senator lautenberg? >> thank you, chairman. admiral, you're now a seasoned commandant. i can tell you that you have won respect for the kind of leadership you have shown with the coast guard since the time you have become the commandant. we thank you for that. >> yes, sir. >> according to the fbi in new jersey -- it's home for the most at risk terrorist attack in the united states. the area has targets ranging from the port to the airports, chlorine and gas plants. an attack in this area could endanger 12 million people who live within a fairly short radius. with the administration's decreased budget requests, what, will any efforts in the port of new york-new jersey area be affected in terms of its supervision by the coast guard? >> no, senator. as i said earlier, my emphasis on the 2012 budget is sustaining at the current level our operations in the field. delivering the services that the american citizens expect of our coast guard. new york is well covered. the sector new york, one of the most robust,

ultimately it ended with actions by senator lautenberg that showed sanctions mean something. these countries want our money more than they want our children, and it is unfortunate but that is what it takes. we give so many of these countries billions of dollars in aid and if we do have these sanctions ready and waiting, more often than not they will return our children without having to use them. with the use them once or twice on the worst offenders to get our kids home, they know we are serious. most of these countries are friends and allies and some of them it is just inherent in their whole domestics is the master pam. they have a very archaic domestic laws when it comes to child custody to begin with so they need to start there before i can really feel comfortable with them exceeding to the hague convention. >> are you able to wind attorneys or where you are any of the others, an attorney in the host country so to speak that would be willing to fight the red tape in their country? in other words, to take your side against their government, either one of you? what was you

senator lautenberg. >> thanks, madam chairman. i can tell you this for the people in the coast guard in new jersey it's a wonderful place to be and it's -- if we could enlarge that facility maybe we could take care of more. and it's right on the beach so we could put up some tents and accommodate people. the rest of the year is wonderful. they deserve better, i can tell you that. when i look at the deteriorated situation with the quarters there now, that makes me unhappy. i'm so proud that you're so able to do the recruiting that you have to do. as mentioned earlier. i want to go on to something touchy. the recent reports on the coast guard's response to the deepwater horizon oil spill found that the coast guard's ability to respond to environmental disasters had -- and i quote here -- extra feat over the past decade. how have the coast guard plan the -- how do you respond to that? and how do you -- what can you do to improve the -- your plans for better security missions, the need -- and the need to improve the environmental resp

joining me now is new jersey senator frank lautenberg who has been asking a lot of questions how binaden was able to live in abat toe bad unprotected for so long. great to have you here. >> good to be here. >> first, let's discuss the funding. is it in serious jeopardy, this $1.3 billion we give to pakistan? >> we are going to make sure that if it does go, that it is justified based on cooperation from the pakistanis it wasn't a very comfortable thing to bypass them, but you heard that it was a matter of great concern that going to them might interfere with the operation. and they could not help but notice that this house this installation there was, was almost palatial on a relative basis and it was there for years, since 2005, as you mentioned. the only thing missing, as i said is a neon sign saying, here we are, bin laden's rest are. >> it is unbelievable. any claim they didn't know then -- well, then it is even more embarrassing because he was right underneath your nose, how incompetent are you apparently our money and aid happens helped your confidence at all. >> that's right. >

." >>> we will talk politics with frank lautenberg.> taking a look at stories making the news later today, president obama recognizes merrill high school chemistry teacher as the teacher of the year. >>> britain's prince charles making a three-day visit to the states, his first since 2007. he is at the british ambassador's residence for a wounded warrior event. it is 6:15 eastern. >>> from the state capital in montgomery, alabama, governor bentley talks about the tornado destruction and response. it will be televised at 7:15 in alabama, 6:15 eastern. >>> the atlanta hawks, josh smith, complains his team doesn't get any love. everybody talks about the heat, the celtics and the lakers and now the hawks have to start a second-round series and their star guard against the chicago bulls. rose makes the spin move and goes on to score, oh, count them, 24 points. the hawks joe johnson outscored the league's expected mvp. johnson finished with 34 points. the hawks are on the nba radar now. they beat the bulls in chicago, 103-95. ko kobe bryant

. >> thank you, senator lautenberg? >> thank you, madam chairman. i was beginning to feel kind of lonesome here because we introduced the chairperson, then the chairman of the committee, the ranking member and then members of the committee. so i am multiples here, members of the committee. and i'm glad that we have a chance to have this exchange. it's really important and when we look at the numbers that fly every day and how well -- how good the performance is of the controllers force, it's really remarkable but the very obvious glitches that are in here when you look at now that six incidents in which air traffic controllers and supervisors are caught sleeping on the job, 14 pilots land planes with no assistance and i understand, mr. babbitt, that you're taking steps to ensure that there's at least two people, is that correct, in the tower at all times? but i wonder in the processing of appointments to various stations, are there any prohibitions against second jobs? i'm sure a lot of people enjoy second job income and among the controllers as wel

don't are terror watch list to go and purchase an assault weapon explosives in fact senator frank lautenberg released a report that showed in two thousand and ten two hundred forty seven times when those in the on the terrorism watch list tried to buy guns were explosives they successfully did out of two seventy two that will give you your ninety ninety one percent success rate and they also showed i think was the number was fourteen hundred fifty three times between what was it february of two thousand and four and december of two thousand and ten same thing ninety one percent clips another in every ten guys are successfully getting weapons that can kill people in the right way and not only that we've had a number of terror incidents in this country since nine eleven and most of them have been christian americans shooting at other people shooting but but you know question last week and the reason i went to the white house correspondents there. in order to get in the room with the president and his wife for an hour we did not have to go through a scanner even though i september for michael c

good morning senator murray, senator collins, senator lautenberg. before i get into the 2012 funding i would like to take just a second to discuss some of the revelations that have come in the wake of osama bin laden's demise. we have worked closely with both domestic security organizations and foreign rail organizations. it has been created and i have our vice president and chief of police who has taken an active role, john o'connor, it making sure that we are keeping an eye on what is happening not only in this country but in europe in terms of the way that this is being investigated. we are most concerned with the possibility of an external attack on a train at a vulnerable.whether that be a bridge or a tunnel and we are seeking as best we can in cooperation with dhs and tsa additional support to find warning and detection systems that would help us in the event of such an attack. the administrator talked a little bit about his program and there is a large part of his program that involves development and if you look at some of the technology tha

good morning senator murray, senator collins, senator lautenberg. before i get into the 2012 funding i would like to take just a second to discuss some of the revelations that have come in the wake of osama bin laden's demise. we have worked closely with both domestic security organizations and foreign rail organizations. it has been created and i have our vice president and chief of police who has taken an active role, john o'connor, it making sure that we are keeping an eye on what is happening not only in this country but in europe in terms of the way that this is being investigated. we are most concerned with the possibility of an external attack on a train at a vulnerable.whether that be a bridge or a tunnel and we are seeking as best we can in cooperation with dhs and tsa additional support to find warning and detection systems that would help us in the event of such an attack. the administrator talked a little bit about his program and there is a large part of his program that involves development and if you look at some of the technology tha

it took senator lautenberg holding up a bill that would have given brazil nearly $3 billion in trader my son to come home. sean and i are extremely grateful for all the assistance we received from supporters. it looks at officials, the secretary of state and the president of the united states of america. nevertheless, it is extremely rare for a left behind parent to be the beneficiary of this level of help. get every other parent whose american citizen child has been at ducted deserves the same help that i received. this committee must realize that if the system had been working properly, our another year and a half after the death of my son's first abductor on christmas eve, 2009. sean and i were finally reunited and return home. it was nothing short of a miracle. after five and a half years, my son's illegal retention and documented abuse, he is now home and he is flourishing. he will be 11 years old tomorrow, may 25 as congressman payne pointed out. my son's birthday is on international missing children's awareness day. although the remaining abductors of my son have challenged th

and i want to again echo what senator lautenberg said. i think you all do a good job. we need to be constantly vigilant. but i guess i would ask you at first if there is anything else. i mean, the remarkable thing is a lot of the things he said in 2007 have all kind of come to pass and i don't think a lot of our folks around the country would know kind of how close to the edge because there had been obviously a massive transformation when a lot of new people were hired, and i just wonder if you've got any -- i know i've missed the first round of questions and in the testimony. but if you've got any at least this moment advice or admonition, hopefully not any more predictions that somewhat of what you made in 2007. >> thank you, senator. unfortunately, i think that there's a lag in the system and i didn't mean to in my opening statement to say we're not concerned about operational errors. we certainly are. what i was trying to refer to is in the 2006-2009 and even years before that, there was a culture within the f.a.a.'s covered up, hide it, and management's incentives

cancer research and aid to help middle class kids get to school, by even opposing something like a lautenberg amendment, which says if you buy a gun, you should be checked on a terrorist watch list to see that you're not a terrorist. if they continue this way, not only will we keep the senate, but we're very likely to pick up the house. that's what's going to happen, and that's legitimate. mitch mcconnell said his goal is not to elect president obama, and then he says we shouldn't talk about elections? give me a break. >> i want to end just a couple minutes here talking about the issue of israel and the fact that prime minister netanyahu of israel here was across purposes with president obama. it was striking as you see the prime minister appearing before congress, interrupted 29 times with hardy applause and standing ovations, at the same time when president obama's speech about a return to the pre-1967 borders should be the framework for a palestinian state. are you concerned about how out of sync the president appeared here in america with how the prime minister appeared to get a response

. >> senator lautenberg, early bird, you were next. >> thank you, madam chairman. thank you, secretary chu, for the wonderful work you do for our country. and for helping us now to try to solve problems that will directly affect how the economy recovers and how we protect ourselves, lack of energy to fuel the needs. in 2009 china surpassed the united states in private sector clean energy investment for the first time. 2010 china began to pull away attracting $54 billion in private investment. they recently announced the government would begin investing the equivalent of $75 billion in clean energy annually. now, will your agencies roughly 30 billion-dollar budget invest enough for us to regain the lead in the global clean energy race? >> you are quite right to be concerned about the investment but it's not only china. i would ed korea, the european union, germany, great britain, other countries are also looking at clean energy development efficiency site and for generations side house going to be the big business opportunity in the world market going forward in the

host: that was senator lautenberg speaking yesterday on the senate floor.ndrea, republican line. . morning. how will medicare affect your 2012 vote? caller: i will tilt what -- i will tell you the truth. it will affect it a great deal. i was a rescue worker at the world trade center. i have asthma. i have a blown out disc in my back. i had a cancer removed. who is going to be my doctor, dr. frankenstein? host: what you think about the plan? could it work for you? caller: it will not work for me. it will work for the rich. host: if you are a republican? caller: i used to be. host: ok. thank you for your call. david, independent line, port charlotte. the morning, dave. caller: medicare, as far as the way it affects my vote, i am looking for a common-sense approach. independent voters, we get tired of listening to -- i have been a father for many years. when my children were younger, there were times that they work completely irrational, screaming, you had to settle them down and some help instill common sense. this is both my opinion that the democrats and re

. >> senator lautenberg, early bird, you are next. >> thank you. thank you, secretary, too, for the wonderful words. and for helping us to try to solve the problems that will directly affect how our economy recovers and how we protect ourselves from a lack of energy to fuel our needs. in 2009, china surpassed the united states in private-sector clean energy investments for the first time. in 2010, china began to pull away, attracting $54 billion in private investment. they recently announced that its government would begin investing the equivalent of $75 billion in clean energy annually. your agencies -- is your agencies roughly $30 billion budget is enough for us to regain the lead? >> you are quite right to be concerned with china's investments. but it is also korea, the european union, and other countries are looking at clean energy development, both on the efficiency side and on the generation side as the big business opportunity in the world market going forward this coming decade. what we need to do is position united states so that we can be

senator lautenberg. >> i want to thank you, madam chairman. it's good to be sitting with colleagues who understand the urgent need to get on with investing in rail systems and amtrak particularly and improving the opportunity to get cars off the road and improve air quality and save money on fuel. trains have helped move america's economy forward since the 19th century when the transcontinental railroad was board and the engineering marvel that captured the imagination for the rest of the world. more than 150 years later, railroads are an example of economic success but the u.s. is no longer leading the way. i recently returned from china. 9% of its g.d.p. was on infrastructure. more than three times the amount we invest here in the united states. china's investments are paying off. when i was there i rode on a train that moved faster than 200 miles an hour. also, i might add, without, mr. boardman, rattle, shake and move. hard to write as it is now on amtrak. i use it twice a week. it -- i don't want people to think my handwriting is a produc

senator frank lautenberg, a democrat, wants u.s. suspended until he is satisfied pakistan was not harboring bin laden. >> we have to find out what it is that they're up to. are they on our side all the time in here's this build, all they neededs and a neon sign to be identified. >> hillary clinton said, bin laden never would have been caught if it hadn't been for pakistan, they helped us catch al qaeda suspects whose tips led us bin laden. we're committed to the partnership, clinton says. so, the talkback question today, should the u.s. freeze pakistani aid? facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your comments later this hour. >> already typing. i'm going to type myself. >> please do, drew. >> carol, thanks a lot. other news happen, too. >>> army corps of engineers sets off explosion at a missouri levee with two more to come. the corps wants to ease flood pressure on the mississippi and ohio rivers, and save the town of cairo, illinois. the operation will flood 100 homes and 200 square miles of farmland. >>> oil industry analyst is predic

senator frank lautenberg, "president obama's budget presents a careful evaluation of what our nation needs." they all voted "no" last night. well, with frentdzs like that, you -- well, with friends like that you don't need enemies, as they like to saivment we will, , mr. bowles talked about the budget. he was rather stunned actually when it came out. came out i think on friday. and on sunday mr. bowles said, "it comes nowhere close to where they will have to go to avoid a fiscal night maimplet -- nightm" this is a man that president obama chose to head the deficit commission and he hammered this budget. said it is nowhere close. and it's nowhere close to doing what we have to do. so i just believe that what we went through yesterday was a sham, a mockery, a joke, had no meaning, it was nothing but politics, nothing but an avoidance of responsibility to help provide leadership. now, look ... we all know some serious choices have been made, and -- have to be made and i close with these thiewtz. we're going to need a partnership in the senate between our parties. there are going to be s

. >> thank you very much, senator lautenberg. senator alexander? >> thank you, madam chairman. we've recently traveled with you and senator corker and me about environmental clean-up at oak ridge, urging a focus on the dangers of the mercury there and factoring in the large population of the region. i'd be remiss if i did not say thank you for the meeting and underscore the importance of that. my questions, though, are along the lines of my comments and opening statement about energy research. does this sound about right that the department has about $6 billion more or less for energy research, roughly $6 billion? what should it be? if you were professor chu -- >> if i weren't bound by the office of budget -- >> let me put it another way. you talk about hubs. i talk about manhattan projects. aren't we both talking about accelerating energy research in a focused way? >> yes. i'm here to defend the president's budget, but i would love to see increases. i think, as i said before, this is -- the research we do, with the goal of getting the private sector to pick up this stuff and r

it began with a media and ultimately ended with sanctions by senator lautenberg. that shows sanctions mean something. these countries want our money more than they want our children, and it is unfortunate but that is what it takes. we give so many of these countries billions of dollars in aid, and if we to have the sanctions ready and waiting, more often than not they will return our children without us having to use them. if we use them once or twice on the worst offenders to get our kids home, they know we are serious. we should be. most of those countries are friends and allies and some of them it is just inherent in their whole domestic system as japan. they have very archaic domestic laws when it comes to child custody to begin with so they need to start there before i can really feel comfortable with them proceeding to the hague convention. >> are you able to find attorneys? were you or any of the others, an attorney in the country so to speak that would be willing to fight the red tape in their country? in other words, to take your side against their govern

lautenberg: thank you, mr. president. as i stand here today, i am trying to figure out what it might -- what our activities here look like to the average american. they -- they know that we've got serious -- still serious economic problems that although we are on a good track -- and i think it's fair to say that we're feeling a little bit better, but we were cautioned by president obama the other day, those of us who had a chance to sit in a room with him, that while things are looking up, there is still a long way to go before our people are back to work and before they can afford the basics that they need to take care of their families, and while this is going on -- and we've seen the most incredible courage, the most well-developed military plan imaginable and the courage of our people who went in there, and thank goodness nobody hurt, a job well done, and the execution of a man who helped kill almost 3,000 people at the world trade center, hundreds more and other -- in other attacks on american facilities, the embassy

senator lautenberg, early bird, you were next. >> thank you madam chairman. thank you secretary chu for the wonderful work you do for our country and for helping us now to try and solve problems that will directly affect how our economy recovers and how we protect ourselves with the lack of energy to fuel our needs. 2009 -- pardon me. china surpassed the united states and private sector clean energy investment for the first time. 2010, china began to pull away, attracting $54 billion to private investment. now the recently announced that government would he investing the equivalent of $75 billion in clean energy annually. now, will your agency's roughly 30 billion-dollar budget invests enough for us to regain the lead in the local clean energy rays? >> well, you are quite right to be concerned about china's investment but it is not only china. i would add korea, the european union, germany, great britain and other countries are also looking at clean energy development both on the efficiency side and the generation side and going to be the big business opportu

as you know several weeks ago a number of my colleagues and i, senators udall, lautenberg, reid, and i wrote letters to your company calling the attention to the dangerous apps being sold in your app stores and asking you to take immediate -- to immediately remove them. don't have to go how bad drunk driving is in our country. i read those newspaper articles at prom time and christmastime of parents just looking so forlorn. they have lost a kid to drunk driving. anyway, the d.u.i.'s that were popping up in stores were terrifying because they undermine drunk driving checkpoints. the apps they have names like buzzed and fuzz alert, and they are intended to notify drivers in real time when they approach police drunk driving checkpoints. there's only one purpose to these, we know what that is. and that is to allow drivers to avoid the checkpoints and avoid detection. people often think twice about drunk driving, driving while drinking because they know they could get stopped with all the consequences. and these apps enable them not to. we brought these to the attention ofry,, m. they pul

. >> senator lautenberg? do you have another question? >> my opening statement -- in the record and i want to ask mr. babbitt a question. 2006, the former f.a.a. administrator informed me that air traffic control needed at least 35 controllers to move traffic safely. crop whether that was intended to be full performance people but right now there are only 26 certified controllers. many in the tower with eight trainees. when does f.a.a. plan to address the need to keep our towers fully staffed with certified controllers? >> i'm not sure. i don't have the numbers available to me but my understanding today is the range. we do, in fact, try to staff the traffic. traffic flows change sometimes and therefore you might want to increase traffic or sometimes you might have the opportunity, traffic falls off someplace. recently in cincinnati, a merger forced traffic to another area. traffic in another city went down dramatically. specifically, my understanding today and i could get you the absolute staffing numbers that we have but we think we have

kerry, whitehouse, klobuchar, cardin, bingaman, boxer, merkley, wyden, menendez, shaheen, sanders, lautenberg, reed of rhode island, murray and durbin. ms. klobuchar: i ask consent that on monday, june 6, 2011, at 4:30 p.m., the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 118, that there be one hour for debate equally divided in the usual form prior to the cloture vote. further, that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: i ask consent to resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number 56, h.r. 754. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h h.r. 56, h.r. 754,n act to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2011 for intelligence and intelligence related activities by the united states government and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. ms. klobuchar: i ask consent the bill be read a t

recently i joined the senator reid and schumer and lautenberg asking research in motion, google, an apple to stop selling dangerous apps that enable drunk drivers to evade law enforcement. in 2009, junk drivers killed nearly tend thousand people nationwide, including 141 in new mexico. apps like dui dodger, buzz, a checkpoint, provide drunk drivers with the precise location of dwi checkpoints as they drive. this is while they're driving around. some even offer audio alerts a learning drunk drivers as they approach checkpoints. while i agree public notification of check points in the news or in the paper and serve as a deterrent to prevent individuals from making the decision to drive drunk, providing real-time accessibility tailored to a driver's location only serve to provide young strivers with the tools to more effectively break the law and endanger others at a time when their decision making capabilities are already impaired. i am very pleased that rim did the right thing and immediately pulled these apps from the blackberry app store. white is apple and the google still selling the a

recently i joined senator reed and schumer and lautenberg and asking research in motion, ram, google and apple to stop selling dangerous act that enabled to drivers to evade law enforcement in 2009, drunk drivers killed nearly 10,000 people nationwide, including 141 in new mexico. i played dui dodger, buzz, check point and fanned similar provide drunk drivers with precise location of dwi check point says they drive. this is while they are driving around. some maps even offer audio alerts, warning drunk drivers as they approach police chat point. while i agree that public notification of check points on the news or in the paper can serve as a deterrent to prevent individuals from making the decision to drive drunk, providing real-time accessibility tailored to a driver's location only serves to provide truck drivers with the tools to more effectively break the law and endanger others at a time when their decision-making capabilities are already impaired. and i am very pleased that rim did the right being and immediately hold these apps from the black. app store. why are apple and goog

senators be recognized for up to five minutes off the democratic time: senator menendez, senator lautenberg, senator begich and senator whitehouse. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. conrad: madam president, i just briefly want to address this question of why we on our side have not laid down our budget proposal. and let me just repeat, we are in an unusual year. this is not going to be a circumstance in which there's a republican budget, a democratic budget, you go to conference committee and they're resolved, because we have a new process underway at the leadership level involving the white house. this is what the republican leader himself said about that process. the discussions that can lead to a result between now and august are the talks being led by vice president biden. that's a process that could lead to a result, a measurable result. and in that meeting is the only democrat who can sign a bill into law; in fact, the only american out of 307 million of us who can sign a bill into law. he is in those discussions. that will lead to a result. madam president, we don't need

senator lautenberg? >> thank you, chairman. admiral, you're now a seasoned commandant. i can tell you that you have won respect for the kind of leadership you have shown with the coast guard since the time you have become the commandant. we thank you for that. >> yes, sir. >> according to the fbi in new jersey -- it's home for the most at risk terrorist attack in the united states. the area has targets ranging from the port to the airports, chlorine and gas plants. an attack in this area could endanger 12 million people who live within a fairly short radius. with the administration's decreased budget requests, what, will any efforts in the port of new york-new jersey area be affected in terms of its supervision by the coast guard? >> no, senator. as i said earlier, my emphasis on the 2012 budget is sustaining at the current level our operations in the field. delivering the services that the american citizens expect of our coast guard. new york is well covered. the sector new york, one of the most robust,

lautenberg: madam president, thank you. i rise with deepest hope that we're going to be able to defeat the house budget plan that we're about to vote upon. this republican budget is a scheme that would endanger the quality of life for millions of americans who now struggle to get by. just look at the gas pump and you'll see what i'm talking about. the republicans want to make sure that the wealthy get wealthier with a new trillion dollar tax cut and put the burden on seniors, the middle class and young people to pay for it. paul ryan, the house republican member who hatched this scheme, has said, and i quote him here -- quote -- "this isn't a budget, it's a cause, and if -- it's a cause." and if you ask me, it's a cause for alarm. the other side wants to terminate medicare, one of the most successful programs in america, and turn it over to private insurance companies where c.e.o.'s now make millions. under the republican plan, many seniors will have to choose between medication and food to get by, and seniors' out-of-pocke