mrs. boxer: mr. president, we are working on a bill -- the presiding officer: we're in a quorum call. mrs. boxer: i would ask that that quorum call be dispensed with, please. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: we're working on a bill that's a jobs bill, plain and simple. it doesn't have any fancy parts to it. it's a reauthorization of a program that was set up in 1965. the purpose was very clear, to go into areas in our states where the communities are hurting for jobs, where the communities are hurting for business, and it works in a way that every dollar we put into the program attracts $7 of private investment. and i'll show you the job creation on some of these charts that we see. it will take me a second to get. at the $500 million funding level that's authorized in this bill, the e.d.a. is projected to create up to 200,000 jobs a year, and over the life of the bill up to a million jobs. and it's done at a very low cost per job, $3,000 per job is what it costs federal taxpayer

mr. whitehouse: thank you, senator boxer. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island is recognized. mr. whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. my time in this chamber often gives me cause to reflect on our history and on the brave patriots who went before us, many of whom risked or even gave their lives to create this great republic. today i'd like to talk about a group of men who 239 years ago tonight engaged in a daring act of defiance against the british crown. for many of us, the boston tea party is one of the first events we hear about in school on the road to our american revolution. growing up, we remember told the story of painted up bostonians dumping shipments of tea into boston harbor to defend the principle no taxation without representation. conspicuously missing from history books is the story of the brave rhode islanders who challenged the british crown far more aggressively, more than a year before bostonnians dumped those tea bags into boston hash. today, on its anniversary, i would like to take us ba

mrs. boxer: thank you, senator. mr. chairman, i'd also like to ask you this, although there is no authorization in this resolution for the use of ground forces in libya, for which i'm pleased, are there any circumstances where ground forces could be deployed? mr. kerry: mr. president, the resolution states that congress opposes the use of forces on the ground in libya except in the exceptional case where they might be needed for the immediate personnel defense of united states government officials or for rescuing a member of the nato force from imminent danger. those are the only circumstances in which it might be contemplated. the intent of this resolution is to authorize only the very limited mission, the continuation of the very limited mission in libya that is a support role and that does not include the use of u.s. ground forces. mrs. boxer: i just have two more questions. senator kerry, if the president decides to change the mission and order the use of u.s. ground forces for reasons other than the circumstances p

mrs. boxer: mr. president, earlier today i was on the floor speaking about the importance of a program called the economic development revitalization. and it's been in place since 1965. the a run out of its authority. and our committee, the environment and public works committee, in a near-unanimous vote, almost unanimous, decided it was really worth making some reforms to the program to make it even work better and to reauthorize it. and i'm going to turn the time over to my wonderful friend, jim inhofe. he and i, as everybody knows, are good friends, and we work really well together. there are issues on which we sharply disagree. i think they would fall into the environmental side. but when it comes to public works, when it comes to building the infrastructure of our country, when it comes to jobs related to the private sector, we are very much joined at the hip. and on this particular issue, we are together because we look at this and we say at a time when there need to be jobs, over a two-year pe

mrs. boxer: mr. president, let the games begin. that's what's going on around here. i have full respect for my colleagues. and you can tell from the tone and tenor of senator paul that he finds it amusing that he's offering a clean debt ceiling increase that he's voting against. he's offering an amendment that he's voting against when we know we're in discussions with the president and discussions with the vice president and discussions with the gang of six to try and figure out a way that we can come together, not have gotcha votes on the united states senate floor. it's outrageous. i'll tell you why it's outrageous. we have an underlying bill here, mr. president, that you've been very helpful with, s. 782, the economic development revitalization act of 2011, which will reauthorize a very important program that's been in place in this country, in this great nation since 1965 that was last passed when george w. bush was president, that passed this senate unanimously without all these amendments that are going nowhere. i mean, there's 27 amendments as of last night, a

mrs. boxer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. with total unanimous support, except for one -- we had almost everyone -- i am delighted that the leader has chosen to go to the reauthorization of the economic development administration. and i'll tell you why. there's really three reasons: jobs, jobs, and jobs. we know when president obama took over, he faced a situation where we were losing 700,000, 800,000 jobs a month. imagine. we were bleeding those jobs. credit was frozen. we almost lost the auto industry. we had to take tremendous steps to turn this around. i personally believe after listening to the experts evaluate what we did, that we did some very important things to stabilize this economy. but clearly this recession that we're trying to get out of here was the worst since the great depression. and the job loss has been severe. so it's very difficult when you lose 7 million, 8 million jobs in that kind of a downturn, you need robust job creation to get these jobs back. now we had a very important bill on the floor dealing w

mrs. boxer: i am just very pleased that you took to the floor today to speak to the american people about what you're going through in your state, and i'm not as familiar as you about the condition of your nuclear power plant. i won't even go there. although i do trust my friend's judgment on this, and there are some serious issues raised given the design of the plant and the fact that it's probably very close or identical to the design of the plant in japan that had all these issues. but here's the point i want to support you on, and i was so proud of the way you questioned the commissioners. because i can only ask awe question, i will -- only ask you a question, i will pose a question to you: isn't it true that there's a lot of talk around washington about how states' rights should be protected. that's the first question. mr. sanders: i would tell my good friend from california that day after day, we hear from some of our colleagues how they don't trust the federal government, how they don't w

mrs. boxer: madam president, i -- i want to thank the senator from nevada, my friend, the majority leader, senator reid, for his remarks, and i want to thank him for filing cloture on the e.d.a. bill. the economic development administration. he said it was started by richard nixon. actually, it was continued by richard nixon. it was started by lyndon johnson and supported by every single president since 1965, whether they were republican, a democrat, a liberal, a moderate or a conservative. every congress has supported this. the last time the e.d.a. was authorized, it was authorized, madam president, by a voice vote when george w. bush was president and he signed it into law. so one has to ask one's self, why do we find ourselves in the middle after filibuster? why do we find ourselves with 77 amendments pending to this little bill that takes a $500 million authorization and, because of the effect it has on the private sector, draws in private-sector matching funds 7-1 and means it's a $3.5 bill

mrs. boxer: mr. president, i've been listening very carefully to my friend's remarks about what we have to do, what is in front of us. and his push, as he is speaking for the republican party, for a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. well, let me say this: i want a balanced budget. that's what i want. and i don't need an amendment to the constitution to get me to vote for a balanced budget. what i want to do is for all the sides to come together, that's what i want, and write a balanced budget. and do it in a way that is responsible and do it in a way that is fair and do it in a way that protects our middle class, protects our kids, and stimulates economic growth by making smart investments and cutting out spending in areas where we really don't need it. so all this yak about a balanced budget amendment -- and i call it that and i apologize if it sounds like it's a derogatory term -- is just so much talk. let's get to it. and i think what we ought to do is go back to the people and the pa

mr. saggy pants and his boxers. [laughter] >> if you saw this man in women's underwear boarding your flight which is say something to the pilot or which you just look at him go about your life? >> i am just going right on with my life. it is not at all my business what people wear. i think that he clearly is not concealing anything dangerous dangerous [laughter] >> i would hate to be the person to do the pat down on that one. we talk with another passenger and she said you would hate to sit on the same seat after he got up, i will have more reaction coming up at 7:30 a.m., including an african- american man that says yes, this is racial discrimination. >> the question that we have been asking this morning is what is the dress code on u.s. airways. we actually founded on a website. we want to show it to everyone right now, they say, we require that all passengers traveling are to dress and casual business attire. u.s. airways gate agents are instructed to enforce this dress code and passengers who fail to dress appro

boxer to earn more than $100 million in purses. personally i would have asked for cash. (laughter) please welcome sugar ray leonard! (cheers and applause) mr. leonard, thanks so much for coming on. my goodness, my goodness, let's just lay it out for the people. let's just... first of all, ding ding. but second of all let's lay it out for the people. you, olympic gold medalist, boxing titles in five different weight classes. you defeated roberto duran, thomas hearns, marvelous marvin haggler. you have a new memoir "sugar ray leonard, the big fight, my life in and out of the ring." do you miss the ring, sir? >> i don't miss getting hit. (laughter). >> stephen: the key is to not get hit. somebody should have told you that. (laughter). >> you know, stephen, i miss the camaraderie, i miss training camp. i miss choreographing the fight in my head. i miss all that action. >> stephen: choreograph, do you tap dance, like all americans do? >> yes. a little bit. >> stephen: a little bit? >> stephen: heel ball change... what do you call that? kick ball change? >> that's as far as i got. >> stephen: now you really came to prominence in the 1976 montrea

mr. deco sta and a few others. the design intent is not being met. supervisor cohen, i am glad you're asking some many good questions. we have senator feinstein and senator boxer others. they have worked so hard to get the system going. i want to implore the officials -- muni officials. look at light rail as an organic entity. also, all of them, they are modern designers. these urban systems are treated almost as living entities. we are just barely able to makee discomfort and dissatisfaction. in these to go beyond. -- they are showing the discomfort and dissatisfaction. it needs to go beyond. say, wow, that is now my job is there. that is out. that is the benchmark. [chime] thank you. these are $2 i did not pay for on the fair coming here. i will make a donation to the treasurer's office. thank you. supervisor cohen: thank you. well, to wrap up all the public comment and testimony, thank you to mta. thank you for answering questions. although we did not have any members of the public that actually were lined out the door, believe me when i tell you -- and i have the data to prove this -- i hear from residents all the time complaining about their dissatisfacti

. >> thank you chairman boxer, senator carper and mr. barrasso. the importance of responding appropriately to the lessons of fukushima weighs heavily on all of those who serve on the nuclear regulatory commission. may we continue to send our best wishes to the people of japan as they continues their hard work recovering from the march 11 earthquake. we have and will continue to learn from fukushima. that said, i recognize it will take months and possibly years before all the technical facts are fully assessed. while we will learn much from a complete understanding of what happened at the plant after it was -- by the earthquake and tsunami, we know enough today to review the nuclear regulatory framework in the united states. from what we know now, i believe that we will need to make some changes in a variety of areas. it is our responsibly to take new perspectives and review our nuclear regulatory framework. we need to take safety seriously and step up to identify safety issues in the aftermath of fukushima. while as a staff reported to us yesterda

mr. president let me just c complement senator boxer for her leadership on this bill. bill. as senator boxer pointed out the eda bill that we brought forward is about jobs. it is about offering jobs ine a underserved areas.ult these are areas which are difficult to create jobs in good times, but in hard times they get even harder. the eda program leverages a small amount of public support for private sector investment that creates jobs in underserved areas. in my state of maryland, eda projects have been very successful in bringing jobs to the world, to western maryland, to our eastern shore. they have leveraged private sector investment and we maintained and created jobs. yesterday on the floor, i gave specific examples of eda easrn projects in western maryland on the eastern shore of maryland. i talk about an old manufacturing plant that was saved under any eda grant, leveraged 10-1 with private sector investment saving over 100 jobs and creating another 20. these are jobs that areour commu important for economic growth in ourni community.recove we all understand that this

boxer? >> no by proxy. >> mr. menendez? >> no by proxy? >> [inaudible] >> mr. casey? >> no. >> mr. web? >> no. >> mr. durbin? >> no. >> mr. utal? >> no by proxy? . >> mr. rubio? >> no. >> [inaudible] >> no. >> mr. demint? >> aye by proxy. >> mr. isaacson? >> [inaudible] >> mr. lee? >> no. >> mr. chairman? >> no. >> 5 ayes, 14 nays. >> may i be recorded at the lis a live no? >> yes, you will be recorded. >> mr. udah is doing his business in mexico and appropriately. we now turn to senator menendez. excuse me, senator lugar. the purpose of this amendment is to enhance congress's ability to conduct responsible oversight of any continued united states military operations in libya. it would require periodic reporting on the cost of operation and how these costs are being paid for. would also require periodic reporting on the impact of the ongoing operations in libya on other u.s. and nato military operations, including operations taliban and al qaeda. given that the resolution would authorize military operations that could go on for as much as a year, and could expand in scope from current o

mr. chairman. let me follow quickly other words that are really well articulated by senator feinstein and her boxer. as it is partly to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. i hope they will really take note of the extraordinary qualifications that this nominee brings to the table. one colleague mention the fact that he had been the ceo of a major regular -- regulating company. i would respectfully submit that i think my colleague is going to find this is a bold and creative capitalist who has served on more boards of major companies have diverse nature than all of the members of this committee put together. and i think he brings a very level of business expertise at a time when we obviously know we have to create jobs and change the dynamic in this country. i think my colleagues will find both nominees have a strong sense of how to do that in the commerce department is going to be a critical player with respect to transportation, infrastructure, research in the information economy. a lot of the technology issues that we need to deal with. i think we've got a terrific spokesperson who is co

boxer in our concerns about safety. i know you had spoken at a symposium in virginia, mr. chairman, where you said employees of the n.r.c. and industry must feel empowered to ask the difficult questions. ensuring this happens is at the core of safety culture. we want safety for workers, for communities, for others, and you have to be able to request questions. do you agree? >> absolutely. >> i know you are aware the officer of inspector general issued a report on june 6, wide ld reported by the press. do you agree about the issue with the fairness? >> thank you. according to the report, and i have read it. the "new york times" did extensive reporting on it on june 11. to quote, it says he created a hostile work place atmosphere with frequent out bursts of temper, favoritism of travel assignments and selective release of information to other members of the commission. i ask that the entire inspector general's report be made a part of the record. >> yes. >> those were not findings. those were comments of people interviewed. there is a distinction. >> continuing, i would say

california's senator boxer and senator cardin talked about the debt ceiling on the senate floor. >> mr. president let the games begin. that is what is going on around here. i have full respect for my colleagues and you can tell from the tone of senator paul that he finds it amusing he is offering a clean debt ceiling increase he is offering and a an amendment he votes against her he knows his discussions with the president and vice president and in discussions with a gain of 62 try to fake keiraix c it is outrageous. i will tell you why.nder way of the underlying bill thatel you have been very helpful with the economic the road map revitalization act which will reauthorize a i very importantn program that has been in place in this country since 1965. that was passed when george w. bush was president and passes the senate unanimously without all of these amendments that are going nowhere. there is 27 amendments as of last night and probably many more now and we know the game. we play it was before when senator andrew stood rye wasn standing to get a small business both through here whic

reid of nevada, boxer, conrad, kerry, whitehouse, klobuchar, cardin, binge minimum -- bingaman, merkley, menendez, shaheen, sanders, lautenberg, reed of rhode island, durbin, akaka. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 10:30 a.m. on tuesday, june 7. following the prayer and pledge the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for use later in the day. following leader remarks, senate proceed to a period of morning business for up to one hour with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the republicans controlling the first half and the majority controlling the final half. following morning business the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 782, the economic development act. further that the senate recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. to allow for wee

mr. president, are germane to the legislation before us. my staff looked through all these and they found one arguably is germane, and that one is one amendment that the chairman of the committee, barbara boxer, agrees to. again, they have amendments that would delay a repeal of health care reform. it's a battle republicans seem determined to fight over and over and over again, no matter how many times they lose. we have already voted on bank card swipe fees and ethanol subsidies and we have voted on the regulatory reform amendment offered once again by the senior senator from new york -- from maine, i'm sorry. yet we could not reach agreement to consider this worthy bill. this is not the first time republicans have stopped the important work of job creation in its tracks. the small business innovation research bill died here on the senate floor because of a load of amendments, none of which related to that bill. and the f.a.a., the federal aviation administration reauthorization and patent reform bills which would have put more -- about half a million people to work languished in the house. that's where it is now, over there someplace. and still unemployed americans wait. on this bill that

boxer and this committee in particular to move that will. i believe the market this year scheduled for the week we return after the july 4th recess. thank you very much, mr chairman. >> will now turn to our first panel. the agency trustees play a critical role in this whole process. the two federal agencies post the effect that states of louisiana, mississippi part of texas for the two federal agencies play a role in developing an action plan to remedy damage that is done in conjunction with bp, but ultimately decided necessary by the courts. so we welcome the two government agency representatives here. we know you've been extremely busy on this issue since the incident occurred. first we had cynthia dohner commercial director of the southeast region, fish and wildlife, one of the federal trustees said mr. tony penn, restoration division and response, noaa. your full statements will be made part of the record. you may proceed as you wish. >> good morning and thank you, chairman card in the members of the set to many. and since denis, dohner. they also serve as department of interior to out there is official for the natural resource damages and restoratio

boxer and this committee in particular to move that will. i believe the market this year scheduled for the week we return after the july 4th recess. thank you very much, mr chairman. >> will now turn to our first panel. the agency trustees play a critical role in this whole process. the two federal agencies post the effect that states of louisiana, mississippi part of texas for the two federal agencies play a role in developing an action plan to remedy damage that is done in conjunction with bp, but ultimately decided necessary by the courts. so we welcome the two government agency representatives here. we know you've been extremely busy on this issue since the incident occurred. first we had cynthia dohner commercial director of the southeast region, fish and wildlife, one of the federal trustees said mr. tony penn, restoration division and response, noaa. your full statements will be made part of the record. you may proceed as you wish. >> good morning and thank you, chairman card in the members of the set to many. and since denis, dohner. they also serve as department of interior to out there is official for the natural resource damages and restoratio

i believe we're on the pending amendment, so we're not -- mrs. boxer: we're on the bill. the presiding officer: that is correct. mr. cardin: mr. president, let me compliment senator boxer for her leadership on this bill. senator boxer pointed out this dea bill is about jobs. it's about offering jobs in under-served areas. these are areas which are difficult to create jobs in good times, but in hard times they get hit even harder. the e.d.a. program leverages a small amount of public support for private-sector investment that creates jobs in underserved eamples in my state of maryland, e.d.a. projects have been very successful in bringing jobs to the rural parts of maryland, to western maryland, to our eastern shore. they have leveraged private-sector investment and we maintained and created jobs. yesterday on the floor i gave specific examples of e.d.a. projects in western maryland on the eastern shore of maryland. i talked about an old manufacturing plant that was saved under an e.d.a. grant, leveraged 10 to 1 with private-sector investment saving over 100 jobs and creati

mrs. boxer: madam president? the presiding officer: the senate will please be in order. mrs. xer: madam president, we've spent many days talking about the importance of the gill s bill before the -- importance of the bill before us which would reorganize the economic development administration. the e.d.a. is a proven success. i think it's instructive that no one on the other side is speaking out against it. it's amazing to me that they don't speak out against it, but i have a feeling we may not get this cloture vote. i hope that i'm wrong. as i look at ways for us to be bipartisan, there are a couple of areas where i think we can come together. one would certainly be deficit reduction. we democrats know how to do it. we did it under bill clinton. and we're the only party in 50 years to pass a budget that actually brought to us a surplus. we can do that with our friends on the other side. and i'm glad there are talks going on. but the other area, madam president, is job creation and job preservation. the other side says they want to do it with us. this is a golden opportunity f