let's get the latest on the debate in washington from colorado senator mark udall who joins us right the latest piece of information is that 3:30 we do expect to hear from leader mcconnell, as well as from speaker boehner. what do you expect them to say here? >> i don't have inside information. i would hope they would say let's pass a combination of the boehner/reid/mcdonnell proposals. in particular, we've got to extend the debt ceiling through next year. not because of political situations, but because we've got to make sure we provide certainty to the markets and we don't get ourselves in another mess like we are in right now. this isn't good for the economy. it's not good for job creation. our focus ought to be on the economy and jobs. frankly, we are not focused on that matter right now. that is the most important thing to the american people. >> this just happened. four republicans did not sign the gop letter against senator reid's bill as-is at the moment. what does that say? some sort of modification or compromise can happen? >> there are conversations with my fellow republic

udall: my colleague and i, mr.president, hosted the capital conference, colorado capital conference two weeks ago, and we had coloradans from all sections of the state, all walks of life. we had the three main political points of view represented, democrats, independents, republicans, and they remarked to you, i know, senator bennet, and to me as well, after hearing from a broad range of our colleagues who were gracious enough to take time to speak to our constituents and answer questions, that we all identified the problem and we all had identified the solution, which was a comprehensive plan that we implemented together. and we're here again on the floor this afternoon to call on all of our colleagues to join us in working together, finding that common ground. because there's a lot at stake but there's enormous opportunity. my colleague knows that. he's been a successful businessman in one of his previous lives. but you may want to comment on the capital conference as well. mr. bennet: yeah. and it is clear toe t

committee, which makes tom udall the counterpart for john micah, from florida. this is not really overall a fight about airports or subsidies for rural air service or whether the people of ely can ever get on a plane. this is not even a fight really about the faa and regulation of air travel in this country. this is very clearly a fight about union rights and the republican will in 2011 to strip union rights away at every opportunity. as long as senate democrats will not give in to republican demands to strip union rights here, as long as senate democrats stand up for those rights, republicans are telling them these are your choices, either the faa can shut down altogether or republicans start threatening american airports in bunches, and this is just for now. come september, we are back here again and we're going to have to get another dog because something will have already happened to this one if you know what i mean. is this too graphic a metaphor? yes, it is, but that is how republicans are trying to govern on the issue of union rights right now. i can't le

and saying, okay, we have this economy, as you heard senator udall say is quite fragile. we are playing these partisan games with it. >> luke, stand by one second here. we've got mike viqueira at the white house with news for us. >> reporter: a little bit of news here. our crack producer on the senate side reporting to me in an e-mail a moment ago harry reid on his way to the white house. if that turns out to be true, we have no reason to believe it is not, it would be significant. if you go back seven days ago today, there was similar talks going on behind closed doors. as luke has been pointing out to you now, all the focus is on the senate after all the drama we've seen over the course of the last week and all the drama we saw yesterday on the house floor. the focus is on the senate. can harry reid with his plan change it to the satisfaction of enough republicans to come onboard making it a bipartisan bill? making it something that can pass the senate then therefore, put tremendous pressure on the house. harry reid is speaking live right now. is that the floor of the s

tom udall is among those arguing the case. thank you for joining me. you criticize president obama for not bringing back american troops fast enough from afghanistan. what would you like him to do? >> the thing we have to realize is the thing we went in with objectives. those objectives were displacing a government that was harboring terrorists. terrorist camps, al qaeda was hooked up with them, and osama bin laden was in the region. now we have an elected government, we have completely changed the landscape, we have trained approximately 400,000 afghans in terms of army and police. al qaeda is decreased to about 100 low-level fighters. we're talking about a sob and lot and being brought to justice. my basic position and there are a number of senators who signed a letter for a swifter and quicker withdrawal. it is a handoff, is what it is, to the afghans we have changed -- we have trained. what we would like to see done is move in the direction to hand this off. >> are you worried that the taliban is sitting in afghanistan, reading the "new york times"

udall: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its -- are we in a quorum call, mr. president? the presiding officer: we are in a quorum call. mr. udall: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 1:00 p.m. on saturday, july 30. that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. that following any leader remarks, the senate resume consideration of the motion to concur in the house message to accompany senate 627, the legislative vehicle for the debt limit increase and that the time from 1:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees with the majority and the republicans controlling alternating 3

tom udall is among those arguing the case. thank you for joining me. you criticize president obama for not bringing back american troops fast enough from afghanistan. what would you like him to do? >> the thing we have to realize is the thing we went in with objectives. those objectives were displacing a government that was harboring terrorists. terrorist camps, al qaeda was hooked up with them, and osama bin laden was in the region. now we have an elected government, we have completely changed the landscape, we have trained approximately 400,000 afghans in terms of army and police. al qaeda is decreased to about 100 low-level fighters. we're talking about a sob and lot and being brought to justice. my basic position and there are a number of senators who signed a letter for a swifter and quicker withdrawal. it is a handoff, is what it is, to the afghans we have changed -- we have trained. what we would like to see done is move in the direction to hand this off. >> are you worried that the taliban is sitting in afghanistan, reading the "new york times"

in india, at least 60 people were killed and nearly 200 injured when a train jumped it's track in udal cradish. the train was traveling at 60 miles per hour when it was derailed. no word on what caused the incident. >>> and in china today two minors were pulled out alive from a cave in a coal mine. they've been trapped there for eight days, the men were found in a ventilation slush partially filled with slush about a thousand feet in the ground. they said they actually survived by drinking water that seeped down from the shaft. the mine collapsed back on may 2. >>> weapons coming from iran are a tremendous concern, u.s. officials say iran supplied shiite militias with power guns. yesterday panetta was in afghanistan, there he said al- qaidas defeat is quote within reach. >>> the british tabloid news of the world printed its final edition today. the publication said thank you and goodbye to its readers this morning. the papers abrupt end comes after allegations that it's journalists paid police for information and hacked into cell phone messages of a young murder victim, celebrities and

udall: i ask unanimous consent alternating blocks of time continue until 9:50. with the majority controlling the time until 9:20 and the republican side until 9:50 and the majority leader or a designee be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. udall: madam president, i rise tonight as i have for many weeks to call for a bipartisan solution to our deficits and debt. for us to bridge, to use a term we utilize in colorado, the mountainous divide, in order to avoid defaulting on our only gaigdz. -- obligations. bipartisanship is a familiar theme in my home state of colorado and i know coloradans agree with me that's the only way forward. my constituents have been flooding my office with calls of frustration, urging me to keep fighting for a solution to this impending debt limit crisis that we face. they know the stakes are high, madam president, and they know we've got to compromise to get something done. and as i've traveled my state over these summer months, i haven't found one single person in colorado who has demanded more partisan

udall: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado is recognized. mr. udall: i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call being vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i understand we're debating a specific resolution, and i'd ask unanimous consent that i be allowed to speaks if in morning business for ten minutes. fir officer without objection. -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i rise today to recognize nas nass sts-135 mission as the presiding officer knows, at approximately 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, space shuttle atlantis is scheduled to lift off from the kennedy space center in florida with a crew of four on board. the 12-day mission will deliver supplies, logistics and spare parts to the international space station. this will be the final mission of the space shuttle air that began just over 30 years ago. the senator from colorado may not seem like the most likely porn to come to the floor today to s

what the corrupt and overbearing government is trying to do with it the senators ron wyden and mark udall both deserve a round of applause today as wired's danger room found out that you are sending a letter today directly to the director of national intelligence james clapper and you see thanks to the smartphones that we all carry around geolocation technology has made it increasingly easier to spy on us to monitor our every move and senators wider than you all want to know if the intelligence agencies in this country think that they have the right to track this whenever they want see widens already introduced legislation that would require that law enforcement get warrants but as of now that's going to the supreme court where of course the obama administration is going to be furiously fighting to get them to rule that they can spy on you warrant free but that doesn't apply to the intelligence agencies or for the purpose of simplicity let's just call them the spies they've been using the phys amendments act which was passed under bush in two thousand and eight to make all of that warrant

thank you. >> thank you, senator udall. senator brown? >> thank you, mr. chairman. sir, as you know, we've already met and discussed in private. ive a few follow-up questions. senator nato and i have actually planned a bill and are concerned about the evidence that taxpayers' money that was intended to be used for a transportation contract has ended up in the hands of the taliban. we want it to stop. not only are we trying to fund our own needs, i guess we're funding the taliban's needs, too. i was wondering if you could comment on that and how -- what your thoughts are about lowering the risk involved with our reliance on contractor support and the money trail that goes along with it. >> yeah, thanks, senator. i saw the same report in the media. i haven't yet had time to get the gi report and see the details. i share that thought. having approximately $5 billion a year to build the iraqi security forces, it was among my gravest concerns. i had a concern about building them, i had a concern about enabling them, integrating them with our forces, but there wasn't a da

we have one our side that mark udall has worked on. if they want a balanced budget vote we want to have one. it seems odd to me, however, for something as important as this to get the bare majority they got in the house yesterday, they put in their bill that you have to actually pass a constitutional amendment before they will allow the debt to be increased. that is a little extreme. we're happy to have a vote on balanced budget amendments. we had them before. on your other question -- we've had two wars that this administration didn't start either one of them. we don't need to go in to the wars. i haven't been a big fan of iraq war. that war was cost us almost $2 trillion. the afghanistan and iraq war is winding down. office management of budget office has looked at this and said if you take a trillion dollars and lower the debt and allow us to take additional $200 billion in interest savings, that is what we have in our bill. it's all been done by non-partisan congressional budget office. i can't imagine the fact they have voted for

udall: mr. president, we're in morning business? the presiding officer: we're on the motion and time allotment -- motion to proceed on h.r. 2560 and time allotted to our side. mr. udall: mr. president, i wanted to come to the floor this evening and join a number of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle who are concerned about the federal budget and our ever-increasing deficits and debt, but today i'm also speaking on behalf of the 4.5 ml coloradans who are worried that we won't have the discipline to do anything about it. they know that our great nation won't win the global economic race unless we take some responsible action here on the floor of the senate and soon, and i have to say i don't think the debate that we have been having here offers them a whole lot of solace. and i say that because instead of getting to work on the bipartisan gang of six deficit reduction plan which draws from the president's bipartisan fiscal commission headed by -- i have to say this -- two true american pat

senator udall from colorado. senator udall from new mexico. senator warner from virginia. senator webb from virginia. senator whitehouse from rhode island. senator wyden from oregon. it took a stand to vote in the senate that we will not allow debate on this floor over a balanced budget amendment. we're not going to allow it. despite the vast majority of americans knowing that we have to get our fiscal house in order, knowing that a balanced budget amendment would force this body and the senate body to do just that, knowing that that would prevent the white house from ever demanding that we spend $3.8 trillion when we're only bringing $2.1 trillion or $2.2 trillion, knowing it would force congress and the government to live within their means, they had the courage to stand up and say we're not going to allow that debate, we're not going to allow the risk that you might pass a bill that forces us to be fiscally responsible. it took a courageous stand, and they stood and took that stand. . now, to have the president of the united states stand before the american public and s

udall: thank you, madam president. i rise today as our nation honors the bravery and sacrifice of santa fe native lee row arthur petrie, an army ranger who in 2008 risked his life to save his fellow soldiers on the battlefields of afghanistan. today sergeant first class petrie will be honored for his conspicuous gallantry with our nation's highest military decoration: the medal of honor. i will be humbled to be at the white house along with sergeant first class petrie's family, friends, and fellow soldiers, as president obama honors him with the congressional medal of honor. it will be a special day for sergeant first class petrie, for his wife, his children, and his -- and all his family and for his fellow americans. as he becomes only the second living active duty service member to receive the medal of honor for actions in iring or afghanistan. -- in iraq or afghanistan. sergeant first class petrie's story is one of courage and sacrifice and immense love of country. it's a story that began years ago in santa fe with

senator udall cox >> thank you mr. chairman. good morning, gentlemen. thank you for your service and willingness to take on additional responsibility. if i might indulged in a bit of personal commentary, admiral winnefeld, it's been terrific to have you in colorado heading north. you are going to be missed, but you are going to add enormously capable voice and presence to the joint chiefs, and you will always have a home in colorado. i hope you know that. general odierno, we have a nominal presence with the army at fort carson. as you know, we are really proud of our soldiers. we are looking for to the arrival of the combat aviation brigade, and i also wanted to point out that the general perkins who is deployed right now but along with general dod who has taken his place and colonel mclaughlin of the army has been very well represented. you and i talked about the canyon situation, and i know that we are committed to working with you and the committee to see if we could put that issue to rest. general fraser, i don't know you as well but i'm reminded of

udall: mr. president i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president i rise today to honor one of colorado's great educators and community leaders, david getches who passed away on tuesday july 5 2011, at the too-young age of 68. mr. president, this is more than a poignant moment for me. i had planned to come to the floor and discuss david getches' career and character because he was stepping down after eight very productive years as the dean of the university of colorado law school. and we all have had this terrible experience in our lives where somebody who we love and respect suddenly finds that they have a cancer that's aggressive beyond aggressive and just literally a month ago, david was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. and in the four weeks since that time and today that cancer stole him from us. but he was always upbeat. he was always someone who we looked to for enthusiasm and inspiration, and i'll be inspired

senator mark udall said it is a lot of support to turn the gang into a mob. kay bailey hutchinson said she thought it could get 60 votes and although she is optimistic that the house should like this plan, because it has spending cuts and i believe it will spur the economy. the plan, itself, is two parts, and the first is $500 billion in cuts and new revenues. and the second part is to reform the tax code to raise $1 trillion in tax reforms and then another bill to save another $2 trillion by cutting discretionary spending and entitlements medicare and medicaid and ultimately social security. when they say that everything is on the table, they are talking about this kind of plan. now, i don't care who you are or what you believe, there is a lot you won't like here. there is a lot frankly not to like here and there is a lot i don't like here and one imposed rule would impose a cap on discretionary spending and you need a 2/3 majority to end it, and rules like that are unusual, and there is new revenues in there, and give them credit in the spending credits it

we have one on our side that senator mark udall worked very hard to prepare. it is ready to go. we have no problem with that. they want a balanced budget vote, we want to have one. it seems r s a little odd to me however, for something as important as this, an effort to get the bear majority they have in the house yesterday, they put in their bill that a -- you have to actually pass the constitutional amendment before they will allow the debt to be increased. that's a little extreme, i would think. we're happy to have a vote on balanced budget amendments. we had them before. happy to have them again. on your other question, we whe t had two wars. this administration didn't start either one of them. that war cost us almost $2 trillion. the afghanistan war, the iraq war, are winding down. office of management and budget and the congressional budget office looked at this and said if you take a trillion dollars, it will lower the debt by a trillion dollars and allow us to take an additional $200 billion in interest savings. that's what we have in our bill. it all has been done by th

. >> senator udall. >> thank you, senator kerry, and i also want to thank you, ambassador lyman, for your service. south of sudan, where the critical issue is education. and as your very, very a where, it's one of the least educated countries in the world with with the highest rates of illiteracy. i'm wondering, are there any plans to increase the amount of u.s. volunteers to go to south sudan? would it help or relations and strengthen our relationship with them by encouraging young americans to volunteer to help teach the next generation? >> senator, i'm glad you raised that because you're exactly right, it's one of the highest illiteracy rates and it's going to be a major drag on development. we do have a lot of ngos and a lot of church related activity, including sudanese churches which are provided the bulk of health and education services right now. we have had some discussion of whether we can bring the peace corps to south sudan. you have to be sure that the living conditions are possible among other things there. so we will look at that and other ways for ngos and young peopl

early bird senator udall? >> tnk you, madame chairman. >> you're welcome. >> thank you for you and senator grassley holding this aring. and i thank our witnesses for your commitment, i know, and very, very difficult circumstances over there in afghanistan. i want to step back a little bit from senator grassley's question because he was talking about conflicting numbers in various parts of your testimony, and have you try to paint a picture for us in terms of your mseasurs of success in terms of how we're doing with poppy on the ground there, the heroin on the ground, i mean, one number was thrown out, i think by yo mr. wechsler in terms of reducing by one third or fallen by one third since 2007. and the kind of numbers i'm looking for you to paint in the big picture along the lines of, you know, how much poppy is exported out of afghanistan and is that up or down in terms of the years? is there more cultivated throughout afghanistan? are we up and down in terms of those numbers? and obviously, the insurgency g

early bird senator udall? >> thank you, madame chairman. >> you're welcome. >> thank you for you and senator grassley holding this hearing. and i thank our witnesses for your commitment, i know, and very, very difficult circumstances over there in afghanistan. i want to step back a little bit from senator grassley's question because he was talking about conflicting numbers in various parts of your testimony, and have you try to paint a picture for us in terms of your mseasurs of success in terms of how we're doing with poppy on the ground there, the heroin on the ground, i mean, one number was thrown out, i think by you mr. wechsler in terms of reducing by one third or fallen by one third since 2007. and the kind of numbers i'm looking for you to paint in the big picture along the lines of, you know, how much poppy is exported out of afghanistan and is that up or down in terms of the years? is there more cultivated throughout afghanistan? are we up and down in terms of those numbers? and obviously, the insurge

udall: madam president? i ask unanimous consent that the time for debate under the previous order be extended until 7:00 p.m. with all other provisions of the previous order remaining in effect. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: madam president, i'd ask unanimous consent that i be able to speak for 15 minutes as if in morning business and then senator coons be allowed to speak as if in morning business for ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: madam president, i rise today -- let me start over, madam president. i believe we may be in a situation where we're exchanging speeches, one side or the other. can i withdraw my unanimous consent to approve senator coons? the presiding officer: consent is vitiated. mr. udall: all right, madam president, thank you. i came to the floor to deliver a speech on the debt ceiling and all the activity surrounding the need to increase our debt ceiling, but i took time to listen to senator mccain while i was here. i have to say that

senator isakson and then senator udall. >> thank you, i'll be brief. my impression while in khartoum as far as their view of darfur is they were content to fight a surrogate war because it was far enough removed that they didn't feel the pressure to do so. you made an interesting comment a bit ago talking about how they are watching southern kurdufan and because of its proximity, if the north continues the allegedded or apparent -- alleged or apparent atrocities we've seen from satellite and others, that changes the paradigm a lot and runs a greater risk of a new war in the north, does it not? >> that's exactly the risk and the one the government needs to avoid. they don't want a war in the north. they complain about what they think is an attempt to create a new, as they say, a new cpa between the southern part of sudan and the rest of it, but the fact is if they don't address those basic political issues in southern kurdafan and blue nile, ect., they'll have serious problems in southern kurdafan. yeah, these are linked in the since that the government

thank you. >> thank you, senator udall. senator brown? >> thank you, mr. chairman. sir, as you know, we've already met and discussed in private. ive a few follow-up questions. senator nato and i have actually planned a bill and are concerned about the evidence that taxpayers' money that was intended to be used for a transportation contract has ended up in the hands of the taliban. we want it to stop. not only are we trying to fund our own needs, i guess we're funding the taliban's needs, too. i was wondering if you could comment on that and how -- what your thoughts are about lowering the risk involved with our reliance on contractor support and the money trail that goes along with it. >> yeah, thanks, senator. i saw the same report in the media. i haven't yet had time to get the gi report and see the details. i share that thought. having approximately $5 billion a year to build the iraqi security forces, it was among my gravest concerns. i had a concern about building them, i had a concern about enabling them, integrating them with our forces, but there wasn't a da

. >> senator udall this reminds mb of the conversation i had a number of months ago with somebody in the capitol marketsn and who watches everything going on down here pretty closely buts if quizzically like he can'tt ws figure out what we are doing so i think it was a piece of you are a sometime, somewhere in do, that timeframe i asked what arev you doing because one of the i smartest investors i know, andiy he said i'm buying gold and i said why are you buying gold? he said i don't have any confidence you guys are going to deficit and be able to work this out and get our deficit and debt under or control. but it first intel unproductive that is telling people to buy or sell gold but it doesn't create jobs in w this economy. where we want people is and - investing in companies so they can grow and hire people and create jobs. anyway i sisaw him about six weg ago, and we started talking about the debt ceiling conversation, and he said itre u beyond the realm of myift the comprehension that you guys would sail to lift the debt this ceiling. here's a guy cynical enough buyn about the w

thank you, vice chairman chambliss, senator coats, good to see you in senator wyden, senator udall come senator warner. i'm delighted to be to introduce matt olsen. his parents are from north dakota, people live in a very long time. matt's roots are deep in north dakota. he returns every chance he gets with his family, his wife and his children, elderly come and meet and will come his sister, susan, is with us as well. as i said, i've known this family for a very long time coming and they are the best that it gets. his father was the chief of staff to the man the white defeated for the united states senate. and so i know how good he really is. van passed away three years ago, but i know he's looking down with a twinkle in his eye today proud of matte and all that he has accomplished. you know, after defeating the boss for the united states senate, i came here with some trepidation of what my relationship might be like with a van and his wife, the treated me with the greatest courtesy over time the cancer indifference. the highest quality people that our state has to offer, and i believe

senator isakson and senator udall. >> i will be brief. not my impression when i was in khartoum in view of darfur they were content to fight a surrogate war because it was far enough removed from khartoum not to feel any pressure but you made an interesting comment a section ago about how jem and spla are watching because of the geographic processes. if the north continues the alleged or apparent atrocities we had some evidence of that changes that paradigm a lot and run the greater risk of a new war in the north. >> that is exactly the risk and exactly the one the government needs to avoid. they don't want a war in the north. they complain about what they think is an attempt to create a new cpa but if they don't address those basic political issues in southern kordofan and darfur etc. they will have serious problems in southern kordofan and darfur. these are linked in the sense that the government in khartoum needs to think through the new constitution they need or what new political relationships they need. they haven't indicated exactl

udall: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i come to the floor today as i think many of my colleagues have to speak to the topic at hand, which is the debt ceiling debate that we're having here in the congress of the united states, and i've got to tell you, i think americans across the country are looking at us today with disbelief, anxiety and i think rightly anger. they awoke this morning hoping to find that cooler heads had prevailed and that all of us here were working together on a plan that keeps our country from default and our economy from a looming collapse, and instead the headlines read that the speaker of the house was again refusing to negotiate and that he is in fact delaying action in the house because of republican upheaval against his own plan. i have to say even if the house of representatives passed a bill preventing default this evening, within hours, we would still be pushi

going to need to face up to some hard truths. 50 years ago my father, former arizona congressman mo udall supported what should only seem natural -- tying spending directly to revenues. let me give you a couple of examples. if we want to give oil companies $1 billion in tax subsidy, then let's raise taxes by $1 billion to pay for them. the same thing, though, goes for overseas conflicts, agricultural subsidies, infrastructure, and, yes, even entitlements. coloradans from across my home state have told me they want to see their leaders try using some common sense, the kind of common sense americans use when they're faced with the hard job of balancing their own budgets when money is tight. as a senator, i've sog successfully led the fight to end wasteful earmark spending, proposed measures to cut redun tant government programs, demanded line-item veto for the president and, yes, pushed -- i see my colleagues from the other side of the aisle -- for a sensible balanced budget amendment to the constitution. but these measures only serve as tools to get washington to clean up its act and that

. >> i'll defer to senator udall. >> are you sure? actually, go ahead. >> thank you, senator bluesman and senator rockefeller, thank you went again. you are staring us in the right direction in terms of consumer protection and focusing on this and i very much appreciate the fact that you have an attorney general. i know that senator ayotte was very aggressive interstate and i know the both of you are very aggressive in terms of stopping these kinds of scams. and we very much appreciate your presence because they think you bring a very important perspectives. and i understand from your testimonies that almost all consumers who were crammed were unaware of the charges and did not want to use the uppercase services. i think you both recommend the prohibition of third-party churches to landline phones. the other concern that i have and when we get the innovation in the uses and have the self is going is looking at cell phones in looking at what's happening there. and i wonder, do you have any recommendations on how to prevent in which we

senator udall. >> mr. chairman, thank you for your presence and i want to associate myself with the remarks of my colleague on the results of your service and acknowledge the families that are here and wonder americans. if you could turn to you, i know you are going to have some challenges. you've got a leadership record that's exemple re. let me turn to the success that you had and we are in anbar in iraq. you reached out to an operation that was hostile and worked with them to turn their focus to al qaeda and the elements of terrorism that had really created enormous chaos. and in the process, the coin doctrine was validated. i don't want to imply that the two countries are alike. but could you talk about the primary lessons that we learned in anbar and how we are going to apply those lessons in afghanistan? >> senator, much of what was accomplished in the anbar providence, needless to say, much of it was accomplished on the shoulders of the sacrifice of many terrific soldiers and marines and sailors and

well, senator isakson, then udall. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'll be brief. my impression when i was in khartoum as far as their view of the -- of darfur was they were pretty much content to fight a surrogate war in darfur, because it was far enough removed from khartoum, they didn't feel any real pressure to do so. you made an interesting comment. the j.e.m. and sla are watching and what's happening there. because of it's proximity geographically, if the north continues the alleged or apparent atrocities that we've had some evidence of from satellites and others, that changes that paradigm a lot and runs a greater risk of a new war in the north, does it not? >> that's exactly the risk. and it's exactly the one that the government needs to avoid. they don't want a war in the north. they complain about what they think is an attempt to create an new, as they say a new cpa between the southern part of sudan and the rest of it. but the fact is if they don't address those basic political issues in southern kordofan and blue nile and darfur, et cetera, they will ha

senator udall. >> mr. chairman, thank you for your presence and i want to associate myself with the remarks of my colleague on the results of your service and acknowledge the families that are here and wonder americans. if you could turn to you, i know you are going to have some challenges. you've got a leadership record that's exemple re. let me turn to the success that you had and we are in anbar in iraq. you reached out to an operation that was hostile and worked with them to turn their focus to al qaeda and the elements of terrorism that had really created enormous chaos. and in the process, the coin doctrine was validated. i don't want to imply that the two countries are alike. but could you talk about the primary lessons that we learned in anbar and how we are going to apply those lessons in afghanistan? >> senator, much of what was accomplished in the anbar providence, needless to say, much of it was accomplished on the shoders of the sacrifice of mny terrific soldiers and marines and sailors and ai

provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tom udall, a senator from the state of new mexico, to perform the duties f the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader recognized. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business for one hour. the majority will control the first half, the republicans will control the second half. following morning business, i will be recognized. mr. president, h.r. 1938 is due for a second reading i'm told. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 1938, an act to direct the president to expedite the consideration and approval of the construction and operation of the keystone xl oil pipeline, and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president, i would object to any further proceedings at this time on this legislation. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent on behalf of senator bingam

provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tom udall, a senator from the state of new mexico, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will resume the motion to proceed to s. 1323, which is a bill to express the sense of the senate on shared sacrifice in the resulting budget deficit, with the time until 10:00 a.m. this morning equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. at 10:00 a.m. there will be a vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to s. 1323. this could be the only vote of the day although there may be procedural matters that may arise. today the senate is calling on millionaires and billionaires to contribute to this country's effort to reduce our deficit. the poor, middle-class children and seniors have already been asked to make sacrifices to put our fiscal house in order. this legislation would reaffir

. >> i will defer to senator udall with your permission. >> you sure -- >> go ahead. >> thank you, senator and chairman rockefeller, thank you very much once again. you are steering us in the right direction in terms of consumer protection focusing on this hearing and i very much appreciate it and the fact that you have a attorney general and assistant attorney general. i know that the senator was aggressive and her state and the both of you are aggressive in terms of stopping these kind of scams and we appreciate your presence today because you bring a very important perspective in mind as and from your testimony that almost all consumers who were crammed were unaware of the charges and did not want or use the advertised services and i think you both recommend the prohibition of third party charges to land line phones. the other concern that all i have, and i -- when we get the innovation and the new uses and we have the cellphone going it's looking at the cell phones and what's happening there. and i wondered do you have any recommendations on how to prevent a problem of this scale which

provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tom udallico, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes. we are. the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: i kwurt that further proceed -- i request that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: the senate will begin debate today on cut, cap, and balance, the plan approved earlier this week in the house. this means that senators will now have the opportunity to go on record either in support of balancing our books or against it. this is an opportunity for everyone to take a stand. it's an opportunity to say that a government which borrows more than 40 cents of every dollar it spends is not sustainable and very much needs to change its ways. it's an opportunity to stand with those who bel

provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tom udall, a senator from the state of new mexico, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: following any leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 3:30 this afternoon. following that morning business, the senate will resume consideration of of the military construction-veterans affairs and related agencies appropriation bill. at 5: p.m., the senate will vote -- i'm sorry, will go to executive session to consider the nomination of j. paul oetken and at 5:30 there there be a roll call vote on confirmation of that nomination. h.r. 2018 is at the desk ask due for a second reading, i'm told. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: h.r. 2018, an act to amend the federal water pollution control act to preserve the authority of each state to make determinations relating to the sta

. >> i will defend -- i will defer to senator udall. >> are you sure?go ahead. >> thank you very much. once again, you are steering us and the right direction in terms of consumer protection and focusing on this hearing. i very much appreciate that and i appreciate the fact that you have an attorney general, an assistant attorney general here. senatoryotte was very aggressive in her state and the both of you are very aggressive in terms of stopping this kind of scams and we appreciate your presence because you bring a very important perspective. i understand from your testimony that almost all consumers who were crammed were unaware of the charges and did not want or use the advertising services. i think both recommend the prohibition of third-party charges to landline phone starts. when we get the innovation and new uses and we have the cell phones going, we will next be looking at cell phone and what is happening there. do you have any recommendations on how to prevent a problem of this scale, $2 billion or more, what can we do as far as cell phones a

reid of nevada, johnson of south dakota, kirk, durbin, hagan, bennet, warner, kerry, bingaman, udall of colorado, murray, leahy and whitehouse. mr. johnson: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. johnson: i ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is -- by unanimous consent the -- the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the motion to waive the points of order under section 303 of the congressional budget act of 1974 for h.r. 2055, any amendments thereto and motions thereon. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is is it the sense of the senate that debate on the motion to waive the points of order under section 303 of the congressional budget act for h.r. 2055 and any amendments or motions thereto s

as you know, senator udall and i have had concerns about it and have been examining it in both classified and open session and i want to thank you for the when you're handling. >> you're very welcome. >> senator conrad? >> madam chair and vice chair and members of the committee, instead of asking questions i would like to make a further statement if i could, madam chair, about this nominee. she comes from a family that i have known for 30 years. a family that was on the other side of the aisle from as i indicated before his saw there was the chief of staff and the man i defeated for the united states. yet he treated me with the greatest generosity of spirit that anybody could ask for. now i just want to say these are people of the highest of the very highest quality in every single way, the highest character. i would trust matt olsen with every penny that i've got because of the character of his family, and i know around here as all demolition derby my god when does it end? .. i put my entire reputation on the line for this nominee. that is how strongly i feel. so, i have been here 25 yea

. >> and let me just behalf of senator udall he is in new mexico where they had the terrible fires, and he was down there last night and was not able to get back in time, but he is doing his business there and appropriately. we now turn to senator menendez who i think -- say again? oh, excuse me, senator lugar? >> thank you very much. >> i apologize. >> it's to enhance congress's ability to conduct responsible oversight of any continued united states military operations in libya. it would require periodic reporting on the costs of the operations and how these costs are being paid for. it would also require periodic reporting on the impact of the ongoing operations in libya on other u.s. and nato military operations including operations against the taliban and al-qaeda in afghanistan. reporting on these issues is not provided for in the kerry-mccain resolution. given that the resolution would authorize military operations that could go on for as much as a year, and could expand in scope from current u.s. operations, i believe it's important that congress have the necessary tools to condu