mrs. hagan: i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. hagan: mr. president, i rise today to speak in support of the cantwell-johnson amendment to the jobs act. this amendment which reauthorizes the export-import bank through 2015 is a critical step in our job creation efforts here in congress. we approved this bipartisan legislation out of the senate banking committee by voice vote in october. it is fiscally responsible, bipartisan, and will allow u.s. businesses to create jobs by leveling the playing field for american exporters. and if we do not act with urgency to pass this reauthorization, the export-import bank will not be able to guarantee new loans starting may 31. as our economy is finally showing some hopeful signs of recovery, now is not the time to let partisanship tie the hands of our small business owners who are ready to expand their companies and export their products. for decades, the export-import bank has supported job creation in america and in fiscal year 2011 the bank supported nearly 300,000 american jobs throughout

mrs. hagan: i want to thank our presiding officer or bringing this forward and the other comments from the senator from washington and the senator from california are really highlighting the issue as that we're talking about. but i am proud to join my colleagues to support the violence against women reauthorization act. and i stand here today, during national women's history month, to urge my colleagues to take swift action on a bill that's critical to the well-being of women, our families, and our country. as hillary clinton declared more than 15 years ago in beijing at the fourth world conference on women, "human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights." if we take bold steps to better the lives of women, we will be taking bold steps to better the lives of children and families, too. it is disheartening in the last several months that petty partisanship and gamesmanship has held up policies critical to women's health, including this act. since its original passage in 199

senator hagan. >> thank you, mr. chairman. is certainly thank you, senator udall. i want to follow that senator graham's question concerning iraq. i also want to say how much i appreciate both of you being here today testified that in addition your leadership and long-term security interests and our country. it's a thank you. and you're prepared testimony, you state al qaeda in iraq, despite his speaking capabilities chemise capable of high-profile attacks and some shia militant groups will continue targeting u.s. interests including diplomatic personnel. what the intelligence committee's assessment of capabilities of iraqi counterterrorism force us to continue similar operations against al qaeda and iraq and the absence of a u.s. versus? general burgess. >> i retired their assessment is that the ct fours that was left there is a capable force, but also a q. i is a capable and formidable foe. so while the iraqis have some capability, there are certainly some things that we are still looking at doing to help them from an intelligence standpoint. >> man, we put a lot

mrs. hagan: thank you, madam president. madam president, i come here today to pay tribute to senator barbara mikulski on becoming the longest serving woman in the history of congress. first and foremost, i feel deeply privileged to be able to serve alongside senator mikulski she blazed a path that allowed the rest of us and people like me to be here today. and along the way, she distinguished herself as not only a leader and tenacious advocate for the people of maryland, but for all americans. senator mikulski's path to the u.s. senate prepared her well to be an effective fighter for her constituents. ever the dedicated public servant, senator mikulski worked as a baltimore social worker, community activist and as a city council member. she brought an urgency and an unrelenting commitment to service to her work and the people she represented. it can be seen in the legislation she has fought for and the causes she has championed during her 25 years in the senate. i'm proud to say that the first bill i cosponsored when i came

mrs. hagan i want to thank our presiding officer or bringing this forward and the other comments from the senator from washington and the senator from california are really highlighting the issue as that we're talking about. but i am proud to join my colleagues to support the violence against women reauthorization act. and i stand here today, during national women's history month, to urge my colleagues to take swift action on a bill that's critical to the well-being of women, our families, and our country. as hillary clinton declared more than 15 years ago in beijing at the fourth world conference on women, "human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights." if we take bold steps to better the lives of women, we will be taking bold steps to better the lives of children and families, too. it is disheartening in the last several months that petty partisanship and gamesmanship has held up policies critical to women's health, including this act. since its original passage in 1994

mrs. hagan: i want to thank our presiding officer or bringing this forward and the other comments from the senator from washington and the senator from california are really highlighting the issue as that we're talking about. but i am proud to join my colleagues to support the violence against women reauthorization act. and i stand here today, during national women's history month, to urge my colleagues to take swift action on a bill that's critical to the well-being of women, our families, and our country. as hillary clinton declared more than 15 years ago in beijing at the fourth world conference on women, "human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights." if we take bold steps to better the lives of women, we will be taking bold steps to better the lives of children and families, too. it is disheartening in the last several months that petty partisanship and gamesmanship has held up policies critical to women's health, including this act. since its original passage in 199

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator hagan. senator shaheen. >> thank you. general mattis, i'd like to begin asking you about what's happening with pakistan. i had the opportunity to travel in august with chairman levin, actually, to afghanistan and to see firsthand what was happening at that time in afghanistan. w one of the things that we did was fly over the khyber pass. it was surprising to me because, obviously, i hadn't been there before to see just the extent of trucks and vehicles and people lined up to cross at the khyber pass. obviously, that was before the decision to close the pass in november. i wonder if you could talk about how important it will be to reopen the khyber pass. last week general frazier said being able to get through the pass would be important if we're going to be able to withdrawal people and equipment during the timetable that's been proposed. can you tell us how important that will be? >> yes, senator, i can. it is important to us. we have proven that we can sustain the campaign through the northern distribution network and t

hagan? >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you both for your testimony today and certainly for your service to our country. thank you. general alexander, the administration believes that it's crucial for critical infrastructure companies to carefully diagnose their cyber-vulnerabilities and the risks posed to the american people should these vulnerabilities be exploited and to take steps to eliminate these vulnerabilities. the administration has proposed legislation to ensure that industry stands up to these responsibilities as a matter of national security. the administration's also seeking to extend the signature based defense that the nsa and u.s. cybercommand have developed for d.o.d. critical infrastructure. since the administration seeking to implement both approaches, the implication is that neither one alone is seen as sufficient to meet the threat. others, however, take the position that information sharing in conjunction with the national security agencies defensive solution would be enough, that it's not neces

hagan? >> thank you, mr. chairman and general fraser and general jacoby also, thanks very much for your service. i couldn't agree more with what senator udall just said about trying to ramp down the desire in our country for narcotics. i wanted to ask a question about ecuador. the 2009 closing of the cooperative security location at the air force base in ecuador and the ejection of the u.s. ambassador in april of last year has really stressed the u.s./ecuadorian bilateral ties. general fraser, how would you characterize the current status of the counter-narcotics cooperation between the u.s. and the government of ecuador and then what needs to be done to strengthen our cooperation with regard to both counter terrorism and counter narcotics? >> we continue to engage with the military in ecuador. we have good military to military relations with them. they are working closely with their neighbors as well. we have seen an impact, especially from the maritime traffic that now is able and uses ecuador to depart. we

hagan? >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you for holding this hearing. i think it's extremely important, because i do know that there is millions of people in our country today that are obviously suffering in chronic pain. and dr. maixner, all of you welcome. and i appreciate the expertise that we have here as well as the personal experts. dr. maixner, you seem very optimistic in your testimony about the future for pain

mr. chairman. thank you, gentlemen. >> senator hagan, senator chairman >> thank you for your service. you have our respect and admiration and i does have a few questions i want to ask you about the economy. director on page 28 you prepare remarks to talk about the challenges to the global economy and also to energy. i want to specifically ask you about the guidelines for secretary pineda identified with regard to blockades of hormuz, which i don't think it takes a fertile imagination to see if there was some sort of action by israel against iran because they are concerned about their nuclear capability, that there would be retaliation. part of that could well be a blockade, which i'm confident we could break the blockade, but i just want to ask you when 20% of the worlds oil supply transits the straits, what is the impact on oil prices of the geopolitical issues that we see in the middle east? in other words, does the threat of a possible action by israel against iran and possible retaliation which would include a blockade affect worldwide oil prices? >> yes, sir, it does. and for the

hagan? >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you both for your testimony today and certainly for your service to our country. thank you. general alexander, the administration believes that it's crucial for critical infrastructure companies to carefully diagnose their cyber-vulnerabilities and the risks posed to the american people should these vulnerabilities be exploited and to take steps to eliminate these vulnerabilities. the administration has proposed legislation to ensure that industry stands up to these responsibilities as a matter of national security. the administration's also seeking to extend the signature based defense that the nsa and u.s. cybercommand have developed for d.o.d. critical infrastructure. since the administration seeking to implement both approaches, the implication is that neither one alone is seen as sufficient to meet the threat. others, however, take the position that information sharing in conjunction with the national security agencies defensive solution would be enough, that it's not neces