senator gillibrand and i have just labeled her the engineer. she led that train down the track speedily, without flaw but carefully and was a great leader. senator landrieu, the chair of the homeland security subcommittee, was incredible in giving us advice and help, and even in those darkest days was there for us, and the other subcommittee leaders, senator leahy, senator feinstein, senator murray all made sure that this package became a reality. their staffs, charlie hoye, lila helms, gabby baffer and alex keenan were great. and of course my good friend, truly one of the closest friends i have and a great leader of this place who understood the need and went out of his way for us, senator reid, was invaluable. it wouldn't have happened without him or his amazing floor staff led by gary myrick and tim mitchell who really gave us tremendous advice and help. so i want to thank them. and finally, i want to thank my republican colleagues across the aisle for putting aside partisanship. we had real differences, but this bill was debated and conduct

it will cause senator gillibrand.e are so happy senator whitehouse just opened the door and were just thrilled that you are here. senator gillibrand, you and i talked on the phone and i know the person you are carrying along with all my colleagues here. i just want to say that the citizens of new york are so lucky to have you been senator schumer's another's carrying the weight of superstore and sandy so we can fix this and is the mitigation we don't see this again. >> thank you, madam chairwoman for holding this hearing today. i can't tell you how important it is for the congress to understand the depth and breadth of this storm and what impact it had. i also appreciate the kind words and your call in the middle of the storm giving your condolences for the dems and families suffering. i also want to thank my colleagues appearing before this panel later in this hearing. senator schumer will comment has been a stalwart advocate for new york and the rest of our delegation as well. i want to thank you for giving us the o

neither will kirsten gillibrand. they should.ecause they're leaving a lot of their constituents out in the cold on this one. martha: senator schumer's gone so far as to suggest that the rich number should be a million dollars -- >> but where is he? martha: yeah. i guess he was just murmuring that into a corner. [laughter] that is what he's saying, right? not vociferously enough, in your opinion. >> i've heard him say that, but i've not heard him advocate that. kirsten gillibrand is nowhere to be found in all this. listen, i'm not saying we should cry for people who make $250,000 a year, but jest let's put it in context. if you live in california, if you live in new york, if you are a family or four or five, you are not a billionaire as the president says if you make $250,000 a year. it's absurd. martha: charlie, thank you. [laughter] we'll see what kind of impact it has on investing and stocks -- >> it's going to be a problem. look at those -- martha: people want to make money that way. they're going to have to pay almost 4% on t

judd has talked with new york senator gillibrand and a democrat being pollster. judd is honored at being considered. and that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. now a check of your national weather. we turn to bill karins. he has the weather channel forecast for you. which continues to be a little toasty. >> a little balmy. >> put the sunscreen on. nice. >> you probably needed it in some spots. so many stories of flowers and trees and green glass and lack of snow out there. but things have changed. this map shows you where it's gotten colder and warmer compared to this time yesterday. and you notice that chicago is much colder right now. you've returned back to normal winter conditions, while the eastern seaboard is even warmer this morning than it was yesterday. yesterday it was very warm. we are watching a few showers out there, too, but these temperatures, they're not going to get much warmer than this today. unlike yesterday where the sun came out during the afternoon, today the cold front goes through, there will be clouds, showers early, and then th

particularly bernie sanders also carl levin and two other democrats the remainder of them schumer and gillibrand for example from the york where i am and lined up with the republicans on many major public policy issues so that as they campaign as being against the republicans where the rubber hits the road they end up voting with them in a very very few progressive insane members of congress on the other side as in this case well last month the e.u. adopted a resolution urging all member states to accept this act interestingly enough the french ambassador here in most case had the powers is to stay out of it do you think other countries will follow france's late my hope so i mean there's a socialist government so-called anyway in paris and at the very least they have to appear to not be hard core cold warriors even though the soviet union doesn't exist anymore but an interesting backdrop is the t p p meeting this going on in the new zealand right now where they're looking to open up trade in the pacific basin and particularly dealing with issues of copyright piracy and other things that the u.s.

well according to gillibrand peter king they're fighting very very hard for us they've been absolutely incredible for the nine eleven first community and they say it's very unlikely that it will happen. well that's good so what's going on with the feel good foundation and now i mean how can people help i think a lot of people first of all they don't know about this issue really it's kind of under reported michael and i don't think a lot of people really realize what they can do to help i mean they think that the government a lot of these funds and that it's kind of taken care of cases closed well initially the bill was three point seven billion dollars and the only way we could get it passed through congress through the senate was to cut it in half so i believe it's four point eight billion or something close to that. which really isn't a lot for forty thousand people that have been affected by the illness is and by the cloud. well michael e.p.a. chief christine todd whitman of course we all know said in a statement immediately after nine eleven that the air was safe to breathe and obv

we consider them the best guard in the country, senator gillibrand, mr. chairman. they've been out there helping. and i think that's just much of the spirit that we bring here. and we all have to understand that just as importantly as giving those emergency supplies to people, 're now at the next stage. we are at the stage of we building. rebuilding means rebuilding infr >> next, we will hear testimony from the head of amtrak and new jersey transit. this is about 45 minutes. >> we know that you have so much on your hands. the one thing i want to make sure it's -- make certain we understood is the magnitude of the support teams that came in from all over the country. the fact that it took some time to get things going. the devastation was so enormous that when we look back, a lot was done in a relatively short time. you each have major transportation responsibilities and we are glad to have you as experts testifying so you can keep your statements within five minutes, we will allow you a couple of seconds, but otherwise, i would ask you do that. did it amtrac get a

which senator gillibrand asked to be passed. they have been authorized and studied.o, we are very very pleased at all of the aid here. now, a couple of more points. mitigation is in this bill. mitigation around new projects that come out of the blue. there simply existing projects to prevent damage from should another sandy-like storm hit us. this will allow for concrete polls, stormproof polls rather than the wooden poles. it will allow our subway system both at the low lying come under tunnels to put in protections so that the waters want a flood again. and it will allow our hospitals like nyu and coney island and long beach when they rebuild to make sure that they put those extremely expensive machines on higher floors, god forbid there is another flood, they will not be damaged. this is a very strong bill. this is a huge shot in the arm for new york and for the national economy. new york is 10% of the national economy, the new york metropolitan area. we now need the house to act. we are waiting, hoping, and expecting that we will see some action from our house. n

i know senator gillibrand wishes to speak. and the order that we will follow is senator gillibrand will speak as such time as she may consume to be followed by the gentleman from connecticut and such time as he may consume in speaking in behalf of the bill. before the gentlelady speaks, though a word to the gentleman from connecticut. connecticut's been hit twice. first by the hurricane and then by what happened at sandy hook elementary. for those of us who join with you, we just want the people of connecticut to know they're not alone. as the gentleman from new jersey spoke earlier, we are the united states of america. and where there was a disaster in one state we all have to respond as if it were a disaster in all states. the attack on one child in connecticut, we have to protect all children in connecticut and in every single state in this union. and i would hope as we debate those solutions that we really do act in a union the united states of america. once again our sympathy and condolences, and i yield the floor to thes

hov lines crash in anointing gone but working up to 395 with a brand new crescenta edsall road gillibrand the crash at edsall road. >> a man who was sleeping in a dumpster had a really rude awakening. >> imagines that? how [ male announcer ] there are plenty of reasons to be jolly at the chevy year-end event because chevy's giving more. more efficiency with sonic and cruze... m more function in equinox and traverse... more dependability with the legendary silverado... and more style in the all-new malibu. chevy's giving more at the year-end event because 'tis the season. chevy's giving more. this holiday season, get a 2013 cruze ls for around $149 per month or get $500 holiday bonus cash. >> in the day ahead the army psychiatrist charged in the deadly force could shooting rampage is expected in military court. a major nadal house on what a pretrial hearing. in the judge is overseeing his case. the cases been on hold since september when he appealed to the former judge's order to shave his. -- beard. the judge was tossed from the case. >> to a judge will hear arguments whether prosecutors

gillibra gillibrand, it's not easy.st part is never easy. >> if he gets appointed, he'll win. >> i'm with you. i think he wins. does that mean it all goes back to lindsey and conservatives walk away, all rally around tim scott. stick around. i want to get to you on the economy. to the white house now, the november jobs report showed the fifth straight month of job gains, over 100,000. a jobless rate at the lowest level in four years. is it real or is it a mirage? joining me now allen krueger, chairman of the president's council of economic advisers. good morning to you. >> morning. >> obviously this was a jobs report that beat all expectations among economists that were looking and expecting a sandy impact. the labor department says no sandy impact. do you believe in the long 0 run we will look back at this report and not see a sandy impact? >> that's an interesting question, chuck. there was an impact in terms of over a million workers who normally work full time or part time in the reference week. so sandy did leave a

you know, our good friend from louisiana coached, senator menendez, senator gillibrand, senator lautenberg and myself, on what went wrong with katrina, and one of them was that the contracting procedure becomes so arcane and so rigid and so difficult that the contracts either never happen or take much too long to do. now, to expect every contract to be competitively bid, what about emergency contracts? do you want to have a six-month bidding process when on damage you do corrections and 90 days to pick up debris, to build back a beach that might face a storm in 30 days? and second, we in new york have our own competitive bidding requirements. and those can suffice. why have two double sets of them? and sometimes the states and localities have to waive them when there are true emergencies. so sometimes we're putting a -- put in a catch-22 by some of our colleagues. they say you don't spend disaster relief fast enough. you stretch it out over long periods of time. and then they impose requirements that make sure we don't spend the money fast enough. it doesn't make sense. if the amendment by

>> bob casey and kristen gillibrand, let's start with them. the senators who made our list are doing two things. one is that they're either sponsors or voting for bills family friendly. they also have to qualify by having tremendous policies for their own employees. most people don't realize that the employees of senators and representatives are on their own to negotiate their own benefits with their senator or representative employer. so how do they treat their own employees is something that we wanted to look at, too. these senators are giving great maternity benefits, flexible work arrangements and under such tough circumstances because these are extreme jobs, as you all know. >> carol, i was pleased to see you have some republicans on this list and some republican men to boot. what can the party, the gop do to learn from these guys as they try to overcome that so-called war on women that they had to combat over the past years going forward? what great things did these republican guys do that they should take a page from? >> the republicans

christian gillibrand doesn't want to see that happen. dianne feinstein doesn't want to see that happen. it's not going to be 250. some number. there's going to be -- i don't know what it's going to be. the floor is at least 400 because that's out there. my guess is, we're going to be in -- i don't want to say, at least 500 and my guess is it's going to happen and pass and -- but here's the thing. you're talking about 8 days of funding for the united states government. >> right. >> medicare -- >> when spending comes in. >> we have a medicare program where people are paying one third of the cost and 20 million more americans will be on it the next ten years and we have yet to deal with that. >> one other thing that the president said during this interview. he was asked about chuck hagel used to be a republican senator, his name has surfaced as a possible secretary of defense. there have been complaints about him, about some votes he made, vis-a-vis iran and comments he made about gays and some other things he said about israel and here was

. >> last weekon monday or senator kirsten gillibrand delivered testimony on the hill and told storiesof families who lost children to hurricane cindy. those hit hardest by the film testified by the senate environment and public works committee. new york, new jersey, rhode island, maryland and delaware lawmakers talked about the impact in the ongoing recovery efforts. this is two hours and 30 minutes. >> we are here today to receive testimony from members of congress. representatives and senators to represent communities that were the most impacted by destruction left in the wake of superstrong sandy. many communities in the eastern half of our nation were devastated by sandy. countless homes destroyed more than 120 people lost their lives and as representatives of the people affect it, i know our witnesses today will give us clear and graphic testimony that we truly understand what extreme weather can do. certainly we know senators landrieu and vitter brought it home to us in katrina, that these events are happening more and more often and we have to focus on what it means to her peop

i see my great friend, senator gillibrand. >> i appreciate the testimony. i will call on her for her opening remarks, but let me start with you. as you look at the destruction of hoboken and you have homeowners, public facilities, and businesses, transit in the general infrastructure, how are you thinking about organizing the small business recovery? what are the tools you are using in terms of organization? what organizations are you looking to help? have you had this discussion with some of the other mayors about best practices to help your small businesses get back up and running. and in the initial thought about what you said this morning to help people at a time of need? >> as i mentioned, the concern is basically businesses as my fellow panelists have testified to, in this economic climate, the rate is a challenge for businesses that are concerned about taking on 4%. we had meetings with small business administration's, governors, the business action center was there to try to give businesses as much information as possible, but the bottom line is tha

harry reid, the democratic senate, senators like claire mccaskill, senators like gillibra gillibrand,he beginning of january. so why don't -- if the filibuster is so evil and if the republicans are so evil for wielding the filibuster, this is very easy. just make the rules in january. forget filibuster reform. i support getting rid of the entire filibuster. let's wipe it out. so why don't we get the democrats to get rid of the filibuster. make congress work plan, agenda items, and people across the country agree 100%. you get outside of washington, it's a no-brainer. the majority should rule. it's simple. >>> coming 0 up, we're just minutes away from the november jobs report. we're going to bring you those numbers to cnbc's brian sullivan. also republican congressman vern buchanan on set as well as nbc news political director chuck todd and the financial times l gillian tett. first dylan dreyer with a cheek on the weekend forecast. >> we are dealing with rain across ohio and even freezing rain through eastern pennsylvania right now making roadway as little bit slippery out that way. m

chairman and i specifically talked to senator gillibrand about this.have have some version of this in minnesota and the flooding in the river valley. what this is like for the families and i appreciate how you have brought this home to us in terms of the actual afetes it had on people. i think we have to remember that. what i remember is that, new york state and new jersey and the rest of the country stood by minnesota and north dakota when he had our severe weather and our severe floods or when the 35 w bridge collapsed and we were able to rebuild that bridge in a year. we saw that first-hand to see the major infrastructure devastation in the middle of our city. during the time of a decisiveness we stand together and for those who have been affected by the hornl storm. i do know our national guard of minnesota has been out there and we consider them the best. they've been out there helping and that is much of the spirit we bring here and we all have to understand just as importantly as getting emergency supplies to people, we're at the next stage. we'

i see my great friend, senator gillibrand. >> i appreciate the testimony. i will call on her for her opening remarks, but let me start with you. as you look at the destruction of hoboken and you have homeowners, public facilities, and businesses, transit in the general infrastructure, how are you thinking about organizing the small business recovery? what are the tools you are using in terms of organization? what organizations are you looking to help? have you had this discussion with some of the other mayors about best practices to help your small businesses get back up and running. and in the initial thought about what you said this morning to help people at a time of need? >> as i mentioned, the concern is basically businesses as my fellow panelists have testified to, in this economic climate, the rate is a challenge for businesses that are concerned about taking on 4%. we had meetings with small business administration's, governors, the business action center was there to try to give businesses as much information as possible, but the bottom line is tha

senators from new york and new jersey, chuck schumer robert menendez and kirsten gillibrand says thes a tough fight in congress given the fiscal cliff and some members have not been friendly to disaster relief, but the care with which this package has been put together has given us a good head start. that good head start not good enough for one republican from new jersey who said that 60.4 billion dollars is far short of 83 billion, new york, new jersey and connecticut asked for. congressman frank loviando says we should not short string the businesses and individuals in communities in my district and across the region desperately need. >> and establishing that the hurricane sandy task force is going to be hit up to coordinate rebuilding projects and chaired by the secretary of housing and urban development, shaun donovan. back to you in new york. >> ainsley: thank you. >> eric: and begs the question does chris christie rethink the photo ops with the president after the hurricane now that he's not getting what he's asking for. >> clayton: and like the fiscal cliff, you overask and en

mentioned some of these lawmakers, democrats -- all -- joe manchin, mark warner from virginia, kirsten gillibrand from new york. all of them pro-gun lawmakers, also we should point out the senate majority leader, harry reid, is backed by the nra, has a pro-gun legislative history and has also signaled that he, too, wants to move forward with something. how this moves forward, i think, is really the question. and the commission is often a way that washington deals with big, controversial things. that may actually be attractive to some folks and some republicans who really want mental health to be considered as well as video games and hollywood's impact on our culture. jon: white house spokesman jay carney has been asked about that and what gun control plays in the comprehensive solution. let me play that exchange for you, bret. >> in the comprehensive solution, do you think it's fair and accurate to say that addressing gun violence, gun control would have to be part of it? >> i think that it's part of it, but it is far from all of it, and as you know, the president has taken positions on common se

look out feelers, she spoke with kristen gillibrand about the possibility of run ining.pening for her to run. she looks like she's seriously exploring the possibility of running against mitch mcconnell in 2014 or rand paul in 2016. those are things she's seriously exploring. whether or not she gets into the race is a completely different question. as of right now she looks to be putting out feelers and considering a run. >> she's exploring. she's a recent harvard masters grad. what would she be able to bring politically. >> she certainly would have significant name recognition, more than any other potential democratic candidate. she would be able to raise a lot of money from not just democratic groups who are very excited by her liberal views and her politics, but also big donors, a lot of her allies in hollywood. but she does not have any elected experience. she has not run for political office before. much like someone against senate minority who is a shrewd campaigner who's very, very experienced. who's building a presidential level campaign operation. this would be a

senator gillibrand. >> thank you to my colleagues. thank you madam chairwoman for holding this hearing. i can't tell you how much your words of support have meant to senator schumer and i and all our colleagues who have been affected by superstorm sandy. i'm very grateful for the very productive conversations we've had with governor cuomo, with the delegation, with our appropriators, along with our leaders. i just want to thank you for being so thoughtful and hopeful in trying to create the best momentum possible for the recovery that our families need. particularly eknow that as you soffered -- suffered through hurricane katrina and the enormous work you have to do to rebuild new orleans and other surrounding areas, your advocacy during that time was extraordinary. and i really appreciated then you said that you would stand i us in the way new york stood by you in that difficult time, that was extremely kind. i also want to talk a little bit about how this storm is affecting our families and what kind of recovery is it's actually tak

and other colleagues who have cosponsored this measure, including senators collins, feinstein, gillibrand, kerry, landrieu, merkley, mikulski, murray, vitter, and wyden. they are tireless animal advocates, and this bill is indeed, the amendment as well, are about ending animal fighting, which plainly and simply is a blood sport. it is something that is cruel and inhumane. it leaves animals scarred and disabled. and it is associated with many other criminal activities. people who attend animal fights are often also engaged in drug dealing, extortion, assault, a variety of criminal activities, and the enabling activity is animal fighting. and that is why this bill increases the penalties for knowingly -- knowingly -- attending an animal fight with a child and, indeed, makes it a crime to knowingly attend an animal fight. so these penalties -- stricter penalties for bringing a child knowingly and criminal penalties of up to a year imprisonment or a fine or both for knowingly attending an animal fight -- are contingent on a purposeful support for this cruel and inhumane sport. very simply, it

reid: i ask unanimous consent that a gillibrand amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be considered laid on the table, there being no intervening action or debate, any statements relating to this matter be placed in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the report to accompany calendar numbered 514, s. 76 be printed with the changes at the desk. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent that economy the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. wednesday, september 12, 2012. following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, morning business be deemed expired and time for the two leaders reserved for their use later in the day. following any leader remarks, the senate be in a period of morning business until 2:00 p.m. senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each with the first hour equally divided and con

>> brian: it's up to guys like senator humaner and gillibrand to say i'm outraged by my colleagues thate not affected by a super storm. >> steve: get all the money and make sure it goes to the people impacted. straight ahead, in the wake of newtown, many are wondering what is happening to the culture of the united states? governor mike huckabee says we need to start getting back to prayer. he's going to join us live. >> gretchen: susan rice is out. john kerry is in. what could that mean for the balance of power in congress? secretary of state, it could be tricky this holiday, share everything. share "not even close." share "you owe me..." share "just right." the share everything plan. shareable data across 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. hurry in for a droid incredible 4g lte by htc for $49.99. nespresso. where i never have to compromise on anything. ♪ where just one touch creates the perfect coffee. where every cappuccino and latte is only made with fresh milk. and where the staff is exceptionally friendly. ♪ nespresso. what else? ♪ try running four.ning a restaurant is hard,

senator gillibrand has joined us. can she proceed?>> thank you for being sojourners with your time. senator klobuchar is sitting for me so i can come in. thank you for holding the hearing. i cannot tell you how much your words of support have meant to all colleagues 1/2 than affected by superstore arm sandy per cryer biffle with those productive conversations governor cuomo, the appropriators, leaders, thank you for being so thoughtful and helpful for helping with the recovery of our families need. as use suffered through hurricane katrina and the enormous work to build new orleans york advocacy was extraordinary. i appreciated when you said that the way new york stood bayou, that was kind. i also want to talk how it affects our families and what type of recovery it is taking to rebuild. millions of people's of lives have been affected. 40 new yorkers have died and millions had to give the can damage to homes, businesses, families. one storey pedro from staten island. when he saw the twin towers fall he determined he had to protect ou

gillibrand, a senator from the state of new york, to perform the duties of the chair.signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business for an hour. republicans will control the first half, the majority the second half. following morning business, we'll resume consideration of the supplemental appropriation bill. i mentioned last night, madam president, that we're going to have to move forward on this bill. i have been told that the republicans want to have a substitute, and we look forward to whatever that might be, that we can set up a series of votes to satisfy those people who want to change this bill in some manner. i would just note that the people in the northeast, other states but principally new york and new jersey, there are 700,000 people who have lost their homes and are still -- tens of thousands of those homes have been destroyed. other people are still living in very, very difficult situations. when w

distinguished colleagues chuck schumer from new york, bob mendez from new jersey and i believe senator gillibrand will be here shortly. the senators have been a strong partners in this rebuilding effort. it is a great privilege to work together. we are really strong team we share the value of a quick action and sufficient resources to get this job done. as i mentioned, we are in the largest transportation. in the country and it takes diligence and skill of our friends and colleagues. senator schumer. >> thank you, mr. chairman. first, thank you for this hearing but also for your great partnership. new york and new jersey were together as a bipartisan by- date delegation along with our colleagues from rest of the northeast to deal with this awful, awful devastation. it is good you are in so many important positions that will have a lot of say in how we deal with this and we're grateful forthank you, ranking , senator wicker. west hamilton beach was in my old congressional district. it is one of the few volunteer fire departments in new york city. it is right on the water, the great jamaica bay. th

gillibrand, a senator from the state of new york, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business for up to four hours. the reason for that is we've been on the defense bill for a considerable number of days, and people haven't been able to come and express their views on a number of different issues, so we're going to extend that morning business for a longer time thank normal. following morning business, about 2:00, we'll begin consideration of h.r. 6156, the russia trade bill. we hope to complete action on this that bill today. madam president, across the country, americans are lamenting that lack of progress in negotiations to avoid a massive tax increase on middle-class families -- and i really share that frustration. consider yesterday's failure, the disabilities convention at the hands of the tea party. this shouldn't have been a battle, but extreme elements of the republican party picked a fight where there was nothing to fight about. 38 r

gillibrand, a senator from the state of new york, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: madam president, following leader remarks the senate will be in a period of morning business until 2:00 today. the republicans will control the first 30 minutes and the majority the final 30 minutes. the time from 11:30 till 2:00 p.m. will be for remarks by retiring senators. following morning business we'll resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 3637, the tag extension legislation. the filing deadline for first-degree amendments to that legislation is 1:00 p.m. today. madam president, the headline news for the last many weeks has been the fiscal cliff. in speaking with the president six months before the election, a few weeks before the election, a few days before the election and immediately after the election, he indicated that we needed to get our financial house in order and that his goal was to do just that. but to do that, because of past experiences, he laid out what he wanted, and that's very simple. the

we'd also like to thank our home state senators, chuck schumer and kirsten gillibrand who have trulyeen great advocates for new york state and our country. my name is kevin law, president and ceo of the long island association, which is a business organization in the metropolitan region. for those not familiar, long island is a long island. it goes from brooklyn to montana point, but it's politically part of new york city, so the long island i'm referring to his nassau and suffolk county. we are america's first-ever cover region of 3 million people under the home of the middle class and the middle class is built on our small businesses. the long island economy is made up of 100,000 businesses in 90% of those businesses have 20 employees or less in that small businesses are clearly the back bone of the long island economy. superstorm sandy had a devastating impact to long island including hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to our roads and rail system from a record-setting 945,000 residential commercial customers lost power, more than 90% of the entire grid. nearly 100,000 ind

we adopted an amendment by senator gillibrand on autism services and the way that it's written will require -- will require an increase of $1.7 billion over the next ten years, and no way to pay for it. and i appreciate the senator from new york's dedication, but her answer was, well, we'd like to work with you on that. well, we got to do more than work on it. we've got to solve it. and so all i can say is while we are -- while we are waiting i hope that we understand that -- here it is. the d.o.d. health care costs represent nearly 11% of the total budget request for d.o.d., and it will continue to rise to more than 13%, and then it will go even higher and higher and higher. you know, there was an editorial in "the washington post" today that says time to it says in part, "the administration mr. president cuts including shah riping the army and marine corps. this is risky, given the potential threats the united states faces. unfortunately, congress is compounding the problem by protecting expensive items that inflate personnel costs without any corresponding payoff in defense readiness." s

senators gillibrand and boxer. and i look forward to learning from them, what their proposals are and working more closely with them to harmonize our bills and make sure we have the best approach moving forward. if i can, mr. president, i'll make one last point. in addition to serving on the judiciary committee, i'm the chair of the african affairs subcommittee of the foreign relations committee. and in that role, i advocate for free and fair elections with african leaders every day. the united states is often cited as their role model. we need to act like it and we need to earn it. what kind of message are we sending to electoral commissions, to heads of state, to members of civil society and advocates for free, fair and open elections in the rest of the world when we so visibly and publicly fail to deliver on that promise here in our own country? what kind of message are we sending to andre mirias, a first-time voter? what kind of message are we sending to rochelle hobbs, what kind of message are we sending to fi

gillibrand: i rise today to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support our efforts to come to the relief of millions of americans who are suffering in the wake of superstorm sandy. i want to thank my fellow senators from the northeast, especially senators lautenberg and menendez, and senator schumer for all of their leadership. we've been working in unison with many of our colleagues and we have been testifying at hearings and talked to our other colleagues since the storm hit. i also want to give special thanks to senator landrieu, who because her state has suffered so much, she has had not only deep experience in advocating for families who are suffering, but she's demonstrated extraordinary leadership in bringing together a bill that can begin to meet some of those needs. i also want to thank senator boxer for holding a hearing in the environment and public works committee. that hearing allowed all of the senators to speak on behalf of their states, our members can of our delegations to bear witness to what actually took place. now, superstorm sandy was a storm unlike an

i join with senators lautenberg and gillibrand and schumer and every senator from the affected states to thank the president for their requests of $60 billion in aid to help our states begin the rebuilding process. this package is certainly a very good start. now, the damage we saw after hurricane or superstorm sandy is difficult to describe. in part, this is because this was not only a powerful storm but it was an incredibly massive storm. we felt the greatest impact in new jersey and new york, but as you can see from this nasa photo, the storm obscures almost all of the northeast in the satellite photo. now, the numbers are staggering across the region. as i said, we lost 40 people in the storm. based on preliminary estimates, over 300,000 homes in new jersey were severely damaged. over 20,000 homes were absolutely destroyed or made uninhabitable, but we fear the numbers will be even much higher as reporting continues. the preliminary damage estimate provided by the state of new jersey is now up to $36.9 billion in damage, and everyone expects that number will rise. now, these are n

senator gillibrand, senator boxer, a number of others. some seek as mine does to inspire a competition between states in partnership with the federal government to prove timeliness, access, accuracy. others mandate a federal standard i look forward to hearing from this range of witnesses today about the real impact on the ground. its impact on access to the ballot but its impact on outcomes, and the questions that are raises in my view about the voting rights act. we don't yet know the supreme court's path. but it think regardless of what happens in the upcoming supreme court case, this committee, this congress has a duty, in my view, to reauthorize the strengthen and extend the voting rights act in a way that takes into account the very real concerns about voting and accessing the right to vote in this country that this most recent election brought forth. thank you. >> we welcome our colleague, senator bill nelson. bill has just gone through an election contest in a state where this was an issue. and bill, please submit your testimony. g

senators schumer, lautenberg, gillibrand and menendez. and to the able staff of the appropriations committee: charlie hoy and the subcommittee clerks, a heartfelt thanks. but the real thanks would be the passage of the bill and making sure we are meeting the compelling human needs of our fellow citizens. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. cochran: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. cochran: i commend the distinguished senator from maryland for her outstanding service here today to the senate. i ask unanimous consent that the balance of my remarks be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on passage of the measure. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to change their vote or who have not voted? if not, the ayes are 61, the nays are 33. the bill is adopted. the measure is passed. mr. reid: mr. president? the