mr. inhofe: further parliamentary inquiry. does the senator wish to finish her remarks before objecting or not objecting? the presiding officer: a reservation for the right to object occurs at the discretion of other senators. mrs. boxer: i didn't understand what you said, senator. i could have finished by the time to -- the presiding officer: there is no right to reserve the right to object. mrs. boxer: all right. then i would ask unanimous consent that i complete my remarks. the other side had many minutes and then object. and i'd also ask do we not have time on our side at this point in the debate? the presiding officer: the senator does but there is unanimous consent pending. mrs. boxer: just to allay my friend's concern and his excitement about whether i will object or not, i will absolutely object. i do object because we know that misery follows -- the presiding officer: objection is heard. mrs. boxer: misery follows the tar sands, from extraction to transportation to refining, to waste storage. we're going to show you so

mr. inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent i be allowed to speak until the arrival of the senator from alabama, senator sessions. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, the subject today, of course, is the failed foreign policy of this president and this administration and it's really hard to do it in a limited period of time because once something happens like benghazi and we get into the middle of that thing, then all of a sudden you turn around and this president turns loose arguably the five most heinous terrorists from -- from gitmo, at the same time we have a policy that was going so well in iraq and now we find out that that's not working out either. if i have time i'll touch on that. the first thing i want to do is mention this benghazi thing. being the rab be on the armed services committee, i had the opportunity there and be there, it happens that charles stevens, the ambassado

mrs. boxer: i approve one minute. ms. inhofe: could we compromise at two minutes. mrs. boxer: let me think it over. okay. the presiding officer: without objection. two minutes. mr. inhofe: i thank my good friend from california for thinking that over. i want to mention 432,000 direct jobs. and when you stop and think about it, keeping it from happening would really have -- would have the effect of stopping us from becoming oil independent. and we could do that. the keystone pipeline needs to be built, we all know about the jobs, more importantly there's not a single good reason why it shouldn't happen. tom steyer's goal is to stop the oil in canada from being developed but he can't do it. the canadians have already -- we've seen this just in the last week. they have conversations going where they are -- with china to have them accept this if we don't complete our keystone pipeline. with that i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: i ask unanimous consent to call up senate bill 2280, a bill to approve

mr. inhofe: mr. president, first let me say that -- express my appreciation to the chairman, levin. you know, we hear a lot of talk about bipartisanship and people getting along and -- and that's usually just talk. in this case, it's real. i mean, we have a committee of democrats and republicans that are concerned about defending our nation with totally inadequate resources. we have -- i have to say that chairman levin has responded every time we've had some kind of a controversial thing come up, so i really appreciate t. then our staff, -- appreciate it. and then our staff. peter levine, and jeff bonzo, the staff director for the minority. i have yet -- not been able to call them up when these issues come up and we've been able to get this done. and this is kind of unusual. this doesn't happen in the senate in very many committees. the ndaa and i believe have always said is the most important bill of the year. keeping in mind, we have actually passed one for 52 consecutive years. this is something that has to be done. now, we adopted the ndaa, national defense authorization act, on

mr. inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: first of all, let me thank my good friend for yielding. i think we will have several people coming down and talking about this tonight. i want to say something about senator sanders from vermont. i appreciate very much his -- his comments. i think that they were -- let me get this here. i think that they were very, very appropriate, and i remember one time when he and hi a -- i had a difference of opinion on an amendment. it had to do with the amount of money that one of the large oil companies made. he and i debated on the floor for something like three hours. a vote was taken, and after that -- i did win the vote. afterwards, he came up to me and he said i want you to know that since i have been here from the house, that was probably the most enlightened debate that we have ever had. you won and i lost. i really do appreciate it. we have been very good friends since then. well, the comments he made are real because i don't have any doubt in my mind that senator sanders and th

mr. inhofe, can we ask you to come to the microphone here? pretty please with sugar on top? >> again our camera at the capitol to catch any comments by senators following a briefing to the full senate on the deal that secured freedom for sergeant bowe bergdahl in afghanistan, senior oba in a administration officials headed to the capitol to evening -- this evening to brief all senators who wish to attend. from politico earlier today, the officials would likely get an earful from members of both parties who have expressed frustration that the administration didn't comply with legal requirements to give congress 30 days' notice before engaging in prisoner swaps. lawmakers are also questioning the wisdom of exchanging five taliban prisoner december tained in guantanamo bay, cuba, for a single u.s. prisoner, especially one who is facing growing allegations that he deserted his colleagues. ahead of the meet, the only senator to receive a heads up before the release, senate majority leader harry reid, took to the floor to defend president barack obama's deal that from politico ear

inhofe. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you for holding this hearing. i think it's important for us to conduct oversight. we need to be hearing from epa and those affected by the role which includes utilities and consumers the manufactures the minors and others. we need the records were put the whole picture of this rule and we need to hear from experts on electricity reliability like ferc and nerc. during his time in office personnel bomb has pursued a systematic strategy for using the government to take over major sectors of the economy starting with obamacare and nationalize the health care system and onto dodd-frank and making bank bailouts a permanent fixture in american society. now we have the first round of the global warming regulations which would nationalize the electricity market and force americans to live out the presidents green dream. we don't have to look any further than obama is model germany to see where that path leads her to think senator vitter covered this well. the fact that they are trying to get out from under them as they are

mr. chairman, i appreciate this good hearing. >> thank you, senator. senator inhofe? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i have to tell you senator sessions my wife's upset because the deer are eating her begonias. you know my wife well enough to know if she's not happy, i'm not happy. so i've got a stake in this. first of all, i'm glad clay pope is here from oklahoma. i appreciate your coming. clay you and i have worked together with frank lucas on some of our small dam rehabilitation projects, and i look forward to hearing your testimony. although i've already read it, and won't be able to stay for it. that doesn't mean i don't love you anyway. all right. this is -- all we talk about around here since he became chairman of this committee is trying to resurrect, trying to make people believe the world is coming to an end. this is the 31st, 31st hearing this committee's had, this committee i'm talking about the whole committee now, on global warming, since senator boxer came in as chairman, and with each one, the polling data has declined. i mean, it started off where it was number one or numb

mr. chairman. i appreciate this good hearing. >> thank you, senator. senator inhofe. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i have to tell you, senator sessions, that my wife is up jet because the deer are eating her begonias and you know my wife well enough to know, if she's not happy, i'm not happy, so i have got a stake in this. first of all, i'm glad clay pope is here from oklahoma. i appreciate you're coming. clay, you and i have worked together with frank lucas on some of our small dam rehabilitation projects and looking forward to hearing your testimony, although i have already read it and it won't be able to stay for it. that doesn't mean i don't love you anyway, all right? this is -- all we talk about around here since barbara boxer became chairman of this committee is trying to resurrect, trying to make people leave that the world is coming to an end. this is the 31st, 31st hearing this committee has had, this committee, i'm talking about the whole committee now, on global warming since senator boxer came in as chairman, and with each one the polling data has declined. i mean, it started off it w

mr. president. i also want to thank for their determined work senators inhofe and rubio, who may be coming to the floor to talk about these issues later. but i look forward to moving on this issue. i look forward to senator sanders either reaching agreement on a broader set of proposals, including in clinics issue, in the very near future, and if not, i will be back to the floor demanding action on these clinics within a few days. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the president pro tempore is recognized. hay lay mr. president, there isn't a -- mr. leahy: mr. president, there isn't a quorum call. the presiding officer: we are not in a quorum call. mr. leahy: i thank the chair. following the resignation of secretary shinseki last week, it really is time for some deep soul-searching for the department ofuture ofthe departs affairs. i'm struck by disturbing aspect of organizational culture within the v.a., prioritizing meeting goals and checking boxes instead of providing true quality care for veterans. secretary shinseki himself was a decorated v

mr. inhofe: reserving the right to object, let me inquire of the gentleman, is it your intent to speak on that tonight? mr. tester: in a second, i'm going to ask unanimous consent to go into morning business, and i'm going to speak on the veterans bill, that is correct. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: if the senator from montana would yield for a question? was there any kind of order established here who would be recognized at this point? the presiding officer: there is not. mr. levin: all right. the senator from oklahoma and i thought we would be recognized here about an hour ago. we understand the requirement that there would be a delay. i think if we could establish some order right now, it would be helpful to all of us. senator grassley is apparently waiting to be recognized as well. so may i ask the senator from montana how long he will be speaking? if it would be in order. the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. tester: about seven minutes. the senator from michigan, it was my understanding that i was going to speak, you would have your coll