mr. kirk: i just remind members we're now moving to final passage on our first appropriations bill of this congress. it has been two years since the senate has passed a separate free-standing appropriations bill. but this is a bipartisan measure. it is marked to the house budget level, the paul ryan budget. we made difficult decisions, cutting 24 separate military construction programs. we denied the veteran court of appeals new building, and we came in below the president, about $1.2 billion bloat president, $620 million below last year and even $2.6 million below the house-passed bill. this is the bill that takes care of over 22 million veterans and our military construction needs. i want to thank chairman johnson for his work as we get the appropriations committee going again in a bipartisan way. with that, i yield back to the chairman. mr. johnson: mr. president, shortly we will be voting on final passage of the milcon v.a. appropriations bill. i would like to thank leaders reid and mcconn

mr. kirk: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. kirk: madam president, i first came to capitol hill in 1984 during ronald reagan's first term. i believe it was chairman hatfield running the committee on the senate side and jamie witten on the house side. i care very much about the appropriations process and the appropriations committee because i think we spend less with a higher degree of transparency when we consider appropriations bills in regular order, as this one now is. this bill funds our veterans programs and our military construction needs mainly for the active duty and reserve americans who wear the uniform or wore the uniform, upon which all of our freedoms and the independence of our country depends. today there are over 20 million veterans and this bill cares for them in a bipartisan way. we owe these veterans just about everything for our independence and freedom and this bill cares for them. now, why in this difficult and partisan time is this bi

mr. kirk: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. kirk: before we do that i want to join my colleague and say that the republicans unanimously supported this bill that provides appropriations for our veterans and for our military construction needs unanimously in the subcommittee. they supported this bill, our republican members unanimously supported this bill in the full committee. and the reason why is because this bill is a march to a budget -- its a marked to the house budget. this bill cuts spending on the budget authority discretionary side about $1.2 billion below the president's request. the bill also cuts spending $620 million below last year's level, and it even comes in $2.6 million below chairman culberson's bill that passed the house of representatives under their very strict budget guidelines. i will note that we came together on a bipartisan basis in the senate to bring this very first of the appropriations bills up, and the cloture motion to move fo

mr. kirk posted a neighborhood meeting that john adams and community college. i attended do you see with the neighborhood would say and no one showed up. one year ago this week i received a phone call from ross. he wanted to find out the status of the chase bank. he said at my office would do whatever it would take to get this to go through. i said the think the neighborhood would like it? he said at bank, the neighborhood it commissioned a study and the bank was on the no. 2 or no. 5 items of stores they wanted in the neighborhood. instead of confusing the issues and expanding a formula retail, we should start helping all businesses in the valley. a neighborhood ice cream parlor has tried to open and it has been months before they could get their authorization from planning. that to need to help. we need to help the small businesses and create jobs in san francisco. [tone] >> good afternoon, commissioners. i am with the neighborhood association. let's get to the punchline. we support the idea of banks, financial institutions being included in the large basket

mr. kirk: mr. president, as we continue our debate on the economic future of the united states, i would like to announce july's silver fleece award winner. this month's most wasteful spending project is another example of egregious federal spending habits of this government and demonstrates why we should have enacted the cut, cap and balance act. the silver fleece award for the month of july goes to a a $64 million stimulus award to provide broadband service to gallatin county, montana. according to an analysis conducted by navigant consulting, 93% of households in the project's proposed service area were already served by five or more broadband providers. the fact that tens of millions of taxpayer dollars were spent to subsidize broadband service in an area with already strong private sector representation is reprehensible. perhaps even more staggering, though, is the taxpayer cost of services per unserved household. according to the program's own definition of unserved household , the project cos

mr. kirk: mr. president, i ask that we vitiate the quorum call and i be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kirk: mr. president, i share very much the sentiments of my colleague from louisiana, mr. vitter, but i would urge us to not support the amendment because the senate has already ruled on this question. when we debated whether to take up this bill or not, we voted on a cloture motion in order to bring up an appropriations bill. now, for normally we would wanto pass a budget amendment before bringing up an appropriations bill. and it has been over, i think, 800 days since the leadership of this institution has even written and prevented a budget. but i would put forward that this bill is rather unique because it conforms to the budget. it conforms to the house, the paul ryan budget that passed the house on april 15. the legislation before us, i think, is coming before the senate because chairman johnson and i have agreed to put a v.a. milcon bill that is $1.25 billion in discretionary budget authority below the president's request. we are co

mr. kirk: mr. president, i just rise briefly to commend the work of the gang of six and what they have done for our country in what is a complicated proposal with details forthcoming. but largely reflecting the actions of the bipartisan deficit commission and what could be between a $3.5 trillion to $4.5 trillion reduction in the borrowing needs of the united states. specifically, so often we don't thank our colleagues here, but i want to thank especially senator coburn, senator crapo, and senator chambliss on the republican side. senator warner, senator conrad and senator durbin on the democratic side because i think they're creating a vital center on what is the most important issue facing the country. i believe that the outlines of the plan, as i understand it tonight, will dramatically reassure the american people, our markets and especially our allies overseas, that a free people and their elected representatives can kick their spending habit over time. my understanding at the meeting this mor

mr. kirk: i ask unanimous consent that joel garrison be granted floor privileges during the consideration of h.r. 2055. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kirk: mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: york. mr. schumer: are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: the senator is correct. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, it is my distinct honor to rise in support of paul oetken's confirmation to the bench of the southern district of new york. we have a very deep pool of legal talent in new york, but paul's nomination is one that everybody is talking about. paul is brilliant, well-rounded, unwavering in his dedication to public service and his commitment to rule of law. his confirmation will only improve the workings of one of the best and bussiest courts in the country. i look for three qualities in judicial

mr. kirk: mr. president, i just filed an amendment to s. 1323 to brac the spectrum. this would give us the maximum auction revenue and access to the spectrum for economic development and deficit reduction and i'm proud to have the amendment endorsed by americans for tax reform. it is very important for the congress to authorize spectrum incentive auctions. while we shall protect broadcasters that choose -- we should protect broadcasters that choose not to participate in such auctions and their customers to rely on over-the-air broadcast for entertainment and public emergency information, incentive auctions would free up much-needed spectrum for the civilian side and making sure that broadband communications are fully available in the united states. it should be, in short, the policy of the united states to offer the widest amount of broadband spectrum to empower the 21st century economy here. cell phones were incent in the united states -- invented in the united states. in fact, mostly in my home state of illinois. and making sure that this is the country where not j

mr. kirk: mr. president, this past sunday, an editorial in "the new york times" entitled "in the wake of fiew fukushima"d that if nuclear is to have a future in this conference, americans should have confidence in the industry and regulators are learning lessons from fukushima and are taking all steps necessary to ensure safety. following the accident at the fukushima plant in march, it's clear that maintaining america's confidence in the safety of our nuclear reactors is paramount. the disaster at fukushima should not lead to a freeze of the nuclear industry. instead, it should be an opportunity to upgrade the safety of our nuclear fleet. both industry and the u.s. nuclear regulatory commission assure us that currently there is no immediate threat to the operation of our nuclear plants. nuclear power is especially important to my home state of illinois, where nearly half of all electricity in the state is nuclear. with 11 of 104 nuclear power plants and stations in our sta state, we have more reac

mr. kirk kirk: well, i would age with the gentleman on the concept, but i understand from the majority leader that we are not going to take up the libya resolution now. and i would just urge them that before we descend into any potential partisan warfare on any other issue, there is a bill that is ready for the senate consideration right now, that is overwhelmingly, unanimously approved by democrats and republicans on the appropriations committee and it's ready for senate consideration this week. my hope is that we will now, or maybe tomorrow, take up the military construction and v.a. appropriations bill which senator johnson and i have coauthored, which senator inouye and senator cochran have approved. it's $1.2 billion in discretionary spending below the president's request. it's $620 million below the enacted level. and it's even $2.6 million in budget authority below the house mark. this is ready to go. and so absent debate on some other resolution which has little to no future in the hou

mr. kirk: mr. president, we have just learned that ahmed abdulkadir warsame was arrested by the united states in april. this news has just come to us, learning that this man who fought for no country and wore no uniform and under international law is considered an enemy combatant and, therefore, not a prisoner of war or an american civilian criminal has been taken to a u.s. criminal court to be granted full u.s. constitutional rights in a prosecution in the civilian courts of the united states located in the southern district of new york. this man was taken outside american territory for attacks outside u.s. jurisdiction for acts against non-u.s. citizens. and yet, he has been charged with a u.s. civilian crime and been given the full rights of an american citizen for a nationalized individual. and i think we have made a grievous mistake. we have made a significant change just this week. we have violated the principles set forth by president lincoln and president roosevelt, who well used military

mr. gohmert: i ask unanimous consent to submit the article from fox news by kimberly shwan and also the article from "the hill" newspaper by judy kirk for the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. gohmert: at this time, 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 ayes visit. the motion is adopted. accordingly the house stands adyourned until noon on monday -- scheduled district work time during the week so that members can consider a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. this is one week earlier than scheduled. live bridge of the house monday -- coverage of the house on monday here on c-span. the unemployment rose to 9.2%, and the economy added 18,000 jobs in the month of june according to the labor department's monthly report issued today. president obama says the economy can help create jobs by taking a few steps under consideration and said the ongoing debt negotiations have the opportunity to stabilize the economy. >> good morning,

johnson, for himself and mr. kirk, proposes an amendment numbered 556. on page 114, between lines 18 and 19 -- mr. johnson: i ask unanimous consent that the amendment be considered as read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. johnson: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will call the roll. will the senator from south dakota withhold his request on the quorum call? the senator from illinois is recognized. a senator: this is a joint amendment. mr. kirk: this is a joint amendment. i support it. it is about arlington national cemetery. this sets up the vote leaders have scheduled for monday afternoon. that is what we're doing right now to continue the consideration of that bill. with that, i yield back. mr. johnson: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: t

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the johnson kirk amendment be modified further with the changes tefrbg and senator -- changes at the desk and senator warner be arrested as a -- senator warner be added. following reporting of the hutchison amendments the following pending amendments be agreed to: johnson-kirk, wyden 562, hutchison 563. the pending mccain amendment 553 be withdrawn, no other amendments nor points of order be in order and the applicable motion to waive and that at 4:45 p.m. today the senate proceed to a vote in relation to the following amendments in order listed below: ayotte 575, boxer 577, coburn 564. that upon disposition of the coburn amendment, the substitute amendment as amended be agreed to, the bill be read a third time and the senate proceed to vote and passage of the bill and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table. finally, upon passage the senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the house on the disagreeing votes twaoft houses and the chair be authorizeed to appoint conferees on the part of the senate with a ratio o