mrs. shaheen: thank you, mr. president. i'm really pleased to join my colleagues senator cardin and earlier senator murray, this morning in commemorating international women's day. it is a day observed the -- around the world and celebrates the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. it's a day which recognizes the obstacles that women still face in the struggle for equal rights and equal opportunities. one year ago today i along with a group of bipartisan senators introduced and passed a resolution in the senate recognizing the significance of the 100th anniversary of international women's day. today's the 101st anniversary. and like the centennial milestone before it, it is a testament to the dedication and determination of women and men around the tworld address -- around the world to address gender and equality for the good of all people. there are more than 3.3 billion women in the world today. and across the globe women are participating in the political, social, and economic lif

mrs. shaheen: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. stphaoepb intervene thank you. when i talk to small business owners in new hampshire, one thing i notice consistently is access to capital is a real challenge. while our communities banks have increased their lending, capital access from large banks and other entities has been very hard to come by. as a result, small businesses fighting to grow and create jobs continue to be constrained in their efforts. now, i'm glad that the senate is planning to move forward with this legislation that will address capital formation and that will take some additional steps to help those small companies get the financing they need to grow. but as we take that step forward, it's equally important that we don't also take a step back. that's why i believe it's critical for the senate to extend two venues of small business financing as part of this debate. the export import bank and the small business' administration 504 refinancing program. these programs, which

mrs. shaheen: i am pleased to join my colleagues on the floor today to support this crucial legislation to reauthorize the violence against women act. it provides essential services to women and families across the united states, and i have seen it in my home state of new hampshire where one program that i want to talk about funds services, training officers and prosecution. it is called stop. it provides law enforcement the tools they need to combat domestic violence. this was a life-saving service for a woman from new hampshire named kathy who was in an abusive relationship for six years. she was being -- kathy was being abused as often as twice a week, frequently leaving her with black eyes and bruises. once her partner mark threw her down the stairs. things worsened after the couple had their house foreclosed on, and one day mark grabbed kathy by the throat, lifted her up off the floor and dropped her and began punching her again and again in front of their 3-year-old child. this was the last straw. kathy finally mustered the courage to contact a friend who helped her call the local po

mr. chairman. >> senator shaheen. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, deputy secretary hayes and miss hayes. we're pleased that you're here today. mr. secretary, you talked about your new role to help develop a tourism strategy for the country and the importance of protecting our outdoors and our beautiful environment and special places as being critical to that tourism strategy. and as you know, the land and water conservation fund has been one of the federal programs that has been most successful at protecting our special places and wildlife habitats and public recreation. in new hampshire we've got all kinds of examples from the lwcf. our umbaga national refuge have all been protected through the land and water conservation fund. i was pleased to see additional funding in the proposed budget for that program answered know that you said you're committed to getting full funding for lwcf by 2014. i wonder if you could talk about your plans for how we should get to full funding and whether you think there is a dedicated funding stream, an addi

mrs. shaheen: i am pleased to join my colleagues on the floor today to support this crucial legislation to reauthorize the violence against women act. it provides essential services to women and families across the united states, and i have seen it in my home state of new hampshire where one program that i want to talk about funds services, training officers and prosecution. it is called stop. it provides law enforcement the tools they need to combat domestic violence. this was a life-saving service for a woman from new hampshire named kathy who was in an abusive relationship for six years. she was being -- kathy was being abused as often as twice a week, frequently leaving her with black eyes and bruises. once her partner mark threw her down the stairs. things worsened after the couple had their house foreclosed on, and one day mark grabbed kathy by the throat, lifted her up off the floor and dropped her and began punching her again and again in front of their 3-year-old child. this was the last straw. kathy finally mustered the courage to contact a friend who helped her call the local po

mrs. shaheen: i am pleased to join my colleagues on the floor today to support this crucial legislation toreauthorize the violence against women act. it provides essential services to women and families across the united states, and i have seen it in my home state of new hampshire where one program that i want to talk about funds services, training officers and prosecution. it is called stop. it provides law enforcement the tools they need to combat domestic violence. this was a life-saving service for a woman from new hampshire named kathy who was in an abusive relationship for six years. she was being -- kathy was being abused as often as twice a week, frequently leaving her with black eyes and bruises. once her partner mark threw her down the stairs. things worsened after the couple had their house foreclosed on, and one day mark grabbed kathy by the throat, lifted her up off the floor and dropped her and began punching her again and again in front of their 3-year-old child. this was the last straw. kathy finally mustered the courage to contact a friend who helped her call the local pol

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator shaheen. senator manchin. >> as an american in west virginia, i appreciate your service. i'm very proud of what you do for our country. i've got problems, as you know, with the presidents that we have and the direction we've gone in afghanistan. i've been very open about that. with that, what you all do is unbelievable. what i would like to ask i think starting with general mattis is that, you know, i know that now we have reported we have 150,000 contractors compared to 94,000 men and women in uniform in afghanistan. to me, that is troubling. do you know the percentage of the contractors that would be ex-military? how many of them were military, sir? >> i -- i wouldn't even hazard a guess. but i'll take the question, senator, and try to get an answer for you. you mean of the americans who are -- >> here's what i run into, sir. in the airports i stop the so-called soldiers of fortune, if you will. i ask them where they're going, going on the front line in afghanistan. i ask them also, how many

mrs. shaheen: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: camr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask consent that the call of the quorum be terminated. officer without objection. mr. reid: madam president, i'm pleased that my friend, senator mcconnell, and i have been able to reach an agreement to approve a number of judicial nominations in the coming weeks. the senior senator from vermont, chairman leahy, has kindly added his wisdom to make this a better agreement. for that i'm very grateful. this is a victory for our nation's justice system. while i still believe the senate should confirm all these nominations this afternoon to address the judicial vacancy crisis we face had this country, the step forward is one we should all feel good about. the senate will hold up-or-down votes on seven district court judges before the end of this work period. we'll vote on another five district court and two circuit court nominations by monday, may 7. on monday, the senate will consider miranda d

mrs. shaheen: thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor this evening to join my colleagues who were here earlier to talk about the bipartisan senate-passed transportation bill. i want to give credit to senator barbara boxer, chair of the environment and public works committee and senator inhofe from oklahoma who is the ranking member for all of their good work on this legislation. they joined three other committees which also passed their portions of the bill with strong bipartisan support. you know, mr. president, i think that we could all agree that transportation is one of this federal government's core responsibilities, and it has been far too long since congress updated and reformed federal transportation programs. every committee that worked on the senate's long-term transportation bill passed it with a strong bipartisan vote, and when the bill came to the floor, 74 senators from both parties voted in favor of the transportation bill. now i urge the house of representatives to follow our lead in the senate and to

mrs. shaheen: madam president, i'm proud to be able to join my colleagues on the floor this afternoon in honoring senator barbara mikulski for her service to maryland and for the endless contribution she has made to the people of this country. it's really hard to adequately describe a political icon as barbara mikulski is, and for all of us women in politics, she is a model of what we can aspire to, what we would hope to aspire to. and i just want to tell a simple story about barb that i think reflects her ability to get along with people, her zest for life, as so many of my colleagues have described, and the connection that she makes that makes a difference for people. she and i were on a flight with four other senators to the security forum in halifax, nova scotia a couple of years ago and the weather was bad so our flight was diverted to bangor, maine. it was winter in new england and of course when there's bad weather in new england in the winter, it sticks around for awhile. so we were trapped overnight in banger. -- in bangor. now, most of us just sat there waiting to figure out what was go

mr. chairman. >> thank you senator shaheen. mr. mansion. >> let me say to both of you as an american in the west virginia i appreciate your service and i very proud of what you do for the country. i'd like to dillinger a few things. as you know what the present we have i've been very open about that but with that, what you'll do is unbelievable, and what i would like to ask starting with general mattis is i know that now we have 150,000 contractors compared to 94,000 men and women in uniform. do you know the percentage of the contractors that would be x military, how many of them were military, sir? >> i wouldn't even hazard to guess i would take the question you mean of the americans to the airports i stopped the soldiers of fortune if you will going on the front line in afghanistan i ask also can any of your x military, almost to the t100%. and this question if it hadn't been from the contract in the trip to do with a higher salary would you still be in the military? almost unequivocably, yes. >> something tells me something is w

mr. chairman. >> senator shaheen? >> thank you, mr. chairman. we are pleased you are here today. we talked about your new role to help develop the tourism strategy for the country. and the importance of protecting our outdoors and our beautiful environment in special places as being critical to that tourism strategy. the land and water conservation fund has been one of the federal programs that has been most successful in protecting our special places and wildlife habitats in its in new hampshire, we have all kinds of examples. parts of the appalachian trails that are in new hampshire have been protected. i was pleased to see additional funding in the proposed budget for that program. i know you have said you are committed to getting full funding by 2014. i wonder if you could talk about how you can get to full funding and whether you think there is a dedicated funding stream, an additional dedicated funding stream that we can add to what has been proposed by congress, but has only been fully funded twice since the program started? >> i agree with you. it is part of our conservat

mr. president, it's my understanding that senator shaheen no longer intends to offer her amendment. and i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll quorum call: quorum call: mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. senate not in order. please take your conversations out of the senate. the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, the republican leader and i have had a discussion this afternoon several times, but i think it's fair to say that he and i both believe that we should finish this bill tomorrow. there is a very important event tonight that does not mean much to anyone outside of the senate family, but to us being able to recognize susan collins on a very special occasion in her life. we're going to leave here so that people that want to go to that event can do that. we'll come in tomorrow and we have about three or four votes to complete. we have some other discussions about other matt

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. 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,t 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 thh 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 through our what we call multimodal, basically part by air,

shaheen. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i listened to all of your testimony earlier, and i'm confused, i think, as i think many of my constituents are, if supply is up and demand is down, why are we not seeing the market react in a way that -- why are we seeing gas prices go up so precipitously? and, you know, i appreciate the geopolitical impact on prices, but why is there not some leavening impact from having demand down. dr. gruenspecht? >> i would say that oil and oil products are really global market, and while supply is up in the united states and demand is down many tin the united stas has been discussed in the hearing, globally demand is still rising because of the developing countries. at the same time there's been discussion by my colleagues of some of the supply issues.that although it's not what your constituents would obviously like to hear. >> right. but it does speak to the fact that given that, even if we dramatically increase supply here and reduce demand, we're still going to be at the whim of what happens

mrs. boxer: i ask consent the mccain amendment 1669 as modified be withdrawn and the shaheen amendment numbered 1678 no longer be in order as these issues were revolved in the manager's package last evening. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: further that the carper amendment 1670 and the hutchison amendment 1658 no longer be in order as they no longer intend to offer these amendments. and finally, that there be two minutes equally divided prior to each vote and and all awfer afer the first vote be ten-minute votes. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: could i ask what the amendment is that is now pending before the body? the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question is on amendment 1810. mrs. boxer: i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. mrs. boxer: madam president, i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on amendment number 1810. if there's no further debate, all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the noes appear

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator sessions. senator shaheen? >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, gentlemen for being here this morning and for your service and hopefully i will keep you too much past lunch. i wanted to start, gende general kehler, as you know the treaty was an extremely difficult and contentious debate here in the senate. and your predecessor, general children, as those seven of the last eight commanders of strength, voiced their support for the tree which i think was great helpful in getting it done. but can you tell us little bit about how the implementation of the treaty is progressing? >> senator, i can. there are a number of segments in implementation of the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty that have to move forward together. the first statement is we need to eliminate those launchers that count against the overall treaty limits, and have not been in use for a very, very long time. for example, we call them phantoms, simply because they count on the books but they have been be activated for a very long time ago. some number of bombers, b-52's that are in the

mr. chairman. >> thank you come senator hagen. cementer shaheen? bixby for mr.n, general mattis, admiral mcraven, thank you for being her this morning and for your service to the country. general mattis, i'd like to begin asking you about what's happening with pakistan. i had the opportunity to travel in august with sharon levin to afghanistan and to see first hand what was happening at that time in afghanistan, and one of the things we did was flying over the past, and it was surprising to me because 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, and obviously that was before the decision to close the pass in november, and i wondered if you can talk about when pretended will be to reopen the khyber pass. last week general frazier said that being able to get through would be important if we are going to withdraw personnel and equipment on the timetable that's been proposed. can you talk about where we are into negotiating of reopening the path and how important will be? >> is sam -- yes,

mr. chairman. >> senator shaheen. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, deputy secretary hayes and ms.cretary, you talked about your new role to help develop a tourism strategy for the country. and the importance of protecting our outdoors and a bit of a garment and special places as being critical to that tourism strategy. and as you know the land and water conservation fund has been one of the federal programs, that has been no successful at protecting our special places and wildlife habitats and public recreation. in new hampshire we have all kinds of examples, from the lw see us, the national wildlife refuge, parts of the appalachian trail's that are in new hampshire have all been protected through the land and water conservation fund. i was pleased with the additional funding into proposed budget for the program. and i know that you said you are committed to getting full funding for lw cs by 2014. i wonder if you could talk about your plan for how we should get to full funding, and whether you think there is a dedicated funding stream, an additional dedicated funding stream we can

shaheen. >> thank you, mr. chairman. yes today i held a hearing on kiersarge.re sarg we heard from secretary of the navy and we heard from the former secretary of the navy and senator john warner and also some of the top ranking officials within the navy and the marines about what they are doing to implement energy efficiency and new sources of energy within the navy and among the marines who are on the front lines in afghanistan. we heard a couple of things that i think are important to this discussion. being able to look at alternative energy sources like grenoble's beckham be used in he field -- like renewalables that can be used in the field. there is a correlation between our dependence on fossil fuels and casualties on the battlefield. one of the things that i would hope you might address this morning and i would point out that i know the energy -- the department of energy is working closely with the navy and the department of agriculture on biofuels, which are a critical piece to reduce the dependence on foreign o

shaheen. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you gentlemen for being here this morning and for your service and hopefully i won't keep you too much past lunch. i wanted to start general taylor if i could was talking about new s.t.a.r.t. treaty implementation as you know, the treaty was an extremely difficult and contentious debate here in the senate and your predecessor, general chilton as well as seven of the last 10 voice their -- and getting it done but can you tell us a little bit about how the implementation of the treaty is progressing? >> senator, i can. there aren't number of segments in the implementation of the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty that have to move forward together. the first segment is that we need to eliminate those launchers that count against the overall treaty limits and have not been in use for a very long time. for example we call them phantom simply because they count on the looks but they have been deactivated a very long time ago. a number of bombers, and d50 twos need to be dismantled. t

florida, lautenberg, shaheen, bloomen that will, cardin, coons, feinstein, leahy, durbin, lieberman, schumer. cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance -- provided mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i have filed 17 cloture motions. the clerk has read the first one. there are 16 others. i would ask the chair if it would be in order for a unanimous consent request that the -- following the 16 nominations that were not yet read into the record, it would appear as if the same action occurred on those procedurally as the first one that was read. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: i now ask the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: and consent to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without

. >> senator shaheen, you haven't had a chance to ask questions. go ahead. >> thank you mr. chairman and mr. secretary for being here. yesterday i held a hearing on the uss at the naval shipyard and the was the naval committee. we heard from secretary of the navy brazos and former secretary of the navy and senator john warner and also some of the top-ranking officials with an uneasy and the marines about what they are doing to implement the energy efficiency and the navy and the marines who are on the front lines in afghanistan. we for a couple of things i think are important to this discussion. one is that being able to look at alternative energy sources like renewables that can be used in the field are critical, reducing our dependence on foreign oil is vital to our national defense, and there is a direct correlation between the dependence on fossil fuels and casualties on the battlefield. now, one of the things i would hope he might address this morning, and i would point out i know the energy, the department of energy is working closely with the navy with the department

. >> senator shaheen, you haven't had a chance to ask questions. go ahead. estimates before mr. sherman and mr. secretary for being here. yesterday i held a hearing on the uss at the norfolk naval shipyard the water so the committee, and we heard from the psychiatry of the navy, ray navis, former secretary of the navy and senator john warner, and also from some of the top-ranking officials within the navy and the marines about what they are doing to implement energy efficiency and new sources of energy within the navy and among the marines who are on the front lines in afghanistan, and we heard a couple of things i think are important to this discussion. one is being able to look at alternative energy sources that renewables that can be used in the field are critical to reducing the dependence on foreign oil. it's vital to our national defense and that there's a direct correlation between our dependence on fossil fuels and casualties on the battlefield. one of the things i would hope you might address this morning and i would point out that i know the energy, department of energ

senator shaheen, continue with your questions, and we'll conclude with questions from other senators, but thank you very much for willing here. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i listened to all of your testimony earlier, and i'm confused, i think, as many of my con -- constituents are, if the supply is up why is the market down -- and why are prices going up so precipitously, and i appreciate the geopolitical impact on prices, but why is there that with respect to green spect. >> they are global markets and supply is up in the united states and demand is down in the united states, as has been discussed in the hearing, globally demand is still rising because of the developing countries, and at the same time, there's been discussion by my colleagues of some of the supply issues. i think that is the answer, although it's not what your constituents would obviously like to hear. >> right. but it does speak to the fact that given that even if we dramatically increase supply here and reduce demand, we're still going to be at the whim of what happens in the global markets. >> well, if you -- well, i think one thing to say about that would be that reducin

. >> senator shaheen, you haven't had a chance to ask questions. go ahead. >> thank you very much mr. chairman and thank you mr. secretary for being here. yesterday, i held a hearing on the uss kir sarge down at the nor folk shipyard. and we heard from secretary of the navy ray maybice. we heard from former secretary of the navy and senator john warner and also from some of the top ranking officials within the navy and the marines about what they are doing to implement energy efficiency and new sources of energy within the navy and among the marines who are on the frontlines in afghanistan. and we heard a couple of things that i think are important to this discussion. one is that being able to look at alternative energy sources like renewables that can be used out in the field are critical redution our dependence on foreign oil is vital to our national defense and that there is a direct correlation between our dependence on fossil fuels and casualties on the battle field. now, one of the things that i would hope you might address this morning and i would point out that i know the ene

mr. chairman. >> i want to thank as chairman, i would want to thank you for your tremendous commitment and your children's as chair of the subcommittee. i think it's been terrific. senator shaheen>> thank you. thank you all very much for being here. i want to just follow in a little bit of senator coons questions about how to sustain the interest and action that will help bring that international pressure to make a difference in south sudan, and whether you're contemplating or anyone you know of is contemplating this, stop kony video. i know you referenced at a whether or otherwise get more people engaged in this issue because clearly that kind of energy can really make a difference. and for any of the three of you. >> well, it was funding, we've landed yesterday and we're gone for eight days and during that time the kony video sort of hit. by the time within f1 was asking us about anna delano what happened. look, it's an incredibly effective tool like john faulkner, social media can be a very big deal now. and youtube and twitter and all those elements are a way to keep young people involved. we're going to put the videos, the things that we got that we put together, we will m

mrs. boxer: madam president, before they leave the floor, i really -- i want to thank senator coons and senator begich and you, senator shaheen, madam president, for your very important words that you gave today on behalf of the house taking up and passing the bipartisan senate transportation bill. and it's interesting to note, we also had the senator from alaska, the senior senator, senator murkowski, also speak out in favor of the house picking up and passing the senate bipartisan bill. i also served in the county as a county supervisor a long time ago, but i think we all understand that what we do here makes a difference. you know, this is one nation, under god, indivisible. you can't have a circumstance where one state puts their funding -- their own funding from their state into highways, but the next-door state does nothing, and you can't really have commerce, and that's why i thought dwight eisenhower, when he was president, republican president, in the 1950's, said it well. he was a logistics expert, and he is the one who started the national highway system because he knew from his experience in war that you've got to

brown of ohio, begich, nelson of florida, lautenberg, shaheen, blumenthal, coons, feinstein, leahy, durbin, lieberman, murray, schumer and pryor. mr. reid: mr. president, this is an extremely important bill. that's the postal reform legislation. we have been waiting to get to it for a long time. we're going to move to that next week. i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask we proceed to a period of morning business, with senators allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i rise to speak about a disturbing made recently about the national football league. the national football league investigation revealed that the new orleans saints had allegedly been operating an illegal bounty program. under this bounty program, players were reportedly given significant sums of money in direct exchange for intentionally injuring opposing players, for disabling them, for having them carried off the field in a