mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come to the floor today -- and before i speak, i would like to ask unanimous consent that -- that senator boxer of california be the next democratic senator speaking after i conclude and senator hutchison concludes from the republican side. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: reserving the right to object. what's the pending business before the senate? the presiding officer: the pending business is the motion to concur to h.r. 2965 that. is the pending business. and as i understand the request from the senator from washington on the democratic side, that senator boxer will be the next democrat recognized. mrs. mur craymrs. murray: folloe republican leader. mr. mccain: maybe i'm wrong but i thought the time would be either -- mrs. murray: the senator is correct. i'm merely asking that the -- the presiding officer: the time will be equally divided between now and 3:00 and the senators may speak on either subject. mr. mccain: i thank the chair. mrs. murray:

jervis murray. mr. omar applied for a medallion and was denied his permit, primarily because he has not fulfilled his full-time driving requirement. it is that simple. even by his own count, which was in the opening brief, where they say in 2005 he spent 77 ships, 2006, 76 ships, and 2008, 84 shifts, he would not have made a requirement for more than two out of the last four years. there is a question about whether or not mr. omar has been in the industry. he made drive a little bit, but the burden is on him to prove to us that he drove, and not for us to prove to anyone else that he drove. it is up to mr. omar to keep these records and to deliver his records accordingly in order to obtain a permit. the permit is not an entitlement. i recognize mr. omar has been on the list a long time, but it is not an entitlement. it is something he must work to obtain. as far as the test is concerned, each medallion applicant is given a test. they are all given a basic texaco driving test. the get three opportunities

mr. murray -- >> we're not in the business of trying to deny permits. >> are there any proceedings going on against the medallion holders that are not indicated by audit. >> why would it be a fine and not replication. >> they are letting us know what the problem might have been. if someone came and and said, i broke a foot and i was out of commission for six years. here is all of my documentation. i did not realize. they would look at that and say, ok. if they cannot prove to us that they can drive. >> is is quite a large number? >> yes, and i believe that we sent out fines. >> this question had to do with medallion boulders. you used the broken foot example and all of that. there is no broken foot. >> that is correct. we are sorry that you had to go to ethiopia for a family matter. we cannot look back and forth. we're going to deny you a medallion. >> the result can be harsh but the short answer is yes. the standard is something like four out of five years. there might be a year where things are tough. some sword given this year based -- some are given this year based upon the process.

mr. murray to get the information. >> i will say february 10, a thursday. february 10, you're so middle -- your submittal is due. that is prior to the hearing. i think we have a motion. commissioner garcia: watch it failed after all this work. >> the motion is from commissioner garcia to continue this matter to march 9, 2011. the public hearing is held and closed. it is to allow time for the mta to analyze the way bills for 2009 and 2010. additional briefing is allowed by both parties, with mr. alexander due four thursdays prior and the mta due one prior. commissioner fung: aye. vice president goh: no. president peterson: aye. commissioner hwang: no. >> the vote is 3-2. the matter is continued to march 9. thank you. president peterson: when you are ready, we can call item nine. we have already taken care of item eight during housekeeping. >> : item nine, our last item. appeal number 10-19. wayne allen and theresa fulks versus the zoning administrator. it is the protest of the granting of a permit to carmen roman mariurray variances to construct a structure

mr. murray, you also have three minutes of rebuttals. >> i would like to answer some of the things that have come up. ms. fulks has pointed that a few times that they tried to build on the lot and were unsuccessful. as mr. sanchez pointed out, they were not designed -- they were not denied the permit because of the design. they did not follow through on the process. that is the telling argument. it is not fair for them to say the permit was denied so we have to build something very small. they did not do their due diligence and did not follow the process to the end. that is why the permit was denied. also, one of the property owners on 48 avenue stated that there are no tall buildings on the block. there are. there are some new buildings and they are all taller. they are very good and they do fit in the character. i was born and raised on 47th avenue around the corner. when i was a young person, there were no taller buildings back there. but then on the highway at 48th avenue there was a massive building built, at least five stories tall. it has in many units in it. that is an example of a b

mrs. murray: the senator will yield for a question. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i would ask if he is aware if the bill before us that we do not have enough votes for, has gone through a long committee process, the transportation and housing bill that i worked with, i worked with my republican colleague, i didn't agree with all of his requests, but i gave him a lot in this bill. we worked our way through it and passed it out of subcommittee. passed it out of full committee. a commit that the minority leader is a member of. all of the bills that are involved in this omnibus bill, every one of them went through a long, long process of committee hearings, subcommittee markups and passage and full committee markups and passage. the changes to this bill that have come to the floor have come as a result, not of change in policy, but because we all were told in order to get an omnibus passed, we had to reduce the amount of that bill that's inned out of committee each

reed of rhode island, menendez, begich, cardin, conrad, nelson of florida, klobuchar, murray, mikulski, dodd and lugar. mr. reid: i ask the mandatory quorum be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimoui askunanimous consent y committee be discharged from the nominations of -- presidential nomination 235, darrell james bell, and presidential nomination 2348, edwin sloan, one to be united states marshall in -- martial in monday mob and the other to be united states marshal in the district of columbia. that the senate proceed en bloc to the nominations, they be confirmed en bloc, and the motions to reconsider be laid on the table, that any statements relating to the nominations appear in the record at the appropriate place as if read and the president of the united states be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, for the benefit of all senators, we just sent to the house again the food safety legislation, extremely important legislation. i jus

mr. gotbaum. we'll start of the five-minute rounds. it will be me, senator murray, senator isaacson. then senator bentsen, senator casey. mr. gotbaum, on page 8 of your testimony, you said, "however, neither program has the resources to fully satisfy pbgc's obligations in the long run." i read that last night and i circled it. i said what is the long run? what is the long run? you refer to that in your written testimony couple of times, saying that things are ok now but in the long run you may not have. what is the long run? >> let's start by talking 20 years, ok? >> oh. >> the pbgc has had a financial deficit, reported a financial deficit for 30 of its 36 years. that means that when you compare the cash that we have on hand with the obligations we will pay over the next 30 years, plus, bigger -- discounting the present value committee of the dishes are bigger than the cash we have. what has happened is congress has stepped in in some way and said maybe your premiums are too low and maybe you need to change. as a result, we have neglected to pay benefits for those 36 years -- for 30 t

reid of nevada, gillibrand, schumer, casey, murray, franken, bingaman, cardin, inouye, bennet of colorado, shaheen, menendez, boxer, lautenberg, dodd and durbin. mr. reid: mr. president, regarding the h.r. 847, the zagroda legislation, have we stated that motion and have i asked that the reading of the names be waived? the presiding officer: the motion has been state and the names have been read. mr. reid: mr. president, i now ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to calendar number 662, s. 3991 our upon the conclusion of the impeachment proceedings and the senate resume legislative session. and that the senate then resume the motion to proceed to calendar number 662 and the mandatory quorum required under rule 22 as it relates to all these matters and i filed cloture on be waived. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate resume consideration of the articles of impeachment against judge g. thomas porteous -- let's try this again. his name is judge g. thomas porteous jr. the district of louis

murray, gary michaels and mary booker. from the office of strategic planning, doug and stuart benjamin, and from oet, ira, bruce camano, jerry, rot small and nicholas. i will now present. >> good morning, mr. chairman and commissioners. we have two items before you that will promote and facilitate innovation and communications technology. a notice of proposed rulemaking that seeks to promote this innovation by updating of the commission's experimental radio service rules and a notice of inquiry that examines how advanced radio technologies and new models of spectrum management techniques can advance innovation to increase and use and stretched the capacity of the valuable spectrum resource. many innovative ideas that have found widespread use by the public and all sectors of the economy can be traced back to ideas and inspiration developed under experimental radio licenses. it signals include the development of wi-fi and the technology found in today's 3g systems as well as the lte technology power in the latest high-tech devices. the experiment already the service has also been instrumental in fostering development in cutting its medical devices, such as in a plant tour and devices and t

murray, gary michaels and mary booker. from the office of strategic planning, doug and stuart benjamin, and from oet, ira, bruce camano, jerry, rot small and nicholas. i will now present. >> good morning, mr chairman and commissioners. we have two items before you that will promote and facilitate innovation and communications technology. a notice of proposed rulemaking that seeks to promote this innovation by updating of the commission's experimental radio service rules and a notice of inquiry that examines how advanced radio technologies and new models of spectrum management techniques can advance innovation to increase and use and stretched the capacity of the valuable spectrum resource. many innovative ideas that have found widespread use by the public and all sectors of the economy can be traced back to ideas and inspiration developed under experimental radio licenses. it signals include the development of wi-fi and the technology found in today's 3g systems as well as the lte technology power in the latest high-tech devices. the experiment already the service has also been instrumental in fostering development in cutting its medical devices, such as in a plant tour and devices and th