ms. ayotte: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i would also ask to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. ayotte: thank you, mr. president. i just want to thank my colleague from georgia, senator chambliss, for his incredible leadership on the intelligence committee, on the armed services committee and his deep commitment to ensuring that our country remains safe, that our freedoms are protected and i dare say from the time i have been in the senate, senator chambliss is one of the most knowledgeable people in this body about the threats that we face, how we address those threats and how we ensure that america remains safe, so i want to thank senator chambliss for his incredible leadership in this body, not only on the issue of how do we address ensuring that the detainees that are held that are very dangerous at guantanamo bay do not present additional threats to our country and to our allies but on so many issues ensuring that our intelligence officials have strong informati

ms. ayotte: well, i want to thank my colleague from delaware. it's really been an honor to work with him on the manufacturing skills act. and we share the goal to ensure that manufacturing remains vibrant and a vibrant source of jobs in our economy. and, in fact, training our work force to have the right skills to address today's 21st century manufacturing, which is quite different from yesteryear, because today, as we look at manufacturing, the skills that our workers need -- critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, math and writing and an ability to communicate, an understanding of the manufacturing process, and an ability to engage workers in improving that process -- this wasn't necessarily the case 20 or 30 years ago. but the united states of america is poised -- poised and has an opportunity to really be the leader in advanced manufacturing. and we have such a talented work force, but our workers, they need the type of training that is going to address this new type of manufacturing that is so focused on having the right skills and

ms. ayotte: madam president -- mr. president. i apologize. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. ms. ayotte: mr. president, i rise to just thank my friend, saxby, chambliss. senator coburn spoke about leadership and we are very much going to miss senator coburn, senator johanns and their leadership in this body. but what he say said is very tr. because as someone who has only served here for four years, one of the people that has been most welcoming to me and really a mentor and a role model and someone who i have sought guidance from is saxby chambliss. us a look at this body -- as you look at this bo this body and yk at people that you can emulate as role models, he is one of those role models. not only is he incredibly knowledgeable on the issues that are so important to this nation -- and i can say having served with him on the armed services committee, he is one of the most knowledgeable people in this country -- not only on what we need to do to keep the country safe because of his role on the intelligence committee but

ms. ayotte: madam president -- mr. president. i apologize. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. ms. ayotte: mr. president, i rise to just thank my friend, saxby, chambliss. senator coburn spoke about leadership and we are very much going to miss senator coburn, senator johanns and their leadership in this body. but what he say said is very tr. because as someone who has only served here for four years, one of the people that has been most welcoming to me and really a mentor and a role model and someone who i have sought guidance from is saxby chambliss. us a look at this body -- as you look at this bo this body and yk at people that you can emulate as role models, he is one of those role models. not only is he incredibly knowledgeable on the issues that are so important to this nation -- and i can say having served with him on the armed services committee, he is one of the most knowledgeable people in this country -- not only on what we need to do to keep the country safe because of his role on the intelligence committee but

ms. ayotte: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. ms. ayotte: i thank you, mr. president. and i want to thank the senior senator from oklahoma, senator inhofe, for his leadership along with senator levin of working hand in hand to get the defense authorization done this year. and this is so important. i know all of us would like to have had a process where we could have an open amendment process here, but i know that the -- the chairman, senator levin, and senator inhofe as well, they worked very hard and we had this ready to go a long time ago. and i thank you for your work on this. i thank you for your commitment. and i thank you for the way that you and senator levin have run this committee in a respectful, bipartisan manner. and as we look at the importance of the defense authorization and making sure that we get this done before we go home, we -- we have to understand with the threats we're facing around the world right now, now would not be the time for the first time in over 50-plus years not to pass the defense authorization, give

ms. ayotte: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. ms. ayotte: mr. president, first of all, i want to thank my colleague from new hampshire and my colleagues from ohio, senators shaheen and portman, for their important work on this legislation. as my colleague from new hampshire has said, unfortunately this is a piece of legislation that is being blocked. we saw on the floor we don't even know the reason that it's being blocked. and i think that when you have an objection on the senate floor, you should have to come to the floor and state what your objection is. so here we are, we're going to again ask for this legislation to be brought forward, that passed overwhelmingly in the house and in fact has overwhelming support from both the business community and environmental groups. and if the tenant star provision is what is being raised, we're not quite sure what the objection is because we haven't heard here publicly. this program is supported not only by commercial landowners but also tenants, the business community, environmental groups. and what it

ms. ayotte: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. ms. ayotte: mr. president, i first of all want to tank my colleague from new hampshire for her leadership on this important legislation and i join her request, as well as the senator from ohio, senator portman's request, for unanimous consent on h.r. 2126 that passed the house overwhelmingly in march by 375-36 votes. why is that? because this is common sense, bipartisan legislation that creates jobs, increases energy efficiency, reduces the amount of energy that we need to use, and less pollution, and think about our overall goals of making sure that america remains safe, energy independence, and energy security, and it does it all in a way that is market-based, in a way that you've seen overwhelming support from both the business community and the environmental community, and so i want to thank this house bill that we're asking unanimous consent on is a companion bill to the work done by senators portman and shaheen in the energy efficiency improvement act, which i am proud to be a cosponsor of. and