ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mrs. mikulski: pursuant to section 904 of the congressional budget act of 1974 i move to waive all applicable sections of that act for the purposes of the pending bill and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: the --. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to waive. the clerk will call the roll. the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, first of all the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the senator from maryland is recognized. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to specific up to three minutes in support of my motion to waive. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the senator has the floor. ms. mikulski: the bill that is before the senate --. the presiding officer: pl

ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland is recognized. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i urge today -- i rise today to talk about really an urgent crisis at our border in which over 250 children a week are coming from central america, fleeing horrific gang violence, horrific gang violence to seek refuge and asylum in the united states of america. this is being equaled a crisis at the border. a border crisis, but the crisis actually begins in central america where brutal, violent gangs based on organized crime are either trying to recruit the boys into organized crime, drug smuggling, human trafficking or to recruit the girls into human trafficking and other just dangerous and repugnant circumstances. but when you go to the border the way i have, that you will see that the situation is dire, and it's dire because as these children come to the border, crossing the rio grande, probably within really almost a 50-mile stretch of the grande. it's not over the 1,900 miles of the grande, that they come and actually -- they don't try to sneak in. they com

ms. mikulski: that's right. mrs. feinstein: i thank you for your support and your energy and effort that you've put forward. i hope this body does the right thing. ms. mikulski: well, mr. president, i'd like to continue the discussion on the urgent supplemental. just -- but before i do, i just want to note that the senior senator from arizona is on the floor and i just want to say something heart warming to my colleague. you're a graduate of the naval academy, class of 1958. and we both have a very dear friend that's passed away, admiral chuck larson. admiral larson served with distinction in the navy, did he many tours of duty in the defense of our country but also did two tours of duty at the united states naval academy where i came to know him, and then subsequent to that, his wonderful role that he played in education and transformational leadership. i know he was a good friend of yours, too, so i'd like to express my condolences and i hope to you and to the -- then it was guys only at the naval academy, class of

ms. mikulski: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: i am really eager to bring at least one appropriations bill to the floor there are only 72 hours left before we break for august. i therefore ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader after consultation with the republican leader, the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number 400, h.r. 4486, the military construction v.a. appropriations bill, that the committee- committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to, and that there be no other amendments, points of order, or motions in order to the bill other than budget points of order and the applicable motions to waive that there be up to one hour of debate, equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, that upon the use of or yielding back of time, the bill as amended be read a third time and the senate proceed to vote on the passage of the bill as amended, that if the bill as amended is passed, the senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the ho

ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i rise as part of the ongoing debate and discussion -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. ms. mikulski: i ask unanimous consent that the call of the quorum be vacated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i know that the senate is now considering whether we should vote on the motion to proceed to the urgent supplemental bill. that means under our rules of another century, we don't actually get to a bill. we debate or even have a filibuster on whether we should even move to the bill. it was designed to really cool the passions of the time so the senate could be the greatest deliberative body in the world. however, these procedures now have been distorted that we are no longer the greatest deliberative body in the world. we're the greatest delaying body in the world. delay has become not only a tactic to come up with better ideas, delay has beco

ms. mikulski: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: i have 12 unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of both the majority and minority leaders, and i thereby ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests also be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: madam president, i rise to speak on the pending business before the united states senate. the senate's just achieved cloture on the motion to proceed to the emergency supplemental funding bill, so let me explain to the people who are watching this either in the gallery or on c-span. the senate has creaky rules. these creaky rules were to make sure that we would cool the passions that would be raging in the nation on any given time so that we could duly give consideration, that debate would be diligent and we wouldn't be gripped by the fire of the moment or the passion of the moment. and i appreciate that. but instead, what these rules now

ms. mikulski: what is the parliamentary situation? as i understand -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a period of morning business. ms. mikulski: how much -- may i proceed, or does the other party wish to -- how much time is remaining on their side? the presiding officer: the minority has three minutes. the majority has 47. ms. mikulski: with the concurrence of the minority party, i would like to proceed. i know they haven't yielded back their time, but if that is agreeable -- and i note no objection -- i will proceed, if i may. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: thank you very much, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today as the chair of the appropriations committee to talk about several challenges facing our country. first, i just want to real estate spond by -- to the comments made by many of the senators this morning on the compelling need to pass a supplemental appropriations to help israel re-plenish the rockets it's used up in its iron dome missile defense system. i am

ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i rise to speak on the urgent supplemental bill and i rise as the chair of the full committee on appropriations that is actually trying to move the urgent supplemental. supplemental is an important word. it means it's in addition to fiscal years 2014 funding. there are elements we had to make a request for an urgent supplemental because of unexpected emergencies, either within our own country or affecting a treasured ally like the state of israel, or really the crisis at our border because of what's going on in central america. remember, it's the crisis in central america that is creating the humanitarian surge at our border. i rise now, though, to speak about one element. i've spoken about the fires in our western states. later on today i will speak about the children, and actually try to paint a picture for people on what's going on in honduras, el salvador and other countries that are also affected. but right now i want to speak also about israel. mr. presid

ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: i ask unanimous consent to speak for up to five minutes prior to the vote. mr. vitter: i will consider objecting but i far prefer to amend the unanimous consent request so i get the additional minute i was just denied and the senator from maryland gets her time. the presiding officer: is there an objection? without objection, the senator from maryland. mr. vitter: mr. president, my unanimous consent request was for me to finish my remarks in one minute and then have the senator -- the presiding officer: pending unanimous consent request from the senator from maryland. is there objection? mr. vitter: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i that are call for the regular order. ask unanimous consent that my full statement be included in the record. i yield back whatever time we would have and that we move expeditiously to the vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. vitter: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator f

ms. mikulski: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. kulski: thank you very much, madam president. i'd like to use this opportunity and this time to speak on supporting the murray legislation to protect women's health from interference -- from corporate interference. and, madam president, because of obligations to speak at a memorial service tomorrow, i won't be able to speak tomorrow morning. i feel so strongly about it, i'd like to have a few words today. i believe that this legislation ensures that the personal opinion of your employer doesn't trump the medical opinion of your doctor. i sure wish this legislation wasn't necessary, but, unfortunately, because of a recent supreme court decision now known as the hobby lobby decision, it is necessary. let's talk about how we got here. like you, madam president, we worked on health care reform. we were so concerned that over 40 million people didn't have access to health care. we were concerned that just being a woman was treated as a preexisting condition. we were charged double for what

ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the call of the quorum be vacated. the presiding officer: without objection, the quorum call is suspended. ms. mikulski: we are now in the closing hours of this session of the congress, as we get ready to take our break. i'm rising to exort our members to vote for the urgent supplemental. i appreciate the fact that we are now -- that the -- that wave doptd the motio --that we have n to proceed. i just want to remind our colleagues what is in the urgent supplemental. first, it's to fight wildfires in our own country. $615 million to fight 23 large fires that are sending homes and communities up in smoke in eight western states. second, it fortifies israel's antimissile defense system, iron dome, by providing $225 million to enable israel to purchase interceptor rockets that they have utilized in their own self-defense. it is lifesaving technology. it is a defensive technology. and, third, not at all least, it is to deal with our issues facing the

ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i rise today as the chair of the appropriation committee that will be proposing the emergency supplemental bill. this bill will be introduced tonight, and i want to briefly describe it. first of all, what does the emergency supplemental bill do? it deals with three crises. one, it will fight wildfires with additional resources about what's going on in our own country. second, it will help israel be able to continue to man its iron dome antiballistic missile system as it's been under siege by hamas rockets. and third, it will help be a down payment on resolving the crisis of the children arriving at the border. to be specific, it will fight wildfires to the tune of $615 million. right now, there are 127 wildfires burning in our western states, covering over -- four or more states. second, it will strengthen israel's iron dome and add $225 million to replenish the antimissile defense rockets, saving the lives by shooting down hamas rockets, helping our central ally israel. an

ms. mikulski: well, if i could respond to the gentleman from illinois, yes, i'm staying in maryland because i'd hoped that we would even be working on conference reports and so on. but while you're in illinois and i'm in maryland, most of all we don't want our veterans standing in line for their health care or their disability benefits. so shoulder to shoulder, forward together. mr. durbin: thank you, senator mikulski. this supplemental appropriation bill is important. it's timely. one of the provisions in it is an additional $225 million for the iron dome defense. the iron dome defense is a joint effort by the united states and israel to protect israel from rocket attacks. imagine you're living in your hometown and a neighboring state or a neighboring town just fired 2,000 rockets into your hometown. these are not 4th of july rockets. these are deadly rockets that kill. you want some protection, and the iron dome provides protection for israel. this joint effort by the united states and israel has been successful. despite 2,000 rocket attacks, the casualties on the israeli side have been m

mikulski. senator hatch? >> thank you. welcome, ms. colvin and i think it's a little unfair for you to bring barbara mikulski here to speak for you. we're all a little scared of her. we do whatever she tells us to do. we learned that a long time ago. i've enjoyed meeting with you in the past. today we have an opportunity to learn more about your past management performance and how you would, if confirmed, face challenges of the future. over the past 10 years, the social security stritive bunt has increased by 32% to a level of almost 11.7 billion. the budget has grown on an average annual pace of more than 3.5% above the average growth of nominal g.d.p. the administrative funding continues to take up greater share of the labor h.h.s. aapproach races bill. we -- all we seem to hear from s.s.a. is the need for more and that any problems in administering programs can be solved over if h.f.a. receives more fund. that's true of almost every agency today in a hearing of this committee last week that was supposed to be a fresh look at the disa

ms. mikulski: madam president, i rise to speak on the pending business before the united states senate. the senate's just achieved cloture on the motion to proceed to the emergency supplemental funding bill, so let me explain to the people who are watching this either in the gallery or on c-span. the senate has creaky rules. these creaky rules were to make sure that we would cool the passions that would be raging in the nation on any given time so that we could duly give consideration, that debate would be diligent and we wouldn't be gripped by the fire of the moment or the passion of the moment. and i appreciate that. but instead, what these rules now do is they take a lot of time for us to get to the meat of the matter, because what we're debating now is the motion to proceed to a legislation related to and supplementing existing funding to meet new emerging crises. the senate votes on a motion to proceed not only on the bill itself, but should we even go to the bill. so what we're debating now is should we go to the should we go to the bill when the emergency supplemental funding pre