botch box madam president? ferraro the senator from califo. madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. box i have seven unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session. they have been approved by the majority and majority leaders. i -- by the minority and majority leaders. i ask these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: are there any objections? the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: i ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment 816. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? mrs. boxer: madam president? under the rules, i believe there is two minutes equally divided. could i ask my friend if he wishes to make a statement on this? mr. coburn: i was going to go on -- mrs. boxer: i think colleagues should hear the debate. mr. coburn: okay. mrs. boxer: i think so. mr. coburn: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. coburn amendment 816 expands the review commission so that in fact it can look at everything we've giv

thank you, madam clerk. i yield the floor back. mr. grassley: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i voted for this nominee out of committee. i voted for this nominee on the floor of the united states senate. he is supremely qualified for this position. i come to the floor not to repeat what a lot of other people have said about this nominee but the process that was connected with arranging the vote for this nominee. basically, i want to speak about the needless shenanigans that have gone on before we get to this point where we vote at 2:00. today's nominee for the d.c. circuit was voted out of committee one week ago on may 16. a unanimous vote of 18-0. he was placed on the executive calendar three days ago, on monday, may 20. one day later, on may 21, the republicans cleared this nominee to have an up-or-down vote when we return from the memorial day recess. but the majority leader was not content with -- to take a yes for an answer. one day after this nominee was placed on the executive calendar and after republicans agr

fair is fair, madam speaker. the bill maintains protections for workers to ensure that this new flexibility is not abowsed by making the decision -- abused by making the decision to receive comp time completely voluntary aand allows the employee to change his or her time if they later decide to receive cash wages for overtime. all existing protections in the fair labor standards act remain in effect under this legislation and it is up to the employee when he or she decides to use accrued comp time. additionally, an employee cannot be intimidated, coerced or otherwise forced to accept comp time in lieu of cash wages for overtime. the legislation also maintains all existing enforcement remedies for employees if an employer fails to uphold the agreement and employers must provide 30 days' notice to employees of comp time -- if comp time will no longer be offered. h.r. 1406 provides proper protection and flexibility for employees and will help american workers better balance the needs of family and the workplace. i u

nelson: madam president, i yield the floor. mr. udall: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mr. udall: thank you very much, madam president. as you noticed a minute or so ago, i had a discussion with the leader, and he was moving to executive session. but i've been down here, as senator nelson has and other senators, to try to move the wrda bill forward. and leader reid says that's the business of the day. we're trying to move this forward. we're trying to get our amendments in. i really hope that we can do that, and do it in efficient order. so i'm going to speak to both of my amendments. senator ben.net is here, and i know he has a statement on immigration. so i would just ask you to give me notice when i'm in the five-minute range or so so i can try to wrap up and get everything in at this point. my message is simple today on the nepa process and wrda. despite what you hear, environmental reviews protect people, taxpayers and the environment. on average, it takes the corps just two to three years to complete a feasibilit

madam president, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed mr. whitehouse: may i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business for up to 15 minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. whitehouse: let me thank the distinguished senator from illinois for his statement. we serve together on the judiciary committee, and i hope that in that committee as well we can work on ways to improve the prosecution of particularly rape offenses within the military by the department of justice. and break through the agreement that now prevents the department of justice from prosecuting those crimes for the crimes that they are simply because they take place in the military. i'm here to speak today because washington, d.c. and the right-wing outrage machine are all abuzz about the scandal that the i.r.s. appears to have targeted organizations for inquiry based on tea party affiliation. obviously, that's wrong. but let's not forget, that's not the only i.r.s

murray: madam president? the presiding officer: under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid on the table, the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action, and the senate will resume their legislative session. the senator from washington. mrs. murray: madam president, i just wanted to talk for a moment. you know, i've heard a lot from my constituents that they are very tired of the dysfunction here in washington, d.c. they're tired of political gridlock that impacts their businesses, their children's schools, their paychecks. and after spending last week with families and businesses that are impacted by sequestration in my home state of washington, i know this is especially true right now. madam president, when i became chair of the senate budget committee, i said, i hoped that democrats and republicans would be able to work together to end the cycle of governing from crisis to crisis and the attempts to negotiate budget policy through brinksmanship, which w

thank you, madam president. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: again, i renew my objection. let me say my two colleagues have made excellent closing arguments to the gosnell jury, and i would expect that to be the case, since they're two well-trained, excellent lawyers. but the gosnell case is over. it's done. he's been sentenced or he will be shortly. and these kinds of abuses ought to arouse outrage wherever and whenever they occur. any time, anywhere a doctor endangers a patient in violating standards of care, we ought to condemn it. and so i urge my colleagues to join me in the outrage i feel about the dentist in oklahoma or the endoscopy center in nevada or the nursing home director in california, or any case where prosecution is appropriate, investigation should be done, properly by state authorities who have jurisdiction, and to condemn such practices and i ask them to join me in resolution s. 134. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from virgin

udall: thank you, madam chair of madam chair -- madam president, i should say, senator collins and i are here today to underscore the timel timelinessa bipartisan solution we have been pushing for since march. while i firmly believe we should replace the sequestration with a balanced and comprehensive plan that delivers the same deficit-reducing bunch, it appears to me and to all of us that the sequester is here for the remainder of the fiscal year year. i want to underline, we need deficit reduction. but the way in which we're doing it through the sequester is terrible policy and it is time to fix it. just after the fiscal year 2013 sequester was triggered, senator collins and i introduced a commonsense plan that would empower federal departments and agencies to replace the indiscriminate cuts with more strategic cuts. you just have to look at the way in which sequestration has endangered critical programs for working families, our senior citizens, and the middle class to know that we have to do more than we're doing today. and just throwing up our hands and doing nothing is poor go

thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. mrs. boxer: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: madam president, the way my colleague and friend has drafted his amendment is very dangerous to the process because what he wants to do is say that if in the rule making where we will define the waters of the united states, if they even so much as refer to the guidance that has been put forward, the draft guidance, there will be no rule, and the problem of not having a rule is you leave in place chaos. states can't go ahead and handle this themselves. local governments can't. under the law, according to all the rules of the court and everybody else, we have to have the definition here. no one i know wants to classify a ditch or a puddle as a water of the united states. that's always brought up, but that's -- that's just a red herring. we need to make sure we have a clean water act that protects the people, protects their drinking water, makes sure they are safe when they swim in a lake, and if we don't move forward with a

chairman, thank you, madam speaker. i think it's important to say first and foremost that no matter how passionate you are, no matter how loud you scream, it doesn't convert nonsense to facts. the point is china's debt holdings are less than 8%. it makes for a great talking point. i understand that. mr. lewis: if the gentleman will yield? mr. griffin: i will not yield. madam speaker, nobody wants to hit the debt ceiling. in fact, nobody wants to get anywhere near it. on the contrary, we are the ones that are trying to get washington's spending under control so it will live within its means. that's why we talk about budgets and spending and living within our means, because house republicans fight that fight. if we weren't doing it, we wouldn't even know there were limits to our spending. the house budget does just that. balancing the federal budget in 10 years. we understand we must take precautions to protect the credit worthiness of the united states. we can hope for the best, but we must prepare for the worst and the

madam president, i yield the floor. mr. brown: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of h.r. 1071 which was received from the house and is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 1071, an act to specify the size of the special metal blanks that will be used in the production of the national baseball hall of fame commemorative coins. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent the bill be read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of the senate -- and the senate now proceed to s. res. 127. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 127, commemorating the ten-year anniversary of the lo

>> thank you, madam chair. i would like to call on my amendment to restrict categorical eligibility in the stamp program. >> you may proceed. >> medicare, i have a rather unique experience here because, of course, as secretary of agriculture, i managed this program. i left the usda in the fall of 2007 to run for the senate seat that i am in today. at that time, there were 27 million people that were on the snap program. today, that number has grown to 47 alien. when i was secretary of agriculture, i propose limiting categorical eligibility to certain cash benefits, but congress did not adopt it. now that i am in congress, i want to try this again, hopefully with a different result. thise emphasize -- amendment does nothing, absolutely nothing, to restrict benefits to those who are eligible to receive the snap program. i administered the food stamp program as it was called back then, and i strongly support making sure those who are benefits of the program. i did then, i do now. but right now, some states are exp

thank you, madam president. mr. mccain: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: i will yield to the senator from tennessee in just one second. so what the senator from florida is saying is that if he has an issue that he feels strongly about, then that has to be included in any conference that is convened over any bill that is passed by the senate and the house and goes to conference. that is not a precedent that is -- i believe should be established here in the united states senate. maybe i i think i -- i think i share the senator from florida's concern about the debt and the deficit. i'll match my record against anybody's as far as trying to eliminate the debt and the deficit, including that of the senator from florida, but now we are about to establish a precedent that in any conferees are appointed on bills that are passed by the house and the senate, that we are free then to put certain restrictions on those conferees. if the senator from florida believes that's the right way this body should funct

kaine: thank you, madam president. i rise today to talk about the continuing efforts by a minority of this body to block a federal by blocking a compromise with the house to find compromise. i spoke about this one week ago but the stalemate continues. today there is an announcement that in my commonwealth, 90,000 civilian department of defense employees and hundreds of thousands of d.o.d. civilians nationally will be furloughed for 11 days between now and the. this furlough announcement, along with ample other evidence that we've discussed in this body in the last few weeks, demonstrates that budgetary gridlock, budgetary indecision, budgetary stalling has real-life consequences. i rise to implore my senate colleagues to do the right thing and to do the job that the american public has sent us here to do. madam president, this is about budgets but it's also about something even bigger than budgets, it's about something fundamental to the entire system of government we have: the willingness to work together to find comm

madam clerk please call item 2. >> an action item. >> thank you. are there any members of the public that would like to speak on the item, if so please come forward. seeing there is no one interested on speaking on public comment. is there a motion to approve item 2? thank you. this we go. $2? thank you. this we go. madam clerk please read item 3. i'm here to report on how things are going with the legislature. i have a couple things that i want to alert you to the edition of the matrix and i want to cover those first. also it's appropriate to take stock on what's happened to the legislation. i will quickly cover that. first the changes to the matrix on page 4 we've added ab 41 from san mateo, a new taxing authority to fund opportunities, authorizes sales tax to be voted upon within that mpo region. we are recommending a watch and we'll know better how it looks like it's going to go. this bill has bounced from natural resources to rules committee to local government. so it's been a bouncing bauchl -- ball. it's on a matrix and we'll be watching it

thank you, madam president. ms. landrieu: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: i was just going talto talk about the tornadoes,t i will respond to my colleague from utah. there are members objecting to going to regular order on the budget, and is a one of them. -- and he's one of them. the senator from utah himself is objecting to regular order, which would be to go to conference on the budget. he was one of the critics when he was running for this office -- he has numerous statements on his way to being aboutin becomi- that the senate and house needs to have a budget. the house has passed a budget. the senate has passed a budget. yet the senator from utah is the one, along with the thor from kentucky, and i understand the e senator from arizona, senator mccain, objecting to going to conference to resolve the differences. i know the senator from utah has read the constitution like i have. the constitution and the laws that created the senate of the united states give great strength to the minority,

>> madam chair i move. >> madam clerk i move that we take a two minute recess so that the thank you, thank you everyone for being with us today madam clerk call item 3. >> hearing is hearing on policy. and i'm going to turnover the rest of the meeting inform president chiu who will manage the hearing >> thank you, madam chair. so today's hearing is on the washington project on the sewer compacts. we get recommendation for good news i've invited the port on commission to come todayut an o presentation and today's hearing does resolve some complicated issues i've put together a brief cover. and sf tv if you could go to the laptop. today's hearing is in part about our sewer system and our vulnerabilities to that system. so those are in the returning monday district a brick pipe that created a 20 foot sinkhole. next slide. those are pictures 89.4 >> so some of the details around the construction just to refresh your memories is we need to know what it will emancipation proclamation tail above and below the ground we have luxury condos on the east waterfront in almost 60 years that go up

you, madam president. commissioner. , madameally surprised minister to hear you're just pick up the elements in the communication on macroeconomic figures, really beyond criticism, because we had this talk about the various issues, which we are talking about. it is not just socks and things like that. it is societal choices we have to talk about. audiovisual services, including internet and the cultural exception. to refuselso the need gmo'slorinated meat and that theone-fed beef u.s. wants to sell us. how can you go and explain that in a few years, multinationals can demand hundreds of millions of euros of compensation because ireland and the irish people would decide to put their own public policy of far as health issues concerned. these are the choices we are negotiating and we are doing it without any proper information. haveen the commission, we a negotiating mandate which changes any that they have got access to. we are in a situation where ordinary people do not know what is being negotiated. we are

thank you, madam president. i yield back the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: i would say to my colleague from connecticut, amen. and i would say to my colleague from oregon, thank you for his courtesy in letting me go ahead in light of the fact that we have a federal judge coming up for a vote at 5:30, and i am very, very grateful to the judiciary committee, to both the democrats and the republicans that are allowing us to vote and i urgently implore to confirm judge sheri polster chappell to the united states district court for the middle district of florida. but while i rise to speak in favor of judge chappell, i want to express my concern for the growing partisanship that is dragging down our efforts to fill these judicial vacancies across the nation. in the past, we've had qualified consensus judicial nominees, they'd be confirmed in weeks if not in days. and, unfortunately, even the judicial nominees of the support of both senators from the state, and sometimes in the case of florida, the republ

thank you, madam chair. mrs. boxer: retaining my time, i would like to ask through -- through the -- madam president, through the chair, if senator whitehouse has to actually send his amendment to the desk and ask for the yeas and nays, because if so, i think it would be an appropriate time to do that since we intend to vote at 2:00. the presiding officer: it can be offered at this time. mr. whitehouse: well, then if i may seek recognition. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: at the chairman's suggestion, with her position -- with her permission, i will gladly ask that my amendment be called up so that it can be considered. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from rhode island, mr. whitehouse, proposes amendment numbered 803 to amendment numbered 799. mrs. boxer: does the senator need to ask for the yeas and nays? or are the yeas and nays ordered? does the senator need to ask for the yeas and nays or are the yeas and nays ordered und

unlike most museums, at madame tussauds, you're invited to touch the exhibits.you call this an interactive attraction. why? >> we encourage our guests to get as close as they want. they can hug, they can kiss the figures. there's plenty of kisses on justin bieber. take as many pictures as you want. it's a lot of fun. >> do you have a favorite? >> johnny depp. >> did you lay one on him? >> i gave him a hug. [ laughs ] >> the exhibits get a lot of personal attention, and that takes a toll. although all of the figures are made in madame tussauds london studio, it's up to the staff here to take care of them. so, early in the morning, before visitors arrive, technicians like emily make the rounds. she checks the hair of heroes like civil-rights champion rosa parks, makes sure eli manning and carmelo anthony are ready for action, fixes brad pitt's tie, and -- oh, yeah -- removes all that lipstick from george clooney's cheeks. >> on a daily basis, the most popular figures, like clooney, brad pitt, johnny depp, they got kissed all over, so they got lipstick on their fac

madame clerk could you please call the roll? >> supervisor avalos present, supervisor breed present, supervisor chiu present r. supervisor cohen present. supervisor farrell present. supervisor kim, kim present. supervisor mar? mar present. supervisor tang, tang present, supervisor wiener, wiener present, supervisor eyre, yee present. all members are present. >> thank you, ladies and gentlemen could you please join us in the pledge of allegiance? i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. colleagues we have some meeting minutes from our march 26th and airplane 2, without objection those meeting minutes are approved. madame clerk, are there any communications. >> no communications. >> if you could read our consent agenda >> items 1-10 are considered routine if i member objects an item can be removed and considered separately. >> colleagues would anyone like to sever an item? >> supervisor campos? >> i

madam president, ladies and gentlemen. great tasktarting a of creating the foundation of something that will be the atlantic market in the future. andnow, we must negotiate conclude an agreement with the americans. newagreement will create jobs in the you. we will have more in common -- economy growth. we should remember the will concern the, the -- the caramelize nation of agreements. it will be an agreement which will lead to a situation where a strong economic block will be formed and our values will be reinforced through the world. democracy, human rights, freedom. there are areas in which there are deep differences between us and americans. for example, in the area of intellectual property rights, specifically the method in which they are followed and executed, as the vice president of the international craig committee wanted to declare, i will do the up most to not come back into europe through a backdoor. thank you very much. >> thank you. mr. skinner. >> thank you. what has been said about the value of trade betwee

>> thank you, madame clerk. today i am calling for a hearing on the benefits and impacts of a unique san francisco former of open space called parklets. san francisco is leading the world in this innovative type of open space, the world first formal parklets were initially conceived and installed in san francisco in 2010. now 38 parklets have been installed throughout the city. they aren't there all of our districts, and they are concentrate in the central part of the city and major merchant corridors, but i'm interested in considering spreading them more to the outlaying district like the richmond. in the richmond we're in the merge of opening our first parklet and several applications, the first on clements street. parklets are critical in increasing the amounts of public seating in our corridors and good evening good greening the areas, and allow beautification of the corridors at low-cost. they are extremely economical and they open up a new commons in many of our neighborhoods. however, there are impacts on

perriello: thank you, madam speaker -- mr. perry: thank you, madam speaker. in 2010 this bodyia was told it needed to pass the bill so the american people could know what's in it. well, mr. speaker, if the american people would have known of the toxic consequences that obamacare would have, i'm certain they would not have allowed this legislation to be passed. i rise today to expose some of the ramifications that obamacare will have on americans when it is fully implemented in 2014. in my home state of pennsylvania , premiums rates in the individual market will increase by approximately 30%. and on a national level there will be a 73% rise in premium costs for those keeping insurance. for those interested in getting a new plan, you're going to see an average increase of 100% in costs compared to today. due to the employer mandate, as many as 20 million to 65 million americans will likely lose their employer-sponsored health care. well, mr. speaker, three years later and we still don't know everything in this legislation but we do know who's picking up the tab

>> thank you, madam clerk. colleagues, as we all know rising health care cost and the abilities for individuals and employers for paying for these cost have been a problem for decades. health care is now 3 trillion dollars a year and rising and it affects all public sectors. in the next three board meetings i will be introduce a number of legislation affecting our city and residents. the first is a charter amendment which faces san francisco retiree health care liability. in 2004 as a result of cost nationwide they put in place requiring to account for their liability. last year they bench marked the kurnd liability at $4.4 billion for liability for retirees. it provides retire health care benefits earned by current employees and retirees. like many cities san francisco's liability which breaks down per household is funded as a pay as you go basis out of the general fund. only 1 percent is saved to date. with proposition c in 2011, city employees are starting to contribute more to their retiring health trust fu

thank you very much, madam chair.ecretary lew, thank you for joining us here today and thank you for your very nice comments about senator lautenberg. we all hope that he returns very, very soon. and i also want to thank the chairwoman for, and the members of the committee and the staff, for all their hard work on these issues. you've done an excellent job. secretary lew, i completely agree with your statements that even though our economy is improving, more work is necessary to support job creation and accelerate growth. in every community across new mexico, i hear the same concerns: jobs are hard to come by, and businesses are struggling to stay open. hard working new mexicans feel the recovery hasn't come to main street and to rural towns. can you speak to what efforts treasury has underway to help the recovery reach main street, how are the treasury programs sporting vibrant -- supporting vibrant local economies in cities and small towns, and how do these efforts help support a strong, building a stronger middle c

[laughter] >> thank you madame chairwoman. now i will try to simplify the maps as part of your compliance the farmers are required this is number two in regard to wetland acidification maps. when a farmer does his compliance program he has to have the weber and certification map that he has to sign off and certify within approval to have a sign off. there are different qualifications for he left he came out to our state working on several proposals two's simplify these certifications and process of these maps. with this amendment and the next one i will offer. he left before we got finished with this simply says if you had a wetland delineated on the map between november 1990 and december 1996, and it is certified that was a valid map then you can rely on it. . . in terms of determining what is wetland compliant than what is them. i support the amendment and urged the approval of it. >> thank you very much, senator hoeven. i do understand north dakota when they look at finance circumstances your farmers operate in, i think you

you, madam thank speaker.ou know during the commencement address in 2009 obama joked about the i.r.s. auditing university officials for failing to award him an honorary degree. fast forward to last friday when we learned that the i.r.s. has been targeting conservative groups. mr. speaker, the misuse of the i.r.s. power is no laughing matter. as chief justice john marshal once said, the power to tax is a power to destroy. folks and groups back home seeking to express their support for our hard fought freedoms and liberty for a limited government, better america should never be subjected to intimidation because of their political beliefs. never. the use of the i.r.s. as a political weapon is unacceptable. what's worse, this is the same agency that will be enforcing obamacare. we must hold those responsible accountable and that's why the ways and means committee will hold a hearing this friday. the american people deserve the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. and you -- if you're as outraged as i

camp: thank you, madam speaker.ld myself 15 seconds. since the gentleman raised the question of who holds our debt, this chart shows that the vast majority of our debt is held by americans. that's a fact. 30% of the debt is held by citizens, pension funds, and you go down the list. 2/3 of our debt is held by americans. we need to make sure that americans are paid first. with that i would yield three minutes to the distinguished gentleman from texas, the chairman of the social security subcommittee, mr. johnson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for three minutes. thank you, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, as i meet with my constituents back home, they they're ud and clear concerned about our record debt and deficits. we're nearly $17 trillion in debt. that comes out to about $53,000 per person. my constituents back home get it. they've had to make tough choices to live within their means and they expect washington to do the same. my republican colleagues and i have been committed to getting

>> madam chair i move. >> madam clerk i move that we take a two minute recess so that the room can clear

stabenow: thank you, madam president. let me tell my colleagues, i think we're off to a great start here with our first vote. before proceeding with senator gillibrand's amendment, i would ask unanimous consent that the sessions amendment 945 as modified with the changes that are at the desk be agreed to. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. stabenow: thank you very much. mrs. gillibrand: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mrs. gillibrand: i rise today to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join my effort to fight off the proposed $4 billion worth of cuts to the snap program, better known as food stamps. i'd like to ask that my amendment 931 be called up for a vote at a time determined by the manager of the bill. when congress proposes to cut the food stamp program, it is not a nameless, faceless person looking for a handout that suffer. it is hungry children. it's hard-working adults. it's seniors on fixed income, veterans, active duty service memb

reid: madam president? the presiding officer: mr. leader. mr. reid: the republican leader and i just spent a minute commiserating on the fact that we follow, both of us, very closely the washington nationals and we talk often about how they fare on a given day, and we talk about the las vegas young man, bryce harper, often because he's really a phenomenon in baseball. and yesterday he got -- they're playing in los angeles, a late game, two walks, a hit, and, like he does all the time -- or not like this -- he's chasing a ball at full speed and runs into the wall full speed. i'm told by the republican leader -- i'm going it talk to his family. the time is too early in the west. i will a talk to his mom rand dad to see how he's doing. he crashed into the wall. he has 11 stitches in his chin. his shoulders, so. we'll see how he is. mr. mcconnell: if the majority leader would yield, as the majority leader indicated, we were talking about this before we went into session. this kid is the most incredible competitor i've ever seen. the game is on the w

thank you, madam chairwoman.the rest of my statement will be submitted for the record. >> without objection. thank you very much. senator chambliss? >> thank you very much, madam chair. first of all let me commend you and the ranking member on working hard once again to produce what we all know from firsthand experience is a very difficult bill to produce, the process is always, always difficult to go through trying to match up on regions and all crops. i want to commend you. and i think we all agree that the farm bill needs to provide an effective safety net for farmers and ranchers to rely on in times of need. the agriculture producers face a combination of challenges such as whether am input costs and market volatility that is all combined to determine profit or loss in any determined year. 2084 bill provided a strong safety net program for producers and successor legislations must adhere and honor the same commitment made five years ago. and while i appreciate the comments of my friend from kansas relative to

and madam secretary, welcome. glad to have you onboard. let me, if i might, shift focus if i could to a couple of questions about the sequester. i have a little bit of the unique experience here, because i was a member of the cabinet as you probably know during the bush administration, sector of agriculture -- secretary of agriculture. i certainly appreciate the fact that the sheet of music using from comes from an office that is oval in this town. if you know what i'm saying. and every cabinet member has talked about the sequester kind of in the same terms you have talked about in your testimony. and i must admit it's got an aura of the sky is falling the sky is falling. now, you're also talking to a former governor, a former mayor, balanced budgets during good times and bad times. when times were good and the revenues were good, you could do some more things but when times were bad, for example, post 9/11, you just kind of had to deal with it. when i came here in 2005, and somebody said to me, you could get somewhere around a 5% cut, and

madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: i yield two minutes to another distinguished member of our committee, mr. blumenauer, from the state of oregon. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for two minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, madam speaker, this is as has been pointed out, the 37th attempt to repeal the health care reform. it's been my privilege to run 37 marathons in my career, but at least when you run a marathon, you get someplace. millions of people are benefiting from the health care reform, over a third of a million small businesses are getting tax credits to be able to help insure their employees. we are seeing aggressive efforts at better care, lower costs, eliminating lifetime limits, keeping young people on their parents' insurance policies. madam speaker, we are finding across america, there are literally hundreds of thousands of people working on the

. >> thank you madam clerk. last thursday was back to work day and a know a number of /uls participated. it was a celebration of mayor mode of transportation in san francisco. i enjoyed in richmond. i think making bike lanes safer families has been great for richmond. in february i asked the mayor how he tends to [inaudible] to do so. we know that many of /uls ride and we know the benefits of bicycling and improving the bicycling network in san francisco leads to healthier commuters we can make in moving people in our city is in bicycle infrastructure. never theless the city is spending just less than one-half of one percent of cap -- 20 percent of all trips by bicycle by 2020. today we're think a little over 7 percent so we have a long way to go. i want to identify [inaudible] out of the bike plan. it's time the city walks the walk when it comes to funding bike improvements. less than half of one percent is not acceptable and is when w these plans a reality. i look forward to working with you in bringing these