. >> mr. udall. >> have they ran ads were donors were not disclosed until after the primary? if so, wasn't that a problem and how do we deal with it? >> i think it was a big problem in this election. the iowa caucuses, new hampshire and south carolina primary were all run and over with before we had the first disclosures of the super packs of who their funders were. that was because the way the law currently functions in an off election year pack only discloses semi-and newlyly and at the end of the year. so all of the money raised in the last six months of 2011 there was no disclosure of the donors until january 31st. the bill fixes that by basically requiring disclosure to be made when the expenditures are made, then you have to disclose the correctors as well. so it does solve the problem of that serious disclosure problem for super pacs that existed in this election. >> now, the 2010 elections and i didn't look at all of these but i notice and i think senator schumer, chairman schumer will remember this, i believe senator bennett, our friend out in colorado, told us that

mr. udall: madam president i call up my amendment number 2043 and ask consent that it be modified with the changes at the desk. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from new mexico, mr. udall proposes amendment numbered 2043, as modified. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote on amendment number 2043, offered by the senator from new mexico. mr. udall: madam president this amendment strikes the provisions allowing u.p.s. notify to five-day service in two years. two years is simply not enough time to see the changes we're making in this bill take effect before we cut this essential service. my amendment does not say we never move to five-day service but what it does say is that two years is not enough time for the postal service to implement the many cost-saving measures in the bill. why eliminate one of the key competitive advantages an

mr. udall: mr. president, i rise, as do all of my democratic colleagues and quite a few of my republican colleagues, in support of the violence against women act. mr. president, i have remarks that i think will extend beyond the time we have left, so i would ask the clerks if they would let me know when two minutes has passed and i will try and conclude over a three-minute time frame so other of my colleagues can speak on this very, very important piece of legislation. i also ask unanimous consent for the entire text of my remarks to be included in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, the violence against women act, which is known as vawa, has been in effect for 18 years, and it's saved lives and strengthened families all over our country. i speak as a coloradan, and i will have statistics that point out the concrete effect that the violence against women act has had in my state. it was a landmark piece of legislation. it changes the way we think about and

mr. udall: mr. president, i rise today in support of my amendment to strike section 208 from the postal reform bill. section 208 would authorize the u.s. postal service to move to five-day delivery service within two years. the u.s. postal service faces significant financial problems. changes must be made for the postal service to adjust to a digital world. the budgetary concerns are very real. we all know this. but an imminent reduction of service to five days a week is not the answer. number one, a shift to a five-day service could result in the loss of up to 80,000 jobs nationally. is this the time to be proposing 80,000 layoffs? two, five-day service would undercut a market advantage that the u.s. postal service currently has over its competitors. and, three, especially in rural america, many of our businesses and most vulnerable citizens depend on six-day postal delivery. newspapers, advertisers, pharmacy delivery services, senior citizens all could be hurt by the loss of saturday service. last

mr. udall: mr. president, it's good to see you in the chair today and know that alaska as well is represented having you in the chair and presiding over the senate. i very much appreciate that. mr. president, i wanted to come to the floor today and rise to commend one of new mexico's most celebrated authors, rudolpho ania. this year marks the 40th anniversary of professor ania's acclaimed novel "bless me ultima." this beloved book is an iconic part of chicano literature history. it has been read by thousands of high school students and the general public. it tells the story of a young boy growing up in a small new mexico town during world war ii ." bless me ultima "is a classic portrait of chicano culture in a particular time and place, but it also resonates with universal themes -- the search for identity, the conflict between good and evil. literature expands our horizons. it increases our understanding. as president kennedy said, art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touc

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator udall. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you to the ranking member for holding this important hearing. i think this discussion has been important on a mcro-cosmic level. i have questions i want to acknowledge, dr. cher nonoff yo are sitting between them. very astute staffs. thank you all for your great, spirited conversation. mr. coleman, let me turn to you and follow up on what the senator mentioned, with focus, and i will turn to dr. feder, in rural parts of the country in colorado we hatch eave, the eas part of our state is rural. we produce fuel, fiber, we hatch eastern reaches that are rural. what have you found that are unique challenges in providing long term services into the parts of the state. and then, dr. feder, i would look you to follow with how medicare itself could work with the dynamic. >> again, minnesota has -- greater minnesota also. where the population density is, a challenge in providing services to -- to older people, old eer adults, and people with disabilities. what we found is we need flexibi

mr. chairman. >> thank you, thanks, senator udall, and thanks for your patience. >> i apologize, but thank you for being patient and staying with us. we're going to keep the record open for a week. there's one additional issue i want to raise very quickly. i know you're very familiar with the case of collin bauer, my constituent from massachusetts whose two children were taken illegally from massachusetts against court order and taken to egypt. and he has had, as you know, an extraordinarily difficult time getting resolution to this. i raise this at the end of the hearing not because it's of last importance, but i want the embassy and the egyptian government to take note that this is increasingly a concern among colleagues about respectful law and respect for family and individual parents' rights as well as sort of international legal system. so i hope we can continue to have that issue raised in the context of your diplomacy and we will continue to raise it obviously. the final comment i'd just say to all of you who are wearing the yellow jackets here, i want to express my respect for and appreci

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator collins. senator udall? >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. thank you for being here. we have some concern about the potential of cyber attacks on our electricity grid here in the united states and the potential effects that it could have on a critical mission, especially during an emergency in the case of prolonged power outages, given the uptick in violence in the middle east, i would like to know our own -- and i'm thinking about this from the perspective of the u.s. military's reliance on fuel in the region, fuel that can't be produced without the electricity that runs extraction wells and it powers pumps for all floating fuel and storage and use. do we have a sense of how independent the electricity infrastructure is? and do we understand the constitution and the vulnerability of the electricity grid in the persian gulf well enough to measure the effect on the oil production transportation system, especially, but not limited to the oil refineries there? thank you for letting me direct that trio of questions at you. >> senator, i thought y

mr. chairman. >> senator udall. >> gentlemen, thank you for being here.general alexander, but me turn to you first went, the cyber attacks on the electricity grid here in the united states and the potential effects of such attacks would have on the critical missions especially during an emergency periods of problems power outages and in the region and interested to know about the potential cyberattack and the gulf when all that electrical infrastructure that the military depends on fuel that can be produced with electricity that runs oil extraction wells and and that powers pumps for offloading fuel for the storage and use. and we have a an assessment of how dependent the u.s. military and the gulf is on the electricity infrastructure, to we have a backup plan if there would be a prolonged outage and do we understand the constitution and of former nobility in the persian gulf well enough to measure the effect on the oil production transportation system for special but not limited to the oil refineries. >> senator, but you're going to ask me if i got the n

udall's question said something alarming. he's uncovering more and more fraud. it seems like it's a never-ending thing. mr. tangherlini, you're sitting next to a man who is saying he is uncovering more and more fraud. i'm encouraging you to do far more than even you thought you had to do, because you need to. because we are not going to change this. so i'm encouraging you here and supporting you in that effort. and as i think of ways, if i was in your seat -- again, i would communicate with every single employee. have you done any type of an e-mail or any type of a letter or any type of a little chat? you said you chatted. >> yes. >> have you made a statement that all gsa employees, from the top to the bottom can hear you talk about, a, how much you respect the work they do and, b, how we have zero tolerance for fraud in any way? >> we need to continue to do that. but on my first day, i sent a letter to all gsa employees. i followed it up later in the week with a joint letter with the inspector general. and i've also done a video for all general services employees. >> good. >> we started the social media,

udall has to leave. would you like to ask a couple of questions, make a comment? go ahead. go ahead, senator mentz. >> i appreciate it. very kind of you. mr. colman, right there, we all know that medicaid was never intended to be the primary provider of long-term care coverage, yet medicaid is the largest pair of long-term care services. with long-term care accounting for almost half of national long-term spending, as a former governor, i know that giving our states the plexability and resources they need to innovate is a first and critical step toward controlling spending in the medicaid program and improving long-term care outcomes. we will never achieve quality and savings with a one size fits all approach that ignores the differences and medicaid population from state to state. as you noted in your testimony, minnesota is applying waivers under medicaid to improve the way to deliver and pay for services and to make sure that services go to the most in need, which i agree with. with that being said, sir, what steps could congress take to improve and increase the flexibility to states like west virginia and minnesota to maximize the val

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. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mrs. hutchison: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas is recognized. mrs. hutchison: mr. president, it's my pleasure to ask unanimous that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the hraoefrbd. under the previous order -- the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will resume s. 1925, which the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 1925, a bill to reauthorize the violence against women act. the presiding officer: the senator from texas is recognized. mrs. hutchison: mr. president, it is my pleasure to be able to introduce joel osteen, the pastor of lakewood church in houston, texas. he is a native texan and attended oral roberts university in tulsa, oklahoma. for 17 years, pastor osteen worked behind the scenes for his father john who founded lakewood church in 1959. in 1999, his fat

mr. udall: thank you, mr. president. and let me talk, mr. president, today, i rise today to express my support for the violence against women reauthorization act. and specifically i want to talk about how crucial the tribal provisions in this bill are for native american women. for the past 18 years, this historic legislation has helped protect women from domestic violence, from sexual assault, from stalking. it as as hast strengthsened the prosecution of these primes and provided critical support to the victims of these crimes. and it has been a bawnch effort. democrats, republicans, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, health professionals, all have supported this federal effort to protect women. why? because it has worked. since its passage in 1994, domestic violence has decreased by over 50% and the victims of these crimes have been more willing to come forward. knowing that they are not alone, knowing they will get the support they need, knowing that crimes against women will not