senator cantwell, senator murkowski and then senator collins. they come as the dean of the republican women. i ask unanimous consent that they be allowed each to speak for five minutes in the order i just stated: cantwell, murkowski and collins. the presiding officer: without -- without objection. ms. cantwell: mr. president, i want to thank senator burr and senator mikulski for their leadership on this bipartisan issue, but certainly senator mikulski for her constant leadership on making sure families in america are cared for. this is important bipartisan legislation, and the reauthorization of this legislation, the childcare development block grant of 2014, will help ensure that families have access to quality, affordable childcare. the childcare and development block grant program serves more than 1.6 million children per month nationwide, and in my state it serves more than 39,000 children per month. with the support of these grants, parents can work, look for work, participate in job training programs while their children receive affordable

marriage, dick cheney, laura bush, jon huntsman, kurt ender, mark kirk and lisa murkowski. when it comes to marijuana, william f buckley, governor rick perry has come out in favor of decriminalization. pat roberts in. dennis eisley, sean hannity, libertariansgrich. and social conservatives can absolutely work together if we realize we are both trying to limit the government when it comes to freedom. >> thank you so much. point,alding, at some tends to get -- at what point do we dissipate to the point where we are no longer we the people. chose the word

murkowski: thank you. madam president, over the past several days, we have all watched the news of the massive landslide in washington state. we've watched that with sadness, with shock, truly, truly an awful, awful episode. our thoughts, our prayers are certainly with all those that have been affected by this terrible tragedy. we continue to hope for the best as rescue and recovery efforts continue. today, madam president, i have come to the floor to speak about a different natural disaster. this is a natural disaster that affected alaska on good friday exactly 50 years ago today, in 1964. this is the great alaska earthquake, the good friday earthquake, the epic earthquake of 1964. at at the time that alaska was struck by this massive earthquake, i was a young child. i was living in the southeastern community of wrangle, alaska. i've got an order here but i'm going to go out of order here and start with the map. map of the state of alaska. epicenter of the earthquake he here. in south central. about a yea

i also want to thank senators collins, portman, murkowski and kirk for their continued willingness to come to the table to craft a bill that could garner enough support to pass in this chamber. i'd also like to recognize some of my other colleagues, senator coats, senator ayotte, who, though not cosponsors on this bill today, were instrumental in these negotiations from the beginning. i understand their concerns and i also share their desire to see additional reforms to these programs. regardless, i am grateful for their contribution over the past few months. i would also like to thank senator isakson and senator hoeven for their input and am appreciative of their efforts throughout the process. though it hasn't always been easy, this process has truly been a collaborative effort at every level. fortunately, i believe we've -- that we've reached a compromise that will garner enough support in the senate to help 1.3 million unemployed americans get back on their feet as they look for work in the toughest job market in decades. this bill is a responsible, fully paid-for, temporary exten

murkowski and mary landrieu over an issue of revenue sharing. so i think it's unfortunate.had held out hopes. i think people remember in 1989 the spill happened, but the ocean protection act wasn't passed until 1990, so we thought the spill would at least motivate members of congress even a year removed from the deepwater horizon spill. but that, sadly, did not happen. and i don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. you know, now with ms. landrieu and ms. more cow city in charge of that committee -- murkowski in charge of that committee, they're not looking at oil spill response as an issue, unfortunately. it was a real tragedy -- not tragedy, but it was really unfortunate that that bill didn't pass because the house had passed an oil spill response bill in 2010, so -- the last day before the august research, the democratic house passed that. but the senate just couldn't step up primarily because of an obsession with revenue sharing from a couple of oil state senators. >> i answer that? -- can i answer that? >> in your packets i have a list of asks of congress, some sp

. >> reporter: alaska senator lisa murkowski, the highest-ranking republican on the senate energy committee, has called on president obama to waive the prohibition on the export of oil, saying that past presidents have done so when it's a matter of quote national interests. the focus of this major energy conference continues to be on how to capitalize on growing oil and gas production, hayes canad national resources minister expressed his confidence that the keystone excel pipeline was another sure path to north american energy independence. >> canadian oil will displace venezuelan oil. >> reporter: providing a strategic advantage for the u.s. and north america at a time when geopolitical tensions between russia and the west are rising. for "nightly business report," i'm sharon epperson in houston. >>> coming up, what sales of bulldozer, backhoes and other big machines are saying about the global economy. that's next. >>> americans love getting new cars, but we are borrowing more now than ever just to own one. experion automotive reports that in the final quarter of 2013, the average amount

murkowski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, first, i thank my friend from maine and appreciate our conversations that we have had in this past week. he has taken a journey to the north that most of us only dream about, but he is engaged on issues that i care deeply about as they relate to the arctic. i know that wasn't in the discussion that you were speaking to earlier, but i just wanted to note while my friend from maine was still here on the floor that i look forward to working on these issues of great importance not only to my state but truly to our entire nation and arctic nation. mr. president, i've come to this floor this evening to speak very briefly about the physical security of our nation's power grid, a very important subject, and this is a subject that recent stories in the "wall street journal" about a coordinated attack on the california metcalf substation that happened last april has drawn really considerable attention to. and while those stories about that attack highlighted potential vulnerabilities

senators heller, collins, portman, murkowski and kirk, to provide emergency unemployment insurance to 2.7 million americans. this commonsense bipartisan agreement is one of the main things the senate should do to help create jobs and strengthen our economic recovery so that it works for every american, so everyone has a fair shot. so i hope my colleagues will join with us and pass this bill quickly so it can be taken up for a vote in the house. the individual and economic consequences from the lapse of these unemployment insurance funds are very clear. i have described many times, my colleagues have come to the floor many times and indicated the individual cases where people who have worked for years find themselves without a job through no fault of their own, desperately needing some modest assistance, and these benefits are about $300 or $350 a week just to keep going, to keep looking for work, to keep trying to be part of the work force, which they desperately want to do. we share these stories and these individual hardships ripple across our entire economy. indeed, the congression

murkowski: thank you, mr. president. with the very unfortunate events of ukraine in the headlines and the ukrainian people very close in our hearts, i rise today to speak to a topic that has significance not only for that european crisis and for our own well-being butter als but also a little bit on the longer-term subject of climate change, which, of course, was a big discussion here last night. this morning i am speaking to the american energy renaissance and its broadest benefits to us all. today american technology and know-how are delivering energy abundance, keeping energy affordable, enabling energy to be cleaner than the next most likely alternative, permitting us to rely on ever-more diverse energy sources and, finally, improving energy security for our people here in this country and around the world. america's overall production of nearly every type of energy is rising. the efficiency of just about everything, whether it's our vehicles or whether it's our buildings is increasing. and in comparing our supply wi

i'm very pleased to have been able to work with our colleague, senator murkowski, the ranking republican on the energy and natural resources committee over this past year. until recently, i served as chairman of the energy and natural resources committee, and we were able to pass a major law to spur development of hydropower, which is really one of america's forgotten renewables. hydropower already makes up two-thirds of our country's renewable power, so this is obviously a vital renewable source of energy, so our legislation makes it easier to put hydroon existing dams, irrigation canals and conduits, and we believe it's going to spark big investments in clean renewable power. madam president, the national hydropower association estimates that there are 60,000 megawatts of potential knew hydropower in our country yet to be harnessed. in addition, our committee passed an important bill to cut red tape associated with developing geothermal power on public lands. my colleagues and i urged the administration to take steps to have tools at their disposal to invest in energy efficiency and us

senator waldman -- this -- senator murkowski will do some closing. iq for being here so early, we are happy for your questions now. >> thank you for holding this hearing today and thank you to the panelists for being part of the conversation which is obviously a very timely conversation as we look at this as a geopolitical tool using our resources in an effective way. thatalso important to know later this week, the committee will hold an important vote on the future of natural gas election with the nomination of ms. sue to become the assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks. the strong support of natural gas and lng exports that have been displayed during this -- and my first question is in both of your testimony, you have essentially said an immediate announcement of unlimited lng export would signal competition to russia that could impact their contract prices with europe. could the same be said of the u.s. immediately allowed crude oil experts as well -- exports as well? >> thank you, senator scott. both crude oil exports and natural gas e

murkowski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i request that proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: thank you, mr. president. in alaska, there is a great deal of attention focused this week on the great alaskan earthquake of 1964. the 27th of march will mark the 50th anniversary of this amazing physical event, the second-largest earthquake that was recorded, an episode that alaskans have been talking about for the last 50 years and will be talking about for the next 50ment but i rise this afternoon to not speak about that anniversary but to speak of a 25-year anniversary that wil wht caused by mother nature had a devastating impact on the nature and surrounding waters of alaska. today, mr. president, i would like to speak very briefly about where we are 25 years after the exxon valdez ran aground on belibhiereef. it was a 987-foot tanker carrying 53 million gallons of crude. it struck blye wreath at 12:04 a.m. on more 24, 1989. and within literally

murkowski: thank you, madam president. i join my colleagues today in discussion about an issue that i think we all would agree is an issue that really tears at the heart, causes great anguish as we think that those who have volunteered to serve our great nation, that have agreed to put themselves on the front lines, that they would be in a situation where they would be made a victim, a victim of a military sexual assault, and be put in a situation where they don't know where to turn, they don't know if it is safe to speak up, they don't know how to respond. our military men and women, i think we are proud to say, are the most professional, the most highly trained and skilled and qualified. we will match them against any. and yet when we face these very, very troubling and difficult issues of military sexual assault, it is an under side of the military culture that we have not been able to sufficiently address and eradicate. madam president, the most recent report on the defense department's sexual assault prevention and re

the first one i want to speak to is amendment number 2834, that senator murkowski and i are offering in relation to tribal shiek facilities. as -- childcare facilities. i recently took over as k3450e on indian affairs and two weeks ago held my mears ir mifers first hearing. this focused on early childhood development. this was timely as some of the testimony the committee received related to the childcare and development block grant. at that hearing the childcare program director from the white earth nation who is also the chair of the national indian childcare association, testified about the needs of her program and needs of all indian childcare providers. one of the needs she highlighted was improving the condition of tribal childcare facilities in indian country. according to the administration for children and families, of the 260 indian tribe or tribal organizations that receive ccdgb funds, only 14 of them constructed new tribal childcare facilities in the last ten years. in an effort to improve and replace facilities, my amendment allows tribes more flexibility in the use of

>> what do you think changed the minds of those republicans, the five portman, collins, heller, murkowskihy debate if you're not going to ultimately vote for the extension of unemployment assistance? >> we've seen a lot of this over the last year or so in the senate where there will be more support on this initial vote to begin debate you saw with the gun bill, for example, republicans had to show where they voted to start debating on a background check bill, then ultimately it couldn't get the 60 votes it needed to go to a final vote. i would be surprised if all ten of these senators voted to on closure on the bill itself next week when it comes up, but it sounds like at this point there are the five co-sponsors of the bill who are willing to go forward and support it. >> kasie, john boehner said about extending unemployment assistance, he told the president he would consider it as long as it was paid for and as long as there were provisions attached that would help the economy and help get people back to work. chose conditions have not been met. i don't see how it's workable. this has b

readout i'm getting the five republican senators who are supporting this deal, rob portman, lisa murkowskird, mark kirk, that is welcome news i think to the 1.3 million, i believe it's gone up to 1.8 million american whose long-term unemployment assistance has expired. what happens in the house where things seem decidedly less predictable even if there are pay-fors or offsets? >> that pay-forth thing is really the best-selling tool. of course there are a substantial number of democrats who would vote for this. so it could be carried by the democrats with a small number of republicans. it has all been about the discussion of how do you pay for it. republicans say they understand the urgent need. there has been a real philosophical difference about whether this is an emergency, therefore not needing to cover the cost of what this outlay would mean for the government so that philosophical hurdle has been overcome based on this senate deal. but we can't predict the house from only the senate but this is a very positive sign and certainly dean heller, the republican of nevada, who is a co-spons

we will recognize him and another all blend in and senator murkowski and i was closing questions. thank you and i know you had to slip out. so we are happy for your questions now. >> thank you, madam chairwoman. thank you to the panel as for being a part of the conversation >> the committee will later hold an important vote to defend fish and wildlife and parks and it's almost hard to ignore the economy and the strong support for natural gas has been displayed at this hearing with the stated opposition to increase natural gas production. the first question is a book of your testimonies are an immediate announcement by the situation with the u.s. immediately allowed crude export as well? >> i think that both crude oil exports and natural gas exports can serve to diminish russia's revenues and would therefore have an effect. i think that it's less a matter of immediacy in terms of crude oil versus natural gas. i think in both cases that the importance of the announcement is that it establishes expectations over the longer term as mr. baldwin was saying over what natural gas would be

. >> senator murkowski. >> dr. hamburg thank you for what you do. there have been question is asked about drug shortages and issues that i have concerns with but in fairness to your time a couple that have not been brought up one was the shellfish banned chinese the post -- imposed on parts of alaska and the west coast. it may be very narrow in its scope impacting some family alone to businesses taking a real hit right now. we sent a letter on march march 6th to the anchorage there is a delegation to go tear china to discuss this issue to see if we cannot get faster resolution. i am understand that this meeting is scheduled on march 21st with the usda foreign agriculture service. but the question to you this morning can you give me assurances we are fast tracking a the resolution and if you will be sending that delegation and if not, why not? >> it is something where the department of commerce has a lead so as well as information so we are not formally part of the delegation so we do have an office in china. to provide additional support. we do have

marriage, dick cheney, laura bush, jon huntsman, kurt ender, mark kirk and lisa murkowski.rijuana, william f buckley, governor rick perry has come out in favor of decriminalization. pat roberts in. dennis eisley, sean hannity, libertariansgrich. and social conservatives can absolutely work together if we realize we are both trying to limit the government when it comes to freedom. >> thank you so much. point,alding, at some tends to get -- at what point do we dissipate to the point where we are no longer we the people. chose the word liberty, rather than the word freedom because they meant freedom appropriate for man. they understood lee pretty -- liberty to be under the laws of nature's god. it didn't mean licenses. it required a certain unity and agreement about certain common precepts of how we govern ourselves. as much freedom as possible. we want to have the freedom to choose. i agree with that. but we must agree first and freeman -- first and foremost on certain precepts. we believe all men are created equal. we believe everyone has the right to the pursuit of happines

feel very strongly about the legislation it is the only finance bill now on the table and senator murkowski said it is time for them even stephen rule the same thing for the nra you do for the sierra club but for the long term it is a host of opportunities to get together to get on top of this issue but for the immediate situation i have not heard all of it with respect to the five of one seaport a shoe -- 501c4 issue it is not appropriate to take action and how the bipartisan investigation that was begun in a thoughtful way is completed. >> 84 a acknowledging the enormous amount that has gone on with the cooperative to provide the committee we look for to the committee completing its work so we can see the results and move forward. >> let me talk about tax reform we have a few more minutes. you have been thoughtful to talk about the committee approach for the future. i have nine years' worth of sweat equity into this and begin with rahm emanuel and could not get any republican sponsor then senator gregg sat on the sofa with the every beak for almost two years to get the first federal incom

the bill i have with senator lisa murkowski and she puts it eloquently. it's time to apply the even steven rule, the same thing due for the nra is what you do for the sierra club. for the longer term, i think there are a host of opportunities for democrats and republicans to get together and get on top of this issue. for the immediate situation with respect to the debated you heard this morning and i have not heard all of it with respect to the 501(c)(4) issue, i just do not believe it's appropriate for this committee or for the united states senate to take action until the bipartisan investigation, which in my view, senator hatch and chairman ba baucus began in a very thoughtful way is completed. you don't have to comment on that. >> i'd like to thank you for acknowledging the enormous amount of document production that has gone on. we've tried to be cooperative and provide the committee what it needs and looking forward to the committee completing the report so we can all see the results and move forward. >> let me talk with you a little bit about tax r

partnership parity act, which i'm proud to cosponsor with my colleagues, senators moran and stabenow, murkowski, landrieu and collins, democrats and republicans working together, would level the playing field for renewables and give them and other new technologies a fighting chance in our energy market. there are so many other steps we could do in combination if we would but get past this endless, pointless debate that has long been resolved in the halls of science and move forward in a way that better serves our country and our world. the bottom line is that our climate is changing. we know that. with this knowledge comes the responsibility to reduce our emissions, to mitigate the impacts and prepare for and take action to deal with the come --h the coming changes. mr. president, as i reflect on our own responsibilities as senators, i am in part moved to respond to the challenge of climate change not just because it is an environmental issue or an economic issue or a regional issue or a global issue, but it is also for me and for many others a faith issue. it is a question of how we carry out

began mccain, laura bush, governor jon huntsman, current senators rob port match, mark kirk and lisa murkowskien it comes to marijuana legalization or other drugs, you've got william f. buckley, governor rick perry has come out in favor of decriminalization, pat robertson, bill o'reilly, sean hannity, even newt gingrich and ken cucinelli have requested the war on drugs. libertarians and social conservatives can absolutely work together if we both realize we're trying to limit the scope of government when it comes to -- [inaudible] >> thank you so much. [applause] at some point the notion we the people with a common moral philosophy tends to get dissipated in the autonomous approach the life and principle that defines libertarianism. at what point does the common philosophy underlying the constitution begin to dissipate to the point where we are no longer we the people? >> >> right. well, i think it begins with the founders' understanding of the word liberty. they chose the word liberty which was a latin word rather than freedom precisely because they met freedom appropriate for man -- they mea

without the leadership and commitment of many senators, but i wish to applaud senators crapo and murkowski who stood strong in this body, and congressman tom cole, republican in the house of representatives, who supported essential provisions to address abuse on tribal lan lands. even those who had originally supported the violence against women act were urging us to take out abuse on tribal lands, congressman cole stood strongly with us and we kept it in. so i thank them for their partnership, and i hope that the senate can come together again this year to pass other meaningful bills that support law enforcement and victims like the justice for all act and the homeless runaway youth act, reauthorize the bulletproof vest bill, something that's been cheered by every democrat on this side, to protect our law enforcement officers. and i ask my full statement on the anniversary of the signing of the leahy-crapo violence against women act reauthorization be made part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will pr