mrs. shaheen: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: thank you, mr. president. i ask that the quorum call being lifted. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: i ask that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. hurricane katrina thank you. mr. president, i rise today in support of the 2012 national defense authorization act. the critical piece of legislation that we're now working on that will strengthen our national security, provide four our troops and their -- for our troops and their families and provide oversight of american taxpayer dollars. over the last half strirks the senate has -- over the last half strirks the as soon as has successfully passed a defense authorization bill without fail every year. this strong tradition of bipartisanship continues today under the joint leer leadershipf senators levin and mcdeign i want to thank the chairman and ranking member as well as the majority and minority staff for their dedicated and tireles

mr. president, i see the distinguished majority whip on the floor. i would like to propound a u.c. and if he disagrees, please tell me. i'd like to be recognized for five minutes followed by senator shaheen from new hampshire for five minutes, followed by senator enzi for five minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. durbin: i would just like to add my name at the end of the queue for at least five minutes. mr. isakson: no objection with me. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. isakson: i appreciate the time. i want to thank senator hatch of utah for 16 continuous years of work on the balanced budget amendment. it was his fight in 1995 that brought that amendment to the floor within one vote in the united states senate, and it's his fight today to bring it back for another vote. you know, i have listened to all of the speeches, not every one of them but a substantial number of them, but i come back to three points. you know, facts are stubborn things and there are three facts. we are spending too much. the second fact, we're promising too much to our people. the third fact, we're borrowing too much. you know, i ran a real estate company for 22 years. real estate i

mrs. shaheen: i rise to speak on the confirmation of norm eisen. in a year, ambassador eisen has proven to be a strong advocated for the united states -- a strong advocate for the united states. he brought renewed focus to our defense relations with the czech republic, resulting in expansion of our bilateral and nato military cooperation, and the czech republic increased its troop contribution in afghanistan and strongly supported international efforts on iran, and the u.s. policy on israel with the e.u. and the united nations during his tenure. as chair of the senate foreign relations subcommittee on european affairs, i had the privilege of chairing both of ambassador eisen's nomination hearings. throughout the nomination process, he has demonstrated a strong understanding of the complexities of our relationship with the czech republic, a drive to fully represent american interests and values, and really a special humility in having the opportunity to represent the united states. so, i would hope that all of our colleagues in the senate this eveni

mrs. shaheen: thank you. mr.president, i'm here to urge that my colleagues in congress and the obama administration provide the funding for the low-income home energy assistance program or liheap. as you know in connecticut, liheap provides immediate critical heating assistance for families and seniors in need during these freezing cold winter months. last year more than 45,000 new hampshire households received liheap funds. that's more than 106,000 individuals. but, unfortunately, this year many of those families have been on waiting lists. funding for the program has been in limbo at a time when temperatures are dropping. now, the department of health and human services here in washington has released $1.7 billion but so much more is needed. and making matters worse, the energy information administration projects a 10% increase in the price of heating oil this winter. that's the highest average winter price ever predicted. in new hampshire, more than half of our homes rely on home heating oil. it's one of the h

mrs. shaheen: thank you, mr. president. i came to the floor today to echo the comments and concerns that we've heard in the last few minutes from my colleagues on the armed services committee regarding this house-inserted language on our nation's military depose, arsenals, and shipyards. i want to begin by saying how much i appreciate your assurances, chairman levin, as well as those of ranking member mccain and chairman mcewe nevment and congressman smith in the house that there were no intended changes to the law in this language. i think that's very important for us to say to our constituents so that they are reassured. i also appreciate chairman levin's commitment to examine this issue closely in the coming year to prevent any unintended consequences that this language might have on our nation's industrial repair facilities, including the por ports por porl shipyard which i think is very important to our military capabilities. now, with that said, i'd have to say that i share the concern that has been expressed about th

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. mrid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be terminated. following morning business, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 11:00 this morning. the majority will control the first half, republicans the second half. i would ask consent that the order be changed to allow both sides a half an hour. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: following morning business, the senate will be in executive session to consider the nomination of caitlin halligan to be a judge for the district of columbia circuit. at noon, there will be a cloture vote. i ask to make sure the consent i just asked doesn't change that at all. there will be a little less time to debate that, but i think that would be sufficient. at noon there will be

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 leader remarks the senate will be in a period of morning business for two hours. the republicans will control the first half and the majority will control the final half. following morning business the senate will be in consideration of s.j. res. 10 and s.j. res. 24. both resolutions regarding the balanced budget amendments. the republican leader and i yesterday arrived at an agreement that we would have eight hours of debate on this matter. i think it should be good debate. people have been looking forward to this debate for some time. some are more interested than others, and this should give them ample time to say whatever they feel about this issue that's ripe for debate here in the senate, and certainly votes we'll have tomorrow morning. the senate will recess from 12:30 to 2:15 for our weekly caucus meetings. h.r. 1633 is at the desk and due for second reading. the presiding officer: the cler

>> centre shaheen, i do not think it is an award, but i think you get special recognition to greatest price paid trying to get to a meeting of the foreign relations committee. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i hope you will acknowledge that in the future will have legislation pending before this committee. >> absolutely. we owe you. >> you should have seen the other guy. [laughter] let me begin first by thanking both of you for the efforts you all have been making to address iran's move toward achieving a nuclear weapon. i do want to share the sentiment that has already been expressed by my colleagues on this committee that i believe the menendez-kirk amendment is going to pass. i would hope that if there are suggestions that the administration has about things you would like to see different in that amendment, that you would share those with us because i think, as you have heard, we're going to act on this within the next 24 hours. it would be hopeful to know what else you might like to see happen. having said that, both senator menendez and senator kirk raised concern that the sanctions have not been doing enough that have already been designated, and particularly with respec

mr. stanley. >> senator shaheen, it's a privilege to share with you today g.e.'s thoughts on addressing domestic and global water supply issues. as the chief technology officer for g.e.'s global water business it's my responsibility to effectively manage the about $100 million a year that g.e. invests in clean water development. i'm delighted to outline for you g.e.'s efforts in this critical area. g.e. energy has more than 100,000 global employees and generates about $40 million of revenue annually. we provide integrated product and service solutions in all areas of energy and water industries including conventional and renewable technologies. our water business that i have responsibility for has more than 8,000 employees in 130 countries around the world that. includes 400 scientists and engineered located in ten major technical centers who are dedicated to developing solutions in collaboration with our customers to address issues associated with water purity and water scarcity. we also have access to g.e.'s network of global research centers. g.e. research as