Senate Proceeding on Jan 29th, 2009 :: 3:07:05 to 3:27:05
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3:02:20 to 3:07:05( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Robert Menendez

3:06:50 to 3:07:05( Edit History Discussion )

Robert Menendez: dollar that kentuckians send to the federal treasury. so they get more back than, in fact, they pay. so let's talk about fairness. let's talk about fairness. you know, reality is one size

3:07:06 to 3:07:29( Edit History Discussion )

doesn't fit you know, to get the sam ability -- let me have a previous chart here. for a family in new jersey living in middlesex county, new jersey, whose monthly income is about roughly around ,600, for

3:07:30 to 3:07:51( Edit History Discussion )

their housing it's goingo cost them ,331, for their food it's about 45.70, for their child care, it is 44.08, for their transportation, it's 93.80, and for their taxes, it is 79. and for their health insurance it is so what do they end up?

3:07:52 to 3:08:12( Edit History Discussion )

they end up with a negative amount in terms of their these are people who are working trying to sustain their families but they end up in the negative if they try to provide health insurance for their families. so the answer is they can't provide health insurance for their families unless they get some help. now, yeah, one size doesn't fit all.

3:08:13 to 3:08:33( Edit History Discussion )

so let's look at that same family. for that family in new jersey to get the same ability in terms of their purchasing power in louisville, kentucky -- in louisville, kentucky, they need about 5,808. but for that same family whose happenstance happens to live i

3:08:34 to 3:08:57( Edit History Discussion )

new jersey versus in louisville, kentucky, for the same exact things they need 7,000 roughly in purchasing power. now why do i have to hear an argument that says families, in fact, in -- whether it be kentucky or arizona or oklahoma or georgia or tennessee or utah or all of these other

3:08:58 to 3:09:18( Edit History Discussion )

states who, in fact, deserve to have their children covered, they deserve to have their children covered and i'm fighting for their children to be covered as well. but why do i have to listen to that, in are more valuable than my children in new jersey who need this amount of money to be able to meet the same goals and dreams and aspirations

3:09:19 to 3:09:39( Edit History Discussion )

health care that they h so they can get benefits under the bill, but my children in new jersey should be denied. that's the core of the argument here. one size does not fit all

3:09:40 to 3:10:01( Edit History Discussion )

Robert Menendez: -- in new jersey making 5,000 to make ends mee that is not the fact. that is simply not the fact. so we need to ensure that all children are covered within this class. i'm simply baffled and i find it embarrassing that some in washington, those who have some of the best health care coverage in the world would propose to

3:09:50 to 3:11:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Robert Menendez

3:10:02 to 3:10:23( Edit History Discussion )

Robert Menendez: jeopardize coverage to some of america's neediest families. and in this economy -- in this recession we cannot allow our children to be the silent victims. it is morally wrong to jeopardize the hai the health care of these children. what have they done to deserve this?

3:10:24 to 3:10:44( Edit History Discussion )

Robert Menendez: it is even more outrageus during a time when jobs and homes are being taken away from their parents. where is the moral come this chamber? i hear from our colleagues how our children are our most precious asset and they most certainly are. but they are also our most

3:10:45 to 3:11:06( Edit History Discussion )

Robert Menendez: vulnerable asset. is a child in new jersey worth less than a child in other parts of the country simply because of the happenstance where they live and the costs that are necessary in order for them to meet the same quality of life? so i other amendments have been

3:11:07 to 3:11:27( Edit History Discussion )

Robert Menendez: rejected, will once again reject this amendment. and what the value of life. you cannot fulfill your god given potential if you don't have good health. you cannot say that you're pro family when, in fact, you would take away the insurance

3:11:28 to 3:11:48( Edit History Discussion )

Robert Menendez: necessary for that family to be able to realize their god-given potential. and this is about all children regardless of where they happen to reside. the happenstance of what station in life they were born into, that if they fall in this criteria, that, in should be covered. that's why this amendment should

3:11:49 to 3:11:56( Edit History Discussion )

Robert Menendez: be defeated. i hope after taking amendment after amendment after amendment on the same fundamental issue that we can finally move to

3:11:57 to 3:12:11( Edit History Discussion )

final passage of this bill. thank you, madam president. i observe the absence of a quorum. the presidin will call the roll.

3:14:00 to 3:16:50( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Harry Reid

3:14:32 to 3:14:52( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: quorum call: the presiding officer: so ordered. mr. reid: madam president, as we were completing our last vote last night, i explained to the members of the senate what our schedule would be the next few days. and following my statement, senator leahy and i engaged in a

3:14:53 to 3:15:13( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: discussion here on the floor about the timing for a vote for attorney general-designee eric holder. chairman leahy expressed an opinion that he and i share that, with the many difficult challenges facing the obama administration, particularly the justice department, it's imperative for the senate to confirm at general-designee holder as soon as possible.

3:15:14 to 3:15:34( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: unfortunately, while it was my strong preference to conduct the vote this week, as i explained one occasion, i was hoping we would do that when we completed work on chip, the children's health insurance program. that i hadn't informed him that i had a conversation just a few minutes before i made my remarks

3:15:35 to 3:15:56( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: on the floor with senator mcconnell and senator mcconnell said that he didn't want to move forward on this until monday. the conversation with senator mcconnell and i was pleasant, as most of our conversations have been, and i felt that i need to explain to

3:15:57 to 3:16:20( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: what the proposal was and what we were planning on doing. the one thing i didn't do is explain to senator leahy first and i should have done that. that we weren't going to be able to complete it after the children's health initiative program, on the same day at least, we'd have to wait and do it later because the -- in the senate, the power of the

3:16:21 to 3:16:45( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: minority is significant. i -- i have privately discussed this with chairman it was an oversight on myart that he wasn't informed of the arrangement we had reached with senator say that i had reached with senator mcconnell before, i announced it on the floor. so i apologize to my friend from vermont, the chairman of the judiciary committee. he has been a good friend, he

3:16:46 to 3:16:50( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: rcel, for so many years and i'm very sorry for the misunderstanding.

3:16:51 to 3:17:11( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: chairman leahy and i, along with virtually every united states senator, agree that we must nfirm this exceptionally qualified and and that includes republicans who feel the same way, as quickly as possible so that we can beginhe critical worf rebuilding the justice department to fight terrorism, crime, and protect the skull rights of all americans -- constitutional rights of all americans.

3:16:55 to 3:22:45( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Bill Nelson

3:17:12 to 3:17:34( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: and there's no one who has been more of an advocate of having a strong, powerful, fair justice department than senator leahy. so i'm sorry about that confusion, and if i embarrassed him in any w i'm sorry. note the presiding officer: the clerk

3:17:35 to 3:17:55( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: will call the roll. quorum call: mr. nelson: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: i request consent that the quorum call be liftedment. the presid objectio mr. nelson: madam president want to --

3:17:56 to 3:18:16( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: thank you, madam president. and it's such a delight to see you in the chair, the distinguished new senator from the great state of north carolina, who every time i look at y that that smile was born and

3:18:17 to 3:18:37( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: bread in florida. and we are so happy to have yo you -- that smile was born and bred in florida, and we are so happy to have you here in the united states senate, representing the great state of north carolina. madam president, i, of course, am going to vote for s. 275, the

3:18:38 to 3:18:58( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: children's health insurance program. this reauthorization is a longtime coming. we went through the trauma of having it vetoed by the president last year we attempted to override that veto and got a close vote but didn't get enough.

3:18:59 to 3:19:20( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: and so here we are and we'll have the votes this time. my particular additional interest in this is in a life that i had before the senate, i had the privilege of being the elected state treasur

3:19:21 to 3:19:44( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: florida, which is also -- or was then, under florida law at the time, the state insurance commissioner. and what is known as the florida healthy kids program. and it was a very innovative way in which we would reach out

3:19:45 to 3:20:07( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: through the school system to make health insurance more affordable for children. under the theory that if a child is sick, the child not going to learn, and we know by all of the sociological studies that if a child does not

3:20:08 to 3:20:29( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: get the proper medical observation and treatment during those for form active years, that it can -- formactive years, that it can complicate things just later on in life, whi just from a societal point of view becomes a much more -- a much greater

3:20:30 to 3:20:53( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: expense on society. whereas if children can get the proper health care, it's not only good humanitarian commonsense judeo-christian kind of practices but in an overall cost to society, it is much more

3:20:54 to 3:21:15( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: efficient and we saw in this innovative program in the 1990's in florida the we could make insurance available to children through the school system according to their parents' ability to pay.

3:21:16 to 3:21:36( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: and we piggybacked it on t of the school lunch program. because already there, you had a determination of a family's financial means and capability. and what we saw was that it spread like wildfire throughout the florida school system in

3:21:37 to 3:22:00( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: each of the counties, and it became not only very popular, it became very effective. that we're applying that concept for the whole country. and it did, it started become a couple of decades ago. we are reauthorizing this and we

3:22:01 to 3:22:23( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: are enhancing it. it makes good commonsense, it clearly makes good economic sense, and in america, where we want to give the very best of every opportunity for our children, it fulfills that dream and that desire as well.

3:22:24 to 3:22:44( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: and for these reasons, it's hard for me to believe that anyone would vote against the reauthorization of this program. and i commend our leadership that they have brought this bill up basically for us to pass. so that's what i wanted to share

3:22:45 to 3:22:45( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: with the senate, madam president

3:22:46 to 3:23:00( Edit History Discussion )

madam president. and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.