mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 1882, a bill to extend the exclusion from income for employer-provided mass transit and parking benefits, that the bill be read three times and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: mr. president, i understand and appreciate my colleague's commitment to this particular issue. however, this is just one of many tax provisions that will expire at the end of the year. in the past the senior senator from new york has supported the extension of numerous provisions, as have i. particularly the state and local sales tax deduction in his case. i can only wondering if he is signaling the state and local sales tax provision along with all the others that will be expiring are no longer a priority f

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: as if in legislative, i ask unanimous consent that if the senate receives h.r. 3548 from the house of representatives the bill is identical as introduced, the bill will be considered as having been read three times pafpbd the motion to reconsider be -- and passed and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the senator from new york. mr. schumer: mr. president, thank you. i want to thank my colleagues in the christmas spirit, despite these contentions times, for letting this bill move forward. let me just briefly explain. on christmas eve 2012, one year ago today, the 125 member west webster volume tire fire association, a volunteer fire department outside rochester faced an unimaginable tragedy which he four -- when four of their members were wounded, two fatally when they responded to a fire but faced an ambush. while many families across our nation were waking up to chri

mr. schumer: mr. president, thank you. i want to thank my good colleague from florida who has been a great partner on this very important issue. he outlined it well. and i will just speak for a few minutes on it. the bottom line, mr. president, is very, very simple. there are bad people who always want to obey the law and there are good people who want to protect the law. our job is to prevent the bad people without hurting the good people. we will have different views on gun control as to where that draw that line, but it seems to me on this issue there should be no dispute whatsoever. this is, as our senator from florida outlined, new technology that for the first time will allow guns to be made that function without metal. that presents a serious danger. some might say a mortal danger to our safety. because if you can pass a gun through a metal detector whose very purpose is to stop guns from getting noodle cat areas -- into delicate areas -- airports, sports stadiums, courts, schools -- you can create real havoc. to al

mr. schumer: madam president -- the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: just to go over what happened here, this is on behalf of myself and senator toomey, it's a bipartisan bill. it was -- there was a recently released environmental protection agency interpretation of a law that could cost local governments, municipalities and taxpayers millions of dollars across the country and undermine public safety. it's a classic case of the federal bureaucracies in restriction harming local communities and budgets and you wouldn't believe this but it's about one of the most basic functions of government, fire hydrants. almost three years ago, congress passed the reduction of lead in drinking water act. that legislation is with an admirable goal, the goal spelled expelled out in the name and implemented on january 4, 2014. as you know, congress intended for the e.p.a. to make rules to keep our drinking water safe from coming into contact with lead-based parts. so congress did that and exempted an e.p.a. exempted parts in bathtubs and showers that don't have

mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, before i get into the substance of the remarks, i have a unanimous consent request for a committee to meet during today's session of the senate. it has the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent this request be agreed to, the request be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without exception. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. i want to echo the outstanding words of my colleagues from florida and louisiana and they echo the views of many. you know, mr. president, everyone says the public is exasperated with the congress. our approval ratings are low. they are. why? it's simply because when huge problems occur that affect ordinary people, we seem paralyzed. and what's happening with flood insurance embodies just what i'm talking about. average homeowners who purchase flood insurance through the years for $800, 1,000 are now being hit with bills that are $4,000, $5,000. if you're rich, that's nothing. but the vast majority of pe

mr. schumer: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. i want to assure my colleagues you don't have to be wearing a blue jacket to be supportive of this legislation, as the senator from north dakota, the senator from louisiana and i happen to be wearing today this afternoon. secondly, let me thank my friend and colleague from louisiana what my friend from north dakota is exactly right. she has been the paul revere on this issue, running up and down the aisles of the senate, if you will, letting people know flood insurance increases are coming. flood insurance increases are coming. because she saw it in her own state, and she's been a great leader on this. and i hope that we will pass the measure that she has helped so importantly to craft when it is offered a little later by my colleague from new jersey. and i do want to say to her that she is exactly right about sandy. we have families who were devastated by sandy. they struggled to rebuild their homes. and then all of a sudden because of remapping an

mr. schumer: mr. president, thank you. first, i want to thank my colleague from michigan for her heartfelt words. i couldn't agree with her more on the mortgage deduction. and i want to thank the majority leader and my colleagues from ohio and new jersey as well for recognizing the importance of this package of tax relief. the tax extenders act of 2013 would extend tax relief that business and middle-class families in my home state of new york and across the country depend on. they are noncontroversial. they've gotten bipartisan support in the past. and because of the great uncertainty over our economy, doing this quickly and not saying we'll do it three months after it passes, after they expire makes a great deal of sense. so i would hope my colleagues -- i know they've objected to all of these on the other side of the aisle -- would reconsider, because for the good of the economy, which is just beginning to pick up a little bit, we need to do these extenders. now i'm going to talk about four of them, but one is particula

mr. schumer: well, thank you, mr. president. and i rise to speak about a particular incident that occurred in webster, new york, a beautiful town near the city of rochester. on christmas eve 2012, nearly one year ago today, the 125-member west webster volunteer fireman's association, a volunteer fire department east of rochester, new york, faced an unimaginable tragedy when four of their brave members were wounded, two fatally, when they responded to a fire but instead faced an ambush of unspeakable proportions. while many families across our nation were waking up last christmas eve morning to finish preparing for christmas dinner, shopping, wrapping presents, picking up the family from the airport, four webster families were instead confronting a heartwrenching tragedy. the call of a house on fire came in to the west webster fire did not at 5:30 a.m. on december 2 24th. and although it was a cold, snowy morning, still dark before the sun rose, everyday heroes from the west webster fire department courageously did what they volu

mr. neat's closet. >> schumer's stuff is strewn all over the living room. >> seriously this is where youvery night? >> every night. >> and you wake up to barack obama staring at you in the face? >> exactly. >> reporter: senator durbin did out you a little bit. he said this is the most you've ever made your bed. >> just for you. >> thank you. and the blinds are particularly beautiful. >> oh, yes. well, a guy can see the weather. without having to get out of bed. it's a special effect. >> reporter: the phone is still plugged in but hasn't worked in years. >> 547-2513. i still remember the number. >> you don't use the phone? no. what's the point? >> hey, he's always saving money. >> reporter: the couch was a money saver, too. >> my son wanted to throw that away. put it out in the trash. and it had to be 12, 14 years ago. i said it's better than anything we have. >> reporter: the refrigerator? well, it's a scary sight. >> that looks a little aged. >> it's a lethal weapon. >> reporter: no wonder they have a problem with rats. >> the rats may have done that. >> wow. how many rats did you have?

mr. neat's closet. >> hey sclal. >> schumer's stuff is strewn all over the living room. >> reporter: seriously this is where you sleep every night? >> every night. >> and you wake up to barack obama staring you in your face? he said this is the most you've ever made your bed. >> just for you. >> reporter: thank you. the blinds are particularly beautiful. >> well, that way you can see the weather. it's a special effect. >> reporter: the phone is still plugged in, but hasn't worked for year. 546-2543. i still re the number. >> reporter: what's the point? >> hey, he's always saving money. >> reporter: their couch was a money saver, too. >> my son wanted to throw it away, put it out in the trash, and it had to be 12, 14 years ago. i said it's better than anything we have. >> reporter: the refrigerator? well, a scary sight. >> that baguette, yeah, it looks aged. it's a lethal weapon. >> reporter: no wonder they have a problem with rats. >> the rats may have done that. >> reporter: wow 689 how many rats did you have? >> don't ask. >> i had a dream literally two nights ago -- >> i knew the rats were in the s

mr. chairman. >> on schumer number five. we could have a voice vote. >> if i could respond briefly to my friend. drug cartels and human traffickers do not use e verify. >> what did he say? >> drug cartels and human traffickers do not use e verify. they do not use entry/exit system. i do not doubt the sincerity of what the gang has proposed. here is even more fundamental problems. the border security trigger calls for a plan. it does not call for results. >> willie gentlemen -- -- will the gentleman -- >> i am david vitter and i am really pleased to join the tea party patriots here today and all of their guests you are going to hear from. in particular, once you hear from them, you will see that we all support america as a nation of immigrants and fixing, truly fixing, our broken immigration system. this is where we are in regards to this bill. this gang of eight bill was supposed to come to the senate and essentially sailed through with over 60 votes. then, once it was actually introduced and debated, that support started to

mr. neat's close the. schumerp? the refrigerator, this is a scary sight. >> yeah, that looks a little -- it's a lethal weapon. . the rats may have done that. >> reporter: how many rats did you have? >> don't ask. >> i had a dream literally two nights ago that that -- i didn't know they came to the house. >> what year is this from? >> ben franklin gave that to us. >> reporter: since this is not a kitchen fit for cooking, they take the easy route. cold cereal, they buy it in bulk. >> raisin bran. which one are you? >> i like the mini wheat. >> i come in about midnight from my office. >> and we leave while he's sleeping. >> we do it by design. >> an opening scene of "alpha house" has a bowl of flag pins. this is what they have on counter. >> screws and a random pill and a pen. >> it's modern -- >> hard to believe such prominent politician -- >> when my wife comes, she will not stay here. >> but they're only in washington about three nights a week. >> reporter: what makes it work? >> your friends. >> we love it. it's

like senator schumer and my colleague from connecticut, senator murphy, as well as senator cantwell for that kind of effort that they are devoting. and i'm very proud to be working with them. mr. president, i see colleagues on the floor. it's late in the day and i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: thank you, mr. president. i would point out that the distinguished senator from delaware was on his way to speak and has graciously offered to defer for just a moment or two while i make my brief remarks. i rise this evening to speak briefly about the delegation chosen by president obama to represent the united states at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 olympic winter games in sochi, russia. i would also like to offer a few suggested additions to the delegation. as members know, janet napolitano, our former secretary of homeland security, will lead the u.s. delegation to the opening ceremonies on february 7. our deputy secretary of state, william burns, will lead our delegation to the closing ceremonies on february 23rd. our two delegations also will include tennis legend billy jean king, gold me