mr. harkin: mr. president, i ask that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: mr. president, i spoke earlier in greater detail about the nomination of stephanie rose to serve as a district court judge in iowa's southern district. now, that's the vote that's coming up here at 5:30. so as the senate begins to vote, i just wanted to reiterate what an outstanding nominee she is. indeed, it's no surprise that the american bar association rated her unanimously well qualified, which is their highest rating. after graduating from law school in just two years in the top 5% of her class, she served for 12 years as an assistant u.s. attorney in the northern district of iowa under both attorneys that were nominated by -- appointed by republican presidents and democratic presidents. she was legal counsel in 260 felony cases -- lead counsel in 260 felony cases, made 30 arguments before the fourth circuit. most notably sh received a national

mr. harkin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: well, mr. president, i -- i truly am sorry to see this happen on the senate floor, i say to my good friend from utah. this has been a long time comi coming. the convention on the right of people with disabilities started here, started in america. it started with the passage of the americans with disabilities act in 1990 -- in 1990. 91 senators voted "aye" on that. strongly supported by conservatives, liberals, moderates understanding that we had to take that next step in having a broad civil rights law that covered people with disabilities in our society. after that was passed and during the 1990's, it became clear that this kind of ignited a kind of a conscience around the world that we needed to do something globally about people with disabilities. so, really, the united states sort of became the -- the leader in promoting this convention on the right of people with disabilities at the united nations. in fact, i have a quote here i would share with my friend that when -- when president bush s

mr. harkin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: mr. president, i ask that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: mr. president, as many of my colleagues know, i've been a strong and enthusiastic advocate of stephanie rose to serve as a district court judge in iowa's southern judicial district. i was honored to recommend to the president that he nominate this outstanding attorney and today i encourage my colleagues to vote for her confirmation when the vote occurs later this afternoon. let me begin by first thanking senator leahy and his staff for their hard work in advancing miss rose's nomination. i also want to thank my senior colleague from iowa, senator grassley, for his invaluable support and assistance. for all the years that we have served together here in the senate -- which now goes on i think 20, 27 years now -- senator grassley and i have cooperated in a spirit of goodwill on ju

mr. harkin: mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. harkin: mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you, mr. president. i would ask suspension of the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: thank you very much. i first want to thank senator harkin as chair of the health, education, labor, and pensions committee and past chair of the agriculture committee for his words of concern regarding the house budget as it relates to agriculture. i share those concerns and want to thank you for speaking up on that. it's just one more reason to surface the farm bill and we need to get a farm bill done right now. let me just say to all of my colleagues and particularly in the house because we have done our job in the senate, we're ready to complete the task of getting a farm bill, but we now only have 17 days, 17 days until the current farm bill expires on septemb

mr. harkin: i ask that mike sebosci be granted floor privileges. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. harkin: as i've done every day since we returned from our august break, i've been talking about the impact of the ryan budget, which is now the romney-ryan budget, on america. and what it would mean for our future. so i take the floor today as i have in the past to talk about one aspect of it. in the past i've talked about the impact on health care, on education, on the social safety net. today i'd like to talk about what we're -- what the romney-ryan budget does to our infrastructure, to job training, to avenues to the middle class for people. the real question that the american people face this coming election is are we going to restore and rebuild the middle class or are we going to continue to shift own he even more and more of our wealth to just a few at the top at the expense of the middle class. now, my republican are friends have made clear where they stand on this. they did so when nearly every republican in congress v

mr. harkin: mr.president, i ask unanimous consent that abby duggin, ann berry and nicki hurt of my staff be granted floor privileges for the duration of today's proceedings. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: mr. president, our nation faces an absolutely fundamental choice in this year's election. are we going to rescue, restore and rebuild the middle class or are we going to continue to shift even more wealth and vans to those at the top at the expense of the middle class? as i have done every day that we have been in session here, i want to point out to the american people just what the blueprint, the blueprint is for this country for the romney-ryan budget. that's their budget. the budget is a blueprint. where you want to go, what you want to do, how you want to build something, how you want to build the future of our country. that's the ryan budget. so i want to take a look again at the ryan budget and what it does for the future of this country. well, the very centerpiece, fir

mr. harkin: mr. president, i come to the floor to talk again on the devastating so-called ryan budget, which, of course, is now the romney-ryan budget. and i will speak about that very shortly, but before -- i also wanted to focus some attention on the -- how the ryan budget is preventing us from getting a farm bill this year. we have a farm bill that we passed in the senate but the house can't get it done. earlier this year, the senate passed a bipartisan farm bill. it had broad support of republicans and democrats. all farm groups, consumer groups, environmental groups. so with all of that support, you would think it would be easy for the house. but the house has not followed suit. unable or perhaps unwilling to bring the farm bill to the house floor, they've similarly refused to take up the senate bill. so our farm policy has languished at a time when literally farm country is burning up because of a drought. and this week, as i understand it, the house is going to adjourn and go home without taki

mr. sanders: i want to congratulate my colleague, senator harkin, for his remarks and i certainly agree with him. i want to just pick up perhaps, or amplify a point that senator harkin just made. there was a remarkable storks a frightening story, in "the new york times" today. i don't know that people have digested it, but the headline is, "life expectancy shrinks for less educated whites in the united states." and let me quote -- generally speaking, the trend for life expectancy in the united states and all over the world has been going up. and the goal of a good society and a strong health care system is to see that people live longer, healthier, happier lives. but as a result of the devastating attacks in a variety of ways on the working class of this country over a period of years, over a period of years, not just starting yesterday, this is where we are. let me quote from this article, and i hope people hear this because this is really shocking stuff. and i quote: "the steepest declines in life expectancy are for white women without a high school diploma who lost five years of life betw

mr. president! >> i love you back. that's why i'm back. [applause] oh, this is a great crowd. it's good to see my outstanding friends -- tom harkinplause] leonard boswell. [applause] tom miller. [applause] and can everybody please give lucas a big round of applause -- not just for the introduction, but for his service to our country. [applause] and it is great to see all of you. [applause] we've got a spectacular day. college football is in the air. [applause] we will try to get you home in time to see the hawkeyes and the cyclones. i know we've got kickoff later. [laughter] and although you guys got to see the nationals and chris cornell perform before i got here - [applause] -- i just want you to know that i could not appreciate them performing -- i could not appreciate more them performing for us. so please give them a big round of applause as well. [applause] now, iowa, this is our first stop on the road to our convention in charlotte, north carolina. [applause] but there was a reason for me to begin the journey right here in iowa, where it first began more than four years ago. [applause] because it was you, iowa, who kept us

mr. president. >> i love you back! that's why i'm back. oh, this is a great crowd. it's good to see my outstanding friend tom harkin in the house. to get you home in time to see the hawkeyes and the cyclones. i know we've got kickoff later. and although you got to see the nationals and the performance before i got here, i just want you to know that i could not appreciate them perform ing per us so please give them a big round of applause as well. now, iowa, this is our first stop. on the road to our convention in charlotte, north carolina. but there was a reason for me to begin the journey right here in iowa, where it first began. more than four years ago. because it was you, iowa, who kept us going when the pundits were writing us off. in your living room and back yards, vfw halls and dieners where our movement for change began. and it will be you, iowa, who chooses the path we take from here. now, last week the other party gave you their pitch at the convention down in florida. don't boo, vote! it was something to behold. despite all of the challenges we face in this new century, what they offered over those three days was mor

veterans job corps and other purposes signed by 17, reid, harkin, bingaman, gillibrand, leahy, sanders, inouye, cardin, boxer, menendez, casey and mikulski. mrreid: i have an at the desk at the language proposed to be stricken. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid proposes amendment 2810 to the amendment proposed to be stricken by amendment 2889. mr. reid: i ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. reid: i have a second-degree amendment at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid proposes amendment number 2811 to amendment number 2810. mr. reid: i have a motion to commit with instructions. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid moves to commit the bill s. 3457 to the committee on veterans' affairs with instructions to report back forthwith the following amendment numbered 2812. mr. reid: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficie