to the senate floor and see senators walked in and the senators saw the other senators run up to them, republican or democrat, start chatting, and then there were other senators who for one reason or another kept their distance from the other senators. they would spend more time with staff. senator biden was one of those. senator hart was one of those. i gather senator hagel was one of those. they are not naturally senate people. that does not mean they don't have friends. it also does not mean they have a great deal of warm ties there. host: joe biden is not a senate person? guest: he grew to be one. he was not initially. i am an old guy. this is when he had hair. i would say h that wouldagel's ties areagel's different. in terms of republican support, i think it is very thin to nonexistent. i would like to see what happens in the hearings. i don't think people will vote for him because of french. host: we committed to all of the confirmation hearings. listen to them on c-span radio and watch them on the c-span networks. if you're listening on c-span radio coast-to-coast, we are speak

a senator is at the podium. the senator says i'll tell you all the reasons we shouldn't reform the filibuster. number one, it will restrict my ability to frivolously stymie everything. number two -- and he thinks for awhile. can't think of any other reason that we shouldn't reform the filibuster. so he asks the staff, how long do i have to keep talking? and little commentary down here, you could read the recipes for paralysis. well, the filibuster has become a recipe for paralysis. and it's up to us two days from today, when we start a new session of congress, to take responsibility for modifying the rules of the senate because we have a responsibility to the american people to address the big issues facing our nation. and we can't do that when this chamber is paralyzed. mr. president, i thank you for the time to address this issue. i look forward to the debate we're going to have two days from today. i see our majority leader has come to the floor, and i thank him for all the dialogues over the last two years o

senate here on c-span2. the vice president: the senate will come to order. the chaplain will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, we thank you that we are more than conquerors because you love us. we praise you that today your conquering spirit has brought our beloved senator mark kirk back to work in these hallowed halls. we're grateful that nothing can separate us from your love, neither death nor life, nor heights nor depth, nor any created things. give our senators today, spiritual, intellectual, and physical revitalization, infusing them with your peace and power. bless the lawmakers who will take the oath today. fill them with your spirit so that their lives will honor you. we pray in your merciful name. amen. the vice president: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the vice president: the chair lays before the senate one ce

senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. so i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. knel nelson: madam presideni want to speak about the extraordinary public service that has been rendered by the secretary of state, whose long record of public service i want to commend. i rise on behalf of our friend, our former colleague, our honorable secretary of state, hillary clinton. she has represented the world. she is a world figure. she has represented america to the world and especially with her diligence, her grace, her hard work and her incredible diplomatic skill. she's traveled to 112 countries. she racked up a million miles, met with thousands of foreign dignitaries. she's reached nearly every corner of the globe and made history on the way. and in each assignment, she has left an indelible mark, empowering women, supporting sustainable development, suppo

senate. there were these remarks by the speaker of the house, john boehner. >> put simply, we're sent here not to be something but to do something. [applause]. or as i like to call it, doing the right thing. it's a big job and it comes with big challenges. our government has built up too much debt. our economy is not producing enough jobs and these are not separate problems. at $16 trillion and rying our national debt is draining free enterprise and weakening the ship of state. the american dream is in peril. it gets weighed down by this anchor of debt. we begin to set our economy free and jobs will come home and confidence will come back. we do this not just to boost gdp or reduce unemployment but to secure for our children a future of freedom and opportunity and frankly nothing is more important. host: comments from the speaker of the house john boehner from the house floor as he took the gavel again for the second two year term. headline from the "washington journal," how to tame unruely c

to appoint me senator. or, if say barney frank should be the appointed senator or someone else should be the appointed senator. you know, maybe i could work something out with barney frank. if i become a temporary senator maybe he can become a temporary host of a 10:00 p.m. program on msnbc. ever. nurses are dealing with a wider range of issues. and there are ever-changing regulations. when you see these challenges, do you want to back away or take charge? with a degree in the field of healthcare or nursing from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to advance your career while making a difference in the lives of patients. let's get started at capella.edu. ...so as you can see, geico's customer satisfaction is at 97%. mmmm tasty. and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes. this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico's customer satisfaction is quite real though. this computer-animated coffee taste

senator gillibrand, senator menendez, senator lautenberg and others have worked to build a bipartisan coalition in the house to pass this critical measure. all it needed was to be called by the speaker, and the speaker refused. but there's still time. there's time in the 112th congress for the house to pass the senate bill. i urgently beg the speaker of the house of representatives to put any political concerns aside and for the sake of these victims and victims of other disasters across america, pass this critically important bill as quickly as possible. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: i ask the quorum call be dispensed. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. on sunday we confirmed carol galante as the new commissioner of the federal housing administration, the f.h.a. i want to thank my 19 republican colleagues who supported her nomination. it was an important step forward for f.h.a. special thanks to

senator kerry is going to be expeditedly confirmed by the senate. he's going to move into a position that he has been groomed for for almost five decades. i had the privilege of knowing him ever since i came to work for his senior senator for massachusetts, ted kennedy. i have enormous admiration. he clearly knows his agenda, and most importantly, he has the comedy of bipartisan relations on both sides of thei ieaisle a both sides of the congress. he's well respected, so he may have a much more easier time to get the resources that he needs, which ultimately is essential for him to succeed. >> we point out 28-plus years as a senator, so he knows highway around the hill very well. he is also adept at dealing with the protester who shows up at the end of his opening statements. i want to remind everybody what happened. take a listen. >> when will enough be enough? i'm tired of my friends in the middle east dying. i don't know if they're going to be alive the next day. >> so john kerry said that he appreciated the opinion of that voice that was being g

real outcome of this that the senator from maryland, senator kyl, senator barrasso, senator levin, senator schumer and senator pryor and we anticipate -- and i kno note i e presence of the senator from michigan on the floor, and i hope he would agree -- if i could have the attention of the senator from michigan -- i think he would agree that this fix -- this compromise that we have all now agreed to -- and hopefully we will agree to and pass shortly -- is also intended to change an attitude here in the senate, to change a -- instead of blocking everything moving forward and blocking amendments, that perhaps we could create a new environment here in the senate where we will let the minority have their amendments but also the minority party will also let the process move forward. and i think that's the tradeoff that was the fundamental aspect of the negotiations that we continued in the senator from michigan's office for many, many days and many hours. if someone wants to block -- i think the senator from michigan and the senator from maryland would agree. if someone wants to block the senat

how many times have we done that together, senator nunn, senator levin, senator mccain, senator inhofe? many times. well, the first year he was here he watched that process, and when i had taken the staff back to the committee room, surprisingly, he showed up and i didn't know him that well, although i studied his biography and i wanted to get to know him because of my deep and abiding interest in the vietnam period having served for five years in that period as secretary, under secretary of the navy. he strolled in the room and i introduced him to the people and he said to the staff, you are one of the most impressive group of young people i've ever seen. i learned a lot. and he shared some of his stories as a simple but elegant soldier that he was. that's how he started, and thereafter he voted for every single final passage of the authorization bill, every single final passage of the appropriation bill. he was honed and learned in that generation of vietnam, and i'm so proud to have the affiliation of having been, yes, in comparative safety, the pentagon, but i did go to the field o

apparently, senator reid said if the senate is not functioning we will go back to this. well, let's see. it won't be more than a few days till we see how the senate functions for the majority on these critical issues of the day or, as you said, led by senator mcconnell as we were on fiscal cliff. >> mitch mcconnell's going to go into caucus next tuesday, and they're basically going to say how the heck did you pull that off? i mean, we filibustered these guys 380 times and they gave us the same damn rules? i mean, folks, climate change? forget it. immigration reform, you probably won't get that. taxation and more revenue to the treasury? you're not going to be able to tax wall street now. minimum wage, that's out the door, raising that. workers' rights. and you know what this is all about in my opinion? this is about guns. harry reid knows that 51 votes would be available for the assault weapons ban but he knows damn well there won't be 60 and he doesn't want to hang this on the democratic party at all to all these rural senators. that's who he's protecting in this. but h

to introduce my senior senator and my friend, senator john kerry. i have the privilege of speaking for a man i know will continue in the tradition of john quincy adams and christian herder as great secretaries from the commonwealth of massachusetts. although john learned much about diplomacy overseas and in the senate, he would be the first to tell you that massachusetts is also a great teacher of diplomatic skills, whether it was negotiating his way to make the ballot as a long-shot underdog in a five-way heavily contested state convention back in 1982, or the way he brought labor and management to the table, locked the parties in his senate office over a long weekend, brought in dunkin' donuts and negotiated an end to the 92-day long brockton teac r teachers nurses strike. if anyone wants to learn diplomacy, come try massachusetts politics. john certainly has. john's story is well known to many of us from his youth as the son of a foreign service officer, seeing diplomacy up close and learning about foreign policy around the dinner table each nigh

senate. he led the veterans administration. he headed the uso. he studied under the gi bill, and then helped pass it after 9/11. and he is a successful businessman who knows the bottom line. now listen to what republican senator lindsey graham had to say about his former lunch partner. >> chuck hagel, if confirmed to be secretary of defense would be the most antagonistic secretary of defense toward the state of israel in our nation's history. he has long severed his ties with the republican party. this is an in-your-face nomination by the president to all of us who are supportive of israel. i don't know what his management experience is regarding the pentagon, little if any. so i think it's an incredibly controversial choice. and it looks like the second term of barack obama is going to be an in-your-face term. >> well, senator hagel is a straight talker from the midwest. he'll give you an unvarnished opinion, and very outspoken. but he has stated his unequivocal total support for israel, say

senator, it's good to have you here. and as we had the breaking news, the video just coming in moments ago of john kerry, getting the voice vote of confirmation for being the next secretary of state, the full senate voice expected this afternoon. but you were in that room, but it's going to be a lot different when it comes to chuck hagel's confirmation. completely different, especially given the rhetoric that you're already hearing this weekend. senator menendez and john mccain may decline to go on record of how you're going to vote. you're going to come out saying you did have reservations, but now you support him. what's your reaction on your response to the critics that you just heard there, senator cornyn? >> with due respect to john cornyn, i spoke with chuck hagel at length. i've got written answers to my questions. i know his record on israel. and the fact is, he said a couple of thing s he shouldn't have said, and he has admitted that, good for him. and he is a strong supporter of israel. and he is strongly again

let me now call on senator hagel, senator warner, senator nunn, again, thank you for your introductions. and you're free to get back to your lives or stay as you wish. senator hagel. >> thank you chairman levin, ranking member inhofe and distinguished members of the committee. i'm honored to come before you today as the president's nominee to be secretary of defense. first as you suggested, mr. chairman, let me introduce my family. my wife lilybet. our son zillor and our daughter are not with us today. our son claims he's taking a test. we'll confirm that later. but both our son and daughter that we're very proud of, and i think like any proud father and any proud mother, you all know how i feel about that, as you have the same feelings about your children. it's the same way lilybet and i feel about ours. i also want to introduce my brother tom who served with me in vietnam. my brother mike who is our number three brother. and and i might add who actually possesses any talent our family has. he has in the pentagon ten paintings, as chairman of the air force artist guild over the years.

"progressive senators working dramatically to alter senate rules were defeated thursday when senate majority leader harry reid and his counterpart republican leader mitch mcconnell set to announce a series of reforms on the senate floor that fall far short of their demands. one more? one more. >> we're going to change the rules. we cannot continue in this way. so i hope we can get something that that the republicans will work with us on but it won't be a handshake. we tried that last time. it didn't work. >> twharzry reid at the senate in december saying any deal to reform the filibuster would not be a handshake deal. today a "handshake agreement" is how roll call newspaper described a number of the filibuster reforms that harry reid agreed to with mitch mcconnell. wow. harry prooed. yeah. this was the day everybody had been wait forget in terms of changing how the senate operates. and if you hear sad trombones, that's why. on election day this year americans voted overwhelmingly to re-elect president obama four more years. that same day people also voted to re-elect senate democrats and to

in addition, senators murphy, senator menendez, senator lautenberg, we've all worked as a team, and i thank them for their efforts. now, mr. president, it's been 91 days since sandy struck. it's taken far too long, but we are finally one vote away from getting much-needed aid that we so desperately depend on in new york and new jersey. it was three months ago that super storm sandy tore up the east coast, obliterated hundreds of thousands of homes in new york. it was 91 days ago this hurricane coupled with a cold front and uprooted the small businesses that are the lifeblood of middle-class communities in long island, staten island, queens, brooklyn and lower manhattan. as you may recall, sandy's wrath was wide, it was deep. nearly 300,000 families had their homes damaged or destroyed due to sandy. 131 people were killed, 60 in new york. two million individuals lost power, and our nation's public transportation system witnessed catastrophic flooding. now despite overwhelming damage from wind and water, snow and in some neighborhoods even fire, new yorkers are ready to move forward. no

in the senate, or on tv. either way you will always have our support, though, let's get this straight. anybody who think that is a man in makeup on a television desk is more important than the united states senate, doesn't understand the senate. the most junior, powerless senator is more powerful than anybody at anchor desk, more than any other kind of way in being important. the tweet to patrick, please consider lawrence o'donnell to fill kerry's massachusetts seat. ideal choice. then, weldon wendell commented, we don't need another one who is smug, self-centered, and thinks he is god to the people. stay on tv, at least there when your smugness becomes overwhelming you can turn me off. wendell, you can turn off c-span, too, don't worry, the appointment would last five months, whereupon, after the special election congressman ed markey will be sworn in as the next elected senator. how do we know he is going to win? because i said so. and by the way, the day after i said so on this program that very next day j

those senate democrats? a lot of them have left washington, d.c. >> yes, many senators, possibly most left town after the big vote on the fiscal cliff deal. but one senator. one was still working. at 5:51 with the world focused on the house of representatives lurching toward the vote to approve, the senate's fiscal cliff deal, the majority leader went to the senate floor and said this. >> mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session following numbers 870, 911, 912, 913, 915, 916. >> now, that may look boring to you but that is the most exciting moment in senate history for number 916. and every other number you just heard, and the pages and pages of numbers that harry reid went on the read into the record, each one of those numbers was legislative code for a senate confirmation of someone appointed by president obama. that is right. the president who can't get his nominees confirmed in a grid locked senate. tell that to number 916, angela tammy dickenson, who when no on

. >> i'm a united states senator. not an israeli senator. i'm a united states senator. i support israel. but my first interest is i take an oath of office to the constitution of the united states, not to a president, not to a party, not to israel. in 1988 he called james hormelthen president bill clinton's choice "openly aggressively gay." saying his sexual orientation would be an inhibiting factor. hagel has since apologized for that comment last month saying those remarks were insensitive. but outgoing congressman barney frank blasted him last night in a statement, "i cannot think of any other minority group in the u.s. today where such a negative statement and action made in 1988 would not be an obstacle to a major presidential appointment." t t the two have remained close since. the president has used that alliance as part of his sales pitch for hagel. >> i've served with chuck hagel, i know him. he is a patriot. >> senator jack reid who was also on that 2008 trip is expected to be, to do much of the leg work in the senate to get hagel's nomination over the finish l

>> senator from utah. >> i want to thank my colleagues, senator coons, senator rubio and senator klobuchar further work on this bill. it is obvious from their statements today that they have a great deal on these issues. i-squared is a commonsense approach for those who come here for our american universities have the ability to stay here with their families and contribute to our economy and to our society. this bill is good for workers, good for businesses trying to grow and it's good for our economy. i am pleased that the momentum we've seen on this bill or industry support within the senate itself. i'm pleased to announce senator flake, shaheen, howler, blumenthal, senator nelson from florida and warner have agreed to the original others at the i-squared act and i encourage more of my colleagues to support this bill. it's long overdue, well thought out. reprinted by the top people in this country and frankly it has a lot of support so far and we haven't even gone and tried to get cosponsors and they're starting to calm just naturally. i hope we can get the senate to call this bill up an

the senate voted around 2:00 a.m. eastern time. here are the senators that voted no. michael bennet, democrat of colorado, along with senator tom carper, democrat of delaware, senators grassley, harkin, as well as these four republicans, senators lee, paul, rubio, and shelby. not a boating were senators jim demint, the republican of south carolina. he is retiring. senators kirk and lautenberg as well. here was the reaction from all four house republican leaders. it put this out in a joint statement. here is what they had to say -- the house will honor its commitment to consider the senate agreement if it is passed. decisions about whether the house will seek to a set -- to except or amend the measure will not be made and house members and the american people had been able to review the legislation. the house is expected to come in at noon today. there are some reports that a boat could happen as early as this afternoon. the house minority lindsey -- pine ridge -- house minority leader nancy pelosi tweeted a statement last night about when this bill might come to the h

tonight, my message to senator harry reid. plus the american people are getting ripped off by a congress that just isn't working. congressman rick nolan, there 30 years ago. he is back now and he can't believe the difference. he is wondering, are we getting paid for this? >>> is it really an admission of guilt if you don't show any remorse? >> it did not even feel wrong? >> no. it's scary. >> did you feel bad about it? >> no. even scarier. >> psychologist dr. jeffrey gardere on lance armstrong's bizarre performance last night. >> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. republicans surrendered today in one of his biggest fights. president obama warned republicans about taking the debt ceiling hostage. it looks like they heard the message. >> the financial well-being of the american people is not leverage to be used. the full faith and credit of the united states of america is not a bargaining chip. and they better choose quickly because time is rung short. >> republicans made their choice during a gop retr

corning, senator in hof, senator wicker, tom coburn, pat roberts, dan coates. but going back to the television ads and, for example, the one ad i have seen a lot that tempted to put pressure on chuck schumer for coming out and supporting hagel basically alluding that some secret deal made with the president so that schumer would give i guess the thumb's up to chuck hagel and other democrats would come along but you heard wicker on just now say how he believes that hagel is anti-israel. i believe he said the most anti-israel nominee that he's seen or something to this extreme extent saying he was out of the mainstream here. so the fire continues, jim. >> yeah. definitely. and i don't want to say that these ads having zero affect but they were as you noted directed at people like senator schumer so far standing by him and left himself an out, right? going to watch it carefully and make sure that he stays consistent on israel. i haven't seen him double back on this, stated support he's been asserting a lot recently but, you know, some of the guys could change. the

senate republican leader. let's discuss what's about to happen on the floor of the house. joining us congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz. she's the chair of the democratic committee as well. she's got two hats. congresswoman, thanks very much for coming in. how many democrats do you think will vote in favor of this senate-passed version? >> well, i think it's hard to say. we've done a whip count. and i think that we will have -- ultimately we have 193, 192 democrats currently serving in the house, one open seat. i would say we'll have upwards of 150 members voting for the bill very likely. we've got to make sure we protect the middle class. this deal, although not perfect, makes sure that taxes don't go up on 98% of americans and 97% of small businesses. a good step towards what should ultimately be a balanced deficit reduction package. >> that empty seat is jesse jackson jr. of chicago. that means that you don't need 218 votes to pass it, you need 217 vote to pass it. do you have any doubt that this legisl

let's assume that the house amends the senate bill. the senate is gone. they don't expect to come back to the next congress that begins on january 3rd, that's thursday. let's assume the house votes tonight or tomorrow to change the bill. if the senate doesn't act by the time the next congress is sworn in on thursday, we're in a brand new congress. a congress must be sworn in on january 3rd that means we start over again on the floor of the house and senate. the stakes could not be higher at this point. this is big news. >> and what are you hearing about what happened in the meeting that the republicans had? speaker boehner had said repeatedly if the measure went through the senate, they would take it to a vote. >> eric canter, the number two republican in the house of representatives, has come out of that gop conference, outside that conference and told the conference the gop members that he could not support the senate bill. other members have come out and said they want to change the senate bill. >> i'm sorry to cut you off, mike. you have such great in

, the bipartisan senate bill. the farm organizations were begging them, call it. we need a five-year program on farming. they wouldn't do it. never did it. and so there was a lot of frustration over here that we did good work on a bill. the house could not put a bill on the floor and wouldn't take our bill up. the thing that brought it together, incidentally, at the last minute, why it was included in this emergency package, it turns out that under the law, if you don't pass a new farm bill, you revert to the 1949 farm bill. talk about going back in history and picking up a law which has little application to today's world, that's what happens. and one particular issue jumped off the page. dairy support. now, last night i bid farewell to senator herb kohl of wisconsin. i'm going to miss him more than most people can imagine because herb kohl spent the time and understood america's dairy program. madam president, i confess i don't understand this program. vaguely, yes. but if it was on the final, i'd flunk. so i us

joining me now are senator barbara from maryland and senator barbara boxer from california. thank you both for your time. >> hi, al. >> senator, republicans have blocked the paycheck fairness act before. can they be moved this time? >> absolutely. we have the momentum of the american women behind us. and guess what, we have, now, 20 women in the united states senate, 16 democrats. we know we support it. we hope our republican colleagues do and there are good men like our president right here in the senate that will. and we're going to make our case that this is -- if we can pass paycheck fairness which will deal with the two major issues, number one, when a woman asks either the guy next to her or her personnel director what her pay is and the guy making it, she can be harassed, she can be punished, she can even be fired. we want to stop that. and second, there's a loophole where they make up that because you're a woman, gender, that they can pay a guy more. but usually, we find those are phony reasons. >> now, senator boxer, this affects, literally, millions of people. this

we want a senate that debates, not a senate that hides. >> you said in other places the senate is broken, but is it more broken than it is held hostage? >> we would say broken because lots of energy goes into electing these senators individual skand then the resul are almost nothing. that's why we say broken. you could say held hostage, but we say broken because i think regardless of how the deck stacks up, republicans, independents and democrats, it should not function this way. we really do believe that. we think our members and working people in this country and most americans would say it's fair people get elected, at some point the majority should rule. that's the way it is in every other democracy in the world. >> as we talk, what's up with harry reid? he does seem to be backing away from the strong reform you propose? senate majority leader harry reid is voicing support for a set of changes to the current filibuster rules that would fall far short of the more sweeping proposals from people like mr. cohen. what's up? >> well, i think part of what's up is he's got a 4-5 democrats, m

chairman. >> thank you, senator. let's see, senator murphy. senator sanders? >> i think senator mikulski had an engagement that she wanted to ask one question. >> thank you, senator sanders. i have a meeting with senator shelby to recognize the appropriations committee and that will take me -- to the questions for dr. insel and dr. hyde. i think that what we are hearing today is effective intervention, whether it is all to some or chronic schizophrenia, its research, its treatment and the work force to make things happen. so my question to each one of you is to take the issue of research and perhaps a work force, but particularly research. dr. insel what would be the research on the work the national institutes of mental health? we've talked about this outstanding work that you are doing. what will happen? >> at this point, we will -- what we are looking at is a 6.4% reduction in the 2013 budget come in and of course that will come if it happens sometime in march or april. >> what are the consequences? >> certain studies that we would like that are not going t

. >> my senior senator and my friend, senator john kerry. >> suddenly i'm feeling a lot of sympathy for the folks who sit down here. >> some things don't change. >> if you are trying to get some daylight between me and secretary clinton that is not going to happen here today. >> we do know what happened. were you at the briefing with the tapes? >> that is not going to happen here today. >> republican reset. could there be a war on the republican party. >> here it is again. >> what do you think the party must do better. >> coordinated effort by republicans. >> to change the rules for electing a president. >> they have no choice. >> what do you think the party must do better. >> we're listening, we're listening. >> another day, another hearing in which a senator gets to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he is in competent. >> will you work with me so that we can find out what actually happened and then we can move beyond that. >> well i think, senator, in all fairness, i think we do know what happened. i think it was very clear. >> were you at the briefing with the tapes? >> no. >> the

2318, senate 3331, senate 3454, senate 3472, senate 3630, senate 3662, senate 3677, senate joint resolution 44. the speaker: without objection, h.r. 4438 is laid on the table. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, think house will stand in recess subject to the call of the chair. >> we are going across the capitol this morning to the russell rotunda where we are joined by senator flake, a member of congress of the house, now crossing over to the senate. since you're not new, excuse me , senator flake, let's get right to it. you voted no two days ago on this fiscal cliff agreement. when it comes to raising the debt ceiling in a month or so, what will be your vote? >> i think we got to use every avenue we have to drive home the point that we're overspending. there's no bigger issue. no bigger issue right now than the overspending that we're doing. and the effect of our debt and our deficit on the economy and on our ability to function as a government and as a country. so, yes, i think we ought to use it to the full extent to make sure that we cut spending somewhere. we didn't in this last packag

to appoint me senator. or, if say barney frank should be the appointed senator or someone else should be the appointed senator. you know, maybe i could work something out with barney frank. if i become a temporary senator maybe he can become a temporary host of a 10:00 p.m. program on msnbc. with the spark cash card from capital one, olaf gets great rewards for his small business! pizza! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! helium delivery. put it on my spark card! [ pop! ] [ garth ] why settle for less? great businesses deserve great rewards! awesome!!! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? stop! stop! stop! come back here! humans -- we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back with great ideas like our optional better car replacement. if your car is totaled

and i want to say that every member of your group, including senator gram who couldn't be here, senator mccain has a statement from him, have really been terrific in terms of understanding that we have to come to an agreement, we have to meet in the middle. that the mission of getting a bill done to strengthen america is more important than any of us clinging to a specific belief. and so i'm optimistic. i'm truly optimistic, more than i was when we had our first meeting in december that we can get this done. and i want to thank every one of the members here. it's been so far -- we're only a part of the way done but it's been a great experience so far and one that gives all six of us a great deal of optimism. >> i'd like to thank you the

senator tom coburn. the acclaimed author of breach of trust talks about long-term deficit reduction, health care, the future of the republican party in more. the second term senator from oklahoma is latest book is the debt bomb. a bold plan to stop washington from bankrupting america. >> senator tom coburn, who is ross "kelberg? >> i'm trying to recall. >> the case in the 1940's. >> short. a chicken farmer. also a wheat farmer. and roscoe sued the federal government when they told him that he could not raise the adequate amount of we that he wanted to because the government had decided there were going to control replanting. what he said was a okay, but i can raise we for my chickens. he took it all the way to the supreme court and lost that battle. >> what you recount the story? >> because it is a great example on the enumerated powers and what -- what we find ourselves in the place we are in now? how do we get here? what do we do about it? what other ramifications. the greatest way for the government t

senator kennedy was considered one of the most liberal people in the senate. i have always been considered one of the most conservative people in the senate. but we were able to work together and get 38 bills out of committee and through this body. the worst boat we ever got was 15 votes against. how did we do that? we did not try to solve the world's problems all in one bill. we took an issue at a time, and we found common ground. we found what we could agree on, and that was usually about 80% of the whole issue. 80%, that's pretty good. we worked on issues that had been around here 10, 12, 15 years without passing. coming to the floor numerous times. what we mainly had to do was sit down with the stakeholders who were intensely interested in the bill, who had been lobbying on that bill for years and years and years. we would say to them, this is what we can get. this is what we have to leave out. it was not compromise. compromise is when you give up half of what you believe in and i give up half of what i believe in, and we wind up with something that neithe

here is a reminder to senator mccain. every senator, including john mccain, knows the answer to the question about susan rice. ambassador rice went on the sunday shows with talking points approved by the cia. the cia informed members of congress about it two months ago. democratic senator dick durbin of illinois wanted to make clear what happens when intelligence information is still evolving. >> and i'd like to refer to five words for them to reflect on. iraqi weapons of mass destruction. we were told by every level of government here there were iraqi weapons of mass destruction that justified a war, the invasion by the united states. we are still searching for those weapons. they didn't exist. >> clearly, the strangest behavior of the day came from senator rand paul of kentucky. the tea party darling, the leader of the tea party used the hearing to grandstand and advance his political positions. >> had i been president at the time and i found that you did not read the cables from benghazi, you did not read the cables fr

"progressive senators working dramatically to alter senate rules were defeated thursday when senate majority leader harry reid and his counterpart republican leader mitch mcconnell set to announce a series of reforms on the senate floor that fall far short of their demands. one more? one more. >> we're going to change the rules. we cannot continue in this way. so i hope we can get something that the republicans will work with us on but it won't be a handshake. we tried that last time. it didn't work. >> that was harry reid at the senate in december saying any deal to reform the filibuster would not be a handshake deal. today a "handshake agreement" is how roll call newspaper described a number of the filibuster reforms that harry reid agreed to with mitch mcconnell. wow. harry reid. yeah. this was the day everybody had been wait for in terms of changing how the senate operates. and if you hear sad trombones, that's why. on election day this year americans voted overwhelmingly to re-elect president obama four more years. that same day people also voted to re-elect senate democrats and to send

but really, senator lautenberg has been my senator for a very long time. and a guy that has fought really good fights. this is a guy that has fought and scored victories for the country. in fact, the airplane you flew on, he is the one that passed legislation saying you can't light up and smoke on that airplane. this is a guy, you want to give him strength right now, because there are tough battles for democratic senators. he is a lion, people say he is 89 years old, but anybody who knows frank lautenberg there is a lot of fight. >> there is certainly a lot of fight. so one of the things he has been great on, is a subject we need to talk about right now. and that is gun control, ammunition control. he has been great throughout his career on this subject. what do you think the senate needs to do? what do you think the president has to get behind now? >> so again, i see this from a perspective, the tragic incidents in connecticut. but you know this, in places all over america, over 30 people are dying, it doesn't seem to make the headlines, over 30 people in

"progressive senators working dramatically to alter senate rules were defeated thursday when senate majority leader harry reid and his counterpart republican leader mitch mcconnell set to announce a series of reforms on the senate floor that fall far short of their demands. one more? one more. >> we're going to change the rules. we cannot continue in this way. so i hope we can get something that that the republicans will work with us on but it won't be a handshake. we tried that last time. it didn't work. >> that was harry reid at the senate in december saying any deal to reform the filibuster would not be a handshake deal. today a "handshake agreement" is how roll call newspaper described a number of the filibuster reforms that harry reid agreed to with mitch mcconnell. wow. harry reid. yeah. this was the day everybody had been wait forget in terms of changing how the senate operates. and if you hear sad trombones, that's why. on election day this year americans voted overwhelmingly to re-elect president obama four more years. that same day people also voted to re-elect senate democrats and

senator heitkamp, let me begin with you, 1 of 20 women in the senate. we saw you talking to diane sawyer just the other day talking about how women are better at working together than men, and during the campaign, that was actually your biggest criticism of president obama. i want to show everybody what you said during the campaign. "i think president obama failed in the one test america had for him, which was to unite the country. i think he needed to be more hands-on. i don't think he's done enough to think broadly and come up with solutions that would engage both sides in a reasonable dialogue." so how specifically does he fix that right now, and how can you help him? >> i think the first thing in the last segment you saw leader -- the minority leader talk in ultimatums. we all need to stop talking in ultimatums and say only these, you know, narrowing the debate, put everything on the table, start working together, that's what you do in america in every small town and every business in america. you don't rule out anything. >> the president has got an

a senator is a senator is a senator. imagine if they had a rule that said men senators get this and women senators get that. people would say something is very wrong with this picture, but that's the way it really is on the outside. it's under cover, people don't know about it, but women who do the same job as a man on average will make 77 cents less. and you could say 77 cents for every dollar, well, is that really a lot? let me tell you, it is a lot. over a lifetime, it's about $434,000, $434,000 less that she will have at the end of her career. and this pay gap persists across all occupations and income levels. a bloomberg analysis found that women earned less than their male counterparts in 264 out of 275 major occupation categories. women earned less than their male counterparts in virtually all of the occupation categories. so the wage gap clearly hurts women but it also hurts their families. think about families where the major wage earner is a woman. those children, those grandchildren, they will feel the pain of

senate. jesse jackson jr.'s seat is empty for now. those will move them both up 234-201. the senate democratic caucus, which includes two independents, expanded its majority now to 55. there are 45 republicans in the new senate. the 113th congress is the most diverse ever. with 101 women, 43 african-americans, 31 latinos, 12 asian-americans and 7 openly gay or bisexual members. and remember for the first time in history white men will not make up the majority of the house democratic caucus. a record-breaking 20 women will serve in the senate. and for the first time, the new congress will have an all-female delegation. there it is. representing the state of new hampshire. >>> and those are the fewest number of military veterans in the senate in house since world war ii, tammy duckworth of illinois and tulsi gabbard of illinois will be the first female combat veterans to serve in coming. also the first hindu. the senate will have its first buddhist in the hawaii senator. some familiar faces wil

it looks like there's a deal in the senate that's going to work out, maybe senator merkley won't support it, maybe a few other liberal democrats won't support it, probably a few conservative republicans won't support it. but if you have harry reid onboard, mitch mcconnell on board, it's going to get a vote in the senate. >> any deal to pass both houses needs bipartisan support. neither side, as the president said repeatedly, is going to get everything they want. one way you can tell the deal does meet that criteria is the press releases are flying from the liberal groups and the conservative groups like the heritage foundation, both saying from their opswlt philosophical perspective, don't sign this deal. this is a bad deal. so the activist groups on either side are unhappy, but it seems like there's a basis for bipartisan agreement, at least as a patch on the fiscal cliff. it does not look like it will do with the debt ceiling. it does look like it starts to address the tax piece at least. >> let's go back to dana bash on the hill. what are you learning? >> we're clearly doing play by p

senator begich of alaska, senator manchin of west virginia, senator tester of montana. however, senator mark warner spoke out in favor of the president's plan and said he believes it has bipartisan support. those senators all have a or a-plus ratings from the national rifle association. reid has a b rating. these senators know they will lose their high rating and maybe become a target with the nra if they vote for a sensible assault weapons ban. you see, we had the assault weapons ban back in 1994, but we're so screwed up in washington right now they're even afraid to go back to that. every senator should explain to their constituency why they would not cast a vote for the assault weapons ban. what's the holdup? what are you afraid of? certainly it's not the nra. these senators should not fear the national rifle association. the nra didn't affect any races in the last election cycle and it probably won't do it the next time around. now, if senate democrats cannot get over the hump of losing their a rating from the national rifle association, folks, this gun legislation,

chairman. >> thank you, senator mccain. senator nelson? >> confirmation hearings of senator chuck hagel right now being questioned by senator mccain, ed schultz here in studio with me. this is really fascinating to watch because it seems as if chuck hagel is still being crucified for republican on republican crime dating back to '07. >> well, this all goes into the big theme of international intervention. john mccain and lindsey graham believed united states should be involved anywhere in the world that serves our best interests whether it does the country we would be in or not. the yes or no answer that john mccain was seeking, that would be like we know that john mccain crashed a bun of planes when he was a pilot in the united states navy. is he a good pilot or bad pilot? yes or no. there could have been a malfunction in one of the aircraft. they are trying to pigeonhole chuck hagel as a dove, someone who is not going to seek the strong interests of the united states, and isn't schooled up on policy. i remember that surge in iraq. there

senator corker you and 41 of your senate colleagues joined in support of the lawsuit. what do you think the ruling says about presidential overreach, both in these appointments, and, also, in all of the executive actions he has been taking recently? >> well, it was a huge victory for anybody who believes in balance of power and the constitution and i could not have been more excited and came up off the floor when i saw that that had happened and hopefully the supreme court will uphold it. but, there is no question, that what happened with the nlrb and richard cordray, the financial protection head, that was abusive and, thankfully, the district court here in washington struck it down and, hopefully the supreme court will uphold it. >> chris: abused it in what way? >> my gosh, i mean, these people never had a hearing. so, i mean, they came forth, they never had a hearing and he confirmed them. . i mean, it was just -- or appointed them. it was one of the most abusive cases ever. obviously the ruling is very far-reaching and actually knocks down decades of action by pres