mr. franken: absolutely . mr. durbin: i believe the senator from oregon would like to make a very brief statement for the record . mr. franken: sure . okay . the presiding officer: the senator from oregon . a senator: the vote was closed as i was coming in the door . mr. merkley: had i been here i would have voted against cloture i want that to be a part of the record . thank you, mr. president . mr. franken: mr. president, i ask to speak as if in morning business for 25 minutes . the presiding officer: without objection . mr. franken: i ask unanimous consent that anna henderson, a fellow of my staff, have privileges on the floor during today's session . the presiding officer: without objection . mr. franken: thank you . mr. president, i rise today to talk about climate change, but i first do want to say how pleased i am that we just got cloture to move to debate on the marketplace fairness act . i'm a strong supporter of the legislation, as i said; i'm a cosponsor and look forward to the upcoming debate on this,

mr. franken: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota is recognized. mr. franken: mr. president, i -- the presiding officer: the senator is advise that we are current any a quorum call. mr. franken: i would ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. franken: thank you. i rise today to discuss the confirmation of mary jo white. ms. white has had an impressive career from prosecuting terrorists and white-collar criminals as u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york to heading a large litigation department in private practice. there is little doubt that ms. white has the wall street expertise necessary to navigate the complex issues before the s.e.c. but i come to the floor today to discuss a critical problem that i've asked ms. white to prioritize as chair of the s.e.c. currently when a bank issues a structured finance product, it needs to get the product rated by the credit rating agencies and the banks pays them for the ratings. the banks have an interest in getting high ratings, of course, and the credit r

mr. franken: i ask the consent for debate only be extended until 8:30 p.m.and that at 8:30 p.m., the majority leader be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. and now i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the manchin-toomey amendment and rule 715 be set aside. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. reid: we are. one of those rare occasions. i ask consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the manchin-toomey amendment number 715 be set aside, the following amendments in order be called up. grassley substitute amendment consistent with the summary which is at the desk, leahy-collins 713 trafficking, cornyn 719 concealed carry, feinstein 711 assault weapons, clip bans, veterans guns. that's numb

franken: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: mr. president, rise today in support of legislation that will level the playing field for brick-and-mortar retailers in minnesota and across our nation. i've joined my bipartisan group of friends, including senators durbin, enzi, heitkamp, and alexander in support of the legislation we're debating this week, the marketplace fairness act. it will simply allow states to help their brick-and-mortar retailers including the mom and pop shops on main street stay competitive in a marketplace be with online sales have become a fact of life. this legislation is a commonsense measure that brings our sales tax laws into the 21st century. in minnesota, the retail industry includes nearly half a million workers, about one in five jobs in our state, and those retailers need to compete on price and on service every single day. but the current sales tax system makes it impossible for them to compete on an even playing field. take michael norby, who hones a department store in downtown detroit lakes, minn

mr. chairman. want to apologize to her pin on us. i want to concur with what senator franken said. trout is one of the manifestations we are seeing in terms of climate change. we see flooding, extreme weather disturbance is, he faced taking people's lives all over the world. i have to say when history looks back at this particular moment, our kids and grandchildren are going to ask us where were we? webber would not moving aggressively but the problems that exist today and will only get worse in the future. this is one of those issues that have not gotten attention it deserves and i look forward to working with you. >> we are going to change that. were going to cover witnesses now. we also have the good fortune of having senator merkley who is the number of public works to great expertise and experience in this area also to be part of this. we look forward to all the views expressed this morning. let's begin with michael l. conner. >> thank you, mr. cha% >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'm pleased to provide testimony regarding the effects of drought and energy and water management and

franken? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i just want to take a moment to respond to those who say that immigration is such a complex problem that we can't address it with a comprehensive approach. i believe the complexity of this problem and the connectedness of the issues involved in immigration speaks to the need for a comprehensive -- for comprehensive reform. take, for example, border security. i know that border security is critical, and that is why i am very happy to see the strong provisions in this bill are in it. but if all you did was secured the border with a 10-foot wall, if there is still a market for undocumented labor, you would create this huge market for 11- foot ladders. so, you need to verify -- you need to be able to verify workers. mr. connor, mr. rodriguez, first of all i want to congratulate you on working with each other. mr. connor, one of the aspects on this bill is the delayed phase-in of the employment verification requirements. aquaculture employers are not required to participate in the e-verify

mr. chairman. i want to apologize to the panelists. i have to run. i want to concur with which senator franken said. ought is one of the manifestation we're seeing in term of climate change, flooding, extreme water disturb, heat waves that are take people's lives all over the world. i have to say, mr. chairman, i think when history looks back at the particular moment, our kid and grandchildren, great grandchildren are going ask where were we? why we were not moving aggressively to prevent the problems existing today that we know are only going get worse in the future. it's one of the important issues that have not gotten the attention. >> we are going to change that, senator sander. thank you for your leadership. we are going to our witnesses now. you can see the enormous interest here in the panel. you also have the good fortunate of having senator not a member of the committee. but member of the environment and public works. thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, member of the committee. i'm mike, commissioner. i'm pleased to provide testimony. on a personal level it's a pleasure and privilege to g

franken. chairman.ou, mr. i want to thank you for your department's response to the boston bombings. arethoughts and prayers with you. you did an outstanding job in quickly tracking down and capturing the perpetrators. thank you for your work. i will focus on some things that i'm worried about in the bill. is a giantl package step forward. ringtone] sorry. i believe this is going and long way to fixing a broken immigration system. it will help minnesota of businesses and families. my first question is about the e-verify mandate in the bill. will hurtat errors small businesses. big companies have the resources to deal with this. smallm worried about the family business were the human resource department may also be the accountant and sales force and your spouse. you don't have the time to deal with a system that is not working 100% properly. businesses in minnesota employs 20 people or less. the department says one legal authorized worker is wrongly rejected, at least temporarily. that rate is lower than the last independent audit. will the department be able to maintain this error ra

franken. >> thank you mr. chairman. i just want to take a moment to respond to those who say immigration is such a complex problem that we can't address it with a comprehensive approach. i believe the complexity of this problem and the connectedness of the issues involved in immigration speak to the need for a comprehensive reform. take for example border security. border security is critical and i'm not very happy to see the strong provisions in this bill are in it. but if all you did was secure the border with walls if there is still a market for undocumented labor you would create this huge market with 11-foot ladders. and so you need to verify, you need to be able to verify workers. mr. connor and mr. rodriguez first of all i want to congratulate you in working with each other. i think it's a great thing. mr. connor one of the important aspects of the bill is the delayed phase-in of the employment verification requirements, add culture employers aren't required to participate in the e-verify program. four years afte

in the meantime, senator franken. >> thank you, mr. chairman. before i begin, secretary, napolitano, i want to thank you for your department's response to the boston bombings, our thoughts and prayers have been with you and all law enforcement and national security professionals in boston and across the country. you did an outstanding job and -- in quickly tracking down and capturing the perpetrators. thank you for your work. turning to immigration reform, aye going to focus my questions on some things i'm a little worried about in the bill but i ust want to be clear that this overall package is a giant step forward. a giant step forward. sorry. excuse me. i really believe this is going to -- going a long, long way to fixing a broken immigration system and it will help businesses and families alike. my first question, madam speaker, is about the -- madam secretary, is about the e-verify mandate in this bill. i'm worried that errors in the system are going to hurt legal workers and small businesses, big companies have the resources to deal with t

franken. >> thank you, mr. chairman. before i turn to my question, i want to say i'm glad to see you here. dr. flemming, a lot of -- i know who support immigration reform do so out of see it as an issue of faith. at this point, mr. chairman, i would like to enter in to the record a list of three dozen tsh actually three dozen plus one minnesota faith groups that support immigration reform. if you look through the list you will see lutheran and muslim and catholics and jews, episcopal, methodist, you name it. thank you. a lot of minnesota people adopt just think it was a smart thing to do. they think this is the right -- morally right thing to do. mrs. lichter, the bill we are debating will make e verify mandatory for all employers. fortunately the last independent audit of the system revealed it wrongly we are jected the legal -- rejected the legal worker about one out of every one out of 10 times. it sound that time. it wouldn't be acceptable for you, your credit card errors or starting your car. i'm wondering how it affects smawz. a business that doesn't have a big hr or human resources

franken. > thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank you for your department's response to the boston bombings. our thoughts and prayers are with you. you did an outstanding job in quickly tracking down and capturing the perpetrators. thank you for your work. i will focus on some things that i'm worried about in the ill. this overall package is a giant step forward. sorry. i believe this is going and long way to fixing a broken immigration system. it will help minnesota of businesses and families. my first question is about the e-verify mandate in the ill. i worry that errors will hurt mall businesses. big companies have the resources to deal with this. but i'm worried about the small family business were the human resource department may also be the accountant and sales force and your spouse. you don't have the time to deal with a system that is not working 100% properly. ne if five businesses in minnesota employs 20 people or less. the department says one legal authorized worker is wrongly rejected, at least temporaril

franken. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank you for your department's response to the boston bombings. our thoughts and prayers are with you. you did an outstanding job in quickly tracking down and capturing the perpetrators. thank you for your work. i will focus on some things i'm worried about in the bill. this overall package is a giant step forward. [phone ringtone] sorry. i believe this is going and way to fixing a broken immigration system. it will help minnesota of businesses and families. my first question is about the e-verify mandate in the bill. i worry that errors will hurt small businesses. big companies have the resources to deal with this. but i'm worried about the small family business were the human resource department may also be the accountant and sales force and your spouse. you don't have the time to deal with a system that is not working 100% properly. one if five businesses in minnesota employs 20 people or less. the department says one legal authorized worker is wrongly rejected, at least

senator franken, and the children of filipino world war ii veterans, and we are joined at this hearing by some of our filipino world war ii veterans who have been separated from their children. mr. chairman, i look forward to continue discussions and the opportunity to improve this legislation. there have already been comments on the visa program, which i support, and i yield the remainder of my time. thank you. >> thank you, and i thank everybody who has been here. this has been a good hearing. we are arranging the times for secretary napolitano to be here. i think all of us realize with what is going on by the secretary of homeland security is at homeland security, even as i receive ongoing briefings the circumstances there -- should be. i thank everybody for taking the time, and we will have another hearing on monday. we are arranging another day for secretary napolitano. i think the two witnesses who came here to rearrange their schedules on short notice. appreciate it. it is what makes the committee work. i would also note for the record that as you go back over your notes on what to do and to any of your answers, i will keep the record open for that. we're not playing a g

mr. chairman. thank you for your willingness to serve. i have a series of questions. if i may, senator franken mentioned the importance of energy resort. and would you be willing to work closely with senator coons as we work this next year with 35 republicans and 35 democratic senators and finally sponsored by the democratic leaders and to do so in a way that we reduce any program, duplications, and ensure that we are functioning as efficiently as possible? >> yes. you mentioned the tax credit. i believe that was about 10 years. do you think about still should be in place? >> well, it is not in the realm of the department of energy,. >> is that probably a good -- wouldn't it be a wiser use instead of having that tax credit in place for oil or gas or others -- when we want to double the amount of research and energy? >> well, i think that we are really focused on the research area and there is no question, as we said earlier, that we have substantial capacity to increase our research effectively. >> okay, we are talking about linkage in the blue ribbon commission. am i correct that the report,

mr. president, i would like to also thank the 23 cosponsors of this legislation. they are in alphabetical order, richard blumenthal, senators boxer, cardin, carper, collins, durbin, franken, gillibrand, harkin, hirono, klobuchar, lautenberg, levin, menendez, mikulski, murphy, murray, reid, rockefeller, schatz, warren and whitehouse. i am very grateful for your and for their willingness to step up, show courage, and do what's right for america. mr. president, there are all kinds of issues that we confront as members of this great are senate. there are issues of national security, the economy, health care, immigration, all tough issues. people often ask me why i care so much about assault weapons, why i have stayed with this issue for more than 20 years now? the answer is this: in my view, the proliferation of this specific type of weapon goes to the heart of what kind of society in which we want to live. it goes to what kind of culture we're going to raise our children in. and that, mr. pres, brings us to the horrific massacre at newtown, connecticut, four months ago. sandy hook -- and a lot has been said about it, but i can't forget it. sandy hook was a safe school in a

senator franken, and the children of filipino world war ii veterans, and we are joined at this hearing by some of our filipino world war ii veterans who have been separated from the children. mr. chairman, i look forward to continue discussions and the opportunity to improve this legislation that all -- legislation. they're already been comments on the visa program, which i support, and i yield the remainder of my time. aycock. >> thank you, and i think --erybody who has spent e who have been here. this has been a good hearing. we are arranging the times for secretary napolitano to be here. i think all of us realize with what is going on by the secretary of homeland security, is at homeland security. ongoingi received briefings of the circumstances there, should be. i thank everybody for taking the time, and we will have another hearing on monday. day forrranging another secretary the pot,. i think the two witnesses who came here to rearrange their schedules on short notice. appreciate it is what makes the committee work. i would also note for the record that as you go back over your notes on what to do at to any of your answers, i will keep the record open for that. we're no