mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: i ask unanimous consent that this interruption not show up in the senator's remarks. i would ask the senator if he would yield to me for purposes of unanimous consent. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kerry: i thank the senator. i ask unanimous consent that the time until 6:00 p.m. today be for debate with respect to the pending inhofe amendment 4833 and the thune amendment 4841, with the time divided between the leaders and their designees, with no amendments in order to either amendment. that at 6:00 p.m. the senate proceed to vote in relation to the inhofe amendment. that upon its disposition, the senate proceed to vote on the thune amendment with two minutes of debate equally divided as provided above prior to the second vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. kerry: mr. president, i thank the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: mr. president, if i might

mr. kerry: will the senator yield for just a question? mr. sessions: on my time or yours? mr. kerry: we can share the time. depends on how long you take to answer. mr. sessions: well, i'm not giving up any time on this side on the president's letter. what it fails to acknowledge is that we were on the cusp of implanting a g.b.i. in europe about 2016, and that was completely given up in the course of these negotiations. this is the same missile we have in the ground in alaska and california. that was given up, and we're now proceeding with a phase iv theory that might be completed by 2020 if congress appropriates the money for the next five congresses, and some president who's then in office, not president obama ten years from now, is still supportive and pushes it through and congress passes it. so this is a big mistake. we made a major, major concession on national missile defense, and even put words in the treaty that compromise our ability to do the new treaty, because -- the statement of mr

mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr. president, i'm not going to -- i'm not going to keep the floor. session significance of been they're for a couple of hours. mr. kerry: and mr. president, i'm about to completely cover for the senator. senator kyl has been working with me. we want to make sure everybody gets a chance. i am going to try flock it in. this is coming to me from senator kyl. so i would like to ask unanimous consent that senator sessions be given 30 minutes; that following senator sessions, senator kirk have 15 minutes; that following him, senator dodd have 20 minutes; that following him, senator graham from south carolina have 10 minutes; and then senator demint from south carolina have 15 minutes. mr. mccain: reserving the right to object, i think the waif it is that following senator sessions is senator graham and then senator kirk and demint, and senator kyl will also want time that is not specified at this time. and i

mr. kerry: the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, carlton w. reeves of mississippi to be united states district judge for the southern district of mississippi. the presiding officer: is there any debate? if not, the question is on the nomination. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes have it. the nomination is confirmed. a motion to reconsider the votes on the nomination is considered made and laid on the table. the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action, and the senate shall resume legislative session. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: i just want to clarify for a couple of colleagues of mine that are waiting on the executive session. there are just a couple of items that are going to be done quickly in legislative session by unanimous consent, and then we'll come right back to the proce

mr. kerry: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr. president, the amendment from senator wicker is really an amendment that's looking for an issue. it's -- it's -- there is no -- there is no issue that's joined here with respect to the bilateral commission or what it might do with respect to the creation of rights, but if this amendment were to pass, there would be an issue, and not only an issue with respect to russian participation but actually an issue that could be harmful to the u.s. this is a little bit technical, and it's a tricky thing to follow in some ways, but let me just lay this out. under the start treaty -- that's the prior treaty under which we have lived since 1992 -- under the start treaty and now under the proposed new start treaty, the consultative commission that we create in the treaty, this commission that will get together in order to work out the problems that may or may not arise, it's allowed to agree upon -- and i'm quoting -- any -- such additional measures as may be necessary to improve the viability and

mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kerry: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged en bloc of the following nominations: pn2353 and p.n.2349, that the senate then proceed en bloc to the nominations, that the nominations be confirmed en bloc and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, that any statements relating to the nominations appear at the appropriate place in the record as if read. the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kerry: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that after any leader time on tuesday, decemb december 21st, senator alexander be recognized for up to 10 minutes. ing that following his remarks, the senate the house message with respect to h.r. 3082 an

mr. kerry: mr. president, the senator -- mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr. president, the senator from tennessee is absolutely correct, obviously. the key question here is, is there sufficient support to ratify the treaty? and once we get to that sort of question postcloture, when and if that is invoked, that's what the threshold would be for the passage of this item. it is not as if you have cloture and all of a sudden, boom, 51 votes necessary to pass it. secondly, i would sty my colleague -- i want to emphasize this -- if the majority leader were to put the cloture motion in this evening, it doesn't ripen until tuesday. and so we would have the rest of today, all of tomorrow and tuesday to have amendments, continue as we are now, and then if it did pass, we'd have another 30 hours, which as we all know, takes the better part of probably two days. so we're looking at conceivably thursday under that kind of a schedule -- and i know a lot of se

mr. bond: senator kerry? -- -- mr. franken:senator kerry, can i ask you one question because i was presiding yesterday when a member rose in opposition to the treaty and was complaining about it coming up now. he pointed to when we got the treaty from the white house. it was in may; is that right? mr. kerry: mr. president, that is correct, i would say to the senator from minnesota. it was april that i think it was signed and may that we actually received the submission of the documents themselves. mr. franken: i'd ask the chairman, is it true that -- and this senator, i was presiding on the floor, he was saying we got this in may. now it's this close to the end of the year and it's outrageous we're doing it now. we got it in may. but i'd ask the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, senator kerry, didn't we accommodate, or didn't you accommodate those on the other side of this issue several times who asked for delay themselves? mr. kerry: mr. president, the senator is absolutely correct. there were a serie

mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr. president, i want to thank the senator from riflt. i first of all thank him for his generous comments, on a personal lex but let me thank him for his work. i think everybody in the senate will agree that he is, as a member of the armed services committee, one of the most respected voices in the senate, one of the most diligent, hardworking members of that committee, and he knows and understands our weapons systems, our military needs, our security concerns, as well as anybody in the united states senate. so i value enormously the history that he provided in his discussion today. i think it is an important predicate to the -- to this debate, and i really thank him for his work very, very much, and for the comefntses that he made on th -- and for the commes that he made on the floor. mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum ca

mr. kerry: mr. president, let me ask my friend -- first of all, i just want to point out. i forgot, actually to include in my comments with what we included with the demint language in the resolution, which i think you twice ought to be jumping up and down about which is the following, "the united states is committed to improving united states stratigic defensive capabilities both quantitatively and qualitatively during the period that the new start treaty is in effect and such improvements are consistent with the treaty. now i -- i -- you know, that's -- that's about as bold face a statement as we could make about where we're heading here. now i'd ask the distinguished senator from arizona whether -- if the president clarified that in the next 48 hours or 72 hours and he were to, you know, make more clear to you to try to address that question particularly for you and senator mccain and others, would you vote for the treaty? mr. kyl: mr. president, that -- that is a good question, and i think the a

mr. kerry: mr. president, i want to thank the senator from wyoming for a grounding moment in the senate. we are enormously appreciative of his words, and i especially know what he was saying because my wife and i had the pleasure of welcoming a young grandchild about a month ago. as the senator was standing there speak, i couldn't help but think this is the son of christopher heinz, who is jack heinz' youngest. the child is called jack, little jack. and i think you gave us a good reminder. thank you. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: before my friend leaves the floor, my friend from wyoming, let me just say that i can identify with the things that he said. to prove that, let me put this up here. these are my 20 kids and grandkids. and while he may be, he has his name, they have given him, my name is pop eye. i is for inhofe. so it's mom-i and pop-i. that's what these kids call me. as i was listening to the great words that you were sharing for their lives, i would ask una

mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr. president. i ask that further proceedings of the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kerry: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that we divide the time appropriately among the three hours. i would use perhaps ten minutes at this moment in time. i apologize. we need to report. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following treaty which the clerk will report. the clerk: treaty, calendar number 7. treaty with russia on measures for further reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms. mr. kerry: mr. president, i ask that the time be divided as follows. i ask unanimous consent that i be permitted to proceed for ten minutes, reserve the balance of our time. the senator from idaho will control the time of the republicans. they will proceed to use up all but ten minutes of t

mr. kerry: i think that makes sense. mr. reid: i would ask that the agreement be modified to the effect here that -- as has been indicated. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the request is agreed to. mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come to the floor today -- and before i speak, i would like to ask unanimous consent that -- that senator boxer of california be the next democratic senator speaking after i conclude and senator hutchison concludes from the republican side. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: reserving the right to object. what's the pending business before the senate? the presiding officer: the pending business is the motion to concur to h.r. 2965 that. is the pending business. and as i understand the request from the senator from washington on the democratic side, that senator boxer will be the next democrat recognized. mrs. mur craymrs. murray: folloe

mr. kerry: i would ask unanimous consent that there not show an interruption with respect to the senator from new hampshire. the presiding officer: does the senator from new hampshire yield the floor? mrs. shaheen: i will. mr. kerry: i ask that the unanimous consent to return to legislative session to 7:00 p.m. with the recognition of the majority leader still in effect. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mrs. shaheen: thank you, senator kerry. i was talking about the concerns that have been raised about rushing this treaty. well, this is just not true. this is an outline that shows how much time has been spent in the past as treaties have come to the floor. the fact is that the united states senate has thoroughly considered the new start agreement. we've had plenty of time to review the treaty. since it was signed in april, the treaty text has been available for everyone to read. it's not changed. we've had over 250 days to ex inthe treaty and ask -- exam

mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr. president, would you please inform me when i've used the first four minutes? the presiding officer: yes. mr. kerry: mr. president, our cleelings on the other side of the aisle are fighting against a phantom. all of this argument that they have been going on for several days o now is about language tht has no binding impact on this treaty whatsoever. senator kyl acknowledged that yesterday. he also acknowledged that if you change it, it requires this treaty to go back to the government, the russian government, and then we don't have this treaty, we don't have any verification for whatever number of months follow. now, i'll come back to that in a moment. a moment ago senator kyl said, the russians didn't want to continue the verification methods of start i $of stamplet and he somehow insinuates that because they didn't want to continue it, what we have here is something less than what we ought to have for o

mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: mr. majority manager. mr. kerry: mr. president, i want to ask the senator before he leaves, it's now 1:30 in the afternoon and we have yet to have one amendment presented to us. i recognize there is a value to having some of these comments help frame it, but it also can be done in the context of a specific amendment. i would ask the senator if he has an amendment that he's prepared to offer that could help us move forward. mr. sessions: it's difficult to amend the treaty, as the senator knows, once it's been signed. there are things that can be done. i think first and foremost, we need to ask ourselves is this a good thing for the country? will it advance our interests? i believe we need a pretty big discussion about that and where we stand. i know -- i know senator kerry has been supportive of modernization -- i believe you have, at least as this treaty has moved forward if not in the past, and we really need to do that, so -- but i'm a bit uneasy th

mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: mr. majority manager. mr. kerry: mr. president, i want to ask the senator before he leaves, it's now 1:30 in the afternoon and we have yet to have one amendment presented to us. i recognize there is a value to having some of these comments help frame it, but it also can be done in the context of a specific amendment. i would ask the senator if he has an amendment that he's prepared to offer that could help us move forward. mr. sessions: it's difficult to amend the treaty, as the senator knows, once it's been signed. there are things that can be done. i think first and foremost, we need to ask ourselves is this a good thing for the country? will it advance our interests? i believe we need a pretty big discussion about that and where we stand. i know -- i know senator kerry has been supportive of modernization -- i believe you have, at least as this treaty has moved forward if not in the past, and we really need to do that, so -- but i'm a bit uneasy th

mr. kerry: madam president, i would like to ask unanimous consent -- senator demint will be next. after senator demint, senator thune, according to the list. i would ask unanimous consent, since there were three opponents in a row, if we could insert -- i've been asked by senator mccain to put senator are issue in and i'd like to to put senator shaheen before that. so after senator thune, i'd ask that senator shaheen be recognize the for 10 minutes, subsequent to that senator are issue for 10 minutes, and senator sessions would follow that for 30 minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. kerry: finally, i would just -- quickly, before the senator from south carolina begins, just say to my friend from illinois that i would point out to him that actually the russians have helped israel by cooperating with us, as a result of this cooperative arrangement that we've reached. they refuse to sell the s-300 interceptor -- air interceptor missile to the irani

mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr.resident, before i say a few words about the amendment, let me see if i can get an agreement from my colleagues. we've we have a lot of colleagues asking when we're going to vote, and we need to have some votes. we've only had two votes on amendments after six days. obviously, i could notify table, but i don't want to do that -- at least not yet. i would ask if we could set up the time to have a vote on the senator's amendment at 12:30? mr. thune: i would say to the senator from massachusetts, that i think that we're prepared to debate. the senator from oklahoma wants to talk at length, i think, about the verification issue. i don't think we're prepared at this point to enter into a time agreement for any time certain on votes. and until we can get some indication from our colleagues about who would like to speak on this amendment, it would be very difficult to do that. mr. kerry: well, i would say to my colleague, well, we're getting into the sixth day of debate. i didn't say mass is

mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senatofrom massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr. president, how much time do we still have? the presiding officer: you have 16 minutes remaining. mr. kerry: 16? and the senator from idaho has 10? the presiding ofcer: 10 minutes. mr. kerry: so somehow we're going past the hour of 3:00. okay. a senator: unless, of course, you want to yield some time back. mr. kerry: do you want to yield some time back? let me use a portion it was and i'll yield some back at the end, mr. president. first of all, both bill perry, former defense secretary bill perry, and jim schlesinger have been mentioned and the commission that they served on. let me make certain that the record is clear about their position wit respect to this treaty. secretary perry said the following, "the focus of this treaty is on deployed warheads and it does not attempt to counter or control nondeployed warheads. this continues in the tradition of prior arms control treaties. i would hope to see

mr. kerry: mr. president, i appreciate the comments of the leader with respect to that question. i wonder if the -- if the order might predicate at the outset that senator lugar, he's asked me for 40 minutes as an opening. i know that senator kyl will probably want to speak for an equal amount of time. i would obviously like to make an opening, preferably a little longer. if we could make the order 40 minutes to senator lugar, 40 minutes to senator kyl, i'd like a half-hour, and we have some other senators from there and we can vary it as we go would that be possible? the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. reid: the consent agreement is that senator lugar recognized for 40 minutes, senator kyl for 40 minutes, senator kerry for 30 minutes? is that right? mr. kyl: mr. president, reserving the right to object. i'm not sure i will be speaking for 40 minutes or in a particular time frame here. i want to focus for a moment the omnibus and the continuing resolution, so my remarks will probably

mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: procedural, so not to come out of any time, if i could ask that. i understand the senator from oklahoma wants to make a -- just insert an amendment and get it into the order, so i think we would both yield to him just to do that for that purpose. a senator: i thank the senator from massachusetts. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. a senator: mr. president, following the disposition of the risch amendment will be scheduled to be my amendment number 4833 having to do with verification, numbers of inspections. i will be wanting to speak on this. i don't want to take time from the risch amendment but i'd ask unanimous consent to temporarily set aside the risch amendment for consideration of 4833. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. inhofe: i now and that we return to -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: -- the risch amendment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from oklahoma, mr. inhofe, pr

mr. kerry: i ask unanimous consent -- i ask that the proceedings your honor the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kerry: mr. president, it is my understanding that the senator from pennsylvania is here and wants to speak and then i think the senator from new jersey i think, is on his way over to speak. i would shall because there have been a number of speeches on the start treaty against it and a number of arguments laid out that i want to have an opportunity to speak to, i would ask unanimous consent that at 2:30 i be permitted to speak for about 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kerry: i thank the chair. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. casey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: mr. president, i you ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: thank

mr. kerry: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: madam president, i want to thank -- thank the senator very, very much for his comments and his support. it's my understanding senator ensign was going to speak at this point in time. he's on his way. we're happy to accommodate that. let me just say to colleagues that we are open for business, we're ready to entertain amendments that people may have. we encourage colleagues to come down here. obviously, some people have raised the question of the press of time, but it doesn't seem from both yesterday and today that anybody is actually in a rush to bring an amendment. so we're prepared to vote on our side of the aisle. i want to make that very clear. there is -- there are 58 democratic united states senators, and senator lugar who obviously is working to advance this treaty. we do not have any amendments. we are prepared to vote. so if colleagues want to bring an amendment, now is the time to do it, and

. >> mr. kerry? >> aye. >> on the senate floor to a chorus of ayes, the new start was finally born. >> this is one of their times in the u.s. senate's when we have in our power to safeguard or endanger human life on this planet. >> it is the biggest nuclear weapons reduction treaty in almost 20 years and it ends a year of atomic limbo. ever since george bush and miguel gorbachev signed start i in1991, the u.s. and russia have to examine each other stockpiles. that treaty expired a year ago. president obama stressed the urgency of a vote. >> with this treaty, our inspectors will also be back on the ground at russian nuclear bases. so we will be able to trust but verify. we will continue to advance our relationship with russia. and it seems so long since the tense days of the cold war, when american intelligence dug a tunnel under the russian embassy in washington in order to spy on the nuclear secrets of their communist foes. >> if you live in a private home that is well built, the seller is the safes

mr. kerry: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: i think a number of colleagues have lined up to speak, but they're not here yet, so i'm going to take a moment if i may -- mr. reid: and ao*ul take off the -- and you'll take off the democratic side? mr. kerry: take it off the democratic side. just speak for a few minutes. madam president, i know a number of my colleagues are wanting to talk a little bit about the start treaty, and i look forward to their doing so. but i did want to bring colleagues up to speed on sort of where we are and hopefully give an accurate, up-to-the-moment assessment of what the progress is. let me say to my colleagues that i want to express my gratitude to a group of senators on the other side of the aisle -- senator kyl, senator mccain, senator lindsey graham, senator isakson, senator corker, particularly, all of whom have been working in good faith and consistently. i think senator kyl and i are talking almost every single day. it has been a constructive process. obviously there are points of disagr

mr. kerry: i think -- i just want to be clear. he senator read my words accurately, which were the quote of the general who said militarily significant. i don't think he said they wouldn't. mr. inhofe: you don't think -- excuse me. mr. kerry: on the issue of cheating, madam president, what he said was he didn't think there would be anything militarily significant. in other words, that had an impact on us. again, this is military that we can go into which we will probably in the classified session. but i think -- i just want that distinction to be clear. mr. inhofe: i thought that's exactly what i said. i podle for the -- i apologize for the misunderstanding. the analysis of the n.i.e., and the potential for russian cheating or breakout kerms that the treaty's verification regime is effective and they're saying it's not. i have to -- i have to always be a little suspect of what comes out of the n.i.e. all of us are. we don't take it as gospel. this actually a true story, back in the clinton administration, august 24, 1998, i asked t

mr. kerry: mr. president, we ask unanimous consent please spare us. mr. mccain: president reagan believed that viable missile defense systems in particular his strategic defensive initiative, held out the opportunity to eliminate the threat of nuclear holocaust and thereby render nuclear weapons irrelevant. president reagan was one of the leading proponents of a world without nuclear weapons, and he believed that it was missile defense, not just arms control agreements, that would make that world possible. and my friends, if i may take you on a trip down memory lane, the debate on that subject was spirited, it was passionate and it was a fundamental debate that took place in this country during the 1980's. and that's why, that's why at the reykjavik summit of 1986 when soviet premier mikhail gorbachev cited the a.b.m. treaty as legal grounds for imposing what president reagan believed was a critical limitation on the strategic defense initiative, the president broke off the negotiation and walked out. one of the most remarkable acts in recent history. and

mr. assange. senator kerry referred to social security numbers, for example, being released.tion and the identities of members are far right wing political organization. there are serious privacy issues with the will still revelation of certain types of information which wikileaks, invite -- in my view, has taken no account of whaat all. and putting aside whether there should be a criminal prosecution, that would be one of the reasons that i believe mr. assange has behaved in a generally reckless manner. beyond that, i think you make a good point that there are areas here in which material has been released that he would not want released about himself. but alsoirony nein that, a reason to at least sort of throw up our hands and say there is a very significant inconsistency in what he does, and as you point out, what he surely would like or not like. host: and in finding him, extraditing him as a serious challenge. he has not been seen since november 5. he is believed to be staying somewhere in southwestern england. are other countries interested, perhaps, in filing charges o

mr. assange. senator kerry referred to social security numbers, for example, being released.ks has provided valuable information and the identities of members are far right wing political organization. there are serious privacy issues with the will still revelation of certain types of information which wikileaks, invite -- in my view, has taken no account of whaat all. and putting aside whether there should be a criminal prosecution, that would be one of the rsons that i believe mr. assange has behaved in a generally reckless manner. beyond that, i think you make a good point that ere are areas here in which material has been released that he would not want released about himself. but alsoirony nein that, a reason to at least sort of throw up our hands and say there is a very significant inconsistency in what he does, anas you point out, at he surely would like or not like. host: and in finding him, extraditing him as a serious challenge. he has not been seen since november 5. he is believed to be staying somewhere in southwestern england. are other countries interested, perh

mr. assange. senator kerry referred to social security numbersfor example, being released.s has provided valuable information and the identities of members are far right wing political organization. there are serious privacy issues with the will still revelation of certain types of information which wikileaks, invite -- in my view, has taken no account of whaat all. and putting aside whether there should be a criminal prosecution, that would be one of the reasons that i bieve mr. assange has behaved in a generally reckless manner. beyond that, i think you make a good point that there are areas here in which material has bn released that he would not want released about himself. but alsoirony nein that, a reason to at least st of throw up our hands and say there is a very significant inconsistency in what he does, and as you point out, what he surely would like or not like. host: and in finding him, extraditing him as a serious challenge. he has not been seen since november 5. he is believed to be staying somewhere in southwestern england. are other countries interested, per

mr. chairman and congratulations. >> kerry edwards is the executive vice president of the credit portfolio management for fannie mae in his capacity as directly responsible for fannie mae's foreclosure prevention, loss mitigation activities, single-family home. his duties also include executing making him affordable program for fannie mae. everything can. donald bisenius -- today correct that correctly? e. is the vice president of single-family credit karen t., business as freddie mac. in his position, he oversees the sourcing pricing, securitization of new businesses follow strategic as this process and technology redesign for single-family credit guarantees. then with freddie mac since 1992 as a member of freddie mac's management committee. tom deutsch is the director for the american interrogation program. asf is a program that works to develop a consensus, a frame, thought, regulatory accounting and legislative activities with the securitization industry. represents the servicers and investors as an interesting juggling a. i point out rather interesting to hear his comments. and lastly

an senate senate that minority mitch mcconnell foreign relations committee john kerry and ranking member richard lugar. >> mr. president, over the weekend i indicated i would be voting against the s.t.a.r.t. to expla treaty.in this morning i'd like to explainn my decision in a bundle morebvious detail you cannot begin but the most obvious objection. first and foremost, a decision of this magnitude should not be decided under the pressure of a p fin terrifying. the american people don't want us to squeeze our most important work into the final days of thee session. i they want us to take the time wenf need to make informed and responsible decisions.ve the the senate can do better than to have the consideration of a treatyer interrupted by of controversial and political substa items. so leaving aside for a moment any sensitive concerns, and we enough have many, this is reason enough no senor sho to delay that no senator should be forced to make decisions like checkst this so we can kick off another item on someone's political l checklist before the end of the becom appar year. you're looking back over thempt t

lieberman, rockefeller, dorgan, kerry, whitehouse, pryor, reed of rhode island, menendez, begich, cardin, conrad, nelson of florida, klobuchar, murray, mikulski, dodd and lugar. mr. reid: i ask the mandatory quorum be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimoui askunanimous consent y committee be discharged from the nominations of -- presidential nomination 235, darrell james bell, and presidential nomination 2348, edwin sloan, one to be united states marshall in -- martial in monday mob and the other to be united states marshal in the district of columbia. that the senate proceed en bloc to the nominations, they be confirmed en bloc, and the motions to reconsider be laid on the table, that any statements relating to the nominations appear in the record at the appropriate place as if read and the president of the united states be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, for the benefit of all senators, we just sent to the house again the food safety legislation, extremely important legislation. i jus

mr. boehner, where are the jobs? i'm keith olbermann. good night and good luck. >>> and now to discuss the game the gop is playing with national security with senator john kerry, ladies and gentlemen, here is rachel maddow. good evening, rachel. >> good evening, keith. thank you for that. and thanks to you at home for staying with us for the next hour. we begin tonight with some big news out of d.c. our long national nightmare may finally be over. the united states senate, which has been the source of a weeks' long republican-imposed logjam is now freed, open, back up for business. you will recall at the beginning of this month, senate republicans stood absolutely yun anied. all 42 members signed on to a letter proclaiming they would block all other senate work until the expiring bush tax cuts issue was dealt with. nothing else could happen in the senate, not even the funding of the united states military until those tax cuts, that whole deal, was resolved. period, end of story. nonnegotiable. well, today senate republicans got their wish. today the senate by an overwhelming vote of 81 to 19 passed that tax cuts package that president obama negotiated with con

ranking member of the foreign relations committee, senators john kerry and richard lugar's okemos senate floor.mitt this is an hour and a half. >> mr. president. >> senator from indiana. ofhe >> mr. president, i rise today to speak in support of the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty. a we undertake this debate in a time when almost 100,000 american military personnel are fighting a difficult war in w 10 afghanistan. more than 1300 of our troops have been killed in afghanistan, with almost 10,000 wounded. our meanwhile, we're in our seventh year in iraq, a deployment that has cost more than 4400 americas lives and wounded roughly 32,000 persons. we still have more than 47,000 troops deployed in that countryr tensions on the korean peninsula are extremely high, with no resolution to the problems of prth korea's nuclear programs. international support for steps that could prevent iran's nuclear program for producing a nuclear weapon.rned we remain concerned about stability in pakistan and the al security of that country's nuclear arsenal.terr for attempting to counter terrorist threats, emanating from afghanistan and pakistan come east africa, ye

lieberman, rockefeller, dorgan, kerry, whitehouse, pryor, casey, durbin, warner, shaheen, nelson of nebraska, bayh, dodd, conrad, webb, nelson of florida and klobuchar. mr. reid: i move to send it to the finance committee with instruction to report back with the following amendment. mr. reid: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, moves to refer the house message to the senate committee on finance with instructions to report back forth with with an amendment numbered 4755. mr. reid: 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. mr. reid: i have an amendment to my instructions that is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes an amendment numbered 4756 to the instructions to the motion to refer h.r. 4853. mr. reid: on that, 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. mr. reid: i have a second-degree amendment to my instructions. the presiding officer: the clerk wil

senator kerry discussed in china costs growing energy needs and their role in the korean peninsula. mrs. about 40 minutes. -- this is about 40 minutes. >> we are combining forces. yesterday we joined forces to discuss a path forward. this year we are pleased to host a high level of delegations of chinese representatives and continue our discussion of the issues at hand. we hope our dialogue will facilitate further understanding and more trust between our countries and advance political and economic relationships. we are hosting this conversation with secretary james steinberg, and later, john kerry will be back here to give a capital phil take on the u.s.-china relationship. we will spend today and tomorrow digging deeper into our shared concerns and frictions with our counterparts, so we are very fortunate to be here this morning and into the afternoon to have two distinguished diplomat soon kick off our discussion. first, i am going to introduce sandy berger, now the chair of the group and the national security advisor to the clinton. he guided u.s. policy from the balkans to close th

kerry's math. you look at indiana, virginia, and florida. does the election results show challenges to the coalition? you wonder if obama can recreate what he did in to basnight. mrlooking at a space where he is -- states where he is strong and the church's -- it starts to shrink. that was a question about how strong andr was i thought it would be close. i guess you could see , had the desired effect. boater model said 52% would show up and it turned up to be 57%. he did elevate his boat. in both elections, his side was unsuccessful. the states that have voted with republican presidents went back to where they were historically. it is a challenge for them. to look and say we have a smaller program. it looks more traditional to me than what obama was able to accomplish in 2008. >> i will give the last question to one of our subscribers. i will preface this by noting that we found fault with many of your ads, including that patty murray ad. aren't you just a bit embarrassed by putting out false information in order to win an election? the same question. >> tv ads ran our ads and none were pulled. >> if a tv station takes your ad, it is accurate. >> they had a respo

mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: if any time remains, we yield it back. the presiding officer: time is yielded back. mr. kerry: what is the parliamentary situation, mr. president? the presiding officer: there's still remaining on the wicker amendment. and kyl 4860. mr. kyl: i'd like to speak briefly to that right now in direct response to my colleague from michigan. mr. kerry: do we have time remaining on either of those amendments? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts has time remaining on both amendments. the senator from arizona. kyl climate me quote from the start i treaty, text resolution of advice and consent of ratification as approved by the senate. the senate advice and consent to subject to the following conditions which shall be binding on -- upon the president. legal and political obligations of ussr, the obligations of the union of soviet socialist republics reflected in the four related separate agreements, sev

mr. kerry: mr. president, this amendment is not only unnecessary, i say "unnecessary" because as general chilton, who is the commander of u.s. strategic command says, he says, "i can say with confidence that this treaty does not constrain any current or future missile defense." in addition, secretary gates has said that what the russias wants to achieve was a restraint. he said "this treaty doesn't accomplish that for them. "quhation this amendment would do, however, even though the language is completely nonbinding, has no requirement in it whatsoever, this amendment requires us to go back to russia, renegotiate the treaty, open up whatever advantages or disadvantages they may perceive since the negotiation exist, and we would go through a prolonged negotiation. we have no verification whatsoever today because that ceased on december 5 of last year. we need to hold this treaty intact and pass it. i'd yield whatever time i have to the chairman of the armed services committee. mr. levin: mr. presiden

mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr.resident, i spoke yesterday to most of the arguments. i don't think there is a need to go back over most of them. i appreciate the arguments and concerns of the senator from oklahoma. i think i'll let that stand where it was, and we'll see if another senator comes to pick up. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. dorgan: mr. president, this is a very significant and important issue. as i indicated previously, we deal with a lot of issues here in the h united states senate, some less relevant, some more important. we often treat the serious too lightly and the light too seriously. in this case i think everybody understands that negotiating a treaty with the russians dealing with arms reductions is critically important. that's what this is. i don't think when you talk about nuclear weapons that there are other issues that are similar to it. if, god forbid, before sundown today we learn that a nuclear weapon has been obtained by a terrorist group or

mr. leader, you know that a kerry substitute amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the bill be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. leader, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar 677, s. 1275. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 677, s. 1275, a bill to establish a national foundation on physical fitness in sports and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. wyden: mr. leader, i ask unanimous consent the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the bill be placed in the record at the appropriate place as