mikulski, proposes an amendment numbered 1073. at the end -- mr. cardin: i ask that constitute the reading of the amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, i also ask consent that that amendmenamendment now be set asi can offer amendment number 1188. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from maryland, mr. cardin, for himself and others, proposes an amendment numbered 1188. mr. cardin: i ask unanimous consent that be considered the reading of the a.m. the presiding officer: without-. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, i don't see anybody else on the floor. i'm sorry, there is one. i yield to the chairman of the committee. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: mr. president, on 1188, i believe that this amendment has been cleared and that we can actually pass it. no. i understand that this amendment has been cleared on both sides and we could actually pass 1188 tonight. right now. and i'

mikulski: so two years. so in the two years particularly since this has come up, this hasn't come up. another question about the finance committee which also has jurisdiction over medicare it is the gentlelady's understanding that both in the supercommittee and other reforms that the congress's intent is to raise premiums and co-payments and a variety of other things on seniors or is that just one of those foggy things out there in the eers this? ms. cantwell: well, i can tell the senator from maryland, you know there's lots of ideas that people are suggesting. i don't know the details about the supercommittee or to say that the finance committee is backing up the supercommittee on those ideas. i know that we have to live with in our budget and we have to make some tough decisions and there are many positive things in the health care law that are about allowing seniors to stay in their homes and receive care as opposed to going into nursing homes, very positive, actually helps reduce significantly the cost o

senator barbara mikulski road, members of the super committee on deficit reduction were given an impossible mandate with an impossible time line, and they truly pursued their charged with due diligence. i am disappointed that we could not reach a bipartisan agreement. center been garden offered a different opinion, saying this was doable and the american people are justified in being disappointed that the super committee could not put aside partisan differences to seek a compromise that will create jobs, stimulate future economic growth, and reduce our federal budget deficit. the super committee waited until trading closed on wall street to make the impasse official, but by then, the damage had already been done. the dow lost almost 250. on the day and at one point was down 342. . as leaders debate how to cut federal dollars, baltimore announced it has received $3.50 million in grant money from the u.s. to permit housing and urban development. they say the goal is to make the region more competitive economically by connecting good jobs and quality schools and transportation. >> these funds

be addressed but where we are now in the senator's opinion we are fortunate what you and senator mikulski did to get the number up to four under 6 million. >> that's right but what i'm trying to do is just suggest to the administrator that we need to have the support from the president in the next submission so we aren't in the appropriations committee having to redirect funds and i would be for increasing the commercial but with the president to suggest where we get it and i want to make sure it's not from the sls. >> i hope this is getting back to jack at omb. we got a lot of that done in the meeting that you referenced with the head of omb, and hopefully those agreements are going to continue but we are on a good track. senator rubio? >> i wanted to explore the commercial program. for the commercial entities as we know expressed concern about the contract in requirements. i saw the testimony in the house by the folks over at the space exploration talking of the difficulty providing information that's going to have significant cost scheduling pact and those opinion pieces recently run o

i could not have done it without a partner with harper mikulski. and i believe her interest in and approach to the science mission of nasa was an enhancement to assure that we would be doing the space program and a way that complements an odd that the science part. and so, we are 18 on that score. so now, i just want to renew my pledge for the next year and month and a half that we continue to go forward vigorously. we will oversight of vigorously. but i am hoping that we won't need the net jain further questioning because we will all have the team after feeling that we are going forward with the same goals, the same vicar, the same trust that really should be necessary to accomplish what we all want, i think it not as far as to her astronauts to space station and the other armaments and with their own great employees, with their own experience staff and that is my goal for the next year and month and a half, for this agency and been on the appropriations site as well as the authorization site. we can make this happen. so thank you, mr. chairman. a

mikulski: good morning, madam president. one of the most -- i wish to address one of the most important issues facing the super committee, and that is where does social security fit into their plans. madam president, you know, because you're very close to the people of new hampshire, you know all over your great state and mine in maryland, people are getting ready for thanksgiving. and as they get ready for their plans, they, first of all, give gratitude for living in the united states of america, the land of the free and the brave. but they are also wondering what kind of country are we living in right now, because you and i know they're worried about paying their bills. as they get ready for their holiday dinner and the family gathering and all the wonderful traditions that go into this very special holiday, they're saying where are we? have we lost our way? are we so mired in partisanship that we can't seem to find a path forward? they think we are the turkeys. they want us to stuff it. they want us to get on and start wo

. >> barbara mikulski blames the situation more than either side. she said the head and a possible mandate within a possible time line. they pursued their charged with due diligence. ben cardin was not as a charitable, saying this was doable and the american people are justified in being disappointed that the super committee could not see a compromise to stimulate future economic growth and reduce the budget deficit. >> well congress struggles, baltimore city is making plans on how to spend a housing grant. the goal of the grant is to make the region more competitive economically by connecting housing with good jobs and transportation. >> we chose baltimore's proposal because you not only have a great plan but the right local partners and a vision for success. >> the regional plan will develop in eight stages. the mayor is digging into iran pocket 12th save cash-strapped city programs. the mayor is planning and donating her cost-of-living salary increase to the city's youth works program. will have an additional $3,900 to help fund summer jobs for t

barbara mikulski wrote: " there were given an impossible mandate with an impossible time line and pursued their charge with due diligence. i'm disappointed we cannot reach a bipartisan agreement." cardin: " could not seek a compromise to reduce our budget deficit." >> the postal service remains in trouble. they have lost $8 million so far this year. measures like closing retell post offices and cutting saturday delivery are necessary to slash operating costs. he is pushing congress to pass legislation that would restructure the service as soon as possible. >> the postal service could soon be running deficits in the range of $10 billion annually. lack of speeds will kill the postal service. >> if nothing is done, $20 billion in cuts will be necessary by 2015. >> the mayor is doing her part to help the economy. she will give money to the youths work summer jobs program. she also has reduced the budget for office by more than 90% over the past two years -- by more than 19%. >> the department surrendered its training accreditation. kim dacey joins us live with more on this. good morning. >> t

three senators requested that hearing, one of them, barbara mikulski of maryland. she said she hopes them better deal with child abuse. and an accused murderer is behind bars. police caught him when he turned himself in for an unrelated charge. he was wanted last week in connection with a deadly shooting in anne arundel county. he showed up at the baltimore county detention center to serve a weekend sentence when they realized he was wanted for murder. he's being held without bail at the detention center. >> and police say they caught up with a driver of a suspicious vehicle in edgewater and he was told he is a registered sex offender. he is the man they were looking for when 11 news reported a suspicious vehicle last week. a 14-year-old told police he was at his bus stop on mark drive in edgewater when an older model pickup truck -- john mark drive in edgewater when an older model pickup truck and a man inside offered him a ride. police say he had been violating the conditions of his parole. >> it has been a soggy tuesday across the region. over an inch of rain on

mikulski: i ask 25 the call of the quorum be vacated. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. ms. mikulski: i rise to address one of the most important issues facing the super committee. that is, where does social security fit into their plans? now, i know the super committee is doing a great job, they're working in a steady way to see how we can be a more frugal government, but while we're trying to be frugal, how we also meet our responsibilities for the national defense and also how we maintain our social contract. now, to me, one of the most essential programs in the social contract -- that is, the contract between the united states government and its people people -- is social security. for more than 75 years, under every president we have worked in a bipartisan way to ensure the security and the solvency and the safety of social security. every president has agreed that social security should be undenial, available to everybody, reliable, that it's there when you need it, and inflationproof. inflationproof. i was in t

president -- and the presiding officer from oregon is working with senator mikulski from maryland and me on legislation to fix this -- we also know that the cost-of-living adjustment is pure and simple, understatement, because the cost of living adjustment seniors usually get never quite enough to keep up with their expenses, but it's based on the cost of living for a working person, for someone in his 50's or 40's or in her 30's or 20's, someone who is working full time, and their cost of living, their cost-of-living increase is different from a senior's cost-of-living increase because if you're seven years old, you're much more likely to have high health care costs than if you're 30 years. when we figure historically in this country, we do consumer price index w wages, cpiw. based on a 30, 40 or 50 years old, their cost of living. we're not basing it on a senior citizen's cost of living who consumes, if you will, much higher health care, who has much higher health care costs. that's what the legislation we're working on, c.p.i.-e, consumer price index for the elderly, reflecting the

barbara mikulski is here and she will remember as i have as a couple of young senators that we were goingnal delegation trip led by john glenn and ted stevens. it was a wonderful trip. to be with these two fine senators, i was so happy i could go. i can remember many things about that trip, and i will talk about a couple of things. we left vienna to go to czechoslovakia, as it was called at that time, and we came to the border, the iron curtain was stopped at the train and they brought out the dogs and the security rifles. they were looking around and under the train and we were asked to get out of the train. as things calmed down a little bit, one of the soldiers, looking around so no one would see what he was doing, came over to john glenn quickly and said, could you give me an autograph? [laughter] we then went to prague and had a meeting with government officials there. as we were walking up the street, someone came out of an apartment building with an encyclopedia and had it open to john glenn's picture and came to him and said, would you autograph over your picture? we focus on how

barbara mikulski is here and she will remember as i have as a couple of young senators that we were goingnal delegation trip led by john glenn and ted stevens. it was a wonderful trip. to be with these two fine senators, i was so happy i could go. i can remember many things about that trip, and i will talk about a couple of things. we left vienna to go to czechoslovakia, as it was called at that time, and we came to the border, the iron curtain was stopped at the train and they brought out the dogs and the security rifles. they were looking around and under the train and we were asked to get out of the train. as things calmed down a little bit, one of the soldiers, looking around so no one would see what he was doing, came over to john glenn quickly and said, could you give me an autograph? [laughter] we then went to prague and had a meeting with government officials there. as we were walking up the street, someone came out of an apartment building with an encyclopedia and had it open to john glenn's picture and came to him and said, would you autograph over your picture? we focus on how

barbara mikulski is here and she will remember as i have as a couple of young senators that we were goingnal delegation trip led by john glenn and ted stevens. it was a wonderful trip. to be with these two fine senators, i was so happy i could go. i can remember many things about that trip, and i will talk about a couple of things. we left vienna to go to czechoslovakia, as it was called at that time, and we came to the border, the iron curtain was stopped at the train and they brought out the dogs and the security rifles. they were looking around and under the train and we were asked to get out of the train. as things calmed down a little bit, one of the soldiers, looking around so no one would see what he was doing, came over to john glenn quickly and said, could you give me an autograph? [laughter] we then went to prague and had a meeting with government officials there. as we were walking up the street, someone came out of an apartment building with an encyclopedia and had it open to john glenn's picture and came to him and said, would you autograph over your picture? we focus on how

and barbara mikulski will lead a committee looking at the penn state situation. we will cover that hearing on c- span. but the back to your calls and some of your comments on the failure of the super committee to reach an agreement. from inside "the washington post," this editorial -- john joining us from north carolina. republican view. caller: i have to tell you. i have listened to so much absolute, just ignored statements coming out of people today. the last caller you had talking about her seven children and all the problems she is having, and never addressing the issue of what in the world were you doing bringing seven children into the world that you could not take care of yourself? and i heard another person talking about the 1500 millionaires that did not pay any taxes. not mentioning at all the nearly 150 million of people in this country that pay no taxes at all because they have learned how to game the system and take money from the government, which means they are taking money from average, ordinary working americans just like them will happen to make

senators kohl, harkin, feinstein, johnson of south dakota, nelson of nebraska, inouye, murphy, mikulskiings blunt, cochran, mcconnell, mcconnell, moran, and shell bi. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations which the clerk will report. the clerk: nominations, the judiciary committee: scott wesley skavdahl of wyoming to be united states district judge. richard g. andrews of delaware to be united states district judge. the presiding officer: two minutes equally divided. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: madam president, i want to ask for your wholehearted support for judge skavdahl of wyoming. he was nominated by our democratic governor. he was appointed by the president and he has the wholehearted support of our delegation. we have spoken for him in committee and are doing that again on the floor, and we have a full statement that we submitted. so i would -- i would thank you for your vote on this. he came up through the courts in wyoming and now will be

senator mikulski and hutchison and their staff on the commerce commerce, justice, science subcommittee and the subcommittee of transportation and housing and urban development. the floor staff has worked hard over the course of the last several days. often that work goes unnoticed, but managing this bill has not been easy. it was a little different than many of the appropriations bills that have been brought to the senate floor and certainly the floor staff have been tremendous help to me and to the committee staff. this has been a long process. a dozen amendments that affect the agriculture division of this bill have been accepted over the course of the debate on the bill. i'm glad we've had an open debate on these bills and hope we can swiftly move to conference with the house and send this work product on to the president so that we can get these appropriations processes started as close to the regular time as we possibly could based on the moment we find ourselves in and look forward to working with the appropriations committee as we bring other bills to the floor. again, i want to

johnson, klobuchar, landrieu, lautenberg, lee, lug lugar, manchin, mccaskill, menendez, merkley, mikulski, moran, murray, ben nelson, pryor, risch, sanders, schumer, shaheen, snowe, stabenow, test tester, toomey, mark udall, vitter, warner, whitehouse, and wyden. and it's been called up. i ask consent to have it set aside so we can go on and continue with the pending matter. the presiding officer: without objection. without objection, the foregoing request from the senator from arizona is granted. mr. levin: well, reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: and i don't object because that is the way we should proceed, going back and forth. i just -- usually we do that informally and i don't know whether or not if the senator -- whether there may be implications because i don't know who's -- mr. levin: i have no objection. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. mccain: i thank my friend from michigan. i do that for the convenience of my colleagues because i know that there are others who will also be coming to speak on -- o

president, i know senator mikulski has been a real leader in this, one of the prime cosponsors of our legislation, she's had a terrific record, the senior senator from maryland in fighting for fair play, strong social security and medicare system against these -- these plans from conservatives around here to take social security and turn it over to wall street, to take medicare and turn it over to the insurance companies. but our -- our legislation would -- would make it fairer so that seniors would actually tweal have a cost of living adjustment based on their cost of living. what's wrong with that? instead, conservatives around here want to go the other direction, which would reduce the cost of living adjustment by this thing called a chained c.p.i. the way it works in a nutshell is this: if your cost of living is $100 a week and the chained -- you could save money instead of eating beef, could you save money by changing to chicken, so they are saying under this chained c.p.i. that you should change to chicken and save x number of dollars so your cost would be less. what this would