mrs. feinstein. >> eye. >> mr. schumer. aye. >> mr. durbin. >> mr. whitehouse. >> miss klobuchar. aye. >> mr. franken. >> aye. >> mr. coons. >> mr. blumenthal. >> mr. chairman. >> aye. >> mr. chairman votes are 11 yeas, seven nays. >> the senator from texas. >> so you don't think i'm trying to pull your leg, there was a complete substitute -- >> they emailed into our office at 4:16 yesterday. >> ok. trust me. my brother in law is a good guy. i know you have. he has done the prayer at the opening of the session several times. i must say, it has nothing to do with it. one of the things he has found the biggest thrill when he has been been visiting clergymen for the senate is being able to spend the day on the floor, and so many senators, republicans and democrats alike, i yield to senator feinstein. >> thank you very much. i want to thank you for allowing me to hold the hearing. i want to report to you that we heard from one bereft and grieving father, who lost a precious son at sandy hook. we heard from the trauma surgeon there, who took care of their bodies. and talk about what th

mrs. feinstein: oh, senator paul is here. mr. paul: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky. mr. paul: yesterday i spent a considerable time -- amount of time on the floor talking about the idea of whether or not americans are protected by the fifth amendment always, whether or not you can be targeted for drone strikes in america without your due process rights, whether you get your day in court if you're accused of a crime in america. and i asked this question directly to the president and i'm pleased to say that we did get a response this morning. the response from the attorney general reads: "it has come to my attention that you have a question. does the president have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an american not engaged on combat on american soil? the answer to that question is no." so it has taken awhile but we got an explicit answer. i'm pleased that we did, and to me, i think the entire battle was worthwhile. one, because we got to have a lot of discussion about, you know, when can drones be used, par

mr. chairman. >> senator feinstein has urged a no vote. i pay particular attention living on a dirt road in a town that has no police force -- >> mr. chairman, with the guns you have, they don't need a police force. >> i feel adequately protected. the clerk call the roll. >> ms. feinstein. >> no. >> mr. schumer. >> no. >> mr. durbin. >> no. >> mr. whitehouse. >> no by proxy. >> ms. klobuchar. >> no. >> mr. franken. >> no. >> mr. koonce. >> no by -- mr. coons. >> no by proxy. >> ms. hirono. >> no. >> mr. sessions. >> aye by proxy. >> mr. graham. >> aye. >> mr. cornyn. >> aye by proxy. >> mr. lee. >> aye by proxy. >> mr. cruz. >> aye. >> mr. chairman. >> no. >> mr. chairman, eight yeas, 10 nays. >> i would note that i do have other amendments, but in order to maintain the pleasant and disposition of the chairman and not to burn any bridges unnecessarily -- [laughter] >> and this close to st. patrick's day -- >> at least not right now, i withhold further amendments for the floor. thank you. >> i appreciate that. the senator from texas knows my

mrs. feinstein. >> eye. >> mr. schumer. >> eye. >> mr. durbin. >> mr. whitehouse. >> miss klobuchar. eye. >> mr. franken. >> eye. >> mr. coons. >> eye. >> mr. blumenthal. >> mr. grassley, eye. >> mr. no by approximately. >> mr. graham. >> no by proxy. >> mr. cornyn. >> no. >> mr. lee. >> no by proxy. >> mr. cruz. >> no. >> mr. flake. >> no. >> mr. chairman. >> aye. >> mr. chairman votes are 11 yeas, seven nays. >> the senator from texas. >> so you don't think i'm trying to pull your leg, there was a complete substitute -- >>ure' not the one that talked about my brother-in-law. >> there was a complete substitute at your office at 4:16 yesterday. is when we got the language. >> i was on the floor introducing it on monday. >> i'm not saying you personally delivered it to our office. i'm saying your shop emailed it to our office at 4:16 yesterday. that's my only point. thank you. >> all right. and trust me my brother-in-law's a good guy. >> i had the honor of meeting your brother-in-law. >> i know you have. and he's done the prayer at the opening of the session several times. i must say

mr. feinstein. >> no. >> mr. schumer. >> by proxy. >> mr. durbin. >> no. >> mr. white house? >> no by proxy. >> miss close but shar. >>>. mr. blumenthal? >> yes. >>> mr. grassley. >> aye. >> mr. hatch? >> aye by proxy. >> mr. --. >> aye by proxy. >> mr. graham, aye by proxy. >> mr. cornyn. >> aye. >> mr. lee, aye. >> mr. cruz? >> aye by proxy. >> mr. chairman? >> no. >> mr. chairman? the votes are eight yeas, ten nays. >> senator schumer. senator schumer be recorded no in person. senator cornyn you have the floor. >> mr. chairman i call up amendment 13116 and ask for its immediate consideration. >> without objection it is before the, committee. >> this amendment would allow persons who obtained a protection order which iswell a broader definition than just, merely a protective order, as ordinarily, ordinarily thought of. this would allow people who obtained protection order as defined by the violence against women act to obtain and possess personal self-defense weapons prohibited by this legislation. the national coalition against domestic violence estimates that 1.3 million

mrs. feinstein. >> eye. >> mr. schumer. >> eye. >> mr. durbin. >> mr. whitehouse. >> miss klobuchar. eye. >> mr. franken. >> eye. >> mr. coons. >> eye. >> mr. blumenthal. >> mr. grassley, eye. >> mr. no by approximately. >> mr. graham. >> no by proxy. >> mr. cornyn. >> no. >> mr. lee. >> no by proxy. >> mr. cruz. >> no. >> mr. flake. >> no. >> mr. chairman. >> aye. >> mr. chairman votes are 11 yeas, seven nays. >> the senator from texas. >> so you don't think i'm trying to pull your leg, there was a complete substitute -- >>ure' not the one that talked about my brother-in-law. >> there was a complete substitute at your office at 4:16 yesterday. is when we got the language. >> i was on the floor introducing it on monday. >> i'm not saying you personally delivered it to our office. i'm saying your shop emailed it to our office at 4:16 yesterday. that's my only point. thank you. >> all right. and trust me my brother-in-law's a good guy. >> i had the honor of meeting your brother-in-law. >> i know you have. and he's done the prayer at the opening of the session several times. i must say

mrs. feinstein over how congress can limit rights upped the second amendment, asking hype highly if she thoughto limit rights under the first amendment or the fourth amendment, free speech and search and seizure, here is some of that exchange. >> this does not prohibit, you use the word prohibit, it exempts 2,271 weapons. isn't that enough for the people in the united states? >> ms. chairman. >> do they need a bazooka? do they need other high-powered weapons that military people use to kill in close combat? i don't think so, so i come from a different place than you do. i respect your views. i ask you to respect my views. >> nobody doubts her sincerity over passion and yet at the same time i would note that she chose not to answer the question that i asked, which is in her judgment would it be consistent with the constitution for congress to specify which books are permitted and which books are not. >> the answer is obvious, no. >> megyn: well, some critics slammed senator cruz for being rude. others thought he had a point. here is radio host mark levin, "the washington post's" charles krautham

mrs. feinstein. >> aye. >> mr. schumer. >> aye. >> mr. durbin. >> aye. >> mr. whitehouse. >> aye. >> miss klobuchar. >> aye. >> mr. franken. >> aye. >> mr. graham. >> no by proxy. >> mr. cornyn. >> no. >> mr. lee. >> no by proxy. >> mr. chairman. >> aye. >> mr. chairman votes are 11 yeas, seven nays. >> the senator from texas. >> so you don't think i'm trying to pull your leg, there was a complete substitute -- >> you're not the one that talked about my brother-in-law. >> there was a complete substitute at your office at 4:16 yesterday. is when we got the language. >> i was on the floor introducing it on monday. >> i'm not saying you personally delivered it to our office. i'm saying your shop emailed it to our office at 4:16 yesterday. that's my only point. thank you. >> all right. and trust me my brother-in-law's a good guy. >> i had the honor of meeting your brother-in-law. >> i know you have. and he's done the prayer at the opening of the session several times. i must say just for -- it has nothing to do with this thing, but one of the things that he's found

mr. chairman. i would like to congratulate senator feinstein on this legislation. we've been debating this egislation three months. there are strongly held views on both sides, that is not just ok but it is good, obviously. i respect the opinions of every member. minnesota has rural areas. minnesotans feel different ways about this. as the bill moves to the full senate, some of the bill's o-sponsors, i guess it is me and dick durbin remaining. we would like to talk to some of the arguments made against the ill. one of the arguments we've heard repeatedly is, independent justice departments studies proved that the last assault weapons ban was ineffective. i kind of wish the junior senator from texas was still here. during our first hearing one witness stated "independent studies, including the study if from the clinton justice department proves that the ban had no impact on lowering rime. uring our last committee hearing, it was the junior senator who said -- talking about that study, that was the janet reno department of justice under president clinton that said th

mr. chairman -- >> do they need a bazooka? >> senator feinstein later apologized for her response saying that senator cruz had made her angry. the committee later approved the assault weapons ban though it is unlikely to get the votes needed to pass in the full senate. >>> elsewhere in the united states senate john mccain today marked the 40th anniversary of his release from a prison in vietnam where he had spent five and a half years as a p.o.w. in a place they called the hanoi hilton. mccain and 107 others were released march 14 of 1973. the former republican presidential nominee was tortured repeatedly after being shot down as a naval aviator captured by the north vietnamese in october of '67. on the senator floor today his colleague mitch mcconnell paid tribute to the former naval aviator and thanked him for his continued service. >>> you may have heard the headline from a new study on breast cancer making the rounds today. the news from it was scary. radiation therapy to treat cancer may lead to an increased risk in heart disease. but the fin

mr. butler i don't think asked about fine arts. >> thank you. come on up. >>> supervisors, my name is stuart morton. i served under three mayors, moscone, feinsteinnd jordan on the landmarks board. i am also right now the chair of the preservation consortium which is a city-wide group of preservations and neighborhoods and professionals. we interviewed mr. pearlman in 2009 prior to the hpc's commissioners being appointed. we did not recommend mr. pearlman at that time, feeling he was inappropriate for the seat which he was being proposed. again, we have the same problem. we haven't had a chance, however, to interview him once more, but the consortium is against his nomination. thank you. >> which seat did you interview him for in 2009? >>> i was trying to think just a moment ago. i don't remember. >> all right, thank you very much. >> thank you. seeing no other public comment, public comment is now closed. because of the way this was stated on the agenda, we have to make an amendment. colleagues, can we have a motion to amend the motion to confirm the appointment of jonathan pearlman to the historical preservation commission? >> i'm sorry, just a

mr. chairman. i know senator feinstein has called for this legislation and is passionate about her belief and the need for this legislation. i respect her conviction although i strongly opposed the bill. gun violence is a tragic problem in the united states and it is our responsibility to address the problem on behalf of the american people. we can do that with broad bipartisan support of the are willing to address the serious deficiencies in our mental health system. and improve the background check database and do a better job of enforcing existing law. i am encouraged that some like senator gramm and those on the committee suggested patch holes of the to the background check system carried i'm hopeful the legislation senator schumer introduced -- i hope we can continue to work on that. and to improve it from my perspective. we need to pass a holes in the background check system that and now we did that enable the mentally ill to purchase guns carried that would have the greatest problem in backed -- greatest probable impact. our real concern to be that efforts to enact a gun ban are distracting con

mr. chairman. i would like to congratulate senator feinstein on this legislation. we've been debating this legislation three months. there are strongly held views on both sides, that is not just ok but it is good, obviously. i respect the opinions of every member. minnesota has rural areas. minnesotans feel different ways about this. as the bill moves to the full senate, some of the bill's co-sponsors, i guess it is me and dick durbin remaining. we would like to talk to some of the arguments made against the bill. one of the arguments we've heard repeatedly is, independent justice departments studies proved that the last assault weapons ban was ineffective. i kind of wish the junior senator from texas was still here. during our first hearing one witness stated "independent studies, including the study if from the clinton justice department proves that the ban had no impact on lowering crime." during our last committee hearing, it was the junior senator who said -- talking about that study, that was the janet reno department of justice under president clinton that s

feinstein. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. thank you very much, mr. chairman. i want to thank you for allowing me to hold the hearing. i want to just report to you that we heard from one arrest and grieving father who lost a precious son at sandy hook. -- breast we heard from the search and their who took care of their bodies, and talked about what these weapons with the bullets do when they explode inside the body. we heard from the head of the united states costs of mayors, mayor nutter a baltimore -- excuse me, of philadelphia, who assured us of their support. we heard from chief lynn a baltimore who assured us that the support of the chiefs and talked about his city. i want to acknowledge the presence of chief johnson with a baltimore county police department is here. and we had a given station of a slide fire stock, placed in ar-15, which was able to alternate begun between semiautomatic and fully automatic fire. excuse me, let me correct. chief lynn is from milwaukee. i've been very concerned because the calls have been coming in as if this is some kind o

failed to understand with senator feinstein met by i'm not a sixth grader so here's the essence of it we all learned in sixth grade civics which ted cruz apparently mr wasn't paying attention that our rights come with certain responsibilities or limits our first amendment right to free speech for example is limited by an injunction for example we now yell fire in a crowded theater similarly as a talk show host there are certain words that i can't say on the air crews asked what books feinstein would want banned as he never heard of child pornography similarly our fourth amendment rights to privacy are serbs. bribed in a thousand ways a police officer walks up to your car your front door and smells pot smoke or hears a shoot out you still have a right to privacy but what if the same officer sees you covered in blood and holding a gun do you have a right to privacy that senator cruz himself wants to limit the privacy rights of women by infringing on their right to abortions so he's clearly in favor of limits on the fourth amendment the simple fact which gun industry shill ted cruz wants to ignore is that none of the rights protected to we the people i

mr. chambliss: if i may direct a question to the majority leader through the chair, as i understand what you are asking for is 90 more minutes, 30 minutes for senator feinstein, 30 minutes for me -- mr. reid: you would have 30, he would have 30. mr. chambliss: and senator paul would have 30 minutes. and does your consent, it would start right now, basically? mr. reid: yeah, basically. mr. chambliss: continuing to reserve the right to object, i guess then i would direct a question to the senator from kentucky since he has the floor of what amount of time you think you want to utilize. the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky is recognized. mr. paul: mr. president, reserving the right to object, i would be happy with the vote now. i have talked a lot today. but the only thing i would like is a clarification. if the president or the attorney general will clarify that they are not going to kill noncombatants in america. he essentially almost said that this morning. he could take his remarks that he virtually agreed ultimately with senator cruz, put it into a coherent statement that says the drone program will not kill americans who are not involved in co

my first question was just a follow-up on senator feinstein where she was asking about mr. toscano about the safety issues in the airspace. i understand all this 400 feet and the limitations, but if you started getting these in the hands of people that maybe didn't quite know how to run them, or something went wrong, couldn't they -- what would happen, this is my simple question, what would happen if one of them came up against a small aircraft or would it matter? or if you got a bigger drone? isn't there some safety concerns with that? >> when you look at the national airspace, there are rules and regulations that the f.a.a. says you cannot fly anything within a certain distance of that airspace. if you do that, whether it's any type of machine, then you are violating the law. and there is a safety concern that you would be concerned about. that's why -- >> identify understand that. what would -- i understand that. what would happen if one -- when birds hit a plane -- >> you can see what they are and they range from two pounds up to very large systems. yes, any incident wh

mr. chairman -- >> do they need a ba zooka? >> senator feinstein is joining us from capitol hill. cruz said. walk us through your thinking. >> well, i just felt patronized. i felt he was somewhat arrogant about it. when you come from where i've come from and what you've seen, when you found a dead body and put your finger in bullet holes, you really realize the impact of weapons. and then as you go up the technical ladder with these weapons, and they become more sophisticated, and more the product of a battlefield, and you've got these huge clips, or drums of 100 bullets out there that people can buy, when you see these weapons becoming attractive to grievance killers, people who take them into schools, into theaters, into malls, you wonder, does america really need these weapons? my answer to that is no. and so it's based on my experience. and i think -- well, the bottom line is, we passed the bill out of committee by a foet of 10-8. the president has issued a very strong statement in support of it. >> do you think he's doing enough, though? do you think he's doing enough behind

mr. congeniality contest inside the senate. he's clearly gotten under the skin of a lot of senators republican and democrat including california senator dianne feinstein rarely lets people get her, quote, dander up. well, she let him get her dander up yesterday. >> it seems to me that all of us should begin as our foundational document with the constitution. and the second amendment in the bill of rights provides that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. >> i'm not a sixth grader. senator, i've been on this committee for 20 years. i was a mayor for nine years. i walked in. i saw people shot. i've looked at bodies that have been shot with these weapons. >> one more thing on the 2016 front in our weekly look at this, vice president biden is embracing the idea of bidenisms in a brilliant branding effort from the vice president's office, the white house's latest foray into digital media is now an audio series called "being biden." the first episode features a picture from a stop made by serving dinner to a hunting group last week. >> these guys have the ethic, an ethic that i find most sportsmen have. i know these guys. an

mr. congeniality with either party. the one thing i want to note when we look at those two, the back-and-forth between those two. the real problem for dianne feinsteinn't necessarily ted cruz. it's democrats who sit in red states. especially democratic senators in red states who are up in 2014. they're not going to get into a constitutional battle with dianne feinstein. they don't want it to be public. but they're not going to be comfortable at all supporting something like this. >> and kristen welker, at the same time the president back on the hill today. what we have enter the reporting from mark murray and dominico and chuck todd, is that the tea party republicans were dead set against the president, but there was a willingness by the legislative branch, if you will of the house republicans, those in the leadership who want to get something done. who are willing to listen to the president, especially as he was putting entitlements right there on the table. >> and i've been talking to my sources who were a part of that meeting yesterday. who say you could really feel the divide. that there was a sort of branch who thought that the president was wi

mr. holder, as reported in "the new york times" on may 29, 2012? senator feinstein said she was unaware. >> count every military aide as a combatant? what would happen if another country tried to do that here in the united states? the precedent we are setting is for a world of chaos, a world of lawlessness. and because this hearing is over, we the public finally get to say something because during the hearing we cannot even raise our signs above our shoulders. a professional hearing but it's unprofessional -- >> thank you for coming. >> 4,700 people in countries where we are not at war. now is that a conventional program? >> we need to stop testifying, kill our drones. stop the fighting. killer drones strike. >> we are playing into the hands of extremists like al qaeda and we are opening new drone bases in places like saudi arabia that are just going to blow back against us. this program is a national security threat, and we are the citizens who are speaking up for our national security because our government is not doing anything to make us secure. in fact, you're

feinstein, out of the senate bill. so whatever goes forward doesn't have that in it. and mr. grassley himself says apparently he's going to go ahead and come up with his own version of gun control. and what the president essentially did was, he had like essentially a 13-minute guilt trip telling people don't forget the kids. shame on us he said repeatedly. what's interesting, shame on us for what? that a crazy person got a gun and killed people? we feel terrible about that. there are plenty of laws out there today that simply are not being enforced. >> that's the point of this. you're right, gretchen, the three points. most of them are there already. illegal gun trafficking, you're not supposed to do that. there is funding for certain types of of, for the schools and certain types they want to beef it up. okay. the universal background check, you want to do that, that's fine. the amendments are concerning. and the one they're most concerned about, the amendment they're most concerned about isn't the assault weapons or the magazine, multiple shot magazines. it's the national g

senators as follows, reid of nevada, feinstein, stabenow, brown, reed of rhode island, carper, coons, casey, pryor, nelson, begich, mikulski, murray, levin and manchin. mr. durbin: i move the senate proceed to a period of morning business with minority permitted permitted each. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: i ask that when the senate complete its business, it he a jurn until 10:00 a.m., the journal of proceedings be approved to debate debate and the following any leader remarks the senate resume executive session in consideration of the brennan nomination, further that the senate recess from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. to allow for caucus meetings. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: if there is no further business to come before the senate i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until >> i believe the united states has many fantastic qualities. i believe that many many people have the possibility of pulling themselves up by their bootstraps and i think every year that is less and less probable. but the united

mr. wittes? >> so i am sort of instinctively opposed to prospective judicial review of these questions. i do think the congress in the form of the intelligence community and senator feinsteinve issued a very substantial statement about what the senate intelligence community at least has done in the way of reviewing these strikes, which seems very substantial pics i do think some of that is already going on. in addition i have to say i find professor vladeck's written statement on the attractiveness of post hoc review judicially to be a very intriguing document, and i am, you know, i think a lot to recommend and i commend it to the committee but i also think professor chesney come who has in his written statement, attempted to narrow the categories of prospective reviews which as i say, i sort of viscerally oppose, but narrow it down to its finest levels whatever the least intrusive is a model that has a lot to recommend as well. at me, i largely agree with professor vladeck that there's opportunities in both. >> would it be your opinion that prospective review would delay an operation perhaps? >> i fear very much that it couldn't. i also fear that the temptation on the par