mr. leahy: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, what is the parliamentary situation? the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. leahy: i ask consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. 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, timothy s. hillman of massachusetts to be united states district judge. the presiding officer: under the previous order there will be 30 minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form. mr. leahy: madam president, i would ask consent to insert my statement on the hillman nomination and judiciary nominations generally in the record as though read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: madam president, i would ask to speak to, also within the time that is reserved for me, speak on another important subject

mr. leahy: would the senator yield? mr. reid: i would be happy to yield to my friend. mr. leahy: mr. president, i know the distinguished majority leader has been working very hard to get this -- accommodate senators in a vote. i now he's got -- i know he's gotten the support of every member of our caucus in doing that, but i heard the distinguished leader say he had aide come in at 10:00? mr. reid: if i thought it would help to come in earlier, i would do that. but it would only be -- mr. leahy: the senator anticipated my next question. and i appreciate that. mr. reid: we likely can't do anything until the house works on the bill tomorrow. i have to say this. the house has been extremely cooperative. everything we've done the last few days -- i see on the floor my friend, the chairman of the environment and public works committee. she knows how hard this has been and how cooperative the republicans have been. no one has been more so than the ranking member of the environment and public works committee, jim inhofe. i will always admire jim inhofe for the work -- i'll be darn

mr. leahy: and, madam president, let me refer to the issue before you the nomination- the issue before us, the nomination before us. i recognize the distinguished senior nor from ohio will speak again afterward. jeffrey helmick was rated "well-qualified" by a substantial majority of the a.b.a. committee of the federal judiciary. that's the highest rating any nominee can get. in his 22-year legal career as a litigator in private prarks he's tried approximately 40 cases to verdict or judgment. most lawyers who practice today do not goi begin to have that experience. he is currently a principal at his law firm. has the strong support of his home state senators, one a democrat, one a republican, who have spoken in support of him. he was voted out of the judiciary committee almost three months ago by a bipartisan majority, mr. president. so given his distinguished record in private practice, his bipartisan support, i trust he'll be confirmed. now, some have chosen to criticize him for his role as a

mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: republican efforts to shut down senate confirmations of qualified judicial nominees, nominees who have bipartisan support, nominees that have been honored by republicans and democrats in the judiciary committee, this toefrt shut down the confirmation, that does not help the american people. it hurts the american people. it is a shortsighted policy at a time when their efforts to slow the confirmation of judges has brought about a judicial vacancy rate that's almost twice what it was at this point in the first term of president bush. one of the reasons we brought down the vacancy rate during president bush's first term for 17 months of the 48 months of this term, i was chairman of the senate judiciary committee. we moved through 1 00 of his nominees. now republicans did beat that record in

mr. leahy: madam president, i ask consent that call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. leahy: madam president, do i have time remaining? the presiding officer: the majority has 17 minutes and 10 seconds. mr. leahy: madam president, i will use part of that to refer to the farm bill and i'd ask consent that the part speaking on the farm bill appear in the debate on proceedings to that matter. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. leahy: first i thank the chairwoman, senator stabenow, the ranking member, senator roberts, for working together to advance a bipartisan farm bill, one that can pass the senate and become law this year. i know having been -- served in the position both as chairman and ranking member with senator lugar, i know how hard it is to get consensus but when you make it a bipartisan consensus as senator lugar and i did, it is far more apartment to pass the bill. some ask why we have to do this. well, we h

mr. cole, for the attorney general hold r holder, for senator leahy and mr. cummings to each state their positions and that took about five minutes apiece. >> greta: did you communicate to him right then and there look i'm going forward tomorr w tomorrow? did you tell him that? >> i did. i told him that he gave us nothing that would cause us not to go forward. but that we would hold the doors open for actual discove y discovery. >> and he said what when you told him that? >> well, he started through the same line that he used in public statements that you have seen before judicialary unprecedented access, nobody can give you the deliberative process, we are willing to do it but it is unprecedented. and again, we are sorry to have to ask for this information but i he think the american people by now if they have been foll w following fast and furious know that we don't have answers relative to who was sponsible for brian terry as it went up the chain. we certainly don't have any information about how a document that was false remai remained out there for ten m

mr. cole, for the attorney general hold r holder, for senator leahy and mr. cummings to each state their positions and that took about five minutes apiece. >> greta: did you communicate to him right then and there look i'm going forward tomorr w tomorrow? did you tell him that? >> i did. i told him that he gave us nothing that would cause us not to go forward. but that we would hold the doors open for actual discove y discovery. >> and he said what when you told him that? >> well, he started through the same line that he used in public statements that you have seen before judicialary unprecedented access, nobody can give you the deliberative process, we are willing to do it but it is unprecedented. and again, we are sorry to have to ask for this information but i he think the american people by now if they have been foll w following fast and furious know that we don't have answers relative to who was sponsible for brian terry as it went up the chain. we certainly don't have any information about how a document that was false remai remained out there for ten m

mr. chairman. >> senator leahy has been waiting patiently. go ahead. >> in our meeting today, use the term constitutional crisis several times. >> i think constitutional conflict would be a better term. >> one way or another, your use of that term reflects a concern that i share, to make sure that government is operated within the confines of what the constitution allows. like many of my constituents, i have concerns with regards to how this president and his administration have reviewed certain restrictions. so many concerns early on in this a ministration with the president's use of expanded the czars, individuals accountable only to the white house, jobs that in the past have been performed by cabinet level personnel. in the area of religious liberty you have an unprecedented and fairly radical position taken by the administration which rejected, unanimously, 9-0 by the supreme court, also under the category of religious liberty. you have got a contraception and board mandate that failed to take into account the conscientious objections of

mr. chairman. >> senator leahy has been waiting patiently. go ahead. >> in our meeting today, use the term constitutional crisis several times. >> i think constitutional conflict would be a better term. >> one way or another, your use of that term reflects a concern that i share, to make sure that government is operated within the confines of what the constitution allows. like many of my constituents, i have concerns with regards to how this president and his administration have reviewed certain restrictions. so many concerns early on in this a ministration with the president's use of expanded the czars, individuals accountable only to the white house, jobs that in the past have been performed by cabinet level personnel. in the area of religious liberty you have an unprecedented and fairly radical position taken by the administration which rejected, unanimously, 9-0 by the supreme court, also under the category of religious liberty. you have got a contraception and board mandate that failed to take into account the conscientious objections of

leahy? >> as chairman and secretary panetta and general dempsey and mr. heaale, thank you for being here. i appreciate the opportunity we had to talk before the meeting. one thing i didn't mention then was that something you are well aware of on the last ten years is we've depended more on our reserve. i know we could never support two simultaneous wars without the men like you and general dempsey. any time i've visited areas where we're in combat, you don't see a difference between active guard and reserve. they are all out there doing their job, putting their lives on the line. and i think your strategy has echoed this reality from the president's guidance of the last quadrennial defense review. as a result, and it's -- many of us in congress, senator graham and i are co-chairs of the guard caucus, when the air force presented a 2013 budget plan that disproportionately cut the guard. i know there's going to be cuts and we all understand that. but appears here you are going after your least expensive manpower to save money. and that did not make a lot of sense. especially manpower costs

mr. president, i rise today to express my support for the minority leader's decision to invoke the long-standing senate tradition known as the leahyhurmond rule. mr. lee: pursuant to this tradition and this precedent, the senate will cease confirming nominees to the federal court of appeals until after the presidential election in november. many of my colleagues from the other side of the aisle have previously affirmed the propriety of this rule and enforced its standard. for example, in the last year the bush administration, the majority leader noted that -- quote -- "in a presidential election year, it is always very tough for judges. that is the way it has been for a long time and that is why we have the thurmond rule." the chairman of the judiciary committee, who has cited the thurmond rule more frequently than any other senator has likewise state that had -- quote -- "in a presidential-election year, after spring no judges go through except by the consent of the republican and democratic leader." statements from several of my democratic colleagues likewise "n" firm that it is proper to invoke the leahy thurmond rule at this p

leahy. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for joining us today, chairman bernanke. can you ask us to quantitative easing and help us understand the risk factors you as you understand? >> the pulmonary vein to say is that we have less experience our estimates understand that this advocacy and exactly how much is needed and so on are less than the monetary policy. in terms of potential side effects and never identified and pay most attention to our sons e balance sheets would make the exit strategy were difficult and that lay the two a problem. i want to be clear that we can extract at timely way from our balance sheet strategy and there is in fact a justification for such a concern, but nevertheless some people might have that concern. that is one issue. concerned that inflation will rise excessively because we can't get out of our balance sheet position. >> the second one has to do with financial stability. the question is, does the prospect of very little interest rates for long time, does it create problems for certain types of firms like life insurance companies

senator leahy, thanks for your patience. thank you, mr. chairman. your service to our country. mr. bellinger, i wanted to start by asking the basic fundamental question about something in this treaty does. like reading a royalty obligation is to the exploitation of minerals from the seabed outside of the 200 knock on my own range, are we creating a construct that recognizes ownership released a degree of sovereignty and an international organization? is out there as he implies? somebody can charge a royalty for the explication of minerals, does not imply the own that land where the state possess the software -- the incidence of sovereignty with respect to the up and? >> i wouldn't say so. i just see that associate the united states has agreed to two minor area. >> so if you all bland and exxonmobil wants to develop oil in the land and i say i'm going to church or royalty are exploiting the research -- this resource on mr. bellinger is land, when i employ some sort of ownership for sovereign right with respect to that land? >> while again, not necess

, stabenow, levin, conrad, bingaman, kohl, leahy, bennet, coons, franken, baucus, mikulski, nelson of nebraska, klobuchar, brown of ohio, merkley and casey. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. ms. mikulski: mr. speaker, would you yield for a question? mr. reid: i yield to my friend. ms. mikulski: mr. leader, i noted on the last vote, you voted no. was that so that the bill could be reconsidered? mr. reid: i say to my friend through the chair there is no one in this body that has a reputation for a bigger and better fighter than barbara mikulski, the senator from maryland, senior senator from maryland, and i entered the motion to reconsider the vote because i want the fight to continue. ms. mikulski: well, i would like to respond to the majority leader. we want to fight, too. we thank you for your vote and your voice. i just want you to know that although we lost the vote today, we're not going to give up on this vote. it is a very sad day here in the united states senate, but it's a sadder day every day when paycheck

leahy. at 5:30 there will be a roll call vote on confirmation of the hillman nomination. mr. president, s. res. 41 is now due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: senate joint resolution 41, expressing the sense of congress regarding the nuclear program of the government of islamic republic of iran. mr. reid: mr. president, i would object to any further proceedings with respect to this joint resolution. the presiding officer: the objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. reid: mr. president, back in 1963 when congress passed equal pay act, women at that time working full time took about 15 cents for every dollar paid to their male coworkers doing the same job. and while passage of this landmark legislation helped narrow the pay gap, today american women still take home 77 cents on the dollar compared to male colleagues for doing the exact same job. jane working at a job gets 77 cents, jack working at that job gets a dollar. that's why women are concerned about how they're being

mr. meehan of pennsylvania and ms. sanchez of california for their work on this issue. this is a bipartisan, bicameral bill. similar legislation sponsored by senator leahy was approved by the senate last march by voice vote. this bill enacts penalties for trafficking and counterfeit drugs, similar to those for trafficking and military goods or services as established in the national defense authorization act, which congress passed last december. counterfeit military goods affect the credibility of the supply chain that support our national defense. and counterfeit drugs call into doubt america's pharmaceutical legal drug supply. in both situations, the significant and multiple dangers to the public demand enhanced penalties. counterfeit drugs are fake drugs. they may be contaminated, contain the wrong ingredient or no ingredient at all or have the right active ingredient but the wrong dose. they are intentionally packaged to convince the consume they are genuine. counterfeit drugs rill legal and can be harmful to a person's health and even deadly. counterfeit drugs present not only a financial loss to the manufacture or markholder but also a real health

mr. leahy: mr. president in. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i call -- i move to -- the presiding officer: could we have order in the house -- in the senate, please. mr. leahy: move to reconsider. mr. reid: lay it on the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, i call up my amendment number 2204. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: mr. leahy proposes an amendment numbered 2204. mr. leahy: i ask that further reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided. mr. leahy: mr. president, it is very simple. it is a state rural development councils. reauthorizes the state council's on-the-ground leadership. it does not cost a single farm dollar. it maintains the state's statutory authority and i would urge all norse to support this amendment. -- all senators to support this amendment. the presiding officer: the nuclear from michigan. ms. stabenow: i first want to commend senator leahy, who as a former chairman of

mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: i thank my friend from iowa. obviously if he had a schedule and had to go, i would yield to him. but seeing him on the floor, i would know that the senate republicans announced last week they're going to shut down and block the confirmation process for qualified and consensus circuit nominees for the rest of the year. that's unfortunate. it does nothing to help the american people or our courts. the courts continue to be overburdened while consensus nominees for vacancies that could be filled are being stalled. we're talking about in some cases nominees where you have two republican senators from the state supporting it, others where you've got a democratic and a republican senator have gone through our committee, usually by voice vote, they're that noncontroversial. and it's hard to see this new application of the thurman rule as anything more than stalling tact isics. i have yet to hear any good reason why we should continue to vote on well qualified consensus nominees just as

mr. leahy: i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. manchin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mr. manchin: i rise to congratulate former west virginia governor -- the presiding officer: the senator is reminded we are in a quorum call. mr. manchin: i'd like to have the quorum call vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. manchin: i'd like to congratulate former governor gaston caperton. it is my privilege to honor him, a native of charles champion -- charleston, virginia. governor caperton's childhood experience instilled the importance of education at a young able. as a child who struggled with dyslexia, he was able to overcome the hurdles he faced in the classroom and achieve educational excellence. he earned his bachelor's degree in business from the university of north carolina and has taught at harvard and columbia university. he also holds ten honorary dorral degrees. he served as governor from 1989