mr. grassley: is the process that we're in morning business? the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. grassley: i ask the calling of the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. the majority leader. objection is heard. quorum call: the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. predent, we're trying to finish all the issues, work through the issues we need to address before we can finish this work period. i want to make it very clear to everyone, as i said a couple hours ago here on the floor, we can finish all of our work tomorrow. but if we don't finish it tomorrow, we're going to continue to work on friday, saturday, sunday, monday and tuesday until late in the afternoon. we have to get done a few things that are important. i know there are a lot of things that we aren't going to be able to do, but that's the way it's been all congress. i'm prepared to consent to move along on one very significant

mr. grassley: assistant u.s. attorney c.j. williams described miss rose's ability to quickly comprehend complex issues. former assistant u.s. attorney bob tigue who retired last year after 31 years said thursday that rose will make an excellent federal judge. he went on to say -- quote -- "she has experience in the courtroom and as an administrator. she has a broad view of the federal legal system and she's very intelligent. stephanie will make a good addition to the federal bench" end of quote. u.s. district judge mark bennett said -- quote -- "she is very skilled, she doesn't have a personal agenda, she goes by the law" -- end quote. u.s. district judge john jarvey of the southern district said her prosecution record is impressive, noting -- quote -- "stephanie has won the respect of prosecutors and defense lawyers" -- end of quote. miss rose is a member of the iowa academy of trial lawyers. membership in the academy is limited to just 250 attorneys whose prime-hour focus is on trial advocacy. membership in this distinguishe

mr. grassley, list thing to speak, you sound like a politician that is on the verge of losing office.ou have been in office for 36 years. guest: 32 years. caller: that is a long time. he first talked about the ambassador that was killed, he did not mention the cost of the film and what was the intention behind the film. it was an american is rally that didn't anti muslim film. cause and effect. that is what happened. you did degrade the president when he described his actions when he went to speak to the middle east to mend the fences between us and the part of the world. you want to talk about class division? i think all one has to do is look at the recent democratic national convention and look at the audience and look at the republican convention and look of that audience. you tell me where the divide is. not going toi'm add to division in america. that is what we should be fighting against. we're all americans. you can be proud of your heritage. in america, we're all americans. i will not enter that and respond to that. otherwise, there was anti- israeli, anti-jewish statements in

mr. grassley: thank you, mr. president.wednesday the inspector general of the department of justice issued his report on a.t.f.'s operation disast furious. this -- fast and furious. this report is a significant milestone for the family of border patrol agent brian terry. he was killed in the firefight with illegal aliens who were armed with illegal guns for fast and furious. attorney general holder delayed any discipline for the officials responsible for fast and furious until after this report was released. the time for accountability has come. there are no more excuses for inaction. the inspector general's athon nonpartisan review confirmed virtually everything i heard from whistle-blowers over the last year and a half. the justice department tried to push all the blame on the a.t.f. and officials down in phoenix, arizona. but the inspector general confirmed that senior officials in washington ignored red flag after red flag. senior officials in both the justice department and a.t.f. knew or should have known that operati

mr. brewer was aware deadlocking occurred in operation "fast and furious" before the information became public? >> prior to senator grassley's letter from a we did not find information that he was aware of god walking in operation "fast and furious." it was only with operation wide receiver we were aware. >> in april 2010, mr. brewer did learn about the attack excited than he is during the bush administration in operation wide receiver, but only after the operation being completed. so mr. horowitz, what did mr. brewer do when he learned that god walking occurred in operation wide receiver? >> well, we were told by mr. brewer and mr. weinstein and perhaps others that we interviewed was that they would be meeting with the atf and at that meeting that atf would be told that god walking tactics are unacceptable. we found that there was no admonishing at the meeting, but we found there was no fact of that conduct. >> what additional steps, if there were any, do you think mr. brewer should have taken when he learned that god walking occurred in operation wide receiver? >> as indicated, one of the things we sought out to do here wi

grassley? >> i missed mr. carvin's subtleties, but i did hear him say that corporations have not been spending money on this candidate or that candidate. i cannot speak about what they have spent under citizens united, but i have been following corporations and unions, who did they give their money to for a long period of time, and i find unions to be pretty intellectually honest from election to election, giving about 95% of their money to democrats and 5% to republicans. i see corporations as political prostitutes give about 55% of their money to republicans and 45% to democrats. then, when they see someone like in the 2008 election, there's going to be a short winter by the name of obama, they gave a lot more money to him than they are doing right now. they got to be fair to everybody, you know, so i do not worry so much about it. i wish they just had a little bit more political backbone than what they seem to demonstrate. we heard earlier from the professor that he thinks the supreme court has created a do

grassley. >> i missed mr.din's subtleties, but i did hear him say that corporations have been spending money on this candidate or that candidate. i can't speak about what they spent under citizens united, but i've been following corporations and unions today get their money money to friends or tax for a long period of time and i find unions to be pretty intellectual honest from election to election, giving about 95% of their money to democrats and 5% to republicans. but i see corporations who give about 55% of their money to republicans and 45% to democrats. and when they see somebody in the chico state election, there's going to be a sure winner by the name of obama they give a lot more money to him than they are doing right now. they've got to be fair to everybody. so i don't worry so much about it. i wish they had more political back bone and what they create. mr. subsecond, we heard earlier that he thinks they have created a double standard in cases dealing with voter i.d. and the independent expenditures.

mrs. overstreet. but senator grassley took up this cause and introduced the fair contracts for growers act. thanks to his efforts when the farm bill passed the following year, it included provisions that enabled poultry farmers to opt out of mandatory arbitration clauses imposed by the big processers. most recently, congress took up an amendment that i introduced in the national defense authorization bill in the fall of 2009. some of the most offensive uses of mandatory arbitration clauses i've seen are by the overseas military contractors against women who have been victimized on the job. too many women working for military contractors have had to endure unimaginable workplace harassment and violence. those women deserve their right to a day in court just like the auto dealers, the service members, the poultry farmers. once again, the amendment passed with broad bipartisan support. once again, congress took steps to tackle the most egregious abuses of mandatory arbitration. when confronted with a group that has been victimized by mandatory arbitration clauses, congress has repeatedly taken

mr. cardin: i know senator grassley is on the floor and thank him for the courtesy of allowing me to go next. i ask unanimous consent if i could speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: i take this time on behalf of maryland farmers. they're hurting along with many farmers around the nation because of the devastation from the drought. i'm talking on behalf of the poultry farmers, as the presiding officer knows, in the delmarva peninsula, the impact on the drought on the corn crop making it extremely difficult to make ends meet. we have a robust agricultural community, it's one of the largest parts of our economy, and that's true in just about every state in the nation. we have seen the worst drought in 50 years. it's affecting 42 states in this union. this is widespread. and congress needs to act. the first thing we should do, mr. president, is encourage our colleagues in the house of representatives to take up and pass the farm bill that we have passed. that was a bipartisan bill, it was a

were troubled when the information came to the department from senator grassley in january 2011 that those dots were not connected by mr. brewer and by his deputy, mr. weinstein. >> the day after brian terry was killed, the attorney general emailed three people, did he not? >> i believe it was the day after. >> the failure to notify him about the connection between the two guns found at the scene, that they had been bought 11 months earlier by subject identified in fast and furious. >> when a lobster is murdered, there are a lot of questions being asked. we have a whole scenario of things that occurred here. the question should have been asked and we should have had a better outcome. there was another incident in arizona in late january. questions were abounding, was one of these guns being used? we should have known the gdl attorney-general testimony to maecenas flawed. we would have been asking and should have known much earlier about the questions, based upon the inquisition of the witnesses to these crimes. and the nature of these crimes and the audacity of these crimes, particularly to hire members like congress.

were troubled when the information came to the department from senator grassley in january 2011 that those dots were not connected by mr. brewer and by his deputy, mr. weinstein. >> the day after brian terry was killed, the attorney general emailed three people, did he not? >> i believe it was the day after. >> the failure to notify him about the connection between the two guns found at the scene, that they had been bought 11 months earlier by subject identified in fast and furious. >> when a lobster is murdered, there are a lot of questions being asked. we have a whole scenario of things that occurred here. the question should have been asked and we should have had a better outcome. there was another incident in arizona in late january. questions were abounding, was one of these guns being used? we should have known the gdl attorney-general testimony to maecenas flawed. we would have been asking and should have known much earlier about the questions, based upon the inquisition of the witnesses to these crimes. and the nature of these crimes and the audacity of these crimes, particularly to hire members like congress.

mr. loebsack: and threatens thousands more jobs in our state. the btc has its roots in iowa and bipartisanship. senator grassley worked for its creation and it has long had bipartisan support. last month the senate passed the bipartisan package that included the wind credit. it's past time for the house to act. iowa is the second largest producer ever wind energy and turbine manufacturing involves about 200 companies and 6,000 good-paying jobs for iowans. as we struggle to recover frye -- recover from the worst recession since the great fregs, congress cannot play games with people's jobs and pull the rug out from an industry employing thousands. congress must extend the wind credit now before more jobs are lost. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection. >> today is the day of refeck shun and sadness. the tragic killing of our ambassador in libya and his staff reminds us of the dangers that exist around the world so we offer our prayers to the families and survivors. mr. garamendi: we also need to think about the fuhr in ameri

sponsored by senators collins, grassley and myself which is s-300, to require agencies to adopt better and who controls over the charge cards, the purchase cards. gsa, as you well know, mr. tangherlini, is the agency that negotiates the contracts with a major credit card companies for the charge cards that federal employees use. so obviously we would hope that gsa would see itself as having a special responsibility for being a good steward of charge cards, and that's why it was insulted injury when we learn that in region nine, the deputy was arrested in 2010, and pleaded guilty for embezzling taxpayer money for personal use on items such as luxury hotels, meals, and spot treatments. so my question is this. one of the things that was interesting to me that i learn in your responses to the question that senator collins and i posed in our letters was that urban very few disciplinary actions at gsa for purchase card abuse in the last five years. only one action in 2007, one in 2008, and none at all for years 2009-2011. maybe that's because there's no purchase card abuse. on the other hand, when we see some of the other irresponsible behavior you've got to wonder. and i the

troubled when the information came to the department from senator grassley in january of 2011 that those dots were not connected by mr. brewer and by his deputy. >> okay. you know, the day after brian terry was killed, the attorney general actually e-mailed three people asking for details, did he not? >> that's correct. i think it was the day after, but i remember. >> this includes gary grindler, monte wilkenson who failed to inform about the weapons from fast and fuel euro? >> that's correct. the failure to connect the two guns at the scene, they were bought 11 months earlier by a subject identified in fast and furious. >> now, going back to the colleague from south carolina, a law officer is murdered, there's a lot of raised tensions and questions asked. we have a whole scenario of things that occur here. i mean, the question should have been asked and we should have had a better outcome, but, you know, there was another incident in arizona in late january that should have had -- my understanding with even congressman giffords was one of these guns being used, was it not? >> i believe so. >> we should have known, y

grassley in the united states senate. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. ms. lofgren: i have no additional speakers and i would be happy to yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. mr. smith: mr. speaker, before i yield back the balance of my time, i want to thank the gentlewoman from california, ms. lofgren, for her continued interest in and leadership in the subject of immigration and i especially appreciate her support of this bill today. i'll yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass senate bill 3245. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative -- mr. smith: mr. speaker, on that i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted.

mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i come to the floor to discuss the state of our economy and to give some suggestions on how to improve it. but before i go to the main purpose i came, i want to say to the senator from maryland that i agree with him that the house of representatives ought to take up a farm bill and i hope that they will and that's my urging. i would also like to take advantage of the opportunity to explain a little bit about ethanol and how that works in with the situation he brought up about increasing feed. for chickens or any other animals. this year farmers planted 96 million acres of corn, more acres planted to corn than any other year since 1938. and most of that's because of the ethanol industry. if we didn't have an ethanol industry, we would normally plant somewheres between 80 million and 85 million acres of corn. so let's just assume that you never heard of the word "ethanol" or the product ethanol and it didn't even exist and farmers planted the usual 0 million t80 million to 85 m