mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i'm going to make one final point on this issue and then i want to address another amendment we'll voting on at some point here. one thing we have not discussed is what happened if the foreign enemy combatant in the article 3 court in the united states is actually acquitted. if he is, he of course has toe b released. and the deportation option is only available if some other country is willing to take them. there's not a whole lot of clamoring for these kind of folks anywhere else in the world. we've had that experience. the courts then cannot keep them. they're released into the united states. as a result of an acquittal in an article 3 court in the united states and a situation where you cannot deport them because no one will take them. i think the point here is, this is all totally unnecessary. these are foreigners. these are not citizens of the united states. they have no right to be in an article 3 court. we

i think mr. mcconnell said it best. he said the number one goal of -- that is mr. mcconnell was to make sure this president does not serve a second term. i talked a little bit earlier about these efforts to destroy this president. i think this is part of it. >> let me ask you quickly about herman cain on the other side and the issue of race.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proargs under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: i also ask unanimous consent that the junior senator from new hampshire and i be allowed to engage in a colloquy. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i want to thank my good friend from new hampshire for the issue she has raised with regard to the proper way to treat enemy combatants. her amendment, which we've been discussing off and on here on the floor today, has prompted preyed indications of doom and -- preyed indications of bloom and doom from our friends on the other side of the aisle and a lot of exsilented rhetoric. just to be clerks i would ask my friend from new hampshire, is it not true that the amendment that she has offered does not apply to everyone -- absolutely everyone -- who might be generally labeled a terr

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? mr. reid: ask consent that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i withdraw my motion to proceed to calendar number 204. the presiding officer: maks motion is withdrawn. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i now move to proceed to calendar number 205, s. 1726, and i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to proceed to s. 1726, the withholding tax relief act of 2011, soo signed by 16 senats as follows -- mr. mcconnell: i ask that the reading of the aims nails be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i withdraw the motion. the presiding officer: the motion is withdrawn. the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, we've tried, as i indicated earlier, most

what happened was mr. mcconnell and mr. cantor used the obligation that america has to pay its bills, and we have always done that, whether those bills were incurred by republican or democratic administrations, and they used that as a hostage to get their way on another budget deal. we were so close to the brink that it really destabilized confidence that we were going to get it right. and that's a brinksmanship where we have gone too far. at a certain point restraint is the virtue required for the good of the country. >> it's interesting, isn't it? as the congress has become obstructionist, business is carrying on. you have been a vocal critic about the new fees being imposed by banks, and you called them shameless, bank of america and citibank, and it seems to me that government is frozen, and meantime the people are not only suffering because unemployment is so high, opportunities for work are so few, but in addition we have big banks just hammering the public? >> it's true. i think underlying a lot of the motivation of

mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: what this week has shown beyond any doubt is that democrats would rather talk about partisan legislation they won't pass than actually passing legislation we know would create jobs. two and a half years after the president signed his first stimulus, there are 1.7 million fewer jobs in this country, and now he wants to do it again. why? because democrats think it makes good politics. this week it was revealed that there weren't -- wasn't enough support within the democratic ranks to pass the president's so-called jobs bill. it was simply too partisan. so yesterday instead of making it less partisan, they made it more so by adding a tax on small business owners. they made it even attractive to job creators rather than working with republicans on legislation that would actually help create jobs. i mean, what's the goal here? if the goal is to create gorks then why aren't we even talking about -- why are we even talki

mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i'm not sure who has the floor but i would say in response to my friend from georgia -- mr. mccain: i would say we have unanimous consent for a colloquy. mr. mcconnell: there may have been examples but i'm hard pressed to think of one recently. and the tradition of the passing the defense authorization bill is there for a good reason. the national defense of the united states is the most important thing the federal government does, and the committee upon which the senator from georgia and the senator from arizona and the senator from new hampshire serve are the experts on this the matter and i find this truly astonishing. it's consistent, however, i must say with the pattern around here in recent times. no amendments, fill up the tree, deny the majority and the minority in this case, both the majority and the minority, the opportunity to have any input on a piece of legislation that determines what we do in the federal government's most important responsibility. i think thi

mr. mcconnell: mr. president, for three weeks president obama not has been traveling around the country calling on congress to pass what he calls his jobs bill right away. here's what he'll say in texas today if he's not said it already: at least put this jobs bill up for a vote so the entire country knows exactly where every member of congress stands. well, mr. president, i agree with the president. i think he's entitled to a vote on his jobs bill. the suggestion that senate republicans are not interested in voting on his jobs bill is not true. i think he's entitled to a vote. it won't surprise anyone to know i don't think it's a good approach, a way that's likely to create jobs, but he's asked for a vote. and i think we ought to accommodate the president of the united states on a matter that he has been speaking about frequently over the last few weeks and give him his vote. in fact, they've been calling for this vote with great repetition. his press secretary said it on october 3, david pluf, the sen

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the pending request is a request from the republican leader. mr. reid: which is -- i've asked that it be modified. the presiding officer: does the republican leader so modify his -- mr. mcconnell: mr. president, reserving the right to object. i listened carefully to what my good friend the majority leader had to say and he was talking about other matters debated at other times, the first stimulus bill which we've i think probably have a basic disagreement on, i think it was almost total failure, he also talked about the debate we had with regard to the continuing resolution which was finally worked out on a bipartisan basis but those are things that occurred in the past. what i'm trying to do here today bisuggesting that we vote on the president's jobs bill but my good friend the majority leader has previously introduced and i gather by way of introduction supports, that we honor the request of the president of the united states to vote on it now. he

mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i'm not sure who has the floor but i would say in response to my friend from georgia -- mr. mccain: i would say we have unanimous consent for a colloquy. mr. mcconnell: there may have been examples but i'm hard pressed to think of one recently. and the tradition of the passing the defense authorization bill is there for a good reason. the national defense of the united states is the most important thing the federal government does, and the committee upon which the senator from georgia and the senator from arizona and the senator from new hampshire serve are the experts on this the matter and i find this truly astonishing. it's consistent, however, i must say with the pattern around here in recent times. no amendments, fill up the tree, deny the majority and the minority in this case, both the majority and the minority, the opportunity to have any input on a piece of legislation that determines what we do in the federal government's most important responsibility. i think thi

mr. mcconnell: mr. president, who has the floor? the presiding officer: the minority leader has the floor. mr. mcconnell: i'd like to give my very, if i may, to the -- the presiding officer: the majority leader has the floor. mr. reid: i yield to my friend, the republican leader, to respooned to any questions that the senator from tennessee may have. mr. mcconnell: yes, let me -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: for the benefit of our colleagues, let me explain what exact happened. iit is not complicated. it was pretty clear, whether you liked this bill or didn't, it was going to pass. you could tell that by cloture on the motion to proceed with a very large majority. so i don't think my good friend, the majority leader, had to worry about whroarnst whether or not his bill was ultimately going to pass. the question was whether there were going to be any amendments at any point to the bill. and my conference made a decision, actually against my best advice, to go on and invoke cloture on the bill after we had

mcconnell wanted to push them to vote on it now. a special election victory for the democrats last night. >> this vehicle toerks ladies and gentlemen, it's not about me. it's about you. >> that is west virginia governor thanking his supporters after weeks of attack ads from republicans in a come from behind victory, tomblin defeated bill maloney 50 abou% to 47%. it's a small win for democrats after the embarrassing special election loss to bob turner in new york's ninth district. the victory in west virginia, democrats avoid losing three special elections in the span of just a month. maloney ran primarily as a referendum he says on the obama administration. in 2008, president obama lost west virginia to senator john mccain in the general election taking 43% of the vote and he has terrible approval ratings there, somewhere around 30% right now. >>> after weeks of speculation, new jersey governor chris christie said yesterday unequivocally he will not run for president of the united states. some of the biggest names were urging chris

quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: later today the senate will have an opportunity to hear from south korean president lee, and i know we look forward to it. south korea is a stalwart ally that enjoys a flourishing economy. it's a shining example of how embracing democracy and free-market principles can transform a society for good. just imagine, in 50 years they went from a civil war to a military dictatorship to an evolving democracy. and on the economic side, to a thriving capitalist country that has the 13th-largest economy in the world. from a country that was a recipient of foreign aid and peace corps volunteers to a country with its own volunteer program and its own peace corps. all of that in 50 years, and right on the same peninsula with one of the last stalinist regimes in the world. a great succ

mr. mcconnell: mr. president, the senator from maryland always speaks in a coherent way. let me just say in order to further not interrupt her remarks, i ask consent that my remarks appear at the beginning of the day's journal in connection with my normal leader time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, as we all know, the number-one issue on the minds of most americans is jobs, and i think it's pretty clear that both parties are focused on that issue right now. i also think it's safe to say the two parties have a fundamentally different take on the solution. for democrats, the solution apparently is to increase the number of people who work for the government. my good friend, the majority leader, made this pretty clear yesterday when he said that the private sector is -- quote -- "doing just fine" -- unquote -- and that the president's latest stimulus is focused on government jobs instead. well, republicans take a different view. we recognize that government has an i

mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: before my friend, the majority leader, leaves the floor, let me just remind him and our senate colleagues and the american people that republicans were prepared to vote on the president's second version of the stimulus bill last night. in fact, i offered consent that we have that vote, not the motion to proceed to it, but the actual vote. i'm not going to renew that request at the moment but just would say to my friend we are happy to have that vote. we're happy to have it last night. with regard to the pieces of it, my friend is correct. some of it, the pieces of this second stimulus might well be appropriate. i've recommended to the joint select committee that he and i appointed 50% of, that they take a look at some of it that could be included in a product we're going to get before thanksgiving before the senate and the house. we'd be entire to vote on the entire package. were happy to do it last night. and also happy to look at pieces of it. we do have, as the majority

if mr. mcconnell chooses to vote against it or members of his caucus choose to vote against it i promise you we will keep on going and we will put forward maybe piece by piece each component of the bill and each time they will have to explain why it is that they would be opposed to putting teachers back in the classroom or rebuilding our schools, or giving tax cuts to middle class folks, and giving tax cuts to small businesses. [inaudible] >> i think if we don't take action then we could end up having more significant problems than we have right now. and some of it is just simple math. the payroll tax cut that we passed is set to expire. the jobs plan includes an extension of the payroll tax cut. if that is not extended, then that is over a thousand dollars out of the pockets of the average american family at a time when they are already feeling a severe pinch. that means they are going to be spending less, that means businesses are going to have less customers, and that's going to have an a

i will read what the president said and if mr. mcconnell chooses to vote against this, meaning the jobs bill, or members of his caucus choose to vote against ti promise you we are going to keep on going and we will put forward piece by piece, each component. and each time, they valid to explain why they would be opposed to putting teachers back in the classroom or rebuildings schools and giving tax cuts to middle-class folks and to small businesses. >> we are happy to explain our opposition to tax increases that kill jobs in the middle of an economy in which we have 9.1% unemployment. we're not embarrassed to say this is not a jobs bill. we may be able to do some business on some of the things. let's see what the joint committee came up with. i have listed things we have done on the bipartisan basis over the last few months. but we are not going to, just because he's trying to getitous raise taxes in the middle of a recession, agree that that's a good idea when we know it's going to kill jobs. >> how is dealing with president obam

mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: madam president, a lot of talk these days about washington is broken and how unless we do something to fix it, the solutions to our most urgent problems will remain out of reach. the fact is, it's not really true. congress is not frozen in a state of perpetual gridlock, and the now-emnant passage of three long-awaited trade agreements with colombia, panama, and south korea shows it. for two and a half years, i and other republicans have stated as clearly as we could to anyone who would listen that we are willing and eager to work with the democrats on legislation that we know both sides agree on. free trade agreements fall squarely into that category. that's why i've been calling on the president to approve them since his very first day in office. yet for reasons that i'll touch on in a moment, he's actually held back. it is true that the president had to be convinced of the importance of these agreements. after all, he ran for office promising to renegotiate nafta. but onc

we saw the statement made by mr. mcconnell talking about a bipartisan opposition. look at this. this bill's top selling point, according to the president, was that both parties should like it. yet so far the only thing both parties in congress seem to agree on is that it's got to be a better way than this. >> both parties should agree on. i -- i think only two senators, democrat, voted against this. how is that bipartisan until you look at rove's memo where he says make it look bipartisan. so they are really playing almost a shell game because rove is saying sell it as bipartisan opposition. i doubt if you can make two people a bipartisan representation, at least. other party. >> well, look, these -- this is the situation. president obama is lifting this economy, even against the outrageous opposition he's getting. we've seen now some 24 months of private sector job growth continuously. we've seen 15 months of sale increases at the nation's retailers who just yesterday announced they will hire over 100,000 people before thanksgiving to get red for the holiday season. we have a r

. >> here's president obama again going after mcconnell. >> if mr. mcconnell chooses to vote against it, or if members of his caucus choose to vote against it, i promise you we're going to keep on going and we will put forward maybe piece by piece each component of the bill and each time they are going to have to explain why it is they would be opposed to putting teachers back in the classroom or rebuilding our schools or giving tax cuts to middle-class folks. >> what's the republican answer to this? the fact is you have got the president with a distinctive plan on the table. it is all about taxes. they just don't want to serve it up at the top 1%, do they? >> absolutely not. that's why people are in the street. you know, i have been involved in demonstrations most of my adult life. i was told by benjamin hooks once and he said, joe, either demonstrations are well organized or spontaneous. this is a spontaneous reaction. look at who's out there. you saw them. i saw them today in washington, d.c. they had an occupy d.c. day. you have got grandmothers

if mr. mcconnell chooses to vote against it or if members of his caucus choose to vote against it, i promise you, we're going to keep ongoing and we will put forward maybe piece by piece each component of the bill. and each time they're going to have to explain why it is that they'd be opposed to putting teachers back in the classroom or rebuilding our schools or giving tax cuts to middle-class folks and giving tax cuts to small businesses. i think that if we don't take action, we could end up having more significant problems than we have right now. some of it's just simple math. the payroll tax cut that we passed is set to expire. the jobs plan includes an extension of the payroll tax cut. now, if that is not extended, then that is over $1,000 out of the pockets of the average american family at a time when they're already feeling a severe pinch. that means they're going to be spending less. that means businesses are going to have less customers. and that's going to have an adverse effect o

what do you think of that move by the clever, shrewd mr. mcconnell? >> well, because i think he was trying -- this was the easier vote for democrats. there might have been a few more democrats who would -- who would go the other way when it really came down to -- to taxes, but i think those democrats, those conservative democrats would be missing a bet based on what i'm seeing up here, chris, out on the dartmouth green. you've got families from vermont, new hampshire, of people who are unemployed, and they are running out of unemployment benefits and, you know, this is supposed to be a well off part of country. it isn't for everybody, and, you know, i ran into people holding up signs like this. this has hand printed by somebody who said, okay, where are the jobs and on the other side saying gop, listen to the 99%. >> wow. >> that's what the base of the democratic party is interested in. this wasn't put out by the labor unions, chris. this is somebody hand printing them in the basement of a church, and that's what the feeling is out there. forget the c

and if mr. mcconnell chooses to vote against it or if members of his caucus choose to vote against it, i promise you, we are bogey to ke-- going the kee going and put forward piece by piece each component and each time they are going to have to explain it. why does the -- opposed to putting teachers back in the classroom or giving tax cuts to middle class folks and giving tax cuts to small business es. i think if we don't take action, then we could end up having more significant problems than we have right now. and some of it is simple math. payroll tax cut that we passed is set to expire. the jobs plan includes an extension of the payroll tax cut. now, if -- that is not extended, then that is over a thousand dollars out of the pockets of the average american family and at a time when they are already feeling a severe pinch. that means they are going to be spending less and that means businesses are going to have less customers. and that's going to have an adverse effect on an economy that is al

mr. mcconnell: madam president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: no. mr. mcconnell: madam president, i just want to make a couple of observations this morning about what's going on in washington at the moment and what isn't. what's going on is the democrats are obsessed for some reason with raising taxes. that's the only possible way to explain their latest idea to impose a permanent tax hike on about 300 u.s. businesses, business owners, and then use the money to bail out cities and states that can't pay their bills. that's the proposal we'll be voting on, apparently, tomorrow. now, i don't know if our friends on the other side have noticed, but washington can't pay its own bills right now. think about it. the federal government spent $3.6 trillion last fiscal year, a new all-time record, and in the wake of the single largest spending year in history, democrats want to put together another bailout. add up the projected deficits of all 50 states this year and you get $103 billion. that's all 50 states' deficits added up. well, what about us? what about us

mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: the past three weeks, president obama has been racing around the country trying to rally public support for a second stimulus bill and demanding that congress pass it right away. the president has not been demanding that congress debate the bill or be allowed to amend the bill; he has demanded in one uncertain terms that we held a vote on the bill as it is right away. a couple of weeks ago in denver, the president said, he's got the pens all ready, lined up on his desk, ready to sign it into law. just yesterday in texas he called on congress to put the bill up for a vote, society entire country -- so the entire country knows exactly wherever member of congress stands. one of the president's top advisors, david axelrod, summed up the position like this. "we want them to act now on this package," david axelrod said. "we're not in negotiations to break up the package. it's not an a la carte menu." so yesterday i tested the president's rhetoric. i proposed that we do exactly wh

mr. mcconnell: mr. president, we are on the verge of doing something very, very important for our country tonight, and we're going to do it on a bipartisan basis. i want to congratulate the chairman of the finance committee, senator baucus, for the role he played in this, for the constructive efforts by senator portman and senator blunt to move to this evening, but i want to single out for special praif the leader on this issue, nor hatch of the finance committee, who has been a stalwart on behalf of free trade over the years. i think it's appropriate to take a moment before the vote to note the importance of what we're doing. the first point is to make these arguments is that we'll help american businesses create new jobs right here in the united states. the second point to make is there is strong bipartisan support for all three of these agreements. in other words, anyone who said the two parties can't agree on anything isn't really telling the whole story. i mean, consider this. on the very day that

mr. mcconnell: would the senator yield for a question? mr. graham: yes. mr. mcconnell: then am i correct, i would say to my friends from south carolina and new hampshire and arizona, that because of the administration's opposition to a detainee opposition to a detainee treatment provision that wasved approved overwhelmingly in therd anÍbal denying everybody in thes senate in opportunity to offer amendments on any subject to the dod authorization bill and will not consider it on the floor ofl the senate for the first time im four decades. >> the minority leader is absolutely right, but i would fm add to my good friend frome -- s kentuckians even more it's not re we' just about us what we are denying as general petraeus and the cia director authorizationit fight the war. uniform pay what we deny as men and womenita pay raises, health care benefits that they desperately need because the detention policy driven by i think the most liberal people in this country, and 25 out of the 26 senators blessed this package so senatory mcconnell was absolutely right not onl

when you said mr. mcconnell, you said leader mcconnell. you know, you need to give the president some respect and referred to him as president obama. that's my first comment. why is it republicans, when they come up, they all go in lockstep with the republicans to defeat the president's bill? guest: no disrespect meant to president obama. we often say "obama" or "the obama administration." no matter who the president is, of both parties have to respect him. i would not exactly say "in lockstep." there are some differences of opinion on both sides of the aisle. this year, i will be married 40 years. same woman. practically every day we have a slight disagreement. here we have 435 coming from all over -- i think well intended people. you work it out. it's not as neat as a dictatorship. we have to work it out. sometimes they all rely on the brinksmanship. we can do it. my committee is fortunate. it is a fairly bipartisan committee, but even there you have your disagreements. host: why is congress only meeting 109 days next year and why is the

mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. mcconnell: later today the senate will vote on president obama's second attempt to address our nation's ongoing jobs crisis with a stimulus bill. and republicans actually welcome the opportunity. if voting against another stimulus is the only way we can get democrats in washington to finally abandon this failed approach to job creation, then so be it. the president's been calling for this vote for weeks, and in my view, we can't have it soon enough. in fact, on the previous bill i kept trying to get a vote on the president's first version of the stimulus bill. we'll be voting on the second, sort of modified version of the stimulus bill here this afternoon. this is a vote republicans are anxious to have. for nearly five years democrats have controlled the senate, for the last three of those years they have also controlled the white house. by proposing a second stimulus, democrats are showing the american people that they have no

the speaker for giving me the opportunity come and mr. mcconnell for allowing me to be the co-chairman as well. and thank you for allowing me to put that on the record. >> thank you, but i did know that you think you got an upgrade in your colleague after leaving congress. >> you know, i tell myself going there and i thought i better back out. but i should also say we do have one criticism of this committee. we had a very fine council named rich beutel who was working, and the next thing we knew he decided to raise the status of his position and work for this committee. but we missed him. >> we don't pay a lot but we offer long-term employment, something your commission couldn't. thank you. [laughter] thank you again albeit we appreciate it. the committee stands adjourned.

mr. akaka: i yield the time. thank you. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: it's no secret congress isn't winning any popularity contests these days. americans are fed up with law makers who are either focused on the wrong thing or determined to block any serious reforms that would actually get at the root of the problems that we face. and that's why republicans have been focused not only on legislation that we think has a good chance of jump starting private-sector job creation in this country but which also has a good shot at actually becoming law. put another way, since taking back the majority this year, republicans in the house of representatives have focused not only on legislation that avoids the economic missteps of the previous 2 1/2 years of democratic control but which also has a good shot of making it through a democratic-led senate. you'd never know it from listening to the president, but there's actually been a significant amount of bipartisan work that's been going on on capitol hill

and if mr. mcconnell choses to vote against it or if members of this caucus choose to vote against it, i promise you, we're going to keep on going and we will put forward maybe piece by piece each component of the bill and each time they're going to have to explain why it is that they would be opposed to putting teachers back in the classroom or rebuilding our schools or giving tax cuts to middle class folks and giving tax cuts to small businesses. [ inaudible question ]. >> i think if we don't take action, then we could end up having more significant problems than we have right now. .some of it is just simple math. the payroll tax cuts that we passed is set to expire. the jobs plan includes an extension of the payroll tax cut. now, if that is not extended, then that is over $1,000 out of the pockets of the average american family at a time when they're already feeling a severe pinch. that means they're going to be spending less, that means businesses are going to have less customers and that's

mcconnell chooses to vote against it or if members of his caucus choose to vote against it i promise you we'll keep on going and we will put forward maybe piece by piece each component and each time they'll have to explain why it is that they'd be opposed to putting teachers back in the classroom or rebuilding our schools or giving tax cuts to middle-class folks or giving tax cuts to small businesses. [ inaudible question ] >> i think if we don't take action we can have more significant problems than we have right now. some of it is simple math. the payroll tax is set to expire. the jobs plan includes an extension of the payroll tax cut. now if that is not extended then that is over $1,000 out of the pockets of the average american family at a time when they're already feeling a severe pinch. that means they're going to be spending less. that means businesses will have less customers and that's going to have an adverse effect on an economy that is already weaker than it should be. >> chuck todd. >> thank you, mr. president. before i get to my question, do we assume by how we're talki

if mr. mcconnell chooses to vote against it or if members of his caucus vote against it, i promise you, we are going to keep on going, and we will put forth -- maybe piece by piece -- each component. and each time they are going to have to explain why they would be opposed to putting teachers back in the classroom or rebuilding our schools or giving tax breaks to middle- class folks or tax cuts to small businesses. >> [unintelligible] >> i think if we do not take action, we could end up with more significant problems than we have right now. some of it is simple math. the payroll tax we just passed will be set to expire. the jobs plan -- if that is not extended, and that is over $1,000 out of the pockets of the american family at a time when they're dealing a severe pinch, that means they're going to be spending less. that is going to have an adverse effects on the economy. thank you, mr. president. -- >> thank you, mr. president. we assume you are ok with the change on the surtax, the 5.6% s

webb, the senator from kentucky, mr. mcconnel, the senator from tennessee, mr. accident happeneder, the senator from wyoming, mr. boras smbing o the senator from south dakota, mr. une, the senator from texas, mr. cornyn, the senator from wrin, mr. lugar, and the senator from ohio, mr. port map. the speaker: members of the escort committee shall exit the chamber through the lobby doors. >> mr. speaker, the acting dean of the diplomatic corps. >> mr. speaker, the president's cabinet. >> mr. speaker, the president of the republic of korea. president lee myung-bak: thank you. thank you. the speaker: members of congress, i have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you his excellencey, lee myung-bak, president of the republic of korea. president lee myung-bak: thank you. will you please allow me to speak in korean, please. mr. speaker, mr. vice president, distinguished members of congress, ladies and gentlemen. it is a great privilege to speak to you from this podium in this great institution representing democracy and freedom. and i am particularly

thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> mr. mcconnell, you're recognized for five minutes. >> thank you very much. just a quick question. how is what is happening in the eurozone and the policy prescriptions that are being put forward differ from what the united states did during the t.a.r.p. situation back in 2008? >> in some respects there are similarities but there are also important institutional differences, of course, between the u.s. and europe. important similarities is that this is a crisis of confidence and a crisis that has led to huge increase in uncertainty with potentially very negative impact, if not contained. both here in the u.s. and in europe, what is needed, therefore, is an overwhelming, powerful response to reduce concerns, to reduce the uncertainty, to reassure investors that the situation is being contained. in europe, it's been more difficult to put this decisive response in place, because of institutional constraints. there are 17 members of the eurozone and they all need to reach agreement on steps to

if mr. mcconnell chooses to vote against it or if members of his caucus vote against it, i promise you, we are going to keep on going, and we will put forth -- maybe piece by piece -- each component. and each time they are going to have to explain why they would be opposed to putting teachers back in the classroom or rebuilding our schools or giving tax breaks to middle-class folks or tax cuts to small businesses. >> [unintelligible] >> i think if we do not take action, we could end up with more significant problems than we have right now. some of it is simple math. the payroll tax we just passed will be set to expire. the jobs plan -- if that is not extended, and that is over $1,000 out of the pockets of the american family at a time when they're dealing a severe pinch, that means they're going to be spending less. that is going to have an adverse effects on the economy. thank you, mr. president. -- >> thank you, mr. president. we assume you are ok with the change on the surtax, the 5.6% su

mica and the rest you refer to president obama when you talk about mr. mcconnell use a leader or speaker kantor and you know, you need to give the president some respect and refer to him as president obama, that is my first comment. the other point is why is it that the republicans all voted and lockstep with the republicans to defeat the president's bill? >> guest: no disrespect to the president obama we often say obama or the obama administration just like we said with bush. no matter who the president is, both parties have to respect him. and then in lockstep, wouldn't exactly say that. i think that there are some differences of opinion on both sides of the aisle. this year and going to be married 40 years, same woman. [laughter] everyday we legislate this agreement but here we have all over, all stripes i think well intended people but differences of opinion. you work it out. it's not as neat as a dictatorship every bit the in lockstep. we have to work it out and sometimes rely on the brink bench of the drives everybody months, but we can do it and i