cloture their leader and i the republican leader i will visit in just a few minutes and there's a great program that the staff and senators dodd and shelby worked through most of the night and i think a lot of progress was made this morning one of its most honorable officers colonel michael barbero a colonel will retire after twenty six years of service to the army and to the nation for the last five years i've come to know him as chief of the army always put the well being of soldiers first and our country our primary concern to him and his team at the lion office been helping soldiers guard and reserve navigate rocks and you solve the problems that can be common to any soldier's life many guiding them through the bureaucracy to access government benefits for their families sometimes it's meant dealing with family emergency dreamed of deployment sometimes it's meant helping whistleblowers who report fraud or abuses that need further investigation no matter what the challenge her barbero has always treated our citizens soldiers who seek help from congress with care fairness and respect they deserve as senate minority and majority leader i had the privilege to ask the army ecuador peru bolivia paraguay colombia mexico and guatemala these missions were successful because of the careful planning of colonel bob carroll and his excellent team on these long trips he also came to know mi as a person not as a soldier he's a gourmet chef remembers birthdays make sure that there's a cake even when means the cake is packed on dry ice and stored for six days on an airplane i also learned that he's a loving father and husband sacrifice for his service to our country so i think he and his daughter mary and son michael not seen as much of him as probably they wanted our loss with his retirement we his family's gain and hopefully they'll soon get their father back all the ball games and school events his duties here have required him to mass when the senate honor the service and contributions of colonel mike barrel always thinking of the soldiers in the interest of the army and the nation he loves  associate myself with the remarks of the counterpart the majority leader and congratulate the colonel his career and thank you so very much for all of his assistance show us over the years the night to come up with a bipartisan start for the housing bill that we hope to begin debate an amendment on later today and i'm optimistic they will be able to come together i think it's an example of the senate functioning th ought to function at its best and we look forward to making progress on that bill some time after nine hundred previous order the leadership time is reserved under the previous order senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to h r thirty two twenty one which the court will report motion to proceed to counter number three forty eight or thirty two twenty one and act moving the united states toward greater energy independence and security and so forth and for other colonel barrow is an extraordinary soldier a family man someone who has dedicated his whole life to the service of this nation in the uniform of the united states army he's done it with distinction he's done it with the delegate to the basic military career began as an armor officer he qualified as united states army ranger he served in a succession of demanding responsibilities i'm an officer troop commander a time staff officer serious contributions as  armored officer in the united states army his career represents a continued commitment to excellence as a professional and someone who maintained the highest standards of a military officer i first got to know mike when he  work they were very difficult circumstances in iraq afghanistan and in every moment sometimes in just duress sometimes in great difficulty he was unflappable ie cheerful and ingenious and extraordinary helpful to me we all stop and note his service and we also thank him and commend him and his family his lovely wife vicki his two children mary and michael they are the example of what americans should of senator reed with respect to colonel barbara without jackson mr president i come to the floor this morning to say thank you to colonel michael barbero i have been in the senate now for only a little over three years and during that time i had the great honor and privilege of traveling into iraq and into the middle east with colonel barbero on two separate occasions he is first of all a great soldier he is someone who makes us all proud for his long service to the united states army part of his career in the united states army has been to serve in fort  carson the home of the mountain division in the state of colorado and as we traveled into the middle east we often would talk about fort carson and his experience there and the beauty of my state and the beauty of our mountains  secondly i would say about colonel barberry barbero is that he has been a great example of service he always was putting the interests and concerns of others ahead of himself and i think in that fashion he exemplifies the selflessness that comes from the very best of the best the united states armed forces he has been a great example here in the united states senate as he has worked with all of us with many of our colleagues  demonstrating the excellence and the commitment of the men and women who served in our arms armed forces today and i also want to voice my appreciation for the great sacrifices that he has made because as he has  worked not only here in the u s senate for the last several years but beyond that his family has also sacrificed a great deal to our nation and i think about his wife vicki jo drake and his children  mary and michael mary and michael who are still young people at home i'm sure often miss their father when he would be gone on journeys into troubled areas of the world sometimes for more than a week at a time and so i come to the floor this morning simply to salute colonel barbaro and to tell him thank you on behalf of the you know united states senate for the great contribution that he has made to our country general speeches this morning in the u s senate banking committee members have until noon eastern to offer an outline for a senate housing measure majority leader reid plans to announce at twelve thirty today the plan for moving ahead with that legislation we're in a quorum call we're going to take you now while we're in this quorum call over to a senate foreign relations committee hearing looking at the the surge in iraq and military prospects there senator joe biden chairs the committee just got underway we'll show you as much as we can during this quorum call and perhaps ones to come as well their government is in competition with other shia parties for an a and a and upcoming election did we do the right thing or should we move to a more limited mission one that focuses our counter on counterterrorism training and overwatch as the british have done southern iraq should read draws the calls are coming a little more clearly should we withdraw completely according to  a set timetable one of the military strategic implications of each of these missions what mission can we realistically sustain and for how long given the stress of our armed forces at least three of you have extensive  experience dealing with the the opportunity costs this is the this war is presenting to us the stress and strain the pentagon testified yesterday before the armed services committee talking about how how beleaguered our military is and how we can't sustain this very much longer and so there are some questions i hope this highly respected panel will be willing to address an interesting time i'm going to keep the introductions a much briefer then each of your public service warrants general mccaffrey is a former south com commander and he's president of b r mccaffrey associates well most decorated military which is maybe almost as difficult as doing anything else that's where he and i first got to know each other pretty well and it's a delight to have him here lieutenant general william odom see me odom who is who has served as director of the national national security agency from eighty five to eighty eight he's currently c c a senior advisor at the center for strategic and international studies and a voice that is always always listened to and widely widely respected and miss laura noi who served in the ninety's as the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense and strategy and defense for strategy threat reduction she is currently the president the center for new american security and general robert scales he's a former commander of u s army war college and he's the president and co founder of the call it goes past colgan the colgan defense consulting firm and again we welcome all of you and look forward to your testimony before i yield to the witnesses in that order  four witnesses have devoted to iraq and their willingness to share their thoughts with us today and foreign relations committee seeks sober assessment of the complex circumstances and policy options that we face with respect to united states involvement in iraq we are hopeful that our hearings this week in advance of the appearance next tuesday and general petraeus and ambassador crocker will lumen ate the progress that has been made in iraq as well as the barriers to achieving our objectives clearly conditions on the ground in many areas of iraq improved during the six months since our last hearings we are grateful for the declin iraqi citizens and u s personnel and the expansion of security in many regions and neighborhoods the violence of the past week is a troubling reminder of the credibility of the security situation in iraq and  then predictability of the political rivalries that made definitive solution so difficult despite security progress to fundamental questions related to our operations in iraq remain the same namely well the iraqi people subordinate sectarian tribal and political agendas by sharing power with their rivals and can a read nobody unified society be achieved despite the extreme fears and resentments during the repressive reign of saddam hussein and intensified during the last five years of bloodletting even if most iraqis do want to live and a unified iraq how does this theoretical bloc acquire the political power and courage needed to stare down militia leaders sectarian strongmen criminal gangs frequently of employed violence for their own tribal and person objection sentiment is recognized mr president i rise today to call on the senate to take action on a bipartisan housing opportunity bill and i know that as we speak senator dodd and senator shelby are working hard on a compromise bill it is about time that our national leadership went to bat for struggling working families instead of just looking out for the fat cats i also commend the leadership of senator reid and senator mcconnell for agreeing to allow senator dodd and senator shelby to roll up their sleeves and work together to address some of the problems that now exist in our nation's housing market since i first joined the united states senate last year i've noticed that far too often people's business falls victim to partisan politics so i appreciate the spirit of cooperation that has resulted in the agreement to move to debate on an issue on the forefront of so many americans minds we need to debate these issues and shine a spotlight on the actions of the federal reserve and the treasury department in recent weeks what we've seen and recently breaks new ground and sets presidents that will be followed for years to come we need to look closely at the details and make sure this is the right track we're taking folks are out montana are talking about these issues because they feel the impact in their daily lives working families struggle to afford quality housing and pay for gas that's three dollars plus a gallon in diesel that's four dollars a gallon struggling to pay for medical costs whether in the form of excessive insurance premiums or cost of sickness due to no insurance or deductibles folks paying four dollars for a box of cereal know all too well that the government is not there to bail them out when times get tough just the other day i spoke to a packed room in kalispell montana a a forum on financial investments this was the day after the announcement of the j p morgan chase's acquisition of bear stearns the very first question asked was from a local man who wanted to know why the government felt it necessary to wrest nearly thirty billion to aid one of wall street's largest banks but families or farmers or small businesses in the same situation were simply out of luck his point at home man pointed out the fact that we the government need to address the problems of playing the housing market i am very pleased that chairman dodd is holding a hearing on this deal tomorrow to address the bailout of bear stearns a hearing i call for when i was talking to those montanans in kalispell concerns about this issue are growing and getting louder in my state of montana which many local economists have noted is resistant to the immediate effects of many of the national economic trends we are all very aware of the housing crisis that is rippling across this country affecting homeowners and economy as a whole today we've been lucky montana has not fared as poorly as many of the other states which have seen whole communities torn apart by foreclosure after foreclosure hurting families and lowering property values but we're still concerned i'm concerned for the families in bozeman montana who work hard and play by the rules yet can't find a decent place to live that they can afford i'm concerned for the workers bonner montana who lost their job at the stimson lumber mill because of the collapse in the housing market which has depressed the demand for lumber and i'm concerned for communities throughout rural america where opportunity is slipping away because of the failure of our national leadership to invest in basic infrastructure that connects us to one another the current housing market is widely considered to be the worst since the great depression it has spread from home prices to student loans to municipal bonds to commodities and to virtually every sector of the economy unfortunately the administration has put a larger priority in taking care of wall street's big bankers than the millions of folks who are struggling to pay the bills make their mortgages save for their children's college tuition or invest some money for a secure retirement and that needs to change we must take action to strengthen the economy for all americans and prevent this crisis from spreading the administration needs to quickly nominate a new secretary for the department of housing and urban development one that is responsive to the needs of average americans not another that is tainted by corruption cronyism the american people deserve honorable public service tending to the public business to help navigate the economy out of this murky situation we need to help borrowers who were steered into abusive loans but not bail out speculators who were looking for a quick buck and got burned by a changing marketplace i do not believe in a government bailout of the under servants but i do believe in aiding those families who face unfair foreclosures through no fault of their own this congress must pass legislation that can make that distinction and help families and communities that have been adversely affected by the slowing economy so i'm very pleased we have at least we're working on a bipartisan agreement for this housing bill i look forward to working with chairman dodd and ranking member shelby to pass a good bill that will do right by working families in montana and throughout america thank you mr president i yield the floor floor and i no