hoeven: i yield the floor. quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mrs. stab mao: thank you. i would ask unanimous consent to suspend the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: thank you very much. mr. president, as we wrap up today and the week, i want to take a few moments to give a status report as we're moving forward in our negotiations on the farm bill. we've actually had some very good progress today and overcome some obstacles and are putting together what will be something for the senate for the beginning of the week that will allow us to move forward. and i want to also thank the junior senator from north dakota, who i heard on the floor a little while ago senator hoeven, talking about the 250 different amendments that we have. and, of course, the great thing about the senate is that we can all offer amendments, whether they're relevant or not. the challenge for someone managing a bill is that anyone can offer amendments. and so we have worked our way from the 2

hoeven proposes an amendment numbered 2469 to amendment number 2468. mr. reid: i ask for the yeas and nays on that. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. reid: i have a second-degree amendment which is also at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes an amendment numbered 2470 to amendment number 2469. roeufp an amendment -- mr. reid: i have an amendment at the desk to the language proposed to be stricken. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid proposes an amendment numbered 2471 to the language proposed to be stricken by amendment number 2468. mr. reid: on that, mr. president, i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays so ordered. mr. reid: i have a second-degree amendment at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes an a

hoeven: mr. president, thank you, senator inhofe. i rise to speak on the utility mact issue. the e.p.a.'s utility mact rule is a clear example of how overzealous regulations, how the lack of a sensible energy policy are derailing investment and costing americans jobs. let me say at the outset that i support good, responsible policies to protect human health and to safeguard our environment. these rules, however, need to bear the qualities of all good rules. they need to be simple, efficient, achievable and affordable. in short, they need to make sense from both an environmental and an economic perspective. unfortunately, as written, the utility mact rule and others like it that the e.p.a. is proposing fail to find that proper balance. to the contrary, burdensome and complex new rules for the coal industry will not only discourage responsible energy growth but will prompt the complete shutdown of dozens of power plants. that will increase energy costs for consumers and businesses and sadly force thousands of hard-working americans onto the unemployment rolls. utility mact alon

hoeven: i ask that i be recognized to speak in support of the farm bill. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. hoeven: i rise today to speak in support of the farm bill, which is now before the senate. as a member of the senate ag committee, i worked together with my fellow committee members on a bipartisan basis to put forward what we believe is a sound farm bill for this country. we passed the bill out of committee on a strong bipartisan vote 16-5, so it comes here to the senate floor for deliberation. the bill is entitled the ag reform food and jobs act of 2012. i'd like to begin with just a simple question. why is the farm bill so important? why is the farm bill so important? i think the first chart i have sums it up. this is i think the most important point that i'll make today. i'm going to begin with it and i will end my -- or conclude my comments with it as well. u.s. farmers and ranchers provide the highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world. our farmers and ranchers today provide the highest quality, lowest cost food su

in addition, i want to thank senator baucus and senator hoeven for working with me to pass an amendment that will improve the bill for farmers in our part of the country. i'm also pleased the new farm bill will continue the livestock disaster programs that are so important to our ranchers when feed losses or livestock deaths occur due to disaster-related conditions. mr. president, how much time do i have remaining? the presiding officer: your time is expired, sir. mr. conrad: let me end on thatth point -- on that point. i'll put the full statement in the record. i thank the chairman and the chair. mr. roberts: mr. president, how much time do we have on the republican side? the presiding officer: 18 minutes, sir. mr. roberts: 18? the presiding officer: 18. mr. roberts: thank you. mr. president, i yield myself six minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. roberts: mr. president, i rise today in support of the cloture vote on the motion to proceed on the farm bill. let me point out what the distinguished chairwoman and the distinguished senator that has just spoken has already

thank senator conrad, lugar harkin nelson ben nelson, senator bennet brown klobuchar thune casey and hoevenworked very hard at putting together the energy title and the necessary funding to continue supporting these innovative farmers and businesses all across our country. i appreciate their leadership in working with us and being able to get this done. so let me talk about some of the specific areas that we have in the energy title. there is something called the rural energy for america program, reap. it's one of the most successful energy programs in the energy title and one we hear about most often from farmers and ranchers across the country. this program helps farmers with loan guarantees and grants to purchase and install renewable energy systems and make energy efficiency upgrades. farmers have been able to put solar panels, wind turbines as well as biomass energy and geothermal and hydroelectric and other forms of renewable energy technology on the farm. since 2003, reap has supported 7,997 different energy-efficient projects that have generated or saved 6.5 million-megawatt hours e

there is a perfectly legitimate way they could enforce their alternative requiring that to you by hoeven tonnes when you access to health care which is the same penalty structure that is in the act. there is no moral dilemma between having people have insurance and denying them emergency service. converse has made a perfectly legitimate value judgment that they want to make sure people get emergency care. since the founding whenever the congress has imposed the public responsibility on private actors it is subsidized from the treasury. it is not conscripted a subset of the citizenry and the then subsidize the actors that are being heard which is what you're doing here. they are making young healthy people subsidize insurance premiums for nondiscrimination provisions have put all insurance so the insurance companies and that is the fundamental problem. >> i want to understand the choices that you are saying that congress has. congress can tax everybody and set up a public health care system. that would be okay. >> they've taken the same position as your colleague. congress can't say we ar

hoeven: i cosponsored the legislation. it would provide that peas, beans, and lentils are used in the school program they are a high source of proteins very cost-effective, and it is a growing -- no pun intended -- crop in our country. thank you. mr. roberts: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. roberts: i am supportive of this amendment, but i have been noticed that a recorded vote has been requested and so i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote vote: vote vote: vote: the presiding officer: any senators wishing to vote or change their vote? hearing none, the yeas are 58. the nays are 41. the amendment is agreed to. mr. nelson: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. nelson: madam president, i rise to call up my amendment number 2243. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nebraska, mr. nelson, proposes amendment number

senators grossly, bozeman, hoeven and moran and thune have engaged with many of us on this side to extendthe wind p.t.c. let me end by quoting karl rove, who is mean to as a proud texan, former senior advisor to president george w. bush. he explained the wind p.t.c. as follows. "it is a market mechanism, you don't get paid unless you produce the power and we're not picking winners and losers. we're simply saying saying that for some period of time we'll provide this incentive." let's extend the p.t.c. nowern. the solution is simple. we've got to act. it'll help american jobs. it will happy the american economy. it'll help our energy security efforts. so, mr. president, thank the senator from massachusetts again. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: without objection, the materials referenced by the senator will be placed in the record. the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr. president, i would ask that i be notified when i've consumed about 45 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kerry: mr. president, 20 years ago this month a republican president of the unit

i worked to include an amendment with senators johanns, baucus and hoeven to allow beginning producers to use c.r.p. acres for tkpwraezing without a penalty. i believe this will go a long way in building the next generation of farmers. as a beginning cosponsor of the rancher opportunity act introduced by senator harkin, i fought for the mentoring and outreach provisions for new farmers and planning and credit building, skills they need to succeed and stay on the land. mr. president, homegrown renewable fuels helped us reduce or dependence on liquid fuels. i believe that we can continue this trend. as i mentioned we've seen an enormous shift in our dependence on foreign oils. much of that has to do with biofuels, now 10% of our fuel supply in this country, as we work to make it more and more fuel efficient, use less water, transition to cellulosic. what we do know is we should be focusing on the workers and farmers of the midwest and not the cartels of the mideast. that is what helped reduce our foreign oil dependence is i in these last few years as well as the drilling i mentioned befo

hoeven: thank you, madam presidentmenmadam preside. i'd like to join with senator pryor in this objection. we've clearly laid out a resolve the situation and that is to have a vote on the amendment that we've put forward. and we -- and there are other ways to resolve it as well. and, you know, we've made that very clear. but, look, this is a clear case where in order to make a policy change of that magnitude, it needs to be properly discussed, properly debated and certainly voted on. so this is a situation where we've clearly laid out any number of ways to resolve the issue. but this legislation, the section 107 that senator pryor referred, to should not be included in this legislation. and if it is, then i would seek to join senator pryor in his objection. with that, madam president, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: stphaot quorum call:

klobuchar: i ask my colleagues to support this bipartisan amendment, senator hoeven of north dakota is a cosponsor. it addresses the transportation needs of rural america. this amendment simply calls for a study on rural transportation and takes a close look at the issue of captive shippers. farmers, energy producers and manufacturers who depend on freight rail service find themselves trapped today in a back to the future world, mr. president, struggling with a problem that has resurfaced from a century ago. many of these end users, these captive customers, have only one railroad to serve them. three decades ago, there were 63 class railroads. today, only seven remain. this amendment simply looks at the effect of this situation on transportation in rural areas. it's supported by nearly 40 national and regional agricultural and energy organizations. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and i'd ask for a voice vote. ms. stabenow: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: i strongly support senator klobuchar's amendment and appreciate her wo