mr. coburn: i thank the chairwoman. mr. president, a little perspective before i offer these amendmentsment we have buffs a $60 billion-plus bill and there is no question an there's great need in response to the devastation that occurred with san day. but one thing the american people need to know is that as this bill goes through the senate, this bill isn't going to be paid for, there's no amendment that has been a proved -- approved that will allow offsets for this women of so as we clear this bill through the senate, the $60-some billion that we're going to clear, we're actually going to borrow that money. and that's indisputable. i've spent the last eight years outlining the waste, the duplication, and the fraud in the federal government. those amendments are not made in order that would offset and actually par to this by eliminating programs of the federal government that don't actually do mig to actually better the lives of americans. i'm very appreciative of the opportunity to offer these amendments. i would also not

mr. mccain: mr. president? number 3355, mccain-coburn. i ask unanimous consent senator coburn be added as cosponsor. the clerk: mr. mccain for himself and mr. coburn proposes amendment number 3355. mr. mccain: i ask that further reading of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: mr. president, this amendment is ver a very sie one. it calls for striking the funding of some $58 million for the as. program for planting trees ton private property. it is actually a farm bill subsidy program that's run by a relatively unknown agency that's called the farm service administration, which is primarily responsible for managing crop insurance. under this program, private landowners with about 50 acres of land can apply for up to $500,000 in free grants for tree-planting activities. obviously, this has nothing to do with an emergency, and there's nothing in the supplemental that limits the funding to hurricane sandy areas. under this bill, this $58 million can be used just about anywhere. i'd like to make

mr. coburn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: there's no reason to take additional time. the fact is, is just what we have right now on fema, they have pre-bid contracts. what's going on in new jersey today is they didn't take the lowest competitive bid contract on the debris removal. so we're going to spend about 20%, 25% more because the federal government's paying for it. the vast majority of the money in this bill isn't going to be contracted out initially. as a matter of fact, only $9 million -- $9 billion is going to go out right away. and that is in terms of flood insurance. the rest of it's coming from the fema funds, the dirk funds and everything. none of those are competitive bid. it won't have any impact at all on housing, home flood insurance or any of those other areas. doing it right, getting value for our money is important, especially now that we face the difficult fiscal times that are in front of us. i'd urge a "yes" vote and yield back the balance of my time and ask for the yeas and nays. and it's my un

mr. coburn: mr. president, i ask at this time that the amendment be divided in the form i now send to the desk. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coburn: mr. president, i'd like to talk about coburn 3372. actually, that's not the correct one. i'd like to talk about division 1, which has to do with per capita damage indicators and initiating a rule process updated. the state of oklahoma in the last seven years has had more declarations of disaster named than any other state in the country. and the standard used to be is if we have an overwhelming disaster that overwhelmed the ability of the state to handle it -- and we've gotten away from that. and this hasn't been updated since 1986. what this amendment does under the stafford act of 1988, the whole purpose of our emergency response was for us to step in and provide assistance when state and local capabilities are overwhelmed. it is clear that in new york and new jersey and in communities that were affected by this latest storm, state and

quorum call: quorum call: mr. coburn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: i ask the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coburn: i just wanted to spend a few minutes talking about the reid amendment 3255, and 30 point out to my colleagues i know this amendment will pass, but i believe we ought to be on record as voting to add $1.7 billion in additional funds that our kids are going to pay for. this is paid for, but it's smoke and mirrors. we've used a trick in how we do this. and ultimately what's going to happen is here's another bill that will require funding from the health account at the pentagon, which is in operations and maintenance, which means we will not have $1.7 billion for naval exercises, for flight training, for tank training, for range training. in other words, out of this account is where comes all the preparedness. and i must give president obama credit. he has recommended what the committee recommended doing for the last two and a half ye

is that what mr. coburn wants? that anybody can offer any amendment at any time on any subject, and you can just keep going like that? i mean, again, that is where the minority then trumps the majority. >> holman: both senate leaders have raised the option of talks to avert a rules change come january. but as the end of the current session approaches, no formal meetings have been scheduled. >> brown: you can find extended clips of kwame's interviews with senators harkin and coburn. that's on our web site. >> warner: countries around the globe will mark world aids day this weekend. the disease's toll is still enormous. more than 30 million have died since the epidemic broke out. and aids accounted for 1.7 million deaths last year. but there is growing optimism about curbing and perhaps ending the epidemic for the next generation, even as daunting hurdles remain. ray suarez has the story. >> suarez: the numbers are still staggerings, number 34 million are live well hiv, almost 5 million more than a decade ago. the u.

office of management and budget puts out a book every year, mr. coburn has mentioned it. many democrats and republicans have mentioned it. we could save $900 billion a year getting rid of duplication and fraud which is in this book. did you sit down with these people and tell them, listen, instead of doing all of these taxes and all of this garbage, let's go through this book and let's do our job. it seems like you are the only one they are listening to. i agree with you. we should not have to put out no more taxes. this is in saying. it seems like we give you $1, you still $15. if i ran my house like that -- i would have no home. i would like your opinion. guest: richard 7, a very good points. i'm glad you commended senator coburn for putting together a list of spending restraints of ways to reform government. cat, the libertarian think tank has made a list. and americans for tax reform has put together a list, has testified for the simpson- bowles committee on a number of ways to reduce spending. we need to focus on making government more effective and more efficient, g

mr. president, i yield the floor. ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president recognition to rebut theburn amendment and also tofer twoefore i my colleagues, particularly those who have amendments. i want to thank them for their cooperation and being willing to offer them and speak tonight on both sides of the aisle. and i also note that the gentlelady from new york and the gentleman from connecticut also wish to speak. mr. president, senators -- their states who have been very hard hit should have the opportunity to speak. i'm going to take my rebuttal of the coburn amendments and just abbreviate them. with the exception of being willing to accept the amendment where you can't get emergency assistance if you are a tax cheater or if you've passed away, with the exception of a funeral benefit i really object to the coburn amendment. my objections have been so well articulated by the gentleman from new york, mr. schumer; by the

mr. udall: mr. president? the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 11:45 a.m. with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each with the time from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. reserved for speeches by retiring senators. the senator from colorado. mr. udall: mr. president, i come to the floor this morning as i have on many mornings to talk about the wind energy industry and the importance of the trucks tax credit. but before -- and the importance of the production tax credit. before i begin i'd like to associate myself with the majority leader's remarks. we do need to extend the tax cuts for the middle class as soon as possible. that's clearly the message the american people sent on november 6 in the nationwide election that we had. i also want to respond to the comments and the conversation between the two leaders over the debt ceiling limit. it's important to recognize that

. >> and thank you, mr. president, for your contribution. >> david axelrod will donate his mustache on 0 the air. that could be kind of gross. >> it's going to happen. we will reach $1 million. >> oh, look i. >> tom coburn. we'll be talking to dr. brzezinski. >> frightening. >> be scared. >> and senator claire mccaskill. a triumphant return. >> fantastic. >> ahead on "morning joe" though, the white house says no to the republicans' fiscal cliff plan. it was a terrible plan. nobody has offered a good one yet. we have big dreams. one is for a clean, domestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise

mr. coburn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma is recognized. mr. coburn: i'd ask for order in the chamber, please. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. please take your conversations outside of the chamber. the senator from oklahoma is recognized. mr. coburn: the sandy supplemental appropriations bills provides $3.5 billion in funding for new construction projects through the corps of engineers. of that $3 billion of this account is towards reducing future flood risk. not repairing present. reducing future. i talked to c.r.s. this morning after listening to my colleague from new york. on average over the last 25 years the average participation rate was 35%, 65%. no exceptions. for future mitigation risks were made during katrina. it was not 100%. it was not 90%. all this does is restore it back to what we had traditionally. and what we know is that projects that shouldn't get funded won't get funded when we have this kind of ratio. i reserve the balance of