mr. udall: madam president, i would like to ask unanimous consent to engage in a colloquy with my good friend, senator collins of maine, for up to ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: thank you, madam chair of madam chair -- madam president, i should say, senator collins and i are here today to underscore the timel timelinessa bipartisan solution we have been pushing for since march. while i firmly believe we should replace the sequestration with a balanced and comprehensive plan that delivers the same deficit-reducing bunch, it appears to me and to all of us that the sequester is here for the remainder of the fiscal year year. i want to underline, we need deficit reduction. but the way in which we're doing it through the sequester is terrible policy and it is time to fix it. just after the fiscal year 2013 sequester was triggered, senator collins and i introduced a commonsense plan that would empower federal departments and agencies to replace the indiscriminate cu

mr. udall: madam president, my amendment would sunset the so-called project acceleration provisions in five years. these provisions are untested. they were not subject of any hearings of our committee. they were added at the last minute before the markup and they change what i think is the bedrock national environmental policy act. they set arbitrary deadlines, rush decisions, lead to delays later and mistakes and litigation. and haste makes waste, both for taxpayer dollars and for natural resources. the administration doesn't want these changes. yesterday the chairwoman heeded our call and changed the in ten years. and i believe, madam chair, this is a step in the right direction. but make no mistake, these provisions are still a very risky move and if this gets worse, these provisions could risk a presidential veto. so, madam chair, i know that you've committed to me that we could have a hearing on the provisions that are in the law, the map 21 provisions that e.p.a. -- the presiding officer:

mr. udall: i would just ask the leader -- reserving my right to object. i'm on the floor, as senator nelson is, to speak to the wrda bill and to offer two amendments. and so i would just ask that i be allowed to do that before we move to executive session so that the amendments can be offered. mr. reid: madam president, through the chair to my friend from new mexico, i'm not managing the bill. however, it's my understanding that there's been objections raised in offering more amendments. we can get the chair back here, i hope, or somebody that phaepbgz -- manages this bill, but that's where we are. mr. udall: i totally respect the hraoerpbd the discussion he has -- the leader and the discussion he has had with the chairman. i have tried today to contact the chairman. i've called her. i wanted to talk to her about this issue. i want to get these amendments in. i know, leader reid, you have been encouraging throughout this debate to wrap this up, to try to get amendments in. i'm here to offer the

mr. udall: i would ask to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: thank you, mr. president. i've been watching today as various speakers have come to the floor, and i want to just joan in the outrage about what has happened over there at the i.r.s.. the idea that the i.r.s. would pick specific groups and target them -- in this case apparently they used the name patriot and they searched through incoming applications for these 501-c-4's. they used the term tea party, and they were obviously focusing on one side of the political spectrum. they shouldn't have done that. there's no doubt that people that are writing me, that people in america have watched this, feel a sense of outrage. and they should be outraged. they're outraged. i'm outraged. and one of the things we have to understand as a result of this is that the i.r.s. has tremendous power. it has the power to audit. it has the power to request information. it has the power to refer for criminal conduct. i think in many cases the i.r.s. is probably more feared than prosecutors' offices, wh

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator johanns. senator udall. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and let me also join the whole group up here in just saying, first of all, agreeing and associate myself with remarks about david hayes. madam secretary, great to have your comment thank you for coming in and meeting and rhea and pam, thank you for your service to the department. but david, you've been a good friend of mine and you've been an extraordinary friend of the west. and i think it's been a good up here. you heard senator feinstein and the chairmen and many others talk about it. i think one of the things that's been so key if you have stayed focused on water, and water in the west as you know is very controversial. and when we have these three years of drought, and in new mexico it's up to 12 years. with some very, very say situations. and you've been right on top of it by working on settlements and have achieved settlements that were going to be able to stretch our water resources. so i figure much appreciate that and we're going to miss you a lot. the department is going to

senator corker for his opening statement senator udall to make an introduction that we would hear from our nominees. >> thank you, mr chairman. i welcome the nominees and families and senator udall will introduce them. i know typically we have these committees, but the rosy player very important and therefore take place in a full committee hearing. i just traveled about three months ago through northern africa to see what is happening within minutes of al qaeda that have now splintered off in effect it has on north africa and the role it plays as it relates to stability certainly speaks to the import figure two roles. in chad we have a country working outside of his boundaries to help at this year's very weak internally has problems within the country and libya has a situation as we talk about yesterday in the office, a country that almost doesn't have a government and you can feel it on the ground by militia controlled throughout the country in many changes recently could have a negative effect on the country. we have a special responsibility because the role we played in that country. i support the mission of both

udall? >> staking, mr. chairman hamas and let me also joined a whole agreeing in associating myself with remarks about david hayes. madam secretary, agree to have you here, and thank you for coming in and meeting. and thank you for your service of the department. david, you have been a good friend of mine and an extraordinary friend of the west, and it has echoed up here. you heard senator feinstein and the chairman and others talk about it. i think one of the things that has been so key is you have focused on water and water in the west is very controversial, and when we have these three years of drought, and in new mexico, it is up to 12 years where we have some serious situations, and you have been right on top of it by working on achievedhis, and settlements where we will stretched our water resources. i hate very much appreciate that and we will miss you a lot, and the department will miss you, and your students will gain a lot from you out there at stanford. madam just briefly agree, secretary, with s

let me turn to senator corker with his opening statement and then senator udall and then hear from the nominees. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i too welcome our nominees and their family and senator udall, and i thank you for having this hearing in full committee. you're roles are important and it's taking place in a full committee hearing. i just traveled not three months ago or so through northern africa, and to see what is happening with the nodes, if you will, of al qaeda that have splintered off and the effect it's going to have an north africa and the role it's going to play as it related to world stability. certainly speaks of the importance of your two roles. in chad we have a country that is actually helping and working outside of its boundaries to help us with some of these issues, but very weak in internally and has problems within the country. and libya, we have a situation, as we talked about yesterday, in the office, a country that almost doesn't have a government, and you can feel it when you're there on the ground and very much militia controlled throughout the country, and many changes recently th

senator udall. >> thank you, mr. chairman and thank you, senator corker, and members of the committee. i very much appreciate the opportunity to introduce ambassador deborah jones. ambassador jones has served with great distinction over a long career in the u.s. state department. she also is a fellow new mexican and we are proud of her accomplishments. her family has lived in both new mexico and arizona since her grandparents moved from mexico's dublant. colonia new mexico is proud to add her to the long list of distinguished ambassadors to have called new mexico home. ambassador jones has dedicated her life to public service, and she has tried to instill those same values in her children. her daughter, isabelle, recently worked as an intern in my office and believe she's here today with us. in 1982 -- >> how did she do? >> of course, ambassador jones will introduce the rest of her family, but i thought i should give special recognition there to isabelle. in 1982 ambassador deborah jonesback .began her career as vice

udall? >> thank you mr. chairman and senator corker and members of the committee.i very much appreciate the opportunity to introduce deborah jones. ambassador jones has served with great the stink and over a long career in the u.s. state department. she is a fellow new mexican and we are proud of her accomplishments. newfamily has lived in both mexico and arizona since her grandparents moved from mexico. sinces lived in santa fe 1991. new mexico is proud to add her to the long list of distinguished ambassadors who have called new mexico home. ambassador jones has dedicated her life to public service and has tried to instill those same values and her children. >> how did she do? willbassador jones introduce the rest of her family, but i thought i should give special recognition there. deborah jones began a career as vice consul at the u.s. embassy , argentina.res while her career began in south america, she began to develop e's no stranger to tougheast. assignment and served as the counselor section chief in deskcus and was the officer in jordan from 1995 to 1997. s

gillibrand, heinrich, lautenberg, leahy, manchin, stab now, tester, tom udall, senator warren and senatorwide everyone. and -- senator wyden. and, mrpresident, i would ask that senator cardin be added as a cosponsor to s. 316. i would ask permission -- >> without objection. >> mr. president, i am delighted that we are making progress on real postal reform not only here in the senate, but in the house as well, and i want to thank congressman peter defazio from oregon for his leadership efforts in cosponsoring the exact same bill in the house as we have in the senate, and that now has 139 cosponsors. so we have 24 cosponsors now in the senate, and in the house that bill has 139 cosponsors which tells me that the american people and their representatives here in washington understand how terribly important it is that we pass serious postal reform. and let me just very briefly talk about what is many that legislation -- in that legislation, what the legislation, if passed, would accomplish. that bill would reestablish strong overnight delivery standards to insure or the timely delivery of mail. when people put a letter or a package in

udall. >> thank you, madam chair. that was a very good line of questioning there, and very much appreciate having you both here. mr. miller, as you note in your comments the work of the irs is critically important, though often thankless to the function of our government. my first question to you is, in your testimony you spoke about identity theft and refund fraud prevention efforts. i know these issues or problems in my state. examples i've heard range from constituents whose refund is claimed by someone who has to learn their identity. to cases where refunds are sent directly to another account and the filer never sees any of it. these problems are prevalent in rural areas targets limited english efficiency speakers and the american community. can you share more about what the irs is doing to stop identity theft refund fraud in these communities? >> so, i think we're doing a much better job on identity theft generally, and that would include rural communities as well. we have quite a few new filters to stop a bad return from coming through. we are not where we need to be yet, but at $20 billion, and 5 million re

udall, and hoeven much that's where we are. so if you wish to be heard, then it's time to come on over and be heard. but at this time i would yield the floor. mr. vitter: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from lewis lou. mr. vitter: thank you, mr. president. first of all, let me thank my colleague from california, the chair and all of my colleagues for allowing us to move forward with a very, very open amendment process. it's not quite as open a process as i would have wanted -- namely on the landrieu amendment because of the objection from my colleague from pennsylvania -- but it is, by any senate standard, a very open amendment process, and i think that is very healthy. and i join the chair in urging all of our colleagues who would like to debate upcoming votes to come to the floor now. the time is now. the time is between now and 5:00 p.m. please come to the floor. that's what i'm doing right now, because i want to talk about one of those amendments on which we will vote, the about about a ao amendment, about waters of the use. this is an important issue, mr. president. we believe -- john barrasso, many others -- that the e.