mrs. murray: i yield to the senator from arkansas. i apologize -- the presiding officer: who yields time? mr. johanns: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. johanns: thank you. if there isn't an objection, i ask for six to eight minutes to speak as in morning business. ail try to make this breevment i -- i'll try to make this brief. i did sign up. something came up, i suppose. if that's okay, i'll proceed. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. johanns: thank you. i thank the gentleman from arkansas and i thank the chair of the budget committee. madam president, i'm hearing on the floor -- i'm here on the floor today to voice strong objection to a federal agency that is disregarding the clear language of the law in pursuit of what has appeared time and time again to be what i describe as an anti-agriculture agenda with this streasmghts let me explain. -- with this administration. let me explain. the occupational safety and health administration which is known as osha is now claiming jurisdiction,

mrs. murray: mr. president, reserving the right to object. i want to first note that every one of the reserve funds included in this bipartisan bill was also included and voted on as part of the senate-passed 2014 budget resolution. none of this material is new. my colleagues have seen and voted on every one of these reserve funds. in the nine months since the senate passed the budget, i can't recall, frankly, a single time that a member came up to me and raised an issue regarding one of these reserve funds. i similarly would like to point out that reserve funds are not new. the senate has actually relied on reserve funds to help it carry out its priorities under the annual budget process for nearly 30 years. the authority to include them is specifically authorized in law by section 301-b-7 of the congressional budget act. in fact, mr. president, reserve funds are so common and accepted by republicans and democrats alike that senators actually filed more than 300 of them during the debate on the 2014

mr. murray. >> i have nothing. >>

mr. murray? >> we are done, thank you. >> we are going to hear from the department now with rebuttal. thank you. >> and yeah, well. >> and thank you commissioners. again i am going to add that this is for us, for the mta is an issue of public trust and it is our duty to protect our public from these type of activities. and i am sure as you are all aware for those of you who live here in the city our taxi drivers are, you know, they are in trouble as an industry with the rise of the technology such as lift, and side car and part of that success is because many people in our city feel like they can't trust our system. they can't trust our taxi drivers and what we are trying to do is instill in our public, and in everyone else that no, yes, you can and things that happen to you in a taxi if you have a problem in the taxi the mta is here to help you, with those issues, and that is why we are here today. and this is not about him as a person, this is about the activity. that was done. we frankly believe that there are many other drivers involved in this activity, and unfortunately he was t

mrs. murray: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: madam president, reserving the right to object -- and i will object. but, first, i want to say that as many of my colleagues here know, i have dedicated much of my career to fighting for our nation's veterans and our military families. i am the daughter of a world war ii veteran. i am the first woman ever to chair the senate veterans' affairs committee. i have worked time and again tirelessly to safeguard the health care and the benefits and services that those in our uniform have sacrificed for. so, obviously, any provision that impacts them or the benefits that our service members have earned is of great concern to me. but, madam president, as is true with any very difficult compromise, there are certain policy changes in this bill that i would have never made on my own. thankfully, though, we wrote this bill in a way that will allow two years before this change is implemented -- two years -- so that

mrs. murray: mr. president, before the senator speaks,ist last ten minutes -- i have the last ten minutes of before the vote. i ask the senator have two minutes and i be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sessions: so we went to conference, and the budget conference didn't meet. we didn't produce a budget conference. the conferees did not vote. our leaders prepared legislation that's now before us. it has a number of problems, in my opinion. it's not the right way to have conducted this process, but the question is should we advance with this legislation or does it need to be improved? i believe it can be improved. i believe it should be improved. and i believe legislation of this size and scope that actually amends the budget control act of the united states that successfully contains the growth in spending for a couple of years ought not to be lightly amended. so what i'd likely change, i would suggest the right vote today would be against cloture and to say to the leadership

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent to engage in a colloquy with the senator from florida and the senator from pennsylvania and respond to the senator from florida. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: mr. president, yes, the senator from florida is correct. that is absolutely our intention. there is nothing in law that prevents the continued public release of the death master file while the commerce department sets up the certification program. this act simply exempts the social security administration's death records from freedom of information requests under section 552 of title 5 of the united states code code, subsecn b. a senator: mr. president, i am pleased that it includes language perpetrated from the death master file. tax fraud is a large and growing problem, we know that. in 2012 the i.r.s. reported that they identified over 1.2 million identity theft returns. as of june 2013 they identified 1.6 million for this year. thousands of these cases involve

mrs. murray: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: the senator from arizona is correct. the simpson-bowles commission did pass in their report, they asked for elimination of the entire cola, as he outlined in his opening remarks today, the budget bill before us took a different approach. and he appreciate him reminding all of us that that's out there. mr. mccain: could i ask the chairperson isn't it true that you have proposed one percentage point for military retirees, reducing annual cost of living adjustment by one percentage point for military retirees, which means, according to the house budget committee staff, a person who enlisted at age 18 and retired 38 as a sergeant first class of the army would see approximately 6% overall reduction in lifetime pay because of the cola reduction. that is that person would receive about $1.626 million in lifetime retirement pay instead of $1.734 million. and so as compared to what simpson-bowles envisions, complete elimination, as opposed to this 1% reduction. and i would also ask agai

mr. murray? >> >> good commissioners, jarvis can the sfmta and we are here related not because of something that is a minor infraction, i think that the average person you would have to ask yourself, how would that person feel if they found out that a driver a taxi driver who owned the vehicle was using their credit card when they were not in the vehicle and running it and charging money on that credit card. i think it is our duty as the sfmta, to up hold our drivers and especially our medallion holders who have complete ownership and control of that vehicle to a standard that says you can't do this to the riding public. you can't do this to our most vulnerable population which is the elderly and disabled. what we have here is the usage of the para transit card and now i explained it in my brief but to quickly so that you can understand again, the para transit program is a program that is being used here in san francisco to allow our elderly and disabled population to take rides in vans and taxis

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, for the past few years here in congress we have lurched from within budget crisis to another, from one fiscal cliff to the next. when one clockdown clock stopped it wasn't long before the next got started, the constant crisis cost us billions of dollars in lost growth and jobs. and the continued across-the-board cuts from sequestration were hurting our families and our communities and cutting off critical investments in economic growth and national security programs. mr. president, after the completely unnecessary government shutdown and debt limit crisis just two months ago, the american people were more disgusted than ever at the gridlock and the dysfunction. they were sick of partisanship, sick of showboating and saber rattling. they were tired of turning on their televisions at night and seeing elected officials saying it is my way or the highway. and they had no more patience for politician

mr. murray. >> i have nothing. >> thank you. >> commissioners the matter is submitted. >> i just will start out, because he it is significantly egregious conduct in my mind, but impart of it is that it is the population that is being served here. and a para transit community and i think that the evidence establishes the fraud and the abuse on this community. and in the public. and it has been admitted to at least on two occasions i would not question the extent to which the investigation established a pattern of problematic behavior. i would support and up holding of the department here. >> i don't have anything else to add. i agree. >> part of the problem is yes, it is to confirm, 266 suspect, and numbers and probably somewhere in between. and which is still substantial number. i would hate to see his entire life ruined however and that is the one thing that bothers me a little bit about this process. >> i think that the people come out of these situations and i think that there was, i think that the discussion about the loss of potentially $50,000 and the sale, or however the transaction

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the final 20 minutes before the cloture vote be equally divided and that i control the final ten minutes of that. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mrs. shaheen: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: mr. president, this afternoon, we will vote to pass a budget for the next two years. it sounds really good when we think about actually getting a budget for the next two years. and i support this budget because i think it provides the certainty that our businesses and our economy needs, that our families need. it replaces some of the reckless across-the-board cuts known as sequestration, and it ensures perhaps most importantly that we won't have another government shutdown. the alternative, allowing this budget to fail and setting up another government shutdown, is simply unacceptable. we saw the impact that the government shutdown had on our economy, on the people who depend

mr. murray has actually been the president of that college for more than 30 years. now, according to the chronicle, dr. zimmer's pay doubled, more than doubled in 2011, dr. ayune's more than tripled and murray's quadrupled in more than four years. the base pay was more than $1 million. and like many others, they earned much more from their retirement packages and they're bonuses or indeed deferred expectation. now, the universities are pointing out that such awards are just an incentive to retain a successful president. and to recognize the achievement of a total tenure, not just one year for these guys but all the time that they are at university and that is 35 years in the case of this guy here. it is also a reflection of one of the key parts of their job these days which is fundraising. and when you think about it, that's really important because they brought in much more money to the university than they actually took home. and their kind of worry about fundraising the entire time. however as you know student loan debt in this country now exceeds $1 trillion and

mr. murray -- ms. mu rray and mr. ryan are doing. that is what we're doing. the entire process began before i came back to the office of management and budget. being specifics are worked out. it is pretty clear the gist of this deal. we're going to set some spending so we can have regular order, to change some of the sequester , and no big, new taxes. no big changes in entitlements. --s that just sound like does that gist semi-something the president can work with? >> you need to see the specifics. the democrats are pretty unified in terms of the things that are most important. one of the most important things , which will be a framing concept of what you accept, we of the at this stage economic recovery, we are recovering. we are getting there. we want to have this agreement be a part of what can further support economic growth and job creation. sequester, replace which are cuts to discretionary , replace that with longer-term issues. we maintain deficit reduction in , but for right now, what we need now is a little more that. that is one of the most importa

mr. murray had replaced him. the unabomber was proud of himself. it didn't matter that his bomb had killed the wrong man. they were engaged in the same kind of work, which was anti-environment in his opinion. and so it was okay. >> i'd been to a number of bomb scenes over my career, and the last one in sacramento was probably one of the more horrific. the shrapnel is usually what maims or kills the victim. most of the cases, nails, staples, and screws were used. that's an antipersonnel device. that's used to maim or kill. >> when you go to those crime scenes or when you see the devastation that was left behind and then you read about what he says and how he felt about those bombs, it's really chilling. it's chilling that someone can think like that, behave like that, and do that kind of thing. >> by now, the unabomber had been at large for almost 17 years. >> we talk about lone actors a lot, how difficult they are to catch. the unabomber was the lone wolf in the most classic sense. >> socially, he defined himself as a social cripple. but technologi

mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate recess from 12:30 until 26789156789 to allow for the -- 12:30 until 2:15 to allow for the weekly caucus meetings and the time run during recess. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: mr. president, i rise today to speak on the bipartisan budget deal that is currently before the senate. chairman ryan and chairman murray have shown us true leadership on divisive and complex budget issues. the legislation we have before us today is the embodiment of compromise, something that has unfortunately been absent in washington as of late. they have crafted a bill that sets forth the guidelines for spending for the remainder of this fiscal year and the platform for the next fiscal year. this deal wa will set overall discretionary spending for the current fiscal year at $1.012 trillion, an amount that is approximately halfway between the senate budget number and the house budget number. t

follows -- reid of nevada, murray, baucus, begich, boxer, blumenthal, udall of new mexico, stabenow, whitehouse, mccaskill, hirn, coons -- hirono, coons, tester, schock, gillibrand. mr. reid: i move to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.j. res. 59 with an amendment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, moves to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.j. res. 59, with amendment number 2547. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask for the yeas and nays on my motion. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. reid: i have an amendment which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes amendment numbered 2548 to the instructions of amendment 2547. mr. reid: i move to refer the house message with respect to h.j. res. 59 with instructions. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, moves to refer the house message on h.j. res. 59 to the committee on budget with instructions to

mr. van hollen, says he wants to do that. i think senator murray wants to do that. we have not done that. we have not dealt with the underlying issues that prevent us from going down a fiscally sustainable path. it does not replace the full sequester, which chairman hal rogers has correctly described as ill-advised and unrealistic. i sat on this floor when we considered the gentleman's budget that if there were no democrats in the house of representatives, they could not implement that budget. i believe that. i believe it because the figures not related to priorities or vision or that which we needed to accomplish as a country, but on a number. 967. that's an opinion shared by all of the republican appropriation subcommittee chairmen and wrote a letter to that effect. nor does this agreement deal with the issue of the debt limit . . and which has historically been an infelix point to further reduce not only discretionary spending on both sides, mainly on the nondefense side, but also to reach once again into the pockets of federal employees. now, i'm someone who rep

the chair of the senate budget committee, democrat patty murray, helped craft the measure. >> mr.sident, this deal is a compromise. it doesn't tackle every one of the challenges we face as a nation, but that was never our goal. this bipartisan bill takes the first steps towards rebuilding our broken budget process and hopefully towards rebuilding our broken congress. >> woodruff: georgia republican saxby chambliss agreed with that assessment. >> the legislation we have before us today is the embodiment of compromise, something that has unfortunately been absent in washington as of late. >> woodruff: the agreement would roll back $63 billion in automatic, across-the-board spending cuts, the so-called sequester. they would be replaced by $85 billion in targeted cuts and increased revenues over the next decade. that total includes $6 billion in reduced cost-of-living adjustments for younger military retirees. several republicans voiced opposition to that provision, among them mississippi's roger wicker. >> we can find $6 billion elsewhere without breaking a promise to people who, dur

heinrich, carper, schumer, feinstein, murray, sanders, king, franken, harkin, murray, warren, whitehouse, blumenthal and brown. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection so ordered. mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 1882, a bill to extend the exclusion from income for employer-provided mass transit and parking benefits, that the bill be read three times and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: mr. president, i understand and appreciate my colleague's commitment to this particular issue. however, this is just one of many tax provisions that will expire at the end of the year. in the past the senior s

mr. rogers: i rise in strong support of h.j.res. 59, the ryan-murray budget agreement. first i want to commend chairman ryan on achieving a resolution to our immediate budget challenges. it takes a good deal of courage, it takes persistence, it takes dedication to reach a bipartisan agreement such as this. and i want the chairman of the budget committee to know that we deeply appreciate his hard work on our behalf. great job. while everyone might not like everything in this bill, it is the best product that is achieveable right now. and i urge that it be passed. as our -- this agreement reflects a compromise in policies but not in our conservative principles. not only does this deal hold the line on spending, it actually puts a dent in our annual deficit, a very significant accomplishment. plus it opens the door for future progress on the problem of runaway entitlements. it paves the way toward budget and economic stability for the next two years. the legislation before us will also accomplish several other critically important goals. first and foremost it will turn off

mr. president, democrats led by senator murray stood up for our party's priorities, protecting middle classand growing the economy, but we were also ready and willing to compromise with our republican counterparts. i admire senator murray for having proceeded forward along this line. while both sides made concessions and sacrifices, i repeat that's the nature of negotiation, and the point of the conference committee is to work together to work out our differences. so to their credit, members of the conference committee considered every option, no matter how painful to their own political party. they rejected many, they rejected most, they were able to come together on enough revenue, enough cuts to come up with this pact that they have. under the leadership of chairman murray, the committee crafted a two-year bargain that charts a course for economic growth, maintains fiscal responsibility and perhaps most importantly averts another manufactured crisis that would undercut the economic process that we have made and the progress we have made these last four years. so i look forward to working

mr. nussle, do you think the ryan-murray bill will bode well for the crisis in disability and social security. it will prevent a stalemate and massive cuts 21%. i need that money. guest: u.n. there are many -- you and many people rely on those programs. there are many who are in a situation where the government has been there as a safety net. there are vulnerable people who are hanging in the balance. for two reasons. it is not just what congress does or does not do with regard to the disability programs. it is the programs themselves. they are invented in a very different time, they are not dealing with some of the changes of circumstances that people find themselves in. they are not adapting, whether it is new technology or new pact us is, best practices -- some of which are coming from state and local governments that are doing a much better job of dealing with some of the vulnerable people in society. let alone the private sector, churches and others that are doing good work. that is what needs to change. when the process is broken, that cannot happen. that is a long way of saying i am co

mr. president, i come to the floor today to urge my colleagues to support the bipartisan budget agreement. i want to congratulate our colleagues, especially budget committee chairwoman murray for her outstanding leadership in forging this bipartisan agreement with her house counterpart mr. ryan. she reached this agreement in a way that is indeed a compromise. not everyone's desired outcome but a fair and necessary one. i urge my colleagues to support it. i think it's fantastic that they actually got a budget done. this is the first time in several years that we're actually going to vote on a bipartisan budget conference agreement, and i think it bodes well for future activity where we return to the due order of passing legislation -- one in each house, a conference committee to hammer out the disagreements and then back to us for final agreement. what i like about this agreement is that it creates certainty by avoiding sequester for two years. giving the top-line funding to we on the appropriations committee for 2014 and 2015. many people do not realize that we on the appropriations committee, that actually puts money in the federal checkbook for spent, have a cap put on o

mr. nussle, do you think the ryan-murray bill will bode well for the crisis in disability and social security will prevent a stalemate and massive cuts, 21%. i need that money. guest: u.n. there are many -- you and many people rely on those programs. there are many who are in a situation where the government has been there as a safety net. there are vulnerable people who are hanging in the balance. for two reasons. it is not just what congress does or does not do with regard to the disability programs. it is the programs themselves. they are invented in a very different time, they are not dealing with some of the changes of circumstances that people find themselves in. they are not adapting, whether it is new technology or new pact us is, best practices -- some of which are coming from state and local governments that are doing a much better job of dealing with some of the vulnerable people in society. let alone the private sector, churches and others that are doing good work. that is what needs to change. when the process is broken, that cannot happen. of saying ing way am concerned about th

mr. ford. this will get you going today with the ryan-murray budget deal that will probably pass the senate significantlybled military retirees would not have their pensions cuts. pay attention. disabled military pensions would not be cut. however, now they're going to vote on, they will get their pensions cut if they were disabled and no longer to serve. >> over 20 year period will cost $124,000. initially they said and told he is they were exempt. but upon further review, they are not exempt. overall as you pointed out, the other federal employees, nobody's pension gets cut. they go into the military again while restoring some funding to the military after sequester hits. they go in there and work on their pensions. >> sure. and a lot of people, including jeremy hilton over this. earlier, navy veteran, air force. his spouse is up in arms. this is what he had to say. strong message for those that will be placing votes today. >> most of our families are lower middle class, maybe middle class after a long career. i'm wearing a timeex watch, not rolex, like some of the lobbyists on the hill. this suit was

murray. >> compared to other countries in the world we have done pretty well. it's true we have to do better. i don't know that the solution is nationalized healthcare. >> mr.ois, the problem i have, as i stated you are helping one group by hurting another group and a bigger group. so i don't know if jesus is going to be down with that go ahead. >> well, jesus would be down for the poor. he would want to make sure that every single person in this country had enough food to eat, the bottom line is if you add up every single private charitable dollar that feeds hungry people in this country, it's only 10% of what we would need to make sure that everyone has food in their stomach. the rest comes from the federal government. $7 billion compared to 80 obillion dollars. if the government doesn't step in, people are going to go hungry. that's the bottom line. >> you are making a powerful argument, there is one huge mistake in it. and that is that some of the people who don't have enough to eat, it's their fault they don't have enough to eat. particularly with their children. and this is where it really becomes dicey. if you are an alcoholic or a heroin addict or h

mr. president, a couple years ago i surprised everyone, but i didn't surprise myself when i selected the chair of the super committee patty murray. patty at the time was chairman of the veterans' affairs committee. she was a member of the budget committee, and i thought she would do a remarkably good job, because i have such faith in her integrity, her temperament, her wisdom, and her ability to get things done. and the country should be so pleased with the work that she was able to do on a bipartisan basis with paul ryan it's kind of an unconventional pair. they worked together to come up with a budget they can work on for two years. we have numbers now. i'm very pleased the budget negotiators murray and ryan have come up with an agreement today that will roll back the painful and arbitrary cuts of sequester and prevent another costly government shutdown. i again commend budget committee chairman patty murray for making this agreement possible. but it's also fair to -- and i hope this doesn't get him in trouble in the house -- to say that chairman ryan also worked hard on this. it was a compromise. we didn't get what we wanted.

mr. speaker. conservative groups immediately fired back and said in a statement we stand with marco rubio, ted cruz, rand paul and members of the study committee and every other fiscal conservative who opposes the ryan-murray deal. they ripped boehner saying once again republicans led by john boehner are working to increase spending on the taxpayer's tab while promising savings down the road. we know how this movie ends. paul ryan responded to the conservatives who say the deal is a betrayal. >> did you think you legislation would be not conserve 2i6 enough? >> it's a new normal. what matters to me is am i doing what i think is right? am i sticking to my principals and am i listening to my colleagues who have the voting power? >> this interparty squabbling is not stopping there. groups are fighting with each other. the republican study committee chairman had to fire the director because word got out that he was apparently leaking information to the groups in question. strikingly that's not the only move. defending ryan from conservatives in the house who seem united in backing him. at least on this deal, what's unique is that the brewing conservative issue is coming from the senate side who had nothing to

mr watkins previously irreckon suitable difference led to october's take your hat off to senate margaret murray and paul ryan. >> clearly you are not in washington but philadelphia. i recognise the buildings behind you. could this be a first step towards 2014 is a midterm election year. it's important. a number of members of the senate will be up for reaction. every member of the house will be up. you should suppose that that has something to do with how members of congress are thinking. this, at least, shows capacity to work together. >> like outline deals brokered in washington there are winners and losers. let's talk about the winners. >> there's big winners. the pent con wins. discretionary funding goes up. it's a big deal for pentagon federal employees. though don't get fur lowed because the government stays open and for those employees who a bump up in cash. a lot of non-profits will benefit. t sa benefits. they'll get funding for security. >> the money has to come from somewhere. who do you think are the losers? >> well of course there has to - for every action there has to be an equal a

mr. president, i know we are going to be voting on the budget that was negotiated by senator murray and paul ryan, and 67 senators have voted for cloture on that, so we will have a vote on passage this afternoon, i think about 4:30. but i wanted to raise an issue that has been raised previously yesterday, and that is with the process by which the senate is operating where no amendments are being allowed either on the budget or on the defense authorization bill, which is the next bill that we will turn to by the decision of the majority leader. i have congratulated senator murray and i congratulate congressman ryan for their negotiation, but i do think there is an error that has been identified that needs to be corrected in the bill and which could easily be corrected if the majority leader would reconsider his decision not to allow any amendments. and this specifically has to do with the discriminatory way in which active duty military pensions are being penalized in a unique way and not even federal workers who are going to be treated differently prospectively, not even civilian federal wor

mr. commissioner. thank you so much on behalf of a very grateful city to for all you've done. >> f. murrayat the table next. and an interview in the new issue of gq magazine that headlines last week. you may have heard about it, duck dynasty. michael haney weighs in on theity lem made. avo: the volkswagen "sign then drive sales event is back. which means it's never been easier to get a new passat, awarded j.d. power's most appealing midsize car, two years in a row. and right now you can drive one home for practically just your signature. get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first month's payment on any new 2014 volkswagen. hurry, this offer ends january 2nd. for details, visit vwdealer.com today >>> we sure had wild weather, but now things are starting to calm down. we just have to get through some rain on the east coast. look at the temperatures. colder air will work in once the cold front clears the coast. we still have spotty showers across new england and even freezing rain through central and northern new england. but you can see that heavy rain moving through we

mr. van hollen's very, very strong work and the sensitivities of senator murray with whom i have worked on these budget issues before, you remember the supercommittee, it turns out after the committee, and now this effort, third time is in fact the charm. i want to say one thing, though, a lot of lines going out in reference to federal employees. i want to emphasize now that nothing in this agreement affects current federal employees. all of this has to do with federal employees who will be going to work for the government after january 1, 2014. nothing affects current federal employees. because so many around the district of columbia, i don't want anybody to have any anxieties between now and the conclusion. with that i'd like to yield to mrs. nita lowey. >> thank you very much. as you know many times when we all get here everything has been said but not everybody has said it. i just want to add a few points. number one, as an appropriator since this bill has restored 2/3 of the dollars for appropriations, we will now be able to write appropriation bills. number two, i am not happy with t

mr. van hollen said yesterday afternoon, i was very ambivalent about where all this was going. that with mr.ed van hollen's very strong work and the sensitivities of senator murray, with whom i have worked .n these budgets you remember the supercommittee. it turns out now this is the third time. you is in fact the charm. i want to say one thing. a lot of headlines going out in reference to federal employees. i want to emphasize now that nothing in this agreement affects current federal employees. has to do with federal employees who would be going to work for the government after january 1, 2014. nothing affects current federal employees. district so many in my , i don't want anybody having any anxieties between now and then. with that, i would like to yield to my colleague. >> thank you very much. as you know, many times when we all get here, everything has been said, but not everybody has said it. i just want to add a few points. number one, as an appropriator, since this bill has restored two thirds of the dollars for now beiation, we will able to write appropriation bills. number two, i'm not happy with 2% cut to medicare providers, but it does not go to ben

want to thank chairman ryan and senator murray for the work that they've done on behalf of the congress and frankly on behalf of the american people. with that -- >> mr. speaker, you've been careful -- what you might or might do on health care reform. what happens if we get to the end of the year and people are finding they're having trouble -- some that thought they had coverage don't have coverage and the president might issue an executive order, what will the republican house do? try to block the president? what's the course of action? >> listen, we spent the last year trying to protect the american people from the consequences of this health care law. and if you look toward next year, we're going to continue to lock for ways to protect the american people from what's happening out there. but as you've seen, the house has acted 50 times over the last couple of years to try to protect the american people. none of these bills have moved through the united states senate. all of them drew veto threat from the white house. elections have consequences. >> is that enough to rely on that? we tried to defund, we tried to repeal 50 times when the political

mr. president, a piece of part tri business. may i ask unanimous consent that a military fellow with senator murray's office, major james o'brien be granted floor privileges for today's session of the senate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: thank you. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. coons: i ask unanimous consent that -- the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coons: i come to the floor once again to talk about jobs, mr. manufacturing jobs. this week under senator amy klobuchar's leadership, the joint economic can committee released a report that lays out thoroughly and thoughtfully why manufacturing jobs have such promise and how congress can act to help spur manufacturing job creation now and into the future. the report shows that today manufacturing jobs are high quality jobs, that they pay better than jobs in any other sector in wages and benefits that they help create more local service sector jobs, that they contribute more to the local economy and that manu