inhofe: like that.i thank the senator from south dakota for -- i yield to the senator from south dakota for seven minutes. the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: i thank the senator from oklahoma for his leadership on this issue, for yielding the time and appreciate everything that he has done to bring senate joint resolution 37 to the floor of the united states senate. madam president, as the father of two daughters, i want a cleaner, safer and healthier environment for their generation and for future generations. and thanks to the commonsense policies that balance economic growth with a cleaner environment, our country has made significant progress towards improving the quality of our air and water. we've made progress under republican presidents and we've made progress under democrat presidents. we've made progress during democrat control of the senate and republican control of the senate. but, madam president, what the obama administration is doing with this regulation and

inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: it's my understanding that we have used this element of our time here and that the senator from new hampshire is going to be recognized for ten minutes, after which time we will be recognized for 18 minutes. the presiding officer: that is also my understanding. the senator from new hampshire is recognized. mrs. shaheen: thank you, mr. president. i rise today in strong opposition to the efforts to nullify the environmental protection agency's mercury and air toxic standards, what has been called mact in this debate. this far-reaching resolution would severely and permanently undermine the e.p.a.'s authority to protect our nation's air from harmful and dangerous pollutants. in new hampshire, we have long enjoyed bipartisan cooperation when it comes to crafting policies that ensure clean air, a strong economy and healthy citizens. we do have coal-fired power plants in new hampshire, but they have scrubbers on them t

the interview with senator inhofe, he said in that article, inhofe says good for nuclear energy, i happen to be on the extreme side in wanting to do more quicker, and i think she has that tendency too. well, frankly i do not want to see somebody on the extreme side of any issue being on the nrc. it's one thing for elected officials. they have whatever position they want. but that concerns me very much. we need commissioners who are are thoughtful and safety conscious. commissioner svinicki has given multiple speeches over the past several years that site a nuclear renaissance, a term nuclear advocates use in the hopes of building dozens of new plants with billions and billions of dollars of government support. in those speeches she's stated that the nrc's job is to enable commercial activities to proceed, provided certain requirements are melt. i believe again that the nrc's job is to protect the public and be a strong and fair regulator without bias in favor or against the nuclear industry. we have before us today another nominee, dr. macfarlane, to be commissioner and chair of the nrc a

senator inhofe. dr. macfarlane, commissioner svinicki we're glad you're here. i've been very impressed with president obama's nominees to the nuclear regulatory commission. that includes commissioner svinicki. and i do not know dr. macfarlane, i began to get to know her, i noticed her distinguished background. i took believe it's important for our country to have a full compliment of members of the nuclear regulatory commission, i hope we can make a prompt decision soon. i would like to -- rather than surprise you with the questions i'm going to ask when my time comes, i'd like to tell you about them in advance, that will help express my concerns and my attitude as i look forward to talking with you. fist, and this is -- will be especially for dr. macfarlane is the management question. i've never seen anything in my life and public life in and out of government over the last 40 years as the dispute that has occurred among very well qualified members of the nuclear regulatory commission. and without with even getting very far into why that happened or how that h

and ranking member inhofe. i'm very, very honored today to introduce allison macfarlane, president obama's nominee to head the nuclear regular story commission. i want to thank the chairwoman and members of the committee for giving me this opportunity. she was born in hearted for, raised in avon, went to avon high school, which is an area a few miles north and west of hartford, our capital. i think supremely well qualified to head the nuclear regulatory commission at this critical point in its history and our nation's. she is a remarkable scholar and leader and a person of genuine vision and courage, and she has been an associate professor of environmental science and policy at george mason university since 2006. but she has been in a variety of academic positions at harvard, stanford, and other universities before the one that she has now. she's also served on the blue ribbon commission established by the president, a 15-member commission which produced a report very recently that addresses one of the principl

>> thank you, senator inhofe. although i'm not aware of any organization that has done a comprehensive comparison of the regulatory requirements in place in japan and the united states but sit apparent that the actions that the nrc mandated after the attacks of september 11th would have provided an opportunity at u.s. plants to mitigate against this extreme kind of natural event that occurred in japan since japan did not have a 9/11 type of event. their regulator had not put equivalent measures in place in japan, to my knowledge. in prioritizing the nrc's response to the lessons learned at fukushima we of course looked at extreme natural hazards. one of the outgrowths is to look at the readiness to mitigate and defend a nuclear power plant against extreme natural events. we issued three immediately effective emergency orders requiring that nuclear power plants in the united states enhance their ability to mitigate against what we call beyond design basis or very extreme natural events. we also issued an order to r

inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: first of all, i'm not aware that i was offered a hearing. but let me just make sure i have in the record a letter, september 15 of 2011 -- that was, what, nine months ago -- signed by 32 members of this senate, including the occupier of the chair right now, the senator from west virginia. and i don't think anyone is going to say that we haven't done everything we could to go through the process, the committee process, to get a hearing. i just flat gave up. and that's why we have this rule. and so i will be looking forward to taking the next steps, and i know there are a lot of people out there that want to have this type of justice afforded the pilots of the united states of america, the same as every other citizen enjoys. with -- i appreciate the patience of the committee because i know we have other business. and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: without objection, it will be placed in the record. mr. i

i will always admire jim inhofe for the work -- i'll be darned, here he is. i will always admire jim inhofe for the manner in which he approached this important piece of legislation. and we passed out accolades on this floor about everyone, how hard they worked. but we would not be able to get this bill done except for jim inhofe. fact -- fact. so i'm disappointed we scant do things -- we can't do things tonight. as the chairman of the committee, chairman of the judiciary committee just said, we would stay here tonight on our side, you know, until the wii hours of the -- until the wee hours of the morning because we have some things -- i was scheduled to be in lake tahoe to. but i can't be there. and other people have certainly more important trips than that. but that's one of the things that we have to face with these jobs that we have, which are a tremendous privilege but sometimes we don't have the ability as the governor does, the president does, a member of the court does, to just say the schedule this way. that is not the way it works here. there are 10

inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: mr. president, before the senator from west virginia leaves, i just want to publicly thank him for all of his support in something that just happened just a few minutes ago and that is our passage of the pilots' bill of rights. and there have been several on both sides. certainly senator begich has been working hard, senator pryor and senator manchin, as well as many on the republican side. but it is a reality now and it's something -- i look at this as kind of a strange day for me anyway because i've been working on two bills for a year and a half. both will become a reality on the same day. one, of course, the highway bill. the other, everyone knows about, the pilots' bill of rights that only the pilots know about. you know, when you stop and think that we've been -- and i've been a pilot for 55 years and i get all the calls and the complaints that come in. but when you stop and think that the pilots are really the only ones in our society that are denied access to justice like every ot

i am pleased to work with senator inhofe on this. thank you, madam president. 25 days the cost of attending college, a trade school, a university, a two-year community college will increase for some 380,000 students in my state of ohio. it's because without congressional action, something we have tried -- which we have tried to fix repeatedly on the floor of the united states senate, without congressional action, interest rates for stafford loans are scheduled to double on july 1. now, this was done five years ago bipartisanly that we were able to do this. president bush signed legislation for a democratic congress, democratic house, democratic senate to freeze interest rates on stafford subsidized loans for american college students for five years at 3.4%. that expires july 1 and it's something that we need to do, we have tried to do, it's repeatedly been batted down by threats of a filibuster. that's why today i met with students in toledo at owens community college. jackie, c.j. and megan all have dreams to attend first owens then

senator inhofe's staff for being so courteous. and senator boxer's staff for being very, very tenacious, petina and jason particularly to help us negotiate one of the great environmental pieces of legislation in decades. and i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous consent --. the presiding officer: the senator from lazy. ms. landrieu: to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: i ask the senate proceed to immediate consideration of s. con. res. 61, the adjournment resolution submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate con ciewnchts resolution 51, providing for the conditional adjournment or recess of the senate and adjournment of the house of representatives. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate may proceed to the motion. ms. landrieu: i further ask that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconside

inhofe: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: madam president, senator blumenthal is due down on the floor and i'd -- when i see him come in, i'll cease, but i wanted to make a couple of remarks about a couple of opinions so i ask unanimous consent that i be recognized out of turn and will leave when he shows up. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: the biggest threat to the future of farmers -- i come from a farm state of oklahoma, are really the burdensome and costly regulations. i've got three amendments, the amendment that i'm proposing today will provide significant regulatory relief for farmers struggling in a tough economy. there's virtually no history of oil spills from agricultural operations in farms simply do not pose the risk of spills that other sectors do. starting next year, farmers who have oil and gas tanks -- that's all of them. they all have oil and gas tanks on their farms. they're located in different areas, if they have a certain aggregat

senate like james inhofe. it's the sort of thing republican congressman paul ryan called sugar high economics, a temporary boost to the economy, not much else. i don't agree but we can have that discussion but you can't say that doing this evenings like fixing water mains is sugar high economics. you get something tangible in the end. you get a new water main. not all infrastructure is what you can see with your eyes. roads and bridges. sometimes it's the stuff under your feet, bringing water to your family. even if tomorrow the economy recovered completely, we still as a country need to fix our water mains. it's one of the things we need to do no matter what. now is not only as good a time to do it, it's a better time than almost ever to do it. instead we have traffic pileups for hours and hour as we sit and do nothing. if now is the time to do it, why aren't we doing it? >> senator sanders, thank you for being with us tonight. >> great for being with you. >> why aren't we? >> everything you said is true. eve

we immediate the boxer-inhofe bill. >> you're a republican. lincoln was a republican when he built the trans continental railroad. the reason you can ride on 90 like yesterday and 80 and 75 and 95 and interstate highways is because of the republican. >> the 16th president. one of the greatest. >> eisenhower republican right here. thank you very much, mr. secretary. up next, what did mitt romney do to appear more human? and by the way, what kind of an act has he been putting on? we are going to talk to an expert. we've got james lipton. he's got some ideas about what romney's been doing, this performance art he does. this is "hardball." place for politics. we're going to prove it, next. >>> dueling lawsuits over the voter purge in florida. the department of justice says it will sue. florida defied the order to stop the purge which the federal government says violates federal laws against suppressing voters. meanwhile, rick scott is suing the federal government and specifically, the department of homeland security, accusing the agency of denying

ient dued this bill on behalf of myself and senator inhofe, who i have worked so closely together on many issues involving adoption and the protection of children that are outside of family care both here in the united states and abroad. i want to thank senator inhofe, the senior senator from oklahoma, for being an original cosponsor of this legislation. i also want to thank congresswoman laura richardson for introducing a companion piece of this legislation in the house today. mr. president, we just celebrated father's day this past weekend, and i know that my father and my husband and men all over the country celebrated with their children and their families, and we honor the extraordinary fathers in the world. parenthood is the ultimate gift. it's also an incredible responsibility. and we all have benefited, or many of us have benefited from really wonderful fathers who care and support families and support children through their young years, their adult years, and even into their older years. but, mr. president, when fathers are absent, when they abandon their responsibility to t

i have had a senator denounce my work on the senate floor, james inhofe who has declared that climaten elaborate hoax, and a hoax that we have the ice sheets and the global temperatures playing along with the hoax. >> and it is a massive hoax if that is the case. go and i have been subject to attacks by people like joe inhofe, and joe barton the former chair of the house energy and commerce committee attempted to subpoena all of my personal e-mails, and the attorney general of virginia basically took a page from his playbook trying to do the same thing. >> but, jonathan, when we talk about the political tactics and sort of the road forward for this, it is important and relevant to note that the koch brothers whose interests are in the oil and the gas industry are expected to spend $400 million on this november 2012 races. >> which is more than mccain spent on everything. >> on the entire -- yes. exactly. how do you change the thenarrat or at least move the ball back towards reality as it were? >> clearly part of it is interest here, and like you say, fossil polluters who want the prot

and i rise in opposition to the resolution of disapproval that we expect senator inhofe to offer. resolution would permanently block the e.p.a. from reducing mercury and toxic pollution from power plants in the united states. the standard is called the maximum achievable control technology standard utility mact. by blocking this standard, this resolution is bad for public health. this resolution is also bad for america's natural gas producers. this resolution is especially bad for electric utilities that did the right thing and followed the law. environmental protection should be a bipartisan issue. republicans and democrats both passed the clean air act the clean water act and other environmental laws by wide margins. i urge both parties not to support this resolution. here are some key points on the public health issues that are before us when this resolution comes to the floor. the environmental protection agency estimates this standard will save 4,000 to 11,000 lives per year by reducing toxic pollution. the e.p.a. also estimates the standard will prevent nearly 5,000 heart at

at the moment i'll be back with the news team with more for you inhofe an hour from now in the meantime as promised max kaiser will be bashing the bankers with a silver bar you can find out what that's all about in the latest cars report now. hi i'm max kaiser this is the kaiser report just hanging out in london doing my alive somebody was very kind to give me this one kilo of silver what the banks are scared.

>> thank you very much, senator inhofe, for putting it on the table. do you want to respond, general? >> first of all, it's good to see you again. there was an awful lot in the conversations. >> up to now. >> even now, with respect. there's an awful lot in the question and we have to have a detailed one-on-one conversation. i'm not sure if it's a tax as opposed to a royalty and i think a lot of these guys are not investing in these areas because they're worried they don't have the underpinning of the law to protect them and so it's money that's not there because they're not drawing the natural resources that perhaps we as a nation would like to see them draw. if we did, of course, we would be able to get the royalties in the range that i discussed and of course, 7% would represent more than 50% of the royalties we would otherwise be entitled to. >> depending on the range and we'd be down to certainly, 11.75 which at the moment doesn't exist. another example would be the reserve officer's association letter which i read for the first time this morning w

and the last point is, i'm really glad senator inhofe put page 33 of commissioner svinicki's answers about yucca into the record. because here it goes. senator boxer, so you didn't work directly on yucca? answer, i did not. i don't believe that's true. when i don't vote for you, commissioner, it's because i have reasons that go with my view of your candor or lack of same. and also the record in terms of safety. i hope and i truly pray that this commission, with your leadership and yours, can get off on a different -- in a different direction. we can have the deepest divisions of opinion. this is america. that's what we're known for. we don't agree on things but we have decent relationships with each other. and i just really want to underscore that. as one day we had all the commissioners here and the chairman and i said, you should all go out after work and have a beer, soda, something. and, you know, they all looked at me like, what planet was i on for that to even be possible? that's got to be possible. it could be tea or coffee. could be anything. but you get my point. and so dr.

worse for example right now republican port authority is reporting that republican senator james inhofe who's taken over one point three million dollars from the dirty fossil fuel industries just since one thousand nine hundred nine is leading the charge with twenty nine other bought off colleagues who've taken over twenty four million dollars from the industry to loosen the rules on how much mercury these companies can dump into our air more profits for industry more millions for republican senators more autism and neurological damage for the rest of us. we genuinely now have the best senators money can buy go to move to amend or sign up to take our democracy back from the five right wing crazies in black robes we're doing everything they can to corrupt it over the supreme court that's moved to amend or. that's it for the big picture tonight for more information on the stories we've covered visit our web sites at marvin's dot com free speech dot org and. also check out our two you tube channels there are links that thom hartmann dot com also at tom hartman dot com check out all the dif

i can't tell you how hard senator boxer and senator inhofe have worked on that committee. this bipartisan effort, a democrat and republican, has resulted in a compromise bill which they personally hand delivered to the speaker of the house, john boehner of ohio, this week. they understand we have a july 1 deadline. they understand the urgency to take it up and move it to create and keep 2.8 million jobs in america. what was the response of speaker boehner? well, it was warm and welcoming. but the fact is, as of today, maybe tomorrow, the house is gone ta for a week. so in this critical period of time when we're up against a july 1 deadline, when millions of american john roberts are on the line -- when millions of american jobs are on the line, the house is leaving. and eric cantor said, it doesn't make any difference if we stay because we're not going to do anything significant. we're just going to politic and posture. how do you explain this to the families across america, workers who need a job at a time when the economy is tough, people living paycheck to paycheck, now

in the post gadhafi state that's it from the as you said to him in moscow with another summary for inhofe enough not to me we had told washington studios for the latest edition of the. welcome to the ilona show we'll get the real headlines with none of the mercy corps live in washington d.c. and i are going to speak more about julius on his plea to ecuador for political asylum now first we're going to get in on the ground report from artie's laura smith who's currently in london and then will host a panel talking about what this entire episode means in light of the obama administration's very aggressive war on whistleblowers and the freedom of the press then believe it or not yesterday the first ever congressional hearing was held to address the issue of solitary confinement within our prisons and jails that's despite the fact that an estimated eighty thousand inmates are held in long term solitary so we're going to speak to one of the foremost experts in the field who studies the effects of our prison system and who gave members of congress his take in the hearing yesterday all of that a

i'll be back with another update for inhofe enough time we had back to washington d.c. for the latest edition of the i need a chef. welcome to the alona show where you'll get the real headlines with none of the mersey we are coming live out of washington d.c. i'm christine filling in for a loaner as you finishes her week on a well deserved vacation well today we have laura lister on the show for our financial checkup she's going to break down the latest news in the eurozone and also look ahead to next week's breakdown jobs numbers we're going to take a look also at those riled fires raging in colorado scientists are connecting the dots and finding a few too many coincidences for this not to be related to climate change though no one seems to be talking about it we're going to have all that and more for you plus a dose of happy hour but first let's take a look at what the mainstream media has decided to miss. well there has been a lot of talk lately about a thirteen mission in mexico that went wrong fast and furious debacle has been fun in so many directions but the fina

inhofe: so i'm looking forward to having this. certainly my state of oklahoma, and the state of oklahoma is not the only state that has the -- that has bridges and road problems, and i'm looking forward to that. another good thing that's happening today, right now we're waiting and i feel very confident that we're going to be able to pass out of the senate the pilots bill of rights bill. right now we're in the process of hopefully getting that done. when that time comes, i'd like to be recognized to talk about some of the great extensions of justice to people who have been denied that justice heretofore just because they happen to be pilots. so with that, i would yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. a senator: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coats: mr. president, i come to the floor today to

inhofe: let me, first of all, express my appreciation for the majority. i understand that i'm to be given some 40 minutes after the vote, after the conclusion of the remarks by senator brown from ohio. i have a subject that is very, very significant, and i just -- it's one of them you can't do while being interrupted, so i appreciate starting this period off after the recess, being able to express my concern over what i referred to as president obama's war on fossil fuels and specifically today on coal. so i look forward to that sometime around the 6:00 hour. with that, i yield the floor and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: madam president, i rise to support the paycheck fairness act that we're going to have a chance to vote on tomorrow. i hope my colleagues will support the effort of my

it's been four weeks. 3 million jobs are at stake and i am so proud that senator inhofe and i are workingof this bill, tim johnson, richard shelby and kay bailey hutchison and others. it's a clear difference, but i hope you would invite leader cantor on your show and ask him what he's doing to make this happen. we're hoping he wants a bill, but we hear he doesn't. he said oh, he absolutely does, but that's what i'm worried about, frankly is that there's a leadership issue over there that says just let it go because it's 3 million jobs. it's critical to this economy, it would boost this economy and some cynics say they don't want that over there. >> well, i will leave it there. democratic senator barbara boxer from california. speak of california, i have a whole bunch of results we'll go through in a moment. thanks for coming on. >> that. >> if it's wednesday, it means it's results. california, and all of the races and the memorable viral video to punish a congressional candidate to the top of the pack, all of that is next, but first today's trivia question. before alaska and hawaii which

inhofe: i thank him for yielding. this is very simple. this is the information age. in my rural state of oklahoma, some people sometimes have to drive 30 miles to a post offenses -- the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. the senator from california is recognized for one minute. the senate will be in order. the senator from california is recognized. please take conversations out of the chamber. mrs. boxer: mr. president, today our families receive in the mail just once a year a report about the safety of the water that their kids drink every single day. the toomey amendment repeals that important right to know. there are 70 regulated dangerous contaminants in our water. for example, arsenic, benzene, asbestos, cadmium, mercury, and uranium. some of these dangerous toxics are deemed unsafe at any level, and yet under toomey, you would no longer receive that information. senator toomey says go to the web site. 1,000 water districts have no web site. and right now under the current right-to-know law, the governor can say he waives this requirement for the

and my colleague from oklahoma, senator inhofe, is featured in the pages of "roll call" today for his herculean efforts to get house republicans to be reasonable on a long-term highway bill, along with his colleague and our friend, senator boxer. i suggest that the house majority leader reconsider his remarks to "politico" and take a page from the book of these brave republicans. the house may be in an all-politics mode but the senate is not done legislating, not by a long shot. and let's be honest, if the solution to these big issues is at all possible in the lame duck, or maybe even before the election, it's not going to come from the house, it's going to come out of the senate. so i suggest to leader cantor, washington doesn't need an election to bridge our differences, it needs the sena senate. thank you, madam president, and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you, madam president. i come today to talk, as my colleagues have discussed, about the fact that republicans in the house of representatives seem ready to pack it in for

thanks to the leadership of senators boxer and inhofe, this body passed a bill with 74 votes. it probably would have been 76 votes. senator kirk is back at home recovering, and we wish him very well. and senator lautenberg couldn't vote that day. i think he was at the funeral of a friend. it would have been 76 votes. unfortunately, our colleagues in the house were not able to pass a comprehensive reauthorization bill and were only able to join a conference committee after passing yet another short-term extension. i'll repeat myself, it's time for the congress to do its job. as the senator from alaska was saying, my good colleague was saying, the summer construction season is now upon us. in minnesota, that's when we know we can build roads and bridges and build light rail because in november and december it gets cold and snowy. state departments of transportation have already canceled projects because the house has failed to act. we have already lost thousands and thousands of jobs because for whatever reason the house will not pass a bill that received unanimous bipartisan su

now, there is one senator, jim inhofe from oklahoma, who says his staff refused to meet with mcgurk because of the e-mails. and won't do it until the questions are answered. george? >> jake, thank you very much. >>> and now, to excitement at the track. we're looking, live, at belmont park. that's belmont, where thoroughbred i'll have another, may capture the third jewel in the triple crown. it would be the first time it's been done in more than three decades. abc's ron claiborne is live at belmont, with much, much more. good morning, ron. >> reporter: good morning to you, robin. a mile and a half, the belmont stakes is called the test of champions. it could also be called the graveyard of triple crown hopes. i'll have another is trying to become just 1 of 11 horses in the history of these 3 races that have been all 3 of these big races. >> i'll have another did it. to win the preakness. and the triple crown will be on the line at belmont park. >> reporter: i'll have another was impressive winning the preakness. the second jewel in the triple crown. now, all eyes are on the 3-year-old colt t

but the concerns on capitol hill are building up and an aide to james inhofe, a key member of the foreignolved he will not meet with mcgirk as he usually does with nominees and we were not able to reach mcgirk or chan for comment. "the wall street journal's" parent company is not available for comment. she works with their money and investing unit. she had asked for a leave of absence when it became apparent that brett mcgirk was available for ambassadorship, but she's still a viable member of the paper. >> thanks very much for that report. >>> it costs about $4 a gallon of gas. so why is the navy spending $26 a gallon to fuel its fighter jets? >>> also still ahead, the story of one dog's unfortunate encounter with a plastic milk jug. how social media played a big role in saving her life. >> we want to update you on a remarkable story of survival of a young marine in afghanistan. an unexploded rocket propelled grenade became lodged in his leg thanks to risky decisions by his fellow marines he lived to tell about it. barbara starr has spoken to the corporal himself about the rescue. she's