mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: with the time from 3:00 p.m. to 3:45 controlled by the republicans and 3:45 to 5:00 p.m. controlled by the majority. the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. as my colleagues know, this is national police week and i know i express the sentiment of every member of this body to show our appreciation for the 900,000 federal, state, and local law enforcement officers who literally put their life on the lines every day to keep us safe. we cannot thank them enough and we can also help them by your your owr actions. in 2013, 105 lost their lives in the line of duty. obviously this is a matter that requires the attention of the united states senate. let me just give you the most recent casualty in the state of maryland. on august 28, a baltimore county police officer, jason snyder, who was only 36 years of age, was shot and killed while serving a search warrant at the home on roberts avenue in kaytonsville at approximately 5:00 in the

quorum call: quorum call: 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: mr. president, last year, the senate came together to pass meaningful legislation. this was supported by victims of violence and by law enforcement and those who are committed to working to end domestic and sexual abuse. that bill, the leahy-crapo violence against women reauthorization act, was signed into law a year ago. i mention this because in a sharply divided congress, this historic reauthorization was made possible because so many victims and service providers stood together to push for a comprehensive bill and pushed to have both republicans and democrats support it. the violence against women reauthorization act, which i was proud to co-author with senator mike crapo of idaho, strengthens protections on campuses, but far too many students have become victims of devastateing violence instead of e

mr. leahy: thank you, mr. president. i will be talking about those officers who've lost their lives in the line of duty. these law enforcement officers risk their lives every day to protect our communities. we often speak eloquently on both sides of the aisle here about supporting law enforcement and their families. these tributes are one. they're well-deserved. but the police officers in our communities deserve more than speeches. they ze deserve action and real support. we owe to it to all who serve to help protect those who protect us. one way to do so is to provide them life-saving bulletproof vests. for more than 15 years, the bulletproof vest partnership grant program has helped to provide bulletproof vests to law enforcement officers around the country. republican senator ben nighthorse campbell from colorado and i worked across the aisle to design a program that helps local law enforcement agencies purchase bulletproof vests. we both had a background in law enforcement, and we drew on that. mr. president, let me

mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, we're going to have a vote today to overcome a republican filibuster of david barron, who has been nominated to fill a vacancy to the u.s. court of appeals for the first circuit. i've had the privilege of serving longer in this body than any other senator here. i've never seen so many filibusters of judicial nominees by any president, republican or democratic. in fact, they decided to filibuster the very first judg judge -- the very first judge -- that senator -- that president obama sent to this body, a judge who was strongly supported by the senators from his state, one of whom was the most senior republican in this body, the other a moderate democrat. fortunately enough people joined together to overcome that filibuster. now, i would urge all senators to vote to end this unjustified filibuster of an extraordinary nominee. david barron is currently a professor at harvard law school. he's a nationally recognized expert on constitutional law and the operation of powers, adm

mr. leahy: i ask unanimous consent to yield back the time before the vote. the presiding officer: without objection, all time is yielded back. the senate will tom company order. come to order. the senate will come to order. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion works we hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of nancy l. moritz of kansas to be united states circuit judge for the tenth circuit signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of nancy l. moritz of kansas to be the united states circuit judge for the tenth circuit shall be brought to a close. on this vote -- the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the presiding officer: does any senator in the chamber wish to vote or change their vote? if not, on this vote the ayes are 60, the nays are 38, and the nomination -- and the motion is agreed to. the clerk will r

leahy, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to calendar number 92, s. 162, which is the franklin offender treatment and crime reduction act. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to s. 162, a bill to reauthorization and improve the mentally ill treatment and crime reduction act of 2004. mr. reid: following my remarks and those of the republican leader if any, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:30 p.m. the time from 2:30 until 5:30 is equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. the senate will recess from 12:30 until 2:15 to allow for our weekly caucus meetings. at 5:30 there will be at least two roll call votes. confirmation of the costa nomination to be united states circuit judge and a cloture vote on the fischer nomination to be a member of the federal reserve board. mr. president, we hear a lot every place and have for many, many years about the brown versus board of education kaeurbgs but what was tha

leahy, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader.i now move to proceed to calendar number 92, s. 162, the franken mentally ill offender treatment and crime reduction act. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 92, s. 162, a bill to reauthorize and improve the mentally ill offender treatment and crime reduction act of '04. mr. reid: mr. president, following my remarks and those of the republican leader, the time until 11:15 will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. at 11:15, there will be a series of roll call votes in relation to several nominees. following those votes, the senate will recess until 1:45 to allow for caucus meetings that we're having today. at 1:45, there will be another series of roll call votes on the nomination as well as cloture vote on the wyden substitute amendment for the tax extenders legislation. the filing deadline for second-degree amendments to the substitute is 3:00 p.m. today. mr. president, a memo

reid of nevada, wyden, menendez, murray, tester, canal, leahy, schatz, warner, schumer, rockefeller, cardin, and heinrich. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. a senator: mr. president? t the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are notment mr. blumenthal: i would ask to speak as if in morning business. -- mr. murphy: i ask unanimous consent that katherine martucci from my office be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the year. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. murphy: thank you, mr. president. there was a fairly remarkable hearing in the house of representatives yesterday, the energy and commerce committee, upon which i used to sit when i was there, called together some of the nation's biggest insurers to talk about all of the failures of the affordable care act as seen through the lens of the insurance companies. first up on the docket for republicans was the claim that no one had paid their

leahy, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following my remarks and those of the republican leader, we will resume consideration of h.r. 3474. at 11:15, there will be up to five roll call votes in relation to several nominations. following those votes until 5:15, time will be equally divided. at 5:15, there will be another series of roll call votes on confirmation of three more district court judges and some other nominations. i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. reid: the majority leader -- i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, this morning marks 321 days since this body passed commonsense immigration reform. for 321 days, the republican-controlled house of representatives has done absolutely nothing to address our nation's problems and with our broken immigration system. it's a system that's broken and needs to be fixed. it can't be fixed on a piecemeal ba

leahy, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i've heard the good chaplain talk about some of the things we shouldn't do, and one of them is be envy kwrus, and i try not to be, but i have to admit every morning i hear his speech i am envious of his voice. i've got what i've got. it's not much in the way of voice. if i could stand here and give that dr. barry black voice, but i can't do that. even though it's not right thing to do, i am still envious of his voice and i will always be. i move to proceed to calendar 92, the franklin mcneil crime reduction act. calendar 92, s. 162. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 92, s. 162, a bill to authorize and improve the mentally ill treatment and crime reduction act. the presiding officer: mr. president, following my remarks and those of the republican leader if any the senate will be in a period of morning business until 12:15 today. because of a change in schedule the republicans will have their caucus today rather than yesterday as we normally do. so the time until

leahy, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: majority leader. mr.id: i move to proceed to calendar number 332, h.r. 3474. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 332, h.r. 3474, an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986, and so forth. mr. reid: following my remarks and those of the republican leader, the senate will be in controlled time until 11:15. that will be equally divided and controlled. there will be a series of votes beginning at 11:15. another series of votes at 1:45. this will be to confirm a number of nominations. there could be as many as nine votes. we'll see what happens as the day goes on. yesterday i filed cloture on the energy efficiency bill. as a result of that filing, all first-degree amendments are due today by 1:00 p.m. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: anyone who watches the senate on c-span knows the desks in the senate chamber are split between democrats and republicans. but when i come into the senate chamber anymore,

leahy. president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr.reid: following my remarks and those of the republican leader the senate will resume consideration of a motion to proceed to the energy efficiency industrial competitiveness bill. postcloture time will expire at about 5:45 this evening. senators will be notified when and if any votes are scheduled today. mr. president, it is not often that i agree with what the koch brothers say or do. their radical agenda -- their radical agenda is normally so far out of the mainstream that it makes opposition to their agenda very easy. so imagine my surprise when the last week i read the quote -- i read a quote from a koch spokesperson in a kansas newspaper. that's where they're based. here's what the koch brothers said -- and i quote -- "we're not experts on climate change. we do believe there should be a free and open debate on the climate issue and it should be based on sound science and intellectual honesty. the debate should take place -- they go on to say -- among the scientific community exami

leahy he can have 23 more seconds. i went over that. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. >> thank you very much, senator grassley. i have two questions that i will address now with the administrator. the first has to do with the development of your policies as prescription drugs and the abuse of prescription drugs, and particularly opioids prescription drugs dominates america's drug abuse problem. my worry is that as you direct more law enforcement attention to the problem and more regulatory attention to the problem, you may intrude on the legitimate and proper use of those prescription drugs. and i'm wondering what the structure is within dea for evaluating those concerns. accounts while its death only a concern we address the abuse of these prescription drugs, it's also a concern if an 80 year old woman was alone in the world and living in, you know, a nursing home is in terrible pain at 2:00 in the morning and there's no way for her to get relief from her pain because we have made it such a fortress of regulation around her, that's how to get a doctor about 2 a.m. to do that and that's not likely to happen. h

nigeria, parts of the leahy amendment may have to be waived, we need to find these young girls back to safety. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. mr. royce: well, mr. speaker, i'm going to ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from new jersey be yielded the remainder of my time and he be allowed to control that time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. royce: thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. engel: thank you, mr. speaker. it's now my pleasure to give one minute of time to our democratic leader, the gentlewoman from from california, ms. pelosi. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. pelosi: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i thank him, mr. royce, chairman of the committee. mr. smith and others who have brought this resolution to the floor. i'm especially proud of the work of congresswoman wilson for her work on the resolution before the house to condemn the abduction of female students by armed militants. thank you, congresswoman wilson. we have been fortunate to have the leadership of our congre

nigeria, parts of the leahy amendment may have to be waived, we need to find these young girls back to safety. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. mr. royce: well, mr. speaker, i'm going to ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from new jersey be yielded the remainder of my time and he be allowed to control that time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. royce: thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. engel: thank you, mr. speaker. it's now my pleasure to give one minute of time to our democratic leader, the gentlewoman from from california, ms. pelosi. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. pelosi: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i thank him, mr. royce, chairman of the committee. mr. smith and others who have brought this resolution to the floor. i'm especially proud of the work of congresswoman wilson for her work on the resolution before the house to condemn the abduction of female students by armed militants. thank you, congresswoman wilson. we have been fortunate to have the leadership of our congre

mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: i ask consent to yield back -- the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the senate will come to order. the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: i ask consent to yield back all time on the next two nominations. the presiding officer: without objection. the time is yielded back. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote:

mr. leahy: i ask unanimous consent to yield back the time, all time. the presiding officer: without objection, all time is yielded back. and the question occurs on the soto nomination. there -- is there a sufficient second? there there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: does any senator wish to vote or change his or her vote? if not, the yeas are 95. the nays are 1. and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, there will be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to the vote to invoke cloture on the costa nomination. without objection, all time is yielded back. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators in in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of gregg jeffrey costa of texas to be united states circuit judge for the fifth circuit signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call ha