mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i have filed a cloture motion which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the motion to proceed to calendar number 32, s. 649, a bill to ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a firearm are listed in the national instant criminal background check for every firearm sale and for other purposes. signed by 17 senators as follo follows -- reid of nevada -- mr. reid: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum require

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i move to proceed to calendar number 44 s. 601. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 44, s. 601, a bill to provide for conservation and development of water and related resources and so forth and for other purposes. mr. reid: i have a cloture motion at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the motion to proceed to calendar number 44, s. 601, a bill to provide for the conservation and development of water and related resources so forth and for other purposes signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unani

mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: mr. leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, my friend here from oklahoma is on the floor. i would ask if he would be kind enough to -- i'm going to say a few words. i'm going to withhold offering the consent for senator schumer to take five minutes before i offer the consent agreement. what would that be appropriate for the senator from oklahoma? okay. madam president, the arbitrary spending cuts in the budget control act were designed to be painful, so painful both parties could come together to find a bipartisan way to reduce the deficit. thus far, it hasn't worked. we've reduced the debt by doing a number of different things, some $2.5 trillion worth. we've cooperated in that regard. the deep cuts required though by the sequester have failed to bring the republicans to the negotiating table to find more savings or more revenue. even aft

as mr. reid strom mentioned, ~ we do have an opportunity to share with you the proposed rates for the wholesale water customers for next fiscal year in advance of your action which is scheduled for may 14th. and, so, if we could go to the slides, i just have a few to share with you. >> um-hm. >> as mr. reid strom mentioned, we have some good news. the rates will be going down for the biggest wholesale customers. the biggest reason you are aware of, we received $356 million payment in february from the wholesale customers. as mr. jensen mentioned, that is done primarily for savings. what that means is we've been able to take out that rate component from our rate setting and i'll show you what that means in terms of numbers in a moment. another reason why the rates are going down for the wholesale customers is that they're buying more water. so, as compared to the current budget year, we had budgeted about 137 million, 137 mgd in terms of volume. and what we're seeing in the current year is that's

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: may we have order. mr. reid: mr. president, tomorrow at 11:00, we're going to vote on cloture on the motion to proceed to the gun legislation that's now before this body. this morning, throughout the d day, our friend connecticut, a freshman senator who was brought to the senate with this tragedy having taken place shortly after he arrived here in the senate, my friend, the presiding offic officer, longtime attorney general, the chief law enforcement officer of the state of connecticut, has lived with this tragedy that happened at sandy hook like nothing that ever happened in your career. and for, of course, senator heinrich, new senator here, this was something that he never appreciated that he would be faced with. i saw the pictures today, these little babies that were murder murdered, some of them shot multiple times. little, tiny kids shot multiple times. the shooting was on dece

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: could i ask my friend to yield for a unanimous consent request? mr. grassley: i've got 15 seconds left. is that okay? mr. reid: of course. mr. grassley: thank you. yet thee actions should have been taken years ago. so it is very disappointing that we have this report now. it needs to be newt in effect. i think the government accountability office did gooded, and i'll put the rest of the statement in the record. i yield the floor. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask that th the senator's statement not appear interrupted in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the vote on the motion to invoke cloture on s. 743 occur this evening at 5:35 p.m. further, that if cloture is invoked, all postcloture time be considered expired at 5:00 p.m. monday, may 6, that the durbin amendment 745 then be withdrawn and no other decade amendments be the senate will come to order, that the senate th

mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that we now proceed to a period of morning business with senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to s. res. 99. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 99, expressing the sense of the senate that public servants should be committed for their dedication and continued service to the united states during public service recognition week. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there being no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to s. res. 100. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 100, commending and congr

mr. reid: mr.president pro tempore: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business tporb an hour. the majority will control the first half. the republicans the final half. following that morning business the senate will resume consideration of the safety community, safe schools act with the time until the recess for the caucus meetings for debate only. the senate will recess from 12:30 to 2:15 for weekly caucus meetings. today we will continue to work on a path forward to consider amendments to the gun safety bill. currently the manchin-toomey amendment on background checks is pending on the bill. senators will be notified when any votes are scheduled. i would note the absence of a quorum. the president pro tempore: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 10:30 this morning, the republicans will control the first half. at 10:30, the senate will recess for a senators-only briefing. yesterday i filed cloture on this legislation. the filing deadline for first-degree amendments is 1:00 p.m. today. senators should expect a cloture vote on friday morning. mr. president, it was a wonderful prayer. i appreciate it very, very much. i yield it my friend, the senior nor from massachusetts. ms. warren: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. ms. warren: thank you, mr. president. and thank you, mr. leader. every april a large blue-and-gold banner flies above the entryway of old south church with the words of isiah, "may you run and not grow weary, walk and not faint." old south church sits on the finish line of the boston marathon, a distinguished and historical spot that has earned the name "church of the finish line." today i welc

mr. reid: mr. chairman, following leader remarks, the senate will be in a pared of morning business for one hour. the majority will control the first half, the republicans the final half. following that morning business, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to the marketplace fairness act. at 12:30 today until 2:15, we'll be in a recess to allow for our weekly caucus meetings. mr. president, yesterday evening a number of senators missed votes, and we -- as we've talked about here a number of times and we've become somewhat complace complacent, we have votes 15 minutes, and we extend it for five minutes. and we've extended that time, mr. president, for a long period of time. because muc of procedural things around here in the senate, i had to terminate that vote before 6:00 in an effort to save a full day of legislative business. it is obvious there's 30 hours following that cloture vote, wasted time -- i've talked about it before. but there was no reason whatsoever that we

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to the gun safety legislation. the first hour equally divided with the republicans, and they will control the first half, and we will control the final half. last evening i filed cloture on the motion to proceed to that legislation. hopefully today we can reach an agreement to begin debate on this bill even today. i also hope to formalize an agreement for confirmation of sarah jewell to be interior secretary. mr. president, i'm told -- i believe this is right -- there are two bills at the desk due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the senator is equity cr. -- the senator is correct. the clerk will read the title of the bills for the second time. the clerk: a bill to rescind amendments appropriated for fiscal year 2013 for the department of defense for the medium-extended air defense system and for other purposes. s. 61, a b

mr. reid: madam president? madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the next vote be ten minutes in duration. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the motions to reconsider are considered made and laid on the table, the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action, and the senate will resume legislative session. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 743, which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 41, s. 743, a bill to restore states' sovereign rights to enforce state and local sales and use tax laws, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question occurs on the adoption of the motion to proceed to s. 47 -- 743. a senator: ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the p

quorum call: quorum call: mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i like every member of the senate am shocked and saddened by the news from boston today. of explosions near the finish line at the boston marathon. my thoughts go out to all those who were injured, and my condolences go to the families and friends of those affected by this tragedy. i commend the first responders, observers who rushed toward danger, to help those who were hurt. who continue -- we continue to monitor the news from boston. president obama has spoken to a number of people including the mayor of boston, governor duval prick and -- duval practice and pledged every resource possible to bring to justice the perpendicular freight tax raters. he'll be speaking in about 0 minutes, he meaning president obama, to the nation. i'll do whatever i can to are support the people of boston and the commonwealth of massachusetts as we all will, all will duri

mr. reid:, i appreciate the chaplain's prayer, but i especially want to recognize the last line or two of his prayer today where he indicated that he wanted a special blessing on the capitol police. i'm happy that the sergeant at arse was here when the -- the sergeant-at-arms was here when the prayer was being given, because the chairperson i chapl. every day the capitol police protect us -- that is, senators and staff, but also the millions of visit visitors who come in ts massive complex every year. we see them standing there at guard watching the doors, and we need to do that because just a few years ago we had some madman crash through the house side and kill two police officers. we've seen that things have gotten more difficult since then. we have people standing with automatic weapons. we have bomb squads. we have these dogs that do -- work with us so well. we have people who are on bicycles. but i -- with the appropriations process coming soon, i hope, we have to make sure that we suppl

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks this morning the senate will resume consideration of the gun safety legislation. under an agreement reached yesterday, debate time until 5:00 p.m. will be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees. at 5:00 p.m. there will be a series of up to nine votes in relation to amendments to the bill. mr. president, i am told that s. 743 is due for its second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: s. 743, a bill to restore state sovereign rights to enforce state and local sales and use tax laws and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president, i would object to any further proceedings in regard to this bill. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. reid: mr. president, today this august body will honor the memory of 20 first-grade children, little babies who were gunned

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the previous order with respect to the executive calendar 14 the nomination of patty a schwarz to be united states district judge for the third circuit, at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, april 9 with all other provisions remaining in effect. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: there will be no votes today. the first vote will be tomorrow at noon on confirmation of the schwarz nomination. executive session to consider calendar number 5050, the nomination be con virmd, confirmed, the motion to reconsider, no intervening action or debate, and any related statements be printed in the record, that president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president, i welcome back the presiding officer, all the staff. i hope the two-week easter break was one that was refreshing to everyone. this month the senate will deal with a number of impor

mr. reid mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the manchin-toomey amendment and rule 715 be set aside. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. reid: we are. one of those rare occasions. i ask consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the manchin-toomey amendment number 715 be set aside, the following amendments in order be called up. grassley substitute amendment consistent with the summary which is at the desk, leahy-collins 713 trafficking, cornyn 719 concealed carry, feinstein 711 assault weapons, clip bans, veterans guns. that's number 720. lautenberg-blumenthal 714 high-capacity clip band, barrasso 717 privacy, and harkin-alexander relative mental health, the text of which is at the desk. following leader remarks on wednesday, april 17, the time until 4:00 p.m. be equally divided between th

i talk to mrs. reidd that's where she wanted eric to go and because that's where eric wanted to go that was his first choice. so win-win. >> draft continues tomorrow. >> on to baseball. a's hit rough stretch after road trip and pitching coach young tossed out of tonight game with baltimore. starting pitchers lit up the last weak. tonight parker tuvrnlt a's jump out to early lead but in the top of the third if the rbi single and jones doubles to knock in another run. baltimore ahead 3-2 youngest comes out starts argue with the up peer about a check swing that wasn't called and got the heave-ho. mild mannered. that's him agitated 4 this year. 5 innings tonight. allow 6 runs. chris different is homer in the sixth as the a's fall to the a 10-2 and giants have the day off. warriors my denver if game 3. play off series tomorrow night at arena and he said if the game was tonight he couldn't play because of his left averaging he. he hopes another 24 hours of rest will help. >> no reason to rush it if it's not re

i talk to mrs. reid she said that's where she wanted eric to go and because that's where eric wanted to go that was his first choice. so win-win. >> draft continues tomorrow. >> on to baseball. a's hit rough stretch after road trip and pitching coach young tossed out of tonight game with baltimore. starting pitchers lit up the last weak. tonight parker tuvrnlt a's jump out to early lead but in the top of the third if the rbi single and jones doubles to knock in another run. baltimore ahead 3-2 youngest comes out starts argue with the up peer about a check swing that wasn't called and got the heave-ho. mild mannered. that's him agitated actually stchlt parker o and 4 this year. 5 innings tonight. allow 6 runs. chris different is homer in the sixth as the a's fall to the a 10-2 and giants have the day off. warriors my denver if game 3. play off series tomorrow night at arena and he said if the game was tonight he couldn't play because of his left averaging he. he hopes another 24 hours of rest will help. >

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, i appreciate everyone's cooperation. i'm glad we were able to get cloture on this legislation. this legislation and this vote that just took place is of course important for our country, especially the people from connecticut, who have lived through this tragedy. but it's also important for this body, this senate. there have been many things written in the last several months about how the senate cannot operate. and i so appreciate the members on the other side of the aisle, especially john mccain, on a sunday show said "i don't think there should be a filibuster on this." john mccain is a leader of -- has been a leader in this country for 31 years. people respect his opinion, and i'm grateful to all republicans who joined with us to allow this debate to go forward. now the hard work starts now. as everyone knows, because we've all heard this on a number of occasions, the first amendment is going to be one that has been worked on for weeks by senator manchin, senator toomey

mr. reid: i now move to proceed to s. 639. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 42, a bill to ensure that all americans that should be prohibited from buying a firearm are listed in the national instant background check system and so forth and for other purposes. mr. reid:man, the time until 11:30 today will be equally divided between the majority and the minority. the democrats will control the first 30 minutes, the republicans the final 30 minutes. at 11:30 the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of patty swartz tshwartzto be a judge for the td circuit. the senate will resume from 12:30 to 2:15 to allow for our weekly caucus meetings. i would first extend my congratulations to senator mcconnell and the louisville cardinals for their successful ncaa championship. it was a remarkable -- it was remarkable how they were always coming from behind to wind up winning. they did it with not offense but with defen

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that all time during adjournment, recess, and morning business -- ferraro the senate will be in order. mr. reid: clowns count postcloture on the notion proceed to s. 743. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: i asking senator durbin as the floor manager for the consideration of s. 743. i note the absence of a earl quo. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: heard the senator from colorado. do you have -- my remarks are about 25 minutes. so is the senator from colorado's significantly shorter? dull dull mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. udall: i have three or four minutes of remarks. mr. franken: i would yield to my colleague. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. udall: thank you. i want to tank my colleague from minnesota for his forebearance. the presiding

i talk to mrs. reid she said that's where she wanted eric to go and because that's where eric wanted to go that was his first choice. so win-win. >> draft continues tomorrow. >> on to baseball. a's hit rough stretch after road trip and pitching coach young tossed out of tonight game with baltimore. starting pitchers lit up the last weak. tonight parker tuvrnlt a's jump out to early lead but in the top of the third if the rbi single and jones doubles to knock in another run. baltimore ahead 3-2 youngest comes out starts argue with the up peer about a check swing that wasn't called and got the heave-ho. mild mannered. that's him agitated actually stchlt parker o and 4 this year. 5 innings tonight. allow 6 runs. chris different is homer in the sixth as the a's fall to the a 10-2 an giants have the day off. warriors my denver if game 3. play off series tomorrow night at arena and he said if the game was tonight he couldn't play because of his left averaging he. he hopes another 24 hours of rest will help. >>

the question who are we here to represent cheers for regular order now the senate majority leader mr reid could have changed the process if he'd wanted to set up a different protocol in a different procedure the truth of the matter is as i said from the beginning it isn't the republicans that you have to worry about on these issues it's the democrats who are worried about the two thousand and fourteen elections they are the ones who are bad and that is why was that why it was the vote fifty four forty six and five democrats voted against it including reid and that was for procedural reasons so you could bring it back up again for revotes voted for it but basically all the republicans voted no all the democrats voted yes the democrats wanted to make sure that they could say to the public in the media and all of their suppliers the republicans want to say that to the one hundred ninety percent republican support if the president was right about that that this would have passed easily precisely because it's not true no it's a mistake in the money case but as mr mansion mentioned he came to g

mr. reid: we knew all along that efforts to pass a stronger -- background checks and keep guns out of the hands of criminals wasn't easy and it hasn't been. but keeping america's streets safe from gun violence is worth the effort. yesterday families of gun violence watched as republicans defeated a commonsense proposal to expand background checks. supported by 90% of the american people. mr. president, it's not some hocus-pocus. what it says is that if you are a criminal, you shouldn't be able to buy a gun. it says if youe s issmeou shouldn't b able to buy a gun. that's all it said. yesterday the families of gun t facha majitofl this way, we weren't able to get this done. despite the fact that a strong majority of the united states senate voted in favor of stronger background checks -- a strong majority -- republicans once again filtered -- pardon me -- filibustered a commonsense proposal. madam president, we were able to get four republicans -- 4 out of 45. yesterday president obama said it w

and robert, i want to ask this of you, the quote is how tenacious mr. reid will be and whether he extracts votes one by one as he has for other legislation may determine the fate of the measures. the onus is on harry reid to push something forward, at least if the democrats want to have credit or credibility on the issue? >> well, yes and no the onus is on harry reid to be able to thread this needle. the problem is that that needle is very, very, very small to thread. the reason why is because, as we mentioned before, a couple of senators, democratic senators that are are in red states, arkansas, north carolina, so forth that have a very, very large gun culture in their states and they don't want to go against that. no question about that but can i go back to chris's point for a moment? i think he makes a very, very good point here. senator graham makes a good point we need tone force the current gun laws no question that we need to do that. however, however, i don't understand why we cannot have universal background checks in this country. i don't understan

mr. reid's approach to violence. i share your hope on that hand and hope the senate will act on gun violence in the next weeks and bring it up to the house and we can look at the tax code, too. i'm sorry that -- mr. reed is still here and i just want to say something if i might because i think we have a friendship -- look, health care reform isn't going to be repealed. i think everybody should accept that as a given. and for those who wanted it repealed, i think the case has become more difficult because of the diminution in health care cost increases. they've been going down now for three years, madame secretary? >> yes, sir. >> and there's some evidence that in part it's because of health care reform. >> will the gentleman yield? >> let me just finish. >> ok. >> also there have been some clear benefits, and you mentioned, madame secretary, some of them. the millions of younger people now insured. as an example. the millions of seniors who now are paying less for prescription medicines. so i think with that situatio

mr. reid's statement. appreciate it, sir. thank you. >> thank you. >> you're not going to believe this. is good for the environment. yeah, from harvard. he'll make his case next. thank you orville and wilbur... ...amelia... neil and buzz: for teaching us that you can't create the future... by clinging to the past. and with that: you're history. instead of looking behind... delta is looking beyond. 80 thousand of us investing billions... in everything from the best experiences below... to the finest comforts above. we're not simply saluting history... we're making it. ♪ >> i think we're establishing a new normal for gas prices. not much movement overnight. a gallon of regular at $3.51. that, by the way, down 15 cents for the mounted, but plateauing there, 3.50, the new normal. price of oil at 90 a barrel. maybe the decline has ended. dismal, durable goods number, down 5 fpt 7% in march, biggest drop in seven months. dow down 16 at this point. sunkist made money in the first quarter, boost in profit helped by the launch of the company's 10 calorie soda. dr. pepper snapple up, proctor and

mr. reid: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:00 this afternoon. during that period of time, each senator will be allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each, if they wish. at 5:00 p.m., the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of beverly reid o'connell to be a district judge for the central district of california. at 5:30, there will be a roll call vote on confirmation of the o'connell nomination. mr. president, the debate over the best way to prevent gun violence in america raises strong emotions. second amendment advocates, me among them, want to preserve and protect the right of every law-abiding citizen to bear arms. victims of gun violence and family members of those killed by guns -- me among them -- want to ensure that guns are kept from the hands of criminals, those with mental illnesses, severe in nature. these, mr. president, are both worthy goals, and they should not be mutually exclusive goals. it'

mr. reid: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be if a period of morning business until 5:30 this evening. senators will be allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each during this time. at 5:30, there will be a vote on the motion to proceed to s. 743, the marketplace fairness act. i now ask unanimous consent that there be a period of morning business -- i'm sorry, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent there be a moment of silence at 2:50 p.m. today for the purpose of honoring the victims of the boston bombings. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid:man, i commend the law enforcement officials, the city, state, and local level, for their incredible response to last week's drawmatic and horrifying event -- traumatic and horrifying events at the boston marathon and in the hours following that all over the boston metropolitan area. a week that began with this unspeakable tragedy, the death of three innocents, ended with the death of one suspect from the boston bo

mr. reid: i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. murmur i asmurmur i askmr. murpe quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. murphy: i gave my first speech in the senate this morning. i left the floor because this week and next week we are debating one of the most fundamental issues that comes to a body like this: what can we do to better protect our kids and our loved ones from unexpected death? i care about this issue not just because it's one that's important to the families of victims in new haven and bridgeport, and hartford, but of course because of what happened at sandy hook. i spoke this morning more broadly about the awful experience of being in connecticut, the personal experience of having been at the firfirehouse that day. the wonderful experience of having gotten to know the families of the victims and the millions of acts of kindness that have

mr. reid: i would ask consent that as soon as i finish my brief remarks that the senator from montana be recognized to respond to the senator from north dakota's remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, this is not a partisan bill. there are times i'm on the floor advocating partisan advantage, but that isn't what we have here. we have managers of this bill have worked really hard on it for a long time, and this is where we are now. we're to a point where there have been a number of amendments offered, but there's been objections made. and so, no amendments are allowed to be debated and voted on. that's where we find ourselves procedurally, which leaves me as manager of the senate with no alternative but to look to the next alternative to try to move things along. and that's going to be after midnight tonight. 12:30, 1:00 this morning we will have a vote on cloture on the bill. i say to my friends who oppose this -- and i know they believe in it fervently, th

how is that filibuster deal working out now mr. reid? we keep coming back to this. a big mistake harry reid made when he did not either get rid of or reform the filibuster when he had a chance to. should not need 60 votes on any issue, certainly not on this one ronald willis writes in hey bill, rand paul's complaint about the lobbying of the newtown parents made me want to vomit right in his face. >> bill: me, too. how dare he. i forgot it was rand paul. one of those who criticized the newtown parents. donald jackson from out in milwaukee, oregon, says i share your disgust. could the republicans in the senate be covering for the house republicans? you know, i don't think so. i just think they're cowards on their own. they're not covering for anybody. and sheryl says what do you know? the spinels wonders join the nra in defeating the legislation that would authorize background checks. is she surprised? she's not. i guess none of us are. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, good morning friends and neighbors. what do you say? welcome to the "full court press" here on current t

mr. bean. senator harry reid will be played by the old man from the american gothic painting. secretary of state john kerry will be played by an easter island head. >> some of those castings are right on, aren't they? >> i just love the whole bangs joke. >> it looked pretty sophisticated these days. >> i'm just in awe that you actually attended this. >> years ago. it was quite an eye-opening experience for me. it was fun. >> it's on my bucket list. >> all right. we'll get you there. >> right. i can forecast the weather for the event. that's what i can do. what a day we had. today, this is our live kpix 5 weather camera, looking out towards the bay bridge in all of its glory. overcast sky certainly but we are still clear in santa rosa. but now dipping out into the upper 40's. livermore at 58 degrees at this hour. after realizing a high of 86. and san jose is currently 57 degrees. the winds have lightened up out of the northwest at 8 miles per hour. overnight we'll see the thickening of the clouds, most commonly referred to as the fog. tomorrow, sunny and even warmer than today.

mr. reid: i make a motion to reconsider. the presiding reconsider. -- the vice president: the motion is entered. there are two minutes of vote equally divided prior to the amendment offered, 725, by the senator from iowa, mr. grassley. who yields time? a senator: mr. president? the vice president: there will be order in the senate. the gallery will refrain from any demonstration or comment. the senator from texas. mr. cruz: mr. president, i rise to speak in favor of the grassley-cruz substitute. now that the previous vote has been taken, i would suggest that this is a bill that we all should be able to support. this is a bill that provides major resources to prosecuting violent criminals to going after felons, to going after fugitives, preventing them from getting guns. it provides resources for school safety. it provides additional resources to improve the background check system and to encourage states to provide more records on mental health illness. this is a strong law enforcement bill, and i know everyone in this body,

reid brought up the suicide of his own father. >> sometimes people in a fit of passion purchase a gun and do bad things with it. mr. president, even as my dad did, killed himself. >> reid hoping to broker a deal while a ban on so called assault weapons is not likely to pass, there is an aggressive effort to alt least push through background checks. >> this kountd tri and these families deserve a vote. >> there is disagreement over whether to filibuster gun bills, a vote is scheduled for thursday. >> mitch mcconnell's campaign asked for an fbi investigation into leaked tapes of a campaign strategy session targeting ashley judd. the tape reveals mcconnell and his staff consider using past struggle was depression and religion against her, one staffer saying quote, she's emotionally unbalanced. at the time judd was talked about as a potential challenger. democrats deny bugging the office and a spokesperson released a statement about the tape reading in part, this is yet another example of politics of personal destruction embody mitch mcconnell and are pervasive in washington, d.c.. >> the obama administration believes n

. >> mr. reidam secretary, i would like to take some time to address an important issue to me. that is a solvency of medicare itself. part a trust fund. you are a trustee for medicare. bes indicates that part a bankrupt in 2024. do you agree with that report? is that still when the trust fund will be going under water? >> this budget that we have added for five years to the life of the trust fund. the aca had it at eight years. we put -- repealing the aca would accelerate the timetable significantly. , you didn't --n on your opinion, you move it to five years. >> four. >> four years. that means everyone who is 51 years of age and younger are being promised by the president's office and your budget that medicare part a will be bankrupt. is that correct? >> as you know, it does not bankrupt. it would bring in less than a is anticipated going out. i think we have two opportunities -- >> no, no. i believe it is 25% short. >> it brings in less than -- >> what term would you describe that as question mar

mr. chairman. hank, sara mccain. senator reid. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for your testimony on surveys. i have more of a procedural question. as i understand it, your preparation is part of the defense appropriations bill of the classified annex that we did in fact pass a defense appropriations bill. we didn't do a lot of those. within the context of that though, were you able to achieve at least flexibility and prioritization in order to cope with what we are recognized as decreased funding? >> the national intelligence program, which i manage straddles two independent agencies. the bulk of the program is carried in the department of defense budget. so not to get to the end of the program was divided into the 700 planned program activities, which covers the entire extent. every one of those had to be equally taxed. the congress imposed a more onerous, morerestrictiverra money from ppa to ppa.my ato m i have these small but not a lot oney anof them are only people. for whatever reason, they decided there needed to be more control over the nationa

mr. president, i hope -- >> harry reid there on the senate floor speaking right now. casey hunt still with us as well as perry bacon. casey, the question is will a vote happen and if so, when? >> harry reid is trying to decide that right now, and republicans can stand in the way of that. they face some practical limitations. if you'll remember, rand paul had to step off the floor after his filibuster because he needed to use the restroom. so they'll face similar rules this time if they're going to stand in the way of it, they're going to have a limited way of doing so. reid could handle it in a way if they get a compromise that puts this off until monday, that delay would actually probably be a good thing for the bill's prospects. he could also decide to go forward with what he has and that's what even senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, the top republicans in the senate, has also threatened to filibuster. if he did that, we could see a vote as early as thursday. >> okay. that's the timing for us. perry, want to move to you. putting the guns issue in perspective,

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator mccain. senator reid. >> thank you, mr. chairman.e issue obviously to cheaper up front and center sequestration. i have more of a procedural question. as i understand it, your appropriation is part of the defense appropriations bill as a classified annex, that we did in fact passed a defense appropriations bill. we didn't do a lot of those. within the context, we were able th wt weaecognize thaitization r deease funding? >> the national intelligence program, which i manage straddles two independent tions these. the bulk of program is carried in the department of defense budget. so not to get to be in a sequestration arcana here, but the net, the program was divided into 700 ppa from the planned program activities that covers the entire extent. every one of those had to be eat late taxed. the congress imposed a more onerous, more restrict it from a comma rules that on my ability to move money from ppa to ppa. i have small pdas with not a lot of money but for whatever reason decided there needed to be more over the national intelligenc

mr. bean. senator chuck schumer will be played by grandpa munster. senator harry reid played by the old man from the american gothic painting. fox news aoger will be played by, speaker of the house john boehner will be played by tan mom. janet napolitano will be played by paul. former white house chief of staff and chicago mayor rahm emanuel will be play ed by "family guy." secretary of state john kerry will be played by an easter island head. i cannot tell those two apart. chief justice john roberts will be played by buzz lightyear. senator mitch mcconnell will be played by dame edna. cnn anchor wolf blitzer will be played by a furby. wayne lapierre will be played by raiders of the lost ark. jay carney will be played by ralphy from "a christmas story." ladies and gentlemen, this is a huge honor. thank you very much. >> one of the best, conan o'brien. i will see you back here at the top of the hour at 8:00 eastern. "dr. sanjay gupta md" will be baon after a short break. >>> i will tell you, i was walking around here yesterday afternoon and it was filled with people out

senate majority leader reid demanded a decision putting up a photo that named the newtown victims. >> mr. president, they deserve a vote. >> reporter: vice president biden put the pressure on conservative lawmakers. >> people say, what am i going to say to the nra. i got a question for you. what are you going to say to those parents? >> reporter: the filibuster seemed to be falling apart, a vote on tougher background checks now possible. they're going to vote on something on thursday. harry reid, the senate majority leader decided whether it's on the gun show compromise that's being worked out, that might put off a filibuster because it's conservative democrats and republicans working on that, leaving aside liberals by senators boxer and feinstein that want much tougher gun control. if the senate passes anything, the lion's share of the credit many say should go to the families still lobbying here tonight from newtown. live from the capitol, i'm steve handelsman, nbc bay area news. >> steve, thank you. >>> a bay area base publication has exposed an odd controversy in washington, d.c. tod

mr. michael kranish, harry reid,believe carl levin, both of them have protected the modern filibuster, whicha little different from the original filibuster. maybe at its origination, it was to protect minorities, but it has morphed into something else. what it is doing, it is turning the senate into a cowardly institution. what i mean by that is, one inson in a strong position their district or senate can make cover for all the other senators who now don't have to make a decision to stand for something. they can just talk around the problem, knowing that one of the cause as going to filibuster and they will never have to address the issue. it is protection for their jobs and their seats, and it might be very effective and work well for them, but it is drawing bipartisan set to a screaming halt. host: we are learning from senators over the easter break, ted cruz, mike lee, marco rubio , that when the senate goes forward with an legislation, those four are going to object to that type of bill moving to the floor. we saw rand paul filibuster for 13 hours over drones holding up the nomination of

mr. bean. senator chuck schumer will be played by grandpa munster. senator harry reidby the old man from the american gothic painting. fox news' ceo roger ailes will be played by boss hog. we signed the deal. speaker of the house john boehner will be played by tanned mom. >>> janet napolitano will be played by paul giamatti. former white house chief of staff and chicago mayor rahm emanuel will be played by stewedstewed stewie from "family guy." >>> john kerry will be played by an easter island head. i cannot tell those two apart. supreme court chief justice john roberts will be played by buzz lightyear. senator mitch mcconnell will be played by dame edna. cnn anchor wolf blitzer will be played by a furbie. nra executive vice president wayne la pierre will be played by the face melt guy from "raisers of the lost arc." and finally white house press secretary jay carney will be played by ralphie from "a christmas story." >>> so as we thank you for watching of our coverage, have a great evening. good night. yeah, i'm looking to save, but i'm not sure which policy is right