mr. cardin: mr. president let me also take this time to urge my colleagues to immediately bring loretta lynch's nomination to the floor of the united states to be the next attorney general of the united states. mrs. lynch serves as the senate confirmed for the eastern district of senator she has already been confirmed by the united states senate. she has served with great distinction as the u.s. attorney for the eastern district. i had a chance to visit with her last january and talk to her firsthand about her vision to be attorney general of the united states. she is extremely impressive, very well qualified and has the right values to be the attorney general of the united states. let me give you a few examples. all of us are concerned about equal justice to the law. well ms. lynch has learned that through her own personal commitments at harvard law school she was a member of the legal aid bureau helping people otherwise would not afford access to our legal system. she has a lopping history of prose

mr. cardin, proposes amendments en bloc numbered 364 367, 439 440 899 and 900. mr. cardin: i would ask to dispense with the reading of the amendments. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: let me take a few minutes to talk a little bit about these amendments. i see senator portman on the floor and i want to talk about 899 which provides the deficit neural reserve fund for financial literacy. the two of us have been working to increase the amount of savings for america particularly retirement savings. we know at early ages people need to understand the importance of saving. i offer this amendment and senator portman has been very helpful to me in developing this amendment. i hope we'll be able to act on this a little bit later. in regards to amendment 364 which deals with oral health, which establishes a deficit-neutral reserve fund related to improving oral health care for children and pregnant women under medicaid, let me just point out to my colleagues something they may not be aware of and that is the oral health of pregnant women very much impacts

mr. cardin has floated that is a possible vaccination. there is absolutely no contemporaneous evidence, none whatsoever that anybody that way, but the solution to the problem you what and if i is what congress did my having to set up their own exchanges by state-by-state federal fallbacks, rather than in national system. he has stated yet know intention -- that he had no intention. what mr. carter has suggested that this is -- mr. cardin suggested that this is a deal to get pvotes so that the act passed. there is objective proof that is not true any provisions in the act that were negotiated at the end are entitled 10 of the act. if you look in the act pages 833-924, that his title 10, you can see all of the amendments not a single one had anything to do with the statutory language before the court -- >> some was created by your interpretation. if congress did not want the phrase "established by the state" to mean what it would normally taken to me, why did they use that language? why didn't they just other formulations that appear elsewh

mr. cardin suggests, the statutory design was supposed to result in every state established in this exchange. >> well, again, talking about federalism a mechanism for states to show they had concerns about the wisdom and workability of the act in the form it was passed. >> justice kennedy i think federalism values are promoted by our interpretation. if that is, indeed, what a state thought. if a state would have preferred not to have state government participate in the implementation of this act for reasons identified, the structure of the act congress put in place we're advocating for today fully vindicates without adverse consequences visited upon the citizen of the state. that's why our reading is the pro federalism reading. it's their reading, seems to me that is the anti-federalism reading. that's a powerful reading to reject it. if i could go to the second statutory related to what we're talking about, section 21 says this statute is designed to afford state flexibility. state flexibility. it would be a norwellian sense of flexibility to use it in the way, it's polar opposite. the thir

mr. cardin: thank you mr. president. i would like to take a few moments today to talk about federal workers in general and some of the people at the national institutes of health in particular. government workers guard our borders, protect us from terrorists treat our wounded veterans dispense social security checks to our retirees find cures for diseases, guide the nation's air traffic explore the tiniest particles in the vast expanse of outer space ensure our air is safe to breathe our water is safe to drink our food is safe to eat support our service men and women in harm's way and promote our interests and ideals abroad. who does the government work for? government works for america. "the washington post" recently reported that since reliable data first became available shortly before world war ii, the percentage of all employed people working for the federal government hit an all-time low in december, fewer than 2% of the total united states work force is employed by the federal government. over nearly the past half

mr. cardin: mr. president a budget is the statement of the principles and priorities of our country, and i've heard a lot of my colleagues talk about specific amendments, some of which i support, some of which i oppose but i think it's important first to talk about the underlying budget and what it stands for as far as the principles and priorities of america, and on all counts, a review of the budget that's before us fails middle-class families in america. it doesn't invest in job growth or opportunity or u.s. competitiveness. it doesn't allow for a growing middle class particularly to narrow the wealth disparities in america. it doesn't end sequestration. and let me just talk one moment about sequestration because we've had a lot of debate on the floor. sequestration should never take place. it's across-the-board, mindless cuts no priorities. when we have been subject to sequestration, we've heard from all of our agencies how they can't plan, how they can't enter into long-term agreements in order

mr. chairman. >> senator cardin. >> thank you very much. thank you for holding this important hearing. and i thank our witnesses. there's no question that there's strong consensus on this committee in the united states senate that the united states need to do more to help the ukraines defend themselves. i want to make that clear from the beginning. the ukrainians need defensive support so they can defend themselves as far as weapons are concerned. and this committee has spoken and many of us have voiced this and the hearing i think has been pretty cheer about your position in that regard. it's also clear that we need to take stronger action against russia. the tragic assassination of boris nemtsov really points out just how extreme the putin regime has gotten. i think what we could do, madam secretary, and i would just urge you to look at mr. nemtsov exposed individuals of gros violation of russian rights. it would be appropriate for us to review as to whether we should be imposing the ma nis ki type. let's not forget the man who is unlawfully in prison today. he was taken by russia fr

mr. secretary. >> thank you. senator cardin. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, always a pleasure to have you before our committee. just on ukraine, one point. some of us have been there, we've seen the problems in the country. they've been asking for capacity to defend their own borders. they know that they cannot stand up to the russian military, but they do need the capacity in order to protect their borders from russian incursion. that's why we pass the authorization in this congress. and i would just urge the administration with some urgency to look at an aid package that will allow the ukrainians greater to -- we cannot believe anything president putin says about his intentions. he's shown by his actions a willingness to counter all the agreements he's entered into. i would urge the administration to be more aggressive in providing the help to the ukrainian people. second point i want to make is that we had a hearing here on trafficking and persons. we'll have a mark up later this week. during that hearing, we had assistant secretary seoul who of

mr. vice president, governor baker, senators mccain, worn, and markey, mayor walsh, and dr. g mccormick, keith motley, cardinaly, to all of the senators, members and elected officials that joined us today the children's choir, stokes mitchell, friends on behalf of ted sister jean ted junior, patrick and amy patrick and caroline, and the entire kennedy family, standing beside me literally and in spirit, we are honored and grateful you all could be here. 36 years ago, my husband came here to dedicate the presidential library next-door. speaking about the older brother who he loved and admired so deeply, teddy called the moment it: nation, a happy run to view -- the moment a: nation a happy rendezvous. thetoday, the same as true for all of us who loved edward m kennedy. it seems like only yesterday, i was standing with teddy on the seventh floor of the jfk library, looking down on the plot of land where this institute now stands. it was an empty low-lying fields, but he had a vision that something extraordinary could rise from it. as we looked out that window, teddy pointed to a little pine tree and said to me, t

mrs. leevy, of course, would face the same principle for 2015. if the government is suggesting that their case has become moot because of changed circumstances, under cardinal chemical 508 u.s. 83, it's their burden to raise it, not ours to supplement the record. in terms of the anomaly, in terms of all the states losing 34 states losing their medicaid , funds, the solicitor general greatly distorted the statute. it's printed at 64a of their exhibit. it says, "a state shall establish procedures," so the notion that hhs established them is obviously contrary to that. it says, "the state will identify people to enroll on their exchanges." well, they can't enroll anybody on their exchanges if there are no such exchanges in the state. therefore, by the plain language, if you adopt the notion that "exchange established by the state" means established by hhs, all of them need to lose their medicaid funding. >> could i follow up on something the general ended with, which -- and justice kennedy referred to, which is the need to read subsidies limited. in a limited way. but so is the need to ensure that exemptions from tax liability are read in a limited way. and un

mrs. leedy would face the same principle for 2015 if the government is suggesting their cases become moot because of change search -- circumstances under cardinal chemical. it is their burden to raise it not ours to supplement the record. in terms of all the states losing, 34 states losing their medicaid fund, the solicitor general greatly distorted the statute is printed in 64a of their exhibit. it is obviously contrary to that. it says the state like in a five people to enroll on their exchanges. they can't enroll anyone on their exchanges if there are no such exchanges and the state. therefore, by the plain language, if you adopt the nation that the change established by the state needs established by hhs, all of them need to lose their medicaid funding. >> could i add to something the general indicated with? the need to read subsidies limited. -- in a limited way. there's a need to ensure that exemptions, tax liabilities are let it -- read in a limited way. after your reading we are giving more exemptions to employers not to provide more insurance. more exemptions to states and others toward individuals. how does that work? you have two com

mr. obama will deliver remarks at georgia tech on making college more affordable, helping americans invest in their education. >>> today at saint patrick cathedral, mourners say final farewell to cardinal, he died thursday at the age of 82. ♪ ♪ ♪ tigers, both of you. tigers? don't be modest. i see how you've been investing. setting long term goals. diversifying. dip! you got our attention. we did? of course. you're type e* well, i have been researching retirement strategies. well that's what type e*s do. welcome home. taking control of your retirement? e*trade gives you the tools and resources to get it right. are you type e*? ♪ [epic music] ♪ introducing aleve pm... the pm pain reliever. that dares to work all the way until... [birds chirping] the am. new aleve pm. it's the first to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour strength of aleve. for pain relief that can last all the way until morning. new aleve pm, for a better am. [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, we've always been at the forefront of advanced electronics. providing technology to get more detail... ♪ ♪ detect hidden threats... ♪ ♪ see the whole picture... ♪ ♪ process critical information and put it in the hands of

mr. vice president, governor baker, leaders, senators mccain, worn, ed markey, maher walsh dr. jean mccormick, bob correct keith motley, cardinale boston pops, the children's choir stokes mitchell, friends. on behalf of ted's sister, ted junior t andiki, patrick and amy, curran and caroline and the entire kennedy family standing beside me literally and in spirit, we are honored and grateful you all could he here. 36 years ago, my husband came here to dedicate the presidential library next to him. speaking about the older brother he loved and admired deeply, teddy called the moment a culmination, a happy rendezvous with history that makes his memory come alive. today, the same is true for all of us who love aggregate m kennedy. it seems like only yesterday that i was standing with teddy on a window of the seventh floor of the jfk library, looking down on the plot of land where this institute now stands. it was an empty, low-lying fields, but at had a vision that something extraordinary could rise from it. and as he looked out that window, teddy pointed to a little pine tree and said to me, "that is where the institute is going t

mrs. leevy, of course, would face the same principle for 2015. if the government is suggesting that their case has become moot because of changed circumstances, under cardinal chemical 508 u.s. 83, it's their burden to raise it, not ours to supplement the record. in terms of the anomaly, in terms of all the states losing 34 states losing their medicaid funds, the solicitor general greatly distorted the statute. it's printed at 64a of their exhibit. it says, "a state shall establish procedures," so the notion that hhs established them is obviously contrary to that. it says, "the state will identify people to enroll on their exchanges." well, they can't enroll anybody on their exchanges if there are no such exchanges in the state. therefore, by the plain language, if you adopt the notion that "exchange established by the state" means established by hhs, all of them need to lose their medicaid funding. >> could i follow up on something the general ended with, which and justice kennedy referred to, which is the need to read subsidies limited. but so is in a limited way. but so is the need to ensure that exemptions from tax liability are read in a limited way. a

mr. cardin: mr. president any time remaining? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: any time remaining? the presiding officer: no time remaining on the democratic side. the question occurs on the amendment. mr. cardin: ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: anyone wishing to vote or change their vote? if not on this vote the yeas are 47, the nays are 51 and the amendment is not agreed to. there are two minutes of debate prior to a vote on the rubio amendment number 552. mr. rubio: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. rubio: jerusalem is the capital of israel and that's where the united states should have its embassy. however, a waiver has been used over the last 20 years to avoid this move. this amendment would allow funding to achieve what is already in the u.s. code, and i would yield the balance of mile time to the senator from south carolina. mr. graham: as all of you know, the knesset meets in jerusalem. every

mr. sanders: i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment and call up amendments number 1044 on behalf of senators cardin and mccain and amendments number 1047 and 724 on behalf of senator mccain, amendment number 713 on behalf of senators murphy and cassidy. amendment number 1005 on behalf of senators murphy and graham. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. sanders: i would ask unanimous consent that the reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report those amendments by number at this time. the clerk: the senator from wyoming, mr. enzi, for mr. hatch, proposes amendments en bloc numbered 827 1025, 533 984, 535. the senator from vermont mr. sanders, for other members proposes amendments numbered 1044 1047, 2724, 713 and 1005. the presiding officer: there are two minutes of debate prior to a vote on the isakson amendment number 839. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. isakson: mr. president amendment 839 recognizes -- the congress recognizes that on november 4 of 1979, 52 brave am