mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader. mr. durbin: mr. president, thank you. for a number of years -- years -- i have come to this floor to talk about an issue that i want to bring up again this morning. and the issue is for-profit colleges and universities. many people, when they hear me describe this, don't understand which schools i'm talking about. it's not the public universities that you would think of automatically -- the university of illinois, northwestern university and others, private universities like northwestern. it is the for-profit world of higher education. the leaders in that for-profit world -- mr. president, i see that the minority leader is on the floor here, senator mcconnell. i'll proceed. the for-profit colleges and universities are led by the apollo group which owns the university of phoenix, the largest; devry university, based out of chicago, kaplan and corinthian and many others. they bring about 10% to 12% of all the high school graduates into their for-profit colleges. they receive from the federal government

the presiding officer: i will do that. mr. cornyn: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i want to talk about the intersection of national security and our mounting debt. over the last five years, president obama's had multiple occasions to embrace real, structural entitlement reform that would help solve our long-term debt problem. now, you might wonder, why am i talking about debt when the subject that we're generally talking about is national security, including what's happening in iraq and syria. it's because, as the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said, admiral mcmullen, when he asked what the single-biggest threat to our national security was, he said, it's our debt. the president had an opportunity when the simpson-bowles commission released its recommendations in late 2010 -- as you'll recall, this is a bipartisan commission the president himself appointed to help come up with a formula to deal with this -- with our fiscal problems. unfortunately, once they made their recommendation in december 2010, the president walked away from it and not

mr. president, i yield the flo floor. mr. mccain: mr. president, before i yield the floor, i ask that certain articles be inserted as part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: and, mr. president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. graham: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. south carolina, forgive me. mr. graham graham: south caroli. but i like georgia, a very nice state. come from georgia to south carolina and spend money. and you're welcome to come, too. the presiding officer: i will do that. the senate is in a quorum call. mr. graham: i would ask unanimous consent to terminate the quorum call. the presiding officer: sir, without objection. mr. graham: and could i be recognized for 10 or 15 minutes to speak as if in morning business or a colloquy. the presiding officer: senator, we have an order to go to executive session at 11:30. mr. graham: can i speak until 11:30. the presiding officer: the senator is recogn

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: mr. president, i would ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i rise this morning just before the noon hour to talk about our children, a topic which doesn't get nearly enough attention here in washington. i will try to focus just on one issue today, but both parties in this -- in this body and in the other body indicate on a pretty frequent basis that they are in favor of supporting strategies to protect our children and help our children, but not enough attention is paid to what that strategy should be and what the elements of it should be. i believe it should at least have four major component parts. one is to make sure the children have every opportunity for more early learning. in addition to that, we need to make sure that more children are covered by health insurance and that they get quality health care. we made a lot of strides in that the last couple of decades, but we still have a ways to go on that. we nee

mr. president. some of my friends across the aisle have argued that if only congress would pass obama's preferred immigration reforms -- president obama's preferred immigration reforms the current border crisis would never have happened. that ignores the fact that none of these children qualify for any of the deferred action policies either ordered in 2012 or any of the others i mentioned. but there is the perception caused by the first morton memo, the second morton memo, then the deferred action announcement, and now the widely publicized news that the president has instructed jeh johnson, the secretary of homeland security, to reconsider its entire repatriation and deportation policy. and it's clear this is related to the upcoming midterm election and the president's desire to try to make a point. the problem is his point has backfired. it is victimizing the very same people that the president believes, i think, that he's trying to help. and that's what happens when the rule of law is no longer yo

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to speak in proud support of the work force innovation and opportunity act and to urge my colleagues to support it. this is an extremely important piece of legislation and one that i was happy to work on in the help committee. it's also long overdue. we haven't reauthorized the work force investment act since 1998. it's clear that the law isn't working for a 2014 economy. we know it isn't working because we have a large and growing skills gap. now, what is the skills gap? well, recent studies have shown that between one-third and a half of manufacturers in my state have at least one job that they can't fill because they can't find a worker with the right skills or the job. that skills gap in minnesota, but of course it isn't just minnesota. this is a nationwide phenomenon, and any colleague that i talk to on the floor says that's the case in his

mr. president. changing direction a little bit, i'd ask this statement i make now appear at a separate place in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, we've all seen the old cowboy western movies that saw some unfortunate character getting into quicksand, either pushed, fallen and they try everything they can to get him out. it's always the same scene in those movies, an unsuspecting person winds up in quicksand, panics, flails around, and each time he does that he gets deeper and deeper into this earthy liquid. fortunately a hero always comes to the rescue. sometimes it's late, a rope or a branch or something to pull him out of the quicksand to safety. mr. president, that happens once in a while, but not very often in real life. in america today, millions of americans are caught in financial quicksand and looking for a helping hand to pull them to safety. more than 40 million americans, in fact about 45 million americans have student loans. as their debt mount

mr. president. mr. president, i ask the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. warren: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come to the floor today to offer my strong support of the environmental protection agency's clean power plan to cut carbon pollution from existing power plants. the e.p.a.'s proposal is a powerful step in the fight to protect our health and our environment. we face a crisis. we know that high carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere are driving climate change. we know those carbon dioxide levels are increasing the acidity of our oceans, disrupting already fragile marine ecosystems, and we know that power plants are responsible for about 40% of america's carbon pollution. add all that up and we know enough to know that reducing carbon pollution from power plant emissions will make a real difference in the fight against climate change. pollution from power plants is also associated with other dangerous chemicals. a study led by the university of syra

mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 1:45 p.m. with senators permitted to speak therein up to ten minutes each, with the time equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first 30 minutes and the republicans controlling the second 30 minutes. mr. carper: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. carp while senator mcconnell is -- mr. carper: while senator mcconnell is still here in the chamber, i want to follow up on his comments about the loss of christopher stout. my wife and i have a son of our own named christopher. he is roughly ten years younger than christopher stout at his death. and so, as soon as senator mcconnell began talking about the loss of his life, it resonated with me as a father. it also resonated with me as a commander chief in the national guard for eight years and as

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mr. udall: i would ask to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: thank you, mr. president. my state of new mexico has a great tradition of military service, and when the nation has called new mexico has always answered. today i wanted to say a few words to remember chester naz, mr. chester naz, the last of the original 29 and a half joe code talkers of world war ii. mr. naz passed away wednesday morning in albuquerque, new mexico. we are forever indebted to him and his fellow warriors. they turned the navajo language into an unbelievable code, using a language they were forbidden to speak in school as a weapon to defend our freedoms in war. freedoms that they themselves did not always enjoy. theirs is a great story of courage and of love of country, of tremendous sacrifice in battle after battle, in ferocious combat. the navajo code saved countless lives and helped secure the allied victory. in 2001, the original code talkers received the congressiona

mr. vice president, mr. hed guests, it is a true honor for me to be here today to pay tribute to one of the world's greatest statesmen. president peres, you are always a man who has stood for the advancement of humankind. you have been an inspiration to so many of us young and old, in your tireless advocacy for democracy, in your belief that it is that which is the best path to peace and security for all. few people, president peres, have dedicated their lives to the security of the state of israel, and the continuity of the jewish people the way that you have. so many of us have been touched by president peres. i know in the many trips that i've made to israel, along with my colleague kevin mccarthy, just a little over a year ago, we were there. you welcomed us with open arms. delegation after delegation. so many of us found inspiration in your words. so many of us tried to learn how it was that you talk about the importance of the u.s./israel partnership, of what it means to be tied together by mutual bonds

mr. president. a senator: i couldn't mr. merkley: i couldn't help hear you were talking about oregon. in oregon, 400,000 people plus people have signed up for health care through the affordable care act. some of those may have had insurance before, maybe it's 25,000, maybe 50,000, we don't have numbers on that but is it a good or bad thing that 350,000 or more individuals have gained access to health care through this plan? mr. barrasso: i would say many people in oregon have been helped, and many have been hurt. and that is the problem with this health care law, mr. president. there are people that have been helped, absolutely. i just believe that the side effects, the costly side effects, the harmful side effects, the dangerous side effects of this health care law has actually hurt people. so for people that may have been helped, there are as many if not more who have been hurt through higher premiums, higher co-pays, loss of their doctor, can't go to their hospital. all of those things, plus at th

mr. president, ukraine matters. we cannot continue to look the other way as russia thinks that they can invade another country without consequences, and we can make a difference in this congress. i would urge the president to follow through on his words. otherwise, don't say it if you aren't willing to back it up, mr. president. the ukranian people deserve our support, they love america, and all they want is to determine their own future instead of vladimir putin determining their future for them. thank you, mr. president. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. kaine: i rise today to talk about an important topic, the topic of embassy security. the safety of embassies abroad and especially our capital a ambassadors and small a ambassadors who go to work, 182 countries where we where have embassies to represent the united states. embassy security was in the news yesterday. the president announced the dispatch of 275 marines to baghdad to protect the embassy in iraq and today we

mr. president, (clapping) mr. president, with furniture indulge i request a group photo with the supervisors and i be taken please. >> roll call (laughter) (clapping). >> congratulations (clapping.) thank you. >> thank you madeline and thank you madam clerk why not go to 23 p.m. 0 so the first six or seven people we'll take comments and go to special orders so madam clerk. >> item 51 through 54 mr. president. >> public comment. >> excuse me. now is the time for the public to address the board up to 2 minutes. and pursuant to board rule please distributor our remarks to the board as a whole and speakers using transportation assistants will be given twice the time for speaking and if i need a document on the power point please speak to sfgovtv >> first speaker up to 2 minutes. >> good evening mr. supervisor and board of supervisors i'm john. here's a call to all san francisco supervisors attention to what i've been paying attention to for years san francisco has been placard with meter parking i have a many san franc

mr. vice president i see there a a former president in the mr. pressing kin wants to say a few words. >> i want to week our former board president. >> thank you, mr. president and members of the board i'm pleased not to be here about the world cup's or treasure island i'm delighted to absolute madeline who say, i think one of an elicit core of people who have served department number one this department is the city's first department great there was a mayor's office there was a board of supervisors and it's department number one and madeline has been number one in department number one no job two big no job too small a everything madeline does including when i didn't get tickets for the theatre madeline gave me her ticket thank you madeline for all your service and to the city and county of san francisco for 419 years you deserve it. >> madeline if you want to say something. >> thank you very much for i'm overwhelmed what everything you read angela i want to read something. i'd like to thank you for the opportunity to read a message that kate wrot

mr. vice president, mr. ker, president peres, my colleagues, and other distinguished guests -- it is a true honor for me to be here today to pay tribute to one of the world's greatest statesmen. president peres, you are always a man who has stood for the advancement of humankind. you have been an inspiration to so many of us, young and old, in your tireless advocacy for democracy. in your belief that it is that which is the best path to peace and security for all. few people, president peres, have dedicated their lives to the security of the state of israel and the continuity of the jewish people the way that you have. so many of us have been touched by president peres. on the many trips i have made to israel, along with my colleague, kevin mccarthy -- just over one year ago, we were there and you welcomed us with open arms. delegation after delegation. so many of us found inspiration in your words. so many of us tried to learn how it was that you talked about the importance of the u.s.-israel partnership. wh

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. coons: mr. resident, i ask the quorum call be vitiated. without objection. mr. coons: when we send ambassadorsships, ambassadors are voices for american valts and the interests that we share with other nations. simply put, they're critical to promoting our foreign policy, our economic and security interests and our leadership in the world. yet, one, because of gridlock here, we fail to confirm ambassadors, we send a dangerous message about our lack of interest in the world and our lack of commitment to diplomacy. i have the privilege of chairing the african affairs subcommittee. through my work as chair as well as time i spent earlier in my life in africa, i've seen up close both the incredible opportunities on the continent of africa as well as the stark challenges. for instance today this, decade, seven of the ten fastest growing economies in the world are in africa. yet right now one in five -- one in five -- american embassies in the 54 countries on that continent lack a confirmed ambassador.

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. a senator: mr. president, i ask proceedings under the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coops: mr. president, in my home state of delaware, today we have a problem. just this week in my home state, the critical i-495 bridge over the christina river in wilmington, which carries more than 90,000 drivers each and every day north and south on this critical artery of the east coast of the united states, was closed indefinitely. while engineers and workers were on an unrelated project in the area, they noticed that four of the key pillars holding up the bridge were alarmingly slanted. causing widespread concerns about the bridge's safety and prompt action to shut it down. now, as the delaware department of transportation and the federal highway administration do everything they can to get to the bottom of this problem and to work to make this bridge safe again, tens of thousands of commuters are forced on to already crowded streets and highways, creating even worse traf

mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: there's seven quoll cull i woulms. mikulski: o claim those minutes. mr. reid: i'm sorry. ms. mikulski: before we move to the adoption of the motion to proceed on the c.j.s. appropriations, if we do so, i want to speak as the chairperson of the appropriations committee and the chair of the subcommittee on c.j.s. i'm really sad about what just happened here. i'm really sad that we couldn't find a way to proceed to bring these thrie outstanding bills -- threes outstanding bills up. i just want to note that what we wanted to bring to the floor was the commerce-justice-science bill, the agricultural bill, and transportation and housing, urban development. there are significant policy differences even on each one of of those bills, whether it is truck requirements, whether it's school nutrition, whether it's environmental -- important discussions and decisions on environmental protection. on my own c.j.s. bill, we're going to really lose a lot. i had money in this bill working with se

mr. president. [inaudible] mr. mccain: ...both sides. the presiding officer: the republican side has six minutes; the democrats, just under 13 minutes. mr. mccain: i ask unanimous consent for the senator from alabama to have six minutes and i would allow -- ask unanimous consent for four additional minutes for this side following the senator from vermont. the presiding officer: is there objection? hearing none, so ordered. the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: mr. president, i appreciate the work of my colleagues on this legislation. they've accomplished some very good things. we need legislation to pass to deal with our veterans. the needs are real and recent revelations of substantial substandard care, and too often no care at all, at our v.a. medical centers are shocking. there is and has been a long-term problem with efficiency and management of that agency. it's heartbreaking to see some of the examples of it be highlighted today. it's really an embarrassment. we -- we owe our veterans better care than we've been giving. our nation

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware is recognized. mr. coons: i ask unanimous consent that the proceedings under the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. coons: mr. president, i come to the floor this afternoon because this week, the senate has a chance to take another crucial step away from the political cliffs and manufactured crises of previous years and to get back to the regular order, to get back to the considered, measured, orderly process on this floor that for so long was characteristic of this body, in past considered the greatest deliberative body on earth, but in recent years, it has ground to a halt. it is critical that we return to regular order and that we return to the steady consideration of appropriation bills in a way that will move not just the senate, this congress, but this country forward. i'd like to thank the chair and ranking members of the appropriation committee, senators mikulski and shelby, for their leadership and their steadfast determination to work in a biparti

to the russian president is as follows. mr putin you said you want action as regards crean what practical steps is russia going to do in order to provide peace to promote peace in ukraine and president today the agreement was signed. on constructing the south stream it bypasses you queens who do you think that is a correct sign these days you also discussed crimea. other any practical approach is to resolving that issue really well first of all. we have not put forth any preconditions for the negotiations between the governments in kiev and eastern ukraine. russia is not a party in that conflict so we can largely. propose any preconditions she has for our practical steps just address that was a reply responding to a question from one of your colleagues. we need to start with we need to see negotiations started about the future composition of ukraine and about protecting the rights of. the people living in eastern ukraine but we've discussed it at length a million times. i don't have enough time to go into detail right now but

mr. president, i thank you and i yield the floor. mr. cardin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: mr. president, it's my understanding that the democrats now control the next 32 minutes. the presiding officer: the next 30 minutes. mr. cardin: 30 minutes. i would ask consent that senator whitehouse and i be allowed to participate in a colloquy with other members or to yield time during that 32 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, i was listening to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle talk about the proposed rule for the waters of the u.s., and i'm somewhat curious as to where they get a lot of their information from, because if they read the proposed rule -- and i point out that this is a proposed rule -- if you'll read the proposed rule, it specifically excludes from waters of the united states certain ditches and wastewater treatment plants and ponds, et cetera. and i'm going to get into the specifics. but if you would listen to their points on the floor, you would thin

mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. we're at a very important historical juncture where the science is now conclusive that the planet is dangerously warming. the months of --. a senator: would the senator yield for a u.c.? mr. markey: i would yield to the gentleman. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. yoof: i ask unanimous consent at the conclusion of the remarks by senator massachusetts and senator whitehouse i be recognized as if in morning business for as much time as i may consume. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. whitehouse: it's not an objection at this point but it's our understanding that the senator from oklahoma will speak for 20 to 30 minutes but that the time would revert to me at the conclusion of his remarks after 20 to 30 minutes. if that's an acceptable amendment to the unanimous consent, i agree to it. mr. yoof: let's let's amendment your amendment to 20 to 35 minutes. -- mr. inhof

mr. president. i yield the floor. mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the president pro tempore is recognized. hay lay mr. president, there isn't a -- mr. leahy: mr. president, there isn't a quorum call. the presiding officer: we are not in a quorum call. mr. leahy: i thank the chair. following the resignation of secretary shinseki last week, it really is time for some deep soul-searching for the department ofuture ofthe departs affairs. i'm struck by disturbing aspect of organizational culture within the v.a., prioritizing meeting goals and checking boxes instead of providing true quality care for veterans. secretary shinseki himself was a decorated veteran, and i'm sure he must be as frustrated as all of us to find some of the things that were happening. so overwhelming rushing toward the path of least resistance for reporting care for the men and women who served this nation admirably and with dedication. we shouldn't lose sight of the hard work and commitment of the many men and women working in the v.a. system every day striv

mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. barrasso: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming is recognized. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i concur with the distinguished senator from texas, the concerns that we have and that we share about the lives of people all across the country, their ability to earn a living. and tomorrow president obama is planning to travel to minnesota. as i come to the floor, the president is making the preparations because the president said he will spend a day in the shoes of a woman who had written him a letter about the economic challenges that she faces. i hope the president takes the time to actually talk with other people as well and spend a day in their shoes as well. because i think there are a lot of people in minnesota, a lot of people in minnesota who would like to ask the president about his health care law and about some of the damaging side effects of the law. the mankato times had the story of a minnesota school to lose more than $200 million because of obamacare

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: inquiry. are we -- the presiding officer: if we could come to order in the chairman wchamber. mr. enzi: what's the status of business that we're in? the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. enzi: thank you, mr. president. i'd ask unanimous consent for floor privileges for the day for daniel head of my staff. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. enzi: thank you, mr. president. i rise today -- the presiding officer: will the senate be in order, please. will the senate be in order. the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: thank you. i rise today to talk about the new regulations president obama proposed this week that are obviously aimed at the coal industry. but let's be frank, these regulations go far beyond the president's campaign to put coal out of business. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. enzi: these regulations go far beyond the president's campaign to put coal out of business. these regulations target energy, to make

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hoeven: mr. president, i rise to speak today on our -- on behalf of our veterans. i'm sure to talk about both challenge and opportunity. challenge is the problems we face with our veterans administration. and that is that we're not getting the care for our veterans that they need and that wall want them to have and that they so very much deserve. but i think that we also have a real opportunity because we've been work on legislation and we have both legislation on the republican side of the senate and on the democrat side and now we're working to bring those two pieces of legislation together. and so i think that this creates a real opportunity and that is a vitally important opportunity, one that we grab and that we address on behalf of our veterans. and that is that we make sure that we come together on bipartisan legislation that fixes the veterans administration health care system and t

mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. shelby: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. shelby: thank you, mr. president. this morning, i want to join my long-time colleague and friend, the senior senator from maryland, and chair of the senate appropriation committee. senator barbara mikulski in supporting the consideration of the three bills before us today. mr. president, all three bills received strong bipartisan support at the full committee on appropriation level, and i'm pleased that we have begun to re-establish regular order in the appropriation cross. we started that last year, and we need to continue this, and we are. after the uncertainty of sequestration and last year's disagreement over the budget control act caps, this past december's murray-ryan budget deal provided the clarity needed to move us towards a regular budget and a regular appropriation process. the murray-ryan deal, mr. president, which became the bipartisan budget act, provided a compromise solution that ended the congressional deadlock over

mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. begich: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. begich: mr. president, thank you very much. i appreciate an opportunity to speak on a bill we passed out of here yesterday, the vernts access reform bill. we passed it 93-3, which is an a. amazing thing when you think about it. in this body as we struggle to get issues in front of us to work on it, what we saw was an incredible bipartisan piece of legislation basically saying we are for vets. we want to make sure veterans have the best care that they deserve, they earned fighting wars -- not only the recent ones but in the past. when you look at the piece of legislation -- and i want to talk a little bit about the piece of legislation. then i am a going to talk about some pieces that are important to alaska. i'll show some examples here in a second. but i also then want to talk about what's still ahead of us as a member of the veterans' committee, it the no just about passing one bill and saying we're done, we're completed, we've don

mr. president. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. schumer: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, we are. mr. schumer: i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i rise today to point out that it has now been 342 days since the senate passed bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform that would secure our border, turbocharge america's economic growth, and provide a chance to heal america's broken families that are being separated by our dysfunctional immigration system. here's what we know. the nonpartisan congressional budget office told us that had we passed a bill this last year, we could have already seen up to $80 billion of economic growth, $20 billion of deficit reduction, 50,000 new jobs, $50 billion more in the social security trust fund, $2 billion of revenue for state and local governments and 40,000 more brilliant stem graduates -- science, technology, engineering and math -- to stay in the united states instead of being told to go ho

mr. president. and members of the board. for the next few minutes i have the privilege to begin the sendoff of a beloved employee who has given the majority of her life to public service in san francisco may i have our lady stand in front of the the lecterns (clapping) now i know you don't like surprise madeline i'll read a portion of the proclamation then provide a few personal objections and finish with the be that revolved it will be helpful to hear from other former members like aaron and i'll respect flu ask for a quick photo for the ladies office. to the proclamation

mr. president. >> if you could read our consent agenda. >> items 1 through 4 comprise the consent calendar. these items are considered routine. if a member objects an item will be removed and considered separately. >> colleagues, would anyone like to sever any of these item? if not, roll call vote on the consent agenda. >> supervisor campos? campos aye. supervisor chiu? chiu aye. supervisor cohen? cohen aye. supervisor farrell? farrell aye. supervisor kim? kim absent. supervisor mar? mar aye. supervisor tang? tang aye. supervisor wiener? wiener aye. supervisor yee? yee aye. supervisor avalos? avalos aye. supervisor breed. breed aye. there are 10 ayes. >> those ordinances are identifiablely pass and had motions approved. [gavel] >> item 5. >> item 5 is an ordinance amending the campaign and governmental conduct code to expand the definition of a lobbyist; expand the definition of an officer of the city and county; expand the list of reportable lobbying contacts; hold employers and clients of lobbyist

mr. president. and members of the board. for the next few minutes i have the privilege to begin the sendoff of a beloved employee who has given the majority of her life to public service in san francisco may i have our lady stand in front of the the lecterns (clapping) now i know you don't like surprise madeline i'll read a portion of the proclamation then provide a few personal objections and finish with the be that revolved it will be helpful to hear from other former members like aaron and i'll respect flu ask for a quick photo for the ladies office. to the proclamation whereas madeline a certified municipal clerk has now achieved 44 years of service and declared june 030th the date of her retirement it begin if 1970 when the public utilities commission contacted the san francisco's st. paul high school looking for the most accomplished steno graefr and she was recommended whereas shortly after joining the puc the puc manager started a tug of war with the general manager to steal her back to the puc and she was restored w

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: mr. t, in a moment or so my colleagues will be coming down here to the floor and asking to enter into a colloquy to discuss an issue that is important to many of us, particularly those of us who represent states in the west and the midwest. the issue i want to speak to has to deal with something that over the past five years, the obama administration has been particularly -- mr. reid: mr. president, would my friend allow me to ask a question through the chair? i was in the office and i heard the statement from the republican leader about keystone. so this question i direct to my friend from south dakota, who is a fine senator and understands energy issues. we agreed to have a vote on keystone. my friend, the republican leader, keeps misdirecting things. we can have a vote on keystone. that was part of the deal we made. we had a bipartisan bill, portman-shaheen. they worked on that for months, since last fall. they put in it amendments that people wanted. and so jeanne shaheen came here yes

mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i'd indicated to the majority leader i was going to have a unanimous consent request, and i'm going to propound that now. i ask unanimous consent that the environment and public works committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 2414, the coal country protection act, and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. i further ask consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. mr. reid: mr. president, reserving the righ right to obj. mr. president, the rule will not become effective for a long time. the normal period of time to make comments when a rule is being promulgated is 60 days. this one is 120 days. the reason for that is members of my caucus want to weigh in on this to try to improve the suggested rule that has come from the e.p.a. so i am waiting to read this -- the proposed regulation myself, which i have not done. i have been briefed on it by my staff, and i will read this closely, as i'm sure

mr. president. i yield. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: how much time do i have remaining? the presiding officer: the senator has two minutes remaining. mr. alexander: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, the question before the senate is this. shall we spend the next week on a political stunt that gives some students $1 a day to pay off their student loan or shall we move to a bipartisan solution to veterans who are lined up at clinics and hospitals across the country in a way that shocks those of us on both sides of the aisle? that's the issue. that's the issue. the proposal before us is a serious -- isn't a serious proposal. it's $1 to pay off a $27,000 loan. what are we going to do next week? raise taxes and pay the debt to pay off a $27,000 car loan which is the average student loan in this country? in addition, this couldn't even be sent to the house if it passed because it's unconstitutional. you can't start a tax in the senate, and this has a big tax in it. mr. president, the way we deal with these issues is the way w

the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to participate in a colloquy with a number of my colleagues for up to 20 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. sir, we're in a quorum call. mr. barrasso: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 20 minutes in a colloquy with a number of my colleagues. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come to the floor today with the ranking member of the senate energy committee to discuss the issues the keystone x.l. pipeline. and i turn to my colleague from alaska to invite her to share with the senate some of her observations and considerations and concerns as we seek approval of an opportunity to create more jobs in america, improve our economy as well as energy security for our country. so i turn to the senator from alaska and ask her concerns, co

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: i come to the floor thorp this morning with my colleague from south carolina to put to rest the dlaim w claim wo often today, that president obama wanted to use a residual forces. this is a very important item, aspect of the debate that is now going on and it is chamber that made in growing desperation these days has become increasingly clear for all to see that the president's mishandling of the iraq for the past five years is, his consistt inaction on syria has brought us to the state of disaster. it is the size of the state of indiana. it is the largest terrorist safe haven in history. isis is re-i.g. nateing conflict in iraq and threatening to erase the gains that nearly 4,500 brave young americans gave their lives to secure and that largely secure when the president took office in january of 2009. in january 2009, the surge had succeeded, iraq was not violent. the surge had succeeded. we won the war and lost the peace. that's a fact. the administration and its defenders ar

mr. president, i yield the floor. residing officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 11:45 a.m. with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, and with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. mr. sanders: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: mr. president, we are coming to the july 4th weekend. in my state and throughout this country, many people are going to be getting into their automobiles. they're going to be traveling. and, in general, people who live in rural states like vermont don't have the option of getting on a sub-way, don't have the option of getting on a bus to get to work. they use their automobile. and in vermont and all across this country, people who are driving have noticed that the price of gasoline at the pump has soared and is today much higher than it used to be. according to the energ

mr. president. supervisor farrell supervisor kim. >> thank you. today, i'm introducing the beginning of some clean up language for the plan, which the board of supervisors passed in march of 2013 i want to thank supervisor wiener and supervisor campos introducing legislation that makes clear our protective intent that didn't make its way in the project from fulsome to harrison weighing we've been working to purchase the cable resident to address the 11 street to house the arts on drag icon as training shack that's been going on for 18 years in san francisco. that has a rich lgbt culture and i recently rer sponsored a renaming and i'm sponsoring part of the lgbt x social district the creation of a lgbt social district is about celebrating the vitality of the current community with small business support and zoning and others. i will continue to support this they contribute to the northern in the same legislation looking to clean up other districts >> thank you supervisor kim. supervisor mar. i want to ask if i could join supervisor and president ch