mr. franken, let he say exxon and smell may be making record profits but according to a study recently done by the greater new orleans ink, 41% of our oil and gas independent operators and service companies, i'm not talking about exxon and shell that have operations all over the world, i'm talking about companies in the gulf coast in texas, mississippi, louisiana, alabama. let me tell you what the studies show about their profits. 41% of them are not making a profit at all. 70% have lost significant cash reserves. 46 have moved operations away from the gulf and 82% of business owners have lost personal savings as a result of the slowdown. part of it is the accident and part of it is the permitorium. i can tell you the reality in the gulf coast is not there. that is one point that i wanted to make. secondly, and i'll get to a question in a minute, this 4% of an acre is being proposed for nonpropofol duesing leases, can you explain where that -- how much money that would raise, where it would be going? because we're already experiencing an increase of fees, a decrease in permit. we don't know

mr. franken: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today also to pay tribute to my colleague, the senior senator from maryland, barbara mikulski. as everyone has said, this is -- this is a landmark, this is a milestone, the longest woman senator -- member of congress in the history of congress, serving more than 35 years. let me just say this. as a relatively junior member of this body, i love barbara mikulski. i love her because she calls me "franken." that is just music to my ears. we're in the caucus lunch and i may be in her way, she goes, "franken!" she's -- i'm not only a relatively junior senator, i actually kind of recently was a comedian at one point, and she's really funny, barbara. i remember the first time i saw her speak -- it was years ago, years ago. i was at some -- i can't remember what event was. and i'm going to try to quote her joke. it was her joke, remember, about herself. and she said that she talked about her first campaign ever. and i think it was for city council or so

mr. franken: mr. president, i would ask that the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. franken: mr. president, i come to the floor today to talk about my amendment to the transportation reauthorization bill that i have introduced with senator blunt. i am grateful this amendment has been included in the base bill of leader reid's substitute amendment. mr. president, i will take just a couple of minutes to explain this amendment. it's really a simple, commonsense amendment, and i'm glad it has been accepted. it's also of particular significance to my home state of minnesota. on august 1 of this year, we will mark the fifth anniversary of a tragedy in my home state, the collapse of the interstate 35-w bridge in minneapolis. the collapse killed 13 people and injured 145. that tragedy should have been a wake-up call in america and in this body. bridges should not collapse in the united states of america. unfortunately, the state of many of our bridges today is still extrem

mr. franken: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: thank you, madam president. i'd like to associate myself with the words of the senator from california and commend her for the tremendous work she did on the transportation bill, a bipartisan bill that passed overwhelmingly here in the senate. madam president, i'd like to join many of my colleagues who this week are talking each a little bit about the affordable care act which tomorrow celebrates its second anniversary of being signed into law by the president. even though the law won't be fully implemented until 2014, millions of americans and minnesotans are already enjoying benefits from important provisions in the law. for example, no child in minnesota, no child in new hampshire, no child in america can now be denied health insurance coverage because he or she has a preexisting condition. parents across minnesota and around the country can sleep a little bit easier knowing that if their child gets sick, they'll still be able to get the health coverage they need. that's a

franken. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this is pretty awful hearing, frankly. i mean, high quality and thank you for holding it and thank you for your work, but this is some pretty awful conduct by the prosecutors, i think. just appalling. i want to ask a couple of questions about how to -- you've just been talking about this, how to get at fixing these kinds of problems. one thing i would like to know, first of all, do you think what the prosecutors did, is it illegal? or do you think -- do you think that we need to change the law, or do you think what they did was already illegal? >> i think what occurred with this case in a number of instances was in violation of an obligation imposed by the courts. >> right. thus? >> interpreting the constitution and so using your term broadly, i would have to say it was illegal. >> okay. so now -- okay, let's talk about what you were talking about in terms of brady violations and what to do about this. >> yes. >> you're talking about maybe taking out the material part and just say anything is exculpatory, a prosecutor woul

franken. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this is pretty awful hearing, frankly. i mean, high quality and thank you for holding it and thank you for your work, but this is some pretty awful conduct by the prosecutors, i think. just appalling. i want to ask a couple of questions about how to -- you've just been talking about this, how to get at fixing these kinds of problems. one thing i would like to know, first of all, do you think what the prosecutors did, is it illegal? or do you think -- do you think that we need to change the law, or do you think what they did was already illegal?

franken. >> thank you, mr. chairman. gentlemen, thank you for your texas we are kerntly working to reduce tax loopholes that benefit the top five oil companies, that benefit them to the tune of $2 billion plus a year. these companies made $137 billion in profits last year. the top five. let me repeat that. in a time of budgeary constraints american taxpayers are companies that make $137 billion in profits in one year. and they made nearly a trillion dollars of trafts over the last decade. we're looking to remove, again, $2 billion of tax loopholes. you would think that these company who is have the privilege to drill on oil rich stands that belong to the arena people would acknowledge that it's absurd to get a $2 billion subsidy when you're making billions of profits off of government lands. there are some in this baed who claim that getting rid of these loopholes will cause prices to rise. there will be less exploration. as it turns out last year they put $38 billion of their profits to just repurchasing their own stock

franken. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. secretary. as you well know, oil and gas companies are making record profits. in fact, the big five oil companies combined made a reported 137 billion in profits in 2011 and so i'm pleased that you have proposed a $4 per acre fee on leases that are not being used. there's a lot of leases that the oil companies have been granted by or by the federal government that they're not using and creates incentive for them to drill on these leases. i'm also pleased that some of the permitting expenses have been transferred to the companies. in light of that, i would like to ask you whether the $45 million ulsgs fund you intend t use to study ho dry fracking, will that also be paid by companies engaging in that activity in we had testimony from the commission i think that studied this and i wondered whether the companies that benefit from this would pay for that study. >> the answer to that, senator franken, is that the president is strongly supportive of research and development and developing the science.

franken? >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. secretary.ord profits. in fact, the big five oil companies combine make a record $137 billion in profits in 2011. so i am pleased you have proposed a $4 per acre fee on leases that are not being used. there's a lot of leases that the oil companies have been granted by the federal government that they are not using. and it creates incentive for them to drill on these least. i'm also pleased that some of the expenses have been transferred to the companies. in light of that i would like to ask you whether the $45 million usgs fund that you intend to use to study shell gas a moment for hydrofracking, will that also will be paid by companies engaged in this activity? we have testament from the commission i think was a study this, and i wonder whether the companies that benefit from this would pay for that steady? >> the answer to that, senator franken, is the president has strongly supported research and development in developing the science. in fact, much of the great boom and promised that we now h

mr. chairman, for giving me this opportunity and for your indulgence and for the ranking members indulgence as well. >> thank you very much, senator franken, for your statement. now before we go to dr. roby, let me call on our vice chairman to give his opening remarks. >> thank you very much mr. chairman, and i appreciate the patience of the members of our panel as we went through a series of roll call votes. i want to thank you for holding this important hearing. congress is holding a budget request for all-important programs including indian programs. from an enormous and growing deficit we look at the issues facing our country as we see on both sides of the aisle an agreement that there is no avoiding the problem any more and most if not all agencies and programs will be called on to participate in the solution. we all recognize that the federal government has important responsibilities. safety, education, health care. we all know that carrying out these responsibilities requires money. this year and into the foreseeable future decisions will receive increasing crew tiny. i look forward to the additional testimony on how this budget ad

franken. >> thank you mr. chairman. this is pretty awful hearing, frankly. i mean it is high-quality and thank you for holding it in thank you for your work, but this is some pretty awful conduct by the prosecutors i think. they are just appalling. i just want to ask a couple of questions about, and you have just been talking about this, how to get that be fixed on these kinds of problems. one thing i would like to know, first about you of all to you think what the prosecutors did is you know, is it illegal? or do you think, do you think that we need to change the law or do you think what they did was already illegal? >> i think what occurred in this case in a number of instances was in violation of an application imposed by the courts. >> right. >> interpreting the constitution and so using your term broadly, i would have to say it was illegal. >> okay so now, okay let's talk about what you were talking about in terms of brady violations and what to do about this. as we are talking about maybe taking out the material part and just say anything is exculpator

franken? >> thank you, mr. sherman. gentlemen, thanks for your testimony. we are currently working on this legislation to reduce tax loopholes of benefit of the top five oil companies to benefit them to the tune of $2 billion plus i hear. these companies and $137 billion in profits last year. let me repeat that. in a time of budgetary constraint, american taxpayers are subsidizing companies that make $137 billion in profits in one year and made nearly a trillion dollars in profits in both the last decade and we are looking to move again to hundred billion dollars worth of tax loopholes, and you would think the companies that have the privilege to trial on the land that belonged to the american people would acknowledge it's a little absurd to get a $2 billion subsidy from american taxpayers when they are making billions of profits off of government land, and there are some in this body who claim to getting rid of the tax loopholes will cause gas prices to rise and they claim the companies will do less exploration as a result. but as it turns out last year th

mr. martha but i think if you have a history of attacks, personal attacks, al franken does.ere is the guy. give money to somebody who is saying i don't like personal attacks, you can't accept the money, you can't, leslie? bill, if we break it down whether we look at rush if is he giving contributions to right. bill maher who has given a billion dollars to the president and we could go on from there. couldn't we find something negative that somebody has said or done both left or right who is contributing to these politicians campaigns. >> bill: why would we bother to look. why would you have gone on a witch-hunt whether you have an in-your-face situation. when you hear a comedian. you are a show business person you have heard a lot of stuff in your career. when you hear a show business person say demeaning things, shock jock stuff, that's what is he doing, all right? can you just say well, look, that's part of his schtick? that's how he makes a living howard stern does it, don imus does it we can't hold it literally against him? because that's the argument that's being made b

mr. martha but i think if you have a history of attacks, personal attacks, al franken does. the guy. give money to somebody who is saying i don't like personal attacks, you can't accept the money, you can't, leslie? bill, if we break it down whether we look at rush if is he giving contributions to right. bill maher who has given a billion dollars to the president and we could go on from there. couldn't we find something negative that somebody has said or done both left or right who is contributing to these politicians campaigns. >> bill: why would we bother to look. why would you have gone on a witch-hunt whether you have an in-your-face situation. when you hear a comedian. you are a show business person you have heard a lot of stuff in your career. when you hear a show business person say demeaning things, shock jock stuff, that's what is he doing, all right? can you just say well, look, that's part of his schtick? that's how he makes a living howard stern does it, don imus does it we can't hold it literally against him? because that's the argument that's being made by some

mr. chairman, for giving me this opportunity and for your indulgence and for the ranking member's indulgent as well. thank you. >> process is very much, senator franken, for your statement. let me call on our vice chairman to give his opening remarks. >> gracias a very much, mr. chairman. i appreciate the patience of the members of our panel as we went to a series of roll-call votes. once again, congress is examining a budget request all federal programs, including indian programs. we live on in the shadow of an enormous and growing spending deficit. as we see on both sides of the aisle, an agreement that there is no avoiding the problem anymore. most of not all agencies or programs would be called on to participate in the solution. we recognize the federal government has an important responsibility to indian country. public safety, education, health care just to name a few. we all know that carrying out these responsibilities requires money. this year and in the foreseeable future, agency decisions are going to receive the ever increasing scrutiny as you and i have discussed, mr. chairman. i look forward to the additional testimony on how this budge

franken. >> thank you mr. chairman. gentlemen, thank you for your testimony. we are currently working to pass legislation to reduce tax loopholes and benefits by oil companies to the tune of $2 billion plus a year. this company has made $137 billion in profits last year. let me repeat that. in a time of budgetary constraints, american taxpayers are subsidizing companies that make $137 billion in profits in one year. and they made nearly a trillion dollars in profits over the last decade. we are looking to move again, $2 billion worth of these tax loopholes and you would think that these companies who have the privilege to drill on the rich lands that belonged to the american people would acknowledge that it's a little absurd to get a tube billion dollar subsidy from american taxpayers when you are making billions in profits off of government lands. now there is some of this body claim that getting rid of these tax loopholes will cause gas prices to rise. they claim the oil companies will do less exploration as a result. but as it turns out last year, they put