mr. coburn: a right. mr. durbin: thank you. mr. coburn: new nevertheless we give an advantage to those with an adjusted gross income of $1 million aor more a year. so what we've done is we've given an advantage to the well-heeled and well-connected, an advantage that the average american citizen doesn't have. i can't recall, i had read this morning an exact a revenue, but the point is, it is the principle. so will we over the next few months, regardless of this bill, its outcome or not, will the congress start addressing the real problems facing our country? you know, we just passed $740 billion worth of increased income taxes and payroll taxes at the end of the year. will we start doing on the other side? will we cut $85 billion over the next 12 months, supposedly, and we'll see if that actually happens or not. as we've grown the government 89% over the last ten years while the american family income has declined 5% over the same time. i made the statement earlier, and you can go check it on any web site you want, on inflation-adju

mr. coburn: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: reserving the right to object and i plan to object. i plan on taking some time to explain why i object. what is happening in the senate is phenomenal. and i want the american people to see this. the federal government is 89% bigger than it was ten years ago. and we just heard the majority leader say flexibility can't work because you're already dealing with the same amount of money. 89% more than we were ten years ago. i didn't vote for the budget control act. i think sequester is a stupid way to cut spending. but i want us to understand exactly what's going on. this is a contribe contrived si, because no effort, zero effort by the f.a.a. or the department of transportation has been made to have any flexibility in terms of how they spend their money. they've made no requests for a reprogramming of funds within the f.a.a. they have over $500 million unobligated sitting in balances that aren't obligated. so none of this had to happen. this has been a created situation. i want you

mr. coburn. >> no. >> they were five votes shy. >> today, the senate voted against the dream act.ed a path to citizenship to some illegal immigrants. >> that's right. we just watched this key vote for the dream act. it just failed. >> illegal immigrant college students hoping to become legal students. >> it's legislation that would have allowed millions of illegal immigrants getting away with staying here in the united states legally. we the people, i believe the phrase was, no way, jose. >> experts calculate that giving citizenship to people like jose will add $329 billion to our economy in additional taxes and spending. >> i don't have as much enthusiasm as i did before. you can dream all you want, but you're still here. >> it was taught to us at an early age, play by the rules, do everything right, and you'll be okay. >> decisions, decisions. >> it would be great if it worked like this. where even if you have a bad spin, you can laugh with your family. but if you don't have a social security number, you can play by the rules and still end up with consequences that are very real

mr. coburn: i would note that my colleague from the state of delaware, if i heard him correctly, we've just now had a hearing on a nominee for the d.c. circuit court. he's not even on the executive calendar because he hasn't even been voted out of the judiciary committee. so he makes a lot of great points, but i think the fact that we're talking about a potential judge that hasn't even cleared the judiciary committee yet may be a bit premature. he will get a fair hearing. i think we noted that more judicial nominees were approved in the last two congresses than the two congresses before under the last four years of the bush administration. i rise to speak this evening -- there's been a lot in the news, but one thing that hasn't been in the news very much is the third and final report of the government accountability office in terms of looking at duplication within the federal government. and i hope as the american people listen to this, they'll take a couple of things away. number one, we have a great organization called the government accountability office. they've done a wonderful job. we

mr. coburn: i ask unanimous consent that i be recorded as a cosponse other the grassley amendment number 725. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. c coburn: i rise to speak on the issue that the senate is considering. it's been an interesting three or four weeks as we've considered and talked and thought about how do we address what is best for our country and how do we do that in a way that we protect the constitution and we protect individual rights and we protect state rights. and a lot of ideas have been thrown out, many of them with great infirmities in terms of either impacting second amendment right, impacting 10th amendment right, or the infirmity of all is that they actually won't do anything to actually solve the problem. i come from a state that is very pro-gun. i'm very pro-gun. i own a multitude of weapons. i know how to handle them. i know how to fire them. i don't know how to safety -- safely store them. the issue in front of us is, how do we protect the second amendment right and the supreme court's rulings that have affirmed our individual right to self-defense a

mr. chairman, for this hearing. >> without objection, his statement will appear in the record. i yield to dr. coburn who i acknowledge, we have as my colleagues know, we have a lot of members who come, usually senate, sometimes house as well, who come to be present and introduce a witness. almost never we find someone who has known that witness for -- since the age of 8. knows her family. wore shpped in church with them. it's an amazing recommendation. >> mr. chairman, it's interesting, the act of introducing her, presenting to a committee a candidate for a position, there's almost a cliche protocol about it. but in my mind this is an act of public service. on my part. i don't even think of what we all have seen so much of. can you say your three words. i'm talking longer than i should and i do not care unless you do. she's traveled the world. she's knows the world. the people of west virginia are so incredibly proud of her. always have been. she's always been that person looming out on top of the rest of us. who has a sort of -- not a superiority but a depth and an honesty and integrity which our s

coburn on regulation. but i agree with murray on the budget. we face serious challenges to fix budget and constantly changing circumstance. constantly changing circumstances. we live in a time of accelerating change. mresident, almost exactly 150 years ago, our greatest presidents sent a message to congress in the midst of the greatest crisis this country has ever faced. his message was about change and about how to deal with change and was to try to shake congress out of the lethargy of politics as usual. because we were in the midst of a civil war. that the crises we face today collectively or individually equal the civil war, but they are pretty serious. i have been in hearings in the last two weeks in the intelligence committee, the armed services committee, and every single one of the top officials in both defense and intelligence have said this is the most dangerous and complements -- most dangerous period they have experience in this business. so we are facing some serious challenges. i want to share with you what i believe are most profound observations about how we deal with change but i have ever encountered. december 2, 1862, president lincoln sick -- sent the message. here is how it ended