said senator moran -- senator hirono. senator moran. >> thank you. becauseew minutes late i had conversations with kansas veterans again the morning. it is a moving experience each and every time to have that opportunity to visit with our world war ii veterans, and, again, the conversation is the v.a. is failing them, please make certain that that does not continue. thousands of veterans across the country, and hundreds in kansas visit with me on an annual basis to tell me they are suffering because of circumstances they find the department of veterans affairs. they will tell me that the sacrifices that they encountered, if they were willing to say this humble sentence, "why can we not have a service that weird and deserved?" they earned and deserve the service, and the department is not providing the veterans will we have committed to do. a sad story is that many veterans across the country and certainly in kansas, have lost hope in the department of veterans affairs, and believe things are not going to get any better. y

hirono: madam president ask unanimous consent to yield back all time. the presiding officer: without objection, time will be yielded back. the question now occurs on the marquez nomination. ms. hirono: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote:

said senator moran -- senator hirono. senator moran. >> thank you. becauseew minutes late i had conversations with kansas veterans again the morning. it is a moving experience each and every time to have that opportunity to visit with our world war ii veterans, and, again, the conversation is the v.a. is failing them, please make certain that that does not continue. thousands of veterans across the country, and hundreds in kansas visit with me on an annual basis to tell me they are suffering because of circumstances they find the department of veterans affairs. they will tell me that the sacrifices that they encountered, if they were willing to say this humble sentence, "why can we not have a service that weird and deserved?" they earned and deserve the service, and the department is not providing the veterans will we have committed to do. a sad story is that many veterans across the country and certainly in kansas, have lost hope in the department of veterans affairs, and believe things are not going to get any better. y

senator hirono. >> thank you, chairman sanders for providing this forum for us to drill down at the root of the many issues facing veterans hospitals and finding solutions to these problems. i certainly a good the sentiments of my colleagues in expressing concerns regarding the va culture of the lack of enough accountability, the probable need for structural and systemwide changes. the veterans health care system is a promise that we made to america's veterans that we will take care of them and read -- in return for their service and sacrifice. close to 10 million veterans have access to care through the va system need to trust that they are receiving high quality care when they need it. and i do know 10 million veterans signed up for the health care system is huge. that is greater than the population of a number of states, including the state of hawaii. when we failed to provide proper care for our veterans we not only failed them but their families as well, and these families have also sacrificed for our nation security and provide essential care and support for our veterans. while the

. >> thank you. .enator hirono >> to her, mr. chairman for holding this

. >> well, i listened to a couple of supreme court justices say just that, and senator hirono wasn't here then, but never long discussions. and then bingo, it all changed. and it makes us feel very foolish to believe what we hear. for me, i have to make a judgment. whether you mean what you say or whether it will be just like the supreme court justices who pledged to us diligent pursuance of stare decisis. it just didn't happen. now, let me ask you another issue and senator klobuchar begin and i would like to just do it in a slightly different way. and that's u.s. versus winter. on where a lawsuit is pending in the court to which your nominee so want to be very careful. i'm the main author on repealing the defense of marriage act. i was one of 14 to vote against it in the '90s and where 42 cosponsors. we lost baucus but we are getting close. as you know, 17 states and the addition of columbia have essentially approved the right of marriage to same-sex partners. what doe did was family law, divorce, senator is generally to preserve of state law. but in that case they made it the prese

hirono, a senator from the state of hawaii, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j.leahy, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on tuesday, may 20, 2014. >> and just april more for session come ashore when innocent. tomorrow in at 10:00 a.m. eastern. more work expected on judicial and executive nominations tomorrow. you can watch the senat senate e when they gaveling back in here on c-span2. we will take you live to the american enterprise institute for remarks by indiana governor mike pence on implementing the health care law in his state. this is expected to start any moment. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> good morning ladies and gentlemen. i'm arthur brooks and i'm delighted to welcome you to this morning's event featuring governor mike pence of indiana. the title of his talk today is market-based medicaid reform in the age of obamacare. we are looking to with very much anticipation to hear about his state's new waiver proposal for obama

permanent as i've proposed in legislation that i've introduced with senators rockefeller and stabenow and hirono and donnelly. we should at the very least renew this critical tax credit. earlier this year i traveled across ohio and met with homeowners like hattie wilkins from youngstown, ohio. she was laid off, fell behind her mortgage, began the foreclosure process, her bank because it was in their interest forgave her $35,000 that she still owed but hattie and thousands of homeowners across the country face higher taxes if don't want move to extend the mortgage forgiveness tax relief act. in many ways it's phantom income. if it's a short sale sore they get a principal reduction as i was speaking with ohio realtors about and they were discussing today, they never get the money for it but they're hit with a tax bill as if they've gotten this in income. we've extended this tax credit in this tax forgiveness in the past because members of both parties recognize there is still a critical need for this. all of these as part of the tax extenders help to create jobs, help to put money and homeowners'

hirono: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be suspended. officer without objection. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations which the clerk will report. the clerk: nominations, the judiciary. nancy l. moritz of kansas to be united states circuit judge for the 10th circuit. department of state, peter a. selfridge of minnesota tosh chief of protocol. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be two minutes of debate prior to a vote on the moritz nomination. without objection, all time for the debate is yielded back. question is on the moritz nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? if not, the ayes are 90, the nays are 3. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, there will be two minutes of debate prior to a vote on the selfridge nomination. without objection, all time is yielded back. the question is on the