mr. cardin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. well, we're less than six hours away from a potential government shutdown, and i take this time to sort of bring people up to date from maryland as to where we are on this. and i say that because in maryland we have about 150,000 civilian active federal employees. and obviously they're directly affected if we have a government shutdown. they will not get a paycheck, whether they work or not. they will not be getting their paychecks. and i just want torch think about what that means. you got a car payment that's due and you don't have a pay choker a full paycheck, you still have to make that car payment. you not have the money to do t you have certain responsibilities on a student loan, you may not be able to come up with the money to deal with t so it's going to cause real problems for those federal workers who had nothing at all to do with the problems that we're confronting in passing a budget. they're not at fault. but yet they will be the first ones who will be sufferin

mr. cardin: mr. president, there has been a live debate on the floor of the senate concerning our budget, our 2011 budget. now we're starting to talk about the 2012 budget, and i just think it's important that we point out what i hope is the obvious, and that the budget of our nation represents our vision for our future. it's a policy document that speaks to what our priorities will be. it provides the financial tools for us to be able to meet those objectives. and i know that we're in very difficult fiscal times. this is not the first time in the history of america. let me just remind my colleagues that in the 1990's, we were confronted with a large budget deficit. i happen to have been in the house of representatives during that time. and we saw through the leadership of president clinton that we were able to bring our budget into balance, and we did from large deficits, but we did it in a way that maintained america's priorities and maintained the priorities for our children and our future, becaus

mr. cardin: mr. president, i take this time because we're now only literally hours away from a potential shutdown of governme government. i must tell you, i -- my constituents are angry about this and i join them in saying that this should never happen. there's no reason why we should have a government shutdown. we know the financial issues and there's been good-faith negotiations, and it's my understanding that we have pretty much resolved the financial issues. and remember, we're dealing with 12% of the federal budget. we need to get on to the 2012 budget. we need to get a credible plan to deal with the deficit. we all understand that. we're talking about the 2011 budget, the budget that started on october 1 of last year and will end on september 30 of this year. we're over halfway through tha that -- that budget year. and the differences between where the democrats were and where the republicans were, understood they couldn't be what the democrats wanted or the republicans wanted, we needed to hav

mr. cardin: i'll take 30 seconds and then yield to senator inhofe. for the reasons we've already said about public health, for the protection of our clean air act, i'm going to urge my colleagues to defeat the rockefeller amendment. but let me just add one other point. the american renewable energy industry has written to us and has told us that the uncertainty of a two-year delay is more than two years. and it causes american renewable energy companies to be at a disadvantage with foreign energy companies, costing american jobs. uncertainty adds to job loss in america. for the sake of the public health of americans, for the sake of our economy, i urge my colleagues to reject the rockefeller amendment. mr. inhofe: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: yeah, the two-year delay just encourages bureaucrats to stawrl on new permits and it doesn't real lier accomplishing in. it delays new construction, delays new jobs. one of the interesting thing about all three of these bills is everyone agrees that the e.p.a. sh

mr. cardin: madam president, thank you very much. madam president, shortly we are going to be voting three votes. one vote will be on the budget for our current fiscal year, the year that began on october 1 and ends on september 30th of this year. that vote, think we've talked about it at some length. i took the floor yesterday and explained how the negotiated budget for this year is far better than the republican-passed budget in the house of representatives, the original h.r. 1. i pointed out how a budget represents the vision for our future, that's it's a -- that it's a policy document. and i far prefer the agreement that was reached that preserves america's ability to have a competitive workforce. i pointed out yesterday and i'll repeat again today that the budget we will vote on will maintain most of the funding for n.i.h. research, basic research which is critically important for information in america. that's the information used by our high-tech companies so america can outinnovate our competitors whereas the house-passed bud

. >> 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

mr. ubinger? >> thank you, chairwoman boxer, cardin, ranking member inhofe and senator sessions to provide testimony from the pens of an environmental council concerning work related to shale gas development in pennsylvania. it goes without saying, and a number of members have already spoken about this, there are enormous economic and strategic energy and the patience to the development of shale gas resource but as you have been quick to add, it must be done right. pennsylvania's bridge is a patient and the shale gas boom is relatively recent. over the last five years with the development of the marcellus shale formation. as our written testimony suggest, the development of the shale gas formation of pennsylvania increased at an ever quickening pace and is expected to go so. while we and pennsylvania and appreciate the economic at a beach of shell gas development we are cognizant that the route its history, penn's woods paid an enormous price of -- for the exploitation of resources. in today's political discourse, and many context, much is said the burden our current actions will impose on future ge

mr. mcgarry, was chatting with my friend the other night, cardinal mccarrick who is in charge of crs and told him how helpful you would then in kabul and what a pleasure it is to have you. this group in many ways is not usual for all ngos. mr. karzai talked about getting rid of 300 corrupt ngos he didn't have you in mind. they're ngos and ngos and that's one of the things we do need to highlight or think about how you guys do a price to what we do about those others because that is not been mentioned at all. but i have a couple of questions about your relationships with the military. one of the messages that has come under fire testimonies, including yours, mr. kohl is the military doesn't get it right. he doesn't understand sustainability. it is in for a short-term result and there's a second message sometimes subliminal and sometimes explicit that you really don't want to have too much to do with them and need rather stay neutral. so i have a couple questions. you've all been in afghanistan apart from obvious the institute of peace for a long time. and you can access you claim a usenet

abase said to give the cardinals a 4-3 lead, giants had it 3-2 good vantage but wilson couldn't close. sandoval in the ninth inning though. tis the game to bring in mr hits, sandoval with two out sense the game to extra frames and in the 12th it is a road and. this guy, all but gone. there was speculation that the giants would eat the remaining 24 million he was that far out of the rotation. he was a today with the bases loaded, it aaron delivers and the giants went off title of 5- 4. the three winds, for losses. vern glenn has been outside the ballpark all day. what you have? >>vern: we waited in a rinse locker for seemingly ever, when he didn't show up whole group sauntered over to brian wilson, did he get squeezed in the ninth inning, one knows. he did have this to say following the game. >> another giants victory, a lot of positives today. two major his sensible coming for the clutch. picking it up. you can heart of what a great team we have. everybody got in there and played a great role. >>vern: the kind of game that makes managers pace and the release staffed nervous and sweaty. giants baseball torture continues into 2011. >>gary: thank-you f

mr. mcgarry, i was chatting with my friend the other night, cardinal mccare rick, who as you know is in chargerf. told him how helpful you'd been in kabul and what a pleasure it is to have you. this group, in many ways, is not usual for all ngos. when mr. karzai talked about getting rid of, i think, it's 300 corrupt ngos, he didn't have you in mind. so there are ngos, and there are ngos, and that's one of the things we do need to highlight and think about how you guys do it right and what we do about those others. because that has not been mentioned at all. but i have a couple of questions about your relationships with the military. one of the messages that's come out of all your testimonies, including yours, ms. cole, is that the military doesn't really get it right. it doesn't really understand sustainability, it's in for short-term results, and there's a second message -- sometimes it's been subliminal, sometimes it's been explicit -- that you don't really want to have too much to do with them, that you'd rather stay neutral. so i have a couple questions. you've all been in afghanistan apar

mr. chairman. >> thank you. we will now turn to our colleagues as our first panel will start with senator cornyn. >> thank you, chairman cardin. thanks to chairman boxer, the chairman of the full committee, and senator inhofe, the ranking member and barrasso, it's good to be with you today. as senator inhofe noted, fracting has been around a long time. about 60 years. what's changed the state of play has been the advent of horizontal drilling. if you fly into dallas-fort worth airplane, you will be met with scenes of active drilling going on there thanks to the directional drilling that is capable from a single platform going out a mile or more into some of these shale formations. i'd glad to have the opportunity to share the perspective of my state on that practice, which i'd proud to say we help department and which is essential to the development of three shale plays in our state, the barnett around fort fort wo. i want to focus on three points, texas has app bountiful supply of natural gas. it has implications for job creation, economy, and national security. it -- states are effectively regulating hydraulic fracturing al

mr. chairman. >> thank you. we will now turn to our colleagues as our first panel will start with senator cornyn. >> thank you, chairman cardin. thanks to chairman boxer, the chairman of the full committee, and senator inhofe, the ranking member and barrasso, it's good to be with you today. as senator inhofe noted, fracting has been around a long time. about 60 years. what's changed the state of play has been the advent of horizontal drilling. if you fly into dallas-fort worth airplane, you will be met with scenes of active drilling going on there thanks to the directional drilling that is capable from a single platform going out a mile or more into some of these shale formations. i'd glad to have the opportunity to share the perspective of my state on that practice, which i'd proud to say we help department and which is essential to the development of three shale plays in our state, the barnett around fort fort wo. i want to focus on three points, texas has app bountiful supply of natural gas. it has implications for job creation, economy, and national security. it -- states are effectively regulating hydraulic fracturing al

mr. chairman. >> thank you. we will now turn to our colleagues as our first panel will start with senator cornyn. >> thank you, chairman cardin. thanks to chairman boxer, the chairman of the full committee, and senator inhofe, the ranking member and barrasso, it's good to be with you today. as senator inhofe noted, fracting has been around a long time. about 60 years. what's changed the state of play has been the advent of horizontal drilling. if you fly into dallas-fort worth airplane, you will be met with scenes of active drilling going on there thanks to the directional drilling that is capabe from a single platform going out a mile or more into some of these shale formations. i'd glad to have the opportunity to share the perspective of my state on that practice, which i'd proud to say we help department and which is essential to the development of three ale plays in our state, the barnett around fort fort wo. i want to focus on three points, texas has app bountiful supply of natural gas. it has implications for job creation, economy, and national security. it -- states are effectively relating hydraulic fracturing already

mr. cardin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, i just want to spend a moment or two talking about how devastating it would be for our country and for the people of our country if, in fact, we have a government shutdown. now, i know i represent maryland and there are a lot of federal workers in maryland and they're very concerned. because it will affect them. but a government shutdown will affect everyone in this country t. will affect people who depend upon their government to be there to serve them. if you're fending upon a timely i.r.s. refund -- depending upon a timely i.r.s. refund check and the government is shutdown and you need that money and you're counting on it, it's your money, you may found out if the government is shut down, there's no one to talk to and that check will be delayed. or if you're a person who's entitled to social security disability payments and you have a case that's