hurwitz: we have the stock exchange, we have the united nations -- failure can have a dramatic impact on the nation, and even internationally. so there's a really keen awareness that you always have to be fixing the system. things corrode, they rust. they get to where you turn them on and nothing happens. but it is so totally used in every nook and cranny, that making any accommodation to shut it down, to do something to it, is very difficult. narrator: two massive underground tunnels, called simply tunnel 1 and tunnel 2, provide most of the city's water supply. they run hundreds of feet below manhattan, far deeper than the subways. built at the beginning of the 20th century, they are concrete-lined and bored through solid rock. they could last centuries. but the mechanical equipment within them will not. engineers in the 1950s discovered rust on the tunnel's valves. there were concerns that if they closed the valves for tunnel inspections, they may never open again, leaving new york city without water. so they chose to keep them open. as a result, there has not been significant inspe

hurwitz: the city bought up land around the reservoirs to prevent it from development. it provides assistance to local residents to see that there's no pollution of the reservoirs. it's much more cost effective to prevent pollution and to protect a source of water than to remove it at the drinking water treatment plant. lloyd: what epa said to us was, "you can have an exemption from filtration "if you keep this undeveloped, "and if you can manage the wastewater so that it does not pollute your water supply." and we feel that we've reached the point where we can really keep it clean enough to drink unfiltered for the indefinite future. and new york city is in a small club of cities that actually have that filtration avoidance waiver. narrator: while municipalities are responsible for maintaining systems and source supply, the standards that protect water are established at the federal level. there are two important pieces of federal legislation that were both enacted in the early to mid-1970s. the first was the clean water act, which acts to protect rivers and lakes, and

there will be a cloture vote at 5:30, as i announced, on andrew hurwitz. and following the statement of my esteemed republican colleague, the republican leader, senator mcconnell, i ask that we adjourn following his remarks under the previous order that's already been entered. the presiding officer: without objection. the senate stands adjourned until 2:00 p.m. on monday, june until 2:00 p.m. on monday, june >> they're often referred to as the conscience of the congress and not your living there almost two years, i can't think of a better name. and destroy the heartbeat of the people. the council of the congressional black caucus and angela wright on the role of today's caucus. >> it is designed to a sure that members can come together on issues like in the at large on the issues that may be taking districts to discuss legislative proposals to dance people that don't have a voice. >> mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall. [cheers and applause] >> today, senator john mccain current member of the armed services committee and senator joe lieberman, chairman of t

hurwitz: we have the stock exchange, we have the united nations -- failure can have a dramatic impact

yesterday i outlined my primary concern regarding the nomination of andrew david hurwitz to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit. i continue to oppose the nomination and will vote "no" on his confirmation. i want to supplement the record and correct the record on a few issues that arose during yesterday's debate. at this point i'm going to put the rest of my statement in the record, madam president. i have something else to say. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: it seems to me that all the business of the senate is based upon trust between one senator and another. when the ranking member of the judiciary committee isn't notified of this action or any other senator notified of this action, it seems to me that that trust has been violated. and i won't be satisfied that that trust has been restored unless there's some action taken to have a roll call vote on this nomination. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: i would ask unan

hurwitz because i wanted to make this statement. last night i voted for cloture because when i became a senator, the democrats were blocking an up-or-down vote on president bush's judicial nominees, and i said then that i would not do that and did not like doing that. and i've held to that in almost every case since then. i believe nominees for circuit judges in all but extraordinary cases and district judges in every case ought to have an up-or-down vote by the senate. so i voted for cloture last night, although if we had had a vote today, i would have voted "no" against confirmation because of my concerns about mr. hurwitz' record on right-to-life issues. thank you very much. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: i just want to be, have a note to the record that i would have voted "no" on this nominee had we had a recorded vote. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from e-inn. mr. coats: mr. president -- the senator from from indiana. mr.

reid: the senate is considering the nomination of andrew hurwitz of arizona to be a united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit postcloture. there's every expectation that time will be yielded back and the confirmation will take place soon. the senate will recess from 12:30 until 2:15 today to allow for our weekly caucus meetings. senators stabenow and roberts are working on an agreement for amendments to the foreign bill and we'll notify -- to the farm bill. h.r. -- the clerk: h.r. 436 an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to repeal the excise tax on medical devices. mr. reid: i would object to this matter proceeding at this time. the presiding officer: the objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be tkeuts -- dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: last

monday at 5:30, we'll have a vote on andrew hurwitz to be a ninth circuit court judge. we also need an agreement on flood insurance which is also vitally important to this country. mr. wyden: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: madam president, i came to the floor to talk about legislating. i was struck, in fact, by some of the comments recently because what i'm here to talk about is essentially the yeoman bipartisanship that we have seen with senator stabenow and senator roberts on the farm bill, and i'm going to talk about some specific ideas, each of which i believe could win bipartisan support and help strengthen the legislation as we go forward here in the senate. now, madam president, i believe it's hard to overstate the importance of writing the best possible farm bill here in the senate. when america desperately needs more jobs and one in every 12 american jobs is tied to agriculture, this bill is an opportunity for the private sector to grow more jobs. when owe beas -- obesity rates are driving the america health care cha

republican senators will join senator kyl and senator mccain in opposing the filibuster of justice hurwitz will now join to oppose the filibusters of william kayatta of maine, judge robert balk of oklahoma, judge schwartz of new jersey. and i hope that the senators from south carolina whose state's nominee we consider today will aid this effort just as we worked with them throughout the process to assure they were consulted by the president. in fact, i personally requested the president to consult with republican senators when they're going to have a nominee from their home state. i hope they're going to show that same courtesy to other senators. i think this pattern of obstruction -- i say this more out of sadness than anything else -- has been as transparent as the senate republicans' leader's statement that the single most important thing senate republicans want to achieve is for president obama to be a one-term president. now, i fully expect them of course to support their republican nominee for president but as they obstruct his qualified judicial nominees, they've also rejected virtu