ms. mikulski, proposes an amendment numbered 362. ms. mikulski: madam president i ask that further reading of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: madam president i would like to -- my amendment is about paycheck fairness, a topic i know the gentlelady is -- from nebraska is absolutely familiar with. and i come to the floor to finish the job that we began with lilly ledbetter to end pay discrimination in the workplace once and for all. that's why i'm offering this amendment, based on the bill that i've offered in the past three congresses. it's called the paycheck fairness act. my senate colleagues and i want to be sure that women get a raise, and the way we want to do that is to put more money in the family checkbook by putting change in the federal law book. my amendment will do three things. number one, it will stop retaliation in the workplace for sharing pay information. for years the famous lilly ledbetter was harassed and humiliated just for asking questions about her coworkers' s

ms. mikulski wanted to report sports. as the video showed she had some talent behind the desk.xt commercial to watch her on our nbc washington app. that's cool. >>> we have an exclusive look at the new addition to d.c.'s 40-year-old jail. only news4 cameras were allowed inside as the city opened a library for inmates in the basement of its correctional institute in southeast, including paperbacks only. librarians will cart the books into the housing areas in the cells form the inmates will be able to choose what they want to read. there are no fictional stories, though that glorify drugs or violence, according to city officials. >> so best sellers, mysteries, romances science fiction, a lot of the airport paper backs you would see just about anywhere are super popular, no matter where you are. >> you can get some books to read to limit the stressors that you might be going through, books is always good for you to have. >> an escape? >> yeah. >>> d.c.'s public library and agency and staff will oversee the program which would cost about a quarter of a million per year. >>> well i

ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: good morning. what is the pending business before the senate? 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 what is the pending order for the morning? the presiding officer: the senate is on s.j. res. 8 with divided time. ms. mikulski: thank you very much mr. president. well, this morning i rise along with the women of the senate to talk about the issue of human trafficking. we are four days before international women's day and all of the women of the senate have taken up the issue of human trafficking. we want to talk -- many of us want to talk about it today we're all working on it, many have been leaders on this issue, and you will see us coming to the aisle -- coming to the floor joined by republican and democratic women. now, mr. president as the senior woman and senior democratic woman i have convened over the years

ms. mikulski proposes an amendment numbered 932. at the appropriate place -- mr. cochran: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. cochran: mr. president, i urge the senate to support this amendment. the amendment i'm offering along with the senator from maryland, the vice chair of the appropriations committee senator mikulski, this amendment proposes the creation of a biennial budget resolution process. having a two-year budget could enable the annual appropriations process to run more smoothly and it might also benefit other committees. the appropriations process often bogs down due to the failure of the budget resolution process. if there is no budget resolution in place, there is no framework to facilitate consideration of appropriations bills. establishing a biennial budget process does merit serious consideration, but biennial appropriations are another matter. proponents of biennial appropriations argue that having an off year in which there are no are not appropriations bills -- no appropriations bills will mean more oversight during the

ms. leonhart: the agencies at the table -- >>senator mikulski: tell the senator what those initials stand for. it sounds like talbots you to us. ms. leonhart: it is the high intensity drug area program and it allows us -- there are numerous hidas, different initiatives that bring state local, federal together, and in these hida task forces we are able to concentrate on a regional concept the threats both drug and other violent-type crime that are wreaking havoc on those communities -- senator boozman: so is there a way -- and we could go down the line. we have got all these programs going on. is there a way to integrate the programs so when you are doing your thing director jones, and you are doing your thing director hytlton, fbi, do we integrate those when we go into a community? ms. leonhart: absolutely. the beauty is some of the groups around by the fbi concentrating on the violent gangs that the fbi brings expertise to the table on. others are fugitive related and run by the marshal service to make sure that we are going after the most significant wanted violators in the area. and th