mr. kaine: mr. president, i rise to talk about a whole series of issues, including unemployment insurance and the minimum wage, issues that are designed to help americans attain economic mobility, get a fair shot to move up in the way our economy is designed to work. this morning, the budget committee had a hearing entitled "opportunity, mobility and inequality in today's economy." and we heard from three very, very strong witnesses, including nobel laureate joseph stiglitz. we talked about important topics central to understanding the long-held american dream -- work hard, play by the rules, you should be able to support your family, provide an opportunity for your kids and have a fair retirement. but for too many, mr. president, as you know, opportunity and mobility especially are hard to find and income inequality is growing. i'm an optimist. i know the solutions are here if we work to find them and i want to take a couple of minutes to talk about some of the solutions. but first let's try to put

mr. kaine: madam president, i rise to talk a little bit today about the affordable care act and its benefits to america's women. i want to thank senators murphy, boxer and whitehouse who have organized a few of us to come to the floor today. they will be on the floor later this afternoon. but with so much discussion in the news about the recent completion of the march enrollment period, over seven million people enrolled in the affordable care through the exchanges, i feel like it's a good time to look at some of the benefits of the act but also where there is more work to do. madam president, i know you have been very focused on the -- where there is more work to do, and i applaud you for that. i'll talk about some of those issues as well. but first, let me just start with a couple of virginia stories because we hear stories from our constituents about the affordable care act. we have a 27-year-old woman in charlottesville who was diagnosed with uterine cancer. before the a.c.a., her previous

mr. kaine: madam president, i rise today to speak on behalf of s. 1074, the thomasina jordan indian tribes recognition act of 2013. this is a bill granting federal recognition to six indian tribes. the bill has recently been reported out of the senate committee on indian affairs, and i want to thank chairman tester, the former chairwoman senator cantwell, and all the members of the committee for this action. these six indian tribes, the chickahominy, the eastern division, upper madapani, rappahannock, ronnick and nadsomin are among the best known tribes in history but they have never received federal recognition. 566 federal tribes have received federal recognition. the vast majority by congressional action, but these tribes have not been recognized. madam president, the story of these tribes and why they've never been recognized is why i take the floor. it's an amazing story, but it is also a deeply tragic story. but the tragedy can be redeemed if congress acts to correct a gross historical in

mr. president, i wanted to come down to the floor, and senator kaine did earlier today and senator boxer will in a few moments to talk about why women all across this country have a completely different health care experience today under the affordable care act and why they have no interest in going back to the days before the affordable care act, and to talk also about what it means to have seven million people across this country that now have access to private health care insurance that didn't have it before. the story for women all across this country, as senator boxer will talk about in far more articulate terms than i can, is pretty stunning. 8.7 million women will gain maternity coverage in 2014. 8.7 million women didn't have maternity coverage either because they didn't have coverage to begin with or because they had a plan that didn't provide maternity coverage. and because the health care law says that if you buy insurance, we're going to expect that insurance has just a basic commonsense level of benefits -- and i think every american would agree with the fact that insurance f

mr. kaine: mr. president? the presiding officer: the junior senator from virginia. mr. kaine: i ask unanimous consent that all debate time on the nomination be yielded back. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. the question is on the bastian nomination. the yeas and nays have been ordered. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote: . the presiding officer: any senators wishing to cast their vote? the ayes are 95, the nays are 0. the nomination is confirmed. the question's on the shah nomination. a senator: 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 on the shah nomination. vote: vote: the presiding officer: any senators wishing to cast their vote? the ayes are 95, the nays are zero. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the question occurs on the crabtree nomination. is there a second? there appears to be. there is. the clerk will call the roll on the crabtree