center baggage, it is great to be with you. -- senator begich is a new friend.and i have worked on a number of bills bill -- dealing with women's issues, the assistance program, and things like that. congratulations and thank you for being here, cmdr. we appreciate you sell much and your testimony was great. i also want to thank peggy for all she has done. we know who really does the work amongst the group. i have a wife and three daughters, so i am very aware of that. but we do appreciate all that you do. and also, i thought it was so nice mentioning your wife, your partner and friend. my dad did 20 years in the air force. i think -- it is so representative that when you are in the military, it is not just an individual thing. it takes the whole family. and so, we appreciate your being here and representing that also. i want to recognize our folks from arkansas and the state commander mary irvin is here. thank you for being here. and steve do we appreciate you also much and all you do to work so hard for veterans and the state of arkansas. certainly this is a v

boxer: i ask unanimous consent that lee hasan, a fellow from senator begich's office be granted floor privileges. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the lieberman amendment numbered 3090 to be called up with the modification that is at the desk, that the amendment as modified be agreed to, that following disposition of the lieberman amendment, it be in order for the following amendments to be called up -- ayotte number 3245 on guantanamo and feinstein number 3018 on detainees. that there be up to 20 minutes of debate equally divided on the ayotte amendment. upon the use or yielding back of time on the ayotte amendment, there be up to 60 minutes on the debate equally divided on the feinstein amendment. further, that at 9:30 p.m. this e

this is the theme of the obama presidency that when you need 50 vose and chief of the president mark begich of alaska, nothing is going to happen unless it is acceptable to him and it is a high wire act. if you don't think there was enough horsetrading you have to read the chapter is where rahm emanuel was going to work on this thing. the bottom line is they went in and they said we want and 80/20 of what congress wants and congress can get 20%. the end up getting 85/90. and they did in that falling of with another $700 billion worth of additional stimulus over the next two years. of course obama didn't make a speech saying i want another stimulus because then it's like everybody is getting the stimulus. and it wasn't easy because he was facing a very hostile republican party even on things like unemployment benefits and the small business tax cuts that have always been central to the bipartisan philosophies. but, it's hard to see how he could have gotten a lot more. we can't run a double blind study of the different political economies where she communicated better and i definitely talk ab

i'm pleased this amendment is cosponsored by senators akaka, boxer, begich, durbin, harkin, leahy, mikulski, and mccaskill and tester p. i might point out there is no such provision included in the house ndaa bill. i would like to note what this amendment does not do. it would not prevent the department of defense from downsizing the civilian work force, indeed according to the house armed services committee, the department is already reducing its civilian work force by over 10,000 positions in fy 2012 alone. it would not treat service contractors any different than civilian employees. the goal of this amendment is pretty simple. i would reaffirm the law that prohibits d.o.d. from managing its civilian work force by arbitrary constraints. that's what this provision that i am asking to be stricken by my amendment, would do. it would set caps and cuts. downsizing is inevitable but consistent with the law. it should be based on the work load analysis and the budgets that are provided through the congressional process. this would repudiate the whole notion that what happens in qun department's

president, i would ask unanimous consent that senators hagan, kerry, begich and franken be added to my amendment, numbered 2985. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i believe we are reaching the end of our time designated to debate this amendment. the presiding officer: all the democratic time has expired. mr. udall: i would like to add a couple final remarks to the remarks i made earlier. i think we have heard a compelling reason to remove section 313 from the national defense authorization act, national security, energies security. let's stand with our military leadership, let's stand with our n.c.o.'s, let's stand with our enlisted personnel and ensure the military can continue to invest in this very important area of energy security which will save lives, create economic opportunity and make sure that we can project force abroad and protect the values we hold so dear. i urge my colleagues to vote for this amendment. i think at 2:00 we have a tentative agreement. with that, i would yield the floor. mr. levin: it's not a tentative agreement. there is a

senators murray, shaheen, bingaman, hagan, kerry, begich and tom udall have joined me in cosponsoringhis legislation. we as senators and americans frequently acknowledge the service and sacrifice of our troops, but i would also point out that they are incredibly smart, insightful and forward thinking. in order to keep ahead of current enemies and future threats, our military leaders must be students of history. they have to understand the past in order to predict the future. they have to be ready to face challenges from the air, sea and land and now increasingly from the cyber domain. they must prepare to defend our nation from hostile nation states like iran and from terrorist organizations like al qaeda. in order to do all of these things, madam president, they must have the best technology in the world. we must also provide them with the flexibility to adapt to an ever-changing landscape and the resources they need to research, develop, and employ new technologies. that is our solemn commitment and i would offer our solemn responsibility to those who fight on our behalf. they place

the begich amendment number 32 3290. mr. mccain: those have been cleared by our side. mr. levin: now i ask consent that these amendments be considered en bloc, the amendments be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? hearing no objection, so ordered. mr. levin: again, i thank the presiding officer. mr. mccain: mr. president, i'd also like to thank the presiding officer for his patience and long period of time in the chair today. and we obviously have a couple of members of the media who have no other lives. mr. levin: i want to thank senator mccain. he very humorously, with his great good nature kind of joshes himself comparing his patience to mine. it's -- my starn is not the one that anybody -- my standard is not the one that anybody wants to follow around here. we're never get anything done. he's more than patient. and i'm very grateful that he is standing there and sitting right in that ranking position. and i hope he stays in that ranking position for, in some committee at least, for many, many, many yea

my cosponsors include senator akaka, mikulski, begich, brown of ohio, boxer, leahy and tester. i would ask my colleagues to approve the amendment. mr. mccain: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: this amendment which was unanimously approved by the committee as a provision and it would review the plan to reduce civilian and contractual personnel by 5%. right now the president's budget request, not counting sequester, would reduce military personnel by 123,900 men and women serving in the military, or 5.5% over five years. since 2001, the civilian personnel and department of defense has increased by 100,000, 16% increase, and a 37% increase in civilian pay costs. the department of defense continues to be top-heavy with headquarters. the office of the secretary will grow by 25% from 2001 to 2017. we all know the department of defense is being downsized so there has to be obviously a commensurate reduction in civilians, which is actually less than what is contemplated in the military. this was unanimously reported, and i have had conversation

i also asked our colleagues to join -- i should say ask other colleagues to join senators begich, gillibrand and i on amendment numbered 2952 that seeks to prevent the military from using a back-door brac process to substantially reduce or close bases, especially without justifying to congress their intentions. on behalf of pennsylvania's air force reserve, i will continue to fight for a reasoned and balanced restructuring of the air force. the second issue i wanted to raise was the so-called t.a.a. program. we know that our long-term strategic interests must also secure the future of service members and veterans alike. today i have introduced an amendment that provides tans to our service members and their families. it's amendment numbered 2297, the transition assistant advisors program, so-called t.a.a. program. it seeks to make permanent an increase the numbers of transition assistance advisors in every state. these advisors coordinate resources for the reserve components members and their families to help these individuals and a half the -- navigate the myriad of service programs provide