mr. leahy:man, i call up amendment 2955. officer the clerk will report. the clerk: mr. leahy proposes an amendment numbered 2955. mr. leahy: i ask unanimous consent further reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. chairman, i also ask unanimous consent that the floor privileges during this vote and subsequent votes on the bill be granted to bruce cohen, mattvergus and erica chaff he ia chavez from my office. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: this is actually a simple amendment. it strengthens the public safety officers benefit act. that's the federal death and disability program that we have for our nation's first responders who are killed or disabled in the line of duty. there'sing in -- it is nothing now this body. an earlier version of this legislation was adopted on the senate floor by voice vote in december 2001. it was adop adopted as part of e f.a.a. modernization and safety improvement act. and in fact the house judiciary cha

mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask that the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, i know we have matters under discussion with the distinguished chairman of the committee and distinguished ranking member, and i've discussed with them that i'm not bringing up an amendment at this point, let me talk about an amendment that i will bring up and expect to pass at some point. the amendment that i will call up at some appropriate point is legislation i've been trying to get enacted more than three years, it's called the dale long public safety officers benefits improvement act. it's legislation that improves public safety officers benefits act, that's the federal death and disability program for our nation's first responders who are killed or disabled in the line of duty. and just so senators will know, an earlier version of this legislation was adopted here on the senate floor by voice vote in december of 2011. madam president, you'll recall

mr. leahy: mr. president, i think the distinguished senior senator from florida has done the senate and the country a service for what he has -- by what he has said. you know, mr. president, we each represent our own states. we have matters of interest in our states, but there are also so many times national interests. during this past recess, i was in just about every part of vermont. i am stopped time and time again by vermont farmers who ask why congress left town without passing a farm bill. they knew we passed it here in the senate but why hadn't it finished? and like my fellow vermonters, i have been -- i have been frustrated by the refusal of the leadership of the house of representatives to consider the legislation sent to them by the senate to extend the farm bill. in fact, they have blocked consideration of a bipartisan farm bill, one that mirrors the legislation passed in their own body by the house agriculture committee. now, mr. president, i have been here nearly 38 years. i have served

mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i'm sorry i interrupted. i came off the floor. i didn't realize senator grassley being his huge self-effacing self is sitting there in the back row. the -- i've been here as a colleague in the senate during those 11,000 votes. i don't want to ruin his reputation back home but we have a -- a significant number of those votes where he and i voted the same way. and, of course, he and i sit together -- or sit side-by-side on the senate judiciary committee, and i -- i congratulate him. these are milestones worth being noted. he, senator grassley, has had far more friends than mine. so i congratulate him, his wife barbara was kind enough to introduce -- both to recommend my wife for a cancer awareness award and then to introduce her just before we recessed. and it's been that kind of a relationship. those of us who live in rural areas, as the distinguished presiding officer knows, we require certain bonds and so i applaud the senator from iowa. and, mr. president, on a -- i have

sanders, mr. leahy and mr. google they're bringing 10 lockheed martin. the military industrial complex is here because mr. sanders invited them to pay $9 million to the university. that is ahead deal. we need to separate. >>moderator: while mr. sanders asks the question you were a music. why? sanders: . moss: mr. sanders toxin generalities but never specifics. his answer is work real hard. you'll hear him say that five or 10 times during the one-hour broadcast because he tells the voters what he thinks they want to hear. but what does he have to do? >>moderator: i would give you a chance to respond but please clarify cris ericson will use adjusting mitt romney in the debate when he use the reference to big bird he was not talking about "sesame street"? ericson: i think when president obama first raised the issue what he is really saying is to watch out for the big yellow bird that is china. >>moderator: mitt romney brought it up. ericson: he said it second. sanders: and with the transportation bill we will have $400 million to build roads and bridges and

vogel, by mr. leahyand they're bringing in sandia corporation, and they're bringing in lockheed martin. so the industrial, the military industrial complex is here because mr. sanders invited them here. and made sure that they come here and pay, sandia pays $9 million to the university of -- that's a cheap sellout, $9 million to militarize the state of vermont. we need to get out of this state, the united states. we need to separate. >> moderator: two follow-ups to this round. mr. moss, while mr. sanders is asking that question, you were amused. why? moss: mr. sanders always talks in generalities and never in specifics. his favorite solution is growth, we will work real hard at that. and you will hear him say that five or ten times during an hour broadcast. why does he do that? because he tells the voters what he thinks they want to hear. and then he asks his sponsors that finance his $6 million plus campaign kitty what he has to do to earn that $6 million. >> moderator: i'll give you a chance to respond

sanders, mr. leahynd they are bringing incendiary corporation and lockheed martin so the industrial -- the military industrial complex is here because mr. sanders invited him here and make sure they come here and pay $9 million that is a cheap sellout to militarize the state of vermont. we need to separate. >> moderator: to follow this round, mr. moss, while mr. sanders was answering that question you were in the test. why? moss: all of these talks of the generalities and not specific he is, quote, worked hard at that and you will hear him say that during an hour broadcast. why don't you do that? because he tells the voters what they think they want to hear. >> moderator: can you clarify for me or you suggesting that mitt romney in the debate where he used the reference of big bird that he wasn't talking about the big bird from sesame street that i understand you right on that? - when president obama first raised the issue what he is really saying is we have to watch out for the big yellow word which is

on behalf of senator leahy, i ask unanimous consent that a fellow on the senate judicial committee, be granted privileges of the floor. >> without objection, so ordered. >> mr president, for the last year, the president has been focused on the difference between republicans and democrats. for the last two years, this congress has not accomplished nearly enough. as we closed the 112th congress, it is time to focus on our shared goals and our common purpose. we will all agree that today great now challenges facing our country and this congress. those challenges are large -- too large to be solved by democrats alone and two large to be undertaken by republicans alone, and they are too grave for us to allow political differences to stand in the way of success. on the day gerald ford became president of the u.s., at a time of great national turmoil, this is what he said -- "there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anyone can win except by serving the people's urgent needs. we cannot stand still of slip backwards. we must go forward now together." so said gerald ford. mr. president, that is true today as it was back then. today the american pe

mr. leahy: mad leahy: ahmadinejs the particle -- mr. leahy: madam president, what is the parliamentary situation? are we in morning business? the presiding officer: we are postcloture on s. 3525. mr. leahy: i thank the distinguished presiding officer. i'd ask consent to proceed for no more than five minutes as though in morning business and then resume back in the normal regular order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: madam president, vermont is a small state but it's filled with very big people. perhaps none are better known or more well-liked and more respected than antonio parmelow. he's the vermont chamber of commerce 2012 vermont citizen of the year. vermonters have known antonio parmelow by many names. either call him mr. p. or tony. my wife and i also have the good fortune of calling him "uncle tony." he is my wife's uncle and they have the -- they have a family bond which i admire. but no matter what we call him, we all agree the best term to describe uncle tony is "

mr. leahy: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: madam president and ththe distinguished presiding officer would know what i'm saying by this. it was a pleasure and an honor for this senator to have served side by side with the late senator from new hampshire, warren rudman. as we in new england knew and of course people in new hampshire and vermont especially knew, he was a skilled and accomplished legislator. he was a credit to this body. he was a cat cat catalyst for . he always kept his word and he was a good and close friend. we traveled together. we worked together. we never let our different political parties get in the way of doing things that helped our part of the country or helped the country at large. i think he was shaped by his experience as well as business his yankee origins. an army infantry commander

leahy and tester. i would ask my colleagues to approve the amendment. mr. mccain: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: this amendment which was unanimously approved by the committee as a provision and it would review the plan to reduce civilian and contractual personnel by 5%. right now the president's budget request, not counting sequester, would reduce military personnel by 123,900 men and women serving in the military, or 5.5% over five years. since 2001, the civilian personnel and department of defense has increased by 100,000, 16% increase, and a 37% increase in civilian pay costs. the department of defense continues to be top-heavy with headquarters. the office of the secretary will grow by 25% from 2001 to 2017. we all know the department of defense is being downsized so there has to be obviously a commensurate reduction in civilians, which is actually less than what is contemplated in the military. this was unanimously reported, and i have had conversations with the secretary of defense who agrees that we need to reduce the civilian