mr. graham: i promise you, i will. mr. mccain: i ask unanimous consent that senator merkley be recognized a couple minutes after the senator from south carolina. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. graham: the exchange with senator durbin is very good, the law of the land is very clear, unequivocal that an american citizen captured overseas can be held as an enemy combatant and every enemy combatant held at guantanamo bay or captured in the united states has habeas rights. the padilla case involves an individual captured in the united states, suspected of being an al qaeda operative and was held by -- for four years, appealed his case to the fourth circuit, the fourth circuit said you have a right to lawyer to prepare your habeas case but you don't have a right to a lawyer to interrupt the interrogation, you can be held as an enemy combatant and they can gather intelligence for an indefinite per. that's the law of the land and that's why the administration came over and said punk the me and carl were talking about

mr. speaker. it's my honor to yield five minutes to the gentleman from california, the ranking member of the education and work force committee, mr. miller. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for five minutes. mr. miller: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. miller: i thank the gentleman for yielding. 75 years ago this nation decided it is a matter of right and matter of law that the decision of whether or not workers wanted to union belong to those workers. and this congress passed the national labor relations act. to give workers this right and an election to decide. . ever since that time they believe the companies control all of the rights in the workplace. they believe that the workers should take and do what they say and that's the end of the discussion. and this has been a battle throughout the economic history of this country since the passage of the national labor relations act. but the fac

mr. coble: i thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i rise in support of h.r. 822, concealed-carry permits may be the most scrutinized permits for gun owners to receive. unfortunately, the manner in which these permits are recognized by various states is confusing and inconsistent. h.r. 822 will help resolve this dilemma, mr. chairman. for example, in my home state of north carolina, concealed-carry permits from south carolina and georgia are recognized, but not permits from new mexico. meanwhile, new mexico readily recognizes concealed-carry permits from north carolina. if enacted there would be no discrepancy over which permits are valid. another reason for supporting h.r. 822 is that it protects states' sovereignty. states are not required to issue concealed-carry permits and state laws regarding the use of ownership of firearms are explicitly preserved. i firmly believe that the second amendment -- individuals to own a firearm, mr. chairman. i also believe that ownership and use of a firearm carries a special level of pers

mr. speaker. i wish to compliment the chairman of the rules committee for -- mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield? i don't want to get in any more trouble than i already have. so if the gentleman could withdraw his compliment, i'd appreciate it. mr. hastings: i'm delighted to withdraw the compliment. what i wanted you to be able to do since you had become so enlightened about the balanced budget amendment was to be equally enlightened with reference to the rules and allow us a motion to recommit. mr. speaker, if we defeat the previous question i'm going to offer an amendment to the rule to provide that immediately after the house adopts this rule it will bring up h.r. 639. the currency reform for fair trade act, which will help create jobs in the united states by making america manufacture products more attractive to chinese consumers. i at this time am pleased to yield to my good friend from the state of washington, mr. mcdermott, three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washingto

mr. speaker. i yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. >> thank you, mr. speaker, we continue to reserve the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. lobiondo: i'm prepared to yield back if mr. larsen is. i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. larsen: mr. speaker, with no further speakers, just in conclusion, let me just say that america's cup is the oldest sailing competition, competitive sailing competition. the u.s. has held the cup over 134 years before losing to us a trail yarks we are proud to have reclaimed the cup and look forward to defending it in 2013. with that, mr. speaker, and with the passage of the america's cup act of 2011, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. lobiondo: on to victory for america. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h r. 3321. those in favor say aye. those opposed,

mr. gowdy: i thank you, mr. speaker, and i thank chairman smith for his leadership on this issue and so many others on judiciary. mr. speaker, when one was coming back from the trojan war, he was coming and many had come to the sound. so odysseus put wax in their ear and made him tie to the mass. against his will they made him tie him up and he did it because he lacked the will to restrain himself. and when people take our freedom, we recall, but when we have proven ourselves to be wholly incapable of exercising that freedom we should give it up. congress has proven itself to be hopelessly incapable of balancing the budget. we need to be made to do so because we cannot bring ourselves to make the hard decisions required. as my colleague and friend who's been leader on this issue, mr. goodlatte, mentioned in his remarks six times in 50 years is laughable. you would do better than six out of 50 if you just guessed. six out of 50 is laughable. we are incapable of balancing our own budget. and when south carolina, mr

i missed that. mr. udall: i did. mr. levin: i thank the senator. mr. udall: let me say to chairman levin, not only lively, robust, but very informative. i learned a lot in the process of listening to you and to senator mccain and senator durbin and the other senators that came down about the issue. and i think that's the way the senate works best, is to have the amendments and the various provisions of the defense authorization bill be a part of a hraoeufpl and informative debate. and i thank you for that, and i yield the floor. mr. mccain: having watched the debate, been informed that the senator from new mexico now takes the position that senator levin and i do on this issue, and his next mission is to convince his colleague from colorado of the correctness of our position. mr. udall: at this point i am still listening and trying to ascertain as much as i can about the actual provisions of the defense authorization bill. but you're correct, there could be trouble in udall valley here. there might be a split. we don't see that yet, but there's a possib

mr. gowdy: i thank you, mr. speaker, and i thank chairman smith for his leadership on this issue and so many others on judiciary. mr. speaker, when one was coming back from the trojan war, he was coming and many had come to the sound. so odysseus put wax in their ear and made him tie to the mass. against his will they made him tie him up and he did it because he lacked the will to restrain himself. and when people take our freedom, we recall, but when we have proven ourselves to be wholly incapable of exercising that freedom we should give it up. congress has proven itself to be hopelessly incapable of balancing the budget. we need to be made to do so because we cannot bring ourselves to make the hard decisions required. as my colleague and friend who's been leader on this issue, mr. goodlatte, mentioned in his remarks six times in 50 years is laughable. you would do better than six out of 50 if you just guessed. six out of 50 is laughable. we are incapable of balancing our own budget. and when south carolina, mr

mr. coble: i thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i rise in support of h.r. 822, concealed-carry permits may be the most scrutinized permits for gun owners to receive. unfortunately, the manner in which these permits are recognized by various states is confusing and inconsistent. h.r. 822 will help resolve this dilemma, mr. chairman. for example, in my home state of north carolina, concealed-carry permits from south carolina and georgia are recognized, but not permits from new mexico. meanwhile, new mexico readily recognizes concealed-carry permits from north carolina. if enacted there would be no discrepancy over which permits are valid. another reason for supporting h.r. 822 is that it protects states' sovereignty. states are not required to issue concealed-carry permits and state laws regarding the use of ownership of firearms are explicitly preserved. i firmly believe that the second amendment -- individuals to own a firearm, mr. chairman. i also believe that ownership and use of a firearm carries a special level of pers

mr. chairman. i rise today to urge my colleagues to support the work force democracy and protection act. our country is in the middle of a jobs crisis. the national unemployment rate is hovering at 9%, in tennessee where i live it's higher. millions of american families are struggling to make ends meet. amidst this economic uncertainty, the house has passed over 20 bills, jobs bills, that would help secure our economy that's sitting on the senate side right down the hallway here unvoted on. sadly the senate isn't the only road block to economic recovery, that's why we are here today. to rein in a national labor relations board that's run amuck. i grew up in a union household. my father was a member of the united rubber workers union and i know about this. lived with it. grew up with it. in june what problem are we trying to fix? currently elections are held as the chairman said within 31 days and unions win almost 70% of the elections held. let's say the first of october of this year you wanted to ha

mr. rogers: i yield. mr. dicks: i want to commend the chairman for his commitment to return to regular order. i wish we could have done all 12 bill bus we at least got six of them done and i want to thank him and his staff and the staff of the minority for working together in a collegial way. i think it's important for the american people to know that the appropriations committee here is working together on a bipartisan basis. now we may have differences on economic theory and everything else but we are committed to getting these bills passed and bringing as many as we can to the floor. i hope next year we can start a little earlier and get the budget resolution in and move these bills. i would love to see us, in the second session of this congress, get all 12 bills to the floor where members could offer their amendments. i think that still should be our goal and objective. mr. rogers: i thank the wrelt for those words. he is exactly right. he and i started out this year both new to our job on the committee, b

i mean, california. >> mr. speaker, i wish to yield three minutes to the gentleman from florida, mr. rooney. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. rooney: thank you, mr. speaker. and thank you to the gentleman from california. today is a great day for the residents of fort pierce, florida, and the treasure coast. over two decades ago the late congressman tom lewis and his district director, anne decker, started the long process of making the courthouse a reality. the countless hours of dedication and work by those who followed them are now being rewarded with the construction of a new courthouse. i was greatly honored that one of my first official events as congressman was to participate in the historic groundbreaking for this building. i introduced this legislation to honor the distinguished life and career of the late florida supreme court chief justice, alto lee adams, by naming the new courthouse in his memory. this courthouse will fill a vital role for the city of fort

mr. president. i yield back the floor. ms. klobuchar: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: i rise today to speak in defense of the national defense act and certain portions of the bill that aaddress a serious problem facing the men and women of our armed services. this is sexual asawvment i introduced in legislation on this issue in the spring with senator susan collins and i remain deeply concerned about the subject. many of our colleagues are aware that sexual assault is a persistent problem within our armed forces. reports of trauma haveries nonrecent years. in march the department of defense put out its annual report on sexual assault in the military. according to the estimates, there were more than 3,000 reports of sexual assault in the military last year. that included reports by both male and female victims, supposing attacks perpetrated both by and against members of our military. and those are just the reported attacks. since the department of defense estimated that only 15% of victims actually come h

mr. jackson: i thank you, mr. speaker. mr. spear, i like my good friend from virginia to engage me in a dialogue on a series of questions. the most important question to be raised with respect to the b.b.a. at least for me, and i believe most americans, is how does the balanced budget amendment narrow certain gaps that are obvious in our society? the first gap, m cirman, is the social gap between racial minorities and the majority population. how does the balanced budget amendment narrow that gap? mr. goodlatte: the balanced budget amendment is fair to all because all it simply says is that for all time the people of this country want their government to live within their means, not just right now, but in the future as well. right now we're not anywhere near living within our means. $1.3 trillion deficit each of the last three years. mr. jackson: respectfully, mr. chairman, reclaiming my time. it does not reduce the gap between racial minorities and the majority populaon. my next question -- there's a gender gap in our society.

mr. levin: not necessarily. i think there are occasions where the civilian interrogation may be actually more workable. mr. graham: okay. fair enough. but that -- but do you agree with me that you cannot indefinitely hold someone under domestic criminal law without presenting them to the court or reading miranda rights? mr. levin: that's right. how long that last lasts is a procedure which the president -- mr. graham: but herees's the point we're trying to maifnlgt that some of us present that a presentment to a court and a miranda warning may not be the best way to go in terms of gathering intelligence. under military custody for intelligence-gathering, there is no right to remain silent. do you agree with that? mr. levin: under military custody, yes. mr. graham: so we're starting the game with military custody but for the reasons you just said -- and they may be good reasons to say that's not the right way to go -- they can go down another path. and that's all we're trying to do because there is a sort of a gap

mr. speaker. i rise today to commend the veterans from my state of indiana and across the united states for veterans day. we owe them a debt of gratitude to their -- for their service to our country, for their selfless devotion. they put their lives on the line to defend our freedom, and there is no way we can ever thank them enough. over 52,000 veterans live in the congressional district that i am honored to represent, indiana's second district. meeting them is an inspiration because of their humility and professionalism. when you thank them for their service, they usually modestly say, sir, i was just doing my job. veterans embody the definition of patriot. selfless sacrifice in order to defend the freedoms that we enjoy in the united states. veterans such as mr. marion meeks from logeans port, indiana, who served as a p.f.c. with the u.s. army during world war ii. my office was honored to represent mr. minks and also to present him with the bronze star, the purple heart and the other military ser

i yield back. mr. gardner: i want to thank the gentleman from illinois for his comments. he talked about his great hope and optimism for this country and the fact that we really do live in the greatest nation on the face of this earth. but we face tremendous challenges. the unemployment that you listed, that you spoke about for your state, the unemployment in wisconsin, the unemployment levels in colorado and across this country are significant. 14 million people are out of work and if you start looking at the people who are underemployed or who have simply given up looking for work, that number increases a little more and want to share with you something that i think is very difficult for all of us to realize is happening and that's the fact that there's more fear about our future than at many other times in our history. according to a newspaper recent account, a resounding 69% of respond ants said the country is in decline. yet we know this country is better, we know this country is great, we know the

mr. olson: i thank the chair. mr. chairman, the president recently came before the people's house and asked whether, and i quote, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, can we stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy? end quote. well, mr. chairman, house republicans agree, circus time is over. and that's why we passed 15 jobs bills that have been stuck and the majority leader's inbox. one of those jobs bills is the keystone x.l. pipeline which imports oil from canada and will create over 340,000 -- let me say that again -- 340,000 american jobs by 2015. 27,000 of those jobs in my home state of texas. while bringing more revenue all without costing the taxpayers one single time. when the keystone x.l. pipeline is fully operational, bringing more oil from canada than we currently import from saudi arabia, we placing opec oil with canadian oil increases our energy security. if we increase our energy security we increase our national security. if we do not seize this opportunity, china wi

mr. graham: i will yield. mr. kirk: i thank senate, and i will yield to senator feinstein in just a minute, but i will just say i very much appreciate this debate with my friends and mentors. the three of us who were just debating all military officers, but we have different views. we are dangerously close to being like the house of representatives right now where we actually have a face-to-face debate, and i appreciate that. i would say, though, that the law that should not be changed is the constitution of the united states, that we realize that the regulations of the u.s. have force, that the statutes of the u.s. have greater force, that the supreme court decisions have even greater force, but no document is above the actual words of the constitution. and i will say those words in your birthright as an american citizen. the sixth amendment says that you shall be secure in your person and that shall not be violated -- quote -- and no warrants shall issue except upon probable cause, meaning that a court has made t

mr. nelson: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: mr. president, with the chairman's permission i'd like to speak on the defense bill. mr. president, i would ask consent that our defense fellow in our office, major john flinn, be granted the floor privileges for the duration of s. 1867, the defense authorization bill. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: mr. president, i want to thank chairman carl levin. i want to thank senator mccai mccain. i want to thank the entire armed services committee and all of the dedicated staff for their efforts in crafting this national defense authorization act. i am going to continue to work with all of my colleagues to resolve some of the very challenging provisions, one of which we just voted on having to do with what courts the detainees are going to be prosecuted in. i'm hopeful that compromises will be reached in the days ahead so that this bill can be passed and signed into law. mr. president, there are five amendments that i

mr. bachus: i thank you. mr. speaker, at this time i would like to yield to the main sponsor of this bill, mr. she week earth of arizona, such time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he may consume. mr. schweikert: thank you, mr. speaker. and first i'd like to start this with a heartfelt thank you to spencer bachus of alabama, my chairman and financial services, for both his kindness to me as a freshman and also the guidance he's provided me. and to the gentlewoman from california who i hope will speak next who partially helped spearhead this idea and helped us move it forward. one of the reasons i stand here right now with these boards, it's just to sort of help through the concept of this piece of legislation, h.r. 1070. so often around here we refer to it as the regade bill. but what does that mean to people? to try to make it as simple as possible when a company does have an opportunity to do a filing with the securities and exchange commission for a sim

mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes and also include extraneous material for the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. lee: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise, again, to really beat the drum about the ongoing crisis of poverty and unemployment in america. on november 6, the associated press reported that we have crossed a terrible threshold. more job seekers now in america have run out of unemployment benefits than are receiving them. simply put, the majority of americans who are struggling to find a job are no longer getting unemployment benefits. we need to extend unemployment benefits and we need to do it now. not just for those who are about to run out, but for the millions of americans whose benefits ran out a long time ago. the millions who ran out of time to establish their careers. the millions who ran out of time to safeguard their family's futures. for the millions who ran out of time to ignite the fires of the american dream

i thank mr. forbes for yielding me time and introducing this resolution. there are few things that congress could do that could be more important than passing this resolution. it ry affirms in god we trust as the official motto and provides congress the opportunity to renew its support with a principle that was ven rated by the founders of our country. in our declaration of independence, the founders declared, quote, we the representatives of the united states of america, appealing to the supreme judge of the world, do with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence pledge to each others our lives, our fortunes and sacred honor. president washington declared, let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. this event is in the hand of god. james madon, the father of the constitution, declared a day of thanksgiving and acknowledgements of almighty god. madison said that no people ought to feel greater obligations to sell bait the goodness of the great exposure of ev

mr. president, i suggest the mr. president, i suggest the >> debate on the senate floor from earlier today. just a portion of what senators spent most the day on. will have more of that later on the c-span network. live picture from capitol hill where senate lawmakers are expected to brief reporters following their weekly party lunches. as we heard on the senate floor earlier today, the senators have been working on defense policy programs and policy for fiscal year 2012 focusing most on the amendment by colorado democrat senator mark yudof and would remove detainee provisions from the bill and require congressional hearings with pentagon officials and administration on how to handle terrorism suspects. a vote is expected this afternoon shortly after senators return from their party lunches right around 2:15 eastern. we could see a vote on the defense program bill itself sometime tomorrow. a vote to limit debate and move forward on the bill requires 60 votes, 270 and amendments to that $652 billion measure has been fi

mr. mccain: i thank you, mr. president. and i think that it's -- i feel it's very important that we spend some time on this issue. i think that all americans realize that we are in almost unprecedented difficult economic times. that despite efforts that have been made over the now nearly three years that our economy has not grown, it has not provided the kind of job growth and opportunity that many of us had anticipated. when you look at previous recessions -- and this is a near depression, and by some calculations, the recovery has been amazing and agonizingly slow as compared to recovery from other recessionary periods. and in the view of this senator, the remedies have in many respects made the problem worse rather than better. if you look at some of objective criteria, i would argue that the situation in america today is worse than it was on january 2009 when this administration came to office. we've had the stimulus package. we've had the health care reform act. we've had increases in spending in numerous other areas. w

mr. president. i would yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: i just want to thank her for the extraordinary contribution she makes to our committee as well as the senate. she and i have worked long together. we work extremely well together. we have seen a lot of things that are able to get passed because people work together, a lot of measures that can happen because people are willing to set aside partisanship and she has been one of the leaders in getting things done in this body and in the committee, and i just want to thank her and tell her how grateful as chairman i am for her contribution. we're working hard on the amendments that she has offered. they are being worked on last week and this week, and we'll have something to report to her i hope in the next few hours. ms. collins: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: mr. president, i just want to thank the committee chairman for his extremely generous remarks. it has been a great pleasure to serve with him on the armed services committee, and i v

as i begin my remarks, mr. president, i hope i have projected my belief that we have a solemn obligation to pass the national defense authorization act, but we also have a solemn obligation to make sure that those who are fighting the war on terror have the best, most flexible, most powerful tools possible. to be perfectly flank, i am worried that these provisions will disrupt our ability to combat terrorism and inject untested legal ambiguity into our military's operations and detention practices. we will hear some of our colleagues tell you not to worry because the detainee provisions are designed not to hurt our counterterrorism efforts. we all know that the best-laid plans can have unintended consequences, and while i'm sure the drafters of this language intended the provisions to be interpreted in a way that does not cause problems, the counterterrorism community disagrees and has outlined some very serious real-world concerns. stating in the language that there will not be any adverse effects on national s

mr. leahy: i would -- well, if you would -- mr. president, when the first nomination is called up, i will ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: the question is on the gleason nomination. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, on this the yeas are 87, the nays are 8 and the nomination is confirmed. the question is now on the rogers nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to vote? the presiding officer: any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, on this, the yeas are 89, the nays are 6. the nomination is confirmed. mr. leahy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. le

green, i understand mr. watts worry and i understand your concern about being responsible while we are dealing with this problem. but if it was a decision to compensate for other responsible actions that make good sense, is that preclude in what you're doing at all the? >> i'd like to make a decision between the green box amendment and the amendment that mr. watt is referencing with reference to page seven because that's a minute offered by the ranking member of the full committee. >> yes. >> no, in making that distinction, the green-bachus amendment does not preclude other, in fact it leaves open what can be considered, whereas on page seven there's codification of at least one thing to be considered. so the green-bachus amendment would not be precluded. >> thank you. all time is expired on the amendment. so we are now voting on the green a minute, as amended. all those in favor say aye go. all opposed, nay. the ayes have it. and without, are there any further amendments if there's no further amendments, pre

mr. williams? >> i was going to echo that point, congressman, that we been cooperating whenever we find these situations with state attorney general's and local council on these matters. >> did you have something, mr. haldeman? >> i have nothing to add. >> last but not least, let me say this. i know that there have been some that have said that you all probably felt a little uncomfortable being here, but i've got to tell you, i don't have any sympathy. because of the people that i face every night when i go home. in my blog in baltimore -- my block in baltimore. i have 30 houses, seven or eight of them in foreclosure. and those were, were my neighbors. and we see it over and over again. i just think that, i just think that there's more that we can do. i just believe it. and i really wonder sometimes whether the president even knows how significant this problem is. and i say that with all due respect. sometimes i wonder whether he has the information available to understand how many americans are drownin

mr. crone's. i believe mr. crone's authorization was much, much lower with respect to legal settlement which was some 10,000 pounds. i think it's important to try to be fair. mr. crone and mr. lahood had attempted to sell this case at a number of levels before they ever came to me. at a variety of levels. some of which appear to be above their authority. >> so -- >> 10,000 pounds spin who had given him of authority to try to settle, at higher amounts they are authorized to give? and who had given that authorization? >> certainly in the document that i've seen, recently and that you've seen as well, certainly mr. crone took it upon himself to authorize a settlement of 50,000 in 150,000, and i certainly didn't authorize that nor the increased to 350,000 that came later. that was not at my authorization no delight any records, i've looked quite hard at this define any records of any authorization, other executives who could have done so, chief financial officer for example, and there is no record of any of the spen

mrs. boxer: i would be happy to. mr. derouchie: i would like to thank the senator for her leadership on this issue. i noticed earlier that senator paul who is asking for us to basically eliminate the standard of protection when it comes to air pollution that crosses state boundaries, if i'm not mistaken, his resolution would eliminate this standard. there would be none. mr. durbin: if i'm not mistaken as well, he has made an argument on the floor this has no direct impact on asthma and pulmonary disease, even producing a chart to that effect. i would like to ask the senator from california because i visited an emergency room hospital, one of the children's hospitals in chicago, and the emergency room physician said to me do you know what the number-one reason is that children show up in emergency rooms? i said fall off their bicycles? you know, trauma? no. asthma. asthma. and she said senator, i will have young people come into this emergency room who are fighting for breath, saying i'm asthmatic and i can't breathe, and

and i thank mrs. schmidt for your leadership and for trying to straighten out this fiscal insanity mess we find ourselves in. with that, i yield back. mrs. schmidt: i thank my good friend from florida. as i said a moment ago, a balanced budget amendment will legally prevent us, tie our hands, from spending more than we take in. it's the only method available to control spending in washington. and it will lower our interest rates, which will contribute to economic growth. this balanced budget amendment is a job creator because it puts certainty back into the marketplace. it will remove legislative gimmicks, the kind of accounting gimmicks that says we really cut when we really haven't, from the budgeting process, because it'll be just like what this woman is doing with her checkbook. how much in, how much is going out, are we in the black or are we in the red? since the passage of a balanced budget amendment or the attempt to pass a balanced budget amendment in 1995, by a bipartisan house and subsequent

mr. bennet: thank you. isk unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, the senate adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on thursday, november 10, 2011. that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. that following any leader remarks, the senate be in a period of morning business until 10:00 a.m., with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. and that following morning business, the senate proceed to the consideration of the motion to proceed to s. j. res. 27 under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: there will be

mr. reid: as i indicated an hour or so ago, mr. president, i hope we're going to be able to get some kind of an agreement on the energy and water appropriation bill. we also have to consider a continuing resolution, conference report, on the first minibus we did, department of defense authorization bill, so we have a lot to do in a short period of time. the senate will be notified when votes are scheduled. if there is no further business, i ask we adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until leon panetta testified on capitol hill today about the decision to pull all u.s. troops out of iraq by the end of the year. here's some of that hearing starting with secretary leon panetta's opening statement to the committee. >> i appreciate the opportunity to describe or strategy in iraq and to do so alongside general dempsey who has overseen so many critical efforts of the iraq campaign from its onset in 2003. i think general dempsey has been deployed multiple times t

i am confident then, mr. president, that his experience as a prosecutor has given him the knowledge, skills, and temperament to serve on the district of delaware federal bench. when i chaired his nominations hearing, i was impressed at his professionalism, his intelligence, and his demeanor. rich enjoys broad, bipartisan support, having been reported unanimously by the senate judiciary committee. so i urge all of my committees to join me and senator carper in supporting mr. andrews so he will have the opportunity to continue his selfless service to the people of our state and our nation. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. rubio: i ask unanimous consent that i be recognized to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. rubio: i also ask unanimous consent that the senator from rhode island be recognized immediately after me. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. rubio: mr. president, i wanted to come to the floor

mr. speaker. io like to thank mr. goodlatte for giving me the time today. you know, we continue to hear a common thread, let's raise taxes on our job creators with no solution to our spending problem . i rise today as the people's house prepares to vote for an amendment to our constitution that would require congress and the president to balance the budget. i look forward to voting in favor of this amendment today. 15 years ago an amendment nearly identical to this one passed the house with strong bipartisan support. but failed by one single vote in the senate. since that time our debt has tripled. did you know that on wednesday our national debt surpassed $15 trillion? and it has been nearly 950 days since the senate has passed a budget. not to mention the 20 jobs that are sitting over there that they've decided not to act upon. the american people deserve better. you deserve a credible plan to help get our fiscal house in order. grow our economy and get folks back to work. it's clear, though, we c

i appreciate it. mr. president, what if i came to the floor today and said i've got a new law that i want to introduce. here's what it says. if you stop a motorist across america, anywhere across america for speeding, reckless driving, driving under the influence, you could not only arrest that motorist, you could arrest the child in the back seat. you could tell that child in the back seat, maybe two years old or five years old, you have to pay a price because your parent broke the law. people would laugh me out of the senate chamber. that isn't right. it isn't the way we handle justice in america. you don't impose a penalty on children because of the wrongdoing of their parents. keep that in mind for a moment because i want to tell awe story, a story that goes back ten years in chicago, illinois, when a korean american woman called my office in chicago and said "i have a problem. actually, i have a good thing to tell you. my daughter who is graduating from high school is an accomplished concert pianist.

>> i think, mr. s, nor is it, i think, appropriate to prejudge what actions the company might take to deal with those. >> you don't rule it out? >> i don't think we can rule, and i shouldn't rule, any corporate reaction to behavior of wrongdoing out. that will be a decision taken at the time, given whatever is out there. i don't think it would be right to rule out any behavior, but it is important not to prejudge any outcomes from the investigations. there are important police investigations, and there are important internal investigations that we are actively pursuing to make sure that our papers are as good as they can be, and that they can keep the trust of their readership and continue to perform the important role that they have -- that i believe that they have -- in their communities. >> mr. murdoch, you've now seen the opinion of leading counsel, michael silverleaf. if any employee had seen it, according to your governance and your code of conduct within news corporation, should that have been

if i can, mr. president, i'd also like to take just another few minutes to discuss a bill that i hope will pass the senate later today on a similar topic. it is a small bill addressing a complicated issue but it will make a big difference in the lives of many of our service members. when an american marries a foreign national, an immigrant, and that immigrant decides that he or she wants to become an american citizen, they begin a process of obtaining permanent residency, of applying for and seeking a green card. just before the two-year mark in that process, the couple must fill out a form together and appear for an in-person interview. you have a 90-day window to nile paperwork and another 90 days to appear for this in-person interview together. here's the problem, mr. president. what if you're in the military and deployed abroad? what if the american in this couple is in a war zone and cannot make it back to the united states in that limited, tightly defined 90-day window for an in-person intervi

i yield the floor. mr. johanns: i thank senator grassley for his explanation of what this law is doing and the impact that it's having. today of course we're starting our discussion with the article from the "des moines register" which talked about the regulatory impact, but we can't forget that there's other pieces to this law that have just as severe an impact. i'd like to spend a minute or two here talking about the destructive taxes that are in this legislation. when you add it all up, the new health care law basically require new taxes of about $500 billion. not to pay down the national debt, not to solve the nation's debt woes, but to create a new entitlement. the treasury department's inspector general for tax administration has looked at the impact of the health care law and the tax code, and he said this -- and i'm quoting -- "loss the largest set of tax law changes in 20 years." unquote. that's no small undertaking when you think about all that has happened over the last couple of decades that we e

mr. waxman and i sent a letter to mr. stearns respectfully asking you to postpone the date of this subpoena issuance in an effort to work with the white house. i would ask unanimous consent to put a copy of that letter and a copy of the majority media advisory into the record and i would once again ask you -- i would implore you to please postpone this hearing so that we can continue to work with the white house and avoid this unprecedented step of the subpoena. >> without objection, so ordered. both documents will be part of the record. and we respectfully disagree with the ranking member. and the chair reminds members that pursuant to committees' rules that it will be made part of the record and i recognize the full committee the distinguished gentleman, mr. upton. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i do wish that it did not come to this. oversight is a core congressional responsibility, one that has a proud tradition in this committee under both republicans and democrats. but sometimes in the course of an investigation, we fin

mr. cohen: i yield the gentleman such time heas may consume an needs. mr. moran: i'll try to be judicious in using that time. i thank my good friend from memphis for yielding me the time. this legislation is modest in scope. but it is very important because it -- it put this is country in the right direction of economic growth. now, i want to say, i wish we would set out ambitions hiring -- ambitious hiring in the whole area of immigration, our immigration system is broken and needs a complete overhaul. we need it to establish a path to legalization for those currently in the country and address other problems but maybe we can use this to address the broad benefits to the country that would accrue by improving the immigration system. regardless of whether we can get the more ambitious legislation, the bill before us today fixes a real problem that harms our nation's competitiveness. that's why it has bipartisan support. that's why it's the right thing to do. i think it's terribly important for the area of our economy which is going to produce the most jobs i

mr. karzai, and i want to quote the general, mr. speaker, and these are his words, erratic and isolated from reality. that is the leader from afghanistan. he continued by saying, and i quote the general further, why don't you just poke me in the eye with a needle. you got to be kidding me. i'm sorry. we just gave you $11.6 billion and now you're telling me i don't really care? that's what our young men and women doing, losing the legs for this erratic leader of afghanistan. let me further state, in a december 8, 2010, "washington post" article while meeting with general petraeus, president karzai said, i have three main enemies. the taliban, the united states and the international community. if i had to choose sides today i'd choose the taliban. yes, these the erratic leader our young men and women are dying for. last month during a television interview president karzai stated, and i quote, if ever there was a war between pakistan and america, afghanistan will side with the pakistanis. these are not the statements of a leader for who

mr. levin: i ask, mr. president, the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or debate and that any statements relating to the measure be printed in the measure at the appropriate place. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, the senate adjourn until 9:00 a.m. tomorrow, friday, november 18, 2011. that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. that following any leader remarks, the senate resume consideration of s. 1867, the defense authorization act. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: we'll continue to debate the defense authorization bill tomorrow. if senators want to offer amendments, they should come to the floor tomorrow. there will be no votes to

mr. chairman. i want to thank the general for his comments about the specific area and how important it is that we continue to increase our force structure. this is a troubled area, and mr. chairman, i live there. that is my home. i want to know that we americans living in guam and other islands surrounding us are protected. and to all of you who gave us information this afternoon, i found it very valuable and how important is to keep up the strength of our military forces. >> we thank you for your service to our country and for the men and women who served under you. i think we can tell from listing to your testimony and the comments appear, this is not just about procurement, not just about aircraft carriers. does all come down to individuals and those men and women who served under you. all of us have those stories that make this very, very real. mine was a young marine. only wanted to do from the time he was 11 was served in the marine corps. when he was 18, he became a marine. when he was 19, i

mr. president. i would ask for unanimous consent to allow commander mike moore, my defense legislative fellow, floor privileges through the time passage of s. 1867, the national defense authorization act. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sessions: i would just say how much i've appreciated commander moore's contributions to our effort to preserve and protect and defend this country, and he is going to be returning to the full naval service before too much longer and it has been a great asset to have him on board. i do believe that the defense authorization bill has been moved and the kind -- in the way that more legislation needs to be handled in the congress, and i am confident that is in large part due to the leadership of senator levin, who is a professional, skilled lawyer who knows the big picture and the small details of the legislation. it's been a pleasure to work with him over the years and i've learned a great deal about our defense from him and how legislation is enacted. so i