ceiling of $500 billion as being highly irresponsible. he criticized the fact that each american owed $2,000 because of the federal government's debt. jim liked to quote the editor of the freeman courier who asked "how can it be that a government which is unable to balance its own budget and lives far beyond its means has the authority to tell a businessman how to run his business"? jim wasn't afraid to make hard votes to fix our problems, votes that probably cost him his senate seat. but jim abdnor had the moral courage to make tough decisions. mr. president, jim abdnor leaves us with a critical reminder. he embodied the american dream. he was the son of a poor lebanese peddler who raised a great family including a son who ascended the heights of american politics and became a united states senator. jim abdnor shows how hard work

and diligence can pay off. mr. president, on this occasion of remembrance and during this time of honoring my good friend jim abdnor, i hope we can remember our solemn duty to protect the american dream that the abdnor family represented. in closing, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that my remarks and the senate resolution expressing profound sorrow and deep regret regarding the death of senator jim abdnor be included together as part of the "congressional record." the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, i yield the floor. and i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

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mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum you be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, last month the senate passed the violence against women act on a strong bipartisan vote of 68-31. 15 republican senators including all the women from the other side of the aisle joined senate democrats to support this important legislation. senate democrats strongly stand behind the bill that we passed. it makes clear that all victims of domestic violence and sexual assault should enjoy the protections of the violence against women act. we don't believe that we should be in the business of picking and choosing which victims deserve protection. in contrast, the bill passed by the house republicans fails to include crucial protections for native american women.

i have 22 tribal organizations in my state, for example. gay and lesbian victims, battered immigrant women, and victims on college campuses and in subsidized housing. the house bill would roll back many important long-standing protections in current law for abused immigrant victims, protections that have never been controversial and that have been previously enjoyed -- that have previously enjoyed widespread bipartisan support. so there are many different -- there are many differences to be worked out between the house and the senate on this crucial piece of legislation. the right place to work out these differences is in conference and that's why we seek today to go to conference with the house on this important legislation. and that's why we object to simply passing the house bill that's been sent to us. the white house -- i'm sorry, the house has raised i think, unfortunately, the so-called blue-slip problem which seems to be an issue they raise all the time when there's a bill they don't like. so having said that, mr. president, i now ask

unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of h.r. 5652, our calendar number 398, that all after the enacting clause be stricken and the language of s. 1925, the violence against women act reauthorization, as passed by the senate on april 26 by a vote of 68-31, be inserted in lieu thereof, that the senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the house on the disagreeing votes of the two houses, and the chair be authorized to all conferees on the part of the senate and all the above occurring with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i object. the presiding officer: the republican leader. objection is heard. mr. mcconnell: let me just make a few observations and i intend to offer a consent myself this is a problem that has been created by the majority and i'm sorry they won't accept our offer to fix their problem so we can move forward on this legislation. we've all known for literally

years when the violence against women act was going to expire. we've known that for years. during this time, democrats controlled the senate, yet our friends on the other side waited until february of this year -- nearly six months after the current authorization expired -- before they even reported a bill out of committee. they chose to wait almost three months more to bring a bill to the floor. now, i don't know why that decision was made. press reports indicate that members of the democratic leadership thought they could use vawa as a campaign issue. when they finally chose to bring this bill to the senate floor, republicans consented to going to the bill, republicans consented to bring the debate to a close, and republicans consented to limit ourself to just two amendments. just two. our democratic colleagues also had an amendment. it was a complete substitute. they offered it at the last minute. this substitute was a couple a

hundred pages long and it added new sections to the bill. one of those sections would generate revenue by assessing new fees on immigration visas. i gather our democratic colleagues did this because their bill, unlike the hutchison-grassley bill, would add over $100 million to the debt. including this provision is obviously a problem in that adding a revenue provision in a senate bill violates the origination clause of the u.s. constitution. if we sent the senate bill to the house in its current form, it would trigger a blue-slip point of order, as it always does. now, it's not our fault that senate democrats waited until well after vawa expired to start moving a bill. it's not our fault that their bill would add to the debt. and it's not our fault that our friends waited until the last minute to try to fix the problem and in the course of doing so they created yet another problem

we have offered to help them fix their problem. they don't have to accept our help but they should stop demagoguing the issue and blaming others. therefore, mr. president, i would offer another consent. i ask consent the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number 406, h.r. 4970, the house-passed violence against women reauthorization act. provided further, that all after the enacting clause be stricken, the text of the senate-passed violence against women bill, s. 1925, with a modification that strikes sections 805 and 810 related to the immigration provisions, that the bill be read three times and passed, the senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the house and the chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the senate with a ratio agreed to by both leaders. the presiding officer: is there objection?

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: reserving the right to object. the republican leader has now proposed an amendment to the senate-passed bill. the senate-passed bill -- we're very proud of this. it's been engineered and advocated by all democratic senators but mainly by the 12 women that are part of our caucus. this is an important piece of legislation. we all feel very strongly about this. i haven't looked at all the details of this amendment but i it. and my first response is the amendment is something that the conferees should be working on. we can't do that here without proper input from all the interested parties, and we have 52 other than me on my side of the capitol here. that's why i've sought to go to conference with the product that the senate passed.

it may be that at some time in the future that, after we evaluate all these pieces that has been suggested by my friend, the republican leader, that we may be able to pursue -- proceed along that route if, in fact, we get to conference. we've got to get to conference. but we would have to have a wider discussions airing the proposed amendment and we've had just a little bit to look at it at this stage. so i understand my friend's proposal and i object to it. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent we now proceed to a period of morning business, senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session and the foreign relations be discharged from further consideration of presidential nomination 1520, david j. lane of florida, to the rank of ambassador during his tenure of service as a united states representative to the united nations agencies for food and agriculture, that the nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motion be in order to the nomination, that any related statements to the matter be placed in the record and that president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask that we discharge the help committee from further consideration of presidential nomination 1565, 16 public health service nominations received by the senate on april 26, beginning with joseph r. fontana and ending with joy a. mobly and presidential follow nation 1679

1679 -- nomination 1679, which is 114 public health service nominations received by the senate on may 15, beginning with mary j. choi and ending with megan m. samaraudi. zomorodi. that the nomination be confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate and that no fur motions be in order to the -- further motions be in order to the nominations and any related statements be printed in the record and that president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, with your permission, i now ask that we proceed to the following nomination, number 640, that the senate proceed to vote with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the nomination.

the clerk: nomination, international bank for reconstruction and development, air sarah avill of california to be united states although executive director of the international bank for reconstruction and development. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the nomination. if there's no further debate, all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. mr. reid: reid: thank you. i now ask unanimous consent the senate consider the following nominations, calendar number 261, 338, 339, 340, 665, 678, 679, 680, 681, 682, 706, 707, 708, 710, 711, 712, 713, 715, 716, 717, 725, 727-757 and 758,

all nominations placed on the secretary's desk in the air force, army, foreign service, marine corps and navy, that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motion to reconsider be made and laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order to any of the nominations, that any related statements be printed in the record, that president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that on monday, june 14, 2012, at 5:00 p.m., the senate proceed to executive session to consider nomination calendar number 613, that there be 30 minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form, that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the senate proceed to vote with no intervening action or debate on the nomination, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate, there be no further motions in

order, that any related statements be printed in the record, and that president obama -- that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number 412, s. 414. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 412, s. 414, a bill to protect girls in developing countries through the prevention of child marriage and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask the bill be read a third time and the senate proceed to a voice vote on passage of the bill. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the bill. calendar number s. 414, a bill to protect girls in developing country through the prevention of child marriage and for other purposes. the presiding officer: if there is no further debate, all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the measure is agreed to.

mr. reid: i now ask that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate, and any statements relating to this measure be printed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent we now move to calendar number 44, s. 739. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 44, s. 739, a bill to authorize the architect of the capitol to establish battery recharging stations and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that a levin amendment be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or debate and any statements related to this bill be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if given. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the agriculture committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 2947. the presiding officer: the

clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 2947, an act to provide for the release of the reversionary interests held by the united states in certain land conveyed by the united states in 1950 for the establishment of an airport in cook county, minnesota. the presiding officer: without objection the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask consent the bill be read three times, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate, any related statements be printed in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 3992. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 3992, an act to allow otherwise eligible israeli nationals to receive e-2 nonimmigrant visas if similarly situated united states nationals are eligible for similar nonimmigrant status in israel.

the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate, any statements related to this matter be placed in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 455. the clerk: designating june 7, 2012 as national post traumatic stress disorder awareness day. the presiding officer: without objection the committee is discharged 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 on the table, there be no intervening action or debate and any statements be placed in the record as if read. mr. reid: i ask, mr. president, we proceed to s. res. 475. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 475 relating to the death of the

honorable e. james abnor, former united states senator and congressman from the state of south dakota. the presiding officer: without objection the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: there is a joint resolution at the desk and i ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read for the fires time. calendarthe clerk: joint resolun regarding the nuclear program of the government regarding the republic of iran. mr. reid: i ask for a second reading the purpose of which is to place this joint resolution on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14. but after having said that, i object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the joint resolution will be read for the second time on the next legislative day. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that from friday may 25 through monday june 4 senator leahy be authorized to sign duly

enrolled bills or joint resolutions. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that not withstanding the upcoming recess or adjournment of the senate the president of the senate, the president pro tempore and the majority leader and minority leader be authorized to make appointments to commissions, committees, boards, conferences, interparliamentary conferences authorized by law by concurrent action of the two houses or order of the senate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: final finally, i ask unanimous consent when the senate completes its business today it adjourn or convene for pro forma sessions with no business conducted on the following dates and time and following each session the senate adjourn until the next one. may 25, 2 p.m., may 31, 12 p.m. and the senate adjourn on thursday may 31 until 2 p.m. on monday, june 4, following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to

date and the majority leader be recognized. further that at 5:00 p.m. the senate proceed to executive session under the previous order. i want to make sure the record is clear that the pro forma session on may 25 will be at 2:30 p.m. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: it's my intention to resume the motion to proceed to s. 3220, the paycheck fairness bill, when the senate convenes on june 4. there will be a roll call vote on the confirmation of the hillman nomination. mr. president, if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the provisions of s. res. 475 as a further mark of respect to the memory of the late senator james abdnor of south dakota. the presiding officer: the senate will adjourn until may 25, 2:30 p.m. friday and done so out further respect to the late out further respect to the late

>> the dialogue of north korean human rights is ridiculous because you can tell them you need to improve the human rights situation in their response to you and we've had this conversation, the response of the u.s. human rights problems, too. that is not a comparable discussion. >> also this weekend

's >> now, health and human services secretary cat thinks bilious speaks at an awards ceremony for christ defense in the public policy school. her invitation met with criticism from some catholic leaders in antiabortion groups. the secretary did not address the controversy directly, but she did discuss religion and public policy in the u.s. this is about 25 minutes. >> good morning. welcome to the 2012 at georgetown public policy institute tropez ceremony. minus edward mike murray, dean of the georgetown public policy institute. [applause] thanks, mom. i appreciate the applause. what a great day to be here at georgetown. today we get the opportunity to honor our graduates, recognize

the special accomplishments on the parts of ours demands, our alumni and our faculty and to hear from one of the leading voices in health policy in our country, health and human services secretary, kathleen sebelius. [cheers and applause] this day is one that our graduates and their parents, spouses, partners and famous have worked hard to get to and i want to congratulate all of you for your accomplishments. please, let's give them a round of applause. [cheers and [applause] today's commencement marks the end of your education here at georgetown. our distinguished faculty and lectured you, tutored you come and mentored you, some might say

hector dio, that you're the thing here with cutting-edge tools, a deep appreciation for complexity and importance of policy analysis and ability to not only understand our world, but to make it better. please join me in thanking the faculty, many of whom are here at this today for their dedication. [applause] the staff also deserves recognition for their help with everything from admissions to advising to career services to a new webpage to getting the paid to today's events. they make us around. join me and make it all the hard work. [applause] for those of you who don't know, richard piatt comes from the work for trophy.

it seems fitting to recognize some outstanding members of the community. first, two of our most distinguished students were chosen by their classmates to speak on their behalf as part of the program. advice to recognize rachel thomas who will speak on behalf of the masters of public management units. rachel. [applause] and chris schreck will speak on behalf of the masters of public policy students. [cheers and applause] second, each year we give an award to announce a member of our alumni community. please show me in congratulating sisters campbell award winner daniel hoop. [applause] finally, i'd also like to recognize this gppi faculty member who won the 2012

weddington award, our per show me. [cheers and applause] barbara is a teacher's teacher. she goes above and beyond in her role as a teacher, mentor and advisor to her students. she has demonstrated that by the fact she won this award about a dozen times now. i think we're going to have to rename it to shawnee award and give it to someone else. anyway, thank you very much for your dedication and leadership of their students. the most important award today goes to the graduates at the 2012 class. today's commencement for that marks the beginning, a new chapter in their way -- and their lives moving forward. through a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication from which many beautiful also holding full-time or part-time jobs. [cheers and applause] give yourselves a hand. why not.

you're earning today's victory. today it's you leave gppi, remember you all please be part of the gppi family. a family to support you as you move through your career and family that needs to help and support the next generation of students along the path just as our alums have helped you. please come back and visit my continued to be part of our growing community. help us build the school of public policy we all can be proud of and remember that what this great day we celebrate all of your incredible compos mentis that what i'm also comes great responsibility. because you have raised your hand. you raise your hand by choosing public policy, by wanting to become a policy leader. your volunteer to help, to lead, tackle the many problems we face cannot be part of finding solutions we so desperately need both here at home and around the

globe. you're stepping into the public light in a particularly challenging time. it is a time of seemingly limitless demand are very limited resources. strong and strident opinions on which is the best way forward. a time of the role of government and the very nature of our obligations to each other are under intense debate. i was simply a collection of individuals are members of a community with obligations and respond abilities to each other. we have given you skills you'll need to build successful careers. should you choose commode also prepared to make a real difference. you can to s. incredibly smart and talented men and women. you leave here today ready to understand, confront and even change the world in your image. now more than ever your country and indeed the world media to engage to help inform the debate about our future.

your generation can global poverty or eradicate malaria and aids, educate all of our children for success and end the reign of despots and terrorists. but make no mistake, the road ahead will not be easy. history tells us that those who are or change can often be treated with skepticism, scorn and even abuse. such work work in a democracy will move forward only frustrating fits and starts to come only after long and vigorous debate and sometimes even heated arguments. but don't let that deter you from action was edmund burke is often credited with saying, all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. it's a tall order, but i have every confidence your the task and as a result our greatness lies ahead of us and not just in the past.

as you deem them truly impressed with your exceptional talent and drive from your commitment to making the world a better place to public service, whether you continue to service the military come inspector general's offices or federal agencies are starting fresh with a wearied of other governments and nonprofit postage to leave here to take, you embody the chosen the spirit of georgetown and your commitment and dedication and service to others. we are honored to take a role in educating and shaping as you commence your journey of service. congratulations again class of 2012. [applause] today we are very fortunate to have the secretary of department of health and human services kathleen daly of the testers of our 2012 keynote address. a former state legislator and insurance commissioner has

served before she was nominated by president obama to lead hhs in 2009. the breadth of her responsibilities in this world is truly to go to comprehend. she's responsible for providing vital human services to over 309 american. no small task or she works everyday to improve access to health care for nations children under the can implement the affordable. she's responsible for a team of doctors and hospitals to put into them to slow the growth of health care costs in this country or been the cost curve as we might say. as a result of the effort she's leading the charge to stamp out fraud within the health care industry, saving programs like medicare, funds that they so desperately need. secretary sebelius is responsible for the emergency health care response during crises of national disasters including the earthquake in haiti, gold foiled an tornado in

joplin missouri. last year she was named the 13th was powerful woman in the world by "forbes" magazine. no doubt because like you she is a masters in public administration from the university of kent. she spent a lifetime in public service and secretary sebelius has shaped the future of health care through public policy. please join me in welcoming the secretary of health and human services, kathleen sebelius. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you. thank you. thank you. >> if you think that counts for your exercise for today, it

doesn't. dean montgomery, members of the faculty, family, friends, graduates, to be announced award winners, student leaders and again, the graduate, it really is my honor to be with you this morning and i want to start by saying congratulations to. last weekend on mother's day i was at the university of kansas when our younger son received his masters degree. so i know something about the hard work at all if you have been doing in the effort that got you here today. and i also have long and strong ties to the school. i married a georgetown law grad. i'm a lawyer mom, mother of a double georgetown graduate. so in my family, hoariest sax comes second only to rock chalk jayhawks. and i was delighted to be

invited to speak to you, the public policy graduates. having spent my entire lives in public surveys -- i spent my entire life in public service. [cheers and applause] and what i now is that you've chosen the most challenging, frustrating, exciting consequential and rewarding career there is. and today want to just share a few lessons that i learned along the way and hopefully they'll be useful as you begin your

careers. i started out as an unpaid volunteer. my dad got into politics when i was five, so for most of my childhood days spent days in the fall putting up yard signs and going door-to-door. actually, the more accurate term might be forced labor. there wasn't a lot of choice and not matter. it was only later that i discovered lots of families were going to football games and picnics while i was attending local rallies. but what i got from this fall outings and from our conversations around the dinner old was the deep belief in the value of public surveys. and throughout my career, that unwavering belief has carried me to my highest point and gotten me through my lowest. i know you graduates share that belief. if you didn't, he wouldn't be here today. you wouldn't suffer through regression is. you would not pass to bigger

salaries another field. so my first hope for you today is that you hold onto that commitment to work for the common good. if you let that focused idea, he'll never go off course. now i learned for second lesson when i came to washington in the late 60s to attend trinity college. those were tumultuous days in our nations history indeed he was right in the middle of it. during my college years, the draft was reinstated and the government was ramping up the war in vietnam. racial tensions throughout this country that had been smoldering for rats to after the assassination of martin luther king jr. and i watched neighborhood and he be including those close to my college be burned to the ground. what was striking at the time is how young people were driving that national debate. we had a feeling that not just young people could change the world, but that we had to change the world.

whoever can they to talk about young people in his speech is in one of the most famous he makes young south african leaders he said the world demands the qualities of you. not a time in life, but a state of mind, a temporal flow, quality of the imagination, predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite for adventure over the life of these. now as you said about your careers, you may find yourself tempted to defer to those who are older or have more experience. i want to make it clear on behalf of the parents and the on the end, even though he may not know who snuck he is or why everyone is so angry about her, we do have them was done to share. you still need to call your mom's.

in fact, after the ceremony and scum i hope you all spend a little time thinking your parent, teachers, mentors, friends and supporters who helped do in this journey to this graduation day. but the truth is, wisdom isn't the only thing that comes with age. growing older can bring complacency and cautious in his. now i know georgetown hasn't trained you to be on the sideline. he studied under leading policymakers. you've proven your bills not just on tests and papers, but the real world programs like project on various. so my second piece of advice is don't wait. go ahead and give yourself because if you don't, it might never have been. now i wish i had a clear road of exactly how to do that, but the truth is career paths are usually only visible looking backward, like the tracks they make in the snow. i'm a feminist who learned that

girls can do anything by attending all girl schools where we had to do a great thing. i ended up in kansas because that is where my husband grew up. i began my political career because our part-time legislature was a better fit for me as a mother and two young children in the 60 hour a week job i had. i moved along, sat out opportunities to learn new skills in new subject areas. i started working in corrections and later worked on everything from education to the children and family issues to the budget to jobs and economic development to rural challenges. the one of the issues that kept coming back with health care. culminating in my current position. and now i have the extraordinary opportunity to help implement historic legislation that is finally, after seven decades of failed debate in the united

states ensuring that all americans have access to affordable health coverage. [applause] now i would have never been here today if i hadn't taken that she and his. and for me, what stands out is a big risk, which was my run for statewide office in kansas have insurance commissioner. the indicators are promising. davidoff is that never in history the state and out by a woman or a democrat. the three previous commissioners had close ties to the tree and it served a combined 50 years. it was 1994 when running for the moat with a basic equivalent of going to georgetown jurors he and the syracuse section of the center. but i went for it and no one and i ended up not only getting an

incredible opportunity to make a difference, but also gaining public the most invaluable experience for the job i have now. who knew. all of you are going to face similar choice is in your careers. it might be taking a more senior position at a much smaller organization. it might be doing the work you do so well, but moving abroad to do it. it might be going from running a campaign to becoming a candidate. and when you do encounter those opportunities, i encourage you to take a deep rut and sees them and don't let your critics are opponents define who you are or what you do or why you do it. believe in yourself and your abilities and don't be afraid to express those beliefs. that brings me to the final lesson i want to leave with you today, which is the matter what path you choose and you've heard the mac, i already say this. it is going to be hard.

ultimately public policy is about making difficult choices. and today there are very serious debates underway about the direction of our country. debates about the size and role of government, about america's role as the global economic and military leader, about the moral and economic imperative of providing health care to all of our citizens. people have deeply held beliefs on all sides of these discussions and yield as public policy leaders will be called on to help move these debates forward. these are not questions with quick or easy answers. when i was in junior high, john fitzgerald kennedy was running for president. i wasn't old enough to vote but it's really the first national campaign i really remember. some of then senator kennedy's opponents attacked him for his religion, suggesting that electing the first cut the president would undermine the separation of church and state,

a fundamental principle and are unique democracy. and the furor over the course of the campaign grew so loud that senator kennedy chose to deliver us each about his beliefs to seven weeks before the november election. has to protestant ministers, kennedy talked about his mission in the public square and he said he believed in america, and i quote, where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as the ninth against assault. senator kennedy was elected president of the president of the united states on november 8, 1960 and here we are more than 50 years later in that conversation about the intersection of our nation's

long tradition of religious freedom with policy decisions in the public square continues, contributing to these debates will require more than the quantitative skills you've learned at georgetown. it requires the ethical skills you have honed, the ability to weigh different views, see issues from others' points of view and in the yen, to be true to your own moral compass. these debates can also be contentious, but that is a strength of our country, not a weakness in some countries around the world have that much easier to make public policy, later developed and goes into effect. there is no debate, no press, no criticism, no second-guessing. our system is messier, slower, more frustrating than far better and it almost always ends in compromise.

the conversations can be painful, but it through those process of conversation in compromise that we actually move forward together, step by step towards a more perfect union. now looking out on all out on all of you this morning, i feel very back about the future of that union. if you hold onto your idealism cannot resist complacency, take chances and engage thoughtfully with difficult challenges of our time, you'll succeed and through you we will succeed. i can't wait to see what you can accomplish. congratulations again and best of luck. [applause] >> life is an incredible press senate passes by far too quickly. so during your time here, use all of your unique god-given talents to serve on another is

that we'll be the true measure by which your life will be judged. follow the golden rule. >> i said what is it, bill? you're giving me every day to jump on it. he said for jump in and, angry? i said yes. okay. what's that got to do it me? he said that they tie you some name. how much do you weigh? i said 38 pounds. how tall are you?

i said five, four and a half. he got up about hasan minner. the reason you can't do, we don't want to go looking for you in spain. be my >> december 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy. >> carl levin and ranking member john mccain spoke to reporters

this afternoon, following the completion of the committee markup of the 2013 national defense programs though. chairman levin said the senate's version of the bill is within the president's budget request. unlike the house passed version that's $4 billion over. this is 20 minutes. >> afternoon, everybody. senator mccain and i are delighted to report that the senate armed service committee has reported unanimously that the defense authorization act were within the president's budget. $631.4 billion. unlike the house of representatives which is about $4 billion over the president's budget request. i'll highlight a few of the things that we covered. one of the issues which had a lot of ventures was the proposed cuts in the international collared, which were in the budget that came to us.

we rejected the air force plan. we fully funded the equipment and personnel for the air guard we reject the plan that had cut in various kinds of equipment and personnel and we provided all the ends drinks needed to preserve the manpower in the air guard hand. we also -- there's a few exceptions to that. one is that the request relative we allow that to go forward did not affect the air guard decision. we also, relative to the guard want to try to prevent this kind of decision for them being made in the future with as little care system is made frankly, so we did was created a national

commission for the structure of the air force to make recommendations to the congress on air force structure and though give us the defense committees. their recommendations by march 31, 2013. this is just advice or recommendations. do not subject to up or down vote, but again we want to try to avoid this kind of happening in the future if we can and have a much more thought out recommendation following a much more rigorous baroque process, which is more deeply involved getting recommendations from the governors. we did not raise enrollment fees for tri-care. we capped executive pay that can be reimbursed under the defense

contract with a maximum of $237,000. i'll go through very, very quickly some of the other items. and i think what i will do is ask senator mccain is the way to cover the workforce reduction and contractor workforce reductions as well. senator mccain very properly raised the impact of sequestration and what we did is we direct that the pentagon give us the impacts of sequestration and so there you have that kind of detail and analyze i assume other agencies will be asked to do the same thing. it is important that we understand these huge impacts the tape base of sequestration occur. that is part of our bill.

on the tank up great program, we decided to use the funding it takes rather than close the line down. a number of you asked about that. we have advanced procurement and multiyear procurement and a number of items in the seapower area. we had it money for hiring dome, which is a short range rocket defense system, which is produced in a zero, but it's got some tremendous capability and may put additional support and for that. we also have a provision in here, relative to -- before i get back on the number you asked of whether there's any new detainee provisions in this bill. there are not, i began to extend for the next fiscal year certain provisions of musters agreement

on detainees, but there are no new provisions in that area. and i think if i can find this on one final area, i probably cannot find, so i'll turn this over to senator mccain. >> i want to thank chairman levin and his staff and all members of the committee. the bill was reported out by unanimous vote, and again showing that the armed services committee may be the last asked him if partisanship remaining in this congress that the united states that we take a number of measures. first of all, what we didn't do is address the detainee issue. i fully ask that had to be raised on the floor by senator udall and i predict we have a couple days of vigorous debate on the floor of the senate on the issue of detainees. i think one of the most

important things we did was the issue of the civilian personnel in the pentagon. we're scheduled to reduce in the united states army by some hundred men in women. we are reducing the size of the marine corps by some 80,000. there is no provision for any production and billion workforce, which has been growing on 61st and second 2007. we will have enacted legislation that requires the secretary of defense to reduce civilian personnel and contractor funding of 5% over five years, saving over $5 billion. that'll be the first time we have addressed that aspect of reductions in the pentagon. there's many issues. biofuels, defense clandestine service, cyberwarfare continues to be a major issue of concern.

i'd like to finally mention that this legislation requires that before the government of pakistan can be reimbursed using coalition support funds come in at a ceremony that supports the armed services of pakistan, and secretary of defense is going to have to certify that pakistan is open and maintaining lenses to play as not supporting militant extremist groups such as the haqqani network and is not detaining or imprisoning citizens of pakistan. all of us are operating at the imprisonment and sentences sound 33 years that virtually a death sentence to the doctor in pakistan who was instrumental not on purpose, but was instrumental in completely innocent of any wrongdoing, was instrumental in their removal of osama bin laden.

that is frankly outraged all of us. that's an important provision and i hope that we cannot further discussion of this issue of their entire relations with pakistan. as you know, recently they try to practice fundamentally what could only be called extortion for the shipment of the power of goods and materials through pakistan to support our military effort in afghanistan. this is an issue that i think we'll be the subject of much discussion and action by the congress. i want to thank senator but then again i would like to respond to questions or comments or insights that she may have. [inaudible] >> how much money has -- [inaudible] >> we have different money, though we are more than willing to discuss with the administration and with the

appropriation committee the proper way that we can most express americans displeasure at the relationship as it exists today in what measures need to be taken in order to try to help our goal is to have good relations with pakistan. our goal is to cooperate with pakistan and see that they allow us to be allowed to support the men and women who are fighting and dying in afghanistan. it is our goal to make sure this doctor is not sentenced to death, which is basically what he thought for helping us apprehend osama bin laden. ..