mr. menendez: mr. president, this modified amendment cosponsored by senator bennet would allow the patent office director to prioritize patents that are important to the national economy or national competitiveness, and the amendment would ensure that patents that are vital to our national interests do not languish -- the presiding officer: i have asked the senator to suspend because the senate is not in order. may we have order in the senate? may we have order in the senate, please? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: i thank the chair. let me say that the amendment that will ensure that patents that are vital to our national interests do not languish in any backlog at the patent office and that they ultimately promote the national economy and the national competitiveness. my understanding, mr. president, is that by previous agreement, the amendment as modified is agreed to. the presiding officer: that is correct. under the previous order, the amendment as modified is agr

mr. menendez: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: millimeter plp, i ask tha --mr. president, i ask e quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: i understand we're in a period of morning business. the presiding officer: that's correct. mr. menendez: i ask unanimous consent to speak for -- i ask unanimous consent to speak for 20 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: thank you, mr. president. and thanks for your assistance as well. mr. president, as someone who voted to freeze the salary, to end earmarks in this process -- budget process, as someone who has already voted to cut $45 billion from the budget, i rise today in recognition that business as usual can't continue. i recognize the critical importance of addressing our federal deficit, a deficit, i would add, inherited by this administration. a deficit driven by two wars, both unpaid for, and the unprecedented need for governmental action to mitigate the wild excesses of wall street and american financial ma

mr. menendez: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending business and call up amendment number 124 at the desk. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from new jersey, mr. menendez, proposes amendment numbered 124. mr. menendez: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the amendment be considered as read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: thank you, mr. president. very briefly, the goal of patent reform legislation is to incentivize investment in the american economy, create jobs and allow this great country to continue to win in the global marketplace. the amendment that i am offering here today would do just that. it would incentivize innovation and investment by prioritizing patents that are vital to the american economy and american competitiveness. let's in essence be able to incentivize that innovation by creating that prioritizing. my amendment would allow the patent office to prioritize

mr. menendez: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that i may speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: mr. president, later, as we move to the bill on small business, i will be offering, i hope, a second-degree amendment to senator johanns' amendment, and i speak today on behalf of middle-class families and on behalf of small businesses. i want to start by saying that i fully support, as i have already done in a series of votes, repealing the 1099 reporting requirement but strongly believe that we have to do so in a manner that does not, does not increase the burden on our small businesses and employees. the amendment of senator johanns certainly only helped small businesses through the repeal of the 1099 provision, but -- and this is less well known, i believe it actually hurts small business employees as well. it's a double-

mr. menendez asked earlier about, i think, at least from my perspective that the crux of his point was that despite significant monetary policy changes designed to put additional dollars into the banking system, loans do not -- are not being made. credit is not being extended to the degree that we need to increase the economy. and i'm interested in knowing whether that is accurate. still trying to assume our goal is still trying to increase loan demand and do you think the regulatory environment that particularly community banks face has a consequence in the fact that credit is not being extended and is there something we should do? >> well, first, the qe-2 is not intended to work primarily through banks. it is intended to work through broader markets and we have seen, for example, very open corporate bond markets in part because of the monetary policy actions we have taken. so that's not the direct object of the qe and what we have seen is easier, broader credit conditions as opposed to bank lending specifically. we have tried to address the bank lending issues in different ways from a sup

mr. menendez asked earlier about, i think, at least from my perspective that thecrux of his point was that despite signifant monetary policy changes designed to put additional dollars into the banking system, loans do not -- are not being made. credit is not being extended to the degree that we need to increase the onomy. and i'm interested in knowing whether that is accurate. still trying to assume our goal is still trying to increase loan demand and do you think the regulatory environment that particularly community banks face has a consequence in the fact that credit is not being extended and is there something we should do? >> well, first, the qe-2 is not intended to work primarily through banks. it is intended to work through broader markets and we have seen, for example, very open corporate bond markets in part because of the monetary policy actions we have taken. so that's not the direct object of the qe and what we have seen is easier, broader credit conditions as opposed to bank lending specifically. we have tried to address the bank lending issues in different ways from a supervi

menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, chairman bernanke for your service. my main goal every day is how do we agree the economy, how do we get people back to work, certainly from my home state of new jersey and for that fact every american. and it was my hope that the quantitative easing that the fed was in the midst of would produce more jobs, more exports, more investments and ultimately a smaller budget deficit by obviously generating profits that would go into the treasury's coffers. but as we expand this balance sheet, and buy treasuries and buy goldman sachs and expect that these ultimately get deposited in banks so that those banks woul ultimately lend, i have to be honest with you, i not quite sure, and this is where i'm headed in terms of my question, i'd like toget a grasp from you, i don't see that lending still taking place and i hear it all over my state. i see food prices rising. i see gas prices rising, even before what was happeng in north africa. that certainly is an exacerbating reality. tuition rates rising. and so while we are worried ab

mr. chairman. >> senator menendez? >> thank you, mr. chairman and for your testimony.i want to talk about liquidity in the marketplace. and, you know, it seems to me, and i would like to get your perspective on this, how do we get banks to commit to lending for real-estate projects again? particularly, you know, right now it seems to me except for a very high asset class, for example on, you know, which attract institutional investors like the luxury high rental market certainly in our area of new jersey. other than that, you have underwriting criteria on lenders where projects that are performing borrowers have current debt service, for the current and haven't had a blip in that process. ultimately finding themselves because they don't appraise today at level of the loan closing totally, you know, stopping projects in the midst of the project even though loan is performing. so, i look at that liquidity issue and i look at the flip side of the liquidity issue on the consumer side, and see the changes in the underwriting criteria, and we certainly understand legitimate

mr. chairman,. >> senator menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you all for your testimony. i want to talk about liquidity in the marketplace. and it seems to me, and i'd like to get your perspectives on this, how do we get banks to commit to lending or real estate projects again? particularly, you know, right now it seems to me that except for a very high asset class, for example, which attracts institutional investors like a luxury high rental market, certainly in our area in new jersey, other than that, you have underwriting criteria on lenders where projects that are performing, barbers that, in fact, have current debt service fully current and have not had a blip in the process, ultimate finding themselves because they don't appraise today at the level of the loan closing, totally, you know, stopping projects in the middle of a project or even though the loan is performing. so, i look at that liquidity issue and i look at the flipside of the liquidity issue on the consumer side, and see the changes in the underwriting criteria which certainly understand legitimate chang

mr. chairman. >> senator menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to talk about liquidity in the marketplace. it seems to me, and i would like to be your perspectives on this, how do we get banks to commit to lending for real estate projects again, particularly -- right now it seems to me that except for a very high asset class, for example on which attracts institutional investors like the luxury higher rental market, like in our area in new jersey -- other than that, you have an underwriting criteria on lenders where projects debt are performing -- -- projects that aren't performing, borrowers' debt have not had a blip in that process -- that have not had a blip in that process, ultimately finding themselves because they do not appraise today at the level of alone " -- of low loan closing, totally stopping projects. i look of that liquidity issue and the flip side on the consumer side and see the changes in the underwriting criteria, and we certainly understand legitimate changes to insure that we do not have people buying homes they cannot

menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. madam secretary, i want to congratulate you on your statement yesterday that the u.s. is seeking the prosecution of muammar gaddafi for the 1988 pan am bombing that killed my ians.w new jerse i hope you will give us a sense of how we will verify disinformation. i felt -- i hope we get access to the justice minister soon and what time frame we might expect a decision on when to prosecute gaddafi for such a heinous crime. i and other of my colleagues on this committee issued a report on the release of the convicted pan am 103 bomber, which was released, we believe, from a scottish prison under false pretences. i want to urge and consider requesting of any potential new libyan government that may come out of a result of what is going on in libya. i know it is premature to say that, but i want to put it on your radar screen that i hope that, if there is a new libyan government, when we engage with that government, that we will consider asking for the magrahi to of almug rockal finish his

white house, conrad, c the kimmage, yuval of mexico, h, in, menendez, casey, shaheen, klobuchar, carns, boxer, franken, feinstein and bingaman. >> mr. president i ask consent demand for a quorum under the ak rule 20 to be waived.nder >> without objection. the presid m i now withdraw my motion andw proceed. >> the center has that right.hen >> mr. president? when an american sits in theurch kitchen after table and sorts fs through their finances as they oftenen do, partisan politics don't figure into the equation. when the families we represent calculate their own budgets, when they add up the cost of gas and groceries, tuition in some instances, and other b necessities, they care more about the bottom lines and the l news headlines. and when a family was desperately counts the dwindlinf number of weeks before the sun and plymouth insurance runs oute that family doesn't have time to the most political points durink any given week.sc that's because when you have toc make the tough decisions that go into any budget those decisions have to be practical, not political.practical, not they have to be realistic, notlr ideological.gues t se

and once again, senator menendez, democrat from new jersey, is right on. so, with that, mr. speaker, just want to again say that we do not forget the heroes in the island, we do not forget those who are struggling and working and speaking out and suffering the consequences for their actions in the island. we do not forget them, we admire them, we support them, we are humbled by their courage, we are humbled by their love for freedom and what they are willing to sacrifice for their freedom and we now -- know that sooner than i think some may believe and clearly sooner thamson some would like, they too will be free -- than some would like, they too will be free, they too will be able to discuss issues in public, they too will be able to make the determination as to the future of their country. so i am encouraged and humbled by their leadership despite sometimes a sadness of what we have to listen to by those who still continue to call fidel castro their good friend. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. do you ha

who they are: casey, manchin, tester, nelson of nebraska, bennet, warner, menendez, stabenow, merkley, rockefeller and you, mr. president. sherrod brown of ohio. we're willing to say if there is no budget deal, we shouldn't get paid. and i don't know whether the american people understand this, but if they did, you know, i think they would really be very upset because we have a special statute that protects our pay.o. to my north the people who work -- to my knowledge, the people who work here are not protected. members of congress and the president are protected in the case of a shutdown. there is a special statute. they get paid. and all we're saying is, that's wrong. if this government shuts down, that's wrong. or if we fail to raise the debt ceiling and we start not making our payments and defaulting and america goes into a cycle that we've never seen before, we don't deserve a penney of pay. -- a penny of pay. and, bi by the way, our bill sa, no retroactivity either. the american people have a right to expect us to work. social security checks must continue to arrive. veterans must receive their benefits

florida, white a package coming udall off new mexico, hagan, menendez, casey, shaheen, klobuchar, carvin, boxer, franken, feinstein and bingaman.en, >> mresident, i ask unanimous consent of the quoruma under the rule 20 to be waived. >> i now withdraw my motion to mrreid: proceed. de the senator has that right.ri >> mr. president, when an american family sits in the tabe kitchen at the table and sorts s through their finances as they , often do, partisan politics pols don't fit into the equation. fas when the families we represent calculate their own budgets, they have the cost of gas and groceries, tuition in some r instances and other necessitiest they care more t about the bottm lines and the news headlines. da when a family dispute recountsng the dwindling number of weeks before its the unemploymentks insurance runs out, the familynt doesn't have time to keep track of which side scored the most political points during anyho given week. that's because when you have tol make the tough decisions to go into any budget, those decisions have to be practical, not political. the have to be realistic, not ideological. ha often tell ourselves

menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, chairman bernanke for your service. my main goal every day is how do we agree the economy, how do we get people back to work, certainly from my hometate of new jersey and for that fact every american. and it was my hope that the quantitative easing that the fed was in the midst of would produce more jobs, more exports, more investments and ultimately a smaller budget deficit by obviouslgenerating profits that would go into the treasury's coffers. but as we expand this balance sheet, and buy treasuries and buy goldman sachs and expect that these ultimately get deposited in banks so that those banks would ultimately lend, i have to be honest with you, i'm not quite sure, and this is where i'm headed in terms of my question, i'd like to t a grasp from you, i don't see that lending still taking place and i hear it all over my state. i see food prices risin i see gas prices rising, even before what was happening in north africa. that certainly is an exacerbating reality. tuition rates rising. and so while we are worried abou