mr. harkin: i thing the presiding officer. i ask unanimous consent that eric dodd, emily messerly and courtney greenley of my staff be granted floor privileges for the duration of today's proceeding. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: madam president, i want to pick up a little bit again in my remarks on what the majority leader was just talking about, and that is the -- the lack of focus on jobs in this country. i'm disturbed by the growing disconnect between washington's obsession, obsession with austerity and retrenchment and cutting and slashing, that obsession with that, and the disconnect from that with the dramatically different needs and priorities and anxieties of ordinary working americans. the so-called chattering class here in washington has persuaded itself that the biggest issue is the budget deficit, but americans outside the beltway are most concerned with the far more urgent deficit, the jobs deficit, and their concerns are well-founded. our nation remains deeply mired in the most protracted

mr. harkin: i'll just take about three more minutes. many republicans are demanding that we permanently who believe the federal government -- hobble of the federal government. just as their predecessors didn't want to build the roads and highways and canals in the past, my friend from utah had a chart there that said "broke or balance." they claim our nation is poor and broke. its not true. that's not true. that negative, defeatist viewpoint is dead wrong. we remain the wealthiest nation on earth. we have the highest per capita income of any major -- any major country on the face of the globe. but we have to act decisively. with the power of the federal government to boost the economy, foster innovation, and create good, middle-class jobs. that is the most important thing. and lastly, balanced budget amendment -- let's just do what we now -- what we did under the clinton years in which we had four years of balanced budgets and left the biggest surplus in our nation's history. but the republicans won't do that because they have a defeati

rest mr harkins. and the next few weeks. this is a crystal clear the service of the metro stations while officials are prepared to jump through yet another euro who most wonder if the rest of conditions will ever and so now we have gotten hardly true as one of the serb leaders from the surprise in iowa saw one for a show and then all of course some of the officers are also talking about the fact that. serbia has to recognize the fact to recognize its own province a possible before to really get into the e.u. so for somebody else is talking about the fact the serbia is very corrupt really as long as they choose a color and his party the list of demands will be groundless. so is the union stalling on opening its doors to serbia or are its condition simply a way of angling for more control in the region i think there are very few illusions people in serbia the thing that there will not be a great deal many important conditions and what and probably won't be as important as the establishment of relations with possible will the w

mr. harkin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. arkin: i ask that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: madam president, i ask that members of my staff be granted floor privileges for the duration of today's proceedings. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: madam president, i wanted to take just a few moments here to talk about the republican budget, the so-called ryan budget in the house. this has been widely condemned, of course, for its plan to end medicare and for its radical cuts to medicaid, but i have come to the floor today to highlight yet another extreme element of that republican budget. its unprecedented assault on education funding and the grave threat this poses to school reform efforts across the united states. this republican budget would slash funding for education by 15% next year, 2012. even more drastic cuts to education funding would come in each of the years to follow. these draconian cuts to education could not come a

task too challenging to take on and the quest for a new membership sure that we are going to rest mr harkins. in the next few weeks. for us so this is a crystal clear that sort of gets a feel for going all international obligations but while officials prepared to jump through yet another year of hope most wonder if the list of conditions ever so now we have gotten harder it was one of the serb leaders from the surprise and i am so warm for a show and then all of course some the officers are also talking about the fact that. serbia has to recognise the fact the record. it's all province of course little before it can really get into the e.u. so for somebody else is talking about the fact the serbia is very corrupt and really as long as the trees and color and his party the list of demands will be endless so is the union stalling on opening its doors to serbia who are its condition is simply a way of angling for more control in the region i think there are very few illusions people in serbia the thing that there will not be a great deal many important conditions and probably won't be as import

mr. harkin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: first, i ask unanimous consent that katie jones and gene flemming of my staff be granted floor privileges for the duration of today's session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: madam president, i'd like to ask, since he was kind naff yield to me, i would alike to ask that the senator from ohio be recognized for his statement after the completion of my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: madam president, i strongly oppose both the amendment offered by senators feinstein and coburn and the one that was offered by senator mccain that we'll be voting o on in a couple of hours. my message is very simple. this assault on america's ethanol industry both misguided and undeserved. this is truly a homegrown industry, built on the investment and labor of many thousands of americans. providing a product that helps us with one of our most pressing national issues: our dependency on imported oil. yet here we are debating amendments that i think

mr. harkin: mr. president, rarely has washington been so completely out of touch with the priorities and anxieties of ordinary working americans. here on capitol hill policy-makers are obsessed -- obsessed -- with the budget deficit. but the rest of america is most concerned with a far more urgent deficit: the jobs deficit. our nation remains deeply mired in the most retracted period of joblessness since the great depression. officially, some 14 million americans are out of work, but real unemployment -- the real unemployment -- including those that are working part time but want to be working full time, those who are marginally atarchtiond those who have never worked in the first place because they never got a job -- you add that all up, we've got closer to 25 million americans unemployed. and millions of americans who are employed are increasingly anxious about holding on to their jobs or at their present income making ends meet. but many of our political leaders here in washington are treating the

mr. harkin: i ask further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: when jerry coonahan leaves the senate employment in the next couple of days we will lose one of the most respected members of our senate family. during nearly two decades of service with the senate, he epitomizes dedication, loyalty and incredible work ethic of the best staff members here on capitol hill. we're saying farewell not just to a wonderful senate employ, but also to a very good friend. mr. president, jerry coonahan first came to capitol hill as a member of senator john mccain's staff. he later left the senate for a brief time, but returned in 1997 as a tour guide in the capitol building where he truly excelled. in fact, jerry made a bit of history himself. he gave the first public tour following the fatal shaofgt two -- shooting of two capitol police officers in 1998. when the capitol reopened following the attacks of september 11, 2001, jerry again led the first tour of the capitol. four years ago, sadly, jerry was the

mr. alexander: should senator harkin come in the next few minutes, i'll step aside and let him speak, but in the meantime, i thought i'd sum up where we have come this week on the legislation that's been before the body since late last week and that was to reduce the number of senate confirmations of presidential nominations so that the senate can exercise its constitutional duty of advise and consent more effectively. this all goes back to our -- our constitution, the united states constitution, article 2, section 2, which says that one of the most important duties of the united states senate is -- quote -- "its advice and consent responsibility." that's one of the well-known functions of the senate. a famous book was written about advise and consent. and the constitution says that the president shall nominate, with the advice and consent of the senate, ambassadors, ministers, judges, other officers of the united states. and today, there are about 1,400 of those -- of those officers. when president kennedy was president, there were about 280, more or less. and under president clinton, th

mr. harkin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, they will be. mr. harkin: mr. president, because of the heavy fires that are blasin blazing in new mexic, our colleague, senator udale, cannot be here because he's out there dealing with the forest fires. he has an amendment that he has filed, s. res. 116, the bill now before us on the senate, and on his behalf i will be calling it up, amendment number 522, and i just want to just take a couple of minutes to explain the amendment. basically the amendment is very simple, and i will read it in its entirety. "the second undesignated paragraph of paragraph 2 of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate is amended to read as follows: is it the sense of the senate that the debate shall be brought it to a clees and if that question shall be decided in the u.a.e. firmive by three-fifths of the