mr. nelson: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: i ask consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: mr. president, the senate is expected to take up a bill that would repeal $20 billion in outdated, antiquated tax breaks for the oil and gas companies. in many cases this tax break was created about a century ago and they have little, if anything, to do with modern job-creating energy policy. mr. president, it's time for them to go. these oil and gas tax breaks, they are targeted in this bill that we're going to vote on, they are narrow, special interest tax subsidies that distort the marketplace. it happens to pad the profits as a result of the tax breaks, and it does nothing to keep gas prices down. it simply doesn't make any sense to me that we would continue to rely on oil and gas tax breaks that were originally written in 1916. these rules are truly vestiges of another era. and in some cases, rather than encouraging energy independence, the tax breaks actually promote energy

mr. nelson: mr. president, i have ten unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of both the majority and the minority leaders, so i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. so ordered. mr. nelson: mr. president, mr. president, you've heard the phrase -- madam president, madam president, you've heard the phrase drill, baby, drill. well, it's interesting, that seems to be the pro-oil company folks that think that all of our answers are having to do with drilling. well, lo and behold, you know what, madam president? we have actually increased our domestic production, and i quote from a reuters story on may 25, "crude oil production, especially in the deep waters of the gulf of mexico, increased by 334,000 barrels per day between 2005-2010. which also cut into foreign oil imports of crude and petroleum products accounted for 49.3% o

mr. nelson: mr. president, i would like to rise today to thank father stevens boes for delivering the opening prayer this morning. father boes has been a priest of the arch diocese of omaha since 1985, he has more than 20 years of experience as a counselor and youth advocate in nebraska. he served eight years in the saint augustine school. he established programs to help winnow children -- preparing thr higher education. in 2005 father boes was named the executive director of boys town, one of the largest child care organizations in america. boys town provides compassionate research-proven treatment for children with behavioral, emotional, and physical problems. father boes is the fourth priest to succeed father edward flanagan, the founder of boys town. father flanagan had grown discouraged in his work with transient men. he borrowed $90 to rent a drafty downton boarding house and opened his first home for boys in 1917. youngsters from all over omaha soon began showing up at the doorstep of father f

mr. nelson: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: thank you, mr. president. i wanted to call to the attention of the senate the fact that a number of state legislatures, including our state legislature in my state of florida, have been in -- enacting election law bills that severely constrict the right of the people to express their vo vote. this has just occurred in the state of florida with the legislature adjourning in the early morning hours of saturday morning, enacting a bill that has been sent to the governor that will make it harder for the people of florida to vote, harder for them to have their vote counted, and harder for the people to be able to register to vote. now, common sense would tell you that what we ought to be doing is exactly the opposite, that it ought to be making things easier to vote and especially in a state like ours that went through that awful experience in november of the year 2000 when there was so many chaos -- when there was so much chaos, not only in the voting in the presidential election but then in the countin

mr. pulham? >> thank you. senator nelson, committee staff, thank you for your service to our nation and a cue for the opportunity to offer testimony on the impact and importance of u.s. space programs. space foundation's mission is to advance space endeavors to inspire, enable and propel humanity. implicit is our understanding the exploration, development and use of space really does inspire our nation and the world, does enable us to achieve our goals and propel us confidently into the future. let me address the global space economy. the data am citing today is from the space report 2011. most of staff already have copies of this. is our most recent annual report on the industry. over the past six years the global space economy has grown by 48% from $164 billion in 2004 to $276 billion in 2010. this increased from 5% to 6%. that is a strong industry and the investment. products and services and space-based infrastructure. the space economy today is predominantly commercial. commercial satellite infrastructure, it accounted

mr. chairman. >> thanks very much, senator corker. senator nelson of florida. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to take thi opportunity to thank you for your long and distinguished career. it this is the first opportunity publicly that i can say that to you, as we have already scussed privately, because last week you announced that you are agoing to retire from publi service and your 24-year career in the united states senate is most distinguished and most appreciated by a lot of folks who never get a chance totell you. and like most citizens of the united states that have a connection one way or another with florida, so you do as well. the senator's brother is one of our distinguished citizens palm beach. and i want to say to ms. carter, thank you for you just keeping on keeping on. it was a long time ago when you and your husband were campaigning in the florida primary in 1976, and you have been his partner every step of the word in the best sense of that word and you continue today rendering service to our country and to our people. so thank you very much. and, mr. chairman, i just wa

mr. chairman. >> thanks very much, senator corker. senator nelson of florida. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to take this opportunity to thank you for your long and distinguished career. it this is the first opportunity publicly that i can say that to you, as we have already discussed privately, because last week you announced that you are agoing to retire from publi service and your 24-year career in the united states senate is most distinguished and most appreciated by a lot of folks who never get a chance to tell you. and like most citizens of the united states that have a connection one way or another with florida, so you do as well. the senator's brother is one of our distinguished citizens palm beach. and i want to say to ms. carter, thank you for you just keeping on keeping on. it was a long time ago when you and your husband were campaigning in the florida primary in 1976, and you have been his partner every step of the word in the best sense of that word and you continue today rendering service to our country and to our people. so thank you very much. and, mr. chairman, i jus

mr. slazer. >> thank you, chairman nelson, and ranking member boozman, distinguished members of the subcommittee. it is an honor and a pleasure to testify. i am here on behalf of the aerospace industries association, an association of over 300 aerospace companies representing 90% of the industry. sustain stilly 11 million jobs nationwide, including many high skilled positions. all organization was disappointed that the 2012 budget proposed to under fund nasa given the current fiscal environment, we believed that the current level is the minimum required for its programs. our position is that it should reflect the budget priorities as outlined in the nasa authorization act of 2010. this flat -- despite the clear bipartisan direction provided in that act and the 2011 continuing resolution, substantial uncertainty remains over the direction nasa will take, but specifically on the new heavy lift space launch system. this is causing ripple effects throughout the space industrial base and highly trained work force. as the space shuttle is being retired in the u.s. is paying russia over $60 million to

nelson mandela. >> wow. >> great man, and i didn't embarrass him. >> that's a good question. i probably would say going to cuba and invite mr.my highlight is still ahead. >> what about you? >> still ahead. i haven't found it yet. i'm still searching for that. >> everything you've accomplished as a hall of famer, you're telling me you're still looking for that thing in life you want to do? >> that's correct. my long-range goal was to win a nobel peace prize and still is. >> what's stopping you? >> huh? >> what's stopping you? >> i don't know. is 80 too young or too old? >> no. you're never too old. never too old. get on the bus, gus. >> but i always wanted to do that. i wanted to be an international lawyer when i first started out and didn't make it there. >> he's just too good at baseball. >> then got into baseball. through jackie robinson, hank aaron and all the guys who played before me. they really helped me, inspired me, and i just followed them, and that was it. >> 82-year-old hall of famer says he's still not done. we're getting close to the bottom of the hour. college grad waguations are bei held all over the country,

nelson mandela. that was something. great man, and i didn't embarrass him. >> that's a good question. i probably would say going to cuba and invite mrla and the dalai lama and do what we did with woodstock with cuba, so my highlight is still up ahead. >> what about you, mr. banks? >> it's still ahead. >> still ahead? >> i haven't found it yet. i'm still searching to are that. >> everything you've accomplished and a hall of famer, you're still looking to are that thing in life you want to do? >> that's correct. and my goal was, my long range goal was to win a nobel peace prize, and still is. >> what is stopping you? >> huh? >> what's stopping you? >> i don't know. is 80 too young or too old? >> no, you're never too old. get on the bus, gus. >> but i always wanted to do that. i wanted to be an international lawyer when i first started out, didn't make it there. >> just too good at baseball. >> and then good into baseball and that was it, and jackie robinson and hank aaron, all of the guys who played before me, helped me and inspired me and i just followed them, and that was it. >> all right, 13 minutes to the top of the hour now. >>>

nelson. and i'm sure that you do have a very unique perspective on this, and we look forward to your questions at the appropriate time. um, mr. babbitt, we'll start with you. thank you for being here today, and thank you for your testimony. and thank you for your leadership during this period of time. .. we're also taking a substantial number of actions to improve the level of safety. before i address these actions i think i would be remiss if i were to appear before you and not mention the need for multiyear reauthorization. we have a tremendous responsibility to enhance the safety of our airspace system and transform it what the radar-based system of the last century to the satellite-based system of tomorrow. to accomplish our goals the faa needs a multiyear reauthorization with sufficient funding levels. as you know the faa has not had a steady source of funding for over three yaf nears now. instead we relied on 18 short-term extensions of our spending authority. so i'm very pleased that both the house and senate passes reauthorization bills. we very much appreciate your support. it is a important step forward. however if

mr. chairman. >> thanks very much, senator corker. senator nelson of florida. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to take this opportunity to thank you for your long and distinguished career. it this is the first opportunity publicly that i can say that to you, as we have already discussed privately, because last week you announced that you are agoing to retire from publi service and your 24-year career in the united states senate is most distinguished and most appreciated by a lot of folks who never get a chance to tell you. and like most citizens of the united states that have a connection one way or another with florida, so you do as well. the senator's brother is one of our distinguished citizens palm beach. and i want to say to ms. carter, thank you for you just keeping on keeping on. it was a long time ago when you and your husband were campaigning in the florida primary in 1976, and you have been his partner every step of the word in the best sense of that word and you continue today rendering service to our country and to our people. so thank you very much. and, mr. chairman, i jus