mr. franken: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from smin recognized. mr. franken: mr. president, i also respect my good friend from north carolina and i thank you for your vote on my amendment. and i think you're going to like some of my other amendments, too. i just want to take issue with one thing you said, and i think you said it in a moment that -- where if you thought about what you said, you probably -- probably might reconsider it. and you said that -- i had said that i've spent more time probably on this bill than on any other. and i've spent a lot of time on the affordable care act. and you said that if i had spent more time on this bill than any other, that's pathetic. and it's a pathetic commentary or sad commentary because we just got this bill the other day. the fact of the matter is -- and i think the senator would acknowledge this -- that work on any piece of legislation doesn't start when the bill's introduced. it starts -- my work on this bill started very soon after i arrived in the senate. it started with a bill that i co-authored with orren hatch,

mr. chairman? >> senator franken. on the side over here. >> is anybody over there? [inaudible] >> iges at title i. >> go ahead then, senator. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this is frank entitled to, amendment one. this is the school principal improvement and training amendment. and this is the amendment that senator bennet and i are putting forth. i've said many times in this committee that our job, despite examples of successful models and then find ways to replicate that success. one of the most common features of successful schools in low-income and minority communities is the presence of an effective school principal. research shows that school leadership is second only to teacher quality and its impact on student learning. and very often, the school leadership has a huge impact on teacher quality in terms of a track team and retaining and giving professional development to good teachers and of that principle does the opposite. yet, in spite of the importance of school leadership, the federal government has not put adequate quality of decibels in high need schools.

mr. chairman. senator franken, think you for inviting us here to discuss the effect of the recent recession on older adults. while the recession officially ended in june, 2009, the economy has experienced a weak recovery with unemployment still above 9%. older adults, particularly those close to or in retirement may not have the same opportunity as younger adults to recover from the recession and still a sure they would have sufficient savings for retirement. my testimony to the would present the work for the subcommittee on older americans wellbeing. our report which is being released today presents data from the various federal sources concerning the financial status of older adults. i'm accompanied by michael collins our assistant director for this project. things were not especially great for older adults in 2007 before the recession. we previously reported that older americans were heavily reliant on social security benefits with about one-fifth of the beneficiaries of a 65 receding more than 80% of their inc

mr. chairman? >> senator franken? >> any on this side over there? >> i just have title i. >> go ahead. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this is franken title ii, amendment 1. this is school principal recruitment and training amendment i would like to explain this is a amendment senator bennett and i are putting forth. i've said many times in this committee that the job despite the examples of successful models and then find ways to replicate that success. one of the most common features of successful schools and low-income and minority communities is the presence of an effective school principal. research shows school leadership is second only to teacher quality and its impact on student learning to read and very often the school leadership has a huge impact on the teacher quality in terms of attracting and retaining and giving professional development to get teachers and a bad principle was the opposite. yet in spite of the importance of school leadership, the federal government is not permitted adequate attention and resources to improving the quality o

mr. chairman. senator franken.hank you so much for inviting us here today to discuss the effects of the recent recession on older adults. while the recession officially ended in june 2009, the economy has experienced a weak recovery with unemployment above 9%. older adults, particularly those close to or in retirement, may not have the same opportunities as younger adults to recoffer from the recession's effects and still ensure they have sufficient savings for retirement. my testimony today will present the results of our work tar this subcommittee on older americans' well being. a report, which is being released today, presents data from various, mostly federal sources concerning the financial status of older adults. i'm accompanied by michael collins, our assistant director for this project. things were not especially great for older adults in 2007, before the recession. we previously reported that older americans were heavily relint on social security benefits with about a fifth of beneficiaries over 65 receivi

senators as follows -- reid of nevada, brown of ohio, schumer franken shaheen, hagan casey durbin, blumenthal conrad, whitehouse, harkin and inouye. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the amendment under quorum call rule 2 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to a period of morning business, senators allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session and consider calendar number 361. the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order to the nomination, that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the record, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 361 francis joseph rigadone jr. of massachusetts, a career member to be ambassador of the united states of america to the republic of turkey. the pres

mr. chairman, i remember having had several different hearings on this, and i appreciate senator franken bringing this amendment because it is a vulnerable population, the students that are very often overlooked. in 2008 we passed some legislation that would attempt to address the issue providing the transportation and sharing services with social service agencies. and i don't think that's had a chance to really take hold yet, and i'm hesitant to put further restrictions and requirements on state and school districts until we fully understand how that has worked. >> okay. that is a child welfare law, and it, the child welfare agencies really haven't done, and was a 2008 that was passed? okay. it can't put these requirements on school districts, and it takes two to tango. all i can say is, is that these kids who really have a tremendous amount of challenges, going from home to home very often, being the products of homes where there was abuse or drug use or that kind of thing, very often, you know, they find a school and it takes them away from, it breaks the continuity of their education

good friends, senators inouye, murray, udall of new mexico, begich, franken, johnson of south dakota, baucus, tester, and bingaman. mresident, native women across the country suffer from severe threats to their safety. according to a safety study by the department of justice, two in five girls and women in native communities will suffer domestic violence, and one in three will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. can you imagine looking through the loving eyes of your daughter, sister or mother and know that one of them will probably be abused in their lifetime? this is the terrible reality of life for native women and their families across the country. it is an epidemic. it is unacceptable. and we must stand against it. this is why i'm introducing the save native women act. most of those who commit these terrible crimes against native women are not native themselves. yet currently tribes have no ability -- no ability -- to prosecute nonnatives for domestic violence and sexual assault in their own communiti communities. this has resulted in a sense of lawlessness and leaves native women with few places to turn. m

mr. chairman? >> i did have senator krik, ben franklin, then -- then franken, then murphy. >> as i read the bill, we have six strategies. we allow transformation strategy, strategic staffing, -- this is page 128 through 133 -- strategic staffing, turnaround strategy, will school reform, restart strategy, and for closure. those are the only ala. -- allowed. in my state, illinois, and the north chicago school district does not sit these strategies -- the north chicago school district is not fit the strategy is. the problem there was theft and an fbi investigation. i have enormous faith in arne duncan. a lot of the foundation that he has put in mayor rahm emanuel has put in. this is the number one issue in chicago. much of what rahm is doing in chicago does not fit the strategy is either. i think the state of illinois, when it took over the north chicago school district, was handling a unique situation of an fbi investigation and corruption, and what mayor emanuel is doing is fairly unique, and i think arne should have the ability to sign off on the. i think it is a good amendment, and let's call this

mr. schumer: i'd like to speak on two other subjects until senator leahy arrives. first i rise in support of a bill that i'll be introducing along with senators leahy, gillibrand, franken senate is also passing today by unanimous consent is truly unique because it accomplishes three incredibly important objectives at the same time. it ensures that approximately 5,600 disabled refugees will not lose critical life-sustaining benefits that is their only safety net, protecting them from homelessness, illness and other effects of extreme poverty. some of the disabled refugees this bill helps are people who aided american troops overseas in aircraft or afghanistan and -- in iraq or afghanistan. others are victims of torture or human trafficking whose injuries are so severe that they're now unable to sustain themselves without these benefits. the bill continues the bush administration policy of making sure that this vulnerable group does not lose their benefits, but unlike past bills the second key fact about this bill is that it's fully paid for. it's paid for by imposing a $30 fee on individuals applying to enter the country through the diversity visa lottery program. each

mr. franken: thank you, mr. chairman, for allowing me to ask a question. i just really want to know, because i've only been here two-plus years, but it seems to me that actually -- and from my perspective. this is my perspective -- that this committee has worked in a pretty functional way. it took a long time. we started having hearings on this -- how long ago was it? about a year and a half? mr. harkin: my friend from minnesota, it started at least a year and a half ago. maybe a year and three quarters ago. mr. franken: okay. during this whole period i talked with you. i have asked to see the ranking member and meet with him in his office to hell him what i want -- to tell him what i wanted to see in this bill. i agree with the senator from kentucky, who talked about there's just one test at the end of the year, and the kids don't -- the teachers don't get to see the results until the kids are out the door. i think that's terrible. and i'm offering an amendment that the ranking member referred to today. and i have gone all around my state since i've been

mr. chairman. senator franken, think you for inviting us here to discuss the effect of the recent recession on older adults. while the recession officially ended in june, 2009, the economy has experienced a weak recovery with unemployment still above 9%. older adults, particularly those close to or in retirement may not have the same opportunity as younger adults to recover from the recession and still a sure they would have sufficient savings for retirement. my testimony to the would present the work for the subcommittee on older americans wellbeing. our report which is being released today presents data from the various federal sources concerning the financial status of older adults. i'm accompanied by michael collins our assistant director for this project. things were not especially great for older adults in 2007 before the recession. we previously reported that older americans were heavily reliant on social security benefits with about one-fifth of the beneficiaries of a 65 receding more than 80% of their inc