mr. menendez: absolutely. mr. mccain: again, isn't the question here, is whether the senator from kentucky knows what's better for israel or israel knows what's better for israel? and the fact is that aipac and the israelis are adamantly opposed to this amendment. isn't that correct? mr. menendez: it is true that they are opposed. and i would assume that israel as a sovereign state knows what its security interests are better than anyone else. the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. mr. menendez: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: i have 12 unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that they be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. corker: mr. president? what is the status -- the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. corker: what is the status of

menendez.>> thank you, mr. chairman. i understandanke, this might be her final monetary policy report here before the committee before the end of your term as chairman of the federal reserve. and i am sure you will miss us, but i want to thank you for your hard work and dedication, and your service to the country, especially during a time of crisis, and i appreciate your service. we seem to be experiencing a trend where our economy and employment are growing, but we have a ways to dig ourselves out of the deep hole caused by the financial crisis. unemployment is down, but it is still 7.6%.more than a third of the people who are unemployed ed, whichterm unemploymen is a true crisis for the 4 million individuals and families caught in this situation. and as you have discussed, long- term unemployment can have serious consequences that make it harder for people to maintain skills to reenter the workforce. my question is -- while the economy is recovering, we still have a lot of work to do to get full employment and strong r

menendez, the maybe mexican one. graham, the he is duck tres. rubbio, mr. thirsty.umer, big daddy shum. >> blake, the one you just heard of. and the rest. gang of eight. >> now the boys over her here-- think-- that's going to be a series on its nostalgia channel. the boys over here think they can get conservatives like me to swallow their amnesty earning landa by including so-called security measures otherwise known as a border surge. now don't get me wrong, i like the idea of a surge, it worked in iraq. you hardly see any mexican sneaking into baghdad. but it's not nearly enough, folks. this plan would merely double the border patrol with one agent every thousand feet. no sir! we need them every three feet that way they can link arms and call out red rover red rover don't let francis cocome over. no immigrant should get citizenship in this country until we know the border is sealed. and i'm not just talking about the mexican border, folks, i'm talking about any border and that includes somebody coloring outside the lines on a denny's place mat. sorry jose but you c

menendez? >> thank you, mr. chair. chairman bernanke become i understand that this may be her final monetary policy before the committee. i am sure you will miss us. [laughter] >> i want to thank you. i want to thank you for your hard work and education underserviced our country, especially during a time of crisis. i appreciate your service enact thank you. >> we seem to be experiencing a trend right now where economy and employment are growing and recovering, but we still have from our perspective away to dig ourselves out from us by the financial crisis in unemployment coming down and more than a third of the people of long-term unemployed. which is a crisis for those more than 4 million individuals and families caught in this situation. as you have discussed with this committee in the past, long-term unemployment make it harder for people to maintain hills and networks reenter the workforce. the question is while the economy is recovering, we still have a lot of work to do to give employment and strong growth throug

menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman.tary policy report hearing before the committee before the end of your term as chairman of the federal reserve, and i'm sure you'll miss us, but i want to thank you for your hard work and dedication and your service to our country, especially during a time of crisis, and i appreciate your service. we seem to be experiencing a trend right now where our economy and employment are growing and recovering, but we still have from my perspective a ways to dig ourselves out from the deep hole caused by the financial crisis. unemployment is coming down, but it's still 7.6%. more than a third of the people who are unemployed are long-term unemployment, which is a true crisis for those more than 4 million individuals and families caught in that situation. and as you've discussed with this committee in the past, long-term unemployment can have serious consequences making it harder for people to maintain skills and networks to re-enter the workforce. my question is while the economy is recovering,

mr. chairman. >> senator isakson. >> thank you chairman menendez and senator corker. it's an honor to be here. samantha's parents brought her from ireland united states and she ended up at lakeside high school where she graduated. i did some research to find out what others said about her when she was in georgia and a good friend of mine who is a sports director in atlanta had her is one of his interns in 1989 and i want to quote directly what he said about samantha. he said she seemed to be a fish out of water. oh my god was she bright. i don't know if you got a better introduction or compliment than that but jeff said she is one of the brightest people he has ever known. i appreciate your asking me to introduce her today and i will share a few thoughts additional to those that senator chambliss said. as you know i've traveled to sudan and travel to or want that. i've been to some of the the places the methods written about in her book about rwanda which was a great book she wrote about her couldn't believe in three months the slaughter of over a million there wasn't even a high-level meeting

menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. chairman bernanke, i understand this might be her final monetary policy report here before the committee before the end of your term as chairman of the federal reserve. and i am sure you will miss us, but i want to thank you for your hard work and dedication, and your service to the country, especially during a time of crisis, and i appreciate your service. we seem to be experiencing a trend where our economy and employment are growing, but we have a ways to dig ourselves out of the deep hole caused by the financial crisis. unemployment is down, but it is still 7.6%. more than a third of the people who are unemployed are long- term unemployed, which is a true crisis for the 4 million individuals and families caught in this situation. and as you have discussed, long- term unemployment can have serious consequences that make it harder for people to maintain skills to reenter the workforce. my question is -- while the economy is recovering, we still have a lot of work to do to get full e

menendez brothers trial, the o.j. simpson simpson trial with johnnie cochran and marcia clark. the casey anthony trial, the jodi arias trial, and now there's the george zimmerman trial being televised on national tv. mr shot the 17-year-old mr. martin in self-defense. when the story first broke, much of the debate centered around florida's stand your ground law in the intersection of race and suspicion and fear with that law. now that the trying's being televised, though, there's just as much focus on the drama much of it all. and it's had a huge tv audience riveted every day. a former professor of criminal justice who had taught the defendant and it has a huge television audience, today, the prosecution side called the 33rd witness to the stand, a former professor who had taught george zimmerman back in 2011. the professor is in colorado, and the trial is in florida. and although you would think that colorado to florida wouldn't be a huge amount to travel, the court decided to allow this professor to testify remotely. they had him testify by skype and even swore him in over skype. but watch what happened when he started to testify. >> professor, the course that you teach -- is that sort of an in-cla

mr. chairman. on may 10th the republican members of this committee sent a letter to chairman menendez respectfully requesting additional committee hearings to review the open questions surrounding the september 11th, 2012 benghazi attack in libya. we have not heard back from chairman menendez about our request. while the house of representatives has heard from many witnesses including the deputy assistant state for counterterrorism, eric nordstrom, former regional security officer in libya, those important witnesses have not had the opportunity to testify and provide answers in the senate. the american people have lingering questions about what happened on september 11th, 2012, and why the state department failed to protect our brave americans in benghazi. yet this committee has failed to schedule any additional hearings and has been attempting to avoid the issue altogether. during an interagency e-mail exchange on september. 14th of 2012, you expressed concerns that the information you were providing could be used by members of congress to question the state department for not paying attention to

mrs. murray: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the following amendments be in order and the senate proceed to their consideration en bloc: flake number 1818, flake number 1772, mccaskill-blunt number 1800, bloom blumenthal, menendez 1812, and quok ran number 1814. -- and cochran number 1814. the presiding officer: is there objection? the senator from maine. ms. collins: madam president, it is with great regret that on behalf of senator coburn, i am objecting. i want to point out that we've worked very hard to clear this list of amendments, and they include amendments from members on both sides of the aisle. it's a fair list, and i had hoped that we would be able to proceed tonight. regrettably, there is an objection on our side from senator coburn. i am, however, optimistic that with further work we will be able to deal with that objection, and my hope is that in the morning we will have an agreement that will allow me to agree on, as the manager on our side, to this list. but, unfortunately, at this time, i do need to object fnl. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mrs. murray: madam president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presidi

menendez about iran sanctions. obviously, one of the things that's changed recently in iran is the election of their new president, mrrowhani. and i wonder if you think that offers an opening. he's indicated that it's his intention to improve relations with the united states. do you think there is an opening there with the new president- elect? and how can we pursue that and does the u.n. have a role in trying to move mr. rowhani and iran to resume negotiations with the p-5 plus one? >> thank you, senator, so much for raising that issue. i would say, first, that while whatever the public statements out of iran, we have to remember the conditions that gave rise to that election or the conditions surrounding that election, which were the furthest thing from free, the furthest thing from fair, and i don't think anybody can say that the election in iran represented the will of the iranian people. i think we saw the will of the iranian people reflected in the free, the furthest thing from fair, and i don't think anybody previous election and the democratic will of those people crushed. so that's point one. second, i would