just this morning here in the the the senate, senators bingaman and murkowski held a bipartisan hearing on the devastates effects of sea level rise on coastal communities. so it's good that some leaders on both sides of the aisle are starting to talk about the terrible consequences of climate change. however, the special interests who control so much of what goes on around here and who deny that carbon pollution causes global temperatures to increase and deny that melting ice caps will raise our seas to dangerous levels, still have a strong hold. dr. pilke writing in the "charlotte observer" wrote that the deniers' influence is tragically starting to influence local planning decisions, despite what he called new studies that predict higher than previously predicted sea level rise and storm surge levels in coming decades. he concludes, "preservation of the status quo, including real estate prices, may prevail on our coasts, but in a democratic society such as ours, the state has no right to shield citizens from unpleasant environmental realities." in the face of so much evidence constant

then he joined bingaman caution. he has won a number of important cases against the likes of the joyce estate and yoko ono -- it did not matter what side we were taking as long as he beat yoko. [laughter] he argued with less success at the supreme court this year. he has repeatedly been recognized as one of the top lawyers anin the country. next, at the far end of the table, he is the william h. neukom professor of law and the director of the stanford program in science and technology. he earned his be a hearing stanford in 1988. he clerked for dorothy nelson in the ninth circuit. he moved to stanford in 2005. it is difficult to introduce mark in brief. question that he is the leading academic in the field of patents. but he may also be the leading practitioner in the field as well. while publishing seven books and a two-volume treatise and 22 full articles, he has a healthy practice, having argued callous cases in the district courts and courts of appeal. the list of awards that mark has earned over the years go too

i remember the great work of senator jeff bingaman, working hand-in-hand with senator pete domenici. we did some great things together. the polarization that we see now in the united states congress, especially in the house of representatives, is troublesome and many are just say no. that is absolutely the wrong thing to do. what they ought to be doing is saying that we have significant energy challenges here in america. gas prices and the oil and gas future of america are tremendously important, and there are a number of things we can do. instead of spending their time politicking and trying to get an upper hand in an imagined world. what they should do is work on real solutions. >> what do you say to critics who say that the u.s. is not issuing oil drilling permits quickly enough? >> you know, i think you will find critics that will make those false charges against this administration. 1500 permits have been processed through the bureau of land management just in the last few years. we have done and lived through a national crisis. we have issued over 100 permits to drill into the

i remember the great work of senator jeff bingaman working hand in hand with senator pete domenici, and we did some great things together. and so the polarization that we see now in the united states congress, especially in the house of representatives, is troublesome. i think the view of just saying no is absolutely the wrong thing to do. what they ought to be doing is saying we have significant energy challenges here in america, gas prices and the oil and be gas future of -- oil and gas future of america are tremendously important, and there are a number of things we could do. so instead of spending their time politicking and trying to get an upper hand through a imagined world what they should do is to work on real solutions. >> what do you say to critics who say that the u.s. is not issuing oil drilling permits quickly enough? >> you know, i think that you'll find critics that will make those false charges against this administration but frankly just over the last three years 15,500 permits have been processed through the bureau of land management. just in the last few years, we hav

the bingaman amendment, rather than rewarding, pursuing alternative funding for roads, it will punish the state and take away portions of their federal funding. nevada will lose $66 million. in these challenging fiscal times, public-private partnerships represents an exciting option to many states to better leverage their federal transportation dollars. congress should take positive steps to encourage innovative financing strategies by public-private partnerships rather than penalizing them. the only way to fully address our infrastructure needs is to involve the private sector, the federal government can't do everything. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from west virginia. mr. rahall: madam speaker, i'm pleased to yield at this time two minutes to our distinguished ranking member on the water resources and environment committee, the gentleman from new york, mr. bishop. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york for two minutes. mr. bishop: thank you very much, madam speaker. and i thank mr. rahall for yielding. i rise to speak in support of the motion to

bingaman: mr. president, i call up amendment number 2076. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from new mexico, mr. bingaman, proposes amendment numbered 2076. mr. bingaman: i'd ask consent that further reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, the senator is recognized. mr. bingaman: mr. president, this senator is cosponsored with senator udall, would require that state liasons for states that do not have district offices in them be located within the states that they represent. this is a commonsense amendment. there are ten states that will not have district offices in them as currently contemplated. they're operated out of district offices in adjacent states. the substitute amendment would require the postal service to designate at least one employee to be a state liaison. and this amendment i'm offering here says that that person must be located within the state they represent. i ask all my colleagues to support this. i don't see any ba

bennet-blunt, 2047, corker 2083, mikulski 2003, akaka, 2049, paul 2025, manchin 2079, paul 2026, bingaman 2076, paul 2027, cardin, 2040, paul 2028, carper 2065, paul 2029, carper 20 of 6, paul 2039, paul 2038, landrieu 2072, demint 2046, mccaskill to 30, coburn 2059, pryor 2036, rockefeller, 2073, rockefeller 2074, schumer 2050, tester 2032, and warner 2071, with the modification agreed to by the two managers. on use it dirks april 25 t-4, at a time to be determined by the majority leader, the senate vote in rielings to the amendments in the order lists, that there be two minutes equally divided in the usual form prior to each vote. all after the first vote be 10 minutes, that the amendments be semiconductorred to a fao affirmative vote threshold, the substitute as modified or amendments listed -- i'm sorry, mr. president, let me start over again because i misread a line. on tuesday, april 24, at a time to be determined by senator reid, the senate vote in relation to the amendments in the order lists, there be two minutes listed in the usually form prior to each vote, all after the first

so, senators leahy, bingaman, brown, whitehouse, coons, blumenthal and i are introducing a bill that would guarantee just that. our bill, the patient safety and generic labeling improvement act, would allow generic drug makers to update their warnings -- allow them to update their warnings to accurately reflect the known risks associated with their drugs. that's it. it wouldn't require them to do so. it just lets them do what other drug manufacturers already are allowed to do. our bill says that millions of americans who are taking generic drugs are entitled to the same protections as people who take brand-name drugs and says that people like gladys mensing are entitled to their day in court when manufacturers fail to disclose risks. i thank senator leahy for his leadership on this issue and urge my colleagues to join with us in supporting this commonsense fix. thank you, mr. president, and i yield the floor. and would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the se