mr. graham? mr. portman? mr. graham? mr. portman? mr. toomey? mr. johnson? ms. ayotte? mr. wicker? mr. corker? mr. purdue? mr. sanders? ms. murray? mr. wyden? mr. white house? mr. warner? mr. merkley? ms. baldwin? mr. kane? mr. king? mr. chairman? chairman: the amendment has failed. next is senator johnson's amendment. senator: 47 municipalities have declared bankruptcy. by estimates of underfunded liability is approaching $5 trillion. this amendment would prohibit the use of federal funds for bailing out state and local governments. i think it sends a signal that the hard-working taxpayers from other states should not be asked to bail out those other municipalities. chairman: opposition? senator: i think that nobody is interested in bailing out anybody. i think this is overly prescriptive. we do not know what may happen to a town or city in wisconsin or vermont or anyplace else. i would urge a no vote. chairman: i suspect a rollcall is required. clerk: mr. grassley? mr. sessions? mr. crapo? mr. graham? mr. portman? mr. toomey? mr. johnson? ms. ayotte? mr. wicker? sister corker? mr. pu

mr. graham. mr. portman. mr. graham. mr. portman. mr. toomey. mr. johnson. ms. ayotte. mr. wicker. mr. corker. mr. perdue. mr. sanders. ms. murray. mr. wyden. ms. stabenow. mr. whitehouse. mr. warner. mr. merkley. ms. baldwin. mr. kaine. mr. king. mr. chairman. mr. chairman, the yeas are 10, the nays are 12. mr. enzi: the amendment has failed. next, senator johnson's amendment. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. chairman. since 2010, 47 municipalities have declared bankruptcy. estimates of underfunded and unfunded liability in state and local pensions is is approaching $5 trillion system of this amendment simply prohibits the use of federal funds for bailing out those state and local governments, it sends a necessary and loud and clear cigna that hardworking american taxpayers from other states should not be asked to bail out those states and localities. mr. enzi: opposition? >> i think that nobody is particularly interested or anxious to be bailing out anybody. but i think this is overly prescriptive. we don't know what may happen to a town or city in wisconsin or vermont or any place else.

mr. graham. >> no. >> mr. portman. mr. johnson. >> mr. whitaker. >> no. >> mr. sanders. yes. >> mr. wyden. >> no. >> mr. warner. mr. merkley. mr. kane. >> aye. >> mr. chairman. no. >> they ayes are 10, the nays are 12. senator enzi: the amendment is defeated. senator enzi: that is what i will modify my amendment. >> all in favor, say aye. adopted. the sanders second amendment on minimum wage. senator sanders: the simple truth is millions of americans are working at numbers that are inadequate. if we are concerned about allowing low income people to live with dignity and earn enough money to take care of basic needs it is time for a substantial increase. i would ask you support that amendment. senator enzi: there really isn't any need to have any kind of fund to debate minimum wage. you can bring it to the floor under any circumstances. i would urge a no vote. >> rollcall vote. senator enzi: please call the role. >> no. >> mr. sessions. >> no. >> mr. gray. >> no. >> mr. portman. >> no. >> mr. johnson. >> no. >> mr. whitaker. >> no. mr. purdue. a>> misstep and mr. merkley. >> aye. >>

mr. graham. >> no. >> mr. portman. >> aye. >> mr. toomey. >> no. >> mr. johnson, aye. >> miss ayotte. >> aye. >> mr. cork? >> aye. >> mr. purdue. >> no. >> mr. sanders. >> mr. widen. miss stapen know. >> aye. >> mr. whitehouse. >> aye. mr. baldwin mr. kane. will king. mr. chairman. >> no. mr. chairman the ayes are 16 the nay, 6. >> that amendment is adepartmentopted. the next is the portman export amendment. i think there's a democrat side by side for this one. >> do you want to wait and do the side by side or do it now? i was told you want to wait. >> we better move up. >> are you ready? >> we are ready. >> side by side. >> side by side? >> no? >> one of us have. >> why don't we wait and do it when we have a chance to look at the side by side. >> we'll move that down on the list so everybody can recruit side by side. >> there's a modified -- to modify the amendment? >> see if you can get that. >> okay. >> next. the next amendment is the stabenow amendment. >> she's going to modify the change date. >> okay. >> mr. chairman. >> senator portman. >> in the i

mr. graham: thank you mr. president. i ask to be recognized for ten minutes. the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. graham: thank you very much. mr. president, i want to raise an issue before the body. i don't know how accurate the press reports are but apparently the chief of staff of president obama mr. macdonough today spoke in town to a group called jay street, which is an organization supportive of u.s.-israel relationship apparently, and here's what he allegedly said -- said. he basically said that an occupation that has lasted more than 50 years must end. so the chief of staff of the president of the united states, speaking in washington today called the israeli presence in the west bank an occupation. the chief of staff of the president of the united states is looking at a world completely different than the one i'm viewing. to mr. mcdonough and president obama, don't you realize that the last time israel withdrew in the middle east, palestinian-controlled territory was the withdrawal from gaza, and that when israel voluntarily lef

senator graham: jennifer and violet are very proud. [laughter] mr. grue: good morning and thank you, chairman graham, and ranking member leahy and members of the committee for allowing me to come today and talk to you about something which we are all very passionate about which is foreign aid and had a chance to get to know many of you. visiting clinics and hospitals around africa. and so i understand the kind of pushback you get here at times but i would share a business perspective on why i think foreign aid has been so effective and so important. by way of introduction, i may business person and spent 0 30 years in buying companies and owning companies with a team trying to make them bigger and more efficient, but i'm here because it has been more than the last 10 years working in africa in issues around health care, agriculture, education and specifically the last three years, i started an organization called born free, which is fighting the transmission of-- hiv from mothers to children. in my philanthropy, i follow three basic rules. i work on t

mr. chairman. sen. graham: senator bozeman -- bluesman from the great state of arkansas, thank you very much -- senator boozman from the great state of arkansas, thank you very much. mr. ford: i think that this applies to our collective continental benefit, and i was the ceo of a company until we sold it to verizon in 2005, and i worked in africa before that and i worked with the president of rwanda before that, and we discovered that we are outliers, we had a common philosophy around the role of the state and what it can and can't do and the role of business and what it can and can't do. i will sum it up, the crux of our conversation centered around a shared belief that we can bring safety and security and political fleet of -- political freedom and even religious freedom, but it is materially limited in the ability to bring economic freedom, it is the final fruit of the tree, if you will. economic freedom that is only created in the private sector when people who have learned how to organize and manage the f

mr. chairman the yeas are the nays are: seven. >> that is past. senator graham on defense. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this amendment plus is that the overseas contingency operations account a 38 billion to mirror what the house had done is offset and the argument made before it was in 2015 mr. manically wears that it was in 2011. what senator murray said about sequestration is true. it is effecting the f. e. i. cia a lot of programs affected but none more than the military and leon panetta in 2011. if you pull the sequestration trigger is the nation would it be like shooting yourself in the foot? he said no, it would be like shooting yourself in the head. i've never seen more threats, more safe havens in the more terrorist organizations, more money more capability, more desire to hit the homeland than i do now. this amendment is a step to try and stop that. >> opposition? >> chairman, this country went to war in iraq and afghanistan under president bush, but we didn't pay for that war. those wars will cost us between three and $6 trillion. my republican colleag

mr. graham: i'm sure you just made yourself a big hit in seattle. admiral? mr.vridis: we ought to look hard at what's efficient here. the tiny cost of this account is represented in the president's budget is pennies on the dollar. it's like preventive medicine which we've talked about a lot today. do you want to spend money on massive treatment once the disease has taken place? haas hard power. or would you rather have a program that's prevent i have, that looks at health on a day-to-day basis. that's soft power. it is much less expensive. you need both. there are times when you have to have hard power. but that balance between hard power and soft power, that's smart power. let's be smart and not cut the development and diplomacy tools, they are absolutely necessary. thanks. senator graham -- >> thank you senator. one of the most basic business tenets we learn early in our career is don't withdraw or blink when you're past the tipping point of success. mr. megrue: we've heard today national security and others. senator murphy asked earlier how to we explain this

mr. are graham: just to sum it up our foreign policy is in a free-for-all and it's incompetent in its core. no one can feel good about shia-led groups going in some tikrit with iranian command and control. if you know anything about iraq to hope -- the hope for iraq is for the seanies -- sunnis the shias and the kurds is to accommodate each others' interests and to work together. so when you see a shia-led effort against as you said, the sunni stronghold with iranian commander on the ground that was responsible for killing americans, and we think that's a good day for us, that's nuts. that's a bad day for america. now, let's just talk a little bit about the iranian nuclear negotiations. i did not sign senator cotton's letter until the president threatened to veto congressional legislation to make sure that we would have a say about relieving the sanctions we created. when president obama told the congress a bipartisan group was being formed, to make sure that congress would have a say about relieving the sanctions that we created that i will veto your efforts to have a say, then all bets w

mr. graham. senator graham: there you go. thank you for patiently waiting. [laughter] nobody is left behind. >> thank you very much, senator. >> thank you very much. >> great talk yesterday, great talk today. senator graham: well, you have been to both? i do not want to violate the geneva convention. >> no, no, we will not do that. senator graham: that was a lot of fun yesterday. >> yes, it was. you are the topic on a local radio station, they were talking about you on "meet the press" about e-mail, and they wanted to know about your opinion about e-mail. senator graham: i get all kinds of input and text messages, and i decide who to call. >> good for you. senator graham: not e-mailing has sent me from -- has saved me from sending a lot of dumb things. >> thank you. senator graham: thank you very much. oh great. thank y'all. questions? >> what you make of the timing of the menendez charges? senator graham: you know, they leaked the fact that he may have been charged. i hate it when that happens to anybody. i like bob, like everybody else he is innocent until

mr. graham. mr. toomey, mr. johnson, ms. ayotte. mr. wicker. mr. perdue, mr. sanders no. ms. murray, no. mr. wyden. ms. stabenow, mr. whitehouse. mr. kane, mr. king. mr. chairman. senator enzi: yes. the clerk: the yeas are 12 and the nays are 10. senator enzi: the amendment has failed. the next one -- the amendment is passed. the amendment is passed. sorry. next one is the kaine amendment. senator: this is an amendment to promote c.t.e. education co-sponsored by senators baldwin and portman. senator enzi: any opposition, seeing none. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. . it is passed. next the ayotte amendment and there is a democrat side-by-side on this one. has the side-by-side been distributed? senator: can i move my vote after. we are awaiting a ruling by the parliamentarian. can i move my vote until the end? senator enzi: there is a side-by-side which has been handed out already. two minutes of debate each side? senator: my amendment creates a neutral deficit reserve fund to america's treasures and grow our rural economies in a balanced way. the side-by-side ties

mr. chairman. sen. graham: senator bozeman -- bluesman from the great state of arkansas, thank you very much -- senator boozman from the great state of arkansas, thank you very much. mr. ford: i think that this applies to our collective continental benefit, and i was the ceo of a company until we sold it to verizon in 2005, and i worked in africa before that, and i worked with the president of rwanda before that, and we discovered that we are outliers, we had a common philosophy around the role of the state and what it can and can't do and the role of business and what it can and can't do. i will sum it up, the crux of our conversation centered around a shared belief that we can bring safety and security and political fleet of -- political freedom and even religious freedom, but it is materially limited in the ability to bring economic freedom, it is the final fruit of the tree, if you will. economic freedom that is only created in the private sector when people who have learned how to organize and manage the

mr. graham: exactly. so the point we're trying to make to the president and members of this body is that iran is on the rampage without a nuclear weapon. clearly they're not a moderate regime trying to live peacefully with their neighbors. they're trying to disrupt the whole mideast and have influence like any other time. here's what's going to happen: the arabs in the region are going to push back. they no longer trust us. remember when the head of the saudi arabian intelligence community said, it is better to be america's enemy than her friend. and we heard this twice in the mideast on our recent tour, that people believe iran is getting a better deal from america being her enemy than the traditional friends of this kufnlt country. so here's what's going to happen. turkey is going to align with the sunni-arab world and they're going to go after iran themselves and we're going to have a sunni shia war that you haven't seen in a thousand yours because without american learningleadership the whole place is

mr. graham?> guest: we felt this was somebody who who is underage it could've been under the implement and we were very sorry to think that there was no option for life without parole and we were able to argue for the reasons i just said that maybe their judgment was not being paired. it was just not present yet. and they might he rehabilitate up all and to convince the supreme court to at least not rule out the role for some of these individuals but not saying that everybody gets a free pass and there's parole for everyone. c-span: couple of statistics in your book every year -- between 12 and 17 are arrested for violent crimes than 100 juvenile sending the life without parole for non-murders. in the brief time we have left the chapter on sports and concussions, you describe what happens to the brain when you're playing football or you get your head knocked in a wrestling match. your son was an aptly? >> guest: they both were. they were wrestlers who wants to play football. c-span: what happens

senator graham: mr. perry: i get all kinds of input and text messages, but i decide who to call. i think i am in touch in other ways. [laughter] >> very nice meeting you. thank you very much. senator graham: so, thank y'all. questions? a news conference, i guess? whatever you all want to do. only can say is he wasn't charged officially. they leaked the navy charge, i hate it when that happens to anybody. i'd like -- like bob. like everybody else, he is innocent until proven guilty. he was a champion on the arabian nuclear issue. -- iranian nuclear issue. >> it may be political -- senator graham: i don't know but leaking a potential indictment -- leaking at all nobody deserves that. nobody wants to read in the paper that you may be indicted. i am just disgusted with the whole process. >> there is a big republican presidential field. you are not shying away from integration with primary voters. senator graham: you get any pollsters around here, when you ask primary voters if you should deport the 11 million and give them a chance -- were given the chance to pay taxes all of the thin

mr. graham: thank you.ying to secure america against threats. i will get to the heart of the matter. some people feel the prime minister should not be here at this time because in a couple of weeks there will be an election in israel. they have a parliament system. they do things differently. they vote for parties not people. they're having a real contest over there about who should be in charge and what coalitions will lead israel. i have got a very simple comment. that's not for israelis to decide. you decide who you want to run your country. you vote for the party or the groups of people that you think best represents your view of israel. that is your business, not mine. my business is to try to find out what's best for america when it comes to defending our nation. that's why all of us are here on the floor today. i don't think i can adequately do my job if i don't hear from the prime minister of israel if he's willing to talk to me. now, some people may be able to do that. god bless you. if you feel li

senator graham: mr. perry: i get all kinds of input and text messages, but i decide who to call. i think i am in touch in other ways. [laughter] >> very nice meeting you. thank you very much. senator graham: so, thank y'all. questions? a news conference, i guess? whatever you all want to do. only can say is he wasn't charged officially. they leaked the navy charge, i hate it when that happens to anybody. i'd like -- like bob. like everybody else, he is innocent until proven guilty. he was a champion on the arabian nuclear issue. -- iranian nuclear issue. >> it may be political -- senator graham: i don't know but leaking a potential indictment -- leaking at all nobody deserves that. nobody wants to read in the paper that you may be indicted. i am just disgusted with the whole process. >> there is a big republican presidential field. you are not shying away from integration with primary voters. senator graham: you get any pollsters around here, when you ask primary voters if you should deport the 11 million and give them a chance -- were given the chance to pay taxes all of the thin

graham. followed by senator toomey. >> thank you mr. chairman. this amendment will increase the account by $38 billion and i don't know if we have the charts on isil. anyway and 2011 we entered into sequestration and there is a chart somewhere around here i thought that would show you where isil is today in terms of the territory they hold. they didn't basically exist then so the reason i'm trying to increase right. they are probably coming there. the reason i am trying to increase the account is because the president has said we may leave more troops troops behind an afghan assembly plant. their 3000 soldiers today in iraq and the number is going to climb. if we are going to be successful overseeing contingency operations in 2015 are completely different in terms of what we expected in 2011 and we pay for this increased by taking the savings outside the ten-year window and moving them forward. i would like to yield to senator ayotte who has been a champion of this cause in trying to replenish our military spending. >> i'm a co-sponsor this amend

mr. graham: do your guest job if it's a good deal, we'll vote yes, if it's a bad deal, we'll say try harder. mr. hoeven: i'd ask for 30 seconds to wrap up. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hoeven: i'd like to thank my colleague from south carolina and new hampshire. this is a bipartisan effort to join with the administration and on a matter of this importance i believe congress must be involved. so again we would appeal to our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to join with us in this effort and i will conclude by saying we look forward very much to having the prime minister speak to us this morning. thank you mr. president. the presiding officer: for the information of the senate the chair makes the following announcement. the president pro tem of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives pursuant to the provisions of section 201-a-2 of the congressional budget act of 1974 have appointed dr. homer keith hall as director of the budget office effective april 1, 2015 for the term expiring january 3, 2019. the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: at 11:

graham said the same thing. did he provide muslims who have his ear? we will report in our truth serum segment wednesday. we're researching it right now. stafford ontario canada. mryou and dr. graham say we need to pray to overcome isis. why should that be necessary? does not god abominate such barberism? do you not live on this planet? jesus himself was destroyed by evil man. the upcoming film will show you exactly how that happened. good people are asked to fight the good fight against the forces of darkness. that's what it's all about in the theological world. and it's always been so. las vegas, you were mistaken when you said christians in the middle east are in danger, not the 160,000. good point. it's time to give war a chance. only thing terrorist and putin understand is force. slow down. putin can be hurt by tough economic sanctions. that's the way to go there. same thing with iran. isis another matter. they will have to be destroyed by force. jeff goldstein o'reilly, please don't have the world -- please don't have the would you buy them dinner segment on ever again. that's a bad idea. how about susan rice and jen psaki? we have a big roster of folks to

mr. chairman, i yield back. rep. thornberry: thank you. ms. graham. rep. graham: thank you mr. chairman, and thank you. secretary carter congratulations on your recent confirmation. general dempsey, thank you not only for your generosity of time but with new members in general, you have been very, very kind. thank you. first i would like to start, secretary carter, in 1915, 100 years ago this year, the mark 5 dive helmet, the trademark of diving, was created. military divers are located at a number of military installations around the country, including at the naval support activity center in panama city which is in my district. i had the opportunity to visit recently, and it's just phenomenal. with the 100th year upon us, mr. secretary, i would much appreciate if you would support the designation of 2015 as the year of the military diver, to honor those who are serving and have served and will serve as military divers for our country. gen. dempsey: well, first of all, thank you for hosting our folks and for supporting servicemembers in your district. we don't take it for granted, we're very appreciati

mr. chairman i yield back. rep. thornberry: thank you. ms. graham. rep. graham: thank you mr. chairman, thank you. congratulations on your recent confirmation. general dempsey, thank you not only for your generosity of time but with new members in general, you have been very, very kind. thank you. first i would like to start, secretary carter, in 1915, 100 years ago this year, the mark 5 dive helmet, the trademark of diving was created. military divers are located at a number of military installations around the country including at the naval support activity center in panama city which is at my district. i had the opportunity to visit recently, it'sus phenomenal. with the 100th year upon us, mr. secretary, i would much appreciate if you would support the designation of 2015 as the year of the military diver to honor those who are serving and have served and will serve as military divers for our country. gen. dempsey: well, first of all, thank you for hosting our folks and for supporting servicemembers in your district. we don't take it for granted, we're very appreciative of it. that sounds like

mr. chairman. >> senator graham? >> thank you all for your service. what's the morale in the marine corps like, general? >> senator, it is high. >> yeah. well it should be high. because you are the finest fighting force on earth. and i want to tell the marine and the navy better days are coming to the families. we're going to get our act together in congress. i don't know exactly how yet. but we will. we're not going to leave you hanging. we're not going take modernization off the table so you can't fight the next war effectively. and we're going to somehow solve the problem we've created. so just hang in there. keep your chin up and focused on the mission. general, do you agree weed be smart to leave a residual force behind in afghanistan if conditions require it? >> i do, senator. >> from a navy perspective, admiral, do you believe that the threats we face are growing as i speak? >> i do. absolutely. >> do both of you agree that there are more terrorist organizations with more capability, with more safe havens, with more weapons, with more desire to

mr. chairman, this is the effort -- that i believe even senator graham would support. that basically says let's kick the v.a. -- urge the v.a. a little bit. i again commend the great work so many have done to actually engage with more law schools around the country to create veterans law clinics to help these law students process the claims. it doesn't cost the taxpayer a dime helps the law students, helps the veterans. and the v.a. just needs to be a little more engaged in being promotive of this. i would urge a voice vote. >> any opposition? all those in favor say aye. opposed. the amendment is accepted. next is the ayotte amendment on energy. >> i have an amendment that would address very important provisions on energy deficit neutral reserve right providing assistance to those who are low income,. and also federal support for the land and water conservation fund. this fund will allow you to look at energy efficiency and how we deal with having we protect the environment.

mr. chairman. >> senator graham. >> thank you all for your service. whethers the morale in the marine corps like, general? >> senator, it is high. >> yeah. well it should be high. because you are the finest fighting force on earth. and i want to tell the marine and the navy better days are coming to the families. we're going to get our act together in congress. i don't know exactly how yet. but we will. we're not going to leave you hanging. we're not going take modernization off the table so you can't fight the next war effectively. and we're going to somehow solve the problem we've created. so just hang in there. keep your chin up and focused on the mission. general, do you agree weed be smart to leave a residual force behind in afghanistan if conditions require it? >> i do, senator. >> from a navy perspective, admiral, do you believe that the threats we face are growing as i speak? >> i do. absolutely. >> do both of you agree that there are more terrorist organizations with more capability, with more safe havens, with more wp weapons, with more desi

mr. chairman. i yield back. >> thank you. miss graham. >> thank you mr. chairman. and thank you, secretary carter and general dempsey. first, secretary carter, congratulations on your recent confirmation, and, general dempsey, i want to say thank you not only for your generosity of time before this committee but also with new members in general. you have been very very kind. so thank you. first, i'd like to start secretary carter, in 1915, 100 years ago this year the mark 5 dive helmet, the trademark of diving, was created. military divers are located a number of military installations around the country including at the naval support activity center in panama city, which is in my district. i had the opportunity to visit recently and it's just phenomenal. with the 100th year upon us, mr. secretary, i would much appreciate if you would support the designation of 2015 as the year of the military diver. to honor those who are serving and have served and will serve as military divers for our country. >> well first of all thank you for hosting our folks and for supporti

graham. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you, general. it's very -- so good to hear some good news. so thank you for your report. one thing that you stated is that the terrorist appeal has been undercut in afghanistan. that is something we need to figure out how do we bring that reality into other places in the region. my question focuses on local law enforcement. i'm aware that recently that prime minister ghani has changed the loaded of the local police force and what is the interact action between military and law enforcement? my husband those be law enforcement, and i know how important it is to have that close relationship. it's often those close toast us that can have the greatest impact on our behaviors. is the military involved in work with local law enforcement and do you see that as a positive development with the changes in law enforcement recently in kabul? thank you. >> thank you for the question. in afghanistan it really is -- we talk about pillars and the security pillars of the police and army two different pillars. i tell people when the pillars -- they work togethe

graham. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this amendment is not the oko amendment. i'm talking to senator toomey about that. that is this is the fund to be set up to help was our overseas diplomatic facilities. benghazi is an example of wish we had better security. the world is getting more dangerous by the day. i think we just closed our embassy at least temporarily in idonije. i'm the senate of the foreign ops subcommittee on appripriations and we have put 5 hnt 4 billion in for embassy security. construction maintenance and world side security protection. 46.4 above the budget request. we set aside 25 million as a source of fund inging to address emerging security requirements. this deficit neutral reserve fund would allow us to look throughout the government and try to find a bipartisan approach to put in more money in a diplomatic security, something i think we all understand we need. and it does allow not just spending cuts, but revenue, if we can work out a, an agreement acceptable to all of us. god knows what's coming our way overseas and to those who are in

graham. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this amendment is not the " amendment i'm talking to senator toomey about. that is this is the fund to be set up to help was our overseas diplomatic facilities. benghazi is an example of wish we had better security. the world is getting more dangerous by the day. i think we just closed our embassy at least temporarily in indonesia. i'm the senate of the foreign ops subcommittee on appropriations and we have put $5.4 billion in for embassy security. construction, maintenance and world side security protection. $46.4 above the budget request. we set aside 25 million as a source of funding to address emerging security requirements. this deficit neutral reserve fund would allow us to look throughout the government and try to find a bipartisan approach to put in more money in a diplomatic security, something i think we all understand we need. and it does allow not just spending cuts, but revenue, if we can work out an agreement acceptable to all of us. god knows what's coming our way overs

graham. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. thanks to each of you for your service to our country. first i would like to offer my condolences to the families of the seven marines and the four soldiers who lost their lives in training exercise in the gulf of mexico last week. anything that i can do in the second russian -- congressional district to help you out please don't hesitate to call for me or anyone on my team. my first question is for secretary mcsally, secretary mchugh and secretary james. one of my priorities is knowing efficiently engage militarily in current or future complex our servicemembers go into the fight with confidence that this country will take care of them when they return home. in 2007 the dole-shalala commission recommended the establishment of recovery care coordinators at both dod and va to care for wounded warriors. if god for bid servicemember should become severely injured or ill while serving our country and want to make sure that they know we will do everything in our power to give them the care they need when they return home. so i would like to le

mr. dupree, when you talk to us about immigration? -- will you talk to us about immigration? senator graham: hey you -- have you ever met an illegal canadian? i haven't either. you have, really? i have to talk to you. this is the first guy who knows an illegal canadian. you are on the canadian border. most come here in march to go swimming because no one else wants to go swimming in march in south carolina. we treat them well they turn blue, and go home. he like the experience, we like having them. the people here illegally came from poor, corrupt countries. they come here to work, don't you think? it is an economic issue. we have two borders. it is no accident one is not a problem. one has a rule of law nation and the sound of economy. the people coming year come from very bad places. had to 11 million people come here illegally? don't you think a lot of us look the other way? has anyone ever worked in a meat working -- in a meat packing plant? immigration is an economic issue, steve. if you do not secure the border you will have more people come. does that make sense? if he don't control

graham. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you, general.it's very -- it's so good to hear some good news. [laughter] so thank you for your report. one thing that you stated is that the terrorist appeal has been undercut in afghanistan. that's something that we need to figure out how do we bring that reality into other places in the region. but my question focuses on local law enforcement. i'm aware that recently that prime minister ghani has changed some of the leaders of the local police forces. and i was wondering what is the interaction between military and law enforcement? my husband happens to be law enforcement, and i know how important it is to have that close relationship. it's often to note those closest to us that can have the greatest impact on our behaviors. so is the military involved in working with local law enforcement? and do you see that as a positive development with the changes in law enforcement recently in kabul? thank you. >> thank you, ma'am, for the question. you know, in afghanistan it really is -- we talk about pi

mr. bennett, we appreciate you being here. i'm going to take it that by you nodding, you agree with most of the things senator graham said, but i'm going there seems to be two discussions here in washington one about iran with senator graham and one about the prime minister coming to the united states to speak to congress. which argument is most important? >> well, i think clearly the iranian threat is paramount. the deal that's being contemplated right now it's an unmitigated disaster. it's one of those events in history that 100 years from now, people are going to ask what were they thinking? this deal effectively legitimizes iran's uranium enrichment program it creates a path for them to get a bomb within several years. and this is unacceptable. you know, there's 20 different countries in the world that have nuclear power and they don't enrich uranium. you don't need to enrich uranium. iran, there have been six consecutive u.n. security council resolutions that says iran cannot enrich uranium at all, asknd they violated this. you violate u.n. admission and see then you get a prize where the u.s. says go ahead and do it. >>

mr. president last week senator graham and i introduced a senate resolution condemning the murder of my friend and a true russian patriot boris nemtsov. the resolution calls upon the russian federation to support an independent investigation into boris nemtsov's murder and to take immediate steps to end its oppression of free speech and justice. it also urges president obama to continue to sanction human rights 1r50eu89rights violators in the russian federation and to continue support to like-minded supporters in russia. i was devastated to hear of boris nemtsov's murder. with his death the struggle for free rights and human rights has suffered another blow. when the soviet union collapsed boris nemtsov was one of the earliest economic and political reformers. his leadership of russia's laboratory of reform eventually brought him to moscow where he served as deputy prime minister and was once a fasts for the -- and was once a favorite for the russian presidency. then russia took a dark turn when vladimir putin entered the kremlin. boris yeltsin was one of the first to warn of the coming putin

mrs. irene noa, wife of the late senator daniel inouye of hawaii, senator chris dodd of connecticut, ms. catherine states -- stevens, wife of the late senator ted stevens of alaska, senator bob graham of florida, senator paul kirk of massachusetts, ladies and gentlemen. welcome back to the senate. [applause] please be seated. i would like to ask members of the house of representatives with us today, including the massachusetts delegation to stand as a group and be acknowledged. [applause] thank you all for being here. please seated, and i also want to acknowledge the government leaders from the commonwealth and from the city of boston that joined us today, the lieutenant governor, attorney general healy, state treasurer goldberg, state president stan rosenberg state speaker of the house, and the mayor of boston, marty walsh. [applause] and especially pleased to see so many future senators in our midst, and there are 50 students here today as their badges show from every state in the nation and they will or being here, and, of course -- of course, our thanks to the kennedy family who made all of this possible. with the kennedys please stand up, all 370 of you? [laughter] [applause]

graham joins us. >> thank you very much. we are going to override his veto. >> you can get the votes. >> absolutely. enough democrats will say the following: mr.you negotiate the deal, you are the commander and chief, you are the president. when it comes to lifting congressional sanctions that we have created with 100 to 0 vote we are going to have a say before you lift those congressional sanctions. >> when this corker bill i think it's next week will be voted on. >> it may slip a little bit because they are asking until the end of the month to finish the framework agreement. >> what takes so long to write these things? really? >> when you are chasing the iranians around and trying to get a deal at all costs. >> you mean the fame work -- >> -- the iranians are are dragging this out. >> but what impact does that have on your bill? all you want is your say. so, you should get your bill in. >>> democrats are saying the following we are going to allow them to the end of the month to negotiate a framework agreement then all bets are off. >> okay. i still don't get like why you can't just get your bill done in the event that there is a deal struck.

graham and my bill would do. thank you very much. i yield the floor. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. gardner: i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. gardner: mr. president in 1893 cat lynn lee bates made her way up the slopes of pike's peak and wrote one of the greatest hymns poet sizing amber waves of

mr. president i know there's been an effort to use the overseas con continuing is i fund -- contingency fund. senator graham in particular has been very, very aggressive with that. but i will try to explain later if not now there are limitations. this fund is directed at our operations against al qaeda and the taliban under authorization for use of military force. to try to stretch this to build facilities in alaska for missile defense, it's quite a stretch. that's not what o.c.o. was designed for. it has become a valiant effort to put more money in, but the reality is we have to face up, as senator mccain and i suggested in our letter to the budget committee and raise the baseline number for the department of defense to a total, at least to a total that avoids the sequestration or beyond. that's a realistic way to do it, and we have to pay for it. and the cuts, i don't think should come out of non-defense to fund defense. this is an issue again, are you going to shortchange homeland security? are you going to shortchange other agencies that are critical to the defense of the united states? are you going to

mr. graham: so, mr. president i'm going to withdraw this amendment for now because i think we're about to get some reason regarding sequestration but if we don't i'm going to have an amendment for every 160 programs starting with our pay and we need to feel the pain we're inflicting on other people people. so i withdraw this amendment for now hoping we can fix sequestration. but if not we need to take the entire government and let it feel the pain, not just those who wear the uniform and who are doing work that this country needs to be done. so with that, i withdraw the amendment. the presiding officer:unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the amendment is withdrawn. there are two minutes of debate prior to a vote on the blumenthal amendment amendment 825. mr. blumenthal: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you mr. president. this amendment helps to keep faith with our veterans and t

mr. graham: as all of you know, the knesset meets in jerusalem. every political party in israel recognizes jerusalem as their gallon capital -- their capital, both political parties of the united states should do the same, that's where our embassy should be. mr. sanders: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i suggest a voice vote on that. the presiding officer: is there any further debate? hearing none, all those in favor say aye. those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the amendment is agreed to. there will now be two minutes of debate on the kaine amendment number 1047. mr. kaine: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that my amendment be modified with the changes at the desk. the presiding officer: the gentleman from virginia. is there objection? without objection. mr. kaine: thank you mr. president. the key budget issue we are grappling with is what will we do about sequester and the budget caps. all of us since march of 2013 have heard in our various committees about the