mr. cochran: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senior senator from mississippi is recognized. mr. cochran: mr. president, i'm optimistic that soon we will be able to enact legislation to reopen our government and affirm the world's long-standing confidence in our financial stability and system of democracy. the current situation is an unfortunate by-product of our sometimes discordant form of government, which at this time happens to be divided between our two parties. despite the challenges of recent weeks, i hope this experience demonstrates to the senate, to the other body, and to the administration that the nation is best served when we work together. if we allow our current hardships to pass on only to immediately entrench and get ready for the next crisis, we will be wasting an opportunity to extract a positive outcome from these last difficult weeks. under the rules of the senate, individual senators are provided with significant power to shape the activity of this body. that's the wa

mr. cochran got a primary challenger because of his vote on the budget bill.s,these going to stay with these tea party challengers? if this happens again, what is the result? guest: the idea of a tea party challenge -- we are just at the beginning. tea party conservatives are emboldened by victories, such as ted cruz's victory. that emboldens other candidates to come up to challenge establishment candidates. in some primaries, i will not have an impact because it is a republican seat. have an impact because it is a republican seat. mississippi, democrats will probably be excited about the possibility of facing a tea party challenge, someone who is more conservative. skeptical that a democrat is going to win a federal race in mississippi at this stage of the game. seeing at this gains fromong-term democrats or repercussions for the democrats? just looking at the map that is in play, democrats on the defensive. most at --out of the out of 10 of the most vulnerable senate seats. we do not know if there's going to be the 6 that they need to take over the majority.

the ranking member of senate agricultural committee, the gentleman from mississippi, senator cochran. >> mr. chairman, i'm pleased to join our chairwoman and other members of the senate delegation in thanking you for the efforts you're making to impress us with the decor and the space that we have here in the house of representatives. it brings back a lot of good memories for me and i know the others who may have served here in the house of representatives. but we know we have a serious responsibility today, and that is to begin an effort to get a fair and workable farm bill reported back to our two bodies. we hope we can do that recognizing the urgency in some of these areas where questions need to be answered in order for farmers to make decisions and others who are affected by this law. so you have our commitment to try to be a positive influence in this process. we thank you for your courtesies. >> gentleman yields back. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from iowa, mr. king. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'm very happy to be here today as we formally kick off the conference committee

the ranking member of the senate agriculture committee, the gentleman from mississippi, senator cochran. >> mrairman, i'm pleased to join our chairwoman and our members of the senate delegation in thanking you for the efforts you are making to impress us with the decor and the space that we have here in the house of representatives. it brings back a lot of good memories for me and i know the others who may have served here in the house of representatives. but we know we have a serious responsibility today and that is to begin an effort to with some dispatch, too, to get a fair and workable farm bill reported back to our two bodies. we hope we can do that, recognizing the urgency in some of these areas where questions need to be answered in order for farmers to make decisions and others who are affected by this law. so you have our commitment to try to be a positive influence in this process. we thank you for your kurt cis. >> the gentleman yields back. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from iowa, mr. king. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'm very happy to be here today as we formally kick off

mr. engel is recognized. >> thank you very much, chairman and chairman lucas and chairwoman saf now, ranking member peterson and cochran for calling this conference meeting. i also would like to thank leeta pelosi for naming he as a conferree. i know members have worked hard on these bills and i feel privileged to be a part of this process. as all of you know, the affairs committee has jurisdiction over title 3 of the bills before us which include food aid and export measures. i'll focus most of my remarks on food aid reform, but i want to mention that flork is the third largest dairy state and i am the only new yorker on this conference. i also wanted to address several other areas of concern to the bills that directly affect my congressional district and the state of new york, specifically, i strongly oppose the cuts to snap when so many americans are still recovering from the effects of the worst recession in generations. i urge my colleagues to reject the cuts in the house bill, which would disproportionately impact the ability of elderly, children, and those less fortunate to feed themselves. i hope we can work th

mr. president, i'm sorry i'm a little late here, i say to my colleague, the senior senator from mississippi, but i've had the pleasure of knowing thad cochran during my entire stay in washington. he's a fine man. he's had experience in the house and the senate, as i have. i have always appreciated his courtesies. he's just such a fine human being. before his election to congress, he served honorably in the united states navy. he was a lieutenant in the navy. after his tour of duty, while attending law school at ole miss, senator cochran would return to active duty to do his naval work, even while he was going to law school. but his -- after graduating from law school in 1965, he joined a very prestigious law firm in jackson, mississippi. and in less than two years, he became a partner of that law firm. which is remarkable. but it speaks well of his acumen in the law and just being a nice person. his break from public service didn't last long, though. from the navy, he ran for congress in 1972 and served in the house for six years before running for the senate. he served as chairman of the republican conference, the agriculture committee, th