mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. gregg: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mr. gregg: first off, i appreciate the assistant majority leader collar frying the situation, that this waiver issue is about and solely about the issue of cash for clunkers, a piece of legislation that has absolutely nothing to do -- nothing to do with funding our troops in the field and was airdropped into a conference without being paid for adding $1 billion of new debt to our children's back. that's what this waiver is about. the majority leader has said that this waiver will in some way harm the ability to fund the troops. that's totally -- i believe that to be totally inaccurate. this motion comes out of a piece of legislation which the majority leader and the assistant majority leader authored. they wrote the bill called the honest leadership and open government act. and that bill created this point of order specifically to address this type of situation where in a conference one or other of the bodies sticks into a bill th

gregg mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mr. gregg: i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be set aside. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. gregg: i want to rise to talk about two issues. i know senator burr wants to continue his discussion on the f.d.a. tobacco bill. there are two issues very significant to the american taxpayer, especially to those of us concerned about how much debt this administration is running up on our children. the first is good news. the -- it looks like a number of banks are going to repay a fair percentage of the tarp money that's been put out by the administration, potentially $65 billion. now, when tarp was originally structured, the understanding was that we would buy assets in banks, or from banks, and that at some point we would get that money back as taxpayers. in fact, you would get it back with interest. and this is what's happening now. the money is coming back as these banks have restored their fiscal strength, and it's actually coming b

gregg: and on the other side? the presiding officer: two minutes. mr. gregg: did the chairman have a request, i was told? i thought the chairman had a request. mr. president, i am going to yield to the senator from oklahoma. but before die, i want to take just 30 seconds to respond quickly to the senator from michigan. the idea that we haven't done anything for the automobile industry is really hard to accept. $83 billion has been spent for the automobile industry. the idea that a billion dollars is just a small amount of money is also very hard to accept. a billion dollars in new debt is a billion dollars that our children are going to have to pay. and it's want a small amount of money. and it compounds. and the idea that we would fly in the face of the procedures which the democratic leadership set up around here to have pay-go and to also have the open and honest leadership act, we fly in the face of that by putting in this bill, this special interest piece of legislation, unpaid for, is totally inexcuseability. this has nothing to do with funding th

mr. gregg: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mr. gregg: did the chairman wish to speak? mr. inouye: i'll speak after you. mr. gregg: i'm happy to yield to the chairman if he wishes to go before me. first off, this is a very important piece of legislation. i congratulate the chairman and ranking member, senator cochran and senator inouye for bringing it forward. it is critical that we adequately fund our troops in the field. this is the first responsibility yeas a government when we have troops in the field in harm's way to give them the resources they need in order to protect themselves and defend our liberties. and so this is a very, very important piece of legislation. it must pass. it simply must pass. however, ironically, the hedges legislation that occurs around here, this legislation had air dropped into it by the house of representatives something that has no -- nothing to did with our troops fighting in the field. and that is a bill called the cash for chunker bill. now, -- clunker bill. i have -- purchasing automobiles that

gregg: well, madam president, reserving the right to object. as i understand it, we're supposed to be moving to the supplemental and that there's a unanimous consent agreement which was -- has been reached and that hopefully that will be placed in order. the presiding officer: the senate is in a period of morning business. mr. gregg: well, i would to be any more unanimous consents. mrs. boxer: well, they already passed. mr. gregg: i'm objecting to the one that you just requested. mrs. boxer: for senator carper? is there any way we can assuage the senator. does he want to take the floor before senator carper? mr. shaheen: madam president, i believe i still have the floor. the presiding officer: the senator has the floor. mrs. shaheen: madam president, yesterday, along with senators boxer, senator klobuchar and 43 other senators, i introduced senate resolution 187, a resolution condemning the use of violence against providers of reproductive health care services to women. and expressing sympathy for the family, friends and patients of dr. george

. >> thank you, mr. chairman. first i want to respond to senator gregg. i just listened to what you said the president wanted to accomplish. there is one way to accomplish that and that is to a single payer national insurance health program. very simple. >> if you want to bring that forward. why don't you bring that forward? we need to bring forward senator coburn's proposal and my proposal and we'll be working off product that gets where you want to go, where i want to go. this product we are working off today does not accomplish what a single payer would accomplish. >> i say to my friend i'm sure we'll have a chance to vote on it on the senate floor, one way or the oefrmt other. i want to say to senator sanders, thank you very much what you just brought to this committee. we have to have a dose of realism once in a while as to what we are talking about here. when you pointed out that the inspector yen vorted that 80% of the insurance companies participating in medicare part d overcharged subscribers and taxpayers an estimated $4.4 billion, that has to b

. >> thank you, mr. chairman. first i want to respond to senator gregg. i just listened to what you said the president wanted to accomplish. there is one way to accomplish that and that is to a single payer national insurance health program. very simple. >> if you want to bring that forward. why don't you bring that forward? we need to bring forward senator coburn's proposal and my proposal and we'll be working off product that gets where you want to go, where i want to @í@% overcharged subscribers and taxpayers an estimated $4.4 billion, that has to be factor into our thinking process around here and how we are building this system up. we do what we can around here. while i have long been a supporter of a single payer, my record is clear on this going back to the early '90s, that that was the simplest, strayed forward way to do things. i probably recognize there aren't the votes for that. that doesn't mean we shouldn't talk about it and let the american people know what it would mean to have a single payer type of a system in this country. i think peopl

here is 20 minutes of that debate he meant. >> mr. president, i think the majority leader for his statement and another is controversy involved in the so-called cash for clunkers which is a kind of humorous name for a very serious proposal, let's be honest about where we are in america today. we have seen the largest decline in automobile sales and 50 years. sales down 29% and production down 46% from where it was 17 months ago. plummeting on all cells have reduced production and had a ripple affect across the economy forcing factories to close, we have lost 280,000 american jobs in the automobile industry. that is what this is about -- 280,000 american jobs that are lost and more than it will be lost if we do nothing. sum would have us do nothing. while the automobile industry is reeling from job losses and declining production many consumers in the market are waiting, they're holding back. purpose of this legislation is to put some movement into the purpose -- purchase of new automobiles, is a targeted way to give incentive to buy c

is here are our objectives once more, mr. president. we want to provide health coverage to 300 million americans, not just to the 47 million uninsured. we want for you a health care plan that you can afford. we want for you a plan in which you and your doctor make the decisions, not washington, d.c. we want a plan that emphasizes prevention and wellness. we want a plan that gives low-income americans more of the same opportunities and choices for health care that most americans already have. and we want a plan that doesn't make it harder for american businesses to compete in the world marketplace by adding to their costs. we want in the end a program, a health care program that your grandchildren and your children can afford and doesn't keep trillions of dollars of new debt upon them, that devalues the dollars that they eventually will earn and the quality of their lives. and as the president has repeatedly said, the best way to do that is to do it in a bipartisan way. but in order to do that, mr. president, we need to put aside the bil

mr. durbin: mr. president, i know there is controversy involved in the so called i know there is controversy involved in this proposal. let's be honest about where we are in america today. we have seen the largest decline in automobile sales and 50 years. sales are down 29%. plummeting auto sales have reduced production and it has had a ripple effect across the economy, forcing dealerships and factories to close. we have lost 280,000 american jobs in the automobile industry. that is what this is about. 280,000 american jobs that are lost and more that will be lost if we do nothing. some would have us do nothing. while the automobile industry is reeling from job losses and declining production, many consumers in the market are holding back. the purpose of this legislation is to put movement into the purchasing of new automobiles. it is a targeted way to give incentives to americans to buy cars, get them back in the showrooms, and start moving the inventory. start creating demand and create a more posi

the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. gregg: mr. president, we are as a nation facing an incredibly severe fiscal situation not only in the short-term but in the long term. the debt of this country is piling up at astronomical rates. this year we will have a deficit that is close to $2 trillion -- $2 trillion, 28% of our gross domestic product. we are talking about a deficit next year of well over $1 trillion. under the budget except to us by the president and approved by this congress, not with my support or many -- i don't think any republicans supported it -- the deficit will run at $1 trillion a year for as far as the eye can see. the debt of this country will double in five years. it will triple in 10 years. deficits are running at 4% to 5% of g.d.p. not only immediately after we get passed this recessionary period, for, again, the next 10 years. and the debt to g.d.p. ratio a test of how viable a nation is will jump 80%. those are numbers which aren't sustainable. everybody admits they're not sustainable. and, in fact, they ar