mr. udall: and would ask consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, this week, president obama stood beside israel and the cause of peace when he addressed the united nations general assembly. i rise today to also stand beside our ally and friend, israel, and the goal of a two-state solution. i firmly believe that only a two-state solution can lead to a lasting peace between israel and the palestinian people. unfortunately, we're heading down a path that will not lead to a lasting peace. involvement by the united nations general assembly will not lead to a solution but will act as a disruptive force. i would urge the parties to use the time in new york to begin a constructive dialogue towards agreement on final status issues. if peace is to be achievable, then we must break through the cycle of failure that is too often plagued -- that has too often plagued negotiations. u.n. action will not resolve the issues acting as a road

mr. thompson? >> thank you madame share and general. >> excuse me, i made a mistake. senator udall next. >> madame chair, i am happy to yield to the congressman lobiondo if my time remains intact. >> for mr. thompson out of deference tomy former colleagues. if i could follow up, congressman. >> you have been gracious. cynics before senator udall. general, thank you both for being here today and for your service to our country. i'd like to know, general clapper, how we are doing in regard to the guidelines that you have set forth in regard to the gao of the government accountability office working with the intelligence community when that's appropriate. as you know, when this committee and congress has taken a very keen interest in mang sure that we have this corporation, you had some experience with this in regard to the reform efforts on the security clearance issue i'd like to know how we are doing in that regard what sort of progress we are making and since you issue the guidelines were we stand. >> we do have some intense but i think professional discussions with the general ac

mrs. johnson and secretary udall, the only person i could get on the phone who had read the papers was lbj, up early. i said, "what is it like?" he was such a good reporter, he said, "there's a four-column picture on the front of the new york times in which stewart udall looks like tonto and lady bird looks like the lone ranger." she had on a western hat. i knew exactly what it looked like, but i think it was the accessibility of the johnsons to the public and to those of us who worked for them that really made you so willing to work long hours and still be at it. it's amazing to me when we have an lbj reunion, which we do about every two years, as you know, there's so many people who are still in public life if not as public servants or running for an office but just being part of the process because we never got turned off of politics. we thought it was a tool that could be used to make life better for the folks. c-span: in seeing president clinton up close at a 60-person dinner, do you see something that we don't see when we watch him on television? >> guest: i see a very friendly man,

mr. thompson? >> thank you madame share and general. >> excuse me, i made a mistake. senator udallnext. >> madame chair, i am happy to yield to the congressman lobiondo if my time remains intact. >> for mr. thompson out of deference to my former colleagues. if i could follow up, congressman. >> you have been gracious. cynics before senator udall. general, thank you both for being here today and for your service to our country. i'd like to know, general clapper, how we are doing in regard to the guidelines that you have set forth in regard to the gao of the government accountability office working with the intelligence community when that's appropriate. as you know, when this committee and congress has taken a very keen interest in making sure that we have this corporation, you had some experience with this in regard to the reform efforts on the security clearance issue i'd like to know how we are doing in that regard what sort of progress we are making and since you issue the guidelines were we stand. >> we do have some intense but i think professional discussions with the general

mr. thompson? >> thank you madame share and general. >> excuse me, i made a mistake. senator udallnext. >> madame chair, i am happy to yield to the congressman lobiondo if my time remains intact. >> for mr. thompson out of deference to my former colleagues. if i could follow up, congressman. >> you have been gracious. cynics before senator udall. general, thank you both for being here today and for your service to our country. i'd like to know, general clapper, how we are doing in regard to the guidelines that you have set forth in regard to the gao of the government accountability office working with the intelligence community when that's appropriate. as you know, when this committee and congress has taken a very keen interest in making sure that we have this corporation, you had some experience with this in regard to the reform efforts on the security clearance issue i'd like to know how we are doing in that regard what sort of progress we are making and since you issue the guidelines were we stand. >> we do have some intense but i think professional discussions with the general

mr. thompson? >> thank you madame share and general. >> excuse me, i made a mistake. senator udallnext. >> madame chair, i am happy to yield to the congressman lobiondo if my time remains intact. >> for mr. thompn out of deference to my former colleaes. if i could follow up, congressman. >> you have been gracious. cynics before senator udall. general, thank you both for being here today and for your service o our country. i'd like to know, general clapper, how we are doing in regard to the guidelines that you have set forth in regard to the gao of the government accountability office working with the intelligence community when that's appropriate. as you know, when this committee and congress has taken a very keen interest in making sure that we have this corporation, you had some experience with this in regard to the reform efforts on the security clearance issue i'd like to know how we are doing in that regard what sort of progress we are making and since you issue the guidelines were we stand. >> we do have some intense but i think professional discussions with the general accou

mr. thompson. >> thank you. >> excuse me. i made a mistake. senator udall is next. >> i am happy to yield. >> you mean mr. thompson. follow -- >> you are being very gracious. thank you for being here today. i would like to know, general clapper, how we're doing in regard to the guidelines that you have set forth in regard to the gao working with the intelligence community when that is appropriate. this committee and congress has taken a keen interest in making sure that we have this corporation. you have had some experience with this in regard to the reform efforts and the security clearance issue. i would like to know how we're doing in that regard, what sort of progress we're making. >> we did have some intense but professional and cordial discussions with the general accounting office and we arrived at what i believe is a good compromise document, which is fairly general as those things tend to be. what we agree to is, let's try this out and develop sort of a body of law and see if we have issues that we cannot work out. we have not had any issues. i've had a lot of experience with the general accounti

i hereby appoint the honorabletom udall, a senator from the state of new mexico, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president stph-p. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: following leader remarks there will be an hour of morning business. republicans will control the first half, the majority will control the final half. following morning business the senate will resume consideration of the america invents act. there will be four roll call votes starting at about 4:00 p.m. that time could move a little bit but not much. and we're doing that in order to complete action on this patent bill that's been so important to the country. it will be the first revision of this law in more than six decades. senators should gather in the senate chamber about 6:30 this evening to proceed as a body to the house for the joint session with president obama. when we return this evening there will be an additional roll call vote on the motion to proceed to s.j. res. 25, which is a joint resolution of disapproval regarding the debt limit increase. as i indicated to everyone last

udall, a senator from the state of new mexico, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: i would yield to my friend, the junior senator from delaware. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware is recognized. mr. coons: thank you, mr. president, thank you, leader reid. i rise simply to give honor and gratitude that this morning our opening prayer was offered by the reverend dr. silvester s. beaman of a.m.e. zion on the east side of wilmington, a great voice for justice in my home state. it is a critical part of our nation's tradition that we begin every session with prayerful reflection. i'm thrilled that today he's able to be joined by his wife, renee, a registered nurse, and to be able to comment for a moment that reverend dr. beaman, born in niagara falls, new york, who started his mission work and his service in hamilton, bermuda with his wife. early on saw the challenges of h.i.v.-aids and the risks and opportunities for worship and for mission that this pandemic provides to our community. he's been with us now 19 years in delaware, and the two of them h