nis of roll call reports a man has been reported -- arrested after flying a small child row gyro helicopter. the man has been arrested. the flag at the u.s. capitol today flying at half staff. todd ruger with cq roll call this weeding out today as the 150 anniversary of abraham lincoln's death. capitol hill is marking the occasion. use and is returning after a break for a bipartisan luncheon. it was the second one of the year and now back to live coverage of the senate. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order.

the presiding officer: who yells time? if no one yields time, time will be charged equally.

sans sand mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: thank you. mr. president, i send to the desk my motion to instruct conferees. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: the senator from vermont, mr. sanders, moves that the mearption on the part of the

senate at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two houses on the house amendment to the resolution, s. concurrent resolution 11, be instructed to insist -- mr. sanders: mr. president, i would ask that the motion be dispensed with. the presiding officer: wowcts. -- without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president as i mentioned earlier i happen to believe that the republican budget that we will be discussing today moves us in exactly the wrong direction. at a time when the middle class is in decline and the gap between the very, very rich and everybody else is growing wider what the republican budget does is make ferocious attacks on programs desperately depended upon by working families while at the same time, providing

outrageous tax breaks to the very wealthiest of the wealthy,ances and ma that makes no sense to me at all. one area where the republican budget is neglect one of many areas that the republican budget is neglect is in the issue of social security. mr. president, social security is perhaps the most important and successful federal program that was ever initiated. it is life and death to millions of seniors ans people with disabilities -- and people with disabilitiesdisabilities in this country and it has a history of enormous success. before social security was established, about half of the seniors in this country lived in poverty. today, while too high, that number is somewhere around 10%.

unfortunately, in recent years what we have seen is an increase in senior poverty. we have seen many seniors struggling to pay their bills to heat their homes to buy the medicine they need. and it seems to me that in this moment not only should we not be talking about cutting social security as many of my republican colleagues are, we should be talking about expanding social security benefits. and i have introduced legislation to do just this that. but today i rise to bring forth legislation, bring forth a motion to instruct the budget conferees to include a deficit-neutral reserve fund to protect retirement benefits by not cutting social security benefits by not raising retirement age and by not

privatizing social security. so in essence what this motion to instruct says is that we go on record as members of the united states senate that we will not cut social security benefits that we will not raise the retirement age that we will not privatize social security. mr. president, at a time of massive wealth and income inequality when 99% of all of the new income generated in this country is going to the top 1%, and when over half of the american people have less than $10,000 in savings the last thing that any member of the united states senate should be thinking about is cutting social security. mr. president, today the average social security benefit is just

$1,328 a month not a lot of money. 20% of senior citizens are living on an average income of just $7,600 a year. frankly, i don't know how anybody lives on an income of $7,600 a year. i don't know how you buy the food, i don't know how you buy the medicine you need, how you take care of your basic needs. but that is the reality. more than one-third of our senior citizens rely on social security for virtually all of their income. in other words, social security for them, more than a third is not just a small part of their total income, it is virtually all of their income. two-thirds of the american people depend on social security for more than half of their income. mr. president, the relate city,

despite some of the rhetoric we hear around here or see on tv, is that we do not have a social security crisis. america has a retirement crisis. given this reality our job is to expand social security benefits not cut them. mr. president, i have been distressed that in three out of the four major budget committee hearings held this year, republicans invited witnesses who testified in support of cutting social security. john he engler, the head of the business round table representing the c.e.o.'s of some of the largest corporations and wall street banks in this country, was one of the republican witnesses. mr. engler and the business round table these are the leaders of corporate america. these are the guys who make millions of dollars a year in

salary. these are the guys who have huge retirement benefits. they are calling, they are asking congress to cut social security colas for senior citizens and disabled veterans and raising the retirement age to 70 years of age. imagine that, people who are multimillionaires who themselves have huge retirement benefits, they are coming here to capitol hill and are saying to members of the congress, you cut social security. it turns out h in fact that the swoassments of -- that the c.e.o.'s of the business round table have retirement benefits of their own of some $88,000 a month. you've got the head of large corporations who have retirement benefits of $88,000 a month and they're saying to congress you've got to cut benefits for people who are trying to survive on $14,000 a year. that is an outrage.

mr. president, i'm getting a little bit tired of getting lectured by c.e.o.'s of large corporations who want to cut the social security of elderly people. that is wrong. mr. president, i am also tired of hearing folks getting up on tv and they're saying social security is going broke. well the truth is social security is not going broke. social security has a $2.8 trillion surplus and can pay out every benefit owed to every eligible american for the next 18 years. is 18 years a terribly long time? no it's not. should we develop legislation to extend social security for decades after that 18 years? yes, we should, and i have done that. but, please, i would hope that my colleagues will not stand up here and tell us that social security is going broke because it is not. mr. president, i believe that

the american people feel very strongly that in these difficult times social security is a major, major safety net for so many of the elderly and the disabled. our job tonight our job when we vote tonight is to send a very, very clear message that the united states senate is not going to cut social security. it is not going to privatize social security. it is not going to raise the age in which people get their social security benefits. and with that, mr. president i would yield the floor to the senator from hawaii. mr. schatz: i thank the ranking member of the budget

committee. mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii is recognized. mr. schatz: thank you, mr. president. i ask consent to set aside the pending motion and call up my motion to instruct which is at the desk. the presiding officer: without objection, the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: the senator from hawaii mr. schatz, moves that the managers on the part of the senate at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two houses on the house amendment to the resolution senate concurrent resolution 11 be instructed to insist that the final conference report include the deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to ensuring all legally married same-sex spouses have legal access to social security and medical benefits they have earned and receive equal treatment under the law pursuant to the constitution of the united states in the concurrent resolution as agreed to by the senate. mr. schatz: mr. president three weeks ago the senate held an important vote on an amendment to the budget

resolution. 56 of our colleagues, including 11 republicans joined me in affirming the need for legislation to ensure that all legally married spouses including gay couples have access to social security and v.a. benefits that their families have earned. this amendment passed with bipartisan support because it's fundamentally about fairness. imagine a veteran who served his country for decades fighting for equality and freedom around the world. he gets married in a state that allows gay marriage. if he's permanently disabled from his service his spouse is eligible for veterans spousal benefits. they've earned these benefits. but if they move, if they drive over the border from florida into georgia, for example they lose those benefits. the same scenario applies to our seniors and their right to social security spousal benefits. so why does this happen?

simply because the federal rights to these benefits happens to be defined in law with respect to the state of residence rather than the state of celebration of the marriage. in other words eligibility for these federal benefits is based on where you live, not where you got married. so we have one federal right and two unequal outcomes based on the person's residence. this is the definition of unequal treatment under the law. no one is denying that americans earn their social security and veterans benefits regardless of whether they are gay or straight. and since the supreme court's decision in the windsor case struck down parts of a defense of marriage act no one can deny that the federal government is required to recognize all legal marriages. for almost all federal agencies, this went into effect right away. gay married couples can now file

joint taxes in legal proceedings before the federal government same-sex spouses are given the same rights as all other spouses. under the family and medical leave act an employee can now take leave to care for a same-sex spouse. these are just a few of the ways that the federal government brought its policies into line with the law. the social security administration and the v.a., however, are tripped up by an old wording in their authorizing statutes. working together, we can fix this. we can pass legislation to ensure that all legally married couples receive equal treatment under the law regardless of where they live. the amendment that the senate voted to include in the budget affirms the need for this legislation. allowing unl equal treatment under the law goes against american values and it goes against our constitution. equality under federal laws should not end when you cross state lines.

we're not debating whether gay marriage should be legal in all 50 states. that question is currently in front of the supreme court. we are debating whether a federal right should be afforded to all americans regardless of where they live. for those who are concerned with preserving states rights, i understand that perspective but you should support fixing the statutes governing scoation -- social security and veterans benefits. fixing this does not impact state law whatsoever. in contrast, by not fixing these statutes the federal government is ignoring the laws of states that allow gay marriage. it actually does harm to states' rights to allow this situation to continue. this is not an ideological proposal and i should point out that the senator from washington senator patty murray and the senator from new hampshire, jeanne shaheen, this was really their idea originally. first, on the social security

side senator murray provided this as a piece of legislation. and jeanne shaheen likewise on the v.a. side. and we worked together during the so-called vote-a-rama to kind of merge these proposals into one because the same principle applies for both federal benefits, which is that equal protection under the law should not depend on which of the 50 states you reside in. this is about treating veterans, disabled americans and our seniors equally no matter where they live or what their sexual orientation may be. thank you mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i yield time to the senator from ohio, senator

brown. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio is recognized. brn brn i thank the senior senator -- mr. brown: i thank the senior senator from wyoming for his work. i ask the pending motion be set aside so that my motion be sent to the desk. the presiding officer: is there objection? hearing none, the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: the senator from ohio, mr. brown moves that the managers on the part of the senate at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two houses on the house amendment to the resolution, senate concurrent resolution 1 # 1 be instructed to insist that the final conference report include the deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to ending too big to fail ballouts for wall street megabanks as set forth in amendment 994 to senate concurrent resolution 11 as agreed to by the senate. en. mr. brown: thank you mr. president. this amendment that i asked

to -- about which i asked to instruct the conferees passed by voice vote. i appreciate the acceptance of it by senator enzi and senator sanders during the vote two weeks ago. we know that -- we know that too big to fail is still with us. we know that it's really all about those meg ga -- megabanks. that is what my amendment speaks to. in the six and a half years since wall street pushed our economy to the brink of collapse the biggest banks have gotten bigger. think about this statistic. 18 years ago the six largest banks in the united states had assets equal to 18% of our nation's gross domestic product. 18 years ago the largest six banks made up 18% in assets of our gross domestic product. today the six largest banks have assets equal to 63% of g.d.p. with an average these banks

average holding 5,000 legal entities each operating in 57 countries. so these institutions aren't just massive too big to fail in terms of size. they're risky they're complex. in many ways they're too big to fail. they're too big to manage. as we've seen from the mistakes they've made. and they're too big in many ways to regulate. financial institutions are too big to understand, it is probably too complex to manage. dodd frank requires large banks to produce a living will expwhraing -- explaining the bank's plans in the event of failure. last year the largest 11 banks were informed, all 11 of them were informed that their living wills were insufficient. in other words it wasn't clear to the regulators that these 11 banks would know how to go through resolution. that means they failed to show

that their collapse would not cause devastating harm to our economy as a whole. it raised question, what happens if one of these banks fails? today i urge the senate to instruct budget negotiators to create a deficit-neutral reserve fund to ensure that the largest wall street megabanks can be put through bankruptcy or resolution without a taxpayer bailout. this was the amendment that senator vitter, my republican colleague from l.a., and i -- from louisiana and i spoke out about and was passed unanimously in the senate a couple of weeks ago. congress should act on the remedies provided in the law for any bank that can't produce a credible living will this year. we need to end the cycle that enables large unsafe banks to enjoy government bailouts. the public is cynical about these too-big-to fail banks. the public doesn't really believe nor do investors that these banks are in fact, they do not they are not too big to fail.

the cycle that allows wall street to pile up profits while forcing american taxpayers to be ready and willing to pick up the tab for their losses and failures is outrageously bad public policy. the american people don't want congress to wait until we're faced with another crisis. congress needs to take action now to prevent future economic collapse and future taxpayer-funded bailouts. as chairman shelby, the senior republican that sits on the banking committee with me, as chairman shelby told the senate banking committee last month, if a bank is too big to fail, it's probably too big to exist. this motion to instruct will put the senate on record that the american taxpayer should never ever again be on the hook for risks taken by megabanks. i ask my colleagues to vote "yes." mr. president, i also, at a different point in the record, want to submit comments about the importance of sick leave, if i could add that, mr. president. the presiding officer: without objection.

the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i would yield to the senator from massachusetts. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts is recognized. ms. warren: thank you mr. president. and i want to thank the senator from vermont. mr. president, i ask that the pending motion be set aside and that my motion be sent to the desk. the presiding officer: is there objection?

the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: the senator from mass maximum ms. warren, moves that the managers on the part of the sna on the conference of the disagreeing votes of the two houses on the house amendment to the resolution, senate concurrent resolution 11, be instructed to insist that the final conference report include a troition make college more affordable for middle-class families by allowing borrowers with outstanding federal and private student loans it refinance at the equivalent interest rates that were offered to federal student loan borrowers during the 2013-2014 school year ans to offset the cost by requiring billionaires

to pay at least a 38% effective federal tax rate. mr. enzi: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: i'd ask unanimous consent that any time under the quorum call this afternoon be charged equally regardless of who spoke last. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection.

mr. enzi: mr. president i'd note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

ms. warren: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. ms. warren: i ask that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. warren: mr. president two years ago today the people of boston came face to face with terror at the finish line of the boston marathon. the cowardly a tack and its

aftermath took four lives injured many more, and forever changed the lives of survivors and their families. in the face of this horrific terrorist attack, boston responded with courage and community. our heroic first responders acted swiftly and their bravery saved many lives. in the days, weeks ans months after the marathon, families and friends came together to lift each other up, to raise the spirit of our city, and to help us heal. now, two years later boston continues to move forward together. a jury just reached a verdict that is another step toward justice for victims and for their families. the strength and perseverance of survivors continues to inspire us and our community works to keep alive the memories of crystal campbell lu linz subsidy and sean collier. recently it was announced that the city of boston will recognize april 15 as one boston

day. one boston day is a chance to honor the victims and survivors of the marathon bombing and an opportunity for people to tbif pack to the community through acts of service. this day helps us remember that in the face of tragedy and violence our community responds with an open heart. next next monday tens of thousands of people from across the nation and around the world once again will come to massachusetts for the 2015 boston marathon. our commonwealth once again will commemorate patriots day with reenactments baseball, parades and celebrations. today as we mark one boston day and the second anniversary of the attack at the boston marathon we recall the spirit of strength and resilience that brought our city and our commonwealth together. the same spirit of strength and resilience that helps us heal. as a tribute to honor the victims and survivors of the attack at the 2013 boston

marathon i ask my colleagues to join bostonians in a moment of silence at 2:49 p.m. today. thank you mr. president. and i yield. mr. markey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: mr. president i'd like to join senator warren and the rest of the senate in observing a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the boston math violence. the citizens of the united states will remember the victims of the previous acts of terrorism in the united states and stand together as one people. two years ago today three innocent people were killed and hundreds injured in two bombings that occurred during the running of the 117th boston marathon. on the happiest day in boston, patriots day two bombs detonated by two even men took lives, limbs and livelihoods

away. that day we lost martin richard an eight-year-old boy from dorchester and krystle campbell from arlington and lu lingzi from china. in the aftermath of the attacks officer sean collier of the massachusetts institute of technology police force was assassinated by the two twisted individuals who bombed our city. officer collier wasn't just protecting the best and the brightest minds. he was the best and the prietest an -- and the brightest, an impressive and loved officer who has been greatly missed on campus and our community. i want to suppress -- express my deepest thanks to the men and women of law enforcement in massachusetts and around the nation for their courage and resolve to bring to justice those responsible for the boston marathon bombings. we were boston strong because we were boston ready, with the best

training and personnel available to save lives and to seek justice. many others responded decisively to citizens of the commonwealth of massachusetts fire and rescue workers caregivers, armed forces and thousands more it who through their many expressions of care and compassion brought forth comfort, hope and promise of recovery. today under the leadership of mayor marty walsh the city of boston is turning april 15 into a new tradition honoring the resiliency generosity and strength called one boston day. as mayor walsh said, it is a day everyone should come together, spread goodwill throughout the city and recommit ourselves to the deepest values. mayor walsh is right. this is a day for the citizens, businesses and organizations of the city of boston to display their humanity and draw neighbors together. thank you mayor walsh for helping all of us understand that the compassion and support we all felt that day should never be forgotten but instead

should be a part of our lives every single day. may the light of one boston day shine as an example of how our nation responds to times of crisis. the presiding officer: under the previous order the senate will now observe a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the boston marathon bombings. [moment of silence] the presiding officer: the senate will come to order.

mr. enzi: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: i'd suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. sanders: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president i send to the desk my motion to

instruct conferees. the presiding officer: is there objection to setting aside the pending motion? without objection, the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: the senator from vermont, mr. sanders moves that the managers on the part of the senate at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two houses -- mr. sanders: mr. president, i would ask that the motion be considered as read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president i move to instruct conferees on s. con res. 11, a concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2016, to include in the conference report a provision in the concurrent resolution as passed by the senate establishing a deficit-neutral reserve fund related to strengthening the united states postal service by establishing a moratorium to protect mail processing plants, reinstate overnight delivery standards and protect rural services. mr. president, during the so

ceald vote-a-rama here, that amendment passed by voice vote. this time i hope we can get a strong vote on it, a roll call vote on it, because it is terribly important that we tell the postmaster general of the united states that the united states senate wants a strong and vibrant u.s. postal service. mr. president, what we are saying to the postmaster general of the united states is pretty simple and that is do not destroy up to 15,000 middle-class jobs. do not shut down up to 82 mail processing plants. stop slowing down mail service delivery in this country. speed it up by reinstating strong overnight delivery standards for first-class mail. mr. president, i do not know about arizona or i don't know about wyoming but i can tell you that in vermont we have

gotten increased a significant number of complaints from people who are upset by the slowdown in mail delivery standards. and it is, to my mind, just unacceptable. and what we are saying now and we'll have to say in the months to come is you can't shut down another 82 processing plants. you cannot continue these inadequate delivery, mail delivery standards. and that's got to change. the american people, the business community is entitled to know that when they put a letter or document in the mail, it is going to get delivered in a proper way. and that sadly today is not the case. mr. president, for over 230 years enshrined in our constitution, the postal service has played an enormously important role for the people of our country and for our economy. and that mission today remains as important as it has ever

been. the beauty of the postal service is that it provides universal service -- universal six days a week to every corner of our country no matter how small or how remote. that means it will deliver mail on wall street. it will deliver mail to a home at the end of a back road in the state of vermont. the u.s. postal service supports through its efforts millions of jobs in virtually every sector of our economy. it provides decent-paying union jobs to some 500,000 americans. and, by the way, is the largest employer of veterans in this country. whether you are an elderly woman living on a dirt road in a rural area or you're a wealthy c.e.o. executive on park avenue, you get your mail delivered six days a week. and the american people pay for this service a cost which is far

less than anyplace else in the industrialized world. in other words we've got a pretty good bargain when we put a stamp on an envelope. unfortunately, despite the success and the popularity of the postal service, it is under constant attack and has been under constant attack for years including by those -- from those who would like to privatize the postal service and ultimately destroy it. let's be clear the same people who are attacking the postal service are often the same people who are attacking social security medicare and so forth. and they essentially want to mauve to the privatization of virtually every major public institution in this country. today the u.s. postal service is in the process of shutting down up to 82 mail processing plants and eliminating up to 15,000 decent-paying jobs. this is in addition to the 141

mail processing facilities that were closed between 2012 and 2013. in january the postal service ended overnight delivery for first-class mail. it didn't get a whole lot of attention but it happened. the purpose of this motion is to put the senate on record in strong opposition to these plant closings and to demand that have the postal service reinstate strong overnight delivery standards and not destroy good-paying jobs. mr. president, we have been told that all of these horrendous cuts are necessary because the postal service is experiencing just terrible financial problems. they're losing money every single year. the truth is somewhat different. the major reason that the postal service is in tough financial shape today is not because of

e-mail or the internet. the major reason why the postal service is hurting financially is because of a mandate signed into law by president bush in december of 2006 during a lame-duck session of congress that forces the postal service to prefund 75 years of feature retiree health benefits over a ten-year period. no other government agency or business in america is burdened with a mandate anywhere close to what the postal service has to expend, which is $5.5 billion a year. so the main point is that when you see articles telling you the postal service is having financial problems, the main reason the overwhelming reason is this necessity to prefund 75

years of future retiree health benefits over a ten-year period at about $5.5 billion a year. in fact, all -- a-l-l -- all of the so-called financial losses posted by the postal service since october 2012 are due to this prefunding mandate. that's it. without that mandate, they would be making a modest amount of money ment-- money. mr. president, we don't hear much about it, but i think it is very important for the american people to understand the reality of the finances of the postal service. excluding the prefunding mandate, the postal service has actually made a $1.8 billion profit. so it is a modestly profitable operation, excluding the $5.5 billion prefunding mandate. mr. president, revenue at the

postal service has been increasing in recent years. at a time when postal service revenue is going up, it makes no sense to eliminate thousands of jobs and slow down the mail service that millions of americans rely on. we should be working to strengthen the postal service and not to send it into a death spiral. before this prefunding mandate was signed into law the postal service was also -- in fact, from 2003-2006 the postal service made a combined profit of almost $5 billion. mr. president, there is, i think, broad bipartisan support especially from senators who have come from rural areas who understand just how important the postal service is to the people of our states. so once again mr. president when offered as an amendment at

the vote-a-rama this was passed by -- by voice vote. we're going to ask for a roll call vote now but i would hope -- when the voting takes place, but i would hope that we can win this vote with a very, very strong vote and send the message to the post postal service that once again we want our postal service to be providing the quality service mail service that the american people deserve. thank you mr. president. mr. enzi: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: mr. president that passed by a voice vote, which is considered unanimous around here and you can't get more unanimous than that. i'm hoping that out of the 10 or 13 votes we're going to have to have this afternoon that some can be done on a voice vote. i don't think there's anybody that disagrees with what -- with

what you've said about closing the postal plants and the extra time that it's taking for deliveries and you can add to that how little money it saves because the employees that are in one town, even though their job got moved somewhere else, have to still be retained in that town at some job and it doesn't -- it doesn't amount to much in the way of savings but it really hurts in the way of efficiency delivery and trust in the post office. so i think that we'll all be behind you on that one again and hope that by the time we get to that that it will be maybe a voice vote again. i would ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending motion and call up senator burr's motion which is at the desk. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: the senator from wyoming, mr. enzi, for mr. burr moves that the managers on the

part of the senate at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two houses on the house amendment to the resolution senate concurrent resolution 11 be instructed to -- mr. enzi: mr. president i would ask that we dispense with further reading. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. enzi: i would mention that this is a side by side to senator warren's amendment and i'm hoping that at the time that we vote that we can do the one minute on each side so that they have a chance for their explanation. let's see. i would yield ten minutes to the senator from arizona. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. flake: i rise today to discuss the need for the senate to pass trade promotion authority legislation. mr. president, it's no secret that trade matters.

the ability of the u.s. and the businesses to -- our businesses here to sell goods to foreign markets and to buy what we need from abroad to keep our businesses humming along right here at home and to keep americans employed. this is paramount to our nation's prosperity. you don't need to be an economist to see it. anyone who owns an iphone, drives a foreign car shops at costco everyone understands even in a small way that trade is beneficial to american companies and to customers alike. likewise american farmers and manufacturers and service providers want and need they need to sell their corn, their cotton their beef, their tractors furniture airplanes their businesses and financial services to customers around the world who want them and need them. sadly, not all countries see it that way and they throw up

barriers to american goods and services. they don't want them entering their countries and that's why passing trade promotion authority is so important. increasing free trade levels the playing field for u.s. companies. it increases competition and it increases access to foreign markets. according to the office of u.s. trade representatives the united states is the world's largest economy the largest importer and the largest exporter of goods and services. in 2014, figures from the international trade administration show that the u.s. exported a record of 2.35 trillion, $2.35 trillion in goods and services. for those of us who represent border states, this issue hits close to home. in recent years mexico has been america's third largest trading partner and our second largest export market. according to the arizona-mexico

commission arizona points of entry are gateways to $41.6 billion in u.s.-mexican trade annually, of which nearly $16 billion is attributed to arizona's own trade with mexico. simply put without trade promotion authority the u.s. would be forced to stand on the sidelines as other countries move forward with their own trade agreements. and without renewing fast track authority, there is little chance of a successful resolution of the ongoing negotiations for the transpacific partnership or t.p.p. this agreement would allow american companies to do business more freely with some of the world's fastest growing economies. and as "the washington post" editorial put it this week, to the boon of the u.s. and world economies, add to the fact that t.p.p. would ensure that the pacific rim plays by u.s. style rules and regulations rather than china's neomercantilist

rules. and you have a compelling case for swift approval. i agree. but unless we pass trade promotion authority legislation it will be difficult for the u.s. to become part of this vital partnership. i am proud to continue to voice my support for free trade. i look forward to the senate giving trade promotion authority careful consideration in the coming weeks. mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

c ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: i ask ms. mikulski: mr. president i ask that the call of the quorum be vacated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: i now ask that the -- i ask consent the pending motion be set aside so that i may call up my motion which is at the desk. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from maryland ms. mikulski, moves that the managers on the part of the senate at the conference on the disagreeing votes -- ms. mikulski: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: thank you

mr. president. sorry that i didn't ask that the quorum be vacated. i was so eager to get started. because i rise to offer a motion to instruct the conferees based on a bill that i have offered for the last three congresses. that is the paycheck fairness act. what is the paycheck -- what does the paycheck fairness act do? it finishes the job that we started with lilly ledbetter. it would in fact, instruct the conferees to make three reforms. number one to advance the cause of making sure that women get equal pay for equal work. it would stop retaliation for sharing pay information. often workers are harassed and humiliated just for asking about co-workers' salaries. second it would stop employers from using any reason to pay women less. oh the guys do harder jobs.

women aren't breadwinners. okay. it is time for equal pay for equal work. it would also allow punitive damages for women who have been discriminated against when the only deterrent against pay discrimination is the threat of paying women back pay. discrimination can be factored into the cost of doing business. mr. president, yesterday was equal pay day something we, unfortunately, commemorate each year. it symbolizes that it takes 104 days longer in a -- than it does for a man to make -- for a woman to earn what a man earned the previous year. what does that mean? it means that for a man and what he earns in 365 days, it takes a woman 469 days to earn the same amount of money, 104 days

more. we don't commemorate this day with joy but with a call to action. we need to make a change in the federal law books to finally get equal pay in the federal chefs. we want this in the budget act because we know this will be an important way of dealing with a variety of issues. we worked on this legislation for a number of years and quite frankly, we're frustrated. we're frustrated that time and time and time again that we're trying to advance this cause. you know, it started over 50 years ago in 1963, lyndon johnson moving on the civil rights legislation was -- thought that equal pay for women would be an easy thing to pass. at that time only 11% of mothers were in the work force.

now there are over 70% of mothers in the work force. at that time, women were, again, paid 59 cents for every dollar a man earned. we passed that civil rights act. now, gee, 50 years later we're up to 78 cents for every man a dollar -- every dollar a man earns. so it's taken us 50 years to advance 20 cents. wow. that just doesn't work. so -- the women of america feel sidelined, redlined, and pink slipped for the way they're discriminated against and then they face the harassment and intimidation when they simply is ask questions to get the pay they deserve. what we now know is, again the facts speak for themselves. women earn 78 cents for every dollar a man makes. for women close to the

retirement age the wage gap increases to almost $14,000 a year. by the time she retires the average woman has lost almost $400,000 in a lifetime of wages. the impact, you get less social security benefits, you have less savings and you face a grim possibility of poverty. what we also know is that this has a tremendous impact in terms of single mothers. over the weekend there was a terrific article in "the washington post" saying if you wanted to eliminate poverty among children, you could take a major step in doing so if you closed the pay parity gap that in fact by paying women -- single mothers equal pay for equal work, you could reduce

the poverty rate among children by over 20%. what a startling fact. well the fact is that we've been fighting this for a long time and mr. president, i urge the adoption of this amendment. i think it makes important fiscal policy and it's important for the families' checkbook and our federal checkbook. let me close with these words remarks. i think it was the day before in "the new york times" they were talking about how we're essentially subsidizing those people who pay the minimum wage. my background is that of a social worker, you're familiar with that, mr. president. when you look at the four components of government subsidies to the poor -- medicaid tanf, the child care development subsidy and there's one other thing that i just don't recall right this minute. we're actually -- people who

are working every -- oh, food stamps. working every single day they're eligible for government subsidies because they're not paid enough for what they do. now, -- and what we often find is not only is the minimum wage a terrible place to begin but as you move up the work ladder, often women are in jobs where they are paid less than the men who work beside them. and as a result, and often is the case, we end up then by dealing with that by us paying for it in medicaid, and in food stamps, and in other -- and the earned income tax credit. now, i support those programs. i think when people are poor, they need our help. but our goal is to make sure that if you are poor and you want to have a way to get ahead, we should help you.

and if you want to be middle class, we should help you get there. and one of the ways to do that is to make sure we pay equal pay for equal work. now, mr. president, i hope that my amendment is adopted. i could debate this in more ways but year after year we come and we show the disparity between what women make from men for the same job. now, this isn't just a women's issue. the men here -- many men here support this and i can tell how supports this. fathers. fathers, fathers fathers. why do they support it "they work hard in many instances their daughters get a break try to get an education try to get ahead only to find that though they shoulder the same responsibilities for car payments paying off student loans, all of that, that they,

in fact, are not paid equal pay for equal work. we can change that by voting for this mikulski amendment in this bill. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: mr. president?

the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: thank you mr. president. i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: i ask consent the pending motion be set aside so i may call up my motion. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the clerk will report the amount much amendment. the clerk: the senator from colorado mr. bennet, moves that the managers on the part of the senate at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two houses on the house amendment to the resolution s. con. res. 11 be instructed, one to insist that the final conference report include provisions in the occurrence resolution as agreed to by the senate for the establishment of deficit-neutral reserve funds relating to a responding to the causes and impacts of climate change including the economic and national security threats posed by human-induced climate change and b, department of defense initiatives to bolster resilience of mission-critical department infrastructure to impacts from climate change and two, to recede from the

position of the senate regarding provisions in the occurrence resolution as agreed to by the senate for the establishment of deficit neutral reserve funds that undermine the response to climate change, including prohibitions on regulations by the environmental protection agency on greenhouse gases. mr. bennet: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

mr. sanders: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president i send to the desk a motion to instruct conferees. this is -- i'm offering this amendment for senator murray. the presiding officer: is there an objection to setting aside the pending motion? without objection. the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: the senator from vermont, mr. sanders for mrs. murray, moves that the managers on the part of the senate at the conference on the disagreeing votes -- mr. sanders: mr. president be, i would ask that the motion be considered as read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president this

motion to instruct budget conferees is to keep in the bill the senate-passed deficit-neutral reserve fund for legislation to allow americans to earn paid sick time. this amendment passed during vote-a-rama of the senate by a vote of 61-39. so it passed with pretty strong bipartisan support and i would hope that we could pass this language again. the truth is mr. president is that at a time when millions of americans are working longer hours for lower wages when our middle-class continues -- when our middle class continues to decline, we also have another serious problem in that only 53% of workers report having paid

sick leave. well, you know, people get sick. that is a fact of life. and it is unfortunate that only 53% of workers report having paid sick leave. this means that people are going to work when they are not well. you know, i don't know about you but i am not enthused about walking into a restaurant with somebody who may have the flu or have some other problem serving food or preparing food. i don't think that's a terribly healthy thing for this country. not to mention when there are so many contagious illnesses out there, i don't know that we want to to have people who are ill and contagious going to work. so this is a very simple motion and basically reiterates what we had in the first discussion.

again, it won by 61-39. all over this country states and cities are in the process of enacting paid sick leave legislation and they have seen economic benefits from that. they have seen mothers more likely to return to work and higher employment in leisure hospitality, education and health sectors. so again, this is the same language that senator murray authored and i strongly support this amendment and i hope my colleagues will vote for it. thank you. and with that, i would yield the floor.

mr. sanders: mr. president, i call for a quorum call. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. sanders: mr. president i

ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president i send to the desk my motion to instruct conferees. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from vermont, mr. sanders for mrs. murray, proposes an amendment -- moves that the managers on the part of the senate at the -- mr. sanders: i would ask that the motion be considered as read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president this motion is being introduced on behalf of senator murray and it would instruct budget conferees to build on the bipartisan budget act and provide sequester relief 2016 and 2017 by closing tax loopholes. mr. president, as the ranking member of the budget committee i rise to offer a motion to instruct conferees on behalf of senator murray to s. con. res. 11 a concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2016 which provides two years -- to

provide two years of sequester relief by closing tax loopholes. and this is a concept and idea that i very strongly support. many members on both sides of the aisle are concerned that congress will not be able to pass and enact appropriations bills at the sequester levels. the president's fiscal year 2016 budget provides sequester relief. moreover, the president has indicated that he will veto legislation that does not lift the sequester caps. discretionary spending has already been cut by $1.6 trillion and non-defense discretionary spending is currently on track to be the lowest in 50 years. non-defense discretionary spending is on track to be the lowest in 50 years. instead of continuing to cut non-defense discretionary spending we need to increase funding for programs like education and infrastructure

that reduce income inequality, that create millions of jobs that we desperately needs. we can fund these investments by looking at wasteful spending in the tax code that has allowed major corporations to pay very little if anything, in federal income taxes. each and every year we are losing well over a hup billion dollars -- hundred billion dollars in revenue laws of large profitable corporations and some of the wealthiest americans in this country are stashing their profits in the cayman islands bermuda or other offshore tax havens. g.a.o. has reported that the tax rate of most profitable corporation bees is 12.6 -- corporations is 12.6% much lower than the corporate tax rate of 16%. because of the loopholes written into the tax code by corporate lobbyists.

mr. president, in 1952 32% of all of the revenue generated in this country came from large corporations. today that figure is down to just 11%. right now there are so many loopholes in our tax code that it ends up that many, many large corporations that make billions of dollars in profit, pay nothing, zero, in corporate taxes to the federal government. just as a few examples, general electric made over $5.8 billion in profits in the united states last year but paid just .9% of that amount in federal income taxes. time warner made $4.2 billion in profits paid nothing in federal income taxes. in fact, got a rebate of 26 -- $26 million. xerox made $29 million in profits in 2014, paid nothing in

federal income taxes. in fact, it received a tax rebate of $16 million. so i strongly support this motion which has been introduced by senator murray to provide sequester relief, particularly for non-defense discretionary programs. and i would hope thech that -- and i would hope very much that this motion to instruct will receive wide bipartisan support. i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

ms. stabenow: mr. president, i would ask success speption suspension of the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: mr. president, i would first ask that the pending motion be set aside and that my motion be sent to the desk. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from michigan ms. stabenow, moves that the managers on the part the senate at the conference on the greeing votes of the two houses on the house amendment to the resolution s. con. res. 11 be instructed to insist that -- ms. stabenow: mr. president i skilled to dispense with the reading. -- skilled to dispensereading i would

ask to dispense with the reading. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: my motion would instruct conferees to remove from the budget resolution any medicare cuts that would increase out-of-pocket costs for senior citizens, eliminate garnetted benefits or make structural changes to medicare by turning it into a voucher-based premium-support system. it's incredibly important that something as important as health care for senior citizens and those with disabilities be protected and honored. people are paying into this system. they have paid into this system their whole lives. they have the confidence of knowing that health care is available to them. now those on medicare -- ans we -- and we need to mike sure make sure that we're strengthening this system. not fundamentally guaranteeing

it to some kind of a voucher system or making other kierchedzs of changes that will cost people more money. mr. president, when we began this process my hope that that we could have a spending plan that really would address the middle class and a budget resolution that would make it very clear that this is about giving every american a fair shot a fair shot to stay in the middle class or to work hard and get into the middle class that this is real aboutreally about strengthening our comild class. we don't have an economy without a middle class. that's the economic engine. and i was hoping for a budget that would reflect one of our core believes that if you work hard in america you're going to have a fair shot to be able to get ahead. but that is not what this is

about in this budget. unfortunately, this budget does not do that. instead republicans have written a budget that continues to rig the system for the wealthy and the we will-kcted. -- ans the well-connected rather than creating opportunity for toive make it. that's really the fundamental fight that we have had through this whole budget process. how do you grow the dismi is it the top down? do you give to those one more time at the very top and hope that it trickles down and somehow people who are working hard every day will actually feel it and have known their pocket? or do we focus on the middle, do we focus on those that are working hard to get into the middle class and create an opportunity to grow from the bottom up? which is the way we know the economies grow. so i am deeply concerned about the cuts in this budget to

medicare and i am also deeply concerned about the other cuts to health care in this budget. you know, we don't control -- we all wish we could control whether or not we get sick or whether or not our children get sick or moms and dads get sick. but the reality is that health care is an issue for all of us. it's not a frill. it's a necessity medicare has addressed that for seniors and people with disabilities in a way that gives them peace of mind and confidence in a quality medical system. we just addressed through a bill last night the whole question of making sure that doctors are paid and that they are available to people who are on medicare. we have another part of the health care system called medicaid, which is a lifeline to so many americans who continue to feel, they feel the effects of