mr. barrasso, proposes an amendment numbered 717. mr. barrasso: madam president, i ask the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. 345d, i rise today to speak about this amendment today which to me is very simple and very straightforward. this amendment is designed to protect the privacy and the safety of law-abiding gun owners. if a state or local government releases private information on gun owners, which we know has happened, well, then that state or local government will lose part of its funding that comes from the federal government. now, this information is private information on individuals that have licenses to purchase or to possess or to carry firearms. again and again we have seen, madam president, the irresponsible release of gun ownership information. most recently there was a publication, published an interactive map of data received by government officials of gun owners in various parts of new york. you may wonder how the publication go

mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: i come to the floor today as someone who has traveled around my home state of wyoming for a couple of weeks, talking to people, listening to what they have to say. i do it as a doctor as well as a u.s. senator, but people there know me as a doctor because i practiced medicine in wyoming for 25 years, taking care of families from all around the state, and so it's not surprising that in every town i visit, people ask me about what's happening with regard to the president's health care law. people really around wyoming continue to be very worried and worried that there is going to be a new layer of washington between them and their doctor, and people don't want to -- anyone between them and their doctor, not an insurance company bureaucrat, not a washington bureaucrat, no one. so families are worried that they are not

mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, recently the secretary of health and human services, kathleen is he biehl yurks gave a speech. it was a speech in which she said she didn't realize how complicated it would be to implement the president's health care law. she didn't attribute this to all the flaws that all of us know are in the law. the only problem that she could see was because she said of republican opposition. here's what one newspaper described, ""investors business daily"." "blaming g.o.p. for obamacare. requestings "the article goes through a list of problems with the law saying it and it continues to be unpopular, expensive, ill-conceived, and poorly written." democrats in congress and the administration don't seem to be interested in admitting that there are flaws in their law. they're onlied from in trying to make sure someone else takes the blame for their huge mistakes. so the question is are republicans opposed to this law? well of course we are, mr. president because it is a terrible law enfor

mr. barrasso. mrbarrasso: ank you,ming. mr. presiden this amendment protects the privacy and sety of law-abiding gun owners. when government officials release gun ownership information it puts many lives at risk. this includes the lives of lawful gun owners, the lived of law enforcement and the lives of ctheic violence. state or local governments that release private gun owner information will be penalized 5% of their federal program funding. this includes the release of private information on individuals 0 who have licenses to purchase or who possess or who carry firearms. the funding that's withheld will then be redistributed to the states that are in compliance. this amendment will ensure that gun owners across the nation do not have their private gun owner information publicly released. thank you, mr. president. and i urge all my colleagues to support the amendment. mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: this is a case of washington being big brother and telling each one of the

mr. barrasso: mr. president, i would like to join my colleague from nebraska in welcoming our new colleague to the united states senate. she's going to be an incredible, welcome addition to this body. i've had the privilege of traveling with her on that trip to afghanistan that senator johanns just mentioned and it was an opportunity for us to visit with service members from our own home state. she the opportunity to meet service members from nebraska, many of whom had voted for her but had not yet had the opportunity to meet her personally, as they were serving overseas at the time of the election. and they joined in other nebraskans in knowing that they have made the right choice to represent them. we've heard a wonderful message today, mr. president, a message of limited government and a message of freedom. so i want to join my colleagues in -- in welcoming this rancher, community volunteer and former state legislator to the united states senate, where i know she will make, through her grace and her

mr. leahy: i hope we would not pass it, not strip state and federal law enforcement from trying to protect us. i'd ask my full statement and my statement on manchin-toomey-lautenberg and barrasso amendments be included in the record as though read at the appropriate place. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: i yield the floor. mr. cruz: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: mr. president, i rise today to speak on the grassley-cruz substitute amendment. this amendment has come through the extended process of consideration of legislation, and indeed i think this amendment has come to pass precisely the way the process should operate, as a result of mull pell hearings in the -- multiple hearings in the judiciary committee, taking witness testimony, examining what the evidence demonstrates is the problem and then endeavoring to craft a solution that multiple senators have contributed to and has been a long collaborative process. at this point this amendment has over 20 cosponsors, and i am hopeful and believe that when it comes to a vote it will receive some significant bipartisan support. in my view, the approach of the federal g

votes in relation to the barrasso and harkin amendments in that order with all previous provisions of remaining in neglect. the presiding officer: is there objection? so ordered. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate morning business until 7:30 with senators permitted to speak therein for ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: at 2:24, the group of eight finally unveiled their immigration reform bill. since they began their meetings four months ago i've complimented them on reforming our broken immigration system. i've sought their cooperation to ensure the bill goes through the committee process and i've argued the bill must be open to amendment during consideration in committee and on the floor. every member of the senate must have an opportunity to read, analyze, and improve the bill. the bill we received is just under 900 pages and it tackles some very important issues, including measures on border security, e-verify and the entry exit system. it includes a legalization program for people here unlawfully including dream act eligible students and undocumented workers in the agricultural secretary

mr. reid: following leader remarks the senate will resume consideration of the gun safety legislation, with the time until noon is equally divided and controlled for debate on the barrassoand harkin amendments. at noon there will be two votes in relation to those amendments. following the votes the senate will recess until 2:00 p.m. to allow for important caucus meetings. at 2:00 p.m. the senate will proceed to the executive session to consider the torres and watson nominations. at 2:15 there will be a roll call vote on the confirmation of the torres confirmation and expected voice vote on the confirmation of watson. mr. president, a new tragedy during the night, and our thoughts are with the people of west, texas. that's the name of a city in texas. our thoughts are with all of texas in the wake of a terrible explosion of a fertilizer in the factory of a town of west, why you have just outside waco. five to 15 deaths, a couple hundred who are wounded. they were working, they were sleeping, they were having dinner. i offer my condolences to those who lost loved ones and who have people who are wounded and injured. we'll continue to follow the news from texas as it devel