in the united states senate. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment as well as the strong provisions in this bill that address sexual assault protection for military members. the problems of sexual trauma within the military is broad but the provisions included in the bill including my amendment are important advancements. i intend to monitor the defense department's implementation of these provisions and although i was not able to secure the full lifelong record preservation i'm going to keep fighting this fight. but 50 years for most of the records is a pretty good result, given what we have in place right now. this year the department of defense has finally placed a military officer in charge of its sexual assault protection and responsive office, general mary k.hertog. i believe she has not only a good grasp but has the rank and weight necessary to forge real change in the department's policies. i intend to continue to continue my communication with her and follow a policy that victims have lifelong a

it is about the congress of the united states, the senate of the united states for the first time in american history restricting the ability of the executive branch to hold an american citizen collaborating with the enemy and question them under the law of war. if we do that to ourselves, we will regret it. i don't want to be in the first congress in the times in which we live to change the law, to deny our intelligence community and the department of defense to deal with american citizens who have decided on their own to become part of al qaeda. the day you decide i'm going to side with al qaeda, you have committed an act of war against the rest of us, and the courts acknowledge you can be held for what you are, an enemy combatant, not a common criminal. the question for the congress is do we want to undo that in the times in which we live? i plead with everybody in this body, get yourself educated about what the law is today, and senator levin, we have done nothing to change the law in this bill, is that correct? mr. levin: the 1031, which is the overall section. not change the la

udall: the senator from south carolina is broadly admired in the united states senate. if i'm ever in court, i want him to be my lawyer. i would point out what i'm proposing wouldn't destroy the system we have in place, a system that resulted in the convictions of numerous terrorists with life sentences. what i am asking is to listen to those who are on the front lines fighting against terrorists and terrorism who said they have concerns about this new proposal and would like a greater amount of time to vet it and consider it. i'd like to yield to the senator from illinois, eight minutes. mr. levin: mr. president, i just have a unanimous consent request which senator durbin said i could interrupt to make. i have two unanimous consent requests for committees to meet today, during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. and i ask unanimous consent these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: mr. presiden

states senate. it's a bill which the president put together and presented to congress almost two months ago. he invited the republicans at that time to come forward with their ideas and hope we could come up with a bipartisan approach to dealing with the 9%-plus unemployment in our country and the 14 million people out of work, not to mention another 10 million who are underemployed and could do better with a better job. we had a briefing this morning from economists from labor and business who talked about some of the realities facing america today, and they are daunting. that one out of five men in this country are out of work, that we have seen since 1969 a 28% decline in the purchasing power of working families in america, that we're seeing growth rates which are at least anemic and maybe even worse in terms of the future of our economy. there are those who are criticizing the president and saying that his approach is all wrong, but what those who criticize him offer is nothing, nothing. there i

none of which have been taken up and acted on here in the united states senate. it seems to me at least we ought to at least have votes on these things. these are things american businesses are telling us they need to get the economy growing again. the other thing that we know making it more difficult, more costly for american businesses to create jobs is the new health care bill. and the des moines register reports that last year iowa-based insurer american enterprise group announced it will exit the individual major medical insurance market, making it the 13th company to pull out of some portion of iowa's health insurance business since june of 2010, mere months after obamacare passed. as a result, the 35 thousand individuals receiving coverage from american enterprise's individual insurance policies will now lose their current coverage. for these individuals, the promise that you will not have to change plans, nothing will change under the obama plan except that you will pay less has once again proven to be hollow. another example of an insurance company that

vitter, if you wear it on the united states senate floor. mr. vitter: well, mr. president, should the unthinkable happen, i will do that, and should the unthinkable happen, i will deliver fresh, healthy gulf seafood to senator sessions' office as well as senator shelby's. we have been in contact with senator shelby's office and senator landrieu's office, and they are part of this friendly arrangement as well. so we'll look forward to that, but most of all we'll look forward to a great game saturday night, and we'll both look forward to a win saturday night. one of us will have to be disappointed, we'll see who, but it's going to be a great game. mr. sessions: i thank you, senator vitter, for your friendship and good service here in the senate. we have worked on so many things together. but college football is a special, special thing, and i think the game this weekend will be one of the great games in college history. i'm so excited about it. i know fans in both our states and really throughout the country are excited about it. mr. vitter: a

states senate. let's vote down this rand paul resolution. mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. mcconnell:. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: we are. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. morning business is closed. the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to s.j. res. 27. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to the consideration of senate joint resolution 27 disapproving a rule submitted by the environmental protection agency relating to the mitigation by states of cross-border air pollution under the clean air act. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be two hours of debate equally divided and controlled between the two leade

states senate. last month we sent the president's important trade agreement that will boost exports and create jobs and this week we will pass two more bills based on ideas the president says he supports to give small businesses greater access to the money they need to expand their business and to begin hiring new workers. all of these issues are part of our plan to help american job creators. the fact is that we worked this plan all year we formalize it and we continue to work to get our economy growing again to get the american people back to work. but on the back we have got these 15 bills that continue to sit in the united states senate. all of the steps that we can take right now to remove some of the barriers to the job creation. i think it's fun time to find common ground and many of these bills are broad bipartisan support and there is no reason for the senate not to take them up. unfortunately they are just allowing the bills to gather dust and i don't think that is acceptable. so, rather t

president, this is one of those times when on the floor of the united states senate we hear a proposal that people characterize as one thing but it is, in fact, anything but what they're characterizing it as. what senator -- i just heard the good senator from mississippi talking about this, we don't want to slai slam the brakes on development, he said. we don't want to have the f.c.c. intrusion. so they're trying to say to the american people that they want to liberate the internet when, in fact, what they want to do is imprison the internet within the hands of the most powerful communications entities today to act as the gatekeepers who will control the ability of the internet to do the very kind of development that brought us here. what they're talking about, their -- their concept, this c.r.a. challenge, is a wolf in sheep's clothing. it's that simple. and so i think colleagues need to really step back and think about how the internet got to be what it is today and when it was developed. i know the senator from west virginia, the chairman of the committee, and i were members of the

there's a lot of important business before the united states senate. i'd also like to point out that we spent the better part of yesterday on the detainee issue, and i appreciate that the detainee issue is one that is of transcendent importance. it certainly goes beyond just national security. it is a very controversial issue with the american people and members on both sides of the aisle. on one side of the aisle, they would like to see much more restrictive policies. and on the other side of the aisle, there is a very serious concern and a legitimate concern -- although i don't share it -- about erosion of the constitutional rights and liberties of american citizens. but i do believe that hopefully we can get a vote on that -- on that amendment so we can move forward to other very important amendments that members obviously, by the sheer number of amendments, are interested in this process. so i hope also we are able to get an unanimous consent agreement to limit to cut off the number of pending amendments so that we can make progress on those that h

committee, that we needed to do more to deal with the floods. 14 united states senators -- i've never seen that many senators testifying before a committee before on behalf of any subject. that's how much we are concerned about it and that's how much people in the areas affected are concerned about it. so in the appropriations committee, we had a discussion about how much of that disaster funding to fund. and we recommended $1.04 billion. and there was an amendment by the senator from missouri, i believe, who said it needs to be more because we know it's going to be more than that. and we said in a bipartisan way -- i remember the chairman and the ranking member said we don't have the estimates definite yet from the corps of engineers or from fema, so we're only going to fund those areas that are declared to be presidential disasters, number one. and where we have definite estimates, number two. and when we have more definite estimates of additional damage, we will recommend the funding of that. so we defeated the amendment offered by the senator from missouri with the promise that as

and the majority sentiment in the united states senate reflects a reality. and here les the reality, madam president: since 9/11/2001, more than 300 terrorists have been successfully prosecuted in the article 3 criminal courts of america. so, even those who are foreign-born, like the most recent one, the underwear bomber -- you remember the story? he was on a plane, headed to detroit, tried to detonate a bomb. he pled guilty a few weeks ago in america's criminal courts. he was prosecuted by the department of justice, investigated by the f.b.i. few an--investigated by the f.b.i. more than 300 terrorists have been successfully prosecuted in our courts. the same courts that senator mcconnell questions whether they could ad adequately protect america. 300 times they have 3678900 times accused terrorists have gone to jail. how many have been prosecuted in military tribunals in that same period of time? three. three. 300:3, if you're keeping score. what i say is this president and any president should have the power to make the right decision as to where someone s

when i got here, he was a united states senator, his brother was a united states congressman, and it never would have happened if it hadn't been for the pell grant. wait was the pell grant that allowed those boys from a far-away corner of colorado, to be the first generation that got their foothold in a college and were able to propel themselves from that to remarkable leadership of our country. it shows when ordinary americans are capable of when the pell grant gives them that launching pad. and i really appreciate that you brought up the effects on indian country as well. and senator blumenthal i know wanted to say a few word. mr. blumenthal: yes, madam president, i want to thank my colleague from rhode island for organizing this colloquy and senator tester, you've been a tireless advocate of opportunity for all the people of the united states, and particularly your state, and so i'm honored to follow you in this discussion. you know, claiborne pell, whose name is on the grant, is really an example of how an individual can make a difference in this institution. his contributions ha

it's one of the real privileges of serving in the united states senate that you're given the opportunity to meet so many brave young men and women who serve, those who serve and are never hurt, those who serve and are wounded, and of course, unfortunately, you meet the families of those who lose their life in battle. but i was in -- in bethesda's naval hospital as i said, a couple weeks ago and i walked into the room of a soldier who had been injured, was recovering there. and his parents were there and broz was there and -- brother was there and you're always worried about staying too long because you feel like you're almost intruding. but for some reason that night i didn't feel that i was intruding because he wanted to talk and he wanted to talk about his service, he wanted to talk about his love for his country, how he was injured, but he also talked about the future. what he wanted to do when he would leave that hospital bed. and it was a stunning moment for me to be talking to a soldier who was looking up from his -- from his hospital bed, and the optimism that he displayed about h

every member of the united states senate should be committed to helping veterans find jobs. montana has more veterans were captaina than any state in the union except alaska. we have 103,000 veterans in montana and as i travel across the state and visit with them and their families, the topic of veterans' employment remains at the forefront of their minds. it's important to them. it's important to their friends and loved ones. it's important to our communities. and it should be important to each and every one of us. we deal with a lot of contentious issues here, but this should not be one of them. let's work together to do the right thing and get this bill passed because it's the least we can do for those whom we owe so much. with that, mr. president, i ask for the yeas and nays on this bill. on the amendment. i'm sorry. the presiding officer: without objection, the senator may ask for the yeas and nays on his amendment. mr. tester: i ask for the yeas and nays on this amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a suf

authorization bill that i have been involved in drafting since being elected to the united states senate. it sets funding levels and implements policies for the department of defense and provides pay raises for our men and women in uniform. after extended debate and discussion, this bill which authorizes $662 billion for the department of defense and national security-related aspects of the department of energy was passed unanimously out of the senate armed services committee. this committee was in a difficult situation this year, considering our nation's fiscal crisis. as i have firmly believed all along, everything, including defense spending, must be on the table to address our fiscal circumstances. in the midst of intense budget negotiations, i am pleased that we can offer up and debate a bill that addresses the real need to reduce government spending in a responsible and calculated manner. as several of my colleagues have already stated on the floor, the national defense authorization act cuts a considerable amount from the defense budget, as requested by the president. it is $27 bi

i would hope that we can do the same thing here in the united states senate and address this very fundamental need among our businesses, our small business businesses, in this country to get access to much-needed capital to expand their businesses. that along with using a commonsense approach to regulation, an approach that gets away from this massive 61,000 pages of new regulations that we've seen issued since this administration took office, to -- to tax reform that is simple, that is clear, that is fair, that provides incentives to keep jobs here at home as opposed to shipping them overseas, affordable energy policies, reducing government spending, improving export opportunities for our small businesses -- those are the types of policies that are job creators have said that they need. we're going to have an opportunity to vote on the rollback of this net neutrality regulation and on some other regulations tomorrow that are making it more difficult, more costly for our businesses, our small businesses, to create jobs in this country. i hope that we'll -- we will see strong bipartisan suppor

he's now worked, of course, in the united states senate. he's played a role in crafting and defending numerous pieces of environmental legislation, including the clean water act. at a time where there's so many controversial issues concerning water issues in the congress, i think it's important that we have someone at the helm that has the confidence of senators on both sides of the aisle. i had the honor of chairing the subcommittee of the environment and public works on water and wildlife. ken composis enjoys the confidence of all the members of our committee. when his nomination was considered in the environment and public works committee back in july -- that's when we took it up -- ken was praised by both republicans and democrats alike. most of my colleagues have had the opportunity to work with him and they're enthusiastic about his credentials, and his level-headed, bipartisan approach to every issue. it's time that the senate take up this confirmation. it's the right thing to do. so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the s

i want every united states senator when they vote on this to have informed consent. i want people to read about it and know about it, and make up their own minds. i oppose the chained c.p.i. i oppose social security being in the super committee. i'm not drawing the line in the sand here today. i want to say to the super kph-s, god bless -- super committee, god bless them and their work. they're pursuing this in a duly diligent way, and we hope we can come to a great resolution where we can reduce our debt, reduce our deficit and do it in a way that is a balanced approach. but don't balance all this on the backs of senior citizens. you know, f.d.r. signed this bill 75 years ago. every president, regardless of party, said we will keep this social contract. if you go by the rules, pay your dues through the payroll tax, social security is going to be there for you. now, we want social security to be there for the seniors, and we need to be there for the social security program. madam president, i yield the floor, and i hope my colleagues put due diligence into understand

we admire their distinguished united states senators. but tennesseans don't want kentucky's state income tax, and we don't want ten kentucky's dirty air. a understand we know that our neighbors in north carolina don't want tennessee's dirty air blowing into north carolina because they have told us that through lawsuits in the courts, which they have won. air pollution blowing from one state into another makes our citizens sick, especially our younger tennesseeans and our older tennesseeans. air pollution blowing from other states into our states is a job issue. pollution makes our great smoky mountains more like the great smog tkpweu mountains. we like to see our mountains and we like for the nine million visitors who come to visit us every year to stay a long time and to spend a lot of money because that supports our schools and it supports our state revenue. dirty air blowing into tennessee from other states makes it harder for us to create jobs in yet another way. i remember 30 years ago when i was governor of tennessee and the nissan

the president of the united states was sitting up in the gallery when we reconvened as a senate, the usual notice was said to notify the president that the senate has reconvened -- or has convened for that session, at which point several of my colleagues rather audibly pointed out the president, you don't have to notify him, he is sitting right up in the gallery. with that, i ask unanimous consent the senate stand in recess until 3:00 p.m. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. the senate stands in recess until 3:00 p.m. again see the senate live when they return here at 3:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2. >> several the republican presidential candidates are campaigning in iowa this week including newt gingrich who was in west today nine -- west des moines. here is look at ccci coverage of the speaker. and the new poll. >> a new poll shows a new pair of front runners in the republican race for president. >> last week polls showed herman cain and mitt romney leading the pack. but today it appears romney and newt gingrich are neck and neck. cain and perry virtually tied for t

there is not a single united states senator that does not trust in god that i know of. they're debating that while people like arthur fra diswjehoe desperate for work, been out of work for years? not a single thing to create jobs. the legislation we'll vote on at 3:00 will produce hundreds of thousands of jobs now. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: my good friend just made a great campaign speech but the election is in november of next year. if we want to accomplish something, we have to do it together, and we've had a series of votes here over the last few weeks clearly designed to fail. the proposal my good friend is talking about in all likelihood is going to have bipartisan opposition, not developed with republican input and not designed to get an outcome. the house of representatives on 15 different occasions recently has passed bills with bipartisan support -- bipartisan support -- that we're not taking up. now, one of them, the 3% withholding bill, enjoys the support of the president of the united states as

it has 70 cosponsors, more than two-thirds of the united states senate support it. it's an overwhelmingly bipartisan majority of senators. it goes across the political spectrum, it goes across the states of this nation. it demonstrates the provisions contained in this amendment all of which empower the national guard should be included in this year's national defense authorization act. as i said, i've been overseas, i know the distinguished presiding officer has, most of us here have. we've with watched our troops operate and you cannot tell which troops are in the guard and which are active duty. and certainly when they're out facing the enemy and putting their lives on the line, there's not a sign that says shoot at this one because they're active but not this one because they're guard. they're all facing the same dangers. they stand and work side by side. we have to reflect that reality inside the pentagon as well as outside of it on the battlefield. so i urge all of my colleagues, cosponsors and nonsponsors alike, to join me in making sure the guard finally has

he was appointed to the united states -- appointed the united states attorney under attorney general janet reno and attorney general john ashcroft, both of them, one a democrat, the other a republican. most recently, the senate judiciary committee supported his nomination without one single dissent. our country is fortunate that someone with his outstanding credentials has stepped forward to do this critical work. mr. andrews' education, his background, his legal experience make him superbly qualified for this position. as a student at haverford college, rich andrews graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in political science after which he earned his law degree at the university of california in berkeley where he served as noted comment editor for "the california law review." after law school, rich andrews launched his career as a clerk for the legendary chief judge of the third circuit court of appeals. following his clerkship, for 23 years, rich served as a prosecutor in the united states attorney's office in wilmington, serving in a number of high-profile positions and eventual

in an effort to kill the saudia arabian ambassador to the united states. this is singly irresponsible activity and one that now coupled with tha this iaea repon nuclear weapons should not be tolerated. i wanted to discuss this topic but i wanted to discuss one other, which is that today the supreme court has agreed to an oral argument on the case of u.s. v. jones. the case concerns your rights to privacy as an american citizen. now, as an american, i believe that our government is the greatest government for the potential of every human being and the dignity of that human being, and under our constitution, we have the first government of any major government in the world to begin to protect that right of priva privacy, even against the government. it's enshrined in the fourth amendment to the constitution. and as the founding fathers defined it, i think our 18th century fourth amendment privacy rights, which are covered, including your house and your place of business, are well defined and well protected under our law. the question is this: what about your

was denied approval in the confirmation process in the united states senate. the president chose to appoint him in a recess appointment which expires at the end of this december. therefore in the waning hours of his service on the board at a time in which the majority has a 2-1 vote, they're going to rush through a change and amendment to the labor laws of the united states of america that have served us for 70 years. it's not right, it's not fair, and in a time of high unemployment and dis23res stress in our economy is waste thing is to change the rules of the game that have served the country so well. i will fire a warning shot also. i think something else is probably going to happen before the end of the year. there will probably be a posting of a rule to make microunionization possible. it's already been discussed by the nlrb where you could take separate departments in the same company and let them unionize one at a time. a home depot or a kroger grocery store, let the butchers unionize and the detergent salesmen unionize and the janitors unionize and the

states senator? >> well has indicated the people who wrote the letter acted in good faith and thought that they were sending was in fact accurate information. the people supplying information on the information thought it was accurate. at some point somebody in that chain did not have, did not give good information and that is one of the things the inspector general i would hope would he able to determine. >> did lanny or were no better than what was represented in the february the fourth letter? was he privy to either these two memos, the july 5, 2010? he said he was reached in april 2010 and by the way what office does lanny brewer hold in the department of justice? >> he is the assistant attorney general for the criminal division. >> why would lanny brewer knowing as he did back in july, april 2010 about "operation fast and furious," allow a letter that went out on the department stationery february 4, 2011 why would he let a letter that was false represent the position of the department of justic

states through their united states senate vote to limit america's free access to the internet? we have got to set an example for the rest of the world, mr. president. the internet must remain free and open. now, the open internet rule will achieve this by ensuring that four key internet policies are maintained. let me list them for you. one, it will prevent broadband internet providers from blocking lawful internet content or services. two, it will require transparency about broadband network management policies. three, there will be a level playing field for consumers on the internet. and four -- and this is important in these tough economic times we face -- it will provide predictability for both broadband providers and internet innovators. but as i have said, most importantly about the -- what's so important about this debate is that in these economic times, mr. president, net neutrality is also about jobs and economic development. as i travel my state of colorado, i know the presiding officer travels his of new mexico, what i hear most frequently, the refrain i hear from bu

states senate when he was 40-years-old, and right up there on the hill he led the abolitionist movement in the senate with the strongest most powerful voice of all. second only to abraham lincoln in how he was felt as a force cahal a. if he was almost beat to death by a congressman from south carolina who attacked him, blindsided him with a heavy walking stick and a virtually killed him from which sumner never really recovered either psychologically or physically. that man, that remarkable man was changed by his experience in paris, and we were changed as a people in the country as a consequence and if you think that is something of an exaggeration when john brown and his band of men and kansas heard about what happened to some are, that is what caused them to at tak and became known as the potawatomi massacre which is blamed on the country when that story broke to get one of the lessons of history is one thing always leads to another just as in a real life which is one of the reasons among the many reasons we have to do a better job of teaching our children and grandchildren history. [

states senate to do. so the passage of these three bills is significant. i certainly want to thank senator kohl's staff: gaylynn fountain, diane naylor for their contributions and my staff: stacy mcbride, mary costenson, brian ziffel and christina weger. because this has been a process that involved two other subcommittees, i want to express my thanks to my colleagues for their hard work and cooperation on the other parts of this bill. senator mikulski and hutchison and their staff on the commerce commerce, justice, science subcommittee and the subcommittee of transportation and housing and urban development. the floor staff has worked hard over the course of the last several days. often that work goes unnoticed, but managing this bill has not been easy. it was a little different than many of the appropriations bills that have been brought to the senate floor and certainly the floor staff have been tremendous help to me and to the committee staff. this has been a long process. a dozen amendments that affe

states to mexico. >> this, senator, is steadily going to watch it. i would like to extend to through you a real compliment to the fbi, particularly in the saudi case and nazabulli zazi case, i was not sure the fbi had a culture to really develop the intelligence portion to the extent that they have. i follow this in intelligence and believe they have done an excellent job and we should be very proud of those plots that have been stopped. the successful prosecutions that have been brought in federal cases and i want to say thank you for that. i think the fbi has really achieved -- my time has run out. major, major prosecutions for us. so thank you very much. >> thank you. i will put into the record a letter i sent to the acting inspector general about the operation fast and furious. as i understand the investigating allegations on that and asked whether she also has a connection with that investigation, operation wide receiver, a similar thing involving mexico and arizona. now that we heard former attorney general casey may have been briefed on a simi

kelly jr., united states army. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, that the nelson amendment to the preamble which is at the desk be agreed to, that the preamble as amended be agreed to, that the motions to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or debate and that any statements related to the resolution be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: i now ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration en bloc of the following resolutions which were submitted earlier today -- senate resolution 326, senate resolution 327, senate resolution 328, senate resolution 329 and senate resolution 330. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, the motions

the united states faces two huge challenges at once, accelerating growth in job creation and reducing future deficits to stabilize the debt. there's no choice between jobs and fiscal responsibility, both are essential, and they reenforce each other. this committee, with its extraordinary powers has the opportunity and obligation to address both challenges. to achieve success, the committee will have to go well beyond the minimum charge of $1.2 trillion in savings over the next ten years because even savings of this mag magnitude would leave the debt rising faster than the economy can grow. we believe you should craft a grand bargain involving structural entitlement and tax reform that would save at least $4 trillion over ten years. to do so, the committee should take full advantage of the authority given to you in section 404 of the act and write instructions to authorizing committees to produce tax and entitlement reforms to be considered on a fast track. a grand bargain would reduce the chances of the devastating double-dip recession that could leave to a stagnant lost decade. it wo

the president campaigned for president of the united states, committing to withdraw all our troops from iraq. he has now achieving that goal. but i think it would be very serious to revoke all authority that we might have in order to respond to possible unrest and disruption within the country that might require the presence, at least on some level or another, the american troops to safeguard those 16,000 americans that will be remaining in iraq when our troops withdraw. so i argue that the amendment be defeated. and i yield the floor. mr. levin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: mr. president, i too will oppose the paul amendment for the repeal of the authorization for the use of military force in iraq, for a number of reasons but i think mainly there are just too many unknown, uncertain consequences of appealing this authority, including the need to protect our troops. and i just am unwilling to take this risk during the critical transition period and not knowing precisely what will happen after that transition either. and, by the way, mr. pre

i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c, november 17, 2011. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tom udall, a senator from the state of new mexico, to perform the duties f the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in morning business for one hour, the republicans will control the first half and the majority will control the final half. following morning business, the senate will begin consideration of s. 1867, the defense -- the department of defense authorization bill. we expect to receive the conference report to accompany h.r. 2112, the agriculture, c.j.s., and transportation appropriations bill, which also contains the c.r. relating t

pressure by the senator said that visited and pressures by the president of the united states, vice president of the united states, secretary clinton, by secretary gates, and by myself. but the bottom line is that this is not about us. this is not about us. it's above with the iraqi small to do and the decisions that they want to make. and so we have now an independent sovereign nation that can govern and secure itself, and hopefully make the decisions that were in the interest of its people. the u.s. will maintain a long-term relationship with iraq and we are committed to that. we will establish a normal relationship as we have with other nations in the region. in talking with our commanders, i asked this question yesterday to general odierno, who has been there for a good period of time. basically has said the time has come. the time has come for iraq to take control of its destiny. with our help hopefully it can be a stable and secure in that region of the world. thank you. >> thank you very much. general dempsey. >> thank you. senator mccain and other members of the committee. in june of

passed overwhelmingly in the house, supported by the president of the united states. the only thing standing in the way right now is senate democrats. they just won't take yes for an answer. but it's only a matter of time before the american people catch on to the democrats' refusal to act and once they do, republicans will be ready with a long and growing list of bipartisan bills that have already passed the house and that we believe the president of the united states would sign. so let's not delay any longer. let's stop the games, let's do the work we were sent here to do. mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: of morning business until 5:00 p.m. with senators permitted to speak therein up to ten minutes each. mr. reid: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: rom oregon. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to vacate the quorum call and speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden

i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., november 1, 2011. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable jeanne shaneen, a senator from the state of new hamprshire, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks the senate will resume consideration of h.r. 2112. there could be as many as seven roll call votes. it's likely there will only be six. senate will recess from 12:30 to 2:15:25 for our weekly caucus meetings. there will be a senators-only national security briefing at 3:30. p.m. i haven't had an opportunity to speak with the republican leader but we will discuss whether we should be out of session during that hour. it's a very important briefing. i'll

i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c., november 30, 2011. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable kristen e. gillibrand, a senator from the state of new york, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks the senate will be in morning business until 10:30 this morning. following morning business the senate will resume consideration of s. 1867. the filing deadline for second-degree amendments to the defense bill is 10:30 a.m. today. at about 11:00 there will be a cloture vote on 1867. it's my understanding the vote will be at 11:00. is that right, madam president? the presiding officer: the senator is correct. mr. reid: not ab

states an average federal tax rate of just 18.2% on adjusted gross income. 18.2%. we have spent time on this senate floor debating whether the top income tax rate should be 35% or 39.6%. folks, that is not what they pay. the top 400 income earners, the $250 million a year crowd paid on average 14.2%. this means that the 400 highest-earning individuals in the nation in 2008, just like the occupants of this helmsley building, were paying rates lower than or equivalent to what regular working families pay. if you go back to the bureau of labor statistics and pulled out the information for the helmsley building, about the janitors, about the doormen and about the security guards, and you look to see who else in america is paying an 18.2% tax rate, if you're a single filer, you're paying an 18.2% tax rate in this country if you make $39,350 a year. and where i come from in rhode island, the bureau of labor statistics says that that's about what a truck driver makes. $40,200 is what a truck driver makes. $39,350 is what it takes to put you in the income bracket where you

united states to move part of its tax burden off the income tax and on to a broad-based consumption tax, but this is not the moment to do that, and we realize that, and eventually, took it out, but we still believe in it, and revamped our income tax proposals to make them part of the lost revenue. the sugar drinks is not going to change the economy whether it at the margin discourages people from drinking too much soda, i don't know, but we had some sentiment for doing it. >> on the last one, sir, we didn't look at the economic significance of it. you've been chairman of a committee, and i understand you are, now, of a significant committee -- sometimes you're outvoted and you to do things that are not necessarily the greatest. >> i got that part. >> you get that. [laughter] >> thank you very much. i yield back. >> the co-chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, senator kerry. >> thank you very much, mr. co-chair. first of all, i thank you all for your extraordinary service, not just in this effort that's important, but over the years, and we are particularly appreciative to t

states senate. since then, as a district court judge, he's presided over numerous federal, civil, and criminal trials and i think has consistently demonstrated sound judgment and great legal acumen in his many decisions covering an array of complex and sensitive matters. judge droney's career speaks to a profound commitment to the rule of law and the credibility of the legal system. i know there's a tendency to want to find is this judge a liberal, is he a conservative, is she a conservative, i don't think you can put a label on judge droney. some my might say he's a moderate, others might say he's an independent. i think he's known as somebody who is fair and will take every case as it comes along, and decide it on the merits. so now he has been nominated to serve on the second circuit court of appeals. i want to personally express my thanks first to president obama for submitting his nomination for this very esteemed court and secondly to our colleagues on the judiciary committee, both of whom hav

states. in may, 2011, i joined senator ben cardin in introducing the sur gay -- the sergei magnitsky rule of law accountability act. it extends sanctions to the officials in the magnitsky case and in other cases of gross human rights abuses. the legislation currently has 23 sponsors, and i urge all of my colleagues to consider joining us on this bill. join us on this bill today. on september 16, 2011, 15 leading human rights activists and representatives of the russian civil society issued an open letter urgently calling on this congress to pass this legislation. the letter states -- quote -- "sergei magnitsky has become a victim of the inhumane russian justice system. many russian citizens are unlawfully deprived of liberty due to the travesties of this system. the impunity of those who have fabricated the case against magnitsky and persecuted him opens the door for other officials who have enriched themselves with stolen property and targeted political opponents of the regime." the letter g

i was just listening to the news in my office and heard the report that the united states had gone over $15 trillion in debt. mr. demint: of course, that's just our short-term debt. it doesn't really include our unfunded liabilities which some estimate to be $100 trillion. but nevertheless, $15 trillion is the size of our total economy, a condition that would mean certain bankruptcy for almost any business. all all of us in these chambers have stood in awe, i guess, looking across the atlantic at grease and italy and some of -- at greece and italy and some of our european trading partners. it seems amazing to us that despite their terrible fiscal condition, the politicians in greece cannot even cut spending. they talk about cutting it, but the government employees are out in the street demonstrating, and you just to think, can't they see what's happening? why do they want to keep spending? it's like there's an addiction. here we're in the land of the free, the city on the hill a as far at country that sets the example, here we are in a situation where we have to borrow well over $100 bi