mr. kaufman: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. kaufman: i rise today to draw our attention to the tourism promotion act on 2009 and specifically to focus on my small state of delaware. one is treated to a range of arts from marvelous recollection to dozens of fairs an festivals. in the area of art and culture, there is the gardens, the, and the now famous dupont hospital. visitors can visit the bellview state park or the delaware museum or see a show at the hotel few front in wilmington. the state of delaware also has a significant historical site for tourists to enjoy. you can view the birthday of the dupont. the luxurious home of harry and frances dupont. since delaware is one of the original 13 colonies, we have war historical sites, the amstel house can offer visitors a rare insight of life before the revolution much our constitution park offers a tribute to the ratification of the constitution made significant by the fact that delaware was the first state to do so. civil war buffs can visit the -- while those interested in mor

mr. kaufman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. kaufman: i ask unanimous consent that the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaufman: i ask unanimous consent that speak as if in morning business for 18 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaufman: mr. president, i rise again to speak out about the problems in the financial markets caused by abusive short-selling activities. it can accuse abuse of the credit default market by planting false suggestions that aaron of you isvival is in doubt. my focus is on naked short selling. let me be clear about my main point. the public believes the s.e.c. has yet to discount that the effects of abuse of naked short-selling practices helped cement the demise of bear stearns and lehman brothers as well as made it harder for banks to raise capital in the throes of this financial crisis. it is no exaggeration to say that abusive short-selling at a critical moment furthe

mr. kaufman: mr. president, i rise today to congratulate the american society of mechanical engineers on its 125th anniversary of its codes and standards. as the only serving senator who served as an engineer, i worked as a mechanical engineer, i was proud to sponsor a resolution with a lasting impact, asme codes and standards have had on our nation and other parts of the world. may sound like a lot of jargon and pretty boring stuff. but as an engineer, i'm proud to say that i believe that the nuts and bolts of how to build things, how to create hour to standardize and grow equipment and industries have been at the very heart of american economic growth engine for more than a century. that kind of nuts and bolts thinking and creativity will be what leads america out of this recession and towards sustained economic growth once again. so i'm pleased that the senate has joined me in celebrating a success story of american engineering. this story begins when asme was founded in 1880. asme currently includ

mr. kaufman: thank you, madam president. once again i rise to honor a federal employee whose service to our assassination exemplary. -- who service to our nation is exemplary. i want to thank senator cochran for his statements about federal employees on june 11. i want by those who work in the federal government. mr. president, last week i shared the story of a federal employee who spent his career working at redstone arsenal in alabama. he designed and tested the advanced missile system to defend our military overseas. this week i wish to share the story after federal employee who works to advance our interest overseas, that of a humanitarian good works. both are vital to our global leadership. i spoken before about the groundbreaking research performed by our federal employees at the national inuse it of health. it helps to keep america health care the most innovative in the world. yet making breakthroughs and developing treatments is one part of how the federal government is helping promote global health. one of our forei

mr. kaufman: i ask consent to speak in morning business for up to ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaufman: madam president, i've spoken here a few times already about federal employees and the great work they perform. i'm honored to be in a position to come here and do it again. i enjoy sharing stories about excellent public servants. the stories are not only a -- are only but a few pieces in the vivid mosaic of our federal workforce. the stories are exemplary, not exceptional. these are regular people doing a great job. the real story of our federal employees and that of their dedication, their talents and important contribution needs to be told. service in government is characterized by sacrifice. many of our federal employees wear a uniform and sacrifice in the battlefield. others work in civilian jobs but still make great sacrifices by working long hours and foregoing opportunities in the private sector, such as substantially better pay and bonuses. their bonus, as i've said before, is the satisfaction of having served their countr

mr. kaufman: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be dispensed. .the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. kaufman: madam president, i would like to ton where i began by honoring the contribution of our federal employees. on may 4 i came to the floor to discuss the importance of recognizing the hard work and dedicated service of our federal employees. this is especially important because our recovery acts during cheese challenging economic times. the programs we enact, it is easy to say, will be carried out by a federal workforce that requires people's confidence. i know from personal experience how industrious our civil certificate e.p.a.s are. -- civil servants are. we need to encourage graduates to enter a career in federal service. we need them to lend their talents and their ideas, their creative minds. this is why i make it a priority to call attention to what federal employees can and do accomplish. in my previous remarks i promised it highlight excellent public servants from this desk every so often. in keeping with my promise i rise today to speak about

mr. kaufman: mr. president, i rise today to discuss president obama's nomination of sown ya sotomayor to -- sonya sotomayor to be associate justice of the united states supreme court. justice sonya sotomayor has impeccable legal credentials and a record of excellence and integrity. equally important, she has the experience not only to make an excellent justice but also to have a significant impact on a court that today reflects too narrow a lice of america. -- a slice of america. judge sotomayor's deep preervetion how the law affects -- appreciation of how the law affects the lives of ordinary americans is borne from her compelling personal background. as well as her times as assistant district attorney, a commercial litigator, and later as a judge. once confirmed, she will become the first hispanic justice and just the third woman to serve on the nation's highest court. what do we make, then, of the assaults on the character and record of the seemingly exemplary nominee? unfortunately, this seem to b

mr. reid: in accordance to the resolution, i recommend to the chair the appointment of senators mccaskill as chair, klobuchar, whitehouse, udall of new mexico, shaheen and kaufman. the presiding officer: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, in accordance with the resolution on the appointment of an impeachment trial committee, i recommend to the chair the appointment of senators martinez, demint, barrasso, wicker, johanns, and risch. the presiding officer: pursuant to the resolution on the appointment of an impeachment trial committee and impeachment rule 11, the chair appoints upon the recommends of the two leaders the following senators to be members of the committee to receive and report evidence in the impeachment of judge samuel b. kent: senators mccaskill, klobuchar, whitehouse, udall, shaheen, kaufman, martinez, demint, barrasso, wicker, johanns and risch. the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: the resolution on will meet at a time to be determined. the presiding officer: the senate will take proper order and notify the house of representatives and counsel for judge kent. mr. reid: mr. president, i would ask in an orde

kaufman, a senator from the state of delaware, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: robert c. byrd, president pro tempore. reid plap? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in period of morning business. senators will be allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. there will be no roll call votes today. senators dorgan and martinez, the managers of the travel bill that's before the senate, have indicated that they're ready to move forward on amendments being laid down. we'll have a series of votes monday night. and we'll move toward completing that legislation as quickly as possible. important legislation it is. we look forward to completion of that legislation. as the debate escalates over the best way to ease the crushing burden of health care, it is easy to become sidetracked by misrepresentations or attemp teo point fingers. when we do those things, we lose sight of what is at the heart of this debate: this reform. i want to remind all of us what this is all about -- the health care debate. it's about hard-working americans. they deserve better than to be casualties of misleading politics. the milli

mr. kaufman: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be dispensed. .the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. kaufman: i rise to honor the winners of jefferson award for public service and the four winners from my home state of delaware much the jefferson awards were created in 1972 as a kind of nobel prize for volunteers in the community service in america. named for our third president whose embodiment of our spirit of community and service inspires and they presented annually for national and state winners. the mission of the state jefferson awards is to recognize unsung heroes in our communities who give their time and their care in service to others. on a national level, jefferson awares are bestowed upon those who contributed significantly to advancing these principles. past winners include colin powell, bill and melinda gates and oprah and sandra day o'connor. this year, four outstanding delawareans have won awards because of innovative programs and dedication to inspiring fellow citizens to service. elaine chester created a program through the delaware divis