mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: mr. president i now ask unanimous consent that the veterans affairs committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 1383 and the senate proceed to its consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 1383, an act to temporarily preserve higher rates for tuition and fees for programs of education at nonpublic institutions, and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that a murray amendment which is at the desk be agreed to the bill as amended by the murray agreement be agreed to -- sorry, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no

mr. whitehouse: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close debate on s. 1323, a bill to express the sense of the senate on shared sacrifice, resolving the budget deficit. signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is is it the sense of the senate that debate on s. 1323, a bill to express the sense of the senate on shared sacrifice in resolving the budget deficit shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: any supports wishing to vote or change your vote? on this vote the yeas are 51, the nays are 49. 3/5 of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having v

mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: thank you very much, mr. president. i'm here this afternoon to discuss our work towards addressing the national debt and staving off a collision with our debt ceiling or a default on our financial obligations. first i'd like to commend majority leader reid for putting forward a proposal which would make a very serious $2.4 trillion down payment on deficit reduction and, most importantly, end the impasse over the debt ceiling. i encourage my republican colleagues to support it or offer some reasonable changes that would allow them to support it. but let me also address some developments on the other side of the capitol, where an extremist group of house republicans are continuing their "my way or the highway," what president lincoln called "rule or ruin" approach to these negotiations. amazingly, news reports indicate that pell grants -- pell grants may be put on the chopping block in speaker boehner's latest effort to appease the most extreme members of his party. mr. presi

whitehouse: mr. president, may i ask that the pending quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: i ask at the conclusion -- i'm about to yield the floor to my distinguished senior senator, jack reed. i ask unanimous consent that at the conclusion of his remarks, i be granted recognition. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reed: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: mr. president, senator whiews and i have come to the floor today to pay tribute to governor bruce sundland. he passed away last week. it is important that my colleague is here because he was the director of policy for governor sundland and many of the achievements in the administration were a direct contribution of senator whitehouse's extraordinary efforts. first i am here as a rhode islander to say on behalf of the people of my state how much we appreciate the leadership, the vision, the determination of governor bruce sundland. he was elected in

mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that the pending quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. i would like to add a few words this afternoon about the ongoing negotiations on the federal budget and on our rapidly approaching debt ceiling. i think we all agree that the situation we face is one of enormous importance and complexity. i believe that every responsible person also agrees that a failure to act would have awful repercussions that would jeopardize or worse our fragile and tentative economic recovery. so i think the responsible view is that it is imperative that we act. and it is also clear that to do so will require every side to make concessions. i rise this afternoon, however, because it's my strong belief that any agreement that we reach must be based on real savings and must not be made at the expense of our most vulnerable citizens. that is why i'm so concerned about reports that social security and medicare

whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island is recognized. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i'm delighted to be here with my senior colleague, senator jack reed, to welcome geralyn wolf, the bishop of the episcopal archdiocese of rhode island who shared with us the prayer this morning. i want to share with my colleagues what a wonderful addition she is to our rhode island community. she has served in kentucky and in pennsylvania, but she has been in rhode island for many years and has been devoted to our community and particularly to the needy in our community to the point where at one point she spent 30 days living as a homeless person in order to see firsthand what the resources were to support people when they faced the burden and the sorrow of homelessness and to inform her actions as the bishop of our diocese. she is keenly interested in the sudan and works with priests who are helping to bring christianity to those areas as the vehicle for peace amidst some of

mr. whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. now, senate majority leader harry reid has present add plan to address our deficits and to end the debt ceiling impasse which threatens to cripple our economy. the treasury is projected to run out of money next week and time is running short. senator reid has shown great leadership with his pragmatic package. leader reid's proposal would give the treasury the authority to ensure that the united states does not default on its debt twhiel at the same time cutting $2.7 trillion from our budget. the unprecedented set of cuts would have a significant affect on balancing our budget and restoring fiscal sustainablety to the federal government. i want to highlight one key thing. unlike the house republican budget and unlike the so-called cut, cap, and balance plan, leader reid's plan will preserve social security, medicare, and medicaid. protecting social security and medicare benefits is particularly important. the republicans have long coveted social security and wanted to turn it over to w

mr. whitehouse: that's why i think the loopholes need to be closed. and i thank the distinguished senator for the colloquy. mr. chambliss: mr. president? mr. president, scared me for a minute. i thought we were almost engaging in a debate on the senate floor. this could get interesting here. i have great respect for both my colleagues that were just making comments and it will be an interesting discussion on the floor when they both have thei their -- their respective numbers, and we'll look forward to that. and i want to say to my colleague from arizona that what he said is -- is exactly right. raising taxes is in the time of tough economic times a very, very difficult thing to do and is not stimulative of the economy. the way we need to see revenues increased -- and i don't think there's any disagreement from anybody in the senate or in the house that the 14.5% of g.d.p. that we are now seeing in revenues has got to be increas increased. but the way we need increase it is enacting policies, where they be tax policies or spending policies or otherwise

mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: thank you very much, mr. president. i want to say a few words about the debt ceiling that is rapidly approaching, but on this particular day i can't come to the floor and speak about anything without just making one i guess i'd say note of personal privilege and that is that today is a particularly sad day in my home state of rhode island because one of the great rhode islanders -- well, one of the great rhode islanders has passed away, former governor bruce sundlin, who i worked for for many years and formed a very devoted affection for, has decide peacefully at home with his family after one of the most accomplished and eventful lives in rhode island history. i know that my senior senator, jack reed, and i will be back on the floor at a later time to give governor bruce sundlin his proper due and recognition, but for all that he has meant to me, for all he has meant to our state of rhode island, for all that he's meant to the people whose lives have been made so much bett

mr. whitehouse: thank you mr. president. i rise to discuss the ongoing negotiations on the federal budget and our rapidly approaching debt ceiling. i think we all here agree that the situation we face is increasingly grave. i believe every responsible person agrees that a failure to act on the debt limit would have awful repercussions and set back our fragile and tentative economic recovery. surpassing the debt limit could inflict a triple economic harm on our struggling economy. the economic harm of pulling 40 cents out of every federal dollar all at once out of the economy. the economic harm of shutting down every work project that depends on federal permits contracts, or regulatory approvals. and the economic harm of driving up interest rates for our constituents and for our country. we must, therefore act and act quickly to ensure that we avoid that outcome. i also believe that the debt limit presents an opportunity to make some tough decisions on our unsustainable deficits. the longer we wait to make these choices, the

mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i rise to speak today about a serious public health issue in my home state of rhode island and to commend the environmental protection agency for its actions to address it. rhode island has the sixth highest rate of asthma in the country. according to our department of health, more than 25,000 rhode island children, or 11%, of children in our state -- more than 1 in every 10 kids -- suffers from asthma. 82,000 adult in rhode island, which is also about 11% of our adult population, suffers also from this chronic disease. from 2005-2009, asthma was the underlying cause or a contributing cause of death for 240 people in rhode island, including four children. in 2009, there were 1,750 hospital discharges in rhode island for asthma cases. those hospital stays cost about $8 million in just that one year in direct medical costs, not counting the costs associated with days of work and school missed or the medication for ongoing treatment. on a clear summer day in rho

mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. i'm honored to follow my distinguished colleague from maryland into this discussion about our priorities as we address the debt limit that we're proasmght i think that the leader -- leader reid was wise to choose to cancel the scheduled 4th of july recess so we can continue to work toward an agreement to prevent defaulting by the united states on our government debt and the financial consequences that would ensue here in america and around the world. as we negotiate an end to this debt limit standoff, we also obviously have to address our looming budget deficits and our looming debt which threaten to cripple our potential for economic growth in years to come. where we are on this, of course, is that president clinton put our budget on course to permanent surpluses. we would be a debt-free nation right now if the predictions that the nonpartisan budget office had put in place when president clinton left office had been kept. but, in fact, there were

dakota, kirk, durbin, hagan, bennet, warner, kerry, bingaman, udall of colorado, murray, leahy and whitehouse. mr. johnson: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. johnson: i ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is -- by unanimous consent the -- the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the motion to waive the points of order under section 303 of the congressional budget act of 1974 for h.r. 2055, any amendments thereto and motions thereon. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is is it the sense of the senate that debate on the motion to waive the points of order under section 303 of the congressional budget act for h.r. 2055 and any amendments or motions thereto shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays

mrs. ford had something very important going for her. she knew who she was. before her sudden ascension to first lady she said i'll move to the whitehouse, do the best i can and if they don't like it, they can kick be out. but they can't make me be somebody i'm not. and she knew, like her friends, the other congressional women, she knew that her husband could not be who he was if she were not who she was. all of us over many years praise you betty ford and this congressional brat along with the rest of the country, especially the women who has been keeping this republic. thank you. >> ifill: mrs. ford's body will be flown to grand rapids, michigan, for a second memorial service thursday. she'll be buried later that day alongside her husband at the gerald r. ford presidential library and museum. >> woodruff: again, the other major developments of the day. a blistering heat wave broke more records and triggered health warnings in dozens of states. the half-brother of afghan president karzai was assassinated. ahmed wali karzai was a power figure in southern afghanistan. >> the political barb grew sharper in washington's struggle to cut the national debt. there w

mr. nichols? >> chairman feinstein, so- >> could you turn on your mike? great. >> chairman feinstein, co-chairman grassley, senator whitehouse and senator udall, thank you for your opportunity to discuss u.s. governmt counter narcotics programs in afghanistan. the department of state's bureau of international narcotics and law enforcement affairs or inl which i help to lead administers a va vie ri of counter narcotics rule of laws corrections and police training programs in afghanistan in support of u.s. policy objectives and at the direct request of the government of afghanistan. our efforts there are part of the larger interagency and international fight to stem the narcotics trade that helps fund the insurgency, fuels corruption and drivesrippling addiction amonafghan families. in concert with our afghan and international partners we have made major strides in reducing pop sy cultivation, cutting opium yields an increasing the ofessionalization of the afghan police, prosecutors and judges that go after the traffickers. since 2007, afghan poppy cultivation has fallen by more than one third. these gains have bee real and su

mr. nichols? >> chairman feinstein, so- >> could you turn on your mike? great. >> chairman feinstein, co-chairman grassley, senator whitehouse and senator udall, thank you for your opportunity to discuss u.s. government counter narcotics programs in afghanistan. the department of state's bureau of international narcotics and law enforcement affairs or inl which i help to lead administers a va vie ri of counter narcotics rule of laws corrections and police training programs in afghanistan in support of u.s. policy objectives and at the direct request of the government of afghanistan. our efforts there are part of the larger interagency and international fight to stem the narcotics trade that helps fund the insurgency, fuels corruption and drives crippling addiction among afghan families. in concert with our afghan and international partners we have made major strides in reducing pop sy cultivation, cutting opium yields an increasing the professionalization of the afghan police, prosecutors and judges that go after the traffickers. since 2007, afghan poppy cultivation has fallen by more than one third. these gains have been re

lautenberg, franken, rockefeller, reed of rhode island, whitehouse, brown of ohio, sanders, kerry, merkley, stabenow, inouye, leahy and cardin. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: i withdraw my motion to proceed to s. 123. the presiding officer: the motion is withdrawn. mr. reid: i move to proceed to s.j. res. 20. the presiding officer: the motion is before the senate. mr. reid: i ask consent that the time until 5:00 p.m. be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, that any time spent in quorum call be equally divided, and there is already an order in effect that republicans will be limited to 10 minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. a senator: mr. president. rhett the -- the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. wyden: mr. president, international trade is one of the best ways to create good-paying jobs for our people. as long as our workers and our companies are tre

report release the by the whitehouse shows a range of salaries from the 172,200 errands by director of speech writing, sr. advisory and the 41,000 of calpen, his stage name and mr. obama who is salary is not listed owns 400,000 in income designated by federal law. logan, ohio, republican line, vance, talking about government spending as far as what would you keep and cut? caller: well, the caller before me was correct. we need to stop giving our money away to the world. we have been policemen to the world since world war ii. and everybody's taken advantage of us. and it's breaking our economy. in the way of jobs instead of going after the big oil companies and everyone else that's trying to employ people, we need to go after the company that takes our jobs and send them overseas. they should be penalized for this. >> super tone off of twitter as this saying, let the tax cuts expire, drug reimportation, get rid of tax subsidiaries. >> that's about 8 trillion he figures and then he as waste and exclamation point. doris, republicans line. caller: three points, please. number 1, you mentioned minnesota. the republicans put in that bill that had nothing to do with t

whitehouse. and i think we've all been fortunate with the leadership you've shown, senator feinstein has shown, and others. go ahead, sir. >> i begrudgeonly yield to the senator. thank you, mr. chairman. i want to especially thank the witnesses who shared their personal stories with us and what you are doing here is very important. not just for the millions of americans directly affected by so-called defense of marriage act but for our entire nation. doma is an injustice. it's an immoral and discriminatory law. our nation was founded on the premise that all people are created equal and that all persons should receive equal treatment under the law. our society may be different than it was then but these principles remain the same. that's why i'm an original co-sponsor of the respect for marriage act and that's why i think the day we repeal doma will be a great day in this nation akin to the ratification of the 19th amendment, the passage of the civil rights act. i think that congressman louis' presence spoke to that -- congressman lewis' presence spoke to that in a very powerful way. mr. chairman, i want to submit my statement in the record. mr. minnery, on page 8 of your wr

whitehouse and i think we have all been fortunate with the leadership you have shown here. senator franken, you are next. please go ahead, sir. >> i begrudgingly yield to senator durbin. >> thank you mr. chairman and i want to especially thank the witnesses who have shared their personal stories with us and what you are doing here is very important. not just for the millions of americans directly affected lies so-called defense of marriage act but for our entire nation. doma is an injustice and immoral and discriminatory laws. our nation was founded on the premise that all people are created equal. and all persons should receive equal treatment under the law. our society may be different than it was then, but these principles remain the same. that is why i am an original co-sponsor of the respect for marriage act and that is why i think the day we repealed doma be a great day in this nation akin to the ratification of of the 19th amendment and the passage of the civil rights act. i think congressman lewis' presents here spoke to that in a very powerful way. mr. chairman i would like to enter the rest of my statement, opening statement, into the record. mr. minnery on page eight of yo

mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i ask that the pending quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: wows. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i have eight 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. whitehouse: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. coats: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. coats: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent for vitiation of the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from indiana is recognized. mr. coats: mr. president, i am somewhat unique position as a returning senator after having been away for 12 years. i've never co

mr. whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. i'm honored to follow my distinguished colleague from maryland into this discussion about our priorities as we address the debt limit that we're proasmght i think that the leader -- leader reid was wise to choose to cancel the scheduled 4th of july recess so we can continue to work toward an agreement to prevent defaulting by the united states on our government debt and the financial consequences that would ensue here in america and around the world. as we negotiate an end to this debt limit standoff, we also obviously have to address our looming budget deficits and our looming debt which threaten to cripple our potential for economic growth in years to come. where we are on this, of course, is that president clinton put our budget on course to permanent surpluses. we would be a debt-free nation right now if the predictions that the nonpartisan budget office had put in place when president clinton left office had been kept. but, in fact, there were changes. president bush and a republ