vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 73, the nays are 27, three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn have voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to. cloture having been invoked, the motion to commit falls under the previous order. all postcloture time is yielded back and the pending amendments

are withdrawn. the clerk will read the title of the bill pour the third time. the clerk: h.j. res. 124 making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2015 and for other purposes. the presiding officer: the question is on the passage of the joint resolution. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is. the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the vote is 73-22. the joint resolution is passed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nominations, department of state, mark william lippert of ohio to be ambassador to the republic of korea. adam m. scheinman of virginia to be special representative of the president for nuclear proliferation. kevin f. o'malley of missouri to be ambassador to ireland. bathsheba nell crocker of the district of columbia, to be an assistant secretary.

department of energy, elizabeth sherwood-randall of california to be deputy secretary. executive office of the president. robert w. holleyman ii to be deputy united states state trade representative. department of defense, eric rosenbach of pennsylvania to be an assistant secretary. department of the treasury. d. nathan sheets of maryland to be an undersecretary. department of homeland security, charles h. fulghum of north carolina to be chief financial officer. united states agency for international development. alfonso elheart to be deputy administrator. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: on these nominations, i would ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back.

the presiding officer: is there objection? seeing, hearing no objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i also ask unanimous consent that executive calendar consent agreed to wednesday september 17 be modified to include executive calendar numbers 1053 through -- i'm sorry, 1053 following executive number 925, and all the previous order remaining in effect including yielding back the time for debate on the matter. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the nominations. the clerk: department of state, thomas friedman of new york to be representative of the united states on the executive board of the world health organization. the presiding officer: hearing no additional debate, the question on the nomination of lippert. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, say nay. the ayes appear to have it.

the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. the question is now on the scheinman nomination. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, say nay. the ayes have it. the nomination is confirmed. the question now occurs on the o'malley nomination. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, say nay. the ayes have t the nomination is approved. the question now occurs on the sherwood-randall nomination. all knows in favor say aye. all those opposed, say nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is approved. the question now occurs on the crocker nomination. all knows in favor say aye.

all those opposed, say nay. the ayes have it. the nominee snags approved. the question now occurs on the holleyman nomination, all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, say nay. the ayes have it. the nomination is approved. the question now occurs on the rose enback nomination. all those this naiver say aye. all those opposed, say nay. the ayes have t the nomination is approved. the question now occurs on the sheets nomination. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, say nay. the nomination is approved. the question now occurs on the fulghum nomination. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, say nay. the 0 ayes have t the nomination is approved. the nomination -- or the question now occurs on the

lynnheart nomination. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed. say nay. the ayes have it. the nomination is approved. the question now occurs on the friedman nomination. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, say nay. the ayes have t the nomination is approved. under the previous order, the motions to reconsider be laid on the table, the president will immediately be modified of the senate's action, the senate leessume legislative session. mr. chambliss: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: seeing and hearing no objection.

mr. chambliss: mr. president, it is with great pride and a touch of sadness that i stand here today to pay very special tribute to my scott poin dexer, my dear friend and trusted confidant. must scott is leaving the staff of the united states senate after a long and distinguished career in public service. she has dedicated most of her professional life to the congress, serving over 20 years in both the house of representatives and the senate. she was with me at my first agriculture committee hearing in the house and as i prepare i pro retire from the senate today, she was with me at my hearing. i owe much of my success as a legislator to martha scott. she has served as my legislative assistant in the house, legislative director when i first entered the senate and later as my staff trerkt for

both the agriculture and intelligence committees. it is no exaggeration to say that martha scott is one of the brightest, most talented, and well-connected individuals on capitol hill. she's a natural leader and manager who exemplifies a tremendous character and dedication that traditionally defines the term "a public servant." martha scott is an enthusiastic team player with a special talent for finding solutions to complex problems and rallying support behind her. those are enormously helpful tax rates on the hill -- traits on the hill, especially in recent years when it seems like finding solutions has taken a back seat to partisanship. but those are not the characteristics that define marcmartha scott. those who work with her and who have known her professionally and personally are most often struck by her tremendous heart and kindness.

her infectious laugh always brings a smile to the faces of friends nearby. this place just won't be the same without it. above all, she is a good person, loyal to the core, and committed to always doing what is right. all she asks in return is that people say her first name correctly. it's martha scott. it is not martha. we southerners can be very particular that way and we like double names. what began as a junior staff position in the office of senator cochran nearly 24 years ago blossomed into a distinguished public service career that is nearly unmatched by our peers. martha scott has seen and been involved in so many historic events and helped on legislation that has touched an impacted the lives of all our citizens. but don't expect tharnlg that scott to tell anybody that. that's just not her style.

whether it is her work on the committee on appropriations, the committee on agriculture, the select committee on intelligence, or as a member of my personal office staff, martha scott has selflessly committed herself to the people we represent, whether it's the cotton farmer, the cowlings soldier in spharntion o afghanistan, or the thousands of intelligence professionals. martha scott has always kept our nation's best interests at heart. finding a natural love of politics and policy drove martha scott to be a key player in the legislative process that touched every farm bill for the last 25 years as well as the recent controversial debates on cybersecurity and intelligence collection. my colleagues and i trust martha scott's judgment impeccably. her exceptional performance has

earned our respect and admiration and it has inspired a generation of staff members who have had the privilege to work with her and learn from her. her legacy will remain a part of the united states senate for many years to come. martha scott has a profound commitment to family and her roots in the delta define her. growing up on the family farm provided a strong foundation and work ethic that one only gets in rural mississippi, guided by her loving parents and the constant support of her sisters, martha scott has not only won the admiration of those for whom she has worked but for those who have worked for her. to her husband, robert, we thank you for allowing us to take up so much of her time, especially in this very special year. my colleagues and i owe a debt of gratitude to each and every member of martha scott's family. martha scott's been a part of my

staff for 20 years, which means she's been a part of my family for 20 years. she's watched my children mature, my grandchildren grow up, and they have all come to know and love her. she's been an inspiration to so many people, but most importantly she's been an inspiration to me. and while everybody's going to miss her, i'm the one that's going to miss her the most. so, martha scott, to you we say congratulations to life after the senate, but just know how much, number one, we're going to miss you. but secondly, and most importantly, your country's going to miss you, and we appreciate your tremendous commitment and service to our country. god bless you and god bless your family. and, mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. carper: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. carper: mr. president, good evening. as we finish the last series of

votes, we were talking about the range of difficult issues that we face in this congress and also in our country. the area of issues that include isis, what to do about and confront this latest threat, whether or not to provide aid to the moderate rebels in syria and what form should that aid take, continued concerns that flow from the ukraine and the areas there along the border with russia, cyber attacks, data breaches, ebola outbreaks, folks trying to get into our country from all different directions, especially from central america. these are hard issues. these are hard issues to deal with. and try though as we may, it's hard to fix them. and as my colleague knows who serves with us on the homeland security, it is a busy neighborhood where we have jurisdiction. it's not that the problems are

intractable, they are just hard issues. and some of them may take years to fully resolve. but there is, i might say as well, the economy, economic recovery has continued now for, gosh, five years, and it's been stop and go, stop and go. every now and then we have encouraging news and sometimes it is less so. but today we got encouraging news. i want to talk a little bit about this as we talk about the economy. the postal system of our country actually plays a role in strengthening our economic recovery. every thursday, my colleague knows the department of labor puts out information. among the things they promulgate on thursdays is how many people file for unemployment insurance in the last week. they do this every thursday. except maybe on thanksgiving or maybe on christmas. on the thursday of the week that

barack obama and joe biden were sworn in as president and vice president, that week they put out a number that said 628,000 people, 628,000 people filed for unemployment insurance. any time that number is above 400,000 people we're losing jobs in this country. and any time it's under 400,000 people, we're adding jobs in this country. it was 628,000 that week over five and a half years ago. slowly but surely that number has dropped and has continued to drop. it bounces up and down a little bit. it may go up and down from week to week. we do a four-week running average and that kind of balances out the blips. well, the number has dropped from 628,000 people five and a half years ago to 400,000 people to 300,000 people. we got the new report today from the department of labor, and

280,000 people filed last week for unemployment insurance. why should we feel good about that? because that number, that's the lowest we've been below 400,000 since the recession actually began, certainly in the last five and a half years. that would suggest it is kind of a forerunner that will come in for the jobs numbers for the months of september which we'll get at the beginning of october. i'm encouraged by that. there's a number of things we can do and ought to do to continue to strengthen the economic recovery. i won't go into all those, but one of them i want to mention deals with the postal service. not everybody says the postal service has much to do with the economy. it does. there are about seven million or eight million jobs in the united states that depend to one extent or the other on having an efficient, vibrant postal service. and for a number of years the postal service has been struggling, in some cases to

survive. the postal service has cut, cut, cut in order to try to right size their enterprise. in the last ten or so years they've reduced their head count from, i would say from almost 900,000 people to about 500,000 people, almost cut it in half. reduced the number of mail processing centers across the country from i think about 600 or 700 mail processing centers to actually less than half that, a little over 300. they have -- we have close to 40,000 post offices, 35,000, 40,000 post offices across the country and over 10,000 of those today, they didn't really close post offices. what they did, a bunch of offices that didn't do much business, those post offices are still open in many cases but they are open two hours, four hours, six hours a day rather than eight hours a day with a fully paid postmaster. they found a way to not close a lot of post offices but to reduce their costs there.

and they're still struggling. they're still struggling. every three months they put out their financial reports and the financial reports indicate that they're either losing money or maybe close to breaking even. well, as my, the presiding officer knows, this is an issue that i thought about a whole lot. he does too. the senator from alaska, they care a lot of about the postal service, the need for a strong, vibrant postal office in alaska is probably greater than any state in the country. he's done a great job along with his colleague from alaska to try to make sure that we're mindful in the senate of the importance of the postal service to alaska. i got a glass of water here. one of our pages was good enough to bring it to me. you look at this glass of water. it's not really clear is this glass of water half full or half empty? i think most people think about the postal service in the last several years would say this glass of water is half empty.

as time goes by, i'm starting to think maybe that's the wrong approach. that's the wrong opinion. and i think this glass of water might actually be half full. and the more i learn about the postal service's operations and the opportunities that they face, i'm even more convinced that the opportunity here, this is a glass half full situation. the real challenge -- and we've had over the years probably a dozen or more hearings in the senate on the postal service. the real challenge is how do we take a 200-plus-year-old legacy organization, legacy distribution network that takes the postal service every mailbox in the country five or six days a week, how do we take that legacy distribution network and enable the postal service, empower the postal service to make money, top profitable in the 21st century?

we don't communicate, as we know, like we used to in this country. we have the internet and we have skype and we have twitter, and we have cell phones; a lot of different ways to communicate that we didn't have even 12, 15 years ago. folks used to send birthday cards, christmas cards, that sort of thing. they send e-mail cards. our parents in world war ii, they wrote to each other almost every day. people don't do that much anymore. we have folks over in afghanistan, they have mail, they have skype -- they have e-mail, they have skype, cell phones. they still send letters but it's not like it used to be. a lot of businesses who use the mail to do billings, they don't do that anymore. first class mail in this country where the postal services made their money for many years -- that's where the most profitable source of income is first class

mail, we've seen since the great recession started in 2007, we've seen first class mail drop by almost half. and that has caused huge problems for the postal service going forward. well, while the internet and the digital age has taken away a lot of postal service's business, it's also given them, as it turns out, some pretty good opportunities. as we know, not everybody goes to a department store these days to buy something or to a hardware store or to a bookstore. and oflt us buy things -- and a lot of us buy things not every day but a lot of times we'll buy it over the internet. those items whether they're gift or things we want for ourselves, they have somehow to get from the manufacturer, the retailer, their distribution center, got to get to the customer somehow. somebody's got to deliver it and

as it turns out that somebody could be fedex, could be ups. in many cases could be the postal service. mr. president, i want to take a few minutes and talk this evening about how i really dodge the postal -- really do think the postal service this could be a glass half-full situation and part of our job in the senate is to make sure they seize this opportunity and not let it pass by. the postal service has been calling on us to do a number of things to help them. not give them money but do a number of things. the postal service is overpaid by $2.5 billion what they owe in the federal employee retirement system. given the formula used which does not take into account that postal employees are older and die sooner than the normal, than other federal employees, the postal service is going to continue to overpay monies they owe to the federal employee retirement system.

they owe a $2.5 billion refund and if we don't do something they will continue to overpay. we should first get them the $2.5 billion refund. second change the formula so it reflects the demographics of the postal service versus the federal workforce. among the other things that we ought to do is to integrate, if you will, medicare, better integrate medicare with the cost of health care for postal employees. my wife turned 65 early this summer. when she did the company she worked for for 27 years, dupont, mailed her something and said we still love you. you're retired, you're 65. we want you to sign up for medicare part a, medicare part b and medicare part-d. we will in turn provide wrap-around fill the gap health

care coverage for you. they do that for all their retirees when they reach 65. it is not just dupont. it is thousands of companies across the country. when their retirees reach the age of 6 5, for the most part they say you're eligible for medicare part a, b, d, we want you to sign up and we'll provide the wrap around for you. fedex i believe does that. ups, i believe, does that. the postal service which competes in the same business as both fedex and ups and frankly some of these other companies, fedex doesn't do that -- i mean the postal service pays more money as it turns out into medicare than any employer in the country. i'll say that again. the postal service pays more money into the medicare trust fund than any employer in the country. they do not get full value for the dollars they've invested. one of the things the postal service asked us to do as simply a matter of equity, simply as a matter of equity is to allow them to do what so many other companies do, some of the

companies they comeet directly with -- compete directly with, fedex and u.p.s. we ought to do that. another thing under the current law from time to time if there is something that happens in the economy or there is a disaster, the postal service needs to raise rates kind of on an emergency basis, they can apply to their postal regulatory commission and ask to do that. the postal regulatory commission can say yes or no. last year they went to the postal regulatory commission and said we suffered because of the loss of first class mail, the worst recession since the great depression. we would love to have something above and beyond a cost of living increase for our rates. so what did the postal regulatory commission do? they agreed to raise their rates or let the post office raise their rates. it works out to about a 4.4% increase. not permanent, but for a period

of time, maybe a year. the postal service is asking us to make that 4.3% increase of their new revenue baseline, to make it permanent, not temporary, but to make it permanent. what does that mean for mailers if we would make it permanent? for folks that are the nonprofit, we always get mail from nonprofit organizations. it's part of the way they provide services to all kinds of folks, but the cost of the non-- of a letter from a nonprofit entity goes -- under this exigent rate case, 4.3% increase has gone up from 10 cents a letter to 11 cents. it's gone up by one penny. the cost of mailing a magazine i believe is also going to go up by one or two pennies. from 25 cents to maybe 27 cents. the cost of mailing a catalog has gone up by one or two cents, i think maybe from 45 cents to 47 cents. and that's worth a 4.3% increase.

what the postal service has said to the congress is allow that temporary 4.3% increase, allow that to remain and to become part of our revenue baseline. i think we should do that. i know a number of my colleagues do as well. that's one of the things they are asking us to do. the other -- among the other things they're asking us to do, they want to actually deliver things that they haven't been able -- some things they haven't been able to deliver before. among them, wine, beer and spirits. fedex can do that, u.p.s. can do that. posing services in many other countries can do that. our postal service cannot do that. it's not going to balance their budget for them. it could make a difference, a couple hundred million dollars a year in profitability. fedex is not interested in being google or apple or anybody like that, part of the digital economy, but there are a couple of things that they can do and would like to do that would sort

of work into the digital economy, and they're not big deals, but they make sense i think with respect to the postal service and their capabilities. i think it would enable them over time to make some revenues as well. the postal service delivers initially in this year, oregon, washington state, in this year colorado, they can deliver ballots. people can file their votes, get absentee ballots and vote by mail. this year they are starting to do it in colorado. what we have learned by experience is folks who can vote by mail, they vote more often, they vote more frequently. what we hear from states that do this, it's actually a cost-effective way to run elections. the postal service would like to do some more of that. i think we should encourage that as well. another area where the postal service might have some opportunities to do something, they would like to co-locate more operations with state and local governments and small

communities who have space at the post office and get state and local folks to -- to locate some activities there. one -- one idea that they have -- i think it's a great idea. some of the bigger, more densely populated places around the country. the postal service has opened up large facilities, not like a regular post office but a large facility where people can go get passports. they have got one big facility just on the outskirts of l.a. where in the course of a day hundreds, maybe even a thousand people or more, families can come and get their passports. it's a service that's provided. the postal service makes some revenues from doing that. if we ever pass comprehensive immigration reform and we have 10 million or so people in this country who are ear undocumented and immigration reform doesn't give them the rights of citizenship, doesn't make them a citizen, but i think the senate-passed immigration reform bill would offer an opportunity for people to try to have some kind of legal status. how are they going to get that,

where are they going to get that? if we pass immigration reform, it would be an opportunity for the postal service, which is already in every state in our nation, which does passport business for a lot of people, they can help meet that need and my hope is they will have that opportunity. those are some things that they are asking us to do. in short, what they're asking us to do is give them the ability to generate revenues and to be able to meet their capital needs. the postal service needs to be capitalized. they need to -- they need new vehicles. they have 190,000 vehicles, and on this chart here, this is 2014. we're down here about ten years down the road, but what we're looking for is to provide over this ten-year period of time the postal service saying we need about $30 billion to recapitalize the post office and to make them competitive.

one of the big ways is in -- with respect to vehicles. they have got 190,000 vehicles. the average age is 22 years. i have a 13-year-old chrysler town and country minivan. i drove it down here yesterday from wilmington, delaware. i usually take the train. the train was down two days ago. drove home last night. just went over 377,000 miles. they have -- most of their vehicles, they are not 13 years old like my minivan. they are like almost twice as old. they have easily twice as much mileage as my minivan. my wife thinks i ought to trade in my minivan. someday i will. but we really should give the postal service the wherewithal to trade up. and not just to get more -- a whole generation of more energy-efficient vehicles. maybe get twice the fuel economy, but also reduce emissions but also vehicles that are right sized for the kinds of things that the postal service is delivering today. the postal service, the great

opportunity for a digital economy for the postal service is they are delivering a lot more packages and parcels of all kinds. they are delivering groceries. even today in a number of places around the country, and they need vehicles that are really sized in a different way and may be more ergonomically appropriate as well for the folks that are driving the vehicles. there is new technology. if you buy a new car lately, the kind of technology they have on a vehicle, that's amazing what we can do with them. and i wouldn't know that, given the age of my vehicle, but my friends tell me the amazing things they can do with theirs. when you have a vehicle that's 22 years old, i want to tell you there are not many gee whiz technology items on those vehicles, but there could be, there could be. just an example, let's say my desk here, let's say this defines an area for delivery of a rural letter carrier in some places around the country. it could be alaska, it could be delaware. as the rural letter carrier

covers this area, the technology is available so that the residents somewhere along there can say pick up a package here, leave this package at the general store. they could do any number of ways to communicate with their customers and provide better customer service. that's an easy thing. and the other thing is there is -- you know, you walk into a post office these days. for the most part, they -- they look today like five years ago, ten years ago, 15, 20 years ago, with some exceptions. there are so many things we could do in terms of technology and provide better service at post offices that we're not doing, provide better, quicker, more efficient service, friend letter service as well. the other thing i would mention, we have got about 325 mail processing centers in the country. i visited one of them with senator heidi heitkamp in north dakota about three or four months ago. we visited this small mail processing center in a -- in her beautiful state, and we went

into the back operating area of the mail processing center, and there was a fellow there. he is probably 50-some years old. he was lugging around these big boxes, these big boxes that they were mailing, somebody had mailed, and he is carrying around, trying to get them over a bar code reader and put them in a huge -- not a knapsack but a big pouch so they could be mailed. there is equipment that can readily process big boxes like that, smaller packages and parcels, and we don't have it in most of our mail processing centers, and we could -- if we did, we could offer better, faster, timelier, more competitive service. and so if we capitalize on the postal service, among the things the postal service could do, if we had $30 billion over the next ten years, replace their fleet of 190,000 vehicles with more energy-efficient vehicles, appropriate for the size for the kind of packages they deliver.

300-some mail processing centers could be retooled with mail processing equipment that actually reflects what the postal service delivers in the 21st century. the post offices themselves could have the kind of upgrades in technology investments that would enable for better service as well. that's what the postal service could do if they had the money. now, sometimes people think of the postal service and they think well, the postal service doesn't come up with many -- they are not really innovative. they don't come up with a whole bunch of ideas. actually as it turns out, they are more innovative than i thought they were. i just want to mention a couple of things that they have begun doing that i think are noteworthy, and they ought to be able to do more of them. if they did, they could actually make money and not be a burden to the taxpayers of this country. this morning, in san francisco, california, at about 3:00 a.m.

this morning in 32 zip codes, the u.s. postal service delivered groceries to people in 32 zip codes. took them to homes, in some cases maybe to businesses, they took them to apartments, they took them to high rises and they delivered the groceries. they also delivered the mail later in the day, but from 3:00 a.m. this morning until 7:00 a.m. this morning, the postal service in those 32 zip codes delivered groceries. they have been doing it for over a month now. i understand -- and they are doing it for amazon. i understand amazon is real pleased with it and the pole service is real pleased with it. amazon, their customers like it, and the postal service, they can do this and make money. they are not doing anything else with the trucks from 3:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., and it just works, it just works. the postal service, you think well, they say let's see if we can do this more for amazon. do you know what they are doing? reaching out to 100 grocery chains across the country and saying here is what we are doing for amazon in san francisco.

how would you like us to do this for you? you know what? my guess is this is going to turn into a pretty good piece of business. but they need the vehicles to enable them to do this sort of thing and they need to have revenues in order to be able to have money for capital investment. another thing that -- some people think the only thing the postal service has done creatively in years is flat-rate boxes. if it fits, it ships. that's a great product. it's still growing. it's growing by 4% or 5% per year, but there is a bunch of other things they can do and want to do and are beginning to do. they need the money for the capital investment. another thank this they started doing about a year ago, about a year ago, they started delivering for amazon, not everywhere but maybe in a couple hundred zip codes. and on sundays, on sundays. and it worked pretty well. this past sunday, they delivered packages and parcels for amazon not to 200 zip codes but i think to over 5,000 across the country, and enables for next-day delivery that includes

sundays. it's a nice piece of business and it's one that's growing, but in order to continue to grow it, they, the postal service needs vehicles that are right sized for that sort of -- for that sort of business, and a lot of them, potentially a lot of them. one other thing that the postal service is doing i think is a piece of -- it's a product that i have used and a product that is going to have i think growing utilization across the country. it's called priority mail express. priority mail express. when i went into a post office in delaware not long ago, i wanted to send something to my sister. actually, i think it was a mother's day gift for her. i said i want this to get there in two days. they asked do you want to get this insured? i said not really. if you want it by priority mail express, we can guarantee it in two days, or guarantee in one day, or guarantee delivery in three days. we can track it for you for

free. and first i think they said $100 of insurance is free. that's great. i will take two days. insurance is fine. give me the insurance, and we'll we'll -- we'll be on our way, that's great. as it turned out, i'm not the only person who is using priority mail express. it's available not just one day a week. it's not available two or three days a week. it's available to deliver seven days a week. if somebody has something they want to mail this saturday and have it delivered on sunday, they can do so priority mail express. they can do it and get next-day delivery. they can do it and have free tracking. they can do it and have insurance up to $50 or $100 on whatever is being mailed. that is going to be a great product. i think it's going to make flat-rate boxes -- well, not look like a second-class citizen, but it's going to make flat-rate boxes look modest by comparison. those are the sorts of things that -- that our folks at the

postal service would like to do, to deliver, whether it's to deliver not just the mail, to deliver groceries, to be able to deliver the stuff like tomorrow, to be able to deliver it on sunday, and it's ironic that in a day and age when we worry about the postal service going from six day a week delivery to five, right now they are a seven day a week operation, and i think there is reason to believe that they could grow even more. there are some who say rather than passing the sort of legislation that the homeland security and gaffers committee has reported out on a bipartisan vote earlier this year, rather than do that, there are some other alternative legislation, we should simply say to the postal service, you can't close any more mail processing centers for another year. and as it turns out, that's not going to give the postal service the money to do this. frankly, the money that they can invest in any other number of

new products that have the great potential of generating revenues and of enabling them to -- not just to be open or not just to be -- to remain alive but to actually remain -- become vibrant and to be part of our growing economy in this country. so i want to close by saying i am -- mr. president, i'm more hopeful about the postal service than i have been in all of the years i have worked on this as an issue, and as i have talked to a number of my colleagues, i'm encouraged to hear from democrats and republicans that they want to be part of thet -- part of the solution. and they realize if we leave the postal service twisting in the wind for another year, that's not a good thing. and some say don't close thee 60, 70 are 80 processing centers. that's not what they need. what they need is for us to pass it. not necessarily to unleash them

but to make better sure they have the resources that they need to not just right-size the organization but to modernize, to recapitalize the organization and enable them to do things in the 21st century that actually build off the age-old delivery network but to find new ways to make money doing so. so i wanted to, as we close out here today and a lot of people are scattering to head back to their home states in anticipation of elections and that sort of thing and to do other things, i just wanted to mention as we close here more hopeful -- a more hopeful note. and i want to say to members of our committee and especially the presiding officer, thanks to you for trying to make sure that the postal service continues to be a linchpin within our economy, whether it happens to be alaska or delaware or even south dakota over here. senator thune is waiting for me to stop talking. but we have the opportunity -- they have opportunity to be a big and important part of our economy going forward. and my hope, as -- and prayer is that's exactly what we'll enable them to do.

and with that, mr. president, i'm going to yield the floor. i'm going to yield the floor -- i don't know if the senator from south dakota would like to take the floor. but if he wants to, it is his. the presiding officer: for the information of the senate, the vote tally on passage of h.j. resolution 124 was 78 yeas to 22 nays. the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: mr. president, i rise today along with my colleague from south dakota, senator johnson, to commemorate south dakota's 125th anniversary of statehood. 125 years ago on november the 2nd, 1889, president benjamin harrison shuffled the act of administration papers for north and south dakota to ensure that no one knew which state entered the union first.

to this day, we still don't know which act president harrison signed first. mr. president, south dakota's perhaps best known as the home of the shrine of democracy at mount rushmore, which opened to the public just 50 years after south dakota attained statehood. this monument captures the way of life and governance structure that we have in south dakota. our elected officials take the concerns of their constituents to peer and ensure that our state is bettering the lives of its citizens in a fiscally responsible manner. we believe in limited government which provides room for individuals and businesses to grow and to thrive. our model of free enterprise has allowed businesses to flourish in south dakota and has resulted in one of the best states in the country to start a business. we consistently have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country which is currently at 3.7%. our labor force and our economy are driven by our state's top

industries of tourism and agriculture. the 28,000 south dakotans who work in our tourism industry ensure that people from all over the world enjoy our great places. tourists enjoy visiting mount rushmore, of course, but also seeing the sights throughout the black hills and the badlands, the corch palace in mitchell, south dakota, crazy horse memorial and the falls in sioux falls. in addition to welcoming americans from coast to coast, south dakota is feeding our nation and our world. each year one south dakota farmer produces enough food to feed 155 people. south dakota ranks in the top 10 states for wheat, corn, soybeans, afl-ci alfalfa. and sheep, honey and beef. and all of south dakota's agriculture industry contributes

$26 billion annually to our economy. mr. president, while the productivity of our farmers and ranchers is unmatched, all hardworking south dakota families contribute to our state's success. whether they're educating our children, serving in our growing health care and financial services sectors, conducting research in our college laboratories, hard work is what binds south dakotans together and has made our state's experiment in democracy one of the most successful in our nation's history. mr. president, i'm proud to call the great state of south dakota home and i'm honored to have the privilege of serving all south dakotans here in the united states senate. mr. president, today i'd like to honor the spirit that has endured our state -- endured in our state for the last 125 years by celebrating this special anniversary. so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the

consideration of senate resolution 566, which was submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from south dakota, mr. thune -- s. res. 566, celebrating the 125th anniversary of the state of south dakota. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. without objection. no objection. mr. thune: thank you, mr. president.

mr. thiewj: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: mr. president, i'd also like to speak on the floor today in support of senate business 1507, the tribal general welfare exclusion act of 2013. i'm a cosponsor of this bipartisan legislation which passed the house of representatives earlier this week. this bill would codify that general welfare benefits provided to tribal members by indian tribes, often in areas with high levels of poverty and unemployment, where the benefits are much needed, are exempt from federal taxation. the bill would ensure parity between the tax treatment of benefits provided by indian tribes and those provided by state and local governments. while the internal revenue service has issued guidance on this issue, further action is needed to ensure that our tribal

citizens are treated fairly with regard to taxation of certain tribal welfare benefits. this bill establishes a tribal advisory committee to advise the secretary of the treasury on the taxation of tribal members. there is bipartisan amendment with support from the national congress of american indians and the u.s. chamber of commerce. tribes and tribal organizations across the country, mr. president, including the great plains tribal chairman's association and the coalition of large tribes representing the nine tribes in my home state of south dakota, are urging us to move forward with this legislation. joint committee on taxation has estimated that this legislation would have a negligible impact on federal revenue. and so i hope that before we adjourn, that the senate can pass by unanimous consent this legislation that was passed by the house of representatives earlier this week under suspension and that we will reaffirm our commitment to indian country.

mr. president, i hope we move this legislation and move it quickly and clarify once and for all this important issue. mr. president, i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: i ask the roll call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: i ask unanimous consent to address the senate as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: next month is domestic violence awareness month and it's unexpected the senate will be in session next month and i'd like to use this opportunity to visit just a moment about domestic violence in an effort to create a greater awareness and work to eliminate this plight upon many families, many individuals across the country.

domestic violence is an issue that impacts way too many americans, in fact, it affects so many homes and yet it's something that's rarely spoken about publicly. right now because of actions of professional athletes, domestic violence is in the news, and it's on our minds. but this attention needs to continue when sports writers quit writing and when news reporters and camera crews quit covering and move on to the next story. many americans assume domestic violence doesn't occur in their neighborhood, it doesn't occur among their friends, but, unfortunately, that is not the case. domestic violence does not discriminate by race, by gender, by age group, education, social status. you can't stereotype the way we often do about domestic violence and, in fact, domestic violence is not just a problem for women, it's also a problem for

children and men who are often victims. in large communities and small communities across the country and across, unfortunately, my state of kansas, too many americans, too many kansans find themselves placed in danger by the very people who are supposed to love and care and protect them. each year more than two million women are victims of domestic violence across the country and in kansas alone it's estimated that one in ten adult women will suffer from domestic abuse this year. these are damning statistics that make clear that whether we realized it or not someone is enduring physical and psychological abuse today, tomorrow, this week. we have a responsibility to help the hopeless, to those who are often too afraid to speak out for themselves, and i rise tonight to try to give voice to those who are victims and to

acknowledge professionals and volunteers who provide care and the services those victims need. on a single day last year, shelters and organizations in kansas served more than 720 victims and similar organizations around the country serve more than 66,000 victims each day. i visited one of those organizations last year, the kansas safe home, it's a tremendous organization that serves the greater kansas city area. safe home provides more than just a shelter for those needing a place to live, to escape from abuse. they provide no-cost advocacy, counseling and in-house attorney and assistance in finding employment. the agency also provides education in the community to prevent abuse. each year safe home helps thousands of women and children reestablish their lives without violence. the employees and volunteers there are making huge differences in the lives of many. i've often said on the senate floor that what happens in

washington, d.c. matters but i know that we change the world one person, one soul at a time and in this setting and settings like it across kansas and around the country, lives are being changed and improved. despite the important and that honorable and that noble work that organizations like safe home are performing, they are often faced with uncertainty regarding the federal support they will receive. the good news is last year congress was able to move past politics and pass legislation to reauthorize the violence against women act. i sponsored and voted for that legislation, and in my view it provides crucial, critical resources for victims of domestic violence and empowers our justice system to act on their behalf. and just as crucial, it works to prevent abuse from occurring in the first place. this legislation is having real impact on the lives of kansans because survivors now have access, for example, to legal services, to the legal assistance to victims project established in the 2012 --

established in 2012 by the kansas coalition against sexual and domestic violence. one survivor expressed how grateful she was for the program because as she said, i didn't know what i would do, i didn't know what could be done without it. without the assistance of this program she may have had to go to court without legal representation knowing her perpetrator already had an attorney representing him. with that legal representation, her perpetrator was held accountable for his actions. through our country more than one in three women still suffer from abuse during their lifetime and domestic violence brings fear and hopelessness into the lives of every victim. we should work not only to end this silent crime but we must also care for those who are the victims. by volunteering at a local shelter, speaking out when you become aware of domestic violence, or making a donation to an organization that helps in those circumstances, every

citizen, as i say, we change the world one person at a time, and every citizen can find a way to get involved and make a difference. now and throughout the year not just now, not just next month, october, admonition awareness month, leapt us be mindful of the victims of domestic violence and each of us do our part to break the cycle and bring hope to those who suffer and are in despair. let us also use the conversations taking place now in the print of the papers and on the view of the television as an opportunity to speak out against any and all types of domestic abuse. let's raise the awareness of this silent and devastating crime and bring about an end to all domestic violence. mr. president, i yield the floor. before i do that, i notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: mr. majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the call of the quorum be terminated. officer without objection. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to executive session to inquire calendar 853. officer the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, say nay. the ayes have it. the notio motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: randall d. most of maryland to be united states district judge for the district of columbia. mr. reid: i ask consent -- i have a cloture motion, mr. president, that's been filed at the desk. i ask it be reported. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. 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 ray dofl v. moss of -- randolph v. moss of maryland to be united states

district judge for the district of columbia. signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say nay. the ayes have it. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 855. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say nay. the ayes have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, lee martin may of georgia to be united states district judge for the northern district of georgia. mr. reid: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules he