begich is a democrat.esident obama, the problem is the best person to do that is the republican. >> well, i mean i think you can have some contrast with the white house and you don't have to be a republican for that. i look at elizabeth warren and i think that she's not fighting the white house, but she's certainly forging her own path. >> that's a much more subtle approach. >> using the term thorning, there's a destructiveness, a negative versus, hey, i don't agree with him, here's where i step away from him versus the words "thorn in his side" means i'm here to stop him. >> it sounds like somebody who is scared. >> the public doesn't want that. they want more than somebody that's a thorn in somebody's side. >> begich said in may, i'm going to make president obama irrelevant in the state of alaska. that's kind of the theme of his campaign, talking about the president of his own party. >> i want to get to david ignatius. scientists believe that they may be able to detect the early onset of alzheimer's in o

sand sand thank you, senator begich. and with that, i would yield the floor. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. cornyn: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, there's no question that immigration is one of the toughest, most device i have issues that -- divisive issues that we talk about here in washington, d.c., perhaps because it is an economic issue; it involves cultural considerations; and it also includes security concerns. i.t. noit's not just any one ofe things. it's, basically, all of those things wrapped into one. at the same time, i've been impressed by the fact that the ongoing border crisis that's been ongoing in texas has produced a moment of bipartisan consensus and clarity, which are rare when we talk about immigration. for example, we all agree that the united states must continue to uphold the rule of law, that all of us are better off, including the people who want to come to the united states as immigrants, if they can come through a legal system and not -- in an orderly way, and not in a flood of humanity that has surrendered

. >> mark begich is trying to localize the race successfully. part of the reason is there is not a nominee yet. >> isn't there -- >> they have to have a primary. there's been a lot of focus on mark begich not yet on the republican. >> there is a down side. we know one other thing. once a party picks a nominee. >> they poll less. >> they unite. >> theoretically. >> landrieu is doing the same thing. she's running -- >> didn't she get a big endorsement? >> she got big oil there. she -- >> she's pro keystone. >> right. she has a big chairmanship as well. you do see folks incumbents running loek lieds races but also using the power of incumbency to say, listen, i'm the folks who have the chairmanships, who can get stuff done in washington. >> you have sentiments i share occasionally. i think there is optimism on the way. i don't know about the glass ceiling for president. if hillary wins it, it could be smashed. there are states it doesn't hurt you to be the woman. gillibrand and so on. regardless of part i'm looking at joanie ernst running the castr

yes. >> you all have -- senator begich and blumenthal, do you have this in your folders? i'd just like to have it passed to each of you i've circled the word liability and it's unbelievable. i can't read any of it. >> neither could we. >> at the beginning of the voyage, to provide safety information at a, quote, muster drill to help passengers prepare for an emergency, like a fire or a wreck. this information helps passengers prepare and no what to do in the event of an emergency. my question for the panel, many of you experienced emergency situations that you were unprepared for. did the cruise line discuss any information about what to do in a medical emergency? i'm asking any of you. >> senator, no. in my situation, no. the cruise line did not. >> and in our situation as well, senator, no. and it would be very simple to simply just add, oh, by the way, our medical infirmary is on ya-da, ya-da floor. we had no idea where to go. >> the obvious question is, if you had this information, that might have helped, right? >> if we had the information, we could have saved her li

yes. >> you all have -- senator begich and blumenthal, do you have this in your folders? i'd just like to have it passed to each of you i've circled the word liability and it's unbelievable. i can't read any of it. >> neither could we. >> at the beginning of the voyage, to provide safety information at a, quote, muster drill to help passengers prepare for an emergency, like a fire or a wreck. this information helps passengers prepare and no what to do in the event of an emergency. my question for the panel, many of you experienced emergency situations that you were unprepared for. did the cruise line discuss any information about what to do in a medical emergency? i'm asking any of you. >> senator, no. in my situation, no. the cruise line did not. >> and in our situation as well, senator, no. and it would be very simple to simply just add, oh, by the way, our medical infirmary is on ya-da, ya-da floor. we had no idea where to go. >> the obvious question is, if you had this information, that might have helped, right? >> if we had the information, we could have saved her li

chairman. >> thank you, senator begich. senator heller, you'll have additional time because you didn't make remarks. >> what i want to is submit opening remarks to the record. i'll keep this on a timly show. >> one of the few senator who wants less time than being offered. >> having said that, if i go over, please don't cut me off. having said that, thank you for holding this hearing, both the chairman and ranking member. at risk of irritating you like senator begich claimed, you know i'll be talking about backlog statistics and certainly appreciate a rescheduling of the hearing on the backlog information. i'll talk about that in just a minute. i am looking at the latest statistics. i want to thank you for being here, secretary, and smartest guy in the room, phillip here, for taking some time. but i'm looking at the latest average days of completion. and i bring this up because reno has the worst va regional office in the country, and i've been hitting on this and hitting on this. i think it's a management problem. i don't

so one of the campaigns that that article talked about was mark begich in alaska. he has a unique story to tell. starts with his father and his history and legacy of public service and also his own sort of doggedness at getting things done for alaska. those were stories that we could tell using senator begich and having him really tell his own story. no ad maker behind the scenes making things up, it's really him. and those types of ads do stick out, you know? yes, the negative advertising and comparative advertising by other groups does have an influence on the race, you can't argue that it doesn't. but i think it elevates the importance of the positive advertising because that's really the only chance that voters get to hear from their incumbent or a challenger. >> mark putnam, one of the high wire acts you pulled off was president obama's election eve 30 be -- 30 minute commercial. seven networks, watched by 35 million people. and when i was reading this new york times article, as is often the case, the most interesting sentence is in the second to the last para

one of the campaigns that article talked about was mark begich in alaska.he has a unique story to tell. it starts with a history of public service and also his own doggedness at getting things done for alaska. those were stories we could tell using senator begich and having him really tell his own stories. no ad maker behind the scenes making things up. it's really him and those types of ads do stick out. yes the negative comparative advertising by other groups does help the rays can't argue that it doesn't but it elevates positive advertising because that's the only chance the voters get to hear from their incumbent or challenger. >> mark putnam wanted a high-wire acts he pulled off and obama's election a 30 minute commercial for seven networks watched by 35 million people and when i was reading this "new york times" article as is often the case the most interesting sentences in the second to the last paragraph. i'm going to read it to you and you are going to tell me what it means. it says doma cretz would have worked with him say he can be reluctant to g

yesterday in alaska, democratic senator mark begich described himself to the "washington post" as a sharpbject sent to the capitol to jab at president obama. "sort of, i'll be a thorn in his posterior." senator begich told the "post," "there's times when i'm a total thorn, you know, and he doesn't appreciate it." it makes a certain pure political sense for democratic politicians to steer clear of his party's president when the president is not popular in their home state especially if you're campaigning in a state that obama lost by a lot. what's interesting, though, is h who some of the democrats do think help him this year. president obama lost in kentucky last year by 22 points. he's unpopular in kentucky. last month the democratic hopeful for the senate there brought in senator elizabeth warren instead. alison lundergan-grimes campaigning. elizabeth barren brought her message to kentucky and was happy to have it. today in west virginia where barack obama remains as unpopular as ever, in west virginia where coal is king and obama is seen as the destroyer, in that state today the democr

think mark pryor to mark begich who ran this ad featuring his late father. you have mary landrieu running on political dynasties. there's of course georgia's jason carter, grandson of jimmy, running for governor. and today florida house candidate gwen graham who both agree is the democrats' top 2014 recruit is out with an ad starring her famous political father, bob graham who worked 408 different jobs over 30 years as a way to connect with his constituents. >> i'm gwen graham and dad and i approve this message. i remember when my dad starred the work days. i watched him change, and change in terms of his understanding of people. >> work days keep you in touch with the people most affected by what you do. >> one more variable that we predicted six months ago and now we are seeing the data to confirm it. the public's disgust at washington and their elected leaders is translating into fewer votes. as we told you last week, only 18 million out of the 123 million americans eligible to vote have bothered to do so so far in primaries. overall primary turnout is do

i do think this guy begich is smart out there. i'm going to be a thorn in his ass.ng to play that card because alaska feels itself out there by itself and you better play that culture to your advantage or you're going to lose. i think begich can win because of sticking it to the president on the butt. >> okay. that's one way of putting it. joe, jump in. >> that's his way of putting it. not mine. >> i was just going to say -- no! if you want to cut through with alaska voters, that's a good way to do it or voters anywhere. chris, really quickly. joy was talking about how democrats have been trying for sometime to get white working class americans back on their side in larger numbers. is hillary clinton the candidate that can do that in 2016? can she do that in central pennsylvania and in west virginia? i mean, especially the book tour, i know a lot of people say it's great that she has gotten all of the bad stuff out there. but so much of it was about money. she makes more money in a speech than a lot of people in west virginia make in four years. if she is making $20

the issue that senator begich is racing are very important and that has to do with how we not raid other facilities and steal doctors and psychiatrists but develop more. and the issues are that you guys have a health education assistance program which a needs to be reauthorized and b needs to be significantly increased. right now the maximum you can provide is only 6,000 which doesn't do anything -- 60,000 which doesn't do anybody -- anything for anybody with 200,000. >> for others it's up to 100,000. so the question is have you had a chance to look at that bill and do you support this concept? >> i think we support the concept. we just have to look at the funding requirements associated with it. but the practice is something that would allow us to recruit and retain highly qualified staff. >> i have other questions i will submit for the record. it's just very frustrating when i see a report like this and people think it's a new-found problem and it's been around for ten years and we just need to get after it and deal with it. and it's going to take years to change it. thank you. >> than

so one of the campaigns that that article talked about was mark begich in alaska. he has a unique story to tell. starts with his father and his history and legacy of public service and also his own sort of doggedness at getting things done for alaska. those were stories that we could tell using senator begich and having him really tell his own story. no ad maker behind the scenes making things up, it's really him. and those types of ads do stick out, you know? yes, the negative advertising and comparative advertising by other groups does have an influence on the race, you can't argue that it doesn't. but i think it elevates the importance of the positive advertising because that's really the only chance that voters get to hear from their incumbent or a challenger. >> mark putnam, one of the high wire acts you pulled off was president obama's election eve 30 be -- 30 minute commercial. seven networks, watched by 35 million people. and when i was reading this new york times article, as is often the case, the most interesting sentence is in the second to the last para

begich flat-out said he is not interested in campaigning with president obama.as a multicandidate primary. one is a guy named dan sullivan. he is former commissioner of natural resources in alaska. former states attorney general. he is promising to safely open up alaska energy resources to get economy roaring. democrats in energy states have a huge problem, liberals in their party want to curb energy development and bad news for vulnerable democrats in energy producing states. leland: chief correspondent carl cameron. all politics are local. just a note. i know you're near ed henry office. he has a flag tie. he was all red, white, blue. wait for you for the next live shot. >> i will get there. leland: take care, carl. cheryl: all right. well hurricane arthur is now traveling northeast and the threat is not over yet. what you could expect for this 4th of july, leland. get ready. leland: and a mother drives into a sinkhole, dropping several feet below ground. but, imagine this. that would be a pretty bad day. now her day gets even worse. we're going to tell you wh

thank you very much. >> thank you senator begich. senator blumenthal. >> thank you mr.chairman and thank you for championing this bill which i'm very proud to be a co-sponsor. thank you for having this hearing which gives us an opportunity to really not only express our support and sympathy but also to make you a part of the crusade for this legislation which will really in a sense make something good, pure her thick experiences. i have a family who is a constituent family in greenwich who suffered very tragically a loss that in some ways is reminiscent of yours a loss that is still with them. george smith the fourth vanished, literally disappeared sometime overnight going into july 4 of 9 years ago. he remains missing since 2005. there was blood on the ship when it went into the harbor. the crime scene was never secured lead alone adequately investigated and his death remains a mystery today. much to the understandable consternation of his family. his death is with us still in connecticut. it is a grievous reminder that the rights of people who suffer as victims of cri

well, i've got more questions but my time is up for my first round so i go to senator begich. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, and i appreciate the opportunity to have you all here today and thank you for sharing your story. let me ask you, and i think you gave some suggestions, if i remember my line-up in my writing here. you had suggested aed machines should be more visible or available. i'm not sure if that's the right word. tell me what you mean by that. >> we've been told that carnival does have defibrillators, aeds, but they keep them locked up because they are afraid that the passengers may steal them. >> okay. >> so -- >> and your comment about cpr training to make sure that employees or all employees or employees related to security, or help me understand what you're thinking there, too. >> at the very least, security when people are coming back on board from excursions. >> and there is part of the proposal that the chairman has is to make sure there's information available to potential passengers or customers. let me ask you a question. when you were researching your des

senator begich. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. again, mr. mcdonald, thank you very much for being here. let me, i would be remiss if i did not first brag about my state and invite you to it. as senator from alaska we attempted to look at this problem very complex, it is very complex in a lot of ways. not only health care system, disability delivery claims and basic services, just a laundry list of services. as i said earlier in my comments in the opening was to reshape what we're doing in the va where now we have in alaska 26 agreements with tribes that deliver health care all over alaska. we didn't need legislation. we offered legislation but we worked with the administration to figure this out and the former secretary was bold about it and went on cutting-edge, use your words, that cutting-edge element and i think we're starting to do incredible things wherever veterans are and va reimburses indian health services folks in regards to the delivery of the service. along with that we're using our federally qualified clinics, again a federal r

i'm thinking of begich up in alaska, pryor in arkansas, landrieu in louisiana, second-generation democrats roots in their states. again, it's not just the races but the stakes. if we wake up the wednesday after the first monday in november and see the democrats lost the senate, expect an all-out final assault on president obama. everything he's done, everything he hopes even now to do, and worst, expect government dysfunction like we've never seen it. i can tell you this, we're going to be out there covering this battle for the senate with special fury starting this fall. special fury starting this fall. week after week, in state after state, we're going to let you know exactly where the race is headed. you know it matters. and this is "hardball." >>> tonight, we are "all in." >> do something. >> the humanitarian crisis on the border. >> if you're mad at me for helping people on my own, let's team up. >> the president rallies for a solution, and republicans begin to turn on each other. tonight, the latest from the border including a rick perry photo op for the ages. >>> then new obamacare

but i'm certainly going to work with senator begich and members of this committee on both sides, and in particular, i think it is important to note that i want to work to extend the existing permitting moratorium for fishing boats and -- permitting moratorium for fishing boats an other small vessels. that i can go for. the smaller vessels are one thing. these large ships are another. so i would work with you, mr. chairman, and with senator thune, members certainly -- any other senator that's interested. but i don't want to weaken the clean water act for the good of the health of the people we represent and fight for. so i put that in the record and that's my statement. i'll be voting no and would like to be reflected if i might. >> it will be reflected. >> thank you. >> and any thoughts that you have during the course of the day or the week or the month we'll also put in the record. >> thank you. i think i said my part. >> and also when maria cantwell comes, i want to make sure she has a chance to say something because she opposes it. i call on my distinguished friend from south dako

. >> thank you, senator begich. mr. mcdonald, we are pleased to hear from you. before we do that, let me swear you in, please. doi solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you're going to give better the senate committee on veterans affairs will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god. >> i do. thank you very much. >>> mr. mcdonald, we are pleased to hear your testimony. >> thank you chairman sanders. thank you ravening member, and members here of the committee. thank you for the privilege to address you here today. i'm honored to be seeking the endorsement to become the secretary of veteran affairs. thank you for scheduling this hear so expeditiously. i'd like to introduce my wife of nearly 37 years, dean, who is sitting behind me. we are blessed with a wonderful family. however, only dean was able to be here today. >> i thank you for the fine is. >> to make ohio greater. i very much appreciate the confident of president obama, and i'm fully committed to fulfilling this charge to me, that's to transform the department into an org

dan sullivan who is one of four gop primary rivals committed to more energy production and booting begich. in colorado mark udall opposes keystone. in michigan liberal billionaire tom styer super p.a.c. is making the environment an issue. the democrats senate candidate is congressman gary peters. >> this is about our nation's independence. >> reporter: michigan republican secretary of state argues democratic opposition possible energy development makes u.s. independence from foreign oil more difficult and undercuts the economy. in maine green politics by the opposition could help re-elect republican incumbent governor. his democratic rival backs climate change legislation and so does a third candidate an independent who helped draft the clean air and water acts back in the 1970s. he could take democrat and green votes. democrats are trying to energize liberal voters but opposing energy development under cuts democrats in energy producing states and could end up helping republicans. >> we'll have to see, carl. thank you. >>> tea party republican who lost last week's senate primary in missi

and so we have mark pryor from arkansas, north carolina senator kay hagan, marry landrieu and mark begichy, very much, kate rogers. we'll have a lot more on this tonight. meanwhile, you're sounding off over this guy dozing off. tweet dreams next. you know that dream... on my count. ...the one where you step up and save the day? make it happen. (crowd) oh no... with verizon xlte. hey guys, i got it right here! we've doubled our 4g lte bandwidth in cities coast to coast. so take on more. with xlte. on the largest, most reliable 4g lte network. >>> this is a weird reaction. this yankee fan suing as we were gist updating you. fell asleep at a yankee game. everybody is making fun of him. he's suing for $10 million. loni says i want to sue this guy for wasting court time. susan disagrees. espn should give him a cash settlement. the champ chimes in, the guy has no case. just give him a pillowcase. frivolous. matthew clearly is not a new york fan. seems like something a yankees fan would do. he thinks you're a red sox fan, hey? this happened at a red sox game you wouldn't feel the same way. i'm n

you have mark begich in alaska saying i don't want him campaigning with me.him to change his policies. >> you're making the same jump. >> i'm showing the ill logic. >> make the same point he is making. that you can exclude it. you can't measure at this point how much or to what degree or whether or not it is the main factor or a subordinate factor, a conscious factor or a subconscious factor. none of us know the answer to that. >> david, get in here. >> well, in the first place i think mr. collier, his mistake was dumb but i don't think he is a racist. he was waving the flag trying to get attention as charles suggests. on the question of whether the opposition to obama is drichbl by racism, i think that's a false charge in this sense. i think the opinion polls about obama's performance in office are driven by performance itself. early in the presidency, he was well over 60%. now he's down in the low 40s. some poll have him in the high 30s. he hasn't changed the color of his skin during that time. it is his performance that has driven a lot of people including

yes. >> you all have -- senator begich and senator blumenthal, do you have this in your folders? i'd just like to have it passed to each of you. i've circled the word liability and it's unbelievable. i can't read any of it. >> neither could we. >> at the beginning of the voyage the cruise lines provide safety -- and this is to anybody -- provide safety information at a, quote, muster drill to help passengers prepare for an emergency like a fire or a wreck. this information helps passengers prepare and no what to do in the event of an emergency. my question for the panel, many of you experienced emergency situations that you were unprepared for. did the cruise lines discuss any information about what to do in a medical emergency? i'm asking any of you. >> senator, no. in my situation, no. the cruise line did not. a

it's senators like mark begich in alaska who has said, quote, i don't need the president to campaign with me. i need him to change some of my policies. >> oh, he is the one not passing legislation. >> hold on, sally, let's be fair there are democrats who are in the swing states where the president is not out there raising money who don't want him with them. that's not a republican conspiracy. that's part of the 55% disapproval rating. look, the 55%, according to the cnn poll disapproves. that's includes people who voted for the president. >> so kellyanne, his problem isn't the members of congress who said they weren't going to do anything the president tried to implement, that they were going to make him a one-term president and not go along, that's not his problem? his bigger problem is democrats? >> he's got plenty of problems, don. let's not stop at one or two. >> 99, i think. >> but we can only blame republicans for a guy who was criticized by a democratic congress recently for playing pool and having a beer with the governor of colorado, that's henry cuellar who made the stateme

reid, hagan, leahy, kaine, king, carper, nelson, tester, murray, mccaskill, begich, whitehouse, heinrich, stabenow, harkin, udall of new mexico and donnelly. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to calendar number 438, s. 2244. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: motion to proceed to the consideration of s. 2244, bill to extend the termination date of the terrorism insurance program, and so forth and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i want the record to reflect how much i appreciate the hard work of the senator from north carolina, senator hagan, working on this bipartisan bill. she did it with the ranking member of the energy and natural resources committee, senator murkowski, and they have done good work coming up with this bill. but, mr. president, the senator from alaska spoke this morning about her desire for consideration of amendments. typical,

coburn, and johanns, on the committee, and noncommittee members hirono, king, frank in, baldwin, begich, landrieu, heinrich and udall. we seem to be making progress in that regard. there's widespread recording that the white house is considering a list of candidates for the federal reserve with community banking experience, but this specific mandate, just one member, very modest mandate, would help ensure that that happens and would help ensure that that regularly happens into the future, to reverse this trend, to get more balance on the federal reserve board. and this is very important in the context of the too-big-to-fail debate. too-big-to-fail helped lead to the crisis several years ago in the banking industry. it helped lead to the massive bailouts of mega institutions. and unfortunately, i am one who believes -- and there are many, many others -- that too-big-to-fail is alive and well today. that in some ways dodd-frank institutionalized too-big-to-fail. it did not end too-big-to-fail in any way. we need to do a number of things to even the playing field, to make it fair for small

mark begich has never had an amendment or a roll call vote on the senate floor. i want to say kay hagan has only 15 bills that she sponsored and cosponsored after signing the law. the sportsman's package last week was one of her first national initiatives. these candidates have fewer and fewer things to run on. they have to run on big national priorities like obamacare so how is the president doing? people remain pessimistic about the track of the country. approval continues to be in the wrong direction. double digits in the wrong direction for obama. you can see independent voters decidedly oppose this president. when a president gets a cold nationally he gets pneumonia in the states that we care about. how does he look historically? to conceal bomb is trailing one past president and you can see historical trends. unlikely we see obama get up to them the mid-45 or 60s but we can make a legitimate case. what is dominating? economy jobs deficit obamacare is still in the mix. you can see the track heading back towards march has been fairly stable. .. >> as we said,

former senator gregg andersen utters begich and co-have reduced what still is the fact that only bipartisan federal income tax overhaul in almost 30 years. now i would be the first to say that senators here have differing views about how to go about enacting tax reform. let's however recognize that what really counts is the finance committee is in fact year when taken discussing inversion a decade from now. comprehend the tax reform has to happen to. the outbreak of inversions show that without jury did is not and for all, the illness is going to keep plaguing the american economy. it is going to get tougher to create those good wage, red white and blue american jobs. our tax base is going to keep her rotating. piles trapped overseas will grow. investment will be driven elsewhere. the finance committee invited the numbers he is remembered in companies to join our discussion today. none accepted our invitation. i hope these executives will change their mind and be willing to the other question to finance committee members have about this issue. the fact is without immediate comprehensive tax

. >> thank you, senator begich. mr. mcdonald, we are now pleased to hear from you. but before we do that let me swear you in, please. >> now we are very pleased to hear your testimony. >> thank you, chairman sanders, thank you ranking member bur, swished members of the can he on veterans affairs and veterans here and across the country. thank you for the privilege of addressing you today. i am honored to be before you seeking your endorsement to become the secretary of veterans affairs. thank you for scheduling this hearing so expeditiously. i would like to introduce my wife of nearly 37 years who is sitting behind me. we are blessed with a wonderful family, however only deian was able to be here today. i would also like to thank senators brown and senator portman for their kind introductions and for their friendship and their partnership over the many years that we have worked together to make ohio greater and to make the proctor and gamble company greater. i very much appreciate the confidence of president obama in this nomination and i am fully committed to fulfi

with former senator gregg and current senators begich and coates, we have produced which still is the senate's only bipartisan federal income tax overhaul in almost 30 years. now, i'd be the first to say that senators here have differing views about how to go about enacting tax reform. let's, however, recognize that what really counts is that the finance committee isn't back here once again discussing inversions a decade from now. comprehensive tax reform has to happen soon. the outbreak of inversion showed that without curing the disease once and for all, the illness is going to keep plaguing the american economy. it's going to get tougher to create those good wage red, white and blue american jobs. our cash base is going to keep eroding. cash piles overseas there grow. investments will be driven elsewhere. now, the finance committee invited a number of ceos from the inverting companies to join our discussion today. none accepted our invitation. i hope that these executives will soon change their minds and be willing to answer questions that finance committee members have about this

klobuchar, murray, sanders, harkin, durbin, udall of new mexico, casey, murphy, baldwin, tester, begich, whitehouse, levin, coons. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent, mr. president, that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the senator from california. mrs. boxer: mr. president, i'm very proud to be on the floor this evening with some colleagues who i greatly respect, and we have been working so hard across party lines to call the nation's attention to the problems that we're facing funding our transportation system. now, we all know there are many things in the world we can't control, and many that are causing tremendous frustration. i went home this weekend, and my constituents come up to me, and they said, senator, we can't even look at the television set. the tragedies that are unfolding. and they feel that, as i do -- and i know our president does -- that these tragedies that we are witnessing have been born out of historic animosities, and it's very difficult. if we could wave our wand and make things better in

i encourage all of my colleagues to join me and senator murphy and begich and walsh and white house and markey, supporting this commonsense step. the fact of the matter is it is going to take a comprehensive approach to make sure real people are in charge. whether it is elections or health care people must be free to make their own choices without the undue influence of corporate enemies. it was 100 years earlier we also voted to limit corporate influence in elections after wealthy mining companies bought influence and even paid for a u.s. senate seat. we recognize the negative impact of wealthy corporations are having on our electoral process, but this supreme court, using its citizens united decision as justification, overturned our century old show years ago creating the same ecollection free fall -- election free fall spending in montana we're witnessing nationwide. before the hobby lobby decision the supreme court ruling was about making sure real people with real ideas were in charge of elections. now it is no longer just about a democracy. it is about keeping private corporations