mrs. boxer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 1358, introduced earlier today. the presiding officer: he would note for the senator from california, we are in a quorum call. mrs. boxer: i would ask that that quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mrs. bomrs. boxer: so i will rey unanimous consent request, that the senate proceed to immediate consideration to s. 1358, which was introduced earlier today. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 1358, a bill to authorize the director of the united states patent and trademark office to use funds made available under the trademark act of 946 for patent operations in order to order furloughs and reduction in forces. mrs. boxer: and, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times a

mrs. boxer: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: i ask unanimous consent that morning business be extended until 15 minutes from now when we have our vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: thank you. i also ask unanimous consent that jonathan colacant and matthew long of senator bingam bingaman's office be granted the privileges of the floor during the pendency of the travel promotion bill. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: thank you very much. madam president, i decided to come to the floor to talk about a couple of things. one, health care reform, and the other, the stimulus package. we're seeing attacks from the party of "no," the republican party, every day on this floor, and i believe the purpose is to derail health reform. and, you know, i think it's perfectly legitimate to debate how we proceed, but i think when everything is stripped away, you're going to see again the republicans as the party of the sta

[inaudible] mrs. boxer: i would wonder if she could expand her request and say upon finishing if i could have just about five minutes. mrs. shaheen: i'm delighted to do that for the -- my colleague from california. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: thank you. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. [inaudible] the presiding officer: the senator from california has requested five minutes. a senator: i've been waiting for awhile. [inaudible] a senator: go ahead. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: i would make an apology to my colleague. we're here quickly to speak about a very important issue, a murder of a doctor. i didn't want it to be interruptive. but can i make another u.c. that following my remarks, that senator carper be recognized for -- mr. gregg: well, madam president, reserving the right to object. as i understand it, we're supposed to be moving to the supplemental and that there's a unanimous consent agreement which was -- has been reached

mrs. boxer: i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: and i ask unanimous consent that the period for morning business be extended until 12:30 p.m. with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: thank you, madam president. i came to the floor to speak in support of the family smoking prevention and tobacco control act and also to express my gratitude to senator kennedy and to my colleagues who have pushed so hard for consideration of

mrs. boxer: will the senator yield for a question? mr. schumer: yes. mrs. boxer: a very brief question because i know that we have to vote. i want to speak for a moment as a woman and from california where we have such excitement about this nomination. i know that we all agree this is a historic first, this nomination. and i think given that, and the fact that, you know, the women of this country comprise the majority and there is only one woman on the court, and we certainly have never had a latino on the bench, i'm asking my friend: does he not believe this nominee should be accorded equal treatment -- equal treatment as it relates to the others who have been nominated for the same most that's all i'm asking for. i'm not on the committee. but i'm supporting our chairman leahy here and the rest of the committee -- at least those who are moving toward this in a schedule similar to justice roberts. so i would say, once again, shouldn't we who are very excited about this nomination and want to see it move forward expect to have judge sotomayor treated in an eq

mrs. boxer: madam president, i just want to be heard briefly. we just heard senator mccain attack this bill that's before us that primarily funds two wars and takes care of our wounded warriors, invests in new hospitals for them to be treated for their brain injuries, helps them with their child care, and singly starts us on the path of bringing our troops home from iraq -- something that president obama promised to do and changes our focus in afghanistan which has really been very scattered and focuses us on routing out the taliban who really make it possible for al qaeda to thrive. so this bill protects the american people. now, i've been very clear. i've said i want to see this afghanistan policy work. i said i'm going to give it this year for that to happen. and i hope it does happen. because we were attacked by al qaeda. we were attacked by osama bin laden. we were attacked because al qaeda had sanctuary in afghanistan, and instead of going into afghanistan the way we should have, we shortchanged that mission that i voted to go into and tur

mrs. boxer: madam president, i just want to be heard briefly. we just heard senator mccain attack this bill that's before us that primarily >> there is still time to get your 2009 congressional directory from c-span. it has intermission on cabinet members, the congress, and senate, plus maps and how to contact committees and caucuses. you can order it online or phone. >> this week, california congressman pete stark, chair of the house ways and means subcommittee discusses legislation working through congress. he talks about a proposal that would establish a public health insurance plan to compete with private plans. >> at the end of the day, if you choose to have competition, then you choose to have a plan that is dependable and affordable, you cannot do without having a public plan which creates the competition for the private plan. yes, there will be a public plan in the bill. will people vote for it? i do not know -- who wants to go home in next year's primary and a say i voted against a plan that will provide state 30,000 people in my distri

mrs. boxer: thank you very much. i want to say to my friend, senator shaheen, her words were eloquent here today. and that her voice adds so much texture to the senate. in a very plain spoken way, as is her way, senator shaheen has told us that regardless of where we stand on this contentious issue of a woman's right to choose, we should be able to come together when there's violence of any sort from any quarter, right, left, or center, there is no place for violence in any of our debates. that's what makes this such a great country. we debate here. we have had difficult debates here on the issue of a woman's right to choose. yes, we have. but we decide those issues in this chamber, in the house, at the white house, and across the street at the supreme court. madam president, the supreme court has ruled very clearly in 1973 in roe vs. wade that it is legal, legal, for a woman in the early stages of her pregnancy to make this tough choice and get the health care she needs. and, yes, later in the pregnancy, if her heal

mrs. boxer: good. so, what thomas friedman, again writing his great come up, as he does, says that iran would not be such a formidable power in the world if oil wasn't so sought after in the world. now, we don't buy any iranian oil, for obvious reasons, but the rest of the world does. and the fact is, if we can create these clean alternatives, it's going to make every difference -- every difference -- in the world. so, in closing -- and i'll so pleased that senator kerry is here -- let me say this: my ranking member, jim inhofe, made a comment -- and i just want to say that we are good friends, and anything i say here, i say to him and vice versa. my ranking member said in the press -- and i don't know if senator kerry saw this -- my ranking member, senator inhofe, said to me in the press, "i should gei should get a life. get a life and stop trying to pass global warming legislation, because it isn't going it happen. and i want to say to him, very clear today, i have a life. and i am spending it gettin

mr. ali was 10-time heavyweight champion boxer. since he left the sport, he's engaged in many humanitarian efforts and traveled the world on good will missions. mr. cosby has spent the last five decades as a comedian, entertainer, and i would add philosopher. his life has been a testament to proper handling of race issues. this extraordinary man just went about being the extraordinary person he is he has entertained he has inspired and he has taught me, for one. for most of my life. he is the first comedian from whom i bought an album, as i recall, it was "co-russell, my brother, whom i slept with." and i throveed man ever since. got to see him recently in concert in tyler and was as excited as ever. what a delightful man. the way he causes us to realize we all have the same -- so many of the same strange enigmatic traits, fears, aspirations, hopes, his television show was certainly inspirational. he makes us laugh at our faults and makes us want to improve them. as a great american, i look forward to his being recognized there at t

boxer? >> thank you so much mr.chairman for this important hearing and thank you all and good luck to you, administrator babbitt. i have had problems with faf safety for so many years i can't even tell you, and had nothing to do with if it was a republican president or a democratic president, i just felt the ntsb which was one of my hero agencies and government all my life, one of the agencies that tells the truth and they come right out and say that they have been ignored and ignored and ignored and gets to me and it is upsetting and i hope we will have a change with this administration and if we don't you will be hearing from me. i want you to succeed but think you need to be honest about what youeed and you know, i would ask mr. rosenker, how many years have you been on the in tsp? >> six years. >> so you have a good background. it seems over the years there from dozens and dozens of recommendations that have been ignored; am i correct by the faa regardless who is president? >> 450 are outstanding today many of w

mr. chairman, my time has expired. i thank you all very much. >> i'm called elsewhere. senator udall can going to take over and senator boxer will be next. senator hutchinson and then it's all up to senator udall from new mexico. he's going to fix the whole problem. >> senator lautenberg, on your way out the door, i just want to thank you very much for this hearing, sir. and high-speed rail is critical. it's just really critical. i want to pick up on senator thune's comments about the funding. senator thune, i just wanted to pick up on your points about the funding because it's very critical. this $13 billion standing alone just can go so far. but in my state we had an election about putting in $9 billion funding package, and the people voted aye which was kind of remarkable given the latest votes that we had. so, you know, the people there really understand it. and our system, and i think -- i bet most everybody in this room has been to my state. it will eventually connect sacramento, our state capital, to san diego in the south. that is the first phase will be between los angeles and san francisco, points in between. i also want to poi

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. cloib cloi i want to -- ms. klobuchar: i want to thank the senator from kansas, and i know that senators feinstein, boxer, and murray will speak -- may have already and will in the next few weeks on this nominee as will many of my colleagues, but i really appreciate this, mr. president. we're very excited for this upcoming hearing and we're glad to be here as ambassadors of truth. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. a senator: thank you very much. i believe under a previous agreement i have time allotted at the present time. is that correct, if i could inquire of the chair? the presiding officer: the senator may be recognized under cloture. mr. brownback: thank you very much, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to discuss the nomination of judge sonia sotomayor to the united states supreme court. i've had the opportunity to meet with judge sotomayor two weeks ago. i was in the senate when she was previously before this body on the second circuit court nomination. i appreciate the chance to meet with her recently. i

boxer asked me to mention that she shares the concern about the imprisonment of laurel lane and she invites them to join in signing with respect to the administration's approach. senator shaheen. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ambassador basra, thank you for being here and your service. i would point out to our graduate of dartmouth and to a sprout in new hampshire. >> thank you. >> you can't steal them. he still lives with us. [laughter] >> we are working on that. according to the recently released reports, north korean exports jumped 23% last year compared to the previous year and imports jumped 33%. to follow-up little bit on what senator kec was referencing with respect to china, what do these statistics say about our ability to isolate north korea economically and what affect that sanctions had on the country? >> i think first of all, senator, it's important to note those are percentage increases of very low base levels. i haven't personally analyzed the data sufficiently to be able to tell exactly what it means. i think one thing it probably reflects particularly on the import side is a very

quorum call: mrs. boxer: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be dispensed. .the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mrs. boxer: i ask that the order for the vote to be modified to occur at 4:20 p.m. under the same conditions as previously ordered. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mrs. boxer: thank you, again, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: