the senate of 2014 is certainly not the senate that our founding fathers envisioned, nor is it the senate that my former colleague, senator chris dodd, described in his 2010 farewell speech. let me quote just a small portion. senator dodd reminded us that the senate was designed to be different not just for the sake of variety, but because the framers believed that the senate could and should be the venue in which statesmen would lift america up to meet its unique challenges. unfortunately, the senate will never be able to play that unique role in american government, in american history until the majority leader shows greater respect for the constituents we represent and for this institution. as i said, this debate is not about procedural niceties. it's not about the prerogatives of a senator because they think they're so important. when republicans offer amendments to pending legislation, we're trying to give our constituents the voice that they are guaranteed by the constitution of the united states of america. when the majority leader refuses to let us vote on amendments and refuses t

senate. instead of a strong, independent voice at the van guard of american policy-making, what has the democratic-run senate become? a campaign studio, a late-night pusmpunchline, place where the r left gets its way and the middle class gets left behind. we saw this again yesterday when the majority leader was so determined to prevent the consideration of republican amendments that he killed every democratic senators' amendment in the process. he didn't seem to care about letting the more than 4 million people in my state have a say on one of the most important issues facing their livelihoods: coal. and i didn't seem to think that the millions of americans represented by his own democrats deserved a meaningful say on energy either, even after senate democrats from states like alaska and maine and colorado and arkansas put out press releases touting the kinds of ideas contained within their amendments. no amendments were allowed. the fact that some of these same senators are now trying to con

but to change the senate. and began to change america by changing the agenda in the senate, so that is where we are, but, look. i will end with this, because arthur is clearly getting nervous here. [laughter] there was that movie from 1972 called "the candidate," and youngsome of you were too to have seen it, but then it has played again, and he looked at his manager and said, what do we do now? what do we do now? if we are given the responsibility to govern, what do we do now? to for that, i really want thank you for applying your creative minds to this challenge, and we look forward to being able to advance an agenda that we think is in the best interest of our country. thanks so much. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> coming up tonight on c-span, q&a with john sopko special inspector general for afghanistan reconstruction. after that, house majority leader with eric cantor and mike scott talking about domestic issues. speakers

senior senator. >> senior senator. >> senior senator. this guy has been. does remind me of the movie with robert redford "the candidate" he runs against the big-time establishment senator, crocker jarmin with a ridiculous name. basically saying "move over, old man. your time is up." >> that's right. here i am, alison lundegran grimes, essentially saying, i'm here. i am a woman. i am something fresh and new. and, when you look at that, it does feel very fresh and new. we don't often see women politicians particularly southern women politicians not since ann richards speak in that sort of frank way. i mean there was this preacherly cadence also. that she had. southern swagger. a woman who knows how to shoot a gun. when she ran for secretary of state. she had ad. she had two grandmothers talking about her life and, and sort of, a casting her background as, as a person who grew up around strong women. you are going to see her in this race. tomorrow they will release a directed camera. 60 second. she is not going to let mitch mcconnell get out there early. real

senator hoeven and senator schumer are also cosponsors of this bill as well as senator coons. we've been working very hard on this for years. it has some broad support, metal theft, because it struck so many electric companies. it has struck so many consumers. it has blown up houses when people just take a simple copper piping out of a basement and then someone turns on the gas and literally people have lost lives. veterans groups, because of the -- we had one incident in minnesota, and we've seen others across the country -- this is unbelievable, but the stars on the graves that were placed there for veterans during veterans holidays have been stolen. and the beer industry is strongly behind this bill. why? because kegs are being stolen all over the country. that is just some things i'm telling you by memory, but this is a major problem. ask any power company or construction crew across the country or even operators of ice skating rinks in minnesota, where one theft of a couple thousand dollars literally cost the city of saint paul millions of dollars because once they take a

i worked o on an amendment with senator roberts that senator coons had originated with senators isakson and blunt to improve the section 181 live production incentive. portman and carter worked on energy nshes. cantwell and roberts on low-income tax credit and the list goes on and on and on. as a result, this bill has broad support. the business round table, grover norquist as well as the n.e.a. and feeding america -- broad, bipartisan support. so where are we? and i'd just like to further elaborate on what the chairman has said. we are willing to vote on amendments. now, i -- you know, i always think of my dear friend from tennessee, lamar alexander, who remembers how the place used to work -- and constantly reminds us. and that's a good thing in this body. he'd say, on most bills there would being bipartisan support in the committee. the ranking member and the chair would get together with a list of amendments, each from his or her side, and they'd come up with a list. well, we're willing to do that here. in fact, leader reid has been extremely generous. he said, we're not going to --

happened in the senate. you're impassioned and angry i think it's fair to say. my question is why do republican senators think they will pay no political cost for that vote yesterday? >> you know, i don't know why anyone, frankly, would be voting against the minimum wage. and there are multiple ways you can look at this. but the way i think about this is i can think of 14 million reasons to raise the minimum wage. and that's the number of children whose economic fortunes would be lifted if the minimum wage moved to $10.10 an hour. children who would have more, who would be in homes that are more secure. a million adults that would be lifted out of poverty if we raised the minimum wage. and you would think that republicans would be interested in this because the more self-sufficient people can be then the less money that all of the taxpayers have to spend on supplements, on medicaid, on food stamps. this is about people who work full-time, who are out there really busting their tails trying to support themsel

you look at what senate democrats, you pointed to the senate democrats. do you foresee fights on equal pay, minimum wage? presidenthere at the and democrats talking about? >> i do not. i think senator mikulski goes way back with harry reid ma being intimidated him a little. she can be scary. forhas a guarantee of some time. she wants to do it the old-fashioned way, have amendments. the type of amendments he talked about are not germane under senate rule. it is a matter of having the chair ruled them out of order. fore will be a 10 tatian some of the bomb throwers, particularly on the republican side of the aisle to take it vantage of the opportunity to amend the bills. -- advantage of the opportunity to a mamend the bill. there's this discontent because they shut down the house and there's this filibuster. he gives them the opportunity to let the system work. who knows how it will turn out. >> on the republican side, it you asked about the funding of the affordable care act. do the fights come up again? that.ould probably expect yes. do not discount the f

senator republican saxby chambliss. on the democratic side the race is less crowded and competitive with michelle nunn, the daughter of sam nunn, the clear favorite. georgia is one of two states democrats the have a good chance at taking back a senate seat. it will greatly determine how good after chance they have a. poll conduct ed earlier this month by "the atlanta journal constitution" stated michelle nunn leads all of the five main republican u.s. senate hope itfuls in a ballot test though the strongest republican battles nunn to a near tie. in other words all goes according to plan for democrats if nunn gets the right opponent. let's keep in mind who will be selecting the right opponent tonight. this is what the math looks like. around 10 million people in the peach state. about one-fifth of them will vote in tonight's contest. with none of the the gop candidates likely to reach the vote needed to avoid a run-off, the top two vote getters could finish with 25% of the vote each which means around 600,000 people will

house and senate. and of course they're well known to this audience for many reasons but particularly as the architects of the sweeping financial reform bill that bears their name, the dodd-frank wall street reform and consumer protection act or dodd-frank. so today we have dodd-frank on dodd-frank which is a real treat i think for me in particular, having worked so closely with both senator dodd and congressman frank in enacting this legislation which is truly historic. chris dodd is a former senator from the neighboring state of connecticut and he was the chairman of the senate committee on banking, housing and urban affairs, all through the crisis. the year leading up to the crisis and then through the passage of dodd-frank. and barney frank is the former congressman from this great state of massachusetts and the chairman -- former chairman of the house financial services committee so you know them well for dodd-frank. but also as chairman of the banking committees and house financial services commi

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senior senator from florida. mr. nelson: madam president, i want to call to the attention of the senate the fact that there is a --. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the senior senator from florida. mr. nelson: thank you, madam president. there is a three-dimensional film that i had the pleasure of seeing at the air and space museum theater about one of the largest and, obviously, most successful military invasions in the history of the planet, and that was 70 years ago on june 6, 1944, what is known as d-day. the film is narrated by tom brokaw. he was a natural because he is well known for having written the book "the greatest generation" about the people who fought in world war ii. and the timeliness of this film, a documentary, the timeliness of it is that as we go from one generation to the next, the stories that were told by their grandfathers and their great grandfathers to their children are not necessarily being told to the next and younger generation. and what this film captivates in 3-d i

senator kaine and schumer are on king and senator schumer on it. it started with senator stevens in 1983 and has true bipartisan roots. it is consistent with the amendment justice stevens has proposed. it would restore the authority of congress, stripped by the court, to regulate the raising and spending of money for federal political campaigns. this would include independent expenditures. it would allow states to do the same at their level. it would not take any specific policies or regulations. that would allow congress to pass sensible campaign-finance reform. withstandt would constitutional challenges. in the federalist paper number 49, james madison argued that the u.s. constitution should be amended only, he used this term, only in great and extraordinary go withoutould we amendment. i agree with him. i also believe we have reached one of those occasions. free and fair elections are a founding principle of our democracy. they should not be for sale to the highest bidder. this effort started decades ago, there is a long and bipartisan history

. >> senator graham. senator harono. >> i got back in the nick of time. i thank you for your service, of course. i join my colleagues in saying we need to get rid of sequestration because it's done so many damage to readiness and other aspects of the military. i'm with my colleagues who are going to commit ourselves to getting rid of sequestration. i have a question for general amos. regarding the commissaries because the commissaries, that is a -- something that our service people understand. their families go to the commissaries. they know what the price differentials are. general amos, you said we should force deca to be more efficient rather than raising prices so the differential becomes so much less. i'm completely in agreement with you. does that mean that you know of examples or perhaps any of the other chiefs, do you have examples of where commissaries need to find efficiencies? what is inefficient that they're doing that they should just address right away in your view? >> senator, first of all, you've got -- you're absolutely correct on what ou

he and senator walsh can be like senator webb and senator warner were a few years back with the g.i. bill. working together and putting what is right ahead of politics. >> are you optimistic? >> i am. i am not normally optimistic about washington. but on this one, we are. we think we will have a house bill the first week of june. we want to name it after clay hunt, a young sniper we lost a few years ago to suicide. he was on the hill. he went to the white house to advocate for mental health care. we lost him to suicide. >> there is more the president can be doing? >> yes. he can have a national call to action. boil it down there are 1000 open , mental health positions at the v.a. and most people do not know that. the president can say, you can go be a qualified health care professional. that is one example of how executive action could make a difference. >> you have been supportive of the ratification of people with that ratification on the treaty of people with disabilities act. it has not mustered the vote. why do you have confidence it will? >> it is the next phase of the american

was when senator kennedy was in the senate and people legs lated. people forget that he and dan quayle did a jobs program together. he worked with republicans, who didn't agree with him on a lot of different things. he and others, democratic and republican senators worked on ways to improve our country. >> absolutely. we're going to show how throughout history, men and women of good will in both parties did sit down and work through and address the great challenges facing our nation. let me tell you some of the exciting things we're seeing. it's going to be interactive and dynamic and using hand held devices. even with middle school students where we're doing political testing, paper and pencil testing of some of the simulated senate debates, where we're having middle school students become senators and work on compromising and trying to get legislation passed, they don't want the test to end. they are so excited about learning. they knew nothing about the senate. they didn't understand how a law was passed until we started the testing. by the end o

they basically change the rules of the senate by breaking the rules of the senate. what he did was called by the parliamentarian of island -- a violation of senate roles. , substantively, was to lower the threshold for nominations for the executive branch, for the judiciary, except for the supreme court to 51. more importantly than that was how they did it. the precedent will always be there. it is hard to unring a bell. i think it was very damaging to the institution. to probably what you would like me to respond to which is, what would we do about that were we in the majority? my advice to my colleagues is that that is a discussion for december, if we're fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to set the agenda in the senate. then we will address the question. your question was about legislation, i assume, not about executive branch appointments. turning theor senate into a majority very an institution. tarianority are institution, even though we would have some short-term advantage by doing it. wondering, speaking of procedural fights, how do you see the ame

now live to the senate floor on c-span2. senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. god of grace and glory, descend upon us today. make capitol hill a place that honors your name, as our lawmakers depend on your might and power to keep america strong. lord, help our senators to remember that laudable progress comes not by might or power but through your spirit. give them the wisdom to seek your guidance for every critical decision, as you infuse them with the courage to obey your commands. as they seek to do what is best for america, be for them a shield and sure defense. may they ask the right questions as they labor to keep liberty's lamp. burn bright. we pray in your sacred name. amen. the presiding officer: thank you, chaplain black. would everyone please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. 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 presi

thank you, senator ayotte. senator hagan. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i wanted to open just wanting to express my thanks to general amos, commandant amos, for his incredible leadership over the marines, as well as your wife bonnie for all she has enjoyed and been through over these so many years. but thank you for your steadfast dedication to our marine corps, to our country and to the state of north carolina. >> thank you, senator. i'll pass that on to bonnie. >> please. we certainly face difficult decisions in fiscal year '15, as we all know and have been discussing. it's something this committee will be closely examining in the weeks. in head, however, we also face the return of sequestration in fiscal year '16 and beyond. north carolina, as all of you know, has one of the largest military footprints in our nation so i'm particularly concerned about the effect that it would have on our service members. and i am committed to finding a balanced solution that's going to put an end to sequestration in future years. my question, general amos, wi

the senator from maine, senator collins, senator scott from south carolina has got a bill that would do just exactly that. but unfortunately, madam president, what i'm an optimistic person, i'm not particularly optimistic about the majority leader or the president changing their tactics in this election year. so that's why, tragically, under these circumstances, we find ourselves here today debating a job -- debating a bill that would actually kill vobz ratherr than create jobs. what a terrible lost opportunity that is. madam president, i see my friend from maryland here ready to speak and so what i would like to do is i would ask unanimous consent that several letters that have been provided to us by organizations like the american hotel and lodging association, the wholesale marketers association, among other business organizations, including the u.s. chamber of commerce, that these be made part of the record at the end of my comments. all of these letters are opposing this 40% minimum-wage increase. and i'd ask that unanimous consent. the presiding officer: without objection. mr.

senate. this bill would give student loan borrowers a fair shot at managing their debt by offering them the opportunity to refinance their debt at the same low rates offered to new borrowers in the student loan program. outstanding student loans now total more than $1.2 trillion. that even means something in washington. it surpasses total credit card debt and affects 40 million americans. that's why i'm a cosponsor of the bank loan student emergency financing loan act because it is time we give students a chance to refinance their loans and find better financial footing. education is the pathway to economic opportunity. workers with higher levels of education have experienced much faster wage growth and lower unemployment rate than other workers. but the increasing level of student debt in recent years presents challenges for graduates just beginning their careers. these bright young people should be planning for their futures, not struggling financially because they worked hard to earn their

senate in november depend on the republican party keeping that senate seat in georgia. it's been vacated by sax mcchambliss that is retiring. sniet was supposed to be a give me race for georgia. heading in to tonight's voting, not one of the seven candidates on the republican side polled convincingly against the democratic nominee michelle nunn. the candidate that looks bens against her is the one who finished first, david perdue. after michelle nunn won her own primary handedly tonight she took advantage of the brawl ing still going on between her would be republican opponents. watch. >> tonight, we send a signal to washington, that we want something different. [ applause ] we want stability. we want collaboration and problem solving. we don't yet know who the candidate on the other side will be tonight, but we know these candidates are all in a race for the extremes. they are exbracing acrimony and inflexibility and it is that kind of absolute failure to be willing to work together that is causing washington to be so dysfunctional. [ applause ] they don't believe in w

we know where senator mcconnell has been. we finally got the admission as we went to the eastern part of the state a month ago. in response to what will you do to help bring jobs back to this state he said, and i quote, it is not his job to bring jobs to the commonwealth of kentucky. we cannot afford to have a senator who does not believe as i do. it is a number one priority to help put hard-working kentuckians back to work. this race is about someone who for 30 years has never put forward a jobs plan, does not believe it is responsibility. unlike mitch mcconnell i will rise every morning and go to bed every night with the burden on my back of helping to put kentuckians back to work. that is the job of the united states senator. [applause] it is making sure the boilermaker in eastern kentucky who cannot put their suitcase in a yard sale because they've -- they might need it to go find work has a way forward. the mother of a six-month-old who does not know how she is going to be able to provide for her young daughter because o

how do you feel about the senate? >> i feel we're going to keep the senate. >> you do? >> yeah. you look at the four key races. alaska, arkansas, louisiana, north carolina where we have incumbents in red states. they're ahead in each one. even kay hagen is ahead by two, but she's had $12 million of unanswered commercials against her. and she hasn't even begun to put on her positives or go after her opponent whoever it's going to be negatives. so i think if you look -- this is how it always is. nationally it looks better for republicans right now. mainly because middle class incomes are declining. what we talked about here. and the public is sour. >> all right. >> but state by state looks much better for us. we will keep the senate. >> texas governor rick perry -- i want you to stay for this one -- has been mentioned among potential 2016 contenders. >> good luck. >> is being candid about -- my god. senator schumer. >> last time i checked, he's not on any rolls in republican primaries. rick perry is just fine. he talked about his disappointing bid for 2012. but he also suggested t

senator enzi and i and senator alexander, senator heitkamp. we had 29 cosponsors of this bill. who sat down and said let's pass it. we passed it, we sent it to the house of representatives, and nothing has happened. nothing. there have been some statements made over there and i hope that those statements lead to action. but it's time for them to pick up this bill and this responsibility. if they've got a better approach, let's see it. let's work on it. leapts do it on a bipartisan basis. let's come up with an approach that works. i cannot tell you, mr. president, how many different businesses have come through my door from series roebuck down to basic -- sears roebuck down to basic mom and pop businesses, and will said what are we going to do about the the house of representatives? i we've waited a year, i don't want to wait longer. in an election year it will be almost impossible to do it. i hope we can get this done. it's going to mean that local businesses that are important and the backbone of our community will have the resources they need because the sales will take place

senator is -- senator shaheen:i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. begich: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. begich: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. begich: i ask that the quorum call be vacated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. begich: for the purposes of presentation on the floor on the shaheen-portman bill. mr. president, thank you very much. i come to speak on the support for the shaheen-portman bill, otherwise known as the energy savings and industrial competitiveness act, otherwise known as i like to put it, it saves money, saves energy. keep it simple. it comes at an important time. it is no surprise as someone from alaska, i care about oil and gas issues. i care about energy issues, energy efficiency. and this is a bill that is important to talk about, but also hopefully pass, and pass it and move it to the house, and hopefully they'll take it up. conservation makes sense. it saves money. it makes people more comfortable in

. >> joining us on "newsmakers," senator john hoeven, republican of north dakota and member of the senate energy committee. joining us for the questioning is matthew daly, who covers energy and environmental issues for the "associated press," and niels lesniewski, staff writer for "cq roll call." this week, the senate is taking up, presumably, the keystone xl pipeline. you are at 57 votes. how do you get to 60? >> it is a challenge because the democrat leadership in the senate and the white house are pushing back hard. i have got a bill that approves the project. we updated it. we have 56 sponsors for that legislation. i have maybe a couple more votes, but getting to 60 is going to be a real challenge because of the hard push from the white house. >> if it passes in the senate, what does this do for the state department and the white house in its decision? >> this would approve the project under the clause in the constitution, which gives congress the authority to regulate or to oversee commerce with foreign nations. we have done the research and found out congress has the authority to ap

the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 9:30 tomorrow under the provisions of senate resolution provisions of senate resolution >> next come a discussion on a recent national review article looking at college degrees and whether or not it's worth getting one. it is from today's "washington journal." >> drop the dropout is the headline in the national review article that by charles c. w. cook. this country was built by people without formal credentials. join us from new york as charlie cook, writer for national review. what do you mean by drop the dropout? >> guest: well, i was reacting primarily to an article i saw was scott walker. i should say at the out that nobody should go to college. i went to college myself. what i do mean it's creeping commercialization when i caught economic snobbery is dangerous for a free country. this particular headline against scott walker called him pejoratively at dropout. he said something that the right that disagreed with. he made mr. urkel claimed for historical interpretation that the rate that disagreed with and in response, the

i want to thank senator mccain. [ applause ] >> i want to thank senator mccain and senator manchin for their kind words. and i'm honored to be introduced by such extraordinary public servants. i'm especially grateful for my husband, steven, and our children. for their tremendous support. and while my parents can't be with us here today, i also want to recognize them for instilling within me the enduring value of public service. as a second generation greek immigrant, i was raised to be thankful for the tremendous opportunities that this great nation provides. and to appreciate the responsibilities that come with them. throughout my childhood in hinton, west virginia, my father, an op tromtist and small businessman and my mother, a teacher, set a great example for me and my sister. through their engagement in service through our community and our church. it is that example that's an important part of why i sit here today. whether in the public or private sector, working across a wide range of issues, i focus my work on three things. building strong relationships, building strong teams,

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i'm going to take a few minutes on one of the nominations we have up today, the nomination of theodore chuang to be district judge for maryland. this nomination was voted out of committee on a 10-8 vote. i opposed the nomination in committee, and i would urge my colleagues today to do the same. i can't support the nomination because of the central role that mr. chuang played in the administration's persistent and steadfast stonewalling of the congressional investigation into the attack on our diplomatic mission in benghazi september 11, 2012. that attack resulted in the first murder of a sitting united states ambassador in over 30 years. three other brave americans serving their country were killed there in benghazi as well. as we all know too well, just hours after the fighting had ended, this administration in the middle of a presidential campaign at the time rushed to blame the attack on an obscure internet video. the administration denied what was already clear, that wha

the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the senate will please be in order. the majority leader. mr. reid: we're going to have one more vote tonight and we're going to have starting at 11:15 tomorrow, we could have up to five votes. so that's it for tonight. we yielded back the time but i ask consent that senator mccain be recognized for up to one minute. mr. mccain: thank you. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: i'd like to mention to my colleagues with this vote, we will be making history in some respects and i think we should all be proud of the fact that this nominee, diane humetewa of the hopi tribe will be the first native american woman to be on the federal bench. i appreciate a positive vote. it's a proud moment for her, her tribe and native americans. thank you. the presiding officer: under the previous order -- is there a sufficient second? there is a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to vote or to change their vote? if not, the ayes are 96, the

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. mr. heller: thank you, madam president. on monday, may 26, our nation will pause and remember all those who paid the ultimate price while serving in the united states armed forces. memorial day is a solemn day on which we recognize these brave heroes for their valor, their courage and their commitment to our country. as we honor and remember those who died fighting for our freedom, congress must also remember that we still have a promise to fulfill to the veterans who thankfully returned home, many with visible and invisible wounds of war. our nation has a proud history of caring for its wounded and disabled service members and their families. when these men and women volunteered their services, the united states guaranteed that they'd be cared for. as a member of the senate veterans' affairs committee, i believe that that promise has not been kept. it's no secret that the department of veterans affairs is facing a significant challenge with accountability and all agents at all levels in

please welcome senator elizabeth warren. (applause) senator warren, thanks so much for coming back. all right. well, first of all, let me say it's a pleasure to you have back. it's been a few years. >> good to be here. >> and i want to remind you the last time you were here i did not call, senator, because you were not a senator. >> that's right. >> stephen: you are welcome for the colbert bump. >> thank you. >> stephen: i will get my face on the back end, no doubt. okay. senior senator from massachusetts, former harvard law professor who came with the idea for the consumer financial protection bureau, also chaired the congressional oversight panel of the $700 billion tarp program and you have written nine books, the latest of which is a fighting chance. who has got the fighting chance here, senator? are you the person fighting or is america the people fighting. >> well, a little of both. look i'm somebody who grew up on the ragged edge of the middle class. my daddy was a-- my mom worked a minimum wage job at sears there was no money for college. >> don't you try to outhumble me. i

senator durbin. >> thank you, senator reid. we are about to celebrate an anniversary of a year since the senate passed its bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill, a bill that i worked on mr. schumereague and many democrats and republicans who believe that we can do this, and we did it. at a time when people were skeptical that congress could do anything on a bipartisan basis, we did something that i will say immodestly was historically significant. inwill be unfair to say that that year the house is done nothing on immigration. it has been about a year since the house under speaker boehner's leadership asked the only immigration bill that they considered, a bill offered by congressman stephen king to deny the docka program. speaker boehner thought it was appropriate within the last year to call that to the floor of the house of representatives for a vote. sadly, his members supported it overwhelmingly. that, to me, was an embarrassing moment. embarrassing that the house of representatives would take that up as their o

the senate, senator harkin, senator lamar alexander, and finally my close partner and cohort who is here with me today, senator johnny isakson from georgia. madam president, none of us got everything we wanted in the bill we introduced this morning, but all of us got legislation that we believe in. it is a bill that will help our workers. it will help our businesses. and the economy for years to covmencome. madam president, i am as strong of a supporter of our federal workforce development programs as anyone. i have seen firsthand in my home state of washington workers who were laid off, who were able to get new training and new skills and new jobs. and i've seen so many of our washington state businesses from aerospace companies to design firms who were able to access workers with new skills. but the fact is we have been relying on federal workforce development programs that were written in the 1990's. and with millions of new jobs that will require pos postsecony education and advance skills in the coming years, we will fall behind in the world if we do not modernize our workforce deve

senior senator. >> senior senator. >> senior senator. this guy has been. does remind me of the movie with robert redford "the candidate" he runs against the big-time establishment senator, crocker jarmin with a ridiculous name. basically saying "move over, old man. your time is up." >> that's right. here i am, alison lundegran grimes, essentially saying, i'm here. i am a woman. i am something fresh and new. does feel very fresh and new. we don't often see women politicians particularly southern women politicians not since ann richards speak in that sort of frank way. i mean there was this preacherly cadence also. that she had. southern swagger. a woman who knows how to shoot a gun. when she ran for secretary of state. she had ad. she had two grandmothers talking about her life and, and sort of, a casting her background as, as a person who grew up around strong women. you are going to see her in this race. tomorrow they will release a directed camera. 60 second. she is not going to let mitch mcconnell get out there early. really try to define her as an othe

the senator from florida is right. it passed with very strong support in the house, and in my view, a similar bill containing some of the salient provisions in the house will pass the senate. but it is important that that bill be discussed. and i will tell you, madam president, that one of the concerns that i have is i do not want to see the v.a. politicized. it is one thing to say -- which i agree with -- that if a hospital administrator is incompetent, the secretary should be able to get rid of that administrator without a whole lot of paperwork. i agree with that. it is another thing to say that if a new administration comes in, whether it is a democratic or republican, that somebody sitting in the secretary's office can say, i want to get rid of 20 or 30 or 50 hospital administrators because we have other people that we have in there, and we can just get rid of them, and they don't have a rate to defending themselves. i -- and they don't have a right to defend themselves. i worry about that. so clearly we have to d

senator warren's election in 2012 is the first u.s. senator from massachusetts likely became recognized as an exciting fresh face on the political scene. she has captivated the public with a clear voice a powerful message and a track record taking on and rigged against hard-working people like her own family does in her words who live on the ragged edge of the middle class. it has been our lives work as the title of her books are just to give hard-working americans a fighting chance. what you may not know about senator warren is in addition to her champion of bankruptcy reform is a lawyer and consumer advocate and taking on the big banks enter teaching had most recently harvard law school she is a prolific writer. i just found out this is her tenth book. she is written quite a few scholarly books. she has written several books with her daughter in this book by the way she wrote by herself i would say with an assist from her daughter but really she wrote it by yourself which is quite an accomplishment. it is as you know if you have read

on the energy bill in the senate seven years ago, the last time the senate dealt with energy, every senator could have every amendment they wanted on anything they wanted to talk about, because that was the senate. one of the prices, one of the prices you paid for that six-year term was you might have to vote on some things you'd rather not vote on. now we have the six-year term, but the leader of the majority doesn't want us to vote on things that the majority may not want to vote on, and there are probably people in the minority that don't want to vote either. not voting is a pretty safe thing apparently politically but it's not the best thing for the country. so i'd like to see a real debate on energy. and one of the things i'd like to see is the amendment that i've offered to this bill to have a point of order to be sure that at least 60 senators would have to approve a carbon tax. i offered a similar amendment to the budget last year, in 2013, and 53 of my colleagues, 52 of my colleagues agreed with me for a majority vote of 53 that said, no, we don't want to have a carbon tax. and if

you responded to senator stabenow, senator schumer's questions about currency. senator stabenow pointed out stronger to of house members have insisted by the finding that letter, signed their name to only. stronger to senators have insisted that could to be part of tpp. my question, i would want you to answer this yes or no because want to get to some detailed in the weeds questions but are you prepared to risk tpp by not including meaningful currency cy provisions indiscriminate? >> i'm sorry but i can't answer that yes or no. all i can say is where containing to work, treasury department, ourselves, on this issue in to see how best to address the underlying concern. >> you are unwilling -- i will answer that this would. do you plan to include a strong currency provisions? i know you say you're working on currency but are you planning to put in, put a provision as strong as the literacy received which have not yet answered by the way about currency? >> again we're continuing to consult with you, other members, stakeholders about how best to address the issue. >

senate? he's so proud of, he is a he demanding the -- he's demanding the house pass it. if that's true, mr. salzman is correct. i would be prepared to have somebody dispute it. then he goes on to say this, and i agree with this line: "if there is --" he is talking about all stem tbrad waits now. "if there were a talent shortage, where are the market indicators? namely, wage increases?" so, mr. donahue and your friends at the chamber of commerce, you believe in the free market. why are wages down if we have a shortage of workers? why aren't wages going up? well, another businessman said recently, there are 600,000 jobs in manufacturing that are going unfilled today. this immigration bill can go a long way toward helping us fill these positions. well, great scott ... i've seen instances where thousands of people apply for just a few jobs. doesn't he know, first of all -- does he not have any interest, first of all, that our goal as policy-makers for the united states of america, should be, wait

it's time for the senate to be the senate again. the presiding officer: under the previous order -- mr. mcconnell: i still have the floor, mr. president. finally, mr. president, on an entirely different matter, i want to speak today about a brave young u.s. army soldier from my home state of kentucky who was lost in battle. sergeant jeremy r. summers of brooksville, kentucky, perished on july 14, 2011, from wounds suffered when the enemy attacked his unit with small arms fire in the paktika province of afghanistan. he was 27 years old. for his service in uniform, sergeant summers received many awards, medals and decorations, including the bronze star medal, the purple heart medal, two army commendation medals, the army achievement medal, the army good conduct medal, the national defense service medal. the afghanistan campaign medal with bronze service star, the global war on terrorism expeditionary medal, the global war on terrorism service medal, the korean defense service medal, the army service ribbon, three overseas service ribb

i want to thank senator mccain. [ applau >>se i want to thank senator mccain and senator mansion for their kind word and i am honored to be introduced by such extraordinary public servants. i am grateful for my husband and children for the support and i want to recognize my parents for instilling in me the israel of public service. as a second generation greek immigrant, i was raised to be thankful for the opportunities this nation provide and appreciate the responsibilities that come with them. throughout my childhood, my father was a doctor and a small business man and my mom was a teach sk teacher and set a great example in me. it is that example that is part of why i sit here. whether in the public or private sector i focus by work on building strong relationships, building strong teams, and delivering results. in my roll as omb director i worked with members of this committee and other toes return the budget process to regular order and drive toward progress on the issues we all care deeply about. if confirmed, i look forward to working alongside the remarkable men and women of

i said i'm sitting down with senator reid. he said ask him why there have only been eight republican amendments voted on over the years? they feel as if they don't get a chance to vote on their own amendments. >> it's an easy question to answer. why have i had to overcome 500 filibusters on motions that mean nothing except to eat up time. we were given the assurance that will could be no motions to proceed necessary. of course that lasted about a week and a half. so i say to my republican friends, let us get on these bills. we use of hundreds and hundreds of hours on waste. on the floor today i said everybody be aware out there in tv land, why are we doing nothing today? because we are now in another filibuster. keep in mind that i'm sure the bill that they were talking about today is energy efficiency. >> it's about the energy bill. >> we've been working on that for a year. i have used different illustrations -- >> you had the greased pig. >> working with my senate republican colleagues reminds me of chasing one of these litt

now there's a senate republican calling for a select senate panel on benghazi. so what was it that senate republicans missed that from boehner? why create another select committee when we're trying to consolidate? >> part of it is that there's interim competitiveness. it also may be that the democrats have a little different approach and maybe wanting to join in to that panel. it's still up in the air about what they're going to do on the house probe. what is interesting here is that when you have a select panel, they can go across the board. they're not limited by authority that a specific committee might have and that's why the republicans who are fueling this are arguing they need a select committee, because you need somebody to get the big view and even though the opponents of these committees say we've done this before, the argument back is, well, no one has done it who could go across the board and try to connect dots in a different way. >> for fear of not getting to this next topic i'm going to lead with you on this, ed, regarding new jersey governor chri

signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is: is it the sense of the senate that the debate on the nomination of james alan soto of arizona to be the united states district judge for the district of arizona, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and the nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? if not, on this vote, the vote is 61 in the affirmative. 35 in the negative. the motion is agreed to. cloture having been invoked, the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: james alan soto of arizona to be united states district judge for the district of arizona. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will proceed to the consideration of the following nominations which the clerk will report. the clerk: department of state, helen meagher la lime of the district of columbia to

but senator shaheen and senator portman are just not the thrown-in-the-towel type of senators and in effect, they doubled down and went back to work on some of the most challenging issues. so at that point after the fortunate setback of last september, they in effect doubled down and worked to bring an even broader range of members and stakeholders together here in the senate to form a consensus, make this bill even better, improve the array of commonsense approaches taken to promote energy efficiency, and increase the chance of the best possible energy efficiency bill becoming law. and i'd like to highlight at this point just how challenging this work was and how pleased i was that the senate was able to get together. at that point, mr. president, one of the most challenging issues dealt with the question of the then existing requirements that new federal buildings be designed to phase out their use of fossil fuel -- fossil fuel generated energy by 2030. and this is important for a variety of reasons. of course, the federal government is a major property owner in our country, one, a

. >> thank you, senator grassley. senator nelson is next. surenator grassley, i'm as that anyone from hinton, west virginia, population 5000, is going to do ok. and i would assume you can tell a lot about where a person is going by where they have been. and the fact that you have had such accolades from no less than senator coburn and the same from me as the way that you have in a veryur self difficult department that is as hardheaded from this senator's perspective as is hhs, and yet, you were there. you were responsive. appreciateto know, i it. i think there are a lot of other folks here. i just want to ask you quickly about medicaid and medicare. we -- if our governor and legislature in the state of florida expanded medicaid under a, it would cover an additional 1.2 million people that otherwise, when they get sick, they are going to end up in an emergency room and all the rest of us are going to end up paying for them through our insurance premiums. not even to speak off, it is the humanitarian thing to do for people to have access to he