mr. menendez: mr. president, i come to the floor to speak about one of our greatest national security challenges which is a nuclear armed iran. and i have long thought of this as a bipartisan national security issue, not a partisan political issue. and at the end of the day, it is a national security issue that we must approach in a spirit of bipartisanship and unity which has been the spirit for which we have worked together on this matter. and i hope that we will not find ourselves in a partisan process trying to force a vote on a national security matter before its appropriate time. now, let me say at the outset, i support the administration's diplomatic efforts. i have always supported a true tack policy of si diplomacy and sanctions. at the same time, i'm convinced that we should only relieve pressure on iran in exchange for verifiable concessions that will dismantle iran's nuclear program. and our success should be measured in years, not months. and that it be done in such a way that alarm bells

mr. menendez: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: madam president, it is my hope that we don't have to use 30 minutes, but let me start off by saying that i am very pleased that we have three highly qualified nominees for posts at the state department that are critical to america's national security and diplomacy. these nominees were voted out favorably by the foreign relations committee. ambassador tina kaidanow is well qualified to serve as coordinator for counterterrorism at the department of state. in a long career, most recently she served as the deputy ambassador at the u.s. embassy in kabul. in kabul, she worked on some of the most difficult and pressing terrorism issues the united states faces, and she previously served as deputy assistant secretary of state for european and eurasian affairs. bafer kaidanow has shown the ability to forge the kind of partnerships necessary to engage the counterterrorism objectives necessary for the united states, and i hope all of my colleagues will join me in supporting her nominatio

mr. menendez: i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: madam president, i know we're shortly going to be voting on other issues, the nomination of max baucus to be united states ambassador to china. and i would expect that he would have a unanimous -- if not near unanimous vote -- of the senate. as i said in the foreign relations committee this week, clearly one of the biggest challenges and the biggest opportunities before u.s. foreign policy today is getting the relationship between the united states and china in the context of our rebalance to the asia-pacific right. and i can think of few more able or more qualified at this important moment in history than our friend and colleague, the senator from montana, to help provide advice and guidance to the president and to congress about how to get that relationship right. he's an expert on trade issues. he understands what we face in the come years as china's economy continues to grow. he's fully aware of the facts that we have had u.s. exports to china that have increased by almos

mr. menendez: mr. president, i want to commend my colleague from new jersey for an eloquent and soaring speech that speaks to the collective aspirations that we should have in this body on behalf of the collective nation that we represent. and i am not at all surprised at senator booker's ability to relate to this body the lives of people from new jersey and across the country who depend upon us to respond to them in their times of need and to remind us of the greater nature of what we should stand for as an institution and on behalf of this country. and he did it, i think, with such aplomb and with such compassion and sincerity that i think it is an excellent beginning to what will be a very long series of remarks in the senate on critical issues that will both inform us and at the same time remind us of the high calling for which we are all brought to the senate. i just want to take one moment to add on to what senator booker said specifically on the topic for which he ultimately drove, and that is t

mr. chairman. thank you. >> receiving back 30 seconds. >> efficiency, baby. >> senator menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate you holding this hearing. when these issues broke in december, senator schumer, myself and yourself signed a letter to the gym of the full committee asking for hearings, and i'm glad your subcommittee is leading on this and understand the chairman is going to broaden some of his call for hearings and include this topic. so this is extraordinarily important. ms. rich, i have two particular lines that i want to pursue. i think senator warren opened the door to something i think is incredibly important, which is what role should the ftc and the federal government create with standards? it seems to me that whatever high standard exists in the marketplace readily available for technology is one that we would want to have companies follow in order to ensure the security of millions of americans private information. critical information to themselves, to their credit histories, to retailers, the banking institutions. and so if a company, if we set a standard that basic

mr. chairman. chairman menendez, ranking member corker, distinguished members of the committee and i would say to both of you we all have concerns and i very much appreciate this dialogue and our continued work together on this serious issue. i provide the opportunity to provide you today with an update on the p5-plus-one and european union's negotiations with iran which as you know are coordinated by the high representative of the european union. i also look forward to discussing where we are on other important parts of our iran policy. i come here confident that we as you both said, share the same goal with regard to iran, a goal that the president reaffirmed just last week, to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and thanks to a combination of what i believe is tough diplomacy and the most comprehensive, targeted sanctions regime ever imposed on a country with enormous leadership here on capitol hill, i am certain that we are closer today to that goal than we were just a few weeks ago. we are not at that goal but we've taken a first step toward it. over the next few minutes i hope to explai

mr. chairman, since my colleague from illinois, senator kirk, has been part of the effort on enhanced sanctions along with senator menendez. i want to join the course you have joined on, mr. chairman. i don't question for a moment the motives of anyone engaged in this. we have had the same goal. stop a nuclear iran. keep israel safe. stabilize and bring peace to the middle east. these are goals we all share. and they approach may be different. i haven't signed on this bill. my feeling is if the negotiations fail, there are two alternatives. a nuclear iraq or war. or perhaps both. i want to say at the end of the day we have exhausted every reasonable opportunity to negotiate an alternative short of those two outcomes. i will also say those on this committee may have a better appreciation for the public sentiment in america on the subject the most. it wasn't that long ago senator men menendez convened us to discuss president obama's request for military authority when we believed -- and subsequently learned to be true, that there were mass stores of chemical weapons in syria. i recall the debate and the public reaction to t

mr. chairman, since my colleague from illinois, senator kirk, has been part of the effort on enhanced sanctions along with senator menendez, i want to join in the chorus that you have joined in, ms. sherman. of i don't question for a moment the motives of anyone engaged in this. we all have the same goal, stop a nuclear iran, keep israel safe, stabilize and bring peace to the the middle east. >> and that hearing earlier today. we'll go live now the u.s. senate as lawmakers continue work on the farm bill this afternoon. a vote on final passage coming up just after 2:30. if no time is yielded, time thereby equally charged to both sides. ms. stabenow: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you, madam president. we have heard a lot from colleagues over the last two days about just how important this farm bill is, and that's because there is so much more in this bill than what we would call a farm bill. really, 12 different pieces of legislation from farm to research to fruits and vegetables to energy across the board all put together in something we call the farm bill. this is m

mr. chairman, i hope it's a very large amount of debt held at the holding company. thank you. >> senator menendez. >> thank you, chairman. let me ask you the number of long term unemployed americans has continued to go down but it's still st exceptionally high by historical standards. as you know long-term unemployment can permanently impair the growth prospects for our economy if the workers are stuck on the the sidelines for too long and their skills become out of date doch. do you feel that the fed's policies have been successful in helping to reduce the number of long-term unemployed americans? is there anything more that the fed can do, or is there congressional action you feel is necessary in order to meet that challenge? and is boosting demand the best way to reduce long-term unemployment right now bags based on our current economic conditions. >> well, we are very focused on and concerned about the high term level of unemployment. it's really unprecedented the to see something like 37% of unemployed in long spells. what can we do? we can stri to foster a stronger labor market generally. w

mr. chairman, my colleague from illinois, senator correct, has been part of the effort of enhanced sanctions along with senator menendez i want to join the chorus you have joined in. i don't question for a moment the motives of anyone engaged in this. we all have the same goal, stop in nuclear iran. keep israel safe. stabilize and bring peace to the middle east. these are goals we all share and the approach may be different. i have not signed onto this bill. my feeling is if these negotiations fail there are two grim alternatives. nuclear iraq or a war or perhaps both and i want to be able to say we have exhausted every reasonable opportunity to negotiate an alternative short of those two outcomes. those of us in this committee may have a better appreciation for public sentiment in america on this subject. wasn't that long ago that senator menendez discussed the request for military authority when we believed and subsequently learned to be true that there were massive stores of chemical weapons in syria. i recall that debate and the public reaction to the suggestion that the president would even have the authority to u

mrs. chairman. i hope it's a very large amount of debt held at the holding company level. thank you. >> i agree. >> senator menendezthe number of long-term unemployed americans has continued to go down but it's still exceptionally high by historical standards, over 3.6 million. as you know, long-term unemployment can have serious consequences for individuals and their families and can permanently impair the growth prospects of our economy if workers are stuck on the sidelines too long and their skills and networks become out of date. do you feel that the fed's policies have been successful in helping to reduce the number of long-term unemployed americans? is there anything more that the fed can do or is there congressional action that you might believe is necessary in order to meet that challenge? and is boosting demand the best way to reduce long-term unemployment right now based on our current economic conditions? >> well, senator, we are very focused on and concerned about the high level of long-term unemployment. it's really unprecedented to see something like 37% of unemployed in long spells. i mean, what can

mr. public at the height of the campaign, christie's name was no longer on that list and he wasn't fired. a clear link between the pressure to meddle in politics and the leak about the menendezever been established. christie has steadfastly maintained that politics had nothing to do with his actions. but it's an episode that veteran watchers of new jersey politics remember and that they are thinking about now as news of another investigation of menendez begins to emerge and it's an episode politics watchers are thinking back to as a story that received little attention just a few months ago suddenly getting a second look from the press and the public. this is the story of a man named bennett barland who for 16 years held the position of county prosecutor in new jersey, a quiet, almost bucolic swath of the western part of the state near the delaware river, one of the more republican counties in the state. it was big news in 2010 when he intighted the republican sheriff, deborah trout, and two of her deputy sheriffs. he accused trout of failing to conduct background checks and accused her team of making threats against a critic and a pharmaceutical employee with a fake badge.

menendez bill, which could be fully debated by this body prior to a vote. we'll not have that debate, apparently, nor will we vote on any amendments related to the bill before us. mror. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business for one hour with senatorsment prosecuted to speak therein -- with senators permitted tpermitted to speak tr up to ten minutes each, with the majority controlling the first half of the time. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mr. heinrich: mr. president, lest we forget, hundreds of thousands of men and women are still serving in iraq and afghanistan. they all volunteered n return -l volunteered. in return for their volunteering, we made a number of promises. i'm a proud cosponsor of the legislation being debated this week, s. 1982, which is perhaps the most significant veterans legislation to come before congress in many years. this legislation has the strong support of virtually every veterans organization in the country, including the american legion, the veterans of foreign wars,

mr. menendez: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: i come to the floor talk about three highly qualified nominees for very significant posts at the department of state, and the foreign relations committee, which i'm privileged to chair, has moved 48 nominees through the committee just this year alone. i'm pleased these three will move, but i want to express my concern about the remaining nominees. they are critical to us promoting our foreign policy and our national interests and security interests abroad. so i urge my colleagues to support movement of these nominees to the floor as quickly as possible. the three tad today are richard stengel, who has more than 30 years of experience as an author and journalist. he brirk brings, i think, a very unique perspective. he's served as the managing editor of "time" magazine during the past seven years, demonstrating his impressive managerial capabilities. and he led, as the president and c.e.o. of the national constitution center in philadelphia, where he brought public education ef