but better let than never, senator mikulski, so tomorrow is another day. on a more personal note, i lost both my sisters to breast cancer. my only two sisters. . at a fairly young age. when my older sister died and we went to her funeral, her younger sister, sylvia, was there, and had no idea that she also had breast cancer. within two years she was dead also. and they left young families. they lived in rural areas, small towns. they didn't have any money. they didn't really have health care coverage. for them to go to get a checkup would have cost money. money that they could ill afford at that time. -- at that time. they had a number of kids. as i said they didn't have a lot of money. they didn't have health care benefits. it would have been different if they could have had this available to them. early checkups, early screenings. for both of them it was way too late by the time they discovered it. so this has a very personal, poignant meaning to me. i just hope that women in this country now will take advantage of this. and will now go and get those ann

mikulski. ladies and gentlemen? >> the honorable barbara ann mikulski.za. >> haza. >> we've done it. ladies and gentlemen, we are now adjourned. i am told to tell you that those with invitations to the reception aboard the "quebec" may board at the ft. mchenry visitor center. thank you for coming. what a wonderful day. ♪ ♪ oh beautiful for spacious skies forever waves of gray ♪ ♪ for purple mountains majesties of all the bay ♪ ♪ america america his grace on thee ♪ ♪ ♪ from sea to shining sea

and senator mikulski talked about that. she also said that if something happens, there's no telling what kind of legislation we'll pass and i couldn't agree more with that comment in -- in every way i can think of. we're going to pass a cybersecurity bill at some time, i believe in the not too distant future. it will be either in the kind of environment that the four senators along with me here on the floor have been working to create where we do this in the most thoughtful way, we do this in the way that has taken time to bring people together and have a discussion, or in a post-cyber attack moment like a post-9/11 moment and who knows what we might do. i think senator mikulski said wisely and rightly it will go further than it should go and will cost more than it should cost because then we're reacting. and that's what we need to we void here. we can do this in the right way or the wrong way, and the wrong way will be waiting too long. the right way is to do this now. you don't have to be well read into the intelligence c

mikulski: so, mr. president, there are those who wake up every day thinking about how they want to stop president obama and stop his agenda. well, you can wake up every day thinking about how you want to stop america from moving forward. that's not how i spend my day. i try to look at two things every day: the needs of my people, their day-to-day needs for a job, for an opportunity, for health care, and how that translates into national policy. and then i try to look at the long-range needs of our country. that's why i'm excited about being on the intelligence committee where i'm working on protecting america from the attacks, the cyber attacks that are happening toefrd our country, the -- every day to our country, the stealing of identity, the stealing of trade secrets. and i want to move america forward. and i work very hard to do that. one of the areas that i'm most proud of that i've worked with the men and women in this chamber, many across both sides of the aisle was on the whole area of women's

barbara mikulski will hold a hearing today focusing on child health care needs. it will discuss ways the child care development block grant can help meet the needs of families. she chairs the senate children and family subcommittee. >> it could take several weeks to fix a date sinkhole in east baltimore. this happened on east monument yesterday afternoon. the whole is 10 feet in diameter and was caused by the opening of a storm drain. >> best guess situation is that with all the bad storms we have had you have a lot of activity in the call for a check right there and that knocked a couple of bricks loose. >> at least 40 businesses have been evacuated until b.g.e. crews finished repairing the gas line. four blocks around the whole have been closed to traffic. >> 69 degrees on tv hill. find some good news for the three blind mice. a new chemical can restore vision. >> do not be afraid of the dark or it could hurt your brain. >> we have several problems including an accident involving a pedestrian. we will check on the m >> welcome back. 5:40. a nice start on this t

senator barbara mikulski said she has heard an earful from her constituents. >> they are terrified.ar is open or if you have to jump down and evacuate quickly. if you are a senior trapped in a car with 100-degree heat, you wonder what is going to happen to you. we have to make sure that people do not lose their confidence in metro. >> a crash three years ago killed nine and injured 76. congress passed and the president signed off on a new federal transportation safety bill. better evacuation and rescue route, black box data recorders and limits on the number of hours train operators can be on the job. riders we talked to welcome the idea. >> i think for what we are getting, is one of the best in the country. >> all the public transportation systems in the country just need more funding that is the bottom line. >> metro is a bit ahead of the game here. there is money in the pipeline to improve the culture of safety to the tune of $150 million projected out over the next seven years. >> imagine her being outside in that jacket. >> we still have a couple of hours of daylight and the te

, senator mikulski. we teamed up together. senator kennedy asked each of us to head certain parts of the health care reform bill. we worked together have i closely to put this all together, and while we worked very hard to put together a strong preventive package that includes everyone, because we wanted to change the sick care system to a health care system, one where people could get early checkups and prevent an illness from progressing. a lot of that went into effect a couple years ago under the preventive services -- preventive services health task force recommendation but that covered everyone. what we're talking about that goes into effect tomorrow are the recommendations of the institute of medicine that pertained particularly to women and that was what barbara mikulski championed so hard and brought to the senate was this focus, this focus that because women -- do i need to state the obvious -- are different than men, and certain health requirements for women are different than men. and so we as

maryland center is ben cardin and barbara mccaul see -- barbara mikulski are trying to help her bringe u.s. >> the d.c. city council will host a roundtable on truancy reduction. then a public hearing on the are all related bill to allow class a licensees to sell hard liquor on sundays. this revenue generator would help reduce the budget deficit. a controversial rule on pit buill dog is not yet in effect. it is pending a decision for a request to reconsider the decision. the holding holds the stocks owners and landlords liable for bites, even if they do not show they are dangerous. >> jesse jackson jr. is being -- receiving intensive treatment for what is being called a mood disorder. questions have been raised ever since jackson went on a medical leave of absence more than one month ago. 71 degrees on this thursday. >> coming up a look at fund raising in the u.s. senate race in virginia. do you ever wish you could make some things just disappear? ♪ ♪ [ ping! ] [ ping! ping! ] that's why i use new tampax radiant. it helps keep my period invisible, combining tampax's best-ever leak prot

senator mikulski and she and others lay nouns the women's health care coverage plan under the affordable care act. the rule would require all employees including reliegeous schools hospitals and charities to offer birth control under the health care plans and they will screen for hiv and hpv and other sexually transmitted diseases without expensive copays. health insurance plans will also cover protected and preventive services like screening and counseling for domestic violence. >>> many of us turn on the television after a long day helping us wind down. >> absolutely. what a study says about the amount of time we spend in front of the tv and we may want to find other ways to wind down. >> if you are considering a new iphone or an upgrade, you may not have to wait much longer. when you can expect to order yours. an announcement from apple could be coming in a few weeks. we will explain. living with the pain of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis could mean living with joint damage. help stop the damage before it stops you with humira, adalimumab. for many adults with moderate to sev

the congressman will be joined by barbara mikulski coming up later today. >> it's double the fun at harbormore than 100 six children and their families as part of the caring connections charity program and the pirates that teamed up offering -- it encourages parents to meet and grep and support each other. it kicks off at baltimore-- >>> ray lewis and the united's the leets foundation are giving back to the community -- united athletics foundation are giving back to the community. it will be at baltimore area manufacturing plant. lieu lis speak at a piste event held at reg nall f -- [audio not understandable] >>> time for five things to know on this monday morning. more than 20,000 delegates from nearly 200 countries gathered in dc for this week's world aids conference. the aids 2012 conference began yesterday and runs for the next several days. taking place at walter center. >>> pert is is charged with killing his third wife. he is also suspect in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife. the trial is schedule to begin by the end of the month. >> there's a two-day hearing over the 2010 w

senator barbara mikulski isjoining democrats today to announce the plan. >> the rally at penn state in a parking lot there. a radio program hosting a rally to show support for the football players who decided to remain with the nittany lions amid the sanctions. >>> with the drought situation growing worse every day, the house rules committee is meeting to consider extending the food conservation and energy act making agriculture disaster assistance available to farmers this year and next year. >>> a nationwide campaign against same sex marriage now being launched by a group of african american members of the clergy. the coalition of african american pastors says the president is threatening the civility of families by embracing same sex marriage. >>> the trial against in drew peterson who is charged with murdering his third wife in 2004. he is a person of interest in the des appearance of his fourth wife. >>> news time 4:49. you know walking is something, well, we do it every day. some of us are good at it some not so good. >> it's basically landing more and more of us in the emergency

i know senator mikulski has been very active in this and many other of my colleagues. but your leadership has been exemplary as well, and i would apply the same words to you that i applied to the senator from delaware before in terms of working on complex, difficult projects and moving forward with them. anyway, so important -- very important we protect our infrastructure. but, at the same time -- and this is what makes the legislation even more difficult -- we have to be aware of the risk to the -- to a critical part of our economy if we don't do it right. if we don't do it carefully, if we don't do it thoughtfully and if we don't balance the need to protect infrastructure with the legitimate rights of the freedom of the internet and privacy. and, mr. president, to be perfectly frank, i have a big dog in this fight. you see, the sill congress valley may have given us the semiconductor, but new york city, in my opinion, will be the birthplace of the next great generation of internet giants. new york entrepreneurs started foursquare and tumbler, etsi and kick-starter co

congress, the honorable barbara mikuls mikulski. >> can i move this over? good morning, everybody. well, hasn't the weekend just been fan fatasticfantastic? the great weather and crowds and participation commemorating the war of 1812. i want to welcome our distinguished ambassadors from britain and canada, ambassador westcott and duer and ray mavis and fort mchenry superintendent tina orcut. the congressional delegation is here and the mayor is here and she's been everywhere over the weekend. i know that governor o'malley, i believe, will be coming shortly. we're so excited about being here to commemorate this war of 1812 in a very fitting theme, enemies no more. some call the war of 1812 a forgotten war, but i believe it was the war that forged our nation because as the united states entered the war, it was a loose collection of states. when we emerged, we were on the path to becoming a truly great, great nation. it was during this war at the battle of baltimore that we gained an enduring icon of national patriotism and our national anthem inspired by the naval battle here at fort

the problem disturbed maryland senator barbara mikulski. >> the airwaves are hopping today. they've been hopping over the weekend. e-mails are coming in, some volcanic, some even more so. >> the compute are issue trumped the announcement. new national safety regulations. they let the transportation department withhold money from metro if it does not make safety improvements. >>> the issue of expanding gambling once again on the docket at the state house today. the governor says there is a strong possibility he will call for a special session this summer but won't do it unless he has an agreement from house leaders that they will consider expansion. national harbor has been mentioned as a possible location for a sixth casino. th >> this has to happen. this is millions of dollars for the state of maryland. millions of dollars for prince george's county and baltimore city. >> governor o'malley is meeting with the house speaker and senate president today. the general assembly must take action before august 20th if it wants the gambling issue to get on the november ballot. >> vir

senators, led by senator kyl and senator sheldon whitsheldonwhitehouse, along wir coons, senator mikulski, senator coats and others who have been working very hard to create common ground because they recognize the urgency of this challenge. well, this is good news. we got a motion to proceed which in the current schedule will come up on friday. i think it would send a message of real encouragement to the public that we could still get together across party lines on matters of -- of urgent national security if we adopted that motion to proceed overwhelming overwhelmingly, particularly now that we're engaged in dialogue with this -- the leaders of the main bills and people trying to bridge gaps that began to meet today. we'll meet again tomorrow morning. so i think we've got a process going that could lead us to a very significant national security accomplishment. i'm going to yield at this time to senator rockefeller, chair of the commerce committee, whose committee produced a bill of its own and he worked very closely with senator collins and me to blend our bills. we did. senator feinst

the problems disturbed maryland senator barbara mikulski. >> the air waves are hopping today. they've been hopping over the weekend. e-mails are coming in. some are volcanic, some even more. so. >> reporter: the issue trumped the announcement of new national safety regulations for rail transit systems giving the federal government oversight. the 2009 red line train crash at ft. totten spurred the efforts after nine people died. >> it wasn't just the ft. totten crash that moved the president to have this legislation go forward. we saw fires on the chicago transit system and fatal crashes on the t system in boston. >> reporter: metro welcomed the prospect of new national safety standards even as it struggles to deal with safety concerns of its own. in the past several weeks passengers were stranded on a green line train with no power, another train derailed and a friction ring fell on the tracks, part of the brake assembly. >> we know from the incidents over the last couple days and over the last couple months that we've got work to do. >> reporter: sherri ly, fox 5 news. >> if

given metro's recent problems, maryland senator barbara mikulski demanded a new odd it saying in a press release, we need to focus, fix, and continue our reform efforts on metro. no argument from passengers there. >> there needs to be an underthe -- odd it of their safety to -- audit of their safety to make sure they're on track to a void situations like that in in the future. -- future. absolutely. >> days -- >> days later, the computer derailed and glitches. there were calls for a safety audit and metro faces more scrutiny. >> reporter: think we have made a lot of progress and from the day i took it. >> reporter: metro knows the computer glitch was caused by a partial failure in a computer board. that board has been replaced but the problem is that metro doesn't know what caused the board to fail. >> i'm going to -- . >> and metro continues to hear complaints as the problems pile up. >> as a person who takes metro every day, it gets me to and from downtown d.c., so, you know, that is good but i also see long-term they have real challenges to address. >> reporter: passengers recently re

on the floor of the senate, barbara mikulski honor ride's second act. >> she dedicated her entire life to encouraging young women to study science, math and technology. >> reporter: that second act eventually brought sally ride to the maryland science center to meet with middle school girls. [ applause ] >> reporter: unfortunately, there is no recording of what was said that day. but the center's ceo was there. and remembers -- >> sally talked about how if you just stick to it, that there are opportunities for women in science. she was a ph.d. physicist, after all. there was no reason the young ladies in attendance couldn't achieve some of the things she achieved. >> she died steadfast, true, and true to herself and true to her mission. >> reporter: alex demetrick, wjz eyewitness news. >> reporter: sally ride was 61 years old when she died from pancreatic cancer. while she gathered so much attention as an astronaut, she requested that nasa not reveal her illness until her passing. >>> time for a quick look at some of the stories you'll find in tomorrow morning's edition of the baltimor

the floor of the senate, barbara mikulski honored ride's second act. >> she dedicated her entire life to encouraging young women to studying science, math and technology. >> reporter: that eventually brought her to meet with middle school girls. [ applause ] >> reporter: unfortunately, there is no recording of what was said that day, but the center's ceo was there and remembers -- >> sally talked about how if you just stick to it, that there are opportunities for women in science. she was a ph.d. physicist, after all. there was no reason why the young ladies who were in attendance, couldn't achieve some of the things she achieved. >> she died steadfast, true, and true to herself and true to her mission. >> reporter: alex demetrick, wjz eyewitness news. >> sally ride was 61 years old when she died from pancreatic cancer. while she gathered so much attention as an astronaut, she re -- requested nasa not reveal her illness until her passing. >>> ncaa drop trs s the -- drops the hammer for covering up on the penn state sexual abuse case. >> penn state graham spannier said he never would h

given metro's recent problems maryland senator barbara mikulski demanded a new audit saying in a pressse we need to focus, fix and continue our reform efforts on metro, no argument from passengers. >> there needs to be an audit of their safety just to make sure that everything is on track and so that they can avoid situations like that in the future, then absolutely. >> reporter: in july a botched evacuation put passengers in danger. days later a train derailed. then came the computer glitch. metro's gm called it a tough month and with calls for a safety audit metro faces more scrutiny. >> i think we've made a lot of progress in improving and as i said from the day i took this job, there's a lot of years of not doing the right thing. >> reporter: during the computer outage metro's backup system failed. metro knows the glitch was caused by a partial failure in a computer board which has been replaced, but metro still doesn't know what caused the board to fail. >> i don't know that the investigation will actually determine. it. >> reporter: metro continues to hear complaints about hot un

. >>> today senator barbara mikulski, congress member chris van hodge and county executive ike leg -- van hollen and county executive ike leggett were in attendance. the roads were resurfaced using 6.7 million bucks provided by the american rove and reinvestment act. >>> some -- recovery and reinvestment act. >>> some wounded warriors left arlington on a bike trip across america today. two of the riders are blind. the ride is called sea to shining sea. the riders are wounded warriors from iraq, afghanistan and vietnam. their goal is to motivate wounded veterans and disabled people across america. >>> children, treated for serious illnesses at nih. now they have a new place to play and relax. it's a new playground built on the grounds of the children's inn at nih and today about 150 volunteers joined forces with the nonprofit kaboom to build the new playground. they completed it in less than six hours and a ribbon cutting ceremony was held this afternoon to dedicate it all. >>> still ahead chaos outside a california police station. officers fired on demonstrators who were protesting a

given retro's recent problems, barbara mikulski said in a press release we need to focus, fix, and continueur reform efforts on metro. no argument from passengers there. >> and there needs to be an odd it to make sure that everything is on track and so that they can avoid situations like that in the future. absolutely. >> reporter: in july, a botched evacuation put passengers in danger. days later, a train derailed and then came the computer glitch. metro's gm called it a tough month and with calls for a safety odd it, metro faces more scrutiny. >> i think we have made a lot of progress and as i have said from the day i took this job, there is a lot of years we were not doing the right thing and it's going to take us years to recover. >> reporter: metro's backup system failed and is working to solve the issue. metro knows the computer glitch was caused by a partial failure in a computer board and that has been replaced but the problem is that metro doesn't know what caused it to topayment metro continues to hear complaints as the problem piles up. >> as a person who takes metro every day, i

mikulski: mr. president, i rise to speak on the disclose act. and i rise in very strong support of this bill. i want to thank the senator from rhode island, senator whitehouse, for his leadership on this bill. he brings such great backgrounds, with his legal training as attorney general and u.s. attorney, well-versed on the issues of the constitution, and also a very strong commitment that elections should be free and fair and not rigged by big special interests. today we have a vote to protect the voice of ordinary americans who now more than ever need to be able to trust their political system. but, you know what? we have a big problem, and it's something called a super pac. now, nobody knows what that means, but i'm going to spell it out. plain english -- first of all, a super pac means that you can have unlimited, secret money being pumped into our elections. that is not the american way. that's why we're calling our bill the disclose act. it is balanced, it is common sense, and it protects the rights of the individual while looking out for

and i'll stay on our side of the aisle at this point, particularly senator mikulski. barbara mikulski serves on the intelligence committee. she is keenly aware of the cyber threat. she has taken deep dives into this issue in her role as a cardinal on the appropriation committees. she does the appropriations for many of the national security agency and law enforcement agencies that are deeply involved in this. so when she speaks, she speaks with real authority and she speaks with real impact. and her participation in this effort i think is extraordinarily helpful, in addition to the effort of the many senators who you singled out as well. so with that, i will yield the floor. i see the senator from louisiana is here and i thank the senator from connecticut. mr. vitter: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. vitter: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come to the senate floor to talk about a priority of mine that's been the case since i first came to the u.s. senate and that is reimportation, changing federal law appropriately to al

i have had the honor of serving with senator barbara mikulski. i want to thank my colleagues that are here from the house of representatives for they're incredible work on behalf of the american people. this is a good day for the american people. the one -- they won today. the decision affirms the proper role for the congress of the united states. it allows us to move forward with quality, affordable health care for all americans. healthcare is a right, not a privilege. you're able to continue to move forward. it allows us to move forward with the reforms to protect consumers against the practices of insurance companies that would deny them coverage, pre- existing conditions that allow families to keep their children on their insurance policies until age 26 and allows us to continue to expand medicare coverage, the coverage gap for prescription drugs and wellness exams for our seniors. let's move forward with quality health care for all americans and do it in a more affordable, cost-effective way. this is good for the taxpayers of our country. th

jobs and tax relief act, signed by 17 senators as follows: reid of nevada, landrieu, gillibrand, mikulski, levin, lautenberg, boxer, udall of colorado, begich, whitehouse, blumenthal, franken, leahy, udall of new mexico, baucus, cardin, durbin. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i have an amendment at the desk to the language proposed to be stricken. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes an amendment numbered 2524 to the language proposed to be stricken by amendment number 2521. mr. reid: i ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. reid: i have a second-degree amendment at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes an amendment numbered 2525 to amendment number 2524. mr. reid: i have a motion to commit the bill with instructions. the clerk has that, mr. president. mr. the presiding officer: the clerk will r

baucus, udall of new mexico, stabenow, begich, whitehouse, levin, casey, harkin, carper, coons, mikulski, merkley, gillibrand, inouye, blumenthal, warner. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask consent that the mandatory quorum required under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call:

barbara mikulski and i, we were nine women senators at the time, and we went to bob barnett, who is this, sort of, book of contractor for many people in washington, and we said we want to write a book. would you see if any publishers are interested? bottom line, we wrote a book called "9 and counting," and each of us wrote a chapter about our different obstacles, and when charity that we could agree that all of the profits could go to because most of us had the experience of being a girl scouts was girl scouts. we wrote the book. dave the -- keys the proceeds to the girl scouts. -- gave the proceeds to the girl scouts. it was to encourage girls who are trying to overcome a challenge, it sold quite well. that was the beginning. then we decided to start meeting. we need about every six weeks or so for dinner. we enjoy each other's company. we have built great camaraderie. >> we will go to the audience for questions, but i will ask one last one. there were nine senators men of the female persuasion. 17 now, -- senators the end of the female persuasion. -- senators then of the female persuas

have been present at cape canaveral -- by the way, along with a colleague, congresswoman barbara mikulski, on that historic june morning when sally took to the skies, and i can vividly recall the palpable optimism and unabated excitement that saturated the air. at that point i had been a member of the house of representatives for four years and one not only 34 women in congress. you can imagine the pride we felt at wntsing such a watershed moment. it was a fight progressive stride in the movement to shatter oppressive social norms. it was a bold response to those who could see only, will you wear makeup in space? do you cry on the job? it was a bright beacon of hope to millions of young girls who would come to recognize sally ride as the embodiment of their most fervent hopes and dreams. i was very proud to be able to participate in a tribute at the air and space museum as cochair of the qims caucus on women's issues and a month later to pay tribute to dr. sally ride and the challenger crew that their achievement as i said, is america's achievement. in fact, in a testament to the depth of

and it was so interesting that barbara mikulski, the senior democrat, and i said, you know, there iswork here. we were nine at the time, nine women senators. and we went to bob or not, who is the sort of book contractor for many people in washington, republican and democrat but we said we want to read a book and was you see if any publishers are interested, bottom line we wrote a book called nine and counting. and each of us wrote our own chapter about our different obstacles. and the one charity that we could agree that all the proceeds would go to because most of us have had the experience of being girl scout, girl scouts. we wrote the book and give the proceeds to the girl scouts. and it has banned the book that's been kind of an encouragement for young girls, or women who have been may be trying to overcome a challenge right now. and it really sold quite well. so that was the beginning. so then we decided to start meeting. so we started meeting every six weeks or so. we enjoyed each other's company and i think have built great camaraderie. >> i'm going to ask one last question. >

it was a briefing senator mikulski of maryland asked for to explain what this was all about. we had been hearing over and over again from the defense establishment in america that the number-one threat to america's safety and security was no longer just terrorism, it was cybersecurity threats and terrorism. for most people, not quite sure, they've not seen any examples of it could make a difference. here's what we saw. they took to us a classified room, closed the door, took away our blackberries and iphones and put them in a separate place, i'll explain why in just a moment, and took us in a room and briefed us on an example, just a theory, what if. what if a subcontracting company that supplied a major public utility in a city like new york had a problem and someone stole a laptop from one of the employees. and that theft went unnoticed or unreported for a number of days. and then the laptop either reappeared or didn't, what could happen. well, what could happen was if that laptop computer had certain information in it that not only told you how to get into the computer sys

mikulski: good morning, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to honor the life and legacy of a dear friend, someone that i admire and someone that the whole world cheered on, dr. sally ride. dr. ride was the first woman -- first american woman in space, and when she went out there, she blazed a trail out into the stars for women in science and women in technology, inspiring not only american girls but girls around the world. last night, we got the very sad news that dr. ride passed away after a brave fight against pancreat i can cancer -- pancreatic cancer, and i wanted to come to the floor to speak about her. we all know the biography. dr. ride became an astronaut after answering an ad in her college newspaper. she had earned a ph.d. in physics from stanford. she also earned a graduate degree in shakespeare. she joined the first group of women in the astronaut corps and trained to be a mission -- a mission specialist. mr. president, i know sally ride both professionally and personally. i have had the great honor in my y

blumeening that will, merkley, coons, casey, cardin, shaheen, gillibrand, schumer, reed of rhode island, mikulski, rockefeller. mr. reid: i ask that the mandatory quorum required under rule 22 be waived. fer if without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: once again, i'm disappointed, as i think most people in the country are, on an issue as timely as this, outsourcsourcing jobs, that we e again are being sometime mid into -- stymied into moving to that legislation. we're going to have a rule on this -- we can't have a vote on this until two days go by, so that's a vote on thursday. and if cloture is i voked on that, then we're only on the bill. and then to get off of it, take another series of days. i mean, get final action on this is going it take a week. that's so unfortunate. that's so unfortunate that we have to go through this, and we've gone through this so many times. and there's, i repeat, not an issue more timely than this, outsourcing jobs. whether it's the olympic uniforms or the many other jobs that have been lost around this country, the american people are tired of this. and i think it

barbara mikulski and i, we were nine women senators at the time, and we went to bob barnett, who is thissort of, book of contractor for many people in washington, and we said we want to write a book. would you see if any publishers are interested? bottom line, we wrote a book called "9 and counting," and each of us wrote a chapter about our different obstacles, and when charity that we could agree that all of the profits could go to because most of us had the experience of being a girl scouts was girl scouts. we wrote the book. dave the -- keys the proceeds to the girl scouts. -- gave the proceeds to the girl scouts. it was to encourage girls who are trying to overcome a challenge, it sold quite well. that was the beginning. then we decided to start meeting. we need about every six weeks or so for dinner. we enjoy each other's company. we have built great camaraderie. >> we will go to the audience for questions, but i will ask one last one. there were nine senators men of the female persuasion. 17 now, -- senators the end of the female persuasion. -- senators then of the female persuasio