mr. kaufman: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. kaufman: i ask consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaufman: madam president, i ask to speak as if in morning business for up to ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaufman: madam president, i rise once more to recognize our great federal employees. many americans can recall from memory the acronyms of several federal law enforcement agencies: f.b.i., d.e.a., a.t.f., and t.s.a., just to make it a few. these are more than just acronyms. these agencies are composed of thousands of hard-working men and women who risk their lives to ensure our safety. today, i will share the story of one such law enforcement agent from my home state of delaware. when speaking about a delawarean who spent a career risking his life in the service of others, i cannot help but think of the generation of delawareans who fought for independence. they in particular are part of a tradition of public service and courageous sacrifice that has

mr. kaufman: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 1:00 p.m., monday, july 20. following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings journal of proceedings will be approved to date, the morning hour deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and the senate resume consideration of s. 1390, the department of defense authorization bill. the clerk: without objection. mr. kaufman: mr. president, senators should expect a series of up to four roll call votes to begin around 3:00 p.m. on monday. those votes would be in relation to four amendments relating to the hate crime. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask it adjourn under the previous order. the clerk: the confirmation hearing for judge sotomayor continue today with more questions from the senate judiciary committee and testimony from interest groups. over the next two and half hours we will show you portions

mr. kaufman: mr. president -- madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. kaufman: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on wednesday -- the presiding officer: senator, the senate is still in a quorum call. mr. kaufman: i request the absence -- i request we rescind the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaufmanthe senator from del. mr. kaufman: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on wednesday, july 15. that following the prayer and the pledge, the journal of proceedings be be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the senate resume consideration of calendar number 89, s. 1390, the department of defense authorization bill. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaufman: madam president, if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding office

mr. kaufman: mr.dent? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. kaufman: mr. president, this week many clashes have erupted between the minority uighur community and the equity nick group in china. reports indicate that the chinese government has responded with a heavy hand deploying police and paramilitary troops, establishing a curfew, closing mosques, cutting off internet and mobile phone access and rounding upped and arresting innocent civilians. the state-control media reported that at least 156 chinese citizens have been killed. more than 1,000 have been injured and approximately 1,400 have been arrested since the clashes began earlier this week. i am deeply concerned about ongoing tension in china and believe that loss of life, suppression of freedom and violations of basic human right suns conscionable in china and anywhere else in the world. today i call on all parties to demonstrate restraint, end the violence, cease persecution of minorities, and protect fundamental human rights

mr. kaufman: mr. president, i rise to speak of an amendment senator carper and i filed today, amendment 1891. this is a simple amendment and one i hope the senate will support. our amendment addresses the delaware river deepening project. this is a project to deepen the river's shipping channel from a depth of 40 feet to 45 feet in an ever to bring in more commerce. 29 miles of the shipping channel runs through the state of delaware open the way to the ports in philadelphia and new jersey. those of us with ties to the three states that are involved know a long history -- know the long history. there have been a lot of stops and starts over the years and put on hold in 2002 before being restarted in 2007. what our amendment does is prohibit the use of any funds from this bill on the portion of the project that is within delaware. part of this is up the delaware river. there's a section of the delaware river which is ruled to be part of delaware. what this thing does is say no funds should be spent unti

mr. kaufman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. kaufman: mr. president, i request to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. kaufman: mr. president, i've often spoken about the need to invest in technology and innovation. we cannot afford to fall behind in this area after leading the world in science, research, and discovery for half a century. since i began coming to the floor to talk about great federal employees, i've honored individuals who have made significant contributions in the area of engineering, medicine, defense, housing assistance, land conservation, and international aid. the list of fields benefiting from the worveg our federal employees is lengthy. another area which i'm going to speak about today is physics. at a time when our planet faces resource scarcity and higher energy costs, the work of physical civilities at the federal research institution remains an important investment in our nation's future prosperity. dr. deborah jin is one of these outstanding federal employees.

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: mr. president, i rise today in support of the nomination of judge sotomayor to be an associate justice of the united states supreme court. last week the judiciary committee held four days of hearings on judge sotomayor's nomination, including two and a half days of testimony from the judge herself. i came away from these hearings deeply impressed with judge sotomayor's intellect, thoughtfulness, demeanor and integrity. these characteristics already plainly evident in her judicial record and lif lifetime of accomplishment shone even brighter last week in the hearings. i respect her. she will help ensure that the supreme court is a place wherever party can get a fair hearing. in short, the hearings confirmed that judge sotomayor has all the essential qualities that will enable her to serve well all americans and the rule of law on our nation's highest cou

mr. kaufman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. kaufman: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to speak if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaufman: mr. president, last week i spoke about the founding generation of americans and the legacy they passed down to us of sacrifice and service above self. these are the values that constitute the foundation of our civil service and it is these slals motivate our federal employees. it is what drives each of them each day to perform the small miracles that make the american government work. without their dedicated efforts and important contribution, we could not have a government that is responsive and representative. that is the birth right the founders left to us, that the people should be represented not only by officials they have elected but by civil servants entrusted to carry out the people's business. in thinking about these ideas and about the founders, i cannot help but think about t

mr. kaufman: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. uorum call: quorum call: mr. chambliss: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: i would yield five minutes to -- the presiding officer: the national is in a quorum call. mr. chambliss: skilled that it be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. chambliss: i would yield five minutes to the senator from washington, senator murray. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i thank the senator for yielding time on this important debate. madam president, as we consider the future of the f-22 program, it's really important for us to remember the most fundamental goal we have for our defense industry and the way that we have met that goal for many decades, and that goal is to give our men and women in uniform technology and equipment that is far superior to our enemy so they can protect themselves and defend our nation. it's been our mission from the time of the wright brothers to the days of rosy the riveter to th

mr. kaufman: thank you, mr. president. i rise todayed to talk about health care and why congress needs to pass reform now. there are three simple truths to health care reform. first, if we don't pass health care reform this year, the stars won't align for another opportunity to pass a major reform bill for years and years to come. don't kid yourself. the last time congress passed -- failed to pass major health care reform, 15 years passed until today. if the congress fails to enact a health care reform bill this year with a new president in his first year in office who has a strong relationship with the congress, it simply will not be done until years from now when the system has collapsed and in truly catastrophic shape. that leaves the second simple truth. we must pass reform now because the consequences of failure are not that we'll be stuck with the health care system we have today. the consequences of failure are very ugly health care reality our system is quickly becoming. our health care system has become a gigantic

mr. kaufman. another former chairman of this coittee,enator specteri yielto you. >> chairman, i join my colleagues judge sotomayor in welcoming you and your family here and i cpliment the president for nominating an hispanic woman. i thinit was wrong for america to wt until 67 to have a african-american justice marshall on the court. waited too long until 1981 to have the first woman, justice sandra day o'connor. i think as a diverse nation, diversy is very, very importt. you bring exceentcredentials, ademic academically, professly. your service on the ur but the constition requires t process fothis committee and then the full sente to consir in detail your qfications under ouconsent. st of the questions which will be asked o you will involve decided cases. i tend task aut decided cases, but al about cases that the supreme urt decided not to decide. and on theejtion of cases per desion. it's a big problem. the court i would suggest has time for more cases and chief justic roberts in h confmation i

mr. kaufman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. ufman: i rise to speak about the vital role that federal employees play in keeping america safe, prosperous an free. on the fourth of july we celebrated the 233 independence. ordinary americans have chosen to give their energy, time and tall meant the service of our government. many have given their lives. all federal employees, as i said previously, are bound together by a shared sense of duty and willingness to sacrifice. when the founders added their signatures to the declaration of independence, they did so with faith in their fellow americans. that the 56 names were joined in spirit by millions of others in their own day and for generations to come. they knew that building a nation requires more than just a handful of patriots. it entails the active participations from citizens from all walks of life. that is why a decade later when the framers assembled in philadelphia to draft our constitution, they did so with an expectation that regular citizens would be the form and substance

mr. kaufman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. kaufman: mr. president, i rise today on the 40th anniversary of the apollo 11 moon landing, to highlight the importance of scientific research and development to america's economic recovery. 40 years ago astronauts neil armstrong and buzz aldrin took the first human steps on the moon. it was, needless to say, an historic moment for the united states and the world. eight years prior, president john f. kennedy declared before a joint session of congress that the united states -- quote -- "should commit itself to achieving the goal before the decade is out of landing a man on the moon" -- unquote. armstrong's famous words, "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" marked the fulfillment of the president kennedy's goal. that momentous step also signaled the coronation of the united states as the world leader in the sciences. a distinction we held for the rest of the 20th century but which is now in jeopardy. make no mistake, the dawn of renewed american powerhouse economy will not come with

mr. kaufman: on that i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 237, the nays are 184 with one voting present. the journal stands approved. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? mr. westmoreland: mr. speaker, i move that the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the noes have it. mr. westmoreland: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia. mr. westmoreland: i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker

mr. kaufman: i'd like to thank the members of the armed services committee for the tireless work on this the defense authorization bill. thank senator levin and senator mccain for the language to strike $1 billion-plus. i support the bill which aims to support critical defense spending priorities such as providing health care for members of the armed services and their families. enhancing the capability of our troops to conduct successful counterinsurgency operations in iraq and afghanistan. improving our ability to counternontraditional and asymmetric threats and terminating troubled and wasteful spending programs in favor of those deemed more efficient and effective. also, i strongly support the recommendation of secretary gates that we must rebalance the defense budget in order to institutionalize and enhance our capabilities to fight current wars as well as likely future threats. as events in iraq and afghanistan have demonstrated, the military challenges currently before us are really unlike conventional wars of the past. and i am pleased that this bill provides the resources necess

kaufman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. welcome, judge. welcome your family and friends and congratulations on the nomination and to your parents who did such a good job raising you to get to where you are today. we're now beginning the end of a an extraordinarily important process to confirm a supreme court justice to the united states. short of voting to go to war, the senate's constitutional obligation to advise and consent on supreme court nominees is probably our most important responsibility. supreme court justices serve for life. and once the senate confirms the nominee, she is likely to be affecting the law in american lives much longer than many of the senators who are here to confirm her. the advise and consent process for the nomination began after justice suitor announced the intent to resign and president obama consulted with members of both parties before making his selection. it is continuing since then with help of public debate among commentators, scholars and activists, both in the traditional press and in the blogosphere

mr. chairman. >> thank you very much, senator whitehouse. i appreciate the comments and senator kaufman. no, senator klobuchar. i apologize, former prosecutor before she came here as was senator whitehouse. please go ahead. >> thank you very much, mr. charges and i wanted to thank you and the ranking member for holding such a civil and dignified hearing. i had a few people say that it got boring at times, and maybe that is a tribute to the fact that it was a civil and dignified hearing. like many of my colleagues, i have been so impressed by judge sotomayor. like senator durbin i most remember her mother sitting behind her, that mother who when the father died at age 9, judge sotomayor was raised by that mother who had hardly any money and nurse, saved all the money just to buy their family incyclopedia britanicas and when you watch that family and brothers it reminded you that judge sotomayor knows the law and she knows the constitution, but she also knows america. one experience of hers in particular resonates with me, and that is that immediately after graduating from law school that s

mr. chairman. >> thank you very much, senator whitehouse. i appreciate the comments and senator kaufman. no, senator klobuchar. i apologize, former prosecutor before she came here as was senator whitehouse. please go ahead. >> thank you very much, mr. charges and i wanted to thank you and the ranking member for holding such a civil and dignified hearing. i had a few people say that it got boring at times, and maybe that is a tribute to the fact that it was a civil and dignified hearing. like many of my colleagues, i have been so impressed by judge sotomayor. like senator durbin i most remember her mother sitting behind her, that mother who when the father died at age 9, judge sotomayor was raised by that mother who had hardly any money and nurse, saved all the money just to buy their family incyclopedia britanicas and when you watch that family and brothers it reminded you that judge sotomayor knows the law and she knows the constitution, but immediately after law school she became a prosecutor. that would forever shape how she views the law. i had interviewed -- interacted with victims o

kaufman said. we have tried, mr. president, -- president obama, i've tried. i hope that's helped civility here. we have to understand as senator kaufman indicated to the members assembled there today, there is a difference between democrats and republicans, philosophically. but that doesn't mean they can't work together as friends and he gave a couple of examples of senators here on the floor debating and then walking off shaking hands. mr. president, last month i stood here and told everyone about a young woman from nevada named elisha. she was born with a kid any disease. one that she fought bravely her entire life. lately things have gotten worse. like far too many americans in recent months, elisha lost her job and that's happened to far too many americans. when you lose your job, as we've learned, your health care often disappears along with your job. elisha did what any of us would do in the same situation, she tried to get independent coverage to get the surgery she needs to get better. her doctors say that surgery is imperative. the insurance companies say, no, you can't get insurance. t

thank you very much. >> thank you senator klobuchar and next, senator kaufman. >> thank you mr. chairman. welcome judge sotomayor and welcome to your family and friends and congratulations on your nomination in congratulations to your parents who did such a good job in raising you to get where you are today. we are now beginning the end of an extraordinarily important process, to confirm supreme court justice to the united states. short of-- the sentence obligation to advise and consent of the supreme court nominees is probably our most important responsibility. supreme court justices serve for life and once the senate confirms the nominee she is likely to be affecting the law on american lives much longer than many of these senators who are here to confirm her. the advising consent process for the nomination began after justice souter announces intention to resign in president obama consult with members of both parties before making his selection. it has continued since then withheld from extensive debate among analysts and commentators, scholars and activists, both the press a

[laughter] senator kaufman q1 thank you mr.chairman her home in this hearing here this is really an incredibly important to the difficult problem and i want to thank both of you are working on this problem. and thank you mr. gast on my comments on john brandel who died in sudan and 91 employees. of myself was not aware there were 91. this is a very dangerous place and people die there in anonymity. as i send in the floor are federal employees into this kind of work our incredible people and doing an incredible job for all the reasons. but john brandel when he died this is jim bunning radius to try to better improve communications in the area. what are we doing in terms of communications in the area by. >> one important part of our program especially in the south is education by radio. the newest shift analysis is now is civic education and giving prospective voters event for elections over the next year from eight to nine months so voter education and civic education are critical components and obviously a lot of people in the

to senator kaufman, over to you. >> thank you mr. chairman. >> i should make one more thing, i hear some banging going on. appear with the air-conditioning went out which will probably come as welcome news to some of the press who are freezing and the skyboxes up here. but is not welcome to this year with the crowd going on and they are working on it but we're going to keep going as long as we can. >> thank you mr. chairman. one of the toughest assignments i am doing to stand in the audience of launch. so i am going to try to bear under that. good afternoon, judge. >> good afternoon. >> it is good to see you. in i want to take a different tack. and i think senator white house and klobuchar talked a lot about your time as a prosecutor. out like to move on to your time is a commercial litigator in your a prosecutor for five years and then decided to go to commercial practice. what kind of sauce were behind deciding when you left the d.a. office to go into commercial practice? >> actually is a continuation of what explain to senator klo

mr. earl gast. thank you very much. >> i will recognize momentarily senator kaufman for a quick comment. >> i ask for the courtesy of tenseconds to respond to the statements by senator corker and senator isakson, these characterizations are overstated and do not state the actual situation. i laid out my concern in a classified letter. i would be happy to repeat them in the appropriate setting. of like the record to be clear and i look forward to dialogue. >> it is a very important issue with respect to any kind of policy determination that we make. and the committee will have classified session in order to explore this so that we can make an intelligent set of judgments and i appreciate you raising the issue and it is one we need to go at any way and we will. we will do it in the right setting. i was struck by your notion that this was not the most secure setting in the world. i can't imagine why you thought that. senator kaufman? >> thank you for holding this hearing, this is an incredibly important but difficult problem and i thank you for working on this problem. and i thank earl gast for the comments on my friend wh

we will hear from senator ted kaufman in favor of for confirmation and center john cornyn in opposition. this is 20 minutes. >> mr. president i rise today in support of the nomination of judge sotomayor to be the associate justice on the united states supreme court. less week the committee held four days of hearings in judge sotomayor's commination including two and half days of testimony from the judge herself. i came away from these hearings deeply impressed with judge sotomayor's intellect, and thoughtfulness, demeanor and integrity. these characteristics already play aegis a record and the last time accomplishment show even more briefly in last week's hearings. i respect for the law, president and the congress will help insure the supreme court is a place where the party, whether power for zero or powerless get a fair hearing. in short, the hearings confirmed judge sotomayor has all the essential qualities that will enable her to serve well, all americans and the rule of law and our nation's highest court. mr. president my support for judge sotomayor is even stronger given our current economic circumstances.

mr. chairman. >> thank you very much. and judge, thank you. enjoy your lunch. we'll look forward to coming back. and when you come back, we'll hear from senator klobuchar, senator kaufmante or specter, senator franken, and i welcome senator franken to the committee. and we will then have -- and then we'll have an introduction of you and what everybody's really been waiting to hear, we'll hear from you. so, thank you very, very much, judge. @@ seats and we resume our coverage on c-span3. >> thank if we could get back to water in the room. order in the room. and judge, good to have you back he here. as i recall it, senator clopenshire, you are next. >> thank you very much, chair. welcome back, judge. it is a pleasure to see you again. i enjoyed our conversation and what i most remembered about that is that you confessed to meow once brought a winter parka to minnesota in june. and i promise i will not hold that against you during this week. i know you have many friends and family here but it was really an honor for me to meet your mom. when president obama first announced your nomination, i love the story about how your mom saved all of her money to buy you and your brot

rockefeller, udall of new mexico, pryor, kaufman, lincoln, conrad, hagan, begich, dorgan, baucus, nelson of nebraska, kohl, inouye, bennett of colorado, landrieu, and schumer. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask consent that the cloture vote on the substitute occur at 5:30 p.m. monday, august 3. if cloture is invoked, postcloture time be considered to have begun as if cloture had been invoked at 11:00 a.m. on monday morning. further, mr. president, i have a cloture motion at the desk on the bill itself. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on h.r. 299, the agriculture appropriations act for fiscal year 2010 signed by 17 senators as follows: mr. reid: i ask that reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: again, you renew my request, mr. president, that the cloture vote occur on the substitute a 5:30 on monday, august 3. and if cloture is invoked, postcloture time be considered to have begun as if cloture had been invoked a 111:00 a.m. furt