mr. blumenthal: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. on tuesday, february 26, 2013; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour deemed expired, the journal of proceedings -p approved to date and that the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and that following any leader remarks, the senate proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of senator hagel to be secretary of defense under the previous order. further, that following the cloture vote on the hagel nomination, upon reconsideration the senate recess until 2:15 for the weekly caucus meetings. and finally, that if cloture is invoked, the time during recess, morning business and adjournment count postcloture on the hagel nomination. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blumenthal: there will be reconsideration of the cloture vote on the hagel nomination at noon tomorrow. if there is no further business to come b

mr. blumenthal: finally, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until:3 9:30 a.m. on thursday, february 7, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leader leaders be rd for their use later in the, and that fling any leader remarks, the senate resume consideration of s. 47, the violence against women act, with the time until noon equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blumenthal: at noon on thursday, senator-designate cowan will be sworn in. we hope to complete action on the violence against women act on thursday. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 9:30 a.m. on thursday, february 9:30 a.m. on thursday, february it julia loved her time in the white

mr. blumenthal: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. on thursday, february 14, that following the prayer and pledge, the journal be approved, the morning business be deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and that following any leader remarks, the senate resume consideration of executive session and the nomination of senator hagel to be secretary of defense. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blumenthal: earlier today cloture was filed on the hagel nomination. that cloture vote is expected on friday. if there is no further business to come before the senate i ask that it be adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until >> we now go to the russell senate office building were rejoined at the top republican on the armed services committee, xander james inhofe and republican of oklahoma. let

mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. today and throughout the coming weeks, i hope that this body will move closer to comprehensive immigration reform. actually accountable immigration reform would be a more appropriate term to call it. accountable to the people of the united states, who overwhelmingly want this dysfunctional, broken system to be mended. we are a nation of immigrants, and the people of our nation know it. they know it not only intellectually and abstractly, they know it in their gut because they see on the walls of their homes the proud photographs of their parents, their grandparents, people who have come to this country as a beacon of economic opportunity and freedom, some of them struggling through the most horrific kinds of trials and tribulations to reach this great land, the greatest nation in the history of our country. i have told my colleagues in the past and i'll say it again that one of the most inspiring things i do, and i've done it as attorney general for a long time, but now as u.s. story

mr. blumenthal: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, madam president. i want to thank again the chairman of the judiciary committee, our distinguished colleague, patrick leahy, for his leadership on this bill and on the issue of human trafficking. he has led this chamber. and i want to thank my colleague, senator portman, for truly a commonsense amendment that aims to combat one of the great scourges in the united states and around the world: sex trafficking involving young people. we can take a strong step and send a strong message by providing the kinds of services to young victims as we do to other victims who receive aid under vawa. and i urge my colleagues to support this amendment. the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired.

mr. blumenthal, argues that habeas corpus protections are sufficient to vindicate the constitutional rights of nontribal members, but that's not the case. habeas corpus is a remedy which cannot be accessed until direct appeals are exhausted, by definition. because that's the case, under the underlying bill, the maximum length of sentence that a -- an individual can be given under the leahy bill is one year, so what would happen is someone would be tried, an american citizen nontribe member will be tried at a tribal court, that they be wrongfully deprived of their constitutional rights under the bill of rights, but yet they could not vindicate those rights until such time as they exhausted all direct appeals, and then habeas habeas corpus would be potentially available to them. the only problem with that is it is very unlikely that that would happen before they would have already served their sentence under the underlying bill, which is a maximum of one year. thus, the habeas remedy is illusory and is not real. so, mr. president, i hope that helps clarify some of the misunderstanding under t

mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i am proud to stand here today to support the nomination of chuck hagel as our next secretary of defense, and i believe he will be confirmed by this chamber. i hope on a bipartisan basis, because he is in fact extraordinarily qualified for this position of unique trust and responsibility. and that is the criterion that we must apply: is he qualified? we may have, probably each of us does have among us 100 senators someone whom we would make our first choice or a better choice or the right person in our view, but that's not the question before us. it is whether he is qualified to be part of the president's team and to be held accountable for the policies that the president sets. chuck hagel is a decorated war veteran with two purple hearts. he is a highly successful businessman and entrepreneur, a real manager at a time when we need a manager in the department of defense. he is a former colleague as a member of this body. but he is also a former deputy head of the veterans administrati

mr. chairman. >> senator blumenthal. >> thank you mr.hairman and i want to join in thanking both of you for your extraordinarily distinguished careers and your families for their service and sacrifice as well and wish you well in your new command in the ne chapter of your military career. general austin we have a very informative and important discussion yesterday on the sexual assault with a number of my colleagues in the number of viewers and i would like to ask you and general rodriquez for your commitment that you will pursuend vigously and aggressively the predatory crime and the fishes event of sexual assault and rape wherever it occurs under your command. >> sir you have my commitment that i will do so. >> i will, sir. >> thank you. let me asked by the way have each of you seen the documentary movie coax. >> i have seen at sir. >> i've seen at sir. >> will you make it your policy and practice that movie among other training aids received by all of the commanders? >> yes sir and as you may no sir in know sir in the army we have enc

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator blumenthal. senator hirono. >> thank you, mr. chairman. there are goodhearted right by the people on both sides of the nomination question, and i don't think there are any mind to be changed at this point. i would like to offer a few points about this nominee for the record. first, it is important to our national security to have leadership in the department of defense right now. the defense department is never an easy place to run, but today it faces an unusually difficult set of challenges. we need a secretary of defense in place to manage the fallout from sequester, should it come to fruition, as was the budget constraints we face in the future. we need a secretary in place to guide the fundamental rebalancing of our military after the end of the war in iraq, and the winding up of the war in afghanistan continues, and as we pivot to the pacific. and this rebalancing must be done while being vigilant about the circumstances in north korea, syria, north africa and elsewhere, as well as the large and ever increasing cybersecurity threats t

mr. blumenthal: thank you, madam president.other new england states, is digging out from a historic, truly an epic snowstorm to give my thanks to the first responders and to the men and women who have been working behind snowplows and payloaders for endless hours, literally almost without stop, since the beginning of this snowstorm, and have risked their lives, given boundlessly of their energy and effort to make sure that the people of connecticut and also massachusetts, our neighbor, and new york have been made safer, more secure during this time of another monstrous storm. i know that much of america, in the more temperate zones, may not appreciate what a monstrous snowstorm, carrying three feet of snow to many parts of connecticut, poses in the way of challenges and even threats to human life, and i would say without any disrespect, in fact, with great admiration to the presiding officer who happens to be from hawaii that it is unlikely in her state that anything approaching this magnitude of snow ever will be approaching,

mr. chairman. >> senator blumenthal. >> thank you mr. chairman and i want to join in thanking both of you for your extraordinarily distinguished careers and your families for their service and sacrifice as well and wish you well in your new command in the next chapter of your military career. general austin we have a very informative and important discussion yesterday on the sexual assault with a number of my colleagues in the number of viewers and i would like to ask you and general rodriquez for your commitment that you will pursue and vigorously and aggressively the predatory crime and the fishes event of sexual assault and rape wherever it occurs under your command. >> sir you have my commitment that i will do so. >> i will, sir. >> thank you. let me asked by the way have each of you seen the documentary movie coax. >> i have seen at sir. >> i've seen at sir. >> will you make it your policy and practice that movie among other training aids received by all of the commanders? >> yes sir and as you may no sir in know sir in the army we

mr. chairman. >> senator blumenthal. >> thank you mr. chairman and i want to join in thanking both of you for your extraordinarily distinguished careers and your families for their service and sacrifice as well and wish you well in your new command in the next chapter of your military career. general austin we have a very informative and important discussion yesterday on the sexual assault with a number of my colleagues in the number of viewers and i would like to ask you and general rodriquez for your commitment that you will pursue and vigorously and aggressively the predatory crime and the fishes event of sexual assault and rape wherever it occurs under your command. >> sir you have my commitment that i will do so. >> i will, sir. >> thank you. let me asked by the way have each of you seen the documentary movie coax. >> i have seen at sir. >> i've seen at sir. >> will you make it your policy and practice that movie among other training aids received by all of the commanders? >> yes sir and as you may no sir in know sir in the army we

blumenthal? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i think each and every one of you for your service to the country and your extraordinary performance under very difficult conditions. not only fiscal conditions, but also you are caring for the men and women in uniform, it has impressed me beyond words. your dedication to them, whether it is health care or families. we often say that our people are the most important aspects. and you have lived that concept in the way that you have led by example. i am very grateful to you on that. i would like to ask in terms of people, you outlined the effects on tri-care. cuts of two to $3 billion, and that our health system may not be able to pay its bills. can you tell us very briefly what you see for the effects. the potential sequester our men and women in uniform? >> yes, i can talk about secretary hale adding to that. but you are exactly right. under this scenario the scenario that we all fear so much, by the time we get to the end of the year, we are out of money. it is very hard to cut back

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator. senator blumenthal. >> thank you, mr. chairman and i want to choin in thanking both of you for your extraordinarily distinguished career and your families for their service and sacrifice as well and to wish you well in your new commands, the next chapter of your military career. general austin, we had a very informative an important discussion yesterday on the subject of sexual assault with a number of my colleagues and a number of yours. . . policy and practice that that movie, among other training aids is seen but all of the commanders at whatever level under your command? >> yes, sir. and as you may know, in the army we have encouraged our leadership to use that as a training tool. >> correct. >> i'd like to ask you for more than just, you know, encouragement but actually make a matter of your general order or whatever, however you want to implement it within your command at it be used as a training device. >> yes, sir. it's a requirement. >> thank you. let me ask you about, general austin, focusing on afghanistan, i r

gillibrand, reed of rhode island, brown, leahy, casey, durbin, shaheen, blumenthal, cardin, schumer, stabenow, boxer, whitehouse, begich. mr. reid: madam president, we do this so -- to make sure that people are on their toes. sometimes these signatures aren't the easiest to read. i ask consent the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. so ordered. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent that we proceed to a period of morning business with senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent that we proceed to -- the senate proceed to s. res. 56. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 56, a resolution recognizing the significance of the 100th anniversary of the death of hair hair -- harriet ross tubman. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceed to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: madam president, i am going to ask unanimous consent that we pass this, but i read a year and a half or two years ago two books about this woman, harriet tubman. stunning. all the movies being m

mr. chairman. i want to thank general austin and general rodriguez and their families for your extraordinary service to our country. i want to follow up on what senator blumenthal discussed. we worked on this no contacting with the inari provision that has given authority to d.o.d. to cut off in may -- contacting authority provision that has given d.o.d. authority to cut off funds that go to our enemies. i appreciate your commitment on that. i look forward to working with senator blumenthal and both of you to make sure that happens. when senator donnelly ask you about you having been through the process of deciding what a follow on process should be, that was in iraq, right? >> yes. >> what was your recommendation on the troop levels the should remain? -- that should remain? >> i provided a range of options to leadership. i have never made public with my recommendations were. >> it was reported that your recommendation was between 14,018 thousand troops. is that accurate? -- between 14,000 and 18,000 troops. is that accurate? >> i have not made my recommendations public. >> you have said in answer to senator mccain that you have not been involved in the decisio

mr. portman: thank you, madam president. earlier this week, my colleague senator blumenthal spoke about an amendment that's being offered to the violence against women act, and it is an amendment that has to do with sex trafficking. i'm pleased to join him in offering the amendment and talking about it today. this is an amendment that makes a -- really a technical correction to the underlying legislation to enhance the safety of our youth and our children in the area of sex trafficking. senator blumenthal and i started the senate caucus to end human trafficking last year, and we have been working with our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make bipartisan progress on this issue, among other things, just to raise the awareness of human trafficking in general, and then with regard to the underlying bill before us today, the issue of sex trafficking. this cuts across all party lines, all philosophical lines. it's something that's much more fundamental, really, and that is sort of who we are as a people. it's about basic human dignity and respecting and protecting it. it's important to acknowledge that human trafficking is n

mr. prosecutor, you have fantastic retention. i really thank you for your service to our country. oh, senator blumenthal, take some extra time. i am so sorry. >> thank you. i know in the senate, freshmen senators are supposed to be seen and not heard. i am happy to be heard today. [laughter] i want to begin by thanking you, madam chairman, for your courage over many years, you're consistent advocacy for this assault weapons ban. you have been strong. the blunt fact is this issue was thought to be politically untouchable two months ago. we would not be here today without the horrific newtown tragedy. i want to begin by asking my fellow citizens of connecticut, most specifically of the members of the newtown committee, as well as the families who have victims, to please stand so we can thank you publicly for your courage and strength in this extraordinary historic moment. thank you. >> let's give them a round of applause. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> i want to thank my colleague, who was here earlier. he had another hearing. he has

blumenthal asked you about that as well. i do have concerns that the report recommends that the submarine will be diminished down to 10. >>ly be glad to respond. >> senator fisher? >> thank you mr. chairman and senator hagel. it has been a long day and i appreciate your answers to these questions. when we spoke last week we talked somewhat about the sequester and the budget concerns and the concerns of our nuclear forces. being from nebraska you understand the importance of stress com and its mission as it deals with the deterrence that we use in this country and what we've used for many, many years. i believe it is very, very successful. today, you also in your opening discussed the need to modernize our defensive forces. you spoke to senator blunt and blumenthal about modernizing our navy. i would like to hear your thought process. how are we going to do this? where is the money coming from? how are you going to advise the president in making these decisions? we're looking at sequester, we're looking at budget constraints. how does this all tie together? what would be your advice to the president on how the pentagon is going to address all of those budget constraints? wherel,