mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president? i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: ms. murkowski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: thank you, mr. president. the bill that we just voted out of the senate was important, certainly important -- excuse me, mr. president. i request that proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: thank you, mr. president. mr. president shall the bill that we just passed out of the senate, a bill to aid the victims of the superstorm sandy, was important. it is important that when we are faced with a disaster, whether it is a hurricane, whether it is an earthquake, whether it is a drought, whether it is a flood,

schumer. good to see you, pal. >> i'll toast to that, mr. r. >> doesn't need a prompter. >> all right. now, all of his enthusiasm yesterday helped fuel speculation about a presidential run in 2016. just take a look at some of the recent headlines. i've got scarborough over here throwing stuff. i get no respect. i'm like rodney dangerfield. vice president biden invited key players -- >> i'm almost positive he was drinking apple juice. i just poured this jameson. do we really want to see what's going to happen? >> look at this. this is incredible. i can't even get through the script. what am i going to do? what am i going to do? >> come here. >> come on. this is just embarrassment. ow. still ahead on "way too early," why are you awake? your tweets, texts and e-mails are next. and "morning joe" and none other than mika and joe are moments away. ♪ just one bite opens a world of delight... ♪ savor and explore, the great indoors ♪ ♪ friskies indoor delights. ♪ feed the senses. officemax can help you drive suand down.s down... use your maxperks card

mr. chairman schumer and cochair, vice chair alexander for a wonderful, wonderful inauguration. mr.om is what we want you to take with you today and is contained in this portfolio of essays you will receive for the joint congressional committee and the natural ceremony along with a frame depiction of the s. it appeared at the start of the civil war. you heard about this guide by chairman schumer during his remarks. today the statue of freedom in the spirit of freedom marches over the cap will is another president from illinois has taken the oath of office. despite the challenges of our time at home and abroad, we heard president obama's inaugural address a message of hope, vision of peace, progress and prosperity and a promise freedom for all. may god bless you, president obama, vice president titans and your family. congratulations for much success for you and the success of our nation. may god bless you all, may god bless america. [applause] >> mr. president and dr. brighton and your whole wonderful family, i now rise to toast the vice president of the united states and my former

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: i have been asked to make a u.c. statement. before i do -- and i know that senator kerry will be speaking tomorrow, so i'll be brief. i think i speak on behalf of every one of us here that we so admire the job he has done in his past life in many different phases. we're excited that he'll be our secretary of state. and i think for john kerry, the best is yet to come. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i would ask to speak in morning business for 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: my fellow members know that the issue of transparency is a very favorite topic of mine, and i come to the floor today to speak about transparency as it relates to a very specific problem within the department of housing and ur

mrs. obama accompanied by senator charles e. schumer and mrs. schumer." vice president, honored guests, my colleagues on the joint congressional committee on inaugural ceremonies and i are pleased to welcome you to today's inaugural luncheon. in this historic room, we look around at the 35 statues representing men and women -- well, one woman. thank you, illinois, and senator durbin for the statue of frances willard. though i feel obligated to note that she was born in rochester, new york. (laughter) 4 thankfully, she will soon have company when rosa parks completes her journey from the back of the bus to the front of statuary hall later this year. (applause) now, we look around and remember the men and women who helped define our nation. they, like us, faced obstacles and they, like us, worked hard to move this country forward. here in this hall, four presidents took the oath of office. here abraham lincoln served his single term in congress. and john quincy adams, the only former president to return to serve in the house, spoke out against slavery. toda

mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new york is recognized. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. today i rise in support of the legislation that we are about to vote on that will provide an additional $9.7 billion to the national flood insurance program. without these funds, the program would have run out of money next week, leaving over 100,000 victims of hurricane sandy in the lurch. so i'd like to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for allowing this vote to go forward. they have acted honorably. so the good news, mr. president, is that the house passed this bill this morning and the senate will pass it in a few minutes. with the passage of this bill, hurricane victims from staten island to east long island as well as in new jersey can rest assured their flood insurance will have enough money to pay out claims. we really had no choice but to pass this provision because the federal government is obligated to reimburse when people have floods if they paid in their fl

mrs. obama accompanied by chuck schumer and mrs. e new york. i understand he tried to get long island duck but they ended up with bison from out of state. >> the reason that happened is they also had this very interesting tradition where the spouses of the members of the joint inaugural committee actually do a tasting. and they tasted the duck and they said, according to schumer, that it was kind of gross, so they decided to do the bi sorks -- bi sorksson. let's listen. >> mr. president. ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. mr. president, mr. vice president, honored guests, my colleagues on the joint congressional committee on inaugural ceremonies and i are pleased to welcome you to today's inaugural luncheon. in this historic room, we look around at the 35 statues representing men and women. well, one woman. thank you, lenore and senator durbin for the statue of senator willard, although i feel obligated to note that she was born in rochester, new york. thankfully, she will soon

mrs. obama, accompanied by senator charles e. schumer and mrs. schumer. [applause] ♪ .huckleberry reduction. then there is a dessert of course. third course, hudson valley apple pie with sour cream ice cream, aged chee and honey. pie dough, sim mon apple crumble, apples, sour cream, maple caramel finish. we're having day old pizza. that sounds delicious. guess what the calorie count if you eat it all is? >> if you eat all of your courses at your lunch you're consuming more than 3,000 calories and 182 grams of sugar. shepard: correct. and that sounds perfect to me. fat, per serving, 45.7 grams. it is going to be a great day. mr. president president? >> mr. president? >> ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. mr. president, mr. vice president, honored guests, my colleagues on the joint congressional committee on inaugural ceremonies and i are pleased to welcome you to today's inaugural luncheon. in this historic room we look around at the 35 statues representing men and women. well, one woman. thank you, illinois and se

schumer. >> mr. president, mr. who are watching, welcome to the capitol and to this celebration of our great democracy. now, this is the 57th inauguration of an american president, and no matter how many times one witnesses this event, its simplicity, its innate majesty, and most of all, its meaning, that sacred and yet cautious entrusting of power from we, the people, to our chosen leader never fails to make one's heart beat faster, as it will today with the inauguration of president barack h. obama! now, we know that we would not be here today were it not for those who stand guard around the world to preserve our freedom. to those in our armed forces, we offer our infinite thanks for your bravery, your honor, your sacrifice. [ applause ] >> this democracy of ours was forged by intellect in argument, by activism and blood, and above all, from john adams to elizabeth cady stanton to martin luther king, by a stubborn adherence to the notion that we are all created equal and that we deserve nothing less than a great

mr. schumer, the senator from tennessee, mr. alexander as tellers on the part of the senate to count electoral votes. we really -- it is difficult to hear. would the senate please be in order. the senate will be in order. mr. reid: mr. president, i have a concurrent resolution that i wish to be reported. it's at the desk. the president pro tempore: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. con. res. 2, extending the life of the joint congressional committee on inaugural ceremonies. the president pro tempore: without objection, the concurrent resolution is considered and it is agreed to. mr. reid: i move to reconsider the vote by which the resolution was agreed to. the president pro tempore: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the senator from nevada. the majority leader. mr. reid: thank you, mr. president. i have -- there's now another resolution at the desk and i ask it be considered at this time. the president pro tempore: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 3, fixing the hour of daily meeti

mr. chairman schumer and co-chair vice chair alexander for a wonderful, wonderful inauguration. mr.pirit, those were the words that were expressed when 150 years ago by the commissioner of public buildings as the statue of freedom was placed atop the capitol during the presidency of president lincoln. that expression of the spirit of freedom is what we want you to take with you today and is contained in this portfolio of essays you will receive from the joint congressional committee on the inaugural ceremony along with a framed depiction of the capitol as it appeared at the start of the civil war. you heard it well described by chairman schumer during his remarks. today the statue of freedom in that spirit of freedom watches over the capitol as another president from illinois take -- has taken the oath of office. despite the challenges of our time at home and abroad, we heard in president obama's inaugural address a message of hope, a vision of peace, progress and prosperity and a promise of freedom for all. may god bless you, president obama, vice president biden and your family. c

mrs. obama accompanied by charles schumer and mrs. schumer.e a quick break, and keep is here on fox as our inauguration coverage continues. [ male announcer ] nearly sixteen million people visit washington dc every year. some come to witness... some to be heard. we come to make an impact. to learn from leaders... and to lead others. to create... and create change. we are the george washington university... we come to make history. we are the george washington university... go, go, go, go! bye sweetie. honey what are you doing? we gotta go! it's dress-like-a-president day, i'm supposed to be martin van buren. who? martin van buren! google? martin van buren. ♪ ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. i'i invest in what i know.r. i turned 65 last week. i'm getting married. planning a life. there are risks, sure. but, there's no reward without it. i want to be prepared for the long haul. i see a world bursting with opportunities. india, china, brazil, ishares, small-c

mr. chairman schumer, and cochair alexander wonderful inauguration. mr. vice-president, mr.first lady, first lady, first lady -- [laughter] dr. biden, all of our distinguished guests. i will tell you about a gift for you. freedom now stands on the dome of the capitol of the united states. may she stand there forever not only in form, but in spirit. those were the words expressed 150 years ago by the commissioner of public buildings as the statue of freedom was placed atop the capitol during the presidency of president lincoln. that expression of the spirit of freedom is what we want you to take with you today, and it is contained in this portfolio that you will receive from the joint congressional committee on inaugural ceremonies, along with a frame depiction of the capitol as it appeared at the start of the civil war. you heard it well described by chairman schumer in his remarks. today the statue of freedom and the spirit of freedom marches over the capital as another prison from illinois has taken the oath of office. -- another president from illinois has taken the oath

mr. chairman schumer and cochair, vice chair alexander for a wonderful, wonderful inauguration. mr.r. president, first lady, first lady, first lady -- dr. biden to all of our distinguished guests. so far you've heard of gifts to the president and the vice president, i'll tell you about the gift for you. freedom now stands on the dome of the capitol of the united states. may she stand there forever not only in form but in spirit. those were the words that were expressed 150 years ago by the commissioner of public buildings as the statue of freedom was placed atop the capitol during the presidency of lincoln. that expression of the spirit of freedom is what we want to you take with you today and is contained in this portfolio that you will receive from the joint congressional committee on inaugural ceremony. along with a framed depiction of the capitol as it appeared at the start of the civil war. you heard it well described by chairman schumer during his remarks. today the statue of freedom and that spirit of freedom watches over the capitol as another president from illinois -- has

mr. schumer was asking about.ust to get your thoughts of what we might do as members of congress and how we might move forward with the nations of their spring so that maybe that is the way we can prevent these kinds of things are happening in the future. >> it's an excellent question, congressman, and it deserves a very thoughtful and, longer than the time i have but let me make three quick points. first, we cannot retreat from, give up on, turn our backs on a new arab spring revolutionary countries and new regimes. they are very new. most of them have leaders that have never run anything. they have come from backgrounds where they are suspicion of security because security was -- it to them in jail. had harassed them and their families. so we have to do some work and that work requires that we stay engaged. secondly, we have to do a much better job in helping rebuild security apparatus that can be used. quick example. we had a terrible assault on our embassy in tunis. and i called the president of tunisia. i sai

mrs. obama accompanied by senator charles e. schumer and mrs. f representatives. >> it's one of the biggest places that you can put a large ceremonial event. these events, these luncheons post-inaugural luncheons have grown to be rather unwieldy over the years, and they shrunk them down to the point where there's still, like, what, hundreds of people there. it's not the sort of thing that goes on for hours and hours and hours. simply so that we can get the inaugural parade underway before dark. >> you notice that the first lady changed? >> yes. >> see, this is like a wedding almost. you have the -- have you to rush away to the car at the end and do the whole thing. i always thought it was interesting. the president -- i remember reagan came back and had to change before his inaugural parade after the ceremony. >> do we get to cover any of this? do we cover any of the remarks here? all right. let's hear what he is going to say here. >> mr. president -- ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. mr.

mrs. iris wine stawn, wife of chuck schumer, and the wife of harry reed and mr. paul pelosi, the husband of house minortiy leader nancy pelosi. >> announcer: ladies and gentlemen, the first lady of the united states, mrs. michelle obama, accompanied by secretary of the senate nancy erikson, clerk of the house of representatives, karen h0. 0s, mrs. schubert, mrs. reed and -- [cheering] in >> next up we're going to see the approach and about to be announced of vice president, the world's happiest guy, bill biden. don't think we have ever seen him except in times of national crises without that smile on his face. >> and why not today. >> it's the effect of joe biden's remarks on this administration. they were an odd couple. he was the hot to barack obama's cool. >> he was the punch line for a lot of late-night monologues. if anything, joe biden has emerged in this administration has a key player and indispensable player in dealing with the congress and the political part of politics, the people part of politics which the president does not spend a lot of time, effor

schumer regret mr. president, mr.eventh inauguration of an american president. no matter how many times one witnesses this event, its simplicity, it's in 8 majesty, and most of all its meaning, that sacred yet cautious in trusting the power from we the people to our chosen leader, never fails to make one's heart beat faster, as it will today with the inauguration of president barack h. obama. now, we know that we would not be here today were not for those who stand guard around the world to preserve our freedom, to those in our armed forces, we offer our infant thanks for your bravery, your honor, your sacrifice. [applause] this democracy of ours was forged by intellect and argument, but activism and blood, and above all, and john atamans to elizabeth cady stanton martin luther king, by a stubborn adherence to the notion that we are all created equal and that we deserve nothing less than a great republic, worthy of our consent. the theme of this year's inaugural is faith in america's future. the perfect embodiment of

mr. hagel's nomination. is it your opinion, politically that if chuck schumer doesn't come onboard that chuck hagel couldn't suffer and not go through and get confirmed? >> i think senator schumer will be critical. >> i think that he will be inclined to support the president's choice. i think most of us would be. at the same time, he is going to have to be satisfied that senator hagel will advance these policies that will seek to prevent iran from ever obtaining a nuclear bomb, and i think if the senator, that is if senator schumer were not persuaded during the confirmation that he would be willing to break with the president and it's that important. the iran issue is simply that important, but again, if i were a betting man, i would say that he'll be confirmed, that he'll satisfy the questions that have been raised, but that fate is very much in senator hagel's hands as well as in senator schumer's. >> the hearings will tell the tale. >> thanks for your time. i appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> bill clinton is in haiti today. we'll take you live to the island nation still devastated from the aftermath of th

mr. hagel this week, he assuaged their worries, ditto, charles schumer, of new york, he addressed criticismnd anti-abortion political past. he addressed that criticism, where they largely neutralized it. ahead of his confirmation hearings on thursday, republicans are making noises about chuck hagel. the only strange remaining might be evidence of any interesting and therefore important resistance to chuck hagel is probably this ad, you might have seen from an unknown group called "use your mandate." >> chuck hagel, he has been nominated to be secretary of defense. and president obama nominated him with the best of intentions. but it is still a bad choice. hagel is anti-woman, anti-choice, anti-israel, anti-gay, and pro assault weapon. that is just not what we voted for in november. chuck hagel doesn't share our values. there are other people who can do the job, why do we need someone like this? >> so that ad ran on the three network sunday shows last week, not to mention this network, msnbc, apparently multiple times. that is what they tell me, basically, everywhere but fox news. it is not

mr. president, i want to thank senator levin for his leadership and senator mccain, senator schumer, cardin, pryor and senator kyl who is now retired from the senate and senator barrasso. we're hopeful that the leaders will be able to recommend to us a set of changes in our rules and procedures and practices that will help the senate operate in a fairer and more efficient way. that's what all of us want. it's surprising how many of us want that. we all worked pretty hard to get here. we all understand we're political accidents. the senator from maine, the senator from arkansas, all of us know that. we're just very fortunate to be here. and while we're here, we'd like to contribute something. and that gets down really to just a couple of things. let's have a committee bill come to the floor, let's make it easy for it to come to the floor, and let us make it easy for senators from the various states and the various points of view to have their say, to offer their amendment, to have it voted up or down and to have a final vote. that's all, that's all. i often use the analogy of the grand ol' o

mr. wayne rogers and johnathon honic and tracey burns and sandra smith and dennis. welcome everyone. forget the pay roll tax hike and fiscal cliff deal. senator chuck schumer making no secret tax hikes are coming. tracey much like phil mickleson enough is enough. >> eric enough is enough. i barely saw my paycheck. i am glad phil mickleson spoke out. he can leave and go to another one of his homes if the estate taxes are too high. >> i can't. unless we move the new york study is itio. i got to live near my job. i don't have that luxury. >> johnathon aren't we taxed enough already. >> we are indeed . states like new york and eric you are talking about 60 percent of your earnings. no wonder they are leaving in droves. high taxes, taxings are forced. high taxes prompt an exodus whether tiger woods or going back to the uk in the 70s, the rolling stonings. if you work and don't get to keep the product of your labor. you are a slave. california is more than 60 percent of the way there. >> wayne, you are in california. when are lawmakers going to get the message enough is enough? >> it is not a question of them getting the message. it is a question of spending. yo

mr. speaker, thank you for being here today. [applause] >> earlier today, the senior presidential advisor, and senator chuck schumer said they were pretty confident, that congress is going to approve the president's gun plan, but a firearms expert says that the plan is not the solution when keeping our children safe from ruthless killers. killers. he will he' explain why when (applause) >> president obama revealed his plan to put an end to gun violence. >> congress should restore a ban on military style assault weapons, and a ten-round limit for magazines. [applaus [applause]. the type of assault rifle used in aurora, for example, when paired with high capacity magazines has one purpose, to pump out as many bullets as possible as quickly as possible. to do as much damage using bullets often designed to inflict maximum damage. >> mike: all right, when the president describes what assault weapons are, does he really know what the heck he's talking about? well, my next guest does. he's a firearms expert and here to clarify what a gun looks like and how lethal it is. joining me now is larry, who i think wrote the best and most defini

mr. speaker, thank you for being here today. [applause] >> earlier today, the senior presidential advisor, and senator chuck schumer said they were pretty confident, that congress is going to approve the president's gun plan, but a firearms expert says that the plan is not the solution when keeping our children safe from ruthless killers. killers. he will he' explain why when are you flo? yes. is this the thing you gave my husband? well, yeah, yes. the "name your price" tool. you tell us the price you want to pay, and we give you a range of options to choose from. careful, though -- that kind of power can go to your head. that explains a lot. yo, buddy! i got this. gimme one, gimme one, gimme one! the power of the "name your price" tool. only from progressive. living with moderate to semeans living with pain.is it could also mean living with joint damage. humira, adalimumab, can help treat more than just the pain. for many adults, humira is clinically proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage. humira can lower your abilitto fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infectio

mr. speaker, thank you for being here today. [applause] >> earlier today, the senior presidential advisor, and senator chuck schumer said they wereretty confident, that congress is going to approve the president's gun plan, but a firearms expert says that the plan is not the solution when keeping our children safe from ruthless killers. he will he' explain why when we return. [applause]. plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. why do people count on sunsweet prune it's made only fromn the prunes, nothing else. it works, simple as that. it's a natural source of fiber and five essential vitamins. it's the smart choice for me. stay fit on the inside with sunsweet's amazing juices. so we created the extraordinarily comfortable sleep number experience. a collection of innovations designed around a bed with dualair technology that allows you to adjust to the support your body needs - each of your bodies. our sleep professionals will h

mr. sessions: i was pleased to hear a few days ago senator schumer said that we'd have a budget in the senateit's been now 1,370 about, give or take a few days, since we've had a budget in the senate, even though plain statutory law requires the senate to have a budget. and now senator murray has followed up yesterday with a quote saying that the senate will -- today, i believe, said we'll again return to regular order and move a budget resolution through the committee and to the senate floor. so the budget committee has not been meeting, has not been doing its duty. as the ranking republican on the budget committee, i've been aghast, really, at the process and have talked about it now for over a thousand days. and so this will be a good step. my colleagues would like to suggest somehow that, well, they decided to do this out of the goodness of their heart and this is the right thing, and on their own they've just decided. but i think the american people have had a bellyful of this. the united states house has repeatedly passed budgets. the senate refused to even bring one up in committee or

mr. hagel. "new york times" political correspondent wrote about this. >> thanks for having me. >> obviously we talked about the opposition to chuck hagel and we see ads going after chuck schumer for -- going from a modest support of chuck hagel to a full on support of his nomination. what is intriguing is you got another situation of money coming into the system. >> this is the first time we have seen this kind of anonymous money being used in this smaller -- the court nomination and of course the com pain itself. it shows anonymous money on will keep trickling into the system. >> i want to play an ad you mentioned. no on hagel as d as it is referred to. >> hagel is anti-woman, anti-choice. anti-israel. anti-gay and pro assault weapon. that's just not what we voted for in november. chuck hagel doesn't share our values. >> that's just one of the ads. you have this newly minted or freshly minted organizations that said it is a lab ral gay rights group and performed through a prominent firm. what is going on there? >> they left it so that we can only guess. if they really are prominent democrats and gay rights activists, they are very much under cutting here. one can only specul

schumer. it could be a crucial moment in the obama administration efforts to advance the nomination tohagel. he is expected to press mr. hagel on issues concerning iran and israel. who else is hagel set to meet with the this week? >> hagel has been starting to make the rounds on -- he's already started to make the rounds on the telephone and there's been -- there's been some reporting out there on where he's sort of going. he's going to have to. >> you can find the rest of this conversation online. we take you to the floor of the house convening. denham, an >> chairman schuster laid the groundwork in 2006 when his post-karina reform act authorized fema to conduct a number of recovery programs. costs of dramatically reduced, projects were completed faster and the process was more efficient. without making permanent the debris removal program, the taxpayer could pay six times the cost of debris removal and it could take much longer. the individuals and households pilot program incorporated in this bill would reduce costs by a similar amount and make temporary housing available faster. in hearing after hearing before our