advance three judicial nominations to district courts in california, florida and louisiana. members will recess for party lunches at 12:30 p.m. and when the return at 2:15 p.m. they will vote on any of the three nominations advanced this money. meanwhile, the house meets at noon for speeches at 2 p.m. for legislative business with 14 small bills on their schedule. live coverage of the house is over on c-span. now live to the senate floor here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, be attentive to our prayers. test our thoughts and examine our hearts, as we seek your wisdom to solve the problems

in our nation and world. guide our senators' thoughts and words so that their speech will glorify you. may their speech engender a spirit of cooperation and a willingness to discover ways to accomplish laudable goals for the common good. lord, lead them away from divisive rhetoric that provides fuel for chaos and discord. shepherd of love, we pray each day to you because we know you will answer our prayers. continue to show us your unfailing love in your

creative and wonderful ways. we pray in your great name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the president pro tempore: the majority leader. the clerk will call the roll. 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: i now move to proceed to calendar 453, s. 2569. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 453, s. 2569, a bill to provide an incentive for businesses to bring jobs back to america. mr. reid: mr. president, following my remarks and those of the republican leader, the senate will be in a period of morning business. during that period of time, the senators be allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. that morning business will run until 10:45. the time as i have indicated will be divided in the normal way between the two leaders or their designees. at 10:45, the senate will proceed to a series of three roll call votes -- cloture on andre birotte to be a judge in california. robin rosenberg to be a judge in florida, and john degravelles to

be a judge in louisiana. following the cloture vote on degravelles, the time until 12:30 will be equally divided and controlled in the usual form. the senate will recess from 12:30 to 2. 156789 to allow for our weekly caucus meetings. if cloture is invoked on any of the previous nominations, at 2:15, we will begin a series of votes on those that cloture is invoked. mr. president, over the past several months, americans have heard democrats speak at length about giving working families a fair shot. what do we mean by fair shot? a fair shot is about making sure that americans have jobs and good jobs. it's about ensuring that workers receive fair, livable wages so they can put roofs over their heads and take care of their kids and actually put food on the table, make the rent payments, car payments. a fair shot is the idea that each hardworking american

deserves an opportunity to achieve a measure of prosperity, but it all begins with a job. as senators, it's imperative that we not only promote job growth but also protect the jobs our constituents already have. that's why the legislation before the senate, the bring jobs home act, is so vitally important. it protects american jobs and encourages future job creation within our borders. mr. president, over the last decade, the last ten years, our country has been hemorrhageing jobs. american companies have outsourced 2.5 million jobs. outsourced means shipped them overseas, 2.5 million jobs that were here are now overseas. but these losses could potentially skyrocket if we don't address the disturbing trend of outsourcing. 21 million americans including seven million manufacturing

workers are at risk of having their job shipped overseas at any time, at risk of losing their fair shot. almost 150,000 of those at-risk workers live in nevada. the home state of my friend from kentucky could also be on the chopping block to the tune of 325,000 jobs. the presiding officer, the state of new jersey, outsource means a loss of 588,000 jobs in new jersey. when millions of americans are looking for work in a recovering economy, few things could be more important than protecting good-paying, middle-class jobs. every time an american company closes a factory or a plant in america and moves operations to another country, taxpayers pick up part of that moving bill. it's hard to comprehend that, but that's the way our law now exists. we want to change that. that's what this legislation before this body is all about. the bring jobs home act would

end senseless tax breaks for outsourcers and would end the absurd practice of american taxpayers bankrolling the outsourcing of their very own jobs. but the bring jobs home act also seeks to bring jobs back to america. this bill would offer a 20% tax credit to help with costs of moving production back to the united states. in the last few years, major manufacturers like ford, like caterpillar have brought jobs back to the united states, back from japan and china. why? because we have such productive workers. there are a lot of other reasons, but that's the main reason. smaller manufacturers like masterlock have moved facilities home as well. this is a trend that we here in congress should enthusiastically encourage. american companies returning home to employ american workers, they should get a tax break to do that. that's what this legislation does. the bring jobs home act is

commonsense strategy to bring back american jobs. the 21 million americans whose jobs could be the next ones to china or japan, the bring jobs home act is as serious as it gets, and to the 2.5 million americans whose jobs have already been offshored, the bill stands to right a terrible wrong. bring them back. you'll get a tax benefit for doing that. so i hope republicans in congress will finally see the light and join us in giving workers a fair shot at a good, stable job. on this legislation, mr. president, on the bring jobs home bill, i know that senators on the republican side always say -- you've heard it -- they say they want amendments, and unless they get a guarantee of amendments, they'll kill the bill. on that, let me just say what i always say. we want to do something, that is get something done, we should do what we have done on highway bills in the past, what we did recently on terrorism insurance, what we did on the work force

investment act, and what we have done here for decades, mr. president. we should work on a list of amendments on a path to getting the bill done. if there is going to be no less, mr. president, i have no alternative but the procedure to move forward to get this matter off the floor. that would be not good for the american worker. so everyone should know my answer. we need a list of amendments on the path to getting the bill done. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: later today, the president will sign a bipartisan work force training bill into law. it's commonsense legislation that will help my constituents

gain new skills to become more competitive. i was proud to support it, and i'm glad to see the president is going to sign it. unfortunately, though, bipartisan accomplishments like this one have become increasingly rare in the democratic-controlled senate. last week, president obama took to the campaign trail to urge congress to pass a new highway bill. he really didn't need to, though. the republican-controlled house of representatives had already passed the highway bill earlier in the week. in fact, it sailed through on an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote 367-55. and the president said he would sign it if congress sent it to his desk, and i expect that the senate will do just that in fairly short order. but only if the democrats who run the senate can put their never-ending political campaign on hold for just a minute. because rather than focus on

passing bipartisan legislation, not to mention the dozens of job creation bills the house has already sent over to us, the democratic majority seems to spend all of its times on bills designed primarily to create jobs for campaign consultants. we got an especially vivid glimpse of this earlier this year when senate democrats admitted they were working with their campaign committee to craft a so-called agenda that was more about saving their own seats than anything else. and ever since they pretty much abandoned governing to use the senate, the senate floor as a campaign studio. we saw the latest example last night when the majority brought up another recycled, designed to fail bill that's already been rejected by the senate. it's a bill that's designed for campaign rhetoric and failure, not to create jobs here in the u.s. that's not what it's about. but that's not stopping our

friends on the other side from bringing it up yet again just as they did right before the last election. so look, we have seen this movie before. everyone knows that the democrats are simply not serious here. they specifically want the bill to fail. and what i'm saying is let's just skip the campaigning and get something done for the middle class instead. let's focus on bipartisan bills that can help families and create jobs here at home. let's focus on things like repealing the job-killing medical device tax and helping create energy jobs and reducing the tax burden on small businesses and restoring the 40-hour workweek and providing relief to kentucky's coal families. if we're going to have a debate about creating jobs here at home, then let's really have a debate about creating jobs here at home. but this isn't is. and senate democrats, of course, know that.

they also know that all their campaigning is getting in the way of focusing on passing bipartisan legislation, bipartisan legislation like the highway bill. now, of course, we know the current highway bill isn't perfect. over the long term, republicans have a lot of good ideas for reforming the highway trust fund in a more permanent way so that it can be made sustainable for years to come. but for now he would have to at least keep road and bridge projects moving forward in the meantime. the extension of the highway trust fund could be used to fund projects like the resurfacing of several parkways that many kentuckians use to commute to work and it could be used to fund the widening of i-65 between bowling green and elizabethtown. the judge executive hart knows that this transportation safety project is important for the commonwealth and he notes that the expansion to six lanes would allow for a smoother and safer

flow of traffic for kentuckians. so let's focus on scoring bipartisan wins and jobs for our constituents instead of scoring political points. democrats can do that, then i'm confident we'll get this done because the american people didn't send us here to campaign 24/7 and when senate democrats do choose to work with us there's a lot we can get done for the people of our country. and, mr. president, on one entirely different matter, i want to say a brief word about our former colleague jeremiah denton who will be laid to rest today at arlington national cemetery. admiral denton is best known for the extraordinary bravery he showed back in 1966 when instead of playing along with in a propaganda film for his captors in vietnam, he blinked the word

"torture" in morse code to u.s. military leaders back home. all told, admiral denton would spend 7 1/2 years in an infamous hanoi hilltop and other camps, enduring torture and barbaric conditions throughout. later after earning the deep admiration of ronald reagan, he'd enlist the future president's help as a first-time political candidate becoming the first elected republican senator from alabama since reconstruction. a staunch conservative throughout throughout his time here, admiral denton was a man of deep and abiding faith who had an equally deep and abiding love for his country. this was never more clear than on the day that he stepped off a plane to freedom at clark air base in the philippines. walking up to the microphone, the newly releaseed pow said

simply we are honored to have the opportunity to serve our country under difficult circumstances, we are proudly grateful to our commander in chief and to our nation for this day. god bless america. admiral denton was predeceased by his beloved wife of 61 years, katherine jane, and survived by their seven children, madeleine, mary beth, jeremiah, william, donald, james, michael, and by his second wife, mary belle. we send mary belle and the entire denton family our sincere condolences today as jeremiah denton is laid to rest and we honor the memory of this great man and distinguished former member of this body. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership

time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 10:45 a.m. with senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each and with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i came here in april to the senate floor to warn my colleagues of a looming crisis in the highway trust fund. i told them if congress didn't act and the fund reached critically low levels it would cause a construction shutdown in communities across the country. it would cost jobs and threaten our fragile economic recovery and hurt families and businesses that depend on safe and efficient roads and bridges. mr. president, i'd hoped that we could address this issue sooner. i'd hoped those of us in congress who understand the importance of strong infrastructure investments could have come together not just to avoid a crisis but on a

long-term solution. we weren't able to do that, but today after four months of warning of this looming crisis, i'm glad to come to the floor as we work to do what should be easy, but too often isn't around here, to avoid a completely unnecessary and damaging crisis. mr. president, this is a step in the right direction and as many of us here know very well, it is a step that congress has not taken each time a crisis approached. for far too many years congress has been lurching from crisis to crisis, debt limit scares to fiscal cliffs. that hit a peak last october with a shutdown over a misguided attempt to block the affordable care act from covering millions of families and with another federal default scare. the lurching from crisis to crisis and constant dysfunction and uncertainty hurt our workers and our families and it shook the confidence of people across

the country to expect their elected officials to work together and get things done. but when the government shutdown ebbed ended last year i sat down with house budget committee chairman paul ryan in a budget conference. we worked together, we compromised, and we reached a two-year budget deal that prevented another government shutdown and rolled back devastating cuts from sequestration. mr. president, that bipartisan budget deal moved us away from these constant crises and showed the american people that we can do our jobs when we're willing to work together. and i believe it showed my republican colleagues that putting the american people through these constant artificial crises is not just bad for the country overall, it's not good for republicans, either. now, since that bipartisan budget deal we have been able to build on that bipartisan momentum in some really important ways. i was very proud to work with

the junior senator from georgia and a number of republicans and democrats on a bipartisan bill to invest in work force training. our legislation passed both the house and the senate with overwhelming bipartisan support and this week it will officially become law. mr. president, that kind of bipartisan work to help our workers and the economy wouldn't be possible if we were still in a constant crisis mode. that's why i've been so hopeful we could avoid lurching toward yet another needless crisis, this time in our highway trust fund. the consequences of congress failing to shore up the highway trust fund are clear. in fact, many of our states have already been bracing for a worst case scenario. arkansas, for example, has already put the brakes on 15 highway projects that would have widened their highways and repaired their bridges. in colorado, state officials are planning a project toughies

congestion to give needed relief for drivers between denver and fort collins. but a lap in federal funding could have put that project on hold and those are not isolated cases. across the country more than 100,000 projects would have been at risk next year and 700,000 jobs would have been on the line if congress fails to replenish the highway trust fund according to the department of transportation. so i am very glad congress is finally coming together and working to avoid a construction shutdown this summer. republicans in the house have pushed aside the tea party fringe and passed a bill to avoid a construction shutdown this summer with no ransom demands and no programmatic spending cuts and no tea party policy rhode islanders. i do do support the proposal from the finance committee that includes provisions to improve compliance with tax laws and i think my colleague the junior senator from california is

right, we need pressure on republicans to come back before the end of this congress to work us towards a long-term solution. but i am very glad that we're working together to get this done and avoid this unnecessary crisis that would have put jobs and our economy at risk. mr. president, this bill will be a step in the right direction. but then we need to take the next step. we need to keep this bipartisanship going and work together to find a long-term solution for the highway trust fund's revenue shortfall. that's the only way to truly put an end to constant crises and short-term patches and the only way to give our states and businesses the certainty they need and deserve to plan projects and invest in their economies. so, mr. president, once again, i'm very glad we are moving towards avoiding a completely unnecessary construction shutdown and i'm glad that the house republicans seem to understand it's better for them and for our country to push the tea party aside and work with

us, not to push us into another crisis. so i'm hopeful we can build on this bipartisan effort and keep working together to create jobs and economic growth and a fair shot and true opportunity for our families across the country. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: while the senator from washington is on the floor i think it's appropriate to note and congratulate her for her work on the work force investment act. she and senator isakson, the senator from georgia, led the effort that senator harkin, and i and others, senator scott of south carolina was the principal sponsor, senator enzi worked for a long time but as the republican leader said that bill is being signed today i believe by the president of the united states and it goes directly to the issue that most americans care about, it's too hard to find a job. what this showed republicans and democrats were able to take the nearly $10 billion that we spend

to give governors the tools to help people match job skills with their need for a job, and simplify, simplify it. i remember our former democratic governor from tennessee told me when he came into office he just threw up his hands when he found out about the $147 million that came to tennessee through the work force investment act because it was too complicated. senator murray, senator isakson and others some worked -- have worked together with chairman klein in the house and produced a law that will be signed. and the senate is far from functioning the way it ought too to, there is too much talent and too many pressing problems in the country for us to be -- we are close to satisfied with the result we're getting but the committee upon which the senator from washington and i serve has done a pretty good job in this congress. we've passes -- reported to the congress -- this senate 20 pieces of legislation, 18 of them have passed the senate,

and 14 of them have been signed into law. that may be more than the entire senate put together. i'm not sure about that. but the point is, those are big pieces of legislation. one is the jobs bill. that's the issue we care about more than any other. another was the track and trace legislation which makes medicines safer for four billion prescriptions. senator burr and senator mikulski worked on that. another was on compounding pharmacy, this terrible problem we where we had tainted sterile injections not being sterile and causing people to catch meningitis and die. another was last year the student loan program where we took all the new loans, that's 100 billion a year and put a market pricing on top and took it out of the political football stunt category. all that's happened on a committee which has on its left a lot of democrats and on its right -- well, 12 democrats and

10 republicans and we don't agree on everything by a longshot. but on these issues, we came to result and got a job and the senator from washington has been a conspicuous example of looking for opportunities for us to get a result. i think people expect us to come to the senate, stand on our principles, but not stop there. not stop there. then put our principles together and where we can combine those to get a result for the american people and i'm glad to be a part of that action and i congratulate her for it. mr. president, today i'm here to say that the world is watching venezuela and the united states senate especially is watching human rights abuse in venezuela. and i especially am watching the case of leopoldo lopez who has been in prison for five months for leading a -- for leading a political party. and exercising his

constitutional rights. senator menendez of the foreign relations committee has spoken out about human rights abuse in venezuela. senator corker, the ranking republican on human rights abuse -- on foreign affairs has spoken out about human rights abuse in venezuela. yesterday senator cruz of texas gave an impassioned speech about leopoldo lopez in venezuela and that conspicuous example of human rights abuse. senator rubio of florida has been at the forefront of this discussion with his leadership on the foreign relations committee. and today, mr. president, i would like to speak about human rights abuse in venezuela and to say to president maduro in venezuela that the world is watching that abuse, the world is watching him, and his efforts especially to imprison

his principal political opponent who is leopoldo lopez. mr. president, many of us have visited robin's island off south africa's coast. when my family and i did that a few years ago, it -- there -- there's no moment that impresses me more than that visit, where some of those who were imprisoned there with nelson mandela still give tours of robin's island, about where he lived and where he exercised and how he conducted himself in the 27 years that he was there, before he came back and was freed and became one of the most important persons in our world history. it seems to me that president maduro in venezuela is determined to turn leopoldo lopez into the nelson mandela of

venezuela by his unconscionable imprisonment of him principally because leopoldo has spoken out -- has expressed his political views about the country that he loves. leopoldo was born in venezuela. he comes from a patriotic venezuelan family. but he was educated in the united states, which is where i met him. i met him when he was a student at kenyan college. in fact, i made the graduation speech when i was secretary of education to the class in which he graduated. and he was there a friend of my son, who was also a student. i've watched him over the years. he -- he went on to harvard and -- and obtained a master's degree there at the kennedy school. he could have stayed in the united states and had a very successful career but he chose instead to return to the country he loved, to venezuela. he was elected mayor of a

municipality there at the age of 28 in an important area outside of caracas. four years later, he was reelected with 81% of the vote. he is a rising star in venezuela. there is no brighter star in the rising star in the skies in venezuela. hugo chavez' government knew that someone like leopoldo, who's well educated, charismatic, purposeful and honest, with a desire to help his fellow venezuelans, would do nothing but cause problems for their socialist government, so they barred him from running for public office and accused him of misusing political funds. i suppose a lot of us would like to bar our principal opponent from running against us. the senator from new jersey and i both are in elections this year. but it hasn't occurred to us that in the united states we could actually do that. elections are -- are the lifeblood of this country and the lifeblood of our liberty and freedom. but it's venezuela. if you don't like your opponent,

you say, you can't run for political office. that's what they did to leopoldo. leopoldo fought back, taking his case all the way to the american court for human rights, and he won. i had the opportunity to see him again in 2011, when he did that. i knew he would win his case. anyone who listened to it would believe that. he returned -- he stayed in venezuela. he faced assassination attempts. harassment, threats. never wavered in -- in his call for venezuelan people to take action against the repressive regime of hugo chavez and more recently nicolas maduro. venezuela is a rich country, mr. president, has lots of mon money, but its people can't get tooth paste, its people can't get tissues. the inflation there is more than 50%. you would expect there to be a leader demanding change from the government, someone who could express the views of the people. leopoldo is that person but he's been in jail for five months. he's been barred from running for public office because he is

that leader. he's a husband. he's a father of two young children. he chose to turn himself in to face trial. he could have come to the united states or some other country and said, i'm in exile, i'm a popular venezuelan and i'll take the brave act of going into exile. no, he didn't do that. he turned himself in with a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people, because he, in the tradition of gandhi, martin luther king, mandela and others, is -- is focusing his resistance in a nonviolent and in a constitutional way. that is his lesson to the people of venezuela. however, he's in jail for five months and president maduro keeps him there to silence the opposition. so the president thinks. leopoldo's trial is tomorrow. i say "trial," although it's not a trial that we would recognize. the distinguished chairman of the judiciary committee is on the floor today. he's been a leading spokesman for human rights across the

country. he, too, is interested in human rights abuse in venezuela. he would not recognize this trial. the defense team of leopoldo has attempted to bring forward 60 witnesses plus other experts to testify on their client's beha behalf. despite a preliminary hearing -- or during a preliminary hearing, every single witness for the defense was disqualified. there is a distinguished lawyer from massachusetts on the other side of the aisle. she knows what a trial is. she will recognize human abuse when she sees that, just as all of us do. just as all of us do. so i think it is important for president maduro and the people of venezuela and the people in venezuela who have been subjected to human rights abuse to know that that's not going unnoticed in the united states of america. that there are senators on the democratic side and on the republican side of the aisle who are paying close attention to this. that our state department is reviewing this very, very carefully.

that this sort of human rights abuse in venezuela, a country badly in need of political discourse and leadership, is something we should not ignore. and we should say to president maduro, free leopoldo lopez. free leopoldo lopez. by locking him up for five months, you are -- you are not silencing him. you're not silencing him. you're helping make him the nelson mandela of venezuela. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i thank my friend from tennessee for what he said. the trial he described is not a trial. it's a sham. and no honest or civilized country, no country that has even a pretense of following the

rule of law should accept that kind of trial. so i applaud the senior senator from tennessee for his comments. mr. president, i've come to this floor many times to talk about the need to support law enforcement. sure, our criminal justice serves everyone fairly. i do it again in light of a very disturbing report issued by the justice department's inspector general last week which described serious flaws in some of our nation's crime labs. the report focused on 13 crime lab examiners who work with whos seriously flawed. but the worst part about their testimony contributed to the convictions of thousands of offenders, including 60 people on death row. on death row based on flawed testimony, flawed evidence that the people in the lab had to know was flawed. the f.b.i. launched an investigation. they discovered these mistakes.

but then even after they discovered them, it took them five years to notify those who were impacted. five years that they're sitting in prison. during that time, three of the 60 people who were convicted and put on death row on flawed evidence were executed. what do you say? do you go to the grave and say, "oh, sorry. we held -- we gave flawed evidence on you. won't do that again. won't do that again" and probably paste that on the grave stone? thousands more sat behind bars. this is shocking and unacceptable. i mention this because even in a country like ours, our criminal justice system is not infallible and that's why i again urge the senate to take up and pass the justice for all reauthorization

act. it's a bill i introduced with senator cornyn last year. it's a bipartisan piece of legislation. it has the kurt bloodsworth post-inspection d.n.a. testing grant program. it's there to prevent travesties such as we've seen. named for kurt bloodsworth, who was convicted and sentenced to prison. could have been executed. until -- in fact, there's another prisoner who looks so much like him. maybe after a few years we ought to check the d.n.a. and then they found they had the wrong person. and they say, gosh, good thing we only locked him up for a few years and then checked the d.n.a. and checked it before we executed him. of course he was innocent. 250 additional people have been exonerated using this technology, one after spending 27 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. we also have taken important

steps to strengthen rights for victims of crime and reauthorize the debbie smith act, which would provide significant funding to reduce the backlog of untested rape cases. and just yet, just a few blocks from here, d.c. superior court, a man was exonerated by d.n.a. evidence. now, that's the good news, he was exonerated. kevin martin, exonerated. but he spent 26 years in prison for the 1982 rape and murder of a washington woman that he nothing to do with. now, senator cornyn, deputy republican leader is th a sponsr of this bill. senator minority leader mitch mcconnell is a sponsor of this bill. every single senate democrat has signed off on passing this. senator grassley, the ranking member of the judiciary committee, called the inspector general's report shocking.

we all agree on it. well, let's pass the legislation. let's stop talking about how great we are pointing out these mistakes. let's pass the legislation. i ask consent my full statement be made part of the record, and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mrs. warren: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i'm here this morning to say happy birthday to the consumer financial protection bureau. this week marks four years since dodd-frank was signed in to law and te three years since the consumer agency opened its doors. the consumer agency was built to be a new kind of regulatory agency, one that would stand up for america's families, not for big banks and for credit card companies. now, the consumer agency was not

popular with big banks and their friends here in washington. the financial services industry spent more than a million dollars a day fighting tooth and nail against financial reforms and they vowed to kill the consumer agency before it was ever born. but thanks to the work of grass-roots consumer groups across the country who worked very hard and who got organized, we pushed back against the big bank's army of lobbyists and lawyers and we won. we succeeded in building a strong, independent consumer agency with the tools necessary to protect consumers against the tricks and traps hidden in the fine print of mortgages, credit cards and student loans. under rich cordrey's leadership, the staff of the cfpb has made

amazing progress since it opened. this little agency has already forced big financial institutions to return more than $4 billion to 15 million consumers they cheated, and it has helped tens of thousands of consumers resolve complaints about their financial institutions. it's put in place rules to protect consumers from a range of dangerous financial products and to make sure that companies can't put out the kinds of deceptive mortgages that contributed to millions of foreclosures. now, recently the cfpb shared stories from people all across the country who've reached out to the agency for help with financial issues, and one of these stories is from ari, an iraq veteran from hull, massachusetts. ari and his father, harry, told their story to cfpb, and here's

how it goes. while serving in the military, ari took out a car loan advertised directly to service members. the dealership promised that ari, that he would be able to afford the loan, but after harry read the fine print, he figured out that this was a terrible deal. so harry filed a complaint with the cfpb and the agency's investigation helped uncover scams targeting men and women in uniform. ultimately, the consumer agency ordered the auto dealers to refund about $6.5 million to the service members they cheated and to agree to stop these practices immediately. you know, this is just one example of how people are fighting back using the tools of the consumer financial protection bureau. it's also an example of how the consumer agency is standing up

for families who've been targeted by scams and unfair practices. together families and the agency are starting to clean up the market for consumer credit. sure, there's a lot left to do. the consumer agency still has important rules to put in place regarding payday lending, debt collection and arbitrary clauses. the biggest banks are dramatically bigger than they were during the financial crisis, and there is still too much risk in our system and too much need for reform. we need to keep pushing for changes that will make our financial system more stable and more secure, to protect consumers and to keep our economy safe. but stories like ari and harry's show that the consumer agency works and that the agency empowers people. in a badly tilted financial

marketplace, the agency is giving consumers a fighting chance. this week is an opportunity to highlight these accomplishments and a reminder of how we can make washington work for families all across this country. thank you, mr. president. i yield and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: 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 andre birotte jr. of california to be united states district judge, the central district of

california. the presiding officer: 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 andre birotte, jr., of california to be united states district judge for the central district of california 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 wishing to vote or change their vote? on this vote the ayes are 56, the nays are 43. the motion is agreed to.

the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: andre birotte jr. of california to be united states district court judge for the central district. the presiding officer: there are now two minutes of debate equally divided prior to the next cloture. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: mr. president, this is judge --. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. ms. nelson: this is judge robin rosenberg that comes through this nonpartisan judicial nominating process that senator rubio and i have set up. senator rubio and i certainly commend her for your favorable consideration. thank you. mr. reid: yield back the time. the presiding officer: all time is yielded back. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: we, it is 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 robin l. rosenberg of florida to be united states district judge for the southern district of florida. signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: 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 robin l. rosenberg of florida to be united states district judge for the southern district of florida, 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 change their vote? on this vote, the yeas are 58, the nays are 42. the motion is agreed to.

the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: robin l. rosenberg of florida to be united states district judge. the presiding officer: there are now two minutes equally divided prior to the next cloture vote. without objection, all time is yielded back. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: choach cloturcloture: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of john l. degravelles of louisiana. the presiding officer: the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of john w. did he graph he is o -- degravelles of

louisiana shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are manned tried under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

123450 vote:

the presiding officer: do any senators wish to vote or to change their vote? on this vote the yeas are 57. the nays are 39. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: john w. degravelles of louisiana to be united states district judge. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the time until 12:30 p.m. will be equally divided and controlled in the usual form. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. ms. heitkamp: i ask unanimous consent that ann marie lewis, a fellow in my office, be granted floor privileges during the rest of today's session of the senate. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from louisiana. mr. vitter: mr. president, i rise to comment on the tragedy

of the civilian airline shot out of the sky by a russian service-to-air missile, cutting short the lives of 298 innocent civilians. mr. coats: parents, children, and spouses of victims have expressed deep anguish and we all feel their grief. all of us agree that the images we are seeing from the crash site are heartbreaking and sickening. president obama and others, leaders throughout the world have expressed their outrage at the vicious, uncivilized act that took place at 33,000 feet over the country of ukraine. a few days ago british prime minister david cameron stated firmly -- and let me quote -- "for too long there has been a reluctance on the part of too many european countries to face up to the implications of what is happening in eastern ukraine.

elegant forms of words and fine communiques are no substitute for real action. the weapons and violence funneled across the border between russia and the ukraine, support to the militias, half-truth, bluster, the delays, they have to stop. as the prime minister noted, this is a moment when words of condemnation and expression of grief simply are not enough. this is a moment when action must follow the outrage and rhetorical condemnation. the tragedy of malaysian air 17 will be, i believe, a defining event in history. it is a defining event for russia, first and foremost, and its president, vladimir putin. it is no secret that putin has imperial ambitions motivated by his pathological insecurities in

a quest to restore lost glories to mother russia. these are dangerous dilutions. and that, if not confronted firmly, will come to threaten us all. but it's also a defining event for the united states and its european allies. the festering danger in the ukraine is the result of the civilized world's faltering half steps as a meager, timid, and all too minimal response to russia's invasion of a neighbor in violation of sovereign borders. this is an opportunity for american leadership, in step with our european allies, to spur the community of nations to act together and be a force for good and be a force for the right change that needs to take place not later, but now. and it's a defining event for president obama and german chancellor angela merkel.

today these two leaders, the two who are most able to influence this situation, can stand up and demonstrate leadership that will shape history. so this is a pivotal moment, a pivotal moment for the united states, for germany, for the european union and for the world. given the significance of this event in this moment, what are we to do? i don't have all the answers. i've been suggesting harsh sanctions, sanctions that bite, that hit russia hard ever since their invasion of crimea. as i've earlier said what has been done is far too short of what needs to be done to punish russia for the acts of breach of sovereignty and now this brutal, terrible, tragic result and consequence of what they're doing in eastern ukraine. so first, i think we need to ask

the entire civilized world to join the united states and european allies and everyone join us in condemning this outrageous act. events like this tragedy have no place in the modern world, and this unassailable fact needs to be acknowledged globally, and more than once. repeatedly until it becomes so loud that putin and russians can hear it in moscow and in the kremlin and see that what is taking place here is the direct result of their engagement in eastern ukraine. secondly, i think we need to demand complete cooperation with the ongoing investigation. positive steps are beginning to take place far too late but at least they're starting to take place. our commitment to the rule of law, rules of evidence and the