i strongly opposed the plans, just as senator kennedy did, senator biden did, senator byrd did and just about every senate democrat did. including democrats still in the senate today. back then, senator kennedy called the republican plan -- quote -- "a preemptive nuclear strike." he said, neither the constitution snore senate rules nor senate precedence nor american history provide any justification for selectively nullifying the use of the filibuster. equally important, he said, neither the constitution nor the rules nor the precedence nor history provide any permissible means for a bare majority of the senate to take that radical step without breaking or ignoring three kids of applicable rules and unquestioned precedence. and here's what then-senator biden said during that 2005 fight -- quote -- "the nuclear option abandons america's sense of fair play. it's the one thing this country stands for: not tilting the playing field on the side of those who control and own the field." and he said, "i say to my friends on the republican side, you may own the field right now but you won't own

, the majority leader of the senate, the former senator from west virginia, senator byrd, about their views on this issue and yet the outcome today was something different, different than what they said just a short time ago. it's hard to know why we did what we did today, but i know that our ability as senators of the united states to represent the people that hired us to represent them has been diminished. and i'm reluctant to attribute motives to why this occurred but in the absence of evidence that would suggest there's a justifiable reason, a justified reason for doing so, i'm fearful that what is reported in the press and elsewhere is the reason that the rules were changed, and -- which makes today even more sad to me because the explanation for why the rules were changed was a political effort to change the topic of conversation here in washington, d.c. and across the country. the story at least is that the white house pressured the senate to change its rules. not because the rules needed to be changed or because there was abuse or because people believed this was a good rule c

states senate change today? >> i believe the united states senate changed in the very fundamental way today. the senate has given its minorities a tremendous amount of deference. it has accorded its minorities privileges over the years. those privileges, i believe, over the years, have been consistent with the framers' design of the senate. and there are those who argue that these privileges were being abused. i will leave that determination to others. it did appear that the level of what the majority calls obstruction had reached new heights. i can't answer that. but the manner in which the senate went about changing its procedures, i think, is a fundamental alter ration of the senate's way of doing business. >> is this -- is your fear that this is a one-way ratchet, alan? that basically we've now opened the floodgates. it seems to me, and i'm rooting for this eventuality, because i'm a believer in majority rule, that it won't be tenable to have this in-between situation for very long, which is to say, well, we

senate in order to change the rules of the senate. and over what? over what? over a court that doesn't even have enough work to do? millions of americans are hurting because of a law washington democrats forced upon them, and what do they do about it? they cook up some fake fight over judges. a fake fight over judges that aren't even needed. look, i get it. as i indicated, i want to be talking about something else, too, if i had to defend dogs getting insurance while millions of americans lost theirs. but it won't work. and the parallels between this latest skirmish and the original obamacare push are just too obvious to ignore. think about it. just think about it. the majority leader promised, he promised over and over again that he wouldn't break the rules of the senate in order to change them. this was not an ancient promise. july 14, on "meet the press," said we're not touching judges. this year, july 14, "meet the press," we're not touching judges. then there are the double standards. when democrats were in the minority, they arg

senate. to remain relevant and effective as an institution, the senate mulled evolve to meet the challenges of this modern era. >> after he spoke, minority leader took to the floor. >> soy suggest our colleagues take a time out. stop trying to jam up, work with us, instead to confirm vacancies that need to be filled. which we have been doing. this rule change has gone from being a threat to an annual threat, now to a quarterly threat. how many times have we been threatened? do what i say, or we'll break the rules to change the rules. confirm everybody, 100%. let me say we are not interested in having a gun put to our heads any longer. >> in the end, after several procedure moves -. >> the rules were changed. just a few hours after the senate made history, the president went to the briefing room. noting that both he and his vie president the former members of the senate, stressed his respect for the body's traditions, however. >> the american people's business is far too important to keep fall

senate rules can only be changed by a two-thirds vote of the senate, or 67 senators. the republicans were going to do it illegally with a simple majority or 51 future generations be damned." end of quote. if only today the majority leader had recalled his own words. instead by his own hand he has brought on the end of the united states senate as we know it. instead of taking care of this institution, he will leave it in disarray. future generations be damned. our former parliamentarian, bob dove, and richard arenberg, one time former aide to george mitchell wrote a book on this subject called "defending the filibuster." this is what they said. "if a 51-vote majority is empowered to write the senate rules, the day will come as it did in the house of representatives when a majority will construct rules that give it near absolute control over amendments and debate. and there is no going back from that. no majority in the house of representatives has or ever will voluntarily relinquish that power in order to give the minority a greater voice in crafting legislation. do no

so senator burr, senator bennet, senator alexander, our staffs worked together on this to get this picture put together and to have a track and trace so that we can track the drug no matter how it goes, we can track it and we can trace it. now, that will -- that will come into being over ten years with electronic interpreamble -- interoperable tracing. you might say ten years is a long time. i would point out the house had 27 years, they agreed with us and made it 10 years but that's for electronic. beginning in january of 2015 there will be paper tracing. but it will take ten years to get it all at a unit level and all electronically and interoperable and you can understand it takes a long time, different splairs have different -- suppliers have different systems so this will be worked in over that period of time but we will have traceable after january of 2015. it establishes nationwide drug serial numbers, and requires a pathway to unit level tracing, as i said, strengthens license you're requirements for wholesale distributors and third-party logistics providers, and again a lot of a h

senator levin said, repeating senator vandenberg's words after world war ii, united states senate in which the majority can do anything it wants, any time it wants, is a senate without rules. it would be like the red sox falling behind in boston and saying to the cardinals, we're the home team, we'll add a few innings until we can score some runs. this is a senate without rules. and it's done -- >> that's lamar alexander and mitch mcconnell, republican leaders, in the u.s. senate, blasting harry reid, senate majority lead somewhere democrats for dramatically changing rules of the game. rules in place for a long time. dana, they just decided to do this. they passed this change, you no longer need 60 voted to block a presidential nominee. you only need majority 51. ever since i've been reporting here in washington, that filibuster has been in place, 60-vote requirement has been in place, but now for the first time it has changed and democrats are making what point in arguing for this dramatic change, dana? >> reporter: it's that they believe it is the president's prerogative to have th

and senator john hovan. i think these a very historic vote. i don't think it's a tactic. if you watch the president's press conference, the entire opening is a litany of legislative problems. he doesn't get to the appointments until after he goes through layer after layer of legislative problems, which to me signals he intends to unwind the entire filibuster by the time it's done. doesn't it bother you the institution has suddenly changed toward a house-like institution and one of the great defenders are slowing things down just disappeared? >> it does. but i think the problem began a lot before today. the problem began the day after obama was elected, where the republicans clearly made an unprecedented decision that he will do everything they did in an unprecedented way to make sure he accomplishes as also as he can. reid made the point today, in terms of presidential nominations to the judiciary and to the administration, 168 times since this country was founded, half of those filibusters, that opposition

, the senator from texas, the senior senator from texas who played a major role with senator ayotte and others in gathering cosponsors for this congressional medal of honor. i thank senator cornyn for his work on this and, mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i want to turn the compliment around and extend my appreciation to the senator from ohio, senator brown, for his leadership on this issue. this is long overdue to these great american patriots, the recognition that they so justly earned. mr. president, turning to another subject i'd ask unanimous consent that jason church, a military fellow in senator ron johnson's office be granted floor privileges for the duration of the consideration of s. 1197, the national defense authorization act. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, four years ago an islamic radical who identified with al qaeda and supported the cause of global jihad opened fire at fort hood army base in texas. the shooter eventually killed 12 soldiers and one civilian whi

senator, thad cochran. and chris mcdaniel was the source of a little bit of political embarrassment earlier this month when the news magazine, mother jones, wrote about his history with neoconfederate groups in his state. mr. mcdaniel has been keynoting events hosted by this group, which is a local chapter of the sons of confederate veterans. one of the events that chris mcdaniel did for them featured all of the attendees dressing up in confederate uniforms. and these are not just guys who celebrate the history of the confederacy. these are guys who think there ought to be a confederacy now. they fly the confederate flag and wear confederate battle uniforms. not just because they like that the south seceded once, but because they want the south to secede again, and for pretty much the same reasons that they did the first time. this was a political embarrassment when the neoconfederate, neosecessionist leanings of this guy were reported nationally, but it should be noted that it was not an embarrassment for

i strongly opposed the plans, just as senator kennedy did, senator biden did, senator byrd did and just about every senate democrat did. including democrats still in the senate today. back then, senator kennedy called the republican plan -- quote -- "a preemptive nuclear strike." he said, neither the constitution snore senate rules nor senate precedence nor american history provide any justification for selectively nullifying the use of the filibuster. equally important, he said, neither the constitution nor the rules nor the precedence nor history provide any permissible means for a bare majority of the senate to take that radical step without breaking or ignoring three kids of applicable rules and unquestioned precedence. and here's what then-senator biden said during that 2005 fight -- quote -- "the nuclear option abandons america's sense of fair play. it's the one thing this country stands for: not tilting the playing field on the side of those who control and own the field." and he said, "i say to my friends on the republican side, you may own the field right now but you won't own

of the senate, break the rules of the senate, in order to change the rules of the senate. and over what? over what? over a court that doesn't even have enough work to do? millions of americans are hurting because of a law washington democrats forced upon them and what do they do about it? they cook up some fake fight everybody judges. a fake fight over judges that aren't even needed. >> reporter: now, people looking at this might say, this is sort of process, it's about a couple of judges or a couple of the president's nominees, why do we care so much? sure, that is the case and that is important. but bigger picture, it is important because if you thought that washington was divide and partisan and gridlocked, even though the move is to make it less gridlocked you're going to see very likely the tensions flare even more because of democrats attempting to take away this power from the minority. in fact, john mccain, who has been somebody who tried to broker this issue and successfully did so a month ago, said in the hallway this changes everything with regard to the tone an

i want to thank senator reid, senator booker, senator heller, our three most recent supporters of our bill. i want to thank them for scored scored -- for their leadership to end the scourge of sexual violence in the military. i want to thank the senator from missouri for her unwavering commitment for helping victims of sexual assault. although we disagree on my amendment, i want to remind all our colleagues that the defense authorization has been made stronger in innumerable ways by senator mccaskill's work, advocacy and dedication. i also will be supporting her amendment today because i think the provisions in that amendment will add even more positive changes to the command climate and will help victims feel like they have a stronger voice. however, while the changes in the mccaskill amendment are very good, i do not believe that they are enough to truly ensure justice for victims of sexual assault. fo -- for that, we essentially need impartial, unbiased, objective consideration of the evidence by trained military prosecutors, which is what my amendment will provide. yesterday, i pr

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. roberts: mr. president, i come to the floor today to speak in support of the drug quality and security act, h.r. 3204. getting this bill to where it is today -- and i thank the leader for just making that possible, along with our minority leader -- this has been a long and sometimes very difficult road, one in which i have been working on for over a decade. yes, ten years. this is an issue that hit far too close to home in kansas. several years ago, a pharmacist in kansas city, robert courtney, was found to be diluting cancer drugs for his patients. unfortunately, over 4,000 patients were affected before authorities could stop him. senator kit bond at that time and myself, we worked together, to hold the first health education, labor pensions committee on pharmacy -- pharmacy compounding. since that time, i have continued my interest in the compounding-related issues. unfortunately, last september over a year ago, the tragic meningitis outbreak began, this outbreak is the result of contaminated co

the senate rules are up to the senate. the constitution says nothing about filibusters. it says nothing about how the senate conducts its internal business. for many years, the senate has had a rule that says it takes 60 votes to cut off debate, to stop debate and come to a vote. traditionally, almost everything in the senate operates by a simple majority, 50. but in recent years, because things have become so contentious, first the democrats and now the republicans have insisted almost always on 60 votes for everything, including judicial confirmations. what today's vote means is that the standard for judicial confirmations will go back to 50, not 60 anymore. and what that will mean is that several of president obama's judicial nom nis who had been stalled will get through. >> what i've been hearing -- you'll have to correct me if i'm wrong. the democrats, as perhaps a bone in the landscape of something that's really impalatable is that this won't extend to supreme court nominees to which the republicans have responded, oh, yeah? wait until we're the majority, because i

senator americaly. >> division of the senate was that there would be a cooling saucer. what's why we have staggered terms and six years. but no one intended for the senate to be a deep freeze. but that's what it's come with the abuse of the filibuster. what i slope that both sides will see the success of improving the function of the senate that will flow from today's action and will join together in bipartisan ways to take on the dysfunction on the legislative side which there's so much hope for by the american people. >> ifill: final word, senator johnson? >> well, the senate is in deep freeze because senator harry reid doesn't move bills, doesn't bring appropriation bills. that's the primary function of congress to authorize appropriate funds for the federal government activity. senator harry reid is not doing those things. basically digging his heels, making sure that obamacare becomes the permanent law of the land. again, we're understanding the exact -- the harmful consequences of majority rule until the senate and obamacare is exhibit a from that standpoint. >> i

senator carl levin is expected to oppose him and possibly senator mark pryor. the majority of the caucus is with him for this reason. we talked a lot in recent months about the gridlock in washington and how unhappy americans are with their congress. this mood is not going to take the temperature down in washington. it will make things more acrimonious even if it does push the obama nominations through more quickly. >> let's listen in again to what senator reid said a few moments ago on the senate floor. take a listen. >> the need for change is so, so very obvious. it's clearly visible. it's manifest we have to do something to change things. in the history of our country some 230-plus years there have been 168 filibusters of executive and judicial nominations. half of them have occurred during the obama administration. >> jimmy, you know, at the 11th hour in july they were able to hammer out a deal to avoid the so-called nuclear option. we know that senator john mccain was in harry reid's office yesterday in an attempt to broker a compromise at the 11th hour th

senate, texas senator john cornyn, is a powerful incumbent senator who's facing re-election next year, but the latest potential challenger to emerge for john cornyn's senate seat is not an up-and-coming democrat who wants that seat, but rather, this guy. >> and whether killing is through abortion or drugs or suicide or anything else, you open the door to killing, it's got a lot of different manifestations, but that's the problem. if you choose leaders who say, oh, i support killing. we've opened the door to all of it. a door has been opened and we have said, you know, we embrace a wicked policy. okay, then i'll take my hand of protection off your nation and, whack, here comes storms like we've never seen before and here comes floods and here comes climate stuff that we can't explain all the hot times and all the cold times and too much rain and not enough rain and flooding over here and droughts over here. and today we're saying, oh, no, it's global warming. no, we opened the door that lost god's protection over our environment, and that's our choice. >> so, global warming is real and

senate. is one of the best part -- and one of the best parts for me is that i get to be a woman in the senate at a time when there's so many incredible other women in the senate to work with, to learn from, to look up to. i want to expressly thank my senate colleagues who serve on the armed services committee; senators mccaskill and hagen, saw heene and jill brand -- shaheen, gillibrand. i want to thank them for their work in guiding this process through their committee in such an effective and bipartisan way. and think banks, of course -- my thanks, of course, go as well to senators levin and ip -- inhofe for their stewardship of these provisions. i'd like to thank senators mikulski and collins for organizing today's floor speeches. the cumulative total of these changes represent true progress in eliminating the tragedy and scourge of sexual assault in our military. and i once again thank my colleagues for their bipartisan work. and yield back. >> mr. president? >> senator from missouri. >>

menendez, senator coburn, it's good senator menendez, senator coburn coburn, it's good to see as well and thank you for this opportunity. i'm thrilled today to have the chance to join senator menendez in introducing someone who i've known for quite some time who is well-known in the state of new jersey. and the opportunity to support the nomination of his fellow new jerseyan, jeh johnson as next secretary of the department of homeland security. but out of deference as they seem the senior senator from new jersey walk in, was instructed me to continue, so i shall do -- i shall do what i'm told. >> he's on our role. you don't want to stop them. welcome, senator menendez spent i know all the senators here have seen many of my letters urging the senate confirmation of jeh johnson. they were pinned not only by me but by many others, many of the most respected men and women in the military and intelligence community. i'm thrilled as a people like former chairman of the joint chiefs, mike mullen, former secretary of defense bob gates, and three previous dhs secretaries, tom ridge, michael ch

my apologies, senator. crew members were on there, highways have been closed off there near and around that airport. it could have been a perilous situation. we're happy it's concluded in a safe way so far it seems. so sir, back to what we were saying. this important conversation of why this was necessary. >> it was necessary because the senate has a constitutional obligation to advise and conseptsconsen consent. a minority of senators were blocking votes, not just voting no, but blocking up or down votes on nominees, creating unprecedented abuse and also virtually unprecedented numbers of vacancies on the court. 25% of the judgeships on the d.c. circuit court of appeals, one of the most critical courts in the country, second only to the supreme court in its importance. and a quarter of its membership was completely vacant. so this kind of obstructionism really is a disservice to the american people and that's why this rule change was so necessary. perhaps regretful to some, but quite honestly i came to the

senate. so they blew it up to get this unpopular health care reform bill. the president over the past year has been unilaterally making one change after another without any approval from the united states congress. howard dean even coming on this show suggesting he may not have the constitutional right to do that. and now the very judges who will be determining whether what he's doing and these changes, whether it's constitutional or not, they are only going to get through by a nuclear option. you look at the history of this presidency and look specifically how he has handled the messy rules of the senate, i think historians will find him to be a breathtaking grab of power. now, of course, they can blame republicans too, but cokie what i was always fascinated by when i was in congress and i would always turn to my republican brothers and sisters, i say you guys are acting like republicans are going to be in charge for the rest of our lives. you do know that the way we treat them will be held

you have a senate majority. would be the law of unintended consequences. >> i am sure there will be many unintended consequences. this could have been avoided. n the word nuclear option was coined initially by the democrats because this was the republican's idea when george bush was president. solution then with six to mccracken six republicans. there was nobody offering to do that on the republican side this time and saying we will put through all the nominees except in extraordinary circumstances. to have a negotiation there has to be someone to negotiate with. there was not anybody but it will have unintended consequences. >> the nuclear option phrase was coined by bill crist who is the republican leader and he did it because the democrats were tying up some of the nominations they had to the court at the time. sacrosanctthing about the filibuster. it has been used for good and ill. it has been used to filibuster laws against lynching, against civil rights legislation and used by the democrats to keep off the

senator kennedy passed off leadership of that legislation to senator jeff merkley, who had led the way for a similar kind of legislation back in his home state. but wahat was fascinating about this bill, when they finally took the vote on it this afternoon in the senate, was not just that it passed, after 40 years, it passed. it was not just that it passed, though, that was the most amazing thing. what was amazing was that it passed with 100% of the democratic caucus voting for it. every single democratic senator who voted today voted for it, including the kind of socially conservative ones, like joe manchin from west virginia and mark pryor from arkansas. every democrat voted for it. so in the democratic party right now, this issue is very simple. the democratic party on discrimination issues, they are unanimous. they know who they are and they know what they stand for. and the republican party, it is much harder to say what's going on. ten republicans crossed over to vote with the democrats s on t today, including jeff flake who said he was going to vote no, but he voted yes. so a ma

senator murray has been in the senate for a long time, as have other senior members of the senate. we came here to get things done. all this happy talk coming from my republican friends -- harry, we know you are right. i say, why don't you vote -- why do you vote the way you do? they vote together on everything. it is only to discourage the president of the united states. >> [indiscernible] >> let him do it. as i said, the country did pretty well for 140 years. i think we are beyond seeing who can out talked the other. let him do whatever he wants. >> will it come back to bite you when you are in the minority?3 >> what i said on the floor, this is the way it has to be. the senate has changed. look at what has happened. if we have a republican president and we think he shouldn't have the team that he wants, one thing that people don't understand -- i want to try to explain this a little try to explain this a little bit -- a simple majority is not going to be a piece of cake in every instance. there is stuff on the calendar where there are a few democrats who don't like some of the w

senator cruz and a lot of his colleagues in the senate have opposed it. as he said, they wrote a letter to former chairman genachowski in which they said that the disclose act raises serious first amendment concerns. and because the bill is stalled, some democrats and some advocates for the bill have suggested that the fcc could use its existing authority over the tv broadcasters to implement some portions or requirements of the disclose act. now, senator cruz does not believe that the fcc has such authority, and that was really what was at the heart of that exchange. and he wanted assurances from tom wheeler that the fcc would not attempt to implement the requirements of the disclose act by fiat as senator cruz said because, again, senator cruz does not believe that the fcc had the authority. now, on the other hand, some people do believe that the fcc has the authority to implement the requirements of the disclose act. last year the fcc passed a rule requiring many of the top broadcasters in the top media markets to actually put information about politic

senator stabenow over in the senate, senator cochran for his good work and senator roberts in the previous congress. we've been -- so i think like everybody i'm glad to be here. i'm going to try to exert some leadership and be brief. we'll see how that goes. anyway, you know, we're hopefully at the beginning of the end of this process. you know, we first started this almost four years ago when i was chairman. i probably got started earlier than i should have. but this has been going on too long, and i think i speak for all of us in saying that it's long past time to finish this farm bill. the difference between the house and senate farm bills, they span all titles and programs, conservation, dairy, crop insurance, even permanent law. they all need to be addressed. resolving these issues obviously poses a challenge, but i know that our respective agriculture committee members have the background and the experience to develop sound farm bill policies. i believe that if the conference committee is left alone and allowed to do our work, we'll be able to find some middle ground and finish the f

senator burr, senator bennett and senator alexander and her staff worked together on this to get this picture put together and to have a track and trace so we can track the drugs no matter how it goes and we can trace it and track it. that will come into being over 10 years with electronic interoperable products. you might say well 10 years is a long time. i point out the house had 27 years and they agreed with us and made it 10 years but that's for electronic interoperability. beginning in january of 25th teen, january 2015 they will have to start a paper tray so there will be paperwork and will take 10 years to get it all at the unit level and all electronically and irreparable and you can understand it takes a long time. different manufactures and different suppliers and different systems so this will be worked in over that period of time that we will have tracing after january 2015. it establishes nationwide drug members and requires a pathway to tracing. as i said it strengthens licensure requirement for wholesaler distributors and third-party providers and again there was a lot

the bill's sponsors, senator jeff merkley, senator mark kirk, senator tammy baldwin and senator susan collins, have worked long and hard on this. they worked closely with us in the committee over the last few days to continue to build support for this bill to work through proposals, though change and pwraouf it. so we're finishing the debate. tomorrow we will have the final vote on this bill. passing it with a resounding majority will send a clear message to the american people and to the house of representatives, we've waited long enough. just think about this. this bill failed by only one vote in 1996. one vote. so here we are 17 years later. it is time to pass it. it's time now to end workplace discrimination against any member of our american family based on sexual orientation or gender identity. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i mentioned yesterday in my remarks on the floor that the obama administration has had three and a half years to prepare for the rollout of the president'

in the senate? let's discuss what's going on. joining us, cnn senior legal analyst, jeffrey toobin, chief political analyst, gloria borger along with buzzfeed washington bureau chief, john stanton. you think this may be, with the exception of the affordable care act, one of the most important lasting legacies of president obama, what happened today. explain. >> the district of -- the d.c. circuit is the second most important court in the country. president obama has nominated five people to that court. four of them have been filibustered. as a result of today's decision, three of those four will be confirmed. that is the farm team for the supreme court. that's where democratic presidents get their nominees to the supreme court often. this is the court that weighs whether most federal laws are constitutional. obama will be able to put his stamp on this court as a result of today's decision and those judges on this court and around the country will serve for decades after president obama leaves office

the big picture i'm sam sachs in for tom hartman coming up in this half hour mitch mcconnell in the senate republicans have turned obstructionism into an art form over the past few years but with monday's filibuster of d.c. circuit court nominee robert wilkins things may have hit a breaking point but you democrats have the guts to do anything about it or not just a moment. and at one point in time america's democratic political system and democratic workforce made it the envy of the world that time is long gone tonight still a take explain why unions are the key to restoring real american democracy. best of the rest of the news washington state washington d.c. is preparing for a nuclear showdown but not in the way you might think on monday republicans in the senate blocked the nomination of robert wilkins pictured right here to serve on the all important d.c. circuit court of appeals this is the third republican filibuster of one of obama's d.c. circuit court nominees in just the past few weeks and democrats are. pretty furious and they might have every right to be the d.c. circuit is the

and senators like me and senators boxer and senator blumenthal and others who join me in opposing this effort are not going to go anywhere. advocates and doctors who treat women every day and know that their health care must be protected are not going to go anywhere. women who continue to believe that their health care decisions are theirs alone are not going anywhere. arntiondz by thand, by the way,e constitution is not going anywhere. the and, therefore, this bill is not going anywhere. this bill, like a tax on roe v. wade before it, will eventually be lost to history, but i will tell you, millions of american women will not forget. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor, and i welcome our colleagues here to this debate. mr. blumenthal: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank my colleague from the state of washington for her eloquence and her leadership on this issue, as i do my colleague from california. she has been steadfast and strong in support of a woman's right to make choices about repr

missiles ultimately senator syrians must fix this problem and ultimately senator it's going to require them to sit down at a table the sooner they start the better but in the meantime we will keep helping the opposition senator in response senators bob corker and john mccain one of the fiercest war hawks in the senate expressed regret that the u.s. hasn't done more militarily to help the opposition i think our help to the opposition has been on embarrassment and i find it appalling that you had said here and act as if. we're doing the things we said we would do i am now at a position tragically where i now will have to rely on the saudis to provide them with the weapons that they need because it is patently obvious that the united states of america is not going to do so so there's still a lot of varying opinions on the senate foreign relations committee but for now most senators seem ready to let diplomacy keep working which is a big change from just two months ago when the same senators stepped to the precipice of war on capitol hill in washington d.c. same socks are to. and a new vid

normally, it take is a 2/3 vote of the senate to change a senate rule. but takes only a majority vote majority vote to overrule a ruling of the senate's pro siding officer which is what they did today. that's this -- that's the senator, they're presiding over, the one in the big chair overlooking the body and ruling with the advice of a professional parliamentian on a variety of parliamentary issues that come before the senate. those things hameppen in debate. usually the most boring seat in the chamber. that's why it is reserved for junior senators forced to sit there and follow the word for word whispered instructions of the parliamentian. today -- it was the most important seat in the chamber. occupied by one of the senate's elder statesman, patrick leahy who watched from the chair as history was made on the senate floor. first, harry reid brought patricia millet's nomination up for reconsideration. again, a large majority voted for patricia millet. 57 votes in favor of rekiddi reconsidering her nomination. senator leahy had to trul that w -- to rule

senator sylvia larsen, senators betty huskey and senator peggy gilmour. mutual, jason lyon, christopher meyer, paul montrose, magical -- next year energy, mark fuentes. sutton, donna m souci. elsie van buren. drawsr table sponsors charles kuntz. sponsoring.l for jason lyon and the common man resort. doug reynolds and mike conklin. bernie ran in vivian kogan. teresa mueller, let's give them all the big round of applause. [applause] you know, senator shaheen mentioned the former senator, to your senator, you know how long he was a senator massachusetts. i'm feeling pretty good. he came into new hampshire the weekend before the city elections and campaign for the two candidates. the second was major mayor tj genes opponent. the victim -- the break was from 75% to 25%. come on up and let's get rid of all those republicans and 2014. >> it is now my honor to introduce the executive counselor from district for, christopher pappas. please welcome him to the podium. [applause] >> thank you, raymond, thank you democrats. welcome to district for by the way. i just h

senator. but it was clear that jack had a bigger prize in mind. >> i don't think he had any natural interest in the senate. i think he felt that if this was the game he wanted to be captain. >> kennedy now had his eye on the white house. he recruited the best and the brightest, speechwriter ted sorenson, pollster lou harris, advance man kenny o'donnell, and campaign managers larry o'brien and younger brother bobby. >> i believe that there is a real trend on now for senator kennedy and the democratic party. we are extremely encouraged. >> to make sure his brother's presidential campaign succeeded, bobby ran interference, toughness was in the kennedy's dna, an immigrants' toughness, and bobby was the least assimilated of them all. >> the role he found was the guy to do all the dirty deeds, the hard stuff, telling people to go away. saying no. that allowed jack to float above the fray. >> with his impressive campaign team in place, jack was now ready for the toughest test yet, 1960. thousands of

will want to join senator udall, senator mikulski, myself, i snow senator blumenthal and others are interested in it, in taking the next logical, common step approach in terms of intelligence reform and that is to come out foursquare for this approach which i'd like to state does not ban any collection tool at all that is now used by the government but it requires that thereby basic -- there be basic transparency and accountability in how they're used. that is long overdue and let me have my friend and colleague from colorado wrap up and express to him how much i appreciate it. i note that somehow the presidency of the senate seems to be passed from one supporter of intelligence reform to another since the distinguished senator from connecticut was just there, we've just been joined by senator heinrich who has been a very valuable partner in these efforts as well. i want to thank him and allow the last word to the -- tore offered by the senator from colorado. mr. udall: you cannot go wrong with transparency. transparency is a central spirit of america. i want to recognize the senato

chairman. >> thank you, senator hirono. senator lee. >> thank you, mr. chairman and thanks to all of you for service to our country. on behalf of the constituents i have back in utah, i express my deepest gratitude to you and those who serve under your command. for the last two years, we heard a lot from a lot of high-ranking military officers like yourselves who have come before this committee and others in front of the men and women that they command, in front of the american people to express the grave concerns they have about sequestration and what it could do to our military, our military readiness and everything we do through our military. i heard members of congress on both sides of the aisle and on both ends of the capitol express grave concerns about the impacts of sequestration, about what could happen. i've heard my own constituents, people from throughout utah, many whom are currently serving or have served in the military express similar concerns. it's an interesting conversation. it's sad we have to be having this conversation since sequest

that the senate passed senate 1561, that the senate agreed to without amendment house concurrent resolution 62, that the senate passed without amendment h.r. 3190. with best wishes i am, sincerely, karen l. haas, clerk of the house. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, in 2009, as the president traveled across the country campaigning for his signature health care takeover, he promised every american family that, quote, if you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. if you like your health plan, you'll be able to keep your health plan, period. no one can take it away no matter what, end of quote. he repeatedly made this clear promise over 20 times. as the failed rollout of obamacare continues, millions of americans hav

pushing and as a reform senator leahy and senator feinstein senator feinstein has received three times as much campaign cash from intelligence contractors like general dynamics and northrop government then senator leahy has. of course that might explain her efforts to help the n.s.a. caught by its illegal surveillance and her reform bill joining me now to talk more about the should be political dealings behind n.s.a. reform is lisa graves attorney executive director of the center for media and democracy. so let's start by asking a question which likely doesn't even need to be asked do you think senator feinstein's generous contributions from the surveillance industry might have something to do with this gift legislation she's pushing through the senate for the . well there certainly is a striking contrast between the amount of donations she's received from intelligence and military contractors compared with senator leahy but i would say that there are feinstein things have been captured i'd be very intelligent to be connecting oversight over you know one of the things that's most strik

100 senators in the united states senate. for judicial nominees and cabinets with the exclusion of supreme court nominees. that will stilt require 60. that still remains in place. of course president obama -- you heard him site many of the statistics how this practice of filibustering and blocking his nominees has accelerated over his time. he named chuck hagel as the poster child, really, for cabinet nominees being blocked after all the first defense secretary to be filibusters and after all he was a republican. it bears in mind, -- at various times depending on if you are the minority side or the majority side, mitch mcconnell and harry reid, the minority and majority leaders have switched positions whether depending on whether they are controlling the senate or not, and as a matter of fact, president obama went he was in the senate and when he was in the minority, opposed filibuster rules. now, granted it has accelerated. granted he is at the other end of pennsylvania avenue. but certainly this is nothing new. what we are