mr. cardin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the period for morning business be extended until 4:00 p.m. with the time equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: the senate is in a quorum call, is that correct? the presiding officer: yes, it is. mr. reid: i ask that the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: for the benefit of all senators, we've been working in the last 24 hours, or more, trying to work our way through the amendments to get to a vote on this most important bill that we're dealing with. -- with, the small business innovation bill. a bill that has already created thousands and thousands of jobs around the country. an extre

mr. cardin: mr. president, i take this time to talk about the budget deficit and what we need to do in order to bring our budget into balance, to have a credible plan to deal with our future growth in this nation. i start off by saying, the budget deficit is an extremely serious issue for this nation. we do not have a sustainable budget. we cannot sustain a budget that creates debt at 10% of our gross domestic product, and a gross debt that equals 100% of our g.d.p. we need to bring down our deficit in order to have the type of economic growth so that our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy a better economic circumstance than this generation. but i think, first, before we talk about where we need to go, we've to understand how we got here. and i'm not going to harp on this but i want to make sure we -- that the people of maryland and the nation know how we got to these large deficits so we don't repeat the mistakes of the past. during president clinton's administration, we balanced the b

mr. cardin: mr.resident stph-p. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. senator vitter will seek recognition to offer amendments. i ask unanimous consent that after senator vitter has offered his amendments that i be recognized for ten minutes as if in morning business. the presiding officer: is there objection? the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: if you would amend your request, at the conclusion of your remarks, you'd return to amendment number 183. the presiding officer: does the senator so amend his remarks? mr. inhofe: i think the senator was distracted over there. if you would amend your unanimous consent request so that we would return to amendment number 183 at the conclusion of your remarks? mr. cardin: could i suggest the absence of a quorum for one moment, please? the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call in progress be v

mr. cardin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland is recognized. mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, sometime today we're going to get back to the sbir bill, the bill that deals with helping our small businesses with innovation and growth, so we can create more jobs and continue to lead the world in innovation, so that we can win that international competition the president talks about. we need to do that outbuilding our competitors. part of that is helping our small business community with innovation. the bill on the floor, the sbir authorization program helps small innovative companies in order to create jobs and help america grow. i take this time, though, to urge my colleagues to reject all of the amendments that may be offered that would take away from the environmental protection agency, their ability to enforce our clean air act. i say that because i truly believe, and i think most people believe -- and it's been proven over history -- that we can have a clean environment and we can grow our economy. in fact, i think if we don't

mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. 12 years ago this very day the senate passed a resolution that honored harriet tubman, har yet tubman day -- harriet tubman day on march 10. that resolution was sponsored by senator carper and then senator biden. in the house of representatives i served and i cosponsored a similar resolution. harriet tubman was a remarkable woman. she was born in dorchester county, maryland in 1822 and she was a slave for greater than 25 years of her life. at age 25 she married john tubman. she escaped slavery in 1849, but she returned to the eastern shore of maryland not once, but 19 times that we know of within a ten-year period in order to rescue slaves and to set them free. she rescued slaves in dorchester, in caroline county in maryland and throughout the entire northeast. she was known as the modern-day moses for the underground railroad. in the civil war, she joined union forces as a spy, as a scout and as a nurse, operating in virginia, florida and south carolina. after the civil wa

cardin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland is recognized. mr. cardin: mr. president, let me first thank senator landrieu for her extraordinary leadership on bringing this bill to the floor. this is a critically important bill for our economy. it helps small businesses. it helps the economic engine of america. it helps with innovation with small businesses. we already know that small businesses will be where most of the job growth will take place. we know that. we also know that with small businesses is where most of the innovation will take place. when you look at patents that are filed, they are more from the small businesses per employee than you see from large companies. but in order to help small businesses be able to be innovative, the sbir program is critically important. and i congratulate senator landrieu for bringing this bill forward. it's received a strong bipartisan support within the small business committee. it provides the resources where small companie

mr. cardin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: madam president, let me thank first senator boxer for her leadership on this issue in bringing us together to point out that the house-passed budget bill, what harm it will do to our environment. i start off by saying when you look at the republican budget plan in the house, it not only devastates important investments in our environment, it doesn't bring us to a balanced budget because all the savings that they get in these draconian cuts to our discretionary domestic spending is offset by extending the tax cuts. we lose all the savings through their tax policy. today i want to talk about a nonmoney issue, at least a rider that was put on the house budget. and let me read what it says. the bill says that none of the funds made available in this act may be used to implement the bay restoration plan now underway. and i'm talking about the chesapeake bay program, a matter that i've talked about on this floor many times. what does that mean? that means none of the funds in the bud

mr. cardin: madam president, i take this time to reap flect with my -- to reflect with my colleagues thate celebrate today, the one-year anniversary of the passage of the affordable care act and to reflect on how much has happened to improve health care in america since the passage of the affordable care act. and we have reason to celebrate. if you are a senior in the medicare program and you now know that you can see your doctor or your primary care doctor every year for an annual wellness exam and that wellness exam will now be covered under medicare so you have an opportunity to meet with your doctor and take charge of your own health, you have a reason to celebrate the passage of the affordable care act. if you're a senior that happens to fall within the coverage gap under the prescription drug benefits in medicare, the so-called doughnut hole, and you've been forced at times to leave prescriptions on the calendar of the drug store because you couldn't afford to pay the cost of the prescriptions, and you now know that there is coverage in medicare if you fall within that gap. for last

. >> woodruff: so senator cardin, you hear mr. pence and others in his party saying they have done their giving, and the rest of it is basically got to come from the democrats. >> well, it a bi -- legislature, it's not just the house. it's the house and senate. we're all going to have to give. but it's not going to be one side dictating what's going to happen. we have some strong views about what was in the house passed bill. that bill to us was extreme. it would have jeopardized our recovery, and it contained a lot of policy riders that had no business at all in the budget bill. so there's a lot that we feel very strongly about, and we're going to fight on the principles to make sure we do what's right for not only fiscal responsibility but for america's future. but for the sake of the process, we've got to come together. you can make all the statements you want, but at the end of the day knits the interest of the american people that the democrats and republicans come together, and that's what we're trying to do. but look, if th

discover you would be taking depositions of mr hastings and others the commission will find about staff members who are told will interview senator ben cardin who miss pastor went to complained about since he was the saddest equivalent of the strange things and i asked him what did you do the thing what do you stand by idly when you read a complicit or negligent in your duties did you stand by do nothing or did you willingly do you think the u.s. government might think twice next time on who they choose to lead that commissions are chris farrell director of investigations and research at judicial watch and that's going to do it for now though for more on the story of the com or go to our two you've got comes last usa or you tube dot com slash r.t. america and christine for the.

discover you will be taking depositions of mr various things and others the commission will find about staff members who we're told will interview senator ben cardin who miss packard went to complained about since he was the senate equivalent of mysterious things and asked them why did you do nothing what do you stand by idly when you either complicit or negligent in your duty is to just stand by did nothing or did you willingly do you think the u.s. government might think twice next time on who they choose to lead is that commission that chris harrell director of investigations and research and you just watch and that's going to do it for now for more on the stories we covered go to art he does .

mr. leahy: and, madam president, i ask to bring up and pass amendment 132, the cardin-landrieu amendment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment. mr. grassley: do we report -- tell me something. do we report it first and then we object? or we object to even the reporting of it? the presiding officer: the senator can object to laying aside the pending amendment. mr. grassley: okay. madam president, i would object on behalf of senator coburn of oklahoma. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. leahy: madam president, i would make it clear to ask consent that we revert to the pending amendment, which i believe was the leahy amendment. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. leahy: madam president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call:

protecting those who serve the public and on protecting workers whose basic rights are cardinal principles of a democratic society. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair lays before the house the following communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, i write to notify you pursuant to rule 8 of the rules of the house of representatives that the committee on oversight and government reform has been served with a subpoena for documents issued by the united states district court for the district of columbia in a civil case now pending before that court. after consultation with the office of general council, i will make the determinations required by rule 8, signed sin veerl, darle issa, chairman of the committee on oversight and government reform. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the chair recognizes the gentleman from new mexico, mr. pearce, for 30 minutes. mr. pearce: thank you, mr. speaker. we appreciate the opportunity to address the

whitehouse, conrad, begich, udall of new mexico, casey, shaheen, klobuchar, cardin, boxer, franken, feinstein and bingeham. mr. reid: i ask that the mandatory quorum call under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now withdraw my potion to -- my motion to proceed. the presiding officer: the senator has that right. mr. reid: mr. president, when an american family sits in the churchillen at their table and sorts through their finances, as they often do, partisan politics don't figure into that equation. when the families we represent calculate their own budgets when they add up the cost of gas and groceries, tuition in some instances, and other necessities, they care more about the bottomlines than news headlines. when a family desperately counts the dwindling number of weeks when the unemployment insurance runs out, that family doesn't have time to keep track of who scored the political points. when you have to make the tough decisions going into any budget those decisions have to be practical, not political. we often tell ourselves and our colleagues that we should be as re

whitehouse, conrad, begich, udall of new mexico, casey, shaheen, klobuchar, cardin, boxer, franken, feinstein and bingeham. mr. reid: i ask that the mandatory quoru call under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now withdraw my potion to -- my motion to proceed. the presiding officer: the senator has that right. mr. reid: mr. president, when an american family sits in the churchillen at their table and sorts through their finances, as they often do, partisan polits don't figure into that equation. when the families we represent calculate their own budgets when they add up the cost of gas and groceries, tuition in some instances, and other necessits, they care more about the bottomlines than news headlines. when a family desperately counts the dwindling number of weeks when the unemployment insurance runs out, that famil doesn't have time to keep track of who scored the political points. when you have to make the tough decisions going into any budget those decisions have to be practical, not political. we often tell ourselves and our colleagues that we should be as responsi

cardinal. our next witness is r. alexander acosta, the dean of the college of law in florida international university. did i pronounce that right? >> you did. >> good. previously mr. acosta was u.s. attorney for the southern district where he handled the prosecutions for jack before or after for hard, jose padilla for terrorism and george taylor, jr. for torture. prior to that, mr. acosta served as assistant attorney general of the civil rights division where he led the justice department's efforts to combat the post-9/11 lack bash against the arab muslim americans. he served on the national labor relations board and worked at the law firm of kirkland and ellis. he received his b.a. from happy birthday college his law degree from happy birthday law school. he was an intern for samuel alito. i would ask all witnesses if you don't mind, to please stand and i will administer the oath. you affirmly the testimony you are about to give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god. >> i do. >> let the record reflect that all three witnesses have answered in the affirmative. ms. khera please proceed with your opening statement. >> great. go

cardinal. i will include statements from a wide variety of religious faiths that joining your sentiment in expressing solidarity with muslim americans. at this point, mr. acosta, please proceed with your testimony. your written statement will be made part of the record. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to take a moment to thank you for holding this hearing. general perez made an important point that the protection of religious liberties is a bipartisan issue. muslim americans should take comfort in knowing that the effort to protect their religious liberties have been ongoing since 9/11. they have transcended the partisan divide. the title of today's hearing references american muslims and i thought it a perfect to begin by discussing two such individuals. the first is a student at the law school where i am now dean. he is one of our student leaders. he is a candidate for student body president. i asked him to send an e-mail about himself. i was going to summarize it, but i will quote in full. "i am a muslim, born and raised in the united states. i suppose, by most people's standards, much of a was normal. i went to school, tried to get out of doing

mr. cardin: mr.resident, we have all watched in awe during the past weeks as the unquenchable desire for liberty and human dignity have inspired people of the middle east to lift themselves up from oppression and move their country toward a new dawn. sadly we now also watch in who areo, brew cattley of colonel qaddafi who murders his own people as he clings to power. i join president obama in calling colonel qaddafi to leave libya immediately and support our efforts in concert with the international community to help the libyan people. what happens next, mr. president? no one really knows. i certainly do not have the answer. i pray that peace and stability come quickly to libya and hope the people of egypt and ta have quick -- while each country must find its own path in this journey, i would suggest that the international community currently has a process in place that could serve as a way forward for the countries in the middle east and north africa in establishing a more democratic process that gu