mr. leahy: mr. president, i'd like to take a moment just to describe to the american people and actually members of both bodies of congress what's going to happen to our troops and their families if a collapse of budget negotiation forces the government to shut down. you know, we look at charts and graphs and numbers and all, but let's talk about the reality. well, i'm sure many understand that most government services will halt, it's also important to understand some government operations will not shut down. in particular, our men and women on active duty and in the national guard and reserves will continue to serve, but they will do so without pay. at a time when we ask them to fight two wars, to help stay the slaughter in libya, to keep peace around the world. another burden is going to be added to their shoulders. they are going to be asked to do it without a paycheck. now, some of those in the armed forces, many of them, do not have savings to fall back on on hard times. many a family member is

mr. leahy: mr.nt, i ask consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination: the judiciary. jimmie v. reyna of maryland to be united states circuit judge for the federal circuit. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be one hour of debate equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. mr. leahy: mr. president, i'd ask consent that however the time is divided, that the vote not be later than 5:30. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: i thank the majority leader for beginning another workweek by scheduling a confirmation vote on an important judicial nomination. the nomination of jimmie v. reyna to the federal circuit was reported unanimously by the judiciary committee last month. i expect his nomination to be co

mr. leahy: madam president, i see my distinguished colleagues, the senator from -- the senior senator from hawaii and the senior senator from mississippi, the leaders of our appropriations committee on the floor, and i just ask that i might be able to continue for two or three minutes before the -- thank you. madam president, i appreciate the extremely hard work that the majority leader -- and i've told him this -- and president -- i've told him that -- and the distinguished chairman -- i've told him that -- that the work they have done to get the best possible deal under extremely difficult circumstances now standing there with the final resolution, i will not be able to vote for it, as i assume others in the vermont delegation will not. i'm afraid that it creates a impossible bargain. it averts a government shutdown at the expense of our overall national interest. this year, congress spent most of its time negotiating three rounds of deeper and deeper cuts in the current year's budget, an exe

mr. leery, good to have you here? >> it's a pleasure, senator leahy. chairman leahy and distinguished members of this committee, thank you so much for inviting me here today. i'm leapleased to talk about wh we do in order to fulfill our obligations to victims of crime. the department of justice's office of justice program has a broad mission, but it includes providing resources and leadership to support key services for crime victims. my own personal commitment goes well beyond the office of justice programs as the senator just said. i was a former united states attorney in the district of columbia and a local prosecutor in massachusetts. i've been working with victims pretty much my entire career. i'm very proud to have served as the director of the national center for victims of crime, national non-profit here in washington. as you know, this is national crime victims rights week. just last week, the attorney general at a special ceremony honored men and women from across this country who have devoted their lives to serving victims of crime. several

mr. chairman. and, director mueller, please, go ahead, sir. >> thank you. and good morning, chairman leahy and ranking member grassley, and other members of the committee who are here today. i appreciate the opportunity to appear before the committee. i will start by saying that the fbi faces today unprecedented and increasingly complex challenges. we must identify and stop terrorists before they launch attacks against our citizens. we must protect our government, businesses and critical infrastructure from espionage and from the potentially devastating impact of cyber-based attacks. we must root out public corruption, fight white collar and organized crime, stop child predators and protect civil rights. we must also inscheuer building a -- inscheuer building a structure that will carry the fbi into the future by continuing to improve our business practices and training and develop the next generation of bureau leaders. and we must do all of this while respecting the authority given to us under the constitution, upholding civil liberties and the rule of law. the challenges of carrying out

mr. president, i do unanimous consent to add senators leahy, america lirgs and boxer to -- merkley and boxer to senate bill 724. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. hutchison: mr. president, this brings to 77 out of 100 senators who are now sponsoring this bill. our bill, senate bill 724, is very simple. it just says that if there is a government shutdown, our military will be paid on time their full pay. and this bill is what i think is the very least that we can do to assure every military family that they do not have to worry for one minute that their mortgage is going to be paid, that their car payments will be paid, that they will be able to get over this hump just without thinking that there might be a haling of their pay or it -- a haling of their pay or it might be -- a having of their pay or it might be delayed. i am concerned about those who are overseas and their families are at home because if the mom or dad is overseas and there is a glitch somewhere they're not here to help. and i think it would be unthinkable that we would go to midnight and not have taken care of t