mr. demint. i await the investigation. -- mr. zimmerman. i with the investigation. this is bad public policy. >> the justice department is investigating. >> look at the uproar over this one case. here is the difference. if you come with me to the superior court of the district of columbia or the d.c. jail, you will find young men in those systems to have committed crimes, shot and killed somebody. the difference in this case is that somebody shot an unarmed kid and is free. that individual to not go through the criminal justice system. that is where the outrage comes in. they can understand and of individual shooting someone -- cannot understand an unarmed individuals shooting someone and not facing the court of law. in cities, you have a black on black crime, but they are prosecuted. >> zimmerman gets the benefit of the doubt from the police immediately. the police chief steps aside and the victim does not. >> i think he still has begun. i don't think they have even taken the gun away. >> zimmerman says he was acting in self-defense. >> his story involves having hi

mr. demint: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. emint: thank you, mr. president. i'd like to say a few words about the first amendment that will be voted on. the presiding officer: the senator is reminded we're in a quorum call. the presiding officer: thank you. i ask that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. demint: you'd think after six or seven years i'd remember that, but slow learner. thanks again for the opportunity to talk about the amendment we call the transportation empowerment act. this is actually legislation that's been worked on for over ten years. our ranking member, senator inhofe, helped to develop this legislation, and it's essentially the same as when he introduced it ten years ago. and he pointed out that he had long believed that the best decisions are those made at the local level. unfortunately, many of the transportation choices made by cities and states are governed by federal rules and regulations. this bill returns to the states the responsibility and resources to mak

mr. demint, and the senator from utah, mr. lee, on the commerce portion of the highway bill. overall, almost every portion of this bill has gone through the open process of committee hearings, of markups. and now of floor time. the one part of this bill that hasn't had a committee markup or even a committee hearing this congress is the rail portion of the bill. in fact, the first time i saw this version of the bill was just a few weeks ago when the underlying bill was already pending and too late to have the normal process to look at what could happen and should happen as it relates to railroads. as a member of the committee of jurisdiction, the commerce committee, i'm concerned that we haven't done our due diligence here. and my amendment would simply strike this section of the bill in response to this closed process. i hope that that's the final determination of this bill before it goes to the president's desk. since the congress abolished the interstate commerce commission in 1995 there's been no federal licensing system for entry or exit of new rail passenger operators. o

mr. demint proposes en bloc amendments 1589 and 1756. mr. coats: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. coats: i call up my amendment numbered 1517 which is at the desk and ask it be reported by number. the presiding officer: without objection, the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from indiana mr. coats proposes amendment numbered 1517. mr. coats: mr. president, this amendment 1517 is major significance to my home state of indiana as well as a majority of the states across this country. most people are familiar with the fact when they pull up to the gas pump, they are not only paying for the cost of gas, they are paying the tax on the cost of that gas. the federal tax pumped into the tank is sent into washington and put into a so-called federal gas tax fund trust. the word trust is really somewhat of a misgnomer because like so many trusts we create, it doesn't live up to its name. trust means that it's safeguarded, no one else can touch it, no one else can use it. the trust fund was designed to schect taxes from the sale of

mr. demint: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to talk about a new federal regulation that many here may or may not be aware of. according to the department of justice, every swimming pool of public accommodation, meaning any pool at a hotel, motel, lodging establishment, recreation center, ymca, apartment complex, condominium complex, school or community pool is to install a large, expensive, permanent pool lift for the disabled or else face steep fines from the department of justice and the threat of lawsuits. we must make sure that we have accommodations for the disabled in every public place, and this is happening around the country, but to do this with very little thought of the implications and the cost and the actual service to the disabled is a huge problem. as we have seen time and time again, one-size-fits-all mandates from washington don't work. we want public schools -- or public pools to have the flexibility to work with people with disabilities to ensure success. on january 31 of this year, 2012, the u.s

demint. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. >> senator. >>. >> you've mentioned several times the need for us to have a plan for a sustainable fiscal policy. would a plan that balanced our federal budget within a ten-year window, would that be what you consider a reasonable transition towards good fiscal policy? >> i would go for -- at a minimum i would aim for in the next 10 to 15 years eliminating the so-called primary deficit, that is everything except interest payments. once you eliminate the primary deficit so kurn spending and current revenues are equal, that means that the ratio of your debt to the gdp will stabilize. as you go beyond that, you start to bring the debt-to-gdp ratio down. you mentioned ten years. the other thing we mentioned earlier is many of the things that are going to be problems are kicking in after ten years. i hope congress will take at least for complaining purposes a longer term horizon on that. >> in my conversations with your governors and some of the central bankers around the world,

mrs. obama? >> good idea. i don't think so. we should do that. [laughter] >> demint chin how you do early research but go back a step before that. had you pick a subject to do research? but to look at the calendar 2012 and then my previous book of george washington of thomas jefferson there is a logic to writing about the federal arrow. and the chronology fit. and to know about dolly madison and all of these great white guys we could talk about slaves, architecture, and then that could make history little interesting. >> so of the buildings were burned except the old brick building inhabited and the, daunt the rumor has said the royal marine spirited to four burning out of respect for our marines but nobody knows the truth. can you shed light on that? >> one building that was scared was the patent office executed from the kappa all stood in front of the building and said you cannot do this it is worth -- worse than destroying the ice and geo library it is not about politics. i never heard the story of the marine building. thank you for coming. i appreciate your time

mr. rakowski, the sitting senator, is challenged by the tea party. jim demint, a member of the own party sitting raise money against your, the tea party candidate. she lost the primary and said forget this. she ran as a right in canada and one. more than 50 percent of all the voters in alaska are registered independents. so i do think there is more of a cleansing and more of a purity test on the republican side. i think the republicans have moved away to the right. i think this recent birth control the buckle, you know, when 98 percent of all women use birth control, a catholic women and women of every other faith, i think this is the kind of social, you know, right wing effort to inject religion into the public's fear. i think centrist voters, independent voters don't like it, and they think the economy is the big problem, you know, the deficit is the big problem. there are other big issues, but we have moved past this season like whether people should be able to get married or abortions to be a private choice. on the democratic side the democrats had a big sw

demint 1756, bingaman 1759. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent we proceed to a period of morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee be discharged from s. res. 310. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 310, designating 2012 as the year of the girl and congratulating girl scouts of the u.s.a. on its 100th anniversary. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? mr. reid: madam president, every year is the year of the girl. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent the senate proceed -- i ask consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to -- got so excited -- the motion to reconsider be laid on the table there, be no intervening action or debate, any related statements be placed in the record as if given. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask we proceed to s. res. 394. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the c

mr. demint: thank you. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: i have a parliamentary inquiry. did senator demint use up his one minute that he had before the vote? the presiding officer: that's correct. mrs. boxer: all right. well, i would ask that i have an additional 15 seconds since he went over that much. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be one minute debate in opposition prior to a vote in relation to amendment 1756, offered by the senator from south carolina. mrs. boxer: so i'm asking for that. fine. i just think this is so critical. the demint amendment is the end of the federal highway and transportation system. it's a system that's been in place since republican president dwight eisenhower told us how critical it was. he said in the 1950's, "the transportation bill's impact on the american economy, the jobs it would produce in manufacturing, construction, the rural areas. iit would open up are beyond calculation. "ronald reagan said, "it has enabled our commerce to thrive, our country to grow, and our pe