mr. nelson: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be called off. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, rock ins. republicans balm of florida to be united states district court for the southern district of florida. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the time until noon will be equally divided in the usual form. mr. nelson: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: mr. president, our nation faces an alarming judicial vacancy rate. i'm grateful that today we will be voting to confirm u.s. magistrate judge robin rosenbaum to fill a judicial vacancy in the southern district of florida for a federal district judgeship she earned her undergraduate degree at cornell, her law degree from miami. she began her legal career in the u.s. attorney general's honors program, whe

mr. nelson: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. nelson: madam president, i rise to call up my amendment number 2243. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nebraska, mr. nelson, proposes amendment number 2243. mr. nelson: i ask that further reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: i rise to call up this amendment today addressing federal performance payments that states receive to make sure that americans in tough times who need supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits receive them and those who don't, don't get them. it's a commonsense good-government amendment that builds on a 2002 bipartisan agreement between the states, the previous bush administration and congress. in my view, congress shouldn't eliminate incentives to improve efficiency in their snap programs, as some are proposing. congress should, though, better target these federal performance bonus funds so states can use them only -- and let me emphasize only -- to improve their snap prog

mr. nelson told the committee investigators privately that he never informed senior officials and the justice department about gun walking during operation fast and furious because he was unaware himself. last year you flatly rejected the attorney general's offer. you refused to even commit to working toward a mutually agreeable resolution. instead, you rushed to a pre-arranged press conference to announce the failure of the meeting. it seems clear that you had no interest in resolving this issue, and that the committee planned to go forward with contempt before we walked into the meeting with the attorney general. it pains me to say this, but this is what i believe. this is especially disappointing since the department has already turned over more than 1,000 pages of documents that answer your question. you want to know why the department sent a letter to senator grassley initially denying allegations of gun walking? the documents show that when they were drafting this letter the department's legislative affairs office relied on the categorical and emphatic denials from the leaders of atf. t

george nelson stretch the definition of computer in his findings. >> mr. nielson in his opinion violated the city's charter by saying this is a computer. if i go in a store and ask for a telephone, they are not going to take me to the computer center. if i go to purchase a computer, they will not take me to the section to buy a telephone. >> she may ask for an independent investigation. at a cost of $650,000 to taxpayers. the mayor is tired of answering questions about the matter. >> she made an opinion. she disagrees. she has avenues to take. this is a closed issue. >> what remains open is the animosity between the mayor and the comptroller. the solicitor opinion on the issue found the phone purchase was bitter out of the ordinary nor in violation of the law. kim dacey, wbal-tv 11 news. >> thank you. 5:35. 60 degrees on tv hill. stock assigns of autism -- stopping the size of autism at an early age. don't forget to e-mail us your response to our water cooler question of the day. what is your opinion about rielle hunter's tell-all book, and do you plan to

mr. nelson testified before a closed interview, the transcript of which is not available to the public, again, allows those who don't agree with the attorney general to selectively quote the transcript in support of your argument and allows us to selectively quote from the transcript to support the fact that you don't believe that any senior members of the administration were aware of many of these activities. the public has no way of judging that. my friends from south carolina referenced the wiretap applications. i read through them yesterday and i would say, without -- since we can't talk about what was in them that my perception of what they would imply was far different than my friend from south carolina's perception. the whole point being that what the public is left with is nothing but a default position. those who tend to be republicans or oppose the administration are going to default in support of the contempt action. those who support the president of the administration are going to tend to default to support -- to the opposition of the citation and those who are independent are go

mr. nelson in his opinion violated the city's charter by saying this is a computer.f i go in a store and ask for a telephone, they are not going to take me to the computer center. if i go to purchase a computer, they will not take me to the section to buy a telephone. >> she may ask for an independent investigation of the cost of $650,000 to the taxpayers. the mayor is tired of answering questions about the matter. she considers the matter over. >> she made an opinion. if she disagrees. she has avenues to take. this is a closed issue. >> what remains open is the animosity between the mayor and the comptroller. thesolicitor's opinion on issue found the phone purchase was nothing out of the ordinary nor in violation of the law. kim dacey, wbal-tv 11 news. >> any plans for the baltimore city slots casino will not happen till mid 2014 at the earliest. the delay is over the issuing of the license. it will take another 18 months to get the casino up and running after the have the license. calls to expand its current gambling interests in maryland, leaders took aim at the g

mr. nelson: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: mr. president, i ask consent that the period for debate only on s. 3240 be extended until 5:00 p.m. and that the majority leader be recognized at that time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: mr. president, may i be recognized? the presiding officer: yes, the senator from -- the snoer from recognized. -- the senator is recognized. mr. nelson: mr. president, as i was heading to the capita capl today, i couldn't help but think about the jolting news from my state that the u.s. department of justice will have to sue my state of florida over its purge of the voting rolls. well, i can tell you, madam president, that being a native floridian whose family came to florida 183 years ago and having the great privilege of serving the people of my state for a number of years, it's simply hard for me to conceive that the state of florida is trying to deliberately make it more difficult for lawful citizens to

mr. nelson: mr. president. thank you, madam chair. the presiding officer: without objection, the senator is recognized for five minutes. mr. nelson: thank you. madam chair, i thank you so much for your strong efforts in bringing together this very important reform bill. we're moving in the right direction now with farm policy, moving away from protectionism, moving away from outmoded programs to something that certainly is in today's world important. that is, a safety net, a safety net that involves risk management opposed to direct farm payments. this is particularly important to the state of nebraska and all of our producers. we're number one in production of many commodities from red meat to great northern beans. second in the nation in production of ethanol, something more than two billion gallons of this homegrown fuel into our energy supply every year. our productive farmers and ranchers in nebraska make us fifth in the nation in agriculture receipts while nearly one-third of all nebraska jobs are related to agriculture, it's ou

mr. nelson in florida. and connie mack getting the backing of freedom works and hence why mr. lemieux is probably more inclined to drop out but florida, florida, florida, florida is an amazing state with presidential stuff. interesting poll of quinnipiac but white voters support it 67 to 29. black voters oppose it 56 to 38. is this racial politics do you think, perry? >> not very surprising. what you have seen not only in florida but the country is new pushes for republican governors to sign laws that in their mind prevent voter fraud and turned out in a lot of cases minorities worry they're targeted the most by the laws and not surprised al sharpton rallied against the laws and opposed to these laws but in general, should we make sure noncitizens cannot vote they'll say yes and not surprised why you're seeing this divide here. >> michelle? >> here's the problem. nobody wants for there to be election fraud anywhere in the country. that's a given. the question is, is this being done because people are genuin

mr. nelson who said that he never sent this information up the chain of command sort to speak. so i think if we're really focused on brian terry and what went wrong, we've got to make sure that we do a postmortem of the entire system. what we aren't doing with this contempt proceeding is focus on that. we're now talking about whether or not a legislative affairs office within the department of justice wrote a letter with the awe sp us a passes of the attorney general or just the locals in arizona. it is like saying i put out an e-mail, my staff puts out an e-mail i didn't know about and whether or not that was, indeed, the case. that's what we're talking about here. we are not talking about the fundamentals issues about fast and furious. >> i want to both of you for taking the time. i know you have to go in to the committee hearing any minute now. thanks to both of you for being with us. let me bring in the rev reerend sharpton. i saw you last night and talking to adam schiff. he said this is about politics. is that's what's going on here? >> i think that clearly the way it app

mr. nelson told the committee investigators privately that he never informed senior officials and justiceration fast and furious because he was unaware himself. last night he flatly rejected the attorney general's offer and he refused to commit to working towards a mutually agreeable resolution. instead he rushed to a pre-arranged press conference to announce the failure of the meeting. it seems clear you have no interest in resolving this issue. and that the committee planned to go forward with contempt before we walked into the meeting with the attorney general. it pains me to say this but this is what i believe. this is does appointing since the department has already turned over more than a thousand pages of documents that answer your question. you want to know why the department sent a letter to senator grassley and initially denying allegations of gun walking. the documents show that when they were drafting this letter to the departments and legislative affairs office relied on the categorical and emphatic denials from the leaders of atf. these are the same atf officials that you no

mr. nelson was right and the attorney general was wrong. anyone reading this affidavit should have been alarmed. we learned that the department gathered 140,000 pages of documents for their own internal review. they have produced a mere 7000 or so pages of documents. that is a spit in the ocean. this is why the house committee is forced to move forward with contempt proceedings. i think the american people deserve a better explanation than they have received so far. there has been a number of damaging classified national security leaks to the media. every leak is damaging. the most damaging ones risked the lives of men and women that are working abroad. the attorney general says one thing and -- it was reported last year that the department had dropped the prosecution of a former department of justice person who admitted he had leaked information to the "new york times." the anthrax attacks. leaks were made to the press involving dr. stephen hatfield. there was a settlement of near $6 million. i'm concerned about the decision to appoint two

mr. nelson was right and the attorney general was wrong. anyone reading this affidavit should have been alarmed. we learned that the department gathered 140,000 pages of documents for their own internal review. they have produced a mere 7000 or so pages of documents. that is a spit in the ocean. this is why the house committee is forced to move forward with contempt proceedings. i think the american people deserve a better explanation than they have received so far. there has been a number of damaging classified national security leaks to the media. every leak is damaging. the most damaging ones risked the lives of men and women that are working abroad. the attorney general says one thing and -- the it was reported last year that the department had dropped the prosecution of a former department of justice person who admitted he had leaked information to the "new york times." the anthrax attacks. leaks were made to the press involving dr. stephen hatfield. there was a settlement of near $6 million. i'm concerned about the decision to appoint

mr. nelson: i rise trade to speak about an amendment that i am proposing to the 2012 farm bill. before i speak to that i would like to associate myself with the leader's comments about the importance of taking care of our cyber defense, putting our putt- putting ourselves in the position to be able to deflect and deter cyber attacks, from terrorists and otherwise, against industries and the federal government. as chairman of the strategic forces subcommittee of the senate armed services committee, cyber command is part of our responsibility, and the leader is exactly on target with his comments about the need to move forward to protect our country against future cyber atarks which we encounter daily, recognizing that we perhaps do know what we know but we're in that unfortunate position of not knowing what we don't know. and to modernize and to move forward is absolutely essential to be -- to maintain vigilance against cyber attacks in the future. now, the amendment that i'd like to talk about today and like to propose is about fairness. it is about fairness for america's farmer

nelson, you're next. all right. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i very much appreciate this hearing. dr. haskins, it's nice to be with you again. i served on the ways and means committee and went up against dr. haskins 16 years ago, and lost most of my arguments and provisions, but joined the majority in supporting the tanf legislation 16 years ago and i think it was the right decision to change the program and make it focused on getting people out of poverty and getting them employed. but i do think we have to acknowledge some concerns. senator bingaman already mentioned some of those issues. in a recession we would expect states to be able to respond by putting more cash out there, when the job market is more difficult, but we know that during this recession, the states didn't have that option in many cases. they just didn't have the fiscal capacity to do what we would have liked them to do, it would have had to cut other programs and they weren't prepared to do that. so i do think it does raise an issue as to how tanf works during recessions. secondly, we can all point with pride the

mr. kenneth r. nelson, the former head of the bureau of fire arms and explosives, the agency brees possible for conducting these operations. it seems common sense that we would want to hear from them in a public hearing where all of us are not just reading a transcript but also have a chance to question him. it is incomprehensible and unfair to me that we could be investigating major flaws in and a hefty program like this and not call the person responsible to testify in person before this committee. i believe that one reason that he has not been called for this may be due to the fact that his testimony would be contrary to the partisan narrative's in the contemn citation that we will regrettably be voting on today. in july 2011, the investigators conducted a transcribed interview which many of the reference today that was close to the public. during that interview he told investigators that he never informed the attorney general or other senior staff officials at the justice department's about gun walking

joining us now on the "squawk" news line to tell us about the investment in lazard is nelson peltz. mrwe have you on the line? i'm a little worried that he put us on hold. is that possible? nelson, if you're watching tv and have us on hold take us off. if not i'm going to gillian in a moment. >> i think it's a very [ inaudible ] move. behind someone that's been opportunistic and chance for upside potential, what's interesting is how this reflects of reshaping of wall street and if you go back to before 2007 it was big mega firms dominating. what you're seeing now with people interested in a group like lazard, maybe there's a space for more independent advisors and if you look at how they're thought to pay people inside the firm there's a shift in culture there. >> we have nelson back. we could put you on mute too, you know. >> i'm here. >> okay. good to have you. thank you for joining us this morning. i don't know if you got a chance to hear what gillian was saying, walk us through real quick your analysis in terms of buying lazard, the shares now trading at about 24, 25, up obviously

mr. president, i yield the floor. >> and other senate reaction to the supreme court decision, ben nelson, democrat of nebraska tweeting today's health care ruling ushers in a new era of accessible healthcare for all americans. republican lisa murkowski of alaska, i will work with anyone who wants to replace this health care law with something smarter, leaner and better for alaskans and democrat robert men end ez of new jersey saying the supreme court decision also helps the latino community keep the benefits they gained under the law and you can read more at c-span.org. lots of coverage of today's supreme court decision. here on c-span3, coming up in 15 minutes or so, we expect to hear from senate democrats and we will have that live for you. nancy pelosi, the democratic leader in the house spoke to reporters with her reaction on the supreme court health care ruling. she also talked about the upcoming vote in the house on the contempt of congress citation on eric holder. that vote coming up shortly and watch it on c-span. this is from earlier. >> good afternoon. pretty exciting day. the decision that was announced by

director, former director, nelson, anyone reading these, according to him, would have to be sick to their stomach because they'd be immediately aware -- >> do you have a question, mr. chairman? >> so who is responsible, mr. attorney general? >> all right. you really conflated a bunch of things. the responsibility -- >> you delivered so little -- >> regular order, now, mr. chairman, will he be allowed to answer the question now. >> the attorney general will be allowed to answer e the question. i'd appreciate no more interruptions. >> the responsibility about which you speak is in fact the responsibility of a deputy assistant attorney general looking at summaries to make sure there's a basis to go into court and to ask that court to grant the wiretap based on a determination that a responsible official makes that probable cause exists to believe that a wire facility has been used in the commission of a crime. they do not look at the affidavits to see if, in fact, to review all that is engaged, all that is involved in the operation. i have read those things. i have read those. i've read those, i've read wide receiver as well. i can say what has happened in connection

discovering the truth, the committee would have called kenneth nelson, head of the a.t.f., as a witness. the chairman refused 10 requests for mr. melson. the republicans have not granted one single democratic witness request in 16 months, not one. this is not about discovering the truth. this is about politics. this has become an obsessive political vendetta for pursuing a political agenda in a season of ugly politics. if they were serious about ending gun violence, they would do what many a.t.f. agents have suggested and put some teeth in the law and that is why i authored with my colleagues a bill to make gun trafficking a federal offense and strengthen penalties for straw purchases. this unprecedented contempt citation is politics at its worse and why this body is held in such low esteem. mr. issa: i ask the statement by the terry family be placed in the record at this time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, it will be placed in the record. mr. issa: i'm sure the gentlelady from new york recognizes the right of a minority hearing has not been exercised and that would have been answered the questions as they are we

like to have kenneth nelson and a gentleman named cunningham who threatened to take the fifth before us. but before you bring them before us, we have to see the documents produce mr. cummings said it it well perhaps they are lying to their bosses we'll not brimming them in unless we have the questions to ask. i expect to have a panel. >> chris: you refused to have kenneth nelson. >> not at all. >> he testified two days -- ? in a private hearing. >> no, a private gathering with republicans and demicrats. our intention to have him on a panel. >> chris: we have limited time. congressman cummings does that satisfy you? >> no, i have asked the chairman to blidge atf director nelson before us. he has refused to. and we ask add for the witnesses to california before a public hear he refused to do that. the all i am saying the chairman and me has a willing partner if we are about the business of keeping the promise to the terry family. i want to do that. that is so very, very important. but i can tell you, i said it before, chris. i think regarding to getting the documents we are on the one foot line of the field. i have no doubt that if speaker boehner showed the strong

conrad, bingaman, kohl, leahy, bennet, coons, franken, baucus, mikulski, nelson of nebraska, klobuchar, brown of ohio, merkley and casey. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. ms. mikulski: mr. speaker, would you yield for a question? mr. reid: i yield to my friend. ms. mikulski: mr. leader, i noted on the last vote, you voted no. was that so that the bill could be reconsidered? mr. reid: i say to my friend through the chair there is no one in this body that has a reputation for a bigger and better fighter than barbara mikulski, the senator from maryland, senior senator from maryland, and i entered the motion to reconsider the vote because i want the fight to continue. ms. mikulski: well, i would like to respond to the majority leader. we want to fight, too. we thank you for your vote and your voice. i just want you to know that although we lost the vote today, we're not going to give up on this vote. it is a very sad day here in the united states senate, but it's a sadder day every day when paycheck

mr. big. >> steve: oh, yeah. yeah. >> jimmy: you got -- if you like your hair bands. >> steve: i love my hair bands. >> jimmy: you got tesla? >> steve: oh, tesla is a fantastic one. how about the nelsonar nelson. >> steve: oh, matt and gunnar nelson. they had more hits than you can shake a stick at. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: what i liked about them is they put on them large boots. they go past there thighs. and they rub against their scrotum. >> steve: yeah, 'cause it was -- [ laughter ] it was like the new romantics. but, only from the mid side down. >> jimmy: fantastic. >> steve: 'cause you got your adaman, you got your -- [ laughter ] you got your. you got your. >> jimmy: tom petty and the heartbreakers. >> steve: you got your traveling wilbury's. >> jimmy: you got joan jett. >> steve: oh my god. from the blackhearts. they're fantastic. >> jimmy: i love the blackhearts. you got the pretenders. they're not pretending to be good 'cause they are good. >> steve: oh, my gosh. you got the specials. you got the clash. you got a whole bunch of musical people selling albums on the tv. [ laughter ] you got carl douglas. >> jimmy: all right. carl douglas. what was his hit? >> steve: "kung fu fi

the atf director, former director nelson, anyone reading these -- according to him -- would be sick to their stomach because they would be -- >> does he have a question, mrsponsible? >> reporter: now, remember, the attorney general is still under a subpoena, and chairman issa believes that they are stonewalling and says they have not received a single document in three weeks. now, holder says they have turned over o 7,000 documents to the committee, and they are not going to turn over any more because they're either privileged or because the case is under investigation. so here's where we're at. the oversight committee, jenna, could still hold a vote to hold the attorney general in contempt. i am told that will likely happen by the second week of july, or it will not happen at all. but that is a political decision that will be made by the house leadership. back to you. jenna: a lot to consider here, william. thank you very much. jon: more tense exchanges between attorney general holder and house republicans. here's one with the chair of the committee holding that hearing, lamar smith, of texas. >> how would the white house have learned about operation fa

nelson on our line for republicans. go ahead. caller: good morning. i'm here at the beginning mr. brooks said about [inaudible] i would like mr. brooks he is wrong on his comments that just proves and name which of those that he is in favor of that mr. obama has achieved. guest: i think the question is what has obama achieved. well, he certainly has pulled the economy back from the brink. i mean, i think that where it progresses people feel there should have been a greater push in some areas. one example of that is getting some additional money to float a budget which would have led to less layoffs at the state level. but it's unquestionable that he has pulled the economy back from the breenching. we're not back to where we need to be yet but we're not in the middle of a depression. obama care for some of its flaws is a big deal. the fact that younger folks can stay on their parents' insurance until they're 25, 26. that you can't be denied for preexisting condition. that if you get cancer you can't get kicked off, there's a lifetime limit or something like that. or if your child gets an illness from birth. those things are all

discovering the truth, the committee would have called kenneth nelson, head of the a.t.f., as a witness. the chairman refused 10 requests for mr. melson. the republicans have not granted one single democratic witness request in 16 months, not one. this is not about discovering the truth. this is about politics. this has become an obsessive political vendetta for pursuing a political agenda in a season of ugly politics. if they were serious about ending gun violence, they would do what many a.t.f. agents have suggested and put some teeth in the law and that is why i authored with my colleagues a bill to make gun trafficking a federal offense and strengthen penalties for straw purchases. this unprecedented contempt citation is politics at its worse and why this body is held in such low esteem. mr. issa: i ask the statement by the terry family be placed in the record at this time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, it will be placed in the record. mr. issa: i'm sure the gentlelady from new york recognizes the right of a minority hearing has not been exercised and that would have been answered the questions as they are we

discovering the uth, the committee would have called kenneth nelson, head of the a.t.f., as a witness. the chairman refused 10 requests for mr. melson. the republicans have not granted one single democratic witness request in 16 months, not one. this is not about discovering the truth. this is about politics. this has become an obsessive political vendetta for pursuing political agenda in a season of ugly politics. if they were serious about ending gun violence, they would do what many a.t.f. agents have suggested and put some teeth in the law and that is why i authored with my colleagues a bill to make gun trafficking a federal offense and strengthen penalties for straw purchases. this unprecedented contempt citation is politics at its worse and why this body is held in such low esteem. mr. issa: i ask the statement by the terry family be placed in the record at this time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, it will be placed in the record. mr. issa: i'm sure the gentlelady from new york recognizes the right oa minority hearing has not been exercised and that would have been answered the questions as they are well a

mr. president, low-altitude surveillance flights over farmers' and ranchers' private property has caused bipartisan concern, and it is happening. e.p.a. is flying these flights. senator nelson and i and the entire nebraska delegation wrote to administrator jackson saying, what's going on, what are you doing? their response was kicked down to the regional director. it was incomplete, it was total i unacceptable. this is not about drones. this is about flights over feed lots trying to determine if there is a violation and then pursuing that action. what we are asking for is the public to be advised of what they're doing. so until that happens, this amendment just simply says, stop, you can't do this anymore until you let us know who you're using this information, for what purpose. the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. mr. johanns: i ask for support of the amendment and ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. mrs. boxer: mr. president, may i be heard? the presiding officer: the senator from california is recognized. mrs. boxer: could there be order, please. the presiding officer:

mr. young: in i yield myself such time as i may consume. in 1999, the united states government awarded a settlement to the minnesota chippewa tribe pursuant to the nelsonnd various treaties. these funds have been held in trust and not disbursed. h.r. 1272 authorizes the secretary of the interior to disburse the amounts to the chippewa tribe. i would like to thank congressman chip cravaack and the sponsor of the bill, representative collin peterson, for working with the tribe in getting this bill to the floor. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new mexico. mr. lujan: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lujan: i yield to the author of the legislation, mr. peterson, such time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. peterson: i thank the gentleman. i rise today in support of h.r. 1272, the minnesota chip tribe judgment fund distribution act. 15 years ago, the united states court of federal claims awarded $28 million to the chippewa tribe to compensate the chippewa in

i might note that kenneth nelson testified for two days before this committee and may well be back before the committee in the future. mr. mchenry, do you seek recognition? the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. we are here today because attorney general eric holder has failed to meet his obligation pursuant to the subpoena issued him by this committee. we promised that we would get to the bottom of this matter for brian terry's family and american people in order to make sure this type of operation never occurs again. that we would find out the facts, the information, reform the system based on the information. many republicans and democrats on this committee demanded the facts and answer abouts this case a year ago when all this started. but what started as a pursuit of facts has now turned into a slow crawl of evidence and delay. we cannot look at the evidence if the department of justice refuses to turn over those facts. internally, they have reviewed 80,000 documents. they have actually turned over to our committee 7,000. i have no doubt that if the department of jus

ordinary reading, including former director nelson, according to him, would be sick to their stomach because they would be immediately aware -- >> do you have a question, mr. chairman? >> who is responsible, mr. attorney general? >> you conflated a bunch of things here. -- [talking over each other] >> the gentleman will be allowed to answer the question. i would appreciate no interruptions so the ag can answer the questions. >> the responsibility of the deputy attorney general, he looks over the summaries to make sure there is a basis to go into court and asked the court to grant the wiretap based on a determination that a responsible official makes, that probable cause exists to believe that the wire tap has been used in the commission of a crime. they did not look at the affidavits to see if, in fact, to review all of that that was engaged -- all of those involved in the operation. i have read those. i have read those end i have read those documents from wide receiver as well. i can say that what happened in connection with "fast and furious", was done in the same way as the wiretap applications were done in the previous administrations with wide receiv

gentleman and i might note that kenneth nelson testified for two days before this committee and may well be that before the committee in the future. the gentleman from -- >> mr. mchenry do you seek recognition? the gentleman from oklahoma's recognized for five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman. we are here today because attorney general eric holder has failed to pursue the subpoena issued to him by this committee. we promised that we would get to the bottom of this matter for brian terry's family and the american people in order to make sure this type of operation never occurs again, that we would find out the facts and information, reform the system based on the information. many republicans and democrats on this committee demand to know the facts and answers about this casey year ago when all this started. what started as a pursuit of facts has now turned into a slow crawl of evidence, requests and delays. we cannot look at the evidence in the department of justice refuses to turn over those backs. internally, they reviewed 80,000 documents. they had actually turned over to our committee 7000. i have no doubt that if the department just a subpoena documen

director, former director nelson, anyone reading these according to him, would have to be said to the stomach because they would be immediately aware of -- >> regular order, mr. chairman. does he have a question, mr. chairman? >> who is responsible, mr. attorney general? >> you've really conflated a bunch of things you took the responsibility -- >> you have delivered so little. >> will he be allowed to answer the question of? >> the attorney general would be allowed to answer the question but i'd appreciate no more interruptions so the ag can answer the question. >> the responsibly about which you speak is, in fact, responsibility of a deputy assistant attorney general looking at the summaries to make sure that there is a basis to go into court and to ask that court to grant the wiretap based on the determination that a responsible official makes that probable cause existed to believe that it why facility has been used in the commission of a crime. they do not look at the affidavits to see if, in fact, -- to review all that is engaged, all that is involved in the operation. i have read those now. i have read those. i have read those. i have read them from wi

mr. nelson, proposes amendment numbered 2242. mr. nelson: i ask that further reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided. mr. nelson: this amendment would ensure that rural communities in all of our states remain eligible for housing assistance from the department of agriculture. my amendment simply extends the grandfathering clause that these communities have operated under since 1990 and ensures that these communities remain eligible through 2020. this is a bipartisan amendment supported by my colleagues, senator johanns, senator moran, the chairman of the banking committee, senator johnson and my good friend and neighbor, senator tester. i urge the adoption of my amendment. thank you, mr. president. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. johanns: mr. president, i rise to take ten seconds to support my colleague's amendment from nebraska. it does keep in place a program that dates back to 1990. it's a good amendment. ms. stabenow: mr. president? i want to commend b