mr. wyden: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president i ask unanimous consent to call up and make pending wyden amendment number 27 to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to clarify that products derived from tar sands are crude oil for purposes of the federal excise tax on petroleum. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from oregon mr. wyden for himself and others, proposes an amendment numbered 27. at the appropriate place insert the following -- mr. wyden: mr. president i would ask unanimous consent to dispense with the reading. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president this amendment closes a tax loophole that currently places canadian tar sands oil ahead of the american taxpayer. while oil produced here in the united states in places like north dakota and texas pays into a cleanup fund for oil spills, tar sands does not. mr. president, the bottom line

mr. wyden: mr. president i rise today to highlight a presidential message that was delivered to the congress 50 years ago today. but before i go into the importance of medicare and medicaid facts that i think all my colleagues would agree to, i'd like to take a brief look back at where america has been and to recall what life was like for so many of those who were poor and disabled and vulnerable uninsured or unlucky before these programs, programs that are today a lifeline -- medicaid medicare and medicaid -- were in place. mr. president, those were the days of the poor farm and the o oms house. these were the places where the poor and the uninsured would go for care. very often on the outskirts of town out of sight out of mind, not a happy choice and more often than not for seniors and the poor, it was the only choice. these were places that provided care. it was also very basic and it very often carried a stigma. the accommodations were sparse, at best. and in return for health care and housing r

. >> mr. wyden... (gavel banging) >> on this vote the amendment is not agreed to. >> like people's lives aren't in the balance on this, and i just thought they needed to be shamed. they should be ashamed of themselves. i stood up and said, "shame on you." shame on you! >> there will be order in the senate. >> because they needed to be shamed. shame on them. shame on me if after what i've gotten to witness i choose to be quiet. >> i'm surprised that she was the only one, actually, that burst out... because it was so intense and so charged. >> the gallery will refrain from any demonstration or comment. >> they felt betrayed. that's the word, betrayed. "how could they vote that way? don't they understand what happened? how can they do that? how can this be?" i mean it was disbelief and a sense of betrayal. that was the mood. >> narrator: manchin's bill had fallen five votes short. the defeat effectively ended any talk of a national effort at gun control. >> it's over for now. and it may be over for a very

what i remember most isú%k8í they would always tease that they liked mrs. wydenmocrat. there was a lot of=ç here's my question. >> i'm the same way about him. [ laughter ] >> this:e7áÑ is on infrastructure investment which is something you have been interested in. we are clearly falling behind the american society of civil engineers, giving us a deep plus. you cannot havebÑ? big league economic growth with( little league infrastructure. you recently -- there was a forum in u!hicago, a forum on global markets. you said the united states needs7u45uju chargmÑzlñ for roads and é3 bridges. when you said that i pickedjo up on it at the úáime. whau8w do you mean by the kind of user charges that you would be interested in funding #cm8÷ infrastructure? >> well senator wyden, in california, and other parts of the country we've adopted rational pricing7 of infrastructure of highways. úo that's so-called realtime pricing. so there are lanes in san diego and one near where i live where it's guaranteed that you can go 60 miles because there's a knob that gets turned automatica

. >> mr. wyden. >> no by proxy. >> mr. sanders. >> no. >> no, by proxy. >> mr. franken? >> no. >> mr. manchin? >> aye. >> mr. heinrich? >> no. >> mr. king? >> no. >> ms. warren? >> no. >> on this vote, the ayes are 13. and the nos are nine. >> the -- >> and the bill is reported. >> the bill is reported. i thank members for that. i know that there are several of you who have not yet had an opportunity to speak and would like to welcome your comments at this point in time. and again, apologize that we don't have the full committee here to hear your comments but know that they are equally important and considered. >> madame chair, i just want to make the point, we will be filing minority reports to the bill. >> we intend to file minority views. >> minority -- >> we'll have three days with which to file them. >> i appreciate that. i think we left with, i believe it was senator heinrich, who is up next. >> thank you, madame chair. and let me start, as well, by saying congratulations. i think we proved at the end of the last congress that we can get some things done around her

. >> mr. wyden. >> no by proxy. >> mr. sanders. >> no. >> no, by proxy. >> mr. franken?> no. >> mr. manchin? >> aye. >> mr. heinrich? >> no. >> mr. king? >> no. >> ms. warren? >> no. >> on this vote, the ayes are 13. and the nos are nine. and the bill is reported. >> the bill is reported. i thank members for that. i know that there are several of you who have not yet had an opportunity to speak and would like to welcome your comments at this point in time. and again, apologize that we don't have the full committee here to hear your comments but know that they are equally important and considered. >> madame chair, i just want to make the point, we will be filing minority reports to the bill. we intend to file minority views. we'll have three days with which to file them. >> i appreciate that. i think we left with, i believe it was senator heinrich, who is up next. >> thank you, madame chair. and let me start, as well, by saying congratulations. i think we proved at the end of the last congress that we can get some things done around here. and i'm very much looking forward

senator wyden has been involved. on the house side, mr. rogers from neighboring kentucky, west virginia, deeply interested in those issues. that whole list of issues that i mentioned. those are much about what the conversation's about. one of the things i'm trying to do in this speech is focus on the places where we have common ground. there are, as i outlined today whether that's delivery system reform where people do want to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the dollars at the same time we do the quality. that's the place where i focus mainly. >> that is a key law. they are fighting it. but are there members that maybe have a different message or different agenda than the leadership has? >> we are hopeful and look forward to that opportunity. as we said all along, we want to find the places where the act can be improved. we did the piece of legislation that came before us, we think about it in terms of affordability, access, quality and how things affect the economy. that's how we think about it. we welcome the conversation. we

senator wyden has been involved. mr. rogers from neighboring kentucky, west virginia, deeply interested in those issues. that whole list of issues that i mentioned. those are much about what the conversation's about. one of the things i'm trying to do in this speech is focus on the places where we have common ground. there are, as i outlined today whether that's delivery system reform where people do want to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the dollars at the same time we do the quality. that's the place where i focus mainly. >> that is a key law. they are fighting it. but are there members that maybe have a different message or different agenda than the leadership has? >> we are hopeful and look forward to that opportunity. as we said all along, we want to find the places where the act can be improved. we did the piece of legislation that came before us, we think about it in terms of affordability, access, quality and how things affect the economy. that's how we think about it. we welcome the conversation. lo

senator wyden has been involved. mr. rogers from neighboring kentucky, west virginia, deeply interested in those issues. that whole list of issues that i mentioned. those are much about what the conversation's about. one of the things i'm trying to do in this speech is focus on the places where we have common ground. there are, as i outlined today, whether that's delivery system reform where people do want to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the dollars at the same time we do the quality. that's the place where i focus mainly. >> that is a key law. they are fighting it. but are there members that maybe have a different message or different agenda than the leadership has? >> we are hopeful and look forward to that opportunity. as we said all along, we want to find the places where the act can be improved. we did the piece of legislation that came before us we think about it in terms of affordability, access, quality and how things affect the economy. that's how we think about it. we welcome the conversation. lo

wyden and members of this committee. your thoughts on how tax reform can help grow jobs and the economy and promote a healthy economy. >> mrchairman mr. chairman, thank you. as i indicated, i was delighted to see the roundtable strongly support the creation of working groups and think that is a positive step for the senate as a whole. we have looked at an array of issues command we talk about the united states in terms of its maximizing its economic potential. it is the sense of the business roundtable ceo that the most important single thing that we can do for the us economy is to modernize and restore our tax code to a competitive state. that means addressing rate, the international situation. we believe we believe that tax reform should be comprehensive in scope and that if this were to be done it has a dramatic a dramatic and direct impact. we think that there is an opportunity for the united states today to leave even more vigorously and global recovery and that bringing 2 trillion back home would be an important contribution. we also look at things like mergers and acquisitions. we have a deficit. we look we look bac

mr. chairman, thank you. i think you're the chair of all my committees now. look forward to working with you on veterans. i want to thank senator hatch and senator wyden.rowth and creating jobs. i think for most american people, i think that's where they come down. i want to say hello to the governor. good to see you again. everybody on the panel, thank you for being here and for your words and effort. the economic recession affected everyone. but in my home state of nevada, it was especially harmful. nevada experienced the nation's highest unemployment rate nearly 14% at its peak. i would argue real unemployment today is north of 9%. as well as the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, and the highest personal bankruptcy rate. it's been a rough few years. though our situation has improved nevada remains one of the highest unemployment rate in the country. nevada families are still waiting for true economic recovery. that they can see. and in fact, feel in their pocketbooks. americans have been told the economy is getting better. but they're feeling the effects especially in my home state. though the national unemployment rate has gone down, millions

mr. president. a and you may remember, last week the republicans objected because they said that senator wyden's amendment had a blue-slip problem from the house because the tax has to originate from the house. and you might remember last thursday night the senators on the republican side objected to my amendment late at night again on procedural dprownds. well the good news is we've been able to find a way of having a straight upand down vote on the substance of whether or not the canadians have to pay into the oil spill liability fund. and so this is going to be the vote that determines whether or not they are going to be able to build pipeline right through our country where we're running all the environmental risks, and if a spill occurs, they have not contributed to the oil spill liability fund. so this is the pure vote. it is not procedural. it's "yes" or "no." do they contribute or not do that fund? i urge an aye vote. ms. murkowski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator prosecute alaska. ms. murkowski: i am going to be opposing this amendment. i do believe it is unnecessary. we've alre

mr. wyden: mr. president it's very significant that more than 70 senators just voted for a nonbinding resolution to close an outlandish -- a senator: mr. president i'm sorry. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, more than 70 senators just voted to close an outlandish tax loophole that favors canadian tar sands producers over american oil and american taxpayers. it was a nonbinding resolution. the next amendment that i offer allows the senate to actually eliminate the flagrant loophole now. as for the blue-slip question, this is a text that we ought to pass now and then add to an appropriate house revenue measure. this amendment colleagues, ends the double standard today to say to your communities to your taxpayers and to your producers that canada should essentially get a free ride is not right. let's actually do the job now. and i yield back. ms. murkowski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski:

mr. wyden: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president i'm glad senator murkowski has now agreed that the outlandish tar sands loophole which rips off taxpayers and communities must be closed. the difference between our amendments is that senator murkowski's amendment is a nonbinding resolution to close the loophole some time down the road. my amendment in contrast closes the loophole now. the argument senator murkowski makes against my amendment is that it is a revenue measure that should start in the house. the fact is there is a house revenue measure at the senate desk right now that i would be happy to call up and amend as a substitute with my amendment to close the loophole that ends the tar sands double standard, harming our communities and taxpayers. that way we would be acting in a constitutional fashion and the senate makes clear we want to close the loophole today. i'll close by saying until i can propound the unanimous consent request to do just that, i intend to go along with the murkowski amendment and after its con