has access to high-quality childcare. as the country's primary federal childcare program, ccdbg provides millions of families with the assistance they need to ensure working parents can keep their jobs or finish school knowing their children are safe and receiving quality care. we know that the child's early years are critical to building a strong foundation for their lives. up to 90% of brain development happens before age 5. just think about that. 90% up to age 5. that's why it's so important to invest in quality care and education. when we do, it pays off for the rest of us by giving us better-informed citizens and a more productive work force. investments in the childcare and development block grant also give parents the option of affordable childcare. research indicates that higher childcare costs have a negative impact on a mother's employment because women are more likely to leave their jobs when childcare costs are high.

that can have a lasting negative impact on family's finances and women's future earnings. as senate chair of the joint economic committee i released a report last year that looked at the critical role mothers play in the financial well-being of their families. my report found that lower-income families are especially dment on mother earned by mothers out the home. mothers account for over half of family income. and with the high price of childcare these days, it averages over $14,000 each year for two children, this means that the childcare and development block grant makes a big difference between families rising into the middle class or falling further behind. working families across the country are counting on us to get this done. since the childcare and development block grant was last reauthorized in 1996, families have seen the cost of childcare increase while access to quality care has become more difficult

to find. this bipartisan legislation would provide the opportunity for congress to make critical improvements to the childcare and development block grant program to ensure that children are safe and healthy in their childcare setting, families have access to quality programs, and states have a coordinated system of early care and education for children from birth to age 13. one of the primary updates in the 2014 authorization is the requirement that all childcare providers receiving this assistance must go through comprehensive background checks. currently -- this is unbelievable to me -- only 13 states require comprehensive background checks for childcare providers. we have had a number of incidents in our state where children have had tragic injuries and tragic ends because of that lack of background checks. as a former prosecutor, i saw firsthand how abuse harmed young children, tore families apart and challenged local law

enforcement agencies. our court system, and our social service and health care providers. our kids deserve better than that, mr. president. we need to do everything we can to make sure people caring for our kids undergo comprehensive background checks before receiving childcare and development block grants. the bill also requires states to conduct regular health and safety inspections of the childcare setting so you can make sure kids are learning and developing in safe environments. and the legislation quds red tape by giving families more flexibility around enrollment procedures. these changes will not only strengthen the program's integrity but also improve trearps so the -- transparency so the children get the best care possible. raising the next generation has always been a difficult job and it has never been more expensive. the future of our nation res. on making sure parents have the support they need to give their

children a strong start. mr. president, i urge the senate to reauthorize this bipartisan bill and ensure children and working families get the caught care and education they need to thrive. it's the best investment we can make and i see that the senator from north carolina, senator burr, just came in and i want to again thank him for his great work not only for this bill but also in allowing for this amendment process which i think is very important for the future of the senate. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. tester: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i'm going to talk about two different amendments that i'm going to call up on s. 1086, the childcare and development block grant bill. the first one i want to speak to is amendment number 2834, that senator murkowski and i are offering in relation to tribal shiek facilities. as -- childcare facilities. i recently took over as k3450e

on indian affairs and two weeks ago held my mears ir mifers first hearing. this focused on early childhood development. this was timely as some of the testimony the committee received related to the childcare and development block grant. at that hearing the childcare program director from the white earth nation who is also the chair of the national indian childcare association, testified about the needs of her program and needs of all indian childcare providers. one of the needs she highlighted was improving the condition of tribal childcare facilities in indian country. according to the administration for children and families, of the 260 indian tribe or tribal organizations that receive ccdgb funds, only 14 of them constructed new tribal childcare facilities in the last ten years. in an effort to improve and replace facilities, my

amendment allows tribes more flexibility in the use of their grant funds. renovation and construction of tribal facilities is already an allowable activity under this legislation but the law explicitly states that indian tribes or tribal organizations cannot reduce services even temporarily to improve or replace their facilities. this amendment allows the secretary to grant a waiver to an indian tribe or tribal organization, permitting them to temporarily reduce services if they can prove that the outcome will improve capacity or improve services as a result of the construction. it is a simple commonsense amendment that will improve quality of life in indian country and i urge its adoption when it comes up. mr. president, i also would like to speak to amendment 2835. under current law, a parent who suffers the tragedy of a death of a child has to rely on their employer's compassion for time off to grieve.

many times this is not an issue. there are thousands of compassionate employers out there who give parents is the space that they need. but not everyone is so fortunate. some folks who just aren't ready to come back after a few days end up having to choose between returning to work while struggling with the aftermath of their child's death or losing their jobs. this amendment would fix the family and medical leave act to include the death of a child as a trigger or for benefits provided under the fmla. it currently allows parents to take time off for a child battling a serious health issue but children between 1 and 14 are twice as likely to die from a sudden accident than from cancer, the flu, pneumonia combined. the fmla protects parents caring for their children. it should support parents who are grieving for their children as well. this is a small amendment but

will mean so much for parents who suffer the unimaginable loss of a child. i would urge my colleagues to stand for compassion and i would urge adoption of this amendment when this amendment is brought up. with that, mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. snoop quorum call: quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: i ask the quorum

call be diswendz with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. chambliss: i rise somewhat reluctantly to speak about an intelligence committee matter. allegations have been discussed in the halls of congress and in the press. based on press reports today, yesterday, and even last week, allegations have been made regarding the central intelligence agency's actions toward the committee as well as staff and members' actions on the international intelligence committee towards the c.i.a. the reason i feel compelled to speak on this matter is the following. although people speak as though we know all the -- all of the pertinent facts surrounding this matter, the truth is, we do not. the republican committee members on the senate intelligence committee and staff were not involved in the underlying investigation of the detainee and interrogation report.

we do not know the actual facts concerning the c.i.a.'s alleged actions or all of the specific details about the actions by the committee staff regarding the draft of what is now referred to as the panetta internal review document. both parties have made allegations against one another, and even speculated as to each others' actions, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions that must be addressed. no forensics have been run on the c.i.a. computers or, as my colleagues refer to them, as the sissy computers exiewrs at the c.i.a. facility to know what actually happened either regarding the alleged c.i.a. search or the circumstances under which the committee came into possession of the panetta internal review document. given that both of these matters have been now referred to the department of justice, it may

take us a while before any accurate factual findings can be reached and a satisfactory resolution of these matters can be achieved. it may even call for some special investigator to be named to review the entire factual situation. eventually, we will get to the bottom of this. but today i cannot make a statement that a will reflect what actually occurred, and therefore what recommendations we ought to make as we move forward. right now our committee members are conducting an internal assessment of the facts and circumstances involved in both of these matters. this will be an ongoing process that should not be described or discussed in the public domain. but like all other intelligence committee matters should remain within the purview of the confines of the intelligence committee.

today, i simply wanted everyone to know where i stand on this matter and how we need to get to the ground truth of these very important matters. mr. president, i yield the floor and i see senator casey is here so we'll not go into a quorum call. mr. casey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i rise this evening and first want to ask consent to speak as if in morning business, and i

have two sets of remarks, one that pertains to the crisis in syria and the other that deals with the matter before us on childcare, the block grant legislation. so i'd ask that i be permitted to speak as if in morning business and to have the remarks about syria appear at a separate spratt place in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i rise tonight to talk about what is happening in syria and the humanitarian crisis that that conflict has created. this week we mark a very grim anniversary. it's the third anniversary of the beginning of the conflict in syria. so we are entering our fourth year. and there's much to cover and much to talk about. i'll be brief tonight, but it's

important that we don't forget what's happening to the syrian people and seationly -- especially to children in syria. over the past three years, the brutal assad regime has unleashed a campaign of unspeakable violence against its own citizens. 9.5 million people now need humanitarian assistance in syria. syria's neighbor -- syria's neighbors are overflowing with 2.5 million refugees. this week amnesty international and save the children released the reports that underscore the atrocities that the syrian people have suffered and continue to suffer. these reports describe the regime's use of starvation tactics against its own citizens. syrian children dying from preventable diseases and newborn babies freezing to death in

underequipped hospitals. unicef reported this week that syria is now one of the most dangerous places on the earth to be a child. these unspeakable horrors confirm my worst fear about the conflict: that the most vulnerable and innocent are at the center of president assad's siege against his own people. i wanted to share the story of a 10-year-old syrian boy that he shared -- when he shared his experience with the conflict. this 10-year-old boy and his account from save the children's 2012 report entitled "untold atrocities: the stories of syria's children" -- here's the story, one of the stories, but here it is in his own words. quote -- "when the shells started to fall, i ran.

i ran so farveghts i ra fast, id at the same time. when we were being bombed, we had nothing, no food, no water, no toys, nothing. there was no way to buy food. the markets and the shops were bombed out. after that we came back home to makmake our food last, we ate jt once a day. our father ate without food because there was not enough. i remember watching him tie his stomach with a rope so he would not feel hungry. one day men with guns broke into our house, pulled out our food, threw it on the floor, stamped on it so it would be too dirt dy to eat. then we had nothing at all. that's the recollection of a 10-year-old boy in syria. you go through the report, the catalog really of misery that

was compiled by save the children from young boys and young girls of all different analesages, and every one of ths a tale of histor horror, just ae outlined. some are more graphi graphic tht injust read. this most recent report by save the children is entitled "a devastating toll," and it describes the impact this conflict has had on chir childrn great detaivment and i would ask unanimous consent, mr. president, that the full text of this report be entered into the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: in an article last september in "the new york times" -- a column, i should say -- i'm sorry, it was an article in the unusua "the new york timy nicholas kristof, he said, "syria is today the world capital of human suffering."

anyone who knows the work done by nicholas kristof knows he's seen a lost places in the world -- a lot of places in the world where there's terrible misery and suffering. so for him to say that is a substantial indication of how bad the conditions are in syria. and, of course, when he made that statement, it was back in september, many months ago. as bad it is it was then, it's even worse now. so today i call on all senators of both partie party and the international community to support the efforts to bring this terrible chapter in syria's history to a close. peace talks could be a way to end the conflict. however, i'm disappointed that the talks this past month did not lead to any tangible progress. the assad regime has refused to negotiate in good faith. diplomats idiplomacy is part ofe solution, but what we need nowew

-- need now is to change the momentum on the ground. peace talks and diplomacy are fine, but unless something changes on the ground, unless we can take some action or take a series of steps to affect what's happening on the ground, all the talks in the world will be to no avail. the assad regime and their supporters think they are remain in power. the united states should be working with our international powers to tip the balance in favor of the opposition. if we do not, another round of talks will yield the same result: no change. the international community took a good step in ushering through the unanimous passage of u.n. security council resolution 2139 on february 22. with u.s. leadership, russia and china, who have obstructed other such resolutions, finally joined the international community in demanding an end to tax o -- an

end to attacks on civilians and the regime facilitate humanitarian aid to besieged areas. u.n. security council resolution 2139 also condemned attacks against and the detention of journalists. we don't talk enough about this issue as well. journalists, both international and syrian, have bravely gone into areas of syria that many other noncombatants would not dare. many have paid the ultimate price. so far 60 journalists have reportedly been killed inside of syria. these courageous individuals have given us a window into the devastation inside of syria. i know myself from reading news reports or columns by journalists in this country how much information we can glean from what's happening inside the country, where very few people

can go to get information. so we need to focus on that aspect of the problem and the crisis as well. but we shouldn't allow this crisis to continue worsening before our eyes. we need to act. i've been working on a bipartisan basis to put legislation and legislative support behind efforts to bring this conflict to an end. in 2012 -- i'm sorry, in 2013, i worked with senator rubio to introduce senate resolution 307 whic-- 370, which called for a democratic change in syria and the syrian support and democratic transition act of 2012. i traveled to turkey in 2013 where i met with opposition, political, and military leaders to discuss the situation inside of syria. they asked for aid to help build the capacity of the political opposition as well as support to

the military opposition, in the form of communications gear, night-vision goggles and bulletproof vests. a year ago senator rubio and i proudly introduced s. 6117, the syria democratic transition act of 2013. this bill would do, among other things, first, increase u.s. assistance to victims of the conflict, both inside of syria and outside of the country p. number two, support a political transition by authorizing bilateral assistance to build the capacity of the moderate political opposition, to prepare for a transition. number three, provide nonlethal equipment to vetted elements of the armed opposition. and, fourth, expand sanctions against the central bank of syria and designated individuals, especially any foreign entities that continue to do business with the assad regime. after picking up ten bipartisan

cosponsors to our bill, we worked to ensure that the important aspects of senate bill 617 was incorporated into another bill, senate bill 90, the syria transition support act, which then passed the foreign relations committee in a substantial bipartisan manner last year -- last summer o summ. i sent letter to secretary kerry earlier this year urging him to resume nonlethal aid in order to bolster the opposition before the talks in switzerland. i was pleased to see aid resumed not long after i sent the letter. we know that senators kerry and rubio are working on legislation that emif emphasizes many of te principles i have been pushing, reiterating the need for unfettered international aid to those in need in syria and the surrounding region, emphasizing the neutrality of medical professionals and aid providers working inside of syria, and

their legislation would support civilians who have suffered during this conflict, particularly women and children. so i commend senators kaine and rubio for their leadership on this. i intend to support this resolution when it is introduced and i would urge all my colleagues to do the same. i believe we can agree none a bipartisan says that this kind of horrific human suffering is both unconscionable and unacceptable. and we have a national security interest in ending this conflict and countering the influence of iran and hezbollah in the region. it is one of the reasons why it is in our direct national security interests to make sure that we play a substantial role in ending the conflict. every day the conflict goes on, the regime in iran is strengthened to export terrorism and all the trouble that the regime imposes upon the region

and, secondly, hezbollah and other extremist elements are empowered the longer the conflict goes. we need to send a clear message from the senate that we support efforts to bring assad's tyrannical rule to an end and to respond to this devastating humanitarian crisis which threatens to destablize the region and scar a generation of young syrians. when we talk about this, we're talking now about millions of children, by one estimate 5.5 million children, being adversely impacted. thousands -- by one estimate, more than 10,000 of those children have already been killed. the ones that have not been killed have seen the kinds of horrors that no human being should ever see, even as adults. it would be very difficult to recover from some of the horror and some of the trauma that some

of these children have seen. it will be with them for the rest of their lives, and we have an obligation to do everything we can to provide pathways to help them but also to change the dynamic on th the battlefield so that those children will never have to see this kind can of horror again. mr. president, just before i wrap up this segment of my remarks, i do want to note that despite the challenge here, the dynamic on the ground that hasn't gone very well for the opposition and the extremist elements within the opposition make it very difficult for us to be very helpful, even when our government is trying, the humanitarian crisis that i just outlined is substantial, and the refugee issue in the region is substantial. just imagine this: in lebanon alone, there are

almost a million refugees in a country that cannot handle that kind of number n jorda. in jordan, the number is just below 600,000. lebanon is almost 1 million. turkey is over 600,000. that number might be low as well. 224,000, more than 224,000, by one estimate, in iraq. more than 134,000 in egypt. this is -- this is -- these are the numbers of refugees in just those five countries. millions of people are being impacted. millions more within the country country. if you subtract and take out the refugees that have left the country and you take out the numbers i talked about with regard to children, just the adultadultsing within syria whoe been affected are in the millions. despite all that wh who horror,k

it is important to point out that our government has helped enormous lymph the obama administratio-- enormously.the s done much. the humanitarian assistance provided by the administration, paid for by u.s. taxpayers, is substantial and should be noted. it's now more than $1.7 billion. no country comes even close when it comes to the support that our taxpayers and government has provided. about half of that $1 .7 billion has been to help within the country. by one estimate, usaid's estimate, about $870 million is for help within syria. the balance of that something on the or the of a little more than $850 million, of course, is helping refugees in neighboring countries. so substantial help by the

american people should be noted. i think we need to figure out ways to do more. there's probably not a room for more dollars in humanitarian aid, but we should consider that if we can. but there are lots of twhais we can help here without directly engaging any of our troops or any of our military might on the ground. there are lots of ways to help, and we urge the administration to keep focused on a new and more substantial strategy, which i know of this a been working on. and they should consult with congress and work with us as we move forward. mr. president, i will transition now for another place in the record to provide some remarks on the bill before us, the childcare and development block grant act, senate bill 1086. mr. president, we know that it's well past time, and that's an

understatement, to take up the reauthorization of this important legislation. the childcare and development block grant program has been -- has not been reauthorized since 1996. it's hard to comprehend that, but that's true. in the nearly two decades since, our understanding of early childhood development and the importance of high-quality childcare and early learning has expanded dramatically. investing in high-quality early learning opportunities such as childcare and pre-kindergarten sets children on the path to success. i like to say if children learn more now, they will earn more later. that's why there is a direct nexus between the quality of the childcare that we provide, the quality of the early learning that connects directly with our future economic growth. literally our gross domestic product, our future economic growth, our success as a country

is substantially dependent upon the quality of early learning and the quality of childcare. so it's good that we're focused in a bipartisan way on the childcare aspects of this challenge. we must update the federal standards that relate to childcare to ensure that the federal government is supporting high-quality childcare, not just any quality childcare for low-income children. the bill we're considering today sets a new standard for childcare in america, making sure that federal dollars are going to provide or are committed to providing childcare that meets certain criteria such as health and safety standards. many of these changes reflect proposals that i have put forth in previous congresses to improve the childcare and development block grant, such as the starting early, starting right act, legislation i introduced. i'm encouraged that we're able to reach consensus on many of the provisions i supported in

the past and that our -- and that they are represented in this bill. i and i know many others would have liked to have gone further to provide more of an investment, to provide more of an investment both by the way of dollars and more of an investment by way of quality, but these are significant changes and we should all support them. in terms of the increase in incentives i hope we could do at a future date, i describe them this way -- incentives for states to invest in quality rating and improvement systems. we know around here a lot of acronyms. this is qris, quality rating and improvement systems, which encourage childcare providers to make continuous improvements in the care that they provide and the facilities that they use,

often through financial incentives such as higher reimbursement rates when a certain quality level is reached. however, i still believe the bill we have in front of us represents a substantial significant improvement over current law, so we owe our most vulnerable children nothing less. for the first time, we are requiring all states to develop a robust health and safety set of standards and to institute a consistent background check for childcare providers. we're requiring states to formally coordinate their early learning programs to improve service and -- service coordination and delivery. we're allowing children who qualify for a subsidy to receive a year of care before their eligibility is redetermined, promoting stability and continuity for the entire family and encouraging the child to develop strong relationships with his or her teachers and peers in childcare.

finally, we're increasing the investment in quality from the 4% quality setaside per year currently required in law to 10% within five years, including a separate setaside for elephants and -- infants and toddlers. quality is a continuum and a continual investment. it is not a one-time purchase. it is something we need to support and sustain. this bill is about investing our children's futures and supporting working parents, and i would urge all of my colleagues to join us in supporting the ccdbg reauthorization, a nice acronym for a long bill. let me just say in conclusion, mr. president, i mentioned before that if children get the kind of quality early care and learning, they will learn more now and earn more later when they are in the work force. there is no question about that. all the studies indicate that. we know that. there is no disagreement about that. but we also have to recognize

that there are so many parents who don't even know the number, it's in the millions, who in addition to often having two people -- two parents working in the stress and the challenge that that creates, just having come through the worst economic downturn since the 1930's and climbing out of that hole, having all the pressures, the economic pressures that are on these families, in addition to all that, sometimes they are often heavily burdened or even crushed by the cost of childcare. so we have an opportunity with this legislation to move forward, to make needed changes on issues like health and safety standards, making sure we're setting aside more dollars for infants and toddlers, a whole range of things we're doing, but we still have a ways to go to speak directly to the need that working families have in terms of the cost of childcare, in terms of ensuring the kind of

quality that they should have a right to expect. and finally, on a related topic, making sure that we're making a national and substantial commitment to early learning. the president has spoken to this, people in both parties have, c.e.o.'s tell us about it all the time, but we need to get together on these other issues even after we pass this bipartisan legislation. i want to commend the work of senator harkin and ranking member alexander who are working to get this done, and the good work over several years now done by senator mikulski and senator burr. so we need to get this done and then get to work on some of the other childcare and early learning challenges that our country faces and our families are often burdened with. so, mr. president, with that, i would yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. casey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: mr. president, i would ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: i ask unanimous consent that the period for morning business be extended until 8:00 p.m. with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 299, s. 611. the presiding officer: the clerk will report.

the clerk: calendar number 299, s. 611, a bill to make a technical amendment to the preservation trust area act, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding with the measure? without objection. mr. casey: i further ask that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 323, s. res. 365. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 323, s. res. 365, deploring the violent repression pretion of peaceful demonstrators in venezuela, calling for full accountability for human rights

violations taking place in venezuela and so forth. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. casey: i ask the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be made and laid on the table with with no interveng action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: i understand that there is a bill at the desk and i ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the first time. the clerk: s. 2122, a bill to amend titles 18 and 19 of the social security act to repeal the medicare sustainability growth rate and to improve medicare and medicaid payments and for other purposes. mr. casey: i now ask for a second reading and in order to place the bill under the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be read for a second time on the next legislative day.

mr. casey: mr. president, i would ask that the -- i'm sorry, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i apologize to the presiding officer and all the staff, but i have been conducting for the last hour and a half and more, hearing in the classified room dealing with ukraine and i'm sorry i couldn't be here but i just couldn't. i had to conduct that meeting. mr. president, the senior senator from iowa is my friend. but i am quite disappointed in my friend, the senior senator from iowa. this afternoon he delivered another one of his -- which has become, i'm sorry to say,

trademark alice in wonderland speeches. he's delivered a few of these, but the one today especially is a view of reality that only exists in fairy tales. he complains that i feel too many cloture motion. his complaint is like an arsonist who is complaining about hearing the sirens of too many fire engines. the real reason i've filed the cloture motions is because republicans have engaged in a systematic pattern of obstruction. not last week, not last month, this has been going on for five years. they've come to see this as something of the pinnacle, the landmark, the zenith of obstruction. led by my republican colleagues. mr. president, i have now had

to file cloture motions during the time i've been majority leader more than 500 times. lyndon johnson, who had the jobs for six years, i've had it a little longer than that, had to face one filibuster. 500. now, i don't file cloture as the senator from iowa would like folks in this fairy tale world he believes in, i guess, because i enjoy it. it is something i enjoy. it takes a lot of my time, the staff's time, and the senate's time and the country's time. i don't like to do it. i file these petitions because the republicans have made clear that we can't get a vote on anything without going cloture. that's basically true. what is the senator from iowa's solution to the problem?

listen to this one. now, this is alice in wonderland. he proposes it takes longer to file cloture -- he proposes that it should take longer to file cloture. now, that is some dreamland and that i don't understand. he says the solution to the problem of republican obstruction is to make obstruction easier. we have on the executive calendar calendar 140 nominations. we have ambassadors -- the pages have stripped all the desks of calendars but they're always around.

republic of marchishia, republic of colombia, south america, a country that has been our friends or decades. we have most all countries in africa who are waiting to have ambassadors appointed. sandia, niger, peru, belize, albania, an geel, plaw -- angola, palau, seera lee own --, sierra leone, namibia, tanzania, morocco, netherlands. norway, hungary, iceland, the

united states human rights council. mr. president, i'm not going to take more of the staff's time but throughout this executive calendar there's about 40 ambassadors, 40 ambassadors who are waiting to be confirmed, and 35 or so judges and do the math yourself, 75 or 80 very important jobs that they have stopped. so my friend from iowa is living in a dream world, i don't know where it exists. it doesn't exist here in the united states senate. so his solution to give them more time, can you imagine that? this is an alice in wonderland speech from the senator from iowa and he should have better use of his time.

in playing fairy tales in the united states senate. obstruction led by the senators from all over this country who are republicans, it's an bairmt to our country. it is -- embarrassment to our country. it's preventing the people of this country from getting the things they need. now, i know, mr. president, that people are not too worried around the country about an ambassador to some foreign country but to our country it is important. our foreign policy is important. but being able to get things done here legislatively is important and we've been stymied every step of the way. and i'm sorry to say that my friend has stepped over the line with his speech here today about what a terrible thing has happened here, that we are -- we have filed cloture 500 times. the record speaks for itself.

egg mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent when the senate complete its business today it adjourn until 9:30, march 14, 2014, the time for the two leaders reserved for use later this the day, following any leader remarks, the senate be in a period of morning business until 10:30 a.m. with senators permitted to speak therein for ten minutes each and the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees with the republicans controlling the first half, the majority controlling the final half, and that following morning business the senate resume consideration of s. s. 1086, the childcare and development block grant reauthorization bill. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. durbin: roll call votes are expected throughout the day tomorrow in an effort to complete action on the childcare and development block grant bill, we're also working on an agreement on the flood insurance bill, senators will be notified when votes are scheduled. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i

it was the debate. it wasn't whether we save it or not it was what time period and the 1902 offered great benefits because all three branches of government were in this one building and the goal of the department of state was to turn

it into a museum for the florida school children. so being able to come to this one site and see the supreme court, the governor's office and understand the three branches of government and how they work together was a benefit. people didn't know it was the great depression and the cyclical event but when that pattern didn't hold and the depression deepened he found himself in increasing pressure from greater expenditures in the economy and started to hold the line against and became a fiscal conservative but saved the gold standard and in the last year or

two of his life that precedes rigidity on his part as part of the reason he got attacked for supposedly not doing anything including some of the policies that might not have been all that effective. on the other hand, he was valiantly struggling against a total statist turn coming in the new deal.

british deputy prime minister answered questions from the members of parliament on behalf of david cameron during the question time. time. printed mr. cameron was on his first official visit to israel and the deputy leader spoke about humanitarian efforts in serious and urged allies to continue working with the un on russia and ukraine. this is about a half an hour. questions to the prime ministere >> question number one t mr. speaker. r vising ild ask on behalf of my honorable friend israel and the occupied palestinian territory i'm sure the whole house will wish to join me in playing paying tribute for the 32 engineer.

he would like to pay tribute to the paralympic gold winner metal and also the silver and bronze medal send the best of luck to the other team competitors. in addition to my duties in the south. >> thank you mr. speaker to the family my congratulations. from whether or not i erland. >> mr. speaker including in they own constituency what more can government do to ensure the public d. date such as the membership on immigration and

celebrate that positive contribution to the social, cultural and economic life of the uk particularly in the run-up to the european election. >> we need to strike a balance in explaining to the public that we are running a tough system but also open to those that want to make a contribution and pay their taxes and contribute to our way of life. i was deeply saddened to hear about the incidence of what happened to members of the coalition to chinese community in the constituency and even more so of what's happened to the colleague who i understand is the first member of chinese descent in any legislature is also being subject to terrible abuse. a few weeks ago to express my own support for what she's doing to stand up against the terrible treatment.

>> mr. speaker since the 700-pound the school can't come at the premiums would improve the opportunities and lives of many of my constituents even though these ideas were not entirely welcome to some in the coalition partners will he welcome the fact of the coalition government and the compromises that go with it can be lit for a sound policy? >> i strongly agree with him and one of them was in the paper this morning because of the explicable views of the highly opinionated party adviser for the conservative party. free school meals when they are delivered to save families money and would improve the health of children and educational outco

outcome. we should be celebrating. >> i would like to join the deputy prime minister from the 32 engineer regiments. we honor his bravery and service, but above all we send our deepest condolences to his family and friends. i joined the deputy premier minister in congratulating the paralympic medal winners and wish you all the best of luck. at the last election and the deputy prime minister said that local people should have more control over their health services. can he explain to the house and the public why las wire last nie voted against that? >> we vote on measures that would ensure there is local consultation. i have to say i'm intrigued by her line of inquiry given the

record. the target since 2009 it was that party when in government but the secessionist sweetheart deal and the large parts i don't think on the support and other revelations that happened dave got much to stand on. >> are you prepared to justify what he voted on last night which gave local people a say that the decided to change the law and could have stepped in and stopped it but here is what they did instead first they said they were against the change, then they put down an amendment and they got their way again. is there any logic other than

self-interest? >> mr. speaker they spend a quarter of a billion pounds, 250 million pounds on sweetheart deals for the private sector with operations that preceded it didn't help a single patient. the party that is now ran against competition but actually introduced the party that suffered on the terrible suffering of the patient in other parts. >> if they want to see people will remember what the deputy prime minister says that the spring conference last week the ministers were falling over themselves to denounce the government policy and even their own departmental colleagues describing them as unfair,

absurd and hated. they say it is wrong, unnecessary and causing misery, but they voted for it and now they say they want to abolish it. our day for the attacks were against it? which is its? >> there are 1.7 million people on the list in the country and 1.5 million where that is a problem we inherited like so many. on this side of the house we are trying to sort out the mess they created if they are capable of taking any responsibility or publishing -- apologizing why should we take the question seriously at all?

>> the secretary of the church reset the cutting the tax would be cloud cuckoo land. if we were against the tax cuts why did they vote for it? >> anybody? now she's complaining that it's 5 feet higher. she's going to try to guess. the heart he has been talking about the need to give young people job opportunities. last week they tabled an amendment to the deregulation bill which will tell other apprentices that they are no longer apprentices and they issued a report a few months ago

that says hundreds of thousands of youngsters are dead weight. why don't you give us each to the young people we should be helping on the apprenticeship. >> we will have a bonus tax >> when both principles have been at the dispatch have been far too much noise, peopl peoplf tto people to hear the theater d hear the answers whether the members respect each other they want to respect the public. >> long-term youth unemployment has doubled under his government, and with so many people struggling to make ends meet and relying on food banks it is a disgrace that they voted through the tax cut.

sunday the deputy prime minister shared with us everything he loved about britain. it is a way of life. [inaudible] with its broken promises and posturing, doesn't he realize he might love the bartender to pretend doesn't love him back? >> the punchline was a long time in the delivery and it wasn't really worth waiting for. i know she doesn't want the facts to get in the way. but how about this youth unemployment is lower now than it was. in her last year in office 1 million more people half a

million more children, 150,000 more people are unemployed and 20,000 more young people are unemployed. they are the party of the sweetheart deals for the private sector. they are the party and now against apprenticeships. >> mr. speaker what he is showing is that he is citing and it is out of touch. whatever was said last weekend no one is going to be out when we can reach out that justifying them. they used to talk about two parties coming together as a national interest and now they are two parties are bound together by the apparel lecture at.

>> mr. speaker however she wishes to characterize things she has a record of sucking up to the minister. >> a record of an increasingly unemployment, youth unemployment, and for this generation the countries worst peacetime deficit ever. is that a record if she is proud of? we are clearing up the mess she left behind. >> mr. speaker, the government's response to the storm damage to help fishermen restore is very much appreciated about the damage depends on the vital transport links that isn't something which local authorities can result entirely on their own. will the deputy prime minister

in sure the delegation from the constituency can meet the appropriate ministers and officials so that we can seek to support to find a long-term resilience solution to this problem? >> i visited a constituency to seek myself the damage done to many communities by the terrible floods and the extreme weather in recent times i know how long he's been campaigning on this issue and i will ensure it takes place.