mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: the obama economy has had a devastating impact on the people we represent. it's hurt millions in the middle class and people from every region of the country and almost every walk of life. and when you consider this week's debate in the senate, a few statistics jump out in particular. under this president's watch, more than 3.7 million american women have fallen into poverty. the average american woman now makes about $730 less than when the president took office. and if she's a college graduate, she's actually seen her income shrink by about double that amount. in other words, when it comes to american women overall, what we've seen over the past five and a half years is less income and more poverty. that's the story senate democrats don't want to talk about. perhaps that's why for weeks now they blocked the efforts republicans have made to improve the picture. senate democrats want to control this debate from start to finish, and basically do nothing to help with our effor

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i'd luke to start this morning by reit read -- this morning by reading an excerpt from a memo by gene sperling to president clinton t relates it a minimum wage proposal similar to the one we're considering today. here's what he wrote: "your entire economic team believes that this approach is too aggressive and are concerned that it could approve damaging to employment prospects of low-skilled workers, as well as to the general microeconomic performance of our economy." bue memo noted there was a plus side to supporting the proposal. it would unify the liberal wing of the democratic party. well, today feels like deja vu all over again because even though our constituents keep telling us that they expect washington to focus on jobs, that's clearly not what they're getting from the senate. instead senate democrats are pushing legisla

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: for days now republicans have been coming to the floor to ask the democratic majority to work with us on jobs. this is the issue americans say they care the most about. so it's hard to see why senate democrats seem so allergic to various jobs ideas that we've been proposing, not to mention dozens of job-creating bills already passed by the house. look, our constituents want us to work together to rebuild the middle class, to help create opportunities for the families struggling out there just to pay the bills. in recent days we've given our democratic colleagues ample opportunity to do just that. we've offered one innovative proposal after another. proposals that haven't had much of a problem attracting bipartisan support in the past. ideas like reducing the tax burden on small businesses, freeing them to grow, to hire, to innovate. ideas like approving the keystone pipeline which would create thousands of jobs right away. ideas like repealing the medical device tax, which e

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: for weeks republicans have been trying to get democrats to focus on the one issue that americans say they care the most about, and that's jobs and the economy. everyone agrees we're in the midst of a jobs crisis in our country. what republicans have been saying is, here are some concrete things, some concrete things we can actually do about it. but democrats have completely shut us out. if government isn't part of the solution or if it doesn't drive wedge between one group of people and the oh, they are a just not interested. here is just one idea he have a proposed and that democrats have brushinged aside. -- brushed aside. how about helping workers better balance the demand of work and family by allowing them time off as a form of overtime compensation? this is an idea that's tailored to the needs of the modern workforce. it is something a lot of working women say they really want. it's something government employees have already enjoyed for years. what we're saying is let

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: washington democrats have controlled the white house and the senate for years now. they've tried just about every tool in the liberal toolbox to turn the economy around, and yet according to the latest gallup tracking poll, just 19% of americans think the economy is doing well. millions, millions are out of work, and close to 60% of americans say things are getting even worse. so by basically any objective standard you'd have to say that the washington democratic approach just hasn't worked. you'd have to say it's time for a change to do something that can work. and that's just what republicans are proposing again this week. while senate democrats dust off the same old poll-tested ideas for papering over the symptoms of may -- malaise, republicans are proposing ideas to give people real hope for something more, something better than what we've been getting for the last five years, something that speaks to their hopes and their potential. in other words, the other side is dou

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i'd like to start this morning with a word about yesterday's tragic shooting at fort hood. as the investigation continues, we'll learn more facts. but what we already know is that fort hood has faced a great deal of adversity and challenges over the past few years, and that the community there has rallied around our uniformed personnel. we also know that the on-base military police appeared to have responded quickly, appropriately, and obviously at great personal risk to themselves. so as always, in a tragedy like this we admire the courage and the commitment of those who rushed to help the victims. and of course we are thinking and praying today for the victims, their families, and their fellow soldiers and civilians at fort hood. now, mr. president, on an entirely different matter, all week republicans have been coming to the floor to talk about our proposals to ignite job creation and get the economy back on track. we've been talking about ideas that can help middle-class

mr. mcconnell: i thank my friend from missouri. what we've been talking about here is how to create jobs and, unfortunately, the agenda of the senate democratic majority does just the opposite. and it appears as if we're not likely to be able to get any amendments offered that would actually create jobs and opportunity for our people. one of the things that i've been so disturbed about over the years is the inability of employees to make a voluntary choice about whether they want to belong to a union. in addition to the energy jobs measures that we're discussing here today, i have another related measure i'd like to highlight, as i mentioned earlier this morning in my opening remarks, enacting national right-to-work legislation is just plain common sense. my colleague from kentucky, senator paul, has been the leader on this issue. it's a fundamental issue of worker freedom. this amendment would empower american workers to choose whether or not they'd like to join a union. it would protect a worker from getting fired if she would ra

mr. mcconnell: the democratic majority led us to believe the senate would be discussing jobs this week, but it seems to be a pretty one-sided discussion. republican senators came to the floor to talk about our innovative ideas to create jobs and grow opportunity for all americans. as for senate democrats, though, well, they couldn't even stand up to call for votes on the jobs proposals. i think this reflects a growing divide here in the senate between a republican party that's focused on the middle class and a democratic party that's obsessed with november 4. that's really disappointing for america. the american people need two serious political parties in this country. by at least -- but at least our constituents can be assured of one thing. republicans are laser focused on delivering real prosperity to the families who struggled so much in this economy. it's the impetus behind basically everything we do, and it's the impetus behind the numerous jobs proposals republican senators are rolling out this week. for instance, several republican senators will take to the floor again today to talk

mr. chief justice, may it please the court -- senator mcconnell agrees that this aggregate limit does not pass exacting scrutiny. senator mcconnell believes that all restrictions of this nature should be reviewed under strict scrutiny. to begin with, this is a severe restriction on political speech. >> mr. burchfield, i'd like you to address this question about the restriction on speech. it has been argued that these limits promote expression, promote democratic participation, because what they require the candidate to do is, instead of concentrating fundraising on the super-affluent, the candidate would then have to try to raise money more broadly in the electorate. so that by having these limits you are promoting democratic participation, then the little people will count some, and you won't have the super-affluent as the speakers that will control the elections. >> your honor, i disagree with that, for this reason. first of all, this limit, the aggregate limit on political parties, places like-minded political parties in the position of competing against each other rather than collabor

mr. chief justice they please the court. senator mcconnellagrees this aggregate limit does not pass scrutiny and senator mcconnell believes that all districts of this nature should be reviewed under strict scrutiny. to begin with this is a severe restriction on political speech. >> mr. burchfield i would like you to address this question about the restriction on speech. it has been argued that these limits promote expression, promote democratic participation because what they require the candidate to do is instead of concentrating fund-raising on this super affluent the candidate would then have to try to raise money, more broadly in the electorate so that by having these limits you are promoting democratic participation and the little people will count some and he won't have the super affluent that will control the election. >> your honor i disagree for this reason. the aggregate limit on political parties places like-minded political parties in the position of competing against each other that rather than collaboracollabora ting against eac

mr. reid: i have seven unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session. they have both been approved by me and by senator mcconnell. i ask consent these requests be agreed to and printed in the record. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: this will be the last vote this morning. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators hereby move to bring to a close the debate on jon david levy of maine to be district judge of maine, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of jon david levy of maine to be united states district court judge for the district of maine shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? if not, the ayes are 63, the nays are 34. and the motion is agreed to. under the freef order, the senate will resume lenl -- under the previous order, the senate will resu

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by me in consultation with the -- senator mcconnell, on wednesday, april 9, the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 507, that there be two minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form, that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the senate proceed to vote on the nomination, that the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order, any related statements be printed in the record and president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent we proceed to a period of morning business with senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 713, the nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, there be no interven

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that on wednesday, april 2, at a time to be determined by me, in consultation with senator mcconnell, the senate proceed to executive session to consider nominations numbered 520, 679, 705. there be two minutes for debate equally divided in the ural form on each -- usual form on each nomination, that the senate proceed to vote in the order listed, that all roll call votes after the first be 10 minutes in length, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order. that any related statements be printed in the record, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 371. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 371, honoring the legacy of jan karsky by designating april 24, 2014, as jan karsky day. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and

mr. toomey: thank you, madam president. i want to thank my colleague from west virginia, senator manchin, for his terrific efforts on this legislation. i also want to thank our other cosponsors, senator mcconnell and senator inhofe, for their support as well. the tragic story that inspired this bill has a connection to my state of pennsylvania and senator manchin's state of west virginia. so it made it kind of a natural, natural for us to work together on this. it's a terrible story indeed, madam president. i just want to summarize it because it goes to the heart of why i'm here this morning. the story begins in delaware county, pennsylvania, where one of the schoolteachers was found to have molested several boys and raped one. prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence to actually press charges, but the school knew what had happened so they dismissed the teacher for this outrageous behavior. shockingly and so disturbingly, the school also helped this teacher to get a new job so that they could just pass him along and let him become someone else's problem. it happened that the new job was in west virginia, and the school even went so far as to send a letter of recommendation for this mo

mr. mcconnell: i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i have heard my friend, the republican leader, come to the floor often and say why don't we work on fridays? madam president, most people work on fridays. now, i have -- i want to make sure i was right, but there has not been a single republican conference saying a single word about the ninth circuit, positive or negative. they haven't said a single word. now, a lot of words are being thrown about here, posturing. i wonder if somebody who is a long-term unemployed -- i worked a long time, and there is a profile -- they are not all this way, but somebody who is 55 years old, was laid off because of the recession and can't find a job, overqualified, overeducated, lots of different issues but they can't find work. we decided that it was important that they get unemployment benefits, benefit extension. about two million people agree with that for sure because they are the ones who lost those benefits. i don't believe that's posturing. we voted on that and it passed here. i think you

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i want to take a minute to congratulate the kentucky wildcats for an extraordinary season. my home state has held on to the ncaa national championship trophy for the past two years. now with the louisville cardinals claiming it last year and the wildcats claiming it in 2012. they made an incredible run that captivated both our state and the nation. while the commonwealth will now relinquish the trophy to connecticut, i only ask that my colleagues, senator murphy and blumenthal, see to it that the trophy remain in pristine condition. pristine condition. as my state will undoubtedly reclaim it next year. on another matter, mr. president, america's middle class is struggling. they need serious job creation solutions. but that's not really what they have been getting from the president. he seems more intent on staging campaign-style rallies to bemoan an economy he's been presiding over for the last five and a half years, not really to offer solutions but more to do what he does

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i would like to take a moment to offer condolences to those affected by this week's storms. tornadoes struck a terrible blow in several towns and we're thinking today of all those who were killed and injured and their friends and family as well. now, mr. president, on an entirely different matter, the american people want congress to focus on one thing above all else: jobs. jobs. you'd think the democrats who control the senate would want to help us advance bipartisan ideas to boost job creation. you'd think they'd actually work with us to address the concerns and anxieties of our constituents. but instead senate democrats are pushing legislation this week that would actually cost -- not create but actually cost up to a million american jobs. this is completely tone-deaf. their bill would cost up to 17,000 jobs in kentucky alone, and apparently this is what senate democrats have made their top priority. not. of a surprise, though. as i've said many times, washington democrat

want to tell everyone here, sometimes people get upset at senator mcconnell and me because -- the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: we don't know what's going on. well, i don't like to admit this, but sometimes he and i don't know what's going ofnlt it's hard to get sometimes where we are. so i appreciate even though senator mcconnell and i have a fuel little dustoffs up here in front of everybody, whenever we are in private, we work well together to do the best thipg fothing for this body. to get where we are today wasn't easy. we should have a good week next week. i know there's a lot of angst on both sides. there are things they want to get done. but everyone should be patient. we're trying to work through the process. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on h.r. 3979, act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986, to ensure that emergency services volunteers are