mr. udall: mr. president, we're in a quorum call, is that correct? the presiding officer: the senator is correct. mr. udall: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i ask the chair lay before the senate a message from the house with respect to s. 743. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: resolved that the bill from the senate, s. 743, entitled an act to amend chapter 43 of title 25 united states code do pass with an amendment. mr. udall: i'd ask unanimous consent the senate concur in the house amendment, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate and any statements relating to the matter be placed in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without

mr. udallthank you, madam president. i would ask unanimous consent that the remaining time on this debate be equally divided between senator murray and me. spoeup without -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: let me say to senator merkley who has been a good partner on filibuster reform that i couldn't agree more with his comments on the kinds of things he's been talking about: commonsense proposals to make the senate work. senator merkley, what we've been talking about, i think, is the way that we can have the senate do the work of the american people. we just went through an election. we know that our states are hurting. people want to create jobs. they want us to deal with health care costs and make sure that there's quality health care. education reform, we haven't even reauthorized the no child left behind act or dealt with education. so all of those issues are front and center. as we know, the last couple of years, because of the filibuster and because of the delay and b

mr. udall: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that senators hagan, kerry, begich and franken be added to my amendment, numbered 2985. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i believe we are reaching the end of our time designated to debate this amendment. the presiding officer: all the democratic time has expired. mr. udall: i would like to add a couple final remarks to the remarks i made earlier. i think we have heard a compelling reason to remove section 313 from the national defense authorization act, national security, energies security. let's stand with our military leadership, let's stand with our n.c.o.'s, let's stand with our enlisted personnel and ensure the military can continue to invest in this very important area of energy security which will save lives, create economic opportunity and make sure that we can project force abroad and protect the values we hold so dear. i urge my colleagues to vote for this amendment. i think at 2:00 we have a tentati

mr. udall: mr.president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado is recognized. mr. udall: i'd ask that the quorum call be lived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: i want to assure my colleagues that i have a unanimous consent unanimous consent. specifically, i have five unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i return again to the floor of the senate to urge all of us here to extend the production tax credit for wind energy. this is a crucial tax credit that supports an industry that employs literally tens of thousands of workers across our entire country, and our failure -- our failure here in the congress to quickly extend this job-creating credit has already halted further development and

mr. udall: mr.president, i want to associate myself with the remarks of my colleague from the great state of new york and look forward to working with him and the entire senate to find ways in which, that the senate can continue to do the important work that the public asked us to do. mr. president, i rise this morning, again, to speak to the importance of extending the production tax credit, otherwise known as the p.t.c., for wind energy. i wanted to mention that the production tax credit has been used on many occasions to promote other kinds of energy development, including natural gas. the production tax credit for wind particularly is set to expire at the end of december. and as a result, thousands of hardworking middle-class families in colorado and across our country who currently work in this important energy industry are at extreme risk of losing their jobs. and in fact, many of these workers have already been laid off as companies brace themselves for the expiration of the p.t.c. and to put

agreement called the arizona wilderness act that was negotiated and barry goldwater on one side and mr. udallon the other, the chamber of commerce on the other, that protected the grand canyon and also recognized that we would meet economic activity in the arizona strip. that is when trying to protect. >> moderator: doctor carmona, you have 30 seconds. carmona: there is a difference of opinion but what we are talking about is the aquifer. we are talking about the watershed area that extends far beyond canyon. any money you do there is potentially deleterious because it can contaminate the aquifer that ultimately brings water down. so i was very careful to say that this is the grand canyon watershed risk and that the risk to all of us because 25 million people rely on that aquifer in the watershed to provide water for this area, as well as california and other areas. >> moderator: thank you, doctor. a quick look at a lot of topics now. the next question is from transit. >> moderator: high unemployment remains a stubborn and key concern around the united states. particularly affecting the rural

mr. levin: udall amendment number 2940, brown of massachusetts amendment number 3036; toomey amendment number 3064. levin amendment 3114. casey amendment number 3193. risch amendment number 3213. wicker amendment number 3220. johanns amendment number 3222. coburn amendment number 3237. levin amendment number 3243. lieberman amendment number 3256. cornyn amendment number 3260. mccain amendment number 3261. kyl amendment number 3271. webb amendment number 3275. nelson of nebraska amendment number 3279. the presiding officer: is there objection to -- mr. mccain: reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: and i will not object. the presiding officer: will the senate come to order. will the senate please come to order and you can take your conversations out in the hall. mr. mccain: we now have 17 more amendments. we will be proceeding tomorrow morning and i want to tell my colleagues, we will be looking at other amendments to put in the package. the presiding officer: will the senate come to order. will senators please take their conversations out i

mr. chairman. >> senator udall. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good morning, general.let me just start by acknowledging your service. you have served with great distinction and selflessness for many years. i know everybody on the committee wants to acknowledge your service but i also know your family has been an important part of your service, and they have sacrificed as much as you have. i want to extend my gratitude to your family as well. and here you said having carried a load much more than your fair share these last years, and you are preparing to do even more. so we look forward to seeing you in the theater as we discussed yesterday when he came by to visit me. and i just want to let you know you have my deepest thanks for your service. let me, if i might, move to an inside you might be able to provide is based on your service in iraq. of afghan and iraq cultures are different, and the nature of those two wars were different in some respects, but i know there's some lessons that you learned in iraq. and i would like to hear what you learned and how that might gu

mr. chairman. >> thank you. senator udall. >> thank you. i want to start by acknowledging your service. you served with great distinctiveness and selflessness, and i know your family sacrificed as much as you have. i want to extend my gratitude to your family as well. here you sit having carried a load much more than your fair share these last years, and you're preparing now to do more. e look forward to seeing you in theater as we discussed yesterday when you visited me. i just want to let you know you have my deepest thanks for your service. if i might move to an insight, you might be able to do this based on service in iraq. afghans, iraqi cultures are different, and the nature of the two wars were different in some respects, but i know there's lessons that you learned in iraq, and i'd like to hear what you learnedded and how that might guide you as you're with isaf in the next two years. >> sthart -- senator, thank you for the great question. it's capable security forces indigenous, and i think all the lessons learned in iraq, the successes in iraq, was a result of our effort to sta

mr. udall: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. udall: madam president, i want to thank the chairman and the ranking member of the armed services committee for recognizing me. i am a proud member of that committee, as is the presiding officer. i am also a proud member of the intelligence committee. from those vantage points i'm well aware of the threats that face our country. our military and intelligence communities are to be prepared to counter threats from a wide range of enemies and bad actors. as we all know, our national security community is decisively engaged against those who would do us harm. when we capture those who are plotting against us, we are swiftly bringing them to justice by trying and convicting those terrorists in civilian courts, and when appropriate in military commissions. this is a flexible strategy that has empowered our counterterrorism community to help keep american americans sae 9/11. those brave men and women who spend every wake being hour defending this country has been successfully using our laws t

mr. udall: thank you, mr. president. and i rise today to talk, solely to talk about two of my amendments to the defense authorization bill. i will maybe at a later point speak on some of the other amendments i have filed but i'm not going to offer the amendments at this time. and i first rise to speak on the udall-corker amendment 3049. last year i introduced s. 1798, the open burn pits registry act with senator corker. we have met with veterans and active duty members of the military and they have told us how important it is that we act now on this issue. the senate veterans' affairs committee agrees and has passed the legislation after holding hearings. this week senator corker and i introduced amendment 3049 to the defense authorization because our veterans and active duty members suffering from exposure to burn pits should not have to wait any longer. i began this work because of service members like master sergeant jesse baca, a member of the new mexico air national guard and his wife maria. master sergeant baca was

mr. udall: i listened with interest to my colleague from alabama and i have great confidence we will have a robust debate each the national defense authorization act and we will keep our record intact that has been in place for some 50 years of putting in place a national defense authorization act. we did so last year at this time, we did so i think the previous year, and i have every confidence again i want to say that we'll have a comprehensive national defense authorization act that will direct the pentagon and all the men and women in uniform who serve us so well as to the policies of the united states. i know i'll work with my colleague from alabama to see that accomplished. mr. president, i come back to the senate floor today as i have on many occasions to urge all of us to take action on a spool that's -- policy that's bipartisan, in its support and ramification. that is the production tax credit for wind energy. we need to renew that production tax credit. it's encouraged billions of do

signed by 18 senators as follo follows -- reid of nevada, levin, hagan, mikulski, udall of new mexico, merkley -- mr. reid: i ask reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, we're going to have a -- a monday -- i ask under rule 22, the mandatory quorum be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: senator levin will announce to the senate at a later time but just to give an idea what we expect to do on monday, there will be a judge's vote on a maryland judge on monday evening. that will be followed by a cloture vote on this matter that i just sent the petition to the desk. and we would hope that there will be a -- the ability at that time to, while the 30 hours is running, to clear a bunch of amendments. mr. president, as if in executive session, i ask unanimous consent there be no amendments in order to the treaty or the resolution of ratification, that following leader remarks on tuesday, december 4, the time until 12:00 noon be divided in the usual form, that at 12:00 noorntion th:00 noon, thesenate proceed te ratification of

mr. president i now ask unanimous consent that kevin reed, a fellow in senator mark udall's office, be granted floor privileges during the senate session for the week of november 26-30, 2012. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: i now ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow tuesday november 27. follow be the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day that the majority leader be recognize and a the first hour be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees that the republicans control the first half and the majority controlling the final half and that the senate recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings. the presiding officer: is without objection. mr. levin: we hope to consider the disabilities treaty during tomorrow's session. if there is a he no further business to come before the nah senate, i ask that the adjourn u