mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. pyrite without objection, so ordered. mr. leahy: mr. president, i have 11 unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the minority and majority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. leahy: mr. president, i see nobody on either side who wishes to speak, so i ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back on the two nominations. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. leahy: mr. president, have the yeas and nays been ordered on the nominations? the presiding officer: they have not. mr. leahy: i would -- well, if you would -- mr. president, when the first nomination is called up, i will ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: the question is on the gleason nomina

the clerk: the senator from vermont, mr. leahy, proposes amendment numbered 1087. mr. leahy: and then, mr. president, i ask consent to call up the leahy-grassley amendment 1186, fighting fraud to protect taxpayers act, that that be called up and then set aside. the presiding officer: without objection, the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from vermont, mr. leahy, for himself and mr. grassley proposes amendment numbered 1186. mr. leahy: and my statements be included in the record as though read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: thank you. again, i thank the distinguished senior senator from michigan. mr. levin: mr. president, did we return to the regular order at the end of his remarks? the presiding officer: the senate does return to regular order. mr. levin: mr. president, i now would ask unanimous consent that the senator from oregon be recognized for up to ten minutes for remarks, that they not be in interruption of my remarks in the record, and then i be recognized to return after his remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr

mr. leahy: mr.senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. leahy: mr. president, today the senate's going to finally consider two of president obama's highly qualified nominees to fill federal district court vacancies in alaska and the northern district of california. they were unanimously voted out by the judiciary committee two months ago. i'm sorry it's taken so long because of objections on the other side. but i'm glad that now they will be considered. i'd ask consent that my full statement be placed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. leahy: mr. president, i want to talk a few moments about the positive impact next year's transportation h.u.d. appropriations bill is going to have on my home state of vermont, particularly as we continue rebuilding from hurricane irene's destructive forces back in office -- back in august. i want to pr

mr. leahy: and, mr. president, this is on behalf of myself, senator graham, senator rockefeller, senator ayotte, senator akaka, senators alexander, baucus, begich, bennet, bingaman, blumenthal, blunt, boozman, boxer, scott brown, sherrod brown, burns, cantwell, carper, casey, coast, conrad, coons, corker, crapo, durbin, enzi, feinstein, franken, gillibrand, grassley, hagan, harkin, heller, hoeven, inhofe, inouye, johanns, ron johnson, tim johnson, klobuchar, landrieu, lautenberg, lee, lug lugar, manchin, mccaskill, menendez, merkley, mikulski, moran, murray, ben nelson, pryor, risch, sanders, schumer, shaheen, snowe, stabenow, test tester, toomey, mark udall, vitter, warner, whitehouse, and wyden. and it's been called up. i ask consent to have it set aside so we can go on and continue with the pending matter. the presiding officer: without objection. without objection, the foregoing request from the senator from arizona is granted. mr. levin: well, reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: th

mr. leahy: mr. president, am i correct that we're on the defense authorization bill? the presiding officer: that is correct. mr. leahy: mr. president, one of the amendments that has been pending is the leahy-graham national guard empowerment amendment which is senate amendment number 107. i was just discussing with the distinguished leaders of the armed services committee, senators levin and mccain, the possibility of a time to bring that amendment up for a vote. but let me just, while we're in quorum calls anyway, let me talk a little bit about what the amendment is. over the past decade, as we all know, the national guard has undergone a profound, actually an historic change. once it was a hollow force he considered only a strategic reserve for nightmare contingencies but instead the national guard has become an operational reserve that deploys in regular rotation with thive-duty force. as a matter of policy and reality our army and air national guard troops from states around the country shoulder

mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: are we now in morning business? the presiding officer: yes, we are. mr. leahy: i thank the distinguished presiding officer. i also compliment both senators who just spoke, senator kohl and senator blunt, for their excellent work. and i apologize for laryngitis. mr. president, like everybody here, i followed these votes and negotiations and did vote. and i'm encouraged by the progress made on the transportation-h.u.d. appropriations bill which we've now approved. it funds our nation's ongoing transportation investments. but if i might just speak of one part of country it helps. it includes crucial emergency disaster funding for vermont and the other states struggling to recover from the hurricane trop storm irene -- tropical storm irene. this bill is part of response needed from congress by thousands of vermonters, actually by millions of other americans. it's vital not only for the economy of vermont and other states whose roads and bridges were decimated by the storm, but for t

mr. leahy: madam president, i would ask consent the senate be as if in morning session with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. inhofe: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma is recognized. mr. inhofe: thank you, madam president. i ask unanimous consent that i be considered as if in morning business. the presiding officer: the senate is in morning business, senator, and the senator is recognized. mr. inhofe: madam president, after the vote today, i -- i think that any effort to pass a bill such as the ones that we just now voted on would be very difficult, but something good does happen from that, and that is that we had the vast majority of people in this chamber recognizing that we need to do something that would be stimulative to the economy, something like -- or i should say something unlike the stimulus bill that we had before where only 3% of the money actually went to building roads, high

i had senator leahy and senator grassley to back me up. we don't know what happened to mr. ats were leveled against him. we don't know his story at this point. he could have taken it a lot higher. he did not have senator leahy or senator grassley to protect him, obviously. they're known as whistle-blowers. we see this phenomenon taking its course at the national whistle-blower center. only 2% of employees blow the whistle on misconduct. and do you know why that is, thomas? >> why? >> because 98% see what happens to a whistle-blower. they get destroyed. in my case, i was run out of the bureau. and every day i thought, at some point somebody's going to walk in and say, you did a good job, you did a fabulous job, you exposed this, you protected these indian children in indian country. and you know what, thomas? it never happened. it never happened. they were more interested in protecting the reputation of the fbi. >> well, i think that we're seeing something like this -- the same scenario, more in favor of trying to protect this money-making cash cow called their football progr

mr. president, last evening we passed the leahy-graham amendment which would, by law, make the head of the national guard bureau a member of the joint chiefs of staff. as we go forward in our deliberations, we expect this bill, particularly the conference committee, i think -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. please take your conversations from the well. the senator from rhode island is once again recognized. mr. reed: mr. president, i thank you and thank the senator from delaware. i have, as i indicated, would like to make some comments about how i think we can improve and clarify the legislation that was adopted last evening by voice vote, but first let me begin by recognizing, obviously, the extraordinary contribution of the men and women of our national guard. i speak from the experience of just a few weeks ago visiting members of the 43rd military police brigade who have the responsibility for detention facility in bag rum, afghanistan. under the able leadership they are doing an extraordinary job. i also was able to talk to some of the members of our air national g

rhode island, durbin, feinstein, levin, bingaman, murray, leahy, conrad, whitehouse, cardin, boxer, franken, baucus, menendez and lieberman. mr. reid: i ask consent that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now withdraw my motion to proceed. the presiding officer: the motion is withdrawn. mr. reid: madam president, sunday on one of the sunday shows, the assistant leader, the republican whip, my friend, the senior -- junior senator from arizona, indicated that republicans wouldn't support the withholding tax proposal we had made. monday that was what the senate leadership said here today. so i'm very happy there has been a conversion and now they agree to support it. but be careful. remember, they are very clever and unclear on how they want this paid for. one republican senator said he didn't want it paid for, and that, in fact, has been the standard mantra of the republicans. tax cuts should not have to be paid for. the bush tax cuts amounting to trillions of dollars were not paid for, and that's, of course, one reason, madam president, we have this huge, huge pr

mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the pending amendments be set aside in order to call up amendments 1125 and 1126. i further ask that senator lea leahy, durbin and udall of colorado be listed as cosponsors of both amendments. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from california, mrs. feinstein, proposes en bloc amendments numbered 1125 and 1126. a senator: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. udall: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the pending amendment be set aside and amendment 1107 be called up. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from colorado, mr. udall, proposes an amendment numbered 1107. strike subtitle 2 of title 10 and insert the following. subtitle d, detainee matters. section 1031, review of authority of the armed forces of the united states. mr. udall: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: than

mr. levin: they are senator sherrod brown, 1259, 1260, 1261, 1262, 1263, senator leahy 1080, senator wyden 1296, senator pryor 1151 and 1152, and senator senator -- senator bill nelson 1209, 1210, 1236 and 1255. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. ayotte: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. ms. ayotte: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to temporarily set aside the pending amendment and call up the following amendments en bloc. senator mccain's amendment 1281 regarding the transfer of arms to georgia, senator blunt's two amendments, 1133 and 1134, senator murkowski's two amendments, amendment 1286 and 1287, and senator rubio's two amendments, 1290 and 1291. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: i would then ask for the regular order after all those actions are taken. the presiding officer: the amendments are now pending. mr. levin: mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent to call up en bloc five amendments

mr. bloom and fall and then answer any questions. >> thank you chairman leahy and thank you for your leadership as well as senator feinstein. i am deeply in debt to both of you and my colleagues. today's step forward strikes a blow for liberty on behalf of the citizens of new york, the citizens of connecticut, the citizens of california, the citizens of all states where same-sex marriage is legally recognized. the loss of those states will now be accorded equal status in comparison with the loss of other states. today is a win for all americans because it is a step towards justice for all americans. that is our history. it is part of our dna from the very founding of our republic. today is a step, not in making new laws, not in forcing any state to change their laws, not in compelling any place of worship to perform a marriage against their religious principles -- it is a step toward repealing a bad, discriminatory, and on constitutional law. an unjust law. in the end, it will be struck down by the court if this body does not reject it. -- protect it. what will happen first? action by the court

mr. president, by thanking the cosponsors of the amendment. they include the chairwoman of the intelligence committee, senator feinstein; the chairman of the judiciary committee; senator leahy; and our colleague senator webb, former secretary of the navy, and someone i think we all respect when it comes to national security issues. i also want to point out this amendment is a bipartisan amendment. senator rand paul joined as a cosponsor this morning and gave, i think, a very compelling floor speech a few minutes ago. senators wyden and durbin have also recently cosponsored the amendment. i want to recognize their leadership as well. mr. president, again, let me turn to the amendment itself. a growing number of our colleagues have strong concerns about the detainee provisions in this bill. and at the heart of our concerns is the, is the concern that we've not taken enough time to listen to our counterterrorism community. and have not heeded the warnings of the skraurd, the director of -- the secretary of defense, the director of national intelligence and the be director of the -- equally concerning, we have not had a hearing to fully understand the implications of our action

mr. president, by thanking the cosponsors of the amendment. they include the chairwoman of the intelligence committee, senator feinstein; the chairman of the judiciary committee; senator leahy; and our colleague senator webb, former secretary of the navy, and someone i think we all respect when it comes to national security issues. i also want to point out this amendment is a bipartisan amendment. senator rand paul joined as a cosponsor this morning and gave, i think, a very compelling floor speech a few minutes ago. senators wyden and durbin have also recently cosponsored the amendment. i want to recognize their leadership as well. mr. president, again, let me turn to the amendment itself. a growing number of our colleagues have strong concerns about the detainee provisions in this bill. and at the heart of our concerns is the, is the concern that we've not taken enough time to listen to our counterterrorism community. and have not heeded the warnings of the skraurd, the director of -- the secretary of defense, the director of national intelligence and the be director of the -- equally concerning, we have not had a hearing to fully understand the implications of our action

mr. president, by thanking the co-sponsors of the amendment. and they include the chairwoman of the intelligence committee, senator feinstein, the chairman of the judiciary committee,he j senator leahy, and our colleague, senator webb, former secretary of the navy and someone i think we all respectry when it comes to national security issues.ne i and i also want to point out c that this amendment is a bipartisan amendment. senator rand paul joined as a co-sponsor this morning and gave, i think, a very compellinr floor speech just a few minutes ago.g f senators widen and durbin have alsoen recently co-sponsored ths amendment, and i want to recognize their leadership as well. so, mr. president, again, let me turn to the amendment itself. a growing number of our colleagues have strong concernsg about the detainee provisions in this bill. and at the heart of our concerno is the, is the concern that we've not taken enough time to listen to our counterterrorism community.erte and have not heeded the warnings of the secretary of defense, the director of national intelligence and the director of the fbi who all oppose these provisions. equally concerning, mr. president, we have not had ar s

mr. leahy: mr. president, i appreciate the comments of the senator from iowa and i appreciate his help in getting the droney nomination forward, and i do -- i do appreciate his concern moving these forward. i would note -- as i said, i truly appreciate his help in getting the droney nomination up here. there are 23 other judicial nominations pending on the floor going back to march of this year, and i would hope that those 23 could also be -- as i see going back to march. we might move them quickly through the senate judiciary committee and they are then cleared by every single member of the democratic party, but the 23 sitting on the calendar since march, it would be good if we could finish them up before the end of the year. another matter, mr. president, i'm pleased on wednesday, senator crapo and i will introduce the bipartisan violence against women reauthorization act, 2011. for almost 18 years, the violence against women act, vawa, has been the centerpiece of the federal government's commitme