mr. mark twain. [applause] mr. mark twain: thank you. i must admit i'm somewhat embarrassed.hey told us we had about one hour and 50 minutes. i've only prepared for 45. [laughter] as a member of the lincoln farm association, which was newly formed, i was a member of that organization. as a member and as a writer i was encouraged and did an article for "the new york times ," january 13, 1907. the purpose of the article was to help find a group of people who would unite together to save the lincoln farm. i wrote the article and i will read it to you or tell it to you to the best of my remembrance. as a natural human instinct that is gratified by the side of anything hallowed by association of a great man or great work, so many people make pilgrimage to the town whose shakespeare, the streets were trotted by shakespeare. hartford guarded the charter oak for centuries because it was thatd and had a hole in it house in article that preserved the liberties of a colony. it was no accident that planted lincoln and a kentucky farm in rural america. lincoln was halfway between the grea

mr. president, i'd urge my colleagues to support this important bipartisan western initiative. i want to change topics here real quick and talk about something that's important to all of us. that's lake tahoe. mark twain once said that the lake had a bewirlding richness that enchanted the high and held it with the stronger fascination. over the past year and a half i've, wooed with my good -- i've worked with my good friend from oklahoma, jim inhofe. i want to thank him for helping advance a long-standing priority of mine, the lake tahoe restoration act. this as bill i champ on-ed in the house before came over to the senate and i'm proud to be the lead sponsor of it here in the senate during the 114th congress. this bipartisan legislation, which has garn earned the support of the nevada congressional delegation and my california colleagues, senators feinstein and boxer, is focused on reducing wildlife threats, wildfire threats, improving water quality and clarity, improving public land management, and combating inveighsive species. specifically, mr. president, this bill invests $415 billion into the lake tahoe basin over the next ten years. these important resources will address are major issues that