applied i ask that the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. there will now be a moment of silence for the victims of the tornadoes in oklahoma. [moment of silence]

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question occurs on amendment 919 offered by the senator from washington, ms. cantwell. the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: madam president, let me just indicate this amendment would require that tribes be included in the development of resource conservation act appraisals. it's something that is supported by senator cochran and myself. i would ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? if not, the ayes are 87 and the nays are 8, and the amendment is agreed to. without objection. the senator from new york. mrs. gillibrand: amendment number 931, call it up for a vote, to be determined by the manager of the bill. the presiding officer: the senator from new york, mrs. gillibrand, for herself and others proposes amendment

numbered 931, beginning on page -- mrs. gillibrand: i request further yielding be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. gillibrand: i now yield to the chairwoman of the committee for other business. ms. stabenow: thank you, madam president. let me tell my colleagues, i think we're off to a great start here with our first vote. before proceeding with senator gillibrand's amendment, i would ask unanimous consent that the sessions amendment 945 as modified with the changes that are at the desk be agreed to. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. stabenow: thank you very much. mrs. gillibrand: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mrs. gillibrand: i rise today to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join my effort to fight off the proposed $4 billion worth of cuts to the snap program, better known as food stamps. i'd like to ask that my amendment 931 be called up for a

vote at a time determined by the manager of the bill. when congress proposes to cut the food stamp program, it is not a nameless, faceless person looking for a handout that suffer. it is hungry children. it's hard-working adults. it's seniors on fixed income, veterans, active duty service members fighting our wars and the families that stand by them. i heard from a single mom in queens working full time at a supermarket, doing all she can to make ends meet but still struggles in this very tough economy. her son came home one day from school with a bag in his hand and tells her that he saved his lunch for their dinner. and that he asked his best friend if he could have his sandwich to bring home for his mother. obviously, that mother broke down in tears.

she needs food stamps assistance. i heard from a senior in washington heights in new york city. she receives a limited fixed income, not enough to live on. she relies on the snap program to pay for food and to just have a small piece of mind. without that help, just putting food on the table would become impossible. i've heard from veterans all across the country who are making their voices heard to prevent these cuts, like one very brave veteran from colorado springs who served in iraq but was declared medically unfit to continue his service. he was released from the military and returned home. as he was looking for a job and waited for the v.a. to activate his benefits, he relied on the snap program to help his family make ends meet. going from active duty to food stamps, he describes as a culture shock. it was never his plan to go on food stamps, but without that

little bit of support, this veteran, has wife and his children would have needlessly suffered. today he's back on his feet working full time, but the snap program was there for him when he needed it, just as it should be. that is who relies on this critically needed assistance to put food on the table, and that is who stands to lose if this congress follows through with these deep cuts to snap. half of all food stamp recipients are children. 8% are seniors. 1.4 million veteran households receive food stamps. there are some of you here who would have us believe that these children, seniors and veterans are gaming the system just to take advantage of taxpayers, but the fact is that it's less than 1% of every dollar that goes into this program that is wasted, less than 1% is evidence ine if we had that level of

efficiency anywhere else in government. in fact, snap keeps our economy moving. this money goes straight to the grocery stores, to the store clerks, to the truckers who haul the food from producers all across the country. 16 cents of every snap dollar actually goes right back to the farmer who grew the crop, according to the usda. when we cut $4 billion from snap, it means there is $90 less a month going to a half a million households. now, to folks in this chamber, $90 a month may not seem like a lot of money, but for a struggling family, that is a week's worth of groceries. imagine telling your child that they can't eat the last week of every month. imagine telling your child at night when he says to you mommy, i'm still hungry, that there is nothing you can do about it. as a mother, as a lawmaker, watching a child, a senior, a

brave veteran going hungry is something that i will not stand for and neither should anyone else in this body. clearly, we have to reduce the debt and the deficit, but hard-working parents, their children, seniors, troops and veterans are just trying to keep the lights on, trying to make ends meet, trying to put food on the table. they did not spend this nation into debt, and we should not be trying to balance the budget on their backs. they deserve better from us. these are the wrong priorities for america. instead, the amendment i am proposing would reduce a real source of waste in our budget, and that is corporate welfare for large corporations that do not need it, including insurance companies that are based in bermuda, australia and switzerland. my amendment already has the support and advocacy of a third of this body. 33 senators have signed a letter saying do not cut food stamps

because it protects half a million struggling americans who too often do not have a voice in washington when they desperately need it, and it makes modest cuts to an already over generous corporate welfare system. it's just common sense. standing by those who are suffering is the core, it's a core value of who we are as americans. so if it's in your heart and if you believe that feeding hungry children is the right thing to do, then stand with us, stand with america's veterans, stand with the aarp and american seniors. stand with struggling families and children all across this nation. let's keep food on the tables of people who need it. when we do, america will be stronger, and this body will be stronger. i yield the floor.

withhold. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until 2:15 p.m. >> so the senate gaveled outp.m. for weekly party lunches. members return at 2:15 eastern to work on the $955 billion farm bill. that legislation proposed to end direct payments to farmers while creating a revenue protection program designed to compensate farmers for losses not covered by crop insurance the current farm bill expires september 30th. also this afternoon a resolution that would reaffirm congress's support for full implementation of u.s. and international sanctions against iran. you can follow the senate live here on c-span2 when members gavel back in at 2:15 eastern. a look at the white house where in just a few minutes press secretary jay carney will brief

reporters on a range of issues. we expect those to include yesterday's tornados in oklahoma and the irs targeting of conservative groups. you can see the briefing right here live on c-span2 when it gets underway. speaking of those tornados in oklahoma, earlier today president obama delivered a statement on the devastation and offered condolences to those affected. here's a look. >> good morning, everybody. as, we all know by now, a series of storms swept across the plains yesterday in one of the most destructive tornadoes in history sliced through the towns of newcastle and moore, oklahoma. in an instant neighborhoods were destroyed, dozens of people lost their lives.

many more were injured and among the victims were young children trying to take shelter in the safest place they knew, their school. it is our prayers are with the people of oklahoma today. our gratitude is with the teachers who gave their all to shield their children with the neighbors, first-responders and emergency personnel who raced to help as soon as the tornado passed. and with all of those who as darkness fell searched for survivors through the night. as a nation our full focus right now is on the urgent work of rescue and the hard work of recovery and rebuilding that lies ahead. yesterday i spoke with governor fallin to make it clear to oklahomans that they would have all the resources they need at their disposal. last night i issued a disstaster declaration to expedite those resources, to

support the governor's team in the immediate response and to offer direct assistance to folks who have suffered loss. i also just spoke with mayor lewis of moore, oklahoma, to insure he is getting everything he needs. i have met with secretary napolitano this morning and my homeland security and counterterrorism advisor lisa monaco, to underscore that point. that oklahoma needs to get everything that it needs right away. the fema administrator, craig fugate, is on his way to oklahoma as we speak. fema staff was first deployed to oklahoma's emergency operations center on sunday as the state already was facing down the first wave of deadly tornados. yesterday, fema activated urban search-and-rescue teams from texas, nebraska, and tennessee to assist in the ongoing search-and-rescue efforts and a mobile response unit to boost communications and

logistical support so the people of more should know that their country will remain on the ground, there for them, beside them as long as it takes. for there are homes and schools to rebuild, businesses and hospitals to reopen. there are parents to console, first-responders to comfort, and of course frighted children who will need our continued love and attention. there are empty spaces where there used to be living rooms and bedrooms and classrooms, and in time we're going to need to refill those spaces with love and laughter and community. we don't yet know the full extent of the damage from this week's storm. we don't know both the human and economic losses that may have occurred. we know that severe rumbling

of weather, bad weather, through much of the country still continues and we're also preparing for hurricane season that begins next week. but, if there's hope, to hold onto, not just in oklahoma but around the country, it is the knowledge that the good people there and in oklahoma are better prepared for this type of storm than most. and what they can be certain of is that americans from every corner of of this country will be right there with them, opening our homes, our hearts, to those in need because we're a nation that stands with our fellow citizens as long as it takes. we have seen that spirit in joplin and tuscaloosa. we saw that spirit in boston and breezy point. and that's what the people of oklahoma are going it need from us right now. for those of you want to help you can go online right now to the american red cross which is already on

the ground in moore. already we've seen the university of oklahoma announce it will provide houpsing for displaced families. we've seen local churches and companies open their doors and their wallets. last night the people of joplin dispatched a team to help the people of moore. so for all those who have been affected we recognize you face a long road ahead. in some cases there will be enormous grief that has to be absorbed but you will not travel that path alone. your country will travel with you, fueled by our faith in the almighty and our faith in one another. so our prayers are with the people of oklahoma today and we will back up those prayers with deeds for as long as it takes. thank you very much.

>> a live look at the u.s. capitol where the flags have been lowered to half-staff to honor the victims of yesterday's tornadoes in oklahoma. they will remain at half-staff until sunset tomorrow. early this morning senator leaders harry reid and mitch mcconnell came to the senate floor to talk about yesterday's disaster in the midwest. here's a look at that. >> yesterday afternoon i called home to check how things were going, spoke to my wife a little bit and you said you can't imagine what i'm watching on tv. she said, it is hard to watch. she was talking about the terrible storm that had hit oklahoma. the devastation, the deaths, and she tried to explain to me, was hard to relate, even though she was watching it

on tv. homes destroyed, schools destroyed. even, even elementary schools destroyed. i think what she described how all america feels and felt upon watching that. our hearts go out to the families whose loved ones were lost, the extent of that we don't know. we're still waiting. those injured or missing in the devastating tornadoes in oklahoma we feel so sad for them. our thoughts are with those who were affected by this tragedy and so many people have been affected. families are still searching for their family members, their children. i recognize and commend the heroic efforts of the first-responders who rushed to the scene and have been working tirelessly to help those who were injured. they worked all night and of course they're still searching for the missing. the efforts of neighbors,

citizens, everyday citizens, young and old, who have been heroic in helping. while we may not know the extent of the damage now, we will continue to do everything in our power to help the people of oklahoma as they recover from these terrible tornadoes, these acts of nature. we'll stand vigilant today and tomorrow ready to help as more storms threaten the region. every resource will be made available. every federal resource will be made available to help communities affected by this tragedy. i look forward to hearing the president. his speech will start momentarily on the disaster. i'm pleased fema administrator craig fugate is already in oklahoma, assessing the extent of the damage and deciding how the federal government can best assist. i will continue to monitor the search-and-rescue efforts. whenever tragedy strikes any part of our nation it really

strikes us all. so i pledge to the people of oklahoma my continued support, our continued support as they begin to recover from this awful storm. mr. president, marks the senate in premorning business for an hour. the majority will call the first half, republicans the final half. pointing out morning business the senate will resume consideration of s-594, the farm bill. i spoke to chairman stabenow last night. she indicated she believes there is opportunity to finish the bill even this week. certainly hope that's the case. senate will recess from 12:30 to 2:15 today to allow for our weekly caucus meetings.

>> mr. president,. >> the republican leader. >> we're all thinking today about the tragic loss of life out in oklahoma yesterday. so this morning i would like to take just a moment to express my condolence to all who lost family and friends in this horrible disaster. it's been a truly heart-breaking loss of life. dozens injured and killed yesterday including many children. the tornado that tore through moore flattened entire neighborhoods and destroyed at least two elementary schools, briarwood and plaza towers. just as students were about to be released for their last week of school before the summer recess. i don't think any of us can comprehend the searing grief of their parents. i'm told that two crews from the louisville red cross recently left for oklahoma to help those who are now

suffering. kentuckiance understand the terrible to these types of storms can take. just last march i toured the wreckage of a deadly tornado in west liberty, kentucky, where churches homes, businesses and schools were reduced to rubble and where several kentuckyians lost their lives. i remember a tornado that went through my hometown of louisville back in the '70s. it knocked down every house of the street of my parents. my mother was in the basement and mercifully it skipped over our house for some reason but leveled all the houses across the street and the ones next door. so it is really hard to accurately describe the devastation a storm like this leaves in its wake. and as first-responders continue to dig through the rubble in moore, i fear we'll hear a lot more bad news in the days ahead.

that said, i'm sure we'll also hear stories of hope and self-sacrifice as we almost always do when tragedies like this strike. of strangers shielding strangers. of neighbors helping others rebuild. of volunteers working through the night to sift through the debris to find survivors. as we've seen time and time again in recent years, americans are at their best when called upon to help each other in tragic circumstances. and this circumstance could hardly, hardly be more tragic. so we in the senate offer our heart-felt prayers to those affected by this terrible storm. we offer our gratitude to the first-responders and we offer our encouragement to governor fallin and the many federal, state and local officials are who working hard to assist in the recovery and who will aid in the rebuilding of homes and schools and families and lives.

>> we're waiting to bring you today's white house news briefing where we expect one of the issues to be discussed will be the oklahoma tornadoes. teams continue to search the rubble in moore, oklahoma, that is 10 miles south of oklahoma city, following yesterday's tornado there. today's "washington journal" viewers reacted to the tornadoes death and destruction. >> host: let me begin this morning with the oklahoma courtesy of the museum. the right monster returned. another colossal tornado struck oklahoma city 14 years after the f-5 tornado that killed 44 and terrified thousands on may 3rd, 1999 but this one was worse. more loss of life. at least 51 dead and local authorities said after midnight they expected number to be higher. it struck two more elementary schools, places we would pray fervently for

the monter to avoid. the it was foreboding since the tornadoes ripped through metro on sunday, meteorologists told us we were ripe for more. that is the oklahoma ann this morning. here is tulsa world out of their headline. moore, again the county that was struck in 1999, parts of moore leveled by the 1999 twister again at the epicenter of this tornado. and then also this morning another headline from oklahoma, the norman transcript. a nightmare. at least 91 dead. 120 injured in moore tornado. their headline, this morning. here from "the washington post" this morning, this is what they're reporting, the headline, or the quote that they have from a local reporter, this is terrible, this is war zone terrible. said a helicopter reporter for kfor-tv, chan nell 4 in oak hem city the school is

completely gone. houses are destroyed. completely leveled what the hell copper reported as saying. republican of oklahoma said it is as bad as it looks. they quoted him saying this district includes most of neighboring oklahoma city. he said monday as he left the house floor, checking his phone for updateses, house will pause for a moment of silence. on monday night, president obama spoke with oklahoma's governor mary falin it share his concern and assure the governor on emergency respondsers. ap reported the president gave governor direct line to his office to be in communication. as we told you the president signing a disaster declaration last night as well for five counties in oklahoma. here is the "detroit free press" with their headline on this morning. 40 minutes of terror at 200

miles an hour, as we said, more than 50 killed, including children. that from the "detroit free press" this morning. from president obama's disaster declaration, this is from what the white house put out last night. assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individual and business owners to cover from the effects of the disaster. federal money available to state and local governments and certain nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work on those five counties. federal funding is also available on cautionary basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide. that is what is included in the disaster declaration signed by the president last night. and then, from the ap story about the oklahoma disaster,

put out last night, it says that oklahoma's governor mary falin has deployed 80 national guard members to assist with search-and-rescue operations and activated extra highway patrol officers as well. many land lines to the stricken areas were down and cell phone traffic was congested. the storm was so massive that it will take time to establish communications between rescuers and state officials. so we're getting your take this morning on federal, state, response. what should it be? what should it include? what are your thoughts on the oklahoma tornadoes. 202-58 a 5,-3880 democrats. 202-585-381 for republicans. all others 2802-585-. we want to hear from oklahoma rest denlts. 202-585-3883. michelle in wood bury, new jersey. you're up first, michelle. go ahead. >> caller: good morning, greta. i think natural they should

get everything they need but in the future the government should look into requiring reinforced concrete buildings and pioneers actually made homes in the hillside with sod over it. you know, i think they should explore so that, it won't be so tragic each time, with everything, concrete slabs left there. >> host: michelle, do you think that should be a federal regulation a state regulation? in a state like oklahoma which is in tornado alley, and, the surrounding states in that area, should that be a federal regulation, on how houses are built? >> caller: yes, i think it should. on the east coast, on the shore and in florida, the only things that really stand up to it are reinforced concrete. they should explore it all around the nation. >> host: robert, utah, democratic caller. hi, robert. >> caller: good morning. i'm just wondering, are the

republicans going to hold up the money that's, that's needed like they did for hurricane sandy? the reason why i'm calling is because i moved here recently because of hurricane sandy. and i just wanted to know whether or not the people in that red state will hold the republican as feet to the fire and make sure they do their jobs or whether they're going to hold up funding while the hard-earning taxpayer dollars are held up in the house like they did sandy? >> host: okay. so, what, you think, there should be no scrutiny of the money, robert? that it should be just given out? >> caller: it is imperative. you can see it, the, you can see the disaster. you know, it's, it should be funded and followed so to the people on the ground.

>> host: okay. what is the best way to do that in your opinion? give it to the states? >> caller: i think it should go to, to the local government and, it should be fun they would, local government. that's what i think is important. >> host: okay. all right, robert. on president obama addressing the nation, here is "usa today" story by jackson. president will speak after receiving update on the response to the natural disaster that claimed at least 90 lives. a new number this morning. the president has dispatched craig fugate, administrator of the federal emergency management agency to oklahoma to coordinate the federal government's response to the tragedy and the response includes survivor assistance and damage assessment teams the white house said in a statement. rob, detroit, michigan, republican caller. what are your thoughts, rob? >> caller: what i would like to say is while he is basically got his out on his

three scandals right now, mother nature bound to do its, well, worst or best, whichever you want to consider it, but, yeah, i really seriously think that now we're going to be taken off track as far as republican callers or republican committee is concerned. >> host: well, this is the last week before memorial day recess, rob. capitol hill as i said at the top, busy with an irs hearing, looking at big multinational companies not paying taxes in the united states. you think that this tornado sidelines all of that? >> caller: i think it will do the same thing that it did with chris christie in new jersey. it is going to throw it off to the side and basically, i mean, that is he have did stating, i mean that looks like oklahoma looks like it caught a nuke on the outskirts of town.

it really looks bad. and well, of course i think you're going to be throwing more government money at it. >> host: all right. well, what do you think about that? should, should the money go quickly to the areas devastated? >> caller: those people are devastated. yeah, there has to be something but unfortunately i think it will take, i think it is going to take the cause off the three scandals that you've got basically in washington right now, and it will be, you know, sidebar. >> host: okay. we'll give you some news about the irs hearing this week in washington. some more news on what happened in benghazi as well, we'll get to that here just a few minutes, let me take more phone calls from all of you and get your take outside of washington here this morning about the oklahoma tornadoes. federal and state response, mario in florida, democratic caller. mario, what are you calling from? what is your city?

>> caller: wmoma. >> host: go ahead. you're on the air, mario. >> caller: my point is, every time we have these tornadoes, we end up building the same houses with light structure. i think it is time to raise the housing code like they did in florida, you know. i really feel sorry for these people but they need to address this, in the future. >> host: what are the housing codes, mario in florida? >> caller: talking about, what about building concrete, with iron bar houses? i mean, it might cost a little more money but, chances are, it might not take a 200 wind speed but could take, 125, 150, you know. these houses are paper houses that they build. >> host: okay. mario, and as we told you earlier the president has

dispatched craig fugate who heads up fema. fema is under the homeland security department and dhs secretary janet napolitano had this to say in a statement. as search-and-rescue efforts continue the administration including the department of homeland security and the federal emergency management agency will bring all available resources to bear. >> we're leaving this recorded journal segment to take you back to the white house for today's news briefing. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. thank you for being here. before i take your questions, i just wanted to, say a couple of things. as you heard from the president, his thoughts and prayers are with the people of oklahoma as they continue to respond and recover from devastating tornadoes, and severe weather. last night, the president approved a major disaster declaration for oklahoma. making federal funding available to support affected individuals as well as additional federal assistance to support

immediate response and recovery efforts. since yesterday afternoon the president spoken with governor fallin, representative tom cole and the mayor of moore, oklahoma, glen lewis. earlier today the president received a briefing in the oval office from his team on the latest response efforts underway. participants included assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, lisa monaco, homeland security secretary janet napolitano, chief of staff, denis mcdonough, deputy chief of staff and fema deputy administrator, richard serino the president will continue to receive updates from his team. as well as from officials in the region. at the president's direction, fema administrator craig fugate is now on the ground in oklahoma to make sure that federal resources are available and fully the efforts of the governor's team. additionally, tomorrow, secretary of homeland security, janet napolitano

will travel to oklahoma to meet with state and local officials and insure that first-responders are receiving assistance they need in ongoing response and recovery efforts to the severe weather that has affected the region. fema has been providing resources since sunday to support oklahoma as they respond to deadly storms. as of this morning, more than 150 fema personnel were on the ground to assist in the response with more on the way. briefly i will say this includes a national incident management assistance team and two regional teams deployed to the state emergency operation center in oklahoma city to coordinate with state and local officials to support recovery operations. three national urban search-and-rescue teams, one from texas, one from nebraska and one from tennessee and an additional incident support team. together they have all been deployed to support the immediate response efforts. two mobile emergency response support teams, mers, are in oklahoma to provide

self-sustaining telecommunications logistics and operational he willments to assist in the i am maid i can't think response needs and additional teams are deployed. finally three disaster survivor assistance teams are scheduled to arrive later today into communities to help address immediate and emerging needs of the disaster survivors including on sight registration, applicant status checks, on the spot needs assessments and access to partners offering survivor services. with that i will go to your questions. julie. >> thank you. i have two quick questions on oklahoma. i know that it is still early. the tornadoes happened yesterday but are there any plans for the president to travel to oklahoma in the coming days? >> i don't have announcement to make. as you know, julie, in a situation like this we always make decisions in the first instance based on the president's insistence that his travel does not interfear with recovery efforts. does not drain resources from those efforts.

so that's, those are the kind of considerations that go into the decisions like that and at this time i don't have announcement of travel. >> you also know whether you're going to have to ask congress for more money for oklahoma or whether fema has enough funds? >> what i can tell you at this stage is that the president has made clear that we will make sure that oklahoma has the resources that it needs including the resources we have already announced. and the, generally speaking we are pleased that congress has allowed us to do what it needed in situations like this. in this specific case obviously, in this short time period since the major tornado passed through we're still in the process of assessing those needs. >> if you were to need to ask congress for additional fund would you want that funding to be offset? >> i think, what i would say about this in situations like this we have been pleased to work with congress and we've been pleased by the fact congress allowed us to do what is needed in situations like this. that means being able to respond to the state's needs

and, right now, fema has sufficient resources to do that. further assessments obviously will be forthcoming. >> one on the irs. treasury official said last night that the treasury department -- twice about possible plans the irs had to make the targeting of conservative political groups public but didn't tell the white house in the third and final instance. almost seems to convenient that the white house knew about two of these possible plans but not the third and final plan. do you feel like the white house should have been told by treasury? >> i mean i can simply tell you the facts which are ascribed. and that is, in the communications i mentioned yesterday, between treasury officials and the counsel's office as well as the chief of staff's office, and over here, the chief of staff's office and the counsel's office there were discussions about the timing of the release of this information and the findings of the report.

the only two instances that those discussions encompassed were the discussion about the possibility of a speech by, i believe miss lerner which i understand did not happen. and the possibility that the acting commissioner would get a question in testimony about these issues and whether or not he would, what he would say in response to that again with with regard to the ongoing ig audit but we were not aware of what ultimately led to the first reporting on this on may 10th. >> after the speech by lerner didn't happen and did not get the questions, did the white house ask treasury what the plan then was for the irs to announce this publicly? >> i mean, again the general discussions ascribed had to do with the timing of the release of the information and the findings of the actual audit. our focus was, i think, again reflected in what i said about this, on the

expectation that when the report was finally completed and published, the that would be the appropriate time to respond to it and to direct any action in response to it. because again it is important to note while there was discussions of draft findings and general conclusions, these kind of things, history tells us, tend to change as they are finalized. and it was very important, in our view, in keeping with what i said yesterday as the cardinal rule around here, we not take any action that could even be seen to create the appearance of intervening in an ongoing investigation like this, in this case an independent inspector general audit. and so we did not yeah. >> who did treasury talk to here at the white house? >> i think that has been reported. it was mark childress, deputy chief of staff. >> and he did not, what did he do with the information? >> again, this was part of

just trying to find out when and under what circumstances this information would be released, made public and what those findings would be. again we wouldn't, we did not know until the actual report was published. >> and the president was not made aware of this notification either? >> absolutely, he was not. and i think we made that clear. some people have suggested that was unwise. i think people in the know and people who understand why it's important to maintain distance from these kinds of things from the white house understand that was the right call in our view and many outsiders have said that as well. the point being that, at least, in this case, there was an ongoing, still not complete, irs audit, i mean ig audit of the irs. and there was nothing the president could or should do until that process was

completed, and upon the release of that information, the release of the final report the president moved very quickly to make clear his feeling that the conduct portrayed within it was outrageous and inappropriate and wrong and that action needed to be taken immediately to begin to correct the problem, that included obviously working with secretary of the treasury lou to ask for an accept the resignation of the acting commissioner, to appoint a new acting irs commissioner, who then has institution -- instituted a 30-day top-down review to find out more about who was responsible for the unacceptable behavior, to hold them accountable and make sure there are processes in place to prevent this from happening again. >> can i ask you briefly about the speech on thursday, jay? >> sure. >> how specific will he be about offering proposals to close guantanamo bay? and what will he say about drones? you say there will be a

legal framework. what will exactly that entail? >> let me speak broadly and i will go to the specific questions. as you know in his state of the union address in february the president pledged, to quote, continue to engage congress to insure our targeting detention and prosecution of terrorists remains consistent with our laws, and system of checks and balances but that our efforts are even more transparent to the american people and to the world. in line with that pledge, on may 23rd the president will give a speech at the national defense university on the administration's counterterrorism policy. in his speech the president will discuss our broad ct policy including military, diplomatic, intelligence and legal efforts. we rile view the state of the threats we face particularly as al qaeda core weakened but new dangers have emerged. he will discuss the polly and legal framework we take action against terrorist threats including the use of drones. he will review our detention

policy in an effort to close the detention facility at guantanamo bay and frame the future efforts against al qaeda, its affiliates and its adherents. i will not get on the specifics what he will say about gitmo. i'm not going to get ahead of the president except to say that he is determined to see the facility closed and he will address that subject in his speech. beyond what i just said about drones, i will not get ahead of the president but he will discuss that subject in the speech. it is, as he pledged in his state of the union address a subject he believes deserves focus and attention. it is one around which he believes there have been an continued to be legitimate questions asked. he is very concerned about the need to put an architecture in place that governs counterterrorism policy for now and into the future and that is what he

will be discussing on thursday. >> on the hurricane, tornadoes, first of all, did the president have concerns about give given the devastation to the structures there, concerns about the stability of the building codes there, about the stability of the structures, and do the building codes need to be looked into? >> i don't know that at this point the president has focused on those questions. i think right now the president's focus is on insuring that we here in washington, through fema, are doing everything we can to provide the necessary assistance to oklahoma, and to the residents who have been affected by the terrible severe weather and the tornadoes. these, i'm sure, whether something like this happens those kinds of questions are understandably asked and i believe will be looked at. again i'm just assuming this based on past instances of storms but i haven't heard

the president discuss those issues in the immediate response to the weather in oklahoma. >> does he believe they should rebuild in this area? >> i think, you heard the president pledge we will provide assistance to oklahoma to recover from these efforts and i would point you to the statements of oklahoma officials about, you know, how they see the future and recovery from this storm. >> on the spending -- >> we'll leave the white house briefing now to take you live to one of the hard hit communities of moore, oklahoma, where governor mary falin and other officials are beginning a briefing. >> one large city, one large area as oklahoma. so we're working together. we want the world to know that. that we all want the best outcomes. we've got about 15 people here, 16 people to speak. and they will come up to the microphone. they will introduce themselves and they will talk and after the, after the last person speaks, which will be commissioner doke, then we'll take some

questions and answers from you. so right now i would like to introduce governor mary falin. >> thank you so much, and i just want to thank the media for all that you've done to help our community get information that's critical at a time like this. so thank you so much for helping with the weather and disaster services and being able to help in our search-and-rescue. we appreciate you. it has been a very trying couple of days for the state of oklahoma. it is a sad time for us because we've experienced one of our most horrific storms and disasters that the state has ever faced. yet in the midst of tragedy and loss of life we've also seen the resilience and courage and strength of our people. we will get through this, we will overcome and we will rebuild and we will regain our strength. our hearts and prayers are certainly with those that lost their loved ones. it has been a very, very hard experience, a heartbreaking experience especially the loss of children and the schools

themselves and those who haven't been able to find their loved once and are -- ones and are still waiting to hear and we frankly don't even know yet if there are missing people and there still may be. our first and foremost emergency and goal is to have rescue and recovery, to make sure that we have uncovered every piece of debris and gone through every, every building, piece of land itself, to see if there might be someone that survived the storm or experienced some injuries itself. i have the opportunity a few moments ago to take an aerial tour to fly along the path of the tore -- tornado itself. it is very wide and it is very hard to look at because there is so much debris on the ground itself. in many places homes were absolutely destroyed, taken away. there is just sticks and bricks basically. the is hard to tell if there was a structure there or not. as you get into some of the

major neighborhoods you can't tell where the streets were. the street signs are gone. it has been a big challenge for us being able to determine which area of the community we might be in because the streets are just gone. the signs are just gone. so we've been working very hard to identify various areas of need. the path is very wide of this storm itself. it's about 20 miles long. we estimate it could have been up to two miles in width itself. we flew over the schools and, got to see the terrible destruction of the schools themselves. certainly the business community and the friends and neighbors that lost their homes, that, we are very sad about. i want to personally thank administrator fugate, who has joined us here with fema. they have done a superb job working with our city and state and federal leaders here. we appreciate you, administrator. we appreciate your very prompt response in answering

our disaster declaration for our state and giving us approval on that. as you know, administrator, not only did we have the storm pass through yesterday and we had storms and loss of life and homes and businesses on sunday, when the storm actually began to roll through the state of oklahoma. so thank you for your assistance. i also had a second phone call a few moments ago from president obama. once again reiterating that fema is here to help bring any resources to bear, to help us with any type of red tape, we might run across, and several other cabinet secretaries called also to express their thoughts and prayers and offer assistance. we appreciate all that fema is doing. and i would say a word to all the first-responders. so many fire and police and emergency personnel, the office of emergency management director, albert ashwood and his team coordinating on the state

level. thank you, very, very much and job well-done to help so many people that are in need. this has been a big, tragedy for the state and it's not easy to handle something of that magnitude. i know many people worked around the clock and put extremely long hours and very dangerous circumstances helping our fellow oklahomans. we're greatful to all of you. i want to give you a couple updates on some things. we had what's called a unified command led by the moore fire department. they have done a superb job in working with their local officials here and certainly with our state and federal officials. they have a plan they're implementing the plan since yesterday. i've been to the command headquarters. i have seen them organize the various teams. they have a map of the city itself, both moore, and

oklahoma city where they have been sending out various teams and determining what the most important need is at that particular moment so thank you, a job well-done to the command team itself. the at 9:00 a.m. this morning i brought together all my cabinet secretaries from the my various head of my ages for the state of oklahoma. we had a thorough meeting going through each division of our state entities, talking about the current needs and challenges facing the state of oklahoma. we want to encourage anyone that is currently still in need in our state to call 1-800-621-fema, if you need services, if you need some type of help and if a community needs some help or department needs some help. we also set up a state website that people can go to get current information to look at, current services that are available and certainly to be able to respond to the state government.

it is, the website is ok, strong,.ok.gov and that website will updated throughout the time period. we're working on right now. oklahoma, fund for the state to match federal dollars and local communities who are in need of services, funding right now. local resources, lot of personnel is working overtime. there are a lot of departments that are having to utilize some of their funding. it will help us with matching some of the individual who is will apply for the federal assistance on the individual basis.

to help reimburse the local communities. also signed an executive order that will wave the weight limits for utilities that are coming into the state and working within the state. i will weight and height to get the power back restored and get other essentialal utility services flowing again. we have many different areas throughout the state that are without electricity, and of course we have been without water in this local area of the city itself and water pressure is actually low in oklahoma city too. because, one of our power supplies has affected one of the water plants. i am aware that we have some state employees that have been affected tornadoes throughout the state. not only this one but the ones in previous days and so for state employees, have lost their homes and, i'm not aware of any of them lost loved ones but if they work through the agency head,

they are going to give the state police affected 15 days of administrative leave, so they won't have to take their vacation leave or their sick leave, to be able to get back on their feet and to take care of their personal needs. i visited with our secretary of health and human services. we have, working with hospitals and nursing associations and state funeral directors and we have plenty of capacity and our hospital to take those have been injured. we estimate there have been around 237 injuries so far that we know of, that have shown up at our various facilities, we're working to set up mental health counseling centers at various shelters to establish a 1-800 number for counseling with loved ones and face some stress from all that is going on? we don't have any firm numbers on the number of deaths that we have experienced.

we know that there are people that have, bodies have been taken to the medical examiner's office, but we have also heard that there may be bodies that have been taken to local funeral homes. so, we are working real hard right now to try to get a more accurate count of the loss of life and we hope to have better numbers on that. our department of transportation has pulled together over 400 people throughout the state that are on standby, to bring in various bulldozers and equipment when the time comes, that we need to begin the process of helping to clear the roads better, certainly to, keep those safe and, we will certainly allowing people to do what they need to do to get their valuable possessions through the lost property that they have experienced but we also have the resources available to be able to begin clearing at some point in time in the

future . . >> and i just want to add that for those that are calling and offering help and resources, please, make contact with our various charities through the red cross for donations or volunteer help and also with the salvation army. they're the best source right now to get information to. and i'll turn it over here the

administrator few gate. thank you so very much for coming to oklahoma. we really appreciate your help. >> thank you, governor. let us be clear, fema's job is to support the team, and the team's been working since the tornado struck. local fire, police, volunteers, the governor's called out the national guard. the primary response to disaster is being led by the governor, local officials and first responders. our job's to support. and it's unfortunately that we are once again seeing what tornadoes can do, but you're also see what the investment in public safety and the commitment to the training and exercise does when disaster does strike. so let's get some practical stuff out here for the public. those people that have been affected, you've had losses due to the storm, go ahead and call 1-800-621-fema. the governor asked last night and the president made the declaration. this was a pretty quick turn around, but it's because of the

devastation and the evidence of how bad it was that the president concurred and issued that last night. so it's important that people start registering. we know a lot of people are staying with friends and family, some of them probably even staying in tear cars right now. we can provide some rental assistance. we want to get people a place to stay. so the first step is to register so we can start that assistance. so 1-800-621-fema or go with their mobile device if they have connectivity, disasterassistance.gov and register online as well. second thick is we've still got a lot of congestion on the cell systems, a lot of towers down because of power outages. unless it's an emergency, use text messaging. stay off the phones. you can relieve a lot of congestion just by using text messaging. and if it's not an emergency, stay off the phones until the system comes back up. third thing, let people know you're okay. one of the challenges with this type of event is because of the devastation is so bad, it's difficult to get a handle on how

many people may be missing. so if you have, you did live in the areas, you were impacted, let people know you're okay so we're not looking for people that we don't need to be looking for. as the governor points out, they're going through that debris, and we're going to keep looking until everybody's found. but you could help just by letting people know you're okay. red cross does have a safe and wellness site where you can check in, you can also check on people. so let people know you're okay. the last thing, as the governor said, if you're not in the area and you want to help, the best way to help is to give generously to the volunteer organizations that are active in disaster. there's a variety of folks from red cross, salvation army, southern baptist that do great work. they can definitely use your contributions. but if you're not in the area, the best way to help is to send your help through those organizations, and that is our -- that's the lesson we've learned time and time again. stuff isn't as great as cash when it comes to the longer-term needs for a lot of folks that have lost everything. thank you.

>> my name's albert ashwood, state director of emergency management. we have a very simple job, that's to support our local jurisdictions to make sure they have everything that we have to offer to help them get through this emergency phase of this disaster. and help them to effectively respond. we will also begin recovery, as has already been stated. we're looking at setting up assistance centers or an area with we can have many assistance centers to help out with various individuals and where they can go to. some of the challenges that we're facing have to do especially with getting the message out, communications. it's very easy for us to stand up here and talk about mobile apps that we have or talk about calling 1-800-621-fema, but if you have lost your electricity and your phone is dead and you don't know where to go, we're going to have to go to an old school method, so we're going to be looking at flyers, things

like that so we can get the message out to people who are in the debris and trying to stay with their property and trying to get back into their property so we can get that message to them. we'll be working on that throughout the day, supporting the local jurisdictions and making sure they have everything they need. i'd like to introduce at this time fire chief of moore, please come on up, sir. >> hi. my name's gary byrd, i'm the fire chief for the city of moore. and just some updated information, we kept over 200 responders out in the field last night. we stayed at the school overnight going through the school, and we stayed in several different locations back and forth changing men out, and we had to pull off several times because of weather, the lightning, but then we went back out. we are out, we started with the primary search yesterday in the secondary search. we made it through i will say most of the structures, most of the vehicles, most of the homes, but the ones we didn't make it through yesterday we'll make it through today for sure, and a second and third time we will be

through every damaged piece of property in this city at least three times before we're done. and we hope to be done by dark tonight. and i want to thank everyone that has come in to help from all over oklahoma and all over the nation to help the city of moore. thank you. >> jerry stillings, chief of police here in moore. again, i want to thank the other agencies. we just could not have done this without them and continue to do this without them. we have 75 static posts that we have officers stationed at, and we obviously couldn't do that on our own without these other agencies. the one thing i just want to emphasize is that we have to have people out of those affected areas so that we can do our work and get it done sooner so that we can shrink that perimeter and let people back in. and the other issue is, please, try to stay away fromtree and 19th street when you're

driving. it's just bogging us down. we've got traffic jams. if you don't belong in the area, please, stay away from those areas. santa fe's the same way, telephone, telephone road. so those are, have caused some big issues, and if we could just get the public to cooperate, if you -- there isn't anything you can do there at this time, and there are a lot of safety issues there. so, um, if you will give us time, let the search and rescue take place, we can get you in there a lot quicker. thank you. >> general deering? >> i'm major general miles deering from oklahoma, and i just want to say, first of all, it's an honor to support the fors responders, and that's what we're here for, is to support the first responders and fill gaps in the capabilities that they have with either our resources or the resources we can reach out and gather the

support this effort. there's just been a phenomenal effort thus far, but it's going to be a long time before we totally heal from this and recover. but we're here to support. >> commissioner thompson? >> i'm mike thompson, i'm governor fallin's cabinet secretary for safety and security. i'll echo what the police chief said. if you don't have a reason to be in the affected area, please, avoid it. we want to be sensitive to the people who are looking for their lost ones and loved ones and trying to look at the lawyer here, but -- the area here, but still, it just slows down the recovery efforts. so if you don't need to be here, please, avoid this area and let us do our work. we're going to be here as long as we need to to get this community back, and we're going to be very sensitive to the people affected by this loss, but we do know collectively we've got a tough job ahead of us, and we're going to be here

to help the community as long as it takes. >> mayor lewis? >> first of all, i'd like to say thank you for everyone who's here today. i apologize, the air conditioner's not working, we're on generator power, so just bear with us. i have a lot of thank yous to say. first and foremost is the president of the united states who sent me a fema director. i couldn't do without him. the governor, who's been here on site ever since this happened, and i just appreciate her and her staff. all of the city employees, all the other agencies that have come from all over. we appreciate their support and assistance. i want to say thank you to the city of oklahoma city, the city of norman. without them we couldn't do it, and this has been quite a experience. i was the actual mayor here on may 3, 1999, so this is not my first rodeo with this. but it doesn't get any easier, especially with the loss of life. and with that, i'll turn it over

to mayor cornett. we'll answer questions in a little bit. thank you. >> first i wand to commend the mayor -- i want to commend the mayor. this could have easily overwhelmed, and they have not only been up to the task, but i think have performed valiantly and were immediately on the scene. there are, you know, a firm of organizations that probably deserve some level of mention today including the media whose technology provided excellent warnings, and no doubt saved hundreds of lives. i was able the tour the site this morning, and, you know, one of the takeaways that a person receives in that situation is that no one could possibly have survived this, and yet we know they did. we know people crawled out of that rubble. and we're talking levels of debris that's four foot high as far as you can see. we're talking about cars that are upside down and school books and children's toys and trees

without bark. this was the storm of storms, and the fact that so many lives have been spared, i think, is a great testament to the technology of the media and the public safety officials whom have been mentioned largely from the city of moore and the city of oklahoma city, but larger other municipalities and county officials as well. i do have one bit of new information to pass along. it appears that we have the power restored to the water treatment plant if not by now, in the next few minutes. it takes a little bit of while for the pressure to build up in the system, so residents should expect water power to increase throughout the afternoon. we could be at full usage later on today. wouldn't be a bad idea for them to use less water than is necessary for the next few minutes, next few hours, but the system should be back up and running very, very soon. and, again, i want to spread my thanks to governor fallin and

her staff and, of course, to the federal officials who have come here in our hour of need and been with us. thank you all. >> oklahoma city police department. as usual, the response has been overwhelming by all the partner agencies in public safety, all the volunteer agencies from the state, local, federal. it's just overwhelming as we've come to expect and, obviously, we've dealt with this in the past. right now oklahoma city in and of itself, which has a much smaller task than moore has, the area that's been affected is only about 8 square miles, and that's with moderate to really extreme damage. there's about 4 square miles that we actually have corps donned off. -- cordoned off. that area's cordoned off for people only, right now we're only allowing homeowners to go into those areas to try to get

into homes to see if they can salvage some things. they may be able to. but those are the only ones allowed in those area, and we will be in those areas securing those areas for quite some time, probably for a week to two weeks just to protect property and make sure everybody has the opportunity to get back to their, get back to their property and do what they need to do. we've, in oklahoma city we've had a confirmed four deaths. i think overall the medical examiner has actually confirmed 24 depths. but four of those are in oklahoma city, the remainder would be in moore. obviously, as the governor spoke, there could be, obviously, others in coming days, the search is still going on. heavily in moore because they have such a larger area to cover. so we could expect more possibly. so we have 24 right now, there could be more. all the people that have been reported missing, we had initially about 48.

all of those have been actually found. except for, i think there's a few left in moore that they are working on to try to locate that have not. if there is still somebody out there, if there's anybody out there, citizens that have not found loved ones, we'd ask them to go ahead and call us at 297-1129 and at least report that and let us have the opportunity to maybe locate them. again, i want to thank the media for their cooperation and all the state, local agencies that have worked together toal hi, really make such a tragic event probably handled as well as possible. so thank you. >> keith bryan, fire chief, oklahoma city fire department. just to add to what chief said, he just explained the operations in oklahoma city. as the storm was forming yesterday afternoon, we activated the state's urban

search and rescue task force, and so we actually had those assets and those personnel assembling as the storm was approaching oklahoma city so, therefore, when the storm did strike, we could have those personnel and assets in place very, very quickly to start beginning search and rescue operations. as of last night about midnight, we had completed a primary and secondary search of the affected areas in oklahoma city. the task force set up a base of operations next to briarwood elementary school, and they still continue to operate out of there. currently, what we are doing is going through the list of rebellinger -- registered storm shell ors in oklahoma city and double checking those to make sure anybody that may have been in a storm shelter and wasn't able to get out. other than that, we have an oklahoma city fire department task force that is dedicated to

the affected area, so if any fires were to break out, any emergency medical needs arose, we're there so we can respond very quickly to that area. and, again, working just with the state task force in that area to make sure we toroly search -- thoroughly search the area and, again, be able to respond quickly to anything that may arise since the storm occurred last night. >> good afternoon, i'm cleveland county commissioner d derek stacy, and this is rod cleveland. first of all, i want you to know we agree our fellow residents of cleveland county for the -- we grieve for the reresidents for the loss of life and those injured. absolutely devastating. it's been a rough few days for cleveland county. as you know, we started on sunday, and initially we had storms and tornadoes hit the east side of our county. our crews have been out 24/7

since that time, and we've been involved in absolutely every aspect of that from cleanup to search and rescue to we're actually opening up in cleveland county at our fairgrounds so that we can take livestock there. but every kind of aspect that you can think of, we're trying to be involved in helping the residents. we're going to be in this until the very end. this is our county, and we will heal together. as you've heard, this is a very resilient county, and the citizens here in moore and norman have been through this before, and they know what to do, and we'll be together til the end, and we'll heal together. thank you. >> one of the main concerns we have is sheltering the people that lost their homes, and you can contact red cross, i've been in contact with them. they have a number of shelters available. there are shelters in norman that's available, they have food and water. one of the churches is trying to

coordinate, harvest church in norman. the other thing is just like i said, commissioner stacy, the fairgrounds in cleveland county, the -- [inaudible] foundation and moore shelter, the moore animal shelter is set up there to take pets and help with food and cleanup for their pets. so we appreciate all your help. thank you. >> my name is gary cox, the director of the oklahoma city county health department and, of course, our job in public health is to keep people healthy and well and prevent further loss of life and further disease. and so we're doing a number of efforts along that line in oklahoma city and oklahoma county, you know, with our partner, blue cross blue shield, we will have three mobile vans that will be giving tetanus shots to those that might be doing cleanup and have injuries, puncture wounds or other type of wounds. so those will be available in oklahoma city and oklahoma

county, and they'll be available in cleveland county if they're needed. we're working with restaurants, food establishments, with the oklahomaty school system, with other institutions in oklahoma the city and oklahoma county to try to help them have safe food and to keep those restaurants and get them open and get them open and safe food for the public. for those that have lost power. for food safety, if power has been lost in those areas where it has been lost, food really maintains, is safe for anywhere between 2-4 hours in the refrigerator. if it's in the freezer, probably closer to 24 hours. and, of course, we always say if in doubt, throw it out. let's keep everybody as healthy and as well and prevent disease and death as we can. thank you. >> my name is susan pierce, i'm

superintendent of moore public schools. with me at the podium today is dr. robert -- [inaudible] assistant superintendent of moore public schools, who will move into the superintendent seat upon my retirement, july 1. we have a short statement prepared for you today. we appreciate your time. first, i would like to extend my sincere sympathies to all those who have suffered losses over the past couple of days in oklahoma, and especially in our hometown of moore, because we're not only school administrators, but we are both born and raised moore residents and so proud of that. our hearts go out to each of you and, please, know that owl of us are suffering -- all of us are suffering with you. next, we can't say enough to thank our emergency responders. their preparations and quick actions over the past 24 hours have saved lives and have eased the burden of the disaster for all of us. we cannot thank you enough.

as superintendent of moore schools, i want y'all to know that safety is our main priority. yesterday our administrators, staff, teachers and students put our crisis plan into action immediately. we monitored the weather throughout the day, and when it was time to shelter, we did just that. a tornado's path is highly unpredictable, but with very little notice we implemented our tornado shelter procedures at every school site. throughout the school year we are required by the state department of education to conduct tornado drills. at moore public schools, we exceed that requirement. when our children are at school, they are in our care. i want to emphasize that safety is our main priority and the decisions we make are always with safety in mind. i don't need to tell you that moore public schools, the city

of moore and south oklahoma city have suffered a devastating natural disaster. we're in the process of learning as much about -- as we can about what has happened, and we are reviewing our emergency procedures today. i think it's important to note, for the public to know that moore public schools will still hold graduation for our three high schools this saturday, may 25th, at the cox convention center. commencement is at 9:30, south moore is at 2:30, moore high school is at 6 p.m. our future news conferences will be held with the isty of moore -- the city of moore, and we ask for everyone's patience as we continue to gather information and as we work with emergency management. since moore public schools' web site is down currently, updates regarding our district can be found on the moore/norman technology center web site and

norman public schools' web site. thank you to both of those entities for helping us in that endef. thank you. -- endeavor. thank you. >> good afternoon, brian alford, og and e. just to give you an update on our system, we're continuing our assessment of the system over the course of the next day or two. we're hopeful that we can actually begin some restoration in those areas that are outside the most haley damaged -- heavily damaged. we hope to begin that process this afternoon. the weather's not being very cooperative, but again, it's our plan. we will have additional crews on the ground in the evening. we will have approximately 300 individuals here from outside the state primarily from texas and louisiana here to help with the restoration process.

they will be here in this afternoon. they will be oriented to our processes and then begin work in the morning. beyond that, we will continue to provide updates to you on a regular basis, and that's it. thank you. >> hello, i'm representative mark mcbride. the majority of this is my district, and by family moved here in 1940, and so you can imagine the family and friends that we have that are here that have been affected by it. i mean, they've covered almost all the bases on everything that's going on. i just want to let the people know call me if you need anything. if you need a bottle or water, case of water, if you need a place to stay, you can come to my house. i mean, i'm here to help. just, people just let me know what you need. call my office at the capitol or my cell number is 5 t 3-5312. you're welcome to call that and just get in contact with me.

thank you. >> i'm sam porter, i'm the state director of disaster relieving if oklahoma, and i also want to speak on behalf of all the volunteer agencies, nonprofit and faith-based agencies in oklahoma. there's about 30-40 of them that are responding. we've had a conference call today, and they are -- we work very closely with the governor and albert ashwood and even mr. fugate as he's come, we appreciate him coming. we work all over the united states, but the grandfather of tornadoes came yesterday. we just want you to foe that we will be working -- know that we will be working as long. we're oklahomans, we'll be here til it's over. one of the main things we do is provide many meals. we have a truck that can do 30,000 meals. if we need more, we'll bring another one from texas that can do 40,000 meals a day. we're going to be preparing all the food that red cross and

salvation army serves as they open up the sites. people are responding, cleaning up their homesites. we'll be having red cross and salvation army drive through those neighborhoods with canteen and emergency relief vehicles providing food for people that do not want to leave will to come out and go get food. so we'll be doing that as long as we need to do that. we also will be coordinating debris clean-up teams. southern baptist have disaster chain saw teams. some do not need chainsaws, but many of you will. and we'll provide those. we'll have numbers that will be published that you can call in and request that help, and we'll come out and assist that and take care of those needs. but i can't say enough for all the volunteer agencies, and we appreciate the government agencies working with us as nonprofits and faith-based. it takes all of us to make this happen. and, again, we'll be here until we have all of your needs met. thank you.

>> well, i'm rick smith, i'm the warning coordination meteorologist at the national weather service norman forecast office. i want to give you a quick update on our surveys, we have four teams in the field extending from west of new castle all the way to near lake stanley draper. these preliminary findings, i'll tell you that the weather today is a complicating factors because of the lightning and hail and a severe storm just a while ago. preliminarily, we're saying that the tornado damage path was 17 miles long. it began 4.5 miles west of newcastle, oklahoma, in mclean county and ended 4.8 miles east of moore. right now we are still at the ef-4 rating. we are just now getting into some of the most heavily-damaged areas just west of the warren theater, and we think that may be where the most significant strug damage is.

we've seen numerous structures that are wiped clean to the foundation, but we have the top experts out there today looking at that. our best estimates of wind speeds as of right now are about 190 miles an hour, but we're not done, and that could go higher. we will keep you updated through the day constant ri with updates. we, certainly mourn for all the loss and appreciate our partners here today. we are working with our partners in this time yesterday and the days preceding to try to get as much evidence as possible. we had a conference call yesterday morning with many of the people you see here talking about the threat for severe weather, the timeline and the warnings. we issued the first severe thunderstorm warning including newcastle and moore at 2:12 p.m. yesterday. at 2:40 we issued the first tornado warning. the time will change, but the tornado began somewhere around 2:56, maybe a little bit earlier tan that, and ended around 3:36 over west of lake stanley 0 p.ma

tornado emergency statement, that's an exceptionally rare event, we don't do many of those, but we thought the impact was high enough that we wanted to heighten the awareness. we were very active on social media in trying to get the word out. so thank you. >> hello, my name is john doak, i'm the oklahoma state insurance commissioner. couple things. our hearts go out to the families who lost loved ones and especially the children. you can't replace a child, but you can replace a home or car, so we -- these are just items that can't be compared. we've learned a couple of lessons from governor fallin's leadership and albert's leadership here in oklahoma city, and we've put these, all of these best practices into action to be able to partner with the governor's office and albert's office to be prepared for something, for an event just like this from the insurance perspective which is very unique in the insurance industry.

we have an insurance command center set up at moore baptist church, 301 northeast 27th. we are, we'll have a press conference this afternoon at 4 related to specific insurance needs and specific companies to get their message out to meet the needs of oklahoma consumers that have been impacted. it's a one-stop shop for any questions. the oklahoma insurance department consumer services will be on site 24 hours a day for the next foreseeable future to handle folks who have different shift works to make sure that we can help the system at the church. and, again, we'll have mobile banking on site. we talked to the oklahoma banking commissioner. we're working to have atms on site so folks can be able to cash their emergency checks, additional living experiences advances that are going to be given this afternoon, later tonight. watch that those are -- [inaudible] they're going to have rental cars on site. we know that several companies

are bringing in hundreds of rental cars that will be there. our anti-fraud investigative team is going to be embedded in the community, is on site there. one of the things that we're going to send as a very strong message to anyone that is going to take advantage of an oklahoman related to insurance fraud, and we've instituted new emergency badge that we have over a thousand folks that are going to be getting these today over at the baptist church getting their picture made. it'll be an access pass emergency for 90 days to get in and out of the area, and we're really going to crack down on fraud. we've learned lessons from from katrina, from job lin, and we're going to institute those here in oklahoma to protect creates of oklahoma. so i just want to say that, you know, when you have any type of loss of life and the resiliency of the people of the state of oklahoma, you know, god is good, and we're doing fine, oklahoma. the amount of love that we see from all the community coming together has been remarkable.

and the insurance community will be here as we've been around the world, around oklahoma. we've learned these lessons, we'll be here, we'll assist until the last claim is paid. thank you. b. >> thank you, commissioner doak. at this time we'll take some questions of you from the media, if you have any. >> i'd like to ask the governor, can you just talk about your emotions as you saw the destruction there? i know you were -- give us your -- what was going through your heart and mind as you saw this? >> well, yesterday started out very interesting. i started out early morning going to other communities across the state that had experienced damage from the tornadoes that hit on sunday, and so i was going to those communities. and albert ashwood, our director and i, had gone down together to those communities. and we started heading back around 1:00 or so because albert was telling me the weather was get withing ready to get bad.

it wasn't bad in oklahoma at that time. it was cloudy, and we knew that weather was -- [inaudible] however you describe that, and albert said we need to get back to the command center right now. and as you just heard around 2:00, after 2:00 it started looking pretty bad outside, and by 3 it was a very quick, fast-forming storm that came up on us. and the media did a superb job along with the helicopter pilots of tracking the storm itself and being able to show us exactly where the storm was proceeding. but it did hit very quickly. when i saw the magnitude and the size of the storm on the news screen, i knew that we had a huge problem on our hands and that there was going to be a tremendous disaster and possible loss of life. and so we assembled our folks together, we got together with albert ashwood and our national guard members, activated them right away before we even knew

exactly what had happened on the ground in case we needed them. and then, of course, last night and all day yesterday we were down here at the site. i ended up at the school, the plaza tower, probably about 11, 11:30 last night walking through thick mud itself and just, it was a very surreal coming up on the school because there was no school. there was just debris. and it was piled very high. it was hard to tell what was there and to know that we had children and that we had parents that had gone up to that school looking for their children and the very tough challenges that we had with communications to where people weren't able to call and weren't able to drive down the streets and had no television, probably no radio unless they were in their car and not knowing where their loved ones were and whether it was of the adults or the children themselves. it was a very frightening time. i know -- and still is for those

who don't know yet the outcome of some that may be missing. so it was a very hard experience. but i will tell you that as i was down at the school site, i saw the second shift of the firefighters and the first responders come up on that site, and there were probably it seemed to be close to 75 to 100 fire hats and the yellow jackets and to see them come up on that site ready and prepared and waiting to take over the second shift of digging through the rubble was a heart warming experience to know how many people were stepping up to help. [inaudible conversations] >> fatality count, the number of 24 that we're hearing? are these four oklahoma city deaths in addition to the 4? >> no, they're included in the 24. i know there's a lot of numbers that are thrown out last night. i can only speculate when we have things like this happen that people speculate, at some point they end up being reported as fact.

but the four that we have this in oklahoma city are part of the 20. so there's a total of 24 right now that the medical examiner has. >> [inaudible] when will they be allowed to go back to their homes? >> right now they're open -- within the oklahoma city area. but you have to understand, we have a much smaller area that we're dealing with. so i can't answer, i can't answer for moore. >> governor, have you had a chance to meet with any of the family members, the parents of some of the children who died? >> not of those who have died. i've tried to leave them and let them mourn and, certainly our thoughts and prayers are with them. i have met with a mother that had two sons that were in the school that did survive and visit with the children myself. i have seen other family members who had got news earlier today that they had lost someone, and they finally found them. and that was very hard to see and to hear the wailing, the

crying at the church and the facility itself. >> moore just passed a new school bond. will safe rooms be part of those new facilities? >> they're all gone right now. >> is there anybody that can respond for more information about the school situation? >> we can talk about school safety in just a little bit if you'd like to talk about that. i know with the help of the federal emergency management agency, we've funded over a hundred school safe rooms. unfortunately, the two schools that were hit were not funded for safe rooms. >> were they some of the older schools? >> no. it's up to the jurisdiction to put up the schools they want to put the safe room in, and they usually look for a mull -- multipurpose room. >> did you say why -- >> they weren't applied for for those schools.

you have a limited amount of funds that are used for mitigation measures, and when you have a limited number of funds, you set priorities on which schools you do want to ask for. it was a matter they hadn't been brought forward yet. >> are any of the schools, any other schools in moore safer? >> we're checking on that right now. i know that we find many in the oklahoma city metro area, we need to find how many are in moore, how many are in oklahoma city or other jurisdictions. but we're going to be looking at trying to up that number and trying to get more safe rooms across schools across the state, the entire state. >> is it true that some of the children that we lost were actually in a basement that flooded? >> i have no information on that. >> does anybody have information on that? >> i can only, i can only tell you what the superintendent told me and that there is no basement in that -- >> that was -- >> that's not. they were in a classroom, is what their understanding is,

that there is no basement in that school. >> you're speaking of safe rooms. i don't understand them. you, obviously, do. if these two schools, the one school in particular had had a safe room, is it likely all the children would have survived? if they were in that safe room? >> not necessarily. i think when you talk about any kind of safety measures whether it be a safe room or a shelter at your home or school, it's a mitigating measure. it's not an absolute. there's no guarantee that everyone will totally be safe. most of the time, 95% of the time, i think rick will back this up, taking proper tornado procedures and precautions within your own home you'll survive most tornadoes. this was a very unique tornado. we can't forget that. >> obviously, it would have given them a much better chance -- >> any safety procedures would have helped out in mitigating the disaster. >> [inaudible conversations] >> are they doing any search and rescue, are they doing any recovery? can anybody peek -- speak to

that? >> you want to talk about plaza towers? >> moore chief. >> there he is. plaza towers. >> i apologize, i didn't hear the question. >> will are they doing search and rescue and recovery? >> yes, we are still at plaza towers. we've been there all night, we're till there today, and the teams and everyone else that are involved are still actively going through that structure. [inaudible conversations] >> how many people were in the school? do we know yet how many students were there, faculty, anything like that? >> total in the structure? >> in the school. >> that would be a question for the school to answer. i couldn't tell you -- >> have any survives been found recently in the last several hours? >> no. no survivors have been found recently in the last several hours, no, sir. >> have any been found today? >> no, sir. >> could you reconcile something? the emergency -- [inaudible] services authority spoke to -- [inaudible] a short time ago up to 20 children could be still

unaccounted for. is that correct? and if it's, how to you make those -- [inaudible] >> i have not been given that number. i don't know if that was released by the school system, but that's not a number that i'm aware of. >> does anyone else know? >> how many students are unaccounted for? >> we have not been told of any students that are unaccounted for. >> do you believe there are still bodies in the rubble? >> at this time the dogs are not making any hits for persons. they will not declare that structure clear until they are down to the ground and have been through every piece of rubble in that building, but i do not believe so at that time. but i cannot guarantee that. >> chief byrd, some people said that people who have -- [inaudible] safe rooms that the city has a list of some of those people that have those things. do you have that list, or are you using it to try and track down those safe rooms that you can't find because you don't

have addresses or street signs? >> yes, sir. those were -- our emergency manager had access to that list, and he gave us those, and we have been going through those, and the teams have been going through those locations. >> and tell us about the process of how you're doing this and trying to find these home that is you don't have addresses, some safe room you don't have notification of -- >> the only way we have of finding a safe room is the ones that have been called in to the city and listed by address, and we have -- we can still pretty well find our addresses. we have map pages and map books, and we have our ipads, and they can pretty well get us where we need to go. when they list their safe rooms, they tell us what part of the structure they're in. >> but are you going to every house expecting maybe there's a safe room there and you need to look for that? >> every individual house? >> uh-huh. >> no, we go to every individual house, the search and rescue teams are looking for everything and anything, and if they need to, they take the dogs in this also.

>> 101 people were found alive overnight -- >> i do not know where that figure came from either. >> the highway patrol. >> okay. that would be a question you need to address with the highway patrol then. >> chief byrd, this past year it's my understanding that cleveland county did not, including norman, moore -- [inaudible] clinton county proper did not qualify for federal grants for safe rooms. many people who had applied for safe rooms approved by those cities and counties were not able to get that funding because there wasn't a bad enough disaster haas -- last year. >> yeah, that's not exactly the issue. as i told you before, what we do is we base our funding for hazard mitigation grant projects, it's based on the amount of disasters we've had in the past. there's a certain pot is the aside for mitigating measures, and we can have projects out of that. over the last couple of years,

we haven't had very serious disasters here in the state of oklahoma, so that pot kind of ran dry. it was not a matter of any project being turned away or being turned down, it was waiting for funding that we could actually fund at. >> well, what i do know is people apply for safe rooms through their cities, through their counties, and the federal money -- >> and we'll leave this briefing at this point. it does continue online at our web site, c-span.org. as we go to a live picture of the u.s. capitol and flags flying at half staff in honor of the victims of the tornado yesterday in oklahoma. they'll remain at half staff until sunset wednesday, may 22nd. the senate now returning from their weekly party lunches for more debate on a five-year reauthorization of farm program. senators will spend the rest of the week debating the measure. and live coverage of the u.s. senate.

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. mr. sanders: in that case, i do not ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i move to set aside the pending amendment. i will hold off. i would like to ask that the pending amendments be considered but i will hold off until the manager is here. madam president, the amendment that i am -- the amendments that i am going to offer address an enormously important national issue, and an issue even more important to rural america, and that is the skyrocketing cost of gasoline at the pump and oil in

general, which is causing enormous hardship for the american consumer, small businesses, truckers, airlines, and fuel dealers. i mean the bottom line is that in vermont all over this country, people are paying an arm and a leg for a gallon of gas for home heating oil. it is a very, very serious economic problem pour the individual consumer and for the entire economy at large. in fact, as we continue to struggle to get out of this terrible recession, high oil and gas prices are enormously detrimental to the entire economic recovery process. these rapidly increasing prices are particularly harmful to rural america where working people often are forced to travel 50, a hundred miles to their jobs and back. and if you're paying $3.80 for a

gallon of gas, that adds up, that's money coming right out of your wallet. madam president, over the past five months, the national average price for a gallon of gasoline has gone up by more than 41 cents at the pump, even -- and this is the important point to make -- even as u.s. oil inventories reached a three-decades high, and demand for gasoline is lower than it was four years ago when prices averaged less than $2.30 a gallon. in other words, what we learned in elementary school about supply and demand, the foundation of capitalism, if you like, and pricing, is there is a lot of supply and limited demand, prices should go down. right now, there is a lot of supply, less demand, and prices are going up.

and i think we need an answer to that question, which impacts our entire economy and millions and millions of consumers. our goal must be, madam president, to do everything that we can to make sure that oil and gas prices are transparent and free from fraud, manipulation, abuse, and excessive speculation. let the principles of supply and demand work, let us eliminate fraud, manipulation, abuse, and excessive speculation, which is exactly what we are experiencing right now. and, madam president, that is why i will be offering two important amendments that deal with these issues. and both of these amendments are within the jurisdiction of the agricultural committee, which

is obviously why i am offering them on this bill. the first amendment, number 963, requires the commodity futures trading commission, cftc and the oil and gas price fraud working group to conduct a six-month investigation to determine whether any company or individual in the united states has manipulated the price of gasoline, crude oil, heating oil, diesel fuel, or jet fuel. madam president, such an investigation is already taking place by regulators in europe. on may 14, 2013, just a week ago, the european commission announced that it was investigating allegations that several companies, including b.p., shell, and standard oil, -- quote -- "may have colluded in reporting prices to

a price reporting agency for a number of oil and biofuel products" -- end of quote. i know ron wyden, chairman of the energy committee, is also looking at this issue, perhaps from a slightly different way and i applaud him for doing that. but this amendment basically says that right now the european commission believes that there may be fraud among the major oil companies, and i believe that if that is true in europe, it may well be true in the united states and i want the cftc to investigate that as well. amendment 963 requires the cftc to work with european regulators to determine if any company or individual in the united states provided inaccurate information to a price reporting agency for the purpose of manipulating the

published prices of gasoline or oil. secondly, refer any illegal activities to the proper authorities for prosecution. third, report its findings within six months, and lastly, publish recommendations on its web site on how to make sure the pricing of gasoline, crude oil, heating oil, diesel fuel, and jet fuel becomes more transparent, open, and free from manipulation, fraud, abuse or excessive speculation. madam president, the third largest oil company in europe has estimated that as much as 80% of all crude oil products transactions are linked to process published by platz, a private price reporting peation eation while just 20% are linked to trades on the new york mercantile exchanges or ice

futures europe. platz depends on splaitdors to voluntarily provide details on transactions for various crude oil and petroleum companies. so, madam president, that is one of the issues that we want to take a hard look at, and that is to make sure that we end those manipulations. madam president, the other issue that i want to take a hard look at is the issue of speculation on the oil futures market. and what we know is that right now according to the cftc,

approximately 80% of the oil futures market is controlled not by end users, not by fuel dealers, not by airline companies, not by people who actually use fuel, but by wall street speculators. and that is the issue that my second amendment deals with. and what this amendment does is address an issue that was not satisfactory -- satisforly addressed where we attempted to deal with excessive speculation on the oil futures market. and what my second amendment, number 964, does, it requires the cftc to use all of its authority, including its emergency powers within 30 days

to address this very, very important issue. and once again, madam president, i think the american people are at their wits' end in trying to understand why oil prices go up despite the fact that we have sufficient supply, and lack of demand. and i believe -- and i'm not just speaking for myself but many economists believe -- that a heck of a lot -- one of the major reasons for this significantly high price has to do with speculation, speculation from wall street. and what this amendment does is require the cftc to use all of its authority, again, including its emergency power, and that is not what we have done in the past. within 30 days to do the following: to implement position limits, to eliminate, prevent or diminish excessive oil

speculation as required by the dodd-frank act and to immediately curb excessive oil speculation to ensure that oil and gas prices are based on the fundamentals of supply and demand. madam president, as i mentioned earlier, price is supposed to be determined by the amount of supply and the amount of demand. supply now is very high, demand is relatively low. we should be seeing a decline in oil prices rather than an increase. further, the international energy agency recently projected that the global supply of oil will surge by 8.4 million barrels a day over the next five years, significantly faster than demand, and nearly two-thirds of the increase in oil supply will be in north america. so if you're looking at an

abundance of supply, limited demand, we have every reason in the world to believe that gas prices at the pump, oil prices in general, should go down. and if they are not going down, we have got to ask why, and many of us believe this has to do with excessive wall street speculation on the oil futures market. while we cannot ignore the fact big oil companies have been gouging consumers at the pump for years and have made over a trillion dollars in profit over the past decade, there is mounting evidence that high gasoline prices have less to do with supply and demand and more to do with wall street speculation, jacking up oil and gas prices in the energy futures market. ten years ago -- and this is a very important point for people to understand. ten years ago, speculators only controlled -- only is probably the wrong word but they

controlled about 30% to 40% of the oil futures market. today, wall street speculators control at least 80% of the market. so in a ten-year period we have seen wall street speculation double on the energy futures market. what does this mean in terms of oil prices? everything in the world. the function of wall street speculation has nothing to do with using oil, everything to do with making a profit, driving prices higher. this is not just bernie sanders talking, madam president. there is a growing consensus that excessive speculation on the oil futures market is driving oil prices up. exxonmobil, goldman sachs, the i.m.f., the st. louis federal reserve, the american trucking association, dealt airlines, the petroleum marketers association of america, the new england fuel institute, many,

many other groups, consumer federation of america, have all agreed that excessive oil speculation significantly increases oil and gas prices. interestingly enough, goldman sachs, not one of my favorite institutions, but perhaps the largest speculator on wall street, came out with a report indicating that excessive oil speculation is costing americans 56 cents a gallon at the pump. goldman sachs, they themselves estimating that speculation, excessive speculation is costing 56 cents a gallon at the pump for the average consumer. and that may be a conservative estimate. a few years ago, the c.e.o. of exxonmobil, again, not one of my favorite companies, testified at a senate hearing that excessive speculation contributed as much as 40% to a barrel of oil.

and saudi arabia, the largest exporter of oil in the world told the bush administration back in 2008 during the last major spike in oil prices that speculation was responsible for about $40 a barrel of oil. gary dentsle, the chairman of the cftc has stated publicly that speculators now control between 80% to 87% of the energy futures market, a figure that has more than dubled over the past decade -- doubled over the past decade. in other words, a vast majority of the oil on the futures market is not controlled by people who actually use the product but whose only function in life in being in the oil futures market is to make as much quick profit as they possibly can. let me give you just a few of the -- list just a few of the oil speculators and how much they were trading on june 30, 2008, when the price of oil was

over $140 a barrel and gas prices were over $4 a gallon. goldman sachs bought and sold over 863 million barrels of oil. morgan stanley bought and sold over 632 million barrels of oil. bank of america bought and sold over112 million barrels of oil. lehman brothers, merrill lynch, et cetera, et cetera. so what we have got to understand is to a very significant degree, pricing of oil has nothing to do with supply and demand, nothing to do with end users who actually use the product. everything to do with wall street speculation. sadly, madam president the spike in oil and gasoline prices was totally avoidable. the dodd-frank wall street reform and consumer protection act required the commodities future trading commission to impose strict limits on the amount of oil that wall street

speculators could trade in the energy futures market by january 17, 2011. two and a half years ago. unfortunately, the cftc has been unable to implement position limits due to opposition on wall street and by a ruling of the d.c. district court, which is now under appeal. this amendment directs the cftc to utilize all its authority, including its emergency powers, to curb excess active oil speculation -- excessive oil speculation within 30 days. within 30 days. we're not going to drag this on for another five years. madam president, the emergency directive in this amendment is virtually identical to bipartisan legislation that overwhelmingly passed the house of representatives by a vote of 402-19 during a similar crisis in 2008. so, madam president, let me conclude by saying that millions

of consumers are hurting as a result of excessive speculation. people are paying much more than they should at the pump for gasoline. this issue impacts our entire economy and it's time that we did something to that. and i would say to my colleagues that i want to call up senate amendments 963 and 964 and ask for their immediate consideration. the presiding officer: is there objection? ms. stabenow: reserving the right to object, madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you very much. first, i want to thank the senator from vermont for raising all these issues that are so important for the american people. at this point in time, we do have an amendment that is pending, senator gillibrand's amendment. we do not have unanimous consent in order to set that aside, so i

would have to at the moment object to setting it aside but then ask -- i assure the senator i want to have an opportunity to talk with him about these issues. mr. sanders: i look forward to talking to the senator from michigan but i do want her to know this is an enormously important amendment for the people of vermont and rural america. we want action and i think we have brought forth amendments which can, in fact, end up substantially lowering the price of gas at the pump and oil. and i intend to pursue this vigorously. ms. stabenow: thank you very much. the presiding officer: objection is heard. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: madam president, i rise to speak on the farm bill. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. hoeven: thank you, madam president. today i rise to speak in support of the agricultural reform, food and jobs act of 2013, a

five-year farm bill. this bill saves more than $24 billion to help reduce our deficit and our debt. it streamlines the farm programs to make them more efficient and it ensures that our farmers and ranchers continue to have good risk management tools, particularly crop insurance. now, it's vitally important to so many facets of our national interest. it's important to food, of course, but also to fuel, to fiber, to rural development, to ag research, and many, many other areas. it touches the life of every single american and in some of the most basic ways. this year the farm bill is moving through this senate because we've already debated and passed more than 90% of this bill in the last session. a lot of this bill we worked on very hard in the last session.

we passed through this body with a big bipartisan vote. unfortunately, the house was not able to pass their version so we weren't able to go to conference and finish this -- finish the job. this year we need to do that. and so this farm bill, again, 90%-plus we voted on in this body last session. we had a big bipartisan vote to pass it. we need to do that again wet. need to get into conference with the house. we need to get this done for our farmers and ranchers and for the benefit of all americans. last week we passed the bill out of the senate ag committee, on which i serve. we'll have the opportunity to both help craft it, and, again, building on the product that we put together last year, we voted it out of committee with a big bipartisan vote. now, the u.s. house also passed its version of a farm bill out of their ag committee last week and they're looking to bring their bill to the floor, to the house floor, in june and we're

hopeful that they'll pass it in june. but we need to be ready. we need to have ours done. i think we can show real leadership on this issue and be ready to get into conference with the house and get this important work done. the senate version that we passed supports our farmers and ranchers in substantive and sensible ways. it gives them the necessary risk management tools and ensures that americans, all americans, continue to enjoy the highest-quality, lowest-cost food supply not just in the world but in the history of the world. among the provisions in the commodity title is the no-cost sugar program, and i want to take just a few minutes here to talk about the sugar program and its importance in the context of this farm bill. now, the sugar program warrants discussion because some members -- and i believe certainly with the best of

intentions -- want to actually weaken this vitally important program. but weakening our current sugar policy would accomplish nothing. in fact, it would subject our producers, consumers, and industries to a distorted world market. further, it would threaten the more than 140,000 jobs in 22 states that depend on a vibrant, competitive sugar industry. no, the sugar -- the world's sugar market is not a free market, make no mistake, it is not a free market in any conventional sense of the term. i can tell you now foreign governments heavily protect and subsidize their sugar producers. for example, brazil spends between $2 billion and $3 billion per year to subsidize its producers. mexico literally owns one-fifth of its industry and subsidizes the rest.

our sugar farmers, along with the rest of america's farmers and ranchers, have told foreign competitors time and again, we are ready, willing and able to compete in a truly free market but we will not and we must not unilaterally disarm. nor will dismantling the sugar program result in lower costs to consumers and american businesses. once you factor in transportation costs, the world price of sugar is higher than the price in the united states. and sugar prices resident only higher in brazil and mexico, they are higher worldwide. if we do away with sugar policy altogether and subject producers strictly to a distorted global market, what we will see is not lower prices but, rather, extreme volatility in the global surer market. and -- sugar market. and not only are sugar prices lower in the united states and elsewhere, but the cost of sugar in most products is tiny. for example, in a hershey's chocolate bar, it's less than 2%

of the cost. further, it should be noted that sugar prices have fallen by more than 50% in the last two years but candy prices at the store aren't seeing the same level of reduction at all. the truth is, if consumers are paying higher costs, it's because of labor and health care costs in the unite united statet because of the cost of sugar. for ten years now, sugar policy has operated at zero cost to the american taxpayer because our farmers are efficient and they are competitive and because american sugar policy has always made sure that they were playing on a level playing field. as a result, consumers in this country enjoy more affordable sugar than elsewhere in the world and consumers enjoy products that are made from a safe and reliable homegrown source. the bottom line is that sugar policy is cost-effective and fair and it should be retained in the commodity title of the

farm bill. but i'd like to turn again to the broader legislation. good farm policy benefits every single american. as i said, we have the lowest-cost, highest-quality food supply in the world thanks to our farmers and ranchers and thanks to good farm policy. how do you put a value on our safe, abundant, nutritious, dependable food supply? it's invaluable. by any standard, it's invaluable. just consider the benefits that this farm bill provides. the farm bill is a job creator and it helps our economy. agriculture supports 16 million jobs in the united states and contributes billions of dollars to the national economy. year in and year out, we sell more food and fiber than we buy from abroad. further, american agriculture produces a financial surplus.

through relentless innovation, best practices and good stewardship of the land, american agriculture creates a positive balance of trade. the farm bill saves money to help reduce the deficit and the debt. think how important that is. the 2013 farm bill, like the farm bill we passed last year, provides more than $24 billion in savings, more than what is required by sequestration, to help address the nation's defer sit and debt. -- nation's deficit and debt. our farmers and ranchers are stepping up and doing their part. the farm bill also provides a strong market-based safety net for producers. the safety net in the 2013 farm bill focuses on enhanced crop insurance which is what farmers and ranchers have asked for, enhanced crop insurance. that's the focus. not direct payments. direct payments are eliminated. and it enhances crop insurance with the inclusion of a new product, the supplemental coverage option, s.c.o.

the s.c.o. enables producers to purchase a subpoena mej policy beyond -- supplemental policy beyond their individual farm-based policy creating an additional level of risk management. the bill also includes the ag risk coverage or a.r.c. program that provides assistance against multiple year losses, again helping our farmers to better manage risk. they are business people. they need to manage their risk. and let's not forget the farm bill strengthens our national security. our country doesn't have to depend for our food supply on other countries, countries that don't necessarily share our interests or values, and that makes us safer. the fact is we are secure in that most basic vital necessity, our food supply. mr. president, the farm bill is about so many things important to the people of america. this is about all americans.

again, i say good farm policy benefits every single american. we have the highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world thanks to our farmers, ranchers and good farm policy. this is about 16 million jobs in this country that are supported by agriculture. this is about a positive balance of trade that helps build our economy. this is about $24 billion in savings where ag is stepping up and not only doing its share but doing more than its share to help with the deficit and the debt. in the most fundamental ways, a good farm bill makes america stronger, safer and more secure. and, madam president, we need to pass it. thank you. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. cochran: madam president, i am pleased to congratulate my

friend from north dakota for his statement and his discussion of the content of this farm bill. he was one of the active members of our committee who participated in the markup sessions, attended the hearings in preparation for writing a farm bill and helping to shape the consensus that is reflected in the final work product. he is a very valuable member of our committee, and i commend him and thank him for his contributions to this process. he very accurately describes that this is a consensus product, it's not a partisan bill, it's not meant to make anybody or any section or any commodity group look good or feel good because of favors done in this bill, but this is truly to serve the interests of our good and great country to help improve our trading opportunities in agriculture commodities that are produced on

our farms throughout the united states. i think it's going to serve the interests of not only agriculture but the american citizen broadly speaking, and much of the success is due to the contributions made by the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: i would like to thank the distinguished senator from mississippi for his kind comments and also for his leadership on the ag committee as our ranking member. i want to express my appreciation. with that, again i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. ms. heitkamp: it should come as no surprise that two senators for the great state of north dakota stand today and talk about the importance of american agriculture. 90% of the -- of the land that we have in north dakota is engaged in production agriculture.

and as much as what you have heard -- and it's all true -- about this great economic renaissance that we're having in our state, let me tell you agriculture is still number one, and every year american farmers, north dakota farmers bet. they bet on good weather, they bet on good prices, they bet that the crop will grow, and they spend millions of dollars on that bet. they are the biggest gamblers in the history of the world, and they're asking for a farm bill that gives them a little bit of risk help, that makes sure that when they plant, they know that maybe, maybe they have a chance to get cost of production back out. and why is that important? it's important because who's going to take that risk on behalf of the american people, on behalf of a global and worldwide supply of food? who's going to take that risk if we don't help a little bit. and let me tell you, today in america almost every state that has an agricultural base is

doing a little bit better because agriculture's led the way. agriculture has buoyed this economy. states with an agriculture base have a much lower rate of unemployment, and they have been leading the way on our trade deficit. it cannot be overstated how significant this farm bill is not only to states like north dakota but to every state in this union, to every economy in this union. 16 million jobs hang in the balance, waiting for this body, the united states congress, to give some assurance to pass a farm bill. now, i applaud both the ranking member and the committee chair for their excellent, excellent work. no bill comes out of committee with diverse opinions that is absolutely perfect and everyone's going to agree on, but it is part of that great american compromise that we have

been talking about, that we have been striving for in this body to actually move the issues forward, to do the things that americans sent us here to do, to deliberate, to discuss, to debate and to compromise, and that's what this bill is. now, every piece of this bill is important. every piece is a linchpin to making sure that we pass a farm bill. and so you're going to hear a lot in the next couple days about the sugar program, and i will talk broadly about the other provisions of the bill tomorrow on this floor, but i want to spend today talking a little bit about the sugar program within the farm bill because it is absolutely significant and important, and i know senator hoeven just outlined some of the statistics that we talk about when we talk about sugar. but the u.s. sugar policy defends more than 142,000 jobs.

not just in north dakota, not just in minnesota, not in florida and hawaii, but in 22 states. and it defends those jobs from unfair foreign competition. and it results in nearly $20 billion in annual economic activity in the united states. of course, many of these jobs are in north dakota. we grow a lot of sugar beets in the red river valley. we process a lot of sugar beets in the red river valley. and those processing jobs are the value-added jobs that led the way in value-added economies in our state, and so we're pretty protective of our sugar economy. in many rural communities, sugar is the linchpin of the local economy. if we lose the sugar program, make no mistake, if we bend to the reforms that you're going to hear talked about, if we bend to the ideas that you have today about the sugar program, we will

lose our domestic sure industry. why? because we can't compete. make no mistake, i'm not saying that our producers can't produce or compete with producers from other parts of the world if the level -- if the playing field is level. in fact, not only can we compete, we can best them. but the playing field is not level in sugar. other countries have subsidized their sugar programs for years. more than 120 countries actually produce sugar. every one of them intervened to defend their producers from global prices where surplus sugar is dumped. none could survive at historic world level prices without these government interventions. if our farmers could go head to head with their foreign counterparts, they would robust ly compete and i believe capture much of the market. unfortunately, with federal sub

downsization, help is not available to our cane growers. opponents to the sugar program would have us do one thing -- unilaterally disarm and surrender our market to foreign producers. for over two decades, from 1989-2008, -- and i want you to remember that date, 2008 -- the average world cost of sure production averaged about 51% more than the world price. let me say that again. the world average cost of sugar production averaged 51% more than the sugar price. how do you do that? how do you produce a product that costs more than what you sell it for? you're subsidized. this means that should producers have received support from governments that allow them to stay in business even when their

production costs exceed the market price. in order for their sugar industries to survive, governments in foreign countries provide some buffer to the world market. with a wide variety of import tariffs, nontariff import barriers, price and income supports and direct and indirect subsidies. you know, we have heard that sugar prices are too high, and if we eliminate the sugar program, the risk program for our sugar growers, that sugar prices would drop. food corporation opponents say that the u.s. sugar price is too high. they further argue that high sugar prices threaten their competitiveness, given foreign competition for processed foods. the truth is that sugar prices have held relatively stable over the course of the last three decades. this cannot be said about most other agricultural commodities. imagine today if we were

debating about $2 a bushel corn. u.s. raw sugar prices have dropped by more than half since the fall of 2011. prices now are below the average price of the 1980's and below the average of the 1990's and below the average of the decade of 2000. our sugar farmers have struggled for decades and may not have survived. since 1985, more than half of the sugar beet and sugar cane operations should -- shut down. it's hard to survive in 2013 when the price you get for your product is the same price you would have received in 1980. the amendment that we're going to be debating here will drive the u.s. sugar price down even further, allowing more subsidized sugar to flow into our market and put our sugar farmers out of business.

you know, if we take a look at all of the commodities that are in the farm bill and we take a look at every piece of that compromise bill and we start singling out one commodity for special treatment, let's -- let's forget for a minute we're talking about sugar. let's talk about dairy. would a sugar bill survive if we were to eliminate the dairy program? would a farm bill survive if we were to eliminate the dairy program? our concern today is that this industry is critical to our food security in this country, but also importantly it is critical to the compromise of the farm bill itself. a farm bill that supports over 16 million jobs. in an economy that struggles except on the farm. these programs have worked, and

i can tell you in north dakota, i have lived through bad farm bills. my producers have lived through bad farm bills. the last five years, six years have been an enormous improvement, not only to -- to market-driven techniques but have been an enormous improvement to allowing our producers to make the market decisions that they're going to make but also get that help that's going to give them the surety when a small north dakota producer -- and i'm not exaggerating -- spends a million dollars putting a crop in the ground. and they do that for their family, they do that for their state, but they also do it for the country and for the world because they know that the american farmer feeds the world, and it's a pretty important job. and so i say let the compromise stay. let the bill stay intact. let's move this bill forward.

let's get it into conference with the house. and let's for once tell the american people that we can get something done in the united states congress, that we could respond to the needs of this country and move our country forward. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. mr. cochran: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. cochran: mr. president, we appreciate the comments of the distinguished senator from north dakota. also, it is a pleasure to welcome her as a new member of our committee of the she too. she took an active role and we appreciate her contributions. i see no other senator seeking recognition. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. roberts: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to set

aside the pending amendment to call up amendment number 948. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call, sir. mr. roberts: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. roberts: i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment to call up amendment 948. the presiding officer: without objection, the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from kansas, mr. roberts, for himself and others proposes amendment numbered 948. on page 355 -- mr. roberts: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. roberts: thank you, mr. president. this is roberts amendment number 948. this amendment would help rein in the largest expenditure within the department of agriculture's budget, the supplemental nutrition food stamp program, snap, the subcommittee included in minimal

savings for the food stamps around $4 billion over the ten-year budget window. i know people have different views on this but i would say that is certainly minimal. i think we could have done more in committee last week. i introduced a bill at that time. i withdrew it to make sure that we could get this to the floor. and we must do much more in a responsible manner. just look at the house agriculture committee which marked up a farm bill with over $20 billion in savings from snap. that bill was marked up and passed with bipartisan support as of last week. we can restore integrity to the snap program while providing benefits to those truly in need. and save approximately an additional $30 billion. note i say while providing benefits to those truly in need. iam not proposing a dramatic change in the policy of nutrition programs such as block

granting programs to states. that would represent a dramatic change, to be sure. instead this amendment enforces the principles of good government and restores the snap program and the spending to which more responsible levels. also, snap was exempted from the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration. however, it is clear that there are several areas within the program that could provide significant savings that were left untouched. first, the amendment eliminates the liheap loophole. let me be clear. eliminating the liheap loophole does not affect snap eligibility for anyone using snap. it only decreases snap benefits for those who would not otherwise qualify for the higher snap benefit amounts. but at least 17 states, with all due respect, are gaming the

system. by designing their low-income home energy assistance program -- liheap -- to exploit the snap program. let me explain. the liheap loophole works like this. a participating state and that agency annually issues extremely low liheap benefits to qualify otherwise ineligible households for standard utility houses which result in increased monthly snap benefits. now, for example, today a state agency can issue $1, only $1 annually in liheap benefits to increase monthly snap benefits, an average of $90 -- that's $1,080 per year -- for households that do not otherwise pay out-of-pocket utility bills. now, if you completely eliminate the liheap loophole, as my legislation does, it will save

taxpayers a total of $12 billion. $8 billion additional compared to the current version of the farm bill. we also tie categorical eligibility to cash assistance, eliminating a loophole that states are exploiting by offering tanf. it provided informational brochures to maximize snap enrollment and the corresponding increase in the federal food benefits. categorical eligibility known as cat-l, was designed to help streamline the administration of snap by allowing households to be certified for snap food benefits without evaluating household assets or gross income. but 42 states are exploiting an unintended loophole, the tanf provided informational brochures

and informational 1-800 numbers to knacks phaoeuz snap -- to maximize snap enrollment. these states, with all due respect, are also gaming the system to bring otherwise ineligible snap participants into the program. in an ongoing effort to streamline government programs, we should eliminate the duplicative snap employment and training program and the snap nutritional education grant program. combined, these two programs cost over $8 billion and do not represent any direct food benefits. any direct food benefits. this amendment also ends the department of agriculture's practice of giving $48 million in awards every year to state agencies for basically doing their job. currently bonuses are given to states for best program access,

signing up as many people for snap as possible; most improved program access -- how many more people signed up for snap compared to the previous year. and best application processing timeliness -- handling applications within required guidelines. the bonuses are not even required to be used for snap administration. a recipient state may choose to use the funding for any state priority. finally, the amendment terminates the ongoing stimulus enacted by the american recovery and reinvestment act of 2009, which provided extra funding to increase monthly snap food benefits. now, i understand, i really understand the importance of domestic food assistance programs for many hardworking americans, including many kansans. as chairman of the house agriculture committee some years ago, we worked very hard to save the food stamp program and prevent it from any kind of efforts to simply do away with

it or send it back to states because of the very things that i have talked about. my goal is simple: restore integrity to the supplemental nutrition assistance program in a commonsense and comprehensive manner. enacting this package of reforms will allow the federal government to continue to help those that truly need snap food benefits and assistance. i encourage my colleagues to support this amendment and these reforms for the benefit of all americans. mr. president, i yield back. i suggest the absence of a quorum. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: before granting that request, let me just inquire of the chairwoman. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you, mr. president. certainly we want to hear from the distinguished senator from montana. i know that the senator from south dakota has been waiting for some time as well. we had asked him to wait until senator roberts had offered his

amendment. i'm not sure the time that the senator from south dakota has right now, but certainly we want to hear from both of you. the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: mr. president, if i might, did the gentlelady want to lock in a time agreement on the votes? ms. stabenow: it appears at this moment we're going to have to have a little bit more time before we do that, so thank you. mr. thune: thank you. mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, i first want to start with just a word about the tragedy in oklahoma. our thoughts and prayers are with the families impacted by yesterday's devastating storms as well as the first responders and volunteers who rushed to the scene. and i hope all americans will continue to keep them in their thoughts and prayers and be looking for ways in which they can pitch in and help out in a very tragic situation.

mr. president, i want to come to the floor today to talk about the long-term budget challenges facing the country and the impact those challenges are going to have on jobs, economic growth and future generation tp-s we don't control spending. last week the congressional budget office released its updated projections. they released an analysis of the president's 2014 budget. c.e.o. underscores the long term challenges face this go country. if you listen to the politicians in washington, d.c. and commentators and the democrat side reacting to the congressional budget office report, you would have heard claims that the deficit and debt crisis facing this country is solved. in fact, president obama took the airwaves recently in his radio address and boasted about the deficits and i quote, shrinking at the fastest rate in decades end quote. his claims about the budget report strike me as odd particularly because the details of the report tell a different story. according to the c.b.o., the deficit for 2013 is projected to

be $642 billion, or 4% of the nation's gross domestic product. while the deficit may be down from its record trillion dollars plus levels the national debt which is $16.7 trillion continues to grow at an alarming rate. $642 billion this year alone. so while it's encouraging that the deficit this year will be smaller than was originally projected, part of those savings are due to unexpected repayments from fannie mae and freddie mac and the cliff agreement. the fact of the matter is that a deficit 4% the size of the economy is nearly double, nearly double the historic average. over the next ten years, covered in the c.b.o.'s baseline projections the national debt will grow by nearly $9 trillion. $9 trillion, mr. president, to over$25 trillion. just to put that number in perspective, the country is projected to rack up over $2

billion in debt every single day over the next decade. at which point our national debt will exceed $25 trillion. at this assumes that the sequester remains in place. publicly held debt will remain above 70% of g.d.p. which is hutch myron the historic average of 39% and c.b.o. projects that publicly held debt will continue on an upward path beyond the next decade. this growth is driven by spending, not revenue. the c.b.o. report confirms that revenues are projected to grow by 45.9% in the eight years after the year 2015. while overall spending will grow at 55% during that time period. despite the fact that inflation will be 19.5% in economic growth, 24.9% during that time period. those are c.b.o. estimates about economic growth, inflation, spending and debt over the course of the next decade. in other words, mr. president, revenues are going up, but spending is projected to grow at

nearly three times the rate of inflation, meaning that we have a spending problem, an revenue problem. -- not a revenue problem. revenues will reach 19.1% of g.d.p. by the year 2023 which is well above the historic average of 17.9% since the end of world war ii. spending, on the other hand, will continue to grow even with the sequester. driven largely by increases in mandatory spending. mandatory spending on programs such as medicare is projected to grow by 79% from today's level over the next ten years. federal health care programs including obamacare are driving this surge in mandatory spending. federal health care spending is projected to double over the next decade as the health insurance exchange subsidies kick in beginning next year and medicare and other programs continue to grow without needed reforms to save and strengthen them. spending on mandatory programs and interest on the debt will consume nearly three-quarters of all federal spending over the next ten years leaving little

room to pay for discretionary programs including national defense. to slow the rapid rise in debt, this country is experiencing, we have got to control the largest driver of that debt which is spending. in particular, mandatory entitlement spending. the alternative is a crippling national debt that's bad for the economy, bad for jobs, bad for our national security, and bad for our children and grandchildren. according to the nonpartisan congressional budget office and i quote again, "such high and rising debt later in the coming decade would have serious negative consequences" -- end quote. the report goes on to say and i quote again, "because federal borrowing reduces national saving over the time the capital stock would be smaller and total wages would be lower" -- end quote. mr. president, c.b.o. also warns such high levels of debt increase the risk of a fiscal crisis. the threat that the national

rising national debt poses to our economy is real. it will impact the american people and will impact our economy in very real ways. it will slow economic growth meaning fewer jobs, it will drive of interest rates making it more expensive to borrow money to pay for a college education, or to buy a home. it is inevitable that the national debt is going to have to be addressed at some point. the question, mr. president, is whether we address it directly or continue kicking the can down the road which with will only make our problems much more difficult to solve. the congressional budget office also projected in their update last week, mr. president, that interest spending, the amount that we spend just to finance our debt, is going to increase dramatically over the next several years. in fact, interest costs on prior deficit spending will grow from $223 billion today to $823 billion in 2023, an increase of

369%. net interest costs will surpass the base defense budget in 2019, just six years from now. think about that. we're spendinggoing to spend more on interest on the debt than we spend on national security, on our national defense. that is how fast the interest is going to eat up every other area of the budget. so i would hope, mr. president, that we will be able to take the c.b.o. report and not -- and not greet it with great fanfare and be slapping high fives because for one year the deficit got reduced by a couple hundred billion dollars over what it was supposed to be but rather, recognize at $642 billion this year, and a federal debt that's going to be at $25 trillion by the ends of the next decade and interest payments that will exceed the amount we spend on national security, we have a serious debt crisis in this country that needs to be addressed. and i hope members of congress on both sides of the aisle will work with us, that the

president will step forward and acknowledge that we have a debt crisis and it's not a debt crisis somewhere in the future, it's a debt crisis today that needs to be dealt with and the c.b.o. update rather than alleviating that concern puts a fine point that we need to act and we need to act now. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. baucus: mr. president, thomas jefferson once said far and away the best prize that life offers is a chance to work hard at work worth doing, end quote. i know many montana farmers and ranchers who understand that exactly, they know what jefferson meant. they work the soils, tend their herds month after month often through natural disasters like the drought in 2012. it's hard work, but they do it because it is work worth doing. the dirt under their nails, the sweat on their brows puts food on be their tables every day. the farm bill supports that effort. the bill before us this

afternoon, it is worth doing. make no mistake, the farm bill is a jobs bill. it supports 16 million americans jobs every year and in my state of montana, one in every five jobs is tied to agriculture. those jobs are counting on us to get the bill done. as we work to tackle the debt it's important to remember the farm bill cuts spending by $23 billion, the farm bill is part of the solution, not part of the problem. under the leadership of chairman i chairwoman stabenow, the ranking member cochran, we have crafted a true reform bill. we worked with farmers and ranchers across the country to create a farm policy that works for producers and taxpayers both, provides support when producers need it, when they actually experience a loss. as will rogers notably said, the farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn't still be a farmer. farming is capital intensive.

farmers work with paper-thin profit margins and even the best farmer is at the mercy of chance. last year is an example. the usda predicts 86% of agricultural land experienced droughts in 2012, making it one of the most expensive droughts in a generation or more. in moantsd, 48 of 56 counties with parched crops and empty fields. the crop insurance products will help farmers survive disasters like this and put food on america's tables when weather and market conditions improve. anyone who has been to montana knows that we have the best tasting beef in the world, too. at least we think so. for the last year, our ranchers have weathered this drought with no support, with hay and water in short supply they've been forced to thin their herds.

thinning herds means lost jobs because 50% of our economy is tied to agriculture and about 35% of our total ag receipts come from cattle and calf sales. livestock disaster assistance keeps our ranchers in business until the rain starts falling again. and that why i created these programs in 2008 and why i fought so hard to make them permanent in this bill. to finally provide our ranchers with certainty they can take to the bank. in the last farm bill they were not permanent and caused almost another disaster. i thank the chairwoman and ranking member for working with me to extend that livestock disaster with limited funds. we have not stopped there. we have not stopped the farm programs. we saved $6 billion from the conservation title outcompromising policy. we do this by with consolidating 23 additional programs, a tight network of conservation programs. and i made shiewfer we protected the working lands program which contribute to substantial

conservation improvements but still allow for productive use of the land. the forestry title we permanently authorize stewardship contracting. mr. president, this is so important to the western two-thirds, western one-third of our state. this will help the timber industry sustainably harvest more trees and anyone in montana will tell you that means jobs. we also included support to combat the bark beetle epidemic that's killed over six million acres of montana forests. senator bennet and i worked together to make sure we they could be harvested more quickly before the fire season already under way in montana, this investment is more important than ever. it's also very proud of our work to help veterans find jobs in farming. 45% of our service members come from rural areas. that's a national statistic. so farming is a natural fit for veterans looking to return home to rural way of life.

in the nutrition title i'm proud to say we kept the fundamentals of the food stamp program intact so low-income families have their safety net in place as the economy continues to improve. and we even found a way to trump up fund if you can funding for tfap which provides emergency food for needy families. in montana, agriculture is a way of life. it's our biggest industry. our 29,300 farms produce billions of dollars' worth of quality beef, barley, peas, lentils, to say nothing of our livestock and our ranchers have 2.5 billion head of cattle which means there are more cows in montana than people. but the farm bill is not just for producers. it also provides funding for rural businesses. from mile city to blib little bitty, the farm bill offers opportunities for montanans of all walks of life. the same is true all across america.

our farm policy contributes to security in american agriculture and that's why we spend less on food than any other country in the world. we spend less than any other desmed country in the world. americans spend less than 7% of dizz poasable income to feed their families. that compares to about 25% in 1930. our producers put food on the tables around the world. in 2012, agricultural exports reached $136 billion with a surplus of $32 billion, literally growing wealth from our fertile soils. like any small businesses, farmers and ranchers across montana tell me the number-one thing they want is certainty. operating under short-term extensions leaves millions of americans' agriculture jobs stuck in limbo. farmers and ranchers need certainty to take it to the bank. that's why they need this five-year farm bill. and i might say, mr. president,

if we can get this passed we're on the road moving away from these short-term extensions which do no one any good and more toward longer-term legislation which does everybody a lot more good. and i hope we can get this bill passed. it's so important. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i'm going to proceed on my leader time. the presiding officer: the senator has that right. mr. mcconnell: for the past two decades, i've been coming to the senate floor to condemn acts of the bedroomese regime against its own people. and for the past decade for these reasons i've sponsored legislation to impose sanctions on the burmese government. beginning in 2003, import sanctions have been renewed annually through the burmese freedom and democracy act. this act was later enhanced in 2008 through the tom lantos

block burmese jade act, a measure i also supported. today, however, i come to the floor with a different message. after having given the matter a great deal of thought and review, i do not -- do not -- believe that congress should reauthorize these import sanctions. let me repeat that. i do not believe the burma sanctions should be renewed for another year. there are several reasons why. first, the objective of the sanctions effort is to change the behavior of the burmese government. and to a significant extent, that has actually taken place. as a result of the new burmese government's actions, in the past two and a half years, aung san suu kyi, the nobel peace prize laureate has been freed house arrest, has been permitted to travel abroad and has been elected to office as a member of parliament.

a free and fair by election was held in burma last year. scores of political prisoners have been released. a freer form of government has begun to take root. and i strongly believe that the import sanctions that we previously enacted were instrumental in promoting these reforms. they helped deny the previous military junta the legitimacy it had craved. these positive changes, many of which i saw for myself during my visit to burma in january of 2012, should be acknowledged and we do acknowledge them. as suu kyi herself said last fall during her visit to the united states, "the sanctions need to be removed." second, i believe renewing sanctions would be a slap in the face to burmese reformers and embolden those within burma who want to slow or reverse the reform movement.

we should be strengthening the hand of these reformers to show the fence sitters that reform will be met with positive action by the united states. the administration has extended an olive branch to the new burmese government and i believe it is time for congress to do the same. burmese citizens should not be made to feel that congress will maintain sanctions no matter what they do. third, after renewal of the import ban last year, the administration waived most of the sanctions in response to the recent reforms. so as a practical matter, as a practical matter, even if the ban were renewed, its effect would be largely nullified through an administration waiver. a waiver, by the way, that i support. let me emphasize a few points. by choosing not to remove the import ban, no one should fall under the misimpression that congress would be giving up its

leverage with respect to burma. the current restrictions on importation of burmese jade and rubies are likely to remain in place even without the renewal of sanctions. this is because the administration enjoys authority under other statutes to continue to limit the importation of burmese gems. so, again, as a practical matt matter, the restrictions on burma would be little different without the sanctions than they are right now under the sanctions we renewed last year, considering the fact that the sanctions were waived last year anyway. moreover, there are other sanctions apart from the law that we're just talking about which would remain permanent. they include the authority to freeze assets and the authority to deny visas to bad burmese actors. even if the import ban is not reauthorized, these provisions

remain on the books. in addition, a variety of other sanctions that expressly name burma remain in effect and still require outright repeal or modification. they include provisions within the fiscal year 1997 foreign operations appropriations bill, the customs and trade act of 1990, and the foreign assistance act. if burma's government continues to support political and economic reform, then at a later date, congress can consider whether these permanent restrictions warrant removal or modification. beyond the realm of trade, there are other statutes of general application that sanction burma due to concerns over human trafficking, counternarcotics, and religious freedom, to name just a few such issues. burma must take positive action in order to no longer qualify for sanction under those measures as well. so again, legislative leverage

would remain even without the renewal of this law. there also remains the annual appropriations process as congress considers how much and what types of aid burma should receive in the first place. for instance, there is some indication that burma wants to improve its military-to-military relationship with us. frankly, i think that's a really good idea. and such programs in context provide additional tools for congressional oversight and action. the european union and australia have also removed most of their sanctions against burma. congress, in choosing not to renew trade sanctions, would ensure that american companies remain on equal footing with their western competitors and bring greater certainty to those u.s. firms which are considering investment in burma. and finally, if burma backslides, goes backward, congress can always reconsider

the sanctions. as a congress, we need to be realistic about the fundamental challenges facing burma on its road to reform. the country faces major, major challenges on many fronts stemming from a half century of bad governance and economic mismanagement. in this post-junta period, the burmese people need our help and bilateral trade can do just that. it can help improve burmese lives and show the people of burma that a move toward greater political openness under a new government brings with it tangible benefits in their daily lives. a burmese government that is more representative of its people and reforming economically will be positioned to contribute to asean, regional stability and grow increasingly independent within the region. while i'm pleased with the progress we've already seen, i would note that i am not --

repeat, not -- fully satisfied with the progress that burma has made so far. much, much more needs to be do done. the 2015 elections will be a vital indicator of how strong the reform movement is within burma. in my view, there are several other important benchmarks that we will need to achieve going forward. for example, all parties within burma must work to reduce the clashes between the military and ethnic minority groups and begin political dialogue toward peaceful reconciliation. all parties within burma need to work to diminish sectarian strife between buddhists and muslims. any arms trade between north korea and burma needs to stop now. the burmese constitution also needs amending in several areas. for example, provisions specifically designed to exclude suu kyi from running for president need to be changed.

complete and unconditional release of political prisoners needs to be undertaken. the military should increasingly be brought under civilian control. and finally, other reforms in progress involving enhanced rule of law, protection of private property, and government accountability need to take place. i make this appeal to my colleagues in light of the visit of burmese president tang sein to washington this week. this is an important visit reflecting many of the dramatic changes that have taken place in burma. it follows on the heels of aung san suu kyi's landmark visit last fall and president obama's visit to burma last year. many of us who've followed burma for years -- in my case, two decades -- never thought we would see this reform come to this troubled country.

this is an important moment and i believe it is time for congress to take responsible action to continue to promote progress by encouraging those who are risking much, very much, within burma while still leaving in place other sanctions in order to encourage further reform. a decision not to renew the sanctions is an important step in that direction. to do otherwise could send the wrong signal to the wrong peop people. so as a congress, let us continue to vigorously support democracy and peaceful recognition -- reconciliation in burma, but let us do so by taking a positive step forward with regard to our sanctions policy. mr. president, i yield the floor. ms. stabenow: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: i see my friend from louisiana wishing to speak but i would have a unanimous consent request first. i would ask unanimous consent that at 4:05, five minutes after

4:00, the senate proceed to a vote in relation to the roberts amendment 948, that there be no second-degree amendments in order to the amendment prior to the vote, that the time until 4:05 be divided with ten minutes for senator vitter and the remaining time to be equally divided on the amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. vitter: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. vitter: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise to present two amendments that i have filed and will be pushing hard for votes on this farm bill before the senate right now, and i hope these get a full and extensive debate and a vote. they are relevant, related to the farm bill in significant ways. the first amendment is with

regard to the free government cell phone program, and, of course, that uses as criteria for eligibility the food stamp program and other benefit programs and so it's directly related to that aspect of the farm bill. mr. president, as you know, this program has been exploding almost without limit and i have some fundamental concerns about it. my fundamental concerns are pretty simple and pretty basic. they come down to two things. first of all, i think the whole program is an entitlement mentality gone wild. that -- that we have started the notion that folks are entitled to the government, a taxpayer providing them almost everything under the sun. secondly and not unrelated, mr. president, there has been widespread and abuse of this program, and i'm convinced it is at the core of this program and

can't be scrubbed out. mr. president, what's the program called we're talking about? well, it is the free government cell phone program. it was started in 2008, and in just those few years since then, it's grown from $143 yon that $n that year, which itself is a significant amount of money, but it's grown to $2 billion, an 11fold increase. now, it's paid for by you and me. it's paid for through our land line and cell phone bills. we all get a charge on our bills, if you actually pay your phone bill -- land line and/or cell phone -- you get a charge and you pay that charge and that's what funds this program. so ratepayers, taxpayers, citizens, millions upon millions around the country pay for this. the f.c.c. itself -- now, the f.c.c.'s in charge of the program. it itself has to make -- has

about 270,000 beneficiaries have more than one of these free government cell phones. that's interesting. that's important because that's completely against the law and against the rules, completely prohibited. the f.c.c. also says that the top five companies that benefit from the program couldn't confirmly eligibility of 41% -- confirm the eligibility of 41% of the folks they signed up. this was a report in 2011. f.c.c. did some spot-checking. it found 41% of the folks these companies signed up couldn't be confirmed as eligible. now, this is -- this has led one of my colleagues, claire mccaskill, democrat of missouri, to say that the program is ripe for fraud with a -- quote -- "history of extreme waste and abuse." closed quote. and that's what my objections are all about, rampant waste and abuse and a general entitlement

mentality that i think has gone too far. so my amendment at the desk, my amendment on this bill would simply and completely end the program with regard to free government cell phones. now, mr. president, you have an argument that, oh, these problems are being fixed, we're making great strides. i -- i was interested in -- in seeing how far we have come and so this very weekend, i was talking to a friend of mine back in louisiana, clarence. he was interested in that, too. so monday, yesterday, he decided to go to one of these outlets that advertises free government cell phones and just see what his experience was. he walked in and he said the truth -- he was interested in getting a free government cell phone. he was asked, do you -- are you on any government benefit

program like food stamps now? he answered truthfully -- no. he said, i have a job. i don't make a lot of money. that was the truth. he was asked to produce two things, a driver's license and a pay stub. and he showed the people at the counter both of those things. they looked at them. interestingly, they certainly didn't make any copy. they certainly didn't create any documentation because that coul potentially get them in trouble. they look at -- looked at them, they gave him a form that he had to sign once and they immediately gave him a free government cell phone. it was on, worked immediately. it had minutes on it immediately that he could use. and so he walked out of that storefront in less than ten minutes with a free government cell phone. he then looked up the precise eligibility criteria of the program, which he didn't know before, and guess what? surprise, surprise. he didn't qualify.

he should never have gotten one. and so he is returning it today. and it will also be interesting to see how long that phone is kept on even after he returns it because the provider gets $9.25 from the ratepayer and the taxpayer and the f.e.c. every month for that account. and this is his, clarence's free government cell phone. this is his receipt. the charge is zero, absolutely free, and completely, completely contrary to all of the rules of the program, which is why he is returning it today. mr. president, we have serious spending and fiscal challenges in this country, but we have an even greater challenge, which is we have lost the faith and confidence of the american people and we have lost it because of this. we have lost it because there are tents popping up on every other street corner, handing out these free government cell phones like candy.

and why is that happening? because the people handing out the phones have a vested interest in doing that, have a vested interest in not worrying about whether eligibility criteria are met, because every time they hand out a phone, they get $9.25 per phone per month, as long as they can sustain that gravy train. there the biggest welfare abusers of this, rich, owners of companies who milk the system to get richer, who i would call government welfare kings. this abuse needs to stop. we need to recapture the confidence of the american people, and my amendment would help do that. and secondly, mr. president, i will also be presenting and pushing for a vote an amendment to limit and bar certain people

from receiving any food stamp benefits, and those are folks who have been convicted of violent and serious crimes like violent rapists, pedophiles and murders. there is a -- and murderers. there is a misconception that that ban is already in the law. in fact, it's not. in fact, the only ban that exists is for drug felons, and in the law is an opt-out for states so the state can opt out of even that ban. my second amendment is very simple and straightforward. it would establish a complete ban in the program for anyone who is commit -- who has committed a violent rape, a crime of pedophilia or a murder, and there would be no opt out for states. i hope, mr. president, we can form a bipartisan consensus around this basic idea and put that basic fundamental

limitation in the law, and i urge my colleagues to look at both of these amendments and to support both of these amendments. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: there is one minute remaining. mr. roberts: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. roberts: would the distinguished acting presiding officer please inform the senator as to how much time we have to divide equally? the presiding officer: 40 seconds. mr. roberts: could i ask unanimous consent that two minutes be granted on an equal basis? the presiding officer: without objection. mr. roberts: thank you. mr. president, this is an amendment that i have worked on considerably along with others, senator thune, senator johanns,

others on the agriculture committee and others as well. we can restore integrity to the snap program while providing benefits to those truly in need. let me emphasize that. while providing benefits to those truly in need. we're not touching those while we save an additional $31 billion. you say $31 billion as compared to what? $800 billion over ten years. if we cannot at least make those kinds of savings, $31 billion to $800 billion, we have got problems. i am not proposing a dramatic change on the policy of nutrition programs such as block granting programs the states would represent. instead this amendment enforces the principles of good government, returns snap spending to much more responsible levels. snap was exempted from across-the-board cuts known as sequestration. however, it is clear that there are several areas within the program that could provide significant savings that were unfortunately left untouched. so enacting this program of reforms will allow the federal government to continue to help

those that truly need snap food benefits and assistance, but also, also enact needed reforms. otherwise, food stamps and snap will continue to be a target. i don't want that. i think we can restore integrity to the program. i encourage my colleagues to support this amendment. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: mr. president, i rise in strong opposition to this amendment. this goes way beyond what we have done in the committee which is to focus on waste, fraud and abuse and make sure there is integrity in the programs, to make sure that supplemental nutrition assistance goes to families who have been working hard all their lives, paying taxes, just falling on hard times and need some temporary help. this, in fact, would have a nine times higher cut than what we reported out of the committee on a bipartisan vote. it would undercut what we're trying to do in employment and training, which is so critical. we all want people to have the opportunity to get back to work. we are seeing now in the area of

nutrition that the costs are now going down the way they should be, which is by the fact that people are getting back to work and no longer needing the help. that's the way we should reduce it, in addition to tackling waste, fraud and abuse as we do in this bill. i would strongly urge my colleagues to vote no on this amendment. the presiding officer: the question occurs on the roberts amendment. is there a sufficient second? there is a sufficient second. there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, on this the yeas are 40, the nays are 58. the motion failed. thor senator motion to table -- lay it on the table. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: lay it on the table. move to reconsider, lay it on the table. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: mr. president? the presiding officer: may we have order in the senate. order in the senate. the senator from michigan.

ms. stabenow: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that there now be five minutes equally divided prior to a vote in relation to the gillibrand amendment 931, there be no second-degree amendments in order to the amendment prior to the vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mrs. gillibrand: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mrs. gillibrand: i rise in support of this amendment because when congress proposes -- the presiding officer: there will be order in the senate. please take your conversations outside the chamber. please take your conversations outside the chamber, gentlemen and ladies. the senator from new york. mrs. gillibrand: mr. president, when congress proposes cuts to the food stamps program, it is not nameless, faceless people that are looking for a handout that suffer. it's children. it's veterans. it's active-duty service members. it's hardworking adults. and we have to stand by them in the way they have stood by us. the reality of these amendments

is that half of the recipients of food stamps are children. eight percent are seniors. 1.4 million veteran households receive food stamps. there are some of you who would believe this is some loophole we are closing, but the fact is these programs were designed for efficiency as part of welfare reform. when we put this liheap program in place, the heat and eat program, it was to say families living in cold-weather states who have high heating bills need extra money to put food on the table. and this particular provision is for people in rental apartments who do not have a heating bill but are having their heat included in their rent. these governors in heat-and-eat states have said we want to make sure our recipients of food stamps are eligible for this benefit because they need it. children, seniors, veterans, active-duty service members deserve to have food on their table. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

mr. roberts: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. there will be order in the senate, please. take your conversations outside the chamber. the senator from kansas. mr. roberts: i thank the acting presiding officer. no, no, no, no, we're not cutting anybody's benefits that the distinguished senator from new york is talking about. this amendment would effectively shield over 80% of the farm bill from any reduction and prevent the bill from a serious breach in the nutrition program. the distinguished chairperson of the agriculture committee, the senator from michigan, already has included the provision in the bill to say she is against food stamps for needy people is ridiculous. basically it's important to know this amendment does more than reinstate what's called the liheap loophole, which we don't want. this amendment also cuts crop insurance. that's the number-one priority of american farmers today. it's one of the great success stories. it was developed as a way to

help farmers manage their own risk, skin in the game -- the presiding officer: please, the senate come in order. take your conversations out of the chamber please. the senator from nebraska. mr. roberts: kansas. the presiding officer: sorry. mr. roberts: nebraska went to the big ten. we stayed in the big 12. the program was developed as a way to help farmers manage their own risk and head off the need for costly, efficient and ad hoc disaster programs. these types of cuts can be difficult to absorb when we're in the third year of a drought is not the time to change it. i also want to add the senator from new york has been a champion of expanding crop insurance coverage for specialty crops and organic crops in her home state. i just think that perhaps she's misinformed and hasn't read the bill. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: is there time remaining? the presiding officer: there is 1 minute, 9 seconds. ms. stabenow: mr. president, i

would reluctantly rise in opposition. i am a full supporter of this program to make sure that families who find themselves in a situation beyond their control because of the economy, because of what's been happening to so many around the country, get the temporary help they need. what we have done in the farm bill is focus on those areas where there has been fraud or abuse or in this case misuse of actually a very good program to be able to provide assistance in terms of heat and food. there are few states -- mine one of them -- that has gone beyond and is misusing a well-intended program. i believe in fighting for the integrity of these programs so that we can continue to fight for increased help for people who really need it. and i believe that what we've done in the bill meets the test of integrity and is defensible and addresses what our legitimate concerns that have

been raised about the misuse and fraud of programs. and so i would ask that colleagues oppose the amendment. the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. ms. stabenow: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote: are there any other senators that wish to vote? are there any senators that wish

to change their vote? if not, on this, the yeas are 26, the nays are 70. the motion fails. -- amendment fails. mr. reid: move to reconsider. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: lay on the table. mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent that the time until 5:30 be a period of morning business, senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each during that period of time and at 5:30, senator stabenow be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, it has now been 59 days since the senate and the house passed our budget resolutions. the american people are now expecting us to get together and do everything possible to bridge the partisan divide and come to a bipartisan deal. and on this side, senate democrats are ready to get to work. but unfortunately, despite their

focus over the past two years on the need to return to regular order, republicans have been refusing to allow us to move to a bipartisan budget conference. now, many members, including the ranking member on the budget committee, senator sessions, had been very clear up until recently that after the senate engages in an open and fair budget markup process -- quote -- and this is his words -- "the work of conferencing must begin." minority leader mcconnell said in january that if the senate budget is different than the house budget, then -- and i quote -- "send it off to conference. that's how things used to work around here. we used to call it legislating." mr. president, i couldn't agree more with minority leader mcconnell's words from january. but over the past few weeks, we have tried now to move to conference eight times and each time senate republicans have stood up and said no. they've managed to stall for thr

not wanting to move to conference are changing. at first, republicans told us that we needed to -- quote -- "a framework" before they'd allow us to move to conference, though they never explained what that meant and, frankly, a budget is a framework. then the story changed and they told us they would only let us move to conference if we made certain guarantees about the outcome. then last week, the story changed again and senate republicans claimed that despite the fact that we engaged in a fair and open budget process here in the senate less than two months ago, they think we need a do-over with another 50 hours of debate on top of the 50 we've already done and another round of unlimited amendments on top of the unlimited amendments that were moved already. mr. president, this is absurd. first of all, to claim that regular order involves a second full senate budget debate is simply not true. the senate has never been forced to go through a full debate and

open amendment process twice just to get to conference. not one case. completely unprecedented. in fact, every single time since 1994 that the senate moved to conference, it was done by unanimous consent with bipartisan support, which is the way it ought to be done. second of all, mr. president, the senate engaged in a full and open debate in which any member could offer a budget amendment they wanted to. we did that a few months ago. i know all my colleagues remember this. i certainly remember this. i'd be happy to quote some of what was said about the process, if any reminders are needed, because as that debate came to a close in the wee hours of the morning, minority leader mcconnell said that the senate had just engaged in -- quote -- "an open and complete and full debate." and he continued, and he said -- and i quote -- "i know everyone is exhausted and people may not feel it at the moment but this is one of the senate's finest

days in recent years and i commend everyone who participated in this extraordinary debate." my ranking member, senator sessions, said the budget committee markup was -- and i quote -- "an open process where everybody had the ability to offer amendments." and senator sessions said on the floor, as the debate was wrapping up, he was thankful that the republicans had -- quote -- "free ability to speak and debate and for helping us move a lot of amendments fairly and equitably tonight." so, madam p president there is no question, the senate engaged in a fair and open and lengthy debate about the budget before we passed it and there's absolutely no good reason to ask that we do this all over again unless the intention is to simply stall the process and push us closer to a crisis. so, madam president, instead of scrambling to find new excuses for their budget conre