mr. coburn. gentleman from new york, mr. nappers is recognized. >> thank you, the house is now considering on the floor today the appropriations bill for the next fiscal year. this includes the fbi. some republicans believe we should not be abiding by the appropriations figures agreed to in the budget control act last year, but that spending should be lower. what would happen across the board funding was cut -- how to handle would you handle that? again, we would have to prioritize. in my opening statement that i provided to the committee, you can see the various threats that we are facing. we would have to cut down. we would have to find some area amongst those priorities were we would have to reduce personnel.

mr. coburn, for himself and mr. burr proposes an amendment numbered 2132. at the end -- mr. coburn: i ask unanimous consent the amendment be considered as read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coburn: this is an amendment that comes out of a study of g.a.o.'s findings, and g.a.o. did a wonderful job looking at the f.d.a. what we found out, part of it will be covered if, in fact, we do this other study on the management, but what g.a.o. is telling us is there is an irregular pattern of performance review at the f.d.a. about 40% of the people who are involved in the drug and device approval process, part of their evaluation in terms of their performance review has to do with the timeliness of their work product. and it's only a small component but it's yet still a component of it, and what this amendment does is just said f.d.a., make this a part of your component on the people that are actually reviewed in the review process. not to try to push them to do it better but to have a management tool with which to evaluate individual employees doing this. the fact that

mr. coburn: mr. president, i object, and i will hold my comments until after the majority leader finishes his talk so i can explain my objection. you'd like for me to go ahead? i'd be happy to go ahead. mr. reid: i'm serious about this, i'm anxious to hear it. mr. coburn: we've had 13 short-term extensions to the national flood insurance program. that's over the past four and a half, five years. there's a bill set to be brought to the floor, and yet we're going to have a short-term extension again. this program is not financially sound, and it is not self-sustaining. it runs a $900 million deficit every year. what is the national flood insurance program? do we need it? yes. am i objecting that we need it? no. but the vast majority of the moneys that are expended by hardworking americans go to subsidize the insurance for homeowners' second and vacation homes. multiple times in the senate and in the house both have concurred that this should be taken away, this subsidy, for those in terms of second hom

mr. coburn said giving back the taxpayer money would show voters that both parties are serious about fixing the country's financial woes. next is newburn, north carolina, warren. you're on. >> caller: hi. how you doing? >> good. thank you. >> caller: good. i was just wondering, you know, we keep hearing all the time about how lobbyists are putting money into the government and politicians. why can't some of the money from the lobbyists be diverted and used to pay some of the debt ceiling? >> okay. leave the as an idea. thanks, warren. another warren is in the news, and that's warren buffett. yesterday he made a major investment in newspapers. here is the banner headline on the "richmond times-dispatch," one of 63 media general newspapers warren buffett bought yesterday. and you can see that he spent $142 million to buy those 63 papers. as the paper said, it ushers in a new era for the change. next is a call from philadelphia. hi, tony. you're on. independent. >> caller: yes. hi. i just wanted to bring up something. taxing the rich versus not taxing them, mitch mcconnell says we can't tax th

mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to enter into a colloquy with my republican colleagues, senator kyl, coburn, isakson and heller, for up to 30 minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. johanns: mr. president, i also ask unanimous consent that when we turn to h.r. 2072, the export-import bank reauthorization act, that marie mclaughlin, a detailee to the senate finance committee, be granted the privilege of the floor for the duration of consideration of that legislation. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. johanns: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today with my colleagues to talk about something that i think is an issue that without a solution will affect every single aspect of life in our country, and i'm speaking about our debt crisis, the impending fiscal cliff and the lack of a budget to address those issues. as i said, i'm very pleased to be joined by my colleagues to talk about this issue. unfortunately, for whatever reason, the senate has lacked the will and the leadership to fulfill what i consider its most basic legislative fun

coburn amendment number 2132 be withdrawn. the presiding officer: is there objection? so ordered. mr. harkin: it is my understanding, mr. portman amendment number 2146 as modified. the presiding officer: is there further debate on the amendment? if not, all in favor say aye. all opposed, nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes have it. the amendment as modified is agreed to. mr. harkin: mr. president, i have six unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and the requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. harkin: mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senior senator from new mexico is recognized. mr. bingaman: i thank the chair. mr. president, i would at this point call up amendment number 2111 and ask that the reading of that amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk will report the amendment by number. the clerk: the s

mr. will makes it clear that the president's health care law is destroying jobs and is having a devastating impact on our economy. in march, senator coburn and i released our third health care law oversight report. we entitled the report "warning: side effects. a check up on the federal health law." one chapter is dedicated to the health care law's job killing medical device tax. it's a tax that multiple studies predict will negatively impact job creation and also incredibly important for people around this country, it will stifle medical innovation. as an orthopedic surgeon, i can tell you i have seen firsthand how cutting-edge medical technology saves lives and also supports jobs across the country. scientists that developed medical devices like pacemakers and defibrillators and artificial joints that have improved the quality of life for so many americans, but now today because of this health care law, the future of the medical device industry in america is under attack. in september of 2011, the manhattan institute issued a report showing the devastating impact of the president's device tax on industry. the manhattan institute's repo

coburn. i'm only candidate in the country who all five are supporting. they need reinforcements and strong conservatives in the senate. jenna: very interesting i will start there with your opponent. mrook forward having you back. thank you very much. >> thank you. great to be with you. jenna: with us lieutenant governor david dewhurst. lieutenant governor, you heard a little bit what ted had to say there. start with the strong conservative point because some have described you as a moderate republican. and i'm wondering if you would describe yourself that way and what is a moderate republican? >> first of all that is all political spin by mr. cruz and his washington special interests who spent $6.5 million in negative ads against me. not one statement which is true other than they pronounced my name correctly. jenna lee, there is not a dime's difference between a governor rick perry's conservative record and mine. i've cut taxes in texas 51 times. i have every year cut spending by billions of dollars. $14 billion last year. i balanced five state budgets. i have led the fight against obamacare. i'm a lifelong conservative businessman. jenna: some point to that experience as a negativ