mr. cardin: with that, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. kyl: i would like today to add a little context to the discussion of the fiscal cliff that our nation approaches, a reference to the combination of the largest tax increase in history, new taxes under obamacare, sequestration, and the expiration of the payroll tax holiday, all of which take effect in january of 2013 unless the president and the congress act. this is a key discussion to have because how we view the so-called fiscal cliff defines our perspective on how an economy grows and process percent. -- process percent, prospers. edward l lazier wrote an yop qled. the keynesian view and the view of supply-side economics. keynesian views that spending is the key to growth. keynesians believe that in recessionary times, government spending can take the place of private-sector activity and they present a false choice between government spending cuts, austerity, and growth. their perspective holds that growth is contingent on government spending. this was the thinking behind the presi

mr. cardin, proposes amendment numbered 2125. mr. cardin: madam president, i now ask consent that that settlemenamendmentbe set aside l up amendment 2141. the presiding officer: without objection, the clerk will report. the clerk: mr. cardin proposes amendment numbered 2141. mr. cardin: thank you, madam president. i would ask consent that my entire 125eu78 statement be madf the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. cardin: first let me thank and congratulate senator harkin and senator enzi for their incredible work in bringing forward this bill that is so important to the public health of our nation. we're dealing with the safety of drugs, biologics, medical devices, our nation's food supply, vaccines, cosmetics and the list goes on and on. and it is important that we have the proper authorization so that the f.d.a. has the resources it needs to advance innovation into the marketplace, products that fall within the jurisdiction of the f.d.a. we know that the basic research is done at n.i.h., but then to get

mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. first, let me thank senator mikulski for her leadership on the process that we have used in maryland on filling judicial vacancies. i'm very proud to work with senator mikulski in a process that screens lawyers, that are interested in becoming -- lawyers that are interested in becoming federal judges in order that we can get the very best to recommend to the president, and we think the president has chosen the very best in judge russell to fill the district court vacancy for the district of maryland. but i really wanted to applaud my colleague in the senate for the seriousness that we both take on filling these vacancies. we understand these are lifetime appointments and that we want to make sure we get individuals who have the qualifications, who have the temperament, have the integrity and have the commitment to public service to serve on -- to serve our judiciary. i rise today to urge the senate to confirm judge george levi russell, iii, of maryland to be a u.s. district judge for

mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, the budget document is a very important document. it speaks to the priorities of our nation, and it gives instructions to our committees to report out legislation consistent with that budget resolution. it gives instructions to the appropriations committee to pass appropriation bills and to other committees as it may affect revenues or mandatory spending. we have that budget document for the fiscal year that begins october 1 of this year. that was included in the budget control act which passed this body by 74 votes. it has the force and effect of law. so our appropriations committees know the numbers for the appropriation bills for the year that begins october 1, and the other committees know what the requirements will be. the question is whether we should have a longer term commitment on dealing with our budget problems, and we do need a bipartisan, credible program that involves not only the democrats and republicans in the senate but also the democrats and republicans in the house and the president of the united states. we need t

mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. i take this time to urge my colleagues to allow us to move forward on the consideration of the stop student loan rate hike act so that we can allow the interest rates on student loans to remain at its current level rather than doubling, which will happen on july 1 unless we take action. mr. president, i come to the floor to express the views of many marylanders who i have talked to about the cost of higher education. we cannot allow the interest costs to go up. it will affect seven million students and their families. we already have too much college debt families have to incur as a result of the cost of college education. we are not competitive with the rest of the world. we look at countries that we compete with and we look at the cost of higher education in their country, compared to what our students have to endure, we start off behind because of the enormous cost to a family to be able to afford a college education for their children. we know how important it is. you need to have

. >> senator cardin. >> mr. chairman, let me thank all of our witnesses.i think we found the presentation that i've ever received on the treaty and i thank you for that. i thank you for particularly addressing criticisms that have been made about this treaty because it is in this treaty we hear some of this compliance. i want to go into an issue that i think secretary clinton, you alluded to. that is that this is not a static situation that is changing. it's changing all the time. there are now groups that are meeting that will affect u.s. interests that we are not a party to. we do not have a representative they are. the love of sushi sea is changing because of the treaty and there is now discussions as to what should be the appropriate use for sealand sunwear shed the mineral rights to and where should the international regimes and the united states is perhaps the most significant player in these issues and yet our interests are not being that the senate has these types of changes are being debated here can you elaborate more asked to what type the discu

mr. chairman. and to your colleague who is another former house member, if i remember correctly and senator ben cardin, as well, all of you are working in the backdrop of a huge discussion that has been going on for quite some time. when i came to the congress and asked to go on the judiciary committee in the house and that was granted, emmanuel seller was then the chairman who did such landmark work in the civil rights act of 1964. and then we followed up with the voter rights act of 1965. and from that time on, a group of scholars, activist organizations, civil rights people, and americans of goodwill have all begun examining what brings us here today and accounts for the incredible long line that is waiting to get into this and the holding room today. i come here proud of the fact that there is support growing in this area. just yesterday we had a memorial service for john peyton known by most of us here for the great work that he has done and in civil right not just in the courts and in the law but in what i think it is the purpose of our hearing here today, namely to have honest discussions about

mr. president, how much time is left on the amendments offered by the senator from maryland, senator cardin's amendment? the presiding officer: on amendment 2141, there are 11 minutes remaining in support and 15 minutes in opposition. mr. harkin: mr. president, i ask the senator from colorado, how much time does the senator from colorado want? a senator: i'd like to try for ten minutes but if i can do it shorter i will. mr. harkin: mr. president, i ask that 10 minutes of that time of 2141 be yielded to the senator from colorado. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: mr. president, thank you. i thank the senator from iowa, the chairman of the help committee, for his indulgence. mr. president, yesterday i spoke about some of the process and the important issues of drug safety in making sure there's a good system for safer drugs, both in preparation and distribution, and i know we seem to get close to reaching a resolution, which is tremendous -- i've heard many of my colleagues praise different parts of the bill, which i will do as well in a minute. bu

cardinals 4-1. but at least one of the members is staying positive. yes, mr. brian wilson, out for the entire season after his second tommy johns surgery, kind of staying of the spotlight until now. so the questions are, what's he been up to? and what's going on. here's the update from the bearded one himself. >> i kept myself busy with charting the games at home and -- doing rehab every day, it's going really well. we're ahead of the schedule. not getting too crazy, but -- things have progressed exceptionally well so far. >> more good vibrations, wilson is so optimistic about his recovery, he says he'll be ready by opening day next year. >> good deal. all right. >> good to know that elbow surgery's not hurting him from grooming that beard. >> he's got people, right? >>> coming up, a bull's eye on new jobs. a potential target for your resume just ahead. >>> and a lovely live look outside over san francisco. old glory just kind of waving back and forth. so not too windy out there. looks like it's going to be a pretty day. kind of chilly, though, christina loren

, nelson of nebraska, leahy, conrad, johnson of south dakota, brown of ohio, cardin, whitehouse, kerry, akaka, and harkin. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president, this is the -- i have spoken before, madam president, abouts the importance of the f.d.a. bill, something we have to get done. literally, people's lives dpep depend on it. it addresses so many things with the f.d.a. to make it a better position. we have to get this done. as i've said before, if my republican colleagues don't like the bill, offer an amendment, offer an amendment to take that out, put something in, if you don't like it. but i would hope that we don't have to go through voting on cloture on monday night. we should be legislating this coming monday. so i am stunged that once again our motion to proceed when there's been an agreement that we would proceed to this with relevant amendments, which everybody says that that's what they want to do -- it's not germane amendments, which is very narrow;s it relevant amendments. it gi

mr. brian jordan as you know played in two professional sports, baseball and football. baseball for 15 years and four different teams and played with the atlanta braves, cardinals, los angelesdodgers, and the texas rangers. so he has a lot of great community involvement. he recently held a baseball camp at his alma mater the academy where he hosted 100 kids. gave all of them gloves, hats, t-shirts and and a lot of much- needed instruction on how to play the game. >> we love when the players come back and give back to the community. want to thank everybody. derek, audrey, thank you. good to see you. ray, it's saturday. 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. marriott's hunt valley inn and audrey, who will be the emcee for saturday's big event? >> oh -- your great kai jackson. >> that's right kai jackson emceeing the event saturday. thank you so much. come on out on saturday to the hunt valley inn. don and marty back to you. it's a beautiful morning. have a good one. >> all right, thanks ron. if you're wanting to do some cool surfing at work, here's the negro league baseball museum of maryland website and you want to see something really cool, you go to the negro league baseball players associatio

cardin, a senator from the state of maryland, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to calendar number 400, s. 3187. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: motion to proceed to consideration of calendar numbered 400, s. 3187, a bill to amend the federal food, drug and cosmetic act, and so forth and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president, we're now on the motion to proceed to the f.d.a. user fees bill. at 4:30, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of paul watford to be a member of the ninth circuit. at 5:30, there will be a cloture vote on the watford nomination. if we're able to confirm his nomination, we should expect a second vote, cloture vote, on the motion to proceed to f.d.a. user fees legislation. mr. president, this week, the senate must complete work on legislation that will enact crucial reforms that will prevent drug shortages and bring life-saving medicines to market more quick