mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: mr. president, first i ask unanimous consent to add senators akaka, chambliss, blawmle that, gillibrand, ben nelson, stabenow, and udall udall -- senator mark udall as cosponsors of amendment number 1032 which is the pending levin-mccain amendment on counterfeit parts. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: secondly, mr. president, we are going to move now i believe to the conference report. but i do want to remind folks of -- our colleagues of what senator mccain said which is we will be here tomorrow morning and we are here to try to clear amendments. we want to be able to give our colleagues as much opportunity as possible to debate and to clear amendments. but we've got to move this bill. we're not going to be given a whole week after we come back to get this bill adopted, hopefully. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: the pending -- what's the pending business before the senate? the presiding officer: s. 1867 is still pending. mr. mccain: the ame

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: mr. president, i would request the dispensing with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reed: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, our eyes today -- i rise today to talk in support of the defense department act. all of my colleagues on the armed services committee have done a remarkable job and done it with great discipline and dedication and concern for the men and women of our armed forces and for the defense of the nation. this is the 50th consecutive defense authorization bill that the senate has considered, and i hope we'll soon be able to send it to the president for his signature. we owe this to our servicemen and women who are devoting themselves and indeed their families also to the protection of the united states. we've made difficult decisions in putting together this bill, especially in these challenging economic times. we were able to find $26 billion in savings from the original budget request the president submitted earlier this year. but i'm co

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. ennet: thank you, mr. president. i am going to replace you in the chair in a few moments, but before that, i wanted to come over to the floor and talk about our economy and some work that this congress needs to be engaged in if we're going to get things moving on the right track again. today, the stock market plunged 400 points because of concerns that are going on in europe, especially with italy. it's a debt crisis that has been on the front page of every newspaper around the globe for weeks. in some cases, months. and i'm reminded of the discussion that we had over the summer that consumed the congress for an entire summer about the lifting of the debt ceiling. and article after article after article, saying if the congress couldn't figure out how to work this out in a bipartisan way, make a material difference in the trajectory of our deficit and our debt, that for the first time our credit rating would be downgraded. for the first time in the history of the united states of americ

mr. president. the presiding officer: who yields time? mr. paul: could i call for the yeas and nays at this point, or do we have an agreement? i ask for the yeas and nays to be recorded. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays have been ordered. the clerk will call the roll. the senator from kentucky has four minutes remaining. mr. paul: i yield back my time. ms. landrieu: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: mr. president, i think under the previous order, we were going to debate both amendments and then have a vote in a few moments, is what i understood. the presiding officer: the senator is correct. miss landrieu: thank you, -- ms. landrieu: thank you, mr. president. mr. mccain: how long would the senator take? ms. landrieu: ten minutes, five minutes. mr. mccain: perhaps we could have votes shortly thereafter. ms. landrieu: the senators have done such a good job managing this bill, we could vote in maybe a few minutes. that would be terrific. than

mr. president? mr. brown: i thank the president and yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. i'm sorry. i yield the floor, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. graham: thank you, mr. president. i rise today in support of the leahy-graham amendment that hopefully we'll vote on here soon. hopefully soon. the amendment is pretty simple. it says that the congress has decided in its wisdom to make the chief of the national guard bureau a member of the joint staff. in 1947 we reorganized our defense department and created the modern department of defense, the joint chiefs with a chairman which will provide military advice to our -- to the commander in chief, the president of the united states. the chairman is the person responsible for advising the president. but the joint chiefs are made up of the army, navy, air force, marine corps, and with this legislation, the chief of the national guard bureau will become a member. nothing more, nothing less. it doesn't p

mr. president. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i express my appreciation to my friend from new hampshire. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. ms. ayotte: thank you, mr. president. i thank our leader for giving us the opportunity to continue this colloquy. i just wanted to point out that we were talking about the fact that the army field manual is online, and my experience as an attorney general -- i know my colleague served as attorney general as well. prior to that i was a murder prosecutor. and no detective or cop on the beat would in a common criminal case -- and we're dealing with a situation where we're at war with terrorists -- would ever give a criminal their play book as to what techniques they would use to question them to get information to see if a crime is committed and to see that justice is served. and we're in a situation where we have online the techniques from the army field manual when we're at war with terrorists who want to kill us. and so what we're saying with this amendment is that we

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: i ask further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin in: first i ask unanimous consent that julian feinberg and adam newman be granted floor privileges for the remainder of today's proceedings. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: mr. president, later this week, i assume sometime tomorrow, the senate is expected to vote on the rebuild america jobs act. this is a practical, commonsense legislation that does two urgent and important things. it will help to modernize america's crumbling infrastructure, and it will help to put americans back to work and get our economy going again. not surprisingly this bill enjoys overwhelming popular support among the american people. every day americans see the infrastructure crisis with their own eyes. they see interstate highways increasingly overwhelmed, potholes everywhere, they see bridges and overpasses structurally unsound, in danger of collapse, need i me

mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. udall: how much time do i have remaining? the presiding officer: three seconds. mr. udall: the director of the f.b.i., the secretary of defense, it is attorney general and the director of our intelligence have all said let's go slow, pass the udall amendment. the presiding officer: all time has expired. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays have been ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any members wishing to vote or change his or her vote? there being none, the ayes are 37. the nays are 61. the amendment is not agreed to. mr. levin: move to reconsider that. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: mr. president, senator mccain -- if i could have senator mccain's attention just for one second as well. what we're trying to do next is to move to two amendments if we can, both of which are on the pending list. they're n

mr. president. a senator: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from -- the senior senator from delaware is recognized. mr. carper: thank you, mr. president. i'm compelled to rise in opposition today to this resolution which would block the e.p.a.'s good neighbor clean air rule from being implemented. before i talk about the real-world impacts that would result if we block this new clean air rule, i'd like to go back in time 21 years ago when this body debated the last major update to the clean air act. that day we weren't debating how to weaken or delay our clean air laws. we were considering legislation, bipartisan legislation, that would improve our clean air laws and make them stronger. 89 senators approved the clean air act amendments of 1990. a republican president, george herbert walker bush, signed them into law. and we're all the better for it. i believe that we can protect our environment and grow our economy at the same time. it doesn't have to be one or the other. and the clean air act, clean air act a

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: mr. president, this friday we will celebrate veterans day and this year we will be celebrating military families month. it is time to recommit ourselves to helping every military family as the first lady and dr. biden are doing with a program called joining forces to address the unique needs of those who serve and the needs of their families. we as a congress and as a nation need to do exactly that. we need to reach across the aisle, we need to put aside our differences and join forces, we need to help businesses help veterans and their spouses build careers, we need to make sure that schools are doing all they can to help military children, we need to promote community involvement by asking all of us to do what we can to help military families in our local communities, but there is more we can and should do to honor our heroes. honoring our heroes means providing jobs

mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. udall: how much time do we have remaining? the presiding officer: the senator has 15 1/2 minutes. mr. udall: before i recognize senator durbin for eight minutes, i want to respond to my friend, the senator from south carolina. mr. mccain: question: how much time on this side? the presiding officer: five minutes remain. mr. udall: the senator from south carolina is broadly admired in the united states senate. if i'm ever in court, i want him to be my lawyer. i would point out what i'm proposing wouldn't destroy the system we have in place, a system that resulted in the convictions of numerous terrorists with life sentences. what i am asking is to listen to those who are on the front lines fighting against terrorists and terrorism who said they have concerns about this new proposal and would like a greater amount of time to vet it and consider it. i'd like to yield to the senator from illinois, eight minutes. mr. levin: mr. president, i just have a unanimous consent request which senator

mr. president, i object. mr. cardin: mr. president? mr. mccain: mr. president, i ask for the regular order. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland has the floor. mr. cardin: mr. president, i'm going to yield the floor in one moment. let me just say to my friend from wyoming, i'm going to do my best to make sure you get all the information you need. i want to make sure every senator has all the information they need. i think this is a very important decision -- position to be filled. mr. kopocis has the qualifications and confidence. i want to make sure that's done as quickly as possible and i respect my -- my colleague's views and i will work to make sure he gets all the information he needs. i yield the floor. mr. mccain: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: mr. president, my understanding that the senator from colorado, senator udall, is coming over to propose an amendment and i happy to will happen momentarily and i hope that the members will be prepared with other amendments that we can dispose of th

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: mr. president, i listened with interest to senator -- to the senator's explanation of the cross-air rule and i would just say he is off the mark, because if you produce deadly pollution in your state -- deadly -- you have an obligation to clean it up before it goes into another state. it's like taking your garbage and dumping it in your neighbor's, you know, front la lawn. we don't do that in america. so we're going to have a robust debate next week on the cross-air rule, but i would hope people would keep in mind, we're talking about deadly pollution produced in one state, series of states, moving over to a series of other states who have no defense. no defense. and so anyone who wants to come here and claim that that's the right thing to do morally, just walk away from that rule, i think they're going to have a hard time explaining it back home. i would not dump garbage on the front lawn of my neighbor's house, and i think that explanation of what this is about. but more on that later. t

mr. president? the presiding officer: the presiding officerthesenator- the senator from north dakota is recognized. a senator: thank you, mr. president. i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: thank you, mr. president. mr. hoeven: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, today i rise to speak on the north american energy security act of 2011. this is legislation that i am sponsoring along with senator lugar, senator vitter, senator johanns and 37 other cosponsors. we already have 37 cosponsors on this legislation. this is a solutions-oriented bill that addresses concerns along the route of the keystone pipeline. the keystone pipeline is designed to carry 700,000 barrels a day of oil from alberta, canada, from the oil sands area in canada to refineries in the united states, both in -- along the gulf coast, both in texas and louisiana. this is a $7 billion high-tech pipeline that will make a huge difference for our country both in terms of energy security but also job creat

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky. mr. paul: i rise in support of the republican jobs plan which will be -- we'll be voting on shortly. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call, senator. mr. paul: can i ask unanimous consent to disopinions with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. paul: i rise in support of the republican jobs plan. i think it's very important that the american public know there are different visions about how we would create jobs in this country, whether the jobs should be created by the private sector or the jobs should be created by borrowing money from china, taxing you more, and then redistributing that money into government-created jobs. there are different visions in this country about how we create jobs. the one thing we know is that we need millions of jobs, not tens of thousands of jobs, but millions of jobs. so what i would ask the president to do is to come in from the campaign trail and talk to us. i think he needs to be here, not raising money, not out fu

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming is recognized. mr. enzi: i'd ask the quorum call be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. enzi: thank you, mr. president. i'd also ask unanimous consent that the senator from illinois and the senator from kentucky be allowed to enter into a colloquy with me, with the time that we have allotted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. enzi: okay. i'm going to talk about a problem that i've tried to solve for 14 years, and today i think we have a new solution and the solution. this has to do with sales taxes that are not being collected at the present time. it's a little loophole in the tax law. i used to be a retailer, and i never thought that it was fair that i had to collect the sales taxes but the people from out of state didn't have to collect the sales tax. i used to be a mayor. this bill that we have is a jobs bill and an infrastructure bill. a lot of people don't realize that the sales tax helps pay for schools and police and firemen. they may not realize that it pays for infr

mr. president. mr. president, i now ... mr. president, pursuant to a unanimous consent request which was previously entered into on this matter,

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah is recognized. mr. hatch: mr. president, while growth -- i've been asked in -- interested in the comments between the two leaders and i have to agree with the republican leader that this is an exercise in many ways in futility because there -- the bill brought forth by the other side has very little chance of passing through both houses of congress. because it's a partisan bill. now, let me just mention a few things they're morning. while growth remains sluggish in our economy, unemployment high and job growth insufficient to drive unemployment lower, the number of pages in the federal register is at an all-time high. pages devoted to final rules rose by 20% between 2009 and 2010 and proposed rules have also risen by close to 20% to 24 -- to 2,439 in 2010. of the 4,257 regulatory actions already in the pipeline, 219 are considered economically significant, meaning they are -- they are estimated to impose the cost of $100 million or more on the economy. by comparison, that is 28 more than this time last year and 47%

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate stand in recess until 3:00 p.m. the presiding officer: would the senator withhold? mr. leahy: of course. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action, and the senate will resume legislative session. the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: i thank the chair. after decades of doing this, i should have remembered of course we have to notify the president. i recall when -- one day when we went into session, the beginning of the session, swore in new senators. one was the new senator from new york, hillary clinton. the president of the united states was sitting up in the gallery when we reconvened as a senate, the usual notice was said to notify the president that the senate has reconvened -- or has convened for that session, at which point several of my colleagues rather audibly pointed out the president,

mr. preside? the presiding officer: the senator virginia. mr. warner: mr. ent, i ask that proceedings of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. warner: mr. president, i rise today to continue an initiative that was actually started by the presiding officer's predecessor, senator kaufman, and whereby on a fairly regular basis, i try to come down and recognize the service of one of our incredible federal employees. we spend a lot of time in this body talking about policy. we oftentimes spend a lot of time also talking about what government does wrong, and there are things that government does wrong. but too often we don't acknowledge when government does right and particularly the incredible service that many of the folks who work for our federal government perform. so today i'm pleased to honor another great federal employee, ms. ann martin. ms. martin is the senior intelligence research specialist for the treasury department's financial crimes enforcement network, or ncen. at the age of 29 -- the presiding officer a may r

mr. president. in mr. president i rise in strongl by opposition to the proposal by senator p bob soup preempt him up foundation of the air pollutionion rule. we recognize throughout this country extraordinary employmentisland challenges. in rhode island particularly but in every state and these are challenging times, but our focus should be not beyond undermining protections for the public public health p h protections. o are stroka should be on jobon creation as the president has suggested through his job back. sho that is what we should be doing.this this is one of a i series ofals -- a proposals and i have seen manym of them as the chairman of the subcommittee on interior appropriations to essentially evisceratess the if ability of the epa to protect the health of this country and its people. what is struck me during these debates is that we are sort of in a way victims of w our success. i'm old enough term o member when the cuyahoga river in cleveland was on fire because there was no control effectively

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: i yield three minutes to the senator from connecticut. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. lieberman: i thank the chair and thank my friend, the chairman of the armed services committee. i rise respectfully to oppose the amendment that the senator from colorado has offered, though in some measure i thank him because for -- for offering it because this has been an important and good debate. my own position stated briefly on this is that as senator levin has said we're a nation at war and as such --, we were attacked on 9/11/01. we adopted in this chamber the authorization for the use of military force. that's about as close to a declaration of war as we've done since the second world war and the comparison is not -- is exact because what happened to us on 9/11 was -- in some ways was even worse than what happened in december of 1941 when weer we were attacked at pearl harbor. a nation at war who seizes those who have declared themselves to be part of enemy fo

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coats: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, we've been seized with obviously pressing issues and emergencies and i fear that we have not been paying enough attention to the issue of iran and the growing nuclear threat posed by that country. the repeat release of the report by the international atomic energy commission has returned the iran nuclear issue to the front pages, and hopefully to the top of our list of priority issues that need to be discussed and need to be evaluated. the iaea nuclear watchdog which i visited last march with a group of the house and senate intelligence committees has never been an instrument of u.s. policy. in fact, it's often offered perspectives contrary to america's views or preferences and has rigorously defended its objectivity independent of individual governments. and therefore, i think this latest report has all the more weight that we should give serious consideration to. so this objective organization, the nuclear experts, has had unrivaled access to information and sources within

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. derouchie: mr. president, i just left a meeting with president obama at the white house, and we discussed the jobs bill that's pending before the united states senate. it's a bill which the president put together and presented to congress almost two months ago. he invited the republicans at that time to come forward with their ideas and hope we could come up with a bipartisan approach to dealing with the 9%-plus unemployment in our country and the 14 million people out of work, not to mention another 10 million who are underemployed and could do better with a better job. we had a briefing this morning from economists from labor and business who talked about some of the realities facing america today, and they are daunting. that one out of five men in this country are out of work, that we have seen since 1969 a 28% decline in the purchasing power of working families in america, that we're seeing growth rates which are at least anemic and maybe even worse in terms of the future of our ec

mr. president?an >> senator from michigan. >> mr. president, i yield myself tenof minutes. >> without objection. >> time on our side. there have been so many misstatements of fact that havet been made, it's hard to keep upo with them, but let me just take the last statement that theet senator from illinois made about changing military tribunal law. therear is no change in military tribunal law whatsoever which is made in this bill. now, i'm going to address the other misstatements that haveote been made by my friends andds colleagues, but that one's the most recent, so i want to just take on that one first. now, in terms of constitutional provisions, the ultimate authority on the constitution of the united states is the supreme court of the united states. and here's what they have said in the hamdi case about the issue which both our friends have raised about american citizens being subject to the law of war. a citizen, the supreme court said in 2004, no less than an alien can be part of supporting forces hostile to the united states

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: mr. president, i would just ask unanimous consent to call up the following amendments. the first four on behalf of senator jack reed, 1148, 1204, and 1294. ander amendment 1293, levin amendment, 1296, boxer amendment, 1292, a menendez amendment, and that we return to the regular order. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: reno, nevada, is a beautiful place. it's right below the great lake tahoe, the beautiful sierra nevada mountains. it's really a picturesque, beautiful place. i was very troubled this morning to wake up and find that reno, nevada, is in trouble because of a devastating fire. we have about more than 500 acres that have been burned. we have a number of homes that have been des tried. the problem we have is because of these beautiful sierra nevada mountains, we get winds that are -- mr. president, could we have order in the senate? the presiding officer: the senate will come to ord

mr. president? i have -- right here, mr. president? mr. kohl: i move to career the vote by which the bill was passed. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kohl: i raise the germaneness point of order against the pending amendment number 764. the presiding officer: the point of order is sustained and the amendment falls. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the -- the remaining coburn amendments are withdrawn. the clerk will read the bill for the third time. the clerk: calendar number 155, h.r. 2112, an act making appropriations for agricultural, rural development, food and drug administration and related agencies programs for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2012, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: the question is on the passage of the bill as amended. is there a sufficient second? there is a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: is there any member who wishes to change his or vote. the ayes are 69. the nays are 30. the bill as amended is passed. a senator: m

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: mr. president, i ask for regular order on the levin-mccain amendment. the presiding officer: the amendment is the regular order. it is now pending. mr. levin: i thank the presiding officer. now i ask unanimous consent that the pending amendments -- i withdraw that, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to that the senate proceed to calendar number 232, h.r. 1039. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 232, h.r. 1039, an act to protect the safety of judges by extending the authority of the judicial conference, and so

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: madam president, i ask unanimous consent to speak for what time i might consume but it probably would be in the neighborhood of 20 or 25 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: today i'd like to take a few moments to talk about the importance of oversight work of the congress, and it's a very critical function of congress. as one of the three branches of government, congress is a very important pillar of our government. our system provides for checks and balances between the three branches of government. not only do we here in the congress legislate, but we must make sure that the other two branches are not overstepping their power. and that's the function of oversight. i've been conducting oversight of the executive branch since i first came to the senate. i take oversight very seriously. it's often an overlooked function for members of congress. it's not a glamorous function. it's a lot of hard work. some people have said recently that my oversight

mr. president. i'd like to ask that miles ceety from senator grassley's office have floor privileges for the remainder of the day. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous consent that the health committee be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 302 and the senate proceed to its consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 302 expressing support for the goals of national adoption day and national adoption month and so forth. ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening abc or debate and any related statements be printed in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: thank you. i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to consideration of s. res. 324 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 324, commemoratingthe 60th anniversary

mr. presid. the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. boozman: i would like to rescind the quorum. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. boozman,: i would like to thank those who earned the title of veteran. the 11th hour of the 11th month marked the end of world war i. since then this day has been celebrated first as armistice day but now as veterans day. no matter what we call it it serves the purpose of honoring our nation's heroes, those who served in the military, our veterans. as son of a world war ii veteran who served as a gunner on b-17's i grew up in a family rooted in military tradition. my father remained in the military until he retired from the air force as a master sergeant after 20 years of service. at an early age by brother, my sister, and i were taught about the sacrifices our men and women make in uniform. growing up in this environment gave us an understanding of the unique challenges that military families face and understanding that guides my efforts today. my mom would continually remind me of my responsibi

mr. president. last night of the republican debate, they -- some of the hopefuls -- they hope to get your job -- they defended the practice of waterboarding which is a practice that you banned in 2009. herman cain said, quote, i don't see that as torture. michele bachmann said that it's, quote, very effective. so i'm wondering if you think that they are uninformed, out of touch or irresponsible? >> that's a multiple choice question, isn't it? let me just say this. they're wrong. waterboarding is torture. it's contrary to america's traditions. it's contrary to our ideals. that's not who we are. that's not how we operate. we don't need it in order to prosecute the war on terrorism. and we did the right thing by ending that practice. if we want to lead around the world, part of our leadership is setting a good example. and anybody who has actually read about and understands the practice of waterboarding would say that that is torture. and that's not something we do. period. nora o'donnell. >> thank you,

mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. st few weeks i've highlighted some of the good work republicans in the house are doing in identifying jobs legislation that members of both parties can agree on. and i've suggested that the democratic majority here in the senate follow the lead of house republicans, take up bipartisan legislation -- it's already passed in the house -- pass it here in the senate. the american people want us to do something about jobs. they want us to work together. here is the formula. let's apply it. we made some progress last week with the veterans bill anltdz the 3% withholding bill. but there's a lot more we could do. the house has now passed more than 20 pieces of jobs legislation, many of which have companion bills that are ready to go here in the senate. i outlined some of them last week. why don't we take them up. let's acknowledge the fact that we live in a two-party system and that if we're going to make progress we need to do it on a bipartisan basis. and that means doing precisely what preen

mr. president, i do not need to talk about the politicians today, but i wish you good luck. the city waiting to help me and to help the city solve the problems for the homeless. homeless in america. in the country who is rich in the wallet, it is time for you also to help us by giving home and job to veteran people. thank you. god bless all of you. >> good afternoon, board of supervisors. do not give money to the friends of the public library. do not accept money from the friends of the public library. people are starting to see how destructive the corporate influence has become an starting to realize how fragile the market really is. one of the values of corporations is there is never accountability because it might interfere with profits. one of the values of democracy is that there has to be accountability for the people have no power. the value of the united states used to be that it belonged to the people. now what we see over and over again in our society is the mechanism to subvert democracy in order to protect and promote the interests of private money. most people r

mr. levin: madam president? the presiding officer: is noter from michigan. mr. levin: i had he ask unanimous consent that a statement of mine relative to the crapo amendment be inserted in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. there are two minutes evenly divided -- or maybe not. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the amendment just called is not ripe for debate here. i would ask consent that we move to the coburn amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: madam president, this is a straightforward amendment on a program that fails 70% of the time. we spend $35 million a year. it has an abject failure rate, only 30% of it results in anything positive happening, 75% of the time is does not. the obama administration, the bush administration thought this program should be canceled. i yield the balance of my time. ms. collins: madam president, only $6 million is provided for this program, but it makes a big difference for small rural communities that are struggling to provide air service. air servic

the presiding officer:. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent senate be in a period of morning business allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the executive session to consider the nominations on the secretary's desk, thes nominations be confirmed en bloc and no further motions be in order to any of the nominations, related statements be printed in the record and president obama be notified of the senate's action and the senate resume legislative session. i ask unanimous consent the "help" committee be discharged from further consideration of s. res 199. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res 199, supporting the goals and ideals of khrons awareness week. woeup without objection the committee. the presiding officer: without objection the committee is discharged and senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask the resolution be agreed to, preamble be agreed to, motion to reconsider be

mr. president.f i could continue on that the republicans did have a debate on cbs last night a lot of it was about foreign policy. they were critical of your record. >> that's shocking. >> if i could get you to respond to something that mitt romney said, he said your biggest foreign policy failure is iran. he said that if you are re-elected iran will have a nuclear weapon. is mitt romney wrong? >> i am going to make a practice of not commenting on whatever is said in republican debates until they have got an actual nominee. but as i indicated to pen in the earlier question, you take a look at what we have been able to accomplish in mobilizing the world community against iran over the last three years and it shows steady, determined progreprog firm progress in isolating the iranian regime and sending a clear message that the world believes it would be dangerous for them to have a nuclear weapon. is this an easy issue? no. anybody who claims it is is either politicking or doesn't know what they are ta

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to a period of morning business with snored permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 2, at 12:00 noon tuesday, november 8, 2011, the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 405 under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 465, the nomination be confirmed with no intervening action or debate, that no further motionses be in order to the nomination, that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the record, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding office

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. pryor: mr. resident, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. pryor: mr. president, i have seven unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. pryor: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, we are considering some veterans legislation this week, and i rise today to recognize the men and women who have selfishly served our nation -- selflessly served our nation. veterans day is approaching. it's one way to remind ourselves that the sacrifices so many have made and continue to make for our country. we pay tribute to individuals like specialist sarina butcher. for the past 18 months she served with valor and distinction in afghanistan as an automated logistical specialist with the army natio

mr. president, an impeachment trial of mayor lee

mr. president, we have 11 aye. president chiu: those are passed and resolutions are adopted. colleagues, we had countered items 11 through 13 until 4:00 p.m. today, if we can pass over those items until those time. i am sorry. items 11 through 13. >> item 14 adopts findings reversing the planning department determination that a project on sansome street is exempt from environmental review. president chiu: can i have a motion to continue item 14 for one week? without objection. to november 8. next item. >> item 15 is an ordinance amending the administrative code regarding the health care security ordinance. president chiu: thank you. on item 15, supervisor cohen. supervisor cohen: today, i am introducing a series of amendments to president chiu's legislation, the result of many months of conversations with many stakeholders -- labor groups, coalitions, business groups, small business groups, health access organizers, and community-based organizations. the amendment will do the following. it will increase the time by

mr. president -- >> not now. >> 1 adam 12. 1 adam 12. >> mr. president, we're getting some interference on that frequency. >> that was not me. >> mr. president, why don't you admit the arms deal was a mistake? >> well, i'm glad you asked that because this is one in a i'm ready for -- one that i'm ready for. oh, kareem, passes to magic. swish. that's two points. bingo. chris: when we come back, what does our group of political experts think about the crushing disappointment at penn state? plus scoops and predictions from the notebooks of these top reporters. we'll be right back. >> "the chris matthews show" is brought to you by charles schwab. get the help your money deserves. talk to chuck. call 1-800-4-squab or go to schwab.com today. chris: welcome back. penn state's disaster has no explanation. no excuses. another big institution protecting itself. not keeping its trust. the school's new president said the culture has to change. >> i ask for the support of the entire penn state community to work together to reorient our culture. never again s

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: and that i be allowed to speak for up to 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, we are going through one of the most difficult and painful periods in american history, and millions of americans are wondering what is happening to our country. behind the curtain of spin and propaganda and political attacks, here's what i believe is happening. the rules of the economic game in this country are increasingly being rigged to provide unfair advantage to the wealthy and well-connected and to take unfair advantage of regular folks and families. america has always promised a straight deal, and that straight deal for many americans is getting harder and harder to find. let me say that i am relentlessly proud to be an american. i grew up in the foreign service of this country, surrounded by families who put public service and pride in this country ahead of their comfort, of their convenience, even of their safety and their family's safety.

mr. mccain: cleared on this side. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: i ask consent the senate consider these amendments en bloc, that the modifications at the desk be adopted, the amendments be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: i thank the presiding officer. i thank all of our colleagues for their cooperation. i thank senator mccain and our staffs. we're going to continue to work to clear additional amendments following the cloture vote. we're now voting on cloture. we all, as leaders, the managers, of course hope this will pass. mr. mccain: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: i'd like to say i'd like to thank my colleagues for allowing this package, these amendments to go through. we will be working on additional amendments that we can agree to. we're about to vote on cloture. and if cloture is invoked, i'd like to inform my colleagues, those amendments that are pending and filed, they will be eligible for votes. we will be u

mr. president, all members are present. supervisor chiu: thank you. ladies and gentlemen, could you please join me in the pledge of allegiance? >> to the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. supervisor chiu: madam clerk, are there any communications? >> i have no communications. supervisor chiu: our 2:00 p.m. special order will be scheduled until november 15, next week. could you please read items one through 11? >> items 1 through 11 constitute the consent agenda and will be acted upon by a single roll call vote. unless a member requests separate discussion of a matter. it shall be removed and discussed separately. supervisor chiu: would anyone like to sever anything from the consent agenda? madam clerk, please call the roll. >> chiu aye. chu aye. cohen aye. farrell aye. kim aye. mar aye. mirkarimi aye. wiener aye. avalos aye. campos aye. there are 11 ayes. supervisor campos: those items are approved. could you please call item 12? >> item 12, motion reversing findings that a property located at 117