mr. udall: i wish to comment and rise in opposition to an amendment that's already been offered. mr. sessions: i guess i have the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama has the floor. ms. mikulski: as manager, i'm seeking clarification. mr. sessions: i will yield to the senator for a question. ms. mikulski: does the senator wish to comment on the moran amendment? mr. udall: i wish to comment on amendment number 753 which was offered by the junior senator from new hampshire. ms. mikulski: on the trying of terrorism. mr. udall: on military tribunals. ms. mikulski: we're alternating back and forth. senator sessions and then senator -- mr. udall: i thank the senator for the clarification. i look forward to hearing the senator from alabama. ms. mikulski: and then we turn to the senator from colorado for his comments. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: i ask unanimous consent that the senator from colorado be recognized after i complete my remarks. the pres

mr. udall: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. udall: i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the banking committee be -- discharged from further consideration of senate resolution 270 and the senate proceed to its consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 270, supporting the goals and ideals of national life insurance awareness month. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. udall: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate and any related taiments be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: i ask unanimous consent that the senate now proceed to the consideration of senate

mr. udall: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. udall: i ask that the quorum call be lifted. i come to the floor to talk about the most important issue facing our country and our people. that's job creation. overcoming obstacles of -- 18 months of obstacles, the senate passed by ski area recreation enhancement act that will expand opportunities in many of our mountain and and resort towns in colonel and create jobs in states like the presiding officer's new york which has a robust skiing industry like ours does as well. i want to acknowledge senators barrasso of wyoming and risch of idaho. they've been tremendous partners both in this congress and the last one. i want to thank them up front for pushing for passage for this important piece of bipartisan legislation. our economy is showing some signs of recovery, but there is still a long way to go. and this is especially true in rural communities that are dotted all over my state of colorado. and i know that this question

mr. udall: and the importance they hold for all of us as americans. they're really at the heart of the way of life we hold so dear in colorado. in addition, i want to talk about how public lands are important to an issue that all of my colleagues care about, and that's creating jobs. now, i know many of my colleagues, including the presiding officer, understand the value of public lands, but i want to take a few minutes and list some of the reasons that i think that they're a vital thread in the fabric of our country. first, we are a nation of explorers and risk takers. constantly in search of the next challenge to overcome or the next mountain literally to climb. public lands, especially in the west are a reminder of that heritage. i want to bein acknowledge thatn the great northeast of our country, we have mountains and extensive public lands as well. a $and i know that same spirit is infused in the people of new hampshire. but our public lands also benefit our communities across the country

mr. udall: i appreciate the senator from maryland's patience with us, this is an important set of amendments being offered today. i rise in opposition to amendment 753 offered by the senator from new hampshire, ms. aqlot. i enjoy working with ms. ayotte and appreciate her contributions to the committee but i strongly disfree with her amendment. senator ayotte's amendment would prohibit the united states from trying enemy cat combatants in article 3 civilian courts. these refer to article 3 of the united states constitution. article 3 courts are the envy of the world and while there is a role for military tribunals they are certainly not the only solution and frankly by prohibiting the use of article 3 courts we may actually hinder our efforts to bring terrorists to justice. the ayotte amendment would put the military smack in the middle of our domestic law enforcement efforts in our fight against extremists, terrorists. my friend from new hampshire argues that this is a war that should be prose

mr. udall i thank the senator from maine for her graciousness and for her leadership on this important amendment that she and i brought to the floor. clearly, the 2012 ag appropriations bill that will direct the usda to provide adequate flexibility for schools to deliver school meals while affectivelily managing costs is very, very important. but we've got to do it in the right way and i want to share my thinking on what the right way is. in january of this year the usda issued a proposed rule for nutrition standards in the school lunch and school breakfast programs that would limit total servings of certain vegetables, notably potatoes, corn, green peas and lima beans to one cup per week and eliminate potatoes from school breakfasts. i've heard from school lunch providers in colorado that this restriction will result in significant challenges for food service operations through increased costs, reduced flexibility and decreased school meal participation. now, this is especially concerning for

. >> mr. udall mentioned head bands in soccer. i want to ask you about this. you discussed potential harm from creating a false sense of security when companies falsely claimed that product prevent concussions. this is not just about helmets or football. here's another example. this is the protective head band sold soccer players and other athletes. here's an image taken from this company's website that says this can come between you and a head injury. does this talk about advertising for a protective head band trouble you? is there a danger that young athlete might put himself or herself at greater risk of injury if they believe this head band will come between them and a head injury? >> i believe there is a problem there. this advertising is more vague and mentions head injury but not concussion. you could make an argument that there is a mechanism to prevent some superficial laceration and bruising but for concussion i don't believe there is no data that supports it decreases the risk of concussion. i have seen in my own practice athletes who have become mo

udall. >> thank you. mr. chairman, i greatly appreciate your efforts to promote brain research and you're close attention to consumer protection issues. concoctions used to be? -- concussions used to be dismissed as dings or bell- ringers. we now know they should be taken seriously. emergency room visits for sports and recreation related to emetic brain injuries increased by 60% among children and adolescents over last decade, a and thecdc attributes this to a greater awareness, which is a good thing. some sports equipment makers appear to be taking advantage. there are a number of so-called anti-concussion, and convention -- concussion-reducing devices on the market. while we should encourage innovation to protect young athletes we need to make sure advertisers play by the rules. expert witnesses today can spread some light on anti- concussion claims used by some support manufacturing's -- clyburn matt -- some sport equipment manufacturers. we should not forget how important sports and physical dexterity is

udall of colorado. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. c ms. collins: and, mr. president, i want to thank the senator from business which wisconsin and the senator from colorado and the two senators for their help. i ask that senator kohl be added as a cosponsor of this amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendments and call up my amendment number 816. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from vermont, mr. sanders, proposes an amendment numbered 816 to amendment number 738. on page 87 -- mr. sanders: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: mr. president, pursuant to the previous order, i now ask consent to set aside the pending amendment so i may call up amendment 781. the presiding officer: without objection, the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from louisiana, ms. landrieu, proposes an amendment numbered 781

mr. president, i just want to update my colleagues on an amendment that senator udall of colorado and i, along with several of our colleagues filed and debated last night. this is the amendment that would

appoint the honorable tom 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: mrudges. we expect roll call votes around 2:00 p.m. in relation to these skwroplgss. there is a -- nominations. there is a joint meeting in congress today at 4:00 p.m. senators will meet on the floor at 3:30 to proceed to the house. we'll do that together. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that nathan engle, a fellow in my office, be granted floor privileges for the duration of consideration of h.r. 28012, the agriculture appropriations bill. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: later today the senate will have an opportunity to hear from south korean president lee, and i know we look forward to it. south korea is a stalwar

hereby appoint the honorable tom udall, a senator from the state of new mexico, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip is recognized. mr. durbin: following leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration of h.r. 2112. at noon there will be three health care votes. the first will be on the confirmation of heather higginbottom to be deputy director of the office of management and budget. the filing deadline for first-degree amendments to the substitute amendment and h.r. 2112 is 1:00 p.m. today. there will be another series of up to four roll call votes at approximately 2:00 p.m. in relation to additional amendments to the bill. further roll call votes are expected during today's session in order to complete action on the bill. we also hope to vote on the confirmation of the nomination of john bryson to be commerce secretary as well today. additionally, cloture was filed on the motions to proceed to s. 1723 and s. 1726, and if no agreement is reached, those cloture votes will occur on friday. a senator: mr. president. the presiding off

of my bill, my good friends, senators inouye, murray, udall of new mexico, begich, franken, johnson of south dakota, baucus, tester, and bingaman. mresident, native women across the country suffer from severe threats to their safety. according to a safety study by the department of justice, two in five girls and women in native communities will suffer domestic violence, and one in three will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. can you imagine looking through the loving eyes of your daughter, sister or mother and know that one of them will probably be abused in their lifetime? this is the terrible reality of life for native women and their families across the country. it is an epidemic. it is unacceptable. and we must stand against it. this is why i'm introducing the save native women act. most of those who commit these terrible crimes against native women are not native themselves. yet currently tribes have no ability -- no ability -- to prosecute nonnatives for domestic violence and sexual assault in their own communiti communities. this has resulted in a sense of lawlessness and leaves native women with few places to turn. m

udall will take over the hearing, but the ranking member -- oh, senator thune. he could have been a tight end. [laughter] >> well, yeah. >> please. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> wide receiver. >> there you go. >> i'm up? >> you're up. >> oh, well, i appreciate that very much. thanks for holding the hearing, and i thank the panelists for sharing your thoughts with us, and i kind of want to follow-up on some of the line of questioning that was started earlier, but this is, you know, you're seeing participation at an all-time high in terms of kids, young people across the country participating in sports and an incredible number of sports related injuries among youth, and sometimes there's head injuries and other injuries as well. when people think of concussions, we think football. there's other sports where we're seeing that, but i'm interested in knowing, you know, we got a lot of younger people participating in football, for example, and i know my -- i've got an 11-year-old nephew with a condition cushion, out -- concussion, out for a month, he hit his head on the ground, but it just seems like we got with young people out there, more and more in

mr. udall: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mr. udall: thank you, mr. president. i rise today, mr. president, to talk about changing our senate rules by a simple majority vote. that's what we did last week. and, mr. president, as you know, the new classes that came in in your year and the year after have worked on these rule change issues, and i have worked the last two years, been working to find a way for the senate to break through the gridlock and to function on behalf of the american people, the focus like we're doing on this bill on jobs for the american people. and last week the senate took the step of changing our rules with a simple majority vote. this was done in accordance with the constitution, article 1, section 5. the senate has done this on many occasions in the past. and like those previous rule changes, the action taken last week was not intended to destroy the uniqueness of the senate, but instead to restore the regular order of the body. so i applaud the majority leader for getting us back on track. the senate sho