts that will be demanded if executives see the Federal Government as a source of easy and cheap money. Third. getting a good deal by tough negotiations with anyone receiving a bailout will reduce the amount by which we are increasing the Federal deficit. We will be expending hundreds of billions of dollars now. Im just addressing the $700 billion piece that is half completed. There will be other expenditures. We need to reassure our children. and we need to reassure the international markets that we are acting responsibly to minimize the increase in the Federal deficit. Now. some of the expenditures being made out of the TARP funds are going to be money lost forever. Its going to be buying assets that turn out to be worthless or investing in companies that go bankrupt. That is why we need a very large upside on those of our investments that are successful. Typically. the Federal Government obtains an upside by obtaining warrants from the companies it provides bailout funds to. These allow the taxpayers to reap the benefits of a companys success when it returns to profitability and when that profitability is reflected In its stock price. I believe that. in the negotiations with Wall Street. Secretary Paulson has been far too generous to his friends in the financial services industry. Given the tremendous risks the Federal Government is assuming. taxpayers should be receiving far more of the upside in return for their investments. For example. in the recent bailout of Goldman Sachs. the taxpayer received half the rate of return and onesixth the warrants that investor Warren Buffett was able to receive on a similar investment that he made .n Goldman Sachs for his fund. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act gives the Treasury too much discretion as to what to demand in the way of warrants. While the Treasury is required to obtain warrants when it injects capital into financial institutions. it can accept as few warrants as it likes. The Treasury has adopted a onesizefitsall approach. which provides the Federal Government with warrants equal to 20 percent of its investment when it buys preferred stock in a financial institution. Not even this 20 percent is required by the statute. and this 20 percent is often way too low because those healthiest banks on Wall Street were willing to give us 20 percent. Clearly. the riskier banks on Wall Street that got bailout funds were not adequately compensating the American taxpayer for the risk we are taking because they only provided 20 percent warrants. a figure that might be appropriate for those financial institutions that are low risk. The question is: What can we do in a statute? Clearly. we hope that the next Secretary of the Treasury will drive a tough bargain whenever investing our taxpayer dollars in private firms. but we can do something in the statute. At a minimum. we should include language that was in an early version of the House bill dealing with the automobile relief that requires warrants of at least 20 percent. and we should make it clear that this 20 percent is a floor. not a ceiling. We should direct the Secretary of the Treasury to demand warrants that fully compensate the taxpayer for the risks being taken in any particular deal. Then we turn to the issue of executive compensation and perks. These are very important to taxpayers and are important in deterring those companies that dont need a bailout from coming to Washington in their private jets. hats in hand. Now. the bill. as interpreted by the Bush administration. has allowed multimillion dollar salaries to continue to be paid to the very executives who drove their companies into the ditch. and the Bush administration has chosen to impose no limits on perks. In particular. the Bush administration has ignored section 111(b) of the EESA. also known as the TARP bill. That section states: Where the Secretary determines that the purposes of the act are best met through direct purchases of troubled assets. the Secretary shall require that the financial institution meet appropriate standards for executive compensation and corporate governance. Virtually all of the $350 billion that the Secretary of the Treasury has expended has been pursuant to his determination that we could best be served through direct purchases of troubled assets. He has not done an auction. which was the main part of the bill he was trying to sell to us. Instead. he has simply made direct purchases of assets from companies. negotiated one at a time. In those circumstances. the law requires that he shall require that the financial institution meet appropriate standards for executive compensation and corporate governance. What has Secretary Paulson done? He has allowed multimillion dollar bonuses to be paid to the executives of AIG. He has allowed milliondollaramonth salaries to continue to be paid to executives of bailedout Wall Street firms. He has allowed all of those entities to continue to operate fleets of private jets. Despite getting our money. Goldman Sachs spent almost a quarter million dollars a year to provide a limo for one executive. This does not constitute appropriate standards for executive compensation and corporate governance. nor should Congress simply punt to the executive branch what those appropriate standards should be. Instead. we should provide by law that. if a company gets a Federal bailout. the firm must limit its total compensation package to any executive to no more than $1 million per year for as long as the firm is holding our money. The limits should apply to the whole package of compensationsalaries. bonuses. pension plan contributions. and stock options. In particular. a huge grant of stock options to an executive at this time could be a bonanzaand an unjustified onebecause right now all the stock prices of Wall Street firms are at depressed levels. and an option given to an executive to buy shares of stock for $1 or $2 a share could turn out to be more valuable than a ton of winning lottery tickets. To the extent any existing contract provides for executive compensation in excess of that which is allowed under statute. I suggest that the bill provide that that contract is void as against public policy. Now. let us turn to perks. We should limit luxury perks like corporate jets and chauffeured limousines. We should prevent these while any firm is holding taxpayers money. Ill point out there are firms on Wall Street that got money from Paulson that said. \"Hey. we signed up for the money. We never knew you were going to get tough with us.\" Fine. You dont like the new rules? Give us back our money. but if you retain taxpayer money. then you should not. as Goldman Sachs has done. be paying a quarter million dollars in a year for a chauffeured limousine service for one executive. If the firms executives dont want to take off their belts and their shoes and go through airport security like the public does. then that firm should not receive and should not retain a bailout. and it probably doesnt need one. For as long as those bailout funds are outstanding. we should prohibit firms from owning. leasing or chartering luxury jets or from maintaining a fleet of chauffeured limousines. We should provide exceptions for chartering planes to travel to remote areas. areas remote from scheduled air service. and we should allow some sort of driver and auto to be provided to those executives who face severe physical challenges. We may also want to provide limits on how much the company reimburses its executives per night for any hotel rooma maximum amount of $500 comes to mindor per meal for any meal. Perhaps it should be $100 per meal. I hate to get down to this level of specificity. but Wall Street has proven that they will squander the money taxpayers provide their firms on lavish parties and fancy travel if we are not specific. It is possible that the auto bailout bill that passed this House will be used as a model for limiting executive compensation and perks. If thats the case. we had better strengthen it first. We had better make clear that the limits on bonuses apply not just to cash bonuses but also to grants of stock options. We should limit the total compensation to $1 million a year. and we should limit the use not just of leased or of purchased luxury aircraft but also of chartered luxury aircraft. Finally. we should have appropriate limits on limousines. Let me point out that some of my colleagues have noticed that I was tough on the auto executives who used their private jets to come to us the first time. One of those companies has told me very explicitly: \"Sherman. the law may say that we cant own the jets. the law may say we cant lease the jets. but the law. as passed by the House. says we can still charter the jets. and our CEO is never going to fly commercial\" Thats fine unless that firm receives bailout money. Once it does. we have to limit it. We cant play a shell game with the American people. Oh. well limit the luxury travel. and then just have the company charter the jet Instead of lease the jet. That would be a fraud on the American people. There is one other important improvement that we need to make to the TARP bill. You see. after that bill passed. the Treasury adopted. as I mentioned before. a plan to buy preferred stock. in particular. of financial institutions. The next administration will probably use a good chunk of the money to go back to the original plan. which was to buy bad bondstoxic assetsfrom the financial institutions. Then we have to be worried. If were buying bad bonds. at least we should buy bad bonds owned by American investors. It is not the purpose of this bill to bail out banks in London and in Riyadh and in Shanghai. I want to make a technical distinction. I have no objection to our treating as American companies such firms as Hancock Insurance and Firemans\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  I will take much but not all of this hour to speak. Roughly. the first half of the presentation will be on our economic situation. The second half will focus on foreign policy. I know that I have a number of colleagues that may have important things to say to this House. and If they come to the floor. Ill be happy to yield them a few minutes at a time that is convenient for them. Even with this long speech. I will not be able to cover all the details that Id like to provide to my colleagues. Therefore. I invite all my colleagues to visit the relevant portion of my web page. bradsherman.house.gov for more of the details of the matters Ill be discussing here. In talking about our economy. I will divide my speech first to talking about matters relevant to the Financial Services Committee. on which Ive served for 12 years. and particularly the bill known as TARP. or EESA. the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. best known to the public as the $700 billion bailout bill. The second part of my economic presentation will deal with the stimulus package now being put together. particularly by the Committees on Appropriations and Ways and Means. Now. I was a critic and twice voted against the $700 billion bailout bill. the socalled TARP. The supporters of that bill will have to admit that it has not restored our economy as the proponents had advertised. and. in fact. some of the worst times for the economy were the 2 to 3 weeks following its passage. On the other hand. those of us who were critics should admit that the bill has. frankly. cost the government far less than I had anticipated. When I say cost. I dont mean just how much is spent. but from that must be subtracted the value of the securities. the bonds and the stock certificates received by the Federal Government. In this case. Secretary Paulson misled this House and the other body by testifying that he would use the $700 billion to buy toxic assets. bad bonds. Had he done that. and all of us voting on the bill had every reason to believe that he was telling us the truth. had he carried out that policy. then he would have bought. for the money he had spent. whether its the 350 billion he has spent so far or the 700 billion that I feared he would spend. he would have spent that money in return for assets of dubious value. Thats why theyre called toxic assets. In contrast. having misled the House and the other body. Secretary Paulson bought preferred stock in the various financial institutions. In doing so. he was overly generous to Wall Street as to the terms. but. nevertheless. he did secure assets for the Treasury that are of substantial value. Paulsons shift. frankly. was right along the lines that many of us who are critics of the bill had urged him to adopt. And so those who supported the bill. those who are critics of it. must both recognize that what the Treasury has done so far is far different from what all of us believed would. in fact. be the policy. Now. we see that $350 billion has been expended by the Treasury. and another $350 billion remains unspent. I am pleased that the Secretary of the Treasury has not yet taken the procedural actions to release and give himself control of the remaining $350 billion. It is my understanding that leadership will bring to this House a bill that will release the $350 billion to the Treasury and will impose additional conditions. And Id like to take a few minutes to address what I think ought to be in that bill. First. is the issue of whether any of the funds to be released. any of that second $350 billion. will be available to the Bush administration. Last month I wrote the chairman of the Financial Services Committee saying that we should have limits on the amount that could be spent by the Bush administration out of the second $350 billion. In fact. I proposed that only $10 billion or less be available to the Bush administration to deal with whatever exigencies it dealt with in its waning days. It is my understanding that the bill that will be brought before this House will provide the Bush administration with $0 to deal with whatever comes up in its last week or so in office. In any case. I think. having seen Paulson in action. the vast majority of this House would believe that somewhere between 95 percent and 100 percent of the second $350 billion. if it is made available to anyone in the executive branch should be made available only to the Obama administration. I should point out something about process. It would be best if any bill dealing with the second $350 billion was actually dealt with in regular order. Now. Im not saying necessarily that every committee of possible jurisdiction should do a full markup. but as we deal with this economic crisis. at least the primary committee as to each bill should have a markup so that Members can be heard. and the House can work its will. In addition. I would hope that the Rules Committee would allow a reasonable number of amendments to be considered on the floor. In addition. I would hope that the Financial Services Committee would give the same scrutiny to the financial institutions who have received and are likely to receive additional bailout monies as we gave to the executives of the three automobile makers. We need extensive hearings. We need to bring the titans of Wall Street down. and we need to have these hearings at both the full committee and the subcommittee level. We do not want to give further credence to the accusation that Congress and the administration have two standards for scrutinizing bailout requests. one for those who shower before work and a more severe standard for those who must shower after work. We should have at least the same amount of scrutiny to an industry that has already received the bulk of $350 billion as we provided to an automobile industry that is requesting amounts less than 5 percent of that amount. Now. what should we provide in the way of restrictions to those who obtain bailout funds or retain the bailout funds they have already received? Federal dollars should be expended to bail out private interests only on the toughest terms. Taxpayers should demand the highest yield. the largest equity upside. the strictest limits on executive compensation and perks. Even when we bail out individual homeowners rather than big time executives and shareholders of major companies. the Treasury should get a large share of the profit that they earn when they sell their homes. Why is it so important that we are tough on those who seek bailout funds? There are three important reasons. First. being tough will increase support for the program. The public is currently focused on executive compensation and perks. I think it will soon focus on the value of the securities the Treasury is receiving. including warrants that represent the upside. the potential profits of a company that is receiving bailed out funds. Ol 1415 We need public support for the enactment. and there is considerable public skepticism. In talking to my colleagues. I find very few who are enthusiastic about releasing the second $350 billion to the executive branch. and I find. while most of my colleagues believe that we need a stimulus package. there is real reluctance to adopt one as large as that being recommended by so many prominent economists. We can achieve that support in this House and in the public by being tough on those who receive bailout funds. Second. being tough on those obtaining bailout funds will help to limit the number of people seeking to be bailed out. Not even the Federal Government can afford to fund all of the bailouts that will be demanded if executives see the Federal Government as a source of easy and cheap money. Third. getting a good deal by tough negotiations with anyone receiving a bailout will reduce the amount by which we are increasing the Federal deficit. We will be expending hundreds of billions of dollars now. Im just addressing the $700 billion piece that is half completed. There will be other expenditures. We need to reassure our children. and we need to reassure the international markets that we are acting responsibly to minimize the increase in the Federal deficit. Now. some of the expenditures being made out of the TARP funds are going to be money lost forever. Its going to be buying assets that turn out to be worthless or investing in companies that go bankrupt. That is why we need a very large upside on those of our investments that are successful. Typically. the Federal Government obtains an upside by obtaining warrants from the companies it provides bailout funds to. These allow the taxpayers to reap the benefits of a companys success when it returns to profitability and when that profitability is reflected In its stock price. I believe that. in the negotiations with Wall Street. Secretary Paulson has been far too generous to his friends in the financial services industry. Given the tremendous risks the Federal Government is assuming. taxpayers should be receiving far more of the upside in return for their investments. For example. in the recent bailout of Goldman Sachs. the taxpayer received half the rate of return and onesixth the warrants that investor Warren Buffett was able to receive on a similar investment that he made .n Goldman Sachs for his fund. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act gives the Treasury too much discretion as to what to demand in the way of warrants. While the Treasury is required to obtain warrants when it injects capital into financial institutions. it can accept as few warrants as it likes. The Treasury has adopted a onesizefitsall approach. which provides the Federal Government with warrants equal to 20 percent of its investment when it buys preferred stock in a financial institution. Not even this 20 percent is required by the statute. and this 20 percent is often way too low because those healthiest banks on Wall Street were willing to give us 20 percent. Clearly. the riskier banks on Wall Street that got bailout funds were not adequately compensating the American taxpayer for the risk we are taking because they only provided 20 percent warrants. a figure that might be appropriate for those financial institutions that are low risk. The question is: What can we do in a statute? Clearly. we hope that the next Secretary of the Treasury will drive a tough bargain whenever investing our taxpayer dollars in private firms. but we can do something in the statute. At a minimum. we should include language that was in an early version of the House bill dealing with the automobile relief that requires warrants of at least 20 percent. and we should make it clear that this 20 percent is a floor. not a ceiling. We should direct the Secretary of the Treasury to demand warrants that fully compensate the taxpayer for the risks being taken in any particular deal. Then we turn to the issue of executive compensation and perks. These are very important to taxpayers and are important in deterring those companies that dont need a bailout from coming to Washington in their private jets. hats in hand. Now. the bill. as interpreted by the Bush administration. has allowed multimillion dollar salaries to continue to be paid to the very executives who drove their companies into the ditch. and the Bush administration has chosen to impose no limits on perks. In particular. the Bush administration has ignored section 111(b) of the EESA. also known as the TARP bill. That section states: Where the Secretary determines that the purposes of the act are best met through direct purchases of troubled assets. the Secretary shall require that the financial institution meet appropriate standards for executive compensation and corporate governance. Virtually all of the $350 billion that the Secretary of the Treasury has expended has been pursuant to his determination that we could best be served through direct purchases of troubled assets. He has not done an auction. which was the main part of the bill he was trying to sell to us. Instead. he has simply made direct purchases of assets from companies. negotiated one at a time. In those circumstances. the law requires that he shall require that the financial institution meet appropriate standards for executive compensation and corporate governance. What has Secretary Paulson done? He has allowed multimillion dollar bonuses to be paid to the executives of AIG. He has allowed milliondollaramonth salaries to continue to be paid to executives of bailedout Wall Street firms. He has allowed all of those entities to continue to operate fleets of private jets. Despite getting our money. Goldman Sachs spent almost a quarter million dollars a year to provide a limo for one executive. This does not constitute appropriate standards for executive compensation and corporate governance. nor should Congress simply punt to the executive branch what those appropriate standards should be. Instead. we should provide by law that. if a company gets a Federal bailout. the firm must limit its total compensation package to any executive to no more than $1 million per year for as long as the firm is holding our money. The limits should apply to the whole package of compensationsalaries. bonuses. pension plan contributions. and stock options. In particular. a huge grant of stock options to an executive at this time could be a bonanzaand an unjustified onebecause right now all the stock prices of Wall Street firms are at depressed levels. and an option given to an executive to buy shares of stock for $1 or $2 a share could turn out to be more valuable than a ton of winning lottery tickets. To the extent any existing contract provides for executive compensation in excess of that which is allowed under statute. I suggest that the bill provide that that contract is void as against public policy. Now. let us turn to perks. We should limit luxury perks like corporate jets and chauffeured limousines. We should prevent these while any firm is holding taxpayers money. Ill point out there are firms on Wall Street that got money from Paulson that said. \"Hey. we signed up for the money. We never knew you were going to get tough with us.\" Fine. You dont like the new rules? Give us back our money. but if you retain taxpayer money. then you should not. as Goldman Sachs has done. be paying a quarter million dollars in a year for a chauffeured limousine service for one executive. If the firms executives dont want to take off their belts and their shoes and go through airport security like the public does. then that firm should not receive and should not retain a bailout. and it probably doesnt need one. For as long as those bailout funds are outstanding. we should prohibit firms from owning. leasing or chartering luxury jets or from maintaining a fleet of chauffeured limousines. We should provide exceptions for chartering planes to travel to remote areas. areas remote from scheduled air service. and we should allow some sort of driver and auto to be provided to those executives who face severe physical challenges. We may also want to provide limits on how much the company reimburses its executives per night for any hotel rooma maximum amount of $500 comes to mindor per meal for any meal. Perhaps it should be $100 per meal. I hate to get down to this level of specificity. but Wall Street has proven that they will squander the money taxpayers provide their firms on lavish parties and fancy travel if we are not specific. It is possible that the auto bailout bill that passed this House will be used as a model for limiting executive compensation and perks. If thats the case. we had better strengthen it first. We had better make clear that the limits on bonuses apply not just to cash bonuses but also to grants of stock options. We should limit the total compensation to $1 million a year. and we should limit the use not just of leased or of purchased luxury aircraft but also of chartered luxury aircraft. Finally. we should have appropriate limits on limousines. Let me point out that some of my colleagues have noticed that I was tough on the auto executives who used their private jets to come to us the first time. One of those companies has told me very explicitly: \"Sherman. the law may say that we cant own the jets. the law may say we cant lease the jets. but the law. as passed by the House. says we can still charter the jets. and our CEO is never going to fly commercial\" Thats fine unless that firm receives bailout money. Once it does. we have to limit it. We cant play a shell game with the American people. Oh. well limit the luxury travel. and then just have the company charter the jet Instead of lease the jet. That would be a fraud on the American people. There is one other important improvement that we need to make to the TARP bill. You see. after that bill passed. the Treasury adopted. as I mentioned before. a plan to buy preferred stock. in particular. of financial institutions. The next administration will probably use a good chunk of the money to go back to the original plan. which was to buy bad bondstoxic assetsfrom the financial institutions. Then we have to be worried. If were buying bad bonds. at least we should buy bad bonds owned by American investors. It is not the purpose of this bill to bail out banks in London and in Riyadh and in Shanghai. I want to make a technical distinction. I have no objection to our treating as American companies such firms as Hancock Insurance and Firemans\n",
      "Answer:  I thank the gentleman for yielding. I appreciate my Democratic colleague for bringing this very important issue to the forefront. and I support your effort to do so. and I trust that we across the aisle can continue to support Israel. In the Torah. in the Old Testament of the Bible. we read: Blessed is the Nation that blesses Israel. and cursed is the Nation that curses Israel. We as a Nation have been extremely blessed by our creator. by God. and I believe a big part of that. a huge part of that is because we have blessed Israel and supported Israel. These people are under attack by terrorists who consider Jewish people dogs. less than human. and we need to support Israel. I highly congratulate my Democratic colleague for bringing this forward. and I encourage our colleagues to continue to support Israel. to continue to do what we can to make sure that the Israeli citizens remain safe against these heinous attacks by Hamas. by Hezbollah. by the Iranian people who are funding both organizations. So we need to absolutely continue to support Israel so that God will continue to support America. and I congratulate my colleague for bringing this forward. and I look forward to working with you to continue to support Israel. Thank you.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  I look forward to working with the gentleman from Georgia and thank him for his remarks. Any discussion of the morality of war sometimes gets off on what I think is a sidelight. People always want to criticize this or that sergeant. this or that gunner. oh. you shouldnt have responded this way to rocks being thrown. oh. your attempt to return fire to a Hamas rocket site was off by 10 yards or 20 yards in the direction of a civilian location. We have to remember. the moral responsibility for war and for the deaths of war cannot be placed at the feet of this or that sergeant making this or that decision under lifethreatening conditions. The moral responsibility for war and for its casualties must be placed on politicians who seek extreme and unjust objectives through violent means. Heres a case where Hamas has earned its designation as a terrorist organization. Not only does it use terrorist means. but what are its objectives? They are stated very clearly. They are for the death or expulsion of every Jew from the Middle East. They refuse any change in that policy. So whether it is genocide or ethnic cleansing or more likely a combination of the two. these are the objectives of Hamas. being pursued by violent means. It is obviously the fault of the politicians of Hamas who seek these objectives that must be held responsible for the resulting carnage. We need a sustainable. permanent ceasefire. not a 2day resupply truce to allow Hamas to bring in more rockets. Now. I think its clear that this is not just a conflict between Israel and Hamas. It is a conflict between the Government of Iran and the people of the United States. The fighting in Gaza has demonstrated again that the ultimate adversary of the United States and its allies in the Middle East is the Government of Iran. Hamas is a terrorist organization seeking the destruction of Israel in favor of an Islamic Palestinian State. but it is also an Iranian proxy. As such. it is part of a regional war waged by the Iranian regime against the United States and its allies. Many Hamas weapons are made in Iran. and many top Hamas military leaders and the experts who launch the missiles into Israel were trained in Iran. Iran also provides the group with significant funding. It is unlikely that Hamas would have been able to achieve its status as the premier Palestinian terrorist organization and thus provoke this crisis without Iranian backing. Iranbacked Hamas. like Iranbacked Hezbollah. shoots rockets at Israeli civilians from deep inside their own densely populated civilian population. knowing that when Israel acts to defend itself innocent Palesinians will be among the victims. Through Hamas. Hezbollah and its operatives in Iraq. Iran and its government are able to stir up crises in the Middle East. thus injuring American prestige while helping to achieve that governments own aims. We know that Iran is working hard toward the possession of a nuclear bomb. This would allow Iran to act with impunity in the future. A nuclear Iran would go from provoking this crisis to that crisis. and we would have to go facetoface with a nuclear power. each time hoping. hoping for the same results we saw in the Cuban missile crisisthat is to say. going eyeballtoeyeball with a hostile nuclear power hoping we always have the same result. namely. some peaceful resolution. It only takes one crisis with a nuclear power that goes in the wrong direction to destroy an entire city or an entire country. Furthermore. we should recognize that if the regime in Tehran ever finds itself on the verge of collapseand many of us pray for that dayits leaders may decide to go out with a bang. Preventing Iranian nuclear possession is critical to world peace. and we can still succeed in accomplishing that goal. but we have to act quickly. The good news is we have used only 1 percent of the tools that are available to us. and therefore we can do a lot more. The bad news is weve used only about 1 percent of the tools available to us. We have demonstrated a lack of political will to use the methods that we have to use to put pressure on the Iranian regime. Now. Presidentelect Obama has a strong record of working to put pressure on the Iranian regime. He voted for the Lautenberg amendment. which would have prevented U.S. oil companies from doing business with Iran through their foreign subsidiaries. And he authored a bill that would have encouraged divestment from firmschiefly oil companiesdoing business with Iran. He will have the ability. when he takes office. to go a long way toward January 7. 2009 CONGRI increasing the price the Iranian Government pays for its stance on the nuclear issue and its support for terrorism. First. he can stop U.S. oil companies from using their overseas subsidiaries from doing business with Iran. We should also do that by legislation. The administration can start enforcing the Iran Sanctions Act. We can demand that the World Bank stop dispersing funds to Iran in the form of concessionary loans which have not been effectively opposed by the current administration. We can deny nuclear cooperation agreements to countries that provide technologies to Iran. We can deny insurance to ships that carry cargo to Iran. And we can put economic pressure on American foreign companies seeking to build liquefied natural gas plants in Iran and those that sell refined petroleumchiefly gasolineto Iran. Now. while Iran is oil rich. it needs to import nearly half its gasoline because it lacks refinery capacity. Im here to bring to the Houses attention one recent success. The Indian press is reporting that as a result of pressure that was initiated in the Congress. a major Indian petroleum refinery is halting its business dealings with Iran. I want to thank the several of my colleagues who joined with me in sending a letter to the U.S. ImportExport Bank to demand that EXIM not provide loans to this particular Indian refinery as long as the Indian refinery was supporting Iran and providing it with the gasoline it needs. I look forward to being able to convince Iranian elites that they face other economic and diplomatic isolation if they continue their nuclear program and continue their support for terror. and there are many other ways that we can achieve that objective. I invite my colleagues again to see more details at bradsherman.house.gov.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. Speaker. I believe that there is no greater moral issue that America faces that is more important than the killing of 4.000 babies every day through abortion. God cannot and will not continue to bless America while were killing those innocent unborn children. As we ring in the new year and begin the 111th Congress. the need to protect the unborn remains front and center in the national political debate. Each year. in keeping with my promise to my constituents and many around the country that the first bill that I will introduce provides constitutional protections to unborn children. today Im honored to Introduce the Sanctity of Human Life Act. H.R. 227. that defines life beginning at fertilization with the creation of a human zygote. a onecelled human being. As a physician. I understand the medical and scientific truths that life begins at fertilization. I also understand that the entire abortion debate rests on the decision of when life begins. Thats why my bill. among other things. says unequivocally that at the moment of fertilization. when this spermatozoa enters the cell wall of the oocyte and forms that onecelled human being. the zygote. that a human life begins and must be protected under law. As James Madison wrote in Federalist 39. the form of our government must be \"reconcilable with the fundamental principles of the revolution.\" the American Revolution. First among those principles is the right to life. If a nation will not protectthe most innocent of human beings. who will we protect? Concerned citizens and lawmakers must keep this fundamental principle in mind as we work fervently to protect the rights of unborn children. When I was a fulltime doctor prior to coming to Congress. I served on the board of directors for a crisis pregnancy center in innercity Atlanta. Georgia. We were fighting to save babies of underprivileged moms. many black moms in Atlanta. From a statistical standpoint. more black babies are being killed proportionately through abortion than white babies. and we were working to save those children. Im using the tools that my constituents have blessed me with to protect life and give constitutional protections to the innocent unborn. My bill. the Sanctity of Human Life Act. gives Republicans and Democrats alike who cherish life an opportunity to protect and defend the innocent and most defenseless among us. We need to pass the Sanctity of Human Life Act. I encourage my colleagues to get on this bill. support this bill. bring it to the floor for a vote. and stop killing these unborn children so God will continue to bless America.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. Speaker. I believe that there is no greater moral issue that America faces that is more important than the killing of 4.000 babies every day through abortion. God cannot and will not continue to bless America while were killing those innocent unborn children. As we ring in the new year and begin the 111th Congress. the need to protect the unborn remains front and center in the national political debate. Each year. in keeping with my promise to my constituents and many around the country that the first bill that I will introduce provides constitutional protections to unborn children. today Im honored to Introduce the Sanctity of Human Life Act. H.R. 227. that defines life beginning at fertilization with the creation of a human zygote. a onecelled human being. As a physician. I understand the medical and scientific truths that life begins at fertilization. I also understand that the entire abortion debate rests on the decision of when life begins. Thats why my bill. among other things. says unequivocally that at the moment of fertilization. when this spermatozoa enters the cell wall of the oocyte and forms that onecelled human being. the zygote. that a human life begins and must be protected under law. As James Madison wrote in Federalist 39. the form of our government must be \"reconcilable with the fundamental principles of the revolution.\" the American Revolution. First among those principles is the right to life. If a nation will not protectthe most innocent of human beings. who will we protect? Concerned citizens and lawmakers must keep this fundamental principle in mind as we work fervently to protect the rights of unborn children. When I was a fulltime doctor prior to coming to Congress. I served on the board of directors for a crisis pregnancy center in innercity Atlanta. Georgia. We were fighting to save babies of underprivileged moms. many black moms in Atlanta. From a statistical standpoint. more black babies are being killed proportionately through abortion than white babies. and we were working to save those children. Im using the tools that my constituents have blessed me with to protect life and give constitutional protections to the innocent unborn. My bill. the Sanctity of Human Life Act. gives Republicans and Democrats alike who cherish life an opportunity to protect and defend the innocent and most defenseless among us. We need to pass the Sanctity of Human Life Act. I encourage my colleagues to get on this bill. support this bill. bring it to the floor for a vote. and stop killing these unborn children so God will continue to bless America.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. Speaker. by direction of the Democratic Caucus. I offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. Speaker. I rise this afternoon in support of the beleaguered people of the State of Israel. I rise in support of the only democracy in the Middle East. I rise In support of the country in the Middle East that has the same values that our great country. the United States of America. has. principles of democracy and principles that are so important to every man. woman and child. The people of Israel have for 60 years been vilified by undemocratic powers and by powers that would wish to destroy it. For the past several years. day in and day out the people of Israel have had to endure rocket attacks coming from the terrorist organization that runs Gaza called Hamas. Israel is supposed to just accept these attacks on its citizens and do little or nothing about it if you would listen to the United Nations. if you would listen to the international community. if you would listen to these hypocritical demonstrations going on in London and all the Arab capitals and everyplace else. and even some in the United States. Every country. every governments primary responsibility is to protect its citizens. and the people of Israel and the Government of Israel should not be held to any other standard than that. The terrorist organization that runs Gaza called Hamas. bought and paid for by Iran. thinking that it can use terrorism as a way of somehow getting its state. must understand that in order to gain acceptance of nations in the free world. that it needs to renounce terror. that it needs to recognize Israels right to exist. and that it needs to abide by all previous resolutions that were signed by the Palestinian Authority. It doesnt do it because its a terrorist state. It doesnt do it because its vow is to destroy the Jewish State of Israel. It doesnt do it because. like Hezbollah and like Osama bin Laden and like al Qaeda. it thinks it can use terrorism to establish its aims and goals. but it cannot. We stand in a bipartisan fashion with the people of Israel because if we in the United States had missiles being fired onto our innocent civilians from states across the border. we would move across the border and try to stop those terrorists from killing our people. Thats what Israel is doing. Many of us on the Foreign Affairs Committee this morning met with the Israeli ambassador and we saw a tape where Israel takes great precaution to try to prevent civilian casualties. But what Hamas does is it builds its bomb factories and it builds its terror weapons in the heart of the densely populated areas of Gaza and uses its own people as human shields. And so when the Israelis destroy these missilemaking and bombmaking terror factories. innocent civilians very unfortunately get killed. But it is the Palestinians that support Hdmas. Its the Hamas organization that is responsible for these killings. Israel has an absolute right to defend itself. Now. we all want a ceasefire. We all want peace in the region. And we all know that ultimately peace will come when there is a twostate solution. an Israeli Jewish state and a Palestinian Arab state. The problem is most Israelis do accept the fact that there ought to be a Palestinian state. but the Palestinians. Hamas. does not accept the viability of Israel as a Jewish state. And so lets put things in perspective here. If you have people that want to destroy you and want to kill you and dont recognize your right to exist. how can we have peace in the region? We ought to note that Israel pulled out of Gaza several years ago and left Gaza to the Palestinians. And what did it get in return? It got missiles fired on its citizens in Syrot and other places in return for Israel leaving Gaza. The Palestinians used to say. well. its the occupation. thats what drives everything. What occupation is there in Gaza? There is none. Israel has left Gaza. And the people of Gaza could have built a democratic government living in peace with its neighbors. instead. they chose to embrace terrorism and try to kill as many Israelis as they can. So. in conclusion. Mr. Speaker. let me say that support for Israel in this Congress is strong and it is bipartisan and will remain so because we understand that .the democratic nation of Israel has a right to exist. and the government of Israel has a right to protect its citizens.\n",
      "Answer:  (at the recuest of Mr. HOYER) for January 6 after 3:30 p.m. on account of family illness.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. I rise to voice my strong support for a resolution in support of Israel that Senator McCONNELL and I introduced with a bipartisan. overwhelming number of Senators. When we pass this resolution. the U.S. Senate will strengthen its historic bond with the State of Israel. by reaffirming Israels inalienable right to defend against attacks from Gaza as well as our support for the IsraeliPalestinian peace process. I spoke last week with Prime Minister Olmert and again expressed my understanding of and appreciation for the terrible situation that Israel has faced. Hamas has been firing rockets and mortars into Israel. killing. maiming innocent Israeli citizens for more than 8 years. I ask any of my colleagues to imagine that happening here in the United States. rockets and mortars coming from Toronto and Canada into Buffalo. NY. How would we as a country react? We would react. and we would react swiftly and quickly. Israel has been very patient. Gaza was controlled by Israel since 1967. They. in an effort of extending an olive branch to the Palestinians. gave that territory up willingly. What have they gotten in return for it? Mortars and rockets fired. by now into the thousands. So we would have to react as they have done. We would have to react to protect our people. and it would not only be our right but an obligation to do so. That is what the Israelis have done. Hamas must stop the rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. That is the simple stated objective of Israel. I acknowledge and appreciate the calls by some or a ceasefire. Certainly we must encourage a peaceful resolution of the conflict. But we must be certain that any ceasefire is sustainable. durable. and enforceable. Our resolution reflects the will of the State of Israel and the will of the American people. It expresses vigorous support and unwavering commitment to the welfare. security. and survival of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state with secure borders and recognizes its right to act in selfdefense and to protect its citizens against acts of terrorism. It reiterates that Hamas must end the rocket and mortar attacks against Israel. and it recognizes Israels right to exist. renounce violence. and accept previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. which Hamas has certainly not done even a little bit. It encourages the President to work actively to support a durable. enforceable. and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible that prevents Hamas from retaining or rebuilding the capability to launch rockets against Israel and allows for the longterm improvement of daily living conditions for the ordinary people of Gaza. This resolution believes strongly that the lives of innocent civilians must be protected and all appropriate measures should be taken to diminish civilian casualties and that all involved should continue to work to address humanitarian needs in Gaza. It supports and encourages efforts to diminish the appeal and influence of extremists In the Palestinian territories and to strengthen moderate Palestinians who are committed to a secure and lasting peace with Israel. Finally. it reiterates strong support for U.S. Government efforts to promote a just resolution of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict through a serious and sustained peace process that leads to the creation of a viable and independent Palestinian state living in peace alongside a secure State of Israel.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. let me add. this resolution in support of the State of Israel has strong bipartisan support. Hamas is a terrorist organization. It clearly started this current conflict by launching rockets on to civilian sites in Israel. The Israelis. as the majority leader indicated. are responding exactly the same way we would if rockets were being launched into the United States from Canada or Mexico or some similar situation. The Israelis have every right to defend themselves against these acts of terrorism. I enthusiastically support the resolution. as does Senator LUGAR. our ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. S. Res. 10. the resolution that was adopted today reaffirming U.S. support for Israel. is factually accurate. No one here doubts our commitment to Israels security or Israels right to defend itself from Hamas rocket attacks. But the resolution. unfortunately. presents an incomplete response to the situation in Gaza. With so much at stake for the United States. for Israel and for the world. we owe the American people and all concerned a cleareyed. forthright and constructive discussion of such vital matters as these. Hamass unilateral decision to break the ceasefire was deplorable. It is clear that rather than work for peace. Hamas used the ceasefire to amass more powerful and longer range weapons. Its actions should be universally condemned. and they will achieve nothIng positive for the cause of the Palestinian people. Those who have collaborated in supplying weapons that are being used to terrorize and harm innocent civilians in Israel are complicit in the suffering and destruction that has occurred on both sides. For its part. Israel used the ceasefire to pressure Hamas through a blockade that. in the absence of a longterm strategy. has caused extreme hardship for the Palestinian people collectively in Gaza but done nothing to change Hamass militant policies. The blockade was not coupled with an effective strategy to address the underlying causes of the conflict. In the past 14 days. according to the United Nations. 758 Palestinians have died. including 257 children. as a result of Israels military operations. and thousands more have been injured. Palestinian homes. schools and other civilian infrastructure have been demolished. Among Israelis. three civilians have been killed. and seven soldiers have died. Israeli homes have also been badly damaged from Hamas rocket fire. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency. which is the principal humanitarian organization functioning in Gaza. suspended its operations earlier today due to risks to the safety of its personnel as a result of Israeli attacks which killed two of its workers and injured one. As has been said here repeatedly. Israel has the right to defend itself. And I have no doubt that the Israeli Defense Forces. using powerful weapons supplied by the United States. can achieve tactical victories in Gaza by damaging Hamass military capabilities. But the right response is one that will. over the long term. make Israel more secure. and that will be achieved only when Israel is accepted by its neighbors. Those of us who have long worked to support Israel should not lose sight of this crucial goal and this bigger picture. This escalation will. I fear. have the opposite effect. The widening use of force has implications for Israels longterm security that should concern each of us. This approach may increase support among Palestinians for Hamas as well as anger and resentment toward Israel and the United States within Arab countries and around the world. Israel seeks to deal a fatal blow to Hamas militants. to bomb them into submission and moderation. If our country were attacked in a similar way by one of our neighbors we might respond the same way. But there is little if any reason to believe these tactics can work. This latest escalation. with bombs falling and tank artillery striking In heavily populated areas where civiliansmore than half of whom are childrenhave no means of escape. obviously and tangibly is providing ammunition to extremists. inside and outside of Gaza. And in doing so it increases the dangers to both soldiers and civiliansIsraeli and Palestinianand of miring Israel in an openended mission in Gaza resulting in far more destruction and loss of innocent life than we have seen so far. Ultimately. extremism is what has hindered a political resolution that ends this conflict with two secure states living side by side. There are some who may argue that the collapse of the recent ceasefire proves that Hamas will only respond to force. Hamas has abused the ceasefire. but that is not the only lesson from the collapse. Any cleareyed analysis will show that a ceasefire cannot succeedindeed. it will be exploited by Israels enemiesif it is treated as an end in itself instead of as an opportunity to materially improve the humanitarian situation and to undertake serious negotiations to end the conflict. There are broadly acknowledged immediate steps that must be taken: put a meaningful ceasefire in place. stop the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. and open crossings into Gaza to facilitate the flow of licit goods and services. But beyond that. history has shown that absent an inclusive. diplomatic process that effectively addresses the core interests of both Israelis and Palestinians. the cycle of violence will continue. Preconditions are an obstacle to that process in the Middle East as much as they were for another seemingly intractable conflict. In Northern Ireland. Others have asked these questions. which are worth repeating: Does the Gaza war improve Israels longterm. or even shortterm. security? Was it realistic and in Israels longterm interests to expect Hamas to accept Israel in advance of negotiations. rather than push for a total cessation of the use of violence and blockade. followed by negotiations? Was it realistic to expect the ceasefire to hold while Gaza remained under siege. rife with hunger. illness. joblessness. and hopelessness. and while construction of settlements continued. and even accelerated. in the West Bank? On January 6. Secretary of State Rice spoke to the U.N. Security Council. I do not doubt the sincerity of her concern with the humanitarian situation in Gaza. or for the need for a ceasefire \"that can endure and bring real security.\" We all want that. But her words were noteworthy for what they said about the dismal failure of the Bush administrations approach to the Middle East conflict. Eight years were squandered and mistindled. and Presidentelect Obama faces a far more difficult situation than his predecessor inherited. Our credibility in the entire world has suffered immeasurably since 9/11. In particular our image in predominantly Muslim countries has been affected by the failure to advance a credible strategy to help resolve the IsraelPalestinian conflict. This has pronounced and obvious implications for our security. for Israels security. and for the entire Middle East region. At this time of great opportunity in America to change our policies and make a true contribution to peace in the Middle East. we should be careful when we adopt resolutions on subjects as sensitive as this to be cognizant of the history of the region and the complexities of the situation. Above all. our goal should be to enhance our role as a force for peace and our ability to advance our Nations interests.\n",
      "Answer:  I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to. the preamble be agreed to. the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. that there be no intervening action or debate. and that any statements related to this matter be printed in the RECORD.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. I would like to speak to two subjects. The first deals with a resolution the Senate unanimously adopted this morning. Mr. President. today the Senate approved a resolution recognizing the right of Israel to defend itself against terrorist attacks from Gaza and reaffirming the United States strong support for Israel in its battle with Hamas. The first thing the resolution does is remind people why the State of Israel had to act. Israel has had to endure more than 6.300 rocket and mortar attacks on its citizens since it fully withdrew from Gaza in 2005. In fact. the town of Sderot. which is about 3 miles from the border of Gaza. has been suffering for over 8 years from these attacks. Is there any doubt that if the United States were suffering an attack from just across the border similar to what Israel is facing. that we wouldnt react to stop that from happening? I think there is no question that we would act to stop this terrorism. and this resolution expresses the United States support of Israels right to defend itself. The second point the resolution makes is that there is no equivalency between the terrorist actions of Hamas and the defensive actions of Israel. Israel conducts its military operations to spare innocent life. It has specifically targeted Hamas command centers. security installations. rocketlaunching sites. weapons stockpiles. and weapons smuggling tunnels. It has tried very hard to avoid civilian casualties. Hamas. on the other hand. deliberately and maliciously fires rockets into civilian areas from civilian areas. thereby making it more difficult for Israel to target the terrorists and increasing the likelihood of civilian casualties when Israel does take action. Finally. this resolution speaks to calls for a ceasefire. Many voices in the international community have been heard pleading for an immediate ceasefire. although I think it is instructive that one never hears those voices condemning rocket attacks by Hamas terrorists. I believe the path to a halt in the violence is clear. A ceasefire is appropriate if. and when. it is durable and sustainable. A precipitous ceasefire. on the other hand. that would allow Hamas to rearm and rebuild its support in Gaza is not acceptable. Hamas cannot be given a ceasefire that only serves to provide it breathing room to regroup and then start firing its rockets and missiles again. By adopting this resolution. we have said to the Israeli people: \"We stand with you. and we support you in defending yourselves against terrorists.\" In short. the resolution expresses strong support for the defense of Israel by its military action today In the Gaza Strip. the fact that it has been repeatedly attacked by Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip. and finally decided that the only way to stop those attacks on its citizens was to go into Gaza and try to remove the weapons and the launching sites and to try to arrest the terrorists who were involved in the launching of those rockets. This resolution expresses strong support for Israel. It reminds us all why Israel was forced to act. It makes the point that there is no equivalency between the action of the Israelis and the terrorist action of Hamas. which deliberately seeks to harm civilians. Finally. it speaks to the question of a ceasefire. noting that the position of the United States is correctly that a ceasefire could only be supported if it is durable and sustainable. in other words. it ensures that the conditions that created the controversy today are not simply repeated another 6 months from now when the Hamas terrorists have had an opportunity to rearm. I am pleased the Senate has spoken in such a timely fashion on this important issue. I commend my colleagues for supporting the resolution.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. the presidentelect spoke to the stimulus package today. The Finance Committee had an informal meeting today to discuss the proposition. Its outlines are still quite vague. There is no specificity to what precisely will go into the stimulus package. but there are some general concepts emerging. So what I wanted to do today. very briefly. is to outline what I think would be some sensible tests to evaluate what is being proposed. and what it may reveal is that some ideas would not meet these tests and should not be part of a stimulus package. Others would meet the tests and would help to resolve the economic crisis that faces America today. I think the context we put this in is one in which we have already had some bailouts. and Americans are a little suspicious that some of the money we have committed to these bailouts is going to helpthe $200 billion bailout to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. the $150 billion bailout of AIG. the insurance company. the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. the recent $17.4 billion auto bailout. and. by the way. the announcement yesterday was that for the first time In the history of the world the budget deficit of a countrynamely. the United States of Americawill top $1 trillion. That is over 8 percent of our gross domestic product. A friend of mine reminded me todayI think It is an interesting bit of trivia-$1 trillion is more money than all the cash in circulation in the world today of the United States of America. All the dollar bills. the tendollar bills. the hundreddollar bills. and all of the quarters. nickles. and all of the other cash of the United States does not equal $1 trillion. and that is how much the deficit is going to be for just this current year. That is a lot of money. In that context. we have to be very careful about how we spend another $1 trillion or thereabouts to stimulate the economy. The money comes from somewhere. and it either comes from taxpayers directly in the form of increased taxes or it is borrowed and the taxpayers eventually have to pay that back with interest. The interest cost. by the way. is expected to be well over $300 billion. So. as a result. we have to be very careful that we do more good than harm by taking this money away from American taxpayers. The first test obviously is. will it work? Will it stimulate economic growth? That is the test that Larry Summers. an adviser to the Presidentelect. has stated. In fact. he said. and I am paraphrasing. that investments will be chosen strategically on the basis of which will do the most to spur the economy. So if we have tried something before. and it has not worked. it is a good sign that probably we should not do that. The reason I say that is we had a stimulus already: the socalled tax rebate. We spent $150 billion on it. The facts are now in. It did not work. it did not stimulate the economy. In fact. only about 12 percent of the money turns out to have been spent. The lesson to be learned in a situation like this is. if you have tried something before and it has not worked. then do not repeat it because it is throwing good money after bad. The reason it did not work is because when people get a onetime windfall. they tend to save It or to pay bills with it. They spend It if they believe that it is a permanent part of their income forever. more so if it is going to relate to their taxes. we need to ensure that they know that they are going to have permanent tax relief. If it Is simply something they believe they are going to have for a year or two. chances are they are not going to spend it. It Is not going to do any good. Another test is. would Government action be better in the private sector or the Government sector? We know in America It is small business and some big business. It is our free enterprise system that creates jobs. that creates economic growth. The Government cannot create economic growth. In fact. when the Government gets involved. there is more potential to do\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. the presidentelect spoke to the stimulus package today. The Finance Committee had an informal meeting today to discuss the proposition. Its outlines are still quite vague. There is no specificity to what precisely will go into the stimulus package. but there are some general concepts emerging. So what I wanted to do today. very briefly. is to outline what I think would be some sensible tests to evaluate what is being proposed. and what it may reveal is that some ideas would not meet these tests and should not be part of a stimulus package. Others would meet the tests and would help to resolve the economic crisis that faces America today. I think the context we put this in is one in which we have already had some bailouts. and Americans are a little suspicious that some of the money we have committed to these bailouts is going to helpthe $200 billion bailout to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. the $150 billion bailout of AIG. the insurance company. the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. the recent $17.4 billion auto bailout. and. by the way. the announcement yesterday was that for the first time In the history of the world the budget deficit of a countrynamely. the United States of Americawill top $1 trillion. That is over 8 percent of our gross domestic product. A friend of mine reminded me todayI think It is an interesting bit of trivia-$1 trillion is more money than all the cash in circulation in the world today of the United States of America. All the dollar bills. the tendollar bills. the hundreddollar bills. and all of the quarters. nickles. and all of the other cash of the United States does not equal $1 trillion. and that is how much the deficit is going to be for just this current year. That is a lot of money. In that context. we have to be very careful about how we spend another $1 trillion or thereabouts to stimulate the economy. The money comes from somewhere. and it either comes from taxpayers directly in the form of increased taxes or it is borrowed and the taxpayers eventually have to pay that back with interest. The interest cost. by the way. is expected to be well over $300 billion. So. as a result. we have to be very careful that we do more good than harm by taking this money away from American taxpayers. The first test obviously is. will it work? Will it stimulate economic growth? That is the test that Larry Summers. an adviser to the Presidentelect. has stated. In fact. he said. and I am paraphrasing. that investments will be chosen strategically on the basis of which will do the most to spur the economy. So if we have tried something before. and it has not worked. it is a good sign that probably we should not do that. The reason I say that is we had a stimulus already: the socalled tax rebate. We spent $150 billion on it. The facts are now in. It did not work. it did not stimulate the economy. In fact. only about 12 percent of the money turns out to have been spent. The lesson to be learned in a situation like this is. if you have tried something before and it has not worked. then do not repeat it because it is throwing good money after bad. The reason it did not work is because when people get a onetime windfall. they tend to save It or to pay bills with it. They spend It if they believe that it is a permanent part of their income forever. more so if it is going to relate to their taxes. we need to ensure that they know that they are going to have permanent tax relief. If it Is simply something they believe they are going to have for a year or two. chances are they are not going to spend it. It Is not going to do any good. Another test is. would Government action be better in the private sector or the Government sector? We know in America It is small business and some big business. It is our free enterprise system that creates jobs. that creates economic growth. The Government cannot create economic growth. In fact. when the Government gets involved. there is more potential to do\n",
      "Answer:  I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Madam President. today Senator Daschle has come before the HELP Committee for his confirmation hearing as our Secretary designate of Health and Human Services. I know that all of our colleagues and friends in the Senate found it moving and wonderful to see the distinguished chairman of that committee. Senator KENNEDY. back in his chair leading that hearing. We are all delighted to see him back at work in the Senate. and we are delighted to see Senator Daschle back with us in this exciting new capacity. We know every American deserves health care that he or she can afford. Senator Daschle knows that to do that we need basic systemic reform that will improve the way health care is delivered in this country. Senator Daschle has already brought forward ideas. such as the creation of a Federal health board. that have contributed enormously to the health care reform debate. and I hope very much he will pursue those ideas further at HHS. His nomination and Presidentelect Obamas creation of a new White House Office of Health Care Reform emphasize their serious commitment to solving this bedeviling problem. Senator Daschle will bring distinguished. thoughtful leadership to the crisis in our Nations health care system. Health care reform is the signal challenge facing our families. our economy. and our Government. I wish to take a few minutes today to speak about this great challenge and the urgent need for action. We all know the system is broken. The evidence lies all around usin my State of Rhode Island and across the country. When a lost job is frightening not just because it means lost income but because it means lost health care. our health care system is broken. When sudden illness strikes and insurance will not cover the costs. our health care system is broken. When families wait to see a doctor until it is too late because they have no health insurance to pay for the visit. our health care system is broken. We see the evidence of the broken system and the staggering costs of health care in this country. The United States spends 16 percent of our GDP on health care. That is about twice what our major industrialized competitor nations spend. The annual cost of the system exceeds $2 trillion. and it is expected soon to double. Family health emergencies have been the most common cause of personal bankruptcy. and businesses. large and small. struggle under the weight of everincreasing health insurance costs. There is more health care than steel in Fords cars and more health care than coffee beans in Starbucks coffee. Yet for all that money. what do we get? We still leave 46 million Americans uninsured. 46 million wrenching stories of health care foregone. of personal misfortune. even lives lost. That doesnt even include the experiences of our Nations underinsured or small business owners struggling to provide health insurance or the many Americans who receive poor quality health care. Presidentelect Obama is committed to reforming this broken system. and he has taken swift action to engage the American people in a national conversation about what is wrong and what we can do to fix it. Last month. he and Secretarydesignate Daschle asked people to hold meetings in their communities to discuss health care reform and to share their ideas. In the end. there is no better way to understand the deep failures of our health care system and the very real pain. frustration. anxiety. and anger it causes than to talk to the people who have experienced it firsthand. Over the past few yearsat community dinners that I have around our State. in my office. as I travel aroundmany Rhode Islanders have reached out to me to share their stories and to urge that we work urgently to repair this broken system. I wish to take a moment to share a few of those stories. A mother in Narragansett. RI. shared a story about her 20yearold son who suffers from severe bipolar disorder and relies on therapy and expensive medications to remain a valued and productive member of his community. He is too old to be covered under her family health insurance plan. and his preexisting condition makes buying insurance on the individual market impossibleprohibitively expensive. So what did they do? This mother and her family came up with a surprising solution. They enrolled her son at the Community College of Rhode Island so he could participate in the student health insurance plan. He takes the absolute minimum course load in order to continue to work. but he remains a student because it is less expensive to pay for college tuition than it is to pay for individual health insurance. Any parent with a child in college knows what a burden this Rhode Island family is bearing to ensure that their son gets the basic treatment he needs to stay healthy. I also heard from the proud owner of a small bookkeeping and tax preparation business in Warwick. RI. She has worked tirelessly to raise five sons. go back to college. and finally she has become her own boss. Yet despite all her effort and all her success. she wrote me to plead for reform. She wrote this: I spend over 50 percent of my income just to have health insurance for my husband and myself. The premiums are over $1.000 per month. even with very high deductibles. My employees need health insurance also. but I am unable to provide them with any benefits because of the poor economic conditions. Her employees are like family to her. as with so many small businesses. and it breaks her heart that they are uninsured. Yet she says she simply will not be able to keep her doors open if she tried to contribute toward their benefits. In the midst of this economic downturn. and particularly in Rhode Island where the unemployment rate is one of the highest in the Nation. this story shows all too clearly how closely linked are the tasks of reforming our health care system and strengthening our economy. Our health care system manages to fail even those who believe themselves to be covered. A woman who lives in Woonsocket and who has health insurance and was always careful to pay her bills on time. assumed she would be covered in the event of an emergency. Why not? She was current. She paid her premiums. She had insurance. But not too long ago. she suddenly had to have her appendix removed. Despite having health insurance. she left that hospital with a $10.000 bill. She is currently working for a temp service and she has no idea how she can pay off this debt. She had recently bought her own home. a longtime dream and an accomplishment in which she took great pride. Now. because of the fine print of that health insurance policy. she risks losing the home she worked so long to afford. As this Rhode Islander learned in the hardest way possible. health insurance often ends up ensuring very little. It is on behalf of these Rhode Islanders and so many others that I urge my colleagues to come together to support health care reform that will lower costs and improve the quality of care for all Americans. We must improve the way we deliver health care by promoting quality. implementing health information technology. and investing in preventing disease. We must. and will. protect existing coverage when it is good. we must improve it when it is not. and we must guarantee health care for the 46 million Americans. 9 million of whom are children who have no health insurance at all. We see ourselves now in darkening and tumultuous economic times. Yet looking beyond the immediate economic perils we face. there is a $35 trillion unfunded liability for Medicare that is bearing down on us. It is bearing down on us because our population is aging. because people get sicker as they age. and that makes them more expensive. Unless we figure out a way in this Chamber to stop time. unless we figure out a way in this Chamber to reverse the aging process. unless we figure out a way in this Chamber to make elders have healthier lives and bodies than younger people. this is inevitable. It is coming at us. and we have to prepare. In order to prepare. we have to reform the health care delivery system. We are committed. as Democrats. to making sure every American has health insurance coverage. but it is not enough just to bring everyone into the boat. If you had a boat in the ocean and people swimming around it and to save them you needed to bring them into the boat. you would do that. But if the boat itself was sinking. if the boat itself was on fire. just bringing everybody into the boat is not an adequate discharge of your duties. It is also important that you repair the boat. that you get it steaming forward. that you make sure it is safe for the people whom you bring into it. That means reforming our health information technology infrastructure so every American can count on an electronic health record. so when you go to see your doctor. you dont have to fill out that clipboard one time after another. when at the same time you can sign on to Amazon and not only do they know who you are. they know what you have bought and they have suggestions for you based on your buying habits. There is no excuse for our health care system being back in the 1950s as the rest of the economy moves forward into the 21st century. It requires improving the quality of health care and it requires investing in prevention. We dramatically underinvest in prevention and quality. There are market failures that cause those things to happen. They are repairable. In addition to the cost savings. it is estimated that 100.000 Americans die every year100.000 Americans die every yearbecause of avoidable medical errors. It is simply not tolerable to allow that to continue. particularly when it is a winwin situation. where improved quality of care means lower costs. Finally. the third leg of the reform. in addition to helping infrastructure technology and quality and prevention reform. is that we have to reform how we pay for health care to align the price signal that we send by those payments with what we want from health care. Until we do that. we will be constantly struggling uphill against our own financial message. This is all doable. This is all so doable. but it will take time. These are complex matters. We will have to make adjustments. The adjustments will take time. It is a dynamic environment which will have to make course corrections along the way. That means we need to start now. We do not have the luxury of time on our side. If we do not get started on a thoroughgoing health care delivery system reform now. then the alternative will be times that are even darker and more tumultuous than we find ourselves in right now. I see the very distinguished chairman of the Budget Committee on the floor. a man who is an eloquent voice on the dark and tumultuous times and the risks we face from the current fiscal situation. so I will gladly yield at this point. and I thank the Presiding Officer.\n",
      "Answer:  Madam President. first of all. I wish to thank Senator WHITEHOUSE for his contributions to this Chamber. He has been an outstanding Member. He serves on the Budget Committee with me. He has developed a special expertise on health care which is so badly needed. I wish to comment very briefly on the CBO report we received today in the Budget Committee hearing on the fiscal outlook. It is truly jawdropping. There is a $1.2 trillion deficit for this year. before any economic recovery package is passed. Add to the debt even higher: $1.6 trillion will be added to the debt of the country. and. again. that is before any cost of an economic recovery plan. If one factors in an economic recovery plan. we could be looking at an increase in the debt of $2 trillion this year alone. To put that in context. we have a gross debt of the United States of $10.6 trillion roughly today. So I think it is imperative that while we put together an economic recovery plan. which we must. we also are cognizant of the very serious longterm fiscal condition we face as a nation. There is a frontpage story in the New York Times today indicating that the Chinese. the biggest financers of our debt. have a reduced appetite for American dollardenominated debt because they have their own economic issues. their own need for the use of capital at home. This could have enormous consequences for us going forward in terms of interest rates and what it will take to attract foreign capital to float this economic boat. One final point. Last year. of the new debt financing for this country. 68 percent of it came from abroad. Madam President. 68 percent of our new debt financing came from abroad. The fact that the Chinese. who have been the most significant contributors to financing that debt. are expressing a reluctance to take on more of our debt. do more of our debt financing. should send a warning signal to all of us as we fashion longterm fiscal and economic policy. I yield the floor.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Madam President. under the rules. have we been in a quorum call or in recess?\n",
      "Answer:  Madam President. first of all. I appreciate your coming from your meeting to preside. As we begin the new Congress and a new administration. we begin a new chapter on energy and environmental policy. and it is a time that environmental activists. the United Nations. and many of my Democratic colleagues have been salivating for for years. The stars are all aligned. Democrats control both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue. and the Supreme Court has spoken now that carbon dioxide is a pollutant under the Clear Air Act. even though it was a 5to4 decision. It is kind of interesting how something can be a pollutant with a 5to4 decision. It is believed the stage has been set for a home run on mandatory Kyotolike climate controls and the dawn of a new bustling green energy economy. However. before many of my colleagues rush to leap before they look. I wish to remind them of some very unfortunate developments that may complicate their early action on items on their wish lists. I ask my colleagues to at least consider some of the facts I will be revealing over the next series of speeches and to keep an open mind before rushing to sweeping action after waiting for so many years. The scale and pace of the climate proposals and the regulatory actions we have debated in the past. including the recently failed LiebermanWarner bill and the ones we will likely be debating this Congress. leave little room for error in this fragile. recessionridden economy. and the inflated promises of a sweeping green jobs revolution need an honest and frank reality. The proponents of mandatory global warming controls need to be honest with the American people. The purpose of these programs is to ration fossilbased energy by making it more expensive and therefore less appealing for public consumption. It is a regressive tax that imposes a greater burden relative to resources on the poor than it does on the rich. Let me say that again. The purpose of these programs is to ration the fossil fuelbased energy by making it more expensive to all Americans and therefore less appealing for public consumption. But it is a regressive tax. and we have talked about this before. It is one that punishes those whose resources have to be used for such purposes as being able to operate their vehicles and heat their homes. Advocates may argue that the redistribution of wealth toward the income consumers will offset the balance of revenue or taxes being taken in. but we learned firsthand during the LiebermanWarner debate that this simply is not true. I dont like the argument that we have equal distribution of wealth efforts that are going to take a regressive nature out of the punitive values of this type of program. To me. there is something unAmerican about that. But while the bills sponsors try to convince us there is actually tax relief in the bill. we learn that familiesnow I am talking about the LiebermanWarner bill. and this was only about 8 months ago. the LiebermanWarner billwe learn that families with workers will still have to pay $6.7 trillion into the system in the form of higher energy costs to get back an estimated $802 billion in tax relief. That is a return of $1 out of every $8.40 paid. It is time that proponents of climate policies be honest. It is expensive. and it is going to cost taxpayers a lot of money. You know. it doesnt really matter which form we use. We have gone through. first of all. the Kyoto Treaty. We came this close to passing the Kyoto Treaty. and it wasnt until the Wharton School of Economics came along with the econometrics survey and they determined it would cost some $300 billion a year to join onto and actually try to achieve the emission requirements of Kyoto. Then along came the McCainLieberman bill and then after that the WarnerLieberman bill. And cap and trade is going to be about the same amount. They may massage it a little bit. but we are still talking in the neighborhood of $300 billion a year. That equates to over $2.000 for each taxpaying family in America. So It is huge. In the coming weeks. I will go into more detail about other false promises proponents of mandatory global warming policies are advocating. Among them are a reality check on green projectsthe number of new green jobs from a climate regime are overstated compared to the number of manufacturing jobs lost. and we know from the National Association of Manufacturers how many jobs would have been lost with any of these schemes in the past. a review of the weaknesses of offset policiescompanies have bought offsets which are not real. and a review of the attempts to estimate the cost of inaction. Many advocates are claiming it is more expensive to do nothing than the cost of a cap and trade. but they are untested and nontransparent economic modeling. All these issues will play a vital role in the debate on both energy and global warming policy. which have become unavoidably intertwined. You cant really talk about one without the other. You cant talk about what you are going to do on greenhouse gases or C02 or cap and trade without affecting our overall energy policy. When there are sensible proposals debated in Congress that can achieve double benefits of reducing emissions and making Americas energy supply more stable. diverse. and affordable. then we will look forward to working on a bipartisan basis to achieving these goals. Increasing our domestic energy production and lowering our dependence on foreign oil are two issues that are critically important to myself and my State of Oklahoma. and of course this will include renewables and new green jobs. However. we need to be smart and realistic about these policies. Unfortunately. I fear that the scale and pace many of my colleagues will be advocating with mandatory climate policies are unrealistic. extraordinarily narrowly expensive. and illadvised. What is the driver for these unrealistic proposals that seem to make unnecessarily abrupt and painful increases in our energy costs in the near term? It is all rooted in global warming science. I have given over 12 speeches. averaging over an hour apiece. on the science of global warming over the past few years. Today. I wish to update my colleagues on some of the latest science that has not yet been reported in the mainstream media. I will simply be a disseminator of this information and not a commentator. I have to say that because I am not a scientist. nor is anyone else that I know of in this body a scientist. So the statements I will make will be quoting people who are qualified and are scientists. and this is what my role will be. Before I do that. I ask all my colleagues to think about the issue. Science should not be reviewed through any one frame. It is not partisan. it is not regional. however. the political process has largely engulfed science behind climate change. As I have documented in speeches before. the politicizing of the global warming science has become one of the most unfortunate developments in the last 8 years. Anytime one questions a hypothesis or a conclusion that does not fall in line with \"the sky is falling\" doom and gloom scenario of global warming alarmists. it is ridiculed. written off. denigrated. and not reported by the mainstream media. Yet anytime a more severe interpretation or alarming statistic is related. it is headline grabbing in the news. Objective. transparent. and verifiable science gets lost in the public dialog. Funding has a way of influencing this debate. The other day there was an article in the Bloomberg Newsand I say this for those individuals who might be feeling sorry for Al Goreit was reported that his net worth in 2000 was between $1 million and $2 million and it is now in excess of $100 million today. so he will be all right. When the stakes of the policy outcomes with cap and trade and other mandatory climate proposals are this high for the American people. I hope the Senate this year will embrace my calls for objectivity and transparency in science and modeling. As policymakers. it is our duty to make sure models developed by agencies and used in policy are useful for their intended purpose. articulate major assumptions and uncertainties. and separate sclentific conclusions from policy judgments. However. with global warming science this has not been the case. With many leftofcenter scientists. the environmental activists now realize the socalled consensus on manmade global warming is not holding up. The leftwing blog Huffington Postthis is a leftleaning organizationsurprised a lot of people by featuring an article on January 3. 2008. by Harold Ambler demanding an apology from Gore for promoting unfounded global warming fears. The Huffington Postagain. left leaningarticle accused Gore of telling the biggest whopper ever sold to the American public in the history of mankind because he claimed the science was settled on global warming. The Huffington Post article. entitled \"Mr. Gore: Apology Accepted.\" adds. \"It is Mr. Gore and his brethren who are flatEarthers. not the skeptics.\" Again. it is not myself. not Jim Inhofe saying this about Gore. it is the leftwing blog. the Huffington Post. saying these things. The Huffington Post article continues: Let us neither cripple our own economy by mislabeling carbon dioxide a pollutant nor discourage development in the Third World. where suffering continues unabated day after day. Another leftofcenter atmospheric scientist who has descended on the manmade climate fears is the U.K.s Richard Courtney. a U.N.-and lets keep in mind where all this started. A lot of people forget this was started by the United Nationsthe United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. They came out and said: Oh. it is manmade gases. anthropogenic gases. C02. methane that are causing climate change. And this person used to be on that panel. He was an expert reviewer in the U.K.-based climate and atmospheric science. a consultant. and a selfdescribed Socialist who also happens to reject manmade climate fears. Joining Courtney are many of the other progressive environmental scientists. Former Green Peace member and Finnish scientist Dr. Jarl Ahlbeck. a lecturer of environmental technology and a chemical engineer at the University of Finland who has authored 200 scientific publications. is also skeptical of manmade climate doom. Ahlbeck wrote in 2008: Contrary to common belief. there has been no or little global warming since 1995. and this is shown by two completely independent data sets. But so far. real measurements give no ground for concern about catastrophic future warming. This is kind of interesting because what he is sayingand this is a guy who started out with the United Nations in the beginning. with the IPCCis that right now we are actually in a cooling period. I think no one debates that now. We have had the most severe weather. and I will have another talk I will try to get in next week about what is happening around the country right now. It isnt global warming. it is global cooling. People forget God is still up there and we go through these cycles. I can remember the middle 1970s when they were saying there is another ice age coming and we are all going to die. Those same peopleand there was an article in Time magazine at that timeare the ones now saying we are going to die. but it is for a different reason. it is global warming. Lifelong liberal Democrat Dr. Martin Hertzberg. a retired Navy meteorologist with a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. also declared his dissent of warming fears in 2008. He said: As a scientist and lifelong liberal Democrat. I find the constant regurgitation of the anecdotal. fear mongering claptrap about humancaused global warming to be a disservice to science. Finally. CNNnot a bastion of conservatismhad yet another of its meteorologists dissent from warming fears. Meteorologist Chad Myers. a meteorologist for 22 years. certified by the American Meteorological Society. spoke out against anthropogenic climate claims on CNN in December. You know. to think that we could affect weather all that much is pretty arrogant. Mother Nature is so big. the world is so big. the oceans are so bigI think we are going to die from the lack of fresh water or we are going to die from some type of ocean acidification before we die from global warming. for sure. Myers joins fellow CNN meteorologistby the way. CNN has been very biased all this time. I think we know that. as has the Weather Channel. because there is a lot of money in perpetuating this myth. Myers was joined by his fellow CNN meteorologist. Rob Marciano. who compared Gores film to fiction in 2007. and CNN anchor Lou Dobbs just said of a global warming fear promotion on January 5 of this year. \"Its almost a religion without any question.\" Recently. I released a new report on climate scientists which documents many of the studies ignored by the mainstream media. Here it is right here. This is one that is actually too large to put into the report. are 650 scientists who have challenged manmade global warming claims made by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We talked about that. I have been detailing these science issues for a number of years. In a July 28. 2003. floor speech in this Chamber I said: The issue of global warming \"is far from settled. and indeed is seriously disputed.\" The science continues to evolve. I explained that \"anyone who pays even cursory attention to the issue understands that scientists vigorously disagree over whether human activities are responsible for global warming. or whether those activities will precipitate natural disasters.\" I notedand this is what I said in 2003: Not only is there a debate. but (at least in certain corridors) the debate is shifting away from those who subscribe to global warming alarmism. That was in 2005. After that speech. I led the charge against the McCainLieberman global warming capandtrade billthat would be in 2003. then again in 2005--both times easily defeating the bills. At the time It was a lonely battle. Only a few people came down to help me on the floor. I remember so well in 2005 when I was alone down here on the floor of the Senate for 5 consecutive days that we had it on the floor. about 10 hours a day. Very few people came down and were willing to join me on the Senate floor. That has changed. If you fastforward from 2005 to 2008. we had the WarnerLieberman bill on the floor. At that time I had over 25 Senators come down and join me. You are seeing people who no longer fear the money generated by the moveon.orgs. the Hollywood elitists. those individuals who have millions of dollars to put into campaigns. to throw into the system. We are getting a lot of encouragement. Things have changed. In fact. at the end of the bill that we had that is referred to sometimes as either the LiebermanWarner bill or the Boxer climate tax bill. they are only able to get about 37 people from their own party. from this side of the aisle over here. who would support it. That Is a major change from the past. After this election that number has only gone up from 37 to 39. You are not getting close to the 60 votes necessary to try to inflict this economic damage on the United States. The Republicans were prepared to debate the billthis Is the WarnerLieberman billand were ready to offer amendments. but the Democrats didnt want to debate. much less vote. on our amendments that were aimed at protecting American families and workers from the devastating economic impacts of the bill. When faced with the inconvenient truth of the bills impact on skyrocketing gas prices. it was Democratic Senators who wanted to see the bill die a quick death. By the way. we had a list of some 10 Democratic Senators who. in a very responsible way. said we will go ahead and vote on some of these amendments. but when it comes to final passage. we are not going to vote on it. After the bill failed. the Wall Street Journal aptly noted that environmentalists are stunned that their global warming agenda is in collapse. The paper added: The green groups now look as politically intimidating as the skinny kid on the beach who has sand kicked in his face. The paper quoted a political analyst who noted that \"this issue is starting to feel like the Hillary health care plan again.\" Despite the claims that we must act now to prevent climate crisis. the climate tax bill would not have resulted in any action whatsoever. The bill. often touted as an insurance policy against global warming. would instead have been all economic pain and no climate gain. This is because without a global treaty. the binding commitments by both the developing and developed countries is not going to work. Lets say we believed that manmade. anthropogenic gases were the major cause of climate change and the debate was over if we do something just unilaterally in the United States of America. All that would do is cause a flight of our manufacturing jobs overseas to countries such as India and China and Mexicoplaces where they do not have any kind of a restriction on the greenhouse gases. So it would have a net increase. if we were to pass one of these. Yet we are the ones who would be saddled with a $300 billionayear tax bill. Americans are suspicious of the need for solutions to global warming. The Gallup Poll released on Earth Day 2008 revealed the American publics concern about manmade global warming has remained unchanged since 1989. According to Gallup. and this is a quote from the report. they said: Despite the enormous attention paid to global warming over the past several years. the average American is in some ways no more worried about it than they were in years past. In other words. after all the money. all the hype. all the biased media over the past few years. people have not moved in that direction. They know better. They know when they have been duped. What perhaps is the most striking is that. aside from the economics of global warming solutions. the science has continued to move in the direction I predicted in 2003. In 2007 I released a Senate minority report detailing over 400 scientists disputing manmade global warming claims. In the inconvenient real world climate study. developments are refuting global warming fears. That was 2007. just a year ago. In 2008. in the tail end of 2008. for the benefit of public dissemination we have updated our report. and the socalled consensus on global warming is even more in dispute. That is the report I have right here. Over 650 dissenting scientists from around the globe challenge manmade global warming claims made by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and by former Vice President Al Gore. Our new 233page U.S. Senate minority report features the skeptical voices of over 650 prominent international scientists. including many current and former U.N. IPCC scientists who have now turned against the U.N. IPCC. This updated report includes an additional 250and growing. I might add. it has grown since thenscientists and climate researchers since the initial release in December of 2007. The over 650 dissenting scientists are more than 12 times the number of the U.N. scientistsonly 52 of themwho authored the mediahyped IPCC 2007 Summary for Policymakers. This is very significant. I know it is kind of heavy lifting to understand this. but the U.N. IPCC. that started this whole thing. they have this analysis that is made and updated. but you never get the full report by any of the scientists. It is merely the summary for policymakers. That is us. That is for the politicians out there. So they only have 52 scientists who signed this report. We are talking about 650 scientists versus 52. The chorus of skeptical scientific voices grew louder in 2008 as a steady stream of peerreviewed studies. analyses. realworld data. and inconvenient developments challenged the U.N.s and former Vice President Al Gores claims that the \"science is settled.\" and there is a \"consensus.\" Despite what is now being portrayed in the media on a range of issues. 2008 proved to be devastating for the promoters of manmade climate fears. In addition. the following developments further secured 2008 as the year the \"consensus collapsed.\" Russian scientists \"rejected the very idea that carbon dioxide may be responsible for global warming. Frankly. they laugh. I have had meetings with them. They laugh at it. In Milan. when they had one of the big United Nations meetings where they tried to coerce countries into supporting this. the Russians at that time were in a position. since they have these vast areas that are totally undevelopedI remember flying across Siberia a few years ago. I am a pilot and flew an airplane across the world. and I remember flying across Siberia and looking down and seeing time zone after time zone where you dont see any people. nothing but natural resources. Yet all of those would go in the formula. so they would be great big recipients if they are able to get some kind of international treaty. In addition to that. the American Physical Society editor conceded that \"a considerable presence\" of scientific skeptics exists. An international team of scientists countered the U.N. IPCC. declaring. \"Nature. not human activity. rules the climate.\" India issued a report challenging global warming fears. A team of international scientists demanded the U.N. IPCC \"be called to account and cease its deceptive practices.\" and a canvass of more than 51.000 Canadian scientists revealed that 68 percent disagree that global warming science is \"settled.\" We are not talking about politicians. people. Senators like me and others in this room. We are talking about real scientists who are out there. We are talking about 68 percent of the scientists in Canada now have come to recognize this. That was not true 5 years ago. Most were on the other side of this Issue. but they have now looked at it and realize they have been duped. This new report is the latest evidence of the growing groundswell of scientific opposition challenging significant aspects of the claims of the United Nations IPCC and Al Gore. Scientific meetings are now being dominated by a growing number of skeptical scientists. The prestigious International Geological Congress. dubbed the geologists equivalent of the Olympic Games. and held in very high esteem. was held in Norway in August 2008. just a few months ago. and prominently featured the voices of scientists skeptical of manmade global warming fears. The conference was reportedly overwhelmed with skeptical scientists. with \"twothirds of the presenters and questionaskers who were hostile to. even dismissive of. the United Nations IPCC.\" Even the mainstream media in 2008 began to take notice of the expanding number of scientists serving as \"consensus busters.\" A November 25. 2008. article in Politicoeveryone in Washington reads thatnoted that a \"growing accumulation\" of science is challenging warming fears. and added that the \"science behind global warming may still be too shaky to warrant capandtrade legislation.\" Canadas National Post noted on October 20. 2008. that \"the number of climate change skeptics is growing rapidly.\" New York Times environmental reporter Andrew Revkin noted on March 6. 2008. \"As we all know. climate science is not a numbers game (there are heaps of signed statements by folks with advanced degrees on all sides of this issue).\" I agree with him. and its a shame that we have had to resort to a numbers game. It should be focused on objective. transparent and peer reviewed science. and debate should not be quarantined. In 2007. Washington Post staff writer Juliet Eilperin conceded the obvious. writing that climate skeptics \"appear to be expanding rather than shrinking.\" Skeptical scientists are gaining recognition despite what many say is a bias against them in parts of the scientific community and are facing significant funding disadvantages. Dr. William M. Briggs. a climate statistician who serves on the American Meteorological Societys Probability and Statistics Committee. explained that his colleagues described \"absolute horror stories of what happened to them when they tried getting papers published that explored nonconsensus views.\" In a March 4. 2008. report Briggs described the behavior as \"really outrageous and unethical . . . on the parts of some editors. I was shocked.\" Again. this is not me saying this. there are scientists. Here are some of the highlights of my 2008 Senate minority report featuring over 650 international scientists dissenting from manmade climate claims. Incidentally. this report I haveit was my intention to make this report of these 650 scientists a part of the RECORD. However. very wisely this body has said we do not want the expense. Something like this would be so overwhelming that some Senators who are conservatives would rather not do it. The report is here. It is a matter of public record. You can get a lot of this on my Web site. ewo.senate.com. Nobel Prize Winner for Physics. Ivar Giaever. stated: I am a skeptic . Global warming has become a new religion. Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Joanne Simpson. the first woman in the world to receive a Ph.D. in meteorology. and formerly of NASA. who has authored more than 190 studies and has been called \"among the most preeminent scientists of the last 100 years.\" stated: Since I am no longer affiliated with any organization nor receiving any funding. I can speak quite frankly. . . . As a scientist I remain skeptical . . . The main basis of the claim that mans release of greenhouse gases is the cause of the warming is based almost entirely upon climate models. We all know the frailty of models concerning the airsurface system. Here. no one can argue with Dr. Simpson. The United Nations IPCC Japanese scientist Dr. Kiminori Itoh. an awardwinning Ph.D. environmental physical chemist. statedthis is from all over the world now. this is in Japan. Warming fears are the worst scientific scandal in the history. . . . When people come to know what the truth is. they will feel deceived by science and scientists. Indian geologist Dr. Arun Ahluwalia of Punjab University. and a board member of the U.N.-supported International Year of the Planet. stated: The IPCC has actually become a closed circuit. it does not listen to others. It does not have open minds. I am really amazed that the Nobel Peace Price has been given on scientifically incorrect conclusions by people who are not geologists. Solar physicist Dr. Pal Brekke. senior advisor to the Norwegian Space Center in Oslo. has published more than 40 peerreviewed scientific articles on the Sun and solar interaction with the Earth. Brekke stated: Anyone who claims that the debate is over and the conclusions are firm has a fundamentally unscientific approach to one of the most momentous issues of our time. These are all top scientists. No one can discredit these people. You might wonder. why is it that so many people want us to believe that maybe bad old man is responsible for those horrible things that are going to happen. that are not going to happen? There are a lot of reasons for that. A lot of money behind this comes from organizations such as those we find in some of the Hollywood groups. moveon.org. George Soros. and different foundations such as the Hines Foundation that do want to stop the progress in this country. But. anyway. back to some of these scientists. Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera. a researcher at the Institute of Geophysics of the National Autonomous University of MexicoI am covering all of these countries now. These are the top scientists in these countriesstates: Models and forecasts of the UN IPCC are incorrect because they only are based on mathematical models and presented results and scenarios that do not include. for example. solar activity. Surprise. surprise. The Sun warms things. U.S. Government atmospheric scientist Stanley Goldenberg of the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA stated: It is a blatant lie put forth in the media that makes it seem that there is only a fringe of scientists who do not buy into anthropogenic global warming. Geoffrey G. Duffy. a professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering of the University of Auckland in New Zealand. stated: Even doubling or tripling the amount of carbon dioxide will virtually have little impact. as water vapor and water condensed on particles as clouds dominate the worldwide scene and always will. This has always happened. We have gone through these stages. I do not want to make this part without documentation. but when we went through one of the other warming periods in this country. it was back before they had the combustion engine. back before CO2 was even around yet. Here we are today with all of these people. the names are the top scientists in the world who are making these statements. A lot of them used to be on the other side of this issue. That was back when they were being threatened with withdrawal of various funding for the projects they had. and now they are back on the other side. Andrei Kapitsa. a Russian geographer and Antarctic ice core researcher. stated: The Kyoto theorists have put the cart before the horse. It is global warming that triggers higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. not the other way around ... A large number of critical documents submitted at the 1995 United Nations conference in Madrid vanished without a trace. As a result. the discussion was onesided and heavily biased. and the U.N. declared global warming to be a scientific fact. Prominent Hungarian physicist and environmental researcher Dr. Miklos Zagoni reversed his view. He was on the other side of this issue. on manmade warming. He is now a skeptic. Zagoni. once Hungarys most outspoken supporter of the Kyoto Protocol. stated that: Natures regulatory instrument is water vapor: more carbon dioxide leads to less moisture in the air. keeping the overall greenhouse gases content in accord with the necessary balance conditions. Again. that is a very prominent scientist. perhaps considered the most prominent scientist in Hungary. Geologist Dr. David Gee. the chairman of the science committee of the 2008 International Geological Congress. who has authored 130plus peerreviewed papers. who is currently at Uppsala University in Sweden. stated: For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming? For how many years must cooling go on? Meteorologist Hajo Smit of Holland. who reversed his beliefhe was another one on the other side of this issue. another one of the many scientists who reversed his belief on manmade warming to become a skepticis a former member of the Dutch U.N. IPCC committee. He stated: Gore prompted me to start delving into the science again and I quickly found myself solidly in the skeptic camp . . . Climate models can at best be useful for explaining climate changes after the fact. South African nuclear physicist and chemical engineer Dr. Philip Lloyd was also one of them who was very prominent In the United Nations IPCC in years past. He was the cocoordinating lead author who has authored over 150 refereed publications. and he stated: The quality of CO2 we produce is insignificant in terms of natural circulation between air. water and soil . . . I am doing a detailed assessment of the U.N. IPCC reports and the Summaries for Policymakers. identifying the way in which the Summaries have distorted the science. I am actually getting that report. As we have said. we have been looking at these reports for policymakers for a long time. And those people on the other side would have you believe that is the National Academy of Sciences. that is the United Nations. It is not scientists. This is a summary for policymakers. These are politicians who have an agenda. Atmospheric physicist James A. Peden. formerly of the Space Research and Coordination Center in Pittsburgh. stated: Many scientists are now searching for a way to back out quietly (from promoting warming fears). without having their professional careers ruined. This is the intimidation I was talking about. Geophysicist Dr. Phil Chapman. an astronautical engineer and former NASA astronaut. who served as staff physicist at MIT. stated: All those urging action to curb global warming need to take off the blinkers and give some thought to what we should do if we are facing global cooling instead. Which. incidentally. happens to be going on right now. Environmental scientist Professor Delgado Domingos of Portugal. the founder of the Numerical Weather Forecast Group. who has more than 150 published articlesthese guys are smart guys. This is not politicians talking. these are the incontrovertible scientists who cannot be challengedstated: Creating an ideology pegged to carbon dioxide is dangerous nonsense . . . The present alarm on climate change is an instrument of social control. a pretext for major business and political battle. It became an ideology. which is concerning. Dr. Takeda Kunihiko. vice chancellor of the Institute of Science and Technology Research at Chubu University in Japan. stated: CO2 emissions make absolutely no difference one way or another . . . Every scientist knows this. but it doesnt pay to say so . . . Global warming. as a political vehicle. keeps Europeans in the drivers seat and developing nations walking barefoot. Awardwinning paleontologist Dr. Eduardo Tonni of the Committee for Scientific Research in Buenos Aires and the head of the Paleontology Department at the University of La Plata said: The global warming scaremongering has its justifications in the fact that it is something that generates funds. There we go again. All of these different groups and these foundations who will fund people who will agree to support their political positions. Atmospheric scientist Dr. Art Douglas. former chair of the Atmospheric Sciences Department at Creighton University in Omaha. NE. and author of numerous peerreviewed publications. stated: Whatever the weather. its not being caused by global warming. If anything. the climate may be starting into a cooling period. And this is. by the way. something that nobody questions now. we are going well into a cooling period. Chemist Dr. Patrick Frank. who has authored more than 50 peerreviewed articles. stated: But there is no falsifiable scientific basis whatever to assert this warming is caused by humanproduced greenhouse gasses. because current physical theory is too grossly inadequate to establish any cause at all. Awardwinning NASA astronaut and moonwalker Jack Schmitt. who flew on the Apollo 17 mission and formerly of the Norwegian Geological Survey. and for the U.S. Geological Survey. stated: The global warming scare is being used as a political tool to increase government control over American lives. incomes and decisionmaking. It has no place in the Societys activities. By the way. I would have to add to that. another one of the motivations in the United Nations is they are always critical of us when we threaten to withhold some of the funding. when they are advocating policies that are contrary to our policies in the United States. They would love nothing more than to have some type of a funding mechanism where they did not have to be accountable to the United States or any other nation. Climatologist Dr. Richard Keen. of the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Colorado. stated: Earth has cooled since 1998 in defiance of the predictions by the U.N. IPCC . . . The global temperature for 2007 was the coldest in a decade and the coldest of the millennium . . . which is why global warming is now called climate change. This is kind of interesting. Next week I am going to put together what has been happening recently in this cooling period. the fact that we have had records that are set all around the United States and all around the world. and that is exactly what Dr. Richard Keen is talking about now. We are in a cooling period. It has to drive these global warming people nuts to have to recognize that. Dr. G. LeBlanc Smith. a retired principal research scientist with Australias CSIRO. stated: I have yet to see credible proof of carbon dioxide driving climate change. let alone manmade CO2 driving it. The atmosphere hotspot is missing and the ice core data refute this. When will we collectively awake from this deceptive delusion? That is G. LeBlanc Smith of Australia. one of the top scientists in Australia. The distinguished scientists featured in this new report are experts in diverse fields. including climatology. geology. biology. glaciology. biogeography. meteorology. oceanography. economics. chemistry. mathematics. environmental sciences. astrophysics. engineering physics. and paleoclimatology. Some of those profiled have won Nobel Prizes for their outstanding contribution to their field of expertise and many shared a portion of the U.N. IPCC Nobel Peace Price with Al Gore. The notion of hundreds or thousands of U.N. scientists agreeing to a scientific statement does not hold up to scrutinyjust not true. Recent research by Australian climate data analyst John McLean revealed that the IPCCs peerreview process for the Summary for Policymakers leaves much to be desired. The 52 scientists who participated in the 2007 IPCC Summary for Policymakers had to adhere to the wishes of the United Nations political leaders and delegates in a process described as more closely resembling a political partys convention platform battle. not a scientific process. Only 52 scientists wrote the mediahyped U.N. summary for policymakers. and it was actually published by the politicians and not the scientists. One former U.N. IPCC scientist bluntly told EPW. our committee. how the United Nations IPCC summary for policymakers distorted the scientists work. He said: I have found examples of a Summary saying precisely the opposite of what the scientists said. This was from South African nuclear physicist and chemical engineer Dr. Philip Lloyd. a U.N. IPCC cocoordinating lead author who has authored over 150 referred publications. A 2008 international report of the U.N. found its climate agency \"rife with bad practices.\" Others like to note that the National Academy of Sciences and the American Meteorological Society have issued statements endorsing the socalled consensus view that man is driving global warming. But both the NAS and the AMS never allowed member scientists to directly vote on these climate statements. Essentially only two dozen or so members of the governing bodies of these institutions produced a consensus statement. This report gives a voice to the rankandfile scientists who were shut out of the process. So they are very thankful. Many of these scientists are glad that we have this report so that they now have access to the truth and they can come out from hiding. The more than 650 scientists expressing skepticism comes after the U.N. IPCC Chairman Pachauri implied that there were only about a dozen skeptical scientists left in the world. Former Vice President Gore has claimed that scientists skeptical of climate change are akin to flat Earth society members and similar in number to those who believe that the moon landing was actually staged in a movie lot in Arizona. It is a shame that proponents have now been reduced to name calling. That is what we are getting now. name calling and insults. When you lose your logic. this is what happens. They start the name calling and insults because they dont have logic. Examples of consensus claims made by promoters of manmade climate fears: The U.N. special climate envoy Dr. Gro Harmel Brundtland. on May 10. 2007. declared that the debate is over and added that \"its completely immoral. even. to question the U.N.s scientific consensus.\" The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary said it was criminally irresponsible to ignore the urgency of global warming. This was on November 12. 2 07. ABC News global warming reporter Bill Blakemore reported on August 30. 2006: After extensive searches. ABC News has found no such [scientific] debate on global warming. While the dissenting scientists contained in the report hold a diverse range of views. they generally rally around four key points. No. 1. the Earth is currently well within national climate variability. We are talking about 650 of the top scientists In the world. No. 2. almost all climate fear is generated by unproven computer model predictions. No. 3. an abundance of peerreviewed studies continues to debunk rising CO2 fears. No. 4. consensus has been manufactured for political and not scientific purposes. Those four things. all of these 650 top scientists in the world agree to. Since I released the report on December 11. other scientists have contacted us to be included. On December 22. 11 more scientists were added. including meteorologists from Germany. the Netherlands. and CNN. Even CNN. very much on the other side of this issue. two more of their meteorologists have come over and become skeptics. as well as professors from MIT. the University of Arizona. and other institutions. One prominent scientist added was awardwinning Princeton University physicist Will Happer. who was reportedly fired by former Vice President Al Gore in 1993 for failing to adhere to Gores scientific views. Happer has now declared manmade global warming fears as mistaken. Happer is a professor in the Department of Physics at Princeton University and former director of energy research at the Department of Energy who has published over 200 scientific papers and is a fellow of the American Physical Society. the American Association for the Advancement of Scientists. and the National Academy of Sciences. Happer does not mince words when it comes to warming fears. He said: I am convinced that the current alarm over carbon dioxide is mistaken . . . Fears about manmade global warming are unwarranted and are not based on good science. As we face a new administration and a U.N. eager to draw the U.S. into its climate policy. lets not forget that this aspect of the debate is still alive and well and only growing. We should not become weary of calling into question policy choices when they are driven by still evolving scientific assessment. especially when the stakes are so high and the costs are so extraordinary. Let us hope this administration and our news media recognize this new reality as we move forward into this new Congress. On a personal note. it has been a lonely fight. For the last 6 years I have been talking about the Hollywood and mediadriven fear that tries to convince us that those who are fueling this machine called America are somehow evil and fully responsible for global warming. This is absurd. We all know better. It does take power to run this machine we call America. In the past. the only argument that defeated all the capandtrade schemes was the economic argument. I think you can argue each one differently. saying no. this wouldnt cost the same as adhering to emissions required by Kyoto back in the Kyoto treaty days. But any time you get into a cap and trade of C02. it is going to cost about $300 billion annually In taxes. I was critical of my colleagues. the 75 Senators who voted to give an unelected bureaucrat. Secretary Paulson. $700 billion to do with as he wished with no oversight. I was critical of that. Of course. that is a oneshot deal. This was every year. a $300 billion annual tax increase. It was too much. even if the science was fully settled. Now the science is shifting dramatically to the other side. So I believe we need to be looking. even if we use their own figures of $6.7 trillion as the cost of the life of a similar bill to the LiebermanWarner bill. I conclude by repeating something I have said many times: Even if you believe this. if you believe that manmade gas is a major cause of climate change. what good would it do for us unilaterally in the United States to impose a financial hardship. $300 billion a year. on people in the United States. when all that would do logically Is cause our manufacturing base to further erode and to go to countries such as China and India and Mexico. other countries that have no emission restrictions at all. It would be a $300 billion tax on us every year. and it would have the effect of increasing the net amount of emissions worldwide. Last year I didnt say very much about the science. In fact. when we had the LiebermanWarner bill up. I made the statement: Lets assume. for debate of this bill. that the science is all there and that it is settled. Then I pursued the economic argument. The other side didnt like it because they wanted to debate the science. I said: Lets assume you are right. You are not. but lets assume you are. This is something that we could not afford. the cost. Sometimes we throw around big figures. I often have said about the $700 billion bailout that I opposed and that 75 Senators voted for. if you stopped and realized the number of taxpayers or families who file a tax return and do the math. this comes to $5.000 a family. If you look at this. this would be over $2.000 a family every year. We want to be sure we are right if we do something. Lets go forward. Lets look at It. but lets pay attention more than anything else at this time not just to the economics but the fact that without doubt. the science is shifting. This report. 650 of the top scientists and growing every day. is conclusive in my mind that many of those individuals who were on the other side of this issue are now standing up to the intimidation and have become skeptics. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Madam President. first of all. I appreciate your coming from your meeting to preside. As we begin the new Congress and a new administration. we begin a new chapter on energy and environmental policy. and it is a time that environmental activists. the United Nations. and many of my Democratic colleagues have been salivating for for years. The stars are all aligned. Democrats control both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue. and the Supreme Court has spoken now that carbon dioxide is a pollutant under the Clear Air Act. even though it was a 5to4 decision. It is kind of interesting how something can be a pollutant with a 5to4 decision. It is believed the stage has been set for a home run on mandatory Kyotolike climate controls and the dawn of a new bustling green energy economy. However. before many of my colleagues rush to leap before they look. I wish to remind them of some very unfortunate developments that may complicate their early action on items on their wish lists. I ask my colleagues to at least consider some of the facts I will be revealing over the next series of speeches and to keep an open mind before rushing to sweeping action after waiting for so many years. The scale and pace of the climate proposals and the regulatory actions we have debated in the past. including the recently failed LiebermanWarner bill and the ones we will likely be debating this Congress. leave little room for error in this fragile. recessionridden economy. and the inflated promises of a sweeping green jobs revolution need an honest and frank reality. The proponents of mandatory global warming controls need to be honest with the American people. The purpose of these programs is to ration fossilbased energy by making it more expensive and therefore less appealing for public consumption. It is a regressive tax that imposes a greater burden relative to resources on the poor than it does on the rich. Let me say that again. The purpose of these programs is to ration the fossil fuelbased energy by making it more expensive to all Americans and therefore less appealing for public consumption. But it is a regressive tax. and we have talked about this before. It is one that punishes those whose resources have to be used for such purposes as being able to operate their vehicles and heat their homes. Advocates may argue that the redistribution of wealth toward the income consumers will offset the balance of revenue or taxes being taken in. but we learned firsthand during the LiebermanWarner debate that this simply is not true. I dont like the argument that we have equal distribution of wealth efforts that are going to take a regressive nature out of the punitive values of this type of program. To me. there is something unAmerican about that. But while the bills sponsors try to convince us there is actually tax relief in the bill. we learn that familiesnow I am talking about the LiebermanWarner bill. and this was only about 8 months ago. the LiebermanWarner billwe learn that families with workers will still have to pay $6.7 trillion into the system in the form of higher energy costs to get back an estimated $802 billion in tax relief. That is a return of $1 out of every $8.40 paid. It is time that proponents of climate policies be honest. It is expensive. and it is going to cost taxpayers a lot of money. You know. it doesnt really matter which form we use. We have gone through. first of all. the Kyoto Treaty. We came this close to passing the Kyoto Treaty. and it wasnt until the Wharton School of Economics came along with the econometrics survey and they determined it would cost some $300 billion a year to join onto and actually try to achieve the emission requirements of Kyoto. Then along came the McCainLieberman bill and then after that the WarnerLieberman bill. And cap and trade is going to be about the same amount. They may massage it a little bit. but we are still talking in the neighborhood of $300 billion a year. That equates to over $2.000 for each taxpaying family in America. So It is huge. In the coming weeks. I will go into more detail about other false promises proponents of mandatory global warming policies are advocating. Among them are a reality check on green projectsthe number of new green jobs from a climate regime are overstated compared to the number of manufacturing jobs lost. and we know from the National Association of Manufacturers how many jobs would have been lost with any of these schemes in the past. a review of the weaknesses of offset policiescompanies have bought offsets which are not real. and a review of the attempts to estimate the cost of inaction. Many advocates are claiming it is more expensive to do nothing than the cost of a cap and trade. but they are untested and nontransparent economic modeling. All these issues will play a vital role in the debate on both energy and global warming policy. which have become unavoidably intertwined. You cant really talk about one without the other. You cant talk about what you are going to do on greenhouse gases or C02 or cap and trade without affecting our overall energy policy. When there are sensible proposals debated in Congress that can achieve double benefits of reducing emissions and making Americas energy supply more stable. diverse. and affordable. then we will look forward to working on a bipartisan basis to achieving these goals. Increasing our domestic energy production and lowering our dependence on foreign oil are two issues that are critically important to myself and my State of Oklahoma. and of course this will include renewables and new green jobs. However. we need to be smart and realistic about these policies. Unfortunately. I fear that the scale and pace many of my colleagues will be advocating with mandatory climate policies are unrealistic. extraordinarily narrowly expensive. and illadvised. What is the driver for these unrealistic proposals that seem to make unnecessarily abrupt and painful increases in our energy costs in the near term? It is all rooted in global warming science. I have given over 12 speeches. averaging over an hour apiece. on the science of global warming over the past few years. Today. I wish to update my colleagues on some of the latest science that has not yet been reported in the mainstream media. I will simply be a disseminator of this information and not a commentator. I have to say that because I am not a scientist. nor is anyone else that I know of in this body a scientist. So the statements I will make will be quoting people who are qualified and are scientists. and this is what my role will be. Before I do that. I ask all my colleagues to think about the issue. Science should not be reviewed through any one frame. It is not partisan. it is not regional. however. the political process has largely engulfed science behind climate change. As I have documented in speeches before. the politicizing of the global warming science has become one of the most unfortunate developments in the last 8 years. Anytime one questions a hypothesis or a conclusion that does not fall in line with \"the sky is falling\" doom and gloom scenario of global warming alarmists. it is ridiculed. written off. denigrated. and not reported by the mainstream media. Yet anytime a more severe interpretation or alarming statistic is related. it is headline grabbing in the news. Objective. transparent. and verifiable science gets lost in the public dialog. Funding has a way of influencing this debate. The other day there was an article in the Bloomberg Newsand I say this for those individuals who might be feeling sorry for Al Goreit was reported that his net worth in 2000 was between $1 million and $2 million and it is now in excess of $100 million today. so he will be all right. When the stakes of the policy outcomes with cap and trade and other mandatory climate proposals are this high for the American people. I hope the Senate this year will embrace my calls for objectivity and transparency in science and modeling. As policymakers. it is our duty to make sure models developed by agencies and used in policy are useful for their intended purpose. articulate major assumptions and uncertainties. and separate sclentific conclusions from policy judgments. However. with global warming science this has not been the case. With many leftofcenter scientists. the environmental activists now realize the socalled consensus on manmade global warming is not holding up. The leftwing blog Huffington Postthis is a leftleaning organizationsurprised a lot of people by featuring an article on January 3. 2008. by Harold Ambler demanding an apology from Gore for promoting unfounded global warming fears. The Huffington Postagain. left leaningarticle accused Gore of telling the biggest whopper ever sold to the American public in the history of mankind because he claimed the science was settled on global warming. The Huffington Post article. entitled \"Mr. Gore: Apology Accepted.\" adds. \"It is Mr. Gore and his brethren who are flatEarthers. not the skeptics.\" Again. it is not myself. not Jim Inhofe saying this about Gore. it is the leftwing blog. the Huffington Post. saying these things. The Huffington Post article continues: Let us neither cripple our own economy by mislabeling carbon dioxide a pollutant nor discourage development in the Third World. where suffering continues unabated day after day. Another leftofcenter atmospheric scientist who has descended on the manmade climate fears is the U.K.s Richard Courtney. a U.N.-and lets keep in mind where all this started. A lot of people forget this was started by the United Nationsthe United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. They came out and said: Oh. it is manmade gases. anthropogenic gases. C02. methane that are causing climate change. And this person used to be on that panel. He was an expert reviewer in the U.K.-based climate and atmospheric science. a consultant. and a selfdescribed Socialist who also happens to reject manmade climate fears. Joining Courtney are many of the other progressive environmental scientists. Former Green Peace member and Finnish scientist Dr. Jarl Ahlbeck. a lecturer of environmental technology and a chemical engineer at the University of Finland who has authored 200 scientific publications. is also skeptical of manmade climate doom. Ahlbeck wrote in 2008: Contrary to common belief. there has been no or little global warming since 1995. and this is shown by two completely independent data sets. But so far. real measurements give no ground for concern about catastrophic future warming. This is kind of interesting because what he is sayingand this is a guy who started out with the United Nations in the beginning. with the IPCCis that right now we are actually in a cooling period. I think no one debates that now. We have had the most severe weather. and I will have another talk I will try to get in next week about what is happening around the country right now. It isnt global warming. it is global cooling. People forget God is still up there and we go through these cycles. I can remember the middle 1970s when they were saying there is another ice age coming and we are all going to die. Those same peopleand there was an article in Time magazine at that timeare the ones now saying we are going to die. but it is for a different reason. it is global warming. Lifelong liberal Democrat Dr. Martin Hertzberg. a retired Navy meteorologist with a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. also declared his dissent of warming fears in 2008. He said: As a scientist and lifelong liberal Democrat. I find the constant regurgitation of the anecdotal. fear mongering claptrap about humancaused global warming to be a disservice to science. Finally. CNNnot a bastion of conservatismhad yet another of its meteorologists dissent from warming fears. Meteorologist Chad Myers. a meteorologist for 22 years. certified by the American Meteorological Society. spoke out against anthropogenic climate claims on CNN in December. You know. to think that we could affect weather all that much is pretty arrogant. Mother Nature is so big. the world is so big. the oceans are so bigI think we are going to die from the lack of fresh water or we are going to die from some type of ocean acidification before we die from global warming. for sure. Myers joins fellow CNN meteorologistby the way. CNN has been very biased all this time. I think we know that. as has the Weather Channel. because there is a lot of money in perpetuating this myth. Myers was joined by his fellow CNN meteorologist. Rob Marciano. who compared Gores film to fiction in 2007. and CNN anchor Lou Dobbs just said of a global warming fear promotion on January 5 of this year. \"Its almost a religion without any question.\" Recently. I released a new report on climate scientists which documents many of the studies ignored by the mainstream media. Here it is right here. This is one that is actually too large to put into the report. are 650 scientists who have challenged manmade global warming claims made by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We talked about that. I have been detailing these science issues for a number of years. In a July 28. 2003. floor speech in this Chamber I said: The issue of global warming \"is far from settled. and indeed is seriously disputed.\" The science continues to evolve. I explained that \"anyone who pays even cursory attention to the issue understands that scientists vigorously disagree over whether human activities are responsible for global warming. or whether those activities will precipitate natural disasters.\" I notedand this is what I said in 2003: Not only is there a debate. but (at least in certain corridors) the debate is shifting away from those who subscribe to global warming alarmism. That was in 2005. After that speech. I led the charge against the McCainLieberman global warming capandtrade billthat would be in 2003. then again in 2005--both times easily defeating the bills. At the time It was a lonely battle. Only a few people came down to help me on the floor. I remember so well in 2005 when I was alone down here on the floor of the Senate for 5 consecutive days that we had it on the floor. about 10 hours a day. Very few people came down and were willing to join me on the Senate floor. That has changed. If you fastforward from 2005 to 2008. we had the WarnerLieberman bill on the floor. At that time I had over 25 Senators come down and join me. You are seeing people who no longer fear the money generated by the moveon.orgs. the Hollywood elitists. those individuals who have millions of dollars to put into campaigns. to throw into the system. We are getting a lot of encouragement. Things have changed. In fact. at the end of the bill that we had that is referred to sometimes as either the LiebermanWarner bill or the Boxer climate tax bill. they are only able to get about 37 people from their own party. from this side of the aisle over here. who would support it. That Is a major change from the past. After this election that number has only gone up from 37 to 39. You are not getting close to the 60 votes necessary to try to inflict this economic damage on the United States. The Republicans were prepared to debate the billthis Is the WarnerLieberman billand were ready to offer amendments. but the Democrats didnt want to debate. much less vote. on our amendments that were aimed at protecting American families and workers from the devastating economic impacts of the bill. When faced with the inconvenient truth of the bills impact on skyrocketing gas prices. it was Democratic Senators who wanted to see the bill die a quick death. By the way. we had a list of some 10 Democratic Senators who. in a very responsible way. said we will go ahead and vote on some of these amendments. but when it comes to final passage. we are not going to vote on it. After the bill failed. the Wall Street Journal aptly noted that environmentalists are stunned that their global warming agenda is in collapse. The paper added: The green groups now look as politically intimidating as the skinny kid on the beach who has sand kicked in his face. The paper quoted a political analyst who noted that \"this issue is starting to feel like the Hillary health care plan again.\" Despite the claims that we must act now to prevent climate crisis. the climate tax bill would not have resulted in any action whatsoever. The bill. often touted as an insurance policy against global warming. would instead have been all economic pain and no climate gain. This is because without a global treaty. the binding commitments by both the developing and developed countries is not going to work. Lets say we believed that manmade. anthropogenic gases were the major cause of climate change and the debate was over if we do something just unilaterally in the United States of America. All that would do is cause a flight of our manufacturing jobs overseas to countries such as India and China and Mexicoplaces where they do not have any kind of a restriction on the greenhouse gases. So it would have a net increase. if we were to pass one of these. Yet we are the ones who would be saddled with a $300 billionayear tax bill. Americans are suspicious of the need for solutions to global warming. The Gallup Poll released on Earth Day 2008 revealed the American publics concern about manmade global warming has remained unchanged since 1989. According to Gallup. and this is a quote from the report. they said: Despite the enormous attention paid to global warming over the past several years. the average American is in some ways no more worried about it than they were in years past. In other words. after all the money. all the hype. all the biased media over the past few years. people have not moved in that direction. They know better. They know when they have been duped. What perhaps is the most striking is that. aside from the economics of global warming solutions. the science has continued to move in the direction I predicted in 2003. In 2007 I released a Senate minority report detailing over 400 scientists disputing manmade global warming claims. In the inconvenient real world climate study. developments are refuting global warming fears. That was 2007. just a year ago. In 2008. in the tail end of 2008. for the benefit of public dissemination we have updated our report. and the socalled consensus on global warming is even more in dispute. That is the report I have right here. Over 650 dissenting scientists from around the globe challenge manmade global warming claims made by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and by former Vice President Al Gore. Our new 233page U.S. Senate minority report features the skeptical voices of over 650 prominent international scientists. including many current and former U.N. IPCC scientists who have now turned against the U.N. IPCC. This updated report includes an additional 250and growing. I might add. it has grown since thenscientists and climate researchers since the initial release in December of 2007. The over 650 dissenting scientists are more than 12 times the number of the U.N. scientistsonly 52 of themwho authored the mediahyped IPCC 2007 Summary for Policymakers. This is very significant. I know it is kind of heavy lifting to understand this. but the U.N. IPCC. that started this whole thing. they have this analysis that is made and updated. but you never get the full report by any of the scientists. It is merely the summary for policymakers. That is us. That is for the politicians out there. So they only have 52 scientists who signed this report. We are talking about 650 scientists versus 52. The chorus of skeptical scientific voices grew louder in 2008 as a steady stream of peerreviewed studies. analyses. realworld data. and inconvenient developments challenged the U.N.s and former Vice President Al Gores claims that the \"science is settled.\" and there is a \"consensus.\" Despite what is now being portrayed in the media on a range of issues. 2008 proved to be devastating for the promoters of manmade climate fears. In addition. the following developments further secured 2008 as the year the \"consensus collapsed.\" Russian scientists \"rejected the very idea that carbon dioxide may be responsible for global warming. Frankly. they laugh. I have had meetings with them. They laugh at it. In Milan. when they had one of the big United Nations meetings where they tried to coerce countries into supporting this. the Russians at that time were in a position. since they have these vast areas that are totally undevelopedI remember flying across Siberia a few years ago. I am a pilot and flew an airplane across the world. and I remember flying across Siberia and looking down and seeing time zone after time zone where you dont see any people. nothing but natural resources. Yet all of those would go in the formula. so they would be great big recipients if they are able to get some kind of international treaty. In addition to that. the American Physical Society editor conceded that \"a considerable presence\" of scientific skeptics exists. An international team of scientists countered the U.N. IPCC. declaring. \"Nature. not human activity. rules the climate.\" India issued a report challenging global warming fears. A team of international scientists demanded the U.N. IPCC \"be called to account and cease its deceptive practices.\" and a canvass of more than 51.000 Canadian scientists revealed that 68 percent disagree that global warming science is \"settled.\" We are not talking about politicians. people. Senators like me and others in this room. We are talking about real scientists who are out there. We are talking about 68 percent of the scientists in Canada now have come to recognize this. That was not true 5 years ago. Most were on the other side of this Issue. but they have now looked at it and realize they have been duped. This new report is the latest evidence of the growing groundswell of scientific opposition challenging significant aspects of the claims of the United Nations IPCC and Al Gore. Scientific meetings are now being dominated by a growing number of skeptical scientists. The prestigious International Geological Congress. dubbed the geologists equivalent of the Olympic Games. and held in very high esteem. was held in Norway in August 2008. just a few months ago. and prominently featured the voices of scientists skeptical of manmade global warming fears. The conference was reportedly overwhelmed with skeptical scientists. with \"twothirds of the presenters and questionaskers who were hostile to. even dismissive of. the United Nations IPCC.\" Even the mainstream media in 2008 began to take notice of the expanding number of scientists serving as \"consensus busters.\" A November 25. 2008. article in Politicoeveryone in Washington reads thatnoted that a \"growing accumulation\" of science is challenging warming fears. and added that the \"science behind global warming may still be too shaky to warrant capandtrade legislation.\" Canadas National Post noted on October 20. 2008. that \"the number of climate change skeptics is growing rapidly.\" New York Times environmental reporter Andrew Revkin noted on March 6. 2008. \"As we all know. climate science is not a numbers game (there are heaps of signed statements by folks with advanced degrees on all sides of this issue).\" I agree with him. and its a shame that we have had to resort to a numbers game. It should be focused on objective. transparent and peer reviewed science. and debate should not be quarantined. In 2007. Washington Post staff writer Juliet Eilperin conceded the obvious. writing that climate skeptics \"appear to be expanding rather than shrinking.\" Skeptical scientists are gaining recognition despite what many say is a bias against them in parts of the scientific community and are facing significant funding disadvantages. Dr. William M. Briggs. a climate statistician who serves on the American Meteorological Societys Probability and Statistics Committee. explained that his colleagues described \"absolute horror stories of what happened to them when they tried getting papers published that explored nonconsensus views.\" In a March 4. 2008. report Briggs described the behavior as \"really outrageous and unethical . . . on the parts of some editors. I was shocked.\" Again. this is not me saying this. there are scientists. Here are some of the highlights of my 2008 Senate minority report featuring over 650 international scientists dissenting from manmade climate claims. Incidentally. this report I haveit was my intention to make this report of these 650 scientists a part of the RECORD. However. very wisely this body has said we do not want the expense. Something like this would be so overwhelming that some Senators who are conservatives would rather not do it. The report is here. It is a matter of public record. You can get a lot of this on my Web site. ewo.senate.com. Nobel Prize Winner for Physics. Ivar Giaever. stated: I am a skeptic . Global warming has become a new religion. Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Joanne Simpson. the first woman in the world to receive a Ph.D. in meteorology. and formerly of NASA. who has authored more than 190 studies and has been called \"among the most preeminent scientists of the last 100 years.\" stated: Since I am no longer affiliated with any organization nor receiving any funding. I can speak quite frankly. . . . As a scientist I remain skeptical . . . The main basis of the claim that mans release of greenhouse gases is the cause of the warming is based almost entirely upon climate models. We all know the frailty of models concerning the airsurface system. Here. no one can argue with Dr. Simpson. The United Nations IPCC Japanese scientist Dr. Kiminori Itoh. an awardwinning Ph.D. environmental physical chemist. statedthis is from all over the world now. this is in Japan. Warming fears are the worst scientific scandal in the history. . . . When people come to know what the truth is. they will feel deceived by science and scientists. Indian geologist Dr. Arun Ahluwalia of Punjab University. and a board member of the U.N.-supported International Year of the Planet. stated: The IPCC has actually become a closed circuit. it does not listen to others. It does not have open minds. I am really amazed that the Nobel Peace Price has been given on scientifically incorrect conclusions by people who are not geologists. Solar physicist Dr. Pal Brekke. senior advisor to the Norwegian Space Center in Oslo. has published more than 40 peerreviewed scientific articles on the Sun and solar interaction with the Earth. Brekke stated: Anyone who claims that the debate is over and the conclusions are firm has a fundamentally unscientific approach to one of the most momentous issues of our time. These are all top scientists. No one can discredit these people. You might wonder. why is it that so many people want us to believe that maybe bad old man is responsible for those horrible things that are going to happen. that are not going to happen? There are a lot of reasons for that. A lot of money behind this comes from organizations such as those we find in some of the Hollywood groups. moveon.org. George Soros. and different foundations such as the Hines Foundation that do want to stop the progress in this country. But. anyway. back to some of these scientists. Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera. a researcher at the Institute of Geophysics of the National Autonomous University of MexicoI am covering all of these countries now. These are the top scientists in these countriesstates: Models and forecasts of the UN IPCC are incorrect because they only are based on mathematical models and presented results and scenarios that do not include. for example. solar activity. Surprise. surprise. The Sun warms things. U.S. Government atmospheric scientist Stanley Goldenberg of the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA stated: It is a blatant lie put forth in the media that makes it seem that there is only a fringe of scientists who do not buy into anthropogenic global warming. Geoffrey G. Duffy. a professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering of the University of Auckland in New Zealand. stated: Even doubling or tripling the amount of carbon dioxide will virtually have little impact. as water vapor and water condensed on particles as clouds dominate the worldwide scene and always will. This has always happened. We have gone through these stages. I do not want to make this part without documentation. but when we went through one of the other warming periods in this country. it was back before they had the combustion engine. back before CO2 was even around yet. Here we are today with all of these people. the names are the top scientists in the world who are making these statements. A lot of them used to be on the other side of this issue. That was back when they were being threatened with withdrawal of various funding for the projects they had. and now they are back on the other side. Andrei Kapitsa. a Russian geographer and Antarctic ice core researcher. stated: The Kyoto theorists have put the cart before the horse. It is global warming that triggers higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. not the other way around ... A large number of critical documents submitted at the 1995 United Nations conference in Madrid vanished without a trace. As a result. the discussion was onesided and heavily biased. and the U.N. declared global warming to be a scientific fact. Prominent Hungarian physicist and environmental researcher Dr. Miklos Zagoni reversed his view. He was on the other side of this issue. on manmade warming. He is now a skeptic. Zagoni. once Hungarys most outspoken supporter of the Kyoto Protocol. stated that: Natures regulatory instrument is water vapor: more carbon dioxide leads to less moisture in the air. keeping the overall greenhouse gases content in accord with the necessary balance conditions. Again. that is a very prominent scientist. perhaps considered the most prominent scientist in Hungary. Geologist Dr. David Gee. the chairman of the science committee of the 2008 International Geological Congress. who has authored 130plus peerreviewed papers. who is currently at Uppsala University in Sweden. stated: For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming? For how many years must cooling go on? Meteorologist Hajo Smit of Holland. who reversed his beliefhe was another one on the other side of this issue. another one of the many scientists who reversed his belief on manmade warming to become a skepticis a former member of the Dutch U.N. IPCC committee. He stated: Gore prompted me to start delving into the science again and I quickly found myself solidly in the skeptic camp . . . Climate models can at best be useful for explaining climate changes after the fact. South African nuclear physicist and chemical engineer Dr. Philip Lloyd was also one of them who was very prominent In the United Nations IPCC in years past. He was the cocoordinating lead author who has authored over 150 refereed publications. and he stated: The quality of CO2 we produce is insignificant in terms of natural circulation between air. water and soil . . . I am doing a detailed assessment of the U.N. IPCC reports and the Summaries for Policymakers. identifying the way in which the Summaries have distorted the science. I am actually getting that report. As we have said. we have been looking at these reports for policymakers for a long time. And those people on the other side would have you believe that is the National Academy of Sciences. that is the United Nations. It is not scientists. This is a summary for policymakers. These are politicians who have an agenda. Atmospheric physicist James A. Peden. formerly of the Space Research and Coordination Center in Pittsburgh. stated: Many scientists are now searching for a way to back out quietly (from promoting warming fears). without having their professional careers ruined. This is the intimidation I was talking about. Geophysicist Dr. Phil Chapman. an astronautical engineer and former NASA astronaut. who served as staff physicist at MIT. stated: All those urging action to curb global warming need to take off the blinkers and give some thought to what we should do if we are facing global cooling instead. Which. incidentally. happens to be going on right now. Environmental scientist Professor Delgado Domingos of Portugal. the founder of the Numerical Weather Forecast Group. who has more than 150 published articlesthese guys are smart guys. This is not politicians talking. these are the incontrovertible scientists who cannot be challengedstated: Creating an ideology pegged to carbon dioxide is dangerous nonsense . . . The present alarm on climate change is an instrument of social control. a pretext for major business and political battle. It became an ideology. which is concerning. Dr. Takeda Kunihiko. vice chancellor of the Institute of Science and Technology Research at Chubu University in Japan. stated: CO2 emissions make absolutely no difference one way or another . . . Every scientist knows this. but it doesnt pay to say so . . . Global warming. as a political vehicle. keeps Europeans in the drivers seat and developing nations walking barefoot. Awardwinning paleontologist Dr. Eduardo Tonni of the Committee for Scientific Research in Buenos Aires and the head of the Paleontology Department at the University of La Plata said: The global warming scaremongering has its justifications in the fact that it is something that generates funds. There we go again. All of these different groups and these foundations who will fund people who will agree to support their political positions. Atmospheric scientist Dr. Art Douglas. former chair of the Atmospheric Sciences Department at Creighton University in Omaha. NE. and author of numerous peerreviewed publications. stated: Whatever the weather. its not being caused by global warming. If anything. the climate may be starting into a cooling period. And this is. by the way. something that nobody questions now. we are going well into a cooling period. Chemist Dr. Patrick Frank. who has authored more than 50 peerreviewed articles. stated: But there is no falsifiable scientific basis whatever to assert this warming is caused by humanproduced greenhouse gasses. because current physical theory is too grossly inadequate to establish any cause at all. Awardwinning NASA astronaut and moonwalker Jack Schmitt. who flew on the Apollo 17 mission and formerly of the Norwegian Geological Survey. and for the U.S. Geological Survey. stated: The global warming scare is being used as a political tool to increase government control over American lives. incomes and decisionmaking. It has no place in the Societys activities. By the way. I would have to add to that. another one of the motivations in the United Nations is they are always critical of us when we threaten to withhold some of the funding. when they are advocating policies that are contrary to our policies in the United States. They would love nothing more than to have some type of a funding mechanism where they did not have to be accountable to the United States or any other nation. Climatologist Dr. Richard Keen. of the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Colorado. stated: Earth has cooled since 1998 in defiance of the predictions by the U.N. IPCC . . . The global temperature for 2007 was the coldest in a decade and the coldest of the millennium . . . which is why global warming is now called climate change. This is kind of interesting. Next week I am going to put together what has been happening recently in this cooling period. the fact that we have had records that are set all around the United States and all around the world. and that is exactly what Dr. Richard Keen is talking about now. We are in a cooling period. It has to drive these global warming people nuts to have to recognize that. Dr. G. LeBlanc Smith. a retired principal research scientist with Australias CSIRO. stated: I have yet to see credible proof of carbon dioxide driving climate change. let alone manmade CO2 driving it. The atmosphere hotspot is missing and the ice core data refute this. When will we collectively awake from this deceptive delusion? That is G. LeBlanc Smith of Australia. one of the top scientists in Australia. The distinguished scientists featured in this new report are experts in diverse fields. including climatology. geology. biology. glaciology. biogeography. meteorology. oceanography. economics. chemistry. mathematics. environmental sciences. astrophysics. engineering physics. and paleoclimatology. Some of those profiled have won Nobel Prizes for their outstanding contribution to their field of expertise and many shared a portion of the U.N. IPCC Nobel Peace Price with Al Gore. The notion of hundreds or thousands of U.N. scientists agreeing to a scientific statement does not hold up to scrutinyjust not true. Recent research by Australian climate data analyst John McLean revealed that the IPCCs peerreview process for the Summary for Policymakers leaves much to be desired. The 52 scientists who participated in the 2007 IPCC Summary for Policymakers had to adhere to the wishes of the United Nations political leaders and delegates in a process described as more closely resembling a political partys convention platform battle. not a scientific process. Only 52 scientists wrote the mediahyped U.N. summary for policymakers. and it was actually published by the politicians and not the scientists. One former U.N. IPCC scientist bluntly told EPW. our committee. how the United Nations IPCC summary for policymakers distorted the scientists work. He said: I have found examples of a Summary saying precisely the opposite of what the scientists said. This was from South African nuclear physicist and chemical engineer Dr. Philip Lloyd. a U.N. IPCC cocoordinating lead author who has authored over 150 referred publications. A 2008 international report of the U.N. found its climate agency \"rife with bad practices.\" Others like to note that the National Academy of Sciences and the American Meteorological Society have issued statements endorsing the socalled consensus view that man is driving global warming. But both the NAS and the AMS never allowed member scientists to directly vote on these climate statements. Essentially only two dozen or so members of the governing bodies of these institutions produced a consensus statement. This report gives a voice to the rankandfile scientists who were shut out of the process. So they are very thankful. Many of these scientists are glad that we have this report so that they now have access to the truth and they can come out from hiding. The more than 650 scientists expressing skepticism comes after the U.N. IPCC Chairman Pachauri implied that there were only about a dozen skeptical scientists left in the world. Former Vice President Gore has claimed that scientists skeptical of climate change are akin to flat Earth society members and similar in number to those who believe that the moon landing was actually staged in a movie lot in Arizona. It is a shame that proponents have now been reduced to name calling. That is what we are getting now. name calling and insults. When you lose your logic. this is what happens. They start the name calling and insults because they dont have logic. Examples of consensus claims made by promoters of manmade climate fears: The U.N. special climate envoy Dr. Gro Harmel Brundtland. on May 10. 2007. declared that the debate is over and added that \"its completely immoral. even. to question the U.N.s scientific consensus.\" The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary said it was criminally irresponsible to ignore the urgency of global warming. This was on November 12. 2 07. ABC News global warming reporter Bill Blakemore reported on August 30. 2006: After extensive searches. ABC News has found no such [scientific] debate on global warming. While the dissenting scientists contained in the report hold a diverse range of views. they generally rally around four key points. No. 1. the Earth is currently well within national climate variability. We are talking about 650 of the top scientists In the world. No. 2. almost all climate fear is generated by unproven computer model predictions. No. 3. an abundance of peerreviewed studies continues to debunk rising CO2 fears. No. 4. consensus has been manufactured for political and not scientific purposes. Those four things. all of these 650 top scientists in the world agree to. Since I released the report on December 11. other scientists have contacted us to be included. On December 22. 11 more scientists were added. including meteorologists from Germany. the Netherlands. and CNN. Even CNN. very much on the other side of this issue. two more of their meteorologists have come over and become skeptics. as well as professors from MIT. the University of Arizona. and other institutions. One prominent scientist added was awardwinning Princeton University physicist Will Happer. who was reportedly fired by former Vice President Al Gore in 1993 for failing to adhere to Gores scientific views. Happer has now declared manmade global warming fears as mistaken. Happer is a professor in the Department of Physics at Princeton University and former director of energy research at the Department of Energy who has published over 200 scientific papers and is a fellow of the American Physical Society. the American Association for the Advancement of Scientists. and the National Academy of Sciences. Happer does not mince words when it comes to warming fears. He said: I am convinced that the current alarm over carbon dioxide is mistaken . . . Fears about manmade global warming are unwarranted and are not based on good science. As we face a new administration and a U.N. eager to draw the U.S. into its climate policy. lets not forget that this aspect of the debate is still alive and well and only growing. We should not become weary of calling into question policy choices when they are driven by still evolving scientific assessment. especially when the stakes are so high and the costs are so extraordinary. Let us hope this administration and our news media recognize this new reality as we move forward into this new Congress. On a personal note. it has been a lonely fight. For the last 6 years I have been talking about the Hollywood and mediadriven fear that tries to convince us that those who are fueling this machine called America are somehow evil and fully responsible for global warming. This is absurd. We all know better. It does take power to run this machine we call America. In the past. the only argument that defeated all the capandtrade schemes was the economic argument. I think you can argue each one differently. saying no. this wouldnt cost the same as adhering to emissions required by Kyoto back in the Kyoto treaty days. But any time you get into a cap and trade of C02. it is going to cost about $300 billion annually In taxes. I was critical of my colleagues. the 75 Senators who voted to give an unelected bureaucrat. Secretary Paulson. $700 billion to do with as he wished with no oversight. I was critical of that. Of course. that is a oneshot deal. This was every year. a $300 billion annual tax increase. It was too much. even if the science was fully settled. Now the science is shifting dramatically to the other side. So I believe we need to be looking. even if we use their own figures of $6.7 trillion as the cost of the life of a similar bill to the LiebermanWarner bill. I conclude by repeating something I have said many times: Even if you believe this. if you believe that manmade gas is a major cause of climate change. what good would it do for us unilaterally in the United States to impose a financial hardship. $300 billion a year. on people in the United States. when all that would do logically Is cause our manufacturing base to further erode and to go to countries such as China and India and Mexico. other countries that have no emission restrictions at all. It would be a $300 billion tax on us every year. and it would have the effect of increasing the net amount of emissions worldwide. Last year I didnt say very much about the science. In fact. when we had the LiebermanWarner bill up. I made the statement: Lets assume. for debate of this bill. that the science is all there and that it is settled. Then I pursued the economic argument. The other side didnt like it because they wanted to debate the science. I said: Lets assume you are right. You are not. but lets assume you are. This is something that we could not afford. the cost. Sometimes we throw around big figures. I often have said about the $700 billion bailout that I opposed and that 75 Senators voted for. if you stopped and realized the number of taxpayers or families who file a tax return and do the math. this comes to $5.000 a family. If you look at this. this would be over $2.000 a family every year. We want to be sure we are right if we do something. Lets go forward. Lets look at It. but lets pay attention more than anything else at this time not just to the economics but the fact that without doubt. the science is shifting. This report. 650 of the top scientists and growing every day. is conclusive in my mind that many of those individuals who were on the other side of this issue are now standing up to the intimidation and have become skeptics. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. could I ask my friend from New Hampshire to withhold her request?\n",
      "Answer:  I say yes to the majority leader. I did not see the majority leader on the floor. I apologize for that. I withdraw my request.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. today marks the 50th anniversary of Senator ROBERT BYRDS service to this most American of institutions: the United States Senate. \"Service to the Senate\"-I have chosen these words intentionally. and with care. To serve in this hallowed chamber is to meld service to home and community with service to the Nation as a whole. It is a distinction that we are all privileged to share. But through his five decades in this Chamber. ROBERT BYRDs service has transcended the ordinary to rise to the absolute allegiance our country has only rarely received over her long history. Senator BYRD was born and raised in humble circumstances. The loss of his mother at the age of 1 left him a virtual orphan. and he grew up in West Virginias coal country. The Great Depression postponed the young ROBERT BYRDs education. but it did nothing to hold back his lively and agile mind or his passion to seize on Americas promise of equal opportunity. In 1946. he entered West Virginias House of Delegates. and sought progressively higher offices. Finally. in 1958. he arrived in the Senate and found his \"home.\" It is said that education opens doors. but in Senator BYRDS case. we learn that the doors it opens may not be the ones that we expect. For him. he was already a Member of the House of Representatives when he began work to earn his J.D. Ten years of night school finally earned him the degree as a sitting Senator. So what doors did his studies open? After all. he was already one of the Nations highest officials. Education. a love of history. the discipline of rigorous study. the independence of thought. If you think about it. these are the very qualities that our American democracy most depends on. And by cultivating them. Senator BYRD grew in his capacity to serve his home. serve his Nation. and to serve the Senate.\n",
      "Answer:  served as the Senate majority leader from 1977 to 1981. and many believe it is in recognition of that time that I continue to call him \"Mr. Leader.\" But I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight. Mr. Leader. My dear friend. Protocol dictates that anyone who served as majority leader should retain the title for life. Even in the absence of protocol. however. my heart would demand that I rise and salute you as leader of this institution. Congratulations on this milestone. Mr. Leader. We have worked together for many years. and it will be a distinct honor to continue working with you on the Appropriations Committee and in the Senate.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. President. today I join my colleague. Senator STABENOW of Michigan. to introduce the Health Information Technology Act of 2009 to improve the quality of health care through the implementation of information technology. IT. in hospitals. health centers and physician practices throughout the country. Our legislation will help us address two critical issues. The first is the serious patient safety problem facing our Nation. Indeed. if most Americans were told today that 98.000 lives were lost needlessly last yearand a cure was availablethey would undoubtedly call for action. Yet the Institute of Medicine. IOM. has reported that medical errors inflict that terrible toll every year. even though the technology is at our disposal to dramatically reduce those deaths. A second major problem is the escalating cost of health care. Health spending now comprises over 16 percent of GNP-$2.2 trillion last yf arand the price of a health plan has grown so high that 70 million Americans today are either underinsured or lack any coverage whatsoever. That group expands as unemployment rates increase and individuals and families lose health insurance tied to employment. A recent Urban Institute study found that for each 1 percentage point increase in unemployment 1 million Americans are added to the rolls of the uninsured. However. simply expanding government subsidies or entitlements alone is not the answer. because on our current trajectory. escalating costs will erode our ability to maintain such supports. It is clear that some fundamental changes must be made in health care to combat rising health care costs. Bold changes and innovations are necessary to address both medical errors and escalating costs. One of those changes must be the application of modern data technology. Most of us have been told at one time or another. \"were waiting to get the test results mailed\" or \"were still waiting for your chart.\" Consider the savings we realize when a physician can locate information efficiently so that tests dont have to be repeated and data isnt delayed. A patient obtains faster. higher quality care when multiple practitioners can review diagnostic test results right at their desktops. The fact is the health care industry is one of the last sectors where information flows so slowly. Indeed. it is often easier to track the service history on ones automobile than to see your own health history. In an age where millions of Americans share family pictures over the Internet in seconds. isnt it long past time that a physician should be able to retrieve an xray just as easily? Today. the technological tools are at hand to dramatically reduce medical errors and save lives. Many of us have heard about how drug interactions can be avoided by software systems which check a patients prescriptions for hazards. and there are so many other applications which can also improve health. For example. by reviewing and analyzing information. a health provider can help a patient better manage chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease to reduce avoidable adverse outcomes. The unfortunate reality is that the cost of new systems and a lack of standards have prevented us from reaping the benefits of new technologies. While the current economic crisis has surely put a focus on addressing the inefficiencies and high costs of health care. I have long shared a determination to modernize health information with my colleagues. In 2003. I joined with Senator Bob Graham to introduce the \"Medication Errors Reduction Act of 2003\" to make grants of up to $750.000 available to hospitals and nursing facilities to aid in implementation of health IT infrastructure. In 2005. Senator STABENOw and I offered our bill to create a $4 billion competitive grant program and tax incentives to enable hospitals. skilled nursing facilities. community health centers and physicians to invest in health IT. The Presidentelect shares our recognition of the critical role which information technology must play in transforming health care. In his campaign. he acknowledged the critical need to make technology implementation a priority. A lack of standards to ensure interoperability has been a factor in slowing IT adoption by many health care providers. One must know that a system purchased will be compatible with others. and thatno matter what may happen in the future to a vendorthe investment one makes in building an electronic medical record wont be wasted. In other words. your system must be able to communicate with other systems. and your investment in building electronic medical records must be preserved. When a patient moves. their electronic \"chart\" should be able to move right along with them to prevent disruption in the continuity of their carein other words \"we must have interoperability.\" Yet standards alone are not sufficient. as there are fiscal hurdles to implementing health IT. Today. many providers are struggling to adopt new technology. and for those who serve beneficiaries of Medicare. Medicaid and SCHIP. it can be exceedingly difficult. Our physicians. for example. have seen recent Medicare payment updates which have not even kept pace with inflationeven as we expect them to make a major investment in health IT. We must also recognize there is a misalignment of fiscal incentives for health IT. The benefits to patients are evidentin fewer delays. in better outcomes. in lives saved. Modern information technology reduces costs as well. but primarily to those who pay for servicesnot for the healthcare providers who must bear the burden of implementation. Indeed. it has been estimated that 89 percent of cost savings accrue to those who pay for services. It should be obvious then that the federal government would invest in health IT to both improve health outcomes and to reduce its expenditures on Medicare. Medicaid and SCRIP. That is precisely the type of investment the Health Information Technology Act of 2009 would achieve. Because as we look to the many studies and reports on health IT. it is clear that annual cost savings can actually exceed the price of implementation. With that kind of return. it is indisputable that the federal government must employ health IT to see not only the savings in lives. but also better management of our health care spending. Our legislation spurs adoption by providing grants to physicians. hospitals. long term care facilities and both federallyqualified health centers and community mental health centers. These grants are targeted to help provide the health IT resources providers need to serve our federal beneficiaries. In fact. the size of an allowable grant for each provider is keyed to the proportion of the patient care which they deliver to federal beneficiaries. This will help providers deliver better care to those on Medicare. Medicaid and SCHIP while we also see costs reduced in those programs. That is simple common sense. The legislation supports reasonable expenditures for a variety of costs required to implement health care information technology. These include such components as computer hardware and software in combination with installation and training. In addition for a system to be suitable for support under this legislation. we require that it must meet the HHS Secretarys interoperability standards. Our new legislation even provides an alternative to those forprofit providers who do not wish to apply for a grant. Under this bill. such providers will be able to expense the cost of a qualified system. We will thus assure that every type of provider has a meaningful opportunity to Invest in moving their health care practice into the new millennium. With the development of a 21st century health technology system. we will ensure that providers have the appropriate tools to effectively provide the best quality health care at reasonable cost. As the current Congress struggles with matters related to the ailing economy. many Americans are finding it exceedingly difficult to access health care which they find to be both expensive and inefficient. While it is clear that health IT alone will not reduce all excessive costs or address every inefficiency. one must understand that the only way to achieve either goal is to have access to the type of coordinated information that a fully integrated health care system would provide. In fact. the information we will obtain through health IT is essential to achieve such goals as improving quality and reforming provider payment. This is the foundation for our work on health reform. When the Medicare and Medicaid programs began. we could have only dreamed about computerized clinical information systems. Today. we have this technology at our disposal. and I strongly believe that we cannot afford to delay implementation. In fact. as we face challenges in the financing of these vital federal programs. this is exactly the sort of initiative which will enable us to achieve the fundamental improvements to make our health entitlements more fiscally secure. I hope my colleagues will join us in support of this legislation so we may soon achieve the goals of improving patient safety and reducing our escalating health care costs. By Ms. MIKULSKI (for herself.\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. President. I am pleased to join Senators MIKULSKI. KENNEDY. SNOWE and others in introducing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act of 2009. This legislation is long overdue and I am pleased that the majority leader will try again to move this legislation in the opening days of this new Congress. The Supreme Courts divided decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire struck a severe blow to the rights of working families across our country. More than 40 years ago. Congress acted to protect women and others against discrimination in the workplace. In the 21st century. equal pay for equal work should be a given in this country. Unfortunately. the reality is still far from this basic principle. American women still earn only 77 cents for every dollar earned by a male counterpart. That decreases to 62 cents on the dollar for AfricanAmerican women and just 53 cents on the dollar for HispanicAmerican women. For nearly 20 years. Ms. Ledbetter was a manager at a Goodyear factory in Gadsden. Alabama. After decades of service. she learned through an anonymous note that her employer had been discriminating against her for years. She was the only woman among 16 employees at her management level. yet Ms. Ledbetter was paid between 15 and 40 percent less than all of her male colleagues. including several who had significantly less seniority. After filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. a Federal jury found that Ms. Ledbetter was owed almost $225.000 in back pay. However. 5 members of the Supreme Court overturned her jury verdict because she had filed her lawsuit more than 180 days after her employers original discriminatory act. I was honored to invite Ms. Ledbetter to testify at a Judiciary Committee hearing I chaired in September to examine how the Supreme Courts recent decisions have affected the lives of ordinary Americans. Ms. Ledbetters case is but one example of how the Supreme Court has dramatically misinterpreted the intent of Congress and offered a liability shield to corporate wrongdoers. This decision is yet another example of the Supreme Courts increasing willingness to overturn juries who hear the factual evidence and decide cases. A recent study revealed that in employment discrimination cases. Federal courts of appeal are 5 times more likely to overturn an employees favorable trial verdict against an employer than they are to overturn a verdict in favor of the corporation. That is a startling disparity for those of us who expect employees and employers to be treated fairly by the judges sitting on our appellate courts. In the 110th Congress. the House passed the bipartisan Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act by a vote of 225199. In the Senate. despite the support of 57 Senators who urged its consideration. the majority of Republican Senators objected to even proceeding to consideration of this bipartisan measure. One Republican Senator who supported the filibuster introduced an alternative bill. claiming to offer a solution for victims of pay discrimination. In reality. that partisan alternative proposal would fail to correct the injustice created by the Ledbetter decision. At the Judiciary Committee hearing in September. Ms. Ledbetter confirmed that the alternative bill would not have remedied her case. but instead would have imposed additional burdens and increased the costs of her litigation. Congress passed Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to protect employees against discrimination with respect to compensation because of an individuals race. color. religion. sex or national originhowever the Supreme Courts cramped interpretation of this important law contradicts Congresss intent to ensure equal pay for equal work. This Supreme Court decision goes against both the spirit and clear intent of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. and sends the message to employers that wage discrimination cannot be punished as long as it is kept under wraps. At a time when onethird of private sector employers have rules prohibiting employees from discussing their pay with each other. the Courts decision ignores a reality of the workplacepay discrimination is often intentionally concealed by employers. Equal pay is not just a womens issue. it is a family issue. With a record 70.2 million women in the workforce. wage discrimination continues to hurt the majority of American families. As a working mother. the discrimination inflicted on Ms. Ledbetter affected her entire family and continues to affect her retirement benefits. As the economy continues to worsen. many Americans are struggling to put food on the table and money in their retirement funds. It is regrettable that recent decisions handed down by the Supreme Court and Federal appellate courts have contributed to the financial struggles of so many women and their families. In the next weeks. I hope we can act to overturn the wronglydecided Ledbetter decision to prevent the devastating consequences of pay discrimination. By Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself and Mr. SALAZAR:\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. Speaker. we have been dealing with economic challenges for several months. Last fall it was called a bailout. Now its being called a stimulus or sometimes an economic recovery plan. But I think its important that we talk about the facts of what were discussing. The stimulus being discussed now could range from $800 billion to more than $1.3 trillion. This will likely be the largest single spending bill in history. Now. what will this do to our deficit which we heard so much about for the 2 years before the Democrats took power? Nonpartisan budget experts are now predicting a deficit for 2009 of almost $1.3 trillion. triple the current years deficit. That would equal 9 percent of GDP. which is a 50 percent increase over the World War II record of 6 percent. We may be paying a premium rate to foreign investors like China to borrow this kind of money. And whats going to be included in that package? $350.000 for a fitness center. $4.5 million to bottle water with recyclable bottles. Mr. Speaker. we need more of the facts. not just words.\n",
      "Answer:  In his last year. George Bush has constructed a monument to his Presidency that will last for generations to come. He not only doubled our national debt in 8 short years. as he goes out the door. hes leaving America with a $1.2 trillion deficit. That means we will borrow $3.2 billion a day. $2.2 million a minute. Its unfathomable. That legacy of profligacy based on trickle down and bailouts has brought our economy to its knees. It would have been one thing if he borrowed the money to rebuild our crumbling Infrastructure. to build new schools to educate our kids. to give us a sustainable energy future. But. no. the money has been squandered in bailouts for Wall Street and an unnecessary war in the Middle East. And now Its up to us. this Congress. the Democrats. to give us a recovery package that will put Americans back to work and rebuild our country. We have to reject the policies of the Bush years. No more tax giveaways. Lets rebuild the infrastructure of this country. put people back to work. borrow the money for a purpose. not more waste.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Mr. Speaker. the Federal Government continues to bankrupt Uncle Sam with bailouts to special interest groups using taxpayer money. One more group has appeared on the steps of the Capitol dragging the sack for more \"Free Money.\" None other than the adult entertainment business. specifically. the CEO of \"Girls Gone Wild.\" has asked for $5 billion to save them from calamity. When is this mentality going to stop that citizens should subsidize industries that have fallen on hard times?\n",
      "Answer:  Mr. Speaker. 87 percent of the American people support Presidentelect Obamas stimulus package. a package that addresses the concerns and needs of lowincome Americans. working Americans. middleclass Americans. It is obvious that the Federal Government has to be the spender of last resort. No frivolous. foolish spending. but spending that creates jobs. jobs. jobs. puts Americans back to work. bring home our troops from Iraq. be able to downsize the investment in a war that many of us disagreed with. ensure that the war in Afghanistan succeeds. and make sure that those in Americas Appalachia and Mississippi Delta and the inner cities of Houston. Texas. have the amount of money to begin to work. summer youth jobs. Thats what this stimulus package is about. Presidentelect Obama has it right. We in the Federal Government have to rescue those who provided the tax dollars for America to work. Put them back to work. Youll see our economy spiraling. Frivolous comments about bailouts will not work. The American people know a stimulus package is for them. Lets do it quickly. Lets get the money to our local governments. I believe we should bypass some of our State governments. make sure those dollars are in our cities. our counties. our municipalities. put America back to work. Thats what Presidentelect Obama wants us to do.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Thank you. Mr. Speaker. What I would like to do today is to talk a little bit about the new stimulus package that Presidentelect Obama and some of the leadership has been talking about. the last stimulus package that we did. the rescue plan. and talk a little bit about the timetable. And exactly. Mr. Speaker. where the people of this country may get an idea of exactly where were going because sometimes things happen so fast in Washington that they dont really have an opportunity to grasp exactly what has happened to them not only now. but in the future. And not only in their future. but in their childrens future and in their grandchildrens future. So what I would like to do today is talk a little bit about how we got into the situation that were in now and what direction the new administration and the new majority or the larger majority is going to take us. And what I would like to do. Mr. Speaker. is start in October of 2007 when the Dow Jones was 14.078. October 10. The Bush administration responded to the unfolding subprime mortgage crisis with the HOPE program. which was a program designed to help people in foreclosure to go back and to renegotiate their mortgages. At the time. if you will remember. we were told that there were about 80 million mortgages in this country. about 5 percent of them were bad or subprime or delinquent. which is about 4 million loans. January of 2008. the Dow closed at 11.971. and it has gone down continually since then. In September of 2008. we were informedthe White House. the Congress was informed by Secretary Paulson that we were in a financial crisis. that something had to be done to unfreeze the credit market. that the credit market was frozen. that banks couldnt borrow from each other or wouldnt lend to each other. that large corporations were not able to do overnight borrowing. that student loans were not there. that automobile loans were not there. that loans for new homes were not there. and that we need to unfreeze this. And to unfreeze this. it was going to take $700 billion. Now. $700 billion is a lot of money. and its going to affect people for a long time. Its going to create more of a deficit for our country. which a lot of people in this body. especially on the majority side of the aisle. has said was not good policy. not good. finances to spend deficits. So we had $700 billion. Now. if you take the 4 million delinquent or toxic assets or mortgages. thats about $175.000 per mortgage And. Mr. Speaker. I dont know of a lot of mortgages that were in trouble that $175.000 would not have cured. But what we did is we didnt do anything with those mortgages. We decided that we would bail out those guys that had taken these mortgages and had leveraged them 45. sometimes 50 percent. And while they were doing this. they were making money handoverfist. While the poor guy in the house was losing his home. he was losing his job. this guy that had come up with all of this creative financial stuff with all of these derivatives that nobody really understood. and the only thing a lot of the guys coming up with these derivatives understood is that they were making a ton of money. So they were selling these things. And not only did it affect our economy and our banks and our financial institutions. but it did worldwide. These four million bad loans that could have been solved with $175.000 each. if you took from the $700 billionprobably much. much. much less than thatand all of a sudden we had this great financial crisis. And so the one thing that I heard. Mr. Speaker. over and over again. not only in this body. but in the Senate and all the pundits on some of these talk shows. was. well. this is kind of like a traffic accident on the expressway and its got all of the lanes blocked. Credit is frozen. This is the highway of credit. its frozen. And behind it sitting in line in traffic is the student loans. the car loans. the mortgage loans. the small business loans. the payroll loans. all the credit is sitting in line. Weve got to free up this accident. And so we did. Congress voted to free up this accident. All lanes are clearwell. at least the majority of the lanes are clear. weve only done $350 billion of the $700 billion. but theyre going to be back wanting the other $350 billion. But the credit market is not unfrozen. We still have people today that are getting foreclosed on every day. I dont care if youve got credit thats 850 on your credit score. you probably couldnt go borrow a dime today. These banks and these financial institutions. AIG Is oneyou know. AIG used to write bonds for construction and development. They wrote bonds. They wont even write you a bond now. and the government has given them about $125 billion. What are we doing? So if you look at all of these things that were intended in this one bailout that was intended to unfreeze the credit market. we can see that It hasnt worked. And not only has it not worked. we have not even tried to make any of these lending institutions. these banks. holding companies. insurance companies accountable for the money that weve given them. Mr. Speaker. Im sure that youve got the same thing Ive got. community banks. small banks calling me every day saying weve applied for the TARP. weve applied for the Capital program. we cant get any money. We cant get any money. And so whats happening? If you think that the big nine banks are going to come into these communities and loan somebody money to start a beauty salon or a car wash or an automotive repair. or whatever. youre badly mistaken. The community bankers. those small banks in our communities that know Fred and they know Jane. they know their families. they know what kind of reputation theyve got. they know their ability to pay back this money. these are the people that are being squeezed out. And the American people are depending on us to do something about it. I was happy to talk to Chairman FRANK. and he said within the next 2 weeks hes going to have legislation come out of Financial Services thats going to do that. We need to make these people accountable because the very taxpayers that are paying the $700 billion that weve given to the fat cats to balance their books and to hold the money to buy out the small and the community bank. weve given them the money and we still cant get credit. Mr. Speaker. I had a Chrysler dealer that came into my office and he sat down and told me over a period of time. a small period of time. he had sent 155 contracts or sales to Chrysler. they had approved seven of them. If we were supposed to have cleared the wreck and we were have supposed to freed up this credit market. it has not worked. and the American people and myself and many others in this body want to know why It has not worked. Now. lets look at the deficit for a minute because were borrowing this money that were using to stimulate or to buy outor whatever you want to callremember that we passed a $150 billion stimulus package. Mr. Speaker. where we actually sent checks to people to stir up the economy. to give the economy credibility. I dont think it worked. Evidently it didnt work. So whats been the result of that? We borrowed that $150 billion from China. The stimulus thats being discussed todaynow. were beyond the $700 billion stimuluswell. lets start out with the $150 billion stimulus. then the $700 billion stimulus. and then the loan to the automakers. And now were talking about another $700. $800 billion up to 1.3 trillion. Now. keep in mind if you look at the bailout that had already been done after the first stimulus where we gave checks back to people. we had AIG. we had IndyMac. we had Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. we had the housing bill. we had already spent about $700 billion. Youre starting to talk about some real money now. Mr. Speaker. You now. this range of $800 billion to $1.3 trillion. what does that mean? Well. Ill tell you what it means. it means that the deficit for 2009 is going to be $1.3 trillion. triple the current years deficit. In fact. its going to be 9 percent of our gross domestic product. 9 percent of our gross domestic product in this onenot counting all the other thingsthis one deficit in this 1 year. 9 percent. which is a 50 percent increase over World War IIs record deficit of 6 percent of the gross domestic product. So what that means is that some governments. some countries are thinking about charging us a prime or a premium interest rate from foreign investors. such as China is now thinking about charging us a premium for this money that were borrowing from them. Now. what Ive heard Is that this majority plan. the Democratic plan. Mr. Speaker. thats coming from the Presidentelect and the Senate and the House leaders is that this infrastructure. part of this will be infrastructure projects thats ready to go. shovel ready so to speak. theyre ready to get out there and theyre ready to get it on. The Conference of Mayors published a list of these projects that were ready to go. they put it on their Web site. So Mr. Speaker. if anybody was listening todayand I have to remember that most of my constituents at 2:30 in the afternoon. those that have jobs are out working. We didnt have any votes today in this body. so for you that may be taping this or may have an opportunity of a loved one to see it. we actually counted votes todayor had some people count them for us and we watched them. So we had a pretty easy day today. had a pretty easy day yesterday. In fact. we were out by about two oclock yesterday. Well probably have a pretty easy day tomorrow. I think weve got two bills. But for those of you that are watchingand that could be. Mr. Speaker. if I was talking to somebody out in the audience. if I was addressing them I would tell them to go to a Conference of Mayors Web site and look at some of these projects that are ready to go. that are infrastructure and vitalI believe it says vital infrastructure projects. The first one Is $350.000 for an Albuquerque. New Mexico fitness center. Thats a vital project. Ninetyfour million for a parking garage at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Now. these are the readytogo infrastructure projects that our tax dollars are going to go into. these are those vital projects. $4.5 million for Gretna. Florida to bottle water with recyclable bottles. $35 million. Music Hall of Fame in Missouri. $55 million for a mob museum in Las Vegas thats described in the Mayors report as \"historic post office museum rehabilitation.\" You know. we think of so many good ways to name these bills that they just are really warm and fuzzy. and so sometimes you dont pull back the covers. Twenty million for a minor league baseball museum in Durham. North Carolina. and $6 million for snowmaking and maintenance facilities at Spirit Mountain. Minnesota. Now. I apologize to those Members. Mr. Speaker. that these are in their districts and that these may have been put innot necessarily put in the package to get a vote or two. I dont know. But what I do know is that the lady and the gentleman and the family thats sitting around the kitchen table wanting to know how theyre going to pay their house note or their car note or what theyre going to do because mom or dad. or both. dont have a job. they dont think these are such vital projects. They dont think theyre that vital. What they think is vital is us starting to do something rather than just talking. Weve been talking long enough. Its time to take some action and to have some real cure for the taxpayers of this country. and not just the taxpayers today. but the taxpayers of the future. my children and my grandchildren. and maybe even my great grandchildren at the rate that were going. Ill turn now. after weve talked about that for a little bit. Mr. Speaker. and I want to quote Presidentelect Obama. January 8. 2009. \"Only government can break the vicious cycles that are crippling our economy.\" You know. I think there is some truth in that. Although I think that we the people. the entrepreneurs. the free market system. do a much better job than government doing anything. but I think the truth of this statement is that only government can break the vicious cycle. Yeah. governments got to get out of it. If we want to break the vicious cycle that were in of rewarding bad behavior. weve got to get out of this and let the market take care of itself. But no. we havent learned from that because. you know. you would think that with the Dow going down every day. even with all the money that were pumping in it. we would go. you know what? This isnt working. Weve got a problem here. Lets look at it. lets see what it is. And we might find out that were our own worst enemy. Mr. Speaker. But lets talk about the national debt. Lets talk about the deficit. The national debt is currently more than 10.6 trillionand Im talking with a \"T.\" You know. it took me a while. when I got into government. to learn what a million dollars was. and then it took me a little bit longer to learn what a billion is. Its hard to get your head around a trillion. So Mr. Speaker. if anybody is at home that is going to go to the Mayors Conference vital projects Web site might also want to go to a math Web site and try to figure out how much a trillion is. But our national debt today is $10.6 trillion. continues to grow. The national debt has increased by $2 trillion since the Democrats took over Congress just 2 years ago. $2 trillion increase. The Presidentelect on 60 Minutes. November 16. said we shouldnt worry about the deficit next year or even the year after. Speaker PELOSI. on a floor speech on March 17 of 2005. said. \"Democrats have made a commitment to honor the value of accountability. including eliminating deficit spending.\" STENY HOYER. speech at the National Press Club September 28. 2007. Mr. Speaker. he said. \"Today Democrats are fighting to restore the fiscal discipline that has been sorely lacking since 2001. Why? Because we believe deficits and spiraling debt threaten our future prosperity and national security.\" What has changed in a year. a little over a year. whats changed? Rahm Emanuel. the Presidentelects Chief of Staff in the White House. January 26. 2005 floor speech. \"If youre looking for a crisis to solve. look no further than the Presidents budget deficit. The Presidents reckless policies are damaging our Nations future.\" This is the same Chief of Staff of the Presidentelect that the Presidentelect said we shouldnt worry about the deficit next year or even the year after. BART GORDON. in a press release of January 5. 2007. said. \"American families must live within their budgets. and its time for Congress to do the same.\" MIKE Ross. in a floor speech December 6. 2005. said. \"Deficits do matter. Deficits reduce economic growth. They burden our children and grandchildren with liabilities. They increase our reliance on foreign lenders who now own 40 percent of our debt.\" Thats right. foreign lenders now own 40 percent of our debt. I would venture to say to my good friend from Arkansas I would like to work with him to try to find out what percentage foreign investors and lenders own of our debt right now. where theyre even thinking about charging us premium interest because 9 percent of our gross domestic product is going to be in that debt. Tim RYAN. July 6. 2004: \"We have almost a $600 billion annual deficit for the past year. This is getting rolled into our $7 trillion debt that we have. So almost 20 percent of our annual budget that we pay down here is interest on the debt that we have. So if you keep accruing the big debt. you have to keep taking tax money to pay it off. Whos lending us this money? Japan and China are lending us this money.\"\n",
      "Answer:  I appreciate the gentlemans yielding. Youve made some wonderful points. but I come back to the statement you have in quotes there from our Presidentelect. I have great hope that he will be able to instill more confidence and more calm to help reassure the economy. But the statement \"Only government can break the vicious cycles that are crippling our economy\" is more of the same. We were promised change. and even though Im a Republican and hes a Democrat. I was hoping we would get the change and get away from the governments interfering in everything. We should have done a better job. the Federal Government should have. in monitoring what was being done and spent. But the fact is you go back to the late 1930s. the government just kept getting bigger and bigger. The government kept getting involved more and more. It has continued to expand and grow. And you look at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Those are governmental creations. and then when they got in trouble in 2002. 2003. fortunately we at that time had a Secretary of the Treasury that was concerned about it and fought here on the Hill to try to get someone to take notice and to start better regulating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But the government was more interested in continuing to throw money at the issue and not to fix it. Our job. and we have said this before. is to provide for the common defense and then beyond that create a level. fair playing field. make sure everybodys playing fair. punish the cheaters. and let free enterprise work. And more and more and more we are getting the government in running things. And now after the bailout of September. it has grown even more. We have got the government buying interest in banks. buying interest in automakers. creating a car czar. for goodness sakes. We cant design a good pen or an ID card for ourselves here all that easily. much less a car. Good grief. But. anyway. \"Only government can break the vicious oycles that are crippling our economy.\" Our government is crippling our economy. It did in September. It continues to. It has for many years. The trick is to allow the free enterprise and the entrepreneurship that is so inherent in this society that has made us the greatest Nation. I believe. in the history of the world. and yet thats not change. \"Only government can break the vicious cycles.\"\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  I appreciate the gentlemans yielding. We do need to have the Federal watchdog groups like the SEC do a better job of monitoring and seeking out the cheaters and the crooks. And that should have happened with Madoff. It should have happened with many things that have been going on. Some of the problems are right within government itself. And so the gentleman from Georgia. my friend. Is exactly right. The government will break the vicious cycle by getting out and by becoming more a policeman. going after people that are cheating. instead of trying to dictate everything. It is killing this country to move so quickly towards socialism. Now. I brought this up in a meeting previously back in September that when the government buys interest in banks. buys interest in stock brokerage firms. car dealers. whatever it is. thats called socialism. and the government becomes a partner and eventually the government takes over the business. Thats how socialism works. I was told by a colleague here obviously these things are not socialism because the socialists are not in favor of the September bailout bill. Well. after it passed. I saw one of the socialist leaders on television saying. yes. you know. initially we werent for the bailout because we didnt think money should be paid to Wall Street and all these other groups. but now that its past. we realize the governments taking over the financial sector. the insurance company. all these things are great. Its the greatest day for socialism in American history. So it was socialism. It is socialism. I have used the example before. but I learned a great lesson on exactly why socialism never works. Not only did it not work for the New Testament church. and eventually Apostle Paul had to issue an order that if you dont work. you dont eat. it didnt work for the Pilgrims. They had too many people starve to death the first year. so they went to private property and it flourished. But the summer I spent as an exchange student in the Soviet Union allowed a trip out to a collective farm. and the fields looked bad. And I have worked on lots of farms and ranches. and normally you get your work done early. early. before the sun gets to its peak. And all the farmers were sitting in the shade. and it was obvious they hadnt worked so far as midmorning. And so I spoke a little Russian back then. and I said. you know. trying to be as nice as I could. when do you work out in the field? They laughed. One of them said. I make the same number of rubles if I am out there in the field or if I am here in the shade. so I am here In the shade. Many people dont understand why socialism isnt a good idea. It always falls. The only way the Soviet Union made it last for 70 years. they had to have a tyrannical government that killed people or put people In prison if they didnt abide by it or work. Our government. country. had flourished because the government was the policeman and not the dictator. Thats what we have got to get back to. I appreciate the gentleman yielding.\n",
      "Answer:  Thank you. Now I want to recognize another friend of mine from New Jersey. the Honorable Representative GARRETT.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Because she worked with me on the issue that we are talking about here. that your comment is only to break the vicious cycles that are crippling our economy. You have to couch that in the correct terminology as to what government can do and what they shouldnt do. We came to the floor. what was it. several months ago now. 2 months ago now. I guess. time flies. when we were dealing with can the government solve the problem out on Wall Street? Can the government solve the problem with regard to all the banks? Can the government solve the problem with regard to the crippling lending situation that was going on in this country at that time? And we heard. or we were told by the White House just down the street. and some folks from leadership right here. and the legislative bodybut. absolutely. government can do it. and they can do it with taxpayer dollars. $700 billion. I will use the word \"scheme.\" they called it a \"plan\" at the time. that government would solve the problem. A few of us. not enough. a few of us came to the floor at that time and said. you know. maybe government just cant solve that problem by saying that we have the only answer to do it. One of the people who joined us with that fight was the gentlelady from Ohio. And I would like her to address those issues again why they couldnt solve it in themanner they were suggesting.\n",
      "Answer:  Will the gentleman yield?\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Will the gentleman yield?\n",
      "Answer:  I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  I want to thank the gentleman for yielding. Last year back in the Congress when it really mattered. when that proposal came down like a fast ball down the center aisle here from the administration and wanted the American people to put forward nearly $1 trillion and normal hearings were not held. The membership. I dont think. was respected at that time. Thank goodness. its a new Congress. and we have now seen that the Treasury Department. under Mr. Paulsons leadership. was more than happy to take over $250 billion of the American peoples money and to distribute it to their favored friends. We dont even know who all those friends are. We read press reports. There has been no proper oversight. and we dont know who the recipients have been. I can tell you. and I was identifying so much with the gentleman from Texas. because in my region of northern Ohio the foreclosures are increasing. unabated. the pace of increase. And just last December we had another 300. right before Christmas. 300 more families dislodged from their homes. This month. we had the same. I went over to the Treasury. Right before Christmas. when Congress left. I came back with a big scroll. I took over to the Treasury 4.100 addresses in Lucas County. Toledo. Ohio. of every citizen that had lost their home in my district in 2008. The Secretary wasnt there to see me. So we went out in the back and we unrolled the scroll. which went all the way down the stairs on the south side of the Treasury building. And we took some photos. and we put them up on our Web site. We pleaded with the people from Treasury to please work with us. not to make it a bad holiday for the people in our region. not to make it a bad new year. to find a way to gather the agencies. One of. the assistants to the Secretary gathered us. and we asked for a televideo conference with people back home. We did that over at the Library of Congress. where Treasury officials. FDIC. SEC. HUD. Federal Reserveand we had the people back home. realtors. the county commissioners. the auditors. We had all of the interest groups back home in this conversationand it was great to have a conversation on how can we stop the hemorrhage in the mortgage markets? It didnt happen. Christmas came. Hanukkah came. more hundreds of people got dislodged from their homes. and the system just didnt work. Unfortunately. the administration said to us. well we really need a housing czar. I said. we said we dont need a housing czar. We need for the agencies to use their regulatory power to get the market to work. Let the market heal itself. You are not using these powers to let the market heal itself. As a result. my region has had auctioneers come in. One company from Texas actually came in. I read about it in the newspaper. and I went to the auction of homes that were auctioned off for $4.500. For that amount of money. we could have put the original owner back in. But the HUD money hadnt come. The HUD money wasnt there so the city couldnt bid on its own properties. Outside investors. one outside investor bought 137 properties. These properties are not maintained. What happens is people break in them and they steal the copper wiring and the chandeliers. and they become gutted units. This is what is happening.\n",
      "Answer:  Absentee ownership.\n",
      "\n",
      "Question:  Absentee ownership. What is happening in my community is horrendous. and yet I see these Wall Street banks get more money. Wells FargoI will say their names. Citigroup. Deutsche Bank. U.S. Bank. these are the ones that are causing huge problems in my region. And when they get acquisition of the property. they dont manage it because they dont care about our community. We are a dot on the map for them. You know what? I was sitting here. I was thinking. what is going on here? I figured out. you know what they are going to do? They are going to take the loss on those properties. their original worth. and then the $4.500 they got. they are going to take the loss and book it on their tax returns for 2008 and make a huge windfall in the Tax Code. which isnt fair to the American people. because the American people are footing the bill here. So we have a lot of work that we have to do to heal this system and to heal this market. The one gentleman was talking about. you know. when the government takes over its socialism. I dont know exactly what to call it when the Treasury Department really has rescued all these banks. The fascist system used to do that. They are combines. they are industrial combines. and their banking combines were one and the same with the government. But its an \"ism\" of some kind. I thank very much the gentleman. We share the same deep concern.\n",
      "Answer:  I appreciate the gentleladys comments she made. I know a number of other individuals would like to make some remarks. Let me just be brief. the gentlelady actually made four excellent points. One. she made the point that with regard to the idea of whether government can be the solution to all the problems. is there a rush to judgment? Yes. there was a rush to judgment with regard to what we did last year with the spending of $700 billion on TARP. Today. there sounds like there is a rush to judgment. what may be going on in the spending that we may be doing in the future. Now. BARNEY FRANK said the other day. a week ago. he said these were artificial deadlines that were being set. whether we are talking about TARP or the auto situation or now the spending going forward. the sun still rose tomorrow. to quote BARNEY FRANK. The sun will still rise tomorrow with regard to our economy as well. We should not set artificial deadlines. The gentlelady also made an important comment when she said its the peoples money that we are dealing with here. We have to always remember that. Its the taxpayers dollars. So we must be careful how its spent. Also. within that subset of the comment. it is the nature of politics that it will be political dedisions. as opposed to market decisions. that will direct the forces of the dollars. We should allow market forces to direct it. Thirdly. she made a great point. which I was going to make as well. January 8. 2009 CONGR oversight. past and future. Oversight. We didnt have oversight in the past. It doesnt sound like we are going to have a heck of a lot of oversight going forward. Even if we do have a little modicum of oversight right now. a hearing or two on this billion. trillion dollars that we are about to spend. just as with the housing situation. it is impossible for the Federal Government to manage all these dollars going forward. Likewise here going forward. it will be impossible to manage it. Finally. she made a good point as well. and I will close on this. market. heal thyself. is what she said. Likewise here. whether its the credit market. the financial market or the unemployment market. we can allow the private sector. with the assist of the government getting out of the way for the market to heal thyself in those situations as well in the appropriate manner.\n",
      "\n"
     ]
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "for i in range(50):\n",
    "    print(\"Question: \", speeches_with_questions.iloc[i].speech)\n",
    "    print(\"Answer: \", speeches_with_questions.iloc[i].next_speech)\n",
    "    print()"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 5,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "spwithq=[q for q in speech if q[1].find(\"?\")+1] #speech having questions\n",
    "spwithq = [[q[0], nltk.sent_tokenize(q[1])] for q in spwithq] # split speech in sentences"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 6,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "questions = [[i[0], [q for q in i[1] if q.find(\"?\")+1]] for i in spwithq]"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 7,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "q_corpus = []\n",
    "for q in questions:\n",
    "    q_corpus += q[1]\n",
    "q_corpus = list(set(q_corpus))\n",
    "q_corpus.sort()"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 8,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/plain": [
       "['\"-and we mean it?\"',\n",
       " '\"374?',\n",
       " '\"Am I missing something?\"',\n",
       " '\"And Aint I a Women?\"',\n",
       " '\"And how do we develop missions and provide resources so that we are using all of our capabilities on behalf of our national security?\"',\n",
       " '\"And how were you recorded?\"',\n",
       " '\"And in 3 years it disappears?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are American taxpayers getting what they paid for?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are Mini Med Policies Really Health Insurance?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are Republicans Serious About Fixing Health Care?',\n",
       " '\"Are We Ready?',\n",
       " '\"Are You Smarter than a FifthGrader?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are these people charged with immigration violations or are they charged with other crimes?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are these people going to take away bonuses that taxpayers have paid for?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are we in for a tax hike?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are we now going to be expected to pay for someone elses losses when Im struggling to keep paying my own mortgage?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are we there yet?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are we willing?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are you a fighter?',\n",
       " '\"Are you aware there is up to a 50 percent tax credit for every insurance policy that you buy?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are you buying it now?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are you crazy?',\n",
       " '\"Are you getting your fair share?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are you going smart thing?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are you pulling or pushing back there?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are you really working for nothing?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are you saying that the CIA lied to the United States Congress?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are you serious?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are you seriously considering putting someone who failed to pay their taxes in charge of the department which controls the IRS?',\n",
       " '\"Are you telling us that the CIA lied to Congress?\"',\n",
       " '\"Are you worried that it affects the image of your state?\"',\n",
       " '\"At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected?',\n",
       " '\"Benefitting Whom?',\n",
       " '\"Budget Woes?',\n",
       " '\"But is it conceivable that the U.S. Government could default?',\n",
       " '\"But what about Chernobyl?\"',\n",
       " '\"But what of the insurance letter in my hand?',\n",
       " '\"Can Anyone Hear Us?\"',\n",
       " '\"Can I have an ice cream cone?\"',\n",
       " '\"Can You Afford to Pay for the Democratic Spending Bill?\"',\n",
       " '\"Can anyone over there tell me what net tangible benefit is?\"',\n",
       " '\"Can we define those things?\"',\n",
       " '\"Can we reach a time agreement?\"',\n",
       " '\"Can you believe I paid (fill in the blank with the appropriate amount) in taxes?!',\n",
       " '\"Can you believe these stories happen in America?\"',\n",
       " '\"Can you do your job so you all come home alive?\"',\n",
       " '\"Can you hear them now?\"',\n",
       " '\"Can you imagine what it would be like if your children were unable to be educated?',\n",
       " '\"Can you kick down a door?\"',\n",
       " '\"Compared to what?\"',\n",
       " '\"Do I owe $184.000?\"',\n",
       " '\"Do I really need this?\"',\n",
       " '\"Do the rules of the Senate continue from one Congress to another?\"',\n",
       " '\"Do they know about the guy I just met whose entire company just took a 20percent pay cut so they wouldnt have to lay off employees?',\n",
       " '\"Do they know how fearful it is to turn your heat down at night to 59 degrees and 65 in the day when your child is asthmatic and it can flare up from the cold?',\n",
       " '\"Do they know weve made sacrifices but you havent?',\n",
       " '\"Do they know what it feels like to tell your fatherinlaw that the daughter I married and promised to provide for that you just lost your job?',\n",
       " '\"Do they know what its like to have another coworker lose their job and are worried their spouses job could be next?',\n",
       " '\"Do they know what its like to speak with someone who was in tears over losing their job because they think they will lose their house?',\n",
       " '\"Do we want to allow funding for people who employ people who are under investigation?\"',\n",
       " '\"Do you know about an American pilot?\"',\n",
       " '\"Do you know what all these are for?\"',\n",
       " '\"Do you know what it is like to be 1.500 miles away and not have the ability to help him through this?',\n",
       " '\"Do you manufacture in China?\"',\n",
       " '\"Do you take this man Ladislao Baca as your husband?\"',\n",
       " '\"Do you think that the Democrats have enough votes on their side to simply pass the Senate bill?\"',\n",
       " '\"Do you understand 72 percent of Americans are for expanding SCHIP?\"',\n",
       " '\"Do you want to be a State?\"',\n",
       " '\"Do you want to stay in the dungeon or be expelled from your country?\"',\n",
       " '\"Do you want to talk to me?\"',\n",
       " '\"Does anybody know a knot that would hold?\"',\n",
       " '\"Does that make them criminals?',\n",
       " '\"Does this happen often?\"',\n",
       " '\"Dont apply the rules retroactively\"?',\n",
       " '\"Dont you hate that rich guy?',\n",
       " '\"Elective?',\n",
       " '\"Enough is enough\"?',\n",
       " '\"Fort Hood Report: Why No Mention of Islam?\"',\n",
       " '\"Founding Brothers\"?',\n",
       " '\"Go get the very best education you can possibly get\"?',\n",
       " '\"Gone where?\"',\n",
       " '\"Got Taxes?',\n",
       " '\"Had she been given an opportunity to release her own intense hatred of the Turks?',\n",
       " '\"Have you checked with Barbs?\"',\n",
       " '\"Have you done enough?\"',\n",
       " '\"Have you examined the facts?\"',\n",
       " '\"He who pays the piper calls the tune\"?',\n",
       " '\"How about his cuttingedge humor?',\n",
       " '\"How about your salary?\"',\n",
       " '\"How are we as Americans able to maintain our homes and this when things like this happen to us?',\n",
       " '\"How are we going to pay Washingt has some for this?\"',\n",
       " '\"How are we going to pay for it?\"',\n",
       " '\"How are we going to save the life of this particular patient?\"',\n",
       " '\"How are yall doing?\"',\n",
       " '\"How can anyone be mad at them just because they crossed over some arbitrary manmade border?',\n",
       " '\"How can limited government and fiscal restraint be equated with lack of compassion for the poor?',\n",
       " '\"How can these programs be improved?\"',\n",
       " '\"How can we determine if the crossborder travelers are committing crime in the United States?',\n",
       " '\"How can we do this without causing you trouble?\"',\n",
       " '\"How can we help with health care?',\n",
       " '\"How can you Republicans speak?',\n",
       " '\"How can you ask a person to close their ears?',\n",
       " '\"How can you even consider this?\"',\n",
       " '\"How could this happen?',\n",
       " '\"How could you call us good?\"',\n",
       " '\"How dare you not go retroactive?\"',\n",
       " '\"How do we keep incumbents incumbents?\"',\n",
       " '\"How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam?\"',\n",
       " '\"How do you feel about Texas being admitted to the Union?\"',\n",
       " '\"How do you give a rebate to people who didnt put any bate in?\"',\n",
       " '\"How do you spell champion?',\n",
       " '\"How far do you get into the year before you run out of money?\"',\n",
       " '\"How is everything going?\"',\n",
       " '\"How is the gentlelady and gentleman recorded?\"',\n",
       " '\"How loud do alarm bells have to ring?\"',\n",
       " '\"How low can they go?\"',\n",
       " '\"How many TV stations do you think are going to go ahead and go forward even though its not mandated?\"',\n",
       " '\"How many is too many?\"',\n",
       " '\"How many of you want to pay your neighbors mortgage who has an extra bathroom and cant pay their bills?\"',\n",
       " '\"How many people do you have in your county jail that are foreign nationals charged with crimes other than immigration violations like misdemeanors and felony offenses?\"',\n",
       " '\"How many times do we have to pay for drugs?',\n",
       " '\"How much is it going to cost?\"',\n",
       " '\"How then shall we perform it?',\n",
       " '\"How was I supposed to learn when I was constantly scared?\"',\n",
       " '\"How would you like to go to the Russian Far East with me and Danny and some others?\"',\n",
       " '\"Hows the school?',\n",
       " '\"Hows your wife?\"',\n",
       " '\"I am going make somebody look bad because they dont agree with me on the timing of something\" or will we act as a body that will ensure both caring for the now and ensuring the future?',\n",
       " '\"Iran Sanctions: Why Does the U.S. Government Do Business With Companies Doing Business in Iran?\"',\n",
       " '\"Is ACORN intentionally structured as a criminal enterprise?\"',\n",
       " '\"Is Pennsylvania ready to acquiesce behind Federal legislation that will choke off our economy by displacing thousands of jobs and increasing utility bills for residential taxpayers?',\n",
       " '\"Is That All There Is?\"',\n",
       " '\"Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the Foundation of the Redeemers mission upon Earth?',\n",
       " '\"Is life so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?\"',\n",
       " '\"Is that the best you can do?\"',\n",
       " '\"Is the government now creating hobos?\"',\n",
       " '\"Is there anything in this bill that they just passed that will get my dad his hours back?\"',\n",
       " '\"Is this legal?\"',\n",
       " '\"Is your mom home?\"',\n",
       " '\"Isnt every criminal act that harms a person a hate crime?\"',\n",
       " '\"Isnt it ugly?\"',\n",
       " '\"Isnt my nephew as important as any politician or rich person in this country?\"',\n",
       " '\"Isnt this awful?\"',\n",
       " '\"It was satisfying so why would I quit?\"',\n",
       " '\"Lifes most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?\"',\n",
       " '\"Lifes most urgent and persistent question is: What are you doing for others?\"',\n",
       " '\"Made in America\"?',\n",
       " '\"Never again?\"',\n",
       " '\"Newport?',\n",
       " '\"No price is too great\"?',\n",
       " '\"No\"?',\n",
       " '\"Now what on Earth do I do?\"',\n",
       " '\"Of what use is it for a queen bee to fall in love with a bull?\"',\n",
       " '\"Pardon me?',\n",
       " '\"Release them into this country\"?',\n",
       " '\"Remember Guantanamo Bay\"?',\n",
       " '\"Remember me?',\n",
       " '\"Remember when you got me to go to Walter Reed Hospital and Bethesda Naval Hospital to visit the war wounded and how we worked to get golf carts for disabled soldiers by insisting that each of the 177 golf courses operated by the services have carts for the disabled?',\n",
       " '\"See what you can do to help us with this problem?\"',\n",
       " '\"Should U.S. Set a Timetable for Withdrawing Troops from Afghanistan?\"',\n",
       " '\"Should the law be repealed?\"',\n",
       " '\"So is Obama really worse than everyone else or is he just the latest in the line of U.S. Presidents who have no idea how to run an effective foreign policy?',\n",
       " '\"Strictly prohibited from any participation\"?',\n",
       " '\"The Forgotten Man\"?',\n",
       " '\"The Next Big Disaster: Is the Private Sector Prepared?\"',\n",
       " '\"These people get this and these people get that\"?',\n",
       " '\"To bind up the Nations wounds\"?',\n",
       " '\"To fend off possible systemic difficulties\"?',\n",
       " '\"TurboTax messed up\"?',\n",
       " '\"Us surrender?',\n",
       " '\"Was Margaret Sanger a Racist?\"',\n",
       " '\"Was this a good or a bad year in the fight against Alzheimers?\"',\n",
       " '\"Wasnt that a nuclear catastrophe?\"',\n",
       " '\"We will lose too many bright young peopleif something is not done\"-will they tell her this is not the time?',\n",
       " '\"Were not going to tell you where were spending these trillions of dollars\"?',\n",
       " '\"Were spending too much\"?',\n",
       " '\"What Now?\"',\n",
       " '\"What Shall I Tell My Children Who Are Black?.\"',\n",
       " '\"What about the deductability of interest on home mortgages?\"',\n",
       " '\"What are single people supposed to do?',\n",
       " '\"What are you doing about the deficit?\"',\n",
       " '\"What are you doing here?\"',\n",
       " '\"What are you doing with this guy?\"',\n",
       " '\"What are you going to do if you want to kill jobs?\"',\n",
       " '\"What can I do for you?',\n",
       " '\"What can we do to help?\"',\n",
       " '\"What can you do for us?\"',\n",
       " '\"What can you do in 180 days if you had the funds?\"',\n",
       " '\"What capital gains do we have today with this market downturn?\"',\n",
       " '\"What did we get from the White House?\"',\n",
       " '\"What did we get from the White House?\"-remember.',\n",
       " '\"What do we do?',\n",
       " '\"What do you mean?\"',\n",
       " '\"What do you plan to do once this war with the Soviets is over?\"',\n",
       " '\"What do you predict will happen with the earths climate next year?\"',\n",
       " '\"What does the CRA do?\"',\n",
       " '\"What else can I do to serve?\"',\n",
       " '\"What else would I do?',\n",
       " '\"What happened in the first 100 days?',\n",
       " '\"What has happened to the words sadder but wiser?',\n",
       " '\"What have you done?\"',\n",
       " '\"What is Democratic Socialism?\"',\n",
       " '\"What is a home without a child?\".',\n",
       " '\"What is going on?',\n",
       " '\"What is going to happen to me and those like me?\"',\n",
       " '\"What is he talking about?',\n",
       " '\"What is lost or what do you gain or lose by waiting?\"',\n",
       " '\"What is that?\"',\n",
       " '\"What is the Federal Government doing without during this emergency?\"',\n",
       " '\"What is the cost of my health to my wife and daughters?\"',\n",
       " '\"What is the definition for sexual orientation?\"',\n",
       " '\"What is the economic system of the United States?\"',\n",
       " '\"What is wrong with a majority vote?\"',\n",
       " '\"What is your job?\"',\n",
       " '\"What issue would you most like to see addressed in health care reform legislation?\"',\n",
       " '\"What kind of life is that?\"',\n",
       " '\"What more can we do for pregnant women who need our help?\"',\n",
       " '\"What now?\"',\n",
       " '\"What specific subjects or legal trends would you like [Harvard] to reflect?\"',\n",
       " '\"What were you doing in Washington?',\n",
       " '\"What would Lincoln do?\"',\n",
       " '\"What would the job creators do?\"',\n",
       " '\"What?',\n",
       " '\"What?\"',\n",
       " '\"Whats Up Zephyrhills?\"',\n",
       " '\"Whats Wrong With This Picture?\"',\n",
       " '\"Whats happened to those two Border Agents Ramos and Compean?\"',\n",
       " '\"Whats it like down here on the TexasMexico border at night?\"',\n",
       " '\"Whats the attitude in Australia and around the world about these tremendous challenges that we face?',\n",
       " '\"Whats wrong with a majority vote?',\n",
       " '\"Whats wrong with accepting outside help?',\n",
       " '\"Whats wrong with capandtrade and whats right with using free enterprise to solve the challenge that we have?\"',\n",
       " '\"When do you work in the field?\"',\n",
       " '\"When is the right time to discuss the bonuses paid by some of the recipients of the financial recovery legislation of last fall?\"',\n",
       " '\"Where Do We Go From Here?\"',\n",
       " '\"Where Do We Go from Here?\"',\n",
       " '\"Where are the jobs?\"',\n",
       " '\"Where do we get such men?\"',\n",
       " '\"Where do we go from here?\"',\n",
       " '\"Where do you think it will be the worst?\"',\n",
       " '\"Where is my bailout?\"',\n",
       " '\"Where is the boy?\"',\n",
       " '\"Where is the common sense of these Wall Street bankers?',\n",
       " '\"Where will the money come from?\"',\n",
       " '\"Wheres the beef?',\n",
       " '\"Wheres the beef?\"',\n",
       " '\"Wheres the jobs?\"',\n",
       " '\"Which is the gay one?\"',\n",
       " '\"White House & Big Pharma: Whats the Deal?\"',\n",
       " '\"Who Decides?\"',\n",
       " '\"Who Gets A Tax Cut?',\n",
       " '\"Who Is ever going to go into a deal with the White House again if they dont keep their word?',\n",
       " '\"Who among us would be content with the counsels of patience and delay?\"',\n",
       " '\"Who are you going to believeme or your own eyes?\"',\n",
       " '\"Who can find a virtuous woman?',\n",
       " '\"Who is eve] going to get into a deal with the White House again if they dont keep their word?',\n",
       " '\"Who is the father of our country?\"',\n",
       " '\"Who knows?\"',\n",
       " '\"Who remembers the steerage passengers aboard the Titanic?\"',\n",
       " '\"Who told you to do it?\"',\n",
       " '\"Who would harness the power of a modern state to the absurd goal of killing Jews?',\n",
       " '\"Whos on first?\"',\n",
       " '\"Whose side are you on?\"',\n",
       " '\"Why Haiti?',\n",
       " '\"Why Survive?',\n",
       " '\"Why are they taking away the Medicare Advantage I have?\"',\n",
       " '\"Why are we forced to pay well over $300 million to an organization that is overtly racist?',\n",
       " '\"Why are you allowing them to turn their backs on you?',\n",
       " '\"Why are you taking my money and giving it to somebody else who doesnt have health care?',\n",
       " '\"Why arent you helping in some constructive way?\"',\n",
       " '\"Why arent you hiring people?\"',\n",
       " '\"Why cant those bankers make loans to my company?',\n",
       " '\"Why cant we have a markup?\"',\n",
       " '\"Why cant you just extend unemployment benefits?',\n",
       " '\"Why cant you just sit down and compromise?',\n",
       " '\"Why didnt I say that?\"',\n",
       " '\"Why do you have to blow up so many of our fields and homes?\"',\n",
       " '\"Why dont we stand together with the courage of men and the boldness of heroes who dedicate themselves to a sublime aim?\"',\n",
       " '\"Why have Republicans not been screaming for Janet Napolitanos firing?',\n",
       " '\"Why is it bogus?',\n",
       " '\"Why kill yourself working if it is given away to people who arent working as hard?\"',\n",
       " '\"Why should Hawaii follow AngloAmerican common law rather than its own ancient traditions regarding the use of property?\"',\n",
       " '\"Why should I worry about helping the people in California or Nevada?',\n",
       " '\"Why should we protect people who have chosen a different personal lifestyle?\"',\n",
       " '\"Why should we punish Minnesota because other States are less efficient?\"',\n",
       " '\"Why then do we do it?',\n",
       " '\"Why would you come to that conclusion?\"',\n",
       " '\"Why?',\n",
       " '\"Why?\"',\n",
       " '\"Will the House now consider the bill?\"',\n",
       " '\"Will the bill increase the overall cost of doing business?\"-is.',\n",
       " '\"Will the murder of a respected Cochise County rancher change anything on our border?\"',\n",
       " '\"Will you agree to time limits?\"',\n",
       " '\"Would there be an Earth without the Sun?\"',\n",
       " '\"Would you be an honorary adviser to my Leo High School YAF chapter?\"',\n",
       " '\"Would you like a little advice?\"',\n",
       " '\"Would you like some advice?\"',\n",
       " '\"Wouldnt bankruptcy protection be your best friend?',\n",
       " '\"Yet what is a people to do if destined to experience the miracle of rebirth in a region as problematic as todays Middle East?',\n",
       " '\"You are going into the Capitol?',\n",
       " '\"You clear?\"',\n",
       " '\"You know what were going to do?',\n",
       " '\"You know what?',\n",
       " '\"You serve on Armed Services and Intelligence?\"',\n",
       " '\"Youre Jewish?',\n",
       " '\"Youre asking me?',\n",
       " '\"Youre either for teachers or youre not\"?',\n",
       " '\"[A]ny truth to this?\"',\n",
       " '\"a Delaware corporation\"?',\n",
       " '\"a debt we inherited\"?',\n",
       " '\"a social ethic where some human lives are valued and others are not\"?',\n",
       " '\"affect the facts she chose to see?\"',\n",
       " '\"an aspirin a day keeps the doctor away\"?',\n",
       " '\"are there any questions?\"',\n",
       " '\"are you kidding?',\n",
       " '\"are you the only sane one there who is voting against this?\"',\n",
       " '\"at risk\" does not mean the resolution has necessarily gone over the level of beingof losing its privileged status?',\n",
       " '\"can you hear me now?\"',\n",
       " '\"did you just now pour that coffee into your saucer before drinking it?\"',\n",
       " '\"do you know about the polar bears?\"',\n",
       " '\"do you know that there is a tax inherent in this budget?\"',\n",
       " '\"do you know what?',\n",
       " '\"do you mean the snow job of the stimulus package and then the budget that the President came out with?\"',\n",
       " '\"even in most cases\"?',\n",
       " '\"exactly what is our energy policy in the United States and what should it be?\"',\n",
       " '\"from whence cometh our help?\"',\n",
       " '\"how did you know it was me?\"',\n",
       " '\"how do we get the biggest bang for the buck?\"',\n",
       " '\"how much money can we get for the weapon?\"',\n",
       " '\"how much weapon can we get for the money?\"',\n",
       " '\"iHearing notice available at: <http:// judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/hearing.cfm?id= 4334>.',\n",
       " '\"is this bird alive or is he dead?\"',\n",
       " '\"is what will this allvolunteer force look like in 2007?\"',\n",
       " '\"isnt it terrible that all those liberals made the poor lenders make these loans?',\n",
       " '\"maintaining the lump sum payment\"?',\n",
       " '\"my\" amendment?',\n",
       " '\"national policies\"?',\n",
       " '\"so what do you think about the snow?\"',\n",
       " '\"swamp\" and \"cesspool\" are Increasingly routine in articles describing the appropriations process?',\n",
       " '\"the death tax\"?',\n",
       " '\"the proof is in the pudding\"?',\n",
       " '\"trick or treat?\"',\n",
       " '\"unless disapproved by the Rockbridge County government\"?',\n",
       " '\"what accounts for the vast discrepancy between the terrorist threat facing America and the scale of our response?',\n",
       " '\"what are you offering the peasants in your election speech today?\"',\n",
       " '\"what class of activity is Congress seeking to regulate?\"',\n",
       " '\"whats wrong with this picture?\"',\n",
       " '\"when does life begin?\"',\n",
       " '\"where are the jobs?\"',\n",
       " '\"who needs a job?\"',\n",
       " '\"who should control the education dollarpoliticians and bureaucrats or the American people?\"',\n",
       " '\"who wins tonight?\"',\n",
       " '\"why not?\"',\n",
       " '\"why\"?',\n",
       " '\"will there be any contribution from foreign banks to make up what AIG owes?\"',\n",
       " '\"you know what?',\n",
       " '$1 million?',\n",
       " '$1 trillion or 90 percent of GDPhow does that translate to the person who lives on Main Street?',\n",
       " '$1 trillion overseas?',\n",
       " '$1 trillion to $1.6 trillion?',\n",
       " '$1 trillion?',\n",
       " '$1 trillionand who were the beneficiaries of that tax break?',\n",
       " '$1.5 trillion?',\n",
       " '$1.50?',\n",
       " '$1.7 trillion that were in deficit right now?',\n",
       " '$1.8 billion new State cost about 2015. where would he or she get that money?',\n",
       " '$10 billion for $90 billion in debt?',\n",
       " '$10 million a yearjust $10 million a yearwouldnt there be at least another $80 million to $90 million a year just out of his salary alone to extend coverage to more people?',\n",
       " '$10 million to inspect canals?',\n",
       " '$12.2 million annual income?',\n",
       " '$120 billion to rebuild New Orleans?',\n",
       " '$120 million?',\n",
       " '$15 billion worth of bonuses each year?',\n",
       " '$16.000-$17.000?',\n",
       " '$18.9 million to educate the public about the importance of the Senate?',\n",
       " '$1?',\n",
       " '$2 trillion?',\n",
       " '$2.3 trillion and change for the revenues and $3.8 trillion and change for the expenditures?',\n",
       " '$2.5 trillion bill which our kids cannot afford?',\n",
       " '$20 billion?',\n",
       " '$200.000?',\n",
       " '$23 billion in drug costs?',\n",
       " '$24.000 a year?',\n",
       " '$250.000 a year?',\n",
       " '$260 billion of which is from Chinato have our President go overseas and have others suggest that somehow we are not owning up to our responsibilities in trade?',\n",
       " '$260 billion?',\n",
       " '$3 trillion in 2 years?',\n",
       " '$3 trillion in deficits in 2 years?',\n",
       " '$30.000 a year who are spending $8.000 a person on health care?',\n",
       " '$300 million in contracts from the Pentagon?',\n",
       " '$36 trillion in unfunded assets?',\n",
       " '$4 trillion?',\n",
       " '$4.4 billion?',\n",
       " '$4.500 to buy a new car?',\n",
       " '$400 million for climate change research?',\n",
       " '$45.000 a year or $55.000 or $60.000 a year?',\n",
       " '$450 billion in 1 year?',\n",
       " '$450 billion?',\n",
       " '$460.000 every single year?',\n",
       " '$465 million for lobbying Washington?',\n",
       " '$4?',\n",
       " '$50 billion of this alternative minimum tax that we have patched that we are not even going to get?',\n",
       " '$650 million for the DigitaltoAnalog Converter Box Program and $1 billion for the Census have to do with creating jobs?',\n",
       " '$70 billion?',\n",
       " '$74.000 a year for malpractice insurance?',\n",
       " '$787 billion?',\n",
       " '$8 a gallon?',\n",
       " '$8.400 per household in America?',\n",
       " '$8.6 trillion on behalf of the American taxpayer and then tell us you will not to get information about this?',\n",
       " '$800 billion for that?',\n",
       " '$800 billion in interest in 1 year?',\n",
       " '$800 billion?',\n",
       " '$800 billionthat is a lot of moneyarent they going to start cutting quality health care in America?',\n",
       " '$84 billion in profit?',\n",
       " '$9.8 million every year?',\n",
       " '$900 billion now on this bill?',\n",
       " '$999?',\n",
       " '(1) Will this help the economy?',\n",
       " '(2) Metropolitan Accessibility: How have transportation investments allowed Americans in metropolitan regions to access their jobs and other activities more reliably and efficiently?',\n",
       " '(3) Energy Security and Environmental Protection: How have transportation investments reduced carbon emissions and petroleum consumption?',\n",
       " '(4) Do you believe unmatched disbursements were a satisfactory outcome?',\n",
       " '(4) Safety: How have transportation investments improved safety by reducing fatalities and injuries associated with transportation?',\n",
       " '(7th Grade George Washington Middie School PTA) for her insightful essay titled \"No Beauty?\"',\n",
       " '(Are there any of those left?)',\n",
       " '(The TSD notes several areas where essential behaviors of GHGs are \"not well determined\" and \"not well understood\" (e.g.. why have U.S. methane levels decreased recently?).)',\n",
       " '(b) why are African American veterans disproportionately represented among the homeless?.',\n",
       " '(c) why are only onethird of the entire veterans population enrolled in the VA?.',\n",
       " '(lid they say?',\n",
       " '(lid we ever do to make them hate us?',\n",
       " '-and who are we to turn our backs on them now?',\n",
       " '.Will we be able to do something that is better than the START treaty?',\n",
       " '.right?',\n",
       " '0 1002.55 Is all funeral honors duty considered \"service in the uniformed services?\"',\n",
       " '0l 1750 What does that mean?',\n",
       " '0l 1815 How did we go so wrong?',\n",
       " '1 1002.87 Is the eligible employee required to get permission from his or her employing office before leaving to perform service in the uniformed services?',\n",
       " '1 501 York Times run an editorial every day saying they dont like this party or they dont like this Senator and criticize them repeatedly?',\n",
       " '1 and whether or not this text will be available for the 48 hours stipulated in the motion to instruct unanimously adopted by the House?',\n",
       " '1 cause of preventable death and disease in this country?',\n",
       " '1 cause of the dental caries the kids are having?',\n",
       " '1 diagnosis of kids going into emergency rooms in America?',\n",
       " '1 foreign policy objective of the Castro regime?',\n",
       " '1 goal is that President Obama serve only one term?',\n",
       " '1 in the WAVESWomen Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service-?',\n",
       " '1 is?',\n",
       " '1 issue I hear: How can we afford this?',\n",
       " '1 issue is jobs and economic recoveryhow do they get back to work?',\n",
       " '1 issue?',\n",
       " '1 minute or 2 minutes?',\n",
       " '1 minute?',\n",
       " '1 percent?',\n",
       " '1 thing we need to correct or do in our company?',\n",
       " '1 year before the program takes effect?',\n",
       " '1. does it fix the problem?',\n",
       " '1. does the incoming Obama administration assure Congress that TARP recipients will be required by the Treasury to track and report their use of TARP funds and that this information will be made available to the Congress and the public?',\n",
       " '1. how much is it going to cost?',\n",
       " '1. primary goal is to unseat the President?',\n",
       " '1. shall be brought to a close?',\n",
       " '1. the Federal Reserve Board is going to be the entity to deal with systemic risk?',\n",
       " '1. where are the jobs?-we keep asking that questionand.',\n",
       " '1. why do we have to do this since we passed the stimulus?',\n",
       " '1. will it add to the deficit?',\n",
       " '1. wonder why that happened?',\n",
       " '1.000 pages?',\n",
       " '1.000page Democrat plan raises some questionsquestions such as: What happens to Medicare?',\n",
       " '1.200?',\n",
       " '1.500 pages that we have had laid before us?',\n",
       " '1.990page bill to create a new entitlement?',\n",
       " '1/ percent of wealthy people?',\n",
       " '10 12721 \"Should Congress raise taxes to fund a new government health care plan?\"',\n",
       " '10 13661 product doesnt come because of what we do?',\n",
       " '10 13767 Really?',\n",
       " '10 13837 we need to provide jobs and get this economy moving again?',\n",
       " '10 13863 medical care that you need?',\n",
       " '10 13907 are already contributing?',\n",
       " '10 14619 the aisle how many more shocking budget projections we need before you join us in saying enough is enough?',\n",
       " '10 bricks maybe?',\n",
       " '10 hours of debate?',\n",
       " '10 percent of this bill would be spent this year?',\n",
       " '10 percent?',\n",
       " '10 years from now we will be faced with another generation of young people who were brought here against their will who have a compelling story to tell?',\n",
       " '10 years to get out of the economic problems we have today?',\n",
       " '10 years?',\n",
       " '10. Who made the decision to arrest Mr. Abdulmutallab rather than transfer him to military custody to be held as an enemy combatant?',\n",
       " '10.000 new community health centers In this country would be established?',\n",
       " '100 Senate Membersand they are going to tell us these drugs are unsafe?',\n",
       " '100 cents on the dollar on what AIG owed them?',\n",
       " '100 percent choice of what doctor you go to?',\n",
       " '100.6. Who as a parent would ever accept a 2degree increase in temperature for 10 days as being the new normal?',\n",
       " '1002.44 Does USERRA cover an independent contractor?',\n",
       " '1002.51 Does USERRA cover a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps?',\n",
       " '1002.55 Is all funeral honors duty considered \"service in the uniformed services?\"',\n",
       " '1002.56 What types of service In the National Disaster Medical System are considered \"service in the uniformed services?\"',\n",
       " '1002.56 What types of service in the National Disaster Medical System are considered \"service in the uniformed services?\"',\n",
       " '1002.57 Is all service as a member of the National Guard considered \"service In the uniformed services?\"',\n",
       " '1002.57 Is all service as a member of the National Guard considered \"service in the uniformed services?\"',\n",
       " '1002.58 Is service in the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service considered \"service in the uniformed services?\"',\n",
       " '1002.59 Are there any circumstances In which special categories of persons are considered to perform \"service in the uniformed services?\"',\n",
       " '1002.59 Are there any circumstances in which special categories of persons are considered to perform \"service In the uniformed services?\"',\n",
       " '1002.59 Are there any circumstances in which special categories of persons are considered to perform \"service in the uniformed services?\"',\n",
       " '1002.60 Does USERRA cover an Individual attending a military service academy?',\n",
       " '1002.60 Does USERRA cover an individual attending a military service academy?',\n",
       " '1002.61 Does USERRA cover a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps?',\n",
       " '1002.73 Does service in the uniformed services have to be an eligible employees sole reason for leaving an employment position In order to have USERRA reemployment rights?',\n",
       " '1002.73 Does service in the uniformed services have to be an eligible employees sole reason for leaving an employment position in order to have USERRA reemployment rights?',\n",
       " '1002.74 Must the eligible employee begin service In the uniformed services immediately after leaving his or her employment position In order to have USERRA reemployment rights?',\n",
       " '1002.74 Must the eligible employee begin service in the uniformed services immediately after leaving his or her employment position in order to have USERRA reemployment rights?',\n",
       " '1002.85 Must the eligible employee give advance notice to the employing office of his or her service in the uniformed services?',\n",
       " '1002.86 When Is the eligible employee excused from giving advance notice of service in the uniformed services?',\n",
       " '1002.86 When is the eligible employee excused from giving advance notice of service in the uniformed services?',\n",
       " '1002.87 Is the eligible employee required to get permission from his or her employing office before leaving to perform service in the uniformed services?',\n",
       " '1002.88 Is the eligible employee required to tell the employing office that he or she Intends to seek reemployment after completing uniformed service before the employee leaves to perform service In the uniformed services?',\n",
       " '1002.88 Is the eligible employee required to tell the employing office that he or she intends to seek reemployment after completing uniformed service before the employee leaves to perform service In the uniformed services?',\n",
       " '1002.88 Is the eligible employee required to tell the employing office that he or she intends to seek reemployment after completing uniformed service before the employee leaves to perform service in the uniformed services?',\n",
       " '107 is the next amendment?',\n",
       " '11 14885 vetted throughout the committee process?',\n",
       " '11 15167 In light of that I must askwho is Elena Kagan?',\n",
       " '11 15253 gally working and the company who was illegally hiring them?',\n",
       " '11 15515 the small business folks who will be the first to hire coming out of this economic downturn?',\n",
       " '11 15887 ard of living than the one you have?',\n",
       " '1136?',\n",
       " '11: What is the economic system of the United States?',\n",
       " '11?',\n",
       " '12 16499 elected representatives to examine whats in this bill?',\n",
       " '12 17801 cans carry?',\n",
       " '12 percent rate of inflation in the cost of health insurance premiums year after year after year?',\n",
       " '12 percent?',\n",
       " '12 to 14 hours a daywho decided that ought to be the standard with which we have to compete?',\n",
       " '12. and 24 represent?',\n",
       " '1207?',\n",
       " '125.000 families across America now have the hardest possible question to answer: How are we going to keep food on the table?',\n",
       " '1256 prescribe this in regulation?',\n",
       " '129 percent increase since 2000?',\n",
       " '12to14hour days?',\n",
       " '13 18153 speak for 1 minute?',\n",
       " '13 18623 ance to be spent by a government that knows best?',\n",
       " '14 months?',\n",
       " '14 of us think it ought to be considered?',\n",
       " '14 percent higher than last yearin order to provide insurance for my family?',\n",
       " '143?',\n",
       " '15 20095 off the current arrangement?',\n",
       " '15 20155 why you have this earmark?',\n",
       " '15 22495 vented?',\n",
       " '15 22741 would say rhetorically to you: Did you support the tax cuts last night?',\n",
       " '15 22917 sistency of our legal systema system that is so important to our prosperity and liberty?',\n",
       " '15 23381 our country?',\n",
       " '15 Republican Senators?',\n",
       " '15 percent?',\n",
       " '15 years from now when we see bailouts of hedge funds putting banks at risk?',\n",
       " '15 years?',\n",
       " '150.000 jobs?',\n",
       " '1542. which is critical to guarantee workers up to 7 paid sick days a year?',\n",
       " '16 21047 not do that at the beginning of this processwhy dont we sit down with the smartest people on both sides of the aisle and say: OK. what can we get gone?',\n",
       " '16 21259 have we done in response to that day?',\n",
       " '16 months now?',\n",
       " '17 22707 United States reaction?',\n",
       " '17 homeland?',\n",
       " '171?',\n",
       " '1776. Who is the Father of our country?',\n",
       " '18 months?',\n",
       " '187 F22 Raptor fighter jets are not enough?',\n",
       " '189. Who yields time?',\n",
       " '19 25309 sequence of accumulating trillions of dollars in debt?',\n",
       " '19 26231 how can their taxes go down?',\n",
       " '19 26253 fits and move those savings over to fund a brandnew entitlement?',\n",
       " '19 million of us?',\n",
       " '1908?',\n",
       " '1994. that was the cover story for the Washington Monthly magazine?',\n",
       " '1998: How long will it be until they have the multiplestage capability in North Korea?',\n",
       " '1: Are manmade global warming advocates using an unrealistically and unreasonably cooler moment as the baseline for their analysis?',\n",
       " '1: Why?',\n",
       " '2 2853 cost each taxpaying family in the United States of America $6.000 per household each and every year after Put another way: The entire financial industry bailoutremember the famous bank bailout?',\n",
       " '2 billion who have never switched on a light?',\n",
       " '2 capital of kidnapping in the world?',\n",
       " '2 could result in bonus payments being made to States for expanding their Medicaid Programs to cover kids from families making over $128.000 a year?',\n",
       " '2 employed?',\n",
       " '2 percent?',\n",
       " '2 position in the Justice Department?',\n",
       " '2 printed in House Report 111522?',\n",
       " '2 years later?',\n",
       " '2. are they too big to fail?',\n",
       " '2. could a larger question be how could an Army private gain access to so much secret information?',\n",
       " '2. does it grow the government and require increased spending?',\n",
       " '2. does the incoming Obama administration assure Congress that recipients of \"exceptional assistance\" will be subject to at least the same compensation limits as have been placed on recipients of funds under the TARPs Automotive Industry Financing Program?',\n",
       " '2. how will we pay for it?',\n",
       " '2. isnt this one of the most bipartisan efforts to come out of any committee?',\n",
       " '2. the Senator from Illinois said: Why would we want to move money from one pocket into another pocket?',\n",
       " '2. to extend coverage to those who do not have ithow could we possibly bring a health care bill to the floor of the Senate and avoid the issue of whether we are going to do something about the relentless increasing march of prescription drug prices?',\n",
       " '2. what about the rest of us?',\n",
       " '2. what did they have to promise him to get him to provide information?',\n",
       " '2. what do we mean by qualitative and quantitative improvement of such systems that we are going to be continuing?',\n",
       " '2. what is the other side afraid of?',\n",
       " '2. who is going to lose out when they start taking $500 billion out of Medicare?',\n",
       " '2.000 people?',\n",
       " '2.5 million peoplebecause it passed?',\n",
       " '2.5 to 3.6 million jobs?',\n",
       " '2.733page bill that actually makes health care costs go up?',\n",
       " '20 27473 What does the Republican plan do?',\n",
       " '20 27585 nies enter into this marketplace?',\n",
       " '20 cents today?',\n",
       " '20 or 30 million Americans to an existing program that is not sustainable going to make it any better?',\n",
       " '20 percent from each agency?',\n",
       " '20 percent of all of American business?',\n",
       " '20 years from now?',\n",
       " '20 years that we will convert to a hydrogen car economy?',\n",
       " '20 years?',\n",
       " '20. or 30 years?',\n",
       " '200 been withdrawn?',\n",
       " '2001 and 2101 ... What are those sections?',\n",
       " '2001. what accounts for the vast discrepancy between the terrorist threat facing America and the scale of our response?',\n",
       " '2001?',\n",
       " '2002 before Representative CARTER and I became Members of the Congress?',\n",
       " '2002 to 2008. where did the subsidies go?',\n",
       " '2003 tax reductions that expire on December 31?',\n",
       " '2004 and 2005. who is more patriotic?',\n",
       " '2004. and then what happens when the Democrats take back over?',\n",
       " '2005. they go out and buy real estate because what is more solid and American and reliable than mortgages of Americans for their own homes?',\n",
       " '2008?',\n",
       " '2009 But the fundamental question is: will the thing work?',\n",
       " '2009 CONGR Dogs have a substitute?',\n",
       " '2009 CONGRE But how did the government actually encourage home ownership?',\n",
       " '2009 CONGRE Congress demanding higher rates?',\n",
       " '2009 CONGRE What is his crime?',\n",
       " '2009 CONGRE better information to help them provide even better care?',\n",
       " '2009 CONGRE of Representatives a few weeks ago accumulated about 10 years of taxes and fees to pay 6 or 7 years of benefits?',\n",
       " '2009 CONGRE stop playing a game on dollars and ultimately make the same hard choices and demonstrate the courage our veterans have demonstrated?',\n",
       " '2009 CONGRE to that conclusion?',\n",
       " '2009 CONGRI \"yes\" or are we going to say \"no\"?',\n",
       " '2009 CONGRI money come?',\n",
       " '2009 CONGRI the opportunity to amend it?',\n",
       " '2009 CONGRI what theyve been given?',\n",
       " '2009 CONGRIE amount of the principal they owe while others receive a government reduction in principal?',\n",
       " '2009 EXT die by suicide each year than homicide?',\n",
       " '2009 States to invest in right now?',\n",
       " '2009 What if occupying countries like Iraq and Afghanistanand bombing Pakistanis directly related to the hatred directed towards us?',\n",
       " '2009 Why is it unreasonable?',\n",
       " '2009 all the costs are going to be passed on to business?',\n",
       " '2009 at 10 a.m.. in room 215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing entitled \"Unemployment Insurance Benefits: Where Do We Go From Here?\"',\n",
       " '2009 cation system or not?',\n",
       " '2009 couldnt happen?',\n",
       " '2009 fact we have a growing threat from them?',\n",
       " '2009 ford their mortgage?',\n",
       " '2009 has it become an issue over which to veto a bill?',\n",
       " '2009 man Congressman from North Carolina the first one to speak tonight?',\n",
       " '2009 merged bill do?',\n",
       " '2009 the worst recession since the Great Depression?',\n",
       " '2009 were to restore health to our economy?',\n",
       " '2009 why did the President go to Fort Myers earlier in the week?',\n",
       " '2009 wonder if he is also aware that the AIDS czar was appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate and testified before the Senate?',\n",
       " '2009. after the Senate passed its bill?',\n",
       " '2009. at 10 a.m.. to conduct a hearing entitled \"Defense Contract Audit Agency: Who Is Responsible for Reform?',\n",
       " '2009. at 10 a.m.. to conduct a hearing entitled \"The Recovery Act for Small Businesses: What is Working and What Comes Next?\"',\n",
       " '2009. at 11 a.m.. to hold a roundtable entitled \"Iran at a Crossroads?',\n",
       " '2009. at 2 p.m. to conduct a hearing entitled \"Where Were the Watchdogs?',\n",
       " '2009. at 2 p.m. to hold a hearing entitled \"North Korea Back at the Brink?',\n",
       " '2009. at 9 a.m. to conduct a hearing entitled \"Where Were the Watchdogs?',\n",
       " '2009. which was blocked and refused by the Democrat Members of the Franking Commission?',\n",
       " '2009?',\n",
       " '2009guess what?',\n",
       " '2010 CONGR Are they going to delay the certification of the votes in Massachusetts to try to delay the swearin of Senatorelect Scott Brown?',\n",
       " '2010 CONGRE Is the Senator also aware bombers are the best vehicle to enforce extended deterrence?',\n",
       " '2010 CONGRE Is the Senator aware how many of our friends on the other side of the aisle have new religionthis is new religion about balancing the budgetand how many actually voted for Medicare D?',\n",
       " '2010 CONGRE have more and more deficits?',\n",
       " '2010 CONGRE turned a corner on religious freedom and is on a positive trend?',\n",
       " '2010 CONGRI But how is this for a new wrinkle in the drug cartel threat?',\n",
       " '2010 Could I have the attention of the Senator from Alabama?',\n",
       " '2010 President Obama say about this reconciliation nuclear option?',\n",
       " '2010 Wall Street do?',\n",
       " '2010 coastal wetlands?',\n",
       " '2010 disastrous legislation?',\n",
       " '2010 having an inspector general of the EPA with what is going on in the gulf?',\n",
       " '2010 pear all through the bill?',\n",
       " '2010 product overseas?',\n",
       " '2010 ter?',\n",
       " '2010 the wealth with?',\n",
       " '2010 tween policy and good politics?',\n",
       " '2010 would close the loopholes in these contracts?',\n",
       " '2010. at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing entitled \"Deepwater Drilling Moratorium: A Second Economic Disaster for Small Business?\"',\n",
       " '2010. at 2:15 p.m. in room 628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing entitled \"Indian Education: Did the No Child Left Behind Act Leave Indian Students Behind?\"',\n",
       " '2010. at 9:30 a.m. in room 628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building to conduct an oversight hearing entitled \"Does Indian School Safety Get a Passing Grade?\"',\n",
       " '2010. entitled \"Who Pays for ObamaCare?',\n",
       " '2010. shall be brought to a close?',\n",
       " '2010. what happens to all the people who have been covered by this massive expansion of Medicaid entitlement?',\n",
       " '2010?',\n",
       " '2018?',\n",
       " '2019. sometime later?',\n",
       " '204. the Chamber desiring to vote?',\n",
       " '21 27913 costs and higher premiums and higher taxes and Medicare cuts and additions to the debt at a time when we have 10 percent unemployment?',\n",
       " '21 28219 I would ask the distinguished chairman of the Health Subcommittee: Where is the fix?',\n",
       " '21 28749 going to do?',\n",
       " '21227?\"',\n",
       " '2244. Who yields time?',\n",
       " '23 31245 Is it the chairmans intention that the factors used for identifying companies subject to stricter standards should be applied in light of the more detailed and balanced risk matrix set out in the dissolution fund section of the bill?',\n",
       " '23 31251 speaker?',\n",
       " '2346. the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009. shall be brought to a close?',\n",
       " '24 32673 the Senate passed this bill?',\n",
       " '24 32855 amendments we get to offer?',\n",
       " '24?-for transactions totaling $5.000 or more.',\n",
       " '25 bucks an hour?',\n",
       " '25 percent?',\n",
       " '25 years ago?',\n",
       " '25 years?',\n",
       " '25. or 30?',\n",
       " '250 million in Africa alone could be denied that access to water?',\n",
       " '2514. Who yields time?',\n",
       " '26 is it?',\n",
       " '2647 under the rule?',\n",
       " '2647. is there any remedy that a Member of the House has for gaining access to have a separate vote on the thoughtcrimes legislation?',\n",
       " '2647. the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. shall be brought to a close?',\n",
       " '2667. Who yields time?',\n",
       " '2701?',\n",
       " '2783. am I correct?',\n",
       " '28 billion out of 800something billion?',\n",
       " '28 days to extend unemployment benefits in the Senate?',\n",
       " '2: What are the causes of the climate cycles that weve been talking about?',\n",
       " '2: What is the state of the reconciliation process with the Taliban?',\n",
       " '3 percent of what?',\n",
       " '3 percent?',\n",
       " '3 printed in House Report 111522?',\n",
       " '3 to 4 percent of gross domestic product?',\n",
       " '3 was: Can we build a robust missile defense system if we ratify this treaty?',\n",
       " '3. does the incoming Obama administration assure Congress that Treasury will obtain agreements from TARP recipients on benchmarks the recipient is required to meet so as to advance the purposes of TARP?',\n",
       " '3. is there anything to make you thinksince we were regulating all these industries alreadythe Congress might oversight the next set of regulations we put out there to fix this problem?',\n",
       " '3. or even 5 percent?',\n",
       " '3. what about medical malpractice reform?',\n",
       " '3. what was the Presidents cleanup plan and where were the people and equipment to implement it?',\n",
       " '3. why not offer tax incentives?',\n",
       " '3.309 remain on death row throughout the U.S. How many of them are innocent?',\n",
       " '30 days of unemployment?',\n",
       " '30 percent interest rates on my credit card?',\n",
       " '30 percent of the people in this country seeing their health care insurance costs go up and the rest seeing theirs remain basically stable?',\n",
       " '30 percent of total health care spending that we have the opportunity to change around to benefit the people of this country?',\n",
       " '30 years?',\n",
       " '30.000 or 40.000that is jobs lost?',\n",
       " '300 feet?',\n",
       " '300 more days?',\n",
       " '3081?',\n",
       " '30?',\n",
       " '31?',\n",
       " '32 skimmers off the coast of Florida?',\n",
       " '3200 does?',\n",
       " '3200. include the existing language of the Dorgan amendment?',\n",
       " '3200?',\n",
       " '322 days later?',\n",
       " '33 percent new infections for African American women?',\n",
       " '33 percent over last years spending?',\n",
       " '3305 the pending amendment?',\n",
       " '3326. shall be brought to a close?',\n",
       " '3336. Who yields time?',\n",
       " '3389 do?',\n",
       " '3400 do?',\n",
       " '3450 do?',\n",
       " '35 or 30 hours?',\n",
       " '3548. the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009. shall be brought to a close?',\n",
       " '3590. the Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009. shall be brought to a close?',\n",
       " '3590. the purpose of which is to clarify provisions relating to first dollar coverage for preventive services for women?',\n",
       " '3590?',\n",
       " '3590?\"',\n",
       " '3736?',\n",
       " '3739 to S. 3217. the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010. shall be brought to a close?',\n",
       " '3749 or just talk about it?',\n",
       " '3774. Who yields time?',\n",
       " '3962. how long before all Americans have access to affordable and quality health care?',\n",
       " '3962. what kind of dollars are we talking about here?',\n",
       " '3: Do you agree that Congress doesnt do comprehensive legislation well and ought to go step by step to bring health care costs under control?',\n",
       " '3: Will the residents of the communities where these men will be released be made aware of it?',\n",
       " '4 hours?',\n",
       " '4 more minutes?',\n",
       " '4 percent?',\n",
       " '4 printed in House Report 111522?',\n",
       " '4 was: Is ratification of New START the last word on this issue?',\n",
       " '4 years?',\n",
       " '4. are we getting our moneys worth from the $80 billion per year we spend on intelligence gathering?',\n",
       " '4. does the incoming Obama administration assure Congress that it will ensure that banks use a significant portion of TARP funds to extend credit?',\n",
       " '40 minutes or an hour?',\n",
       " '40 percent of the oil that comes to this nation?',\n",
       " '40 percent?',\n",
       " '400.000 fraudulent voter registrations and no fraudulent votes?',\n",
       " '4183 to finally eliminate secret holds in the Senate?',\n",
       " '4251 might be considered?',\n",
       " '4253. at this time?',\n",
       " '43. how many ways can we count the promises that have been broken?',\n",
       " '4311. Who yields time?',\n",
       " '4312. Who yields time?',\n",
       " '4318?',\n",
       " '4425. shall be brought to a close?',\n",
       " '45 cents borrowed of every dollar we spenddo we not have an obligation to our grandchildren as well as our veterans?',\n",
       " '461 earmarks in this piece of legislation alone?',\n",
       " '4727 shall be brought to a close?',\n",
       " '4727. shall be brought to a close?',\n",
       " '4753. shall be brought to a close?',\n",
       " '48 hours?',\n",
       " '48 percent?',\n",
       " '482. which was the roll call to maintain the PAYGO rules that were the only things that kept the entire Federal Government constrained?',\n",
       " '4839 at the desk?',\n",
       " '4885. shall be brought to a close?',\n",
       " '4893 first?',\n",
       " '4899. the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010. shall be brought to a close?',\n",
       " '4: Will these trained terrorists be allowed to travel freely anywhere in the United States?',\n",
       " '5 1002.55 Is all funeral honors duty considered \"service in the uniformed services?\"',\n",
       " '5 6317 are asking: Why would I vote against this?',\n",
       " '5 Julia was recently recognized by the Society for Science and the Public for her groundbreaking research entitled \"The Gender Divide: Does Donor Gender Matter for Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation?\"',\n",
       " '5 percent a year or something like that?',\n",
       " '5 percent of the worlds solar panels are made in America?',\n",
       " '5 printed in House Report 111522?',\n",
       " '5 years?',\n",
       " '5. does the incoming Obama administration assure Congress that a significant portion of the remaining TARP funds will be used to carry out a comprehensive plan to prevent and mitigate foreclosures on residential mortgages?',\n",
       " '5. which has resulted in the greatest number of deaths: Lying us into war or WikiLeaks revelations or the release of the Pentagon Papers?',\n",
       " '50 billion in taxes from other companies to establish a fund to shut companies down?',\n",
       " '50 percent of a familys income?',\n",
       " '50 speeches?',\n",
       " '50 years in this country so we can save for tomorrow?',\n",
       " '50.000 advisers?',\n",
       " '500.000 people who live in the District600.000?',\n",
       " '51002.56 What types of service in the National Disaster Medical System are considered \"service in the uniformed services?\"',\n",
       " '5136. the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011?',\n",
       " '5297. the Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010. shall be brought to a close?',\n",
       " '5353. passed?',\n",
       " '54% of all firms (in Utah?)',\n",
       " '5: What will their status be?',\n",
       " '6 7505 are designed to weaken this amendment and to open us up to the vulnerability of facing more job loss and more economic crisis?',\n",
       " '6. does the incoming Obama administration assure Congress that banks which receive \"exceptional assistance\" will be required to adopt a systematic residential mortgage mitigation program?',\n",
       " '6. or 7 years?',\n",
       " '63.8--thats a cut?',\n",
       " '64. then arent we going to get right back into the mess of: Can we trust this?',\n",
       " '640.000 jobs a month?',\n",
       " '66 percent were adults?',\n",
       " '7 10207 actually people in this body who think we cannot take this small modest step to say we are not going to grow as quickly or by as much over the next several years?',\n",
       " '7 8917 What about a program that is not current or planned?',\n",
       " '7 9253 that they are going to scrap the budget all together?',\n",
       " '7 or 71/2 minutes?',\n",
       " '7. could it be that the real reason for the near universal attacks on WikiLeaks is more about secretly maintaining a seriously flawed foreign policy of empire than it is about national security?',\n",
       " '7. does the incoming Obama administration assure Congress that recipients of assistance under TARP and other Federal programs will be required to develop and submit a written financial viability plan just as was required of recipients of funds under the Automotive Industry Financing Program?',\n",
       " '70 years exactly to the day we just sold them down the river?',\n",
       " '71 days into the fiscal year?',\n",
       " '73 million in the first 5 years or something?',\n",
       " '742. which is accepted on both sides to my knowledge?',\n",
       " '75 cents an hour?',\n",
       " '793 agencies?',\n",
       " '793. Who yields time?',\n",
       " '7?',\n",
       " '8 years?',\n",
       " '8. who knows what?',\n",
       " '8.000 of us?',\n",
       " '80 percent of the population?',\n",
       " '80 percent of the productivity of the country?',\n",
       " '820?',\n",
       " '83?',\n",
       " '84 percent in the private sector category?',\n",
       " '840we have done this?',\n",
       " '85 percent of our GDP?',\n",
       " '880. and BarrassoWydendo we have a number on that?',\n",
       " '9 12347 check with them and say: Are your skimmers on the way?',\n",
       " '9 12413 gress do to make sure it doesnt happen again?',\n",
       " '9 12913 office every single day from all over the country: When will the extended benefits be put back in?',\n",
       " '9 how can we make sure that a crisis like this never happens again?',\n",
       " '9 months ago where gas was pushing $4 or $5 a gallon?',\n",
       " '9 of these 10 States have in common?',\n",
       " '9 or 10 lobbyists?',\n",
       " '9. was it not once considered patriotic to stand up to our government when its wrong?',\n",
       " '90 miles and more to get the care they needcare that was accessible in their own community before this bill took effect?',\n",
       " '90 miles offshore from the United States?',\n",
       " '90 percent of the jobs In America?',\n",
       " '90 percent of them in the five biggest banks?',\n",
       " '90 percent of which were what are considered no doe mortgages?',\n",
       " '90 years old?',\n",
       " '90 years or something I think you were saying?',\n",
       " '900.000 or 9 million fewer smokers?',\n",
       " '91 percent?',\n",
       " '99.5 percent?',\n",
       " '9?',\n",
       " '?',\n",
       " 'A $2.5 trillion program?',\n",
       " 'A Capitol Hill policeman stopped me walking in and he said: Do you remember me?',\n",
       " 'A Caterpillar high loader?',\n",
       " 'A Democrat cutting taxes?',\n",
       " 'A Google News search reveals that the number of news stories in the past month filed about Michael Jackson is 142.929. the number filed about Lieutenant Bradshaw?',\n",
       " 'A Philadelphia Metro newspaper headline asked: \"How will Dems recover after losing majority?\"',\n",
       " 'A Senator gets up on the floor of the Senate and wants to stop funding to the Childrens Health Insurance Program?',\n",
       " 'A Supreme Court that says a woman has no right to bring a pay discrimination case before the Court because she didnt know she was being discriminated against?',\n",
       " 'A blank check?',\n",
       " 'A cascading fashion?',\n",
       " 'A child we invested in?',\n",
       " 'A child who had a good healthy start in life?',\n",
       " 'A child who had early learning opportunities?',\n",
       " 'A child who had health care in the dawn of his or her life?',\n",
       " 'A commissar?',\n",
       " 'A company might say: Why bother with the paperwork and administration when we can just pay a fine and tell people to get onto the government insurance rolls?',\n",
       " 'A counter to the abortion amendment or something like that?',\n",
       " 'A country where if we used mines and civilians were killed or injured the public outcry in Afghanistan and around the world would be deafening?',\n",
       " 'A couple more things I wish to say about it: Does this assert this link for the first time or reassert a link that has been separated?',\n",
       " 'A crewmember is going to have to think through this checklist as a pirate attack is happening?',\n",
       " 'A cut?',\n",
       " 'A day of celebration for this bill?',\n",
       " 'A families bailout?',\n",
       " 'A fight?',\n",
       " 'A global budget plan for a national health care plan?',\n",
       " 'A governmentrun plan is not necessary for health care reform unless perchance the goal is to put in place the power of the Federal Government to drive down costs byhow?',\n",
       " 'A housing issue?',\n",
       " 'A jelly donut?',\n",
       " 'A lot of congressmen were going: $700 billion?',\n",
       " 'A lot of people also said the same thing: You know what?',\n",
       " 'A lot of people dont know that one of the questions on the immigration test is: Who is your Congressman?',\n",
       " 'A lot of small businesses are functioning on what they had to in Why in the heck cant the Federal Government do the same thing?',\n",
       " 'A lot of those small businesses are saying: What benefit is there to me if I want to grow my business?',\n",
       " 'A lot of youth are asking: How are we going to provide health insurance for a lot of us who dont have it?',\n",
       " 'A mild recession began in late 2007who was in charge of the Congress at that time?',\n",
       " 'A number of important questions about this case remain unanswered: How did the perpetrator or perpetrators manage to pull off these attacks that were somewhat complicated in the first place?',\n",
       " 'A partyline vote again?',\n",
       " 'A plea bargain for a terrorist who tried to blow a plane out of the sky on Christmas Day?',\n",
       " 'A press person asked me today: What do you think happened to bipartisanship?',\n",
       " 'A question I asked my staffand we did the researchwhat was health care inflation before 1970?',\n",
       " 'A question came up during the forum today: What do you think of President Obamas health care plan?',\n",
       " 'A report by the Chief of Engineers on water resources?',\n",
       " 'A report by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission identifying barriers to and its reeommendations for streamlining for construction of new nuclear reactors?',\n",
       " 'A rush to judgment?',\n",
       " 'A second part of it is: How do you produce electricity?',\n",
       " 'A social invention for the nineties?',\n",
       " 'A solution?',\n",
       " 'A success or failure?',\n",
       " 'A tax on marriage?',\n",
       " 'A third point: Rather than picking winners and losers shouldnt we create an environment in which all companies become even more competitive?',\n",
       " 'A third question is: Why utilize community banks to help get lending to small businesses?',\n",
       " 'A third thing: What does this bill have?',\n",
       " 'A trillion dollars wont add a dime to the deficit?',\n",
       " 'A vice chair of the legal committee?',\n",
       " 'A. reverse A. and you think were going to buy that?',\n",
       " 'AIG is an ant?',\n",
       " 'AIG is not the only one of these firms that should be in receivership because how can we make the major bank balance sheet healthy?',\n",
       " 'AIG then took this borrowed cash and invested itare you ready for this?-in mortgagebacked securities.',\n",
       " 'ALCEE?',\n",
       " 'About 10 million?',\n",
       " 'About 4 or 5 years in college?',\n",
       " 'About how long will the Senator be talking on something other than specifically these two amendments?',\n",
       " 'About how long will the Senator speak on the general subject of missile defense or the treaty?',\n",
       " 'About how much too much?',\n",
       " 'According to a letter from the GAOMembers of Congress implied that it is more efficient to target funding to States with what?',\n",
       " 'According to what?',\n",
       " 'Accountable options?',\n",
       " 'Accountable to who?',\n",
       " 'Act?',\n",
       " 'Actual cost in 1990?',\n",
       " 'Actual cost?',\n",
       " 'Adding to the deficit is defensible if the bill meets another criterion: Does it promote economic growth?',\n",
       " 'Afghanistan?',\n",
       " 'After 2 oclock?',\n",
       " 'After 6 years how many more?',\n",
       " 'After about 22 hours I was up thinking about what can we do?',\n",
       " 'After someone has spent a lifetime paying into Social Security thats all you get?',\n",
       " 'After the hearing we submitted questions to the Attorney General: Did he have any cases to show that these prosecutions are not being effectively prosecuted locally?',\n",
       " 'After their parents?',\n",
       " 'Again?',\n",
       " 'Against the law federally?',\n",
       " 'Agriculture and States?',\n",
       " 'Ahmadinejad?',\n",
       " 'Aint I greedy?',\n",
       " 'Alabama in 1934 would one day beat the record that many said never would be broken?',\n",
       " 'All I am trying to look for are some time agreements so we can say: How long do we need?',\n",
       " 'All I could think of was what can I dowhat can I do to be worthy of him?',\n",
       " 'All Im saying is why have a bunch of bureaucrats trying to oversee where the money is going?',\n",
       " 'All for what?',\n",
       " 'All of them have weighed in on Roxanas behalf saying: How on Earth can you do this?',\n",
       " 'All of this begs the question: Where are the jobs?',\n",
       " 'All of this spending and taxing and borrowing begs the question: What in the world is the White House thinking?',\n",
       " 'All right?',\n",
       " 'All the money is gone\"?',\n",
       " 'All the while wondering and asking why the Corps he served so proudly and willingly has written him off as worthless and weak and offer no help to prevent him from faltering further?',\n",
       " 'All these are indications that the North Koreans somehow should not be listed as terrorists?',\n",
       " 'All this begs the obvious question: What effect would EPA regulation of tailpipe emissions actually have on global temperatures?',\n",
       " 'All we are asking is: When does our military contribution to that political solution come to an end so that we know when we can think about bringing our troops back home?',\n",
       " 'All we are saying tonight is: Is this worthy of debate on the floor of the Senatea clear vote?',\n",
       " 'Almost half of us are having trouble accessing the credit we need?',\n",
       " 'Am I a supporter of the status quo?',\n",
       " 'Am I able to get my medicine?',\n",
       " 'Am I about right on the numbers?',\n",
       " 'Am I absolutely assured that it will?',\n",
       " 'Am I allowed to be heard under that reservation at this juncture?',\n",
       " 'Am I appointing a robust cop on the beat or am I appointing someone who is far less than robust?',\n",
       " 'Am I blaming my colleagues for this?',\n",
       " 'Am I certain that increased trade will improve our political ties with Cuba?',\n",
       " 'Am I clear?',\n",
       " 'Am I close?',\n",
       " 'Am I concerned about the ability of the minority to offer amendments?',\n",
       " 'Am I correct in assuming that is what this agreement is about?',\n",
       " 'Am I correct in my understanding of section 1953(g)?',\n",
       " 'Am I correct in saying the time is equally divided before the votes?',\n",
       " 'Am I correct in that interpretation or have I misunderstood that?',\n",
       " 'Am I correct in that understanding?',\n",
       " 'Am I correct in that?',\n",
       " 'Am I correct on that?',\n",
       " 'Am I correct that at 12:30 we will go to the nomination of Judge Gerard Lynch to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit?',\n",
       " 'Am I correct that the Democrats have saidand they seem to be unified on this billthat literally this bill is budget neutral?',\n",
       " 'Am I correct that the only binding aspect of these instructions is that each of the Committees are directed to produce $1 billion in deficit reduction in their jurisdiction?',\n",
       " 'Am I correct that this provision does not in any way reduce or eliminate current protections against retaliatory investigations?',\n",
       " 'Am I correct to assume that the first 30 minutes has been equally divided?',\n",
       " 'Am I correct?',\n",
       " 'Am I corrupt?',\n",
       " 'Am I disappointed it does not include a sensible Medicare buyin provision that should be a right for millions of Americans?',\n",
       " 'Am I disappointed that we were unable to expand Medicaid even more for our most vulnerable Americans?',\n",
       " 'Am I doing well?',\n",
       " ...]"
      ]
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      "/anaconda3/lib/python3.7/runpy.py:193: UserWarning: [W011] It looks like you're calling displacy.serve from within a Jupyter notebook or a similar environment. This likely means you're already running a local web server, so there's no need to make displaCy start another one. Instead, you should be able to replace displacy.serve with displacy.render to show the visualization.\n",
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       "<div class=\"entities\" style=\"line-height: 2.5; direction: ltr\">Mr. \n",
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       "    the College Opportunity Tax Credit Act\n",
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       "<mark class=\"entity\" style=\"background: #bfe1d9; padding: 0.45em 0.6em; margin: 0 0.25em; line-height: 1; border-radius: 0.35em;\">\n",
       "    last year\n",
       "    <span style=\"font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; border-radius: 0.35em; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: middle; margin-left: 0.5rem\">DATE</span>\n",
       "</mark>\n",
       ". Unfortunately. neither student aid funds nor family incomes are keeping pace with increasing tuition and fees. In my travels around \n",
       "<mark class=\"entity\" style=\"background: #feca74; padding: 0.45em 0.6em; margin: 0 0.25em; line-height: 1; border-radius: 0.35em;\">\n",
       "    Massachusetts\n",
       "    <span style=\"font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; border-radius: 0.35em; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: middle; margin-left: 0.5rem\">GPE</span>\n",
       "</mark>\n",
       ". I frequently hear from parents concerned they will not be able to pay for their childrens college. These parents know that earning a college education will result in greater earnings for their children and they desperately want to ensure their kids have the greatest opportunities possible. In \n",
       "<mark class=\"entity\" style=\"background: #bfe1d9; padding: 0.45em 0.6em; margin: 0 0.25em; line-height: 1; border-radius: 0.35em;\">\n",
       "    1997\n",
       "    <span style=\"font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; border-radius: 0.35em; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: middle; margin-left: 0.5rem\">DATE</span>\n",
       "</mark>\n",
       ". the \n",
       "<mark class=\"entity\" style=\"background: #7aecec; padding: 0.45em 0.6em; margin: 0 0.25em; line-height: 1; border-radius: 0.35em;\">\n",
       "    Congress\n",
       "    <span style=\"font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; border-radius: 0.35em; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: middle; margin-left: 0.5rem\">ORG</span>\n",
       "</mark>\n",
       " implemented \n",
       "<mark class=\"entity\" style=\"background: #e4e7d2; padding: 0.45em 0.6em; margin: 0 0.25em; line-height: 1; border-radius: 0.35em;\">\n",
       "    two\n",
       "    <span style=\"font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; border-radius: 0.35em; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: middle; margin-left: 0.5rem\">CARDINAL</span>\n",
       "</mark>\n",
       " new tax credits to make college affordablethe HOPE and the Lifetime Learning credits. These tax credits have put college in reach for families. but I believe we can do more.</div>\n",
       "</figure>\n",
       "</body>\n",
       "</html></span>"
      ],
      "text/plain": [
       "<IPython.core.display.HTML object>"
      ]
     },
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "display_data"
    },
    {
     "name": "stdout",
     "output_type": "stream",
     "text": [
      "\n",
      "Using the 'ent' visualizer\n",
      "Serving on http://0.0.0.0:5000 ...\n",
      "\n",
      "Shutting down server on port 5000.\n"
     ]
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "sample_speech = speech[341]\n",
    "nlp = spacy.load(\"en_core_web_sm\")\n",
    "doc = nlp(sample_speech[1])\n",
    "displacy.serve(doc, style=\"ent\")"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "markdown",
   "metadata": {},
   "source": [
    "ParserError if directly read from original file"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "markdown",
   "metadata": {},
   "source": [
    "## Vocabulary"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "markdown",
   "metadata": {},
   "source": [
    "## Topics"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": null,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "topic_phrases = pd.read_table(\"./data/topic_phrases.txt\", delimiter=\"|\")"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": null,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "topic_phrases.head(20)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "markdown",
   "metadata": {},
   "source": [
    "## Partisan Phrases\n",
    "1000 most partisan bigrams in each session"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": null,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "with open(\"../hein-bound/partisan_phrases_111.txt\") as f:\n",
    "    partisan_phrases_111 = f.read()"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 134,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "import requests\n",
    "import os\n",
    "import urllib"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "markdown",
   "metadata": {},
   "source": [
    "## Naive query to Concept Web API"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 159,
   "metadata": {
    "scrolled": false
   },
   "outputs": [
    {
     "name": "stdout",
     "output_type": "stream",
     "text": [
      "\n",
      "http://api.conceptnet.io/c/en/antisaloon\n",
      "All pages of c/en/antisaloon queried!\n"
     ]
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "token = \"c/en/antisaloon\"\n",
    "api_path = \"http://api.conceptnet.io\"\n",
    "query_path = urllib.parse.urljoin(api_path, token)\n",
    "print()\n",
    "print(query_path)\n",
    "keep_query = True\n",
    "graph = []\n",
    "while keep_query:\n",
    "    query = requests.get(query_path)\n",
    "    if query.status_code == 200:\n",
    "        results = query.json()\n",
    "        if \"error\" not in results.keys():\n",
    "            graph += results[\"edges\"]\n",
    "            if \"view\" in results.keys() and \"nextPage\" in results['view'].keys():\n",
    "                print(\"Continue to query next page...\")\n",
    "                np = results['view']['nextPage']\n",
    "                query_path = urllib.parse.urljoin(api_path, np)\n",
    "                print(query_path)\n",
    "            else:\n",
    "                keep_query = False\n",
    "                print(\"All pages of {} queried!\".format(token))\n",
    "                \n",
    "    "
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 158,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/plain": [
       "dict_keys(['@context', '@id', 'edges'])"
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 158,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "results.keys()"
   ]
  }
 ],
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