mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: i hope my colleagues will vote enthusiastically for this amendment across the country ciewnts and local organizations are trying to revive rivers that have been damned and blocked -- dammed and blocked and when they go foaferred to put in a fish ladder, when they redesign a culvert to allow for water passage they have to file a flood plan. and fema requires them to pay a fee to have that flood plan assessed. the fee is almost always waived. but they still have to go through the waiver process which costs money and, frankly, can be as burdensome asfully simply paying the fee. this eliminates the fee, eliminates that part of the process process and allows towns and small organizations more readily to come to the aid of our old small rivers. i think this is something we should be able to agree on with great strength of the senate, it's noncontroversial and i urge my colleagues to vote aye. the presiding offi

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: may i ask unanimous consent that following leader remarks on thursday, january 30, the gentleman resume -- the senate resume consideration of s. 1926, with the time until 11:15 a.m. equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, with the final ten minutes equally divided between senator menendez or his designee and senator toomey or his designee, with senator toomey controlling the final five minutes, that at 11:15 a.m., the senate proceed to votes in relation to the following amendments -- toomey number 2707 as modified, coburn number 2697, merkley number 2709 as modified and heller number 2700. further, that upon disposition of the heller amendment, the senate recess until 2:00 p.m. at 2:00 p.m. when the senate reconvenes, the senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill as amended. finally, there be two minutes of debate prior to each vo

mr. whitehouse, proposes amendment numbered 2706. mr. whitehouse: thank you vef. i want to just say a few words about this amendment, which i hope we can pass. i think it is an amendment that will find strong bipartisan support. i am from new england, and across new england -- but i suspect in wisconsin and across the country as well -- communities are trying to restore old rivers back to their healthy state. and what we see in new england, particularly in rhode island, with our history of the industrial revolution, is that our early industrial history was powered by hydropower. it was powered by damming rivers and then diverting some of the flow through a wheel that then drove the engines of industry, the mills, for instance, that were so important to rhode island's industrial history. and that's not just true in rhode island. it's true across new england. i suspect it's true in a the love places across the country. so -- in a lot of places across the country. as local communities are restoring these rivers, they tend to be small rivers and small dams, what we wa

mr. whitehouse: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: if i may presume that we are in a quorum call and request that the pending quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. wouldmr. whitehouse: thank you y much. madam president, i'm back again today now for the 54th time to urge my colleagues to wake up to what carbon pollution is doing to earth's climate and oceans. facts that we see all around us but can't seem to penetrate the politics of congress. we in this body are willfully ignoring changes that we've never seen before, changes that threaten our planet and its rich array of plant and animal life, our homes, farps farms, and facs and our very health and well-being. carbon-driven climate change can be seen in warming surface temperatures and in shifting seasons, but perhaps nowhere is carbon pollution doing more harm than in our oceans. the year 2013 brought ample new evidence of these changes in our oceans. here is what we know: people often talk about climate change as if it were a theory. here's wh

mr. whitehouse: thank you very much, mr. president. i'm back now for the 55th time that the senate has been in session, each week to urge my colleagues to wake up to the toll that carbon pollution is taking on our atmosphere, our oceans and our people. while climate change deniers continue to gin up phony doubt to mislead the public, top american businesses and corporations recognize the risks posed by climate change. they are preparing for the economic fallout. members of congress bury their heads in the sand like the proverbial ostrich hoping the issue will go away, wondering in some cases recently whether the recent cold front disproves decades of research and an overwhelming scientific consensus. well, business leaders in the real world, not the political world, not the polluter paid phony doubt world, business leaders in the real world are doing what they do best and that is taking stones protect their bottom line and maintain their relationships with their customers. major corporations, even those with large carbon footprints are

he suffered a stroke days later and began what i called the greatest conspiracy in whitehouse history. the second mrs. wilson, the first one dying in the first year in office and breaking the president's heart. he suffered a major depression. got out of bed to fight the war and win the peace. but in 1919, late 1919, the second mrs. wilson and a handful of doctors conspired to keep from the world the fact the president of the united states suffered a stroke. and for the last year and a half of woodrow wilson's second term, no body saw the president of the united states. and indeed, every document that entered the whitehouse and needed presidential approval, every decision, every person who might be granted an audience, had to pass through mrs. wilson who had been a young attractive widow here in town whose family ran a jewelry store. very little political experience and education, but edith wilson was the first president of the united states. she was acting at least as a chief of staff. but i would say >> 's we really didn't know the extent of the lions than that he was walking into. there were a lot

mr. chairman. i'd like to thank the other members, ranking member cruz, senator klobuchar, and senators whitehouse and graham for coming out today. senator graham has sat through and chaired a similar hearing. he's a die-hard fan of ours. we appreciate that. or at least very interested in the subject which we appreciate. thank you for holding this hearing and blig attention to the tragedy unfoileding in the middle east. i'm here today with colleagues from u.s. agency for international development and department of homeland security. i'm going to limit my remarks to the state department's role in assisting refugees overseas. we are also going to talk about aid inside syria. and molly groom from d.h.s. will talk about resettlement. i'm happy to take questions on any of these subjects because we are working very closely together on all these things. in the interest of time i'll keep my remarks more restricted. you know that more than 2.3 million have crossed syria's borders and are considered refugees. they fled to all the neighboring countries. most of whom are struggling to help them. we are incred

reed of rhode island, klobuchar, warren, durbin, whitehouse, markey, baldwin, leahy, coons, mikulski, murray, warner, hirono, murphy, harkin and brown. mr. reid: note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. portman: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: is there objection. without objection. mr. reid: madam president, i have the floor here. the presiding officer: the majority leader. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: i thank you, madam president, for recognizing me. i've been trying to be recognized before the majority leader decided to what we call around here fill the tree, which means taking away the opportunity for amendments to be offered, although there will be an attempt i believe in a moment to offer some. i'm disappointed in that because i thin