landrieu: thank you, mr. president. i know that the staff is working hard --. the presiding officer: the senate is still in a quorum call. ms. landrieu: i suggest the absence of a quorum -- i mean dispense with the quorum. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: thank you, mr. president. i know that the staff is working hard to kind of figure out the best way forward, and there are kind of lots of views about different amendments that may be controversial. but i'm going to stay here and work for the next hour or two tonight to see if we can just do one simple thing, just one simple thing. that we could look at the list of all amendments pending, and all of those amendments that are noncontroversial, no one objects to anything in the amendment, i would like that list put together, and it could be either voice voted tomorrow or all of those amendments could just get pending and be voted later. i'm not even particular about when the vote would be or under what circumstances the leadership can make all those

landrieu: thank you, mr. president. i came to the floor to speak about and follow up about a two-hour debate that we had last night on the floor about amendments pending to this bill that are uncontested. but before i do, let me just acknowledge the leadership for allowing senator toomey to come to the floor and offer his amendment. it's not one, although he's made some good points, that i can agree with or others will agree with, but at least he had the opportunity to come to the floor, present his amendment and ideas, make his arguments and hopefully sometime the senate can vote on that amendment. that's the process. the underlying bill, as you know, these quotas and goals and numbers of visas were carefully and very fragilely compromised among democrats and republicans that serve as the basis of the underlying bill. so any major adjustments to that would undermine a comprehensive immigration bill. the bill that we have to consider is not the perfect bill. we could have all written it differently, but the overriding o

landrieu: mr. president? the presiding officer: without objection, the statement will be placed in the record. ms. landrieu: mr. president, may i -- the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: -- speak for just five minutes? i don't know if there's any rule on the floor. i ask unanimous consent. mr. president, i did not like at all objecting to senator mccain's amendment, but i'm compelled to because i've been literally trying for several weeks now -- not just on this bill but on a previous bill -- to get a vote, just a vote -- i'll even take a 60-vote threshold; i'm not asking for a 53-vote threshold. i'm asking for a 60-vote threshold on amendment that will make it clear that we could grandfather in flood insurance rates until an affordability study -- that was supposed to be done -- is done. now, the interesting thing about this is that my amendment has no score. it doesn't cost the federal government anything, if this amendment were to pass. it is a zero score. it simply de

landrieu, proposes amendment number 1222. ms. landrieu: thank you. mr. president, i'm going to speak about this amendment for just a minute, but i'd like to respond to senator thune, and i wish that we could get a vote on his amendment as well as this one because i would like to strongly vote and strongly express objection to his amendment. and i'd like to comment for a minute. i chair the homeland security appropriations committee that is actually building the fence. the money to build it comes through my committee, so i've actually gone down to look at the fence that we're trying to build. it was shocking to me and would be shocking to everyone in america if they would see it. that no matter if you build a single fence or a double fence with space in between, how easy it is for people to be very ingenious about getting over it or under it. so i would be voting against senator thune's amendment because i'm not going to waste taxpayer money on a dumb fence. and that's what his amendment would be. we need to build a smart fence. and a fence is not just a

landrieu: for the border. okay. $30 billion on the land border, and it could be somewhere between $30 billion and $46 billion. and those numbers keep changing, so i'm sorry i don't have it right in front of me. but it's a lot of money. senator nelson's amendment says that at least $1 billion of that money be spent on maritime border security, not land border, because if you, as he said so eloquently, if you continue to put up fences and borders on the land and make it secure, which we all want to do, there are maritime assets that need to be stepped up. i think most everybody understands that and would say that's a very good amendment. now, these are amendments that don't need to be voted on. i am not asking for votes on these amendments. they don't need to be voted on. they would normally go in just a consent. a voice vote en bloc. no votes required. now, there right be out of the -- as i said, 800 amendments, this list has less than 45, out of 800, 45 amendments that might not need -- that probably don't nee

landrieu: mr. president, i'm happy to report, actually, that there's been a lot of progress made in the last few hours on the package of amendments that are completely uncontested, and there's no objection on any side. and i really want to thank the members who have been attentive and supportive of trying to get back to a more normal way here of operating, which is simply you can argue about the big, controversial issues, there are always going to be those on every bill we debate, but there will be some amendments that absolutely have no opposition because they are very well-thought-out ideas that do not generate in any heartburn on either side, that people can reason and say that helps the bill, it perfects the bill, it does something that improves the bill. now, we used to do that all the time around here, and we've really gotten away from it and it's hurtful. it's not just hurtful to the individual members, it's hurtful to our constituents, who would like their ideas brought up for consideration

i want to acknowledge the work of chairwoman landrieu, and her ranking member, senator coats. both have a great deal of expertise. for me, we will have the fbi and my great vice chairman senator shelby. this is a committee that is loaded with talent in this area. coming with enormous expertise from the authorized committees. we have senator leahy from the judiciary committee, well-versed on the issues on cybersecurity and a staunch protector of our civil liberties. we have chairwoman feinstein on the intelligence community. on armed services we have three. with the former chair of the homeland security committee, senator collins, herself a member of the intel committee. where has the committee had so much talent coming together from both, those of us from appropriations as well as the authorizers? i hope that our country has a sense of urgency. we are already under attack. this is the new enduring war. we are in a cyberwar every day. every time someone steals our identity, steals our state secrets or trade secrets, we are at war. we now see the growing nexus between cybercrimi

landrieu: thank you. let me begin by thanking the majority leader for his extraordinary leadership on this bill and both sides. it's been a very tough negotiation. the gang of eight, senator flake, senator bennet, senator rubio, senator menendez, senator graham, senator durbin dush, senator mccain, and senator schumer, have worked very, very hard to bring a bill to the floor that in my view is not perfect but it's balanced, it accomplishes many of the principles of fixing our broken immigration system, and they have worked extraordinarily hard. let me also thank senator leahy and senator grassley as the chair and ranking member of the judiciary committee that considered more than 300 amendments, voted on 121. i'm disappointed like many people are that we didn't get more votes on the floor, but i came to the floor earlier in the week and predicted that that would happen. and it's unfortunate. but it's not the first time i've seen this movie and members of the other side are disappointed and some of us are

12 61, klobuchar coats landrieu blunt 1956. landrieu-cochran 1383, leahy 1454, leahy 1455 morty 1451, murray-crapo 1368, nelson-wicker 1618, reid 1223, reid 1608, schatz-kirk 1416, shaheen-ayotte 12372, stabenow 1405, toomey 1236, udall of new mexico 1241, udall of new mexico 1242. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. cornyn: reserving the right to object, i want to compliment the distinguished chairman of the judiciary committee for the open process that he conducted in committee to process amendments on both sides of the aisle and the open and transparent way that was done. that stands in stark contrast to what's happened here on the floor where we've only had ten amendments that have had roll call votes compared to 46 roll call votes the last time we debated comprehensive immigration reform in 2007. and i would just point oute outr my distinguished colleague that of the 32 amendments that are being offered now by unanimous consent, to be voted u

of entry; landrieu-cochran 1383, requiring reports to a program; landrieu 1341, requiring d.h.s. to attempt to reduce detention daily bed rate; leahy-hatch -- i mentioned that one only because it is cosponsored by the senior democrat and the senior republican; leahy 1544, technical amendments, 1455, e.v.-5 verification, crapo 1368, prohibiting the shablging of pregnant women, extraordinary circumstances at d.h.s. detention facilities. gosh, if there's anything we assume would pass unanimously -- a senator: would the senator yield? lay if i could just finish the list. mr. leahy: if i could just finish the lace. providing adisicial resources for maritime security, shats shats--kirk 1416, visa processing; shaheen-ayotte, visa program; stabenow-collins, administrator changes, udall 1241, expanding the border enforcement security task force; udall 1242, $5 million available for strengthening infectious disease surveillance; and we have a few others. these are all totally nonyoafers noncontroversial. both republican and democratic. normally -- and i hate to sound like here's the way we

senator landrieu and others have indicated they want some amendments. i hope we can work that out so we can move forward on the bill. so, we'll continue to work through the amendments, as i indicated, today. the first roll call vote, as i've indicated, will be about noon today. excuse me, mr. president. we've made some significant advances on the historic immigration legislation that's now before us. i'm confident, i'm hopeful that we can pass this bill. i've indicated on a number of occasions that we're going to do everything within our power to finish this bill before the july 4th recess. i've had conversations with the republican leader and other republican senators, and of course my democratic senators, and i think that's the goal. and i have no reason that we shouldn't be able to meet that goal. we've made progress on amendments. i expect and i hope that a group of republican senators working with the gang of eight will come forward with a way that they think we'll move forward on this bill dealing with the border. as i said, i'm willing to look at

senator landrieu just step out. i've been out on oil production platforms. this is a deep water floating-rate which turns out had a major discovery in the gulf of mexico. it is a very substantial project and something that is going in development. i also went to a production platform with chevron and saw how the technology has evolved in the industry and frankly how it hit has stayed the same in many ways. in april we announced the proposed notice of sale for lease sales to 33 which will make available 21 million acres offshore texas which will be the third in the current five-year program. we have also implemented key reforms that reduce the time for review but exploration plans for deepwater drilling in the gulf of mexico and i will say there is now more than floating deep water rigs them prior to the deep water horizon spill close to a 25% increase prior to what was happening before that activity. the bureau energy management is begun a environmental statement to supporters estimate the resource potential on the south atlantic and that is continuing. on t

landrieu: thank you, mr. president.am going to speak in morning business for up to two or three minutes. i want to take a point of personal privilege. as we get to the end of this immigration debate and hopefully have a final vote on this bill sometime this week, it is a very important issue for our country, there have been any number of senators that have been involved in trying to negotiate a very complex and tough bill. and the gang of eight has done a terrific job, in my view, of managing lots of very controversial aspects to this bill. but a group of us not connected directly to the gang of eight have been working on a group of amendments that are not central to the bill -- or potentially, let me say, noncontroversial. we have been working with republicans and democrats, parallel to the gang of eight. and i only ask the leadership on both sides -- the republican leadership, the democratic leadership -- to please look at the list that has been submitted to the record, not once, not twice, not three times, but five t

senator landrieu will be back soon after senator landrieu will be senator risch. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i do step up for another meeting. thank you so much for taking one of their first trips to the gulf coast. i understand you're off the course that the offshore island gas rigs and we appreciate you reconnect and with that important industry in resource for nation based on your experience earlier in your career. i wanted to bring up two issues and help questions on two issues. first is the request in the budget for the land and water conservation fund. many of us are very interested in signing the land and water conservation fund for many reasons. there's a federal site that helps our parks and land acquisition. as a stateside that helps our states really leverage the conservation dollars to expand recreational opportunities and say special places. i don't think there's a number on this committee that doesn't want to do that within reason recognizing the western state think they have too much land already purchased by the federal government and acknowledge their concern.

we will just keep going and senator landrieu will be next, and after senator landrieu will be senator risch. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman to i apologize. i had to step up for another meeting. oken, secretary jewell, and thank you so much for taking one of their first trips down to the gulf coast to understand your off the coast of louisiana at one of our offshore oil and gas rigs. we really appreciate you reconnecting with that important industry and resource for our nation, based on your experience come in your, earlier in your career. i wanted to bring it to issues and have questions just on two issues. first is the request in the budget for the land and water conservation fund. there are many of us that are very interested in funding the land and water conservation fund were many reasons. there's a federal site that helps our parks in our land acquisition. there's a stateside that helps are staged to really leverage those conservation dollars to expand recreational opportunities and save special places. i don't think there's really a member on this committee that doesn't wa

you became famous convicted of misdemeanor for breaking into senator landrieu's office.our parole was up. enough to you are a free man. >> free man. actually probation. >> bill: you didn't go to prison. you write about it in the book but you defend yourself. you say you didn't commit any crime? >> yeah. the book the break through book is incredible because it takes iewn journey through all the things we have been through. the government destroyed my evidence and charged me with a crime i didn't commit. >> bill: why didn't you plea it out? >> it was hard. a lot of obstacles. >> bill: couldn't get pro bono lawyer. >> very challenging. they destroyed our evidence and that's not the only thing we dealt with we did voter fraud distinction last year. there is no doubt you are a target, a high profile guy. going around embarrassing the liberal entitlement programs, they are coming after you. i don't know if i would have played that out. if you really felt you were not guilty of a crime. >> going back i never would have an tisz pated they would have restricted their travel for t

the presiding officer: the question is on the landrieu amendment. those in favor signify by saying aye. opposed. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the amendment is agreed to. under the previous order, there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote on amendment numbered 1228 offered by the senator from louisiana, mr. vitter. mr. leahy: mr. president, before we do that, i have been asked to make a request that the -- i just want to remind everybody the next vote will be a ten-minute vote. mr. vitter: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. vitter: mr. president, this amendment is very simple but it's important. it would finally demand and require execution and enforcement of the so-called us-visit system, an entry-exit system to catch visa overstays. mr. president, this system was first mandated by congress in 1996. we've had six additional votes demanding it by congress since then. the 9/11 terrorist or visa overstays. as a result, this system was strongly, strongly recommended, on

colleagues and maybe some more conservative democrats who were sort of towing the line like mary landrieu, now she's signaling she's going to be for it. what you're going to see today is a number of statements that this really does secure the border and there's still some sort of far right conservatives who says it doesn't like jeff sessions but the middle-ground conservatives come to the floor and say this is the best we're going to do. it's giving billions more in new money to build fences, create drones, surveillance along the border and hire 20,000 more border security agents over ten years. this is -- there's lots of signals but the two gang of eight members speaking this is going to put it over the top and give the senate bill a lot of momentu momentum. >> they need that momentum. some of them talking ability the 70 number. senator rand paul said flat out he's a no. and let me play for you what was his prediction for what's going to happen in the house. sn>> >>. >> it will pass the senate but it's dead on arrival in the house. the house is closer to me and i think they think border

landrieu proposes an amendment 1240, on page 919 -- mrs. boxer: i ask the amendment be considered as read. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: i rise in support of the boxer-landrieu-murray amendment number 1240 which is a very simple amendment, it has bipartisan support as well. it would require the participation of the national guard and the coast guard in new border protection training programs. the underlying bill includes language authorizing specialized training for federal law enforcement agents who will be tasked with securing the border. to update them on how the law will impact their duties and their responsibilities. the bill specifically requires customs and border protection, born and i.c.e. officers and agriculture specialist at the border to undergo training on such things as identification and detection of fraudulent travel documents, civil rights protections, border community concerns, environmental concerns, and how agents should annual vulnerable populations such as children, victims of crime and human t

thune number 1197, vitter number 1228, landrieu number 1222, and landrieu number -- i'm sorry, and tester number 1198. that the time until 4:30 be equally divided between the two managers or their designees for debate on these amendments and that grassley amendment 1195 -- let's do that again, mr. president. that the time until 4:30 be equally divided between the two managers or designees, and that would be for debate on these amendments, and the grassley amendment 1195, at 4:30 we proceed to vote on that matter in relation to the grassley amendment, that upon disposition of the grassley amendment, the senate proceed to vote on the four amendments in this agreement in the order listed. that there be no second-degree amendments in order prior to the votes, that all five amendments be subject to a 60-affirmative vote threshold, that there be two minutes equally divided between the votes, that all after the first vote be ten-minute votes. the presiding officer: is there objection to this request? mr. grassley: i object. would the senator yield? mr. reid: yes. my friend has a consent agreemen

landrieu: i should do more checking on them then. mr. reid: but we have a number of people who are trying to get amendments on the list. we're going to continue to work 0en that. i.tit's not because senators hae tried the managers. i would ask that my request be modified to have the votes start at 4:35, other than 4:25. otherwise, senator sessions wants to have two minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection to the majority leader's request? without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by me in consultation with senator mcconnell, the senate proceed to executive session to calendar calendar number 182, there be two minutes for deviate equally divided in the usual form, the senate proceed to vote on the nomination, the motion to r reconsider be laid on the table, no further motions being made in order and any sphaiments be placed in the record and the president be notified of the senate's action. it is michael fr

senator landrieu is next. and then center risch. -- senator risch. >> thank you. thank you so much for taking when you're first trips to the gulf coast. you were off the coast of louisiana at one of our rigs. we really appreciate you reconnecting with that important industry resource. based on your experience earlier in your career, i wanted to bring up two issues and have questions. first is the request and the budget for the land and water conservation fund, there are many of us that are very interested in funding the conservation fund for many reasons. there's a double-sided that helps our park at the land acquisition. there is the stateside that helps to leverage those conservation dollars to expand recreation opportunities. i do not legally there is a member on the committee and does not want to do that within reason. the western states have to many, too much land already purchased. i acknowledge their concern. however, my concern is in this budget we are using revenue generated off the coast of louisiana and texas when louisiana and texas and alabama and mis

mary landrieu dispute. when we talk about mexico and abductions we think about drug cartels as well. is that a factor in this? >> you know, jenna i wouldn't want to speculate on the motive behind mr. torres' disappearance. i think it's important that we concentrate on getting mr. torres safely back to his family, and mr. torres being an american citizen it's important to the fbi that we reach out to the public and get information on his disappearance and abduction. jenna: do you have reason to believe they could be harmed in anyway? >> well, you know, mr. torres, from what witnesses told us, they were taken by armed individuals, so of course we are concerned about mr. torres' safety, as well as the safety of his father and uncle. jenna: quick question here i know you were involved in the investigation to try to find jessica buchanan, the american that was taken by men in somalia and was being held for 90 days before she was rescued. what takes place in a case like that, we're seeing a picture of her on the

the sna the proceed to votes on the amendments listed behoe in the following order: thune 1197, landrieu 1222, vitter 1228, tester 1198. that there be no second-degree amendments in order prior to the votes, all amendments be subject to a 60-vote threshold. there be two minutes equally divided between the votes. after the first vote, they be 10 minutes. madam president, i have spoken to my friend shall the ranking member of the judiciary committee, the senior senator from iowa, and i wanted to add the heller amendment. however, i think that i understand the republicans want to pick their own amendments. they don't want me picking them. so i understand that. so i haven't included that in the consent agreement. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. udall: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mr. udall: madam president, i'd ask consent that my remarks all be in one sequence in the record and then i just have a couple more minutes, senator grassley, so i'll finish up here. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. ud

senator landrieu has an amendment on the farm bill, on the senate floor now, that i am a cosponsor of i am certainly working with her and many other members to get this fix, to get it done, to reassure these threatened homeowners that help is on the way. mr. president, we need to do this. we need to preserve the american dream and treat these people right; not make their middle-class momes an homes and middle-class neighborhoods, all of a sudden, through no fault of their own, unaffordable. and we need to do it, for the very goal of putting the program on a fiscally sound footing because if we have tense or hundreds of thousands of -- if we've tend o tens or hundreds of thousands of families turning their keys into fema or the bank, the program will never get to the fiscally sound basis. you'll have people no longer able to pay premiums. we need to get it right for them, we need to get it right for the american dream, and i look forward to working with all of our colleagues in doing so. because again, mr. president, i started at the beginning talking about what south louisiana has bee

if you take a look at the red state dems like joe manchin, kay hagan, mark pryor probably mary landrieuey might be for the bill. right now, they're not saying they are. let's call it 50 for the sake of argument. four republicans in the gang of eight. cokier and hoeven just passed this big security, they'll be for this bill. then the two who have come out and said they're in favor of it, kelly ayotte from new hampshire mark kirk from illinois, that brings you up to 58 votes. you get a couple of guys who have laid out very clearly what they need in op-eds in their home states, dean heller from nevada and rob portman from ohio, all of those boxes have been checked so that's -- they're going to get to yes. that's 60 votes right there. that's what you need to pass this actual bill. you've still got the four democrats, the four red state dems. there is a group of 10 to 15 republican legislators republicans in the senate who are eyeing each other who will be in favor of this bill. if a lot of their colleagues are. there was that famous line during the healthcare fight when chuck grassley was a

like to share with the committee, we're going to go to durban, merkley, collins, tom udall, senator landrieu, senator feinstein. we will go right to you. then we will go to senator boseman, and then senator fryer. >> thanks to senator mikulski for bringing the cyber issue into sharp focus for the entire senate with their bipartisan briefing. i was under the intelligence committee after 9/11. it was automatic investment in intelligence resources to keep safe..-- keep us a dramatic investment in the personnel to execute the plan to keep us safe. i trust, and i still do that we were hiring the very best. trusting them to not only give us the best in terms of knowledge, but their loyalty to our country. i would like to ask you about one of those employees. who is now in a hong kong hotel, and what we know about him as follows. he was a high school dropout. he was a community college dropout. he had a ged degree. he was injured in training for the u.s. army. he had to leave. he did the job as a security guard for the nsa in maryland. shortly thereafter, he did the job for the cia in what is chara

landrieu: thank you. madam president, and i thank the chairman and the manager of this bill for his support of this particular amendment which i hope is going to be noncontroversial and has to do with really clarifying some technical parts of the law dealing with adoptees and how they are able to claim citizenship. it doesn't have anything really to do with the larger pieces of this bill but it's an opportunity to provide help and support to thousands of children, young people, and even adults that come to this country through the process, the wonderful process of adoption, just to clear up a couple of matters. i'll talk about that in just a minute. but i want to associate myself with the extraordinarily powerful comments of the senator from arizona, senator john mccain, who without his leadership and without his strong knowledge of the issue that we're dealing with, i don't think the bill with would be on the floor of the united states senate, i don't think we would have a chance to be voting on this imp

senator landrieu has talked about this frequently. she offered her amendment to deal with children. in that group of noncontroversial amendments was an amendment that i offered. i still hope we'll have a chance to deal with this, the rush act. now, what does that deal with? that's amendment 1286, bipartisan. i'm pleased that senator kirk and senator portman have joined me in cosponsoring this bill -- this amendment. it deals with holocaust survivors. some of our most vulnerable citizens. on average, they are over 80 years of age. many live alone. many live below the federal poverty level. and they are desperately concerned about being institutionalized, as i think everyone here can understand. this amendment makes it easier for them to access services under the older americans act. noncontroversial. it was before us. rejected by the republicans why we couldn't offer that series of amendments. that's not what we should be doing. we should be considering these amendments in the orderly way. that was not allowed. let me mention one other amendment i hope we will get a chance to conside

like to share with the committee, we're going to go to durban, merkley, collins, tom udall, senator landrieusenator feinstein. we will go right to you. then we will go to senator rosen, and then senator fryer. >> thanks to senator mikulski for bringing the cyber issue into sharp focus for the entire senate with their bipartisani was under the intelligence committee after 9/11. it was automatic investment in intelligence resources to keep us say. a dramatic investment in the personnel to execute the plan to keep us say. i trust, and i still do that we were hiring the very best. trusting them to not only give us the best in terms of knowledge, but their loyalty to our country. aboutd like to ask you one of those employees. who is now in a hong kong hotel, and what we know about him as follows. he was a high school dropout. dropout. he had a ged degree. he was injured in training for the u.s. army. he had to leave. he did the job as a security guard for the nsa in maryland. shortly thereafter, he did the job for the cia in what is characterized as i.t. security in a piece that was published. at

out to our colleague in the senate from the homeland security subcommittee, the chairwoman, mary landrieu, and she supports this particular concept. i look forward to working with my good friend, the judge from texas, which both he and i agree that these are not federal handouts but it allows the local government to partner up with the federal government and allows us to make our ports more efficient, more effective. i look forward to working with you, chairman carter, with the ranking member price and the staff as we address this conference committee. so i yield back the balance of my time and i ask you to support this bill. the chair: the gentleman from texas yields back. the gentleman from north carolina reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. carter: mr. chairman, at this time i'd like to yield one minute to the distinguished member from -- a member of our subcommittee from pennsylvania, mr. dent. the chair: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. mr. dent: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of the 014 department of homeland security appropri