mr. wyden: what's the pending business at this hour, madam president? the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending business and to call up my amendment, amendment 570, as modified. the presiding officer: is there objection? the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from oregon, mr. wyden, proposes amendment 570. on page 84 -- mr. wyden: i would ask for the immediate consideration of amendment 570 as modified. the presiding officer: the amendment has been reported. it is now pending. mr. wyden: madam president, when we have a conflict or a problem in my home state, we resolve it the oregon way, by finding consensus and building common ground. that's why when it became apparent 20 years ago that the u.s. army's camden depot in -- chemical depot in yumatilla, oregon, would be closing once all the chemical weapons were dest

mr. wyden: i would ask unanimous consent, madam president, to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: madam president and colleagues, i have been struck in the discussion about cut, cap and balance, there has been virtually no mention, virtually no mention of the number-one issue on the minds of the american people, and that is jobs. what we need above anything else is creating more good-paying jobs, and in this discussion about cut, cap and balance, the whole question of jobs has virtually not come up at all, madam president. now, what we know is between the worst of this fiscal crisis and the end of 2010, we lost 8.5 million jobs and our country's only recovered a small portion of those jobs, and the fact is many of those new jobs that have been created don't pay as much as the jobs that have been lost. we also know that millions of our people can't find full-time work and they have had to settle for part-time jobs to make ends meet. cut, cap and balance v

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 treated fairly in the tough global markets they compete in. that is not the case today. chinese trade sheets, after being found guilty of dumping their goods in america, now launder these goods by illegally shipping them through korea and other countries. this illegality is undercutting our workers, undercutting our companies, and is driving hard-working americans out of jobs, and all of this is taking place, mr. president, under the sleepy eyes of america's so-called trade enforcement agencies. because this trade rip-off is growing and the united states senate will soon take up trade agreements that could fix this problem, i want to take just a few minutes this afternoon to make clear how this scam actually works. the reason i have this information is because, as chairman of the senate finance subcommittee on international trade, my staff set

mr. wyden: mr. president, last week the house speaker, speaker boehner, and president obama and his administration were both calling for comprehensive tax reform as part of a large budget deal. now obviously today that seems to have lost some momentum, and i just wanted to start this afternoon by saying that tax reform is too important to abandon after 48 hours worth of discussion. and to his credit, chairman conrad recognizes that and certainly that's what i heard this weekend when, like the distinguished president of the senate, i was home, had a chance to be across eastern oregon in small towns, and i think there's a keen awareness that it's not possible to cut our way out of this economic challenge. you also have to grow. you have to grow. you've got to make growth-oriented changes in tax law. and that is what the conrad budget clearly offers a wide berth to do. and in fact i'm of the view that pro-growth tax reform, for example, is one of the few ways to generate revenue that both democrats and

wyden. all yours. >> mr. chairman, i have one other question. >> go ahead. >> mr. duke, i was struck by your point with respect to your ultimate desire to have a tax rate in the mid 20's. that is very much in the ballpark for tax reform and i have tried to work with german baucus and colleagues on this for many years. -- chairman max baucus. we would like to work with all of your folks that and i'm looking at the mathematics. because deferral is so much money, like $500 billion over 10. you get rid of that and it is such a large amount and you use that to cut rates dramatically in the united states. i am absolutely convinced that you could get in the mid 20's. you also have the benefit of less gaming and more straightforward system. my concern about going to a territorial system -- and i have put myself to sleep at night trying to understand all the aspects of territorial -- is that you will keep a lot of the complexity in the system, you will have lots of gaming and really transfer pricing, where somebody generates a sale one place, books to profit somewhere else,

for example, i know that senators wyden and warner feel -- mrs. boxer: the senate is not in order. johns johns i know -- mr. johnson: i know senators wyden and warner feel strong about their amendments regarding a navy carrier on the east coast. i know other senators have equally strong feelings on this subject. i understand that the defense authorization bill includes a provision in the report on this issue, and i appreciate the willingness of both delegations to postpone the debate so we can focus on timely passage of this appropriations bill. mr. president, i also thank the subcommittee staff who do the heavy lifting and the drafting and managing of the bill on the floor. as i have said many times, this is a good bill. it is bipartisan, and it is responsible. i urge all of my colleagues to support it. mr. kirk: i want to thank dave schiapo on the floor for guiding this, vice chairman cochran and his staff director bruce evans. i want to thank tina reference evans, dennis balkam and patrick magnuson who brought this first appropriations bill of this congress through. with that i

wyden? >> thank you madame chair and mr. olsen, thank you for the visit. i appreciate your candor and also taking time to go over and meet in the secure facility so we can discuss since it is matters. i've been on this committee for morgan a decade now, and i believe this is the first time we have had this top lawyer the national security agency before the committee in an open session. i'm not going to get into any details of how the nsa does business but since you're the chief legal officer at one of the country's largest intelligence agencies it's safe to say that you are an expert on surveillance law. estimate that like to ask several areas of the surveillance law and how you and your colleagues interpret the law so we can get some of this information on the public record. >> the first question is would you agree the key portions of the patriot act has been the subject of significant secret interpretations and these interpretations are secret today? >> thank you. i did appreciate the opportunity to talk to you in your office and the classified setting t

wyden why don't you go ahead? >> thank you madam chair and just two additional matters. following up on senator snowe's question, mr. olsen beyond al qaeda's core leadership in pakistan and the al qaeda affiliates in yemen which terrorist group in your view poses the greatest threat to the country? >> i would say that beyond the al qaeda leadership in pakistan, its presence in yemen, probably the next most significant terrorist threat may emanate from the al qaeda presence in somalia. in terms of the willingness and apparent ability or at least the intent to strike outside of that particular country. we know that country, that group has successfully mounted an attack in uganda, and the apparent ability of the regional affiliates such as that to outside of the borders that country think poses a significant threat. but the threat goes beyond even just al qaeda of course and its affiliates. to two other groups such as hezbollah. so i think again, i have to say that i am not in a position at nctc now so i approach these types of questions with some humility and some deference to the professionals who are looking at the

wyden? >> thank you madame chair and mr. olsen, thank you for the visit. i appreciate your candor and also taking time to go over and meet in the secure facility so we can discuss since it is matters. i've been on this committee for morgan a decade now, and i believe this is the first time we have had this top lawyer the national security agency before the committee in an open session. i'm not going to get into any details of how the nsa does business but since you're the chief legal officer at one of the country's largest intelligence agencies it's safe to say that you are an expert on surveillance law. estimate that like to ask several areas of the surveillance law and how you and your colleagues interpret the law so we can get some of this information on the public record. >> the first question is would you agree the key portions of the patriot act has been the subject of significant secret interpretations and these interpretations are secret today? >> thank you. i did appreciate the opportunity to talk to you in your office and the classified setting t

senator wyden, you can -- it's all yours. >> mr. chairman, i had one other question, i think. >> go ahead. >> mr. duke, i was struck by your point with respect to your ultimate desire to have a tax rate in the mid 20's. to me that is very much in the ballpark for tax reform and have tried to work with chairman baucus and colleagues on this for a lot of years. let me walk you through how i'm looking at the math and we like to work with all your folks on this. because deferral is so much money, like $500 billion over 10, you get rid of that, and it is such a large amount, and you use that to slash rates dramatically in the united states, and i'm absolutely convinced you can get in the mid 20's. and you also have the benefit of less gaming and a more straightforward system. my concern about going to a territorial system, and i put myself to sleep at night trying to understand all the aspects of territorial, is that you keep a lot of the complexity in the system, you'll have lots of gaming and really permanently, the question of transfe

mr. speaker, as both alleged nature of the malpractice and the scope of the newspaper's involvement wydens, serious questions must be asked about news corporations proposing to take over. adding to this news corporation withdrawn proposed undertakings. that is why on monday my right honorable friend, the secretary of state referred their bid to the competition commission. the authorities will have the time now to take an exhaustive look at all the relevant issues and come to a considered decision on whether this takeover should proceed. it will then be up to the secretary of state to make the final decision in the quasi-jew diecial capacity. we are and must follow the law with respect to news internationals propositions. let me repeat what i said on monday. in my view, this business should not be focused on mergers and takeover, but on clearing up the mess and getting their house in order. that is what the house will be voting on tonight. let me also say this, the people involved whether they were directly responsible for wrong doing, whether they sanctioned it or covered it up, however hi

mr. merkley: thank you, madam president. i rise to address senator wyden's amendment number 570 regarding the closure of the umatilla chemical depot. it is a measure i'm proud to partner with him in. this is a very important issue to my home state of oregon. we have a situation where at this depot, 20 years of planning have gone forward to arrange for the final transition of this chemical depot based on the base realignment and closing commission's recommendations. indeed, the bracc commission as it is known noted that -- quote -- "on completion of the chemical demille tarrization mission in accordance with treaty obligations, close the umatilla chemical depot in oregon." unquote. and this was language that was specifically done to recognize that the chemical depot had to complete its work dismantling the chemical weapons stored there, according to the chemical weapons convention treaty, and that that treaty had a deadline of april 29, 2012, and thus it wasn't clear that the work would be done within the six years outlined for most of the bracc's work, and s