the forseeable future was not well regarded in our country, and we need to make this commitment. and we have made the commitment today with appropriations to assure that we are going to continue our preeminence in space. we are going to go beyond low-earth orbit. and we're going to see what's beyond the moon in an asteroid or mars. see if there is life there and what we can learn from life that might be enhanced on earth. so it is important that we now have the heavy lift launch vehicle designed that nasa released last month. it will carry our astronauts in the orion multipurpose crew vehicle to the moon, the asteroids and beyond. now that this decision has finally been made, we can focus on the future, and i think americans expect that from us. nasa has announced its

commitment to the path that congress has authorized, and now we can provide the funds to accomplish the development of that rocket. so i think in addition to the things that the chairman has already mentioned, i'm certainly the supporter of america competes, i would like to do much more in the science area, the hard science because i think that is our future, it's how we create jobs and keep our economy vibrant, having the new products and the new ways to create more jobs and more economic vitality in the technical sector in our country. so i'm very pleased, i thank the senator from maryland and her staff for helping and working with us. they have been great partners. i couldn't have asked for any better, and they have done a job that was hard to do with the

lower levels of spending and that we all expect and accept, and i think we have been able to cover the priorities well. i just want to end on a lighter note, mr. president, and say that my friend, the senator from missouri, is sitting here and i want to point out that this will be the last time in the next ten days that he and i are going to be on the same side, because, of course, the mighty texas rangers are going to beat the st. louis cardinals in the world series very shortly. thank you, mr. president, and i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. tester: thank you, mr. president. i rise to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tester: mr. president, i rise today to honor the this weekend's passing of my friend eloise cobell. she was an extraordinary montana tannian, an american and american indian. i am proud to have nominated her for the congressional gold medal. as a role model for every

american child, she deserves that highest honor. eloise pepion cobell was a star, truly a guiding light for all americans who fight for justice and fairness. eloise's tireless leadership set this nation on a new course. what she accomplished reminds us that any person anywhere in this country has the power to stand up and make right a wrong, no metro how difficult that it may be. my wife sharla and i, our thoughts and prayers are with her husband alvin, her son and their entire family. we join the blackfeet nation and all montanans in mourning and honoring and celebrating the life of this extraordinary montanan. future generations will learn about eloise's legacy and they will be inspired to follow her lead. she will always be remembered as an american hero. i have many memories of eloise. i first met her when i was a state senator. i knew what she was working on but i never imagined she would

get as far as she did. not many people in this world have the determination that eloise had. from those early days until just a few weeks ago, i talked to her numerous times. she had been fighting the federal government in court for a decade and wouldn't take no for an answer. she knew what she wanted and wanted it yesterday. after i finally convinced her that i wanted to help, our relationship changed. we became friends working together on a common goal, a settlement that was fair and balanced, and believe me, as my friend, she wasn't afraid to call me and tell me what she thought on how to get things done. but i will never forget talking to her on the afternoon of november 19, 2010. the senate had just approved the settlement. our bill paved the way to send her settlement to president obama for his signature. she knew it would mark the end of an historic battle. i called to make sure that she knew the good news. that tougher than nails woman was sitting in her home in montana where the fierce montana

winds had dropped the temperature to 17 below zero. 30 years of determination flowed through the tears. she was happy, she was relieved and she was thankful. it was in 1996 that she took a deep breath, gritted her teeth and filed a historic lawsuit seeking justice on behalf of herself and 500,000 individual american indians. at that time, all she wanted was an accounting for what they were owed. her decision changed her life and the lives of every american indian for generations to come. her 15-year court battle resulted in the largest settlement with the government in american history. throughout the years, through painful criticism and general support, she relentlessly led the charge against government mismanagement. she was unyielding in her pursuit of justice for one of this nation's most vulnerable populations. after battling the federal government for nearly 30 years, president obama signed into law the $3.4 billion settlement of a

lawsuit the congress had approved earlier that year. at the signing ceremony, president obama said, and i quote -- "it's finally time to make things right. after all, the government had mismanaged the lands in question for 123 years. above everything else, history will remember elouise cobell for bringing justice to her community. she demonstrated the greatest asset in the country -- kinship. as the years wore on, she fought harder for her family and community. when montana elected me to the united states senate, elouise wasn't far behind me in washington. she told me many of the members she represented were elderly. the longer that this case was to drag on, the fewer of them that would see justice they deserved. that's why i was disappointed earlier this month when a washington court allowed several appeals of this case to move forward. for many years over the years, elouise cobell earned recognition as a respected leader and role model. she walked in two worlds. born in the blackfeet

reservation in -- she was one of eight children. she was one of the leaders of the blackfeet nation. she and her husband operated a cattle ranch. she founded the first land trust in indian country. for 13 years she served as cochair of the native american bank and a trustee of the national museum for the american indian. she served as trustee for the nature conservancy of montana. she was executive director of the native american community development corporation. in 2004, the national center for american indian enterprise development bestowed upon her the jay silver heels achievement award. elouise remained true to her local community and to her cultural identity, but she also achieved success at the highest levels of non-indian society. elouise graduated from great falls business college and attended montana state university where she received an honorary doctorate. in 2011, dartmouth college awarded her an honorary degree of doctor of humane letters. the president of dartmouth told her you have fought david and

goliath and won. her story of courage is an inspiration to native people and indeed all americans. she demonstrated that our legal system is strong enough to protect even the most vulnerable, and this nation and the most -- the most powerful on earth, keeps the promises that we make. she was a remarkable woman. she will dearly -- be missed dearly by all who knew her. i want to thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. a senator: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to address the senate regarding judicial nominees from pennsylvania. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. toomey: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to offer my full support for the nomination of judge cathy bissoon to serve as a u.s. district judge for the western district of pennsylvania. but before i begin, i'd like to quickly express my appreciation to my colleague, senator casey, whom i see across the chamber at this moment to thank him for his collaboration in our joint

efforts to fill the vacancies on the federal bench from pennsylvania. as i think many of our colleagues would agree, the confirmation of federal judges is one of the most important constitutional functions of any member of the senate, and since i was sworn in, senator casey and i have worked together on a bipartisan basis to identify and advance qualified candidates for the federal bench. as part of this effort, i have supported president obama's three district court nominees for pennsylvania, even though they were first appointed before i was sworn into the senate. and i'm pleased that this spirit of cooperation has led to today's confirmation vote for judge bissoon. i remain hopeful that we will have a number of confirmation votes in the very near future as senator casey and i continue working together to recommend qualified individuals to serve on the federal bench. a quick couple of words about judge bissoon. she was nominated last year following the recommendations of senators casey and specter and

was renominated by this administration in january. judge cathy bissoon has had a distinguished career in the law. she was born and raised in new york city where she attended alfred university and graduated suma cum laude with a degree in political science. she earned her law degree from harvard university before moving to pittsburgh to join reed smith, an international law firm where she has practiced labor and employment law in particular. she went on to clerk for chief u.s. district judge gary lancaster and later returned to reed smith in 2001. judge bissoon left private practice in 2008 to resume her current position as a magistrate judge for the western district of pennsylvania. her strong work ethic, discipline and in particular her experience in labor and employment law make her well qualified to preside over cases in the western district of pennsylvania, a disict with a heavy employment caseload. earlier this year, i had the opportunity to sit down with judge bissoon and to learn more about her legal philosophy.

she stressed to me in that conversation that she understands very well a judge's role is to enforce the law as written, regardless of the judge's personal beliefs about that law. she have justice roberts came up with a metaphor for this which has become rather famous in which he described the role of the judge as that of an official on a playing field but not one of the players. judge bissoon confirmed that that's exactly her view of the role of a judge, that it is the role of a legislator, branched together with the executive to pass the law, and the role of the judge to enforce the law impartially. i am confident that she understands that role, has internalized that and would bring that as well as a great deal of experience, judicial acumen to this very, very important role, and that is why i am supporting her nomination. following a hearing before the senate judiciary committee, judge bissoon was unanimously approved by the committee back in july. i have strong confidence in judge bissoon's abilities, and i

encourage my senate colleagues to join me in confirming her as a federal district judge for the western district in a vote that will be occurring later this evening. in addition to judge bissoon's nomination, i'd like to briefly express my support for two other pennsylvania nominees who were also unanimously approved by the judiciary committee back in july, and i hope they will eve receive floor consideration very soon. mark cornak, a nominee for the western district of pennsylvania, graduated from the university of pittsburgh where he was recognized as a national merit scholar. he went on to graduate suma cum laude from the university of pittsburgh's school of law where he served as editor in chief of the law review and was awarded the order of the coif. following graduation he served as a law clerk to the honorable circuit judge for the fourth circuit. since 1982, he has practiced labor and employment law. throughout his career, he has been a careful student of the law and he has demonstrated an

intellectual curiosity and a commitment to integrity which i know will serve him well if he is confirmed to the bench. finally, robert mariani is a nominee for the middle district of pennsylvania. he is a cum laude graduate from villanova university, received his j.d. from syracuse university's college of law. following graduation, he established a law firm where he began a career as a civil litigator in the scranton area, and he has done this for about three decades now. mr. mariani is a respected member of the scranton community. he was nominated for a state superior court seat in 1993 by then-governor robert casey. he served as a mediator or an arbitrator for a variety of legal matters. he is currently the sole shareholder of robert marianip.c. his diligence, professionalism and knowledge of the law would be an asset to the bench. earlier this year, i had the opportunity to meet separately with both mr. hornak and

mr. mariani, and i am very confident of their intellect, their experience, their integrity, temperament, commitment to public service and to their understanding of the proper role of a judge. i believe that these character traits and this range of experience will enable them to effectively serve the people of pennsylvania. i am therefore pleased to rise today to speak on their behalf and to urge all of my colleagues to support their confirmation. mr. leahy: if the senator would yield on that point? he is absolutely right, they were reported out of the senate judiciary committee on july 21 unanimously. they were cleared that day on the democratic side. we were perfectly willing to bring them up and voice vote them that day or the next day or the day after. we were perfectly willing to have them voice voted in august before we went out. we were perfectly willing to have them voted in september. we were perfectly willing to have them voted early in

october. because of your support and senator casey's support. for some reason that has not been cleared on your side of the aisle. i would be happy to work with my friend from pennsylvania. after all, we each have the same first name. it's a pleasure to work with both the senators of pennsylvania. mr. too toomey: i thank the chairman. it's my understanding that we are going to vote this evening on judge bissoon. i would certainly enjoy the opportunity of working closely with the chairman to ensure that we could have votes as soon as possible on the other nominees. with that, i yield the floor. mr. leahy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont.

under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, cathy bissoon of pennsylvania to be united states district judge for the western district of pennsylvania. mr. leahy: have the yeas and nays been ordered? the presiding officer: no, they have not. mr. leahy: i request the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask consent to put my full statement in the record because i see the senior senator from pennsylvania on the floor who wishes to speak, and i'm going to yield to him in just a moment. first, i would ask consent that i speak briefly about the transportation-h.u.d. appropriations bill that the senate is going to next be debating. the presiding officer: without ÷bjection.

mr. leahy: i thank senator murray and senator collins for all the assistance they provided on several issues. they especially important to vermont in the wake of hurricane irene's massive devastation. i've talked many times on the floor about what happened in vermont in hurricane irene. i was born in vermont. i've never seen anything like this. it remines me of the story for my grandparents told me of a flood in the early part of the 20th century, the flood of 1927. we've seen roads, businesses, farms all over the state wiped out. as i travel around the state both my wife and i have gone all over the state, gone with the governor, gone with the adjutant general, seeing things that literally brought me to tears if our beautiful, beautiful state getting hit like that. it's very clear as i've talked

to the people working, who everybody has pitched in whether they trr the town that got hit or the next town over that might not have been hit, everybody's pitched in. but it's clear that our little state of 660,000 people we're stretched to the limit. if we don't have adequate federal disaster recovery aid vermont won't have the resources needed to rebuild the life lines these destroyed roads, homes and businesses representative and the daily lives of so many vermonters and their communities. several federal disaster programs are he wouldfully underfunded. the emergency relief fund has less than $140 million left in reserves. has a backlog of more than $2 billion to repair projects from previous disasters, including $700 million from vermont. h.u.d. has no available funding to provide community block grant funding to help our state rebuild. so i pushed hard for

$1.9 billion in emergency highway funding and for the state waivers that allow states to access the repair work they need without overly restrictive cost-sharing requirements. i talked to the governor, congressman welch, other state and municipal officials across vermont about vermont's rebuilding needs. the governor was down here last week. we sat in my office and talked about the needs, these waivers are at the top of the priority list are our little state is going to be devastated. there is also in this bill provisions that will permanently shift heavy trucks from overburdened secondary roads which have turned into dirt roads because of the flooding. they wind through many downtowns in our state and put the trucks on interstate highways. that's going to help vermont businesses and communities struggling from thrarnlg number of state and local roads damaged

by irene. i was glad to work with senator collins, included a vermont provision and a similar provision in maine in this. again, bipartisan cooperation has succeeded. we've also included $400 million in mdged cdgb funding, a critical down payment to address housing needs of those hurt by irene and flooding this past spring. we've got to do this right away. it will be snowing in vermont in a matter of weeks. the day's beautiful there today. i've lived there long enough to know, you don't like the weather, wait a minute, it will change. and it will get cold. we've got to get people back in their homes. so vermonters are working hard to make the necessary -- but we need this. we need this help. as a vermonter said to me, you know, senator, it appears we could spend unlimited amounts of

money to rebuild roads and bridges in iraq and afghanistan, they just blow them up. can't we find some, even a small portion of that money to rebuild roads and bridges and homes in america, by americans, for americans, and we americans will protect them. and i thank the distinguished senior senator from pennsylvania and i yield to him. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i rise to speak in favor of the nomination of judge cathy bisoon. i ask consent for two requests, one request to speak for no more than ten minutes and the second request is to submit a fuller statement for the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i first of all want to thank senator leahy, chairman of the judiciary committee judiciary committee, working with both parties to move the theez nominations along.

senator toomey my colleague from pennsylvania for his cooperation in moving our pennsylvania judicial nominees forward, i'm grateful for his help and his cooperation. i rise to speak about judge cathy bisoon, the daughter of brooklyn, new york, born there and became a pennsylvanian after law school. cathy bisoon is of hispanic oarnl in, her mother from was the west indies and her dad from puerto rico. when she was just 4 years old and living in the williamsburg section of brooklyn, her father was stabbed to death in a park blocks from her home. her mother remarried and her family moved to queens, and as i mentioned before, she moved to pittsburgh after law school. this is a remarkable american story, an american story of economic achievement, of overcoming obstacles, and of striving for excellence.

her educational background is stellar as well. she received her j.d. in 1993 from harvard law school after receiving her degree in political science summa cum laude in 1990 from alfred university in alfred, new york. a summary of her career is as follows. her service as united states magistrate judge for the western district of pennsylvania, a position that she held in the court's pittsburgh division since 2008. from 2007 until her appointment to the bench, judge bisoon was in private practice in pittsburgh as director of the law firm of cohen and rigsby where she served as the head of the labor and employment group. previously she was a partner in reid-smith from 2001 to 2007 and an associate in that same firm beginning in 1993.

so a long record of service as a lawyer and advocate, and someone whose career has been marked by distinction in the law as well as as a judge. she also served as the reid-smith's director of diversity for six years, a diversity initiative she developed to recruit, maintain and promote minority lawyers. from 1994 to 1995 she was a law clerk for the honorable gary l. lancaster of the u.s. district court for the western district of pennsylvania. so this is a nomination i think that has not only received bipartisan support but it's a nomination that i think we can all be proud to advance and devote -- to vote on today. i urge all my colleagues to give an affirmative vote to judge bisoon. let me quickly, because i know we're limited to time, we will be as my colleague, senator toomey mentioned a couple of moments ago, we moving we hope to the consideration of two other nominees and i want to put

some comments on the record for both of those. and there will be more in my written statement. mark horn action, who was born in homestead, pennsylvania, he received his law degree summa cum laude in 1981 from the university of pifl school of law, second in his class and editor in chief of the law review. he received his undergrawd degree -- undergraduate degree in 1978 from the university of pittsburgh, was a member of a honor society, and on the dean's list. he was a partner in the law firm of buchanan and rooney since 1982 where he specializes in civil litigation, labor and employment law, media defense, governmental representation and is a remember of the firm's executive committee. and as i said before, i'll make -- include other

references to his career as a lawyer and advocate. and i've known mark for a long, long time. know him to be a person of integrity and someone who would serve our state with distinction in the western district of pennsylvania. and then finally, someone i've known a very long time for over 20 years, robert david mariani. bob mariani has been in practice as a civil litigator in my hometown of scranton for some 34 years. his educational background is equally distinguished as our other nominees. received his law degree cum laude in 1976 from syracuse university school of law --, college of law i should say and his undergraduate degree in 1972 from villanova university. also cum laude. since 2001 he's been the sole shareholder in the law firm of robert d. mariani, p.c.

he's been an instructor for five years in the union leadership academy program sponsored by penn state university and finally was sole proprietor in his own law firm from 1993 to 2001 and then of course partner in the same firm or similar firm by the name of mariani and greco from 79 to 93. when my father served as governor of pennsylvania he nominated bob mariani in 1993 to fill a cake eans -- vacancy on the superior court. so bob mariani comes to this appointment with great distinction, a long and distinguished career in the law, and i know he'll be a great judge in the middle district of pennsylvania. so, mr. president, i'll conclude by saying i could say more about judge bisoon, i could say more about mark hornak

and bob mariani but the record will be amplified by a written record of their achievements. i'm grateful for each of them putting themselves forward for public service on our federal bench and we're looking forward today to a strong vote for judge bisoon when we get to her vote this afternoon. with that i would yield the floor and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presthe presiding officer:t objection. all time is expired. the question is on the nomination. the yeas and nays were preeving ordered. -- were previously order. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: is there any senator wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, on this vote the yeas are 82, the nays are 3, the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motions to reconsider are

considered made and laid upon the table, the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate will resume legislative session. the senator from maine. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, shortly, along with the senator from colorado, i'm going to discuss an amendment that -- to the agriculturing appropriations bill that we've introduced. but first, i'm going to yield to the senator from texas for the purpose of his introducing an amendment. mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i thank the senator from maine. i have an amendment at the desk, i'd ask that it be called up and ask for its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: without objection, the pending amendment is set aside. the clerk will report amendment. the clerk: the senator from texas, mr. cornyn proposes amendment numbered 775 to

amendment 738. mr. cornyn: i'd ask that further reading of the amendment be dispensdz with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: i'll be back tomorrow to discuss the amendment but at this time i yield to the senator from maine. ms. collins: thank you. mr. president, i rise this evening to discuss amendment numbered 757 that i have offered with the senator from not colorado, senator mark udall, to protect the ability of schools to serve healthy vegetables in the national school lunch and school breakfast programs. mr. president, this is a bipartisan amendment that we're offering. it's cosponsored by senators crapo, risch, snowe, ayotte, wyden, johanns, nelson of

nebraska, mikulski, and hoeven. mr. president, earlier this year the u.s. department of agriculture proposed a rule that would limit servings of a certain category of vegetables that includes white potatoes, corn, peas, and lima beans. it would limit them to a total of one cup per week in the national school lunch program. the proposed rule would also ban this category of vegetables altogether from the school breakfast program. our bipartisan amendment would prevent the department of agriculture from moving forward with this arbitrary limitation. i'm concerned that the proposed rule would impose significant

costs on schools and would limit the flexibility that they need to serve nutritious, affordable meals to their students. now, for those who are less familiar with this issue, let me give my colleagues some background. current law already requires the school lunch and breakfast programs to follow the most recent dietary guidelines for americans. last year, the usda released the newest guidelines that called for all americans of all ages to eat more vegetables. the 2010 dietary guidelines list four nutrients of concern. they are potassium, dietary fiber, calcium, and vitamin d.

the guidelines state that dietary intake of these four nutrients are low enough to be a public health concern for both adults and children. since usda is concerned about a lack of these nutrients in the american diet, it would make sense for the department to promote good sources of these critical nutrients. yet, mr. president, the usda's proposed rule would actually limit vegetables that are good sources of these nutrients. usda should not limit their availability but instead should encourage their healthy preparation. for example, here are some unusually facts about potatoes that are often overlooked.

potatoes -- if we could have the other chart -- potatoes have more potassium than bananas, a food commonly associated with this nutrient. potatoes are cholesterol-free, low in fat and sodium, and can be served in countless healthy ways. in fact, a medium baked potato contains 15% of the daily recommended value of fiber -- that's one of those nutrients of concern -- 27% of the daily recommended value for vitamin b-6, 28% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin c. this is a great unusually bargain -- nutritional bargain at about a nickel per serving. now, mr. president, i'm going to go on and discuss the rest of the problems with this rule and

the solution, but i know that my colleague from colorado is under a time constraint, so at this point i'm going to yield to him, my partner in this endeavor, for his statement, and then i will reclaim the floor and continue with my discussion. thank you. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. udall: i thank the senator from maine for her graciousness and for her leadership on this important amendment that she and i brought to the floor. clearly, the 2012 ag appropriations bill that will direct the usda to provide adequate flexibility for schools to deliver school meals while affectivelily managing costs is very, very important. but we've got to do it in the right way and i want to share my thinking on what the right way is. in january of this year the usda issued a proposed rule for

nutrition standards in the school lunch and school breakfast programs that would limit total servings of certain vegetables, notably potatoes, corn, green peas and lima beans to one cup per week and eliminate potatoes from school breakfasts. i've heard from school lunch providers in colorado that this restriction will result in significant challenges for food service operations through increased costs, reduced flexibility and decreased school meal participation. now, this is especially concerning for them in my state and i think as the senator from maine has pointed out all over our country because school districts are facing increasingly tight budgets. many children from colorado and across the nation depend on school meal programs to keep them nourished and ready to learn. and that's why it is important for school meals to include healthy food options while also allowing sufficient flexibility to school meal providers to help build a foundation for healthy

eating going forward. in order to achieve this goal, a very worthy goal, it's important that we implement the bipartisan child nutrition reauthorization that the congress passed last year. and in order to assure that implementation is successful for both kids and schools, it's important that the usda takes into consideration the insights and the experiences of those who are in the school cafeterias every day across america serving meals to our children. these are well-trained and qualified individuals who see our children, our students on a daily basis, they know their parents, and they very well may be parents of students themselves. and here's what they're saying, mr. president, i'll read to you from a letter that the colorado school nutrition association sent me recently regarding this proposed rule. "we believe it is a realistic and attainable goal to create meal plans to meet the current

dietary guidelines for americans while allowing schools the flexibility to manage costs and maintain student participation. improved nutrition is a vital aspect of our nation's health, one we heartily support and we believe it can be accomplished without significant damage to the programs we're trying to improve and without additional strain on local schools." end of quote. mr. president, that's what the collins-udall amendment intends to do. it would direct the usda to not set maximum limits on the frequency schools can serve one food or vegetable while allowing students to moderate portion size appropriately. our amendment will ensure schools have the flexibility to serve healthy fruits and vegetables consistent with guidelines established jointly by the usda and the department of health and human services called the dietary guidelines for americans. some wonder why senator collins and i have taken such issue with

this proposed rule. and yes, we both do come from potato-producing states and beet believe that potatoes have gotten a bad rap. the truth is that when prepared properly, the potato can provide critical nutrients to students that will help them lead healthy lives and be ready to learn in the classroom. in some areas, increased flexibility to serve this nutritious and available vegetable can help schools manage costs so they can afford to purchase other, more expensive vegetables. where i believe school meal providers, pro tateo producers and health advocates can agree this issue is less about any one vegetable and more about the preparation of the vegetable. anything can be fried or drowned in any number of fats available to us as consumers. let's be honest. even agriculture secretary vilsack agreed in testimony before the agricultural committee it's not the potato,

it's in the way in which potatoes are being prepared and provided. we should be encouraging schools to prepare potatoes and other fruits and vegetables appropriately, not limiting their flexibility and potentially increasing their costs unnecessarily. mr. president, i've spent a good portion of my time in the u.s. congress working to promote physical activity, get children and families into the great outdoors and reduce the amount of time children spend in front of the tv and video games. through my healthy kids from day one act, and the national kids to parks initiative, i've focused on getting kids to eat healthier and become more active. another way we promote healthy lifestyles is making sure that kids have access to needed nutrients and balanced meals. that's why congress, that's us, directed the usda to ensure all fruits and vegetables are part of federal food nutrition programs particularly school meal programs.

i believe, i know senator collins believes, there's a balance we can find here, a balance that preserves needed flexibility for our cash-strapped schools, but also preserves guidelines that will ensure our kids are getting the best nutrients possible in their school meals, including from the potato. so instead of pointing fingers, we need to provide commonsense solutions that help schools, kidsings and their parents make wide choices that in turn will make a healthier america. a healthy country is a strong country. and i believe that this amendment is an important tool to ensure that our schools can be an active and effective participant in ensuring our children are healthy, well-cared for and ready to become the next leaders in our goal of winning the global economic race. i thank the senator from maine for yielding time. i look forward to continuing to work with her to reach a successful conclusion and our amendment is agreed to. i thank the senator.

ms. collins: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank the senator from colorado for his excellent remarks. both of us share the goal that all americans share for our children, of making sure that they get a healthy diet and for many children that is -- it is so critical that the school lunch and school breakfast program provide that diet. unfortunately, the usda's rule does not in many ways comply with the dietary guidelines, which recognize that americans of all ages tend to be short on two particular knew trents -- potassium and fiber, that poe da--that potatoes are abundant n providing.

when we think of potassium, most of us think of bananas. but in fact, as this chart shows, the potato actually has far more potassium in it than a banana. and, indeed -- and ironically -- the dietary guidelines for all americans include an ape an appx exclusively listing foods which are rich in potassium and baked potato is the first vegetable listed because it is such an excellent source of potassium. potatoes are also serve as vehicles for other vegetables. i recently discussed this issue with the director of school nutrition for two communities in maine, york, and kitery, maine. her name is doris demures. doris told me that the kids in her school system rave about

baked potato bars, where they can load baked potatoes with broccoli, shaved carrots, chiefs, salsa, vegetarian crsm hili, beerntion and many other healthy items. doris also point the ow to me that this is a particularly popular option for students who are vegetaria vegetarians and te seeing an increasing number of students who are vegetarians in their school systems. yet, mr. president, if this rule were to go into effect, a school serving a medium baked potato on monday would be prevented from serving a full portion of potatoes or corn at any other lunch during that week.

think how absurd that result is. these two vegetables -- corn and potatoes -- are central to a variety of dishes: soups, chowders, stews, vegetable pie, shepherd's pie. one food service director told me of her school's attempt to get children to eat fresh whole foods rather than heavily processed foos. thus, she developed a farm-to-school program in cooperation with a local farmer. the students actually went out into the field, picked the corn, husked it themselves, and then were servinged the corn for lunch enjoying the experience of consuming wholesome, locally grown food. yet, as she has pointed out to me, the usda's proposed rule

would prevent her from serving an ear of fresh corn one day of the week and a baked potato another day of the same week. that is an utterly absurd result. that's why people get so frustrated with some of the regulations that come out of washington. mr. president, aim also very concerned about the impact on the school breakfast program. it is a voluntary program, unlike the school lunch program. some school districts could be forced to drop out of the breakfast program as a direct result of this rule because it could increase costs by up to 50 cents per breakfast. you start multiplying that across all the breakfasts served

by these school systems, and you're soon talking about real money. this would be a disaster, if schools chose to terminate their participation in the school breakfast program for those students who rely on this program. only washington could impose a rule that purports to improve school nutrition but actually causes schools to drop out of the very program that's supposed to provide that nutrition. in fact, mr. president, many of our colleagues in the congressional black caucus in the house have written to secretary vilsack expressing concerns regarding the new costs the proposed rule would impose on schools, particularly schools educating the highest percentage of low-income students. the letter goes on to note that

-- quote -- "for many low-income children, the best, if not all, of the their nutrition comes from programs that the usda administers." end quote. the letter points out that for many schools, they simply do not have the resources that can be diverted to meet much large cost increases. research has shown us time and again that eating a healthy breakfast is critical to academic success. eating breakfast also provides significant health benefits, as we all know. not eating breakfast is associated with excess body weight, especially among children and adolescents, and consuming breakfast has been associated with weight loss and improved nutrition. mr. president, i hope that usda

will listen to the concerns voiced by the professionals who manage these programs. the school nutrition association opposes this restriction and believes that -- quote -- "the consumption of an array of fruits and vegetables should be encouraged and not limited." ththe following organizations ae opposing the department's proposed rule because it would increase costs and limit their flexibility. it includes the american association of school administrators, the national school boards association, the council of great city schools, and the national association of elementary school principals. in my state, the state department of education, the maine p.t.a., the maine school management association, and the

maine principals association have all expressed their support for my amendment. our amendment and their opposition to the usda's ill-conceived rule. these groups represent school administrators, superintendents, school boards, principals. they know. they oversee the schools' food service programs, and they understand the difficulties and costs that this rule would cause. the association of school administrators, for example, wrote to express support for our amendment saying -- quote -- "the overly partnershippiv overe increases the cost of meals so drastically that school districts implementing these changes even receiving the higher reimbursement rate would still be covered for less than

half of the new expenses." the fact is, the proposed rule would impose significant and needless costs on our nation's school districts at a time when they can least afford it. listen to what the cost of this rule is estimated by the department of agriculture itself to be. the usda estimates that this rule could cost as much as $6.8 billion over the next five years. and, mr. president, the lion's share of that cost is going to fall on state and local agencies. the costs associated with the proposed rule would also affect working families who rely on the school meal program.

as one association wrote me, the usda's proposed nutritional guidelines will force schools to raise paid meals' prices. i would ask unanimous consent that the letters from all these organizations be printed in the record at the conclusion of my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: thank you. mr. president, i hope that our colleagues will take a close look at this bipartisan amendment that senator udall and i are offering with the support of many of our colleagues. we need to ensure that our schools can maintain the flexibility that they need to serve healthy meals at an affordable cost. thank you, mr. president. mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, on

behalf of senator murray of washington, i ask unanimous consent to set aside pending amendments and to call up amendment number 772. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from illinois, mr. durbin, for mrs. murray, proposes amendment numbered 727 to amendment numbered 738. -- 772 to amendment numbered 738. mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president. mr. schumer: mr. president, thank you. i want to thank my colleague from illinois for letting me just take care of this matter, which is i hope will be disposed of quickly. i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 1721 -- no, sorry. i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 1721, introduced earlier today. the presiding officer: without objection, the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 1721, a bill to amend section 402 of the personal responsibility and work opportunity reconciliation act of 1996, to extend the eligibility period for -- mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered as read. the presiding officer: without objection. without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask consent the bill be read a third time, that a budgetary paygo statement be read and that the senate proceed to it a vote on passage of the bill. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: senator conrad: this is a statement of budgetary effects of paygo legislation for s. 1721, total budgetary effects of s. 172 is for the five-year

statutory paygo card, total budgetary effects -- mr. schumer: i ask consent that the entire statement be read into the record. the presiding officer: without objection. question is on the passage of the bill. all those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes have it. the bill is passed. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table and that any statements related to the bill be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: and, mr. president, just to speak for a minute on the bill we have just passed, this is a bill that i introduced a couple of weeks ago along with senators leahy, gillibrand, men ne menendez, frn and klobuchar. it is called the s.s.i. extension of 2011.

the has just held a voice vote and passed this bill and i believe that's because it is a truly worthy piece of legislation tsm accomplishes three incredibly important objectives at the same time. first, the bill ensures that approximately 5,600 disabled refugees will not lose their life-sustaining benefits that are their only safety net protecting them from homelessness, illness and other effects of extreme poverty. many of the disabled refugees of this bill are people who aided american troops overseas in iraq and afghanistan and have risked their lives for american causes, for the american cause. others are victims of torture, or human trafficking. the bill continues the bush administration policy of making sure that this vulnerable group does not lose its only lifeline to stay afloat. but unlike past legislation, the second fact about the bill is that it's fully paid for. it's paid for by imposing a $30

fee on individuals applying for the diversity lottery program, the diversity visa lottery program. each year hundreds of thousands of people apply to be one of the 50,000 selected to enter the u.s. this program has had great success, enriching the american economy with immigrant businesses from countries that are not traditionally represented in our immigrant pool. the one problem with the program is that applying for a lottery ticket -- quote unquote -- is free. and consequently the program has been compromised by third parties fraudulently filing applications for monetary gain. the state department told me that by charging a $30 fee to comply will completely eliminate this misconduct. so finally, the third thing about this bill is that by setting the fee at $30, the congressional budget office, our nonpartisan budget scorekeeper, projects we will actually reduce the deficit by $24 million. so in short, mr. president, this

bill hits the trifecta. it helps a very small and targeted group of the most vulnerable and needy disabled individuals who we have traditionally helped, including many who helped us, helped our troops in both afghanistan and iraq and have come here on the refugee program. second, it eliminates the misconduct in the diversity visa program because once the $30 fee is imposed, there are -- the gamesmanship of those who are gaming the system to make money will disappear. finally it, reduces the federal deficit by $24 million. because this bill is a win-win-win for all sides, i ask that my colleagues in the house take up and pass the bill immediately. the benefit for the folks we're talking about expired on october 1. if the house does not act soon, we will not be able to repair the irreparable harm that will soon be done to these most vulnerable of individuals when they begin missing checks.

again, i'd like to thank my cosponsors and particularly senators leahy and grassley, chairman and ranking member of the relevant judiciary committee as well as senators baucus, hatch, chairman of the finance committee, cornyn and sessions, budget committee; and senator cornyn, who is my ranking member on immigration subcommittee for allowing this bill to pass. i also want to thank senator coburn for working with me to improve this bill. last but not least i'd like to thank senator paul who worked with me the last two weeks to address his concerns in a manner we both think will allow to us get more information to make the refugee program safer and more etperbt. we will soon -- efficient. we will soon be doing something very good by passing this bill, by getting this bill signed into law. and i hope that the house will move quickly and decisively to see that happen as quickly as possible. with that, mr. president, i thank you and yield the floor.

mr. brown: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent to speak in morning business up to ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: i rise to speak about the prescription drug abuse epidemic sweeping my state and the nation. the rampant abuse and trafficking represent a major threat to public health and to law enforcement. more ohioans died in recent years from prescription drug overdoes -- overdoses, legal prescription drug overdoses taken illegally in many cases then from car accidents. in 2008 statistics show oxycodone caused more overdoses in ohio that year than heroin and cocaine combined. prescription drug abuse is one of the fastest growing problems in the nation resulting with ever increasing rates of robberies and other crimes. yesterday i was in a cleveland suburb of fairview park at

oliger drugs. that store has been a target in the last couple of years. i spoke with tom oliger, the owner, fourth-generation owner of this drugstore and he described being held up at gunpoint on more than one occasion. a new report shows drug users and addicts now target seniors for help getting the painkillers to feed their addiction. there's also a rise in the outright theft of stealing these drugs. we're seeing over and over in newscasts and newspapers across the state stories of addicts and criminals targeting pharmacies to obtain painkillers and prescription drugs. last month in parma, another cleveland suburb, a man claiming to have a weapon made off with more than $14,000 worth of prescription painkillers before he was apprehended by the police. that's why i support legislation. i've worked with senator schumer and others on strengthening and focusing enforcement.

it would have the tools to stop and prosecute pharmaceutical theft and robberies. last year, as we toughened penalties for theft, we've also cracked down on the fraud and the trafficking of prescription drugs and also, of course, deal with the human side of counseling and education to help people break that addiction. last year i convened a first of its kind round table in southern ohio where the problem has been most acute in my state with federal and local law enforcement community activists and officials and members from the medical community. they raised a concern with criminal manipulation of ohio's medicaid program which spends upward of $800 million in prescription medicines. while most prescription pain medicines are used as prescribed, after surgery, after some kind of accident, in the case of often people in intense pain from some kind of acute

illness, criminals too often described a fraud of the medicaid system and fleeced ohio's and america's taxpayers by acquiring multiple prescriptions and tpelg them in multiple -- filling them in multiple pharmacies. that's why i introduced legislation that requires all states to establish medicaid lock-in programs to crack down on the use of medicaid cards to obtain and illegally sell these prescription drugs. this bill would prevent drug abusers from acquiring, prescription drug abusers from acquiring access to legal prescription drugs but they're not doing it legally which they may abuse or illegally veal by borrowing from doctors and pharmacists. it means high-risk prescription drug users would be placed in the program and they would only get medicaid assistance when they are limited to one physician and one pharmacy. states would identify prescription drugs that are dispensed under medicaid and represent a high risk of overutilization. nearly 20 states adopted similar

programs. south carolina's medicaid lock-in program targeted high-use beneficiaries and resulted in a 43% decrease in the total number of prescribed prescription pain medications. consider siota county on the ohio river. in this town prescription drugs caused nine of every ten fatal drug overdoses. two-thirds of those cases, individuals involved did not have prescriptions, indicating they obtained the drugs illegally. the government accountability office audited the medicaid program in the five largest states and found 65,000 cases in which medicaid beneficiaries visited six or more doctors and up to 46 different pharmacies to acquire prescriptions. this same report found some 1,800 prescriptions written for dead patients and 1,200 prescriptions written by dead physicians. numbers are staggering. across the country communities, particularly in southeast ohio, it's been tragic, old factory

towns in rural communities have become havens for prescription drug abuse. across the country communities are finding ways to respond and develop strategies to reduce the diversion and abuse of prescription drugs. out of the often sad stories there are successes. last month i was in portsmouth, at the second-chance counseling center. it received critical federal resources. not a lot of dollars but critical dollars for a job retraining program for those recovering from abuse. the center is about second chances, combatting the epidemic with a focus on recovery and rehabilitation helping ohioans with the resources they need to be the productive statistics they want to be. this past july i was at the amthyst family treatment center in columbus. we talked about the administration's comprehensive prescription drug strategy in ways that f.d.a. can crack down

on abuse. the staff at the residents like health protpelgss and community activists described the stories of victims and families they represent. i met with many of those people who are going through these programs and are getting their lives back in order. prescription drug abuse and crime is nonpartisan. it's clear it's an issue of life and death in too many parts of our nation and especially in my state. mr. president, i'd like to share three brief letters describing how this is a human tragedy above and, above all. it's a law enforcement issue. it's a counseling of substance abuse issue. it's an education issue. but fundamentally, it's a human tragedy with the addiction that people have experienced, coupled with the crime that is often committed, coupled with the defrauding of taxpayers. i would like to just read you three stories, letters that were sent to me from my state. one from a rural county, one from a sort of medium-size

county and one i can't large urban -- from a large urban county. "our son david, college graduate, 42 years old, a father, husband for 18 years. he abused prescription drugs, pain-killing medication because of a motorcycle accident ten years earlier. he was a three-year clean drug addict because of the support he was given by so many caring individuals. he was pursuing his master's degree with a 4-point average. in spite of this he passed away last year due to an overdose of oxycontin." amy from stark county writes, in our extended family we have a close family member that's become addicted to prescription drugs. the problem has become so bad for our individual family member that she sought and obtained prescription drugs from dealers two counties away. i always believed drug abuse was something committed by rebel

kwrus high-risk teenagers and young adults. but prescription drug abuse is something that can happen with much older adults who you would think would know better, she writes. in tara, from lucas county, throughout my previous job as director of the antidrug coalition, i personally witnessed many families fall apart because of prescription drug abuse. i'll never forget the day i visited my dear friend at the hospital because her 16-year-old son had overdosed onocracy con continue. the average citizen needs to be educated about proper disposal of their drugs and parents need to be aware of this issue. better policing and controls around the transportation and distribution of prescription drugs is definitely a key step. however, we can all raise the importance of educating ourselves, our schools and our children about how to keep this issue from persisting. as i said, mr. president, it's about law enforcement. it's about drug treatment. it's about education. it's about all of these things. to end these human tragedies that cost taxpayer dollars, that

inflict criminal activity on innocent pharmaceutical -- pharmacists and others and creates so much tragedy for so many might have state's families and so many american families. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wisconsin. mr. johnson: mr. president, in large communities around our country, way too many find themselves in danger by paoeplt who are supposed to love and protect them. their families. each year more than two million women are victims of domestic violence across our country. in kansas an estimated one in

ten adult women will suffer from domestic abuse this year. mr. moran: i'm here this evening to try to give a voice to the hopeless, to those who have often been too afraid to speak out for themselves. domestic violence is not just a problem for women. children and men are all too often its victim as well. throughout october, during domestic violence awareness month, we are especially mindful of these victims and the urgent need to put an end to the cycle of violence. i can imagine that many americans assume that domestic violence does not occur in their neighborhoods or among their friends, with those whom they are aacquainted with. unfortunately, this is not the case. domestic violence does not discriminate by race, gender, age group, education or social status. and three years ago citizens in my hometown of haze, kansas, learned of the tragic death of a young woman from domestic

violence. today i'd like to share with you the story of janna lynn mackey. i shared her story with my colleagues when i worked in the u.s. house of representatives tpwu it bears re -- but it bears repeating because it is a reminder to the need to put an end to this so-called silent crime that plagues hundreds of thousands of homes across our country. janet was born in 1982 in harper, kansas and spent her childhood in hayes. she was an active men of 4-h and a talented musician. she completed a bachelor's degree where she discovered her passion, and indicating on behalf of others. swheent on to per sue a law degree from the university of kansas and fought for equality and social justice including volume dew tier work in lawrence, kansas at a shelter that aids victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. three years ago on july 3, 2008

at the young age of 25, janet's own life was taken by domestic violence. more than 1,100 people gathered at jana's memorial service to celebrate her life. in her life, her parents, curt and christie started the 1,100 torches campaign to encourage 1,100 people to carry on jana's torch. since its creation the campaign has attracted more than 1,100 volunteers who make the difference throughout the country through civic engagement and volunteerism. yet so much more to be done. throughout our country an estimated one in four women suffer abuse during their lifetime. domestic violence brings fear and hopelessness and depression into the lives of every victim. but we must not only work to end this silent crime, but also we must care for those who are the victims. by volunteering at a local shelter, speaking out when you become aware of domestic

violence or making a donation to a local organization, every citizen can find a way to get involved and make a difference. october and throughout the year let us be mindful of the victims of domestic violence and do our part to break the cycle and bring those -- hope to those who suffer. let us be a torch to see that we bring about an end to domestic or family violence. the tragedy of jana's death is a rallying cry to us to make a difference in the lives of others. mr. president, i note the lack of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

i

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, we were hopeful that today we could clear the nomination of john bryson to be secretary of commerce. this has been outstanding for a long time. we are told by our republican friends that as soon as we got the trade bills done we would work this out. the trade bills are done, so i hope that we can move forward on this. it's really unfortunate that one of the president's very important cabinet positions, that is secretary of commerce which is directly related to the jobs bill is not filled at this time. hopefully we can get the

minority to work with us in processing this. i hope i don't have to file cloture on something like this. mr. president, i ask consent the senate proceed to calendar number 96. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 96, s. 275, a bill to amend title 49 of the united states code and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the committee reported substitute be considered, rockefeller and paul amendments at the desk be agreed to, the committee reported substitute amendment as amended be agreed to and the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be considered laid upon the table, there be no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to this matter be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask consent that we proceed to s. res. 294.

the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 294, resolution commemorating the 182nd anniversary of the opening of the chesapeake and delaware canal. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, there be no intervening action or debate, any statements relating to this matter be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask consent that we proceed to s. r*ez 295. mr. reid: the clerk will report. the clerk: designating october 26, 2011, as day of the deployed. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask

unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i'm told there are four bills at the desk and i ask for their first reading en bloc. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 2250, an act to provide additional time for the administrator of the environmental protection agency to issue achievable standards and so forth and for other purposes. railroad 2 -- h.r. 2273, an act to amend subtitle d of the solid waste disposal act and so forth. s. 1720, a bill to provide american jobs through economic growth. s. 1723, a bill to provide for teacher and first responder stabilization. mr. reid: mr. president, i object -- first of all, let me ask for second reading of these four matters and then i object to my own request en bloc.

the presiding officer: objection is heard. the bills will be read a second time in the next legislative day. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today the senate adjourn until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning tuesday, october 18. following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date the morning hour deemed expired and the time for the two leaders be reserved for use later in the day. following leader remarks, the senate be in a period of morning business for an hour with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees with the majority controlling the first half and the republicans controlling the final half. and that following morning business the senate resume consideration of h.r. 2112. further that the senate recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: before the chair rules on my request, i am told that -- the presiding officer: we are still in a quorum. mr. reid: i ask consent it be

terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, before you rule on my consent request, i am told that we missed one bill due for its first reading. i would ask the clerk to report that. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 1726, a bill to repeal the imposition of withholding on certain payments made to vendors by government entities. mr. reid: i ask for second reading in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14 but object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. reid: mr. president -- the presiding officer: the bill will be read the second time in the next legislative day. mr. reid: i made a request, and i -- it's my understanding the chair has approved that. is that true? i ask consent about -- the presiding officer: the leader is correct. mr. reid: we'll work on agreement with respect to amendments that are pending thr-fplt's four or five pending to h.r. 2112. we'll notify senators of votes when scheduled. we would hope we could get some out of the way tomorrow morning. there would be no reason we

couldn't do that. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until details now on the president's jobs bill and majority leader harry reid's announcement he

would bring the bill up in the senate. thom ferrer is a correspondent for reuters. he joins us by phone. thom, how is senator reid planning on moving forward with this jobs bill? >> well he is going to announce a timeframe tomorrow. he would like to do it possibly this week, but he will make a formal announcement tomorrow in meeting with senate democrats to discuss the strategy. >> they are going to be breaking this into pieces? >> the first piece is -- the presence built came in at $447 billion. they are breaking it into pieces. the first piece will be 35 billion that would need to create a or save the jobs of 300,000 teachers and an additional 100,000 police, firefighters and other first responders. >> how many other pieces did he see this being broken up into and how might, how often might we see post on those pieces? >> reid is aiming for a vote in a week. how many pieces i would guess

for, maybe five or six or maybe more than that but the first piece is the teachers. the reason for that i believe is because it is, the overall program, the overall bill approved and they think they're going to try to force -- they will force republicans to vote on teachers first, whether to hire more teachers or protect teachers and not so the whole thing is designed to put local pressure on republicans. >> what is the plan for paying for these different pieces of the jobs bill? >> it all goes back to the proposed surtax on millionaires, so they would pay for it by the surtax of of millionaires, which polls also found most americans agree with. >> and was there also a plan that there would need, the senate's plan would tax people who make at least $250,000? >> no, that ... if anyone is the 5.7% surge -- surtax on millionaires. >> why are democrats in the

senate pursuing this plan to break up the jobs bill? >> well, capitol hill is mostly moot by politics. this is all politics. poll show most americans favor the president's proposal. they couldn't get a big -- republicans voted last week to block the bill. democrats couldn't get the 60 votes to move the bill. so now they're going to break it up and force republicans to have an unpopular vote at least once a week for the next several weeks to try to crack pressure on republicans. at the same time republicans respond by saying obama's more just and campaigning on the issue then he is coming up with a bipartisan solution. so while democrats accuse republicans of playing politics, republicans accused democrats of playing politics in the meantime and there has been no bipartisan solution. >> how do you think republicans are going to vote when these actually come up? >> i think they will vote, think democrats are going to fall

short of the 60 votes they need in a 100 member senate. democrats hold the chamber 53-47. that said, they would need all democrats plus seven republicans. last time around, they could even get all democrats. to democrats roque ranks and voted with republicans against the president's bill. so, i think democrats will have a hard time. >> how could this approach possibly yield better results for those who supported this president's job package in the first place? >> i'm sorry? how could a yield better results? >> yeah by breaking it up this way. >> what it does, it just gives the president and fellow democrats on the hill additional "any nation" to go out to republicans. they will get headlines showing republicans oppose hiring more teachers. they will get headlines showing republicans oppose rebuilding roads and bridges.

so that is, since democrats control the senate, they control the agenda, they control what to bring up for a vote. republicans have also opened up their arms jobs package. they offered up on last week but they don't control the chamber so they won't have the headline that demo republican judge program. they're not going to get that both. >> what are you going to be watching for as low make or scrabble with this? >> well, you kind of alluded to it earlier when i said no. what's are they going to do? they are going to look for crossovers and see if the last time around they get all the republicans which was 47, republicans plus two democrats voting against the president's jobs bill. so now when a vote on the teachers, the interesting -- the most interesting member will be the final count. will republicans hold ranks or will a couple breitkopf?

so that will be -- that will be high in the story in the second or third paragraph how many republicans are -- roofer could be the lead. how many pro-republicans can break off and support at least a component of the presidents plan? >> tom ferraro congressional respondent for reuters. appreciate the information. >> thank you. >> we shouldn't shy away from or somehow be afraid of cloud computing. it is a part of the advanced development of the computer world. >> the problem we face today is there are no standards to quickly move data from one cloud to another. yet this capability is required for good responsible contingency planning. >> tonight on "the communicators," the future of cloud computing for the u.s. government with the chairman of the homeland security subcommittee on cybersecurity, dan lungren and the american registry for internet numbers

head john koran at 8:00 eastern on c-span2. .. j;j;ç9y9u9@?h?

those men and the reforms of th; theodore roosevelt and woodrow wilson adopted and distorted the words liberal. >> he was a member of the democratic party for over 20 years switching in 1940. he sought and won the republican nomination of a president and although he lost the election he left his mark in political history seeking out for civil rights and becoming the ambassador for his former opponent franklin roosevelt. he is one of the 14 men featured on c-span weekly series the contenders live from indiana friday at 8 p.m.. >> last friday president obama informed congress that he was sending 100 non-combat troops to ugonda to search for joseph cony the leader of the so-called nabors resistance or me if i

went to guilherme group in that nation. today senator james inhofe republican from oklahoma explained why he agrees with the president on this issue. from the senate floor this is 15 minutes. i'm here today to clear up a lot of misunderstandings floating around the country concerning to the decision to have some of out troops not combat but some of troops go into sections of eastern and central africa to with about five countries who have been trying for 25 years to eradicate to get rid of of a particular person whose name is joseph cony it's disturbed me quite a bit of thej years that not many people really care about africa and when president clinton was inati

office sending troops into i bosnia and kosovo because he was using as a reason to do that an ethnic cleansing.t i said at that time why be abo in bosnia and when any one given day in any one country at thatht time it was mostly in west africa and sierra leone as an example there are 100 people being ethnically cleansed and bg edrica that our plans to theeans same day in bosnia or in kosovo. fortunately that changed whenhen 9/11 came and people realizedwhr there's a serious problem in our country was attacked it became evident that with a war on there middle east many of them wouldf be going down through djibouti

through the corner of africa so why we decided it is mostly did the decision by the senate armed services committee we assist africa in developing then brigae brigades located north from south and east, west and central and that's been undergoing not n as i wish it were and but or africa if theyed - are preparedd i talk about the africans, to prepared to handle that terrorism and t to stop that i terrorism as it comes in we won't have to be sending ourssei troops in. what that is essentially what happened last week when the the president decided to send these troops to the north-central part

of africa to address the problem with a large resistance army or joseph cony. ep was interesting rush limbaugs yesterday talked about and brought to my attention that even though i disagree i don'tto someone on this side do but he i made the sts atement until todai am had never heard of the combatnce resistance army, and here we arh at war with them, that's notr ho true. about the people always inwh his studio lawn and brian. have you ever heard of the hea lord'srd resistance army? how about you, brian. have you? he's never heard of the units at arm. my contention most americans have never heard of it and here we are at war and let me clarify in a minute i want to talk abou. what their mission is and we are

not at war with them we are spey specifically precluding our froy troops from any kind of combat to put it in the proper context. ns to the significance of thisfi i've had an opportunity to spenr a lot of time in africa more ths than any other member of the senate or any other member of any other senate before that.e i have had many conversations over the last 15 years with the president of ugonda and the jant first lady it all started in northern ugonda and what happened is that in joseph con* aeu, spiritual leader has gone n and started building he can cala it a number ofnd different thins in the children's army or the or invisible children to go in and build this massive army.

i am talking about kids from th, gistel, 13, 14-years-old, young them kids to walk and attacked them . from villages and they teachtheh them without to operate ak-47s how to join this army that they've put together and they or don't do it or they feel inrain, their treaty and are mutilatedng and here are these young kids mind, ten, 11, 13-years-old with ak-47s that is what the armyseel looks like. it is one years 12-years-old, weapons for the ones who don't do what he has said they this one andshow they do it by cutting off their noses and their years and big cutting off their lips that is a big thing they do cutting off hr

their hands. nam see this one right here named bj the way john juan that we have t seen the taken his ears off and, his nose and cut both his hands and this one up here another one down here when this is a young d child his lips and nose cut off the ears cut off you can see h that.uesshat i they are required once they're in this army to go back to the villages and murder and their tr parents and if they don't do ito this is the price to pay.d the second one take that down pt and put the second back up. so anyway. made with of the decisions we've made have a p crogramal that is call triet and eclipse which i will but go in talk about in a minute to go and assi these countries inin this case

taking out this particularther f maniac who'sor been there for 2t years. it's not just in ugonda. i went up to speed in the northern part of ugonda and the secretary mike enzi was with me at this time and we went up and looked at it and saw a lot of these kids that came back and have been mutilated and went down and talk to prthe espresidg in rwanda. you might remember rwanda in 1994 is one of the greatest and most devastating murder of genocide in the recorded history people and torturing to death and they have the same problem e down there and if you go over to the drc democrat republicans in

congo one who is very much concerned and of course the capitol of the drc is way over on the western side and severale time zones over to the eastern side where he was killing the t. in kids at that time and there's one city over there we were shot there just shortly before he escaped and went to the centrald african republic then back up to south sudan. south sudan last week that a new country and it's kind of an thin exciting thing g to go to a newo country and sit with members oft good two hours and had 25 members in the parliament and mm the brand new country of south. sudan and the major concern right now is getting this guy gy who's been making runs at intoth south sudan so this is a majory thing many of these countries have joined to try to do t

something about joseph. anyway the last year we find a little concern nothing was happening. happening so -- one of thei havt reasons i have to say m mr. president nothing much was happening is if you think these countries want these presidents cannot of the bush and i think that when they feel they are n*e able to get one when renegade group like this they feel that it is kind of a blow to theirs,s ego and finally i was able to eo get the three of them together u the presidents of ugonda, and we to eradicate this monster and so they are now in the position tod do that. last year i lead a bipartisan group to send to the capacity ts

the law 1064 called the lawrence resistance army disarmament inct northern ugonda recovery act ofo 2009. is we had 64 co-sponsors.berf this is the largest number of oa co-sponsors on any kind of a afc bill affecting africa in historc and we have the senators cosponsoring the bill all very i excited about it and then let mw tell you what losses it directs the administration to a strategy apprd to apprehend or removed joseph demobilize the fighters through political economics and militard protect civilians fromect furthr attacks.interestin law is kind of interestingspec because it specifically precludes us from entering anyat kind of battle with and that is important to talk about today because almost everyone who isrc reporting on this including my s

good friend is talking about oue guys and dolls going into ty're combat. they are not ngotoi gnoig to. a day are specifically precluden from doing that so it's not likt it is in that libya and has nothing to do with the war powers b act because these are troops that are precluded from being in harm's way. the senate armed services senatd committee passed the authorition reauthorization act and we ts specifically -- i know this because this is my language we y put in prohibit the forces from participating in the operations to apprehend or removed. this is my language in the bill. so not only are they not goingbn to be in the combat but they arg precluded from being in combat. so that's what we have right noe before us today.e uy the way some people have g

mistakenly said this guy is avee christian and we want to makevoe sure everybody knows he wasathoi officially disavowed by theh catholic church in ugonda this is a catholic group that spent 15 years in gulu, that place i s was some 15 years ago in now northern ugonda has now since been in south sudan.uganda i was in north ugonda when josette took the leader kship op this group that became famousple for its atrocities. i saw people whose lips, mouth beming years and knows were remm motivation. i remember the six men who came to the premise crotty and askind for help. hands

as they had their right hand cue off as we saw a minute ago, put back the one that showed the t mutilated -- the of the three had their right feet cut off by machetes. it was all done by the lra and t i'm going on a still quotingnto this catholic nun people cutmacd into pieces and burned alivesmeg after smearing their bodies witn palm oil and children locked in a hut and set on fire and burned alive, bb's pounded in ain women were raped, killed, abducted as sex slaves and a lady on christmas day of 2008 lost 17 members of her familydat who had gone to church fore t cu prayer. all of them were killed with kie machetes. this is bruta witlity that we ha never seen anything like beforei and i think the other thing that's important to understand a is that we have several programt

ct africa and other places around the world. is cale one is called train and equip known as 1206 or 1208. we d what we do at the train and equip and send people to teach , them how to train people in this case and africa and over a tousand u.s. forces doing that essentially what the president e sent over to do the military to military programs. marit but not combat. nber the number one thing to remembem is we are already doing this. what we are doing is the 100re people sent over to africa. is one very significant in the fight against terrorism in thato

area who we are not going toroos have our troops in combat but th see this guy here with his nose in the ears cut off and his hands cut off and all of thiss i this is going on today. now, right now at this moment as we are speaking and i stand behind the president in his decision i stand behindehind this president and i do in this case because we pass it withoutg there's not one voted against you so let's keep that in mindbi that's the truth about what's happening now with the lra were

american ambassador to afghanistan ryan crocker was the 2011 honoree of the association of the u.s. army's annual gala last week in washington. crocker is served as ambassador to pakistan and iraq for george w. bush at the asa calls

selfless service to america. [applause] thank you, general sullivan for your kind words. mr. secretary, director clapper, director petraeus, general dempsey he wore all that table 318 which has been a source of trouble throughout the evening. general odierno, a sergeant major of the army chandler, all

of you with all the stars in the crowd this evening like the academy award except it's definitely the wrong guy you have to the podium i'm truly humble by this honor which is an honor as well for the foreign service of the united states i've been privileged to represent that service for almost 40 years and i decided to see here tonight several of my colleagues who served with me in beirut and the ambassador riis and embassador recent know that is not an echo in the foreign service and a tandem couple can both rise to the rank of ambassador and both left embassies when they were in charge to server our country together with general petraeus

engender odierno and so many others in a common effort for america's interest. i'm going to be very brief tonight. i know you've had a very successful but very intense several days here, the kind of convention that over the last 14 years the chairman and president have brought the distinction for the eighth usa. actually i was ordered to be briefed. [laughter] but that is a good thing. and the entire recorded history of public speaking there is yet to be a complaint of after dinner remarks that were too short. i stand before you this evening a diplomat among warriors i'm here as a statement at several

levels one of them would be the stunning lack of judgment on the part of the selection committee more fundamentally i think it reflect the changed nature of the national center the environment we face in afghanistan and iraq and libya and pakistan and yemen the challenges to our security and our interest to not divide themselves neatly into the military and diplomatic lines of operation. divisions are blurred, issues are refused. we live in a political military world and we have had to learn to work together to form partnerships, to understand each other's culture. general petraeus it's always going to be general and i

pioneered this in iraq. we had a joint working groups interagency task force is from engagement cells whenever a new challenge arose for which we didn't have an immediate solution we brought another joint entity in and let them figure it out and when the commander in iraq past general odierno in the strategic framework and security agreements went into effect we convened joint committees to oversee every aspect of implementation now in afghanistan and general allan and i continue that process with civilians across the government co located with military counterparts throughout the country. there is no goldwater nichols for the interagency as some have urged but we have found a way to make it work in the field.

simply put white iraq it is a tough fight in afghanistan. we can only succeed if we bring all elements of our smart power approach to bear. defense, development, diplomacy in a coordinated fashion. no one would have understood the complex challenges we have today and the complex responses they necessitate more than the person whose name graces this medal, george marshall. a general in the war, more than any other single individual he built the postwar peace through the marshall plan as the secretary of state. the plan that he enunciated in 1947 stabilized western europe. he understood economic growth

was vital in building stable democracies, and that growth required investment. $13 billion was pumped into 17 countries over a forger period including our former adversaries germany and italy. our military and those of our allies won the war the marshall plan won the peace. the cost was very high, the lives in the war, the dollars in peace. that $13 billion translates to about $120 billion now. after sacrificing during the war americans were asked to sacrifice again for taxes to rebuild former enemies among others and americans did it.

we face similar challenges today in afghanistan and pakistan and iraq. in egypt and tunisia the roots of the revolution lay and economic grievances as much as they did and political oppression. the principles of the marshall plan are as valid today as they were when i george marshall articulate them 64 years ago. the need for a result, commitment and sacrifice are equally great. i hope that as a nation we understand both the opportunity before us and the consequences of turning our back. and tonight i can't help but wonder what george marshall would make of the debate that we are having today.

if there is one institution in this country that understands result, commitment and sacrifice, it is the united states army. [applause] be were the finest military in the world, and as millions of young men and women returned from iraq and afghanistan, they are building america's newest and greatest generation. the country owes them a debt it can never repay. [applause] general sullivan, the metal is in the word that is truly beyond my merits. but each sunday morning in

kabul, i come in the embassies that expanded the country teams, the heads of all sections and agencies in the mission it's a pretty big crowd. each sunday i began by reading the names of those killed in action the previous week followed by a moment of silence. they've come from all our services and putting my own, but every week the majority are from the united states army. it is in their memory to honor their sacrifice that i accept this metal with my profound thanks. [applause]