mr. rubio: are we in quorum? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. rubio: i ask to speak in morning business for 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senator from l ifful is recognized. mr. rubio: thank you, mr. president. i want to continue 0en this topic. of course in the last few hours we've now had word of the potential for some ground operations now occurring in gaza, and this is addressed to those who are watching and will watch this message in florida about what's happening. i know the world has become a messy place in the last few hours. we have an incident that occurred over the skies of ukraine with a malaysian aircraft and we don't know all the details of what occurred there. that may further complicate our view of the world in this chamber over the next few weeks. but let me address for a moment what's happening in the middle east. when i was elected to the senate, about a few days later, the first trip i took was to israel. it was a country that i had long admired, , had strong links to e united states and to florida

now eight days later -- >> all right, mr. rubioyou have a seat in this chair here. >> -- rubio must face the disciplinary board, who will decide whether or not to give him further sanctions for the assault. >> mr. rubio, how do you plead? >> no contest. >> you do not wish to plead your case whatsoever? >> i didn't do it. that's it. can you tell me who wrote that report, what officers were in there? >> officer martinez wrote the report. captain barabas also followed up on it. >> so he went and saw this? >> are you going to let me finish what i said? >> go ahead. >> as the hearing continues, rubio asks several technical questions about the report and questions the credibility of the disciplinary board itself. >> okay. what other -- >> i'm going to conclude what you're saying because you're just running around in circles right now. >> [ bleep ]. >> do you have any questions or concerns -- >> [ bleep ] your hearing. that's what i feel like. go ahead and give me the 30 days lockdown. >> go ahead. we're done. well, you know what? we're d

mr. rubio: thank you, madam president. i come to the floor today to discuss the ongoing situation in israel. and we all watch with great concern at the images of the loss of life, young children, innocents who have lost their lives over the last few days, and also the men and women who serve in the defense forces of israel who have lost their lives in these operations. our hearts also go out to the men and women who live in the nation of israel who are living under the constant threat of rockets that are coming over from gaza. i came to the senate floor a week ago to express not simply my concern for this but also my solidarity and i believe that of almost everyone in this body, with our allies in israel. and i received in response a pretty heated letter from the palestinian ambassador here in washington, d.c. he expressed outrage that i and my colleagues had not expressed the same level of concern for palestinians as we have for israelis. he particularly pointed to the case of the three murdered israelis but said we had n

mr. rubio: thank you, mr. president. i appreciate the opportunity to speak for a few moments and i want to thank both the senators from tennessee, south carolina and arizona for allowing me to join them in this effort. for those watching at home i know so many other issues are going on around the world, we see things are going on with regards to israel over the last few days, certainly the shootdown of that airplane by ukranian separatists armed by the russians are of great concern but what should not be lost is another urgent matter before the world and that is the ambitions of a radical regime in iran to acquire a nuclear weapon they will hold the world hostage and destroy israel and wipe it off the face of the earth. what's happening over the lass few months is the white house has engaged in negotiations with other countries to get them to walk away from this. i've never been very optimistic about it although we hope to wake up to the news that the ayatollah and the supreme leader in iran and those who surround them h

mr. rubio: i think the senator from arizona touches on the exact point. first of all, we have to understand that iran is the world's leading state on the support of terrorism. they use terrorism the way we use, you know, our military forces when necessary. they view it as a very active part of their agenda. and so you're right, virtually every major terrorist organization in the middle east, absent a couple, they've provided extraordinary assistance to. and i think you touched on another point. what is their goal here? that's important to understand. what is the iranian goal in these negotiations? and in my mind, those goals are quite clear. and, in fact, it's shocking to me because i know the administration knows this as well. the goal of iran -- and this is pretty simple -- they want relief from as many sanctions as possible without agreeing to any irreversible concessions on their nuclear program. and let's go through what they've been able to achieve. they want to be able to retai retain -- or achieve an internationally recognized right to enrich. che

mr. chairman. >> senator rubio. >> thank you. let me begin with my, i think our priority for everyone is the safety and security of our personnel, including the department of defense personnel, certainly the state department personnel at the embassy given recent events. so there's been increased reporting that the isf is increasingly linked or intermingled with shia militia forces that some of these shiia forces are wearing isf uniforms and it's difficult to distinguish between a shiia militia fighter and an isf personnel. we've seen open source reporting that the shiia militia could pose a threat to our personnel, including potentially our military trainers and others. can you briefly describe, number one, how we assess the threat of these militia and what are we doing to mitigate the risks they pose to our personnel given the fact that they are now basically embedded and intermingled with the iraqi security force personnel that we're working side by side potentially with? >> sure. this is exactly what we were trying to assess b

mr. chairman. >> senator rubio. >> thank you. let me begin with my, i think our priority for everyone is the safety and security of our personnel, including the department of defense personnel, certainly the state department personnel at the embassy given recent events. so there's been increased reporting that the isf is increasingly linked or intermingled with shia militia forces that some of these shiia forces are wearing isf uniforms and it's difficult to distinguish between a shiia militia fighter and an isf personnel. we've seen open source reporting that the shiia militia could pose a threat to our personnel, including potentially our military trainers and others. can you briefly describe, number one, how we assess the threat of these militia and what are we doing to mitigate the risks they pose to our personnel given the fact that they are now basically embedded and intermingled with the iraqi security force personnel that we're working side by side potentially with? >> sure. this is exactly what we were trying to assess b

mr. chairman. >> senator rubio. >> thank you. let me begin with my, i think our priority for everyone is the safety and security of our personnel, including the department of defense personnel, certainly the state department personnel at the embassy given recent events. so there's been increased reporting that the isf is increasingly linked or intermingled with shia militia forces that some of these shiia forces are wearing isf uniforms and it's difficult to distinguish between a shiia militia fighter and an isf personnel. we've seen open source reporting that the shiia militia could pose a threat to our personnel, including potentially our military trainers and others. can you briefly describe, number one, how we assess the threat of these militia and what are we doing to mitigate the risks they pose to our personnel given the fact that they are now basically embedded and intermingled with the iraqi security force personnel that we're working side by side potentially with? >> sure. this is exactly what we were trying to assess b

mr. chairman. >> senator rubio? >> thank you, for the work you've done on this legislation. i'm grateful to be a part of this commission. >>> the first is i represent the state of florida which is home to almost 2 million veterans. we have facilities all over the state. seeing these scandals in florida and around the country have disgusted me as it has disgusted many of you. in this conference committee, i hope will be the final step in a process that starts to make some meaningful reforms to collect a sad state of affair ins the nation's v.a. system. i know that the house has passed that. this bill that we've proposed 1 pretty simple. it says that the v.a. secretary should have the authority to fire or demote equivalent employees based on their performance. if they're dlib ratly trying to conceal how poorly they're doing, then they need to be fired. it's common sense and praktically every other workplace in america. it sends a terrible message to let competent officials to get away with poor fer r performance. i'm hoping that all the issues we deal with won't become a final

mr. chairman, we've talked with senator rubio and his staff about this.e're more than happy to wok with him with a letter to the agencies that have the ability to impact some of the concerns that we all have about people getting into the country, how they get into the country. we were certainly glad yesterday to see a huge house vote to extend this program and our managers package today included the same reforms that the house package includes and i want to see what senator klobuchar has to add to that. >> mr. chairman, we are so pleased with how this has gone done. we have 30 additional bipartisan sponsors since we started, it is now half democrats, half republicans. we are now opening it up to any party to get on. but we want to thank you so much for your leadership and getting this on the agenda. we know how many jobs this has generated in our country. it is incredible where we finally stopped tying our hands behind our back so we weren't unfairly treated to other countries who are basically charging our own citizens to advertise their countries in our

mr. chairman. thank you for being here. i want to follow up on the line of questioning that senator rubio of following and your response because you mentioned in your testimony, mr. mcgurk, that we need to work with our partners in the region, especially turkey, to seal the border in syria -- to syria from foreign fighters and isl recruits. so can you talk a little bit more? i know you're limited to some extent, but about how this is proceeding and what -- what other partners we might engage to address this concern. >> no, thank you, senator. we have some experience in doing this in the late 2006/2007 time frame where it was the same foreign fighter network at the time. they were all flying in to damasc damasc damascus, aleppo, into iraq. we did an anaconda strategy to squeeze the entire network from the source capitals of where they were getting on airplanes, to get them off the airplanes. we're now doing a similar effort, and ambassador bradke is -- senior adviser at the state department under the c.t. bureau focused on the foreign fighter network. it's two parts. turkey has a very long border. it's very hard to control. but

rubio? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank you for holding this hearing and both of you for holding the hearing. i know you have difficult work to do. my opinion is this entire thing is a disaster. not just an embarrassing diplomatic fact year. this is a dangerous national security failure in my oopinion. i want to examine for a moment going into the negotiation what the goals are of both sides. i think ours are transparent sen clearly stated. we wanted to prevent a nuclear armed iran. we went into this in the hopes iran would say we're going to walk away from the things we theed for a weapons program, prove to the world we changed our behavior and try to become a responsible member of the international community. that was our goal. their goal was different. i believe this all along. i said this in the past. i believe you believe this. although, and that is that they went into this goal with the very -- they went into this negotiation with a simple goal. they wanted to achieve the maximum amount of sanctions re

rubio. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you all for being here. i know you have a difficult job. i want to focus on a bill, secretary nuland, that's been filed in the senate that senator corker has taken a lead on. the the russian prevention act of to 2014. i was still hopeful to get the administration's support. first i'm going to describe how i view the situation. i would love to have your input on it. it seems putin is playing a very difficult game. his ultimate goal is to get ukraine and kiev into an agreement over ukraine's foreign policy. so they have a two-pronged plan to do this. on one hand they provide support from separatists. i've seen open source reporting of evidence that they're making significant transfers. heavy weapons in eastern ukraine such as tanks and armored craft vehicles and the there's signs they intend to do more of that. at the same time, they're keeping alive the threat of military intervention. they've already created the rhetorical ground work for that sort of intervention for humanitarian reasons they've made. there's now indications that they're b

rubio. >> thank you mr. chairman thank you all for being here. i know you have a difficult job. i wanted to secretary nuland focus on a bill that has been filed in the senate called the russian aggression prevention act of 2014 and i was hopeful that we could get the administrations apart. let me get the thinking behind. first let me describe how i view the situation but it seems to me that his plan is careful in his ultimate goal and i don't think you would disagree with this if he wants to coerce ukraine in kiev into an agreement that insurers russian influence over ukraine's foreign policy. they have a two-pronged plan to do this. on the one hand they provide support for separatist. i have seen evidence they are making significant transfers of heavy weapons to separatists in eastern ukraine of tanks and vehicles. the sound time they are keeping alive the threat of military intervention. they have created a rhetorical groundwork for that intervention for humanitarian reasons that they have made up that they are also open sources. on the northeastern ukrainian border for the fi

mr. chairman. thank you all for being here. i want to follow up on the line of questioning that senator rubio was following and your response because you mention in your testimony, mr. mcgurk, that we need to work with our partners in the reach none. especially turkey to seal the border to syria from foreign fighters and isil recruits. can you talk a little bit more, you are limited to some extent, about how this is proceeding and what other partners we might engage to address this concern? >> thank you, senator. we have some experience in doing this in the late 2006/2007 time frame where it was the same foreign fighter network. at the time they were all flying into damascus going into aleppo. we squeezed the entire network from the source capitals where they are getting on airplanes to get them off the airplanes. we are doing a similar effort and ambassador bradky, senior advisor of the state department focused on the foreign fighter network. it's two parts. turkey has a very long border. it's very hard to control. turkey is doing some things to strengthen their own border and focus on this problem. also the source capitals in whi

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the rubio amendment to the preamble be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the amendment to the title be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be made and laid on the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to s. res. 519. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 5 519, designating august 16, 20 2014, as national airborne day. 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 with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: there's a bill at the desk due for its first reading, madam president. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the first time. the clerk: s. 2666, a bill to prohibit future consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals or work authorization for aliens who are n

mr. nelson: just to real estate mind the senate that -- just to real estate mind the senate that senator rubio and i have the nonpartisan process of the judicial nominating commission for our federal district judges, and robin rosenberg is a product of that, and so i commend to the senate this bipartisan nominee from the two of us. the presiding officer: is there further debate on the nomination? without objection, all time is yielded back. the question is on the rosenberg nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: s. the presiding officer: does any senator wish to change his or her vote? if not, on this vote, the yeas are 100, the nays are 0, and the nomination is confirmed. there are now two minutes equally divided prior to a vote on the degravelles nomination. without objection, all time is yielded back. the question is on the nomination. a senator: ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there is. the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will call the roll. v

senator rubio and i certainly commend her for your favorable consideration. thank you. mr. reid: yield back the time. the presiding officer: all time is yielded back. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: we, it is 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 nomination of robin l. rosenberg of florida to be united states district judge for the southern district of florida. signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is: is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of robin l. rosenberg of florida to be united states district judge for the southern district of florida, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? on this vote, the yeas are 58, the nays are 42. the motion is agree