mr. kerry: i thank the senator from connecticut. i yield two minutes to the senator from new hampshire. poeup the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: i rise to speak on the confirmation of norm eisen. in a year, ambassador eisen has proven to be a strong advocated for the united states -- a strong advocate for the united states. he brought renewed focus to our defense relations with the czech republic, resulting in expansion of our bilateral and nato military cooperation, and the czech republic increased its troop contribution in afghanistan and strongly supported international efforts on iran, and the u.s. policy on israel with the e.u. and the united nations during his tenure. as chair of the senate foreign relations subcommittee on european affairs, i had the privilege of chairing both of ambassador eisen's nomination hearings. throughout the nomination process, he has demonstrated a strong understanding of the complexities of our relationship with the czech republic, a drive to fully represent american interests and values,

mr. kerry: mr. president, i will -- the senator will -- i ask unanimous consent that after we move to executive session, the senator from iowa be the first to speak on the time period allotted to the republican -- to the opponents. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: mr. president -- the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations en bloc, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nominations, department of state, norman l. eisen of the district of columbia to be ambassador extraordinary of the united states of america to the czech republic. mari carmen aponte of the district of columbia to be ambassador extraordinary of the united states of america to the republic of el salvador. the presiding officer: under the previous order there will be one hour of debate equally divided in the usual form. the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: the president announced mr. eisen's nomin

and i think the other thing that was troubling about that, and i thank my good friend mr. kerry made a point, is going to go back and you look at previous reports and to look the projections of where you thought you're going to be in vouchers. we miss those every year. and the other piece of information there is when you look deeper into the numbers here, and i'm looking that when you look at the single-family book of business, actually that reserve is even less than that, it is .12%. i'm trying to decide how much of a penny, you could show to represent that, that's like 846 to one leverage. and, obviously, that's leverage or any other entity in this country that was regulated would be in some kind of either bankruptcy or conservatorship. and so one of the things that challenges us here is how do we fix this. i think that's an important piece to the. one of the problems though i think is the fact that you're even not below being out of money at this particular point of time is the fact that because of we've crowded the private market out of the system you that you're getting maj

mr. reid: i ask the kerry amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the bill be read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. is there further debate? if not, all in favor say aye. mr. reid: aye. the presiding officer: all opposed say nay. the ayes have it. the motion -- the bill as amended is agreed to. mr. reid: i ask consent the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate and any statements relating to this matter be placed at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to calendar number 161. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 161, h.r. 1892, an act to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2012 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the united states government, and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i further ask the feinstein amendment, which is a substitute, it's at the des

mr. president. i rise today to introduce a bipartisan resolution recognizing the 40th anniversary of the national cancer act of 1971, supported by 33 democrats and 11 republicans. a special thank you to massachusetts senator john kerry and kansas senator jerry moran for their leadership on this issue. it's unfortunate but likely true that we each know someone who's been affected by cancer. we know a survivor, we remember a victim, we know that cancer affects not just the patient but the parents, the family, the friends, the loved ones. this year more than 1.5 million americans are expected to be diagnosed with cancer. one of every three women, one of every two men will develop some form of cancer in their lifetimes. more than half a million americans die from cancer year after year after year, and in any one year more than one person every minute, nearly one of every four deaths is from cancer. we also know that behind the statistics, there are thousands of people representing thousands of friends and families and loved ones with ribbons and donations and races for the cure. these are the stories that motivate us to fight harder and to fight with one voice. there's also a story of a nation's commitment to cancer res