ms. klobuchar: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: madam president, i come to the floor today because there are three extremely talented, well-qualified women nominees who are ready to get to work on the united states court of appeals for the d.c. circuit. it's time they are confirmed. i'll be joined this afternoon by several of our colleagues, senators hirono, cantwell, kaine, and blumenthal, because we all know that it's time for the senate to stop the needless blocking of these women. enough is enough. and i want to thank chairman leahy for his persistence and the fact that we are not giving up on these three qualified women for the bench. our courts need judges in order for the third branch of our government to function. the senate should not be shutting down another branch of government. some of my colleagues in the senate won't even allow an up-or-down vote on these nominees. i don't know if they've even met these nominees, but if they met these nominees, i don't know how they could come to this floor and not allow an

ms. klobuchar: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. ms. klobuchar: i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i come to the floor today in support of the employment nondiscrimination act, also known as enda. frofor my state, it has been que a year for equality, mr. president. last november we were the first state in the country to defeat a constitutional amendment banning marriage equality. up to that point, those amendments had passed. and then just a few months lat later, earlier this year, minnesota became the 12th state to allow full marriage equality, the 12th state in the country. i'm proud to represent our sta state. they have been a true civil rights pioneer. you go back to the days of hubert humphrey, who once stood on this floor, his speech to the 1948 democratic convention where he talked about standing up for the people of this country, standing up for people with disabilities, standing up for t

ms. klobuchar: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. klobuchar: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent -- ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that proceedings under the call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: mr. president, i'm very pleased to be here on the senate floor with my friend and colleague from minnesota, senator klobuchar, as we introduce an important resolution. this month, mr. president, is national alzheimer's awareness month. alzheimer's is a terrible disease that exacts a tremendous personal and economic toll on both the individual and the family. like many families, mine has experienced the pain of alzheimer's. i know that there is no more helpless feeling than to watch the progression of this devastating disease. it is equally painful to witness the emotional and physical damage inflicted on family caregivers exhausted by an endless series of 36-hour days. moreover, alzheimer's is the only cause of death among the top ten in our nation without

ms. klobuchar: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i rise today to speak on the national defense authorization act and how the senate and particularly the women of the senate are working to address the crisis of military sexual assault. i'd like to thank senator mikulski and senator collins for organizing and bringing us together this morning. i'd like to thank senator levin and inhofe for their leadership, and i'd like to thank senator mccaskill and senator gillibrand for working on this critical legislation over the course of the past year. and of course, i'd like to thank all of the women of the senate, you have heard from many of them this morning and we will hear from more because this is an incredible year, a year that i hope will be remembered as a decisive one in the effort to eradicate military sexual assault once and for all. we are all too well aware that sexual assault continues to plague our armed forces. we have all seen the horrifying numbers. in 2012, the department of defense received 3,374 reports of sexua