mr. chambliss: would the chairman repeat that? mr. levin: under the existing u.c. the time between now and 4:00 is under the control of the majority because the minority has used the time and at 4:00 we have to enter into another u.c. or we can do it now deciding what the situation will be for the hour between 4:00 and the time of the vote. mr. chambliss: thank you. mr. levin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: mr. president, i support the provisions in this bill relating to the guantanamo detention facility or gitmo and oppose the amendment to strike those provisions and reinstate existing restrictions on the transfer of gitmo detainees. gitmo is expense expensive, inefficient, damaging to the u.s. international standing, harmful to our allies' ability to cooperate with us and serves as a recruiting tool for extremists. it is not needed to secure people who should be detained and tried. there are other places for detention and trial in front of a military tribunal. we don't need gitmo to stay open at huge expense in order t

mr. chambliss: my state of mississippi will have the -- mr. wicker: my state of mississippi will have the third highest premiums in the nation as a result of the affordable care act. this is uncomfortable from my state and i'm hearing from my constituents about this. for example, a married couple in long beach who owns a small business, the private insurance plan they have offered to their employees for over 20 years will suffer a 33% premium increase on december 1. their insurer cited the coverage fees and taxes for increased premiums. the couple will continue to insure their employees because if they were to discontinue this, their employees and families would suffer because they would not be able to afford individual plans. i've also heard from a 50-year-old graphic designer from madison, mississippi, who received a letter from his insurance provider stating his insurance premiums will double at the beginning of the year from $355 to $755. this gentleman is understandably angry about his premium increase. he understands that his insurance w

mr. manchin: i ask to speak for up to five minutes and after i conclude my remarks i ask for senator chambliss could be recognized fol followed by senator ayotte. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. manchin: i ask unanimous consent began gilbert my department of defense fellow and ericc miller be granted floor privileges through the consideration of the national defense authorization act through final passage. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. manchin: i rise to highlight the air land subcommittee in the 2014 authorization act as reported by the committee on armed services. i'm very proud to be chairman of the air-land subcommittee and for the close working relationships that i have with senator wicker, the ranking member of the subcommittee. the air-land subcommittee has broad responsibilities for parts of the budgets. the air-land subcommittee also has responsibility for national guard and reserve equipment and readiness. as a former governor i know firsthand how effective the national guard is and they provide a great value for all americans. throughout this process, t

mr. chambliss. >> thank you, chairman. i'm pleased to be here today to begin discussions on a comprehensive, sound, five-year farm bill. it has been quite a journey over the past three years, and i know that all the conferees are here, ready to get this behind us and let's move forward. this will be my fourth and final farm bill as a member of congress. as pa former chairman and ranking member of the senate agriculture committee, i recognize how difficult it is to combine all the diverse interests into a single piece of legislation that meets the needs of all crops, regions, and rural and urban communities that the farm bill impacts. both bills before us today embody reform, streamlining and consolidation. with the biggest issue facing our country being our growing debt and deficit, i want to commend the leadership on both sides, both the house and senate ag committee chairs and ranking members for stepping up and doing the work necessary to find savings. while we take these essential steps, we must also do this in an equi

mr. chambliss. >> i am pleased to be here today to begin discussions on the comprehensive, sound five-year farm bill. i know that all the conferees are here, ready to get this behind us and moving forward. this will be my -- will be my fourth and final farm bill is a member of congress and i recognize how difficult it is to combine all the diverse interests into a single piece of legislation that meets the needs regions, rural and urban communities at the farm bill impacts. through reform, streamlining, and constant consolidation, with the biggest issue facing our country being our growing debt and deficit, i want to commend the leadership on both sides. both the house and senate agriculture committee chairs and members for stepping up and doing the work necessary to find savings. while we take these essential steps, we must always do this in an equitable and fair member -- fair manner. this bill must not only work to protect producers in times of it must responsibly serve as the safety net for the nutritional well-being of low income americans. our nutritional assistance programs play a k

mr. chairman thank you for convening this important hearing and we've got to get this right. thank you. >> thank you, senator udall. senator chambliss. >> thanks, mr. chairman. likewise thanks to you for being hear today, gentlemen. in my 20 years serving on the house armed services committee and senate armed services committee we never had in my opinion four finer leaders of our respective branches than the four here and thank you for what you do every day. as we look what we're going to do relative to defense spending i'm one of those without question we need to spend more money. sequestration as each of you said will become a bigger and bigger problem. i also feel very strongly about the factal that whatever we're able to add to dod spend we have to offset it somehow. we have got to get our fiscal house in order. i think we do that the first place for g offsets is at the department of defense itself. we asked in a hearing that senator ayote, that senator shaheen called on tuesday of this week, we asked of general dempsey, senator manchin did, for a list of programs or expenditures that the department does not want to spend money

mr. secretary, thank you very much for taking the time to be with us. >> thanks, george. thank you very much. >>> reaction now from republican senators saxby chambliss. and member of the intelligence senate armed service committee. senator, thank you for joining us this morning. is this a deal you can support? >> sure. george, you know, the publicly stated goal of this administration relative to iran's nuclear program is to prevent it from happening. nothing in the details that i have seen thus far of the final deal, nothing in what secretary kerry just said, moves us in the direction of preventing iran from developing a nuclear weapon. sure they're going to destroy uranium to 20%, but irrespective of what he just said, they're going to be able to continue to enrich uranium. they have 6 tons now, they'll allow them to go to 7 tons. then they'll come back to 6 tons within the next six months. but they'll still have the capability. nothing in this deal requires the destruction of any centrifuges. they'll be able to replace centrifuges that become inoperable and i just don't see this movement in the direction of preventing iran from developing a nuclea