mr. grassley: mr. president -- the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i'll respond to that simply by saying this: i'm talking about the institutions of the united states senate and not one single senator personally. i yield the floor, back the balance of my time, put the balance of my statement in the record. mr. leahy: mr. president, how much time do i have remaining? the presiding officer: the senator has 45 seconds. mr. leahy: mr. president, i yield to no member of this body in the fact that i uphold not only the rules but the courtesies of this senate. as chairman of the senate judiciary committee, i have never cut off a member of the other party who wished to speak, unlike some of the procedures that they followed when they held the chair. i have never refused to have a member of the other party bring up an amendment, contrary to the procedures they followed when they chaired it. mr. president, i believe in the senate. i believe in the rules of the senate. but especially i believe in the comity that thomas jefferson believed in in this bod

mr. grassley: mr. president, i didn't come to the floor to speak about the wind energy tax credit but i want to say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle i agree with them and they probably know i agree with them because i'm the author of the wind energy tax credit of 1992 and i often tell people when we worked so hard on that i didn't have the slightest idea that it would turn out to be such a big thing that iowa would be second in wind -- wind energy production in the nation, i think texas is number one. and for sure i didn't know that we would have manufacturing in our state as a result of it and we've had companies come from spain, from -- from germany, and then we've had from colorado or arizona component manufacturers have come to iowa and there's about 4,000 people, maybe 5,000 people employed in my state in that. so i hope that we can get it reauthorized. mr. whitehouse: would the senator yield for a question on that? mr. grassley: yes. mr. whitehouse: i not only salute what you've do

mr. grassley: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i suggest -- i ask that the calling of the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: madam president, i come to the floor to address my colleagues about a federal agency that has forgotten that this federal agency is supposed to be working for the american people. this is an agency that has gotten really too big for its britches. some of its officials have forgotten who pay their salary. the food and drug administration is supposed to protect the american people. except lately, the only thing that the f.d.a. bureaucrats seem to have any interest in is protecting themselves. according to whistle-blowers and published reports in "the washington post" and "the new york times," the agency in charge of safeguarding the american public and providing for the public safety has trampled on the privacy of its very own employees. the f.d.a. mounted an aggressive campaign against employees who would dare to question its actions and created what "the new

mr. grassley: mr. president, i ask that the calling of the quorum be suspended.officer without objection, so ordered. mr. grassley: for the last few weeks, it's been a routine practice here in the senate that we vote on consensus district court nominees most mondays. we've done so quite a number of times this congress and we could have done so again tonight. instead shall the majority leader has decided to pursue another course. rather than confirm what would have been the 155th judge tonight, the majority will instead engage in political activity, make no mistake, it's pure and simple, a political posturing situation and it is unfortunate. it is well-known that the practice and tradition of the national is to stop confirming circuit nominees in the closing months of a presidential election year. that is what we have done during the last number of presidential election years. i think that started in 1980, i believe. so that would be 20-32 years. in fact, today is july 30. if you go back, that number of years to find a presidential election year when we approved a

mr. grassley -- who's 78 years old -- would die. ooh.you to post when he might succumb to heart disease, diabetes, cancer or some other meat-related disease. i think you mentioned you have elk in your fridge? jenna: i am admitting that. it's good, too. harris, thank you. we'll be right back. , our current dividend tax rate will expire this year, sending taxes through the roof and hindering economic recovery. the consequences? millions of americans will see their taxes on dividend income spike, slowing investment in u.s. companies and jeopardizing development in energy projects that create american jobs. ask congress to stop a dividend tax hike -- for all of us. diarrhea, gas or bloating? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. an accident doesn't have to slow you down... with better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual insurance, if your car is totaled, we give yo

mr. grassley: i support the nomination of kevin mcnulty to be district judge, new jersey. although it is the practice and tradition of the senate to not confirm circuit nominees in the closing months of a presidential election year, we continue to confirm consensus district judge nominees. today's nominee is such a consensus nominee and he will be the 153rd nominee of this president confirmed to the district and circuit courts. i continue to hear some of my colleagues repeatedly ask the question what is the difference about this president that he has to be treated differently than all these other presidents? that's a question we often hear. i won't speculate as to any inference that might be intended by that question, but i can tell you that this president is not being treated differently than previous presidents. any objective measure this president has been treated fairly and consistently with past senate practices. example, with regard to the number of qirmingz, let me put that in perspective for my colleagues with an apples to apples comparison. as i mentioned, we have

mr. grassley: mr. president, it's my privilege to introduce pastor john fuller to my fellow senators, and i thank pastor fuller for opening the senate with prayer. it's my privilege to highlight my home pastor and church. pastor fuller and his wife kay are visiting the nation's capital this week. since 1998, pastor fuller has been the senior pastor at prairie lakes church in cedar falls, iowa. pastor fuller is a native of iowa. his family moved to sheridan, wyoming, when he was in eighth grade. he graduated from high school in sheridan. he played both high school and college football. he is to this day obviously a die-hard bronco fan. you won't know that, but i sure know it. he is a 1986 graduate of the university of sioux falls, and a 1990 graduate of denver seminary with a masters in divinity degree. he was an associate and preaching pastor at the first baptist church, forest city, iowa, before coming to cedar falls. he came there in 1998 at prairie lakes church and been senior pastor. i've been wors

mr. grassley: the senate passed a farm bill a few weeks ago, pretty good farm bill. the house agriculture committee has reported out of its committee a farm bill. and now the discussion of whether or not we have a farm bill is a decision to be made by the leadership of the house whether or not a farm bill should come up. so i want to speak about the necessity of a farm and nutrition bill being passed. and it is called a farm and nutrition because about 80% of a farm bill expenditures is related to the food stamp program. if we can get this bill completed and to the president's desk, it will be the eighth farm bill that i have had a chance to participate in. every five years or so, congress debates, changes, argues over and ultimately passes a farm and nutrition bill, not always of that title but pretty much of that content. this time should be no differe different. we need to get the job done. i understand that there are folks who want to see more cuts here or there and there are folks who want to spend more here or there. those are very important discussions to have

mr. grassley: i didn't come to the floor to feek speak about the farm bill because i did that yesterday but i want to assure the senator from colorado i listened to everything he said and i agree with him and that was my plea maybe in a little broader context yesterday, asking that -- that the house of representatives take up the bill, and i also said about the same time being that the house brags legitimately so about being fiscally conservative so i agree with what the senator from colorado said about this may be the only opportunity, and presumably will be the only opportunity to pass a farm bill or any bill that saves money from previous programs of previous years so i compliment the senator from colorado. mr. president, i come to the floor to discuss what i consider a disturbing trend that is occurring in this country. a vicious attack is underway on the right to freedom of speech that is protected by the first amendment. it needs to be highlighted and hopefully will stop. free speech is one of the most important rights that americans enjoy. speech on public issues is the way that demo

mr. chairman, ranking member grassley, and everyone here today, thank you so much for allowing us to be here to talk about protecting the voting rights of all americans. the committee is engaged in enforcing the right to a vote of their litigation and advocacy to reach the support of practices and better intimidation. i want to thank you 43 introducing this bill that we have supported. i am happy to respond to any questions. as previously stated, this is intentionally discriminating with false information with the purpose of influencing the outcome of an elections. as technology becomes this, and it reaches a wider audiences. i want to showcase a couple of ones that have already been mentioned. one here in texas. this does speak to the challenges that we face telling people when to vote, telling them the wrong information on a republican versus a democratic ticket. we have a another flier stating that due to a larger turnouts they must vote on december 5. republicans and their supporters may vote on november 4. this is a deceptive practice. it is not protected speech. they have documented th

mr. chaffetz: i appreciate the great work senator grassley's done on this bill. i urge its adoption. i think we can do so in a bipartisan way and urge a yes vote. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass senate bill 300 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended -- mrs. maloney: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york. mrs. maloney: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition? mr. chaffetz: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 828 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 828, a bill to amend title 5, united states code, to provi

mr. grassley: i ask that the calling of the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: i come to the floor at this point to counteract an -- and add substance to some things that the majority leader said today in regard to taxes. recently, the congressional budget office released an update to its report on average effective tax rates. several of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have pounced on this report, claiming that tax rates are at historic lows. just this morning in a floor speech, the majority leader said the lowest tax rates in 30 years was -- quote -- "thanks to president obama, who has consistently fought to lower taxes for the middle-class families over the last three and a half years" -- end of quote. however, the majority leader and others of his political party are only telling half the story. the report also shows that incomes of households in all income groups have declined by an average of 12% since 2007. this means, then, that the -- that americans are 12% poorer than they were in 2007