mr. harkin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: mr. president, i just want to thank our majority whip for, again, telling it like it is, what's happening with health care in america today. we've come too far to turn back. we've made tremendous changes in the way people are going to access the health care system in america because of the affordable care act. look, we all admit, were mistakes stphaeud -- made? were there glitches? yes. but we went from a system in which people were excluded from getting health care. you talked about that, various people with preexisting conditions. kids, people who had no access whatsoever. now they're covered. that is a huge leap in this country. so if we made some mistakes, if there were a few glitches and stuff, we worked those out. our friends on the other side say, no, ditch the whole thing, get rid of everything, turn the clock back. i agree with the senator from illinois, the people of america don't want to turn that clock ba

mr. harkin: i thank the presiding officer. but, madam president, we can't just stop there on the paycheck fairness bill. we have to then pass it and then we have to do a few other thin things. we have to tackle the more subtle discrimination that occurs when we systematically undervalue the work traditionally done by women. the fact is, millions of female-dominated jobs, jobs that are equivalent in skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions to similar jobs dominated by men, pay significantly less than male equivalent type jobs. for example, why is a housekeeper worth less than a janitor? think about it. 84% of the maids that clean your room when you go to hotels and stuff, 84% are female of the 75% of janitors are male. while the jobs are equivalent in terms of skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions, the median weekly earnings for a maid are $399. for a janitor, it's $484. truck drivers -- a job that is 96% male, have a median weekly earnings of $730. in contrast, a child care worker, a job that is 93%

mr. harkin: madam president how much time do we have left? the presiding officer: there is eight minutes remaining on the democratic side. mr. harkin: madam president in a few moments we're going to vote here in the senate on whether we're going to bring the minimum wage bill to the floor for debate and a vote. in a few minutes it will be clear where each senator stands. who in this chamber is going to stand with millions of americans who work full time for a living but who are left in poverty or the brink of poverty struggling toking to make ends meet. who is going to vote to give these good people a fair shot at the american dream and who's going to vote against them. we're going to find out in just a few minutes. there's no question that working families need a raise. 14 million children in america that's one in every five, is in a family that would get a raise under our minimum wage bill. businesses need a raise. over 600 economists, seven nobel prize winning economists said the lack of demand is what is hurting businesses in america. it'

mr. harkin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: madam president, tomorrow about noon we'll be voting on something in the united states senate that i dare say a lot of americans will be paying close attention to. partisan reason they're going to be paying close attention to it is because that vote will affect them and their families in the future in a very big way. that vote will be on whether or not we will actually bring debate to a close and vote on increasing the minimum wage in america. because if we do, if we were to bring it to a vote, if we could pass that, the president would sign something like that in law in six months, the minimum wage would go up by 95 cents an hour. then next year it would go up by another 95 cents and the year after that another 95 cents to $10.10 an hour to where it is now at $7.25. what we're going to vote on tomorrow is going to have a drastic effect on millions of american tpaeplts and it's going -- american families and it's going to have a big effect on our economy because it will boost o

mr. harkin. absolutely. the federal regulations require entrance counseling is a prerequisite to disbursement, the initial disbursement but after that institutions are not allowed to require additional counseling for disbursement. we can offer it but we are not allowed to require it and without the ability to require it there is no teeth in it. .. >> $57,000 in 2012. but he said the average indebtedness, you don't have a grudge with programs? you do but most undergraduates. >> darr reported data is the undergraduates of $29,000 sinecures is 30,000 for undergraduates? >> yes. is that the maximum a student can borrow? what i am trying to get to are they simply because the interest rate is 3.8 percent are they bar wing all that they are allowed? why are your numbers about the same? the mcfadyen is a and interesting question the aggregate limit is $31,000. for the independent student is 57,000. >> so they could borrow more. is it your judgment that if he were allowed to students were required with each disbursem

mr. harkin: madam president, i certainly favor the goals of this legislation, and the senators would remember we passed a child-care bill that included many of the same background checks for child-care employees. those provisions were negotiated between democrats and republicans on our committee to address issues that were raised about the implementation of any federally prescribed background checks for child-care settings. we would like to undertake a similar context in the k-12 process to ensure any concerns be they raised by either side be addressed. that's what the committee process is for. what the senator from pennsylvania is asking for in his bill will have an impact on nearly every public school in this country and every employee. not just teachers. not just teachers that might have unsupervised access to children. that requires us to do some due diligence. so i don't want anyone to misunderstand me. i'm twoeulg work with the senator from -- i'm willing to work with the senator from pennsylvania and others on this legislation, but i do believe we need to take a closer look at it, talk

mr. harkin: so, as both this letter and the polls show, most small businesses get it. they know that boosting the minimum wage will increase consumer demand. they also know they'll have loyal, productive workers who will stay longer and save businesses from not having to constantly hire and train new people. experienced workers who've been on the job longer are more efficient and deliver great customer service that keep customers coming back. now, finally, some of my republican colleagues have suggested we shouldn't raise the minimum wage because they're better served by the earned income tax credit. well, look, i support the earned income tax credit as -- and unlike many of my colleagues on the other side, i actually want to see it expanded so it better serves young and childless workers. right now if you are under the age of 25 and you're making the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, you're making too much money to qualify for the earned income tax credit. now, if you make -- if you're over age 25 and you made the minimum wage, $7.25 an hour, you have one child, you woul

mr. thomas harkin who is retiring. paul ryan has a combination of anti-poverty and retirement ideas and so you have both sides left and right and we are trying to bring them together. >> host: more households at risk in retirement. in 2010 this big red bar goes up to 50%. what does this mean? >> guest: part of it is from the recession even though the savings rate went up and part of it is that people simply are not taking advantage of the federal programs and programs that work. it is so complex and there are variations of those tax incentives that really and truly most people come and i'm not talking about people who don't care about this. i'm talking about people nearing retirement age only about 46% of people who've access to this take advantage of it. human beings was strange creatures but hope for the future. if you're seeing retirement -- >> host: when you say they are in danger at risk of retirement what does this mean? the average person moves to be 85. 80 to 85 on medical advances retires at 67. you have almos

mr. chairman. i want to thank senator harkin and his staff for coming up with some terrific hearings on the higher education act. i want the witnesses to know we have paid a lot of attention to what you said in your ideas. there is a risk we will actually do what you say so we are looking forward to your testimony. this has been very good so far. i was trying to remember the last person who ever said to me it's pretty easy to pay for college. i don't think i have run into anyone who said that. my experience is like most of the people, have no money so i had to scholarships and five jobs and make my way through. i think this subject today is what can we do i think to simplify the various ways and i think there are eight of them that the government has come up with to help students pay back their student loans, $100 billion in new loans we make every year but putting the loans into perspective accurately i think is helpful. let me use rather than my words the words of one of our witnesses judith scott clayton assistant professor of economics at columbia university in new york. she talked about a lot

mr. president, this legislation is sponsored by senators harkin and merkley. i ask for its second reading and object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be read for a second time on the next legislative dayment. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the appointment at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. following any leader remarks, the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 2199, the equal pay bill, with the time until 11:00 a.m. equally divide and controlled between the two leaders or their designees prior to the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to 2199. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid:

mrs. shaheen: thank you, madam president. i came to the floor today to join my colleagues, senator harkin, senator udall, senator boxer in supporting an increase in the minimum wage that would give 28 million american workers a very long overdue raise. i know that the years since the economic collapse in 2008 have really been hard for families in new hampshire and across the country, and although we have seen c.e.o. salaries rise, pay for working families has stagnated, and while the cost of food, transportation and child care all continue to climb and families struggle to make ends meet, the minimum wage for american workers has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009. at that rate, a single mother working full time in new hampshire does not earn enough to keep her family out of poverty. so let me just be clear. adults working full time cannot support their families on the minimum wage, and that needs to change. the fair minimum wage act would increase the minimum wage to $10.10 over two years. that would provide a raise to nearly 20% of new hampshire's work force and lift 10,000 people in new hampshire out of poverty. nationwide,

senator mccain and senator harkin and now senator moran from kansas are particularly interested in it and it's an honor to be a part of it and i wish gallaudet a happy 150th birthday. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: i want to thank the senator from ohio for his service on really one of the really remarkable experiences one could have at gallaudet university. wonderful loving, caring people who make us all proud of their success, and i thank him for his involvement. i also thank him for honoring our heroes today of long ago and far away when the united states was in great jeopardy. mr. president, i rise today to bring attention to the navy's littoral expwat combat ship. it's a troubled major defense acquisition program if not properly addressed will join a list of failed procurements at the department of defense. from the 13 arduous years that l.c.s. has been in development we've learned yet again an important costly, basic lesson. if we don't know what we really want when we procure a weapons system, we're likely not to get -- not to like what we get. if we get anything. in this case the navy's poor planni

mr. harkin: mr. president, i want to take a time this morning to talk about an issue that has been brewing for a long time, is going to be coming to a head here in the senate sometime in the next several days, i hope, and it's one which compels us, compels us to do something. and that is to raise the minimum wage in the united states of america. mr. president, we have waited too long to do this, and so we have to act on it as soon as possible. so i'd just like to point out some of the data and some of the statistics confronting us right now. first of all, why should anyone be afraid of voting to raise the minimum wage? the american people are way ahead of us on this. you look at the polling data. to increase raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, all voters, 73% -- democrats 90%, independents 71%, and even republicans 53% -- say we ought to be raising the minimum wage. so the vast majority of american people want to do this. here's just, again, a chart from across the country. here's arkansas, h

follows: reid of nevada, harkin, merkley, leahy, booker, warren, reed of rhode island, durbin, cardin, carper, coons, nelson, franken, gillibrand, whitehouse, casey, sanders. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, following my remarks and those of the republican leader, if any, the senate will be in morning business until 5:30 today, the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or her designees. at 5:30 there will be up to four roll call votes. first, confirmation of the friedland nomination, the next a cloture vote on the weil nomination, stob administrator of the wage and hour division of the department of labor, and a confirmation vote on the weil nomination. finally, a vote onccompanying mr. regan, assistant secretary of housing and urban development. today as we convene, i call to the senate's attention today is the commemoration of the holocaust. the holocaust was the systematic genocide of 6 million jews and countless others carried out by adolf hitler and his minions. today is holocaust remembrance today, a reminder that