mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. tonight as we -- today i should say as we confront a whole range of difficult issues at the end of this year and at the end of the congress, we should also be reminded that we have fighting men and women serving for us all around the world. we think especially tonight of those serving in afghanistan, and those who served part of that time in iraq. at various times we've come to the floor and recited the chaims of those who were killed -- names of those killed in action and tonight i'm i'm joined by my colleague, senator tom to read -- toomey who read the names of those who as lincoln said gave their last full measure of devotion to their country, those killed in action in afghanistan over parts of 2011 and 2012. i'll turn and yield the floor to my colleague, senator toomey. the presiding officer: the junior senator from pennsylvania. mr. toomey: thank you, mr. president. i'd like to thank my colleague, the senior senator from pennsylvania for organizing this brief tribute that is so m

mr. casey: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: madam president, i ask consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: thank you, madam president. i rise today to talk about the farm bill, which is typically a five-year bill, and we hope we can achieve that once again. we know that the senate passed the farm bill just a number of months ago, actually in june, and the house has yet to bring the bill to the floor of the united states house of representatives. there's really no excuse for that. it doesn't make any sense. first and foremost because of the -- the impact that this bill has on our economy, our farm families, our -- the agricultural sector of our economy, and what it also means to make sure that folks have enough to eat, the nutrition, the antihunger and nutrition strategies in the farm bill as well. but, unfortunately, the house has not passed it. the -- the leadership in the house i think should consider why we need the farm bill to pass. and they should also conside

mr. casey: mr. president, i rise this morning just before the noon hour to talk about where we are with regard to the end of the year and especially where we are with regard to the -- the focus that we should bring to bear on middle-class families. we have had a lot of discussion in the last couple of weeks about terms like the fiscal cliff and terms like -- that involve tax policy, and all of that is important to debate, but sometimes what's lost in the midst of all that is what's happening to middle-class families. for a lot of them -- and the sense that i have talking to folks in pennsylvania is that they -- they have been asking people like me to do at least two things. number one is to try to work together to get agreements, not just in the near term but over a long period of time, and number two, and not in second place, they are as fervent about this as they are about number one, and they say to me

. >> thank you, mr. casey. >> i agree with the sentiments of senator rubio and his reference to senator lugar, except since we were both in high school at the same time, and did not get that message. did a wonderful job for a lot of years, and we respect you. both senator corker and senator rubio talk about some of the events. however, they assumed that everyone already knew -- and it is a narrative for us to put these things in the record, so we know what signs were out there. i am referring to the one sentence on the report that says the board found that intelligence provided no immediate, specific tactical warning of the september 11 attacks. i will run over some of these things and ask you both if you agree with that statement. it is more than a yes or no answer, you could do it for the record. in april, two former security guards for the consulate in benghazi through ied's over the consulate fence. in june, militants detonated an explosive of the perimeter gate of the benghazi consulate, blowing a hole th

mr. casey: just a couple of points. when you look at the economic impact of what happens in families when they have dollars to spend, the payroll tax cut put a thousand dollars on average in the pockets of most families in america. families making under $150,000 are responsible for almost 82% of consumer spending. so the reason we're creating jobs with the payroll tax cut or a tax credit, the idea i mentioned before, is because you're giving consumers, families and small businesses the opportunity to create jobs because of economic activity. i did mention the -- the job impact of the payroll tax cut created or saved 400,000 jobs in the last year. and did -- didn't in any way harm the social security trust fund. in fact, it enhanced our ability to have more payroll revenue over time because of that job creation. so i think we should do both, continue the payroll tax cut as well as have a tax credit for businesses so that if they hire in year one versus the year -- or a year after the year that the credit is in place, tha

casey. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i want to reiterate what has been said by many on this panel today about senator lugar's great leadership, and been a mentor to someone those even when he didn't even know his being a a mentor, and great example to us. grateful for his service to and i hope you'll continue to serve in another capacity for many capacities. we also, i want to express again the condolences that i have, i know, so many of us in this room about the loss the state department suffered, ambassador stevens and the others who were killed. and that's why the questions that we are debating are so grave and so meaningful. as reflecting upon the challenge that you both have and the state department has in light of the report, and in light of the subject matter that led to the report, because of that i guess you try to think in your own mind what experiences are relevant to inform the question that you have, or the points that you want to make. to are relevant in my life. one is traveling that i've done across t

casey. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i want to reiterate what has been said by many on this panel today about senator lugar's great leadership, and been a mentor to someone those even when he didn't even know his being a a mentor, and great example to us. grateful for his service to and i hope you'll continue to serve in another capacity for many capacities. we also, i want to express again the condolences that i have, i know, so many of us in this room about the loss the state department suffered, ambassador stevens and the others who were killed. and that's why the questions that we are debating are so grave and so meaningful. as reflecting upon the challenge that you both have and the state department has in light of the report, and in light of the subject matter that led to the report, because of that i guess you try to think in your own mind what experiences are relevant to inform the question that you have, or the points that you want to make. to are relevant in my life. one is traveling that i've done across t

mr. gates' determination. but he went through a lot. he appointed a five-member panel led by general george casey, the army chief of staff, to review reportsbattle, because they take this very seriously, the medal of honor, as they should. and also that panel included a medal of honor recipient, a retired military neurosurgeon and two forensic pathologists and based on their unanimous conclusion that rafael's action did not meet the standard of, quote, no margin of doubt or possibility of error in terms of deserving this medal. >> right. megyn: that's why secretary gates decided not to award -- >> you're absolutely right. but none of those gentlemen were in the room facing the combat that rafael and his marines faced. that's where you have a problem here. and let me tell you about secretary gates. you should the bush administration -- under the bush administration, not a single medal of honor was given to a living recipient. you had over 246 medals of honor in vietnam, only 10 have been given -- all posthumously -- under the bush administration to living recipients now, but only ten since 9/11. that's kind of the broader picture here. secr

mr. levin: madam president, i call up a list of 13 amendments which have been cleared by myself and senator mccain -- coats amendment number 2923 as modified by changes at the desk, webb amendment numbered 2943, casey amendment numbered 2997 as modified by changes at the desk, cardin amendment numbered 3023, wicker amendment numbered 3121 as modified by changes at the desk, portman amendment numbered 3142, webb amendment numbered 3144, corker amendment numbered 3172 as modified by changes at the desk, lieberman amendment numbered 3276, lautenberg amendment numbered 3298, blunt amendment numbered 3278 as modified by changes at the desk, rockefeller amendment numbered 2996, reid amendment of nevada, numbered 3047 as modified by changes at the desk. i ask consent further, madam president, that the senate consider these amendments en bloc, the amendments be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. levin: i move to reconsider -- i think we did that already, so i yield the floor. i thank all of our colleagues for their cooperation. we will continue until vote on final package, which we expect tomorrow, to continue to try to c

mr. casey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senior senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: i want to thank senator toomey for reading the first half of our names. i'll continue with 20 more names. sergeant derrick lee shanfield, united states marine corps, hastings, pennsylvania. sergeant first class robert james fike, united states army. sergeant first class brian allen hoover, united states army, west elizabeth. sergeant joseph davis caskey, united states marine corps, pittsburgh. lance corporal joshua thomas twigg, united states marine corps, be indiana. corporal joshua alexander hartin, united states army, bethlehem. lance corporal ralph john fabree, united states marine corps. staff sergeant david g. weigel, united states army, philadelphia, pennsylvania. corporal eric michael torbit, jr., united states marine corps, lancaster. corporal gerald lee king, united states army, eerie. sergeant robert curtis sisson jr., united states army, alaquippa. sergeant first class john frances kim, united states army, philadelphia. first sergeant kenneth brian ellwell, united st