mr. barrasso: thank you. and i also ask unanimous consent that the senator from ohio, senator brown, have the opportunity to speak following me for up to ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you. i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. madam president, i come to the floor today as millions of students in high school and colleges across the country have recently graduated. i had an opportunity to attend a number of commencements across wyoming, to speak to a number of students who are graduating, and i note that president obama has also been out giving graduation speeches this year. at ohio state university, the president criticized those of us who warn that government doesn't always have the best answer. the president suggested that anyone who thinks washington has grown too inefficient or too ineffective is somehow opposed to democracy entirely. that's what president o

mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come to the floor today to talk about the advise and consent duties of the united states senate. as you know, our constitution gives the senate the responsibility to advise the president on high-level executive positions and judgeships. the senate is also asked to consent on those appointments to ensure that only those who are worthy of the public's trust hold positions of such great power. the confirmation process is a way to protect the american people from nominees who simply aren't up to the job or to the times that we're in as a country. it's also an important opportunity to the senate to exercise oversight over the agencies and the policies of an administration and to do this on behalf of the american people. let me repeat that. it's about exercising oversight on behalf of the american people. that's one of the most important roles that we play as senators. that's one of the reasons that our nation's founding fathers intentionally made the pace of the senate deliber

mr. barrasso: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, this week president obama and his allies are launching a big summer push to convince people that his health care law will not be a train wreck. we've heard in the senate from one of the authors of the health care law that he saw a train wreck coming, so now what we see the obama administration trying to actually sell the bill. not that it's good or bad; just trying to sell it in any way they can to make the american people think about it in ways that may change their mind, because the american people know this is a health care law that's not really doing what they wanted, which is what they were looking for, was trying to get the care they need from a doctor that they wanted at lower cost. that's far from anything that the american people are going to see. so what we seed today in phreut could -- what we see today in "politico" is the headline "selling of obamacare officially begins." selling of the law that was passed. not something t

mr. barrasso: mr.president, i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. barrasso: mr. president, we've heard a lot of talk this week about the big push by president obama and his allies to promote the health care law. we're less than 100 days out from the implementation of that law. people in wyoming are already feeling the effects of the democrats' health care law. the law says that employers with more than 50 full-time employees have to provide expensive one-size-fits-all health insurance. so employers all across the country are cutting full-time workers back to part-time status, cutting their shifts to less than 30 hours a week. that's the cutoff point, mr. president, to be considered a full-time worker under the democrats' health care law. well, that's why we're starting to get stories like the one from the "rocket-miner" newspapers in rock springs wyoming that came out yesterday. the headlines is school district looks at cov

mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, today president obama is supposed to unveil a national energy tax that will discourage job creation and increase energy bills for americans' families. this announcement about existing power plants comes after the obama administration has already moved forward with excessive red tape that makes it harder and more expensive for america to produce energy. it also comes as a complete surprise to the members of the senate, especially since gina mccarthy, the president's nominee to lead the environmental protection agency, just told congress that it wasn't going to happen. now, she is currently the assistant administrator of the e.p.a. here's what she told the senate about regulations on existing power plants. quote -- "the agency is not currently developing any existing source g.a.c. regulations for power plants. as a result, we have performed no analysis that would identify specific health benefits from establishing an existing source program. so, mr. president, i would say it

barrasso. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for her dedicated service. >> and secretary tommy brought up sequestration. i want to ask about revenue owed to states under the mineral leasing act. in march the department of interior notified stacy would withhold over $109 of revenue during the remainder of fiscal year 2013. this is before you were confirmed or sworn into office. the department said this decision was in accordance with the budget control act of 2011. two weeks ago a bipartisan group five members, and i sent a letter you have a copy of the letter. we had stormed the to confirm your department would return to states and do that next year in fiscal year 14. explain to provision the federal budget law required the department to return without mineral that next the statesmen sequestration to place back in the 1980s. the supervision of the law applies today to sequester which took effect this year. you have a copy of the letter to omb. can you confirm the department will return mineral revenue withheld in fisca

barrasso, murvey and cardin -- murphy, and cardin in introducing a resolution on the matter. it's simple and straightforward, expresses continuing concern about her selective and politically motivated detention. mr. president, let me close by saying i was in ukraine last year. i met with prime minister izeryov and president yenokovic. they were generous hosts and very kind. they told me something would be done in a positive way about her imprisonment. that was a year ago. nothing has happened. i was optimistic then. i'll remain optimistic but i want the ukraine government to know we are going to hold them to the standards of democracy. you don't imprison your political opponents. you beat them in an election, you move on to lead. you're held accountable by the people who vote. i hope the decision will be made in the near future to release miss tymenshenko, and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. mr. durbin: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask that the calling of the quorum be suspended. the presiding offi