mrs. shaheen: i would -- mr. harkin: i yield. mrs. shaheen: i would thank you, senator harkin, for your efforts over the years to try and move us to a biennial budget and a process for getting a budget done that makes a lot more sense and allows us to be more thoughtful about how we're supporting programs in the federal government. thank you very much. mr. harkin: just make sure i'm on your bill, okay. mrs. shaheen: we will. mr. harkin: you're right on, and senator isakson. it is a bipartisan -- it should be a bipartisan effort. i talked to a number of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who feel the same way as we do about this. so hopefully we can have a good bipartisan approach on this. mr. president, i just wanted to take a few moments to talk about the budget and what we're confronting right now here in the congress. first of all, we all agree -- i think we should all agree that the deficits we have now are unsustainable. they are a drag on our economy. they jeopardize our future. they've got to be brought under control.

mrs. shaheen: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: thank you very much, mr. president. and thank you to senator landrieu for those nice words and also for your leadership. i think we all are indebted to senator landrieu and ranking member snowe for their leadership of the small business committee and their leadership in bringing forward this legislation that's before us, the small business innovation research program. they worked very hard in the last session of congress to get this bill through the senate and it would have gotten passed then, except the house adjourned before taking it up. so i'm trailed we're getting back -- this reallied that we're -- thrilled that we're getting back to it in this session. i think most of us recognize that our future economic prosperity depends on whether this country continues to be a leader in science and innovation. we can't compete with india and china and other third-world countries for low-wage manufacturing jobs. that's not our future. america's future is to be the global leader in s

mrs. shaheen: thank you very much, senator boxer. the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mrs. shaheen: thank you very much, senator boxer. thank you for your leadership and thank you to senator mikulski for the work that she has done to ork us this afternoon to point out just what is being proposed by our colleagues on the other -- in the other chamber. we need to address our long-term deficit, we all know that. we need to make some hard choices to balance the budget, but there's a right way and a wrong way to do that. and the right way to do that is to first look at things like eliminating the billions of dollars and duplicative programs that were identified just this week by the g.a.o. the wrong way is to address the deficit by doing what our colleagues in the house did when they slashed funding for services that are critical to middle-class families and our future prosperity. the house republican budget cuts include a $1.1 billion cut to head start and childcare. this is money that is critical to so many working famil

mrs. shaheen: thank you. i'm here, madam president, to join my colleagues who have been down on the floor today with the leadership of senator boxer to oppose amendments that would undermine the clean air act. the clean air act has been one of the greatest public health success stories we've ever had in this country. in 1970 republicans and democrats came together to pass this landmark piece of legislation to address air pollution that was leading to countless deaths and lifetimes spent battling chronic illnesses, illnesses such as asthma and emphysema. that legislation was signed into law by president richard nixon. it's very clear that the threat of greenhouse gas emissions to public health is real. two years ago the e.p.a. found that manmade greenhouse gas emissions threatened the health and welfare of the american people. their decision wasn't made in a vacuum, and despite what some of the supporters of these harmful amendments may claim, e.p.a.'s decision was based on the best peer-reviewed science. they

mrs. shaheen: madam president, i know we are about to close the senate, but i wanted to take a minute or two to add my voice to all of the women in the senate to have been here today and thank you for your leadership in encouraging us to honor geraldine pe ferraro. i remember being on the floor of the 1984 democratic convention when she gave her speech for vice president of the united states. and the -- it was electric, listening to her epitomized for me and i'm sure for every woman there the fact that women could do anything. and geraldine ferraro worked tirelessly on behalf of women's rights and human rights around the globe. she dedicated her ideals to respect and equality and she lived a career that called all women to challenge the glass ceilings of the world. just because one woman breaks the glass ceiling, it doesn't mean that opportunities are open to every woman. and she understood that and continued to encourage all of the ceilings across the world be broken for women. her life was a powerful example for all of us here who are honoring her today and for our daughters and granddaugh

conrad, c the kimmage, yuval of mexico, h, in, menendez, casey, shaheen, klobuchar, carns, boxer, franken, feinstein and bingaman. >> mr. president i ask consent demand for a quorum under the ak rule 20 to be waived.nder >> without objection. the presid m i now withdraw my motion andw proceed. >> the center has that right.hen >> mr. president? when an american sits in theurch kitchen after table and sorts fs through their finances as they oftenen do, partisan politics don't figure into the equation. when the families we represent calculate their own budgets, when they add up the cost of gas and groceries, tuition in some instances, and other b necessities, they care more about the bottom lines and the l news headlines. and when a family was desperately counts the dwindlinf number of weeks before the sun and plymouth insurance runs oute that family doesn't have time to the most political points durink any given week.sc that's because when you have toc make the tough decisions that go into any budget those decisions have to be practical, not political.practical, not they have to be realistic, notlr ideological.gues t se

shaheen, snowe. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: thank you. mr. president, we come to the floor with

shaheen. >> thank you, mr.hairman and thank you both for being here and for your stamina for still being here. i think some of us think that if we could design our democracy again we could put in a required percentage for women's participation. that would make some of us happier. >> as they did in afghanistan and that's one reason that they have that percentage which is an interesting innovation. >> you both talked about the need for a comprehensive approach in afghanistan. so both the military commitment and the civilian commitment, and i applauded the creation of the senior civilian coordinator back in january of 2010 and i know nato has recently appointed a new civil issian coordinator, am, simon gas, but i'm concerned that that coordinator has the sufficient authority to do what the position was envisioned doing on the ground in afghanistan so i wonder if you could speak to that and to also the coordination that's involved between general petraeus, your command as the nato head on the ground there and the c

a package coming udall off new mexico, hagan, menendez, casey, shaheen, klobuchar, carvin, boxer, franken, feinstein and bingaman.en, >> mresident, i ask unanimous consent of the quoruma under the rule 20 to be waived. >> i now withdraw my motion to mrreid: proceed. de the senator has that right.ri >> mr. president, when an american family sits in the tabe kitchen at the table and sorts s through their finances as they , often do, partisan politics pols don't fit into the equation. fas when the families we represent calculate their own budgets, they have the cost of gas and groceries, tuition in some r instances and other necessitiest they care more t about the bottm lines and the news headlines. da when a family dispute recountsng the dwindling number of weeks before its the unemploymentks insurance runs out, the familynt doesn't have time to keep track of which side scored the most political points during anyho given week. that's because when you have tol make the tough decisions to go into any budget, those decisions have to be practical, not political. the have to be realistic, not ideological. ha often tell ourselves

florida, whitehouse, conrad, begich, udall of new mexico, casey, shaheen, klobuchar, cardin, boxer, franken, feinstein and bingeham. mr. reid: i ask that the mandatory quorum call under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now withdraw my potion to -- my motion to proceed. the presiding officer: the senator has that right. mr. reid: mr. president, when an american family sits in the churchillen at their table and sorts through their finances, as they often do, partisan politics don't figure into that equation. when the families we represent calculate their own budgets when they add up the cost of gas and groceries, tuition in some instances, and other necessities, they care more about the bottomlines than news headlines. when a family desperately counts the dwindling number of weeks when the unemployment insurance runs out, that family doesn't have time to keep track of who scored the political points. when you have to make the tough decisions going into any budget those decisions have to be practical, not political. we often tell ourselves and our colleagues that we should be as re

florida, whitehouse, conrad, begich, udall of new mexico, casey, shaheen, klobuchar, cardin, boxer, franken, feinstein and bingeham. mr. reid: i ask that the mandatory quoru call under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now withdraw my potion to -- my motion to proceed. the presiding officer: the senator has that right. mr. reid: mr. president, when an american family sits in the churchillen at their table and sorts through their finances, as they often do, partisan polits don't figure into that equation. when the families we represent calculate their own budgets when they add up the cost of gas and groceries, tuition in some instances, and other necessits, they care more about the bottomlines than news headlines. when a family desperately counts the dwindling number of weeks when the unemployment insurance runs out, that famil doesn't have time to keep track of who scored the political points. when you have to make the tough decisions going into any budget those decisions have to be practical, not political. we often tell ourselves and our colleagues that we should be as responsi

hereby appoint the honorable jeanne shaheen, a senator from the state of new hampshire, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following any leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business for an hour, senators will be permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each during that period of time. the majority will control the first 30 minutes. the republicans will control the final 30 minutes. following moshings the senate will resume consideration of s. 23, the patent reform bill. the senate will recess from 12:30 until 2:15 to allow for our weekly caucus meetings. senators should expect roll call votes in relation to amendments to the patent reform bill throughout the day. madam president, i'll ask unanimous consent that senator toomey of pennsylvania be permitted to speak as if in morning business at 2:15 p.m. for up to 15 minutes in order to deliver his maiden speech in the united states senate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i i understand that h.r. 1 is due for its second reading. the presiding offic

hereby appoint the honorable jeanne shaheen, a senator from the state of new hampshire, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following any leader remarks, the senate will proceed to morning business until 11:00 a.m. today. senators will be permitted 0 speak for up to 10 minutes each during that time. the majority will control the first half and the republicans will control the final half. following morning business the senate will proceed to consideration of the reauthorization of the small business innovation act, s. 493. the senate will recess from 12:30 until 2:15 for the weekly caucus meetings. at 2:15 senator coats will be recognized to deliver his maiden speech. roll call votes in relation to the amendments for the small business jobs bill are possible during today's session. madam president, this bill is really another jobs bill and really a very important bill. i did an event -- a press event yesterday with the chairman of the committee, senator landrieu, and it was a good meeting. we talked about some of the things that h

mr. president, my amendment is based on the legislation i introduced earlier this year, obviously quite recently. the cosponsors of that bill, which was called "the fair prescription drug competition act," were senators shaheen, senator leahy, who chairs the judiciary committee, senator inouye, senator stabenow, and senator schumer, who's on the judiciary committee. i want to acknowledge that the managers of this bill, chairman leahy and chairman grassley, have been steadfast partners in pushing the fair trade commission to investigate further consumer access to generic drugs, which is a huge problem. we do a lot of talking about the health care bill and about a lot of other things about saving money and saving consumers money and this is a bill which would do that if i were allowed to -- to -- to actually proceed to it. so this amendment eliminates one of the most widely abused loopholes that brand-name drug companies use to extend their shelf life, their monopoly, and limit consumer access to lower-cost generic drugs which are, in fact, just as good, which are, in fact, just the same but they have a nice system to work on that. it ends the marketing of so-called authorized generic drugs during the 180-day