mr. cardin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. ardin: i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. cardin: madam president, i would ask unanimous consent that the pending amendment be set aside a so i can offer amendment number 407. the presiding officer: is there objection? hearing no objection, the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator maryland, mr. carden, proposes an amendment numbered 407. at the end, added following: prohibition on interest -- mr. cardin: madam president, i ask that the amendment be considered as read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: madam president, i will speak a different point about this amendment, but this amendment is an equitable amendment dealing with the interest charges on loans that -- government loans that are paid off in the middle of the month to prorate the interest. it is a consumer issue. it will, i think, help american families, and i will explain it in more detail at a later part of

mr. cardin: mr.resident, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. cardin: mr. president, i have eight unanimous consents for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have been approved by the majority and 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, so ordered. mr. cardin: mr. president, i rise in support of the feinstein amendment that would eliminate at long last the subsidies for ethanol, corn-based ethanol in america, and i would ask my colleagues, in a little while we're going to have a chance to vote on this and i would ask them to support the feinstein amendment. i thank the leader for making time on the calendar so that we can vote on this issue, and i think that -- i hope that the majority will support this. i know we have a 60-vote threshold and i would hope that we would be

mr. cardin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: madam president, i have nine unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have been approved by the majority and the minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and these requested be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: madam president, i'm very pleased that soon we'll be voting on jim cole for the deputy attorney general of the united states. this is a person who puts a principle -- puts principle over politics, a person who is i think very important in our war against terror, who will use all lawful tools to keep our nation safe, so i'm proud to take a few moments to urge my colleagues to vote for his confirmation. i think that's in our national security interests, and i know he will be and is already is an incredible asset to this country in keeping us safe and doing the best traditions of the u.s. attorney gen

mr. cardin: thank you, madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: thank you very much. i ask unanimous consent that i be able to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: madam president, i take this time to talk about the budget issues and the debt ceiling that is fastly approaching. it is a very serious issue. it's a matter we need to deal with. i start by first saying continuing's important to know -- by saying continuing's important to know how we got here. we don't want to repeat the mistakes we made in the past. it was ten years ago we had not only a balanced budget, we had a budget that looked like we would pay off all of our privately held debt. i was part of the congress that moved us towards that balanced budget and surplus. it was the democrats who were prepared to do what was necessary tpo balance the federal budget in the 1990's, and we got there. we didn't have a single vote from a republican, but we balanced the budget. we did it; it was not easy, but it was the right thing to do for

mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. first, let me ask unanimous consent that shane nisely of the d.o.d. in my office have the privileges of the floor in this discussion. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: i think all of us understand how valuable our detailees trick-or-treat department of defense is and the work we do. particularly in this matter, it's been extremely helpful to me to have shane's advice. i pressure the fact that he is in our office and has been a very valuable member of our team on this issue. i just really want to join in the comments of senator durbin and senator kerry. first, let me say i think senator kerry would agree, senator durbin may be a new member of the senate foreign relations committee, but he is one of the most thoughtful members of our -- of the senate on foreign policy issues and many other issues, and he has been extremely helpful working our way through what is the proper responsibility of the united states senate and the congress as it relates to the deployment of

mr. cardin: mr. president, first i ask -- i have five unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have been approved by the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, let me just complement senator boxer for her extraordinary leadership as chairman of the environment and public works committee. i want to compliment senator inhofe, the ranking republican member of the environment and public works committee. this is an important bill dealing with economic development, the economic development administration. as senator boxer pointed out, this is all about creating jobs, particularly creating jobs in underserved communities. that's what the e.d.a. does. this is a reauthorization bill. it's been -- was worked on in the last congress, came out of the environment and public works committee in the

secrety has never achieved which was the electricification of the line between paddington and cardin. >> mr. aiden burly. >> thank you, mr. speaker. an agro phobic man set up his own illegal money.

mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, last night s. 185, a resolution that was cosponsored by about 90% of the senate, passed the senate by unanimous consent. and i'm very grateful to my colleagues for their help in developing this resolution. this resolution expresses the strong support for the united states, through our closest ally in the middle east, israel. i was joined in this effort by my good friend, senator sue son collins from maine. the two of us worked together to draft this resolution, and we are grateful that so many members, so many of our colleagues joined us in the processes and that it's now passed the united states senate by a unanimous vote. this resolution first and foremost expresses our strong support for israel, recognizing these are extremely challenging times, expression our support for peace between the palestinians and the israelis, and recognizes that the only way that we're going to be able to move forward on the peace process is through direct negotiations between the israelis and

secretary has never achieved which was the electricification of the line between paddington and cardin. >> mr. aiden burly. >> thank you, mr. speaker. an agro phobic man set up his own illegal money. he received a staggering amount of money on benefits. doesn't it show our welfare system is broken and will the redouble its efforts to reform it? >> my honorable friend is absolutely right. the people who send us here want us to sort out the welfare system. they want it to be there for people who genuinely need help but they also want to make sure that if you can work and you're offered a life, you shouldn't be allowed to go on welfare. there's legislation and we voted about it and when the crutch come they didn't have the cuts to back it. >> thank you, mr. speaker. most people know that rushdale is the home of cooperation. next year is the united nations year of cooperations and will they have mutualism and the 20% trick? >> i note the excellent record of prime minister's visiting and what can happen when they get there. [laughter] >> so i will -- i'll certainly put it in the diary. i'm a stron

mr. chairman. >> thank you senator cardin. >> thank you, mr. chairman.our military folks are supportive of the decision and implement it, but could you share with us, is it possible to share with us what general petraeus' recommendation was regard to the timetable and the numbers? >> senator, i'm not going to be able to do that, but i can tell you that the decision that the president made was supported by the national security team, and i think it would be totally understandable that a military commander would want as many troops for as long as he could get them, but any military commander with the level of expertise and experience that general petraeus has also knows what he wants is just part of the overall decision matrix, and that there's other factors at work so at the end of the day, i think the president made the right decision. you heard from colleagues here and heard within the national security apparatus, out now, out by the beginning of the year, and then there were those who said let's wait until the end of the next year. the president decide

mr. president. that's why -- that's why we sent the letter to vice president biden, senator tester, mccaskill, cardin and i did, to say take medicare off the table. we need to deal with this budget deficit, but don't -- don't mess with medicare while we're doing it. it's pretty simple, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent to speak for the next ten minutes in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, later this week, we're going to consider an issue which is complicateed, but it's an issue that affects every single american that ever takes a piece of plastic and pays for anything, at a hotel, at a restaurant, at a convenience store, tuition at a school, a charitable deduction to red cross in the midst of a disaster. if you use plastic, every time that debit card -- we're talking just about debit cards for this conversation -- every time that debit card is swiped, there is a fee that goes to the bank that issued the card. and you think to yourself, well, i wonder how they nego

cardinal, it's an honor to be with you. mr. monahan, thank you as well. and all of you. had i known i was getting an honorary degree i would have skipped law school 13 years ago. [laughter] >> and saved a lot of money. [laughter] >> in any event, i'm grateful for it. thank you so much. i'm honored and privileged to be invited here today on such an important day for all of you. i've done these before. this is, i think, like my fourth commencement address. i always get to wear this robe and i brought my kids to one of them in year's past. they were wondering why no one in the choir was singing. [laughter] >> and so they're not here today. so i get invited to these, i think, because for a lot of different reasons i hope is to share any kind of insider knowledge i have about how to be successful for what the future should look like and any tips that i have and i think i bring an interesting perspective. i was commenting before that i came today that i am about 13, 14 years removed as sitting where you are as a graduate and i'm 13 to 14 years ahead watching my kids graduate f

california's senator boxer and senator cardin talked about the debt ceiling on the senate floor. >> mr. president let the games begin. that is what is going on around here. i have full respect for my colleagues and you can tell from the tone of senator paul that he finds it amusing he is offering a clean debt ceiling increase he is offering and a an amendment he votes against her he knows his discussions with the president and vice president and in discussions with a gain of 62 try to fake keiraix c it is outrageous. i will tell you why.nder way of the underlying bill thatel you have been very helpful with the economic the road map revitalization act which will reauthorize a i very importantn program that has been in place in this country since 1965. that was passed when george w. bush was president and passes the senate unanimously without all of these amendments that are going nowhere. there is 27 amendments as of last night and probably many more now and we know the game. we play it was before when senator andrew stood rye wasn standing to get a small business both through here whic

mr. udall: senator durbin, thank you very much for your statement. i believe that all of us working together, our chairman at the foreign relations committee, senator cardin, others, the presiding officer, who is also on the foreign relations committee, with us, i think we can come to a resolution which complies with what the president has stated. and the president says he has no intention of sending ground forces into libya, but it's important at this point in time, as you have pointed out, as the constitution mandates, that we step in and express the will of the american people on this issue, and that is the whole purpose of -- of what i'm on the floor for today and i look forward to working very closely with you. with that, i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. a senator: i know the full time allotted csh. the presiding officer: the senator should know the senate is in a quorum call. mr. coats: i ask to vitiate the call of the quorum. i note the democratic side has not used up its full allotment of time, but as

carper, brown of ohio, whitehouse, casey, coons, tester, cardin, udall of new mexico, shaheen, stabenow, murray, conrad, durbin and manchin. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to calendar number 75, s. 679, the efficiency and streamlining act. the presiding officer: the motion to proceed is now pending. mr. reid: madam president, i want to say a word before i leave the floor to -- to and about my friend, the senator from california. as i've indicated, chair of this most important committee, the environment and public works which i had the good fortune of chairing on two separate occasions. she has been tireless in bringing legislation to this floor and attempting to. she has been talking about this bill for months about how good it is, and when she sat down and reminded me of the merits of this legislation, i thought this should be a good one. a job-creating measure. we need that right now. and i have been very disappointed that we haven't been able to move forward, but it is not because of any lack of effort on her behalf. she and i came to washington together many, many years ago and served together in the house of representat

cardinal from the great state of idaho. >> before i start, i have been questioned by the majority and minority staff. >> i'm not sure you'd want to be. >> mr chairman, i thank you for the opportunity to testify specifically on yucca mountain. i've been in congress are told and not tears. i served on the appropriations subcommittee on energy water developments, which funds the d.o.e., including the nuclear energy. in my short time in congress, there've been three administrations come up or pay secretaries of energy in numerous nuclear and undersecretaries. each administration as some parties concerning the direction with respect to the energy needs of our country, particularly nuclear energy. i live to the ifr potable, gina bubble in the current smr bubble. the most frustrating dilemma i face to face. after spending billions of dollars going into ever-changing directions, how do you sustain a program with a 20 to 30 years later timeframe in an impairment of ever-changing policies? will commission the taxpayers for investments? to make it clear, it's not a problem i blame on the d.o.e. new administrations and secretaries are like as an appoi

mr. president, this proposal regarding judicial review was a provision that actually the small business committee chair, the senator from louisiana, proposed and senator cardin from maryland, a nearly identical provision is section 605 of the small business business investment and invention act of 2010 and the 111th congress. they they obviously agreed with the approach. so it's nothing partisan about this. we ought to be able to work this owvment there's nothing complicated about it. there's nothing complicated about addressing a fundamental issue facing small business. i just want to get it straight, because it's clear it's not understood. we're just making some generalized characterizations about something, about which people haven't read the amendment, don't understand it, can't sort of reason it out. and if you disagreed coming up with something so we can move with urgency, with dispatch, because we're losing jobs in america, we're losing business businesses. this would help enormously. that's why my legislation that i've introduced with the senator from oklahoma and others has broad support from every major small business organization in america, becau

mrs. feinstein: thank you very much, madam president. madam president, i rise today in support of the ethanol subsidy and tariff repeal act which senator coburn has offered and i have cosponsored along with senators burr, cardin, collins, corker, lieberman, risch, shaheen, toomey and webb. madam president, i know that the fact that this amendment is on the floor, scheduled to be voted on at 2:15 this afternoon, has caused some deep consternation on my side of the aisle. there is objection to the procedures used. i am not going to get into that. i am going to say a vote is a vote and we are facing a vote at 2:15 unless something changes. now, to be candid, if there were an offer to bring this to the floor next week or the week after for a time specific and a commitment specific, i believe that the author and myself and our cosponsors would certainly agree to that, but in the absence of that offer, it is important that the united states -- the united states senate takes a position on a program that has become both gross and egregious, and i want to explain why i feel that way. madam president, no other product i know of has the triple crown of government support that corn ethanol enjoys in this country. its use

mr. cardin: mr. president, let me compliment senator boxer for her leadership on this bill. senator boxer pointed out this dea bill is about jobs. it's about offering jobs in under-served areas. these are areas which are difficult to create jobs in good times, but in hard times they get hit even harder. the e.d.a. program leverages a small amount of public support for private-sector investment that creates jobs in underserved eamples in my state of maryland, e.d.a. projects have been very successful in bringing jobs to the rural parts of maryland, to western maryland, to our eastern shore. they have leveraged private-sector investment and we maintained and created jobs. yesterday on the floor i gave specific examples of e.d.a. projects in western maryland on the eastern shore of maryland. i talked about an old manufacturing plant that was saved under an e.d.a. grant, leveraged 10 to 1 with private-sector investment saving over 100 jobs and creating another 20. these are jobs that are important for economic growth in our community. we all understand that this recovery has bee