mr. menendez, senator gillibrand, senator durbin was so many others working with us today on this issue.now today we are here to say in that we urge all of our colleagues thought to oppose this legislation. , the legislation would do nothing less then take state and local gun laws and tear them up. it would take the carefully crafted gun laws in york and tear them up. it would do the same in 47 other states. and the great irony of this amendment is two that that program lobby has always said that let the states decide and now they're doing 180-degree turn and saying to the federal government decide. and impose the lowest common denominator mine comes to carry out concealed weapons on all of the states except illinois and wisconsin which don't have any carry laws. in reno the gun lobby is strong camino that are many members on both side who believed strongly in individuals' rights to carry arms. but this legislation goes way beyond the previous pro gun laws that we have voted on the session. it is a bridge too far, it threatens the safety of millions of americans particularly in urban and

mr. menendez: with that, mr. president, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call ththeclerk will. quorum call: quorum call: reid mr. president? i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be vitiated. i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. reid under an order of may 5 and under s. res. 18 i made a temporary appointment of sheldon whitehouse to serve on the "help" committee while retaining my authority to make a permanent appointment to the "help" committee. i now announce as of today, july 15, senator franken is appointed to serve on a permanent basis to the slot occupied by. mr. shelbybysheldon whitehouse. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president, sheldon whitehouse, since coming to the senate, was truly a workhorse. there isn't anything i've asked this fine man to do that he hasn't come forward with enthusiasm to do it. we've seen the billian work he has done on -- brillant work he has done on many differen

mr. durbin: yield nine minutes to the senator from new jersey, senator menendez. mr. menendez: mr.dent? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: i come to the floor saddened by the tragic death yesterday of mark denardo, one of five of new jersey's fine of the shot last week by a gunman. he was killed not by a law-abiding gun owner, a sportsman or hunter like millions of americans but by a lone armed man too willing to pull the trigger to kill another human being in cold blood. last night or the night before gunshots were fired in jersey city, in newark three were killed, the victims of gun violence, and the statistics are staggering, this one year, 30,896 died from gun violence, 12,791 people were murdered, and another 69,863 survived gun injuries. and 48,676 were injured in a gun attack. according to the brady campaign, this one year, 20,784 american children and teens were shot in murders, assaults, suicide, accidents or by police intervention. homicide was the second leading cause of death for young people ages ten to 24 and 84% of the victims were kill

mr. menendez, senator gillibrand, senator durbin was so many others working with us today on this issue.ow today we are here to say in that we urge all of our colleagues thought to oppose this legislation. , the legislation would do nothing less then take state and local gun laws and tear them up. it would take the carefully crafted gun laws in york and tear them up. it would do the same in 47 other states. and the great irony of this amendment is two that that program lobby has always said that let the states decide and now they're doing 180-degree turn and saying to the federal government decide. and impose the lowest common denominator mine comes to carry out concealed weapons on all of the states except illinois and wisconsin which don't have any carry laws. in reno the gun lobby is strong camino that are many members on both side who believed strongly in individuals' rights to carry arms. but this legislation goes way beyond the previous pro gun laws that we have voted on the session. it is a bridge too far, it threatens the safety of millions of americans particularly in urban and

menendez. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you for your testimony.r those of us struggling to define the boundaries of systemic risk are which is said that one of the key questions and i know you have been asked some of these and given answers, but to me it is more complicated than just the size of a firm or what businesses and, but how significant is activities are. as well as how extensive the relationships are with other firms and consumers so we have used tear out into big to fail and sometimes i wonder whether we should be looking into interconnected to avail. in that respect, you know, should for example, the extensive relationships with small businesses and consumers can to defining systemic risk by way of example c19. see id is the largest lender to small businesses in america, and has been in financial difficulties. it seems to mean that unless an entity like i can find its way out of his financial difficulties we are talking about hundreds of thousands of small businesses across the nation who won't have the type of financing they need to c

menendez. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you for your testimony. for those of us struggling to define the boundaries of systemic risk are which is said that one of the key questions and i know you have been asked some of these and given answers, but to me it is more complicated than just the size of a firm or what businesses and, but how significant is activities are. as well as how extensive the relationships are with other firms and consumers so we have used tear out into big to fail and sometimes i wonder whether we should be looking into interconnected to avail. in that respect, you know, should for example, the extensive relationships with small businesses and consumers can to defining systemic risk by way of example c19. see id is the largest lender to small businesses in america, and has been in financial difficulties. it seems to mean that unless an entity like i can find its way out of his financial difficulties we are talking about hundreds of thousands of small businesses across the nation who won't have the type of financing they need t

mr. menendez: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: and, madam president, i ask to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: madam president, america has been listening to the confirmation hearings of judge sotomayor, lengthy rounds of questioning, probative approach of the members of the committee, and we have seen an extraordinary jurist in action. we've seen her responses, witnessed the depth, dignity, and clarity of her thoughtful observations. we have seen a skilled, dynamic jurist carefully, thoroughly, calmly engage each member of the committee, showing each senator a deference in tone and tenor that speaks directly to her temperament and what she will bring to the debate in the hallowed halls of the supreme court. but i believe most americans watching these hearing, though deeply concerned about the substance of the issues raised fundamentally at the heart of i