vote:

the presiding officer: any senator wishing to vote or to change a vote? if not, the ayes are 97, the nays are 0. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory -- the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of stanley fischer of new york to be a member of the board of governors of the federal reserve system. signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: there are now two minutes of debate equally divided.

without objection, all time has been yielded back. by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is: is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of stanley fischer of new york to be a member of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll.

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? if not, the yeas are 62, the nays are 35.

the motion is agreed to. pursuant to the provisions of s. res. 15 of the 113th congress, there will be up to eight hours of postcloture consideration of the nomination, equally divided in the usual form. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senior senator from florida. mr. nelson: madam president, i want to call to the attention of the senate the fact that there is a --. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the senior senator from florida. mr. nelson: thank you, madam president. there is a three-dimensional film that i had the pleasure of seeing at the air and space museum theater about one of the

largest and, obviously, most successful military invasions in the history of the planet, and that was 70 years ago on june 6, 1944, what is known as d-day. the film is narrated by tom brokaw. he was a natural because he is well known for having written the book "the greatest generation" about the people who fought in world war ii. and the timeliness of this film, a documentary, the timeliness of it is that as we go from one generation to the next, the stories that were told by their grandfathers and

their great grandfathers to their children are not necessarily being told to the next and younger generation. and what this film captivates in 3-d is to bring the plans, the operation, the logistics, the informity of the task -- enormity of the task of taking back continental europe from hitler's armies and how we drove that going on to the beaches at normandy with our partners, the canadians, the brits, the french, and how it was done, painfully, a lot of loss of life, particularly on utah beach, on omaha beach there was

a lot less resistance on utah beach. and how the participants with us from those other nations met similar and just withering fire as they stormed on the beaches as well. how the night before the paratroopers dropped. and i remember when i was a young congressman sitting at the knee of congressman sam gibbons of tampa, florida, and he would tell us about the little clickers called crickets as the paratroopers dropped in, many of them, because of a mistaken landing where they landed and drowned in areas that had been flooded by the drones, but those

who survived and then tried to regroup in the dark of night you would determine when you ran into somebody in the dark if they were friend or foe by this little clicker. we call them crickets. you click it and it sounds like a cricket. if they clicked two times and the response was back, they knew they were friend. otherwise, they had to protect their life. these are the stories that are not made up, they're real. these are the stories of the british pilots in gliders. how in the world in the dark of night could they bring those gliders in, landing them safely, getting out with those troops to

go and secure the pegasis bridge, which was a critical crossing point that had to be taken from the germans. and story after story. how next to omaha beach where this fire was just bloody, how to the south of it was this cliff rising straight out with these enormous german guns on the top of it and how the u.s. army rangers scaled those rock cliffs straight up and then took on and silenced the german guns. these are the stories that we do not want to lose from one generation to another, and so this film in 3-d, narrated by

tom brokaw, i want to commend to the senate family. it will be shown around the country now that it has opened on the west coast and here, and it is a wonderful educational lesson of american history of how we turned back an invader that was trying to change the world. and therefore, we were able to keep america free as well as our allies. madam president, i commend it to the senate, and i yield the floor and i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senior senator from into. mr. nelson: i ask the quorum call be lifted.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the following bills to award congressional gold medals en bloc, which were received from the house and are at the desk. h.r. 2939, h.r. 1209, h.r. 3658, and h.r. 685. the presid the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measures en bloc. mr. nelson: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the bills be read three times and passed en bloc and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc with no intervening action or debathe.

de -- or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 4 452, which was submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 452, to authorize testimony, documents, and representation in city of lafayette v. bryan benoit. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. nelson: madam president, i ask consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: madam president, i understand that s. 2363, introduced earlier today by senator hagan, is 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. 2363, a bill to protect and enhance opportunities for recreational hunting, fishing and shooting and for other purposes. mr. nelson: madam president, i now ask for its second reading and object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the bill will be read for the second time on the next legislative day. mr. nelson: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the injunction of secrecy be removed from the following treaty transmitted to the senate on may 20, 2014, by the president of the united states: convention on taxes with the republic of poland, treaty document number

113-5. i further ask that the treaty be considered as having been read for the first time, that it be referred with accompanying papers to the committee on foreign relations and ordered to be printed and that the president's message be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until:30 a.m. on wednesday, may 21, 2014. that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. that following any leader remarks, the senate be in a period of morning business until

12:15 p.m., with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. and at 12:15 p.m., the senate proceed to executive session as provided for under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: madam president, there will be one vote at 12:15 p.m. on the confirmation of the fischer nomination. following that vote, the senate will recess until 2:00 p.m. to allow for the republican caucus meeting. there will be up to five roll call votes related to nominations at 2:15 p.m:10 p.m.. the first vote in the series will be a roll call vote and we expect the remaining votes to be voice votes.

madam president, if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate is adjourned until 9:30 the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: thank you. mr. president, i rise today to urge senator reid to say a very urge senator reid to say a very >> mr. president i rise today to urge senator reid to say a very

clear no to the request by 37 republicans that we create a new senate select committee on benghazi. i was really astounded to see 37 republicans many of whom have worked on this issue with me and senator menendez on the foreign relations committee just essentially make this request at a time when we have so much information already on benghazi and to spend the funds for this separate committee in addition to the one that the house has set up. to me it doesn't make any sense unless you believe as i do that this is all a political witchhunt. the attacks of september 11, 2012 and benghazi that took the lives of four americans including ambassador chris stevens, that was a tragedy.

after such a tragedy we should all come together to make certain that something like this never happens again. but we shouldn't play politics. instead of focusing on how we prevent future attacks against u.s. personnel overseas instead of agreeing as they have had an opportunity to do to add more funding for diplomatic posts to protect their people the republicans want to turn the benghazi libya tragedy into a scandal. and let me tell you what i think is scandalous. the way they are handling this issue is a scandal and the american people are smart. i have seen recent polls. they get it. more than 60% and i will go back and look again, say it's all about politics. it's not about anything else.

now i want to explain to the american people what we have done about this tragedy here. over the last 20 months these attacks have received unprecedented scrutiny and i have a chart that i want to share that explains it. mr. president we have had nine house and senate committee investigations on benghazi. we have had 17 hearings conducted. we have had 50, 50 briefings held. we have had 25 interviews conducted. eight subpoenas issued, 25,000 pages of documents reviewed. 25,000 pages of documents

reviewed and six reports released. all of these little boxes mr. president that are represented here shows the various hearings, the various committees, the various briefings, the various documents and you look at this chart and you realize this is unprecedented. nine different house and senate committees have investigated the attacks. 17 hearings have been conducted. 50 briefings have taken place. 25 transcribed interviews have been it. eight subpoenas have been issued. more than 25,000 pages of documents have been reviewed and six congressional reports have been released. now have gone over these a couple of times this morning because i want to make sure that the record reflects all of this accurately. now in case that doesn't do enough mr. president to condense the people of this country what

a witch hunts the republicans are on, i want to show you just a partial viewing of the materials. if you would excuse me while i bend down. that's just one. all of these binders are filled, filled with all the information that came out of these reports. so before people just get a peer inside oh we need more information, how about reading what we already have? stacks and stacks of information and here lies the reports and the testimony congress has already heard over the last 20

months but my republican friends would have you believe none of this happened. none of this happened. they are not satisfied with exhaustive reviews. by the way much of which were conducted by house republicans committee chairs. they walk away from their own work because they are playing politics. they should be proud of the work they did. but this isn't about that. it's about playing politics. it's about hurting people, hurting people. benghazi was a tragedy. we lost four beautiful patriotic americans. don't turn it into a scandal.

now over in the house i guess this wasn't enough for them. i will take these down now. could you help me? this wasn't enough for them. 17 hearings 15 briefings eight subpoenas 25,000 pages of documents six reports, not enough for them. the house set up a new select committee and again 37 of my friends here, republican friendn select committee. that's right, two new committees to investigate what has been investigated, investigated, investigated. you don't need a degree in political science to know what a political witchhunt looks like. all you need is to look at this

and you understand. this is a campaign tack taken by my republican colleagues to gin up their base ahead of the midterm election and by the way look ahead to 2016 where they are filled with anxiety at the thought that the former secretary of state rensin may be the democratic nominee. this is a campaign tactic. we know that republicans have been actively fund-raising off this tragedy. that's right, fund-raising off this tragedy. and when speaker boehner was asked about it all he did was waltz away from the question. i watched that interview. it was painful. they said aren't you going to start the fund-raising and he

said we are just interested in the facts. aren't you going to start this fund-raising? we are just interested in the facts. answer the question. and we know it's a political witchhunt because before he was minding his p's and q's the house select committee chairman suggested the administration should be quote put on trial over benghazi. put on trial. we also know the house gop refused house minority leader nancy pelosi's offer to put an equal number of democrats and republicans on the panel. oh no, because it's a political witchhunt and they want total control over that committee. .. posts around the

world, cuts that republicans actually boasted about making. and here in the senate we've tried to get through an embassy security bill by unanimous consent, and they objected. i don't know how many times. a couple of times. so you're not going to see an investigation into why the republicans thought it was wise to cut spending on embassy security, oh, no, they won't look at that. do you know that one of the colleagues -- one of the congressmen over there was asked by cnn whether the g.o.p. cut embassy security because a reporter was incredulous and this congressman said -- quote -- "absolutely. look, we have to make priorities and choices. you have to prioritize things." so clearly this particular member of congress was proud that they cut embassy security.

but believe me, they're not going to be investigating that in their investigative committee. i'll tell you what else they're not going to investigate, mr. president. they're not going to investigate the tragedy and the scandal of more than 4,000 americans killed in the iraq war based on phony intelligence, 4,000 americans dead based on phony intelligence. i never heard one call for a select committee to find out why that happened. and that ignores the tens of and that ignores the tens of the tens of thousands of wounded with posttraumatic stress and all of the problems when our happening. and here is something else they won't tell you. between 1998 and 2013 there were at least 501 significant attacks against u.s. diplomatic facilities and personnel in 70

countries resulting in the deaths of 5806 people, including 67 americans. during the bush administration never 166 attacks which killed 116 people, including 18 americans. all of these attacks were terrible tragedies, but not one of them was exploited for political gain. why would we exploit the tragedy ? an american being killed for political gain, we could have done it. i was serving in the house back in 1983. i know that probably is close to when you were born, mr. president. [laughter] i was in the house in 1983 when a truck bomb exploded outside the marine barracks in beirut, lebanon that killed 241 american service members. the attack came just six months after 17 americans were killed

in a bombing at the u.s. embassy in beirut. now, let me tell you about how that was handled by the then speaker tip o'neill when ronald reagan was president. tip o'neill conducted real oversight with the two parties working closely together. within two months the house stepped forward, democrats and republicans, produced a report that criticized the lax security around the barracks and called for new measures to keep the operating men and women in the military safe. that is the way that we should handle these things, not a kangaroo court, not a political witch hunt, not up party being -- of party-led investigation. let's face it. this is politics. it is thereby discrediting the

obama administration and former secretary of state hillary clinton. i repeat, never in history, to my knowledge -- and i have gone back and back -- as in the political party done what they are doing at benghazi. and, the disinformation. no, the president kept saying it was because of the movie that was produced. the president stepped forward, and is first, and said, the attacks were an act of terror, his quotation. you never hear that -- he called it an act of terror. and i'll tell you what else they forgot to mention, that secretary clinton was the first person to convene an independent investigation of the attack. let me reiterate, the very first person to call for an independent investigation of the attacks and benghazi was

secretary hillary clinton the independent investigation was non-partisan. it was called an investigation by the accountability review board. it was chaired by ambassador thomas pickering and admiral michael mullen. now, talk about a non-partisan team, i can attest that they are i'm privileged to sit on the foreign relations committee. i am the most senior member there, and i will tell you, these two gentlemen came forward and delivered their report. they talked very openly and honestly about the systemic problems that undermine security and benghazi, and guess what happened after that report? secretary clinton and the state department quickly accepted all 29 of those recommendations and

put them into place. first secretary clinton and now secretary carry. so let me say this again. they're is a call for a political will chime because they want to hurt hillary clinton, and hillary clinton was the first person to call for an independent investigation that made 29 recommendations that she sought to put in place, and secretary carries completing the task. unbelievable. you won't hear that from my republican friends. but they want to make benghazi into a scandal. that is the scandal. playing politics with the tragedy. that is the scandal. now, the senate intelligence committee produced a bipartisan report based upon dozens of committee hearings, briefings, interviews. that is in here, too. and the highlights the need to a

better response to security threats against diplomatic posts and personnel around the world. so, instead of going over all these reports, shyou how there are. this chart shows eastbound been of very clearly how many investigations. instead of focusing on protecting american serving abroad by carrying out the recommendations of these reports to my colleagues are obsessing over talking points prepared for a sunday tv show. now, let me tell you, there is nothing in the thousands of documents released that even remotely suggests an attempt to cover up what happened in magazines. as i said, the president said it was a terror attack. hillary clinton. [indiscernible] the investigation made 29

recommendations. this new select committee request is a sham it is a kangaroo court. it is a waste of taxpayer dollars. if senate republicans really want to help protect the men and women who bravely served our country overseas, they would stop objecting to our request to take up our bipartisan embassy security bill. the senate foreign relations committee passed s1386. guess who it is named after? chris stevens, john smith on tie ron woods and canned -- glendora the. is called the stevenson attwoods board the embassy security threat mitigation a personal protection act. he it was passed in december of last year. it was authored by senators menendez and corker, and i thank them. this bill will authorize spending for key measures

recommended by the accountability review board, including security upgrades at our embassy, consulates, and other does -- diplomatic posts, especially high-risk posed. for security training, including language training for qaeda security environments. all under the hint director of the secretary of state to expand the program to help protect their diplomatic facilities and personnel. wind to the republicans keep objecting to this bill. you cannot with a straight face tell me that you really care how about our foreign personnel. whether you stand in the way of s1386. a bill to provide for enhanced security, a bill that was bipartisan, came out of the committee on which i served on the foreign relations. so, mr. president, i hope other colleagues will come down here and talk about this sham.

we have so much to. we need to a brief the loss. their losses deep, very deep. but to turn that into some investigation, some witch hunt is not the right thing to do, for their memories. the right thing to do for their memories is to pass this embassy security bill. you know, i don't know how to say it, but it does not cost money to make up chris to your home, to your buildings. here in the capitol we protect and upgrade these beautiful buildings because of the history. we have to upgrade buildings. that does not come free. it does cost money. and yet house republicans are bragging that they cut embassy security. so, i'm going to talk about the

salon because i care so deeply about making sure that our personnel are safe all of the world. and until they allow this bill to go durbin i just really question of the deep concern some that are being expressed by the republican. oh, they need yet another committee to get to the bottom of benghazi. we know what happened. it was a terror attack on a facility that needed more protection. okay? and how do we make sure that does not happen again? we had more than 500 attacks on major attacks on our facility since 1998, between 1998 and 2011. more than 500 tax. it never has anyone of any party tried to a play politics with it and the reason i am so -- shall

we say -- upset with it is because it is the wrong way to move forward bill -- people look at us some wonder if we can get anything done. we have worked so well together. we did a highway bill, worked so well across the aisle. why don't we do what we did when tip o'neill was speaker and work well across the aisle on foreign policy. when i was coming up foreign-policy basically stopped at the water's edge. we respected the president, whoever it may become a republican, democratic. and if we had a critique, we expressed it, but we did it in a way that was, if i can just say, less partisan. so i will leave you with chart and just -- this chart says it

all. we have investigated this. we have looked at it. we have presented hearings and briefings and interviews. subpoenas, documents, issue reports. we don't need to spend money on another committee because someone is afraid of hillary clinton's candidacy. just deal with it. don't try to revise history. she was the first person to call for an independent investigation and begin to put the pieces and apply that would in fact make sure this did not happen again. some say you care about embassy security. well, and the stand up and oppose a bipartisan bill that would make sure we make the requisite improvements to our

facility. and so, i hope that harry reid, our leader, will not say yes to a committee that is nothing but a political witch hunt, and i will continue to condemn -- come down to the floor to discuss this issue and debate this issue if it is necessary to do so. thank you very much, mr. president, and i yield the floor. i do not the absence of a quorum. >> thank you very much. i would like to discuss the. [inaudible] on benghazi. i think senator boxer cam on the floor this morning to talk about the investigations and all the things that have been done to find out about what happened in and gusty, number one, to those serving today. you are definitely in our thoughts and prayers, and my advice to the demonstration is, get those votes out as quick as you can because this thing is going downhill quickly. i feel like the security environment and lived -- libya

is deteriorating as i speak. let me, if i can, set the stage for my concerns. one, i think most people on this side of the aisle, right or wrong, believe that the names were changed. this whole attitude toward finding out what happened in benghazi would be different. in the bush administration secretary rice, we would be really on fire as a nation to find out how the president could have said two weeks after the attack, mention the video as the cause of the attack. all the information coming from the intelligence community to the white house and others, there was never protests that if secretary rice had gone on the national news or mr. hadley or john bolton, the you an ambassador, u.s. ambassador in the united states had gone on television five days after the attack and told the story about the level of security -- we

believe there was a protest caused by video, not a coordinated terrorist attack. there would have been a definite different approach about this issue. and that, to me, is very sad. you may not agree with that observation, but almost everybody over here, i think, believes that. i know mr. zucker. he said he would not be bullied. no one is asking any outlet to be bullied, but i have some questions i want cnn to answer or somebody that would answer questions that i think are very relevant. so what is the state of play? as far as the senate goes we have had the u.s. senate select committee on intelligence issue a report january 15th, 2014. i think it did a very good job covering airline. they did not have jurisdiction over the state department, so their report was limited. there was a minority report and saw the report by republicans taking some issue with some of the findings of the bottom line

was the senate until committee in a bipartisan fashion look at benghazi and said that it could have been presented by prevented. that is something to be positive about. the armed services committee, they have done nothing. we have not issued any report. this is the report looking at the department of defense responsibility. looking at the state department behavior that night. we have had hearings, but the relevant committees have not issued reports. the homeland security committee in september 30th 2012, they did a good job talking about homeland security role in benghazi. a very good report, but a lot has happened since then. i want people in the country to know and in the senate to the reason i won a select committee in the senate, two of the committee's i participated in

this report in the bush administration. we had some serious system breakdowns when it came to detainee's in u.s. custody. senator mccain issued this report. i thought that was important to get to the bottom of system failure in the bush administration, but i would argue that for dead americans are worthy of report. and we have not had one. so there are a lot of things that could be done, should be done that have not been done. what would i like to find out about benghazi that we do not know? this is the accountability review board and internal investigation by the state department. to find and lead this

investigation appointed by secretary clinton. this thing has more holes in it and swiss cheese. then missed a lot. that did not talk to secretary clinton or ambassador rice. in this report they talk about the reason that dr. stevens was in benghazi is that there were looking at closing the consulate in benghazi in december. i finally got to talk with one survivor after about 18 months of trying and found from that survivor the person charged with security on the night of the attack, they have renewed that lease in july for year. that makes no sense. they just for the the lease in july. so not by any means an exhaustive review benghazi. this is a statement, read out on september the tenth 2012 the did before the attack. this is a readout of the

president's meeting with senior administration officials on our present security posture on the 11th anniversary of september september 11th. apparently the present to the president has a meeting in the white house with all our national security folks to talk about what we can expect on september the 11th because it was the 11th anniversary of 9/11. during the briefing the president and the principles discussed specific measures for taking in the homeland related to attacks as well as steps taken to protect u.s. persons and facilities abroad as well as for protection. that one simple question, didn't bring that video? if not one out? based on the statement is a reassuring statement. there were not on top of it when it came to libya.

i want so find out if that had anything to do with the depth of -- death trap called benghazi. this is the securities and -- security situation in benghazi pre 9/11. there was a request for additional security which was denied. our security footprint was very light. we had an agreement with the militia and benghazi that was supposed to be our primary action team, libyan militia that proved to be less than reliable. on april the sixth and a lady was thrown over the fence of the u.s. post and benghazi. did the president know about this? secretary : knew about this. no one has ever told us that the president was aware of this. on june 6 alliant to buy large idd destroyed a part of a post. they commissioned a study of some kind of review.

where is it? did the president know about these attacks? on june 11th 5 days later the british ambassador motorcade is attacked very close to the benghazi facility. u.s. personnel don't have the british ambassador. on july the ninth request from ambassador stevens for additional security, no response . in responding say no additional support needed. sixteen persons special forces national guard team that was ready to volunteer for an extra year to help our folks in benghazi. the state department said no thanks.

attacked four times and they finally closed out the lead town . lieutenant-colonel woods is a national guard soldier, helping security during a five security team investigation. instead of being extended. volunteered to stay for additional year. august 16th, the most damning of all, there is a cable that was sent from benghazi by ambassador steve is telling the people in washington that the conflict could not withstand a court iter is to attack. this is on 16 august. basically begging for additional security. that is the state of play, the background in terms of security.

these are statements by the original security officer asking for additional security. it was so frustrated by the response he has received in washington he said the following for me, that taliban is on the inside of the building. what he was talking about is that the people in washington tend to be completely deaf as to his needs for additional security. the people in washington were working against him and he was very worried about what would happen if there was an attack and believed that one was coming. this is lieutenant colonel woods at utah national guard special forces that left in august. here is what he said. it was instantly recognizable to me that it was a terrorist attack, mainly because of my prior knowledge there.

almost expecting the tactic,. we were the last flag flying. it was a matter of time. this had gone up department of defense channels as well as department of state. so that is the history of the security situation in benghazi. now, the people at cnn, my democratic colleagues, anybody and everybody, please explain to me how the 16th of september, five days after the attack, susan rice, a u.s. ambassador to the united nations, was chosen to appear on five sunday talk shows to talk about the attack in benghazi and other facilities and assure you, she was worried about what was going to happen with the questions regarding benghazi because that is where we had four people killed. here is what she said about the level of security 16 september. well, first of all, we had a substantial security presence

with our personnel in the consulate in benghazi. i have a question. who told her that? nothing could have been further from the truth. and you looked at the history of the security footprint in benghazi there were begging and pleading about people and libya to have more help and everything was denied. it was to the point that the person in charge of security felt like the taliban were inside the building here in washington. lieutenant colonel wood said it is just a matter of time. we were the last flag flying. and on 16 august before the september 11th attack you get a cable going back from the ambassador chris stevens to washington saying we cannot defend this compound against a coordinated terrorist attack. those are the facts. well, first of all, we had a substantial security presence in the consulate in benghazi. a simple question. who told her that? who briefer about security in benghazi?

the person who told her that needs to be fired. because they are completely incompetent and they lied to her if she made this up, she needs to resign because nothing could have been further from the truth if she just made this up to make the administration look good in light of all of the other evidence about security, then she is not an honest person when it comes to conveying national security incidents. so please, after all these investigations, after all these hearings, can somebody tell me where susan rice got this information? how could she conclude based on what we know now that we had a substantial security presence with a person now in the consulate in benghazi? further stating, we obviously did have a sound security presence. she said this on abc and fox. if you listen to her on 16 september, you would believe we were well-prepared for this attack with security in a

reasonable fashion. if anybody had looked at the actual record, the information available to our own government in our own files, you could not have said that honestly. i am sure this was a good thing to say six weeks before an election. the problem is, it is not remotely connected to the truth, and to this state nobody can answer my question, where did she received the information about the security level in benghazi? she has never been interviewed by anybody 20 months later. why was she chosen? if john bolton had taken secretary rice to talk about a consulate not under his control blood under her control people would want to know where it was the secretary of state. now, ambassador rise was a you in ambassador. she had no responsibility to

council that security. the person responsible for consulate's security and our footprint and libya was secretary clinton. i have always wondered why they chose her. to this day no one has answered that question. but here is what susan rice said 12 / 13 / 2012. secretary clinton had originally been asked. she had an incredibly grueling week dealing with the protests around the middle east in north africa. i was asked. i was willing to do so. it was not one i had planned for the weekend originally, but i do not regret doing that. she further said she had no regrets about what she told the american people. can i ask for five more minutes? you are next? ahead. one minute. okay. to be continued. i cannot do this justice and 15 minutes, but here is what i am suggesting.

if it is true that the secretary of state could not go on television and talk about a conflict under her control to talk about how four americans died at that consulate, the first ambassador in 33 years because she had a grueling week, if that is true -- and i don't really believe that it is, but if it is whitney to know because that will matter to the country as we go forward. if it is not true why would she say it? to be continued. there is so much about this incident that we don't know that makes no sense to me. i am not going to give up until i can tell the families what i believe to be the truth and what i have been told is nowhere near the truth. with that i yield. >> voters went to the polls today in kentucky, georgia, and pennsylvania for primary elections. in kentucky senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is facing tea party challenger not in it and the republican primary. we will bring you speeches from senator mcconnell, as republican challenger, and the democratic

nominee. election results from georgia and pennsylvania. that is later tonight here on c-span2. >> if you go back and look at coolidge, he was a conservative hero. his tax rate was a gold standard tax rate that we saw, 25 percent was what he got the top rate down to. he fought like crazy. it started, remember, with wilson in the 70's. that was an epic battle. when you go with what all the socialists said about coolidge in washington, how cold the was, you want to remember that they were probably also from families that endorsed different policies . his father had a different model of president. and let's get them, go active, bully pulpit presidency. she said the looked as though he had leaned on the -- been weaned

on a pickle. he was from new england. farmers don't talk a lot or wave their arms about because account might kick them. it was temperamental. of temperament. he was a shy person. he also had a political purpose. he knew that if he did not talk a lot people would stop talking. of course, it president or political leader is constantly bombarded with requests. his silence was his way of not giving in to special interest. >> author and columnist will take your calls, e-mails, and tweeds on taxes, depression-era presidents and current fiscal policy. in-depth alive sunday for three hours at noon eastern on c-span2 book tv. >> the starting right here with this mandate, all of this

stairwell and banister that uc here were the original banisters and steps from when clare -- clara barton was here. walking exactly on the same stairs. this we found in the attic. the envelope for a stationary set, military portfolio, as it is called on here. clara used to these as a fund-raising product while the civil war was going on. you can see how nice and fancy engraving work is on this. it also lists what was in the get. she had tied this together to hang up for when she was out trying to sell these. so she had a booth at the market and could hang this up, and these people could come by where she was and take a look at what

she had there. >> the life and work american red cross founder clara barton said it -- saturday at 10:00 a.m. eastern. we will visit the clara barton missing soldiers of this museum. then live at 11:00 your calls and tweaks. part of our three day memorial day weekend of american history tv on c-span three. >> white house press secretary jay carney briefed reporters today, answering questions about delays in the veterans' health care system, a chinese military hacking, and u.s. relations with russia. >> on another topic, has ralph nader given any kind of an update? >> what i can tell you about mr. nader is that he has been dispatched to the va at the

secretary's suggestion. a suggestion that was endorsed strongly by the president. the president is focused on the review that secretary shinseki has announced and has launched a of the allegations regarding waiting lists and disclosure, wedding less and wait times when it comes to getting benefits and services. i can tell you that robb is on his way to phoenix to visit the phoenix veterans affairs medical facility and to meet with its acting director. as part of this review the president looks forward to the results, both of their review and of the independent investigation that is under way and is being conducted by the inspector general. >> what is the president's

expectation in terms of the timetable of the review? >> i would refer you to the kiffin -- cave -- va for a timetable. the president's expectations for it to be a comprehensive and for

>> we refer you for questions. >> and how would you respond to the house majority leader, eric cantor, who said earlier this morning that -- i'm paraphrasing here -- the president seems to keep learning about the scandals . >> again, that is a product of

my lack of clarity yesterday. the reporting inaccuracies. was responding specifically to a cnn report that people learned when they either saw it on cnn or heard the report about the president had been discussing these issues and pressing congress to tackle these issues since he was a candid it for this office. and, again, we can go over the record of support for veterans says president obama took office, the request for additional funding that the president has made every year that he has been in office for the va, the expansion of services that he has directed to take place through the va on his watch and the overall commitment that he has to our veterans. i am happy to go through that record with you again, if you like. in know, our focus on -- the president's focus is not cleared rejoinders, it is on getting results and finding out exactly what happened in making sure people are held accountable for any malfeasance or misdeeds that

may have taken place. before we know that we have to wait for the investigations, which is the right way to go about it. >> the president still plans to comment on its in? >> i don't have any updates on the president's schedule. >> the business, the no if trade limits were discussed this morning? >> the president had an excellent meeting with ceos from a variety of companies. i think 11 all told, foreign and domestic, focus on his select u.s.a. initiative that is and that encouraging companies to invest here in the united states where the economy as a starter that in many places around the world where interview prices are low and where we have a highly productive work force. that has been the focus so far this week of the president's time and attention and will continue to be as he proceeds through the week, and he will make that a focus of his remarks

at cooperstown on thursday because tourism is an important source of foreign and direct investment in the united states. i do not have a rita of the topics of conversation that will be discussed today except to say that the president sounded excellent and he found a lot of receptivity among this group because this is a group of individuals to represent corporations to have other brought back operations in the united states or have made new investments in the united states reflecting a trend that is positive for the u.s. economy and u.s. workers. yes? >> one has invested in north carolina. what kind of message do you sense to foreign business, and not just the american who will bring back jobs, but also the other ones? what kind of message? >> we are in global economic competition, and the president

believes that we in the united states have to do the best job that we can of making clear to multinational corporations and foreign corporations that the united states is a very attractive place to invest, to build, and to hire. he absolutely welcomes foreign direct investment. it is a piece of what drives our economy, and the kind of investment that we seek from foreign companies is the kind that brings high paying, quality jobs to the shores of the united states, and that is good for the american economy and american workers. yes? >> on this topic, senator levin produced a bill this morning that would. [inaudible] is that a bill that will reach the president's desk? >> we have not obviously reviewed in the legislation at this point yet.

on a general principle that we should have a tax cut that does not reward companies for moving their operations and jobs overseas but instead encourages them to invest here in the united states and to build businesses and jobs here in the united states, one that is reflective of the president's budget, and he encourages congress, especially republicans in congress, to approach tax reform in a way that keeps this issue very much high on the priority list. we need to reform our tax code in a way that it makes investment in the united states attractive, creating incentives for companies to invest here instead of a tax cut where, as currently exists, there are loopholes that companies can exploit to avoid the taxes that they owe on u.s. and come.

unfortunately, we have had a lot of resistance that proposition, we hope that it will change their opinion. alexis? >> how does the president wants the function as he conducts a review so that -- >> as he always has, respectfully and professionally. >> so that observers are not concerned that the president is putting. [inaudible] while the ig is under way. >> we will let others evaluate the politics of this or who is injecting politics and in. the president sent him over there because he is a professional and is one of his most trusted advisers, and he expects rob to work with the secretary and others at the senator graham on this review so that we can get to the bottom of these issues, find out what happened, take remedial action where necessary and hold people accountable where necessary. >> if the president.

[inaudible] and start to the same individuals that the ig wants to interview, is there a perception that the white house is trying to do more than review but may be trying to influence the outcome? >> well, i would refer you to the va and the ig. obviously the va has called for, requested the independent inspector general's investigation, and i am sure they have no interest in any way doing anything but helping to move forward and get to a conclusion. the president is very interested in finding out what happened and instituting and completing this review that secretary shinseki initiated. that is why he has one of his most trusted the visors to be assigned temporarily to the va to take on this assignment and to help the secretary conduct the review. but we are very interested and, from the president on down, the

completion of both these inquiries, both the review and the ig investigation. yes, sir. >> a few days out from the presidential election for this coming weekend. there was a report issued saying that the rest of the country has a collection mechanisms in place, but in the eastern and southern areas, widespread intimidation of polling workers, not free and fair campaigning. at this point is there any way in russia avoids sectoral sanctions? >> i certainly don't have any announcement to make on potential additional sanctions at this time. we have made clear that if russia chooses to undermine the may 205th elections in ukraine there will be consequences, additional costs that will be imposed not just by the united

states but our allies and partners, as they have also made clear. what i would point you to is that the osce as far as said that in the vast majority of the country they anticipate that the election will go forward and will be free and fair. there is no question that separateness have taken steps that seek to undermine the effective carrying out of the election, and we call on russia to use its influence to persuade those separatists to stand down and to allow the ukrainian people to express their will freely. what i would also note, and i think others would note, including those from international bodies, is that it is fully possible for ukraine to conduct an election, even as there are some relatively small pockets of problem areas.

that is not to say that we condone or count the kind of activities a separate to seven days stand in violation of the ukrainian constitution, ukrainian law. and it the efforts the russian 78 stand in supporting the separatists. what we hope is that russia will use its influence in a positive way to allow these elections to take place so that the ukrainian people can choose for themselves to their president will be, and in the meantime, as they have already been doing, the ukrainian government has began the process of engaging ukrainians from across the country, including in the east and the south in round-table discussions about constitutional reform and changes that can be made to end our regions and create more autonomy for regions as it relates to the center of the country here which is positive and is kept their word

in conducting those round tables and holding those dialogues. i think, that, again, since a positive signal about the intentions of the central government in this process and their willingness to resolve these issues peacefully in a way that is consistent with ukrainian law and with the territorial integrity of ukraine >> the areas where they have had trouble, have not seen any sign of the russians during with their repeatedly called. >> i did not say that. in terms of using their influence -- we have yet to see any significant sign that russia is effectively persuading separatists to vacate buildings, for example, return property to a local and regional governments and to allow the elections to take place. there have been statements out of moscow relating to the disposition of russian troops of the border of ukraine that if

carried out would be positive. we have yet to see any indication that russian troops are withdrawn from the ukrainian border, but we will monitor that closely and certainly hope that the statements of today and yesterday from president putin and the russian defense minister and up being more than misstatements. but restage actual movement by russian troops away from the ukrainian border, that would be positive. >> a couple of things on va before i take on the other issues. yesterday you said support for the goals of this legislation will be before the house this week, the veterans managing accountability act. shinseki is against that. says he has all the authority he needs to punish and deal with those who do not perform to the standards. does this indicate the white house and the secretary disagree on what needs to be done as far as accountability within that

va? >> what i said yesterday and what remains true is that the administration shares congress is concerned about ensuring a responsibility and effectiveness at the va and is working to address the problems that have surfaced, and we will closely look at the bill that you mentioned. as i said, we share the goals and will work with congress to address concerns we have with the details of the bill. the overall issue. >> the president has already directed the maximum use of the existing authorities when it comes to making sure people were held accountable and also that they are assessing whether or not they need additional tools. we think this is an important issue. we share the concerns that are at the heart of this proposed legislation. we also will work with congress to address, you know, some of the concerns we have, but the

overall issue of making sure that there are tools in place to hold people accountable at the va is one that we share. >> you have mentioned many times in order for these investigations to succeed, he said that he sent a letter right after the news reports in phoenix service urging the va tests and a cease and desist order about the destruction of any documents related to this investigation eight days before the va actually said that order out. he is concerned there and other places where investigations are under way that that va is slow to tell people off, preserve and tell the facts can be determined and accountability can be assessed and carried out. we will use it on behalf of the president that the va needs to move on this faster and in every case there is an investigation, season desist order or not to not destroying evidence and maintaining everything that the investigators needs to be done

for? >> first of all, i am not aware of a specific order being referenced. it is certainly our view and secretary shinseki view that the va and their offices a to cooperate and will cooperate with both the review that secretary shinseki initiated and the investigations the ig has launched, and that is absolutely appropriate. the president wants to know what happened. the president wants to make sure that any bad behavior is serviced and that people are held accountable if the problems and the allegations that we have seen out there proved to be true. >> it appears that president -- evidence is being destroyed. these say these investigations -- >> if that is true that will be, i expect my focus both of review and an independent investigation i don't know that to be true. i know secretary gates reacted

immediately to begin the review. he suspended, as i mentioned, the three people in the phoenix office, the phoenix facility. we have dispatched the white house deputy chief of staff to assist in a review there, i think, which reflects the president's focus and concern about this. the secretary himself called for the ig to launch an independent investigation, so we eagerly await the results of both inquiries and, again, the president expects results and expects the information that he and the rest of the administration needs in order to ensure that we are taking all the necessary steps to provide the best service that we can't our veterans and to hold accountable any individuals who might have acted poorly. >> tonight on c-span2 i look at efforts to stop the spread of the deadly va virus.

house affairs hearing in u.s. relations with mexico, and later a hearing on how medicare reimburses hospitals. tonight we will be bringing your results from key primary elections in kentucky, georgia, and pennsylvania including concession and victory speeches from kentucky where said minority leader mitch mcconnell face a primary challenge in his reelection bid. those beaches bless your reaction coming up live tonight here on c-span2. mers is a viral respiratory illness first reported in saudi arabia in 2012. the world health organization estimates that 30% of mers cases are fatal. three people in the united states have been diagnosed with the disease so far. ..

the arabian peninsula right now is significantly affected by the virus. we have seen a lot of cases throughout the region. there seems to be a link with camels, although that is not completely pinned down. that. >> why would that be the source? where else could the source come from? >> it's interesting. when viruses get into t