mr. cardin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: mr. president, i would just say, i think we just have a disagreement on this. i think that where the senate confirmation would be at issue is where there's an amendment to the treaty, and that's exactly what is included in our -- in our resolution. i think it's unworkable to try to get the senate involved in all the changes in trying to say what is substantive and what is not. you really are -- i think would be interfering with the administration of the verification systems, et cetera. so i would just urge our colleagues to reject the amendment. senator wicker, i think on our side we're prepared to yield back, so if i would like to -- mr. wicker: mr. president -- mr. cardin: we yield back the time on this amendment. it's our understanding the unanimous consent request is 30 minutes per amendment. i think then we are prepared to go to senator kyl for the introduction of his amendment. mr. kyl: mr. president? the p

mr. cardin: glad to yield. mr. wicker: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the opinion pieces that i referred to in my remarks be admitted to the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: thank you. mr. cardin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: as we take up consideration of the new start, we not only have the opportunity, but also an obligation to provide consent on the ratification of this treaty. it's long overdue. we need to regain our ability to provide boots on the ground verification of the russian nuclear complex. over the past eight months we've all had ample opportunity to resraout documents report related to the new start. we have considered, conducted 20 hearings, taken over 900 questions. there were questions asked by members of the senate mainly to the administration in which those answers have been provided. 900 questions over 900 for the record. in short, we have given significant consideration to the ratification of new star

mr. cardin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: let me join my colleagues who have taken the floor this morning and urge the timely ratification of the start treaty. we have now been one year without a comprehensive verification regime to understand russia's strategic nuclear forces. since the end of the cold war, we've had a verification system in place because we need to know what russia is doing. we're at risk by not having a comprehensive verification regime in place. the ratification of new start will allow us to have that verification system in place and it's in our national security interest. we have had plenty of opportunity to understand exactly what's involved in the new start treaty. seven months the united states senate has been considering the ratification. we've had over 20 hearings. i'm honored to serve on the senate foreign relations committee and we've had numerous hearings and opportunities both in closed sessions and in open sessions to understand exactly why this ratification is in the united states' secu

mr. cardin: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the recess start in two minutes from now. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. sessions: i object. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. objection is heard. mr. sessions: you said recess in two minutes? mr. cardin: i'll be glad to make that longer. we have an order, as i understand it, to recess at 12:30. i wanted to make a brief comment. if the gentleman would like some time, i have no objection. mr. sessions: if -- the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: i would ask, a unanimous consent request to allow me tough five minutes when the -- allow me to have five minutes when the senator finishes. the presiding officer:. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. leahy: i certainly have no objection. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: we are talking about the number-two person in the department of justice. one of our responsibilities is to make sure that executive agencies perform their functions, and the judiciary committee has a responsibility to make su

mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. i take this time to talk about the tax relief unemployment insurance reauthorization and job creation act, the tax package, the senate amendment 4753. this is the tax bill that we've been talking about for the last several weeks. and the first thing i just want to point out to my colleagues is that this bill is the result of a compromise. and like any compromise, there's some provisions that i strongly support and there are provisions that i would have preferred not to see in this legislation. that i oppose. and you have to evaluate the positive aspects as well as those provisions that i would prefer not to be included. there's some very important provisions that are included in this legislation that i fought long and hard to make sure we accomplished before congress adjourns this year. first and foremost is a provision that would extend the current tax rates for middle-income families. if we don't do that by december 31, those tax rates would go up and the withholding schedules would

mr. prime minister, about the cardinal importance of the state building exercise of the palestinian authorityhow is that exercise going? what would constitute what you would call real change? >> the real change is in the palestinian authority providing security of a high quality. in other words, if you go back a few years, there were often militia running cities and towns, you know, there wasn't a properly constituted palestinian police and security force. today there is. you know, today they are building rule of law institutions, courts and prisons and so on, and when the palestinians -- because remember, this is a small bit of territory. you can fit the whole of israel and palestine into new york state let alone california. so it's a small bit of territory. you could fit the whole of israel and palestine in new york state, let alone california. it's a small bit of territory. so people are living side by side. security really matters. so the palestinian authority building this security capacity give confidence to the israelis. at the same time as a result of that, the israelis have moved som

whitehouse, pryor, reed of rhode island, menendez, begich, cardin, conrad, nelson of florida, klobuchar, murray, mikulski, dodd and lugar. mr. reid: i ask the mandatory quorum be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimoui askunanimous consent y committee be discharged from the nominations of -- presidential nomination 235, darrell james bell, and presidential nomination 2348, edwin sloan, one to be united states marshall in -- martial in monday mob and the other to be united states marshal in the district of columbia. that the senate proceed en bloc to the nominations, they be confirmed en bloc, and the motions to reconsider be laid on the table, that any statements relating to the nominations appear in the record at the appropriate place as if read and the president of the united states be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, for the benefit of all senators, we just sent to the house again the food safety legislation, extremely important legislation. i jus

by nine and it looked pretty bleak, but all's well that ends well, and the louisville cardinals managed to win. mr. reid: as i said, mr. president, i was hoping that i wouldn't have to be here today while he was here, but that's the way it is. i have nothing further, mr. president. mr. mcconnell: i would say to my friend, since we're talking about weekends, i assume that all of our members should expect that we will press on this weekend and are highly likely to -- mr. reid: we need to stay here until we finish. mr. mcconnell: yeah. mr. president? mr. reid: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: over the past few years, the american people have been engaged in a great national debate about the proper role of government. this debate is as old as our nation itself, but it has re-emerged with new intensity amidst a prolonged economic downturn that continues to affect millions of americans. on the one side are those who argue that the solution to our present troubles lies in giving more to washington. they say that if only washington had more power, we could have averted these challenges altogether, an

cardinals, this is the cowboys. >> they will win big. >> ladies? >> i say 28-7, dallas. >> i'm going with you. >> we say that. >> tucker is wearing the purple tie. >> mr. ravens over here. >> it could be interesting weather wise. >> it could. >> i hope tucker is right and we are all wrong. thank you. >>> a star-studded good-bye for a tv icon. more on larry king's final show when we come back. >>> we want to say thank you to britney ross. she uploaded this picture to us. iff you are listening, this is her favorite song. "i'll be home for christmas." stay with us. we'll be right back. ♪ [ female announcer ] keurig has over 200 varieties of gourmet coffee and tea to choose from. ♪ keurig is the way to brew fresh, delicious coffee in under a minute. way to brew. [ female announcer ] so with keurig, every cup tastes like it's brewed just for you. ♪ because it is. choose. brew. enjoy. keurig. set your pace to island time. rich chocolate over creamy coconut. almond joy and mounds. enjoy more. >>> an icon on cable television exits after a quarter century. larry king signed off for the last time last night. we will still see him do four specials a year for cnn

gillibrand, schumer, casey, murray, franken, bingaman, cardin, inouye, bennet of colorado, shaheen, menendez, boxer, lautenberg, dodd and durbin. mr. reid: mr. president, regarding the h.r. 847, the zagroda legislation, have we stated that motion and have i asked that the reading of the names be waived? the presiding officer: the motion has been state and the names have been read. mr. reid: mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to calendar number 662, s. 3991 our upon the conclusion of the impeachment proceedings and the senate resume legislative session. and that the senate then resume the motion to proceed to calendar number 662 and the mandatory quorum required under rule 22 as it relates to all these matters and i filed cloture on be waived. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate resume consideration of the articles of impeachment against judge g. thomas porteous -- let's try this again. his name is judge g. thomas porteous jr. the district of louis

mr. president, and when eisenhower heard that sureman mitten was retiring and was going to have a vacancy to fill, one of the first things he said, you know, was remember the visit from cardinal spellman, let's look for a catholic. >> was it sauter who took his place after he retired? >> yes. >> i remembered hearing some folks say there were statements by eisenhower later that the biggest mistake he ever made were warn and brennan. is there -- warren and brennan. is there any -- >> the answer is yes and no. there is substantial evidence that eisenhower thought that. there is no evidence that he actually ever said the words publicly even though they are attributed to him in dozens of history books. i actually had a bizarre experience early in the process of tracing those words and their, you know, from one book to the next and the next book cites another one and you go to another one and another one, and eventually yourself at the end of the line, and there's no source. it's miscitations and the words were said about something else, but having done that, i also found that there were several places where privately eisenhower expressed that sentiment, so i think he felt it, alth

mr. cardin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: mr. president, we're very pleased that judge hollander -- ms. mikulski: plrngz the senate ims. mikulski: mr. president, t. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland is recognize, the senate will be in order. time will not start until the senate is in order. the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: mr. president, we are extremely pleased that we are now getting a chance to vote on the confirmation of judge holland to her the maryland district -- hollander to the maryland district court. senator leahy has taken the leadership in bringing forward the nominations that we strongly support, the two of us, and i would yield the time to the senior senator from maryland. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, it's with a great pleasure, both senator cardin and i, bring to the senate judge ellen hollander, an outstanding woman who brings the -- who's currently a member of the ma