mr. reid: mr. reid: i have 12 unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session, they have the approval of senator mcconnell and me, i ask unanimous consent they be agreed to and printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. roberts: mr. president, i come to the floor today to speak in support of the drug quality and security act, h.r. 3204. getting this bill to where it is today -- and i thank the leader for just making that possible, along with our minority leader -- this has been a long and sometimes very difficult road, one in which i have been working on for over a decade. yes, ten years. this is an issue that hit far too close to home in kansas. several years ago, a pharmacist in kansas city, robert courtney, was found to be diluting cancer drugs for his patients. unfortunately, over 4,000 patients were affected before authorities could stop him. senator kit bond

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i have a cloture motion at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture 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 s. 1197, a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2014 for military activities of the department of defense and so forth and for other purposes, signed by 17 senators as follows -- reid of nevada, levin, durbin, kaine, feinstein, hagan, mikulski, donnelly, udall of colorado, mccaskill, coons, shaheen, warner, reed of rhode island, murray, nelson, king. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent that we now proceed to a pe

mr. reid: following leader remarks the motion to proceed to s. 815 the employment nondiscrimination act will be adopted and the senate will begin consideration of the bill. senators will be notified when votes are scheduled. mr. president, kimberly kates is no stranger to the struggles that come with living without health insurance in america. she works at a health clinic that treats uninsured kentuckians. the clinic doesn't provide its employees with health insurance. over the last few years she's racked up $15,000 in medical bills and recently filed for bankruptcy. last week after a month of considering her options, ms. kates signed up for health insurance for the first time in many, many years. the plan will cost $17 a month. i repeat, $17 a month. and every hospital near her home will accept her new insurance. this is the difference obamacare is making, and ms. kates is only one example of kentucky's new health insurance exchange created under the affordable care act. more than 1,000 kentu

mr. reid: thank you. mr. president, there isn't a single legitimate objection to the qualifications of any of these nominees to the d.c. circuit that president obama has put forward. republicans refuse to give them an up-or-down vote, a simple yes or no vote. republicans simply don't want president bush to make any appointments at all to this final court, none, zero. further, only 23 district court nominations have been filibustered in the entire history of our country, 23. you know what? 20 of them have been in the last four and a half years. 230-plus years, three, last four and a half years, 20. that's not fair. with one out of every ten federal judgeships vacant, millions of americans will rely on courts that are overworked and understaffed are being denied the justice they rightly deserve. mr. president, more than half of the nation's population lives in parts of the country that have been declared a judicial emergency. no one has worked harder than the presiding officer to move judges. the presiding offi

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendars number 309, 302, and 421 and all nominations on the secretary's desk and the coast guard, the nomination be qirbled en bloc, the motion to reconsider be made and laid upon the table, no further motion be in order to any of the nominations, any related statements be printed in the record, president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action, the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask the senate proceed to house message number s. 252. the presiding officer: the chair lays before the senate a message from the house. the clerk: resolved, that the bill from the senate, s. 252, entitled an act to reduce preterm labor and delivery and the risk of pregnancy-related deaths and complications due to pregnancy and to reduce infant

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the motion to recommit be withdrawn the pending levin amendment 2123 be set aside for senator gillibrand or her designee to offer amendment numbered 2099 related to sexual assault, that the amendment be subject to a relevant side-by-side amendment by senators mccaskill and ayotte. amendment number 2170, that no second-degree amendments be in order to any of these sexual assault amendments, that each of these amendments be subject to a 60 affirmative vote threshold. mr. president, i am told that each side would like ten minutes. that is, the mccaskill side and the gillibrand side would be ten minutes to close. there are other people who want to speak now is the time to say something. mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: do you want some time? mr. durbin: i understood there were 30 minutes left on the gillibrand side. mr. reid:

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: i now ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to a period of morning business, senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i'm told there are four bills at the desk due for their first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the titles of the bill for the first time. the clerk: s. 1774, a bill to reauthorize the indetectible fire marshalls act of 1988 for one year. s. 1775, a bill to approve the sexual assault prevention and response programs and activities of the department of defense, and for other purposes. h.r. 1965, an act to streamline and ensure onshore energy permitting and so forth and for other purposes. h.r. 2728, an act to recognize states' authority to regulate oil and gas operations and promote american entering security

mr. reid: i ask that the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar numbers 393 through 402 and 419. and that all nominations on the secretary's desk in the air force, army, navy, the nominations be con nirmd en bloc and no further motions be in order to any of the nominations and any related statements be printed in the record and that president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent we proceed to calendar number 231. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 231, h.r. 2747, an act to amend title 40, united states code to transfe

mr. reid: mr. president, i ask that -- i'll just tell the senate that following my remarks, the senate will resume the motion to proceed to s. 815, the employment nondiscrimination act. at 5:30 the senate will proceed to vote in executive session and consider the nominations of gregory howard woods and debra m. brown. after debate on those two nominations, at 5:30 there will be up to three roll call votes. i would hope that one of them can go by voice. but we'll have to wait and see. confirmation of the woods and brown nomination and then cloture vote on the motion to proceed to enda. police officer michael carney fought for two and a half dwreers get his job back and he won. after he took medical leave of absence, the springfield officials refused to reinstate him because a veteran police officer had revealed he was gay. but officer carney was determined to return to the force. because he lives in mass marks one of only 1 states that protect employees against discrimination based on sexual orienta

mr. reid: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there be no intervening or debate. the presiding the president pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president, i see our friend here, returning upon the did he go of his son. if he wants to -- returning upon the death of his son. if he wants to say something? through the chair to the senior senator of oklahoma, we're glad to have him back. we all empathize with something only a parent could understand, and i am grateful to him for his, the example he sets for all of us. mr. president, i ask consent that -- let me say this. we're going to be in a period of morning business until 5:00 today. following that morning business the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of robert wilkins to be circuit judge for the d.c. circuit. at 5:30 thr-lt be -- there will be up to two roll call votes on cloture of the wilkins nomination. if cloture is not invoked there will be a secon

mr. reid: may i make a unanimous consent request? would my friend yield for a unanimous consent request? mr. carper: i'm be happy to yield. mr. reid: i appreciate my friend from delaware's courtesy. he and i have been together for 31 years. and i also appreciate my -- i wanted to make sure that senator collins was on the floor when i did this. mr. president, i withdraw my motion to proceed to calendar number 236, h.r. 2304. the presiding officer: the motion is withdrawn. mr. reid: could i ask the chair what the pending business is before the body. the presiding officer: s. 815 is now the pending question. mr. reid: i have a cloture motion at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: mr. reid: it's probably buried in some of that stuff up there. or maybe you don't have it. mr. reid: i have a cloture motion at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: we the jiend senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the sta

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i move to proceed to calendar number 236, the drug compounding legislation. the president pro tempore: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 3204, a an act to amend the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act with respect to human drug compounding and drug supply chain security, and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president, following leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 4:30 this dwraafternoon. at 4:30, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of cornelia pillard. at 5:30 there will be a cloture vote on the pillard nomination. if cloture is not invoked, there will be a second roll call vote on the motion to proceed to the drug compounding bill. i'm told that s. 1661 is due for a second reading. the president pro tempore: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: a bill to require the secretary of state to offer rewards up to $5 million for information regarding the attacks on the u

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask regular order regarding the millett nomination. the presiding officer: regular order has been requested. the senate resumes executive session to consider the millett nomination. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: postcloture. the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to address the senate as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: mr. president, he the events and votes that took place today are probably as historic as any votes that i have seen taken in the years that i have been here in the united states senate. the majority, with only majority -- the majority, with only majority votes, the same as was passed with obamacare, with only democrat votes, changed the rules of the senate in a way that is detrimental, in my view, not only to the united states senate, not only to those of us in the minority party, but great damage to the institution itself. one of the men who ser

mr. reid: mr. president?

mr. reid: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the majority leader. mr. reid: mr.president, i'm wondering if my -- obviously not. following leader remarks and those of senator mcconnell the senate will proceed the motion to proceed to proceed to s. 815 postcloture. the senate will recess from 12:30 to 2:15 for the weekly caucus meetings. i hope we can reach agreement to move forward on the bill today. mr. president, i'm wondering if my friend from delaware wishes to make a speech regarding the guest chaplain. if so, i'd be happy to yield to him. the president pro tempore: the chair recognizes the senator from delaware. mr. carper: thank you, mr. president. my thanks as well to the majority leader this morning. before i say a few words about reverend gregory knox james, i want to go back in time for a couple of minutes. i was talking to the pages out in the hall about how we, when our country was first settled folks came here from all over the world. they came here in part in pursuit of religious freedom. they were people of different faiths. they wanted to be able

mr. reid: reserving the right to object, i have made statements over the past many weeks about why i object to this. i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. vitter: madam president, reclaiming the floor, again, i am open to any reasonable way to get a simple vote on a pure disclosure provision any time this calendar year, so in that spirit, i have an alternative. i would ask unanimous consent that all remaining time on the motion to proceed to h.r. 3204, the compounding bill, be yielded back, that the senate proceed to h.r. 3204, that the bill be read a third time and passed right now, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. i further ask that the senate then proceed to the consideration of s. 1197, the defense authorization bill, that my amendment which is at the desk be called up and that a democratic side-by-side amendment be in order to be called up, that notwithstanding rule 22, those amendments remain in order and that both amendments be

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following my remarks the senate will resume consideration of s. 815, which is the employment nondiscrimination act. at 11:45 there will be two roll call votes, first on the toomey amendment and then a cloture vote on the bill. if cloture is invoked there will be a third roll call vote on passage of the employment nondiscrimination act. mr. president, i am happy to join my friend in happy birthday wishes for billy graham. i haven't had the good fortune to meet this man, but i've read his book. i read a by ography of him. he's such a personality, i thought that was something i should do, and i did it. and i remember a lot of things about the book. the one thing i do remember is this. he's so scrupulous in making sure that there's never any question about his integrity, his moral integrity. i know we've had a lot of problems with people who are out preaching and don't turn out to be so good. but billy graham, among other things, would never meet a female in his office without the do

quorum call: mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president, i would renew my request that was just denied. i would also add to that that i be recognized at 7:30. the presiding officer: is there objection? so ordered. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. it's with pride and humility i thank my colleagues for passing senate bill 381 last night. once passed by the house and signed by the president this will bill award congressional gold medals to the surviving world war ii heroes we know as the doolittle tokyo raiders. the effort to pass this bill has been a personal one for me. i thank 78 of my colleagues who have cosponsored the resolution. it proves the senate can reach consensus recognizing the

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in a period for 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 defense authorization bill. we'll debate the sexual assault issue for up to six hours, and i hope we can reach agreement on the ability to vote on those two amendments. people worked very hard on arriving at a point where we can debate this issue. i hope we can do that. i think it would be very appropriate that we have that issue resolved as quickly as possible. mr. president, i'm told that s. 1737 is due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for a second time. the clerk: s. 1737, a bill to provide for an increase in the federal minimum wage, and so forth. mr. reid: mr. president, i would object to any further proceedings with respect to this bill at this t

mr. reid: is the senate in a quorum call? proitd it is. mr. reid: i ask it be vitiated. i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding cloture having been invoked on the millett nomination, the senate resume legislative session in consideration of s. 11 -9d 7, the time until 4:00 p.m. be equally controlled between the chairman and ranking member inhofe or designees, with the chairman controlling the last half of time. at 4:00 p.m., the senate proceed to vote on cloture on s. 1197, the department of defense defense authorization bill. if cloture is invoked, the senate proceed to vote on adoption of s. con. res. 28. further, if cloture is invoked on s. 1197, the second-degree amendments filing deadline, 5:00 p.m. today. finally if cloture is not invoked on s. 1197, the senate proceed to vote on adoption of s. con. res. 28. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 91, s. 1197, a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2014 for military activities of the department of defense

mr. reid: mr. president? at the teem the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, i want -- before my esteemed senior senator from vermont leaves the floor -- to just say a word. i so appreciate your guidance and leadership over these many years of leading the judiciary committee. it is a committee where most all the legislation is funneled, and what we've focused on in recent months is the problem we have with judges. i appreciate your leadership. yesterday you did a remarkably good job of leading a precedent indicating the issues that we have with the d.c. circuit, and i so appreciate your leadership on this issue and all the other issues the judiciary committee works on. it's too bad that we can't have the judiciary committee as it was in our earlier years in the senate, where the productiv pro- where the productivity has not been able to bring things to the floor. the wide-ranging jurisdiction of the judiciary committee is so important to our country. issues dealing with things going on with our national security agencies, cybersecurity, just a multi

collins, for the senator from nevada, mr. reid, are withdrawn. under the previous order, the question occurs on amendment number 2013, offered by the senator from nevada, mr. reid, for the senator from pennsylvania, mr. toomey. the yeas and nays have been ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or to change their vote? if not, on this vote the ayes are 43, the nays are 55. under the previous order requiring 60 votes for adoption of this amendment, the amendment is not agreed to. the senate will be in order. the senate will be in order. under the previous order, the committee-reported substitute amendment as amended is agreed to. under the previous order, cloture having been -- okay, the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: we the undersigned senators in accordance with provision of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on s. 8515 a bill to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexu

now the democrats are going to get to vote on some things maybe or at least mr. reido stop them in the senate. here's the if you like your health plan you can keep it from robert johnson. these are opportunities for discomfort for the supporters of the affordable care act. >> i want to pick up on that because the most interesting political development this week, i think, was that red state democrats running for reelection in the senate are beginning to panic. they went to the white house and held a two-hour meeting with the president and they're now talking about a bunch of legislation and some of the republican superpacs are starting to target them. take a look at this ad. >> if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. >> those individuals who like the coverage they already have will be able to keep their current plan. >> which now becomes a problem having said that and apparently there's a lot of that to come. juan, some of those democratic senators, mary landrieu, are now talking about introducing legislation to if you want your plan you

focus on 20-week abortion bans, we need to focus on working-class issues, i have some news for you, mr. reid of the working class. we are 63% of the low-wage workers in texas, okay? this is not a fringe issue. ask the women in albuquerque. ask the 20,000 people you just mentioned who will be in need of abortion services in texas if it's a fringe issue. i don't think we have anywhere left to go but up. i think we have hit the bottom in texas when it comes to the denial of health care access based on discriminatory standards like race and sex. we have hit rock bottom. >> joan walsh, this fight is far from over. could this be the turning point? >> i think it's a turning point, ed. sara is a microcosm of what is happening, right? progressives felt they needed to leave texas, because no place for them there. sarah was on her way out and she stood up to protest the hb-3 ii. she was marched out by four state troopers. she became a hero to feminists nationwide. and now she is staying. and you're seeing women across the country be electrified by wendy davis' filibuster and saying we are not going to

mr. reid: mr. president, this unique body has the ability to work very quickly when there is cooperation present much it is one of the many special things about this institution. unfortunately, cooperation in recent months has been very, very lacking. case in point: one senator has delayed action for more than a month on a bill to ensure the safety of custom medications mixed by pharmacies for patients with unique health needs. mr. president, the reason that 97 senators voted to move this legislation is because 64 people died, 800 were made very, very sick with some of them very sick. they had strokes and other medical issues because of this irresponsibility and the negligence of this company in massachusetts. a lawsuit was filed recently in nevada. two young boys were allegedly impacted significantly as a result of this medication that was really bad medication. unless the entire united states senate bends to that one senator's wish -- the one that voted "no" -- he will force this body to jump thr

mr. reid has a rare form of als and his mind has not been affected. diana reed would help him get in and out of bed, the shower and his wheelchair. she became more instrumental in its accounting business as his speech worsened. after her death members of their church brought meals and did laundry and the church sent donations to assist mr. reed with his personal care. that is just one story of the tragedy that the commissioner of the fda says will happen again if we don't act and we believe this bill will help prevent such a tragedy. stare right injections last year were meant to ease the pain of hundreds of americans and many tennesseans and instead became their worst nightmare. these files of contaminated medicine compounded medicine were contaminated. 64 americans including 16 from my state died from the outbreak. it's a horrible way to die. when the health committee held its first hearing on this tragic outbreak in november of last year we looked at how could this possibly happen? it became clear these contaminated files were produced in a facilit

mr. reid: following my remarks and those of senator mcconnell the senate will be in a period of morning business for an hour with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. following that morning business the senate will resume consideration of the defense authorization act. the senate will recess today from 12:30 until 2:15 to allow for our weekly caucus meetings. we'll work on amendments to the defense bill today and everyone will be notified when votes are scheduled. mr. president, we're going today to continue work on the defense bill. it's really an important measure, and that's an understatement. it safeguards this nation. it assures or troops have the resources and training they need. it provides for our military families of our fighting men and women. it is a serious bill that deserves serious debate, not be bogged down by unrelated political issues. for example, this legislation includes a lot of things, including the pay raise for members in a

mr. reid's new rules for senate radicals are also a warning of what democrats will do if they retake theibuster that could block key liberal legislation so president obama can go out with a reprize of his first two years. forget about a filibuster stopping union card-check, for example. obama care would never have passed if mr. franken hadn't stolen the minnesota recount and prosecutors hadn't hidden evidence to convict alaska republican ted stevens on false thick ethics charges. but liberals are showing that they will only need 51 votes not 60 to pass the next obama care. "new york times." democracy returns to the senate. what a different point of view we got here. two papers, two different points of view. the rule change does not end the 60 vote threshold for blocking legislation which we have argued is worth preserving. but the vote may lead to broader filibuster changes. a proposal by several younger democratic senators to require talking filibusters, forcing lawmakers to stand up at length and make their cases may well gain steam now and could it finally spell an to end log jams tha

guest: i think the answer to the timing was that mr. reid finally pulled it off.hat was in doubt until the last few days. he picked up a few key supporters. diane feinstein has been against quite some time. she was persuaded that the situation will not be any better. she was brought aboard. it is a classic case of the first role of legislative politics. if you have the votes, call the vote. he did and he did. in terms of what happened next, there's a lot of fear among republicans. the democrats will be prepared ondo this rules change legislation sooner or later. the absence of a filibuster on all nominees, except the supreme court, seems difficult for republicans to found him. athom. f republicans were clearly annoyed by this. they were furious. they essentially decided to put a stop to any further debate on the defense authorization bill. the recess has now begun. this is a bill that has passed 52 years in a row. cast doubt on whether that record will be maintained. republicans were clearly going to show that they were not going to back away from the filibuster l

mrs. pelosi, harry reid, they did everything behind closed doors and they pushed this thing through because they had the house. they passed it without even a republican voting for it or putting a recommendation on the table for it. this thing is going to self- destruct because they are not going to get the 7 million young people to sign up for this thing to keep it going. host: george, thanks for the call. 2 interesting calls , one from a republican supporting the affordable care act. guest: some people are going to experience immediate benefits and some will have to pay more for coverage. if they were young and healthy, they were one of the beneficiaries. they will see advantages and disadvantages. on the politics, let me be clear. the romney administration did an excellent job here in massachusetts beginning the implementation of health reform in 2006 in the waning year of their administration. the gentleman from west virginia is absolutely right. governor romney's aides were involved. the chair of the board of the exchange was the secretary of administration finance. the secretary of hea

mr. reid: thank you. mr. president, there isn't a single legitimate objection to the qualifications of any of these nominees to the d.c. circuit that president obama has put forward. republicans refuse to give them an up-or-down vote, a simple yes or no vote. republicans simply don't want president bush to make any appointments at all to this final court, none, zero. further, only 23 district court nominations have been filibustered in the entire history of our country, 23. you know what? 20 of them have been in the last four and a half years. 230-plus years, three, last four and a half years, 20. that's not fair. with one out of every ten federal judgeships vacant, millions of americans will rely on courts that are overworked and understaffed are being denied the justice they rightly deserve. mr. president, more than half of the nation's population lives in parts of the country that have been declared a judicial emergency. no one has worked harder than the presiding officer to move judges. the presiding offi

mrs. aleto cried. >> harry reid can talk about this. it's reality. won't happen. >> he's saying and patrick leahy is saying if the republicans filibuster these nominees, two in particular, patricia millett and robert wilkins and nina pillard. there are three. they are saying they will change the filibuster rules and deny the minority this tool in the u.s. senate. that would be a huge development, jay. >> it would be gigantic. it would cut against senate rules in history. the reality is with the senate democrats would have to realize when there is a republican president of the united states what are they going to do -- go back to the old rules? this is dangerous for the united states senate. the president, first of all, what's important here, the president's confirmation rate in just a few months will exceed what president bush got in his entire eight years in office. it's not like t not getting nominations through. most of them are getting through. very few are not. you look at the d.c. circuit. it's the second most powerful court in our country. it

mr. chairman reid thanks you for your diligence.you have been a great force for helping us as we have had a troubled times. senator landrieu as was mentioned has been invaluable. we have learned from the mistakes made with katrina and she was our guide as we went through this. i want to thank our colleagues here. we were a great team and did basically the impossible. we were held up for too long for getting that amount of money and so in the programs that don't work are some of the accomplishments we can be -- i want to welcome senators booker. he will fill senator lautenberg choose and be a valuable member of her team. i have worked closely and making sure things work and you have done a great job. you have been an exemplary public servants for the federal level and one of the city level and i thank you for that in look forward to working with you and look at each of you and think of the calm patients we have done together in terms of negotiating and getting things done so thank you to shaun donovan john porcari jo-ellen darcy cas

mr. alexander? >> and so harry reid arguing americans are tired of partisan gridlock.o look at the polls and ratings for congress to know that's the truth. so he's proposing a change to the rules that would affect executive branch nominees. i want to bring back nbc's casey hunt on capitol hill. what happens next? >> reporter: what you will see next are procedural votes from patricia millett that we were talking about a little bit earlier. whoever is presiding over the senate will be asked to make a ruling about how many votes it takes to put a nominee through. the chair will say it takes 60 votes and then there will be a motion to overturn that ruling. so the no votes that you see on that critical vote are going to be the votes that will ultimately change the filibuster rules. at this point we're only expecting maybe a handful of democrats to break with senate majority leader shaharry reid. -- he's always been a staunch op bonent on this and many of the senators serving here today have never served on the other side of the aisle. most of the republicans have always ser

mr. president. and thanks nancy pelosi and harry reid and the democrats, you have me covered for just about anythingand i can't afford it or need it. i know you are going to bail me out with free government money and then you are going to let my grandkids figure out how to pay for it. and they are sure going to remember their paw paw. (applause) >> we sent ryan reese out in the streets of new york so we could ask what people thought about the president repeating that lie that you can keep your health insurance period? >> miguel. are you upsit for the president for lying about keeping the health care plan? >> absolutely. it is it a shame. it is really a shame. >> i believe he lied and misled the country. >> him lying is despicable. >> we are 14 million that lost it and we are upset about that. >> how do you feel about the president lying? >> i don't think he did. >> what do you think he did? >> i think he was promoting a program. >> what was the biggest lie you ever told? >> i never loy. >> you have dated for six months and he lied to you for 24ure times a row would you forgive him? >> no. >> i would

mr. speaker, secretary kerry, leader pelosi, leader reid, and leader macconnell and distinguished membersy family and i thank you most warmly for the very great honor that you have a corded the memory of my grandfather in accepting the donation from the churchill center of this magnificent bust of sir winston to be permanently displayed here in the united states capital. on behalf of all of us, mr. speaker, my thank you for the wonderful tribute you all paid to churchill's memory. he is -- he has a very vivid memory. as you know, my grandfather visited washington often during his long career but perhaps most notably as a test of president franklin roosevelt during the second world war. on december 20 6, 1941, just days after the appalling atrocity at pearl harbor, he came across the atlantic and was invited to address a joint session of congress just yards away from where this moving ceremony is being held today. on that occasion, as we have been reminded, he famously joked that if his father had been an american and his mother british, instead of the other way around, he might indeed hav

that was the moment when harry reid moved to the nuclear option. >> mr. president. >> majority leader. >> i raise a point of order the vote on cloture, for all nominations for supreme court of the united states is by majority vote. >> harry read askid asked for a of the senate to overrule the presiding officer's ruling something senators could ask for at any time but almost never do. take is a simple majority to override the presiding officer. 52 senators voted to overroule the off officer. it is harry reid's intention to use the vote as a precedent on presidential nominations except for nominations to the supreme court. which will still be subject to a 60 vote requirement to break a film buster. the democrats did not take this step lightly. they have been considering for years. after it was first threatened by republicans when they were the snath sena senate majority. harry reid blamed republicans. >> there has been unbleaelievab unprecendented obstruction for the first time in the history of our republic. republicans hatch u s have used filibuster. >> o

tough time getting on her side and that would be mr rand paul the kentucky senator says cellblock ilands nomination unless senate majority leader harry reid holds a vote on his bill designed to audit the federal reserve now senator paul recently spoke to bloomberg about how successful he believes this candidate will be. janet yellen has been in favor of transparency at the fed that's all we're asking for is an open audit a year after the fact about yellen per se will that nomination be approved visioneer will you be able to hold that we have filibustering in the old days you can place a hold on and keep it forever even if i stand on the floor and filibuster in a personal fashion by going over it for two days as she's going to be confirmed in all likelihood yes but i want to draw attention. there now you heard it yourself from the fed agitator himself in all likelihood will soon see yellen as top dog at the federal reserve elsewhere big u.s. banks are breathing a sigh of relief following a recent rally in the price of treasuries which brought the yield on the back down to two point six percent for meals around three percent earlier this ye

mr. president, i want to take just a few minutes, first, to congratulate our leader, senator reid, for leading the senate finally into the 21st century. that's the step that we've taken today. thank you very much, leader reid. for your courageous action in making sure that the senate can now work and get our work done. i've waited 18 years for this moment, from 1995 when we were in the minority, i proposed changing the rules on filibuster. i've been proposing it ever since. what's really happened is that this war has escalated, this war on both sides. i said at the time in 1995 that it was pliek an arms race, that if we didn't do something about it, the senate would reach a point where we wouldn't be able to function. well, i thought perhaps -- perhaps at that time i thought my words were a little apocalyptic. but as it turns out, they weren't at all. and so this is a bright day for the united states senate and for our country to finally be able to move ahead on nominations so that any present -- not just this president, any president -- can put together his executive branch under our constitu