of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable christopher murphy, a senator from the state of connecticut, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i move to proceed to calendar number 243. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to the consideration of calendar number 243, s. 1356, a bill to amend the workforce investment act of 1998, and so forth and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president, following my remarks and those of the republican leader, the senate will be in morning business until 4:00 this afternoon. at 4:00 the senate will resume consideration of the national defense authorization act. at 5:00 p.m. the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of patricia millett to be united states circuit judge for the d.c. circuit postcloture. at 5:30 the senate will vote on confirmation of the millett nomination. mr. president, i think there are four bills, and t

senators, christopher murphy and john mccain. tonight, senator murphy finds me from apical little. -- senator murphy joins me from capitol hill. get involved in what was an internal ukrainian dispute? it comes to decisions the ukraine makes, it is in the u.s. interest for ukraine to orient itself towards europe. it is also in the american interest to promote human rights across the globe and senator mccain and i decided to make the strip only after the anna kovacic government -- after the ovych government had a brutal crackdown. we did not hear what we wanted to hear when it came to the orientation toward the european union, but there are big interest for the united states and the ukraine today. >> as we have been reporting during the course of this week, the thousands of people in independence square to want closer ties with europe. there are millions of ukrainians who would prefer closer ties with russia. not claim it is a 95/ five proposition. it is clear that there are hundreds of thousands of people who turned out on that sq

senators john mccain and christopher murphy marched with the demonstrators in a show of solidarity. >>> a ten-day mourning period following nelson mandela's d&-p. the anti-apartheid icon buried yesterday in a small rural village that was his ancestral home. abc's alexander marquardt reports. ♪ >> reporter: it was the solemn march that marked the end of nelson mandela's long walk to freedom. in the auditorium, 95 candles burned. one for each year of his life. boldfaced names filled the audience, oprah winfrey next to richard branson and prince charles. mandela's casket stood atop traditional cow skins. his long life celebrated with the pomp and ceremony due to south africa's greatest son. it was a day of deep sorrow. the country's mourning perhaps best summed up by mandela's close friend and fellow robben island inmate. >> now i have lost a brother. my life is in a void, and i don't know who to turn to. thank you very much. >> reporter: a void that south african s tell us can never be filled. after a week of celebrating mandela's life with singing and dancing it is only now that many s

john mccain and christopher murphy voiced support for the movement in kiev. you thee here to tell american people and the united states congress stand with the people of ukraine. >> i am a republican, senator murphy is a democrat. we are here speaking for the american people in solidarity with you. the eu now says that suspended negotiations over the unreasonable demands. thousands rallied in india sunday in a protest over a new band of homosexual sex. the ban was struck down four years ago but was renewed after the indian supreme court held of a section of the penal code. protests were held in cities across india. minor -- here, the mainstream and the minor voice to stand up. what they are doing is against human rights in all respects. that theofficial says government should consider giving amnesty to edward snowden. rick ledgett said that amnesty could be given if snowden returned all the documents obtained. >> what were your thoughts on making a deal? personal, it is worth having a conversation. i would need assurances that the rest of the data could be se