mrs. feinstein: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. feinstein: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the order with respect 20 alternating blocks of time be vitiated and that the senate remain in a period of morning business until 8:45 a.m. tuesday, march 11, with senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. feinstein: thank you, madam president. now i ask unanimous consent to speak for between 20 and 30 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. feinstein: thank you very much, madam president. i want to begin by thanking my friend and colleague, senator boxer, for her leadership. it was two years ago i think that she began a climate action task force that took place at 12:00 noon when all our stomachs were grumbling for food but provided some very interesting advice, very interesting knowledge, interesting scholars that came to speak. and she was then joined by senator whitehouse when he came, now senator markey, and there's quite a large number certainly of

mrs. feinstein: madam president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. feinstein: i have come to the floor to ask my colleagues to support the nomination of john owens to the united states court of appeals for the ninth circuit. this was approved by the judiciary committee without dissent. i want to quickly mention his request qualifications. he received his bachelor's with high distinction from the university of california, 1993 as he was inducted into phi beta kappa. he graduated first in his class at stanford law school in 1996. from 1996 to 1997 he was law clerk to judge j. clifford wallace, a noted conservative justice appointed by president nixon to the ninth circuit. he went on to serve as a law clerk to supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg. in 2001 he became a federal prosecutor, joining the united states attorney's office in california. he became -- began in the general crime section, prosecuting a wide variety of violent crimes, drug criesms pacific northwest he also served in the public corru

mrs. feinstein: thank you, mr. president. i wanted to come to the floor very briefly and i'd ask to speak for three minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. feinstein: thank you very much. to talk about john owens, who is the first vote, for a judgeship, particularly one to the united states court of appeals for the ninth circuit. no one questions his qualifications, i spoke on the floor about him before. was proud to nominate him to the president. he has a sterling background and would be an excellent circuit court judge. the question that arose was because the previous judge, a man by the name of steven trott, he spent his entire legal career in california before joining the reagan administration, he was licensed to practice law in california, he was supported by the two republican senators from california, and blue slips for his nomination were sent to california. now, what am i trying to do? i'm trying to say this was a california judge for the ninth circuit. now, what has happened, since then, is because h

mrs. feinstein: good morning. over the past week there have been numerous press articles written about the intelligence committee's oversight review of the detention and interrogation program of the c.i.a. specifically, press attention has focused on the c.i.a.'s intrusion and search of the senate select committee's computers as well as the committee's acquisition of a certain internal c.i.a. document known as the panetta review. i rise today to set the record straight and to provide a full accounting of the facts and history. let me say up front that i come to the senate floor reluctantly. since january 15, 2014, when i was informed of the c.i.a. search of this committee's network, i've been trying to resolve this dispute in a discrete and respectful way. i've not commented in response to media requests for additional information on this matter. however, the increasing amount of inaccurate information circulating now cannot be allowed to stand unanswered. the origin of this study, the c.i.a.'s detention and inter

mrs. feinstein, if she was boof board and told the truth all the time she wouldn't have to worry about it. mean, the only people that have to really worry about all of this kind of crap is those immoral, i onest, will lithrath, the harry reeds. the doibance. fine stipe herself. hillary clinton of course. it's going to be a terrible waste of money if she actually runs for the presidency because they will probably end up putting her in leavenworth where she belongs. host: we play add comment earlier of president obama when he was asked about this do you think that the white house has plays sort of the proper role here? guest: i think the white house is trying to get somewhere in the middle. they don't want john brennan and the c.i.a. to be in the cross hairs. but at the same time i don't think they want to be seen as trying to change what senator fine stine's staff has put into the draft report on enhanced interrogation techniques. so i think they're playing a little roll somewhere in the middle. but let's take a step back. this is not where the c.i.a. and the administration need to be. you

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that hersch desai, a fellow in the office of senator feinstein, be granted privileges of the floor during the duration of the overnight debate on climate change. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from new hampshire. ms. ayotte: mr. president, i thank you. i want to thank my colleague, senator mccaskill, as well as senator fischer. today the senate voted 97-0 unanimously to support the victims protection act, and this act builds on important work that was done in the defense authorization to ensure that victims of sexual assault in the military will be treated with dignity and respect, that there will be full accountability for commanders to ensure that the climate within their unit is one of zero tolerance to sexual assaults, and that when a victim comes forward, that that victim, male or female, is supported within this system. so what the victims protection act that was passed today by a vote of 97-0 -- and how few things in the senate pass with 97-0 -- it would ensure that when there is -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in o

feinstein made it clear that she thinks the cia may have violated the constitution. what do you think? >> mrd also say that in fact the computer fraud law does apply to them and the reality is that those computers, in effect, belong to the cia but were reserved exclusively for the committee's youth and what this goes to, the fundamental question here is whether the congress of the united states is going to be able to do effective oversight over the intelligence apparatus and again and again, the intelligence leadership has in effect thwarted the ability of congress to get the information it needs to do that oversight. >> do you think that by searching in these computers and doing what the cia admits it did back when brennen met with feinstein and saxby chambliss, do you think that was a violation of the constitution of the fourth amendment or any other federal law? >> i think that the facts that were laid out by the committee chair, senator feinstein today, are very credible and, yes, the reason i asked that question that you put on tape, jake, is that i think it raises very troubling questi

mr. yee has no plans to resign from state senate. he also said no request has been filed to ask for a leave of absence from the senate. that comes as senators feinstein and boxer are joining the chorus of people saying that leland yee should resign. if he does not do that tonight, in the morning at 9:00 a.m., senate democrats say they will vote to suspend him from office. just 17 hours after he stepped out of the federal courthouse, leland yee announced he is also stepping out of the race for secretary of state. >> i here by withdraw my candidacy for election of secretary of state effective immediately. with best regards, signed leland yee. >> reporter: that from yee's attorney, who refused to comment about much else, but yee's fellow san francisco senator did not hold back his feelings about yee dropping out of the race. >> i think that's completely appropriate. i don't know if that means his name will actually be off the ballot. i don't know if it's too late to do that, but i would hope that that would also be the case so that no one is confused or troubled by it. his name should not be on the ballot. >> what should he do regarding his senate seat?

mr. chairman. i have a procedural question. >> my next guest has advised the house of representatives that chairman issa committed a fatal parliamentary error when he did that. and 24 hours after dianne feinstein said the cia may have illegally tampered with some senate computers, the republican vice chair of the senate intelligence committee objected, not to what the cia may have done, but to the simple fact that senator feinstein was discudi discussing it publicly. and in "the rewrite" rick perry and i, and probably you, finally agree on something. guess what it is. tweet me your guesses. some things you have to squeeze to make sure they're soft. other things, you don't. [ female announcer ] charmin ultra soft is so soft you can actually see the softness with our comfort cushions. plus you can use up to four times less. enjoy the go with charmin ultra soft. allthat's it?go out to dinner. i mean, he picks up the tab every time, which is great... he's using you. he probably has a citi thankyou card and gets 2x the points at restaurants. huh the citi thankyou preferred card. now earn 2x the points on dining out, with no annual fee. go to citi.com/thankyoucards i had my first boyfriend at 17 and

count that as a great treasure, just as i saw senator feinstein earlier on the floor, another longtime friend with his husband of his holiness. mrave watched him for so many years, his representation of the tibetan people. es a joined on the floor by another buddhist, senator hirono of hawaii, and the gracious comments of senator reid reflect how people feel about him. i think of how the faith of his people are moved and i've told his holiness this story. when i walked through the streets of lasa, tibet, years ago, a man holding a small child saw me, pointed to my camera and held up a picture of his holiness. he was risking being imprisoned for having that, but he insisted i take this picture. i did. i've given that photograph to his holiness, and i've told him the story that when we asked the man, why did he risk prison to show the picture of his holiness? he said, because people have to know. the world has to know the great faith of the tibetan people. and their longing for the autonomy they deserve to practice their faith. fortunately, they have, as a symbol of that faith, the dalai lama, a nobel peace prize recipient, a man

mr. chairman. i have a procedural question. >> my next guest has advised the house of representatives that chairman issa committed a fatal parliamentary error when he did that. and 24 hours after dianne feinstein said the cia may have illegally tampered with some senate computers, the republican vice chair of the senate intelligence committee objected, not to what the cia may have done, but to the simple fact that senator feinstein was discussing it publicly. and in "the rewrite" rick perry and i, and probably you, finally agree on something. guess what it is. tweet me your guesses. during the day, we generate as much electricity as we can using solar. at night and when it's cloudy, we use more natural gas. this ensures we can produce clean electricity whenever our customers need it. ♪ i had my first boyfriend at 17 and my first girlfriend at 21. yesterday, she tweeted this. needless to say, i do not endorse sarah palin or her use of titanium in any way, shape or form. up next, the parliamentary expert who has advised the house of representatives that darrell issa committed an irreversible error in his conduct of that unprecedented hearing when he allowed no other member of the committee to sp

mr. brennan. but it is -- i don't sit in on the committees and at the hearings. but i a wlute senator feinstein. you take on the intelligence community, you're a person of courage. and she does not do that lightly. not without evidence. when i say evidence, documentation of what it is that she is putting forth. so it will be interesting -- whatever it is. whatever it is all of us should look to see this is a really important element of our national security. this is how we would present a violent resolution of conflict and war. this is important to our country and has to be honest. it has to be honest. and from what i know, from what senator said and what you have written, it's pretty appalling what is being alleged or charged , and whatever it is we have to remove all doubt that congress, i say all the time to the administration, four or five of them over time, the administration is the custodian of intelligence information. it is not the owner, they are custodians but it belongs to us as well. and we need to see the intelligence. you're asking me the final question, struck a chord on something

mr. brennan, did your agents spy on senate intelligence staffers? can you tell us anything about the situation? brennan denies claims made by senate intelligence chair, democrat dianne feinstein. she says brennan informed her earlier this year that cia agents searched her committee's computer system while the committee was investigating the cia's bush-era interrogation program. >> the cia's search may well have violated the separation of powers principals embodied in the united states constitution. >> reporter: outrage spread wednesday with republican darrell issa, who chairs the house oversight committee, calling the cia's actions, if true, effectively treason. but not all republicans shared his view. after meeting with director brennan, senator saxby chambliss, the top republican on the intelligence committee, argued the facts are still murky. >> both parties have made allegations against one another, and even speculated as to each other's actions, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions that must be addressed. >> reporter: the committee's investigation of the cia initiated by democrats took four years, cost $40 million, and yielded a 6,300-page report which is st

cardin, leahy, stabenow, blumenthal, coons, mikulski, boxer, tester, begich, cantwell, schumer and feinstein. mr. reid: madam president? madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: we expect to have -- mrs. boxer: the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. reid: we expect the next vote will be the next vote until monday. next roll call vote. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate on s. 1917, a bill to provide for additional enhancements of the sexual assault, prevention and response activities of the armed services. signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is: is it the sense of the senate that debate on s. 1917, a bill to provide for additional enhancements of the sexual assault prevention and response acti