mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask the calling of the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: this afternoon we're going to vote on the nomination of ms. burwell to be secretary of h.h.s. i'm going to support that nomination. i take the floor now to alert people to some problems that i think she's going to face and hopefully she can correct them. for starters, i hope everybody remembers checks and balances of the government. congress passes laws. the executive branch enforces them. it's our responsibility to make sure that those are enforced according to the intent of congress. when they aren't, we have a responsibility to point that out. that's what i will be doing. and i hope that these things i point out along with what other colleagues will be saying this morning, she will be able to correct. but we also have a situation where congress passed the affordable care act, and in that process the president has done a lot of things that some of us think are illegal and m

mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i come to the floor to address two issues, a shorter issue on immigration and a longer issue on the student loan program, particularly reference to the legislation that was offered earlier this morning. on immigration, this morning secretary johnson appeared before the judiciary committee. we had a chance to ask a number of questions related to the administration's release of 36,000 criminal aliens, for what reasons the department voluntarily did release them and especially convicted murderers and what they're doing to track down and keep track of where these people are. i didn't get answers but the secretary committed to respond in writing about the matter, and i thank him ahead of time for doing that. i also asked about data on countries that refuse to cooperate in taking back their nationals. today i'm introducing a bill with senator inhofe to fix the situation and allow the government to detain foreign nationals that pose a threat to our homeland. i have already inserted

mrs. grassley, his wife's travel,

mrs. grassley, his wife's travel, and that may be inappropriate so she referred it to some of her colleagues and said we should give it closer scrutiny. republicans say out of all the thousands of emails they are looking for, they have this email, imagine what her instincts were in other cases because her first instinct in this case was to go after a sitting republican united states senator democrat say the system worked. her colleagues talked her down and didn't go any further with it bottom line they have gone through all the emails that they have. still looking for other emails. kind of an ah-ha moment ways and means committee. not so much. we will let your viewers decide what they think. bottom line, the investigation continues, and this is the latest revelation out of the latest emails they actually have of lois lerner. greta? >> mike, thank you. let's take a loiser look at one of the just exposed lerner emails. on december 4th, 2012, lerner emailing colleagues will senator grassley writing: looked like they were inappropriately offering to pay for his wife. perhaps we should refer to i

mr. grassley: i ask that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: today i want to discuss with my colleagues the nomination of leon rodriguez to be director of u.s. citizenship and immigration service. mr. rodriguez was appointed on december 19. he was approved by our judiciary committee april 3 by a vote of 11-7. so i want to explain my opposition. first and foremost, mr. rodriguez lacks adequate immigration experience to lead this agency. i only say that because his nomination comes on the heels of a potential sweeping immigration reform legislation. when you read his responses to my questions, it becomes clear that he has little appreciation for what this job as director entails. he basically says that he has a lot of studying to do. i think with the situation of immigration in this country, the need for immigration reform, that we need to do better than have a director of the agency who says that he has a lot of studying to do. second, his previous experience with casa de maryland is a concern as well. he was a member of the board of di

mrs. grassley, his wife's travel, and that ma

mr. grassley: i ask permission to speak for 10 or 11 minutes in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: i come to the floor today to praise the supreme court's decision to strike down president obama's illegal recess appointments. article 2, section 2, of the constitution provides for only two ways in which the president may appoint certain officers. first, it provides that the president nominates with the advice and consent of the senate, appoints various officers. second, it permits the president to make temporary appointments when a vacancy in one of those offices happens if the senate is in recess. on january 4, 2012, the president made four appointments. they were purportedly based on the recess appointments clause. he took this action even though they were not made, in the words of the constitution, during the recess of the senate. these appointments were blatantly unconstitutional. they were not made with the advice and consent of the senate, and they were not made during the recess of the senate. in december and january of

mr. grassley that are revealed and this could make for an interesting summer. >> mark halpern, this doesn'tresident. nobody has suggested that and nobody is suggesting that here. perhaps an investigation will show that while he was watching "sportscenter," he laughed one night and went, ha, ha, let's target republicans. i don't think that is going to happen. >> give me the lerner line! >> give me the red phone to lois lerner! i don't think that is going to happen. that said, it is his administration and it is his treasury department and it is his irs. any talk that this president is considering firing somebody over there? how can he sit back and allow this to continue to happen? >> well, i mean, he has spoken out about his concern and expressed some outrage early on and then he shifted to a posture saying we know the facts and there is nothing here that is political. it's more bureaucratic and accidental. i think it would be smart for the president to revisit it. >> but revisit it after he found out the chairman of the ways and means committee conducted, sent over a letter saying we are goi

mrs. grassley to the event and they should instantly refer this for closer examination. sic'ing the irs on nor grassley. republicans say if she was ready to go after the former chairman of the finance commiee imagine what she was whimming to do to the less powerful across the country. bill: how is senator grassley reacting to this? >> he's concerned that's a mixup got the irs turning for extra scrutiny for somebody. he says this fuels the concern about the irs targeting republicans at the highest levels. we found this exchange and perhaps we'll find some more, then what's in the missing emails. bill: on the investigative front what's the highest on that. >> in the senate they have been doing a bipartisan investigation. after all this has come up in the house hearings. orrin hatch is pressing the chairman of the committee to hold an open hearing. hatch has also written letters to the attorney general and the head of the federal election commission and the treasury secretary trying to find out if they have any of lois lerner's emails. but do these other agencies have learne

mr. grassley: just last week, the majority leader gave his view that tax extenders as an issue is dead in the senate until the lame-duck session. i presume that means that we'll have a lame-duck session. the majority leader blames this on us republicans, the minority in the senate. but, as you all know, the majority leader is uniquely situated under our senate rules to determine what legislation will be considered on the senate floor. the majority leader's excuse that was given for not proceeding to extenders before a lame-duck session is that we republicans are seeking to offer amendments unrelated to tax extenders. and, of course, this excuse simply does not fly. even an introductory report on senate procedure from the congressional research service will tell all senators there is no -- quote -- "standing rule or general requirement that the amendments offered by senators on the floor must be germane or relevant to the bill being considered." as the i.r.s. report states and to further quote -- "the right to offer nongermane amendments is extraordinarily important because it permits sena

mr. grassley: i come to the floor to speak about the nomination of peter kazic to be assistant attorney general for legal affairs on the justice department. i happen to know that the majority leader hasn't yet filed cloture on this nomination but i expect that he will in the near future and so now i take the opportunity to speak about that nomination. it's no secret that i have concerns about mr.kadzik's nomination. i opposed his nomination in committee and will oppose it when it comes to a vote on the floor. the reasons are pretty simple. mr. kadzik has been acting in that position since april 2013 in the position -- in other words, in the very same position which he's been nominated for. this job is -- his job is to respond to questions from members of congress we've got a clear track record to judge his performance. that record has been dismal. letters go unanswered for mont months. then when answers come, they ignore or dodge the questions. even before coming to the justice department, mr. kadzik had shown a lack of respect for congressional oversight. while he was in private practice, he r

senator grassley? >> mr.secretary, i'm going to start with documents from your department that reveal that released about 36,000 convicted criminals awaiting of thoseon, 116 individuals were convicted of of 193e, with a total thecide convictions among 116 people. one conviction included willfully killing a public official with a gun. the courtims that decisions required the release of criminals who were convicted of the homicides. i've asked for evidence to prove that. that means that by its own departmenthe voluntarily set free an untold murderers. i'd like to know how that happened and have you may any effort to rewill indicate them. >> senator, first of all, i a letter from you on monday on this topic, which i intend to respond to promptly. a number ofd letters from members of congress on this and we've responded. are correct that a number of of ordersthe result from immigration judges, i believe you noted that in your opening remarks. also the case that a large number of these releases are after final ord

senator grassley. >> mr. secretary, i'm going to start with the documents from your department that reveal that i.c.e. released about 36,000 convicted criminals awaiting deportation, 116 of those convicted of homicide, with a total of 193 homicide convictions among that 116 people. one conviction even included willfully killing a public official with a gun. i.c.e. claims the court decisions required the release of criminals convicted of 72% of the homicides. i've asked for evidence to prove that. but that means by its own admission the department voluntarily set free an untold number of murderers. i would like to know how that happened and have you made any effort to relocate them? >> senator, i received a letter from you on monday on this topic which i intend to respond to promptly. i received a number of letters from members of congress on this and we've responded. you are correct that a number of these are the result from orders from immigration judges. i believe you noted that in your opening remarks. it

and the invitation for grassley went to learner and in it there was an offer for the nonprofit group to pay some of mr. grszly's kpnss. learner sent and e-mail to a colleague suggesting that it be further examined. that e-mail has now surfaced. senator grassley has known about it for a couple of month s and he's been very careful to contain his language in anticipation of a whole new avenue of investigation in the irs scandal. so outraged are republicans that this afternoon on the u.s. senate floor, ted cruz went to the floor of the senate and put in the historic record forever his charge that there should be immediately on the u.s. senate a resolution to appoint a special prosecutor and that democrats should support it. and he said if eric holder, the u.s. attorney general does not appoint a special prosecutor, he should be impeached. lock for the mouse ways and means committee david camp to push his own additional investigation into this. all across the hill with investigators are going into this. and sean, one thing on house speaker john boehner's lawsuit against the president. ''s going guard with

grassley. >> thank you. before ask my first question of mr. abrams, i want to correct something that often goes up in the press, and one of my colleagues have said the same thing today. citizens united said, i mean, the comment was made that citizens united opened the door to millions of dollars in contributions. what citizens united dealt with, and only, was expenditures and has no affect on campaign contributions. esther abrams, last friday on page article washing post wrote quote political nonprofit groups have become a major players in elections since the supreme court's 2010 citizens united decision paved the way for unlimited political spending by corporations and unions, end of quote. i know that political nonprofit groups have been active in campaigns for at least 10 years, long before citizens united was decided. my question, am i right in thinking this point made in the "washington post" article as was other outlets is incorrect? >> i would say that i don't think it's correct to say that these groups are playing and enormously greate

grassley. a couple of days ago with mr.kinen when he was in the hot seat they said did lois lerner have a blackberry or iphone? he said i don't know. they said these messages were from a blackberry. that is how they wound up getting these particular e-mails, because they are on a blackberry server. >> wouldn't you think in her i.t. department if something went wrong with the blackberry, they would call up, and someone would show up with a sledgehammer and smash it to pieces. we had some problems with it so i destroyed it with all the power in my body. >> more like it's working! boom! >> they grilled him on the floor. chairman issa is saying no one is looking at the actual law here. you call this a real investigation? we need a special prosecutor for this. >> this case calls for a true special independent prosecutor who has the ability to issue warrants, to seize materials, to safeguard documents and other information before it goes away and get to the truth. and it's about time her attorney take back that statement she made

mr. president, i assume you're referring to my role as senator pro tem and deem of the senate. chairman is fine. i also note both senator grassley and i are friends of both senator mcconnell and senator reid and have been for years. i keep my baseball bat in my office. >> you never know when you might need it. >> i have it for my visit with you in kentucky. please go ahead, senator mcconnell. >> thank you, mr. chairman. given how incredibly bad this proposed amendment is, i can't blame my friend the majority leader from wanting to talk about things like the coke brothers or what i may have said over a quarter of a century ago. i'm going to confine my remarks to what's before us. i want to start by thank senator grassley for an absolutely outstand i outstandi outstanding observation about what the first amendment was supposed to be about. and at the very core of it, of course, was political speech. americans from all walks of life understand how extraordinary, extraordinarily special the first amendment is. like the founders, they know that the free exchange of ideas and the ability to criticize their government are necessary for

mr. president, for the purpose -- for the information of all senators,' 202 introduced by senator grassleyand which i am cosponsor, amends the illegal immigration reform and immigrant responsibility act of 1996 to make the e-verify program permanent. this is critical to protecting jobs and wages of american workers. it requires that a business at least run as cursory computer check to determine whether the person applying for a job is legally in the country. so, mr. president, i would renew my motion for a unanimous consent. the presiding officer: is there objection to the motion from the senator from alabama? mr. durbin: mr. president, reserving the right to object -- the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, a year ago today on the floor of the senate we passed the comprehensive immigration reform bill. 68 senators, 14 republicans and all of the democrats, voted for it. we extent over to the house of representatives, including -- included in that bill was a requirement that all employers use a mandatory electronic employment verification system to verif

we also know she was trying to pick on senator grassley this week, get him jammed up with the irs. let's go to the commissioner. mrd picked by the president. he didn't follow the law in terms of reporting the loss of these e-mails and says i don't think an apology is owed and says, this is not targeting. these are injures inappropriate criteria. the next one. >> the next one, a lot rides on this guy. >> absolutely. our attorney general eric attorr said repeatedly this doesn't warrant a special prosecutor. he opened a investigation in 2013, but who did he put in charge? a woman named barbara bosserman who has given $6,000 to the president's campaign. >> all right. let's continue with magnificent seven. >> elijah cummings. in 2012, listen to this, he sent letters to one of the groups targeted here demanding information from that group. he demanded that the oversight committee has demanded that he an for his actions, although he denied any involvement in any targeting whatsoever. he says the irs investigations are disingenuous and unfairly partisan. >> meanwhile, we were watching the oversight committee the other nig

letter by senators grassley, klobuchar, white house, shumar and feinstein asking your agencies to crack down on these apps, i want to ask each of you to everything you can to shut them down. mr. goldstein, some of the witnesses on the second panel urge us to be cautious about regulating. they favor self-regulation. as part of your investigation you looked at best practices for the collection and sharing of location data. in an interview, you said there weren't very many rules in place and that in many ways, this was still, quote, the wild west of the electronic era, unquote. did you find that industry best practices were being implemented consistently and did you find that consumers were being given the information they needed to make choices about their privacy? >> thank you, mr. chairman. our reports clearly indicate that there is no comprehensive approach, that some companies do pay attention very consistently to the rules, the self-regulating rules that are out there, and some do not. and that there is a great variety. and not a lot of transparency. those seem to be the two principal problems that some pay attention to some rules and not others and the lack of transparen

mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: how much time is the colloquy going to take? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: seven or eight minutes, i would believe. mr. inhofe: i think i had the floor, objecting to the u.c. let me just share that we would would -- we could do it, ours probably in about 12 minutes and then we could have more time tomorrow if that would work out. so i withdraw my objection. mr. tester: mr. president? the presiding officer: without objection, the senator from montana's amendment is agreed to. mr. tester: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each, with the time agreement previously agreed to. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. tester: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. tester: mr. president, i rise to speak about the care this nation provides its veterans, care they have earned, car

mr. grassley: i want to speak to the point of one of the nominees we're going to be voting on today. that nominee is peter kadzik. he's nominated to be department of justice office of legislative affairs. he would have the position of assistant attorney general. today i'd like to make a few concluding comments about this nominee's record as well as this administration's record more broadly speaking with respect to congressional oversight. it's hard for me to imagine a nominee that is less suited to head up the legislative affairs office than mr. kadzik. it's not a mystery how the nominee will run that office if he is confirmed, and we know that because he has been acting attorney -- assistant attorney general for that position for well over a year, and he's got a long and well-established history of contempt for congressional oversight authority. it's clear to me that when it comes to this nominee, past practice will be an accurate predictor of future performance. unfortunately, there is a lot of evidence that justifies my conclusion. i will start with the nominee's record for contem