mr. chambliss: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: mr. president dish the presiding officer: let's have order in the senate. the senate will come to order. mr. chambliss: i would like to call up chambliss amendment 2348, please. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator georgia, mr. chambliss, proposes amendment numbered 2438. mr. chambliss: mr. president, this amendment will require those that receive crop insurance protection from the federal government to now file a conservation compliance -- follow conservation compliance laws. it was enacted as part of the 1985 farm bill and has contributed almost singlehandedly to almost three decades of progress in limiting erosion, cleaning up waterways and protecting wetlands. and for those of us who love and fish -- who love to fish and hunt, that has been of critical importance. no other program has done more for protecting our farmland and topsoil and conservation compliance. in 1996, cong

mr. chambliss: getting back to the matter at hand... i want to thank my friend from arizona for his very direct comments on this very sensitive issues, and as vice chairman of the senate select committee on intelligence, i can say without a doubt that these ongoing leaks of classified information are extraordinarily harmful to our intelligence operations. every day we ask our intelligence officers and agents to be out there on the front lines, putting their lines in harm's way, gathering information, meeting sources and using a variety of highly sensitive collection techniques. depending on where these officers are around the world, the operating environment can be both dangerous and downright hostile. this means that they have to be as much or more on guard to ensure that operations don't get blown and their own lives and the lives of our sources are not jeopardized. but each time classified information shows up in the media, the intelligence community's ability to do these dangerous assignments becomes that much more difficult. not on

mr. chambliss: mr. president? i rise in opposition to this amendment eliminating l.g.p.'s is disruptive because usda lacks -- the presiding officer: we tkphot have order. order, please. mr. chambliss: consequently, a producer may exceed his loan limit under this amendment and usda have no idea that he's exceeded his loan limit. so he's going to have to come back later on and obviously repay that in very difficult times. most farming operations secure financing for annual production costs as well as incur their long-term debt for equipment and land. introducing limits on marketing loan benefits makes financing more difficult to obtain and more difficult to administer from a farmer standpoint as well as a banking standpoint. so i urge opposition to the amendment. the presiding officer: the question is on the amendment. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to vote or change their vote? hearing none, the ayes are 75, the nays are 24. the amendment is adopted. a senato

mr. chambliss: i thank my friend from oklahoma and i would ask the chair to let me know when i've utilized four minutes. i rise to speak out against e.p.a. mercury and air toxic standards known as utility mact in support of the resolution disproving this rule by senator inhofe. this set of standards one of the most expensive of its kind issued by e.p.a. will cause a rise in electric bills for my constituents across georgia and american citizens across this country. as our economy continues to stagnate we can hardly afford to increase the cost of electricity which will be an economic burden for individuals and businesses and will hamper economic recovery. however, electric bills are especially unwarranted when the regulations that will cause the electricity cost increase are expected to provide negligible benefits for the american public. the poor and individuals on fixed incomes such as the elderly can hardly afford higher electricity bills. these are precisely the groups disproportionately affected by utility mact. e.p.a. estimates compliance with this rule will cost $9.6 billion annually

mr. chambliss: i rise to speak on s. 3240, legislation to reauthorize the farm bill. as a former member and ranking member of the agriculture committee here in the senate, i recognize how difficult it is to combine all the diverse interests into legislation that meets the needs of all crops, regions, rural and urban communities that the farm bill impacts. this bill before us is no exception, and i am disappointed that at this time i am not able to support this bill because of its current form. i do want to take a minute to commend the chairman and the ranking member for their efforts in putting a farm bill together in a very difficult budget time that we're in. we all understand that agriculture has to pay its fair share of deficit reduction, and, frankly, is going to be at the lead of the pack when it comes to participating in deficit reduction. we're one of the first agencies out of the box to make a commitment to do so. with that being said, it is my hope that at the end of the day i'm going to be able to support this bill as we complete the legislative process. bu

mr. president. i offer this on behalf of senator chambliss and myself. the presiding officer: would the senator yield. the senate is not in order. the senate will come to order. please take your conversations out of the senate. the senate will come to order. the senator from california. mrs. feinstein: thank you very much. i offer this on behalf of senator chambliss and myself. it is a simple amendment. it simply authorizes a study into how we can better cover farmers affected by recalls they did not cause. when the food safety recall occurs like spinach, like tomatoes or cantaloupe, consumers stop purchasing the product regardless of what food the farm came from. when this happens, producers suffer major financial losses because of a recall they did not cause. this amendment directs the usda to conduct a study into the feasibility of crop insurance that would cover a producer's losses after these kinds of events. the amendment has zero cost, it has bipartisan support, it is endorsed by united fresh. the presiding officer: time has expired. mrs. feinstei

chambliss 2340, chambliss 2432, ayotte 2195, blunt 2246, moran 2403, moran 2443, vitter 2363, toomey 2247, sanders 2310, coburn 2214, boxer 2456, johanns 2372, murray 2455, mccain 2162, rubio 2166. mr. reid: rubio 2166, that at 2:15 tomorrow, tuesday, june 19, the senate proceed to votes in relation to the amendments in the order listed, alternating between republican and democratic-sponsored amendments. that there be no amendments or motions in order to the amendments prior to the votes other than the motion to waive points of order and the motion to table. that there be two minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form between the votes, that all after the first vote be ten minutes. that toomey 2247, sanders 2310, coburn 2214, boxer 2456, johanns 2372, murray 2455, mccain 2162 and rubio 2166 be subject to a 60-vote affirmative vote threshold, that the clerks be authorized to modify the instruction lines on amendments so that the page and line numbers match correctly. that upon disposition of amendments, the bill as amended be read a third time, that there be up to ten minutes equally divided in the usual form prior to passage of the bill as amended if amended. finally passa