mr. burris: thank you, madam president. madam president, i have 12 unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval and the minority leaders, i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. burris: thank you, madam president. madam president, i ask unanimous consent to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. burris i ask unanimous consent to ask for as much time as i need to consume, madam president. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. burris, i ask unanimous consent that my chief of staff and other members of my staff be granted floor privileges during my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. burris: thank you very much, madam president. madam president, as you know, one of the first duties delegated to freshmen senators

mr. burris: thank you very much, mr. president. every day we walk the hallowed halls of the united states capitol, a building filled with statues and busts and paintings honoring great americans -- lincoln, washington, dr. martin luther king jr. -- names we will never foth because -- forget because they are individuals who built and altered the foundation of this country. we must also never forget to recognize those americans who may not appear in our history books, but whose contributions have helped write our american story. great americans like dr. margaret buroughs who became a legend in her own time. dr. margaret buroughs is a true american treasure, an artist, advocate, poet and progressive, mr. president. she celebrated her 93rd birthday this month, and today i ask my colleagues to join me in honoring her. born in louisiana before women could vote, dr. buroughs moved to the south side of chicago when she was five years old, eventually studying at both entkpwelwood -- englewood high school and chicago state university. politi

mr. president. i see my colleague, senator burris, still on the floor and i just want to thank you for your excellent work and your comments today, and you will certainly be missed by all of us. mr. president, today i rise in support of senate bill 510, the food food food safety modernization act and -- the f.d.a. food safety modernization act, and also an amendment that i cosponsored with my colleague from indiana, senator john -- senator from montana, senator john tester. each year, up to 70 million americans are sickened from foodborne illnesses. thousands of the most vulnerable, including children and the elderly, die. i don't think there's anyone who hasn't heard of the massive recall of millions of tainted eggs that sickened nearly 1,500 people. we need to find a better way to protect americans from these tragic deaths. and during the "help" committee's consideration of this bill late last year, we had the opportunity to hear from dan reagan, director of the north carolina department of agriculture and consumer services food and drug protection division, about the innovative steps that north ca

mr. chairman. >> i have senator burris next. i think that is correct. >> thank you. this is likely my last appearance before your great committee and i want to commend you for your wonderful work and opportunity to serve on the part services committee. >> it is a real pleasure and a real advantage for us to have you here. >> thank you to both the generals. i am pleased to meet both of you today. more of a statement than a question but if i have enough time after my statement i would like to ask a couple questions. after reviewing both of your resumes i am confident you will both serve commendably in africom and stratcom. i have visited africom and stratcom in the past year and been able to see the capabilities in which you will serve and the challenges which you face and there are some challenges. and jennifer kehler, i saw the stratcom facilities in july and was debt impressed with the dedication shown by the entire staff. i hope you look at those individuals and hold onto them. you play an important role in defending a nation from ballistics threats. i am confident

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator lemieux. senator burris is next. >> this is more than likely my last appearance before your great committee. i want to commend you, mr. chairman, for your wonderful work and being able to serve on this armed services committee. >> it has been a pleasure and an honor to have you here. >> to both of the generals, and i am pleased to meet both of you today. i have more of a statement than questions, but if i have time after my statement, i would like to add a couple of questions. after reviewing both of your resin is, i am confident that you will both serve commendably at stratcom and africom. i had visited both stratcom and africom of the past year so i have seen the capabilities under which you will serve and the challenges which face. i think there are some challenges, gentleman. general kehler, i travel to omaha in july and i was impressed with the sophistication, dedication shown by the entire staff. i hope that you look at those individuals and hold on to them. they are good people. i see in your biograph

mr. chairman. >> good idea senator brown and we will arrange for that. senator burrisntly her last week with us, you have been a most faithful member of this committee, probably attending or than anybody else except senator collins in maine, so thank you. >> thank you mr. chairman. the interest in this committee and even this topic here has really caught my interest because i might not be on point with all my quick questions, but i have several concerns about tsa and about travel across this country. maybe mr. pistole, you can answer how do you tell what the high-risk packages? what is the criteria for a high-risk package? >> so we don't define it publicly because we don't want to provide the blueprint. >> thank you. but tell everything else. we have to know the secret to this. we have to stop putting everything out. i am sorry, go ahead. >> thank you senator. so it is generally outside the known shipper trusted shipper arena, and just generally, individuals who are shipping packages with no history, perhaps from some hot areas such as yemen or the horn of africa cut -

burris down as being next. i think it is correct. >> this is more than likely last appearance before migrate committee and i want to commend you, mr. chairman for your wonderful work and the opportunity to be able to serve on this armed services committee. >> it has been a real pleasure for us and the real advantage for us to have you here. >> thank you. to both of the generals, i'm pleased to be both today. i have more a statement and question, but i have -- if i have enough time, i would like ask a couple of questions. after reviewing both of your resumes, i'm confident you'll both serve commendably. i have had the privilege of visiting both over the past year. i have been able to see the capabilities under which will serve and the challenges which face. there are challenges out there, gentlemen. general kehler: i travel to omaha stratcom to see facilities and i was impressed by the dedication to mission shown by the entire staff. i hope that -- i hope you look at those individuals and hold on to them. i see in your biography of your the deputy commander at stratcom, so [inaudible] on ballistic threats. i'm confident your the rig