senator dick durbin, 7 hours 53 minutes. host: linda in bethesda, maryland, you are opposed to the senate health care bill, why? caller: good morning. i apologize for my laryngitis. i feel that this bill will eventually kill of innovation in medical research in the united states once we go down this slippery slope. the government will pay for more and more. we already know that nih grants are down. doctors and people considering going to health care, the bright ones will not go in because all the market incentives will be gone very medical schools are very expensive and i see this as a slippery slope into a government run health care eventually because that is what legislation does once you get it done. host: what kind of health care do you have? caller: have healthcare with an employer. i am happy with it but under this bill, our health care will be very much tact. we will be paying extra tax. we already pay a lot of tax. host: it is a -- is a so-called cadillac plan? caller: no, but because of what is being put in their in

after a briefing at thwhite house, governor paquinn and senar dick durbin told reporters why they enthusiastically back the move. >> this is a great opportuty. our ate unemployment numbers, the most recent es, were 11%. in some parts of the state like northwesterillinois, even higher. people are desperate f good jobs. this jobs we're talkg about here are some of the best . over 3,000 n employees in this area, half of them om local people. >> warner:ut the senate's top republican mch mcconnell said the plan wod make illinois a target fo terrorists. >> gitmo-norths something the american peoe are early opposed to. it is outrageouso suggest th this is a good sort of federal government jobs program. warner: he also notedhat current law rs bringing to u. shores any long-term prisoners eaarked for indefinite dettion. activist groups o have urged guantana's closure applauded the decision to move se detainees but they eressed reservations about theate of those prisoners who en't slated for civilian or military trials. devin chaf is with human rits first, an advocacy group in washiton. >> we armainly conce

ten minutes -- dick durbin, to have control of that ten minutes on our side. the presiding officer: who yields time? mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: mr. president, how much time do we have on this side? the presiding officer: ten minutes. mr. alexander: please let me know when a minute remains. mr. president, we're here on this early saturday morning as we lead up to christmas day to finish work on the defense appropriations bill, but the country knows that the focus of our attention, the reason we're here is because of the health care debate. we're in our 19th or 20th consecutive day of considering health care and we still don't have a bill. in other words, we don't yet know what we're voting on, how much it costs, or how it affects the american people. on october the 6th, 2009, eight democratic senators wrote the majority leader a letter which expressed the view also of all 40 republican senators, and it said what ought to be obvio obvious, that when debating even a minor bill, but certainly a m

president, i would also like to commend my colleague, the assistant majority leader, dick durbin, of illinois for bringing to the senate's attention during yesterday's debate an op-ed that appeared in "the washington post" this morning, written by our dear friend victoria reggie kennedy. it was entitled "the moment ted kennedy would not want to lose." vicki kennedy was senator kennedy's partner in all things, including his final efforts to move health reform forward, even as he valiantly fought his own battle with cancer. in more than 17 years of marriage, ted and vicki were inseparable, bonded by the love of friends, family, and most obviously by their love for one another. we remember vicki displayed inspirational grace in leading us all in our grief and in the memorial celebration of his life on the occasion of senator kennedy's death, and today she continues as his partner, paying tribute to ted's legacy by respectfully urging his colleagues to move forward on the health reform he would have wanted. i feel certain that vicki's voice and his will make us more determined than ever

it begins with a procedural motion by democrat dick durbin and an objection by republican senator mike and see. this is a half-hour. >> yesterday mr. president and majority leader propounded the unanimous consent to afford both with respect to the health care bill. a revote later objected to the consensus indicating they had just received a copy of senator lautenberg's side-by-side amendment to the dorgan amendment so they needed time to review the amendment. therefore mr. president and ask unanimous consent that follow. mourning this mistake resume business as h.r. 3590 for the certain pending crapo amendment to commit in the dorgan amendment number 2793 is modified. may senator baucus be recognized with a side-by-side amendment to the crapo motion. once that has been recognized to the dorgan amendment as modified. the vote specified in agreement be five minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form upon the use or yielding back of the time. the senate proceed to vote in relation to the lautenberg amendment that upon the disposition of elaborate amendment the senate and with a d

i commend the authors of this legislation, the gentleman from illinois in the other body, dick durbin, tom coburn, the ranking member of the senate and human rights and law subcommittee, and the ranking member of the judiciary committee in the house, mr. smith. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas, mr. smith. mr. smith: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i support s. 1472, the human rights enforcement act of 2009. this bipartisan legislation was recently passed by unanimous consent in the senate. the bill is now before this body for consideration. the first goal of this legislation is to provide technical corrections to the genocide accountability act which was signed into law by president bush in 2007. before that act passed, genocide was only a violation of federal criminal law if it was committed within the united states whereby a u.s. national out-- or by a u.s. national outside the united states. the a

caller: i am watching all of this pretty easy to what senator dick durbin on the floor, giving senator -- watching all this. you need to watch senator but on the floor, giving senators sanders the right to remove the amendment. the house is the only body of government that is a democracy. under a democracy, majority rules. the senate is the body of government that is not a democracy. is that the republic, not -- it is neither a republican, not a democracy, and in the united states government, we are supposed to operate under representative democracy, and they don't operate under representative democracy. i personally think that the senate is that snail-paced body that the country would be better off if we just eliminated. guest: i would have to respectfully disagree with that completely. i think the senate is still a wonderful institution and there are wonderful men and women who work there becaus. the house floor is controlled by the speaker, in this case nancy pelosi. she controlled the debate because she controls the house rules committee. nine democrats and four republicans on it.

dodd: so vote for the mccain amendment and you get exactly what dick durbin suggested. 70% of our elderly pay more premiums. they never get any of the benefits and the private carriers get to pocket the difference. that's a great -- that's a great vote around here. that's great health care reform. a senator: would the senator from con corporation could we characterize this as an earmark in the medicare program? mr. dodd dodd: it is -- it is to ears. in one ear, i give it two ears. mr. brown: senator dodd, we remember two years ago when the insurance carriers went to the government and said we can do something -- it later became medicare advantage. they said we can do it for 5% less than the cost of medicare. and government unfortunately made the agreement with them to sign up to do that. now they -- then what happened in the last ten years, the insurance lobbyists came here and lobbied the bush administration and lobbied the e congress and got bigger and bigger payment. and it really is a subsidy for the insurance companies. and you say -- and senator baucus and senator durbin said it's n

dodd: so vote for the mccain amendment and you get exactly what dick durbin suggested. 70% of our elderly pay more premiums. they never get any of the benefits and the private carriers get to pocket the difference. that's a great -- that's a great vote around here. that's great health care reform. a senator: would the senator from con corporation could we characterize this as an earmark in the medicare program? mr. dodd dodd: it is -- it is to ears. in one ear, i give it two ears. mr. brown: senator dodd, we remember two years ago when the insurance carriers went to the government and said we can do something -- it later became medicare advantage. they said we can do it for 5% less than the cost of medicare. and government unfortunately made the agreement with them to sign up to do that. now they -- then what happened in the last ten years, the insurance lobbyists came here and lobbied the bush administration and lobbied the e congress and got bigger and bigger payment. and it really is a subsidy for the insurance companies. and you say -- and senator baucus and senator durbin said it's n

pat quinn and senator dick durbin met with the president at the white house and discussed the agreement with reporters. this is 10 minutes. >> we want to welcome everybody here. my name is pat quinn. i'm the governor of illinois. you have seen the letter today from the secretary of state and the secretary of defense and the attorney general and the secretary of homeland securitiened the head of the bureau of national security indicating that thompson, illinois, has been selected to be the prison in our state, the state of illinois, the land of lincoln to incarcerate detainees from guantanamo bay as well as to be a site of a new federal prison that will be located in western illinois. we believe in security and safety at all times. this will be the most secure prison in america and no one has ever escaped from a federal prison. the security enhancements which will be put at the thompson prison will make it the most secure maximum security prison in our country of all time. we think that is very important talmts to protect the safety of people of our state as well as our whole country and

durbin, chuck schumer, patty murray, you, and the entire democratic leadership for their support. and that provision, very simply, provides $10 billion over a five-year period to the federally qualified health center program and the national health service corps. in my view, these two programs are some of the best and most effective public health care programs in the united states of america. and they enjoy widespread -- widespread tripartisan support. president bush was a supporter. john mccain, when he ran for president, was a supporter of community health centers. many of the republicans have spoken very positively of community health centers, as have virtually all of the democrats. the reality, however, is that both community health centers and the national health service corps have been starved for funding for many, many years, and we are finally in this bill doing right by them. i should mention importantly that while we have place placed $10 billion in the senate bill, in the house bill there is $14 billion. and my strong hope and expectation and belief -- and i talked to t